Tag Archives: History

Fukushima still broken 2 years after

Tomorrow is the second anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami
that heavily damaged four of the six nuclear reactors at


Fukushima Dai-ichi in Japan on 11 March 2011, also known as 3/11.
The broken reactors at Fukushima continue to leak radioactive substances into
groundwater, the sea, and the air, where it is carried across oceans
to the U.S. and elsewhere.
And it could still get much worse:

if the No. 4 reactor pool, still suspended in the air, collapses and causes
the disintegration of spent fuel rods from all the other reactors there,
Tokyo, 200 miles away, will have to be evacuated.
Fukushima’s GE reactors are the same GE Mark I design as Southern Company’s
Plant Hatch 1 and 2 only 100 miles from here at Baxley, GA,
and about 200 miles from Atlanta and Charleston.
Hatch

is leaking radioactive tritium into our groundwater again.
Five more reactors

within 500 miles of here
are also GE Mark I.



Among the 311 or so facebook pages and websites about Fukushima
or against nuclear power is this concise one,

Unplug Nuclear Power,
which offers a simple action anyone can take tomorrow:

On 3/11, we will mark Fukushima day by using as little utility
supplied electricity as possible. This direct Action is designed to
punish the utility companies for continuing to push for nuclear
power even after the Fukushima disaster has proven that it is just
too dangerous. On that day, we will punish them in the only way that
they understand, by denying them our money. There will be four
levels of participation, go to the website,

www.unplugnuclearpower.com for a more complete description. Also, be
sure to join the Event. Finally, if you are in a group our
organization that can endorse this Action, please let us know.

As

Jeremy Rifkin so concisely spelled out,
nuclear power is over

Continue reading →

Sinkholes in Florida, and in Lowndes County, Georgia

The sinkhole that formed under a man’s bed and pulled him in has
made a lot of news in Florida, plus another one a few miles away.
But the news seems to neglect why those sinkholes are forming.
Could it be the same reason sinkholes are forming in Lowndes County, Georgia?
And will the Lowndes County Commission do anything about that
before we see news about somebody here falling into a sinkhole?

Will Hobson, Laura C. Morel and Jodie Tillman wrote for the Tampa Bay Times 1 March 2013,

Seffner sinkhole 911 call: ‘Bedroom floor just collapsed’,

Jeremy Bush just went to bed when he heard what sounded like a car
hitting the house. Then screams from his brother Jeffrey’s bedroom.

“Help me! Help me!”



Someone flipped the lights. Jeremy, 36, threw the door open,
revealing a sight that defied belief: The earth had opened beneath
his brother’s bedroom and was swallowing everything in it. The tip
of Jeffrey’s mattress was the only thing left, and it was sinking
into a churning sinkhole.

The Tampa Bay Times has a long series on what happened afterwards,
rescue workers who didn’t find him, the demolition of the house,
objects found, etc.
They never quite get around to saying why the sinkhole was there.
They first say

(Shelley Rossetter 2 March 2013),

Continue reading →

Already: Solar grid parity without subsidies in India and Italy

Solar power is going so well worldwide that Deutsche Bank has just
increased its projections for global demand,
noting that India and Italy have already in 2013 reached grid parity
without subsidies with other sources of energy,
and it expects the rest of the world to follow as early as 2014.
The big winner is rooftop solar.

Is Georgia paying attention?

Becky Beetz wrote for Global PV 26 February 2013,

Deutsche Bank: Sustainable solar market expected in 2014,



Buoyed by bullish demand forecasts, and increasing utilization rates
and pricing, Deutsche Bank forecasts a solar market transition from
subsidized to sustainable in 2014. Italy REC solar photovoltaic
plant

The German bank has raised its 2013 global solar demand forecast to
30 GW — representing a 20% year-on-year increase — on
the back of suggestions of strong demand in markets including India,
the U.S., China (around 7 to 10 GW), the U.K. (around 1 to 2 GW),
Germany and Italy (around 2 GW).

Rooftop installations are, in particular, expected to be a main
focus, says Deutsche Bank. A trend for projects being planned with
either “minimal/no incentives” has also been observed, despite the
belief that solar policy outlooks are improving, particularly in the
U.S., China and India, and “other emerging markets”.

