UK government underestimated the cost to the public of Regulated Asset Base financing of nuclear power
The government has been accused of under-estimating the cost to customers
of its new financing support mechanism for nuclear power, which could add
£100 onto annual bills if ex-prime minister Boris Johnson’s pledge to
roll out a new fleet of the plants is honoured.
At a meeting of the
All-Party Parliamentary Group on Energy Costs, held at the House of Commons
on Wednesday (23 November), University of Greenwich emeritus professor of
energy Steve Thomas criticised the use of the Regulated Asset Base (RAB)
for nuclear projects.
Utility Week 24th Nov 2022
Rolls-Royce calls for formal funding talks over small nuclear plants
Ft.com Nathalie Thomas in Edinburgh and Sylvia Pfeifer in London, 23 Nov 22
Rolls-Royce has urged the UK government to enter formal negotiations over the funding for small nuclear reactors, which it hopes to build in England or Wales by the early part of next decade.
Tom Samson, head of the company’s small modular reactor business, told a committee of MPs on Wednesday that Britain would face an electricity crisis next decade if it did not push ahead with building more “baseload” power stations that offer a reliable [?] source of generation when weather-dependent renewables including wind and solar are not producing.
Rolls-Royce is leading a consortium that has designed a 470-megawatt [that’s LARGE !] small modular nuclear reactor, which could produce enough power for a city the size of Leeds and would be built in factories before being deployed at existing nuclear sites in England and Wales.
It wants the government to enter formal talks over potential funding models and how the technology could be deployed so it can start building factories. The first Rolls-Royce-designed SMR would cost £2.5bn, although the UK engineering company has argued the cost of each plant will drop to £2bn once it has a pipeline of orders.
……….. the first Rolls-Royce SMR would probably need a funding model underpinned by the government or bill payers.
The company has previously talked about models such as “contracts for difference”, which are used for technologies such as offshore wind and guarantee developers a set price for their output.
Alternatively, it has said it may consider a “regulated asset base” mechanism, whereby a surcharge is added to consumer energy bills long before any plant is operating to help finance schemes.
Samson warned the government it did not have the luxury of spending another two to three years talking about whether to build more nuclear capacity……………
Former prime minister Boris Johnson said while in office that he wanted up to 24 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2050 — up from just 5.9GW at present — but chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s recent Autumn Statement referred only to the 3.2GW Sizewell C nuclear project in Suffolk, about which the government is in negotiations with French state-backed energy group EDF. Opponents of nuclear argue that is expensive compared with other technologies.
……………. “The government is investing in these new technologies through the £385mn Advanced Nuclear Fund including £210mn towards the Rolls-Royce SMR programme,” a BEIS spokesperson said. https://www.ft.com/content/21a54a90-1b51-4561-ba9e-c1677e0262ed
—
Lawmaker says Filipinos will be ‘guinea pigs’ in nuclear pact with US
ABS-CBN News Nov 24 2022
MANILA — House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro is against negotiations for a civilian nuclear pact between the United States and the Philippines, saying it poses threat to the health and safety of Filipinos.
According to the ACT Teachers party-list representative, the Filipinos will become “guinea pigs” in this nuclear energy cooperation deal known as “123 agreement”.
The pact, among initiatives announced during US Vice President Kamala Harris’s recent trip to the Philippines, can lead to the future sale of US nuclear reactors to Manila.
“The US and the Philippines agreed to have a… testing of what we call the nuclear equipment here in the Philippines,” Castro told ANC’s “Headstart” Thursday.
“So, we are being made as guinea pigs in this experiment. This would affect our health, of course, our safety and the environment,” she added.
The Makabayan bloc, led by Castro, has filed House Resolution 582 to investigate the “123 agreement”.
The group said modular or microreactor nuclear power plants are still at an experimental stage and are only legally being made in US bases…………………… https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/11/24/22/filipinos-will-be-guinea-pigs-in-nuclear-pact-with-us-solon
UK recognises veterans of nuclear weapons tests with medals
Aljazeera, 22 Nov 22
The honour comes 70 years after Britain detonated a nuclear bomb in the Indian Ocean.
Seventy years after Britain detonated a nuclear bomb in the Indian Ocean, troops who took part – sometimes unknowingly – in the country’s atomic weapons tests are being recognised with a medal.
The UK government’s announcement on Monday of the Nuclear Test Medal is a victory for veterans and their families, who have campaigned for years for recognition.
