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US rejects Australian plea to drop Assange case

29 July 23,  https://www.rt.com/news/580512-blinken-rejects-assange-australia/

Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted that the WikiLeaks founder caused “serious harm” to US national security

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has confirmed that Australia has raised the case of Julian Assange’s continued prosecution, but declared that Washington will not cease seeking the extradition of the former WikiLeaks boss and intends to try him for espionage.

Speaking alongside Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Brisbane on Saturday, Blinken said that while he understands “the concerns and views of Australians,” Assange’s alleged actions “risked very serious harm to our national security, to the benefit of our adversaries, and put named human sources at grave risk – grave risk – of physical harm, and grave risk of detention.”

Assange, he said, was “charged with very serious criminal conduct” and had allegedly taken part in “one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of our country.”

An Australian citizen, Julian Assange is currently being held in London’s Belmarsh Prison. He is fighting extradition to the US, where he faces 17 charges under the Espionage Act and potentially a 175-year prison sentence. Human-rights and press-freedom activists have demanded his release, citing his deteriorating mental and physical health, while Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in May that he was “working through diplomatic channels” to press the US into dropping the case.

The charges against Assange stem from his publication of classified material obtained by whistleblowers, including Pentagon documents detailing alleged US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more than 250,000 diplomatic cables exposing US efforts to – among other things – spy on its allies and influence foreign elections.

While Assange did not personally steal these documents, he is nevertheless being prosecuted for espionage. He and his supporters argue that WikiLeaks’ publication of this material is protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

“We have made clear our view that Mr Assange’s case has dragged on for too long,” Foreign Minister Wong said on Saturday. “We’ve said that publicly and you would anticipate that that reflects also the position we articulate in private.” 

The extradition of Assange from Britain to the US was approved in 2020 by then-UK Home Secretary Priti Patel. The publisher lodged his final appeal against the decision in June, after all eight grounds of a previous appeal were rejected by a British High Court judge. 

Responding to Blinken’s comments on Saturday, Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, said that it is now up to Prime Minister Albanese to make a public appeal for Assange’s freedom, during his upcoming visit to the US. 

August 2, 2023 Posted by | civil liberties, Legal, USA | Leave a comment

The unpalatable facts of the costs to consumers of electricity from new nuclear power

ATLANTA (AP) — The first American nuclear reactor to be built from scratch in decades is sending electricity reliably to the grid, but the cost of the Georgia power plant could discourage utilities from pursuing nuclear power as a path to a carbon-free future.

Georgia Power Co. announced Monday that Unit 3 at Plant Vogtle, southeast of Augusta, has completed testing and is now in commercial operation, seven years late and $17 billion over budget.

……………………………………………………. In Georgia, almost every electric customer will pay for Vogtle. Georgia Power currently owns 45.7% of the reactors. Smaller shares are owned by Oglethorpe Power Corp., which provides electricity to member-owned cooperatives, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and the city of Dalton. Oglethorpe and MEAG plan to sell power to cooperatives and municipal utilities across Georgia, as well in Jacksonville, Florida, and parts of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.

Georgia Power’s residential customers are projected to pay more than $926 apiece as part of an ongoing finance charge and elected public service commissioners have approved a rate increase. Residential customers will pay $4 more per month as soon as the third unit begins generating power. That could hit bills in August, two months after residential customers saw a $16-a-month increase to pay for higher fuel costs.

The high construction costs have wiped out any future benefit from low nuclear fuel costs in the future, experts have repeatedly testified before commissioners.

“The cost increases and schedule delays have completely eliminated any benefit on a life-cycle cost basis,” Tom Newsome, director of utility finance for the commission, testified Thursday in a Georgia Public Service Commission hearing examining spending.

The utility will face a fight from longtime opponents of the plant, many of whom note that power generated from solar and wind would be cheaper. They say letting Georgia Power make ratepayers pay for mistakes will unfairly bolster the utility’s profits.

“While capital-intensive and expensive projects may benefit Georgia Power’s shareholders who have enjoyed record profits throughout Vogtle’s beleaguered construction, they are not the least-cost option for Georgians who are feeling the sting of repeated bill increases,” Southern Environmental Law Center staff attorney Bob Sherrier said in a statement.

Commissioners will decide later who pays for the remainder of the costs of Vogtle, including the fourth reactor. Customers will pay for the share of spending that commissioners determine was prudent, while the company and its shareholders will have to pay for spending commissioners decide was wasteful.

