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U.S. Congress passes bill barring imports of Russian uranium for nuclear power, (but this ban can be waived as needed.)

The Hill, BY RACHEL FRAZIN – 12/11/23

The House on Monday passed legislation that would bar imports of Russian uranium for nuclear power plants. 

The measure was passed by a voice vote with bipartisan support. Ahead of the voice vote, Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.) and Democrat Rep. Frank Pallone (N.J.) spoke in favor of the bill. 

The legislation would make it illegal to import low-enriched uranium, which is used in nuclear fuel, 90 days after the bill becomes law. 

It allows for the prohibition to be waived, however, if there aren’t other viable sources of uranium to sustain nuclear reactors.

According to the Energy Information Administration, the majority of uranium that powers U.S. plants is imported, and about 12 percent of those imports came from Russia in 2022. …………………. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4354533-house-passes-bill-barring-imports-russian-uranium-nucler-power/

December 13, 2023 Posted by | politics, USA | 1 Comment

Ukraine’s 200 Fighter Jet Demand Could Lead To Nuclear Catastrophe.

The current state of Ukraine is in total ruins. Beautiful cities have been reduced to rubble. What an exorbitant cost to pay for NATO membership!

Russia Could End The War By Nuking Kyiv

Eurasian Times, OPED By Gp Cpt TP Srivastava 12 Dec 23

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is in its 22nd month. On February 24, 2024, the unwanted and highly undesirable Russia-Ukraine war will be two years old. Putin’s declaration of suspending START signed in 2010 (due to expire in 2026) by Obama and Medvedev heightens the risk of a nuclear war.

The most pertinent question is, ‘Whose war is it anyway’? Few military strategists believe that there is no specific answer. Few believe that it is due to Russia’s hostile attitude towards Ukraine.

That is surprising because the simple answer to this supposedly complex question is the US’s desire to expand NATO eastward. Finally, the USA and its NATO cronies found a puppet in the form of Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky, who was/is willing to dance to their tune even though, in the process, he has single-handedly destroyed a beautiful nation.

He has brought the world to the brink of a nuclear war. The President of Belarus has been categorical in his assertion that the USA and other NATO members forced this war on Russia (during an interview with BBC).

The near destruction of a nation’s infrastructure and death of hundreds of thousands of soldiers/civilians (exact figures will/may be known after the war ends, if and when it does) has achieved nothing. What was the crying need for the USA to push for Ukraine to join NATO?

Until this insane desire of the USA altered the Russia-Ukraine relations, things between the two nations were stable. Instead of treading into the past regarding the expansion of NATO eastwards, the most recent event of German reunification merits a mention.

After Russia was convinced of the need for German reunification, the then Secretary of State of the USA, James Baker, stated, “NATO would not expand an inch eastward” or words to that effect.

Non-Expansion Of NATO Eastward

Russia reminded NATO and the USA about the verbal commitment of the USA regarding ‘no eastward expansion of NATO’ on quite a few occasions. The annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014 merely caused a minor whimper from G-7 nations when they decided to boycott the summit to be held at Sochi.

On February 14, 2022, the Russian Foreign Minister clearly and unambiguously stated that the continued efforts of the USA to bring in Ukraine as a NATO member will have serious repercussions. Russia demanded a legal ban on Ukraine joining NATO based on a commitment made by the USA as one of the conditions for German reunification. But Russian demand was rejected, both by NATO and Ukraine.

Russia was forced into a corner, which led to Russia openly justifying the breach of the Budapest Memorandum. As if Ukraine’s impending entry into the NATO fold was not enough for Russia to retaliate, Sweden and Finland joined the queue.

It would be pertinent to mention that Finland and Sweden decided to remain neutral during the height of the Cold War. But for the objection raised by Turkey and Hungary, Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership was delayed as the 32nd and 33rd members of NATO. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel had called NATO a ‘BRAIN DEAD’ alliance.

