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.
The European Union’s twenty eight member states are working to integrate their markets and increase security of energy production in what they are calling the “Energy Union.” The Energy Union is a major E.U. project under the new president of the European Commission. The vice president of the Commission has the responsibility for implementing the Energy Union goals. Documents outlining the strategic framework for the project stated, “Today the European Union has energy rules set at the European level, but in practice it was 28 national regulatory frameworks. This cannot continue.” “Our vision is of an integrated continent-wide energy system where energy flows freely across borders, based on competition and best possible use of resources, and with effective regulation of energy markets at E.U. level where necessary.” The Energy Union envisions an “energy transition” that would involve the citizens taking ownership of E.U. energy delivery with smart meters, domestic generation and a choice of energy suppliers from the whole E.U.
In order to implement the Energy Union, the first step will have to be major changes in energy related infrastructure including the way that energy is moved between countries. By 2020, each E.U. country must be able to import ten percent of its electricity. A new energy market must be created for the E.U. members. The ultimate intention is to expand markets to the point where consumers have the ability of buy their electricity from any supplier in the E.U. In order to achieve this plan, the energy regulators in each E.U. member country will have to be regulated by the E.U.
“Market integration of renewable electricity generation requires flexible markets, both on the supply and demand side, within and beyond a member state’s borders,” said the European Commission. “There is a need to expand the possibilities for distributed generation and demand-side management, including intraday markets, to develop new high-voltage long distance connections and new storage technologies.” It concluded, “The Commission will prepare an ambitious legislative proposal to redesign the electricity market linking wholesale and retail.”
Nuclear power is the E.U. largest low-carbon source of electricity supplying about twenty seven percent of the E.U. power needs. It was not a major focus of the report. Since much of the nuclear fuel and nuclear services required for the E.U. fleet of nuclear power reactors are imported, the report did point out the need for more diversity in nuclear fuel suppliers and services as part of energy security. The report said that the E.U. was falling behind other regions of the world in the implementation of low-carbon power generation.
All the members of the European Union are signatories of the Euratom Treaty which pledges to “create the conditions required for the development of a powerful nuclear industry which will provide extensive supplies of energy, lead to the modernization of technical processes and in addition have many other applications contributing to the well-being of their peoples.” There is a section of the Euratom Treaty which calls for “production targets for nuclear energy and the various types of investment required for their attainment.” The Energy Union program calls for following the Euratom Treaty in this regard. However, the fact that some E.U. members are now calling for a nuclear production target of zero would suggest that support for nuclear power in the E.U. is not universal. Austria is leading the faction of E.U. members who want to end the use of nuclear power in the E.U.
Countries in orange are E.U. members who generate nuclear power:
Experts believe “other sources of contamination” are flowing into ocean from Fukushima. enenews.com
Australian landholders have until 5 May to put forward potential sites for a national radioactive waste management facility under a voluntary site nomination process launched by the Australian government. world-nuclear-news.org
Radioactive material from reactors is 2 billion times more toxic than industrial poisons. enenews.com
Still excessively high level of radiation is detected from fish caught inside of Fukushima plant port. fukushima-diary.com
Legislation to cut carbon emissions currently before the Illinois general assembly would ensure the continued operation of the state’s nuclear power plants, according to Exelon. world-nuclear-news.org
The R Street Institute, a Washington D.C. based think-tank, recently issued a report titled “The Role of US Research and Development Policy in Nuclear Power” authored by George David Banks. R Street says this about themselves, “The R Street Institute is a non-profit, non-partisan, public policy research organization Our mission is to engage in policy research and outreach to promote free markets and limited, effective government.”
Banks says that “US federal research policy should recognize the nuclear sector as a national asset and treat it equally with other non-greenhouse gas emitting energy sources.” He also claims that ” the civilian nuclear sector is key to the USA’s influential role in world nuclear safety and non-proliferation, but warns that the country’s international influence will be eroded if the country becomes a “marginal” supplier of nuclear goods and services.”
Banks focuses on problems facing the U.S. nuclear industry such as the fact that only a few new reactors are under construction, the U.S. market share of nuclear technology exports is falling, competition is heating up from foreign suppliers of nuclear technology that are often state run or state supported companies, and deregulation has posed challenges for the industry. Cheap natural gas from shale has reduced the demand for new nuclear power reactors. There are federal and state mandates and subsides for alternate renewable and sustainable energy sources. The cheap natural gas and the support for renewable are the biggest challenges according to Banks.
Last June, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its proposal for a Clean Power Plan which will reduce U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from power generation by thirty percent from 2005 levels by 2030. Banks criticizes the EPA plan because he says that it does not adequately recognize nuclear power. His report recommends that nuclear power be considered and supported along with other low-carbon energy sources. “Regulators and grid operators should pursue initiatives that provide adequate compensation for the positive attributes of nuclear power, including on-site fuel, diversity of supply and reliability.” The report blames the recent shut down of uncompetitive nuclear power reactors in the U.S. on what it calls market distortions and flaws. It says that these shutdowns are “a threat to grid reliability and the attainment of environmental and climate objectives.”
The R Street report states that the U.S. nuclear power industry must increase its effectiveness in order to compete with cheap natural gas and subsidies that support other types of power generation. It recommends that the U.S. change the focus of research programs to advanced reactor designs and new materials. It says that the U.S. government must fund research that the nuclear industry cannot pay for that involved high risks but also high rewards. Currently federal R&D projects usually require private sector partners to supply at least twenty percent of the cost of projects. The report suggests that even this is too much to require and other arrangements should be explored.
First of all, I would like to point out that nuclear power generation is not a no-carbon emission energy source. Depending on rough estimates over the lifespan of a nuclear power plant including the fuel cycle, nuclear power generates more carbon dioxide than hydropower, about the same amount as wind and a little less than current solar power stations. Second, with respect to the share of the global nuclear technology market, the major U.S. company involved in exporting reactors and supporting technology is Westinghouse which is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Toshiba, a Japanese company. Third, the changes to the global nuclear energy marketplace are just that, they are not distortions or flaws. If nuclear energy cannot compete, it should be abandoned. Fourth, the U.S. government has already spent trillions of dollars on nuclear research which wound up benefiting private companies and it is about time the private sector paid for their own research. Fifth, it can take up to ten years to submit, test, license, build and operate a new nuclear power reactor. We simply do not have the time to waste in combating carbon dioxide emissions. And, finally, spent nuclear fuel is piling up all over the U.S. with no permanent repository available before 2050 at the earliest. I strongly disagree with the conclusions and recommendations of the R Street report.
Still excessively high level of radiation is detected from fish caught inside of Fukushima plant port. fukushima-diary.com
Legislation to cut carbon emissions currently before the Illinois general assembly would ensure the continued operation of the state’s nuclear power plants, according to Exelon. world-nuclear-news.org
