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UK ‘s Minister for Nuclear and Networks very upbeat about nuclear energy’s future

In February, Andrew Bowie  
became the UK’s first-ever
Minister for Nuclear and Networks

2 Andrew Bowie  
became the country’s first-ever U.K.,”
Minister for Nuclear and Networks nuclear minister in February,

TOKYO — The U.K. government is “absolutely committed” to boosting nuclear power as a key energy source, but national security is paramount as Chinese investment in new plants raises concerns, the minister in charge of the sector told Nikkei Asia.

Most of the U.K.’s existing nuclear plants are to be retired by the end of this decade, while a new generation of reactors is still under construction………

“The British government is absolutely committed to new nuclear, after about three decades of underinvestment. We are reinvesting and reinvigorating an industry which has not had the attention that it should in the U.K.,” Minister for Nuclear and Networks Andrew Bowie said in a recent interview. “On the whole, we are open to investors from overseas,” he added……………….

The UK government has announced plans to build as many as eight new reactors. However, major projects already underway are mired in controversy over funding from Chinese investors, given tense relations between London and Beijing……………

Now uncertainty looms for Hinkley Point C, which broke ground in 2016 under a joint investment by EDF and CGN as the first new nuclear power station built in the U.K. in nearly 30 years. The plant is home to the only two reactors now under construction, according to data from the International Atomic Energy Agency……….

“The pendulum has swung” on British nuclear policy, the minister said, but the pronuclear plans could fall victim to politics, with a general election due within 15 months………… https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Energy/U.K.-committed-to-nuclear-power-despite-China-funding-concerns2

August 22, 2023 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

New York governor blocks discharge of radioactive water into Hudson River from closed nuclear plant.

A measure to block discharges of radioactive
water into the Hudson River as part of the Indian Point nuclear plant’s
decommissioning was signed into law Friday by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The bill was introduced to thwart the planned release of 1.3 million
gallons of water with traces of radioactive tritium from the retired
riverside plant 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of New York City.

The plan sparked a groundswell of opposition in the suburban communities along the
river. Many feared the discharges would depress real estate values and
drive away sailors, kayakers and swimmers after decades of progress in
cleaning up the Hudson River.

AP 18th Aug 2023

https://apnews.com/article/indian-point-hudson-river-nuclear-pollution-2c8d0f5d31acc701bbc41bdb573bfac5

August 21, 2023 Posted by | politics, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

OPPENHEIMER AUTHOR ENDORSES NORTON BILL –  Nuclear Abolition and Conversion Act, H.R. 2775  

New York (August 16, 2023) more https://www.nuclearban.us/kai-bird/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=kai-bird– 

Kai Bird, co-author of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning book on which Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer movie is based, issued the following statement endorsing a bill by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), the  Nuclear Abolition and Conversion Act, H.R. 2775:  

“My book chronicles the birth of the nuclear age. Since the first nuclear testing and bombing in 1945, the man-made nuclear danger has continually increased. Now, today’s 13,000 atomic weapons are unthinkably destructive, indiscriminate, climate-altering devices that can be unleashed by design, by sabotage, or by accident. Therefore, I strongly endorse Congresswoman Norton’s Nuclear Abolition and Conversion Act, H.R. 2775. The bill calls for the US to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as a first step to safely, fairly, verifiably eliminating all nuclear weapons from all countries, and eventually converting the nuclear weapons jobs, brainpower, money, and infrastructure to genuine climate solutions and other pressing human needs.”

“Kai Bird is keenly aware of how the nuclear arms race started, and where it has taken us,” said Vicki Elson of NuclearBan.US. “He has said that ‘humanity missed a crucial opportunity at the outset of the nuclear age’ to eliminate the risk of nuclear catastrophe. But with this new movie reminding us of the urgency, and the Nuclear Ban Treaty offering a sensible pathway to global disarmament, maybe it’s not too late.”

The bill’s original co-sponsors are Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Mark Pocan (D-WI). 

August 21, 2023 Posted by | media, politics, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Zelensky holds court with Ukraine’s most notorious neo-Nazi

ALEXANDER RUBINSTEIN·AUGUST 16, 2023,  https://thegrayzone.com/2023/08/16/zelensky-ukraines-notorious-neo-nazi/—

Western media has dismissed evidence of neo-Nazi influence in Ukraine by citing President Zelensky’s Jewish heritage. But new footage published by Zelensky shows the leader openly collaborating with a fascist ideologue who once pledged to “lead the white races of the world in a final crusade…against Semite-led Untermenschen.”

Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky has uploaded a video to his Telegram channel showing him holding court with one of the most notorious neo-Nazis in modern Ukrainian history: Azov Battalion founder Andriy Biletsky.

On August 14, just over an hour after Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced another $200 million in military aid to Kiev, Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelensky published the video depicting what he called an “open conversation” with Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade.

“I am grateful to everyone who defends our country and people, who brings our victory closer,” Zelensky wrote, following his encounter with the unit on the outskirts of Bakhmut.

While casual Western observers might not have realized it, the brigade Zelensky was addressing is actually the newest iteration of Ukraine’s neo-Nazi Azov Battalion. 

“The 3rd separate assault brigade, excellent fighters,” Zelensky wrote days after the consultation, in a Twitter post which also alluded to a separate meeting with the Aidar Battalion, another neo-fascist outfit that has been accused of war crimes by Amnesty International. “They have stopped the enemy from advancing towards Kostiantynivka and pushed the occupiers back up to 8 kilometers.”

But the group’s origins are no secret. Describing their most recent rebrand in a YouTube video released in January, the unit explained: “Today we officially announce that the SSO AZOV is expanding to a brigade. From now on, we are the 3rd separate assault brigade of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

Like its predecessor, the unit is led by Andriy Biletsky, who founded the Azov Battalion and has long served as a figurehead for the closely-aligned National Corps political movement.

But in spite of Biletsky’s rich Nazi pedigree, the video Zelensky published shows him sharing a moment of bonhomie with a white nationalist militant who has described Jews as “our enemy,” or as the “real masters” of the oligarchs and craven politicians that have corrupted Ukraine.

“How could I be a Nazi?” Zelensky asked on the eve of Russia’s invasion, pointing to his Jewish heritage. “How could a people who lost eight million lives fighting Nazis support Nazism?” 

Perhaps the question needs to be asked again of the Ukrainian president following the tribute he paid to his country’s top neo-Nazi ideologue.

Ukraine’s Jewish leader meets “The White Leader”

Since Russia’s military operations in Ukraine kicked off in 2022, Biletsky had taken pains to distance himself from his fascist past. He now claims that an infamous promise he made to rid the world of “Semite-led untermenschen” was actually fabricated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. 

But Biletsky’s most notorious screed against Jews was not an isolated outburst. Indeed, his record of Nazi-inspired tirades is extensive, and has been a matter of public record for decades.

Biletsky’s college thesis was a defense of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, a group of paramilitary Nazi collaborators founded by Stepan Bandera’s Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists that carried out ethnic cleansings of more than 100,000 Jews and Poles. After leaving university, Biletsky quickly embedded with multiple fascist outfits, including the “Stepan Bandera All-Ukrainian Organization ‘Tryzub’” and the Social-National Party — not to be confused with the National Socialist Party of 1940’s Germany.

Biletsky left the Social-National Party in protest in 2004 as the group began to rebrand and move away from overt neo-Nazi symbolism. Two years later, he led an organization called Patriots of Ukraine, which has been linked to numerous mob assaults. One Patriot of Ukraine member has claimed the group was behind the seizure and torching of the headquarters of a political party during the US-backed “Maidan” coup in 2014.

According to Ukraine’s Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, Patriots of Ukraine “espoused xenophobic and neo-Nazi ideas, and was engaged in violent attacks against migrants, foreign students in Kharkiv and those opposing its views.” What’s more, “Biletsky and some other members were suspected of violent seizures of newspaper kiosks and similar criminal activities.”

“For three years running, the organization has gained notoriety for its torch processions around student campuses in Kharkiv, Kyiv and Chernivtsi which fill foreign students studying in Ukraine with terror,” the human rights group noted in 2008.

During a Patriots of Ukraine general meeting in 2009, Biletsky raved: “How can we describe our enemy? The authorities and the oligarchs. Do they have anything in common? Yes, they have one thing in common: they are Jews, or behind them are their real masters — Jews.”

In 2011, Biletsky was arrested for allegedly ordering Patriot of Ukraine members to kill a fellow ultranationalist inside the group’s office following a dispute, and spent the following years in pre-trial detention. Thanks to a resolution passed by the Ukrainian parliament after the Western-backed overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych, he would ultimately be released in 2014. But during his three years in custody, Biletsky managed to have a number of his fascist screeds published in a collection titled “The Word of the White Leader.”

