Story first appeared in The Detroit news.
Tokyo— Japan is setting stricter, clearer safety guidelines for nuclear power plants to ease public concern about restarting reactors idled after the disasters a year ago. A Power Plant Engineering Expert Witness should be involved in the proceedings to ensure that proper protocols are followed.
Facing a national power crunch, the government is anxious to restart two reactors in Fukui, western Japan, before the last operating reactor of the 54 in the country goes offline in May.
But the public strongly opposes nuclear energy since the meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, and local leaders are reluctant to approve restarting any of the reactors.
The guidelines announced Friday are more extensive than computer-simulated "stress tests" designed to estimate how reactors would cope in the event of a major earthquake and tsunami like what overwhelmed Fukushima Dai-ichi last year. Unlike in France and other countries where stress tests are meant to find weaknesses or suspend a facility, Japan tried to use them as a safety guarantee. Many people questioned the objectivity of the tests, though two reactors passed them.
If utilities meet the new guidelines, authorities hope the public will be convinced the reactors are safe, including the two in Ohi, Fukui prefecture, that have finished regular safety checks and the stress tests and are ready to restart.
The Economy and Trade Minister called the guidelines "easy to understand" criteria that aim to set higher standards for natural disasters, but which do not factor in terrorist attacks, airplane accidents and other emergencies.
The guidelines, based on 30 recommendations adopted last month by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, require nuclear power plants to install filtered vents that could reduce radiation leaks in case of an accident, as well as a device to prevent hydrogen explosions. About 13 of the recommendations — the most crucial measures needed to secure cooling functions and prevent meltdowns as in Fukushima — were implemented, but the rest were not. The guidelines did not set deadlines for the steps to be finished.
The Chief Cabinet Secretary said the government can order utilities to restart reactors regardless of local opposition, because obtaining residents' consent is not legally required.
The officials will make a final decision based on NISA's evaluation and the reactors' operator Kansai Electric Power Co.'s safety implementation plans.
Critics and officials in cities and towns near Fukui are requesting explanations for the hastily-published guidelines.
The outspoken mayor of Osaka — a top shareholder of Kansai Electric — criticized the government for compiling the new guideline in just two days.
All but one of Japan's 54 reactors have been shut down for inspections, required every 13 months. None have been restarted since the March 11, 2011, tsunami set off meltdowns in three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. Energy Power Plant Expert Witnesses provide extensive project management experience, that could help in the maintenance and restarting process of these reactor stations.
The nation's last operational reactor, on the northern island of Hokkaido, goes off line in early May. If none of the reactors are restarted, Japan could face power shortages this summer. Before the crisis, Japan depended on nuclear power for one-third of its electricity.
To make up for the shortfall, Japan has expanded production at conventional gas- and oil-fired plants. Noda has promised to reduce Japan's reliance on nuclear power over time and plans to lay out a new energy policy by the summer, but his government faces pressure from big businesses to quickly get reactors back on line and maintain nuclear power to keep the economy afloat.
Fukui, home to 13 reactors clustered in four complexes along the Sea of Japan coast, is called Japan's nuclear alley.
For more national and worldwide business related news, visit the Peak News Room blog.
For more law related news, visit the Nation of Law blog.
Showing posts with label Nuclear Reactors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nuclear Reactors. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
New Yorker Creates Nuclear Fusion with $40,000 and a Brooklyn Lab
BBC News
Extreme DIY: Building a homemade nuclear reactor in NYC
Many might be alarmed to learn of a homemade nuclear reactor being built next door. But what if this form of extreme DIY could help solve the world's energy crisis?
By day, Mark Suppes is a web developer for fashion giant Gucci. By night, he cycles to a New York warehouse and tinkers with his own nuclear fusion reactor.
The warehouse is a non-descript building on a tree-lined Brooklyn street, across the road from blocks of apartments, with a grocery store on one corner. But in reality, it is a lab.
