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Walt Zlotow: Trump, Hegseth off by nearly 1 trillion on national security budget

Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL 11 Apr 25 https://theaimn.net/trump-hegseth-off-by-nearly-1-trillion-on-national-security-budget/

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is applauding Trump’s boast to push through America’s first trillion dollar defense budget.

“Thank you Mr. President! COMING SOON: the first TRILLION dollar [Defense Department] budget.” Hegseth was echoing boss Trump who chortled “Nobody’s seen anything like it. We have to build out military, and we’re very cost-conscious, but the military is something we have to build, and we have to be strong,”

Trump’s defense policy and these quotes epitomize America’s decline as a peaceful, caring nation. Spending that trillion on militarism and warfare worldwide while Trump’s oligarchs are slashing a trillion from the social safety net is putting America into a death spiral from which it may never recover.

But they should really be high-fiving a national security budget that will be approaching $2 trillion based on Trump’s defense agenda.

That’s because the current defense budget under the National Defense Authorization Act of $900 billion just funds the Pentagon. When factoring in the Department of Veterans Affairs, special operations, Homeland Security and the national security share of US debt interest, the total for Fiscal ‘25 national security approaches $1.8 trillion. Regarding special ops, Trump’s failed month long Yemen bombing to stop their resistance to US enabled Israeli genocide in Gaza has already passed a billion bucks.

Current wars US supports in Ukraine, Gaza, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Iraq and possible upcoming wars in Iran and China, don’t come cheap. Add in cost of over 750 bases in 80 countries hosting over 150,000 military personnel puts the approaching $2 trillion dollar cost in perspective.

Spending all that treasure on national offense (nope, not defense), becomes problematical when Trump is pushing thru trillion dollar tax cuts for his oligarch buddies.

What to do? Of Course, send in oligarch clown Musk to cut a trillion or more from everything that makes life livable for Joe Sixpack.

It is no surprise Trump plans to ravage the social safety net to spend $2 trillion on worldwide military adventurism while giving $4.5 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years mainly to those who don’t need them.

But do Trump and Hegseth have to brag about it?

April 12, 2025 Posted by | business and costs, politics, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Belarus should reinstate its nuclear-weapon-free status, NGOs urge at the Human Rights Council

Geneva, April 8, 2025, https://www.unfoldzero.org/belarus-should-revive-its-nuclear-weapon-free-status-ngos-urge-at-the-human-rights-council/

Belarus should reinstate its constitutional status as a nuclear-weapon-free country, return the nuclear weapons deployed in its territory to Russia, and revive its earlier proposal for the establishment of a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central and Eastern Europe, according to a submission made to the Human Rights Council in Geneva by a group of seven non-governmental organizations. The submission was made as part of the Universal Periodic Review of Belarus’ adherence to its human rights obligations under international law.

“The threat of nuclear war has increased markedly through conflicts involving nuclear armed and allied states, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine”  according to the submitting organizations which include Aotearoa  Lawyers for Peace (New Zealand), Basel Peace Office (Switzerland), Citizens for Global Solutions (USA), International Centre for Civil Initiatives “Our House” (Belarus), World Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy (Netherlands/International, World Future Council (Germany/International), and Youth Fusion (Czech Republic/International). “The Russian nuclear weapons recently deployed in Belarus – Iskander-M short-range nuclear missiles and free-fall nuclear bombs deliverable by Belarussian SU-30 fighter-attack planes – elevate this threat.”

Belarus, and other nuclear armed and allied States, should adhere to the commitment they made at the UN Summit of the Future last September to make “every effort to avert the danger of such a war, bearing in mind that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.”  

Further, the organizations remind Belarus of the 2018 UN Human Rights Committee affirmation that “The threat or use of weapons of mass destruction, in particular nuclear weapons, which are indiscriminate in effect and are of a nature to cause destruction of human life on a catastrophic scale, is incompatible with respect for the right to life and may amount to a crime under international law.”  This declaration strengthened the general prohibition against the threat or use of nuclear weapons affirmed by the International Court of Justice in 1996.

“The deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus, which President Lukashenko has said that he is ready to use without hesitation in case of aggression against Belarus is in direct violation of international law,” says Rebecca Shoot, Executive Director of Citizens for Global Solutions. “This violation is particularly alarming when the threat of nuclear conflict has never been greater, according to the Bureau of Atomic Scientists. The actions of States at this critical moment are all that stands against a cataclysmic threat to humanity and the planet.”

In the early 1990s, a newly independent Belarus took some exemplary actions for peace and disarmament: relinquishing all nuclear weapons that were remaining on its territory following the break-up of the Soviet Union, acceding to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a non-nuclear State, and adopting a constitution that confirmed Belarus as a “neutral, nuclear-weapon-free country” with a foreign policy based on the “non-use of force or the threat of force, the inviolability of frontiers and the peaceful settlement of disputes.”

