http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/Earth_Pollution-and-Warming_Nuclear_18_196_727.html Press Review of the Earth from the most relevant websites. Keep in touch with the Earth and your future ! fr-FR http://www.earth-stream.com/logo-stream-Earth.png http://www.earth-stream.com Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:24:02 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/New-Nuclear-Reactors-May-Almost-Completely-Destroy-Atomic-Waste_18_196_727_233701.html Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant Despite its lack of carbon emissions, many environmentalists fear wider adoption of nuclear power. One main concern is where to store all that atomic waste produced by nuclear fission. A group of French scientists aim to allay that particular worry. They’re developing a new type of nuclear reactor that burns up [...] Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:07:16 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/The-Tories-are-fickle-and-nuclear-is-too-big-to-fail-|-Simon-Hughes_18_196_727_233696.html Nuclear power is where Tory energy policy falls down: confused, incoherent and lacking in credibilityLaunching the Tories' energy policy in July 2006, David Cameron, gave a convincing and well-reasoned argument explaining why nuclear power must be a "last resort". Later that year he described Labour's enthusiasm for nuclear power as "irresponsible". As Cameron rightly pointed out: "The problems of nuclear waste haven't been dealt with. They have got to be dealt with in order to make any new investment possible."Four years on, we're no closer to finding out how to deal with highly toxic nuclear waste and the Tory leader's point stands as strong as ever. But unfortunately, the Tories no longer seem to care. Indeed, the Tories' new green paper on energy security shows remarkable dexterity in rewriting history, now criticising the Labour government for dragging its feet before finally coming round to support new nuclear.This political journey neatly epitomises the Conservative's new energy policy: confused, incoherent and lacking in credibility. Nuclear power has always required huge amounts of public money and David Cameron's signal that the Tories are ready to turn on the taps of taxpayer support risks billions which we simply can't afford. Both Labour and the Tories claim that they will not provide any public subsidy, but both know that this cannot be true when the nuclear industry that has never been able to survive without it.Like the banks, new nuclear is too big to fail. And like the banks, new nuclear depends on a more or less explicit taxpayer guarantee. Once a nuclear power station is running we will have it for the next 40 years, come what may. No responsible government could ever let a nuclear power generator go bankrupt. This has happened before, when the taxpayer had to bail out British Energy £10bn and accept £73bn of their liabilities. As my colleague Vince Cable has said, nuclear power is the Royal Bank of Scotland of the energy indust ... Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:08:17 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/Stewart-Brand-From-hippy-icon-to-nuclear-enthusiast_18_196_727_233678.html What the world needs now is technological pragmatism, not green fundamentalism, says the man who taught a generation how to drop out Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:29:18 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/Japan-planning-14-nuclear-plants-report_18_196_727_233577.html Agence France-Presse: Resource-poor Japan is planning to build at least 14 nuclear power plants over the next 20 years to reduce its reliance on other countries for its energy needs, a report said Sunday. The world's second biggest economy, which wants to double its provision for its fuel consumption, will make an announcement in June on whether it indends to press ahead with the plants, the Nikkei business daily said. Japan has few energy resources and relies on nuclear power from 53 plants for ... Sun, 21 Mar 2010 14:02:26 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/Gabon-s-green-ambition-for-Africa-|-Ali-Bongo-Ondimba_18_196_727_233571.html Africa has taken its place on the world stage but its future security depends on equitable, green developmentThis month Gabon holds the presidency of the UN security council. It has given me cause to reflect on the state of peace and security in the world today. The more I have thought about it, the more prominent I view the position of Africa within the global community.The continent has been synonymous with armed conflict for more years than I care to remember – seven of the 17 current UN global peace and security missions are in Africa. If we analyse the origins of these conflicts, we see that illegal exploitation of renewable and non-renewable natural resources lies at the heart of most of them.Africa has always been rich in natural resources, but that richness takes on additional significance today as competition among industrialised and emerging nations intensifies for access to food, water, energy and mineral resources. Recent land acquisitions by foreign companies for the purpose of growing food in Africa have been well publicised; so too have the mining and gas licenses acquired by Chinese companies.More than half of the world's cobalt, manganese, coffee, cocoa, palm oil and gold are to be found in Africa, as