nuke.news's feed | Diigo Group

Sustainability of Uranium Mining and Milling: Toward Quantifying Resources and Eco-Efficiency

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 07:28:22 -0000

The mining of uranium has long been a controversial public
issue, and a renewed debate has emerged on the potential for
nuclear power to help mitigate against climate change. The
central thesis of pro-nuclear advocates is the lower carbon
intensity of nuclear energy compared to fossil fuels, although
there remains very little detailed analysis of the true carbon costs
of nuclear energy. In this paper, we compile and analyze a
range of data on uranium mining and milling, including uranium
resources as well as sustainability metrics such as energy
and water consumption and carbon emissions with respect to
uranium productionsarguably the first time for modern
projects.

Tags: australia climatechange economics energy fuel-cycle mining nuclear report uranium

Posted by: theenergynet

Nuclear power – some facts: Jan Willem Storm Van Leeuwen

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 07:08:50 -0000

Large-scale implementation of nuclear power cannot be the solution to
the future energy and climate problems of the world. Costs, constraints
on uranium supply and technological shortcoming, well known to the
nuclear industry, undermine the case for a nuclear future. There are
better and cheaper alternatives, starting with more efficient energy use, wind power and biomass.

Some facts, technical dreams and misconceptions are discussed in this
article, from a physical point of view.

Tags: economics energy fuel-cycle nuclear report resouces

Posted by: theenergynet

Govt queries Sydney reactor repair costs

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:21:28 -0000

The federal government says it has serious questions about ongoing repair costs at the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney.

Design flaws in the $400 million reactor have seen it shut down for a total of 11 months since it began operations at the end of 2006.

The cost of repairs and loss productions is expected to run into millions.

Tags: australia economics energy nuclear nuke.news nuke.news.int reactor

Posted by: theenergynet

Bloomberg.com: Utilities Seek $122 Billion in loan support

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:18:05 -0000

-- Southern Co., PPL Corp. and Duke Energy Corp. are among 17 utilities seeking $122 billion in loan guarantees from a U.S. Energy Department program that makes available $18.5 billion to build nuclear plants.

Power companies that want to build 21 reactors submitted applications for the guarantees, the department said in an e- mail today. Spokeswoman Bethany Shively said the department isn't naming the utilities.

Tags: development doe economics energy loans nuclear nuke.news reactor us

Posted by: theenergynet

French EDF not to sign BE/Centrica deal until after EC OK: report

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:05:54 -0000

French energy giant EDF's UK subsidiary EDF Energy would not comment Wednesday on press reports that no deal would be reached with UK's Centrica over ownership of nuclear generator British Energy until after the European Commission ratified the French company's takeover bid. State-controlled EDF's Eur15.6 billion ($22 billion) takeover of British Energy was agreed September 24 by the boards of EDF and British Energy and is subject to UK and EC regulatory approval.

Tags: british-energy economics edf energy eu europe nuclear nuke.news nuke.news.int

Posted by: theenergynet

Associated Press: Financial crisis could dent nuclear plant growth

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:58:03 -0000

Growth in the construction of new nuclear plants worldwide is at risk because of the global financial crisis, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Wednesday, adding that short-term projects like oil drilling are more likely to go ahead.

During a visit to Paris, Bodman said the crisis could have an impact on the "nuclear renaissance" that is sweeping the industry as countries around the globe search for alternatives to fossil fuels.

Long-term projects like nuclear plant building "are the ones that are going to be the most difficult to finance," he told reporters. While Bodman said he is hopeful the financial crisis will be resolved, "long term projects are at risk, I would think."

