Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday said India has never faced a shortage of petroleum products, even during the Covid pandemic or global conflicts, crediting the government’s foresight for ensuring uninterrupted supplies.
“Whether it was the period of the global Covid pandemic or geopolitical tensions, there has never been a shortage of petroleum products in India. This has been possible due to the foresight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Puri said.
Referring to the recent tensions in the Middle East, including the Israeli attack on Iran that disrupted shipping and threatened closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Puri said India has gradually reduced its dependence on the critical passage.
“Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, we have diversified our supplies in recent years, and a large share of our imports no longer passes through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
India meets about 85 per cent of its crude oil needs through imports. A spike in global oil prices directly raises its import bill and fuels inflation, impacting economic growth. To cushion this, India has expanded its oil sources, ramping up imports from Russia and the US, and building strategic reserves.
The minister said India now has 23 operational refineries with a combined capacity of 257 million metric tonnes per annum. He also highlighted the setting up of strategic petroleum reserves to ensure supply security during disruptions.
The country’s storage capacity includes 2.25 million metric tonnes at Pudur, 1.33 MMT at Visakhapatnam, and 1.5 MMT at Mangalore.
Puri also pointed to the government’s push for green fuels, noting that India has met its target of 20 per cent ethanol blending with petrol six years ahead of schedule. E20 petrol is now available at outlets of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum across the country.
“This achievement not only cuts carbon emissions but also saves huge amounts of money. We have saved over Rs 1 lakh crore domestically and Rs 1.5 lakh crore in foreign exchange by reducing our import bill, and this money has gone to our farmers,” he said.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday said India has never faced a shortage of petroleum products, even during the Covid pandemic or global conflicts, crediting the government’s foresight for ensuring uninterrupted supplies.
“Whether it was the period of the global Covid pandemic or geopolitical tensions, there has never been a shortage of petroleum products in India. This has been possible due to the foresight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Puri said.
Referring to the recent tensions in the Middle East, including the Israeli attack on Iran that disrupted shipping and threatened closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Puri said India has gradually reduced its dependence on the critical passage.
“Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, we have diversified our supplies in recent years, and a large share of our imports no longer passes through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
India meets about 85 per cent of its crude oil needs through imports. A spike in global oil prices directly raises its import bill and fuels inflation, impacting economic growth. To cushion this, India has expanded its oil sources, ramping up imports from Russia and the US, and building strategic reserves.
The minister said India now has 23 operational refineries with a combined capacity of 257 million metric tonnes per annum. He also highlighted the setting up of strategic petroleum reserves to ensure supply security during disruptions.
The country’s storage capacity includes 2.25 million metric tonnes at Pudur, 1.33 MMT at Visakhapatnam, and 1.5 MMT at Mangalore.
Puri also pointed to the government’s push for green fuels, noting that India has met its target of 20 per cent ethanol blending with petrol six years ahead of schedule. E20 petrol is now available at outlets of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum across the country.
“This achievement not only cuts carbon emissions but also saves huge amounts of money. We have saved over Rs 1 lakh crore domestically and Rs 1.5 lakh crore in foreign exchange by reducing our import bill, and this money has gone to our farmers,” he said.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday said India has never faced a shortage of petroleum products, even during the Covid pandemic or global conflicts, crediting the government’s foresight for ensuring uninterrupted supplies.
“Whether it was the period of the global Covid pandemic or geopolitical tensions, there has never been a shortage of petroleum products in India. This has been possible due to the foresight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Puri said.
Referring to the recent tensions in the Middle East, including the Israeli attack on Iran that disrupted shipping and threatened closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Puri said India has gradually reduced its dependence on the critical passage.
“Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, we have diversified our supplies in recent years, and a large share of our imports no longer passes through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
India meets about 85 per cent of its crude oil needs through imports. A spike in global oil prices directly raises its import bill and fuels inflation, impacting economic growth. To cushion this, India has expanded its oil sources, ramping up imports from Russia and the US, and building strategic reserves.
The minister said India now has 23 operational refineries with a combined capacity of 257 million metric tonnes per annum. He also highlighted the setting up of strategic petroleum reserves to ensure supply security during disruptions.
The country’s storage capacity includes 2.25 million metric tonnes at Pudur, 1.33 MMT at Visakhapatnam, and 1.5 MMT at Mangalore.
Puri also pointed to the government’s push for green fuels, noting that India has met its target of 20 per cent ethanol blending with petrol six years ahead of schedule. E20 petrol is now available at outlets of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum across the country.
“This achievement not only cuts carbon emissions but also saves huge amounts of money. We have saved over Rs 1 lakh crore domestically and Rs 1.5 lakh crore in foreign exchange by reducing our import bill, and this money has gone to our farmers,” he said.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday said India has never faced a shortage of petroleum products, even during the Covid pandemic or global conflicts, crediting the government’s foresight for ensuring uninterrupted supplies.
“Whether it was the period of the global Covid pandemic or geopolitical tensions, there has never been a shortage of petroleum products in India. This has been possible due to the foresight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Puri said.
Referring to the recent tensions in the Middle East, including the Israeli attack on Iran that disrupted shipping and threatened closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Puri said India has gradually reduced its dependence on the critical passage.
“Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, we have diversified our supplies in recent years, and a large share of our imports no longer passes through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
India meets about 85 per cent of its crude oil needs through imports. A spike in global oil prices directly raises its import bill and fuels inflation, impacting economic growth. To cushion this, India has expanded its oil sources, ramping up imports from Russia and the US, and building strategic reserves.
The minister said India now has 23 operational refineries with a combined capacity of 257 million metric tonnes per annum. He also highlighted the setting up of strategic petroleum reserves to ensure supply security during disruptions.
The country’s storage capacity includes 2.25 million metric tonnes at Pudur, 1.33 MMT at Visakhapatnam, and 1.5 MMT at Mangalore.
Puri also pointed to the government’s push for green fuels, noting that India has met its target of 20 per cent ethanol blending with petrol six years ahead of schedule. E20 petrol is now available at outlets of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum across the country.
“This achievement not only cuts carbon emissions but also saves huge amounts of money. We have saved over Rs 1 lakh crore domestically and Rs 1.5 lakh crore in foreign exchange by reducing our import bill, and this money has gone to our farmers,” he said.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday said India has never faced a shortage of petroleum products, even during the Covid pandemic or global conflicts, crediting the government’s foresight for ensuring uninterrupted supplies.
“Whether it was the period of the global Covid pandemic or geopolitical tensions, there has never been a shortage of petroleum products in India. This has been possible due to the foresight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Puri said.
Referring to the recent tensions in the Middle East, including the Israeli attack on Iran that disrupted shipping and threatened closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Puri said India has gradually reduced its dependence on the critical passage.
“Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, we have diversified our supplies in recent years, and a large share of our imports no longer passes through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
India meets about 85 per cent of its crude oil needs through imports. A spike in global oil prices directly raises its import bill and fuels inflation, impacting economic growth. To cushion this, India has expanded its oil sources, ramping up imports from Russia and the US, and building strategic reserves.
The minister said India now has 23 operational refineries with a combined capacity of 257 million metric tonnes per annum. He also highlighted the setting up of strategic petroleum reserves to ensure supply security during disruptions.
The country’s storage capacity includes 2.25 million metric tonnes at Pudur, 1.33 MMT at Visakhapatnam, and 1.5 MMT at Mangalore.
Puri also pointed to the government’s push for green fuels, noting that India has met its target of 20 per cent ethanol blending with petrol six years ahead of schedule. E20 petrol is now available at outlets of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum across the country.
“This achievement not only cuts carbon emissions but also saves huge amounts of money. We have saved over Rs 1 lakh crore domestically and Rs 1.5 lakh crore in foreign exchange by reducing our import bill, and this money has gone to our farmers,” he said.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday said India has never faced a shortage of petroleum products, even during the Covid pandemic or global conflicts, crediting the government’s foresight for ensuring uninterrupted supplies.
“Whether it was the period of the global Covid pandemic or geopolitical tensions, there has never been a shortage of petroleum products in India. This has been possible due to the foresight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Puri said.
Referring to the recent tensions in the Middle East, including the Israeli attack on Iran that disrupted shipping and threatened closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Puri said India has gradually reduced its dependence on the critical passage.
“Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, we have diversified our supplies in recent years, and a large share of our imports no longer passes through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
India meets about 85 per cent of its crude oil needs through imports. A spike in global oil prices directly raises its import bill and fuels inflation, impacting economic growth. To cushion this, India has expanded its oil sources, ramping up imports from Russia and the US, and building strategic reserves.
The minister said India now has 23 operational refineries with a combined capacity of 257 million metric tonnes per annum. He also highlighted the setting up of strategic petroleum reserves to ensure supply security during disruptions.
The country’s storage capacity includes 2.25 million metric tonnes at Pudur, 1.33 MMT at Visakhapatnam, and 1.5 MMT at Mangalore.
Puri also pointed to the government’s push for green fuels, noting that India has met its target of 20 per cent ethanol blending with petrol six years ahead of schedule. E20 petrol is now available at outlets of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum across the country.
“This achievement not only cuts carbon emissions but also saves huge amounts of money. We have saved over Rs 1 lakh crore domestically and Rs 1.5 lakh crore in foreign exchange by reducing our import bill, and this money has gone to our farmers,” he said.
London, United Kingdom, July 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Amid a crypto landscape often defined by stress, speculation, and sleepless nights, SAVVY MINING has emerged with a smarter alternative: a secure, effortless, and transparent way to earn passive income—even while you sleep. The UK-based cloud mining platform, already trusted by over 8 million users globally, has launched a limited-time bonus event designed to welcome new users and reward long-time supporters with free computing power, daily payouts, and full automation.
A Simple Way to Profit Without Trading Stress
Volatility has always been part of the crypto world. While traders chase gains with risky timing and complex strategies, many everyday investors are now turning to more stable options. SAVVY MINING offers a way to earn from crypto without needing to monitor charts, buy dips, or worry about market cycles.
With no hardware required, users can register, choose a mining contract, and start earning daily income immediately. The entire process is beginner-friendly, and there’s no need for technical know-how or prior experience.
Protected with SSL encryption and cold wallet storage, SAVVY MINING prioritizes user trust and asset safety. Unlike platforms that operate in the shadows, this one is built on transparency, compliance, and 24/7 support.
Some standout features include:
Instant Start: Begin mining within minutes—no hardware, electricity, or maintenance.
Daily Income: Fixed daily returns are directly to your wallet.
