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Small Nuclear Reactors Will Not Save The Day

By Leon Stille – Sep 23, 2025, https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Small-Nuclear-Reactors-Will-Not-Save-The-Day.html

  • SMR’s are being hailed as the perfect solution for large industrial power consumers.
  • SMRs are currently being marketed like they’re the iPhone of nuclear energy: smarter, smaller, cheaper, scalable.
  • Despite the hype, there are currently no SMR’s operating on a commercial scale.

You can feel the buzz: nuclear is back. Or so we’re told.

From Brussels to Washington, a new wave of enthusiasm for so-called Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) is sweeping through policy circles, think tanks, and energy startups. These compact, supposedly plug-and-play nuclear units are being hailed as the perfect solution to power data centers, feed artificial intelligence’s growing hunger, and backstop our energy transition with clean, stable electricity.

There’s just one problem. Actually, there are many. None of them small.

The hype cycle is in full spin

SMRs are currently being marketed like they’re the iPhone of nuclear energy: smarter, smaller, cheaper, scalable. A miracle solution for everything from remote grids to decarbonizing heavy industry and AI’s server farms. Countries like the U.S., Canada, and the UK have announced ambitious deployment plans. Major developers, including NuScale, Rolls-Royce SMR, GE Hitachi, and TerraPower, have painted glossy timelines with glowing promises.

Except the fine print tells a different story.

There are currently no operational commercial SMRs anywhere in the world. Not one. NuScale, the U.S. frontrunner, recently cancelled its flagship Utah project after costs ballooned to over $9,000 per kilowatt and no investors could be found. Even their CEO admitted no deployment would happen before 2030. Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce’s much-hyped SMR factory hasn’t produced a single bolt of steel yet.

So, we’re betting on a technology that doesn’t yet exist at commercial scale, won’t arrive in meaningful numbers before the 2030s, and would require thousands of units to significantly contribute to global energy demand. That’s not a strategy. That’s science fiction.

Big nuclear hasn’t exactly inspired confidence either

Even the large-scale projects that SMRs claim to “improve upon” are struggling. Take the UK’s Hinkley Point C, once heralded as the future of nuclear energy in Europe. It’s now twice as expensive as originally planned (over £46 billion), at least five years late, and facing ongoing construction delays. The French-backed EPR reactor design it’s based on has already been plagued with similar issues in Flamanville (France) and Olkiluoto (Finland), where completion took over a decade longer than promised and costs ballooned dramatically.

Let’s be honest: if any other energy technology was this unreliable on delivery, we’d laugh it out of the room.

Price floors for nuclear, and price ceilings for reason

In France and Finland, authorities have now agreed to guaranteed minimum prices for new nuclear power, effectively writing blank checks to ensure profitability for operators. In Finland, the recent deal sets the floor above €90/MWh for 20 years. Meanwhile, solar and wind regularly clear wholesale power auctions across Europe at €30–50/MWh, with even lower marginal costs.

Why, exactly, are we locking in decades of higher prices for a supposedly “market-based” energy future? It’s hard to see how this helps consumers, industries, or climate targets. Especially when these same nuclear plants will also require major grid upgrades, just like renewables, because any large-scale generator needs robust transmission capacity. So no efficiency win there either.

The SMR promise: too small, too late

Back to SMRs. Let’s suppose the best-case scenario plays out. A couple of designs clear regulatory approval by 2027–2028, construction starts in the early 2030s, and the first commercial units are online before 2035. Even then, the world would need to build and connect thousands of these small reactors within 10–15 years to displace a meaningful share of fossil generation. That’s a logistics nightmare, and we haven’t even discussed public acceptance, licensing bottlenecks, uranium supply, or waste management.

For perspective: in the time it takes to build a single SMR, solar, wind, and battery storage could be deployed 10 to 20 times over, for less money, with shorter lead times, and with no radioactive legacy.

And unlike nuclear, these technologies are modular today. They’re scalable now. They’ve proven themselves everywhere from the Australian outback to German rooftops and Californian substations.

The elephant in the reactor room: waste and risk

Nuclear fans love to stress how “safe” modern designs are. And yes, statistically speaking, nuclear energy is relatively safe per kilowatt-hour. But it’s also the only energy source with a non-zero risk of catastrophic failure and waste that stays toxic for thousands of years.

Why, exactly, would we take that risk when we have multiple clean energy options with zero risk of explosion and waste streams that are either recyclable or inert?

You don’t need to be a nuclear physicist to ask this: how is betting on high-cost, slow-deploying, risk-bearing, politically toxic infrastructure a better idea than wind, solar, and storage?

A footnote in the transition, not the headline

Let’s be clear: nuclear power will likely continue to play a role in some countries’ energy mixes. France and Sweden have legacy fleets. New projects may go ahead in China or South Korea, where costs are contained and planning is centralized. But for the majority of the world, especially countries trying to decarbonize fast, new nuclear is not the answer.

SMRs, despite their branding, will not save the day. They will be at best a niche, possibly a small contributor in specific applications like remote mines, military bases, or industrial clusters where no other solution works. That’s fine. But let’s stop pretending they’re some kind of energy silver bullet.

Final thoughts

We are in the decisive decade for climate action. Every euro, dollar, and yuan we invest must yield maximum emissions reduction per unit of time and cost. By that standard, SMRs fall flat. Nuclear power, small or large, is simply too expensive, too slow, too risky, and too narrow in its use case to lead the energy transition.

So let’s cool the reactor hype. Let’s focus instead on the technologies that are already winning: wind, solar, batteries, heat pumps, grid flexibility, green hydrogen. These are not dreams. They’re deploying by the gigawatt, today. SMRs are fascinating, yes. But when it comes to decarbonization, we need workhorses, not unicorns.

September 26, 2025 Posted by | Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, spinbuster | Leave a comment

‘Inevitable’ that nuclear waste facility will go ahead without local consent says former minister.

Now we see it- the nuclear industry, adopted by government, will lead to fascism.

Added to the madness, governments are hell-bent on making more nuclear radioactive trash that they don’t know how to get rid of.

“However, in the case of the UK, the DESNZ’s review raises the possibility that overriding public approval could be a matter of policy.

“These developments point to a growing sense of futility and desperation, to secure both a suitable site for nuclear waste disposal and public support for it.”