In a hired workshop on the third floor, a high-pitched buzz emanates from a corner dotted with metal scraps and ominous-looking machinery, as Mr Suppes fires up his device and searches for the answer to a question that has eluded some of the finest scientific minds on the planet.
In nuclear fusion, atoms are forcibly joined, releasing energy. It is, say scientists, the "holy grail" of energy production - completely clean and cheap.
The problem is, no-one has found a way of making fusion reactors produce more energy than they consume to run.
'I was inspired'
Mr Suppes, 32, is part of a growing community of "fusioneers" - amateur science junkies who are building homemade fusion reactors, for fun and with an eye to being part of the solution to that problem.
He is the 38th independent amateur physicist in the world to achieve nuclear fusion from a homemade reactor, according to community site Fusor.net. Others on the list include a 15-year-old from Michigan and a doctoral student in Ohio.
"I was inspired because I believed I was looking at a technology that could actually work to solve our energy problems, and I believed it was something that I could at least begin to build," Mr Suppes told the BBC.
While they might un-nerve the neighbours, fusion reactors of this kind are perfectly legal in the US.
"As long as they [private citizens] obtain that material [the components of the reactor] legally, they could do whatever they want," says Anne Stark, senior public information officer for California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
During fusion, energy is released as atomic nuclei are forced together at high temperatures and pressures to form larger nuclei.
Scientists say devices like Mr Suppes' pose no real threat to neighbouring communities or the environment because they contain no nuclear materials, such as uranium or plutonium.
"There is no chance of any kind of accident with fusion," says Neil Calder, communications chief for Iter, a multi-national project begun in 1985 with the aim of demonstrating the feasibility of fusion power.
"There's no CO2 pollution, there's no greenhouse gases, you can't use it for proliferation [the spread of nuclear weapons] - it has so many advantages," he said.
'Mechanics to janitors'
Government-led efforts to produce power from fusion have been going on around the world for 50 years.
Iter - funded by US, Japan, Russia, India, China, and South Korea - is working on a multi-billion dollar, advanced reactor, due to be built in the south of France by 2019.
But the availability of equipment and technology has seen an increasing number of amateurs enter the fray.
"We have people in the whole gamut, from physicists to electronics people to car mechanics to even one janitor - and all these people share a common bond to do nuclear fusion in their home," said Richard Hull, founder of Fusor.net.
Some experts are sceptical that all these people are producing fusion reactions, but when he demonstrates his device, Mr Suppes says a bubble meter placed next to the reactor indicates that a fast neutron, a by-product of fusion, has been produced.
The amateur scientist began building his reactor two years ago, purchasing parts on eBay with $35,000 of his own money and about $4,000 he raised on a website that connects artists and inventors with private investors.
"Real researchers that are working at Los Alamos [US Department of Energy National Laboratory] and are working at Lawrence Livermore are following this and commenting on it, even though it's not an officially sanctioned project," he says.
Tricky situation
Mr Suppes sees his work in nuclear fusion as more than just a hobby, and he intends to try to build one of the world's first break-even reactors - a facility producing as much energy as it uses to operate.
"He now has to go out and do what everybody else has to do, which is to convince people to invest in his project - whether its government funding or private funding to carry him through," said Mr Calder.
Mr Suppes is hoping to build a break-even reactor from plans created by the late Robert Bussard, a nuclear physicist who drew up plans for a fusion reactor that could convert hydrogen and boron into electricity.
Work on a scaled up version of a Bussard reactor, funded by the US Navy, has already been taking place in California.
But Mr Suppes believes he will be able to raise the millions of dollars it takes to build a Bussard reactor because he feels someone with enough money "will feel they cannot pass up the opportunity" to find out if it will work.
Iter said it would be wrong to dismiss out of hand the notion that an amateur could make a difference.
"I won't say something that puts these guys down, but it's a tricky situation because there is a great deal of money and time and a lot of very experienced scientists working on fusion at the moment," said Mr Calder.
