Resisting the nuclear export and import policies in the age of climate crisis – Webinar on the International Joint Response to Nuclear Expansion.
No Nukes Asia Forum (NNAF) is organising this webinar on Tuesday 19 November. Note that the time listed for Australia is “ACST” – ie Adelaide time. Please adjust to fit your time zone.
It will be an opportunity to hear about South Korea’s nuclear export program. As you are no doubt aware, South Korea’s APR1400 and APR1000 reactors have been promoted by the Coalition as candidates for Australia. South Korea constructed the United Arab Emirates reactors on which the Coalition is basing its (unrealistic) timeline.
As the climate crisis grows more serious, countries worldwide are promoting energy transition policies to reduce the use of fossil fuels. Meanwhile, some countries also pursue strategies to expand nuclear power plants by including nuclear power in their energy transition policies. The nuclear industry is emphasizing nuclear power as an alternative solution to the climate crisis, and it is expanding with small modular reactors (SMRs) that are costly and not feasible at present and conventional nuclear power plants with long construction processes. In Asia, South Korea and Japan have been promoting the export of nuclear power plants to the Philippines, Turkiye, Indonesia, and Thailand. Nuclear power plants’ safety and economic feasibility are not achievable and this is an undemocratic policy.
In response, we will host a webinar with Asian nuclear disarmament organizations to examine the current status of nuclear power plant exports and explore ways to jointly respond internationally. We look forward to your interest and participation.
○ Date: November 19 (Tue), 2024, 3:00-5:00 PM (UTC+9)
– Turkiye (UTC+3): 9:00-11:00 AM
– India (UTC+5:30): 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM
– Indonesia/Thailand (UTC+7): 1:00-3:00 PM
– Manila/Taipei (UTC+8): 2:00-4:00 PM
– South Korea/Japan (UTC+9): 3:00-5:00 PM
– Australia (ACST, UTC+10): 4:00-6:00 PM
○ Location: Zoom Webinar / Zoom link will be sent via email later
○ Organized by: No Nukes Asia Forum (No Nukes Asia Form)
Korean organizers: Citizens’ Action for No Nukes, No Nukes News Media Cooperative, Yoon Jong-oh(National Assembly’s member) of the Progressive Party of Korea, National Assembly Economy Forum on Climate Crisis & Decarbonization
Philippines Organizer: Nuclear-Free Bataan Movement(NFBM), YoungBEAN, KILUSAN, Green Peace PH
Japan Organizer: Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center
Turkiye Organizer: Nukleersiz
○ Primary language: English / Interpretation: Korean
○ Presentations (15 minutes each)
Moderator: Korea (Kim Hyunwoo, No Nukes News) & Philippines (DJ Janier, KILUSAN)
Presentation 1: Korea’s Nuclear Power Plant Export Strategy and Issues / LEE Heonseok (Energy Justice Actions)
Presentation 2: Problems of Resuming Power Generation at the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in the Philippines / NFBM
Presentation 3: The Overview of Japanese Failed Nuclear Exporting Project: Hajime Matsukubo(CNIC)
Presentation 4: On Nuclear Power Plant Projects and Problems in Turkiye and the Export Strategy of Russia/ Pinar Demircan(Nukleersiz)
○ Q&A and discussion: 40 minutes
○ Summary and closing remarks: 20 minutes
○ Contact: GreenReds@gmail.com
○ 참가 신청(한국어) : bit.ly/3AB2yjs
○ Registration Form(English): bit.ly/3AE0JlV
Trump’s Appointments Reflect a More Openly Hawkish Face of US Empire
In appointing Marco Rubio, Mike Waltz and Pete Hegseth to his administration, Trump emboldens volatile warmongers.
By Sam Rosenthal , Truthout, November 14, 2024
After mounting his comeback win against Kamala Harris, Donald Trump has already announced a slew of administration appointments. Compared to other presidents-elect, and to his own first term, Trump is ahead of the typical timeline in announcing these appointments, giving observers an earlier-than-usual view into how the second Trump administration could function, both in the domestic and foreign policy arenas.
On the foreign policy front, Trump will inherit several major international crises and tensions that Joe Biden has been unable to resolve during his time in office, chief among them Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, Russia’s war in Ukraine and escalating U.S. rivalry with China over Taiwan. Trump has already named several high-profile cabinet members who will shape much of his foreign policy and could oversee the consequential conclusions of those conflicts.
Marco Rubio, the senator from Florida, has been tapped for the coveted secretary of state position. Rubio is a well-known China hawk who has recently led the charge against TikTok and other Chinese-based tech companies, a stance that dovetails well with Trump’s promise to impose a 60 percent tariff on all goods exported from China. Beyond economic warfare, Rubio has called China the “threat that will define this century” and pushed repeatedly on known pressure points in U.S.-China relations, including the status of Taiwan.
Rubio — the grandson of Cuban immigrants who moved to the U.S. before the Cuban revolution but hated Fidel Castro from afar — is an ardent anti-communist who has argued vociferously against the legitimacy of the sitting governments in Cuba and Venezuela and supported devastating sanctions on both……………………
Rubio’s aggressive stance toward China will no doubt be compounded by Trump’s newly announced pick for national security adviser, Mike Waltz, currently a House representative from Florida. Waltz has pushed his anti-China rhetoric even farther than Rubio, …………………………………….
Arguably Trump’s most surprising pick so far has been his choice for secretary of defense. …………………………….. For his second term, in an apparent attempt to institute more accommodating leadership at the Pentagon, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host who served in Afghanistan and at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, to lead the Department of Defense.
During his time at Fox News, Hegseth has become known for advocating for leniency for military personnel found to have committed war crimes abroad while serving. Hegseth has no governmental experience whatsoever, nor has he served in any command role within the U.S. military…………………………..
During Trump’s last term, he encouraged the then-president to bomb cultural sites in Iran. As head of the Department of Defense, he might focus on internal house cleaning, seeking to remake the military into a more homogenous, more overtly male-dominated entity, with even less care for international law and a firmer belief in U.S. supremacy.
…………………………………………….Tulsi Gabbard, chosen as director of national intelligence……….. has also frequently trafficked in anti-Muslim rhetoric, repeating right-wing talking points about “radical Islamic ideology” that are often used to justify the criminalization and surveillance of Muslim communities…
………………………….Trump has also begun to announce high-profile ambassadorships. Among these early picks, the most consequential is likely to be his selection of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to serve as U.S. ambassador to Israel. Huckabee, whose daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, served as Trump’s press secretary in his last term, is well-known for his Christian evangelicism. …..
Huckabee’s pick as ambassador to Israel likely portends an even more openly hostile stance toward Palestinian human rights and comes with possibly apocalyptic consequences for the West Bank. Huckabee, an avowed Zionist (like President Biden), has long supported Benjamin Netanyahu. …………………………………….. He has said that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not illegal, contradicting the overwhelming consensus of international law experts…………………………..
Beyond that, though, Huckabee ascribes to a particular brand of Christian evangelical thought, rooted in the belief that the existence of modern Israel is ordained by God. Huckabee has close ties to Christian Zionist organizations, including Christians United for Israel (CUFI), one of the largest of its type in the U.S., which is already celebrating his nomination.
But Huckabee’s connection with Hagee and CUFI isn’t just alarming because of its founder’s overt antisemitism; Hagee is part of an extreme segment of the Christian Zionist tradition that believes that a cataclysmic war in Israel and Palestine will be the precipitating event for the second coming of the Christian messiah. Hagee and others in this line of thinking, therefore, encourage the hastening of violent conflict between Israel and its neighbors as much as possible. Whether Huckabee himself is aligned with this particular strain of Christian Zionism is not clear, but his close connection with the broader movement, and with Hagee in particular, should be enough to raise the highest level of alarm about what policies Huckabee intends to support toward an Israeli state that is already deeply enmeshed in the bloodiest campaign of its entire existence.
It is not a foregone conclusion that all of these nominees will make it through the Senate confirmation process. Although Republicans now control the chamber, more moderate caucus members, or those with more traditional views of how the federal government should be run, might be hesitant to confirm some of Trump’s most unorthodox picks. Hegseth and Gabbard, in particular, could face strong headwinds. However, that is dependent on whether Republicans are willing to risk antagonizing Trump, who is infamous for his ability to hold and prosecute personal vendettas, at the outset of his second term. If these nominees are confirmed, they will comprise among the most unusual, and unpredictable, stewards of U.S. foreign policy that the country has ever had.
How Trump Will Seek Revenge on the Press
Ari Paul, 14 Nov 24,https://fair.org/home/how-trump-will-seek-revenge-on-the-pres
“Revenge—it’s a big part of Trump’s life,” Mother Jones‘ David Corn (10/19/16) wrote just before Trump was elected to the presidency the first time:
In speeches and public talks, Trump has repeatedly expressed his fondness for retribution. In 2011, he addressed the National Achievers Congress in Sydney, Australia, to explain how he had achieved his success. He noted there were a couple of lessons not taught in business school that successful people must know. At the top of the list was this piece of advice: “Get even with people. If they screw you, screw them back 10 times as hard. I really believe it.”
Knowing this about Trump, Democrats and liberals worry that he will use the Department of Justice, especially if Matt Gaetz is confirmed as attorney general, as an unrestrained vehicle to pursue the prosecution of political enemies.
But given Trump’s constant attacks on media—“the opposition party,” as his ally Steve Bannon called the fourth estate (New York Times, 1/26/17)—journalists fear that he will use the power of the state to intimidate if not destroy the press.
Defunding public broadcasting
Trump called for defunding NPR (Newsweek, 4/10/24) after a long-time editor accused the radio outlet of liberal bias in the conservative journal Free Press (4/9/24). Rep. Claudia Tenney (R–NY) introduced legislation to defund NPR because “taxpayers should not be forced to fund NPR, which has become a partisan propaganda machine” (Office of Claudia Tenney, 4/19/24). With Republicans also holding both houses of congress, bills like Tenney’s become more viable.
Trump has previously supported budget proposals that eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (Politico, 3/27/19).
The infamous Project 2025, a conservative policy agenda many see as a blueprint for the second Trump term, calls for the end to public broadcasting, because it is viewed as liberal propaganda:
Every Republican president since Richard Nixon has tried to strip the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) of taxpayer funding. That is significant not just because it means that for half a century, Republican presidents have failed to accomplish what they set out to do, but also because Nixon was the first president in office when National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which the CPB funds, went on air.
In other words, all Republican presidents have recognized that public funding of domestic broadcasts is a mistake. As a 35-year-old lawyer in the Nixon White House, one Antonin Scalia warned that conservatives were being “confronted with a long-range problem of significant social consequences—that is, the development of a government-funded broadcast system similar to the BBC.”
All of which means that the next conservative president must finally get this done, and do it despite opposition from congressional members of his own party if necessary. To stop public funding is good policy and good politics. The reason is simple: President Lyndon Johnson may have pledged in 1967 that public broadcasting would become “a vital public resource to enrich our homes, educate our families and to provide assistance to our classrooms,” but public broadcasting immediately became a liberal forum for public affairs and journalism.
PBS and NPR, as FAIR (10/24/24) has noted, has for decades caved in to right-wing pressures—PBS by adding conservative programming, NPR by trying to rid itself of political commentary altogether. But the right will never let go of its ideological opposition to media outlets not directly owned by the corporate class.
