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Biden has the power to rein in the nuclear presidency. He should use it.

By Jon Wolfsthal, December 18, 2023,  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/12/18/trump-nuclear-weapons-control-president-biden/

Jon Wolfsthal is director of global risk at the Federation of American Scientists as well as a former National Security Council senior director under President Barack Obama.

In less than a year, America will elect a president. Whoever is sworn in on Jan. 20, 2025, will immediately be vested with the sole legal authority to order the use of the United States’ nuclear weapons. If a sitting president decides to exercise that authority — for almost any reason — no one can legally stop them. That must change.

This is not a new problem. Two of the 14 presidents in the nuclear age have behaved dangerously enough that their own officials have tried, in legally questionable ways, to insert themselves into the nuclear chain of command.

In President Richard M. Nixon’s final days, then-Defense Secretary James Schlesinger declared that any nuclear order had to be checked with him first. The fact that Donald Trump remains the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination injects additional concern given his behavior as president. In the last few days of Trump’s term, then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley tried to mitigate these risks by telling officers at the National Military Command Center (NMCC) that if they received a nuclear launch order from Trump, they must loop him in. “I’m part of the procedure,” Milley reportedly told subordinates.

We might want to thank both Milley and Schlesinger for did what they did, but they might have broken the law in doing so. Though the chairman of the Joint Chiefs is the country’s senior military officer, he is not part of the nuclear-launch process. Nor is the defense secretary, secretary of state or even the commander of U.S. Strategic Command.

To initiate a nuclear strike, the president can issue an order bypassing senior military leaders and advisers. Every president carries with him a sealed card known as the “biscuit.” The president can call the NMCC at any time and use the code from the biscuit to verify his identity — and the weapons get launched. As commander in chief, a president can even order the watch officer not to tell superiors that an order has been given. So even if a concerned chairman of the Joint Chiefs instructs his soldiers to inform him of any such command, the president can simply override that “safeguard” at his discretion.

The chain of command, however, is different for almost every other decision to use military force. For non-nuclear decisions — including conventional military strikes or sending soldiers into combat — the president must give an order to the defense secretary, who then issues written instructions to the relevant combatant commander. It’s a transparent system that encourages accountability.

Why are nuclear weapons procedures different from conventional ones? Because, during the Cold War, speed was seen as essential for deterrence. If a Soviet nuclear bolt from the blue could kill a sitting president before he had time to order a counterattack, adversaries were thought to have an incentive to initiate a first strike. By being able to respond quickly, without having to work through layers of officials, deterrence was thought to be more robust.

But there is no reason today to rely on speedy decision-making during situations in which the United States might launch first. Even as relations with Moscow are at historic lows, we are worlds removed from the Cold War’s dominant knife’s-edge logic. This means checks and balances on a president’s decision to start a nuclear war can be adopted without sacrificing America’s security or the protection of our allies. It’s time our institutions caught up with this strategic reality.

Numerous ideas have been put forward to close this dangerous loophole. None is perfect. The idea of requiring another elected or Senate-confirmed officer such as a vice president, secretary of state or defense secretary to agree to a nuclear launch order has been considered impractical. For one, if senior officials are killed, or are appointed without Senate approval, the United States could be rendered unable to retaliate against a nuclear attack. At the very least, any such change would require a legal remedy and congressional approval by both houses of Congress — something unlikely even in ideal circumstances.

What is left is not a permanent solution but an improvement over the current process nonetheless: President Biden has the authority as commander in chief to change the military chain of command. He can make launching nuclear weapons absent a confirmed nuclear attack on the United States conform to the same procedures required for the use of conventional forces. Adopting such a process would not impact the country’s security, or that of its allies. But it would ensure that no president can act without other senior officials being directly involved in a decision to use America’s most powerful weapons.

Could a future president try to reverse these safeguards? Yes, but doing so would take time and require the work of other senior officials. The formal chain of command is established by law but can be changed through executive order. Requiring White House lawyers to develop a new directive to revert to the older, less-constrained systems would be a time-consuming process. And putting even surmountable speed bumps in place is worth the effort.

There is no perfect system for preventing nuclear use as long as nuclear weapons exist. Yet nuclear procedures have been adjusted many times over the decades, and it is time for yet another change. The Biden administration should be praised for spending a lot of time crafting norms for responsible nuclear behavior — from repeatedly declaring that a nuclear war cannot be won and thus must never be fought, to ensuring that unsupervised artificial intelligence is kept far from decision on the use of nuclear weapons. It should continue this admirable track record by insulating the United States’ nuclear weapons from an unstable future president by adding senior officials into the process.

December 19, 2023 Posted by | politics, weapons and war | 3 Comments

Biden Intends To Keep Participating In The Incineration Of Gaza

CAITLIN JOHNSTONE, DEC 15, 2023

Biden administration officials are telling the press that they have no plans to place any conditions on military aid to Israel. 

CNN reports:

The Biden administration currently has no plans to place conditions on the military aid it is providing to Israel, officials told CNN, despite growing calls by Democratic lawmakers and human rights organizations for the US to stop providing weapons unless Israel does more to protect civilians in Gaza.

Biden administration officials are telling the press that they have no plans to place any conditions on military aid to Israel. 

Speaking to Democratic donors in Washington this week, President Joe Biden acknowledged that he has had tough conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Israel’s military campaign, how Israel is losing international support, and the need for a two-state solution led by the Palestinian Authority. But he said even throughout those discussions, “we’re not going to do a damn thing other than protect Israel in the process. Not a single thing.”

Echoing that sentiment, US officials told CNN that the US has no plans to shift its position and draw any red lines around the transfer of weapons and munitions to Israel.