Now, many want recognition of the health problems they believe they suffered as a result of exposure to radiation.
……….. Sunak attended the first-ever ceremony for the nuclear veterans at the National Memorial Arboretum in central England, marking the 70th anniversary of the United Kingdom’s first atmospheric atomic test on October 3, 1952.
Operation Hurricane
The detonation of a plutonium implosion device aboard a Royal Navy ship in the Montebello Islands off Western Australia, dubbed Operation Hurricane, made Britain the world’s third nuclear-armed nation, after the United States and Russia…….
The UK set off further nuclear explosions in Australia and ocean territories, including on Christmas Island, over the following years.
Veterans groups say about 22,000 UK military personnel were involved in British and American tests in the 1950s and 60s, many of them conscripts doing postwar national service.
Veterans, scientists and civil servants from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Kiribati who served under British command during the tests between 1952 and 1967 will also be eligible for the UK medal.
Many veterans and their families are convinced there is a link between the tests and health problems they have suffered, and are pressing the UK to hold a public inquiry into the tests.
Some allege they were deliberately exposed to radiation to see how their bodies would react, and claim their medical records were later suppressed.
‘The end of the world’
John Morris, who saw nuclear blasts on Christmas Island as a young conscript in the 1950s, told the BBC earlier this year that “I felt like I had seen the end of the world.”
“I saw right through my hands as the light was so intense,” he said. “It felt like my blood was boiling. The palm trees – which had been 20 miles [32km] away – were scorched.”
Numerous studies over the decades have probed allegations of high cancer rates among the test veterans, and of birth defects in their children, but have failed to establish an ironclad connection with the nuclear tests.
Successive British governments have denied troops were exposed to unsafe levels of radiation.
Alan Owen, founder of the Labrats International charity for atomic test survivors, welcomed the government’s recognition, but said “we want more”………………………………………https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/21/uk-recognises-veterans-of-nuclear-weapons-tests-with-medals
U.S. rejects funding to re-open Michigan nuclear plant -Holtec
By Timothy Gardner, WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Energy rejected Holtec International’s application for funding to reopen the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan, a Holtec spokesperson said on Friday.
Holtec bought the 805 megawatt Palisades plant in May to decommission the facility, which had struggled to compete with natural gas-fired plants and renewable energy. It was looking to reopen it with funding from the initial phase of the Energy Department’s $6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit program.
…………….
The DOE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nuclear power produces toxic waste, currently held at 28 plants across the country.
ClearView Energy Partners, a nonpartisan research group, said in September that Palisades’ closure was “likely to be permanent.” Palisades was out of nuclear fuel, faced a control rod drive seal issue that needed to be fixed and likely needed a new company to operate it, as well as a buyer for the power it generates, ClearView said at the time.
The CNC program, launched by the DOE this year, is intended for plants in states with competitive electricity markets and funded by the infrastructure bill that passed last year……………..
In the first phase of the CNC program, the DOE prioritized plants that had already shut or announced intentions to close. Power utility PG&E Corp (PCG.N) was the only other company to apply in the first phase, for its Diablo Canyon plant in California, slated to fully close by 2025. PG&E did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the status of its application. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-rejects-funding-re-open-michigan-nuclear-plant-holtec-2022-11-18
Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk to go ahead, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirms
A spokesman for the group Stop Sizewell C said: “If the chancellor is
looking for cheap, reliable, energy independence, he is backing the wrong
project, as Sizewell C’s ultimate cost and technical reliability are very
uncertain and building it is reliant on French state-owned EDF.
“Greenlighting Sizewell C also loads more tax onto struggling households,
who would be forced to pay a nuclear levy on bills for a decade before they
could light a single lightbulb. “Despite the chancellor’s statement,
Sizewell C still needs financing, and with at least a year before it’s
decided whether it will finally go ahead, we’ll keep fighting this huge
black hole for taxpayers’ money, when there are cheaper, quicker ways to
get to net zero.”
ITV 17th Nov 2022
https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2022-11-17/sizewell-c-nuclear-plant-to-go-ahead-chancellor-confirms
Nuclear energy is unsafe, unreliable and leaves a long and toxic legacy,
according to the Scottish Greens. This comes as the Chancellor, Jeremy
Hunt, has confirmed plans for the Sizewell C nuclear plant.