Georgia Power CEO Kim Greene said the company hasn’t decided how much it will ask customers to pay. https://apnews.com/article/georgia-power-nuclear-reactor-vogtle-9555e3f9169f2d58161056feaa81a425

August 2, 2023 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

UK government must come clean, to tax-payers and consumers, on the financial figures before signing up to new nuclear programme

 Full report. See in particular paras 41 -44. “The Government should show
how this offers value for money to taxpayers … So far, the Government has
not published financial figures which allow the cost of this risk transfer
to be known. The Government must publish figures, before signing contracts
for new gigawatt-scale nuclear, which allow a proper assessment of value
for money to be made, including setting out the level and potential cost of
construction risk to be borne by the consumer or taxpayer …

The Government should publish details of how the estimated savings from using
the RAB model for funding Sizewell C were calculated, and provide clarity
for the funding structure, by publishing the Heads of Terms for the agreed
RAB funding model for that project.”

 Science, Innovation, Technology Committee 31st July 2023

https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/41092/documents/200069/default/

August 2, 2023 Posted by | business and costs, politics, UK | Leave a comment

Campaigners against Sizewell C nuclear plan welcome call for financial clarity from Science, Innovation and Technology Committee

 Campaigners against the Sizewell C nuclear power plant project in Suffolk
welcomed the committee’s call for Government clarity on the financing of
gigawatt-scale nuclear projects. A spokesperson for the Stop Sizewell C
campaign said:

“We’re appalled that the committee has ignored
legitimate concerns about whether nuclear can deliver reliable, affordable
electricity.” The group said it supported “the committee calling for
the Government to publish Sizewell C’s cost and value for money, as doing
so will expose just how unjustifiable this slow, risky, expensive project
is”.

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said:
“We have already made clear we will publish a nuclear roadmap and consult
on alternative routes to market by the end of the year.

 Nation Cymru 31st July 2023

August 2, 2023 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, UK | Leave a comment

Another kick in the teeth for UK taxpayers as EDF pockets another £170m of public money for their Sizewell C White Elephant.

In another lame attempt to prop up French adventurism into the UK’s energy sector, the UK
government has handed a further £170m from the public purse (note 1) to
EDF. With the CGN buy-out costing UK plc close to £700m and subsequent
‘encouragements’ to tempt reluctant investors to part with funding for
the doomed development at Sizewell, this brings the total amount of public
money handed over to EDF close to £1bn. East Suffolk residents could be
forgiven for thinking that Sizewell C is ‘shovel ready’: it is not. It
is, in fact, a long way from the Final Investment Decision (FID), the point
at which construction can begin. Even if the UK government and EDF can each
stump up £6bn the project will still be 60% short of the estimated £30bn
– a matter of £18bn to find. But that’s not all: dozens of licences
and permits have yet to be issued by the regulatory authorities, including
the site licence from the Office of Nuclear Regulation, and there is the
small matter of finding 2.2 million litres of mains water every day for 60
years of operation here in the driest county in the country, already
experiencing drought conditions.

 TASC 31st July 2023

https://tasizewellc.org.uk/

August 2, 2023 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Protests held in Tokyo against nuclear water discharge

By Jiang Xueqing in Tokyo | chinadaily.com.cn 2023-07  https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202307/31/WS64c7b5d8a31035260b819829.html
—

Japanese and South Korean civic groups gathered in front of the Japanese Prime Minister’s official residence on Monday in opposition to the administration’s plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean.

People attending the rally said the Japanese government’s insistence on discharging nuclear-contaminated water into the sea is an irresponsible move.

They raised doubts about the Japanese government’s claim the nuclear-contaminated water will be diluted before being released. Whether diluted or not, the protesters said, the overall radioactive substance level in the water remain unchanged.

They stressed discharging the water into the ocean will have a significant impact on the global marine environment.

Last week, a similar protest was held by Japanese people in front of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo.

Protesters said on Friday the ocean discharge plan is unacceptable because it poses a significant danger of radioactive contamination and will adversely affect the marine ecosystem and human health.

Some expressed concerns about Japan’s economy, which they believe will be affected by a boycott movement in neighboring countries and regions.

August 2, 2023 Posted by | Japan, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Requiem for NATO’s Nightmare – the Vilnius summit.

