Bonanza for John Borshoff. boss of Australian uranium mining company
Paladin boss earnings increase while Kayelekera cut jobs http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/02/14/paladin-boss-gets-massive-pay-hike-after-malawi-job-cuts/ By Nyasa Times Reporter February 14, 2013 Despite uranium miner, Paladin Energy limited claiming that its Malawi operations in the northern district of Karonga at Kayelekera are operating on massive losses and that world uranium prices are low, the company’s managing director John Borshoff elected to cash in his leave entitlementment, Nyasa Times has established.
Paladin’s annual report reveals that despite Borshoff honouring a promise to cut his salary by 25% between November 2011 and November 2012 – a promise he extended to June 2013, the CEO was able to boost his remuneration after a review of annual leave entitlements thereby pocketing a 52% rise in earnings. The review focused on annual and long-service leave in a bid to cut Paladin’s liabilities, and Borshoff responded by cashing out 220 days of leave.The transaction approaved by the remuneration Committee and the board netted Borshoff $1,717,000 and helped increase his remuneration to $3,464,000, from $2.26 million in 2012.
The uranium miner recently retrenched 110 staff from its Kayelekera mine in Malawi in an austerity drive which others commentators fault Boshoff for excercising his right to cash in the leave entitlement when local staff just had their calls for a 66 per cent pay rise rejected.
”Its total mockery to the Malawian workers at Kayelekera who were retrenched but have not had their benefits yet. These people are suffering. That’s a wake-up call to Malawi Government that Paladin is making profits despite plunge in prices” Karonga Business Community Chairperson Wavisanga Silungwe said in a statement made available to Nyasa Times.
“While production has gone up, the uranium price has not; hence Kayelekera continues to operate at a loss. We had warned government that this situation was unsustainable and would lead to job losses unless the uranium price improved, which it has not,” said Paladin’s (African) Ltd General Manager, international affairs, Greg Walker.
Walker said the staff reduction is in “response to economic pressures on the company caused by the continuing depressed uranium price” Borshoff’s contract with Paladin has one year left, and provides him with three months’ long-service leave for every five years of service. He is entitled to two years of double base salary when he retires or has his employment terminated.
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The failure of radiation decontamination in Fukushima
Japan decontamination is a failure – “”No Repeat of Decontamination”, Nuclear-News 2 July 2013
(Resource) 朝日新聞デジタル http://t.asahi.com/bib6
Posted by June Mia
http://fukushimaappeal.blogspot.co.uk
October 18, 2012
The myth of ‘decontamination’ (part 4 of 5) Continue reading
Glut of uranium causing price to plummet even further
Spot uranium price falls to lowest levels in seven years on ample supply Washington (Platts)–Jasmin Melvin, 2 July 13An ample supply of uranium in the spot market resulting from Japan’s shutdown of all but two of its 50 operational reactors after the nuclear accident at Fukushima I in 2011 dragged the uranium spot price to its lowest levels in seven years, price publisher TradeTech said in reports released Friday and Sunday.
In its weekly report Friday, TradeTech said sellers “with near-term cash-flow concerns and anxious over the drop in the spot price” have concluded deals for “small lots at prices low enough to encourage discretionary buying.” They remain hesitant, however, to part with large quantities of material at prices below $40 a pound U3O8, the once-accepted price barrier among market participants.
Sellers last month began to ease once-firm offer prices in efforts to offload uncommitted material in small volumes, pulling the uranium spot price below $40/lb for the first time since March 2006, according to data from price publishers Ux Consulting and TradeTech……
The Platts NuclearFuel range for the week is $39.25-$40/lb.
TradeTech lowered its weekly uranium spot price by 20 cents to $39.55/lb Friday, while Ux’s weekly price dipped 15 cents to $39.50/lb Monday.
TradeTech’s daily spot price remained $39.55/lb Monday, unchanged from Friday…..http://www.platts.com/latest-news/electric-power/washington/spot-uranium-price-falls-to-lowest-levels-in-21235399
Japan’s Nuclear Policy is dictated to it by the American Government!
