How green is the UK Government’s nuclear energy strategy?
Small modular reactors have been touted as a solution to reaching net-zero – but how safe are they and will they do the job?
By Lucie Heath, Environment Correspondent, 28 Dec 23, https://inews.co.uk/news/how-green-is-the-governments-nuclear-energy-strategy-2824596
The Government has pledged to boost the country’s nuclear energy capacity, setting itself a target to power a quarter of the national grid with nuclear energy by 2050.
But i has revealed that the transition to nuclear energy has been beset by delays, prompting former prime pinister Boris Johnson to urge Rishi Sunak to “get on with it”.
Mr Johnson has been a vocal supporter of nuclear energy and has championed the development of new small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs).
SMRs have been touted as a key solution as the world transitions towards a net-zero future, but some have raised questions regarding the green credentials and viability of the technology.
Here i fact-checks the key claims with regards to SMRs.
Nuclear is low carbon
True or False: True
Ed. comment. That’s as long as you don’t count the CO2 emissions from the full nuclear fuel cycle, and the waste disposal methods.
Nuclear power is considered to be a low carbon source of energy. It has a minimal carbon footprint of around 15–50 grams of CO2 per kilowatt hour (gCO2/KWh), compared to an average footprint of around 450 gCO2/KWh for a gas powered generator and 1,050 gCO2/KWh for coal.
According to the International Energy Association (IEA), over the past 50 years the use of nuclear power has reduced CO2 emissions by over 60 gigatonnes – nearly two years’ worth of global energy-related emissions.
While nuclear produces far less CO2 than fossil fuels, environmentalists dispute its green credentials, not least due to the high volume of radioactive waste created as part of the fuel cycle.
SMRs will play a key role in the energy transition
True or False: Jury’s out
Small modular reactors have many potential benefits that overcome some of the hurdles of traditional nuclear reactor sites.
Their smaller size means that can be placed in locations not suited to large power plants and the modular nature of their design means they should be cheaper and quicker to build.
But as of 2023, only Russia and China have successfully built operational SMRs, and neither are in commercial use.
Mr Johnson’s plan to have the UK’s first SMRs contributing to the grid by 2030 looks increasingly unlikely. Rolls-Royce, which was one of the winners of a Government competition to develop them in the UK, recently told MPs its project could be contributing to the grid by 2031-32 at the very earliest.
MPs sitting on the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee recently published a report that described the Government’s nuclear strategy as more of a “wish list” and said ministers need to make it clearer what role SMRs will play in the energy transition.
SMRs are cheaper to build
True or False: Unclear
This section fails to mention the one and only commercial application of small nuclear reactors - the NuScale attempt in the USA, which was a financial fiasco, and had to be cancelled.
One of the largest hurdles to the deployment of nuclear energy are the huge costs of developing new plants. In theory, SMRs should be cheaper to build due to their size and modular nature, allowing for prefabrication.
However, it is not known exactly what the cost will be to the public purse of developing new SMRs in the UK.
The Environmental Audit Committee recently launched an inquiry into the topic, saying it was “currently unclear what financing models will be used to fund SMRs”.
Critics of nuclear argue it would be wiser to spend money on the deployment of renewable energy, which is cheaper to build.
SMRs are safer
True or false: True in theory
Safety has proved to be a massive issue preventing wider uptake of nuclear energy in the past. Incidents such as the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident have sparked greater fears regarding the vulnerability of plants during a natural disaster, while nuclear stations can also be a risk during times of conflict, such as in Ukraine.
Proponents of SMRs say they are safer than traditional reactors, partly because their smaller core produces less heat, reducing the likelihood of overheating. A number of other innovations exist in their design which in theory should reduce the risk of failure.
While seen as being safer than large plants, SMRs are still associated with many of the same risks as traditional nuclear.
Feds back away from harsh rating of SC nuclear plant, but will keep an eye on it BY SAMMY FRETWELL UPDATED DECEMBER 28, 2023
27 Dec 23 https://www.thestate.com/news/local/environment/article283528323.html
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has toned down concerns it had raised about a safety system at the V.C. Summer power plant northwest of Columbia — but the agency says it will keep an eye on the facility. After hearing from Dominion Energy, the federal oversight agency recently reduced a “yellow’’ safety finding to a “white’’ finding. Both ratings flag concerns about the quality of operations at nuclear plants, but yellow findings are more serious. The NRC has had its eye on the Summer plant because the power company failed for two decades to stop cracks and leaks in its backup diesel generator system. The system is designed to provide electricity to parts of the nuclear plant in the event of a power outage.
