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Israeli forces raid, shut down Al Jazeera's Ramallah bureau in the West Bank

Israeli troops have raided the offices of the satellite news network Al Jazeera in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Read full article on: latimes.com
Brianna Chickenfry explains why she won’t get her matching tattoo with Zach Bryan removed post-split
Bryan and LaPaglia have matching "How lucky are we?" tattoos. The line comes from the singer's "28" song.
nypost.com
Trump begins to fill Cabinet positions as he prepares for a second term
President-elect Trump is beginning to fill his top spots in his administration. On Truth Social, Trump announced former ICE director Tom Homan will be his "border czar." He has also nominated New York Rep. Elise Stefanik to serve as ambassador to the United Nations, a source confirmed to CBS News. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will not be serving in the administration, according to Trump.
cbsnews.com
Suspect arrested in connection to Tuskegee University shooting that killed 1, injured a dozen
Alabama law enforcement arrested Jaquez Myrick, 25, in connection with the shooting at Tuskegee University. The shooting killed one person and left at least a dozen others injured. Macon County Sheriff Andre Brunson said there was likely more than one shooter.
cbsnews.com
18-year-old dies while helping fight New Jersey wildfire
Officials in New Jersey say an 18-year-old parks employee has died while helping crews battle brush fires that have been fueled by prolonged dry conditions. Firefighters hope overnight rainfall will help them douse the flames. CBS News correspondent Tom Hanson has more.
cbsnews.com
‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Episode 10 And Beyond Trailer Teases A Homicide Investigation And A Full-On Dutton War
Saddle up and get ready for one hell of a ride.
nypost.com
China advances toward nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with new reactor prototype
For the first time, a group of U.S. researchers has concluded that China has built a land-based prototype nuclear reactor to power future aircraft carriers.
foxnews.com
Dolphin vs. Rams ‘MNF’ predictions: NFL odds, picks, best bets
I fully expect a high-scoring, back-and-forth, pass-happy “Monday Night Football” barn burner.
nypost.com
Eye Opener: Firefighters struggle to contain fires on both coasts
Dry conditions challenge firefighters struggling to contain massive wildfires on both coasts. Also, more information on what to expect from the future of the Trump administration. All that and all that matters in today's Eye Opener.
cbsnews.com
Sabrina Carpenter's early days were on Disney Channel, with more recent years spent on tour with Taylor Swift
Songs like "Espresso" and "Please Please Please" helped Sabrina Carpenter skyrocket to fame. Her early days in the entertainment industry were spend on Disney's "Girl Meets World."
foxnews.com
Zach Bryan’s ex Deb Peifer says she’s ‘better off’ after Brianna Chickenfry’s bombshell NDA claim
Peifer previously made headlines when she posted a cryptic TikTok video about "wine thursday w[ith her] roommate" as the latest "BFFs" episode came out.
nypost.com
WATCH: Honoring military on Veterans Day
ABC News’ Bob Woodruff and philanthropist Craig Newmark share a preview of the Woodruff Foundation’s annual “Stand Up for Heroes” event.
abcnews.go.com
Lions' Jake Bates sends faithful message after clutch field goals
Detroit Lions kicker Jake Bates had a message of faith after he nailed game-tying and game-winning field goals to give his team a win over the Houston Texans.
foxnews.com
bet365 Bonus Code POSTNEWS: Score $150 in bonus bets or a $1,000 first bet safety net for any sport, including NFL and NBA
New users at bet365 can access an exclusive offer with bet365 bonus code POSTNEWS, unlocking either $150 in bonus bets or a $1,000 First Bet Safety Net for "Monday Night Football" featuring the Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Rams.
nypost.com
WATCH: Disney cruise ship saves 4 on sinking vessel
The Disney “Treasure” launched one of its lifeboats to help rescue four passengers after the U.S. Coast Guard received a call for help on Sunday morning that a 50-foot catamaran was sinking.
abcnews.go.com
Greg Olsen shades Aaron Judge’s brutal Yankees postseason after shocking Alvin Kamara drop
Aaron Judge's brutal postseason is now a cross-sports punchline.
nypost.com
This election showed L.A. voters are fed up with City Hall corruption and scandal
Los Angeles voters ousted Councilmember Kevin de León and overwhelmingly supported measures to curb elected officials' power and hold them accountable.
latimes.com
The Times of Troy: Examining the influence Carol Folt had on USC athletics
Looking at the impending retirement of USC president Carol Folt and the legacy she leaves behind with Trojan athletics.
latimes.com
How Black Civil War Patriots Should Be Remembered This Veterans Day
Black soldiers' struggles for freedom took place on and off the battlefield during the Civil War.
time.com
Why Aren’t New Episodes of ‘Yellowstone’ on Peacock?
