US arms dealers witness ‘record profits’ from Israel’s year-long genocide in Gaza, war on Lebanon
The US and Israel’s ongoing military escalation across West Asia has helped the aerospace and defense industry outperform expectations
News Desk, OCT 10, 2024, https://thecradle.co/articles/us-arms-dealers-witness-record-profits-from-israels-year-long-genocide-in-gaza-war-on-lebanon
US arms manufacturers have outperformed major stock indexes this year in a rally fueled by Israel’s year-long genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the expansion of its war against Lebanon.
Stock funds with holdings in the US aerospace and defense industry – including companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, RTX, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, and L3Harris – saw their profits soar past expectations this year, outperforming the S&P 500 index.
“That handout of taxpayer funds to Israel coupled with Israel’s, and global, demand increasing for weapons in a period of instability, has been jet fuel for stock prices,” reports Responsible Statecraft.
Lockheed Martin, makers of the F-35 aircraft that Israel has used to relentlessly bomb Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, produced a 54.86 percent total return from 7 October 2023 to the same date in 2024, outperforming S&P 500 by about 18 percent.
RTX, the makers of 2,000-pound ‘bunker buster‘ bombs that turned most of Gaza to rubble and are currently being dropped inside the Lebanese capital, saw its total return for investors in the past year reach 82.69 percent, outperforming S&P 500 by about 46 percent.
General Dynamics, which also manufactures bunker busters and is behind the BLU-109 bombs that Israel used to level several apartment buildings in the southern suburbs of Beirut during the assassination of Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, delivered a 37 percent total return for investors, outperforming the S&P 500 by just over 3 percent.
On 1 October, as Israel pushed forward with its ground invasion of Lebanon and Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles in retaliation for the bombing of its capital, Forbes reported that the stocks of most US arms makers gained over 2.6 percent in value.
“Both Lockheed Martin and RTX shares booked all-time highs Tuesday, while L3Harris and Northrop Grumman tallied their top share price since 2022,” the US financial publication reported.
Furthermore, the BlackRock-managed iShares US Aerospace and Defense fund indexing the aerospace and defense sector hit a new all-time high last week, extending its 12-month gain to 43 percent and outperforming the S&P 500 by 33 percent.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), between 2019 and 2023, Israel accounted for 2.1 percent of all global arms imports. During the same period, the US accounted for 69 percent of Israel’s arms imports, while Germany accounted for 30 percent.
As Washington retains its long-standing hold as the world’s largest arms dealer – controlling 42 percent of the global arms market – the country has also significantly boosted its military spending to assist Israel, blowing through at least $23 billion in one year.
EDF Seeks to Raise Up to £4 Billion to Help Fund Construction of UK’s Hinkley Nuclear Plant
- Company is talking to funds for a stake sale in Hinkley Point
- EDF would reimburse investors if the nuclear project fails
Electricite de France SA is holding talks with investors over funding for
the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant under construction in the UK, as
the French utility grapples with the ballooning cost of the project.
EDF is seeking to raise as much as £4 billion ($5.2 billion) through a bespoke
financial instrument which would give investors a stake in the Hinkley
project, people familiar with the matter said asking not to be named
because the discussions are private. Investors would be reimbursed if the
construction isn’t completed, one of the people said.
Bloomberg 10th Oct 2024
EDF reportedly seeking up to £4bn from investors to finish Hinkley Point C
French energy firm reported to be in talks over potential investment to cover ballooning cost of nuclear project
Jillian Ambrose 11 Oct 24, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/oct/10/edf-seeks-to-raise-up-to-4bn-to-finish-delayed-hinkley-point-c
The French energy company EDF is reportedly in talks with investors to raise up to £4bn to finish the delayed Hinkley Point C project in Somerset, Britain’s first new nuclear reactors in a generation.
The utilities company, owned by the French state, has approached investors to help cover the ballooning cost of constructing the nuclear plant, which is understood to have reached almost £50bn due in part to supply chain issues and struggles securing skilled engineers, according to Bloomberg.
EDF is reportedly engaged in talks with sovereign wealth funds and large infrastructure funds to raise the extra money through a bespoke financial instrument that would hand investors a stake in Hinkley while protecting them against the risk that the project is not finished.
