G8 Energy ministers endorse nuclear option

New nuclear reactors are a “common low-carbon technology platform”

In the arcane world of international diplomacy, it is unusual to see an absence of the usual contorted language in a joint statement from a group of western nations with wildly divergent interests.

The Wall Street Journal reports that energy ministers from the world's eight richest nations said on May 24 they would work to create a common low-carbon technology platform as solutions to climate change and a lack of secure energy supplies.

In short, they are talking about two things. First, nuclear energy can meet Europe’s energy needs, and second, as a result the G8 nations will not be held hostage to Russia’s political manipulation of natural gas supplies to Europe.

The NY Times reports that U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu (right) said the participants had agreed on the need for diversifying energy sources to help keep prices stable and help the economic recovery.

''There's a continued, renewed interest in trying to stabilize energy prices, so that the world economy, both the oil exporting and the oil importing countries, can have a stable future,'' Chu said at a joint news conference.

The statement comes as a number of countries, including the oil-rich United Arab Emirates (UAE), are planning to build nuclear reactors to produce electricity. Not only are they worried about energy security, the oil-producing nations are also concerned that a future run up of the price of oil could tank global demand and with it their own national investment strategies.

The WSJ reported that in a closing statement at their two-day meeting, held in Rome, the energy ministers from the Group of Eight leading nations, plus the European Commission, said,

"In the opinion of a growing number of countries, the use of nuclear energy can contribute to energy security while reducing greenhouse emissions."

"We encourage all countries interested in the civil use of nuclear energy to engage in constructive international collaboration," the statement said, while reiterating "the fundamental prerequisite for the peaceful use of nuclear energy."

The last sentence was a reference to North Korea’s underground nuclear test on May 23 said to be in the range of 4 MT. However, the G8 ministers made a strong distinction in their statement between nuclear weapons and nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

German greens say not so fast

Critics have condemned the new thinking in Europe on civilian commercial nuclear power, claiming that the G8 ministers are letting themselves be fooled by the nuclear lobby's "climate" arguments. German greens want to shut down all 17 of the country’s nuclear power plants and have a deal to do so with the current ruling coalition which would result in seven being shut as soon as September 2009. They have railed against the claim that nuclear energy is part of the solution to the challenges of global warming.

"If you wanted to be really cynical you could say that the nuclear industry had to invent the whole climate discussion in order to see a chance for themselves," said Rebecca Harms, (left) an MP from Germany's Green party.

"I know of no other case in which a huge industry tries so hard to benefit from a huge global problem as the nuclear industry does in the case of climate change."

Next September German Chancellor Andrea Merkel will swing for the fences and seek to overturn the nuclear deal with the Social Democrats. She will bet the election on this issue and her handling of the current financial crisis.

UAE deal leading the Middle East drive for nuclear energy

That argument did not cut any ice with Arab nations. The WSJ also reported the G8 statement was endorsed in a subsequent statement signed by Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, as well as India and China, which are fastest growing developers of nuclear energy.

The UAE has a deal pending with the US to allow it to engage in trade for nuclear reactors and related technologies. The new build is said to be in the range of 5 GWe to be built in three stages near the UAE border with Saudi Arabia. This would aid wheeling electricity to that country.

Competition for the deal is reported to be intense with French President Nickolas Sarkozy traveling to the UAE last week to try to sell them on buying Areva EPRs for the project. According to press reports from the UAE, a short list of potential bidders will be released in September 2009.

Italy and Japan cut nuclear deal

While the G8 ministers were making global pronouncements, two members cut a side deal. According to wire service reports, Japan and Italy signed a memorandum to cooperate in nuclear power development. It is the third such deal the Italians have inked in as many months. It previously agreed to “cooperate” with Russia and with France on new nuclear reactor projects.

Japan's METI minister Toshihiro Nikai and Italy's Industry Minister Claudio Scajola (right) met Sunday on the sidelines of the G8 countries' Energy Ministers meeting held in Rome, and signed the memorandum. The Japanese government agency METI issued a statement in Tokyo announcing the deal.

This is the sixth country METI has a nuclear cooperation memorandum with, the others being Jordan, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Vietnam and the UAE. A common factor for these deals in their relation to very large consumers of electricity including current or planned aluminum smelting plants.

The memorandum with Italy calls for a three-year project in which Japan will cooperate with Italy in the education of experts and government regulatory policy. Last year Italy decided to resume nuclear power generation to combat global warming and increase its energy security.

Japan Steel Works (JSW) currently is the leading source globally of long lead time reactor vessel components, but other countries, including the U.K. and France, plan to build competing facilities. While JSW has a comfortable backlog in its order book, that situation might not last if these other facilities come online. Clearly, Japanese export earnings would take a hit hence the multiple deals for “nuclear cooperation” to keep JSW’s hand in at the deal table.

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa – 7th chevron is locked

As Japan was signing a deal with Italy, which could lead the way to exports from Japan for heavy nuclear components for new reactors, there was good news back in Tokyo that raised the credibility of the Japanese nuclear establishment.

Retuers reports that Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said on May 24 it had boosted output from the 1,356 megawatt, No.7 nuclear reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in northern Japan to 50% capacity.

TEPCO, Asia's biggest utility, restarted the No.7 unit for the first time in nearly two years ago following a magnitude 6.8 quake. It resumed power generation from the unit at 20% of capacity on May 19.

A company statement said the output at the No.7 unit was raised to 50% on May 23. The company's website showed that the reactor was generating 719 MW of power. Under a test run, output will be raised to 75% and then full production.

Reuters reported that the restart of the No. 7 unit could cut TEPCO's annual fuel purchases by more than 70 billion yen ($740.2 million) and cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than 5 million tonnes, according to company and Reuters calculations.

TEPCIO said it was proceeding with plans to restart the other six reactors which were closed two years ago due to a severe earthquake. While there was no damage to the plants, provincial government authorities, which have veto power over plant operations, forced them to remain closed while an assessment was made by the IAEA. A series of fires at non-nuclear parts of the plants also alarmed officials and contributed to the delay in restarting the facility.

Japan’s international nuclear energy reputation has taken a beating as a combination of factors increased the delay in restarting the world’s largest nuclear power station. It must come as a relief to TEPCO officials and the government to see the power back on.

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Idaho Samizdat ~ http://djysrv.blogspot.com