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16 August 2011

World Nuclear News

The near-term prospects for an expansion in the use of nuclear energy in the USA "will be miserably hard and extremely challenged by economics," according to the head of Exelon, the country’s largest nuclear utility.

Speaking at the American Nuclear Society’s 2011 Utility Working Conference in Hollywood, Florida, on 15 August, Exelon chairman and CEO John Rowe said that the renaissance of the US nuclear industry is being limited by economics rather than technology.

"When making decisions about what to build, the same standards that we say should be applied to renewable, coal and gas must be applied to nuclear." These include costs, energy demand, energy security and government support. "Politicians ignore many of these factors, especially economics, and want to promote their favourite technologies."

Rowe told the conference, "The country needs nuclear power if it is going to tackle the problem of climate change, clean up our generation stack, maintain reliability and improve overall energy security… But we must keep our hopes for new generation harnessed to facts. Nuclear needs to be looked at in the Age of Reason and not the Age of Faith. It is a business and not a religion."

Exelon is America’s biggest generator of nuclear electricity with ten power plants and 17 reactors located throughout Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Approximately 93% of its total electricity generation is nuclear power, making it one of the lowest polluting utilities in the USA.

It also has an uprate program that could see the effective addition of up to 1500 MWe in extra generating capacity by 2017, at a cost of about $3.5 billion – half the cost of building a new plant. This comes on top of about 1100 MWe in uprates added to the units in the decade up to 2009.

Rowe said that 20 years ago he put forward four preconditions for investing in new US nuclear power plants.

The first is that we have the right technology. He said that new designs needed more safety features and to be simpler to operate than earlier designs. "The new reactor designs have made great progress in this area, and this condition has been met," Rowe concluded.

The second requirement is to have a workable solution for dealing with radioactive waste. However, he said, "Unfortunately the federal government is further away from keeping its promise on waste disposal than ever and this condition cannot be met."

Thirdly, there needs to be demand for new generating capacity. "There is not currently a need for new baseload generation because of minimal load growth and excess generation capacity," Rowe said. "This could change with more coal plant retirements, but right now this condition cannot be met."

The final precondition is that there are consistently higher prices for gas, making nuclear a more economical option. However, he noted that new supplies of natural gas "has caused prices to plummet from their historic highs. It is the most affordable fuel for at least one, perhaps two decades." Therefore, "This condition cannot be met due to the influx of shale gas into the market." Rowe added, "Shale is good for the country, bad for new nuclear development."

"So it is not the technology – it’s the economics that we are challenged by," according to Rowe. "Despite not meeting my test for new build right now, nuclear energy presents a challenge and an opportunity, and remains, in my view, a career of choice for bright, talented people."

In 2008 Exelon planned a two-unit nuclear power plant at a new site in Victoria county, Texas, and applied for a combined construction and operating license before backing away in March 2010. It is still, however, pursuing an Early Site Permit for the potential Victoria plant.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Licensing hearing for South Texas Project reactors to be held in Austin, Aug. 17th – 19th

August 15, 2011

Media Release
Contact
Karen Hadden, SEED Coalition, 512-797-8481
Tom "Smitty" Smith, Public Citizen, 512-477-1155

Download this press release in pdf format for printing.

AUSTIN – A hearing on the application to expand the South Texas Nuclear plant will be held in Austin from Aug. 17th to19th. This hearing raises key issues, especially in light of the explosions, fires and meltdowns at Fukushima. We will raise the issue of whether it is possible to control multiple reactors after a fire or explosion at one of the units. We will question the need for more reactors since new federal energy efficiency laws are in place. Another major issue is that the applicant (Nuclear Innovation North America – NINA) doesn’t meet federal requirements prohibiting foreign ownership, control or domination of a U.S. nuclear facility.

The South Texas Project expansion has been hurting for investors. TEPCO, owner of the ill-fated Fukushima reactors, will no longer invest in the reactors. Austin Energy has chosen not to invest and City Public Service in San Antonio has reduced its 50% interest to only 7%. Even NRG, the major force behind the reactor project, is no longer investing. The nuclear license is still being sought by NINA- a partnership of NRG Energy and Toshiba – a foreign company. Opponents have called for a halt to licensing, especially since a license could be sold in the future.

