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United Kingdom will be just the first client. Spain raises a colossus in Galicia to build war ships like churros

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While Spain does not count With f-35 fighterssoon he will do it with what will be a source of pride for the nation: The Bonifaz frigatefirst of the F110 class, whose launch took place in the navantia shipyards in Ferrol. In fact, Navantia has received a commission that will place her in the world showcase as a reference construction: United Kingdom has asked her to do her Your next frigate. In the background: a plan to become the elite of the sector. A naval milestone from Spain. Navantia is carrying out in Ferrol the largest investment of the last hundred years in a shipyard in Spain: the creation of the Digital Block Factory (FDB) conceived to place military naval construction in the world technological avant -garde. With a budget of 110 million eurosan area of ​​45,000 square meters, 500 meters in length and 90 wide, the plant will double the productive capacity of the Galician shipyard and mark the final step towards the model of shipyard 4.0where automation, artificial intelligence and robotization will be protagonists. The day. Its inauguration is scheduled for the First quarter of 2026after a construction process that began in March 2024 and has included the creation of a digital twin to monitor in real time the progress of the works, control cost deviations and anticipate failures. Unpublished productive capacity. The new factory will allow Navantia to manufacture in Only one year the blocks equivalent to a air holder such as Juan Carlos Itwo F-18 frigatesfour European corvettes EPCfour maritime action ships (BAM) or up to two combat supply ships (BAC), in addition to logistical support ships such as the FSS that already produces For the Royal Navy. In practical terms, the plant may generate simultaneously The blocks of two frigates, with a production cadence of one section every ten days (about 26 per year), which will reduce construction deadlines by 20-25%. In the case of the F-110, about 85% From the structure of each unit it will be manufactured in the FDB, while the singular blocks (such as the dome of the sonar or the multimission mast) will continue to be built in the traditional workshops. This scheme will simultaneously add the commitments to the Spanish Navy and the eventual Export contractsa strategic aspiration in the current context of International Rearme, where the armed demands to have their ships in the shortest possible time. Automation, AI and Robotics. The factory has been designed under an optimized workflow scheme, divided into three major areas: steels, prearmament and flip. In the first they will be installed Robotized welding lines Equipped with hybrid laser technology, guaranteeing higher structural dimensional precision and robustness. In the prearmament phase, the subblocks will be transferred autonomously by vehicles not manned with IoT sensors, and robots will be integrated for welding, manipulation and palletization that will work collaboratively with the operators. Finally, in the voltage zone, the blocks will be assembled with subcomponents previously manufactured in an automated assembly system that combines speed, flexibility and reliability. The whole process will be supported by a system of Complete digital traceability: Each piece will generate information associated with its digital twin, which will automatically readjust the following phases and detect real -time deviations using smart cameras connected to 3D models. The Innovation and Robotics Center. Navantia digital transformation is not limited to the plant itself. He Innovation and Robotics Center (CIR), directly linked to the factory, acts as technological nucleus where the latest innovations in automation, automatic inspection, advanced welding and dimensional control are tested and validated. The CIR not only develops solutions applicable to immediate production, but also works as Training and Transfer Space of knowledge, ensuring that advances are quickly integrated into productive processes. The ecosystem, reinforced With collaborations With the University of La Coruña and with specialized consultants, it guarantees, a priori, that the Ferrolano shipyard remains on the border of naval innovation. Labor impact. From the company it has been ensured that, despite the high level of automation, the factory will not involve a template reduction. On the contrary, it will maintain a volume of Between 270 and 400 workers In turn, including both direct employees of Navantia and personnel from auxiliary companies. In each turn they will operate Between 300 and 325 peopleconfirming that robotization is raised as a tool for support to human capital and not as a substitute. The combination of specialized manual labor and intelligent systems ensures that flexibility is maintained to meet specific demands of each naval program. Reference at the military plane. Once finished, the FERROL FDB It will not have equivalent in the world of military construction. The only comparable reference is the Alemán Meyer Werft Shipyarddedicated to luxury cruises and has been gradually applying automated systems for fifteen years. Navantia, however, will be the first company to move this industrial logic War shipswhich, according to the company, will allow you to offer a competitive, sustainable and higher quality product in a sector where the speed of delivery is practically a strategic requirement. In addition, the possibility of producing blocks to Other international shipyardsexpanding his role as a key actor in the global naval supply chain. New era in the estuary. If you want also, with this bet, Navantia aims to turn Ferrol into a World Reference Pole For military naval construction, combining tradition and modernity in a project that represents a before and after in Spanish industrial history. As Rafael Morgade underlinedresponsible for the digital transformation of the company, it is an authentic “new era” in which the Galician shipyard will go from a disorderly growth accumulated in a century to a concentrated, efficient and technologically advanced model. In a marked geopolitical context For the rearmethis megafactoría not only reinforces the capacities of the Spanish Navy, but also positions Navantia as a industrial partner in the elite of the international defense market. Image | Navy In Xataka | The United Kingdom wants to remain one of the great powers. So he will not … Read more