"But that does not eliminate other ideas coming from a different group of people."
What neighbours say
For Mr Suppes, convincing the experts is one thing. Convincing the locals is another problem entirely.
"A homemade nuclear fusion reactor being built in Brooklyn - I would have thought there would be some sort of rules and laws about messing around with nuclear fusion in your apartment," said Brooklyn resident Stephen Davis. "I'm not sure I'd like that living right next to me."
"The fact that he's trying to form a new kind of energy is all well and good," said another local, Christopher Wright. "But without the proper scientific work behind it, I don't know if it's too good of an idea."
But others had a more positive outlook on Mr Suppes' reactor.
"I think it's a good idea. If a guy can make an invention like that, it should definitely be spread around so we don't need to depend on oil," Brooklynite Chris Stephens told the BBC.
"We need to do something that's new and more creative for society."
By day, Mark Suppes is a web developer for fashion giant Gucci. By night, he cycles to a New York warehouse and tinkers with his own nuclear fusion reactor.
The warehouse is a non-descript building on a tree-lined Brooklyn street, across the road from blocks of apartments, with a grocery store on one corner. But in reality, it is a lab.
In a hired workshop on the third floor, a high-pitched buzz emanates from a corner dotted with metal scraps and ominous-looking machinery, as Mr Suppes fires up his device and searches for the answer to a question that has eluded some of the finest scientific minds on the planet.
In nuclear fusion, atoms are forcibly joined, releasing energy. It is, say scientists, the "holy grail" of energy production - completely clean and cheap.
The problem is, no-one has found a way of making fusion reactors produce more energy than they consume to run.
'I was inspired'
Mr Suppes, 32, is part of a growing community of "fusioneers" - amateur science junkies who are building homemade fusion reactors, for fun and with an eye to being part of the solution to that problem.
He is the 38th independent amateur physicist in the world to achieve nuclear fusion from a homemade reactor, according to community site Fusor.net. Others on the list include a 15-year-old from Michigan and a doctoral student in Ohio.
"I was inspired because I believed I was looking at a technology that could actually work to solve our energy problems, and I believed it was something that I could at least begin to build," Mr Suppes told the BBC.
While they might un-nerve the neighbours, fusion reactors of this kind are perfectly legal in the US.
"As long as they [private citizens] obtain that material [the components of the reactor] legally, they could do whatever they want," says Anne Stark, senior public information officer for California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
During fusion, energy is released as atomic nuclei are forced together at high temperatures and pressures to form larger nuclei.
Scientists say devices like Mr Suppes' pose no real threat to neighbouring communities or the environment because they contain no nuclear materials, such as uranium or plutonium.
"There is no chance of any kind of accident with fusion," says Neil Calder, communications chief for Iter, a multi-national project begun in 1985 with the aim of demonstrating the feasibility of fusion power.
"There's no CO2 pollution, there's no greenhouse gases, you can't use it for proliferation [the spread of nuclear weapons] - it has so many advantages," he said.
'Mechanics to janitors'
Government-led efforts to produce power from fusion have been going on around the world for 50 years.
Iter - funded by US, Japan, Russia, India, China, and South Korea - is working on a multi-billion dollar, advanced reactor, due to be built in the south of France by 2019.
But the availability of equipment and technology has seen an increasing number of amateurs enter the fray.
"We have people in the whole gamut, from physicists to electronics people to car mechanics to even one janitor - and all these people share a common bond to do nuclear fusion in their home," said Richard Hull, founder of Fusor.net.
Some experts are sceptical that all these people are producing fusion reactions, but when he demonstrates his device, Mr Suppes says a bubble meter placed next to the reactor indicates that a fast neutron, a by-product of fusion, has been produced.
The amateur scientist began building his reactor two years ago, purchasing parts on eBay with $35,000 of his own money and about $4,000 he raised on a website that connects artists and inventors with private investors.
