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How France’s nuclear dream became a financial nightmare

Decades of neglect, spiralling costs and political denial have turned France’s once-vaunted nuclear program into a cautionary tale, writes Jean-Luc Porquet (translated by Dr Evan Jones).

By Jean-Luc Porquet | 22 August 2025, https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/how-frances-nuclear-dream-became-a-financial-nightmare,20076

Translator’s note: The French nuclear power sector is in deep trouble technically and financially. Formally a cheap source of power, embedded costs have not been counted. There has been a dramatic loss of skills over the decades, inhibiting effective maintenance of existing plants and turning the construction of France’s then most powerful reactor at Flamanville on the Normandy coast into a nightmare.

Technological and resource challenges have escalated, including water availability in the face of climate change. The plan to bury accumulated highly radioactive waste at Bure, 250 kilometres east of Paris, remains at an impasse. And the political class lives in denial.

Meanwhile, sections of the Coalition parties cling to nuclear power as Australia’s post-coal salvation. Australia has uranium. However, regarding nuclear power prospects, there is no history, no capacities, no acceptable locations, no acceptable burial sites and no water. In short, local nuclear power adherents have no brains.

EVERYTHING WAS SUPPOSED to work to plan.

The 58 French nuclear reactors built at an accelerated pace between 1977 and 1996 were due to tranquilly finish their life after 30 years of good and faithful service. And the new super-powerful EPRs [European Pressurised Reactors], designed and built by Éléctricité de France, were to effect a seamless transition.

It was estimated that, by 2012, the first French EPR would be put into operation at Flamanville.

Kapow! Not only has its cost, initially fixed at €3.3 billion [AU$5.9 billion], multiplied by six (!), but its construction site has proved a nightmare. The EPR was connected to the grid only in 2024. And it has hardly run since (it is currently in shutdown).

An emergency patch-up job has been necessary on the aged French nuclear park so that its tired reactors can hang on for another 20 years. Total cost of this major overhaul now in progress: €100 billion [AU$180 billion].

At the moment when the urgent necessity to find €40 billion [AU$72 billion] in economies for the 2026 budget obsesses the Bayrou Government [under pressure from Brussels], Reporterre publishes on YouTube a remarkable documentary by journalist Laure Noualhat, titled Nucléaire – Comment il va ruiner la France. (See also Noulhat’s book, Le nucléaire va ruiner la France, Seuil-Reporterre, 224p.) It is noted there that, in the fairytale world that is nuclear energy, billions waltz out by the dozens. The golden rule is: “Whatever it costs!”

Other inescapable costs to come? To prolong the life of the plant at The Hague, where nuclear fuel is processed and which is at the end of its life — rough estimate: €34 billion [AU$61 billion]. To continue to dig deep at Bure, where the most dangerous nuclear waste will be buried 500 metres below ground — estimated cost: €35 billion [AU$63 billion]. To dismantle the 58 reactors, which, even patched up, will finish by being at the end of their life in ten or 20 years — cost: €50 billion. Total: €219 billion [AU$395.8 billion] to find. This is not all.

The EDF has sold an EPR to Finland for €3 billion [AU$5.4 billion] and two others to the United Kingdom for €22 billion [AU$39.7 billion]. And has promised to take care of any additional costs. Such comes in at €12 billion [AU$21.6 billion] for the former, €56 billion [AU$101 billion] for the latter. Do the maths.

Thomas Piquemal, the EDF’s chief financial officer at the time, went into meltdown. And resigned [in March 2016]. And this is not all.

In 2022, President Macron announced that, at his demand, the EDF will launch six “new generation” EPRs [initially, then eight more to 2050]. Hand on heart, it will happen (in fact, one knows nothing about them). Estimated total price: €100 billion [AU$180.7 billion] (more or less). A former EDF Director, Philippe Huet, interviewed by Laure Noualhat, called this a “crazy gamble”.

If ever this delusional program (transparently dismissed by the Cour des comptes [equivalent to the National Audit Office] as inadvisable) sees the day, who will pay for it? Not the EDF, already indebted to the tune of €55 billion [AU$99 billion]. Nor any private investor (not mad!). Guess… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjfHyhkpef8

Jean-Luc Porquet has been a journalist at Le Canard enchaîné since 1994, where this article appeared on 9 July. He writes a column on ecology and technocratic society, as well as theatre reviews. He has written a dozen books, the latest of which, Le grand procès des animaux, is a satirical fictional account of the sixth extinction in progress.

August 27, 2025 Posted by | France, politics | Leave a comment

‘Nuclear Priests’ could warn future people about wastes under the Irish Sea

 When Sir Keir Starmer entered No 10 last summer, it did not take long for
him to pick up where his predecessors left off on delivering more nuclear
power stations with a promise to “build, baby, build”. The Prime
Minister has vowed to “fast forward on nuclear” and so far has stuck
true to his word, with the Government taking up a larger stake in the
Sizewell C power plant in Suffolk, while loosening planning rules to allow
new small modular reactors to be built across the country.

But with the push for more nuclear power, bringing with it a steady supply of low-carbon energy, the question is inevitably asked: what do you do with all the
nuclear waste?

The answer is to dig a hole nearly the size of Wembley
Stadium 1km down beneath the Irish Sea, that could one day see the rise of
a new “atomic priesthood” and even, some have jokingly claimed, the
creation of glow in the dark cats.

But policymakers are aware that to push
ahead with this new nuclear drive, they will need to develop a stable,
long-term storage facility in which to hold not just future nuclear waste,
but all the nuclear waste the country has produced since the dawn of the
nuclear energy age in the 1950s. This is what the proposed Geological
Disposal Facility will provide.

