French-Finn Fun Funky

I have a Time Magazine cover from February 13, 1984 with the title "Nuclear Power - Bombing Out?" with a photo of the still under construction Seabrook plant in New Hampshire and the subtitle "Seabrook, NH - $5 Billion Over Budget".  Back in those days they were all predicting 7% or so increases in electricity consumption and thus we "had" to have lots of nukes, right away, to keep up with it or bad things would be happening.

Seems like old times.

Nuclear Industry Revival Hits Roadblocks - New Scientist - 1 July 07

"Construction of Europe's first new nuclear power station since 1991 - the European Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR) at Olkiluoto, Finland - started in August 2005.  Now the Finnish nuclear regulator, STUK, has uncovered a series of safety "deficiencies" in the new-style plant's manufacture and design. This setback has already caused it to fall 18 months behind schedule and about 700 million [Euros] over budget."  [965 Million U.S. Dollars]

"The EPR is not scheduled to operate commercially before 2011. It represents the favoured design for future reactors in the UK."

French-Finn Fun Funky

I have a Time Magazine cover from February 13, 1984 with the title "Nuclear Power - Bombing Out?" with a photo of the still under construction Seabrook plant in New Hampshire and the subtitle "Seabrook, NH - $5 Billion Over Budget".  Back in those days they were all predicting 7% or so increases in electricity consumption and thus we "had" to have lots of nukes, right away, to keep up with it or bad things would be happening.

Seems like old times.

Nuclear Industry Revival Hits Roadblocks - New Scientist - 1 July 07

"Construction of Europe's first new nuclear power station since 1991 - the European Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR) at Olkiluoto, Finland - started in August 2005.  Now the Finnish nuclear regulator, STUK, has uncovered a series of safety "deficiencies" in the new-style plant's manufacture and design. This setback has already caused it to fall 18 months behind schedule and about 700 million [Euros] over budget."  [965 Million U.S. Dollars]

"The EPR is not scheduled to operate commercially before 2011. It represents the favoured design for future reactors in the UK."

Chernobyl Necklaces for Kids

Host Families Provide Children with Much Needed “Hugs” - Chernobyl Children Project USA

"In August of 2004, Lorna Brunelle saw an HBO documentary on the birth defects and medical conditions that continue to affect 'Chernobyl children.'   Thyroid cancer is so prominent among children that the scar left at the base of the neck after thyroid surgery has become known as the 'Chernobyl necklace,' according to CCP literature."

The Belarusian Necklace...



Photo from this web page...

Chernobyl Necklaces for Kids

Host Families Provide Children with Much Needed “Hugs” - Chernobyl Children Project USA

"In August of 2004, Lorna Brunelle saw an HBO documentary on the birth defects and medical conditions that continue to affect 'Chernobyl children.'   Thyroid cancer is so prominent among children that the scar left at the base of the neck after thyroid surgery has become known as the 'Chernobyl necklace,' according to CCP literature."

The Belarusian Necklace...



Photo from this web page...

Soon Nuclear Martyrs in Iran (and Elsewhere)?

Interview: Waiting for an Iranian Chernobyl - Opinion - New Scientist - 11 July 07

"Earlier this year an Iranian nuclear scientist at the uranium conversion facility at Isfahan died from poisoning with uranium hexafluoride gas. Accidents like this keep Najmedin Meshkati awake at night.

A leading expert in nuclear safety at the University of Southern California, the Iranian-born engineer worries that the Russian technology and human error that led to the Chernobyl disaster may cause a similar tragedy at Iran's nuclear facilities in Bushehr and elsewhere. The biggest nuclear threat from Iran is not from an attack but from an accident, he told Deborah Campbell, and international sanctions are only increasing the risk."

Soon Nuclear Martyrs in Iran (and Elsewhere)?

Interview: Waiting for an Iranian Chernobyl - Opinion - New Scientist - 11 July 07

"Earlier this year an Iranian nuclear scientist at the uranium conversion facility at Isfahan died from poisoning with uranium hexafluoride gas. Accidents like this keep Najmedin Meshkati awake at night.

