SMRs two examples. NuScale in the US, NUWARD in France
Samedi 2 décembre 2023, par Bernard Laponche, Jean-Luc Thierry, https://global-chance.org/SMRs-two-examples-NuScale-in-the-US-NUWARD-in-France
In recent years, a new type of reactor has appeared on the world stage, the SMR – Small Modular Reactor. Historically, a number of “small reactors” of very different types have been in operation – small in terms of power compared with the reactors of nuclear power plants currently in operation around the world – notably for use in ship propulsion, such as the nuclear submarines of the pressurized water/enriched uranium type.
The “modular” feature of an SMR is achieved by mass production in a dedicated plant. It would then be transported to the operating site, where it would be connected to the heat or electricity production system to form a “module” and then a “power plant”, known as an “SMR”. The hope of SMR promoters rests on the hoped-for gain in unit reactor cost due to the series effect, as they are rightly aware that the cost of a site-built model is far too high.
At present, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), there are almost a hundred “candidate” SMR projects/designs, some of them based on existing prototypes (“small” but not “modular”), most of them existing only on paper, of various power ratings, from enriched uranium and pressurized water reactors, a well-known technology, to plutonium fast neutron reactors, thorium or molten salt reactors, etc. There are no existing SMRs at present.
In addition to a general presentation of the SMR issue and a selection of IAEA projects, this report examines two “SMR candidate” reactor projects in the enriched uranium and pressurized water (PWR) family of reactors : NuScale in the USA and NUWARD in France. Numerous safety-related questions remain unanswered about the NuSCale model, and the Safety Options File for the NUWARD reactor, studied by the French, Czech and Finnish safety authorities, is not yet available. The technical challenges to be met to guarantee SMR safety are not qualitatively different from those of large reactors.
These challenges are compounded by the uncertainties brought about by the reactor’s novel “compact” design, which contains the reactor core (the site of the nuclear fission reaction), the control rods, the steam generator(s) and the pressurizer in a single enclosure. The SMR gamble is not only risky in terms of the bill, but also in terms of the climate, technical and safety agendas, as well as entailing the negative externalities of nuclear installations such as the risk of nuclear accidents and the production of waste that we are relegating to future generations, at least for the next 100,000 years. These reactors also entail other risks, including proliferation.
The complete text is available here : https://global-chance.org/Les-SMR-Deux-exemples-NuScale-et-NUWARD
Holy See advocates collaboration on nuclear disarmament
Archbishop Gabriele Cacccia, the Holy See’s Permanent observer to the United Nations, highlights the disproportionate impact of nuclear weapons on women and girls, and urges synergy between the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and existing disarmament measures.
By Francesca Merlo, https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2023-12/archbishop-caccia-united-nations-nuclear-weapons-disarmament.html—
Nuclear weapons have catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences, multiply risks and offer only ‘an illusion of peace’.
Thus, the the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons reminds us that a world free of atomic weapons “is possible and necessary and offers us a means to achieve this goal through dialogue”.
These were the points made by Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, at the second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty, signed in 2017 and ratified by 56 countries around the world.
The Archbishop focused on two addresses concerning two fundamental aspects of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: “Implementing the gender provisions of the treaty” and “Complementarity of the Treaty with the existing nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime”.
Gender disparity
Speaking on the issue of gender disparity, Archbishop Caccia noted that, for a long time, it was believed that nuclear weapons affected those exposed equally through blast, heat and radiation. However, he said, “newer scientific evidence has shown that this is not the case, and that the radiation effects of nuclear weapon detonations are disproportionately affecting women and girls”.
Archbishop Caccia noted that the Treaty rightly recognises this and “calls for the provision of assistance to victims to be provided in a manner that takes into account the particular needs of each individual”.
The effects on women
Girls exposed to radiation from birth to age five are almost ten times more likely to develop cancer compared to the typical European male. Further research into the factors causing this disproportionate impact on women and children, such as on intergenerational consequences like maternal and fetal health, is essential, said Archbishop Caccia.
