2025 September 20 « nuclear-news

U.S. Nuclear Reactors will NOT Build a Strong Canada

Ontario Clean Air Alliance -Angela Bischoff, Director, Sept 17, 2025

Prime Minister Carney’s directive to the Major Projects Office to fast-track Doug Ford’s plan to build U.S. nuclear reactors in Ontario will: raise electricity rates, jeopardize national security and delay action on climate change.

New U.S. GE-Hitachi nuclear reactors are the highest-cost option to meet Ontario’s electricity needs – costing 2 to 8 times more than new solar and wind power. As a result, these U.S. reactors will make life less affordable for Ontario’s hard-working families; and they will make Ontario’s industries less competitive.

Building GE-Hitachi reactors will also jeopardize our national security by making Ontario dependent on enriched uranium imports from the U.S. – imports which President Trump could cut off at a moment’s notice.

Finally, building new nuclear reactors is the slowest option to phase-out gas power and protect our climate. Under Doug Ford’s nuclear & gas plan, 25% of our electricity will be produced by burning gas in 2030 – up from only 4% in 2017. To add insult to injury, more than 70% of Ontario’s gas supply is imported from the U.S.

With wildfires burning around the world, we need to invest in the options that can reduce our climate-damaging emissions ASAP, not decades from now. We simply can’t afford to wait 10 to 20 years for new reactors to be built, when solar and wind can be built within months to three years. Combined with batteries, wind and solar can keep our lights on at a fraction of the cost of new nuclear reactors.

Instead of subsidizing the research and development costs for a U.S. multinational’s first-of-their-kind, experimental new nuclear reactors, we should be investing in options that will build a stronger, more prosperous and more secure Canada.

Here is what Prime Minister Carney should do.

1. Rescind his request for the Major Project Office (MPO) to fast-track the building of U.S. nuclear reactors in Ontario.

2. Rescind the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s $970 million loan for the building of GE-Hitachi’s first new nuclear reactor.

3. Direct the MPO to fast-track roof top and parking lot solar in Ontario.

4. Direct the MPO to fast-track cutting the red tape that is blocking the development of Great Lakes offshore wind power.

5. Direct the MPO to fast-track the expansion of the inter-provincial electricity transmission links between Manitoba and Ontario and Ontario and Quebec to increase our ability to import low-cost water, wind and solar power from Manitoba, Quebec and the Maritimes.

September 20, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, politics | Leave a comment

Human-made global warming ‘caused two in three heat deaths in Europe this summer’

Human-made global heating caused two in every three heat deaths in Europe
during this year’s scorching summer, an early analysis of mortality in 854
big cities has found. Epidemiologists and climate scientists attributed
16,500 out of 24,400 heat deaths from June to August to the extra hot
weather brought on by greenhouse gases. The rapid analysis, which relies on
established methods but has not yet been submitted for peer review, found
climate breakdown made the cities 2.2C hotter on average, greatly
increasing the death toll from dangerously warm weather.

Guardian 17th Sept 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/sep/17/human-made-global-warming-caused-two-in-three-heat-deaths-in-europe-this-summer-analysis-finds

September 20, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change | Leave a comment

U.S. Firms Boost UK Nuclear Sector with Major Deals

Oil Price By City A.M – Sep 16, 2025

The UK and US have agreed to reduce the licensing time for nuclear projects from four years to two and broaden US companies’ access to the UK energy market.
Several US companies have struck significant deals with UK partners, including X-Energy to build advanced modular reactors in Hartlepool, Holtec to develop data centers powered by small modular reactors, and Last Energy for a micro modular nuclear plant at London Gateway.
The initiative aims to kickstart a “golden age of nuclear” in the UK, providing clean, homegrown energy, creating skilled jobs, and addressing high energy bills, though critics question the effectiveness of potential VAT cuts on energy bills.

…………………………………………………………………………………. Energy bills woes

The announcement comes as the government battles to bring down energy bills, which have almost doubled costs for households over the past eight years.

Alongside increasing the domestic supply of energy, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly weighing cutting VAT on energy to help lower consumer prices.

However, critics have questioned whether the move, which could cost the government nearly £2bn, would deliver tangible improvements to household budgets, warning that wealthy families with larger homes would disproportionately benefit from the tax break. https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/US-Firms-Boost-UK-Nuclear-Sector-with-Major-Deals.html

September 20, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

US and UK companies ink nuclear deals ahead of Trump visit

Transatlantic nuclear energy deals estimated to be worth over $100 billion
have been announced ahead of President Donald Trump’s state visit to the
United Kingdom this week. TerraPower, a Bill Gates-backed developer of
small nuclear reactors, announced Monday that it would work with
engineering firm KBR to study potential sites in the U.K. to deploy its
advanced Natrium reactors. Rockville, Maryland-based X-energy and British
energy company Centrica also announced plans to deploy up to 72 small
reactors for electricity and industrial heat in the U.K.

E&E News 16th Sept 2025, https://www.eenews.net/articles/us-and-uk-companies-ink-nuclear-deals-ahead-of-trump-visit/

September 20, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

What You Need to Know About the £38 Billion Sizewell C Nuclear Project inthe UK.

Project Timeline: Development Consent Order (DCO) approved: July
20, 2022; Groundworks commenced: January 15, 2024; Final Investment
Decision (FID) reached: July 22, 2025; Construction duration: Expected to
take between nine and twelve years; Operational date: Expected in the
2030s.

