My Geiger counter is in the shop for maintenance.

         I have spoken about the dangers to nuclear reactors of war as well as the danger of nuclear materials falling into the hands of terrorists. Three reports this week are examples of these concerns.

         Hamas has been firing rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip lately. Israel has retaliated with bombardment of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, seventy four Hamas rockets fell on cities across Israel. Three of those rockets were long range M-75s. They were targeted to hit the nuclear reactor at Dimona. One was destroyed by the Iron Dome, the Israeli missile defense system. The other two missed the reactor and exploded nearby. Had they succeeded in hitting the reactor, clouds of radioactive particles would have been released into the atmosphere and might have been blown back into the Gaza Strip. This would pose a threat to the Palestinians but the fanatic faction of Hamas that launched the missiles does not seem to be particularly concerned about that possibility.

        The forces of the ISIS Sunnis have erupted out of Syria and are rampaging around in central Iraq. They drove the central government forces out of Mosul before the Kurdish rebels took control of the city. They stole hundreds of millions of dollars out of the Mosul Central Bank. They have also seized eighty eight pounds of uranium compounds from a university research lab in Mosul. The uranium has not been enriched to weapons grade. Experts say that these compounds do not pose a significant threat. ISIS has made claims that they have nuclear weapons that they will use against Israel but experts doubt these claims. They acknowledge that a nuclear exchange with Israel would contaminate the land and require decontamination following the hostilities.

        The French police just announced that they broke up an Islamist plot to attack targets in Paris last year. The plot was uncovered when the French authorities decoded encrypted messages between an Algerian in France and al-Qaeda organization in North Africa. Al-Qaeda asked the Algerian to suggest targets in France and the Algerian suggested the targeting nuclear reactors, planes taking off, and French landmarks including the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum. The Algerian also suggested gatherings of large crowds in public places. Al-Qaeda asked the Algerian to travel back to Algeria for training. The Algerian was arrested while the attacks were still in the planning stages.

          The recent conflict in Ukraine raised serious concerns about the fourteen nuclear reactors in Ukraine. There are a number of ways that a spreading military conflict could have breached containment at the reactors. Fortunately, this has not happened so far but it illustrates how dangerous it is to have nuclear reactors near cities that may experience armed conflicts.

         The danger to civilian populations of countries at war posed by nuclear reactors is another reason that nuclear energy is not a good idea.

Dimona nuclear reactor in Israel:

Tokyo supermarket sells Fukushima tomatoes for 50% price of other origins. fukushima-diary.com

Typhoon Neoguri pounds Japan as 500,000 are advised to leave homes. theguardian.com

New technology for the manufacture of nuclear fuel components from silicon carbide (SiC) has been developed by Japanese researchers. world-nuclear-news.org

 Iraq has lost control of low-grade nuclear materials owned by a university in the city of Mosul, which has been taken over by insurgents.  world-nuclear-news.org

My Geiger counter is in the shop for maintenance.

          The European Union is a political entity made up of 28 mostly European nations. It has a currency based on the Euro, a parliament, a court, a bank and other departments. Member nations have surrendered some of their autonomy in return for the benefits of membership. There are one hundred and thirty two operating nuclear power reactors in fourteen of the member countries. These reactors produce about thirty percent of the electricity generated in the E.U. The policy of the E.U. with respect to nuclear power is stated in the Euratom Treaty. There are three main issues; nuclear safety, nuclear safeguards and nuclear security. Member states have the authority to decide whether or not they want to use nuclear power.

        Recently, ten member nations wrote a letter to the E.U. Energy Commissioner with respect to the future of nuclear power in the E.U. The letter was sent on behalf of the energy ministers of ten E.U. members including Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom. The letter points out that nuclear power needs to be an important part of the energy mix in the E.U. in the future and will allow each member state to work toward energy independence.

        The letter raises a question about recent developments in the E.U. with respect to commercial power generation. Failures of energy markets recently indicate that the market itself may not be able to draw investment in nuclear power. “National support mechanisms” consistent with E.U.s laws, treaties and regulations might be needed to help support investment in nuclear power. The E.U. Commission said in 2013 that “such intervention might be necessary to secure a level playing field, overcome market failures, foster technology and innovation deployment and, more generally, support the market in delivering appropriate investment signals.”

         There has been a decline in E.U. energy production in recent decades. The letter writers want to halt this decline by increasing the utilization of nuclear power. They claim that nuclear power fulfils the three basic needs addressed in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which include; security of supply of fuel and technology, sustainability and competitiveness. The letter states “In our view, nuclear energy, for its physical and economic characteristics, is entitled to be treated as an indigenous source of energy with respect to energy security, having an important social and economic dimension.” They think that nuclear energy should be “supported by market mechanisms to create a predictable investment framework.” The letter writers mention the low carbon emissions of nuclear power and point out that it is needed to fight climate change.

        I have detailed many of the problems with nuclear power generation in previous posts. There are very serious questions about whether nuclear power can be safe,  not lead to proliferation of nuclear weapons and not be a target for theft or sabotage. In addition, the issues raised by the treaty are also problematical.