Green Energy Mining: 100% renewable power via wind, solar, and hydro.
Global Mining Network: 80+ farms in stable regions, operating since 2017.
Zero Hidden Fees: Clear pricing, no surprise costs.
Multiple Currencies Supported: BTC, ETH, DOGE, LTC, XRP, and more.
Responsive Support: 24/7 customer care with 1–5 minute reply times.
New Bonus Event: Free Mining Power for All
As part of the new bonus campaign, SAVVY MINING is giving away $15 in free computing power for all new users. This allows anyone to try mining at zero cost and begin collecting passive income immediately. Additional perks include:
Daily Sign-In Rewards
Referral Bonuses
One-Click Mobile App Download (iOS & Android)
Whether you’re just testing the waters or ready to scale up, contract options range from 1-day free trials to high-yield 45-day plans.
One-click download of the official APP, supporting Apple and Android phones, it allows you to control your time, income, and future. (Download the mobile APP)
All contracts run automatically, meaning your crypto earns for you, not the other way around.
Sustainability with Every Block Mined
What sets SAVVY MINING further apart is its commitment to environmental responsibility. Every kilowatt powering their operations comes from green, renewable sources, aligning profit with purpose. As climate concerns grow, so does the demand for eco-conscious crypto solutions—and SAVVY MINING delivers both profit and peace of mind.
Ready to Make Your Crypto Work For You?
It’s no longer about timing the market—it’s about choosing the right system. With no maintenance, no guesswork, and guaranteed daily returns, SAVVY MINING is redefining what passive income looks like in the Web3 era.
Founded in 2017, SAVVY MINING is a trusted cloud mining platform serving over 8 million users worldwide. With a focus on transparency, security, and environmental sustainability, it offers a hassle-free way to earn passive income through automated crypto mining powered entirely by renewable energy.
London, United Kingdom, July 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Amid a crypto landscape often defined by stress, speculation, and sleepless nights, SAVVY MINING has emerged with a smarter alternative: a secure, effortless, and transparent way to earn passive income—even while you sleep. The UK-based cloud mining platform, already trusted by over 8 million users globally, has launched a limited-time bonus event designed to welcome new users and reward long-time supporters with free computing power, daily payouts, and full automation.
A Simple Way to Profit Without Trading Stress
Volatility has always been part of the crypto world. While traders chase gains with risky timing and complex strategies, many everyday investors are now turning to more stable options. SAVVY MINING offers a way to earn from crypto without needing to monitor charts, buy dips, or worry about market cycles.
With no hardware required, users can register, choose a mining contract, and start earning daily income immediately. The entire process is beginner-friendly, and there’s no need for technical know-how or prior experience.
Protected with SSL encryption and cold wallet storage, SAVVY MINING prioritizes user trust and asset safety. Unlike platforms that operate in the shadows, this one is built on transparency, compliance, and 24/7 support.
Some standout features include:
Instant Start: Begin mining within minutes—no hardware, electricity, or maintenance.
Daily Income: Fixed daily returns are directly to your wallet.
Green Energy Mining: 100% renewable power via wind, solar, and hydro.
Global Mining Network: 80+ farms in stable regions, operating since 2017.
Zero Hidden Fees: Clear pricing, no surprise costs.
Multiple Currencies Supported: BTC, ETH, DOGE, LTC, XRP, and more.
Responsive Support: 24/7 customer care with 1–5 minute reply times.
New Bonus Event: Free Mining Power for All
As part of the new bonus campaign, SAVVY MINING is giving away $15 in free computing power for all new users. This allows anyone to try mining at zero cost and begin collecting passive income immediately. Additional perks include:
Daily Sign-In Rewards
Referral Bonuses
One-Click Mobile App Download (iOS & Android)
Whether you’re just testing the waters or ready to scale up, contract options range from 1-day free trials to high-yield 45-day plans.
One-click download of the official APP, supporting Apple and Android phones, it allows you to control your time, income, and future. (Download the mobile APP)
All contracts run automatically, meaning your crypto earns for you, not the other way around.
Sustainability with Every Block Mined
What sets SAVVY MINING further apart is its commitment to environmental responsibility. Every kilowatt powering their operations comes from green, renewable sources, aligning profit with purpose. As climate concerns grow, so does the demand for eco-conscious crypto solutions—and SAVVY MINING delivers both profit and peace of mind.
Ready to Make Your Crypto Work For You?
It’s no longer about timing the market—it’s about choosing the right system. With no maintenance, no guesswork, and guaranteed daily returns, SAVVY MINING is redefining what passive income looks like in the Web3 era.
Founded in 2017, SAVVY MINING is a trusted cloud mining platform serving over 8 million users worldwide. With a focus on transparency, security, and environmental sustainability, it offers a hassle-free way to earn passive income through automated crypto mining powered entirely by renewable energy.
London, United Kingdom, July 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Amid a crypto landscape often defined by stress, speculation, and sleepless nights, SAVVY MINING has emerged with a smarter alternative: a secure, effortless, and transparent way to earn passive income—even while you sleep. The UK-based cloud mining platform, already trusted by over 8 million users globally, has launched a limited-time bonus event designed to welcome new users and reward long-time supporters with free computing power, daily payouts, and full automation.
A Simple Way to Profit Without Trading Stress
Volatility has always been part of the crypto world. While traders chase gains with risky timing and complex strategies, many everyday investors are now turning to more stable options. SAVVY MINING offers a way to earn from crypto without needing to monitor charts, buy dips, or worry about market cycles.
With no hardware required, users can register, choose a mining contract, and start earning daily income immediately. The entire process is beginner-friendly, and there’s no need for technical know-how or prior experience.
Protected with SSL encryption and cold wallet storage, SAVVY MINING prioritizes user trust and asset safety. Unlike platforms that operate in the shadows, this one is built on transparency, compliance, and 24/7 support.
Some standout features include:
Instant Start: Begin mining within minutes—no hardware, electricity, or maintenance.
Daily Income: Fixed daily returns are directly to your wallet.
Green Energy Mining: 100% renewable power via wind, solar, and hydro.
Global Mining Network: 80+ farms in stable regions, operating since 2017.
Zero Hidden Fees: Clear pricing, no surprise costs.
Multiple Currencies Supported: BTC, ETH, DOGE, LTC, XRP, and more.
Responsive Support: 24/7 customer care with 1–5 minute reply times.
New Bonus Event: Free Mining Power for All
As part of the new bonus campaign, SAVVY MINING is giving away $15 in free computing power for all new users. This allows anyone to try mining at zero cost and begin collecting passive income immediately. Additional perks include:
Daily Sign-In Rewards
Referral Bonuses
One-Click Mobile App Download (iOS & Android)
Whether you’re just testing the waters or ready to scale up, contract options range from 1-day free trials to high-yield 45-day plans.
One-click download of the official APP, supporting Apple and Android phones, it allows you to control your time, income, and future. (Download the mobile APP)
All contracts run automatically, meaning your crypto earns for you, not the other way around.
Sustainability with Every Block Mined
What sets SAVVY MINING further apart is its commitment to environmental responsibility. Every kilowatt powering their operations comes from green, renewable sources, aligning profit with purpose. As climate concerns grow, so does the demand for eco-conscious crypto solutions—and SAVVY MINING delivers both profit and peace of mind.
Ready to Make Your Crypto Work For You?
It’s no longer about timing the market—it’s about choosing the right system. With no maintenance, no guesswork, and guaranteed daily returns, SAVVY MINING is redefining what passive income looks like in the Web3 era.
Founded in 2017, SAVVY MINING is a trusted cloud mining platform serving over 8 million users worldwide. With a focus on transparency, security, and environmental sustainability, it offers a hassle-free way to earn passive income through automated crypto mining powered entirely by renewable energy.
On the last voyage of the Rainbow Warrior prior to its sinking by French secret agents in Auckland harbour on 10 July 1985 the ship had evacuated the entire population of 320 from Rongelap in the Marshall Islands.
After conducting dozens of above-ground nuclear explosions, the US government had left the population in conditions that suggested the islanders were being used as guinea pigs to gain knowledge of the effects of radiation.
Cancers, birth defects, and genetic damage ripped through the population; their former fisheries and land are contaminated to this day.
Denied adequate support from the US – they turned to Greenpeace with an SOS: help us leave our ancestral homeland; it is killing our people. The Rainbow Warrior answered the call.
Human lab rats or our brothers and sisters? Dr Merrill Eisenbud, a physicist in the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) famously said in 1956 of the Marshall Islanders: “While it is true that these people do not live, I might say, the way Westerners do, civilised people, it is nevertheless also true that they are more like us than the mice.”
Dr Eisenbud also opined that exposure “would provide valuable information on the effects of radiation on human beings.” That research continues to this day.
A half century of testing nuclear bombs Within a year of dropping nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the US moved part of its test programme to the central Pacific. Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands was used for atmospheric explosions from 1946 with scant regard for the indigenous population.
In 1954, the Castle Bravo test exploded a 15-megaton bomb — one thousand times more deadly than the one dropped on Hiroshima. As a result, the population of Rongelap were exposed to 200 roentgens of radiation, considered life-threatening without medical intervention. And it was.
Part of the Marshall Islands, with Bikini Atoll and Rongelap in the top left. Image: www.solidarity.co.nz
Total US tests equaled more than 7000 Hiroshimas. The Clinton administration released the aptly-named Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (ACHRE), report in January 1994 in which it acknowledged:
“What followed was a program by the US government — initially the Navy and then the AEC and its successor agencies — to provide medical care for the exposed population, while at the same time trying to learn as much as possible about the long-term biological effects of radiation exposure. The dual purpose of what is now a DOE medical program has led to a view by the Marshallese that they were being used as ‘guinea pigs’ in a ‘radiation experiment’.
This impression was reinforced by the fact that the islanders were deliberately left in place and then evacuated, having been heavily radiated. Three years later they were told it was “safe to return” despite the lead scientist calling Rongelap “by far the most contaminated place in the world”.
Significant compensation paid by the US to the Marshall Islands has proven inadequate given the scale of the contamination. To some degree, the US has also used money to achieve capture of elite interest groups and secure ongoing control of the islands.
Entrusted to the US, the Marshall Islanders were treated like the civilians of Nagasaki The US took the Marshall Islands from Japan in 1944. The only “right” it has to be there was granted by the United Nations which in 1947 established the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, to be administered by the United States.
What followed was an abuse of trust worse than rapists at a state care facility. Using the very powers entrusted to it to protect the Marshallese, the US instead used the islands as a nuclear laboratory — violating both the letter and spirit of international law.