Hinkley Point C is due to begin generating electricity by 2030, according to EDF – five years later than first planned and 12 years after construction began. The project’s costs have also spiralled, from £18bn when its contracts were signed in 2016 to £47.9bn in today’s money.
The cost overruns and delays are understood to be in part due to spending on extra safety measures to satisfy UK authorities, and trouble securing skilled engineers after Brexit.
A team of specialist engineers at the Hinkley site, represented by the trade union Prospect, voted to strike for 24 hours from Thursday after pay talks broke down. The union said the engineers had not had a pay increase in the last four years.
The financial pressure on the project has deepened after EDF’s partner, China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), a state-run company, declined to plough more funding into the project beyond its contracted term in 2023.
CGN has scaled back its interest in investing in the UK after tensions between Westminster and Beijing over security concerns made it clear that a Chinese company would not be given permission to lead a nuclear project in the UK.
In response, EDF has called on the UK government to stump up the cash to help finish the project, which will only benefit from bill payer subsidies once it begins generating, but the suggestion was rebuffed by the previous government.
One of the companies considering an investment in the troubled project is Centrica, the owner of British Gas, which has previously been linked to investment talks relating to EDF’s planned nuclear project at Sizewell C in Suffolk. The FTSE 100 company is reportedly in early talks to invest up to £1bn in Hinkley Point C, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Investing in new nuclear reactors would help to secure future electricity supplies for Centrica, which holds a 20% share in all five of EDF’s remaining UK nuclear power stations, four of which are due to close this decade.
Centrica is understood to be interested in investing in either Hinkley or Sizewell – but not both.
EDF and Centrica declined to comment.
Rolls-Royce suffers £78m loss on mini-nukes amid UK rollout delays
Company moves ahead with Czech-backed project as Britain’s selection process for
SMR technologies drags on. Rolls-Royce’s mini nuclear reactor business has
posted a £78m loss as it awaits the outcome of a delayed UK tender
competition.
The company, which is developing a small modular reactor (SMR)
design that it hopes to export globally, saw losses in 2023 grow from £61m
the previous year, new accounts show. It came as the company ramped up
spending on research and development from £78m to £115m.
It made no revenue
and employed some 590 staff. Losses also grew as Rolls – along with three
rivals – continued to wait for a decision by the UK Government on which SMR
technologies it would back following a series of delays. The competition
was first announced by George Osborne, the former Conservative chancellor,
in 2015 but is still yet to reach a conclusion. Tufan Erginbilgiç, chief
executive of the Rolls-Royce group, has urged ministers to press ahead as
quickly as possible, saying he expects orders from around the world to
begin flowing in if Rolls emerges as a winner.
Telegraph 9th Oct 2024
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/10/09/rolls-royces-mini-nukes-arm-suffers-loss-amid-delay/
US’ next-gen nuclear submarines suffer delay with costs soaring past $130 billion.
The US Navy’s next-generation nuclear submarines face delays and rising costs, surpassing $130 billion.
Interesting Engineering, Bojan Stojkovski Oct 05, 2024
A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan watchdog that reviews government operations for Congress, highlighted problems with the construction of the new submarines.
The GAO noted that both cost and schedule targets for the lead submarine have consistently been missed, according to the report released on Monday, Gizmodo reported.
“Our independent analysis calculated likely cost overruns that are more than six times higher than Electric Boat’s estimates and almost five times more than the Navy’s. As a result, the government could be responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in additional construction costs for the lead submarine,” the GAO said in its report.Re-Timer and cold plasma, the best of IE this week
Navy plans to replace aging Ohio-class subs
The country’s nuclear weapons are deployed through three methods: intercontinental ballistic missiles launched from silos, bombs dropped from strategic bombers, and missiles fired from stealth submarines. …………………………………………………………………..
General Dynamics Electric Boat is currently building the first Columbia-class submarine, but the construction is facing significant challenges. According to the GAO report, the program has struggled with ongoing issues such as delays in materials and design products, despite efforts over the years to address these problems. The report also stated that swift and substantial action is needed to improve the construction performance.
Submarine construction faces skilled labor shortages
Some of the challenges are systemic, as there are few skilled workers in the US capable of building nuclear submarines. Between the 1980s and 2020, the submarine supplier base, which provides critical parts and materials, has drastically reduced from around 17,000 suppliers to just 3,500.
This has led Columbia-class shipbuilders to increasingly depend on single-source suppliers, limiting competition for contracts, according to the GAO.
