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Trump declares he would ‘absolutely’ bomb Iran if it refuses to give up its bid for nuclear weapons

The Iran nuclear deal, which Trump scuttled after it was put in place under Barack Obama, was negotiated through multi-party talks.

On Tuesday Trump ridiculed fears of climate change, then pivoted to the Iran threat, which he called much more grave

Says Israel would be ‘very much involved’ 

By GEOFF EARLE, DEPUTY U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR, 10 April 25 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14589765/donald-trump-bomb-iran-nuclear-weapons.html

President Donald Trump openly discussed military action against Iran just days before talks are set to begin on its nuclear program.

He upped his threats a day after he used colorful language to warn against ‘nuclear heat’ while saying Iran must relinquish nuclear ambitions. 

A reporter asked Trump to specify his comment Tuesday that it would be ‘very dangerous’ for Iran if nuclear talks are unsuccessful.

Well they can’t have a nuclear weapon,’ Trump said. Pressed on if he meant military action, Trump responded: ‘Oh if necessary? Absolutely, yeah.’

Asked if he had a deadline with Iran, Trump responded, ‘Yeah, I do,’ but declined to say what it was.

But he said this weekend – with talks set to commence in Oman Saturday – was not the deadline. ‘We have a little time, but we don’t have much time,’ the president said.

‘Because we’re not going to let them have a nuclear weapon, can’t let them have a nuclear – and we’re gonna let them thrive. I want them to thrive. I want Iran to be great. The only thing they can’t have is a nuclear weapon.

‘I’m not asking for much. I just … they can’t have a nuclear weapon,’ Trump said.

‘But with Iran, yeah, if we, if it requires military, we’re gonna have military. Israel will obviously be very much involved in that. He’ll be the leader of that. But nobody leads us. We do what we want to do.

In his final cryptic comment, he added: ‘When you start talks, you know they’re going along well or not. And I would say the conclusion would be when I think they’re not going along well. So that’s just a feeling.’

Trump has pledged it is ‘not after a nuclear bomb’ and even expressed interest to direct U.S. investment.

Trump’s comments came on a day he did a sudden U-turn and imposed a 90-day pause on his ‘reciprocal’ tariffs, while maintaining a 10 percent across the board tariff and hiking the tariff on China to 125 percent.

The episode revealed both Trump’s willingness to throw the global system into turmoil to achieve his goals, and his willingness to backtrack amid fears of a recession and trillions worth of market losses. He also signed orders directing the Justice Department to investigate Miles Taylor, who wrote a critical book under the pen name ‘Anonymous’ during his first term, and former cyber security official Chris Krebs, who vouched for the security of the 2020 elections during the COVID pandemic.

Satellite images have revealed the deployment of six nuclear-capable B-2 bombers on Diego Garcia, a British-owned naval base that has been critical during U.S. military campaigns. 

Trump on Monday said the U.S. would hold top level ‘direct’ talks with Iran – while brandishing new threats and repeating demands that Iran could not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

‘We’re having direct talks with Iran. And they’ve started,’ Trump told reporters while seated in the Oval Office next to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, himself a top Iran hawk.

The talks are set to take place in Oman, but Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, said the talks would be ‘indirect,’ amid longstanding tensions between the two nations.

The U.S. has avoided such direct talks for years. The Iran nuclear deal, which Trump scuttled after it was put in place under Barack Obama, was negotiated through multi-party talks.

‘I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious. And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with, or frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with, if they can avoid it,’ he added. ‘So we are going to see if we can avoid it, but it’s getting to be very dangerous territory, and hopefully those talks will be successful.’

‘And I think it would be in Iran’s best interests if they are successful.’

 On Tuesday Trump ridiculed fears of climate change, then pivoted to the Iran threat, which he called much more grave

‘We were going to be gone, we’re all going to be gone – the environment. No, what they have to worry about is the nuclear – nuclear heat. They don’t have to worry about environmental heat. They have to worry about nuclear heat,’ Trump said on an event where he called for deregulating the coal industry.

‘And if we’re smart, we’re working on that right now with others, having to do with Iran and some other countries,’ Trump said.

‘But that’s the that’s the heat you’re gonna have to worry about. You don’t have to worry about the air is getting warmer. The ocean will rise … within the next 500 to 600 years, giving you a little bit more waterfront property. They say this is going to these guys can handle that. The nuclear we have a bigger problem with, right?’ Trump said. 

Iran claims its nuclear program is peaceful, but U.S. intelligence has long warned it was close to being capable of producing nuclear weapons. 

April 13, 2025 Posted by | Iran, Israel, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

How Israel hunts and executes Palestinian medics

The recent case of 15 uniformed first responders killed on their way to work is but the latest in a long, long line of similar crimes

Rt.com, 9 Apr, 2025  By Eva Bartlett, a Canadian independent journalist. She has spent years on the ground covering conflict zones in the Middle East, especially in Syria and Palestine (where she lived for nearly four years). 