23 Sep, 2025 By Tom Pashby https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/inevitable-that-nuclear-waste-facility-will-go-ahead-without-local-consent-says-former-minister-23-09-2025/

It is “inevitable” that the government moves away from the consent-based approach for deciding where to site the planned geological disposal facility (GDF) for nuclear waste, a former Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) minister has told NCE.

The comments come as reports suggest the government is considering scrapping the “consent-based” approach for siting the GDF. However, DESNZ has asserted that the reports are “wrong” and “no changes are planned to this process currently”.

The GDF is currently the only solution proposed by the government for disposing of high level nuclear waste (HLW). HLW is generated by both the civil and defence nuclear sectors

It would involve disposing of HLW in an engineered vault placed between 200m and 1km underground, covering an area of approximately 1km2 on the surface.

Work to select a GDF site should take 20 years, according to the government body responsible for the project – Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) – and a further 150 years to build, fill and close the facility.

The HLW then needs to sit and remain undisturbed for 100,000 years before its radioactivity has reduced sufficiently for people to be able to be near it. Due to the hazards associated with radioactive waste, the government has always maintained that a GDF will only be sited in a location where the local community has agreed to host it. This is known as the “consent-based” approach and it has been in discussion with a few communities for a number of years.

Consent-based approach seeing little progress over years

The “voluntary” or “consent-based” approach to deciding where to site a GDF was first proposed by the government in a White Paper published in 2008 titled Managing radioactive waste safely: a framework for implementing geological disposal.

“For the purposes of this White Paper ‘an approach based on voluntarism’ means one in which communities voluntarily express an interest in taking part in the process that will ultimately provide a site for a geological disposal facility,” the paper said.

“Initially communities will be invited to express an interest in finding out more about what hosting a geological disposal facility would mean for the community in the long term.

“Participation up until late in the process, when underground operations and construction are due to begin, will be without commitment to further stages, whether on the part of the community or government. If at any stage a community or Government wished to withdraw then its involvement in the process would stop.

“In practice, development could also be halted by the independent regulators at any point in the process through a refusal to grant authorisations for the next stage of work.”

The government further committed to the approach in 2014, when the then secretary of state for energy and climate change Ed Davey said: “The UK Government also continues to favour an approach to identifying potential sites for a GDF that involves working with communities who are willing to participate in the siting process.”

Despite having been committed to the approach for more than 10 years, NWS only has two communities it is making gradual progress with via community partnerships – Mid Copeland and South Copeland. Lincolnshire withdrew from the process in June after a change in governance.

With the government pushing for the deployment of dozens more nuclear reactors in the coming decades, the need to confirm a long-term solution for the waste is pressing – something that has been stressed to NCE by both the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) and anti-nuclear campaigners.

Reports say Government reviewing consent-based approach

The Telegraph published a story on 22 September that claimed, based on a government source, that DESNZ had decided to review the consent-based approach to siting the GDF.

The source told the newspaper that conversations were taking place within government to consider prioritising areas with the best geology rather than areas with the most welcoming communities.

Ending the consent-based process could result in ministers effectively imposing a GDF on a community, although they would still face the standard planning and consenting obstacles, including judicial reviews from campaigners.

A DESNZ spokesperson denied the reports, saying: “Our position continues to be that any potential geological disposal facility site will be subject to agreement with the community and won’t be imposed on an area without local consent.

“Progress continues to be made, with two areas in Cumberland taking part in the siting process for this multi-billion-pound facility, which would bring thousands of skilled jobs and economic growth.”

Former minister tells NCE ‘we must get on with GDF’

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath is now a backbench Labour peer but was a DESNZ minister of state from July 2024 to May 2025. He was also an energy minister at the end of the previous Labour government from 2008 to 2010 and served in shadow front bench roles from 2010 to 2018.

“This is an inevitable approach. We must get on with GDF,” Hunt told NCE.

“It’s vital to the nuclear programme. It’s a matter of national strategic importance and should proceed on that basis.”


Reported policy change points to ‘growing sense of desperation’

Nuclear Information Service research manager Okopi Ajonye told NCE: “The prospect of the DESNZ reforming policy to override local consent for hosting a geological disposal facility is very concerning.”

“Furthermore, it mirrors developments in Australia, where efforts to secure sites for nuclear waste disposal have, just like the UK, been repeatedly stalled by local opposition.

“But critics are now concerned that recent legislation grants broad powers to the Australian government to designate any site as a nuclear waste dump, even without local or indigenous approval.”

“However, in the case of the UK, the DESNZ’s review raises the possibility that overriding public approval could be a matter of policy.

“These developments point to a growing sense of futility and desperation, to secure both a suitable site for nuclear waste disposal and public support for it.”

End to consent-based approach would ‘lead to more vociferous public resistance’

Nuclear Free Local Authorities secretary Richard Outram told NCE: “Any decision to abandon the established consent-based approach to siting a nuclear waste dump will be an admission by ministers that no community actually wants to host it.

“Proposals to site a GDF at South Holderness and Theddlethorpe were roundly defeated by massive and persistent public protests, backed by responsive local councillors.

“Opposition is also growing in South Copeland with residents impacted by the declared area of focus up in arms.”

Outram added that two local councils in the South Copeland area – Millom Town Council and Whicham Parish Council – have withdrawn their support for the process, and a third – Millom Without Parish Council – is “about to confer with parishioners about continued engagement”, he said.

He also said that the NWS community partnership was “described in a recent external review as ‘dysfunctional’ and seemingly at war with itself”.

“Replacing voluntarism with a plan to railroad such a controversial project onto an unwilling community will be a retrograde step and simply lead to more vociferous public resistance,” he added.

Government reveals to NCE it is ‘replanning’ GDF project

These latest developments add to the uncertainty that has bubbled around the GDF project in recent months.

In August, the Treasury’s National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (Nista) assessed the delivery confidence of the GDF as “appears unachievable” and said the cost could be as much as £53.3bn.

Following the rating, NCE asked DESNZ via the Freedom of Information Act whether the government was responding by changing its approach to the GDF project. It said that it is “undertaking some replanning to mitigate risks and support ongoing progress” on its major projects, including the GDF.

DESNZ added: “However, a GDF will always remain necessary as there are currently no credible alternatives that would accommodate all categories of waste in the inventory for disposal.”

