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US/UK collaborate for nuclear “race to the bottom”?

[Photo credit: Holtec International’s SMR LLC Pioneer SMR-300, US Department Of Energy]

accelerated export of novel and still questionable nuclear technologies to the UK as well as the precedent to export to other countries……………………….. marketing tactic unreasonably subordinates and deprioritizes safety critical review times just to facilitate the accelerated US export of novel reactor designs to Great Britain and the precedent for elsewhere.

the technological guinea pig for cutting corners

October 29, 2026, https://beyondnuclear.org/us-uk-in-harmony-for-nuclear-race-to-the-bottom/

Holtec SMR LLC’s  Pioneer reactor chosen to pilot US and UK collaboration to fast track export regulation of novel reactor licensing

In a partnership between the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)  and the UK Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR), the UK Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales are collaborating on aligning commercial reactor regulations to fast-track the export(opens in new tab) of several American developers’ of “First Of A Kind” (FOAK) small modular nuclear reactors for licensing and construction in Great Britain. The present American SMR leaders are Holtec International, TerraPower and X-Energy. The partnership was constructed as part of the 2025 “UK-U.S. Atlantic Partnership for Advanced Nuclear Energy(opens in new tab).”

Reuters reports that “UK authorities have identified Holtec’s two-unit SMR-300 project at Palisades, Michigan, as the input reference design for the company’s Generic ​Design Assessment (GDA) – a regulatory review of a nuclear reactor design’s safety, security and environmental acceptability, independent of a specific site.”

Beyond Nuclear’s overall concern focuses on the primary goal and intent initiated by the Trump Administration’s White House Executive Orders to arbitrarily truncate the nuclear regulatory staff’s review time on the projected time and cost to speed up new reactor design approvals for domestic development and foreign export. The plan cuts safety-related technical review times from three and four years to two years. This now translates into the US accelerated export of novel and still questionable nuclear technologies to the UK as well as the precedent to export to other countries.

It is of concern that under a promotionally guise of “avoiding duplication of work” that disregards particularly stubborn technical and still open safety-related issues. That marketing tactic unreasonably subordinates and deprioritizes safety critical review times just to facilitate the accelerated US export of novel reactor designs to Great Britain and the precedent for elsewhere.

The US and UK regulators are risking a lot on their joint pilot project by fast-tracking Holtec International’s SMR-300. Holtec’s SMR venture is explicitly a FOAK reactor. This is Holtec International’s first effort at designing, licensing, building and operating a light water with the associated risks. Holtec International, as any FOAK venture, will be the corporate and industrial guinea pig for the proposed “unleashing” of this SMR technology.

As the technological guinea pig for cutting corners to accelerate export licensing, FOAK reactors are already notorious and unpredictable for uncontrolled cost  compared to subsequent builds or “Next Of A Kind” (NOAK). In a fiercely competitive domestic and international market, the developer is responsible for adequately funding and overseeing its quality control and quality assurance of the initial tooling, engineering, and workforce training.  FOAK nuclear ventures in general face strong financial headwinds as is already in evidence(opens in new tab) with Holtec International’s abrupt cancellation of its $900 million initial public offering (IPO) on the NASDAQ market just three days ahead of scheduled launch on Wall Street.

The push for Holtec International to be the US – UK joint pilot project choice raises particularly challenging and significant concerns for the introduction of what’s euphemistically identified as “dual track complexity.”

Holtec International’s latest wholly owned subsidiary SMR LLC which is the parent company’s firewall to the Palisades Energy Center in Covert, Michigan. The Center initially includes the two Pioneer SMR reactors (SMR-300) which are projected to be sited and operated adjacent to Holtec International’s other subsidiary, Holtec Palisades’ acquisition of the 50-year-old operationally aged and deteriorated Palisades pressurized water reactor. Holtec Palisades is now not only operationally aged and deteriorated but the reactor’s safety-related systems, structures and components have also been neglected by lack of maintenance, repair and replacement since Entergy’s intention to permanently close and decommission the plant. Initially, the previous owner/operator, Entergy Nuclear, neglected the single unit’s operational safety and operability mandate by systematically cancelling maintenance, repairs and replacements of safety-related systems, structures and components in lieu of the plant’s announced closure and decommissioning on December 6, 2016. As a result of the encroaching permanent shutdown, corrosion was allowed to set in by abandoning the unit to a prolonged period of wet storage. Entergy essentially neglected Palisades’ safety-related systems, structures and components as radioactive junk until was “permanently” shutdown on May 20, 2022.