The United States needs nuclear energy for AI and already knows where to find it: in dismantled atomic bombs

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The rivalry between China and the United States is not only freed in markets or The tariffs. It is also played In the field of energy. And, in full rise of artificial intelligence, Donald Trump has decided that the way to ensure abundant and stable electricity for military bases, laboratories and data centers will be through nuclear energy. His plan is as ambitious as controversial. An explosive plan. The Trump administration has sought to quadruple the nuclear production of the country. To do this, the White House wants the new reactors not to depend solely on fresh uranium, but also on recycled fuel from radioactive waste and the military plutonium surplus dismantled eyelets. As Washington Post explainedit is an “national security imperative.” The idea is simple: guarantee a stable supply for the most sensitive infrastructure, from military bases to AI data centers, without depending on the electricity or imported fuels. The recycling now an ally. THE ENERGY DEPARTMENT has identified in its inventories All uranium and useful plutonium to reconvert it in fuel. Among them is the plutonium from dismantled weapons, one of the most dangerous materials on the planet. To make it possible, startups like oklo and curio They work in piroprocessinga method that introduces fuel bars spent on molten salts and uses electricity to separate the usable components. Unlike the chemical processes used in the past, these companies ensure that the technique is safer, more economical and less polluting. In addition, Oklo, backed by Sam Altman, founder of Openai, has announced an investment of almost 1.7 billion dollars in an advanced fuel center in Oak Ridge (Tennessee), the same land where uranium was enriched The Manhattan project Eight decades ago. Only the tip of the iceberg. A couple of months ago, in one of the executive orders signed by Trump forced the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) To complete any reactor license in 18 months, when until now the process could take more than a decade. The White House also ordered to rewrite the rules of radiation exposure, considered “excessively cautious.” The official statement issued in May established specific deadlines: The Army must operate a reactor at a national base before September 2028, and the energy department will have to inaugurate at least one advanced reactor in any of its facilities in 30 months to supply AI data centers. To this is added the release of 20 tons of Haleu (high -rehearsal low enrichment uranium) for new reactors and the intention of signing 20 international nuclear cooperation agreements in the current congress. The depth of the matter. Despite political and business enthusiasm, the scientific community contrasts with reality. Ross Matzkin-Bridger, exassor of the Department of Energy, He pointed out that it is “The same technologies that developed and rejected decades ago”, with the same background problems. The MIT physicist and former secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz, It was more blunt: recycling plutonium of arms not only makes nuclear energy more expensive, but also “threatens to create material that can be used in pumps.” Along the same lines, Matthew Bunn, from Harvard, considers it unrealistic to think that public opinion accepts reprocessing plants that would also require their own waste deposit. And Frank von Hippel, from Princeton, recalled that the US has already abandoned civil recycling at the time of Jimmy Carter, after India used that technology To manufacture your first bomb. Not everything is warnings. For the White House, nuclear recycling is a strategic tool. The official statement insists that AI data centers and military facilities need “Dense energy sources, safe and resistant. ” Also, defenders such as Bradley Williams, from the National Laboratory of Idaho, They argue that using recycled plutonium It could become a need to guarantee sufficient fuel. And startups ensure that new processes include safeguards that prevent reuse of that material for military purposes. The weight of waste. The matter is even broader because the country already accumulates about 90,000 metric tons of fuel spent, stored in containers in active and dismantled plants, According to The Washington Post. Recycling part of that material would relieve a dilemma that has been resolved decades. Meanwhile, the private sector tries to position itself. Oklo signed a contract with Switchdata centers operator, to build modular reactors that contribute up to 12 GW before 2044. The company promises to open its first reactor, Aurorain 2027, although the agreement is not binding and the NRC rejected its previous application in 2022. The idea of ​​recycling is not unique. More countries have found in this method in a way to find a more source without depending on other countries as the case of Francewhich does so through subsidies and strict security measures. For its part, Japan accumulate delays and cost overruns In its Rokkash Plant, which has not yet produced fuels after decades of development. At the opposite end, United Kingdom decided to abandon the idea of ​​recycling. With about 140 tons of stored civil plutonium, he has chosen to immobilize him in a solid and stable way to bury him in a deep geological warehouse in Sellafield. Something similar occurs in Spain, which has reactivated his plan For a deep geological warehouse, planned for 2073, and in the meantime use containers such as Hi-Storm FW for intermediate storage. The contrast is evident: while some countries try to give new life to waste, others bury them forever. Everyone looks for the same: prevent nuclear legacy from becoming an eternal problem. Forecasts. The United States is committed to resuscitating old nuclear recycling technologies to sustain its energy safety and the AI ​​career. The defenders see it as a historical opportunity to reduce foreign dependence and give new use to forgotten materials. Critics fear that the same failures and risks of half a century are repeated. The experience invites prudence: the last reactors connected in the USA, In the Vogtle (Georgia) plantthey arrived seven years late and 17,000 million dollars of extra cost. Image | Oklo and Kelly Michals Xataka | 60 years … Read more