Nuclear industry says credible GDF plan needed for investor confidence

The Nuclear Industry Association, which represents more than 300 companies across the civil and defence nuclear supply chain, was perturbed by this uncertainty around the GDF and told NCE: “A credible, long-term policy on HLW disposal is very important. Developers need confidence that the back end of the fuel cycle is being responsibly and sustainably managed, not just for regulatory compliance but also to secure investor confidence and public trust.

“Clarity and credibility in government policy reduces uncertainty, helps de-risk new nuclear projects and ensures that developers can focus on safe, efficient generation”

September 26, 2025 Posted by | politics, UK, wastes | Leave a comment

Iran’s president vows to never build a nuclear bomb in his UNGA speech

Masoud Pezeshkian accused the UK, France and Germany of acting ‘at the behest of the United States of America’.

By Caolán Magee, 24 Sep 2025, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/24/irans-president-vows-to-never-build-a-nuclear-bomb-in-his-unga-speech

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has told the United Nations General Assembly that Tehran will “never seek to build a nuclear bomb”, as diplomatic efforts are under way to avert the so-called “snapback” sanctions on Tehran over the country’s nuclear programme.

The remarks on Wednesday came as a 30-day process launched by the United Kingdom, France and Germany to restore UN sanctions against Iran approaches its September 27 deadline.

The three European powers, known as the E3, accuse Tehran of failing to comply with a 2015 deal with world powers aimed at preventing it from developing nuclear arms.

The E3 have said they would delay reinstating sanctions for up to six months if Iran restores access for UN nuclear inspectors, addresses concerns about its enriched uranium stockpile and engages in talks with the United States.

“An agreement remains possible. Only a few hours are left. It’s up to Iran to respond to the legitimate issues we have raised,” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X after meeting Pezeshkian at the United Nations.

Iran has previously pointed to US President Donald Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from the nuclear deal and the air strikes on Iran in June as reasons for scaling back its previous commitments.

Pezeshkian accused the Europeans of bad faith, saying that Iran’s lack of cooperation was in response to Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“They falsely presented themselves as parties of good standing to the agreement, and they disparaged Iran’s sincere efforts as insufficient,” Pezeshkian said.

In his speech at the UN, Pezeshkian went on to accuse the E3 of acting “at the behest of the United States of America”.

“In doing so, they set aside good faith,” he told the assembly. “They circumvented legal obligations. They sought to portray Iran’s lawful remedial measures taken in response to the United States’ withdrawal from the JCPOA and to Europe’s breach and other incapacity as a gross violation.”

In a recorded speech on Tuesday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated that Tehran is not seeking to build nuclear weapons, but ruled out talks with the US, saying, “This is not a negotiation. It is a diktat, an imposition.”

New sanctions would result in freezing of Iranian assets abroad, a halt in arms deals with Tehran, and penalise the development of ballistic missile programme, among other measures.

12-day war

In his address, Pezeshkian went on to condemn the Israeli and the US surprise attacks that sparked the 12-day war.

Several senior Iranian military figures were killed in the war, which also weakened the country’s defences.

More than 1,000 Iranians were killed when Israel launched air strikes and violated Tehran’s sovereignty, which it claimed was a preemptive act of “self-defence” to target Iran’s nuclear programme.

Israel has been accused of disregarding the sovereignty of neighbouring Arab countries, as it has attacked multiple countries, including Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Qatar. The Israeli strikes on Iran were its biggest military offensive in recent years, drawing retaliation from Tehran.

“The Iranian nation has time and again demonstrated that it shall never bow before aggressors,” Pezeshkian said.

He added that during the war, “the patriotic and valiant people of Iran laid bare before the aggressors the fallacy and self-delusion of their arrogant calculations.”

‘Greater Israel’ ambitions

The second day of the UN General Assembly’s annual debate featured speeches by leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Argentina’s Javier Milei, and Syria’s interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Israel’s war on Gaza has dominated both days, with Pezeshkian using his address to denounce Israeli rhetoric about establishing a “greater Israel,” which he said refers to expanding control over Palestinian land and creating “buffer” zones in neighbouring countries.

“After nearly two years of genocide, mass starvation, the perpetuation of apartheid within the occupied territories and aggression against its neighbours, the ludicrous and delusional scheme of a ‘greater Israel’ is being proclaimed with brazenness by the highest echelons of that regime,” he said.

He added that Israel’s recent attacks on neighbouring countries showed it was no longer seeking security through normalisation.

“Israel and its sponsors no longer even content themselves with normalisation through political means. Rather, they impose their presence through naked force, and have styled it peace through strength,” the Iranian president said.

He closed his address by pledging that Iran is ready to cooperate with international partners and emerge from isolation.

“Iran is a steadfast partner and a trustworthy companion for all peace-seeking countries of friendship and a partnership grounded not in fleeting expediency but in dignity, trust and a shared future,” he said.

“Let us, together with you, turn threads into opportunities.”

September 26, 2025 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Nuclear Free Local Authorities join global call on World Bank to abandon plans to back new nuclear


24th September 2025, Nuclear Free Local Authorities

The NFLAs have become a co-signatory to a petition calling on the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to abandon their plans to finance new nuclear plants.

The online petition was launched by 64 Non-Government Organisations from 25 countries and regions on 1 September/

The World Bank and the ADB are funded by governments worldwide to support economic development, poverty reduction, and enhance infrastructure. Until now, both institutions have refrained from financing nuclear power, citing nuclear proliferation, safety concerns, dealing with the intractable problem of radioactive waste, and high costs as reasons to deny funding.

However, on June 10, the World Bank’s Board of Directors decided to lift the ban on nuclear power financing. Meanwhile, the ADB is currently revising its energy policy with plans to include support for nuclear power as part of the review.

The very concerns that have caused both institutions to be cautious about financing nuclear power remain unresolved.

The petition highlights these ongoing issues and stresses that “supporting the construction of nuclear power plants in developing countries imposes serious long-term risks and enormous economic burdens on both present and future generations in those countries.”

NFLAs urge supportive NGOs and individuals to join us in signing this petition.

You are urged to go to the website: https://chng.it/G9MCKn6Gpv…………………………………….. https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/nflas-join-global-call-on-world-bank-to-abandon-plans-to-back-new-nuclear/

September 26, 2025 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, UK | Leave a comment

Iran publishes alleged leak of Israeli nuclear sites, experts and secret files

Itamar Eichner, Lior Ben Ari, 24 Sept 25, https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r1errtw2eg

Iran’s intelligence ministry claims Israelis leaked sensitive documents and photos for money, including details on 189 nuclear experts, images of the Dimona reactor and personal photos of IAEA chief Rafael Grossi.