Tags: development doe economics energy loans nuclear nuke.news us

Posted by: theenergynet

US ready to help finance global nuclear power expansion: Bush

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:27:16 -0000

The US is prepared to help other countries develop nuclear energy, including by "assisting with the necessary financing," President Bush told the International Atomic Energy Agency's General Conference in Vienna Monday. Bush's message was delivered as part of more extensive remarks by US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, who also said, "We must make the development of a global commercial nuclear infrastructure a priority." Bodman also called on other IAEA member states to establish an international fuel bank that would begin operations by the end of the year. The fuel bank's goal would be to provide an incentive to countries with new nuclear power programs to refrain from pursuing indigenous uranium enrichment programs.

Tags: bush development economics energy global nuclear nuke.news us

Posted by: theenergynet

WSJ: Buffett Could Reshape Nuclear Power Industry - Cattle Network

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:53:48 -0000

Warren Buffett's decision to rescue Constellation Energy Group Inc. gives one of the nuclear power industry's biggest skeptics some important clout in deciding its future.

In agreeing to a $4.7-billion cash deal for Baltimore-based Constellation, Mr. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will gain control of three nuclear power plants. In addition, it will own half of a prominent nuclear-plant development company, UniStar Nuclear Energy LLC, which is trying to accelerate construction of the next generation of nuclear plants in the U.S.

Mr. Buffett, who has sizable investments in electric utilities and gas pipelines through Berkshire's energy firm, MidAmerican Energy Holding Co., has previously argued nuclear plants are too costly to build.

Tags: economics energy nuclear nuke.news policy

Posted by: theenergynet

BE investor declines to sell to EdF amid growing concerns - Telegraph

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:17:22 -0000

One of British Energy’s biggest investors has so far declined to sell its stake to EdF, believing that the French company’s £12.5bn takeover bid may yet fail regulatory hurdles.

M&G, which owns 5pc of the UK nuclear power generator and helped block EdF’s original offer, argues that the revised bid significantly undervalues British Energy.

Tags: british-energy economics edf energy europe nuclear nuke.news nuke.news.int uk

Posted by: theenergynet

Britain's family uranium is safe in French hands - Business Analysis & Features, Business - The Independent

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:06:36 -0000

EDF Energy's chief assures Margareta Pagano that consumers can put their trust in a new generation of nuclear reactors

Vincent de Rivaz, the chief executive of France's EDF Energy, which is now in control of the UK's nuclear energy programme, doesn't laugh when I ask if he has succeeded where Napoleon failed.

Tags: british-energy economics edf energy nuclear nuke.news nuke.news.int

Posted by: theenergynet

Uranium mining, nuclear power and 'ethical' investment - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:34:50 -0000

A recent Corporate Watch Australia survey reveals that many so-called ethical investment funds invest in uranium mining.

The number has risen significantly in recent years. Some fund managers justify investment in uranium with questionable arguments about nuclear power and climate change, but the primary reason for the shift is probably BHP Billiton's entry into the uranium industry with its 2005 acquisition of WMC Resources, which owns the Olympic Dam uranium mine in South Australia.

Highlights and Sticky Notes:

Tags: australia corporate economics energy fuel-cycle mining nuclear nuke.comments nuke.news uranium

Posted by: theenergynet

EDF: state control and free enterprise battle to succeed Pierre Gadonneix - Times Online

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 06:41:01 -0000

t might look like any other power struggle, but the battle to succeed Pierre Gadonneix at EDF is about much more than merely becoming chairman and chief executive of one of Europe’s biggest energy groups.

It has become a philosophical struggle, between free enterprise on the one hand and state control on the other, at the company that yesterday offered to pay £12.5 billion for British Energy.

Tags: economics edf energy europe nuclear nuke.news nuke.news.int uk

Posted by: theenergynet

Electricity Price Fears As Nuclear Firm Sold To French (from The Herald )

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 06:39:54 -0000

Plans for Britain's future nuclear supply emerged in sharp focus yesterday after the French power giant EDF unveiled a £12.5bn deal to buy British Energy and build four new reactors in the UK.

The state-owned company, already one of the UK's top six energy suppliers, plans to take over British Energy's eight nuclear generators, including Hunterston B and Torness in Scotland, and has identified six potential sites for its new model of water-pressurised reactor south of the border.

