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France’s nuclear headache – Macron on the brink of rationing electricity

 France’s nuclear headache leaves Macron on brink of rationing
electricity. The threat of power cuts has been looming over France —
curious considering that it is normally a significant exporter of
electricity, thanks to its 56 nuclear reactors, by far the largest number
of Europe.

This same dependence on nuclear has proved to be its Achilles
heel, however, as a result of a crisis prompted by the discovery of cracks
in the pipes of a number of its reactors which, at its height, forced the
closure of almost half of its nuclear power stations.

The resulting cut in
output to a 30-year low has added to the energy supply problems across
Europe caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine. Some of the problem reactors
have since been restarted, but last week 39 per cent of France’s 61,370
megawatts of nuclear generation capacity remained offline, according to
analysis by Reuters of data provided by RTE, which operates the country’s
grid.

 Times 1st Jan 2023

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/frances-nuclear-headache-leaves-macron-on-brink-of-rationing-electricity-0hzml0xdr

January 1, 2023 Posted by | ENERGY, France | Leave a comment

Europe’s nuclear industry heavily dependent on Russian fuel and technology – no sanctions there.

 Western countries are being urged to stop buying Russian nuclear fuel amid
fears the trade is funding the war in Ukraine. Russia is one of the
world’s largest uranium suppliers with around 40pc of global capacity for
uranium enrichment.

While Europe has been weaning itself off Russian fossil
fuels, its nuclear sector is still heavily dependent on Russian imports.


“We need to escalate our collective pressure against the Kremlin, and the
nuclear industry is exactly one of the arenas that needs to be
considered,” said Tobias Ellwood, chairman of Parliament’s defence
committee. Russia’s dominance in the market, and the reliance of
countries including Hungary and Bulgaria on the fuel, has so far helped it
escape sanctions.

Russian state-owned uranium supplier Rosatom claims 17pc
of the global nuclear fuel market. It expects its 2022 exports growth to
reach 15pc, according to reports. It now has $200bn (£135bn) of orders.
Western countries have been stepping up their efforts to restrict
Russia’s revenues from oil as its war on Ukraine drags on. Companies such
as EDF in the UK have sought other suppliers in the wake of the war, but
there are concerns that Russia’s control of the market will return when
the conflict ends.

 Telegraph 30th Dec 2022

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/12/30/western-countries-urged-stop-buying-russian-nuclear-fuel/

January 1, 2023 Posted by | EUROPE, politics international | Leave a comment

Ukraine became de facto member of NATO in 2022: Defense Minister

UkrinformDecember 31, 2022 This year, Ukraine de facto became part of NATO – Reznikov Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov has said that this year, Ukraine de facto became part of NATO, and this cooperation will continue. *** According to him, the spirit of the Ukrainian people and their invincibility demonstrated that Ukraine is the real […]

Ukraine became de facto member of NATO in 2022: DM — Anti-bellum

January 1, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

In the Pacific, Outcry Over Japan’s Plan to Release FukushimaWastewater.

The proposal has angered many of Japan’s neighbors,
particularly those with the most direct experience of unexpected exposure
to dangerous levels of radiation. Tanks are storing radioactive water at the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan.

The government plans to
release the water, treated, but still slightly radioactive, into the
Pacific starting in spring 2023. Every day at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
plant in Japan, officials flush over a hundred tons of water through its
corroded reactors to keep them cool after the calamitous meltdown of 2011.
Then the highly radioactive water is pumped into hundreds of white and blue
storage tanks that form a mazelike array around the plant. For the last
decade, that’s where the water has stayed.

But with more than 1.3 million
tons in the tanks, Japan is running out of room. So next year in spring, it
plans to begin releasing the water into the Pacific after treatment for
most radioactive particles, as has been done elsewhere.

