According to Global Times:
China officially applied to join the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2004, and has since maintained communication and exchanges, with five rounds of dialogue focusing on China’s accession and issues regarding control systems, lists and the enforcement of missile export controls. China referred to the MTCR Guidelines and Annex when formulating its missile export control regulations and control list.
France, which depends on nuclear reactors for 70 percent of its electric power, is shutting down two reactors after problems were found near welds on some pipes in its safety system, according to Reuters. The French power company EDF said this would mean a cutback in power production of about 1 terawatt-hour by the end of the year. The cutback will aggravate the power crisis in Europe, where natural gas prices have skyrocketed in the last few months.
Germany has decided to shut down all of its nuclear power reactors, although it still trades some power with France, and thus relies to some extent on nuclear reactors in France. The lack of German nuclear power will increase Germany’s reliance on Russian natural gas, which is a major diplomatic concern as a result of Russia’s military threats against Ukraine.
The European Union will soon decide whether it will classify nuclear power plants as a clean source of energy, according to Bloomberg. I think it should. The New York Times reports from a French town on the border with Germany about the dispute between France and Germany on the future of nuclear energy. A nuclear plant in the French town of Fessenheim has been decommissioned, pleasing the Germans, but French President Macron has stated that he wants to begin construction of new nuclear power plants in France. France gets more of its electricity from nuclear power plants than any other country and is behind only the United States in the number of operating nuclear plants.
In addition, the Netherlands coalition government has said that it wants to make nuclear energy part of its long-term green energy plan. It announced that it will keep its Borselle nuclear plant, built in 1973, open longer and will build two new nuclear plants, according to World Nuclear News.
I was pleased to see David Kopel on “Colorado Inside Out” complement the Netherlands by saying that the Netherlands decision represented “the only realistic way for energy independence and to fight global warming.”
Colorado FSO 