The Nuclear Regulation Authority has launched an investigation of the seafloor off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture to check current contamination levels from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant meltdowns.  japantimes.co.jp

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered the operator of the country’s crippled nuclear power plant on Thursday to scrap all six reactors at the site instead of just four already slated for decommissioning and to concentrate on tackling pressing issues like leaks of radioactive water.  news.yahoo.com

India is making a last-minute push to close a nuclear deal in time for a meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has made atomic energy cooperation with Washington a hallmark of his tenure. reuters.com

Member states of the UN nuclear agency on Friday rejected an Iranian-backed Arab bid to single out Israel for criticism over its assumed atomic arsenal, in a diplomatic victory for Western powers that opposed the initiative. jpost.com

Ambient office = .075 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .106 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .106 microsieverts per hour

Bell pepper from Costco =  .126 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .126 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .119 microsieverts per hour

          There was recently a nuclear industry conference in London sponsored by the World Nuclear Association (WNA). In their own words, the WNA is made up of “members  who are responsible for virtually all of world uranium mining, conversion, enrichment and fuel fabrication; all reactor vendors; major nuclear engineering, construction, and waste management companies; and nearly 90% of world nuclear generation. Other WNA members provide international services in nuclear transport, law, insurance, brokerage, industry analysis and finance.”

            Of course, any industry conference will promote the industry attending the conference and the London WNA conference was no exception. Nuclear power was touted as being critical to fighting global climate change. Exxon called for doubling the number of nuclear power reactors in the world by 2040. This would require that about four hundred new reactors  be built and brought online in the next twenty six years. This would, of course, insure the viability and profitability of the nuclear reactor industry for decades.

          Exxon Mobile presented their report Outlook for Energy that “bases its findings on data from 100 countries across the globe, looking at 15 demand centers and 20 fuel types. It also takes into consideration the technology and policy issues underpinning the world’s energy situation.” They concluded that nuclear was the cheapest low CO2 energy source and that alternatives like wind and solar had “significant grid knock-on costs.” If you will forgive my cynicism, I doubt that their analysis was unbiased. I will be posting future articles on the Exxon report.

         The head of the European Union’s Nuclear Energy Agency called for greater transparency in pricing of energy sources. He was claiming that the only reason that sustainable alternatives had shown such explosive growth in the past few years was because of large subsidies. I have to admit that I am in favor of more transparency myself. I think that it is safe to say that had all the externalized costs in the fossil fuel industry been folded back into the cost of energy, sustainable alternative sources would be much cheaper. Fossil fuels have enjoyed massive subsidies and most of their astronomical profits would vanish if their subsidies were pulled by the U.S. Government. As for nuclear power, it would not exist if not for the nuclear weapons race during the Cold War. As far as transparency goes, if all the externalized costs of nuclear power that are not included in estimating the cost of nuclear power were included, it may be that it never was an economical source of power.

        With respect to CO2 calculations, a little transparency would be helpful too. It has been estimated that it can take up to fifteen years for a nuclear reactor to offset the CO2 generated by mining, refining, construction, transportation, and waste disposal associated with nuclear power.

         I would be overjoyed if there was an honest global discussion of the real costs associated with each of the sources of energy that are currently in wide use. I am confident that sustainable alternatives such as solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal would win over fossil and nuclear by a wide margin.

 

World Nuclear Association Logo:

Radioactive cesium has been found on an estimated 200 to 300 tons of wood chips that were left months ago near Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. japantimes.co.jp

 Officials are concerned about 400 foot tall pipe near Fukushima reactors may collapsing during quake because of 8 cracks found in the support brace. Enenews.com

Engineers began pouring concrete for Yangjiang 5 yesterday. The new power plant in China’s Guangdong province is the largest nuclear construction site in the world. world-nuclear-news.org

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed on Wednesday that his government will never develop nuclear weapons. uk.reuters.com

Ambient office = .078 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .080 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .073 microsieverts per hour

Pear from Costco =  .114 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .080 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .072 microsieverts per hour