Proper maintenance and operation of the backup diesel generators ensures that water will continue to circulate through the atomic reactor during an emergency. Without cooling water, reactor cores can overheat and release radiation. In an email to The State this week, the NRC said it downgraded the yellow finding to white after Dominion presented more evidence that the emergency diesel generator system’s shortcomings were not as serious as originally thought. The power company, which owns the nuclear plant, showed that the diesel generator system, even with the problems that had been outlined, could operate for six hours during an emergency. That would give plant workers time to take additional measures to avoid a problem, according to the nuclear agency.
“The insight into the generator’s capacity led the NRC to reassess the issue’s safety significance, ultimately concluding that it posed a lower risk than initially assessed,’’ the email from NRC spokesman Dave Gasperson said. The NRC’s scale of severity for nuclear plant problems runs from green, which is of least concern, to red, which is of most concern. A yellow finding is the second most serious. White findings are less serious than yellow, but greater than green. Cracks and leaks involving the diesel generator system occurred on at least five occasions from 2003 to 2022, according to the NRC.
Each time, Dominion — or its predecessor, SCE&G — fixed the problems. But the utilities never resolved to the NRC’s satisfaction why the cracks and leaks continued to occur. The full reason for the problems remains unclear, but previous NRC reports suggested that vibrations and maintenance of the pipes that later cracked may have contributed. The problems were found during testing at the plant, so they did not occur during an actual emergency. Despite lowering the safety rating from yellow to white, the NRC will conduct an additional inspection at the V.C. Summer plant, according to a Dec. 21 letter from the agency’s regional administrator, Laura Dudes, to Dominion nuclear chief Eric Carr.
The agency will make sure the cause of the problems are fully understood and that changes made by Dominion are sufficient to ensure problems at the plant don’t happen again, the letter said. “This inspection aims to ensure Dominion Energy has thoroughly analyzed the root cause and implemented effective measures to prevent recurrence,’’ according to the NRC’s email. Dominion, in a statement this week, said it is replacing piping in the diesel generator system and has improved the design of the fuel delivery system. “More resilient piping’’ will be installed in the first quarter of 2024, the company said.
“Dominion Energy’s commitment to safety, along with the NRC’s process for regulating nuclear power stations, ensure we continue to operate to the highest safety standards,’’ the company’s statement said. The company also noticed that one of the problems, found in November 2022, marked the first time in 40 years that a fuel oil leak had made an emergency diesel generator inoperable. Problems with cracks in the diesel generator system were uncovered at about the same time electrical problems with the system were noted last year.
In that case, an electrical problem was found in the plant’s “B” diesel generator system. That made the system inoperable for several weeks in 2022. In that case, the NRC also said the company failed to correct the problem and issued a white finding against Dominion. The history of problems with the generator system prompted one nuclear power watchdog to express reservations about the NRC’s recent decision to drop the safety designation from yellow to white. Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said Dominion’s assurances appear to be “pencil-sharpening exercises that make a bad situation look better on paper.’’ Most of the risk from the cracks and leaks comes from the possibility of fires that could break out, he said.
“I think that given the length of time that this problem was ignored, since at least 2003, despite warning signs, … the more serious finding was warranted,’’ Lyman said in an email. Dominion Energy’s V.C. Summer plant is located about 25 miles northwest of Columbia in Fairfield County. Its former owner, SCE&G, attempted to build two additional reactors, but the project was beset by cost overruns and delays and was ultimately abandoned in 2017.
Inside the Pentagon’s Painfully Slow Effort to Clean Up Decades of PFAS Contamination
By Hannah Norman and Patricia Kime / Kaiser Health News, December 28, 2023
Oscoda, Michigan, has the distinction as the first community where “forever chemicals” were found seeping from a military installation into the surrounding community. Beginning in 2010, state officials and later residents who lived near the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base were horrified to learn that the chemicals, collectively called PFAS, had leached into their rivers, lakes, and drinking water…………………………………….
PFAS chemicals have been linked to increased cholesterol levels, preeclampsia in pregnant women, decreased birth weights, and decreased immune response to vaccines, as well as certain types of cancer. A federal study of U.S. military personnel published in July was the first to show a direct connection between PFAS and testicular cancer, and the chemicals have been linked to increased risk of kidney cancer…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. more https://scheerpost.com/2023/12/28/inside-the-pentagons-painfully-slow-effort-to-clean-up-decades-of-pfas-contamination/
France’s Council of State opinion on a Bill relating to governance of nuclear safety in relaunching the nuclear sector
Only France could produce such a load of linguistical gymastics as this lengthy gobbledygook.
