Why NuScale Power Stock Slid 31% Last Month
By Brett Schafer – Sep 3, 2025 ,
https://www.fool.com/investing/2025/09/03/why-nuscale-power-stock-slid-31-last-month/
Key Points
- NuScale Power’s stock has pulled back after a huge gain coming from a recent executive order signing.
- The company has a small modular nuclear reactor approved, but has not won a customer contract.
- The stock trades at an expensive price, even though it generates barely any sales and has no customer wins.
The nuclear energy stock doesn’t generate much in revenue and is losing a lot of money.
Shares of NuScale Power (SMR 8.15%) fell 31% in August, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The nuclear energy upstart and designer of small modular reactors (SMRs) is experiencing wild gyrations with its stock price. The stock is up 432% in the last year and trades at a market cap of $11.5 billion, even though it generates minimal revenue and is burning a lot of cash.
It’s been a roller-coaster ride for nuclear start-ups
Nuclear energy stocks soared at the beginning of this summer, with the current presidential administration’s push to accelerate the development of nuclear energy to keep up with data center demand around artificial intelligence (AI). President Trump signed an executive order for advanced nuclear reactor technologies, of which NuScale Power is one.
In fact, NuScale Power is the only SMR company to have its design approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which could give it a head start in winning customer contracts. However, it has failed so far to win any customer contracts outside prospective contracting from a Romanian power company that’s exploring whether to use SMRs for its upcoming energy needs.
With close to zero revenue and a history of burning cash, NuScale Power is a stock that trades with a ton of volatility. As the air comes out of the post-executive order excitement, it is no surprise to see NuScale Power stock hit a bit of a rough patch. The company has no fundamental basis to anchor its $11.5 billion market cap, which makes it a risky stock to invest in.
NuScale Power’s uncertain future
NuScale Power has a few energy projects in the works that it could potentially win deals on, including a recent proposal from the Tennessee Valley Authority. Bringing these to fruition could help it actually develop an SMR to be deployed in the real world instead of talking about it, which has been all the company has done since its inception.
Even if these projects get approved, NuScale Power won’t generate much in revenue to warrant its $11.5 billion market cap, with revenue not showing up for years due to the long project life for nuclear energy developments. It is foolish to buy a stock valued at over $10 billion that’s generating zero revenue. Therefore, investors should avoid putting NuScale Power in their portfolios, given its uncertain future.
War spending is ever greater
“The military personnel sent to Ukraine would be military personnel from countries that are mostly NATO members. And it is precisely NATO’s expansion in Ukraine that has been one of the main causes of the current conflict.”
Manlio Dinucci, Voltairenet.org, Sat, 30 Aug 2025, https://www.sott.net/article/501617-War-spending-is-ever-greaterhttps://www.sott.net/article/501617-War-spending-is-ever-greater
As US military spending in Ukraine declines, European spending increases. Although it appears that these weapons will be manufactured in the European Union and no longer across the Atlantic,they will inevitably be destroyed in Ukraine.
The war continues to spread to the heart of Europe because it is fundamentally fueled by the very strategy that caused it to explode. After the summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Donald Trump said that, if an agreement were reached between Russia and Ukraine, the United Stateswould not send troops to Ukrainebut, as a “security guarantee,” would provide Kiev with air and intelligence support. Troops, however, would be sent to Ukraine by some European countries.
The US Joint Chiefs of Staff reports that, to finalize this plan, US General Dan Caine summoned the chiefs of staff of Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine to the Pentagon. The Kremlin reaffirms that it does not accept this plan. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov declared:
“The military personnel sent to Ukraine would be military personnel from countries that are mostly NATO members. And it is precisely NATO’s expansion in Ukraine that has been one of the main causes of the current conflict.”
Immediately after, NATO Secretary General Mark Ruttewas dispatched to Kyiv, where, in a press conference with President Volodymyr Zelensky, he stated:
“Our support for Ukraine is unconditional and continues to grow, including through a flow of lethal US weapons to Ukraine financed by European NATO Allies and Canada. So far, three arms packages, each worth $500 million, have been delivered. The first paid for by the Netherlands; the second by Denmark, Norway, and Sweden; and the third by Germany. More packages will follow.
“Allies support the Ukrainian defense industry, investing in ways that not only strengthen your security, but also your economy. We are working with NATO Command Germany to ensure that your armed forces have what they need today and in the future.”
Immediately after, Canada purchased a fourth “package” of US weapons, bringing the total to $2 billion, which went into the coffers of the largest US war industries.
At the same time, the European Union has allocated €4.05 billion for Ukraine: €3.05 billion from the Ukraine Fund and €1 billion from the “reinvestment of income from Russian fixed assets.“ The EU and its member states have spent a total of €168.9 billion on Ukraine since February 2022. And Ursula Von der Leyen guarantees that “Europe will stand by Ukraine for every single day of the war and for every single day after the war.” These enormous war expenses, made up of public money, are paid directly and indirectly by European citizens through taxes and cuts in social spending.
The latest data released by NATO show that the 32 member countries — as required by the United States — have met the goal of allocating 2 percent of GDP to military spending. In 2014 — the year the Obama administration, with Biden as vice president, carried out the coup in Ukraine that launched the war against Russia — the United States accounted for 73 percent of NATO military spending, compared to Europe’s 27 percent. By 2025, the United States’ share will have fallen to 60 percent, while Europe’s will have risen to 40 percent. As the Trump administration demands — NATO military spending will rise to 3.5 percent and then to 5 percent of GDP, Europe’s share will continue to rise.
Based on the official documentation published by NATO at the end of August 2025, Italian military spending in 2025 will amount to more than 45 billion euros (45,315 billion euros): an average of more than 124 million euros per day. To get an idea of the priorities, just think that this sum deposited in one day for the war is roughly equivalent to the 130 million euros allocated by the Government in 2025 for the “First Home Guarantee Fund”, an important program that allows young people who request it to have a facilitated loan for their purchase.
Israel beginning mass mobilization to take Gaza City – Jerusalem Post
02 Sep 2025 , https://www.sott.net/article/501619-Israel-beginning-mass-mobilization-to-take-Gaza-City-Jerusalem-Post
Tens of thousands of Israeli reservists have begun reporting for duty as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) prepares for a new offensive to take full control of Gaza City,The Jerusalem Post reported on Tuesday. Israeli Army Radio said about 40,000 reservists were expected to be called up.
The renewed pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his security cabinet to speed up the operation reportedly has faced pushback from the military. During a heated cabinet meeting on Sunday, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir called for a ceasefire deal, warning that the campaign could endanger hostages still held in Gaza and overextend the army, the Post wrote.
According to officials present, the IDF said it cannot begin the operation for at least two months due to logistical and humanitarian concerns, as more time is needed for aid to civilians in Gaza, where starvation has spread.
This follows similar exchanges between Zamir and Netanyahu’s cabinet last month, when the prime minister ordered the military to speed up the timetable for taking what he describes as Hamas’ last bastion.
Some reservists have also voiced frustration with the government’s plan, Reuters reports. Surveys cited by the outlet have shown notable dissatisfaction within the ranks, with some citing the lack of a clear strategy for victory. “I don’t feel like I’m doing anything that really applies significant pressure to have Hamas release the hostages,” one combat reservist told Reuters, speaking anonymously.
Israel launched the latest Gaza City operation last month, targeting Hamas command centers, weapons caches, and tunnel networks embedded in civilian areas. Over 1,000 buildings have been demolished, which has left hundreds trapped under rubble and thousands without homes, according to the Palestinian authorities.
Israel has said the operation is necessary for national security, and that the goal is to eliminate Hamas infrastructure.
The conflict began on October 7, 2023, after the militant group led an attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. Around 50 remain in captivity. Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 62,000 people have been killed and about 156,000 wounded in Israeli strikes since then.
Comment: Obsession is ‘Never Enough’:
More than 1,000 buildings have been destroyed in Gaza City’s Zaytoun and Sabra neighborhoods since Israeli forces began a new ground incursion this month, Al Jazeera has reported, citing Palestinian Civil Defence.
In a statement on Sunday, Civil Defence reported that continued shelling and blocked access routes have made it nearly impossible for emergency crews to reach hundreds of trapped civilians or respond to reports of missing persons. Hospitals in the area are reportedly overwhelmed.
“There are grave concerns about the continued incursion of Israeli forces into Gaza City, at a time when field crews lack the capacity to deal with the intensity of the ongoing Israeli attacks.”
Israeli tanks have reportedly advanced into Sabra, and heavy bombardment has been reported across the city. Al Jazeera quoted medical sources saying at least 51 people were killed on Sunday, including 27 in Gaza City, and 24 others who were seeking aid.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health said eight more people died of hunger on Sunday, bringing the total number of malnutrition-related deaths since the war began to 289, including 115 children.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), warned that famine was now the“last calamity”affecting Gaza.“People are enduring hell in all shapes,” he said, calling for full access for aid groups and international journalists.
The Israeli military announced the start of an operation to take over Gaza City last week, targeting Hamas command centers, weapons caches, and tunnel networks embedded in civilian areas. Zaytoun and Sabra have previously been identified by Israeli officials as strategic zones for the militant group’s activity.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 62,000 people have been killed and around 156,000 wounded in Israeli attacks on the Palestinian enclave.
A global blowback has begun in earnest, the winds of change are upon him. Netanyahu wants to complete his land grab ASAP. Genocide and total destruction…his best shortcuts.
China’s SCO Summit Highlights West’s Growing Ideological Isolation, + Zelensky’s Desperate Gambit
On the Ukrainian-political front, it’s obligatory to note that Trump’s two-week deadline has now expired. He had threatened some kind of consequences for Russia, and predictably there aren’t any, though he has now hinted that he has “learned something very interesting” about the war that he will reveal in the next few days—likely another made-up deflection to buy himself time.
Simplicius, Sep 03, 2025
Last week Zelensky made the curious decision to open up the borders to Ukraine’s 18-22 year old males. The decision was met with both approval and disgust in different quarters of the country:
“We say:” Those who are not in the army, you are 18-22, you can leave the country, no one is holding you, you are cool guys.” And we go back to the army, we say: “You are slaves. Listen to what you will do and when, how much you will fight in this army, ” said the deputy of the Kiev City Council, an officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Pogrebissky in an interview with a Ukrainian TV channel.
The bigger question is why did Zelensky “liberate” such a vital age group at a time when manpower is at critical lows on the front? Astute observers have noted it wasn’t simple coincidence that the decision came mere weeks after the NABU investigations and decision reversal. More importantly, it came weeks after Ukraine’s youth took to the streets in protest against Zelensky, in what appeared at times to be a new Maidan in the making.
The natural conclusion, then, is that Zelensky was forced to loosen the check valve on society, letting off some pressure from himself and allowing the most dissenting and anti-war 18-22 year-olds to flee the country so that they’re not able to form up a rebellious vanguard to create a political headache for Zelensky.
Even Le Monde leaned toward this natural angle:
The timing of the new regulation is not insignificant. It comes just over a month after the Ukrainian government tried to strip two anti-corruption agencies of their independence, on July 22. Thousands of young people protested in several Ukrainian cities for days, until the presidency backtracked and passed a law restoring the agencies’ autonomy.
The fact that Zelensky himself raised the issue of allowing 18- to 22-year-olds to leave the country, on August 12 during a youth forum, was a strong political signal. “I think the president was trying to make amends with the younger generation by granting them some benefits,” said Sovsun. MP Bohdan Yaremenko, a member of Zelensky’s party, shares this view: “There will probably be more similar actions in the future to reach out to young people.”
It’s interesting that the 18-22 cohort was chosen, whereas 23-24 year olds are still prohibited from leaving given that they’re on the cusp of the critical age of 25 to which mobilization was lowered.
Across Ukraine, there are growing signs of the lack of young males. This photo [on original] was posted by a professor at a Kiev university, reportedly showing a class overflowing with young females:
NO BOYS – NO MEN:
Andrey Dlyhach, a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, published a photo of the first-year students, showing that the overwhelming majority of the students are girls.
“You wanted to say something else with this photo, but what I see there are the consequences of 3 years of closed borders for men aged 18+,” comments economist Gleb Vyshlinsky on the photo.
Other people reportedly chimed in in the comments, posting photos of similar gender disparities in their own schools across Ukraine.
There are other possible deductions to make about Zelensky’s sly decision. We can hypothesize on the following:
- Zelensky sees the negotiations and peace track as being definitive such that he does not expect the war to last and does not see the need for the eventual tapping of the 18-22 cohort.
- The political danger to Zelensky was so great—more so than even we know of—that he needed a boost to his image in order to restore some semblance of control. This also has to do with the quiet initiations of Zaluzhny’s political campaign—this could be Zelensky’s attempt to win back favor with society to increase his poll numbers and fortify himself against potential challengers.
- Ukraine’s ‘recruitment problems’ are not as bad as we were led to believe, and its authorities are confident they can sustain military manpower regeneration even without the 18-22 cohort.
More than likely, Zelensky weighed the options and viewed the tradeoff as favorable. Crunching the numbers, his team likely concluded it was worth the long term risk to manpower in order to secure the short term political viability of Zelensky’s rule.
On the Ukrainian-political front, it’s obligatory to note that Trump’s two-week deadline has now expired. He had threatened some kind of consequences for Russia, and predictably there aren’t any, though he has now hinted that he has “learned something very interesting” about the war that he will reveal in the next few days—likely another made-up deflection to buy himself time.
Trump “seems to have run out of ideas regarding the advancement of the peace process” in Ukraine, as his latest two-week deadline has expired, and the meeting between Putin and Zelensky that he wanted has not taken place, writes The Times newspaper.
In reality, Putin is presently hitting his stride as celebrated guest in Beijing where the Global South power-players are convening to showcase just how little the wretched ‘Western world’ matters anymore:
In the grand ebb and flow of the Ukrainian negotiations cycle, we’re in a kind of waning phase, with no real initiatives or urgency at the moment as all involved parties have essentially gotten fatigued from the same old copy-pasted carousel of banality and deadend options……………………………………………………………………………
two clashing systems of ideologies: one that elevates war and domination—what Xi called hegemonism in his earlier SCO speech—to the status of national religion, while the other seeks to unite the world in mutual development, and most importantly, shared respect……………………….. https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/chinas-sco-summit-highlights-wests?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1351274&post_id=172310012&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=rq5yc&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
“We gave for France… now that’s enough”: La Hague residents reject Orano’s nuclear pools project
by Marie du Mesnil-Adelée, 08/31/2025, https://france3-regions.franceinfo.fr/normandie/manche/cherbourg-cotentin/on-a-donne-pour-la-france-maintenant-ca-suffit-des-habitants-de-la-hague-rejettent-le-projet-des-piscines-nucleaires-d-orano-3205250.html
“It’s never too late to say: we don’t want it.” Gathered at a public meeting, residents of La Hague spoke out against the “Downstream of the Future” project at the Orano site. A project that includes the installation of three new nuclear pools for storing spent fuel.
An extraordinary nuclear project in La Hague
An extraordinary nuclear project at La Hague, presented by Orano as “the largest industrial project in the world”, costing several tens of billions of euros, “Downstream of the Future” (that’s its name), plans the construction of three new nuclear pools for storing spent fuel and also new workshops and factories on the La Hague site by 2040-2050.
How is this project received by residents?
How is this project being received by residents? In his documentary “Encore de l’énergie” broadcast on Thursday, September 4 on France 3 Normandie and france.tv, Laurent Pannier filmed a public meeting.
Yannick Rousselet, a nuclear expert for Greenpeace, spoke: ” There was no consultation . We would like to debate the appropriateness, the justification of something like this. Today is good. We have given for France, for the nuclear industry and that’s enough. Let’s stop, let’s move on. We want our future to be shaped differently. I think it’s never too late to say we don’t want it.”
A resident adds: “I find it a bit easy for Orano to be able to do whatever they want in terms of construction, however they want, while all the residents of La Hague, as soon as they want to have a window transformed, put in a veranda, do anything, they can’t do anything.”
And a third:
“Today we only have 4 or 5 small hectares of moorland left. It’s more than a relic now, it’s become a symbol. People are saying to us: well, since there’s more than that left, we’re going to remove it and I think that’s a real shame.”
The words are powerful. But the room is far from full… Here, as elsewhere, nuclear power divides. And
those who oppose it are a minority.
Anti-nuclear activists of yesterday and today
In April 2006, the city of Cherbourg held its largest demonstration since the Liberation. Twenty years after Chernobyl, 30,000 activists gathered to protest the proposed construction of a new reactor in Flamanville, the EPR.
Yet, fifteen years later, despite construction delays, despite the additional costs, despite the Fukushima disaster, distrust of nuclear energy has virtually disappeared. Environmental movements are divided between pro- and anti-nuclear supporters. And the announcement of the revival of nuclear power in France, particularly in Normandy, has been generally welcomed by the population.
Laurent Pannier’s new documentary explores this reversal. What happened to the former activists? Is there a new generation? In the face of climate change, is nuclear power a necessary evil?
“Encore de l’énergie” by Laurent Pannier, a documentary to watch this Thursday, September 4 at 10:55 p.m. on France 3 Normandie and on france.tv , for one month.
Government ‘replanning’ £53.3bn geological disposal facility project
“Successful delivery of the project appears to be unachievable. “There are major issues with project definition, schedule, budget, quality and/or benefits delivery, which at this stage do not appear to be manageable or resolvable.”
02 Sep, 2025 By Tom Pashby
Government ‘replanning’ £53.3bn geological disposal facility project.
Construction of a UK geological disposal facility (GDF) for long-term
nuclear waste disposal is being “replanned” after recent revelations
about its cost and deliverability, according to the government.
A GDF represents a monumental undertaking, consisting of an engineered vault placed between 200m and 1km underground, covering an area of approximately 1km2 on the surface. This facility is designed to safely contain nuclear waste while allowing it to decay over thousands of years, thereby reducing its radioactivity and associated hazards.
The National Infrastructure and
Service Transformation Authority (Nista), a Treasury unit, assessed the GDF
in its Nista Annual Report 2024-2025 and gave it a Red rating in Delivery
Confidence Assessment. This means: “Successful delivery of the project
appears to be unachievable. “There are major issues with project
definition, schedule, budget, quality and/or benefits delivery, which at
this stage do not appear to be manageable or resolvable. The project may
need re-scoping and/or its overall viability reassessed.” In addition,
the Nista annual report lists the “whole life cost” of the GDF as
£20bn as a mid-range assessment and £53.3bn as a high-end assessment.
Government says GDF project facing ‘replanning’ by NDA, but remains
necessary
New Civil Engineer 2nd Sept 2025, https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/government-replanning-53-3bn-geological-disposal-facility-project-02-09-2025/
The final furlong: EDF announces further lifetime extension for aging AGR reactors
Britain’s aging Advanced Gas Cooled reactors may, like exhausted
racehorses, be on their last legs, but operator EDF Energy is clearly
intent on keeping them running for as long as possible.
The company
announced yesterday a twelve month extension in operations at their Heysham
1 and Hartlepool AGR plants until March 2028, citing the retention of jobs
and a desire to contribute to the UK achieving net zero and energy security
– but the NFLAs suspect a more pressing motivation.
In a comment to
industry media, NFLA Secretary Richard Outram said: ‘The EDF announcement
is unsurprising. Although company bosses may crow a lot about the
preservation of local jobs, the NFLAs suspect this is about the
preservation of EDF’s bottom line. ‘Given the parlous state of the
French parent company’s finances, the intermittent output of the domestic
fleet, and the vast overspend on Hinkley Point C, EDF have a clear
incentive to keep open for as long as possible any nuclear plant in their
portfolio which operates and generates profits.’
Dr Ian Fairlie, an
independent consultant on radioactivity in the environment and a former
advisor to the UK Government and European Parliament, is also sceptical as
to EDF’s motives: “The real reason why French parent company
Électricité de France wants to prolong the lives of their obsolete,
past-it, reactors is financial.
NFLA 3rd Sept 2025, https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/the-final-furlong-edf-announces-further-lifetime-extension-for-aging-agr-reactors/
NATO has outlived its purpose – Jeffrey Sachs
The military bloc should have been dissolved after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US economist has argued
2 Sep, 2025 , https://www.rt.com/russia/623964-sachs-nato-outlived-purpose/
NATO has outlived its purpose and should have been dissolved decades ago, prominent American economist and Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs believes.
Speaking to RIA Novosti on Sunday, Sachs argued that NATO was initially formed for the sole purpose of countering the USSR and should have been disbanded in 1990 when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev dissolved the Warsaw Pact – the Soviet-led military alliance that had grouped Eastern Bloc states since 1955.
“NATO was a treaty to defend against the Soviet Union, which doesn’t exist. So in this sense NATO definitely outlived its role. It became instead a mechanism of US power expansion, which is not what NATO should be,” Sachs told the news agency.
He further argued that NATO’s eastward expansion since 1990 has been “wholly unjustified and contrary to Western promises,” referring to assurances given by US officials after the dissolution of the USSR that the bloc would not move closer to Russia’s borders.
Sachs stressed that the organization’s enlargement has had no legitimate security rationale and instead deepened divisions on the European continent.
Russia has repeatedly condemned NATO’s expansion and has described the bloc as a tool for confronting Moscow which destabilizes Europe by fueling tensions. Moscow has pointed to NATO’s attempts to bring Kiev into the bloc as one of the root causes of the Ukraine conflict.
Sachs also noted that Washington still believes it runs the world, a view he described as outdated and dangerous. He said that this delusion is a “source of danger” as the world has become multipolar and new “centers of power” have emerged.
His comments came ahead of the upcoming Eastern Economic Forum, which is set to take place in Vladivostok from September 3 to 6. The economist is scheduled to participate in a session dedicated to the UN’s development agenda beyond 2030, alongside discussions on international cooperation in a changing world order.
Sizewell C Funded Decommissioning Programme: Contingent Liability (Public on the hook)
I am pleased to have laid a departmental minute describing the contingent
liabilities arising from the signing of the funded decommissioning
programme and Government support package for Sizewell C. The funded
decommissioning programme at Sizewell C will be funded via the regulated
asset base. The regulated asset base contains a series of protections that
aim to minimise the risk that public funds will be required to meet
decommissioning costs.
However, in certain remote circumstances whereby all
the protections afforded by Sizewell C’s economic licence fall away or a
shortfall in the fund materialises, public funds could be used to
contribute towards decommissioning costs and this liability would
crystalise. Based on best estimates by the Government Actuary Department,
the maximum potential exposure from the liability is £12 billion—in 2022
terms. This has been estimated on a worse-case scenario whereby the
Government were required to meet the full costs of decommissioning the
Sizewell C power plant.
Hansard 1st Sept 2025, https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2025-09-01/debates/25090137000015/SizewellCFundedDecommissioningProgrammeContingentLiability
A Folly Too Far?
In 2020 the cost was set at £20bn. but the ultimate cost by 2040, when it might begin operating, could well be north of £40bn. By 2040 it will be too late to make any impression on Net Zero and, if it ever gets finished, Sizewell C will be an expensive and inflexible white elephant cranking out power that is not needed but which will impede the development of the array of renewable systems.
2 September 2025, https://www.banng.info/news/regional-life/folly-too-far/
Andrew Blowers tackles this question in the BANNG column for July 2025
On a fine summer’s day, in early June, Varrie and I travelled to Suffolk to show BANNG’s support for the Outrage Rally against Sizewell C. There were around 300 people assembled on the dunes to protest against the outrageous project and to commemorate the life of one of the great environmental and anti-nuclear campaigners, Pete Wilkinson, who had died in January. There were speeches from his two daughters, Amy and Emily and from Jonathon Porritt, the veteran campaigner who drew attention to the scene before us – the invisible power of the wind and sea on the one hand and the unseen threat of radioactivity posed by the hulk of Sizewell A and the operating Sizewell B on the other.
