Authored by Mrigakshi Dixit via Interesting Engineering,
The UK’s new nuclear approval at Wylfa officially kicks off what the government calls a “golden age” for the nation’s energy sector.
Depiction of Rolls-Royce SMR site at Wylfa on Anglesey, North Wales.On April 13, the government approved the development of three Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) at the Wylfa site on Anglesey, North Wales.
This project, a partnership between Rolls-Royce SMR and Great British Energy – Nuclear, aims to advance domestic, low-carbon energy technology.
The BBC reported that the three units have a total output capable of powering approximately 3 million homes for over 60 years.
If all goes to plan, the first “Made in Britain” SMRs could begin feeding the National Grid in the 2030s.
“This is a critical milestone for Rolls-Royce SMR, for Rolls-Royce and for the UK as the Government looks to realize its ambition of a ‘golden age’ of new nuclear,” said Tufan Erginbilgic, CEO, Rolls-Royce, on April 13.
Reviving WylfaLast November, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed that the coastline of Ynys Môn (Anglesey) would become the official home for three of the UK’s first small modular reactors.
Through a £2.5 billion partnership, the site is being transformed into a high-tech energy hub.
The original Wylfa power station, once Britain’s oldest nuclear plant, concluded 44 years of operations in 2015, having reached the end of its natural lifespan.
The site’s closure was driven by the aging infrastructure of the 1960s-era reactors and the 2008 cessation of the specific fuel production required to run them.
Although initial replacement plans were abandoned in 2021, the site is now entering a new chapter following the 2024 proposals to revitalize the location as a modern energy hub.
The Rolls-Royce SMR is a 470 MWe pressurized water reactor designed to provide reliable baseload power for at least 60 years. Each unit has a compact footprint of approximately 16 meters by 4 meters.
According to a World Nuclear News report, the modular design allows 90% of the unit to be manufactured off-site.
Moving the bulk of the work off-site limits local disruption and ensures a much faster, more predictable construction timeline.
Rolls-Royce SMR chief Chris Cholerton pointed to the project as a clear win for domestic innovation, proving the UK can build its own path to energy security.
UK’s energy independenceThe push for energy independence has become a mantra for the UK government. By building locally, the UK aims to insulate itself from global price spikes while meeting its aggressive net-zero targets.
To further the UK’s nuclear ambitions, a £599 million commitment from the National Wealth Fund has been allocated to support the engineering and rollout of these reactors.
The project is a massive engine for employment. Officials estimate it will create 8,000 new jobs. While 3,000 of these roles will be rooted locally in Anglesey, another 5,000 will be spread across the national supply chain.
Industry leaders have hailed the decision as a “historic step” in Welsh industrial growth, positioning the site as the launchpad for Britain’s first fleet of small modular reactors.
Wylfa has seen false starts before. A previous plan for a large-scale plant was scrapped in 2021, leaving the local community in limbo. While site work begins immediately, a final investment decision isn’t expected until the turn of the decade.
The goal is to clear all planning and regulatory hurdles so the reactors are operational during the 2030s.
This timeline ensures that once the financial and legal frameworks are settled, the site can begin contributing to the energy grid within the next decade.
Tyler Durden Wed, 04/15/2026 - 05:00Algeria has been hit by two terror attacks during Pope Leo XIV's visit, officials say - though at this point there doesn't appear to have been any direct effort at targeting the Pope or his accompanying officials.
Twin suicide attacks rocked a city outside Algeria's capital Monday, just as the American-born Pontiff began his historic visit to the country, AFP reports.
Pope Leo at the presidential palace in Algiers on Monday, via Vatican Media Handout/EPA"There were two security incidents yesterday afternoon in Blida, incidents of a terrorist nature. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up and were killed," a source told AFP on Tuesday. The city in question is a little less than 30 miles southwest of Algiers.
But importantly, authorities have as yet found no link between the attacks and the pope's visit, which is taking place under tight security. Video reviewed by AFP showed two bodies lying in a street in Blida.
According to a regional news report, "In the videos, several people gathered around the bodies, while passers-by covered them with sheets in a light rain." The report continues, "The remains appeared severely mutilated, and the circumstances of their deaths could not be determined. Based on the images, the scene was located near several shops and a police station."
Another report out of North Africa says that Algerian authorities have remained curiously silent on the incident, perhaps trying to avoid disrupting the Pope's visit, or else on fears that the country will be seen as suffering serious security lapses:
Reports quoted eyewitnesses who said two individuals were wearing explosive belts and tried to target separate locations. Le Point said police officers opened fire on the two attackers before they could reach their targets.
