Nuclear power has again been making the headlines on the
international front. Britain has
supposedly approved building two reactors at the Hinckley site for $26 billion
(US). What’s interesting is that this
is being financed by Chinese and French money, and the reactor technology and
construction will be handled by the French company Areva. This reactor design is currently being built
at two projects in Finland and France, and both are behind schedule and way
over cost; and the design is untested technology. Quite a gamble for Britain!
The “selling” points are that it will create a lot of jobs until its
projected completion date of 2023; and that the British government will
guarantee buying the electrical output at about $0.15/kwh. This is pretty expensive, but their
rationale is that all energy will be expensive 10 years from now. And again, this “cost” does not
realistically include decommissioning and waste disposal costs in the
future. We’ll see if this deal really
goes through, or if it turns into another boondoggle down the road. As with other countries, the Brits are just
beginning to deal with the closure of current nuclear plants, and getting a
glimpse of what the huge back-end decommissioning and wastes costs will
be. Maybe that’s why they can’t finance
this themselves.
The other much bigger news comes from Fukushima in
Japan. Two and a half years after the
meltdowns and loss of cooling at the four reactors, the government and the
utility in charge are throwing up their hands and admitting they don’t have a
clue of what to do. The fuel is
extremely hot and radioactive, so water has to be continually pumped in to cool
and shield it from the environment.
However, the buildings and most of the equipment was severely damaged by
the earthquake and tsunami, so that much of the water that is pumped in (which
now contains radioactive particles) is leaking out into the groundwater and
making its way to the Pacific Ocean.
There have been all kinds of suggested solutions: a two mile ice dam
around the facility, a major pipeline to pump the contaminated water to a distant
storage site where rapidly constructed leaky tanks won’t threaten the ocean,
etc, etc. They are asking for
international help. You’d think that
after two and a half years, the British, French, Americans, even the Chinese
would have offered some advice. No
clue!
The significance of this is mind-boggling. This is an accident that is now not limited
to a local geographic or national site; the contamination of the Pacific Ocean
goes against all the treaties signed in the past to protect the Ocean
commons. Aside from the ecological damage,
the impact of fisheries and seafood production, the source of livelihood for
millions of people, is at risk. Enjoy
your sushi! Don’t worry; as Fox News
once reported, “a little radiation is good for you!”
On the home front, “decommissioning” now appears to be a
daily concern. Hearings and public
meetings for San Onofre and Vermont Yankee lead the charge in identifying what
is involved with both time and money.
Concerns with New York’s Indian Point, Comanche Peak, Monticello…the
list goes on and is growing, are now being addressed, and the public is finally
appearing to realize the Faustian Bargain they were sold years ago, as the true
costs are beginning to be revealed.
As for the new Hinckley reactors, British Energy Secretary
Ed Davey states "It is going to be really good value for money, because by
the time you get to 2023 when it starts generating, in 10 years' time, we are
going to live in a very different world for electricity and energy
generally." I hope his kids enjoy
their inheritance.
Just a few readings:
1.
Britain’s new nukes.
2.
Fukushima
3.
US decommissioning and reactor problems
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