When Holtec International’s subsidiary, Holtec Decommissioning International, took over possession under the suspiciously false pretense of decommissioning, it was then Holtec Decommissioning International that further delayed draining and chemically treating the wet systems. The delay further rendered damage consequences when Holtec International reverse course with creation of its subsidiary Holtec Palisades and switch to the restart the reactor and followed by an extreme license renewal plan projecting reactor operations out to March 24, 2051. Whether or not Holtec intended to actually dismantle, decontaminate and decommission the nuclear power station, they neglected to properly implement the reactor’s safety-related layup primarily for the critical reactor pressure boundary system’s steam generators until May 2024—roughly two years after the initial “permanent” shutdown for decommissioning as certified to the NRC by Entergy, Holtec Palisades (owner) and Holtec Decommissioning International (operator).

According to NRC inspections in late 2024, accelerated stress corrosion cracking (SCC) reveal the exacerbated delay caused extensive, unexpected corrosion on the outside diameter of the steam generator tubes. Regulators found indicators of stress corrosion cracking in 1,163 tubes across both steam generators, vastly exceeding previous operational history.

In Beyond Nuclear’s view, this all adds up to an extremely risky and irresponsible venture.

November 4, 2026 Posted by | safety, UK, USA | Leave a comment

Walt Zlotow – US, European leaders push war, economic ruin; constituents seek peace, prosperity


Walt Zlotow West Suburban Peace Coalition


Walt Zlotow West Suburban Peace Coalition Glen Ellyn IL, 30 Oct 26

The people of the US and Western Europe are mystified by their war crazed leaders.

In the US, President Trump promised peace and prosperity in term two. Instead, he embarked on criminal war on Iran murdering thousands, making life difficult if not unaffordable for all but the wealthy at home. Forty days of relentless bombing ended in failure that severely damaged all US Gulf State bases while choking off a fifth of the world’s oil supply and other valuable resources. Everything in the US and the entire world has become less affordable with no end in sight.

Trump’s boast about restarting the slaughter after the midterms next week has no chance of succeeding….and he knows it. With two more years of failed war to endure, the worst is likely yet to come for the American people utterly against the madness Trump unleashed upon them as well as the innocent Iran nation.

In Europe it’s the same story, just a different senseless war. Back in 2022, European leaders hopped aboard President Biden’s deranged quest to weaken, destroy the Russian regime by sending forth its Ukraine proxy to join NATO to allow NATO nukes on Russia’s border. Europe joined the US in training the Ukraine military to polish off the Russian leaning Ukraine Donbas separatists on Russia’s border as well. Both were existential threats to Russian security Russia had been warning the US and NATO about for years to no avail.

European leaders believed Biden’s boasts that US and NATO weaponry and economic sanctions, but not one drop of Western blood would collapse the Russian regime. They even ditched cheap Russian oil for high priced US liquified natural gas (LNG). Nearly five years on their Russian regime change plan is an utter failure as Ukraine nears collapse while their economies nosedive from skyrocketing energy costs as loss of Russian oil is exacerbated by loss of Middle East oil from Trump’s lost Iran war.

Both US and European leaders remain oblivious their constituents are fed up with senseless war degrading their living standard. Trump appears deranged when he says ‘”I can end the Iran war anytime I choose to.” If he meant that he’d end it today by returning to the Memorandum of Understanding he signed on June 17 which would have ended the war on Iran’s sensible terms to reopen the Middle East oil spigot. Now he faces likely loss of Congress and effective end to his presidency November 3.

