Category Archives: Nuclear

Nukes have always been a government sponsored boondogle as cover for nuclear weapons production –John Pate

From Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace and Matsutaro Shoriki founding the Japanese nuclear industry to Shinzo Abe’s international nuclear salesmanship, nuclear power has always been a whitewash for nuclear weapons, with “peaceful” nukes a boondoggle for big corps subsidized by taxpayers and ratepayers. Yet the sun is rising around the world, on Japan as well as on the U.S.

U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower kicked it off with his “Atoms for Peace” speech at the UN, 8 December 1953,

The Atomic Energy Agency could be made responsible for the impounding, storage, and protection of the contributed fissionable and other materials. The ingenuity of our scientists will provide special safe conditions under which such a bank of fissionable material can be made essentially immune to surprise seizure.

The more important responsibility of this Atomic Energy Agency would be to devise methods whereby this fissionable material would be allocated to serve the peaceful pursuits of mankind. Experts would be mobilized to apply atomic energy to the needs of agriculture, medicine, and other peaceful activities. A special purpose would be to provide abundant electrical energy in the power-starved areas of the world. Thus the contributing powers would be dedicating some of their strength to serve the needs rather than the fears of mankind….

Against the dark background of the atomic bomb, the United States does not wish merely to present strength, but also the desire and the hope for peace.

And “Atoms for Peace” was part of an organized government PR campaign (“Operation Candor”) about Soviet nuclear weapons; see http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/research/online_documents/atoms_for_peace.html”>Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library for sources. Operation Candor was replaced by Operation Soothing Syrup (I am not making this up), according to Continue reading →

Solar and wind cheaper than fossil fuels –more evidence

The most cost-effective power sources are solar and wind, re-affirms a study that includes social costs, such as the environmental costs of the climate change caused by CO2 from fossil fuels (the social cost of carbon, or SCC), and the health damage caused by sulfur dioxide pollution. It’s time to stop paying for utility executive profits with our health and dollars. No fracking, no pipeline.

M Caulfield wrote for Exposing the Truth 24 September 2013, Renewable Energy Now Cheaper Than Fossil Fuel,

168292900_900x675[1]Renewable energy is becoming more and more competitive. Alternative and renewable energy sources are increasingly becoming more affordable. According to a new study published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, it is now less costly in America to get electricity from wind turbines and solar panels, than it is to get it from coal-fired power plants. The study shows, when climate change costs and other health impacts were factored in, that it is even more cost effective to convert an existing coal-fired power plant with a wind turbine, than it is to keep the old fossil fuel-burning plant.

Unsubsidized renewable energy is now cheaper than electricity from coal and gas power stations in Australia as well. Wind farms in Australia can produce energy at AU$80/MWh. Meanwhile, coal plants are producing energy at AU$143/MWh and gas at AU$116/MWh. And the myth that alternative energy sources were enormously more costly than the typical fossil fuels, is proving to be untrue. And after initial investment costs are waged, making them now ameliorated, and the raw materials for solar and wind power are free, besides costs of upkeep, and the harvesting of those sources doesn’t cause mayhem to the environment. Making it an ever-more appealing alternative energy source.

“The perception that fossil fuels are cheap and renewables are expensive is now out of date… The fact that wind power is now cheaper than coal and gas in a country with some of the world’s best fossil fuel resources shows that clean energy is a game changer which promises to turn the economics of power systems on its head,” – Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

In lead author Laurie Johnson’s Blog 17 September 2013, New Study: Clean Energy Least Costly to Power America’s Electricity Needs, Continue reading →

NRC back up: many nukes down

Newly down nukes Now that the NRC is back up, we can see all the nukes that went down during the government shutdown: nine of them. If they’re not safe to run without NRC looking over their shoulder, are they safe to run at all? And two came back up. Was that a prudent thing to do? Meanwhile, solar panels don’t need an NRC.

Entergy’s chronically faulty Pilgrim 1 was the last to fall during the shutdown, while Southern’s defect-shipped Farley 1 was one of the first:

Newly down nukes

Continue reading →

Chinese nukes in Britain

Bad news from Britain. Let’s hope U.S. NRC doesn’t take this as a precedent.

The Telegraph, today, Chinese companies to buy big stake in next generation of British nuclear power,

George Osborne, the Chancellor, has announced that the UK will allow Chinese companies to take a stake in British nuclear power plants.

The decision could lead to China taking a future majority stake—and even be allowed to own up to 100 pc—in the development of the next generation of British nuclear power.

Mr Osborne made the announcement on Thursday the last day of a week-long trade visit to China after a visit to Taishan nuclear power station on the coast near Hong Kong.

Taishan is a collaboration between French energy company EDF and the China General Nuclear Power Company.

EDF is at the heart of UK Government Continue reading →

Many safety violations at Georgia nukes, and NRC is shut down

Georgia’s two nuclear sites got more than a safety violation a month over a dozen years, and now the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is shut down. Maybe we need power sources that don’t need so much safety inspection, like solar and wind and efficiency and conservation.

AP wrote yesterday, 166 violations issued at Ga. nuclear power plants,

A congressional study expected to be released later this month shows that two nuclear power plants in Georgia were issued 166 safety violations between 2000 and 2012.

The unreleased Government Accountability Office report obtained by the Associated Press shows that Plant Hatch in Baxley was issued 90 safety violations during the time period. According to the report, three of the violations were higher-level offenses.

According to the report, Plant Vogtle in Waynesboro was also issued 75 safety violations between 2000 and 2012.

