Seymour Hersh warns of potential US plan B in Ukraine
Washington could clash with Moscow’s forces if Kiev starts to lose, the veteran journalist argues
https://www.rt.com/russia/572993-seymour-hersh-ukraine-conflict-future/ 17 Mar 23
The US could get directly involved in the Ukraine conflict if it sees that Kiev’s forces are on the back foot, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Seymour Hersh suggested on Tuesday.
Speaking at an event in Washington, DC hosted by the Committee for the Republic, a non-profit organization, Hersh noted that the US “did stupid things” during the Vietnam War, and suggested that Washington could “start doing something else” in the Ukraine conflict.
I don’t know what happens if it goes bad for Ukraine, you have all this manpower,” he said, pointing out that the US has dispatched units of its 82nd and 101st elite airborne divisions close to the Ukrainian border, while “a lot of weapons and arms are coming” to Europe.
“I’m told the game is going to be: this is NATO, we are supporting NATO in offensive operations against the Russians, which is not going to fool the world… It’s us fighting Russia,” Hersh stressed, without disclosing his sources.
According to Hersh, “the big deal” is that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to come to an agreement with the Ukrainian government. “The deal is demilitarize, and it’s going to be a no-go for us,” the journalist said, adding that the Russian leader “has not put in his main force yet” in the conflict.
Summing up the Ukraine conflict, Hersh argued that “we just may be kidding ourselves what’s going on there and what the results are going to be”.
He recalled the battle of Stalingrad during WWII, when Soviet troops suffered heavy losses but still emerged victorious. “Come on. Do we really want to mix up with those guys? I don’t think so,” the journalist added.
In February, Hersh released a bombshell report on last September’s Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipeline blasts, accusing Washington of orchestrating the attack. The White House denied responsibility. Last week, several Western media outlets claimed the culprits may have been linked to Ukraine. Moscow dismissed the reports as “a coordinated media hoax campaign.”
Russia has repeatedly voiced concerns about the eastward expansion of NATO and its involvement in the Ukraine conflict. Last month, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that NATO “is no longer acting as our conditional opponent, but as our enemy” as it conducts round-the-clock intelligence operations against Moscow and continues to supply Kiev with arms.
UK Chancellor blocks cheap renewable energy , while promoting expensive nuclear power
The Chancellor has been accused of keeping his head “buried in the
sand” and committing public money to expensive solutions to the climate
and energy crisis. Jeremy Hunt reiterated in the Spring Budget the
Government’s desire to invest £700 million in a new nuclear plant in
Suffolk, £20 billion in carbon capture and storage (CCS) and he suggested
that small modular reactors – a technology yet to be proved viable –
could receive funding.
He also said nuclear power will be reclassified as
“environmentally sustainable” while the Government’s
soon-to-be-launched Great British Nuclear scheme will boost investment in
the industry. Backing expensive technologies like CCS and a new nuclear
programme, while still blocking cheap onshore wind in England and failing
to properly insulate the UK’s energy-leaking homes, will leave the UK
hooked on high energy costs.
Bronwen Smith-Thomas, co-director at the
Climate Coalition said: “The Chancellor has delivered a budget in the
midst of an energy crisis while keeping his head buried in the sand.
“This government has the chance to kickstart a British golden era for
people and planet. This means supporting homegrown renewable energy and
buildings upgrades to bring down bills, protecting and restoring our
natural world, and providing support to the most vulnerable to insulate
them from the damaging impacts of climate change and the energy crisis.”
The Chancellor was criticised for his focus on nuclear and CCS instead of
insulation and renewables and MPs have questioned what has changed to make
nuclear power environmentally sustainable.
Independent 15th March 2023
EDF confirms nuclear power target for 2023, despite corrosion problems, and plummeting output in 2022.
EDF confirms 300-330 TWh nuclear power target for 2023 despite the recent
discovery of new corrosion issues which may be present at all France’s 56
reactors. France’s nuclear output plummeted by 22.6% year-on-year in 2022,
down 81.7 TWh to 279 TW.