This understanding is crucial “to ensure that women exposed to ionizing radiation receive adequate care to preserve their health and the health of their babies”.
The Archbishop went on to stress that “The absence of a solid scientific foundation will hinder States Parties’ effective implementation of the Treaty’s positive obligations, especially those concerning women and girls”, before going on to highlight some queries the Holy See has with the same Treaty.
Use of language
These are the use of unclear language regarding gender, using non-legal terms in discussing assistance for victims, divisive language concerning medical care, and referencing a UN text that hasn’t been negotiated. Because of these issues, “the Holy See cannot support the recommendations outlined in the Report”, said Archbishop Caccia.
Concluding his speech on the implementation of gender provisions in the Treaty, Archbishop Caccia stressed that, due to these significant concerns, “the Holy See considers that the inclusion of a Gender Focal Point in the intersessional structure of the Treaty may need to be reconsidered in the future.”
Relationship between Treaty and existing non-proliferation regime
Addressing the relationship between the Treaty and existing nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, Archbishop Caccia noted that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) bolsters Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by enforcing the Additional Protocol and the Revised Small Quantities Protocol for states that have signed them. “Despite the NPT’s lagging implementation efforts, particularly under the disarmament pillar, it remains the cornerstone of the disarmament and non-proliferation regime”, he said.
All treaties together
Archbishop Caccia went on to emphasise the potential synergy between the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the TPNW. He highlighted the importance of leveraging data from the International Monitoring System (IMS) to support the TPNW’s obligations, urging collaboration between TPNW States Parties and CTBT Signatories. “Since the objects and purposes of the TPNW and the CTBT complement and advance one another, it follows that they should be promoted in parallel”, he explained.
Archbishop Caccia concluded that “the Holy See supports greater engagement between TPNW States Parties and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR)”, explaining that this could advance understanding of the human and environmental harms caused by nuclear weapons activities “and contribute to efforts to address such harms”.
Nuclear lobby’s latest gimmick – making nuclear BEAUTIFUL !
Making nuclear power plants look great, World Nuclear News, 01 December 2023
They must be desperate. They’ve tried – renewable, -clean, – safe – cheap, – nothing-to-do-with weapons
They’re still lying their heads off about –fixes climate change
Nobody believes them. Now they’re going for beautiful and feel-good.
Good luck with that.
Amber Rudd, a previous UK Minister for Energy tried that, years ago, and it went down like a lead balloon.
We hear from an award-winning architect on the benefits of designing nuclear power plants that make people feel good ....
Technology and function, ensuring their reliable and safe operation have long been the priorities when designing nuclear power plants. But why can’t they look beautiful too? Dutch architect and designer Erick van Egeraat says that part of the way to continue to build public support for nuclear energy is to make nuclear power plants look good, “to make people feel good” when they see them.
The award-winning professor and director of Design Erick van Egeraat outlined his thinking at World Nuclear Symposium, explaining the background to the work he is doing at Akkuyu nuclear power plant, which is being built in Turkey.
Israel Planning for Gaza War To Last Over a Year
In either case, the Israeli military operations have killed more children, at least 6,000, than members of Hamas.
https://news.antiwar.com/2023/12/01/israel-planning-for-gaza-war-to-last-over-a-year/
One source said, “This will be a very long war . . . We’re currently not near halfway to achieving our objectives.”
The Financial Times reported speaking with sources who said that Israel plans to wage war on Gaza for over a year. In a little less than two months, Israel has killed at least 15,000 people, damaged 100,000 buildings, displaced 1.7 million Palestinians, and destroyed most of Gaza’s medical facilities.
On Friday, FT reported sources said Israel was preparing for a multi-phase conflict in Gaza that will last at least a year. “This will be a very long war…We’re currently not near halfway to achieving our objectives,” said one person familiar with the Israeli war plans.
According to the sources, Israel’s goals include “killing the three top Hamas leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Marwan Issa — while securing a decisive military victory against the group’s 24 battalions and underground tunnel network and destroying its governing capability in Gaza.”
