The ignorance behind anti-nuclear bias

2009 Dec 4




A Times editorial perpetuates the myths that nuclear power plants are uniquely dangerous and too cost-prohibitive to build.

The Times excels when it comments on social and political issues on its opinion pages. But when tackling technical issues, it often falls dramatically short. I am both frustrated and annoyed at the lack of knowledge of nuclear power that pervades this country, and the perpetuation of this ignorance by well-meaning but equally uninformed authority figures. The Times' Nov. 28 editorial, “No new nukes — plants, that is,” perpetuates this ignorance.

People fear what they don't understand. The issues with nuclear power are not technical but social and political. The majority of the nuclear technical issues were resolved in the 1960s, and the technology today is well understood by engineers working with these systems. Yet efforts to educate the public regarding nuclear power are lacking, leading to the dangerous perpetuation of misinformation.

Nuclear power is the cleanest, safest and -- if other power-generating sources were compared fairly -- the cheapest method of generating electricity.

As The Times writes, nuclear power plants do indeed "take too long to build and cost too much," but only because of restrictions imposed on them that are motivated by political and social pressure as much as they are by safety. Coal-fired power plants, for example, not only emit massive amounts of carbon dioxide, they can be up to 100 times more radioactive than nuclear plants producing the same amount of energy. Raw coal has numerous impurities, including uranium, thorium and potassium 40. When coal is burned, these radioactive impurities concentrate at least by an order of magnitude.

All of the nation's nuclear power is dedicated to the production of electricity, which is generated primarily in three stages -- base load, intermediate and peak shaving. Base-load electricity production, for which nuclear power is ideally suited, makes up about 35% to 40% of the power generated in the U.S. each year. Given that the electricity produced annually in the U.S. is on the order of 40 quadrillion BTUs (or "quads"), the base-load contribution is between 14 and 16 quads, which alone is more than seven times the total electricity produced annually in France.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-oew-moynihan7-2009dec07,0,3701265.story 

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Russia to produce new nuclear reactors by 2014 - Medvedev

2009 Nov 12


MOSCOW, Russia will produce next-generation nuclear reactors and new types of nuclear fuel by 2014, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.
"The programs of developing nuclear power engineering have been separated as a special area in the modernization project, with next-generation nuclear reactors and nuclear fuel enjoying a demand within the country and abroad and will appear in Russia by 2014,"Medvedev said in his state-of-the-nation address to both houses of parliament.
Medvedev said nuclear developments would also be actively applied in other spheres, first of all, in medicine, adding that Russia would also participate in an international project of thermonuclear synthesis as these technologies held promise for the future.
Medvedev said Russia, as a member of the world's club of nuclear technology developers, would team up with foreign partners to open access to a virtually unlimited source of energy.
Russia has repeatedly announced its new nuclear developments and plans to introduce them within the country and promote them on global markets.
Russian nuclear power corporation TVEL, which accounts for about 17% of the world's nuclear fuel market, is developing a new type of nuclear fuel, TVS-Kvadrat, to be used for western-designed nuclear reactors.
Russia is also a world leader in the construction of fast neutron reactors. The Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Plant in Russia's Urals has been in operation using a fast neutron reactor for more than 20 years.

Read more: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091112/156807875.html 

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New nuclear power stations to be announced by Ed Miliband

2009 Nov 9

Scotland: A new generation of nuclear power stations will be up and running within a decade, Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary will announce.

A “majority” of the 11 shortlisted sites already announced are expected to be given the go-ahead by Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, including those beside existing plants at Hinkley Point in Somerset and Sizewell in Suffolk. Two locations near to Sellafield in Cumbria are also expected to receive the green light.

Mr Miliband will also announce a new Infrastructure Planning Commission which will mean planning applications for nuclear plants will be fast-tracked, avoiding the kind of delays which dogged the six-year battle over the building of the Sizewell B power plant.

The new stations could be up and running as soon as 2017, with Mr Miliband making clear that the Government believes that “saying no” to nuclear is not an option if Britain is to meet its climate change commitments.

EDF, E.ON and RWE are among the firms who have expressed an interest in running the new power stations. Earlier this year, a shortlist of proposed sites was put out to a six-month consultation.

Hinkley Point, which is proposed by the French firm EDF, would become the country’s first pressurised water reactor. The company also aims to establish two reactors at the Somerset site, along with two at Sizewell.

The proposed sites near the Sellafield nuclear complex in Cumbria, which are currently farmland and have been bought by the German-owned RWE npower, are also thought almost certain to receive the go-ahead. One, in mid-Copeland already has access to the national grid; the other is in mid-Copeland.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/nuclearpower/6526566/New-nuclear-power-stations-to-be-announced-by-Ed-Miliband.html

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India Ramps up Nuclear Power with Help from the United States

2009 Nov 9

At the insistence of the United States, India has been granted global “nuclear exception” status despite being a non-signatory on nuclear non-proliferation treaties, such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The Indo-US civilian nuclear deal (signed in October of last year), consensus at the Nuclear Supplier’s Group and clearance by the global nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), means that India can now access dual-use nuclear technology to generate electricity.

“India’s energy demand has outpaced the increase in energy production, with the country experiencing as much as a 12% gap between peak demand and availability,” explains Meena Mutyala, Vice President of Global Growth and Innovation at India Westinghouse Electric Company, India. “By expanding its nuclear energy program, India will be able to better meet its growing energy demands.”

India has the fourth largest coal reserves in the world and currently gets over 51% of its primary energy from coal. However, given the consequent high carbon emissions, the country is looking to ramp up renewable energy and nuclear power. Presently, nuclear power contributes only 2.7% of India’s power output.

The IAEA confirms that four new reactors are being constructed in India with the prospect of many more. According to its latest report, Year in Review 2008, the agency says that India is looking to expand its civilian nuclear program by 15 times it current levels. So far, the Indian government alone maintains the authority to produce nuclear energy in the country though there are moves to allow private players as well.

Read more: http://thewip.net/contributors/2009/11/india_ramps_up_nuclear_power_w.html

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