How rude!
nypost.com
Do I actually need electrolytes to stay hydrated?
Look around: Does it seem like everyone has been pouring little packages of electrolyte into their beverages lately? Pre-workout, post-workout, without a workout at all? Powders and tablets like LMNT, Liquid I.V., and Nuun are everywhere, from TikTok ads to your office snack counter. The concept of hardcore hydration isn’t new — athletes have been adding stuff to their water for millennia. And electrolyte-filled drinks like Gatorade have been mainstays in sports culture for decades. But today’s electrolyte supplements aren’t just for football players or ultramarathoners. Companies like Nuun market their tablets for everyone from aspiring endurance athletes to regular people going to yoga classes during their lunch breaks. These brands are “playing into people’s perception of what is healthy,” said Samantha Coogan, a nutrition sciences educator at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. And it seems to be working: According to Precedence Research, the global electrolyte drinks market is worth over $40 billion and is expected to grow to nearly $75 billion in the next decade. The concept of hydration has become a point of fixation in wellness culture, even though experts still don’t entirely agree on how much hydration we need or the ideal way to get there. With electrolytes making their way from the world of endurance athletes to brunch cocktails, it’s tempting to believe that they might indeed be a magic cure for everything from leg cramps to hangovers.  While electrolyte supplements are great for athletes and lifesaving for cholera patients, they’re not magic. Here’s what you need to know about what electrolytes can and can’t do, and whether you need them.  What is an electrolyte, anyway? Our bodies need to maintain a certain balance of essential minerals to function properly: sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, chloride, phosphate, and bicarbonate. These minerals are all electrolytes, substances that carry electricity through the body, controlling fluid balance, muscle function, and communication between the brain and the body. The “electro” in “electrolytes” comes from the electric charge produced when they’re dissolved in a fluid like blood. Without electrolytes, these electrical signals get disrupted, causing muscle spasms and cramps, headaches, and trouble thinking clearly.  Sodium in particular is an important electrolyte because it aids in controlling the amount of water in your blood. Electrolytes like sodium “basically help water in the body go where it’s supposed to go,” said Holley Samuel, a registered sports dietitian who works with endurance athletes.  When we sweat, we lose a lot of sodium and chloride (a.k.a. salt). But if a person profusely sweating only chugs water without also replenishing the salt, it throws off the balance of sodium and water in the body, pushing too much fluid inside of cells. This can eventually make those cells swell like raisins soaking in water, a potentially dangerous condition called hyponatremia. When you drink water with electrolytes, that water is better able to stick around inside your body where it’s needed.  Electrolytes like sodium “basically help water in the body go where it’s supposed to go.” It’s important to note that “electrolytes don’t exist only in a magic packet,” said Stavros Kavouras, director of the Hydration Science Lab at Arizona State University. Beyond tablets, packets, and powders, electrolytes exist in regular foods we eat all the time, like bananas (potassium), cheese and crackers (sodium and calcium), and spinach (magnesium). Electrolytes as pre-packaged water supplements, as we think of them today, have only been around for a few decades.  In the 1960s, assistant coach Dewayne Douglas noticed that his University of Florida football players were struggling to recover after practices in the swampy Gainesville heat. Athletes shed weight — Douglas recalled losing up to 18 pounds per game himself, when he played — but barely felt the need to pee. After conducting studies with UF first-year football players as subjects, kidney disease specialist J. Robert Cade found that players felt terrible because in addition to experiencing low blood sugar after working out, they were sweating out tons of electrolytes, especially sodium and potassium. So he created a new sports recovery drink for the Florida Gators, called Gatorade: basically water, salt, sugar, and lemon juice for taste. The sodium-enriched drink helps athletes retain water while sweating, and the results were remarkable. “One Lil’ Swig of That Kickapoo Juice and Biff, Bam, Sock — It’s Gators, 8-2,” the Florida Times-Union celebrated in December 1966, after Gatorade’s first season with the team. Sports drinks took off, and other companies began capitalizing on Gatorade’s success. All sports drinks are variations on Gatorade’s theme: Water for hydration, sugar for energy, and electrolytes to aid in fluid absorption, as well as flavoring to get it down. Sports drinks act as “one magic bullet” for athletes, Kavouras said. “You take one thing, and it has everything in there.” This formula is so effective it’s recommended by the World Health Organization for rehydrating people, especially cholera patients or children experiencing diarrhea. At first, these beverages were primarily marketed to professional athletes. Today, Powerade and Gatorade are advertised as soft drinks for anyone.  