Israel does not appear close to achieving these goals. US sources have said that Israel’s military operations in Gaza have failed to impact high or even mid-level Hamas members. On Sunday, the Guardian reported that Israeli officials estimated that 1,000 – 2,000 Hamas members had been killed. However, FT spoke with an Israeli military source who gave an estimate of 5,000 dead Hamas members. It is unclear why there is such a large discrepancy in the numbers, as both were given during the week-long pause in fighting.
In either case, the Israeli military operations have killed more children, at least 6,000, than members of Hamas. The massive civilian toll has led to mounting world opinion against Israeli military operations.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken attended a meeting of the Israeli war cabinet on Thursday and warned that Tel Aviv will lose more international support as the conflict continues. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff, said military operations in Gaza will take “more than a few additional weeks,” suggesting Tel Aviv did not plan to follow Washington’s advice. Still, America’s top diplomat said Washington was still firmly committed to arming Tel Aviv.
The first phase of the war, an intense bombing campaign and ground invasion, is expected to last well into 2024. One source said the first phase of the war is about 40% complete. “Gaza City isn’t finished yet, nor fully conquered. It’s probably 40% done,” the person explained. “For the north as a whole, it will probably require another two weeks to a month.”
The second phase will be an operation with fewer military operations aimed at stabilizing Gaza. While the sources told FT that the second phase is projected to continue until late 2024, Israeli officials say they cannot predict a firm endpoint to the conflict.
The Biden administration has pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to allow the Palestinian Authority to control Gaza after Hamas is defeated. However, one source told FT that Tel Aviv will not listen to Washington, even as the US provides Israel with billions of dollars in weapons. “No one, not even the US, can talk to them about this,” said one of the sources familiar with the matter. That person emphasized that this point was crucial to Netanyahu keeping his far-right war cabinet together.
Why the UN Report is right to say we’re heading for at least 3 degrees of warming
100% Renewables 2nd Dec 2023
Despite a flurry of headline-jerking agreements at Dubai’s COP28 a UN Report suggests that global warming will reach 3 degrees. This conclusion, issued by the UN Environment Programme’s ‘Emissions Gap Report’, is based on the continuation of current policies. This assumes, for instance that in the UK and the USA, the targets for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 not achieved. This, by the way, is by no means an unreasonable assumption. In fact, as things stand at the moment, it’s dead right!
Achieving the 2050 net zero target means that all heating, transport and industrial energy uses need to be decarbonised. Then the production of electricity will have to be greatly expanded. That, actually, is the easier task eg if you consider that the whole of the UK’s energy supply could be supplied by electricity from offshore windfarms occupying less than 10 per cent of the UK’s seawaters……………………………………………….
it does seem likely (on the basis of the UN analysis) that we are facing a temperature increase of 3 degrees above industrial levels. Temperatures have now risen by 1 degree and the effects are apparent. Yes, these COP events are, as Greta Thunberg said, by and large, just ‘blah blah blah’. https://100percentrenewableuk.org/why-the-un-report-is-right-to-say-were-heading-for-at-least-3-degrees-of-warming
A blank cheque for France’s Industrial Centre for Geological Disposal (Cigéo) does not prove that it is safe.
In September 2022, 32 organizations and 30 residents jointly filed an
appeal contesting the declaration of public utility (DUP) which was granted
to the Cigéo project (deep geological burial project for the most
radioactive waste) by decree on July 7, 2022.
This decision allowed the
National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management (ANDRA) to acquire the
missing land control for surface installations and the plumbness of
underground works, i.e. approximately 3,500 hectares (the equivalent of the
surface area of Lille) and to expropriate if necessary.
More than a year
later, on December 1, 2023, the Council of State rendered its decision.
Despite all the uncertainties and inaccuracies of the impact study of the
Cigéo project, ANDRA has succeeded in painting with scientific virtues the
fact that it is unable to provide precise evaluations, even with a
Declaration of ‘Public Utility (DUP) of 6,000 pages and almost 30 years of
studies.
