LENR, Nuclear and Energy Disruption

While Saudia Arabia commits to sweeping economic reforms to reduce dependence on oil revenues, Canada talks up new pipelines to move expensively-extracted Alberta crude to distant US refineries and to Pacific ports for export to Asia.

With their 2020 Vision Plan, the Saudis vow to avoid unemployment by diversifying their economy through such actions as setting up a mega sovereign wealth fund, military production and mineral mining investments.

Germany is on course to eliminate nuclear by 2022, while resource-poor and earth-quake prone Japan teeters on reactivating shuttered nuclear reactors.

Governments of Australia, China, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, the Scandinavian nations and the US all pursue LENR research.

A recent Ministry of Defense report contained this paragraph:

"This MOD report selected five credible strategic shocks and the third one is about a new energy source, more efficient than anything available currently.“New Energy Source. A novel, efficient form of energy generation could be developed that rapidly lowers demand for hydrocarbons. For example, the development of commercially available cold fusion reactors could result in the rapid economic marginalisation of oil-rich states. This loss of status and income in undiversified economies could lead to state-failure and provide opportunities for extremist groups to rise in influence.”

Yet Canada, (developer of the CANDU reactor) appears content to monitor LENR R&D while it clings to oil, and extends operating approval of ageing nuclear reactors. The least that Canadian and British governments should do is support home-grown LENR research and engineering. On the international field, playing catch-up is a loser's game.
http://www.e-catworld.com/2016/04/26/uk-government-position-on-rossis-work-unverifiable/

PS
While the string of large nations engage in LENR R&D, Canada and the UK offer a string of excuses for sitting on the fence. Excuses won’t protect their high living standards as markets move from centralized nuclear and fossil-fueled power generation to nonradioactive and nonpolluting dispersed energy production.
But, not to worry! The sun will never rise on the world's largest commercial nuclear boondogel -Hinkley Point.

March 25, 2016
Nuclear & Fossils fizzle while Rossi & IH duel.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/nuclear/has-us-nuclear-powers-death-spiral-begun

April 29, 2016
Belgian reaction to calls for closure of aged nuclear reactors is distribution of potassium iodide pills.
http://www.dw.com/en/belgium-says-its-nuclear-plants-are-safe-but-here-are-some-iodine-pills-just-in-case/a-19223966

May 2, 2016
ITER projects results by 2035. This could be its last gasp as some nations could cease contributions.
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6286/636
http://www.businessinsider.com/r-iter-nuclear-fusion-project-faces-new-delay-cost-overrun-les-echos-2016-5

LENR - Nuclear - Grid = Economic Survival

Blackout and brown-out clouds threaten as North American legislators sweat over balancing stresses within the electricity grids while scheduling decommission of aged nuclear reactors.

http://discovermagazine.com/2016/march/15-blackout-of-the-century
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2015/12/8585438/big-change-store-new-york-nuclear-2016

A key element missing in the above articles: the emergence of cheap distributed electricity via on-site LENR plants for generation of electricity, heat and light installed by domestic and corporate consumers –thus making redundant the expansion, maintenance and rebuilding of legacy grids -as well as undermining any economic validity of a faulty nuclear industry.

Western countries will be slow to abandon coal and nuclear, get on with decommissioning, let alone address crippling grid problems. The Province of Ontario and the New England states are especially vulnerable, given the ages of their respective nuclear reactors. Sticking with expensive fossil fuels and nuclear ensures that many heretofore prosperous regions become tomorrow's rust belts.


Indeed, non-industrialized nations (unburdened by expensive nuclear and by legacy grids) are likely to become LENR-powered, and therefore lowest-cost manufacturers.

Before more assets are stranded, diversify -or better still, migrate.

Update: Albany, New York
Built 43 years ago, Indian Point is one of the oldest, most troubled nuclear plants in the US. Latest fault is steel blots. See subscription based article:
http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-opinion/article/Power-down-Indian-Point-now-for-immediate-7255745.php

Back-flash to September 2015:
About the time the above formula for Economic Survival was entered, the Leonardo/Industrial Heat sponsored test of Rossi's 1MW reactor was nearly half completed. At this point, Fortune Magazine published an interview with an optimistic but cautious Tom Darden of Industrial Heat LLC:
http://fortune.com/2015/09/27/ceo-cherokee-investment-partners-low-energy-nuclear-reaction/