The Nuclear Aged: Europe’s atomic reactors are getting old
Reuters skrev:In some countries — especially for those that planned to exit atomic power entirely after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan — discussion is focused on the short term: eking out a few years to get through any shortages before new wind, solar and gas installations can be built to take over.
Anti-nuclear Germany had planned to switch off its last three plants by the end of 2022, only to grant the sites an emergency extension to April 2023 to make it through winter without Russian gas — which previously made up 40% of EU gas supply.
[...]
Belgium already performed a U-turn this January on its 2025 nuclear phaseout plan, after the war in Ukraine forced the government to rethink increased reliance on natural gas.
[...]
But a licence approval isn’t proof it can be done: The world’s oldest operating reactor, Switzerland’s Beznau 1, will only turn 54 this year.
[...]
In February, Finland’s Fortum obtained permission to operate two reactors until 2050, when they will reach 70 years of age.
In Sweden, where licences are unlimited in time subject to regular safety checks, Vattenfall is considering 80 years of operation for its five reactors.
En utmärkt sammanställning av Europas åldrande reaktorflotta. Men hur länge håller de europeiska reaktorerna? Flera länder ville ersätta med rysk gas...
The failure of Luna 25 cements Putin’s role as a disastrous space leader
Ars Technica skrev:But unlike NASA, China, India, and several companies in the United States and Japan, the Luna 25 effort does not presage the coming of a golden era of exploration for Russia. Rather, it is more properly seen as the last gasp of a dying empire, an attempt by the modern state of Russia, and President Vladimir Putin, to revive old glories.
[...]
But for now, they work. The bigger problem is that there is precious little new hardware in the pipeline. A modern replacement for the Soyuz spacecraft, "Orel," is perpetually five to seven years away from flight, which essentially means never. A replacement space station, ROSS, remains in the vaporware stage of development. And then there is the Soyuz-5 rocket, a three-stage rocket powered by RD-171 engines that will burn kerosene fuel and compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket on price. This vehicle, too, has a future launch date that keeps slipping.
[...]
But perhaps the gravest wound that Putin dealt Roscosmos was installing Dmitry Rogozin, a militant nationalist politician, as its director in 2018. Rogozin brought a pugnacious leadership style into the role, rubbing his Western allies the wrong way. He also was reportedly very corrupt as well, purchasing luxury vehicles and a dacha for himself. Under his leadership, the quality control problems at Roscosmos worsened.
[...]
Things got much worse for the space program when Russia invaded Ukraine. Rogozin took his rhetoric to another level, making frequent threats about how Russia would end its partnership with NASA on the International Space Station. He also used the space program as a platform to promote the war. Eventually, Putin tired of Rogozin's antics and sacked him in July 2022.
[...]
All of this brings us to today. The Russian civil space program is in shambles. Putin has attempted to use smoke and mirrors to convince his population that the country still is a world leader on the global stage for space exploration. But Russia has fallen far behind China in spaceflight. (China landed three probes on the Moon in the last decade, including an ambitious sample return mission in 2020). For the time being, with its human spaceflight capability, Russia remains on par with the European Space Agency and slightly ahead of India. But it could fall behind both in the coming decade, with Japan not far behind, either.
Även Rysslands rymdprogram befinner sig i kris. USA och Kina drar ifrån medan Indien och Japan kommer ikapp. Hur blir det med resten av Europa?
Two Ukrainian drones shot down over Moscow region, flights briefly disrupted - Russia
Reuters skrev:Russia shot down two Ukrainian drones over the Moscow region with no casualties and brought down a further two drones over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.
A Reuters reporter in the town of Krasnogorsk in the Moscow region, seat of the Moscow regional government, saw minor damage to tiling on a high-rise residential building and shattered glass exterior window panes in a few of its apartments.
[...]
Rosaviatsia, Russia's aviation authority, said nine flights had been diverted at Moscow's Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports, but that all of the capital's airports were now working normally.
Drönarattacker mot Moskva har blivit en daglig företeelse. Detta påverkar inte bara flygtrafiken, utan också moralen - kanske företrädesvis i Ukraina.
dr Cassandra Nojdh skrev: ↑måndag 21 augusti 2023 15:01
Nä, jag "kontrollerar" inga twitter-X-rykten, vars trovärdighet jag inte vet något om. Däremot läser jag ISW dagligen. Ex.vis.