Tags: british-energy economics edf energy nuclear nuke.news nuke.news.int uk

Posted by: theenergynet

Uranium spot price tumbles as downward pressure continues

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 06:13:59 -0000

The spot price of uranium tumbled for the second week in a row, ending late Monday at $58 a pound U3O8, a $4 drop from the previous week, according to Ux Consulting. TradeTech late Friday dropped its price $3 to $60/lb U3O8. The continuing financial turmoil in the US and elsewhere has not helped support uranium prices, which already were facing some near-term downward pressure as discretionary buyers refused to pay $64.50/lb, the published spot price for over two months.

Tags: economics energy fuel-cycle nuclear nuke.news uranium yellowcake

Posted by: theenergynet

Department of Energy - Department of Energy Senior Official to Host Press Conference Call on DOE’s Loan Guarantee Program

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:25:49 -0000

oday, September 22, 2008, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Under Secretary Clarence “Bud” Albright will host a press conference call to announce a solicitation for $8 billion in loan guarantees.

Tags: doe economics energy nuclear

Posted by: theenergynet

Nuclear power: cost and benefits | Asian Tribune

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 07:43:00 -0000

A section within India and the non-proliferation Ayatollahs outside are praying hard that the US Congress rejects the 123 agreement and thus mark the end of the much talked about civilian nuclear deal with the United States. But their hopes were actually dashed at the meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group in Vienna last month when India received the waiver from the group of 45 nations that entitles India to enter the world of nuclear trade even without signing the NPT.

Tags: asia economics energy nuclear nuke.news nuke.news.int policy

Posted by: theenergynet

Multinational Monitor: Nuclear’s Power Play: Give Us Subsidies or Give Us Death

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 07:27:58 -0000

Most energy analysts in the early- and mid-1990s assumed nuclear power in the United States was dying a slow death. Utilities were saddled with unmanageable debt, mainly from the $60 billion in cost overruns and plant shutdowns due to the industry’s misadventures in the 1970s (when nukes were promoted as a solution to crippling high oil prices and calls for energy independence).

Tags: economics energy history nuclear nuke.news policy us

Posted by: theenergynet

Nuclear is the real threat to the fuel-poor, not wind energy | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:47:17 -0000

Recent allegations that a dash for wind would cause a big increase in fuel poverty crumble when you do the numbers, says Oliver Tickell. Nuclear is the real worry

"Wind power could put another half million people into fuel poverty" – shock, horror! That was how BBC Radio 4 promoted last week's The Investigation into the future of wind power in the UK.

Who can blame them? It got me listening. But do their figures stack up? And what exactly was Sir David King, former government chief scientific advisor, up to when he uttered his dire warning? In case you missed it, here's that warning in full:

Tags: economics energy europe nuclear nuke.news nuke.news.int policy uk

Posted by: theenergynet

AFP: MidAmerican Energy to buy Constellation in 4.7 bln dlr deal

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 01:41:27 -0000

MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, agreed Thursday to acquire Constellation Energy for around 4.7 billion dollars in cash.

The companies said in a joint statement that MidAmerican agreed to purchase all outstanding shares of Constellation Energy for 26.50 dollars per share.

MidAmerican shares which lost about 58 percent of their value this week, leapt 1.94 percent to 25.25 dollars on the news.

Tags: constellation corporate economics energy nuclear nuke.news

Posted by: theenergynet

TVA may face debt cap: Knoxville News Sentinel

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 01:37:54 -0000

Completing nuclear sites, capital growth nears $30 billion limit

federal utility decides to build more nuclear plants.

TVA's debt now totals about $25.2 billion. The agency has been able to cut its debt by more than $2.5 billion since 1997. Still, this leaves less than $5 billion for new capital projects.

Tags: development economics energy nuclear nuke.news tn tva

Posted by: theenergynet