Despite repeated statements by Russia, Ukraine declined to join Russia for talks; the last offer made was on February 19, 2022. Russia attacked (read Special Military Operations Commenced) on February 24, 2022. The USA and NATO countries did not expect Russia to launch the offensive. But Putin is famous for doing the unexpected, which is what he did.

Russia Vs. Ukraine Or Russia Vs. NATO

Except for the first six weeks of the war, when it could be called the Russia-Ukraine war, the nature of the war started altering rapidly to the Russia–NATO war. Military strategists of the world opine that Ukraine has fought Russia on equal terms. Nothing could be further from the truth. Russia has given a befitting reply to NATO and the USA combined.

The current state of Ukraine is in total ruins. Beautiful cities have been reduced to rubble. What an exorbitant cost to pay for NATO membership! Whatever chances there were for Ukraine to join NATO have evaporated in thin air. In the prevailing scenario, Russia will adopt all possible measures, including nuclear options, to ensure that Ukraine is not admitted to NATO.

USA & NATO Want War To End?

Instead of addressing the issue of whether Ukraine and Russia want to end the war, the above question is more pertinent. US hypocrisy is evident. The USA has already given more than US$30 billion in military aid and nearly US$40 billion in humanitarian assistance.

However, the US Secretary of State announced a grant of an ‘astronomical’ sum of US$100 million to help Turkey recover from one of the most disastrous natural calamities the world has witnessed.

POTUS decided to travel to Kyiv on February 19, 2023, albeit by a ten-hour-long train journey. It is only the third time that POTUS has visited a war zone but with a difference. Obama visited Afghanistan, and Bush went to Iraq. But their trips were done secretly. Biden visited Kyiv after giving prior information to Russia lest an errant SSM find its way close to where Biden was in Kyiv.

NATO members faithfully follow their ‘political master,’ the USA. UK, Germany, France, and Poland have offered Ukraine military aid. Are their actions meant to end the unwanted war?

This is even though Germany’s bill for energy for the current fiscal would/might exceed by nearly US$160 billion. Germany thrived and prospered due to Russian gas. The ‘international policeman’ probably sabotaged NORD STREAM 1 and 2, who did not hesitate to carry out the most disastrous ecological catastrophe in recent times.

A mature and responsible head of state should have announced from the war zone that the war must end to avoid further disaster and eliminate any chances of a nuclear war. Instead, Biden said that the USA stands with Ukraine………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Imminent Nuclear War?

The United Nations Secretary-General had this to say in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war: “Geopolitical crises with grave nuclear undertones are spreading fast from the Middle East to the Korean Peninsula to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

He made this statement in Hiroshima. Putin’s doctrine enunciates that Russia reserves the right to exercise nuclear options even against a formidable conventional weapon attack, which might threaten Russia’s territorial integrity.

Failure Of Kyiv Offensive

Pseudo-military strategists will take longer to declare that the Kyiv offensive has failed. Zelensky’s militarily insane option is not only disastrous for Ukraine but also for European nations adjoining Russia. Finland must regret its decision to join NATO and convert an otherwise dormant and safe border with Russia into a highly active one.

In all likelihood, whether Russia is close to victory or Ukraine is deliberating on a ‘smoking’ peace pipe will be known shortly. Ukraine cannot sustain the war effort without active support from USA and EU nations, which appears to be dwindling.

Future

Russia has been able to achieve its military aim of destroying Ukrainian infrastructure, which will take decades to rebuild at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars. Has Ukraine gained anything except the destruction of its cities and making lakhs homeless? Exact casualty figures may never be known. That NATO is ‘tired’ of this war is evident from recent statements of the German Chancellor and French President.

‘White Man’s War’ will end, if it ends, without any firm conclusion. Impending NATO membership in Ukraine might remain an unfulfilled dream.

With the US presidential elections due in November 2024 and Taiwan in January 2024, the US administration may not have enough time for ‘TV Actor’ Zelensky. The unforeseen war between HAMAS and Israel has resulted in the shift of US focus, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict has become just another skirmish.

