Climate needs new support for nuclear power

The Des Moines Register - 11:57 p.m. CDT - July 26, 2014 (Carol Heising)  Almost 30 years after James Hansen, NASA’s chief atmospheric scientist, warned Congress that the burning of fossil fuels leads to global warming, the evidence still points to one conclusion: Increasing the use of zero-carbon nuclear power must be part of the solution.

Hansen, along with other prominent climatologists, sees great value in using nuclear power to reduce carbon emissions.

Nuclear power, in one or more advanced designs, holds promise for the generation of abundant, clean and affordable electricity for the United States and the world. But although 70 nuclear plants are under construction overseas, just four new plants are being built in the United States.
Switching from coal to nuclear power in the production of base-load electricity that’s available 24/7 should be high on our agenda.

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Expand Nuclear Power For the World’s Survival

(Executive Intelligence Review) - Over 1.2 billion people—20% of the world’s population—are today without access to electricity, and almost all of them live in developing countries. This includes about 550 million in Africa and over 400 million in India. It is incumbent upon all the world leaders to bring this number to zero at the earliest possible date, and thus provide these people with a future to look forward to within a span of 25 years. Can this be done with fossil fuels, wind, and solar power? The answer is a resounding “No!”

The only way world can meet the power requirements of one and all is by fully exploiting the highest energy-flux density power generation achieved through nuclear fission now, and by starting to move to an even higher level by using hydrogen as fuel in generating power through nuclear fusion. As of March 11, 2014, in 31 countries, 435 nuclear power plant units with an installed electric net capacity of about 372 GW were in operation, and an additional 72 plants with an installed capacity of 68 GW in 15 countries were under construction. Altogether, the existing nuclear power plants provide a shade over 11% of the world’s installed generating capacity. Most of the other 89% comes from the burning of fossil fuels.

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Southern hopes to build more U.S. nuclear power reactors

(Reuters) - Southern Co, one of the biggest U.S. power companies, said it hopes to announce plans by the end of the year to build more nuclear reactors, a spokesman said late Wednesday.


That makes Southern the first company to pursue new reactors since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced plans earlier this year to reduce carbon emissions from existing power plants to 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. Nuclear reactors produce almost no carbon emissions.

The company is already building two new 1,117-megawatt reactors at its Vogtle nuclear site in Georgia and Southern Chief Executive Tom Fanning said any new reactors would be of the same Westinghouse AP1000 design.

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Oyster Creek back to full power

app.com (July 17, 2014) - The Oyster Creek nuclear reactor went back up to full power Thursday morning, after a 10-day outage prolonged by problems with the power plant’s condenser system, according to plant operator Exelon.

The reactor had been shut down since the evening of July 7, when operators took it off line to inspect five safety pressure-relief valves in the drywell surrounding the reactor. Earlier tests of valves that were taken out during an earlier outage had shown potential problems with unexpected wear on some components, according to Exelon and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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Hamas: We attempted to hit the nuclear reactor in Dimona

Three rockets were launched at Dimona in southern Israel on Wednesday afternoon. The Iron Dome intercepted one rocket before it could land, while two other rockets landed in open areas.

Dimona is the location of Israel's nuclear reactor. There was no indication that rockets damaged any part of the reactor.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the rockets, stating that it had been attempting to hit the nuclear reactor.

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PPL nuclear power plant officials detail license transfer plan

July 02. 2014 11:15PM - By Steve Mocarsky for timesleader.com

Officials with PPL Susquehanna — owner of the nuclear power plant near Berwick — made a case Wednesday for transferring the plant’s operating license to a new company it’s forming with an out-of-state energy company.

Officials with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, whose approval is needed for a license transfer, hosted the public meeting at NRC offices in Rockville, Maryland, and the public was allowed to participate via conference call as well.

PPL Susquehanna plans to merge with Riverstone Holdings LLC to form Talen Energy Corp, which would be the third largest investor-owned independent power producer in the nation.

NRC’s concerns are making that the new company would have the technical expertise to safely operate a nuclear power plant and would have the financial capabilities to safely decommission the plant when the time comes. PPL Susquehanna’s licenses extend into the 2040s.

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United State Nuclear Regulatory Commission grants Callaway Energy Center extension for generator

By Fulton Sun, Wednesday, July 2, 2014 - The nuclear power plant in Fulton has been granted an extension to provide a power generator in case of an “external” disaster.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has extended Callaway Energy Center’s deadline to fulfill requirements under an order released in 2012 to all power reactor licensees after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster.

In the NRC order, plants are required to have a portable generator to power spent fuel pool (SFP) instrumentation to read water levels — a part of the order the NRC recently extended for Callaway as written in a letter from the NRC.

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The EPA Carbon Plan: Coal Loses, but Nuclear Doesn't Win

BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS (Mark Cooper) - The claims and counterclaims about EPA’s proposed carbon pollution standards have filled the air: It will boost nuclear. It will expand renewables. It promotes energy efficiency. It will kill coal. It changes everything. It accomplishes almost nothing.

Evaluating the impact of the so-called Clean Power Plan requires a clear view of how the new rule will work. The plan centers on performance standards, which have yielded effective outcomes in other energy areas—such as appliance efficiency standards and fuel economy standards for light-duty vehicles. It sets a moderate, mid-term target for carbon reductions, but allows for flexibility because it does not dictate the use of specific technologies or products. States are allowed to design programs in response to local conditions.

The EPA plan picks a loser: coal. It does not, however, pick winners among the low-carbon options available. It does not offer much in the way of sweeteners for any specific technology. Assuming that states generally adhere to the prime directive of public utility resource acquisition—choosing the lowest-cost approach—the proposed rule will not alter the dismal prospects of nuclear power, which will therefore play no role in the reduction of carbon emissions from power plants.

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Report Compares and Contrasts Owners of New Nuclear Plants

(Power Magazine  06/11/2014) - A report released this week by Moody’s Investors Service provides an interesting analysis of two companies knee-deep in nuclear plant construction projects. The peer comparison takes a look at Georgia Power Co.—a Southern Co. subsidiary—and South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. (SCE&G)—a SCANA Corp. subsidiary.

Georgia Power is adding two new units to its Alvin W. Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant while SCE&G is adding two new units to its V.C. Summer Nuclear Station. Although the projects are nearly identical from a construction standpoint (both are adding Westinghouse AP1000 reactor plants), the report suggests that the companies have very different risk profiles.

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Safety comes first at nuclear power station

THE safety of the public and employees is an ‘overriding priority’ says Dungeness B station director Martin Pearson. He was speaking as the station has completed a vital stage of ongoing flood defence work in which £5 million has been invested so far.

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