This is the real story of Washington’s relationship with the incineration of Gaza. Ignore all their feigned concern about civilian casualties and posturing about Israel’s need to wrap this up soon; in reality they intend to keep backing this mass atrocity unconditionally.

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“Israel has a right to defend itself” sounds reasonable until you realize it actually means “Israel has a right to kill as many Palestinian children as it wants in its efforts to eliminate all armed resistance to a murderous and tyrannical occupying regime.”

Israel supporters like to say, “Hamas can end this any time by surrendering.” 

Israel can end this any time by ceasing to be a murderous and tyrannical occupying regime held together by endless violence and apartheid. Israel wasn’t attacked because Palestinians are innately evil and want to kill Jews, Israel was attacked because it has treated Palestinians horrifically for generations. If Israel and its allies ended the injustices, paid reparations and righted the wrongs that have been inflicted on Palestinians for the last 75 years, there could be a sustainable peace. 

The only way to believe all this intense civilian-slaughtering warfare is necessary to obtain peace is to believe Palestinians are orc-like subhumans who are acting out of an innate hatefulness and thus cannot be reasoned with or negotiated with. It’s not okay for grown adults to believe this.

“Hamas can end this any time by surrendering” really just means “Israel gets to keep murdering Gaza’s children until Gaza’s government gives it what it wants.” Which is about as evil a position as you can possibly imagine. This is not an acceptable position for any person to have

Israel’s unique focus on attacking hospitals makes no sense as a military strategy but makes lots of sense as an ethnic cleansing strategy.

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Western media are constantly babbling about “Iran-backed” forces in Yemen, Syria and Iraq, yet Israeli bombings are never described as “US-backed”, even though they indisputably are, and even though the evidence for this is far stronger than any claims about Iranian backing.

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Both Zionists and people who hate Jews conflate Judaism and Zionism, and both Zionists and people who hate Jews contribute to spreading hatred of Jews by indoctrinating the public with this distortion……………………………………………….

I don’t criticize Israel because I want to, I criticize Israel because I have to. If I could avoid saying stuff that gets weird sociopaths shrieking at me and calling me a Nazi all day long, I would. But if Israel’s going to commit horrific mass atrocities, it must be opposed.  https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/biden-intends-to-keep-participating?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=139812608&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&utm_medium=email

December 17, 2023 Posted by | Israel, politics, USA | Leave a comment

Theddlethorpe nuclear waste site: Informed decision needed, says council.

 Residents must be clear about plans to build a nuclear waste site in their
village before deciding on them, a council leader has said.

A former gas terminal in Theddlethorpe, near Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire, was announced
as a possible location for an underground disposal facility in 2021. A
public vote on whether to approve the plans may not take place until 2027.

Craig Leyland of East Lindsey District Council said it was “critical”
voters made an “informed decision”. The proposal by Nuclear Waste Services
– formerly known as Radioactive Waste Management – for a Geological
Disposal Facility (GDF) would see nuclear waste from the UK being stored
underneath up to 1,000m of solid rock until its radioactivity had naturally
decayed.

The plans have “had a detrimental effect on physical and mental
health” of residents, according to Travis Hesketh, an Independent Group
councillor at East Lindsey District Council. He called for a review into
residents’ views on the GDF at a meeting on Wednesday, the Local Democracy
Reporting Service said.

 BBC 14th Dec 2023

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-67716286

December 17, 2023 Posted by | politics, UK, wastes | Leave a comment

 Sad Clown with the Circus Closed Down*: Zelenskiy’s Demise

When it comes to love for the limelight and delusions of grandeur, Zelenskiy outstrips most politicians and not least of all Putin. Almost all politicians are egoistic, but Zelenskiy is narcissistic.

Zelenskiy’s inexperience and ego likely played pivotal roles in his disastrous decision-making.

Zelenskiy himself remained mired in personal corruption as the Pandora Papers demonstrated

Zelenskiy’s failures also have made him eminently expendable

by GORDONHAHN , December 11, 2023,  https://gordonhahn.com/2023/12/11/sad-clown-with-the-circus-closed-down-zelenskiys-demise/—

Introduction

         Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zeleneksiy appears to be at the end of the line politically and perhaps biologically. Portraying himself as a fighter for peace, anti-corruption, and full democratization when he ran for and won the presidency in 2019, he proceeded to lead the country into war, further corruption, and de-republicanization (authoritarianization).

On both a personal and global level this is high tragedy. A superb comedian and actor stars in a television fictional series as the president of Ukraine, rises in popularity, wins the country’s presidency on a peace platform, and leads the country into a catastrophic, easily avoidable war that threatens the survival of his country and himself.

The unreality of Ukraine refracts in our century of simulacra and disinformation through this icon moved from the television screen to real life politics, and the tragedy of it all is sold as a heroic triumph on the road to universal democracy, peace, and brotherhood.

In the real world, however, there is a rub. The country is historically divided along every conceivable line (ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, ideological, economic, and social), an almost accidental state cobbled together by communists but claimed by hapless republicans and determined ultra-nationalists. Thus, Zelenskiy becomes president of a fundamentally divided country further riven by schism as a result of two ‘revolutions’ – really revolts – and a civil war compounded by foreign (Russian) intervention.

                  ****************************

Zelenskiy’s emergence and victory are as surreal as the Maidan regime of which he assumed leadership. 

Continue reading →

December 16, 2023 Posted by | history, PERSONAL STORIES, politics, Reference, Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

EDF told not to expect UK to step in to fund Hinkley Point C flagship nuclear project

Cost overruns a ‘commercial issue’ for Hinkley Point C’s French
developer after CGN halts payments, says British official.

