Reactor Reax Top Stories - Market Unkind to Nuclear Reactor Plants

(WASHINGTON DC) - Today in Reactor Reax, the Wall Street Journal reports, Natural Gas: Killing Coal and Nuclear, and Maybe The Grid, nuclear regulators under fire for delay of post-Fukushima safety requirements, Imperium Watch: Market Unkind to Nuclear Plants.

A rat body linked to Blackout at Atomic Site, and CTV News reports that nuclear waste cleanup liability cost up by $2.4 B.

Natural Gas: Killing Coal and Nuclear, and Maybe The Grid, Wall Street Journal, March 21, 2013. "David Crane, CEO of power generator NRG Energy Inc., says the U.S. natural gas boom is hurting the coal and nuclear industries more than expected. 'Natural gas is in the process of wiping out the coal industry,' Mr. Crane says, speaking at the WSJ's ECO:nomics conference in Santa Barbara. 'It's a big shock as power generator. It's wiping out the nuclear industry quicker than we thought.' NRG owns the largest fleet of U.S. power plants that sell electricity on the wholesale market. The company also has a growing retail power business that sells electricity direct to consumers."

Nuclear regulators under fire for delay of post-Fukushima safety requirements, The Hill, March 20, 2013. "The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is facing blowback for its decision to delay a key but expensive safety rule proposed in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima meltdown. The five-member commission voted this week to postpone consideration of regulations requiring new vent filter systems on 31 U.S. nuclear reactors that are similar in design to the Japanese power plant where the accident took place."

Imperium Watch: Market Unkind to Nuclear Plants, Valley Advocate (Northampton, MA), March 19, 2013. "It's always news when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission turns down a request from a nuclear energy company, because the agency so seldom does that. But recently the NRC denied an appeal from French nuclear operator Electricite de France S.A. to proceed with a plan to add a third reactor to the nuclear power station at Calvert Cliffs, Md. after the company's American partner, Constellation Energy of Baltimore, sold its interest in the plant to EdF three years ago. (Footnote on Calvert Cliffs: this plant, which was on the NRC's list of 'problem plants' from late 1988 until early 1992, is located only 40 miles from Washington, D.C.)"

Rat Body Linked to Blackout at Atomic Site, New York Times, March 20, 2013. "The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant said Wednesday that it had found what it believed was the cause of an extended blackout that disabled vital cooling systems this week: the charred body of a rat. The operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, said that when its engineers looked inside a faulty switchboard, they found burn marks and the rodent's scorched body. The company said it appeared that the rat had somehow short-circuited the switchboard, possibly by gnawing on cables."

Nuclear waste cleanup liability cost up by $2.4 B, Ottawa told, CTV News, March 20, 2013. "The cost of cleaning up Canada's nuclear program has risen dramatically in recent years and Ottawa is being warned another $2.4 billion is needed, bring the total to $6 billion. Atomic Energy of Canada Limited posted a statement Tuesday saying liability costs will go up by $2.4 billion from $3.6 billion in March of last year."

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