Scottish Greens 17th Nov 2022
https://greens.scot/news/nuclear-is-unsafe-unreliable-and-will-leave-long-and-toxic-legacy
PERVERSE PRIORITIES UK : CUT PUBLIC SPENDING, KEEP NUCLEAR ARMS AND WARPLANES
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is considering billions worth of cuts in public spending while the Ministry of Defence, with Labour’s support, plans to spend vast sums on just two hugely expensive military projects.
RICHARD NORTON-TAYLOR Declassified UK, 14 NOVEMBER 2022,
We are in the midst of an extraordinary, indeed perverse, new round of austerity cuts.
The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is reported to be looking for £35 billion across government in cuts. While vital services will continue to be deprived of urgently-needed resources, the government seems set to give the military a budget rise in cash terms from £47.9bn this year to £48bn in 2023 and £48.6bn in 2024.
Liz Truss, backed by defence secretary Ben Wallace, wanted to award the armed forces even more – an increase close to £200bn by 2030, the biggest rise in the military budget since the start of the Cold War. By then UK military spending would have doubled to £100bn a year.
Rishi Sunak and Hunt have realised that such increases would be so unjustified and extravagant that they are reportedly ditching promises in the Conservatives 2019 manifesto and will actually cut the defence budget in real terms, that is with inflation taken into account.
However, the government’s spending on the military means that it will still be wasting vast resources on weapons systems that are unuseable in any foreseeable conflict.
Its planned public spending cuts are a small percentage of the amount the Ministry of Defence will be spending, with Labour’s enthusiastic support, on just two hugely expensive projects – the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons arsenal and a fleet of 48 American F35B fighter jets for the navy’s two large aircraft carriers.
‘Persistent engagement overseas’
The government had set out Britain’s role and military posture in an ‘Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development, and Foreign Policy’ and a report called ‘Defence in a Competitive Age’.
The documents are full of platitudes, vague promises and hollow claims. The review says Britain will be a “force for good”, “defending human rights”, avoiding any reference to Britain’s biggest market for arms sales – the Gulf states that are among the world’s worst abusers of human rights.
The refusal of the government to account to parliament about arms exports was sharply criticised by a cross-party Commons committee.
The defence report states that Britain will conduct “persistent engagement overseas”, including “further investment in Oman” demonstrating Britain’s “long-term commitment to the Gulf’s stability and prosperity, in addition to our presence in the British Indian Ocean Territory”.
This is an unstated reference to the US bomber base on Diego Garcia on the Chagos archipelago whose entire indigenous population was expelled by Britain.
The report refers to Britain’s “long standing relationships with Saudi Arabia…in support of shared security and prosperity objectives”. Saudi Arabia recently demonstrated its own priorities by siding with Vladimir Putin at the expense of consumers in the west by capping oil production.
‘Soft power superpower’
Ironically, the “integrated review” emphasises Britain’s potential role as a “soft power superpower” referring to the BBC and development aid, both of which are the victims of government cuts.
It emphasises the importance of the need to defend British interests against cyber attacks and to invest in unmanned drones. Yet the potential threat posed by cyber warfare and the opportunities presented by unmanned drones were ignored for many years by the Ministry of Defence.
The defence paper promises more investment in “autonomous platforms including swarming drones”, and says “Special Forces are at the heart of our approach to modernisation”. …………………………………..
Wasted billions
The lack of effective scrutiny of the armed forces and their expenditure has allowed the Ministry of Defence to waste tens of billions of pounds of public money on extravagant weapons systems irrelevant to modern conflict………………………………..
The figures below do not take into account the hidden costs of a skilled workforce diverted from military projects to more sustainable and useful products that benefit civil society. Nor do they take into account direct government support for arms exports and exporters – or bribery.
The MOD’s £300bn wasteful spending
| Trident renewal | £200bn |
| *Cost of delays/overruns in new projects, including frigates, Eurofighter/Typhoon aircraft, Bowman radios, A400M military transport aircraft | £18+bn |
| F-35s for aircraft carriers | £18.8bn |
| Aircraft carriers | £6.2bn |
| *Nimrod aircraft (subsequently destroyed) | £4bn |
| *Rental costs of privatised housing previously owned by MOD | £4bn |
| *Ajax armoured vehicle | at least £3.5bn |
| Military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq | £48.5bn |
(* Source: National Audit Office) https://declassifieduk.org/perverse-priorities-cut-public-spending-keep-nuclear-arms-and-warplanes/
Nuclear Free Local Authorities welcome energy efficiency plans, but deplore costly Sizewell C nuclear build at the public’s expense
Whilst the Nuclear Free Local Authorities welcome the Chancellor’s
commitment to invest billions more in home energy-efficiency, albeit too
slowly, his backing for Sizewell C is a blow.
