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Smart grid attack likely
The smart grid’s distributed approach exposes these networks and systems, especially in the early phases of deployment; the communication among these networks and systems will be predominantly wireless and it is assumed they will be sniffed, penetrated, hacked, and service will be denied
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NIST request for input on Smart Grid Interface
NIST launches a blog seeking public comment and discussion on three aspects of Smart Grid implementation; considers further online discussions in the future.
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Nuclear mattersOperator of shut-down Monju fast reactor seeks resumption of operations
Japan's only breeder reactor was shut down in 1995 after sodium coolant leak; the reactor's operator now seeks to restart the reactor, saying that a vast remodeling effort would prevent a similar accident in the fufutre; critics are no so sure, pointing to glitches affecting the reactor's leak detector and other defects which have caused its restart to be put off four times since the coolant was infused again in May 2007
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Nuclear mattersFederal loans notwithstanding, Georgia nuclear power plant faces hurdles
The Obama administration has signaled its interest in expanding the U.S. domestic nuclear power industry by giving $8.3 billion in loan guarantees for a Georgia nuclear power plant expansion; critics say that the American tax-payer is at risk; that the original nuclear reactor design has been rejected by the NRC, and that there is no solution for the nuclear waste problem
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Concerns in Brockton over proposed power plant
Residents in Brockton, Massachusetts do not want Advanced Power Services of Boston to build a 350-megawatt plant near their neighborhood; they point to the weekend’s explosion in a power plant in Connecticut as reason for added concern
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TrendUtilities to bolster smart grid cybersecurity
Annual spending on cybersecurity by electric utilities will triple by 2015, driven by investment in equipment protection and configuration management; between 2010 and 2015, Utility companies will invest more than $21 billion on cybersecurity
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Lithuania shuts down nuclear plant
Lithuania closes Chernobyl-style facility which supplies 80 percent of the country’s electricity; closure is a condition of EU membership
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Smart gridSmart grid runs into trouble over powerline standard, I
The U.S. government has awarded $4 billion in grants to build a smart electric grid; appliance makers need an easy, low cost way to plug into the grid; today they face as many as a dozen wired and wireless choices, most of them far too expensive and high bandwidth, focused on carrying digital music and video around the home rather than on helping save energy
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Boeing, Edison awarded part of $620 million to build smart grid
The Department of Energy the other day awarded $620 million in funding for building a more efficient and resilient power grid
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U.S. grid-security measures may hurt Canadian companies
The growing concern in the United States over the security of the national grid has lead to security measures -- and proposed legislation -- aiming to make the security of the grid more robust; trouble is, much of the U.S. electricity comes from Canada, and some of the contemplated security measures my disrupt transmission of power from across the border
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Nuclear mattersNuclear leaks at Three Mile Island investigated
There was another radioactive leak at Three Mile Island, the scene of the U.S. worst nuclear power accident; NRC said on Sunday there was no threat to public health or safety; investigators this weekend were trying to determine the cause of radiological contamination inside the nuclear facility's containment building
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Nuclear mattersDoubts raised on nuclear industry viability
There are two problems facing the nuclear power industry: civilian and military stockpiles and re-enriched or reprocessed uranium sources contribute 25,000 of the 65,000 tons of uranium used globally each year; the rest is mined directly, but scientists say that nobody knows where the mining industry can find enough uranium to make up the shortfall; also, the cost per kilowatt of capacity generated by nuclear power is $4,000; generating identical capacity from coal costs $3,000, and the cost for natural gas generation is $800; this makes the nuclear option a big financial gamble
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A landmark investment to finance Canada-U.S. grid connection
The biggest Canada-U.S. power grid project -- a privately funded 1,200- to 1400-megawatt transmission line between Quebec and southern New Hampshire -- will lower the cost of power throughout New England; the project could also meet one third of the New England's Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative commitments with the hydroelectric power Hydro-Québec could pump through the line
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Brazilian blackoutSearch for answers in extensive Brazil blackout
A huge power failure involving the world’s largest operating hydroelectric plant earlier this week cut off electricity to 18 of 26 states in Brazil, including the country’s two largest cities, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro; tens of millions of people were affected; failure exposed the vulnerability of Brazil’s electricity infrastructure
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Debating the Brazilian 2005, 2007 blackoutsBrazilian blackout was caused by sooty insulators, not hackers
Brazilian regulators, and the utility company involved, say that the 2005 and 2007 blackouts in Brazil were the result of deposits of dust and soot from burning fields in the Campos region of Espirito Santo; Brazil’s independent systems operator group later confirmed that the failure of a 345-kilovolt line “was provoked by pollution in the chain of insulators due to deposits of soot”; the National Agency for Electric Energy, Brazil’s energy regulatory agency, concluded its own investigation in January 2009 and fined the company, Furnas, $3.27 million
The Long View
Nuclear mattersHow long will the world's uranium deposits last?
At current consumption rates, the planet's economically accessible uranium resources could fuel reactors for more than 200 years; further exploration and improvements in extraction technology are likely to at least double this estimate over time; if we extract uranium from seawater, and build breeder reactors, then supplies will last 30,000 to 60,000 years
AnalysisUranium is good investment
Many analysts, disoriented by the fall of uranium prices from $130+ to about $45 a pound, fail to notice that the fundamentals of the uranium market have not changed
New CFIUS regulations
CFIUS issues final regulations governing national security reviews of foreign investment in the United States
Shape of things to comeNew reactor design lessens risk of weapon proliferation
Nuclear materials for power reactors cannot be stolen by those interested in using it for nuclear weapons while the material is in the reactor -- it is too hot to handle; the risks of diversion are during the enrichment process, and while the material is being transported; to lessen the risk, researchers offer innovative reactor design
Nuclear mattersDebate over alternatives to Yucca Mountain project
The Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository project is being deliberately starved for funds by the Obama administration; some argue the United States should use UREX reprocessing technology to reprocess waste (this was the Bush administration's preference); MIT and Harvard scientists say it is perfectly safe to store nuclear waste above ground for 60 or 70 years, while working on a better alternative to UREX
