Richard Burden

@davidofamerica @narendramodi More nuclear power in India will reduce open defecation, non-treatment of wastewater and consequent fecal contamination. India's problem is lack of power.

@narendramodi India is going to cause global radioactive contamination just like they’ve caused Indian-ocean-wide fecal contamination. We should’ve seen this coming.

Today, India takes a defining step in its civil nuclear journey, advancing the second stage of its nuclear programme. The indigenously designed and built Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam has attained criticality. This advanced reactor, capable of producing more fuel than it consumes, reflects the depth of our scientific capability and the strength of our engineering enterprise. It is a decisive step towards harnessing our vast thorium reserves in the third stage of the programme. A proud moment for India. Congratulations to our scientists and engineers.

@HarksenNiels In order to load-follow, a nuclear reactor needs excess reactivity in its fuel, to allow it to climb out of Xe-135 poisoning after a large reduction in its power output. That means more fissile in the spent fuel, which can be recovered; alternatively, use fast neutrons.

Kernkraftwerke sind nicht lastfolgefähig? Heute hat der Kernreaktor Cattenom 1 innerhalb von einer Stunde (8 auf 9 Uhr) um den Faktor 3,5 auf 25% seiner Nennleistung heruntergeregelt.

And...the fickleness of wind would be shown even more fickle, even more unreliable, and even more destructive, if instantaneous readings were used--not hourly averages. Every second of chaotic, destabilizing wind energy thrown into, or removed from, a stable grid must be "normalized" to the in-phase, 50 Hz line voltage, and grid demand, moment by moment, instant by instant, by quick reacting, dispatchable, typically open cycle natural gas generation. Since wind and solar are inherently, completely, totally, and inalterably blind to demand, they are totally unfit for the purpose of powering modern societies. Weather dependent electricity generation will always require government subsidies, government mandates, and government requirements. Weather dependent electricity generation will always increase total system costs to consumers.

Civilian nuclear power, the most embattled, because it's the best! eir.news/2026/04/news/a…

@gri_mm Civilian nuclear power was a sound strategy, sabotaged by financial elites who prefer that this technology be used solely to terrorize people and nations into submission!

Als die ersten AKWs gebaut wurden, platzte zügig ein Traum. In den USA konnten AKWs in den 1960er nur gebaut werden, weil die beiden großen Hersteller General Electric und Westinghouse Verluste auf sich nahmen. Hersteller wie Kunden nahmen einfach an, dass AKWs immer billiger werden, je mehr sie bauen. Das Gegenteil geschah. Der Bau wurde teurer, aus drei Gründen: 1. Die Ölkrise trieb Zinsen in die Höhe und verteuerte so die Finanzierung. 2. Proteste verlangsamten Bau und Planung. 3. Es gab kaum Effizienzgewinne beim Bau. Diese drei Dinge beendeten zusammen die erste AKW-Welle in den 70ern. In Schweden, den USA und bald auch Frankreich brachen die Bestellungen ein. In Deutschland war es ähnlich. Die Probleme von damals existieren heute genauso. Die AKW-Industrie ist dort, wo sie vor 50 Jahren war. Jeder Reaktor ist ohne große Subvention weiterhin ein Verlustgeschäft. 🍏 Vielen Dank fürs Lesen! Jeden Dienstag zeige ich dir in meinem Newsletter, mit welcher Technologie wir die Klimakrise lösen. Hier abonnieren: cleantech.ing/subscribe?utm_…

@BladeoftheS In its lifetime, one wind turbine produces enough energy, maybe, to build & maintain enough power storage to make it useful without stable power sources. Not one joule to spare to pay the people who sweat and toil to build and maintain it all!

Here's a few facts about North Sea oil. One wind turbine produces enough energy in its lifetime to build 27 more. If the Government builds them the UK could have free electricity FOREVER within a decade. I hope you understand.