One essay in the collection, dated to 2007, rails against Jews and Black migrants, casually dropping the n- word in the process. “Ukraine is the light of Europe! Our Nation still has enough strength to withstand this influx of foreigners, to cleanse our land and light the fire of purification throughout Europe!” the essay concludes.

In another essay outlining the ideology of “Social-Nationalism,” Biletsky praised National Socialism as a “great idea,” but criticized the Nazis as having been insufficiently eugenicist in their family welfare programs. He complained they supported parents with multiple children “without considering the biological quality of each individual family.”

“The result,” he continued, was “a significant increase in the birth rate, [but] a significant decrease in the percentage of the Nordic type in the population.” Because “these social benefits are aimed at the masses, they encouraged the worst human material to give birth to a child in the first place,” the self-proclaimed “White Leader” lamented.

A subsequent Biletsky manifesto entitled “Language and Race – Primary Issues” expanded on the “social-nationalist” concept: “Ukrainian social-nationalism considers the Ukrainian Nation to be a blood-racial community… Race is everything for nation-building – Race is the basis on which the superstructure grows in the form of national culture, which again comes from the racial nature of the people, and not from language, religion, economy, etc.”

As for the Russian-speaking population of Eastern Ukraine, Biletsky wrote, “The issue of total Ukrainization in the future social nationalist state will be resolved within 3-6 months with the help of a tough and balanced state policy.”

Following his release from prison, Biletsky got his chance to carry out a campaign of violence against the ethnic Russians of eastern Ukraine. As war broke out in the country, with the Russian majority of the east seeking self-determination in the face of a nationalist post-coup government viewed as Western puppets, Biletsky dissolved the Patriot of Ukraine and formed the Azov Battalion to wage a war against the separatists. Around this time, he was also elected to the Ukrainian parliament, remaining in office until 2019.

The new paramilitary outfit set up shop in Mariupol, using the port city as a staging ground for attacks on the Donbas, and violently crushing forms of feminist and liberal political expression on the city’s streets.

Meanwhile, the National Corps, a political party founded by Biletsky in 2016, has been described as a “nationalist hate group” even by the US State Department. The party has repeatedly incited violence against the Kiev Pride march, in 2018 calling on “all concerned citizens of Ukraine” to prevent the march from being held. In 2019, one National Corps leader had a more direct message: “Stay home, and don’t show up in public. Ever. That will make our life easier and keep you safe ;).”

In 2019, it seemed almost as though Biletsky’s influence was waning. An electoral coalition he formed with several other prominent neo-Nazis in Ukraine failed to gain enough votes to pass the threshold to gain any seats in parliament. Meanwhile, Vlodomyr Zelensky won the presidential election on a platform of making peace with Russia.

But Biletsky still held on to a trump card as a nationally-recognized strongman. When a Ukrainian news channel announced a two-hour live studio “TV bridge” between Ukrainian and Russian civilians aimed at fostering a stronger mutual understanding, Biletsky seized the moment to issue a thinly-veiled threat against Zelensky if he did not have the event canceled in a day’s time. If Zelensky did not intervene, “the answer to the Kremlin’s ‘little green men’ will begin to be given by ‘little black men,’” Biletsky said, referring to the black garb of fascist elements like Azov.

Biletsky called on Zelensky to be “The leader of a state at war,” and, “Not a clown, not an artist from oligarchic corporations, but the President.”

Zelensky responded within the timeframe of the ultimatum by denouncing the dialogue and seemingly offering a jab back at Biletsky, arguing that Ukrainians were being “manipulated by politicians who really want to get into parliament.”

A few months later, the pair butted heads again after Zelensky ordered Ukrainian troops, including Azov fighters, to withdraw from a frontline town in the Donbas in an apparent effort to honor the terms of the Minsk Accords. Biletsky fired back with threats to dispatch thousands more troops in open defiance of the president’s orders. 

Zelensky’s showdown with fighters refusing his orders culminated with the head of state nearly breaking down on camera and pleading to the militants: “I’m the president of this country. I’m 41 years old. I’m not a loser. I came to you and told you: remove the weapons.” 

