#nonukesforai — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #nonukesforai, aggregated by home.social.
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#Kansas town is getting an underground #nuclear reactor [whether they like it or not!]
Story by Jessie Williams, July 29, 2026
"A pilot project to bury a #NuclearReactor one mile underneath a town in Kansas has split the opinion of local residents, with some fearing the #EnvironmentalImpacts while others hope it will create economic opportunities.
"The so-called #GravityReactor is being proposed by #DeepFission, a California-based start-up from a father-daughter duo, #LizMuller and #RichardMuller, emeritus professor of physics at University of California, and an inventor.
"It will be the first time a commercial nuclear reactor operates underground.
"The startup has raised around $150 million in the past year, with $40 million of that going to fund the work in #ParsonsKS, a rural town in Kansas with a population of 9,600.
"So far Deep Fission has drilled one test hole with a second due to be completed this year, and a full-scale prototype canister intended to test installation procedures.
"Their plan is to send the canister loaded with nuclear fuel into a third hole to heat water a mile underground and generate electricity on the surface in 2027 or 2028.
"But some people in Parsons are worried about the short time frame by industry standards and the impact on the #environment and their #WaterSupply.
"Each reactor would generate 15 megawatts of electricity from inside a 30-inch borehole, enough to power 12,000 homes. But Muller wants 100 or more reactors, providing more than a gigawatt – which would be enough for a #datacentre.
"The design relies on established pressurised water reactor technology, but with the reactor one mile underground, Deep Fission says it could remove some of the most expensive parts of conventional #NuclearPlants, as rock and water pressure could replace some costly #safety structures, such as #cooling and #containment.
"Nuclear only generates about a fifth of US electricity, but the Trump administration is seeking to kickstart a '#NuclearRenaissance,' aiming to quadruple America’s nuclear-power generation by 2050. It comes amid skyrocketing demand for electricity, mainly driven by data centres for AI."
#NoNukesForAI #AISucks #TrumpSucks #USPol #AIDatacenters #Datacenters #NoNukes #NoNewNukes #WaterIsLife #NuclearPowerPlant #SafetyStandards #EnvironmentalCosts
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"In a detailed report released last week, titled The Urgent Case Against #DataCenters, #FWW pointed to some of the 'documented harms caused by #AI and data centers,' including:
- Enormous #energy footprints: A single hyperscale data center can consume as much energy as 2 million US households.
- A lifeline for #FossilFuels: The thirst for fuel is being met by keeping old #coal-fired power plants running and by building new natural gas ones. [And restarting old #NuclearPlants]
- Skyrocketing electricity costs: Increased #EnergyDemand can raise residential rates, which soared 31% from 2020 to 2025 (compared to 4% from 2015 to 2020).
- Drained water resources: By 2028, AI data centers could use as much water as 18.5 million households, just for cooling their servers.
- An investment bubble: A handful of companies are investing in one another and increasingly turning to risky debt structures to hide the threat of the bubble.
- A litany of other harms: This includes massive amounts of electronic waste (#EWaste), unrelenting noise pollution, loss of #farmland, political instability from #deepfake videos, lost revenue from data center tax incentives, and #ChildEndangerment from #AI #chatbots."#NoDatacenters #NoAI
#NoNukesForAI #UnrestrictedGrowth #WaterIsLife #NoisePollution
#AISucks #USPol -
[Photos] #WardValley: Celebrating Stopping a #NuclearWaste Dump in the #MojaveDesert 2026
via @bsnorrell.blogspot.com
February 21, 2026
" 'We are the Pipa Aha Macav, the people along the river, instructed by the Creator to protect it.' Barrackman's words, before he passed to the Spirit World, were at Ward Valley, during the 113-day Occupation which halted a #nuclear waste dump on #SacredLand in 1998."https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/02/ward-valley-celebrating-stopping.html
#NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #NoNuclearWasteDumping #EnvironmentalRacism #RethinkNotRestart #NoNewNukes
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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."
#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."
#HoltecLies #NuclearPower #NuclearLies #TEPCOLied #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #NuclearPowerCorruptionAndLies
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#RadioactiveWaste leakage would be threat to area: critic
By Doug Diaczuk The Chronicle-Journal Apr 22, 2025
"A radioactive waste specialist from the United States says #NuclearWaste disposal sites place a giant bullseye on an area, as well as all communities along the transportation route, and residents of Northern #Ontario should take notice.
"#KevinKamps, a radioactive waste specialist with #BeyondNuclear, a non-profit advocacy group in the United States, will be speaking in Thunder Bay at Environment North's annual meeting on Wednesday [April 23].
"Kamps has opposed several nuclear waste sites across North America, including a site in the #YuccaMountains in #Nevada and a site at #Kincardine in #Ontario at the #BruceNuclear Generating Station.
