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  • Caselist.CitesClass[14]
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Caselist.CitesClass[14]

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1		-2016-10-07 20:48:47.805
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Caselist.CitesClass[15]

Cites

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	1	+Nuclear is best for grid – it’s strained now but more plants are on the way
	2	+Weinstein 14
	3	+Bernard L. Weinstein, Weinstein is associate director of the Maguire Energy Institute in the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and a fellow with the George W. Bush Institute, “Nuclear power can bring long-term stability to the stressed electric grid” January 15, 2014, 03:00 pm VP and Bob
	4	+
	5	+Global warming notwithstanding, 2013-2014 will likely go down as America’s coldest winter in decades. As of the second week in January, 187 million people were dealing with subfreezing weather, and record low temperatures were being recorded in many eastern and southern communities. Not surprisingly, the electric power grid is being tested as never before with some utilities asking customers to dial back their thermostats and to avoid using appliances during hours of peak demand. Even so, a few power companies have had to impose rolling blackouts and brownouts as they bump against their generating capacity. The current cold wave should remind us that integrity of the power grid depends on a diverse portfolio of generating options that, in turn, can serve as a hedge against price volatility or supply disruptions. But this diversity may be at risk. America is becoming overly dependent on the use of natural gas for power generation, with new gas-fired plants accounting for 75 percent of all capacity additions since 1995. Meanwhile, the contribution of coal and nuclear plants to the electric grid has been shrinking. Because no currently operating coal plant can meet the proposed EPA standards for greenhouse gas emissions from new plants, we’re unlikely to see additions to the coal fleet. And the GHG standards for existing power plants that will be forthcoming later this year will further accelerate the demise of coal for power generation. What’s more, four nuclear reactors were shut down last year and Entergy recently announced it will close its Vermont Yankee plant by the end of 2014. To make matters worse, merchant power generators in deregulated states are not investing adequately in new base-load capacity. Because natural gas sets the price for electricity at the margin, and prices are projected to remain below $5 per MCF for the foreseeable future, merchant generators are worried they’ll not be able to recover their capital costs in a deregulated market. In addition, the huge growth of wind generation capacity in response to federal tax incentives and state renewable portfolio standards has further dampened the prospects for capital cost recovery by merchant power generators. Investing in nuclear energy remains the best strategy for ensuring long-term diversity and reliability of the power grid. Despite recent plant closures, nuclear power isn’t going away. Five new plants will come on line by 2018 while 14 other applications are pending before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The value proposition for nuclear energy is stronger than ever. Nuclear plants operate around the clock safely and reliably, thereby providing stability to the power grid. They also provide forward price stability and are not subject to the price volatility associated with gas-fired plants. Nuclear operations support large numbers of high-paying jobs and add mightily to the tax base of host communities. Finally, nuclear power is environmentally benign: no particulates, no sulphur dioxide, and no greenhouse gas emissions. Just steam. Because households and industries continue to use electricity more efficiently, the demand for power is projected to grow slowly in the years ahead. Still, until large-scale battery technology develops to the point where electrons produced by wind and solar can be stored in large quantities, which may take 50 years, we’ll continue to need a diverse portfolio of base-load power plants. With coal going away, and natural gas currently overrepresented, nuclear power can provide the much-needed diversity and stability to America’s electric power grid.
	6	+Link – NP Key
	7	+Mass NPP shutdown breaks the power grid-California proves
	8	+Daniels 6/22
	9	+Jeff Daniels, 6-22-2016, "Nuclear power fades in California as energy grid gets stressed," CNBC, http://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/22/nuclear-power-fades-in-california-as-energy-grid-gets-stressed.html //VP
	10	+Jeff Daniels is a coordinating producer for CNBC, based at the network's Los Angeles Bureau. He joined the network in 1999. Prior to joining CNBC, Daniels was entertainment editor of financial wire service Bridge News and business editor of The Hollywood Reporter. He was a news writer for Financial Network Network, a predecessor to CNBC.