Just a few short years later, in the midst of a hot war with Russia, Ukraine’s Jewish president and Ukraine’s most famous living antisemite seem to have put aside their differences. As Shakespeare put it, “misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.”

August 19, 2023 Posted by | politics, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Pritzker was right to keep moratorium on new Illinois nuclear plants

The bill the governor vetoed would have opened the door to negative environmental impacts and higher costs for consumers while jeopardizing progress toward Illinois’ clean energy future.

 https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/8/14/23829651/illinois-gov-pritzker-right-call-veto-bill-lifting-moratorium-new-nuclear-plants-jen-walling-darin

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s veto of Senate Bill 76 on Friday solidifies his national reputation as an environmental leader. SB 76, which would have removed the ban on new nuclear power in Illinois, was moved forward without careful consideration, and signing it would have opened the door to increased risk, negative environmental impacts and higher costs for consumers, all while jeopardizing our progress toward Illinois’ clean energy future.

The original concerns about constructing new nuclear power plants that led the General Assembly to impose the current moratorium remain today and, in fact, those concerns are arguably greater now than they were in 1987.

We are no closer to a national solution for the disposal of dangerous high-level nuclear wastes. Illinois already has the most nuclear reactors in the country and bears the burden of storing this waste in our communities, including along the shores of Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River. These wastes have significant safety risks and threaten our drinking water and communities. We should not add to the growing stockpiles of hazardous waste.

Nuclear power is also extremely expensive. Efforts in other states to build new nuclear plants are plagued with high-cost overruns and extensive delays. These exorbitant costs not only dwarf those associated with readily available clean energy technologies, but they also threaten to derail the progress Illinois is now making to deploy win-win solutions like clean energy, storage and energy efficiency programs.

Illinois should continue prioritizing these investments, which support good union jobs and pathways to prosperity for our marginalized communities, rather than encourage highly speculative proposals for new nuclear energy.

Illinois does not need the massive, decades-long rate hikes it would take to attempt to site and build new nuclear power plants that wouldn’t be available for over a decade. Illinois does need action and investment now in transmission, storage, energy efficiency and demand response solutions to ensure adequate capacity and protect consumers from spikes in fossil fuel prices.

Keep the focus on clean energy

While Illinois hosts roughly 11 gigawatts of nuclear power, over 700 gigawatts of additional power are awaiting interconnection approval from regional energy markets across the country. The majority of these resources waiting in line are solar, wind and battery storage — proven technologies that are already creating good jobs and delivering consumer savings. These smart solutions should remain our focus.

The rules, regulations and oversight for all nuclear plants are not up to date. SB 76 would have removed the moratorium on nuclear power without a full study and review of whether current rules and regulations are sufficient to site, build and operate a nuclear power plant safely. In addition, the siting laws for nuclear are completely insufficient. Any plant could be built anywhere at any time, with only approval at the federal level. The issue is even worse in the case of Small Modular Nuclear Reactors — small units that have been proposed to be deployed inside shipping containers within communities. Projects could, in theory, be deployed near residences, for example.

Our community is proud of the work we did together with Pritzker and the General Assembly to enact the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act in 2021. CEJA gives Illinois a roadmap to a clean energy future that generates high-quality jobs equitably and attracts global investments in our communities. To sustain that progress, we must stay the course in implementing that vision and reject proposals that would distract our resources from this framework. The veto of SB 76 will help Illinois implement this clean energy vision, and Pritzker’s veto should be upheld by the General Assembly.

Jen Walling is the executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council. Jack Darin is director of the Illinois chapter of the Sierra Club.

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

Risks of further delays at Hinkley Point C, EDF warns

EDF has admitted there is a risk of further delays to two nuclear reactors
at Hinkley Point C due to construction setbacks. The French energy giants
behind the new nuclear power station along the Somerset coast remarked last
year that the plants may start 15 months late. In an earnings presentation
in late July, EDF said the increased risk of a 15-month delay is due to
“performances on civil works and challenges on mechanical, electrical,
heating, ventilation and air conditioning” and “progress is below the
planned trajectory and action plans have been set”.

EDF has targeted June
2027 as the first operation of Unit 1, also known as Hinkley Point C, and
has already factored in construction delays and other factors. Originally
scheduled to be generating energy in 2025, Hinkley Point C has faced
several delays due to reduced workforce and workflow challenges caused by
the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as increasing costs.