The dysfunction of the Atlantic military alliance over Ukrainian membership was just the most public manifestation of the debacle that was the Vilnius summit.

By Scott Ritter / Consortium News, 31 July 23

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emerges as a tragic figure in the unfolding drama that is the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

He was asked to sacrifice the lives of his countrymen in order to be seen by the U.S. and NATO as worthy of joining their club. But when the sacrifice did not produce the desired result (i.e., the strategic defeat of Russia), the door to NATO, which had been left open a crack to tease Ukraine into performing its suicidal task, was slammed shut.

Despite NATO’s disingenuous machinations to maintain the optics of potential Ukrainian membership (the Ukraine-NATO Council, created during the Vilnius Summit earlier this month, stands as a prime example), everyone knows that Ukrainian membership in the trans-Atlantic alliance is a fantasy.

Ukraine is now left to pick a poison of its own choosing — accept a peace which makes permanent Russian territorial claims while forever foregoing the possibility, however distant, of NATO membership; or to continue to fight, with the likely outcome of the additional loss of territory and destruction of the Ukrainian nation and people……………………………………..

As Ukraine bids farewell to its former self, it must also part with its dreams of becoming one with a European community whose own longevity is very much in doubt. That is largely because of its disastrous involvement in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Ukraine will never be the same after this war ends. Neither will the NATO alliance. Having defined the proxy war it is waging in Ukraine against Russia in existential terms, NATO will struggle to find both relevance and purpose in a post-conflict world.

The Vilnius summit on July 11-12 in many ways represented the high-water mark of Europe’s old order. The summit was the requiem for a nightmare of Europe’s own creation — the death of a nation, the nullification of a continent and the end of an order which had long ago lost its legitimacy.

Strange Isolation

Watching the reporting from the Vilnius summit, I was struck by the strange isolation of Zelensky as he sought to mingle with the leaders of NATO nations that called him friend and ally but treated him and the nation he leads as anything but.  Zelensky had pulled out all the stops to jockey Ukraine into position for NATO membership, only to be scratched at the gate.

……………………………………………………………Later, during a press conference with U.S. President Joe Biden, Zelensky stood mute while Biden continued to pour cold water on the prospects for Ukrainian NATO membership. 

…………………………………The NATO dysfunction over Ukrainian membership, however, was but the most public manifestation of the debacle that was the Vilnius Summit.

The Fantasy of Unity…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

To sum up: Biden and Stoltenberg highlighted the decision by Erdogan to move the application for Swedish membership to NATO onto the Turkish Parliament for ratification as a symbol of NATO’s “rock solid” unity.

Left unsaid is that Erdogan had to threaten NATO to get the U.S. to articulate a bribe that had the U.S. waiving its prior sanctioning of a NATO ally while at the same time compelling the U.S. to consider the security implications of the deal, given the open hostility that exists between Turkey and fellow NATO member Greece……………………………………………….

Goodbye to All That

If the weeks leading up to the Vilnius summit were defined by the desire on the part of NATO to see the long-awaited and much-touted Ukrainian counteroffensive reach its maximum potential, the days which preceded the NATO gathering have confronted both Ukraine and its Western allies with the reality that the war is not going well for either.

The Ukrainian counteroffensive was formed around a core force of some 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers who received special training by NATO and European militaries on weapons and tactics designed to defeat Russian defenses. Since the counteroffensive began on June 8, Ukraine has lost nearly half of these troops, and a third of the equipment provided — including scores of the Leopard main battle tanks and Bradly infantry fighting vehicles that had been viewed by many as game-changing technology.

Back in 1993, George Soros postulated an architecture for a new world order premised on the United States as the sole remaining superpower overseeing a network of alliances, the most important being NATO, which would gird the northern hemisphere against a Russian threat.

“The United States,” Soros wrote, “would not be called upon to act as the policeman of the world. When it acts, it would act in conjunction with others. Incidentally, the combination of manpower from Eastern Europe with the technical capabilities of NATO would greatly enhance the military potential” of any U.S.-led alliance structure “because it would reduce the risk of body bags for NATO countries, which is the main constraint on their willingness to act.”