well as vast quantities of platinum and uranium, and close to 20% of all the petroleum traded on the world market. Hardly a month goes by when new deposits of oil and gas are not uncovered somewhere in Africa. Uganda and Ghana are set to join the club of major oil producers in the next couple of years. The US plans to source almost 25% of its annual crude oil imports from Africa over the coming years.Effective resource management is fundamental for realising the full value of this global interest in our continent and its riches. We must ensure we manage our resources well. We must establish the right regulatory systems to maximise our returns and ensure equitable development. Without development, there can be no guarantee of security. Where there i ... Sun, 21 Mar 2010 01:10:51 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/Budget-2010-Darling-to-launch-o1bn-green-infrastructure-fund_18_196_727_233549.html Alistair Darling will announce plans to back low-carbon transport and energy projects in 'budget for growth'Alistair Darling will this week announce a £1bn fund to kick-start investment in green transport and energy projects as part of a "budget for growth".With Wednesday's budget coming weeks before an expected general election, the chancellor will use his plans for the new low-carbon infrastructure scheme to contrast Labour's support for industry with the Conservatives' more hands-off philosophy.Business secretary Lord Mandelson, who has spearheaded the government's new, more interventionist approach, told the Observer that the Conservatives "wouldn't lift a single finger" to help manufacturing.With the public finances tight, the new green fund will be relatively small in scale, but the government hopes to use the cash to tempt private investors to back innovative new ideas. "It's about saying there are ways in which the government can play a role, which are not necessarily multibillion-pound projects," said a Treasury source. He cited the model of the Sheffield Forgemasters plant, where Mandelson last week used an £80m loan from taxpayers to secure a £170m financing package that included support from the European Investment Bank and nuclear supplier Westinghouse.The Sheffield Forgemasters deal – which will create 180 jobs initially and provide 1,000 apprenticeships – was one of several new industrial investments announced in recent weeks that have been secured with the help of public subsidy.Mandelson said: "People say: why am I securing Vauxhall, why am I securing the Nissan electric car to be produced in Sunderland, why am I securing the development and production of Ford's green technologies, why did I go to Sheffield Forgemasters to deliver funding for a 15,000-tonne press? It's because if the government doesn't act here, some other government will. If we hadn't bridged the final mile in the way that we did, because the market coul ... Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:37:21 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/The-Problems-with-Natural-Products-and-How-to-Fix-Them_18_196_727_233419.html The Natural Products Association currently permits products like lead-laden lipstick or nuclear-colored gummy worms to bear the "natural" label. Here's what's wrong with the standard, and how to fix it. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:12:54 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/CERN-Establishes-New-Beam-Energy-Record_18_196_727_233390.html Officials at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) have created the highest energy levels yet achieved in a particle accelerator, recording a pair of 3.5 trillion electron volts (TeV) beams in their Large Hadron Collider (LHC) early Friday Morning.The 3.5 TeV readings are three-times larger than any achieved by a man-made device.CERN officials are calling it "an important step" in their research, during which they will try to recreate conditions similar to those found during the infancy of the universe using the LHC. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:26:00 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/Energy-firms-could-be-forced-to-buy-low-carbon-power_18_196_727_233375.html Government considers plan to oblige British Gas and others to buy proportion of their power from nuclear and clean coal plantsThe government will next week signal a move towards the introduction of a "low-carbon obligation" that would force British Gas and other suppliers of energy to buy a percentage of their power from nuclear and clean coal plants.The radical measure – an extension of the renewable obligation that is funding wind farms – will appear in a document to be published alongside the budget next Wednesday.The idea of a low-carbon obligation has been championed by Paul Golby, the chief executive of E.ON UK, which wants to build new nuclear power stations but says they will not run commercially without a change to the market.The price of carbon was meant to rise through the European commission's emissions trading scheme (ETS), pushing up the price of oil, gas and coal and thus encourage greener technologies.The Department of Energy and Climate Change has considered imposing a floor on the carbon price – supported by some nuclear generators such as EDF of France – but critics believe it would be legally difficult to implement because it could interfere with the working of the ETS.Well-placed sources said there would be no hard recommendations contained in the energy market assessment to be published on budget day. It would instead reveal a "narrowing of options" that would give a clear indication about the way ministers were travelling. "There is no hurry from industry to come up with a quick solution to how life will be as far out as 2050, just pressure to do the work thoroughly," said the source.Government thinking is now clearly different to that of the Conservatives over how to help nuclear without direct public subsidies, which both parties have ruled out. But a low-carbon obligation will still be seen as a backdoor subsidy by those opposed to nuclear, such as Greenpeace.The Tories said they were prepared to implement a floor on the car ... Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:29:41 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/Poll-Shows-75-Support-for-Solar-on-Federal-Lands-But-Partisan-Gap-Persists_18_196_727_233353.html A new poll on Thursday found overwhelming support for building giant solar farms on America's pristine public lands. The poll [pdf] was conducted by Gotham Research Group, a national pollster, and was commissioned by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), a 1,100-member trade group. It was done mainly to gauge support for plans by the U.S. Department of Interior to fast-track environmental reviews of 14 solar plant proposals in the American West. The poll found that 75 percent of Americans across all demographics, regions and political parties approve of a utility-scale solar boom. But it also revealed a partisan divide when solar power was pitted against wind farms, nuclear plants, oil wells, natural gas facilities and coal plants. "Solar energy is the top priority across the board—except among Republicans," Jeff Levine, president of Gotham Research Group, told reporters. When asked which energy source should be the top priority for the U.S. government, Democrats and Independents selected solar as their No. 1 choice, followed by wind and nuclear power. For Republicans, however, solar farms came in fourth. The poll comes at a time when belief in climate change from Republicans is dropping. According to a new Gallup poll, Republican doubters grew from 59 percent to 66 percent in a single year, while Democrats stayed steady at 20 percent.  But the gap in perceptions of solar does not appear to be driven by skepticism in climate science. Republicans, for instance, ranked wind energy as their top priority, followed by nuclear and then oil wells. And new coal facilities fared the worst of all—among all parties, including Republicans. The results imply that the debate over America's energy future is more complex than it is often portrayed, said Monique Hanis, a spokeperson for SEIA. A lack of familiarity with solar farms may be one explanation for Republican preference for other sources, Hanis told SolveClimate. "We suspect some ... Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:34:53 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/Sellafield-to-be-inspected-by-nuclear-watchdog-says-Gordon-Brown_18_196_727_233255.html Prime minister announces security probe at reprocessing plant as part of worldwide drive to stop spread of fissile materialsThe international nuclear watchdog is to carry out a security inspection at the Sellafield reprocessing plant as part of a worldwide drive to stop the spread of fissile materials, Gordon Brown announced today.The prime minister said Britain is also launching a "centre of nuclear excellence" where the UK could "lead global efforts to secure the safe global expansion of civil nuclear power".Brown described 2010 as a "make or break year" for international co-operation on a number of policy fronts – from the economy, to security and climate change – in a speech to the Foreign Press Association in London earlier today.Highlighting the merits of collective action, Brown also announced that the first meeting of the advisory group on climate financing would be held in London at the end of the month.On security, Brown said it was essential to prevent nuclear weapons falling into the hands of rogue states and international terrorists.Britain is joining Barack Obama's drive to secure all fissile nuclear material across the world over the next four years, he said."In line with this we will invite the International Atomic Energy Authority to carry out a security inspection at Sellafield. We will make funds available for similar inspections in areas of greatest concern," he said.Brown said he had struck an agreement on further nuclear co-operation with France in talks last week with Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, but stressed that both countries would retain their own independent deterrents."We have agreed a degree of co-operation that is, I think, greater than we have had previously but we will retain, as will France, our independent nuclear deterrent," he said."We wish, of course, to see multilateral disarmament around the world and we are ready to contribute towards that, but in a world that is so insecure, particularly with other ... Fri, 19 Mar 2010 05:38:12 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/Safety-Issues-Linger-as-Nuclear-Reactors-Shrink-in-Size_18_196_727_233229.html A Russian-made nuclear-powered Alfa class submarine, which could go 45 m.p.h. underwater. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:03:13 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/Let-s-Talk-New-Mexico_18_196_727_233218.html On Friday, March 12th, students and faculty from across New Mexico had the opportunity to speak with Jonathan Black, a staffer from the office of Senator Jeff Bingaman, and Andrew Wallace, staffer for Senator Tom Udall, about clean energy, nuclear power in New Mexico, and the legislative process in passing an energy or cap-and-trade bill.  [...] Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:48:51 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/Nuclear-Waste-Disposal-Exit-Yucca-Mountain-Enter-Illinois-_18_196_727_232970.html Abandoning Nevada’s Yucca Mountain as a potential long-term repository for nuclear waste was an Obama campaign promise, and it garnered public support in the state and from opponents of nuclear power everywhere. Now that the Department of Energy has officially begun the process to withdraw its application, though, it is clear that not everyone shares the same desire to shutter the decades-old project. The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, or NARUC, filed a brief with the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board earlier this week arguing that proper processes were not followed to withdraw the application. They also argue that billions of dollars of the public’s money has been spent on the project at Yucca Mountain, and abandoning it now is a step in the wrong direction. “If we don’t go to Yucca Mountain, what do we do?” asked Brian O’Connell, the director of the nuclear waste program office at NARUC. “The answer is, we have the status quo for an indefinite period until something else comes along.” The decision to shutter the nation’s only suggested long-term geologic repository for nuclear waste comes at an interesting time. The first government loan guarantees are out the door to help build the first new nuclear reactors in more than a decade, and general talk of a nuclear revival has forced the oft-maligned power source back into the energy conversation. O’Connell’s question, then, is all the more relevant—if we aim to produce more nuclear waste, where are we going to put it? Regional storage? There are no other geologic repositories up for discussion, but the DOE has recently formed a commission that will study the question for two years. “President Obama is fully committed to ensuring that the Nation meets our long-term storage obligations for nuclear waste,” the DOE’s general counsel, Scott Blake Harris, said in a statement. For the moment, there aren’t a lot of ideas for meeting those obligations. ... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:03:57 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/Councillors-dump-nuclear-waste-plan_18_196_727_232951.html Councillors have dumped plans to landfill nuclear waste in what could be a big blow to Government plans to increase the country's nuclear generation capacity. Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:48:00 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/Feed-in-tariffs-are-not-suppressing-innovation_18_196_727_232946.html George Monbiot is still trying wage class war on a false premiseRead the previous exchanges between Jeremy Legget and George Monbiot George Monbiot's third article on government grants for domestic solar panels ignores the errors that I and others have protested about in the opening assertion in his first article. He alleged that the UK government's feed-in tariff regime is "about to transfer £8.6bn from the poor to the middle classes". In saying that, he managed to get three things wrong. The actual sum raised from the tariff levy from all electricity consumers, not just households, to 2030 will be £6.7bn; it will be spread over 20 years; and it will be more than offset – if the government is true to its word – by energy efficiency savings stimulated in parallel market-building schemes.Yet we see no retraction in George's latest, much less an apology for trying to turn feed-in tariffs into a new form of class war on a false premise.That was just where the problems began in the first article. In his third, he rewords many of his original mistaken views. I address those one by one on my website.The main new item in George's latest involves using a report from what he calls the "Ruhr University" to back his assault on the German feed-in tariff programme. He did not tell his readers – maybe he didn't know – that this study's "editorial office" is RWI, an organisation well known for being a thinktank helpful to the big German energy companies. There is an irony in a campaigner such as George deploying arguments against other campaigners using such a source. Elsewhere in his article George declares that "I detest the big energy companies that give us our electricity".Here is what the German ministry for environment, nature conservation and nuclear safety has to say about RWI's arguments against the feed-in tariffs (or the EEG, as they are known in Germany): "Whereas the International Energy Agency and the European Commission comment that the ... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:50:01 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/China-s-roars-grow-louder-in-Year-of-the-Tiger_18_196_727_232934.html Agence France-Presse: After running at loggerheads with the West over climate change, human rights and nuclear proliferation, China is now on a collision course with the international community on the value of its currency. Emboldened by its growing power and prosperity, China is striking a more defiant pose on the world stage and becoming less inclined to bow to the demands of the West, analysts say. "Clearly a faction within the Communist leadership believes... it's time for Beijing to impose its ... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:05:57 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/UK-must-transform-to-meet-future-energy-needs-warn-top-engineers_18_196_727_232924.html The changes include a transformation of draughty homes, plus vast expansion of renewable and nuclear powerThe UK's most eminent engineers have warned that the biggest set of investments and social changes ever seen in peacetime are needed to meet the country's energy needs in the coming decades, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions.The changes include a transformation of the nation's draughty homes and cuts in how far people commute to work, as well as a vast expansion of wind and solar power and dozens of new nuclear or "clean coal" power plants.The authors of the Royal Academy of Engineering report, published today , say the existing level of political will and the market-led approach to energy planning cannot deliver the fundamental restructuring needed."We are nowhere near having a plan," said Prof Sue Ion, who led the report. "These are massive projects. It requires a huge exercise all through government, and needs to come from the very top and go down through all departments such as transport and local government.""What we are talking about is making sure our children and grandchildren have an energy infrastructure that is fit for purpose."Another author, Prof Roger Kemp, from Lancaster University, said: "It needs the political enthusiasm that was behind the war on terror after 9/11."The team devised scenarios for the UK in 2050, starting with achievable cuts in energy usage and the maximum possible amount of renewable energy. Next they calculated how much fossil fuel could then be used while still meeting the UK's planned action on climate change, an 80% cut in carbon emissions by 2050. In all scenarios, that left an energy gap that was filled by dozens of new nuclear power stations and coal stations fitted with technology to prevent carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere.In the two scenarios identified by the engineers as most probable, fossil fuel use fell by 75%, renewable energy rose 20-fold and about 40 new nuclear or clean coal plants w ... Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:15:44 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/Graham-Kerry-Lieberman-share-details-of-bipartisan-climate-and-clean-energy-jobs-bill-with-industry-groups_18_196_727_232848.html Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John Kerry (D-MA), and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) “shared an eight-page outline of their draft legislation that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next four decades, including provisions to limit business costs while ramping up domestic production of oil, gas and nuclear power.” E&E News PM (subs. req’d) [...] Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:02:40 GMT http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Pollution-and-Warming/Nuclear/Lord-Mandelson-s-attempts-to-fire-up-low-carbon-economy-gets-cool-reception-from-industry_18_196_727_232827.html • Business secretary announces £80m loan for key Sheffield engineering firm• Institution of Mechanical Engineers says new apprenticeships not enough to fill skills gapLord Mandelson is spraying cash around various business sectors this week – the car industry tomorrow and nuclear today – all in the name of industrial activism.But judging from the reaction at the Royal Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IME) headquarters today, he has some way to go to convince many his strategy is as bright as the spring crocuses outside.Unveiling an £80m loan to a key company at the heart of the nuclear supply chain, the business secretary said he was determined to make finely focused interventions that could kickstart the low-carbon economy both here and abroad."This is government and industry working together to build the success of British manufacturing. This will help to realise the potential of our industrial base to be world-leading, export-led, and creating jobs and value here at home," he said."Our high-value manufacturing, knowledge base and highly skilled workforce mean, with the right investment, like today's, the UK can win a huge amount of business in this growth sector," Mandelson added.The old state-owned industries approach had shown its limitations in the 1970s, while the unfettered free market had failed to deliver the goods in the 1980s and 1990s, Mandelson argued. It was time to bring the two approaches together: "Our ambition is to embed the teamwork approach [of public and private sector working together] right across government."Critics claim the business secretary has been heavier on the rhetoric of industrial activism than action. They point to the failure to defend Cadbury sweet factories from the bitterness of a Kraft Food cuts programme post-takeover.And there was a decidedly muted reaction today from engineers as Mandelson unveiled the loan that would help Sheffield Forgemasters build an enormous new press capable of producing 15,00 ...