Ambient office = 83 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 93 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 92 nanosieverts per hour

Mango from Central Market = 100 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 99 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 83 nanosieverts per hour

     NATO is worried about support Russia could provide for North Korea’s (N.K.) missile and nuclear programs. The alliance’s head mentioned this on Tuesday as Russian President Vladimir Putin began his first trip to the reclusive nuclear-armed country in 24 years.
     Putin is on a state visit for talks with N.K. leader Kim Jong Un. He vowed to deepen trade and security ties and to support the North against the U.S., a close ally of its bitter rival South Korea.
     The U.S. has accused N.K. of supplying “dozens of ballistic missiles and over eleven thousand containers of munitions to Russia” for use in Ukraine.
     Jens Stoltenberg is the NATO Secretary-General. He told a joint press briefing after talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Russia’s war in Ukraine was being propped up by China, North Korea and Iran, who all hope to see the Western alliance fail.
     Stoltenberg said, “We are of course also concerned about the potential support that Russia provides to North Korea when it comes to supporting their missile and nuclear programs”.
     Stoltenberg said that this and China’s support for Russia’s war economy showed how security challenges in Europe were linked to Asia. He added that next month’s NATO summit in Washington would see a further strengthening of the alliance’s partnerships with Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan. Stoltenberg said that there needed to be “consequences” at some stage for China.
     Stoltenberg continued that “They cannot continue to have normal trade relationships with countries in Europe and at the same time fuel the biggest war we have seen in Europe since the Second World War.”
     Stoltenberg mentioned that it was too early to say what those consequences might be, “but it has to be an issue that we need to address because to continue as we do today is not viable.”
     On Monday of this week, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said that Washington was watching the North Korea-Russia relationship “very, very closely” because there “could be some reciprocity … that could affect security on the Korean Peninsula.”
     On Tuesday of this week, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told a news briefing that deepening Russia-North Korea cooperation was “a trend that should be of great concern to anyone interested in maintaining peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula.”

     Jean-Pierre noted that a statement from Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping from a May summit had stressed political and diplomatic means as the only way to resolve the Korean issue. She added that “We hope this is a message that Putin will convey to Kim in their discussion.”

     At the briefing with Stoltenberg, Blinken said Putin’s Pyongyang trip was a sure sign of his “desperation” to strengthen relations with countries that can support his war in Ukraine.
      Blinken added that China’s support had enabled Russia to maintain its defense industrial base. China is supplying seventy percent of Moscow’s machine tool imports and ninety percent of the microelectronics. He added that “That has to stop.”
     Kurt Campbell is the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Last week. Last week he said that Washington was concerned by what Russia would give North Korea in return for weapons Pyongyang has supplied.
     He questioned whether it would be “Hard currency? Is it energy? Is it capabilities that allow them to advance their nuclear or missile products? We don’t know. But we’re concerned by that and watching carefully.”

     Bonnie Jenkins is the U.S. Under Secretary of State and the top U.S. arms control official. She has said that she believes North Korea is keen to acquire fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment or materials, and other advanced technologies from Russia.

Ambient office = 121 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 97 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 96 nanosieverts per hour

Green onion from Central Market = 80 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 105 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 89 nanosieverts per hour

