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Japan Rejoining Nuclear Club Leaves Fossil Fuel Appetite

Japan is poised to rejoin the world nuclear club — barely. Yesterday’s report vouching for the safety of Kyushu Electric Power Co. (9508) ’s atomic station in southern Japan means the utility’s two reactors in Sendai may begin operating as soon as October or November, according to Yoko Nobuoka, a Tokyo-based analyst with Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Two more units may be working by the end of the year, she says. The lengthy approval process — utilities began applying to restart their reactors more than a year ago — indicates Japan may remain nuclear-free throughout the summer when power demand is typically at its highest. Even with some nuclear capacity restored, the contribution to Japan’s energy mix will remain marginal, leaving the nation reliant on dirtier-burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and liquefied natural gas. “We still hold the view of not a wave of nuclear restarts, it’s […]

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Temporary Closing of Indian Point Power Plant Is Considered

Business groups and the operator of the Indian Point Energy Center have aligned against a proposal by New York state to close the nuclear power plant in spring and summer months to protect fish in the Hudson River, an idea drawing tentative support from some environmental advocates. Indian Point produces about 25% of the electricity consumed in New York City and the lower Hudson Valley. The state Department of Environmental Conservation, which is proposing the shutdown, hasn’t specified how the loss of power produced by Indian Point would be made up, though it said it would do what it could to prevent service disruptions. The DEC is advocating the shutdown as an alternative to proposed engineering changes to the facility that have largely been rejected by Entergy Corp. , the plant’s operator. Millions of fish and larvae are killed as Indian Point sucks in 2.5 billion gallons of Hudson […]

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Fukushima: Bad and Getting Worse

Fukushima: Bad and Getting Worse Fukushima’s radiation disaster is “far from over” There is broad disagreement over the amounts and effects of radiation exposure due to the triple reactor meltdowns after the 2011 Great East-Japan Earthquake and tsunami. The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) joined the controversy June 4, with a 27-page “Critical Analysis of the UNSCEAR Report ‘Levels and effects of radiation exposures due to the nuclear accident after the 2011 Great East-Japan Earthquake and tsunami.’” IPPNW is the Nobel Peace Prize winning global federation of doctors working for “a healthier, safer and more peaceful world.” The group has adopted a highly critical view of nuclear power because as it says, “A world without nuclear weapons will only be possible if we also phase out nuclear energy.” UNSCEAR , the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, published its deeply flawed […]

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Russia, Iran nuclear contract imminent

Russian plans to sign a contract with Iran to help expand the Bushehr nuclear power facility by the end of the year, Russia’s nuclear regulator said Monday. Sergei Kirienko , chief executive at Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corp., said talks with Iranian officials are close to completion. "We hope that by the end of this year we will move on to the final signing and additions to the intergovernmental agreement, and then the according contract," he said Monday. Russia supplies Iran with fuel needed to power its Bushehr nuclear reactor . In March, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said the agreement calls for the pair of 1,000-megawatt reactors to be built near the first unit of the Bushehr nuclear power plant . Russia is under pressure from a U.S. government frustrated with the Kremlin’s reaction to Ukraine’s move toward the European Union, […]

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LNG Rally Fading on New Supply as Nukes Set to Restart

The three-year rally in liquefied natural gas is cooling as Asia-Pacific supplies jump and demand slows from Japanese utilities preparing to restart nuclear reactors. LNG shipped to northeast Asia next winter may be sold at the lowest price since 2012 for that time of year, when demand typically peaks, according to a Bloomberg News survey of traders and analysts. Exxon Mobil Corp. and BG Group Plc are bringing new supplies to Asia this year before at least four projects start in 2015, including the first U.S. exports. Prices have doubled over the past three years since the Fukushima disaster in March 2011, as utilities turned to fossil fuels such as LNG to compensate for the loss of the atomic plants. Japan is preparing to restart at least two of 48 nuclear reactors that were shut in the wake of an earthquake and tsunami that hit the country. “We have […]