The UK government has signalled it will not step in to help France’s EDF fund
Hinkley Point C after its Chinese partner CGN halted payments to cover
mounting cost overruns on Britain’s flagship nuclear power project. The
reluctance of the British government to intervene comes as the price tag
for the power plant under construction in south-west England is likely to
exceed the revised £32.7bn estimate EDF put on it earlier this year,
according to people close to discussions.

CGN, EDF’s partner in Hinkley Point C, had agreed to finance 33.5 per cent of the original £18bn cost of the plant in 2016, with the French group responsible for the remainder. But
after paying its contracted share, CGN has not made payments linked to the
overruns in recent weeks, three people familiar with the matter said.

The French group warned earlier this year that the Chinese group could refuse
to pick up the extra costs. One UK government official said there were no
plans to step in to fill the gap left by CGN, suggesting EDF could pull in
other investors. “It is a commercial contract which we obviously don’t
play a part in financing,” the official said, adding: “It would first
be a matter for the shareholders.”

One industry source said pulling other
investors into the project at this stage would be “complicated”. The
French economy ministry said it was in contact with London over the issue.
“We’re working with the British government to ensure the rollout of the
UK nuclear programme, including on the financing front,” an official in
Paris said.

 FT 14th Dec 2023

https://www.ft.com/content/2bccd67f-a3c6-48d1-baa5-8ef9d54cdf67

December 16, 2023 Posted by | business and costs, politics, UK | Leave a comment

INTERNS ACCUSE CONGRESS OF SUPPRESSING CALLS FOR CEASE-FIRE

Poplsr Resistance, By Molly Redden, HuffPost., December 14, 2023, Resist!

The Workers In 71 Congressional Offices Have Recorded A Total More Than 690,000 Calls For A Cease-Fire.

But most are “unnoticed and unheard,” an open letter said.

Congressional interns and fellows released a letter on Monday accusing Congress of having “suppressed and ignored” a tidal wave of constituent support for a permanent cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza conflict.

More than 140 interns and fellows signed the letter, and 71 disclosed the number of calls and emails in support of a cease-fire that their offices have recorded. Those 71 offices (out of the total of 535) have received a total of 693,170 messages supporting a cease-fire since Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip began in early October.

But in spite of constituents’ outreach, most senators and representatives have refused to publicly support a cease-fire — and privately, the letter said, many senior staffers responsible for briefing members of Congress are downplaying the number and intensity of the calls.

“In some cases, Members of Congress are not being adequately briefed about the volume or contents of these messages,” the letter says. “In several instances, senior staff have deliberately provided inaccurate information about these data to Members. In other cases, Members have willfully ignored the pleas of large swaths of their constituents.”

Congressional phone lines have been clogged with calls for a cease-fire almost since the very start of hostilities, staffers have previously reported………………

The indiscriminate nature of the retaliation, coupled with the Biden administration’s steadfast support for its closest military ally, has sparked nationwide protests in the U.S. and profound outrage among many of the president’s own voters.

“While we refrain from telling our bosses how to do their jobs, as congressional interns and fellows, we owe it to the American people to expose the patent malpractice of Congress,” the letter says. “We can no longer stand by while the voices of constituents are suppressed and ignored by their elected officials.”

The letter came together after interns and fellows in several offices witnessed senior staff downplaying the number of calls and emails supporting a cease-fire, one of the letter’s organizers told HuffPost. In his office, a senior staffer quoted a number to the congressman that was 3,000 less than the actual number of callers, the organizer said.

“It’s very deliberate,” he said. “They see these overwhelming numbers, and they decrease it.”

Letter To Congress…………………………………………………………..

Signers of the letter work in Democratic and Republican offices and are remaining anonymous out of fear of career retaliation. The organizers, who spoke with HuffPost on the condition they not be named, verified the identities of those who signed.

Because interns answer the vast majority of constituent calls, many of those who signed the letter have personally fielded thousands of calls from constituents demanding a cease-fire.

“Out of the tens of thousands of calls made to our office, one in particular stood out to me: A constituent called in tears to share that her husband’s family had been killed in a hospital bombing in Gaza,” wrote one of the letter’s signers. “She had pleaded with me to change the Member’s stance on the war.”………………………………….. more https://popularresistance.org/interns-accuse-congress-of-suppressing-calls-for-cease-fire/

December 16, 2023 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Bernie Sanders Votes No on Giving Israel Aid to Continue ‘Inhumane War’ on Gaza

“I do not believe that we should give the right-wing extremist Netanyahu government an additional $10.1 billion with no strings attached.”

By Jake Johnson / Common Dreams, more https://scheerpost.com/2023/12/13/bernie-sanders-votes-no-on-giving-israel-aid-to-continue-inhumane-war-on-gaza/

Sen. Bernie Sanders was the lone member of the Senate Democratic caucus to oppose advancing a $110.5 billion supplemental foreign aid measure on Wednesday, expressing opposition to the bill’s unconditional military assistance for the Israeli government.

“I voted NO on the foreign aid supplemental bill today for one reason,” Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a statement. “I do not believe that we should give the right-wing extremist Netanyahu government an additional $10.1 billion with no strings attached to continue their inhumane war against the Palestinian people.”

“Israel has the absolute right to defend itself against the Hamas terrorists who attacked them on October 7,” Sanders added. “They do not have the legal or moral right to kill thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women, and children.”

The aid package, which also includes billions in military assistance for Ukraine, failed to clear a procedural hurdle Wednesday, with every Republican voting no over the absence of immigration policy changes that progressives have condemned as draconian. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) flipped his initial yes vote to no in a maneuver that will allow him to bring the bill forward again at a later date.

According to a summary released by the Senate Appropriations Committee, the supplemental package contains over $10 billion in military aid for Israel, which already receives roughly $4 billion in assistance from the U.S. per year and has gotten tens of thousands of bombs, artillery shells, and other weaponry since the Hamas-led October 7 attack.

