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☆ The UK and Germany have very different ideas about the future of nuclear energy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Joumanna Bercetche | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

As the price of oil increased, energy independence became a priority, and Germany started commissioning more nuclear reactors. It took the nuclear disasters in Chernobyl in 1986, which was then part of the Soviet Union, and Fukushima, Japan, in 2011 to shift German public opinion against nuclear energy. Germany's decision to end its reliance on nuclear energy made it reliant on Russian pipeline gas. The UK's first nuclear power station was built in the 1950s, but it was Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who, in the 1980s, proposed constructing a nuclear power station every year for a decade as part of the country's industrial strategy. A study by market research firm YouGov in 2022 showed that almost half of Britons back the use of nuclear energy, compared with 31% who are opposed.

☆ For only the second time in its history, the US Navy is beginning the slow, tricky process of taking apart a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In April, the Navy published a notice announcing the beginning of planning to scrap the USS Nimitz. But Nimitz will be only the second nuclear-powered carrier to go through deactivation and defueling. The Nimitz would only be the second American nuclear-powered carrier scheduled to be scrapped. The first is the USS Enterprise, which was commissioned in 1961 and was also the world's first nuclear-powered carrier. The private shipyard will probably be in Alabama, Texas, or Virginia, according to a draft environmental impact statement posted on a special Navy carrier disposal website.

☆ Oliver Stone's new movie makes the case nuclear power is the obvious solution to climate change
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Oliver Stone's new movie, "Nuclear Now," makes an impassioned case that nuclear energy is a necessary and obvious solution to climate change. People ought to be more afraid of climate change than nuclear energy, the movie argues. He started reading about climate change, including a review of the book "A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow" by Joshua S. Goldstein and Staffan A. Qvist. "This is a simple, practical, understandable argument for how to solve climate change from nuclear energy," Stone told CNBC on Friday. In the movie, Stone presents a case that the beneficial potential of nuclear energy has not been reached because society conflated its collective fear of nuclear bombs with nuclear energy.

☆ Kremlin Extends Global Influence With Russian Nuclear-Power Juggernaut
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Jared Malsin | Georgi Kantchev | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The $20 billion Akkuyu Nuclear plant on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast has faced criticism from opposition lawmakers in Turkey. Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Zuma PressISTANBUL—The Kremlin is projecting influence across the world through a state atomic-power company that has become the industry’s global juggernaut. The latest example: Turkey is inaugurating a Russian-owned nuclear plant on Thursday, deepening a relationship with Moscow that has raised concerns in the West. The company, Rosatom State Atomiс Energy Corp., has expanded its global reach in recent years and is the world’s leader in constructing and operating nuclear projects abroad, working on 34 power units in 11 countries from China to Egypt to Hungary. In recent decades, Russia has exported more reactors than any other major provider.

☆ Putin hails Turkey ties as first Turkish nuclear plant inaugurated
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremony for nuclear fuel loading at the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, which is under construction in Turkey, via video link in Moscow, Russia April 27, 2023. Russia's state nuclear energy company Rosatom built the Akkuyu nuclear power plant and Thursday's ceremony saw the first loading of nuclear fuel into the first power unit at the site in Turkey's southern Mersin province. "But Turkey will enjoy the advantage of a country that has its own nuclear energy, and nuclear energy, as you know, is one of the cheapest," he added. Erdogan thanked Putin for his support on Akkuyu, adding: "We will take steps to build a second and a third nuclear power plant in Turkey as soon as possible." In a phone call before the ceremony at Akkuyu, Erdogan and Putin also discussed the situation in Ukraine and the Black Sea grain deal, the Turkish leader's office said.

☆ Ukraine's nuclear power plants are still a source of nightmares years after the Chornobyl disaster
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A Ukrainian army soldier stands guard at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 26, 2022, in Chornobyl, Ukraine. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday commemorated the Chornobyl nuclear power plant disaster on April 26, 1986, saying that the events on that day "left a huge scar on the whole world." The disaster is still seen as the most serious accident in the history of nuclear power operation although Ukraine has remained heavily dependent on nuclear energy. Today, its nuclear power plants have once again become a source of nightmares as fears abound for their safety and security amid the relentless fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. Most concerns around the safe functioning of the country's power plants amid war have centered on the the nuclear power plant located in Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, which also happens to be Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

[1/4] South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers remarks to the U.S.-Korea Business Council at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 25, 2023. He said the two countries' economies had been facing new challenges and the economic slowdown was unsettling the investment environment. "Competition for technological hegemony, energy issues and climate crises are casting more uncertainties on business activity day by day," Yoon said. "This cooperation should extend beyond semiconductors to future emerging technologies such as AI, Quantum, SMR (Small Modular Reactors) and more," Yoon said. Core technologies from the United States and South Korea's advanced manufacturing capabilities would "create enormous synergies that will benefit both countries," he said.

