New documents show cost of Russian floating nuclear power plant skyrockets

Source: Bellona

The new cost of building Russia’s floating nuclear power plant (FNPP) the Akademik Lomonosov, has spiked from an original estimate of 9 billion rubles ($140 million) in 2006 to a current 37 billion rubles ($ 740 million) official Russian sources report, citing government documents.

The documents, published on the government’s appropriations and regulations portal (in Russian) show the government will now be co-financing the project, which was initially headed up by Rosenergoatom, Russia’s nuclear utility. The documents indicate the utility is running short on funds, and so will be receiving taxpayer support, the Russian government’s official print mouthpiece Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported (in Russian).

The FNPP, called the Akademic Lomonosov, is a long-standing prize project of state nuclear corporation Rosatom, which says the barge and its two nuclear 35-megawatt reactors will be a revolution in delivering power to Russia’s far flung regions. Independent sources say 15 countries world-wide are interested in leasing Russian floating nuclear power plants, most significantly China.

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“This is clearly a project without any cost control, and I suspect the price will grow even more if they manage to get this FNPP to float sometime in the distant future,” he said. “I also fear that the cost of operating the plants and dismantling them have also been largely underestimated, which will only add to the final cost.”

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Read more: http://bellona.org/news/nuclear-issues/2015-05-new-documents-show-cost-russian-nuclear-power-plant-skyrockets

FDA ticks off first drug to treat radiation sickness after nuclear disasters

Source: Gizmag



A drug long-used to counter the negative effects of chemotherapy has won US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for use in treating the nasty effects of exposure to radiation following a nuclear disaster. Known commercially as Neupogen, the drug has been shown to work by shielding the body's white blood cells to heighten a patient's chances of survival.

Neupogen, or filgrastim as it is otherwise known, is a synthetic protein that boosts the growth of infection-fighting white blood cells. Where the production of these cells is hampered in cancer patients by chemotherapy and radiation therapy, Neupogen can be used to stimulate the growth, maturation and release of white cells from the bone marrow. This better equips the sufferer to ward off infections and bleeding problems that can result from the therapy.

Neupogen was first approved for helping to treat those undergoing chemotherapy in 1991, and has since been one of a number of multi-purpose drugs investigated for potential use in the aftermath of nuclear disasters. But research conducted at the University of Maryland has now uncovered evidence worthy of the FDA's nod, making Neupogen the first drug to be approved as a countermeasure for Hematopoietic Acute Radiation Syndrome (H-ARS).

The scientists carried out their study in a non-human clinical model of high-dose radiation, with the FDA saying that, in the absence of ethical human studies, these animal studies were adequate and well enough controlled to suggest Neupogen is reasonably likely to be of benefit to humans suffering from H-ARS. This condition pertains to injuries to the bone marrow that slow the production of blood cells as a result of radiation exposure, and carries the risk of death from infection and haemorrhaging. But the FDA says that Neupogen can effectively minimize the severity and recovery time of such conditions.

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Read more: http://www.gizmag.com/fda-drug-radiation-nuclear/37671/

Japan Inc not as keen as Abe government on nuclear power -Reuters poll

China warned over 'insane' plans for new nuclear power plants

Source: The Guardian

China’s plans for a rapid expansion of nuclear power plants are “insane” because the country is not investing enough in safety controls, a leading Chinese scientist has warned.

Proposals to build plants inland, as China ends a moratorium on new generators imposed after the Fukushima disaster in March 2011, are particularly risky, the physicist He Zuoxiu said, because if there was an accident it could contaminate rivers that hundreds of millions of people rely on for water and taint groundwater supplies to vast swathes of important farmlands.

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He spoke of risks including “corruption, poor management abilities and decision-making capabilities”. He said: “They want to build 58 (gigawatts of nuclear generating capacity) by 2020 and eventually 120 to 200. This is insane.”

He’s challenge to the nuclear plans is particularly powerful because of his scientific credentials and a long history of taking a pro-government stance on controversial issues, from the 1950s destruction of Beijing’s city walls to the crackdown in the 1990s on the religious group Falun Gong.

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“There were internal discussions on upgrading standards in the past four years, but doing so would require a lot more investment which would affect the competitiveness and profitability of nuclear power,” He said. “Nuclear energy costs are cheap because we lower our standards.”

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/25/china-nuclear-power-plants-expansion-he-zuoxiu

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Quake Hits Tokyo Days After Japan OK's Third Nuclear Restart

Source: NBC

An earthquake shook buildings and halted train lines in Tokyo early Monday, days after Japan's nuclear regulator green-lighted the restarting of atomic energy at a third plant.

The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6, was centered in Ibaraki prefecture just northeast of the country's capital, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. There was no tsunami warning.

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But the quake is likely to reignite the debate about whether the country should use nuclear power in one of the world's most seismically active nations.

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public opinion polls have put opposition to nuclear restarts at about two-to-one over support. This is despite an average 20 percent rise in household electricity bills to cover the cost of imported fuel.

But last month Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government proposed bringing nuclear energy back to account for 20-22 percent of the nation's electricity mix by 2030.

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Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/quake-strikes-japan-days-after-nuclear-reactor-signed-n364071

Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant: IAEA Report Slams Japan For Not Acting On Tsunami Danger Knowledge

Source: International Business Times

Japan did not do enough to protect the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which was severely damaged by a giant wall of water in March 2011, despite authorities being aware of threats to the facility from earthquakes and tsunamis, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stated in a report. The U.N. nuclear watchdog also criticized Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), the plant's operator, for not acting on the warnings.

The IAEA said, in its final report on the March 2011 disaster, which was the result of a massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami, that a new method applied between 2007 and 2009 had predicted a magnitude-8.3 quake off the coast of Fukushima that could lead to a tsunami hitting the facility. On March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9 earthquake struck off Japan's northeastern coast, triggering a massive tsunami that ultimately cost the Japanese government about $300 billion in damages.

“The Fukushima Daiichi NPP (nuclear power plant) had some weaknesses which were not fully evaluated by a probabilistic safety assessment, as recommended by the IAEA safety standards,” the report obtained by Kyodo News, a Japanese news agency, stated.

TEPCO did not take the necessary precautions despite the analysis, the IAEA report, which is expected to act as a reference for nuclear safety measures worldwide, reportedly stated. The incident was the world's worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine.

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Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/fukushima-nuclear-power-plant-iaea-report-slams-japan-not-acting-tsunami-danger-1936492

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