Same goes for the leaders of the big 3 in Europe, the UK, France and Germany. While their economies decline, their leaders Burnham, Macron and Merz remain locked in senseless, delusional Russophobia that brooks no realistic diplomacy with Russia to end the Ukraine war on Russia’s sensible terms: No return of Donbas to Kyiv bent on destroying Russian culture there. No NATO for Ukraine. Neutrality between East and West for Ukraine going forward.

They know they are all running out of weapons and money to flush down the rathole of Ukraine’s lost cause. But they’ve spent years warning ‘The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming.’ They cannot bring themselves to accept the reality of the economic and political self destruction their Russophobia has brought on.

In an odd difference between the US and Europe, Trump may be swept from power from the left which will likely renew weapons and other aid to prolong Ukraine’s suffering. Democrats preposterously charge if Trump seeks a diplomatic end to the war he must be a Russian agent so we Democrats will restore war funding to Ukraine. European leaders face removal from the right who promise to divert Ukraine war spending to neglected domestic needs.

The Iran and Ukraine wars reveal how leaders can embark on senseless war without regard to the wishes and needs of their constituents. Once begun, it shows how difficult, likely impossible it is to admit their catastrophic mistakes and do what is right for their people, their political future; indeed, for humanity.

November 4, 2026 Posted by | EUROPE, politics international | Leave a comment

AI-powered malware ‘highly likely’ to be used to hack UK infrastructure by 2028

National Cyber Security Centre expects attacks on critical facilities such as power stations, airports and hospitals

Dan Milmo, 3 Nov 26,
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/nov/03/ai-powered-malware-artificial-intelligence-hacking-critical-uk-infrastructure

AI-powered malicious software is “highly likely” to be used in hacking attacks against the UK’s power stations, airports and hospitals by 2028, according to the state cybersecurity body.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said AI will probably enable a ransomware attack against critical national infrastructure [CNI] between now and 2028. The UK’s definition of CNI covers a range of facilities and services across sectors including energy, transport, defence, food, health and finance.

The warning from the NCSC, part of the GCHQ spy agency, was published in the organisation’s annual review, which also warned that Russia and China will start using AI “routinely” in cyber-attacks.

“It is … highly likely that between now and 2028, AI-powered malware will have been used in a ransomware attack on UK CNI,” said NCSC.

Ransomware has become a cornerstone of the criminal hacker’s repertoire and is a signature ploy of gangs that typically operate out of former Soviet Union states.

After gaining access to a victim’s IT systems, the attackers then encrypt files with bespoke malicious software – or malware – and then demand a payment in cryptocurrency to unlock the crippled systems and return any stolen data. UK ransomware victims include Royal Mail, outsourcing firm Capita and various public bodies, including councils.

AI is set to enhance the ransomware threat by helping attackers with tasks such as scouting targets, locating weaknesses in IT networks and writing malicious code, said the NCSC.

Last month, the government urged Britons to stock up to nine litres of bottled water and three days’ worth of food in order to ensure that households can survive a weather, cyber or other serious emergency. Wes Streeting, the defence secretary, said as the Be Ready campaign was launched that Britain needed to prepare for the threat of “state-sponsored terrorism” by Russia or other hostile powers targeting everyday infrastructure.

NCSC’s chief executive, Richard Horne, will warn the public in a speech accompanying the review on Tuesday that AI is going to unleash a wave of cyber-attacks imminently.

“In the coming months, we face a real prospect of an unprecedented rise in the number of cyber incidents,” he will say.

Horne will attribute the threat to the technology’s ability to uncover weaknesses in IT systems that have been “tolerated for far too long”.

An example of AI’s capacity to root out previously undetected vulnerabilities came last month, when the technology helped discover a critical weakness in PHP, a computer language used by almost 70% of the world’s websites.

Alan Woodward, a professor of cybersecurity at Surrey University, said NCSC’s warning underlined the need for nation states and companies to access cutting-edge AI technology.

“AI can help people find these flaws and patch them, but if we don’t get the access the bad guys will beat them to it,” he said. So far, leading AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic have given some companies advanced access to their most powerful models in order to help them identify serious IT glitches.