More analysis by
Jeff Spross in ThinkProgress 3 March 2013,

Solar Report Stunner: Unsubsidized ‘Grid Parity Has Been Reached In India’, Italy–With More Countries Coming in 2014.

As Renew Economy also
points out, this is the third report in the past month

Continue reading →

Levy Co. FL nuke likely not to be built

Cost already sunk Kewaunee, Calvert Cliffs, Crystal River, and are gnawing
away at San Onofre: now it looks like new owner Duke is not
likely to build Progress Energy's Levy County, Florida reactor.
All that plus even in Georgia, even against all-powerful Georgia Power,
there's a reaction against the cost of the always-later always-more-expensive
new nukes at Plant Vogtle on the Savannah River.
A reaction that's getting written up in the Valdosta Daily Times.

In the VDT today from AP,

Some leaders souring on nuclear power costs.
I'm quoting from the abcNews version
because it includes the author's name, Ray Henry,
and the original date, 3 March 2013.
I added all the links and images.



As the cost of building a new nuclear plant soars, there are signs
of buyer's remorse.

The second-guessing from officials in Georgia and Florida is a sign
that maybe the nation is not quite ready for a nuclear renaissance.
On top of construction costs running much higher than expected, the
price of natural gas has plummeted, making it tough for nuclear
plants to compete in the energy market.

In Georgia last week, Southern Co. told regulators it needed to
raise its construction budget for Plant Vogtle in eastern Georgia by
$737 million to $6.85 billion. At about the same time, a Georgia
lawmaker sought to penalize the company for going over budget,
announcing a proposal to cut into Southern Co.'s profits by trimming
some of the money its subsidiary Georgia Power makes.

And Southern Company and Georgia Power slipped the Plant Vogtle schedule
still more,

from 15 to 19 months late.

The legislation has a coalition of tea party, conservative and
consumer advocacy groups behind it, but faces a tough sale in the
Republican-controlled General Assembly. GOP Rep. Jeff Chapman found
just a single co-sponsor, Democratic Rep. Karla Drenner.



That's

HB 267: Financing costs; construction of nuclear generating plant.
And AP failed to mention

Georgia Sierra Club's support for HB 267.

As a regulated monopoly, Georgia Power currently earns about 11
percent in profits when it invests its own money into power
projects. Chapman's legislation would reduce those profits if the
nuclear project is over budget, as is the current projection.

In Florida, there's a move to completely
eliminate Construction Work in Progress (CWIP)
such as is being used in Georgia to pre-fund the new Plant Vogtle nukes.

In Florida, lawmakers want to end the practice of utilities
collecting fees from customers before any electricity is produced.

Florida only recently got CWIP, but Progress Energy has been quick to profit by it:

Continue reading →

HB 267 Would Limit Georgia Power’s Profits on Vogtle’s Cost Overruns —GA Sierra Club

There’s still time to contact your state legislators about stopping
Georgia Power profitting from cost overruns on the new nukes
at Plant Vogtle.
Georgia Sierra Club spells out why.



Georgia Power’s expansion at Plant Vogtle will bring us power that
is dangerous, expensive and unnecessary.

You may remember a controversial bill the Georgia Legislature
approved in 2009,

SB 31, the Nuclear Construction Work in Progress
(CWIP) bill, which forces Georgia Power ratepayers to pay the
financing costs during construction, rather than over the life of
the plant. Large users of electricity are exempt from the charge,
but residential and mom and pop businesses have been paying for two
years.

Even after that sweetheart deal, the Public Service Commissioners
scrapped their staff

proposal to stop the company from profiting on
cost overruns for the project after they top $300 million.

The most recent reports from the independent monitor established by
the PSC says

that the project is months behind and as of December,
$88 million over budget. Georgia Power gets to earn 11.15% return on
all expenses approved by the PSC, so the more they have to spend,
the more they get to make and the more ratepayers get to pay!

Putting the profit issue aside for the moment, if the Georgia PSC
ever decided to disapprove cost overruns, Georgia Power could take a
page from the Mississippi Power playbook and just get the
Legislature to let them issue bonds to pay for the work.


HB 267 by freshman Rep. Jeff Chapman excludes the collection of any
profits on cost overruns beyond the

$6.4 billion the Public Service Commission has approved.
The bill is co-sponsored by Avondale
Estates Democrat Karla Drenner, who is a member of the Utilities
Committee, to which the bill was assigned. Passage of this bill
would provide an incentive for Georgia Power to keep expenses down
at Vogtle, something that SB 31 failed to do.