     The Alta Mesa mine is a joint venture of enCore Energy and Boss Energy. The start-up of production at Alta Mesa will see enCore become the only U.S. uranium producer with multiple production facilities currently in operation. It is the second start-up in eight weeks for Boss Energy. The first shipment of yellowcake from the Alta Mesa mine is expected in sixty to ninety days’ time.
     The previously producing in-situ leach project includes the fully licensed and constructed Alta Mesa Uranium Central Processing Plant (CPP) and wellfield. It was acquired by enCore from Energy Fuels Inc in February of 2023 for one hundred and twenty million dollars. In December of 2023, the company entered into an agreement with Australia’s Boss Energy which resulted in Boss acquiring a thirty percent stake. The mine is operated by enCore.
     Paul Goranson is the EnCore CEO. He said that the company has advanced the project from acquisition to the completion of upgrades, wellfield installation and production within fifteen months. Alta Mesa is the company’s second producing asset to come online. The Rosita CPP, also located in South Texas, resumed production in late 2023 after being offline since 2008, and shipped its first uranium in March.
     Goranson said, “Our strategy at Alta Mesa is to initiate phased ramp-up from the wellfield located in Production Authorization Area 7 (PAA-7), increasing production progressively and consistently as additional injection and recovery wells are systematically tied into the production lines. As we continue to increase production from PAA-7, work has commenced on the second new wellfield at Production Authorization Area 8 with a goal of achieving full operational capacity by 2026. We are very pleased with our initial early production providing enCore with a second revenue source as we continue to build out the Alta Mesa Project.”
     The Alta Mesa CPP has a total processing capacity of one and a half million pounds of U3O8 per year with additional drying capacity of half a million pounds. It produced nearly five million pounds U3O8 between 2005 and 2013, when production was curtailed due to low uranium prices.
     Currently, oxygenated water is used to extract uranium from the orebody. It is being circulated in the wellfield through injection or extraction wells plumbed directly into the primary pipelines feeding the CPP. enCore said that the expansion of the wellfield will continue with production to steadily increase from the wellfield as expansion continues through 2024 and beyond,
     In April of this year, Boss Energy’s Honeymoon project in South Australia produced its first drum of uranium in more than a decade. Managing Director Duncan Craib said the start of production at the Alta Mesa Project is another important milestone in the company’s strategy to be a global uranium supplier with a diversified production base in tier-one locations.
Craib added, “With operations now ramping up at both Honeymoon and Alta Mesa, we are on track to hit our combined nameplate production target of 3 million pounds of uranium per annum. Our timing could hardly be better given the increasingly tight supply and demand fundamentals in the uranium market.”

Ambient office = 133 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 90 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 93 nanosieverts per hour

Blueberry from Central Market = 97 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 74 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 63 nanosieverts per hour

     Leaders from across the European nuclear industry have published a manifesto laying out their priorities for the new European Commission. Nuclear energy, they say, plays a crucial role in providing the E.U. with secure and affordable energy.
     Between June 6th and June 9th of this year, E.U. citizens voted to elect the 720 members of the next European Parliament. The new European Commission and its new President will be elected soon.
     The manifesto mentions that the Nuclear Alliance of the E.U. Member States who have committed to expanding their use of nuclear energy has recognized that nuclear power could provide up to one hundred and fifty gigawatts of electricity capacity by 2050 in the E.U. Nuclear power currently provides about one hundred gigawatts. This commitment aligns with the Net Zero Nuclear initiative which was launched in November last year during COP2. It aims to triple the world’s nuclear energy capacity by 2050.
     More recently, this support for the sector has also been matched by the European Commission during the Nuclear Energy Summit in March. This coincides with the launch of the European Industrial Alliance for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), as well as by the European Parliament’s adoption of an Own Initiative Report on SMRs.

     The manifesto says, “We have to build on this acknowledgement. For the EU to achieve a net-zero future for our society, it is important to fully support the pivotal role of nuclear energy alongside renewable energy sources.  We encourage European institutions to develop an ambitious strategy to accelerate the decarbonization and electrification of Europe’s industry. This strategy should acknowledge the significant role that nuclear energy plays in enhancing the EU’s strategic autonomy.”
     In the manifesto, nuclear industry leaders call on policymakers to do the following. Treat all net-zero technologies equally. Implement consistent and coherent policies which facilitate the deployment of nuclear power. Allow the nuclear industry to access EU funds and finance. Include the nuclear fuel cycle as an enabling activity under the Sustainable Finance Taxonomy. Ensure that low-carbon technologies are not discriminated against in taxation policies. Enable innovative nuclear power technologies to access EU funds beyond the Euratom program. Provide greater support for nuclear research. Support and invest in the development of a skilled nuclear workforce.

     The manifesto goes on to say that “The challenges are significant but not impossible to overcome if the European institutions, EU Member States’ governments and the whole nuclear community collaborate closely to meet them. The European nuclear industry is fully committed to fulfill its role. It is time to turn words into actions. Together we can make a difference.”
     Yves Desbazeille is the director general of the nuclear trade body Nucleareurope. He said, “Nuclear is a clean and sustainable technology which is why it essential the next Commission treat nuclear on an equal footing with other fossil free technologies. Our expectation is that future policy proposals will focus on goals – decarbonization, competitiveness, energy sovereignty – rather than on specific technologies.”
     Nuclear energy generates electricity in fourteen of the twenty-seven EU Member nations. It currently provides twenty-five percent of Europe’s electricity and fifty percent of its low carbon electricity.