	11	+California's stressed-out power grid was handed another blow this week, when the state's last operating electricity-generating nuclear power plant said it plans to go offline in less than a decade. PGandE, owner of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant and a major provider of power for northern California, said Tuesday that it plans to shut down the facility when its current operating license expires in 2025, to meet the state's renewable energy policy goals. Though the plant has been in operation since 1985, it has come under criticism in recent years due to seismic risk concerns. PGandE spokesman Blair Jones said there are earthquake faults nearby but indicated the plant is designed to withstand quakes likely for the area, and that Diablo Canyon wouldn't be in operation today if that weren't the case. The company's announcement comes at an already tumultuous time for California's energy grid, which is facing early summer stress and a risk of rotating power outages down south. Indeed, thousands of customers were without power Monday and into Tuesday, as temperatures topped 110 degrees in some areas. On Monday, the state's power grid operator declared a Flex Alert for Southern California, warning that "demand on the power grid can be strained, as air conditioner use increases." A Flex Alert asks residents to conserve energy. While that strain is expected to lessen when temperatures cool later this week, the region's wildfires are adding another complication. Flames from a fire in the Angeles National Forest on Tuesday tripped a series of high-voltage lines, forcing the state grid operator to re-route electricity to make up for the impacted lines. California's heavy reliance on natural gas for more than half of its electricity generation has created vulnerabilities for the state, especially during the summer months. In particular, problems at Aliso Canyon — a key natural gas storage facility and site of the nation's worst gas leak — have become a concern for Southern Californians. "The likelihood of a power outage during a heat wave this summer is heightened because of the gas leak that," the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said last week. "Aliso Canyon is the only gas storage facility that can immediately respond to rapid changes in gas supply for 17 gas-fired generating plants, including four generating stations operated by LADWP in the Los Angeles basin." A fire fighting aircraft (L) drops fire retardant as its spotting plane (R) follows above power lines over one of two wildfires in the Angeles National Forest above Azusa, California. Gene Blevins | Reuters A fire fighting aircraft (L) drops fire retardant as its spotting plane (R) follows above power lines over one of two wildfires in the Angeles National Forest above Azusa, California. According to an Aliso Canyon impact report released in April, "there are 14 days this coming summer during which gas curtailments could be high enough to cause electricity service interruptions to millions of utility customers." The report was released by two state agencies, as well as the California Independent System Operator (CA-ISO) and LADWP. To reduce the risk of rolling blackouts, the South Coast Air Quality Management District — the air pollution control agency for major portions of Southern California — last Thursday agreed to temporarily allow LADWP to burn diesel fuel at three of its four diesel power plants. But because other municipal power providers in the L.A. area don't have the same flexibility, they remain at risk of outages. "Burbank boasts an electric reliability factor of 99.999 percent, one of the highest in America," Jorge Somoano, acting general manager of Burbank Water and Power, said in a release Friday. "But, without natural gas from Aliso Canyon to fuel local power plants, our ability to keep lights on is highly compromised." Overall, approximately 61 percent of the electricity generated in California comes from natural gas, according to the California Energy Commission. As of 2014, nuclear power represented almost 9 percent of in-state generation. Renewables were nearly 23 percent of in-state generation that year, with wind power the largest, followed by geothermal and solar power. For PGandE, Diablo Canyon generates about one-fifth of annual electricity production in the company's service territory. The plant has two nuclear reactors and generates power to supply around 1.7 million homes. In a regulatory filing Tuesday, PGandE estimated the cost to decommission Diablo Canyon at nearly $3.8 billion, adding that the plant's nuclear decommissioning trust accounts held around $2.8 billion as of March 31. "The primary beneficiary is going to be any kind of renewable power generator and renewable energy developer," said Travis Miller, an analyst at Morningstar. "They (PGandE) won't build it all themselves. Any third-party energy developer is going to benefit that can sell their power into northern