And when they say long term, they mean long
term. “The purpose of the facility is to keep the radioactivity away from
humans and the environment so that it can’t cause harm for a sufficient
period of time – and that’s of the order of a few hundred thousand
years,” Neil Hyatt, Chief Scientific Adviser at the Nuclear Waste
Services, tells The i Paper.

 iNews 24th Aug 2025, https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/nuclear-priests-glowing-cats-how-warn-future-generations-atomic-danger-3875319

August 27, 2025 Posted by | UK, wastes | Leave a comment

Biggest nuclear tests in history: Tsar Bomba, Castle Bravo and their global impact

Edited By Kushal Deb : Aug 25, 2025, https://www.wionews.com/photos/biggest-nuclear-tests-tsar-bomba-castle-bravo-global-impact-1756122889360/1756122889362

Tsar Bomba

Tsar Bomba is the most powerful nuclear test in the history of nuclear weapons. A Soviet Tu-95 bomber dropped it from 13,000 feet, accompanied by a parachute, in Novaya Zemlya, a remote archipelago in the northern fringes of the U.S.S.R., on October 30, 1961, at around 11.32 am in Moscow time. Yielding nearly 50 megatons, it produced mushroom clouds over 40 miles high and 25 miles from end to end and equivalent to the explosion of 57 million tons of TNT. Houses within a 20km radius were completely destroyed. A 5-5.5 magnitude seismic event was felt across the world. The explosion’s shockwave circled the Earth three times and broke windows as far as 1,000 km away.

The Soviet Union was condemned unanimously by Great Britain, Sweden, and the United States. Glaciers around Novaya Zemlya were found with elevated levels of radiation because of the blast. In the following years Soviet Union and the United States signed several treaties, namely the Partial Test Ban Treaty (1963), to restrict the development of nuclear weapons. It banned nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, outer space, and underwater; only underground testing was allowed. Several other treaties followed, like the Outer Space Treaty (1967) prohibited placing nuclear weapons in orbit or testing them in space, Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (1967), establishing Latin America as a nuclear-weapon-free zone.

Castle Bravo

The US tested its first dry Thermonuclear device on March 1, 1954, in the Marshal Islands. Castle Bravo, with a 15 megaton yield, had produced a mushroom cloud that grew to nearly four-and-a-half miles wide and reached a height of 130,000 feet six minutes after the detonation.

Scientists have terribly miscalculated its capacity, intended to be a 5–6 megaton detonation, following the impact, radioactive fallout contaminated surrounding islands, exposing locals and U.S. personnel to dangerous radiation levels. An estimation states that 665 inhabitants of the Marshall Islands were overexposed to radiation. The fallout spread over 7,000 square miles. Europe, Australia, India, and Japan all found traces of radioactive material, starting a widespread outcry for a Nuclear Testing ban.

Castle Yanke

It was tested on May 5, 1954, at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. It was part of the Castle series tests, of which Ivy Mike and Castle Romeo were a part. Yanke contributed a yield of approximately 13–13.5 megatons, vaporised the test island, and generated a mushroom cloud affectionately estimated at 43 km in height. Although the yield of Castle Yankee was smaller than Castle Bravo, it still contributed to radioactive fallout in the nearby areas around the atoll.

Castle Romeo

Castle Romeo was tested by the US on March 26, 1954, just after the test of Castle Bravo. It yielded 11 megatons of TNT after the explosion, and the extreme red, orange, and yellow hues cloud became a popular representation of the nuclear explosion in the media. This thermonuclear test caused extensive radioactive contamination in the Pacific.

Ivy Mike

Ivy Mike was the world’s first successful hydrogen bomb test. The test marked a shift from fission-based weapons to fusion technology. It also pushed the Soviet Union to accelerate its thermonuclear program. It was also detonated in the Marshal Islands on November 1, 1952. The explosion produced 10.4 megatons of TNT. It spread across 1.8 to 3.2 miles and rose above 25 miles.

August 27, 2025 Posted by | weapons and war | Leave a comment

Report: Smotrich Told IDF Chief That Anyone Who Doesn’t Evacuate Gaza City Can ‘Die of Hunger or Surrender’

Israel’s Channel 12 also reported that Netanyahu has said he has Trump’s full support for the planned offensive to take over Gaza City but has limited time

by Dave DeCamp | August 24, 2025, https://news.antiwar.com/2025/08/24/report-smotrich-told-idf-chief-that-anyone-who-doesnt-evacuate-gaza-city-can-die-of-hunger-or-surrender/

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has told the head of the Israeli military that anyone who remains in Gaza City after an IDF evacuation order can “die of hunger or surrender,” The Times of Israel reported on Saturday, citing a TV report from Israel’s Channel 12.

“We ordered you [to carry out] a quick operation. In my opinion, you can besiege them,” Smotrich reportedly told IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir. “Whoever doesn’t evacuate, don’t let them. No water, no electricity, they can die of hunger or surrender. This is what we want and your capable [of doing it].”

The Channel 12 report said that during the same meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer said that President Trump fully supports Israe’s plans to conquer Gaza City, which involves the forced displacement of over 1 million civilians amid a famine in the area, but that the US president wants a quick and decisive operation.

Thousands of Palestinians have fled Gaza City amid ramped-up Israeli attacks in the area, but there’s been no sign of a mass evacuation despite Israel’s orders to leave. Palestinians in Gaza City have rejected the idea of another displacement since most of them have been forced to move many times, and they don’t believe the area they’re being told to flee to will be much safer since the IDF continues to bomb the south.

