nuke.news

"The United States should consider a criteria-based nuclear deal for Pakistan as part of a comprehensive strategy to secure the key South Asian country's anti-militancy cooperation over the long-term, a new study by American scholars said Monday. In a critical appraisal of Islamabad's fight against terrorist threat since 2001 in the context of US-Pakistan cooperation as well as Pakistani policies, the Rand Corporation study notes the vitality of "politically valuable initiatives" that Washington should take towards ensuring Pakistan's sustained cooperation in the high-stakes struggle. These initiatives should also include a free trade agreement between the two allies, the study entitled "Counterinsurgency in Pakistan" says. The nuclear deal for Pakistan "could be based on an exclusive relationship with the United States, rather than seeking broad accommodation with the Nuclear Supplier's group and other regimes thatlimit the proliferation of nuclear technology and access to materials for nuclear programs, " authors Christine Fair of Georgetown University and Seth Jones of Rand Corporation suggest."

"While the world is busy watching the FIFA World Cup that is being held at South Africa, the CBS on Sunday went to throw some light on a still unsolved issue of 2007 when a raid was carried out at the Pelindaba's nuclear research facility that contained weapons-grade uranium. Scott Pelley of CBS' "60 Minutes" is seen exploring the incidents and how such a raid could have had one of the most horrific effects on the whole world. CBS replayed its 2008 famous report on the issue that has brought the matter to the national attention. The "60 Minutes" episode that once again enlivened in front of the viewers the horror of the attack with interviews with people who have been present at the place and also experts who provided insight into the matter and what consequences the raid could have yielded. Scott Pelley interviews Anton Gerber the man who was present at the plant on that fatal night and who had worked at Pelindaba for 30 years."

Review of accelerated depreciation, investment tax credit, and production tax credit provisions of Senator Kerry's and Senator Lieberman's American Power Act In May 2010, Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) released a discussion version of The American Power Act (henceforth referred to as the "K-L Bill" or the "APA"). The K-L Bill as proposed is a wide-ranging piece of energy legislation that includes a number of new subsidies to nuclear power. This memo evaluates three of those nuclear provisions, describing how they work and estimating their subsidy value to recipients in the nuclear power sector: * 5-year accelerated depreciation period for new nuclear power plants (section 1121). * Investment tax credit (ITC) for nuclear power facilities (section 1122) and the related grants for qualified nuclear power facility expenditures in lieu of tax credits (section 1126). * Modification of credit for production from advanced nuclear power facilities (section 1124). The K-L Bill includes a number of subsidies to nuclear power that were not evaluated in this memo, and as a result this memo should be viewed as one part of a larger picture of how federal subsidies distort US energy markets and fuel choice.1 The values presented

"The Hong Kong government is considering a plan that would require Daya Bay Nuclear Power Operations and Management Co. to report minor accidents, Hong Kong's Ming Pao Daily News reported today. Under the proposal, Daya Bay would need to report small accidents such as the leakage on May 23 to shareholder CLP Holdings Ltd., the government's Environmental Protection Department and the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, the Chinese- language paper said, without saying where it got the information. "

"Abnormally high radiation levels were detected near the border between the two Koreas days after North Korea claimed to have mastered a complex technology key to manufacturing a hydrogen bomb, Seoul said Monday. The Science Ministry said its investigation ruled out a nuclear test by North Korea, but failed to determine the source of the radiation. It said there was no evidence of a strong earthquake, which follows an atomic explosion. On May 12, North Korea claimed its scientists succeeded in creating a nuclear fusion reaction - a technology necessary to manufacture a hydrogen bomb. In its announcement, the North did not say how it would use the technology, only calling it a "breakthrough toward the development of new energy.""

"Just once, it would be nice if a president would level with Americans on energy. Barack Obama isn't that president. His speech the other night was about political damage control -- his own. It was full of misinformation and mythology. Obama held out a gleaming vision of an America that would convert to the "clean" energy of, presumably, wind, solar and biomass. It isn't going to happen for many, many decades, if ever. For starters, we won't soon end our "addiction to fossil fuels." Oil, coal and natural gas supply about 85 percent of America's energy needs. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects energy consumption to grow only an average of 0.5 percent annually from 2008 to 2035, but that's still a 14 percent cumulative increase. Fossil fuel usage would increase slightly in 2035 and its share would still account for 78 percent of the total. "

"In 2007, the first application to build a new reactor in the United States in more than three decades was filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). By the end of that year, four more applications had landed at the agency. In 2008, 12 additional applications arrived, with one more filed in 2009. Nuclear backers proclaimed a "renaissance" underway. The NRC, which over the years had lost personnel because of a shortage of work, geared up, hiring 1,000 new staffers to handle the licensing requests. Things got so crowded at the Office of New Reactors that in May the agency broke ground for a third office building in suburban Washington."