"Real researchers that are working at Los Alamos [US Department of Energy National Laboratory] and are working at Lawrence Livermore are following this and commenting on it, even though it's not an officially sanctioned project," he says.
Tricky situation
Mr Suppes sees his work in nuclear fusion as more than just a hobby, and he intends to try to build one of the world's first break-even reactors - a facility producing as much energy as it uses to operate.
"He now has to go out and do what everybody else has to do, which is to convince people to invest in his project - whether its government funding or private funding to carry him through," said Mr Calder.
Mr Suppes is hoping to build a break-even reactor from plans created by the late Robert Bussard, a nuclear physicist who drew up plans for a fusion reactor that could convert hydrogen and boron into electricity.
Work on a scaled up version of a Bussard reactor, funded by the US Navy, has already been taking place in California.
But Mr Suppes believes he will be able to raise the millions of dollars it takes to build a Bussard reactor because he feels someone with enough money "will feel they cannot pass up the opportunity" to find out if it will work.
Iter said it would be wrong to dismiss out of hand the notion that an amateur could make a difference.
"I won't say something that puts these guys down, but it's a tricky situation because there is a great deal of money and time and a lot of very experienced scientists working on fusion at the moment," said Mr Calder.
"But that does not eliminate other ideas coming from a different group of people."
What neighbours say
For Mr Suppes, convincing the experts is one thing. Convincing the locals is another problem entirely.
"A homemade nuclear fusion reactor being built in Brooklyn - I would have thought there would be some sort of rules and laws about messing around with nuclear fusion in your apartment," said Brooklyn resident Stephen Davis. "I'm not sure I'd like that living right next to me."
"The fact that he's trying to form a new kind of energy is all well and good," said another local, Christopher Wright. "But without the proper scientific work behind it, I don't know if it's too good of an idea."
But others had a more positive outlook on Mr Suppes' reactor.
"I think it's a good idea. If a guy can make an invention like that, it should definitely be spread around so we don't need to depend on oil," Brooklynite Chris Stephens told the BBC.
"We need to do something that's new and more creative for society."
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Bill Gates Goes Nuclear
Business Week
Last year, Bill Gates caused a stir by releasing mosquitoes into the audience at the TED conference. His aim: to bring to life the idea of malaria as a scourge of the modern world. This year, he set free some fireflies to highlight a new theme: energy and climate change.
Gates, it turns out, is going nuclear. He discussed a new venture he’s involved in with former Microsoft CTO, Nathan Myhrvold, who now heads up the innovation/invention incubation outfit, Intellectual Ventures.
TerraPower, led by nuclear physicist John Gilleland, is looking to use nuclear power to make electricity. According to company literature, “a wave of fission moving slowly through a fuel core could generate a billion watts of electricity continuously for well over 50 to 100 years without refueling.” In other words, power is generated via reactors that run on natural or depleted uranium.
Nuclear is a controversial issue, but Gates outlined his belief that if you can deal with the radiation and safety issues (and yes, it’s a big if—any design wouldn’t come to market until the “early 2020s”, according to TerraPower), its positive potential in terms of carbon footprint and cost put it “in a class of its own,” said Gates.
With Gates on board, TerraPower could just prove to be a big deal. As he put it, nuclear power development languished after atomic energy fell from favor, which left some “good ideas lying around”. After the advances in technology and supercomputers of the past 20 or so years, some of those ideas can now be virtually prototyped and tested.
In a comment that might have raised eyebrows in those who witnessed the Microsoft Monopolist of yore, Gates called for diversity and competition in the energy industry. “There are fortunately dozens of companies [in the space, but] we need it to be hundreds,” he said. “It’s best if multiple [companies] succeed because then you can use a mix.”