It was enough for the Agency to affirm that it will do its best to
precisely identify the impacts of its project and to analyze and counter,
as the construction of Cigéo progresses, all their consequences. We do not
understand how such a project was able to obtain a DUP when it lacks so
much precise “basic” information. Let us remember: the declaration of
public utility facilitates land control, or even the start of work on other
so-called “preparatory” developments for Cigéo and allows the
industrial site to be physically anchored in the territory.
But for those
who read this decision a little too quickly, no, Cigéo is still not
“validated”. The project still needs to pass the stages of creation
authorization which, without giving up, we will attack by all means when
the time comes. We will at least have warned current decision-makers and
present generations and left messages for future generations, engraved in
stone in the archives of the Republic and its Councils.
Sortir du Nucleaire 1st Dec 2023
https://www.sortirdunucleaire.org/CIGEO-un-blanc-seing-qui-ne-signifie-pas-son
US Sent Israel 15,000 Bombs Since October 7
The transfer has included thousands of 2,000-pound bombs that have been used to devastate Gaza.
By Kyle Anzalone / Antiwar.com, https://scheerpost.com/2023/12/03/us-sent-israel-15000-bombs-since-october-7/
The Wall Street Journal published details about the White House’s secretive arms transfers to Israel since October 7. The US has provided Israel with 57,000 artillery shells and 15,000 bombs, including over 5,000 with 2,000-pound warheads.
According to a list of weapons obtained by the Journal, the US has shipped Israel “more than 5,000 Mk82 unguided or ‘dumb’ bombs, more than 5,400 Mk84 2,000-pound warhead bombs, around 1,000 GBU-39 small diameter bombs, and approximately 3,000 JDAMs.”
The US has additionally shipped 57,000 155 MM shells to Israel. NBC News previously reported in October that Washington sent Tel Aviv artillery rounds that are cluster munitions.
Mick Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense and officer in the Marine Corps, described the weapons as those the US would use in non-urban areas. “They are kind of the weapons of choice for the fights we had in Afghanistan and Syria in open, non-urban areas,” he said. “The US may use them in more urban areas, but first it would do a lot of target analysis to make sure the attack was proportional and based on military necessity.”
By contrast, Gaza is about 140 sqare miles and home to 2.3 million people—one of the most densely packed regions on earth. Additionally, Israel has relied on an AI program to rapidly generate lists of suspected low-level Hamas members to target, without respect to civilians in proximity.
The Israeli policy has led to the widespread devastation of Gaza. At least 15,000 civilians have been killed. The number of dead Palestinian children exceeds the number of Hamas fighters Israel has claimed to kill by many thousands. Nearly 100,000 buildings in Gaza have been damaged by Israel’s bombing campaign, including the destruction of universities, hospitals, schools, and entire residential neighborhoods.
On Saturday, the New York Times reported that Israel was killing civilians in Gaza at a “historic pace.” The outlet added that part of the explanation for the huge death toll was Tel Aviv’s willingness to drop 2,000-pound American-made bombs on various civilian centers.
Marc Garlasco, a former Pentagon analyst who advises the Dutch organization PAX, told the Times that he’s never seen anything like it. “It’s beyond anything that I’ve seen in my career,” he said. Garlasco added that to find a historical comparison for so many large bombs in such a small area, one would have to “go back to Vietnam or the Second World War.”
Israeli officials and American politicians have attempted to justify Tel Aviv’s slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza by referring to the allied bombings of Tokyo during World War II. In a single night during the bombing of Tokyo, more than 100,000 people were burned to death by American napalm bombs.
The White House has made some requests to Tel Aviv to try to curb civilian casualties. However, the Biden administration has refused to condition future weapons shipments to Israel on reducing the civilian death toll.
The US has primarily relied on aircraft for quick shipment to Israel hundreds of millions of dollars in arms during the past two months. Unlike weapons shipments to Ukraine, the Biden administration has refused to provide the public with information on the arms it is providing to Tel Aviv.
