I think that nuclear power is a sufficiently sustainable source of power to provide all of the growth in our energy demands that are going to come in the next million years or so. (Emphasis added)
Yes, I checked the audio to make sure the ABC transcribers got it right and that’s exactly what he said. That was Barry Brook talking on Counterpoint last week.
In a recent post Steve Kirsch describes Brook’s conversion to nuclear:
Prominent Australian climate scientist Barry Brook admitted that he spent months educating himself on fourth generation nuclear before he came to the same conclusion Hansen did. In fact, before Brook heard about fourth generation nuclear, he thought the global warming problem was intractable because his own calculations confirmed the observations of many others (including Energy Secretary Steven Chu, MIT President Susan Hockfield and US Senator Lamar Alexander) regarding the necessity of nuclear power due to the problems with renewables being able to scale to meet our energy needs. (Emphasis added)
Continue reading ‘Nukes: a necessary part of our future?’
The first new nuclear plant built in Europe for many years, Finland’s Olkiluoto-3 nuclear reactor, is going to be a financial disaster for somebody. Originally scheduled for completion this year, the latest estimates are that it’ll be finished in 2012. The construction consortium of Areva and Siemens, is being sued by the operator, TVO, for 2.4 billion euros; the consortium is countersuing TVO for 1 billion Euros, due to their alleged slackness in preparing paperwork for the Finnish nuclear reactor being a primary cause of the delays.
Olkiuoto-3 is just about the perfect example for anybody trying to argue against new nuclear plants on financial grounds. But here’s where it gets really weird. You’d reckon after all that, no Finnish company in their right mind would be considering building a plant. You’d be wrong. There are three Finnish companies still planning additional plants: TVO wants to build a fourth unit at Olkiuoto, and two other companies are putting in build applications, though it’s notable that at least one has proposed to build anything but the EPR design under interminable construction at Olkiuoto. And there’s more. Sweden’s government has just reversed a long-standing ban on new nuclear construction there. From the article, it seems the key reason the shift has occurred is a policy change from a “centrist” party in the center-right coaliation:
Center Party leader Maud Olofsson, who is also minister for energy and enterprise, told reporters she could “live with the fact that nuclear power would remain part of the energy system.”"The row over energy policy during all these years has been paralyzing for those who want to invest, for employment and for the political debate,” Olofsson said. Olofsson said that while her party remained skeptical about nuclear power, “we need a compromise” and the deal also set up “ambitious climate goals.”
As well as the climate change issue, there’s also undoubtedly concern about the security of gas supplies from Russia, but it’s hard to know just how big a factor this is in the decision. Nevertheless, it’s interesting that despite what can only be described as a discouraging start, Europe’s chilly northern states seem set to keep their lights on with nuclear energy.
It’s hard to think of genuine foreign policy successes of the Bush administration – apparently the right-wing blogosphere in the US is touting “improved relations with Australia” as an achievement… The deals with Libya and North Korea were perhaps success, though the deal with North Korea remains horribly shaky. It seems, however, that the Bush White House did have the sense to not pour petrol on one hotspot. According to today’s New York Times:
WASHINGTON — President Bush deflected a secret request by Israel last year for specialized bunker-busting bombs it wanted for an attack on Iran’s main nuclear complex and told the Israelis that he had authorized new covert action intended to sabotage Iran’s suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons, according to senior American and foreign officials.
White House officials never conclusively determined whether Israel had decided to go ahead with the strike before the United States protested, or whether Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel was trying to goad the White House into more decisive action before Mr. Bush left office. But the Bush administration was particularly alarmed by an Israeli request to fly over Iraq to reach Iran’s major nuclear complex at Natanz, where the country’s only known uranium enrichment plant is located.
Continue reading ‘White House restrained Israel from attacking Iran’
You might remember that the government recently gave Gareth Evans a new job – to lead a commission on nuclear disarmament. In that context, I happened to pick up (for the trans-Pacific plane ride) little Quarterly Essay-style book on nuclear disarmament by Hans Blix, the man who spent 2002-3 being conspicuously and inconveniently correct on the topic of Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction.
In 2005-06, Blix headed a commission, supported by the Swedish Parliament, whose final report provides the most recent comprehensive summary of the issues surrounding nuclear disarmament. Given one of the commissioners was none other than Gareth himself, it would be reasonable to expect that the content reflects the general tenor of his own thinking on the topic (and, incidentally, raises the question of what else this new commission will add). It’s quite accessible and well-written, so if you’re interested in the question I’d recommend you download the report – or at least the executive summary – and have a look.
Continue reading ‘Disarmament, the Hans Blix way’
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