Horne will also say in his speech that communications networks used by the British military are subjected to daily attacks that are “persistent” and “sustained”.

Horne will say Russia was one of the perpetrators, but the attacks have deliberately not crossed the line into warfare, with Moscow carrying out “notable campaigns” that “intentionally fall below the threshold of armed conflict as they escalate their attempts at hybrid warfare”.

Horne will add that recent cyber-attacks on supermarket fridges in Europe, which have seen fridge temperatures raised by hackers to more than 50C, are a warning to companies and organisations to invest strongly in cyber resilience.

“For decades we have collectively got away with tech on the cheap,” he will say.

November 4, 2026 Posted by | technology | Leave a comment

Submission to AUKUS Public Inquiry – AUKUS a poorly-conceived, massively-costly and hugely-risky agreement – DR Eric van Buerden.

No. 257

AUKUS is a poorly-conceived, massively-costly and hugely-risky agreement that
should be cancelled forthwith before it creates even more problems than it already
has. Here are just a few of my major concerns, as a scientist with fifty years of
experience using evidence-based methodologies and an extensive record of
publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

First, lengthy delays in the delivery and even start time of AUKUS, have already
been mooted, as dictated by the more-highly-prioritised needs of both the US and
UK provider defence systems. With no set budget or timeline or even guarantee of
delivery, the whole agreement is a travesty of Government’s responsibility to the
Australian tax payer.

By inextricably linking us to the US aggressive stance towards China, AUKUS
jeopardises Australia’s security both economically and militarily. It virtually
ensures we would be a target in the event of any military actions between those
two super powers in the same way that US bases in Arabian states are now being
targeted by Iran.

The chance of nuclear accidents in port or Australian waters will be greatly
increased if we have nuclear submarines being house, serviced and possibly
attacked there. Even storing spent rods is a huge risk that has hardly been
discussed let alone planned in a cautious and respectful way.

The environmental and social implications of an accident are enormous and should
have be deeply considered before even entering such a contract. The impact on
First Nations peoples should also have been discussed in consultation with them as
part of our nation even considering such an agreement.

There has been virtually no transparency or public consultation in the decision
making process for AUKUS which in many ways is the most significant in our
history as a nation. Parliamentary oversight regarding the main AUKUS decisions
should have been totally transparent and multi-partisan.

Even currently-known technological advancements in the field of marine warfare
will very likely make the acquisition of outdated submarines a total waste of
resources. We should be investing in much more cost-effective shore-based
defensive capital such as a shield of air and marine drones, not one or two
out-dated long-range submarines that will have little chance of defending ourmany distantly-spaced coastal cities.

Furthermore, AUKUS has huge implications for regional peace and security,
including Australia’s relations with China, ASEAN, and the Pacific Islands nations,
including commitments under the Treaty of Rarotonga. These should not be
jeopardised by rashly-considered and poorly defined agreements like AUKUS.

On the basis of these main objections, there is in my mind no way that AUKUS
should be continued. I believe it was initiated simply as a political point-scoring
and knee jerk reaction. It carries much greater risks than can possibly be justified
by the touted benefits it would bestow in the extremely unlikely event that it were
ever come to fruition in any truly-functional form.

November 4, 2026 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, politics international | Leave a comment

Third impending Trump, Netanyahu attack on Iran may bring worst defeat yet to world’s two worst war criminals

1 November 2026AIMN Editorial, By Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition Glen Ellyn IL https://theaimn.net/third-impending-trump-netanyahu-attack-on-iran-may-bring-worst-defeat-yet-to-worlds-two-worst-war-criminals/

All signs point to a third try by US President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to destroy the Iranian regime shortly after the November 3 US midterms, if not before.

US War Secretary Pete Hegseth recently met in Israel with Netanyahu almost certainly to discuss upcoming attack plans.

In a rare meeting, Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, visited the White House on Thursday to brief President Trump on military options for attacking Iran. Joining Cooper were Hegseth and Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. All three are virulent war hawks likely encouraging Trump who’s long boasted about destroying the Iranian civilization along with their Islamic leadership.