🚨BREAKING: Candace Owens Is MORE Influential The You Think She's The Real Reason We DON'T Have Boots on the Ground in Iran (Yet)🪖🇺🇸 If you want to know why we aren't currently watching thousands of American body bags returning from the Middle East, you need to look at what is happening behind closed doors at the Pentagon—and you need to look at Candace Owens. People severely underestimate Candace's influence. Her courage to speak out against the war machine quite literally is the reason we do not have boots on the ground right now. According to active-duty sources inside the Air Force, President Trump and Pete Hegseth have just fired over 20 Generals and Admirals, along with hundreds of senior officials. Why the massive purge? Because Trump and Hegseth demanded a land invasion of Iran last week, and the senior military brass looked them in the eye and said NO. The military leaders are refusing the order. So now, the administration is frantically "cutting the head off the snake," purging the Pentagon to try and find spineless "yes men" who will willingly send our sons and daughters to die in a foreign desert. People severely underestimate Candace's reach, but let me make this crystal clear: Candace is DIRECTLY responsible for the military stand-down happening right now. She didn't just give an opinion on a podcast; she issued a moral directive to the American armed forces, and they listened. By getting on her massive platform and explicitly telling our servicemen and women that they have the legal and moral right to conscientiously object, she gave the military the cultural backing they needed to refuse an unconstitutional order. "No American Son or Daughter Should Die for Israel" Our military swore an oath to the Constitution of the United States, not to a foreign government. Candace had the absolute courage to say what the entire MAGA establishment was terrified to whisper: "Goyim, stand down. Go home. Find the legal means to exit the military... I feel like right now we are all being forced into the servitude of a foreign nation." She reminded our troops that Trump’s 180-degree pivot from America First to Israel First does not mean American blood has to be spilled to build foreign real estate. 🪖 Let the Neocons Fight It Candace dropped the ultimate truth bomb, exposing the cowardice of the war hawks. If this war is so necessary, let the people pushing for it go fight it. Allow @marklevinshow , @benshapiro , and the Christian Zionists who view this as some messianic prophecy to sign their own kids up for the draft. Let them put down their podcast mics, fly to the Middle East, and clear the rubble in Gaza themselves. Leave the American working class out of it. @RealCandaceO shifted the culture, gave our troops a voice, and single-handedly threw a wrench into the military-industrial complex's timeline. She is the reason your sons and brothers are still home today. Thank God for Candace. Hold the line, refuse the orders, and put America First. 💪 🇺🇸

@Tw_timerAlder Solar and wind are window dressing for the stable power sources that build them and maintain the, and provide the batteries, and fill in when the batteries are or would be drained.

Solar doesn’t work in the GB it’s too far north they say. What are you going to do when the wind isn’t blowing they say. Well today we have an example. Still enough wind for power generation and bags of solar. Gas hardly features. Get used to the new normal 💨 ☀️

@ScottGLiisco @SimonMahan Not if they aim to cross an ocean routinely (and not one time for a daredevil show).

@burden_w @SimonMahan Then again most people buy small boats not ocean liners.

One average solar panel produces ~20 MWh over its life. That’s roughly equivalent to: ~30 barrels of oil ~8 tons of coal ~130,000 cubic feet of natural gas Just different ways of delivering the same energy.

@SimonMahan That's the political ransom imposed on nuclear power. The cost is mostly litigation and demands to redo stuff resulting from the litigation, as well as delays and compound interest, and employees paid while idle. Finally, there's weapons proliferation hypocrisy.

The Oklahoma legislature researched adding more nuclear to the power mix. Utilities weighed in: it'd cost 8-10x more than alternatives. The legislature spent $375k when the utilities already had the answer.

Q: “Which foreign country do you consider to be our greatest adversary?” Kamala Harris: “IRAN. Iran has American blood on their hands. We need to ensure that Iran never achieves the ability to be a nuclear power. That is one of my HIGHEST PRIORITIES.” Q: “So if you have proof that Iran is building a nuclear weapon, would you take military action?” K: “I’m not going to talk about hypotheticals at this moment.”

