France wants to cut its electricity exports to UK as its aging nuclear reactors are limited, with maintenance issues
France requests electricity exports to UK are cut as Europe’s energy
crisis deepens. France and Britain exchange energy across the Channel via
interconnections, but France’s nuclear power output has taken a hit in
recent months. France’s electricity network operator RTE has reportedly
asked the National Grid if it could slash its scheduled exports to Britain
in half between 8am and 9am this morning. It is said it struggled to cope
with surging demand amid its own power issues, and cold temperatures. The
power output issues were reportedly brought on by a lethal combination of
the plunging mercury, strikes across its nuclear sector and delayed
maintenance on its fleet of ageing nuclear reactors.
Express 12th Dec 2022
Mini nuclear reactor firms battle it out in UK for approval and government support
Rolls-Royce rivals gear up for mini-nuke race as power system creaks.
Nuclear power is seen as essential to protect Britain from future energy
shocks. Rolls Royce has long been at the vanguard of Britain’s nuclear
industry, with more than half of the UK’s £385m fund to support advanced
projects in the field allocated to Rolls’s mini-nukes programme.
But the
company’s dominance is now being challenged by a new breed of scrappy
start-ups who believe their technology could make Britain a world leader in
nuclear power. “You should have another viable alternative that you’re
supporting,” says Rick Springman, an executive at US mini-nuke company
Holtec. “When you invest in stocks, do you put all your money in one
company?”
Nuclear power is seen as central to the UK’s goal of meeting
its Net Zero targets, improving energy security and reducing its reliance
on Russian oil. Last month, Rolls said its small modular reactors (SMRs),
or so-called mini-nukes, could supply a fifth of the UK’s total
electricity capacity to homes across England and Wales by the end of the
decade. The reactors use existing nuclear technology on a smaller scale
than traditional power plants. Each can generate about 470MW of power and
last at least 60 years. The Government has picked eight sites for new
nuclear projects including Sellafield in Cumbria and Bradwell, Essex, to
place new projects. Other sites such as Trawsfynydd in the Snowdonia
national park are also being considered. Rolls-Royce has chosen four it
would like to build on, earmarked for their existing infrastructure and
connections to the grid.
Rivals want access to these initial sites to prove
their power stations work. Proof that they can power the grid in the UK
could open up opportunities to launch projects abroad. They believe their
technology offers advantages.
London-based Newcleo, for instance, wants to
use some of the UK’s plutonium stockpile for fuel and Last Energy’s
design aims to use more off-the-shelf components, offering a speedier
build. Meanwhile, Holtec is developing a reactor which can be cooled in an
emergency without external power. While Rolls is planning 470MW reactors,
equivalent to more than 150 onshore wind turbines, Holtec plans 160MW
units. Holtec’s reactor could share a site with Rolls-Royce or another
contender.
The forthcoming Hinkley Point C, with power of 3.2GW, is on a
160 hectare site. By comparison, a single Holtec reactor will occupy six
hectares, or about 10 football pitches. The push for approvals comes as
deals elsewhere are signed elsewhere. GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy signed a
deal last year with Canada’s Ontario Power Generation to deliver one of
its BWRX-300 units which could be online as early as 2028. Deals for GE to
build 10 more in Poland followed weeks later. In February, French President
Emmanuel Macron agreed €1bn of funding for EDF’s Nuward SMR which could
be generating electricity by 2030.
Last Energy wrote to the Parliamentary
committee to say that “excessive Government funding for early stage
development activities” can crowd out “entrants and innovation,” and
that having a preferred supplier – a status Rolls-Royce enjoys in the UK –
may limit the field.
Telegraph 12th Dec 2022
NATO Chief Voices Fear Of War With Russia While US Greenlights Drone Strikes On Russian Territory
Ukraine launched its most brazen attack into Russian territory yet, with drone strikes on bases which killed multiple Russian soldiers and damaged two nuclear-capable bombers. Not too long ago the US waging a proxy war that features direct attacks on Russia’s nuclear forces would have been an unthinkably terrifying prospect, yet that’s where we’re at now, and it only seems to be escalating.
The real issue is the danger of provoking a hot war between nuclear superpowers, which even the NATO Secretary-General is becoming increasingly nervous about.
Caitlin Johnstone https://caityjohnstone.medium.com/nato-chief-voices-fear-of-war-with-russia-while-us-greenlights-drone-strikes-on-russian-territory-165a38b84669 12 Dec 22
In what Antiwar’s Dave DeCamp describes as “a rare acknowledgment of the dangers of backing Ukraine,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged a fear of something going “horribly wrong” and leading to a hot war between the nuclear-armed alliance and Russia.
