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Is Britain Secretly Funding Its Nuclear Submarine Program? (nytimes.com)
Why is the U.K. funding a risky $22 billion joint project with China to produce electricity at twice the cost? mdsolar quotes a nuclear specialist from the University of Oxford:
...it only makes sense if one considers its connection to Britain's military projects -- especially Trident, a roving fleet of armed nuclear submarines, which is outdated and needs upgrading. Hawks and conservatives, in particular, see the Trident program as vital to preserving Britain's international clout...the government and some of its partners in the defense industry, like Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems, think a robust civilian nuclear industry is essential to revamping Britain's nuclear submarine program...
Merging programs like research and development or skills training across civilian and military sectors helps cut back on military spending. It also helps maintain the talent pool for nuclear specialists. And given the long lead times and life spans of most nuclear projects, connections between civilian and military programs give companies more incentives to make the major investments required. One might say that with the Hinkley Point project, the British government is using billions of Chinese money to build stealth submarines designed to deter China.
The Op-Ed -- published in The New York Times -- calls for more openness about military spending, arguing "If Britain's energy policy were solely about energy, rather than also about defense, the nuclear sector would be forced to stand on its own two feet."
Merging programs like research and development or skills training across civilian and military sectors helps cut back on military spending. It also helps maintain the talent pool for nuclear specialists. And given the long lead times and life spans of most nuclear projects, connections between civilian and military programs give companies more incentives to make the major investments required. One might say that with the Hinkley Point project, the British government is using billions of Chinese money to build stealth submarines designed to deter China.
The Op-Ed -- published in The New York Times -- calls for more openness about military spending, arguing "If Britain's energy policy were solely about energy, rather than also about defense, the nuclear sector would be forced to stand on its own two feet."
I know, ad hominem and all that, but nuclear is the only direct, carbon free, base load power source.
Either carbon dioxide emissions matter, in which case the price of generation is irrelevant, or they don't, and everyone can continue to use natural gas and coal for cheap base load.
...they want a carbon free steady power source that works no matter if it is cloudy out or not. I heard in the UK it gets cloudy. Maybe just a rumour.
But Thor... I... um... MY god carries a hammer! YOUR god died nailed to a cross? Any solar panels NOW?
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
When you can build two for Twice the price!
One has to balance the practicalities between effectiveness and usefulness.
I imagine lead would do a much better job at blocking alien mind-reading technology than tin; however, tinfoil would be lighter and easier to wear. If the leadfoil is too heavy to wear when walking the dog, who really is going to use it?
Tin foil might only block out some alien technologies and leadfoil blocks them, but let's face it; no-one is going to wear the leadfoil in public unless they're crazy, So it's tinfoil for me all the way. Might not work as well, but at least it is wearable.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
See, [glances around, drops voice to whisper] it's not... not the aliens... it's the... the... RADIASHUN! Cuz NUKYULAR!
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
I started to read through the NYTimes article, and about half-way through realized that it's an opinion piece. I had to check the summary just to make sure I didn't get baited.
I looked up the author, Peter Wynn Kirby.
http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/staff...
"Peter Wynn Kirby is an environmental specialist, ethnographer, and Research Fellow in the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford"
So you'd think this guy would have a PhD in geology, chemistry, or one of the other physical sciences. Nope, his PhD is in Social Anthropology from Cambridge. I'm sure he's a smart guy, but that's hardly what I'd call a "nuclear specialist from the University of Oxford" as the summary states.
Not to mention that this falls under Betteridge's Law....
If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
I think most of us have suspected for some time that mdsolar is a shill for the nuclear industry, paid to make supporters of renewable energy look ridiculous, but this latest screed is just too over the top and risks exposing his true agenda.
Watch this Heartland Institute video
"Two nations separated by common fantasy"
Well, except for the fact that Trump quite openly and repeatedly said the first, whereas May not only never acknowledged- let alone "admitted" the truth of- the "story" and certainly hasn't come close to saying anything like the second quote even allowing for paraphrasing... but also that the only "evidence" that this might even be the case is an unsubstantiated article that speculates on some vague connection between Hinkley Point and Trident without explaining clearly how that might work (i.e. how the overlap between the two projects is supposed to work- i.e. how does research and work at Hinkley Point benefit the rather different Trident programme- and also, how exactly are they going to do this without the Chinese finding out about it?)
That said, something *does* stink quite badly about Hinkley Point C; at face value, the Tories are funding it this way to avoid being seen to be increasing public borrowing for purely dogmatic reasons, ultimately costing the public and taxpayer a lot more, and involving China in Britain's energy supply. But that's Tory hypocrisy all over for you, and entirely plausible in itself.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
President Trump, we have good news and bad news.
The good news is that Mexicans agreed to build the wall. In fact over forty million Mexican volunteers totally finished it in a matter of weeks.
The bad news is that they built it while standing on our side.
...Britain's sheep grow spandex instead of wool.
Close... fallout from Chenobyl ended raining down on the Welsh highlands (West side of UK island) causing a ban on the sale of farm animals in affected areas (mainly sheep): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-w...
In total, 344 Welsh farms were put under restrictions, with animals' radiation levels monitored before they were allowed to be sold at market. The number of failing animals peaked in 1992, but some still recorded higher levels of caesium as recently as 2011.
There's about 0 overlap between civilian nuclear reactors and submarine powerplants. The UK might as well hide the SSBN budget inside the NHS.
The cost for a new nuclear submarine powerplant has been openly discussed already, making it unlikely they'd try to hide that cost now.
Then again, it's an mdsolar submission, so par for the course.