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Vermont Yankee nuclear plant teardown ahead of schedule, but removal of the spent fuel is a problem.

By CHRIS LARABEE, Staff Writer, 10/15/2023

VERNON, Vt. — With the reactor building serving as one of the final structures standing, the decommissioning of the former Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant has been progressing steadily with a potential finish date four years ahead of its 2030 deadline.

Amid a teardown of the former turbine building’s foundation one day last week, officials from NorthStar, the company undertaking the $600 million decommissioning project, shared their planned decommissioning timeline of the controversial power plant…………………………………

Entergy, the former owner and operator of the plant, closed the facility in 2014, citing the lack of profitability of Vermont Yankee in the energy economy. The plant began operation in November 1972 and faced decades of scrutiny from anti-nuclear activists. Decades later, Entergy, which purchased the facility for $180 million in 2002, also faced several lawsuits over the final decade of Vermont Yankee’s lifetime……………………………………………………

Removing waste

As of Aug. 31, NorthStar had sent a total of 685 shipments of waste by rail to a storage facility in Texas, amounting to approximately 39,188 tons of material, according to Corey Daniels, senior manager for the spent fuel storage installation for NorthStar…………….

Removing waste

As of Aug. 31, NorthStar had sent a total of 685 shipments of waste by rail to a storage facility in Texas, amounting to approximately 39,188 tons of material, according to Daniels.

While the site is expected to be cleared in just a few years, there is a potential snag.

NorthStar is able to transport “low-level radioactive” materials, such as metal waste, for disposal, but the nuclear fuel that powered the reactor currently remains on the site because a license to an interim Texas storage facility was vacated.

The license was vacated after the Texas state government challenged the facility and the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s authority to grant a permit for an interim waste facility, according to The Brattleboro Reformer.

State added that it is the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s legal fight and there is the possibility the case could be brought before the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the meantime, State said the spent fuel will remain on the parcel until the federal and various state governments can find a solution. ……………………. https://www.gazettenet.com/Vermont-Yankee-nuclear-plant-teardown-ahead-of-schedule-52630716 #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants

October 17, 2023 Posted by | decommission reactor, USA | Leave a comment

US diplomats told to avoid calls for Gaza ‘ceasefire’

Rt.com 14 Oct 23

A memo to officials suggests Washington will not urge Israel to restrain its military action in the Palestinian enclave

The US State Department has advised diplomats to avoid calling for “de-escalation” or a “ceasefire” in Gaza amid continued fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants, multiple media outlets have reported. US officials have voiced loud support for the Jewish state’s right to “self-defense” in the wake of a deadly Hamas raid last week.

In an email addressed to a small group of officials on Friday, the State Department said US press materials should steer clear of phrases such as “restoring calm,” “end to violence/bloodshed,” or “de-escalation/ceasefire,” unnamed administration officials told NBC News and other outlets.

The Huffington Post, which obtained a copy of the email, called the missive a “stunning signal” and an indication of the White House’s “reluctance to push for Israeli restraint.” The email was sent amid a new round of airstrikes on Gaza in response to a Hamas-led terrorist attack last Saturday.

Asked about the directive, an unnamed State Department official told HuffPo that they would not comment on internal communications………………………………….  https://www.rt.com/news/584883-diplomats-avoid-gaza-ceasefire/

October 17, 2023 Posted by | politics international, USA | Leave a comment

SOS – The San Onofre Syndrome: Nuclear Power’s Legacy.

A crucial warning
that nuclear power plants’ intensely radioactive waste is putting
communities at grave risk. SOS is an urgent call to action. Will we rally
to implement this lifeline in time?

Filmed over 12 years, this film
dramatically chronicles how Southern California residents came together to
force the shutdown of an aging nuclear power plant only to be confronted by
an alarming reality: tons of nuclear waste left near a popular beach, only
100 feet from the rising sea, that — with radioactivity lasting millions
of years—menaces present and future generations. Film screening on 16th
Oct.

Entertainment Oxygen (accessed) 15th Oct 2023

https://app.entertainmentoxygen.com/feed/e42963ea-7477-4952-a073-31b60e4e280d #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants

October 17, 2023 Posted by | media, safety, USA | Leave a comment

Drone Warfare in the Nuclear Age

Tom Dispatch, OCTOBER 15, 2023

When it comes to war, increasingly autonomous drones are now, it seems, the name of the game.  Only the other day, in its stunning surprise attack on Israel, Hamas claimed to have launched 35 explosive-laden al-Zawari “kamikaze” drones that it had produced, destroying Israeli tanks and other equipment. Hamas videos also showed “multicopter drones dropping explosives on Israeli security towers, border posts, and communication towers.” And mind you, Israel was already using swarms of drones as early as 2021 to strike targets in the Gaza Strip.

Of course, in the present world of war, they are anything but alone. The conflict in Ukraine, for instance, has become remarkably drone-ified on both sides. In drone terms, however, if there was one ominous thing about the recent reactions of Israeli officials to the Hamas attacks that took their country by surprise, it was the comparison of them to al-Qaeda’s assaults on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.  (“This,” an Israeli military spokesman typically said, “is our 9/11.”) The disastrous American response to those events, the Bush administration’s “Global War on Terror,” has never truly ended and, from Afghanistan to the Middle East to Africa, it introduced drone warfare to the world (in the process killing countless innocent civilians)……………………

Swarms vs. Swarms

How Intelligent — Artificial or Otherwise — Is Any of This?