A leading expert in nuclear safety at the University of Southern California, the Iranian-born engineer worries that the Russian technology and human error that led to the Chernobyl disaster may cause a similar tragedy at Iran's nuclear facilities in Bushehr and elsewhere. The biggest nuclear threat from Iran is not from an attack but from an accident, he told Deborah Campbell, and international sanctions are only increasing the risk."

One Small Victory, Resistance is Not Futile

Some months back I opened up my electric bill and included with it was a notice for a public hearing on new PURPA regulations.  PURPA is the shorthand for the name of a bill that passed originally back in the 1970s to allow regular folks to hook up small power supply systems to the grid and get a "fair and equitable" rate for any juice they provided.  Before PURPA it was all but impossible to do this unless you were legally defined as a utility with all that entailed.

Since I figured not too many folks would know any of this, I sent a few e-mails around to some of my more energy savvy friends and we finally ended up having a couple of meetings as a small group to self-educate ourselves on what the city's public power system was proposing and how we'd want to respond to it.  I'd say about 10 folks got up and said their piece on the proposed rules.  Most said it was inadequate and they needed to rethink the whole thing.  

The key part of it was a so-called "net metering" provision.  That typically means that you let the electric meter (at least in the olden days) spin either way as the power is used by the consumer of produced by the consumer (with wind, solar, etc.).  What they were proposing for net metering was a long way from a single meter going both ways and so I said their was no "net" in their metering scheme and they shouldn't pretend it's otherwise.

After that, I kind of lost track of the whole process until tonight.  There was a gathering of folks who had been at some global warming meetings set up at a local church during the wintertime and they'd sent out an e-mail to have folks gather again to see what might further be done.  As part of the discussion, someone noted that the City Council had just approved a net metering bill and that a little victory had been achieved.   I haven't seen the details yet (and the devil is definitely in them) but it sounds like an improvement at least over what they'd originally proposed.    Here's an article on the outcome along with some follow-up comments.

Too Much Juice?  Sell it Back to LES  - Lincoln Journal Star - 17 July 07

"City Council chairman Dan Marvin, who looked at consumer contracts with other utilities, said the utility’s net metering process is one of the 'more progressive' in the country because it allows consumers to sell power to LES at a retail rate instead of a wholesale rate."

One Small Victory, Resistance is Not Futile

Some months back I opened up my electric bill and included with it was a notice for a public hearing on new PURPA regulations.  PURPA is the shorthand for the name of a bill that passed originally back in the 1970s to allow regular folks to hook up small power supply systems to the grid and get a "fair and equitable" rate for any juice they provided.  Before PURPA it was all but impossible to do this unless you were legally defined as a utility with all that entailed.

Since I figured not too many folks would know any of this, I sent a few e-mails around to some of my more energy savvy friends and we finally ended up having a couple of meetings as a small group to self-educate ourselves on what the city's public power system was proposing and how we'd want to respond to it.  I'd say about 10 folks got up and said their piece on the proposed rules.  Most said it was inadequate and they needed to rethink the whole thing.  

The key part of it was a so-called "net metering" provision.  That typically means that you let the electric meter (at least in the olden days) spin either way as the power is used by the consumer of produced by the consumer (with wind, solar, etc.).  What they were proposing for net metering was a long way from a single meter going both ways and so I said their was no "net" in their metering scheme and they shouldn't pretend it's otherwise.

After that, I kind of lost track of the whole process until tonight.  There was a gathering of folks who had been at some global warming meetings set up at a local church during the wintertime and they'd sent out an e-mail to have folks gather again to see what might further be done.  As part of the discussion, someone noted that the City Council had just approved a net metering bill and that a little victory had been achieved.   I haven't seen the details yet (and the devil is definitely in them) but it sounds like an improvement at least over what they'd originally proposed.    Here's an article on the outcome along with some follow-up comments.

Too Much Juice?  Sell it Back to LES  - Lincoln Journal Star - 17 July 07

"City Council chairman Dan Marvin, who looked at consumer contracts with other utilities, said the utility’s net metering process is one of the 'more progressive' in the country because it allows consumers to sell power to LES at a retail rate instead of a wholesale rate."