Fellow white-dominated countries like Australia and New Zealand couldn’t have cared less and let the indigenous people be irradiated for decades.
The betrayal of trust by the US was comprehensive and remains so to this day:
Under Article 76 of the UN Charter, all trusteeship agreements carried obligations. The administering power was required to:
Promote the political, economic, social, and educational advancement of the people
Protect the rights and well-being of the inhabitants
Help them advance toward self-government or independence.
Under Article VI, the United States solemnly pledged to “Protect the inhabitants against the loss of their lands and resources.” Very similar to sentiments in New Zealand’s Treaty of Waitangi. Within a few years the Americans were exploding the biggest nuclear bombs in history over the islands.
Within a year of the US assuming trusteeship of the islands, another pillar of international law came into effect: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) — which affirms the inherent dignity and equal rights of all humans. Exposing colonised peoples to extreme radiation for weapons testing is a racist affront to this.
America has a long history of making treaties and fine speeches and then exploiting indigenous peoples. Last year, I had the sobering experience of reading American military historian Peter Cozzens’ The Earth is Weeping, a history of the “Indian wars” for the American West.
The past is not dead: the Marshall Islands are a hive of bases, laboratories and missile testing; Americans are also incredibly busy attacking the population in Gaza today.
Eyes of Fire – the last voyage of the Rainbow Warrior Had the French not sunk the Rainbow Warrior after it reached Auckland from the Rongelap evacuation, it would have led a flotilla to protest nuclear testing at Moruroa in French Polynesia. So the bookends of this article are the abuse of defenceless people in the charge of one nuclear power — the US — and the abuse of New Zealand and the peoples of French Polynesia by another nuclear power — France.
Senator Jeton Anjain (left) of Rongelap and Greenpeace campaign coordinator Steve Sawyer on board the Rainbow Warrior . . . challenging the abuse of defenceless people under the charge of one nuclear power. Image: David Robie/Eyes of Fire
This incredible story, and much more, is the subject of David Robie’s outstanding book Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior, published by Little Island Press, which has been relaunched to mark the 40th anniversary of the French terrorist attack.
A new prologue by former prime minister Helen Clark and a preface by Greenpeace’s Bunny McDiarmid, along with an extensive postscript which bring us up to the present day, underline why the past is not dead; it’s with us right now.
Between them, France and the US have exploded more than 300 nuclear bombs in the Pacific. Few people are told this; few people know this.
Today, a matrix of issues combine — the ongoing effects of nuclear contamination, sea rise imperilling Pacific nations, colonialism still posing immense challenges to people in the Marshall Islands, Kanaky New Caledonia and in many parts of our region.
Unsung heroes Our media never ceases to share the pronouncements of European leaders and news from the US and Europe but the leaders and issues of the Pacific are seldom heard. The heroes of the antinuclear movement should be household names in Australia and New Zealand.
Vanuatu’s great leader Father Walter Lini; Oscar Temaru, Mayor, later President of French Polynesia; Senator Jeton Anjain, Darlene Keju-Johnson and so many others.
Do we know them? Have we heard their voices?
Jobod Silk, climate activist, said in a speech welcoming the Rainbow Warrior III to Majuro earlier this year: “Our crusade for nuclear justice intertwines with our fight against the tides.”
Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific . . . the Rainbow Warrior taking on board Rongelap islanders ready for their first of four relocation voyages to Mejatto island. Image: David Robie/Eyes of Fire
Former Tuvalu PM Enele Sapoaga castigated Australia for the AUKUS submarine deal which he said “was crafted in secret by former Prime Minister Scott Morrison with no public discussion.”
He challenged the bigger regional powers, particularly Australia and New Zealand, to remember that the existential threat faced by Pacific nations comes first from climate change, and reminded New Zealanders of the commitment to keeping the South Pacific nuclear-free.
Hinamoeura Cross, a Tahitian anti-nuclear activist and politician, said in a 2019 UN speech: “Today, the damage is done. My people are sick. For 30 years we were the mice in France’s laboratory.”
Until we learn their stories and know their names as well as we know those of Marco Rubio or Keir Starmer, we will remain strangers in our own lands.
The Pacific owes them, along with the people of Greenpeace, a huge debt. They put their bodies on the line to stop the aggressors. Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira, killed by the French in 1985, was just one of many victims, one of many heroes.
A great way to honour the sacrifice of those who stood up for justice, who stood for peace and a nuclear-free Pacific, and who honoured our own national identity would be to buy David Robie’s excellent book.
You cannot sink a rainbow.
Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira being welcomed to Rongelap Atoll by a villager in May 1985 barely two months before he was killed by French secret agents during the sabotage of the Rainbow Warrior. Image: David Robie/Eyes of Fire
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
VIENNA, July 6 (Xinhua) — OPEC countries announced on Saturday they will increase oil production by 548,000 barrels per day in August, a faster pace than in July.
In July, OPEC countries announced an increase in oil production by 411,000 barrels per day as part of a plan to gradually unwind the latest level of production cuts.
The decision was taken on Saturday during a virtual meeting where the countries involved, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman, reviewed global market conditions and prospects, the organization said in a statement on its website.
The adjustment was made taking into account “the stable global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in low oil inventory levels,” the statement said, adding that the gradual ramp-up could be suspended or reversed depending on changing market conditions.
The 2.2 million bpd production cut, originally announced in November 2023, was implemented in the first quarter of 2024. Since then, the cut has been extended several times, until the first quarter of 2025. –0–
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
The African Energy Chamber (AEC) (www.EnergyChamber.org) – the leading voice of Africa’s energy industry – is proud to reaffirm its support for the West African Energy Summit (WAES), scheduled for November 18-19, 2025, in Aberdeen, Scotland. In the lead-up to the event, NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, AEC, will visit Aberdeen on July 11 to speak at the OGV Taproom, where he will deliver a keynote address titled Opportunities in Africa – a strategic presentation tailored for the UK supply chain.
Organized in partnership with OGV Group, the WAES is positioned as a premier platform for catalyzing investment, technology transfer and cross-border collaboration between African energy makers and global service providers. Ayuk’s visit underscores the AEC’s commitment to cultivating robust energy partnerships between Africa and Europe, particularly in light of Africa’s dynamic oil, gas and energy transition landscape.
Ayuk’s July 11 appearance in Aberdeen will preview key themes from African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energies 2025, the continent’s premier energy event organized by the AEC, which returns to Cape Town from September 29 to October 3, 2025. This year’s edition will host the G20 Africa Energy Investment Forum, highlighting Africa’s role in the global energy transition and providing a platform for project developers, financiers and service providers to shape the continent’s energy future.
WAES 2025 builds on the success of last year’s edition held in Ghana and will showcase some of the most lucrative energy opportunities across West Africa. This year’s event is co-hosted by the Scottish Africa Business Association, in collaboration with the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Energy Industries Council and the AEC. The two-day summit aims to highlight upstream development, emerging markets, technology deployment and decarbonization strategies that support Africa’s just energy transition.
West Africa continues to stand at the forefront of Africa’s energy renaissance, offering a wealth of opportunities for global investors, service providers and strategic partners. From deepwater oil exploration in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea to major LNG developments in Senegal and Mauritania, African nations are advancing ambitious strategies to monetize resources, attract investment and strengthen regional energy security.
These developments are underpinned by aggressive investment strategies, regulatory reforms and strengthened national oil company participation – creating a competitive environment for foreign capital and technology. As countries across the region seek to reverse production declines, fast-track new discoveries and drive regional energy integration, platforms like the WAES event are critical to forging the cross-border partnerships needed to realize Africa’s goals of energy security, economic growth and a just energy transition.
At the event, Ayuk will participate in the high-level Africa’s Opportunity for UK Supply Chain Engagement session, where he will provide actionable insights on the investment-ready landscape across key African markets such as Nigeria, Senegal, Angola, Namibia and Mozambique. He will also outline the AEC’s vision for inclusive growth, local content development and the importance of aligning global expertise with Africa’s long-term energy security goals.
“Africa’s energy future depends on strategic partnerships that deliver technology, capital and capacity building. The UK supply chain has a crucial role to play – not as outsiders, but as long-term partners invested in Africa’s growth and resilience,” states Ayuk.
The WAES event will provide an essential gateway for UK service companies to align with Africa’s energy ambitions – ranging from deepwater developments and LNG production to renewables and hydrogen deployment. By connecting global innovation with Africa’s resource wealth, the summit aims to unlock sustainable development, economic growth and greater energy access across the continent.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – Government of the Russian Federation –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Alexander Novak took part in the meeting of the OPEC Group of Eight countries
July 5, 2025
Alexander Novak took part in the meeting of the OPEC Group of Eight countries
July 5, 2025
Alexander Novak took part in the meeting of the OPEC Group of Eight countries
July 5, 2025
Previous news Next news
Alexander Novak took part in the meeting of the OPEC Group of Eight countries
Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexander Novak took part as a co-chair in a meeting of the Group of Eight participating countries that adopted additional voluntary adjustments to oil production in April and November 2023.
The Group of Eight includes Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman.
The parties discussed the state and prospects of the global oil market. Taking into account the stable prospects of the global economy and current market indicators reflected in low oil inventories, they agreed to make an adjustment to production by 548 thousand barrels per day in August 2025. The gradual increase can be suspended or cancelled depending on changing market conditions. Such flexibility will allow the group to continue to maintain stability in the oil market. The eight OPEC countries also noted that this measure will allow participating countries to speed up the compensation of volumes.
The parties to the deal confirmed their commitment to the voluntary adjustments to oil production agreed at the 53rd meeting of the OPEC Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee on April 3, 2024, and their intention to fully offset any excess production from January 2024.
The eight OPEC countries have agreed to meet monthly to review market conditions, compliance and compensation. The next meeting will be held on August 3 to decide on the level of oil production by the members in September 2025.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, António Guterres expressed alarm over the dangerous escalation and the rising toll on civilians.
He reiterated that attacks against civilians and critical infrastructure are prohibited under international law and called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.
“These strikes disrupted the power supply to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, once again underlining the ongoing risks to nuclear safety,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said.
“The Secretary-General reiterates his call for a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine as a first step towards a just, comprehensive and sustainable peace, in line with the UN Charter, international law and relevant UN resolutions.”
Fragile situation
The airstrikes on Friday severed the nuclear plant’s last external power connection, forcing the ZNPP to rely on emergency diesel generators for more than three hours, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Power was eventually restored, but the incident marked the ninth time the plant has lost all off-site electricity since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the nuclear watchdog, warned that the situation remains extremely fragile.