“The recent reversal by Belarus of these important actions is cause for alarm, increases regional tensions and elevates the risk of nuclear war threatening our collective future,” says Alyn Ware, Director of Basel Peace Office. “We call on Belarus not only to reinstate its status as a nuclear-weapon-free nation, but also to support adoption of no-first-use policies and replacement of nuclear deterrence with common security to help build a shared future based on peace rather than the spectre of nuclear war.”

“The land of Belarus once chose to silence the hum of nuclear warheads and listen instead to the quiet breath of its forests, lakes and swamps,” says Olga Karatch, founder and director of the International Centre for Civil Initiatives – Our House. “It is time to remember that promise of peace.”

“Russian nuclear weapons deployed in Belarus – along with other nuclear weapons deployed by nuclear-weapon States in Europe and globally – threaten the lives and wellbeing of non-combatants, including youth and future generations” says Ayleen Roy, Core Team Member of Youth Fusion. “Youth in Europe and around the world want to transcend borders, cooperating as friends to build a better future, not as enemies divided by nuclear threats.”

The submission welcomes the proposal for a Central and Eastern Europe Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone which Belarus submitted to the UN General Assembly in 1990. It calls for Belarus to review, revive and reshape such a proposal, which could help in building security guarantees against the threat or use of nuclear weapons in the region.

“Most countries in the global South are part of legally declared Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones (NWFZs),” says Prof. Dr (med) Andreas Nidecker, President of the Basel Peace Office.  “This has helped to build common security and end nuclear threats in these regions. The concept of a European NWFZ could potentially contribute to discussions on security of Belarus, Ukraine and other European nations at this time.”

And the submission calls on Belarus and all other nuclear-reliant States to a replace their reliance on nuclear deterrence with common security. This would include full adherence to the UN Charter and universal acceptance of compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, in order to resolve international conflicts peacefully through law, without recourse to the threat or use of war.

“True security is not built through nuclear arsenals, but through trust, transparency, and international cooperation,” concludes Olga Karatch “Belarus can be a bridge, not a battleground.”

Contact:
Alyn Ware alyn@pnnd.org. Mobile +41 788 912 156. WhatsApp +420 773 638 867  

Read the full submission:
Nuclear weapons policies and practices of Belarus with respect to international human rights law: List of Issues Submission to the UN Human Rights Council during its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Republic of Belarus.

April 10, 2025 Posted by | Belarus, politics | Leave a comment

£2.7bn more taxpayer funding for Sizewell C confirmed

 

The government has announced that a further £2.7bn of taxpayer cash has made available for Sizewell C, bringing the total to £6.4bn ahead of the final investment decision (FID) on the nuclear power station.

A FID is needed before main construction can start on the planned nuclear power
station in Suffolk. The FID will confirm who is to pay for the construction
and through what model.

As of January, £2.5bn of contracts had already
been agreed for works towards the project. It is expected that the FID
decision, which is not a foregone conclusion, will come at or around the
conclusion of the Spending Review, scheduled for 11 June 2025.

Rumours have swirled around which investors might help with getting the FID over the
line. Centrica chief executive Chris O’Shea said the multinational energy
company’s stake in Sizewell C could be “between 1% or 2% and 50%”,
and EDF has been slowly having its stake in the plant eroded by taxpayer
cash injections while it inputs no further of its own funds.

NCE approached
DESNZ to clarify the status of the previously announced £5.5bn development
expenditure (Devex) scheme, and what the total figure for public investment
in Sizewell C stands at. A DESNZ spokesperson confirmed that the £2.7bn
announced on 4 April is not from the Devex fund. “The government has
committed £3.9bn from the Devex scheme – so £1.6bn is left,” the
spokesperson told NCE. “£8bn has been ringfenced for Sizewell C, and
£6.4bn made available for the project.”

  By Tom Pashby, New Civil Engineer 7th April 2025, https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/2-7bn-more-taxpayer-funding-for-sizewell-c-confirmed-07-04-2025/

April 10, 2025 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Federal regulator approves Canada’s first small modular reactor

the commissioners heard concerns from intervenors that GE-Hitachi hadn’t yet finished designing the reactor, raising questions about how its safety could be analyzed properly.

CNSC decisions are particularly vulnerable to challenges from First Nations.

Matthew McClearn,  April 5, 2025, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-federal-regulator-approves-canadas-first-small-modular-reactor/

The federal nuclear safety regulator has authorized construction of an American small modular reactor (SMR) at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Clarington, Ont., a crucial milestone for a project that has garnered worldwide attention.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission granted the license to Ontario Power Generation on Friday for its Darlington New Nuclear Project. OPG has said it will finish building the first 327-megawatt reactor by the end of 2028, and begin supplying electricity to the province’s grid the following year. The reactor’s cost has not been disclosed publicly, but estimates suggest it could be several billion dollars.

