It's worth noting that nuclear power is uninsurable. There are no liability insurance policies covering #nuclear plants.
So how are there nuclear plants? The answer is, the nuclear industry is allowed, by U.S. law (the #PriceAndersonAct), to self-insure. They have a fund, and if there's an accident, they pay all claims from that fund.
Until that fund is gone. Any damages after that, don't get paid.
1/2
Not sure if I trust the company responsible for #BrownsFerry to be building #NuclearFusion power plants...
"Type One Energy, a nuclear fusion developer based in Knoxville, has announced contracts with the #TennesseeValleyAuthority [#TVA] to build nuclear fusion components.
"According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the mission of Type One Energy is to build the world's first commercial nuclear fusion power plant."
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/nuclear-fusion-power-plant-contracts/
No one hurt in fire at TVA’s #BrownsFerryNuclearPlant
Published 4:58 PM EDT, April 4, 2022
#TVA's "Browns Ferry has a troubled history that includes at least two much more serious blazes. A worker using a candle set off a fire that crippled the plant’s safety system in 1975 in what was considered the nation’s worst nuclear accidents at the time, and flames destroyed a cooling tower outside the main plant building in 1986."
https://apnews.com/article/business-athens-alabama-fires-02a8c261c98676e2012b712bd9fa2796
#NoNukes #Safety #NuclearAccidents #NuclearIndustry #PriceAndersonAct
Taxpayers are usually the ones who are on the hook for nuclear -- especially cleanup or accidents. #PriceAndersonAct
Coalition's #nuclear plan is 'virtually impossible' without #taxpayer funding
David Chau
June 16, 2024
"Earlier this year, Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto told ABC Radio Melbourne that he did not support the construction of nuclear reactors in the #LaTrobeValley, the site of existing coal-fired power stations.
"Queensland's Liberal-National leader David Crisafulli said nuclear was not on his agenda 'because it just won't happen until Canberra sorts that out'.
"Some of the most vocal opposition has come from New South Wales' former Liberal treasurer Matt Kean, who dismissed nuclear as 'hugely #expensive' and a 'Trojan horse' for the #CoalIndustry.
In addition, the nation's leading "scientific body, the CSIRO, says it would take at least 15 years to build a large-scale #NuclearPowerPlant — and it would cost twice as much to produce electricity through nuclear reactors when compared with #renewable sources."
#Nuclear fallout: Scrapped reactors and Manchin’s move
By HANNAH NORTHEY, 11/09/2023
"A highly anticipated advanced nuclear energy project was scrapped this week, signaling that the technology may have a rocky future despite billions of dollars in federal investment.
"#NuScalePower and a group of local electric utilities announced on Wednesday that they’re abandoning plans to build six first-of-a-kind modular reactors near Idaho Falls, #Idaho, writes Zach Bright. The project was set to receive as much as $1.4 billion from the Department of Energy — in a so-called cost-share deal — but couldn’t attract enough power subscribers.
"Small, factory-built reactors have long been touted as a possible lifeline for the nation’s aging nuclear sector and a carbon-free way to replace retiring coal-fired power plants. But some experts have questioned whether the industry can grow fast enough to curb power emissions.
"'It could be seen as another notch towards the idea of ‘this is a bit more #hype than reality,' said Eric Gimon, a senior fellow for energy think tank Energy Innovation. Electricity from the #NuScale reactors, he said, was ultimately too costly for local utilities."
#NRC #DOE #NoNukes #NoNewNukes #PriceAndersonAct #SmallModularNuclearReactors #NuclearHype
Investing in #renewables is good. But bailing out old nuclear plants and counting on #SmallModularNuclearReactors is just a bailout for greedy executives and those in the pockets of #BigEnergy!
#Illinois Senate approves plan to allow new #nuclear reactors
Story by By JOHN O'CONNOR, November 9, 2023
"Just over two years ago, Pritzker signed a law requiring the state to use only carbon-free electricity by 2045. That means closing numerous coal-fired power plants and investing heavily in wind and solar energy. It also included a $700 million bailout to keep afloat two unprofitable nuclear plants in the state, validating for Rezin and other supporters that nuclear power must remain part of the picture."
#RethinkNotRestart #PG&E #NRC #IAEA #NoNukes #NoNewNukes #PriceAndersonAct #SMR #NuclearIsNotCarbonFree
August 23, 2023 7:23 pm
Data shows PG&E's reliability record is getting worse
"NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit delved into #California regulators’ 2022 data on PG&E, finding that its performance that year was the company’s worst in decades. Audrey Asistio spoke with investigative reporter Jaxon Vanderbeken about what’s causing this."
Watch video: https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/california/pge-reliability-record-getting-worse/3302502/
#PacificGasAndElectric #RethinkNotRestart #NRC #IAEA #NoNukes #NoNewNukes #PriceAndersonAct
So, if #PacificGasAndElectric can't even handle keeping power lines safe, what makes the #NRC think they can keep a #NuclearPowerPlant built on top of #FaultLines safe?
Judge rips PG&E for executive greed and poor safety record leading to #wildfires
By Michael Liedtke
Published February 19, 2020
Associated Press
"SAN FRANCISCO - A U.S. judge ripped into Pacific Gas & Electric on Wednesday, saying its executives have put greed before safety and telling the utility that has been blamed for huge California wildfires in recent years that it should plan to have at least 1,100 more tree trimmers to reduce the chances of causing even more devastation.