The Israeli army has executed 15 Palestinian medics in Gaza, buried them and lied about them being “terrorists.” For those paying attention, this barbarism is not new, only the latest war crime committed by Israel in a litany of war crimes over the decades.

The combination of the medics being tied up, executed and buried in a mass grave was so horrific that even usually indifferent global media reported on it, albeit without the outrage that would have accompanied such reports were the perpetrator an enemy of the West. (Warning: disturbing video.)

On March 31, Jonathan Whittall, the Head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHA) posted on X, “First responders should never be a target. Yet today @UNOCHA supported @PalestineRCS and Civil Defense to retrieve colleagues from a mass grave in #Rafah #Gaza that was marked with the emergency light from one of their crushed ambulances.”

His thread went on to detail how a week prior, on March 23, contact was lost with ten Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and six Civil Defense first responders, in five ambulances and one fire truck, who’d been dispatched to collect injured people, noting, “For days, OCHA coordinated to reach the site but our access was only granted 5 days later.”

When they finally accessed the site, they “recovered the buried bodies of 8 PRCS, 6 Civil Defense and 1 UN staff,” he wrote, noting, “They were killed in their uniforms. Driving their clearly marked vehicles. Wearing their gloves. On their way to save lives. This should never have happened.”

According to the PRCS, a ninth EMT is missing and is believed to have been detained.

The UN, The Red Cross, and OCHA have all issued statements of outrage and condemnation of these murders. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Secretary General Jagan Chapagain said: “They wore emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked. They should have returned to their families; they did not. These rules of International Humanitarian Law could not be clearer – civilians must be protected; humanitarians must be protected. Health services must be protected.”

According to Chapagain, 30 PRCS volunteers and staff have been killed since October 2023 alone.

OCHA called the murders “a huge blow to us” and said, “these abhorrent acts require accountability.” According to the UN, “408 aid workers including more than 280 UNRWA staff have been killed in Gaza since the war began on 7 October 2023.”

Tom Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, wrote, “They were killed by Israeli forces while trying to save lives. We demand answers & justice.”

The Guardian cites PRCS’ Dr. Bashar Murad, who spoke to one of the paramedics in the convoy:

“He informed us that he was injured and requested assistance, and that another person was also injured. A few minutes later, during the call, we heard the sound of Israeli soldiers arriving at the location, speaking in Hebrew. ‘Gather them at the wall and bring some restraints to tie them.’ This indicated that a large number of the medical staff were still alive.”

The Israeli army media spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, predictably denied Israeli army wrong-doing and blamed Hamas, claiming the ambulances were “advancing suspiciously” toward Israeli forces. He declared the execution of the medics be an elimination of “a Hamas military operative, along with 8 other terrorists from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.”

Observers on X rebuffed Shoshani, including pointing out the Israeli army has been attacking ambulances for a very long time.

Gaza medics under Israeli attack since 2009

I can speak from personal experience. During the January 2009 Israeli war on Gaza, I was among a handful of international volunteers riding in PRCS ambulances, to document their work and the victims they rescued……………………………………………………………………………………….

The abduction and torture of Palestinian doctors is another aspect of Israel’s all-out attack on Gaza’s health system. It is part of Israel’s attacks on Palestinians themselves, depriving them of life-saving care, part of the decades-long policy of killing Palestinians by every means possible, including by preventing the entry of medical equipment and food, starving Palestinians who escaped bombs and sniping.

I will post the same rhetorical question I’ve posed ad nauseam: What would the international reaction be like if it were Russia point-blank assassinating uniformed, unarmed medics? It would be non-stop 24/7 howling in corporate media, victims faces and stories spoken of, demands for more sanctions…

But Israel does this again and again over the decades and all Palestinians get are muted words of concern and calls for investigation, allowing Israel to continue slaughtering medics and emergency workers unabated. No justice. https://www.rt.com/news/615480-palestine-israel-medics-hunt/

April 13, 2025 Posted by | Atrocities, Israel | Leave a comment

Keir Starmer set to approve nuclear plant in bid to power up economic growth.

The prime minister is pinning his hopes of economic growth on a major nuclear plant and a series of mini nuclear sites

Archie Mitchell, Political correspondent, Independent 10th April 2025

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to approve a major nuclear power plant alongside a slew of mini reactors in a bid to boost Britain’s stagnant economy.

The prime minister will approve investment for the construction of the Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk before the June spending review, The Times reported, as well as unveiling plans for a fleet of small modular reactors (SMRs) across the UK.

Sizewell C is expected to be up and running in 2035 and will provide 7 per cent of Britain’s energy demand at a cost of £20 billion……………………

Sizewell C is yet to be signed off by the government.

A decision on whether to give Sizewell C the green light has formed part of the government’s upcoming spending review, but Sir Keir has been bringing announcements forward in response to Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The PM has been desperately trying to spur on growth amid fears the US president’s trade war will cause Britain’s economy to stagnate and force further cuts in the autumn Budget.