More explosive power used against Gaza in a month than on Hiroshima
https://www.rt.com/news/588318-israel-gaza-bombing-report/ 3 Dec 23
Israel’s offensive against Hamas has also been deadlier than years of US assaults on Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a UN report
RT’s Steve Sweeney takes a look at the overall statistics from Israel’s relentless assault on Gaza as it seeks to eliminate the militant group Hamas. The damage sustained by the Palestinian enclave has already been described by the UN as “the darkest chapter in Palestinian history.”
According to a new UN report, the combined explosive power unleashed by the IDF in Gaza since October 7 already exceeds that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima by the US at the end of WWII. The Palestinian death toll is now higher than the count following several years of US strikes on Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Israeli bombardment campaign was launched following the surprise Hamas attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed. Israel’s response has so far claimed the lives of over 15,000 Gazans, including some 6,000 children, according to the enclave’s health officials.
Watch the full report here: on original
The Nakba 2.0: Issa Amro’s Insider Account of Israeli Torture in Hebron
By Alan Macleod and Mnar Adley / MintPress News
Coming back to his house on October 7, world-renowned activist Issa Amro was dragged away by 15 armed Israelis, blindfolded, gagged, and cuffed so tightly he now needs an operation on his hands. The settlers and soldiers kept him imprisoned for days, beating and torturing him, constantly simulating his execution.
Speaking with MintPress News, Amro told the story of what life is like for Palestinians living in the West Bank city of Hebron. “In my city where I live now, since October 7, there is a curfew,” he told Mnar Adley and Alan MacLeod.
But this curfew is far more restrictive than others. Palestinian families – those who have not already fled the genocidal Israeli violence – are given only six hours a week to leave their homes. They are not even allowed out into their own yards. This means that school has stopped, work has ended, and life is on pause.
In those six hours, Palestinian families must buy all their food, pick up essentials such as medicine and conduct any social activities. But being outside is dangerous, as they have to pass though multiple checkpoints with armed guards and AI smart shooters pointing guns at them. Violence from vigilante settler groups is also a danger.
“It’s scary to walk alone between armed soldiers and armed settlers, all of them pointing their guns at you. Then, when you come back, it takes them five to ten minutes to search every person,” Amro said, revealing that the guards wanted to go so far as to cut open his potatoes and tomatoes to check for “weapons.”
“It’s a kind of jail” right now, Amro said, although he notes that being in jail is considerably safer than being a Palestinian in Hebron right now.
Issa Amro is an activist and the co-founder of the grassroots group Youth Against Settlements. He has led campaigns of non-violent civil disobedience against apartheid and Israeli occupation and has been recognized and given awards by international organizations, including the United Nations. He joins MintPress to chronicle recent Israeli attempts to force Palestinians from their homes and their ancestral land.
While leaving the house is extremely dangerous, staying inside is barely safer. Amro and others have experienced Israeli raids where troops tell Palestinians that they have 24 hours to leave or they will be murdered.
“History is repeating itself,” Amro told Adley and MacLeod today, “Now I understand why my people left in 1948,” referencing the Israeli genocide of three-quarters of a million Palestinians from their land in order to create the state of Israel.
It is no exaggeration to call the current Israeli actions genocidal. Indeed, senior Israeli politicians are directly comparing it to the events of 1948. Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, for example, described his country’s actions as the “Gaza Nakba 2023.” “We are now rolling out the Gaza Nakba,” he told local outlet Channel 12 on Saturday. “From an operational point of view, there is no way to wage a war – as the Israeli army seeks to do in Gaza – with masses between the tanks and the soldiers,” he added.
In this conversation, Amro provides a crucial first-hand perspective rarely heard in corporate media. Watch the full interview only at MintPress News.
Have you noticed? The nuclear lobby is swamping the news media with its false “nuclear for climate”message
It’s a concerted effort.
It’s all over the media. Despite the obvious failure of small nuclear reactors.
Despite the fact that new nuclear reactors of any size will not be up and running in time to have any effect on global heating.
Yet the corporate media dutifully regurgitates these nuclear lies, all outlets using the same wording, the same optimistic “nuclear renaissance” lies
Who orchestrates this media blitz ? It could be the Atlas Network?