BY MICHAEL KLARE

A war with China may not be inevitable, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks observed recently, but it’s a genuine possibility and so this country must be prepared to fight and win. But victory in such a conflict will not, she suggested, come easily. China enjoys an advantage in certain measures of military power, including the number of ships, guns, and missiles it can deploy. While America’s equivalents may be more advanced and capable, they also cost far more to produce and so can only be procured in smaller numbers. To overcome such a dilemma in any future conflict, Hicks suggested, our costly crewed weapons systems must be accompanied by hordes of uncrewed autonomous ships, planes, and tanks.

To ensure that America will possess sufficient numbers of “all-domain attritable [that is, expendable] autonomous” weapons when a war with China breaks out, Hicks announced a major new Pentagon program dubbed the Replicator Initiative. “Replicator is meant to help us overcome [China’s] biggest advantage, which is mass. More ships. More missiles. More people,” she told the National Defense Industrial Association as August ended.

Because we can’t match our adversaries “ship-for-ship and shot-for-shot,” given the prohibitive costs of traditional weapons systems (which must include space for their human crews), we’ll overpower them instead with swarms of autonomous weapons — unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs and UASs), unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), unmanned surface vessels (USVs), and unmanned subsea vessels (UUVs, or drone submarines), all governed by artificial intelligence (AI) and capable of independent action……………………………………………………………

After all, the Department of Defense has already awarded many millions of dollars to assorted AI start-ups and traditional contractors over the past half-dozen years to develop advanced UAVs, UGVs, USVs, and UUVs, and yet not a single one is in full-scale production. …………………….

questions about this country’s ability to deliver such systems on the tight timetable Hicks announced should be the least of our concerns. Far more worrisome is the likelihood that such a drive will ignite a major new global arms race with China and Russia, ensuring that future battlefields will be populated with untold thousands (tens of thousands?) of drone weapons, overwhelming human commanders and increasing the risk of nuclear war.

The Illusion of U.S. Drone Dominance

…………………………………….. China and Russia have no lack of smart, creative scientists and engineers and, far from trailing the United States in the development of autonomous weaponry, have actually taken the lead in certain areas…………………………………..

…………………the Pentagon’s own report also indicated that China is making rapid advances in the development of AI software for use by autonomous weapons systems in complex combat operations of exactly the sort envisioned by Deputy Secretary Hicks…………………..

many Western analysts do believe that China leads in certain areas of AI and autonomy. Its military has, in fact, regularly flown advanced UAVs in large-scale combat maneuvers around the island of Taiwan, demonstrating a capacity to employ such systems in complex operations.

Russia is thought to lag behind China and the U.S. in developing and fielding advanced autonomous weapons but has nevertheless demonstrated a significant capacity to use UAVs in its war on Ukraine. It has deployed large swarms of semi-autonomous Iranian-made Shahed-136 suicide drones in attacks on its cities and electrical systems, causing widespread death and destruction………………………………..On June 28th, the Russian government approved a “Development Strategy for Unmanned Aviation Until 2030.” It called for exponential growth in UAV output, which, according to reports, is expected to increase from approximately 13,000 per year between 2023 and 2026 to 26,000 annually from 2027 to 2030 and 35,500 after that.

……………………………………………… On the Future Great-Power Battlefield

Given all of this, it should be evident that going to war with China or Russia in the not-so-distant future on the assumption that the U.S. will enjoy a significant advantage in autonomous weaponry would be delusional — and very dangerous.

Yes, both of those potential adversaries currently trail the U.S. in certain categories of autonomous weapons like uncrewed surface and sub-surface combat systems, but they will still be capable of filling the skies with multitudes of drones and seeding any battlefield with hordes of autonomous combat vehicles, including uncrewed tanks and artillery systems.

It would, in fact, be reasonable to assume that any future great-power conflict — a U.S.-China war over Taiwan, for example — will be characterized by the concentration of approximately equal formations of traditional military mass (composed largely of crewed weapons systems) and uncrewed autonomous versions of the same, incorporating multitudes of AI-governed drones.

How would such a conflict play out? It seems unlikely that either side would achieve a swift, one-sided victory. Instead, both would be far more likely to experience massive losses of weapons systems and warriors, with vast swarms of drones only intensifying the destruction by attacking anything left unscathed by traditional weaponry. ……………………..

The toll of such a conflict would surely be colossal. …………………………………………………………………………………

 “how quickly a conflict could escalate, with both China and the United States crossing red lines.” The CNAS report further suggested that, in an actual war, “China may be willing to brandish nuclear weapons or conduct a limited demonstration of its nuclear capability in an effort to prevent or end U.S. involvement in a conflict with Taiwan.” (Nothing was said about the possibility that the Americans could do anything similar.)

………….. The result would likely be ever-spiraling losses and increasingly dangerous escalatory measures. As growing numbers of autonomous weapons become available, they, too, will be thrown into the fight, further magnifying those very escalatory pressures. With swarms of such devices battling other swarms — at sea, in the air, and on the ground — the risk of catastrophic defeat will loom ever larger and the temptation to employ nuclear weapons that much harder to resist. Whatever fantasies of American dominance Deputy Secretary Hicks might be harboring in promoting the Replicator Initiative, a safer, more stable world is not among the likely outcomes.  https://tomdispatch.com/swarms-vs-swarms/?utm_source=TomDispatch&utm_campaign=4cc10fe538-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_07_13_02_04_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1e41682ade-4cc10fe538-308765045 #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants

October 16, 2023 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

US weapons costs way beyond $886billion: call for nuclear weapons spending blowout -USA congressional commission.