Republicans have vehemently opposed Biden’s proposal for aid to Ukraine. If they successfully block further assistance to Ukraine, Zelensky might realize the reality and be ‘forced’ to seek peace with Russia. NATO membership is no guarantee for security. In addition, differences are emerging between Zelensky and his top military advisors.

Therefore, sustaining the war through the winters might be a difficult option. Putin’s recent visits to Saudi Arabia and UAE also sent a strong signal to the West, highlighting that Russia is not as isolated as was predicted by the West.

The announcement of Vladimir Putin seeking yet another tenure as President sends a clear, crisp, and candid message to the West: stop the eastward expansion of NATO, or else — Zelensky’s military hierarchy may not support his continued effort to make Ukraine a NATO member and in the process destroy Ukraine. Conditions are ideal for Zelensky’s removal and possible military takeover in Ukraine.

December 13, 2023 Posted by | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

COP28 fossil fuel pledges will not limit global warming to 1.5C, says IEA

 COP28 fossil fuel pledges will not limit global warming to 1.5C, says IEA.
Summit president Sultan al-Jaber’s plans to reduce climate goals’ gap
‘not good enough’, warns energy agency’s chief.

Emissions-cutting
pledges made by about 130 countries and 50 fossil fuel companies at the
start of the UN climate summit will still leave the world far off track in
limiting global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, according to
an analysis from the International Energy Agency.

Together, the countries
account for more than half of the world’s gross domestic product, the
agency said. The IEA has calculated that full implementation of a set of
measures that are part of a new global decarbonisation alliance would only
reduce the energy-related emissions gap between the current trajectory and
a 1.5°C scenario by about a third by 2030.

 FT 10th Dec 2023

https://www.ft.com/content/08e08334-f637-4a4f-8374-3f6c24ba7dd2

December 13, 2023 Posted by | climate change | 1 Comment

 Sellafield staff ‘used home computers to beat security failings’.


Cybersecurity fears grow amid claims Britain’s most hazardous nuclear
site was targeted by hackers linked to Russia and China. Staff at
Sellafield were asked to work on sensitive projects using their home
computers, a former employee has said, amid questions about cybersecurity
at Britain’s most hazardous nuclear site after claims it was hacked by
groups linked to Russia and China.

Claire Coutinho, the energy secretary,
is due to meet representatives from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
(NDA) after an investigation alleged that state actors had embedded sleeper
malware into the computer network at Sellafield, the largest nuclear waste
and decommissioning site in Europe.

Sources told The Guardian that IT
breaches had been detected as far back as 2015, and accused the
organisation’s leaders of having “consistently covered up” the scale
of the intrusions. Highly sensitive material potentially relating to the
movement of radioactive waste and monitoring of leaks had likely been
compromised, and it is still unknown as to whether the malware has been
successfully eradicated, the newspaper reported.

A former staff member, who
worked as a senior manager at the site between 2008 and 2021, told The
Times that staff had a “complacent” and “lax” attitude towards
cybersecurity, with employees often leaving their login details attached to
their computers and frequently having to be reminded to lock their screens.

 Times 9th Dec 2023

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sellafield-staff-used-home-computers-to-beat-security-failings-ccxwqwv3x

December 13, 2023 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

US casts sole vote in UN to continue the annihilation of Gaza

Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL ,10 Dec 23

December 8th now makes 2 consecutive calendar Days of Infamy for America. But this one, coming 92 years and a day after the first, is not from an attack on America. It comes from America’s descent into madness, enabling and supporting Israel’s genocidal ethnic cleansing of Gaza after the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel.

The UAE sponsored the UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. Within 24 hours they garnered nearly a hundred co-sponsors from the UN’s 193 members.  UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez invoked rarely used Article 99 of the UN Charter to bring the resolution to the Security Council for immediate consideration over “threats to international peace and “humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza”.

But the US blocked the resolution with a dastardly veto. Thirteen other members voted for it, including some of America’s staunch allies. Even our most lockstep ally Britain abstained. The US now stands alone in supporting Israel’s campaign making Gaza uninhabitable.

Ministers from Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey came to D.C. to plead with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to support the ceasefire. But Blinken put them off till after the after the UN vote.