California." The boundary of Southern California Gas Company property, where Aliso Canyon Storage Field is located, is seen as people continue to be affected by a massive natural-gas leak in the Porter Ranch neighborhood of the of the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. David McNew | AFP | Getty Images The boundary of Southern California Gas Company property, where Aliso Canyon Storage Field is located, is seen as people continue to be affected by a massive natural-gas leak in the Porter Ranch neighborhood of the of the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Last year, California increased its so-called "renewable portfolio standard" for investor-owned utilities and electric service providers from 33 percent by 2020 to 50 percent by 2030. Goldman Sachs estimated in a research note earlier this year that California's buildout of a new renewables market could represent "over $100 billion in investment" by 2030. In announcing a joint proposal Tuesday with the Natural Resources Defense Council and several other groups to take Diablo Canyon offline, PGandE pledged a voluntary commitment to achieve a 55 percent renewable energy target in 2031. In a 2013 report, the Union of Concerned Scientists highlighted how PGandE had earlier informed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about a new fault offshore from Diablo Canyon "that could cause more ground motion during an earthquake than the plant was designed to withstand." "California has some regulatory mechanisms in place that mitigate earthquake risk," Morgan Stanley utilities analyst Stephen Byrd said in a research note earlier this month. "California power utilities have the ability to recover additional electric procurement costs…and utilities could seek recovery of costs necessary to respond to an earthquake (or other major emergency)." As for earthquake insurance coverage by the utilities, Byrd said PGandE has $900 million.Edison International, another California-based energy utility, has about $750 million, he said. In 2013, San Onofre plant owner announced it would permanently retire the nuclear power plant and begin preparations for decommissioning. The plant in north San Diego County is located near several known faults. "We have an incident command structure in planning for all hazards," Edison's Robert Villegas said. "That would be for large storms, for any sort of large incident, including earthquakes and things like that."
	12	+IMPX – Cyber ATX
	13	+Weak grid exacerbates the effects of cyber-attacks
	14	+Bennet and Williams 16 Katie Bo Williams and Cory Bennett, “Why a power grid attack is a nightmare scenario,” The Hill, May 30, 2016, http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/281494-why-a-power-grid-attack-is-a-nightmare-scenario
	15	+ Stores are closed. Cell service is failing. Broadband Internet is gone. Hospitals are operating on generators, but rapidly running out of fuel. Garbage is rotting in the streets, and clean water is scarce as people boil water stored in bathtubs to stop the spread of bacteria. And escape? There is none, because planes can’t fly, trains can’t run, and gas stations can’t pump fuel. This is the “nightmare scenario” that lawmakers have been warning you about. The threat of an attack on the nation’s power grid is all too real for the network security professionals who labor every day to keep the country safe. “In order to restore civilized society, the power has got to be back on,” said Scott Aaronson, who oversees the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC), an industry-government emergency response program. While cybersecurity experts and industry executives describe such warnings as alarmist, intelligence officials say people underestimate how destructive a power outage can be. The most damaging kind of attack, specialists say, would be carefully coordinated to strike multiple power stations. If hackers were to knock out 100 strategically chosen generators in the Northeast, for example, the damaged power grid would quickly overload, causing a cascade of secondary outages across multiple states. While some areas could recover quickly, others might be without power for weeks. The scenario isn’t completely hypothetical. Lawmakers and government officials got a preview in 2003, when a blackout spread from the coastal Northeast into the Midwest and Canada. “If you think of how crippled our region is when we lose power for just a couple of days, the implications of a deliberate widespread attack on the power grid for the East Coast, say, would cause devastation,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). Researchers have run the numbers on an East Coast blackout, with sobering results. A prolonged outage across 15 states and Washington, D.C., according to the University of Cambridge and insurer Lloyd’s of London, would leave 93 million people in darkness, cost the economy hundreds of millions of dollars and cause a surge in fatalities at hospitals. The geopolitical fallout could be even worse. “If a