‘Whether criminally or civilly’
Trump also has a well known track record of revoking the credentials of journalists who produce reporting he doesn’t like (Washington Post, 2/24/17, 5/8/19; New Republic, 11/5/24). It is realistic to assume that a lot more reporters will be barred from White House events in the years ahead.
While a bill that would grant the secretary of the treasury broad authority to revoke nonprofit status to any organization the office deems as a “terrorist” organization has so far failed (Al Jazeera, 11/12/24), it is quite possible that it could come up for a vote again. If this bill were to become law, the Treasury Department could use this ax against a great many progressive nonprofit outlets, like Democracy Now! and the American Prospect, as well as investigative outlets like ProPublica and the Center for Investigative Reporting.
The department could even target the Committee to Protect Journalists, which has already said in response to Trump’s victory, “The fundamental right to a free press, guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US Constitution, must not be impaired” (11/6/24).
Margaret Sullivan (Guardian, 10/27/24), an avid media observer, said there is no reason to think Trump will soften his campaign against the free press. She said:
In 2022, he sued the Pulitzer Prize board after they defended their awards to the New York Times and the Washington Post. Both newspapers had won Pulitzer Prizes for investigating Trump’s ties to Russia.
More recently, Trump sued ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for defamation over the way the anchor characterized the verdict in E. Jean Carroll’s sexual misconduct case against him. Each of those cases is wending its way through the courts.
She added:
There is nothing to suggest that Trump would soften his approach in a second term. If anything, we can expect even more aggression.
Consider what one of Trump’s most loyal lieutenants, Kash Patel, has said.
“We’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections,” Patel threatened during a podcast with Steve Bannon. “Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out.”
Trump has already gone after the New York Times and Penguin Random House since Sullivan wrote this. CJR (11/14/24) said:
The letter, addressed to lawyers at the New York Times and Penguin Random House, arrived a week before the election. Attached was a discursive ten-page legal threat from an attorney for Donald Trump that demanded $10 billion in damages over “false and defamatory statements” contained in articles by Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner.
It singles out two stories coauthored by Buettner and Craig that related to their book on Trump and his financial dealings, Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success, released on September 17. It also highlighted an October 20 story headlined “For Trump, a Lifetime of Scandals Heads Toward a Moment of Judgment” by Baker and an October 22 piece by Schmidt, “As Election Nears, Kelly Warns Trump Would Rule Like a Dictator.”
And just before his victory, Trump sued CBS News, alleging the network’s “deceitful” editing of a recent 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris “misled the public and unfairly disadvantaged him” (CBS News, 10/31/24).
Expect more of this, except this time, Trump will have all the levers of the state on his side. And whatever moves the next Trump administration makes to attack the press will surely have a chilling effect, which will only empower his anti-democratic political agenda.
A comprehensive review of the revolving door between Fox and the second Trump administration
Trump has picked 5 former Foxers — so far
by Matt Gert, 11/13/24
Incoming president Donald Trump’s unprecedented relationship with Fox News is once again creating a revolving door between the right-wing propaganda network and his administration. Trump has named three current or former Fox employees to high-ranking positions in the week since he was elected president — and more seem sure to follow.
Trump, an obsessive Fox viewer whose worldview is shaped by the network’s programming, stocked his first-term White House and federal agencies with familiar faces from the network. At least 20 people with Fox on their resumes joined his administration over the course of his tenure, including Cabinet secretaries, top White House aides, and ambassadors.
Trump also consulted privately with an array of Fox stars, creating a shadow Cabinet of advisers with immense influence over government affairs whose key credential was their ability to attract attention via right-wing bombthrowing. And he frequently made important decisions based on what people were telling him on his favorite network — at times with disastrous results.
As Trump ramps up his second term, he is once again plucking top administration officials from the network’s stable.
The list below will be updated as additional former Fox employees join or leave the Trump administration.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… more https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/comprehensive-review-revolving-door-between-fox-and-second-trump-administration
Trump 2.0 promises US enabled Israeli genocide on steroids.
Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL, 15 Nov 24
President Biden set a high bar for enabling Israeli genocide in Gaza. Like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden didn’t’ lift a finger to bring the remaining 97 Israeli hostages back safely from Gaza. But he’s used over 50,000 tons of weapons, costing over $18 billion for Israel to complete the genocidal ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
He did nothing to force Israel to provide food, water and medicine to the 2,300,000 sick and starving Palestinians (less the 100,000 or so already dead) as a condition for supplying genocide weapons. On October 12th he issued a demand giving Israel 30 days to start allowing in life saving supplies. When Israel did nothing to comply, Biden essentially said ‘Just kidding about the consequences….keep up the genocide.’
But at least Biden said a ceasefire along with food and medicine were needed to stop the Palestinians’ suffering.
Unlike Biden, Trump will continue US genocide enabling without the veneer of sympathy for its victims. He repeatedly demands that Israel “Finish the job” in Gaza.
His picks on foreign policy promise even more genocide in Gaza compared to Biden’s tough act to follow.
Trump tabbed uberhawk Mike Waltz to be his National Security Advisor. Waltz is totally against ceasefire, charging it will only lead to larger Middle East war, when it’s only the ongoing genocide in Gaza fueling it. He’s a huge fan of Netanyahu’s conduct of the genocide, claiming Biden has been too reactive compared to Netanyahu’s proactive aggression.
Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick to run Defense, is all in for Israeli expanding the genocide in Gaza and bombing of Lebanon, to take out Iranian nuclear sites. He’s enamored of Israeli bombing and assassinations in Iran because he charges Biden is too weak to do it. He carries visible symbols of his beliefs—a large Crusader’s Jerusalem Cross tattoo on his chest and the biblical verse Matthew 10:34, which reads, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.” When in charge of Defense, Hegseth should change its name to Department of Endless War and Genocide.
