“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity” ~llaw
Nov 04, 2024
LLAW’s NUCLEAR VIEWS, ISSUES & COMMENTS, Monday, (11/04/2024)
Trying to pull the cart without the horse didn’t last long as the blue-sky stock prices disappeared in a cloud of nuclear plant smoke for the big computer giants and their AI dreams who thought they could intimidate the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and other agencies and power systems operators into lowering regulatory standards to accommodate their nuclear power-eating plans for data center dreams and AI.
But, at least for now, their market surge came tumbling down — as it should have. And I’m sure these corporations learned a lesson about doing their due diligence before going public with their bid to capture and control nuclear power to satisfy all of their future needs. Perhaps they will manage a reprieve eventually, but carefully regulated nuclear power and its standards are much to sensitive to try to run over at will — especially without the horse. ~llaw
Talen-Amazon Nuclear Power Deal Hits Speed Bump. Why Constellation Stock Is Down More.
By Avi Salzman
Updated Nov 04, 2024, 2:40 pm EST / Original Nov 04, 2024, 8:08 am EST
The nuclear-power renaissance hit a speed bump after a federal commission limited how much power Amazon
could use from a nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania.
The decision hit the stocks of nuclear plant owners Talen
Energy, Constellation
Energy, and Vistra
on Monday. Talen, which had made the deal with Amazon, was down 2.2%; Vistra was down 3.6%; and Constellation was down 11% despite also posting better-than-expected earnings on Monday.
Constellation experienced a particularly large drop because it’s the largest owner of nuclear power plants in the country, and investors had been expecting the company to sign several specialized deals with big tech companies that want to hook their data centers into nuclear power plants. The regulatory ruling now calls that into question.
Big tech companies like Amazon have turned to nuclear power this year to solve a problem. They need lots of electricity for their data centers, which are processing increasingly complex artificial intelligence applications. But they don’t want to use dirtier electricity sources, like coal, because they’ve made pledges to reduce their carbon emissions. Nuclear power fits the bill because it doesn’t emit carbon and—unlike solar and wind power—it operates continuously.
In March, Amazon bought a data center campus next to Talen’s Susquehanna nuclear reactor that could consume as much as 960 megawatts of electricity capacity—or enough to power around 800,000 homes. Microsoft
made a similarly big nuclear investment in September when it agreed to buy power from a decommissioned Three Mile Island nuclear reactor.
Other nuclear stocks that had risen on this trend, like Oklo and Nuscale Power, were also down on Monday despite not being directly affected by the ruling.
Amazon’s plan was unique. It wanted to plug its data center directly into the reactor so that it wouldn’t have to go through the traditional electricity grid. But nearby utilities objected to the plan. The utilities argued that Amazon was siphoning power away from the grid and not helping pay for the infrastructure that keeps electricity flowing to regular consumers. (The Amazon deal is different from Microsoft’s because Three Mile Island would still be connected to the larger grid.)
FERC, or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, ruled late on Friday that the Amazon plan should not go forward as originally proposed. “This filing leaves multiple important questions unresolved,” the FERC ruling said. A concurring opinion said the plan “could have huge ramifications for both grid reliability and consumer costs.” FERC’s ruling will still allow Amazon to use 300 megawatts worth of power from the reactor, but not an additional 180 megawatts, as it had proposed to do.
Talen responded to the ruling by saying that the commission’s concerns were misplaced. “Talen believes FERC erred and we are evaluating our options, with a focus on commercial solutions,” the company said in a statement. “We believe this ISA amendment is just and reasonable and in the best interest of consumers.” The amendment could potentially be resubmitted, allowing the deal to still go forward.
Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.
The ruling is a setback for multiple owners of nuclear plants, some of which had hoped to sign similar lucrative agreements. Amazon did not reveal how much it was paying for access to the nuclear power. But using the few financial data points that were released, analysts extrapolated that Amazon was paying Talen at least 30% above the going rate for electricity.
Jefferies analyst Julien Dumoulin-Smith wrote that the FERC ruling is “a major setback for the nuclear data center thesis.” After Amazon’s deal was signed, investors and analysts expected other deals would follow, and they bought up the stocks of other nuclear plant owners like Constellation and Vistra that they thought would benefit. Constellation and Talen have risen more than 100% this year, and Vistra is up more than 200%.
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TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Monday, (11/04/2024)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
Is Nuclear Energy Clean? Here’s What You Need To Know – SlashGear
SlashGear
Where “fusion” is combining two or more things together, “fission” is splitting them apart. … All of the nuclear waste from the U.S. over the past 60 …
The Great American Nuclear Weapons Upgrade – Undark Magazine
Undark Magazine
After all, numerous military nuclear accidents occurred during the Cold War. … all these things already.” “I think that people have forgotten what …
RCEA Reverses Rejection of Nuclear Power – Redheaded Blackbelt
Redheaded Blackbelt
— Google stuff. Every tonne of mined lithium results in 15 tonnes of CO2 emissions in the environment. In addition, it is estimated that about 500,000 …
Nuclear Power
NEWS
Talen Stock Tumbles on Amazon Nuclear Power Deal Setback. Constellation, Vistra Down, Too.
Barron’s
The nuclear–power renaissance hit a speed bump after a federal commission limited how much power Amazon · AMZN. +6.19%. could use from a nuclear …
Constellation Energy, nuclear stocks plummet after regulators block Amazon power deal
Yahoo Finance
Microsoft’s nuclear power partner Constellation Energy saw its stock drop on Monday as strong earnings couldn’t overcome a a ruling from the FERC …
Faber Report: U.S. regulator rejects Amazon-Talen nuclear power agreement for data center
YouTube
CNBC’s David Faber reports latest on Amazon’s nuclear energy investment.
Nuclear War
NEWS
UK says it voted against UN nuclear war panel because consequences already known
The Guardian
The UK was one of three countries to vote against creating a UN scientific panel on the effects of nuclear war because, the Foreign Office argued, …
The devastating consequences of a nuclear war are already clear: UK explanation of vote at …
GOV.UK
I am delivering the UK explanation of vote against the draft resolution L.39 ‘Nuclear War Effects and Scientific Research’.
South Korea ‘Dramatically Strengthening’ Nuclear Force Amid Russia Threat – Newsweek
Newsweek
South Korea is bolstering its nuclear defenses as North Korea strengthens military ties with Russia … Israel at War Vladimir Putin Russia-Ukraine War …
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
Commentary: Nuclear weapons, Israel, and Gaza
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
In the past year, Israeli nuclear threats have escalated dramatically … nuclear facilities, leading to anxieties about potential nuclear war in the …
JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon Flags Rising War Threats, Calling Today’s World Order at Risk
Yahoo Finance
JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon Flags Rising War Threats, Calling … nuclear arms acquisition, escalating the threat of nuclear warfare. He …
Vladimir Putin ally’s ‘nuclear war‘ threat as he warns US and EU not to ‘cross line’ – Irish Star
Irish Star
A close ally of Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, has issued a chilling threat of nuclear war to the West amid escalating tensions between Washington …
Yellowstone Caldera
NEWS
So, when will the next eruption at Yellowstone happen? | U.S. Geological Survey
USGS.gov
Geologists from the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory are often asked to estimate how likely future eruptions are at Yellowstone, but it’s no walk …
Why A Far-Fetched NASA Idea To Cool Yellowstone’s Supervolcano Would Never Work
Cowboy State Daily
NASA scientists concocted an idea a decade ago to save the world from a civilization-ending eruption of the supervolcano underneath Yellowstone …