LAW’s ‘All Things Nuclear’ #445 (11/09/2023)
LAW’s ‘All Things Nuclear’ #445 (11/09/2023)
“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”
LLAW’s COMMENTARY:
The following statement and article from The Union of Concerned Scientists is a huge blow to the hopes of the entire nuclear power industry. If you read the article you will understand why nuclear power plants are extremely dangerous and also why greed and money play such a huge role in creating that danger.
Shortcutting ultimate safety at various phases of human nuclear construction and operation is the very reason why most all nuclear accidents have occurred in the past, and these supposedly future SMPs, even before they have a history, are no exception. From what has been reported here, and in other media, SMPs have been vastly overrated in their cost to build, operate safely, and cheaply. The nuclear industry continues to spread propaganda that is far from realistic, and the entire industry seems to be in the game for individual financial return rather than for any benefit to humanity and other living organisms on planet Earth.
Having worked in the nuclear industry for parts of three decades, eventually learning that the industry is little more than wordsmithing hype, the fit the industry long ago threw over the media coverage of the 3-MIle Island nuclear accident and the concerns that accident created in the American public severely weakened the idea of more nuclear power plants, during which one major leader in the industry announced in a media-covered news (I was fortunately for me personally there to hear this because the phrase embarrassed me to my core.) to just let the reporters, protesters, and objectors ‘freeze to death’. He opened his speech this way in front of an audience of like-minded industry corporate executives: “Let the bastards freeze to death in the dark.”
That was when I’d had enough of the hype from the entire nuclear industry (regardless of whether or not any of us (and there were a few) believed that nuclear power was the safe, reliable, and inexpensive commercial product it was cracked-up to be compared to other fossil fuel power plants, and in the late spring of 1980, I resigned from my job and started my own company in gold exploration and other non-nuclear natural resources.
So my final humanitarian mission, now that the Russia/Ukraine war has stirred the divided human boiling pots toward nuclear war threats of expanding borders, economic and political domination, nation building, racism and other ethnic hatred, with all things nuclear by those threats or possibly actual war. As a result, we have ignorantly and blindly begun to build bigger and better nuclear weapons of mass destruction, even though we all inherently understand that no one, including other life, can survive a nuclear WWIII.
So it is, especially now that I see Russia, and all the rest of the nuclear endowed countries, have realized that nuclear power plants, with their radioactive fuel along with their nuclear reactors, combined with all that nuclear waste we have no idea what to do with, are additional potential nuclear weapons of mass destruction providing their ‘sitting duck’ participation in a nuclear war to be a ‘big-bang’ two-fer-one’ destructive force. By simply dropping nuclear WMD bombs where the nuclear power plants are in close geographical abundance, such as the eastern coasts of the United States and Canada you can plainly see that a commercial nuclear power plant to keep us “warm with the lights on” was never a good idea . . . ~llaw
Following is the welcome story, at least for me, of the likely impending failure of the ‘Small Nuclear Reactor’ of the recent addition to the nuclear industry. If this happens, and the general public everywhere learns how dangerous “All Things Nuclear” are, we may yet find a way to avoid allowing 'Us’, as Pogo would say, causing the 6th Extinction in the 4 to 5 billion years our planet Earth has been around. Humans were not around for any of the 1st five extinctions by the way . . .
Small Nuclear Reactor Contract Fails, Signaling Larger Issues with Nuclear Energy Development in U.S.
Statement by Dr. Edwin Lyman, Director of Nuclear Power Safety, Union of Concerned Scientists
Published Nov 9, 2023
MEDIA CONTACT
Sanjali De Silva
Communications Officer
Energy, Climate Accountability
NuScale Power Cooperation, the first company in the United States to secure approval for the design of a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR), ended its contract with the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) on Wednesday. The companies cited rising costs as the reason for terminating the contract.
Throughout the development process, NuScale made several ill-advised design choices in an attempt to control the cost of its reactor, but which raised numerous safety concerns. The design lacked leak-tight containment structures and highly reliable backup safety systems. It also only had one control room for 12 reactor units despite the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) typically requiring no more than two units per control room. Additionally, the company led efforts to sidestep critical safety regulations, including requirements for offsite emergency response plans to protect nearby communities. But NuScale’s justification for all this regulatory corner-cutting—that the design is “passively safe”—was undermined when concerns about its passive emergency core cooling system arose late in the design certification process.
The end of the project reflects the fragility of the advanced nuclear power industry in the U.S., which has been driven by an oversupply of reactor developers and a lack of genuine demand. As new reactor developers look for utilities and other end users to buy their products, the high cost and risks of their experimental, untested technologies are proving too onerous.
Below is a statement by Dr. Edwin Lyman, the director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
“The termination of NuScale's contract signals the broader challenges of developing nuclear energy in the United States. Placing excessive reliance on untested technologies without adequate consideration of economic viability, practicality, and safety concerns is irresponsible and clearly won’t work. The failure of this project underscores the need for decision makers to work diligently to ensure that the pursuit of nuclear energy aligns with the imperatives of public safety and financial feasibility.
“For all its problems, NuScale is one of the designs with the best prospects for commercialization because of its similarity to conventional light-water reactors, which allowed the company to learn from extensive operating experience and to leverage much of the existing nuclear power supply chain. Thus, the failure of the NuScale project with UAMPS does not bode well for the dozens of other, more exotic reactor types in various stages of development that are being touted as the next best thing in nuclear power, such as sodium-cooled fast reactors, gas-cooled reactors and molten-salt reactors. These reactors, which are based on much less mature designs and generally require fuels and materials that are not readily available, will be even riskier bets than NuScale for the foreseeable future. There are currently no other new nuclear power reactor designs under NRC licensing review.