EDF, the French energy giant that owns and runs Britain’s nuclear fleet, and the government, which has committed £6 billion so far, were the first backers of the project.

But they have been trying to raise billions more from prospective investors, including British Gas owner Centrica.

The government in January was forced to deny reports the expected costs of Sizewell C had spiralled to £40bn due to inflation and the knock-on effects of delays at Hinkley Point C.

Whitehall sources told The Independent the government is hugely supportive of Sizewell C, but that an announcement on its approval and funding would not come before June.

Sources told The Times Sir Keir wants to make a “nuclear moment” by combining the approval of Sizewell C with an announcement on a generation of SMRs.

The government has been running a competition to develop the reactors, which are potentially cheaper, much faster to build and easier to deploy, with Rolls-Royce and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy the frontrunners. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/starmer-nuclear-growth-trump-tariffs-b2730868.html

April 13, 2025 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

  TEPCO’s rehabilitation plan delays expose limits to nuke power reliance.

It was unreasonable in the first place for the power company to draw up a rehabilitation scenario relying on atomic power despite having caused a serious nuclear plant accident.

April 9, 2025 (Mainichi Japan), https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250409/p2a/00m/0op/029000c

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Holdings Inc. has postponed the revision of its business rehabilitation plan, which it had scheduled to carry out by the end of fiscal 2024. The company attributed the postponement to a lack of prospects for restarting the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture, which it had seen a trump card in improving its earnings.

Will the utility be able to fulfill its responsibility in the recovery from the Fukushima disaster and the stable power supply amid such a state of affairs?

TEPCO has borrowed money from the national government to deal with the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns. This includes funds needed for compensation payments to affected residents and the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. It has also taken out bank loans to fund its electric power business. The rehabilitation plan was supposed to form the premise for this financial aid.

The plan was first formulated in 2012, the year after the onset of the Fukushima disaster, and has since been updated almost every three years. The cost for handling the nuclear catastrophe was initially estimated at 6 trillion yen (approx. $41.27 billion), but that figure swelled to 21.5 trillion yen (148 billion) under the current plan outlined in 2021. The cost further rose to 23.4 trillion yen (approx. $161 billion) when taking into account compensation for fishery operators due to the release of treated water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, among other expenses.

The cap on borrowing from the national government was subsequently raised to 15.4 trillion yen (approx. $106 billion). Based on these developments, calls grew to update TEPCO’s rehabilitation plan.

While TEPCO is scheduled to repay 500 billion yen (approx. $3.45 billion) annually to the national government, the actual repayment amount has hovered around 400 billion yen (around $2.76 billion) on average in recent years due to the firm’s poor performance.

The primary factor behind TEPCO’s sluggish earnings is that the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant has yet to be restarted. TEPCO had initially expected to resume the plant’s operations in fiscal 2019, eyeing a balance improvement of 100 billion yen (approx. $688 million) per reactor brought back online. But following a series of scandals including inadequate antiterror measures at the plant, the prospect of gaining local consent for its restart has waned.

TEPCO’s injection of more than 1 trillion yen (approx. $6.88 billion) into safety measures has also taken a heavy toll on its management, weighing down its cash flow. There are concerns that the utility may not even be able to afford capital investment essential for a stable power supply.

It was unreasonable in the first place for the power company to draw up a rehabilitation scenario relying on atomic power despite having caused a serious nuclear plant accident. In the amendments to be made to the rehabilitation plan by the end of fiscal 2025, the utility should completely overhaul its strategy.


TEPCO must accelerate its business realignment to improve its earning capacity. Its thermal power generation sector was integrated into Chubu Electric Power Co. in 2019, yet TEPCO needs to expand collaboration with other firms in renewable energy and other sectors with high growth potential. It urgently needs to streamline operations to stave off deterioration of its finances.

The company is urged to carry out a rehabilitation plan that is not reliant on nuclear power generation.

April 13, 2025 Posted by | business and costs, Japan | Leave a comment

To Secure U.S. Energy Dominance, the Department of Defense Selects Eligible Companies for the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations Program


Defense Innovation Unit 10th April 2025 Mountain View, CA

– To ensure U.S. energy dominance, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), with the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force, launched the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI) program. First announced in summer 2024, the program will allow for the design and build of fixed on-site microreactor nuclear power systems on select military installations to support global operations across land, air, sea, space, and cyberspace. The Department of Defense team selected eight companies to be eligible to demonstrate the ability to deliver compliant, safe, secure, and reliable nuclear power.