The measure is largely in line with a request issued in October by the Biden White House, which has sought to expedite U.S. arms shipments to Israel even as the nation’s military is using American-made weaponry to commit heinous war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

One human rights monitor estimated earlier this week that at least 90% of the people killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 7 have been civilians.

Sanders, who has faced progressive criticism and outrage for rejecting calls for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, said in a Senate floor speech on Monday that Israel “must dramatically change its approach to minimize civilian harm and lay out a wider political process that can secure lasting peace.”

The senator conceded during his remarks that there is no evidence Israel has altered its approach in response to light pressure from top U.S. officials, pointing to recent bombings of United Nations schools and other civilian infrastructure.

“Israel’s indiscriminate approach is, in my view, offensive to most Americans, it is in violation of U.S. and international law, and it undermines the prospects for lasting peace and security,” said Sanders.

December 15, 2023 Posted by | Israel, politics, USA | Leave a comment

Wins, losses and participation trophies for US nuclear power in 2023

From the long-awaited commissioning of Vogtle 3 to the NuScale pilot’s collapse, here are the biggest wins and losses for nuclear from this year.

By Eric Wesoff, 12 December 2023,  https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/nuclear/wins-losses-and-participation-trophies-for-us-nuclear-power-in-2023

With this bumpy year for nuclear coming to a close and the world’s energy stakeholders having just gathered for the most nuclear-focused COP meeting ever, it’s a good time to assess the state of atomic power in the U.S.

Government pledges and consumer support for nuclear power in the U.S. have surged in recent years. Armed with this newfound policy support and financing, the relatively stagnant U.S. nuclear industry now has to start executing on its ambitious plans if the fuel is to play a meaningful role in decarbonizing the energy system.

So how did the U.S. nuclear sector fare in 2023? Here’s a list of its major wins and its losses.

A win on the world stage: Dubai hosts the first ​“nuclear COP”

More than 20 countries including the U.S., France, Japan and the U.K. pledged to triple global generation from nuclear energy by 2050 during this year’s COP28 global climate meeting in Dubai. Hitting that goal would require the world to install an average of 40 gigawatts of nuclear every year through 2050; presently, that annual installation figure is closer to 4 gigawatts.

Nuclear has received scant attention at previous COP meetings due to its financial challenges and the thorny issue of managing spent fuel, so the pledge is a marked departure from the policy status quo. All of this was enough to make this the year of the ​“nuclear COP.”

And although it’s a global pledge, President Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry helped spearhead the declaration, indicating the increasing embrace of nuclear power at the highest echelons of U.S. climate policy. Kerry said that the science has proven ​“you can’t get to net-zero 2050 without some nuclear.”

Participation trophy for Georgia Power: Vogtle 3 connects to the grid

It’s a bit of a stretch calling Vogtle 3’s long-awaited connection to the grid a ​“win” after a $16 billion cost overrun and a six-year overshoot of the target launch date, but the Department of Energy was looking forward to a new commercial reactor coming online this year, and the department ultimately did get its wish.

As of July 31, Georgia Power’s 1,100-megawatt Plant Vogtle Unit 3 nuclear reactor is supplying power to the grid — making it the first reactor to enter service since Tennessee’s Watts Bar Unit 2 began operating in 2016. Vogtle 4, a second 1,100-megawatt reactor, is nearing the finish line as well, with operations expected to start in early 2024, according to Georgia Power.

Thanks to then-Secretary Rick Perry, in 2019 the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office provided up to $12 billion in loan guarantees to help complete the Vogtle expansion amid a spate of spending freezes and lawsuits. The project generated more than 9,000 jobs during peak construction and will provide an additional 800 permanent jobs at the facility once fully operational.

Dan Yurman, publisher of Neutron Bytes, a blog on nuclear power, offered Canary Media this explanation for Vogtle’s major cost and schedule overruns: ​“The utility and the vendor kicked off a massive infrastructure project with major unaddressed risks in terms of supply chain, labor force skills, regulatory compliance and a 30-year gap in know-how to build large nuclear power plants. It is no surprise that the first-of-a-kind AP1000s came in at twice the cost and double the estimated time to complete them.”

The nuclear industry can call this a win — if it can learn from Vogtle and begin to remedy the missteps called out by Yurman.

A financial win: Nuclear funding and government support

The U.S. government is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to supporting nuclear power: The (barely) Bipartisan Infrastructure Law added $3.2 billion for development of modular and advanced nuclear reactors, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office has devoted $11 billion in loan-making authority for advanced reactors and supply chains. What’s more, the epochal Inflation Reduction Act devotes $700 million to the HALEU Availability Program to support the development of a non-Russian supply of high-assay low-enriched uranium.

Additionally, the IRA offers a preposterously generous $15 per megawatt-hour production tax credit meant to keep today’s existing nuclear fleet competitive with gas and renewables, as well as a similarly generous investment tax credit to incentivize new plant construction.

Losing the global nuclear crown: China is sprinting ahead of the U.S. on nuclear 

America has the world’s biggest nuclear power fleet at 93 reactors, but it’s on its way to losing that distinction.

China has built 37 new reactors over the last decade for a total of 55, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. America has added a grand total of two reactors during that same period. China also aims to double its nuclear energy capacity by 2035, and it is well on its way; it has 22 nuclear plants currently under construction with more than 70 in the planning stages.

Outside of Vogtle 4, it’s unclear when — or if — another nuclear reactor will be connected to the U.S. grid.

And despite small modular reactors being held up as a cure-all to the U.S. nuclear industry’s significant challenges, the only country in the world that has actually built an SMR is China. It demonstrated a pair of smallish high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor units using a ​“pebble-bed” design and a more concentrated fuel format last year.

