Beijing’s periodic threats of export controls on rare earths and other critical minerals are framed by economic geologist Dr Nicholas Vafeas as a “decoy effect” masking its real tactic of state-backed oversupply in lithium, cobalt, nickel and midstream refining. By expanding processing capacity in China and overseas, from Indonesian nickel projects to domestic rare earth separation hubs, Beijing can push prices below Western operating costs, deterring private finance for multi‑billion‑dollar refineries. Vafeas argues Western responses must shift from upstream grants to long-term offtake guarantees, price floors and aggressive retention of refined metals already within allied economies.

Trump’s Department of Energy has issued an emergency order compelling Tri-State, Platte River Power Authority, Salt River Project, PacifiCorp and Xcel’s Public Service Company of Colorado to keep Craig Station Unit 1 available for dispatch by the Southwest Power Pool, despite its planned closure at end‑2025. The directive, in force until 26 September, follows two earlier emergency orders in December 2025 and March 2026 and comes as DOE cites 17 GW of coal capacity retained in 2025. NERC’s 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment flags the WECC‑Rocky Mountain region’s ageing thermal fleet and supply-chain constraints as key outage risks.

Regulator says additional scrutiny was not required over Hinkley Point C bullying concerns, rejecting an MP’s claim that oversight of the 3.2GW EPR nuclear project in Somerset had been intensified because of workplace culture issues. The Office for Nuclear Regulation maintains that its existing safety and quality assurance regime for Hinkley Point C, including routine inspections of civil works and nuclear island construction, was sufficient without a specific bullying-related intervention. For contractors and designers on UK nuclear sites, the dispute signals that behavioural and HR concerns will be managed largely through existing licence conditions rather than separate technical scrutiny.