NUCLEAR PIRACY INCIDENT EXPOSED. In a speech at a recent conference in Salzburg, Austria, Paul Leventhal (former counsel to the Senate Government Operations Committee) revealed that in 1968, a cargo ship bearing 200 tons of uranium disappeared in the Mediterranean on its way from Germany to Italy . . . only to reappear weeks later with a new name, a new crew, and no cargo. The uranium is believed to have been unloaded in Israel, and there is speculation that the radioactive material is now being made into weapons-grade plutonium at the topsecret Dimona research center in the Negev desert. Israeli officials deny the allegations, however.
CON ED LOSES TO PSC . . . AGAIN. In response to comments from hundreds of utility customers and a complaint filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the New York Public Service Commission has issued a ruling that prohibits Consolidated Edison from using bill inserts to "discuss political matters, including the desirability of future development of nuclear power". Con Ed-which had been inserting pro-nuclear flyers into customers' bills-says it will appeal the PSC ruling.
THE LARGEST CONCENTRATING PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM IN THE U .S. will be installed at the Mississippi County Community College in Blytheville, Arkansas over the next two years. The $6 million, 250-kilowatt systemwhen completed-is expected to provide the total daytime electrical needs of the college.
THE ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT BIBLIOGRAPHY -just published by Friends of the Earth-contains a veritable gold mine of "access" listings for books, brochures, magazines, newsletters, directories, and catalogs in the field of energy (nuclear, solar, wind, hydrogen, methane, geothermal, you name it) . . . more than 300 annotated entries in all! To get your copy, send $2.50 (ppd.) now to FOE, 124 Spear St., San Francisco, Calif. 94105.
BOEING TO BUILD MAMMOTH WINDMILL. The Energy Research and Development Administration-in conjunction with NASA-has chosen the Boeing Engineering and Construction Company of Seattle to design, build, install, and test a 2.5-megawatt experimental wind turbine system over the next two years at a cost of $10 million. When finished, the windplant (which will have a rotor diameter of 300 feet) is expected to be the largest operating wind generator in the world.
THE FEDERAL ENERGY ADMINISTRATION HAS CHARGED 20 OIL COMPANIES with needlessly inflating the price of imported petroleum by some $336 million in their transactions with foreign affiliates. FEA Administrator John O'Leary vows that if the companies are found to have violated pricing rules, a "substantial portion" of the $336 million will be refunded to consumers in the form of price rollbacks.
SOLAR-ELECTRIC BREAKTHROUGH: Stanford R. Ovshinsky--president of Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. of Troy, Michigan-has announced the development of a new class of materials that can produce electricity directly from sunlight or heat for as little as 0.2Y per kilowatt-hour. (Utility-produced electricity currently costs act to 5d per kwh.) The new materials-known as "modified amorphous semiconductors"-cost only 50e' per square foot to produce, compared to $10 or $20/sq.ft. for crystalline silicon solar cells. With regard to the new development, Ovshinsky says: "The implications are enormous."
OPEC ADVISES INDIANS. An Indian group-the Council of Energy Resource Tribes (the 24 member tribes of which control about 55% of U.S. uranium reserves and 30% of U.S. coal reserves)-is reportedly working with members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to learn how to strengthen native American tribes' bargaining power in resource-use negotiations. One CERT member is quoted in the Denver Post as saying, "We wanted to see if [OPEC] could give us some technical assistance we can't get from the United States government."
THE FIRST MAJOR OPERATIONAL TEST OF THE SUN-TRACKING MIRROR ARRAYS at Sandia Laboratories' Solar Thermal Test Facility near Albuquerque was declared a success recently when the sunlight reflected by 1,775 mirrors melted a 2' X 3' hole in a 1/4"-thick steel plate mounted halfway up the facility's 200' -high "power tower". In coming months, Sandia (with ERDA funding) will test boilers and other components now being developed for a planned 10megawatt solar power plant near Barstow, California.
MONTANA GOVERNOR THOMAS JUDGE HAS ISSUED AN "ENERGY SUPPLY ALERT" and told state and local government offices in various parts of the Treasure State to cut their electricity use by 10%. Reason: low water levels may soon force drastic reductions in Montana's production of hydroelectricity . . . . In case you didn't know, Title I of the Federal Housing Administration loan program authorizes FHA to grant loans of up to $7,500 FOR SOLAR WATER HEATER INSTALLATIONS . For more info, ask your bank or lending institution about FHA Title I loans . . . . A special group of scientists and technicians- THE NUCLEAR EMERGENCY SEARCH TEAM has been formed by ERDA to provide "technical assistance" to the FBI in the event of a nuclear blackmail threat. (Don't you feel better now?) . . . . THE SEDONA SOLAR SHOP -makers of the Solar Chef oven featured in MOTHER NO. 44 (page 90h)-has moved. The new address is: P.O. Box 1737, Camp Verde, Ariz. 86322 . . . . Florida Power and Light Company officials admit that the TURKEY POINT NUCLEAR PLANT SOUTH OF MIAMI MAY HAVE TO BE SHUT DOWN for up to two years because of repeated leaks of radioactive cooling water . . Independent Power Developers (see the Plowboy Interview in MOTHER N0. 40) HAS ADDED A LOW-HEAD TUR BINE to its line of small-scale hydroelectric power plant components. Read all about it in the latest IPD catalog, available for $1.00 from Box 1467, Noxon, Mont. 59853.
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