" 'That was a 20-year campaign all told, but we prevailed in the end,' Kamps said of the Kincardine site in an interview with The Chronicle-Journal.
"The Nuclear Waste Management Organization [#NWM] identified a site between #Ignace and #Wabigoon Lake as the location for a proposed deep geological repository [#DGR] for #SpentFuel from #Canadian #NuclearPower plants.
"Last summer, the #TownshipOfIgnace expressed a willingness to be the host community for the repository following a survey showing the majority of residents supported the site.
"But several #FirstNation communities have spoken out in opposition to the site, citing #environmental concerns and the safety of transporting spent fuel through the region.
"Kamps said if anything was to go wrong at the deep geological repository site it would be catastrophic: 'for all points #downstream, #downwind, up the #FoodChain, down the generations.'
" 'In your neck of the woods, what I find ironic is the current target in your area is just outside of the #GreatLakes basin and I think it is a raw political calculation to try to silence what has been more than a decade of U.S. congressional opposition to the #LakeHuronDump,' he said.
" 'Now magically a site has been chosen outside of the Great Lakes basin.'
"There are many safety concerns to take into consideration when it comes to nuclear waste, Kamps said, beginning with the transportation of nuclear material to the site itself.
" 'One of the most controversial aspects is the transportation component, because it makes it everyone's problem along those routes,' he said. 'So that is another part of our challenge, to educate communities that would be along the most likely transportation route, be it road, rail, or waterway.'
"Then there is the site itself, which Kamps said could be vulnerable to #ExtremeWeather, #NaturalDisasters, or even potential attacks.
" 'You had better know your geology really well because if and when this starts leaking from its containers into the geology, then it's a question of how long will it take to mix with underground waterflows and perhaps even surface waterflows,' he said. 'And then the risk flows with the water, and with the air.'
"For those opposed to such sites, Kamps said the best way to fight back is through the democratic process and engaging with government representatives at all levels.
"He cited the opposition to the #Kincardine site that was a 20-year fight and the role First Nations communities played.
" 'An important part of that was the #SaugeenOjibwayNation who asked good questions and in the end voted 86 per cent no to that dump coming into their community,' he said.
"In terms of what to do with nuclear waste from generating stations, Kamps said it should stay at the site of origin."
#EnvironmentalRacism #GreatLakesBasin #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #NuclearDumping #ClimateChange #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukesForAI #NoDumpingWithoutConsent
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When in doubt, dump it on #Indigenous land! But of course!!! <sarc>
In #Hokkaido, #IndigenousLand rights have added another layer to the division of opinions in Suttsu and Kamoenai over whether to host a permanent underground repository for Japan’s #NuclearWaste.
#NuclearColonialism #EnvironmentalRacism #IndigenousPeople #AinuPeople #Ainu #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #RethinkNotRestart #FukushimaIsntOver #RenewablesNow #NuclearWaste #NuclearEnergy #Environment #Energy #Hokkaido #NoNuclearDumping #Remember311
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Experts warn #Trump’s #nuclear blitz could trigger ‘Next #ThreeMileIsland'
by Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams
May 24, 2025"U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed a series of executive orders that will overhaul the independent federal agency that regulates the nation's nuclear power plants in order to speed the construction of new fissile reactors—a move that experts warned will increase safety risks.
"According to a White House statement, Trump's directives 'will usher in a nuclear energy renaissance,' in part by allowing Department of Energy laboratories to conduct nuclear reactor design testing, green-lighting reactor construction on federal lands, and lifting #RegulatoryBarriers 'by requiring the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (#NRC) to issue timely licensing decisions."
"The Trump administration is seeking to shorten the yearslong NRC process of approving new licenses for nuclear power plants and reactors to within 18 months.
"White House Office of Science and Technology Director Michael Kratsios said Friday that 'over the last 30 years, we stopped building nuclear reactors in America—that ends now.'
" 'We are restoring a strong American nuclear industrial base, rebuilding a secure and sovereign domestic nuclear fuel supply chain, and leading the world towards a future fueled by American nuclear energy,' he added. [And radioactive waste!!!]
"However, the Union of Concerned Scientists (#UCS) warned that the executive orders will result in 'all but nullifying' the NRC's regulatory process, 'undermining the independent federal agency's ability to develop and enforce #safety and #security requirements for commercial nuclear facilities.'
" 'This push by the Trump administration to usurp much of the agency's autonomy as they seek to fast-track the construction of nuclear plants will weaken critical, independent #oversight of the U.S. nuclear industry and poses significant safety and security risks to the public,' UCS added.
"#EdwinLyman, director of nuclear power safety at the UCS, said, 'Simply put, the U.S. nuclear industry will fail if safety is not made a priority.'