Other reports said the first explosion targeted a security facility in Blida, with the fatal attack causing the deaths of two police officers. Reports also alleged that a second suicide bombing affected a food processing facility in the same province.
But again, little of this is actually confirmed by Algerian security officials. As for Leo, his visit has so far been unfolding without a hitch - but likely his security detail has been tightened and extra vigilant in light of the suicide bombings.
Pope Leo has landed in Algeria, birthplace of St. Augustine - the founder of his religious order. He told reporters on the plane this saint is an important 'bridge' in interreligious dialogue. "We must always seek bridges to build peace & reconciliation." (CNS 🎥/Lola Gomez) pic.twitter.com/SZPYDQ1QUl
— Catholic News Service (@CatholicNewsSvc) April 13, 2026The Pope kicked off his 11-day tour in four African countries this week- which after Algeria will include Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea. He has while in Algeria focused on promoting Christian-Muslim coexistence, and has visited ancient Christian sites tied to when the region was previously predominantly Christian during late antiquity, under the late part of the Roman Empire in the West.
Tyler Durden Wed, 04/15/2026 - 04:15Orban’s “democratic ouster” is expected to remove Hungary’s procedural opposition to the EU’s planned €90 billion loan to Ukraine that’ll be financed by members raising common debt.
RT published a detailed article about this plan here last December, which was a compromise for financing this loan after the bloc failed to reach a consensus to either outright confiscate some of Russia’s frozen assets for giving to Ukraine or use at least some of them as collateral for a loan to it. Readers can learn more here and here.
If everything goes according to plan, and Bloomberg reported that the bloc plans to move swiftly after Hungary held everything up for several months already, then this move risks funding a forever war.
Hopes of a military breakthrough along the front or a diplomatic breakthrough in US-mediated talks have yet to materialize, so the pace of Russia’s on-the-ground advance remains glacial, thus meaning that it could take years to achieve Russia’s reported minimum goal of obtaining control over all of Donbass.
Funding two-thirds of the Ukrainian budget for the next two years per the EU’s goal would likely lead to another two-year round being agreed in order to encourage the US to continue its military aid.
Ever since last summer, the US no longer donates arms to Ukraine but instead sells them to NATO, which then transfers them there.
Even if Trump suspends these sales, so long as the Ukrainian budget is financed and nothing major changes, then it might hold out long enough for him to change his mind again.
To be sure, Ukraine cannot fight forever since even Zelensky’s new Chief of Staff Kirill Budanov recently admitted that it faces “a huge, huge problem” after new Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov revealed that over 2 million Ukrainians are dodging the draft, which seriously complicates operations at the front.
There’s also always the chance that Putin will turn the special operation into a formal war in which he’d no longer care about civilian casualties in an attempt to decisively end the conflict on Russia’s terms.
There are two competing schools of thought about why he hasn’t yet done so.
One speculates that he doesn’t want to inadvertently risk an escalation with the US that could easily spiral into World War III...
...while the other is that he still truly considers Russians and Ukrainians to be one people like he explained at length in summer 2021’s magnum opus, ergo his reluctance to see their civilians suffer.
At any rate, the forever war scenario assumes that Putin won’t do this, which can’t be taken for granted.
Nevertheless, the EU operates under the assumption that he won’t do so, which explains why it plans to move swiftly to approve Ukraine’s €90 billion loan and still buys arms from the US for transfer to that country.
This not only perpetuates the risk that tensions spiral out of control but also perpetuates the EU’s energy insecurity amidst the ongoing crisis caused by the Third Gulf War since an end to the conflict could hypothetically result in the resumption of Russian energy exports to the EU to its citizens’ benefit.
The EU’s unstated goal is to perpetuate the conflict till at least 2029 in the hope that the Democrats will regain control of the White House and resume the US’ Biden-era Ukrainian policy.
Even though Europeans will economically suffer till then, not to mention more Russians and Ukrainians dying, the bloc is willing to pay these costs in pursuit of its ideologically driven goal of inflicting a strategic defeat upon Russia. Ultimately, however, the conflict might end up strategically defeating the EU instead.
Tyler Durden Wed, 04/15/2026 - 03:30Italy has suspended the automatic renewal of its defense agreement with Israel amid the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran, now 'paused' as a two-week ceasefire holds in order to give a chance for talks.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced the significant status change following weeks of tensions over the Israel question, and after other European governments like Spain and France have heaped criticism on Trump's Operation Epic Fury. "The government, considering the situation we are experiencing, has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defense agreement with Israel," Meloni said during her latest press briefing in Verona.
