bananas
bananas's JournalMassive blast reported at suspected Iranian nuke facility
Source: Times of Israel
Two reportedly killed in explosion at secretive Parchin site that shatters windows 12 kilometers away
Two people were killed in an explosion at a defense ministry plant east of Tehran for the production of explosives, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported Monday.
The Defense Industries Organisation, quoted by IRNA, said the fire broke out at the plant on Sunday night but it gave no further details.
The BBC, citing a report from the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), reported on Monday that the incident happened in an “explosive materials production unit” at the site south-east of the capital Tehran.
According to ISNA the blast was so powerful it shattered windows up to 12 kilometers away and the glare from the explosion lit up the night sky.
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Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/massive-blast-reported-at-suspected-iranian-nuke-facility/
The Elon Musk interview on Mars colonization
Exodus
Elon Musk argues that we must put a million people on Mars if we are to ensure that humanity has a future
by Ross Andersen
30 September 2014
‘Fuck Earth!’ Elon Musk said to me, laughing. ‘Who cares about Earth?’ We were sitting in his cubicle, in the front corner of a large open-plan office at SpaceX headquarters in Los Angeles. It was a sunny afternoon, a Thursday, one of three designated weekdays Musk spends at SpaceX. Musk was laughing because he was joking: he cares a great deal about Earth. When he is not here at SpaceX, he is running an electric car company. But this is his manner. On television Musk can seem solemn, but in person he tells jokes. He giggles. He says things that surprise you.
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‘I think there is a strong humanitarian argument for making life multi-planetary,’ he told me, ‘in order to safeguard the existence of humanity in the event that something catastrophic were to happen, in which case being poor or having a disease would be irrelevant, because humanity would be extinct. It would be like, “Good news, the problems of poverty and disease have been solved, but the bad news is there aren’t any humans left.”’
Musk has been pushing this line – Mars colonisation as extinction insurance – for more than a decade now, but not without pushback. ‘It’s funny,’ he told me. ‘Not everyone loves humanity. Either explicitly or implicitly, some people seem to think that humans are a blight on the Earth’s surface. They say things like, “Nature is so wonderful; things are always better in the countryside where there are no people around.” They imply that humanity and civilisation are less good than their absence. But I’m not in that school,’ he said. ‘I think we have a duty to maintain the light of consciousness, to make sure it continues into the future.’
People have been likening light to consciousness since the days of Plato and his cave because, like light, consciousness illuminates. It makes the world manifest. It is, in the formulation of the great Carl Sagan, the Universe knowing itself. But the metaphor is not perfect. Unlike light, whose photons permeate the entire cosmos, human-grade consciousness appears to be rare in our Universe. It appears to be something akin to a single candle flame, flickering weakly in a vast and drafty void.
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Quantum Science Satellite - Chinese Journal of Space Science
Chinese Journal of Space Science 2014, Vol. 34 Issue (5): 547-549 DOI: 10.11728/cjss2014.05.547
Abstract
Quantum Science Satellite is one of the first five space science missions, slated for launch in the framework of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Strategic Priority Research Program on space science. The project aims to establish a space platform with long-distance satellite and ground quantum channel, and carry out a series of tests about fundamental quantum principles and protocols in space-based large scale. The satellite will be launched at Jiuquan and on orbit for 2 years. The orbit will be circular and Sun-synchronous with an altitude of 600km. It crosses the descending node at 00:00LT. The satellite is under early prototype development currently.
From the pdf:
Scientific Objectives
The scientific goals are to implement a series of science
missions between Quantum Science Satellite and
quantum communication ground stations. The major
tasks are as follows.
(1) Quantum Key Distribution from Satellite to Ground
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(2) Global Scale Quantum Communication Network
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(3) Quantum Entanglement Distribution from Satellite to Two Ground Stations
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(4) Quantum Teleportation from Ground to Satellite
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According to the plan, the satellite’s prototype for
qualification test will be assembled in June 2014, and
the verification activities will be finished by the time
of August 2014. At the end of June 2015, building
and testing activities of the satellite will be finished.
The pdf is free to download, but you'll probably have to add ".pdf" to the filename to view it (it downloads with ".do" filetype).
Conflict of interest concerns over EDF’s Hinkley nuclear project approval
Conflict of interest concerns over EDF’s Hinkley nuclear project approval
Experts involved in safety review were receiving company’s pensions, documents reveal
Katie McQue and Terry Macalister
The Guardian, Wednesday 1 October 2014 12.19 EDT
Nuclear experts receiving EDF pensions were involved in the official safety review of the company’s planned Hinkley Point C plant in Somerset, sparking concerns about a conflict of interest over the approval of the project.
The involvement senior executive grade officers at the Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR) made it “very difficult” for the regulator to take a critical eye, warned another independent industry consultant.