In 2024, the year of the giant water bottle, there are also a bunch of new-wave electrolyte supplements like Nuun, LMNT, and Liquid I.V. in grocery and convenience store aisles, which swap sugar for alternative sweeteners like stevia leaf extract or allulose to target consumers who don’t want to drink too many extra calories. These supplements market themselves as hydration superfoods: something to help athletes, sure, but also a hangover cure and overall vibe-booster for regular, health-conscious people.  Coogan said, if you’re eating a balanced diet and aren’t training for a marathon, you probably shouldn’t be pounding back electrolyte packets. If your body needs extra electrolytes, supplements — whether a Gatorade or a Nuun — can be an efficient way to rehydrate. But, Coogan said, if you’re eating a balanced diet and aren’t training for a marathon, you probably shouldn’t be pounding back electrolyte packets. “Too much of a good thing is not always a good thing,” Coogan said. Okay, but what about hangovers? Pedialyte, an oral electrolyte solution meant for babies and children, has become the go-to hangover cure for young adults at music festivals and fraternity parties. College students are even trying to sidestep the consequences of binge drinking by swapping beers for BORGs (“blackout rage gallons”): a half-gallon of water mixed with a bottle of liquor and an electrolyte additive. Alas, electrolytes are not a magic hangover cure — trying to undo a night out with electrolyte supplements is “just going to be an uphill battle,” Coogan said. While pre-hydrating with an electrolyte supplement before a night out might help mitigate some of the consequences of the impending alcohol-fueled dehydration, the only real hangover cure is time. Electrolytes are great for super-sweaty times. Otherwise, meh. The best time to consume extra electrolytes is when you’ve been sweating a lot, or otherwise losing a lot of fluids through something like food poisoning. Training for a long-distance run? Working on a construction site on a summer day in a place like Phoenix? Experts say electrolyte supplements are definitely a good call. Many people (myself included) fall somewhere in between couch potato and ultramarathoner. I asked experts how I should think about electrolytes, as someone who spends most of the day sitting in front of my computer, then goes to a CrossFit or pole dancing class after work. Samuel says that for casual gym rats and recreational athletes, how you should rehydrate largely depends on how much you sweat, and what your sweat is made of. Some people “go to do a spin class and they’re on the bike for five minutes, and there’s a puddle around them,” Samuel said. “If that’s you, you’re a heavy sweater.” Sodium levels in sweat can also vary anywhere from 200 milligrams per liter to 2,000, depending on the person. If your sweat tends to sting your eyes or leave white streaks or crystals on your skin and clothes, you might be a salty sweater. For casual gym rats and recreational athletes, how you should rehydrate largely depends on how much you sweat, and what your sweat is made of. Both heavy sweaters and salty sweaters should consider electrolyte supplements before, during, and after working out. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends consuming at least 300 milligrams of sodium per hour if you’re going to be out sweating for more than an hour, whether you’re participating in a sport or simply working outside on a hot day. Read labels, too: Try to stay below 14 grams of sugar per 8 ounces of fluid (that’s about half of the amount in a Gatorade Thirst Quencher).  Make sure to check the sodium content on the label of your electrolyte supplement, though: Some popular supplements, like Liquid I.V., contain 500 mg of sodium, which is more than what’s necessary for all but the sweatiest endurance athletes. Those athletes usually need to consume more sodium than other people, Samuel said. For everyone else, supplements with more moderate levels of sodium (around 200 to 300 mg), should be enough to rehydrate.  