Senator Chris Murphy, after being briefed on the US plan to launch Iran war 3.0 made this astounding statement never before uttered by a US congressperson:

“I’ll just say this, their plan is insane, It will lead to devastating escalation and the likely destruction of our commitment to the rule of law.”

Forget ‘destruction to the rule of law’ for the US and Israel. Both destroyed that decades ago attacking countries, changing out regimes like changing underwear, interfering in elections, and worst of all, cooperating on genocide destroying life for 2,2000,000 Palestinians in Gaza.

But it will surely bring ‘devastating escalation’ to US, Israeli efforts to continue ruling the world. Iran has had over four months to prepare for the near certainty of round three of the criminal US Israeli tag team to oust the only country standing between them and absolute rule in the Middle East and beyond. Iran will likely polish off what remains of US Gulf State bases, destroy most if not all of remaining Gulf State oil infrastructure and reap devastating damage to the now vulnerable Israeli nation. If that occurs, we cannot rule out Israel, even the US resorting to nuclear weapons to avoid catastrophic defeat.

What is truly remarkable is only one of 535 congresspersons even has their hair on fire over what Trump and Netanyahu may ignite within the next few days.

November 4, 2026 Posted by | Israel, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

There’s no national security without international security

in our current predicament, let’s give some thought to strengthening the world’s international institutions

for example, abolishing the Security Council veto

November 2, 2026, by Lawrence Wittner, https://peaceandhealthblog.com/2026/11/02/theres-no-national-security-without-international-security/

For millennia, the world’s people have been kidding themselves about national security.

Worried about the survival of their nation in a world of self-interested, sometimes aggressive nations, people have armed and prepared themselves for war.  Only military strength, they have assumed, would fend off or defeat a military attack on their nation.

And a case can be made for this assumption, for not all nations―and not all people―are willing to deal peacefully or justly with their neighbors.

Even so, over the course of human history, this reliance upon national military might to defend national security has produced disaster after disaster.  Although almost every country has armed itself for national defense, even those with immense military might have ended up fighting recurring wars to defend what they regard as their national security.  Just look at the history of the “great powers” of recent centuries―the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, Germany, and Japan―and consider how frequently they have waged war, sometimes emerging as the victors and other times as the vanquished.

Furthermore, preparing for and fighting wars, even victorious wars, have come at an immense human cost.  Estimates for the death toll in the almost constant flow of wars over the span of human history range as high as 1 billion people.  And to this we should add the vast numbers of people crippled, blinded, traumatized, and left homeless.  Russia’s current military invasion of Ukraine, aside from slaughtering large numbers of Ukrainians, has already led to the deaths or injuries of 1,581,840 Russian soldiers.

Nuclear war, of course, promises to increase war’s human toll very substantially, with the living, as is sometimes said, envying the dead.

Nevertheless, the nations of the world continue, relentlessly, to arm and prepare themselves for war.  Global military expenditures rose by nearly three percent in 2025, the eleventh consecutive year of growth, reaching $2.9 trillion.  America’s Donald Trump, a fervent supporter of U.S. military power, has proposed a 42 percent increase in the forthcoming U.S. military budget to $1.5 trillion―about 63 percent of federal discretionary spending.

Of course, far-sighted individuals have criticized militarism and war, as well as suggested better ways for nations to relate to one another.  Thanks particularly to the massive slaughter and destruction wrought by the two World Wars, they called for the development of international institutions that could safeguard national security through the development and enforcement of international law.  This agitation led to the establishment of the League of Nations (and its legal arm, the Permanent Court of International Justice) and, near the end of World War II, to the establishment of the League’s successor, the United Nations (and its legal arm, the International Court of Justice).

These new institutions were met with considerable enthusiasm by a war-weary public, and even by many national officials, who recognized that, if every country continued blindly pursuing what it viewed as its own interests, global conflict and war were inevitable.