The commission notes in its report that while it “did not conduct a cost analysis of our recommendations, it is obvious they will cost money.”

A July Congressional Budget Office report projects that nuclear modernization efforts will cost $756 billion over the next decade, and that excludes costs for the additional nuclear initiatives the commission would like the U.S. to pursue.

Congressional commission calls for more nuclear arsenal expansion

Defense News, By Bryant Harris, Oct 13, 2023

WASHINGTON ― A congressionally mandated commission on Thursday released its final report on the U.S. nuclear posture, recommending an increase in additional assets as China rapidly expands its own arsenal.

At the same time, the commission found the Pentagon and Energy Department are lagging behind their modernization goals, raising questions about the ability to develop additional nuclear assets.

Republicans seized on the report to call for more aggressive nuclear modernization, including additional investments in an industrial base that’s struggling to keep pace with the tight timelines needed to implement current strategic objectives………………………

Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee reiterated his calls for a defense supplemental spending package to bypass the $886 billion security funding caps laid out in the May debt ceiling agreement while growing the military budget annually beyond inflation……………………………………….

The commission notes in its report that while it “did not conduct a cost analysis of our recommendations, it is obvious they will cost money.”

A July Congressional Budget Office report projects that nuclear modernization efforts will cost $756 billion over the next decade, and that excludes costs for the additional nuclear initiatives the commission would like the U.S. to pursue.

Specifically, the commission calls for “additional U.S. theater nuclear capabilities” in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, modernizing nuclear command and control capabilities and effectively employing emerging technology including hypersonics, quantum computing, generative AI and autonomous vehicles.

It also calls for plans to “re-convert” submarine-launched ballistic missile launchers and B-52 bombers that were rendered unable to deliver nuclear payloads under the New START treaty. Russia suspended its participation in that treaty, its last remaining nuclear arms control accord with Washington, last year. Moscow has also threatened to pull out of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, though it says it will only resume testing if the U.S. does. The U.S. Senate has never ratified the test ban treaty.

Additionally, the commission calls for uploading “some or all of the” unemployed warheads in U.S. inventory, deploying additional Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles and long-range standoff weapons, increasing the planned number of B-21 bombers and upping the planned production of the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines………………………………………….

the commission says the Defense Department should “establish or renovate a third shipyard dedicated to production of nuclear-powered vessels, with particular emphasis on nuclear-powered submarines.”

Wicker has held up key authorizations needed to implement AUKUS, demanding the Biden administration and Congress put more money into the submarine industrial base. The two authorizations Wicker is holding up would permit the transfer of two Virginia-class submarines to Australia and allow the Defense Department to accept Canberra’s $3 billion contribution in the submarine industrial base.  https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2023/10/12/congressional-commission-calls-for-more-nuclear-arsenal-expansion/ #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants

October 14, 2023 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

US bails on Ukraine…but doesn’t tell Zelensky.

Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL 13 Oct 23

In an astonishing statement at a press briefing Wednesday, National Security Department spokesperson John Kirby admitted the US is running out of interest in weaponizing Ukraine for the long term. Since Ukraine is on US life support to continue fighting their lost cause to recapture Crimea, Donbas and join NATO, it’s clear ‘game over’ for Ukraine looms.

“I think in the immediate term, right now, we can continue to support Ukraine – with the authorities in the appropriations we have. But, you know, we’re … certainly running out of runway.”

Kirby then shifted from the runway metaphor to one even starker. “The US administration had the means to support Ukraine in the near term. But you don’t want to be trying to bake in long-term support when you’re at the end of the rope,” And on the Ukraine funding, we’re coming near to the end of the rope.  I mean, today we announced $200 million, and we’ll keep that aid going as long as we can, but it’s not going to be indefinite”

Is Ukraine President Zelensky listening to Kirby’s ominous warning? If he had an iota of understanding of Ukraine’s rapidly deteriorating plight, he’d immediately partner with responsible countries such as Turkey to initiate negotiations with Russia to end the war. He did that 18 months ago, Marcy 31-April 1, 2022, inking a tentative deal with Russia to end the war without losing any territory in Donbas, albeit giving Donbas regional autonomy under Ukraine sovereignty. The agreement would also have ended Ukraine’s self-destructive NATO aspirations.

To sum up: The US provoked the war by championing Ukraine NATO membership and weaponizing their civil war that killed thousands in Donbas. When Russia invaded to prevent both, the US sabotaged every effort to end the war quickly and peaceably, prolonging it with $113 billion in weapons and other aid.   Result? Hundreds of thousands of dead Ukrainians with no chance of victory.

It’s not just the US that is “certainly running out of runway” and “coming near to the end of the rope.” The US is moving on to enabling and supplying the ongoing destruction of Gaza. No more runway and no more rope are much more appropriate to the former comedian staring in ‘Tragedy in Ukraine.’ #Ukraine #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants

October 14, 2023 Posted by | politics international, Ukraine, USA | Leave a comment

The US Is Just As Culpable As Israel For The Atrocities Committed In Gaza

The primary job of Israel apologists in the coming days will be producing and circulating narratives explaining why this self-evidently terrible thing is actually perfectly fine and acceptable.

And top-down commands are being issued within the US government to support this massacre unconditionally. 

So be perfectly clear, the US government is fully behind this massacre, and is just as culpable for everything that happens in Gaza as the Israeli government.

These abuses are being perpetrated using US weapons, US funding and US consent.

Washington could end this mass atrocity with a word, and instead they’re fully aligning themselves behind it. Israel’s crimes in Gaza are not meaningfully separate from the crimes of the US war machine.