About one-third of otherwise healthy people are sensitive to salt, meaning that consuming high amounts of sodium causes an increase in blood pressure. “That’s why you have heard that a high sodium diet can lead to hypertension and cardiovascular disease,” Kavouras said. If you’re sensitive to salt, you’ll want to be careful. The FDA recommends Americans limit their sodium intake to 2,300 mg per day.  Nevertheless, for most people, it’s next to impossible to consume a dangerous amount of electrolytes. If you eat more carbs, fat, or protein than your body needs, they get stored as fat. But electrolytes aren’t stored — they’re eliminated. “If you drink too much sodium,” Kavouras said, “you will be peeing more sodium.” You don’t necessarily need an electrolyte supplement after your workout. Low-fat milk (or soy milk, for lactose-intolerant and plant-based athletes) offer enough electrolytes, carbs, and protein to rehydrate, repair muscles, and stabilize blood sugar, and smoothies can incorporate protein and fats in addition to electrolyte-rich foods like bananas, dates, leafy greens, and coconut water. Electrolytes have another counterintuitive benefit: making you thirstier. “Electrolytes help in maintaining the thirst drive for a longer period of time,” Kavouras said. This can be helpful for those who struggle to drink enough water, because they aren’t thirsty enough to reach for it — or because they don’t like the taste of water. “If it tastes better, and if it drives thirst longer, you will be drinking more on your own,” Kavouras said. While drinking an electrolyte supplement when you don’t really need one is rarely dangerous, Samuel cautioned that consuming extra sodium without enough extra water (or sweating it out) is dehydrating — say pouring two LMNT packets into one regular-sized water bottle, although that would taste pretty bad. “You’re basically creating jerky out of yourself by salting too much,” she said. “We want to be a nice, hydrated steak.” You don’t need them all the time, but electrolytes can help rebalance a sweaty body and make drinking water a little more fun. Just remember that they’re hardly magic — they’re salts. 
vox.com
Centrist Dems turn on far left after the election: 'Identity politics' is 'absolutely killing us'
Some Democrats are calling out their far-left colleagues for costing them the 2024 election with radical rhetoric.
foxnews.com
‘Yellowstone’ fans are furious over John Dutton’s fate: ‘Shame on you Taylor Sheridan’
"Yellowstone" fans had a big reaction to the first episode not to feature Kevin Costner.
1 h
nypost.com
Trump wants NFL to ditch 'ridiculous' kickoff rule
President-elect Donald Trump ripped the NFL's kickoff rule on Sunday as the league began to wrap up the 10th week of the 2024 season. It was a point he has made multiple times.
1 h
foxnews.com
Cops hunt 23-year-old accused of stabbing dad to death on Long Island
Police in Long Island are searching for a 23-year-old man wanted in the murder of his father inside their family home.
1 h
nypost.com
Liam Payne’s alleged drug dealer speaks for first time, details star’s final days
Braian Nahuel Paiz insisted there has been no wrongdoing on his part in relation to the One Direction crooner's sudden death on Oct. 16.
1 h
nypost.com
Saints' Darren Rizzi details hilarious reason he had bad start to 1st game as interim head coach
Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi has his first career win under his belt after Sunday's victory, but he detailed a hilarious reason why he thought it was not going to be a good day.
1 h
foxnews.com
Daniel Jones’ looming benching will leave the true culprits behind this Giants mess nowhere to hide
Benching Daniel Jones must be a terrifying proposition for Brian Daboll and GM Joe Schoen.
1 h
nypost.com
Venus in Capricorn: What this transit means for your heart — and wallet
On Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 1:26 p.m. EST, Venus trades the suede chaps of Sagittarius for the shoulder pads of Capricorn, where she will stay until Dec. 7.
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nypost.com
Tennis Channel analyst suspended indefinitely after hot-mic comments made about 2024 Wimbledon champ
Tennis Channel analyst Jon Wertheim was suspended indefinitely after making "unprofessional" comments about 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova.
1 h
foxnews.com
DC councilmember facing federal bribery charges wins landslide re-election, but colleagues may oust him
D.C. Ward 8 Councilman Trayon White Sr. is set to make a court appearance this week in a federal bribery case just days after he won re-election.
1 h
foxnews.com
Trump selects Rep. Elise Stefanik to be UN ambassador
Trump in a statement described Stefanik as "incredibly strong, tough and smart."
