Notices by Emil Jacobs - Collectifission (collectifission@greennuclear.online)

I'm way too familiar with Brandolini's Law 😩

@amszmidt This article is about building new plants?

"The Swedish government has proposed a new law regarding state support for nuclear power investments. In the bill - submitted to parliament on 27 March - it proposes providing state loans to finance four new reactors as well as a contract-for-difference power price mechanism.

"In the bill, the government proposes a new law on state support for investments in new nuclear power," the government said. "The law regulates the basic conditions and forms of state support for companies for investments in new nuclear power reactors in Sweden."

It added: "Government loans may be provided for the construction and test operation of new nuclear power reactors, as well as for design and other preparatory measures for construction."

The loans - aimed at lowering the cost of financing new nuclear - will be limited to the equivalent of four large-scale reactors (about 5000 MWe of capacity). The government said that several project companies may be eligible and there is the possibility for other private actors and the state to take shares in project companies.

"Two-way contracts for difference may be concluded for the routine operation of new nuclear power reactors. Support shall be subject to conditions regulated in agreements between the state and the company receiving support," it added. These are aimed at reducing market risk.

The bill contains different scenarios for future electricity prices. In a scenario with lower electricity prices, it is assumed that the strike price is around SEK0.02 (USD0.002) per kWh higher than the electricity price.

The government noted that support may only be granted if the new reactors are located at the same location and have a total installed output of at least 300 MWe. "If there are special reasons, the government may decide to grant support even if the reactors have a total installed electrical output of less than 300 MW," it said.

The new law is proposed to enter into force on 1 August this year.

Proposals welcomed

Vattenfall - which aims to have a new reactor in operation at its Ringhals site in the mid-2030s at the earliest - welcomed the government's proposals for risk sharing for new nuclear power.

"The state taking a clear role in financing is a basic prerequisite for it to be possible to invest in new nuclear power," said Desirée Comstedt, the company's head of new nuclear power. "The bill is therefore a crucial step on the path towards us being able to realise new nuclear power on the Värö peninsula near Ringhals. Nuclear power is not being built anywhere in the world without some form of government support.

"The next step is for us to read the bill to review what an application should contain and prepare to submit our application as soon as possible. Ultimately, the levels of the parameters in the model will of course be an important factor, but these levels are set later in the process, after we have submitted an application."

Earlier recommendations

In October 2022, Sweden's incoming centre-right coalition government adopted a positive stance towards nuclear energy. In November 2023, it unveiled a roadmap which envisages the construction of new nuclear generating capacity equivalent to at least two large-scale reactors by 2035, with up to 10 new large-scale reactors coming online by 2045.

The government appointed Mats Dillén in December 2023 to produce and submit proposals for models for financing and risk sharing for the construction of new nuclear power reactors. According to the mandate, the proposed models must be designed so that nuclear power with a total output of at least 2500 MWe - equivalent to the output of two large-scale reactors - must be in place by 2035 at the latest.

Dillén presented the findings of the study in August last year. His report said the investigation "identified conditions which give rise to a discrepancy between a private investor's business case for new nuclear power and the socioeconomic equivalent. It is concluded that efficiency reasons give a rationale for the state to support investments in nuclear power".

His proposed financing and risk sharing model consists of three main components that lead to a lower cost of capital that facilitates new investments in nuclear power at a low cost. The components are: state loans to finance investments in new nuclear power, which lowers the cost of capital; a two-way contract-for-difference signed between the state and the nuclear power producer; and a risk and gain-share mechanism that gives investors a minimum return on equity."

#Nuclear #News #Sweden

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/state-loans-proposed-for-new-swedish-reactors

"German nuclear technology association Kerntechnik Deutschland e.V. says that restarting the country's nuclear power plants "offers a safe, economically viable and climate-friendly alternative to the current energy policy". It says that up to six shut down reactors could technically resume operation.

In August 2011, the 13th amendment of the Nuclear Power Act came into effect, which underlined the political will to phase out fission nuclear power in Germany. As a result, eight units were closed down immediately: Biblis A and B, Brunsbüttel, Isar 1, Krümmel, Neckarwestheim 1, Phillipsburg 1 and Unterweser. The Brokdorf, Grohnde and Gundremmingen C plants were permanently shut down at the end of December 2021. The country's final three units - Emsland, Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 - shut down in April 2023. All the units are now at various stages of decommissioning.

The expansion of renewable energy, which was to compensate for the closure of the reactors, has varied greatly between individual federal states, with the expansion of wind energy particularly progressing very slowly in Bavaria. The expansion of power line capacities and the transmission grid in southern Germany has also not progressed as quickly as planned. Meeting German electricity demand has therefore required fossil energy sources or imports (of mainly French nuclear power).

"Our electricity costs are no longer competitive in an international comparison and are threatening the existence of our economy," according to Kerntechnik Deutschland e.V. (KernD). "It is no longer economically viable to finance and implement an infrastructure (grid, storage and backup) that is largely based on renewable energies."

It adds: "If the proportion of volatile energy sources in the German energy mix continues to increase, the need for electricity imports or self-generated fossil electricity will intensify. This is a vicious circle that will lead to disastrous dependencies."

KernD notes that the continued operation of coal-fired power plants has led to significantly higher CO2 emissions than planned, and the timetable for phasing out coal is unrealistic under the current framework conditions.

"The recommissioning of nuclear power plants in Germany is this pragmatic, economical and socially sensible solution," it says. "Up to six shut-down nuclear power plants could be brought back online in just a few years - without compromising on nuclear safety."

It noted: "Depending on the dismantling status, individual nuclear power plants can be put back into operation in the near future." Earlier this month, KernD said that between EUR1 and EUR3 billion (USD1.1-3.3 billion) in investments would be needed per nuclear power plant restart, depending on the dismantling status.

