Tag: nuclear power

Russia Ready To Help Iran, Says Has ‘Every Right’ To Nuclear Energy Program

The Kremlin has announced Monday that Russia stands ready to help Iran in its ongoing conflict with Israel and the United States in the Middle East, based on specific requests.

Such assistance “all depends on what Iran needs,” presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained, as quoted in TASS. “We have offered our mediation efforts. This is concrete. We have stated our position, which is also a very important form of support for the Iranian side.”

“Going forward, everything will depend on what Iran needs at this moment,” Peskov continued, while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is currently in Moscow, preparing to meet with President Vladimir Putin.

“Just today, the Iranian Foreign Minister [Abbas Araghchi] will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where they will be able to exchange views in the wake of this traumatic escalation,” Peskov stated. That’s when he made clear, “And, in fact, the Iranian side will be able to inform us about its proposals and its vision of the current situation.”

It is highly unlikely that Moscow would actually give any level of direct military assistance, but it could possibly come in the form of safety, containment, or logistical help at now damaged nuclear facilities, following American forces’ weekend bombings of three key sites.

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Trump Confirms Strikes On Iran’s Nuclear Sites: Fordow, Natanz, And Esfahan “Successfully Targeted”

Hours after U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bombers departed Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri en route to the Indo-Pacific region, President Trump announced that U.S. forces had “successfully attacked” three nuclear sites in Iran—Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan.

The president wrote on his Truth Social:

We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space.

A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home.

Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.

There has been no confirmation from President Trump regarding what type of USAF bombers conducted the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. However, based on timing and strategic capability, it is plausible that B-2 Spirit stealth bombers—previously observed departing Whiteman Air Force Base—were involved in the operation.

At this time, operational details remain limited.

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Report: Pentagon Agency Believes US Needs To Drop A Nuke To Destroy Iran’s Fordow Nuclear Plant

The Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) has told US officials that in order to destroy Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant, which is buried deep underground, the US may need to drop a nuclear weapon, The Guardian has reported.

According to the report, Pentagon officials who received the briefing were told that dropping GBU-57s, conventional 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs, would not penetrate deep enough underground and that it would only do enough damage to collapse tunnels and bury the facility under rubble.

The officials were told that in order to destroy Fordow completely, the US would likely need to first soften the ground with conventional bombs and then ultimately drop a tactical nuclear weapon from a B2 bomber.

The report said that President Trump is not considering using a nuclear weapon and that the option was not presented to him by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. According to a report from Axios, Trump is casting doubt on the idea that the GBU-57s could do enough damage to destroy the facility.

Israel wants the US to drop the bunker-busting bombs on Fordow since it lacks the capability, but so far, Trump has not given the order for US airstrikes on Iran. The president said on Thursday that he would decide within two weeks, although there are indications that attacks could begin this weekend.

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Nvidia Invests in Nuclear Energy Startup Founded by Creepy Bill Gates

Nvidia has joined a $650 million funding round for TerraPower LLC, a nuclear energy startup founded by creepy Bill Gates. The company plans to further develop its advanced reactor project in Wyoming, which could one day contribute to the insatiable power demands of AI datacenters full of Nvidia chips.

Bloomberg reports that TerraPower, a U.S.-based nuclear innovation company founded by creepy Bill Gates, has announced the successful closing of a $650 million funding round. The round saw participation from a mix of existing and new investors, most notably NVentures, the venture capital arm of technology giant Nvidia. This significant milestone for TerraPower comes as the company looks to capitalize on the growing domestic support for nuclear power to fuel AI datacenters.

Founded in 2006, TerraPower’s mission is to use advanced nuclear technology to provide affordable and abundant carbon-free energy to meet the increasing electricity needs required for economic growth while simultaneously decarbonizing industry and addressing challenges such as poverty. The company plans to use the capital raised in this round to finance the construction of its first Natrium plant, which will become the first commercial advanced nuclear power facility in the United States.

The Natrium system designed by TerraPower couples a sodium-cooled fast reactor with gigawatt-scale energy storage. This innovative design enables the plant to boost output when electricity demand peaks, allowing for seamless integration with more intermittent energy sources such as wind and solar power. TerraPower began non-nuclear construction on the Natrium demonstration project last year and anticipates receiving regulatory approval for the nuclear reactor in the coming year.

Chris Levesque, TerraPower’s President and CEO, expressed his enthusiasm for the successful funding round, stating, “TerraPower was founded on the idea that innovation in nuclear science could make positive, global impacts. This round further establishes that our technologies are the solutions that industry is looking for.”

Nvidia’s participation in the funding round is indicative of the growing interest from tech companies in nuclear energy and technology as a means to address the increasing emissions impact of their rapidly expanding data center footprints. In recent months, tech giants such as Google, Meta, and Amazon have also signed major nuclear deals, recognizing the potential of nuclear power in meeting their energy needs while minimizing their environmental impact.

