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Europe’s Largest Nuclear Reactor Olkiluoto 3 Kicks into Production in Finland

Europe's Largest Nuclear Reactor Olkiluoto 3

Finland’s largest single next generation nuclear reactor Olkiluoto 3 kicked into production on Sunday, hours after Germany shuttered its last three nuclear reactors.

According to Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) power , the next-generation Olkiluoto 3, which already generates about 14% of the country’s electricity, is projected to remain operating for “at least the next 60 years.”

The announcement comes after Germany officially ended decades of nuclear energy use on Saturday by shutting down its final three nuclear reactors. The Isar 2 reactor in the country’s southeast, the Neckarwestheim facility in the southwest, and Emsland in the northwest were all unplugged from the power grid before midnight.

Since 2002, Europe’s largest economy has been looking to phase out nuclear power, but former German chancellor Angela Merkel hastened the phase-out in 2011 following the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.

Meanwhile, in Finland, the European pressurized water reactor (EPR) was put into regular service 18 years after construction began, and 14 years after it was initially slated to enter commercial production.

It was expected to launch commercial production in December after reaching maximum power in September last year, but the start date was pushed back many times throughout its testing phase.

Europe’s single largest nuclear reactor

The reactor, built by the French-led Areva-Siemens partnership, began operations in December 2021 and was connected to the Finnish power grid in March of last year.

“Test production has concluded, and regular electricity production began today,” TVO stated. “From now on, about 30 percent of Finnish electricity will be produced in Olkiluoto,” which previously had two reactors.

Olkiluoto 3 is Europe’s single largest nuclear reactor, capable of generating 1,600 megawatts, although Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia plant, with six reactors, is the largest nuclear plant.

Finland had hoped to rely on the new reactor for its electrical needs earlier this winter, amid fears of energy shortages following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and shut off gas exports in response to Western sanctions.

Jarmo Tanhua, CEO of TVO, dubbed “environmentally friendly electricity production” one of Finland’s “top trump cards” in a statement.

World’s third largest operational nuclear power unit

The EPR was planned to revive the European nuclear sector following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, and it was marketed as having more power and better safety. However, some EPR projects have been beset by delays and cost overruns in the billions of dollars.

At the end of last year, France’s state-owned energy provider EDF announced another six-month delay for a nuclear reactor under construction in Flamanville, northwest France, pushing the launch date back to mid-2024.

EPR production difficulties, cost overruns, and delays have also occurred at Hinkley Point in the United Kingdom and the Taishan plant in China. The two EPR units in China have already begun commercial production, making Olkiluoto 3 the world’s third operational nuclear reactor.

Germany’s choice to phase out nuclear power was widely supported in a country with a strong anti-nuclear movement.

However, some have challenged how the decision increased the country’s reliance on coal as it attempted to manage an energy crisis precipitated by the Ukraine war.

Markus Soeder, the conservative leader of Bavaria’s southern state, has asked the federal government to allow his state to continue using nuclear electricity.

“We must use every form of energy until the end of the decade as long as the crisis does not end and the transition to renewables is not completed,” Soeder told Bild am Sonntag on Sunday.

Nuclear technology has also gained traction as a means of reducing carbon emissions, with Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg calling the German move “a mistake” if it meant burning more coal.

The Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor was lauded by TVO as “Finland’s greatest climate act,” adding that it would “accelerate the transition to a carbon-neutral society.”

A May 2022 poll in Finland found that 60% of Finns backed nuclear reactor power.

Nuclear Energy

Nuclear energy refers to the energy generated by the process of nuclear fission or fusion, which involves splitting or combining the nuclei of atoms, respectively. This process releases a tremendous amount of energy in the form of heat, which can be used to generate electricity.

Nuclear power plants use controlled nuclear fission reactions to produce heat, which then drives steam turbines to generate electricity. The fuel used in nuclear power plants is typically enriched uranium or plutonium, which undergoes controlled nuclear reactions to release energy. The heat generated by the nuclear reactions is used to produce steam, which drives a turbine connected to a generator, producing electricity.

Nuclear energy has several advantages, including its ability to generate large amounts of electricity with relatively low greenhouse gas emissions. It is considered a low-carbon energy source, as it does not produce carbon dioxide (CO2), a major greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, during the power generation process. Nuclear power plants also have a high energy density, meaning they can generate large amounts of electricity using relatively small amounts of fuel.

However, nuclear energy also has several drawbacks. One of the main concerns is the potential for accidents, such as nuclear meltdowns or radioactive leaks, which can have severe environmental and health consequences. The disposal of nuclear waste, which remains radioactive for thousands of years, is also a significant challenge. Additionally, the proliferation of nuclear technology for potential weaponization and the high cost of building and maintaining nuclear power plants are other concerns.

Overall, nuclear energy is a complex and controversial topic with both benefits and risks. It is important to carefully consider its advantages and disadvantages, as well as the associated safety measures and regulations, when evaluating its role in the future of energy production.

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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.

According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.

Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.

google

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.

Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.

Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.

To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.

Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.

On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.

In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.

Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

google

Pixa Bay

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.

TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.

When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.

And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.

Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.

A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.

google

Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.

But today, it feels more like reality.

Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.

Could we remember Google in the same way that we remember Yahoo or Ask Jeeves in decades? These next few years could be significant.

SOURCE | CNN

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2024 | Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

trump

Washington — Trump Media,  The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not hear an appeal from social media platform X about a search warrant acquired by prosecutors in the election meddling case against former President Donald Trump.

The justices did not explain their rationale, and there were no recorded dissents.

The firm, which was known as Twitter before being purchased by billionaire Elon Musk, claims a nondisclosure order that prevented it from informing Trump about the warrant obtained by special counsel Jack Smith’s team violated its First Amendment rights.

The business also claims Trump should have had an opportunity to exercise executive privilege. If not reined in, the government may employ similar tactics to intercept additional privileged communications, their lawyers contended.

trump

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

Two neutral electronic privacy groups also joined in, urging the high court to hear the case on First Amendment grounds.

Prosecutors, however, claim that the corporation never shown that Trump utilized the account for official purposes, therefore executive privilege is not a problem. A lower court also determined that informing Trump could have compromised the current probe.

trump

Trump utilized his Twitter account in the weeks preceding up to his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to spread false assertions about the election, which prosecutors claim were intended to create doubt in the democratic process.

The indictment describes how Trump used his Twitter account to encourage his followers to travel to Washington on Jan. 6, pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification, and falsely claiming that the Capitol crowd, which battered police officers and destroyed glass, was peaceful.

musk trump

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

That case is now moving forward following the Supreme Court’s verdict in July, which granted Trump full immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president.

The warrant arrived at Twitter amid quick changes implemented by Musk, who bought the company in 2022 and has since cut off most of its workforce, including those dedicated to combating disinformation and hate speech.

He also welcomed back a vast list of previously banned users, including Trump, and endorsed him for the 2024 presidential election.

SOURCE | AP

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The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

Supreme Court

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.

The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.

Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.

This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.

In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.

The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.

This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.

The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.

In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.

According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.

Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.

The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.

For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.

Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.

As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.

As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.

The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.

SOURCE: AP

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Could Last-Minute Surprises Derail Kamala Harris’ Campaign? “Nostradamus” Explains the US Poll.

Scientists Awarded MicroRNA The Nobel Prize in Medicine.

US Inflation will Comfort a Fed Focused on Labor Markets.

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