Nuclear Energy

Yes, Australia is buying a fleet of nuclear submarines. But the future of Electricity is Renewables, not Polluting Nuclear

By Ian Lowe | – The federal government on Thursday announced a landmark defence pact with the United States and United Kingdom that involves this nation acquiring nuclear-powered submarines. The question of nuclear submarines in Australia has been bubbling along for some time – and with it, whether we should also develop a nuclear energy […]

Japan

The Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Near-Meltdown is a Lasting Tragedy

H. Patricia Hynes

Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment) – In 2011 the Great East Japan Earthquake and ensuing tsunami devastated northeast Japan, taking the lives of more than 18,000 people and triggering one of the worst industrial accidents in history: the crippling breakdown of the Fukushima Dai’ichi nuclear power plant. Three of the plant’s six reactors suffered […]

Featured

Dear CIA Director Burns: Don’t Listen to the Israelis on Iran– They just want you to fight a war for them

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Jonathan Lis at Haaretz reports that the Israeli government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is lobbying the US to get on a war footing with Iran. The Israelis will try to convince CIA director William Burns of their position on Iran in his meetings there on Wednesday. Lis makes 3 […]

Coal

Renewables for first time on Record generated more Electricity than either Coal or Nuclear in US in 2020: EIA

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Energy Information Administration, the primary authority in the federal government on energy numbers, concludes that renewables, primarily hydro, wind and solar, rose to become 21% of electricity generation in the US in 2020. This is the first time on record that renewables were the second-largest generator of electricity in […]

Climate Crisis

Nuclear energy isn’t a safe bet in a warming world – here’s why

The Conversation

By Paul Dorfman | – ( The Conversation) – The overwhelming majority of nuclear power stations active today entered service long before the science of climate change was well-established. Two in five nuclear plants operate on the coast and at least 100 have been built just a few metres above sea level. Nuclear energy is, […]

Featured

Iran’s Raisi: Supports renewed Nuclear Deal, Seeks Lifting of US Sanctions, and Restored Saudi Diplomatic Relations

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In his first press conference on Monday, newly elected President Ebrahim Raisi expressed support for the negotiations in Vienna toward restoring the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the United Nations, as long as, he said, they achieve benefits for the Iranian nation and do not drag on forever. He […]

Featured

Far Right Israeli PM Bennett slams Iran Nuclear Talks for Tehran’s Poor Rights Record (Israel has 200 Nukes and has Killed Thousands of Occupied Palestinians)

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – New extreme-right Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett came out on Sunday to argue that the election of an extreme-right Iranian cleric (Ebrahim Raisi) as president of that country should cause the Biden administration to back off reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Bennett called Raisi the “hangman of Tehran” and […]

Featured

With Cyber-Attack on Iran’s Natanz Nuclear Enrichment Facility, is Israel’s Netanyahu trying to derail Biden talks and Escape Jail?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The BBC reports that a power outage and consequent explosion at the Natanz nuclear enrichment site in Iran on Sunday is being blamed by Iranian officials on sabotage. It reports that some Israeli outlets have speculated that the cause was an Israeli cyber-attack. The head of Iran’s nuclear energy program, […]

European Union

Over objections of Dem Hawks, Biden agrees to indirect Talks with Iran in Vienna to return to the 2015 Nuclear Deal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – AFP reports that an arrangement was reached at Friday’s teleconference in Vienna between the current signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to mediate indirect talks between Iran and the United States next week. State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the US had agreed to participate in the discussions […]