In an article titled “‘I fear a full-blown war between the West and Russia’, Nato chief warns,” The Telegraph writes the following:
“I fear that the war in Ukraine will get out of control, and spread into a major war between Nato and Russia,” said Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, responding to a question about his greatest fears for the winter in an interview.
He told Norwegian broadcaster NRK on Friday that he was confident such a scenario could be avoided but that the threat was there.
“If things go wrong, they can go horribly wrong,” he added.
We got a taste of this horror once again last month in the long minutes following erroneous reports that Russia had launched missiles at NATO member Poland. The fact that cooler heads have prevailed up until this point does not mean that nuclear brinkmanship is safe, anymore than a game of Russian roulette not ending after the first couple of trigger pulls would mean that Russian roulette is safe to play.
So Stoltenberg is correct to be afraid. There absolutely are too many things that can go horribly wrong in such a standoff, and there are simply too many unpredictable moving parts for anyone to feel confident that this will not happen.
And it’s pretty crazy to hear Stoltenberg voice these concerns even while the Pentagon gives the go-ahead for Ukraine to begin launching long-range attacks on targets inside Russia in its war that is being backed by the United States, because those two positions would seem to be pretty strongly at odds with each other.
In an article titled “Pentagon gives Ukraine green light for drone strikes inside Russia,” The Times reports as follows:
The Pentagon has given a tacit endorsement of Ukraine’s long-range attacks on targets inside Russia after President Putin’s multiple missile strikes against Kyiv’s critical infrastructure.
Since daily assaults on civilians began in October, the Pentagon has revised its threat assessment of the war in Ukraine. Crucially, this includes new judgments about whether arms shipments to Kyiv might lead to a military confrontation between Russia and Nato.
This represents a significant development in the nine-month war between Ukraine and Russia, with Washington now likelier to supply Kyiv with longer-range weapons.
The Times quotes a “US defence source” as saying the following: “We’re not saying to Kyiv, ‘Don’t strike the Russians [in Russia or Crimea]’. We can’t tell them what to do. It’s up to them how they use their weapons. But when they use the weapons we have supplied, the only thing we insist on is that the Ukrainian military conform to the international laws of war and to the Geneva conventions.”
“They are the only limitations but that includes no targeting of Russian families and no assassinations. As far as we’re concerned, Ukraine has been in compliance,” the source says, which is a strange assertion given that US intelligence has reportedly concluded Ukraine was behind the assassination of the daughter of Aleksandr Dugin.
“Ukraine has been careful to use its own drones, not US-supplied weapons, to carry out the strikes,” The Times reports, while also noting that “Pentagon officials have made it clear that requests from Kyiv for longer-range US weapons, including rockets and fighter bombers which could be used for even more effective strikes inside Russia or occupied Crimea, are being seriously considered.”
This revelation comes days after Ukraine launched its most brazen attack into Russian territory yet, with drone strikes on bases which killed multiple Russian soldiers and damaged two nuclear-capable bombers. Not too long ago the US waging a proxy war that features direct attacks on Russia’s nuclear forces would have been an unthinkably terrifying prospect, yet that’s where we’re at now, and it only seems to be escalating.
Empire apologists will try to make this a conversation about whether Ukraine has a “right” to attack Russian territory, which is a red herring from the real issue at hand. Obviously Ukraine has a right to attack a nation that is attacking it; that’s not the point. The real issue is the danger of provoking a hot war between nuclear superpowers, which even the NATO Secretary-General is becoming increasingly nervous about.
The western power alliance continually ramping up aggressions to test how far it could provoke Russia is what led to this conflict in the first place. Now we’re at a point where there isn’t much space for Russia to back up before it’s against the ropes and potentially pressed to do something nobody wants. These people should not be talking about escalation, they should be talking about de-escalation. We need diplomacy, de-escalation and detente, and we need them yesterday.
_________________
Are the bombs are back in town? US atomic weapons in Britain would make nuclear war more likely
Are the bombs are back in town? — Beyond Nuclear International
Is the US about to station nuclear weapons in Britain again or are they already here?
From Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND UK) h
Editor’s Note: A mass demonstration organized by CND was held at Lakenheath, Suffolk, United Kingdom on November 19. “It’s extraordinary that a foreign power can place weapons of mass destruction on our soil with no oversight from our elected representatives,” said Sue Wright from Norwich CND (Norwich is 40 miles from the base). For more background, see our May 15, 2022 article by CND General Secretary, Kate Hudson, CND’s special page on the Lakenheath campaign, and this article by Hans Kristensen for Federation of American Scientists.
