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Nuclear Free Local Authorities ‘bitterly disappointed’ government will press ahead with ‘criminal nuclear power tax’

 https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/nuclear-free-local-authorities-bitterly-disappointed-government-will-press-ahead-with-criminal-nuclear-power-tax/ 19 Dec 22, The UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities were bitterly disappointed, but unsurprised, to hear recently British Government confirmation that it has decided to go ahead with the controversial Regulated Asset Base funding model for future nuclear power projects.

The government is proposing to use the RAB model to pay for the cost of constructing a new power plant at Sizewell C in Suffolk and for a fleet of so-called Small Modular Reactors to increase nuclear generating capacity three-fold to 24 GW by 2050 in line with the Energy Security Strategy published by Boris Johnson in April of this year.

To the NFLAs RAB should be renamed ROB as it is akin to daylight robbery. The RAB model de-risks nuclear projects for contractors and operators as, rather than requiring them to find the finance upfront, all electricity customers instead face an additional levy on their bills to meet the cost of building the new plants; all of which, based on historic precedent, will be delivered late and way over budget. The public will also have to meet the costs of any delays, which are likely to be considerable.

Responding to a consultation on the proposals launched by the Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy in August, the NFLA called for RAB to be scrapped and for nuclear operators to source money for new construction projects from the private sector, rather than electricity customers.

The NFLA is especially concerned at the unfairness of levying elderly customers who are unlikely to see any ‘benefit’ from the nuclear power generated, given that construction of any new plant is likely to take at least a decade, or levying poorer households, who are already at risk of fuel poverty. The NFLA called for elderly and poorer households to be exempted. The proposal is also particularly iniquitous when applied to Scottish customers, who will be taxed despite the Scottish Government refusing to countenance new nuclear plants for the nation.

The government published its response on 14 December stating that it will go ahead with the proposals, with only a vague and unsubstantiated recognition that ‘support for vulnerable groups would be best tackled holistically

Commenting on the response, NFLA Steering Committee Chair, West Dunbartonshire Councillor Lawrence O’Neill said:

“It is outrageous that British Government ministers want to press ahead with a scheme that imposes a criminal tax to pay for their nuclear delusion on the poorest, oldest and most vulnerable customers, and doubly criminal when imposed on customers living in Scotland where we as a nation certainly do not want to entertain it.

“Nuclear power projects are notorious for coming in late and way over cost, Hinkley Point C being a case in point. RAB simply takes away the risk to prospective nuclear operators of raising initial finance in the commercial lending market and finding the extra money needed to meet cost overruns and delays and transfers it onto electricity consumers who are already struggling to pay overinflated energy bills.

“The most immediate beneficiary EDF Energy will be laughing all the way to the bank as it picks up the subsidy to build Sizewell C collected from British taxpayers then pays the resulting profits from its future operations back to its owner, the French Government”.

December 19, 2022 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

In a blow to France’s electricity supply, EDF extends maintenance at nuclear reactors

 Electricite de France SA extended maintenance halts at two nuclear
reactors by more than four months, adding a strain on power supplies in
France and neighbouring countries.

The restart of EDF’s Penly-2 unit has
been delayed from Jan. 29 until June 11 while its Golfech-1 unit has been
pushed back to June 11 from Feb. 18, the utility said Monday in a message
on RTE’s transparency website.

The halt of the Chattenom-3 reactor is
prolonged by one month until March 26, and the restart of Civaux-2 is
postponed by more than a month until Feb. 19.

Longer-than-planned
maintenance halts and repairs of unexpected pipe cracks are curtailing
EDF’s nuclear output and turning France into a power importer when it’s
normally a key exporter.

The nation’s grid operator has warned of a
potential electricity shortfall in colder months as heating demand rises
while the utility grapples with the reactor repairs. EDF announced on
Friday the delayed the startup of a new nuclear reactor in western France
by several months into 2024 due to extended work. That project is already
more than a decade late.

 Bloomberg 19th Dec 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/france-s-edf-delays-restart-of-nuclear-reactors-in-blow-to-energy-supply-1.1861144

December 19, 2022 Posted by | France, safety | Leave a comment

Owner of Palisades to reapply for taxpayer funding to reopen nuclear power plant

Riley Beggin, Hannah Mackay, The Detroit News, 19 Dec 22,

Holtec International, the owner of the Palisades nuclear plant near South Haven, will reapply for federal funding in an attempt to revive the shuttered plant.

The company applied for funds through the U.S. Energy Department’s Civil Nuclear Credit Program after the plant was officially shut down in May. It announced in November it had been denied.

The $6 billion program funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law aims to keep existing reactors around the country running. Applicants must demonstrate that they will be closed for economic reasons and that carbon emissions and air pollutants will rise if they are closed.

………….. Holtec acquired the plant from Entergy Nuclear last December and planned to decommission it.

The plan received scrutiny from Attorney General Dana Nessel and several environmental groups, which questioned whether the company had the finances to quickly and safely decommission the plant. The environmental groups also raised concerns it could threaten the Great Lakes if the company decided to ship nuclear waste to a storage facility out of state…………….