I’ve read the whole of the original, and still don’t understand it. I think it means that the Council of State thinks that what the government plans – is OK
It could mean a bit of privatising of some nuclear bits is OK. And the military connection is OK?
“the Council of State considers it unnecessary to provide, as the bill does, that the powers of the future authority do not extend to nuclear installations and activities of interest to defense”,”
“the bill modifies the rules currently applicable to ASN staff, in particular so that the ASNR can employ employees under private law,……… including 140 who will be automatically made available. of the Ministry of Defense for missions concerning it”
The Government has decided to make public
the opinion of the Council of State relating to the organization of the
governance of nuclear safety and radiation protection to meet the challenge
of relaunching the nuclear sector.
This bill, which includes twenty-two
articles, is organized into two titles respectively entitled “Nuclear
Safety and Radiation Protection Authority” and “Adaptation of the rules
of public procurement to nuclear projects” corresponding to its two
objects, which are distinct.
Title I includes provisions relating to the
missions and operation of the new independent administrative authority
(AAI) created by the bill, called the Nuclear Safety and Radiation
Protection Authority (ASNR) and resulting from the merger of the current
Nuclear Safety Authority. Nuclear Safety (ASN), which is an AAI, and the
Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), which is a
public industrial and commercial establishment of the State (EPIC). This
title also includes provisions relating to the statutes and representation
of staff of the new authority and transitional provisions, particularly
concerning employees currently employed by the IRSN.
Council of State 22nd Dec 2023
Why Artificial Intelligence is a disaster for the climate.
What this excellent article does not go on to explain is that the “tech gods” (that’s Musk, Gates, Bezos etc) are happy to have nuclear power expand – to fill the endless hunger for electricity of artificial intelligence and the rest of the digital marvels to come.
AI requires staggering amounts of computing power. And since computers require electricity, and the necessary GPUs (graphics processing units) run very hot (and therefore need cooling), the technology consumes electricity at a colossal rate. Which, in turn, means CO2 emissions on a large scale – about which the industry is extraordinarily coy, while simultaneously boasting about using offsets and other wheezes to mime carbon neutrality.
Guardian, John Naughton, 24 December 23
Amid all the hysteria about ChatGPT and co, one thing is being missed: how energy-intensive the technology is.
What to do when surrounded by people who are losing their minds about the Newest New Thing? Answer: reach for the Gartner Hype Cycle, an ingenious diagram that maps the progress of an emerging technology through five phases: the “technology trigger”, which is followed by a rapid rise to the “peak of inflated expectations”; this is succeeded by a rapid decline into the “trough of disillusionment”, after which begins a gentle climb up the “slope of enlightenment” – before eventually (often years or decades later) reaching the “plateau of productivity”.
Given the current hysteria about AI, I thought I’d check to see where it is on the chart. It shows that generative AI (the polite term for ChatGPT and co) has just reached the peak of inflated expectations. That squares with the fevered predictions of the tech industry (not to mention governments) that AI will be transformative and will soon be ubiquitous. This hype has given rise to much anguished fretting about its impact on employment, misinformation, politics etc, and also to a deal of anxious extrapolations about an existential risk to humanity.
All of this serves the useful function – for the tech industry, at least – of diverting attention from the downsides of the technology that we are already experiencing: bias, inscrutability, unaccountability and its tendency to “hallucinate”, to name just four. And, in particular, the current moral panic also means that a really important question is missing from public discourse: what would a world suffused with this technology do to the planet? Which is worrying because its environmental impact will, at best, be significant and, at worst, could be really problematic.
How come? Basically, because AI requires staggering amounts of computing power. And since computers require electricity, and the necessary GPUs (graphics processing units) run very hot (and therefore need cooling), the technology consumes electricity at a colossal rate. Which, in turn, means CO2 emissions on a large scale – about which the industry is extraordinarily coy, while simultaneously boasting about using offsets and other wheezes to mime carbon neutrality.
The implication is stark: the realisation of the industry’s dream of “AI everywhere” (as Google’s boss once put it) would bring about a world dependent on a technology that is not only flaky but also has a formidable – and growing – environmental footprint. Shouldn’t we be paying more attention to this?
