LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #807, Tuesday, (11/12/2024)

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

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Nov 12, 2024

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The Three Mile Island nuclear power generating station shown here Monday, March 28, 2011 in Middletown, Pa. continues to generate electric power with the Unit 1 reactor. (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower)

The 3-Mile Island nuclear power generating station. See Article for description and credits.

LLAW’s NUCLEAR VIEWS, ISSUES & COMMENTS, Tuesday, (11/12/2024

All I can say is that this is a really bad, expensive, and dangerous idea, especially in the face of an unhinged nuclear armed world that has already figured out that nuclear powers plants are also easily turned into powerful weapons of mass destruction, yet we are talking about somewhere around 200 gigawatts or 200 or more added nuclear reactors of both large and small new nuclear power plants including rehabilitation of old plants that have been shut down for years due to their their age and their questionable nuclear safety.

I have to wonder, when all is said and done, what on Earth the reasoning was for such a dangerous and financially expensive venture — especially when renewable power plants like wind, solar, geothermal and hydro are so much cheaper to build, operate, and provide power as needed to meet future demand without the fear of running out of uranium for nuclear fuel. Nobody seems to realize that uranium, like coal, oil and gas, is essentially a fossil fuel that is subject to depletion, which could make nuclear power plants something useless like white elephants, or creating costs to produce at multiple-thousands of dollars per pound that nobody or nothing, even the AI producing tech corporations, could never afford. ~llaw

Energy & Environment

TheHill.com

Biden administration sets out plan to triple nuclear power capacity

by Zack Budryk – 11/12/24 1:14 PM ET

The Three Mile Island nuclear power generating station shown here Monday, March 28, 2011 in Middletown, Pa. continues to generate electric power with the Unit 1 reactor. (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower)
The Three Mile Island nuclear power generating station shown here Monday, March 28, 2011 in Middletown, Pa. continues to generate electric power with the Unit 1 reactor. (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower)

The Biden administration on Tuesday released a roadmap for plans to triple U.S. nuclear capacity by the middle of the century, prompting the following short article from “The Hill” and other news providers.

The plan sets a goal of 200 gigawatts of new capacity by 2050, more than three times the 2020 capacity. This will require the development of multiple new power sources, including large and small modular plants, as well as upgrades to existing reactors and restarting retired ones. This includes adding 35 gigawatts of new capacity by 2035 and a goal of 15 gigawatts per year by 2040.

“Ramping sustained production to about 15 [gigawatts] annually by 2040 will be important to serve both our domestic 2050 deployment goals and project deployments around the globe, making more U.S. nuclear products and services available for export,” the administration’s road map states.

“This will add hundreds of thousands of good-paying construction and operation jobs across the United States that would be sustained for decades. Achieving this production rate will require an expanded workforce, robust supply chains for fuel and components, and long-term solutions for managing spent fuel.”

The strategy outlined is part of a concerted push by the Biden administration to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a goal the incoming Trump administration is likely to abandon. However, increased deployment of nuclear power has bipartisan congressional support and President-elect Trump has signaled support as well, calling for the construction of new nuclear reactors during his 2024 campaign.

The framework relies on existing federal authorities but would require new funding, leaving nuclear power’s bipartisan supporters in Congress to fill the gap by allocating that money.

It comes months after the announcement that Pennsylvania will restart one of the reactors at Three Mile Island, the site of a near meltdown in the 1970s, to power Microsoft data centers. Both hard-line conservative Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), who represents the area, and his 2024 Democratic opponent, Janelle Stelson, backed the restart.

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(Please note that the Saturday and Sunday NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS — unedited —are added to Monday posts in order to maintain continuity of nuclear news as well as for research for the overall information provided in “All Things Nuclear”.)

There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

  1. All Things Nuclear
  2. Nuclear Power
  3. Nuclear Power Emergencies
  4. Nuclear War
  5. Nuclear War Threats
  6. Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There is one Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this evening’s Post.)
  7. IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)

Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.

A current Digest of major nuclear media headlines with automated links is listed below by nuclear Category (in the above listed order). If a Category heading does not appear in the daily news Digest, it means there was no news reported from this Category today. Generally, the three best articles in each Category from around the nuclear world(s) are Posted. Occasionally, if a Post is important enough, it may be listed in multiple Categories.

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Monday, (11/12/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Research reveals China has built prototype nuclear reactor to power aircraft carrier | CNN

CNN

… Things · Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta · The Assignment with Audie … Among other advantages, the US currently has 11 carriers, all nuclear …

Biden administration sets out plan to triple nuclear power capacity – The Hill

The Hill

… things to know about Trump’s selection for EPA chief. by Zack Budryk. 2 hours ago. Energy & Environment / 2 hours ago. See All. Video/Hill.TV. See all …

US Unveils Plan to Triple Nuclear Power By 2050 as Demand Soars – Energy Connects

Energy Connects

Under a road map being unveiled, the US would deploy an additional 200 gigawatts of nuclear energy capacity by mid-century.

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Biden administration sets out plan to triple nuclear power capacity – The Hill

The Hill

This will require the development of multiple new power sources, including large and small-modular plants as well as upgrades to existing reactors and …

COP29: US Has Plan to Triple Nuclear Power as Energy Demand Soars – Bloomberg

Bloomberg

President Joe Biden’s administration is setting out plans for the US to triple nuclear power capacity by 2050, with demand climbing for the …

Picking up steam: US targets tripling nuclear capacity by 2050 – Power Engineering

Power Engineering

DOE research suggests that a majority of U.S. nuclear power plants could host up to 60 GW of new capacity by building large-scale light water …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Sellafield nuclear site holds emergency exercise – BBC

BBC

People who live close to the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in Cumbria may hear the site siren and receive text, email and telephone warnings …

Verizon Frontline Powers Nuclear Emergency Exercise with Critical 5G Tech Support – Stock Titan

Stock Titan

… Nuclear Plant in North Carolina … How often must nuclear power plants undergo emergency preparedness evaluations with Verizon (VZ) support?

Nuclear War

NEWS

Russia Nuclear Attack Submarine Detected Near US Ally’s Waters – Newsweek

Newsweek

For the first time, Japan has detected an advanced type of Russian nuclear-powered submarine armed with long-range cruise missiles near its …

Federation of American Scientists Releases Latest United Kingdom Edition of Nuclear Notebook

Federation of American Scientists

The United Kingdom is modernizing its inventory of nuclear weapons and collaborating with the United States, as revealed today in the Federation …

Liz Truss spent final days in office ‘preparing for Putin to fire nuclear weapons’

The Independent

Truss spent hours studying weather data and wind directions amid fears the wrong weather conditions could have a ‘direct fall-out effect on …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

World leaders held crisis meetings to prepare for Russian nuclear attack: book – NY Post

NY Post

President Biden confirmed that same month there was a “direct threat” of Russia deploying nuclear weapons “if … things continue down the path they are …

US Sentinel missile’s nuclear deterrent in a hot spotlight – Asia Times

Asia Times

… threats … Despite these efforts, ICBMs remained a dangerous element of Cold War strategy, symbolizing deterrence and the catastrophic risks of nuclear …

raine war latest: UK government held crisis meetings as it ‘prepared for Putin to fire … – Sky News

Sky News

… threats. Why is Russia in Africa? For Moscow, assignments like this have two obvious plus signs. First, financial. Moscow is often paid directly

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