Franco-Finnish Fission Follies

The idea that nuclear power is somehow going to be available in time to keep us from hitting the tipping point of global warming has even less support based on this article. The French nuclear experts at Areva, much praised by the media-industrial complex, are in charge of the Finnish plant.

Finnish Plant Demonstrates Nuclear Power Industry's Perennial Problems - International Herald Tribune - 6 Sep 2007

"Flawed welds for the reactor's steel liner, unusable coolant pipes and suspect concrete in the foundation already have pushed back the delivery date of the Olkiluoto-3 unit by at least two years. [...] Olkiluoto-3, the first nuclear plant ordered in Western Europe since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, is also more than 25 percent over its budget of €3 billion, or $4.1 billion.

If Finland's experience is any guide, the 'nuclear renaissance' promoted by the global atomic power industry as an economically viable alternative to coal and natural gas may not offer much progress from a generation ago, when schedule and budgetary overruns for new reactors cost investors billions of dollars.

The Finnish plant is not the only nuclear project to run into delays. The commercial startup in May of China's Tianwan project came more than two years later than planned. In Taiwan, the Lungmen reactor project has fallen five years behind schedule."

Franco-Finnish Fission Follies

The idea that nuclear power is somehow going to be available in time to keep us from hitting the tipping point of global warming has even less support based on this article. The French nuclear experts at Areva, much praised by the media-industrial complex, are in charge of the Finnish plant.

Finnish Plant Demonstrates Nuclear Power Industry's Perennial Problems - International Herald Tribune - 6 Sep 2007

"Flawed welds for the reactor's steel liner, unusable coolant pipes and suspect concrete in the foundation already have pushed back the delivery date of the Olkiluoto-3 unit by at least two years. [...] Olkiluoto-3, the first nuclear plant ordered in Western Europe since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, is also more than 25 percent over its budget of €3 billion, or $4.1 billion.

If Finland's experience is any guide, the 'nuclear renaissance' promoted by the global atomic power industry as an economically viable alternative to coal and natural gas may not offer much progress from a generation ago, when schedule and budgetary overruns for new reactors cost investors billions of dollars.

The Finnish plant is not the only nuclear project to run into delays. The commercial startup in May of China's Tianwan project came more than two years later than planned. In Taiwan, the Lungmen reactor project has fallen five years behind schedule."

Zac "The Ecologist" Goldsmith Goes Nuclear

Stoking the cynical side of me today...

Cameron Wavers as Brown Heads for Centre - The Guardian (UK) - 9 Sep 07

"Signing up to nuclear power marks a major shift for [Zac] Goldsmith. Only three months ago, he told The Observer that he would 'fight like hell' if the party declared that nuclear power was good.

'Zac's position has evolved,' one senior Tory said. 'He has not had to face the sort of discipline that comes when you accept party rule. He has been a free spirit in the environmental world. Reality is intruding now that he has been selected to fight a marginal seat.'"

Zac "The Ecologist" Goldsmith Goes Nuclear

Stoking the cynical side of me today...

Cameron Wavers as Brown Heads for Centre - The Guardian (UK) - 9 Sep 07

"Signing up to nuclear power marks a major shift for [Zac] Goldsmith. Only three months ago, he told The Observer that he would 'fight like hell' if the party declared that nuclear power was good.

'Zac's position has evolved,' one senior Tory said. 'He has not had to face the sort of discipline that comes when you accept party rule. He has been a free spirit in the environmental world. Reality is intruding now that he has been selected to fight a marginal seat.'"

Half-Powered Nuclear India

This must be some new variant of "energy independence" I wasn't previously aware of. Fortunately a visionary like W can look beyond the trivial issues of non-proliferation treaties to keep the lights on the bomb making nuclear industry of India.

System Shut Down - Indian Express - 3 Sep 07

"In his addresses to atomic scientists at Tarapur and Trombay last Friday, [Prime Minister] Manmohan Singh put out two mutually reinforcing messages. First, that shortage of uranium supplies has put the nuclear energy programme in jeopardy. Second, there is a need to cultivate a self-confident attitude towards nuclear engagement with the world. It is an open secret that without international cooperation, our three-stage nuclear power generation programme will grind to a slow halt. The principal vulnerability has been the limited quantity and low quality of India’s domestic uranium resources.

Uranium shortage has already forced the DAE to run the current nuclear power reactors at around half their capacity.

Even in the best-case scenario, domestic sources of uranium cannot sustain more than 10,000 MW of nuclear power. If the first stage of the programme based on uranium reactors falters, there is not much hope for the second stage involving the fast breeder reactors that need plutonium fuel extracted from the first stage. No one is claiming that technology to exploit India’s vast thorium resources, at the heart of the third stage, can be commercialised in the next three decades. Put simply, without the Indo-US nuclear deal, India will not be able to import badly needed uranium."

Half-Powered Nuclear India

This must be some new variant of "energy independence" I wasn't previously aware of. Fortunately a visionary like W can look beyond the trivial issues of non-proliferation treaties to keep the lights on the bomb making nuclear industry of India.

System Shut Down - Indian Express - 3 Sep 07

"In his addresses to atomic scientists at Tarapur and Trombay last Friday, [Prime Minister] Manmohan Singh put out two mutually reinforcing messages. First, that shortage of uranium supplies has put the nuclear energy programme in jeopardy. Second, there is a need to cultivate a self-confident attitude towards nuclear engagement with the world. It is an open secret that without international cooperation, our three-stage nuclear power generation programme will grind to a slow halt. The principal vulnerability has been the limited quantity and low quality of India’s domestic uranium resources.

Uranium shortage has already forced the DAE to run the current nuclear power reactors at around half their capacity.

Even in the best-case scenario, domestic sources of uranium cannot sustain more than 10,000 MW of nuclear power. If the first stage of the programme based on uranium reactors falters, there is not much hope for the second stage involving the fast breeder reactors that need plutonium fuel extracted from the first stage. No one is claiming that technology to exploit India’s vast thorium resources, at the heart of the third stage, can be commercialised in the next three decades. Put simply, without the Indo-US nuclear deal, India will not be able to import badly needed uranium."

Do You Get What You Pay For ... In Washington?

These guys seem to be...

Nuclear Industry Spent $680K Lobbying - Forbes - 4 Sep 07

"The Nuclear Energy Institute spent $680,000 to lobby the federal government in the first half of 2007, according to a recent disclosure form.  The group lobbied on various agencies' appropriations, trade law, energy legislation, radioactive materials standards, electric utility industry restructuring and other matters, according to the form posted online Aug. 13 by the Senate's public records office."

Do You Get What You Pay For ... In Washington?

These guys seem to be...

Nuclear Industry Spent $680K Lobbying - Forbes - 4 Sep 07

"The Nuclear Energy Institute spent $680,000 to lobby the federal government in the first half of 2007, according to a recent disclosure form.  The group lobbied on various agencies' appropriations, trade law, energy legislation, radioactive materials standards, electric utility industry restructuring and other matters, according to the form posted online Aug. 13 by the Senate's public records office."