 Somerset Live 14th Aug 2023

https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/risks-further-delays-hinkley-point-8663204

August 16, 2023 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Who decides whether Bataan should go nuclear?

The plant is located near to not one but four volcanoes, in an area prone to earthquakes’

Rappler.com, AUG 13, 2023 LOLITA CASTILLO

Bataan, a beautiful peninsula located west of the Philippine capital, Manila, is most famous for a couple of things. One, it was where the Death March began following the defeat of the allied forces of American and Filipino soldiers led by Gen. Douglas McArthur against the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. Two, it is where the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) with a price tag of $2.3 billion idly resides, unoperated for nearly four decades.

Bataan residents did not have any sort of control or say in these two circumstances that brought their province to prominence. The former, BNPP’s construction amid opposition, was decided without their consent, and the latter a byproduct of the irrationalities of war and the fight for democracy.  

Bataan is my birthplace and remains dear to my heart. Although I have been away for a few decades, I keep abreast of the potential threats to its security and stability. BNPP’s construction began when I was in grade school, and most people in Bataan were not even aware of it until cause-oriented groups  outside of Bataan and the local informal leaders bravely protested against its operation in a militarized,  political climate. Now, it’s an issue that has resurfaced, and it will test how democracy is manifested and mediated in local and national settings, and how crucial decisions and trade-offs will be made regarding  safety, equity, and sustainable development. 

Each year, the government allocates more than $1 million for the BNPP’s upkeep and maintenance. It remains a losing and wasteful investment that does not give back. It is important that a decision is made about the white elephant as delays in the decision come with opportunity costs.  

The plant, the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, was designed to provide 620 megawatts of electricity, and was completed in 1984 in response to the oil crisis in the ’70s – but has never produced any single watt of electricity due to a combination of factors. The biggest of these factors are safety concerns. 

The administration of Aquino and Ramos had ordered it mothballed in spite of its extremely high costs     based on the findings from the technical audit conducted by the National Union of Scientists (NUS) in 1986, 1988, and 1990, citing over 4,000 technical defects concerning cover design, construction, quality assurance, workmanship, etc.

The plant is located near to not one but four volcanoes, in an area prone to earthquakes. Fear and uncertainty about the location, and the wake of the Three Mile Island accident in the US in 1979, the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, and the more recent 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster restrained efforts to revive it.

As the Philippines seeks to retire its coal plants to meet its pledge and climate goals, as the impact of climate change around the globe, especially among the most vulnerable island countries, intensifies, and as demand for electricity increases, the discussions and debates whether to revive the BNPP or not, or whether to repurpose it, continues.  

Nuclear energy is depicted as “cleaner” than coal, and Bataan’s power plants that send electricity to the Luzon grid rely heavily on fossil fuel. As of November 30, 2022, the total capacity of existing power plants in Bataan equals 3,676.7 MW. Renewable energy accounts only for 92.4 MW while fossil fuel-fired plants account for 3,528 MW. More solar and wind farms are slated for construction and operation by 2026, which will increase the output to 4,920.7 MW.

………………………………………  there are compelling dangers or risks as well: the plant is nearly 40 years old and would need  substantial rehabilitation that require further spending. Rigorous safety protocols are imperative to ensure safety, as it is sitting on earthquake-prone area. It generates radioactive waste, and the disposal of waste is expensive, as well as poses potential environmental risks. The cost of repair, maintenance,  and operation might be higher than if the government were to build and operate renewable sources of energy. In 2017, a South Korean firm estimated that rehabilitation and upgrade of BNPP would be up to $1.19 billion.

………………………….The residents of Bataan must always be included in decision-making on the path to development, as they are the ones who directly suffer from the consequences of bad economic and environmental policies. Moreover, Bataan is already disproportionally carrying the heavy burden of supplying energy to Luzon. It will be unequitable to force it to host an old nuclear plant that faces considerable uncertainties. 

Whatever Bataan decides, the following questions loom: Would the national government respect its decision and local autonomy? Would it allow Bataan the right to self-determination? If Bataan were to demand the national government to fund the rapid expansion of renewable sources of energy and repurpose BNPP, would the current president support it or would he follow the path of his father? – Rappler.com  https://www.rappler.com/voices/imho/opinion-who-decides-whether-bataan-should-go-nuclear/

August 15, 2023 Posted by | Indonesia, politics | Leave a comment

Scottish ministers test attitudes to building radioactive waste facilities near homes

The Scottish Government said the work was ‘very long-term’ and no decisions had been made regarding locations

Ministers are looking to test public attitudes to radioactive waste management, including potentially building facilities near where people live.

