Alternative Energy / Nuclear Power

• European Union Wants Post-Soviet Members Nuclear Reactors Permanently Offline

  In the wake of the March Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan and Germany’s subsequent decision in June to close all of its 18 nuclear power plants between 2015 and 2022, the European Union is turning its eyes eastwards to new EU members Bulgaria, Lithuania and Slovakia, offering further funding to ensure that its Soviet-era nuclear reactors remain out of service permanently. On 24 November the European Commission proposed to provide further EU assistance worth $662 million to support the final closure after earlier decommissioning of Bulgaria’s Kozloduy nuclear power plant (NPP), Lithuania’s Ignalina facility and Slovakia’s Bohunice nuclear station. The good news…

• France and Russia Deepen Nuclear Cooperation

  On 18 November, following a meeting of the Russian-France commission on issues of bilateral cooperation at the prime ministerial level, the two nations signed a declaration of cooperation in the field of nuclear power. Russian Federation Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed on behalf of Russia, while inking the document for France was French Prime Minister Francois Fillon. Not surprisingly, details of the agreement were not announced, but a Russian source familiar with the negotiations stated that a high priority of Moscow was its interest in expanding the involvement of French companies in building the 2,300 megawatt Kaliningrad Nuclear Power Plant,…

• Does Nuclear Energy have a Future in Europe

  The game has changed for the nuclear industry post-Fukushima, at least in the Western world, if not globally. After previous nuclear incidents, there usually was a pause while national bodies reviewed the reasons for the event and upgraded safety standards, but the Fukushima incident seems to be impacting Europe much like Three Mile Island did the US. Germany, one of Europe’s biggest operators of nuclear power, used to run 17 reactors until Berlin closed four of them in July and committed to closing the rest by 2022. Belgium is looking to accelerate the closure of its seven plants and Switzerland…

• India's Future Nuclear Energy Plans Hit Protest Snags

  It seems hard to believe, but less than a year ago the world’s nuclear energy companies seemed on a roll, as rising concerns about global warming, allied with a lack of major nuclear incidents since the April 1986 Chernobyl disaster, indicated that nuclear energy with its carbon-free emission track record, could benefit countries seeking both power expansion and winning plaudits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Then came the 11 March destruction of Japan’s six-reactor Daichi Fukushima nuclear power complex by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Since then, a number of countries have stepped back from the nuclear brink, most notably…

• The Real Nuclear Deal

  Berthold Brecht put it as follows: “If you don’t know the truth, you are a fool, while if you know the truth but say that it is a lie, you are a villain." I seldom object to that kind of language, because I used it all the time when I taught financial economics, but it is not appropriate when the subject is nuclear, and so I modified it somewhat for a talk that I recently gave in Singapore: If you don’t know the truth about nuclear energy you are probably too tired or unlucky to find out, because learning enough…

• A New Nuclear Age: Thorium Powered Nuclear Plant to be Built in India

  The Guardian in the UK is reporting that India has started the process of building the world’s newest thorium fueled prototype nuclear power plant. As prototypes go, this is a big one with a proposed rating at 300MW or about 30% of a customary 1GW uranium fueled station. This commitment deserves congratulations. Finally thorium has a toehold on the world power generation markets and its far less worrisome than a uranium solution. In a rare interview, Ratan Kumar Sinha, the director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai, told the Guardian that his team is finalizing the site…

• Belgium to Shut Down All Nuclear Reactors by 2025

  The small western-European country of Belgium currently has two commercial nuclear sites and a total of seven reactors. Nuclear energy accounts for over half of the nation's power consumption, a total of about 45 billion kilowatt-hours per year. Although typically quite fractured, Belgium's political parties have reached a consensus on nuclear power. The oldest reactors are to be shut down by 2015 and all nuclear reactors at both sites will be shut down by 2025. The plan is conditional on Belgium finding enough energy from alternative sources to prevent power shortages. The two Belgian nuclear sites are located at opposite…

• New International Report Shreds Japan's Carefully Constructed Fukushima Scenario

  Japan’s six reactor Fukushima Daichi nuclear complex has inadvertently become the world’s bell-weather  poster child for the inherent risks of nuclear power ever since the 11 March Tohoku offshore earthquake, measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale, triggered a devastating tsunami that effectively destroyed the complex. Ever since, specialists have wrangled about how damaging the consequences of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami actually were, not only for the facility but the rest of the world. The Fukushima Daichi complex was one of the 25 largest nuclear power stations in the world and the Fukushima I reactor was the first GE designed nuclear plant…

• Indian Nuclear Power Plant Emerging as Protest Magnet

  Although the global nuclear power industry is loath to admit it, the 11 March incident at Japan’s Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant complex has proven a global game changer, leading some nations to cancel nuclear projects altogether, and others to reevaluate their interest. Nuclear power production still remains an attractive option to developing, energy-poor nations, but the rising protests over a nuclear power plant in southern India sharply underlines the growing divergence between government politicians and a citizenry increasingly concerned about the potential consequences of having such a facility nearby.India, which currently operates 20 nuclear power plants, plans to quadruple its…

• Royal Society Calls for a Nuclear Forum to Manage the Growth of the Nuclear Industry

  A "nuclear Davos", convening the nations and industries that are involved in nuclear power, could be the way to deal with problems arising from the worldwide growth in nuclear-derived energy, according to the UK's science academy. A world nuclear forum would enable industry, academia and policymakers to meet, and would reflect and exploit the growing internationalisation of the nuclear industry, said the Royal Society in a report published on the 13th October. Such a gathering could explore, for example, how to deal with the cradle-to-grave care of nuclear fuel in a more internationalised way, which could lead to more sensible…