The companies are now eligible to receive Other Transaction (OT) awards to provide commercially available dual use microreactor technology at various DOD installations. Selected companies for the ANPI program include:

  • Antares Nuclear, Inc
  • BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC
  • General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems
  • Kairos Power, LLC
  • Oklo Inc.
  • Radiant Industries Incorporated
  • Westinghouse Government Services
  • X-Energy, LLC

“Projecting power abroad demands ensuring power at home and this program aims to deliver that, ensuring that our defense leaders can remain focused on lethality,” said Dr. Andrew Higier, Energy Portfolio Director at DIU. “Microreactors on installations are a critical first step in delivering energy dominance to the Force. Tapping into the commercial sector’s rapid advancements in this area is critical due to the significant private investment in this space over the last few years. The U.S. and the DoD must maintain the advantage and leverage the best of breed nuclear technology for our national security.”

The ANPI project directly supports Executive Order (E.O.) 14156 – Declaring a National Energy Emergency and E.O. 14154 – Unleashing American Energy

……………………………………… In addition to DIU, Army, Air Force, ANPI receives support from the Department of Energy; the NRC; Idaho National Laboratory with Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Los Alamos National Laboratory; Argonne National Laboratory; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Sandia National Laboratory; and the Office of Nuclear Energy. https://www.diu.mil/latest/DOD-selects-eligible-companies-for-the-Advanced-Nuclear-Power-for-Installations-Program

April 13, 2025 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Walt Zlotow: Trump, Hegseth off by nearly 1 trillion on national security budget

Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL 11 Apr 25 https://theaimn.net/trump-hegseth-off-by-nearly-1-trillion-on-national-security-budget/

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is applauding Trump’s boast to push through America’s first trillion dollar defense budget.

“Thank you Mr. President! COMING SOON: the first TRILLION dollar [Defense Department] budget.” Hegseth was echoing boss Trump who chortled “Nobody’s seen anything like it. We have to build out military, and we’re very cost-conscious, but the military is something we have to build, and we have to be strong,”

Trump’s defense policy and these quotes epitomize America’s decline as a peaceful, caring nation. Spending that trillion on militarism and warfare worldwide while Trump’s oligarchs are slashing a trillion from the social safety net is putting America into a death spiral from which it may never recover.

But they should really be high-fiving a national security budget that will be approaching $2 trillion based on Trump’s defense agenda.

That’s because the current defense budget under the National Defense Authorization Act of $900 billion just funds the Pentagon. When factoring in the Department of Veterans Affairs, special operations, Homeland Security and the national security share of US debt interest, the total for Fiscal ‘25 national security approaches $1.8 trillion. Regarding special ops, Trump’s failed month long Yemen bombing to stop their resistance to US enabled Israeli genocide in Gaza has already passed a billion bucks.

Current wars US supports in Ukraine, Gaza, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Iraq and possible upcoming wars in Iran and China, don’t come cheap. Add in cost of over 750 bases in 80 countries hosting over 150,000 military personnel puts the approaching $2 trillion dollar cost in perspective.

Spending all that treasure on national offense (nope, not defense), becomes problematical when Trump is pushing thru trillion dollar tax cuts for his oligarch buddies.

What to do? Of Course, send in oligarch clown Musk to cut a trillion or more from everything that makes life livable for Joe Sixpack.

It is no surprise Trump plans to ravage the social safety net to spend $2 trillion on worldwide military adventurism while giving $4.5 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years mainly to those who don’t need them.

But do Trump and Hegseth have to brag about it?

April 12, 2025 Posted by | business and costs, politics, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Arctic sea ice hit a record low as global powers eye shipping routes

Arctic sea ice hit a record low for the end of the region’s winter last
month, in a stark sign of how climate change is opening up the North Pole
to a geopolitical race for military and energy exploration. March was the
fourth consecutive month in which sea ice reached a record low for that
calendar period, based on a 47-year satellite record, EU earth observation
agency Copernicus reported on Tuesday.

FT 10th April 2025 https://www.ft.com/content/f8083632-e6bc-45f5-8032-0ee60e263cf6

April 12, 2025 Posted by | ARCTIC, climate change | Leave a comment

Starmer appoints ex-Office of Fair Trading chief to lead nuclear regulatory taskforce

The prime minister has appointed ex-Office of Fair Trading boss John Fingleton to head up the country’s nuclear taskforce

Energy Voice, By Jessica Mills Davies, 10/04/2025

The UK government’s nuclear taskforce will be led by John Fingleton, formerly the boss of the Office of Fair Trading, following his appointment to spearhead the unit.

The Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce, which was set up to accelerate the development of new nuclear power stations across the country, is poised to embark on an overhaul of UK planning regulation.

In February, Keir Starmer moved to slash “red tape” in the industry to enable more nuclear power plants to be approved across England and Wales.

Those reforms are designed to enable small modular reactors to be built for the first time. That is the intended result of the government abolishing a set list of approved sites for nuclear development so that nuclear power stations can be built anywhere in the country.

The energy department said that contract negotiations to progress a competition for these small reactors, held by Great British Nuclear, are “currently underway”, and that a panel of nuclear experts will be appointed to the taskforce in due course.

In a controversial move, the government is also getting rid of expiry dates on nuclear planning rules, in an effort to avoid projects timing out.

