Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items

How to get filthy rich via Small Modular Nuclear Reactors

30 August 2026 Noel Wauchope AIM Extra, https://theaimn.net/how-to-get-filthy-rich-via-small-modular-nuclear-reactors/

Well, I hasten to warn you that you need to be already rich, for this to work. It has already worked for some alert rich investors. What they did was – they noted the soaring share prices of small nuclear reactor companies, a soaring that was accompanied by an awful lot of media hype.

And then they noted some salient facts about those companies – for example:

OKLO – has a market cap of $8 billion, and its shares jumped more than 12% on Aug. 25 Sounds great doesn’t it? BUT:

  • ​OKLO had a net loss of $81.6 million in the second quarter this year.  
  • It went public through a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) in 2025.  
  • It generates no commercial energy income today.  
  • Its first Small Modular Reactor (SMR), the Aurora Powerhouse, isn’t expected to enter commercial operation for years.  
  • Oklo is incurring tens of millions in operating losses annually. 
  • It is  $78.6 million in debt, so interest and loan payments eat into its earnings.
  • OKLO is still in discussions with the regulator NRC, regarding the fuel, high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, and other supply chain issues.

Similarly, stocks of  both NuScale Power, and Nano Nuclear have soared over the past year. Yet both are making little or no money, and both have suffered operational losses over this year. NuScale is now facing a class action by investors who claim that the company misrepresented the prospects for small nuclear reactors.

So – what have the smart rich investors done? Basically, they’ve gambled on these stocks being over-priced, and soon to go down. Investment strategies are not my strong point, but it seems that short selling is one hedge fund strategy. So these clever investors, noting the unsustainable rise in share prices, borrow shares and soon sell them at the inflated price, and can buy them back later as the price plunges down.

So , it’s estimated that investors made over $2 Billion over the past months by short selling shares in these three small nuclear reactor companies – OKLO, NuScale, and Nano Nuclear.

The rage for investing in SMRs is still on, as the world is gripped by the mania for AI hyperscalers. (AI hyperscalers are companies investing grotesque amounts of money in building data centres world-wide)

Neither the hyperscalers nor the small reactor companies are actually making money at present. But the hype is all-consuming.

This is the prevailing hype –

The AI Boom Is Making Nuclear Power Bankable Again – America’s nuclear power landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation, driven by the immense energy needs of artificial intelligence. Tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta are directly financing nuclear projects, committing billions to secure nearly 10 gigawatts of capacity. ………..

Almost everything tech companies are funding—Meta, Amazon, most of Google’s bets—is small modular reactors: compact designs.

Will AI kickstart a new age of nuclear power? IAEA Director General Manuel Grossi believes that the nuclear industry is destined to be the energy partner of the AI revolution. “Only nuclear energy can meet the five needs of low-carbon power generation, round-the-clock reliability, ultra-high power density, grid stability and true scalability”……………………..the IAEA is working closely with regulators and the industry to make them a viable proposition and we could soon be seeing large numbers of small reactors being deployed to meet the demand.

So- we have the Trumpian process in the USA, of the weakening of radiation and safety regulation of nuclear reactors, and of the government already funding 8 SMR companies.

With the claim that nuclear power combats climate change, with the accepted belief in the necessity for AI hyperscale, governments, academia, the corporate media, and the UN all promote this new marriage of nuclear and Big Tech. So – all the stars are aligned for the rise and rise of small nuclear reactors.

Incidentally, don’t look to the UN, the World Health Organisation (WHO)or anyone like that to cry foul. I think that most people have forgotten, if they ever knew it , but the 1959 agreement between the WHO and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) effectively prevents the WHO from criticising things nuclear.

One important part – “Whenever either organization proposes to initiate a programme or activity on a subject in which the other organization has or may have a substantial interest, the first party shall consult the other with a view to adjusting the matter by mutual agreement.”

And, in this time of vulnerability of nuclear sites, to war and terrorism, you wonder how Rafael Grossi, Director of the IAEA reconciles his conflicting duties, that of promoting nuclear power and of assuring of its safety.

But I digress. We are talking about money, and how to get rich through investing in small nuclear reactors. Well, that is still a goer. But perhaps you’d better be quick, as investment advisors are now dithering about the share price of commercial SMR companies, even though the Big Tech- SMR teams are apparently still booming.