When questioned about the devastation in Gaza, Biden, Blinken just nod and mutter something about imploring Israel to try harder not to annihilate all the Palestinians there. Meanwhile Netanyahu tells his war cabinet “We need 3 things from the US: munitions, munitions, and munitions.” And he gets them PDQ

How bad is that annihilation? Roughly 70% of the 70,000 deaths and injuries are women and children. UN chief Gutierrez cited Article 99 for the first time since 1971 in calling the emergency session to address the “humanitarian nightmare Gaza is facing.” He cited endless bombings that have hit 339 schools, 26 hospitals, 56 health care facilities, 88 mosques and three churches.

Besides Gaza being destroyed, President Biden is ensuring that America’s standing in the world is being destroyed as a beacon of peace and freedom.

Yes, mark December 8th on the calendar as another American Day of Infamy.

Besides Gaza being destroyed, President Biden is ensuring that America’s standing in the world is being destroyed as a beacon of peace and freedom.

Yes, mark December 8th on the calendar as another American Day of Infamy.

December 13, 2023 Posted by | Israel, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Civilian deaths in Gaza highest of all world conflicts in 20th Century, including World Wars, Israeli study reveals

 https://www.sott.net/article/486726-Civilian-deaths-in-Gaza-highest-of-all-world-conflicts-in-20th-Century-including-World-Wars-Israeli-study-reveals 10 Dec 23

The Guardian newspaper saysThe aerial bombing campaign by Israel in Gaza is the most indiscriminate in terms of civilian casualties in recent years, a study published by an Israeli newspaper has found.

The analysis by Haaretz came as Israeli forces fought to consolidate their control of northern Gaza on Saturday, bombing the Shejaiya district of Gaza City, while also conducting airstrikes on Rafah, a town on the southern border with Egypt where the Israeli army has told people in Gaza to take shelter.

The full death toll from the past 24 hours was unclear but the main hospital in central Gaza, at Deir al-Balah, reported it received 71 bodies, and 62 bodies were taken to Nasser hospital in the main southern city of Khan Younis, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The Haaretz analysis found that in three earlier campaigns in Gaza, in the period from 2012-22, the ratio of civilian deaths to the total of those killed in airstrikes hovered around 40%. That ratio declined to 33% in a bombing campaign earlier this year, called Operation Shield and Arrow.

In the first three weeks of the current operation, Swords of Iron, the civilian proportion of total deaths rose to 61%, in what Haaretz described as “unprecedented killing”. The ratio is significantly higher than the civilian toll in all the conflicts around the world during the 20th century, in which civilians accounted for about half the dead.

Comment: Andalou Agency, quoting the Palestinian Health Ministry – whose figures have repeatedly been shown by independent agencies to be accurate – report the following:

The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has mounted to 17,177 since Oct. 7, the Health Ministry in the enclave said Thursday.

“Around 70% of the victims are children and women,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told a press conference.

He said 46,000 other people were injured in the Israeli onslaught on the blockaded Palestinian territory.

“At least 290 medics were killed, 102 ambulances destroyed and 160 health care centers targeted in the Israeli attacks, while 20 hospitals and 46 primary care centers were forced out of service,” al-Qudra said.


“The broad conclusion is that extensive killing of civilians not only contributes nothing to Israel’s security, but that it also contains the foundations for further undermining it,” Haaretz concluded. “The Gazans who will emerge from the ruins of their homes and the loss of their families will seek revenge that no security arrangements will be able to withstand.”

Comment: This reaction by even the Israeli press perhaps reveals why Israel, and those facilitating the genocide in the US, and UK, are escalating the slaughter and destruction, because it’s only a matter of time before unrest at home, and a response from those abroad, will hamper their nefarious agenda.

It also serves to distract from the rapidly deteriorating situation in their own economies and societies, whilst at the same time setting the Middle East alight which, they seem to think, will provide justification for their sinister actions.

The figures will make uneasy reading for the Biden administration, which is facing global criticism and isolation for vetoing a UN security council vote for a ceasefire on Friday.