Drones Target Ukrainian, Russian Nuclear Facilities
Arms Control Association , By Kelsey Davenport, December 2023
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned that strikes against nuclear power plants must be avoided after an explosion damaged a nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Two days after the Ukrainian facility was targeted, Moscow alleged that Kyiv attempted a drone strike on a nuclear facility in Russia.
The Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant is located in northeastern Ukraine and includes two reactors, one of which is shut down for maintenance. There was no direct strike on the nuclear power facility, but ancillary buildings at the site suffered damage from the shockwaves after Ukraine shot down two drones in the vicinity of the power plant.
……….. Grossi said the incident underscores “the extremely precarious nuclear safety situation in Ukraine, which will continue as long as this tragic war goes on.” He warned that “hitting a nuclear power plant must be avoided at all costs.”
…………… An IAEA press release on Oct. 27 noted that Russia reported drone activity in the vicinity of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in eastern Russia near the Ukrainian border. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that it thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to carry out a “terrorist attack” against the nuclear facility that same day.
According to the ministry, none of the three drones caused any damage to the facility, but one exploded near a building used to store spent nuclear fuel.
Russia also said it shot down nine Ukrainian drones near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on Nov. 2……………………………………………………. more https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2023-12/news/drones-target-ukrainian-russian-nuclear-facilities
IAEA experts record explosions near two Ukrainian nuclear power plants
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts in Ukraine have
recorded explosions near two nuclear power plants (NPP) on the night of
28-29 November. “IAEA experts based in Ukraine reported sound of military
activity overnight in proximity of Khmelnitsky NPP, not just at the
Zaporizhzhia NPP, Director General Rafael Grossi said today [29 November].”
Pravda 30th Nov 2023
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/11/30/7430978/
Emerging Risks 30th Nov 2023
How wealthy countries, (like U.S., Canada, Australia, and Norway)evade responsibility for their fossil fuel exports
a remarkable new report from Oil Change International (OCI) found that those four countries (the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Norway), along with the U.K., account for just over half of the planned expansion in oil and gas between now and mid-century. In most cases the project licenses have already been granted, and unless officials intervene, the damage (enough carbon and methane to take us past the Paris climate targets) is locked in.
Bulletin, By Bill McKibben | November 30, 2023
When the world convenes in the United Arab Emirates for the next round of the endless climate slog, much attention will be paid to the pledges of individual nations to cut their emissions. This has been the basic scorecard of climate talks almost since the start. But it’s a wildly incomplete scorecard, in ways that are becoming ever clearer as we enter the endgame of the energy transition. We’ve been measuring it wrong.
That’s because a country’s exports of fossil fuel don’t count against its total. But it’s those exports that are driving fossil fuel expansion around the world, coming as they do from some of the most diplomatically powerful and wealthy nations on Earth.
To give the most obvious, and largest, example: the United States is, fitfully, cutting back on its carbon emissions; its envoys will be able to report, honestly, that the Inflation Reduction Act should soon actually be trimming our domestic use of oil, gas, and coal, as we subsidize heat pumps and build out EV charging networks. But at the very same moment, the U.S. production of fossil fuels is booming. That means, of course, that much of that supply is headed overseas.
And the numbers are truly staggering. If the liquefied natural gas (LNG) buildout continues as planned, for instance, by 2030 U.S. LNG exports will be responsible for more greenhouse gases than every house, car, and factory in the European Union. The emissions, under the U.N. accounting system, will show up on the scorecards of the EU and the dozens of mostly Asian nations that will buy the gas. But if you could see them in the atmosphere, they would be red, white, and blue.
