Since we discovered the power of the atom, there's been great optimism for nuclear. We'll have to wait and see how this long-time love hate relationship works out.
Rapidly growing economies such as China and India are most focused on Nuclear Energy, as their need for electricity grows, Adnani said.
Supply of uranium to the world market has been supplemented with secondary sources of uranium, such as decommissioned Cold War nuclear warheads from Russia and the US, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but this source is set to expire in 2013.
“That will be a real pinch in supply. The diminishing secondary supplies really drive supply and demand,” Adnani said.
There are around 60 reactors under construction around the world at the moment, with up to 300 planned over the next decade. At the moment, there are around 430 in total.
There is still a huge need for more electricity. Close to 20 percent of the world’s population – around 1.3 billion people - had no access to electricity in 2009, according to the International Energy Agency.
There has also been plenty of consolidation in the industry recently, as bigger players such as Rio Tinto, which completed the acquisition of Canadian uranium junior Hathor Exploration in January, looked for a presence in the nuclear space.
Recent Update - Published on Wednesday May 18 2011 (AEST)-Australia
Tokyo Electric Power Co. released this video,
filmed May 6, that illustrates the scale of the damage at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and steps being taken to resolve the crisis.
Tuesday Update April 12 at 1.30 AM (aest)
Monday Update April 11 at 7.30 AM (aest)
YOKOSONEWS LINK
Saturday Update April 9 at 7.30 AM (aest)
YOKOSONEWS LINK
Japan will pump radioactive water into the sea from a crippled nuclear plant until Sunday, a day later than previously planned, its nuclear safety agency said.
We are working on releasing water ... we are likely to finish this tomorrow," Hidehiko Nishiyama, a deputy director-general at Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), told reporters on Saturday.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said earlier it expected to stop pumping tainted water into the sea on Saturday, but work was interrupted by a powerful aftershock on Thursday.
KYODO NEWS LINK
NHK WORLD NEWS
INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC AGENCY
PDF LINK
Friday April 8 at 5.30 AM (aest) TOKYO – A major aftershock rocked northeast Japan on Thursday and a tsunami warning was issued for the coast devastated by last month's massive quake and tsunami that crippled a nuclear power plant.
No damage from the quake, measured at magnitude 7.4 by the Japan Meteorological Agency, was detected at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said.
Thursday April 7 at 2.30 AM (aest)
TOKYO — Tepco, the operator of the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has begun injecting nitrogen into a reactor containment vessel to try to prevent a possible explosion.Injection began at approximately early Thursday Morning 1.30AM(Tokyo) & will continue for approximately 6 Days. Most recent update suggests that the Nitrogen Injection is succeeding.
_____________________________
Wednesday April 6 at 9.55 AM (aest) Radioactive water leak into sea stops at Fukushima
TOKYO, April 6, 2011 (AFP) - A leak of highly radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant was stopped Wednesday, the operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) announced.
"Workers confirmed at 5:38 am (2038 GMT) that the water running off out of a pit had stopped," the embattled operator said in a statement.
TEPCO had on Tuesday injected sodium silicate, a chemical agent known as "water glass", to solidify soil near a cracked pit, from where highly radioactive water had been seeping through and running into the sea.
Wednesday April 6 at 4.30 PM (aest)
Sunday April 3 at 2.30 PM (aest) TOKYO - THE bodies of two workers killed when a tsunami hit Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant more than three weeks ago have been found and recovered, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) said on Sunday.
Sunday April 3 at 12.30 AM (aest) Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said it had found a crack in the pit at its No.2 reactor in Fukushima, generating readings 1,000 millisieverts of radiation per hour in the air inside the pit.
OBAMA STATES NUCLEAR IS HERE TO STAY
Obama Unveils Energy Plan: Full Speech
In a speech Wednesday 30th March 2011 at Georgetown University, President Obama outlined his goals for reducing American energy dependence,
heavily emphasizing new technology and alternative sources in addition to "safe and responsible" offshore drilling.
Dr. Robert Gale spent years working in Chernobyl and is now in Japan
to advise the Prime Minister's Office directly on safety.