In the meantime, Holtec will continue decommissioning the plant, O’Brien added, with a focus on “managing the spent fuel removal from the spent fuel pool to dry cask storage.”

There would be hurdles to reopening. Palisades shut down more than a week early in May as “a conservative decision based on equipment performance,” U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Public Affairs Officer Prema Chandrathil said at the time. The control rod drive mechanism had a degrading seal.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission transferred Palisades’ license from Entergy to Holtec “for the purpose of decommissioning Palisades” on June 28, the NRC said. All fuel was removed from the reactor on June 13.

Holtec then applied in July for funding under the federal Civil Nuclear Credit Program. To qualify for credits, there must be “reasonable assurance” the reactor can be operated with its current license and pose no significant safety hazards. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/12/19/palisades-nuclear-power-plant-to-reapply-for-federal-funding/69740779007/

December 19, 2022 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Kremlin: “US & Russia On The Brink Of A Direct Clash” In Ukraine

BY TYLER DURDEN,  https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/kremlin-us-russia-brink-direct-clash-ukraine 19 Dec 22

The Kremlin is urgently calling on Washington to avoid further escalation over its support to Ukraine’s military, on the same day that President Vladimir Putin made a rare state visit to neighboring Belarus, amid growing fears that Belarusian armed forces could enter the fighting in Ukraine. 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Monday that the United States’ “dangerous and short-sighted policy” has put it “on the brink of a direct clash” with Moscow, according to state media reports.

“It is the US’ desire to maintain American hegemony at all costs… as well as its arrogant unwillingness to engage in a serious dialogue on security guarantees” that led to the current crisis, she continued, in reference to Moscow’s last February pre-invasion appeal for “guarantees” that Ukraine would not enter NATO. 

State media described the sharp words as a necessary reaction to US State Department Spokesman Ned Price’s recently placing sole blame on Moscow for the rapid deterioration in US-Russia relations. Price had characterized the current state of relations as “unstable and unpredictable”.

Zakharova continued in the Monday remarks: “After the high-profile fiasco in Afghanistan, America is increasingly drawn into a new conflict, not only supporting the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev financially and with weapons, but also increasing its military presence on the ground.” While not specifying the precise accusation regarding a US “presence on the ground” – this could be a reference to recent widespread reporting that US intelligence has expanded its role in helping the Ukrainians, especially with things like targeting.

“This is a dangerous and short-sighted policy that puts the US and Russia on the brink of a direct clash,” the FM spokesperson said further. “For its part, Moscow urges the Joe Biden administration to soberly assess the situation and not to unleash a spiral of dangerous escalation. We hope that they will hear us in Washington, though there is no reason for optimism so far.”

This month has witnessed multiple bombshell revelations concerning the Pentagon and US intelligence’s deepening role in Ukraine, including the following: 

Ukraine has also grown bolder in showing off its new American-supplied toys…

All of this and more strongly suggests to two sides are indeed inching toward direct showdown and clash, also as there still appears no appetite for so much as a plan even remotely on the horizon to get Kiev officials to the ceasefire negotiating table with Russia.

As for the ongoing speculation that Belarusian forces could enter the Ukraine conflict in support of Russia, top Russian officials are denying this “option”… for now at least.

December 19, 2022 Posted by | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Chinese nuclear company still has a stake in UK’s Hinkley Point C project, and approval to build Bradwell project.

 Following mounting pressure from Washington, the UK decided to ban Huawei
and other vendors it considered to be a high security risk from its 5G
networks in 2020. In November, after months of prevaricating, the
Government blocked the sale of Newport Wafer Fab, the UK’s largest
semiconductor plant, to Chinese-owned Nexperia.

It also bought the Chinese
state-owned power group CGN out of its stake in the Sizewell C nuclear
energy project in Suffolk. Under a long-standing deal, CGN, which the US
placed on an export blacklist back in 2019 after Washington accused it of
stealing American know-how for military purposes, invested in Hinkley Point
C power station in Somerset; then Sizewell C, which has just been given the
green light; and is still technically due to be the lead investor at
Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex where it is hoping to instal its own design of
reactor.

The Chinese company still retains a stake in Hinkley Point and
received formal approval for Bradwell from the UK’s nuclear regulator in
February. But there is growing scepticism at Westminster that the Chinese
will ever be able to build on the site.

 Telegraph 18th Dec 2022

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/12/18/how-foreign-states-raided-britains-crown-jewels/

December 19, 2022 Posted by | politics international, UK | Leave a comment

Iran says Jordan summit ‘good opportunity’ for nuclear talks

Al-Monitor. Agence France-Presse, December 19, 2022 — Tehran (AFP)

Iran’s foreign minister said Monday that a summit to take place this week in Jordan will be a “good opportunity” for negotiations aimed at restoring the 2015 nuclear accord.

On-off talks to revive the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), started in April last year directly between Iran and Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia, and indirectly with the United States.

But the indirect talks between the Washington and Tehran, mediated by the European Union, have stalled for several months with Iran facing protests over the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin.

………………………………

Meanwhile, a UN nuclear watchdog team led by deputy director-general Massimo Aparo left Iran on Monday, after a one-day visit aimed at resolving a years-long impasse over an enquiry into undeclared uranium particles found in the country, ISNA news agency reported.

The International Atomic Energy Agency team met with Iranian officials including Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, ISNA said.

The IAEA has for years been calling on Iran to explain the presence of undeclared man-made uranium found at three sites, requesting access and the collection of samples.

The two parties discussed “future cooperation” among other issues, ISNA said……………………….more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/12/iran-says-jordan-summit-good-opportunity-nuclear-talks#ixzz7nxK78WmI

December 19, 2022 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

METI panel of experts approves policy of extending operating period and promoting rebuilding of nuclear power plants

December 16, 2022

The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) has approved a proposal for the utilization of nuclear power plants by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), which focuses on the reconstruction (replacement) of nuclear power plants that the government has kept under wraps following the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, at a meeting on December 16. This is a clear shift in nuclear energy policy only less than five months after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s order, amid the ongoing restoration work from the Fukushima accident and compensation for the victims of the disaster. The government will make a formal decision at the Green Transformation (GX) Implementation Conference to be held before the end of the year.

At a meeting of the Basic Policy Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee on Natural Resources and Energy, Yasutoshi Nishimura, Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry, said, “We would like to move forward with concrete steps to rebuild the reactors we have decided to decommission into next-generation innovative reactors (next-generation nuclear power plants)” on the premise that safety is assured and local governments understand the situation.
　The law was amended after the Fukushima accident to limit the operating period of nuclear power plants to “40 years in principle, with a maximum of 60 years,” but by excluding the shutdown period due to the Nuclear Regulation Authority’s review and other factors, it will be possible to operate nuclear power plants for over 60 years. The government is expected to submit the revised bill to the ordinary Diet session next year.
　At the end of July, the prime minister had ordered a study of measures to ensure a stable energy supply toward a decarbonized society.　(Shinichi Ogawa)
◆An overwhelming majority of committee members advocate the promotion of nuclear power generation
　On July 16, the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) held a meeting of its experts, the Subcommittee on Basic Policy of the Advisory Committee on Natural Resources and Energy, and approved the ministry’s policy, which focuses on rebuilding (replacing) nuclear power plants and allowing them to operate for 60 years or longer. The committee approved the policy. While an overwhelming majority of the committee members advocated the promotion of nuclear power plants, only one member called for careful discussion.
　At 1:00 p.m. in a conference room on the 17th floor of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo. Eighteen of the 21 committee members were present, including online, and three were absent. In addition to METI Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, the meeting was attended by executives including Hosaka Shin, director general of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy.
　The METI officials explained that the public discussion should be held over a period of about one year. The only one who “waited” on the METI’s proposed policy on the use of nuclear power plants was Ms. Chisato Murakami, an advisor to the committee on consumer affairs. Murakami also criticized the ministry’s approach to the discussion, saying that it was “too hasty” at another METI expert panel meeting on the nuclear energy subcommittee, which discussed the use of nuclear power plants in detail.
　Each committee member had five minutes to express his or her opinion. The other committee members supported METI’s policy, calling it “groundbreaking. Shuzo Sumi, a member of the committee and Senior Advisor to Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, commented, “Construction of nuclear power plants has been halted for more than 10 years. We need to make a decision now in terms of human resources and industry.
　Commissioner Takeo Tachibanagawa, Vice President of Kokusai University, said that while nuclear power plants are necessary, he disagreed with the current policy. He pointed out the contradiction in the policy, saying, “Extending the operation of nuclear power plants will postpone the construction of next-generation innovative reactors (next-generation nuclear power plants), which will cost about 1 trillion yen. He also questioned the policy guideline, the Basic Energy Plan, which calls for renewable energy to be the main source of power, but “there was not much talk about renewable energy.
　The meeting ended in two hours, 30 minutes earlier than scheduled. The executives of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, who had been looking at each other sternly, left the meeting room looking relaxed and chatting with the committee members. （The meeting ended 30 minutes early.)
https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/220394

December 19, 2022 Posted by | Japan | , , | Leave a comment

No nuclear power plant in the world has been in operation for more than 60 years. Troubles continue to occur

Beznau nuclear power plant in northern Switzerland in 2012, after 53 years of operation.

December 9, 2022

The draft action guidelines for the utilization of nuclear power plants, which were discussed at the METI’s experts’ meeting on December 8, would maintain the current restriction on the operating period and allow operation beyond the “maximum 60 years,” with a view to eliminating the limit in the future. However, there is not a single example in the world of a nuclear power plant that has operated for more than 60 years. In Japan, there has been a string of troubles due to equipment deterioration, and the Nuclear Regulation Authority is having a hard time regulating this “unexplored area. （The Nuclear Regulation Authority of Japan is having a hard time regulating this “unexplored area.)

A thin piece of iron rust (triangle in the center) stuck in a pipe (bottom right) inside the steam generator at the Takahama Unit 4 nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture (courtesy of Kansai Electric Power Co.).

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the longest operating period of a nuclear power plant in the world, including those that have already been decommissioned, is 53 years and one month for India’s Tarapur reactors Nos. 1 and 2. All four reactors are still in operation.
Like Japan, the U.S. has a 40-year operating period, but if a plant passes a regulatory review, it can be extended for 20 years, and there is no limit to the number of extensions. In the U.K. and France, there is no upper limit to the operating period, and a review is required every 10 years.
　However, many nuclear power plants were designed and built with a 40-year service life in mind. As nuclear power plants age, maintenance and management costs become higher, and many operators are likely to choose decommissioning over long-term operation.
　Even nuclear power plants in Japan that are less than 40 years old are experiencing problems due to deterioration.
　Since 2018, KEPCO’s Takahama Units 3 and 4 (Fukui Prefecture), which have been in operation for 37 years, have experienced a series of troubles in which flakes of iron rust have accumulated in the steam generators connected to the reactors over many years of operation, hitting and damaging pipes. The problem was confirmed six times during regular inspections and recurred even after the steam generators were cleaned.
Even more serious are inspection leaks. In 2004, at Mihama Unit 3, which had been in operation for less than 30 years, a pipe that had been omitted from the inspection list and never checked became thin and broke due to age-related deterioration, spewing hot water and steam that killed five people and seriously injured six others.
　At TEPCO’s Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Station in Niigata Prefecture, it was discovered in October of this year that the piping in the turbine building of Unit 7, which was shut down shortly after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, had not been inspected in 11 years and had developed holes due to corrosion.
　Hiromitsu Ino, professor emeritus of metallurgy and materials science at the University of Tokyo, said, “Ultrasonic inspection to check the deterioration status is difficult to measure behind the pipes. If deterioration progresses due to long-term operation, the risk of inspection leakage increases, leading to a serious accident,” he warned.
The Regulatory Commission, which examines whether or not to extend operation from the aspect of safety, has been unable to begin considering concrete measures on how to regulate nuclear power plants that are over 60 years old.
　A major hurdle is the lack of data on how reactors actually deteriorate. The way of understanding the degree of deterioration differs from that of the U.S., which is ahead of the U.S. in the examination of operation extensions. Shinsuke Yamanaka, the chairman of the committee, said at a press conference, “The period beyond 60 years is an unknown area. We need to create Japan’s own rules,” he said, acknowledging the difficulty of the study.
　While the regulations remain unclear, only the mechanism to make it possible to exceed 60 years is moving ahead. Mr. Ino emphasizes. Japan has many earthquakes and a high population density. The situation is different from other countries. Nuclear power plants should be operated for 40 years, which is the design guideline.”
https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/218838.

December 19, 2022 Posted by | Japan | , | Leave a comment

Tokyo enacts ordinance mandating solar power for homes, first in Japan, starting in spring of 2025

December 15, 2022
On December 15, the final day of the regular session of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, a revised ordinance related to the nation’s first mandatory installation of solar panels on newly constructed single-family homes was passed and enacted with a majority of votes in favor. The aim is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the residential sector. The new system will begin in April 2025, after a preparatory period to support businesses and inform residents.
　According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, major housing manufacturers will be obligated to install panels on buildings with a total floor area of less than 2,000 square meters, including residences. Purchasers will be required to reduce the environmental impact of their homes as an obligation to make an effort.
　The TMG estimates that if 4-kilowatt panels are installed, the initial cost of 980,000 yen can be recovered in 10 years through the income from electricity sales, and only 6 years if the TMG subsidy is used.
https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/220091

December 19, 2022 Posted by | Japan | , | Leave a comment

It’s All About the Bomb. Civilian nuclear power is merely a cover for producing more nuclear weapons.

Presenting civilian nuclear power as the answer to climate change, as clean and safe electrical generation, or as energy “too cheap to meter” is simply a sales pitch. What is actually delivered by a robust nuclear energy fleet is the capacity for nuclear weapons and a nuclear Navy.

It does not matter if nuclear power can really solve climate change, it just has to be seen as an essential part of the solution to attract bright, young talent into what is made to appear as the cutting edge of technology and climate solutions, even though the civilian nuclear power industry worldwide has been in decline since 2002.

Why civilian nuclear power is merely a cover for producing more nuclear weapons. BY ALFRED MEYER , NOVEMBER 25, 2022

“……………………………………………………………………. the United States wanted to be recognized as the leader of the “free world” in the postwar years. In the early 1950s, the military needed to recast nuclear enterprise activities to appear to be peaceful, beneficial parts of our modern life, very distant from the wartime horrors.

…………….In a now famous speech on December 8, 1953, titled “Atoms for Peace,” Eisenhower proposed to the U.N. General Assembly an international program of sharing “peaceful” nuclear materials and know-how for untold bounty, to encourage development of nuclear programs around the world.

……… one should also recognize that the IAEA’s bluntly stated mission is to promote nuclear technology. The first leaders of the IAEA were from the United States, to ensure that U.S. interests were protected.

