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The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

US govt provides yet another round of money grants to companies, including Westinghouse, to promote nuclear power development

Westinghouse, 6 other companies get DOE vouchers to help accelerate advanced nuclear technologies,  https://www.utilitydive.com/news/westinghouse-general-atomics-advanced-nuclear-doe-energy-vouchers/684957/

Voucher recipients “do not receive direct financial awards. Vouchers provide funding to DOE laboratories to help businesses overcome critical technological and commercialization challenges,” DOE said.

The Department of Energy announced last week that it has awarded vouchers to seven companies “to accelerate the innovation and application of advanced nuclear technologies.”

According to DOE, voucher recipients “do not receive direct financial awards. Vouchers provide funding to DOE laboratories to help businesses overcome critical technological and commercialization challenges.” All voucher recipients have to cover at least 20% of any costs, DOE said.

Companies receiving the awards include the following:


Alpha Tech Research Corp. will collaborate with Argonne National Laboratory “to advance the development of a promising yttrium hydride-based moderator for its molten salt microreactor concept. The data will be used to inform the design and size of the reactor.”General Atomics will work with Oak Ridge National Laboratory “to examine the material behavior of irradiated silicon carbide composite samples. The data will help inform material behavior models required to license the use of silicon carbide-based structures in nuclear reactors.”


  • Ultra Energy     will work with Oak Ridge National Laboratory “to organize and design high-temperature reactor testing to support the testing and further development of its new prototype detector that could help enhance the safe operation of commercial reactors once commercialized. Test results will demonstrate suitability of the prototype and allow for further development for commercial deployment.”
  • Westinghouse Electric Co. will work with PNNL and Idaho National Laboratory “to perform post-irradiation experiments on its chromium-coated accident-tolerant fuel cladding. The project will focus on corrosion and hydrogen behavior in the cladding from two different coating processes.”
  • The vouchers were provided under DOE’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear initiative. Last week’s vouchers were the third round awarded in fiscal year 2023.

July 6, 2023 Posted by | business and costs, politics, USA | 1 Comment

Missouri S&T will ask St. Louis-area residents their opinions about nuclear waste

St. Louis Public Radio | By Jonathan Ahl, July 5, 2023 

Missouri University of Science and Technology wants to know what St. Louis-area residents think about nuclear waste. The school has received a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to study the issue.

For decades, the federal government has explored the possibility of storing spent nuclear fuel at the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada, but the Energy Department now says that option is off the table.

This has led to S&T’s involvement as the leader of one of 13 teams across the nation conducting research for the agency.

The S&T team will assess and document the concerns of residents in the St. Louis area who live in the proximity of legacy waste sites where national defense-related nuclear material from World War II up to the Cold War is stored………………………………………………..

Usman said the project is equal parts science, education and public opinion polling. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, St. Louis University and the University of Missouri will be part of Missouri S&T’s research.

The findings from all over the country that are collected will be sent to the Department of Energy as it decides how to proceed with finding locations for nuclear waste storage.

Missouri has one operating large nuclear reactor, owned by Ameren, in Callaway County. Missouri S&T has a small nuclear reactor on campus that is primarily used for educational purposes.

There are six nuclear reactor sites in Illinois, all in the central or northern part of the state. https://news.stlpublicradio.org/health-science-environment/2023-07-05/missouri-s-t-will-ask-st-louis-area-residents-their-opinions-about-nuclear-waste

July 6, 2023 Posted by | public opinion, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Senate passes $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA): No audits necessary

Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL  1 Aug 23

President Joe wants no audit of the billions in weapons of mass Ukrainian death provided in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

His compliant Senate majority gave him every buck of the 886 billion bucks he requested to wage US exceptionalism round the world. Besides ravaging the life of millions in dozens of countries worldwide from bombs and sanctions, US foreign policy risks nuclear war with Russia and China over Ukraine and Taiwan respectively.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s amendment requiring audits and investigations of Ukraine aid was swamped 78 -20, with all Democrats voting to keep auditors away from the weapons giveaways. They are terrified an honest investigation would reveal how billions in weapons wind up with bad actors, get destroyed as soon as they’re introduced into the killing fields, and simply raise the Ukrainian death toll that can only be eliminated by negotiations. 

America’s grotesque military budget should be reported in full on every front page, instead of disappearing from public consumption like invisible ink. On cable/network news, it’s the shame of America that dare not speak its name.

Every day countless Ukrainians die for US exceptionalism, and every day nuclear confrontation creeps closer.

July 2, 2023 Posted by | business and costs, politics, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Riverkeeper celebrates bipartisan Assembly passage of bill to stop radioactive wastewater discharges into the Hudson River; Governor Hochul must sign.

https://www.riverkeeper.org/news-events/news/stop-polluters/power-plant-cases/indian-point/assembly-passes-bill-to-stop-radioactive-dumping-into-the-hudson/?fbclid=IwAR2asQi1EJLIz75wSyXdJjIEb2yO1bflT0hu-EBB8QFIbiuwsDmq7Sz57vY 23 June 23

 Riverkeeper, the leading environmental organization dedicated to protecting the Hudson River, celebrates the Assembly taking the final legislative step after the unanimous bipartisan Senate passage of crucial legislation aimed at safeguarding the economic vitality of the Hudson River from the imminent threat of radioactive wastewater discharge at Indian Point by Holtec International, the firm responsible for decommissioning the nuclear power plant. With the legislation now at Governor Hochul’s desk, she must sign the bill immediately to prevent Holtec from releasing radioactive wastewater into the Hudson River.

“The unanimous bipartisan support in the Senate and the bipartisan vote in the Assembly sends a clear signal that New Yorkers of all stripes are opposed to Holtec’s plans. Governor Hochul must sign the legislation to draw a firm line against the use of our river as a dumping ground for radioactive waste and pave the way for a prosperous future for the Hudson River and its surrounding communities,” said Tracy Brown, President of Riverkeeper, “We cannot underestimate the impact of the public perception of a severely polluted Hudson River. Together we have made great strides in cleaning up the Hudson, which has supported increased water-based recreation and tourism. We cannot let outmoded “business-as-usual” polluting practices undercut that work and our goal of a clean and healthy Hudson for all.”

Riverkeeper thanks Assemblymember Dana Levenberg and Senator Pete Harckham for their relentless efforts in championing this important legislation, S6893/A7208. We also thank Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins for their leadership in ensuring the legislation received a vote.

Instead of allowing Holtec to discharge the wastewater, Riverkeeper together with a coalition of partners are calling for the secure on-site storage of the contaminated water on the Indian Point site for at least a period of 12.5 years. This would allow for one half life to elapse and reduce the radioactivity of the spent fuel pool water and protect the economic interests of the state, while alternative disposal methods are thoroughly evaluated. Riverkeeper is a member of the Indian Point Decommissioning Oversight Board and provides expertise on issues related to water quality, public health, and impacts to wildlife.

The overwhelming opposition from the public against Holtec’s profit-driven discharges has resonated across the state, as concerned citizens and communities rally together to protect the Hudson River as the vital resource it is.

Riverkeeper stands firm in its commitment to defending the Hudson River and urges Governor Hochul to immediately sign the legislation before Holtec proceeds with the release of radioactive wastewater.

Concerned citizens can take action by urging Governor Hochul to sign the legislation immediately.

June 24, 2023 Posted by | politics, USA, wastes | 1 Comment

Sweden reverses its long-standing nuclear-free policy

Sweden adopts new fossil-free target, making way for nuclear. Nuclear
generation has increased in Sweden despite a vote 40 years ago to phase-out
nuclear reactors.

Sweden’s parliament adopted a change to its energy
targets on Tuesday, which will see it become 100% fossil fuel-free by 2045.
The country previously sought to transition to 100% renewable energy by
2045. The change means that nuclear generation can count towards the
government’s energy targets.

Sweden’s Government voted to phase-out nuclear
power 40 years ago, but in June 2010 parliament voted to repeal the policy.
The government elected last year seeks to promote nuclear power. Sweden has
set a target to become carbon neutral by 2045. Electricity demand in the
country is expected to reach 300 terawatt-hours by 2040.

Power Technology 22nd June 2023

https://www.power-technology.com/news/sweden-adopts-new-fossil-free-target-making-way-for-nuclear/

June 24, 2023 Posted by | politics, Sweden | Leave a comment

Prodding the Pentagon

Politico 6/21/23

FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — PRODDING THE PENTAGON: A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation today that would require the Defense Department to pass an independent audit by the end of fiscal year 2024.

If enacted, the Audit the Pentagon Act of 2023 would require any DOD component that fails to pass an audit to return 1 percent of its budget to the Treasury for deficit reduction.

“If we are serious about spending taxpayer dollars wisely and effectively, we have got to end the absurdity of the Pentagon being the only agency in the federal government that has never passed an independent audit,” wrote Sen. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.), who co-led the bill alongside CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-Iowa).

Co-sponsors include Sens. RON WYDEN (D-Ore.), MIKE LEE (R-Utah), ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.), MIKE BRAUN (R-Ind.), JEFF MERKLEY (D-Ore.), RAND PAUL (R-Ky.), ED MARKEY (D-Mass.), and TAMMY BALDWIN (D-Wis.).

The Pentagon, which has a budget totaling $886 billion for fiscal year 2024, has long come under fire for excessive spending. Calls for oversight have ramped up in recent months after reports of massive price gouging by defense contractors, who will receive almost half of the budget this year.

June 22, 2023 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Humza Yousaf vows to rid independent Scotland of nuclear weapons

First Minister wants to enshrine a nuclear-free Scotland in a post-independence constitution.

Mark Macaskill19 , Telegraph, June 2023

The removal of nuclear weapons from Scottish soil will be enshrined in a post-independence constitution, Humza Yousaf, the first minister, has said.

The plan is contained in the SNP’s latest blueprint to help the country meet future challenges in the event that the union is dismantled.

The nuclear pledge revives a call made almost a decade ago by Mr Yousaf’s predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon, who questioned why Scottish taxpayers were funding “one of the largest concentrations of nuclear weapons in Europe on our doorsteps”…………………..

“What we will not see under these proposals, are nuclear weapons on the Clyde. This proposed constitution would ban nuclear weapons from an Independent Scotland.”

The drafting of a new constitution is outlined in a new strategy paper, Building a New Scotland………………………………………

In 2014, Ms Sturgeon, who at the time was deputy first minister, said that embedding a legal obligation to work for nuclear disarmament in a Scottish constitution would place a duty on Holyrood to strive for the removal of submarine-based Trident nuclear weapons.

In 2021, the Ministry of Defence reversed a 10-year-old disarmament plan by announcing the “ceiling” on the UK’s nuclear weapons stockpile would increase from 225 to 260 because of “technological and doctrinal threats”.

The same year, Nukewatch, which monitors the transport of nuclear weapons, claimed that the UK government had quietly boosted the number of Trident nuclear warheads stored on the Clyde in the previous five years. It estimated that 37 new warheads were delivered from England to Scotland between 2015 and 2020. Nine were added in 2019 and 13 in 2020.  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/06/19/humza-yousaf-vows-to-rid-scotland-of-nuclear-weapons/

June 21, 2023 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Japan urged to halt release of toxic water

By Xu Weiwei in Hong Kong and Karl Wilson in Sydney, China Daily : 2023-06-19 

Impact of Fukushima nuclear plant discharge plan seen as catastrophic

Environmental and social experts from across Asia have called on Japan to refrain from contaminating the sea with radioactive wastewater after it began test running the equipment to discharge toxic water from a crippled nuclear power plant into the Pacific.

The nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant will contain traces of tritium, a radioactive isotope, and possibly other radioactive traces such as carbon-14, scientists said.

“Nobody wants to dump (radioactive substances) into the ocean,” said David Krofcheck, senior lecturer in the faculty of science at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

“We need to be aware of the difference between tritium and carbon-14, on one hand, and the radioactive fission products which tend to remain in the human body,” he said, adding that tritium could still enter the food chain throughout its buildup in underwater plants.

“This organically bound tritium still decays with a half-life of 12.3 years, and it stays in the human body for about 10 days, the biological half-life, before excretion.”

Instead of pumping the wastewater into the sea, Japan can dispose of it safely, Krofcheck said, offering an alternative for managing the Fukushima water: to hold it on site in an ever “growing number of water tanks”.


“If the water is properly filtered to leave only tritium and carbon-14, the natural decay of tritium can be used to reduce its radioactivity.

“Since the radioactive half-life of tritium is 12.3 years, holding the water in tanks for seven half-lives would reduce the tritium content to less than 1 percent of its current value.”

This option still leaves the carbon-14 that would still roughly have the same radioactivity because of its 5,730-year half-life, he said.

The potential impact of releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima plant into the ocean remains a subject of contention and concern among stakeholders, said Anjal Prakash, clinical associate professor (research) and research director of the Bharti Institute of Public Policy at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad.

“The ocean release decision itself has sparked opposition, leading to ongoing debates on alternative water management strategies. The decision-making process weighs safety, public perception, regulations and potential impacts on industries and trade.”

While the Japanese government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company, operator of the crippled plant, say there is minimal risk, differing opinions persist, Prakash said, adding that factors such as ocean currents, distance, dilution and treatment efficacy will determine the impact on neighboring areas, including South Asia, Pacific Island countries, Australia, New Zealand and the rest of the world.

Long-term effects and bioaccumulation concerns remain, he said. “Evaluating the precise impact is complex, necessitating considerations of various factors and ongoing scientific research.”

Despite continuing opposition from domestic experts, civic groups and fishery organizations, Japan has been rushing to dump the nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean, which has also spurred protests from neighboring countries and communities within the Pacific Islands.

Firm opposition

In April the Fijian government reaffirmed its opposition to Japan’s plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.

Fiji’s Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica said earlier that the Pacific Ocean should not be seen as an easy and convenient dumping ground for unwanted and dangerous materials and waste that larger countries produce but do not want to use in their own ecosystem, local media reported.

“The social and economic impact of this irresponsible behavior is catastrophic, particularly on our vulnerable communities,” he said.

Environmental groups have argued that the move sets a bad precedent and poses a serious danger to Pacific communities that depend on the ocean for their livelihoods…………….

Many people are asking why, if the wastewater treated by Japan’s Advanced Liquid Processing System is so safe, Japanese are not using such water for alternative purposes, in manufacturing and agriculture for instance.

According to a report issued by Tokyo Electric Power Company on June 5, the radioactive elements in the marine fish caught in the harbor of the Fukushima plant far exceed safety levels for human consumption. In particular, the content of cesium-137, a radioactive element and a common byproduct in nuclear reactors, is said to be 180 times that of the standard maximum stipulated in Japan’s food safety law.

Kalinga Seneviratne, a visiting lecturer at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, said: “The contamination will affect the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty (adopted in 1986) areas as well when it eventually flows there. Also, since fish stocks are migratory, contaminated fish could be caught within the treaty area.”…………………………. https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202306/19/WS648f8421a31033ad3f7bce66.html

June 20, 2023 Posted by | ASIA, oceans, politics | 1 Comment

Independent Scotland would ban nuclear weapons in written constitution

Independent Scotland would safeguard National Health Service and ban nuclear weapons in written constitution The plans are part of a new independence paper from the Scottish Government.

The Scotsman, By Conor Matchett, 19th Jun 2023,

An independent Scotland’s written constitution under the SNP would safeguard the right to strike, protect the NHS and ban nuclear weapons from being based in Scotland, a new paper from the Scottish Government will set out.

In an attempt to regain the political momentum ahead of the summer, Humza Yousaf will reveal the contents of the paper at a press conference in Glasgow today.

The paper will be the fourth in the ‘Building a New Scotland’ series which have set out the Scottish Government’s arguments for independence, initially ahead of the hoped October 2023 independence referendum, and is the first to be published in over eight months.

……………….. it would also include a constitutional ban on nuclear weapons being based in Scotland.

Mr Yousaf said: “Our proposals would provide an opportunity for people in Scotland to shape the newly independent country and create a permanent, modern, written constitution to describe the type of country Scotland would be and how it would be governed. Successive UK Governments have taken Scotland in the wrong direction and with independence we would radically shift where power lies and put it back in the hands of the people who live in Scotland.

…………. what we will not see under these proposals, are nuclear weapons on the Clyde. This proposed constitution would ban nuclear weapons from an Independent Scotland……………………………………………………..  https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/independent-scotland-would-safeguard-nhs-and-ban-nuclear-weapons-in-written-constitution-4187232

June 19, 2023 Posted by | politics | Leave a comment

Zelensky’s Swiss parliament speech boycotted by right-wing Swiss People’s Party

Rightwing members of the Swiss parliament boycotted an address by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky that called for war materiel export restrictions to be eased.

swissinfo.ch June 15, 2023June 15, 2023

Members of the Swiss People’s Party were absent from the parliamentary chamber in protest against perceived interference of Swiss affairs.

Zelensky has in the past urged Switzerland to beef up sanctions against Russian oligarchs and now wants Swiss-manufactured weapons to be sent to Ukraine.

“I know there is a discussion in Switzerland about the exportation of war materiel to protect and defend Ukraine. That would be vital,” Zelensky said during his video-link address on Thursday. “We need weapons so we can restore peace in Ukraine.”……………………………

Switzerland has resisted calls from Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain to allow them to re-export Swiss-made ammunitions and weapons to support Ukraine in the fight against Russia.

Earlier this year, the Swiss parliament voted against a softening of war materiel export restrictions as it would violate Switzerland’s position of neutrality.

The People’s Party refused to listen to Zelensky’s address that was interpreted as an attempt to weaken the Swiss tradition of neutrality.

“………..we must not allow ourselves to be put under pressure on the issue of sanctions or arms deliveries,” said People’s Party parliamentarian Alfred Heer.

“I oppose the Ukrainian President making a video address in the House of Representatives,” tweeted Thomas Aeschi, parliamentary leader of the People’s Party, last month when Zelensky’s address was announced.

“Ukraine is trying to directly influence parliament to take a decision on weapons/ammunition deliveries. Our neutrality would be violated!”………….. https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/zelensky-s-swiss-parliament-speech-boycotted-by-right-wingers/48592932

June 18, 2023 Posted by | politics, Switzerland | Leave a comment

Why Saudi Arabia wants a ‘nuclear Aramco’.

Monash University, Ran Porat 16 June 23

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Riyadh at the beginning of June to bargain with the Saudis over a package of concessions to be granted to the kingdom in exchange for normalisation of relations with Israel.

Under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the Saudis reportedly asked the US to jointly create a “nuclear Aramco”, modelled after the kingdom’s oil and gas giant that has played such a large role in building the country’s substantial wealth

The idea is to rebrand Saudi Arabia as a civilian nuclear energy powerhouse, and worldwide exporter of nuclear products and technology, given the expected reduction in the usage of fossil fuel in coming decades as part of efforts to control climate change.

Yet there’s another aspect to the Saudi request. As part of this proposed nuclear project, the Saudis invited the Americans to jointly manufacture and monitor uranium enrichment capabilities – a must for the production of nuclear fuel used in power generating reactors.

Yet, the capacity to enrich uranium is also a crucial part of any nuclear weapons project. From that perspective, it seems that the Sunni kingdom likely aspires to create deterrence against its archrival, Shi’ite Iran, which is fast-approaching the status of a nuclear threshold country……………………………………………………..

The “nuclear Aramco” idea suggests a seismic shift in the Saudi nuclear policy, pushing towards the development of in-house independent atomic deterrence.

Saudi civil, and possibly also military, nuclear capabilities are still years away. Yet, the dangerous scenario of a nuclear-weapon zone stretching across Asia from North Korea, through China, via Pakistan and India, then Iran and finally Saudi Arabia (and on to Israel), suddenly looks closer than ever………………………

This scenario could be avoided if the Saudis could be made to feel safer against the Iranian threat, and could trust the international community to defuse Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

One path to achieving this is by increasing the pressures on Tehran in a true attempt to stop, and hopefully even reverse, Iran’s frantic and dangerous drive to acquire nuclear weapons capabilities…………………………….  https://lens.monash.edu/@politics-society/2023/06/16/1385882/explainer-why-does-saudi-arabia-want-a-nuclear-aramco

June 18, 2023 Posted by | politics, Saudi Arabia | Leave a comment

U.S. Congress caves in to nuclear industry pressure for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to dumb down standards, and shift fees to tax-payers.

“they want the NRC to dumb down its own standards and just rubber-stamp anything that they put before the agency, no matter how flimsy.”

The industry has long argued that NRC fees are an impediment to innovation……the 2023 Appropriations Act…. allows the NRC to shift certain fees from the applicant to the taxpayer.

US Nuclear Push Brings Regulatory Growing Pains, Energy Intelligence Group ,Jun 16, 2023, Jessica Sondgeroth,

Congressional pressure on the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has intensified in recent years, with pro-nuclear lawmakers pressuring the independent government regulator to further reduce regulatory review times, update its regulatory philosophy and minimize fees for developers of next-generation reactor vendors and small modular reactors (SMRs). Lawmakers have already passed new laws to this effect, and proposed legislation would increase the agency’s role in nuclear technology exports. All the while, the NRC is struggling to hire new staff with morale low and older staff members retiring.

“We have seen major shifts in NRC’s workload, budget, staff size, hiring, and overall outlook for the future,” Jeff Baran, NRC’s longest-serving commissioner said last month at his third renomination hearing on Capitol Hill. When Baran was first appointed to the NRC’s five-member board in 2014, “there was little talk of new construction beyond Vogtle. There was some interest in small modular reactors, but almost no real discussion of advanced, non-light-water reactors. Today, we are in a very different situation.”

Indeed, Congress is pushing the NRC to lean away from its traditional, more deterministic regulatory model and shift toward an increasingly risk-informed approach to rulemaking that supports applications for advanced reactors, SMRs and new fuel designs. Meanwhile, a suite of new reactor designs are in early pre-application talks with the agency. And thanks to new policies supporting nuclear in the energy transition, owners of existing reactors are incentivized to extend operating lives from 60 to 80 years rather than retire. All of this means that the NRC’s “overall workload is increasing,” Baran said.

But so too is the pressure on the agency to further minimize the regulatory burden on new reactor vendors and developers, and not all of these changes are being welcomed. “I think it is outrageous that the nuclear industry continues to scapegoat the NRC for its own failures and incompetence,” Union of Concerned Scientists Director of Nuclear Power Safety Ed Lyman told Energy Intelligence. “Instead of improving its applications and doing the hard and time-consuming work to provide sufficient technical justification for the safety of experimental, paper reactor designs, they want the NRC to dumb down its own standards and just rubber-stamp anything that they put before the agency, no matter how flimsy.”

Below are only some of the challenges the agency now faces:

  • Advanced Reactor Rulemaking The NRC is in the middle of developing a two-part regulatory framework for advanced reactor designs…………. Advanced reactor and SMR vendors are pushing for more flexibility in the rules, citing advancements in computational modeling, but that is still a challenge given the lack of operational data and staff. ……….
  • Review Times
  • There are now new generic review milestones in place as mandated by the 2019 Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act. The NRC has shortened review schedules from approximately five years for conventional LWR designs to 30-42 months, depending on the application and design. With pre-application engagement, those timeframes can be shortened even further…………………………….But the industry is pushing for more. Nuclear Energy Institute Senior Policy Director John Kotek told Energy Intelligence last month that another way to trim regulatory reviews is through less rigorous environmental reviews and fewer hearings.
  • Fees The industry has long argued that NRC fees are an impediment to innovation. Congress has already alleviated some of this burden on new reactor applicants with $5 million from the 2023 Appropriations Act for the Advanced Nuclear Energy Cost-Share Grant Program. ………….. This allows the NRC to, on a case-by-case basis, shift certain fees from the applicant to the taxpayer………………………………..
  • Staffing
  • The agency’s 9.6% attrition rate “is well above the average for federal agencies,” with one-third of the NRC’s workforce eligible for retirement,……………………………….

All of this means that the regulator remains under constant pressure to further streamline and minimize review times and limit environmental and safety reviews. Such pressure will only increase with the proposed Advance Act, introduced by a bipartisan group of senators. The bill cleared the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee in a May 31 business meeting by a vote of 16-3, but must still be passed by both the full Senate and the House of Representatives before becoming law.  https://www.energyintel.com/00000188-c325-d38d-a58b-df3509750000

June 17, 2023 Posted by | politics, safety, USA | Leave a comment

The Voltaire Network on the collapse of Kiev. Ukraine -its past, and now

The collapse of Kiev, Thierry Meyssan, 14 June 23, Translation, Roger Lagassé

1 The fate of arms has decided. The moment of truth has spoken. The Ukrainian counter-offensive has failed miserably. NATO’s considerable armaments were useless. The battlefield is littered with corpses. All for nothing. The territories that joined the Russian Federation by referendum will remain Russian.

This “checkmate” not only marks the end of Ukraine as we have known it, but of Western domination that had staked its future on its lies.
The multipolar world may be born this summer at several international summits. A new way of thinking in which might no longer makes right.

This article was written on June 10. At that time, the only information available came from Russia and allied headquarters. Ukraine had imposed a total embargo on its counter-offensive. We should therefore have waited before publishing this text. However, we felt that if Ukraine had been able to break through Russia’s first line of defense, even if it hadn’t managed to get into the breach, it would have let us know. We are therefore publishing this analysis.

In six days, from June 4 to 10, 2023, the Ukrainian army launched its counter-offensive and suffered a terrible defeat.

During the summer, Russian forces built two defense lines in the part of Novorossia they liberated and in the Donbass. They prevent the passage of all armored vehicles.

Ukrainian forces have chosen a dozen points of attack to retake “enemy-occupied” territory. Their armored vehicles were unable to get through the first line of Russian defenses and piled up in front of it, where they were destroyed one by one by Russian artillery and suicide drones.

At the same time, the Russian army targeted missiles at command centers and arsenals inside Ukrainian territory and destroyed them.

The Ukrainian air defense system was destroyed by hypersonic missiles as soon as it was installed. In its absence, the Ukrainians were unable to carry out the maneuvers planned by Nato.

Russia did not use any of its new weapons, apart from its NATO weapons jamming system and some of its hypersonic missiles.

The border is now a long graveyard of tanks and men. Airports are full of smoking Mig-29 and F-16 wrecks.

The staffs of the United States, the Atlantic Alliance and Ukraine are passing the buck for this historic disaster. Hundreds of thousands of human lives and 500 billion dollars have been wasted for nothing. Western weapons, which shook the world in the 90s, are now worthless compared to the Russian arsenal of today. Strength has changed sides.

Two conclusions can already be drawn:

DO NOT CONFUSE THE UKRAINIAN ARMY WITH THE “INTEGRAL NATIONALISTS”

While there is no longer a Ukrainian army capable of high-intensity warfare, there are still the forces of the “integral nationalists” (sometimes called “Banderists” or “Ukrainian-Nazis”). But they are only trained for low-intensity warfare. Its leaders went to fight in Chechnya in the late 90s on behalf of the CIA and NATO secret services, and sometimes in Syria in the 2020s. They are trained in targeted assassinations, sabotage and civilian massacres. Nothing more.

They succeeded
1. In sabotaging the Russian-German-French-Dutch Nord Stream gas pipeline, plunging Germany and then the European Union into recession on September 26, 2022.
2. In sabotaging the Kerch Strait bridge (known as the “Crimean Bridge”), on October 8, 2022.
3. In attacking the Kremlin with drones, May 3, 2023
4. In using drones to attack the Ivan Kurs, the intelligence vessel defending the Turkish Stream gas pipeline in the Black Sea, on May 26, 2023.
5. In sabotaging the Kakhovka dam to split Novorossia in two, on June 6, 2023.
6. In sabotaging the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline to destroy the Russian mineral fertilizer industry, on June 7, 2023.

Just as in the two World Wars and the Cold War, they proved their terrorist capabilities, but played no decisive role on the battlefield.

Now more than ever, we need to distinguish between Ukrainians who thought they were defending their people, and the “integral nationalists” [1], who don’t care about their compatriots and have been trying for a century to eradicate Russians and their culture.

THE UKRAINE WE KNEW IS DEAD

Until now, Ukraine has been above all a power of communication. Kiev succeeded in making people believe that the 2014 coup d’état that overthrew a democratically elected president in favor of integral nationalists was a revolution. Likewise, it has managed to make people forget the way it crushed its citizens in the Donbass, refusing to give them access to public services, to pay civil servants’ salaries and pensions to the elderly and, ultimately, bombing its cities. Finally, it succeeded in convincing Westerners that Ukraine was a homogenous country with a single population living a common history.

As in most wars, there is also a “civil war” aspect [2]. Today, everyone can see that, contrary to what was claimed, Vladimir Putin’s analysis was not a reconstruction of history, but a factual truth. The people of Donbass are profoundly Russian. The people of Novorossia (including Crimea) are of Russian culture, albeit with a different history (they have never known serfdom). Ukraine has never existed as an independent state in history, apart from one decade, during the periods 1917-22 and 1941-45, and three other decades, since 1991.

During these three experiences, Kiev never stopped purging its people and massacring its citizens when the full nationalists were in power (1917-22 with Simon Petliura, 1941-45 with Stepan Bandera, and 2014-22 with Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelensky). In total, over the course of a century, the “integral nationalists” – as they call themselves – have murdered more than 3 million of their compatriots.

During the First World War, the people of Novorossia had already risen up around the anarchist Nestor Makhno; during the Second World War, the people of Donbass and Novorossia rose up as Soviets; while this time, they are fighting against the “integral nationalists” in Kiev with Russian forces.

The only way to stop these massacres is to separate the “integral nationalists” from the population of Russian culture they want to kill [3]. Since Nato staged a coup in 2014 and put them in power, there’s no other way but to note the country’s current division and leave them in power in Kiev. It is the Ukrainians, and they alone, who will have to overthrow them.

Current military operations have already done so. The part of the country liberated by the Russians voted in a referendum to join the Federation. However, last year’s Russian advance was halted by President Vladimir Putin as part of negotiations with Ukraine, conducted first in Belarus, then in Turkey. Odessa is still Ukrainian in law, even though it is culturally Russian. Transnistria is still Moldavian, even though it is culturally Russian.

The war is technically over. No offensive can alter the current borders. Admittedly, the fighting may drag on and a peace treaty is a long way off, but the die is cast. There is still a problem in Ukraine and Moldavia: Odessa and Transnistria are still not Russian. Above all, there remains a fundamental problem: in violation of their oral and written commitments, the members of the Atlantic Alliance have stockpiled US weapons on Russia’s borders, jeopardizing its security.

June 15, 2023 Posted by | history, politics, Reference, weapons and war | 3 Comments

Beware: we ignore Robert F Kennedy Jr’s candidacy at our peril

When he talks about the machinery of endless war that shapes US foreign policy, and suggests that the goal in Ukraine should be to end the carnage, he is articulating ideas that have become unspeakable in too many liberal circles. There is great power there.

As Kennedy’s fortunes soar, the Democratic consultant class continues to sneer – seemingly learning no lessons from Trump’s rise, or the current unpopularity of their leader, or the desperate desire of so many members of their party for something that feels close enough to courage, truth, and justice that they are willing to fall for a counterfeit copy of a copy of a copy..

Naomi Klein, Guardian, 14 June 23

Given the strengths that Kennedy possesses as a candidate, we should expect him to continue to build momentum. Ignoring him is not an option


When Robert F Kennedy Jr announced his plan to run for president in the Democratic party primaries this April, the dominant liberal strategy towards the once tough environmental lawyer – now spreader of all manner of dangerous, unsupported theories – seemed to be: ignore him and wait for him to go away. Don’t cover, don’t engage and don’t debate. Jim Kessler, a leader of the pro-Biden think tank Third Way, called him a “gadfly and a laughingstock”; Democratic consultant Sawyer Hackett brushed him off as “a gnat.”

Well, if recent developments in the Kennedy campaign have demonstrated anything, it’s that denial is not a viable political strategy. Kennedy honed his social media skills over years to spread his anti-vaccine message, so he has simply done an end-run around traditional media and party structures: a “Twitter Spaces” tete-a-tete with Elon Musk and a string of video streams, several with hundreds of thousands of views and listens, on every channel from Breaking Points on the left to Jordan Peterson’s podcast on the right (that one quickly broke a million views on YouTube).

He has landed an apparent endorsement from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and this week is being feted at a Bay Area fundraiser filled with heavy hitters. According to a CNN poll released in late May, support for Kennedy was at 20% among respondents who identify as Democrats or Democratic-leaning.

It’s time to abandon wishful thinking and figure out what is going on. What are the reasons his campaign is resonating with a consequential slice of US voters? (And voters beyond the US, where he has a large following?) What pain, silence and rage is he tapping into? What important truths and realities is he concealing and eliding? And, given the near impossible odds of him winning the race which he is currently running in, what is his real end-game?

Let’s start with the reservoirs of Kennedy’s appeal.

The Power of Story…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Tapping Into the Rage

It’s not only the combined power of a dynastic family, violent crime and choose-your-own-adventure conspiracy culture that RFK Jr is riding. He is also tapping into a wellspring of real pain and outrage. These points may be obvious but they bear repeating: a great many voters are hurting and rightfully angry: about powerful corporations controlling their democracy and profiting off disease and poverty. About endless wars draining national coffers and maiming their kids. About stagnating wages and soaring costs. This is the world – inflamed on every level – that the two-party duopoly has knowingly created.

RFK Jr’s campaign speaks directly to this outrage, with its central message about “the corrupt merger between state and corporate power.” When he talks about drug companies controlling the national health agencies and polluters controlling environmental regulators, he is persuasive, which is why he was a good lawyer. When he rails against the corporations who made a killing during Covid, profiteering off the pandemic and using it to crush their rivals, he is speaking my language and it’s hard not to nod along.

When he talks about the machinery of endless war that shapes US foreign policy, and suggests that the goal in Ukraine should be to end the carnage, he is articulating ideas that have become unspeakable in too many liberal circles. There is great power there.

………………………………………………………………………… Giving Voice to Ecological Grief

As a lifelong outdoorsman and longtime environmental lawyer, RFK Jr also does something very few politicians in modern life seem capable of doing: put into words our moment of shattering ecological loss and grief. “Environmental protection binds us to our own humanity and to all of creation,” he said on Earth Day. “When we destroy a species, when we destroy a special place, we’re diminishing our capacity to sense the divine, understand who God is, and what our own potential is as human beings.”

