LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #648, Saturday, (06/01/2024)
LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #648, Saturday, (06/01/2024)
“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm
LLAW’s NUCLEAR ISSUES & COMMENTS, Saturday, (06/01/2024)
This story from the Associated Press is the reporting of just another really, really, bad idea! What is wrong with our world leaders, including those of our own here in the United States of America? Instead of more nuclear nuclear power plants, we should be decommissioning all of the existing ones, and investing in renewable energy power plants instead, including considering presently wasted steam from the world’s volcanic calderas such as the Yellowstone caldera in the USA that is capable producing power for the entire North American continent with plenty left over. We have known this for more than a decade, but have done nothing but talk about it.
Some scientists say Yellowstone creates enough steam to power the world and even now geothermal energy is successfully produced to some moderate extent here in the USA and around the world from other geothermal resources. But instead we want to build nuclear energy monoliths or monuments to eventually suffer the consequences of worthless nuclear power plants because there is not enough uranium in the ground (Yes uranium is technically a fossil fuel and is NOT a renewable fuel.) and producing it after mining it is a very complicated and expensive several-step refining process including preliminary milling at or near the minesite to create a refined product called Yellowcake (U308), then shipping that product to additional refineries, all of which makes nuclear power a very expensive and an environmentally dirty process even without its ability to destroy all life around the entire globe, even without a nuclear war. And yet the nuclear industry, governments, and ignorant others call it clean, safe, and cheap. llolloll! Nothing could be further from the truth.
New nuclear power plants, including the two new ones in Georgia discussed in this article, cost more, including cost overruns, to build than anyone with an understanding of finance and who pays the future bills and taxes for these terrific costs and never-ending overruns would automatically realize that more nuclear power plants will further enslave the American workers and bankrupt America if they don’t kill us all first . . . ~llaw
US Energy Secretary calls for more nuclear power while celebrating $35 billion Georgia reactors
JEFF AMY
Fri, May 31, 2024, 11:39 AM PDT5 min read
WAYNESBORO, Ga. (AP) — U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Friday called for more nuclear reactors to be built in the United States and worldwide. But the CEO of the Georgia utility that just finished the first two scratch-built American reactors in a generation at a cost of nearly $35 billion says his company isn't ready to pick up that baton.
Speaking in Waynesboro, Georgia, where Georgia Power Co. and three other utilities last month put a second new nuclear reactor into commercial operation, Granholm said the United States needs 98 more reactors with the capacity of units 3 and 4 at Plant Vogtle to produce electricity while reducing climate-changing carbon emissions. Each of the two new reactors can power 500,000 homes and businesses without releasing any carbon.
“It is now time for others to follow their lead to reach our goal of getting to net zero by 2050," Granholm said. "We have to at least triple our current nuclear capacity in this country.”
The federal government says it is easing the risks of nuclear construction, but the $11 billion in cost overruns at Plant Vogtle near Augusta remain sobering for other utilities. Chris Womack is the CEO of Southern Co., the Atlanta-based parent company of Georgia Power. He said he supports Granholm's call for more nuclear-power generation, but he added that his company won't build more soon.
“I think the federal government should provide a leadership role in facilitating and making that become a reality,” Womack said. “We’ve had a long experience, and we’re going to celebrate what we’ve gotten done here for a good little while.”
Friday’s event capped a week of celebrations, where leaders proclaimed the reactors a success, even though they finished seven years late.
On Wednesday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp floated the idea of a fifth Vogtle reactor. Although the Republican Kemp rarely discusses climate change, he has made electric vehicles a priority and has said new industries demand carbon-free electricity.
“One of the first questions on their minds is: Can we provide them with what they need?” Kemp said. “We can confidently answer ‘Yes!’ because of days like today.”
The new Vogtle reactors are currently projected to cost Georgia Power and three other owners $31 billion, according to calculations by The Associated Press. Add in $3.7 billion that original contractor Westinghouse paid Vogtle owners to walk away from construction, and the total nears $35 billion.
Electric customers in Georgia already have paid billions for what may be the most expensive power plant ever. The federal government aided Vogtle by guaranteeing the repayment of $12 billion in loans, reducing borrowing costs.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden’s administration held a meeting to promote nuclear power, saying it would create a working group to ease the challenges that dogged Vogtle.
The Biden administration promised that the military would commission reactors, which could help drive down costs for others. It also noted support for smaller reactors, suggesting small reactors could replace coal-fueled electric generating plants that are closing. The administration also pledged to further streamline licensing.
Granholm said that she believed others could learn from Vogtle's mistakes, like starting construction before plans were completed. She also predicted additional models of the Vogtle reactors, which were the first of their kind built in the United States, could be built at lower cost.
“So the question is, how do you learn from the new design in the second and the third and the fourth and the fifth plant? If you don’t vary the design, it gets 30% less expensive every time you build it,” Granholm said.
In Michigan, where Granholm was a Democratic governor, she announced in March up to $1.5 billion in loans to restart the Palisades nuclear power plant, which was shut down in 2022 after a previous owner had trouble producing electricity that was price-competitive.
But with much of the domestic effort focused on building a series of smaller nuclear reactors using mass-produced components, critics question whether they can actually be built more cheaply. Others note that the United States still hasn't created a permanent repository for nuclear waste, which lasts for thousands of years. Other forms of electrical generation, including solar backed up with battery storage, are much cheaper to build initially.