In today’s Autumn
Statement, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a further £6 billion for home
insulation from 2025 and has given the green light to the go ahead at
Sizewell C saying that contracts will be signed with partner French state
owned operator EDF Energy ‘in weeks’.
The NFLA has previously, and
severally, called on Government ministers, from successive Prime Ministers
on down, to provide serious investment for an emergency programme to
retrofit insulation to Britain’s cold and damp homes to improve comfort
whilst lowering bills for customers and the carbon footprint of the
nation’s housing stock.
Most unwelcome is the Chancellor’s backing for
Sizewell C. Jeremy Hunt has described the costly project as ‘Britain’s
first state backed nuclear power station for 30 years’, but much of the
backing will be at the expense of Britain’s already hard-pressed
electricity customers.
Hinkley Point C in Somerset, currently being built,
is already almost a decade late and way over budget, and her sister,
Sizewell C, will most likely cost upwards of £30 billion and be subject to
significant delays with customers expected to pick up the tag through the
imposition of an additional ‘nuclear tax’ on their bills to pay for it.
The NFLA wrote recently to the Chancellor urging him to scrap the scheme
and divert the money saved into renewables.
NFLA 17th Nov 2022
U.S. nuclear plants expect government decision on credits by year-end
Reuters 16 Nov 22,
WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) – Two companies that have applied for funding to keep struggling nuclear power plants open said they expect to hear from the U.S. Department of Energy by the end of the year.
Both power utility PG&E Corp (PCG.N) and Holtec International applied to the first phase of the $6 billion DOE Civil Nuclear Credit program to keep their reactors running. The Biden administration believes nuclear power is essential to fight climate change, but plants are struggling with costs and competition from natural gas plants and renewables.
PG&E’s Diablo Canyon reactors in California are slated to close in 2024 and 2025 but could stay open if they get the funding………….
The DOE declined to comment on timelines and future recipients of awards. U.S. infrastructure legislation passed in 2021 included funding for the civil nuclear credit program in the United States………………. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-nuclear-plants-expect-government-decision-credits-by-year-end-2022-11-15/
USA, Japan, South Korea and a whole heap of companies join in the gamble of NuScam’s small nuclear reactors for Ukraine
The duration of the Ukrainian SMR project is a highly-ambitious two to three years.
the European Union has yet to approve the deployment of the technology. NuScale itself admits that its own SMR plant in Idaho is unlikely to become operational until 2029.
Ukraine joins Europe’s list of SMR hopefuls, Emerging Europe Yulia Valova 15 Nov 22,
Ukraine is the latest country in emerging Europe to sign up for an SMR project, one which aims to support the country’s energy security and signals a new direction in its energy development policy – decarbonisation.
Ukraine, in partnership with the United States, as well as Japan and South Korea, will participate in a public-private consortium to research and develop small modular reactors (SMRs).
A pilot project was announced this week by US Presidential Special Envoy on Climate Issues John Kerry and Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP27, in Egypt.
The pilot project involves the construction of an SMR in Ukraine which, according to the US State Department, will involve the production of environmentally-friendly hydrogen and ammonia and advanced electrolysis technologies.
According to the State Department’s press service, the project builds on existing cooperation in developing nuclear energy capabilities initiated under the US Basic Infrastructure for Responsible Use of SMR Technology programme.
SMRs are a key part of the US Energy Department’s goal to develop safe [?], clean[?], and affordable[?] nuclear power options. Both Romania and Poland have previously signed agreements to explore the construction of SMRs with US technology.
The duration of the Ukrainian SMR project is a highly-ambitious two to three years. The list of participants includes both leading nuclear companies and research institutes.
In particular, NuScale (which is involved in the Romanian and Polish projects), FuelCell Energy, Clark Seed and Argonne National Laboratory will participate on the American side, with NAEC Energoatom and the State Science and Technology Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Safety representing Ukraine.
Doosan Enerbility, IHI Corporation, JGC Corporation, Samsung C&T and Starfire Energy will also participate in the project…………………….