Nuclear enterprise infrastructure is an outgrowth of World War II. These new endeavors drew international interest in creating the huge nuclear marketplace now in existence. Atoms for Peace—a plan to share nonmilitary nuclear technology with other countries to “win hearts and minds”—placed nuclear materials and reactors in more than forty countries, including Iran. This generated ongoing business for many American nuclear enterprise companies while supporting and expanding the U.S. military’s nuclear infrastructure and capacity in the United States.

Having nuclear activities under the auspices of the United Nations conferred upon them the legitimacy and respect of that international body………………………………….

The generally favorable response to Atoms for Peace was a trifecta for the nuclear enterprise. U.S. nuclear activities were repackaged as the “peaceful” atom and given the patina of social acceptance through United Nations oversight. Eisenhower was lauded as a good leader for sharing the atom with the world, and the U.S. nuclear infrastructure got new business and growth, which supported more U.S. nuclear weapons and nuclear Navy programs.

Atoms for Peace also served geopolitical ends. For instance, one reason the United States provided Iran with a research reactor in 1967 was to saddle that country with significant financial obligations, including paying for ongoing parts, services, and technical support from American companies. 

The Atomic Energy Commission was created in 1946 to promote and regulate the development of this new industry. With the commission led by Wall Street banker Lewis Strauss for five critical years, it is not surprising that the scales heavily favored promotion over regulation. Encouraging private investment in these risky reactor projects was assisted by minimizing regulatory safety and operational demands upon the private operators.

But why was it so important for the U.S. government to develop and subsidize civilian nuclear power? Because it allowed the military, in essence, to spin off its nuclear reactor activities to private financing and corporate operations. Like Atoms for Peace, this repackaging of a military activity as a civilian one succeeded in making the endeavor socially acceptable and somewhat self-funding—although government subsidies are still perennially needed to carry on, and taxpayers are still covering the liability insurance costs of the private corporations.

Most importantly, as detailed in a 2017 report by former U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, civilian nuclear power is an “essential enabler” of our national security. The Atlantic Council calculates the value of this contribution to national security to be $42.4 billion a year. Businesses contributing to the nuclear Navy’s supply chain are in forty-four U.S. states.

……………. Being the biggest nuclear enterprise on earth encourages the circular, self-sustaining dynamic of the nuclear arms race. The United States is busy modernizing its nuclear weapons infrastructure to be “strong enough” to negotiate the elimination of nuclear weapons. This is presented as official doctrine in the nonproliferation world. In reality, the United States is actually driving the growing international nuclear arms race.

…………… Presenting civilian nuclear power as the answer to climate change, as clean and safe electrical generation, or as energy “too cheap to meter” is simply a sales pitch. What is actually delivered by a robust nuclear energy fleet is the capacity for nuclear weapons and a nuclear Navy.

Over the decades, there have been numerous expert critiques of nuclear power, authoritatively debunking these misleading and false promises, yet these critiques seem to have no effect on the trajectory of the nuclear enterprise. I suggest that these sales pitches are diversionary techniques aimed at sapping our energy.

It does not matter if nuclear power can really solve climate change, it just has to be seen as an essential part of the solution to attract bright, young talent into what is made to appear as the cutting edge of technology and climate solutions, even though the civilian nuclear power industry worldwide has been in decline since 2002.

To protect ourselves from the dangers of the nuclear enterprise, we need to stop the nuclear weapons and nuclear power reactor programs—a tall order, for sure. But if we seek success in our efforts, we are well advised to understand the forces we are engaging with. It is all about nuclear weapons.

December 18, 2022 Posted by | spinbuster, USA | Leave a comment

The folly of the proxy war in Ukraine and how the military-industrial-complex has become the enemy from within

The Chris Hedges Report 18 Dec 22

There was once a wing of the Democratic Party that stood up to the war industry. J. William Fulbright. George McGovern. Mike Gravel. William Proxmire. But that was decades ago. The new Democrats, especially with the presidency of Bill Clinton, became shills not only for corporate America but the arms industry. No weapons system is too costly. No war, no matter how disastrous, goes unfunded.

The massive military budget, with $858 billion in military spending allocated for Fiscal Year 2023, an increase of $45 billion over the Biden administration’s budget request, and nearly $80 billion over the amount appropriated by Congress for the current fiscal year, keeps growing.

When 30 members of the party’s progressive caucus recently issued a call for Joe Biden to negotiate with Vladimir Putin they were forced by the party leadership and a war mongering media to back down and rescind their letter. What happened to the Democratic Party? Why has it become impossible to question war and the massive expenditures on arms? Why is such questioning political suicide? Why can’t a Democrat ask, especially at a time of economic hardship and huge deficits, how much we are going to divert to the war in Ukraine which has already consumed some $ 60 billion – as much as we spend on the State Department and AID — with no end in sight? Joining me to discuss the extinction of anti-war Democrats in Dennis Kucinich, a former presidential candidate, who served eight terms in the House of Representatives before the Democratic Party gerrymandered his district to ensure his defeat.

TRANSCRIPT

…………Dennis Kucinich:……………………. what’s happened with the Democratic Party, I think as soon as the Democratic Party made a determination, could have been 35, 40 years ago, that they were going to take corporate contributions, that wiped out any distinction between the two parties. Because in Washington, he or she who pays the piper plays the tune, and that’s what’s happened.