The Palestinians in Gaza City are also likely aware that Israel’s plans involve the complete destruction of the city, which means they almost certainly won’t be able to return. The IDF has told the Israeli government that it will likely take months or possibly over a year to demolish the city.

The Channel 12 report said that Zamir clashed with Smotrich and Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir over the length of time the plan to take over Gaza City will take. Smotrich’s call to starve the remaining Palestinians to death aligns with previous comments he has made.

In April of this year, about a month after Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza, Smotrich said Israel wouldn’t allow a “grain of wheat” to enter the Strip. Last year, Smotrich said at a conference that it may be “justified and moral” for Israel to starve two million Palestinians to death, but that the world wouldn’t allow it to happen.

“We are bringing in aid because there is no choice,” Smotrich said in August 2024. “We can’t, in the current global reality, manage a war. Nobody will let us cause 2 million civilians to die of hunger even though it might be justified and moral until our hostages are returned.”

August 27, 2025 Posted by | Atrocities, Gaza, Israel | Leave a comment

Eighteen Palestinians Starve to Death in Gaza Over Three Days Due to Israeli Siege

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has confirmed that famine is taking place in Gaza City.

by Dave DeCamp | August 24, 2025, https://news.antiwar.com/2025/08/24/eighteen-palestinians-starve-to-death-in-gaza-over-three-days-due-to-israeli-siege/

Gaza hospitals have recorded 18 more malnutrition deaths in Gaza over the past three days, according to press releases from Gaza’s Health Ministry, as Palestinians continue to starve due to the US-backed Israeli siege.

In its latest release on Sunday, the Health Ministry said at least eight Palestinians, including one child, had starved to death over the previous 24-hour period. “This brings the total number of victims of famine and malnutrition to 289, including 115 children,” the ministry said.

On Friday, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirmed that famine was taking place in the Gaza Governorate, which includes Gaza City and nearby towns, and that more than 500,000 people in the area were facing “catastrophic conditions characterised by starvation, destitution and death.”

The IPC said that conditions are expected to worsen and that between mid-August and the end of September, famine is expected spread to Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, and Khan Younis in the south.

The Israeli government and its supporters are denying that famine is occurring, pointing to the fact that many children suffering from severe malnutrition had pre-existing medical conditions. But the most vulnerable are always the first to be impacted when famine sets in, and there have been many cases recorded of people suffering from severe malnutrition who have no pre-existing conditions.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz published a report on August 21 based on virtual tours of hospitals and health centers in Gaza that examined the cases of 27 children and found that 17 of them “deteriorated into a state of severe malnutrition without preexisting health conditions” while 10 suffered from previous illnesses.

“Based on our conversations, a simple fact emerged: Anyone who claims that the images of starvation in the Strip are a result of acute genetic or other diseases, and not due to a grave shortage of food, are lying to themselves,” the report said.

The IPC said that in order to prevent further catastrophe, there must be an immediate ceasefire and the lifting of all restrictions on aid entering Gaza. But Israel is planning a major escalation to take over Gaza City, and President Trump, who has the power to stop the genocidal war by cutting off weapons shipments to Israel, has signaled he’ll back whatever the Israeli government chooses to do.

August 27, 2025 Posted by | Atrocities, Gaza, Israel | Leave a comment

Ukraine drone hits Russian nuclear plant, sparks huge fire at Novatek’s Ust-Luga terminal

Reuters, By Guy Faulconbridge and Lidia Kelly, August 24, 2025

  • Summary
  • Ukrainian drone sparks fire at nuclear plant
  • Nuclear reactor cuts capacity after attack
  • Ukrainian drones strike Ust-Luga fuel export terminal
  • Attacks come on Ukraine’s Independence Day

MOSCOW, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Ukraine launched a drone attack on Russia on Sunday, forcing a sharp fall in the capacity of a reactor at one of Russia’s biggest nuclear power plants and sparking a huge blaze at the major Ust-Luga fuel export terminal, Russian officials said.

Despite talk of peace by Russia and Ukraine, the deadliest European war since World War Two is continuing along the 2,000 km (1,250 mile) front line accompanied by missile and drone attacks deep into both Russia and Ukraine.

Russia’s defence ministry said at least 95 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted across more than a dozen Russian regions on August 24, the day that Ukraine celebrates its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The Kursk nuclear power plant, just 60 km (38 miles) from the border with Ukraine, said that air defences shot down a drone that detonated near the plant just after midnight, damaging an auxiliary transformer and forcing a 50% reduction in the operating capacity at reactor No. 3.

Radiation levels were normal and there were no injuries from the fire which the drone sparked, the plant said. Two other reactors are operating without power generation and one is undergoing scheduled repairs.

The United Nations’ nuclear agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said it was aware of reports that a transformer at the plant caught fire due to military activity and stressed that every nuclear facility should be protected at all times.

A thousand km north, on the Gulf of Finland, at least 10 Ukrainian drones were downed over the port of Ust-Luga in Russia’s northern Leningrad region, with debris sparking fire at the Novatek-operated terminal – a huge Baltic Sea fuel export terminal and processing complex, the regional governor said.

PLUME OF BLACK SMOKE

Unverified footage on Russian Telegram channels showed a drone flying directly into a fuel terminal, followed by a huge ball of fire rising high into the sky followed by a plume of black smoke billowing into the horizon.

“Firefighters and emergency services are currently working to extinguish the blaze,” Alexander Drozdenko, governor of Russia’s Leningrad region, said. There were no injuries, he added……………………..

Ukrainian drones also attacked an industrial enterprise in the southern Russian city of Syzran, the governor of the Samara region said on Sunday. A child was injured in the attack, according to the governor, who did not specify exactly what had been attacked.