“We now await the go-ahead from the Ontario government to proceed,” said OPG spokesperson Neal Kelly.

The Darlington SMR would represent a host of firsts, accompanied by larger risks and anticipated benefits. It would be the only nuclear reactor under construction in the Western hemisphere, and Canada’s first reactor start since the mid-1980s.

It would also represent the first SMR in any G7 country. And it would be the first BWRX-300; utilities in other jurisdictions (including Saskatchewan, the U.S., Poland and Estonia) have announced plans to build reactor fleets based on the same design.

The BWRX-300 is being designed by Wilmington, N.C.-based GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, a leading American reactor vendor. Its construction would make Canada more reliant on U.S. suppliers for enriched uranium fuel and other critical inputs at a moment when relations between the two countries are rapidly deteriorating.

Yet this has not diminished support from Canadian officials. In a statement Friday, Ontario Energy Minister Stephen Lecce called the license “a historic milestone” for his province and the country.

“Ontario is realizing its potential as a stable democratic energy superpower, and I look forward to sharing next steps for this exciting project in the coming weeks.”

OPG applied for the license in late 2022. During hearings held this fall and winter, the commissioners heard concerns from intervenors that GE-Hitachi hadn’t yet finished designing the reactor, raising questions about how its safety could be analyzed properly.

But the commissioners dismissed this concern, finding OPG had supplied adequate information. They noted that an OPG representative told them the design was 95 per cent done; CNSC staff said in other countries, licenses are typically issued when designs are less than one-third complete.

Intervenors also said that the BWRX-300 lacked two fully independent emergency shutdown systems, because it features two systems that insert the same set of control rods into the reactor. The CNSC’s own staffers confirmed this, but told the Commission the probability both insertion systems would fail was “very low.” The Commission said OPG would have to provide additional information about this at a later date.

In response to concerns from certain First Nations concerning OPG’s and the CNSC’s obligation to engage with them, the CNSC imposed what it calls “regulatory hold points.” The first occurs before construction begins on the reactor building’s foundation, another before OPG can install the reactor’s pressure vessel, and a third before testing and commissioning of the facility can begin. The Commission delegated responsibility for supervising these license conditions to CNSC chief regulatory operations officer Ramzi Jammal.

“The Commission is satisfied that the honour of the Crown has been upheld and that the legal obligation to consult and, where appropriate, accommodate Indigenous interests has been satisfied,” the commissioners wrote in their decision.

CNSC decisions are particularly vulnerable to challenges from First Nations. In February the Federal Court granted an application from Kebaowek First Nation for a judicial review of the CNSC’s decision to approve construction of a nuclear waste disposal facility at Chalk River Laboratories. Justice Julie Blackhawk found that the commissioners erred when they declined to apply the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and ordered a resumption of consultations.

The CNSC’s authorization applies only to OPG’s first SMR. Since the 1960s, Ontario’s long-standing practice has been to build “four-packs,” power plants with four identical reactors sharing workers and common infrastructure. In 2023, the Ontario government instructed OPG to begin planning for another three BWRX-300s at Darlington.

Over the past several years the utility has cleared and re-graded the site for the first reactor; ongoing excavation has reached 8 metres below ground level. OPG has been installing utilities all four reactors would share, such as water and sewer lines and network cabling.

OPG’s pivot to SMRs means the plant will generate far less power than originally envisioned. Under an earlier plan the site was licensed for up to 4,800 megawatts, whereas the BWRX-300s would possess a quarter of that capacity. (According to rough industry estimates, a single BWRX-300 could meet electricity demand from a city the size of Markham or Vaughan, Ont.)

Also working on the project are AtkinsRealis Group Inc., serving as architect-engineer, and construction giant Aecon Group Inc. Major reactor components are to be built by subcontractors in Ontario: BWX Technologies, for example, is preparing to build its massive pressure vessel at its plant in Cambridge. A 2023 study by the Conference Board of Canada said the four-reactor plant would increase Canada’s GDP by $15.3 billion over 65 years, and support 2,000 jobs.

Promoters, including OPG, have argued that building the first SMR will grant Ontario “first-mover” advantage and allow its nuclear industry to participate in subsequent BWRX-300 constructions worldwide. With numerous U.S. federal officials proclaiming an era of American energy “dominance” and imposing punishing tariffs on allies and trading partners, some observers now doubt this will happen. Mr. Lecce, though, appeared to dismiss that concern in his statement Friday.

“Our government has insisted and successfully negotiated that local Ontario and Canadian businesses must be overwhelmingly used to build SMRs for the world.”

