Autoport workers go on strike in Halifax

Replacement workers  SCABS on site at processing facility in Eastern Passage, N.S.

CBC News · Posted: Feb 27, 2024 

  Almost 240 workers at a vehicle processing facility in Eastern Passage, N.S., have gone on strike after negotiations between the union and the company failed to reach an agreement. Paul Palmeter has the story.

Almost 240 workers at a vehicle processing facility in Eastern Passage, N.S., have gone on strike after negotiations between the union and the company failed to reach an agreement.

Unifor Local 100 workers at Autoport started strike action at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday. Union members rejected a tentative agreement earlier this month and provided a notice to strike on Friday. 

Autoport has brought in replacement labour. 

"What we're seeing here is scab labour," said Jennifer Murray, Unifor Atlantic regional director. "It's incredibly disrespectful to the employees, our members, who go to work every day." 

Murray said the preparation of replacement labour is evidence Autoport had no intention of reaching a deal on Monday. 

The use of replacement labour highlights the need for the federal government to pass legislation on the issue, according to a news release from Unifor. 

Contingency plan 

Autoport, a subsidiary of CN, processes and ships close to 185,000 vehicles annually, according to the union.

"Today, Autoport enacted its contingency plan at its Eastern Passage facility to protect the continuity of the supply chain. Activities will continue uninterrupted as long as necessary," said Tom Bateman, a spokesperson for CN, on behalf of Autoport. 

Unifor said negotiations with the employer began in September and were ongoing up until the strike deadline

"Here we are on the picket lines while people are performing our work," said Cory Will, president of Unifor Local 100. "People just want a fair reasonable wage to be able to provide for their families." 

Workers at the facility earn between $22.30 and $33.06 an hour after probation, according to a collective bargaining agreement for the Eastern Passage facility that expired in December 2023. The union turned down an eight per cent wage increase over three years. 

A replacement worker at Autoport in Eastern Passage, N.S., drives a vehicle past Unifor members on strike Tuesday. (Paul Palmeter/CBC)

"We are always open to going back to the table as long as the company understands that our members, their employees, deserve a fair wage and a fair and equitable deal," said Sean Warnell, a 27-year Autoport worker. 

"It's a nervous way to be. Everybody has bills, mortgages, kids are in university. People are just trying to make ends meet," Warnell said. 

The road to Bolshevism: the Narodnik labour movement

13 February, 2024 

Author: Sean Matgamna


Third in a series around the anniversary of the death of Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin) in 1924

Franco Venturi (in his book Roots of Revolution) quotes a police report on the state of things in the St Petersburg working class after the impact of the populists (Narodniks.

“The gross, vulgar methods employed by factory employers are becoming intolerable to the workers. They have obviously realised that a factory is not conceivable without their labour... Without workers [the employers] can do nothing.

“A realisation of this has now given rise to that spirit of solidarity among the workers which has so often been noted these days.

“Two or three years ago the employers’ affairs were no better than they are at present. Then, too, it often happened that the workers did not receive their wages on time. Yet then everything went smoothly. The cunning employer flattered his workers and said good-naturedly that he could not pay them at the right time, and they withdrew in silence, and next day turned up quite normally for work.

“But now as soon as even the most popular employer holds back wages for only three or four days, the crowd begins to murmur and curse, and strikes often break out. Even in the workshops where money for wages can never be lacking — as this is a State industry — the spirit of opposition to be found among the workmen has appeared on a scale utterly unknown before. There have been cases of work stopping because the men were not satisfied with an insufficient wage or because of oppression exercised by the management of the workshops.

“All this, taken as a whole, clearly betrays the influence of the propagandists, who have been able to sow among the workers hatred for their employers and the belief that the forces of labour are being exploited”.

The first

It was not in St Petersburg but in Odessa, in the south, on the Black Sea, that the first distinct working-class organisation in the Russian empire emerged. 30,000 of Odessa’s 200,000 population were proletarians. The story began with the work of a populist, E Zaslavsky, which lasted nine months (in 1875) before he was arrested.

He was a noble, but not rich. In 1872-3 he had anticipated the mass movement of 1874 from the towns to the peasants, and gone out to “the people” on his own. He came back disabused and convinced that the “people” to work with were the urban proletariat. He moved in the opposite direction to the majority of the populists at that time.

Zaslavsky was a believer in Lavrov’s policy of long-term work through propaganda, and not the Bakuninist one of trying to foment immediate revolt. He circulated Lavrov’s émigré paper, Vpered (Forward). In 1873 he became a teacher in an existing small group of populists who worked around the Bellino-Vendrich factory, which had about 500 workers.

He tried to teach political economy and working-class history, but abandoned that for simply reading aloud Chernyshevsky’s didactic novel What Is To Be Done? (Vladimir Ulyanov, Lenin, would later appropriate the title for his 1902 pamphlet).

