California

Resilience System


You are here

Home

Nuclear Issues - CA

Primary tabs

Fri, 2012-03-30 22:38 — mdmcdonald
This working group is focused on discussions about nuclear issues.

The mission of this working group is to focus on discussions about nuclear issues.

Add Content to this group

Click to add a new Group Post Simple to this group
Click to add a new Group Post Simple w Images to this group
Click to add a new Group Post to this group
Click to add a new PRIVATE Group Post to this group
Click to add a new TASK to this group

Members

Kathy Gilbeaux mdmcdonald
Subscribe to group

Email address for group

nuclear-issues-ca@m.resiliencesystem.org

Are Solar and Wind Really Killing Coal, Nuclear and Grid Reliability?

Tue, 2017-05-16 21:20 — Kathy Gilbeaux

           

Lessons from the Lone Star State: A surge in wind power on the Texas grid didn’t cause reliability problems (and brought down electricity prices) because regulators improved the efficiency of wholesale electricity markets. Sarah Fields Photography/Shutterstock.com

theconversation.com - by Joshua D. Rhodes, Michael E. Webber, Thomas Deetjen and Todd Davidson - May 11, 2017

U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry in April requested a study to assess the effect of renewable energy policies on nuclear and coal-fired power plants.

Some energy analysts responded with confusion, as the subject has been extensively studied by grid operators and the Department of Energy’s own national labs. Others were more critical, saying the intent of the review is to favor the use of nuclear and coal over renewable sources.

So, are wind and solar killing coal and nuclear? Yes, but not by themselves and not for the reasons most people think. Are wind and solar killing grid reliability? No, not where the grid’s technology and regulations have been modernized. In those places, overall grid operation has improved, not worsened.

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Economics
Energy
Grid
Petrochemical
Renewables
Solar
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Situation Report

PG&E to close Diablo Canyon, California's last nuclear power plant

Wed, 2016-06-22 18:43 — Maeryn Obley

Pacific Gas & Electric's Diablo Canyon plant near Avila Beach has California's last operating nuclear reactors. (Michael Mariant / Associated Press)

Image: Pacific Gas & Electric's Diablo Canyon plant near Avila Beach has California's last operating nuclear reactors. (Michael Mariant / Associated Press)

latimes.com - June 21st 2016 - Ivan Penn and Samantha Masunaga

One of California’s largest energy utilities took a bold step in the 21st century electricity revolution with an agreement to close its last operating nuclear plant and develop more solar, wind and other clean power technologies.

The decision announced Tuesday by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to close its beleaguered Diablo Canyon nuclear plant within the next decade runs counter to the nuclear industry’s arguments that curbing carbon emissions and combating climate change require use of nuclear power, which generates the most electricity without harmful emissions.

Country / Region Tags: 
US - West
General Topic Tags: 
Energy
Renewables
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions
Situation Report

Japan Nuclear Body Says Radioactive Water at Fukushima an Emergency

Thu, 2013-08-08 07:36 — Kathy Gilbeaux

         

(SEE IMPORTANT LINKS BELOW)

reuters.com - by Antoni Slodkowski and Mari Saito - TOKYO | Aug 5, 2013

(Reuters) - Highly radioactive water seeping into the ocean from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is creating an "emergency" that the operator is struggling to contain, an official from the country's nuclear watchdog said on Monday.

This contaminated groundwater has breached an underground barrier, is rising toward the surface and is exceeding legal limits of radioactive discharge, Shinji Kinjo, head of a Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) task force, told Reuters.

Countermeasures planned by Tokyo Electric Power Co are only a temporary solution, he said.

Tepco's "sense of crisis is weak," Kinjo said. "This is why you can't just leave it up to Tepco alone" to grapple with the ongoing disaster.

"Right now, we have an emergency," he said.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
US - West
General Topic Tags: 
Radiation
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem
Situation Report

Nuclear Power Plant in Limbo Decides to Close (San Onofre Nuclear Plant in California)

Sat, 2013-06-08 13:50 — admin

New York Times - June 7, 2013 - Matthew L. Wald

The owners of the San Onofre nuclear power plant in Southern California, which has been shut since January 2012, said on Friday that they would close it permanently because of uncertainty over when it could be reopened.