1 h
abcnews.go.com
Trump Is Handing China a Golden Opportunity on Climate
Already a leader in clean tech, China may see a new reason to act as leader in addressing climate change, too.
1 h
theatlantic.com
Veterans Day 2024 deals: All the restaurant and retail stores offering discounts
Thank you for your service.
1 h
nypost.com
The Sports Report: Chargers win third game in a row
Justin Herbert leads the Chargers to their third consecutive win, their longest streak since four in a row in 2022.
1 h
latimes.com
Trump appoints hard-line border czar to tackle immigration and more top headlines
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.
1 h
foxnews.com
Trump names Stefanik UN ambassador: report
President-elect Trump appointed House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., as his U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
2 h
foxnews.com
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu confirms he was behind deadly pager attacks against Hezbollah
A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed for the first time that the Israeli leader gave the sign off after he claimed responsibility for the Sept. 17 massacre during a closed-door cabinet meeting.
2 h
nypost.com
Dave Portnoy labels Brianna Chickenfry’s ex Zach Bryan ‘Country Diddy’ in another ‘lethal’ diss track
The Barstool Sports founder and "BFFs" podcast co-host Zach Richards initially released their "Smallest Man" diss track last week.
2 h
nypost.com
13 things we learned from the Commanders’ loss to the Steelers
The ‘brotherhood’ is real, Marshon Lattimore needs to heal up, offensive line depth is a problem and more things we learned about the Commanders on Sunday.
2 h
washingtonpost.com
Operation Proper Exit | 60 Minutes Archive
In 2011, Scott Pelley reported on a therapy program in which soldiers who were wounded in the Iraq war were brought back to Iraq in an effort to provide emotional closure for them by returning to the battlefield where they were injured.
2 h
cbsnews.com
How to make the bathroom the liveliest (looking) space in your home
The limited square footage of a powder room offers an opportunity to go wilder and more luxe than you might elsewhere.
2 h
washingtonpost.com
Democratic lawmaker calls out his party for 'banning debate' on culture war issues like transgender athletes
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., responded to the backlash he’s faced for criticizing his party’s refusal to debate pressing issues after the 2024 election.
2 h
foxnews.com
When do states have to certify 2024 election results? Here's a full list of dates
After voters cast their ballots, their votes are certified by state officials before the electoral college gathers.
2 h
cbsnews.com
How to bring a dead nuclear power plant back to life
The US nuclear industry has been struggling to hold its ground for decades as it contends with rising costs, an aging fleet, a shrinking workforce, and stiff competition from natural gas and renewable power.  The most recent US nuclear reactors to come online, units 3 and 4 at Plant Vogtle in Georgia, started up in 2023. It was years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. Meanwhile, more than a dozen reactors have shut down since 2013. Several companies developing advanced reactors and small modular reactors, promising greater safety and lower costs, have seen their projects and their businesses collapse. But in the past year, some big tech companies have taken steps toward a revival.  Amazon has signed a $500 million deal with X-energy to deploy 5 gigawatts worth of small modular reactors (SMRs) in Washington state. The company is also investigating new nuclear projects in Virginia. Google and nuclear startup Kairos Power agreed to develop molten salt-cooled nuclear reactors, an approach that promises greater efficiency and lower costs. Microsoft has made advanced nuclear energy, including technologies like SMRs and fusion, a part of its energy strategy. These tech firms are looking to meet their climate goals while sating energy appetites that have exploded with the push for artificial intelligence. Last year, new data center power demand grew 26 percent to more than 5 gigawatts in North America.    The case to lean into nuclear power at this moment is compelling. It could generate massive quantities of electricity, day or night, rain or shine, without emitting greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Nuclear fission is also one of the safest energy sources. Coal kills more than 32 people per terawatt-hour of electricity produced while nuclear kills about 0.03. But building a new nuclear power plant from scratch, especially a new design, is an arduous, expensive process that can span decades.  At the same time, old, carbon dioxide- and soot-spewing coal power plants are also shutting down. Many states are looking to fill the void while also trying to meet their goals to decarbonize their power grids. That’s why tech companies are also looking to revive shuttered nuclear plants. Progress is underway to resurrect reactors at three nuclear power plants that were slated for dismantling and could restart as soon as next year. It’s a stunning and unprecedented development for the nuclear industry.  “If you told me we would’ve been talking about this 10 years ago, I would’ve laughed at you,” said Patrick O’Brien, head of government affairs and communications at Holtec International, a nuclear services company that until recently specialized in shutting nuclear plants down.  Three plants are on the resuscitation list. The 800-megawatt reactor at the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Michigan, which shut down in 2022, is slated to revive by the end of 2025; Holtec bought the Palisades plant in 2022 and is now leading its restart. Microsoft signed a deal with Constellation to resuscitate the 835-megawatt Unit 1 reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, which initially turned off in 2019 and could power up by 2028. NextEra Energy is mulling breathing life back into the 600-megawatt Duane Arnold nuclear power plant in Iowa. The plant closed in 2020 after sustaining damage during a derecho, a fast, powerful thunderstorm.  Restarting these plants is a critical test for nuclear power in the US, and how they fare will bolster or erode confidence in broader ambitions for a new generation of nuclear deployment. But whether they will help keep global warming in check depends on how much they will displace dirtier energy sources as opposed to merely enabling new demand.  How to restart a nuclear reactor Alas, restarting a nuclear power plant doesn’t involve flipping a comically large circuit breaker. The reality is much more tedious.  For a would-be nuclear resurrectionist, the main tasks are appeasing the regulators and reinvigorating the hardware.  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the federal agency in charge of commercial nuclear reactors, says the reason these power plants — Palisades, Three Mile Island, Duane Arnold — are eligible to be restarted is that, from the regulator’s perspective, they’re only mostly dead.  When a reactor first gains approval from the NRC, its initial operating license runs for 40 years. At the end of the first license, the operator can then seek a 20-year extension. “The key to all of these restart efforts is the fact that the licenses that are involved have not yet hit their expiration date,” said Scott Burnell, a spokesman for the NRC.  These reactors were shut down ahead of schedule not for technical problems but because the business wasn’t panning out.  After shutting down a plant, operators remove fuel from the reactors and place it in spent fuel pools. They disassemble pipes and machinery. They drain coolants and lubricants to prevent contamination. A complete decommissioning can cost up to $2 billion and take 20 years.  But the three plants under restart consideration haven’t gotten far along in the disassembly process. Until recently, no one has sought to bring back a plant already slated for retirement, so there isn’t an established rulebook for how to go about it. “There’s never been a case up to this point where a company has come back and said, ‘Well, I’ve changed my mind,’” Burnell said. The first thing someone seeking to resuscitate a nuclear reactor must do is seek an exemption from the current rules that make shutting down a one-way street, which requires an enormous amount of paperwork.  The operator then has to put a safety plan in place and bring the plant back up to the original requirements under its operating license. Therein lies the next undertaking.  Palisades, Three Mile Island, and Duane Arnold shut down relatively recently, but they’ve still been offline for years. Imagine letting a car sit in your driveway unused for a couple of years and then trying to fire it up. Odds are, it won’t start on the first try. The motor may have seized, the fuel may have separated, the battery may have discharged completely. Even sitting unused, components like rubber hoses, gaskets, and tires can oxidize and turn brittle with time. Metal parts can rust. A shuttered nuclear power plant faces similar concerns, albeit with significantly higher consequences.  Nuclear operators have to first meticulously investigate all the parts of their offline facilities before they get the thumbs-up to power up again.  However, this shutdown, inspection, and resuscitation process can also be an opportunity. Holtec’s O’Brien noted that operating nuclear power plants have regularly scheduled downtime lasting a month or so to conduct maintenance and refuel. But a longer outage gives the operator more time to do more extensive upgrades and restoration.  “We have parts of the turbine that have been sent out to North Carolina for refurbishment that’ll be gone for a year with the work being done,” O’Brien said. “You couldn’t have done that when you’re an [actively] operating plant.” The other challenge is the workforce. Running a nuclear power plant requires highly specialized personnel, and since the US has been so slow in building reactors, many veteran staffers have retired or left the industry while fewer new graduates are rising to replace them. Palisades employed 600 workers when operating and brought in 1,000 more during refueling and maintenance periods. When a plant is slated for shutdown, many of those workers leave the area or retire. So to restart a nuclear facility, operators need to get their teams back together, sometimes bringing workers out of retirement while recruiting and training new ones.   