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Ukraine targeting Russian nuclear power plants amid frontline losses – Rosatom head.

14 Nov, 2025 https://www.rt.com/russia/627793-ukraine-russian-nuclear-plants-attacks/

Kiev’s drones have once again hit the Novovoronezh NPP in Western Russia, Aleksey Likhachev has said.

Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russian nuclear power plants (NPPs) in response to its mounting battlefield losses, Rosatom head Aleksey Likhachev said on Friday.

Likhachev said that earlier this week, Ukrainian drones had once again targeted the Novovoronezh NPP in Western Russia’s Voronezh Region. He relayed that eight of the unmanned aircraft were intercepted and destroyed, but falling debris damaged a power distribution unit, forcing three reactor blocks to temporarily reduce output to below half capacity.

“We are seeing growing aggressiveness from the Kiev regime, directed deliberately against facilities of Russia’s nuclear energy sector,” Likhachev said.

“It is clear that this is a response to the successes and advances of our troops along almost the entire line of contact,” he added, stressing that Russia will provide an “adequate response” to such attacks.

Likhachev made the remarks after meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi in Kaliningrad on Friday, where the two discussed the situation at the Zaporozhye NPP and Kiev’s repeated attacks on other Russian nuclear sites.

The safety of the Zaporozhye NPP, Europe’s largest facility of its kind, had been fully ensured during the restoration of its external power supply, according to Likhachev. The plant had relied on backup diesel generators for 30 days after a Ukrainian strike severed its last high-voltage transmission line in September.

The coordination with the IAEA helped Russia “get through a very difficult month from September 23 to October 23,” Rosatom’s CEO told reporters.

Located in Zaporozhye Region, which voted to join Russia in 2022 in a move rejected by Kiev and its Western backers, the facility has repeatedly come under Ukrainian fire, according to Russian officials, who describe the attacks as reckless and highly dangerous. The IAEA maintains observers at the site but has stopped short of assigning blame, a stance Moscow says only encourages further provocations by Kiev.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported continued advances across several sectors of the front over the past week, saying on Friday that troops had improved their tactical positions and made gains along the front line while inflicting heavy losses on Ukrainian forces.

November 18, 2025 Posted by | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

US and Russia ‘actively discussing’ settlement of Ukraine conflict – Moscow

16 Nov, 2025, https://www.rt.com/russia/627862-russia-us-discuss-ukraine-settlement/

The understanding reached at the Alaska summit is still in force, President Putin’s aide Yury Ushakov has said.

Moscow and Washington are continuing their dialogue on resolving the Ukraine conflict in line with the understanding reached during the Alaska meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump in August, Putin’s aide Yury Ushakov has said.

Although the summit failed to yield a breakthrough, Moscow has praised what it called Washington’s willingness to mediate and consider the conflict’s underlying causes.

Russian officials also maintain that continued dialogue creates opportunities for trade and economic cooperation despite the US decision to sanction the oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil last month.

Russia is receiving “many signals” from the US, with the Anchorage meeting still acting as a basis for the talks, Ushakov told journalist Pavel Zarubin on Sunday. “We do believe it is a good way forward,” he said. According to the official, the understandings are still relevant since Washington has never explicitly stated that they are no longer valid.

The presidential aide admitted that the peace process and agreements reached in Alaska do not sit well with Kiev and some of its European backers, adding that it only indicates they want to continue the bloodshed. “The Anchorage [meeting] is only disliked by those who does not want a peaceful resolution [to the Ukraine conflict],” he said.

Bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington sank to an all-time low under former US President Joe Biden, amid the Ukraine conflict, but have shown signs of improvement since Trump’s return to the White House. US and Russian officials have held several rounds of talks this year, including the Alaska summit.

The US and Russia also announced the next planned Trump-Putin summit in Budapest in the fall, but it was then postponed indefinitely. Washington is still determined to continue contacts with Moscow, according to US Vice President J.D. Vance. Earlier in November, he called direct dialogue with Russia part of the “Trump doctrine.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reaffirmed this month that Moscow was ready to resume contacts and rejected media reports claiming otherwise as false.

November 18, 2025 Posted by | politics international, Russia, USA | Leave a comment

UK’s New nuclear siting policy criticised by industry as ‘missed opportunity’

 The highly anticipated National Policy Statement for Nuclear Energy
Generation EN-7, which will dictate where new nuclear reactors can be
deployed, has been published by the government, but it has been criticised
by the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) as a “missed opportunity”.

 New Civil Engineer 14th Nov 2025, https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/new-nuclear-siting-policy-criticised-by-industry-as-missed-opportunity-14-11-2025/

November 17, 2025 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

BBC News Has a Long Record of Disinformation. But This Time It Chose the Wrong Target.

We are now in a death loop in which the BBC becomes ever more craven to the billionaires, thereby shifting the political centre of gravity ever further rightwards. Much of the British public have been convinced by the billionaire-owned media that the BBC is actually “leftwing”. And as a result, the right grows ever more confident in advancing the billionaires’ self-interested agenda, knowing there will be no pushback.

British politics, as Keir Starmer illustrates only too keenly, is in exactly the same death loop. The billionaires are in charge, whoever leads. The main political battle is over image-laundering: where to direct the hate.

 SCHEERPOST, November 15, 2025 , By Jonathan Cook / Jonathan Cook Blog

The BBC is in turmoil, its director-general and head of news forced to resign after a memo leaked to the Daily Telegraph highlighted editorial malpractice at the state broadcaster’s flagship news programme Panorama. The documentary had spliced together two separate clips of Donald Trump speaking on 6 January 2021, shortly before a riot at the Capitol building in Washington. The speech’s sentiments that day may not have been much misrepresented, but its contents technically were.

But Panorama, and the BBC more generally, have been exposed peddling far worse misinformation. In those cases, there have been precisely no consequences for such out-in-the-open journalistic abuses.

The reason heads have rolled at the BBC this time are not because it made a journalistic blunder – it makes them all the time. It is because the corporation foolishly offered an open goal to the billionaire right and its media outlets. This is just the latest, particularly damaging skirmish in a years-long battle by the right to bring down the BBC – while, in the meantime, ensuring that the corporation turns even more pliant than it already is in promoting the right’s interests.

We are now in a death loop in which the BBC becomes ever more craven to the billionaires, thereby shifting the political centre of gravity ever further rightwards. Much of the British public have been convinced by the billionaire-owned media that the BBC is actually “leftwing”. And as a result, the right grows ever more confident in advancing the billionaires’ self-interested agenda, knowing there will be no pushback.

British politics, as Keir Starmer illustrates only too keenly, is in exactly the same death loop. The billionaires are in charge, whoever leads. The main political battle is over image-laundering: where to direct the hate.

Open-for-business, austerity-affirming Starmer wants us hating chiefly on those who criticise him from the left, such as opponents of his support for Israel’s genocide. Open-for-business, austerity-affirming Nigel Farage wants us hating chiefly on the immigrants. But, of course, both hate the left and immigrants.

If anyone is falling for the manufactured “furore” over Panorama’s latest journalistic gaffe, there are examples of far graver malpractice by Panorama – especially on issues related to Israel and Palestine. These editorial crimes have barely caused a ripple, even after they were exposed.

Why? Because the billionaires love Israel and hate its critics. Israel is their vision of the future: the model of a fortress state in which they believe they can protect themselves from the people whose lives they are destroying around the globe.

Israel is also the laboratory where they can test and refine the surveillance technology, the weapons and the policing methods they will need if they are to keep their own publics controlled and subdued as austerity bites ever deeper. Gaza may be coming to street near you soon.

Here are two examples of crimes against journalism from Panorama that illustrate what you can get away with as long as you keep the billionaires happy.

The first gave Israel cover for the crimes it committed against peace activists trying to bring aid to Gaza in 2010 – thereby setting the tone for subsequent coverage that would ultimately lead to, and justify, the Gaza genocide.

The second marshalled disinformation to cement Jeremy Corbyn’s reputation as a supposed “antisemite” in the immediate run-up to 2019 general election. Starmer would go on to use the confected antisemitism row to seize control of Labour, oust Corbyn, approve as opposition leader of Israel’s starvation of Gaza’s population, and back Israel’s genocide as prime minister.

Death in the Med (2010)

In 2010 reporter Jane Corbin fronted Panorama’s “Death in the Med”, about an Israeli commando raid a few months earlier on the lead aid ship, the Mavi Marmara, in a humanitarian flotilla that was trying to reach Gaza, despite an illegal Israeli blockade.

(The programme now serves as an unwelcome reminder that the “conflict” between Israel and Hamas did not begin on 7 October 2023, as the western media would have us believe. For the proceeding 17 years, Israel had been trapping the people of Gaza inside the tiny enclave while blocking food and medicine from reaching them – what Israel referred to as “putting them on a diet”.)

The commandos attacked the ship in international waters and killed nine activists on board, several with close-range shots to the head. The illegality of invading a ship in international waters was not mentioned by Panorama, nor were the execution-style killings. Instead the programme featured “exclusive” interviews with some of the commandos, largely presenting them as the victims………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

By the time Panorama aired “Death in the Med” three months later, the Israeli-imposed fog had lifted further. Israel had been forced to make a “correction”, admitting that it had doctored the incendiary “Auschwitz” recording and that it had no idea who had made the comment. The voice was from someone with a strong southern US accent, but none of the people on the Marmara with access to the radio were American.

It was quite extraordinary that the programme posed as the central question whether this was a case of “self-defence or excessive force” by Israel. Israel had no right to “defend” itself in international waters from unarmed peace activists. But the question was even more preposterous given all the critically important evidence that emerged subsequently but that Panorama chose to ignore……………………………………………………………………..

Panorama was effectively helping Israel to justify an act of piracy on the high seas, the siege of Gaza, and the murder of nine humanitarian activists.

Is Labour Antisemitic? (2019)

In the run-up to the 2019 election, Panorama broadcast a special, hour-long episode on the state of the Labour party under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. For the programme-makers, the question mark in the title was entirely redundant. Panorama was bent on proving that Labour was indeed antisemitic, whatever the evidence.

Corbyn, the first leader of a major British political party to place the right of Palestinians to be free of Israel’s illegal occupation ahead of Israel’s supposed “right” to continuing its illegal occupation, had been the target of relentless criticism since he was elected leader in 2015. The media accused him of overseeing – and encouraging – a supposed “plague of antisemitism” among party members……………

But the malicious purpose of the antisemitism smears should be far clearer by now. Millions of Britons who have gone out to protest against the Gaza genocide have been defamed as antisemites. As have students setting up encampments to stop their universities from colluding with the genocide. As have Jews who oppose Israel’s genocide. As have the West Midlands police for trying to stop Israeli football hooligans, many of them likely to be Israeli soldiers who have helped carry out the genocide, from bringing their brand of racist violence to the UK’s streets. We could go on.

The Panorama programme on Corbyn made its case through serial misrepresentations – too many to document here. But the case against the Panorama episode is dealt with fully in this documentary here.

Those deceptions included a series of interviews with unidentified “party members” who claimed to have faced antisemitism in Labour. What Panorama did not tell viewers was that these talking heads belonged to an aggressively pro-Israel lobby group inside Labour called the Jewish Labour Movement………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Proper checks weren’t done in the case of “Death in the Med” or “Is Labour Antisemitic?” because Panorama editors knew that no one in power would care. Defaming peace activists trying to bring aid to a besieged population; smearing a socialist standing to be prime minister. No one would hold the BBC to account.

Why? Because those weren’t errors by the BBC. That’s its job. That is what it is there to do. It is there to uphold narratives that support the interests of the British establishment, as its founder, Lord Reith, explained in the 1920s. “They [the government] know they can trust us not to be really impartial.”

The fact that the BBC is now in hot water for editing a Trump speech – altering its contents without altering its sentiments – is a sign that its senior staff have been misreading the political climate. The establishment itself is now at war – over strategy. Between the traditional right, desperately trying to enforce a crumbling popular, liberal consensus, and the MAGA far-right trying to exploit the crumbling consensus to their own advantage.

It is a sign that the far right is now too far in the ascendant to be given even a small taste of the treatment regularly faced by the left or Israel’s critics. The far right – backed by, and serving, the billionaires – is winning. Time for the BBC to catch up, and bow even lower. https://scheerpost.com/2025/11/15/bbc-news-has-a-long-record-of-disinformation-but-this-time-it-chose-the-wrong-target/

November 17, 2025 Posted by | media, UK | Leave a comment

Could Small Modular Nuclear Reactors add supply-side grid flexibility?

It would make sense in the UK for SMRs to be load
following only if there were vast numbers of SMRs deployed,

13 Nov, 2025 By Tom Pashby New Civil Engineer

Small modular reactors (SMRs) could have the capability of providing the British electricity grid with flexible supplies, the government has said.

Supply-side grid flexibility is the ability of electricity sources to
adjust their output to match fluctuations in power demand in real-time. The
statement came in response to a question from an MP about whether SMRs
could be used as “load-following energy sources”.

Liberal Democrat spokesperson for energy security and net zero Pippa Heylings MP asked what assessment the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) “has made of the potential merits of small modular reactors being made as load-following energy sources”.

Responding, DESNZ minister of state
Michael Shanks said: “The next generation of nuclear, including SMRs,
offers new possibilities, including faster deployment, lower capital costs
and greater flexibility. “Whilst nuclear energy has a unique role to play
in delivering stable, low-carbon baseload energy, SMRs may be able to serve the electricity grid more flexibly than traditional nuclear, as well as
unlock a range of additional applications in energy sectors beyond grid
electricity.”

It would only make sense in the UK for SMRs to be load
following if there were vast numbers of SMRs deployed, representing a
significant proportion of the electricity generation capacity on the
national electricity transmission system of Great Britain, for them to be
load-following.

University of Sussex professor of science and technology
policy Andy Stirling told NCE: “This parliamentary answer repeats a
longstanding malaise in UK energy policy. “For far too long,
eccentrically strong official nuclear attachments have been dominated by
reference to claimed ‘new possibilities’, to what nuclear ‘may be
able’ to do, and to an unsubstantiated ‘unique role’. “

Whichever side of these debates one is on, it is clear that what is needed most is what used to be routine – but has been lacking for more than a decade.
“Questions over cost, security or flexibility claims can only be settled
by detailed comparative analysis that includes balanced attention to
non-nuclear strategies as well as nuclear ‘possibilities’. “

When such a picture is looked at in a fair way, current trends are making it
impossible even for formerly nuclear-enthusiastic bodies (like the Royal
Society) to conclude – even when looking at UK Government data –
anything other than that there is no rational need for any nuclear
contribution.”

 New Civil Engineer 13th Nov 2025,
https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/could-smrs-add-supply-side-grid-flexibility-13-11-2025/

November 17, 2025 Posted by | ENERGY, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, UK | Leave a comment

Why should Scotland pay billions for nuclear when renewables exist?

 Dr Ian Fairlie: Why should Scotland pay billions for nuclear when
renewables exist?

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar this week
made further statements in support of more nuclear power in Scotland.
Scottish CND believe their claims about a “golden age of nuclear” are
pie in the sky and should be treated with a pinch (or more) of salt

A proper assessment of our energy situation requires us to look at what is
happening in the rest of the world. Last year, a record 582GW of renewable
energy generation capacity was added to the world’s supplies – but
there was almost no new nuclear. Indeed, each year, new renewables add
about 200 times more global electricity than new nuclear does.

Powerful economic arguments exist for renewables over nuclear. The main one is that the marginal (ie fuel) costs of renewable energy are next to zero, whereas nuclear fuel is extremely expensive. Nuclear costs – for both
construction and generation – are very high and rising, plus long delays
are the norm.

For example, the proposed Sizewell C nuclear station in
England is now predicted to cost £47 billion, with the UK Government and
independent experts acknowledging even this estimate may rise
significantly. And just this week, the Hinkley C station still under
construction in England added yet more costs to its anticipated huge bill.

Must Scotland follow these poor English examples? The reality is that new
nuclear power in Scotland would mean massive costs, a poisoned legacy to future generation and yet more radioactive pollution of our air and seas.
Given these manifest disadvantages, many independent commentators have questioned the UK Government’s seeming obsession with nuclear power.

 The National 15th Nov 2025, https://www.thenational.scot/politics/25624042.scotland-pay-billions-nuclear-renewables-exist/

November 16, 2025 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Nuclear for Wylfa the wrong way to go

Nuclear Free Local Authorities, 13th November 2025

Responding to today’s news that the UK Government intends to impose several so called ‘small modular reactors’ upon Wylfa, the Welsh NFLAs believe that this is the wrong way to go.

The money would be better spent on insulating Welsh homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run or used to develop more capacity in renewable technologies that can generate electricity cheaper and far quicker. And Ynys Mon can play a big part in that by becoming a centre of excellence for renewable technologies and so truly Wales’ ‘green energy’ island.

The Government’s nuclear delivery agency, Great British Energy – Nuclear recently concluded a ‘competition’ amongst SMR developers to select a preferred design. Unsurprisingly Rolls-Royce, which had already received a Government hand-out of £210 million during an earlier development stage and a Government hand-up by being fast-tracked onto the Generic Design Assessment process, won the competition. This was the equivalent of running a race with superior sports footwear, and starting the race much earlier, than the other participants. The company will now be awarded a further £2.5 billion of hard-pressed taxpayers money to build three pilot SMRs.

13th November 2025

Nuclear for Wylfa the wrong way to go

Responding to today’s news that the UK Government intends to impose several so called ‘small modular reactors’ upon Wylfa, the Welsh NFLAs believe that this is the wrong way to go.

The money would be better spent on insulating Welsh homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run or used to develop more capacity in renewable technologies that can generate electricity cheaper and far quicker. And Ynys Mon can play a big part in that by becoming a centre of excellence for renewable technologies and so truly Wales’ ‘green energy’ island.

The Government’s nuclear delivery agency, Great British Energy – Nuclear recently concluded a ‘competition’ amongst SMR developers to select a preferred design. Unsurprisingly Rolls-Royce, which had already received a Government hand-out of £210 million during an earlier development stage and a Government hand-up by being fast-tracked onto the Generic Design Assessment process, won the competition. This was the equivalent of running a race with superior sports footwear, and starting the race much earlier, than the other participants. The company will now be awarded a further £2.5 billion of hard-pressed taxpayers money to build three pilot SMRs.

Great British Energy – Nuclear also purchased the Wylfa and Oldbury sites off Horizon for £160 million for reuse as locations for these new SMRs, almost certainly at nil or minimal cost to the developer, and GNE – N recently advertised for a site manager with proficiency in the Welsh language letting slip that Wylfa was the preferred site.

The Government’s announcement refers to Wylfa becoming Britain’s first SMR ‘power plant’ with reactors plural, suggesting that the three initial reactors will all be co-located on the island. SMRs are an uncertain and unproven nuclear technology. The Rolls-Royce SMR design has yet to secure all the required regulatory approvals, no Rolls-Royce SMR have yet been built, let alone operated, and there is no experience of SMR modular assembly.  Any reactor will not even come on stream until the 2030’s and even then will only deliver electricity for customers that is vastly more expensive than that generated by renewables. Nor has any permanent solution to the intractible problem of managing high-level radioactive waste been found, but there has been some academic research which indicates that many SMR designs create more waste per kilowatt generated than traditional gigawatt plants. And as Ukraine has demonstrated, nuclear power plants are obvious targets in any future conflict.

Wylfa is a particularly problematic location. The Horizon bid was rejected in part because of the damage it would cause to nature and the beautiful environment of Ynys Mon and its impact on the island’s linguistic heritage. But the bid failed largely because the developer felt they were not receiving enough financial support from the taxpayer. How will this be different? The price tag for a single SMR is likely to be at least £4 billion. Will a public subsidy of £2.5 billion be deemed sufficient to Rolls Royce to incentivise them to proceed with buiding three? How will electricity be transmitted across and out of the island? It is very likely that we shall see a sea of new pylons spring up across the green fields of Ynys Mon and beyond. If parts for a modular reactor are made off-site, how will they be transported onto the island? And with ‘First of a Kind’ experimental SMRs at Wylfa, and a military neighbour at RAF Valley, surely the UK Government is making Ynys Mons an even higher-priority target for terrorists or a hostile power in time of war. How will islanders be evacuated quickly and safely should there be an attack or an accident?

The promised thousands of jobs ‘for the local community’ must also be questionable. ………………………………………………………………………………………………

The Welsh NFLAs would rather see the £2.5 billion dedicated to SMR development at Wylfa redirected by the UK Government to reduce the energy bills of Welsh citizens and move closer to making Wales a wholly renewable electricity nation. How? By funding an emergency programme of retrofitting insulation to Welsh homes and into supporting renewable energy projects……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/nuclear-for-wylfa-the-wrong-way-to-go/

November 16, 2025 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Atom is prematurely split in the ‘golden age’ transatlantic partnership

Nils Pratley, 14 Nov 25 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/nov/13/atom-split-us-uk-golden-age-partnership-wylfe-smr

Britain was always going to prefer homegrown technology for the SMR reactors at Wylfe. The US would have done the same.

It had all been so harmonious two months ago. “Together with the US, we’re building a golden age of nuclear that puts both countries at the forefront of global innovation and investment,” purred the prime minister about the new “landmark” UK-US nuclear partnership.

Now there’s an atomic split over the first significant decision. The UK has allocated Wylfa on the island of Anglesey, or Ynys Môn, to host three small modular reactors (SMRs) to be built by the British developer Rolls-Royce SMR. The US ambassador, Warren Stephens, says his country is “extremely disappointed”: he wanted Westinghouse, a US company, to get the gig for a large-scale reactor.

This quarrel is easy to adjudicate. The US ambassador is living in dreamland if he seriously thought the UK wouldn’t show home bias at Wylfa. This is the coveted site for new nuclear power in the UK because the land is owned by the government, which ought to make the planning process easier and quicker, and the site hosted a Magnox reactor until 2015, so the locals are used to nuclear plants. Since Rolls-Royce’s kit is the best national hope of reviving the UK’s industry with homegrown technology, of course there was going to be preferential treatment.

None of which is to say the SMR experiment will definitely succeed in the sense of demonstrating cheapness (a relative measure in nuclear-land) versus mega-plants, such as Hinkley Point C, Sizewell C or the Westinghouse design. Rolls-Royce oozes confidence about the cost-saving advantages of prefabrication in factories, but these have yet to be demonstrated on the ground. The point, though, is that the only way to find out is to get on and build. Rolls-Royce SMR’s only other order currently is from the Czech Republic for six units.

Indeed, the criticism from some quarters is that the UK government has been too timid in ordering only three. If the batch-production is supposed to be the gamechanger on costs, goes the argument, then commit to a decent-sized batch at the outset.

The choice of Wylfa may help on that score in time, though. The site is reckoned to be big enough to hold an additional five SMR units eventually, on the top of the first three. Since each SMR is 470 megawatts, a full build-out would equate to more megawatts in total than the 3,200 from each of Hinkley and Sizewell.

The sop to the US is that Westinghouse gets to compete for future large-scale reactor projects in the UK. It would probably have been a good idea to tell the ambassador in advance before he blew a fuse. Reserving Wylfa for Rolls-Royce SMRs was the only sensible decision here.

Hopes that SMR technology will become a major export-earner for the UK eventually are best treated with extreme caution at this stage. The first electricity from Wylfa won’t be generated until the mid-2030s, and the demonstration of falling costs with each additional unit can only come after that. There is a long way to go. But a good way to maximise your chance of success is to give the top site to your pet project. The US would have done exactly the same.

November 16, 2025 Posted by | politics international, UK, USA | Leave a comment

Wales Green Party responds to new nuclear power plans

 by Green Party, https://greenparty.org.uk/2025/11/13/wales-green-party-responds-to-new-nuclear-power-plans/

Responding to the announcement of plans for new nuclear power generation on Ynys Môn, leader of Wales Green Party Anthony Slaughter, said:

“It’s Groundhog Day yet again. Gordon Brown declared a bold future for nuclear power back in 2009, showing us nuclear is of no help in fighting the climate crisis.

“New nuclear power at Wylfa would be nothing but an expensive distraction from the clean, fast and cheap renewables already available to us. We need to cut emissions fast, but even the most optimistic backers admit it’ll take a decade for new nuclear to be up and running. 

“And there is still no answer to the safe disposal of nuclear waste.

“What Wales needs is a fast, ambitious roll-out of solar, wind and wave energy that will create jobs and cut energy bills.”

November 16, 2025 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Ukrainian substations hit in latest drone strike

A renewed wave of drone and missile strikes on Ukraine’s energy system have destroyed or damaged most thermal power plants, and struck substations that supply the Khmelnitsky and Rivne nuclear power plants.

November 11, 2025, https://www.power-technology.com/news/ukrainian-substations-hit-in-latest-drone-strike/?cf-view&cf-closed

Arecent drone and missile attack on Ukraine has once again struck substations supplying two major nuclear plants. The assault, targeting the country’s energy system, destroyed or damaged most of Ukraine’s thermal power plants, leaving only its nuclear power plants (NPPs) still functioning. However, the substations that provide power to the Khmelnitsky and Rivne NPPs were also affected.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that these “were not accidental but well-planned strikes”.

Russian media discussed the issue of closing down Ukraine’s NPPs to put them in the same state as the Zaporizhia NPP. “The Russians, in response to Zelensky’s threats to ‘turn off the lights’ in Moscow, responded with such retaliatory blows that all Ukrainian thermal power plants were ‘turned off’ – but what about the nuclear power plants that continue to generate electricity?” asked Dzen.

The outlet cited well-known military expert Valery Shiryaev, deputy director of Novaya Gazeta, who noted that attacks on NPPs are a “red line” for the Russian military. “It is impossible to bomb nuclear power plants, but their transformers are a disputed area,” Shiryaev explained.

According to Shiryaev, Ukraine will be able to meet all its electricity needs with the help of its NPPs even if the thermal plants no longer function. He believes that the Russian military is planning to implement the same scenario that was carried out at the Zaporizhia NPP. This involves shutting down the nuclear reactors and, consequently, stopping the production of electricity.

Dzen concluded: “It is important for us to disable the enemy’s energy infrastructure, as it will greatly complicate the logistics (including the delivery of military supplies) and the work of the military-industrial complex for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, in order to completely cut off Ukraine’s power supply, it is necessary to decide on the “shutdown” of nuclear power plants. It is unclear whether such a decision has been made.”

In a similar article, Svpressa noted: “For the first time, Russians have attacked nuclear power plant substations, causing power outages and electricity shortages, according to monitoring channels. It is particularly noted that… sporadic strikes will force Kiev to shut down the nuclear units and put them on repair or restart (this is a matter of a few days or a week). As a reminder, Ukraine has shut down the Zaporizhia NPP in Energodar and is not allowing it to be operated at even 15% capacity, only maintaining it in a safe mode. The Russian Armed Forces are now doing the same to Ukraine.”

To safely remove Ukraine’s NPPs from operation, it is sufficient to disable the power grid infrastructure. After that, with the full control of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is simply necessary to allow the NPP personnel to operate on diesel generators. Ideally, it would be beneficial to allow the deployment of a separate, powerful external diesel-powered power plant. This would ensure the reliable operation of the shut-down NPP. Additionally, it is crucial to refrain from interfering with the plant during the reactor’s idle period.

Meanwhile, a member of the State Duma (parliament) Committee on Defence, Andrey Kolesnik, emphasised that Russian troops would never strike Ukraine’s NPPs. “But we can turn off the logistics chain, transformers, and everything else. I think that the supply chains for electricity from the nuclear power plant to the consumer will be disrupted,” he said in an interview with NEWS.ru.

November 15, 2025 Posted by | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Sizewell C. Taxpayers likely to see ‘no return’ on £6.4bn public funds put in as equity

taxpayers are getting no return whatsoever on the £6.4bn they are putting in as equity, so from a taxpayer point of view it is dreadful.

10 Nov, 2025,  By Tom Pashby, New Civil Engineer

Taxpayers will see “no return whatsoever” on the £6.4bn that the government is committing in equity to Sizewell C, according to an energy policy expert.

Earlier in November 2025, Sizewell C reached financial close with a £5bn funding injection from 13 banks paving the way for full-scale construction.

The deal secures around £5.5bn of new financing consisting of a £5bn export credit-backed facility arranged by Bpifrance Assurance‑Export (BpifranceAE) with support from Sfil, and a separate £500M working capital facility.

These facilities sit alongside a term loan provided by the UK’s National Wealth Fund and the equity that was raised earlier this year following the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Suffolk nuclear power plant in July.

In April 2025, the government announced that a further £2.7bn of taxpayer cash had been made available for Sizewell C, bringing the total to £6.4bn ahead of the FID on the nuclear power station.

The agreements on private investment to build the new nuclear power station have been reached through the government agreeing to use the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model. RAB works by having consumers pay a surcharge on their bills during the construction phase, which helps lower the cost of capital and reduces the financial risk for investors. This surcharge will be added to bills through the construction and for the first three years of operation. It goes towards paying back the private entities for their investment and, according to the government, will mean lower bills for consumers over the long term. Ofgem, as the regulator, sets the allowed revenue to ensure costs are incurred efficiently and consumers get value for money.

However, University of Greenwich emeritus professor of energy policy Steve Thomas is scptical about this, given that the current official estimate of £38bn to build Sizewell C is at the lower end of the range of likely costs and this is in 2024 prices, with inflation pushing it up all the time.

Additionally, there is no official timeline for construction completion. As has been seen with Hinkley Point C, cost and schedule overruns come with the territory.

He told NCE: “From 1 December 2025, consumers will start to pay a surcharge on the electricity bills to pay for the return being paid to investors (10.8% real) on their equity contribution (35% of the costs) and the interest payments on the loans, expected to be 4.5% (real).

“A bit of arithmetic suggests the surcharge will be split 44% interest payments and 56% rate of return on equity.

“The Low Carbon Contracts Company has said the surcharge in the period up to the end of March 2027 will be £3.54/MWh.”

He added that the £3.54/MWh figure would subsequently be updated annually based on the latest cost calculations.

“Ofgem says the average domestic consumer uses 2,700kWh per year so that amounts to about £9.56 per consumer in the first year,” he said. He believes this could rise to £62.70 per year by the end of the surcharge period.

“The government has said it will recycle its income from the surcharge back to electricity consumers, but we don’t know and nor does the government how it will do this and what proportion of the surcharge it receives will go back to consumers.

“Recycling the income means the government is giving consumers the interest that is paid to the National Wealth Fund on borrowing of £11.8bn and taxpayers are getting no return whatsoever on the £6.4bn they are putting in as equity, so from a taxpayer point of view it is dreadful.

Sizewell C ‘fails miserably’ on transparency – campaigner

Stop Sizewell C executive director Alison Downes said: “If Sizewell C can publicly state it expects the project to cost £38bn, why won’t they tell us when we can expect to see first power?

“Given that the British public is largely paying for Sizewell C through our taxes and energy bills, don’t we have the right to know how long it will take?

“Cynically this sounds like a ‘learning’ from Hinkley Point C – don’t tell people when it will be finished so you can’t be criticised for missing your deadlines. As an exercise in transparency, it fails miserably.”………………. https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/sizewell-c-consumers-like-to-see-no-return-on-6-4bn-public-funds-put-in-as-equity-10-11-2025/

November 15, 2025 Posted by | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

US ‘disappointed’ that Rolls-Royce will build UK’s first small modular reactors.

Guardian, 13 Nov 25

As Keir Starmer announces SMRs to be built in Wales, US ambassador says Britain should choose ‘a different path.

Keir Starmer has announced that the UK’s first small modular nuclear reactors will be built in north Wales – but immediately faced a backlash from Donald Trump’s administration after it pushed for a US manufacturer to be chosen.

Wylfa on the island of Anglesey, or Ynys Môn, will be home to three small modular reactors (SMRs) to be built by British manufacturer Rolls-Royce SMR. The government said it will invest £2.5bn.

SMRs are a new – and untested – technology aiming to produce nuclear power stations in factories to drive down costs and speed up installation. Rolls-Royce plans to build reactors, each capable of generating 470 megawatts of power, mainly in Derby.

The government also said that its Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) will report on potential sites for further larger reactors. They would follow the 3.2GW reactors under construction by French state-owned EDF at Hinkley Point C in Somerset and Sizewell C in Suffolk.

The Labour government under Starmer has embraced nuclear energy in the hope that it can generate electricity without carbon dioxide emissions, while also providing the opportunity for a large new export industry in SMRs.

However, it faced the prospect of a row with the US, piqued that its ally had overlooked the US’s Westinghouse Electric Company when choosing the manufacturer for the Wylfa reactors.

Ahead of the publication of the UK announcement, US ambassador Warren Stephens published a statement saying Britain should choose “a different path” in Wales.

“We are extremely disappointed by this decision, not least because there are cheaper, faster and already-approved options to provide clean, safe energy at this same location,” he said.

The Trump administration last month signed an $80bn (£61bn) deal with Westinghouse, which had been struggling financially, to build several of the same larger reactors proposed at Wylfa. Under the terms of that deal, the Trump administration could end up taking a stake in the company……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/13/us-disappointed-that-rolls-royce-will-build-uks-first-small-modular-reactors

November 15, 2025 Posted by | politics international, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, UK, USA | Leave a comment

Zelensky – Embroiled in war and embattled at home

    by beyondnuclearinternational, https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2025/11/13/embroiled-in-war-and-embattled-at-home/

Can president Zelensky survive a kickback scheme involving the state nuclear company that enriched associates and possibly even ministers in his own government, asks Linda Pentz Gunter

If you live in Ohio, and possibly even in Illinois and South Carolina, you might be getting a bit of a déjà vu feeling reading the news coming out of Ukraine about a corruption scandal involving Energoatom, Ukraine’s nuclear energy company. That’s because two independent Ukrainian anti-corruption bodies have just uncovered a massive graft scandal involving kickbacks from nuclear power projects.

In July 2020, then Speaker of the Ohio House, Republican Larry Householder, was arrested along with four others for involvement in what was described as “the largest bribery money-laundering scheme ever perpetrated against the people of the state of Ohio.”

In a year-long covert investigation by the US Attorney’s office and the FBI, a plot was uncovered that involved $61 million in dark money that flowed from FirstEnergy into the pockets of Householder and others to ensure a favorable vote in the House that would guarantee a $1.5 billion bailout of the company’s Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear reactors to keep them running. Once uncovered, indictments followed. Householder is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Similar scandals rocked Illinois and South Carolina, also connected to nuclear power plant schemes and also leading to indictments and prison sentences.

In Ukraine, the two investigating agencies — the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) — have just named at least eight individuals who have reportedly been charged with bribery, embezzlement, and illicit enrichment, netting around $100 million off contracts with Energoatom.

Details about precisely how the scheme operated and which contracts were involved have not fully emerged. However, some sources have suggested it involved a wide range of Energoatom’s private subcontractors who were allegedly forced to pay kickbacks of 10-15% to secure or maintain their supplier status and ensure timely payments. 

These reportedly included work on constructing protective structures at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant to defend against Russian air attacks, with Ukraine still struggling to defeat an invasion by Russia that began on February 24, 2022.

Both the Khmelnytskyi  and Rivne nuclear power plants were hit with a major strike by the Russians on November 8, raising new fears of a catastrophic nuclear disaster. To date, most of the concern has centered around the six-reactor site at Zaporizhzhia, which is located in the region of heaviest fighting and has been occupied by Russian forces since March 4, 2022. Zaporizhzhia has undergone many close calls and was recently without offsite power for a month, provoking widespread anxiety since power is essential to cool reactors and their fuel pools even if they are shut down as the Zaporizhzia reactors presently are.

“Nuclear safety and security in Ukraine remains extremely precarious during the military conflict,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a social media posting. “Two operating NPPs – Khmelnitskyy and Rivne – had to reduce electricity output after overnight attack on electrical substation critical for nuclear safety.”

The participants in the Energoatom corruption scheme, who used code names, were heard in conversations recorded by the investigators evaluating the Khmelnytsky fortifications as a business opportunity. 

Meanwhile the IAEA is at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil frantically peddling nuclear power as the answer to the climate crisis under its Atoms4Climate propaganda campaign while ignoring all the obvious safety and security risks so frighteningly on display in Ukraine, never mind the industry’s complete inability to deliver reactors in time or on budget.

Since the anti-corruption groups delivered their reports, two key ministers have resigned at President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request. They are Ukrainian Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk and Justice Minister German Galushenko. Galushenko, who preceded Grynchuk as energy minister, had already been suspended before he stepped down. Galushenko is reportedly implicated in the kickback scandal but has proclaimed his innocence.

The two agencies spent more than 15 months collecting evidence, including 1,000 hours of audio recordings and at least 70 searches. Zelensky had acted to curb the reach of NABU and SAPO several months earlier, prompting suspicions that he could have been aware that personal associates and his own ministers were about to be caught in their nets. Zelensky backed down then after being warned by the European Union that Ukraine’s bid to become a member would be in jeopardy if the corruption problem was not resolved.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen reportedly conveyed her strong concerns about Zelensky’s attempts to weaken the agencies’ powers. In a statement, a spokesperson for von der Leyen said: “The respect for the rule of law and the fight against corruption are core elements of the European Union. As a candidate country, Ukraine is expected to uphold these standards fully. There cannot be a compromise.”

The EU has spoken out again in light of the present revelations, urging Zelensky to clamp down on corruption, but has not withdrawn its support for the country’s war efforts against Russia’s invasion, now entering its 45th month.

According to an analysis in Kyiv Independent by Oleg Sukhov, the eight implicated also include Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, Rustem Umerov, former defense minister and current secretary of the National Security and Defense Council and Ihor Myroniuk, a former advisor to then Energy Minister Halushchenko.

Chernyshov allegedly financed the construction of high-end houses near Kyiv, echoing the way Householder used his bribery bonanzas to refurbish his second home in Florida.

The alleged ringleader, according to Sukhov and other news reports, is Zelensky’s close associate and former business partner, Timur Mindich, who has since fled the country, likely to Israel where he is a citizen and lending further credence to the charges. Mindich is a co-owner of the president’s Kvartal 95 production company. Zelensky transferred his stake to partners once he became president. 

Chernyshov allegedly financed the construction of high-end houses near Kyiv, echoing the way Householder used his bribery bonanzas to refurbish his second home in Florida.

The alleged ringleader, according to Sukhov and other news reports, is Zelensky’s close associate and former business partner, Timur Mindich, who has since fled the country, likely to Israel where he is a citizen and lending further credence to the charges. Mindich is a co-owner of the president’s Kvartal 95 production company. Zelensky transferred his stake to partners once he became president. 

Linda Pentz Gunter is the founder of Beyond Nuclear and serves as its international specialist. Her book, No To Nuclear. Why Nuclear Power Destroys Lives, Derails Climate Progress and Provokes War, can be pre-ordered now from Pluto Press.

November 15, 2025 Posted by | politics, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Why my work is clearly biased

Today, I found myself posting on my website – an article which is vehemently anti -Western, and possibly just an angry version of pro Russian propaganda. I dithered about this. Is my pro-Russian slant just too much – a bridge too far?

After all, there is so much to deplore about Russia – the secret, brutal and murderous regime of Vladimir Putin, and the genocidal history of Stalin’s actions in Ukraine. And there’s plenty more to deplore, including more recent atrocities done to Ukrainians in the course of the current war.

So – why on earth should I, or anyone, stick up for Russia, which is anyway, the invader in this conflict?

I come back to just one answer. It is that rather vague concept of culture. It is that someone must address that “Western culture” in which we are immersed and perhaps drowning.

Western culture, supposedly based on “Christian values” – like equality, compassion, peace-making, is nevertheless now manifesting as fear and hatred of Russia and China.

The media laps this up, because really, diplomacy, compromise, quiet discussion between world leaders, is boring stuff, and anger, shock and conflict – that’s entertaining.

In the coverage of the war in Ukraine, so many important aspects are ignored. We don’t hear about , for example, the effect of Zelensky banning the Russian language in public life, when for so many Ukrainians Russian is their first language. We don’t hear about atrocities done by Ukrainian troops.

We don’t hear any details about negotiations in which the war could end, with concessions made by both sides. Consideration is never given to how NATO membership for Ukraine might affect Russia.  I mean, how would  Americans  feel, if a hostile Canada could allow Russian military bases set up on the border of USA? 

Instead, there is this narrative about Russia’s intention to attack European states, and then take over the world, crushing democracy. But where’s the evidence for this? And at the same time, we’re being assured that Russia is economically and militarily weakened, so of course, Ukraine can beat them

And, talking of economics – well – “follow the money” has always been a very important aspect in world affairs. I think that we could all agree that from the point of view of Trump’s USA – the simple goal is to enrich American businesses. So, for the USA now, the main thing is to sell weapons to Europe.

For Europe, this is expensive. It’s not as if all the member States are wealthy and united in their resolve to buy the weapons and make Ukraine win. They need the money. The plan suggests raising a total of nearly €300 billion.

One way is to expropriate frozen Russian sovereign assets. Sovereign assets have immunity from seizure under international law and bilateral treaties – the United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property (2004) This method could have legal repercussions, and destabilise confidence in economic systems and investment, with political ill-effects for Europe. 

Another way is to raise a Eurobond. This is problematic because the EU would be acting as if it were a sovereign state rather than an administrative body of a treaty-based union. Some States might object, and as Ukraine is not a member of the EU – that fact strengthens their objection. The Eurobond would result, for member States, in higher taxes, constrained public services, and renewed austerity.

  The EU’s options for paying for continuing Ukraine’s fight are highly problematic. They are based on the belief that after Ukraine’s victory, European nations will get back the money from Russian reparations, and from returns from reconstruction of Russian-liberated territories. A dubious outcome.  

  These financial considerations might possibly bring the Western media, politicians, and public to take a more pragmatic view of the war in Ukraine, and calm down from the hysteria about Russia destroying democracy.  (Indeed, to digress for a moment – the USA is now giving a good example of democracy destroying itself)  

The culture is so imbued with those emotions of fear and hatred, and historic hostilities, that I doubt that we will come down to earth and look at the Ukraine situation more realistically. And our leaders seem obsessed with showing how tough they are, rather than how wise.

Democracy ‘s all about individual liberties, freedom, -we are told. But there are also other considerations – the need for food, water and shelter. A more collective view of society includes those considerations. In some ways, Russia and China are doing a better job in this.

So, after this long meandering, I conclude that I am OK with continuing with my biased stance. Yes, some of the stuff I put up IS Russian propaganda. I try to be sure that the facts are correct, even if the interpretation is biased. We are so constantly tsunamied with anti-Russia, anti-China stuff, it is necessary to try to bring in some balance.

November 14, 2025 Posted by | Christina's notes, Ukraine | Leave a comment

3 drones reportedly spotted flying over Belgian nuclear power plant

Kyiv Independent, November 10, 2025 

Three drones were spotted flying over the Doel Nuclear Power Plant in northern Belgium on the evening of Nov. 9, according to Deutsche Welle.

Operations at the power plant near Antwerp were not impacted by the drone sighting, a spokesperson for local energy company Engie said.

Several unidentified drone sightings have occurred in recent days near Belgian infrastructure. On Nov. 3, the Belgian army issued orders to shoot down unknown drones spotted over the country’s military bases in response to the sightings.

On Nov. 4, Belgium suspended air traffic at Brussels Airport due to a reported drone sighting in the area, according to the Belga News Agency. Some flights were diverted to the country’s Liege Airport, which was later temporarily closed because of another drone sighting.

Meanwhile, suspicious drones were spotted over Belgium’s Kleine Brogel Air Base for three nights in a row between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2, local media reported.

Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken said that the sightings near military bases appear to be part of an espionage operation, not naming the culprit but linking the incidents to recent Russian airspace violations in Europe.

The drone sightings have caused disruptions in several European countries, including Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands. As investigations continue, authorities have not ruled out that the drones may be Russian…………………………. https://kyivindependent.com/3-drones-reportedly-spotted-flying-over-belgian-nuclear-power-plant/

November 14, 2025 Posted by | EUROPE, safety | Leave a comment

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