☆ France to uphold electricity price caps until early 2025, finance minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, April 21 (Reuters) - France's cap on electricity price hikes will stay in place beyond 2023 and likely be phased out over a two-year period, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday, arguing power prices haven't "normalised" yet. "Electricity prices haven't returned to normal, so we will take a little more time to withdraw the price cap. I give us another two years until early 2025," Le Maire told broadcaster LCI in an interview. Le Maire, however, said the government will likely end similar household price caps for natural gas at the end of 2023, because gas prices have lowered significantly in recent months after spiking in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In addition to a 15% price hike limitation on energy tariffs, the government has also pressured retailers to guarantee affordable food prices.

☆ Nuclear fusion will not be regulated the same way as nuclear fission — a big win for the fusion industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The top regulatory agency for nuclear materials safety in the U.S. voted unanimously to regulate the burgeoning fusion industry differently than the nuclear fission industry, and fusion startups are celebrating that as a major win. As a result, some provisions specific to fission reactors, like requiring funding to cover claims from nuclear meltdowns, won't apply to fusion plants. Other differences include looser requirements around foreign ownership of nuclear fusion plants, and the dispensing of mandatory hearings at the federal level during the licensing process, Holland said. The electricity generated by nuclear fission is considered clean energy by the U.S. Department of Energy because it generates no greenhouse gas emissions. And these reactors deliver massive quantities of power: Half of the carbon-free energy generated in the U.S. comes from nuclear fission reactors.

☆ Opinion: No, nuclear power isn’t the ‘big bazooka’ climate fix you might think
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Opinion Paul Hockenos | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Berlin CNN —Germany’s exit from nuclear power on April 15 doesn’t single it out as a quirky anomaly or black sheep in a world otherwise enthusiastically embracing nuclear energy. Since a highpoint in the early 2000s, the number of operational nuclear reactors worldwide has fallen – from 438 to 411, according to this year’s World Nuclear Industry Status Report. While at the same time, renewable energy generation – clean tech like solar, wind, bioenergy and geothermal – has expanded by more than 30-fold. In fact, when matched up against renewables as a source of energy that doesn’t emit carbon, nuclear power falls egregiously short. Nuclear power may look like an attractive, big bazooka fix to rising emissions.

☆ Japan nuclear disaster: Fukushima's fishing industry fears Tokyo's next move may finish it off
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Emiko Jozuka Krystina Shveda Junko Ogura Marc Stewart Daniel Campisi | Emiko Jozuka | Krystina Shveda | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Ocean currents have since dispersed the contaminated water enough that radioactive Cesium is nearly undetectable in fish from Fukushima prefecture. A year before the 2011 disaster, government data shows Fukushima’s coastal fishing industry landed catches worth around $69 million. At the same time, ground and rainwater have leaked in, creating more radioactive wastewater that now needs to be stored and treated. This isotope is radioactive tritium, and the scientific community is divided on the risk its dissemination carries. He argues TEPCO should build more storage tanks to allow for the decay of the radioactive tritium, which has a half-life of 12.3 years.

☆ Column: Germany goes all in on energy transition with nuclear shutdowns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

To combat that vulnerability, and ensure Germany's energy system can accommodate a recovery in power demand from last year's stunted levels despite lower gas-fired and nuclear output, Germany's power producers must continue to retool the country's entire power system at record pace. FIT FOR PURPOSEThe key near-term challenge for Germany's energy producers is to generate as much power and electricity as was delivered before Russia's incursions into Ukraine upended power markets. The lower electricity generation totals also indicate that power producers may be struggling to lift overall generation levels given the falling supplies of nuclear power output and continued tight availability of natural gas. The extent of coal's demand growth will be determined by overall power demand needs in Germany over the coming months. But with low-emitting nuclear power now off the table, more coal use looks inevitable, at least over the near term.

