LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #724, Friday, (08/16/2024)
LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #724, Friday, (08/16/2024)
“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”
LLAW’s NUCLEAR ISSUES & COMMENTS, Friday, (08/16/2024)
Okay, regarding the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant just southwest of San Luis Obispo, California, highlighted in yesterday’s “All Things Nuclear” issues and comments, here is the other side of that argument from Diablo Canyon’s own vice president of business and technical services, Maureen Zawalick, coupled with a re-post, in case you didn’t read it yesterday, by the Associated Press correspondent, Michael Blood’s opinion.
Please note that neither writer seriously considers or notes the grave danger to humanity that all nuclear power plants present to our health, safety, and environment. Ms. Zawalick mentions the existing tons of greenhouse gasses that fossil fuel plants in California, and compares that, a bit dishonestly, to such ‘zero’ emissions from Diablo Canyon, yet she completely fails to mention the nuclear waste and the other threatening nuclear power plant potential disasters that could occur over the sadly approved 5-year extended life of the nuclear power plant, including radiation leaks from the plant’s old age, which is why it was regulated to shut down next year. Such an attitude is like playing with fire that could easily get out of control.
But the big issue from both opinions is based, as usual, on money — financial disagreements — as the sole questionable impact on the State of California. This scheduled shutdown, though, is really not even about saving money, nor is it about the 9% that Diablo Canyon produces in electricity for the State. It is about human and other lives against the odds of continuing to operate the nuclear plant or shutting it down as scheduled.
California knows very well the sad truth about out-of-control forest fires, but playing against the odds of a nuclear disaster could be far more deadly than the loss of life and environmental damage of forest fires, and though they are tragic unto themselves, they can’t hold a proverbial candle to an out-of-control nuclear power plant. ~llaw
Opinion
PG&E: Here’s why the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is good for California | Opinion
Maureen Zawalick
Thu, August 15, 2024 at 10:16 a.m. PDT·3 min read
PG&E: Here’s why the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is good for California | Opinion
Joe Tarica/jtarica@thetribunenews.com
For nearly four decades, the Diablo Canyon Power Plant has been the backbone of California’s clean energy ambitions.
Today, Diablo Canyon — California’s only operating nuclear power plant — generates roughly 9% of California’s electricity, enough to meet the energy needs of more than 3 million people. All of this is clean, zero-emission, carbon-free energy. In fact, every year it operates, Diablo Canyon saves between 6 to 7 million tons of greenhouse gasses from entering the atmosphere compared to other generation sources.
In recent weeks, a lot has been said about the cost of keeping Diablo Canyon operating. I believe Californians deserve a full accounting of both the costs and financial benefits of operating California’s largest source of clean energy.
Opinion
The math is clear that keeping Diablo Canyon open through 2030 will not only ensure that California can keep the lights on without backsliding on its climate goals, it will also save customers $200 million per year on average — or more than $1 billion — over the duration of the extended operations period.
Here’s how things break down:
Operating Diablo Canyon from 2024 to 2030 will cost roughly $8.3 billion dollars, $1.2 billion of which is being paid for by state and federal programs. That leaves a remaining $7.1 billion that will be paid by customers over the six-year period in question.
For the average customer in PG&E’s service area, this works out to roughly $2 per month in 2025. The cost is significantly less for customers in Southern California, and the cost for all customers is expected to decrease significantly in the later years — to $0 in some years — of the plant’s extended operations.
These costs represent only one side of the financial equation. There are significant financial benefits for customers that come from extended operations of the plant, and when you add everything up, Diablo Canyon’s revenues and reliability value will be more than $8.2 billion — more than $1.1 billion higher than the operating costs to be paid by customers.
Here’s how:
The energy generated by Diablo Canyon will generate market revenues to the tune of $6.1 billion, 100% of which must be returned to customers to offset the costs of operations.
In addition, operating Diablo Canyon means that energy companies won’t be required to sign new and costly energy contracts to ensure that California’s grid can maintain electric reliability during periods of extreme demand. This reliability value comes out to roughly $2.1 billion in additional value, which is used to offset customers’ energy costs.
Simply put, Diablo is the most affordable way to maintain reliability. And, according to the California Energy Commission, the only resource available that wouldn’t rely on harmful fossil fuels to generate that power.
Together, these revenues and reliability values means California energy customers will see a net benefit of roughly $200 million per year on average.
But Diablo Canyon’s value doesn’t stop there. As aforementioned, Diablo Canyon saves between 6 to 7 million tons of greenhouse gasses from entering the atmosphere. These avoided emissions have societal benefits that can be quantified through things like avoided health care costs, agriculture impacts, medical expenses and impacts to the labor field and broader economy. For Diablo Canyon, the societal benefit of avoided greenhouse gas emissions has been pegged at nearly $400 million per year.
