nuclearactive.com

via TheNational.ae

Three Mile Island, best known for the biggest nuclear accident in US history, is months away from shutting down and throwing nearly 700 people out of work.

Only two of the nuclear plant’s cooling towers still emit steam; the other two have been idle since a partial reactor meltdown in 1979.

The decision by Exelon, the owners, to decommission the plant is symptomatic of the broader crisis in the US nuclear power industry, even though it still provides 20 per cent of the country’s electricity. read more

Lawmakers who support building a nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain have launched an 11th-hour bid to obtain money for the project in must-pass, end-of-year funding legislation.

Read more, https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/pro-yucca-lawmakers-push-for-funding-in-year-end-spending-package/.

[via AP News, December 13, 2018]

LONDON (AP) — As U.S. President Donald Trump re-imposed harsh economic sanctions on Iran last month, hackers scrambled to break into personal emails of American officials tasked with enforcing them, The Associated Press has found — another sign of how deeply cyberespionage is embedded into the fabric of US-Iranian relations.

The AP drew on data gathered by the London-based cybersecurity group Certfa to track how a hacking group often nicknamed Charming Kitten spent the past month trying to break into the private emails of more than a dozen U.S. Treasury officials. Also on the hackers’ hit list: high-profile defenders, detractors and enforcers of the nuclear deal struck between Washington and Tehran, as well as Arab atomic scientists, Iranian civil society figures and D.C. think tank employees. read more

[via Science]

[via AP News, December 12, 2018]

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada officials postponed until at least January submitting an end-of-year report to the governor about state efforts to fight federal proposals to bury the nation’s nuclear reactor waste north of Las Vegas.

The state Commission on Nuclear Projects cited uncertainty Wednesday about whether Congress will allocate any funds in coming days for the mothballed Yucca Mountain repository.

Agency officials also reviewed a lawsuit filed recently to block a separate plan by the Energy Department to ship weapons-grade plutonium from South Carolina to a U.S. radioactive materials handling facility at the former Nevada nuclear nuclear proving ground. read more

[via DefenseNews]

The 2018 Nuclear Posture Review did not flinch from reality.

With Russia and China pursuing entirely new nuclear capabilities and the ongoing negotiations to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, the geopolitical challenges are pressing.

There are challenges at home, too. Following the end of the Cold War, the infrastructure and capabilities needed to maintain a credible U.S. nuclear deterrent were neglected.

Staring down these realities, the 2018 NPR, released in February, set a clear course to modernize the nuclear security enterprise to face 21st century threats. The time is long past to provide the dedicated stewards of the U.S. nuclear deterrent with a modern, safe infrastructure and the critical tools needed to maintain it. read more

[via MarketWatch, December 5, 2018]

Shortages of natural gas could push the power grid to the limit

by TERRY JARRETT

It’s been an early start to winter this year across much of the Central and Eastern United States. And plunging temperatures have highlighted a surprising fact: Not only are natural-gas prices soaring, but fuel stockpiles have dipped to unusually low levels.

It’s a somewhat unexpected turn of events — since the United States has been the world’s top producer of natural gas since 2009. But a number of factors are combining to significantly alter the landscape for utilities in the United States that rely on natural-gas-fired power generation. read more