Montel 17th March 2023
https://www.montelnews.com/news/1462200/edf-confirms-300-330-twh-nuclear-power-target-for-2023
Scotland’s not-so-Green Freeports: Minister’s equivocal response leaves way open to nuclear manufacturing facility
Scottish anti-nuclear campaigners were disappointed to learn that the
Scottish Net Zero Minister will not be opposed to a nuclear manufacturing
facility in a supposed Green Freeport. The Scottish Nuclear Free Local
Authorities and Highlands Against Nuclear Power wrote to Michael Matheson
MSP in the hope that he could provide reassurance that the two new Green
Freeports planned for Scotland in Forth and Cromarty & Inverness Firth
would not include a manufacturing plant to produce prefabricated parts for
supposedly Small Modular Reactors, such as the 470 MW design championed by
Rolls-Royce, but the Minister was unable to do so.
The Minister’s
assertion that the new Green Freeports could include businesses undertaking
work for the nuclear sector appears to both the NFLA and HANP a
contradiction of their stated aim to ‘contribute towards a just
transition to net-zero emissions by 2045’ and in so doing create
thousands of new green technology jobs.
Councillor Paul Leinster, Convenor
of NFLA Scottish, said: “We are glad that the Minister has once more
stated that there will be no new nuclear power generation on site, but
bemused that it would be acceptable for a manufacturing facility to be
located there that would make parts that would be shipped elsewhere to
enable nuclear power generation to take place outside Scotland. Nuclear is
not ‘green’; although the industry makes much of its claim that
electricity generation is carbon free this fails to take account of the
huge carbon footprint that any nuclear plant creates throughout its
lifecycle and once it is decommissioned.
NFLA 16th March 2023
“Great British Nuclear” launch – an eccentric fraud by the UK government.
UK to finally harness full power of green energy with new Great British
Nuclear scheme. Jeremy Hunt has confirmed nuclear power will be classed as
“environmentally sustainable” in a bid to boost investment in the energy
sector. The Chancellor said today he would launch “Great British Nuclear”
to bring down costs.
Andy Stirling, Professor of Science and Technology
Policy at the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex,
told Express.co.uk: “Amid the complete eclipse of nuclear power by
renewables, the position being taken by the UK Government is now growing so
eccentrically flawed as to become a major investment-threatening risk in
its own right. “To characterise nuclear as ‘cheap’ is to completely forego
credibility.
This is even more so, if promises are relied on around a new
generation of military-derived ‘small modular reactors’ that are
currently undeveloped, untested, unlicensed, unpiloted, unsited and
unbuilt.
“The National Infrastructure Commission confirms that renewables
and storage offer much more affordable, effective and rapid zero carbon
alternatives than even the most attractive nuclear options. The track
record of nuclear and renewables accentuate this picture.
“By attaching such a strong priority to nuclear power, the UK Government is not only
jeopardising economic, secure clean energy. With other nations prioritising
renewables more strongly, the UK thereby continues to forego the full
domestic employment and industrial benefits of unique UK renewable
resources.”
Express 15th March 2023
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1746665/energy-crisis-nuclear-jeremy-hunt-budget
Changing dynamics of US nuclear alliances, and a brazen violation of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty.
Deccan Herald, 16 Mar 23
China has strongly condemned the submarine deal, accusing AUKUS of displaying a ‘Cold War mentality.
