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Washington, DC
Joined December 2008
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NPEC retweeted
The trouble with small nuclear reactors. SMRs are a colossal waste of time — a distraction from cheaper, more efficient technologies. The huge costs involved are unrealistic. And many designs rely on fuel from hostile or rival states. In 2021, one SMR developer backed by Amazon, X-Energy, said that its demonstration project would cost around $2.5bn, a figure that rose to almost $6bn in 2023. X-Energy declined to provide updated estimates but warned in June of continued “price increases from our suppliers”.
ft.com/content/da1af660-c1d0…
NPEC retweeted
Highlights From North Korea’s Drone-A-Palooza
Here’s what Pyongyang put on display as it showcased a growing arsenal of recon and attack drones, including a very-aspirational stealthy UCAV concept.
twz.com/air/highlights-from-…
NPEC retweeted
“This spring, the U.S. military faced a similar dilemma in the Middle East. According to a Reuters report that cited Pentagon documents, U.S. forces used Starshield to pilot their drones for strikes against Iran. When SpaceX found out, it raised the price for Starshield service in that region from roughly $5,000 per terminal per month to $25,000. The Pentagon agreed to pay.
In Ukraine, Musk could be attempting a similar upsell.”
theatlantic.com/national-sec…
NPEC retweeted
New DIA report (dia.mil/Articles/Press-Relea…) essentially confirms Russian development, in breach of Outer Space Treaty, of a satellite constellation-killer nuclear armed satellite. (my reporting here from Feb. 2024: washingtonexaminer.com/polic…)
NPEC retweeted
.@IsraelHayomEng : "Israel and the US are preparing an operational plan aimed at toppling the Iranian regime and ending the rule of fear imposed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The assessment is that a devastating direct strike against the Iranian leadership, similar to operations carried out in the past, combined with additional military measures not previously undertaken, could set in motion a process that would ultimately bring down the regime."
israelhayom.com/2026/10/26/n…
NPEC retweeted
Saudi Arabia reportedly offers Houthis $1 billion in Iran-brokered deal to halt attacks
israelhayom.com/2026/10/26/s…
NPEC retweeted
🚨🇬🇧 El Gobierno británico acaba de decirle a la gente que guarde efectivo, agua y latas en casa.
El Secretario de Defensa Wes Streeting apareció en BBC Newsnight y recomendó a todos los hogares que tengan provisiones para tres días. No es un simulacro ni un consejo de siempre: es la nueva campaña oficial “Be Ready”.
El mensaje es directo. Si se cae la luz, si un ciberataque tumba los sistemas de pago o si un evento climático corta el agua y la electricidad, cada familia debe poder aguantar sola al menos 72 horas.
Lo que pide el Gobierno
• 3 litros de agua embotellada por persona al día.
• Comida enlatada o que no necesite nevera ni cocinarse.
• Efectivo en efectivo (por si las tarjetas y los cajeros dejan de funcionar).
• Radio de pilas o a cuerda, linterna, mantas y botiquín.
Streeting lo dijo sin rodeos: las amenazas “no son hipotéticas” y “están aquí”. Habló de “terrorismo patrocinado por Estados”, ciberataques cada vez más sofisticados y la posibilidad real de que los supermercados o los bancos no funcionen durante días. El Gobierno insiste en que “no hay un ataque específico en marcha”, pero también reconoce que el mundo es más peligroso e inestable que antes.
En un país donde casi todo se paga con el móvil, el Estado acaba de admitir que el efectivo vuelve a ser un recurso de emergencia. Y que la dependencia total de internet, electricidad y cadenas de suministro globales tiene un punto de ruptura.
La campaña ya circula fuerte. No es una orden militar, pero sí una señal clara: las autoridades ya no dan por hecho que los servicios esenciales van a estar siempre disponibles. Y le están pidiendo a la población que se prepare como si no lo fueran.
