A California-based company with ties to billionaire investor and Trump ally Peter Thiel announced plans Friday to build America’s first U.S.-owned, privately developed facility to enrich uranium in far western Kentucky.

In an email sent to WKMS, General Matter said that the company intends to make a “historic investment in American nuclear infrastructure” by restoring a shuttered facility in Paducah. The gaseous diffusion plant in McCracken County, which ceased operations in 2013, was built by the U.S. government in the 1950s to bolster national defense efforts – and later to generate fuel for nuclear power plants.

Oh wow, good to see California and Kentucky working so closely together these days on so many important things.

Massie, Khanna hammer Republican leadership for thwarting Epstein transparency push

It just goes to show that no matter who you are, Republican or Democrat, Conservative or Liberal, we can all come together over as recipients of Thiel money Americans.

  • cecilkorik@lemmy.ca
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    14 days ago

    Oh yes, lets give the billionaires access to nukes, that sounds safe, I’m sure we can trust them.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      13 days ago

      Why do all y’all jump to nukes with this story!? He clearly wants more power for his AI schemes. No conspiracy, the motivation is simple.

      U235 enrichment:

      Power plant: 3-5%.

      Weapons grade: 90%+

      Even a bugfuck administration like Trump’s isn’t going to allow private enterprise to produce weapons-grade fissile material without serious fucking oversight and total control over every step. Why would any government give up their most powerful weapons?

      On top of that, it takes hella tech to assemble a thermonuclear weapon. Every government that has a solid intelligence apparatus tracks the tools, scientists and materials involved. An atom bomb is not a hydrogen bomb, not by an order of magnitude, and you can’t exactly hide the means for rolling your own Little Boy.

      Not trying to bag on you OP, just feel like I’m taking crazy pills when we think a billionaire could get access to nukes.

  • reddig33@lemmy.world
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    14 days ago

    I won’t be surprised when some of this uranium mysteriously goes missing and then no one is held accountable.

  • shalafi@lemmy.world
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    13 days ago

    Thiel is all-in an AI. AI requires monstrous amounts of power. Nothing to see here.

    I can’t stop these animals from pursuing AI, but I’m happy they’re going all out for nuclear power. Anything but fossil fuels is a win in my book.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      13 days ago

      Ever read Clancy’s The Sum of all Fears? Even having obfuscated some facts, building a nuke is simply impossible without every intelligence agency on Earth knowing about it.

      Terrorists dropping a “fizzle” on the Super Bowl required many narrative acrobatics. 1,532 things had to go wrong for them to slip that through. And it still fizzled.

    • Basic Glitch@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      14 days ago

      I fucking hate this guy, but I don’t want him to become a martyr. Somebody should dissolve his companies, take all his money and resources, and leave him penniless.

      • WildPalmTree@lemmy.world
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        12 days ago

        Martyr for what? You have to deeply stand for something very popular (amongst a group of people with beliefs) that is very unpopular with another group. Of all the people in the world, Peter is not running the risc of becoming a martyr - dead or alive.

        I see this mistake as a comment more and more often. I’m not saying anything on him remaining alive or not; that’s a completely different set of questions.

        • Basic Glitch@sh.itjust.worksOP
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          12 days ago

          I just mean victimhood is usually the go to for far right assholes, especially the ultra wealthy ones who have the money and influence to spin the truth into whatever they want. Like you leave them no choice but to be even more evil the next time.

          I could totally see whoever comes in his footsteps saying some shit like, “You saw what they did to Thiel. I had to crack down to protect myself.”

    • real_squids@sopuli.xyz
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      14 days ago

      Because there’s one more enrichment facility, this time owned backed by a shithead? Come on

      • halowpeano@lemmy.world
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        14 days ago

        Because there’s zero chance a private company will not cut corners and poison the surrounding area for a few million years.