Beyond Nuclear, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Peace Action and Nuclear Resister, sent a joint statement of solidarity that was read out at the November 19 protest.
CND condemns any return of United States nuclear weapons to RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk. 110 nuclear bombs were stored at the airbase until they were removed in 2008 following persistent popular protest, and they must not be allowed back.
Response to war
Tensions are rising across Europe amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine. In response to the Russian invasion, reports are circulating that the US is preparing to store some of its nuclear weapons in the UK. This originated with the fact that the US Department of Defense has added the UK to a list of NATO nuclear weapons storage locations in Europe being upgraded under a multimillion-dollar infrastructure programme. The UK was not on the comparable list for the previous year, so this looks like a very recent decision.
Experts now believe the base in question is RAF Lakenheath, located just 100 km from London.
History repeats itself
While it is not yet known if nuclear weapons have already been returned to the base, or if NATO is in the process of preparing the base to be ready to receive them, this development marks a change in the nuclear status of RAF Lakenheath.
RAF Lakenheath hosted US nuclear weapons for more than five decades, first arriving in September 1954. CND arranged protests at the base alongside the Lakenheath Action Group, including days of action where hundreds of people descended on the base. Direct action activists broke into the base and locked on to the gates of the ammunition depot, preventing access for hours.
Messages of support were shared between campaigners at other US bases in Europe, and from Faslane, where Britain’s nuclear weapons are stationed. Plays were presented outside the base, and letters handed in to the Commander.
Following years of protesting, the nuclear weapons were eventually removed in 2008, but not before nuclear accidents endangered the safety of the local community.
Nuclear accidents
At least two major incidents involving nuclear weapons are known to have occurred at RAF Lakenheath.
In 1956 a B-47 bomber on a routine training mission crashed into a storage unit containing nuclear weapons, killing four servicemen. Official US documents declared it was a ‘miracle’ that none of the bombs detonated, and that ‘it is possible that a part of Eastern England would have become a desert’. Five years later, an airplane loaded with a nuclear bomb caught fire following pilot error.
The bomb was ‘scorched and blistered’, and scientists later discovered it could have detonated in slightly different circumstances.
Both incidents were covered up by the US and British governments, only being admitted in 1979 and 2003 respectively.
Nuclear-sharing
By the time of the weapons’ removal in 2008, the Lakenheath site had 33 underground storage vaults and stored around 110 B-61 gravity bombs that could be dropped from F-15E warplanes based there.
Lakenheath received the latest nuclear-capable fighter – the F-35A – in 2021 and a total of 24 F-35As are expected to be based there eventually. Training with the latest B61-12 guided nuclear bomb will commence within the year.
Despite being called an RAF station, Lakenheath is run by the United States Air Force (USAF) and currently only hosts USAF units and personnel, leading many campaigners to describe it as USAF Lakenheath. The host wing is the 48th Fighter Wing (48 FW), also known as the Liberty Wing, assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). The wing operates the F-15C/D Eagle, F-15E Strike Eagle and F-35A Lightning II. With around 6,000 personnel on the base, it is the largest deployment of USAF personnel in Britain.
US nuclear weapons based here would make the UK once again a forward nuclear base for the US. Approximately 150 American B-61 nuclear gravity bombs are already currently stationed in five countries in Europe: Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Turkey.
The nuclear sharing arrangement is part of NATO defence policy. In peace time, the nuclear weapons stored in non-nuclear countries are guarded by US forces, with a dual code system activated in a time of war. Both host country and the US would then need to approve the use of the weapons, which would be launched on the former’s airplanes.
There is strong opposition to these weapons being sited in Europe, including from some of the host nation governments. Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands have all, unsuccessfully, called for the removal of US nuclear weapons from their countries.
Dangerous and destabilising
Should the UK be hosting or preparing to host US nuclear weapons, this would constitute a further undermining of our safety, and prospects for global peace. The US is the only country to locate its nuclear weapons outside its own borders and this major increase in NATO’s capacity to wage nuclear war in Europe is dangerously destabilising. Their return will increase global tensions and put Britain on the front line in a NATO/Russia war.
Resist
The big question is whether the nuclear bombs have already been returned to Britain, or if their delivery is still in preparation. Either way this is a huge challenge for the peace movement and CND will do everything we can to prevent these weapons being sited here. Millions mobilised across Europe against the imposition of cruise and Pershing missiles in the 1980s. We got rid of all those weapons then, and we have to have the energy, the commitment and the confidence to do that again.