The group printed and distributed illegal leaflets, and helped workers form a library and start a communal bath.

350 workers in the factory set up a credit union. The activity of organising the workers in this mutual-aid bank eventually led to the creation of a workers’ organisation of 200 members. They had a structured leadership, an entrance fee, a subscription, and regular meetings. This was the nucleus of the Union of Workers of Southern Russia (as it was called, “Southern Russia” then being taken to include Ukraine). It spread to other factories across Odessa.

What was the “Union of Workers of Southern Russia”? A trade union? A political party? A mutual aid society? It was all of them!

Venturi: “It emphasised its distinctive working-class nature. This led to moves to exclude non-workers, and soon there was internal war between Bakuninists and others that led to a split. But the organisation survived.”

What did it do? It made propaganda, held classes, fought the working-class struggle on wages and conditions. It supported strikes, for example at the Bellino-Vendrich factory and at the Gullier-Blanchard factory. It published a manifesto on those struggles that was distributed in the towns along the Black Sea coast. Virtually everything the union did was, of course, still illegal. In late 1875 it was virtually destroyed by police action. Some of its organisers got ten years hard labour. Zaslavsky got ten years. He went half-mad in jail, and died there of TB in 1878.

From then on the Bakuninists predominated in attempts to revive the Union.

Pavel Axelrod, one of the future consistent Marxists, was still a Zemlya i Volya Bakuninist, but already working-class oriented and heavily influenced by the workers’ movement in the West. He desired, as he put it, to “let the voice of the working classes be heard”. He had been working in Kiev since 1872, and there, in 1879, he started the “Workers’ Union of South Russia”, deliberately reviving the name of the Odessa organisation of 1875.

That union soon disintegrated when Axelrod, who after the June 1879 split in Zemlya i Volya was now with Plekhanov in Black Redistribution, went to St Petersburg. In terms of the history of the Russian working-class movement, it was however very important. Its programme was an eclectic hybrid of Bakuninist and Western social-democratic approaches.

Axelrod was in transition to West European style social democratic politics in which the proletariat, not, as in populist socialism, the peasantry, was central. The union’s goal was to be an anarchist stateless society, but it advocated immediate democratic freedom in Russia. It advocated palliatives and reforms, such as the reduction of hours of work. It had a variant of the minimum-maximum programme, split between short-term reform objectives and longer-term aims, such as was typical of the Western Social Democrats at that time, with an anarchist rather than a Marxian socialist “maximum” programme and eventual goal.

The Workers’ Union was restarted in Kiev in 1880 by two young populists of a different political bent, Nikolai Shchedrin and Elizaveta Kovalskaya, who believed in vigorous economic terrorism — the use in the towns of the sort of violence against exploiters and officials which Zemlya i Volya (Land and Freedom) had advocated and used in the countryside.

Shchedrin took work in a railway centre, and soon a dozen railworkers formed the nucleus of the revived organisation. And it spread. The Ukrainians in the organisation objected to recruiting Jewish workers — “they killed Christ”. The organisers had to fight such attitudes, and they did.

The following year an anti-Jewish pogrom was started — Jewish quarters were attacked, people maimed and killed, and women raped, with the police and soldiers looking on or participating. Shchedrin was already in jail, but the workers he had educated, whose antisemitism he had confronted, put out a leaflet urging the people to fight their exploiters and not the “poor Jews”.

Narodnaya Volya would back the paper that started the widespread pogroms from 1881 — it was a genuine popular movement of the people, wasn’t it? — but that was in the future.

The Workers’ Union had 600 members and held mass meetings in the open air, outside the town. The methods of the Union were a mix of elite terror against the exploiters, the Bakuninist Zemlya i Volya policy of calls for immediate revolt, and working-class mass action. The workers were still feeling their way, enshrouded still in the integument of populism and populist methods. Many of them still retained the mentality of peasants, looking for help to their “little father”, the Tsar.

The organisation was strong in the Kiev Arsenal, but they fought there not by mass working-class action but by publishing a manifesto threatening the director of the Arsenal with death if he did not give the workers what they wanted. He did as he was told! The working day was reduced by two hours.

The Union saw it as a central task to create for the workers their own “fighting organisation” — that is, an organisation to wage terrorist guerrilla war as a weapon of the working-class struggle against exploitation.

Theirs was a working-class terrorism. Venturi quotes Axelrod’s memoirs to the effect that Narodnaya Volya (the People’s Will, the majority of Zemlya i Volya after the 1879 split, the minority in which became Plekhanov’s group), with its concentration on killing the Tsar and on winning the support of the upper layers of society, objected to this economic terrorism against the capitalists because it would alienate the bourgeoisie when they sought its support and money. This, Narodnaya Volya, was the organisation that would become defined by its notionally short-term and tactical aim shared with the liberals, of seeking for a constitution.