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China Regulators ‘Overwhelmed’ as Reactors Built at Pace

China is moving quickly to become the first country to operate the world’s most powerful atomic reactor even as France’s nuclear regulator says communication and cooperation on safety measures with its Chinese counterparts are lacking. In the coastal city of Taishan, 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the financial hub of Hong Kong , Chinese builders are entering the final construction stages for two state-of-the-art European Pressurized Reactors. Each will produce about twice as much electricity as the average reactor worldwide. France has a lot riding on a smooth roll out of China’s EPRs. The country is home to Areva SA (AREVA) , which developed the next-generation reactor, and utility Electricite de France SA , which oversees the project. The two companies, controlled by the French state, need a safe, trouble-free debut in China to ensure a future for their biggest new product in a generation. And French authorities have […]

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Fukushima Fires Up Atomic Industry’s Removal-of-Liability Drive

Japan will introduce legislation this year to ratify a controversial treaty backed by General Electric Co. and other atomic-plant manufacturers seeking protection from damage claims caused by nuclear accidents. The treaty, known as the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage or CSC, will encourage experienced U.S. companies to assist in the cleanup and decommissioning at the Fukushima atomic accident site, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement today. Protection from accident claims is needed because of the dangers and risks that remain at Fukushima, said U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman in an interview in Tokyo yesterday. The plant has three melted reactors and thousands of tons of radioactive water. “The important thing is to do everything that we can to facilitate the cleanup and decontamination of the Fukushima site,” Poneman said. The CSC is a means to support U.S. companies in that role, he said. Poneman was […]

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Officials fear melted reactor fuel is now exposed at Fukushima

Tepco: We don’t know at this point if fuel is uncovered — Large drop in water level — Experts ‘struggling’ to find condition of nuclear cores, nothing is known for all 3 reactors TEPCO: Water in reactor half expected level — Officials with the operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant say the water level inside the No.2 reactor’s containment vessel is about half what they had estimated. […] They found the water was around 30 centimeters [11.8 inches] deep. TEPCO officials […] say they don’t know whether the fuel is entirely submerged. […] They believe then flowing out of the reactor building through holes in the chamber. NHK WORLD , June 10, 2014: TEPCO officials are struggling to find […] the condition of the melted fuel […] Officials believe that at reactor number 2, water is leaking […] at the bottom of the containment vessel, but do […]

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Fukushima Watch: Tepco Eyes Radioactive Strontium-Removal System

A storage tank where highly radioactive water leaked at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. European Pressphoto Agency Still trying to work out the bugs in its water processing system, the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has decided to adopt technology to reduce risks posed by a deadly radioactive isotope stewing in water stored in a thousand tanks at the site. Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday that the new technology would remove radioactive strontium from the 400,000 metric tons of highly contaminated water. Kurion Inc., the provider of the technology, has already delivered the first set of equipment to the site for inspection and plans to ship the balance of equipment in the coming weeks, the company said in a statement. The California-based company said it expects the processing system, which can handle 300 tons of water a day, to be operational […]

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US DOE awards NuScale up to $217 million for small reactors

The US Department of Energy and NuScale Power signed an agreement in which NuScale will receive up to $217 million over five years for small modular reactor development, the company said Wednesday. NuScale joins Babcock & Wilcox in receiving money as part of a six-year program DOE initiated in 2012 to distribute $452 million to support licensing and development of small modular reactors. DOE defines SMRs as reactors of less than 300 MW that can be built in a factory and shipped to utility sites as demand arises. "It was only yesterday that we actually signed the cooperative agreement, which will provide up to $217 million to NuScale," John Kelly, DOE deputy assistant secretary for nuclear reactor technologies, said Wednesday at Platts’ annual Small Modular Reactors conference in Washington. Article continues below… Since 1960, Platts Nucleonics Week has been the leading source of global news for the commercial nuclear […]

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