NPEC retweeted
FORTRESS: The Pentagon is preparing every major U.S. military base to survive 90 days without outside support — no civilian power grid, no global supply chains, no outside fuel or water.
The initiative, revealed in documents reviewed by Fox News Digital, envisions portable nuclear reactors, massive battery storage, and microgrids that can disconnect installations from civilian electricity entirely. Strategic reserves of munitions, fuel, critical minerals, and medical supplies would be stockpiled based on wartime consumption rates. Civilian factories are being pre-identified to shift to defense production during a crisis.
Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell put it bluntly: "Power is combat now. Without electricity, you lose communications, water, logistics, assembly lines and just basic military command structures."
Full story here foxnews.com/politics/inside-…
NPEC retweeted
Via @ragipsoylu, the full text of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement between Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Pakistan has now been published, with the agreement being sent to the Turkish Parliament for ratification by the government.
In the recent past, when amidst Houthi attacks, Saudi Arabia invoked the agreement, and Türkiye’s lacking response was questioned by critics, with Turkish officials responding by saying that the deal was not yet legally operative.
NPEC retweeted
A Russian satellite has been making hostile moves toward a U.S.-registered commercial satellite providing radar data in support of Ukraine, raising urgent questions about Russia’s intentions and the rules governing behavior in space. @CSISAerospace's @crswope breaks down what Russia’s satellite could do next and why the incident highlights the need for clearer norms and deterrence in space.
NPEC retweeted
BREAKING: Iran is now openly considering forcing Google, Meta and other tech giants to obtain permits, undergo technical inspections and pay “sovereignty fees” for undersea internet cables passing through Iranian waters, per Tasnim News.
Major cable systems including FALCON and GBI cross the Gulf, turning the Strait of Hormuz into a strategic digital chokepoint. More than 99% of international data traffic travels through undersea cables, giving coastal states leverage over critical global connectivity.
The move follows Mohsen Rezaee’s threat to destroy undersea cables, data centers and AI facilities across the region if the U.S. and Israel resume the war, claiming those assets are worth over $2 trillion. Iran is now threatening the Gulf’s digital infrastructure with destruction — while also seeking to charge companies for access.
NPEC retweeted
First Look At Hypersonic Boost-Glide Vehicle Just Tested By South Korea
There is something of a budding, but murky hypersonic arms race emerging on the Korean Peninsula.
twz.com/land/first-look-at-h…
NPEC retweeted
The Pentagon named four directed energy weapons for a homeland counter-drone program, the first systems to be fielded and tested at U.S. bases. defensenews.com/industry/tec…
NPEC retweeted
According to Middle East Eye, citing Turkish officials, as a part of their commitment to the now activated Turkish-Saudi-Pakistani Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, Turkey will deploy troops, air defense systems, and aircraft to Saudi Arabia to defend against increasing attacks on the Gulf nation from the Houthis.
Per the report, Turkey has forces, including technical teams, EW equipment, and aircraft defense systems, already in place since last year under a prior joint exercise agreement that allowed limited Turkish deployments to Saudi Arabia. The Turkish commitment to the Mecca Agreement expands the scale of Turkish deployments, now that the agreement has been activated.
Turkish officials maintain that the deployments are purely defensive in nature.
NPEC retweeted
NEW Report: Significant Activity Identified at Minzadayi, an Iranian Nuclear Weapons Development Site
High resolution @vantortech satellite imagery from September and October 2026 shows significant renewed activity at Minzadayi, a nuclear weapons development compound northeast of Tehran revealed by Israel during the 2026 war. The compound was attacked by Israel on March 3rd, 2026, destroying several buildings and likely underground structures. The recent satellite imagery indicates a return to regular vehicle activity around the site post extensive cleanup operation that included the clearing of rubble and debris and repair of damage on the hillside. One area attacked in March 2026 shows ongoing earth moving activity. The earth moving activity is occurring at a surface made to look like a courtyard where multiple craters could be seen following the attacks on the site in March 2026. Significant vehicle presence can be seen throughout the site between early September and early October 2026. Cars are parked outside the security perimeter in the parking lot, and many passenger vehicles and trucks can be seen inside the perimeter. Given what is known about this compound, this activity may be indicative of an effort by Iran to reestablish a nuclear weapons development capability and to reconstitute what was lost in the attack on the compound.