The revelations, obtained via a series of freedom of information (FoI) requests, raise wider concerns about the use of consultants due to a lack of experienced staff inside the ONR and come a week after the Hinkley project got a go-ahead from the European competition directorate for a proposed UK subsidy scheme.
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“The ONR bypassed a number of safety issues with the rationale of ‘although it is not solved we think it will be solved by the time we need’,” said nuclear industry consultant John Large. “I suspect the political pressure was on them. The government was putting the pieces in place to give an announcement [that Hinkley Point C had been approved] in January 2013.”
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Large is not the only one concerned with the speed at which the ONR’s safety assessment was carried out. “I don’t know how it is feasible,” said Mika Johansson, a senior inspector at STUK, the Finnish nuclear regulator which is overseeing the construction of another EPR reactor in its own country. “I don’t know how they [the ONR] did it so fast.”
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PSC orders Duke to refund to customers $54 million for nuclear plant equipment that was never produc
Source: Tampa Bay Times
In the face of growing public outcry, state regulators today ordered Duke Energy Florida to credit $54 million to customers for nuclear equipment that was never produced for the now canceled Levy County nuclear project.
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But the approval of the gas plant elicited immediate criticism from environmentalists who have pressed the commission to require stronger conservation measures and to delay action and order an independent analysis of future electricity need.
"It borders on criminal behavior for utility regulators to approve a big new gas plant while Duke is proposing to kill conservation programs," said Susan Glickman, of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
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Earlier, state Attorney General Pam Bondi joined a growing chorus of state leaders urging the PSC to refund to ratepayers money they paid for equipment for a nuclear plant. Neither the plant nor the equipment was ever built.
In a letter to commission Chairman Art Graham, Bondi said, "I am writing to express my deep concerns over the Public Service Commission . . . staff's recent recommendation to side with Duke Energy to withhold $54 million in credits rightfully due to its customers."
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The two nuclear projects' costs to Duke ratepayers reached $3.2 billion, though customers will never receive a kilowatt of power from the plants for that money.
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An eight-year-old state law enabled Duke to collect the money in advance for the Levy project. The law, the Nuclear Cost Recovery Clause, or so-called "nuclear advance fee," allows Florida utilities to collect money from their customers for nuclear projects before they begin producing power.
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Read more: http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/bondi-urges-psc-to-order-duke-to-refund-54-million-for-nuclear-equipment/2200407
DSCOVR/Triana/Goresat Is Ready For January Launch
DSCOVR Is Finally Poised for Liftoff
Press Release - Source: NOAA
Posted October 1, 2014 11:42 AM
With the launch of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite mission in early 2015, the United States will extend its ability to give accurate warnings of solar activity that could potentially wreak havoc throughout society and the economy on Earth.
The refrigerator-sized satellite is scheduled to soar into orbit in early 2015 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle.
DSCOVR, a partnership between NOAA, NASA and the U.S. Air Force, will orbit the sun at the L1 libration point - a stable point in space, where gravitational forces of Earth and the sun are in equilibrium - approximately one million miles away from Earth toward the sun. From the L1 location, the satellite's sensors can detect solar storms before their impacts reach Earth. The satellite will also host NASA-funded secondary sensors for Earth and space science observations.
NOAA will manage the DSCOVR mission, giving advanced warning of approaching solar storms with the potential to cripple electrical grids, disrupt communication systems, throw off GPS navigation, reroute air travel, affect satellite operations and endanger human spaceflight. According to a National Research Council Report (See "Severe Space Weather Events--Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts: A Workshop Report" [2008]), damages from the most extreme solar storms could range between $1 trillion-$2 trillion within the first year and four to 10 years for full recovery.
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For more information and to follow DSCOVR News, visit the homepage at: http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/DSCOVR
DSCOVR Quick Facts
Scheduled launch date and location: January 2015 from Cape Canaveral, FL
Launch vehicle SpaceX Falcon 9 v 1.1 provided by U.S. Air Force
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Via http://nasawatch.com/archives/2014/10/dscovrtrianagor.html
Report IDs 'Weaknesses' at Nuclear Weapons Lab
Source: Associated Press
A report issued Wednesday by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Energy squarely places blame for the shutdown of the nation's only underground nuclear waste repository on failures at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
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The inspector general has outlined several recommendations to correct the lab’s failures, saying changes need to be made before the cleanup of radiological waste continues.
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Watchdog Greg Mello said he was pleased that the latest report identified the lab’s role in causing the contamination and shutdown of the waste repository.
Mello described the violations of well-established procedures by the lab as shocking and said lab officials need to be held accountable for violating their operating permit and causing the leak at the waste repository.
