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EDITOR’S VIEW
Memorials to Tomorrow
A bridge over the Rock River in Beloit, Wisconsin, is one example of companies and communities collaborating to transform remembrance into renaissance.
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This graph shows the global average of revenue forgone attributable to tax expenditures from 1990 through 2022.
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Administered by the Council on Economic Policies and the German Institute of Development and Sustainability, the Tax Expenditures Lab does exactly what its name implies, providing “worldwide information on preferential tax treatments such as exemptions, deductions, credits, deferrals and reduced tax rates.” The database covers 34 years, with 109 countries reporting data from such expenditures and 109 other countries not reporting them at all.
The Lab also produces Tax Expenditures Transparency Index (GTETI), ranking countries “according to the regularity, quality, and scope” of their tax expenditures (TE) reports. South Korea tops that ranking, followed by Canada and the Netherlands. According to the Lab, “the global average of revenue forgone due to TEs among the 106 countries that publish such data is 3.8% of GDP and 23% of tax revenue over the 1990-2021 period. In some countries, such as Czechia, Finland, Jordan and the Netherlands, revenue forgone from TEs can amount to 10% of GDP or more.”
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This fall, SKB, the agency in charge of managing Sweden’s nuclear waste, will begin work to expand the Final Repository for Short-lived Radioactive Waste (SFR) in Forsmark, where one of the country’s major nuclear power plants is located.
Photo-rendering courtesy of SKB
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The Nuclear Energy Agency’s 2024 second annual Roadmaps to New Nuclear conference to be held in September in Paris, France, will “launch work to address the key challenges for nuclear new build, particularly financing, human resources and supply chain issues,” in the pursuit of net zero emissions, says the NEA. Swedish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy, Business and Industry Ebba Busch will co-chair the event.
“Sweden’s recently announced plans for the expansion of its nuclear fleet position them as an ideal partner to lead this conference,” said NEA Director-General William D. Magwood, IV, in a press release last week. “Achieving our climate targets will require massive electrification,” said Busch. “Therefore, a robust, stable and fossil-free electricity system is essential, and nuclear energy is the main fossil-free source of energy that can provide power where it is needed, when it is needed 24/7.” The Swedish government last year changed its goal of 100% renewable power by 2040 to 100% fossil-free in order to allow for nuclear power expansion.
The possibilities for new nuclear were front and center in Joe Hines’ analysis of data centers in Site Selection’s July issue. There is also potential for small nuclear to meet the needs of district heating (see Finland story above) and low-temperature industrial applications, reports Finnish R&D firm VTT, whose spin-off company Steady Energy is exploring such applications for its LDR-50 small modular reactor.
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NEA Director-General William D. Magwood, IV
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Swedish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy, Business and Industry Ebba BuscH
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Photo courtesy of Spaceport America Cup
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The 2024 Spaceport America Cup competition took place at Spaceport America in New Mexico last month with 6,153 collegiate rocketeers participating on 162 teams (66 of them from abroad) representing 35 states and 19 foreign countries. The team from University of Maryland was the overall winner, with Istanbul Technical University in Turkey the runner-up.
Spaceport America, separated from White Sands Missile Range by the Jornada Mountain Range, is located between the cities of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Tenants at the complex include Virgin Galactic, HAPSMobile/AeroVironment, UP Aerospace and SpinLaunch.
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