Allison Macfarlane wrote on the NRC blog 9 October 2013, From the Chairman: An Update on the NRC Shutdown, Continue reading →

Fourth extension on Vogtle nuclear loan guarantee deadline

Southern Company doesn’t want to pay $17 to $52 million to get an $8.33 billion federal loan guarantee. That’s 0.2% to 0.62%. Why should we guarantee SO’s bad bet for pennies down? Let’s just call it off!

Ray Henry wrote for AP yesterday, Talks continue over Ga. nuclear plant loans,

Three years after the U.S. government promised $8.3 billion in lending for a nuclear plant in Georgia, Southern Co. and its partners have not sealed a deal.

President Barack Obama’s administration recently agreed to a fourth extension of the deadline for finalizing lending agreements between Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power and the other owners of the nuclear plant now under construction. Congress authorized the funding in 2005 to revive a nuclear industry that at the time expected growth.

Few utilities secured even a preliminary agreement, mostly because power companies dropped plans to build nuclear plants. The Great Recession trimmed the demand for energy, and plummeting natural gas prices made it cheaper to build gas-fired plants. The slumping economy also pushed interest rates to historic lows, reducing borrowing costs and undercutting the need for subsidized lending.

All that and ten nukes have been closed or cancelled in the past year. Even France’s EDF has exited nukes in the U.S. and has already built more U.S. solar and wind power than SO’s new Plant Vogtle nukes would produce.

Southern Company now claims this federal loan guarantee isn’t necessary: Continue reading →

European utilities scared of renewable energy

Another reason Southern Company needs to get on with a smart grid, using its biggest private R&D outfit in the U.S. Now that solar has reached grid parity with everything including natural gas (and years since it passed nuclear), if the utilities don’t get out in front, they’re going to be left behind.

Derek Mead wrote for Motherboard yesterday, European Utilities Say They Can’t Make Money Because There’s Too Much Renewable Energy,

Renewable energy has been on a tear the past few years, with growth in many countries spurred by subsidies for wind and solar power. Now the heads of 10 European utility companies say EU subsidies should end, because they've got more renewable energy than they know what to do with.

The 10 CEOs in question, who refer to themselves as the Magritte group because they first met in an art gallery, represent companies that control about half the power capacity of Europe. The group gave a press conference today— Reuters says that 10 such executives giving a joint public statement is “unprecedented”—to hammer home a message they’ve been trumpeting ahead of an EU energy summit in 2014: There’s too much energy capacity, which has driven prices down so far that they can’t make any money.

As long as there are nukes or coal plants, there’s too much capacity. European utilities need to get on with things like Continue reading →

Nuclear power like burning $20 bills to generate electricity –Bill McKibben

Nukes cost too much and are too centralized; sun and wind are the power we need and can afford.

Andrew Sullivan on the Dish 8 December 2012, Ask McKibben Anything: What About Nuclear Energy?

In October, Bill spoke to Marlene Spoerri of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs about his views on nuclear power:

I don’t foresee, especially post-Fukushima, a kind of political system in most of the world that would let it happen. Even before Fukushima, it wasn’t happening. The reason basically had to do with cost. Environmentalists helped shut down nuclear power, but really it was Wall Street that pulled the plug on it. It’s too expensive. It’s like burning $20 bills to generate electricity. It requires, if you’re going to do it, massive government subsidy. If you’re going to apply that subsidy, you’re better off doing it with other things that will generate more kilowatt hours per buck.

Now, that said, we should keep trying to figure out if there are some ways to do it that are more acceptable than the ones we’ve got now. You read about developments on the fringes, Thorium reactors and so on and so forth. But my guess is that in the timeframe we’ve got this is not going to be the place we go.

Kevin J. Kelley wrote for Seven Days 10 August 2011, Author-Activist Bill McKibben Gets “Disobedient” About Climate Change, Continue reading →

Test program meeting at Plant Vogtle –NRC and Southern Company 9 October 2013

Safety at Plant Vogtle, this Wednesday, with call-in number, by NRC and Georgia Power’s parent the Southern Company. One hour from 1 to 2PM is the public part, then 3 more hours closed “because the staff has determined that the information is proprietary in nature.” Why is nuclear testing affecting public safety proprietary?

It’s at Vogtle Training Center, 9034 River Road, Waynesboro, GA 30830, which is on the corner of the Plant Vogtle site. Do you get a tour of the construction if you appear in person? Here’s what it looks like in Georgia Power’s Vogtle 3 and 4 Construction Photos September 2013, and on google maps:


View Larger Map

Here’s the NRC meeting announcement: Continue reading →

Former Japanese PM Koizumi calls for zero nukes

Current PM Shinzo Abe was his chosen successor, and now Junichiro Koizumi (prime minister 2001-2006) calls on Abe to end nukes in Japan. Why? “A large majority of the population now understands that nuclear energy is the most expensive form of power generation.” For sure here in Georgia, with Georgia Power charging through the nose for power customers aren’t even receiving while trying to hike the price of solar power, too. Let’s end Plant Vogtle and get on with renewable solar inland and wind off the coast.

Wolf Richter wrote for Zerohedge 4 October 2013, The End Of Nuclear Energy In Japan?

And on August 26, his words made it into the Mainichi Shimbun. If he were an active politician, he’d want “to convince lawmakers to move in the direction of zero nuclear plants,” he said. Now would be the ideal time to move that direction. All 50 nuclear reactors were off line. All opposition parties favored zero nuclear power. It could be done “as long as the prime minister made the decision” — putting the onus squarely on his former protégé. And nuclear politics in Japan haven’t been the same since.

The next blast came on September 24 at a forum in Tokyo. He talked about his trip to Finland in August. The purpose was to inspect the Onkalo spent-fuel repository. He was accompanied by Continue reading →