Caitlin’s newsletter CAITLIN JOHNSTONE, , OCT 14, 2023

The Israeli government dropped thousands of leaflets on Gaza telling everyone who lives in the northern part of the strip that they have 24 hours to evacuate to the southern part, and then bombed the people who were trying to evacuate.

United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric denounced the evacuation order, saying the UN “considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences.” Many Palestinians have said they’re going to stay where they are because they have nowhere safe to go, despite being told by Israel they must leave if they want to “save their lives”.

We’re about to see the death and destruction get much, much worse in Gaza, and it’s already very, very bad. As of this writing the official death toll from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza is speeding past 1,900, a number which includes 614 children. The primary job of Israel apologists in the coming days will be producing and circulating narratives explaining why this self-evidently terrible thing is actually perfectly fine and acceptable.

It’s so incredibly obvious what we’re looking at here. The only thing putting a wobble on people’s perception is the immense amount of propaganda distortion the media is churning out on this issue, plus the fact that the demographics look a bit different from what history has conditioned people to watch out for. If there were two million Jewish people trapped by Christians in a giant concentration camp and placed under total siege, being told that half of them had 24 hours to relocate into the other half or be killed, nobody would have any confusion about what they were witnessing.

And top-down commands are being issued within the US government to support this massacre unconditionally. 

The Huffington Post reports that the State Department has been circulating internal emails telling staff to avoid calls for peace, instructing them to refrain from using phrases like “de-escalation/ceasefire,” “end to violence/bloodshed” and “restoring calm.”

Asked about progressive congressional members calling for a ceasefire, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “we believe they are wrong, we believe they’re repugnant, and we believe they’re disgraceful.”

On the question of whether there are any potential Israeli actions that the White House would not tolerate, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters “I’m not here to draw red lines or issue warnings or give lectures to anybody.”

So be perfectly clear, the US government is fully behind this massacre, and is just as culpable for everything that happens in Gaza as the Israeli government. These abuses are being perpetrated using US weapons, US funding and US consent. Washington could end this mass atrocity with a word, and instead they’re fully aligning themselves behind it. Israel’s crimes in Gaza are not meaningfully separate from the crimes of the US war machine.

This is just a continuation and extension of the violence and bloodshed the US government has been inflicting around the world for generations. There’s a clip of George W Bush going around from a California event on Tuesday in which, for some bizarre, unfathomable reason, the former president was asked to provide his opinion on what Israel should do in response to the Hamas attack on October 7.

Bush said pretty much what you’d expect him to say: “You’re dealing with cold-blooded killers,” “negotiating with killers is not an option,” “one side is guilty.” The same book he’s been reciting from since September 11, 2001. What I find much more interesting is, why is anyone asking the absolute worst person you could possibly ask about what should be done in response to such an attack………………………………..

 the United States never learned any moral lessons from its warmongering after 9/11 — if it had, George W Bush would be sitting in a prison cell, and the US wouldn’t be backing a mass atrocity in Gaza………. https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-us-is-just-as-culpable-as-israel?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=137943417&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&utm_medium=email #Israel

October 14, 2023 Posted by | Israel, politics, secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

How To Explain U.S. Empire’s Support For Israel Right Or Wrong?

Finally, this list would be incomplete without mentioning narrative control. In our day this looks like inflammatory claims of beheading babies both quickly debunked and repeated endlessly even after debunking. After President Biden claimed to have seen the pictures (his staff says no, he didn’t see any such pictures). Similar playbook to the false claim that Iraq’s army threw babies out of incubators in Kuwait. Also, calling it Israel’s 9/11 sure sounds useful for tightening up internal security.

LISA SAVAGE, OCT 13, 2023

This morning came word that the Biden administration will next try to tie funding for Ukraine to funding for Israel, Taiwan, and more fortifications along our bipartisan wall on the Mexican border. Good luck with that grouping — Ukraine funding fatigue is so strong at the moment that it was used to oust the Speaker of the House.

I had already been mulling a blog post on the question of why every politician, elected official, and talking head in Western media seems wedded to the concept of Israel right or wrong. Especially when it’s wrong……………………..

The answers to this question are many, and what relative importance to assign each is up for debate. I’ll list them in rough order of importance as I see it, but you may have other thoughts.


Israel was created as the U.S./NATO outpost in the oily region. Despite certain knowledge of the Holocaust unfolding (known by U.S. government but not the general public), it was allowed to proceed until the Soviet Army began liberating the concentration camps. The Holocaust was then tremendously useful as it underpinned the charge of antisemitism against anyone who dared to criticize Israel.

Meanwhile, actual Nazis were whisked away to found NASA, head up NATO, and populate Canada and the U.S. midwest with staunch anticommunist immigrants.

Israel was allowed to develop nuclear weapons, which is common knowledge but has never been admitted by either Israel or its enablers. PM Golda Meir reportedly jacked up President Nixon over sending war materiel he was withholding, threatening to nuke Russia and make it look like the U.S. did it. She got the ammunition.

Meanwhile AIPAC got busy facilitating the funding of election campaigns and running free trips to Israel for newly minted congressmen and women. It lobbied hard on college campuses knowing that one’s brand loyalties are typically set in place rather early in life. 

A young man told me that the Jewish community he grew up in did not agree with AIPAC, however, they felt guilty for emigrating to New York instead of Israel after WW2. And, their guilt encouraged them to never criticize Israel, buying their silence about the ethnic cleansing of the Nakba and the following decades of violent occupation and apartheid. And allowing the perception that AIPAC spoke for them.