Since the start of the war, triggered by the deadly 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas, the US has been seeking to persuade Israeli forces to be more discriminate in choosing targets, and has repeatedly claimed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are “receptive” to American advice, despite the consistently high civilian death toll.

Comment: The Guardian has been exposed as being compromised by the UK’s intelligence agencies, and that’s perhaps one reason why it fails to mention that strong evidence, along with logic, has since revealed that not only was the attack known about well in advance; the IDF was forced to stand down; that Israel was responsible for killing a significant number of its own people; as well as destroying evidence.

The US national security spokesperson, John Kirby, repeated that claim while briefing reporters on Air Force One on Friday, but added: “We certainly all recognise more can be done to try to reduce civilian casualties, and we’re going to keep working with our Israeli counterparts to that end.”

Kirby was speaking as the Biden administration faced allegations of abetting war crimes for vetoing the security council resolution.

Human Rights Watch said the US risked “complicity in war crimes” by continuing to provide Israel with weapons and diplomatic support. Paul O’Brien, the executive director of Amnesty International USA, said: “With this veto, the US government is shamefully turning its back on immense civilian suffering, a staggering death toll, and unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.”

Comment: In a vote for a ceasefire at the UN today, the US voted against, the UK abstained, the rest of the UN voted for:

The Saudi foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, met the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, in Washington on Friday night to maintain pressure for “urgent steps” to establish a ceasefire so humanitarian aid could be delivered.

In the face of the global criticism, US officials stressed the role the US has played in pushing for humanitarian deliveries to Gaza through the Rafah crossing point. Kirby said a US military transport plane had landed in Egypt on Friday carrying nearly 26,000kg (57,000lbs) of food, water, and medicine bound for Gaza.

Comment: Meanwhile the US & UK also provides the weapons, the funds, and the veto powers, without which there would be no need for them to send humanitarian aid.

“We’re certainly mindful of the suffering of the people of Gaza, and we’re doing everything we can to not just get stuff in there but to lead an actual international effort to get stuff in there,” he said.

Kirby said fewer than 100 trucks had crossed through the Rafah gate on Friday, about half the daily volume that entered Gaza during a week-long humanitarian ceasefire at the end of last month.

“Obviously that’s not at the level that we want it to be at,” he said, noting that Israel was preparing to open an additional inspection facility at Kerem Shalom on the Israel-Gaza border, which is expected to ease the most significant bottleneck, inspection capacity.

However, the UN and other aid agencies say that even when trucks enter the Gaza Strip at Rafah, the ground offensive in southern Gaza and the general lack of security is preventing the supplies from being distributed, at a time of a high and rising threat of starvation and disease.

Comment: The UN has also sounded the alarm that 130 of their own staff have been murdered; that their staff are taking their children with them to work in the hopes that, if they can’t be safe at home, they can at least ‘die together’.

They’re also warning that, with the conditions in Gaza being so dire – with 700 people sharing 1 toilet and 25 babies a day being born with little medical supplies – it won’t be long before disease and viral outbreaks ravage those that managed to escape the death from above:

The IDF said it had failed in a hostage rescue attempt on Friday. The chief spokesperson, R Adm Daniel Hagari, said: “The forces raided a Hamas site and eliminated terrorists who had taken part in the abduction and captivity of hostages.”

He said two Israeli soldiers had been seriously wounded in the mission, and no hostages had been rescued. He did not confirm Hamas claims that one hostage, 25-year-old Sahar Baruch, had been killed in the rescue attempt, but his home kibbutz at Be’eri announced Baruch had died.


Comment: See also: Israel’s ground war conundrum

December 13, 2023 Posted by | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Bribery to indigenous people – by Canada’s nuclear lobby

Canada’s Nuclear Regulator Funds Indigenous Relations Boost

Mirage News, 12 Dec 23

Today, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) announced that it is awarding nearly $4 million to 19 Indigenous Nations and communities over 2 years through the new Indigenous and Stakeholder Capacity Fund (ISCF) – Indigenous Capacity Support stream. The ISCF serves to increase recipients’ capacity to better engage and participate in the CNSC’s full lifecycle of regulatory processes, programs and initiatives.