But this potential turning point in human history was bedeviled by two major problems. For thousands of years, nations had defended their “interests” (and especially their national security) through military might.  Consequently, many government officials and even many members of the public were not accustomed to thinking and behaving according to what best served the common good.  Furthermore, the great powers were particularly reluctant to surrender the advantages, including empire, that military might traditionally afforded them in world affairs.

As a result, the leaders of the major powers, despite their rhetoric about the equality of nations and collective action to cope with international issues, remained committed to ensuring a privileged status for their own countries.

In the case of the League of Nations, this reluctance to accept limits meant that the great power victors in World War I came away from the peace settlement with new territory, including the spoils of empire (disguised as “mandates), taken from the war’s great power losers.  Moreover, in subsequent years, the Axis nations plunged into war to restore their empires or enhance them, while they and other major powers withdrew from the League when it condemned their belligerent behavior.  The U.S. government never even joined the League.

When it came to the United Nations, the great power victors in World War II established a UN Security Council that provided each of them with a veto over collective action for international security.  Thus, they could (and did) veto such action when they felt it adversely affected them or their friends.  They also pursued what they regarded as their national security by subverting, invading, and even occupying other nations, while occasionally withholding their dues payments to the world organization.

Against this backdrop, it’s easy to conclude that international security has failed the test.

But, given the existence of key international institutions for only a tiny portion of human history, isn’t it premature to abandon efforts to create an effective international security system?  After all, the United Nations is only 81 years old.  By contrast, modern human beings have been around for about 300,000 years.

Also, what is the alternative?  Surely it is endless war, capped off by the use of nuclear weapons to annihilate the human race.

So, in our current predicament, let’s give some thought to strengthening the world’s international institutions.

Numerous nations have called for reforming the United Nations.  Modest measures, such as providing it with adequate funding and enhancing the role of the General Assembly, can be fairly easily implemented.  More significant changes―for example, abolishing the Security Council veto―will take a more substantial effort, including the holding of a UN Charter review conference.  Article 109 of the UN Charter provides the framework for such a conference, and an Article 109 Coalition has recently launched a campaign to prepare for it.

Over thousands of years, war and militarism have failed to safeguard national security.  But international security might finally succeed at the task.

November 4, 2026 Posted by | politics international | Leave a comment

Cryosphere faces permanent damage when world overshoots 1.5C, scientists warn

Earth’s icy regions face such dangerous melting that global heating
should be brought back below 1C after an inevitable period of overshooting
global temperature targets, a UN report has found.

Permanent and widespread
losses of snow and ice expose a “persistent myth” that overshooting the
1.5C target of the Paris climate agreement – to 2C or 3C – could be
manageable or even preferable to urgent cuts to emissions, the report
found.

The planet has heated by 1.3C since pre-industrial times and
failures to curb greenhouse gas emissions and protect nature have led
scientists to conclude that some level of overshoot is inevitable as they
fight to keep end-of-century warming to 1.5C.

But extreme effects on the
cryosphere – Earth’s water in a solid state, including all its ice and
snow – mean temperatures must rise above that threshold for as short a
period as possible, the scientists urged. Added to this, enough
planet-heating carbon should be removed from the atmosphere to bring
long-term warming down much further, ideally below 1C by 2150.

Guardian 2nd Nov 2026

November 4, 2026 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment

Caitlin Johnstone – The War Propaganda Is Even Dumber This Time — And Other Notes

Drop bombs on buildings full of children and the UK will call you an ally. Express support for activists who try to stop those bombs and the UK will call you a terrorist.

Caitlin Johnstone, Nov 02, 2026, https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-war-propaganda-is-even-dumber?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=223026587&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

As CENTCOM meets with Trump to plan more Iran strikes, the war propaganda is dumber than it has ever been.

Fox News is running stories about an Iranian “plot” to kill US military personnel in the middle east, as though a country planning ways to defend itself from hostile attackers is some sinister new development.

CBC ran a completely evidence-free report alleging that Iran has been paying gunmen to shoot bullets into empty buildings in Toronto, Canada. One of the dumbest things we are asked to believe about Iran is that it keeps taking time away from defending itself against US-Israeli aggressions in order to orchestrate random acts of arson and vandalism in mid-power western states for no discernible benefit to its strategic interests.