  • Young Jews in the U.S. were raised to defend Israel right or wrong. Groups like Birthright also worked the demographic angle, taking teenagers on trips to Israel to socialize with IDF soldiers.  See the recent documentary ISRAELISM for more details on this.


We’ve not seen the black book of Jeffrey Epstein’s contacts which was used in his procuress Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial. As many have speculated, the federal government isn’t going to release the names in Epstein’s black book because they are the names in the book. What we have instead is some fierce investigative reporting by Whitney Webb and the artifact that is the flight log for the Lolita Express. Flying outside the U.S. on a plane used to traffic underage girls for sex is bad for a powerful man’s reputation, so why would Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Bill Gates (among many others) do so? I can’t answer that but Melinda Gates had some choice things to say about her ex-husband’s participation.

Webb reported that a mansion in Manhattan heavily equipped with surveillance devices was gifted to Epstein before the island scheme came into play. It’s also known that Maxwell’s father, Robert, and other family members worked with Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency.

  • Finally, this list would be incomplete without mentioning narrative control. In our day this looks like inflammatory claims of beheading babies both quickly debunked and repeated endlessly even after debunking. After President Biden claimed to have seen the pictures (his staff says no, he didn’t see any such pictures). Similar playbook to the false claim that Iraq’s army threw babies out of incubators in Kuwait. Also, calling it Israel’s 9/11 sure sounds useful for tightening up internal security. #Israel

October 14, 2023 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

White House hopes to merge Ukraine and Israel aid – media

https://www.rt.com/news/584507-israel-ukraine-aid-package/ 11 Oct 23

The measure could push Republicans to support new assistance for Kiev

Top White House officials are considering whether to include more Ukraine funding in an emergency aid package for Israel, multiple news outlets have reported. One staffer suggested the move would force “far-right” lawmakers to authorize additional aid for Kiev.

Though President Joe Biden had already announced that military assistance was “on its way” to Israel following a surprise attack by Palestinian militants over the weekend, the White House has signaled that it would soon ask Congress to approve additional aid for the Jewish state.

Lawmakers in both parties and senior administration officials have hinted that the aid package could also include provisions for Ukraine, unnamed sources told the Washington Post, NBC News and other outlets on Monday. 

Though no final decision has been made, one anonymous official told the Post that the move would be wise because it “jams the far right” – referring to Republicans who vocally support Israel but are skeptical of continued aid to Ukraine. White House spokesman John Kirby, meanwhile, declined to say whether the two aid packages would be linked, only stating “We believe both are important.”

While debate over the aid is likely to be contentious, the Pentagon has insisted that it has plenty of weapons for all US partners. During a background briefing on Monday, a senior defense official told reporters that Washington could “continue our support both to Ukraine, Israel, and maintain our own global readiness,” noting that the US has been able to meet “every request that our Israeli counterparts have made.”

Israel is among the largest recipients of US foreign aid, taking in some $3.3 billion in American tax dollars in 2022 alone – a comparable amount to previous years – according to US government statistics. Since the conflict with Russia escalated in February 2022, Ukraine has also become a major beneficiary, with the White House approving at least $45 billion in direct military aid through 47 separate transfers.

Both Republicans and Democrats have largely voiced support for Israel after the deadly Hamas attack early on Saturday morning, which has prompted harsh retaliation by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and an intense bombing campaign on Gaza. More than 1,500 people have been killed on both sides of the conflict so far, while Palestinian fighters claim to have captured more than 100 Israeli and foreign hostages during their raids.

Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have evacuated their homes due to the violent flare-up, while the IDF has called on 300,000 reservists as it mobilizes for a larger conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that his country was in a state of “war” as the attack unfolded, and said on Monday that the military response was “just getting started.” #Ukraine

October 13, 2023 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

New Mexico could try again to challenge nuclear waste storage project in court

Adrian Hedden, Carlsbad Current-Argus, 11 Oct 23

Officials with the State of New Mexico continued their fight against a proposed storage site for spent nuclear fuel in southeast New Mexico during a Tuesday hearing before lawmakers in Carlsbad, and said the project could be challenged a second time in federal court.

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) and Office of the Attorney General voiced opposition to such a site during the discussion held at Southeast New Mexico College with the Legislature’s interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee.  

Representatives of both agencies called into question the legality of such a site to store nuclear fuel away from a reactor amid the ranchlands and oilfields of the Permian Basin.

Holtec International applied to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a license to build the facility in 2017, and it was issued in May………………………………………

The State of New Mexico challenged in court the NRC’s findings in an environmental analysis ahead of the license, but the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the state could not object before it was issued.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, her cabinet secretaries and Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard all voiced their opposition to the Holtec project throughout the licensing process, citing risks to the local communities and industries like oil and gas and agriculture.

Bruce Baizel, director of compliance and enforcement with the NMED said the State could file another challenge to the license now that it is issued to Holtec.

He pointed to a federal court ruling earlier this year that vacated a license for a similar site issued by the NRC to Interim Storage Partners in Andrews, Texas, along the New Mexico border, which Baizel said could have legal implications for the New Mexico site.

Assistant Attorney General William Grantham said the Office of the Attorney General believed a federal court would vacate Holtec’s license, arguing federal law did not allow an interim storage site as proposed by Holtec without a permanent repository available.

Also going against the project, during the 2023 Legislative Session, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 53 to block state agencies from issuing any permits for any site storing high-level nuclear waste as Holtec’s would.

Baizel said the facility would require five such permits to operate.

“That language would not allow us to process or approve any of those state permits for that project,” he said.

