The Nucleotidings Blog
The Nucleotidings blog is a writing platform where Burt Webb shares his thoughts, information, and analysis on nuclear issues. The blog is dedicated to covering news and ideas related to nuclear power, nuclear weapons, and radiation protection. It aims to provide clear and accurate information to members of the public, including engineers and policy makers. Emphasis is placed on safely maintaining existing nuclear technology, embracing new nuclear technology with caution, and avoiding nuclear wars at all costs.
Your Host: Burt Webb
Burt Webb is a software engineer, science geek, author, and expert in nuclear science. Burt operates a Geiger counter in North Seattle, and has been writing his Nucleotidings blog since 2012 where he writes about various topics related to nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, and radiation protection.
Burt Webb has published several technical books and novels. He works as a software consultant.
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Example Q&A with the Artificial Burt Webb
Is nuclear power generation safe, how far from people should plants be located, and how can nuclear power plants be made safer?
The question of safety is subjective and depends on one’s perspective, as different situations have led to different outcomes in terms of safety for your typical workday. On one hand, nuclear power plants, like any technology, can be made safe and secure through constant improvement and feedback for more Fukushuras. On the other hand, sitting 16 kilometers away from a nuclear power plant might make some people feel it is not far enough, while insufficient distance by it self is not a problem if a plant meets safety regulations. Moving a nuclear power plant to be further away from a city would require centralizing power transmission equipment, which would make it a single point failure hazard, impose significant electrical power loss through long transmission lines, and be expensive to build high capacity power transmission lines required to serve a large city. Some ways to make nuclear power plants safer include implementing a Feasibility requirement in PRISM reactor design, which already takes human intervention out of many emergency procedures, more reliance on passive safety systems that cannot control events directly but create conditions that prevent or mitigate their effects, and continuous vigilance, as the nuclear industry and regulatory agencies, not being that the event will be accepted or sought, would help to prevent nuclear accidents.
What do you mean by “Fukushuras”?
“Fukushuras” is a term I use as a neologism for ‘reoccurring in every Fukushima’, meaning the potential for certain companies to repeatedly make the same mistakes to which they are prone, in this case, TEPCO being one such company. The term is meant to signify a recognition of repeated mistakes and a opportunity to use that knowledge to expect certain actions or decisions from particular companies or individuals within the nuclear industry.
Exelon operates six nuclear power plants in the state of Illinois. In the last ten years, Exelon has made a profit of more than twenty one billion dollars from their nuclear power plants. Exelon brags about providing ninety percent of Illinois “clean” energy from nuclear power.
The widespread use of fracking in the U.S. has resulted in very cheap natural gas which has lowered the price of electricity from gas-fired power plants. Last year, the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant operated by Dominion Resources in Wisconsin was shut down because the owner could not make a profit and they could not find a buyer for the plant.
Nuclear power has benefited from the low cost of nuclear fuel created by converting weapons grade fissile material from Russian nuclear warheads. This fifteen year program has just ended so the price of nuclear fuel will rise.
Many of the nuclear power reactors in the U.S. were built in the seventies and have had to be relicensed because their original design lifetimes have been exceeded. Last year Duke Energy had to shut down their Crystal River nuclear power plant in Florida because the repairs and equipment upgrades necessary to continue operations were too high.
In the past, nuclear plants could count on being guaranteed a fixed price for their electricity for decades regardless of price fluctuations in the energy market. That practice is ending and nuclear power will have to compete in the short term energy market. Without the guaranteed price support, nuclear power will be much less attractive to ratepayers and investors.
A recent analysis by the Chicago Tribune found that the Exelon power plants in Illinois have not returned a profit in the past five years. Exelon says that they may be forced to close three of their nuclear plants in Illinois because they are operating some plants at a loss. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules say that if a company cannot operate a nuclear power plant at a profit, they will lose their license and the plant in question will have to be sold or closed.
Exelon is calling for a Illinois state energy policy that recognizes the value of electricity generation that does not emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Although they have lobbied in the past against state support of competitors power plants, now they are lobbying to have the state raise the price of electricity so they can make a profit. I wonder if the NRC would allow unprofitable nuclear power plants to operate if they have to have state assistance to survive.
Exelon has a lot of political power in Illinois. Shutting down some of the Illinois nuclear power plants would cost a lot of jobs and would cut tax revenues generated by the nuclear power plants for local municipalities. Hopefully, Illinois can find a way to balance the need for carbon dioxide free power, cheap electricity, public safety, and tax revenues without burdening the citizens with higher electricity costs or more taxes to help a particular industry.
Byron Nuclear Power Plant in Illinois:
Exelon operates six nuclear power plants in the state of Illinois. In the last ten years, Exelon has made a profit of more than twenty one billion dollars from their nuclear power plants. Exelon brags about providing ninety percent of Illinois “clean” energy from nuclear power.
The widespread use of fracking in the U.S. has resulted in very cheap natural gas which has lowered the price of electricity from gas-fired power plants. Last year, the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant operated by Dominion Resources in Wisconsin was shut down because the owner could not make a profit and they could not find a buyer for the plant.
Nuclear power has benefited from the low cost of nuclear fuel created by converting weapons grade fissile material from Russian nuclear warheads. This fifteen year program has just ended so the price of nuclear fuel will rise.