………………………………………………………………….Earlier this month, the Ukrainian military said it had struck the Syzran oil refinery. The Rosneft-owned (ROSN.MM)
, opens new tab refinery was forced to suspend production and crude intake after the attack, sources told Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-drone-hits-russian-nuclear-plant-sparks-huge-fire-novateks-ust-luga-2025-08-24/

August 27, 2025 Posted by | incidents, Russia, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Russia reports blaze at one of its biggest nuclear power plants.

Guy Faulconbridge & Lidia Kelly, Sunday 24 August 2025, https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/ukraine-russia-kursk-nuclear-power-plant-b2813260.html


  • Russia     accused Ukraine of launching multiple drone attacks on Sunday, targeting critical infrastructure.
  • A drone strike near the Kursk nuclear power plant damaged an auxiliary transformer, leading to a 50 per cent reduction in operating capacity at reactor No. 3, though radiation levels remained normal and there were no injuries from the fire that the drone sparked.
  • A separate significant blaze erupted at the Novatek-operated Ust-Luga fuel export terminal in Russia’s Leningrad region after it was reportedly hit by Ukrainian drones.
  • Drone activity resulted in temporary flight suspensions at several Russian airports, including Pulkovo.
  • Ukrainian drones also attacked an industrial enterprise in Syzran, with Ukraine stating its strikes target infrastructure crucial to Russia’s military efforts.

August 27, 2025 Posted by | Russia, Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Fears are rising about the safety of a nuclear power plant in Russia after a Ukrainian attack overnight

Metro, 24 Aug 25

A fire broke out at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant after military forces shot down what they claimed was a Ukrainian drone flying near the site.

The ‘device detonated’ upon impact, sparking a blaze which the facility said ‘was extinguished by fire crews,’ authorities in Kursk said in a statement.

It added: ‘A combat unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) belonging to the Armed Forces of Ukraine was shot down by air defence systems near the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant………………….

Alexander Khinshtein, the regional acting governor, blamed Ukraine for the strikes in a post on Telegram, adding: ‘They are a threat to nuclear safety and a violation of all international conventions.’

The incident marks one of the most serious escalations in the targeting of energy facilities, fueling anxiety about fighting creeping dangerously close to nuclear assets.

Ukraine’s drone strike on Kursk was one of several reported overnights by Russian authorities.

Firefighters were also sent to an explosion and a fire at the port of Ust-Luga in Russia’s Leningrad region, which holds a large fuel export terminal.

The regional governor said about 10 Ukrainian drones were brought down and debris had sparked the fire.

Ukraine has not commented on the Russian accusations………….

August 27, 2025 Posted by | Russia, safety | Leave a comment

Wastewater release from Fukushima nuclear plant enters third year.

By Ian Stark, Aug. 25 (UPI) — 

The Japanese utility that keeps the nuclear fuel inside the damaged Fukushima plant cool reports its release of treated wastewater has entered its third year.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company announced Monday that it has completed its third discharge of Advanced Liquid Processing System treated water into the sea on Monday…………………

According to TEPCO, the ALPS is designed to remove 62 types of radioactive materials from the affected sea and dilute the water to lower the tritium levels. The water is considered “treated” to distinguish it from water yet to be decontaminated…………………………..

Around 70 tons of radioactive wastewater is produced daily at the plant, which cools the nuclear fuel that melted inside the reactor buildings at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. As of the first week of August, around 102,000 tons of treated water have been released. https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2025/08/25/Japan-Fukushima-nuclear-wastewater-TEPCO-radioactive/9871756140747/

August 27, 2025 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, wastes | Leave a comment

Children Starved In Plain Sight As Famine Confirmed In Gaza

CNN News 25 Aug 25

At least 132,000 children aged under five in Gaza are at risk of death from acute malnutrition as new data confirms famine in Gaza City and the surrounding area and warns this is likely to spread in the coming weeks, Save the Children said. The famine classification comes as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) also reported over half a million people in Gaza, about half of whom are children, are facing catastrophic hunger, the worst-case IPC Phase 5.

August 26, 2025 Posted by | Atrocities, Israel | Leave a comment

Only Liars And Manipulators Say Gaza Isn’t Starving.

Caitlin Johnstone, Aug 24, 2025, https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/only-liars-and-manipulators-say-gaza?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=171779133&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Israeli news outlet Haaretz has published a harrowing report on starvation in Gaza which further discredits the Israeli narrative that the photos of skeletal children we’ve been seeing are antisemitic Hamas propaganda, for anyone who’s still clinging to delusions about such things.

Haaretz reporters were taken by doctors on video tours of hospitals in Gaza, conducting interviews with numerous medical personnel and obtaining many photos of civilians showing signs of extreme starvation. Throughout the report we encounter story after story of severely emaciated children, mothers unable to breastfeed starving babies because of their own starvation, people with preexisting conditions severely exacerbated by malnutrition, diseases spreading due to crippled healthcare infrastructure and ruined immune systems, and wounds failing to heal due to inadequate food intake.

The article is one of the more uncomfortable things I’ve seen throughout the entirety of this genocide, and that’s saying something.

“What we saw there left no room for doubt about the scale of the horror,” write Haaretz reporters Yarden Michaeli and Nir Hasson.

“Seventeen youngsters had deteriorated into a state of severe malnutrition without preexisting health conditions; 10 suffered from previous illnesses,” they write, saying “Anyone who claims that the images of starvation in the Gaza Strip are a result of acute genetic or other diseases, and not due to a grave shortage of food, are lying to themselves.”