Carlsbad mayor attacks lawmakers for not including nuclear industry voices

Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway, an ardent Holtec supporter, did not attend the hearing, citing an “imbalance” in the panels, particularly on nuclear storage, according to Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R-55) of Carlsbad……………………………………………………….

Camilla Feibelman, director of the Sierra Club’s Rio Grande Chapter said that if Holtec was allowed to operate its facility, New Mexico would take all the risks of the waste with no benefits like the jobs provided to states that do host nuclear power plants.

“Holtec wants to bring the entire store of nuclear waste by rail to southeast New Mexico through thousands of communities along the way,” she said. “Spent nuclear fuel should be stored at the site of origin in the safest manner possible.”

Committee Vice Chair Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D-36), who sponsored SB 53, said the “reality” was that it made Holtec’s project and others like it illegal in New Mexico.

“We have passed a law in New Mexico making it illegal to store high level nuclear waste in New Mexico,” Steinborn said. “That is the reality now. Only the courts could change that reality.”

https://www.currentargus.com/story/news/2023/10/11/new-mexico-could-challenge-nuclear-waste-holtec-international-storage-project-in-court/71121256007/–#nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants

October 13, 2023 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

This is one scary opinion about the Israeli-Palestine war – “Get Ready, Because The U.S. Is Going To War In The Middle East”


MICHAEL SNYDER, OCT 12, 2023 https://michaeltsnyder.substack.com/p/get-ready-because-the-us-is-going?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1520363&post_id=137881937&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=ln98x&utm_medium=email

We are on the precipice of a major regional war in the Middle East, and the U.S. military is going to be involved.  Of course if this war was just limited to a fight between Israel and Hamas, there would be no need for the U.S. military to intervene, because the IDF can handle Hamas quite easily.  But Hezbollah is another matter entirely.  Hezbollah possesses an extremely powerful military, and they have an arsenal of approximately 130,000 missiles ready to be fired at Israel.  If Hezbollah enters the war and starts firing thousands upon thousands of missiles at Israel, the United States will take action.

Unfortunately, we are already dangerously close to that point.  Hezbollah has not formally entered the war yet, but clashes along Israel’s northern border have been happening for four consecutive days…

Cross-border violence between Lebanon and Israel has escalated into a fourth day, pushing many Lebanese in southern towns to leave as Hezbollah and the Israeli military continue to trade fire.

Hezbollah said it fired precision missiles on an Israeli position across from the Lebanese town of Dharya on Wednesday, drawing retaliatory Israeli shelling that has left a number of houses damaged.

Once Israel launches a ground operation inside Gaza, I believe that Hezbollah will formally enter the war shortly thereafter.

But it appears that Hezbollah is not just gearing up to fight Israel.  In fact, they have issued a statement declaring the U.S. to be a “full partner” in the conflict with Hamas…

Hezbollah issues a statement saying the United States is a ‘full partner’ of Israeli ‘aggression’ on the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah also says that it holds the United States fully responsible for the airstrikes that are killing civilians in Gaza.

And one Hezbollah official is publicly warning that his forces in Iraq “are ready to direct qualitative strikes at the American enemy in its bases”…

The leader of a prominent Iranian-backed militia in Iraq threatens to attack American bases in retaliation if the United States intervenes in the war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.


“Our missiles, drones, and special forces are ready to direct qualitative strikes at the American enemy in its bases and disrupt its interests if it intervenes in this battle,” Ahmad “Abu Hussein” al-Hamidawi, head of the Kataib Hezbollah militia, says in a statement. He also threatened to launch missiles at Israeli targets.

Of course the U.S. has been delivering some very strong warnings to Hezbollah as well…

The United States and Allied Countries through Back-Channels have reportedly been issuing Direct Warnings to Hezbollah against them Escalating and possibly Joining the Israel-Hamas War; however so far Senior Biden Administration Officials do not believe that Hezbollah is planning to Join the War, but that could always change.

I am sure that the Biden administration is desperately hoping that Hezbollah stays on the sidelines, but they are also preparing for the worst.

On Wednesday, we learned that a second U.S. aircraft carrier is being sent to the Eastern Mediterranean…

US National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby confirmed that the United States will be sending the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier to the Eastern Mediterranean, after it was already announced that the USS Gerald R. Ford would be deployed as part of “support” operations related to the Israel-Gaza conflict.

However, Kirby said that the Eisenhower will not be directly joining or escorting. Instead, the carrier will be in the region for availability if called upon. While in a press briefing Kirby tried to downplay the dual carrier deployment as somewhat routine or expected, they will certainly be on standby to potentially intervene if all hell continues breaking loose in the Middle East.

Hopefully those carriers will be smart and will stay a long way from shore.

Because Hezbollah possesses missiles that are capable of sinking a carrier.

Needless to say, images of a sinking carrier would cause great fury here in the United States.

The U.S. is also deploying special forces to the region in case they are needed to locate American hostages…

The United States is readying its special forces to help Israel locate American hostages, as waves of Israeli Defense Force reservists arrived at JFK airport in New York to join the fight against Hamas.

Two senior U.S. military officials told The Messenger that ‘door kickers’ have been put on alert in a nearby European country, ready to assist Israel if necessary in their battle against Hamas. The Israeli death toll rose to 1,200 on Tuesday.

This is just the beginning.

As this war escalates, more U.S. forces will inevitably be deployed.