Pay Special Attention Between 1.30 - 2.30Minute Period
HERE'S AN INSIGHT INTO Dr Robert Dale
Saturday April 02 2011 Yokosonews Update
Recent News Update
[TEPCO & NISA] Have Announced that All Control Rooms
in Fukushima Reactors now have lights, and that fresh water has now completely replaced the Ocean Salt Water in the Cooling of Reactors and Spent Fuel Ponds
CLICK To Access Live Press Conference Tuesday March 29 (Nuclear and Industrial Safety Commission)- (Tepco)& (Chief Cabinet Secretary - Yukio Edano)
Iodine Information Re-Half Life
The two forms of radioactive Iodine that are set free at Fukushima Have a half-life (the time until the they lose half their radiation) of 20-24 hours (iodine-133) and 8 days (iodine-131). Iodine-132 - 2.3 Hours; Iodine-133 - 21 Hours;
Iodine-134 - 53 Min; Iodine-135 - 6.7 Hours.
Japan Tsunami - March 11 2011 Shocking New Video
_________________________________________
Latest Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Update
Here’s Japan’s Current Nuclear Situation
MAJOR EVENTS UPDATE Saturday March 26
CLICK IMAGE FOR IN-DEPTH OVERVIEW pdf
Live YokosoNews Japan
Live YokosoNews Japan
Wednesday March 23 at 6.05 AM (aest)
Emergency workers at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan have succeeded in restoring lighting to the
control room of Unit 3 Reactor.
Tuesday March 22 at 7.15 AM (aest)
News : Technicians Have finally managed to attach power cables to all six Reactors and started a water pump at one of them to cool overheating nuclear fuel rods.
Official NHK WORLD TV Live On USTREAM.
NHK WORLD TV is an English language 24-Hour International News and Information Channel.
NHK - The Grey smoke seen coming from the troubled
No.3 Reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
Power Plant on Monday afternoon has subsided.
Monday March 21 at 10.00 AM (aest)
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Consider
The Measures Taken By Japanese Authorities
To Be Prudent And Appropriate.
Sunday March 20 at 10.30 PM (aest)
Engineers have attached a power cable to the Nos. 1, 5 and 6 reactors, and hope to restore electricity on Sunday prior to an attempt to switch the pumps on. Nuclear power reactor has restored electricity at No. 2 reactor of the stricken plant.
Sunday March 20 at 6.20 PM (aest)
Kyodo news agency now reporting that TEPCO
Engineers have restored power at the
No.2 reactor at the stricken Fukushima plant.
Sunday March 20 at 10.55 AM (aest)
TEPCO says temperature at spent fuels pools at
Reactors 5 and 6 at most normal levels according to Kyodo News.
Saturday March 19 at 4.30 PM (aest) "TEPCO has connected the external transmission line with the receiving point of the plant and confirmed that electricity can be supplied," the plant's operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said in a statement
Summary of conditions at Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant
Saturday 19th March 2011
Previous News Updates
TEPCO confirms power line has now just been connected, to the Fukushima Plant
______________________ Tokyo Electric Power Company says it hopes to restore power to two of its troubled reactors by Saturday to enable them to activate the cooling systems
The Japanese nuclear agency says it expects electrical cables to be connected to the generators at reactors 1 and 2 by Saturday morning.
.
Here's The Latest Summary Of the latest TEPCO Press Conference that was aired early this Morning at around 1.00A.M Friday 18th 2011
Very Interesting Information Audio Link of the TEPCO Press Release goes for Approximately 21 Minutes
MIT Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
Briefing on the Japan Nuclear Crisis
Recent News Updates
Japan's Self-Defense SDF Has Just Begun Efforts Once Again To Cool Down Nuclear Plant focusing on the Stored Spent Fuel Rods.
Two helicopters from Japan's Self-Defense Forces are dropping water on the Number Three building at the quake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
For those Interested, In the Japanese Media reporting, Try This Best to "IGNORE" Anti Nuclear Biased Media
That's what I've done since Monday
Windows Media Required
RECENT UPDATES
Breaking News Just Out
Staff Return To Japan Nuclear Site Thursday March 17th 2011 – 45 minutes ago
Workers withdrawn from the stricken Japanese nuclear complex are preparing to return. Officials had ordered the workers to withdraw from the nuclear plant earlier on Thursday amid a surge in radiation, temporarily suspending efforts to cool the External Holding Ponds. Chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said the workers, who have been dousing the reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant with seawater in a frantic effort to stabilise their temperatures, had had no choice but to pull back from the most dangerous areas.