These figures, paired with the fact that keeping Diablo Canyon online prevents the state backsliding on its clean energy goals by having to integrate more fossil fuel generation into its energy, make Diablo Canyon a sound investment for all Californians — one that saves customers money and benefits society while keeping the lights on.
Maureen Zawalick is the vice president of business and technical services at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant.
California legislators break with Gov. Newsom over loan to keep state's last nuclear plant running
Michael R. Blood
Thu, August 15, 2024 at 10:36 a.m. PDT·4 min read
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The California Legislature signaled its intent on Thursday to cancel a $400 million loan payment to help finance a longer lifespan for the state’s last nuclear power plant, exposing a rift with Gov. Gavin Newsom who says that the power is critical to safeguarding energy supplies amid a warming climate.
The votes in the state Senate and Assembly on funding for the twin-domed Diablo Canyon plant represented an interim step as Newsom and legislative leaders, all Democrats, continue to negotiate a new budget. But it sets up a public friction point involving one of the governor’s signature proposals, which he has championed alongside the state’s rapid push toward solar, wind and other renewable sources.
The dispute unfolded in Sacramento as environmentalists and antinuclear activists warned that the estimated price tag for keeping the seaside reactors running beyond a planned closing by 2025 had ballooned to nearly $12 billion, roughly doubling earlier projections. That also has raised the prospect of higher fees for ratepayers.
Operator Pacific Gas & Electric called those figures inaccurate and inflated by billions of dollars.
H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for the California Department of Finance, emphasized that budget negotiations are continuing and the legislative votes represented an “agreement between the Senate and the Assembly — not an agreement with the governor.”
The votes in the Legislature mark the latest development in a decades-long fight over the operation and safety of the plant, which sits on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Diablo Canyon, which began operating in the mid-1980s, produces up to 9% of the state’s electricity on any given day.
The fight over the reactors' future is playing out as the long-struggling U.S. nuclear industry sees a potential rebirth in the era of global warming. Nuclear power doesn’t produce carbon pollution like fossil fuels, but it leaves behind waste that can remain dangerously radioactive for centuries.
A Georgia utility just finished the first two scratch-built American reactors in a generation at a cost of nearly $35 billion. The price tag for the expansion of Plant Vogtle from two of the traditional large reactors to four includes almost $17 billion in cost overruns. In Wyoming, Bill Gates and his energy company have started construction on a next-generation nuclear power plant that the tech titan believes will “revolutionize” how power is generated.
In 2016, PG&E, environmental groups and plant worker unions reached an agreement to close Diablo Canyon by 2025. But the Legislature voided the deal in 2022 at the urging of Newsom, who said the power is needed to ward off blackouts as a changing climate stresses the energy system. That agreement for a longer run included a $1.4 billion forgivable state loan for PG&E, to be paid in several installments.
California energy regulators voted in December to extend the plant's operating run for five years, to 2030.
The legislators' concerns were laid out in an exchange of letters with the Newsom administration, at a time when the state is trying to close an estimated $45 billion deficit. Among other concerns, they questioned if, and when, the state would be repaid by PG&E, and whether taxpayers could be out hundreds of millions of dollars if the proposed extension for Diablo Canyon falls through.
Construction at Diablo Canyon began in the 1960s. Critics say potential earthquakes from nearby faults not known to exist when the design was approved could damage equipment and release radiation. One fault was not discovered until 2008. PG&E has long said the plant is safe, an assessment the NRC has supported.
Last year, environmental groups called on federal regulators to immediately shut down one of two reactors at the site until tests can be conducted on critical machinery they believe could fail and cause a catastrophe. Weeks later, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission took no action on the request and instead asked agency staff to review it.
The questions raised by environmentalists about the potential for soaring costs stemmed from a review of state regulatory filings submitted by PG&E, they said. Initial estimates of about $5 billion to extend the life of the plant later rose to over $8 billion, then nearly $12 billion, they said.
“It’s really quite shocking,” said attorney John Geesman, a former California Energy Commission member who represents the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, an advocacy group that opposes federal license renewals in California. The alliance told the state Public Utilities Commission in May that the cost would represent “by far the largest financial commitment to a single energy project the commission has ever been asked to endorse.”
PG&E spokesperson Suzanne Hosn said the figures incorrectly included billions of dollars of costs unrelated to extending operations at the plant.
The company has pegged the cost at $8.3 billion, Hosn said, adding that “the financial benefits exceed the costs.”
___
This story has been updated to correct the amount of cost overruns to build two reactors at the Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia. It was almost $17 billion, not $11 billion.
Michael R. Blood, for The Associated Press via the “Canadian Press
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is 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. The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning 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:
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Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
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Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There is one Yellowstone Caldera bonus story available in this evening’s Post.)
IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)
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, Friday, (08/16/2024)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
Where does nuclear waste go? An important question as Indiana welcomes small reactors
WBOI
Right now, not very far at all. At most nuclear power plants today, the ... 3 things to know about spent nuclear fuel dry cask storage. U.S. ...