Gates also called for broader U.S. government support, saying that the U.S. should spend $10 billion—or more—on an energy R&D budget. The sum, he added, “is not that dramatic”, but it’s critical to underwrite innovation in this space. “We need energy miracles,” he said. “And in this case we have to drive at full speed and get a miracle within a particular timeline.” Given the immovable deadline and potentially catastrophic consequences of inaction, Gates said his quest of “innovating to zero” carbon emissions will brook no half measures. Every player needs to get serious. And, he said, he has.
Gates, it turns out, is going nuclear. He discussed a new venture he’s involved in with former Microsoft CTO, Nathan Myhrvold, who now heads up the innovation/invention incubation outfit, Intellectual Ventures.
TerraPower, led by nuclear physicist John Gilleland, is looking to use nuclear power to make electricity. According to company literature, “a wave of fission moving slowly through a fuel core could generate a billion watts of electricity continuously for well over 50 to 100 years without refueling.” In other words, power is generated via reactors that run on natural or depleted uranium.
Nuclear is a controversial issue, but Gates outlined his belief that if you can deal with the radiation and safety issues (and yes, it’s a big if—any design wouldn’t come to market until the “early 2020s”, according to TerraPower), its positive potential in terms of carbon footprint and cost put it “in a class of its own,” said Gates.
With Gates on board, TerraPower could just prove to be a big deal. As he put it, nuclear power development languished after atomic energy fell from favor, which left some “good ideas lying around”. After the advances in technology and supercomputers of the past 20 or so years, some of those ideas can now be virtually prototyped and tested.
In a comment that might have raised eyebrows in those who witnessed the Microsoft Monopolist of yore, Gates called for diversity and competition in the energy industry. “There are fortunately dozens of companies [in the space, but] we need it to be hundreds,” he said. “It’s best if multiple [companies] succeed because then you can use a mix.”
Gates also called for broader U.S. government support, saying that the U.S. should spend $10 billion—or more—on an energy R&D budget. The sum, he added, “is not that dramatic”, but it’s critical to underwrite innovation in this space. “We need energy miracles,” he said. “And in this case we have to drive at full speed and get a miracle within a particular timeline.” Given the immovable deadline and potentially catastrophic consequences of inaction, Gates said his quest of “innovating to zero” carbon emissions will brook no half measures. Every player needs to get serious. And, he said, he has.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Obama Said Set to Give Southern Co. Nuclear-Loan Aid
Business Week
President Barack Obama will announce Feb. 16 that Southern Co. will get a federal loan guarantee to build two nuclear reactors in Georgia, the first support awarded under a five-year-old law, an administration official said.
The official, who asked not to be identified because the guarantee hasn’t been made public, confirmed the plans in an e- mail yesterday. The financial commitment will be used to add two 1,150-megawatt reactors to Southern’s two-unit site south of Augusta, Georgia.
No new nuclear plants have been licensed in the U.S. since the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island reactor in Pennsylvania. The Department of Energy has been criticized by lawmakers including Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the top Republican on the Senate’s energy committee, for failing to issue loan guarantees more quickly.
“I am frustrated that DOE has still not issued a loan guarantee for nuclear power,” Murkowski told Energy Secretary Steven Chu at a Feb. 5 hearing. “And I hope that we can expect that first one shortly.”
The department has authority to dole out $18.5 billion in loan guarantees, and the administration put Atlanta-based Southern at the top of a short list that also included Constellation Energy Group Inc., NRG Energy Inc. and Scana Corp.
“We received notice that something more official, more public would be forthcoming within the week,” Valerie Hendrickson, a spokeswoman for Southern, said yesterday in a telephone interview. “We are excited about the support for our project and for nuclear in general.”
Obama proposed in his budget for the coming fiscal year tripling the funds available for nuclear loan guarantees to $54.5 billion. The money could be used to build seven to 10 new reactors, Chu has said.
No new nuclear plants have been licensed in the U.S. since the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island reactor in Pennsylvania. The Department of Energy has been criticized by lawmakers including Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the top Republican on the Senate’s energy committee, for failing to issue loan guarantees more quickly.