File image via ItalianismoItalian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto sent a letter to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirming the suspension of the Italy-Israel memorandum, which governs defense cooperation. The agreement, which has been in effect for many years of the 21st century, oversaw and guided exchange of military equipment and joint technological research between the two countries' armed forces.
According to more background in the NY Times:
The defense accord, ratified in 2005, established cooperation between the two countries in areas including “defense industry and procurement policy,” importing and exporting military equipment, exchanging technical data and other forms of military collaboration. It has been renewed every five years, and was set for another renewal this month.
Opposition parties had put pressure on the government for over a year to suspend the renewal. Marco Grimaldi, an opposition lawmaker, said the decision was “a victory” for those who had protested Israel’s military offensive in Gaza over the last three years.
Like in Spain, much of the Italian public, especially among the younger demographic, sees no benefit in closely aligning Italy with Israel's agenda in the region. And anger and criticism of Israel has been on the rise for years, particularly amid the high civilian casualties of the Gaza war.
In the meantime rising energy costs in Europe from the Hormuz closure have only served to intensify scrutiny of Italy's ban on Russian natural gas imports, imposed after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Responding to calls to revisit Russian gas restrictions, Meloni said, "We must not forget that the economic pressure we have exerted on Russia in recent years is the most effective weapon we have to build peace."
Meloni's relations with Washington have also come under fire, and her Tuesday comments were on the defensive: "When you are friends and allies, particularly strategic ones, you must also have the courage to say when you disagree," she said.
Starting in late March, Italy began blocking some US military aircraft bound for the Middle East from landing at Sigonella Air Base in Sicily. France under Macron has taken some similarly restrictive measures regarding the US military using its airspace related to Iran operations.
Trump has in the recent past said he had been "very shocked" that Meloni has very publicly rejected assisting the United States in the war against Iran, and by her "letting America do all the work" for Italy, "which gets its oil from Iran." Meloni has more recently said it is "unacceptable" for Trump to attack Pope Leo XIV over the Vatican's anti-war stance.
"Do people like her? I can’t believe it," Trump said in a recent interview, adding: "I thought she had courage. I was wrong."
Tyler Durden Wed, 04/15/2026 - 02:45On the back of Péter Magyar’s victory in Hungary, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the EU needs to work on getting rid of member states’ veto powers.
For many who backed Viktor Orbán, one of their greatest fears was exactly what von der Leyen is now advancing: an unconstrained EU able to take action on foreign policy, health, and migration without the threat of a veto.
It is widely assumed that the incoming prime minister of Hungary will seek a fast resolution of Brussels’ key issues with Hungary in order to unlock some €35 billion in funding. While Magyar is still seen as right of center and has already insisted border protection will remain a top priority, he has also made it clear that he will work to build a more constructive relationship with Brussels and make Hungary more a part of the European community.
One way Viktor Orbán previously served as a constant thorn in the side of other member states was via use of the veto power, namely to block aid to Ukraine and sanctions on Russia.
Over the past four years, Hungary’s constant blocking of EU measures drove many to suggest a move to qualified majority voting.
Now, with Magyar’s win and Orbán gone, von der Leyen says the “momentum” is here to make that move.
“Moving to qualified majority voting in foreign policy is an important way to avoid systemic blockages, as we have seen in the past,” she said.
She urged governments, which would have to agree to any change, to “use the momentum now,” she told press yesterday.
She also made it clear that “Hungary is coming back to the European path.”
One conservative Polish MEP from the New Hope party posted her reaction that the Commission president was losing no time in burying member state rights to oppose EU initiatives.
“For the EU’s pseudo-elites, it’s secondary whether the new Hungarian government of Orbán will buy fewer raw materials from Russia or quickly rubber-stamp the next sanctions. The main goals of the Eurocrats are different—barely have the elections wrapped up, and the EC President is already champing at the bit to push the topic of abolishing the veto right for Poland in foreign policy matters,” wrote Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik.
Szybko poszło❗ Von der Leyen właśnie ogłosiła, że po wyborach na Węgrzech trzeba zlikwidować prawo weta w polityce zagranicznej UE❗ Proszę o UDOSTĘPNIANIE i nagłaśnianie 🔄
"Naprawdę powinniśmy wykorzystać ten impet, żeby ruszyć naprzód w tym temacie" - podkreśliła szefowa… pic.twitter.com/jIjRy24ai5
“Subjugate everything and everyone, create mechanisms that turn countries like Poland into just another insignificant province. All wrapped in the sweet packaging of delightful slogans about unity with everyone,” she added, emphasizing the importance of future member state elections.
Tyler Durden Wed, 04/15/2026 - 02:00