Trump’s selection of Marco Rubio to head the State Department is equally dreadful. Rubio defends the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza saying “Israel’s enemies are also our enemies. The Iranian regime and its proxies – Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and a multitude of groups in Syria and Iraq seek Israel’s destruction as part of a multi-stage plan to dominate the Middle East and destabilize the West. The Jewish state is on the front lines of this conflict, fighting with many shared American-Israeli lives.” Rubio would be more accurate in saying ‘Israel is on the front lines of genocide.’
But Trump’s pick of Mike Huckabee to be Ambassador to Israel trumps even Waltz, Hegseph and Rubio for genocidal support. Huckabee, a Christian Evangelist claims “There is no such thing as a West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria. There’s no such thing as a settlement. They’re communities, they’re neighborhoods, they’re cities. There’s no such thing as occupation….there’s no such thing as a Palestinian.”
As grotesque as Biden’s enabling of Israeli genocide in Gaza is…Trump 2.0 figures to be much worse.
**Evaluation of Nuclear as a Solution**
in evaluating solutions to global warming, air pollution, and energy
security, two important questions that arise are
(1) should new nuclear
electricity-producing plants be built to help solve these problems, and
(2)
should existing, aged nuclear plants be kept open as long as possible to
help solve the problems?
This section discusses these issues after nuclear
power is explained.
In sum, before accounting for waste storage or meltdown
damage costs, a new nuclear lant costs about 3 to 4 times that of a new
onshore wind farm, takes 7 to 21 years longer between planning and
operation than a wind farm, and produces nine to 37 times the emissions per
unit electricity generated as a wind farm.
Thus, funds spent on new nuclear
means much less electricity, a much longer wait, and a much more emissions
than the same funds spent on WWS. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change similarly concludes that the economic, social, and technical
feasibility of nuclear power have not improved over time.
Stanford University 30th Oct 2024, https://web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/WWSStillNMN/SNMN-WhyNotNuclear.pdf
North Somerset Council says no to ‘crazy’ EDF salt marsh plan
Chard and Ilminster News, By John Wimperis, 15 Nov 24
NORTH Somerset Council is set to urge the government to block “crazy” plans to flood hundreds of acres of farmland near Kingston Seymour.
Power company EDF wants to turn a huge swath of farmland by the village into a salt marsh to make up for fish killed at Hinkley Point C.
But councillors are calling for EDF to drop the plan and instead invest in biodiversity in ways the area wants and needs.
“It is crazy, chairman, to destroy habitat to mitigate for killing fish,” Peter Burden, Conservative Portishead South, told a full council meeting November 12.
Burden tabled a motion, amended by Annemieke Waite (Winford, Green), for the council to urge the government to insist that EDF obey the original planning conditions.
Councillors voted to pass the resolution unanimously.
Steve Bridger (Yatton, Independent), a local councillor for the village on North Somerset Council, described the EDF plan as “ham-fisted.”
Farmers and businesses dismayed
Farmers and local businesses have expressed dismay at the plans. Third generation young farmer Sophie Cole, whose entire farm could be affected, said in September: “No amount of money can compensate me for the loss of my livelihood and exciting plans for the future.”
When Somerset’s new nuclear power station was granted planning permission, it was told to install speakers to scare off fish from getting sucked into its cooling systems.
But EDF now says this would be “dangerous to install,” and wants to compensate for the 44 tonnes of fish expected to die each year by creating 340 hectares of saltmarsh along the Severn……………………..
Mr Burden said any changes to sea defences should be dealt with in the same way as other shoreline changes.
“I think we should ask for serious amounts of cash to be put into proper nature conservation and environment improvements in the wider area, not set up a completely new scheme by an organisation that’s interested in making power,” he said.
Involving central government
The council resolution sees it commit to continue working with the Environment Agency and local communities to develop a strategy to protect residents and the natural habitat, and to write to Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband, as the secretaries of state responsible for local government and energy, to urge them to enforce the original planning conditions on EDF, and not let them swap them for creating salt marshes……….. https://www.chardandilminsternews.co.uk/news/24725089.north-somerset-council-says-no-crazy-edf-salt-marsh-plan/
Imprisoned ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder to ask Donald Trump for clemency, campaign attorney says
By Jeremy Pelzer, cleveland.com, COLUMBUS, Nov. 11, 2024,
Ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, who’s serving a 20-year prison sentence for overseeing the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history, is preparing to ask President-elect Donald Trump for clemency, according to his campaign’s attorney.
Householder, a Perry County Republican, is planning to submit an official pardon application to the U.S. Justice Department at some point closer to Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, according to the attorney, Scott Pullins.
“We will also be working to build support and communicate with the President and his team,” Pullins stated in a message. Pullins is not a member of Householder’s criminal defense team; rather, he’s advised Householder about legal and political matters over the years and represented him in some state elections cases.
Mark Marein, one of Trump’s criminal defense attorneys, declined comment.
U.S. presidents have the power to offer two kinds of executive clemency for federal crimes: a presidential pardon, and commuting a prison sentence. Either would result in Householder being immediately released from prison……………………………………………………………………….
Last year, Householder was convicted by a federal jury of leading a scheme to use $60 million in bribes from FirstEnergy to help pass and maintain House Bill 6, a 2019 energy law that offered the Akron-based utility a windfall of financial perks – headlined by a $1 billion-plus bailout of two Ohio nuclear power plants owned at the time by a company subsidiary.
……………………………………….. Even if Trump grants a presidential pardon for his federal conviction, Householder could still remain behind bars if he’s convicted of pending state-level charges filed against him last March claiming he lied on state ethics disclosure forms and illegally used campaign funds to pay criminal defense fees from his federal trial.