Nuclear revivals still have to prove their economics The biggest challenge for nuclear restarts may not be the hardware or the regulations, but competition. According to a 2021 report from the Congressional Research Service, “The US nuclear power industry in recent years has been facing economic and financial challenges, particularly plants located in competitive power markets where natural gas and renewable power generators influence wholesale electricity prices.” The reactor revivers say they can overcome what killed these power plants in the first place. With Palisades, Holtec is securing a power purchasing agreement with Wolverine Power Cooperative, a nonprofit that provides electricity to 280,000 homes and businesses in rural Michigan. Rather than competing head-to-head with other generators, this guarantees the plant can sell a given amount of electricity at a fixed rate.  O’Brien said Holtec is putting up $500 million of its own money. The company also received $300 million in grants from the state of Michigan and a $1.52 billion loan guarantee from the US Department of Energy for its effort.   Holtec is also aiming to use the Palisades site to deploy two 300-megawatt small modular reactors, essentially becoming its own first customer for these reactors and demonstrating them for future clients. Since the site is already certified to be a nuclear power plant, it cuts out a lot of the development costs that come with building a plant on fresh soil. Holtec is aiming to have its first SMR up by 2030.  While a lot of the recent activity around nuclear power has been fueled by the energy-hungry tech industry, Michigan has set its own ambitious climate goals that make Palisades an even more attractive option. The state is aiming to phase out all of its coal-fired power plants by 2030. Coal currently provides more than 22 percent of the state’s electricity. That’s a big hole to fill in over the next six years.  Like many states, Michigan is experiencing growing electricity demand, particularly as hotter summers increase cooling needs. The rise of electric cars and switching from natural gas heating to electric heat pumps is increasing energy appetites as well. The state also sees an opportunity to get a piece of the AI action and is instituting tax breaks for new data centers. Revived plants like Palisades can’t keep running forever though. In a car, regular oil changes, tire replacements, and inspections can keep it on the road for a long time. But if the engine block starts to wear down, it’s usually not worth the time or money to replace it. Similarly, with a nuclear power plant, ongoing fueling and maintenance can keep it operational, but if its equivalent of an engine block — the reactor pressure vessel around the reactor core — becomes brittle over time as neutrons from nuclear fission bombard it, that can be expensive and difficult to replace. Its integrity is often the main determinant of the overall lifespan of a nuclear plant.  Palisades was already 50 years old when it went offline, and the NRC’s current regulations are set up to allow for two 20-year renewals after an initial 40-year license for a nuclear power plant. “We’ve had several plants that have come in for a second renewal, which would allow them to run essentially for 80 years,” Burnell said. A plant could theoretically push that further, but no one has tried yet.  And all nuclear plants have to deal with rising costs. Maintaining a nuclear workforce is getting more expensive, and safety regulations continue to ratchet up. Inflation is making materials more pricey and higher interest rates are increasing financing expenses. At the same time, photovoltaic solar panels and wind turbines have experienced extraordinary price drops and explosive growth around the world. The nuclear industry’s challenges remain immense, but concerns about climate change might end up being the most compelling driver for new nuclear power. When it comes to ample, around-the-clock, zero-emissions power, nuclear is a strong contender in the competition.  But nuclear energy is now facing another curveball. Donald Trump’s reelection to the White House likely means that addressing climate change will become a lower priority, as it did during his first term. How much the federal government will continue backing nuclear restarts and new companies is unclear, and the industry might need to figure out a new pitch for more public investment. 
2 h
vox.com
Montana's road to red: How the state shifted to all GOP leadership for the first time in over 100 years
Montana ousted the last standing statewide Democrat in the 2024 election, marking the first time the Big Sky State will see all Republican leadership in congress in 100 years.
2 h
foxnews.com
Disney Cruise ship rescues stranded boaters off Bermuda coast
A Disney Cruise ship headed for Bermuda unexpectedly rescued four stranded boaters off a sinking catamaran Sunday morning.
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nypost.com
Cancer free Kate Middleton ‘will be doing more next year,’ Prince William says
The Princess of Wales, 42, has spent much of this year behind closed doors following her cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment.
2 h
nypost.com
Haiti prime minister ousted by transition council after just 6 months in power
Haiti's Prime Minister has been removed from office after serving for just six months Monday, with a controversial transitionary council ousting him.
2 h
foxnews.com