Notably, China is not a participant in the COP28 nuclear pledge — an ironic development as it’s the only country with any real chance of meeting the goal of tripling its capacity by 2050.

Huge win, disappointing loss for SMRs: NuScale’s ups and downs

The nuclear gods are fickle creatures. Small modular reactor pioneer NuScale Power made history in January 2023 when it scaled the highest regulatory peak in the U.S.: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission certified the design of its 50-megawatt module, the first small modular reactor and only the seventh reactor design ever approved for use in the U.S.

This was a long-fought victory for NuScale and advocates of SMRs: Utilities and developers can now reference NuScale’s SMR design when applying for a license to construct and operate a reactor. NuScale and the DOE spent more than 10 years and hundreds of millions of dollars to reach this regulatory milestone.

Armed with this historic design certification, NuScale landed a promising inaugural customer in the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems and began working on a deployment near the Department of Energy’s national laboratory in Idaho. Project plans had called for one 77-megawatt unit to begin operation in 2029.

The Idaho project was once widely predicted to be not only the first small module reactor completed in the U.S., but the next nuclear reactor to be built in the country, period. However, it was not to be so.

The project was ultimately scrapped in November because it couldn’t secure enough subscriptions from utilities in the Western U.S. to make the project work financially.

The innovative SMR aspirant still has a pipeline of tentative agreements to deploy reactors across North America, Europe and the Middle East.

Win for domestic HALEU fuel: Bringing uranium enrichment capabilities back to the U.S.

Call this one a win because, for the first time in 70 years, America is home to a U.S.-owned enrichment facility producing the concentrated fuel needed by the many advanced reactors now in development.

Centrus, a company with roots in the Manhattan Project, began demonstration-scale enrichment operations at its facility in Piketon, Ohio in October. It marks the potential rebirth of a once-strong American enrichment industry. America was once the only source of uranium enrichment outside of the Soviet bloc, but over the last 30 years, it has surrendered that role to Russia and other countries.

The HALEU produced in Centrus’ centrifuges will be used to test new fuels and reactor designs, as well as to fuel the cores of the two demonstration reactors funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and supported by DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.

The U.S. currently depends on Tenex, part of Russian state-owned nuclear supplier Rosatom, to supply the low-enriched uranium fuel that’s used in our civilian fleet. And Russia (which is not blockaded on nuclear fuel exports) supplies all of America’s high-assay low-enriched uranium, the more concentrated material required by the new generation of advanced reactors.

It is a precarious situation for U.S. national and energy security.

The DOE is looking to jump-start the domestic market by directing IRA funding toward enrichment and fuel-processing facilities like Centrus’ plant in Ohio, as well as by acting as the initial customer, creating an inventory and providing a reliable customer and price.

It’s a win for the U.S., but it comes after years of stepping on rakes.

A win for preserving the existing nuclear fleet: Diablo Canyon lives on

Pacific Gas & Electric, one of the three large investor-owned utilities in California, decided to decommission both of the reactors at California’s Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in 2017.

But public outcry, political pressure and worries about grid failures seem to have helped get the plant’s operations extended an additional five years with the help of a state loan and up to $1.1 billion through the federal Civil Nuclear Credit Program designed to support economically ailing plants. It’s a win for California nuclear advocates and the emissions of the state’s grid.

PG&E has now filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 20-year operating extension for the two 1,150-megawatt reactors at Diablo Canyon, which will trigger a review process expected to take a minimum of two years.

The U.S. nuclear fleet is the largest in the world, but it’s also one of the oldest: The average age of an American nuclear reactor is 42 years, compared to a world average of 31 years.

The majority of nuclear plant operators in the country have expressed interest in extending their operating licenses to allow operation up to 80 years, according to a poll of member utilities of Nuclear Energy Institute, a trade organization.

But even with such extensions, these older plants would all need to be replaced by around 2060, and nuclear power’s long lead times mean that decisions will have to be made about replacing their generation capacity in the late 2030s.

Neither a win nor a loss: Action in advanced reactors and microreactors 

Encouraged by government funding, shifting societal sentiment and a cornucopia of new reactor designs, 2023 witnessed a raft of startups and established vendors making deals in the U.S. and abroad to build next-generation nuclear reactors.

Microreactors like Oklo’s 15-megawatt fast breeder reactor, Aalo Atomics’ 20-megawatt thermal design based on the Marvel reactor at Idaho National Labs, and Westinghouse’s 5MWe eVinci design are intended to provide electrical power and heat in remote or behind-the-meter industrial applications. Ultra Safe Nuclear has plans to construct a microreactor facility in Gadsden, Alabama. The Department of Defense’s Strategic Capabilities Office’s Project Pele program is looking to build and demonstrate a 1–5 MWe mobile, high-temperature, gas-cooled microreactor capable of powering U.S. military bases.

But none of these designs are approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

For its part, the DOE is betting big on TerraPower and X-energy, with the agency’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program providing initial funding of $80 million to each, along with future cost-sharing funds. These two demonstration projects are poised to use HALEU from Centrus’ newly commissioned 16-centrifuge cascade.

TerraPower, founded by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is developing a 345-megawatt sodium-cooled fast reactor coupled with a molten salt energy storage system. The company has raised $750 million to build its operating demonstration reactor in Wyoming.

X-energy is developing its high-temperature gas-cooled advanced small modular reactor and plans the initial deployment at a Dow Chemical facility in Texas. 

These reactor designs also are not approved by the NRC.

Despite the proliferation of tentative agreements, memorandums of understanding and handshake deals, all of these planned reactors — with the possible exception of NuScale’s — fall into the famous ​“paper reactor” category — meaning they are simple, light, small, cheap and quick to build. Importantly, they are also never actually going to be built.

