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Hundreds of U.S. troops are effectively being held as “hostages” in Niger with medical supplies running low — stuck between the military junta-controlled government’s demands for them to leave and the Biden administration’s refusal to let them go home after the end of their deployments, according to a report prepared by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and obtained exclusively by Breitbart News.

Vast swaths of the United States are at risk of running short of power as electricity-hungry data centers and clean-technology factories proliferate around the country, leaving utilities and regulators grasping for credible plans to expand the nation’s creaking power grid. In Georgia, demand for industrial power is surging to record highs, with the projection of new electricity use for the next decade now 17 times what it was only recently. Arizona Public Service, the largest utility in that state, is also struggling to keep up, projecting it will be out of transmission capacity before the end of the decade absent...

The Patriot-News, after intense coverage of the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Londonderry Twp., Dauphin County, printed a special section on April 16, 1979, called “The Agony of the Atom.” That section included this chronology, detailing the days around the country’s worst nuclear power plant accident, 45 years ago now. Three Mile Island, March 28, 1979. (Allied Pix archive photo) WEDNESDAY, March 28 3:53 a.m. – A malfunctioning valve causes the shutdown of two pumps in the secondary feedwater system, a separate unit that cools the water circulating through the reactor core, and triggers a...

When New York’s deteriorating and unloved Indian Point nuclear plant finally shuttered in 2021, its demise was met with delight from environmentalists who had long demanded it be scrapped. But there has been a sting in the tail – since the closure, New York’s greenhouse gas emissions have gone up. Castigated for its impact upon the surrounding environment and feared for its potential to unleash disaster close to the heart of New York City, Indian Point nevertheless supplied a large chunk of the state’s carbon-free electricity. Since the plant’s closure, it has been gas, rather then clean energy such as...

Hello from London, where I am, as a recent American transplant, still adjusting to English understatement (it turns out “you might send me that draft soon” was not just a suggestion). I’m very excited to join this team. This week’s controversy over new climate reporting rules in the US shows that the push for cleaner, fairer capitalism is becoming ever more fiercely contested. And while this debate may not always be moral, it is certainly material. I hope to help readers see which way it will tack next. Today, I have a story on two big themes that may be...

Japan is stepping up efforts to have local authorities approve the restart of the world’s biggest nuclear power plant, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility north of Tokyo... Next week, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ken Saito, is expected to ask the local governor of the Niigata prefecture to approve the restart of the power plant.. In the wake of the Fukushima disaster in 2011, Japan closed all its nuclear power plants that underwent rigorous safety checks and inspections. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa has been offline since 2012, while the Nuclear Regulation Authority in 2021 barred the plant’s operator, utility Tepco, from operating the...

Switzerland’s nuclear power plant operators plan to keep the facilities operational for longer than initially planned, ... Switzerland has four nuclear reactors, which generate up to 40% of its electricity ... the energy crisis and concerns about the reliability of electricity supply in the country has prompted utilities to look to extend the lives of the reactors as long as the extension of the operations is found to be safe. Axpo Holding and Alpiq Holding have increased the planned lifespan for their nuclear power plants to 60 years from a previous target of 50 years, which means they could be...

The comeback of nuclear power in many countries is expected to drive a record-high electricity generation from nuclear in 2025, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday. By next year, global nuclear generation is forecast to exceed its previous record set in 2021, the IEA said in its Electricity 2024 report published today.Even as some countries phase out nuclear power or retire plants early, global nuclear generation is expected to rise by nearly 3% per year on average through 2026. The key drivers of growth will be the completion of maintenance works in France, restart of some nuclear power...

'Congress alone has the authority' to breach federal dams, lawmakers write in letter to White House.. The Biden administration is quietly discussing a potentially far-reaching settlement with environmental groups that advocate for tearing down four hydroelectric dams in Washington... ... In the filings, jointly submitted by the federal government and eco groups... However, the filing failed to detail exactly what conditions were included in the secretive package .... We find it necessary to remind you Congress alone has the authority not only to order the breach of the Lower Snake River Dams, but also exclusive authority to direct the study...

It could usher an era of limitless clean, safe and affordable energy to meet the world's demand. Now, the 'holy grail' of power production – nuclear fusion, which makes the sun and the stars shine – has come a step closer. Scientists have switched on JT-60SA, a £500 million fusion device measuring around 40 feet in diameter, located in Naka north of Tokyo, Japan. JT-60SA contains swirling plasma heated up 200 million degrees Celsius (360 million degrees Fahrenheit). This is the threshold where hydrogen atoms can begin to fuse into helium, releasing sustainable energy in the process that could put...

The operator of a power grid in the mid-Atlantic is warning that the planned shutdown of a coal-fired power plant could disrupt and short-change electrical supply before people can replace it. PJM Interconnection, the company that manages wholesale electricity in parts or the entirety of 13 states and provides electricity for more than 65 million Americans, said that they expect the shutdown of the Brandon Shores coal power plant outside of Baltimore to disrupt the power there and leave it wanting. The plant's owner, Talen Energy, made a deal with the environmentalist group Sierra Club to deactivate it by 2025...

Back when we first started waging economic warfare on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, we slapped all manner of sanctions on Moscow and various Russian businesses and oligarchs. (Unless they had business ties with Hunter and Joe Biden, of course.) There were sanctions on Russian oil, vodka, caviar, and many other exports. But there was one product that conveniently didn’t get any sanctions. That would be uranium. Why? Because we use a lot of uranium for a variety of things, particularly in our nuclear reactors, and we didn’t want to upset the apple cart. Russia is a major exporter...

Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney says that shocking allegations against Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have "every appearance that (she) was bribed." During The Hugh Hewitt Show, Romney was asked about a New York Times story centered on cash flowing into the Clinton Foundation from the Russians as they won control of Uranium One, a Canadian-owned company with mines stretching from Central Asia to U.S. western states, according to The Daily Caller. "Yeah, I've got to tell you, I was stunned by it," Romney replied. "I mean, it looks like bribery. I mean, there was every appearance that Hillary...

Canada’s plans to make nuclear power a central part of its decarbonization strategy are taking shape with major announcements around large nuclear builds, small modular reactors and medical isotopes.. Nuclear power accounts for around 15% of Canada’s electricity generation with most capacity in Ontario where some 40% of the population resides. A total of 19 reactors provide around 13.6 gigawatts (GW) across the country, though most are in the provinces of Ontario and New Brunswick, which are 60% and 36% powered by nuclear respectively. ... increasingly vocal support for urgent greenhouse-gas-emission reduction have helped bring the government back to nuclear...

Sweden, long the darling of progressives for its climate change policies, has gone nuclear on the green scheme. On Tuesday, the Swedish parliament made a language change with major reverberations in the energy sector, according to Reuters. Parliament set the nation’s goal to become “100% fossil-free” electricity, instead of “100% renewable” as a way to both reach the growing electric power demand it projects for 2040 and achieve its goal of net zero emissions by 2045. “This creates the conditions for nuclear power,” Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson said. “We need more electricity production, we need clean electricity and we need...

Nuclear power has its pros and cons. Right now, the U.S. seems to be embracing its advantages. Last month, Georgia Power announced that its Vogtle Unit 3 reactor has safely reached 'initial criticality.' “A reactor achieves criticality when the nuclear fission reaction becomes self-sustaining,” the company said in a statement. “Achieving initial criticality is necessary to continue the startup of the Unit in order to generate sufficient heat for the production of electricity.” Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesperson Scott Burnell told CNBC that this marked the first nuclear reactor to achieve initial criticality since May 2016. Georgia Power expects Vogtle Unit...

The U.S. is helping China build a novel, superior nuclear reactor by  Mark Halper February 2, 2015, 2:48 PM EDT Share icons The Department of Energy is dusting off one of the old betamaxes of nuclear technology: The molten salt reactor. But with political will lacking at home, it will rise in China.In 1973, the Nixon administration made a momentous decision that altered the course of civilian nuclear power: It fired the director of the renowned Oak Ridge National Laboratory, scuppering development of a reactor widely regarded as safer and superior to the complicated, inferior behemoths that define the global...

There are geopolitical and energy realities coming to fruition that nuclear can solve. After more than sixty years, Germany closed all its nuclear power plants (NPPs) with Isar-2, Emsland, and Neckarwestheim-2 officially disconnected from the grid. Germany lost approximately 5% of its power generation. The German government went against science, reason, and grid reliability. Green hydrogen is the process of using renewables (wind and solar) for electricity to produce hydrogen. It is still in its development phase. However, to generate the amount of electricity required to unlock hydrogen from water BloombergNEF estimates: “would take more electricity than the world generates...

Georgia Power is making significant progress with the second of two additional nuclear reactors being built at Plant Vogtle even as the first of the new reactors prepares to go into commercial operation. The Atlanta-based utility announced Monday the completion of hot functional testing for Unit 4 at the plant south of Augusta. Unit 4 is projected to begin operations late this year or early in 2024. “The energy and enthusiasm at the Vogtle site, and across our entire company, is high with Unit 3 in the final stages of startup testing and Unit 4 making progress towards safely loading...

Michigan leaders may be willing to put up as much as $300 million toward the unprecedented effort to restart a Michigan nuclear power plant. State officials may contribute millions in taxpayer dollars toward Holtec International’s attempt to get its Palisades nuclear plant upgraded and fired back up to provide 800 megawatts of carbon-free, base load power as the energy sector transitions away from fossil fuels. If successful, it would be the first nuclear plant in the nation returned to generating power after being decommissioned. The plant was shuttered last year when its owner exited the nuclear energy generation business and...