April 7, 2025 Posted by | Canada, politics | Leave a comment

‘Another significant show of confidence’ in Sizewell C, – making the total of taxpayers’ money going into the project a staggering £6.4bn)

The government has confirmed that £2.7bn promised to the Sizewell C
project in the Autumn Budget is now available. The Department of Energy
Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said the money will be drawn down by the
project company according to spending plans agreed with the government. The
sum – available under what is called the Devex (development expenditure)
scheme -is in addition to £1.2bn which was made available to the project
since July last year. (making the total of taxpayers’ money going into the
project a staggering £6.4bn).

 East Anglian Daily Times 4th April 2025
https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/25065158.another-significant-show-confidence-sizewell-c/

April 5, 2025 Posted by | politics, UK | 2 Comments

Germany’s  Conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU)  mulls reactivation of nuclear power plants

 Germany’s Conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party is
considering restarting six of the country’s recently deactivated nuclear
power plants. According to newspaper Handelsblatt on April 1, a new working
paper of the CDU’s parliamentary group demanded an investigation on
whether a reactivation of the power stations was technically possible and
economically feasible. If the current owners of the plants in question –
energy companies E.On, RWE and EnBW – were not willing to restart the
reactors themselves, a State-owned enterprise reportedly could take over
ownership of the infrastructure.

 Brussels Signal 2nd April 2025 https://brusselssignal.eu/2025/04/germanys-cdu-mulls-reactivation-of-nuclear-power-plants/

April 5, 2025 Posted by | Germany, politics | Leave a comment

Democracy should not be an April Fools’ Day Joke!


 NFLA 1st April 2025

At a time when, across the Atlantic and in Europe, democracy seems to be increasingly challenged and in peril, the UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities finds it incongruous and worrying that undemocratic practices can be discovered nearer to home when it comes to plans to locate a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) in Cumbria.

The GDF would be the eventual repository for Britain’s high-level legacy and future radioactive waste.

Cumberland Council replaced three existing Councils – Allerdale District Council, Copeland District Council and Cumbria County Council – with their powers and resources being subsumed into the new unitary authority.

During the period of the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Government, Councils were invited to express an interest in participating in investigations for a site for a deep repository in West Cumbria. After four years of involvement, Cumberland’s predecessor Cumbria County Council vetoed the process, when in January 2013, the Council’s Cabinet voted to withdraw its support.

At that time, Council leader Eddie Martin explained the rationale behind the decision: “Cabinet believes there is sufficient doubt around the suitability of West Cumbria’s geology to put an end now to the uncertainty and worry this is causing for our communities. Cumbria is not the best place geologically in the UK and the government’s efforts need to be focused on disposing of the waste underground in the safest place, not the easiest. Members have remained concerned throughout on the issue of the legal right of withdrawal if we proceed to the next stage.”[i]

The County Council’s decision trumped the continued support for the process shown by the lower Allerdale and Copeland District Councils, and so it effectively ended the process at the time.

In the latest attempt to bring a GDF to Cumbria, Allerdale and Copeland again choose to support Nuclear Waste Services, with both Councils becoming the Relevant Principal Local Authorities which are necessary to keep the process going.

Although the County Council was the biggest amongst the three former Councils merged into the new unitary authority, Cumberland Council ignored its opposition and instead chose to ape the position taken by the two lower district councils; this despite the fact that Nuclear Waste Services had already withdrawn from Allerdale citing ‘insufficient’ suitable geology and that Copeland was only taken into the GDF process by the Council’s Executive of only FOUR senior Councillors, including some holding appointments on the West Cumbria Site Stakeholder Group which are renumerated by Nuclear Waste Services. The whole Council was not asked to agree.

Now campaigners at Radiation Free Lakeland have launched a petition calling on Cumberland Council to convene a belated special meeting of the Full Council where Councillors can debate and then vote upon whether to continue to remain engaged with the process of investigating sites for a GDF in Mid- and South-Copeland and to remain represented on the two Community Partnerships. Should most Councillors vote against engagement and representation, in either Mid- or South-Copeland, then the process in that area would cease and NWS would withdraw.

In the third area under consideration for a GDF, the Theddlethorpe Search Area in Lincolnshire, the Leaders of both Relevant Principal Local Authorities, East Lindsey District Council and Lincolnshire County Council, have recommended to their Executives that they should withdraw. The East Lindsey District Council Executive meets tomorrow (2 April) to decide upon the issue. The decision of Lincolnshire County Council must follow the elections held for that body on 1 May. If both recommendations are accepted and are backed by Councillors on their respective Scrutiny Boards, the process will end. This is what happened at South Holderness where the East Riding of Yorkshire Council overwhelmingly voted to withdraw from the process.

