U-Z

U.K. viewing Utah as a nuclear waste site?

A British lord told Parliament this month that a representative from EnergySolutions Inc. had offered to accept radioactive waste from the U.K. at the company’s disposal facility in Utah. According to a transcript of Parliament’s proceedings on May 21, the British lord said he had talked to EnergySolutions about dealing with British nuclear waste. “EnergySolutions has told me that, while spent fuel and waste from fuel reprocessing must go into a deep repository in this country, much of the so-called intermediate waste does not need to be managed in that way but can be either recycled for use in new nuclear build or transported to EnergySolutions’ own disposal facility, called Clive, in the Utah desert,” he said.

Details Here: deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700229874,00.html?pg=1

first published week of:   06/02/2008

U.S. electrical distribution system: “worse than expected reliability” survey sez

“The Exacter 20,000-Mile Survey shows that failing electrical distribution equipment may be much worse than suggested by the Department of Energy’s 2003 Study by a factor of nearly 2- to-1,” said the president of Exacter Inc., whose company measured failure signatures across more than 20,000 miles of distribution lines in 2007. “This discrepancy may result from latent damage.” In the Exacter survey, 26,450 failing signatures were located across 22,706 miles of distribution overhead. The DOE’s 3,000,000-mile study predicts 13,624 equipment failures over the same area. The results of the study are based on actual measurements as opposed to after-the-fact outage reports. Exacter said it is the single, largest measurement of U.S. electrical distribution systems ever conducted. “For 12 months, we worked with 19 utilities in 15 states measuring failure emissions,” said Exacter’s president. “These utilities validated our findings.”

Details Here: uaelp.pennnet.com/display_article/319407/22/ARTCL/none/none/1/Survey-of- US-electrical-distribution-system-reveals-worse-than-expected-reliability/

first published week of:   02/04/2008

U.S. voices support for renewable energy

A U.S. deputy State secretary said Tuesday at the opening of the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference that it is “imperative” to expand the use of renewable energy such as wind power and biofuels to reduce its dependence on foreign oil and slow global warming. The three-day conference gathers representatives from more than ten governments, corporations, and non-governmental organizations. “Renewable energies will alleviate some of the most pressing energy security dilemmas faced by many nations,” he said. Even as the Bush administration signaled support for expanded renewable energy use and production, it remains adamantly opposed to any forced reduction in greenhouse gas emissions for fear of crippling effects on the U.S. economy. The deputy State secretary said Washington was urging governments and business leaders to make a “voluntary pledge” to boost the share of renewable energies in the world.

Details Here: news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080305/pl_afp/usenergyclimatewarming_
080305002944 ;_ylt=Ashz5efUz50ls.pfLGxt43HYa7gF

first published week of:   03/10/2008

Union will be forced to leave nuclear plant

Entergy Corp. plans to bar roughly 250 Pilgrim nuclear power plant workers from the site if a new contract agreement cannot be reached by the time their current contract expires at the end of the day Thursday. The Utility Workers Union of America Local 369 plans to hold a vote Wednesday that would give the union’s negotiators the authority to go on strike at the Entergy plant. Entergy has informed the union’s leaders that the union workers covered by the contract will not be allowed back to work if the contract expires at the end of the day Thursday without a new agreement. The union is making plans for picket lines at other Entergy nuclear plants if the deadline is not met. “We’re going to selectively picket these plants,” said the president of Local 369. “I think this company is going to be very surprised.”

Details Here: www.patriotledger.com/business/x1880505285/Union-will-be-forced-toleave- nuclear-plant-if-contract-agreement-isn-t-reached

first published week of:   05/12/2008

Utilities fret as reactor-part suppliers shrink

As utilities pursue a U.S. nuclear power revival, they are confronting worries that their dependence on a reduced number of suppliers, including many overseas, could result in shoddy or counterfeit parts being used in plants. On April 7, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission alerted utilities that it tackled two cases of suspected counterfeit parts at nuclear plants last year. The counterfeits did not result in any equipment failures or safety problems, the agency said. But it warned that vendors, “including foreign companies with little or no experience in the nuclear industry, have entered the market to supply parts and components.”

Details Here: online.wsj.com/article/SB120787585954606783.html?mod=googlenews_wsj See also: http://www.ohsonline.com/articles/60718/

first published week of:   04/21/2008

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Volume 31

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