Former Israeli military intelligence officer Mordechai Kedar went on Piers Morgan to call Iran an “artificial state”, saying “its fate is to be dismantled, is to be shattered to pieces, as it should have been from the beginning.” Calling one of the world’s oldest civilizations an “artificial state” from inside a country that’s younger than Mick Jagger and has been propped up by nonstop western military aggression throughout 100 percent of its existence is, uh, certainly a choice.

Under Trump, the war propagandists don’t even need to try anymore. He’s just going to inflict all sorts of horrors upon the middle east and Latin America with blunt-force military aggression, and then when he leaves office they’re going to act like he’s carrying all the sins of the US empire with him on his back.

British police arrested 325 people on terrorism charges for protesting in support of the proscribed activist group Palestine Action on Saturday. Sky News reports that 94 percent of all terrorism arrests this year have been made because of support for Palestine Action.

“There were 3,867 arrests for suspected terrorist activity in the year to June, of which 94% were linked to supporting the group,” Sky News reports, adding, “In the previous 12-month period, before the ban came into force, 234 terror arrests were made.”

Drop bombs on buildings full of children and the UK will call you an ally. Express support for activists who try to stop those bombs and the UK will call you a terrorist………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-war-propaganda-is-even-dumber?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=223026587&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

November 4, 2026 Posted by | spinbuster | Leave a comment

Iran’s nuclear bomb debate gains ground on official platforms

Calls to revise Iran’s nuclear doctrine and build an atomic bomb are
gaining prominence on official platforms after gathering momentum in
hardline circles, although the country’s top security official says no
policy change has been approved.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s
Supreme National Security Council, said on Saturday, October 31, that
neither the government nor the broader establishment had made a new
decision on changing the country’s nuclear doctrine. However, he
acknowledged discussion of whether Iran should retain its existing policy
if war resumes. Rezaei said attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities had
prompted public demands for reconsidering the policy. He argued that Iran
had cooperated fully with International Atomic Energy Agency inspections.

Iran International 2nd Nov 2026, https://www.iranintl.com/en/202611015457

November 4, 2026 Posted by | Iran, politics | Leave a comment

Nuclear Regulatory Reform Beyond the Permitting Bill

Ashley Finan Center on Global Energy Policy November 2, 2026

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (BAAJA) could facilitate nuclear energy development through federal permitting reform, but nuclear-specific regulatory challenges involving licensing procedures, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) capacity, and oversight would remain.

Six bills advanced unanimously by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in September 2026 seek to address these challenges through reforms to fuel-cycle licensing, mandatory hearings, independent technical review, NRC staffing, and transparency.

The effectiveness and durability of these reforms will depend on implementation that improves efficiency while preserving safety oversight and public confidence.

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (BAAJA) could facilitate nuclear development by streamlining federal environmental reviews and providing greater certainty for permitted projects. But broad permitting reform alone may leave important nuclear-specific regulatory issues unresolved, including procedural requirements for Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing, the agency’s capacity to conduct timely reviews, the predictability of licensing requirements for developers, and the durability of safety oversight and public accountability across administrations.

Six nuclear bills advanced unanimously by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on September 2, 2026, offer a window into additional reforms under consideration. Developed on a separate legislative track and advanced before BAAJA’s introduction, the bills address fuel-cycle licensing, the sequencing of construction and licensing, mandatory hearings, independent technical advice, senior NRC compensation, and transparency around Department of Energy (DOE) authorizations. Together, they illustrate the potential for nuclear-specific legislation to complement broader permitting reform by reducing regulatory delays and uncertainty while maintaining effective oversight, but also the importance of getting the details right to realize these benefits.