The US should scrap plans to base nuclear weapons in the UK, and withdraw all their other nuclear weapons from Europe at the same time. A withdrawal of all US/NATO nuclear weapons from Europe would help reduce tensions at this very dangerous time, and would ultimately help advance international disarmament.
For more information, visit the CND website
PETER HITCHENS: The arrogance and folly in Ukraine that could yet send us hurtling towards nuclear catastrophe
Daily Mail, By PETER HITCHENS FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY, 12 December 2022
“………………………………………………………………….. let me quote the opening words of a frightening new book by Ben Abelow, How The West Brought War To Ukraine.
He says: ‘For almost 200 years, starting with the framing of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, the United States has asserted security claims over virtually the whole Western hemisphere. Any foreign power that places military forces near US territory knows it is crossing a red line. US policy thus embodies a conviction that where a potential opponent places its forces is crucially important.
‘In fact, this conviction is the cornerstone of American foreign and military policy, and its violation is considered reason for war.’
Because, you see, what I have described in my thriller is pretty much the mirror image of what the USA and Nato have been doing in Europe for some years. For Canada and the USA, read Russia. For Quebec, read Ukraine and the Baltic states. There are, in fact, Nato troops stationed now in Estonia.
They have been known to hold tank parades just yards from the border with Russia. That puts them 81 miles (about the distance from London to Coventry) from St Petersburg, Russia’s second city. Ben Abelow notes that ‘in 2020, Nato conducted a live-fire training exercise inside Estonia, 70 miles from Russia’s border, using tactical missiles with ranges up to 185 miles. These weapons can strike Russian territory with minimal warning. In 2021, again in Estonia, Nato fired 24 rockets to simulate an attack on air defence targets inside Russia’.
Again, can you begin to imagine the USA’s response to such action close to its borders, or Britain’s if (say) Ireland decided to join and host a foreign military alliance, hostile to us?
All kinds of slime will now be hurled at me, saying I am trying to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I’m not. I continue to think it stupid, barbaric and wrong.
I think the best response to provocation is not to react in such ways. But not everyone is like me. And if nobody in the White House, the Pentagon or Nato thought that their policy towards Russia might be risking such an outcome, then I’d be amazed. As I’ve noted before, even the American anti-Russian superhawk Robert Kagan has said publicly that Russia was provoked. The worst bit of this is the nuclear element. In December 1987, I travelled to Washington to witness one of the most momentous and happy events of the age. This was the summit between Kremlin leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan, which culminated in the signing of a treaty banning medium-range nuclear missiles.
The danger from such weapons was that they were far more likely to be launched than long-range rockets. Experts calculated that using them might possibly not result in a total nuclear wipeout. Hence the need to get rid of them.
Well, Donald Trump repudiated that treaty in 2018, blaming Russia, not very convincingly, for his decision. This was the second major nuclear arms treaty the USA has torn up. Gorbachev snapped that this was ‘not the work of a great mind’. More frighteningly, he warned that ‘a new arms race has been announced’.
And now we have actual war in Ukraine, which no powerful person seems to want to end. In fact, anyone who urges serious peace talks is denounced as a traitor and appeaser. That filthy, cruel war is now slowly spreading into Russia itself, with consequences I daren’t guess at.
During the whole Cold War I never really believed we were in danger. The Cuban crisis, which slightly overshadowed preparations for my 11th birthday, persuaded me that everyone would have more sense. I thought and think that TV dramas about a nuclear Armageddon, such as the BBC’s The War Game and the American The Day After, were unconvincing. They couldn’t come up with a believable reason for a war to start.
But now it seems entirely plausible. And I’ve been watching the American TV series Jericho with grim fascination – not because its explanation of nuclear disaster is likely, but because its portrayal of a small, friendly town in a post-nuclear world slowly descending into savagery is convincing. Thanks to arrogance and folly, this could happen, and this is what it would be like if it did.
So I shall carry on saying that we need peace in Ukraine, and soon. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-11524385/PETER-HITCHENS-arrogance-folly-Ukraine-send-nuclear-catastrophe.html
UK policy changes: windfalls and renewables
The government is getting side-tracked by its nuclear obsession, with its newly created development outfit ‘Great British Nuclear’ expected to triple UK nuclear capacity by 2050 – getting to 24GW, with 20-30 SMRs and 4-6 new large reactors. Hard to believe. But so is backing a new coal mine. Let’s hope 2023 makes more sense
It’s been a wild year politically in the UK. After a period when
windfall taxes were resisted, we ended up with a government which bowed to
them- as did most of the EU. And they even got extended to cover power.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt hit electricity generation companies with a 45%
Energy Electricity Generator Levy, on their ‘excess returns’ as he
attempted to fund measures to ease the cost of living crisis.
