LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #800, Sunday, (11/03/2024)

“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity” ~llaw

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Nov 03, 2024

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LLAW’s NUCLEAR VIEWS, ISSUES & COMMENTS, Sunday, (11/03/2024)

The story below is just the 1st restraining, rejection, or non-compliance order for nuclear energy expansion, and, I suspect, there will be many more to come from every imaginable direction as the big computer, electronics and AI developers and their data centers will have to face as they attempt to drive nuclear energy down America’s and other countries’ throats.

The regulatory reasons are easy to understand, involving not only incredible power demands but the fears of AI itself, plus the regulatory requirements of quality manufacturing and absolute health and safety requirements of existing and future operations of nuclear power energy itself because of the many threats to human and other life in the event of nuclear accidents, terrorist attacks, or, as we already know from the Russia/Ukraine attacks on nuclear power plants, nuclear war — all of which are very real possibilities along with black-market uranium fuel trade. Nuclear fuel piracy itself could become a huge and dangerous global part among any number of eventual disasters.

Obviously, it stands to reason that the more nuclear power plants we have, large or small, around the world, the more dangerous and perilous they are. ~llaw

Energy Connects

US Regulator Rejects Amazon-Talen Nuclear Power Agreement

By Bloomberg

Nov 02, 2024

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(Bloomberg) — The top US energy regulator rejected a special deal that would have allowed an Amazon.com Inc. data center to use more power from an adjacent nuclear power plant.

The decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission deals a blow to the efforts by big technology companies to feed their power-hungry data centers with electricity from generators located next to their facilities. Commissioners voted 2-1 against the proposal that would have increased the amount of power supplied to an Amazon data center adjacent to the Susquehanna nuclear facility owned by Talen Energy Corp.  

The commissioners said the plan, which was an amendment filed by the regional grid operator on behalf of the parties, didn’t adequately prove why the special contract should be allowed under federal rules. The plan would set a precedent and the issues should be reviewed more closely, they said. FERC Chairman Willie Phillips dissented, saying that the grid operator addressed reliability issues and called the order “a step backward” for both electricity reliability and national security. 

In March, Amazon Web Services paid Talen $650 million for a 960-megawatt data center campus adjacent to the Susquehanna nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, and signed a long-term agreement to buy power from the plant. 

In June, PJM Interconnection, which operates the eastern US grid, serving more than 65 million people, sought approval from the federal agency to increase the amount of power used onsite to 480 megawatts from 300 MW. Utility owners American Electric Power Co. and Exelon Corp. filed a complaint opposing the move, arguing that it could threaten grid reliability and raise customer rates.

The federal order on Friday night came on the heels of a day-long FERC technical conference on the topic, which discussed the merits and challenges of co-locating data centers with existing power plants, also dubbed “behind-the-meter” demand. Phillips said that artificial intelligence and related technologies represented a generational opportunity for national security and economic growth. Data centers are driving potentially unprecedented growth in US electricity usage and the concern is that such deals will allow them to shunt costs to other consumers.  

The Friday ruling hinders generators like Vistra Corp., Constellation Energy Corp. and Talen, which saw their shares rally in part on the prospects of signing more power-sales deals at a premium with deep-pocketed tech giants. 

While PJM made the filing to enable the Amazon-Talen deal, the grid operator has warned that it’s facing a potential shortfall of generating supply by 2030, Stu Bresler, executive vice president of market services and strategy said in a statement for the technical meeting on Friday. Big consumers located at power plants may create reliability concerns and hinder proper planning, he said. PJM, which serves more than 65 million people from Washington DC to Illinois, has received requests from developers to co-locate 8.5 gigawatts of large load at points on the grid serving existing power plants.

“If behind-the-meter, co-located loads integrate faster than what can be reliably planned for, the industry should appreciate the potential future risks to reliable system operations,” Bresler said in the statement.

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TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Sunday, (11/03/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

US Regulator Rejects Amazon-Talen Nuclear Power Agreement – Energy Connects

Energy Connects

Click “Accept all” to consent to our use of these technologies and to the related processing of your personal data. To learn more about the …

Chilling map reveals countries with the most nuclear weapons as global tensions rise

Irish Star

The United States and Russia combine for 88 percent of all nuclear … While the US has been transparent about its nuclear weapon count, countries like …

Sink a Navy Aircraft Carrier: How China Starts a ‘Nuclear World War III’

The National Interest

With war fever gripping the capitals of the world’s great powers, many are wondering when the biggest conflict of all … That’s when things like …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Are we Ready for Nuclear Energy? | TVJ Smile Jamaica – YouTube

YouTube

Are we Ready for Nuclear Energy? | TVJ Smile Jamaica. 2.5K views · 12 hours ago #tvjnews #jamaicanewstoday …more. Television Jamaica. 965K.

Investment Is Pouring in As the Hype Around Nuclear Fusion Grows – Business Insider

Business Insider

Tech leaders are betting on nuclear power as a key source of clean energy in the next decade. · AI tech companies are building small nuclear fission …

US Regulator Rejects Amazon-Talen Nuclear Power Agreement – Energy Connects

Energy Connects

data center to use more power from an adjacent nuclear power plant. The decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission deals a blow to the …

Nuclear War

NEWS

North Korea white paper says Yoon Suk Yeol raised risk of nuclear war | Reuters

Reuters

… nuclear war through his policies toward the North. The document, compiled by North Korea’s Institute of Enemy State Studies and released by state …

Iran fears Trump win would bring Israeli strikes on nuclear sites, Western sanctions

The Times of Israel

Tehran said to believe that if reelected, the former US president would exert the utmost pressure on Khamenei to cave to nuclear containment deal …

North Korea says South’s president has raised risk of nuclear war

South China Morning Post

North Korean state media released a white paper on Sunday accusing South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol of exposing his country to the danger of …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

‘We’re in uncharted territory’: Why the forgotten threat of nuclear war presents real and …

The Irish Times

… threat of nuclear destruction as well as the threats of climate change and biotechnology. … “Everybody knew about the threat of nuclear war. In 1982 …

Vladimir Putin ally issues chilling warning with threat Russia is ‘ready to unleash … – GB News

GB News

Vladimir Putin ally issues chilling warning with threat Russia is ‘ready to unleash Armageddon’ in nuclear war … threats seriously or risk World War …

Analysis | Working Through Israel’s Worst-Case Scenarios: Iran, Russia, and North Korea

israeldefense.co.il

Part one of a two-part article, which explores Israel’s complex strategic calculus in facing an Iranian nuclear threat, and the chilling scenarios …

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