{"id":180526,"date":"2025-10-29T17:07:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T17:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/its-exactly-what-the-military-power-desired\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T17:07:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T17:07:15","slug":"its-exactly-what-the-military-power-desired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/its-exactly-what-the-military-power-desired\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s exactly what the military power desired."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The global energy landscape is undergoing a profound transformation, largely driven by the emergence of \u00a0small modular reactors (SMRs)\u00a0. Recently, an agreement between the \u00a0United States\u00a0 and the \u00a0United Kingdom\u00a0 to develop \u00a020 mini-reactors\u00a0 has captured headlines, signaling a nuclear renaissance that is gaining momentum. Tech giants like \u00a0Amazon\u00a0, \u00a0Google\u00a0, and \u00a0Microsoft\u00a0 are opting for these SMRs, purportedly because they are faster to construct, more adaptable, and cheaper. They are also viewed as pivotal for the \u00a0decarbonization\u00a0 of the energy grid. However, as much optimism surrounds this nuclear technology, a closer examination reveals some troubling realities.<\/p>\n

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The Cat in the Room<\/strong>. Researchers from the \u00a0University of Sussex\u00a0 have put forth an unsettling analysis in their study for The Conversation<\/a>. They argue that SMRs are in fact “the most expensive source per kilowatt of electricity generated” in comparison to \u00a0natural gas\u00a0, traditional nuclear, and especially \u00a0renewable\u00a0 sources. Alarmingly, many proposed designs have yet to transition from the \u00a0PowerPoint\u00a0 stage to commercial viability.<\/p>\n

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If SMRs aren’t the most \u00a0cost-effective\u00a0 or efficient choice, why this surge in political and financial support? The answer appears to lie deeply intertwined with \u00a0military power\u00a0 rather than economic efficiency.<\/p>\n

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Subsidy Dependency<\/strong>. Market analysts suggest that SMRs are leveraged primarily to access substantial government subsidies. One critical factor often disregarded in debates about energy is the \u00a0military’s\u00a0 reliance on the civilian nuclear sector.<\/p>\n

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To maintain nuclear weapons programs or a fleet of nuclear submarines, a country requires unfettered access to reactor technologies, specialized materials, and highly trained personnel. Without a \u00a0civilian nuclear industry\u00a0, sustaining military capabilities would become prohibitively expensive.<\/p>\n

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Nuclear Submarines<\/strong>. For instance, the \u00a0United States\u00a0 operates \u00a066 nuclear submarines\u00a0, while the \u00a0United Kingdom\u00a0 maintains \u00a0nine\u00a0. These submarines demand a resilient national nuclear industrial base. Here enters a key industry player: \u00a0Rolls-Royce\u00a0. The company has already been instrumental in constructing reactors for British submarines and is now poised to develop the new civilian SMRs.<\/p>\n

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In a candid statement, Rolls-Royce noted in 2017 that the establishment of a civilian SMR initiative would alleviate the \u00a0Ministry of Defense\u00a0 of the burden of developing and maintaining requisite skills and capabilities. By sustaining a robust nuclear industry, military expenses become discreetly concealed within civil programs. Consequently, taxpayer dollars funneled into energy budgets indirectly subsidize military expenditures.<\/p>\n

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A Global Pattern<\/strong>. The interest in SMRs extends beyond the Anglo-Saxon world; similar patterns are observable in global nuclear policy. The \u00a0Pentagon\u00a0 envisions mini-reactors as integral to future energy strategies, including their deployment on the battlefield and support for innovative weapon technologies like \u00a0laser systems\u00a0 aimed at counteracting drones and missiles.<\/p>\n

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This military enthusiasm for SMRs reflects a broader global trend. In \u00a0China\u00a0 and \u00a0Russia\u00a0, the connections between civilian and military nuclear programs are overtly acknowledged. Even French President \u00a0Emmanuel Macron\u00a0 stated, “without civil nuclear energy, there is no military nuclear energy; and without military nuclear energy, there is no civil nuclear energy.”<\/p>\n

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The Renewable Challenge<\/strong>. Adding a twist to the debate, a letter recently published in the \u00a0Guardian\u00a0, endorsed by former senior NATO leaders, advocates for redirecting \u00a0defense budgets\u00a0 to invest in renewable energy sources. The authors argue that the \u00a0climate crisis\u00a0 poses a significant threat to national security, and therefore, funding for \u00a0solar\u00a0 and \u00a0wind energy\u00a0 would bolster resilience against aggressive actors like \u00a0Russia\u00a0. The overarching sentiment is that \u00a0energy sovereignty\u00a0 is inextricably linked to national security.<\/p>\n

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As we navigate the complexities of energy production and military necessity, the juxtaposition of SMRs against renewable sources illustrates a critical choice facing our societies. The potential for a clean energy future powered by renewables stands at odds with a hefty military investment hidden in the guise of civilian nuclear programs. As the implications unfold, we must ask ourselves whether the pursuit of energy should cater primarily to the needs of military agendas or to the imperatives of climate sustainability.<\/p>\n

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Image | Rolls-Royce<\/p>\n


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General News – 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The global energy landscape is undergoing a profound transformation, largely driven by the emergence of \u00a0small modular reactors (SMRs)\u00a0. Recently, an agreement between the \u00a0United States\u00a0 and the \u00a0United Kingdom\u00a0 to develop \u00a020 mini-reactors\u00a0 has captured headlines, signaling a nuclear renaissance that is gaining momentum. Tech giants like \u00a0Amazon\u00a0, \u00a0Google\u00a0, and \u00a0Microsoft\u00a0 are opting for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":180527,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36399],"tags":[23253,911,615],"class_list":["post-180526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-desired","tag-military","tag-power"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}