While Householder was prosecuted at trial by the office of U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, the House Bill 6 corruption investigation was launched under Parker’s predecessor, Trump appointee David DeVillers………………………………………….. more https://www.cleveland.com/news/2024/11/larry-householder-imprisoned-ex-ohio-house-speaker-to-ask-donald-trump-for-clemency-campaign-attorney-says.html?outputType=amp&fbclid=IwY2xjawGjYXRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHVnzOLnrs4RtAZadAmLBy1ftyo-ntH8VLFbM5eb32xO1e2i2iaCHrnYdmQ_aem_C0GQArV6rnh_v9JKVSeyGQ
Trumped: $9B to US and UK shipyards … but why not make Australia make again?
The Government is shy on spending money on a steel works which they would have complete control over, in terms of success, but are happy to recklessly throw money at US shipyards.
Senator David Shoebridge: “The AUKUS submarine deal is a non-refundable $368 billion gamble on the goodwill of some future US President, and the US just elected Donald Trump. You only need to put these two facts side by side to realize what a disaster the whole thing is.”
by Rex Patrick | Nov 16, 2024, https://michaelwest.com.au/aukus-9b-to-us-and-uk-shipyards-but-wait-theres-more/
Make Australia Make Again?
The future of Whyalla’s steelworks is of vital national importance and should matter to all of us. It is critical to Australia’s manufacturing, construction and national security and resilience.
Being frank, the steelworks are in dire straits. They are 60 years old and have been on a rocky road for well over a decade. Its blast furnace has been out of action for over six months now, and whilst there is some optimism that they will get it back up and running it will not change the fact that the steelworks have been in operation for some six decades.
In 2016 when the previous owner, Arrium, went into administration with $4 billion in debts, UK billionaire Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance bought the steelworks making lots of big promises for a bright future, but it was not to be. At the turn of the decade Greensill Capital, GFG’s financier, collapsed and there’s been trouble ever since.
As it stands, the future of the steelworks, and Whyalla, is in the hands of a court entangled foreign billionaire with a gaping chasm between his promises and delivery. Those promises of a 21st century industrial transformation look very much like ever receding mirages.
The Federal Government needs to have the SA Government bring matters to a head by putting GFG’s South Australian operations into administration (by calling for unpaid and overdue mining royalties), taking an equity stake in the steelworks alongside someone like BlueScope Steel, and investing the necessary billions to build a new green steel industry for Australia.
It would be a part of Make Australia Make Again.
Make America Great Again!
Prime Minister Albanese’s focus is on investment in US industry, not Australian industry.
In September 2023 the Federal Government announced it was pouring $4.7 billion ($US3B) into the US submarine industrial base to assist the largest economy in the world get their submarine production rate up to 2.3 subs per annum (from the current rate of 1.4 subs).
Some $1.5 billion will be paid to the US this financial year, and $1.8 billion next financial year. The remaining $1.4B will follow thereafter.
The Government is shy on spending money on a steel works which they would have complete control over, in terms of success, but are happy to recklessly throw money at US shipyards.
Go figure!
Make Great Britain Great Again Too!
That’s not the end of the story though.
The British are in on this deal of a lifetime too. They’ve managed to pull $4.4B (£2.4 billion) over the next decade from Australian consolidated revenue.
There is no clawback on payment to the United Kingdom either.
Everyone must be feeling pretty chuffed in Groton, Connecticut, and Barrow-in-Furness, England.
But Wait, There’s More!
Whilst the Federal Government has been open about the totals, albeit with a little ‘encouragement’ from Green’s Senator David Shoebridge at Senate Estimates, there’s a dark secret being withheld from the Parliament and the public.
There’s more ‘shared’ cost to come.
FOI returns from the US Department of the Navy reveal that behind the scenes the three AUKUS government participants have been negotiating trilateral cost sharing principles to guide future cost sharing negotiations.
Whilst the Federal Government has been open about the totals, albeit with a little ‘encouragement’ from Green’s Senator David Shoebridge at Senate Estimates, there’s a dark secret being withheld from the Parliament and the public.
There’s more ‘shared’ cost to come.
FOI returns from the US Department of the Navy reveal that behind the scenes the three AUKUS government participants have been negotiating trilateral cost sharing principles to guide future cost sharing negotiations.
Senator David Shoebridge backed this in telling MWM, “Why on earth do cost-sharing principles need to be secret? Of course they should be made public.”
He went on to comment, “Once again, we get more transparency on AUKUS out of the US than Australia.“
“The one-sided secrecy is because the US has a whole lot less to be embarrassed about than Australia. They are the ones getting all our money after all.”
Transactional Trump
Transactional Trump
The approved appropriations in the US for enhancing their submarine industrial base through upgrades as well as recruitment and training of thousands of additional workers amount to $US14.7B. Australia adds another $US3B to that. But the total the US administration is seeking for this work is in the order of $US28.4B.
Of course, there is some quid quo pro in all of this with the Australia Government having committed to spending $8 billion upgrading HMAS Stirling near Rockingham to support the operations of UK and US nuclear powered submarines from 2027, and possibly Australian nuclear submarines from 2035.
There is a danger under the incoming Trump administration that the President will seek a greater contribution from Australia – just as he has demanded that members of NATO pull their weight. And it will be a case of having no choice but to pay, no matter the cost sharing principles negotiated, because our Defence Department simply has no Plan B.
Senator Shoebridge commented, “The AUKUS submarine deal is a non-refundable $368 billion gamble on the goodwill of some future US President, and the US just elected Donald Trump. You only need to put these two facts side by side to realize what a disaster the whole thing is.”
Ships and Steel
Meanwhile, as Australian money is being tossed around the US and UK like it’s free, Albanese is sitting on his hand on the issue of green steel manufacturing in Whyalla.