These changes to nuclear planning rules were proposed after the pre-development stage Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk was taken to court by local activists.

The Department for Net Zero and Energy Security said that the government committed a further £2.7 billion in public funding to Sizewell C last month………………………..

The independent taskforce will seek to identify how nuclear power regulation can incentivise investment in new projects more quickly and cost efficiently, it said………….

Fingleton said he will “work closely with business, regulators and other interested individuals and groups to identify how regulation can better enable and incentivise investment in this area”…………………. https://www.energyvoice.com/renewables-energy-transition/570966/starmer-selects-fingleton-to-head-up-nuclear-taskforce/

April 12, 2025 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

NFLAs ‘shout up’ for National Parks to be spared from nuclear development

Despite our objections and those of many in the antinuclear community, Energy Ministers and departmental civil servants remain intent upon introducing a new National Planning Statement, called the EN-7, which gives considerable latitude to prospective developers to site new nuclear plants more widely, subject to meeting certain criterion (called the ‘criteria-based approach’) and lifts any time limits (called ‘the removal of a deployment deadline’).

10th April 2025, https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/nflas-shout-up-for-national-parks-to-be-spared-from-nuclear-development/

NFLAs ‘shout up’ for National Parks to be spared from nuclear development

The Nuclear Free Local Authorities have made an emphatic plea to the government for National Parks to be definitively spared from development and for further ‘specific consideration’ to be given to the challenges attendant to siting so-called Small and Advanced Modular Reactors (SMRs and AMRs).

Despite our objections and those of many in the antinuclear community, Energy Ministers and departmental civil servants remain intent upon introducing a new National Planning Statement, called the EN-7, which gives considerable latitude to prospective developers to site new nuclear plants more widely, subject to meeting certain criterion (called the ‘criteria-based approach’) and lifts any time limits (called ‘the removal of a deployment deadline’).

Interestingly neither of these notions was popular amongst respondents in the initial consultation on the policy with only 47% supporting the first and 50% the second; which begs the NFLAs to ask the question: why change the existing policy which is based on a government led strategic assessment of sites to in effect a ‘free-for-all’?

As we did in response to the first stage consultation, so in the second the NFLAs ‘shout up…against new nuclear in any of our National Parks and on sites adjoining or threatening Sites of Outstanding Natural Beauty or Immense Heritage Value’. The Welsh NFLA affiliates are particularly passionate in seeking to defend Trawsfynydd, which lies at the heart of Eryri, the premier National Park of Wales, from new development. As we point out:

‘The principle that National Parks can be excluded from future nuclear development has already been established by Government diktat. Any part of the Lake District National Park in England has been specifically (and in our view rightly) excluded from any consideration as a prospective site of a future Geological Disposal Facility. Surely then Trawsfynydd being at the heart of the Eryri National Park should enjoy the same protection in law?

In our view, to do otherwise exposes UK Government policy as hypocritical and inconsistent, implying that the premier National Park of Wales is not worthy of the same protection as the premier National Park of England and unfortunately conveys the impression that Wales remains a rank colonial possession, rather than a nation in its own right, whose natural assets are open to exploitation by any major nuclear development of the most egregious kind’.

Only 59% of respondents in phase one backed the inclusion of ‘SMRS and AMRs alongside large-scale GW technologies’ within the policy, with the NGO community calling for a separate policy. Despite this, Ministers intend this policy to be one-size-fits-all. In this second phase consultation, the NFLAs have referenced the lack of ‘specific consideration’ of the ‘additional, and not entirely defined, challenges’ that accompany the inclusion of SMRs and AMRs.

There have been many recent reports of concerns amongst the nuclear industry and the academic community about the radioactive waste produced by smaller reactors and the security implications of a wider rollout of smaller reactors. The NFLAs have therefore requested that final version of EN-7 should require ‘SMR, AMR, Micro reactor developers to submit robust statements about their proposals to address radioactive waste management, safety, security and proliferation concerns’.

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April 12, 2025 Posted by | environment, opposition to nuclear, UK | Leave a comment

UK Government convenes AI Energy Council, but could be ignoring hidden climate impacts in supply chains


 Edie 10th April 2025, Sidhi Mittal

The UK Government has officially launched its AI Energy Council, with its first meeting outlining five key priorities for aligning the country’s clean energy ambitions with the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI).

However, while the Council focuses on integrating AI intro the UK’s energy system, Ministers are being warned that they are overlooking the strain which AI supply chains are putting on energy systems overseas.

The Council is led by Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband. Representatives from companies including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, ARM, EDF and ScottishPower sit on the Council, alongside energy regulator Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator (NESO).

The Council this week met for the first time, and agreed on focus points for the year ahead. These include preparing the UK’s energy grid for the electricity demands of AI and computer infrastructure, accelerating renewable energy adoption, and ensuring AI’s role in the energy sector contributes to the transition to net-zero.