 The Scottish Government has budgeted up to £30,000 to commission a survey of public
opinion, documents published online show. Questions will cover topics such
as trust in the government and the nuclear industry, as well as “attitudes
towards constructing facilities for radioactive waste in proximity to where
people live, if proven to be safe and resulting in significant economic
benefits”.

The move forms part of the Higher Activity Waste Implementation
Strategy, which was published in 2016 and sets out long-term plans for
disposing of such material. The Scottish Government said it was a “very
long-term programme of work” and no decisions had been made regarding
locations.

A tender document says the work “will help improve Scotland’s
environment by informing radioactive waste policy makers about the views of
Scottish citizens, as storage and disposal options are considered as part
of Scottish ministers’ obligations to manage the nuclear legacy clean-up
programme”.

It adds: “The nuclear waste landscape in Scotland remains
complex, with a mixture of civilian and military nuclear waste liabilities
requiring careful management to help protect people and the environment.
The Scottish Government is responsible for developing national radioactive
waste plans to help manage this nuclear legacy and in 2016, published its
Higher Activity Waste (HAW) Implementation Strategy. This strategy included
an illustrative timeline towards construction of a national nuclear waste
repository and a commitment to undertake various research activities such
as carrying out public attitude surveys and developing near-surface
disposal concepts.”

Scotsman 13th Aug 2023

https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/scottish-ministers-test-attitudes-to-building-radioactive-waste-facilities-near-homes-4250246

August 14, 2023 Posted by | politics, UK, wastes | Leave a comment

Public participation for the Flamanville EPR reactor commissioning project (INB 167)

ASN ………………………………………… TERMS OF THE CONSULTATION

Consultation reference [2023.06.39]

Public consultation on the Flamanville EPR reactor commissioning application, with the full application file made available, will take place from 5 June to 15 September 2023 on the ASN website.

Any additional relevant information, in particular with regard to the administrative procedure implemented, may be requested from the Nuclear Safety Authority, the competent authority to make the decision, by electronic means at the address info@asn.fr , or at its premises, 15 rue Louis-Lejeune – CS 70013 – 92541 Montrouge Cedex – by appointment on 01 46 16 42 74.

The paper file can be consulted on request and by prior appointment with the Prefecture of La Manche (on 02 33 75 47 39), which coordinates the availability on its premises, in the sub-prefectures, in the France Services area of ​​the town of Les Pieux and in the town hall of Flamanville.

Observations and proposals from the public can be made on the ASN website for the duration of the consultation. As the project is subject to environmental assessment, the opinion of the Environmental Authority, EDF’s brief in response to this opinion and the opinions of the local authorities concerned by the project can also be consulted on the ASN website.

ASN will take into account the observations and proposals of the public within the framework of the current examination of the commissioning application for the installation. In the event that it considers giving a favorable response to this request, it plans to consult the public on its draft decision authorizing the commissioning……………………………………………..  https://www.asn.fr/l-asn-reglemente/consultations-du-public/mise-a-participation-du-public-pour-le-projet-de-mise-en-service-du-reacteur-epr-de-flamanville#documents-a-consulter

August 14, 2023 Posted by | France, politics | Leave a comment

Illinois Gov. Pritzker vetoes bill that would have allowed new nuclear construction

Capitol News Illinois | By Andrew Adams August 11, 2023

Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday vetoed a bill that would have lifted a 1980s moratorium on the construction of new nuclear reactors.

The passed in May with three-fifths majorities in both legislative chambers, meaning that if all of the members that voted for it also support an override of the governor’s veto, it still could become law. Its Senate sponsor, state Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, said she has already filed paperwork to bring the bill up in the legislature’s fall veto session scheduled for late October and early November.

The governor said in a message to lawmakers explaining his veto that he did it “at the request of the leadership team of the Speaker of the House and advocates.”……………

“This bill provides no regulatory protections for the health and safety of Illinois residents who would live and work around these new reactors,” Pritzker wrote. “My hope is that future legislation in Illinois regarding SMRs would address this regulation gap.”

The governor also cited an “overly broad definition of advanced reactor” in the bill that he said could “open the door to proliferation” of large-scale nuclear power plants, like the reactors at the state’s six existing generating stations.