H.R. 3978 Nuclear REFUEL Act

This Act would amend the Atomic Energy Act’s definition of a “production facility” to exclude spent-fuel reprocessing equipment that does not isolate plutonium. This change would allow qualifying facilities to avoid associated statutory mandates that can cause delay, including a licensing hearing even when no party requests one, formal technical specifications, and the prescribed inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance criteria associated with a combined license. It would also afford the NRC greater discretion to determine appropriate requirements through its regulations and license conditions…………………………………

The bill and the proposed rule thus address different aspects of reprocessing licensing: the bill would remove certain statutory requirements for qualifying facilities, while the NRC’s rulemaking would establish a regulatory framework for licensing reprocessing facilities more broadly. The NRC would still need to address technology-specific hazards, and policy questions surrounding reprocessing economics, proliferation concerns, and disposal of the resulting waste would remain.

H.R. 9612 American Enrichment Deployment Act

This Act would permit uranium enrichment facilities to begin construction before receiving an NRC license,……………………………………………………….

H.R. 5549 Efficient Nuclear Licensing Hearings Act

This Act builds on earlier efforts to streamline the hearings process, including the NRC’s approval of simplified mandatory-hearing procedures in 2024………………………….

H.R. 9613 Nuclear Advisory Committee Reform Act

This Act would allow the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) to decline to review an application if it determines the application contains no unique, novel, or noteworthy issues…………………………………………………..

H.R. 9614 NRC Staff Pay Alignment Act

This Act builds on workforce and compensation authorities established by the bipartisan ADVANCE Act of 2024. The bill would authorize the NRC chair to set basic pay for career senior executives at up to 110 percent of the maximum Senior Executive Service rate within the Commission. This expanded compensation flexibility could help the NRC recruit and retain experienced senior personnel without requiring an across-the-board increase, sustaining technical expertise and consistent implementation across administrations.

H.R. 9084 Department of Energy Nuclear Transparency Act……………………

The committee’s proposals suggest that nuclear-specific reforms can complement broad permitting legislation by bringing procedural efficiency, regulatory capacity, and accountability together. Significant negotiation and adjustments went into the bipartisan agreement on these six bills. For example, Representative Pallone identified adoption of amendments to the enrichment and ACRS amendments as a condition of his support for the set of six bills. He also identified transparency as a condition of his support for nuclear legislation. But bipartisan agreement is only a starting point: each reform’s practical value will depend on its design and implementation, while its durability may depend on whether agencies exercise new authorities consistently and stakeholders begin making long-term commitments on that basis. Preserving the safeguards that helped secure agreement may also help sustain that support. https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/nuclear-regulatory-reform-beyond-the-permitting-bill/

November 4, 2026 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear material theft from Dounreay was scenario for emergency response exercise on A9

The attempted theft of nuclear material in Caithness was the background to
a simulated exercise to test the response of emergency services. The major
incident exercise closed the A9 for several hours around Georgemas
Junction, and trains on the far north line were unable to stop at the
location. Months of planning by the Civil Nuclear Constabulary’s
(CNC’s) exercise and resilience team and their colleagues at NRS Dounreay
went into the simulation on September 23. Dounreay has now released details
of the “Regulatory Evaluation Demonstration Exercise”, which involved
and tested multiple agencies and their response to an attack by adversaries
intent on stealing nuclear material. In the scenario, a lorry transporting
a flask of nuclear material from Dounreay power station for onward
transport by rail from Georgemas Junction train station, was held up by a
deliberate car crash and attacked by armed offenders.

John O’Groat Journal 31st Oct 2026,
https://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/news/nuclear-material-theft-from-dounreay-was-scenario-for-emerge-448991/

November 4, 2026 Posted by | Fuk 2023, safety, UK | Leave a comment

Climate science helps support nuclear sector

The Met Office and the Office for Nuclear Regulation have agreed to work
together on meteorological and climate services to support nuclear safety
and emergency preparedness. The agreement covers areas such as extreme
weather and climate projection analysis. It will also provide training
between both agencies and expert advice for the ONR’s assessments. The
organisations say it will also help ensure timely science-based
decision-making within the country’s nuclear sector that protects public
safety and strengthen national resilience.

Energy Live News 2nd Nov 2026,
https://www.energylivenews.com/2026/11/02/climate-science-helps-support-nuclear-sector/

November 4, 2026 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment