Nuclear news – week to 25 February.
Some bits of good news. Nine Asian countries have halved child mortality since 2000. The Global South is deploying renewables twice as fast as the Global North. Arctic Cleanup removes 130 tons of trash and aims to improve trash cleanups worldwide
—very difficult now to stay off the subjects of Ukraine and Israel, but I have tried… (both are so on the nuclear brink)
TOP STORIES. Democrats want nothing to do with making peace in Ukraine and possibly preventing nuclear war.
President Trump Wants to Cut the Pentagon Budget in Half. How?Trump Looks to Correct a Disastrous 1990’s Mistake.
Conveniently forgotten and ignored – the 8 years war in Ukraine up to 2022 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYKetrodpoY
From the archives. Restless radioactive remains are still stirring in Chernobyl’s nuclear tomb.
Climate, World’s glaciers melting faster than ever recorded.
Noel’s notes. A dramatic development in the Ukraine situation.
NUCLEAR ITEMS
ECONOMICS
- UK’s Hinkley Point C nuclear plant yet to attract new investors, says EDF boss. UK government in “poor negotiating position” as Centrica vague about investing in the new Sizewell C nuclear power station.
- Uncertain nuclear partnership: Negotiations between ČEZ and Rolls-Royce.groups raise $1.5bn amid race to power AI boom. At Great Cost: The companies building nuclear weapons and their financiers show 260 profiteers from the nuclear weapons industry.
- X-Energy threatens to pull out of building nuclear plants in Britain. Amazon-backed nuclear power developer X-Energy threatens to move investment away from UK.
- Rolls-Royce ‘resists pressure’ to put Czech parts in mini-nuclear reactors. .
| MEDIA. Film Review- Special Operation: The Invasion of Chornobyl. |
| PERSONAL STORIES. Heartbreaking tale of American deformed by nuclear radiation who was abandoned and viewed as a ‘monster’. |
| POLITICS. French State Spars With EDF Over Multibillion-Euro Reactor Plan . UK Government Revisiting the nuclear roadmap Inquiry, UK’s first new nuclear site since the 1970s begins licensing. Starmer’s shortsighted push for more nuclear power. Louth MP welcomes council’s decision to pull out of nuclear waste dump group. Greens opposed to nuclear power plant plans. UK to Partner with Big Tech on Nuclear Powered Data Centers . Technogarchy Goes to Washington.. |
| POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. Amid ‘clear’ threat of nuclear war, Guterres tells Security Council multilateral off-ramp is essential. Trump can’t denuclearize North Korea. South Korea’s next leader should pursue risk reduction instead. Hating Trump no reason to oppose Trump Ukraine peace initiative. |
| SAFETY. Incidents. IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine. Efforts continue to eliminate fires in Chernobyl shelter’s roof. Nuclear expert issues Chernobyl update after it emerges fires are still burning. Damage to Chernobyl shelter being assessed after drone strike – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC3Wz5oX68I “Radioactive Russian Roulette” at San Onofre: Exposing Critical Safety Failures. NFLA Policy Briefing 313: Correspondence with the Nuclear Regulator over AGR Extensions .5.0-magnitude quake strikes off Japan’s Fukushima: JMA. |
| SECRETS and LIES. Burying The CIA’s Assange Secrets. |
| TECHNOLOGY. Dr. Gordon Edwards Testifies on the BWRX-300 Reactor Design Feb 9 2025. Pioneering micro nuclear reactors to be built in Britain, |
| WASTES. Debris extracted from Fukushima nuclear plant revealed to media. So Called Small Modular Reactors Would Be Nuclear Nightmares. Nuclear waste dump agency pumps money into community projects in Mablethorpe. Ancient historic sites under threat from South Copeland nuke waste dump- ALSO AT https://nuclear-news.net/2025/02/19/1-b-ancient-historic-sites-under-threat-from-south-copeland-nuke-waste-dump/NWMO closing Teeswater office, to dispose of DGR site lands. |
| WAR and CONFLICT. US Strategic Bombers Fly Near Gaza as Israel Threatens To Open ‘Gates of Hell’ |
| WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. New Zealand’s Rocket Lab ‘ready to serve’ Pentagon. Why it would be a bad idea for the Trump administration to conduct a “rapid” nuclear test. Donald Trump wants to end nuclear weapons funding. |
The IAEA comments on the state of Ukraine’s Nuclear Power Plants
The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant has been relying on a single off-site power line for more than a week now after the other 9 have been taken offline due to the war – this single power line is critical to prevent massive radioactive releases at the site.