The two reactors at San Onofre had not run since a small amount of radioactive steam escaped from new tubes damaged by vibration and friction. Coming months after the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown in Japan, the event prompted a wave of public opposition and set off a legal and regulatory battle that included Southern California Edison, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which manufactured the parts that leaked.

Read entire article

Country / Region Tags: 
US - West
General Topic Tags: 
Energy
Radiation
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Situation Report

Radioactive Fish Found In California: Contamination From Fukushima Disaster Still Lingers

Sun, 2013-02-24 12:03 — Kathy Gilbeaux

            

A fisherman displays his haul of Bluefin Tuna.

CLICK HERE: STUDY - Radiocesium in Pacific Bluefin Tuna Thunnus orientalis in 2012 Validates New Tracer Technique

huffingtonpost.com - by Aaron Sankin - February 22, 2013

Nearly two years after a powerful earthquake triggered a leak at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, the effects of that disaster are still being felt on the other side of the planet.

A report released earlier this month by researchers at Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station found that bluefin tuna caught just off the California coast tested positive for radiation stemming from the incident.

The study looked at the levels of radiocesium, one of the most common results of nuclear fission reactions, in Pacific Bluefun Tuna--largely as way to track the species' migratory patterns as the fish make their cross-oceanic journey in search of prey.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
US - West
General Topic Tags: 
Environment
Oceans
Radiation
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem
Situation Report

Faulty Computer Modeling Caused San Onofre Nuke Equipment Problems

Thu, 2012-06-21 15:26 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

Kaili Richards, 6, of San Diego holds up a homemade sign during a nuclear watchdog group's news conference before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's meeting in San Juan Capistrano. The activists are against the restarting of the San Onofre nuclear plant. (Allen J. Schaben, Los Angeles…)

latimes.com - by Abby Sewell - June 19, 2012

NRC officials give their first public account of their probe into the shuttered plant's problems.

Faulty computer modeling caused the equipment problems that are expected to keep the San Onofre nuclear plant dark through the summer, federal regulators said Monday.

Officials from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission gave their first public account of the initial findings of their investigation into the plant's problems at a meeting in San Juan Capistrano.

What they did not give was any indication of how long the plant is likely to remain out of service, saying there are still questions plant operator Southern California Edison needs to answer and more inspections the NRC must do.

Country / Region Tags: 
US - West
General Topic Tags: 
Energy
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem

California Nuclear Plant Shut Indefinitely Amid Hunt to Find Cause of Problems

Sat, 2012-04-07 08:24 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Janine Rees

      

The power plant has been shut down since this winter, when a small amount of radioactive gas escaped.

CNN - April 6, 2012
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Anti-nuclear activists warn of a potential environmental catastrophe
  • The San Onofre nuclear plant has been shut down since radioactive gas escaped
  • Officials have said there's no harm to the public health, but can't identify problem's cause
  • The head of the NRC says the plant won't restart until a cause and plan is put forward

(CNN) -- A large Southern California nuclear plant is out of commission indefinitely, and will remain so until there is an understanding of what caused problems at two of its generators and an effective plan to address the issues, the nation's top nuclear regulator said Friday.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
US - West
General Topic Tags: 
Radiation
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem

Canopy-Forming Kelps as California’s Coastal Dosimeter: 131I from Damaged Japanese Reactor Measured in Macrocystis Pyrifera

Sat, 2012-03-31 22:13 — Kathy Gilbeaux

                           This study indicates Kelp could act as a coastal dosimeter for California.

                  

Country / Region Tags: 
US - West
General Topic Tags: 
Environment
Radiation
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

Cracked Steam Generator Tubes at San Onofre

Fri, 2012-03-30 22:41 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Dave Lochbaum - allthingsnuclear.org - March 27, 2012

Leaks in San Onofre Unit 3 and Unit 2:

On February 18, 2011, operators restarted the Unit 3 pressurized water reactor (PWR) at the San Onofre nuclear plant in southern California following its sixteenth refueling outage. During the outage, workers replaced both of the reactor’s steam generators, which are large cylindrical containers that are partially filled with water.

At 3:05 pm on January 31, 2012 – less than a year later – radiation alarms alerted the control room operators that water was leaking through one or more of the tubes in one of the steam generators on Unit 3. They estimated the leak rate to be 82 gallons per day.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
US - West
General Topic Tags: 
Radiation
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem
howdy folks