Ukraine’s Forces and Firepower Are Misallocated, U.S. Officials Say
The New York Times skrev:American planners have advised Ukraine to concentrate on the front driving toward Melitopol, Kyiv’s top priority, and on punching through Russian minefields and other defenses, even if the Ukrainians lose more soldiers and equipment in the process.
[...]
Nearly three months into the counteroffensive, the Ukrainians may be taking the advice to heart, especially as casualties continue to mount and Russia still holds an edge in troops and equipment.
In a video teleconference on Aug. 10, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; his British counterpart, Adm. Sir Tony Radakin; and Gen. Christopher Cavoli, the top U.S. commander in Europe, urged Ukraine’s most senior military commander, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, to focus on one main front. And, according to two officials briefed on the call, General Zaluzhnyi agreed.
Admiral Radakin’s role has been especially important and not widely appreciated until now, the officials said. General Milley speaks to General Zaluzhnyi every week or so about strategy and Ukrainian military needs. But the Biden administration has prohibited senior U.S. officers from visiting Ukraine for security reasons and to avoid increasing tensions with Moscow. Britain, however, has imposed no such constraints, and Admiral Radakin, a polished officer who served three tours in Iraq, has developed close ties with his Ukrainian counterpart during multiple trips to the country.
[...]
“We do not assess that the conflict is a stalemate,” Jake Sullivan, the White House’s national security adviser, said on Tuesday. “We continue to support Ukraine in its effort to take territory as part of this counteroffensive, and we are seeing it continue to take territory on a methodical systematic basis.”
[...]
Several U.S. officials said they expect Ukraine to make it about halfway to the Sea of Azov by winter, when cold weather may dictate another pause in the fighting. The senior U.S. official said that would be a “partial success.” Some analysts say the counteroffensive will fall short of even that more limited goal.
Even if the counteroffensive fails to reach the coast, officials and analysts say if it can make it far enough to put the coastal road within range of Ukrainian artillery and other strikes, it could cause even more problems for Russian forces in the south who depend on that route for supplies.
USA:s senaste bedömning är att Ukraina når delvis framgång. Som bekant har Ukraina tiden på sin sida - detta blir knappast den sista motoffensiven!
Ukraine Chalks Up Small Advance in Southern Push
MSN skrev:Robotyne’s capture by Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade on Tuesday gives Kyiv something to celebrate, after two months of hard fighting, substantial casualties and minimal gains since the long-awaited counteroffensive began.
About 9 miles south of Orikhiv, where Ukrainian forces began their march south, Robotyne is within about 14 miles of Tokmak, a key crossroads on the way south toward Melitopol, which is the biggest Russian-occupied city in the Zaporizhzhia region. Kyiv is hoping its troops can reach the Sea of Azov during the counteroffensive and bisect Russian forces.
[...]
“These Ukrainian troops are being sent to do something we’d never do—launching a counteroffensive without total air superiority,” said Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, a former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe. Days ago, after months of pleas from Ukraine for fighter jets, the U.S. agreed to let allies transfer F-16s to Kyiv, and the Netherlands and Denmark collectively pledged to send more than 60 of them. However those jets aren’t expected to arrive for months.
[...]
In the months since, Kyiv has adjusted its tactics, with infantry now leading the charge through minefields on foot and tanks supporting from behind, according to soldiers in several brigades fighting in the area. The arrival of American cluster munitions has also boosted the offensive, soldiers said.
[...]
“Psychologically, it was very difficult,” said one 52-year-old woman from Robotyne on a video the brigade published on Tuesday. “We hoped and waited for ours to come…We waited for a long time, and today it happened.”
[...]
The Tu-22M3 BACKFIRE bomber that was likely hit has been used to fire inaccurate antiship missiles against Ukraine, the ministry wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“This is at least the third successful attack on LRA airfields, again raising questions about Russia’s ability to protect strategic locations deep inside the country,” the ministry wrote, referring to Russia’s Long Range Aviation (LRA).
Robotyne har äntligen befriats! Vidare ryktas det om att Norge ger sina F-16-plan istället för att sälja till Draken International - utöver de nämna 60 planen.
, generals at MoD and GRU set up their own PMC, both to seize control away from Prigozhin, but also to dip into the (corrupt) funding flows.
Ukraine