So, there isn’t that much of a difference in terms of the two parties when it comes to war except, notably, partisan reasons or not, there were over 50 Republicans who voted against the last tranche of money that went to fuel the war in Ukraine. And I felt that was notable, and of course, the potential speaker of the house should the Republicans win will be Kevin McCarthy, who has made it a point to say that he’s going to look at that funding.

….  Right now, the arms industry is making money hand over fist with the expansion of war. That’s how they make their money.

……..  And so, with respect to the Democratic caucus, this event, a retraction of the letter by a significant caucus within the Democratic Party, is a new benchmark of a slavish obeisance to the status quo within the party, which then supports war. And a majority of Republicans at this point are supporting war. So you have Congress supporting a war, and this is the way it’s been.

…… when the Pentagon budget comes up, there is a parade of various businesses, small and large, who will make appointments with the congressperson or staff and lay out how many jobs are in the district and how important it is to a district business to have this budget passed……….

………  I went to as a member of the government oversight committee in which an inspector general testified there are over $1 trillion worth of accounts in the Pentagon that couldn’t be reconciled. That they had over 1100 different accounting systems, deliberately, I suppose, constructed so as to make obfuscation rule the day.

So, from that moment on, I just said, wait a minute. They’re not keeping track of how this money’s spent. Why in the world should I vote for this budget? So from that point on, right through to the conclusion of a 16-year service in the United States Congress, I didn’t vote for a single budget of the Pentagon or any of the supplemental appropriations to keep wars going because I knew it was a racket

………….. the truth is the members of Congress are always under enormous pressure locally from their constituents, from contractors within their constituency, from the mediated environment, and the party. And so, it’s a rare individual, and I’m not doing this to elevate myself, but it’s a rare individual who will go against that, because you risk, at times, you may risk your political career.

…………………………………….. The truth of the matter is that we’re in a heavily militarized society driven by greed, lust for profit, and wars are being created just to keep fueling that. It moves right into this idea, this old idea of a manifest destiny. And then you leap into the 21st century where there are still people who believe, as in the Project for the New American Century, that it has to be that America must rule the world, that it is our destiny. I mean, that is such old thinking, but that’s where we are.

…..I see the world as one. I think that human unity is the truth that surrounds all of us. And when we start separating ourselves, and we engage in this polarized thinking, polarized thinking is a precursor of war……….  I’ve gone away from the orthodoxy which is now part of politics that says, well, keep that war going for whatever reason. We’re going to beat the Russians. We’re going to beat the Chinese. What? We’re beating ourselves.

………. NATO  has become now a kind of sock puppet for Western powers, notably my own dear country the United States. 

….from 2014 how the US engineered a coup and knocked out the Ukrainian government and put in one that would serve the US interest, which was to nullify the power of the constituency in Eastern Ukraine, which was Russian-speaking. 

And they wanted to basically, by any means necessary, keep that out of influencing the policies of the region, which they did. I mean, 14,000, by some estimates, Russian-speaking Ukrainians were killed from 2014 until 2021. Most Americans have no idea about that.

But anyhow, once the US, once the intelligence started to say, hey, we can knock Russia out like that, okay? We’ll crush Russia economically. These sanctions are going to put Russia away. And the EU bought into it. What’s the result? Well, the war goes on. But in the meantime, the sanctions have created a dramatic increase in the cost of energy. Plus they blew up the pipeline. That’s another increase in the cost of energy.

…… This is going to cause a lot of problems with the EU. And NATO is there as a cat’s paw for war………  they’re paying an economic price right now for the misjudgment of the European officials who were coaxed into it by the US.

….. And this ends up being a nightmare. Not only for Europe though, but we’re getting visited with it somewhat here. 

……………………. suddenly Ukraine becomes a bloodbath of a chess board where these innocent people are just being used as pawns in a game of nations. 

Chris Hedges:  Let’s talk about the press, because you spoke about going back to your constituents as an anti-war candidate and feeling blowback. But isn’t that because, essentially, we have a press that has locked out anti-war critics?

Dennis Kucinich…………………………………. And so, I’ve seen this dynamic before. And the media, we have a heavily mediated society, even more so today than 20 years ago. And we also know that the government can have legions of people working computers, sending out messages that praise those who are for the war and attack those who aren’t. We’re living in a hall of mirrors here when it comes to trying to find out what is really going on……………. , I’m also concerned that things could spin out of control, even now with respect to Russia, with respect to China, North Korea. And what a tragedy…………

Chris Hedges:  I want to ask about these pimps of war, these shills for war……  now they’re beating the drums, of course, for endless war with Ukraine. It doesn’t matter how mistaken they were in the past, they are perpetuated, their think tanks are perpetuated. They never lose their purchase on the cable talk shows. You’ve dealt with these people. I know some of them, Abrams and others. They are truly human mediocrities. And I would include the generals like Petraeus and others.

Dennis Kucinich:  …………. Well, if there ever was a country that was in need of a process of truth and reconciliation, it’s America. 