As Defense One writes, the Navy and shipbuilders provide “supplier development funding” to support these critical suppliers. This funding is divided into two categories: “direct investments in suppliers,” which cover expenses like equipment, factory upgrades, and workforce development, and “specialized purchases to signal demand,” which involve placing orders to ensure that suppliers remain capable and motivated to produce, even when their products are not immediately required.
However, the GAO found that the Navy has not adequately assessed whether its financial investments in the supplier base are being utilized effectively. The GAO report outlined that the Navy has inconsistently defined the necessary information to evaluate whether these investments have led to increased production or cost savings and how these outcomes align with the program’s objectives https://interestingengineering.com/military/us-nuclear-submarines-delayed-exceeding-costs
NUCLEAR power is a fiscal sinkhole.
The National, Leah Gunn Barrett, Edinburgh 6 Oct 24
The Sizewell C nuclear project in Suffolk is delayed again and the UK is ponying up £5.5 billion in subsidies (but Reeves can’t afford £2bn for the Winter Fuel Allowance), and the Hinkley Point C plant’s $46bn price-tag exceeds Scotland’s entire £41bn devolved budget.
Scotland has two nuclear plants – Hunterston B in Ayrshire which ceased generating in January 2022 and Torness in East Lothian, which will stop generation in 2028, two years early, due to a rising number of cracks in its core – 46 so far. Cracks can lead to a reactor meltdown and release of radiation into the environment.
Yet Anas Sarwar, the inept English Labour northern branch supervisor, insists that Scotland must invest in nuclear power to cut bills. No kidding.
If he becomes first minister, he’ll no doubt approve the proposed nuclear plant at Ardeer in North Ayrshire that the current administration has rejected.
The private sector is running a mile from nuclear power because of its out-of-control construction costs, the propensity for plants to develop cracks and the intractable problem of what to do with tonnes of radioactive waste.
Scotland doesn’t need nuclear (power or weapons). It generates the bulk of renewable energy within the failing UK, renewables that are being siphoned off by our greedy southern neighbour with the profits lining the bulging pockets of private corporations while Scots not only freeze but pay a premium for having their own energy sold back to them. Come on, Scotland. Let’s get out of here. https://www.thenational.scot/politics/24632469.vote-scottish-labour-want-broken-nuclear-future/
Czechs take stake in Rolls-Royce vehicle in boost for SMRs.
Partnership with Rolls-Royce consortium to build SMRs in Czech Republic to be
underpinned by minority holding as engine maker vies to secure UK deal.
The Czech government is taking a minority stake in the Rolls-Royce SMR
consortium, which hopes to build and sell fleets of small nuclear reactors
to meet increasing demand for electricity in the 2030s. Last month, the
Czech Republic announced a strategic partnership with Rolls-Royce SMR to
build small modular reactors (SMRs) in the eastern European country. Rolls
beat six other companies in a selection process led by Cez, the country’s
state-backed energy group.
It has now emerged that the Czech government
will take an equity stake in the Rolls consortium via Cez for an
undisclosed sum, in a move that underlines its determination to advance SMR
technology.
Rolls-Royce SMR is majority owned by the FTSE 100 engine maker,
which has a stake of about 70 per cent. Other shareholders include the
Qatar Investment Authority, US energy firm Constellation and BNF Capital,
an investment vehicle set up by the billionaire Perrodo family of France.
It is not known how big a stake Cez will take in the SMR consortium,
although it is expected to come via Rolls selling down its holding. Last
year, Tufan Erginbilgic, the chief executive of Rolls-Royce, said his
intention was to take the company’s shareholding in the SMR business down
to about 50 per cent.
Times 6th Oct 2024, https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/czechs-take-stake-in-rolls-royce-vehicle-in-boost-for-smrs-536q2njgb
Sizewell C nuclear project hit by fresh delays as investment talks drag on.
UK ministers have made contingency arrangements to fund the Sizewell C
nuclear power project in case a final agreement with potential investors is
delayed by as much as two years.
A £5.5 billion subsidy scheme envisages a
scenario where there is no agreement until mid-2026. Several industry and
Whitehall figures said no deal is expected before spring 2025.