 New York Times 30th Dec 2022

January 1, 2023 Posted by | Japan, oceans, wastes | Leave a comment

Increasing kill chain speed: Pentagon augments HIMARS for Ukraine, Latvia, Taiwan

Defense PostDecember 29, 2022 US Army Seeks HIMARS Fire Control Systems for Ukraine, Taiwan The US Army has sought information on M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) fire control systems for partner nations Ukraine, Taiwan, and Latvia. The US Army Contracting Command issued a “source sought” notification last month for International Field Artillery Tactical […]

Increasing kill chain speed: Pentagon augments HIMARS for Ukraine, Latvia, Taiwan — Anti-bellum

January 1, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

3,000 civilians dead in Mariupol – Russian officials investigating – and claim that Ukrainian troops are responsible

Over 3,000 bodies of civilians recovered in Mariupol – investigators- https://www.rt.com/russia/569180-mariupol-civilian-deaths-ukraine/ 30 Dec 2022

Russian officials blamed the deaths on Ukrainian troops who are said to have forced residents to remain in the city .

The criminal actions of Ukrainian troops during the battle for Mariupol resulted in thousands of civilian deaths, Russian investigators have claimed. Local authorities have reportedly recovered over 3,000 bodies of people who were allegedly forced by Kiev’s troops to remain in the city while the conflict raged. 

The figure was revealed in a statement by Russia’s Investigative Committee on Friday, after committee chief Aleksandr Bastrykin held a meeting in Mariupol with officials investigating alleged Ukrainian crimes. 

The port city, located in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), saw intense fighting between February and May, as Ukrainian troops were pushed back and encircled by Russian and DPR forces. Russia created humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to leave the city, but the Ukrainian side would not allow them to use the escape routes, Russian officials claimed. 

“With no opportunity to leave the city, civilians moved around in search of food and became living targets for the Ukrainian punishers, who murdered them using various kinds of weapons,” the statement said. 

In April alone, the bodies of 51 civilians were found at positions previously held by Ukrainian forces, while the total number of civilians found in the city was over 3,000, according to the prosecutors. 

Russia has opened criminal cases targeting the people directly involved in the alleged transgressions as well as those above them in the Ukrainian chain of command. The list includes Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, the head of the country’s armed forces, according to the Investigative Committee. They are being probed for offenses related to the use of banned methods of war, with prosecutors collecting evidence of possible criminal orders to kill civilians and prisoners of war. 

Officials remarked that identifying many of the victims was challenging. They suggested that people searching for missing relatives in Mariupol be urged to donate their DNA so that the samples could be compared against a database of samples collected from the recovered bodies.

January 1, 2023 Posted by | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

German residents told to prepare for nuclear emergencies

German Residents must make preparations for nuclear emergencies, the
President of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Inge Paulini,
warned on Wednesday. In an interview with Funke media group newspapers,
Paulini pointed out that “radiation does not stop at the borders,” and
claimed that the ongoing military conflict between Moscow and Kiev has
“made it clear to the German residents that we have to be and remain
prepared for a wide variety of nuclear emergencies.”

Russia has repeatedly insisted that it does not intend to use atomic weapons in
Ukraine and has referred to its nuclear doctrine which only allows the use
of such munitions in a retaliatory fashion or in the case the country is
faced with an existential threat from conventional warfare.

 Global Village Space 29th Dec 2022

German residents told to prepare for nuclear emergencies

January 1, 2023 Posted by | Germany, safety | Leave a comment

Japan’s Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing project delayed again – for the 26th time

The completion of a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Aomori Prefecture
will be delayed by two years, the 26th postponement since the project
started three decades ago.

Senior officials with Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.,
operator of the facility under construction, said the new completion date
will be in the first half of fiscal 2024. The officials visited the Aomori
prefectural government and the village hall of Rokkasho, the site of the
plant, on Dec. 26 to explain the situation.

An earlier completion timeframe
was listed as in the first half of fiscal 2022. But the company in
September postponed this deadline without giving a new date. It said
prolonged safety checks of the facility by the Nuclear Regulation Authority
made it difficult to do so and pledged to announce the new deadline by the
year-end.