70 years ago the United Kingdom took the most remote islet in the world to frustrate the USSR. Today is a huge headache

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Rockall is a sharp stone in the middle of the Atlantic. Literally. Small, inhospitable, isolated, The islet It seems molded on purpose to repel any human presence. No one lives there and the few adventurers who have challenged the island, tried to spend as long as possible on their surface, have endured as much a month and a half. However and despite all that, Rockall stars in an exciting story that Even today It is marked by the controversy. After all, it has gone from being an important piece for the national defense of Great Britain (and the whole of NATO) to an important economic asset. In a (remote) place of the Atlantic … Throughout the Atlantic there are countless islands, archipelagos and rocks, but few are as inhospitable as Rockalla small rocky promontory of the North Atlantic. He arrives with reviewing a few data to get an idea of ​​to what extent he is isolated and is the last place on the planet in which one would want to spend his vacation. Rockall is among the coasts of Scotland, Ireland and Iceland, hundreds of kilometers from anywhere inhabited. To find houses and population you have to look at 370 kilometers From there, a NORT UISTin the Exterior hebrids (Scotland). “The most isolated rock”. It is not just that Rockall is far from everything. It is directly thought to repel the presence of humans. The islet measures only 25 meters wide and rises 17 m above sea level, which explains that its slope is often shaken by the waves of the Atlantic. There is no one to live there, but the few people who have tried to try their luck have encountered an inclined and rocky surface, a granite block in which there is hardly any space of 3.5 x 1.3 m level enough to stand. In the middle of the last century the British naturalist James Fisher described Rockall as “the little most isolated rock of the oceans of the world.” Even more graphic was a few years ago Lord Kennet, torque and exmarinero than He referred to the islet as the “most desolate, most despair and more horrible” place on the planet. The person who has spent more time on his sharp rocks was the surveyor Nick Hancock, who endured 45 days on its surface. A few years ago a teacher and veteran of the British army wanted ‘Solo’ a month. A rock with an intense story. Given its characteristics, one might think that Rockall is a rocky point without any interest in the middle of the North Atlantic, an islet away from political debate or territorial disputes. Not at all. Its history can go back several centuries agobut he became especially intense in the mid -XX. It was then, at the end of the summer of 1955, to be more precise, when Queen Elizabeth II authorized the annexation of the islet and ordered the British Royal Navy to “take possession of the island.” That same year, Remember the BBC chaina commander reported the successful “conquest” of Rockall. An indomitable island. That episode has already demonstrated how indomitable the rock islet is. The HMS Vidal, a recognition ship by the British Royal Navy, arrived in the area on September 15, 1955, but the sailors It took several days to be able to raise your flag. The reason: the very strong and violent wind gusts. The BBC Slide which was the last territory claimed by the British Empire. Years later, In 1972Parliament voted in favor of incorporating (already formally) Rockall into the United Kingdom, integrating it into the Western Islands of Scotland. But … why? 70 years ago Rockall was the same inhospitable, uninhabited and isolated rock that is today, so why the hell was Great Britain interested in his possession? What was lost there? To understand it you have to keep in mind the complicated geopolitical map of the 50s, In full cold warwhich conferred to Rockall a special value. With the NATO submarines and the USSR patrolling the North Atlantic, its possession became a festive issue. Not just that. Rockall may be isolated from everything, but less than 400 kilometers from there, in the exterior hebrids, London had its first Test field For American guided nuclear missiles. The islet may be hell on Earth, an sharp rock in which it was impossible to live more than a few weeks, but … what if “hostile agents”, as spies at the service of Kremlin, managed to settle in the area to monitor British tests? Beyond the Cold War. The USSR collapsed in the early 90s and London’s priorities in defense became others, but Rockall did not lose interest. Of course: this went from the military strategy to the field of economy and resource management. On the island the geologists identified a special type of granite, but if for something he stood out it was the potential of their marine bed and its waters. They interested their possible oil reserves. And interest (and much) the fishing richness that hid their waters, where rappes are captured, North Gallo, haddock or squid, among other species of high value. The problem is that this wealth not only interested London. He also did Islandia or Ireland. A headache. In 1982 the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Convent) established that rocks without population or economic fabric, as was the case of Rockall, could not be used as a basis for territorial claims. In other words, the islet could no longer be used as ‘key’ to argue the theoretical legitimacy of the United Kingdom over the surrounding waters. However, a Google search arrives to verify that in recent years law and fishing in the area have been a reason for friction With Ireland, Iceland or even Denmarkas representative of the Faroe Islands. The ‘Roces’ of 2019. One of the most tense episodes was lived before the pandemic, in 2019, when Scotland warned the Irish ships on the “illegal” drag fishing that … Read more

The “Tiktok template” marks the way to follow for the rest. It is the formula for Chinese technology to enter the United States