FT 3rd Oct 2024
https://www.ft.com/content/2a5d9462-b921-4577-82c1-4eb508775624
US government provides $1.52 billion loan to resurrect Michigan nuclear plant
US closes $1.52 billion loan to resurrect Michigan nuclear plant, By Timothy Gardner October 1, 2024
WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (Reuters) – The U.S. on Monday said it closed a $1.52 billion loan to resurrect Holtec’s Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan, and a senior Biden administration official said it could take two years to reopen the plant, which is longer than the company predicted.
President Joe Biden’s administration has called for a tripling of U.S. nuclear power capacity as U.S. power demand surges and worries about climate change mount.
The push could include the potential reopening of some commercial reactors that have been shut for decommissioning, including one at Three Mile Island, site of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history. Restarting shut nuclear plants is a complicated and expensive process never before accomplished in the country.
“Palisades is a climate comeback story,” Ali Zaidi, the White House climate adviser, told reporters in a call, adding that nuclear power supports high-paying union jobs
The $1.52 billion in financing from the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, was accompanied by funding for nonprofit electric cooperatives to purchase power from Palisades. Deputy U.S. Energy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small announced more than $1.3 billion in public funding to power cooperatives Wolverine and Hoosier Energy.
Nuclear reactors generate virtually emissions-free power, which is valued as electricity demand soars for the first time in decades on growth in artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and cryptocurrencies. Nuclear critics, however, point out that the U.S. has not agreed on a permanent place to bury radioactive nuclear waste.
Palisades still needs licensing from regulators and the senior U.S. official said that means it could take “a couple of years to turn back on”. Holtec has estimated a comeback in the fourth quarter next year…………….
O’Brien has said Holtec does not expect delays or additional costs. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-closes-152-billion-loan-resurrect-michigan-nuclear-plant-2024-09-30/
Why NuScale Power Stock Dropped Today
Motley Fool, By Rich Smith – Sep 26, 2024
NuScale’s potential growth just got smaller by exactly one country.
Shares of NuScale Power (SMR 5.55%) slipped 3.2% through 11 a.m. ET Thursday on some disconcerting news out of Great Britain. According to World Nuclear News (WNN), the British government just narrowed the list of companies competing to begin building small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) in the U.K. to four names.
NuScale isn’t one of them.
SMRs in the U.K.
According to WNN, the list of companies competing for this program initially numbered six, but two companies have been cut: NuScale and France’s EDF. General Electric subsidiary GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Rolls-Royce-owned Rolls-Royce SMR, and privately owned Holtec and Westinghouse all made the cut with reactor designs based on existing technology married to “modular production techniques.”
Britain plans to narrow its list further to two or perhaps three companies that will win co-funding contracts to complete their designs and obtain permits. Then the government will make a final decision to proceed with power plant construction in 2029.
………………….The bad news is that the closest company to a pure play in this new technology, NuScale Power, is now no longer an option in the U.K. Furthermore, Britain’s decision to pass on NuScale’s technology may give U.S. regulators second thoughts about it as well. All things considered, I’d say this is bad news for NuScale stock.
The other bad news is that the options that remain, Rolls-Royce and GE, are valued at $60 billion and $200 billion, respectively. While nuclear power may one day become a bigger part of their businesses, it’s going to be a long time before either company gets big enough in nuclear to move the needle on their revenue or earnings, or for investors to see them primarily as nuclear power stocks.
Investors seeking pure plays on nuclear power should probably look elsewhere. https://www.fool.com/investing/2024/09/26/why-nuscale-power-stock-dropped-today/
US company eliminated from race to build Britain’s first mini-nuclear plant.
NuScale Power will not proceed to the final round of the competition’s selection process
Executives at NuScale Power were told on
Wednesday afternoon that they had been eliminated from the small modular
reactor (SMR) design competition.
The decision by officials at Great
British Nuclear (GBN), a government agency, leaves four companies battling
to secure support for their proposed technologies: Rolls-Royce,
Westinghouse, GE-Hitachi and Holtec Britain. Those businesses will now
progress to the final stage of the process, which will see them submit
“final best offers” to the Government.
GBN is then expected to announce
two winners either late this year or early in 2025, with the companies then
awarded sites and funding.
Earlier this year, a sixth company, the French
state-owned energy giant EDF, effectively dropped out of the contest when
it decided not to submit a bid by the required deadline. A spokesman for
NuScale also confirmed the decision. He said the company had been told it
did not meet the criteria for the SMR competition as it had already begun
production of its reactors and did not need support getting to market.