Jail

By late 1880 the leaders of the Southern Workers’ Union were in jail. Shchedrin paid for his brief activity with a sentence of death, commuted by the Tsar to hard labour for life. He continued to fight in jail, and was again sentenced to death for striking an army officer. Again the sentence was commuted. He went mad and spent the rest of his life in an insane asylum, dying there in 1919. Elizaveta Kovalskaya eventually escaped from jail.

The work of building the Russian labour movement did not come cheap in human cost. Up to the revolution, the typical career of those who built the movement would be to spend a few months or a year at liberty working underground and then to spend years in jail or Siberian exile. The road to the October Revolution would be paved with the bones and skulls of many thousands of such people.

As Trotsky recounted it, even in a later period: “The movement was as yet utterly devoid of careerism, lived on its faith in the future and on its spirit of self-sacrifice. There were as yet no routine, no set formulae, no theatrical gestures, no ready-made oratorical tricks... Whoever joined an organisation knew that prison followed by exile awaited him within the next few months.

“The measure of ambition was to last as long as possible on the job prior to arrest; to hold oneself steadfast when facing the gendarmes; to ease, as far as possible, the plight of one’s comrades; to read, while in prison, as many books as possible; to escape as soon as possible from exile abroad; to acquire wisdom there; and then return to revolutionary activity in Russia”.

Timeline

1861: Abolition of serfdom. Alexander Herzen, from exile, calls on intellectuals to “go to the people”. First major populist (Narodnik) group, Zemlya i Volya (Land and Freedom), 1861-4.

1872-3: The “Chaikovists” build the first populist workers’ groups in Petersburg.

1874-5: First and second waves of young radicals “going to the people”.

1875: Union of Workers of Southern Russia formed.

1876: Second Zemlya i Volya group: “Bakuninist”, aims to spark immediate mass rebellion for socialism.

1878-80: North Russian Workers’ Union formed.

1879: Zemlya i Volya splits. Majority, called Narodnaya Volya (People’s Will), goes for “terrorism” (assassination of top officials) with first aim of winning a constitution. Minority, Chornyi Peredel (Black Redistribution), upholds old approach.

1879-81: A second Workers’ Union of South Russia formed; again crushed.

March 1881: Narodnaya Volya people kill the Tsar. They are hanged. Intense repression crushes Narodnaya Volya.

April 1881: First of a wave of pogroms.

1883: Plekhanov, Axelrod, and other former leaders of Chornyi Peredel, now in exile in Switzerland, form Group for the Emancipation of Labour, with a new perspective.

Palestinian ambassador Husam Zomlot praises ‘unprecedented solidarity’ movement in Britain

He attacked Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak for supporting Israel

Husam Zomlot marching for Palestine in London on 13 January demo

By Thomas Foster
SOCIALIST WORKER
Tuesday 27 February 2024

The Palestinian ambassador to Britain has slammed British politicians for their torrent of Islamophobia.

Husam Zomlot told a press conference on Tuesday, “The last few months have seen the worst of Britain with the government’s inconsistent policies and what you saw in parliament last week.”

But Zomlot contrasted that with the response from ordinary people. “For five months, you’ve seen hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating,” he said. “That is commendable.”

Lee Anderson MP told the right wing GB News last weekend that London mayor Sadiq Khan has “given our capital city away” to Islamists.

Zomlot said, “To paint the most moving act of the British people, the act that shows people have principles, to paint them as Islamists is in my opinion Islamophobic, anti-Palestinian and anti-British.

“I was on the marches. I didn’t see Islamists, I saw people. I saw grandmothers, brothers, sisters, mothers with pushchairs, diversity, unity and passion. Some frame these people as ‘Islamists’ but they are the British people—with a sense of solidarity and support for humanity.”

“We must fight Islamophobia as much as we fight antisemitism. If you only fight one form of racism you are not anti-racist, you are racist.”

He added, “The attempt to divide is a serious business that has gone on for a long time.

“Islamophobia has risen by 335 percent. It is Palestinians and Muslims who have been violently attacked in recent months.”

Politicians are ramping up Islamophobia because they’ve been terrified by the Palestine solidarity movement.

When asked about the mass demonstrations in Britain, Zomlot said, “People are focusing on the demonstrations because it’s a physical act of solidarity.


Full coverage of the struggle in Palestine

“But it’s not just the demonstrations, there are thousands of acts across Britain. There is unprecedented solidarity. It goes beyond marching and demonstrations.

“Last week 80,000 Britons lobbied MPs for an immediate ceasefire. This is a serious movement. It is sustained.

“Given the historic responsibility of Britain, it could not be more relevant that the anti-colonisation movement emanates from Britain. It might not grow in numbers, but it will grow in diversification, impact and influence.”

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” has rung out on the mass demonstrations in London.

Protesters projected the slogan onto the Houses of Parliament during the ceasefire vote last week—and Sunak condemned it. One pundit parroted Sunak’s line at the press conference, suggesting the slogan was antisemitic.