This comes as the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) formally declares that the people of Gaza are suffering from a famine that “is entirely man-made”, which must be halted and reversed with extreme urgency.

Israel has of course denounced the IPC’s findings as antisemitic Hamas propaganda, with the Israeli Foreign Ministry saying that “The entire IPC document is based on Hamas lies laundered through organizations with vested interests,” and Benjamin Netanyahu branding the report “a modern blood libel, spreading like wildfire through prejudice.”

You might find this response ridiculous, and of course it is, but really, what else does Israel have left? When all major human rights institutions are accusing you of horrific crimes, your only options are either (A) admit the obvious fact that there’s no way every single mainstream humanitarian organization is lying about your actions, or (B) claim that they’re all in on a giant globe-spanning conspiracy because of a nefarious prejudice against your religion.

Of course they’re going to go with (B). This is Israel we’re talking about, after all.

When a nation keeps having to publish denials that it is intentionally starving civilians, you can safely assume it’s because that nation is intentionally starving civilians. If you saw someone on social media loudly denying the latest allegations that they are a child molester over and over again for two years, you probably wouldn’t let them babysit your kids.

I have never once felt the need to publish a denial that I am intentionally starving people, because I have never intentionally starved anyone. It’s not something I’ve ever found myself needing to say even one time, let alone many many times constantly.

You don’t see the government of Ireland constantly denying that Ireland is intentionally starving civilians, because Ireland is not intentionally starving civilians.

You don’t see pro-China spinmeisters frantically churning out propaganda denying that China is intentionally starving civilians, because China is not intentionally starving civilians.

You don’t see Brazilian internet trolls aggressively swarming the comments of anyone who says Brazil is intentionally starving civilians, because Brazil is not intentionally starving civilians.

You don’t see the Pakistani government paying social media influencers to assert on their platforms that Pakistan is not intentionally starving civilians, because Pakistan is not intentionally starving civilians.

You see an intense campaign of narrative management aimed at denying that Israel has been intentionally starving civilians because Israel is intentionally starving civilians. That’s why all the constant government denials, the endless propaganda and spin pieces and PR stunts, and relentless online trolling operations have been necessary.

Most Israel apologia at this point is just people pretending to believe things they don’t really believe. Palestinians aren’t really being starved. Gaza looks like a gravel parking lot because Hamas put explosives in all the buildings. The IDF has a low civilian-to-combatant kill ratio. Gaza’s entire healthcare infrastructure was destroyed because Hamas was hiding under all the hospitals. Nobody actually believes these things. They’re just pretending to believe them in order to justify genocidal atrocities and help ensure that they continue.

They’re really the worst people in the world.

August 26, 2025 Posted by | Gaza, Israel, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Why New Large and Small Nuclear Reactors are Not Green.

August 20, 2025, By: Mark Z. Jacobson, https://nationalinterest.org/blog/energy-world/why-new-large-and-small-nuclear-reactors-are-not-green

Despite their considerable allure in the eyes of many, and despite being put forth as the cure to the energy crisis, nuclear reactors are not green.

Air pollution, global warming, and energy security are three of the biggest problems facing the world. Many have suggested that new nuclear reactors can help solve these problems. However, due to the long time from planning to operation alone, new reactors are useless for solving any of these problems. This is just one of seven issues with nuclear electricity that illustrate why it can’t be classified as “green.” Developing more clean, renewable energy is a viable solution.

Long Planning-to-Operation Time

The planning-to-operation (PTO) time of a nuclear reactor includes the time to identify a site, obtain a site permit, purchase or lease the land, obtain a construction permit, finance and insure the construction, install transmission, negotiate a power purchase agreement, obtain permits, build the plant, connect it to transmission, and obtain an operating license.

New reactors now require PTO times of seventeen to twenty-three years in North America and Europe and twelve to twenty-three years worldwide. The only two reactors built from scratch in the United States since 1996 were two in Georgia. They had PTO times of seventeen and eighteen years (construction times of ten and eleven years). The Olkiluoto 3 reactor in Finland began operating in 2023 after a PTO time of twenty-three years. A French reactor began operating in 2024 after a PTO time of twenty years. Hinkley Point C in the UK is estimated to have a PTO time of up to twenty-three years. Four UAE reactors had PTO times of twelve to fifteen years (construction times of nine years). A Chinese reactor in Shidao Bay had a PTO time of seventeen years. China’s Haiyang 1 and 2 had PTO times of thirteen and fourteen years. No reactor in history has had a PTO time of less than ten years. Today, that number is twelve years,

Wind and solar take only two to five years. Rooftop PV is down to six months. Thus, new nuclear is useless, but renewables are not, for solving the three world problems, which need an eighty percent solution by 2030 and 100 percent renewable by 2035 to 2050.


Cost

The 2025 cost of electricity for the new Vogtle nuclear reactors is $199 (169 to 228) per megawatt-hour. This compares with $61.5 (thirty-seven to eighty-six) for onshore wind and $58 (thirty-eight to seventy-eight) for utility-scale solar PV. Thus, new nuclear costs three (two to 6.2) times as much as new solar and wind. But nuclear’s cost does not include the cost to clean up the three Fukushima Dai-ichi reactor meltdowns, estimated at $460 to $640 billion, or ten to 18.5 percent of the capital cost of every reactor worldwide. Also, the cost of storing nuclear waste for 200,000 years is ignored. About $500 million is spent yearly in the United States to safeguard waste.