Emphasis was also placed on using AI to improve grid flexibility and ensuring its safe, secure deployment in the energy system.

This move comes amid growing pressure for the UK’s AI ecosystem to deliver more public benefit. A recent report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that only 15% of AI firms in the UK are developing solutions aimed at social challenges such as public health or environmental sustainability, despite 20% having received public funding.

IPPR’s head of AI Carsten Jung said: “Too many companies are focussed on generic process improvements rather than coming up with new, better products. And too few innovations are aimed at solving big societal problems, such as public health and climate change.

“This quantity over quality, profit over purpose, speed over substance, approach is a hugely missed opportunity.”

But as the UK attempts to shape a greener AI-powered future through initiatives like the AI Energy Council, the global supply chain it relies on presents an emissions challenge far beyond its borders.

AI chip boom in East Asia drives fossil fuel surge

New research from Greenpeace East Asia has found that electricity demand for manufacturing AI chips has risen more than 350% between 2023 and 2024. East Asia—home to the bulk of global AI chip production—is seeing this growth largely powered by fossil fuels………………………..

Greenpeace East Asia’s supply chain project lead Katrin Wu said: “While fabless hardware companies like Nvidia and AMD are reaping billions from the AI boom, they are neglecting the climate impact of their supply chains in East Asia.

“Across East Asia, there are many opportunities for companies to invest directly in wind and solar energy, yet chipmakers have failed to do so on a meaningful scale.

“Hardware companies can overcome renewable energy bottlenecks by investing directly in wind and solar capacity, signing power purchase agreements, and leveraging their influence to advocate for a higher ratio of renewable energy in the grid.”……………………………………………………………. https://www.edie.net/uk-government-convenes-ai-energy-council-but-could-be-ignoring-hidden-climate-impacts-in-supply-chains/

April 12, 2025 Posted by | technology, UK | Leave a comment

EDF urged to tackle ‘nuclear rats’ infestation at Somerset power plant site

Unite and GMB trade unions have warned French energy giant EDF that urgent action is needed to tackle the massive rodent outbreak at the construction site of Hinkley Point C nuclear reactor in Somerset.

Katie Timms, Joshua Whorms,  Somerset Live 9th April 2025

“Nuclear rats” have reportedly overrun the construction site of a new nuclear reactor in Somerset, raising alarm among workers about their health and safety as they contend with the pervasive rodent problem.

Trade unions Unite and GMB have urgently called on French energy giant EDF to take immediate action to address the significant rodent infestation at the Hinkley Point C nuclear reactor site.

Concerns are mounting for the wellbeing of the workforce tasked with constructing Britain’s first new nuclear power station in decades due to the burgeoning rat population, reports the Daily Star.

An insider at the site disclosed to the Observer: “They’re all over. You see them just sat there, looking at you. It is worse near the canteens, where I guess it started. But they are everywhere now.

“The more men working on the site, the more rubbish on the site and the canteens are not clean either. It has just become worse over time,” the source elaborated.

Other employees have described the situation as “quite grim”. Amidst the project exceeding its budget by a billion pounds, workers have voiced concerns that financial constraints imposed by EDF are compromising their working conditions and impacting their wages.

These persistent issues led to industrial action last November, with hundreds of electricians, pipe fitters, and welders ceasing work due to security worries…………………….

The Star previously reported on the alarming sight of “cat-sized rats” which ignited concerns about a potential outbreak of a rare bacterial disease in the UK’s second largest city.

Residents have reported sightings of enormous “rats the size of cats” prowling their streets, as industrial action by waste collectors has resulted in rubbish accumulating in the streets of Birmingham. There is growing concern among experts about these oversized rodents potentially leading to locals contracting Leptospirosis…………………………………
https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/edf-urged-tackle-nuclear-rats-10094730

April 12, 2025 Posted by | environment, UK | Leave a comment

The Flamanville EPR nuclear reactor will not be able to deliver its full power without major works.

According to our information, EDF has still not been able to identify the cause of the malfunction of the turbine in the Normandy reactor.

 La Tribune Juliette Raynal, 04/07/25

After a doomed construction site, the Normandy reactor of the Flamanville EPR started up on December 21, twelve years behind schedule. Its entry into service does not signal the end of the problems, far from it. According to our information, the difficulties encountered with the turbo-alternator unit, the centerpiece of a nuclear power plant, will prevent the first French EPR from delivering its full electrical power without major intervention requiring the assembly of scaffolding inside a room that is difficult to access.

Contacted by La Tribune , EDF did not wish to comment on this information and indicated that it was maintaining its provisional schedule with the transition to 100% of its nominal power in the summer of 2025. “While technically the reactor could well reach its full thermal power in the coming months, the electrical power will be reduced by 10 to 20% due to the partial vacuum,”  qualifies a well-informed source.