Launched in May 2023, the ISCF provides support for staffing and internal resources, Indigenous knowledge and land use studies, IT equipment acquisition, education and training opportunities, technical assistance, and other much-needed resources……………………………….. https://www.miragenews.com/canadas-nuclear-regulator-funds-indigenous-1141295/

December 13, 2023 Posted by | Canada, indigenous issues | Leave a comment

Sellafield nuclear site exposés are long overdue

The fact that it is in Cumbria, far away from London, makes it easily ignorable, writes Isaac Cooper. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/11/sellafield-nuclear-site-exposes-are-long-overdue

As a journalist based in Cumbria, I appreciate your investigations into Sellafield (Sellafield nuclear site workers claim ‘toxic culture’ of bullying, sexual harassment and drugs could put safety at risk, 6 December). The exposés are long overdue. The reaction of many, however, has been distinctly muted and is directly linked to how Sellafield has been getting away with it for many years: geography. The fact that Sellafield lies on the west coast of Cumbria makes it easily forgettable to large swathes of the media and the public.

Were Sellafield based within a hundred miles of London there would have been a national uproar, but its “out of sight, out of mind” location means it can be ignored easily. It is indicative of the public’s attitude towards Cumbria being just the lakes and nothing more.
Isaac Cooper
Cumberland News, Carlisle

December 13, 2023 Posted by | media, secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

Fukushima nuclear plant worker exposed to radiation

TOKYO. 12 Dec 23  https://japantoday.com/category/national/fukushima-nuclear-plant-worker-exposed-to-radiation

A plant worker at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex may have ingested radioactive materials after his face was exposed to the substances, the plant operator said Monday.

The operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc said the man in his 20s was wearing a protective full-face mask and suit while working in a room near the plant’s No. 2 reactor building, decontaminating fences and other equipment ahead of the removal of 615 spent nuclear fuel rods from the building.

But radioactive material was found on his face during a routine radiation test as he was leaving the site and he was decontaminated immediately.

The incident follows one in October when two men were exposed to radioactive liquid while cleaning a water filtration facility at the same plant.

December 13, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, health | Leave a comment

Is Biden taking the Iran nuclear deal off life support?

If the JCPOA really is dead, as a top State Department appointee declared last week, that’s an own goal for the US and a huge risk for regional security

ELDAR MAMEDOV, DEC 12, 2023, Responsible Statecraft

When Joe Biden was running for U.S. president, he promised to reverse many of his predecessor’s decisions on foreign policy, generally hewing towards more restraint and diplomacy, and less bluster, militarism, and unilateralism. That included restoring the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) from which Donald Trump withdrew in 2018 — despite evidence, shared even by his own officials, that the deal was delivering on its core objective to block Iran’s pathways to a nuclear weapon. On December 7, 2023, Biden’s nominee for deputy secretary of state, the current National Security Council Coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell, effectively declared the JCPOA dead………………………………..

Although the prospects for a revived JCPOA have been dim since at least 2022 — for which Iran carries a fair share of blame — officials from the Biden administration until now have largely refrained from using such threatening language against Iran. Conclusively abandoning any effort to revive the JCPOA does not serve U.S. interests and is in fact counterproductive.

Addressing students at Tehran University a few days after Campbell’s Senate testimony, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian downplayed the relevance of the JCPOA by reportedly saying that the “more we move forward, the more JCPOA becomes pointless. We will not force ourselves to remain in the narrow tunnel of the JCPOA forever.”

So, the Biden administration finds itself in the rather awkward position of effectively agreeing with Tehran, but this was a self-inflicted problem: by refusing, for three years now, to engage with its critics and the broader public on the agreement’s benefits to the U.S. and global security, it has allowed the notion that the JCPOA was some kind of reward for Iran, rather than a deal that strictly curbed Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, to become conventional wisdom. As is evident in Abdollahian’s remarks, Iranians today certainly do see the JCPOA as a “narrow tunnel” that limits their options………………………………………….