“What was once virtually unimaginable – that a major nuclear power plant would repeatedly lose all of its external power connections – has unfortunately become a common occurrence,” he said.
Nuclear safety deterioration
Located in southern Ukraine, the Zaporizhzhia plant is the largest nuclear power facility in Europe. Although its six reactors have been in cold shutdown since 2024, they still require electricity to cool reactor cores and spent fuel pools to prevent overheating and potential radioactive release.
During the blackout, 18 diesel generators were activated to maintain critical cooling functions. The plant has enough diesel on site for at least ten days, with contingency plans in place to secure further supplies if needed, IAEA reported.
The ZNPP has become dramatically more vulnerable since the war began. Prior to the conflict, it had access to ten external power lines; it now relies on just one.
IAEA teams remain based at the site and continue to monitor the situation closely.
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The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.
0:15 What’s next for China’s Economy – As AI surges and global trade dynamics shift, how can China balance breakthrough tech with inclusive economic growth? Three experts offer insights on trade, technology and jobs in China’s evolving landscape.
3:56 Can AI really help us? – AI shouldn’t just be about unicorns and breakthroughs. It should work for everyone. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong says the goal isn’t just chasing AGI – it’s making sure every citizen and company can benefit from AI.
7:27 Energy, climate & national security – Clean energy investment is a bright spot amid downbeat forecasts for global growth, says Egyptian minister Rania Al-Mashat. It’s important for organizations to be open about climate impacts they’re already facing, says sustainability expert Lindsay Hooper.
11:55 5 exciting technologies of 2025 – From digital trust to clean energy, 2025 is seeing breakthrough innovations with wide-ranging impact. Here are five of the most promising technologies this year.
____________________________________________
The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
PARIS, July 5 (Xinhua) — War is not a solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, and preemptive strikes obviously have no legitimacy, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and a member of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said at a joint press conference with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Friday, stressing that the abuse of military force will only lead to further conflicts and hatred.
Asked about the situation in the Middle East, Wang Yi noted that the Iranian nuclear issue could serve as an example of resolving international disputes through dialogue and negotiations, but now it is sliding into a new round of the Middle East crisis. China is watching what is happening with regret, the minister said, adding that the lessons of these events should be carefully understood.
China’s position on the Iranian nuclear issue is clear and consistent, Wang Yi said. China attaches great importance to the repeated public commitments of Iran’s top leader to renounce developing nuclear weapons, he added. At the same time, China respects Iran’s right to peaceful use of nuclear energy as a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Foreign Minister emphasized.
On this basis, relevant parties can speed up negotiations on a new international agreement to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue and fully place Iran’s nuclear activities under the strict control and protection of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Wang said, saying the road to peace lies ahead and history will test the sincerity of all parties.
The recent military conflicts between Israel and Iran should not be repeated, the minister said, adding that the United States had set a negative precedent by openly firing on the nuclear facilities of a sovereign state.
Wang Yi warned that if such actions lead to a nuclear catastrophe, the entire world would bear the consequences.
The thesis of “peace through strength” is based on the logic of the politics of force, the minister said, calling for consideration of what will happen to rules and justice if only force dictates what is good and what is evil.
Power cannot bring true peace. On the contrary, it can open Pandora’s box, Wang Yi added, asking how less powerful countries, especially small and medium ones, should survive.
A genuine resolution to the situation with Iran’s nuclear program cannot bypass the key element of the Middle East problem, namely the Palestinian issue, the Foreign Minister said, adding that the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza must not continue any longer.
The Palestinian issue cannot be put on the back burner, the legitimate aspirations of the Arab people should be realized as soon as possible, and the fair voice of the entire Islamic world should be heard, Wang Yi said.
A two-state solution remains the only realistic way to break the cycle of chaos in the Middle East, and the international community must take more concrete and effective measures to advance it, he said.
China and France, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, should uphold justice, shoulder responsibility, support the resolution of conflicts through dialogue and negotiations, oppose any double standards, and determine their positions and policies based on their understanding of what is right and what is wrong in a given situation, Wang Yi stressed.
The UN and its Security Council should play their due role in consolidating peace, the foreign minister said, adding that China is ready to work with France to make unremitting efforts to achieve this goal. –0–
Israel began targeting nuclear and military sites across Iran last Friday, prompting a barrage of retaliatory strikes on Israeli cities.
“The UN human rights office urges de-escalation and urgent diplomatic negotiations to end these attacks and find a way forward,” said Ms. Al-Nashif. “We are following closely and are aware of reports that many thousands of residents are fleeing parts of the capital, Tehran, as a result of warnings covering broad areas.”
Latest reports from the region indicate that more than 200 people have been killed in Iran and 24 in Israel to date. The violence continued unabated overnight in both countries.
Addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva at a scheduled meeting to discuss Iran’s rights record, the Deputy High Commissioner highlighted serious concerns that populated areas have been hit in the escalation.
“It is imperative that both sides fully respect international law, in particular by ensuring the protection of civilians in densely populated areas and of civilian objects,” she said. “We urge all those with influence to engage in negotiation as a matter of priority.”
Nuclear watchdog update
In a related development, the UN-backed nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday that two Iranian centrifuge production facilities had suffered major damage after being targeted.
“The TESA Karaj workshop and the Tehran Research Centre were hit,” it said in an update. “At the Tehran site, one building was hit where advanced centrifuge rotors were manufactured and tested.
At Karaj, two buildings were destroyed where different centrifuge components were manufactured,” said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Speaking at the Council after the Deputy High Commissioner, Iran’s Permanent Representative of Iran, Ambassador Ali Bahreini, condemned the Israeli strikes:
“There has been no violation worse than [the] 13 June act of aggression against Iran,” he said, pointing to “continuous blind attacks on residential areas, bombardment of vital supplies, explosion of drinking water resources and reckless strikes on nuclear facilities are immediately impacting the civilians and people of Iran.”
Such “deliberate targeting” of his country’s nuclear facilities risked exposing local communities to a “possible hazardous leak”, the Iranian ambassador continued. “This is not an act of war against our country, it is war against humanity.”
In a short statement to the Council from which Israel announced its withdrawal earlier this year, Mr. Bahreini called for accountability and international condemnation of the Israeli attacks.
“This impunity must come to [an] end,” he said. “Israel activities are not just against one or two countries. It is acting against all humanity and their actions target all human rights.”
In a joint call to de-escalate, UN agencies have warned that further conflict risks triggering new displacement in a region already strained by decades of war and instability.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) noted military strikes have led people in both Iran and Israel to flee their homes in search of safety from tit-for-tat missile strikes.
“Movements have been reported from Tehran and other parts of Iran, with some choosing to cross into neighbouring countries,” the agency stated. Meanwhile, “shelling has caused people in Israel to seek shelter elsewhere in the country and in some cases abroad.”
“This region has already endured more than its share of war, loss, and displacement – we cannot allow another refugee crisis to take root,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. “The time to de-escalate is right now. Once people are forced to flee, there’s no quick way back – and all too often, the consequences last for generations.”
UNHCR urged countries in the region to respect the right to seek asylum and ensure humanitarian access to those affected, while calling on all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Nuclear risks rise as Iran facilities hit
The conflict escalated sharply following Israeli airstrikes on multiple Iranian nuclear-related sites in the past week, including a centrifuge manufacturing workshop in Esfahan, according to the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“This is the third such facility that has been targeted over the past week,” Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi confirmed, noting that the facility had been under IAEA surveillance as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – the nuclear deal signed with Iran in 2015, which the United States pulled out of in 2017.
“We know this facility well. There was no nuclear material at this site and therefore the attack on it will have no radiological consequences,” he said. However, Mr. Grossi warned that continued strikes on nuclear infrastructure are severely undermining nuclear safety and security.
“Though they have not so far led to a radiological release affecting the public, there is a danger this could occur.”
The IAEA has been tracking damage to sites in Esfahan, Arak, Karaj, Natanz and Tehran since the Israeli military campaign against Iran began on 13 June.
The agency has been providing regular updates to the UN Security Council, which has yet to reach consensus on a response. On Friday, ambassadors debating the escalation heard during an emergency meeting in New York UN Secretary-General António Guterres warn that if fighting escalated it could “ignite a fire no one can control.”
Gaza in ruins, Palestinians face starvation
The mounting regional crisis is unfolding against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, where humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate.
On Saturday, the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, painted a grim picture of life in the enclave during an address to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul.
“In Gaza, two million people are being starved,” he said bluntly. “The newly created, so-called ‘aid mechanism’ is an abomination that humiliates and degrades desperate people. It is a death-trap, costing more lives than it saves.”
Lazzarini described a territory devastated by nearly two years of conflict, with more than 55,000 reported dead by local authorities in the Strip – the majority of them women and children.
Survivors, he said, “are shadows of their former selves; their lives forever changed by unspeakable trauma and profound loss.”
In the occupied West Bank, displacement and destruction of public infrastructure are altering the demography of Palestinian camps, he added, in what he described as an effort to erase the prospect of a Palestinian State under the UN-backed two-State solution and strip Palestinians of refugee status.
UNRWA in the crosshairs
“UNRWA has become an objective of this war,” Mr. Lazzarini warned, citing the deaths of at least 318 of the agency’s staff in Gaza since the 7 October terror attacks on Israel by Hamas and other militants, the expulsion of international staff, and a campaign of disinformation aimed at crippling its funding.
Despite these pressures, UNRWA continues to provide lifesaving services, including over 15,000 health consultations per day, waste management and shelter support.
UNRWA’s financial situation is now “dire,” the agency chief said. “Without additional funding, I will soon have to take unprecedented decisions affecting our operations across the region.”
He appealed to Member States to act urgently: “The sudden loss or reduction of UNRWA’s services will only deepen suffering and despair across the occupied Palestinian territory. It might spark unrest in the neighbouring countries. This is something that the region cannot afford, especially now.”
After ten days of airstrikes initiated by Israel aimed at crippling Iran’s nuclear programme which have led to deadly daily exchanges of missile fire between Tehran and Tel Aviv, the UN chief said that diplomacy must now prevail.
“We now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation,” he said, responding to the US intervention overnight in support of Israel’s military campaign, which targeted three facilities involved in uranium enrichment.
Return to serious negotiations essential
“We must act – immediately and decisively – to halt the fighting and return to serious, sustained negotiations on the Iran nuclear programme,” Mr. Guterres added.
He told ambassadors the citizens of the wider Middle East region could not endure yet another cycle of destruction. Demanding a ceasefire, he also put Iran on notice that it must “fully respect” the Non-Proliferation Treaty on the development of nuclear weapons as a cornerstone of peace and security worldwide.
Iran has consistently denied the allegation from Israel and others that its ambitions are to become a nuclear armed State, versus developing atomic energy for purely peaceful purposes.
Israel, the US and Iran face a stark choice. “One path leads to a wider war,” the UN chief continued, “deeper human suffering and serious damage to the international order. The other leads to de-escalation, diplomacy and dialogue.”
Grossi warns of major risks following strikes
The head of the UN’s atomic energy watchdog, the IAEA, warned ambassadors the recent military strikes by Israel and now the US on nuclear sites in Iran have badly compromised safety and could pose serious risks if the situation worsens.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said the attacks had caused “a sharp degradation in nuclear safety and security”, even though there had been no radiation leaks which could potentially impact the public so far.
The IAEA chief warned ambassadors that if the short window of opportunity to return to dialogue closes then the destruction could be “unthinkable” while the global nuclear non-proliferation regime “as we know it could crumble and fall.”
Mr. Grossi confirmed that Iran’s main enrichment facility at Natanz had suffered major damage, including to key power infrastructure and underground halls containing uranium materials.
He said the main concern inside the site was now chemical contamination, which can be dangerous if inhaled or ingested.
Massive radiation leak still possible
He also listed damage at other nuclear-related sites across the country, including Esfahan, Arak and Tehran, adding that while radiation levels outside remained normal, the attacks had raised alarm over Iran’s operational nuclear plant at Bushehr.
Mr. Grossi warned that any strike on Bushehr could trigger a massive radiation release across the region. “The risk is real,” he said. “Military escalation threatens lives and delays the diplomacy that’s needed to resolve this crisis.”
He urged all sides to show restraint and said the IAEA stood ready to send experts back in to help monitor and protect damaged nuclear sites.
Senior political affairs official: ‘No military solution’
Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Miroslav Jenča told ambassadors that the world is facing “a dangerous moment” following the US bombing mission, as Iran considers potential retaliation.
UN Photo/ Evan Schneider
He warned the council that the region risks being “engulfed in further instability and volatility”, with “no military solution to this conflict”.
Mr. Jenča confirmed extensive damage at Iranian sites, citing open-source satellite imagery and Iranian reports that tunnels and buildings at the Fordow nuclear facility had been hit. He urged Tehran to grant IAEA inspectors access “as soon as safety conditions allow”.
Death toll mounting
Hostilities between Iran and Israel are now into their tenth day, and Mr. Jenča said the humanitarian toll is mounting. “Most [of the 430 killed in Iran] have been civilians,” he noted, while also citing Israeli reports of 25 dead and over 1,300 injured.
He also flagged growing threats from non-State armed groups, including the Houthis in Yemen, warning that their retaliation could widen the conflict. Iran’s parliament, meanwhile, has voiced support for closing the crucial trading route through the narrow Strait of Hormuz.
“The world will not be spared from the ramifications of this dangerous conflict,” Mr. Jenča said, urging countries to act in line with international law and the UN Charter.
Briefing ambassadors in the Security Council on Wednesday, Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari described a troubling pattern of weapons testing and growing nuclear ambition from DPRK – more commonly known as North Korea.
This includes the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in October 2024 and an intermediate-range hypersonic missile last January.
Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported “open displays” of undeclared uranium enrichment at Yongbyon and Kangson.
“These events have been accompanied by statements reiterating the DPRK’s intention to further develop nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, including tactical nuclear warheads, military reconnaissance satellites, and the construction of a ‘nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine’,” Mr. Khiari said.
North Korea’s persistent pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes – in violation of multiple Security Council resolutions – “continues to undermine the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime,” he warned.
Ensuring compliance
Mr. Khiari reiterated the UN’s call for compliance with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and IAEA safeguards, calling on DPRK to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
He also echoed Secretary-General António Guterres’ call for all countries to ensure that their relations with the DPRK “entirely abide” by the relevant Council sections.
“We recall the obligations for all Member States to implement the relevant sanctions measures,” he said.
Broader security risks
He also noted broader regional tensions, warning that the Korean Peninsula “remains tense” amid heightened military activity, limited dialogue between both countries – and the growing nuclear risk.
He cautioned that the potential for miscalculation is increasing and urged renewed diplomatic efforts toward sustainable peace and the complete, verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
These must be anchored in dialogue and diplomacy, Mr. Khiari said.
Addressing humanitarian needs
Beyond the security situation, Mr. Khiari urged ambassadors not to forget the reportedly dire humanitarian situation in the country.
“We reiterate the call on the DPRK to facilitate the return of the UN Country Team to strengthen support for its people and advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” he said.
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was addressing the agency’s Board of Governors, amid fresh reports of new Israeli missile strikes on Iranian military sites in Tehran and elsewhere earlier on Monday. Iranian weapons fire has also been reported across Israel.
There is particular concern about 400 kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60 per cent by Iran.
Under the terms of a 2015 nuclear deal with the international community, Iran is permitted to enrich the naturally occurring radioactive material to less than four per cent.
“Craters are now visible at the Fordow site, Iran’s main location for enriching uranium at 60 per cent, indicating the use of ground-penetrating munitions; this is consistent with statements from the United States,” he told the IAEA Board of Governors. “At this time, no one including the IAEA, is in a position to have fully assessed the underground damage at Fordow.”
Mr. Grossi said that taking into account the highly explosive payload used in the US attacks, “very significant damage is expected to have occurred” to thehighlysensitive centrifuge machinery used to enrich uranium at Fordow.
Several sites hit
Fordow is one of several nuclear-related sites across Iran that are known to have been damaged in the strikes by the United States, including those in Esfahan, Arak and Tehran.
In comments to the UN Security Council in New York on Sunday, the IAEA chief said that although radiation levels remained normal outside these nuclear facilities, deep concerns remained about Iran’s operational nuclear plant at Bushehr.
Any strike on Bushehr could trigger a massive radiation release across the region – “the risk is real”, Mr. Grossi said.
Eleven days after Israel launched air and missile strikes at Iranian military and nuclear sites, some 430 people are believed to have been killed in Iran, most of them civilians.
According to Israeli reports, 25 people have been killed and more than 1,300 injured by Iranian missile strikes.
Terror and hoarding
Inside Iran, many people are sleep-deprived after 10 days of Israeli strikes and afraid that they have nowhere to go.
Testimonies shared with UN News of events indicate that internet access is extremely limited and that people are queueing for hours to stock up on food and fuel. “Even bread has been scarce at times,” said one Iranian national, who noted that many of those with dual nationality have been leaving the country.
The crisis has also increased problems for the elderly and infirm – “not for lack of money, but because their caregivers have disappeared”, she added.
Meanwhile in Israel, civilians impacted by Iranian missile attacks have spoken of their shock at the destruction of their homes, echoing calls for peace in Iran.
“We came to try to evacuate some equipment left at our flats, which were totally collapsed by the direct heat of the missile yesterday morning,” one Israeli resident said in an online testimony published on Monday. “So, that’s it, the entire house is gone.”
Another resident explained that he was returning to his apartment which had been “totally destroyed by a missile landed under my window – and luckily I wasn’t here.”
IAEA safety experts have warned repeatedly that armed attacks on nuclear infrastructure – enrichment facilities or reactors – risk damaging containment systems and could lead to the release of dangerous levels of radioactive or toxic materials.
“Armed attacks on nuclear facilities should never take place and could result in radioactive releases with grave consequences within and beyond the boundaries of the State which has been attacked,” IAEA chief Mr. Grossi told the agency’s Board of Governors on Monday.
Even well-fortified facilities are not immune from structural or systemic failure when subjected to extreme external force, such as missile strikes, the UN nuclear watchdog has said.
A range of threats
The potential consequences include localised chemical exposure and far-reaching radioactive contamination, depending on the nature of the site and the strength of its defensive barriers.
At enrichment or conversion facilities, the primary hazard often comes from uranium hexafluoride (UF₆). If struck and exposed to moisture, this radioactive compound of uranium and fluorine can break down into hydrogen fluoride – a highly toxic gas that can cause burns and respiratory damage.
Radiation risks at these enrichment sites are typically lower than at reactors, although chemical hazards can have severe local impacts, IAEA said.
In contrast, reactor cores and spent-fuel pools hold large inventories of fission products which result from nuclear reactions, such as iodine-131 and cesium-137. A breach here could result in large-scale radioactive dispersal, especially if cooling systems fail.
Different sites and risks
Iran’s nuclear programme includes a range of facilities with varying risk profiles, reports indicate. The Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran’s only operational commercial reactor, remains undamaged but contains significant radioactive material under IAEA safeguards.
Research reactors including the Tehran facility are smaller, while the Arak heavy-water reactor, struck recently, held no nuclear material at the time.
Enrichment plants at Natanz and Fordow are fortified and underground, limiting the spread of radiation despite recent damage. However, conversion sites such as Isfahan involve uranium hexafluoride (UF₆), raising the risk of toxic chemical exposure if containment is breached.
International legal frameworks and UN resolutions strongly prohibit military action against peaceful nuclear facilities. The IAEA stresses that any such strike endangers not just national safety, but regional and global stability.
With support from the United Nations, the electricity grid on the central islands of Java, Madura, and Bali – home to over 160 million people – is now being upgraded and modernized to accommodate fluctuating energy loads from solar and wind power.
“As a result of our cooperation with the UN, we now have a blueprint for a smart grid and are working to enable it to seamlessly integrate electricity from renewables in line with national priorities,” said Evy Haryadi, Director of Transmission and System Planning at state-owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN). “This will represent a huge step forward in decarbonizing Indonesia’s energy system.”
As emphasized during a recent visit to Jakarta by the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Climate Action and Just Transition, Selwin Hart, the smart grid initiative—supported by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)—is an integral part of the broader UN assistance in Indonesia to ensure a just energy transition.
UN Indonesia
Solar power is widely used on the islands of Java, Madura, and Bali.
This includes work by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to bring renewable energy to remote islands not connected to the national grid, and by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to support the government in developing green skills.
“The UN in Indonesia works in close partnership with the government to support its energy transition targets in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” said Gita Sabharwal, United Nations Resident Coordinator for Indonesia. “We provide fast response solutions and technical expertise to help accelerate progress toward government objectives in green energy.”