Forty years later, this very scenario is playing out on the bloody battlefields of Russia and Ukraine. The billions of dollars of military assistance provided by the U.S., NATO and other European nations is the living manifestation of the “technical capabilities” Soros spoke about, which are being married to “manpower from Eastern Europe” (i.e., Ukraine) to enhance the military potential of NATO in a way that reduces “the risk of body bags for NATO countries.”

 https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/31/scott-ritter-requiem-for-natos-nightmare/

August 2, 2023 Posted by | EUROPE, politics international | Leave a comment

A Vital Atlantic Ocean System Could Collapse Sooner Than Previously Thought

Climate change is slowing down the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, a key ocean “conveyer belt.” New research finds it could collapse completely by 2060.

By Siri Chilukuri / Grist 31 Jul 23  ScheerPost

Oceans all over the world rely on a delicate balance of different elements to remain stable: Temperature, salinity, pH, and pressure all combine to create the complex bodies of water that maintain conditions for marine life and define the planet. Climate change has altered those conditions, though, by warming oceans to record-high temperatures and introducing more fresh water through sea-ice and glacier melt. 

Now, new research published on Tuesday warns that a vital Atlantic Ocean system could collapse by 2060, setting off one of the planet’s tipping points, or potential points of no return. That collapse could eventually spell catastrophe for the people who live in countries that border the Atlantic Ocean, leading to increased sea-level rise in the United States, decreased temperatures and altered storm patterns over Western Europe, rejiggered climate and agricultural zones, and hotter ocean temperatures in the Caribbean. 

The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, contradicts findings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, the United Nations’ scientific collaboration that publishes reports on the state of climate change. The group’s latest assessment, released last year, found the collapse of the group of Atlantic Ocean currents to be unlikely given the group only acknowledges weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, starting in 2004. The report notes that scientists cannot say when or if a collapse will happen, since they state even the decline prior to the 2000s cannot necessarily be attributed to climate change. 

We absolutely have deep respect for the IPCC report,” Susanne Ditlevsen, a statistician at the University of Copenhagen and co-author of the study, told Grist. “When we first started, we had this idea that we could use this method that’s data-based, to kind of confirm what the IPCC report is saying. So when we actually got our first results, we were very surprised, and we didn’t believe them.” 

The AMOC is a thick band of water that travels from the Gulf of Mexico north along the southeastern U.S. before heading up the western edge of Europe, carrying mild temperatures with it, and onward toward Greenland and Iceland. Once there, the current is infused with heavy, cold, and salty water that then sinks, traveling back down the coast of the U.S. This system provides what one expert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, called “symmetry” to temperatures in the North and South hemispheres. 

But as carbon dioxide levels rise, temperatures increase, and ice melts in the Arctic, this current is being inundated with fresh water, throwing it out of balance. This has led to a weakening of the AMOC, which recently saw its slowest point in 1,600 years in 2021. 

If the web of Atlantic Ocean currents stopped, it would constitute one of the Earth’s tipping points, which signal a dramatic, potentially irreversible shift in the condition of the planet — and its habitability for humans. A study last year found that the planet may have already passed a few tipping points, including tropical coral die-off and the beginning of the Greenland ice-sheet collapse, at just 1.1 degree Celsius (1.9 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming. ……………………………………… https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/31/a-vital-atlantic-ocean-system-could-collapse-sooner-than-previously-thought/

August 2, 2023 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment

Nuclear news – week to 31 July

Some bits of good news –   Syrian refugees in Jordan empowered through heritage restoration work, employed by UNESCO.     “A Thousand Colours”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz4pLmi6tDY   This new UNESCO-Khalili Foundation film “A Thousand Colours” aims to humanize the notion of cultural diversity. Why is cultural diversity important? What are some of the current challenges that undermine it? And what can we do to protect and promote cultural diversity? These are some of the questions addressed by the short film, which gathers testimonies from a number of key global actors including UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors and advocates.  Saving the world is cheaper than ruining it.

TOP STORIES

If Albanese’s such a buddy of Biden’s, why is Assange still in jail? Australia Agrees To Build US Missiles; US Dismisses Australian Concerns About Assange.

William Hartung, Cashing in on a Perpetual Nuclear Arms Race.

Why investing in new nuclear plants is bad for the climate. Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) are supported by ideology alone.

Aboriginal Australians defeat nuclear dump,

Western media as cheerleaders for war.

Climate. ‘Era of global boiling has arrived,’ says UN chief . ‘Project 2025’: plan to dismantle US climate policy for next Republican president.