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Israel Admits It Cannot Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Program

Israel has asked the Trump administration over the past 48 hours to join the war with Iran to eliminate its nuclear program, according to two Israeli officials. Israel has admitted that it cannot destroy Iran’s nuclear facility, and only the USA has the power to do that. Israel simply lacks the bunker buster bombs and large bomber aircraft needed to destroy Iran’s Fordow uranium enrichment site. As shown here, it is built into a mountain and deep underground.

This is a reconstructed image purporting to show a central secret Iranian nuclear facility, based in part on information acquired by Israel’s Mossad in a famed 2018 operation. The website of the intelligence firm the Intel Lab has stated that the images of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant codenamed Al Ghadir were three-dimensional reconstructions put together with an analyst with the code name @Orion__int on Twitter. The firm said they are based on the Israeli-acquired and public documents, as well as photographs and video images. “This multi-disciplinary effort is based on Civil Engineering knowledge, Nuclear Fuel Enrichment Cycle basics, Intelligence Analysis, and advanced skills in realistic modeling and rendering,” the Intel Lab said.

The Trump administration has so far distanced itself from Israel’s operation and argued that it would be illegitimate for Iran to retaliate by striking U.S. targets. The problem here is that any direct UNPROVOKED attack on Iran will bring the US into conflict with both China and Russia. Directly attacking Iran, even if the U.S. involvement is limited to bombing a single site, would pull the U.S. directly into the war, and this could lead to WWIII.

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Iran Confirms Internal Radioactive Contamination at Natanz Nuclear Site After Israeli Airstrike — Claims No Radiation Leak to Public

Israel yesterday launched a targeted airstrike against Iran’s Natanz uranium‑enrichment facility.

Iran’s own Atomic Energy Organization now confirms that radioactive contamination was found inside the site, but emphasizes there has been no radiation leak into the surrounding environment, declaring, “no public risk.”

On Friday morning, Israeli military forces attacked several locations in Iran, including residential areas in the capital, Tehran. Several explosions were heard across the country.

At the same time, images of several locations in Tehran being targeted were posted on social media. The Israeli Minister of War issued a decree declaring a special state of emergency on Friday morning.

The international news reported Thursday that numerous countries recalled their officials from many embassies in the Middle East prior to the anticipated Israeli strikes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Thursday night’s strike targeted and successfully hit one of Iran’s top nuclear facilities.

“Iran has produced enough highly enriched uranium for nine atom bombs, nine,” Netanyahu said. “In recent months, Iran is taking steps that it has never taken before, steps to weaponize this enriched uranium. And if not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time.”

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Iran Warns They’ll Strike Israel’s Nuclear Sites If Their Own Are Attacked

From The Straits Times, “Iran says has intel to strike Israel in response to ‘any’ attack on nuclear sites”:

An intelligence trove that Iran claimed it had obtained “would enable the fighters of Islam to immediately strike (Israel’s) hidden nuclear facilities in response to any possible attack by the Zionist regime on Iran’s nuclear facilities,” the Supreme National Security Council said in a statement.

It also said Iran would respond in a “precisely proportional” manner to any Israeli attack on its military or economic infrastructure.

On June 7, state media reported that Tehran had obtained a trove of “strategic and sensitive” Israeli intelligence in a covert operation, including files related to Israel’s undeclared nuclear facilities and defence plans.

Iran’s Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib later said that the seized documents included information related to Western countries including the United States, and “will be published soon”.

On June 9, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, said the intelligence would make “the impact of Iranian missiles more precise” in case of a confrontation.

Via Middle East Spectator:

Full statement by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council:

‘In the name of God Almighty.

The recent complex intelligence operation carried out by the anonymous soldiers of the ‘Imam of our Time’ (Imam Mahdi) are a great intelligence achievement and an important part of the intelligent design and covert and secret actions by the sacred Islamic system against the enemies’ schemes.

Another important part of this is the round-the-clock struggle of our armed forces to create operational capacity aligned with the weaknesses and strengths of the Zionist regime and its supporters.

Today, access to this newly revealed information and the completion of the intelligence and operational cycle have enabled the warriors of Islam to immediately counter any possible attack by the Zionist regime’s against our nuclear facilities.

To any such aggression we will respond instantly, by attacking their hidden nuclear facilities and their economic and military infrastructure, in proportion to the type of aggression carried out against us.

The US is still ridiculously demanding Iran end all enrichment of uranium, which Iran has already made clear is a non-starter.

“They [the Iranians] don’t want to give up what they have to give up,” Trump said on Monday. “You know what that is: They seek enrichment.”

“They have given us their thoughts on the deal, and I said, you know, it’s just not acceptable for it,” Trump continued.

“We can’t have enrichment. We want just the opposite, and so far, they’re not there. I hate to say that, because the alternative is a very, very dire one,” he added.

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Russia To Build Eight Nuclear Power Plants In Iran Amid Standoff With US

It’s been no secret that Russia has been getting more heavily involved in Iran’s nuclear program, and interestingly at a moment Moscow has offered to mediate between Washington and Tehran on the question of uranium enrichment and a new nuclear monitoring deal.

On Monday, in a surprise headline given the massive, ambitious scope, Iranian state sources have said Russia will construct eight nuclear power plants in Iran, two of which are already under construction.