“Israel exists from the river to the sea. That is in the manifesto of Israel’s ruling party,” responded Zomlot.

“The slogan is a call to justice. They want to eradicate the system of apartheid built from the river to the sea, the colonial expansion, the theft of land and the besiegement of millions of people over the years.”

He blasted Sunak, “Israel uses ‘from the river to the sea’. Israel is calling for the eradication of the Palestinian people.

“Why didn’t we hear the British prime minister say this is against international law and anti-Palestine? No one is eradicating Israel. Israel is eradicating Palestine.”

It’s crucial to build the workplace and student day of action called by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop The War and others on 8 March—and the national demonstration the following day.Go to https://www.stopwar.org.uk/ for more info

Ground invasion of Rafah is ‘push for mass expulsion’

“A ground invasion of Rafah will bring untold suffering,” said Zomlot. “There are 1.5 million in a very small piece of land—6,000 people per one kilometre.

“Can you imagine Israel’s terror? They will kill tens of thousands. The final push in Rafah is the final push for mass expulsion.

“With any talk of possible agreements, Netanyahu is just buying time. He plays the game of time and blame, blaming everyone else.


‘Things are completely out of control here’—voice from Rafah

“Netanyahu is personally invested in the continued aggression and the worst aspects of his government are interested in ethnic cleansing. They want to finish what they started 75 years ago. They have a plan.”

Zomlot called out the US and Britain for backing Israel’s genocide. “Israel won’t accept a ceasefire unless it’s forced to,” he said. “Britain and the US need to threaten to stop sending weapons to Israel.

“I blame Biden. Biden could have ended this long ago. It is US that provides Israel with the toys to carry out a genocide.”

 

Ukraine's Hard-Won Grain Corridor May Shut Without More U.S. Support

WFP/USAID

PUBLISHED FEB 27, 2024 8:34 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

Despite Ukraine's success in striking back against the Russian Navy, the progress it has made in securing the western Black Sea could be reversed if the United States does not provide more arms soon, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned in a new interview. 

Ukraine's maritime trade has gone through severe ups and downs since the start of the Russian invasion two years ago. In the first months of the war, a Russian naval blockade shut down all merchant traffic to Ukraine's busy Black Sea ports, which historically handled the vast majority of the country's grain exports. Over the summer of 2022, the UN and Turkey negotiated a deal with Russia to partially lift that blockade, but only for approved ships, and only for grain export cargoes. 

Russia abandoned this Black Sea grain deal in July 2023, suspended its security guarantees, and attacked Ukrainian grain terminals with long-range missiles and drones. Undeterred, Ukraine hit back at the Russian Navy with a wave of missile and suicide drone attacks, destroying or sinking multiple vessels in a matter of months. 

This defense strategy has effectively forced the Russian surface fleet out of the western reaches of the Black Sea, according to UK intelligence. In September 2023, with war risk reduced by Ukraine's defenses, bulkers returned to Odesa to load grain - this time, without Russia's permission. 

This unilateral security corridor has allowed Ukraine to export about 30 million tonnes of grain so far, and exporters should be able to ship the entirety of the 2023 crop - a sea change from the situation in 2022. But the corridor depends upon deterring the Russian threat to commercial shipping, and that requires a regular flow of Western armament. 

After two years of funding Ukraine's defense, the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives is blocking a $60 billion aid package for Kyiv, aligning with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The interruption in funding is already affecting the front lines in Ukraine, and in an interview with CNN, Zelensky said that the maritime corridor will also be at risk if aid is not restored soon. 

"I think the route will be closed," he said. "To defend it, it's also about some ammunition, some air defense, and some other systems."

Engineers’ union throws support behind Norfolk Southern, criticizes activist investor proposals

By Bill Stephens | February 27, 2024

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen cites safety improvements under CEO Alan Shaw

A Norfolk Southern train pauses for a crew change. Norfolk Southern

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INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen today said it will “vigorously oppose” an activist investor’s attempt to gain control of the Norfolk Southern board and oust CEO Alan Shaw and Chief Operating Officer Paul Duncan.

Cleveland-based Ancora Holdings is waging a proxy battle and has proposed a slate of eight directors and is touting former UPS President and Chief Operating Officer Jim Barber as its CEO candidate and former CSX operations chief Jamie Boychuk for the NS chief operating officer position.

“From our vantage point and from what we’ve learned from our union brothers and sisters at CSX, Boychuk was reckless and ran CSX operations into the ground before he was run out by CSX’s management team,” said BLET General Chairman Scott R. Bunten, one of the union’s officers representing members at Norfolk Southern. “Ancora wants to turn back the clock and return to the failed Precision Scheduled Railroading business model with Boychuk’s help that the other Class I railroads are now abandoning.”

Like other rail unions, BLET lost membership as the big three U.S. railroads deeply cut their workforces while adopting PSR operating models since 2017.

