Michael Flynn was one of a number of people pushing the “Middle East Marshall Plan”. His job seems to have been acting as the project’s spokesperson and operative within the administration. That position came to an end on February 13, 2017, when he was fired from his job as National Security Advisor. Read More
The plans offered by ACU and IP3, the companies working with Michael Flynn on a scheme to sell reactors to Saudi Arabia, have many problems. Some, perhaps all, of those problems may arise from naivete about the nuclear industry and the regulations surrounding it. Looking at the plans and how they changed over time may help in understanding what these companies were doing. Read More
Since elements of the story first appeared, I have been intrigued by the idea that Michael Flynn wanted to sell nuclear reactors to the Saudis. Too much of it doesn’t make sense and still doesn’t. A few things I’ve wondered about:
Most importantly, is this activity connected to other varieties of Trumpian corruption?
A simple theory can explain this. The Saudis want nuclear reactors to eventually build a nuclear weapons program. Flynn was at the head of a group of Trump-connected grifters who wanted to make money from that desire. Informed by a profound ignorance of nuclear economics and nonproliferation, it explains everything in a general way, but others also have the uneasy feeling that it’s more than that. Read More
Michael Flynn is known for thinking outside the box, and we need ideas outside the box to solve some of the world’s problems. It’s also great when an action can address more than one problem. But it also helps to know what you’re doing.
Here’s an IDEA: The United States and Russia work together to supply Middle Eastern countries with civilian nuclear power. Several of those countries have been seeking nuclear power. The United States and Russia have companies that can build the plants. That’s the deal Flynn was seeking in October 2015. Read More
Two more fragments of information about Donald Trump’s ties to Russia. One identifies another Trump advisor with business ties, and the other says, without showing clearly, that Trump’s strategy toward Ukraine changed after Paul Manafort came on board his campaign. Thin stuff. Read More
Donald Trump news continues to take all the oxygen. But there’s other stuff included below the fold.
It’s the anniversary of dropping the first atom bomb used in war on Hiroshima, Japan. Read More
What about nuclear energy in UK after Brexit? This is as good a guess as anyone’s, better than most. But the general political disarray in the UK means that any analysis contains a large dose of speculation. Read More
India was denied membership in the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group, but made it into a similar group on missile technology. Here’s one Indian reaction with suggestions that, if taken up, are likely to be counterproductive. Increasing plutonium production is hardly a sign of serious commitment to nonproliferation. Read More
A combination of low gas prices and non-rising energy usage are shutting down older power reactors in the United States. Replacing nuclear with natural gas raises greenhouse emissions. Commentary from Dan Yurman and Will Davis. Photo of Clinton Power Station, one of those to be closed, from here. Read More
We are warming the planet with fossil fuel use and must find alternatives. Two articles suggest both the promise and the difficulty. Read More
Nuclear Diner 