At the Chornobyl plant, firefighters are continuing to put out small fires that keep smouldering and spreading on the roof of the reactor shield hit by a Russian drone.
Ukraine’s other nuclear plants have continued to report frequent air raid alarms over the past week due to the presence of drones around the sites.
UK’s Hinkley Point C nuclear plant yet to attract new investors, says EDF boss .
French energy group EDF has not yet found alternative investors for the
flagship Hinkley Point C nuclear project as a freeze in funding from its
Chinese partner places an “extra weight” on the debt-laden company.
Luc Rémont, chief executive of France’s state-owned electricity company,
said it had held talks during 2024 with “lots” of potential funders for
the Hinkley Point C project in Somerset, but was not yet able to proceed
with any of them. EDF was continuing to meet the financing costs but was
working to find alternative investors for the project with the support of
the British government, Rémont said, as the company reported its annual
results on Friday.
“In the current circumstances, the fact that our
partner CGN is not injecting any more capital into Hinkley Point
is . . . an extra weight for EDF,” he said, but added that the
project remained a potentially profitable investment.
His comments raise further questions for the future of Hinkley Point C, the first new nuclear
power station being built in the UK in a generation and a vital part of the
government’s plan to decarbonise power supplies. Hinkley Point C was
initially set to cost £18bn and to be completed in 2025, but the estimated
cost has since swelled to roughly £46bn in 2024 terms while the start date
has been pushed back to 2029 at the earliest, because of construction
delays.
EDF is developing the project with Chinese state-owned CGN as a
junior investment partner, which agreed to finance 33.5 per cent of the
original costs. However, CGN has balked at making further contributions to
help meet cost overruns after the UK government in November 2022 bought it
out of a sister project, Sizewell C in Suffolk, amid concerns about
China’s involvement in critical national infrastructure. Asked on
Thursday whether he was also interested in investing in Hinkley Point C,
Centrica’s chief executive Chris O’Shea said: “We clearly like
nuclear power. And I am open to any kind of conversation. “My focus at
the moment is on hopefully getting to a good place with Sizewell C.”
FT 21st Feb 2025 https://www.ft.com/content/c546117d-1fbc-47c8-93a8-dd823311d2ac
Debris extracted from Fukushima nuclear plant revealed to media
Friday, Feb. 21, https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250221_08/?fbclid=IwY2xjawInSAlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHSRSw2PSosgQ6p28ndBqzler46N1Sr9mAHZH_X5SQL5hfjsJ5Tr3M48JTg_aem_xXho8cY6EkFQUvxp6aOcZQNuclear fuel debris that was extracted from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant last year has been revealed to reporters for the first time.
The debris taken from the plant’s No.2 reactor consists of molten fuel mixed with surrounding structural components. The operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, successfully retrieved 0.7 grams of the material in its first test extraction operation through November last year.
The debris was first transferred to a research facility of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency in Oarai Town, Ibaraki Prefecture, for the initial analysis, including surface observation.
The researchers then split the debris into smaller pieces to be examined at five research facilities, including a large one in Hyogo Prefecture.
Reporters were given the opportunity to observe the samples, which were placed in two separate transparent containers at a facility in Ibaraki Prefecture. One container held a particle about 2 millimeters in size that appeared silver, while the other had multiple dark fragments.
So far, the researchers have detected uranium, which is contained in nuclear fuel, on the surface of the debris, as well as metals such as iron, which are believed to have come from the reactor’s structure.
The researchers plan to examine the characteristics of the debris, including its hardness and adhesiveness. They will also expose the samples to lasers to determine whether the uranium inside is prone to triggering a nuclear fission reaction.
The agency says it will use these analyses to evaluate potential methods for full-scale extraction of the debris, and to determine the risk of a renewed criticality event, in which a self-sustaining chain reaction could occur.
The agency plans to release the findings of the major analyses in the middle of this year.
Ogino Hideki, the chief engineer at the agency’s Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science, spoke to the reporters.
He said it is difficult to fully grasp the overall characteristics of the debris based on the ongoing analyses alone. But he expressed his commitment to contributing to the decommissioning efforts through analyzing the samples using the technology that he and his fellow researchers have developed.
It is estimated that there is a total of around 880 tons of fuel debris in the No. 1, 2 and 3 reactors.
5.0-magnitude quake strikes off Japan’s Fukushima: JMA
TOKYO, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) https://english.news.cn/20250221/1a62306993674102b4bf547c66308416/c.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawInSGJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHaLmlIJlO8LIDD4_tC9mDYzpZnPQTSalQEzW0hj-j5vNUxWQ8hVw_Wrelw_aem_JSAQL14AGKbnrwbZ10cXPA
— An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.0 struck off the northeastern Japanese prefecture of Fukushima on Friday, the country’s weather agency said.
The temblor occurred at around 10:01 p.m. local time at a depth of 50 km, measuring 4 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).
The epicenter was located at a latitude of 37.5 degrees north and a longitude of 141.5 degrees east.
There was no tsunami warning, the JMA added
UK to Partner with Big Tech on Nuclear Powered Data Centers
By Felicity Bradstock – Feb 22, 2025
- Prime Minister Starmer announced plans for a major nuclear power expansion across England and Wales, including the development of small modular reactors (SMRs).
- The government aims to streamline regulations and partner with the private sector to accelerate nuclear technology development, despite concerns about costs and safety.
- While nuclear power is seen as a key component of the UK’s clean energy transition, there are debates about the practicality of SMRs and the potential distraction from renewable energy deployment.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. many are concerned that the development of the U.K.’s nuclear energy capacity could create a distraction from the deployment of renewable energy projects. In addition, many advocacy groups stress the existing delays in developing the U.K.’s nuclear energy sector, with companies having faced severe delays and cost increases in developing new nuclear projects in recent years.
Industry experts warn that SMRs could be extremely expensive to develop and run. The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, which is investing in SMR development, has said that the technology “could have higher costs per MW compared to gigawatt-scale reactors”. There are also safety concerns, particularly as SMRs could be constructed on remote, non-conventional sites. This means that there must be rigorous regulations on the technology to mitigate any risk.
Oil Price 22nd Feb 2025, https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/UK-to-Partner-with-Big-Tech-on-Nuclear-Powered-Data-Centers.html
Hating Trump no reason to oppose Trump Ukraine peace initiative.
Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL , 23 Feb 25
Some of my progressive comrades are bombarding social media in opposition to Trump’s peace plan to end the Russo Ukraine war. For the first 2 years, 11 months of America’s proxy war against Russia using Ukrainian cannon fodder, they were largely silent. They were loath to criticize President Biden and Vice President Harris, particularly during a presidential campaign. Their focus was laser like on domestic issues to prevent a return of the despised Trump to the presidency.
Trump not only won, he immediately pivoted to peace in Ukraine. He totally overturned the Biden war playbook. He announced Ukraine (really the US) had lost, must never join NATO, and not get back the Russian leaning Eastern Ukraine Russia annexed.
More. Trump announced a complete reset of the US Russia relationship to include diplomatic engagement and friendly relations with Russia that Biden had jettisoned during his entire term.
More again. Ending the war and reestablishing diplomatic relations will reduce the risk of nuclear war present for every one of the 1,095 days of this senseless war. It makes possible renewing the three nuclear treaties the US abandoned this century, two of them by Trump.
But instead of supporting this astonishing breakthrough, progressives have gone ballistic. They charge dictator wannabe Trump is selling out Ukrainian sovereignty, like Chamberlain did to Czechoslovakia at Munich in 1938. They claim this will allow Russia to recreate the Soviet Union, then march into Western Europe. Preposterous.
In doing so they ignore this war was provoked by Biden to weaken Russia. It would never have resulted in war had Biden honored Russia’s security concerns regarding no Ukraine NATO on Russia’s border.
Worse yet, progressives are blind to the fact that the war was lost on Day One when Biden announced the US would not participate with US military. Why? He wisely advised that would result in WWIII.
The result? Ukraine is on the brink of defeat, having upwards of a million dead or wounded. Over ten million have fled Ukraine for safer climes. Potential draftees are deserting en mass. The economy is on life support. President Zelensky cancelled elections, banned free press, outlawed the Russian Orthodox Church on his march to becoming dictator for the war’s duration. Once it’s over…so is Zelensky.
None of this made a dent in progressives till Trump demanded this madness end and followed thru arranging lightning fast negotiations with Russian leaders to end it. Then progressives surfaced to demonize Trump and his peace initiative. They have joined the most virulent pro war advocates in the Republican Party, the military, the media determined to sabotage the most hopeful development to end further destruction of Ukraine and depletion of US treasure.
Every progressive opposing Trump’s peace initiative enables another 500,000 dead Ukrainians, another $175 billion in squandered US treasure, and no end to Biden’s catastrophic and failed proxy war to weaken Russia.
Ponder that progressives.
Democrats want nothing to do with making peace in Ukraine and possibly preventing nuclear war.
Democrats demonizing Trump for ending Ukraine war is shameful.
Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL 21 Feb 25.
On October 24, 2022, 8 months after the US proxy war against Russia in Ukraine began, 30 Democratic congresspersons wrote President Biden, “We urge you to make vigorous diplomatic efforts in support of a negotiated settlement and ceasefire, engage in direct talks with Russia, explore prospects for a new European security arrangement acceptable to all parties that will allow for a sovereign and independent Ukraine, and, in coordination with our Ukrainian partners, seek a rapid end to the conflict and reiterate this goal as America’s chief priority.”
Biden and the Democratic establishment went ballistic, forcing the 30 Democratic peacemakers to rescind their letter within 24 hours ‘Just shut up about ending the war’ was the message of Biden and the war Democrats.
For the remaining 28 months of Biden’s term the entire Democratic administration, Congress and their sycophantic pundits remained in lockstep with Biden’ refusal to use diplomacy to end a horrendous war destroying Ukraine and putting the world at risk of nuclear war.
That was a disgraceful betrayal of very decent, peaceful, life affirming tenant of the Democratic Party.
While Biden never wavered in his lust to weaken, even destroy Russia using Ukrainian proxies to do all the dying, his predecessor Trump ditched that murderous, failed policy on Day One of his second term.
He announced he’d end 3 years of silence and begin negotiations with Russia to end the war. That alone could prevent this war from spiraling into a nuclear confrontation, something possible every one of the 1,095 days of this war.
Trump wasted no time both talking to Putin, and having his diplomatic team led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio engage in substantive talks with their Russian counterparts.
The outline of the peace settlement is astonishing. No NATO for Ukraine. No return of the roughly fifth of Ukraine territory Russia acquired on their border with Ukraine. That includes the Donbas where the Kyiv government had spent 8 years destroying the Russian culture of the Donbas Ukrainians there. Upwards of 10,000 Donbas Ukrainians were killed. Russia will pledge peace for the remaining 80% of Western Ukraine as long as Ukraine refrains from being a US/NATO Trojan Horse to block Russia from the Western European political economy.
In addition the US will not provide troops to enforce any settlement. Trump is proposing it’s time for Europe to take care of its own security, especially that of Ukraine. With a GDP ten times that of piddly Russia, that should be a snap.
The flummoxed Democrats want nothing to do with making peace in Ukraine and possibly preventing nuclear war. Oblivious to the waste of $175 billion that hasn’t prevented Ukraine’s destruction, they’re aghast Trump seeks peace. They charge he’s a Putin like dictator giving Putin everything he wants when Trump simply recognizes that America’s proxy war against Russia has failed and must be ended. Trump also knows that 80 years after WWII ended, it’s time to consider drawing down America’s 64,000 soldiers standing around doing nothing in Europe except squandering taxpayer treasure.
Trump seeks more than just an end to the calamitous Ukraine war. He seeks rapprochement with Russia, a pipsqueak nation with one twelfth America’s economy that poses no threat to Western Europe or America whatsoever. Tho not mentioned yet, such détente could lead to denuclearization, something both Trump and predecessor Biden failed to achieve in the previous 8 years. Trump has much to atone for in his reckless nuclear policy that saw him leave two critical nuclear agreements with Russia.
Consider how much easier all these developments might unfold if Democrats would jettison their embrace of Biden warmongering and support Trump peace initiatives with Russia. That embrace may have cost Democrats the election as over 6 million of Biden’s 2020 voters deserted candidate Harris last November. Polling showed the biggest reason was Biden’s crazed war policies in Ukraine and Gaza.
Demonizing Trump for seeking peace in Ukraine and détente with Russia keeps the Democratic Party weakened and demoralized. It’s not only disastrous for Democratic electoral success, it’s disastrous for Ukraine, America, indeed the world.
Trump just assaulted the independence of the nuclear regulator. What could go wrong?
By Allison Macfarlane | February 21, 2025
President Trump, through his recent Executive Order, has attacked independent regulatory agencies in the US government. This order gives the Office of Management and Budget power over the regulatory process of until-now independent agencies. These regulatory agencies include the Federal Elections Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission—and my former agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which I chaired between July 2012 and December 2014.