“Russia is contracted to build eight nuclear power plants in Iran, including four in the southern city of Bushehr,” Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for the national security and foreign policy committee, announced on Monday.

This marks a monumental leap forward in the Iran-Russia relationship, after the two have deepened military cooperation in relation to the Ukraine war (where Russian forces have heavily relied on Iranian Shahed drones), given that a mere several years ago, Moscow was not even ready to sell Iran nuclear fuel.

But EIGHT? Some critics have denounced this as but PR nonsense and a disservice to the Iranian people, given that by some estimates Russia has already taken over a billion dollars from Iran for rebuilding just one Bushehr nuclear site with hardly any progress to show.

For example, of prior problems and severe timeline setbacks one industry source described:

Iran has one operating nuclear reactor, a 1,000-MW Russian-designed VVER unit at the southern port city of Bushehr, on the coast of the Persian Gulf. Two more VVER-1000 units are under construction at the site. Work on Unit 2 began in 2019, with commercial operation now expected in 2029 after earlier reports said the unit could come online last year. Iranian media reported that installation of safety equipment in Unit 2 began earlier in February, along with excavation works for the water cooling pump houses of both units.

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Trump Says New Iran Deal Must Allow US To ‘Blow Up Whatever We Want’

President Donald Trump argued that any revived nuclear accord with Iran should permit the United States to destroy the country’s nuclear infrastructure and send inspectors to Iranian facilities at any time.

The president outlined his vision for a new agreement during a White House presser on Wednesday, calling for a “very strong document” that would effectively give Washington carte blanche over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

“I want it very strong – where we can go in with inspectors, we can take whatever we want, we can blow up whatever we want, but [with] nobody getting killed,” he told reporters. “We can blow up a lab, but nobody is gonna be in the lab, as opposed to everybody being in the lab and blowing it up.”

He did not elaborate on those remarks, however, leaving it unclear whether Washington had actually pushed for such major concessions at the negotiating table. The Islamic Republic would be unlikely to accept a deal under those terms.

Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, later denounced Trump’s comments in a social media post, suggesting his proposal would cross Tehran’s “red lines.”

“Efforts to reach Iran’s nuclear plants and ‘blow up their facilities’ have been a dream of previous US presidents,” he wrote. “Iran is an independent state with a strong defense structure, a resilient people, and clear red lines. Negotiations are a means to progress and preserve national interests and honor, not submission and surrender.”

During the same news conference on Wednesday, Trump said he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from military action against Iran amid the ongoing nuclear talks, arguing the move would be “inappropriate” as the two sides were “very close to a solution.” He went on to claim that a new agreement could be reached with Tehran in “a couple weeks,” though his previous assessments have proven overly optimistic.

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Iran Will Hold US Responsible For Any Israeli Attack On Nuclear Sites: Foreign Minister

Earlier this week CNN had issued an alarming report claiming that Israel is currently preparing possible preemptive strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. It underscored that at this moment it has become very clear that Netanyahu could care less about ‘pressure’ from Western allies the US, UK, and Canada regarding the Gaza crisis. Israel continues to essentially be at war on multiple fronts.

Parallel to all of this, Washington and Iran have been engaged in productive talks on potentially reaching a fresh nuclear deal – which the Netanyahu fundamentally sees as but an Iranian ploy to buy time as it secretly develops nukes (in Tel Aviv’s thinking). But Iran’s leaders are calling for the United States to essentially ‘keep its dog on a leash’ – as Israel wishes to torpedo a deal.

In fresh statements, Iran now says it will hold the United States responsible in the event of an unprovoked Israeli attack on its nuclear energy sites. Certainly any such attacks would completely derail efforts to reset relations with Washington.

“Iran strongly warns against any adventurism by the Zionist regime of Israel and will decisively respond to any threat or unlawful act by this regime,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated in a letter addressed to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

“I have called on the international community to take effective preventive measures against the continuation of Israeli threats, which if unchecked, will compel Iran to take special measures in defense of our nuclear facilities and materials,” Araghchi said.

And as cited in Reuters:

Araqchi said Iran would view Washington as a “participant” in any such attack, and Tehran would have to adopt “special measures” to protect its nuclear sites and material if threats continued, and the watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency would be subsequently informed of such steps.

“The nature, content, and extent of our actions will correspond and be proportionate to preventive measures taken by these international bodies in accordance with their statutory duties and obligations,” the Iranian top diplomat added.

Washington and Tehran are gearing up for a fifth round of nuclear talks to be held in Rome this Friday.

Lately the Ayatollah has weighed in following reports that Iran is ready to halt enrichment altogether and in return get sanctions lifted. Ali Khamenei had called the latest US demands that Iranian enrichment be taken down to zero “excessive and outrageous,” according to state media on Tuesday. He further expressed doubts that current nuclear talks with the Trump administration will actually lead anywhere.

Meanwhile in Tehran, the parliament has “reaffirmed the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, saying that the Islamic Republic has never sought, nor will it seek, to build an atomic bomb.”

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