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The agreement of Tiktok For the application to remain in force in the United States It is making begg. It is not for less, because it is in the core of a great Commercial War between the US and China. In addition, it also represents something that goes far beyond the application itself or its operation: it establishes a model that could open the doors to other Chinese technologies to operate in US territory. How Tiktok would survive in the United States. According to the leaks of the Wall Street JournalTiktok will operate in the United States through a new company controlled at 80% by US investors such as Oracle, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz. The remaining 20% ​​will remain in the hands of Bytedance and other previous shareholders. The key is that the US government will have a direct seat in the Board of Directors of the new company. Why is it important. Until now, Chinese technology companies in the United States only had two options: being prohibited or selling completely American competitors. This “Tiktok template”, as Kevin Xu, founder of the Newsletter Interconnected, mentions it, introduce A third way: technological licensing under American majority control. As the expert explains, “this model opens the door for more critical, strategic and advanced technologies to flow from China to the United States.” The real award. Beyond Tiktok, this model could be applied to sectors where China dominates the global supply chain. Let’s think about byd wanting Sell ​​electric cars in the United States, Catl supplying batteries To American manufacturers, or Hesai distributing Lidar systems to robotics. These are technologies where Chinese companies have a considerable technological advantage and are ready to deploy today, while US alternatives could take years to be available on a large scale. The rules of the game. To work, xu Explain That Chinese companies will have to accept staying with a minority and passive participation, renouncing part of the commercial benefits in exchange for the “privilege” of selling in the US market. They must also find the perfect mix of politically related investors and companies with the White House to assemble the company that is responsible for managing the product in the United States. Between the lines. “This was a purely political problem from the beginning, so it could only be resolved with a political solution,” Recognize XU himself after years chasing the case of Tiktok. The analyst explains that neither technology, nor national security, even the laws matter. According to Xu, what works is to identify the most powerful figures and tie them in a network of conflicting but attractive interests that is difficult to reject. And now what. The Tiktok agreement, which Trump He says he will confirm this Friday With Xi Jinping, he could mark the beginning of a new era in technological relations between the two countries. That Tiktok continues in the United States is a decision that will not leave anyone indifferent, both for supporters and detractors. The template is ready, now we need to see who uses it first. In Xataka | The United States and China seem to compete in ia. The reality is that they play completely different sports

Bad Bunny has decided not to take his tour to the United States. And so it has generated 196 million dollars for Puerto Rico

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Bad Bunny is, in all likelihood, The most important Latin artist in the world. And among its most striking characteristics is not only not having renounced its roots, but to show them: we all know that it is Portarriqueño because its music presumes its origin incessantly. And that is what has made him one of the most notable financial assets in his country, despite his international draft. An example. One of his greatest recent successes, ‘Newyol‘, it’s a Dembow that sample a song of Andy Montañez and the great combo of Puerto Ricoimportant Portive interpreters of salsa. His video clip shows scenes of the daily life of the Puerto Rican diaspora in New York and shows the statue of freedom with a country’s flag. The lyrics speak of the portorriqueña identity and its traditions. It is just another example in a discography full of winks, but very notable since THE MEME IN SOCIAL NETWORKS He ran like gunpowder, precisely, among Porician immigrants in the United States. 30 days in Puerto Rico. Aware of his power of convocation (in Spain we have also suffered it with the Deluste Fraticide fighting to get tickets For his concerts), Bad Bunny began a 30 -day residence in San Juan, capital of Puerto Rico, which will end on the 14th day before renauding his world tour of Japan and Europe. He does so to compensate that he has not entered the continental United States (many see it as a sign of protest for anti-immigration policies in the country, the artist does not comment and has described his passage through the country as “unnecessary”). Consequence: It has carapacted the tourism and cultural life of the archipelago. 200,000 visitors. They are those that are estimated that this concert will attract Puerto Rico, and at a time when he needs it: when the fertile summer season has just finished. In a The Wall Street Journal article On the subject, a series of fans of the artist talk about how concerts to travel to Puerto Rico far beyond the mere night of the event. Someone will spend six days on the island; Another is going to spend seven thousand dollars on the trip; And relevant personalities such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, LeBron James, Kylian Mbappé Peélope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Jon Hamm have been seen by concerts, with what he has of media echo and advertising for the island. Money for the people. The Non -Lucrative Association Discover Puerto Rico encrypted in 196 million dollars that this flow of visitors will generate in the island’s economy, which is a considerable impulse and that Bad Bunny is perfectly conscious. First -line artists know that their performances move a very important amount of money not only around concerts themselves, but to everything that implies the experience of attending it (consumption, restaurants, hotels). What artists move. Last year, for example, There was talk of the Swiftnomicsthe economy generated by Taylor Swift in its concerts and that in 2024 came to the United States figures. Specifically, around 10,000 million dollars. Bad Bunny has decided that comparable amounts emphasize in his country of origin, which, he says what he says, gives a very special meaning to his decision to dodge the land of the United States for the second consecutive year. In Xataka | Will Smith’s last concert has resulted in enormous public success. Public made with ia

The abuses have shot in the United States and the main suspect is also an old acquaintance in Europe: the SUV

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25 years ago, cars were more insecure. It is undoubted. Modern vehicles have been filled with radars, sensors and cameras that have turned our cars into authentic technological machines that squeak, stop and even dodge before an obstacle. But mortal abuses have shot in the United States. Every day we see less. And no, they are not your eyes. The study. It has been done by the Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)an independent association that studies road safety on US roads. According to their data, mortal abuses to pedestrians in the United States have shot 37%. And in 42% if we talk about cyclists abuse. It is not a matter of cars being more insecure. On the contrary. Cars are safer than ever. At least for those who travel inside. Because the problem is that every time we see less what we have in front of us. And that, according to the IIHS, explains why this increase. Giant cars. The United States has always been a country of huge cars. In 2021, We already explained in Xataka that some of the best -selling cars in the country could have six children sitting in front and would not see them. One behind the other. Uploaded aboard a Cadillac Escalade, a driver would see only the head (and partially) of the sixth child sitting in the row. Just take a look at the best -selling cars in the United States To verify to what extent their drivers prefer large cars. The best-selling vehicle is the Ford-F Series, a pick-up with a multitude of versions. The second The Silverado Chevrolet (another pick-up) and the third classified is the most “restrained” Toyota Rav4. Of course, they are far from the Dacia Sandero, Renault Clio and Volkswagen Golf that take the first three positions on the list of best selling in Europe. However, little by we continue to go down, among the 10 best -selling cars on our continent we find up to four SUVs. We see less and less. The IIHS has studied What visibility has a driver less than 10 meters around your vehicle and if it has improved or worsened in the last 25 years with the launch of the new generations. And there are bad news: among the three best -selling SUVs in the United States, visibility has worsened considerably. According to his calculations, the driver of a Honda CR-V saw 68% of everything around a 10 meter radius. In your latest generation, you can only observe 28% of what surrounds you. A Ford F-150 does not get much better data. In a quarter of a century it has only lost 7% visibility. The problem is that 25 years ago it was so bad that the driver has gone from seeing 43% to 36%. In Azul, the blind points of one of the cars analyzed Huge blind spots. The problem is that cars have become machines with huge blind spots. The higher the nose, less visibility in short distances. The bigger the car front pillar, the less visibility we have diagonally. And even the rearview is a problem when the size is triggered. This has been measured in the IIHS with 360º cameras located at different heights to represent all the carvings of the drivers. Then, a software performs an average and calculates how far the driver begins to see or how much space is outside his viewing angle. In the upper image, the blue zone is the space that is covered to the driver. In Europe we also know them. Yes, in Europe we also know these cars well. If we take a look at SUV sales 25 years ago we will realize that Just 5% of the market share It was occupied by this type of cars. In 2025 More than half of the cars sold can be put within this category. For a five years, the SUV is the car that sells the most. But, in addition, cars have grown a barbarity in this quarter of a century. There are SUV versions that would seem more than unlikely 25 years ago, such as Toyota Yaris Cross. And the height of the cars has not grown much but their frontal ones have been muscular and are now larger. A BMW X3 measured 4,565 meters in 2004. Today measures 4,755 meters. A danger. Those who suffer the most the consequences of this excessive growth are pedestrians and cyclists. As we said, cars are safer in case of accident. And have a technological arsenal to avoid them, such as the rear camera to which forces the European Union. But lifting the front has very serious consequences in case of accident. In case of shockit is more likely that the pedestrian dies in the accident or that he receives serious injuries such as hip breakage. Also head injuries (if they bounce against the car) are more serious. The studies say That every 10 centimeters that the hood rises, the possibilities of receiving serious injuries increase by 27%. Photo | IIHS In Xataka | At night all pedestrians are brown: the abuse prevention system fails when it is most needed

The most complex nuclear reactor in the world is underway in the United Kingdom. His critics directly call him “a monster”