" 'By fatally compromising the independence and integrity of the NRC, and by encouraging pathways for nuclear deployment that bypass the regulator entirely, the Trump administration is virtually guaranteeing that this country will see a serious accident or other #radiological release that will affect the health, safety, and livelihoods of millions,' Lyman added. 'Such a disaster will destroy public trust in #NuclearPower and cause other nations to reject U.S. #nuclear technology for decades to come.'
"Friday's executive orders follow reporting earlier this month by NPR that revealed the Trump administration has tightened control over the NRC, in part by compelling the agency to send proposed reactor safety rules to the White House for review and possible editing.
"#AllisonMacfarlane, who was nominated to head the NRC during the Obama administration, called the move 'the end of independence of the agency.'
" 'If you aren't independent of political and industry influence, then you are at risk of an accident,' Macfarlane warned.
"On the first day of his second term, Trump also signed executive orders declaring a dubious 'national energy emergency' and directing federal agencies to find ways to reduce regulatory roadblocks to 'unleashing American energy, including by boosting #FossilFuels and nuclear power.
"The rapid advancement and adoption of artificial intelligence systems is creating a tremendous need for energy that proponents say can be met by nuclear power. The Three Mile Island nuclear plant—the site of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history—is being revived with funding from #Microsoft, while #Google parent company #Alphabet, online retail giant #Amazon, and #Facebook owner #Meta are among the competitors also investing in nuclear energy.
" 'Do we really want to create more #RadioactiveWaste to power the often dubious and questionable uses of #AI?' #JohannaNeumann, Environment America Research & Policy Center's senior director of the Campaign for 100% #RenewableEnergy, asked in December.
" '#BigTech should recommit to solutions that not only work but pose less risk to our #environment and #health,' Neumann added."
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-nuclear-2672196220/
#RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #BigTech #EnvironmentalRacism #UraniumMining #NuclearWaste #TEPCOLies #TrumpLies
#HoltecLies #WaterIsLife #NuclearPowerPlants #Datacenters #AIPollution #MicrosoftSucks #TrumpSucks #NuclearIsNotCarbonFree #CancerRates #Downwinders #NuclearPowerCorruptionAndLies -
Oh yeah. Fast-tracking a #NuclearPlant restart is such a good idea...NOT!
#ThreeMileIsland nuclear plant reboot fast-tracked to 2027
By Laila Kearney
June 25, 2025Excerpt: "Despite the enthusiasm, nuclear power plant projects have historically been far over budget [leaving taxpayers on the hook] and behind schedule [which is why nuclear plant companies often fabricate and lie about details. They milk it for all it's worth!]
"No fully shut nuclear power plant has been restarted, but at least one other attempted restart - of the #PalisadesNuclearPlant in #Michigan - is under way.
"As the technology industry drives U.S. electricity demand to record highs, nuclear power has broadly seen a resurgence of interest after decades in decline. New York plans to build a new nuclear power plant, which would be one of the first to be constructed in a generation."
#RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #BigTech #NuclearWaste #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearIsNotCarbonFree #Pennsylvania #CancerRates #TEPCOLies #HoltecLies #WaterIsLife #NuclearPowerPlants #Datacenters #AIPollution #MicrosoftSucks
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#Jellyfish Keep Attacking #NuclearPowerPlants
By Gabriel Geiger
November 2, 2021"Jellyfish are continuing to clog the cooling intake pipes of a nuclear power plant in Scotland, which has previously prompted a temporary shutdowns of the plant.
"The #TornessNuclearPowerPlant has reported concerns regarding jellyfish as far back as 2011, when it was forced to shut down for nearly a week—at an estimated cost of $1.5 million a day—because of the free-swimming marine animals.
"In a short comment to Motherboard, #EDFEnergy, which runs the Torness plant, said that 'jellyfish blooms are an occasional issue for our power stations,' but also said that media reports claiming the plant had recently been taken offline because of jellyfish are 'inaccurate.' '[There were] no emergency procedures this or last week related to jellyfish or otherwise,' a spokesperson said. [Um, did they previously work for #TEPCOLies?]
" 'Like many other seaside power plants, the Torness plant uses seawater to prevent overheating. While there are measures in place to prevent aquatic life from entering the intake pipes, according to the #BulletinOfTheAtomicScientists, they are no match for the sheer number of jellyfish that come during so-called 'jellyfish blooms.'
" 'Usually, screens prevent aquatic life and similar debris from being drawn into the power plants’ cooling system,' the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists wrote in a 2015 blog post. 'But when sufficiently large volumes of jellyfish or other aquatic life are pulled in, they block the screens, reducing the volume of water coming in and forcing the reactor to shut down.'
"While the case in Scotland has once again spotlighted concerns regarding the jellyfish and potential power plant shutdowns, these concerns are far from new. In 2008, a swarm of jellyfish shut down a nuclear power plant [#DiabloCanyon -- which had another incident in 2024] in #California, and three years later the same occurred at a plant in Japan [#Shimane]. In 2017, jellyfish clogged a power plant in Israel [#Hadera]."