An independent regulator is free from industry and political influence. Trump’s executive order flies in the face of this basic principle by requiring the Office of Management and Budget to “review” these independent regulatory agencies’ obligations “for consistency with the President’s policies and priorities.” This essentially means subordinating regulators to the president.
In the past, the president and Congress, which has oversight capacity on the regulators, stayed at arm’s length from the regulators’ decisions. This was meant to keep them isolated, ensuring their necessary independence from any outside interference. Trump’s executive order implies there are no longer independent regulators in the United States.
Independent regulators should not only be free from government and industry meddling; they also need to be adequately staffed with competent experts and have the budget to operate efficiently. They also need to be able to shut down facilities such as nuclear power plants that are not operating safely, according to regulations. To do this, they need government to support their independent decisions and rulemaking.
Independence matters. When I was chairman, I traveled the world talking about the importance of an independent regulator to countries where nuclear regulators exhibited a lack of independence and were subject to excessive industry and political influence. It is ironic that the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission—often called the “Gold Standard” in nuclear regulation—has now been captured by the Trump administration and lost its independence. So much for the Gold Standard; the Canadian, the French, or the Finnish nuclear regulator will have to take on that mantle now.
To understand what is at stake, one needs to look no further than the Fukushima accident in March 2011, which showed the world how a country’s economic security is vulnerable to a captured regulator………………………………………………………..
An independent investigation by the Diet (Japan’s house of parliament) into the cause of the Fukushima accident concluded unequivocally that: “The TEPCO Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident was the result of collusion between the government, the regulators and TEPCO, and the lack of governance by said parties. They effectively betrayed the nation’s right to be safe from nuclear accidents.” Japan’s government and nuclear industry continue to struggle with the clean-up of the Fukushima site, and it purposely began in 2023 to release still-contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean. Nearby countries responded by banning fishing products from the region.
As the industry often says, a nuclear accident anywhere is a nuclear accident everywhere. …………………… more https://thebulletin.org/2025/02/trump-just-assaulted-the-independence-of-the-nuclear-regulator-what-could-go-wrong/?fbclid=IwY2xjawImRopleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHXcsEIvbsR7x3_k1wSvr8EHSizxiqUnLBb42mZ2YJGeOYLxrftrY4-5HVg_aem_Q1k1WJJnpyqw6WEHOuvZ2Q
Small Nuclear Reactor developer groups raise $1.5bn amid race to power AI boom
Developers of small modular nuclear reactors have raised at least $1.5bn in
funding over the past year, tapping into a surge of investor interest
linked to power supply deals agreed with Big Tech.
They have also secured pledges of billions of dollars of support from governments, amid a global race to launch new technologies considered critical to powering the
artificial intelligence revolution.
The largest fundraising of $700mn was closed this month by X-energy, a US developer that added Jane Street and other institutional investors to a register that included technology giantAmazon,
Ken Griffin, founder and chief executive of Citadel and chemical
company Dow. Paris-based developer Newcleo raised $151mn in September and
US-based developers Blue Energy and Last Energy raised $45mn and $40mn
respectively last year.
Nano Nuclear Energy, a developer of microreactors
which listed in May, raised $134mn capital in 2024. Three SMR developers
listed in New York, Oklo, NuScale and Nano Nuclear, raised more than $700mn
through share sales and other financing mechanisms over the past 12 months,
according to a Financial Times analysis of public records and data from
PitchBook and BloombergNEF.
Westinghouse, Rolls-Royce, Holtec
International, GE Hitachi and Bill Gates’ TerraPower are also among a host
of companies investing in about 60 SMR projects globally, according to
World Nuclear Association data. Amazon’s purchase of a stake in X-energy
and Google’s power supply deal with SMR developer Kairos Power, which both
occurred in October, have shaken up a funding market that soured in 2023
because of high interest rates and inflation.
But analysts warn developers
still face technical, regulatory and funding risks despite the improved
sentiment.
FT 19th Feb 2025, https://www.ft.com/content/2d84198e-7eeb-4154-bbf2-9a469b0cc700
Solar a beacon of hope as Ukrainians yearn for peace
Solar a beacon of hope as Ukrainians yearn for peace. Solar energy has been
essential for survival in Ukraine during nearly three years of war since
the Russian invasion in 2022. As citizens hope for peace, PV will be
instrumental in supporting post-war recovery, whenever it comes.