Air Pollution and Global Warming From Nuclear

There is no such thing as a close-to-zero-emission nuclear power plant. Carbon-equivalent emissions per unit of electricity from new nuclear power plants are nine to thirty-seven times those of onshore wind. Higher nuclear emissions are due to emissions from the background electric grid during the long PTO time of nuclear as compared with that of wind, emissions from mining and refining uranium, emissions from constructing and decommissioning a reactor, and heat and water-vapor emissions during reactor operations.

Weapons Proliferation Risk

The growth of nuclear electricity has historically increased the ability of several nations, most recently Iran, to enrich uranium or harvest plutonium to build or attempt to build nuclear weapons. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states, with “robust evidence and high agreement,” that “barriers to and risks associated with an increasing use of nuclear energy include…nuclear weapons proliferation concerns…” Building a reactor allows a country to import and secretly enrich uranium and harvest plutonium from uranium fuel rods to help develop nuclear weapons. This does not mean every country will, but some have. Small modular reactors (SMRs) increase this risk, because SMRs can be sold more readily to and transported to countries without nuclear power.

Meltdown Risk

To date, 1.5 percent of all nuclear power plants built have melted down to some degree. Meltdowns have been either catastrophic (Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986; three reactors at Fukushima Dai-ichi, Japan, in 2011) or damaging (Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, in 1979; Saint-Laurent, France, in 1980). The nuclear industry claims that new reactor designs are safe. But new designs are generally untested, and there is no guarantee that a new reactor will survive a disaster.

Waste Risk

Consumed fuel rods from nuclear reactors are radioactive waste. Most rods are stored near the reactor that used them. This has given rise to hundreds of radioactive waste sites that must be maintained for at least 200,000 years. The more nuclear waste that accumulates, the greater the risk of a leak that damages water supply, crops, animals, and/or humans.

Miining Lung Cancer Risk

Underground uranium mining, which is about half of all uranium mining, causes lung cancer in miners because uranium mines contain radon gas, some of whose decay products are carcinogenic. Wind and solar do not have this risk because they do not require continuous fuel mining, only one-time mining to produce the infrastructure, and such mining does not involve radon.

In sum, new nuclear takes seven to twenty-one years longer, costs two to 6.2 times as much, and emits nine to thirty-seven times the pollution per unit of electricity as new wind or solar. Beyond simply not being “green,” nuclear energy also has weapons proliferation risks, meltdown risks, waste risks, and mining lung cancer risks, which clean renewables avoid. SMRs will continue most of these problems and increase the risk of proliferation. In 2024, China added 378 gigawatts of wind, solar, and hydropower, ninety-five times the nuclear power it finished. Thus, even where nuclear is growing fastest, renewables are beating it by two orders of magnitude.

Finally, many existing reactors are so costly, their owners are demanding subsidies to stay open. But subsidizing existing nuclear may increase carbon emissions and costs versus replacing the plants with wind or solar.

August 26, 2025 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment

Ukraine Drone Strikes Hit Russia’s Nuclear Plant & Fuel Terminal | War Escalates

India Times 24 Aug 25

Ukraine has carried out a powerful drone strike on Russia, crippling the Kursk nuclear power plant and setting the Ust-Luga fuel export terminal ablaze. On Ukraine’s Independence Day (August 24), Russia reported intercepting 95 drones across more than a dozen regions.

At Kursk, a drone explosion damaged a transformer, forcing reactor No. 3 to reduce capacity by 50%. Meanwhile, in Ust-Luga, a drone slammed into a Novatek fuel tank, triggering a massive fire and black smoke visible for miles. The terminal is one of Russia’s most important energy hubs, exporting jet fuel and fuel oil to China, Singapore, and Turkey.

Earlier this month, Ukraine also struck the Rosneft refinery in Syzran, intensifying pressure on Russia’s military-industrial infrastructure. Despite Putin’s downplaying of casualties and radiation risk, Ukraine insists these strikes are retaliation for Russia’s relentless missile and drone attacks. This video covers the full story, analysis, and global implications.

August 26, 2025 Posted by | Russia, Ukraine, weapons and war | 1 Comment

More than 2,000 nuclear weapons have been detonated in the past 80 years. Their effects still linger around the world.

Although these nuclear weapons were detonated decades ago now, “many people are still paying the price,”

a sort of ‘who knows, we don’t know, it’ll probably be fine,’……...Years of secrecy surrounding the test site have given way to years of taboo

CNN, By Issy Ronald, 24 Aug 25

Growing up in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the 1950s and 60s, Mary Dickson was among the millions of American schoolchildren taught to “duck and cover” in the event of a nuclear war.

“I just remember thinking, ‘That’s not going to save us from a bomb,’” she told CNN. At that time, Dickson didn’t know that nuclear weapons were being detonated in the neighboring state of Nevada as the US tested its new stockpile. She lived downwind, in the direction much of the radioactive fallout from atmospheric tests traveled.

She says she has suffered from thyroid cancer; her older sister passed away from lupus in her 40s; her younger sister was recently told that her intestinal cancer has spread to other parts of her body; and her nieces have health issues too.

Dickson says she once counted 54 people from her five-block childhood neighborhood who had suffered from cancer, autoimmune diseases, birth defects or miscarriages.

It’s unclear what caused their cancer, since it is difficult to ascribe direct responsibility, but it is generally accepted in the medical community that radiation exposure increases heightens the risk of cancer, depending on the level of exposure.

“Radiation exposure increases the chance of getting cancer, and the risk increases as the dose increases: the higher the dose, the greater the risk,” says the US Environmental Protection Agency, citing studies that follow groups of people exposed to radiation.

Collectively, those who lived and were exposed in the states surrounding the Nevada testing site, including Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Washington State and Idaho, became known as “downwinders.”