“'I am going to do everything I can to protect this state from more death and destruction from this convicted felon,' U.S. District Judge William Alsup said of PG&E."
#DiabloCanyon #RethinkNotRestart #PGE #NRC #IAEA #NoNukes #NoNewNukes #PriceAndersonAct #DiabloCanyonNuclearPlant #PacificGasAndElectric
The judge blasted PG&E for its abysmal track record since its probation began in January 2017. In that time, PG&E's aging power lines have been blamed for igniting a series of catastrophic wildfires that killed nearly 130 people and destroyed thousands of homes.
Application Filed to Extend Life of #DiabloCanyon Power Plant Another 20 Years
PG&E Submits Application with #NRC to Renew Plant’s License
By Jean Yamamura
Wed Nov 08, 2023
"Renewal of Diablo Canyon Power Plant’s license was formally filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by owner #PacificGasAndElectric Company on November 7, more than a month ahead of the end of 2023 deadline. The 2,200 megawatts of carbon-free power generated by the nuclear plant can provide electricity for as many as three million of #California’s 39 million residents, fully 17 percent of the state’s supply of zero-carbon electricity, according to PG&E. But is it still needed?
"A number of groups fighting the nuclear power plant contend a potential for disaster exists from the aging facility, finished in 1973. Nonprofits like the #MothersForPeace in San Luis Obispo, where the plant is located, and the #AllianceForNuclearResponsibility argue that questions about brittle welds and nearby earthquake faults remain unanswered. Friends of the Earth is seeking to overturn the NRC’s licensing procedure for Diablo in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
"The NRC agreed to shorten the five-year window for the license renewal, causing #FriendsOfTheEarth’s legal director, Hallie Templeton, to say: “PG&E’s reckless push to extend the life of Diablo Canyon, while unsurprising, should set off alarm bells for everyone living near this high-risk facility. Diablo Canyon’s operations are extremely dangerous, harmful to the climate and put all of California at risk of a catastrophic accident.”
"In answer to the question of safety at a nuclear facility located 90 miles northwest of Santa Barbara, PG&E’s chief nuclear officer, Paula Gefen, said, 'We have a dedicated workforce that is committed to operating DCPP with integrity and safety at the forefront.' [PG&E is known for greed and poor safety record keeping -- see link in comments]
"During this shortened window, PG&E has a number of state agencies to persuade in addition to the NRC: It received a lease extension from the State Lands Commission in June for the strip of beach it uses, but the California Energy Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission are assessing actual costs and outage costs against renewed operations and market revenues. Their documents are underway or in a comment period and are supposed to be final before the end of 2023.
"If PG&E’s license renewal application passes muster, Diablo would be allowed to operate beyond its current end dates of 2024 and 2025, while the application is further reviewed, said PG&E spokesperson Suzanne Hosn. The process takes longer than a year, after which PG&E would submit for #CoastalZoneManagement ct recertification with the California Coastal Commission.
"Bruce Severance, a regulatory compliance engineer, has argued that certain welds, known to be #faulty from Reactor One’s inception, are so #brittle that replacement of the #ReactorVessel was a considerable cost the CPUC must consider. Severance and Digby MacDonald, a nuclear engineering and materials science professor at UC Berkeley, submitted a paper to the Diablo Canyon Independent Safety Committee outlining the #fracture toughness problem with the welds, but that committee won’t be meeting to discuss their conclusions until February 2024.
As for the need for Diablo to continue generating electricity, David Weisman of the #AllianceForNuclearResponsibility pointed to Governor Gavin Newsom’s statement in October that California’s #battery storage capacity reached more than 6,600 megawatts: 'More than equivalent to the power Diablo generates,' Weisman said.
"The turmoil surrounding the nuclear power plant began after PG&E decided to abandon its application for a license renewal in 2016. That would have shuttered the power plant’s two reactors in 2024 and 2025. However, Governor Newsom deemed the power was needed in the face of air-conditioning use during California’s increasingly hot summers. The State Legislature passed Senate Bill 846 last fall to loan PG&E $1.4 billion and extend Diablo’s operations to 2030.
"The CPUC held a hearing on Tuesday, at which Linda Seeley of #MothersForPeace addressed the commissioners. She told them California was on track to add another 6,000MW in #renewable power by 2026, three times Diablo’s output. Regarding safety, she said, 'while the Legislature and the CPUC have been relying on the NRC to ensure the safe operation of Diablo Canyon past the reactors’ 2024/2025 license expiration dates, the NRC itself appears to be bending to the State requests — rather than protecting the public.'
"Seeley emphasized the decision to prolong Diablo’s life could not be a political one. 'Put it together,' she urged the commissioners. 'No inspection of the Unit 1 pressure vessel since 2002; active #earthquake faults under the plant — couple those conditions with the fact that we don’t even need the power from Diablo Canyon, and you can easily reach a decision that your grandchildren will thank you for.'"
#TEPCOLies #Fukushima #RethinkNotRestart #Japan #PG&E #NRC #IAEA #NoNukes #NoNewNukes #PriceAndersonAct
Stefan Lulay
BlueDot🇺🇦
DoomsdaysCW