In Georgia, almost every electric customer will pay for Vogtle. Georgia Power owns 45.7% of the reactors. Smaller shares are owned by Oglethorpe Power Corp., which provides electricity to member-owned cooperatives, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and the city of Dalton. Utilities in Jacksonville, Florida, as well as in the Florida Panhandle and parts of Alabama also have contracted to buy Vogtle’s power.
Regulators in December approved an additional 6% rate increase on Georgia Power’s 2.7 million customers to pay for $7.56 billion in remaining costs at Vogtle, with the company absorbing $2.6 billion in costs. That is expected to cost the typical residential customer an additional $8.97 a month in May, on top of the $5.42 increase that took effect when Unit 3 began operating.
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
There are 6 categories, including a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives, as do ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links in each category about the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are two Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in tonight’s Post.)
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 links is listed below by nuclear Category (in the above listed order). If a Category heading does not appear in the daily news Digest, it means there was no news reported from this Category today. Generally, the three best articles in each Category from around the nuclear world(s) are Posted. Occasionally, if a Post is important enough, it may be listed in multiple Categories.
TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Saturday, (06/01/2024)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
Opinion: It's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's trash and tunes in the air - Nevada Public Radio
Nevada Public Radio
All Things · Culture · Food and Drink · The Guide ... North Korean defectors living in South Korea release balloons carrying propaganda leaflets ...
U.S. House speaker reverses on radiation compensation bill that excluded Missouri | KCUR
KCUR
All Things Considered. Next Up: 6:30 PM ... nuclear radiation. ... Politics, Elections and Government Nuclear powernuclear weaponsU.S. House of ...
Chinese entrepreneurs aim to stay off the U.S. trade restriction list - WCBU
WCBU
... nuclear weapons modeling and all manner of different kinds of banned activities. And the United States was essentially saying to its companies, we ...
Nuclear Power
NEWS
US Energy Secretary calls for more nuclear power while celebrating $35 billion Georgia reactors
Yahoo Finance
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Friday called for more nuclear reactors to be built in the United States and worldwide.
US Energy Secretary calls for more nuclear power while celebrating $35 billion Georgia reactors
ABC News - The Walt Disney Company
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is calling for more nuclear reactors to be built in the United States and worldwide.
Gulf states add nuclear power to energy mix as net-zero goals loom - The National
The National
After the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Kuwait is also considering nuclear energy capabilities.
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
U.S. delegation lays out the present and future of nuclear security at ICONS
Department of Energy
... nuclear security in the sustainable expansion of nuclear power. “ICONS ... nuclear facilities requires new approaches to nuclear security and emergency ...
Fire Brigade Drill at Decommissioned Nuclear Plant in Garigliano - Il Mattino
Il Mattino
Exercise of the fire brigade of the Provincial Command of Caserta, in accordance with what is provided in the Interprovincial External Emergency ...
Fire Brigade Drill at Decommissioned Nuclear Plant in Garigliano - Il Mattino
Il Mattino
... Emergency Plan, at the decommissioned nuclear power plant on the Garigliano. The exercise, which took place with the presence of the Provincial ...
Nuclear War
NEW
Putin Aide Lashes Out At West, Issues Fresh Nuclear War Threat; 'Not Mere Intimidation…'
YouTube
Russian President Vladimir Putin's aide, Dmitry Medvedev, issued a tough warning to NATO. Medvedev warned NATO against the "fatal mistake" of ...
Russia's Medvedev Threatens West With Nuclear War | theTrumpet.com
theTrumpet.com
Russia's Medvedev Threatens West With Nuclear War ... Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned on May 31 that Moscow is not bluffing when it says ...
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Moscow warns it could go to war with NATO over US move - Sky News
Sky News
They also called for North Korea to end its nuclear weapons programme. Yesterday, North Korea fired a barrage of ballistic missile to show it is ...
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Moscow warns it could go to war with NATO over US move - Sky News
Sky News
A top Russian official has said Ukraine striking with US weapons inside of Russia could mean war with NATO - and warned Moscow's nuclear threats are ...
Putin Aide Lashes Out At West, Issues Fresh Nuclear War Threat; 'Not Mere Intimidation…' | Watch
YouTube
Putin Aide Lashes Out At West, Issues Fresh Nuclear War Threat; 'Not Mere Intimidation… ... Nuclear Threats By Russia. Oneindia News New 2.5K views · 47 ...
Kremlin official threatens war against NATO if Ukraine uses US weapons against Russia
Sky News
... threats to both Ukraine and the West, often invoking Russia's nuclear weapons. Some commentators even say his wild statements could be designed to ...
Yellowstone Caldera
NEWS
Lava continues to flow from Icelandic volcano but activity calms - YouTube
YouTube
Iceland Volcano Eruption LIVE | Iceland Volcano Spews Red Streams Of ... Henrys Fork Caldera: Yellowstone's Last Caldera Eruption Completely in Idaho.
10 Spectacular Volcanoes and Their Unique Ecosystems - MSN
MSN
2. Yellowstone Caldera, USA. Yellowstone National Park, situated atop a massive supervolcano, is a hotbed of geothermal activity and biodiversity. The ...