The Radiation Free Lakeland sponsored petition reads:………………………………….. https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/democracy-should-not-be-an-april-fools-day-joke/

April 4, 2025 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Disappointing but predictable: Government minister’s reply on nuke treaty

 In February 2025, the UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities was a
signatory alongside academics and peace campaigners to a letter drafted by
the United Nations Association UK (UNAUK) that was sent to Prime Minister
Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

NFLA Chair Cllr Lawrence O’Neill and NFLA Secretary Richard Outram co-signed for the
NFLAs as did signatories from twenty-five other organisations, including
community advocates from Kiribati, an island nation impacted by British
nuclear weapons testing carried out in the 1950’s and by the United
States in 1962.

As the islanders were not evacuated both they and the
participating servicemen were impacted by radiation. The letter called on
the UK Government to send an observer to the 3rd Meeting of States Parties
(3MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) which was
held in New York until 7 March. The UK Government did not take up this
opportunity.

 NFLA 29th May 2025,
https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/A434-NB320-Disappointing-but-predictable-Government-ministers-reply-on-nuke-treaty-ban.-May-2025.pdf

April 1, 2025 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Will Texas Become ‘the Epicenter of a National Nuclear Renaissance’?

A new bill would create a taxpayer-funded incentive program of at least $2 billion for nuclear power plants.

By Arcelia Martin, 24Mar 25

 Texas lawmakers are considering a bill to
resuscitate the state’s nuclear power industry through a taxpayer-funded
incentives program. State Rep. Cody Harris, a Republican from Palestine in
East Texas, proposed allocating $2 billion toward a fund to create the
Texas Advanced Nuclear Deployment Office. The bill proposes using public
dollars to help fund nuclear construction, provide grants for reactors and
fund development research. HB 14 would also create a state coordinator to
assist in the state and federal permitting processes.

Inside Climate News 24th March 2025,
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24032025/texas-national-nuclear-renaissance/

March 31, 2025 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

DOE Reissues $900M Nuclear SMR Opportunity, Scraps Community Criteria to Focus on Technical Merit

Power, Mar 26, 2025, by Sonal Patel

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has reissued a $900 million funding opportunity to accelerate deployment of Generation III+ small modular reactors (SMRs), removing community benefit requirements and shifting the focus solely to technical merit—a move that reflects the Trump administration’s revised energy and industrial priorities.

The funding opportunity announcement (FOA)—officially designated DE-FOA-0003485—was first issued in October 2024, backed by funds appropriated through the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and authorized under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024. The effort remains jointly administered by the Office of Nuclear Energy and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), with technical support from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Community Requirements Dropped 

According to the FOA, eligible Tier 1 projects must feature Generation III+ light-water reactor (LWR) designs ranging between 50 MWe and 350 MWe per unit. (To be considered, total plant output, including process heat loads, must be below 350 MWe.) Projects may involve single-unit or multi-unit configurations with no cap on total site output. Designs must meet a minimum Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 6, signaling sufficient maturity for system-level validation and procurement.

The FOA also stresses that cost-sharing is a core requirement. “DOE cannot contribute more than 50% of the overall project cost; therefore, the total award value will be no less than $1.6 billion, if the full government share is awarded.” It adds that “DOE will pay out based on previously agreed milestone amounts upon their completion,” and that “the agreed upon milestone payment from DOE cannot account for more than 50% of the project costs incurred in completing the milestone.”………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The most prominent change— as highlighted above—is that the March 24 submission formally eliminates all community benefit obligations that were central to the October 2024 solicitation. That includes the removal of the Community Benefits Plan, which had been a required five-page submission outlining how projects would support community and labor engagement, workforce investment, and equity objectives. It also eliminates the “Program Policy Factors” section, which the DOE previously used after technical review to prioritize projects based on geographic diversity, local job creation, engagement with disadvantaged communities, and alignment with broader social goals such as the Justice40 Initiative. The reissued FOA now states that “applications will be evaluated solely on technical merit.”……………………………………………………………………………………………more https://www.powermag.com/doe-reissues-900m-nuclear-smr-opportunity-scraps-community-criteria-to-focus-on-technical-merit/

March 29, 2025 Posted by | politics, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors | Leave a comment

A nuclear Svengali on Capitol Hill?

  Linda Pentz Gunter   by beyondnuclearinternational

Attempts by the Breakthrough Institute’s Ted Nordaus to derail NRC commissioner candidacies have met with mixed success, writes Linda Pentz Gunter

We’re getting used to the swagger of entitlement and the complacency of corporate nuclear lobbyists on Capitol Hill.  They, in turn, have become accustomed to getting their way — usually through the powerful persuasion of big money or saturation propaganda campaigns financed with those large stashes of handy corporate cash.