Anthony Albanese says he wants to revitalise manufacturing and Make Australia Make Again. But in this topsy-turvey world, he’s instead working to deliver on Donald Trump’s slogan to Make America Great Again.
TODAY. Cop 30 Climate Summit probable change of venue – CorporateHub, Hades.
by Nicholas Beelzebub Lucifer, 14 November 2024 https://theaimn.com/cop-30-climate-summit-probable-change-of-venue-corporatehub-hades/
I was a bit disappointed not to be invited to Cop 29, the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference. But cheered up by the fact that anybody who’s really anybody is boycotting this fossil fuel financial talkfest is boycotting it anyway – Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra. Heck, even little U.S. hanger-on Australia’s not sending their little man,
And, I can assure you, that even though uninvited, I have had an influence on these gatherings right from the start. International climate action began with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992, but , really, nothing substantial happened until the Kyoto Protocol in December 1997, when nations sort of agreed to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. I happily predicted that this was doomed to failure, with the USA refusing to sign up, with China not included, and emissions target reductions woefully inadequate. Meanwhile the many Conferences of the Parties (COPs) held since 1995, have had the aim of reducing global warming, but with little effect .
My minions have worked on behalf of the polluting industries, and little Australia has been especially ingenious in appearing to support climate action, right from its original reluctance to sign and ratify Kyoto, through to its later ingenious use of carbon credits, to weaken climate action, despite its Kyoto and later Paris 2015 climate commitments.
Look, I’m acknowleging those tireless operators from many countries, who forwarded my interests – people like Mike Pompeo, (Who’s gone on to my greater causes – weapons and war), and Charles and David Koch, and the many thousands of well-paid lobbyists for fossil fuel companies. I do have a soft spot for Australia’s Scott Morrison, (who has now joined Mike Pompeo in the “defence” area)
It’s been so encouraging – in 2023 -the work of SULTAN AHMED AL JABER, and now Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev at Cop 29 – “Oil and gas are a ‘gift of God'”
But now it is time to take things into my own hands. So, while Brazil planned for COP 30 is OK (I’m happy that President Lula da Silva is boycotting COP 29) – well, it’s not adequate. COP 30 should be held in my capital, CorporateHub, Hades.
I’ve waited a long time, since I was so unjustly expelled from my top position in that smug boring country above, that tries to suck souls up. Indeed, since then, my goal has been to “go up and down, to and fro in the earth, seeking to destroy the souls of men”. I’ve had moderate success, with quite a few men. Women have been more difficult, but they shouldn’t count anyway. Indeed, if we can eliminate abortion, contraception, family planning etc, they’ll soon be put back in their place.
Mightily powerful and great as am, I could use a bit of help from the human species. And now, comes the time of opportunity. Not only is the USA President boycotting the current climate conference, but the President-elect, Donald Trump is strongly on my side on this climate matter(and on quite a few others!).
Under Trump the USA will:
- again withdraw from the Paris agreement,
- end climate reporting and regulation, politicising Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria and related climate policies,
- hinder the renewable energy transition by gutting Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)
His appointments to his coming administration bring joy to my heart: they mostly focus on my other favourite causes – like hatred of China, and support for Israel’s genocide of Gazans. But I’m sure that Trump will bring thorough attention to the climate issue. He’s starting by choosing Lee Zeldin to lead the Environment Protection Agency. I am disappointed that he’s excluded my old friend Mike Pompeo. But there’s plenty of time to remedy that, when Donald moves on from those primary causes. Happily the great Elon Musk used to be on the side of the climate activists – but now, dedicated to colonising Mars, Elon is back in my camp.
In the meantime, COP 29 is making a good start. Papua New Guinea’s pulled out of the climate summit due to frustration over “empty promises and inaction”. Squabbles over finance are the big thing now, in notoriously corrupt Azerbaijan. Already, Argentina has withdrawn due to dissatisfaction over climate finance negotiations.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warns of “a stampede of greed that crushes the poor.”
There are so many COP goals that interfere with mine, and with corporate interests – the main goal – cutting back to net zero greenhouse gas emissions – ridiculous and intolerable! Fortunately the big new thing, AI, just has to have boundless energy, boundless fossil fuel emissions, the and then radioactive emissions from nuclear power. Then there’s the absurdity of cutting back on water use, and deforestation. Oh it’s a good new era for me, and all my fellow fallen cherabim, and for our all our devout corporate, political and media followers.
So, I look forward to a robust discussion on the way forward for future COP climate summits. We will ban that disgraced Antonio Guterres and his ilk. We will have a truly glorious international, intergalactic meeting in our capital city CorporateHub, in Hades.
‘No sign’ of promised fossil fuel transition as emissions hit new high
There is “no sign” of the transition away from burning fossil fuels
that was pledged by the world’s nations a year ago, with 2024 on track to
set another new record for global carbon emissions.
The new data, released
at the UN’s Cop29 climate conference in Azerbaijan, indicates that the
planet-heating emissions from coal, oil and gas will rise by 0.8% in 2024.
In stark contrast, emissions have to fall by 43% by 2030 for the world to
have any chance of keeping to the 1.5C temperature target and limiting
“increasingly dramatic” climate impacts on people around the globe.
The world’s nations agreed at Cop28 in Dubai in 2023 to “transition away”
from fossil fuels, a decision hailed as a landmark given that none of the
previous 27 summits had called for restrictions on the primary cause of
global heating. On Monday, the Cop28 president, Sultan Al Jaber, told the
summit in Baku: “History will judge us by our actions, not by our
words.”
Guardian 13th Nov 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/12/cancel-drilling-north-sea-oilfields-court-greenpeace-uplift-rosebank-jackdaw
The Future of Nuclear Power is Wrought with Challenges
My analysis indicates that while advanced modular nuclear reactors might theoretically be helpful for the very long term, they cannot fix the problems of the US, and other countries in the West, nearly quickly enough. I expect that the Trump administration, which will start in January 2025, will see this program as a boondoggle.