Based on public reporting and statements released by the IDF, the nuclear weapons work carried out here likely involved research and development on nuclear warheads. The IDF originally stated, that a “group of nuclear scientists operated covertly to develop a key component in the nuclear weapons system,” adding that “the complex is designed to enable the restoration of the required technology and the advancement of capabilities for the development of nuclear weapons.”
@IntelliTimes, released additional information on the compound. In a post from September 24, 2026, it states that the nuclear weapons related infrastructure was established in 2022 and “absorbed part of the means from the nuclear warehouse,” a common reference to the Turquz Abad site revealed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in September 2018. Netanyahu revealed the site following Iran’s removal of more than a dozen shipping containers from the site that were assessed to hold nuclear material and equipment relevant to Iran’s nuclear weapons capabilities.[4] When the IAEA visited Turquz Abad in March 2019, it found evidence that nuclear material or contaminated equipment had been present at the site and the IAEA Board has since been pressing Iran to answer the IAEA’s questions about the current whereabouts of said material and/or equipment. @IntelliTimes indicates Iran did not simply move the material and/or equipment to a new long term storage site but used the new site in northeast Tehran, aka Minzadayi, to establish an” industrial nuclear headquarters for the reconstruction of research, development, and adaptation infrastructure for nuclear warheads,” including the means to “produce cores of enriched uranium and the explosive material required to cast into them the detonation chain.”[5] The current renewed effort underway at this highly secure compound suggests that the work being conducted here is of top priority.
Read the report here: isis-online.org/isis-reports…
NPEC retweeted
Russia used the Center-2026 drill at Chebarkul to drop ground combat robots from Il-76 transports for the first time and to run unmanned T-72 tanks by remote control. The defense ministry also put T-14 Armata and T-90M tanks through a carousel drill, had Su-57s cover Su-34s, and showed assault troops moving on motorcycles. More than 500+ drones and over 50 robotic systems were on the range. Contingents came from China, Belarus, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Tajikistan, with CSTO troops on the ground.
NPEC retweeted
Large-scale storage #batteries represent the fastest-growing power technology today, according to the International Energy Agency.
Cost of #battery packs used in grid-scale storage systems fell by 45 % last year alone.
Storage capacity of large-scale batteries installed around the world is today 11 times greater than the level five years ago, says IEA. Momentum around renewable energy investment has quickened as countries smart from the soaring cost of natural gas due to the US war with Iran and in anticipation of demands from #AI data centres.
This year, 40% more large-scale batteries are set to be installed than in 2025, according to S&P Global.
International Renewable Energy Agency, an organisation with more than 170 national governments as members, found cost of hybrid power plants that combined #renewables and storage had fallen so much that in many parts of the world they could provide a “firm” round-the-clock power supply, matching the typical level of reliability achieved by fossil-fired plants at an equivalent or lower cost.
ft.com/content/b84778e5-ce8b…
NPEC retweeted
BREAKING: Chinese researchers appear to have revealed that China quietly refueled one of its BeiDou navigation satellites in orbit, potentially extending a critical spacecraft’s life without launching a replacement.
According to the South China Morning Post, China successfully transferred room-temperature propellant to a high-orbit BeiDou satellite for the first time.
The operation reportedly occurred in February 2025 but was never publicly announced. The spacecraft, amount of fuel transferred, and resulting life extension remain undisclosed.
BeiDou is China’s alternative to the U.S. GPS network and supports both civilian infrastructure and military operations.
If confirmed, the mission would demonstrate that China can refuel and reposition strategically important satellites in orbit. The same rendezvous-and-docking technology could also be used to approach or interfere with an adversary’s spacecraft.