“It’s devastating,” said Dickson, a playwright and advocate for survivors of nuclear weapons testing in the US. “I can’t tell you how many friends I’ve had, and their cancers have come back… The psychological damage does not go away. You spend the rest of your life worrying that each lump, each pain (means) it’s back.”

“The Cold War for us never ended,” she added. “We’re still living with its effects.”

The nuclear age began 80 years ago when the US dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of World War II. The bombs killed about 110,000 people instantly and helped set in motion the Cold War-era arms race in which the US and the Soviet Union, as well as Britain, France and China, all scrambled to develop ever more powerful nuclear weapons.

They conducted more than 2,000 tests between 1945 and 1996, each establishing their own nuclear deterrent which, depending on your point of view, either underpins or undermines the world’s security to this day.

And as in Japan, where hundreds of thousands of people died from injuries and radiation-related illnesses in the years after 1945, these nuclear tests damaged the lives, health and land of people living nearby.

Later, India, Pakistan and North Korea carried out their own tests, too, before a series of international treaties almost completely curbed the practice. Only North Korea has tested nuclear weapons in the 21st century – most recently in 2017 – and no atmospheric tests have taken place since 1980.

Still, “it’s not a problem of the past,” said Togzhan Kassenova, a non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who studies nuclear policy.

Although these nuclear weapons were detonated decades ago now, “many people are still paying the price,” she told CNN.

‘We share the same stories’

The earlier nuclear powers tested their bombs in places they deemed remote and sparsely populated, often in territory they had colonized, far away from their own major population hubs.

“Their priorities (were) such that they believed testing was absolutely necessary for national security reasons and if you take that as an absolute truth and everything else is a sort of ‘who knows, we don’t know, it’ll probably be fine,’ it’s very easy to get into a situation where your default response is to do it,” Alex Wellerstein, an associate professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, told CNN.

The US conducted its nuclear testing mostly in Nevada and the Marshall Islands, in the central Pacific Ocean; the Soviet Union in Kazakhstan and in the Arctic Ocean archipelago of Novaya Zemlya; the United Kingdom in Australia and the Pacific atoll of Kiritimati, formerly known as Christmas Island; France in Algeria and French Polynesia; and China in Lop Nur, a remote desert site in western Xinjiang province.

The Soviet Union tested more than 450 bombs at its Semipalatinsk test site in Kazakhstan from 1949 to 1989, in top secret towns, built for nuclear testing. The residents nearby “didn’t really know the whole extent of it,” Aigerim Seitenova, a nuclear justice and gender equality expert who co-founded the Qazaq Nuclear Frontline Coalition, told CNN.

“So many of my relatives, they were passing away so early when I was a child and I didn’t understand why they were passing away in their 40s and 50s,” she said, adding that she and many members of her family suffer from chronic health issues. “At the time, I thought they were old.”

Years of secrecy surrounding the test site have given way to years of taboo, Seitenova said, adding that making a documentary about the intergenerational impact of Kazakhstan’s nuclear legacy on women was a “process of healing” for her, as she sought to restore their agency.

And Seitenova adds that when the film was translated into Japanese and shown in Hiroshima, it underscored for her that the “experiences of the Kazakh people are not unique.”

“We share the same stories from the Pacific French Polynesia, Marshall Islands, Australia,” she said.

“We are the main experts in the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons,” she added, lamenting that while scientists from the West consider themselves experts, “those with actually lived experiences are not always taken seriously.”

Understanding the full impact of nuclear testing is difficult – it is both contested and hard to quantify, given the difficulty in ascribing health issues to any one cause, and in assessing the wider social consequences for communities. Various studies have tried to measure these effects, often producing results which contain large uncertainties…………………………………

Studies conducted in the region surrounding the Semipalatinsk test site found that cancer mortality rates and infant mortality rates during the most intensive period of nuclear testing, from 1949 to 1962, were higher than elsewhere in Kazakhstan. Kassenova said that when she returns to the region, she meets children who are fourth- or fifth-generation descendants of those who lived through that period and have health issues they attribute to nuclear contamination………………………………..

Equivalent to 7,232 Hiroshima bombs

As well as impacting people’s health, these tests have had significant environmental consequences. Between 1946 and 1958, the US conducted 67 known nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, which had a total explosive yield equivalent to 7,232 Hiroshima bombs………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

France and the UK, meanwhile, have long minimized the impact of their nuclear testing programs. Only in 2010 did France acknowledge a connection between its tests and the ill-health of Algerians and French Polynesians exposed to radiation, and it wasn’t until 2021 that about half of these claimants received compensation……………………………….

Eighty years on from the devastating use of nuclear weapons in Japan, and decades on from the most intensive period of above-ground testing, the world’s nuclear reckoning is far from over. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/24/world/nuclear-weapons-tests-effects-intl-scli

August 26, 2025 Posted by | health | 1 Comment

Drone Technology and the Future of Nuclear Weapons

strategic and ethical challenges specific to the nuclear domain……………………….. Rapid, opaque AI-based decision-making might undermine essential human oversight and judgment in nuclear operations……………………….. blurring distinctions between conventional military threats and genuine nuclear escalations.

TODA PEACE INSTIUTE 25 Aug 25, https://toda.org/global-outlook/2025/drone-technology-and-the-future-of-nuclear-weapons.html

Esra Serim argues that rapid advances in artificial intelligence-enabled drone technology significantly enhance nuclear weapon delivery, precision targeting, and deterrence capabilities. However, the proliferation of autonomous drone systems also introduces critical strategic and ethical challenges. To ensure global stability, we must create robust international frameworks

Impact of Ukraine war on emerging technologies

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, competition among major global powers over emerging technologies has intensified significantly. In particular, the conflict has accelerated investment in drone technologies. The United States, China, Russia, and various European countries have all identified such technologies as strategically vital.

