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“Our freedoms can
only
be maintained by the advancement of technologies that serve mankind—
not
advancing technology puts Freedom at Risk and
our freedom is
threatened because we
don't take the time to
participate in it” GJD
Unfortunately
our world does not recognize
"superstar scientists"
as they do
entertainers.
Our
country needs a new PROGRAM . . "The
Annual Academia Awards"
Identifying Americas scientists to
Americas Citizens!
Our hats are off to
our
Contributing Scientists for their
"superstar science"!
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18 - 25 June 2008
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ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT: |
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CEOs make climate recommendations to G8 |
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20 June 2008 |
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Recommendations on a post-2012 framework for global
climate policy, backed by international business
leaders, have been submitted by the World Economic Forum
(WEF) to the G8 leaders ahead of their meeting in Japan.
The businessmen see advanced nuclear power as part of
the solution. |
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NEW NUCLEAR: |
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First concrete for new reactor at Novovoronezh-II |
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25 June 2008 |
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First concrete for a new reactor has been poured at the
Novovoronezh phase II nuclear power plant, marking the
official start of construction. This is the first unit
in Russia's wave of new build, which could benefit in
future from foreign investment, politicians and
officials said in Moscow today. |
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Bruce Power to study use of nuclear in Saskatchewan |
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18 June 2008 |
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Bruce Power launched a new energy initiative in the
Canadian province of Saskatchewan, which includes a
feasibility study for the construction of province's
first nuclear power plant. The company intends to begin
its analysis this summer and issue a report by the end
of the year. |
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REGULATION & SAFETY: |
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Safety authority asks for steam generator work |
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24 June 2008 |
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Electricité de France has been given until 30 September
to implement preventative safety measures in steam
generators at its French nuclear reactors including
plugging tubes affected by an anomaly in anti-vibration
measures. |
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EdF allowed to continue concreting |
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20 June 2008 |
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Concreting work is to recommence at Flamanville 3, after
safety authorities accepted Electricité de France's
plans to improve quality control. The company intends to
train workers in the necessary safety culture and must
report on progress for six months. |
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French transparency committee meets |
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19 June 2008 |
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France's new national committee on nuclear information -
the High Committee for Transparency and Information on
Nuclear Safety - held its first meeting on 18 June. The
committee's mandate is to act as a forum for the
discussion of all issues related to public access to
nuclear safety information. |
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NUCLEAR POLICIES: |
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UK opinion swinging towards nuclear |
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25 June 2008 |
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Over half of the respondents to a new public opinion
survey feel that the UK should increase its nuclear
capacity - and those living closest to existing nuclear
plants are most strongly in favour of new nuclear. |
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Brown calls oil producers to invest in nuclear |
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23 June 2008 |
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UK prime minister Gordon Brown thinks oil producing
countries could stabilise their market and secure
long-term futures by investing in alternatives,
including nuclear. He told OPEC leaders he will open up
the UK's energy industry to such investments. |
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CORPORATE: |
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New turbines for Exelon plants |
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19 June 2008 |
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US utility Exelon is upgrading steam turbines at six of
its nuclear power units. The $420 million project should
result in about 240 MWe more power. Exelon's Quad
Cities, Dresden and Peach Bottom plants will benefit
from the work, which would see two boiling water
reactors at each receive steam turbine retrofits. |
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BE performance, earnings down |
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19 June 2008 |
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Technical problems at some of its nuclear reactors
resulted in lower output and earnings for British Energy
during the 2007-2008 financial year, despite overall
operational improvements. Speculation continues about
the future of the UK nuclear generator, currently up for
sale. |
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Global investors circle new nuclear markets |
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18 June 2008 |
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Investors see the USA as the best place in the world to
engage in nuclear build projects, followed by the UK and
China, then South Africa. The banks, however, are yet to
make serious moves. The list comes from Ernst & Young
research commissioned by the UK government, a summary of
which was presented in London |
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EXPLORATION & NUCLEAR FUEL: |
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Galvani to work on Brazil's largest uranium reserve |
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24 June 2008 |
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Industriás Nucleares do Brasil (INB) has selected
Galvani, a regional phosphates company, as the sole
partner in the exploitation of the Santa Quitéria
reserve ahead of international miners Bunge and Vale. |
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Cameco completes GLE's front-end loop |
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20 June 2008 |
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Uranium producer Cameco has joined the Global Laser
Enrichment (GLE) venture, promising tie-ins across the
front end of the nuclear fuel cycle. The stakeholders in
GLE have uranium mining, conversion enrichment and fuel
fabrication business units. |
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Namibian mine gets the green light |
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19 June 2008 |
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Namibian uranium miner UraMin, a 100%-owned subsidiary
of French nuclear giant Areva, has gained approval for a
mining licence and a positive record of decision on its
desalination plant for the Trekkopje Uranium Project.