It isn’t fair for Georgia Power to profit to the tune of over 11% on
delays, overruns and mismanagement, so

ask your State Representative to support HB 267.

-jsq

China regains lead in solar and wind investment —Financial Times



Pilita Clark wrote for Financial Times 14 January 2013,

China retakes renewables investment lead,

China has surged ahead of the US to regain its title as the world's
biggest investor in renewable energy, new figures showed on Monday.



The article continues by trying to downplay solar and wind because
of a drop in investment from other countries,
while not mentioning that solar and wind deployments continue to climb.
According to Todd Woddy in Forbes 22 January 2013, Chinese Solar Market Boomed In Q4, Accounting For Third Of Global Demand.
China has incentive and is doing something about it, as
Feifei Shen and Reed Landberg wrote for
Bloomberg News 30 January 2013,

China to Boost Solar Power Goal 67% as Smog Envelops Beijing.

How much are the Chinese investing?
The FT story continues:

Continue reading →

Videos: Ham and Eggs Show 2013-02-20



The Lowndes County Ham and Eggs show is



the only one in Georgia and
one of only two in the country. Now, you might wonder why? Many
folks are interested in good, local foods and the craft of curing
meats. Well, it has to do with regulations and having the hogs
slaughtered and cured in USDA certified facilities.

Years ago,

men, women and children would cure the meats at home and
bring the hams on the appointed day to the contest (and auction).
But, now no meat can be sold

Continue reading →

Nuclear is over —Jeremy Rifkin



Economist, author, and advisor to governments

Jeremy Rifkin
told an agent of the world's largest uranium field operator
at a conference of global investors that there's no business
future in nuclear power.

Jeremy Rifkin answered a question at the

Wermuth Asset Management

5th Annual Investors Event 26 September 2012,

Nuclear Power is Dead,

I don't spend much time on nuclear technology, unless somebody asks


me about it, because frankly from a business perspective, I think
it's over….

Here's

the video, followed by more transcript and discussion.

Nuclear power was pretty well dead in the water in
the 1980s after Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. It had a comeback.
The comeback was the industry said "we are part of the solution for
climate change because we don't emit CO2 with nuclear; it's
polluting, but there's no CO2".

Here's the issue though,

Continue reading →

Please deny the closure of County Road 16 leading to the Alapaha River —three neighbors

Received today; they sent it to all the Commissioners. -jsq

To the Lowndes County Commission:

It has been quite an experience dealing with the proposed closing of


a portion of County Road 16. Our quaint spot on the river in Naylor,
Lowndes County is something that can easily be taken for granted,
but it is something that should be treasured and appreciated by the
entire county. While we have learned a rich history about Naylor and
the County Road proposed to be closed, we will not encumber you with
these details. We will let you know in this letter the laws and
reasons why the proposal should be denied.

First off, the landowner did not legally own the land when he made
his request for the closing of the road. The legal date this
property was deeded to Phillip Connell is February 8, 2013. The day
his request was made is unknown because the letter sent had the date
whited out and is an exact copy of the September 10, 2010 letter he
submitted. It is known that the proposal for a public hearing was
made in the Commission meeting January 22, 2013. The county should
not be hearing this proposal for being misled by Phillip Connell.
Why instead is the County claiming that a legal transaction for this
land occurred 2 or 3 years ago and now has extended it to 3 or 4
years ago? Where is the proof for this claim?

Second, the landowner’s claim about liability, trash and trespassing
is

Continue reading →

Reconsider closing this road —James Manes

Received today; he sent it to all the Commissioners. -jsq

James
Manes 107 Shiloh Rd. Ray City,
GA 31605

Regarding
Regular session held Jan 22, 2013; Agenda 7 B, a request for road
abandonment, I would like to state my opinion.

The
road abandonment was to close a section of County Road 16 Old State
Road. I feel this issue is not a open and shut case.

The
county has determined “the road has been ceased to be used by the
public”, and has no “substantial public purpose”.

I
am aware the law (32-7-2 a) states “The department must confer with
the governing authority of the county’s or municipalities
(Unincorporated Naylor GA.), and give due consideration to their
wishes in such abandonment.”

I
have not been able to find any public records of

Continue reading →