The Carbon Hour - Episode #3
Dr Paul Dorfman, an associate fellow at the University of Sussex, Chair of the Nuclear Consulting Group, member of the Irish EPA and advisor to governments! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TGJ2rfExCE#Nuclear
President #Biden on Monday evening signed a bipartisan bill prohibiting Russian imports of enriched #uranium a move intended to cut off one of the last significant flows of #money from the #UnitedStates to #Russia amid the #war in #Ukraine.
But #sanctions on #uranium imports have taken much longer, in part because #Russia supplies roughly 20% of #US#nuclear fuel, leading some lawmakers to fear disruptions to the nation’s 93 nuclear reactors.
“It’s kind of ridiculous that it took as long as it did to get to this stage,” said Scott Melbye, exec VP of mining company Uranium Energy & president of the Uranium Producers of America, a trade group. “But we’re just glad that we got here.”
American companies pay around $1B a year for enriched uranium from Rosatom, #Russia’s state #nuclear power conglomerate. These payments have continued even after documents revealed last year that Rosatom had been working to supply the Russian #arms industry w/components, technology & raw materials for missile fuel.
The bipartisan bill will ban #uranium imports from Moscow beginning 90 days after its enactment.
Having enough electricity in winter is the big challenge for climate neutrality in 2050. This requires gigantic – electricity storage systems or new nuclear power plants, says author Andreas Züttel. It is an explosive result: If Switzerland wants to be climate neutral in 2050, building six to eight #nuclear power plants is the cheapest alternative. That’s how it stands in a study a team led by Andreas Züttel, who researches at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL).
The True Extent of US Spy Satellite Capability https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6uPjTTGHzE
A little bit on satellites that detect missile launches... as Annie Jacobsen mentions in 'Nuclear War A Scenario' #Nuclear
The nuclear legacy of the Russian Arctic
"The nuclear legacy in the north-west of Russia includes the building of a former military base in Andreyeva Bay, spent nuclear fuel from nuclear submarines, sunken nuclear and radiation hazardous objects at the bottom of the Arctic sea" https://bellona.org/publication/nuclear-legacy-arctic#Arctic#Cryosphere#Nuclear#Russia
French ASN approves EDF’s Flamanville EPR start-up
(Montel) French nuclear safety authority ASN has authorised utility EDF to bring its 1.6 GW third-generation nuclear reactor in Flamanville online, it said on Tuesday.
Russian ofcls claimed the order was in response to comments from the West about the possibility of more direct involvement in #Ukraine. #NATO called the announcement “irresponsible.”
The announcement of the exercise was Russia’s most explicit warning in its >2yr #invasion of #Ukraine that it could use tactical #NuclearWeapons there.
The #Kremlin said the order came in response to comments by 2 European leaders that raised the prospect of more direct Western intervention in the #war.
The exercise, the Defense Ministry said, would involve forces of the Southern Military District, an area that covers Russian - #occupied#Ukraine & part of #Russia’s border region w/ Ukraine. It said the exercise would take place “in the near future.”
"Rheinmetall Boss Says Ukraine Could Get Artillery Rounds with 100KM Range if Berlin Books Orders
Armin Papperger, CEO of Germany’s Rheinmetall said his company could deliver extended-range artillery munitions but only if Berlin guarantees large, multi-year orders to justify the investment. "
New #Blog post: Spending an Afternoon in the Sizewell Control Room Simulator
I'm a bit late in writing something, but @popey, @8none1, @sil got to spend an afternoon in the operations training centre at #Sizewell B #nuclear power station
I've been seeing so many different cats, that I keep getting the "10,000-Year Earworm to Discourage Settlement Near Nuclear Waste Repositories" song by Emperor X stuck in my head:
In case you don't know the story: this song was commissioned by the 99 Percent Invisible podcast for their episode on how to warn people in the far future to stay away from nuclear waste deposits.
The idea is that no civilisation existed for as long as the time that radioactive waste remains dangerous. Hence, we need ways to warn people that are robust for lost of language, symbols, etc.
One idea was to breed cats that light up in the presence of radiation, and to then create a folk song about the importance of keeping cats, and the importance of leaving (with the cat) when the cat changes colour.