The recommissioning of those plants is based on the existing power plant structures, the association said. This enables rapid availability - within 3-5 years - of large installed baseload capacity. The continued operation of nuclear power plants enables the rapid phase-out of coal-fired power generation without jeopardising security of supply, it adds. "In fact, nuclear power plants are the ideal complement to renewable energies to compensate for their volatility. Nuclear energy therefore also supports the further expansion of wind and solar energy in the long term."

"It is high time to make the right decision now for a stable and sustainable energy policy. Because deindustrialisation, excessively high electricity prices, dependence on electricity imports and the uncertain supply situation must end now," KernD said. "KernD is offering the new federal government the opportunity to take the future into its own hands and stop the deindustrialisation of Germany. KernD's member companies are on hand with expertise and energy to help."

KernD's members include organisations from all sectors and fields of application of nuclear technology: manufacturers, suppliers, service providers, universities and research institutes and trade associations. Its members include Framatome, GNS, Nukem Technologies, Orano, Urenco and Westinghouse.

Carsten Haferkamp, managing director of Framatome GmbH and deputy chairman of KernD, said: "The decision on restarting nuclear power plants rests with the federal government, which must create the necessary framework. One thing is certain: electricity from nuclear power plants is an important pillar for reducing CO2 emissions in the short term and strengthening the competitiveness of the economy through low electricity costs.""

#Nuclear #News #Germany

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/german-nuclear-association-calls-for-restart-of-reactors

@aetios Oh yes, especially on Mastodon I notice that a lot. A lot of the (far) left is enamored with degrowth ideals and nuclear is an anathema to this.

I have noticed something: whenever I post nuclear stuff, I gain followers. They stop following me when I post leftwing stuff.

Whenever I post leftwing stuff, I gain followers. They stop following me when I post nuclear stuff.

Why not support both?

@peertube Yeah, I don't have that..

https://tube.linkse.media/about/instance/home

I just double checked by logging in with the root account.

@peertube Hmm, I don't seem to have the option "technical information"?

@peertube Updated 🙂

I notice that the version number is gone from the About page. This time it's pretty obvious that I'm running 7.1.0 given this UI change, but where do I check the version I'm running in the future?

@SuperDicq the thought of an online C compiler never even occurred to me. Are they using a VPS or something? Is that the norm these days?

Me: "Hi instance, I want some good poll results! I see some 236 people voting here on the original instance of this post I just shared"
My instance: "We have some good poll results at home"
The poll results at home: "4 people voted"

ActivityPub need to get its shit together.

@Datagraver Now do working warheads.

@davidbenque Never heard of @delta before now and I'm instantly impressed: a lightweight app, available on all platforms, with an onboarding that simply asks for your name and setting up a profile picture.

Looking a bit deeper, it doesn't support PFS like Signal, but their explanation for it makes sense.

In short: how did I never hear of this before? 🙂

@SuperDicq That's just the CEO though. What about the rest of the team?

And this is just assuming old fashioned LWR reactors we have today. If we assume fast breeders, the volume goes down spectacularly: a whole life would fill only 6% of this can.

Imagine that.

Number from: https://whatisnuclear.com/calcs/how-much-nuclear-waste-per-capita.html#what-if-we-used-breeder-reactors-and-recycling

For the new kids joining Mastodon, let me share a common mistake I see with new users:

"Mastodon sucks. There is no timeline. It's like a tiny echo chamber here"

What's the mistake you ask? They invariably only follow a few dozen people.

This is what you need to understand about federated platforms like Mastodon: the server only pulls in data from people you follow! So, go out and follow some more people already.

You can also follow hashtags btw. This is great for getting more posts in your feed on subjects that interest you. Go and use hashtags in your own posts too of course.

#feditips #fediverse

So, I was looking into using wasabi for object storage of my instance, as my local storage is filling up ever faster. But their buckets are no longer publically accessible and to be considered an exception by their support I'd have to use at least 25 TB.

So, that's not worth it... What do other admins use for block storage and what are the costs?

#MastoAdmin

"A rapid increase in demand may leave Africa no choice but to make a substantial investment in nuclear energy."

https://issafrica.org/iss-today/africa-s-nuclear-energy-future

So, how old can nuclear power plants get?

PWRs, BWRs and CANDUs are the most commonly found nuclear reactors in the world, in that order. They're also amazingly longlasting. Units built in the 1970s are rated to run for at least 80 years today.

Get this: the reactor vessel of a PWR has no known upper age limit. We simply don't know. Is it a century? 150 years? Longer? We can keep replacing all the other parts, as long as the RPV is sound, it simply doesn't matter how long a reactor operates.

And a CANDU? You refurbish those every 30 years or so. Forever.

Here's a rule of thumb: if anyone tells you that a 40 year old plant is 'old', they have an agenda.

I'm not an artist, but it would be funny to make this script into a comic:

- Pane 1: "Hi there, I'm a fuel rod" "Hi there! I'm a PWR and I'm going to house you for the next five years"
- Pane 2: [after five years, a sad departure] "I'm going into storage for 300 years now, it was good knowing you 😭"
- Pane 3: the PWR just keep humming and humming and humming
- Pane 4: [300 years later] "Hi there, I'm a recycled piece of fuel and I'll be with you for five... wait, are you still around??" "Welcome home"

(Oh right, nuclear waste is not an actually existing problem)

"Spain has been using nuclear energy for forty years. Despite reaping the rewards of clean, abundant and affordable energy, they have mistakenly decided to phase-out nuclear. In this video we examine why this is not a smart course of action, and that Spain must re-examine this decision."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E-26tNJ2rU