Nuclear. Militarism rules – not always nuclear-related, but pretty much so. I am currently feeling overwhelmed by the speed of my own country, Australia, in its hurtling rush to be a servant of the USA’s NUCLEAR-MILITARY-COMPLEX. No voice from the people – just a straightout government sellout.

Christina’s Notes. Jobs! jobs! jobs! – IN THE DEATH INDUSTRY.  Aliens in outer space – a little sad on watching earthlings.

CIVIL LIBERTIES. AUSMIN and Assange: The Great Vassal Smackdown

ECONOMICS.   Money talks: 109 global institutions restrict investments in nuclear weapons.        There’s no such thing as a new nuclear golden age–just old industry hands trying to make a buck. Keeping contentious nuclear plant open could cost Californians $45B: report.        As UK’s Hinkley nuclear plants costs rise to £32 billion ($41.5 billion) EDF Sees Higher Risk of Delays.  Government must back Rolls-Royce on nuclear, says ex-boss Sir John Rose.


EDUCATION. University of New Mexico Course Expands Understanding of Nuclear Impact.

ENERGY. Oppenheimer and nuclear energy: Is India and the world moving away from this power source? Old Nuclear Weapons Sites Targeted for Clean Energy Projects.

ENVIRONMENT. Failed Fukushima System Should Cancel Wastewater Ocean Dumping.

HISTORY. St. Louis link in ‘Oppenheimer’ is latest reminder of city’s nuclear legacy. Oppenheimer sent ‘chilling message’ to Jawaharlal Nehru about US building a deadly weapon, ‘begged’ him not to give access to raw material available in India.

LEGAL. Key British Assange supporter says Wikileaks founder could cut deal to secure freedom.

MEDIA. Oppenheimer’s Long Shadow- Reads on the atomic bomb and its creator. Nauseating subservience of Australia’s media and politics to American militarism. Readers disgusted with pro militarism report on Australia getting a “missiles industry”.    Australian media’s alarm over Chinese spy ship highlights stark double-standard.   

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. To avoid nuclear instability, a moratorium on integrating AI into nuclear decision-making is urgently needed: The NPT PrepCom can serve as a springboard

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR . 90 Seconds to Midnight – nuclear weapons are still a threat, not a lesson in history.

POLITICS. 

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY.

SAFETY. The misguided push to weaken nuclear safety standards is gaining steam. The Global Crisis at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Site Demands Immediate United Nations Intervention. Will this experimental nuclear reactor escape federal scrutiny? Aware people in Suffolk are astonished that very few people or organisations are consulted about changes to Sizewell C Nuclear’s Emergency Plan.

SECRETS and LIES. UPDATE – The Zaporozhiya Nuclear Plant: Zelenskiy’s Next Simulacra? CIA-Linked Security Company Targeted Former Ecuador President Who Granted Assange Asylum.

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. NASA solving climate crisis by facilitating escape to Mars? Funny How The UFO Narrative Coincides With The Race To Weaponize Space. Legal action over dangerous crowding of satellites and debris in space. NASA is planning to use nuclear power for the first human trip to Mars. Military interest in nuclear-powered space travel, but solar-powered is just as good, -and safer.

WASTES. IAEA report on Fukushima waste-water is wrong – nuclear scientist. Not in our backyard: Securing a referendum over Canada’s plan for a nuclear waste dump. AUKUS nuclear dump deal decades in the making by nuclear evangelists with prescience.

WAR and CONFLICT. Overnight drone attack on Moscow injures one and temporarily closes an airport as Russia suffers ‘consequences’. US admits to pushing Ukraine into a fight it can’t win .     Discarding Illusions, Ending Wars.       Nuclear weapons on the table if Ukraine counteroffensive succeeds: Russia’s Medvedev.       Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow is ‘international terrorism’ – Russia’s Foreign Ministry. 

 70 Years Later, The Korean War Must End. Washington’s looming war against China. The vanishing profession of preventing nuclear war.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. Trident nuclear project can’t be delivered, says watchdog.      Bombs away: Confronting the deployment of nuclear weapons in non-nuclear weapon countries.         Following the pattern of weapons to Ukraine, Pentagon to send $1billion of weapons to Taiwan .        What would George Washington do? He would have audacity to end nuclear weapons.