“As private interests continue to turn their attention to emerging nuclear energy technology, lessons from this project should be held top of mind.”
ACCESS TO “LLAW’s ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
A current Digest of major nuclear media headlines with automated inks is listed below by nuclear Category. There are no Yellowstone Caldera stories available in this Post. The latest Sky News coverage of the Russia/Ukraine war is available at the end of the other categorized Posts.
(Just a reminder: When linked, the access to the media story will be underlined. If there is no link to a media story of interest you can still copy and paste the headline and lead line into your browser to find the article you are seeking. Hopefully this will never happen.)
And the rest of the nuclear world’s News:
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
Illinois Senate approves plan to allow new nuclear reactors - IPM Newsroom
Illinois Newsroom
Pritzker vetoed it, citing among other things, a need to modernize oversight rules. ... all those megawatts,” said Sen. Patrick Joyce, a Reddick ...
Expecting Orders Worth ₹500 Cr From The Nuclear Sector In H2: MTAR Technologies | CNBC TV18
YouTube
... all the market action in real time: https ... 10 Things You SHOULD Be Buying at Costco in November 2023. The Deal Guy New ...
Lawmakers set to consider nuclear energy on final day of veto session | WCBU Peoria
WCBU
... All Things Peoria. Next Up: 5:30 PM Marketplace. 0:00. 0:00. All Things ... nuclear moratorium in 1987. “As technology changes, we need to make sure ...
Nuclear War
Nuclear War
NEWS
Nuclear War 'Doomsday' Clock Has Changed, Russian Physicist Says - Newsweek
Newsweek
"From the very first day of the war, Russia made no secret of counting on its nuclear weapons to ensure that nobody would come to Ukraine's rescue," ...
The US, China and Russia Have a Three-Body Nuclear Problem - Bloomberg.com
Bloomberg.com
That's why there's talk again about counterforce versus countervalue strategies. The US in effect follows the former. That is, it sees nuclear warfare ...
Nuclear Tensions Loom Over War Zones - IDN-InDepthNews
IDN-InDepthNews
Nuclear Tensions Loom Over War Zones ... UNITED NATIONS | 9 November 2023 IDN) — The two ongoing military conflicts in Europe and the Middle East are ...
Nuclear Power
NEWS
UN nuclear chief says nuclear energy must be part of the equation to tackle climate change
AP News
... Atomic Energy Agency told the U.N. General Assembly. Over a quarter of the electricity from nuclear power is low-carbon electricity and global ...
Small modular nuclear reactor that was hailed by Coalition as future cancelled due to rising costs
The Guardian
... nuclear power plants could cost to build in 2030. He said this undermined arguments by the Coalition and other nuclear advocates, who had accused ...
Small Nuclear Reactor Contract Fails, Signaling Larger Issues with Nuclear Energy ...
Union of Concerned Scientists
NuScale Power Cooperation, the first company in the United States to secure approval for the design of a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR), ...
NEW
Nuclear War 'Doomsday' Clock Has Changed, Russian Physicist Says - Newsweek
Newsweek
"From the very first day of the war, Russia made no secret of counting on its nuclear weapons to ensure that nobody would come to Ukraine's rescue," ...
The US, China and Russia Have a Three-Body Nuclear Problem - Bloomberg.com
Bloomberg.com
That's why there's talk again about counterforce versus countervalue strategies. The US in effect follows the former. That is, it sees nuclear warfare ...
Nuclear Tensions Loom Over War Zones - IDN-InDepthNews
IDN-InDepthNews
Nuclear Tensions Loom Over War Zones ... UNITED NATIONS | 9 November 2023 (IDN) — The two ongoing military conflicts in Europe and the Middle East are ...
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEW
Saudi Arabia hosts Arab League emergency meeting over Israel-Gaza war - YouTube
YouTube
| What would happen if a nuclear bomb was dropped on a UK city? What Next? •813K views · 19:38 · Go to channel. Why Germany Hates Nuclear Power. Real ...
Nuclear War Threats
NEW
Nuclear War 'Doomsday' Clock Has Changed, Russian Physicist Says - Newsweek
Newsweek
A Russian physicist argues that the Doomsday Clock should be moved backward due to global opposition to Russia's nuclear threats.
Nuclear Tensions Loom Over War Zones - IDN-InDepthNews
IDN-InDepthNews
... threat of nuclear war, “should not be underestimated.” But the Israelis have not made any such threats—until 5 November. According to a report in ...
Ignoring Russia's Threats Would Be A Monumental Mistake - Fair Observer
Fair Observer
... war with Russia. Furthermore, the Russian authorities intensified their nuclear threats, and Dmitry Medvedev, the vice-chairman of the Russian ...
The latest Sky News coverage of the Russia/Ukraine war”:
Key points
Russia nuclear sub launches intercontinental ballistic missile in 'successful' test - reports View post
Peace talks with Russia a 'trap' to help Putin, says Ukrainian minister View post
Russian media: Five killed in Ukrainian strike on Russian-occupied territory View post
Putin struggles to pronounce Kazakh president's name View post
Sean Bell analysis:Why the pendulum might just start to swing in Ukraine's favour View post
Adam Parsons analysis: Ukraine moves closer to EU embrace - but still faces many hurdles View post
Philip Ingram analysis: Who is winning the war? View post
Your questions answered: How bad are sanctions making life for ordinary Russians? View post
Live reporting by Chris Lockyer