Ancora has been highly critical of Norfolk Southern’s financial and operational results, and has blamed the February 2023 hazardous materials derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, on a poor safety culture at the railroad. The National Transportation Safety Board says the catastrophic failure of a wheel bearing likely caused the wreck.

The engineers’ union praised moves Shaw has made to improve safety. “Since the derailment last year, NS’ CEO has risen to the occasion and, through his leadership, NS has become a safer, more efficient and customer focused company again,” said Jerry G. Sturdivant, another BLET General Chairman at Norfolk Southern.

The union praised, among other things, Norfolk Southern’s decision to become the first Class I railroad to participate in the confidential close call reporting system.

“Having a CEO like Barber with zero railroad experience and a chief operating officer such as Boychuk wedded to the worst aspects of PSR would likely lead to more, not fewer costly train wrecks,” Sturdivant said.

The union was critical of Ancora’s proposal to add former Ohio Gov. John Kasich to the NS board.

“It’s disappointing to see former Ohio Governor Kasich involved with this effort to make a quick buck at the expense of rail safety,” said BLET Vice President Rick Gibbons. “His involvement with an effort to reinstitute PSR at Norfolk Southern and push back against safety efforts is shameful.”

The union pledged to back NS in the proxy contest. “I can assure you I will be voting all shares in favor of Alan Shaw and his team. The leaders of our union and our members see the potential for increased revenue for Norfolk Southern with him at the wheel. In contrast, Ancora would be bad for investors. It’s easy to imagine a train wreck under their proposed plans, both literally and figuratively speaking,” BLET General Chairman Dewayne Dehart said.

The BLET said this may be the first time in its 161-year history that the union has taken a side in a proxy contest at a Class I railroad. SMART-TD, which represents conductors, and the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen also have expressed support for NS.

Ancora said its plans for NS have “no emphasis on cost cutting, headcount reductions, or short-sighted tactics.”

“Policymakers and labor leaders should be able to take comfort in our slate’s commitments to honoring union agreements, leveraging the company’s existing workforce and investing in a network strategy that drives growth,” Ancora said in a statement.

Note: Updated at 9:40 a.m. Central with comment from Ancora.

 

Nuclear tax credits underpin growth, says Constellation

27 February 2024

Federal nuclear production tax credits are providing the foundation for the USA's largest producer of carbon-free energy to continue to invest in growth opportunities, Constellation Energy said in its 2023 results announcement and 2024 earnings forecast.

Constellation recently marked its second anniversary as a standalone company since the separation of Exelon Generation's regulated utility and competitive energy businesses (Image: Constellation)

"The most valuable commodity in the world today remains clean energy that can be depended on in every hour of every day, and no US company is better positioned to deliver on that promise than Constellation, which has more clean, reliable nuclear capacity than all other US competitive generators combined," Constellation President and CEO Joe Dominguez said. "State and federal policies, bipartisan political support, public opinion surveys and increased customer demand for reliable and clean energy all point to strong and growing support for nuclear energy to power our economy for decades to come … we see a growing landscape of opportunities to continue building our business and lead the clean energy transition."
 
The wide-ranging Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law by President Joe Biden in August 2022, includes support for existing and new nuclear capacity. Constellation said nuclear production tax credit (PTC) in the act is providing a stable foundation that will allow it to continue investing in growth opportunities, including by adding clean energy generation to its fleet through measures including uprates, licence extensions and asset acquisitions while also returning capital to shareholders. "The PTC provides revenue visibility and also preserves Constellation’s ability to capture upside from tightening power market conditions," the company said.

Earlier this month, Constellation filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 20-year licence renewal for the Clinton plant in Illinois, which would allow the single-unit boiling water reactor to continue providing energy to the region until 2047.

The company said it was targeting long-term base earnings per share growth of at least 10% through the decade "backstopped" in part by the nuclear production tax credit. Monetising the value of the "reliable, carbon-free nuclear power" generated at Constellation's Clean Energy Centers through hourly carbon-free matching solutions, behind-the-meter opportunities such as data centres or hydrogen, government clean energy procurements or higher market prices offer further opportunities for it to grow its base earnings, it added.

The company's nuclear fleet in 2023 "continued to achieve unmatched reliability, allowing us to deliver carbon-free energy to our customers in all hours of the day under some of the harshest weather conditions in decades," Dominguez said. "We took a disciplined approach to growing our business in 2023, completing our acquisition of a partial stake in the South Texas Project nuclear plant, repowering our wind assets, taking steps to extend the life of our nuclear plants and investing in new equipment to increase their output. We are delivering our hourly-matched carbon-free energy product to top sustainability leaders, and our results reflect growing acknowledgement by our customers that nuclear energy delivers unique value that can’t be matched anywhere in the marketplace."

Constellation's nuclear assets generated a total of 174,047 GWh in 2023, up from 173,350 GWh in 2022.