August 2, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Niger stops uranium and gold export to France

  • ByAl Mayadeen , Source: Agencies 1 Aug 23

Niger coup leader General Abdourahamane Tchiani, despite being EU’s largest supplier of uranium, halts uranium and gold export to France.

With immediate effect, the Republic of Niger under the leadership of General Abdourahamane Tchiani, and supported by the people of the Republic, announced the suspension of the export of uranium and gold to France on Sunday.

In parallel to the decision, protestors were surrounding the French Embassy in Niger calling for the end of French colonial practices repeating the slogan “Down with France!” and reaffirming their support to the coup leader, Tchiani…………………………………

It is also worth noting that Niger, according to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), is the world’s seventh-biggest producer of uranium. The WNA also confirms that Niger, in 2022, produced 2020 tU which would be considered just over 4% of world uranium output.

Currently, uranium production in Niger occurs mostly through a French majority-owned company called Orano which owns 63.4% of Société des Mines de l’Aïr (SOMAÏR). The remaining 36.66% of this is owned by Niger’s Société du Patrimoine des Mines du Niger, known as Sopamin.

In 2021, the European Union utilities purchased 2905 tU of Niger-produced uranium making Niger the leading uranium supplier vis-a-vis the EU.

Earlier, on July 28, Orano released a statement arguing that “the situation remains unstable” in Niger following the overthrowing of French ally and President of Niger Muhammed Bazoum. The company then added that it has “set up a crisis unit to prioritize the safety of its employees” and underscored that “this event to have any immediate impact on its activities in Niger or on the value of its assets.”….. https://english.almayadeen.net/news/Economy/niger-puts-an-end-to-uranium-and-gold-export-to-france

August 2, 2023 Posted by | business and costs | Leave a comment

As UK’s Hinkley nuclear plants costs rise to £32 billion ($41.5 billion) EDF Sees Higher Risk of Delays.

Electricite de France SA said the risk of further delay to two nuclear reactors in southwest England has risen because of construction setbacks.

Author of the article:

Bloomberg News, Francois de Beaupuy, https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/edf-sees-increased-risk-of-delay-to-new-uk-atomic-reactors

EDF flagged last year that the plants may start 15 months late. The reactors at Hinkley Point have been touted by the UK government as sparking a nuclear renaissance, boosting energy independence and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. But the work has been plagued by multiple holdups and cost overruns.

The increased risk of a 15-month delay is due to “performances on civil works and challenges on mechanical, electrical, heating, ventilation and air conditioning,” EDF said Thursday in an earnings presentation. “Progress is below the planned trajectory and action plans have been set.”

The reactors, costing as much as £32 billion ($41.5 billion), are due to start operating in 2027 and 2028. The ballooning budget has fueled controversy over the vast sums needed for new nuclear developments, even as other low-carbon technologies such as offshore wind have also faced inflationary pressures.

Hinkley Point’s setbacks come as EDF seeks to arrange financing for a second pair of atomic plants — at Sizewell in eastern England — that would use the same design. Delays and cost overruns may deter investors who also face increasing demands for capital from renewables, which provide swifter returns.

The debt-laden French utility has a 66.5% stake in Hinkley Point, while China General Nuclear Power Corp. owns the rest. As funding requirements now exceed contractual commitments, shareholders will be asked to provide additional equity voluntarily starting in the fourth quarter.

“The probability that CGN will not fund the project beyond its committed equity cap is high,” EDF said Thursday. “Financing solutions are being investigated, in the event that CGN does not allocate its voluntary equity.

August 2, 2023 Posted by | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

Legal action over dangerous crowding of satellites and debris in space

2 The Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space is involved in a legal action against the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to pressure them to create rules/guidelines for the launching of satellites in space. Lower Earth orbit (LEO) is becoming dangerously crowded and NASA scientists are concerned about growing space debris and likely cascading collisions in orbit (Kessler Syndrome). The US is moving quickly to grab as many of the remaining orbital parking spaces as possible in order to deny Russia, China, India and other nations from deploying satellites in LEO.

The Space Force today contends that it will ‘control and dominate space’ and use space tech to win wars on the Earth below.

Our lead lawyer recently sent the GN this report (linked above) on the current legal challenge and the issues involved……….. more https://space4peace.org/legal-action-against-fcc/

August 2, 2023 Posted by | Legal, technology | Leave a comment