Strangely enough, the US has no working model of a small-scale nuclear reactor, even one operating on conventional fuel.
Oil Price, By Gail Tverberg – Nov 12, 2024
The world is facing a growing shortage of uranium, the essential fuel for nuclear power plants.
The US is heavily reliant on Russia and its allies for enriched uranium, creating geopolitical risks.
Recycling spent nuclear fuel is expensive, complex, and faces significant environmental and security challenges.
It is easy to get the impression that proposed new modular nuclear generating units will solve the problems of nuclear generation. Perhaps they will allow more nuclear electricity to be generated at a low cost and with much less of a problem with spent fuel.
As I analyze the situation, however, the problems associated with nuclear electricity generation are more complex and immediate than most people perceive. My analysis shows that the world is already dealing with “not enough uranium from mines to go around.” In particular, US production of uranium “peaked”about 1980 (Figure 1 on original).
For many years, the US was able to down-blend nuclear warheads (both purchased from Russia and from its own supply) to get around its uranium supply deficit.
Today, the inventory of nuclear warheads has dropped quite low. There are few warheads available for down-blending. This is creating a limit on uranium supply that is only now starting to hit.
Nuclear warheads, besides providing uranium in general, are important for the fact that they provide a concentrated source of uranium-235, which is the isotope of uranium that can sustain a nuclear reaction. With the warhead supply depleting, the US has a second huge problem: developing a way to produce nuclear fuel, probably mostly from spent fuel, with the desired high concentration of uranium-235. Today, Russia is the primary supplier of enriched uranium.
The plan of the US is to use government research grants to kickstart work on new small modular nuclear reactors that will be more efficient than current nuclear plants. These reactors will use a new fuel with a higher concentration of uranium-235 than is available today, except through purchase from Russia. Grants are also being given to start work on US production of the more highly enriched uranium fuel within the US. It is hoped that most of this highly enriched uranium can come from recycling spent nuclear fuel, thus helping to solve the problem of what to do with the supply of spent fuel.
My analysis indicates that while advanced modular nuclear reactors might theoretically be helpful for the very long term, they cannot fix the problems of the US, and other countries in the West, nearly quickly enough. I expect that the Trump administration, which will start in January 2025, will see this program as a boondoggle.
Current problems with nuclear electricity generation are surprisingly hidden. World electricity generation from nuclear has been close to flat since 2004.
Although there was a dip in world generation of nuclear electricity after the tsunami that affected nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan, in 2011, otherwise world production of nuclear electricity has been nearly flat since 2004 (Figure 3 on original)……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Recycling of spent fuel to recover usable uranium and plutonium has been accomplished only to a limited extent. Experience to date suggests that recycling has many issues……………………………………………..
There seem to be several issues with building units to recover uranium from spent fuel:
- Higher cost than simply mining more uranium
- Pollution problems from the recycling plants
- Potential for use of the output to make nuclear warheads
- Potential for nuclear accidents within the plants
- Remaining radioactivity at the site at the end of the reprocessing plant’s life, and thus the need to decommission such plants
- Potential for many protestors disrupting construction and operation because of issues (2), (3), (4), and (5)
The US outlawed recycling of spent fuel in 1977, after a few not-very-successful attempts. Once the purchase of Russian warheads was arranged, down-blending of warheads was a much less expensive approach than reprocessing spent fuel. Physics Today recently reported the following regarding US reprocessing:
“A plant in West Valley, New York, reprocessed spent fuel for six years before closing in 1972. Looking to expand the plant, the owners balked at the costs required for upgrades needed to meet new regulatory standards. Construction of a reprocessing plant in Barnwell, South Carolina, was halted in 1977 following the Carter administration’s ban.”
Japan has been trying to build a commercial spent fuel reprocessing plant at Rokkasho since 1993, but it has had huge problems with cost overruns and protests by many groups. The latest estimate of when the plant will actually be completed is fiscal year 2026 or 2027.
The largest commercial spent fuel reprocessing plant in operation is in La Hague, France. It has been in place long enough (since 1966) that it has run into the issue of decommissioning an old unit, which was started as a French military project. The first processing unit was shut down in 2003. The International Atomic Energy Administration says, “The UP2-400 decommissioning project began some 20 years ago and may be expected to continue for several more years.” It talks about the huge cost and number of people involved. It says, “Decommissioning activities represent roughly 20 per cent of the overall activity and socio-economic impact of the La Hague site, which also hosts two operating spent fuel recycling plants.”
The cost of the La Hague reprocessing units is probably not fully known. They were built by government agencies. They have gone through various owners including AREVA. AREVA has had huge financial problems. The successor company is Orano. The currently operating units have the capacity to process about 1,700 metric tons of fuel per year. The 1700 metric tons of reprocessing of spent fuel from La Hague is reported to be nearly half of the world’s operating capacity for recycling spent fuel.The plant would process 800 metric tons of fuel per year.
I understand that Russia is working on approaches that quite possibly are not included in my figures. If so, this may add to world uranium supply, but Russia is not likely to want to share the benefits with the West if there is not enough to go around……………………………………………………………………………………….
The US is trying to implement many new ideas at one time with virtually no successful working models to smooth the transition.
Strangely enough, the US has no working model of a small-scale nuclear reactor, even one operating on conventional fuel. A CNBC article from September 2024 says, Small nuclear reactors could power the world, the challenge is building the first one in the US…………………………………………………………………………………….
Starting at this level, it is difficult to see how reactors with the new technology and the HALEU fuel to feed them can possibly be available in quantity before 2050.