December 14, 2023 Posted by | business and costs, politics, USA | Leave a comment

Ukraine ready to ban country’s largest Christian church – parliament speaker

 https://www.rt.com/russia/588975-ukraine-orthodox-church-ban/ 13 Dec 23

Legislation outlawing the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) over alleged links to Russia should apparently be passed in early 2024

A bill that would ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), the largest Christian church in the country, could be passed in early 2024, the speaker of the parliament in Kiev, Ruslan Stefanchuk, has said.

Ukrainian authorities have long accused the UOC of having ties with the Russian Orthodox Church, despite the religious organization condemning Russia’s military operation in Ukraine and announcing its autonomy from Moscow shortly after the escalation of the conflict in February 2022.

When asked about the legislation during a TV appearance on Rada TV on Tuesday, Stefanchuk said that “the committee must make the necessary decisions, carry out consultations, and accept it as a proposal in the second reading.”

“I hope that this issue might be settled in the beginning of the next year,” the speaker stressed.

The legislation, which had been prepared on the order of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, passed its first reading in the parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, in October. The bill would allow authorities to ban the UOC if an expert review panel confirms its connections with Russia. It garnered the support of 267 out of 450 MPs.

The Church, which has millions of followers across Ukraine, condemned the legislation, saying that it goes against the Ukrainian Constitution and violates religious freedom.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, has also called upon religious leaders and international organizations to intervene to stop “mass violations of religious rights of the followers of the UOC.” The actions of Ukrainian authorities were “on par with the most sinister God-fighting regimes of the past,” he insisted.

The administration of President Zelensky supports the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which had been created by Ukrainian authorities shortly after the western-backed coup in 2014 that installed a pro-Western government. The emergence of the OCU, considered non-canonical by the Russian Orthodox Church, prompted years of religious tensions in the country.

Since the start of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, Ukrainian authorities and activists have been seizing the UOC’s places of worship and handing them over to the government-backed OCU. For instance, the UOC’s monks were evicted from the country’s holiest Orthodox site, the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

According to Tass news agency, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has launched 65 criminal cases against UOC priests; 17 clerics have faced sanctions, and 19 of them were stripped of their Ukrainian citizenship.

December 14, 2023 Posted by | politics, Ukraine | Leave a comment

U.S. Congress passes bill barring imports of Russian uranium for nuclear power, (but this ban can be waived as needed.)

The Hill, BY RACHEL FRAZIN – 12/11/23

The House on Monday passed legislation that would bar imports of Russian uranium for nuclear power plants. 

The measure was passed by a voice vote with bipartisan support. Ahead of the voice vote, Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.) and Democrat Rep. Frank Pallone (N.J.) spoke in favor of the bill. 

The legislation would make it illegal to import low-enriched uranium, which is used in nuclear fuel, 90 days after the bill becomes law. 

It allows for the prohibition to be waived, however, if there aren’t other viable sources of uranium to sustain nuclear reactors.

According to the Energy Information Administration, the majority of uranium that powers U.S. plants is imported, and about 12 percent of those imports came from Russia in 2022. …………………. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4354533-house-passes-bill-barring-imports-russian-uranium-nucler-power/

December 13, 2023 Posted by | politics, USA | 1 Comment

Nebraska team launches study of Congress and nuclear weapons policy

Carnegie Corporation-funded study apparently first comprehensive analysis in three decades

news wise, 11-Dec-2023, by University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Newswise — Nebraska researchers are launching a two-year study of Congress’s involvement in nuclear weapons policy. The study is believed to be the first comprehensive look at the topic in more than 30 years.

Carnegie Corporation of New York recently awarded a $428,000 grant to University of Nebraska–Lincoln political scientists Rupal Mehta, Geoff Lorenz and Ingrid Haas for a multi-method study of Congress and nuclear weapons policy dating back to 1973.

“We believe that this is an important, but missing, piece of the puzzle when it comes to better understanding global nuclear and international security,’” the researchers wrote in their study proposal.

Historically, the president and other executive branch officials have been at the forefront of U.S. nuclear weapons policy, with lawmakers serving a subsidiary role based upon treaty ratification and defense budget allocations. Leaders like U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., an Air Force veteran who serves on the House of Representatives’ Armed Services Committee and U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., who serves on the Senate’s Armed Forces Committee, often play influential roles in policy decisions based upon personal expertise and constituents’ interest.

“Congress historically has been much more deferential to the president on nuclear policy than on defense policy generally,” said Lorenz, who studies federal lawmaking. “That appears to be changing and so we want to examine the specific factors at play in Congress’s involvement in nuclear arms policymaking.”

Mehta’s work focuses on international security and conflict with a specialization in nuclear nonproliferation and related issues. Haas, a resident faculty member with the university’s Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, uses theory and methods from political psychology and cognitive neuroscience to better understand American politics and international security.

Events in Washington, D.C., and around the world — such as the partisan battle over government funding and the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as speaker of the House, and the wars in the Ukraine and Gaza — demonstrate the importance of understanding how Congress responds to nuclear policy questions, the researchers say………………………………………………………………………………………..

“There may be no more important time for these insights than now,” the researchers said in their proposal. “The proliferation of nuclear weapons, and nuclear security more broadly, pose a substantial threat to the security and stability of the international system.” https://www.newswise.com/articles/nebraska-team-launches-study-of-congress-and-nuclear-weapons-policy

December 13, 2023 Posted by | politics, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Australia’s Opposition – Liberal Coalition’s strategy – support fossil fuels by delaying renewables and pushing for nuclear energy

they’ve come up with the perfect strategy to ensure no climate action is taken – advocate the bypassing of renewables in favour of small nuclear modular reactors.