According to the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) there are around 50 SMR designs and concepts globally. Most of them are in various developmental stages and some are claimed as being near-term deployable……………..
However, while NuScale’s SMR was in August given final certification by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the European Union has yet to approve the deployment of the technology. NuScale itself admits that its own SMR plant in Idaho is unlikely to become operational until 2029.
Austria digs in anti-nuclear heels as neighbours build out
https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/news/austria-to-continue-anti-nuclear-stance-against-its-neighbours/ Nikolaus J. Kurmayer | EURACTIV.de Nov 8, 2022
The government confirmed that it would uphold its long-held anti-nuclear stance against its neighbours following media reports that Czech plans to build new nuclear reactors near the Austrian border are further ahead than scheduled.
Austria is Europe’s most fervent anti-nuclear country, and its only nuclear power plant never entered operation due to heavy opposition. Vienna is now suing the European Commission for granting the “green” label to nuclear power through the EU sustainable finance taxonomy.
This anti-nuclear stance against neighbouring countries will continue to be developed, said Green Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler, according to Ö1.
Meanwhile, six nuclear reactors in neighbouring Czechia are currently operating and provide about 37% of the country’s electricity. The government plans to have nuclear provide half of the country’s electricity in nearly 20 years, despite a projected general increase in electricity demand.
To achieve this serious nuclear build-out, the Czech government is betting on miniature nuclear power plants, so-called small modular reactors (SMRs). SMRs are far from commercial reality, as none have been built so far.
But Czechia is also looking at two regular reactors in Temelin, which is some 100 kilometres away from Linz, Austria’s third-largest city.
“Temelin is only about 50 kilometres away from the centre of our village”, from which the reactors can be seen from certain rights, Anita Gstöttenmayr, the mayor of a village located at the border, has said. “Something is simply being considered or decided without us being informed,” she added.
Anti-nuclear Austrian towns are now threatening to take the matter to the streets via protests and street blockades.
“It sounds stupid, but we will have to take to the streets again to raise awareness and make a difference,” the mayor added.
Languages: Deutsch
How Bill Gates’ TerraPower rips off the American taxpayers
government support adds up to nearly as much as private investments and almost certainly more than Gates has personally invested. In other words, taxpayers have already paid tens of millions of dollars, and could pay far more in the future, for this technology
Beyond Nuclear By M.V. Ramana and Cassandra Jeffery 14 Nov 22…………………………………………………………………………. Bill Gates and TerraPower
TerraPower was founded in 2006 and Gates continues to serve as Chairman of the Board. The company has funded the development of three different nuclear reactor designs through a mix of venture capitalist investments from fellow billionaires, engineering and manufacturing corporations in the energy and defense sector, and government.
The company has research and development partnerships with several major institutions, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex, both of which design and test nuclear weapons.
TerraPower is well-funded. In 2010, the company received $35 million in seed money from venture capital firms to develop the first of its nuclear power plant designs, the “traveling wave” reactor. It has also received an undisclosed amount of funding from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, an investment firm co-founded and co-chaired by Gates.
According to a 2015 TerraPower promotional video, Gates pledged to invest $2 billion into emerging energy technologies, including nuclear technologies produced by TerraPower. And a few years back, Gates promised to invest $1 billion from his personal coffers and raise another $1 billion in private capital to fund TerraPower directly.
Despite these announcements, the exact financial figure Gates has personally invested into TerraPower is not known. In 2019, he declined interview requests by the Washington Post about his investment in the company. TerraPower’s financial records are not publicly available.
But investments by Gates and his friends are not the only source of funding for TerraPower. In 2016, TerraPower received a $40 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE), followed by another $80 million in 2020, and $8.5 million in 2022.
In 2021, under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations has set aside $2.5 billion for nuclear projects and some of this funding will subsidize the TerraPower nuclear project slated for development in Wyoming.
As far as we can tell from publicly available data, government support adds up to nearly as much as private investments and almost certainly more than Gates has personally invested. In other words, taxpayers have already paid tens of millions of dollars, and could pay far more in the future, for this technology.
The U.S. taxpayer isn’t the only source of public funding that Bill Gates has tried to leverage. The 1.4 billion people of China came close to ponying up their tax dollars (or renminbis). After a series of visits by Gates to the Middle Kingdom, TerraPower reached an agreement with state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation in 2017 to build an experimental nuclear reactor south of Beijing.