Construction Review 15th Sept 2025, https://constructionreviewonline.com/construction-projects/uk-government-approves-38-billion-sizewell-c-nuclear-project/

September 20, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Australia rooftop solar hits 26.8 GW as home battery uptake surges

Australia is on track to exceed its 2030 rooftop solar targets with a combined 1.1 GW of new capacity installed across 115,584 households and businesses in the first half of 2025.

September 15, 2025 David Carroll, https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/09/15/australia-rooftop-solar-hits-26-8-gw-as-home-battery-uptake-surges/

A new report from the Clean Energy Council (CEC) shows that at the end of June there was a combined 26.8 GW of rooftop solar capacity deployed across 4.2 million homes and small businesses in Australia.

The CEC’s Rooftop Solar and Storage Report reveals that 115,584 rooftop solar units were installed nationwide in the first six months of the year, down 18% on the same period 12 months prior, while the total installed capacity of 1.1 GW was 15% lower than the 1.3 GW installed over the same period in 2024.

Despite the slowdown, the CEC said Australia is likely to exceed the Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) 2030 target for rooftop solar.

AEMO’s Integrated System Plan, which underpins the federal government’s 82% by 2030 renewable energy target, expects rooftop solar to contribute 36 GW to the National Electricity Market by the end of the decade.

The CEC said based on current trends, it expects the rollout of rooftop solar in Australia will reach 37.2 GW by June 2030, beating projections by 3.3%.

CEC Distributed Energy General Manager Con Hristodoulidis said the figures highlight the pivotal role of rooftop solar in keeping Australia’s energy transition on track.

“Australian consumers and small businesses are delivering the transition at breathtaking speed, turning suburban roofs into one of the biggest power stations in the country,” he said.

Rooftop solar contributed 12.8%, or 15,463 GWh, of Australia’s total energy generation in the first six months of the year, up from 11.5% in the same period 12 months prior.

The report also shows that Australians are embracing home batteries at record pace, with 85,000 battery units sold in the first half of 2025, representing a 191% increase from the same period last year.

The uptake has surged again since the introduction of the federal government’s Cheaper Home Batteries program with government data revealing more than 43,500 installations installed in July and August alone.

“Just as Australians have long understood the value of solar in lowering household energy bills, we are now seeing a surge in battery adoption, which allows households to store their own clean energy and maximise savings,” Hristodoulidis said.

Queensland added the most rooftop solar in the first half of 2025, with 326 MW of installed capacity, followed by New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria with 321 MW and 230 MW, respectively.

NSW has the highest level of total installed rooftop solar capacity in the nation at 7.5 GW, with Queensland second at 7.2 GW, ahead of Victoria with 5.4 GW. Queensland remains the state with the most installations, with 1.1 million.

September 20, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, renewable | Leave a comment

Time is now for Iran to act on inspections agreement, IAEA chief says

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi on Monday
urged Iran to immediately implement the agreement it signed with the UN
watchdog last week to resume inspections at the country’s bombed nuclear
sites.

Iran International 15th Sept 2025,
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202509154534

September 20, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Iran hardliners reject IAEA deal, but IRGC outlet voices support

Iranian ultra-hardliners are criticizing Tehran’s recent agreement with
the IAEA in Cairo, despite its blessing by a top decision-making body
linked to the Supreme Leader, but an outlet linked to the Revolutionary
Guards offered support. The scrambled messaging suggests deep disagreement on Iran’s diplomatic path forward as renewed UN sanctions loom by months-end and arch-foe Israel continues to moot military attacks to
chasten Tehran.

Iran International 16th Sept 2025, https://www.iranintl.com/en/202509158464

September 20, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, politics | Leave a comment

Read this book!

M.V. Ramana’s new book, Nuclear Is Not The Solution, The Folly of Atomic
Power in the Age of Climate Change.

I must confess that I read Ramana’s book some time ago — in other words, immediately upon receipt — because I knew it was going to be a riveting read as well as an essential primer.

Then I got enmeshed in completing my own book — No To Nuclear. Why
Nuclear Power Destroys Lives, Derails Climate Progress and Provokes War (to
be published by Pluto Press next March and for which Ramana provided some
invaluable feedback).

Consequently, this review is inexcusably late. I
could stop here and just say “Read This Book!” But it’s important to
say why it’s essential reading. One of the challenges of our subject area
is its complexity. We struggle to reduce it to a soundbite. We must,
perforce, explain. And in so explaining, we risk losing an audience waiting
for a simple answer to the question: “Why not nuclear power?” Now, that
challenge has been made doubly difficult by having to further explain,
“why not small modular reactors?”

M.V. Ramana answers these questions
and more in his comprehensive yet concise volume, covering not only the
illusory new reactors themselves but the propaganda around them, the insane
costs, interminable timelines, the jobs delusion, false sense of prestige,
persistent waste problems and, of course, the ties to nuclear weapons. In a
stroke of brilliant originality, Ramana finds the perfect analogy to
describe the folly of small modular reactors, by quoting, of all people,
the legendary British football manager, Brian Clough. “We had a good team
on paper. Unfortunately, the game was played on grass.” “On paper” is
exactly where small modular reactors remain.

Beyond Nuclear 14th Sept 2025,
https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2025/09/14/read-this-book/

September 20, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | media | Leave a comment