"Fukushima shows just how dangerous it is to have a lot of reactors in one location. We will raise safety concerns about locating so many nuclear reactors close together," said Karen Hadden, SEED Coalition’s Executive Director. "We’re raising concerns about the legality of foreign ownership of the proposed reactors."

"Texas doesn’t need or want more nuclear power," said Tom "Smitty" Smith of Public Citizen’s Texas office. "We have safer, cleaner and more affordable energy options available today. New federal building codes and appliance standards will improve efficiency, making the two additional nuclear plants unnecessary. San Antonio’s reduced nuclear project share is being replaced through energy efficiency, wind and solar power and natural gas."

An Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) panel–an independent body within the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)–will hear oral arguments and conduct an evidentiary hearing beginning Aug. 17th in Austin, Texas. It will begin at 9:30 a.m. in Room 2210, Building F at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), 12100 Park 35 Circle in Austin. On the 18th and 19th the hearing will continue in Building E, Room 201 S at TCEQ.

The public is invited to the hearing, but participation is limited to the parties admitted to the proceeding: the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition, the South Texas Association for Responsible Energy, Public Citizen, the applicant, NINA, and NRC staff.

The South Texas Project COL application was submitted to the NRC on Sept. 20, 2007, the first such application in the United States in nearly 30 years. The license would allow construction and operation of South Texas Project reactors 3 & 4 at the existing Bay City, Texas site.

Over the past four years, the proposed nuclear project has experienced:

• Cost estimates that have skyrocketed from $5.6 billion to over $18 billion.

• A major pull-back by NRG’s partner, San Antonio’s CPS Energy, from a 50% stake down to 7%, which left a huge investor gap.

• NRG Energy and TEPCO will no longer invest in the project. Previously anticipated loan guarantees from Japan now appear unlikely. Despite the lack of further investment, NINA continues to seek a license for the proposed reactors. NRG will give Toshiba $20 million for this purpose.

Individuals or groups not admitted to the proceeding can submit "written limited appearance statements" to the ASLB. Anyone wishing to submit a written statement can email hearingdocket@nrc.gov, or fax to (301) 415-1101, or send mail to: Office of the Secretary, Attn. Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. In addition, copies of written statements should be sent to Michael.Gibson@nrc.gov and Jonathan.Eser@nrc.gov; by fax to (301-415-5599), or by mail to: Administrative Judge Michael M. Gibson, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, Mail Stop: T-3F23, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

Documents related to the South Texas Project COL application are available on the NRC website. Documents pertaining to the ASLB proceeding are available in the agency’s electronic hearing docket. NOTE: Anyone wishing to take photos or use a camera to record the hearing should contact the NRC Office of Public Affairs beforehand.

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Monday 14 March 2011

Greg Palast

I need to speak to you, not as a reporter, but in my former capacity as lead investigator in several government nuclear plant fraud and racketeering investigations.

I don’t know the law in Japan, so I can’t tell you if Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) can plead insanity to the homicides about to happen.

But what will Obama plead? The administration, just months ago, asked Congress to provide a $4 billion loan guarantee for two new nuclear reactors to be built and operated on the Gulf Coast of Texas – by TEPCO and local partners. As if the Gulf hasn’t suffered enough. Here are the facts about TEPCO and the industry you haven’t heard on CNN:

The failure of emergency systems at Japan’s nuclear plants comes as no surprise to those of us who have worked in the field.

Nuclear plants the world over must be certified for what is called "SQ" or "Seismic Qualification." That is, the owners swear that all components are designed for the maximum conceivable shaking event, be it from an earthquake or an exploding Christmas card from al-Qaeda.

The most inexpensive way to meet your SQ is to lie. The industry does it all the time. The government team I worked with caught them once, in 1988, at the Shoreham plant in New York. Correcting the SQ problem at Shoreham would have cost a cool billion, so engineers were told to change the tests from "failed" to "passed."

The company that put in the false safety report? Stone & Webster, now the nuclear unit of Shaw Construction, which will work with TEPCO to build the Texas plant. Lord help us.

There’s more.

Last night, I heard CNN reporters repeat the official line that the tsunami disabled the pumps needed to cool the reactors, implying that water unexpectedly got into the diesel generators that run the pumps.