It is difficult to see how the cost of electricity generated using the new advanced modular nuclear reactors and the new HALEU fuel, created by reprocessing spent fuel, could be low.
As far as I can see, the main argument that these new modular electricity generation plants will be affordable is that they will only generate a relatively small amount of electricity at once —about 300 megawatts or less, or about one third of the average of conventional nuclear reactors in the US. Because of the smaller electricity output, the hope is that they will be affordable by more buyers, such as utility companies.
The issue that is often overlooked by economists is that electricity generated using these new techniques needs to be low cost, per kilowatt-hour, to be helpful. High-cost electricity is not affordable. Keeping costs down when many new approaches are being tried for the first time is likely to be a huge hurdle. I look through the long list of problems encountered in recycling spent fuel mentioned in Section [6] and wonder whether these issues can be inexpensively worked around. There are also issues with adopting and installing the proposed new advanced modular reactors, such as security, that I have not even tried to address.https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/The-Future-of-Nuclear-Power-is-Wrought-with-Challenges.html
Head of UN nuclear watchdog: ‘Dire straits dynamic’ with Iran’s nuclear program amid Mideast wars
Daily Mail, By ASSOCIATED PRESS, 13 November 2024
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) – The head of the United Nations´ nuclear watchdog said Tuesday he’s hopeful that meetings this week with Iranian officials, including the country’s new president, can lead to a breakthrough in monitoring the country’s nuclear program, a longstanding issue that has gained new urgency as Israel has twice struck Iran amid rising tensions in the Middle East.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, will travel to Iran on Wednesday to meet for the first time with President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was elected in July. Grossi said he hopes to build on positive discussions he had with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during the U.N. General Assembly in September.
“We have a problem that we need to solve,” Grossi said in an interview at the U.N. climate conference in Azerbaijan. “That is this gap, this lack of confidence, which we should not allow to grow into a self-fulfilling prophecy of using nuclear facilities as targets.”
He added: “There has been a bit of a dire straits dynamic with Iran that we want to go beyond.”
Iran is rapidly advancing its atomic program while increasing stockpiles of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, all in defiance of international demands, according to the IAEA. Iran says its program is for energy purposes, not to build weapons.
Grossi’s visit comes as Israel and Iran have traded missile attacks in recent months after more than a year of war in Gaza, which is governed by Hamas, a group supported by Iran……………………………………………………………………………….. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-14073759/Head-UN-nuclear-watchdog-Dire-straits-dynamic-Irans-nuclear-program-amid-Mideast-wars.html
Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market Expected to Reach $11.79 Billion by 2034 – BIS Research
Industry Today 12th Nov 2024
As nuclear facilities worldwide reach the end of their operational lives, the nuclear decommissioning services market is witnessing substantial growth. The Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market is projected to grow from $6.70 billion in 2024 to $11.79 billion by 2034, fueled by the rising number of decommissioned nuclear facilities and the increasing emphasis on sustainable practices.
Published 12 November 2024
Market Overview
Market Size and Growth Rate
The Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market is projected to grow from $6.70 billion in 2024 to $11.79 billion by 2034, at a CAGR of 5.81% during the forecast period. This growth is driven by the escalating number of decommissioned reactors and a shift toward stringent regulatory frameworks prioritizing safe and sustainable decommissioning processes. …………………………………………………..
Demand Drivers
The market is significantly driven by the retirement of aging nuclear facilities, increased regulatory scrutiny, and advancements in decommissioning technology. Environmental sustainability mandates are pushing the demand for efficient and compliant decommissioning solutions.
Challenges
Complex regulatory requirements and high costs remain key challenges. Additionally, the intricate nature of nuclear waste disposal raises concerns over potential delays and budget overruns in large-scale decommissioning projects. …………………………………………………………………………………………………….
The successful [whaaa-aa-aat!] decommissioning of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant highlights the potential for advanced decommissioning technology to manage complex sites safely and efficiently. ……………………………………………..https://industrytoday.co.uk/energy_and_environment/nuclear-decommissioning-services-market-expected-to-reach-1179-billion-by-2034-bis-research
Other sites considered for UK’s nuclear waste disposal
A government agency says it is “considering other options” for the location
of a nuclear waste disposal site on the Lincolnshire coast. Nuclear Waste
Services’ (NWS) plans for a geological disposal facility (GDF) includes a
land-based facility which would accept waste and send it through tunnels to
a disposal area under the sea.
The search has been focussed on a former gas
terminal in Theddlethorpe but, in an update issued on Tuesday, NWS said
“competing interests” in the site had “matured” over the past year. It
added a “range of studies” was being carried out in the search area which
includes the electoral wards of Mablethorpe and Withern and Theddlethorpe.
In the update, external, NWS’ communities director Simon Hughes said: “No
decisions on these options have been made at this stage, we will publish an
update early next year and our teams will be out in communities to explain
our findings, hear feedback and consider next steps.”
For more than three years, Nuclear Waste Services has been eyeing up the former Theddlethorpe gas terminal as a suitable location for the land-based part of its
geological storage facility or GDF. This facility would receive the nuclear
waste before transporting it through tunnels to rocks deep beneath the sea.
But, since NWS announced its plans in 2021, the gas terminal site has
attracted other interest from other energy industries. There are proposals
for a carbon capture and storage facility there, the possibility of a
gas-fired power station and the site is also being considered as a location
to bring electricity cables ashore from North Sea windfarms. In other words
– it’s getting crowded.
The proposed location for the under-sea disposal
site remains unchanged. But NWS is now widening its search for the
land-based facility. Crucially, this search will be confined to two
electoral wards – Mablethorpe and Withern and Theddlethorpe. But NWS will
not identify a specific location until next year.
BBC 12th Nov 2024 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3e8pex248yo
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23-25 October – on Zoom – World BEYOND War’s annual global conferenc
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
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Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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