"The Danville Regional Foundation (DRF) announced Friday it has received proposals from two nationally-known groups, Resources for the Future and RTI International, to conduct an independent socioeconomic study on the regional impact of uranium mining. Abstracts of these proposals can be found online (http://danvilleregionalfoundation.org/Uranium/uranium-proposal-abstracts) and available for public comments for 30 days through DRF's Uranium Blog (http://danvilleregionalfoundation.org/Uranium/). Registered public comments submitted online will be reviewed and used in selecting the organization to conduct the study. Selection is expected to be announced in August with the final study due by year-end 2011, according to a DRF news release. The proposed study will examine the potential effects of uranium mining and milling, and long-term waste management on people, institutions and economies within 50 miles of the proposed site. Specific means of determining the socio-economic benefits and risks, such as impact on property values, taxes and institutions, are outlined in the abstracts, the release stated. In the state of Virginia, there are currently four uranium mining, milling and tailings storage studies currently under way or planned. Each has different purposes, it continued. A brief summary is online (http://danvilleregionalfoundation.org/news/documents/Uranium-Studies-FINAL.pdf) "

"The NNSA announced last week that it had gotten rid of some contaminated "excess tools" at Sandia National Labs in California under a "low-cost plan" that saved taxpayers about $4 million -- the cost of disposing of the equipment at the Nevada Test Site. The savings came about because an Oak Ridge company -- Toxco Materials Management Center -- agreed to take title to Sandia's hot tools, with plans to clean them up and sell them."

"Environmental campaigners have accused the Government of preparing to allow a multi-million pound "handout" to firms building nuclear reactors. Greenpeace said the move went against assurances given by ministers that the nuclear industry would not receive handouts to help build new nuclear power stations. A study commissioned by the group claimed that firms would not be liable for dealing with the waste from new reactors, leaving the taxpayer with bills running into billions. The report, written by Ian Jackson, an associate fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, said dealing with waste from each new reactor will cost around £1.5bn, but under current plans being considered by the Government, energy companies would "walk away", having contributed as little as £500 million. Ben Ayliffe, senior energy campaigner for Greenpeace, said: "The Government has said there will be no public money for new nuclear power, but the unique financial model developed for this report shows that billions of pounds of public money could be spent to subsidise the nuclear industry, even though the Government is warning of painful cuts ahead for the country in key areas like education and health."

"The development of the Olympic site in east London after the Games have finished could be in jeopardy because of radioactive waste buried beneath the site, experts have warned. According to a Guardian investigation, any development of the site risks unearthing a hundred tonnes of radioactive waste dumped at the former landfill site decades ago. Documents obtained under Freedom of Information (FOI) rules reveal that, contrary to government guidelines, waste from thorium and radium has been mixed with very low-level waste and buried in a so-called disposal cell under, or close, to the Olympic stadium."

"A recent operational abnormality at the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant triggered public concern, even though management assured there were no safety implications. Increasing nuclear power use is now the central government's official policy. To meet its emission reduction targets, China Light & Power has to purchase more nuclear power. The difficult part is maintaining public confidence in the safety of nuclear power while achieving environmental objectives. The Daya Bay power plant, located in Guangdong province about 50 kilometers from Hong Kong, was built in 1985 amid a cacophony of objections. Some even chose to emigrate because of the project. Fortunately, the plant has operated since 1993 without incident until recently, when an increase in radioactive levels was reported in the cooling system."

"The verdict in the Bhopal gas tragedy case has sparked renewed protests against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) by locals who are prepared to strongly oppose the installation of three more proposed units - III, IV and V - at the atomic power plant. Street campaigns and public meetings have been organised against the new units after villagers, dismayed by the Bhopal judgement, discovered that the officials in the six districts that will be worst affected in case of a disaster at the plant have no emergency preparedness plan. The street campaigns and three public meetings against Koodankulam in Kanyakumari district after the Bhopal verdict attracted a good audience, said National Alliance of Anti-nuclear Movements coordinator S.P. Udayakumar. "The Nadars and Pillaimars earlier kept away from the anti-nuclear and anti-Koodankulam campaigns, calling them anti-development," he noted. "But the Bhopal verdict made them realise how irresponsible our government is towards people's safety.""