“I am frustrated that DOE has still not issued a loan guarantee for nuclear power,” Murkowski told Energy Secretary Steven Chu at a Feb. 5 hearing. “And I hope that we can expect that first one shortly.”
“We received notice that something more official, more public would be forthcoming within the week,” Valerie Hendrickson, a spokeswoman for Southern, said yesterday in a telephone interview. “We are excited about the support for our project and for nuclear in general.”
Obama proposed in his budget for the coming fiscal year tripling the funds available for nuclear loan guarantees to $54.5 billion. The money could be used to build seven to 10 new reactors, Chu has said.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Nuclear Giant Areva Buys Solar Company Ausra
Reuters
"This market is set to have 20 gigawatts by the year 2020. Areva has an objective to be a world leader in solar energy" by 2012, said Anil Srivastava, senior executive vice president of Areva's renewable energies business group.
Financial details were not disclosed in the purchase of Ausra, a Silicon Valley company which had raised $130 million in venture capital from high-profile firms including Kleiner Perkins and Khosla Ventures.
Financial details were not disclosed in the purchase of Ausra, a Silicon Valley company which had raised $130 million in venture capital from high-profile firms including Kleiner Perkins and Khosla Ventures.
The purchase marks Areva's first foray into solar energy.Areva chose solar thermal technology -- which uses the sun's heat to create steam to run turbines for electricity -- over other solar power options because it is "the closest" to nuclear plants, Srivastava told Reuters in an interview.
The solar power industry has started to consolidate after struggling in 2009 with a dearth of financing for new projects and a steep fall in prices. Other solar thermal players include Spain's Abengoa SA and privately held U.S.-based BrightSource Energy Inc.
Still, companies such as U.S.-based First Solar Inc and China's Suntech Power this year expect a rise in demand for panels that convert sunlight to electricity. The nuclear industry is aiming for a renaissance as concerns about greenhouse gases mount. U.S. President Barack Obama proposed an extra $36 billion in loan guarantees for nuclear energy in the new U.S. budget.
Simmons & Co analyst Burt Chao said that teaming up traditional energy and renewable firms makes sense.
"As solar especially goes toward more of an energy story, it certainly makes sense for energy focused companies to start looking at solar," Chao said. "You will probably see more and more energy companies buying up or partnering with these other solar companies."
NEW STRATEGY
Areva plans to run its solar business out of Ausra's headquarters in Mountain View, California, and expand its 70-strong workforce to 120 people worldwide.
The group plans to build concentrated solar power plants for utilities, independent power producers and industrial companies in the southwestern United States, Middle East, Europe, South Africa and ultimately other parts of the world.
Ausra Chief Executive Robert Fishman said in an interview that costs run between $3 and $3.50 per watt to build solar projects with its technology.
Fishman said the group will target two key markets: impendent power plants and adding solar projects to existing coal and natural gas-fired plants.
The acquisition is expected to close in the next few months, subject to regulatory approval.
Areva plans to run its solar business out of Ausra's headquarters in Mountain View, California, and expand its 70-strong workforce to 120 people worldwide.
The group plans to build concentrated solar power plants for utilities, independent power producers and industrial companies in the southwestern United States, Middle East, Europe, South Africa and ultimately other parts of the world.
Ausra Chief Executive Robert Fishman said in an interview that costs run between $3 and $3.50 per watt to build solar projects with its technology.
Fishman said the group will target two key markets: impendent power plants and adding solar projects to existing coal and natural gas-fired plants.