Sadly, there can never be lasting peace with these Islamic terrorists.  Franklin Graham recently shared a video of a prominent Hamas leader declaring what their real long-term plan is…

On social media, Franklin cited a video of Hamas’ Mahmoud al-Zahar, and wrote, “We just saw Hamas brutally murder 900+ Israelis, most all civilians. If you want to know what else they’re after, a Hamas commander made it clear. He said they want to kill every Jew and every Christian – and take control of the ‘entire 510 million sq. kilometers of Planet Earth.’ If you think what is happening in Israel is limited to Israel, think again.”

As this war escalates, more U.S. forces will inevitably be deployed.

Sadly, there can never be lasting peace with these Islamic terrorists.  Franklin Graham recently shared a video of a prominent Hamas leader declaring what their real long-term plan is…

On social media, Franklin cited a video of Hamas’ Mahmoud al-Zahar, and wrote, “We just saw Hamas brutally murder 900+ Israelis, most all civilians. If you want to know what else they’re after, a Hamas commander made it clear. He said they want to kill every Jew and every Christian – and take control of the ‘entire 510 million sq. kilometers of Planet Earth.’ If you think what is happening in Israel is limited to Israel, think again.”

This Hamas Commander says this is not about land, not just Palestine. “The entire planet will be under our law, there will be no more Jews or Christian traitors.” Only then, if everyone adopts his law, will there be peace. pic.twitter.com/97sWBcH8yJ

— CSW Latinoamérica (@CSWLatAm) October 8, 2023

They will never stop until they rule the entire world.

There is no negotiating with people like that.

On Friday, there is supposed to be a “global Day of Rage” for those that support Hamas…

Khaled Mashal, a leader and founding member of the Islamic terror group Hamas, has called for a global Day of Rage this Friday, saying “this is the time for Jihad.”

Hamas, an Islamic political and military organization that governs the Gaza Strip, carried out a brutal, highly coordinated terror attack on Israel over the weekend, slaughtering more than 1,200 people—including fourteen Americans—and wounding more than 2,100, according to the latest reports. The Palestinian terrorists also took more than 130 civilians hostage and have threatened to execute them on live broadcasts.

Mashal reportedly gave a speech on Tuesday exhorting Muslim across the world to “show anger” and be “martyrs for Al-Aqsa” in what he called “the Friday of Al-Aqsa flood.” Hamas has dubbed their murderous rampage in Israel Saturday “operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” saying the assault was “in defense of the Aqsa Mosque,” the main congregational mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Hopefully there will not be too much violence.

But I can’t say that I am too optimistic about that.

For a long time I have been warning that a historic war would be coming to the Middle East, and now it is here.

So many people are going to die, and that should deeply sadden all of us.

More Americans are likely to die too, because it is just a matter of time before the U.S. military becomes a direct part of this conflict.

October 13, 2023 Posted by | MIDDLE EAST, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

South Carolina nuclear plant gets warning over another cracked emergency fuel pipe

JENKINSVILLE, S.C. (AP) 10 Oct 23— Federal officials have issued a warning about a substantial safety violation at a South Carolina nuclear plant after cracks were discovered again in a backup emergency fuel line.

Small cracks have been found a half-dozen times in the past 20 years in pipes that carry fuel to emergency generators that provide cooling water for a reactor if electricity fails at the V.C. Summer plant near Columbia, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The agency issued what it calls a preliminary “yellow” warning to plant owner Dominion Energy last week.

It is the second most serious category and only seven similar warnings have been issued across the country since 2009, nuclear power expert David Lochbaum told The State newspaper after reviewing records from federal regulators.

A crack first appeared on a diesel fuel pipe in 2003, and similar pipes have had other cracks since then.

During a 24-hour test of the system in November, a small diesel fuel leak grew larger, according to NRC records.

The agency issued the preliminary yellow warning because of the repeated problems………………….

Dominion has recently requested to renew the license for the nuclear plant for an additional 40 years.

Longtime nuclear safety advocate Tom Clements told the newspaper the pipe problems should mean a lot more scrutiny by regulators.

“This incident serves as a wake-up call to fully analyze all such systems prior to a license-renewal determination,’’ Clements said in an email.  https://apnews.com/article/nuclear-plant-south-carolina-dominion-energy-b71d1e3b598b84623259205997602aaf #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants

October 13, 2023 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Interest, but skepticism, on nuclear microreactors, fusion , and thorium

The Nuclear Microreactor Race Is Heating Up

Zero Hedge,Oct 11, 2023,

“…………………………………………………………..Interest and Skepticism

Interest in microreactors and other advanced nuclear technology has increased partly because of concerns about climate change. While various processes associated with nuclear power can produce greenhouse gasses–for example, mining uranium for fuel–nuclear fission doesn’t directly generate them. For governments and corporations that have committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, nuclear energy can look rather enticing.

Yet, some experts and activists contend that the world can radically scale back hydrocarbons without using more nuclear power.

In early June of this year, for example, former Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) chair Gregory Jaczko held a briefing in which he and others argued that nuclear power is too expensive and risky to help the U.S. decarbonize.

“There are now better ways to generate carbon-free electricity. We have renewable energy. We have geothermal, hydro, solar, wind,” Mr. Jaczko told the CBC in a 2019 interview…………………………

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has also sounded somewhat skeptical of advanced reactors.

In August of this year, he vetoed a bill that would have lifted the state’s moratorium on building new nuclear plants.

In a statement on the veto, his office said that “the vague definitions in the bill, including the overly broad definition of advanced reactors, will open the door to the proliferation of large-scale nuclear reactors that are so costly to build that they will cause exorbitant ratepayer-funded bailouts.”………………………………………………………..