"Even the toughest possible version of a nuclear liability bill to provide compensation to people for nuclear damage is unlikely to impose any direct liability on the suppliers, experts have said amid calls for stronger legislation. India expects to accelerate the growth of its nuclear power programme through imports of large 1,000MW-class reactors from French and US companies. But experts say direct liability on suppliers would block nuclear trade. "This is a non-negotiable point," said an expert who has in the past advised the government on nuclear and strategic issues. "With liability on suppliers, none of them would be willing to supply. We just won't get reactors." A parliamentary committee is examining proposed legislation that sets a maximum liability of $460 million on the nuclear operators for each nuclear incident. India's operators today are the public sector enterprises Nuclear Power Corporation and Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam (Bhavini)."

"Breaks Under Kerry-Lieberman Wipe Out Risk for Utilities Already Benefiting From Massive Loan Guarantees Earth Track Analysis Finds That Just Two of the Subsidies Add Another $1.3 Billion to $3 Billion in Tax Breaks Per Reactor; May Make It More Likely Taxpayers Will Face Downside Risk. Washington, DC -- The nuclear industry could end up facing no risk under massive tax break subsidies in the Kerry-Lieberman climate bill, according to an important new analysis conducted for Friends of the Earth by the research organization Earth Track. These tax breaks totaling $9.7 billion to $57.3 billion (depending on the type and number of reactors) would come on top of the Kerry-Lieberman measure's lucrative $35.5 billion addition to the more than $22.5 billion in loan guarantees already slated for nuclear power. Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica said: "Doling out an additional $1.3-$3 billion in tax breaks per new reactor means the industry would be at the table playing almost entirely with taxpayer money. Industry will have little to lose when a reactor goes belly up. While taxpayers are bankrolling the industry's nuclear gamble they would share in none of the reactor's financial returns. In fact, all taxpayers will receive if the reactors are built is responsibility for disposing of the waste. By contrast, investors stand to make billions with no risk should their reactor gambit goes belly up and enter bankruptcy." "

"The cost to remove radioactive dirt and debris from the nuclear waste dump along Route 66 in Parks has skyrocketed from $76 million to $170 million. The increase adds to a growing tally of expenses related to the production of nuclear fuel at the former Nuclear Material and Equipment Corp. in Apollo and Parks from 1957 to the mid-1980s. Lawsuits for personal injury and contamination, the razing and cleanup of two nuclear fuel plants and government payments to contaminated workers have topped $267 million over the last two decades. The Army Corps of Engineers in Pittsburgh, the federal agency charged by Congress to excavate and remove the radiological materials, revised its cost estimates as officials hammer out the details to start digging up the site next year."

"Radioactive waste was being readied for isolation plant A Savannah River Site worker is being evaluated for internal radioactive contamination after an accident in which his finger was punctured by waste materials. The incident occurred Monday in the site's F-Area, where employees hired by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions were conducting transuranic waste remediation work, said Jim Giusti, a U.S. Energy Department spokesman at the site. "His finger was punctured by something in the waste, and the waste is contaminated with radionuclides," he said. "It got into his skin and potentially into his blood. So we have a series of protocols we have to go through.""

"Yesterday's decision by the UK government to withdraw its proposed loan of £80m to Sheffield Forgemasters is extraordinary. No other move could have had quite so much effect on the plans for nuclear power. Forgemasters wanted the money to buy a 15,000 tonne press, a necessary piece of equipment to make the pressure vessel at the centre of a power plant. Without the money, it says it will not proceed with its expansion into the nuclear market."

"Russia and Kazakhstan are on the brink of signing a number of documents on cooperation in the nuclear sphere, the head of the Russian atomic energy company Rosatom said on Saturday. Sergei Kiriyenko said while he was in Kazakhstan on Thursday, cooperation in the nuclear sphere was discussed between Russia and Kazakhstan. "A wide range of documents are on the deciding stage and the 'last leg' of these documents will be finished in a short period of time," Kirieyenko said at the sidelines of the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg."

"Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO David M. Ratcliffe today announced that the company's Georgia Power subsidiary has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to accept terms for a conditional commitment for loan guarantees. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080801/SOCOLOGO ) (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080801/SOCOLOGO ) "This will provide Georgia Power customers significant savings," said Georgia Power President and CEO Mike Garrett. President Obama and DOE Secretary Steven Chu announced the award of the conditional loan guarantees to Georgia Power on February 16. "This is another step forward on the road to nuclear power playing a prominent role in America's energy future," said Ratcliffe. "Nuclear energy is vital in any effort to make meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and meet this nation's rising demand for electricity. This conditional commitment is an endorsement of the company's performance as a safe, efficient nuclear operator with strong financial integrity." "