The acquisition is expected to close in the next few months, subject to regulatory approval.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Unexpected Reaction
The Economist
The handful of firms that build nuclear reactors face new competitionTHE nuclear industry got an unexpected boost from Barack Obama in his State of the Union address last month. The president pledged to build a “new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants”. On February 1st he followed that up in his proposed budget for 2011 by tripling to $54 billion the value of loans for new nuclear plants the government is offering to guarantee. Elsewhere, too, prospects for the business look good: the United Arab Emirates (UAE) completed a tender for four nuclear plants in December, Vietnam is planning a similar deal this year and many other countries, from Italy to Indonesia, are hoping to build new reactors soon.
“If you find out how they won, let me know,” quips Hirotada Nagashima, a senior executive in the nuclear division of Hitachi, whose joint venture with GE lost out to Kepco, as did a consortium of Areva and other French industrial behemoths, including Electricité de France (EDF), Total and GDF-Suez. But there is little mystery. The South Korean consortium, which includes the heavy-industry arms of Doosan, Hyundai and Samsung, three of the country’s biggest conglomerates, and uses some of Westinghouse’s technology, has worked together for decades, building and operating most of South Korea’s 20 reactors. It offered not just to build the plants, but also to run them and even to find the fuel they will need—at a fixed price, for the most part. “It was very easy to bring them together and offer the UAE a complete package,” says Mark Yoon of CLSA, a financial-research firm.
The South Korean government also played its part. The president, Lee Myung-bak, flew off to Abu Dhabi on the eve of the decision to gladhand the locals, promising to help the barren statelet recreate South Korea’s economic miracle. Hiroki Mitsumata, director of nuclear energy at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), believes that support from the South Korean government may also have allowed Kepco to offer the lowest price, because the state can backstop cost overruns and accident liability.
Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, lobbied enthusiastically on behalf of the French consortium, whose leading members are also largely state-owned. It too could offer full service, in that Areva supplies fuel and manages waste in addition to designing reactors, while EDF runs more nuclear plants than any other firm. But the partners originally wanted to sign separate contracts rather than offer an all-in deal. Worse, their bid was 50% more expensive, thanks both to the strong euro and a more steel- and concrete-laden design, which Areva says makes its reactors safer—an idea the authorities in the UAE dispute. EDF has also suffered numerous operational glitches of late, while Areva’s flagship new reactor, under construction in Finland, is woefully over budget and behind schedule. The Koreans, in contrast, have a sterling record in both construction and operation.
EDF has responded to the loss by attempting to unify the French nuclear industry under its control. Last November Henri Proglio, its incoming boss, said the French nuclear industry was dysfunctional and that combining a nuclear-fuel business with reactor design in Areva had been a mistake. Instead he suggested linking design and generation. But Areva argues that adding its reactor unit to EDF would make it extremely difficult for France to export nuclear plants to the utility’s foreign competitors, such as Germany’s E.ON, which is currently a customer of Areva.
In December the French government appointed François Roussely, a former boss of EDF and a friend of Mr Proglio’s, to produce a report on the nuclear industry, which is due in April. Mr Proglio’s ideas have provoked open war between the two firms: in January Areva briefly stopped collecting waste fuel from EDF’s plants following a long-running dispute over prices, until the government intervened.
The Japanese and American nuclear firms, for their part, say they cannot compete with state-backed bids. Danny Roderick of GE’s and Hitachi’s nuclear joint venture thinks the South Korean bid may prove “too good to be true” and wonders whether it will be able to stick to its budget and schedule. Big American utilities have little interest in teaming up with nuclear vendors to mount joint bids abroad; Japanese ones have a distressing record of falsified inspection reports and frequent outages. And the governments in both countries would find it difficult to favour one local nuclear firm over another.
But not all the problems facing the Japanese and Americans are of others’ making. The firms form a noodle soup of alliances and tangled technologies. Despite their joint venture, Hitachi and GE are pushing two competing reactors. They recently developed a third design with Toshiba, but after Toshiba bought Westinghouse in 2006, it also began to promote the latter’s technology. Areva and Mistubishi Heavy have rival designs of their own, but have also set up a joint venture to promote yet another type of reactor. “It’s chaos at the vendor level,” says an analyst in Japan.