These safety backup systems are the "EDGs" in nuke-speak: Emergency Diesel Generators. That they didn’t work in an emergency is like a fire department telling us they couldn’t save a building because "it was on fire."

What dim bulbs designed this system? One of the reactors dancing with death at Fukushima Station 1 was built by Toshiba. Toshiba was also an architect of the emergency diesel system.

Now be afraid. Obama’s $4 billion bailout in the making is called the South Texas Project. It’s been sold as a red-white-and-blue way to make power domestically with a reactor from Westinghouse, a great American brand. However, the reactor will be made substantially in Japan by the company that bought the US brand name, Westinghouse – Toshiba.

I once had a Toshiba computer. I only had to send it in once for warranty work. However, it’s kind of hard to mail back a reactor with the warranty slip inside the box if the fuel rods are melted and sinking halfway to the earth’s core.

TEPCO and Toshiba don’t know what my son learned in eighth grade science class: tsunamis follow Pacific Rim earthquakes. So, these companies are real stupid, eh? Maybe. More likely is that the diesels and related systems wouldn’t have worked on a fine, dry afternoon.

Back in the day, when we checked the emergency backup diesels in America, a mind-blowing number flunked. At the New York nuclear plant, for example, the builders swore under oath that their three diesel engines were ready for an emergency. They’d been tested. The tests were faked; the diesels run for just a short time at low speed. When the diesels were put through a real test under emergency-like conditions, the crankshaft on the first one snapped in about an hour, then the second and third. We nicknamed the diesels, "Snap, Crackle and Pop."

(Note: Moments after I wrote that sentence, word came that two of three diesels failed at the Tokai Station as well.)

In the US, we supposedly fixed our diesels after much complaining by the industry. But in Japan, no one tells TEPCO to do anything the Emperor of Electricity doesn’t want to do.

I get lots of confidential notes from nuclear industry insiders. One engineer, a big name in the field, is especially concerned that Obama waved the come-hither check to Toshiba and TEPCO to lure them to America. The US has a long history of whistleblowers willing to put themselves on the line to save the public. In our racketeering case in New York, the government only found out about the seismic test fraud because two courageous engineers, Gordon Dick and John Daly, gave our team the documentary evidence.

In Japan, it’s simply not done. The culture does not allow the salary men, who work all their lives for one company, to drop the dime.

Not that US law is a wondrous shield: both engineers in the New York case were fired and blacklisted by the industry. Nevertheless, the government (local, state, federal) brought civil racketeering charges against the builders. The jury didn’t buy the corporation’s excuses and, in the end, the plant was, thankfully, dismantled.

Am I on some kind of xenophobic anti-Nippon crusade? No. In fact, I’m far more frightened by the American operators in the South Texas nuclear project, especially Shaw. Stone & Webster, now the Shaw nuclear division, was also the firm that conspired to fake the EDG tests in New York . (The company’s other exploits have been exposed by their former consultant, John Perkins, in his book, "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.") If the planet wants to shiver, consider this: Toshiba and Shaw have recently signed a deal to become worldwide partners in the construction of nuclear stations.

The other characters involved at the South Texas Plant that Obama is backing should also give you the willies. But as I’m in the middle of investigating the American partners, I’ll save that for another day.

So, if we turned to America’s own nuclear contractors, would we be safe? Well, two of the melting Japanese reactors, including the one whose building blew sky high, were built by General Electric of the Good Old US of A.

After Texas, you’re next. The Obama administration is planning a total of $56 billion in loans for nuclear reactors all over America.

And now, the homicides:

CNN is only interested in body counts, how many workers burnt by radiation, swept away or lost in the explosion. These plants are now releasing radioactive steam into the atmosphere. Be skeptical about the statements that the "levels are not dangerous." These are the same people who said these meltdowns could never happen. Over years, not days, there may be a thousand people, two thousand, ten thousand who will suffer from cancers induced by this radiation.

In my New York investigation, I had the unhappy job of totaling up post-meltdown "morbidity" rates for the county government. It would be irresponsible for me to estimate the number of cancer deaths that will occur from these releases without further information; but it is just plain criminal for the TEPCO shoguns to say that these releases are not dangerous.