The country’s 2025–2034 Electricity Supply Business Plan, launched in May, outlines a strategic shift toward a cleaner and investment-driven energy future. It targets 42.6 GW of new renewable power capacity and 10.3 GW of storage, while limiting new fossil fuel capacity to 16.6 GW. The plan is designed to align Indonesia’s climate commitments with the SDGs and enhance national energy resilience.
The smart grid and, at its core, the control centre that manages electricity supply and demand, are crucial to this effort. The country expects a surge in renewable generation construction once the modernization of the JAMALI Control Center is completed.
Historically, power grids were designed to receive electricity from sources with relatively constant output—such as coal, natural gas, or hydropower. However, some renewable sources function differently: solar plants generate electricity only when the sun is shining, and wind power only when the wind is blowing. In a so-called “smart grid,” the control centre must be able to adjust electricity intake from renewables and balance it with stable sources like coal, based on real-time weather conditions and consumption patterns. It will also utilize large-scale batteries to store excess electricity—for example, solar energy generated during particularly sunny periods.
Established in the early 1980s, the JAMALI grid control center covers 79% of Indonesia’s generation capacity. The smart grid system design, delivered by UNOPS, enables the control centre to incorporate renewable energy forecasting capabilities and grid analysis tools to support stability and security, among other advanced features.
The detailed engineering design for the JAMALI Main Control Center includes plans to consolidate five regional control centres into two to improve efficiency while maintaining redundancy. UNOPS also completed the tendering process and vendor selection for the design’s implementation and is building the capacity of PLN staff involved in control centre operations to manage the new technology effectively.
From design to implementation
Construction workers and engineers are now hard at work at PLN’s campus in Depok, just outside Jakarta, implementing the design provided by UNOPS. Completion of the control centre is expected by the end of 2025. During this phase, UNOPS is responsible for monitoring the selected vendors who are constructing, installing, configuring, and ultimately commissioning the new centre.
UN Indonesia
Indonesia is modernizing its electricity grid.
“UNOPS has the project management expertise and know-how to continue supporting us and ensure the seamless and timely delivery of the project, in line with the original specifications,” said PLN’s Mr. Haryadi. “At the same time, we are building our internal capacity to eventually take over the task.”
The work is progressing on schedule. The new buildings are largely completed, and installation of the industrial monitoring system—central to the control centre’s operation—is about 40 per cent complete. Based on the success of the initiative, discussions are underway to replicate the design for the four control centres that manage electricity supply on other islands across the country.
UNOPS supports this modernization under the Southeast Asia Energy Transition Partnership (ETP), which provides technical expertise to partner countries in the region to help their national energy commitments in line with Paris Agreement and the SDGs. ETP is a multi-donor partnership, supported by the governments of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and philanthropic donors. ETP operates in Indonesia, the Philippines and Viet Nam, as well as at the ASEAN regional level, and works collaboratively to mobilize and coordinate resources to facilitate a just energy transition in the region.
“The control centre upgrade promises to be a game-changer for Indonesia’s energy mix,” Ms Sabharwal said. “Our support is an impactful example of the UN’s assistance in middle-income countries: working behind the scenes and providing core technical expertise, we support the government’s priority of energy security by fast-tracking the green transformation.”
The urgent need to restore the Ocean will be the focus of a major international conference taking place in Nice, France, this June. This will be the first UN Ocean Conference since the adoption of a legal agreement for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity and the protection of life in the Ocean will be a key topic.
Peter Thompson, the Secretary General’s Envoy for the Ocean, Alfredo Giron, Head of the Ocean Action Agenda at the World Economic Forum (WEF), and Minna Epps, who runs the Ocean Program at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), spoke to UN News ahead of the Conference, to talk about UN-led initiatives designed to protect marine biodiversity.
UN News: How serious is the marine biodiversity crisis?
Minna Epps: We’re in really dire straits. If we don’t protect and restore the Ocean this is going to have devastating consequences for all those services that we are dependent on. The entire climate is dependent on the Ocean as a climate regulator. However, we don’t want the Ocean to absorb more carbon dioxide, because that’s what makes it acidic, so we need to start by cutting emissions.
If you are in an airplane and you fly over a forest, you can see deforestation, that a habitat has been lost. The same thing is happening in the Ocean, but we can’t really see it. Another effect of climate change is marine heat waves, when water temperature increases over an extended period. A marine heat wave in Panama wiped out around 75 per cent of coral diversity.
Or take coral reefs. These make up less than one per cent of the Ocean, but almost 25 per cent of marine species depend on them. Reefs also protect against storm surges and extreme weather events.
Peter Thomson: Fossil fuels are causing man-made global warming, which is heating the Ocean at an alarming rate, which is causing changes in ecosystems, rising sea levels and the death of coral.
Colombian Environment Ministry
Divers pose with transplanted corals and a ‘One Million Corals for Colombia’ sign, the name of the biggest ocean restoration project in Latin-America.
How can Homo sapiens survive on a healthy planet if you don’t have a healthy Ocean? And how can you have a healthy Ocean if you don’t have a coral in it? So, my message is, leave fossil fuels in the ground. Get as fast as we can to an electrified world, an equitably electrified world powered by renewable energy.
Alfredo Giron: So many things in our daily lives depend on the Ocean. How we eat, how we move and transport goods. Your Amazon delivery package probably went on a ship at some point in the supply chain. How we power our activities: offshore wind is the fastest expanding renewable energy source today. Or how we communicate: the deep-sea cables that we depend on for so many transactions are having an impact on marine biodiversity.
UN News: What is the 30×30 biodiversity initiative and how could it help to restore the Ocean?
Alfredo Giron: 30×30 is about protecting and restoring thirty percent of the Ocean and of land by 2030. Many countries that have stepped up and achieved their targets of protecting thirty per cent of their national waters. And we finally have the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement, the High Seas Treaty, which is giving us, for the first time, the legal instruments to actually protect waters that are outside of national jurisdictions.
We have protected close to ten percent of the Ocean at this point. So, as we go into the last five years of the decade, the important question that we should be asking ourselves is, how are we going to protect that other 20 per cent? Do we have the right instruments? Do we have the right incentives? Do we have the right amount of money and ambition to achieve it?
Peter Thomson: The best of our scientists told us that if we don’t protect 30 per cent of the planet by 2030, we are going to begin seeing a great cascading away of species on this planet and extinctions, including the extinction of Homo sapiens.
That’s why this 30 per cent protection assumes such great importance, and the Ocean community stood up and committed to protecting 30 per cent of the Ocean. Whether we get there or not is a big question, but at least we’re going to have a plan to get there.
UN News: This is the first UN Ocean Conference since the adoption of the High Seas Treaty. Why is this important?
UN Global Compact/Elma Okic
Peter Thomson: The Treaty brings in a multilateral regime for the exploitation of genetic resources and sharing technology. We are very hopeful that, by the time of the UN Ocean Conference, we will have got the sixty ratifications required for the Treaty to come into force.
Equally important to me are the World Trade Organisation Harmful Fisheries Subsidies. We are very close to an agreement. This is about up to $30 billion of public money funding industrial fleets each year, to go out and chase diminishing stocks of fish.
It is human madness. That money should be going towards the development of coastal communities or adaptation to sea level rise, rather than subsidizing industrial fishing fleets.
Women on the remote island of Bianci, Southwest Papua, have doubled their income by moving from selling raw fish to selling fish-based products.
UN News: What role should the private sector play in the protection of the Ocean?
Alfredo Giron: It is not enough to think about sustainable use. Now we need to think about regeneration. For example, if you install an offshore wind farm, can you make sure that you use the right materials so that you can build a coral reef around it? Or, if you build a new port, can you use mangroves to protect and stabilise the coastline, while making sure that the waves are not as strong and that the ships can interact more easily with the port itself?
If we stop thinking about the private sector as the flip side of conservation but rather as one more stakeholder that will really benefit from a healthy Ocean, then we start unlocking a lot of opportunities. The WEF is partnering with the UN to bring in the private sector and help them to navigate and understand what is going on in this space.
Minna Epps: We also must stop thinking about the private sector as a homogenous group, and distinguish between the big corporations that we can we need to work with, and the small to medium enterprises that we need to invest in.
We want this conference to be a game changer. We are focusing on initiatives such as the International Panel of Ocean Sustainability, which is gathering both scientific and Indigenous knowledge. Then there is finance: how do we move the needle in a decisive manner? Because without that happening, the conference will not have a strong legacy.
While the rate of basic access to energy has increased since 2022, the current pace is insufficient to reach universal access by 2030, one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to a report published by the WHO and partners this Wednesday.
The report highlights the role of cost-effective distributed renewable energy — a combination of mini-grid and off-grid solar systems — in accelerating energy access, particularly as the populations who remain unconnected mostly live in remote, lower-income, and fragile areas.
Regional disparities
“Despite progress in some parts of the world, the expansion of electricity and clean cooking access remains disappointingly slow, especially in Africa,” said Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), as 85 per cent of the global population without electricity access reside in sub-Saharan Africa.
In the region, renewables deployment has rapidly expanded; however, on average, it remains limited to 40 watts of installed capacity per capita — only one eighth of the average in other developing countries.
Clean cooking
As regional disparities persist, an estimated 1.5 billion people residing in rural areas still lack access to clean cooking, while over two billion people remain dependent on polluting and hazardous fuels such as firewood and charcoal for their cooking needs.
Yet, the use of off-grid clean technologies, such as household biogas plants and mini-grids that enable electric cooking, can offer solutions that reduce the health impacts caused by household air pollution.
“The same pollutants that are poisoning our planet are also poisoning people, contributing to millions of deaths each year from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, particularly among the most vulnerable, including women and children,” said Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
Lack of financing
The report identified the lack of sufficient and affordable financing as a key reason for regional inequalities and slow progress.
While international public financial flows to developing countries in support of clean energy have increased since 2022, the developing world received significantly fewer flows in 2023 than in 2016.
“This year’s report shows that now is the time to come together to build on existing achievements and scale up our efforts,” said Stefan Schweinfest, Director of the UN Statistics Division, as the report called for strengthened international cooperation between the public and private sectors to scale up financial support for developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Mohammadamin Ahmadfard, Postdoctoral Fellow, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, Toronto Metropolitan University
Artificial intelligence (AI) is quietly transforming how cities generate, store and distribute energy, acting as the invisible conductor that orchestrates cleaner, smarter and more resilient cities.
By integrating renewables — from solar panels and wind turbines to geothermal grids, hydrogen plants, electric vehicles and batteries — AI can enable cities to manage diverse energy sources as a single, intelligent system.
