LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #759, Monday, (09/23/2024)
“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity"
The huge towers of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Londonderry Township, Pennsylvania ~ (See credits in article)
LLAW’s NUCLEAR VIEWS, ISSUES & COMMENTS, Monday, (09/23/2024)
I have been avoiding, with gritted teeth, posting this story—that has been out and growing with more details for several days. Let me just say this is the most thoughtless, unbelievable, and dangerous national proposal I have ever encountered in my nearly 83 years (coming November 23rd) of life on planet Earth, much of it in the nuclear industry, and Three Mile Island was my personal reason for ending a career that had spanned parts of three decades. My reason was and still is the very same reason that nuclear plant TMI-2 (the one that is shut down forever because of a partial meltdown on March 28, 1979) and will remain under clean-up and final demolition until 2052, at least. That is a clean-up span of 73 years. Just that single accident tells us how dangerous nuclear power plants are to sustained life on planet Earth. And we want to re-open old ones and build hundreds of new ones around the world?
From the article: “The symbolism is enormous,” said Joseph Dominguez, CEO of Constellation. “This was the site of the industry’s greatest failure, and now it can be a place of rebirth.” Obviously, a major new capital infusion from a group of big banks that together control trillions of dollars in potential funding can only help jump-start a new expansion of nuclear power.
A symbolic place of rebirth? Apparently we have no common sense of values, and will spend trillions upon trillions of dollars (including bigger and stronger nuclear bombs) in order to ensure our own and other unnecessary demise of life on planet Earth for reasons that make no common sense at all. ~llaw
A Rising Mass Of Support Could Lead To A U.S. Nuclear Renaissance
Senior Contributor
David Blackmon is a Texas-based public policy analyst/consultant.
Sep 23, 2024,07:19am EDT
A group of the world’s biggest banks said Monday they will increase support for the expansion of nuclear power, according to the Financial Times. The banks, including Barclay’s, Bank of America, Citi, Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, and Goldman Sachs will make the formal announcement later Monday at an event with White House climate policy advisor John Podesta.
The stepped-up commitment from the banks is in support of goals set out at last year’s COP 28 conference to triple nuclear generation globally by 2050. It comes as expansion of wind generation - and, to a lesser extent, solar - is meeting with rising opposition from communities and struggling with profitability even while benefitting from a suite of government subsidies and tax incentives. It also comes as power grid managers struggle with increasing reliability issues as they are forced to integrate more and more intermittent wind and solar into their regional power structures.
Developers of AI and other cutting-edge technologies that require power-hungry data centers have become increasingly concerned that their needs can’t be met by intermittent generation, even with backup provided by current battery technology. U.S. companies are increasingly seeking to execute power supply agreements with traditional forms of 24/7 baseload generation to fill their needs. Nuclear generation, as a zero-emissions power source, helps such companies meet both their power needs and emissions reductions goals.
On Friday, Microsoft announced it had reached a deal with Constellation Energy to restart Unit 1 of its Three Mile Island nuclear facility in Pennsylvania to provide power to fill its own regional data center needs. Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island facility suffered a partial meltdown in 1979, an incident that released radioactive gases and iodine into the atmosphere, and which still ranks at the most severe nuclear incident in U.S. history. The U.S. nuclear power industry, which had undergone a rapid expansion during the 1970s, has struggled to restore public and policymaker confidence in the safety of its operations across the 45 years since that event.
Three Mile Island’s Unit 1 was not impacted by that incident and continued in service until it was retired by Constellation in 2019 due to economic reasons. Constellation said it plans to invest $1.6 billion to refurbish Unit 1, with a target for restarting the reactor by 2028. Its deal with Microsoft is for a 20-year power provision commitment.
“The symbolism is enormous,” said Joseph Dominguez, CEO of Constellation. “This was the site of the industry’s greatest failure, and now it can be a place of rebirth.” Obviously, a major new capital infusion from a group of big banks that together control trillions of dollars in potential funding can only help jump-start a new expansion of nuclear power.
But much will depend on regulators who oversee the permitting process for restarting existing units and building new ones. Reuters reports that Constellation has yet to file a formal application for the restart of the Three Mile Island unit. It quotes Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) spokesperson Scott Burnell as saying “It’s up to Constellation to lay out its rationale for justifying restart, so we’re prepared to engage with the company on next steps."
The Bottom Line
Historically, the steps in America’s regulatory permitting processes have been painstakingly slow to evolve. Recent attempts by West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and other pro-energy members of congress to streamline those processes via legislation have met with opposition from Democrats and Republicans alike.
Whether strong new commitments from major banks along with pressure from tech developers and nuclear generation companies can combine to speed things along remains to be seen. It also remains to be seen if activist groups who favor wind and solar but have historically opposed nuclear expansion - largely by exploiting the fright scenarios from the Three Mile Island incident over the last 45 years - will now work in opposition to these rapidly evolving plans for a nuclear renaissance.
Nothing related to energy and energy policy in the United States is ever simple. The only element of absolute certainty about this new pro-nuclear initiative is that it will be no exception to that rule.
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David Blackmon is an energy-related public policy analyst/consultant based in Mansfield, TX.
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TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Monday, (09/23/2024)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
Oceans and their role in climate change are at the center of the new book 'Category Five'
WBUR
It is entropy, tearing everything down as quickly as it appears. I smelled seaweed and saw miles of sand crushed by the waves, wind, rocks, and ...
Would long-range missiles for Ukraine pull the U.S. into a war with Russia? - NPR
NPR
And that, of course, raises concerns about nuclear weapons. CONSIDER THIS - the ... All Things Considered team. You can sign up at np.org ...
Nuclear Power
NEWS
World's largest banks to throw weight behind nuclear energy - Miningmx
Miningmx
... electricity needs in Gulnar district of Mersin, Turkiye on June 14, 2023. Work at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) continues as planned.
A Rising Mass Of Support Could Lead To A U.S. Nuclear Renaissance - Forbes
Forbes
A group of the word's biggest banks said Monday they will increase support for the expansion of nuclear power, according to the Financial Times.
Major global banks to show support for nuclear power - report | Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha
Fourteen of the top financial institutions will pledge more support for nuclear energy to unlock financing for the industry. Read more.
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
Kenya should rethink its decision to build nuclear power plant - The Standard
The Standard
... emergencies on the scale that nuclear energy demands. The inherent risks of a nuclear reactor in a country with inconsistent infrastructure and a ...
Nuclear War
NEWS
Putin Ally Warns of Nuclear War Over Growing Western Support for Ukraine | ET Now
YouTube
Tensions between Russia and the West have sharply intensified, with Vyacheslav Volodin, a top Putin ally, issuing a nuclear threat in response to ...
A nuclear war in Ukraine is a distinct possibility | THE AFRICAN
The African
A Ukrainian rescuer works at the site of a missile attack in Kyiv on March 25, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The war hasn't gone at ...
Putin Realizing That Nuclear Threats 'Don't Frighten Anyone': Report - Newsweek
Newsweek
... nuclear weapons in the war that Putin started. In its latest update, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Sunday that threats of ...
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
Putin Realizing That Nuclear Threats 'Don't Frighten Anyone': Report - Newsweek
Newsweek
Vladimir Putin is looking at a different response to Western approval of long-range strikes into Russia after realizing that nuclear threats ...
America inching toward World War III? Nonsense. - The Hill
The Hill
Since a global war risks becoming a nuclear war, deterrence will work. ... Despite Putin's threats, Russia does not have the ability to launch a .