That was in addition to the existing windfall tax on North Sea oil & gas operators
which is to be raised from 25% to 35% and extended by 2 years until 2028.
Renewable energy suppliers that operate under the Contracts for Difference
system are exempted from the new electricity tax, but not those who are
operating under the Renewables Obligation (RO). So they will be hit quite
hard- they had after all enjoyed a significant wind fall since the RO
subsidy level was high, based on the assumption that gas was cheap. It no
longer is.
There will now be an incentive to shift from RO support to CfDs,
but this may not be easy for some companies. Chris Hewett, Chief Executive
of Solar Energy UK, said: ‘The Chancellor should be taking every
opportunity to encourage investment in clean energy.
Yet, there will be no tax relief for companies investing in meeting the government’s target of
70GW of solar capacity by 2035 – unlike investments in oil and gas
production, which will be taxed less than fossil-free generators.’ A
swifter move to decarbonised energy would have avoided the dire
consequences we are seeing now.’ Fair enough.
But that doesn’t mean opting for costly and slow to deploy nuclear decarbonisation. It means
getting on with lower cost renewables fast and adjusting the wind fall
taxes and CfD system to that end. And of course cutting back on energy
wastage where ever possible.
The government is getting side-tracked by its
nuclear obsession, with its newly created development outfit ‘Great
British Nuclear’ expected to triple UK nuclear capacity by 2050 – getting
to 24GW, with 20-30 SMRs and 4-6 new large reactors. Hard to believe. But
so is backing a new coal mine. Let’s hope 2023 makes more sense
Renew Extra 10th Dec 2022
https://renewextraweekly.blogspot.com/2022/12/uk-policy-changes-windfalls-and.html
Maligned in Western Media, Donbass Forces are Defending their Future from Ukrainian Shelling and Fascism
Covert Action Magazine, By Eva Bartlett, – November 19, 2022
America is widely understood to be a key instigator behind conflict in Ukraine that has pitted brother against brother
meared, stigmatized, and lied about in Western media propaganda, the mostly Russian-speaking people of the Donbass region were being slaughtered by the thousands in a brutal war of “ethnic cleansing” launched against them by the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv, which the U.S. installed after the CIA overthrew Ukraine’s legally elected president in a 2014 coup.
Although the Donbass people had been pleading for Russian military aid to defend them against the increasingly murderous military assaults by the Ukraine government forces, which killed more than 14,000 of their people, Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to intervene. Instead, he tried to broker a peace agreement between the warring parties.
But the U.S. and Britain secretly colluded to sabotage peace negotiations, persuading president Zelenksy to ignore the Minsk 2 peace agreement that the Ukraine government had previously signed, and which had been countersigned by Russia, France and Germany.
Realizing that the U.S. and its NATO allies would never permit peace negotiations to succeed, Putin finally sent troops into Ukraine on February 24. Russian troops went in to support and reinforce the outnumbered and outgunned Donbass Special Forces who had been defending their land against attacks by the Kyiv government for nearly eight years.
Voices From the Frontlines of Former Eastern Ukraine Republics
In the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in October, I went to a frontline outpost 70 meters from Ukrainian forces in Avdeevka (north and west of Donetsk), according to the Donbas commanders I spoke with there.
To reach that position, I went with two other journalists to a meeting point with two commanders of Pyatnashka—volunteer fighters, including Abkhazi, Slovak, Russian, Ossetian and other nationalities, including locals from Donbas.
From there, they drove us to a point as far as they could drive before walking the rest of the way, several minutes through brush and trenches, eventually coming to their sandbagged wood and cement fortified outpost.
It has changed hands over the years, Ukrainian forces sometimes occupying it, Donbas forces now controlling it.
One soldier, a unit commander who goes by the call sign “Vydra” (Otter), was formerly a miner from the DPR who had been living in Russia with his family. In 2014, he returned to the Donbas to defend his mother and relatives still there. He spoke of the outpost.
“We dug and built this with our hands. Several times over the years, the Ukrainians have taken these positions. We pushed them back, they stormed us…Well, we have been fighting each other for eight years.”
There, artillery fire is the biggest danger they face. “You can hide from a sniper, but not from artillery, and they’re using large caliber.”
His living quarters is a dank, cramped, room with a tiny improvised bed, with another small room and bed for others at the outpost.
