Another retreat as partner pulls out of VA nuclear expansion

Old Dominion Electric Cooperative has pulled out of plans to share in the construction of a third reactor at the current North Anna site in Louisa, Virginia. According to news reports, leadership at Old Dominion felt that "participating in this proposed nuclear project does not fit with our long-term plans." Old Dominion owns an 11.6 percent interest in, and shares the power generated by, North Anna's existing Units 1 and 2. This is not the first bump in the road for Dominion Power. It has already balked at the capital costs, predicting these would slow progress on the project. And the company has already rejected one design from GE Hitachi  - a boiling water reactor - switching to a pressurized water reactor design by Mitsubishi last May.

NuScale Power encounters same old story

NuScale Power, which had planned to develop a small, modular nuclear plant, has suspended operations due to lack of funding and the the Securities Exchange Commission has filed an action against its lead investor, The Michael Kenwood Group. The suit against Kenwood prevents NuScale from moving forward so it has mothballed the project. Even had the project gone ahead, it compared unfavorably economically to other, cleaner and safer sources of energy. The estimated cost of the plant was $6,000 a kilowatt, more expensive than  wind ($2,000 a kilowatt) and solar (approaching $3,000 a kilowatt installed for large projects).

"No chance of that happening"

Vermont State Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell, responded to Vermont Yankee owner, Entergy's fantasy that the Senate will reverse its decision to shut the reactor in March 2012, saying he sees "no chance of that happening." State Governor, Peter Shumlin, also favors an on-time shutdown of the plant. Entergy has been running a highly financed propaganda campaign in the state to try to convince the electorate that the company is trustworthy and that the reactor is needed for the State's electricity consumption.

A good ten days of retreating

START is on the Senate floor; the Comanche Peak reactor in Texas is on hold; EDF can't move forward at Calvert Cliffs; Oyster Creek will shut down in 10 years instead of 20; Alternate Energy Holdings, which planned to build a new reactor in Idaho, has been accused of fraud by the SEC; and  Indian Point owners, Entergy, were denied an appeal for water certification that is needed for the plant's relicensing.

Update on January 3, 2011 by admin

START was indeed ratified during the Senate's lame duck session before the holidays.

Another reactor license renewal remains (happily) blocked

Last spring, New York State judges of the Department of Environmental Conservation denied Entergy, owner of the Indian Point nuclear plant, a critical Water Quality Certification. Entergy had applied for this certification in connection with its efforts to obtain a 20-year license extension for the two Indian Point reactors. The DEC denied the certification dues to the plant’s adverse impact on aquatic ecology of the Hudson River from the operation of Indian Point’s once through cooling water intake structures, impacts to endangered species, and because of the environmental impacts of accidental radioactive leaks that have been a problem at the plant for decades. Entergy embarked on a full-scale public relations campaign to reverse this decision but, the week of December, the judges rejected all of Entergy’s arguments about why the denial should be reversed outright. More details on the Riverkeeper website. (Picture by Riverkeeper).