The AUKUS trilateral alliance, which includes Australia, the UK and the US, has signed a landmark deal under which it will create a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines to counter China in the Indo-Pacific region. The deal provides a significant shot in the arm to Australia’s military capability. Canberra will buy three nuclear submarines, with the option to purchase two more. The submarines will use the US’s elite nuclear propulsion technology and be built in Britain and Australia. In addition, American and British nuclear-powered submarines will rotate into Australian waters as early as 2027. The deal marks a significant milestone; Australia has now become the second country after the UK to be provided with this elite American technology. While the supply of nuclear submarines to Australia will beef up Western capacity to contain China in the Indo-Pacific, this is a brazen violation of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, under which nuclear weapons states are forbidden from sharing nuclear technology with non-nuclear weapon states. However, this is not the first time that such nuclear sharing is taking place. China has shared its nuclear and missile technology with Pakistan and North Korea, while the US stationed its tactical nuclear weapons in several Western European countries during the Cold War. China has strongly condemned the submarine deal, accusing AUKUS of displaying a “Cold War mentality,” embarking on a “path of error and danger,” damaging the NPT regime, and triggering a nuclear arms race. Its allegations are valid……………………
It is hard to ignore the fact that the hostility between China and the West is increasingly looking like that between the latter and the Soviets during the Cold War years. The Cold War resulted in both sides pouring billions of dollars into their conventional and nuclear arsenals. It is still possible for the two sides to back off. Importantly, they must continue to engage diplomatically and ensure that their competition does not escalate into armed conflict. Weapons and alliances may give countries a sense of security but this is at best hollow. Misperceptions can trigger a war. AUKUS must follow up its nuclear deal by calling for talks with China. https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/first-edit/changing-dynamics-of-us-nuclear-alliances-1200527.html—
l
AUKUS nuclear submarine plan brings danger as it uses a loophole in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
The Aukus scheme announced on Monday in San Diego represents the first time
a loophole in the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has been used
to transfer fissile material and nuclear technology from a nuclear weapons
state to a non-weapons state.
The loophole is paragraph 14, and it allows
fissile material utilised for non-explosive military use, like naval
propulsion, to be exempt from inspections and monitoring by the UN nuclear
watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It makes arms
controls experts nervous because it sets a precedent that could be used by
others to hide highly enriched uranium, or plutonium, the core of a nuclear
weapon, from international oversight.
Guardian 14th March 2023
400,000 gallons of radioactive water leaked from a nuclear plant in Minnesota
AP By STEVE KARNOWSKI 16 Mar 23
ST.. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota regulators said Thursday they’re monitoring the cleanup of a leak of 400,000 gallons of radioactive water from Xcel Energy’s Monticello nuclear power plant, and the company said there’s no danger to the public.
………………… While Xcel reported the leak of water containing tritium to state and federal authorities in late November, the spill had not been made public before Thursday. State officials said they waited to get more information before going public with it.
…………………….. The Monticello plant is about 35 miles (55 kilometers) northwest of Minneapolis, upstream from the city on the Mississippi River.
………………. Xcel said it has recovered about 25% of the spilled tritium so far, that recovery efforts will continue and that it will install a permanent solution this spring.
…………… Xcel Energy is considering building above-ground storage tanks to store the contaminated water it recovers, and is considering options for the treatment, reuse, or final disposal of the collected tritium and water. State regulators will review the options the company selects, the MPCA said. https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-xcel-energy-nuclear-radioactive-tritium-leak-c7a12ecb1b203179c5f7fef42bd0a3aa?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=TopNews&utm_campaign=position_02
Britain does not have the capacity to support Australia’s plan to build its own nuclear submarine fleet – Rear Admiral.
Letter Rear Admiral (ret’d) Philip Mathias:
Sir, Britain does not have the
capacity or effective leadership to provide the huge level of support
required by Australia to build its own nuclear submarine fleet (“PM
strikes submarine deal to face new threat”, Mar 14).
The performance of
the Submarine Delivery Agency has been abysmal. Astute class submarines are
being delivered late by BAE Systems; HMS Vanguard’s refit by Babcock has
taken more than seven years; and none of our 22 decommissioned nuclear
submarines has been dismantled, which is disgraceful.
Times 15th March 2023
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/times-letters-aukus-nuclear-powered-submarine-deal-9c5ntd5m7
Ukraine aims to produce full cycle of nuclear nuclear fuel production by 2026, exports to follow
WNN, 17 March 2023
Ukraine is intending to produce its own nuclear fuel within three years, with Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko saying that in the longer term the aim is to export to other countries.