However, the global nuclear lobby is now turning its attention to military microreactors, so there’s hope for future stock market gains as governments splurge tax-payers money into companies in that area.

September 2, 2026 Posted by | Christina reviews | Leave a comment

‘Absolutely shocked’: Top level NACC recruitment process shrouded in secrecy

Despite Attorney-General Michelle Rowland’s promises of greater transparency around the hiring of a new NACC commissioner and deputy, nothing has changed

Michelle Fahy and Elizabeth Minter, Undue Influence, 30 August 26

We undertook this investigation in collaboration with Jommy Tee. It was first published by The Australia Institute’s The Point on 26 August 2026.

A third top level recruitment process is under way for the National Anti-Corruption Commission – to appoint a new commissioner and deputy commissioner following the resignations in May of Paul Brereton and Nicole Rose, both two years short of their five-year terms.

The first two processes – in 2022 and 2023 – were characterised by secrecy. Even members of parliament’s NACC oversight committee, the PJC-NACC, were given little information on how the recruitment was conducted. The jobs were publicly advertised but then the shutters came down.

In acknowledgement of the profound public disappointment in the NACC’s performance to date, following Brereton’s resignation Attorney-General Michelle Rowland promised a more transparent recruitment process and a “reset” of the beleaguered organisation:

I’m engaging across the parliament to look at ensuring … that there is transparency of the merit-based process … [and] also realising there is an opportunity here to reset the Commission and to ensure there is public confidence in this very important institution. (Bold added.)

This investigation, based on documents released under Freedom of Information, shows that nothing of substance has changed. The secrecy that characterised the two earlier recruitment processes looks set to be repeated. The government appears just as intent on evading scrutiny and oversight of this crucial third recruitment process.

Despite having been repeatedly advised by integrity experts to establish a recruitment process at arms-length from government for the top NACC roles, the Albanese government has chosen to stick with the ‘merit and transparency’ guidelines that have been in place since 2008. These guidelines were strongly criticised by Lynelle Briggs in her 2023 ‘Jobs for Mates’ report.

Smoke and mirrors

The current attorney-general, Michelle Rowland, appears to have led members of the NACC oversight committee and respected integrity advocates to believe that the latest recruitment process is a marked improvement – because there will be an “eminent” independent person included on the government-controlled selection panel.

Yet we can reveal that the first recruitment process also featured an eminent independent member on the selection panel.

Not only was this information kept from the public, it was also withheld from the PJC-NACC.

“It’s extraordinary as a member of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the NACC to be finding this out three years after the event and only through an FOI,” Greens Senator David Shoebridge told us.

Despite Rowland’s promises of increased transparency, the government has refused to disclose – even to members of the PJC-NACC, which is bound by confidentiality – the names of the people it has appointed to the selection panel.

Integrity expert, and former counsel assisting the NSW ICAC, Geoffrey Watson SC, told the committee he was “absolutely shocked” when advised the government would not be telling the committee who’s sitting on the selection panel……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Revealed: the selection panels and conflicts of interest

We obtained via FOI the names of the seven people who sat on the two selection panels. Aside from the sole external person, all panellists were senior government officials.

A separate set of documents, also obtained via FOI, revealed that four of those seven people – including the eminent independent person – declared actual or perceived conflicts of interest………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

NACC secrecy a deliberate choice of Albanese government

The secrecy around NACC recruitment is a deliberate choice of the government, according to integrity organisation the Accountability Round Table (ART).

The ART, which works to strengthen government accountability and democratic practices, is a non-partisan organisation with a board that includes senior legal practitioners, former judges, former parliamentarians and others with substantial experience of Commonwealth integrity arrangements………………………………………..

The ART said that immediate reform is urgently required to restore public trust. It is a statement for which this investigation provides strong evidence.

We put a number of detailed questions to Attorney-General Michelle Rowland and her department for this article. Neither responded.

We put detailed questions to former attorney-general Mark Dreyfus. He did not respond to the questions and directed us to contact the attorney-general’s department.https://undueinfluence.substack.com/p/absolutely-shocked-top-level-nacc?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=297295&post_id=213255175&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

September 2, 2026 Posted by | secrets and lies | Leave a comment