The protesters marched along the sandy beach to the site of Sizewell C where we tied yellow ribbons to the perimeter security fence in tribute to the outrage and courage that Pete had displayed through his life, successfully campaigning against mining in the Antarctic, dumping of radioactive waste in the Atlantic and stopping up the Sellafield outflow pipe into the Irish Sea. Beyond the fence could be seen the removal of ancient woodland, construction of roads and destruction of countryside and wildlife bordering the precious RSPB Minsmere Reserve in preparation for construction. And the subsequent construction of a huge and dangerous complex of reactors, turbines and long-term, highly radioactive waste stores on a precarious coast was terrifying to imagine.
There was a sense of an unequal struggle, a local community fighting together against an uncompromising government and powerful and well-resourced industry. While the mood was defiant there was an underlying sense of impending defeat.
And, sure enough, three days later came the long-anticipated announcement that Sizewell C was to go ahead, backed by £14.2bn. subsidy for the first four years of construction and up-front payments loaded onto consumer bills. A Final Investment Decision has not been taken, awaiting the commitment of private investors to match the public investment. If private investors do not come forward then either the project must be ditched (too embarrassing for the government) or we (taxpayers and consumers) are in hock for the total cost.
The Sizewell project is the type of big investment that encourages government ministers to don hard hats and suitably logoed high-vis jackets to proclaim a new golden age of clean energy. They haughtily dismiss the ‘blockers’ – we who strive to defend precious communities and landscapes and prevent the financial incontinence that inevitably flows from such complex and uncertain projects.
So, as the Sizewell protesters say, Sizewell C could become Suffolk’s HS2: half-built and unfinished because of finance.
EDF’s Heysham 1 and Hartlepool nuclear plants to operate for further 12 months
New Civil Engineer, 02 Sep, 2025 By Tom Pashby
The operational lives of the Heysham 1 and Hartlepool nuclear power plants have been extended by 12 months by their operator EDF………………
Hartlepool, Heysham 1, Heysham 2 and Torness all underwent reviews by EDF in December 2024 to assess how long they can continue to generate electricity. Heysham 1 and Hartlepool were scheduled to stop producing power in March 2027.
At the time, an EDF spokesperson explained to NCE that the best-case scenario for the Heysham 1 and Hartlepool power stations was that they could justify a one-year extension. However, that was caveated with a need to await the outcomes of “important inspection and safety case milestones”, which were due to be completed in 2025.
Those milestones have now passed and the results were positive for the power stations. When EDF’s executive and licensee boards met yesterday, 1 September, they gave approval to extend the lives of the nuclear stations, so Heysham 1 and Hartlepool will now likely operate through to at least March 2028.
A statement from EDF on 2 September said: “Heysham 2 and Torness, which are both scheduled to generate until March 2030, were not in scope for this review after a two-year extension was granted last year.”
EDF still hopes to see all four AGRs continue producing electricity for as long as possible, so it can be expected to conduct further reviews down the line, but these reviews do not have set dates for completion, the spokesperson told NCE……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
AGRs now well past their sell-by date’ – anti-nuclear campaigner
Nuclear Free Local Authorities secretary Richard Outram told NCE that the extension of the plants’ operating lives raises concerns about the possibility of graphite cracking.
“The EDF announcement is unsurprising. Although company bosses may crow a lot about the preservation of local jobs, the NFLAs suspect this is actually about the preservation of EDF’s bottom line,” he said.
“Given the parlous state of the French parent company’s finances, the intermittent output of the domestic fleet, and the vast overspend on Hinkley Point C, EDF has a clear incentive to keep open for as long as possible any nuclear plant in the portfolio which actually operates and generates profits.
“The NFLAs have previously expressed our concerns with the Office for Nuclear Regulation that these ageing AGRs are now well past their sell-by date, with graphite cracking being a real worry, as seen recently at the sister AGR plant at Torness.
“We shall continue to monitor the situation and ask challenging questions of regulators and the industry because public safety and environmental harm must never be compromised in favour of company profit.”………………………………………………. https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/edfs-heysham-1-and-hartlepool-nuclear-plants-to-operate-for-further-12-months-02-09-2025/
U.S. Government Is Taking Historic Steps To Restart Nuclear Plants
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering allowing a Michigan
nuclear plant to restart after approving in July its first such plant
resumption with Palisades Nuclear Plant to increase U.S. energy output for
data centers. The NRC held a series of public meetings from July 31 through
August 6 to gather feedback about enabling a restart of a former Three Mile
Island Unit 1 that permanently stopped operating after 40 years in
September 2019.