Advanced technologies, notably artificial intelligence (AI), are becoming increasingly important to national defence strategies. This heightened reliance has amplified concerns over an accelerated arms race in weaponised drones. AI integration has substantially enhanced drone capabilities, enabling greater autonomy, precise mission execution, and sophisticated operational tasks.

In military contexts, AI-driven drones mark a substantial technological shift. They open new strategic possibilities for improved logistics and advanced reconnaissance, and could even deliver nuclear payloads. Consequently, states are increasingly committed to developing and acquiring advanced drone capabilities, seeking to enhance national security, deter adversaries, and expand geopolitical influence.

The pursuit of advanced military technologies

Four interconnected factors explain states’ pursuit of advanced military technologies: pragmatism, perceptions of security threats, the strategic role of the arms industry, and the transformative influence of AI on global power dynamics.

From a pragmatic perspective, foreign policy is flexible, adaptive, and responsive to changing international and domestic circumstances. Pragmatism aligns closely with realist thinking, prioritising tangible outcomes and practical solutions. Accordingly, states develop their arms industries not only to maintain peace and deterrence but also to ensure they are prepared defensively if conflict arises.

Secondly, states’ perceptions of security threats profoundly influence international relations. Nations build economic and military power primarily for self-defence; however, such actions can appear aggressive to others, fuelling mutual suspicion and competitive arms buildups. Consequently, maintaining a robust arms industry becomes essential for states to protect sovereignty, sustain national security, and deter potential threats.

Thirdly, powerful states consistently seek opportunities to enhance their influence, especially during periods of conflict. Wars present strategic openings in which advanced military technologies can decisively increase a state’s relative power. This can confer tactical advantages or new leverage in geopolitical competition.

Finally, the rapid rise of AI technology has introduced a new strategic frontier. AI makes sophisticated military capabilities more affordable and accessible, significantly increasing states’ military effectiveness and economic influence. As AI becomes integral to military operations, it reshapes national security strategies and accelerates decision-making processes in peace and wartime. This integration compels states to swiftly harness AI-driven advancements, redefining contemporary power competition.

Enhancing nuclear delivery and targeting

AI-powered drones have become essential tools for modern warfare, as recent events in the Ukraine war vividly demonstrate. Equipped to carry out advanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, these drones also hold potential for nuclear payload delivery. Their increasing integration into military operations boosts nuclear weapons’ capability for precise, targeted, and effective delivery.

Drones with advanced AI capabilities significantly enhance nuclear delivery by effectively countering enemy missile and air defence systems. Even without nuclear warheads, such drones can assist nuclear strike missions by deceiving, disrupting, or neutralising adversary defensive networks. Harnessing AI to exploit vulnerabilities in enemy defences, drones enable nuclear forces to penetrate hostile environments reliably and efficiently.

AI-enhanced drones also improve nuclear targeting by providing precise, real-time intelligence and detailed assessments of enemy weaknesses. Instead of relying on indiscriminate attacks, states can use drones to precisely identify strategic military targets. By so doing, they improve operational effectiveness and minimise collateral damage. Enhanced targeting accuracy allows states to deploy fewer warheads and delivery systems, thereby simplifying operations and, potentially, reducing maintenance costs.

Moreover, AI-driven drone technologies significantly strengthen nuclear deterrence by improving the survivability and resilience of nuclear arsenals. Persistent drone surveillance and rapid-response capabilities increase states’ capacity for early detection and swift reaction to incoming threats. This reinforces deterrence by guaranteeing credible second-strike capabilities, stabilising strategic relationships among nuclear-armed states.

Strategic risks in the drone-warfare era

The proliferation of autonomous, AI-driven drones and unmanned aerial vehicles is likely to significantly affect nuclear targeting, and deterrence. The integration of these technologies into nuclear command-and-control infrastructures could enhance states’ nuclear response capabilities through improved surveillance, early warning, and precise counterforce targeting. Consequently, nuclear-armed states will need to carefully reassess their strategic doctrines, command protocols, and crisis management practices to accommodate these technological shifts and maintain nuclear stability.

However, alongside these advances emerge strategic and ethical challenges specific to the nuclear domain. Increased autonomy in drone systems could inadvertently escalate nuclear tensions if AI-driven threat assessments misinterpret signals or inaccurately identify hostile intentions during crises. Rapid, opaque AI-based decision-making might undermine essential human oversight and judgment in nuclear operations, potentially disrupting adversaries’ perceptions of nuclear stability and deterrence credibility. Moreover, integrating autonomous drones into nuclear arsenals risks lowering the threshold for nuclear engagement by blurring distinctions between conventional military threats and genuine nuclear escalations.

Operational uncertainty

The operational reliability of AI-enabled drones in nuclear environments remains uncertain. Autonomous drone systems are susceptible to electronic warfare, cyberattacks against nuclear command-and-control networks, and unintended technical failures, especially under conditions of strategic tension. Dependence on AI-generated intelligence for nuclear decision-making raises the potential for escalation as a result of flawed data, biased algorithms, or erroneous rapid-response judgments.

The proliferation of sophisticated drone technology may also prompt adversaries to pursue advanced countermeasures and increasingly complex nuclear capabilities. Rather than reinforcing stable deterrence, this would instead foster destabilising arms competitions. Rigorous testing, strengthened human oversight measures, and robust international regulations must guide the integration of AI-driven drones to mitigate these operational vulnerabilities, and maintain global nuclear stability.

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

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