…………..  What Gore Vidal calls the United States of Amnesia just takes place, where people forget the mistakes. Not mistakes, the misdeeds of the past. And unless we have some measure of accountability we’re always going to be wearing the stain of war waged against innocent people around the globe.

……………………………… We should also be clear, we’ve lost almost all these wars going back to Vietnam, including Afghanistan and Iraq.

That was Dennis Kucinich, former presidential candidate, served eight terms in the House of Representatives before the Democratic Party pushed him out. I want to thank the Real News Network and its production team: Cameron Granadino, Adam Coley, and Kayla Rivara. You can find me at chrishedges.substack.com.  https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-chris-hedges-report-show-with-346

December 18, 2022 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Exaggerated fusion breakthrough is for military purposes.

The claims for a breakthrough in fusion power are not only exaggerated but in reality concerned principally with military objectives.

By Ian Fairlie and David Toke,  https://100percentrenewableuk.org/exaggerated-fusion-breakthrough-is-for-military-purposes 18 Dec 22

This test, carried out by the National Ignition Facility at US Government’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), was mainly to facilitate the testing of nuclear weapons. This fact was missed in almost all the hyperbole surrounding the test.

The claims for a breakthrough in fusion power are not only exaggerated but in reality concerned principally with military objectives.

This test, carried out by the National Ignition Facility at US Government’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), was mainly to facilitate the testing of nuclear weapons. This fact was missed in almost all the hyperbole surrounding the test.

Although it is correct that nuclear fusion was achieved, albeit for a trillionth of a second, it was not a first. Ignition has been achieved before in other countries including the UK using a different technology (magnetic confinement) for a few seconds. And the claim that more energy was produced than consumed in the process is specious, as the various reports put out by LLNL compared heat output with electricity input which is like comparing apples and oranges. A true comparison would have taken into account the vast amount of energy consumed to produce the electricity to drive the lasers. And the actual amount of excess heat energy produced (about 20 kettles of boiling water) was paltry.

As Tom Hartsfield, who has been following the progress of the tests by the National Ignition Facility (NIF), put it:

‘the input energy to the laser system is somewhere between 384 and 400 MJ. Consuming 400 MJ and producing 3.15 MJ is a net energy loss greater than 99%. For every single unit of fusion energy it produces, NIF burns at minimum 130 units of energy…….In terms of electrical power, 3.15 MJ would not quite power one 40-watt refrigerator light bulb for a day.’

As Amory Lovins has commented, even if fusion power was free, it would still be uncompetitive with other energy sources. That is because there would be very big capital costs involved, including paying for 19th century steam generator technology to use the fusion power to boil water to drive steam powered electricity generators.

In fact the main purpose of the NIF has not been about advancing civil fusion research, but in advancing the US nuclear weapons programme. A paper in the top science journal Nature published in 2021 discussed an earlier breakthrough, but the main breakthrough described was about nuclear weapons:

‘Housed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, the US$3.5-billion facility wasn’t designed to serve as a power-plant prototype, however, but rather to probe fusion reactions at the heart of thermonuclear weapons. After the United States banned underground nuclear testing at the end of the cold war in 1992, the energy department proposed the NIF as part of a larger science-based Stockpile Stewardship Program, designed to verify the reliability of the country’s nuclear weapons without detonating any of them……..With this month’s laser-fusion breakthrough, scientists are cautiously optimistic that the NIF might live up to its promise, helping physicists to better understand the initiation of nuclear fusion — and thus the detonation of nuclear weapons. “That’s really the scientific question for us at the moment,” says Mark Herrmann, Livermore’s deputy director for fundamental weapons physics. “Where can we go? How much further can we go?”

Looking on the bright side, could we say this was a technological breakthrough for mankind?  Not really. It is better to examine what its real impact will be for our energy futures – and the answer is precious little.  This one test cost around $1.5 billion according to the New York Times, and involved 192 of the world’s largest and most expensive lasers. The disparity in scale and the mismatch with what we really need (inexpensive, practical sources of heat and electricity) are massive.

Another useful yardstick would be how much it would contribute to dealing with climate change. Again nothing. Fusion is not mentioned once as a climate mitigation option in the last IPCC report.

December 18, 2022 Posted by | 2 WORLD, technology | Leave a comment

Russia building giant dome over Europe’s largest nuclear plant’s spent fuel stores, to shield them from Ukrainian attacks

The structure will shield stores of spent radioactive fuel from Ukrainian attacks.

 https://www.rt.com/russia/568415-zaporozhye-nuclear-dome-ukrain 18 Dec 22

Russia is constructing a protective dome over spent radioactive fuel stores at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant as Ukrainian forces continue to target the facility, senior regional official Vladimir Rogov has said.

He took to Telegram on Saturday to post a short video of the work that’s taking place. It showed technicians setting up shields over the tanks that hold spent nuclear fuel.

The dome is designed to protect the storage facilities from shrapnel and improvised explosive devices carried by drones, the official explained, adding that it would be reinforced further at a later period.

Russia’s nuclear energy corporation Rosatom had earlier warned that damage to the spent-fuel containers risks a release of radioactive material into the atmosphere, with unpredictable consequences.