That project would have likely gone forward but was stopped by America’s waning diplomatic and trade relationship with China…………………………….more https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2022/11/13/bill-gates-and-techno-fix-delusions/
UK government denies reports that the Sizewell C nuclear project is in doubt
The UK government has denied plans for Sizewell C are currently under
review, reiterating its commitment in supporting the acceleration of the
nuclear industry. This is contrary to reports that emerged from the BBC in
which it was stated a “government official had disclosed that every major
project was under review including Sizewell C”.
It was reported that the
primary reason behind this was to cut costs as the UK enters the bleak
winter period amid the energy crisis. Dispelling these reports, a
government spokesperson told Current± that its position on the Sizewell C
project “has not changed” and it will continue to support the
development of the nuclear industry as a means to reach net zero.
Current 4th Nov 2022
https://www.current-news.co.uk/news/uk-government-squashes-claims-sizewell-c-is-under-review
In America Pro-war hawks have progressive Democrats on their Squad
Because any good Democrat must now understand that diplomacy with Russia is an appalling act of appeasement, those who advocated it for 24 hours were forced to repent…………………….
Jayapal also declared that while the Ukraine war will indeed end “with diplomacy,” that will now only happen “after Ukrainian victory.” …………
US military assistance ensures that Ukraine “will fight to the last person.”
Retracting their call for diplomacy with Russia to end the Ukraine war, Congressional Progressives cave to the neocons.
Retracting their call for diplomacy with Russia to end the Ukraine war, Congressional Progressives cave to the neocons.
Substack, Aaron Maté 6 Nov 22,
Reporting on Republican Party divisions over funding the Ukraine proxy war, the Washington Post notes that, despite scattered internal opposition, the GOP remains “home to a large number of old-school hawks who promise to continue providing support for Kyiv.”
In the Democratic Party, there is no need for such a distinction. As the debacle over the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ retracted letter shows, the entire Democratic caucus is now firmly at home with the old-school hawks.
The original letter, released Oct. 24th, gently noted that the integral US military and intelligence role in Ukraine “creates a responsibility for the United States to seriously explore all possible avenues,” to achieve “a peaceful settlement.” Accordingly, it called on President Biden to “make vigorous diplomatic efforts in support of a negotiated settlement and ceasefire,” and “engage in direct talks with Russia” to achieve that goal. The signatories went out of their way to declare their support for Biden’s arming of Ukraine and for continued Congressional funding to sustain it. In arguably its most polite gesture, the letter omitted the fact that Biden’s White House has undermined diplomacy at every turn, from refusing to even discuss Russia’s core pre-invasion proposals to backing – if not orchestrating – UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s April jaunt to Kiev that thwarted a tentative peace deal with Moscow.
Were it any other geopolitical issue, a tepid request for diplomacy from less than one-third of the Progressive Caucus would likely go ignored. But in the post-Russiagate era, where MSNBC-watching Democrats have been conditioned to promote confrontation with the Kremlin and dismiss political opponents as “pro-Putin” traitors, there is no room for even the mildest of dissent……………………
Because any good Democrat must now understand that diplomacy with Russia is an appalling act of appeasement, those who advocated it for 24 hours were forced to repent. Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal claimed that the letter “unfortunately was released by staff without vetting.” To the certain approval of chickenhawks like Kristol and Boot, Jayapal also declared that while the Ukraine war will indeed end “with diplomacy,” that will now only happen “after Ukrainian victory.” As to how that “victory” will be achieved, the path has been articulated by the progressives’ allied old-school hawk Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has boasted that US military assistance ensures that Ukraine “will fight to the last person.”
…………………………………………………………… There has been ample speculation about the behind-the-scenes pressure that prompted the letter’s quick retraction. But the 24-hour reversal makes perfect sense in light of the Democratic Party’s last six years. Since the 2016 election of Donald Trump, Democrats have embraced fantasies about anything to do with Russia:……. https://mate.substack.com/p/pro-war-hawks-have-progressives-on?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=100118&post_id=82842962&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email
Poland picks nuclear power that the International Energy Agency says is “stagnating or in decline”
Poland won’t get energy security from three Westinghouse reactors. It probably won’t even get the reactors. What it will get, however, is junior membership in the Nuclear Club
The love of three lemons, https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2022/11/06/the-love-of-three-lemons/ By Linda Pentz Gunter, 5 Nov 22,
Congratulations must go to Poland — and to US vice president, Kamala Harris, and US energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm for brokering the deal — for its commitment to purchase a triad of American nuclear lemons.
