More Thoughts on Germany, Russia, Natural Gas and Nuclear Energy

A friend of ours from Germany who works at the World Nuclear Association is wondering what the latest news on Russian natural gas might mean for the country of his birth:

I would like to close this blog by quoting a suggestion of how the German electricity supply could be made less dependent on foreign countries and in the same time avoid the dumping of large amounts of CO2 into our air. This quite bold suggestion was given - funnily enough - by the above quoted Reinhard Loske of the Green party - probably not intending to make a real suggestion by saying this but nevertheless:

In an article in the Braunschweiger Zeitung of November 8th 2005, he writes that "Should nuclear power seriously contribute to climate protection, more than 80 NPPs would have to be built in the next 40 years in Germany alone".

Well, I don't know where this number comes from, but this sounds like an interesting suggestion to me!

UPDATE: It looks like some of Germany's political leadership is thinking the same thing:

Germany will review plans to close nuclear power plants at a national summit after a dispute between Russia and Ukraine cut gas shipments to Europe, Economics Minister Michael Glos said.

"Russian gas supplies were reliable in the past," the lawmaker from the Christian Social Union said in a faxed statement. 'Yet we need a fundamental rethink how we can exploit energy available in Germany in the longer term." Chancellor Angela Merkel had already planned meetings with energy industry chiefs and a summit on energy policy in February or March.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Power, Energy, Electricity, Home Heating, Natural Gas, Russia, Electricity, Germany, Carbon, GHG

Comments

Activists' Claims Distort Facts about Advanced Reactor Design

Below is from our rapid response team . Yesterday, regional anti-nuclear organizations asked federal nuclear energy regulators to launch an investigation into what it claims are “newly identified flaws” in Westinghouse’s advanced reactor design, the AP1000. During a teleconference releasing a report on the subject, participants urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend license reviews of proposed AP1000 reactors. In its news release, even the groups making these allegations provide conflicting information on its findings. In one instance, the groups cite “dozens of corrosion holes” at reactor vessels and in another says that eight holes have been documented. In all cases, there is another containment mechanism that would provide a barrier to radiation release. Below, we examine why these claims are unwarranted and why the AP1000 design certification process should continue as designated by the NRC. Myth: In the AP1000 reactor design, the gap between the shield bu...

What Happens During a Refueling Outage?

You may have noticed over the past few weeks that a number of nuclear plants are shut down for refueling outages or are resuming operations after just returning from one. This type of routine outage usually occurs in the spring or fall when electricity demand is low so that nuclear reactors can replace about one-third of the spent fuel rods with new fuel and conduct other routine maintenance and repairs at the plant. To get a better sense of how refueling works at a nuclear energy facility, I spoke with Marcus Nichol, NEI’s senior project manager for used fuel storage and transportation, and asked him to explain the basics. Why does a nuclear plant need to replace one-third of its fuel? Nichol: The main purpose of a refueling outage is to replace older fuel that is depleted—meaning it can no longer efficiently produce energy from nuclear fission reactions—with new fuel. This “used fuel” has typically been used in the reactor for four-and-a-half to six years before it is pe...

Nuclear Utility Moves Up in Credit Ratings, Bank is "Comfortable with Nuclear Strategy"

Some positive signs that nuclear utilities can continue to receive positive ratings even while they finance new nuclear plants for the first time in decades: Wells Fargo upgrades SCANA to Outperform from Market Perform Wells analyst says, "YTD, SCG shares have underperformed the Regulated Electrics (total return +2% vs. +9%). Shares trade at 11.3X our 10E EPS, a modest discount to the peer group median of 11.8X. We view the valuation as attractive given a comparatively constructive regulatory environment and potential for above-average long-term EPS growth prospects ... Comfortable with Nuclear Strategy. SCG plans to participate in the development of two regulated nuclear units at a cost of $6.3B, raising legitimate concerns regarding financing and construction. We have carefully considered the risks and are comfortable with SCG’s strategy based on a highly constructive political & regulatory environment, manageable financing needs stretched out over 10 years, strong partners...

NEI Nuclear Notes

Search This Blog