U.S. Forcing Japan to Burn Plutonium In Nuclear Reactors http://nuclear-news.net/2013/07/04/u-s-forcing-japan-to-burn-plutonium-in-nuclear-reactors/#more-53296 July 3, 2013 by WashingtonsBlog The AMERICAN Government Is Dictating Japanese Nuclear Policy.
Mainichi reports:
A Japanese prime ministerial envoy secretly promised to the United States that Japan would
resume its controversial “pluthermal” program, using light-water reactors to burn plutonium, according to documents obtained by the Mainichi.
***
The revelation comes as Japan’s pluthermal project remains suspended in the wake of the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant disaster due to safety concerns. The fact that a Japanese official promised to the U.S. to implement such a controversial project without a prior explanation to the Japanese public is expected to stir up controversy. Continue reading
Vastly more plutonium fallout from French nuclear tests in Pacific, than previously admitted
French nuclear tests ‘showered vast area of Polynesia with radioactivity’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/french-nuclear-tests-polynesia-declassified Angelique Chrisafis in Paris The Guardian, Thursday 4 July 2013
Declassified papers show extent of plutonium fall-out from South Pacific tests of 60s and 70s was kept hidden, says French paper French nuclear tests in the South Pacific in the 1960s and 1970s were far more toxic than has been previously acknowledged and hit a vast swath of Polynesia with radioactive fallout, according to newly declassified ministry of defence documents which have angered veterans and civilians’ groups. Continue reading
Solar energy storage being developed in a big way in Nevada
Solar towers and storage – about to change the energy game? http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/solar-towers-and-storage-about-to-change-the-energy-game-91721, By Giles Parkinson on 4 July 2013
The $1 billion Crescent Dunes project near Tonopah in the Central Nevada Desert, some 300kms north of Las Vegas, was developed by the Santa Monica-based SolarReserve and features the company’s market leading molten salt power tower technology with fully integrated energy storage.
What makes it unique and a potential game changer in the electricity industry is the flexibility and dispatchability of its power, meaning that it can deliver electricity whenever it is needed by customers; and its cost, which already beats diesel, is competitive with new build coal and gas generation.
The Crescent Dunes facility will have 10 hours of molten salt storage, which on average will allow it to deliver 110MW of baseload capacity to Las Vegas between the hours of 12 noon and midnight each day, when the city needs it most to power the lights and air conditioning of its casinos and entertainment palaces. It has signed a 25-year power contract with NV Energy, Nevada’s largest utility, to do that.
Tom Georgis, SolarReserve’s senior vice president of development, says the unique capabilities of the technology means that the plant could have been configured in any number of ways. With a 180MW turbine, for instance, it could have produced power for 10 hours each day, which was the original intention. With a smaller turbine, and more than 20 hours storage, it could have delivered 50MW of base-load power 24/7.
In the end, Nevada pitched for midday to midnight to suit its needs. In effect, the plant is providing baseload power for a fixed period each day – delivering the benefits of coal-fired power without the downsides, which is of course heavy pollution and an ability to be switched off at will or at regular intervals.
‘You can’t do that with a coal fired facility,” Georgis says of the Nevada contract. But the technology also allows it to compete with gas-fired generation, both in the ability to provide baseload and as a peaking plant.
Next year, SolarReserve begins construction of the 150MW Rice Solar Energy Plant in Southern California, which will act more like a peaking power station to suit that state’s needs. Proposals the company will take to Chile, Australia and the Middle East will likely be for baseload power. (We will explain more about those plans in the next two days).
“This should be the winning technology. It has all the attributes you looking for to displace conventional generation,” Georgis says. “It’s not just fulfilling renewable energy targets, you are displacing any new build fossil plants – from nuclear, gas and coal. This is going to change the discussion in energy markets, certainly around the idea that renewables are variable.”
Georgis says there is a lot of confusion about storage and what it means. He says the way to think about it is in the amount of electricity produced by a solar tower plant over a year……….