☆ Lululemon used tiny organisms instead of fossil fuels to make the nylon for its new shirt
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Conventionally, nylon is mostly made from ingredients sourced from fossil fuels like coal, natural gas or crude oil. "It's been estimated that 8 to 10 percent of all human-associated nitrous oxide emissions come from this single industrial process" to make adipic acid, Wallace told CNBC. To make the nylon precursor used in the Lululemon shirts, Geno uses biological organisms instead of chemicals from fossil fuels. "Because nylon, like it or not, has a lot of good value," Reddy told CNBC. "Look at those first-generation replacement straws — they didn't work, and everybody's annoyed," Reddy told CNBC.

☆ Germany has shut down its last three nuclear power plants, and some climate scientists are aghast
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

16 April 2023, Baden-Württemberg, Neckarwestheim: The Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant. The era of commercial power generation with nuclear power plants in Germany came to an end on Saturday with the separation of the Isar 2, Neckarwestheim and Emsland nuclear power plants from the power grid. Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty ImagesAs of Sunday, April 16, Germany is no longer producing any electricity from nuclear power plants. With the separation of the Isar 2, Neckarwestheim and Emsland nuclear power plants from the power grid, the era of commercial power generation with nuclear power plants in Germany came to an end on Saturday. Nuclear energy is also often more expensive than wind and solar power, Quaschning said, adding, "there are no longer any real advantages with nuclear energy."

☆ Europe’s Largest Nuclear Reactor Launches as Continent Splits Over Atomic Energy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Sune Engel Rasmussen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Olkiluoto island, off Finland’s west coast, houses three nuclear reactors. Finland has started regular electricity output at Europe’s largest nuclear reactor, a move that contrasts with developments in other European countries, where opposition to nuclear power is stronger. The long-delayed Olkiluoto 3 reactor is the first new European nuclear-power facility to open in 16 years. Alongside two other nuclear reactors on the Olkiluoto island off Finland’s west coast, the new 1.6-gigawatt reactor will eventually produce nearly one-third of the country’s electricity.

Below are key extracts from the G7 climate, energy and environment ministers' communique, including the annex. RUSSIA"We condemn Russia's illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine;"We stand ready to support the sustainable and resilient recovery and green reconstruction of Ukraine." "Currently $13 billion fiscal support that can be used for domestic and foreign projects is prepared across the G7 countries." PLASTIC POLLUTION"We are committed to end plastic pollution, with the ambition to reduce additional plastic pollution to zero by 2040." Reporting by Katya Golubkova; Editing by David Dolan and William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/5] A demonstrator takes part in a protest against the shut down of the last three German nuclear power plants, in Berlin, Germany, April 15, 2023. An estimated 50,000 protesters in Germany formed a 45-kilometre long (27-mile) human chain after the Fukushima disaster from Stuttgart to the Neckarwestheim Nuclear Power Plant. One of the long-running movement's early successes came in the 1970s when it managed to get plans for a nuclear plant in Wyhl in western Germany overturned. It was a Greens-coalition government that introduced the country's first nuclear phase-out law in 2002. "The nuclear phase-out is a Greens project ... and all parties have practically adopted it," said Rainer Klute, head of pro-nuclear non-profit association Nuklearia.

☆ After 18 years, Europe's largest nuclear reactor starts regular output
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Essi Lehto | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The new reactor is expected to produce for at least 60 years, TVO said in a statement on Sunday after completing the transition from testing to regular output. "The production of Olkiluoto 3 stabilises the price of electricity and plays an important role in the Finnish green transition," TVO Chief Executive Jarmo Tanhua said in the statement. Construction of the 1.6 gigawatt (GW) reactor, Finland's first new nuclear plant in more than four decades and Europe's first in 16 years, began in 2005. Russian state export monopoly Gazprom shortly after ended shipments of natural gas to the Nordic nation. Reporting by Essi Lehto; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Jan HarveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ After 18 years, Europe's largest nuclear reactor to start regular output on Sunday
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Essi Lehto | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HELSINKI, April 15 (Reuters) - Finland's much-delayed Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) nuclear reactor, Europe's largest, will begin regular output on Sunday, its operator said on Saturday, boosting energy security in a region to which Russia has cut gas and power supplies. Construction of the 1.6 gigawatt (GW) reactor, Finland's first new nuclear plant in more than four decades and Europe's first in 16 years, began in 2005. The plant was originally due to open four years later, but was plagued by technical issues. As a result of the startup, analysts have said Finland, the only Nordic country with a large power deficit, can expect lower electricity costs. Reporting by Essi Lehto; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Jan HarveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/5] A general view shows the Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant, as Germany shuts down its last nuclear power plants in Neckarwestheim, Germany, April 14, 2023. Following years of prevaricating, Germany pledged to quit nuclear power definitively after Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster sent radiation spewing into the air and terrifying the world. Germany's commercial nuclear sector began with the commissioning of the Kahl reactor in 1961: eagerly promoted by politicians but met with scepticism by companies. With the end of the atomic power era, Germany has to find a permanent repository for around 1,900 highly radioactive casks of nuclear waste by 2031. The government also acknowledges that safety issues remain given that neighbours France and Switzerland still depend heavily on nuclear power.

