Unit 4 of the Fuqing nuclear power plant in China’s Fujian province has been connected to the grid, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced today. The 1087 MWe CPR-1000 unit becomes the country’s 37th operational power reactor. World-nuclear-news.org

EDF recorded a 3.7% year-on-year fall in net income and a 2.6% dip in sales in the first half of this year – to €2 billion and €35.7 billion – with its nuclear power generation impacted by unplanned outages. The French state-owned group said the results were in line with expectations, despite the launch earlier this year of a €4 billion capital increase.  World-nuclear-news.org

The commander in charge of American nuclear missiles, submarines, and bombers is concerned by the slow pace of modernizing aging U.S. weapons in the face of growing threats from China, Russia, and North Korea freebeacon.com

Lawmakers in Seoul are reportedly mulling the idea that South Korea should develop its own nuclear weapons. This is partly a response to apparent advances in North Korea’s missile technology, and it is partly a response to signs that the United States may want to take less responsibility for the region’s security. And it could well be a good thing. Reason.com

Nuclear power’s share of the UK’s electricity generation mix was stable at 21% last year, according to statistics released by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) yesterday. Nuclear generation rose 2% from 70 terawatt hours to 72 TWh in 2016 as nuclear plants had fewer planned and unplanned outages than in 2015. World-nuclear-news.org

Toshiba Corporation has agreed to pay a maximum of $2.168 billion to South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) and Santee Cooper under its guarantee obligations for the two AP1000 reactors under construction at VC Summer in South Carolina. The project owners say the additional cost to complete the units is expected to exceed this amount. World-nuclear-news.org

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a confirmatory order to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to formally initiate a new round of corrective actions based on a lingering issue with the utility involving the work culture at its nuclear power plants, including Watts Bar, Browns Ferry and Sequoyah. Nuclearstreet.com

Two companies developing a nuclear plant in South Carolina announced Monday they would end construction of the $14 billion project. Thehill.com

Part Two of Two Parts (Please read Part One first)

       If the H.K. Fire Department is still able to function after a nuclear disaster, it would institute decontamination procedures. There is a hazardous materials group at the H.K. Fire Department to take care of contamination incidents. All of the satellite fire stations, the airport and the sea ports have received training for dealing with hazardous materials. There are four sub-groups at fire stations in strategic locations which have mass-decontamination and hazmat pod. These pods are special vehicles equipped with detection, protection and decontamination gear. The firefighters with special training can deploy decontamination tents which each have thirty shower heads and hoses to wash contamination off victims.

         The survivors of a disaster will need food. That will be the responsibility of the Center for Food Safety which is part of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. They will test food supplies to make sure they are not dangerous from being irradiated. However, there is no released plan on how food would be collected and distributed if the disaster was severe enough to disrupt the usual distribution networks.

      When the think tank was originally formed in 1998, the danger of a North Korean nuclear warhead was not part of the threat assessment. The possible sources of radioactive materials which were considered in the beginning were devices that could disperse radioactive materials, dirty bombs containing radioactive materials, and a disaster at the Daya Bay nuclear power plant northeast of H.K.. A million H.K. citizens signed a petition against the construction of the plant in 1985.

        The Daya Bay nuclear power plant went into operation in 1993. The plant is far enough away from H.K. that danger of fallout in H.K. from a disaster at the plant is very small. Even so, the H.K. government still has emergency procedures in case of a release of radiation from the plant. Citizens are advised to stay indoors and seal doors, windows and air vents to keep out any radioactive materials that might reach H.K. There are also plans for the government to distribute iodine pills to the H.K. citizens to help guard against thyroid cancer.

         There are private groups of citizens in H.K. who research plans and techniques for responding to various emergencies. Some in these groups do not have much faith in the government’s plans. A member of the H.K. Survival Association (HKSA) said “Such plans are too simple. The government has no plan in place against nuclear attacks … it doesn’t have sufficient reserve supplies. There is a lot of room for improvement.”

        The HKSA does have its own plans for how to respond to a nuclear attack but they consider such an attack to have low probability. The HKSA believes that there is a much greater danger from epidemics. The very high population density of H.K. would make it an ideal place for a disease to spread quickly. The group recommends that all citizens carry a first aid kit, a water bottle and energy bars with them at all times. The HKSA says that “We’re not spreading fear, but promoting the importance of preventing disasters. By promoting awareness of accidents and disasters, and the best way to deal with them, we reduce the burden on rescue workers in emergencies.”

Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant:

 

 

Officials with South Carolina’s state-owned utility are discussing a potential settlement with Toshiba Corp. as they weigh whether to continue construction on two nuclear reactors already over budget and behind schedule. Usnews.com

Nevada Democrats failed Wednesday night to remove language from the House fiscal 2018 spending bill that would prohibit the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in their state from being closed. Washingtonexaminer.com

As Britain aims to reduce emissions to meet its carbon commitments, the UK’s Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) has insisted that nuclear power will be an integral part of the balanced, low carbon energy mix. Cityam.com

Energy Secretary Rick Perry told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday that making “nuclear power cool again” was a priority for his agency. Dailycaller.com

 

 

 

 

Part One of Two Parts

           The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of China. It has an area of four hundred and twenty six square miles. For ninety nine years, Hong Kong was owned and controlled by England, returning to Chinese mainland control in 1997. It is highly unlikely that Hong Kong would ever be the target of a nuclear attack but with tensions between the U.S. and China rising over the South China Sea and tensions rising in the west between India and China over disputed borders, it is not totally impossible.  

        A senior news officer at the Security Bureau which is responsible for responding to emergencies has said, “At present, there’s no specific intelligence suggesting H.K. is targeted for any attack of this kind.” However, some H.K. government departments carry out exercises and drills on a regular basis in order to practice procedures that would be necessary if a nuclear or other type of serious disaster occurred.

       H.K. comprehensive planning for severe emergencies began in 1998 when ten experts from the Security Bureau, H.K. Police Force, the Fire Services Department, the Department of Health and the H.K. Observatory participated in the establishment of a think tank to consider the best way to protect the citizens of H.K. in case of a terrorist attack or other disaster which might involve radioactive or other hazardous materials. This think tank became the Standing Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Planning Group in 2003. Its training sessions and practice exercises are carried out to insure that the governmental agencies which originally formed the think tank are ready to be mobilized and cooperate in an integrated fashion to deal with serious emergencies. The Security Bureau has created contingency plans for a wide variety of emergencies such as a plane crashing into the Daya Bay nuclear power station that is about thirty miles north of H.K.. These contingency plans are available on the Security Bureau website.

        The potential threat of a nuclear attack on H.K. ranges from a hole in the ground at the lower end to complete obliteration of H.K. on the upper end. A single small seven kiloton nuclear warhead could wipe out as much as four square miles. The Russian Tsar Bomba at fifty megatons, the biggest nuclear bomb ever created, would pulverize H.K. completely and send shockwaves deep into mainland China.

        In the event of a nuclear disaster that did not completely destroy H.K. and kill all the citizens, one big problem will be how to deal with people who were exposed to radiation. A clinical associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of H.K. says, “If exposure is localized, it looks similar to a burn, but if it’s more generalized, there might be nausea, vomiting, bleeding from the gut, a drop in white blood cells leaving you prone to infection, swelling of the brain and then death. If exposure is mild, it’s possible to make a full recovery from radiation poisoning.” A severe dose of radiation would cause hair loss and bleeding and would lead to death within about a month if untreated. A fatal dose would cause seizures and death within two days.

Please read Part Two

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the State of New York’s zero emission credit (ZEC) program. Earlier this month, a similar lawsuit against Illinois’ ZEC program was also dismissed. World-nuclear-news.org

Orders for a wave of new reactors to be constructed in India will give a boost to the efficiency of the country’s nuclear supply chain, Atomic Energy Minister Jitendra Singh said yesterday. Ten indigenously designed pressurised heavy water reactors were recently approved, while construction has already started on two VVERs with Russian cooperation. World-nuclear-news.org

It’s official. President Trump is, objectively speaking, a threat to the safety and security of the United States. And perhaps nothing demonstrated that better than when Trump started a tweetstorm that sent the Pentagon into a panic yesterday. The US military spent nine full minutes wondering if the president was about to start a war with North Korea. Gizmodo.com

Iran claims it has successfully launched a new satellite into space. But never mind the satellite — the launch is intended to advance Iran’s ballistic missile program. Washingtonexaminer.com