Need for Non-Russian Fuel Another Challenge in Advanced Nuclear

The ADVANCE Act also directs the NRC to report to Congress on its ability to lessen its dependence on Russia for fuel.

Indeed, Russia’s dominance of the high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) used in most small advanced reactors has already delayed the launch of TerraPower’s Natrium reactor.

The Department of Energy in 2020 launched a HALEU consortium as part of its efforts to develop domestic sources.

Nano, a founding participant in the consortium, touts a subsidiary focused on HALEU production, HALEU Energy Fuel Inc.

The HALEU problem raises a basic question: even if Nano’s reactors are ready to roll by 2030, will they be able to operate?

“You can have a Ferrari, but if you don’t have fuel, it’s not going to run,” Mr. Yu said.

Chuckling at Fusion, Still Bearish on Thorium

In late 2022, the achievement of ignition in a fusion reaction at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory got a lot of media attention.

At the time, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm suggested the result supports the Biden administration’s goal of a commercial fusion reactor in the next decade, saying the work “shows that it can be done.”

Yet, when the subject of fusion came up, both Mr. Yu and Mr. Walker started chuckling.

“Well, the reason why we’re laughing a bit is because we’ve got some scientists on board, and they get asked this quite a lot, and they lose their temper about this,” Mr. Walker explained.

“You do get very hyped-up articles,” he added.

He pointed out that the fusion breakthrough celebrated last year required massive energy input, far more than the reaction itself generated………..

Mr. Walker voiced a few concerns about thorium reactors, saying some of Nano’s technical staff “were very bearish on it” and stressing that he lacks significant expertise on thorium. #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants

October 12, 2023 Posted by | spinbuster, USA | Leave a comment

Regulators reject request to shutter nuclear reactor

The Journal Record, By: Associated Press//October 9, 2023

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Federal regulators have rejected a request from two environmental groups to immediately shut down one of two reactors at California’s last nuclear power plant.

Friends of the Earth and Mothers for Peace said in a petition filed last month with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that long-postponed tests needed to be conducted on critical machinery at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, located midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. They argued the equipment could fail and cause a catastrophe.

In an order dated Tuesday, the NRC took no action on the request to immediately shut down the Unit 1 reactor and instead asked agency staff to review it.

……………. According to the groups, the last inspections on the vessel took place between 2003 and 2005. The utility postponed further testing in favor of using results from similar reactors to justify continued operations, they said.

The commission found there was no justification for a hearing.

The groups said in a statement that the decision showed “a complete lack of concern for the safety and security of the people living near” the plant, which started operating in the mid-1980s……………..

The petition marked the latest development in a long fight over the operation and safety of the seaside plant, which sits on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean. In August, a state judge rejected a lawsuit filed by Friends of the Earth that sought to block PG&E from seeking to extend the operating life of the plant.

PG&E agreed in 2016 to shutter the plant by 2025, but at the direction of the state changed course and now intends to seek a longer operating run for the twin reactors. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who once was a leading voice to close the plant, said last year that Diablo Canyon’s power is needed beyond 2025 to ward off possible blackouts as California transitions to solar and other renewable energy sources.  https://journalrecord.com/2023/10/09/regulators-reject-request-to-shutter-nuclear-reactor/

October 11, 2023 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Motor fault, legal problems, future delays …. giant costly Vogtle nuclear project struggles on

Vogtle 4 start-up moved to 2024

World Nuclear News, 09 October 2023 #nuclear #anti-nuclear #nucler-free #NoNukes

The in-service date for the second AP1000 plant at the site near Waynesboro, Georgia, has been revised after a motor fault was discovered in a reactor coolant pump. Meanwhile, Georgia Power has agreed to pay the plant’s co-owner Oglethorpe Power Corporation USD308 million in settlement of an ongoing dispute.

The motor fault in one of the unit’s four reactor coolant pumps – or RCPs – was discovered during start-up and pre-operational testing, Georgia Power said in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)……………………………

Southern Nuclear believes that the motor fault on the RCP at Vogtle 4 is an isolated event, the companies said. The projected schedule for Vogtle 4 “primarily depends on the continued progression of pre-operational testing and start-up”, it added: “As testing continues, new challenges also may continue to be identified, which may result in required engineering changes or remediation related to plant systems, structures, or components (some of which are based on new technology that only within the last few years began initial operation in the global nuclear industry at this scale). These challenges may result in further schedule delays and/or cost increases.”

Dispute settled


In the same SEC filing, Georgia Power and its parent, Southern Company, announced the agreement with Oglethorpe Power to resolve a dispute regarding cost-sharing and tender provisions of the joint ownership agreements relating to Vogtle units 3 and 4. Georgia Power has agreed to make a payment of USD308 million to Oglethorpe for a portion of Oglethorpe’s previously incurred construction costs, as well as paying a portion of Oglethorpe’s further construction costs for the units – around USD105 million – based on the current capital cost forecast. It will also pay 66% of Oglethorpe’s costs of construction with respect to any amounts above the current project capital cost forecast. The parties have agreed to dismiss pending litigation on this issue, including counterclaims by Georgia Power.

Georgia Power resolved a similar dispute with another of the plant’s co-owners, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power) in September 2022. Similar litigation with the other co-owner, Dalton Utilities, is still pending.

Construction of the two Westinghouse AP1000s began in 2013. Unit 3 ………………… Plant Vogtle is jointly owned by Georgia Power (45.7%), Oglethorpe (30%), MEAG Power (22.7%) and Dalton Utilities (1.6%).

October 10, 2023 Posted by | business and costs, politics, USA | Leave a comment

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