☆ Germany Quits Nuclear Power, Ending a Decades-Long Struggle
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Melissa Eddy | Erika Solomon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It began as a movement of pacifists chaining themselves to fences outside nuclear power plants. Germany’s three remaining reactors will be shut down by Saturday — ending nuclear power generation in Europe’s largest economy. Britain, Finland and France are doubling down on nuclear energy as a source of reliable electricity and extremely low carbon emissions. Last year, Poland signed with Westinghouse Electric to build its first nuclear power plant, some 200 miles east of the German border. In the United States, the Biden administration is backing technology to build a new generation of smaller nuclear reactors as a tool of “mass decarbonization.”

☆ Exclusive: EDF warns of 1 billion euro loss due to French strikes, reviews hiring - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Benjamin Mallet | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, April 13 (Reuters) - French utility EDF (EDF.PA) has warned drawn-out strikes at its nuclear reactors and hydro-electricity plants have cost it 1 billion euros ($1.10 billion) in lost output and that it is reviewing hiring plans for the year, three sources said. An EDF spokesperson told Reuters that a moratorium had been imposed on hirings. It comes as EDF's new chief executive draws up a plan to ramp up nuclear production and lighten the group's heavy debt load. The group had originally planned to hire between 3,000 and 3,500 people in 2023, mostly in nuclear production and sales, one of the sources said. The group's net debt rose to 64.5 billion euros in 2022, up from 43 billion a year earlier.

☆ Wind and solar power generators wait in yearslong lines to put clean electricity on the grid, then face huge interconnection fees they can't afford
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +18 min

The local utility in charge of overseeing the interconnection process told Pine Gate it would be more than $30 million. Pine Gate had to terminate the project because it couldn't afford the new fees, its vice president of regulatory affairs, Brett White, told CNBC. "Those projects ended up withdrawing from the queue or terminating, because they don't pencil anymore," White told CNBC. "There is Texas, and then there's the rest of the country with respects to interconnection," White of Pine Gate told CNBC. And that means getting those engineers out of some of the rote manual data entry and into the actual analysis," White told CNBC.

The EU has slapped 10 rounds of sanctions on Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but hundreds of millions of euros worth of trade with Russia's nuclear energy industry has not been directly affected. All EU countries must agree for the bloc to impose sanctions and Budapest - where Rosatom is to expand the Paks nuclear power plant - has vowed to oppose any curbs on the Russian nuclear energy industry. It was not clear when the EU would impose any new sanctions on Russia. EU nuclear agency Euratom said Russia provided a fifth of the uranium used by EU utilities in 2021, the latest data available, as well as a fourth of conversion and a third of enrichment services. “The future dependence on Russia in the nuclear fuel cycle depends on investment in the ‘global West’,” Euratom told Reuters.

☆ New CEO of UK's Rolls-Royce brings in new CFO, makes leadership changes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Shares in Rolls-Royce have surged 60% since the start of the year, lifted by optimism about a recovery in air travel and Erginbilgic's turnaround plans. The company on Friday named McCabe, a BP executive, as its new chief financial officer, to join later this year. New finance chief McCabe is currently senior vice president, finance for the customer and products division of BP. The previous civil aerospace boss Chris Cholerton was named group president, taking on responsibility for Rolls-Royce's nuclear operations, including temporarily as interim CEO of its small modular reactors (SMR) unit. Rolls-Royce said the previous SMR boss, Tom Samson, would leave with immediate effect.

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