It’s the old strategy of “why put off until tomorrow what you can put off forever”?

Or, as Malcolm Turnbull put it at the COP28 meeting: “Nuclear’s only utility is as … a means of supporting fossil fuels by delaying and distracting the rollout of renewables”.

Energy transition needs gas not nuclear,  https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/energy-transition-needs-gas-not-nuclear-20231203-p5eola 11 Dec 23, Craig Emerson, Former Labor minister and economist

A rational decarbonising energy policy offers a middle path between the absolutists and the denialists.

A civilisation is in decline when logical thinking and evidence-based policy are angrily dismissed in favour of tribal dogma. Western civilisation is lurching in this dangerous direction. Bravery is needed from those who remain capable of rational thought.

A prime contemporary example is the energy transition. Arguing about the energy transition are the absolutists and the denialists.

The absolutists demand that Australia open no new coal mines or gas fields. They require the governments of poor countries to shut their coal-fired power stations forthwith, despite no affordable alternative source of electricity being available.

In these countries, solar and wind power can play a role in electricity generation, but not totally and immediately. Renewable generation requires firming capacity in the nights and evenings, which can be provided by gas generators.

In fact, gas peaking and standby can hasten the closure of coal-fired power stations, which is desirable for the planet. But the neocolonial absolutists demand gas be excluded from the energy mix in poor countries.

The absolutists also oppose carbon capture and storage as a matter of dogma. The same goes for carbon offsets, regardless of their integrity.

Gas is also used to produce synthetic fibres; the kind Absolutists like to wear in preference to thirsty cotton and the wool of methane-emitting sheep.

Coking coal is used to produce steel. Absolutists oppose new coking coal mines. People in poor countries are not to have access to steel products, the type that rich-country absolutists use every day.

Denialists, on the other hand, such as former prime minister Tony Abbott, speak of the global warming hoax and describe believers in climate change as members of a cult. Denialists believe that not just absolutists are involved in this conspiracy against the western way of life, but so too are the United Nations, the NASA space agency and the world’s bureaus of meteorology.

Denialists have learned not to speak so loudly of these alleged hoaxes, cults and conspiracies, operating on the assumption that most voters under the age of 40 have been brainwashed into believing climate change is real and will cast their votes accordingly.

To address this electoral quandary, they’ve come up with the perfect strategy to ensure no climate action is taken – advocate the bypassing of renewables in favour of small nuclear modular reactors.

With cost blowouts precipitating the recent collapse of a flagship US project working on a small modular reactor, the prospects of this technology supplying electricity at competitive prices are highly questionable.

In any event, former NSW treasurer Matt Kean, though favourably disposed to small nuclear modular reactors, has pointed out that none would be ready for commercial deployment before 2040.

By that time, Australia’s fleet of ageing coal-fired power stations will be clapped out.

The Peter Dutton-led opposition voted against the Albanese government’s safeguard mechanism, the latest attempt to put a price on carbon for major emitters, despite the Business Council of Australia calling it “a very good policy”.

In an effort to continue the debilitating climate wars that have been raging for more than a decade, Dutton labelled the safeguard mechanism a “carbon tax 2.0”.

With no emissions-reduction strategy, plenty of hostility towards renewables and a promise of small modular reactors from 2040 at the earliest, the denialists have only one remaining option – to use taxpayers’ money to fund the construction of new coal-fired power stations. The private sector certainly won’t risk it.

It’s the old strategy of “why put off until tomorrow what you can put off forever”?

Or, as Malcolm Turnbull put it at the COP28 meeting: “Nuclear’s only utility is as … a means of supporting fossil fuels by delaying and distracting the rollout of renewables”.

There is a middle path between the absolutists and the denialists.

A rational decarbonising energy policy would include the legislated safeguard mechanism, solar and wind energy, and – for firming capacity – the use of gas, big batteries and, where economically viable, pumped hydro.

Where gas producers can make carbon capture and storage feasible, they should be encouraged to do so. Trading in high-integrity carbon offsets should be part of the solution, especially for countries that lack viable renewable energy resources.

In various combinations, these features of a rational climate policy have been adopted by the Rudd, Gillard, Turnbull and Albanese governments. They were opposed by the Abbott government and, largely, by the Dutton-led Coalition.

Between them, absolutists and denialists would oppose most – if not all – of these sensible features.

Finding a demilitarised zone between these warring tribes is as elusive as it was when the Senate voted down a carbon price 14 years ago. Yet, it seems that most of the voting public feels the policy approach now being taken by federal and state governments lies along that narrow path.

The lesson from this story is to let warring tribes slug it out and get on with sound policy in the national interest.

December 12, 2023 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, politics | Leave a comment

Poland’s nuclear plans in question after negative assessment by security agency

Notes from Poland, DEC 9, 2023 

Part of Poland’s plans to develop nuclear power has been thrown into doubt after the Internal Security Agency (ABW) issued a negative opinion on planned investment in small modular reactors (SMRs) by a state-linked firm.

Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) – a joint venture between state energy giant Orlen and Sythos, a chemical company owned by one of Poland’s wealthiest men, Michał Sołowow – has been developing plans to build over 70 SMRs around Poland in partnership with a group of US and Canadian corporations.

However, earlier this week, the Polityka weekly reported that the ABW – Poland’s domestic counterintelligence and security agency – had issued a negative opinion on the plans. The climate ministry is required to obtain the ABW’s opinion as part of its assessment of the nuclear project.

The ABW’s opinion is not binding, but a negative assessment makes it unlikely the climate ministry would approve the SMR plans, reports industry news service Energetyka24………………………………………………

“Before issuing an opinion, the agency carries out a multi-element opinion procedure to assess the impact of the indicated investment on the internal security of the state,” Kamiński wrote in a statement.

