France Frets Over Nuke Plants And Heatwave Toll

[hatrack]

Mon August 11, 2003 08:44 AM ET

PARIS (Reuters) - "France called emergency talks on Monday on overheating at nuclear power plants as Europe's heatwave entered its second week, with officials torn between output cuts and allowing hotter water to pour into rivers.

After Paris sweltered through its hottest night since records began, a doctor in the city said more elderly people were dying from the heat and accused health authorities (of) doing little about the crisis. Temperatures have hit around 104 degrees Fahrenheit in the past few days, spelling trouble for France's nuclear reactors, many of which are cooled by river water. The plants pour water back into the rivers but only once it has been cooled to a certain temperature to protect the environment.

EDIT

Sounding the alarm over the fate of elderly people, the head of an association of emergency ward doctors said as many as 50 people had died in Paris and the surrounding areas in the past few days because of the heat. 'We've never seen people arriving sick in carloads like this, frequently with fevers of 42 or 43.5 degrees (107.6 to 110.3 Fahrenheit)', Patrick Pellous told France Info radio.

EDIT

Newspapers reported a leap in death rates at care homes for the elderly with funeral parlors saying they had no more room to take bodies into storage. With temperatures of 77.9 degrees Fahrenheit, Paris had its warmest night Sunday since records began 130 years ago, the Meteo France weather agency said. Carpets of leaves from trees withering in the heat gave the streets of Paris and other towns an autumn-like appearance."

EDIT

Reuters

[Throckmorton]

1. Sounds like they are reaching Design Basis Temperatures.

This temperature is based on a maximum ultimate heat sink temperature, minus instrument errors. All of the accident recovery/mitigation scenarios are based on the plants cooling water source not exceeding these temperatures. In the US, most plants are allowed to exceed this temperature for no more than 8 hours, at which time they must shut down. Some plants, my own in particular, require an immediate downpower to Mode 4, (hot shutdown; reactor sub-critical and plant primary system temperature less than 350 degree F), within 6 hours. That time period is the maximum allowed cool-off rate from 100% power, plus 1 hour for margin.

This is not to be confused with the post-scram cool down rate, which is much faster, but present significant challenges to equipment and personnel.

BTW, Fossil fuel powered plants are subject to similar limits, but for environmental reasons (Fish Kill) rather than plant safety reasons.

[FlaGranny]

2. That's interesting.

This is another good reason to develop alternative energy sources for the coming global warming caused all, or in part, by man-made emissions. There will be a manyfold increase in the need for A/C and therefore increase in demand for power as the temperatures increase. Just at the time this increased power would be needed, we'd be endangering a major supply of electricity.

[qb]

3. But it's such "cheap" energy! What's the problem?

(sarcasm)

[Throckmorton]

5. Cheap is a relative term.

Yes, Nuclear plants generate electric power at some of the lowest prices, on a per killowatt basis, that you will find.

But, some of that low cost is due to smoke and mirrors tricks. When we were sold to a new owner, most of the debt that was still owed for building these units was abandonded. That is, the differece between the selling price, about $1 billoin dollars, and what was still owed for they construction, about $3.7 billion dollars, was turned over to the rate payers as stranded cost. The State Government then floated government bonds to pay off the loans, and the rate payers get to pay for the plants, and the new owners got to carry these plants on the books for $1 Billion dollars.

When the cost per killowatt hour is computed for this station, the $1 billion dollar number is used, the extra $2.7 billion that is now public debt is not included.

Our debt load, prior to deregulation and sale was so great, that even if it cost nothing to run this station, the cost per killowatt hour to retire the debt would have been 5.2 cents per killowatt hour. Through in nuclear fuel, operations and maintenance and the cost was over 8.5 cents per killowatt hour.

Yup, its cheap. /sarcasm

[J B]

4. It's annoying. Instead of better nuke plants, just 'ban them all'.

Instead of better designs, this is taken as proof that no design should be used. That means, for the most part, more fossil fuel plants.

They should just make better nuke plants...

[Throckmorton]

6. Don't worry, their coming.

But only if the Nuclear Power Companies can get a federal Hand-out first.

http://feinstein.senate.gov/03Releases/r-nuclear.htm

BTW, I work in Nuclear Power, but as the years have gone by, I've slipped from an ardent Pro-Nuke, to a moderate anti-nuke.

I'm becoming a big beleive in demand side management, coupled with agressive tax incentives for renewables.