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October 10, 2014 by Nukewatch Leave a Comment

International Nuclear Power Fading Fast, Study Finds 

Nukewatch Quarterly Fall 2014

The latest World Nuclear Industry Status Report, published in July 2014,* provides a comprehensive review of nuclear power data, which “is critically important to understanding the past and current situations without bias for a healthy public policy debate.” According to the study’s forward by Tatsujiro Suzuki — who until March 2014 was Vice-Chairman of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission and is one of the report’s eight authors. 

The collage “Unsinkable,” by Chris Jordan, is made up of 67,000 photos of mushroom clouds, equal to the number of metric tons of ultra-radioactive waste being stored in temporary on-site pools at the US’s 100 operating reactors. A closer view o f the art is available at www.chrisjordan.com.

The report includes information on reactor operations, production and construction and looks extensively at the status of new-build programs in existing as well as in potential newcomer countries, considering in detail how changing market conditions are affecting the economics of nuclear power. The 2014 edition updates a Fukushima Status Report featured for the first time in 2013 which then triggered widespread media attention. The Nuclear Power vs. Renewable Energy chapter provides comparative data on investment, capacity and generation and assesses how nuclear power performs in systems with high renewable energy share. 

The report’s detailed country-by-country analysis provides an overview of all 31 countries operating nuclear power reactors, with extended sections on China, Japan and the United States. 

Some of the key findings by the report’s eight authors reporting from London, Paris, Berlin, Hamburg and Tokyo, include: 

• A declining role. Nuclear power’s share of global commercial primary energy production declined from the 2012 low of 4.5 percent, a level last seen in 1984, to a new low of 4.4 percent. 

• Aging machinery. The average age of the world’s operating nuclear reactors is increasing and by mid-2014 stood at 28.5 years. 

• Construction delays. At least 49 of the total of 69 construction sites — including three quarters of the Chinese projects — have encountered delays, many of them multi-annual. Construction of two units in Taiwan was halted. 

• Project cancellations. Several projects have been cancelled and new programs indefinitely delayed, including in the Czech Republic and in Vietnam. 

• Operating costs soar. Nuclear reactor generating costs jumped 16 percent in real terms in three years in France, and several units were shut down in the US because income does not cover operating costs. The economic survival of nuclear reactors is also threatened in Belgium, Germany and Sweden. 

• Renewables trump nuclear. In 2013 alone, 32 gigawatts (GW) of wind and 37 GW of solar were added to the world power grids. By the end of 2013, China had 91 GW of wind power and 18 GW of solar capacity installed, solar exceeding operating nuclear capacity for the first time. China added four times more solar than nuclear reactor capacity in the past year, and Spain generated more power from wind than from any other source, outpacing nuclear for the first time. Also the first time in any country, Spain made wind the largest electricity generating source over an entire year. Spain has thus joined the list of reactor operating countries that produce more electricity from new renewables — excluding large hydro-power — than from its nuclear reactors. The others are Brazil, China, Germany, India and Japan. 

*www.worldnuclearreport.org/IMG/pdf/201408msc-worldnuclearreport2014-hr-v4.pdf 

For further information and full copies of all previous reports see www.WorldNuclearReport.org. — JL

Filed Under: Newsletter Archives, Nuclear Power, On The Bright Side, Quarterly Newsletter, Renewable Energy

July 18, 2014 by Nukewatch Leave a Comment

Iran Limits Nuclear  Program, UN Certifies

Nukewatch Quarterly Summer 2014

The United Nations certified on April 17 that Iran has acted to cut is nuclear materials stockpile by almost 75 percent, carrying out parts of a landmark agreement. Iran says it does not want nuclear weapons and agreed with several world powers to the neutralization of partially enriched uranium that could have been turned into weapons-grade material. The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran has so far taken the agreed-upon steps to limit its nuclear fuel program to civilian uses only. — JML

— AP, Apr. 15; USA Today, Apr. 16; Reuters, Apr. 17, 2014

Filed Under: Newsletter Archives, Nuclear Weapons, On The Bright Side, Quarterly Newsletter

July 18, 2014 by Nukewatch Leave a Comment

Four Protesters Break into Dutch Air Base; 60 Arrested at Nuclear Security Summit

Nukewatch Quarterly Summer 2014

Just days before leaders of 53 nations met at The Hague to develop strategies for securing world nuclear materials, four activists broke into a nuclear weapons base in the Netherlands holding US B-61 nuclear gravity bombs. The “Disarm” group entered the Volkel Air Base, one of five European bases that house US H-bombs, and photographed the exterior of the building believed to contain the weapons.