major cyberattack happens, that’s a major act of war, bombs are starting to fall,” said Cris Thomas, a well-known hacker who is now a strategist at security firm Tenable. A former senior intelligence official who spoke to The Hill echoed that assessment. The specter of a catastrophic attack on the electrical grid looms large for utilities and the federal government. They all agree that a “cyber Pearl Harbor” would be a deliberate attack, most likely from a foreign adversary. “It’s an act of war, not an act of God,” Aaronson said. One of the most fearful aspects of a cyberattack is that they can be difficult to spot, even when they are happening. At first, power providers may only notice a cascade of overloaded transmission lines failing in rapid succession — something that happened during the 2003 blackout, which was caused by an ordinary software bug.
	16	+
	17	+Small grid failure brings down the entire system – impact is chemical plant explosions, worse than atom bomb
	18	+Latynina 3 World Press Review (VOL. 50, No. 11) www.worldpress.org/Americas/1579.cfm
	19	+The scariest thing about the cascading power outages was not spoiled groceries in the fridge, or elevators getting stuck, or even, however cynical it may sound, sick patients left to their own devices without electricity-powered medical equipment. The scariest thing of all was chemical plants and refineries with 24-hour operations, which, if interrupted, can result in consequences even more disastrous and on a larger scale than those of an atomic bomb explosion. So it is safe to say that Americans got lucky this time. Several hours after the disaster, no one could know for certain whether the power outage was caused by an accident or someone’s evil design. In fact, the disaster on the East Coast illustrates just one thing: A modern city is in itself a bomb, regardless of whether someone sets off the detonator intentionally or by accident. As I recall, when I was writing my book Industrial Zone, in which business deals were bound to lead to a massive industrial catastrophe, at some point in time I was considering making a cascading power outage the cause of a catastrophe. Back then, I was amazed and shocked at the swiftness of the process. Shutting down at least one electric power plant is enough to cause a drop in power output throughout the entire power grid. This is followed by an automatic shutdown of nuclear power plants, a further catastrophic drop in power, and finally a cascading outage of the entire grid system.
	20	+IMPX – Cyber Atx - Nukes
	21	+Nuclear war
	22	+Andres 11 Richard B. – Professor of National Security Strategy at the National War College and a Senior Fellow and Energy and Environmental Security and Policy Chair in the Center for Strategic Research, Institute for National Strategic Studies, at the National Defense University, **Hanna L. Breetz – Doctoral candidate in the Department of Political Science at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Small Nuclear Reactors for Military Installations: Capabilities, Costs, and Technological Implications, Strategic Forum, National Defense University, Institute for National Strategic Studies, February 2011, http://www.ndu.edu/press/lib/pdf/StrForum/SF-262.pdf
	23	+Grid Vulnerability. DOD is unable to provide its bases with electricity when the civilian electrical grid is offline for an extended period of time. Currently, domestic military installations receive 99 percent of their electricity from the civilian power grid. As explained in a recent study from the Defense Science Board:
	24	+DOD’s key problem with electricity is that critical missions, such as national strategic awareness and national command authorities, are almost entirely dependent on the national transmission grid . . . which is fragile, vulnerable, near its capacity limit, and outside of DOD control. In most cases, neither the grid nor on-base backup power provides sufficient reliability to ensure continuity of critical national priority functions and oversight of strategic missions in the face of a long term (several months) outage.7
	25	+The grid’s fragility was demonstrated during the 2003 Northeast blackout in which 50 million people in the United States and Canada lost power, some for up to a week, when one Ohio utility failed to properly trim trees. The blackout created cascading disruptions in sewage systems, gas station pumping, cellular communications, border check systems, and so forth, and demonstrated the interdependence of modern infrastructural systems.8
	26	+More recently, awareness has been growing that the grid is also vulnerable to purposive attacks. A re- port sponsored by the Department of Homeland Secu- rity suggests that a coordinated cyber attack on the grid could result in a third of the country losing power for a period of weeks or months.9 Cyberattacks on critical infrastructure are not well understood. It is not clear, for instance, whether existing terrorist groups might be able to develop the capability to conduct this type of attack. It is likely, however, that some nation-states either have or are working on developing the ability to take down the U.S. grid. In the event of a war with one of these states, it is possible, if not likely, that parts of the civilian grid would cease to function, taking with them military bases located in affected regions.
