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#nuclear

45 posts37 participants0 posts today
Nonilex<p>A test would have been scheduled long in advance of last week's announcement of the <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a>-Putin meeting, the researchers &amp; experts said.</p><p>But <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Putin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Putin</span></a> could have suspended preparations in view of <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/US" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>US</span></a> spy satellites to signal his openness to ending his war in <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Ukraine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Ukraine</span></a> as well as to restarting arms-control talks with the US, the experts said. New START, the last US - <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Russia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Russia</span></a> pact capping strategic <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/nuclear" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>nuclear</span></a> deployments, expires on February 5.</p>
Continued thread

A Western #security source, who asked not to be further identified, confirmed that #Russia is preparing a #Burevestnik test.

Lewis said a test could occur this week, raising the possibility it could overshadow the #Trump - #Putin summit in Alaska.

…Putin has said the weapon - dubbed the SSC-X-9 Skyfall by NATO - is "invincible" to current & future #missile defenses, with an almost unlimited range & unpredictable flight path.

Continued thread

They agreed the photos showed extensive activity at the Pankovo test site on the Barents Sea archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, including increases in personnel & equipment & ships & aircraft associated with earlier tests of the 9M730 Burevestnik (Storm Petrel).

"We can see all of the activity at the test site, which is both huge amounts of supplies coming in to support operations and movement at the place where they actually launch the #missile," Lewis said.

#Russia appears to be preparing to test its new #nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered cruise #missile, acc/to 2 US researchers & a Western #security source, even as #Putin readies for talks on #Ukraine with #Trump on Friday.

Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies & Decker Eveleth of the CNA research & analysis org reached their assessments separately by studying imagery taken in recent weeks until Tues by Planet Labs, a commercial satellite firm.

reuters.com/world/europe/putin

"Four British universities have been awarded funding to collaborate on research on securing a domestic supply of nuclear graphite and finding solutions to managing the country's stockpile of irradiated graphite waste."

#Nuclear #News

world-nuclear-news.org/article

AGR graphite bricks (Image: EDF)
World Nuclear News · UK project aims to boost domestic supply of nuclear graphiteBy World Nuclear News

The Rise and Fall of #NuScale: a nuclear cautionary tale

Kelly Campbell
October 29, 2024

"A decade ago, NuScale, the Oregon-based small modular nuclear company born at Oregon State University, was on a roll. Promising a new era of nuclear reactors that were cheaper, easier to build and safer, their Star Wars-inspired artist renditions of a yet to be built reactor gleamed like a magic bullet.

"As of last year, NuScale was the furthest along of any reactor design in obtaining Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing and was planning to build the first small modular nuclear reactor in the United States. Its plan was to build it in Idaho to serve energy to a consortium of small public utility districts in Utah and elsewhere, known as #UAMPS.

"This home-grown Oregon company was lauded in local and national media. According to project backers, a high-tech solution to climate change was on the horizon, and an Oregon company was leading the way. It seemed almost too good to be true.

"And it was.

"Turns out, NuScale was a #HouseOfCards. The UAMPS project’s price tag more than doubled and the timeline was pushed back repeatedly until it was seven years behind schedule. Finally, UAMPS saw the writing on the wall and wisely backed out in November, 2023.

"After losing their customer, NuScale’s stock plunged, it laid off nearly a third of its workforce, and it was sued by its investors and investigated for investor fraud. Then its CEO sold off most of his stock shares.

"NuScale’s project is the latest in a long line of failed nuclear fantasies.

"Why should you care? A different nuclear company, #XEnergy, now in partnership with #AmazonCorp, wants to build and operate small modular #nuclear reactors [#SMRs] near the #ColumbiaRiver, 250 miles upriver from #PortlandOR. #BillGates’s darling, the #Natrium reactor in #Wyoming is also plowing ahead. Both proposals are raking in the Inflation Reduction Act and other taxpayer funded subsidies. The danger: Money and time wasted on these #FalseSolutions to the #ClimateCrisis divert public resources from #renewables, #EnergyEfficiency and other faster, more cost-efficient and safer ways to address the climate crisis.

"A recent study from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis concluded that small modular nuclear reactors are still too expensive, too slow to build and too risky to respond to the climate crisis.

"While the nuclear industry tries to pass itself off as 'clean,' it is an extremely dirty technology, beginning with #UraniumMining and #UraniumMilling which decimates #IndigenousLands. Small modular nuclear reactors produce two to thirty times the radioactive waste of older nuclear designs, waste for which we have no safe, long-term disposal site. Any community that hosts a nuclear reactor will likely be saddled with its radioactive waste – forever. This harm falls disproportionately on #Indigenous and #LowIncome communities.

:For those of us downriver, X-Energy’s plans to build at the Hanford Nuclear Site on the Columbia flies in the face of reason, as it would add more nuclear waste to the country’s largest nuclear cleanup site.

"In #Oregon, we have a state moratorium on building nuclear reactors until there is a vote of the people and a national waste repository. Every few years, the nuclear industry attempts to overturn this law at the Oregon Legislature, but so far it has been unsuccessful. This August, Umatilla County Commissioners announced they’ll attempt another legislative effort to overturn the moratorium. Keeping this moratorium is wise, given the dangerous distraction posed by the false solution of small modular nuclear reactors. Let’s learn from the NuScale debacle and keep our focus on a just transition to a clean energy future–one in which nuclear power clearly has no place."

oregoncapitalchronicle.com/202

#EnvironmentalRacism #HoltecLies
#NuclearLies #TEPCOLied
#NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #Hanford #NuclearPowerCorruptionAndLies

Five Things the “#NuclearBros” Don’t Want You to Know About #SmallModularReactors #SMRs

by #EdwinLyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists (#UCS)
April 30, 2024

"Even casual followers of energy and climate issues have probably heard about the alleged wonders of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). This is due in no small part to the 'nuclear bros': an active and seemingly tireless group of #NuclearPower advocates [#Trolls] who dominate social media discussions on energy by promoting SMRs and other 'advanced' #nuclear technologies as the only real solution for the #ClimateCrisis.

"But as I showed in my 2013 and 2021 reports, the hype surrounding SMRs is way overblown, and my conclusions remain valid today.

"Unfortunately, much of this SMR happy talk is rooted in #misinformation, which always brings me back to the same question: If the nuclear bros have such a great SMR story to tell, why do they have to exaggerate so much?

What are SMRs?

"SMRs are nuclear reactors that are 'small' (defined as 300 megawatts of electrical power or less), can be largely assembled in a centralized facility, and would be installed in a modular fashion at power generation sites. Some proposed SMRs are so tiny (20 megawatts or less) that they are called 'micro' reactors. SMRs are distinct from today’s conventional nuclear plants, which are typically around 1,000 megawatts and were largely custom-built. Some SMR designs, such as #NuScale, are modified versions of operating water-cooled reactors, while others are radically different designs that use coolants other than water, such as liquid sodium, helium gas, or even molten salts.

"To date, however, theoretical interest in SMRs has not translated into many actual reactor orders. The only SMR currently under construction is in China. And in the United States, only one company—#TerraPower, founded by Microsoft’s Bill Gates — has applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a permit to build a power reactor (but at 345 megawatts, it technically isn’t even an SMR).

"The #NuclearIndustry has pinned its hopes on SMRs primarily because some recent large reactor projects, including #Vogtle units 3 and 4 in the state of #GeorgiaUSA, have taken far longer to build and cost far more than originally projected. The failure of these projects to come in on time and under budget undermines arguments that modern nuclear power plants can overcome the problems that have plagued the nuclear industry in the past.

"Developers in the industry and the US Department of Energy say that SMRs can be less costly and quicker to build than large reactors and that their modular nature makes it easier to balance power supply and demand. They also argue that reactors in a variety of sizes would be useful for a range of applications beyond grid-scale electrical power, including providing process heat to industrial plants and power to #DataCenters, #cryptocurrency mining operations, petrochemical production, and even electrical vehicle [#EV] charging stations.

"Here are five facts about SMRs that the nuclear industry and the 'nuclear bros' who push its message don’t want you, the public, to know."

Read more:
blog.ucs.org/edwin-lyman/five-

The Equation · Five Things the “Nuclear Bros” Don’t Want You to Know About Small Modular ReactorsA realistic understanding of their costs and risks is critical.

#French #NuclearPower production expected to be reduced on Wednesday

By Reuters
August 12, 2025

PARIS, Aug 12 (Reuters) - "Power production at France's #Bugey3 #nuclear reactor in the east of the country is expected to be reduced by 500 megawatts (MW) on Wednesday, data from operator #EDF showed on Tuesday, as high river temperatures reduce the plant's ability to intake cooling water.