According to Japan Nuclear Fuel’s latest estimate, the NRA’s
screening of the detailed design of the plant will take about a year, while
checks of the plant will take four to seven months after it clears the
safety standards. The company said it will work hard to move up the
completion to an early date of the first half of fiscal 2024.

 Asahi Shimbun 27th Dec 2022

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14803106

January 1, 2023 Posted by | Japan, reprocessing | 1 Comment

January 1 Energy News — geoharvey

Science and Technology: ¶ “Sorghum: Harnessing The Power Of Climate Smart Crops” • As we begin to see the effects of climate change, it is clear that not all crops will be reliable producers in the long term. Extreme weather patterns and changing ecosystems pose a threat to many of the sources of food and […]

January 1 Energy News — geoharvey

January 1, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

North Korea says it will boost nuclear warhead production ‘exponentially’, as another missile fired

ABC News 1 Jan 2023, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to increase the production of nuclear warheads “exponentially” and build a more powerful intercontinental ballistic missile, state media reports, signalling deepening animosities with the United States, South Korea and others.

Key points:

  • Kim Jong Un said his country would be “doubling down” on building military power
  • He said this was in response to the “dangerous military moves” of the US and “other hostile forces”
  • His statement came hours after North Korea fired another ballistic missile on Sunday

Mr Kim’s statement at a key ruling party meeting was released hours after North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters, entering 2023 with another weapons test following a record number of missile firings last year…………………………………………………………….. more https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-01/north-korea-to-boost-nuclear-warhead-production-exponentially/101820160

January 1, 2023 Posted by | North Korea, weapons and war | Leave a comment

MIND OF THE MACHINE Chilling AI predicts what nuclear war would look like with attacks on London, Moscow and Washington 

 https://www.the-sun.com/news/7027327/artificial-intelligence-nuclear-war-prediction/ Henry Holloway, Dec 31 2022

ARTIFICIAL intelligence has offered a horrifying vision of what the world faces in nuclear armageddon and World War 3.

Responding to prompts such as “nuclear bomb”, “war” and “apocalypse” – the AI tool produced a series of truly grim pictures which could offer a glimpse into the future.

Pictures show devastated cityscapes burning with what could be nuclear fire and grim looking soldiers amongst the ruins.

Mushroom clouds rise over desolate landscapes – including one seen looming beside the US Capitol building in Washington DC.

Strange looking machines rumble in what the AI envisioned could be the weapons of the future

And lone figures walk amongst eerie, unrecognisable hellscapes when the AI was asked who it thinks could be the “last man on earth”.

Huge fireballs are seen descending towards burning cities in what could be a nuclear attack.

Soldiers walk amongst ruined landscapes as aircraft, appearing to be giant quadcopter drones fly overhead.

And when asked about what could happen to London, it produced what appears to be an image of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

And another image shows what could be Oxford or Regent Street utterly deserted as its left in total ruin.

Other images show a horde of hopeless looking people stood amongst the ruins of an unidentified city.

Piles of rubble surround them as they hunker beneath the ruins of what may have once been a skyscraper.

And one chilling image shows the Washington Monument – two of them – with a mushroom cloud rising around them.

Massive vehicles are also seen hauling huge missiles in the AI generated images.

Enormous tank-like machines are also seen in the pictures.

Could this really be what the world will look like during a nuclear apocalypse and World War 3?

The AI system of course just responds to the limited prompts given to it rather than world events, but right now the talk of Armageddon has been compared to the height of the Cold War.

ART OF THE FUTURE

AI system NightCafe Creator was used to produce the images – and its one of many new tools showing the boundaries of computer tech.

It works by simply offering a few words as a prompt before the system then produces a piece of “art”.

The system was invented by Angus Russell and takes its name from the famous Vincent Van Gogh painting the The Night Cafe.

It uses machine learning and a neural network to put together pictures based on the prompts offered to it by humans.

AI generated art has caused controversy as some systems are allowing users to actually sell their pieces.

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January 1, 2023 Posted by | 2 WORLD, culture and arts, weapons and war | Leave a comment

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