Indeed, the fact that residents near the Japanese nuclear plants were not issued iodine pills to keep at the ready shows TEPCO doesn’t care who lives and who dies, whether in Japan or the USA. The carcinogenic isotopes that are released at Fukushima are already floating to Seattle with effects we simply cannot measure.

Heaven help us. Because Obama won’t.

August 1, 2011

San Francisco Chronicle

Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, said it detected the highest radiation to date at the site.

Geiger counters, used to detect radioactivity, registered more than 10 sieverts an hour, the highest reading the devices are able to record, Junichi Matsumoto, a general manager at the utility, said today. The measurements were taken at the base of the main ventilation stack for reactors No. 1 and No. 2.

The Fukushima plant, about 220 kilometers (137 miles) north of Tokyo, had three reactor meltdowns after the March 11 magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami knocked out power and backup generators. Radiation leaks displaced 160,000 people and contaminated marine life and agricultural products.

The utility, known as Tepco, tried to vent steam and gas the day after the earthquake as pressure in reactor No. 1 exceeded designed limits. A buildup of hydrogen gas subsequently caused an explosion that blew out part of the reactor building.

"I suspect the high radiation quantity was an aftermath of venting done," Matsumoto told reporters in Tokyo. "The plant is not running. I don’t think any gas with high radiation level is flowing in the stack."

Tepco sent three workers around the ventilation stack today after a gamma camera detected high radioactivity levels in the area yesterday, Matsumoto said. The workers were exposed to as much as 4 millisieverts during the work, he said.

The utility will create a no-go zone around the stack and cover the area with protective material, he said.

–With assistance from Shunichi Ozasa in Tokyo. Editors: Amanda Jordan, Reed Landberg

07/02/2011

Kathy Clay-Little
San Antonio Express-News

A green economy creating jobs. When President Barack Obama was running for president in 2008 and talked about the green economy being an economic generator, it really sounded like pie in the sky to many.

To a nation long accustomed to and long reliant upon fossil fuels to light, heat and cool their homes and buildings, prepare their meals and get them from point A to point B, the green economy was years in the future.

The future just moved miles closer in San Antonio with the recent announcement by CPS Energy that it has formed partnerships with five companies that will thrust San Antonio to the forefront of the green economy. Three of the five companies are moving their headquarters to San Antonio, along with about 120 immediate jobs.

And, to put an exclamation point to the announcement and let the San Antonio community know that it is moving full force ahead into a green energy economy, CPS Energy CEO Doyle Beneby made another big announcement: CPS will be closing the J.T. Deely coal- fired plant by 2015, 18 years earlier than projected.

That, if nothing else, is an indicator of Beneby’s commitment to take CPS in a different direction, one significantly less reliant on fossil fuels.

Prior to coming to CPS Energy, Beneby worked for Exelon Power, in the private sector and not in the role of CEO. Stepping in the role of CEO of the nation’s largest municipally owned utility company, he faced some enormous challenges. Chief among them was restoring confidence in the utility after the debacle surrounding the South Texas Nuclear Project.

Beneby was hired in August and took the reins from Milton Lee on Sept. 1, so he’s been at the job less than a year. He’s already set the tone for where he is taking CPS Energy.

The marrying of a municipally owned utility with the area’s economic development is a big, bold step, one that some will say is outside the realm of what they want their utility company to be doing.

However, when one looks at what CPS Energy has invested in the South Texas Nuclear Plant and the relative benefits to San Antonio in terms of its economy, it seems that Beneby has carved out a new "right direction" for the utility in positioning it to be ahead of the curve in the coming green economy if it actually does turn out to be more than a pie in the sky dream.

While environmentalists are, no doubt, happy with Beneby this week for making such a huge commitment to green energy and closing the pollutant- spewing Deely plant, that honeymoon most likely won’t last forever.

When I interviewed Beneby earlier this year, he talked about the importance of diversifying CPS Energy’s sources of energy for its customers if San Antonio consumers are to continue to have low-cost energy and clean energy.

The energy that the Deely plant is generating will need to be replaced, and solar and wind energy are not at the point, nor are they likely to be so by 2015, that they can take up the slack.

Nuclear energy has to be a part of our city’s energy future, and Beneby has to lead us in that direction, too.

Kathy Clay-Little is publisher of African American Reflections.