With breathtaking myopia, the Polish government has signed a deal to partner with the US company, Westinghouse, in the construction of three nuclear reactors in Poland.
Apparently, everyone concerned is happy to ignore the fact that Westinghouse was bankrupted by its disastrous nuclear projects in South Carolina and Georgia. The former was canceled mid-construction and the latter, at Plant Vogtle, is now years behind schedule and well beyond its originally predicted 2016 start-up date, with ever-ballooning cost over-runs that have now topped $30 billion.
Also overlooked was that former Westinghouse Electric Company Senior Vice President, Jeffrey A. Benjamin, was charged with 16 felony counts including conspiracy, wire fraud, securities fraud, and causing a publicly-traded company to keep a false record, over the company’s handling of its now canceled V.C. Summer 2-reactor project in South Carolina.
The official reason that long-shelved plans to build nuclear reactors were suddenly revived is that the war in Ukraine has caused energy shortages in heavily fossil fuel-dependent Poland. But, tellingly, another reason given was Poland’s “lack of immediate renewable substitutes”.
Like France with its nuclear power monopoly, Poland’s reliance on coal and gas stifled renewable energy development. Now there is nowhere else to turn. France is similarly stranded and is importing fossil fuel energy and even reopening closed coal plants.
The backward turn by France in climate mitigation was effectively caused by prioritizing nuclear power for so many decades. Added to that, its aging nuclear reactor fleet is now breaking down with remarkable alacrity — at various times recently more than half of all French reactors have been out of operation. It’s a perfect demonstration of why the nuclear choice is a rash and unreliable one, even without addressing all the inherent dangers and waste issues.
The Polish decision to partner with a bankrupt company that has a track record of failure to deliver on time or on budget, as well as criminal activity, certainly seems like a bizarre choice. So perhaps there is another agenda afoot here?
Poland’s unhappy history of invasion, occupation and shifting boundaries puts the country in a uniquely vulnerable position. Once behind the Iron Curtain and a member of the Warsaw Pact, Poland is now an enthusiastic member of NATO and outspokenly critical of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Its multiple shared borders include Ukraine as well as Russian ally, Belarus.
In announcing the Westinghouse contract with Poland, the U.S. State Department called it “a watershed moment in advancing European energy security”.
Polish government spokesman, Piotr Müller, echoed this when he said: “Nuclear energy will be an important element of Poland’s energy security”.
The International Energy Agency defines energy security as “the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price”. But, more revealingly, it describes electricity security thus:
“Variable renewable generation has already surged over the past decade, driven by cost reductions and favorable policy environments, a trend that is set to continue and even accelerate in line with climate change objectives. Meanwhile, conventional power plants, notably those using coal, nuclear and hydro, are stagnating or in decline.” [emphasis added]
Poland won’t get energy security from three Westinghouse reactors. It probably won’t even get the reactors. What it will get, however, is junior membership in the Nuclear Club. In possession of nuclear materials, technology, personnel and know-how, it will join other aspirational nations developing nuclear power, not because they need it or can even afford it, but because it delivers some sort of absurd prestige. Not quite a member of the Big Nine — the actual nuclear weapon states — Poland will at least arrive on the doorstep.
In early October, President Andrzej Duda, even said that he had asked to have US nuclear weapons stationed on Polish territory, although the US government denied receiving any such request. None of this is coincidence or unconnected.
The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, now supported by a majority of the world’s countries, works hard to stigmatize nuclear weapons. We need to do the same for nuclear power. Otherwise it serves as the nuclear drawbridge that is never raised.
Linda Pentz Gunter is the international specialist at Beyond Nuclear and writes for and curates Beyond Nuclear International.
1 This Month
PLEASE OPPOSE HR 8255 AND S.3639 – bills would accelerate satellite deployment, with no environmental review or safeguards – https://ncstd5li.quorum.us/campaign/169331/
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
-
Archives
- September 2026 (330)
- August 2026 (330)
- July 2026 (355)
- June 2026 (287)
- May 2026 (306)
- April 2026 (356)
- March 2026 (251)
- February 2026 (267)
- January 2026 (308)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
- October 2025 (375)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