Fortunately, some people are, and have been for a while. A study in 2019, for example, estimated the carbon footprint of training a single early large language model (LLM) such as GPT-2 at about 300,000kg of CO2 emissions – the equivalent of 125 round-trip flights between New York and Beijing. Since then, models have become exponentially bigger and their training footprints will therefore be proportionately larger.
But training is only one phase in the life cycle of generative AI. In a sense, you could regard those emissions as a one-time environmental cost. What happens, though, when the AI goes into service, enabling millions or perhaps billions of users to interact with it? In industry parlance, this is the “inference” phase – the moment when you ask Stable Diffusion to “create an image of Rishi Sunak fawning on Elon Musk while Musk is tweeting poop emojis on his phone”. That request immediately triggers a burst of computing in some distant server farm. What’s the carbon footprint of that? And of millions of such interactions every minute – which is what a world of ubiquitous AI will generate?……………………………………………………more https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/23/ai-chat-gpt-environmental-impact-energy-carbon-intensive-technology
Japan allows world’s biggest nuclear plant to restart
DW, 27 Dec 23
The safety ban on TEPCO’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant has been lifted, allowing it to become operational once again. However, the facility still needs permission from local government bodies
Japan’s nuclear regulator announced Wednesday that it has lifted its safety ban on Tokyo Electric Power’s (TEPCO) Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, the largest in the world in terms of capacity.
TEPCO has been looking to restart the plant due to high operating costs. It must now seek permission from local bodies in the Niigata prefecture, Kashiwazaki city, and Kariwa village.
Why was the ban imposed?
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant has a capacity of 8,212 megawatts (MW) and was TEPCO’s only operable atomic power station. It has been offline since 2012, after the Fukushima disaster in March 2011 led to the shutdown of all nuclear power plants in Japan……………………
Previously in 2021, the NRA had barred the plant from operating due to safety breaches and insufficient antiterrorism measures. This included a failure to protect nuclear materials and an incident that involved an unauthorized staff member accessing sensitive areas of the plant.
It had then issued an order that prevented TEPCO from transporting new uranium fuel to the plant or loading fuel rods into its reactors……………………….
After the decision, TEPCO said it would continue to work towards gaining the trust of the local community and society at large. On Tuesday, a Tokyo court ruled that TEPCO, the only operator of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant, had to pay damages to dozens of evacuees.
Japan has been trying to reactivate all domestic nuclear power plants that comply with the safety network, to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels which need to be imported. But in some cases, there is opposition from locals or other regulatory bodies. https://www.dw.com/en/japan-allows-worlds-biggest-nuclear-plant-to-restart/a-67829687
Low-Flying Helicopters Will Monitor Any Nuclear Threat In Las Vegas This Weekend
Matt Novak, Senior Contributor Forbes 27 Dec 23
If you see low-flying helicopters over the Las Vegas strip during the next few days, don’t be alarmed. The U.S. Department of Energy is conducting surveillance flights to make sure any potential terrorists aren’t able to sneak a dirty bomb into the tourist destination. And, believe it or not, it’s the kind of surveillance that’s been happening since the 1970s, even if it doesn’t always get a public announcement.
The low-flying aircraft are operated by the National Nuclear Security Administration under a special group called the Nuclear Emergency Support Team, which was established almost 50 years ago to protect the U.S. from nuclear threats.
The flights are scheduled for Friday, Dec. 29 and Sunday, Dec. 31 to prepare for the big New Year’s Eve celebrations in Las Vegas.
“The public may see NNSA’s twin-engine Bell 412 helicopter, which is equipped with radiation-sensing technology,” the Department of Energy said in a press release on Wednesday………………..
The helicopter flights first measure the amount of background radiation that’s naturally occurring in a major city and allow investigators to look out for any abnormal radiation, which would be present if terrorists ever constructed what’s called a “dirty bomb” from nuclear material.
The NEST task force was first set up in 1975 after a number of nuclear threats against major American cities, many of which didn’t make the evening news and were only revealed decades later in the book Defusing Armageddon by Jeffrey T. Richelson. Some of the threats turned out to be just kids, like the 14-year-old who threatened to blow up Orlando in 1970 if he didn’t get $1 million. But other threats stemmed from instances where actual nuclear material was stolen from U.S. labs.