If ever there was a mechanism that would prove effective in preventing Iran from acquiring a bomb, it was the JCPOA. In light of Abdollahian’s remarks (which clearly reflect a growing skepticism about the JCPOA in Iran), the Biden administration, by publicly disowning the deal, is in fact removing obstacles to further Iranian nuclear escalation.

Unless Biden is prepared to accept the advice of the late international relations scholar Kenneth Waltz, who, in an influential 2012 Foreign Affairs article, argued that an Iranian bomb would stabilize the Middle East, it is not clear what his administration would do in place of a revived JCPOA to check additional Iranian nuclear advances.

Campbell emphasized the “current environment” as an additional factor rendering a JCPOA revival infeasible. In fact, if he was referring to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, then it is precisely such a conflict that makes some sort of a direct dialogue between Washington and Tehran — on nuclear, but also regional security issues — all the more urgent if a wider war is to be avoided. Substituting such a dialogue with military threats at a moment when the U.S. is providing Israel virtually unconditional support, including the lavish replenishment of its arms stocks, the deployment of marines and two aircraft carrier task forces to the region, and the veto of a U.N. Security Council Resolution calling for a ceasefire, could do more to incentivize Iranians to seek a nuclear deterrent than anything else.

Vows to isolate Iran “internationally and diplomatically” are also unwarranted as Iran, despite its rhetorical support for Hamas, has so far demonstrated considerable restraint. While hardline ideological hostility to Israel is wired into the Islamic Republic’s identity, the actual position Tehran adopted towards the Israel-Palestine conflict is much more nuanced, more in line with the Arab and Islamic (and indeed broad international) mainstream consensus that insists on a viable two-state solution. Instead of building on these shifts, however modest and tentative, Washington seems to prefer to double down on confrontation.

The sad irony is that this explosive situation could have been avoided had Joe Biden had the courage and wisdom to deliver on his own election campaign promise to restore the nuclear agreement with Iran. ………. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/biden-iran-nuclear-deal/

December 13, 2023 Posted by | Iran, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Nebraska team launches study of Congress and nuclear weapons policy

Carnegie Corporation-funded study apparently first comprehensive analysis in three decades

news wise, 11-Dec-2023, by University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Newswise — Nebraska researchers are launching a two-year study of Congress’s involvement in nuclear weapons policy. The study is believed to be the first comprehensive look at the topic in more than 30 years.

Carnegie Corporation of New York recently awarded a $428,000 grant to University of Nebraska–Lincoln political scientists Rupal Mehta, Geoff Lorenz and Ingrid Haas for a multi-method study of Congress and nuclear weapons policy dating back to 1973.

“We believe that this is an important, but missing, piece of the puzzle when it comes to better understanding global nuclear and international security,’” the researchers wrote in their study proposal.

Historically, the president and other executive branch officials have been at the forefront of U.S. nuclear weapons policy, with lawmakers serving a subsidiary role based upon treaty ratification and defense budget allocations. Leaders like U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., an Air Force veteran who serves on the House of Representatives’ Armed Services Committee and U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., who serves on the Senate’s Armed Forces Committee, often play influential roles in policy decisions based upon personal expertise and constituents’ interest.

“Congress historically has been much more deferential to the president on nuclear policy than on defense policy generally,” said Lorenz, who studies federal lawmaking. “That appears to be changing and so we want to examine the specific factors at play in Congress’s involvement in nuclear arms policymaking.”

Mehta’s work focuses on international security and conflict with a specialization in nuclear nonproliferation and related issues. Haas, a resident faculty member with the university’s Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, uses theory and methods from political psychology and cognitive neuroscience to better understand American politics and international security.

Events in Washington, D.C., and around the world — such as the partisan battle over government funding and the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as speaker of the House, and the wars in the Ukraine and Gaza — demonstrate the importance of understanding how Congress responds to nuclear policy questions, the researchers say………………………………………………………………………………………..