Iran’s intelligence ministry on Wednesday published what it described as a large trove of “secret and classified” Israeli documents and photographs, claiming the materials were leaked by Israelis themselves.

Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib said the documents include footage from “the Dimona reactor and Israeli nuclear facilities,” details on “upgrades to nuclear weapons,” and information on “past and present Israeli projects developed in cooperation with the United States and the European Union.” He also claimed the material contains “a full list of staff and the administrative structure of Israel’s nuclear weapons program.”

September 26, 2025 Posted by | Iran, Israel, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Opposition to proposed nuclear submarine base at Port Kembla, Australia

September 25, 2025 , by David Clark, https://www.wavefm.com.au/local-news/opposition-to-proposed-nuclear-submarine-base-at-port-kembla/

Forty local organisations and community groups are launching a joint Port Kembla Declaration today, opposing the establishment of a nuclear submarine base at Port Kembla.

They’re calling for the federal government to rule it out, saying the risks are far too great, the declaration has been endorsed by many organisations, including health, faith, and social justice.

Tina Smith, President of the South Coast Labour Council, said they reject the idea of turning the region into a frontline for war games or nuclear escalation.

September 26, 2025 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Iran says it obtained secret files on Israel’s nuclear program

25 Sept 25, https://www.iranintl.com/en/202509242634

According to the intelligence ministry, the material demonstrated that Israeli intelligence spies “on everyone,” including the IAEA chief, and that the data it had obtained proves this claim.

Iran’s intelligence ministry aired a segment on national TV displaying information and documents that it says it obtained from Israel’s intelligence apparatus on the Jewish state’s nuclear program

The broadcast featured a series of video files that reportedly contain material from inside Israeli nuclear and other sensitive facilities, including the Dimona site. It also presented alleged details about personnel working on Israel’s nuclear program.

“We identified 189 Israeli nuclear and proliferation scientists and top officials, along with their networks,” Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib said during the presentation, which included names and ID cards of alleged nuclear personnel.

“I tell Netanyahu … your employees collaborated with us for money and still do,” Khatib, a cleric and veteran military and intelligence official, added.

Israel is widely believed to have an undeclared nuclear arsenal.

Tehran’s nemesis killed nuclear scientists and hundreds of military personnel in a surprise 12-day military campaign in June, underscoring Iranian intelligence failures.

Iran has said it too has infiltrated its enemy, and Israel has arrested several of its citizens on charges of spying for Tehran.

One alleged employee was introduced with a photo and described as working across seven Israeli nuclear sites under the cover of a company called ROTEM.

Another was identified as a nuclear scientist allegedly involved in “proliferation projects” between Israel and the United States.

It also mentioned the Chaim Weizmann laboratory, which it described as Israel’s leading proliferation program and was targeted by Iranian ballistic missiles during a 12-day war in June.

Additional documents shown in the broadcast suggested alleged nuclear cooperation between Israel and France under a project called SARAF.

One batch of the alleged material included private and family photos of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi it alleged was obtained from Israeli intelligence sources.

The video, published on Tasnim’s Telegram channel, showed images of Grossi with his family at Disneyland, at home during birthdays and in gatherings with colleagues and friends.

According to the intelligence ministry, the material demonstrated that Israeli intelligence spies “on everyone,” including the IAEA chief, and that the data it had obtained proves this claim.

September 26, 2025 Posted by | Iran, Israel, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Iran, U.S. signal possible easing in nuclear tensions

By Parisa Hafezi and John Irish, September 25, 2025 https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/irans-president-tells-un-tehran-will-never-seek-build-nuclear-bomb-2025-09-24/

  • Summary
  • Iran president speaking at U.N. General Assembly
  • Gaps remain between Iran and E3 as deadline looms
  • European powers offering delay if Iran makes concessions

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 24 (Reuters) – Tehran and Washington signalled a possible softening in nuclear tensions on Wednesday, with Iran insisting it has no ambitions to build nuclear weapons and the U.S. expressing readiness to resume talks aimed at resolving the long-standing standoff.

A few hours after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the U.N. General Assembly that Iran will never seek to build a nuclear bomb, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff said “we have no desire to hurt them”.

“We’re talking to them. And why wouldn’t we? We talk to everybody. As well we should. That’s the job. Our job is to solve things,” he told the Concordia summit in New York.

Prior to a 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June, Tehran and Washington held five rounds of nuclear talks but faced major stumbling blocks such as uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, which Western powers want to bring down to zero to minimise any risk of weaponisation.

Tehran accuses Washington of “betraying diplomacy” and the nuclear talks have stopped since the war.

One Iranian insider told Reuters that “several messages have been conveyed to Washington for resumption of talks via mediators in the past weeks, but Americans have not responded”.

On Tuesday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on key state matters such as foreign policy and Iran’s nuclear programme, ruled out negotiations with the United States under threat.

The United States, its European allies and Israel accuse Tehran of using its nuclear programme as a veil for efforts to try to develop the capability to produce weapons. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.

‘A FEW HOURS LEFT’

Britain, France and Germany on August 28 launched a 30-day process to reimpose U.N. sanctions – known as snapback – that ends on September 27, accusing Tehran of failing to abide by a 2015 deal with world powers aimed at preventing it from developing a nuclear weapon.

The European powers have offered to delay reinstating sanctions for up to six months to allow space for talks on a long-term deal if Iran restores access for U.N. nuclear inspectors, addresses concerns about its stock of enriched uranium, and engages in talks with the United States.

“I think we have a desire, however, to either realize a permanent solution and negotiate around snapbacks, and if we can’t, then snapbacks will be what they are. They’re the right medicine for what’s happening,” Witkoff said.

But amid the looming threat of sanctions and last-ditch talks between Tehran and European powers to reach a deal to avert snapback of sanctions, diplomats have warned the chances of success remain slim.

After meeting his Iranian counterpart on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, French President Emmanuel Macron said Iran still had a chance to prevent reimposition of international sanctions, adding that Tehran had not offered anything tangible.

“An agreement is still possible. There are only a few hours left. It is up to Iran to meet the legitimate conditions we have set,” Macron posted on X.