A sign reads: “If shelling occurs, go to the shelter.” The kind of sign you see all over Donetsk and cities of the Donbas, due to Ukraine’s incessant shelling of civilian, residential areas. In a frontline outpost where incoming artillery is the norm, the sign is slightly absurd, clearly a joke.
An Orthodox icon sits atop the sign. Ukrainian nationalists hang and spray Nazi graffiti and slogans of death; these fighters revere their faith.
A poster, with the DPR flag, reads: “We have never known defeat, and it’s clear that this has been decided from above. Donbas has never been forced to its knees, and no one will ever be allowed to.”
The only things decorating the space are tins of tuna and canned meat, instant noodles, and washing powder. Their existence is bare minimum, nothing glamorous about it; they volunteer because, as they told me, this is their land and they will protect it.
Perhaps surprising to some, when Vydra was asked whether he hates Ukrainians, he replied emphatically no, he has friends and relatives in Ukraine.
“We have no hatred for Ukraine. We hate those nationalists who came to power. But ordinary Ukrainians? Why? Many of us speak Ukrainian. We understand them, they understand us. Many of them speak Russian………………………..
And I’m on the Myrotvorets [kill list] website.” [As is the author, see this article.]
He spoke of Ukraine’s shelling from 2014, when the people of the Donbass were unarmed and not expecting to be bombed by their own country…………………………………..
I asked how he felt to be treated and described as sub-human, to be called dehumanizing names, a part of the Ukrainian nationalists’ brainwashing propaganda. As I wrote previously:
“Ukrainian nationalists openly declare they view Russians as sub-human. School books teach this warped ideology. Videos show the extent of this mentality: Teaching children not only to also hate Russians and see them as not humans, but also brainwashing them to believe killing Donbas residents is acceptable. The Ukrainian government itself funds neo-Nazi-run indoctrination camps for youths.”
“It’s offensive,” Vydra said, “We are saddened: There are sick people. We need to heal them, slowly.”……………………………….
Commanders Speak of Geopolitical Reasons for Ukraine’s War
Outside, sitting in front of an Orthodox banner and a collection of collected munitions—including Western ones—two platoon commanders, “Kabar” and “Kamaz,” spoke of the bigger geopolitical picture. [See video]
“America is running the show here,” Kabar said. “It builds foreign policy on the basis of how its domestic policy is built, which is through conflicts with external countries. They are accustomed to proving their power to their people through terrorism around the world, inciting fires in Syria, in the east. They played the card of radical Islam there……………………
And now they are playing the card of fascism. They do not see themselves on the other side of good. They need wars, blood, cruelty, and they signed Europe up for this.
However, they’ve missed one point: Russia, since the days of the Soviet Union, has never retreated in large scale wars. ………………………………………
Western Media Inverted Reality, Lauding Nazis and Demonizing Defenders
While many in the West think that this conflict started in February 2022, those following events since 2014 are aware that, following the Maidan coup and Odessa massacre, and the rise of fascism in Ukraine against the Ukrainian people, the Donbas republics wanted to distance themselves from Ukraine’s Nazis and fascism.
The sacrifices which the people of the Donbas republics have endured, particularly those fighting to protect their families and loved ones, have been and continue to be immense………..
These defenders, many living in dank trench conditions didn’t choose war, they responded to it, to protect their loved ones and their future. In spite of more than eight years of being warred upon by Ukraine, they retain their humanity. https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/11/19/maligned-in-western-media-donbass-forces-are-defending-their-future-from-ukrainian-shelling-and-fascism/
Why nuclear-powered France faces power outage risks
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/why-nuclear-powered-france-faces-power-outage-risks-2022-12-09 PARIS, Dec 9 (Reuters) – France is bracing for possible power outages in the coming days as falling temperatures push up demand while state-controlled nuclear group EDF struggles to bring more production on line.
WHY CAN’T FRANCE MEET DEMAND?
France is one of the most nuclear-powered countries in the world, typically producing over 70% of its electricity with its fleet of 56 reactors and providing about 15% of Europe’s total power through exports.
However, EDF (EDF.PA) has had to take a record number of its ageing reactors offline for maintenance this year just as Europe is struggling to cope with cuts in Russian natural gas supplies used for generating electricity.
That has left France’s nuclear output at a 30-year low, forcing France to import electricity and prepare plans for possible blackouts as a cold snap fuels demand for heating.
WHAT ARE EDF’S MAINTENANCE PROBLEMS?
While EDF normally has a number of its reactors offline for maintenance, it has had far more than usual this year due to what is known as stress corrosion on pipes in some reactors.
At the request of France’s nuclear safety watchdog, EDF is in the process of inspecting and making repairs across its fleet since detecting cracks in the welding connecting pipes in one reactor at the end of last year.
Years of under-investment in the nuclear sector mean that there is precious little spare capacity to meet demand while reactors are offline for maintenance.
France also lacks specialised welders and other workers in sufficient numbers to be able to make repairs fast enough to get reactors back online.
WHAT IS BEING DONE?
In the very short term, there is little that can be done to get more reactors online faster, leaving the government to plan for voluntary cuts at peak demand periods and limited forced blackouts.
Meanwhile, EDF and others in the French nuclear industry are on a recruitment drive for the next generation of welders, pipe-fitters and boiler makers, going so far as to set up a new school to train them.
President Emmanuel Macron wants a new push in nuclear energy and has committed to building six new reactors at a cost his government estimates at nearly 52 billion euros ($55 billion).
As a first step, the government is in the process of buying out EDF’s minority shareholders and fully nationalising the debt-laden group, which it says is necessary to make the long-term investments in new reactors.
($1 = 0.9471 euros)
Finland warns of power outage risk over nuclear plant startup delay – Olkiluoto 3 reactor unreliable?
HELSINKI, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Finland faces a greater risk of power outages in coming months because of another delay in starting up the new Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) nuclear reactor, national grid operator Fingrid said on Friday.
Fingrid and the state energy authority have told citizens and companies to prepare for possible blackouts, particularly if OL3 does not prove reliable, as countries across Europe seek to curb energy usage, grappling with reduced Russian gas and other energy supplies because of the Ukraine war………………………………
In October, the operator said cracks were found in the OL3 reactor’s four feedwater pumps after test production, further delaying startup originally planned to be in 2009.
Test production has been postponed until Dec. 25 at the earliest, from Dec. 11, TVO said, while full production will begin on Feb. 6 at the earliest compared with Jan. 22.
“The investigation into the damage in Olkiluoto 3’s feedwater pumps has proceeded into its final stages. Once the investigation is complete, a decision will be made on the startup of the plant unit,” TVO said in a statement.
The world’s deepest nuclear clean-up – the Dounreay shaft
A £20m contract has been awarded as part of work to clean-up one of the
most challenging features of the Dounreay nuclear power site.
Called the shaft, it plunges 65.4m (214.5ft) below ground and was used for disposing
of radioactive waste. The practice, which started in 1959, ended in 1977
following an explosion inside the structure.
Cavendish Nuclear has been
awarded the contract to build a container handling facility. Waste from the
shaft, and another part of Dounreay called the silo, will be placed in 500
litre drums for storage. Tackling the shaft has been dubbed the world’s
deepest nuclear clean-up by Dounreay’s operators.
BBC 7th Dec 2022
European Commission supports French government in funding for small nuclear reactors
On 7 December 2022, the European Commission announced that it has decided,
under the state aid rules, to approve the grant by France of aid to EDF to
support a research and development project for small nuclear reactors.
Practical Law 7th Dec 2022
Every home and community could be a power station’: the Nuclear Free Local Authorities’s future renewable energy vision for Wales
Every Welsh home and community a renewable power station” was the vision outlined by the UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities Secretary for a sustainable nuclear-free Wales at a meeting held in the Senedd Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay yesterday (6 December).
The event was sponsored and opened by Senedd Member Mike Hedges and hosted by CND Cymru to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Clwyd Declaration when in 1982 all eight of the original Welsh County Councils declared themselves nuclear-free. Throughout 2022, an exhibition to mark the anniversary has been touring the nation, and yesterday, the exhibition was on display at the Pierhead Building…………………………………….
NFLA Secretary Richard Outram described a vision where Wales could instead be powered by renewables alone.
Richard said: “The Nuclear Free Local Authorities remain implacably opposed to any new nuclear power stations in Wales. Wales is blessed with many natural resources from which to draw power – her rivers, tides, sun and wind, even the untapped geothermal power that can be derived from the earth and the many abandoned coal mines that lie beneath the feet of her citizens!
“If we fitted new and existing homes and public buildings with insulation and energy efficiency measures, each would use less heat and power, reducing customers’ bills and their carbon footprint. And if we fitted them with solar panels, heat pumps, and battery storage they could generate and store their own heat and power, making them energy sufficient and independent of the National Grid. In effect every Welsh home and public building could become an energy efficient, energy generating power station.
“And if this is combined with larger community, Council or business led renewable projects, such as hydro, onshore or offshore wind, tidal, wind, solar, or geothermal schemes, we can create a visionary and sustainable energy future for Wales more cost-effectively, more quickly, more safely and with many more jobs than nuclear. Wales already derives much of its energy from renewables, but we could do much more.”
The event ended with participants being asked to sign the Cardiff Declaration. Signatories included Councillors from Newport City Council and Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, as well as members of the following organisations: CND Cymru; ICAN, We can, Cymru can; Cor Cochion Caerdydd; Wales One World Film Festival; Labrats International; XR Peace; Trident Ploughshares and United Nations Association. https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/every-home-and-community-could-be-a-power-station-the-nflas-future-renewable-energy-vision-for-wales/
France: EDF extends nuclear outages by up to 42 days
EDF extends nuclear outages by up to 42 days (4.6 GW). EDF has extended
outages at its Chooz 2 (1.5 GW) and three other nuclear reactors in France
with a cumulative 4.64 GW capacity by up to 42 days.
Montel 5th Dec 2022
https://www.montelnews.com/news/1373972/edf-extends-nuclear-outages-by-up-to-42-days-46-gw
Slovakia’s new nuclear power plant delayed due to a technical fault
The newly built Mochovce nuclear power plant, the country’s third, will
have to delay electricity production due to a technical fault that could
cause financial hardship for the plant’s owner.
Technicians identified a
minor leak during stress tests a few days after the minimum controlled
output was reached. The reactor was already undergoing a fission chain
reaction, although the reactor power was very close to zero. “During the
re-pressurisation test, a minor leak was identified on the upper reactor
block.
After analysing the situation, we decided to reseal this part of the
technology,” Oľga Baková, spokeswoman for plant operator Slovenske
elektrárne a.s. told TV Markíza. “Next week we are continuing the unit
start-up and physical start-up tests. The first phasing and connection to
the grid are scheduled for about mid-January,” she added.
Euractiv 7th Dec 2022 https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/new-slovak-nuclear-reactor-forced-to-delay-electricity-production/
USA and UK welded together firmly in the grip of the nuclear lobby, with their Small Nuclear Reactor folly.
UK and US ‘like-minded’ on nuclear power as key to energy security,
SMR, Rob Harris, December 7, 2022 British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his counterpart, US President Joe Biden, have announced a new venture to secure supply and reduce price volatility, with the US promising to more than double the amount of gas it exported to the UK last year.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his counterpart, US President Joe Biden, have announced a new venture to secure supply and reduce price volatility, with the US promising to more than double the amount of gas it exported to the UK last year.
The new “UK-US Energy Security and Affordability Partnership” will aim to reduce global dependence on Russian energy exports, stabilise energy markets and step up collaboration on energy efficiency, nuclear and renewables.
But the focus on nuclear sharpens the divide between Australia’s attitudes towards a civil nuclear power industry and those of its two closest allies – governments of all persuasions in Canberra have outlawed a domestic industry and resisted calls to overturn the ban for decades……………..
In a joint statement, Sunak and Biden said their new agreement would promote nuclear energy as “a safe and reliable part of the clean energy transition”.
“This includes deepening global collaboration on nuclear fuels and advanced nuclear technologies.”
They said both nations would work to deepen global collaboration between “like-minded countries” on small modular reactors (SMRs) and support a resilient and diversified nuclear fuel supply chain………………………………….
Nuclear power is now firmly back on the agenda, particularly in Britain and France, amid new fears for energy security following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ever-greater need to reduce global carbon emissions.
The US, with 92 commercial reactors, is the world’s largest producer, accounting for more than 30 per cent of the nuclear-generated electricity worldwide.
Large reactor projects are still facing financial and construction problems, with the UK’s 3.2 gigawatt Hinkley Point C plant hit by delays and cost overruns. But analysts believe [for “analysts” read “nuclear salesmen”]the time may be right for SMRs – which could also prove affordable to nations unable to fund large nuclear plants…………
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese this week rebuffed a push by South Australian Premier, Peter Malinauskas, to restart the nuclear debate in Australia, citing waste and safety concerns as key reasons nuclear should not be considered as an energy option………
“I haven’t changed my view that it’s a huge distraction from what we need to do. It just doesn’t add up,” he said on Adelaide radio 5AA. “That’s essentially the problem. Every five years or so we have this economic analysis of whether nuclear power stacks up and every time it’s rejected.”……….. https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/uk-and-us-like-minded-on-nuclear-power-as-key-to-energy-security-20221207-p5c49q.html
1 This Month
of the week– Nuclear Reactor Information Task Force
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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