To 10 May – the week in nuclear news
Growing number of Asian countries ravaged by fresh coronavirus waves. World Health Organisation updates its coronavirus advice, acknowledging aerosol transmission as the major source of infection. Covid-19: hopes for ‘Herd Immunity’ fade as virus hurtles toward becoming endemic. Biden’s proposal to waive patent rights for vaccine production has raised quite a storm.
Climate change: how bad could the future be, if we do nothing?
And now – to nuclear issues. There have been a number of important articles this week, on nuclear weapons in space – the militarisation of space. It’s ironic that a big news discussion has also gone on, about an ”out-of-control” Chinese rocket, that could have hit land and caused havoc. Ever ready to put a comforting Western spin on the news, this incident was used by the media to show how very safe U.S. rockets are, in comparison with those reckless Chinese efforts.
Small Modular Nuclear Reactors Are Mostly Bad Policy,
Clean Technica By Michael Barnard 3 May 21,
People asserting that SMRs are the primary or only answer to energy generation either don’t know what they are talking about, are actively dissembling or are intentionally delaying climate action.
Like hydrogen, small modular nuclear reactors have been seeing a resurgence of interest lately. Much of that is driven by governmental policies and investments focusing on the technology. Much of it comes from the nuclear industry. And inevitably, some comes from entrepreneurs attempting to build a technology that they hope will take off in a major way, making them and their investors a lot of money.
Small Modular Nuclear Reactors Are Mostly Bad Policy, "...So Who Is Advocating For SMRs & Why? Clean Technica, ByMichael Barnard, 3 May 21, At present we see SMR earmarked funds in both Canadian and US federal budgets, $150 million in Canada and 10 times as much in the US, mostly for research and development with the exception of over…