Two European diplomats told Reuters that Iran, the E3 and the EU held a fresh round of talks on Wednesday.

DEADLINE ON SATURDAY

If Tehran and the E3 fail to reach a deal on an extension by the end of September 27, then all U.N. sanctions will be reimposed on Iran, where the economy already struggles with crippling sanctions reimposed since 2018 after Trump ditched the pact during his first term.

The so-called snapback process would reimpose an arms embargo, a ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing, a ban on activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, a global asset freeze and travel bans on Iranian individuals and entities.

Writing by Parisa Hafezi, Editing by Michelle Nichols, Hugh Lawson, Alison Wiliams and Daniel Wallis

September 26, 2025 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Israel launches drone attack against “terrorist flotilla” after discovering it was trying to feed starving Palestinians

Laura and Normal Island News, Sep 24, 2025, https://www.normalisland.co.uk/p/israel-launches-drone-attack-against?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1407757&post_id=174430619&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=ln98x&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Israel was left with no choice but to launch a drone attack against a flotilla in international waters after discovering it was trying to feed starving Palestinians.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is composed of 50 boats from 44 countries across four continents. It is carrying renowned terrorist leaders Greta Thunberg and Tadgh Hickey, as well as deadly items such as food and medicine.

The Israel Foreign Ministry called out the flotilla’s “violent course of action” and “mission to serve Hamas, rather than the people of Gaza”. Needless to say, trying to feed starving children is a crime against Zionism.

This is one of those rare occasions when it is not antisemitic to accuse Israel because they’re not exactly denying it. Experience tells us that being honest about these things is simpler because the lies make us look like fucking idiots.

Last time around, we mocked Greta’s “selfie yacht”, but this time, the flotilla is bigger and therefore requires a change of language. Remember when we pretended the drone attack was just a flare that was fired by the crew and came back down on the boat? This time the drone attacks are so obvious, we’ve had to stop pretending.

By placing the terrorist label on the flotilla, Israel has given itself permission to kill whoever it likes, and it certainly likes killing people. Israel has made a habit of murdering humanitarian workers throughout this genocide, due to the risk they could save Palestinian lives.

While Israel has not yet succeeded in killing anyone aboard the flotilla, it could not resist the opportunity to attack such helpless targets. It dropped chemicals on two boats with a drone – a move that would be absolutely pointless, unless the chemicals were toxic.

Israel reportedly hit the other boats with “sound bombs” and “explosive flares”. Sensibly, Israel jammed their radios so they could not call for help. It even hacked those radios and played Abba songs to mock Greta. What do you mean, that is “small dick energy”?

Drones are continuously passing over the boats, leaving the crews guessing when they will next be attacked. The drone operators find this sort of thing amusing. The only thing they find more amusing is blowing up civilians in aid queues.

While the flotilla is still in international waters, it is currently heading for Palestinian waters. Armchair legal experts insist Israel also has no jurisdiction there, but maritime law clearly states Israel can do whatever the fuck it wants.

Thirteen British nationals are travelling with the flotilla, so naturally, the prime minister hasn’t offered a word of solidarity. You will be reassured to hear that Israel has the full consent of the British government to murder our citizens.

Keir Starmer has held an emergency meeting to see what his excuse will be if Israel sinks a British vessel and murders everyone on board. One of those people is RAF veteran Malcolm Ducker and another is army veteran Greg Stoker. If it comes to siding with our military or theirs, the British government is obviously going to choose Israel. Isn’t that lovely? x

September 26, 2025 Posted by | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

While EDF must invest 460 billion euros over 15 years, its economic model is taking on water.

P.La. with AFP, BFMTV 23rd Sept 2025 https://www.bfmtv.com/economie/entreprises/energie/alors-qu-edf-doit-investir-460-milliards-d-euros-en-15-ans-son-modele-economique-prend-l-eau_AD-202509240079.html

The Court of Auditors has issued a warning about the economic situation of the French energy company, now 100% state-owned. A wall of investment is looming to maintain and renew the group’s nuclear fleet.

The French Court of Auditors is concerned about the financial prospects of the public energy company EDF, calling for “a clear distribution of the financial effort” between the State, EDF and customers, in a report addressed to the Finance Committee of the National Assembly and consulted on Tuesday, September 24.

In this report, first revealed by the media 
Contexte , the institution responsible for monitoring the proper use of public funds observes that EDF is “faced with significant uncertainties over its long-term financing capacity”, while it faces investment needs reaching 460 billion euros between 2025 and 2040.

In this context, “EDF’s financing model should, in order to preserve a sustainable financial trajectory for the group, be defined based on a clear distribution of the financial effort between the State, now the sole shareholder, EDF and the end customers,” the magistrates believe.

In detail, EDF plans to allocate 90 billion euros to the maintenance and extension of the existing nuclear fleet, 115 billion euros for the construction of 14 EPR 2 (including 75 for the first six), 15 billion euros for the hydraulic fleet and more than 100 billion euros for the Enedis network, manager of the electricity distribution network.

No more hazards

At the same time, EDF’s profitability will be more exposed “to the vagaries of changes in electricity market prices”, with the end of the regulated system known as Arenh , planned for the end of 2025. EDF intends to replace this system with medium and long-term contracts with electricity suppliers and companies, including high-energy industrial ones.

The Court of Auditors also notes that EDF’s ability to invest will be conditioned “by the operational performance of the nuclear fleet and the success of extending its lifespan.”

The body then recommends “setting, prior to the final investment decision on the EPR2 program, the terms of risk sharing between the State and EDF.” EDF’s final estimate for its EPR2 program should be known at the end of the year.

The Court of Auditors also calls for clarification of the dividend policy that will be applied to EDF and recommends that the group “conduct a strategic review of investments, holdings and subsidiaries.”

Total or partial sales of holdings and subsidiaries would constitute “a financing lever for the group’s investment program,” particularly “in the most unfavorable price scenarios,” argue the magistrates of the Court of Auditors.

September 26, 2025 Posted by | business and costs, France | Leave a comment

The horrors I’ve seen of Ukrainian, NATO-backed, shelling of completely civilian areas of the Donbass throughout 2022 (and 2019, 2023…)

Eva Karene Bartlett. Sep 23, 2025

September three years ago in Donetsk, in the space of 5 days, Ukrainian deliberate shelling of the very centre of the city killed 26 civilians, most of whose bodies or parts of bodies I saw in the streets or in a burnt out bus. These were 100% non military, purely civilian, areas.

