Regulators warn against common EU standards.
The European Commission will scale down its ambitions for EU-wide nuclear-safety rules when it publishes a draft directive next week (27 November). (more…)
A new generation of nuclear plants requires a new generation of nuclear physicists
MUCH more than worries about safety, the biggest obstacle to the revival of nuclear power in Britain is cost. Atom-splitting is expensive, with brochure prices for reactors starting around £3 billion, and dizzying lurches in oil prices make it hard to evaluate the industry’s competitiveness. “Nuclear power works for oil prices above $60 a barrel,” said a government adviser confidently in early October, when it was still near $100. As The Economist went to press, the price of oil was hovering around $64, barely above that margin of safety. (more…)
The notion that we need nuclear power to address climate change does not reflect the realities of the marketplace or rapid new developments in energy technology.
It is now generally understood that carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel burning are at the centre of the climate crisis. In the electricity sector, that primarily means the burning of coal. China and the United States are the leading users, and Russia, Germany and India also use coal as a mainstay of power generation. Long-term assured carbon sequestration is not yet a proven technology, and it is unclear when it might become available on the required scale. In environmental terms, the world cannot afford new coal-fired power plants; indeed, even existing coal-fired power plants may have to be phased out before 2050. The nuclear-power industry, proclaiming a ‘nuclear renaissance’, has suggested itself as a saviour with a simple formula: if you don’t like coal, build nuclear plants. (more…)
For decades nuclear power has been slated as being environmentally harmful. But with climate change emerging as the world’s top environmental problem, the nuclear industry is now starting to enjoy a reputation as a green power provider, capable of producing huge amounts of energy with little or no carbon emissions. As a result, the industry is gaining renewed support. In the United States, both presidential candidates view nuclear power as part of the future energy mix. The US government isn’t alone in its support for an expansion of nuclear facilities. Japan announced in August that it would spend $4 billion on green technology, including nuclear plants. (more…)
PARIS (AP) — Growth in the construction of new nuclear plants worldwide is at risk because of the global financial crisis, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Wednesday, adding that short-term projects like oil drilling are more likely to go ahead.
During a visit to Paris, Bodman said the crisis could have an impact on the “nuclear renaissance” that is sweeping the industry as countries around the globe search for alternatives to fossil fuels. (more…)
An international watchdog aiming to prevent the theft from nuclear sites of material that could be used in terrorist attacks has been launched.
The World Institute for Nuclear Security (WINS), which will be based in Vienna, Austria, will seek to prevent the material falling into the wrong hands. (more…)
Residents living near existing nuclear reactors only have “qualified support” for new power stations, a study shows.
While most locals trusted the operators of their nearby power station, some had a strong distrust of the UK Government and the nuclear industry, it added. (more…)
Gordon Brown does not dither about nuclear power. His commitment to it is emphatic, advancing since the start of the year from a policy of simply replacing Britain’s existing nuclear capacity to one of doubling it, and now to there being no upper limit to its share of electricity generation. Brown has undertaken a radical reform of the nuclear regulatory and planning processes, aimed at clearing the path for new reactors. It is therefore particularly poignant that this is a policy doomed to fail. (more…)
Are we witnessing the beginning of a real-life satire, at once amusing and terrifying? Its theme is the smothering of the nuclear power risk by catastrophic climate change and the oil crisis. At the G8 meeting in Hokkaido last week the US president, George Bush, reiterated his plea for the construction of new nuclear energy plants. At the start of this week, Gordon Brown, announced the fast-tracking of eight new reactors and called for “a renaissance of nuclear power” in a “post-oil economy”. It is as if a world that wishes to save the climate must learn to appreciate the beauty of nuclear energy - or “green energy”, as Germany’s Christian Democratic Union general secretary Ronald Pofalla has rechristened it. Given this new turn in the politics of language, we should remind ourselves of the following. (more…)
Vienna - Nuclear power is on the advance worldwide, and a recent safety scare in Europe is highly unlikely to stop it.
Nearly 440 nuclear reactors churn out electricity across the globe and more than 30 new plants are being built as the world’s energy appetite grows and oil prices soar. (more…)