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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/report-ids-major-weaknesses-nuclear-arms-lab-25895487
Pinellas Republican state lawmakers say the gloves are off regarding Duke Energy and the PSC
Source: Creative Loafing Tampa
Paraphrasing the Howard Beale character from 1976's Network, Clearwater area state Senator Jack Latvala said today that he's "mad as heck and I'm not going to take it anymore" when it comes to the excesses of Duke Energy and the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC).
But a leading energy advocate in Florida still says the veteran Pinellas lawmaker's new proposal to rein in Duke and the equally controversial PSC is still not hard-hitting enough.
Flanked by state Representatives Kathleen Peters and Larry Ahern to his left and GOP House candidates Chris Sprowles and Chris Latvala to his right at a Sonny's Bar-B-Q in Largo, Latvala said he and his colleagues had been "besieged" over the past few weeks by their constituents regarding several issues concerning Duke, the exclusive energy provider in Pinellas County and up the west coast of Florida.
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The announcement was made at a Sonny's Bar-B-Q because Latvala said that Duke had recently informed the owner of the Largo eatery that his security deposit was going to rise from $7,345 a month to $24,605, the third time the Senator said that his office had learned of deposit issues with Duke this year.
But the issue that has seemed to galvanized Republicans to join Pinellas County Democrats in jointly denouncing Duke has been the recent situation regarding the utility's changes to its meter-reading process. That led to changes to their billing process that resulted in serious increases in some customers' energy bills. Senator Latvala said when he learned that was happening, he contacted Alex Glenn, Duke's CEO in Florida, to have him voluntarily discontinue the practice.
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But Duke has no desire to return $54 million it has collected from consumers for nuclear equipment for the now-canceled Levy County nuclear power plant proposal that will never be built. Calling it "ridiculous," Latvala hinted that issue may be inserted into the proposed bill if the PSC doesn't make Duke refund the money (which they are not expected to do).
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Read more: http://cltampa.com/politicalanimal/archives/2014/09/30/pinellas-republican-state-lawmakers-say-the-gloves-are-off-regarding-duke-energy-and-the-psc
US DOE will offer $12.6 billion in new nuclear loan guarantees
Source: Platts
The US Department of Energy plans to make available federal loan guarantees totaling $12.6 billion for uranium enrichment facilities, new nuclear reactors, small modular reactors and capacity upgrades at existing nuclear plants.
In a draft solicitation issued Tuesday, the agency said up to $2 billion will be available for uranium enrichment, conversion and nuclear fuel fabrication project loan guarantees, while the remaining $10.6 billion will be available for three categories of nuclear power projects.
The categories of projects are nuclear reactors with "state-of-the-art design improvements," small modular reactors of 300 MW or less, and capacity increases, or uprates, as well as other upgrades to existing units that contribute to efficiency.
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"I am shocked that uprates and upgrades were included ... it may be their way of saying there are so few new reactor projects going forward," said Sara Barczak, head of SACE's high-risk energy program.
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Several US utilities have canceled recent plans for uprates, citing low power prices and sluggish demand. In a fact sheet, DOE said loan guarantees could go to reactors that have shut or will have to shut because they need required upgrades.
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Read more: http://www.platts.com/latest-news/electric-power/washington/us-doe-will-offer-126-billion-in-new-nuclear-21310862
Throwing good money after bad.
I am so glad the San Onofre dinosaur was shut down.
There's no reason taxpayers should foot the bill for botched "upgrades" like we had at San Onofre.
But that's what you'll see with these new loan guarantees - desperate attempts to squeeze more money out of these dangerous old rustbuckets until they "Halt and Catch Fire".
We already know SMR's will not be economical - there's no reason to provide loans, the technology is a waste of money, and will just add to the growing piles of nuclear waste.
Nuclear waste tank OK'd to keep leaking for 1 year
Source: Associated Press
A new deal allows a radioactive waste storage tank to continue leaking for more than a year before its contents are pumped out at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, the nation's most polluted nuclear site.
The deal to pump nuclear waste tank AY-102, announced late Monday, is between the U.S. Department of Energy and the Washington State Department of Ecology. Under the deal, pumping of the double-walled tank would not begin until 2016, and it would take a year to complete.
The deal has outraged critics of Hanford, which for decades made plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons.
"Every day this tank leaks creates additional dangers," said Gerry Pollet, executive director of Heart of America Northwest, a long-time Hanford watchdog group. "Federal and state laws require that leaking tanks of any toxic waste must be emptied immediately. The Energy Department should not get special dispensation just because Hanford officials failed to take action over the past three years to have equipment in place to remove the wastes or to plan to build new storage tanks."
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Read more: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Nuclear-waste-tank-OKd-to-keep-leaking-for-1-year-277658371.html
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