PV Magazine 19th Feb 2025,
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/02/19/solar-a-beacon-of-hope-as-ukrainians-yearn-for-peace/
World’s glaciers melting faster than ever recorded
The world’s glaciers are melting faster than ever recorded under the impact
of climate change, according to the most comprehensive scientific analysis
to date. Mountain glaciers – frozen rivers of ice – act as a freshwater
resource for millions of people worldwide and lock up enough water to raise
global sea-levels by 32cm (13in) if they melted entirely.
But since the turn of the century, they have lost more than 6,500 billion tonnes – or 5%
– of their ice. And the pace of melting is increasing. Over the past decade
or so, glacier losses were more than a third higher than during the period
2000-2011. The study combined more than 230 regional estimates from 35
research teams around the world, making scientists even more confident
about exactly how fast glaciers are melting, and how they will evolve in
the future. Glaciers are excellent indicators of climate change.
BBC 19th Feb 2025,
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4ly8vde85o
Algonquin community wins part of court challenge over nuclear waste dump near Ottawa River
Federal judge orders nuclear regulator to renew consultation with Kebaowek First Nation on contentious project
Brett Forester · CBC News ·Feb 21, 2025
An Algonquin community in Quebec is declaring victory after a judge upheld part of its court challenge to a proposed radioactive waste dump to be built about a kilometre away from the Ottawa River.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission approved the project in January 2024, greenlighting Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) to build the “near-surface disposal facility” at the Chalk River research campus near Deep River, Ont., 150 kilometres northwest of Ottawa.
But according to Federal Court Justice Julie Blackhawk, the regulatory body failed to consider internationally recognized Indigenous rights and how they apply in Canadian law when consulting with Kebaowek, rendering the approval decision both unreasonable and incorrect.
“The consultation process in this matter was not adequate,” Blackhawk wrote in a decision released Wednesday.
The judge ordered the commission and CNL to resume consultations with Kebaowek “in a robust manner,” while properly considering the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and its standard of free, prior and informed consent.
The consultation must be adapted to address Indigenous laws, knowledge and be aimed at reaching an agreement, to be completed by Sept. 30, 2026, Blackhawk ruled.
Kebaowek had asked the court to quash the commission’s approval entirely, requiring CNL to restart the process altogether. But Blackhawk declined, calling that impractical, sending the matter back to the commission to correct the process instead.
Nevertheless, community leaders are ecstatic, said Chief Lance Haymond.
“It’s clear that when Canada adopted UNDRIP, the provisions of UNDRIP had to be applied in Canadian law from the beginning, not in some time in the future,” said Haymond, whose community is 300 kilometres northwest of Ottawa.
“I think that’s a win for Kebaowek, and that’s a win for First Nations across this country.”
Haymond hailed the decision as one with far-reaching implications for industry and project proponents, meaning he expects it will be appealed. …………………………………….
The facility would contain up to one million cubic metres, or about 400 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth, of low-level radioactive waste from the Second World War-era Chalk River site in a specially designed mound.
Kebaowek has raised concerns about the project’s potential impact on drinking water, wildlife and Indigenous rights.
In the judicial review, the community raised novel legal arguments, centring on the commission’s obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act,federal legislation passed in 2021.
The law requires Canada to harmonize federal laws with UNDRIP, an international instrument outlining minimum standards for the protection of Indigenous peoples’ rights around the world. …………………………..more https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/kebaowek-judicial-review-win-1.7464036#:~:text=An%20Algonquin%20First%20Nation%20in,away%20from%20the%20Ottawa%20River.
UK government in “poor negotiating position” as Centrica vague about investing in the new Sizewell C nuclear power station.
Energy supplier Centrica has announced plans to invest in the new Sizewell
C nuclear power station – but campaigners say the move demonstrates the
government’s “poor negotiating position”.
Stop Sizewell C, which is opposed
to the power station, said any investors in the project could demand higher
rates of return, piling further costs on consumer bills. The government has
announced that the power station will be part-funded by adding costs to
people’s energy bills.
A spokesperson for the group said: “Chris O’Shea’s
comments show what a poor negotiating position the government is in, having
committed so much taxpayers’ money to Sizewell C without any guarantees
that private investors will take a stake. “Any investors still interested
in this risky project can demand high rates of return, but the higher the
return, the greater the burden on consumer bills during Sizewell C’s
lengthy and uncertain construction. It’s a lose lose situation for
households.”
East Anglian Daily Times 20th Feb 2025, https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/24951657.size-sizewell-stake-1-50/
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