One striking example is the Oya Hybrid Power Station in South Africa. Here, AI-driven controls seamlessly co-ordinate solar, wind and battery storage to deliver reliable power to up to 320,000 households. Using AI makes this kind of integration not only possible, but dramatically more efficient.
Recent research shows AI can also optimize how batteries, solar and the grid interact in buildings. A 2023 study found that deep learning and real-time data helped a boarding school in Turin, Italy increase low-cost energy purchases and cut its electricity bill by more than half.
Cleaner, smarter energy grids
AI models are increasingly able to predict weather with greater precision. These predictions allow electric grid operators to plan hours ahead, storing excess energy in batteries or adjusting supply to meet demand before a storm or heatwave hits.
Using AI to respond strategically to weather is a game-changer. In Cambridge, England, a system called Aardvark uses satellite and sensor data to generate rapid, accurate forecasts of sun and wind patterns.
Unlike traditional supercomputer-driven weather models, Aardvark’s AI can deliver precise local forecasts in minutes on an ordinary computer. This makes advanced weather prediction more accessible and affordable for cities, utilities and even smaller organizations — potentially transforming how communities everywhere plan for and respond to changing weather.
AI models are increasingly able to predict weather with greater precision, allowing electric grid operators to plan ahead, storing excess energy in batteries or adjusting supply to meet demand before a storm or heat wave hits. (Shutterstock)
AI for smarter district heating and cooling
In Munich, Germany, AI is improving geothermal district heating by using underground sensors to monitor temperature and moisture levels in the ground.
The collected data feeds into a digital simulation model that helps optimize network operations. In more advanced versions, during winter cold snaps, such systems can suggest lowering flow to underused spaces like half-empty offices and boosting heat where demand is higher, such as in crowded apartments.
This intelligent, self-optimizing approach extends the life of equipment and delivers more warmth with the same energy input.
This is a breakthrough with enormous potential for cities in cold climates with established geothermal networks, such as Winnipeg in Canada and Iceland’s Reykjavik.
Although these cities have not yet adopted AI-driven monitoring systems, they could benefit from AI’s real-time improvements in efficiency, comfort and energy savings during harsh winters — a principle that holds true wherever geothermal district heating and cooling exists.
Inside the home, AI-managed smart climate systems can factor in how many people are in each room, which appliances are in use, how much natural sunlight each space receives. (Shutterstock)
Smart buildings
Inside the home, AI-managed smart climate systems can factor in how many people are in each room, which appliances are in use, how much natural sunlight each space receives and how much electricity or heat a home’s solar panels generate throughout the day.
Based on this, AI determines how to heat or cool rooms efficiently, and can transfer energy from one space to another, balancing comfort with minimal energy use.
Coastal cities and those in wind-heavy regions are using AI in other creative ways. In Orkney, Scotland, excess wind and tidal energy are converted into green hydrogen. Instead of letting that surplus power go to waste, an AI system called HyAI controls when to generate hydrogen based on wind forecasts, electricity prices and how full the hydrogen storage tanks are.
When winds are strong at night and electricity is cheap, the AI can divert surplus power to produce hydrogen and store it for later use. On calmer days, that stored hydrogen can power fuel cells or buses.
Energy storage
AI is transforming energy storage into a smart, revenue-generating force. In Finland, a startup called Capalo AI has developed Zeus VPP, an AI-powered virtual power plant that aggregates distributed batteries from homes, businesses and other sites.
Zeus VPP uses advanced forecasting and AI algorithms to decide when batteries should charge or discharge, factoring in energy prices, local consumption and weather forecasts. This enables battery owners to earn revenue by participating in electricity markets, while also supporting grid stability and making better use of renewable energy.
AI-powered dynamic line rating adjusts how much electricity a line can carry in real time, boosting capacity by 15 to 30 per cent when conditions allow. This helps utilities maximize the use of existing infrastructure instead of relying on costly upgrades.
At the local level, AI analyzes smart metre data to predict which transformers are overheating due to rising EV and heat pump use.
By forecasting these stress points, utilities can proactively upgrade equipment before failures happen — a shift from reactive to predictive maintenance that makes the grid stronger and cities more resilient.
AI-powered public transit and mobility
Transportation innovation is becoming part of the energy solution, with AI at the centre of this transformation. In New York City, energy company Con Edison has installed major battery storage systems to help manage peak electricity demand and reduce reliance on polluting peaker plants, which supply energy only during high-demand periods.
More broadly, Con Edison is deploying advanced AI-powered analytics software across its electric grid — optimizing voltage, enhancing reliability and enabling predictive maintenance. Together, these efforts show how combining energy storage and AI-driven analytics can make even the world’s busiest cities more resilient and efficient.
AI is also powering “vehicle-to-grid” innovations in California, where an AI-driven platform manages electric school buses that can supply stored energy back to the grid during periods of high demand.
By carefully managing when buses charge and discharge, these systems help keep the grid reliable and ensure vehicles are ready for their daily routes. As this technology expands, parked electric vehicles could serve as valuable backup resources for the electricity system.
Transportation innovation is becoming part of the energy solution. (Shutterstock)
AI for clean energy initiatives
AI is rapidly transforming cities by revolutionizing how energy is used and managed. Google, for example, has slashed cooling energy at its data centres by up to 40 per cent using AI that fine-tunes fans, pumps and windows more efficiently than any human operator.
Organizations like the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), in collaboration with NVIDIA, Microsoft and others, have launched the Open Power AI Consortium, which is creating open-source AI tools for utilities worldwide.
These tools will enable even the most resource-constrained cities to deploy advanced AI capabilities, without having to start from scratch, helping to level the playing field and accelerate the global energy transition.
The result is not just cleaner air and lower energy bills, but a path to fewer blackouts and more resilient homes.
Mohammadamin Ahmadfard receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Mitacs Inc. for his postdoctoral research at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Urban Indigenous gathering for community well-being, showing the importance of interconnectedness in Indigenous Communities in Hamilton, Ont. in August 2021. This way of being must be reflected in nuclear projects to better work alongside Indigenous Peoples.(Michelle Webb)
With climate change-fuelled natural disasters becoming more frequent and devastating for communities around the world, the need for cleaner energy solutions is more urgent than ever.
When it comes to transitioning away from fossil fuels, much of the focus tends to be on solar, wind or hydroelectricity. However, small modular reactors (SMRs) are an emerging technology showing promise globally.
SMRs are a specific type of nuclear reactor that, as the name suggests, are small in energy output and modular in their manufacturing. Provinces like New Brunswick, Alberta and Saskatchewan have made progress on strategic plans to make SMRs part of their provincial climate action plans.
Unlike traditional nuclear reactors that generally produce more than 1,000 megawatts of electricity, SMRs are designed to produce as low as five megawatts. The modularity of such reactors allows for manufacturing off-site and installation at the desired location. This can decrease construction time, manufacturing costs and certain environmental costs associated with building on site.
In an effort to shift reliability from carbon-emitting resources to nuclear power, SMRs provide an exciting alternative, but implementation needs effective engagement with Indigenous communities to flourish.
Small modular reactors (SMRs) could be relatively feasible way to generate power for many off-grid communities. (A. Vargas/IAEA)
Engaging Indigenous communities
Much of Canada’s electricity is already generated from low-carbon emission sources. However, there are still areas in northern Canada that are reliant on diesel, and therefore SMR plans are often aimed at providing electricity to these communities.
As research continues into the engineering and science behind SMR technology, meaningful community engagement with Indigenous communities is also required.
Thoughtfully considered and integrated consultations are necessary to ensure projects respect treaties, land rights and the surrounding environment. Consultation is needed to understand the needs and goals of the community for creating an energy transition plan.
In addition, incorporating traditional ecological knowledge in environmental risk assessments is vital. Ultimately, projects designed alongside Indigenous communities should strive for Indigenous sovereignty over growing infrastructure.
Why community engagement is important
Indigenous communities continue to face challenges as a result of colonization. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) seventh Call to Action highlights the need to eliminate educational and employment disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians.
A direct way to address in terms of Canada’s nuclear landscape is to train members of those communities in technical roles related to the planning, deployment and sustained use of a nuclear facility. Specifically, training today’s Indigenous youth so they can fulfil these roles in their future careers.
The TRC’s Call to Action 92 calls on Canada’s corporate sector to engage in meaningful consultation, respectful relationship-building and equitable access to training and education opportunities that will contribute to long-term benefits from any economic development projects.
Through understanding the need for this relationship-building, there is a lot that western practices can learn from adopting Indigenous ways of knowing. Indigenous people have a long history of sustainable practices in their culture and traditions, and although western science now consider sustainable practices, it is not deeply woven into community and industrial initiatives.
As nuclear projects advance in Canada, it’s vital to respect Indigenous knowledge through weaving with western science. Projects can adopt a Two-Eyed seeing approach. This refers to viewing a problem with one eye using an Indigenous knowledge perspective and the other with a western knowledge lens. There is much to learn from understanding the philosophy behind Indigenous ways of knowing that can be applied to protect the environment.
Indigenous knowledge varies across Canada and comes with different insights, but a commonality is the teaching that all living things are interconnected and must be respected and cared for. This perspective is necessary for the future of nuclear projects to ensure the environment is sustained to support the biodiversity of regions throughout Canada.
This informed approach of protecting the environment, together with an ecosystem approach that considers the uniqueness and interconectedness of each organism, will ultimately lead to improved nuclear policies and safety.
The actions that institutions and private industry take today to build strong relationships with Indigenous communities and work towards an increasingly sustainable future will support already resilient communities so they can see growth well beyond the deployment of SMRs. A path to a cleaner future is in reach, but only if we walk beside Indigenous leaders, knowledge holders, community members and, especially, youth.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Having GenAI generate an image can draw about 6,250 times more electricity, roughly the energy of fully charging a smartphone, or enough to keep the same light bulb on for 87 consecutive days.
The hundreds of millions of people now using AI have effectively added the equivalent of millions of new homes to the power grid. And demand is only growing. The challenge for tech companies is that few sources of electricity are well-suited to AI.
The grid wasn’t ready for AI
AI requires vast amounts of computational power running around the clock, often housed in energy-intensive data centres.
Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind provide intermittent energy, meaning they don’t guarantee the constant power supply these data centres require. These centres must be online 24/7, even when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.
Major tech companies like Google, Amazon and Microsoft say they are committed to eliminating CO2 emissions, making fossil fuels a poor long-term fit for them.