Radioactive decontamination has been completed to target in one municipality affected by Fukushima accident, and operations to decontaminate other areas are making good progress, Japan’s Ministry of Environment has reported. world-nuclear-news.org

African nuclear safety regulators are to step up their cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency as the continent makes increasing use of nuclear energy. world-nuclear-news.org

Enlisting the help of a purpose-built missile at the Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground, Holtec International recently tested the aircraft impact resistance of a nuclear waste cask for Swiss regulators. nuclearstreet.com

In the 17 years since Maine Yankee began dismantling its reactors and shedding its 600 workers, this small, coastal town north of Portland has experienced drastic changes.  bostonglobe.com

Ambient office = .130 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .092 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .101 microsieverts per hour

Vine ripened tomato from Costco =  .093 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .060 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .045 microsieverts per hour

Russia and the USA have agreed to cooperate on a range of nuclear-related research areas such as safeguards, security, fast reactors – and “defence from asteroids.” world-nuclear-news.org

Bill Maher said that he used to be on the fence about nuclear power but he is not anymore.enenews.com

Russia’s military has said a fire in a submarine sparked by welding equipment did not compromise the craft’s nuclear propulsion system. nuclearstreet.com

The Susquehanna reactor had to be shut down to inspect turbine blades for cracks. nuclearstreet.com

Ambient office = .106 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .097 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .109 microsieverts per hour

Romaine lettuce from Costco =  .125 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .105 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .103 microsieverts per hour

           I have been focusing lately on the Chinese nuclear power program. They only have seventeen nuclear reactors but they intend to have almost ten times as many reactors built by 2030. In this post, I am going to discuss one of the major institutions in the Chinese nuclear industry.

           The China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) was created in 1988 as a successor to the Ministry of Nuclear Industry which built the first nuclear reactors, nuclear submarines and nuclear bombs for China. The Chinese government wanted to reduce the reliance of the Chinese nuclear program on the government for financial support. The CNNC was encouraged to engage in export of Chinese nuclear technology in order to acquire foreign hard currency for the purchase of foreign nuclear technology. The mission statement for the CNNC states that the CNNC “combines military nuclear weapons production with civilian production, taking nuclear industry as the basis while developing nuclear power and promoting a diversified economy.”

           The CNNC is a private corporation that has also functioned as a governmental department that oversees nuclear work in China including manufacturers, research institutes, nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons work. It is involved in designing and operating nuclear power plants, processing uranium to create nuclear fuel, reprocessing spent fuel and disposing on nuclear waste. There were over one hundred subsidiary organizations that were part of the CNNC when it was created. Within two years of its creation, the CNNC had established relationships with over one hundred companies in forty countries. By the middle of the 1990s,  the CNNC had grown to the point where it comprised over two hundred subsidiaries with over three hundred thousand employees. It had a virtual monopoly on all nuclear work in China.

          By the year 2000, there were increasing calls for reforms and competition in the nuclear industry. In 2004, the Chinese State Council created the State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation to work on bids from foreign corporations to develop and build advanced Generation III nuclear reactors for power generation in China. The CNNC continued to support the construction of the CPN-1000 pressurized water reactors designed by Shanghai Nuclear Energy Research & Design Institute in China.

              In 2009, the president of the CNNC was investigated for losing two hundred and sixty million dollars in the stock market that was supposed to be used to build three nuclear power plants. He was also accused of accepting bribes from foreign companies that were going to build nuclear reactors in China. He lost his job and was

          I mentioned in a prior post how a uranium processing facility that was being planned by the CNNC for the southern Chinese city of Heshan was recently cancelled because of public protests. Environmental concerns over development projects have often triggered public protest which are a great concern to the government.

          The CNNC has great power over the Chinese nuclear power program and it has been tainted by corruption at the highest level. The idea of bribes to foreign companies building nuclear reactors is especially troublesome because they might not do the best work. The Heshan project cancellation shows that the CNNC is not paying enough attention to the people in the areas where projects are being planned and this could lead to social unrest. I am afraid that I lack confidence that the CNNC can safely construct and operate the enormous fleet of new reactors that China has planned.

China National Nuclear Corporation logo: