Construction starts of Belgian disposal facility
Belgium’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever has laid a foundation stone,
marking the start of construction of a surface disposal facility for low-
and intermediate-level, short-lived waste at the Dessel site in Belgium.
The facility will consist of several concrete bunkers that will house large
concrete vaults in which short-lived low- and intermediate-level waste will
have been encapsulated with mortar. Currently, 28,831 vaults are planned,
spread across two zones: 20 bunkers in the first and 14 in the second. The
Dessel facility will house all Belgian low- and intermediate-level,
short-lived radioactive waste including that from nuclear power plants,
hospitals, research institutes and the decommissioning of nuclear
facilities. Currently, this waste is managed by national radioactive waste
management agency ONDRAF/NIRAS’s industrial subsidiary Belgoprocess in
several dedicated buildings on the Dessel site.
World Nuclear News 19th Sept 2025, https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/construction-starts-of-belgian-disposal-facility
Why Starmer’s nuclear ‘golden age’ risks becoming a lot of hot air.
Crippling costs and mountains of red tape threaten to pour cold water on the PM’s ambitions.
Donald Trump hasn’t been shy about criticising British
energy policy under Labour, lashing out at “ugly” wind farms and
crippling taxes on North Sea oil and gas. Yet one area where the US
president and Sir Keir Starmer seem to fervently agree is on nuclear power.
This week, the US and UK governments promised to work together to deliver a
“golden age” of privately-financed power plant construction.
The agreement will see the two countries fast-track the approval of new,
cutting-edge reactor designs by recognising each other’s safety regimes – a
controversial move that has already raised the hackles of activists. But to
underline the economic prize on offer, the announcement featured a string
of eye-catching investments being looked at by American and British
companies with plans for fleets of reactors that will power the grid, as
well as high-tech data centres needed for artificial intelligence (AI)
software. British Gas owner Centrica and X-energy, a nuclear start-up
backed by Amazon, said they were exploring building up to 80 advanced
modular reactors (AMRs) capable of delivering electricity and heat to both
industrial businesses and millions of homes. Meanwhile, Holtec
International and the UK arm of EDF are looking at building a small modular
reactor (SMR) on the former site of a coal power plant in Nottinghamshire.
Micro-reactor firm Last Energy is also exploring plans to power the London
Gateway port, while Bill Gates-backed TerraPower is scouting out locations
for mini power plants as well.
On the face of it, the deals looked like a
major triumph for the Prime Minister. But industry veterans were quick to
note that, in their current form, they are just loosely-worded commitments,
with the companies yet to sign binding contracts or exchange serious sums
of cash. One potential blueprint may lie in a new report by pro-growth
campaign group Britain Remade, which argues that nuclear power can offer
“abundant, clean, reliable electricity” and lower bills for consumers –
but only if the Government overhauls red tape that is “not fit for
purpose”. “US firms want to build here,” says Sam Dumitriu, the
report’s author. “But turning it into shovels in the ground, data centres
online, on time and on budget, depends on making the UK a lower-cost,
faster place to build”
Telegraph 18th Sept 2025, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/09/18/why-starmer-will-struggle-to-deliver-nuclear-golden-age/
Rolls Royce “Small” nuclear reactors are not at all small!
Dr Paul Dorfman Letter: Further to your report “Deal with US to
fast-track mini nuclear reactors” (Sep 15; letter, Sep 16), small modular
reactors (SMRs) are defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency as
reactors that generate up to 300MW power.
At 470MW, the Rolls-Royce design is not an SMR: it is larger than the UK Magnox reactor, more than half the size of the 900MW reactors that make up the bulk of the French nuclear fleet, and about a third the size of the very large EPR reactor design at Hinkley Point C.
This matters because the Rolls-Royce design will need big
sites, standard nuclear safety measures, exclusion zones, core catchers,
aircraft crash protection and security. All this is important because in
calling its design an SMR, or small, Rolls-Royce appears to me to have been
economical with the truth — and all that implies for its other claims,
especially about time and cost.
As for the nuclear waste problem, the former chair of the US government Nuclear Regulatory Commission reports
that SMRs would produce more reactive waste per kWh — the key parameter — than large reactors.
Times 17th Sept 2025. https://www.thetimes.com/comment/letters-to-editor/article/times-letters-ethics-of-danny-krugers-defection-to-reform-uk-3rbg90m3b
UK Ministry of Defence dismiss MP’ s call for inquiry into trident bases nuclear leaks.
THE Ministry of Defence (MoD) has dismissed calls from an SNP MSP for a
public inquiry into nuclear leaks at Trident bases, claiming it is
“factually incorrect” to suggest they posed a safety risk.
Earlier this week Bill Kidd, the Glasgow Anniesland MSP, held a debate on reported nuclear safety incidents at Faslane and Coulport, where Britain’s nuclear fleet and arsenal are stored.
Kidd secured the backing of 28 MSPs from the
SNP, Scottish Greens, Scottish Labour, Alba, and one independent. However,
the motion was not voted on as it was debated as member’s business after
decision time.
It comes after The Ferret revealed that nuclear waste leaked
into Loch Long, in Argyll and Bute. The outlet reported that pipe bursts
were recorded in 2010, two in 2019, and two more in 2021. After an FOI
battle that lasted six years, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency
(Sepa) – the environment watchdog – stated the Royal Navy failed to
properly maintain a network of 1500 pipes at the Coulport armaments depot,
on the banks of Loch Long.
The National 19th Sept 2025, https://www.thenational.scot/news/25481047.mod-dismiss-snp-msp-call-inquiry-trident-bases-nuclear-leaks/
U.S. Firms Boost UK Nuclear Sector with Major Deals
Oil Price By City A.M – Sep 16, 2025
- The UK and US have agreed to reduce the licensing time for nuclear projects from four years to two and broaden US companies’ access to the UK energy market.
- Several US companies have struck significant deals with UK partners, including X-Energy to build advanced modular reactors in Hartlepool, Holtec to develop data centers powered by small modular reactors, and Last Energy for a micro modular nuclear plant at London Gateway.
- The initiative aims to kickstart a “golden age of nuclear” in the UK, providing clean, homegrown energy, creating skilled jobs, and addressing high energy bills, though critics question the effectiveness of potential VAT cuts on energy bills.
…………………………………………………………………………………. Energy bills woes
The announcement comes as the government battles to bring down energy bills, which have almost doubled costs for households over the past eight years.
Alongside increasing the domestic supply of energy, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly weighing cutting VAT on energy to help lower consumer prices.
However, critics have questioned whether the move, which could cost the government nearly £2bn, would deliver tangible improvements to household budgets, warning that wealthy families with larger homes would disproportionately benefit from the tax break. https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/US-Firms-Boost-UK-Nuclear-Sector-with-Major-Deals.html
US and UK companies ink nuclear deals ahead of Trump visit
Transatlantic nuclear energy deals estimated to be worth over $100 billion
have been announced ahead of President Donald Trump’s state visit to the
United Kingdom this week. TerraPower, a Bill Gates-backed developer of
small nuclear reactors, announced Monday that it would work with
engineering firm KBR to study potential sites in the U.K. to deploy its
advanced Natrium reactors. Rockville, Maryland-based X-energy and British
energy company Centrica also announced plans to deploy up to 72 small
reactors for electricity and industrial heat in the U.K.
E&E News 16th Sept 2025, https://www.eenews.net/articles/us-and-uk-companies-ink-nuclear-deals-ahead-of-trump-visit/
What You Need to Know About the £38 Billion Sizewell C Nuclear Project inthe UK.
Project Timeline: Development Consent Order (DCO) approved: July
20, 2022; Groundworks commenced: January 15, 2024; Final Investment
Decision (FID) reached: July 22, 2025; Construction duration: Expected to
take between nine and twelve years; Operational date: Expected in the
2030s.
Construction Review 15th Sept 2025, https://constructionreviewonline.com/construction-projects/uk-government-approves-38-billion-sizewell-c-nuclear-project/
Academic agrees with NFLA’s position on management of deadly radioactive waste.
NFLA 9th Sept 2025, https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/academic-agrees-with-nflas-position-on-management-of-deadly-rad-waste/
Following on from last weeks joint media release with Lakes against the Nuclear Dump (LAND) https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/volatile-boiling-geysers-the-latest-on-nuclear-waste-plans/, the UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities were delighted to hear that the views of another senior academic chimed with our own policy on the management of high-level radioactive waste.
David K. Smythe, Emeritus Professor and former Chair of Geophysics, University of Glasgow, said he agreed with Professor Stuart Haszeldine about the danger of trying to bury High Level Waste, whether it was conditioned or not: “The waste should be kept on the surface of the earth, and immobilised beyond any possibility of re-use, until a proper long-term solution is found.”
This concept of ongoing active stewardship pending the discovery of future treatment methods, rather than disposal and abandonment in a subterranean repository, accords with the position of the NFLAs and that of the Scottish Government.
Scottish Government Policy is that Higher Activity Radioactive Waste ‘should be managed in the long-term in near-surface facilities where it can be monitored and where there is the capability of retrieving it.’
The NFLAs have a similar long-standing policy on the management of nuclear waste; this comprises a set of clear principles which we are confident have stood the test of time and remain as relevant now as when they were originally agreed in 2004
- The idea that radioactive waste can be ‘disposed’ of be rejected in favour of radioactive waste management.
- Any process or activity that involves new or additional radioactive discharges into the environment be opposed, as this is potentially harmful to the human and natural environment.
- The policy of ‘dilution and dispersion’ of radioactive materials as a component of waste management, which leads to discharges into the estuaries, seas or atmosphere or the diversion of waste to landfill, metal recycling plants and incineration, be rejected in favour of a policy of ‘concentration and containment’, storing the waste safely on-site in isolation from the environment in bespoke facilities.
- The principle of waste minimisation be supported.
- The unnecessary transport of radioactive and other hazardous wastes be opposed.
- Wastes should ideally be managed on-site where produced (or as near as possible to the site) in a facility that allows monitoring and retrieval of the wastes.
‘Sizewell C oak tree felling would be devastating’
Campaigners say chopping down century-old oak trees as part of the
Sizewell C nuclear power station build would be “the straw that broke the
horse’s back”. Sizewell C has notified residents in Middleton, Suffolk,
that vegetation on the B1125 at Leiston Road could be cleared between the 6
and 10 October – after permission was granted. But locals fear it will mean
the loss of 10 oaks – each more than 100 years old – to improve the sight
line of the 60mph stretch, which could become part of the Sizewell C Link
Road system. It remains unclear at this stage if all or any of the trees
will be cut down, as project bosses say they will “only ever remove trees
when we absolutely have to”.
BBC 9th Sept 2025, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgknxezy2vno
Spain Announces Arms Embargo on Israel and Other Steps ‘to Stop the Genocide in Gaza’
“This is not self-defense,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez asserted, “it is the extermination of a defenseless people and a violation of every international law.”
Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams, Sep 08, 2025
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday announced a series of nine new measures—including a total arms embargo—aimed at pressuring the government of fugitive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to stop the genocide in Gaza.”
Sánchez, who leads the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), announced the steps during a speech in which he first acknowledged the historical suffering of the Jewish people, which includes the 1492 ethnic cleansing of Jews from Spain.
“The Jewish people have suffered countless persecutions, deserve to have their own state, and to feel secure,” Sánchez said. “That is why the Spanish government has condemned Hamas’ attacks from day one.”
However, “there is a difference between defending your country and bombing hospitals or starving innocent children,” the prime minister continued. “This is an unjustifiable attack on the civilian population, which the [United Nations] rapporteur has described as genocide.”
“Sixty thousand dead, two million displaced, half of them children,” Sánchez said. “This is not self-defense, it is not even an attack—it is the extermination of a defenseless people and a violation of every international law.”
The nine measures—which must be approved by lawmakers and the Cabinet—include:
- A “legal and permanent prohibition” on the purchase and sale of weapons, ammunition, and military equipment;
- A ban on transit through Spanish ports for all ships carrying fuels destined for Israel’s military;
- Denial of entry into Spanish airspace for all state aircraft carrying military equipment to Israel;
- A ban on entry to Spain for “all persons directly involved in genocide, human rights violations, and war crimes” in Gaza;
- Prohibition of imported products from illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories;
- Limitation of consular services for Spanish citizens residing in illegal Israeli settlements;
- Strengthened support for the Palestinian Authority;
- An additional €10 million in support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA); and
- An increase in overall humanitarian spending for Gaza, to reach €150 million by 2026……………………………………………………………………………….. https://www.commondreams.org/news/spain-arms-embargo-israel
IAEA reports “serious safety risks” at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi
has reported that six of the seven power transmission lines of the
Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) have been compromised, leaving only
one functioning off-site line, which poses serious safety risks.
Ukrainska Pravada 9th Sept 2025, https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2025/09/9/7529932/
Campaigners continue to need their day in court, says NFLA Secretary
In a personal appeal, NFLA Secretary Richard Outram has called on members
of the Government-appointed Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce not to recommend
to Ministers that the rights of campaign groups to seek Judicial Review be
curtailed.
The NRT established to look at the operation of Britain’s
current regulatory and permitting regime within the nuclear sector, both
civil and military, has recently published its Interim Report. The
taskforce has declared that it is intent upon introducing
‘once-in-a-generation change’, but the NFLAs and other campaign bodies
are convinced that this simply represents industry speak for wholesale
deregulation with fears that standards in public safety and environmental
protection will be sacrificed on the altar of business expediency and
profit.
NGOs which are members of the Office for Nuclear Regulation NGO
Forum – including the NFLAs – have submitted a joint response to a
consultation which closed yesterday on the findings outlined in the NRT’s
Interim Report. Richard also submitted his own comments on one element of
the Interim Report that most concerned him – a suggestion that the rights
of campaign groups to seek Judicial Review be curtailed on the grounds that
their applications were ‘vexatious’, increasing costs and causing
delays to nuclear developers. This was a clear reference to recent actions
concerning Sizewell C.
NFLA 9th Sept 2025, https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/campaigners-continue-to-need-their-day-in-court-says-nfla-secretary/
Two down: Whicham joins Millom in withdrawing from undemocratic and discredited community partnership
In a show of defiance, Whicham Parish Council last week voted unanimously
to withdraw from the South Copeland GDF Community Partnership, joining
Millom Town Council in saying no to further collaboration with plans to
bring a nuclear waste dump to Haverigg and Millom.
Meanwhile at Millom
Without Parish Council, Chair Councillor Carl Carrington has resigned as
the Council’s representative, with the Council resolving in July that
Parish Councillors should take it in turns to attend future Community
Partnership meetings on a ‘rotational basis’. Millom Town Council,
Whicham Parish Council and Millom Without Parish Council, along with the
Friends of the Lake District and Sustainable Duddon, have also submitted a
statement ‘rebutting the NWS report on the Partnership’. This refers to
the report published following the external review conducted by the former
Chair of the now defunct Allerdale GDF Community Partnership, in which the
South Copeland GDF Community Partnership was described as
‘dysfunctional’.
Whicham Parish Council’s decision to withdraw from
the community partnership does not derail the process. Unlike Cumberland
Council, neither Whicham nor Millom are deemed to be Relevant Principal
Local Authorities and so cannot exercise the Right to Withdraw. But the
decisions of Millom and Whicham to withdraw, that of Millom Without to
cease to have a permanent representative, and the collective condemnatory
response to the external review all represent clear signals that local
elected representatives no longer wish to be associated with a discredited
project.
NFLA 9th Sept 2025, https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/two-down-whicham-joins-millom-in-withdrawing-from-undemocratic-and-discredited-community-partnership/
Nuclear Sites Dotted Across Ukraine Pose Threat of Radiation Disaster
Each day of war risks a strike on sites that could scatter radioactive material. Officials say one laboratory near the front has been hit dozens of times.
New York Times 9th Sept 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/world/europe/nuclear-sites-ukraine-russia-war.html
Zelensky has insulted Trump. Is he suicidal?
Comment: When Zelensky speaks about Ukraine’s survival, what he really means is, his own survival. To that end, he is happy to sacrifice Ukraine and its people.
The battlefield is not tilting in Kiev’s favor. Russia’s position, bolstered by sheer resources and strategic depth, is proving resilient. Ukraine’s European backers continue to speak in lofty terms of standing “as long as it takes,” but they lack the power to deliver a Ukrainian victory.
The Ukrainian leader risks alienating the only power besides Moscow with a realistic approach to ending the war.
By Nadezhda Romanenko, political analyst, 8 Sept 25, https://www.rt.com/news/624279-zelensky-insults-trump-suicidal/
In a weekend interview with ABC News, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky accused US President Donald Trump of giving Russian President Vladimir Putin “what he wanted” at the Alaska summit in August.
Whether a passing complaint or a calculated jab, it may come at a steep cost for Zelensky. To suggest that Trump bent to Putin’s will is to imply weakness, and weakness is something Trump never tolerates being accused of. This rhetorical swipe was directed at a man who holds significant sway over the trajectory of the Russia-Ukraine war. For Zelensky, the insult may prove more damaging than cathartic.
Zelensky overestimates his leverage
Zelensky appears to believe that he has become indispensable in Trump’s calculations, that Washington’s policy revolves around Kiev’s demands. But this overstates his importance. Trump has been consistent about one priority: he wants the war to end, and more than that, he wants the US disentangled from it. His approach reflects the sentiment of much of the American public – weary of sending weapons and aid overseas while domestic problems fester.
By framing Trump’s summit with Putin as a giveaway, Zelensky risks alienating the one Western leader positioned to actually shift the direction of the war. Trump is sensitive to personal slights. For years, allies and adversaries alike have learned that once he feels personally insulted, he hardens, not softens. To tell Trump, in effect, that he’s Putin’s stooge is to court precisely that reaction.
Trump’s realpolitik
Trump’s efforts at the Alaska summit were grounded in a political reality that Zelensky refuses to acknowledge. The battlefield is not tilting in Kiev’s favor. Russia’s position, bolstered by sheer resources and strategic depth, is proving resilient. Ukraine’s European backers continue to speak in lofty terms of standing “as long as it takes,” but they lack the power to deliver a Ukrainian victory.
Trump, by contrast, pursued a path that might actually move events forward: direct talks with Russia, engagement on security concerns, and the search for a negotiated framework. It is not an approach designed to satisfy Zelensky and the Europeans’ maximalist goals but rather one rooted in ending an exhausting conflict. To dismiss this effort as capitulation is to ignore that it may be the most realistic option still on the table.
The rhetoric of survival vs. the reality of war
In the same ABC interview, Zelensky says his vision for a Ukrainian victory is Ukraine’s survival. Yet his strategy as evident from his actions appears geared less toward survival and more toward dragging the war on for as long as possible. Each new demand for weapons, each new appeal for escalated sanctions, pushes the conflict forward without changing the battlefield reality of Russia grinding forward toward its objectives – and whatever Zelensky claims, total occupation of Ukraine is not one of those objectives. In the name of “survival,” Ukraine is exhausting its people, its infrastructure, and its economy.
If survival truly is the goal, then ending the war must be the only priority. Right now, Trump has the best shot at it, because he is realistically engages with the interests of Russia – the side that has the clear upper hand on the battlefield. And Zelensky is pushing that opportunity away.
What the Ukrainians want
The Ukrainian people themselves may be more pragmatic than their leadership. Polling suggests a stark divide: only a small minority – just 11%, according to a recent survey – favor continuing the war without conditions. Meanwhile, overwhelming majorities favor pursuing talks with Russia. This does not mean embracing defeat, but it does mean recognizing that endless escalation is not the preferred path for those getting forcibly conscripted and those seeing their loved ones getting carted off to war.
For Zelensky, this creates a dangerous disconnect. Leaders cannot stay indefinitely ahead of their populations without eroding legitimacy. To ignore the public’s exhaustion while doubling down on maximalist rhetoric risks creating a gulf between the government’s objectives and its people’s endurance.
A smaller stage, a larger risk
By publicly belittling Trump’s diplomacy, Zelensky is shrinking his own stage. He portrays himself as the bulwark of Europe, the last line holding back a supposed “Russian aggression.” Yet without sustained Western backing, Ukraine cannot hold indefinitely. And of all Ukraine’s backers, the US remains the most consequential. Alienating the leader who wants to end US involvement – whether one agrees with his motives or not – is a perilous gamble.
Zelensky’s rhetoric may win applause in certain European capitals. It may even rally a domestic audience for a time. But it risks costing him the one relationship he cannot afford to lose. Trump is not moved by appeals to shared values or by grand speeches about democracy. He is moved by respect and recognition of his central role. By suggesting Trump has already caved to Putin, Zelensky undermines both.
Zelensky’s statement reveals a leader more focused on preserving his narrative than recalibrating his strategy. Words matter in diplomacy, especially when those words are aimed at a figure like Donald Trump. In calling Trump weak, Zelensky may have weakened his own hand. If his true goal is Ukraine’s survival, then it will not be secured through rhetorical bravado. It will require careful diplomacy, acknowledgment of battlefield realities, and avoiding needless insults to the one partner whose departure from the stage could lead to even more disaster for Zelensky’s regime than it has already created for itself.
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
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