Source:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/jellyfish-keep-attacking-nuclear-power-plants/#GlobalWarming #WarmingOceans
#ChangingOceans #OceansAreLife #OceanTemperatures #ClimateCrisis #Overfishing #NoDeepSeaMining #NoNewNukes #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #Oskarshamn #Torness #RethinkNotRestart -
#Jellyfish are taking over the world – and #ClimateChange could be to blame
Jan 8, 2019
by Sean Fleming
Senior Writer, Forum Stories"For 500 million years, jellyfish have been part of the maritime #ecosystem, but now they’re poised to take over the earth.
"They have no brain, no eyes, no spine, not even blood, but they have a remarkable capacity to reproduce and can pack an impressive sting, both literally and figuratively.
"Most recently, vast numbers of bluebottle jellyfish were pushed ashore by unusually strong winds and spells of hot weather in #QueenslandAustralia, stinging thousands of people and forcing the closure of popular swimming spots. About 13,000 stings were recorded in the past week.
"In June last year, over the course of just one week, over 1,000 people were stung in Volusia County, #Florida, following a period of exceptionally prolific jellyfish blooms. The explosion in their numbers has been attributed to warming seas and even increased pollution; unlike many other marine creatures, jellyfish can cope with reduced oxygen levels.
Small but deadly – at least some of the time
"Typically, jellyfish range in size from 1cm to 40cm. But they can be significantly larger – the #LionsManeJellyfish, for example, can reach 1.8 metres wide, with tentacles over 15 metres long.
"For the most part, the sting of a jellyfish is more unpleasant than it is harmful. The pain comes from venom delivered via millions of microscopic barbs in the creatures’ tentacles. Most jellyfish stings will only have a localized effect on the victim – redness, swelling, and discomfort where the barbs make contact with the skin.
"Some, however, will prompt a systemic, whole body, reaction. These may take several hours to emerge and can include symptoms such as headaches, nausea and drowsiness.
"In rare cases, the sting can be fatal. This is true of the #BoxJellyfish, which is spreading into waters that had previously been too cool to support it; its venom causes a severe reaction that can cause death within minutes.
A force of destruction
"But these booming jellyfish populations are doing far more harm than ruining people’s trips to the beach. In fact, the scope of their disruption has extended far beyond the water’s edge.
"In 2011, both reactors at the #TornessNuclearPowerPlant in #Scotland were shut down after an invasion of jellyfish started blocking the cooling filters. Two years later, the jellyfish struck again – this time in #Sweden. They forced the closure of the #OskarshamnNuclearPowerPlant, which contains the world’s largest boiling-water reactor.
"The island of Luzon, home of the Phillippines’ capital Manilla, suffered a blackout in 1999 due to jellyfish, and in 2006 the #USSRonaldReagan, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was brought to a standstill by thousands of the little creatures. And while these events may stand out as exceptions, they are increasing in both scale and frequency.
"From sea-bed diamond mining in Namibia to salmon farming in Ireland, even jeopardising the sustainability of beluga caviar farming in the Caspian Sea, jellyfish are as destructive as they are abundant. And that abundance is being caused by a variety of factors, many of which are related to human activity.
Some like it hot
"Over the last hundred or so years, the average surface temperature of the world’s seas has risen by about 0.9°C. As the oceans get warmer, marine animals are able to spread into areas that had historically been too cold. Oxygen levels in the sea have fallen by around 2% over the last 50 years, due to rising temperatures and #pollution [including #NuclearOceanDumping, which reduces oxygen levels]
"Jellyfish can thrive in areas with lower oxygen levels, where other animals suffer. But there are other factors at work, too. Fishing has depleted the global stocks of some of the jellyfish’s natural predators – such as #tuna and #swordfish – and some they compete with for food – such as anchovies. With more food and fewer predators, some jellyfish populations can grow unchecked.
"In the #BlackSea, unchecked population growth is precisely what’s happened. #AnchovyFishing in the region had caused harm to the Black Sea’s ecosystem by the time stowaway jellyfish made the journey there from the eastern seaboard of the USA. Most likely transported in the ballast water of ships that made the crossing, 1982 saw the arrival of the warty comb jelly. By 1990, there were 900 million tons of them in the Black Sea.
"There are believed to be around 200 different species of jellyfish, not all of which can sting, and some are considered edible. This could offer one potential, and creative, approach toward dealing with an over-abundance of jellyfish – co-opting them onto our dinner plates." [That's one way to deal with invasive species -- eat them into extinction!]
Source:
https://www.weforum.org/stories/2019/01/how-an-explosion-of-jellyfish-is-wreaking-havoc/#GlobalWarming #WarmingOceans
#ChangingOceans #OceansAreLife #OceanTemperatures #ClimateCrisis #Overfishing #NoDeepSeaMining #NoNewNukes #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #Oskarshamn #Torness -
CA #wildfires: a warning to #NRC on #ClimateChange
January 16, 2025
"The NRC’s actions to address the risks from natural hazards do not fully consider potential climate change effects on severe nuclear accident risks. 'For example, NRC primarily uses historical data in its licensing and oversight processes rather than climate projections data,' the GAO report said.
"Beyond Nuclear has uncovered similar findings during our challenges to the NRC’s extreme relicensing process for extending reactor operating licenses, now out to the extreme of 60 to 80 years and talk of 100 years. We found that the agency’s staff believes and stubbornly insists that an #environmental review for climate change impacts (#SeaLevelRise, increasingly severe #hurricanes, extreme #flooding, etc.) on reactor safety and reliability is 'out of scope' for the license extensions hearing process.
"The GAO report points out to the NRC that wildfires, specifically, can dangerously impact US nuclear power stations operations and public safety with potential consequences that extend far beyond the initiating natural disaster. These consequences can include loss of life, large scale and indefinite population dislocation and uninsurable economic damage from the radiological
consequences:" 'Wildfire. According to the NCA (National Climate Assessment), increased heat and drought contribute to increases in wildfire frequency, and climate change has contributed to unprecedented wildfire events in the Southwest. The NCA projects increased heatwaves, drought risk, and more frequent and larger wildfires. Wildfires pose several risks to nuclear power plants, including increasing the potential for onsite fires that could damage plant infrastructure, damaging transmission lines that deliver electricity to plants, and causing a loss of power that could require plants to shut down. Wildfires and the smoke they produce could also hinder or prevent nuclear power plant personnel and supplies from getting to a plant.'
"Loss of offsite electrical power (#LOOP) to nuclear power stations is a leading contributor to increasing the risk of a severe nuclear power accident. The availability of alternating current (AC) power is essential for safe operation and accident recovery at commercial nuclear power plants. Offsite fires destroying electrical power transmission lines to commercial reactors therefore increase the probability and severity of nuclear accidents.
"For US nuclear power plants, 100% of the electrical power supply to all reactor safety systems is initially provided through the offsite power grid. If the offsite electrical grid is disturbed or destroyed, the reactors are designed to automatically shut down or 'SCRAM'. Onsite emergency backup power generators are then expected to automatically or manually start up to provide power to designated high priority reactor safety systems needed to safely shut the reactors down and provide continuous reactor cooling, pressure monitoring, but to a diminished number of the reactors’ credited safety systems. Reliable offsite power is therefore a key factor to minimizing the probability of severe nuclear accidents.
"The GAO identifies a number of US nuclear power plant sites that are vulnerable to the possible outbreak of wildfires where they are located. 'According to our analysis of U.S. Forest Service and NRC data, about 20 percent of nuclear power plants (16 of 75) are located in areas with a high or very high potential for wildfire,' the GAO report states. 'More specifically, more than
one-third of nuclear power plants in the South (nine of 25) and West (three of eight) are located in areas with a high or very high potential for wildfire.' The GAO goes on to identify 'Of the 16 plants with high or very high potential for wildfire, 12 are operating and four are shutdown.'"To analyze exposure to the wildfire hazard potential, the GAO used 2023 data from the U.S. Forest Service’s Wildfire Hazard Potential Map. 'High/very high' refers to plants in areas with high or very high wildfire hazard potential. Those #NuclearPower stations described by GAO as 'high / very high' exposure to wildfires and their locations are excerpted from GAO Appendix III: Nuclear Power Plant Exposure to Selected Natural Hazards.
Table 1: Potential High Exposure to “Wildfires” at Operating Nuclear Power Plants
–AZ / #SAFER, one of two mobile nuclear emergency equipment supply units in the nation, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–CA / #DiabloCanyon Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–FL / #TurkeyPoint Units 3 & 4 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–GA / #EdwinI. Hatch Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–GA / $Vogtle Units Units 1, 2, 3 & 4, nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #BrunswickNPP Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #McGuire Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #ShearonHarris Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH /VERY HIGH”
–NB / #Cooper nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–SC / #Catawba Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–SC / #HBRobinson Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–WA / #ColumbiaNuclearPower station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”Table 2: Potential High Exposure to “Wildfires” at Shutdown Nuclear Power Plants
–CA / #SanOnofre Units 1 & 2, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–FL / #CrystalRiver, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NJ / #OysterCreek, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NY / #IndianPoint Units 1, 2 & 3, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
"Wildfires can transport radioactive contamination from nuclear facilities
"A historical review of wildfires that occur around nuclear facilities (research, military and commercial power) identifies that these events are also a very effective transport mechanism of radioactivity previously generated at these sites and subsequently released into the environment by accident, spills and leaks, and careless dumping. The radioactivity is resuspended by wildfires that occur years, even decades later. The fires carry the radioactivity on smoke particles downwind, thus expanding the zone of contamination further and further with each succeeding fire. The dispersed radionuclides can have very long half-lives meaning they remain biologically hazardous in the environment for decades, centuries and longer."
