News & Articles on Nuclear Power

Nuclear is not renewable, but it’s listed here for organizational reasons. I wasn’t really interested in nuclear, didn’t think it had any future, and that it was effectively dead. I wasn’t writing about it. However, like a vampire, nuclear kept rising from the grave and stalking the land. Talk continued of reviving it one more time. This talk had a real effect on public policy in North America, especially in Ontario, Canada. Thus, I felt it necessary to include nuclear topics and this was the place on my web site where it was easiest to insert

Pickering Nuclear Plant Ontario Jpg

The Resistible Rise of Nuclear Gangsters…and Their Downfall

By

Linda Pentz Gunter

It would be tempting to describe last week’s nuclear scandals — in three states — as something out of the Wild West. But Al Capone’s Chicago would be a more accurate analogy.

Top ex-SCANA official Stephen Byrne pleads guilty in SC nuclear fiasco fraud case

By

John Monk and Joseph Bustos

Stephen Byrne, a top executive of the now-defunct SCANA electric utility, pleaded guilty Thursday to criminal conspiracy fraud charges in federal court in Columbia. Byrne’s guilty plea showed that SCANA’s downfall — triggered by a failed $9 billion effort to build two nuclear reactors in Fairfield County — was the result of not just mismanagement or incompetence, but criminal conduct at the company’s highest levels.

Top SCANA ex-official to plead guilty to fraud conspiracy in nuclear plant failure

By

John Monk

The number two executive of the defunct SCANA Corp. — whose top officials engineered the biggest business failure in South Carolina history: the $10 billion V.C. Summer nuclear plant fiasco — has agreed to plead guilty to criminal conspiracy fraud charges in connection with the nuclear failure, according to a document filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Columbia.

State funds to be juggled to cover cleanup costs from Fukushima

By

The government has moved to revise a law to allow for the diversion of budgetary funds set aside for the promotion of renewable energy to help cover ballooning costs related to the storage of radioactive waste produced during cleanup work after the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Tepco estimates 44 years to decommission Fukushima No. 2 nuclear plant

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Tepco presented the outline of decommissioning plans to the municipal assembly of Tomioka, one of the two host towns of the nuclear plant, on Wednesday.

French plant taken offline following earthquake

By

EDF has temporarily suspended operation of three units at its Cruas-Meysse nuclear power plant to assess the reactors following a magnitude 4.9 earthquake yesterday in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. No damage has been found at any nuclear facilities in the area.

Fukushima to be reborn as $2.7bn wind and solar power hub

By

Shiko Ueda and Suguru Kurimoto

A plan is under way to develop 11 solar power plants and 10 wind power plants in the prefecture, on farmlands that cannot be cultivated anymore and mountainous areas from where population outflows continue. The total cost is expected to be in the ballpark of 300 billion yen, or $2.75 billion, until the fiscal year ending in March 2024.

World’s Largest Nuclear Power Producer Confronts Serial Glitches

By

Francois De Beaupuy

The Flamanville plant is now slated to be completed in 2022 at a price tag of 12.4 billion euros ($13.8 billion), with the latest glitch costing a whopping 1.5 billion euros. Bemoaning the loss of France’s edge in the sector because of a 15-year gap between the start of construction at the plant and that of the previous reactor, Le Maire has given EDF a month to come up with an action plan to restore the industry’s know-how before the country can determine whether it will build any new atomic plants.

Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant no longer economically viable; early shutdown would save ratepayers billions

By

David Weisman

A responsible Commission concerned for California’s future should consider that ratepayer dollars are more wisely spent hardening our grid against future wildfires than propping up the aging, inefficient money pit that is the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant.

Japan Nuclear Scandal Deepens as Chairman Admits to Taking Gifts Since 2006

By

Aya Takada and Gearoid Reidy

The Kansai scandal erupted last week, when it was revealed the utility took payments from a local company that worked on its nuclear plant in Takahama, via one of its former deputy mayors. On Friday, President Shigeki Iwane said 20 company officials took cash and gifts worth about 320 million yen ($3 million) from the official. The utility’s shares plunged the most in more than three years on Monday.