*Warning: Some of the footage is not blurred and shows quite clearly Ukraine’s terrorism of Donetsk, in very central areas of the city, where there are no military targets, only Donetsk civilians. see here – https://odysee.com/@EvaKareneBartlett:9/sept-22-shelling:0 ]

On Monday, Ukraine slaughtered 16 civilians, including two children, with 155mm NATO shells, according to the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Denis Pushilin. The projectiles hit two adjacent neighborhoods, decimating residential and commercial areas – including a market that had previously suffered fatal attacks.

…the carnage on Monday was worse than anything I’ve seen in my months of reporting here. Chunks of flesh littered the street – part of a hand, a foot, an ear. Someone had put a dead man’s phone on his stomach. It was ringing, the cheery ringtone incongruous with his lifeless body and the scenes and stench of death around him.

For most people, the concept of war is a distant one, and deaths are normalized by media reporting the numbers of victims and destroyed buildings – so most who hear of civilians being killed don’t really understand what a scene like this looks or smells like.

For the locals, it is also normalized, in its own way, after over eight years of Ukrainian attacks – a tragically grotesque kind of normality, where the post-bombing routine starts soon after the last explosions die down.

…another Ukrainian assault, which took place on Saturday. The center of Donetsk was hit by around ten bombs over the course of 30 minutes around noon. At least four civilians were killed, one of whom I saw still on the ground. Some minutes later, her body was taken away. One of the shells hit a car driving along Artema Street, setting it ablaze and killing two civilians. By the time I reached that site, the vehicle had burned out, the dead taken away. Workers were already repaving the roads, sweeping debris and glass from sidewalks.

On Thursday, again around noon, Ukraine again shelled central Donetsk, this time next to a busy market. The shelling left six people dead on the street and in a burned out bus. This makes at least 26 civilians killed by Ukrainian shelling, with Western weapons, in the space of just one week.

From my overview of these terror bombings: Western media continues to ignore how Ukraine is using NATO weapons to kill innocent civilians in the Donbass

2022 was a very hard year for the Donbass; this 5 day period I mention in September was just a glimpse into the horrors Donbass civilians endured not only throughout 2022 but since Ukraine began bombing them in 2014, long before Russia commenced its Special Military Operation.

Below is most of what I witnessed throughout 2022 (and also some from 2019, 2023) during & following Ukrainian shelling.

In 2022, in April I went to a market in western Donetsk which had been shelled by Ukraine. Two bodies of the five civilians killed in the market were still lying on the ground. I believe this is because–just like Israel does–Ukraine double strikes the same area, meaning rescuers or anyone who comes to help the wounded or clear the bodies could be shelled and killed.

This was a large and very busy market place in a working class district. I’ve been to such markets, in central Donetsk (also bombed by Ukraine) and near the two Russian areas I’ve lived. They are frequented (and many of the stall run by) by grandmothers, by mothers, by civilians, not military. The only thing “strategic” about shelling them is Ukraine’s blood lust to kill Donbass (Russian) civilians. People I encountered that day told me this wasn’t the first time Ukraine shelled the market or the district, they said the shelling was routine.

[ https://odysee.com/@EvaKareneBartlett:9/ukraine-bombed-a-busy-donetsk-market:2 ]

My article on this Ukrainian bombing: Ukrainian strike on Donetsk market was a terrorist act

On May 5, I went to Kirovsk, a city in the Lugansk People’s Republic to the west of Lugansk, Ukrainian forces only a little further west. Kirovsk and surrounding areas have—like throughout both autonomous Donbass republics—since 2014 been shelled by Ukrainian forces.

Just outside the city of Kirovsk, on an otherwise quiet lane, I saw a home hit by Ukrainian shelling on April 26………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. *At the below link you can find many more of my articles & videos, including from Mariupol when the fighting was still ongoing in Azovstal, and later in Mariupol showing the return of life to the city (2022, 2023, 2024).

https://ingaza.wordpress.com/the-donbass-my-articles-videos-interviews-from-on-the-donetsk-lugansk-peoples-republics-2019-present/

https://evakarenebartlett.substack.com/p/a-review-of-what-i-saw-of-the-horrors?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=3046064&post_id=174146101&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

September 25, 2025 Posted by | Atrocities, Ukraine | Leave a comment

This Ridiculous, Dangerous Antifa Order Is McCarthyism All Over Again—Possibly Worse

The Trump administration is abusing federal power to silence dissenting voices in a manner that has not been seen in over 70 years. The country survived Sen. Joseph McCarthy, but will it survive what Trump has wrought?

C.J. Polychroniou, Sep 23, 2025Common Dreams, https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-antifa-order

Free speech stole the show last week during the joint press conference between US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer after a British reporter asked point-blank the Yankee wannabe dictator whether free speech is more under attack in Britain or in America, following Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension over Charlie Kirk comments.

At this historical juncture, both Britain and America are at a new low when it comes to freedom of expression. In fact, free speech is under serious attack in most Western societies.

Britain has no equivalent to the First Amendment, but the current draconian speech laws are so outrageous that even traditional liberties are vanishing. British police are arresting people for offensive online speech at record numbers while the right to protest has been severely curtailed.

In Germany, the situation is just as bad, if not worse. Long before recent efforts to stifle pro-Palestinian voices, the country’s laws on freedom of expression stood on tenuous grounds. As the late German jurist Weinfried Brugger noted nearly a quarter of a century ago in a study comparing German and American law on hate speech, if a protester was to shout on the steps of the US Capitol “our President is a pig” and even held painted pictures of the president as a pig “engaged in sexual conduct with another pig in a judge’s robe;” or that “all our soldiers are murders;” or that “the Holocaust never happened,” none of these allegations would lead to criminal prosecution as the First Amendment would protect them. However, criminal law would apply to all of the above messages if the protester made the speech on the steps of the German Bundestag. As further elucidated by Brugger, freedom of speech in Germany is not a “preferred right” and does not deserve “absolute protection.”