The next test of the nuclear vendors’ mettle will be the bidding this year to build four nuclear reactors in Vietnam. Mr Mitsumata of METI thinks the government-run Japan Bank for International Co-operation, an export-credit and project-finance provider, and state-backed trade insurance could be used to boost the Japanese entrants. There is talk of a joint bid with a big utility such as Tokyo Electric Power. The government “is trying to increase the level of industrial support for the Vietnam project and the utility companies have been talking more seriously about that,” he says. But Kepco has hinted that it, too, is eyeing Vietnam—as well as other middle-income countries such as Turkey, Jordan, Indonesia, Thailand and South Africa.
American and Japanese nuclear firms’ chances of maintaining an edge may depend on how far their governments are willing to push nuclear power at home. Mr Obama’s sudden enthusiasm has given the American firms hope. But the Department of Energy has yet to hand out any of the previous batch of loan guarantees approved in 2005. Regulators in Florida have squelched local utilities’ plans to build new reactors. Recriminations about rising costs have held up another project in Texas. It is a far cry from South Korea, where six reactors are under construction and another 14 are on the drawing board.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Korea's KEPCO Wins Nuclear Contract Over GE, Hitachi
The Economist
IT IS usually the northerly of the two Koreas that attracts attention for its nuclear prowess. But on December 27th a South Korean consortium seized the limelight by winning a $20 billion contract to build four nuclear reactors in the United Arab Emirates. The consortium, led by Korea Electric Power (KEPCO), a state-controlled utility, could earn another $20 billion running the plants over their projected lifespan of 60 years.
Competition for the contract had been stiff. GE and Hitachi, two engineering giants, had launched a joint bid, as had a consortium led by France’s nuclear champion, Areva. France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, had lobbied energetically on behalf of the latter group. But South Korea’s president, Lee Myung-bak, was equally keen. As a former boss of Hyundai Construction, he has first-hand experience both of vying for contracts in the Gulf and of building nuclear plants. Mr Lee is said to have promised to share some tips on boosting manufacturing, a fond ambition of the Emirates.
But the chief allure of the Korean bid was price. It was reportedly billions of dollars cheaper than the others, albeit for smaller and less hardened plants. KEPCO’s nuclear subsidiary, which runs 20 nuclear plants in South Korea and plans to build 20 more, has a record of building reactors quickly and running them efficiently—unlike many of its Western counterparts. “We’re cheap, durable and dependable,” says Kevin Kang of KEPCO, which is also hoping to build reactors in India, Jordan and Turkey among other places. Although the consortium includes Westinghouse, a subsidiary of Toshiba of Japan, most of the technology is Korean. In developing countries, at least, the West’s nuclear giants face a formidable new rival.
Competition for the contract had been stiff. GE and Hitachi, two engineering giants, had launched a joint bid, as had a consortium led by France’s nuclear champion, Areva. France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, had lobbied energetically on behalf of the latter group. But South Korea’s president, Lee Myung-bak, was equally keen. As a former boss of Hyundai Construction, he has first-hand experience both of vying for contracts in the Gulf and of building nuclear plants. Mr Lee is said to have promised to share some tips on boosting manufacturing, a fond ambition of the Emirates.
But the chief allure of the Korean bid was price. It was reportedly billions of dollars cheaper than the others, albeit for smaller and less hardened plants. KEPCO’s nuclear subsidiary, which runs 20 nuclear plants in South Korea and plans to build 20 more, has a record of building reactors quickly and running them efficiently—unlike many of its Western counterparts. “We’re cheap, durable and dependable,” says Kevin Kang of KEPCO, which is also hoping to build reactors in India, Jordan and Turkey among other places. Although the consortium includes Westinghouse, a subsidiary of Toshiba of Japan, most of the technology is Korean. In developing countries, at least, the West’s nuclear giants face a formidable new rival.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)