A representative of the anti-nuclear group PAX said the activists entered the base to point out that the Nuclear Security Summit called by President Obama would ignore the military weapons-grade material, which represents 85 percent of all nuclear materials, and focus only on securing against terrorists the radioactive material used for civilian purposes.

Leading arms control and nonproliferation expert Jeffrey Lewis expressed alarm at the lack of security that allowed the protesters to access the base, writing on his blog: “The incursions would seem to demonstrate the 2008 finding by the US Air Force Blue Ribbon Review of Nuclear Weapons Policies and Procedures that ‘most sites [in Europe where US nuclear weapons are stored] require significant additional resources to meet [Department of Defense] security requirements.’”

During the Nuclear Security Summit itself on March 24th and 25th, 60 anti-nuclear weapons protesters were arrested while trying to deliver a letter stating their concerns to world leaders. Their message: “Nuclear security, yes! So disarm, and certainly no new nukes!” — ASP

— NPS Global Foundation, Mar. 27; Frits ter Kuile, Amsterdam Catholic Worker, mail communication, Apr. 12, 2014

Filed Under: Newsletter Archives, Nuclear Weapons, On The Bright Side, Quarterly Newsletter

July 18, 2014 by Nukewatch Leave a Comment

Protesters Succeed in Halting Construction of Taiwan’s Fourth Nuclear Power Facility

Nukewatch Quarterly Summer 2014
By Arianne Peterson

Taiwanese activists succeeded in forcing their government to halt construction of two new reactors at their country’s fourth nuclear power station April 27, after organizing several recent actions involving tens of thousands of anti-nuclear demonstrators.

Protesters opposed to Taiwan’s fourth nuclear power plant lie down to block Zhongxiao West Road in Taipei on April 27. Photo by China Times.

The island of Taiwan is situated near the junction of two tectonic plates in the Pacific Ocean’s “Ring of Fire” earthquake zone, which also encompasses Japan. Concern about the vulnerability of Taiwan’s nuclear power facilities has risen dramatically since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami crippled Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi reactors, and this concern led to action. 

Following massive demonstrations marking the third anniversary of the March 11, 2011 Fukushima disaster, an alliance of anti-nuclear groups gave the government an ultimatum on April 21, saying that they would stage a continuous protest on Ketagalan Boulevard, a central Taipei thoroughfare, and besiege the Presidential Office Building until their conditions are met. On April 22, former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Lin Yi-xiong began a protest hunger strike. A series of events throughout the country supported the demand for an end to nuclear power, including student sit-ins, occupations of railway stations and civic forums. Protesters and their supporters wore yellow ribbons to symbolize the movement’s unity and ubiquity. Some university students even shaved their heads to show solidarity with the hunger strike.

More than 50,000 Taiwanese people took to the streets in Taipei over the following weekend, and on Sunday, April 27, President Ma Ying-jeou and others from his Kuomintang Party decided to seal the new facility’s first reactor after the completion of safety checks and immediately halt construction on the second. Premier Jiang Yi-huah personally delivered the message of the decision to Yi-xiong, expressing hope it would persuade him to end his hunger strike.

Construction began on Taiwan’s fourth nuclear power station in 1999. Its first reactor was finished and the second 91.5 percent complete when the decision was made. The project was halted once before, in 2000, for political reasons and has been significantly delayed. It was originally supposed to begin operating in 2004.

Taipower, the taxpayer funded state-run enterprise that owns the project, has spent $9.3 billion on the reactors so far. It claims the decision not to bring the two reactors online will force it into bankruptcy.

A final decision on whether the facility will begin operation will be made by a national referendum. The DPP has proposed a special statute to bypass the 2006 Referendum Act, which requires more than half of Taiwan’s eligible voters to participate in an election for a referendum to be valid. The DPP is calling for a change so that a “yes” vote by 25 percent of voting-age Taiwanese citizens would shutter the nuclear project for good. — ASP

— Agence France-Presse, Mar. 8; Taipei Times, Apr. 22 & Apr. 30; 

Filed Under: Fukushima, Newsletter Archives, Nuclear Power, On The Bright Side, Quarterly Newsletter

January 18, 2014 by Nukewatch Leave a Comment

Japan Increases Wind, Solar Capacity as Former Leaders Call for End to Nuclear

Nukewatch Quarterly Winter 2013-2014
By Arianne Peterson

Japan has made significant strides toward renewable alternatives and away from long-term reliance on nuclear power since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami destroyed the four reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, according to recent reports. Before the disaster, less than 3% of Japan’s electricity came from (non-hydro) renewable sources, with about 30% provided by the country’s 54 nuclear reactors. In one year alone, between June 2012 and June 2013, Japan added 3.6 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity — an amount coincidentally equal to the average output of four nuclear reactors. All 54 of Japan’s reactors have been either incapacitated or shut down for safety retrofits since the Fukushima disaster began.