But when that isn’t enough, then a nice smear campaign should do. One who appears to enjoy such an endeavor is the Breakthrough Institute’s founder, Ted Nordhaus, who has made it his business of late to decide who does and does not get a commissioner seat at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Those who should not, in Nordhaus’s views, are the Democratic candidates or incumbents who have too much of a regard for nuclear safety as a priority.

Safety is a big ticket item for the nuclear power industry. Literally. Maintaining, upgrading and replacing aging parts in these decades-old dinosaurs of the 20th century, many of them running well past their sell-by date, is an expensive undertaking. But a relaxation of — or looking the other way on — some of those pesky safety regulations would be made easier by more compliant NRC commissioners.

Cue Nordhaus, Capitol Hill’s nuclear Svengali. 

His most recent target was Matthew Marzano, the candidate for the long vacant fifth seat on the NRC commission. Nordhaus pulled out all the stops to derail Marzano, beginning last September prior to Marzano’s hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Nordhaus prepared a veritable death warrant in which he claimed, among other things, that Marzano would, if approved, be “the least qualified commissioner ever seated on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission”. Nordhaus also wrote that Marzano, if chosen, “will not be a voice for reform and modernization on the commission.”

Never mind that Marzano, who was then an official at the Idaho National Laboratory, has a pretty solid nuclear background, having worked both on commercial reactors and as an instructor for the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program at the US Department of Energy. (As a side note, this exemplifies once again the two-way street and inexorable link between the civil and military nuclear sectors.)

“Modernization” is Nordhaus’s absolutely most favorite word. He used it, or a derivation of it, nine times in his public assassination-by-blogpost of Marzano’s qualifications (accusations that were obediently re-quoted by senators during Marzano’s hearing.)

“Modernization” is code of course. What it really means is “weakening” or “emasculation,” because what Nordhaus, the Republicans and far too many Democrats are now intent on doing is to transform the NRC from what is already a lame safety regulator into an even meeker nuclear industry lapdog.

The same hand of influence belonging to Nordhaus and his Breakthrough Institute had earlier been felt when legislation was passed on Capitol Hill designed specifically to weaken the NRC. At that time, the Breakthrough Institute railed on its website that the NRC’s “national progress is hindered by its self-imposed narrowly defined mission, primarily concentrated on nuclear safety, which leads to unwarranted delays in reactor licensing.”

Last June, the Senate voted almost unanimously for a bill introduced by Senator Gary Peters, a Democrat from Michigan —S.870 – A bill to authorize appropriations for the United States Fire Administration and firefighter assistance grant programs, to advance the benefits of nuclear energy, and for other purposes. Ostensibly designed to provide improved benefits and safety conditions for firefighters, it included an entire section on the NRC straight from the Nordhaus playbook.

The bill required the NRC to “update the mission statement of the Commission to include that licensing and regulation of the civilian use of radioactive materials and nuclear energy be conducted in a manner that is efficient and does not unnecessarily limit—

(1) the civilian use of radioactive materials and deployment of nuclear energy; or

(2) the benefits of civilian use of radioactive materials and nuclear energy technology to society.”

Afraid of appearing to throw firefighters under the bus, all but two senators voted for the bill. Predictably, the dissenters were Democrat Ed Markey of Massachusetts and independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the only consistent anti-nuclear voices on Capitol Hill…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

What has really crippled the nuclear power sector is its exorbitant costs. But the ruse to undermine the NRC and weaken (“modernize” or “reform”) safety oversight is precisely because it is nuclear power’s immense dangers that cause its costs to sky-rocket.

None of this fazes Nordhaus, however, who insists that new reactors constitute “a new generation of even safer reactors” and that nuclear power has “substantial environmental public health benefits”. 

The former assertion is strongly challenged by physicists such as Edwin Lyman at the Union of Concerned Scientists and M.V. Ramana at the University of British Columbia, who happen to understand the science and know that the untested, recycled and long ago rejected design ideas for small modular reactors are replete with radiological risks and serious and unsolved uncertainties around safety.

As for the substantial health benefits of nuclear power, perhaps Mr. Nordhaus would like to say that to the (non-White) faces of Native Americans coping with the deadly legacy of abandoned uranium mines and to the mothers of childhood leukemia sufferers living near nuclear plants, who would beg to differ.

This article is adapted from a piece that first appeared in the February/March 2025 edition of Ralph Nader’s newspaper, Capitol Hill Citizen, available in print only.
https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2025/03/23/a-nuclear-svengali-on-capitol-hill/

March 28, 2025 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

What is the fate of Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after Trump talks?

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is one of the world’s 10 largest and Europe’s biggest

Hanna Arhirova, Friday 21 March 2025, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-nuclear-power-plants-trump-putin-b2719353.html

President Donald Trump suggested a potential transfer of Ukrainian power plants to US ownership during a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to a US statement.