The construction of the dome comes amid continued attacks on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and the nearby town of Energodar, which Moscow blames on Kiev. Russia has repeatedly said that such strikes could result in a nuclear disaster that would eclipse the 1986 Chernobyl incident and affect many countries in Europe.

Ukraine initially claimed that the Russian military had been hitting the plant itself as part of “false-flag” operations to make Kiev look bad. However, Ukrainian general staff eventually admitted to striking the area around the nuclear facility.

The Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which is the largest on the continent, has been under Russian control since February 28. All of the reactors at the facility are currently shut down due to the security situation.

Zaporozhye Region, together with three other former Ukrainian territories – Kherson Region and the People’s Republic of Donetsk and Lugnask – joined Russia in autumn after holding referendums.

December 18, 2022 Posted by | safety, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Watchdog estimates civilian death toll from Ukrainian attacks on Donbass

 https://www.rt.com/news/568395-us-troops-deployed-estonia/ 14 Dec 22, More than 4,500 people have been killed since mid-February, with supplies of NATO weapons resulting in a surge of deaths, observers claim.

Weapons supplied to Ukraine by NATO countries have allowed Kiev’s military to significantly ramp-up attacks on civilian targets in Donbass, a local watchdog has said.

The group claims that over 4,500 civilians have been killed and 4,000 injured since Ukrainian forces escalated shelling in mid-February.  

Military terror has escalated beyond all limits after NATO members started supplying weapons to Ukraine,” the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC), a monitoring group that tracks attacks on the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, said on Wednesday.  

“We have recorded a four-fold increase in the number of victims among the civilian population,” Natalya Shutkina, a representative from the Donetsk People’s Republic at the JCCC, said as quoted by TASS.  

The JCCC held a press conference on Wednesday during which it showed fragments of Western shells and rockets collected after Ukrainian strikes in Donbass and explained the toll these attacks had taken.  

Since February 17, 4,527 civilians have been killed, including 154 children, Shutkina stated. Another 4,317 civilians, including 274 children, have been injured, she said, adding that Ukrainian attacks have damaged over 12,000 homes, 128 medical facilities, and 67 sites required for providing basic utilities, such as water and heating.  

The record-keeping begins in mid-February when the Donbass republics reported a significant escalation of strikes by Kiev in the lead-up to Russia having recognized the DPR and LPR as sovereign states and pledged to defend them. The two regions have since been incorporated into Russia following referendums in September.    

Shutkina pointed out that the weapon systems provided by the US and its allies are supposed to be more accurate than the Soviet-era artillery guns and rocket launchers that Ukraine possessed previously. This leads the JCCC to believe that the Ukrainian attacks on civilian facilities have been intentional rather than being part of indiscriminate strikes, she stressed.  


READ MORE: Children injured in Ukrainian shelling of Donetsk – authorities

Darya Morozova, the human rights ombudsman for the DPR, urged international organizations to acknowledge Kiev’s actions, arguing that “if the world community didn’t encourage the Ukrainian leadership with its inaction, the war in Donbass would have stopped a long time ago.” She called on Kiev’s sponsors to stop sending heavy weapons to Ukraine.

December 18, 2022 Posted by | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Weapons delivered to Ukraine ‘beginning to filter’ to Africa: Nigeria

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/weapons-delivered-to-ukraine-beginning-to-filter-to-africa: By Al Mayadeen English , Source: Agencies, 3 Dec 22

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari urges heads of states from neighboring states participating in the Lake Chad Basin Commission to confront the issue of Western arms smuggling from Ukraine.

Weapons supplied to Ukraine from Western countries are “starting to flow” into the Lake Chad basin region, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari warned this week.

Addressing the heads of states from neighboring states participating in the Lake Chad Basin Commission on Tuesday in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, the president said, “Regrettably, the situation in the Sahel and the raging war in Ukraine serve as major sources of weapons and fighters that bolster the ranks of the terrorists in the region.”

Buhari then urged his counterparts to increase security cooperation in order to confront the issue of arms smuggling. 

The Nigerian president agreed to step up military coordination in their countries’ war against Boko Haram and ISIS terrorists, who are now apparently receiving weapons from Ukraine, alongside the leaders of Benin, Chad, Niger, and the Central African Republic.

Last month, Finnish police said that some of the “huge quantities” of weapons being shipped to Ukraine had made their way to Finland, where “three of the world’s largest motorcycle gangs” now operate, including Bandidos MC, which “has a branch in every major city in Ukraine.”

In August, an American news outlet unmasked that a shockingly large amount of weaponry heading for Ukraine was untraceable. “Like 30% of it reaches its final destination,” said a tweet that was later deleted after a swarm of online trolls attacked it.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had previously said the arms supplied by the West to Ukraine were ending up on the black market and spreading across West Asia.

Similarly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had pointed out that Stingers and Javelin missiles, supplied by the West to Kiev, were already being sold at a discount on the black market and have surfaced in Albania and Kosovo, which Russia has warned for so long.

Ukraine has received billions and billions of dollars in donated arms from the United States and its allies such as the United Kingdom and other NATO states in the past few months.

December 18, 2022 Posted by | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

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