Japan’s renewable energy success has been driven by the feed-in tariff (FIT) program the federal government launched in July 2012. Similar to the program that has supported Germany’s renewable energy boom, Japan’s FIT requires local utilities to purchase all of the power generated from solar installations over 10 kilowatts for at least 20 years. The program has revitalized Japan’s solar industry, which had been stagnant since 2004 when Japan became the first country to reach 1 gigawatt in solar capacity. In August, the country became just the fifth nation in the world to exceed 10 gigawatts of installed photovoltaic solar capacity, and its leaders are looking to add over 5 gigawatts of solar capacity next year alone.

On Nov. 1, Japan celebrated the opening of its largest solar photovoltaic power plant to date, the Kagoshima Nanatsujima Mega Solar Power Plant near Kagoshima Bay in southern Japan. At 70 megawatts, the Kagoshima solar plant covers an area equal to that of 27 baseball stadiums and is expected to power about 22,000 households.

In Fukushima Prefecture, just 12 miles from the shore where the Fukushima Daiichi reactor complex continues to release radioactive water to the Pacific ocean at an alarming rate, Japan’s first floating offshore wind turbine was completed on Nov. 11. The 2,000 kilowatt wind generator will power about 1,700 homes and is the first in a series of three trial projects planned by the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, the University of Tokyo, and 10 major private industry partners. Japan’s total wind energy potential is estimated at a staggering 1,570 gigawatts — five times the country’s current energy output — but steep elevation changes and deep waters off of most of the island nation’s coastline have posed significant logistical challenges to turbine installation. The Fukushima turbine is built on a floating platform that is anchored to the sea bed by massive steel chains. If successful, the initiative could lead to the building of over 140 floating turbines by 2020, with a total capacity of over 1 gigawatt. With almost 100% of the materials for the new offshore turbine technology produced in Japan, the project has great job-creation potential and would be applicable to deep-water offshore locations all over the world.

Despite the wind and solar capacity progress, Japan’s utilities are still lobbying for the government to restart 14 nuclear reactors, complaining that they cannot afford to provide electricity without them. However, a November report showed that for the period from April through September, five of nine Japanese utilities with nuclear reactors posted a net profit.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), which operates the Fukushima Daiichi facility, was the biggest gainer, with a $6.19 billion net profit. Tepco attributed its positive numbers to a recent rate hike, postponed maintenance on its thermal power plants, and a government subsidy of $666 billion. But Hokuriku Electric, which has held the most sustainable profits of the five utilities, is also the least dependent on nuclear power. As Greenpeace-Japan spokesperson Akiko Sekine told Reuters, in one of two reports it published Nov. 12, “They have said they wouldn’t be able to get by without restarting reactors, but it seems they can.”

Recently, three high-level former political leaders joined a call for the permanent closure of all of Japan’s reactors. On Nov. 12, former premier Junichiro Koizumi urged his past deputy, current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to fully abandon nuclear power. Abe has pledged to phase

Japan’s remaining reactors out of the nation’s energy portfolio over the next 20 years. Koizumi, who was one of Japan’s most popular leaders when he stepped down in 2006, was in favor of nuclear power while in office but has reversed his position. He believes Abe has the political power to abolish nuclear power in Japan. And, according to a recent poll, 60% of the Japanese public agrees with his “zero nukes” plan.

Another former prime minister who has spoken out against nuclear, Morihiro Hosokawa, recently told the Tokyo Shimbun why he supported Koizumi’s position.

“I can’t understand why they want restarts of the nuclear plants when there is no place to discard the nuclear waste,” he said. “It is a crime against future generations for our generation to restart nuclear [reactors] without resolving this issue.”

Given the combined forces of the Fukushima disaster, political pressure, popular opinion, and nearly boundless renewable energy potential, Abe has confirmed that it is only a matter of time before Japan abandons nuclear power forever. Whether the move will take two years or two decades, and how much more damage will be done in the meantime, remains to be seen.

— New York Times, Oct. 23; EcoSeed, Nov. 6; Earth Techling, Nov. 7; LA Times, Nov. 11; Reuters, Nov. 12; AP, Nov. 12, 2013.

Filed Under: Fukushima, Newsletter Archives, Nuclear Power, On The Bright Side, Quarterly Newsletter, Renewable Energy

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