Forbes 28th Aug 2025, https://www.forbes.com/sites/noelfletcher/2025/08/28/us-government-is-taking-historic-steps-to-restart-nuclear-plants/
Iran accuses Europe of surrendering nuclear deal to Trump’s veto
Foreign ministry official says US will be dictating what happens once UN-wide sanctions are reimposed.
Patrick Wintour in Tehran, 2 Sept 25, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/01/iran-accuses-europe-surrendering-nuclear-deal-trump-veto
Europe is on the verge of abandoning its role as a mediator between the US and Iran and instead handing the Iran nuclear file over to Donald Trump’s veto, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson has said in an interview with the Guardian in Tehran.
Esmail Baghaei said that as soon as UN-wide sanctions were reimposed at Europe’s demand in less than 30 days’ time, the US would regain its security council veto over what happens next, including the continuance of sanctions.
“The Europeans are doing what Trump dictated to them,” he said. “The Europeans’ role is going to be diminished. If you go back to the European foreign policy leaders in the history of the nuclear deal, Javier Solana, Cathy Ashton, Federica Mogherini, Josep Borrell, they all tried to liaise between Iran and the US.
“They tried to prove they were credible negotiating partners. But now the Europeans have decided to be the proxy of the US and Israel. It is absolutely irresponsible of them to hand over that role to the US.”
He highlighted the claim by Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, that Israel was doing “the dirty work … for all of us” by attacking Iran’s nuclear sites in June. “In a way, all of the European countries condoned what Israel did, and very likely provided information to the Israeli regime,” Baghaei said.
His remarks may be designed to put pressure on European capitals to distance themselves from the US and tone down the conditions they have set before they will agree to defer UN sanctions.
Baghaei also said the Iranian government was not constitutionally able to block Iran’s withdrawal from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) if the Iranian parliament went ahead and passed a law withdrawing from it in response to the European reimposition of UN sanctions. Withdrawal from the treaty was the prerogative of parliament, he said.
The number of MPs backing an NPT withdrawal bill is due to be revealed on Tuesday but MPs said the measure was likely to be rushed through parliament with overwhelming support. Withdrawal from the NPT would mean the UN loses all rights to oversee Iran’s nuclear programme and would inevitably raise US concerns about whether Iran will build a nuclear bomb covertly or overtly.
The powerful factions in the parliament seem convinced that Iran has the firepower to inflict heavy damage on Israel in the event of a second western attack.
We are prepared because this is a matter of our dignity and sovereignty,” Baghaei said. “I think you in the UK had your blitz spirit when attacked by Nazi Germany. We have the same spirit because we knew this war imposed on us in the middle of negotiations was so unjust.”
The three European signatories to the original nuclear deal – France Germany and the UK – notified the UN last Thursday that they intended to use their right to reimpose UN-wide sanctions at the end of September unless Iran met three conditions: a return of UN weapons inspectors to the bombed Iranian nuclear sites, the handover of details of the whereabouts of its 400kg stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and agreement to open talks with America on the future of its nuclear programme.
Europe says there is still room for diplomacy in the coming four weeks to reach an agreement on these conditions. Baghaei described the European conditions as “a sign they are not serious and they do not have good faith”.
He said: “There is an extreme trust deficit between the UN weapons inspectors from IAEA and Iran. There is a real concern that the information gathered at the sites by the IAEA would end up being passed on to Israel.
“It has been a real concern especially after the highly politicised approach of the IAEA. We cannot ignore the fact that previous IAEA reports were abused by America and Israel to craft the resolution to the IAEA board which claimed that Iran was not in compliance with its obligations.” He said that resolution was used as a pretext for the Israeli attack on Iran in June.
He conceded that Iran’s room for diplomatic manoeuvre at the UN in the next month was limited because of the public mood in Iran.
“The fact is our public is outraged because of the unlawful attacks on our facilities and as a government we have to be accountable to our people and to our parliament,” he said.
“The western media goes on about our cooperation with the IAEA and stockpiles, but the western public has to remember the outrageous [acts] committed by Israel and the US. They torpedoed the diplomatic process, they attacked the rule of international law because our facilities have been under inspection 24 hours a day for throughout the past three decades.”
Iranian officials insist that the aim remains to reach a compromise in the next month that will allow the weapons inspectors to return. Iranian diplomats have given assurances to the IAEA that the stockpiles have not been moved. They also insist they are willing to speak to the Americans, but repeated messages sent to Washington have not been met with any response so far.
Baghaei said Iran was willing to reduce the purity level to which it enriched uranium back to 3.67%, the level set in the old nuclear deal, so long as an overall agreement was reached that preserves Iran’s right to enrich uranium domestically.
He questioned why the US was so intent on removing Iran’s right to enrich if, as Trump claimed, Iran’s ability to undertake such enrichment had been already destroyed by the joint US-Israeli attacks.