cc: @Cyclist @stfn @collectifission
Read more:
https://beyondnuclear.org/ca-wildfires-are-a-warning-to-nrc-on-climate-change/#NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearPlants #NuclearPowerPlants #ClimateCrisis #Radiation
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Four days ago: #Spain Signals Openness to Keeping #NuclearPowerPlants Open
By Daniel Basteiro and Thomas Gualtieri
April 24, 2025"Spain is signaling for the first time that it’s open to reconsidering the shutdown of #NuclearPlants over the next decade amid a global revival of #AtomicEnergy.
While that’s not the plan agreed with nuclear plant operators, and it would be up to them to present concrete proposals, extensions are not ruled out, Environmental Transition Minister Sara Aagesen said in an interview." 'Nuclear energy will be present in our mix at least until 2035' but could go beyond that if companies propose extensions, which hasn’t happened yet, she said prior to an International Energy Agency summit on the future of energy security. 'We’re not considering anything because there is no specific proposal on the table.' "
Today [April 28th] "Spain's nuclear power plants automatically stopped, but diesel generators were activated to keep them in 'safe condition', officials said."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/cJiGM#RethinkNotRestart #RenewablesNow #Hydropower #Solar #Geothermal #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #ExtremeHeat #ExtremeFlooding #NuclearMeltdowns #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #Blackout
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#Wildfire risks high at #US #NuclearPlants
Posted on January 19, 2025 by beyondnuclearinternational
The GAO identifies a number of US nuclear power plant sites that are vulnerable to the possible outbreak of #wildfires where they are located.
"'According to our analysis of U.S. Forest Service and NRC data, about 20 percent of nuclear power plants (16 of 75) are located in areas with a high or very high potential for wildfire,' the GAO report states. 'More specifically, more than one-third of nuclear power plants in the South (nine of 25) and West (three of eight) are located in areas with a high or very high potential for wildfire.' The GAO goes on to identify 'Of the 16 plants with high or very high potential for wildfire, 12 are operating and four are shut down.'
"To analyze exposure to the wildfire hazard potential, the GAO used 2023 data from the U.S. Forest Service’s Wildfire Hazard Potential Map. 'High / very high refers to plants in areas with high or very high wildfire hazard potential. Those nuclear power stations described by GAO as 'high / very high' exposure to wildfires and their locations are excerpted from GAO Appendix III: Nuclear Power Plant Exposure to Selected Natural Hazards.
Table 1: Potential High Exposure to 'Wildfires' at Operating Nuclear Power Plants
–AZ / #SAFER, one of two mobile nuclear emergency equipment supply units in the nation, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–CA / #DiabloCanyon Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–FL / #TurkeyPoint Units 3 & 4 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–GA / #EdwinIHatch Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–GA / #Vogtle Units Units 1, 2, 3 & 4, nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #BrunswickNC Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #McGuireNC Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #ShearonHarris Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH /VERY HIGH”
–NB / #CooperNuclearPowerStation, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–SC / #Catawba Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–SC / #HBRobinson Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–WA / #ColumbiaNuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”Table 2: Potential High Exposure to “Wildfires” at Shutdown Nuclear Power Plants
–CA / #SanOnofre Units 1 & 2, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–FL / #CrystalRiver, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NJ / #OysterCreek, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NY / #IndianPoint Units 1, 2 & 3, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”"Wildfires can transport #radioactive contamination from nuclear facilities
"A historical review of wildfires that occur around nuclear facilities (research, military and commercial power) identifies that these events are also a very effective transport mechanism of radioactivity previously generated at these sites and subsequently released into the environment by accident, spills and leaks, and careless dumping. The radioactivity is #resuspended by wildfires that occur years, even decades later.
"The fires carry the radioactivity on smoke particles #downwind, thus expanding the zone of #contamination further and further with each succeeding fire. The dispersed #radionuclides can have very long half-lives meaning they remain biologically hazardous in the environment for decades, centuries and longer."
Read more:
https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2025/01/19/wildfire-risks-high-at-nuclear-plants/
#Downwinders #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukesForAI #NuclearSafety #ClimateCrisis -
#WaterShortage fears as Labour’s first #AIGrowth zone sited close to new #reservoir
First #datacentre site proposed seven miles from #AbingdonReservoir planned for water-stressed #SouthEastEngland
by Helena Horton Environment reporter
Mon 13 Jan 2025"Labour’s first artificial intelligence growth zone will be sited close to the UK’s first new reservoir in 30 years, sparking fears that the AI push will add to the 'severe pressure' on water supplies in the area.
"Keir Starmer announced on Monday that he would hugely increase artificial intelligence capacity and reduce planning restrictions on companies that wanted to build datacentres by setting up '#GrowthZones' with fewer constraints [like #ExportProcessingZones and #FreeTradeZones].
"The first of these will be in #CulhamOxfordshire, only seven miles from a reservoir planned by #ThamesWater in Abingdon, which was supposed to provide water to people in the severely water-stressed south-east of England. This is the area of the country most at risk of running out of water, according to the Environment Agency. #Oxfordshire has faced particular issues, with areas reliant on #BottledWater during #heatwaves.
"AI datacentres use a large amount of water, as their servers generate heat. To prevent computer systems overheating and shutting down, the centres use cooling towers and outside air systems, both of which need clean, fresh water. AI consumes between 1.8 and 12 litres of water for each kilowatt hour of energy usage across Microsoft’s global datacentres. One study estimates that global AI could account for up to 6.6bn cubic metres of water use by 2027 – the equivalent of nearly two-thirds of England’s annual consumption.
"Even without a big increase in AI datacentres, by 2050, England faces a shortfall of nearly 5bn litres of water a day between the sustainable supplies available and the expected demand. This is more than a third of the 14bn litres of water currently put into public supply. The south-east faces a potential deficit of more than 2.5bn litres a day in the same period.
"AI could wipe out gains made by businesses in reducing their water consumption; the government is seeking a 9% reduction in non-household (business) consumption by 2037-38 from 2019-20 levels, and currently businesses are on course to achieve a reduction of 6.1%.
Adrian Ramsay MP, Green Party co-leader, said: 'While communities will face #heatwaves, #droughts and water shortages over the coming decades, this strategy locks us into pumping huge amounts of water into AI datacentres. One estimate said AI-related infrastructure may soon consume six times more water than Denmark, a country of 6 million people. What will this mean for residents in water-stressed communities like Culham in Oxfordshire?'"
Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/13/labour-ai-datacentre-growth-zone-water-shortages-abingdon-reservoir
#WaterIsLife #DataCenters #WaterShortages #NoWaterForData #NoWaterForAI #NoNukesForAI #BigData -
A tale of two #NuclearPowerPlants along #LakeMichigan: Extended life and a revival?
WUWM 89.7 FM | By Chuck Quirmbach
Published January 10, 2025"This year could be a big year for the status of two nuclear power plants around Lake Michigan.
"That includes a shutdown plant just 120 miles east of Kenosha that is seeking a first-of-its-kind restart.
"The year could also be significant for extending the life of #Wisconsin's only working commercial plant, located 95 miles north of #Milwaukee.
"On the west shore of Lake Michigan, #NextEraEnergy says it still wants a 20-year extension for the two reactors at the #PointBeachNuclearPowerPlant, located north of #TwoRivers, which would keep the site operating until the early 2050s.
"If that plan sounds familiar, it’s because #WUWM has been reporting on the proposal for about four years. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (#NRC) approval is still pending.
"In a written statement this month, Florida-based #NextEra said it has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Point Beach, 'ensuring it’s ready to produce energy for decades to come.' The company says the plant powers nearly 1 million homes and businesses and provides about 14% of Wisconsin’s electricity.
"But nuclear power critics, like #KevinKamps of #BeyondNuclear, say there are concerns that key parts of the power production units are too #brittle to last another 20-plus years. He says there’s an alternative.
"'Point Beach’s electricity could easily be replaced through the expansion of #RenewableEnergy in Wisconsin. It’s ready to go. It would be more effective for the people of Wisconsin. It would certainly be much safer,' Kamps says.
"On the east shore of the lake, the #PalisadesNuclearPlant in #CovertTownship, Michigan, shut down nearly three years ago. But at the urging of some federal, state, and local officials, the Biden administration has provided a $1.5 billion loan to Holtec International, which bought the mothballed plant from the utility Entergy, so Holtec can try to restart Palisades.
[...]
"A key concern appears to be the damaged steam generator tubes at Palisades, which are likely to need repair or replacement. On Jan. 14, Holtec and the NRC are scheduled to discuss the matter.
"The NRC says Holtec will have to prove the plant is safe.