The miner will use an innovative leaching system and put
back displaced top soil. |
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WASTE & RECYCLING: |
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Radball ready to roll |
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24 June 2008 |
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Nuclear decontamination and clean-up jobs could be
simplified in future by a novel tennis-ball-sized device
able to help map radiation sources. Using the device
should be cheaper and easier than robotic or manual
surveying. |
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Second of three Hanford contracts |
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23 June 2008 |
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A $4.5 billion contract was announced on 19 June, the
second huge deal in a program to clean-up the USA's
legacy Hanford site. The site's central plateau is the
focus of the work, which includes much remediation and
environmental monitoring. |
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INDUSTRY TALK: |
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Belarus adopts nuclear energy law |
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25 June 2008 |
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The House of Representatives of the National Assembly of
Belarus has passed the second reading of a bill on
nuclear power. The bill covers "fundamental principles"
for the introduction of nuclear power and declares that
benefits to citizens and society must outweigh any
negative impacts of nuclear energy. |
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Inspectors in Syria |
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23 June 2008 |
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A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) flew to Syria on 22 June to examine the alleged
nuclear site near Al Kibar. The team of inspectors would
spend about three days in Syria inspecting the site and
talking with Syrian officials, before reporting to
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei,
a spokesman told WNN. |
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French uranium employees kidnapped in Niger |
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23 June 2008 |
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French nuclear company Areva is working with authorities
in France and Niger to liberate four of its expatriate
employees kidnapped by Tuareg rebels in Niger's Arlit
region. Areva confirmed that the four kidnapped
employees were in good health.. |
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Nuclear power competes with pedal power |
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20 June 2008 |
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On 24 June, a 700 km cycle race kicks off from the
Volgodonsk nuclear power plant in southern Russia to the
Zaporizhzhya plant in Ukraine. The cycling team is
headed by Gennadiy Fomenko, human resources director of
Volgodonsk. |
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Subject line.
US finalizes "clean energy"
loan guarantees
The US nuclear industry
has welcomed the announcement by the US Department of
Energy (DOE) of final regulations for a loan guarantee
programme that will pave the way for federal support of
clean energy under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
"Loan guarantees aim to stimulate investment and
commercialization of clean energy technologies",
Secretary of Energy Samuel W Bodman said, adding that
the regulations were bringing the US "one step closer to
being able to use new and novel sources of energy on a
mass scale to reduce emissions and allow for vigorous
economic growth and increased energy security."
Under the new ruling, the DOE may issue guarantees for
up to 100% of the amount of a loan, subject to the
Energy Policy Act limitation that it may not guarantee a
debt instrument for more than 80% of the total cost of
an eligible project. DOE does not plan to use taxpayer
funds to pay for the credit subsidy costs of loan
guarantees. To be eligible for the loan guarantees,
projects must employ new or significantly improved
technologies that avoid, reduce or sequester air
pollutants or anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse
gases compared to commercial technologies currently in
use in the USA.