	27	+Government and private organizations are currently working to secure the grid against attacks; however, it is not clear that they will be successful. Most military bases currently have backup power that allows them to function for a period of hours or, at most, a few days on their own. If power were not restored after this amount of time, the results could be disastrous. First, military assets taken offline by the crisis would not be available to help with disaster relief. Second, during an extended blackout, global military operations could be seriously compromised; this disruption would be particularly serious if the blackout was induced during major combat operations. During the Cold War, this type of event was far less likely because the United States and Soviet Union shared the common understanding that blinding an opponent with a grid blackout could escalate to nuclear war. America’s current opponents, however, may not share this fear or be deterred by this possibility.
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	30	+Infrastructure shutdown escalates to nuclear war
	31	+Robert Tilford 12, Graduate US Army Airborne School, Ft. Benning, Georgia, “Cyber attackers could shut down the electric grid for the entire east coast” 2012, http://www.examiner.com/article/cyber-attackers-could-easily-shut-down-the-electric-grid-for-the-entire-east-coa ***we don’t agree with the albeist language
	32	+To make matters worse a cyber attack that can take out a civilian power grid, for example could also cripple destroy the U.S. military.¶ The senator notes that is that the same power grids that supply cities and towns, stores and gas stations, cell towers and heart monitors also power “every military base in our country.”¶ “Although bases would be prepared to weather a short power outage with backup diesel generators, within hours, not days, fuel supplies would run out”, he said.¶ Which means military command and control centers could go dark.¶ Radar systems that detect air threats to our country would shut Down completely.¶ “Communication between commanders and their troops would also go silent. And many weapons systems would be left without either fuel or electric power”, said Senator Grassley.¶ “So in a few short hours or days, the mightiest military in the world would be left scrambling to maintain base functions”, he said.¶ We contacted the Pentagon and officials confirmed the threat of a cyber attack is something very real.¶ Top national security officials—including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Director of the National Security Agency, the Secretary of Defense, and the CIA Director— have said, “preventing a cyber attack and improving the nation’s electric grids is among the most urgent priorities of our country” (source: Congressional Record).¶ So how serious is the Pentagon taking all this?¶ Enough to start, or end a war over it, for sure.¶ A cyber attack today against the US could very well be seen as an “Act of War” and could be met with a “full scale” US military response.¶ That could include the use of “nuclear weapons”, if authorized by the President.
	33	+Nuclear power is uniquely key as a backup to stop these scenarios
	34	+IBEW ‘14 – (2014, International Brotherhood of Elctricial Workers, http://www.ibew.org/IBEW/departments/utility/IBEW-Nuclear-FAQ.pdf The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) represents approximately 750,000 active members and retirees who work in a wide variety of fields, including utilities, construction, telecommunications, broadcasting, manufacturing, railroads and government. The IBEW has members in both the United States and Canada and stands out among the American unions in the AFL-CIO because it is among the largest and has members in so many skilled occupations.
	35	+
	36	+Some of the units at the Japanese plants lost both off - site power and diesel generators. This is called a “station blackout.” U.S. nuclear power plants are designed to cope with station blackouts by having multiple back - up power sources at the ready. All U.S. plants are also responsible for demonstrating to the NRC that they can handle such situations in order to legally remain in operation.

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	1	+2016-10-07 20:48:48.485

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	1	+Misc

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	1	+5

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	1	+9

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	1	+Palos Verdes Le Barillec Neg

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	1	+SEPTOCT - Grids DA

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	1	+Greenhill Misc