"A #heatwave throughout #France has led to multiple warnings of power reductions at a number of #NuclearPlants, particularly on the #RhoneRiver in the east and the #GaronneRiver in the west.

"The #Bugey 3 reactor has a maximum capacity of 910 MW, which will be reduced to 410 MW from 2:30 p.m. (1230 GMT) to midnight on Wednesday as the reactor is required to meet environmental safety measures, EDF's data showed.

"The high water temperature warnings for the #SaintAlban plant - down river of the Bugey site - and the #Golfech site in the west were moved to August 14, but restrictions have not yet been issued.
Average temperatures in the country are expected to continue to peak throughout the week, reaching a high of 28.5 degrees Celsius (83.3°F) on Saturday, LSEG data showed.

"#NuclearPower accounts for about 70% of total French power consumption annually, but August is the main holiday season throughout the country and electricity demand is often limited."

Source:
reuters.com/sustainability/cli

#EuropeHeatWaves #France #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #NuclearPowerNoThanks #NuclearWasteIsForever #NuclearPowerPlants #ExtremeHeat #RenewablesNow #RenewableEnergy #RethinkNotRestart
#LeNucléaireNonMerci

Typical #NukeShill comment - "[UK #MinistryOfDefense] published data on #radioactive discharges from #Coulport and #Faslane every year, along with assessments of the #environmental impacts. It insisted those discharges were 'of no regulatory concern'.

That's because these ASSHATS are in denial about #Bioaccumulation! #BananaMan got to them!

#RadioactiveWater from #UK #nuclear bomb base leaked into sea, files show

Exclusive: #Polluted water was released into #LochLong near #Glasgow because #RoyalNavy failed to maintain 1,500 water pipes, says watchdog

by Rob Edwards and Severin Carrell
Sat 9 Aug 2025

Read more:
theguardian.com/environment/20

The Guardian · Radioactive water from UK nuclear bomb base leaked into sea, files showBy Rob Edwards

The #HeatWave of late June threatens French #nuclear production

Written by Justine Dumont, Energy Renovation Expert Editor on 24 June 2025 at 08:00

"#EDF plans to reduce the production of its nuclear fleet, in particular that of the #Bugey power plant in Ain, as of Wednesday 25 June, due to the expected high temperatures. This decision comes at a time when Météo-France has placed 16 departments in orange-heat-wave vigilance since Friday 20 June."

Read more (en Français):
france3-regions.franceinfo.fr/

#EuropeHeatWaves #NuclearPowerPlants #NuclearPlants #NoNukes #NuclearPowerNoThanks #NuclearWasteIsForever #NuclearPlants #Heatwaves #ExtremeHeat #RenewablesNow #RenewableEnergy #RethinkNotRestart
#NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #LeNucléaireNonMerci

France 3 Normandie · Nucléaire : la pleine puissance de l'EPR de Flamanville repoussée d'ici à la fin de l'automneBy AFP

→ Threat of #Nuclear War Is Rising, But Scientists Say the Public Can Change That
truthout.org/articles/threat-o

“"It isn’t only global warming that we are witnessing. There’s a certain heating up of, shall we say, human and social #relationships and national interaction," says [Wole Soyinka]. He describes a "disturbing escalation of #violence" and a "kind of demonic sweep of leadership" in which politicians blithely declare, "if necessary, I will use an atom bomb" […]”

Nuclear arms protesters.
Truthout · Threat of Nuclear War Is Rising, But Scientists Say the Public Can Change ThatScientists and others are calling on civil society to heed growing nuclear dangers and revive the anti-nuclear movement.
#War#atom#bomb

The UK Government wants to "tackle a culture of risk aversion" in the nuclear industry to try to speed up reactor construction.
gov.uk/government/news/taskfor

I stand by my claim here: That while it is possible for the UK to maintain a civilian nuclear sector without nuclear weapons, it is not possible to maintain weapons without a civilian sector and that THAT is the main driver of the push for new reactors.

thecommongreen.scot/2025/05/01

GOV.UK · Taskforce to tackle regulatory barriers holding back nuclearBy Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

alojapan.com/1344592/japan-at- Japan at a nuclear crossroads, 80 years on – Asia & Pacific #Japan #JapanNews #news #Nuclear #NuclearBanningTreaty ighty years after the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan faces with growing urgency the question of how to carry forward the moral voice for ridding the world of nuclear weapons as generational memory fades and nuclear risks rise amid the advancement of technology. Atomic bomb survivors, who have helpe