Pritzker said these traditional reactors are “so costly to build that they will cause exorbitant ratepayer-funded bailouts.”……………………………………………………………..

Rezin’s claims about advanced nuclear reactors are contentious, particularly among some environmental advocates that have been leading voices in the push for carbon-free energy in Illinois.

On Tuesday, a pair of influential advocacy groups sent a letter to Pritzker asking him to veto the bill. The Sierra Club Illinois Chapter and the Illinois Environmental Council’s joint letter outlined several concerns, including waste disposal, costs and a lack of up-to-date regulation.

………………………………… Beyond waste, environmental advocates also say that focusing on nuclear power diverts attention and resources away from the development of wind, solar and battery storage technology.

“SB76 would have opened the door to increased risk, negative environmental impacts, and higher costs for consumers while jeopardizing our progress toward Illinois’ clean energy future,” Sierra Club Illinois Director Jack Darin said in a Friday news release…………………………….  https://www.wsiu.org/state-of-illinois/2023-08-11/gov-pritzker-vetoes-bill-that-would-have-allowed-new-nuclear-construction

August 13, 2023 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Australian Opposition’s likely embrace of nuclear energy is high-risk politics

Crazy brave, or just crazy? If, as seems likely, the opposition embraces
nuclear power in its 2025 election policy, it will be taking a huge
political gamble. The Coalition might argue this would be the best (or
only) way to ensure we achieve net zero by 2050.

But “nuclear” is a trigger word in the political debate, and the reactions it triggers are
mostly negative. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has been open since the
election about nuclear energy being on the Coalition’s agenda. It’s a “no
surprises” tactic – but one that has allowed the government, especially
Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen, to regularly attack and ridicule the
idea.

The Conversation 10th Aug 2023

https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-the-coalitions-likely-embrace-of-nuclear-energy-is-high-risk-politics-211346

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

Sweden criticised over plan to build at least 10 new nuclear reactors

Environmental experts say proposals are too expensive and will come too late to meet energy needs

Miranda Bryant in Stockholm, Fri 11 Aug 2023 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/10/sweden-criticised-over-plan-to-build-at-least-10-new-nuclear-reactors

Environmental experts have criticised the Swedish government’s plan to build at least 10 nuclear reactors in the next 20 years, more than doubling the current number, saying it will be too expensive and will come too late to meet energy needs.

The climate minister, Romina Pourmokhtari, announced on Wednesday that in order to meet its climate goals Sweden needed to double electricity production in the next two decades.

The plan for 10 new reactors would mark a dramatic change from the country’s current capacity for nuclear power, with six reactors in operation in Forsmark, Oskarshamn and Ringhals accounting for about 30% of its electricity production.

Lars J Nilsson, a professor at Lund University and a member of the European climate advisory board, said he disputed the government’s claim that the new reactors were needed and dismissed the move as “symbolic”.

“You cannot certainly say that we need 10 new reactors. Right now the expansion of electricity production in Sweden is through wind power,” he told the Guardian. “I don’t expect any new nuclear power in Sweden, unless the government provides quite far-reaching guarantees similar to what you have at Hinkley Point [in the UK].”

The move was more about posturing than action, he said, claiming the government wanted to show it was taking action on meeting its climate goals. “I see it more as symbolic than actually creating any real change.”

If the reactors were built the costs were likely to fall heavily on the Swedish taxpayer, said Nilsson. Having been a hotly debated issue in the past, this latest announcement had had a “lukewarm response”.

Sweden’s reputation as a green leader on the global stage was shifting, he said. “Sweden will partly lose that profile. Now the momentum and progressiveness is coming from the EU and Brussels.”

The EU’s Fit for 55 plan legally requires member states to reduce emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and become “climate neutral” by 2050.

Sweden’s Moderates agreed when they formed a coalition government with the Christian Democrats, Liberals and the far-right Sweden Democrats that more reactors would be permitted and that investments in nuclear power would be made profitable through credit guarantees and changes to pricing.