For the duration of Trump 2.0, we must be prepared for a barrage of further anti-democratic actions taking aim at any individual, group, or organization whose ideas, beliefs, and actions threaten the ego of the “beloved leader” or simply irritate his idiotic whims

In this sense, conservatives in the US, like Vice President JD Vance, are not totally wrong when they criticize Europe over free speech, even though they are complete hypocrites. Indeed, the problem with Vance and the rest of the MAGA Republicans who are seemingly disturbed by the backsliding of free expression in Europe is that they are not interested in free speech as such; they are interested in controlling it. They only want to protect speech that is aligned with their own ideological beliefs and values. Thus, in his speech to the Munich Security Conference in February, where he scolded Europeans for their failings on free speech, Vance not only spread a lie when he claimed that the Scottish government had sent letters to citizens instructing them that “even private prayer within their own homes may amount to breaking the law” but kept silent about UK government anti-protest legislation, which, as British academic Eric Heinze astutely noted, targets exactly the kind or protests that Trump fears.

Trump returned to the White House with a promise to protect free speech from government censorship. Indeed, just a few hours after his second inauguration, Trump signed Executive Order 14149, titled “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship.” But Trump is a master of doublespeak. His administration has, in turn, carried out a wide-ranging crackdown on universities, student protesters, journalists, lawyers, and the press. The wannabe dictator has accused the press on multiple occasions of being “the enemy of the American people” and has filed personal lawsuits against several news organizations. Under his administration, we are also witnessing the intrusion of the military into civilian life. This type of government action is tantamount to dictatorship, as it constitutes an all-out assault on democracy and the rule of law.

The Trump administration is abusing federal power to silence dissenting voices in a manner that has not been seen since the McCarthy era. Democrats and Republicans alike played the Red Card back in the 1940s and throughout the 1950s in order to silence critics and quash dissent. Trump is doing the same thing by trying to create a climate of fear and suspicion across the country with the boogeyman of the so-called “far left,” especially in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s killing.

To be sure, there should be no illusions about the evolution of free speech in the United States. The current situation is by no means unique, and the First Amendment has never been as sacred as people seem to think. Despite its exalted status, the First Amendment has been “a dead letter for much of American history” and did not come to life until the early 20th century. And when it did, freedom of expression suffered some major blows, thanks to World War I, which created a wave of jingoism, and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, which gave rise in turn to an anti-communist alarm known as the Red Scare. In Debs v United States, the Supreme Court upheld Deb’s conviction under the Espionage Act of 1917. Eugene Debs, a leading member of the Socialist Party of America, was convicted for his outspoken opposition to US involvement in World War I and sentenced to ten years in federal prison.

Throughout the 1940s and the 1950s, the First Amendment was censored in the shadows as the suppression of political and social views became a widespread occurrence, spearheaded by a second Red Scare and the rise of McCarthyism. The Smith Act, which was passed by Congress and signed by President Roosevelt on June 28, 1940, was used to monitor immigrants and prosecute members of the Communist Party. In 1951, in a 6-2 decision, the Supreme Court delivered a massive blow to the First Amendment by upholding the constitutionality of the Smith Act in Dennis v United States. In 1947, the Truman administration initiated a loyalty program aimed at rooting out “subversives” and getting rid of homosexuals. Such programs were also established for employment in the private sector as well.

It was only in the 1960s, thanks to growing opposition to the Vietnam War and government attempts to curb protests, that the First Amendment entered mass public consciousness in the United States. When a group of students in Des Moines, Iowa, was suspended for wearing black armbands to school in protest of the Vietnam War and in support of a Christmas truce, the students’ parents challenged the suspensions as a violation of free speech. In a landmark victory for student rights and the First Amendment, in a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in Tinker v Des Moines (1969) that schools are not “enclaves of totalitarianism” and that “neither students nor teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech at the schoolhouse gate.” The Pentagon Papers case defended further the right of free speech, although subsequent US administrations, from Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama to Donald Trump, indicted scores of people “for leaking secrets to the press,” as Lincoln Caplan has underscored in an essay for the Harvard Law Bulletin.

The democratic left has stood up for free speech rights throughout its history. It should remain steadfast in its commitment to freedom of expression and fully and unconditionally reject “cancel culture.”

We are not exactly sure who made the remark that “while history doesn’t repeat itself, it often rhymes,” but it surely applies to the free speech case in the United States. We are now in the midst of a new McCarthy era, and possibly worse. In forcing a comedian and television host like Jimmy Kimmel off the airwaves (Disney reinstated his show after five days of suspension), Trump and his goon FCC Chairman Brendan Carr are following in the footsteps of Nazi minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels who, in 1939, as the New York Times reported, banned five German entertainers because they “made witticisms about the Nazi regime.”

Thus, for the duration of Trump 2.0, we must be prepared for a barrage of further anti-democratic actions taking aim at any individual, group, or organization whose ideas, beliefs, and actions threaten the ego of the “beloved leader” or simply irritate his idiotic whims. The so-called “radical left” will surely be the main target. In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing, Trump described the left-wing activist group Antifa a “sick, dangerous, radical left disaster” and signed an executive order designating it a “domestic terrorist organization.”

Antifa (shorthand for “antifascist”) exists around the world but is not a unified organization and has no leader. As such, it is not clear how the US government plans to prosecute Antifa activists. Either way, this is yet another orchestrated attack on political dissent and freedom of speech by the emerging dictatorial regime in Washington, D.C., under the reign of Donald J. Trump.

The democratic left has stood up for free speech rights throughout its history. It should remain steadfast in its commitment to freedom of expression and fully and unconditionally reject “cancel culture.” Censorship of speech is the first step toward political repression, which is precisely why Trump and his goons are now threatening to punish anyone who speaks ill of their newfound martyr, Charlie Kirk.

September 25, 2025 Posted by | civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

With nuclear pact in peril, Trump embraces prolonged war in Ukraine

Trump signals that he is no longer invested in ending the Ukraine war. His disinterest in engaging with Moscow could threaten the last nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia.

Aaron Maté, Sep 25, 2025

After famously telling Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that “you don’t have the cards” to defeat Moscow and that territorial concessions are inevitable, President Trump is now singing a different tune.

“I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump wrote on Tuesday. “…We will continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them.” The US president also cast doubt on Russia’s military capabilities nearly four years into the invasion. Ukraine “can fight too,” Trump said, “and they’ve proven that maybe it could be that Russia is a paper tiger.”