And that’s why NEST has been in action ever since, largely working behind the scenes, as many Americans have no idea that the Department of Energy is even monitoring for such things. But they’re constantly monitoring for nuclear threats, especially during large events like the Super Bowl or New Year’s Eve celebrations in a city like Las Vegas………………………………….. more https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/12/27/low-flying-helicopters-will-monitor-any-nuclear-threat-in-las-vegas-this-weekend/?sh=13cd7d4784b9
Sunak to scale back nuclear target in latest UK net zero climbdown
Ministers are preparing to scale back the UK’s nuclear power target in
Rishi Sunak’s latest net zero climbdown. Draft versions of a new
“nuclear roadmap” circulating in Whitehall suggest Claire Coutinho, the
Energy Secretary, will next month commit to building a minimum of 16
gigawatts of capacity by 2050, The Telegraph understands.
Under Boris Johnson, as prime minister, the Government promised up to 24 gigawatts of
capacity by the middle of the century. It is also understood the roadmap
will not include an interim target for 2035, despite this being a key
recommendation of a net zero review published in January.
The lower target is thought to follow private warnings from some parts of industry that
Britain lacks the required workforce and supply chains to deliver reactors
at the pace needed to reach the 24-gigawatt goal. It is envisioned that
nuclear capacity will come from both “gigawatt-scale” plants and small
modular nuclear reactors, which are a new generation of factory-built,
mini-power stations.
A Whitehall source on Friday suggested that the final
target remained a subject of internal debate, with Ms Coutinho still
supportive of an ambition to reach 24 gigawatts.
Hinkley Point C in Somerset, the only plant under construction, has been plagued by delays and cost overruns that threaten to push back the start of generation to the
2030s, compared to an original target of 2025. Earlier this month it was
reported that the price tag for the scheme is now set to breach the latest
£32.7bn estimate, up from an original proposal of £18bn, and owner
EDF’s Chinese partner, China General Nuclear, is refusing to put in more
cash.
After the nuclear roadmap is set out in January, the Government and
Great British Nuclear (GBN) are expected to announce the winners of the
next stage of a programme to fund development of small modular reactors.
GBN is also expected to update a list of sites suitable for nuclear power
plants, consult on possible routes to market for so-called advanced modular
reactors and investigate what technology should be used for future
generations of gigawatt-scale plants after Hinkley and Sizewell.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on Friday rejected suggestions
that the Government was planning to scale back its nuclear target. A
spokesman said: “The Civil Nuclear Roadmap will set how we will meet our
ambitious targets to deliver up to 24GW of low-carbon nuclear energy by
2050, or a quarter of the UK’s power demands.
Telegraph 23rd Dec 2023
Amazon drought: ‘We’ve never seen anything like this’
The Amazon rainforest experienced its worst drought on record in 2023.
Many villages became unreachable by river, wildfires raged and wildlife
died. Some scientists worry events like these are a sign that the world’s
biggest forest is fast approaching a point of no return.
BBC 26th Dec 2023
US….Arsenal of Genocide in Gaza
Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL 27 Dec 23
During 80 days of mass destruction and human slaughter in Gaza, the US has done its part. President Biden has shipped 10,000 tons of US weapons to help Israel utterly destroy Gaza. Took 244 cargo planes and 20 ships to deliver all those weapons of mass civilian destruction with endless more on the way.
In WWII the US was the Arsenal of Democracy in defeating fascism. In the current Israeli war on the entirety of Gaza, the US has morphed into the Arsenal of Genocide in destroying the Palestinians in Gaza.
Mystery fire breaks out on Russia’s only nuclear-powered icebreaker vessel as it was docked at Arctic port
- The Sevmorput, built in 1988, underwent extensive upgrades a decade ago
- Its owner stressed there was no threat to the ship’s nuclear reactor plant
By JAMES REYNOLDS and WILL STEWART, 25 December 2023
A mystery blaze aboard Russia‘s only nuclear-powered icebreaker cargo ship triggered panic in the Arctic port of Murmansk.
A fire broke out on Sunday in one of the cabins of the Soviet-made Sevmorput, currently docked in the northern Russian region bordering Finland and Norway.
The inferno spread some 323 square feet (30 sq metres) on the 830-ft ship (230m) before firefighters were able to put it out without casualties, Russia’s emergency ministry said.
‘The fire was quickly liquidated,’ Atomflot, which owns the vessel, said in a statement. ‘There were no injuries. There was no threat to crucial support systems or to the reactor plant.’