This week was the first time the government had given an anticipated number of new reactors.skip past newsletter promotion

August 12, 2023 Posted by | politics, Sweden | Leave a comment

Biden vows to compensate New Mexico residents sickened by nuclear weapons radiation after 1945 testing

The state’s place in American history as a testing ground has gotten more attention recently with the release of “Oppenheimer,” a movie about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the top-secret Manhattan Project

August 9, 2023  https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/national-international/biden-vows-to-compensate-new-mexico-residents-sickened-by-nuclear-weapons-radiation-after-1945-testing/3313610/

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he’s open to granting assistance for people sickened by exposure to radiation during nuclear weapons testing, including in New Mexico, where the world’s first atomic bomb was tested in 1945.

Biden brought up the issue while speaking Wednesday in Belen at a factory that produces wind towers.

“I’m prepared to help in terms of making sure that those folks are taken care of,” he said.

The state’s place in American history as a testing ground has gotten more attention recently with the release of “Oppenheimer,” a movie about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the top-secret Manhattan Project.

Biden watched the film last week while on vacation in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico spoke of how the first bomb was tested on soil just south of where the event was. The senator also discussed getting an amendment into the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which gives payments to people become ill from nuclear weapons tests or uranium mining during the Cold War.

“And those families did not get the help that they deserved. They were left out of the original legislation,” Lujan added. “We’re fighting with everything that we have” to keep the amendment in the National Defense Authorization Act.

Last month, the U.S. Senate voted to expand compensation. The provisions would extend health care coverage and compensation to so-called downwinders exposed to radiation during weapons testing to several new regions stretching from New Mexico to Guam.

Biden said he told Lujan that he’s “prepared to help in terms of making sure that those folks are taken care of.”

August 11, 2023 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Sweden to clear obstacles for new nuclear reactors

ZAWYA, August 9, 2023

ALTERNATIVE ENERGYSWEDENEUROPENUCLEAR

Sweden’s government said Wednesday it would remove limits on the number of nuclear reactors allowed in Sweden and simplify the permit process for new reactors.

“The climate transition requires a doubling of the electricity production in the coming 20 years,” Climate Minister Romina Pourmokhtari told a press conference.

She added that the government believed that new nuclear power equalling 10 conventional reactors would need to go into service in the 2030s and 2040s.

Pourmokhtari said the government was therefore moving forward with proposed legislation that would remove a ceiling of maximum 10 reactors in the country and a requirement that new reactors be built in the same locations as existing ones.

The climate minister said these limitations were “in the way of a modern view of nuclear power,” adding they would also simplify the process for building new ones.

Pourmokhtari said a bill had been prepared to be considered by parliament during the autumn.

The Scandinavian country voted in a 1980 non-binding referendum to phase out nuclear power.

Since then, Sweden has shut down six of its 12 reactors and the remaining ones, at three nuclear power plants, generate about 30 percent of the electricity used in the country today…………………………………

The reactors were opened in the 1970s and 1980s. Most of them have lifespans of around 40 years and are in need of modernisation.

Sweden’s Social Democrats — which led the previous government — have traditionally been opposed to building new reactors, while the centre-right has been in favour.

Immediately after coming to power in late 2022, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s right-wing coalition government announced it was seeking to build new reactors.

It has also announced a change to Sweden’s energy policy, changing its goal of 100 percent “renewable” energy to 100 percent “fossil-free” energy.  https://www.zawya.com/en/world/uk-and-europe/sweden-to-clear-obstacles-for-new-nuclear-reactors-fymh51z0—

August 10, 2023 Posted by | politics, Sweden | Leave a comment

Poll Shows Majority of Americans Oppose Further Aid in Ukraine

By Talia Mullin / ScheerPost, 9 Aug 23

On Aug. 4, 2023, CNN released a poll, conducted with Social Science Research Solutions (SSRS), which found that most Americans oppose Congress authorizing additional aid to Ukraine in their war with Russia. While previous coverage highlighted a divide between Democrats and Republicans concerning the United States’ role in Ukraine, the recent poll results reveal a split public opinion on whether the U.S. has sufficiently supported Ukraine.

The poll was conducted by SSRS, an independent research company, in July with a random national sample of 1,279 adults who completed the survey by telephone or online after being initially contacted by mail.

According to the poll, 55% of respondents say that Congress should not authorize further funding to support Ukraine, and an additional 51% believe the U.S. has already done enough to help Ukrainian forces. This contrasts a poll conducted in Feb. 2022 which found that 62% of people felt that the U.S. could have been doing more to aid Ukraine. ……………………………………….

more https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/09/poll-shows-majority-of-americans-oppose-further-aid-in-ukraine/
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August 10, 2023 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

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