"Incoming President Donald Trump has made conflicting statements about nuclear power, so it’s unclear if he will try to get the NRC to favor either of the Lake Michigan plants."
https://www.wuwm.com/environment/2025-01-10/a-tale-of-two-nuclear-power-plants-along-lake-michigan-extended-life-and-a-revival
#NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #RethinkNotRestart #HoltecLies #RenewablesNow #WaterIsLife #AgingNuclearPlants #NuclearSafety #NuclearWaste #NuclearIsNotCarbonFree -
#NuclearRevival? #Diné #Activist Warns Against New #UraniumMining as #AI, #Bitcoin Energy Needs Soar
#DemocracyNow
November 19, 2024"The search for an energy alternative to #FossilFuels has renewed interest in #NuclearPower production across the globe. Despite nuclear boosters’ promotion of the energy source, Tim Judson of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service [#NIRS] calls #NuclearPower an 'elaborate #greenwashing scheme.' Nuclear is 'not carbon-free,' says Diné organizer #LeonaMorgan, who highlights the fuel costs and #EnvironmentalContamination — particularly within and around #IndigenousCommunities in the #SouthwestUnitedStates — of the #UraniumMining required to produce nuclear power. Because the carbon costs before and after nuclear generation are not factored into energy calculations, says Morgan, 'it’s really not going to solve the #EnergyCrisis.'"
Watch / listen / read transcript:
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/11/19/cop29_nuclear_greenwashing#NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearNotCarbonFree
#ViewerSupportedNews #BigTech #Corporatocracy
#CorporateColonialism #NoMiningWithoutConsent #NoUraniumMining #HaulNo #UraniumMills #WaterIsLife
#AirIsLife #NoNewNukes #NoNuclearWeapons #NuclearColonialism #EnvironmentalRacism
#NativeAmericanActivists #DinéActivists -
LIVE: #WesternMiningActionNetwork in #Montreal
By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews
November 14, 2024MONTREAL -- "The Western Mining Action Network is meeting today in Montreal, with speakers from the network's #IndigenousCaucus speaking on the #NuclearFuelChain, defending the water and land, and the rights stated in the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples [#UNDIP].
The Deadly Nuclear Fuel Chain
"#PetuucheGilbert, #AcomaPueblo, said there should be more concern over the #NuclearFuel chain, #radiation and #UraniumMining. The nuclear fuel chain includes the making of the #AtomicBomb, and the #NuclearWaste from #SpentFuelRods in #NuclearPowerPlants.
"In his homeland, in the Grants mining district in #NewMexico, the abandoned #UraniumMines are #radioactive hazards affecting the water, air and the animals on the ground.
"Nearby on the #NavajoNation, there are more than 500 abandoned uranium mines and there are massive #UraniumMill waste sites, where the ore was processed. These all emit #RadonGas. He pointed out that the #McArthurRiver, #KeyLakeUranium Mine and mill in northern #Saskatchewan, Canada is the world's largest uranium mine and mill.
"Petuuche said he believes that the cancers now that the people in his area are suffering from are a result of radioactivity. There was also the atomic bomb testing in Nevada. All of that radioactivity spread over the entire United States. #Downwinders breathing the radioactivity in the air are also radiation victims."
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/11/live-western-mining-action-network-in.html
#NoUraniumMining #HaulNo #UraniumMills #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #NoNukes #NoNewNukes #NoNuclearWeapons #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukesForAI
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Not to mention all the #WaterConsumption! There are plans to restart aging nuclear reactor as well as untested SMR reactors! Will #AI’s huge energy demands spur a #nuclear renaissance?
By Davide Castelvecchi
25 October 2024Do small modular reactors carry extra risks?
"In some cases, small modular reactors 'could actually push nuclear power in a more dangerous direction', says #EdwinLyman. 'Advanced isn’t always better.'
"In particular, Lyman points out that the pebble-bed designs drawn up by #XEnergy and #Kairos would rely on high-assay low-enriched #uranium (#HALEU), which comprises 10–20% uranium-235 — compared with the 5% enrichment level required by most existing reactors (and by #NuScale’s reactor). HALEU is still classified as low-enrichment fuel (as opposed to the highly enriched uranium used to make nuclear bombs), but that distinction is misleading, Lyman says. In June, he and his collaborators — including physicist Richard Garwin, who led the design of the first hydrogen bomb — warned in a Science article that a bomb could be built with a few hundred kilograms of HALEU, with no need for further enrichment.
"Smaller reactors are also likely to produce more nuclear waste and to use fuel less efficiently, according to work reported in 2022 by Macfarlane and her collaborators. In a full-size reactor, most of the neutrons produced by the splitting of uranium travel through a large volume of fuel, meaning that they have a high probability of hitting another nucleus, rather than colliding with the walls of the reactor vessel or escaping into the surrounding building. 'When you shrink the reactor, there’s less material in there, so you will have more neutron leakage,' Macfarlane says. These rogue neutrons can be absorbed by other atomic nuclei — which would then themselves become radioactive."
Original article:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03490-3Archived version:
https://archive.ph/mODpF#selection-952.0-991.164#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Cryptocurrency #DataCenters #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #NuclearHype #NeutronEmbrittlement #NuclearWaste #NotCarbonFree