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Two figures are enough to understand the scope of the British challenge: 38,000 million investment pounds and six million homes fed with nuclear electricity for sixty years. This presents Sizewell C, the center that Downing Street describes as a clean energy and employment engine. His detractors, on the other hand, see it as a financial well and the last attempt to give life to a nuclear design so complex that in France it already call it “the monster.” The crown jewel. The objective of the British government is to double the nuclear capacity of the country by 2050 and guarantee a stable supply of low carbon energy. Sizewell C, With two EPR type reactors (European pressurized reactor), is the key piece of that strategy. According to the BBCthe project is the successor of Hinkley Point C, in Somerset, which accumulates a decade of delays and a runaway cost: more than 18,000 million pounds planned in 2010 to about 46,000 million today. Minister Rachel Reeves declared The Guardian that investment is “a powerful support to the United Kingdom as the best place to do business and as a global center of nuclear energy.” Instead, Henri Proglio, former director of the French electric EDF – developmentator of the project -, assured the Financial Times that the reactor design is “scary” and “almost impossible to build.” Faced opinions. The detractors have it clear. Proglio describes it as “a machine with more reinforcement rods than concrete.” Another engineer, Also cited in the FThe spoke of a “colossal error.” And Greenpeace warned the BBC That this time will be taxpayers, not EDF, who pay the inevitable cost overruns. But there are also moderate voices. Tony Roulstone, Professor of Cambridge and exejecutive of Rolls-Royce, declared to FT That Sizewell could be ready “one or two years before Hinkley” and cost 20 % less. Thanks to the fact that much of the design is already tested since the supply chain was consolidated in Somerset. There are already works in Suffolk. The project is not just paper. In Suffolk, 1,700 operators are already working in preliminary works, According to the Financial Times. The first one: a perimeter wall 55 meters deep and 3 kilometers long to drain the marsh before placing the foundations. In addition, Hinkley errors will be avoided. This time the concrete structures will be pregnant in workshops and not in the work, which should accelerate the deadlines. Even so, the official calendar – entered into operation in the middle or end of the 2030s – raises doubts. Flamanville, in France, and Hinkley have shown that deadlines in projects of this type are usually wet paper, As Critica Nils Pratley in his column for The Guardian. It is very complex. It is more complex than it seems to the naked eye. EPR are nuclear reactors of generation III+, the result of Franco-German collaboration between EDF and Siemens. According to World Nuclear Associationare designed to offer a net electrical power of between 1,600 and 1,650 MW, although they can reach 1,770 MW. In addition, they incorporate advanced security measures: double containment, four independent cooling systems, a Core Catcher to catch the nucleus in case of merger, and structural capacity to resist impacts and earthquakes, in addition to diesel generators and backup batteries that guarantee operability to multiple failures. They also stand out for greater energy efficiencyconsuming up to 17% less fuel than old reactors and producing up to 14% more energy. All this with a projected life of 60 years. This technical complexity is, at the same time, a strength in terms of safety and efficiency, and a challenge for the delays and costs that it has shown in its construction. The invoice reaches the British pocket. The cost of the central already exceeds twice the first estimates, According to BBC. The majority (36.6 billion) will be covered with public debt through the National Fund of Wealth. While the financing is distributed among the State (the largest shareholder with 44.9%), followed by the Canadian Caisse (20%), Centrica (15%), EDF (12.5%) and Amber Infrastructure (7.6%). The great novelty is the “Regulated Assets Base” model (Rab) in which households will begin to pay £ 1 per month in their electrical invoices for at least a decade, Julia Pyke explained to the BBC. This scheme mainly protects investors, As Nils Pratley recalled in The GuardianCentrica ensures returns of more than 10% even if the costs reach 47.7 billion pounds; Any excess will be assumed by taxpayers. France already tried. Although with problems. The first French EPR reactor, Flamanville 3, in Normandy, connected to the network In December 2024 after 12 years of delays and with a final cost of € 13.2 billion, four times budgeted. As explained in Financial Timesthe French experience forced to redesign the concept, so EDF no longer prioritizes the EPR, but the EPR2, a simplified and cheaper version that hopes to build in six units here to 2038. Meanwhile, in China they have shown that its Taishan center that has operated for years with an EPR of 1.75 GW, is one of the most powerful reactors in the world. A continent that turns nuclear. The British bet arrives in a contradictory European context. Germany He closed his last central in 2023 and Spain plans to close them in 2027. France, on the contrary, Maintain nuclear as a pillar (70 % of its electricity) and accelerates new EPR2 projects. The board moves: under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Germany has stopped blocking France and accepts that the nuclear receives the same treatment as renewables in EU legislation. The agreement includes giving “green” status to pink hydrogen and opens the door to European financing, although Austria continues against and countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands reevaluate their policies. In the midst of this continental debate, the United Kingdom, outside the EU, advances alone with Sizewell C: an EPR that even EDF has relegated in favor of the EPR2, while in Europe the SMR and nuclear fusion gain space. … Read more

Intel has gone from mastering the world to being a forced partner of the United States. They are bad news for Europe

