Nuclear Energy in the News
The Department of Energy has confirmed that its oldest double-shell tank is actively leaking radioactive and hazardous chemical waste from its inner shell.
DOE made the announcement Monday after a video inspection of the area between the shells Sunday showed more waste in one place than a video taken Thursday showed.
"It's a very, very small volume," said Tom Fletcher, DOE assistant manager for the tank farms. Although there's no good way to measure the amount, it could be a couple of tablespoons of additional waste between the video inspections.
From The Washington Post: "Dominion Resources Inc. said Monday that it plans to close and decommission its Kewaunee Power Station in Wisconsin after it was unable to find a buyer for the nuclear power plant".
As nuclear power continues to crumble under the weight of its own disastrous economics, Dominion CEO, Thomas F. Farrell II, becomes the latest industry CEO to lose confidence in the nuclear business. "This decision was based purely on economics," Farrell said. Dominion also operates the two North Anna, VA reactors, where a proposed third reactor plan looks fragile at best. It also operates Millstone, CT and Surry, VA.
Reuters also reported on this story, stating that more atomic reactors could follow suit, their bad economics forcing their closure:
"Especially vulnerable under this scenario would be small, old single reactor sites."
According to Reuters, other units that could be slated for permanent closure because they fit the Kewanee economic profile include Exelon Corp's Oyster Creek in New Jersey, Xcel Energy Inc's Monticello in Minnesota, and Entergy Corp's Palisades in Michigan, Vermont Yankee in Vermont and Pilgrim in Massachusetts.
In fact, an increasing vulnerable and deteriorating nuclear industry under the mounting capital costs and uncertainties arising from Japan's Fukushima disaster can be tallied into a larger list of single unit sites in the United States targeted for closure. More.
On the Bankruptcy front:
A bankruptcy judge Monday confirmed Solyndra LLC’s Chapter 11 plan, brushing aside protests from the Department of Energy, which stands to lose most of the $527 million in taxpayer dollars it risked on the company. Read the Daily Bankruptcy Review article here.
A123 Systems Inc., the electric car battery maker that filed for Chapter 11 last week after receiving nearly $250 million in government grants, wants to pay more than $4 million in bonuses to a handful of top executives. Click here for the DBR article.
Links:
FDA probes deaths linked to Monster Energy drinks Raw Story
Strip-Club Fees Aren’t Tax Exempt, N.Y. Top Court Rules Bloomberg
Lorca earthquake ’caused by groundwater extraction’ BBC, I wonder if the east coast tremors are a sign of things to come , thanks to fracking.
On Mexico City’s flat roofs, tiny gardens help feed families, provide an urban respite McClatchy
More on China’s PMI MacroBusiness
Is China Still a “Currency Manipulator”? EconoMonitor
Oldest Auschwitz survivor dies aged 108 AFP
The IMF and the End of Austerity Huffington Post
Robert Waldmann: Romney Suffers from CEO Disease Brad DeLong
Japan Is Not A Good Example Of How Deflation Typically Plays Out Stoneleigh
Hedge fund manager donates $100M to Central Park in largest gift ever New York Post
The Social Economics of Thorstein Veblen Michael Hudson
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