The lunacy of Britain’s Sizewell C nuclear project
Tom Burke:
All of these problems have been pointed out to the Government
very often, by many energy experts for several years. Even so this only
tells you part of the lunacy of this project. Britain’s electricity
consumers will start paying for Sizewell C now and will go on doing so
without receiving any electricity from it for the next 12-15 years.
They are in effect compulsory investors. However, unlike the private sector
investors in the project they will not receive a handsome double digit
returned on their forced capital investment. Instead they will then be
forced, as the Bloomberg diagram shows, to pay about three times as much
for Sizewell C’s electricity than would otherwise be available to them from
other sources as cheaper electricity will be forced off the grid in order
to preferentially take that from Sizewell C. It is truly said that those
whom the Gods destroy they first make mad.
FT 27th Aug 2025,
https://www.ft.com/content/ee89bce2-a3e9-48ed-82eb-85916eb24777#comments-anchor
Russian engineer-physicist Ozharovsky spoke about deportation from Mongolia.
Andrey Ozharovsky was detained in Mongolia while exploring the Gobi Desert. He was trying to find out if there was radiation contamination where the French were mining uranium. Metro asked the Russian nuclear scientist what happened to him.
Metro Moscow 27th Aug 2025, https://www.gazetametro.ru/articles/rossijskij-inzhener-fizik-ozharovskij-rasskazal-chto-proizoshlo-s-nim-v-mongolii-27-08-2025
The media reported on the detention of the Russian activist on August 19. As Ozharovsky himself said, in Mongolia he was deprived of his freedom, passport and the opportunity to talk to his relatives. At the same time, Mongolian security forces behaved correctly with him.
Why Russian Researcher Deported from Mongolia
“I came to help local activists figure out whether there is radioactive contamination in the part of the Gobi Desert where the French company Orano mines uranium using the underground solution method,” Ozharovsky told Metro.
According to him, Mongolian activists invited him to participate in the research of the area because the scientist’s equipment had previously detected similar contamination in Russia. During three days of research in Mongolia, Ozharovsky found deviations – the consequences of uranium mining by the French.
“Apparently, those who mine uranium in the Gobi did not like this. And perhaps the French nuclear scientists are behind my deportation,” the scientist concluded.
Suddenly a jeep with three security officers and a female employee of the migration service arrives. After that they take my passport for inspection and give it back only a week later.— deported nuclear physicist Andrei Ozharovsky
Ozharovsky believes that the circumstances of his arrest were extremely strange.
“We finished taking measurements in the desert, then moved to a new location, the Maradai mine. That’s where the immigration service detained me. Before that, we had only met one shepherd the previous day,” he explained.
According to the researcher, he was first taken under guard for interrogation to the provincial capital, the city of Choibalsan. And only after that was he sent to Ulaanbaatar.
“Russian spy” and “Rosatom saboteur”
As Ozharovsky says, shortly before his arrest, an active campaign against him began in the local media. The scientist emphasizes that in their materials, Mongolian journalists called him a spy and intelligence officer who was in Mongolia “in the interests of Rosatom.”
— After completing the measurements in Gobi, we traveled for more than a day to a new location. And during this time, as if on command, several articles were published in which journalists called on the Mongolian authorities to take decisive action, because “a Russian spy is driving around the country’s uranium mines,” the nuclear physicist explains.
At the same time, after his arrest, representatives of Mongolian intelligence stated that they had no claims against Ozharovsky. And his case was forwarded to the police.
However, the nuclear physicist emphasizes that Mongolia is now allegedly trying to hide a major environmental problem that he and local activists managed to discover.
“I found three areas in Mongolia where the usual Gobi dose rate of 0.1 microsievert per hour was exceeded by 20-50 times. In problem areas, the pollution level reached 5 microsievert per hour,” he said.
Microsieverta unit of measurement that can be used to determine how much radiation a person has received
According to the researcher, such indicators can already have serious consequences for humans. And the nomads living in the region can make specific assumptions about what caused the increase in cancer cases.
“One nomad we spoke to had a father who died of cancer. And his young wife was diagnosed with breast cancer,” the scientist said.
Deportation and its consequences
The nuclear physicist fully admits that he could have violated Mongolian law. But he emphasizes that this happened due to ignorance of its subtleties.
— In Mongolia, it is prohibited to measure the radiation environment with devices that have not been accredited in the country. That is, even if you have proof of the functionality of the equipment in other countries, you must bring your device to the authorities, pay money for the inspection, and only then receive the right to conduct research, he explained.
In addition, the country has very specific restrictions for Russians. And Ozharovsky could have accidentally violated one of them.
— According to Mongolian law, Russians can stay in the country without a visa only if they are tourists. After the dosimeter was turned on, according to the law enforcement officers who deported me, I ceased to be one, — the nuclear scientist added.
According to the researcher, he plans to contact lawyers to assess the legality of the punishment. He also emphasized that he does not plan to abandon his research in Mongolia, but will now conduct it in other ways.
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