We do this in literally every country. It’s standard U.S./Israel operating procedure. Arming rebels, claiming oppressed people are freeing themselves, and then executing a regime change and stealing resources. Trump is despicable.

You can’t make this up 🤣

@dorfman_p That's what coal and gas add every two days. The renewables are window dressing upon coal and gas! Nuclear is held back by hypocritical political ransoms: OMG their reactor makes plutonium! Bomb them to the stone age!! Oh, they already have nuclear weapons! Respect them!!

Each year nuclear adds only as much net global power capacity as renewables add every two days.

WOW! He actually named the names.!!!

@BrivaelFr Value is not labor nor is it what people are willing and able to pay. It is what improves the condition of humanity as a whole. This is why wise governments invest in public education and infrastructure, and cooperate with other nations to achieve peace through development!

Tu viens de résumer la théorie de la valeur-travail de Marx. Je vais t’expliquer pourquoi elle a été réfutée il y a 130 ans, sans méchanceté. L’idée que la valeur vient du travail a un problème fondamental. Si je passe 400 heures à construire une chaise moche que personne veut acheter, elle vaut pas plus qu’une chaise construite en 2 heures que tout le monde s’arrache. La valeur ne vient pas du temps passé. Elle vient de ce que quelqu’un est prêt à payer. C’est la révolution marginaliste de 1871 (Menger, Jevons, Walras), confirmée par Böhm-Bawerk en 1896 qui a formellement démoli la théorie valeur-travail. C’est pas un débat ouvert. C’est réglé depuis plus d’un siècle dans la littérature économique. Maintenant “le propriétaire extorque la plus-value”. Extorquer implique une contrainte. Or un contrat de travail est volontaire. Personne te force à signer. Tu peux partir demain. Tu peux monter ta propre boîte. Tu peux devenir freelance. Et surtout, le propriétaire ne “prend” rien. Il prend un risque. Il avance le capital. Il paie les salaires AVANT que le produit soit vendu. Si la boîte fait faillite, le salarié touche son chômage. Le propriétaire perd tout. Ses économies, son temps, parfois sa maison. La “plus-value” que tu décris, c’est la rémunération de ce risque. Sans quelqu’un pour avancer le capital et organiser la production, le travailleur produit rien du tout. Demande à n’importe quel freelance : le plus dur c’est pas de faire le travail, c’est de trouver le client et de structurer l’offre. Dernier point. Si le travail seul produisait la richesse, les pays avec le plus de travailleurs seraient les plus riches. L’Inde et le Bangladesh auraient un PIB par habitant supérieur à la Suisse. C’est évidemment pas le cas. Ce qui fait la différence c’est le capital, l’innovation, l’organisation, et les institutions. Je te dis ça sans animosité. La théorie valeur-travail est séduisante parce qu’elle est simple et qu’elle a un héros (le travailleur) et un méchant (le patron). Mais la réalité économique est plus nuancée que ça.

The high cost of electricity in Alaska is likely due to the climate, terrain and low population density. Renewable portfolios can vary tremendously. Otherwise, this is a sound analysis.

It’s going unnoticed because so much other news is happening, but the war drums are beating again in D.C. The warmongers worry this is their last chance to get the white whale they’ve been chasing for thirty years, an all-out regime change war against Iran. A new Middle East war would be a catastrophic mistake. Our military stockpiles are depleted from three years of backing Ukraine. Our effort to reshore manufacturing has only just begun and will take years to bear fruit. War would worsen our already immense deficit and national debt. Iran is larger than Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan combined. A war would not be easy and could easily become a calamity. Thanks to President Trump’s restraint during his first term, America has a golden opportunity to pull away from Middle East quagmires for good. We shouldn’t throw that opportunity away so that sone D.C. has-beens can feel tough by sending young Americans to die yet again.

@peakaustria The difference is: dog poop is likely to contain dangerous microorganisms. The CO2 in the air is more like lactic acid in bathwater (a mild acid).

This one goes out to the "0.04% CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is negligible" fraction. Happy bathing. H/T Duen Hsi Yen