As we reported on March 13, EDF teams had to deal  with abnormal heating in the turbo-generator unit. Located in the heart of the engine room, the 70-meter-long Arabelle turbine, manufactured by General Electric,  but now owned by Arabelle Solutions, a subsidiary of EDF, 
transforms the thermal energy contained in the steam into mechanical energy to drive the alternator that produces electricity.
 The Arabelle turbine, the centerpiece of the power plant

In a technical document published  following a general meeting, organized on February 25th within the framework of the Local Information Commission (CLI), the electrician revealed a malfunction:  “The temperature increases beyond the authorized limit on stages 7 and 8 of the turbo alternator group when trying to reach the expected condenser vacuum . “

…………………………………….. the 57th reactor in the French fleet is still shut down due to a maintenance operation on equipment located in the nuclear part of the plant.

After several postponements, its start-up is expected on April 11. “While these adjustments allow the reactor to be restarted without exceeding the authorized heating levels, they will not allow it to operate at full power,” a well-informed source cautions. “The reactor will only be able to continue its tests at a partial vacuum,” the same source specifies.

……………………………..With  the vacuum reduced, the turbine’s efficiency will be mechanically reduced and could therefore be between 10 and 20% below its nominal operating temperature.

The cause of the malfunction has not yet been identified.

“The work that has been carried out on the bearings is corrective work. It helps to reduce the fault that is causing excessive heating, but the teams involved do not expect this to completely resolve the problem. In short, it helps to treat the symptoms, but not the cause, which remains unidentified ,” reports  this source.

According to our information, to attempt a diagnosis, EDF teams will have to install scaffolding inside the condenser itself. A room that is difficult to access since it is located just below the turbine.  “It is an intrusive operation that requires a complete shutdown of the reactor for at least several weeks ,” according to this well-informed source.

“A nightmare to cope with”

Unlike a conventional shutdown for refueling, which lasts on average 30 to 40 days, this first break should last  “at least 250 days ,” said Régis Clément, deputy director of EDF’s nuclear fleet division, during a press briefing on December 20. In other words, more than eight months.  EDF also intends to take advantage of this interruption to replace the defective tank cover, required by the nuclear regulator.

While waiting for this operation, the various components of the turbine, due to its abnormal operation, could well be damaged. And for good reason, even if by lowering the vacuum level the defect becomes acceptable, it does not disappear. As a result, the bearings wear unevenly and mistreat the turbine. “This machine risks being a nightmare to operate ,” fears a person close to the case.

April 12, 2025 Posted by | France, technology | 1 Comment

Trump has threatened Iran over an ultimatum that likely cannot be met

Trump’s ultimatum to Iran appears to be moving the U.S. down a path to where war is the only outcome, as occurred in 1914 – an outcome which ultimately triggered WW1.

Strategic Culture Foundation, Alastair Crooke, April 7, 2025

What is understood now is that ‘we’re no longer playing chess’. There are no rules anymore.

Trump’s ultimatum to Iran? Colonel Doug Macgregor compares the Trump ultimatum to Iran to that which Austria-Hungary delivered to Serbia in 1914: An offer, in short, that ‘could not be refused’. Serbia accepted nine out of the ten demands. But it refused one – and Austria-Hungary immediately declared war.

On 4 February, shortly after his Inauguration, President Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM); that is to say, a legally binding directive requiring government agencies to carry out the specified actions precisely.

The demands are that Iran should be denied a nuclear weapon; denied inter-continental missiles, and denied too other asymmetric and conventional weapons capabilities. All these demands go beyond the NPT and the existing JCPOA. To this end, the NSPM directs maximum economic pressure be imposed; that the U.S. Treasury act to drive Iran’s oil exports to zero; that the U.S. work to trigger JCPOA Snapback of sanctions; and that Iran’s “malign influence abroad” – its “proxies” – be neutralised.

The UN sanctions snapback expires in October, so time is short to fulfil the procedural requirements to Snapback. All this suggests why Trump and Israeli officials give Spring as the deadline to a negotiated agreement.

Trump’s ultimatum to Iran appears to be moving the U.S. down a path to where war is the only outcome, as occurred in 1914 – an outcome which ultimately triggered WW1.

Might this just be Trump bluster? Possibly, but it does sound as if Trump is issuing legally binding demands such that he must expect cannot be met. Acceptance of Trump’s demands would leave Iran neutered and stripped of its sovereignty, at the very least. There is an implicit ‘tone’ to these demands too, that is one of threatening and expecting regime change in Iran as its outcome.

It may be Trump bluster, but the President has ‘form’ (past convictions) on this issue. He has unabashedly hewed to the Netanyahu line on Iran that the JCPOA (or any deal with Iran) was ‘bad’. In May 2014, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the JCPOA at Netanyahu’s behest and instead issued a new set of 12 demands to Iran – including permanently and verifiably abandoning its nuclear programme in perpetuity and ceasing all uranium enrichment.

What is the difference between those earlier Trump demands and those of this February? Essentially they are the same, except today he says: If Iran “doesn’t make a deal, there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before”.