The Crescent Dunes plant will not be the first of its type, but it will be the biggest to date, and the first built to what Georgis describes as “utility scale”. The 18MW Gemasolar plant (pictured) has been operating in Spain for the last 18 months, and the 10MW Solar Two demonstration facility near Barstow in California’s Mojave Desert was operated by the Department of Energy in the 1990s.
Australian Government helps Tonga change from costly diesel to cheaper solar energy
ADB And Australian Government Helping Tonga Go Solar, http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3823 4 July 13 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Australia Government are kicking in to fund the construction and installation of solar power systems on nine of Tonga’s outer islands.
Tonga is comprised of 176 islands scattered over 700,000 square kilometres of the southern Pacific Ocean and is home to 103,000 people. Tonga currently depends on expensive and polluting imported diesel for 90% of its electricity generation. In some areas, the cost of electricity can be as high as 74 cents per kilowatt hour.
The Outer Islands Renewable Energy Project will help to change that by funding solar power systems on Eua, Vava’u and Ha’apai, along with four outer islands in the Ha’apai group as well as on Niuatoputapu and Niuafo’ou. The solar arrays will be connected to state and community owned power distribution networks on most of the target islands.
ADB will provide a $2 million (currency unknown at the time of publishing) grant from its concessional Asian Development Fund, while the Australian Agency for International Development (AUSAid) will provide a $4.5 million grant, to be administered by ADB.
The Government of Tonga will contribute $300,000 equivalent; for a total investment cost of $6.8 million.
The total installation will be reasonably small; around 1.25 megawatts capacity, but it will reduce diesel imports by an estimated 0.48 million litres a year. A litre of diesel generates approximately 2.6 kilograms of carbon emissions; so the project will offset around 1,248 tonnes of CO2 a year.
The Outer Islands Renewable Energy Project will be executed by Tonga’s Ministry of Finance and National Planning and will be implemented over 6 years with an estimated completion date of December 2019. Consultants will provide training on the operation and maintenance of the facilities along with management services that will extend for at least 5 years after completion of the training.
Tonga’s interest in solar goes beyond cheap electricity – the multiple effects of climate change pose a significant threat to the nation
Australia’s new Climate Mkinister: what’s his score on renewable energy?
Australian Climate Minister’s Electorate And Solar http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3822, 4 July 13 How does Mark Butler’s own electorate stack up in relation to solar power?
Mark Butler has been the Australian Labor Party representative for the electoral division of Port Adelaide, South Australia since the 2007 federal election. On Monday, he became Australia’s Minister for Climate Change; Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Water. So where does Minister Butler stand on the topic of solar and how does his own electorate shape up?
According to ‘Solar Revolution briefers’ sent out as part of 100% Renewable’s Solar Scorecard initiative, Port Adelaide has 11,775 solar homes. Based on an average size of 2.5kW; this represents a total capacity of 29.4MW.
The Port Adelaide brief says its constituents have invested approximately $88 million in solar power, are offsetting 36,797 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually and saving $6,594,000 a year on power bills.
The Climate Minister’s electorate is ranked number 20 among solar electorates nation-wide. The top solar electorate nationally is also in South Australia – Mayo, with 25.43% of homes in that region having rooftop solar panel systems installed.
A map created The Guardian’s Nick Evershed based on details from 100% Renewable’s Solar Scorecard project shows 17.19% of homes in Port Adelaide have solar installed.
Minister Butler’s Solar Scorecard can be viewed here; state briefers here and electorate briefers here.
The briefers have been sent to all Federal MPs and Senators, and the organisation is now disseminating the documents via local media and groups around the country. The briefers contain customised data by electorate on the number of solar homes, the amount of clean energy generated, the amount invested by constituents in solar, the amount of carbon emissions avoided and the amount saved on power bills.
100% Renewable is a community initiative working to build community and political support for renewable energy. It is non-partisan and not affiliated with any political party.
Another 100% Renewable project rapidly gaining steam is Solar Citizens, which is bringing together existing and future solar owners.
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 