RECENT UPDATES
TEPCO PRESS RELEASE
Most Recent Press Release (Mar 15,2011) Plant Status of Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station (as of 13:00 pm March 15th)
Recent Updates
Japanese Nuclear Plant Radiation Recedes as Engineers Restore Water Level
By Tsuyoshi Inajima, Michio Nakayama and Shigeru Sato - Mar 15, 2011 9:39 PM GMT+1000
TMarch 15 (Bloomberg) -- Tokyo Electric Power Co. engineers at a nuclear plant restored water to safe levels, helping drive down radiation after residents within 30 kilometers (19 miles) were ordered inside to avoid contamination.
Water supply at reactors No. 1 and No. 3 stabilized and radiation readings at the front gate of the plant dropped to a level that isn’t “harmful to the human body,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said this afternoon in Tokyo. Separately, Tokyo Electric said it hadn’t decided whether to bring workers after the utility evacuated 750 of its 800 employees following this morning’s blast.
Radiation Levels Drop At Japanese Plant
By the CNN Wire Staff
March 15, 2011 -- Updated 0817 GMT (1617 HKT)
Tokyo (CNN) -- Japanese authorities said radiation levels had dropped at the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant Tuesday.
"The level has come down to the level to cause no harm to human health, according to the report I have received," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters, describing reading taken at the plant's front gate.
Edano said readings at the gate at 3:30 p.m. (2:30 a.m. ET) were 596.4 microsieverts per hour -- compared to a high reading of 11,930 microsieverts per hour at 9 a.m (8 p.m. ET Monday).
"We have to monitor the situation closely, but the high concentration of radioactive material is not emitting constantly from the No. 4 reactor right now," he said.
My Condolence's To All Those That Have Suffered In Japan
My thoughts Are With You All
LIVE STREAMING NEWS FROM JAPAN
Click Image Below To Access
The damaged roof of reactor number No. 1 at the Fukushima
Nuclear plant after a Hydrogen Gas explosion
I have over the past 48 Hours, been closely following the plight of the current nuclear issues that are currently in play at the Fukushima 1Nuclear Facility. I hope the facts below will give readers a better understanding of the Facility.
Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant Generation II (BWR)
Construction Date 1966
Commission Date March 26, 1971
Reactor 1 (Damaged) Reactor 2 (Damaged - Possible Partial Meltdown Still Yet Unconfirmed)
Reactor 3 (Damaged)
Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant
Generation II (BWR)
Commission Date 1982
All 4 Reactors (No Damage)
HERE ARE THE TRUE FACTS REGARDING THE FUKUSHIMA REACTOR
At the risk of over simplifying the system, a BWR is like a giant pot of boiling water. Regular light water, not heavy water, goes through the reactor, is heated by the splitting of uranium atoms, turns to steam and spins a turbine-generator to make electricity. The steam is condensed back to water and pumped back into the reactor to continue the cycle.
There are 3 basic barriers to the release of radiation: the metal clad that encases the uranium fuel, the reactor pressure vessel, and the containment. If 2 of these 3 are compromised, and the third is in jeopardy, US plants will advise shelter or evacuation of nearby residents.
The reactor operates at a normal pressure of about 1000 psig. During an earthquake of this magnitude, the reactor would be expected to automatically shut down (called a reactor scram). Control rods are hydraulically driven into the core in less than 7 seconds.
I do not know if this took place but if it did not, we’d probably hear about it because it would be such a big deal. Even with rods inserted, the reactor continues to produce heat equivalent to about 3% of its full power level.
This is not the same as taking a pot off the stove and letting it cool. There are still some atoms splitting and fission products decaying that produce heat. This drops off slowly and is why there needs to be layers of redundant cooling with backup power. During such an earthquake, power from outside the plant would not be expected to be available.
The plants have several back up diesel generators (locomotive style engines) that supply power to motor driven cooling systems that will supply high flow of water up to about 300 psig..
There are also steam driven systems to supply cooling water up to 1100 psig. There are also pressure relief systems that active at about 1100 psig. If reactor pressure gets too high, relief valves open and discharge steam to a water filled pool inside the containment.
Unfortunately it was the back up Diesel Generators, that were obliterated by the Tsunami that was the cause of the issues at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant NOTE: only 3 of the Six Reactors were operating at the time of the earthquake, with the other 2 of the 6 Reactors on Standby.