KHNP, Centrus enhance cooperation in fuel supply

27 February 2024

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) has signed a Letter of Intent with US nuclear fuel and services company Centrus Energy to ensure a stable supply of nuclear fuel. It follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two companies in April last year.

The signing of the Letter of Intent (Image: KHNP)

The Letter of Intent (LOI) outlines substantive business objectives to enhance uranium resource security and nuclear cooperation between KHNP and Centrus, KHNP said. Through this, KHNP aims to diversify the supply of enriched uranium used as nuclear fuel to enhance fuel supply stability. Additionally, KHNP expects to strengthen nuclear cooperation between South Korea and the USA by establishing strategic relationships with Centrus.

"As a result of cooperation with Centrus, KHNP has opened the possibility of securing fuel for future reactors as well as for existing commercial reactors," KHNP said.

"Through the signing of this LOI, both parties will engage in concrete discussions regarding stable nuclear fuel supply and plan to continue exploring business opportunities in the nuclear sector by expanding the future nuclear fuel supply chain," KHNP CEO Hwang Joo-ho said.

On 25 April 2023, KHNP signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Centrus, through which the two companies planned to enhance mutual cooperation for a stable fuel supply while exploring opportunities for expanding their businesses.

At the time of signing the MoU, KHNP said it would "increase the stability of fuel supply and demand by diversifying suppliers of enriched uranium used as nuclear power plant fuel and contribute to strengthening Korea-US nuclear cooperation by establishing a strategic partnership with US enrichment companies. This is an important achievement that strengthens supply chain cooperation with allies in a situation where resource security has become more important than ever amid recent geopolitical instability and global supply chain crisis".

KHNP operates South Korea's 26 power reactors, which with a combined capacity of some 26 GWe generate about one-third of the country's electricity.

In December, KHNP launched its new Innovative SMR (i-SMR) - an integrated pressurised water reactor type nuclear power plant with an electrical output of 170 MWe. It is being developed according to a development roadmap, with the goal of completing the standard design by the end of 2025 and obtaining standard design approval in 2028.

In November last year, Centrus Energy produced the USA's first 20 kilograms of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). Some of the advanced reactor technologies that are currently under development use HALEU fuel - enriched to between 5% and 20% U-235 - which enables the design of smaller reactors that produce more power with less fuel than the current fleet, as well as systems that can be optimised for longer core life, increased safety margins, and other increased efficiencies. At present, only Russia and China have the infrastructure to produce HALEU at scale.

Argentina's RA-10 research reactor aiming for 2026 operation

27 February 2024

The RA-10 multipurpose research reactor is now about 80% completed, with its reflector tank set to be installed as construction enters its final phases, Argentina's Foreign Minister Diana Mondino was told during a tour of the facility.

(Image: Argentina's Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Mondino, who assumed office in December after the election of Javier Milei as Argentina's President, praised the progress taking place at RA-10, and also the neighbouring CONUAR nuclear fuel plant. She said the foreign ministry would continue to support the nuclear sector's export efforts, noting "the opportunities that open up for Argentine, if they are well managed and if we manage to demonstrate quality".

Manager of the RA-10 project, Herman Blaumann, gave an update on progress, saying that it was now 80% complete: "The civil work is already finished and in terms of supplies and installations the progress is 75%. This week the reactor's reflector tank will arrive ... the installation of which is another key step in the work."

He also said that the aim was to fill the reactor pool in December, and then in July 2025 pre-operational tests will begin before it becomes operational in 2026.

Argentina's National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) says the RA-10 - a 30 MWt open-pool research reactor - will be used for the production of medical radioisotopes, including the capacity to cover 20% of the world demand for molybdenum: "Technetium is obtained from molybdenum, and widely used in nuclear medicine ... it will also be possible to produce other radioisotopes that are not made in the country today and that are widely used in the world, such as lutetium, which is applied to treat prostate cancer and other pathologies, as well as others for use in agriculture and the industry".

The RA-10 project was approved by the government and was officially started by CNEA in June 2010. Argentina's Nuclear Regulatory Authority granted a construction licence for RA-10 in November 2014. The civil works for the reactor began in 2016. Nuclear technology firm INVAP is involved in the design and construction of the reactor facility and related installations, playing the role of main contractor. The assembly of the RA-10 pool - which will house the core of the reactor - was completed in August 2018.

The RA-10 will replace the RA-3 reactor on the same site. This 10 MWt pool-type reactor began operations in 1967. As well as producing radioisotopes it will also provide new research and training opportunities and will have associated facilities such as the Argentine Neutron Beam Laboratory (LAHN) and the Laboratory for the Study of Irradiated Materials (LEMI).

CNEA says that more than 80 companies in Argentina are involved in the work, with the minister also told about the hopes for RA-10 "production of silicon doped by neutron transmutation, a very high quality raw material for the development of advanced electronic applications. And it will produce sources of industrial iridium for the evaluation of the integrity and quality of large constructions and components".

