Misc. Nuke Woes

Lots of tidbit to pick from. More government money at work again, this time from the Russians. This makes positions about environmental-socialist connections with wind and solar, as made by conservative ninnies such as Charles Krauthammer, more silly than usual.

New Funding Woes for Belene Nuclear Power Plant - Sofia Echo - 04 Jul 08

"Bulgaria's plans to build a second nuclear power plant at Belene on the Danube River have hit a new snag, with BNP Paribas choosing not to commit any of its own money to fund the project, even though it has been picked to find financing for the power plant, Infrastructure Journal reported."

"Bankers quoted by the journal said that it was unusual for a bank picked to structure finance for such a big project not to make a contribution, and that it sent a message of caution to other prospective financial institutions. With the costs of the project rising because of higher commodity prices and financial markets still in the throes of the global credit crunch, banks could be reluctant to get involved.

That could push NEK towards accepting the offer made by Vladimir Putin during his visit to Sofia earlier this year for the Russian government cover a significant part of the expenses, something NEK has been reluctant to accept thus far."

Too Much Hot Air in Nuke Deal - India Times (The Economic Times) - 04 Jul 08

"Just as cheap oil now seems fanciful, cheap nuclear power for long has been a mirage. More than half a century after the then US Atomic Energy Agency chairman Lewis Strauss claimed nuclear energy would become 'too cheap to meter', the nuclear power industry everywhere subsists on generous state subsidies, not reflected in the published costs of generation.

The current electricity-market liberalisation trends spell trouble for the global nuclear-power industry as they threaten the state support on which it survives. As a 2005 IAEA study by Ferenc Toth and Hans-Holger Rogner warns, 'nuclear power’s market share might indeed follow a downward trajectory' if state subsidies abate and more cost-effective reactors are not designed.

Other international studies have shown that nuclear power, although a long-matured technology, has demonstrated the slowest rate of learning in comparison to other energy technologies, including newer sources like wind and combined-cycle gas turbines. Instead of the price declining with nuclear power’s maturation, the opposite has happened.

Power reactors also remain very capital-intensive, with high up-front capital costs, long lead times for construction and commissioning, and drawn-out amortisation periods that discourage private investors. In the US, two separate studies by the University of Chicago (2004) and MIT (2003) showed new nuclear power remaining comparatively more expensive.

That explains why the US industry has yet to receive its first domestic power reactor order in more than three decades, despite the Bush administration offering among the world’s most-attractive tax sops and other state incentives. "

Misc. Nuke Woes

Lots of tidbit to pick from. More government money at work again, this time from the Russians. This makes positions about environmental-socialist connections with wind and solar, as made by conservative ninnies such as Charles Krauthammer, more silly than usual.

New Funding Woes for Belene Nuclear Power Plant - Sofia Echo - 04 Jul 08

"Bulgaria's plans to build a second nuclear power plant at Belene on the Danube River have hit a new snag, with BNP Paribas choosing not to commit any of its own money to fund the project, even though it has been picked to find financing for the power plant, Infrastructure Journal reported."

"Bankers quoted by the journal said that it was unusual for a bank picked to structure finance for such a big project not to make a contribution, and that it sent a message of caution to other prospective financial institutions. With the costs of the project rising because of higher commodity prices and financial markets still in the throes of the global credit crunch, banks could be reluctant to get involved.

That could push NEK towards accepting the offer made by Vladimir Putin during his visit to Sofia earlier this year for the Russian government cover a significant part of the expenses, something NEK has been reluctant to accept thus far."

Too Much Hot Air in Nuke Deal - India Times (The Economic Times) - 04 Jul 08

"Just as cheap oil now seems fanciful, cheap nuclear power for long has been a mirage. More than half a century after the then US Atomic Energy Agency chairman Lewis Strauss claimed nuclear energy would become 'too cheap to meter', the nuclear power industry everywhere subsists on generous state subsidies, not reflected in the published costs of generation.

The current electricity-market liberalisation trends spell trouble for the global nuclear-power industry as they threaten the state support on which it survives. As a 2005 IAEA study by Ferenc Toth and Hans-Holger Rogner warns, 'nuclear power’s market share might indeed follow a downward trajectory' if state subsidies abate and more cost-effective reactors are not designed.

Other international studies have shown that nuclear power, although a long-matured technology, has demonstrated the slowest rate of learning in comparison to other energy technologies, including newer sources like wind and combined-cycle gas turbines. Instead of the price declining with nuclear power’s maturation, the opposite has happened.

Power reactors also remain very capital-intensive, with high up-front capital costs, long lead times for construction and commissioning, and drawn-out amortisation periods that discourage private investors. In the US, two separate studies by the University of Chicago (2004) and MIT (2003) showed new nuclear power remaining comparatively more expensive.

That explains why the US industry has yet to receive its first domestic power reactor order in more than three decades, despite the Bush administration offering among the world’s most-attractive tax sops and other state incentives. "