This has pushed nuclear energy back into the conversation. Nuclear energy is a good fit because it provides electricity around the clock, maximizing the use of expensive data centres. It’s also clean, allowing tech companies to meet their low CO2 commitments. Lastly, nuclear energy has very low fuel costs, which allows tech companies to plan their costs far into the future.
However, nuclear energy has its own set of problems that have historically been hard to solve — problems that tech companies may now be uniquely positioned to overcome.
Is nuclear energy making a comeback?
Nuclear power has long been considered too costly and too slow to build. The estimated cost of a 1.1 gigawatt nuclear power facility is about US$7.77 billion, but can run higher. The recently completed Vogtle Units 3 and 4 in the state of Georgia, for example, cost US$36.8 billion combined.
Historically, nuclear energy projects have been hard to justify because of their high upfront costs. Like solar and wind power, nuclear energy has relatively low operating costs once a plant is up and running. The key difference is scale: unlike solar panels, which can be installed on individual rooftops, the kind of nuclear reactors tech companies require can’t be built small.
Yet this cost is now more palatable when compared to the expense of AI data centres, which are both more costly and entirely useless without electricity. The first phase of OpenAI and SoftBank’s Stargate AI project will cost US$100 billion and could be entirely powered by a single nuclear plant.
Nuclear power plants also take a long time to build. A 1.1 gigawatt reactor takes, on average, 7.5 years in the U.S. and 6.3 years globally. Projects with such long timelines require confidence in long-term electricity demand, something traditional utilities struggle to predict.
One of the biggest challenges facing nuclear energy is the perception that it’s dangerous and dirty. Per gigawatt-hour of electricity, nuclear produces only six tonnes of CO2. In comparison, coal produces 970, natural gas 720 and hydropower 24. Nuclear even has lower emissions than wind and solar, which produce 11 and 53 tonnes of CO2, respectively.
Still, nuclear energy remains stigmatized, largely because of persistent misconceptions and outdated beliefs about nuclear waste and disasters. For instance, while many public concerns remain about nuclear waste, existing storage solutions have been used safely for decades and are supported by a strong track record and scientific consensus.
For decades, there was little effort to correct public perceptions about nuclear fears because it wasn’t seen as necessary or profitable. Coal, gas and renewables were sufficient to meet the demand required of them. But that’s now changing.
The world has long lived with two nuclear dilemmas. The first is that, despite being one the safest and cleanest form of energy, nuclear was perceived as one the most dangerous and dirtiest.
Now tech companies are making hundred-billion-dollar strategic bets that they can solve both nuclear dilemmas. They are betting that nuclear can offer the kind of steady, clean power their AI ambitions require.
This could be an unexpected positive consequence of AI: the revitalization of one of the safest and cleanest energy sources available to humankind.
Michael Tadrous, an undergraduate student and research assistant at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University, co-authored this article.
Goran Calic does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Having GenAI generate an image can draw about 6,250 times more electricity, roughly the energy of fully charging a smartphone, or enough to keep the same light bulb on for 87 consecutive days.
The hundreds of millions of people now using AI have effectively added the equivalent of millions of new homes to the power grid. And demand is only growing. The challenge for tech companies is that few sources of electricity are well-suited to AI.
The grid wasn’t ready for AI
AI requires vast amounts of computational power running around the clock, often housed in energy-intensive data centres.
Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind provide intermittent energy, meaning they don’t guarantee the constant power supply these data centres require. These centres must be online 24/7, even when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.
Major tech companies like Google, Amazon and Microsoft say they are committed to eliminating CO2 emissions, making fossil fuels a poor long-term fit for them.
This has pushed nuclear energy back into the conversation. Nuclear energy is a good fit because it provides electricity around the clock, maximizing the use of expensive data centres. It’s also clean, allowing tech companies to meet their low CO2 commitments. Lastly, nuclear energy has very low fuel costs, which allows tech companies to plan their costs far into the future.
However, nuclear energy has its own set of problems that have historically been hard to solve — problems that tech companies may now be uniquely positioned to overcome.
Is nuclear energy making a comeback?
Nuclear power has long been considered too costly and too slow to build. The estimated cost of a 1.1 gigawatt nuclear power facility is about US$7.77 billion, but can run higher. The recently completed Vogtle Units 3 and 4 in the state of Georgia, for example, cost US$36.8 billion combined.
Historically, nuclear energy projects have been hard to justify because of their high upfront costs. Like solar and wind power, nuclear energy has relatively low operating costs once a plant is up and running. The key difference is scale: unlike solar panels, which can be installed on individual rooftops, the kind of nuclear reactors tech companies require can’t be built small.
Yet this cost is now more palatable when compared to the expense of AI data centres, which are both more costly and entirely useless without electricity. The first phase of OpenAI and SoftBank’s Stargate AI project will cost US$100 billion and could be entirely powered by a single nuclear plant.
Nuclear power plants also take a long time to build. A 1.1 gigawatt reactor takes, on average, 7.5 years in the U.S. and 6.3 years globally. Projects with such long timelines require confidence in long-term electricity demand, something traditional utilities struggle to predict.
One of the biggest challenges facing nuclear energy is the perception that it’s dangerous and dirty. Per gigawatt-hour of electricity, nuclear produces only six tonnes of CO2. In comparison, coal produces 970, natural gas 720 and hydropower 24. Nuclear even has lower emissions than wind and solar, which produce 11 and 53 tonnes of CO2, respectively.
Still, nuclear energy remains stigmatized, largely because of persistent misconceptions and outdated beliefs about nuclear waste and disasters. For instance, while many public concerns remain about nuclear waste, existing storage solutions have been used safely for decades and are supported by a strong track record and scientific consensus.
For decades, there was little effort to correct public perceptions about nuclear fears because it wasn’t seen as necessary or profitable. Coal, gas and renewables were sufficient to meet the demand required of them. But that’s now changing.
The world has long lived with two nuclear dilemmas. The first is that, despite being one the safest and cleanest form of energy, nuclear was perceived as one the most dangerous and dirtiest.
Now tech companies are making hundred-billion-dollar strategic bets that they can solve both nuclear dilemmas. They are betting that nuclear can offer the kind of steady, clean power their AI ambitions require.
This could be an unexpected positive consequence of AI: the revitalization of one of the safest and cleanest energy sources available to humankind.
Michael Tadrous, an undergraduate student and research assistant at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University, co-authored this article.
Goran Calic does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
A recent ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) report emphasised that to contribute in tackling climate change, ASEAN countries don’t need to immediately phase out all of their coal fleet.
The report asserted that coal will continue to be an essential part of the energy transition. It also stated that by allowing ASEAN countries more time to improve electricity grids to accommodate more renewables could help smooth the transition to cleaner energy. Put the two together, and it strongly hinted that coal might be squeezed in to buy said time.
In order to reduce damage from coal, ACE urged ASEAN member states to use clean coal technologies in coal-fired power plants. It also recommended to use carbon capture and storage (CCS) or carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) to replace “old, inefficient, and unabatable coal plants”.
Interestingly, this is also a view promoted by the World Coal Association — now Future Coal – the international coal lobbying group.
At first glance, this plan seems promising. However, relying heavily on technology oversimplifies potential risks and assumes full delivery of promises without thorough risk assessments. In this article, we provide evidence that ACE’s chosen pathway is not as good as it seems and could face significant problems in the future.
False solution
The first “clean coal technology” proposed by ACE – termed “high efficiency, low emissions (HELE)” – is mostly supercritical coal power plant. This means it uses less coal while producing more energy. This is why they’re claimed to be more environmentally friendly than sub-critical or “regular” coal power plants.
But using supercritical technology doesn’t guarantee the emission problem is solved; it has varying degrees of success in reducing coal emissions.
For example, a 2019 Australian paper found supercritical coal power plants underperformed against regular power plants with higher breakdown rates, leading to frequent electricity price spikes during 2018-2019. This was a decade after the technology was first launched in 2007.
Failing to deliver steady electricity supplies would contradict ACE’s stated goal to prevent energy shortage and provide smoother transitions towards renewable energy.
Risks of carbon capture
Another technology that ACE advocates is carbon capture and storage (CCS), which captures carbon emissions from power plants and stores them underground.
However, CCS appears to replicate past project failures. Opponents of CCS often suggest its success rate is relatively small.
The industry claims the technology can capture 95% carbon from each project. Yet, the 2023 reports from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) found that no current project has consistently managed to capture more than 80% of carbon emissions. Some of them only succeeded in capturing 15% of carbon emissions.
Leakage from captured carbon underground is the other risk we might bear. This will have tremendous consequences not only by netting off the so-called mitigated emissions but also by contaminating groundwater and risking communities nearby.
According to carbon capture proponents, when done properly, the risk of leakage is minuscule. Even when it occurs, they claim it will not be catastrophic.
Some other evidence suggests that CCS is not economically viable. One of the strongest arguments against CCS is probably the diminishing returns. As one of the leading experts in carbon capture claims:
The closer a CCS system gets to 100% efficiency, the harder and more expensive it becomes to capture additional carbon dioxide.
More importantly, chasing increasingly expensive CCS technology merely prolongs the life of coal-fired power plants, which pose significant environmental risks. The same money and effort could be used to build more renewable energy infrastructure such as wind turbines or solar panels.
In addition to its potential high costs, captured carbon must be sold in the market – for various uses ranging for oil extraction to food preservation – to increase its economic viability.
The conversion will also result in approximately 25-35% of energy losses. Although there have been more research on how to improve the efficiency of the process, CO₂ utilisation has yet to be scalable.
Why the half measure?
ACE must be wary of its reliance on technological solutions. Instead, the centre should consider a double-down on less-risky and less-capital-intensive solutions with many positive impacts, such as setting up community-based renewable energy, aggressive reforestation, or even better, significant halt of deforestation.
Community-based renewable energy offers to help people in energy-poor areas to build their own energy sources. Moreover, people living in close geographical proximity can share costs and resources to install and maintain off grid renewables, encouraging more widespread adoption of cleaner energy sources with minimum problem of land use.
ACE can also reconsider replacing the “old, inefficient, and unabatable coal plants” with renewables, such as solar and wind, especially those for non-industrial electricity facilities. Those electricity generation costs have been falling rapidly for years.
As most of the ASEAN member states are developing countries, they must carefully select the most suitable technologies to adopt. With limited fiscal capacity, rashly importing an advanced technology that will require substantial startup costs potentially becomes a costly effort, yielding limited benefits.
It is puzzling why we should replace our old coal plants with new ones. It is like when we are replacing our old mobile phone with a slightly better mobile phone – instead of jumping straight to a smartphone. Why the half-measure?
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