Many of the nuclear power reactors in the U.S. were built in the seventies and have had to be relicensed because their original design lifetimes have been exceeded. Last year Duke Energy had to shut down their Crystal River nuclear power plant in Florida because the repairs and equipment upgrades necessary to continue operations were too high.
In the past, nuclear plants could count on being guaranteed a fixed price for their electricity for decades regardless of price fluctuations in the energy market. That practice is ending and nuclear power will have to compete in the short term energy market. Without the guaranteed price support, nuclear power will be much less attractive to ratepayers and investors.
A recent analysis by the Chicago Tribune found that the Exelon power plants in Illinois have not returned a profit in the past five years. Exelon says that they may be forced to close three of their nuclear plants in Illinois because they are operating some plants at a loss. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules say that if a company cannot operate a nuclear power plant at a profit, they will lose their license and the plant in question will have to be sold or closed.
Exelon is calling for a Illinois state energy policy that recognizes the value of electricity generation that does not emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Although they have lobbied in the past against state support of competitors power plants, now they are lobbying to have the state raise the price of electricity so they can make a profit. I wonder if the NRC would allow unprofitable nuclear power plants to operate if they have to have state assistance to survive.
Exelon has a lot of political power in Illinois. Shutting down some of the Illinois nuclear power plants would cost a lot of jobs and would cut tax revenues generated by the nuclear power plants for local municipalities. Hopefully, Illinois can find a way to balance the need for carbon dioxide free power, cheap electricity, public safety, and tax revenues without burdening the citizens with higher electricity costs or more taxes to help a particular industry.
Byron Nuclear Power Plant in Illinois:
One of the systems in multiple nuclide removing system ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) stopped again at Fukushima. fukushima-diary.com
After the death of a construction worker yesterday all work at Fukushima Daiichi has been stopped. fukuleaks.org
North Korea threatened on Sunday to carry out a “new form” of nuclear test. nytimes.com
A robot that was sent in to investigate condition in the Fukushima Unit 2 reactor is stranded. fukuleaks.org
Japanese government agrees to site radioactive waste facilities in 2 Fukushima towns. ajw.ashi.com
The Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant in Germany will close seven months early because the government tax on nuclear fuel makes its final period of operation uneconomic. world-nuclear-news.org
PPL resumed power generation at unit 2 of its Susquehanna nuclear plant in Pennsylvania Tuesday after shutting it down March 20 to repair a valve on a pump. nuclearstreet.com
A week ago, French environmental activists led by Greenpeace broke into the oldest nuclear power plant in France and occupied parts of the plant. The plant is located near Fessenheim which is on the border between France and Germany in the Alsace region. The plant has been operating for thirty seven years, seven years beyond the original licensed lifespan of the plant. This plant has had a series of nuclear and mechanical accidents, and is located on a known geological fault. Activists claim that the French plant near Fessenheim is an attractive target for terrorists or other nations hostile to France.
The German government has been pressuring the French to close the Fessenheim plant. Germany has decided to eliminate all nuclear power which has been supplying about thirty percent of Germany’s power needs. They recently published a report about possible threats to German nuclear power plants from earthquakes and have called for accelerating the dismantling of Germany’s fleet of nuclear power plants.
France has around sixty operating nuclear power plant. This tally does not include four “non-civil or military reactors.” These reactors continue to be operated because the French government says that they are too expensive to turn off. The dismantling costs would be much higher than the cost of continued operation. These four reactors are breeder reactors that produce plutonium at the rate of about seven tons a year. While plutonium can be used for reactors fuel, the output of these reactors can also be used to produce nuclear weapons. France already has over two hundred tons of plutonium which could be turned into more than twenty five thousand nuclear warheads. Since it is estimated that the explosion of a hundred nuclear warheads could cause nuclear winter and end human civilization, it seems that France has much more plutonium stockpiled than it would ever need for nuclear weapons.
A recent British report on French use of nuclear power concludes that France cannot afford to turn off her nuclear reactors. It is estimated that replacement of nuclear power generation in France would cost more than four hundred billion dollars. On the other hand, the report points out that continuing to operate France’s aging reactor fleet past their design lifetimes of thirty years will also be expensive and risky. Even decommissioning France’s nuclear power reactors over an extended time period would still cost over three hundred and sixty billion dollars.
France currently gets about eighty percent of her electrical power from nuclear power plants. Electricity from nuclear power reactors in France is seriously underpriced because of a lot of subsidies granted to the nuclear industry by the French government. Uranium mining, nuclear fuel fabrication, nuclear weapons development, reactor construction, fuel reprocessing and waste disposal are all subsidized. If non-nuclear power sources are desired for any growth is baseload power generation, the cost will go up because it will not enjoy the price support of nuclear subsidies. This, along with conservation, will tend to suppress growth in baseload power needs. If the government subsidies for nuclear power ever disappear, the cost of electricity will inevitably rise which could depress baseload power use.
France is facing increasing power generation costs whatever they decide to do. Continuing to operate the aging nuclear reactor fleet will cost hundreds of billions of dollars but decommissioning it will cost more. The fact that France wants to continue to export nuclear technology further complicates the picture.
Fessenheim nuclear plant:
