Additional information, links:
“Always-on”, my ass…
Also, looks like the safe, modular mini-nukes are still just not quite there yet.
6 Likes
4 Likes
No notes on the model they launched, but I’m guessing they are checking some systems that they bought from the old Soviet Union. I’d be concerned, too, that those parts might be working as well as the 
flagship systems are right now
Lots of military things seem to go 
in spectacular ways. My personal favourite is their TOS-1 thermobaric launcher, but their tanks and “nuclear attack proof” bunkers don’t disappoint either…
3 Likes
4 Likes
4 Likes
Uncle Sam loans $1.5B to reignite Michigan nuclear plant in 2025
https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/reactors/pali.html
2 Likes
3 Likes
2 Likes
Follow-up:
2 Likes
3 Likes
4 Likes
Follow-up:
If you’re excited by that $1.5B Michigan nuke plant revival, bear in mind it’s definitely a fixer-upper
I would be totally surprised if similar issues might pop up if TMI is going to be reactivated.
4 Likes
3 Likes
2 Likes
[…]
It’s no coincidence that Putin mentioned uranium first. The state-owned Russian company Rosatom holds over 40% of the world market for the enriched uranium needed to operate nuclear power plants. No other country offers such high-quality, low-enriched uranium for new-generation reactors. US company Centrus Energy was the first to start its own uranium enrichment at the end of last year, but production volumes will remain modest for the foreseeable future. Centrus Energy’s main business is in fact the supply of enriched uranium that it purchases from Rosatom.
Overall, Rosatom’s share of the US market is more than 20%, and around 30% in the EU. As the largest buyer of enriched uranium from Russia, the US accounts for half of Rosatom’s foreign sales, which amount to around $2 billion (€1.8 billion) per year. Rosatom’s uranium deliveries to the EU amount to around $500 million (€455 million).
[…]
4 Likes
Surely a lot of this comes down to cost of production and a failure to diversify supply chains.
- Nickel? Canada has lots with Indonesia, Australia and Brazil all having bigger reserves than Russia.
- Titanium? Canada produced 600,000 metric tonnes in 2022.
- Uranium? Canada and Australia have 38% of the worlds recoverable resources.
3 Likes
Iran: An earthquake — or a secret underground nuclear test?
Days after news broke of the earthquake in Iran’s Semnan province, speculation has continued on social media that the tremors were caused by Tehran’s first nuclear test.
3 Likes
6 Likes
Thanks to cheap Indonesian nickel in the past 12 months, nickel mines and refineries are closing in Australia. I suspect Russia would also be stopping production anyway.
Uranium is trickier. While Australia has a lot of the stuff, it doesn’t have a lot of operating mines and has no commercial-scale enrichment. Australia is years away from appreciably filling any gap left by Rosatom.
ETA: here’s a chart from Wikipedia about uranium mining in Australia. The vertical axis is in thousands of tonnes. The price of uranium started to fall in 2010 and by 2013 several Australian mines closed. Currently, those mines haven’t resumed production.
4 Likes