“There may be no more important time for these insights than now,” the researchers said in their proposal. “The proliferation of nuclear weapons, and nuclear security more broadly, pose a substantial threat to the security and stability of the international system.” https://www.newswise.com/articles/nebraska-team-launches-study-of-congress-and-nuclear-weapons-policy

December 13, 2023 Posted by | politics, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

The Uncertain Costs of New Nuclear Reactors: What Study Estimates Reveal about the Potential for Nuclear in a Decarbonizing World

Reports by Matt Bowen, Emeka Ochu & James Glynn • December 07, 2023  https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/the-uncertain-costs-of-new-nuclear-reactors-what-study-estimates-reveal-about-the-potential-for-nuclear-in-a-decarbonizing-world/

Executive Summary

Models that run decarbonization scenarios to meet mid-century goals for mitigating climate change almost always include a significant role for nuclear energy. The source’s projected level of deployment, however, remains uncertain, largely due to a wide range of estimated costs for new builds. Other factors that make it hard to gauge nuclear’s portion of the future energy mix include whether policies advancing low-carbon technologies will be enacted, the degree of public support for transmission siting and available low-carbon energy sources, whether new reactor technologies and fuels will change the investment equation, and how quickly “competitor” sources such as carbon capture and sequestration, renewables, and storage reduce costs.


This report, part of ongoing research into nuclear energy at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA, examines the economics of new nuclear facilities for electricity generation—whether building them out makes sense financially as part of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as power demand grows across the globe. Insights into costs can be gleaned by reviewing the history of construction delays and cost overruns in the United States, international experiences that have fared better and worse, and studies that model a transitioning energy system. Studies reviewed in this report estimate new US reactor costs generally ranging from $3,000/kilowatt (kW) to $6,200/kW based on a variety of reactor designs and cost reduction curves assumed for subsequent years. Internationally, new reactor costs vary significantly by country, depending in part upon factors such as the cost of labor and whether projects involve multiple reactor builds (with attendant efficiencies in manufacturing and construction).

Additional findings from this report include the following:

  • The limited number of new reactor builds in the United States in recent decades and the large number of new designs under development (some of which have never been built anywhere in the world) leave few data points from which to draw definitive conclusions on future nuclear costs.
  • In countries such as China and India, construction expertise and supply chain efficiencies from ongoing nuclear power project buildouts and energy technology learning as well as lower labor costs, among other factors, have created more competitive economics for nuclear than are currently found in the United States.
  • Additional findings from this report include the following:
  • The limited number of new reactor builds in the United States in recent decades and the large number of new designs under development (some of which have never been built anywhere in the world) leave few data points from which to draw definitive conclusions on future nuclear costs.
  • In countries such as China and India, construction expertise and supply chain efficiencies from ongoing nuclear power project buildouts and energy technology learning as well as lower labor costs, among other factors, have created more competitive economics for nuclear than are currently found in the United States.
  • Modeling of nuclear energy costs in the US suggests that if the price tag ends up being much higher than the upper limits used in the studies cited, such as above $6,200/kW, new nuclear will play a marginal role, if any, in the US energy transition.
  • Within the cost range quoted above, nuclear’s ability to play a substantial role in the United States (e.g., 50 gigawatts of deployment) could depend on factors including whether stronger decarbonization policies are enacted; whether other viable firm, low-carbon options emerge as competitive alternatives; whether difficulties with siting new transmission lines continue; and/or whether renewable energy expansion faces constraints.
  • The new 30 percent tax credit in the Inflation Reduction Act available to both renewable and nuclear energy will substantially lower the cost of new nuclear reactors for US utilities.
  • Internationally, scenarios by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change project that lower reactor costs in some emerging countries, in combination with strict climate mitigation policies, could result in very large new nuclear capacity expansion there.
  • In modeling cases with high variable low-carbon power sources, the need for firm sources and storage options may be underestimated in the absence of greater temporal and technical granularity. This practice may omit costs associated with flexibility, market reserve, and storage that could be ameliorated by dispatchable nuclear capacity.

December 13, 2023 Posted by | business and costs | Leave a comment