It began flooding the reactor with sea water and boric acid today to prevent any chance of a meltdown and eliminate the potential for a increase in release of radiation.
Rating System for the Nuclear Industry
REACTOR EXPLOSION RISKS
ARE A NON ISSUE
A nuclear weapon requires highly enriched U-235 or Pu-239, whilst reactors usually don't contain fuel with more than 5 percent fissile material, this is for the vast majority true and for all power reactors. There are some small research ones that may have up to 20 percent U-235 but still not enough for a weapon. The other point is that a weapon requires a critical assembly to be put together in a very short time to get an explosion, whilst in a reactor the fissile material is spread out in an array of fuel assemblies, it could not be suddenly brought together in one mass. The worst that can happen in a reactor is overheating and melting of the fuel, which is a commercial disaster but the reactor design should contain the results in the secondary containment, with only small release of activity outside the plant boundaries. At Chernobyl the design did not have secondary containment, but it's important to realise that the explosion there was due to a surge in steam pressure, not a nuclear explosion, though fuel melting did then occur. That design would never be approved in the US or the EU areas.
Labor's most successful leader, Bob Hawke, has also backed a full-blooded debate on Uranium and Nuclear Energy at the ALP's national conference this year.
In a blunt challenge to Julia Gillard - who has called 2011 her year of decision - the former prime minister said Labor should never be afraid of passionate debates on tough reform issues.
Former Australian of the Year, Dick Smith, has also come out in favor of nuclear and claims most Aussies he talks with are also supportive.
It is understood senior Left figures in the Gillard Government have been urging people to speak out on nuclear power in an effort to kick-start a public debate.
Breaking his silence, long-standing Left MP Dick Adams said Australia should consider nuclear power, calling it the largest and most promising source of low-carbon energy for most countries.
"We need to think about what will happen if we do not clean the coal that we have in the ground" he said.
The only reason it had not been introduced in Australia was cost, he said. "But there may be a day when we will have to consider it - and that day is getting closer."
Smoking one of his trademark cigars yesterday in a parliamentary courtyard, Mr Hawke urged Labor leaders to put all the passions and prejudices to one side and look at the facts about nuclear power.
"The fact is if we want the cleanest possible environment (then) the generation of electricity by nuclear power stations is going to be an increasingly positive feature of that," he said.
Flanked by Cabinet Minister Simon Crean, the Labor icon said the ALP "should never, in a vibrant democracy like ours, be frightened of debate and discussion".
Mr Smith said: "We should be looking at least in the short term at nuclear because I think it is going to be quite a while before we invent a way of storing solar power. There is something like 5000 times more energy from the sun but we haven't invented a way of storing it, so until then I think we should be using nuclear."
Spot uranium is now sitting at $US61 a pound, a dramatic improvement since June when it only just found support level at a whisker over $US40/lb.
URANIUM prices continue to surge on the back of a looming new wave of investment by China in nuclear power.
So the news today that some Labor federal politicians now want the party to have a serious debate on the subject of nuclear power in Australia - which, unlike wind or solar power, provides base load, reliable electricity at an economic cost - comes just as it is starting to dawn on investors that uranium demand is about to take a big leap.
The latest report from the commodities team at Canada’s Scotiabank notes that China’s 12th five-year plan will call for the doubling of nuclear energy’s role in the country. The report says it is clear that a renaissance in nuclear energy is genuinely under way. China’s National Development and Reform Commission’s Energy Research Institute estimates that the number of nuclear reactors will grow from today’s 13 to the equivalent of more than 80 by 2020. The details of the new five-year (2011-2015) will be released in the first months of next year.
Also boosting spot uranium prices was news of large, long-term supply agreements: one, France’s Areva will supply 52 million pounds at $US67/lb to China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp; two, Canada’s Cameco will sell that Chinese company 25m pounds (along with 23m pounds to China National Nuclear Association; and, three, the state-owned nuclear power company in Kazakhstan will also supply China Guangdong with 63m pounds by 2020. As Scotiabank notes, these contracts will tie up considerable quantities of uranium.
Here's The Latest Summary Of the latest TEPCO Press Conference that was aired early this Morning at around 1.00A.M Friday 18th 2011
Former Australian of the Year, Dick Smith, has also come out in favor of nuclear and claims most Aussies he talks with are also supportive.