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Intel has just sold 10% of your company to the United States government for 8,900 million dollars. The operation confirms what many suspected: the most iconic chips manufacturer in the world can no longer survive without state help. The panoramic. For three decades, the ‘Intel Inside’ stickers glued to millions of computers symbolized US domain in semiconductors. Intel and Microsoft created The era “wintel” that defined personal computing. In 2009, the Obama administration even presented antitrust charges against Intel for its dominant position. Today, the company is worth 108,000 million dollars while Nvidia, its former subordinated, reaches 4.3 billion. What has happened. Last Friday, Donald Trump announced that the United States acquired 10% Intel in exchange for promised funds under the CHIPS ACT They never arrived. It is not technically a rescue, but it looks a lot. Trump sold it as a big business: “I paid zero for Intel, it is worth approximately 11,000 million dollars” (capital letters are yours). The reality is more complex: Intel had been waiting for those 8.9 billion already committed by the previous administration for months. The company desperately needed money: Its foundry division lost $ 13.4 billion last year. He has fired between 8,000 and 10,900 workers. And the most worrying: not even Intel’s own product teams want to use their factories, preferring that TSMC manufactures their chips. Why is it important. This operation marks a turning point on three critical fronts: For Intel, It means losing business autonomy. 76% of their income comes from abroad, with China representing 29%. Now each decision will be under the political scrutiny of his government. As the company itself warns in regulatory documentsthis could “cause adverse reactions of investors, employees, clients, suppliers, foreign or competitors.” For the United Statesrepresents the return of state capitalism in technology. It is the first direct government intervention in a company from the rescue of the 2008 automobile industry. Trump has already suggested that there will be more: “I will make agreements like this for our country constantly.” For Europethis is especially worrying. The European Union partially depends on Intel for its ambitions of technological sovereignty in semiconductors. If the largest Western chips becomes an instrument of American industrial policy, Europe is in an even more vulnerable position against Asia. The Trump government has already asked TSMC to help rescue Intel factories. Also He took a “golden action” in Nippon Steel and Plan to stay with part of the sales that Nvidia and AMD make to China. The message is clear: the semiconductor industry is now a national security issue. Between the lines. Intel’s fundamental problem is not solved with public money: Intel failed in smartphones when he rejected to make chips for the first iPhone. He was late to AI while Nvidia was ahead. And he lost his leadership in manufacturing against TSMC, which not only has better technology but A superior business model As a pure foundry. As pointed out Intel’s CEO himself, Lip-bu Tan, “twenty or thirty years ago we were leaders. Now the world has changed. We are not among the ten main semiconductor companies.” Its survival depends on the success of the 18A manufacturing nodehis latest technological commitment. And now what. Intel is now a company supported by the State, something that its own managers warned could scare customers. Meanwhile, Trump promises more similar agreementseven suggesting the creation of an American sovereign fund with participations in technology companies. For competitors, this creates a scenario of unfair competition: AMD, Qualcomm and other companies now compete against a rival that has the US government as the main shareholder, with all that that implies in terms of government contracts and political decisions. Senator Rand Paul He summarized it With irony: “If socialism is the Government possessing the means of production, wouldn’t the government be having part of Intel a step towards socialism?” Paradoxically, Bernie Sanders, a declared socialist, applauded the measure. Intel went from being the symbol of American technological capitalism to become his first large semi-nationalized company of the 21st century. For Europe, which struggles not to be behind the technological career, it is an alarm signal: the era of the free market in semiconductors is over. In Xataka | Intel’s fall symbolizes the end of an era: the model that dominated technology for 50 years has died Outstanding image | Xataka

A United Kingdom restaurant makes history with its first water letter. Free tap water also serves

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If we look for the definition of a sommelier, the RAE It presents us with the following: “Wine expert and liquors who, in large hotels, restaurants, etc., suggests customers the appropriate drink for the occasion.” Do not go to the SAR: Wikipedia It says the same. We understand by sommelier, or Sommelier, an expert in pairing who knows which wine fits better with different dishes. Amazon even has a ‘telesumillers’ servicebut there may soon be a new meaning for Sommelier: Water expert. In 2011 the Water sommelier uniona professional and international association that was born in Germany and that appeared with a single purpose: to promote the professional, training and economic interests of water sommeliers to defend the culture of mineral water. It is not the only one that exists, since there is also the Doemens Academy In Germany or the Fine Water Academy In the United States, as well as some associations in countries such as Italy or China. And, in the same way that there is a wine letter in some restaurants, the objective of these water experts is that there are unique premises for a very specific reason. A select water letter. Wine letter … and waters Doemens is very clear that “Not all waters are the same”And, apart from giving training in German, English and Mandarin, in 2024 they began to form Sumillers in Spanish. Describe The task of the sommelier of water such as “disseminating and providing knowledge about the quality, characteristics, variety of brands and the value of excellent mineral waters.” Although it is a minority, in the international panorama, profiles such as Martin Riese, the first ‘Sommelier’ Certificate of the United States, but also the British Doran Binder begin to flour. Binder, with a very active profile in Instagramwhere he has more than 55,000 followers, he is a sommelier who supplied the water of his brand -crag spring water- to the British restaurant The Popote. It is a French -style restaurant that is in the Micheli GuideNY in which they have a letter with about 140 varieties of wine. At some point a few years ago, and as they expose in CNNBinder approached the owners of the Popote to propose something: a menu of water. At first, they thought “It was a ridiculous idea”but they changed their minds when they attended a water tasting. Of that “ridiculous idea”, the owners went to “the water is not just water.” The tasting was similar to what is done with beer or wine. First, they tested about six varieties, but then made a second tasting with the same waters, but accompanied by food such as Manchego cheese, comte, chocolate, olives or parma ham. That’s when they realized that the taste “changed” and that they appreciated that certain waters married better with certain foods. Convinced, they let Binder devise the menu, becoming the first in the United Kingdom to have a Water letter which offers its product (five pounds per bottle) up to 19 pounds, about 25 euros, for The Palace of Lifego, a gas with gas from Portugal. There are also Spanish, Italian and French waters. Binder with your water letter Ok, very good, but … what are you selling me? According to Binder, the water key is TDS, or dissolved total solitos. In the statements to CNN, “the measure of minerals is what determines the flavor and taste. The destined water has a zero TDS.”It is fantastic for cleaning windows and for the carbut lousy for humans, ”he said. The range it offers in the restaurant goes from the 14 TDS of the mineral water with Lauretana gas to the 3,300 of Vichy Celastins. The Vichy Catalan, which is another product that is usually seen in waters, It has about 2,900 TDS. At the opposite, sea would be between 30,000 and 40,000 TDS. From Spain we have ’22’ that is soft in the mouth, with a delicate profile And it is, as with wine, to extol the taste of everything. If the French water they serve is “quite salty, you have to combine it with something that is saved, like a parma ham, and both are balanced. So, the water no longer knows salty and what remains is a more durable flavor of the ham in the mouth,” says Joseph Rawlins, owner of the Popote. Eye, they also have tap water as courtesy. I imagine that it will be equivalent to Ask for a torrefact in a specialty cafeteria. Apart from this, in a context in which Alcohol consumption is decreasinghaving “gurmet” options of without alcohol is something that makes all the meaning. How to serve the water In the end, it is what is sought when you seek to exalize flavors mixing elements that seem not to stick, such as salt chocolate, for example. If we want to do this at home, there are tricks. Joanna Vallejo It is a wine sommelier that has also specialized in the water and has offered some tips To enjoy at home a better experience when enjoying water and rest of food: Read the label to find the origin. If you drink wine, accompany the glass of a glass of quality with gas, since that acidity point will make the flavors of the wine are enhanced. Use correct water. For example, for spicy or acids, use gas with gas. For softer foods such as salads or fish, waters with less minerals. And for more forceful meat or food, water with a higher mineral profile. Do not put ice in the glass because what you will do will be the same thing that happens with coffee: to await and mix a high profile water with another that is from the tap (no matter how good some are). And the most important thing about this (because, like me, you have raised an eyebrow thinking that now you will have to wear a monocle every time you are hot and drink a glass of water): Joanna herself comments that It … Read more