Exactly the same thing is true of a handful of other nations — in fact, some are even more grotesque in their hypocrisy, if not their impact. Norway has, arguably, done as good a job as any country on earth on moving past oil and gas; almost every new car in the country runs on electricity. But it’s planning one of the dozen biggest expansions in national oil and gas production, almost all of it for export. Canada and Australia fall into the same basket. Indeed, a remarkable new report from Oil Change International (OCI) found that those four countries (the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Norway), along with the U.K., account for just over half of the planned expansion in oil and gas between now and mid-century. In most cases the project licenses have already been granted, and unless officials intervene, the damage (enough carbon and methane to take us past the Paris climate targets) is locked in…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
the real question here may be, how do politics work? The fossil fuel industry demonstrated its firm grip on power in the U.S. in 2015 when it got the export ban lifted. Now the industry is flush with cash: Exxon reported a quarterly profit of $9.1 billion last month. It’s using its cash to buy up even more fracking real estate; clearly it concludes it has the political juice to enable it to face Biden down and keep on pumping gas for the planet.
………………………………. Canada’s huge contribution to our global crisis is its exports. Trudeau quite honestly summed up his nation’s position in 2017 in a talk to Texas oilmen, when he told the truth about the country’s vast tar sands complex: “No country would find 173 billion barrels of oil in the ground and just leave them there.” Canada couldn’t burn 173 billion barrels of oil if everyone in the country kept their car idling 24 hours a day, and they couldn’t burn the enormous quantity of natural gas that’s been found further north in Alberta if they all turned their thermostats to 115 and wore bathing suits all winter. That’s why they’re busy building pipelines to take the oil and the gas to the Pacific.
I could do the same math for Australia or the U.K. or Norway. No matter what they stand up and say in the UAE over the next month, remember: They’ve decided to hold a fire sale at the end of the world. https://thebulletin.org/2023/11/how-wealthy-countries-evade-responsibility-for-their-fossil-fuel-exports/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=ThursdayNewsletter11302023&utm_content=ClimateChange_WealthyCountries_11302023
Here Are Details of Burns-Zelensky Meeting That You Won’t See on Mainstream Media
CIAGATE, DEC 2, 2023, https://ciagate.substack.com/p/here-are-details-of-burns-zelensky?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1685806&post_id=139329769&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&utm_medium=email
The issue to carry on providing military and financial support to Ukraine remains one of the hot topics on Capitol Hill. And if the aspirations of the Democrats to give the American taxpayers’ money to Zelensky remain stable (more than 75%), the voices inside the Republican Party about the need to finally end it are increasingly heard.
Regular postponements of the voting dates in the U.S. Congress on the allocation of billions of dollars for the provision of “emergency assistance” to Ukraine reflect serious inter-party contradictions on this matter. Thankfully, the Democrats have not been able to gain any advantages to date.
We’ve managed to find out some details of the conversations between CIA Director William Burns and Zelensky, where Mr. Burns personally warned the
Ukrainian president about the “upcoming financial difficulties” that Kyiv will face shortly.
Burns mentioned that the Democratic Party is going through a tough time, and Biden needs to focus on the presidential election now. In this regard, the CIA Director hinted to Zelensky that more funds allocated to Ukraine must be transferred back to the United States “to ensure democracy’s triumph.” He recalled that if Trump wins the presidency, the financial assistance may end by the beginning of 2025.
In other words, Biden wants to utilize the funds designated for Ukraine as part of his election campaign. Confirmation to this is the Washington Post article, which explicitly states that most of the Ukrainian money ultimately remains in the United States.
Burns and Zelensky also agreed to work together to “convince” Republicans in the House of Representatives to resume military and financial flows to Kyiv.
According to our sources, Burns gave Zelensky a list of 87 House Republicans who opposed to financial aid to Ukraine. Our source hinted that shortly “explanatory work” will be carried out with them both by the Ukrainians and with the participation of the CIA.
We had to find indirect confirmation of this information. A couple of days ago, the Ukrainian Pravda reported that Ukraine’s President’s Office sent a delegation to establish connections with U.S. Republicans.
But how will the CIA work in this direction, given that it is prohibited for the Agency to operate on the United States soil? Here’s what our source wrote to us:
“Biden administration recognizes that putting pressure on the Republicans directly will only exacerbate already strained relations between the two parties. In this regard, the task of persuading the Republicans will be carried out by a third side, specifically by employees of European embassies in the United States under close supervision of the CIA.”