Zelensky, who has waged a dogged campaign to repair relations with Trump since their White House dust-up in February, welcomed his chief sponsor’s seeming about-face. Trump, the Ukrainian leader said after the two met in New York, “clearly understands the situation and is well-informed about all aspects of this war.”

Yet as all parties to the Ukraine proxy war have learned by now, Trump’s rhetoric tells us very little about how he plans to handle it………………………………………………………………..(Subscribers only)https://www.aaronmate.net/p/with-nuclear-pact-in-peril-trump?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=100118&post_id=174489457&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=ln98x&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

September 25, 2025 Posted by | Ukraine, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Trump to Netanyahu: ‘Here’s another $6 billion to polish off those pesky Palestinians.

Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL, 24 Sept 25

President Trump has more important things to accomplish than spend taxpayer treasure on the commons, be it infrastructure, education, health care, green energy to name a few. Nope, top of the list for Trump is gifting his comrade in Palestinian genocide Benjamin Netanyahu with another $6 billion in weaponry to complete Israel’s genocidal ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza.

The six billion includes 30 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and 3,250 infantry assault vehicles, just what Netanyahu needs to obliterate Palestinians he doesn’t starve to death. All this with a compliant Congress and Trump’s grisly assistance.  

Meanwhile the American public largely ignores the genocide its government enables; indeed could not occur without the tens of billions first Biden and now Trump has gifted Israel in the two years of genocidal ethnic cleansing in Gaza.

Americans should take a page from the Italian public which is putting America to shame with their pushback against their government’s support of the genocide.

Yesterday Italian labor unions led a massive 24-hour general strike to protest Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. Hundreds of thousands in over 75 cities across Italy shut down businesses, schools, train stations and ports.

Protest leaders targeted right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, pointing out her complicity in Israeli’s genocide through arms sales to Israel. Meloni has rejected the ICC warrants and said Netanyahu would not be arrested if he enters Italy.

Giuseppe Conte, who leads the independent progressive Five Star Movement charged “Meloni should listen to the voice of those who are peacefully protesting and asking her to act, rather than curling up to Washington to protect her friend, the war criminal Netanyahu. “Meloni should take a stand with the facts against those who have slaughtered 20,000 children, rather than limiting herself to saying, ‘I do not agree.’ And she should stop running away from the debate in Parliament.”

The Italian pushback is more symbolic than substantive since Italy’s Prime Minister Meloni is a small player in genocide enabling compared to America’s monstrous, decisive role.

Wake up Americans. Replicate the Italian general strike here and even ravenous genocide enabler Trump, his ghoulish genocide advisors and our deplorable Congress might have to take notice and pivot to peace.

September 25, 2025 Posted by | Israel, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

UK to build 12 advanced “small ” modular nuclear plants in £10bn plan

COMMENT. A lovely glowing picture of this proposed wonderful source of electricity. But they’re very coy about telling us about the real cost of it all, the dangerous new radioactive fuel type, and the size of these so-called “small” nuclear reactors. And of course – not a mention of their radioactive wastes

COMMENT. A lovely glowing picture of this proposed wonderful source of electricity. But they’re very coy about telling us about the real cost of it all, the dangerous new radioactive fuel type, and the size of these so-called “small” nuclear reactors. And of course – not a mention of their radioactive wastes

Bernard Gray, 21 Sept 25, https://observer.co.uk/news/business/article/uk-to-build-12-nuclear-plants-in-10bn-plan

At a projected cost of £10bn – a rough estimate that could well balloon – two companies, Centrica, the parent of British Gas, and X-energy, a US startup, are proposing to develop and build a completely novel type of nuclear power plant.

The technical challenges for the two businesses are huge; the financial challenges perhaps even more so. Centrica is a large company with a big balance sheet, but it has limited nuclear experience. X-energy is a startup with some nuclear expertise, but which has raised only about $1bn in private capital and $1.2bn from the US energy department since the company was founded in 2009.

Far more money than that will be needed to complete the design, while the build of the fuel plant and demonstrator reactors will also cost an order of magnitude more.

Finishing the detailed design of both reactor and fuel plant, and getting them licensed to be built, is a work in progress but it will not be quick. X-energy has tried to boost its financial resources by partnering with potential users: the first is chemical producer Dow, for which X-energy is proposing to build a station to power a plant on the Texas Gulf coast.

Amazon has also invested in the company, and there is talk of power stations running Amazon datacentres in the Pacific north-west. The online retailer led investors in raising $700m to fund the next stage of X-energy’s development.

It is in this context that the Hartlepool proposal sits. The UK station would be the largest X-energy has attempted and Centrica has agreed to invest an undisclosed sum into the scheme.

The two companies are also seeking other equity investors. But even so, this will not be enough to fund even the completion of design development, let alone the build.

No UK government money is being proposed at this point, but Chris O’Shea, chief executive of Centrica, floated the idea last week that the project could be funded by a similar mechanism to the newly agreed Sizewell C reactor.

Under this plan, the £10bn that he says would be required to fund building would be added incrementally to all UK consumers’ electricity bills, to provide cashflow during construction. If that is what happens, then far from being an inward investment, UK consumers will have provided assistance to develop a US reactor design that it can sell elsewhere. The hurdles that have to be cleared to get to that point are, however, huge.

The design being proposed is unlike anything before seen on an electricity grid. Instead of the usual large fuel rods sitting in a highly pressurised water bath, this will use tennis-ball-sized pebbles of nuclear fuel to create the reaction, cooled by a flow of helium.

The idea for this kind of power station has been around for more than half a century, but it has never before been used in a commercial operation. It has some advantages over normal water-cooled reactors. The helium coolant does not pick up radioactivity so, unlike water, the design does not spread radioactivity beyond the fuel pebbles.

The pebbles are composed of agglomerations of much smaller ball bearings, each of which is like a Russian doll: shells within shells. The composition of these allows the fuel to act as its own barrier, stopping it melting and avoiding the need for a thick steel pressure cooker to make sure that any accident does not cause a huge environmental disaster, such as those at Chornobyl or Fukushima.

However, there are technical difficulties that have stopped this design being used before. The fuel is extremely complex and expensive to make. Some of the materials required are very scarce, including the nuclear component itself, which would mostly be available from Russia. It is far from clear that this kind of reactor can be commercially competitive against more traditional designs.

September 25, 2025 Posted by | technology, UK | Leave a comment

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