The discussion, later clarified by Zelensky, centred on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), currently under Russian occupation.

While the plant remains connected to Ukraine‘s grid, it is not producing electricity, raising questions about the feasibility and nature of any future US involvement.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is one of the world’s 10 largest and Europe’s biggest.

Who controls the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Located in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, Russian forces occupied it shortly after Moscow’s February 2022 invasion.

While Russia declared the region annexed in Autumn 2022, its largest city, Zaporizhzhia, remains under Ukrainian control.

Ukraine has accused Russia of stationing troops and weapons at the plant and using it as a launchpad for attacks across the Dnipro River. Russia denies this, accusing Ukraine of shelling the facility.

How many nuclear power plants does Ukraine have?

Besides Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine operates three active nuclear power plants, which generate the majority of the country’s electricity following sustained Russian attacks on thermal and hydroelectric plants.

These facilities are located in southern, western and northwestern Ukraine, away from frontline areas.

What did Trump and Zelenskyy discuss and are there negotiations over Zaporizhzhia’s fate?

During their call on Wednesday, Trump suggested that Zelensky should consider giving the US ownership of Ukraine’s power plants to ensure their long-term security, according to a White House statement from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.

“American ownership of those plants could be the best protection for that infrastructure,” Trump suggested, according to the statement.

Zelensky later told journalists their conversation focused on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and the following day, made it clear that “the issue of ownership” of the other three plants was never discussed.

“All nuclear power plants belong to the people of Ukraine,” he said.

Zelenskyy said that when they discussed Zaporizhzhia, the US leader had inquired about the facility’s future. “Trump asked my thoughts on the plant,” Zelensyy said. “I told him that if it is not Ukrainian, it will not operate. It is illegal.”

Even though ZNPP is a state-owned plant, Zelenskyy acknowledged that if the US were to claim it from Russian control, invest in it and modernise it, Ukraine might consider it. “That is a separate question, an open one,” he said.

What is the current state of Zaporizhzhia’s nuclear plant?

Since falling under Russian control, the plant’s conditions have deteriorated. While its six reactors have been shut down for years, they still require power and qualified staff to maintain cooling systems and safety features.

Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear operator, said that after Russian forces took over, Ukrainian personnel were forced to sign contracts with Russian authorities and take Russian citizenship. Those who refused faced abduction or threats, forcing thousands to flee, leaving the facility understaffed and harder to manage.

The collapse of a dam in June 2023 further jeopardised the plant’s cooling systems, which relied on water from the reservoir. In response, plant administrators dug wells, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Zelensky said extensive repairs would be needed before the plant could operate again, estimating the process could take at least two years.

The IAEA has repeatedly warned the war could cause a radiation leak. While the plant no longer produces electricity, it still holds large amounts of nuclear fuel, requiring constant cooling.

Regular blackouts caused by the fighting have disrupted the facility, though power has been quickly restored each time.

IAEA experts permanently stationed there still face restricted access, with Russian authorities blocking some inspection requests, according to IAEA head Rafael Grossi.

Is any kind of deal imminent?

Zelensky said the discussions with Trump on restoring Zaporizhzhia were a positive step, but cautioned that no one would work at the plant if Russian forces remained stationed nearby.

Control over the plant is likely to remain a legal and logistical challenge, intertwined with a highly divisive issue for both warring sides: control over the land itself.

Russian troops hold the area, while Ukrainian forces are separated from it by the Dnipro River and more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) of terrain.

March 25, 2025 Posted by | politics, safety, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Macron ousts EDF boss accused of giving French industry ‘the middle finger’

Luc Rémont will be replaced in a reshuffle with factory energy prices set to soar

Alex Singleton, Business Reporter, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/03/21/macron-ousts-boss-state-run-edf-french-energy-prices-surge/

Emmanuel Macron has ousted the boss of the state-run EDF after French industrialists revolted over its high electricity prices.

Luc Rémont is to be replaced in a surprise reshuffling of the company’s top ranks, Mr Macron’s office said on Friday. Mr Rémont has run the the state-owned energy giant since November 2022.

The shake-up follows an outcry over the high energy prices EDF is poised to charge factories. Benoît Bazin, the boss of building materials giant Saint-Gobain, had accused EDF of “giving the middle finger to French industry” by increasing prices.

Rules that force EDF to sell energy to major industrialists at below-market prices are set to expire at the end of the year and the generator had announced plans to raise its prices.

Industry group Uniden, which represents dozens of France’s biggest manufacturers including Renault and steelmaker ArcelorMittal, claimed EDF was “deliberately turning its back” on French businesses at a time when manufacturers were “exposed to unprecedented non-European competition that threatens the very survival of many sites”.