The decision is a fresh blow to NuScale, which suffered another setback last
November when its $1.4bn (£1bn) project to build a plant for a Utah power
provider was cancelled amid spiralling costs. The Government has not yet
confirmed where the first SMRs will be built. However, GBN purchased sites
in Wylfa, on the Welsh island of Anglesey; and Oldbury, Gloucestershire,
earlier this year.
Telegraph 25th Sept 2024
Nuclear finance will rely on consumers’ stomach for risk.
Projects prove too tricky to fund through normal financing methods.
Western governments have flip-flopped on nuclear power for decades. But the current enthusiasm for atomic energy in countries such as the Czech Republic, Sweden, the US
and the UK now also appears to be spreading to the private sector.
This week, 14 of the world’s biggest banks and financial institutions pledged
to increase their support for nuclear power. Nuclear power projects prove
too tricky to fund through normal project financing methods.
Upfront costsare high and construction is lengthy. If the company set up to construct
the project defaulted, a half-built nuclear plant would be pretty worthless
as security. The interest lenders would demand for that level of risk would
simply make projects unviable, says Jens Weibezahn, assistant professor at
the Copenhagen Business School.
Projects running overtime and budget, such
as EDF’s Hinkley Point C plant in south-west England, have hit
confidence. On the French utility’s last estimate, the initial £18bn
budget for the 3.2 gigawatt plant had ballooned to £31bn-£35bn in 2015
prices (£41.6bn-£47bn in today’s money).
Several other countries are also considering models such as the regulated asset base, involving consumers paying towards the construction of nuclear power plans before
they start operating. Microsoft’s deal points to another way in which the
private sector can support a nuclear renaissance — although its agreement
is notably not for a new build.
FT 25th Sept 2024
https://www.ft.com/content/0608e36e-51cd-4ab7-bd18-62a536808536
World’s biggest banks pledge support for nuclear power
Names including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs boost COP28 goal of
tripling capacity by 2050. Fourteen of the world’s biggest banks and
financial institutions are pledging to increase their support for nuclear
energy, a move that governments and the industry hope will unlock finance.
FT 23rd Sept 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/96aa8d1a-bbf1-4b35-8680-d1fef36ef067
Western, Russian nuclear industries still intertwined, report says
By Reuters, September 19, 2024, https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/western-russian-nuclear-industries-still-intertwined-report-says-2024-09-19/
VIENNA, – The Russian and Western nuclear industries remain dependent on each other, a situation that has shielded Russia from European sanctions, an industry report said on Thursday.
Cutting the West’s dependence would likely drive up costs, the annual World Nuclear Industry Status Report said.
Since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, some of the five European Union countries with Russia-designed VVER reactors, which use Russian fuel, have sought alternative fuel sources, particularly U.S. company Westinghouse Electric.
Several of those countries, however, stockpiled Russian fuel last year, driving up imports.
Some Western companies rely heavily on Russian state company Rosatom’s construction of new reactors abroad to sell their parts, the report said.
“Interdependence between Russia and its Western partners remains significant,” the report said.
“With Rosatom implementing all 13 nuclear-power reactor construction sites started outside China over the past five years, providers of parts, e.g. France’s Arabelle turbines, do not have any other foreign customer besides Rosatom,” it said, referring to a unit of French state power utility EDF.
Call for banks to back nuclear energy projects
The global nuclear industry
is asking major banks to fund nuclear projects to [?] meet net zero goals and
improve energy security. Nuclear energy is increasingly being discussed as
a key component in global efforts to improve energy security. At the
“Roadmaps to New Nuclear” conference in Paris, nuclear industry
associations from various countries, including the US, UK, Canada and
France, urged international financial institutions to support new nuclear
projects.
The call was directed at organisations such as the World Bank,
asking them to include nuclear energy in their funding portfolios to help
nations meet their low carbon energy goals. This push aims to expand
nuclear energy capacity alongside renewable energy by 2050,
Industry groups also highlighted the potential to decrease reliance on
Russian nuclear technology.
Energy Live News 20th Sept 2024
1 This Month
PLEASE OPPOSE HR 8255 AND S.3639 – bills would accelerate satellite deployment, with no environmental review or safeguards – https://ncstd5li.quorum.us/campaign/169331/
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