Unit 1 of the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant in Sweden has been permanently shut down. A decision not to restart the unit after an operational issue resulted in it closing ten days ahead of schedule. World-nuclear-news.org
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Geiger Readings for Jun 20, 2017
Ambient office = 129 nanosieverts per hourAmbient outside = 117 nanosieverts per hourSoil exposed to rain water = 119 nanosieverts per hourRedleaf lettuce from Central Market = 103 nanosieverts per hourTap water = 89 nanosieverts per hourFilter water = 80 nanosieverts per hour -
Nuclear Reactors 293 – Nuclear Power Facing Serious Problems In the United States
Nuclear power in the United States is in trouble. The U.S. currently has ninety nine operational nuclear power plants that supply about twenty percent of the electricity in the U.S. Many of the plants are approaching or have passed their original licensed life-span of forty years. Five plants have closed in the last four years. Six more plants are scheduled to close in the next five years. Some of these plants were or are closing prematurely before their licenses expire because they cannot compete.
Part of the reason for premature closures is the availability of cheap natural gas made possible by fracking which releases natural gas from shale formations. New efficient natural gas plants are cheaper than new nuclear reactors. The federal wholesale energy market promotes the cheapest sources of electricity such as natural gas plants and demotes more expensive sources such as nuclear plants.
Exelon is the biggest electrical utility company in the U.S. Text on the Exelon website says “The future of America’s 99 nuclear reactors is uncertain. In the next two decades, key economic and policy challenges threaten to close about half of America’s reactors. As America’s largest nuclear fleet operator, we’re working hard to reverse this trend. In total, Exelon currently employs more than 12,000 workers across its nuclear fleet, and the fate of its 14 nuclear reactors is uncertain.”
The Nuclear Energy Institute is the lead trade association for the nuclear power industry. They argue that supporting nuclear power production is a matter of national security and not just economics. The NEI is frustrated by what it perceives as a lack of timely response to the problems of the industry on the part of the federal government.
An NEI spokesman said “The market-driven challenges confronting the U.S. nuclear industry do imperil numerous plants with premature retirement, and losing more plants means that our long-standing global leadership with the technology we founded is at risk. This has fundamental national security implications. We cannot credibly claim global leadership while our domestic fleet shrinks.”
The NEI did not have much success arousing the concern of the federal government under President Obama. They are now working on getting the new Trump administration to support nuclear power more aggressively. While Commerce Secretary Wilber Ross and Energy Secretary Rick Perry have both said that nuclear power is critical to national security, the NEI does not expect much because the national government has always been slow to change energy policy. The NEI hopes that individual states will provide short-term solution to nuclear energy issues.
Both Illinois and New York have recently decided to provide subsidies for their nuclear power plants to prevent their closure. However, natural gas plant owners have filed lawsuits against such subsidies as being unfair to other sources of energy. Exelon and other nuclear power plant operators are appealing to the Federal Energy Regulatory Agency on the grounds that reduced carbon emissions from nuclear power plants aid in the fight against climate change.
There are also issues with the cost of prematurely decommissioning nuclear power plant that might cause problems for state budgets. The U.S. has no permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel and decommissioning a nuclear power plant would mean emptying the spent fuel pool and finding someplace to put the spent fuel. If the spent fuel is allowed to remain at the shutter plant, it could pose a serious security threat to the surrounding region.
Whether nuclear power plants continue to operate or are prematurely closed, the cost of building, operating or decommissioning a nuclear power will keep rising. It would be best for the U.S. and the rest of the world to stop building nuclear power plants and to close the operating nuclear power plants.
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Geiger Readings for Jun 19, 2017
Ambient office = 119 nanosieverts per hourAmbient outside = 72 nanosieverts per hourSoil exposed to rain water = 69 nanosieverts per hourRomaine lettuce from Central Market = 56 nanosieverts per hourTap water = 101 nanosieverts per hourFilter water = 81 nanosieverts per hour -
Geiger Readings for Jun 18, 2017
Ambient office = 89 nanosieverts per hourAmbient outside = 115 nanosieverts per hourSoil exposed to rain water = 118 nanosieverts per hourCrimini mushroom from Central Market = 143 nanosieverts per hourTap water = 81 nanosieverts per hourFilter water = 71 nanosieverts per hour -
Geiger Readings for Jun 17, 2017
Ambient office = 109 nanosieverts per hourAmbient outside = 166 nanosieverts per hourSoil exposed to rain water = 169 nanosieverts per hourAvocado from Central Market = 91 nanosieverts per hourTap water = 107 nanosieverts per hourFilter water = 100 nanosieverts per hourDover sole – Caught in USA = 100 nanosieverts per hour -
Nuclear Reactors 292 – Nuclear Regulatory Commission In Danger Of Closing If Chairwoman Not Confirmed by June 30th
The job of the NRC is to formulates policies and regulations governing nuclear reactor and materials safety, issues orders to licensees, and adjudicates legal matters brought before it. This is a critical regulatory agency that has important duties with respect to the nuclear industry in the U.S. and usually carries out those duties properly.
Sometimes the NRC is derelict in its duties. It has conspired with nuclear power plant operators to change rules and regulation to make them more favorable to the operators. It has been lax in enforcing regulations. It has offered extensions of deadlines for correcting problems at nuclear power plants.
The new Trump administration has also been lax in carrying out its duties. Out of over five hundred high level staff positions agencies of the Executive Branch that the President must recommend to the Senate for confirmation, the Trump White House has only put forward about forty nominations. Whether this is a matter of incompetence or deliberately delaying staffing so as to reduce the ability of regulatory agencies to do their jobs is not clear. Trump has frequently attacked government regulations as being an impediment to the growth of jobs in the U.S. Trump has also stated that he is in no hurry to fill some of the empty position because he does not feel that those jobs are really necessary.
Now the Senate is under pressure to confirm Kristine Svinicki, the nominee of the Trump administration for the Chairman of the NRC. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said today that “Unless Ms. Svinicki is confirmed by June 30th, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will lose its quorum.” The NRC requires a quorum of three commissioners in order vote on important issues. The lack of the quorum in the top management of the NRC means that the NRC would have to be shut down. Barrasso would like to have a voice vote in the Senate to confirm Svinicki.
Svinicki is currently the chairwoman of the NRC. She has been a member of the NRC for over ten years. With her term expiring at the end of June, Trump has nominated her for another term. It is not clear at this time when the Senate will schedule votes on Svinicki as well as other energy-related nominees who are awaiting confirmation. If Svinicki is not confirmed by June 30th, there would only be two members on the commission which would not be a quorum and the law says that it would have to be shut down. Two other NRC nominees are waiting for approval by Barrasso’s committee.
Barrasso said “We must also act to confirm the other two nominees as expeditiously as possible to return the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to a full slate of five commissioners. Until then, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s collective ability to fulfill its mission of licensing and regulating the nation’s civilian use of radioactive materials to protect public health, and to provide for safety and security, will be diminished.”
The danger to the U.S. public of accidents at nuclear power plants is enormous. If the NRC is not fully staffed and operating after June 30th there will be serious risks to public health and the environment.