Meanwhile, there was also a key moment this week with the passing of tests of the reflector tank, manufactured by INVAP and designed by CNEA, for the new reactor. INVAP Vice President Felipe Albornoz said it was an important milestone "being able to finish a component that is the heart of the RA-10 reactor, along with the reactor core. All the rest of the facility is built around these components and being able to imagine it, design it and then manufacture it in our country, with our people in Bariloche, is a reason for pride and a reason for celebration".

CNEA President Adriana Serquis said it is an important moment "both for what it means and a new milestone for the nuclear development of our country, as well because it will provide us with new capabilities that are highly required internationally, whether in the area of ​​medicine, with the production of radioisotopes, and the facilities for the production of silicon, the testing of materials and the enormous advance for the area of ​​science and technology in the use of neutrons".

The reflector tank weighs 2540 kilogrammes, is 2 metres in diameter and 1.4 metres tall. Its installation will allow the assembly of the reactor pool internals.

Blaumann said: "The project is approaching its final stage. The reflector tank is the most complex component of the reactor and at the same time critical for all its applications to be developed."

Paks II suppliers event outlines opportunities for companies

27 February 2024

The information session for those interested in gaining contracts with the Paks II nuclear power plant construction project was attended by 350 people from 180 companies, including 150 from Hungary.

(Image: Paks II)

The Paks II project was launched in early 2014 by an intergovernmental agreement between Hungary and Russia for two VVER-1200 reactors to be supplied by Rosatom, with the contract supported by a Russian state loan to finance the majority of the project. The construction licence application was submitted in July 2020 to construct Paks II alongside the existing Paks plant, 100 kilometres southwest of Budapest on the banks of the Danube river. The construction licence was issued in August 2022 and a construction timetable agreed last year which set out plans to connect the new units to the grid at the beginning of the 2030s.

The 2014 goal of the project was for 40% of the project to go to domestic companies, and the Russian side undertook to select 55% of suppliers in accordance with European Commission regulations.

Gergely Jákli, chairman and CEO of Paks II, told those attending that the expansion of nuclear capacity in Hungary was needed to improve security of supply, and to meet the European Union's climate change targets and said a significant market would open up for companies taking part in the project, because of the widespread plans for life extension projects - and new nuclear - in other countries around Europe and further afield.

Those attending were given information on the likely opportunities and requirements for suppliers, including nuclear qualifications, and the procedure for contracting and performing works at the site.

Vitaly Polyanin, from Rosatom's Atomstroyexport (ASE) and director of the Paks II construction project, said: "Currently, intensive preparations are under way for the pouring of the 'first concrete', which could take place in 2024. The Hungarian branch of ASE will do everything for maximum localisation and participation of all interested companies in the project."

The existing four units at Paks are VVER-440 reactors that started up between 1982 and 1987 and they produce about half of the country's electricity. Their design lifetime was for 30 years but that was extended in 2005 by 20 years to between 2032 and 2037. In December 2022, the Hungarian Parliament approved a proposal to further extend their lifespan, which means the plant could keep operating into the 2050s.

Paks II is the first Russian nuclear power plant construction project in the European Union, with Hungary deciding to press ahead with the project despite wider European Union sanctions imposed on Russia.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Anti-Oil Activists Shift Focus to Insurers

By Irina Slav - Feb 26, 2024

• Big oil has been one of the main recipients of critique from activists.
• 
  
• Now, activists have also started attacking proxy industries such as banks, which lend to the oil and gas industry.
• 
  
• Despite the pressure, insurers have not started fleeing the oil and gas industry.

Big Oil and its allegedly exclusive role in bringing about apocalyptic climate change has been the ultimate villain in the eyes of climate activists. Calls for a forceful death of the industry have become the norm, and protests against oil and gas production are an everyday occurrence in the West.

But activists are not only targeting their ultimate villain directly. They are also attacking proxy industries such as banks, which lend to the oil and gas industry. The offensive is yielding results: bank after bank pledges an end to funding for new oil and gas projects. Besides banks, however, there is another major pressure point activists are targeting: insurance.

Last summer, a group of climate activist organizations organized protests against nine insurance companies, calling on them to refuse to provide coverage for the Eastern African Crude Oil Pipeline project.

The EACOP has, since its inception, been a huge problem for environmentalists, who have cited the inevitable increase in emissions from the production and transportation of oil along the new piece of infrastructure and the risk of spills. To prevent all this, they chose to pressure the insurers of the project. And it worked.

A total of 28 insurance companies so far have declared they would not partake in the insurance of EACOP, the East African reported earlier this month. The reason for this unwillingness to work with the oil industry—climate activist pressure

As a result of that pressure, EACOP is, per the above report, hanging in the balance because there are not enough local insurers that can shoulder the burden of such a massive project. Chinese insurers are an option, but they are in no hurry to decide. In the meantime, Uganda's oil sits in the ground.