        It has been estimated that uranium production has already peaked and there will not be enough to fuel the existing reactors and the reactors under construction. Fast breeder reactors are still being developed and producing plutonium for fuel could lead to nuclear weapons proliferation. So reliable fuel supply is not guaranteed.

       Just how sustainable nuclear power generation is will have to depend on very complex technology, sufficient regulation and competence of reactor operators, lack of which have caused many problems and accidents in the past.

       Competitiveness is already fading with cheap natural gas and the decline in the cost of renewable alternative energy sources. And a letter calling for special considerations of nuclear power would seem to contradict the very idea of competitiveness.

       After decades of billions of dollars worth of loans, loan guarantees, grants, tax breaks and other support, now nuclear power advocates are crying that they need special financial help to continue to pursue nuclear power generation. I say that it is time to listen to the marketplace which is less than enthusiastic about the commercial prospects for nuclear power. 

Leak at Fukushima nuclear plant threatens dangerous meltdown. Enenews.com

Japan on high alert for “once in a decade” typhoon. Enenews.com
Russia on Friday said it plans to finish modernizing its nuclear-capable missile forces within several years. Defenseone.com

Japan on Tuesday vowed to make a stern protest to China after a regional Chinese newspaper printed a map of the country with mushroom clouds hovering over the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and accused the Japanese of wanting war again. News.yahoo.com

 

My Geiger counter is in the shop for maintenance.

         Nations that export nuclear technology such as China and Russia are pouring a lot of resources into developing the “next” generation of commercial nuclear power reactors. This type of reactor is also knows as a Generation IV reactor (current power reactors are considered Generation III.) There are several different designed being pursued. These new reactors promise “significant advances in sustainability, safety and reliability, economics, physical protection and proliferation resistance.” However, some of the new designs generate plutonium for future fuel and could be seen as a proliferation threat.

         Thermal reactors utilize what are referred to as slow or “thermal” neutrons. A moderator slows neutrons to make capture by fuel more probable. The very high temperature reactor (VHTR) uses uranium fuel with helium or molten salt as a coolant. This reactor can produce one thousand degree heat for use in chemical processing. The Chinese began development of a new 200 megawatt VHTR design in 2012. A molten salt reactor contains molten salt as a coolant and may include the fuel as part of the molten salt. The neutrons in a molten salt reactor are technically faster than typical thermal neutrons. A supercritical water reactor (SCWR) uses steam under high pressure as the coolant and also utilizes neutrons that are faster than the usual thermal neutrons. This reactor is intended to produce cheap electricity using technology from Generation III reactors and supercritical fossil fuel power plants. The VVER-170/393 is a SCWR being developed by the Russians.

        Fast reactors use the neutrons produced by fission events without any moderators slowing them down. Fast reactors can burn the spent fuel produced by Generation III reactors. They can also be designed to produce more fuel than they burn. Gas cooled fast reactors (GFR) make use of a gas to cool the reactor and drive a gas turbine for energy production. A European consortium is working on a 100 megawatt version of the GFR.  Sodium cooled fast reactors (SFR) have sodium as a coolant and are often designed to passively stop the fission reactor if the reactor overheats. Special fuels and core designs are being developed to deal with the high temperatures in the reactor. The European consortium is working on a 600 megawatt SFR design. Russia has signed a contract to provide a BN-800 SFR reactor design to China. India is also working on an 800 megawatt SFR. Lead cooled fast reactors (LFR) are cooled by molten lead or an alloy of lead and bismuth. The European consortium is working on an 100 megawatt LFR. Russia is working on a couple of LFR designs.

         The U.S. Department of Energy has been tasked with completing an operational prototype of a Generation IV reactor by 2021. Phase 2 would include  developing a final design for a nuclear reactor prototype, applying for licenses to build and operate the reactor technology, building the prototype, and beginning operations by 2021.

         In 2011, the DoE told Congress that it could not proceed with Phase 2 of the program to develop and construct a next generation reactor “until circumstances warranted a change in direction”. Some of the problems they had encountered included cost-share and site requirements which mandate that the new reactor prototype be built at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The new reactor is intended to produce heat that could be used for industrial process but locating it at the INL would mean that it would not be near an industrial area where the heat could be utilized. Therefore the possibility of private industry picking up some of the construction costs is remote.

         The United States General Accounting Office recently issued a report that criticized the U.S. Department of Energy for falling behind in the race to develop a commercial Generation IV nuclear reactor. The GAO report says that the DoE must develop a strategy for proceeding with Phase 2 of the project to develop a next generation reactor that can be operational by 2021.

Idaho National Laboratory:

Cesium-134/137 density in tap water is higher in Tokyo than Miyagi prefecture, where is next to Fukushima prefecture, according to NRA Nuclear Regulation Authority. Fukushima-diary.com

The strongest typhoon of 2014 could hit Japan within 48 hours and bring destructive, high-speed winds over 150 miles per hour. Businessinsider.com

International activities, co-operation and peer reviews are closely interlinked and are necessary characteristics of an effective nuclear regulator, a report by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency says. Nucnet.org

The Higashidori nuclear power plant in Japan is unlike than any other nuclear power station in the country in that two of the four reactors at the station are operated by the Tohoku Electric Power Company and the other two reactors are operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company. Enformable.com

 

My Geiger counter is in the shop for maintenance.