This power provider has doubled as it charts a path for nuclear plants to drive data centers
CNBC
... things to come for further buildout,” McFarland told analysts on ... All Rights Reserved. A Division of NBCUniversal. Data is a real-time ...
Should Ukraine capture a Russian nuclear power plant? | New Scientist
New Scientist
International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Mariano Grossi has already spoken out about the risk. “I would like to appeal to all sides ...
Nuclear Power
NEWS
Nuclear Energy Dependence in the Indo-Pacific - Foreign Policy Research Institute
Foreign Policy Research Institute
If any future war happens in the Indo-Pacific, Russia and China's stranglehold over nuclear power plants would be a game changer, enabling them to ...
Nuclear energy gets new investment as power demand surges - YouTube
YouTube
Nuclear energy gets new investment as power demand surges. No views · 1 minute ago ...more. CNBC Television. 2.81M.
This power provider has doubled as it charts a path for nuclear plants to drive data centers
CNBC
Investor interest in Talen Energy has soared since the company signed a $650 million deal in March with Amazon Web Services.
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
PG&E: Here's why the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant must keep operating | Opinion
Yahoo News Canada
From earthquakes to jellyfish: See 8 emergency alerts at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. Stephanie Zappelli. Wed, August 14, 2024 at 1:18 p.m. CDT ...
Russia's Belgorod region declares state of emergency after strikes by Ukraine - YouTube
YouTube
6:51 · Go to channel · Ukraine Attacks Russia: Explosions at Nuclear Power Plant Raises Fears | Vantage with Palki Sharma. Firstpost New 159K views.
Nuclear War
NEWS
Careful: The Next World War Could Start Small | The National Interest
The National Interest
Full spectrum nuclear and conventional deterrence and Soviet appreciation of the costs of war kept the Cold War stand-off from escalating into a Third ...
Could the United States and China really go to war? Who would win? - Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution
That is a terrifying prospect. The two countries are the world's top two economic and military powers, both armed with nuclear weapons, each ...
A new US, Russia, China nuclear arms race spells danger | The Strategist
ASPI Strategist
Unlike in the Cold War, the United States faces the prospect in the next decade of two peer nuclear adversaries, which will together have twice as ...
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
Amid Kim Jong Un's Increasing Nuclear Threats, Seoul's Defense Minister Nominee Is Open ...
Benzinga
... nuclear threats. He emphasized the significance of the alliance with ... nuclear war. This was followed by Germany's decision in August to ...
Ukraine's invasion of Russia exposes the folly of the West's escalation fears - Atlantic Council
Atlantic Council
... war. Crucially, Ukraine's invasion of Russia has demonstrated that Putin's nuclear threats and his talk of red lines are in reality a big bluff ...
Nuclear War in the Middle East - Algemeiner.com
Algemeiner.com
... Threats to Bomb US Businesses Perceived to Support Israel ... With regard to growing nuclear war risks in the Middle East, no concept
Yellowstone Caldera
NEWS
Yellowstone National Park: 7 UNIQUE things to find in this Park - Asianet Newsable
Asianet Newsable
Old Faithful Geyser · Grand Prismatic Spring · Yellowstone Caldera · Lamar Valley Wildlife · Mammoth Hot Springs · Yellowstone Lake · Norris Geyser Basin.
IAEA Weekly News
16 August 2024
Read the top news and updates published on IAEA.org this week.
15 August 2024
IAEA Director General Statement on a Water Leakage at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed that on 9 August 2024, TEPCO found a water leakage at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 2, involving an estimated 25 tons of water from the spent fuel cooling system pump room and the heat exchanger room. The leaked water flowed into drain on the floor connected to the water collection pit (floor sump) located in a room of the first basement floor. The Agency was also informed that TEPCO has not found any leakage spread to other rooms at this stage. Read more →
15 August 2024
IAEA Director General Statement in Relation to the Agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States Related to Naval Nuclear Propulsion
The Agency was informed that on 5 August 2024 the Agreement Among the Government of Australia, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Government of the United States of America for Cooperation Related to Naval Nuclear Propulsion (the “Agreement”) was signed by representatives of the three countries in Washington D.C. and it has been submitted to their legislative authorities for consideration and approval. Read more →
14 August 2024
Gemstone Irradiation: Keeping Workers and Consumers Safe
The irradiation of gemstones in research reactors is a widespread practice, carried out to enhance their colour and increase their market value. The IAEA works with national regulators to ensure this practice is safe for workers and consumers. Read more →
13 August 2024
Update 244 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) viewed evidence provided to the team today that continues to indicate that Monday’s fire did not start at the base of the cooling tower, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said. Read more →
12 August 2024
First Ever International Nuclear Science Olympiad Held in Run Up to International Youth Day
The first ever International Nuclear Science Olympiad has been held in the Philippines in the run up to today’s International Youth Day, with the support of the IAEA. Read more →