Kennedy is fluent in the language of heartbreak about dead rivers and devastated fisheries; of asthmatic lungs and increasingly silent springs. As smoke blots the sun across entire continents, this is not a skill to dismiss lightly. Who else has it? Not Joe Biden. Not Kamala Harris. Not even Barack Obama. Bernie Sanders was great on the facts of the climate crisis when he ran, and full of righteous fury at fossil fuel companies – but I don’t think I ever heard him speak with unabashed emotion about extinction. This is another vacuum that RFK Jr is skillfully filling.

Given the undeniable strengths that Kennedy possesses as a candidate, we should expect him to continue to build momentum, and continue to find new audiences. Ignoring him is not an option. What is needed instead is a serious engagement with the myths that underlie the Kennedy performance and that are key to his progressive appeal.


Myth #1: He would be a climate champion.

Because RFK Jr is so eloquent about pollution, many assume he would support policies that would tame the raging climate crisis. While that may have been true in the past, the facts have radically changed. In recent interviews, he claims climate science is too complex and abstract to explain and that, “I can’t independently verify that.” He also says that the climate crisis is being used to push through “totalitarian controls on society” orchestrated “by the World Economic Forum, Bill Gates, and all of these megabillionaires” – a green-tinged reboot of the same, all-too familiar conspiracy theories he rode to pandemic stardom, when he opposed virtually every Covid public health measure, from masks to vaccines to closures. Now he is marshaling the same arguments against climate action.

…………………………………………. But we should also be clear: actively spreading terror on the scale that RFK Jr has done for two decades is itself a public health crisis. The vaccine-autism myth stigmatizes people who are neuro-atypical, presenting them as tragic, and distracts from the urgent need to fight for greater accessibility and lifelong supports. It also discourages vaccination, which is already leading to a resurgence of diseases we thought we had defeated, from measles to diphtheria.

Kennedy complains that he used to be so marginalized for his conspiratorial views that speaking felt “like talking into a fucking tin can.” Well, thanks to his primary run, his tin can has been replaced with a global megaphone and millions more people are hearing his bogus theories. We will feel the ramifications of that for decades to come.

Myth #3: He is anti-war and pro-human rights.

Kennedy is most persuasive when opposing US military intervention abroad, or when he is discussing the humanitarian cost of the war in Ukraine, and calling for a peaceful settlement. But how seriously should we take his pacifism and human rights concerns? One hint rests in the blanket support he offers the Israeli government, one of the top recipients of aid from the US military industrial complex he decries, and a nation consistently unwilling to entertain peace with justice, while escalating tensions with Iran.

…………………………………………………………. As Kennedy’s fortunes soar, the Democratic consultant class continues to sneer – seemingly learning no lessons from Trump’s rise, or the current unpopularity of their leader, or the desperate desire of so many members of their party for something that feels close enough to courage, truth, and justice that they are willing to fall for a counterfeit copy of a copy of a copy.n  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jun/14/ignoring-robert-f-kennedy-jr-not-an-option?CMP=share_btn_tw

June 15, 2023 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

USA’s Inflation reduction act expands tax-payer funding for nuclear power plants

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

The Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”) created new incentives for the generation of electricity from nuclear power plants, supplementing incentive provisions that are currently in place.  The primary changes are (i) the adoption of a new 8-year production tax credit (“PTC”) for certain existing nuclear power plants, and (ii) enabling nuclear facilities to qualify under the new technology-neutral zero-emission PTC and investment tax credit (“ITC”) regime that will apply beginning in 2025.  Some of the other incentives adopted by the IRA may also support the nuclear industry.

Existing Incentives Prior to IRA

The advanced nuclear production tax credit (“Advanced Nuclear PTC”) under Code Section 45J of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”)………………………………..

Inflation Reduction Act Incentives…………….  enabling new nuclear power plants placed in service after December 31, 2024 to participate in the PTC and ITC incentives available for the production of electricity from renewable and other low-carbon sources. 

Zero-Emission Nuclear Power Production Tax Credit

The IRA creates a new zero-emission nuclear power production tax credit (“Zero Emission PTC”)  for certain existing nuclear power plants under Section 45U of the Code. ………………………

Clean Electricity Production Tax Credit

For facilities placed in service after December 31, 2024, the IRA replaces the existing PTC under Section 45 of the Code with a technology-neutral “zero emissions” clean electricity production tax credit (“Clean Electricity PTC”) under Section 45Y of the Code……………………………

Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit

For facilities placed in service after December 31, 2024, the IRA also replaces the existing ITC under Section 48 of the Code with a technology-neutral “zero emissions” clean electricity investment tax credit (“Clean Electricity ITC”) under Section 48E of the Code. The credit is available for any “qualified facility” and certain energy storage technology…………………………….

Other Tax Credit Incentives

The IRA provides some additional tax credit incentives that could benefit the development of future nuclear power plants…………………………………

High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium Funding

The IRA also earmarks $700 million for the development of a domestic market and production of high-assay low-enriched uranium (“HALEU”)………………………….  https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/inflation-reduction-act-expands-support-4367428/—

June 14, 2023 Posted by | politics, USA | 1 Comment

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