The row is embarrassing for Mr Macron, who had pledged to “take back control of electricity prices” and who sees cheap electricity as a way of securing the French economy. Two years ago, he fully nationalised EDF by buying the 16pc of the company the government did not already own.

The shake-up comes days after the Macron administration said it had agreed state financing for six new nuclear reactors to be built by EDF over the coming decades.

Anger over high industrial energy prices is rising in the UK too. UK factories pay 50pc more for electricity than rivals in France and Germany, and four times as much as American plants. High prices have been blamed on net zero and slow-moving plans to expand nuclear power.

Warnings from industrialists that net zero energy policies are damaging the economy have fallen on deaf ears. Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, said this week the UK Government was “absolutely up for the fight” over net zero.

EDF is one of the largest players in the UK nuclear power market, after buying three formerly nationalised regional electricity boards and the nuclear operator British Energy.

It is currently building the UK’s first new nuclear power station for over 20 years, Hinkley Point C, and plans to embark on the construction of another, Sizewell C. But in January, the future of this new project was thrown into doubt after the French state auditor warned it against embarking on risky new foreign projects.

EDF declined to comment. The French government has been approached for comment.

March 25, 2025 Posted by | business and costs, France, politics | Leave a comment

Trump eyeing Crimea as ‘international resort’ – Hersh


 https://www.rt.com/russia/614596-trump-crimea-resort-hersh/ 21 Mar 25

The renowned American journalist has claimed that the US president wants to do business with Putin.

US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering lifting sanctions against Moscow in order to turn Russia’s Crimean Peninsula into a major international resort, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh has reported, citing a White House official.

Since his inauguration in January, Trump has pursued direct negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the conflict in Ukraine. His administration has indicated that it is open to recognizing Moscow’s sovereignty over Crimea and some of the Donbass as part of a potential peace deal. 

The Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol officially joined Russia in 2014 following public referendums; they were followed in 2022 by the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye. Kiev continues to claim the territories as its own and has vowed to take them back, but Moscow has insisted that their status is non-negotiable.

In a post on his Substack blog on Thursday, Hersh reported that Trump’s broader aim is to improve US-Russia relations through economic cooperation. The president, he says, is seeking to lift sanctions imposed since 2014 and 2022 and “form a partnership with Putin aimed at turning Crimea into a major international resort.” The official source cited in Hersh’s report added that “they might do the same in Donbass.”

The journalist noted that Trump’s approach is markedly different from that of the administration of Joe Biden, with his unnamed source describing the current president as an “economic winner.” Trump’s reported interest in Russian energy and natural resource assets includes oil, gas, and unmined rare earth metals.

Since taking office in January, Trump has reversed several foreign policy positions on Moscow. Following a phone call with Putin in February, US and Russian delegations met in Saudi Arabia, with both sides agreeing to restore diplomatic ties and explore joint business ventures after the Ukraine conflict is resolved.

Trump and Putin held another phone call on Tuesday to discuss a US-proposed ceasefire. According to statements from both sides, the conversation was productive, with Russia agreeing to a one-month halt on strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure as talks continue.

March 25, 2025 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Government ramps up nuclear threats ahead of CND Barrow protest

As CND prepares for its national demonstration at the BAE Shipyard, Barrow-in-Furness, on Saturday, 22 March, the government is ramping up nuclear threats to prop up Britain’s failing nuclear weapons programme and justify military spending hikes in next week’s budget. 

The recent visit to the BAE Shipyard in Barrow and nuclear base at Faslane by Keir Starmer and John Healey, saw the Defence Secretary claim the weapons could do “untold damage” against countries like Russia in the event of a conflict. 

It was also announced that the Port of Barrow, which has built submarines for Britain’s nuclear weapons programme since the 1950s, will be given royal status. This status applies to the dockland where the arms manufacturer’s shipyard is based and not the wider Barrow area.

CND’s protest comes ahead of the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, where it’s expected that billions of pounds will be added to the military budget while brutal cuts are made to overseas aid, and services helping some of the country’s most vulnerable people.

The government argues that increasing the military budget will help revitalise “left behind” industrial towns and the wider economy. But military spending has one of the lowest employment multipliers of all sectors. Towns like Barrow need sustainable and varied forms of employment that put its people and the planet first.

Britain’s nuclear weapons accounts for at least 14% of the MoD’s military expenditure but the most recent annual report by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) found that key parts of its nuclear weapons programme are either failing or have major issues. CND is calling on the government to scrap Britain’s nuclear programme once and for all and develop an industrial strategy that generates sustainable economic growth that benefits everyone.  

 CND 21st March 2025
https://cnduk.org/government-ramps-up-nuclear-threats-ahead-of-cnd-barrow-protest/

March 24, 2025 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

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