Frank L (Skip) Bowman, president and CEO of US nuclear
industry policy organization the Nuclear Energy
Institute, welcomed the ruling. "We are pleased that the
Department of Energy has taken this important step to
implement the loan guarantee provisions of the Energy
Policy Act. Electric generating companies have begun to
file license applications for new nuclear plants with
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and it is imperative
that the Energy Department have in place a loan
guarantee program that will support the financing for
these large, capital-intensive power plant projects," he
said.
His sentiments were echoed by Michael J Wallace,
executive vice president of Constellation Energy, which
recently filed a partial Combined Operating licence
(COL) application for a new nuclear unit at its Calvert
Cliffs site. The rulemaking "recognizes the need for
federal loan guarantees that mitigate the inherent risk
in bringing innovative technologies to the marketplace,"
he said, adding: "We have consistently maintained that a
workable loan guarantee program is essential to ensure
nuclear power delivers on its promise as the only safe,
reliable, emission-free technology that can meet the
nation's energy needs in the 21st century. Today's
announcement appears to provide for such a workable
framework."
Wallace described the regulations as a "substantial
improvement" on earlier proposals, and said that
Constellation would spend the next few weeks carefully
reviewing the new rules to gain a full understanding of
their impact on pursuing new nuclear development
activities.
DOE has invited 16 project sponsors who have already
submitted pre-applications now to submit full
applications for loan guarantees. The list is made up of
projects covering advanced fossil energy, industrial
energy efficiency, solar energy, electricity delivery
and energy reliability, hydrogen, alternative fuel
vehicles and biomass.
Further information
US
government agrees new build
insurance
Companies building new nuclear power
plants in the USA can now qualify
for a share of $2 billion in federal
risk insurance, under a Conditional
Agreement released by the Department
of Energy (DOE).
The
insurance covers costs associated
with certain regulatory or
litigation-related delays that,
through no fault of the company, can
delay plant start-up. According to
the DOE, the risk insurance,
authorized under the Energy Policy
Act of 2005, "provides incentive and
stability in spurring construction
of new nuclear power plants and
meeting our energy needs in a clean,
safe, economical manner."
Energy
Secretary Samuel W Bodman,
announcing the agreement, noted:
"Conditional Agreements pave the way
for risk insurance contracts that
will provide the first project
sponsors constructing new nuclear
power plants with assistance if they
face delays in expanding the use of
nuclear energy across the nation."
The
coverage of the government-backed
risk insurance would include delays
associated with regulatory reviews
of inspections, tests, analyses and
acceptance criteria, as well as
certain delays associated with
pre-operational hearings or
litigation in federal, state or
tribal courts. Normal business
risks, such as employment strikes
and weather delays, would not be
covered.
Under
the Energy Policy Act, the DOE is
authorized to enter contracts to
provide risk insurance with the
first six sponsors to begin
construction of new nuclear
facilities and that meet all other
contractual conditions. Coverage of
up to $500 million will be available
to the first two plants which begin
construction, with up to $250
million for the next four.
Application for coverage is a
two-step process, with sponsors
required to enter a Conditional
Agreement first and then, if
eligible, a risk insurance contract.
The Conditional Agreement is
available to any sponsor of an
advanced nuclear facility once its
application for a Construction and
Operating Licence (COL) is docketed
by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC). However, only the first six
that are issued a COL and begin
construction will be eligible for
the risk insurance contract with
DOE.
The
DOE is working with industry to
promote the expansion of nuclear
power in the country and work
towards the submission of COL
applications for new nuclear plants
though its Nuclear Power 2010
program. The first two Early Site
Permits for new plants - Entergy's
Grand Gulf and Exelon's Clinton -
were issued by the NRC earlier this
year. NRG Energy has recently filed
a COL application for two new units
at its South Texas Project site,
while UniStar has filed the first
part of a COL application for a
third unit at Calvert Cliffs earlier
in the year.
Further information
US
Department of Energy
The
text of the
Conditional Agreement
DOE's
Nuclear
Power 2010
program
WNA's
US
Nuclear Power Industry
information paper
WNN:
COL
application filed for new South
Texas plant
WNN:
Second
US site gains new build permit
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