Thus, there is both history, and the fact that Trump is surrounded – on this issue at least – by a hostile cabal of Israeli Firsters and Super Hawks. Witkoff is there, but is poorly grounded on the issues. Trump too, has shown himself virtually totalitarian in terms of any and all criticism of Israel in American Academia. And in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, he is fully supportive of Netanyahu’s far-right provocative and expansionist agenda.

These present demands regarding Iran also run counter to the 25 March 2025 latest annual U.S. Intelligence Threat Assessment that Iran is NOT building a nuclear weapon. This Intelligence Assessment is effectively disregarded. A few days before its release, Trump’s National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz clearly stated that the Trump Administration is seeking the “full dismantlement” of Iran's nuclear energy program: “Iran has to give up its program in a way that the entire world can see”, Waltz said. “It is time for Iran to walk away completely from its desire to have a nuclear weapon”.

On the one hand, it seems that behind these ultimata stands a President made “pissed off and angry” at his inability to end the Ukraine war almost immediately – as he first mooted – together with pressures from a bitterly fractured Israel and a volatile Netanyahu to compress the timeline for the speedy ‘finishing off’ of the Iranian ‘regime’ (which, it is claimed, has never been weaker). All so that Israel can normalise with Lebanon –and even Syria. And with Iran supposedly ‘disabled’, pursue implementation of the Greater Israel project to be normalised across the Middle East.

Which, on the other hand, will enable Trump to pursue the ‘long-overdue’ grand pivot to China. (And China is energy-vulnerable – regime change in Tehran would be a calamity, from the Chinese perspective).

To be plain, Trump’s China strategy needs to be in place too, in order to advance Trump’s financial system re-balancing plans. …………………………………………………………………………………….. https://strategic-culture.su/news/2025/04/07/break-leg-that-old-mafia-warning-trump-has-threatened-iran-over-ultimatum-that-likely-cannot-be-met/

April 11, 2025 Posted by | Iran, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Declassified MoD document reveals US Visiting Forces across Britain are exempt from nuclear safety rules

 CND 7th April 2025

At a time of heightened nuclear dangers, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has uncovered shocking evidence that US military bases across Britain are exempt from UK emergency radiation regulations.

This means that bases like RAF Lakenheath, which is being prepared to host deadly new US nuclear weapons, is under no legal obligation to have emergency radiation plans in case of nuclear accidents.

A declassified exemption order shows that the government is putting so-called ‘national security’ before people’s safety.

CND is calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to announce in Parliament that no US nuclear weapons will be welcomed in Britain and that the exemption on adhering to legally required safety standards is revoked.

A letter from CND’s lawyers Leigh Day has forced the Ministry of Defence to declassify a significant nationwide exemption certificate, issued in March 2021 by former Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, on the grounds of ‘national security’. 

The certificate exempts Visiting Forces – primarily US military personnel – engaged in work with ionising radiations, from any legal enforcement of safety standards, using powers under Regulation 40 of the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 and Regulation 25 of the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulation 2019. This means they are not legally bound to have in place plans and measures for emergency situations involving radioactive materials and nuclear weapons.

This is particularly dangerous given US preparations at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk for a new nuclear weapons mission. However, the exemption not only covers RAF Lakenheath but all US military bases across Britain. 

There are at least 10,000 US Department of Defence personnel stationed at 13 RAF bases. Nuclear material for Britain’s own nuclear weapons programme is regularly transported through RAF Brize Norton and RAF Fairford regularly hosts the US B2 nuclear-capable stealth bomber. 

The government’s exemption means that local councils will never be told about the presence of nuclear weapons at these bases – and are therefore not obliged to produce their own emergency plans for a radiological accident. This puts the British population at even greater risk.

CND is calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to announce in Parliament that no US nuclear weapons will be welcomed in Britain and that the exemption on adhering to legally required safety standards is revoked. The majority of the British public don’t want US nuclear weapons in this country. 

CND is upping pressure on the government, supporting two weeks of protest actions from Monday 14 April, culminating in a blockade of the base on Saturday 26 April. The peace camp and actions are organised by the Lakenheath Alliance for Peace, of which CND is a member………………………………………………………………………………………………. https://cnduk.org/declassified-mod-document-reveals-us-visiting-forces-across-britain-are-exempt-from-nuclear-safety-rules/

April 11, 2025 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Radiation Monitoring – Scottish university in ‘world-first’ for nuclear technology

A “cutting-edge” radiation detector module for nuclear experiments has
been developed by staff and students at the University of the West of
Scotland (UWS) that will be deployed at the world’s top laboratories. The
detection module, which can be used for nuclear experiments, will have
“far-reaching impact” on the areas where radiation detection is required.

 Herald 7th April 2025,
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/25068881.scottish-university-world-first-nuclear-technology/

April 11, 2025 Posted by | technology, UK | Leave a comment

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