Halushchenko, speaking during a visit with Energoatom President Petro Kotin to the plant where nuclear fuel will be produced, said: “Ukraine is one of the first countries that diversified the supply of nuclear fuel, and this made it possible to abandon its purchase from Russia. Our joint task with our American partners is to produce the appropriate types of fuel as soon as possible in order to displace Russia from the nuclear fuel market.”
He said he hoped that in the future Ukraine could become a supplier of nuclear fuel for countries including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland and Bulgaria.
…………… specialists will produce fuel components using Westinghouse technology.” These components will be used for the production, at the Westinghouse plant in Sweden, of nuclear fuel used by Energoatom’s nuclear power plants.
“It is planned that in three years we will start a full cycle of nuclear fuel production in Ukraine – 2026 is the date when we will be able to fully produce our Ukrainian fuel from components manufactured here……….
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Energoatom-looking-to-produce-nuclear-fuel-by-2026
Nuclear power eliminated from European Commission’s text on funding rules, amid heated disagreements between Europe’s nations.
European commissioners are at odds with each other over including nuclear
power in new funding rules aimed at boosting green industries in the EU
just 48 hours before the legislation is due to be announced. Nuclear
fission was included as a “strategic net zero industry” in an early
draft of the law, meaning atomic power plants could be in line for
fast-tracked permitting, preference in public procurement contracts and
fiscal incentives to boost investment.
But the technology has since been eliminated from the text amid heated discussions that have exposed
ideological divides along national lines within the 27-strong college of
commissioners.
Promoters of nuclear included the European Commission’s
president, Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen, and France’s Thierry Breton, the
internal market commissioner, along with eight others largely from central
and eastern Europe, according to people familiar with the talks.
In the opposite camp were Frans Timmermans, the EU’s climate commissioner and
former Dutch foreign minister, and Denmark’s Margrethe Vestager, the bloc’s
competition chief, as well as four other commissioners from southern and
central Europe. Among the other opponents of the inclusion of nuclear in
the proposals are Austria’s Johannes Hahn, the EU budget commissioner, and
Portugal’s Elisa Ferreira, commissioner for cohesion and reforms, according
to two people with knowledge of their views.
FT 14th March 2023
https://www.ft.com/content/65ad412f-3700-4c5a-8efe-2a4c8c6d6341
Saudi crown prince is plotting to get US nuclear secrets by playing the White House, Russia, and China off against each other, report says
Business Insider Tom Porter ,Mar 15, 2023,
- Saudi Arabia’s de-facto ruler is seeking to pit major powers against each other, a report said.
- Mohammed bin Salman reportedly believes it will help him secure US nuclear technology.
- Saudi Arabia has snubbed the US and drawn closer to rivals including China.
Saudi Arabia’s de-facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, is trying to get better access to US nuclear technology by playing global powers against each other, Saudi officials told The Wall Street Journal.
In recent months, Saudi Arabia has provoked the ire of the US, traditionally its closest international ally, while drawing closer to US adversaries including China and Russia.
Analysts have told Insider that the move appears to be part of a power play by Crown Prince Mohammed, amid perceptions that US influence in the region is waning.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Crown Prince Mohammed may be using its relations with China and Russia to establish a closer US security relationship…………………………………………………………………………….
The balancing act appears to be based on the calculation by Saudi Arabia that the US will be forced to offer concessions to the Saudis in order to maintain the alliance and offset the growing influence of China.
A civilian nuclear program and better access to US weapons have long been core Saudi objectives, and Riyadh said last week that they would be the price for normalizing its relations with Israel.
US officials are wary of providing nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, The New York Times reported, as they believe the Saudis could seek to develop nuclear weapons, amid fears that Iran is again gearing up its nuclear program. https://www.businessinsider.com/mohammed-bin-salman-playing-us-secure-nuclear-technology-saudi-report-2023
Libyan general says uranium reported missing by UN nuclear watchdog IAEA has been recovered
ABC News 16 Mar 2023
Several containers of natural uranium reported missing by the UN’s nuclear watchdog in war-torn Libya are found, according to a general with one of the country’s two rival governments.
Key points:
- The IAEA reported the 10 drums of uranium ore concentrate missing in Libya on Wednesday
- It says reaching the site — that is not under government control — required “complex logistics”
- Estimates put Libyan stockpiles of yellowcake uranium at some 1,000 metric tonnes under the regime of the late dictator, Moamar Gaddafi
General Khaled al-Mahjoub — commander of eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar’s communications division — said on his Facebook page that the containers of uranium had been recovered “barely 5 kilometres” from where they had been stored at Sabha, some 660km south-east of Libya’s capital, Tripoli, in the country’s lawless southern reaches of the Sahara Desert…………………………………………………………… more https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-16/un-nuclear-watchdog-says-tonnes-of-uranium-missing-in-libya/102108314
UK government is urged to “come clean” over the real cost of Sizewell C nuclear power station
Ministers must “come clean” over the cost of the planned Sizewell C
nuclear power station, MPs have heard. Alan Brown, the SNP’s energy
security spokesman, sought guarantees about the Suffolk project, given the
increasing costs for building Hinkley Point C in Somerset. Speaking at
Cabinet Office questions, Mr Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) said: “In
2016, Hinkley Point C was estimated to cost £18 billion. “The latest
update is Hinkley Point C is going to cost £33 billion. “Now, the UK
Government wants to replicate Hinkley Point C at Sizewell C. “Why then
are they still estimating the cost for Sizewell C at £18 billion and when
are they going to come clean about the real cost?”
Irish News 16th March 2023
Watchdog Rafael Grossi pledges ‘demanding’ oversight of nuclear sub deal
the first in the decades-long span of nuclear non-proliferation accords to take advantage of a loophole that allows narrow use of nuclear material outside of set safeguards. Critics express concern that bad actors could use the loophole as cover, pointing to the U.S.-Australia deal as precedent, to divert nuclear material into a weapons program.
BY ELLEN KNICKMEYER, ASSOCIATED PRESS – 03/15/23
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the global nuclear regulatory agency pledged Wednesday to be “very demanding” in overseeing the United States’ planned transfer of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, amid complaints that the U.S. move could clear the way for bad actors to escape nuclear oversight in the future.
Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, spoke to reporters during a Washington visit. Grossi was also meeting with senior National Security Council officials to discuss matters including the newly announced deal among the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom on nuclear-powered submarines.
President Joe Biden and the leaders of Australia and the United Kingdom announced Monday in San Diego that Australia would purchase nuclear-powered attack submarines from the U.S. to modernize its fleet amid growing concern about China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific. It would be the first transfer by a nuclear-weapon state of nuclear-powered submarines to a non-nuclear state.
Nuclear-powered submarines move more quietly and for longer than conventionally powered ones. While strengthening the military position of the U.S. and its allies in that region, the deal has raised concern as the first in the decades-long span of nuclear non-proliferation accords to take advantage of a loophole that allows narrow use of nuclear material outside of set safeguards. Critics express concern that bad actors could use the loophole as cover, pointing to the U.S.-Australia deal as precedent, to divert nuclear material into a weapons program.
China renewed its objections to the deal on Wednesday, accusing the three countries of “coercing” the IAEA into endorsing the arrangement. All member states of the IAEA should work to find a solution to the “safeguards issues” and “maintain international peace and security,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing.
…………. The architects of nuclear nonproliferation accords left open a loophole for use of nuclear material for some non-explosive military purposes, with nuclear naval propulsion in mind. Prior to withdrawing nuclear material from safeguards for that loophole, states are required to strike a separate agreement with the IAEA. https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-international/former-australian-pm-says-subs-worst-deal-in-all-history/
1 This Month
Read the Public Inquiry Report, the Commissioners’ report, Surrendering Australia: The AUKUS Deception is available to download for free at aukuspublicinquiry.com. Or just watch the replay of the National Press Club Luncheon.
19 November – Webinar – The Reality of Reprocessing
Time: 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada) / 2:00 PM Eastern / 7:00 PM UK / 8:00 PM CET
Register for the Zoom Event Here
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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