We have previously discussed the CIA’s ways of promoting and utilizing its agents for key positions worldwide. Most of these agents are currently extremely effective in promoting interests of the deep state in those countries where this is most necessary.
In our past material, we wrote about the connections of the president of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, with the CIA. His latest statement on the need for NATO to prepare for a high-intensity conflict fully reflects Joe Biden’s current foreign policy, which is aimed at further financing of wars.
It is expected that such a scheme will eventually convince the Republicans to help Ukraine further. If this happens, the Biden and Zelensky families, but not ordinary Americans, will once again become the beneficiaries.
Here’s the full CIA list of “objectionable Republicans”:
1. Ben Cline, VA
2. Eric Crawford, AR
3. Scott Franklin, FL
4. Kay Granger, TX
5. Alexander Mooney, WV
6. August Pfluger, TX
7. Guy Reschenthaler, PA
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The nuclear power renaissance has some way to run
EDF is vowing to build one reactor a year but challenges range from funding to a lack of skilled workers.
SARAH WHITE
https://www.ft.com/content/aaa33c5c-70e8-4f05-a45a-a45c7d2aba72 1 Dec 23
When France first hosted a nuclear power trade fair about a decade ago, in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, it was a low-key affair. Two years ago, organisers’ main worry was to avoid anti-nuclear protesters marring proceedings.
This week, the buzz at the vast salon on the outskirts of Paris was unequivocal. Miss America 2023, a nuclear engineering student, was on hand to help the event court the limelight, and champagne flowed on the stands displaying radioprotective gloves and designs for cutting-edge small reactors. The message was clear: nuclear power is back, and France, Europe’s atomic power champion with its 56 reactors, intends to be at the heart of this revival.
“We’re coming out of a period of taboos [over nuclear],” said Sylvie Bermann, a former French ambassador to China and Russia who heads the Paris show.
The industry and its low-emission technology would also have its moment for the first time at the COP28 climate summit in the United Arab Emirates, with a dedicated event, she added.
After years in the doldrums, mindsets over nuclear have shifted, spurred by climate worries and an energy crisis last year when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and cut gas supplies to Europe. Even Japan, home to the Fukushima meltdown of 2011, has restarted idled reactors, while a host of other nations are considering new plants, giving suppliers reasons to feel more optimistic.
What is less obvious will be the move from aspirations to reality, in a sector where building reactors is costly and slow, especially after decades without projects drained the industry of skilled workers.
Part of the promotional push by France and other pro-nuclear nations is aimed at solving some big obstacles. Chief among them, according to the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog Rafael Grossi, is the financing, including from multilateral bodies.
Paris, which is riding high on recent EU wins to gain some subsidies for its existing plants, originally opposed by staunchly anti-nuclear Germany, has campaigned for instance for the European Investment Bank to help fund the construction of new reactors. “Nuclear has been constructed very fast when the money’s there,” said the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Grossi, citing the United Arab Emirates, which had gone from “zero to champions” in roughly eight years with a $20bn-plus project for four Korean-built reactors. They are almost all now online.
There’s also a lot to prove on the industrial front. France’s state-controlled nuclear power operator EDF aims to build roughly one 1.6 Gigawatt reactor a year once it gets going with its new orders for at least six new ones in France by the mid-2030s, according to chief executive Luc Rémont.
Considering its prototype in northern France known as Flamanville 3 has been 16 years in the making, it is an extremely ambitious goal. Rémont argues that parallel projects (the state-owned group is bidding for projects in India and the Czech Republic) would help EDF become better and faster.
There are other challenges. Many nations have long been dependent on Russian nuclear fuel, including the US reactor fleet, and finding sufficient alternative supplies could take years.
Meanwhile, the IAEA forecasts that over the next 20 years the industry’s share in the global energy mix — roughly 10 per cent of the world’s electricity generation today — will remain flat, if not decrease slightly, unless there are even more ambitious construction plans.
Developers argue, however, that the hardest battle is getting political buy-in to give them the visibility they need. Judging by the upbeat messaging coming out of Paris this week, that part of the complex nuclear equation at least is some way towards being solved.
1 This Month
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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