The ship, which entered service in 1988 and went through an extensive upgrade a decade ago, is Russia’s only nuclear-powered icebreaking transport ship, according to Rosatom. ………………………………………………..more https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12899379/Inferno-nuclear-russia-icebreaker-panic-murmansk-arctic.html
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Israel receives 230 planes, 20 ships loaded with US arms amid Gaza war
US military assistance includes artillery shells, armored vehicles, basic combat tools for soldiers, lsraeli daily says
Ahmed Asmar 26.12.2023, https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-receives-230-planes-20-ships-loaded-with-us-arms-amid-gaza-war/3092301
ANKARA
The United States has sent 230 cargo planes and 20 ships loaded with weapons and military equipment to Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on Oct. 7, according to Israeli media on Monday.
The US military assistance includes artillery shells, armored vehicles and basic combat tools for soldiers, Yediot Ahronoth newspaper reported.
Israel’s Defense Ministry estimates the cost of the current war on the Gaza Strip at around 65 billion shekels ($17 billion).
The newspaper, citing a Defense Ministry official, said the army had used most of the ammunition in its warehouses at the beginning of the war.
“But Israel managed to re-fill its warehouses in preparation for a possible large-scale war with the Lebanese Hezbollah group,” it added.
At least 489 Israeli soldiers have been killed in clashes with Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, according to Israeli military figures.
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing at least 20,674 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 54,536 others, according to local health authorities.
Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.
The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with half of the coastal territory’s housing damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely populated enclave amid shortages of food and clean water.
Iran undoes slowdown in enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade -IAEA
Russia has completed its delivery of nuclear weapons to Belarus, according
to its president, Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko was in St. Petersburg,
Russia, for the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council on Monday when he told
reporters that the last delivery of tactical nuclear weapons from the
Kremlin occurred in early October.
UPI 26th Dec 2023
Policy makers should plan for superintelligent AI, even if it never happens
Bulletin, By Zachary Kallenborn | December 21, 2023
Experts from around the world are sounding alarm bells to signal the risks artificial intelligence poses to humanity. Earlier this year, hundreds of tech leaders and AI specialists signed a one-sentence letter released by the Center for AI Safety that read “mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.” In a 2022 survey, half of researchers indicated they believed there’s at least a 10 percent chance human-level AI causes human extinction. In June, at the Yale CEO summit, 42 percent of surveyed CEOs indicated they believe AI could destroy humanity in the next five to 10 years.
These concerns mainly pertain to artificial general intelligence (AGI), systems that can rival human cognitive skills and artificial superintelligence (ASI), machines with capacity to exceed human intelligence. Currently no such systems exist. However, policymakers should take these warnings, including the potential for existential harm, seriously.
Because the timeline, and form, of artificial superintelligence is uncertain, the focus should be on identifying and understanding potential threats and building the systems and infrastructure necessary to monitor, analyze, and govern those risks, both individually and as part of a holistic approach to AI safety and security. Even if artificial superintelligence does not manifest for decades or even centuries, or at all, the magnitude and breadth of potential harm warrants serious policy attention. For if such a system does indeed come to fruition, a head start of hundreds of years might not be enough.
Prioritizing artificial superintelligence risks, however, does not mean ignoring immediate risks like biases in AI, propagation of mass disinformation, and job loss. An artificial superintelligence unaligned with human values and goals would super charge those risks, too……………………………………
The threat. Traditional existential threats like nuclear or biological warfare can directly harm humanity, but artificial superintelligence could create catastrophic harm in myriad ways……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… more https://thebulletin.org/2023/12/policy-makers-should-plan-for-superintelligent-ai-even-if-it-never-happens/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=MondayNewsletter12252023&utm_content=DisruptiveTechnologies_SuperintelligentAI_12212023
The faith leaders fighting for the climate: ‘we have a moral obligation’
It has been another catastrophic climate year: record-breaking wildfires
across Canada scorched an area the size North Dakota, unprecedented
rainfall in Libya left thousands dead and displaced, while heat deaths
surged in Arizona and severe drought in the Amazon is threatening
Indigenous communities and ecosystems.
The science is clear: we must phase
out fossil fuels – fast. But time is running out, and as the climate
crisis, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation worsen, there is
mounting recognition that our political and industry leaders are failing
us. If the science isn’t enough, what role could – or should – faith
leaders play in tackling the climate crisis? After all, it is also a
spiritual and moral crisis that threatens God’s creation, according to
many religious teachings.
Guardian 23rd Dec 2023
1 This Month
PLEASE OPPOSE HR 8255 AND S.3639 – bills would accelerate satellite deployment, with no environmental review or safeguards – https://ncstd5li.quorum.us/campaign/169331/
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