Nuclear Power – Page 3

Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant, Middletown, Pennsylvania.circa 1976.

Amid a confluence of crises—the Ukraine war, an energy crisis, and climate breakdown—nuclear energy is experiencing a renaissance, at least in the rhetoric of politicians and pundits across Europe, North America, and beyond. After all, it’s tempting to propose these generators of low-carbon energy as a panacea to this daunting phalanx of calamities. But in fact, the case against nuclear power and for genuinely renewable energies has never been so conclusive—and so important. In early March, Russia captured the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine—the largest in Europe with six reactors, each the size of the one that melted down in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster—and transformed it into an army base from which it fires artillery at Ukrainian positions.

The Ford government is surprisingly unwilling to explore renewable energy projects despite the wide range of options available to it.

Following my previous post on EDF’s woes and their impact on the European market, here’s a list of topics, both practical and political, that the company needs to deal, and their domestic impact in France.

Company says it is reducing production for few hours where possible as ability to cool plants is restricted

France is looking at many dark years. All the criticism one can hear about Germany’s decision to close down its nuclear plants misses the fact that gas supply is not the problem for the power sector: the real problem is French nuclear, which allows high gas prices to cause power price increases across the board.

PG&E’s Nuclear Power Plant in Avila Beach Gets Stay of Execution Ahead of 2025 Shutdown

The call for more nuclear power – already loud when the debate was “only” about whether NordStream 2 made sense or not – has grown significantly since the war against Ukraine has started and underlined (yet again) Europe’s dependency on Russian gas. Macron’s announcement in early February to build new nuclear power plants has been followed recently by a strong push to do the same in the UK and by the decision in Belgium to expand the life of its existing plants.

The letter to Newsom is premised on the false notion that Diablo Canyon is being “prematurely shut down;” in fact, the Diablo plant is expected to operate through August of 2025, which marks the end of its 40-year federal license.

Firstly, 70% of Russia’s state revenues come from oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear energy deals. State revenues fund its military. Secondly, an EU dependent on imports from any geopolitical adversary will always struggle to impose sanctions on it.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck has described the accelerated capacity expansion for renewable energy as a key element in making the country less dependent on Russian fossil fuel supplies.