From the perspective of the activists, this is a small win in a sea of losses. Euronews reported this month that U.S. insurers continue to provide coverage to the oil and gas industry, citing 2019 numbers from a survey done by a slew of climate advocacy organizations. The survey showed that U.S. insurers held oil- and gas-related assets worth $536 billion as of that year, and the number for the next four years was likely to be similar, according to them. The solution to this perceived problem? Protests.

Radical environmentalists from Extinction Rebellion are currently launching a week-long series of protests targeting the insurance industry in London in a bid to get their message across. The message: stop "enabling" the oil and gas industry.

"If fossil fuel companies have no insurance for their massive projects, the entire financial risk falls on their shoulders, so if something goes wrong, they are liable for whatever happens," one Extinction Rebellion member explained to Euronews.

The explanation echoed an earlier one offered by 23 climate NGOs in a letter to a group of large insurers last year. "Insurers, as society's risk managers, have a special responsibility to act and the power to drive change: without insurance most new fossil fuel projects cannot go ahead and existing ones cannot continue to operate," the climate activists wrote at the time.

Despite the pressure, insurers have not started fleeing the oil and gas industry—yet. Indeed, many of the largest ones are also among the biggest insurers of oil and gas projects, according to an annual survey by yet another climate activist group, Insure Our Future.

Eight of the ten top individual insurers of oil and gas, the survey found, were from the West, with one insurer from China and Russia each also making the top 10 list. That included names such as Allianz, AXA, Zurich Re, and Chubb and AIG from the U.S.

In fact, according to the same group—Insure Our Future—80% of insurers and 53% of reinsurers do not have any restrictions on their business with the oil and gas industry. On the plus side, from the group's perspective, insurers have shrunk the business they do with coal producers, which has made it harder for the latter to secure coverage for new projects.

Yet it appears that this is nowhere near enough—neither the mass unwillingness among insurers to provide coverage for EACOP nor companies' pullout from coal. "Insurers have demonstrated that they can accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels through their coal exit policies," Insure Our Future said last November in a report cited by Bloomberg. "They urgently need to adopt similar policies for oil and gas."

If developments around the EACOP project are any indication, this might eventually happen, not least because there is a persistent argument that the insurance industry is suffering losses from increasingly frequent extreme weather that is caused by the use of the hydrocarbons that their clients from the oil and gas industry produce.

Insurers appear to believe that argument, which means they are halfway there when it comes to withdrawing from oil and gas. It may yet be a while before they start refusing coverage, but it is a distinct possibility, as losses from some severe weather events, such as thunderstorms, remain on a steady upward trajectory.

Cruise Looks To Relaunch Robotaxi in Texas After San Francisco Controversy

By ZeroHedge - Feb 26, 2024

• Cruise executives are in discussions with officials in Houston and Dallas, among other metro areas, about relaunching robotaxi testing with safety drivers on public roads.
• 
  
• The decision on which metro areas to restart operations in has yet to be made, and Cruise aims to rebuild trust with regulators and the public before deployment.
• 
  
• Cruise's suspension followed a pedestrian accident in San Francisco, leading to regulatory scrutiny, license revocation, executive changes, and layoffs, while other self-driving cars faced attacks in the area.

General Motors Co.'s Cruise autonomous driving unit is preparing to resume robotaxi testing with safety drivers in Houston and Dallas metro areas in the coming weeks, following the nationwide grounding after one of its robotaxis ran over a pedestrian in San Francisco in October, according to Bloomberg News. 

People familiar with the conversations say Cruise executives and officials in several metro areas, including the two Texas cities, are discussing the return of the robotaxi with safety drivers on public roads. Before the accident last year, the company had hundreds of robotaxi operating across San Fran, Austin, Houston, and Phoenix. 

"We have not set a timeline for deployment," Cruise spokesman Pat Morrissey wrote in a statement. 

Morrissey continued: "Our goal is to relaunch in one city with manually driven vehicles and supervised testing as soon as possible once we have taken steps to rebuild trust with regulators and the public. We are in the process of meeting with officials in select markets to gather information, share updates and rebuild trust."

Cruise's collapse in public trust came last October when one of its robotaxi dragged a pedestrian in San Francisco. 

This sparked claims by regulators that Cruise execs withheld key footage and details about the incident.

And the fallout resulted in California pulling Cruise's license to operate the taxis. The company also fired top executives and laid off 25% of its workforce. A new chief safety officer was recently brought on board. 

The people added Cruise's decision on which metro areas to restart robotaxi operations has yet to be made. 

Meanwhile, crowds in downtown San Fran destroyed a Waymo self-driving car earlier this month. 

This comes after several attacks on self-driving cars in the metro area.

By Zerohedge.com