According to Kamiński, OSCE’s investment “inappropriately secures the interests of the [state] treasury”. But he added that detailed information on this cannot be made public…………… https://notesfrompoland.com/2023/12/09/part-of-polands-nuclear-plans-in-question-after-negative-assessment-by-security-agency/

December 12, 2023 Posted by | politics, safety | Leave a comment

‘Moral Insanity’: Biden Admin Bypasses Congress to Rush Tank Shells to Israel

“Rushing deadly weapons to the far-right and openly genocidal Israeli government without congressional review robs American voters of their voice in Congress,” said one critic.

By Julia Conley / Common Dreams  https://scheerpost.com/2023/12/10/moral-insanity-biden-admin-bypasses-congress-to-rush-tank-shells-to-israel/

Hours after United States Ambassador Robert Wood on Friday acted alone to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, the Biden administration again illustrated its growing isolation in continuing to back Israel’s onslaught as it bypassed Congress to send more weapons to the country’s extreme right-wing government. 

The U.S. Defense Department posted a notice online Saturday saying U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had informed Congress that a government sale of 13,000 rounds of tank ammunition was moving forward, even though Congress had not completed an informal review of the transaction. 

The State Department invoked an emergency provision of the Arms Control Export Act to bypass the review process generally required for weapons sales to foreign nations. The sale, which Congress has no power to stop now that the provision has been invoked, was valued at more than $106 million. 

“Rushing deadly weapons to the far-right and openly genocidal Israeli government without congressional review robs American voters of their voice in Congress, emboldens Netanyahu to kill more Palestinian civilians, and furthers stains our nation’s standing in the world,” saidEdward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy director of the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR).

Mitchell noted that the sale was finalized as media outlets confirmed Israeli tanks have “deliberately targeted and slaughtered journalists in Lebanon.” 

“The Biden administration’s decision is an affront to democracy and an act of moral insanity,” he said. 

The State Department notified congressional committees of the sale around 11:00 pm EST Friday, hours after a new Pew Research poll showedthat only 35% of Americans support the Biden administration’s backing of Israel’s attacks on Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces have now killed more than 17,700 Palestinians in Gaza in just over two months, while claiming they are targeting Hamas. 

Thirteen members of the U.N. Security Council on Friday voted in favor of a humanitarian cease-fire, while the U.K. abstained from voting. The U.S. vetoed the resolution in a move CAIR condemned as “unconscionable.”

“It is not clear what level of suffering by the Palestinian people would prompt our nation’s leaders to act in their defense,” said CAIR national executive director Nihad Awad. 

Also on Saturday, the global charity Save the Children warned that at least 7,685 children under age five in Gaza are now so malnourished—a result of Israel’s total blockade of the enclave that began in October and the delivery of just a small fraction of the aid that is needed—that they require “urgent medical treatment to avoid death.”

“The repeated failure of the international community to act signifies a death knell to children,” said Jason Lee, country director for Save the Children. “I’ve seen children and families roaming the streets of what hasn’t been flattened in Gaza, with no food, nowhere to go, and nothing to survive on. Even the internationally-funded humanitarian aid response—Gaza’s last lifeline—has been choked by Israeli-imposed restrictions.”

“Gaza’s children are being condemned to further bombardment, starvation, and disease,” said Lee. “We must heed the lessons from the past and must immediately prevent ‘atrocity crimes’ from unfolding.”

The intensifying opposition to Israel’s U.S.- and U.K.-backed bombardment of Gaza was made apparent by an estimated 15,000-20,000 people who marched through London on Saturday to demand a cease-fire. 

December 11, 2023 Posted by | politics, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Fund for Nuclear Waste Exposure Victims in Limbo as Congress Balks at Cost

Bipartisan efforts to extend and expand a program granting compensation to victims of government-caused nuclear contamination are faltering. It is set to expire in June.

NYT, By Catie Edmondson, Reporting from the Capitol, Dec. 8, 2023

More than two decades ago, Congress declared that victims of government-caused nuclear contamination who developed cancer and other serious illnesses — including uranium miners and those exposed to radiation from Manhattan Project-era atomic tests — should receive federal compensation.

“The health of the individuals who were unwitting participants in these tests was put at risk to serve the national security interests of the United States,” read the law enacted in 1990. “The United States should recognize and assume responsibility for the harm done to these individuals.”

Now that statute, known as the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, is in peril, set to expire in June without a clear path for renewal. And an effort to broaden it substantially beyond Cold War-era victims, to others who have been harmed by the aftereffects in the decades since, has run into a brick wall on Capitol Hill.

The Senate voted overwhelmingly in July to attach legislation renewing and expanding the program to the annual defense policy bill. But in the final version negotiated behind doors by congressional leaders, that measure, sponsored by Senators Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, and Ben Ray Luján, Democrat of New Mexico, was dropped.

Republicans objected to its hefty price tag, which congressional scorekeepers estimated could top $100 billion.

In an angry floor speech on Thursday, Mr. Hawley said the move amounted to Congress “rescinding” the apology it had made to victims decades ago.

“That allows this program to expire,” he said. “That turns its back on the tens of thousands of good Americans who have sacrificed for their country, who have dutifully given their health and in many cases their lives to this country, and gotten nothing.”……………………………………………………………..

“It is true that the Manhattan Project is in the past and the Cold War-era nuclear testing is in the past,” Mr. Hawley said in an interview. “But people are still dealing with the consequences of that.”…………………………….   https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/us/politics/nuclear-exposure-compensation.html

December 11, 2023 Posted by | health, politics, weapons and war | Leave a comment

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