Huawei says that it has resolved a technological challenge that will trigger China’s competitiveness in the United States

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In the field of hardware development for artificial intelligence (AI) China is advancing with the hand brake. The impossibility of accessing equipment extreme ultraviolet photolithography (UVE) that designs and manufactures the Dutch company ASML prevents Chinese chip manufacturers Produce GPU for comparable to the most advanced that manufacture NVIDIA, AMD or brains, among other western alignment companies. In addition, for the moment the Chinese chips manufacturers They are not producing solutions capable of competing with the most advanced memories manufactured by South Korean companies Samsung and SK Hynix, or the American Micron Technology. GPUs for Ia work side by side with HBM memory chips (High Bandwidth Memory). In fact, its performance is largely conditioned by these memories. As the editors of SEMIANALYSISthe total bandwidth of the HBM3 memory chips that live with some of THE GPU FOR THE MOST ADVANCED Nvidia or AMD exceeds 819 GB/s, while DDR5 and GDDR6X memories reach much more modest 70.4 GB/Sy 96 GB/s. HBM3E memories and future HBM4 are even better. Chinese manufacturers of this type of chips do not yet produce this kind of memoirs, but a filtration ensures that Huawei will change this scenario today. Huawei plans to give China the impulse it needs in the memoirs According to SCMPthe Chinese state medium Securities Times has revealed that Huawei is about to present a technological advance that seeks to reduce China dependence on HBM memory chips from abroad. According to this source Huawei will officially announce its technological milestone within a few hours, during the celebration in Shanghai (China) of the Application Forum and Development of Reasoning of Financial 2025. In a HBM3E stack the XPU and the HBM memory are linked through more than 1,000 drivers At the moment we do not know anything else, but it is reasonable to anticipate that what Huawei will produce your HBM3 and 3E memories. And it is that manufacturing these integrated circuits is complex because they require stacking several DRAM chips and implementing an interface between the XPU (Extended Processing Unit) or extended processing unit and extraordinarily dense HBM chips. As a button shows: in a HBM3E stack the XPU and the HBM memory are linked through more than 1,000 drivers. SK Hynix, Samsung and Micron are manufacturing on a large scale, although with different success12 -layer HBM3E memories. The two South Korean firms will produce large -scale HBM4 chips during the second semester of 2025, and Micron will do so in 2026. However, CXMT (Changxin Memory Technologies), one of the Chinese companies specialized in the production of memoirs, will launch Your first HBM3E chips in 2027. SK Hynix leads the HBM memories market with a shocking authority. Your market share Broken 70%so that the remaining 30% are distributed by Samsung and Micron Technology. Behind them they step stronger and louder the Chinese chips manufacturers of Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC) and CXMT, who have chosen to compete in this attractive market deploying a very aggressive price policy. CXMT in particular has increased its production capacity of DRAM chips almost five times during the last four years, which has allowed it to increase its global market share Until a very worthy 9%. More information | SCMP In Xataka | Chinese memory chips manufacturers are a nightmare for the US and South Korea. There is a lot at play

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