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Another dodgy Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) set up to promote small nuclear reactors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAJTkL99anI&t=22s

Nuclear SMR developer X-energy to merge with Ares Management-backed SPAC, creating $2B company, Utility Dive, Stephen Singer, Dec. 7, 2022

Dive Brief

  • X Energy Reactor Co., a developer of small modular nuclear reactors and fuel technology, is merging with a special purpose acquisition company backed by private equity firm Ares Management Corp., X-energy announced Tuesday. The deal would establish a combined publicly traded company valued at $2 billion.
  • The company will receive about $1 billion in cash in the trust account of Ares Acquisition Corp., the SPAC, assuming no redemptions by shareholders. Investments and financing commitments include $75 million from Ares Management and $45 million from Ontario Power Generation and Segra Capital Management. 

……………………… X-energy, based in Rockville, Maryland, is advancing nuclear generation through a high-temperature gas-cooled small modular reactor, or SMR, the Xe-100, and its fuel, TRISO-X. The reactor is engineered to operate as a single 80-MW unit and optimized as a four-unit plant delivering 320 MW.

……………………. Edwin Lyman, director of Nuclear Power Safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, questioned the “fundamental economic justification” for SMRs.

“A small reactor is going to produce more expensive electricity than large ones,” he said.

Backers defend SMRs as benefiting from economies of scale, but that’s not been demonstrated, Lyman said. “It would require a large order book and experience,” he said.

…………………………. At the closing of the deal, which is expected in the second quarter of 2023, the combined company will be named X-Energy Inc. and will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.  https://www.utilitydive.com/news/X-energy-ares-managment-spac-merger-small-modular-nuclear-smr/638097/

December 7, 2022 Posted by | business and costs, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, USA | Leave a comment

Ukraine war: Red Cross appeal, Kremlin sees Crimea attack ‘risks’

By Euronews  with AFP, AP, Reuters  08/12/2022

1. Kremlin: Up to Zelenskyy to end Ukraine war

The Kremlin said on Thursday it is up to Zelenskyy to end the military conflict in Ukraine, amid vows by Russia’s president to press on the grinding invasion. 

Ukrainian President Voldymyr “Zelenskyy knows when it may end. It may end tomorrow if he wishes so”, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. 

The Kremlin has long said that Ukraine must accept Russian conditions to end the fighting, demands Ukraine rules out. 

Russia wants Kyiv to recognise Crimea — a Ukrainian peninsula that Moscow illegally annexed [with over 90% residents agreeing in referendum] in 2014 — as part of Russia and give Moscow the land it has captured so far. 

Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials have repeatedly rejected those conditions, saying the war will end when the occupied territories are retaken or Russian forces leave them.

2. Kremlin admits ‘risk’ of Ukrainian attacks in Crimea

Russia’s military claims it has shot down a drone near the Sevastapol port which hosts its Black Sea fleet.

Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev said on Telegram that a Russian ship “shot down a UAV over the sea” on Thursday morning.

Russia’s Black Sea fleet was targeted in October in what authorities described as a “massive” drone attack, which damaged one ship and led Moscow to briefly withdraw from the UN-brokered grain deal.

……….. The region has reportedly been hit by several drone strikes in recent months, including one that destroyed a military airfield in August.

The Kerch bridge, which connects the peninsula to the Russian mainland, was also damaged by an explosion that Moscow has blamed on Ukrainian military intelligence.

“There are risks because the Ukrainian side continues to follow its line of organising terrorist attacks,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

……… Deadly explosions have been reported at Russian airbases, located hundreds of kilometres from the Ukrainian border. Moscow blamed Ukraine, which didn’t claim responsibility.

………………………. 3. Ukraine faces ‘significant’ power shortages as Russian strikes persist……………………………….

4. Red Cross calls for more access to Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has called for more access to visit prisoners of the Ukraine war.

ICRC representatives recently visited prisoners from both sides, amid allegations of abuse and torture.

The delegates were reportedly able to assess the living conditions and treatment of the prisoners and distribute books, hygiene products, blankets, and warm clothes.

But the organisation has expressed frustration that it has not been allowed to visit all POWs, as detailed in the Geneva Convention.

“While the recent visits are important progress the ICRC must be granted unimpeded access to see all prisoners of war repeatedly and in private, wherever they are held,” a statement read.

“We have seen hundreds of POWs, but we still don’t have access to all of them,” a spokeswoman added.

“Families suffer under the burden of not knowing how their loved ones are, whether they are healthy or sick, or even whether they are alive or dead.”………………………………………….. more https://www.euronews.com/2022/12/08/ukraine-war-drone-shot-down-crimea-threat-scholz-says-nuclear-risk-diminished

December 7, 2022 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

US imposes sanctions on six Pakistan companies for unsafeguarded nuclear activities

The US on Thursday designated six companies based in Pakistan on its entity list for unsafeguarded nuclear and missile proliferation activities.

 https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/us-imposes-sanctions-on-six-pak-companies-unsafeguarded-nuclear-activities-122120801484_1.html 8 Dec 22,

The US on Thursday designated six companies based in Pakistan on its entity list for unsafeguarded nuclear and missile proliferation activities.

The Department of Commerce added as many as 24 companies to the entities list including those from Pakistan, Latvia, Russia, Singapore, Switzerland and United Arab Emirates.

Companies based out of Pakistan are Dynamic Engineering Corporation, EnerQuip Private, Ltd., NAR Technologies General Trading LLC, Trojans, Rainbow Solutions, and Universal Drilling Engineers.

According to a federal register notification, Dynamic Engineering Corporation has been added to the ‘Entity List’ because it poses an unacceptable risk of using or diverting export control items to Pakistan’s unsafeguarded nuclear activities, contrary to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.

Same is the case with Rainbow Solutions, while EnerQuip Private, Ltd., and Universal Drilling Engineers have been added to the list based on their contributions to unsafeguarded nuclear activities and missile proliferation-related activities.

NAR Technologies General Trading LLC and TROJANS have been added to the Entity List under the destinations of Pakistan and the U.A.E., based on their actions and activities that are contrary to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.

Specifically, these companies have supplied and/or attempted to supply items subject to export control to Pakistan’s unsafeguarded nuclear activities and ballistic missile programme.

December 7, 2022 Posted by | Pakistan, safety | Leave a comment

Nuclear lobby continues to capture universities.

From Rust Belt to Green Belt: Penn State leads nuclear research alliance. Pennsylvania State University, 8 Dec 22,

Led by Penn State, academia, national laboratories and industry have formed the Post-Industrial Midwest and Appalachia (PIMA) Nuclear Alliance to harness carbon-free energy while educating and training the future energy workforce……………………………..

Alliance members include foundational partners University of Michigan Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and the Westinghouse Electric Company. Additional partners include Pennsylvania College of Technology, Idaho National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Morgan Advanced Materials, Pittsburgh Technical, Energy Driven Technologies and Reuter Stokes. Faculty from University of Central Florida, California Polytechnic State University and Cornell University are also participating………………………………

“We aspire to innovate and accelerate the adoption of microreactors – nuclear batteries – and advanced nuclear reactor technology across the regions of PIMA 

December 7, 2022 Posted by | Education, USA | Leave a comment

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