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Altona:

Witan interviews with candidates for Monarch continue---Funeral For King Gottschalk will be on Friday---King's Heavy Cavalry to escort body to Kaiserplaza


END OF FOSSIL FUEL RELIANCE
With the first of a planned network of nuclear power stations to be "Turned on" this Friday it marks the time when the Kingdom's energy production will not be provided by fossil fuels. Currently the nation gains its electric from the coal powered Kemp Forest network of power stations however with the spectre of fossil fuels becoming harder to obtain in the long term a decision was made in the 1990's to begin moving towards more sustainable projects. The Franz Plateau Power Station will go live on Friday and will produce enough power to cover the vast majority of the Northern part of the city. In total around six other reactors are due online over the next four years. The nuclear power stations will also be supplemented by wind turbines built out in the remote eastern part of the nation close to the border with Lakhozvia.

The hope is that by the end of 2025 the nation will be able to generate all its electricity by non fussil fuels means. It is also hoped that this will leave the nation with a surplus of energy which could in theory at least be connected to the Lakhzovian or Eskdale power grids and sold to help supplement the cost of power within Altona. 

Altona:

Navy to test new missile on Monday---Duke Hans Muller to sell family estate amid bankruptcy---Altona "too small" for Mundus Games Bid---Beach Art Festival gets headline superstar


KING'S FUNERAL GOES ACCORDING TO PLAN
The funeral of King Gottschalk went ahead on Friday and went as smoothly as could be expected. The King died on the 1st June 2021 after battling liver disease for several months. The funeral procession left Kaiserplaza and made its way through several districts of the city before reaching the Temple of Sigyn. There the King's body was placed on a ceremonial pyre by members of the King's Heavy Cavalry. Prayers were said by the Wildhüter as members of the family placed items on the pyre to accompany the King. King Gottschalk's widow, Queen Agatha, placed leather saddlebags on the fire while his two sons placed a bow and a spear, Princess Constance placed a saddle on the fire. It is believed by the faithful that for the next seven days the spirit of King Gottschalk will be hunted by the Goddess Sigyn, should the King's spirit escape her then he will be permitted into paradise. The widowed Queen asked for the nation to pray for the spirit of her husband to remain uncaptured. Following the ceremony the Queen handed both her own and her late husbands crown into the keeping of the commander of the King's Heavy Cavalry. This marks the beginning of the process to elect the new monarch.

Over the next five days the members of the military who are serving by choice are casting their votes for which of Gottschalk's three children will succeed him. Should the vote be tied then it will fall to General Viktor Bertram to cast the determining vote. Until that time General Bertram and his men will guard the two crowns which will be on display to the public who visit Kaiserplaza. On Saturday the 26th of June the Witan's youngest sitting member will announce the election result and then Queen Agatha will crown the successor, from that point on she will assume the title of The Royal Lady.

Altona:

Missile test "semi effective"---East Moreland's R.E.M close out Beach Art Festival---Sobendieken SC seal $35million deal for young striker---Franz Plateau Power Station reaches 10% capacity


LONG LIVE KING RUTGER
Voting has now closed for the position of monarch of Altona. The voting was between the three children of the recently deceased King Gottschalk and as tradition dictates only those who have served in the military under voluntary terms were permitted to vote. With the final results collected and verified by the Witan it was announced by General Bertram, the commanding officer of the monarchs bodyguard, the King's Heavy Cavalry, that the youngest son and middle child of King Gottschalk was the winner. General Bertram officially announced the results from the steps of the Witan's building in Kaiserplatz.

Prince Rutger earned just over 40% of the vote and will be coronated next weekend. During the same ceremony his wife will be crowned Queen. Additionally his siblings Prince Lukas and Princess Constance will be expected to swear public oaths of loyalty to their brother in his new position as King. The 38 year old was very vocal in his televised interviews with the Witan in pushing for the Kingdom to take a larger part in regional politics and promoting closer ties with neighbours in the region. It is yet unknown whether the new King will immediately begin processes to join the various organisations he discussed such as MICA and the Council of Illumic Nations.

Traditionally any siblings who have been defeated in an election are assigned positions within the new monarchs administration. As of yet only Prince Lukas has spoken to the press about his future. Speaking from his home in The Hunting Palace Prince Lukas has stated. "I am naturally saddened that I have not been elected King. I believed I was a strong choice but I also believe my brother and sister could be equally as strong. I have spoken with my brother to pass on my congratulations and best wishes. During our conversation I have stated that I wished to retain my position as a commissioned officer within the Parachute Regiment. I am grateful that he has granted my request with a slight provision that I undertake a few special duties on his behalf. These will be confirmed in the coming days as my new King see's fit. Regardless of who you voted for or wished to win it is now vital we show support to the newly elected King as he leads us towards the future. Long Live King Rutger."

Altona:

King Rutger to support East Moreland winter games bid - Baumstadt project unveiled to public - Two Wildhüter arrested for "immorality"


AES BURN PLASMA
Altonan Electrical Syndicate (AES), the nations leading developer of nuclear energy, has today confirmed that it has achieved a key milestone in creating nuclear fusion. The process of nuclear fusion would, if successful, produce an endless supply of clean energy could produce four million times more energy than a chemical reaction such as the burning of coal, oil or gas and four times as much as nuclear fission reactions. As such AES have been experimenting with technology for several decades in an attempt to create the reaction that would effectively allow the process to replace all other forms of power station. Currently the process can be achieved but requires a huge amount of external energy to create, the aim is of course to create a reaction that would produce more energy than needed to start it and would be self sustaining. For this to be achieved a key milestone is a process known as "Burning Plasma" which is where the output exceeds the input of energy. THis was achieved today by AES at their test facility of Hereven when for a split second the process was achieved. Speaking of the test Professor Thibaun who runs the facility said "Experiments over decades have produced fusion reactions using large amounts of 'external' heating to get the plasma hot - now, for the first time, we have a system where the fusion itself is providing most of the heating. This is a key milestone on the way to even higher levels of fusion performance."

The technology however is still far from being usable as a means of energy production as Professor Thibaun explained. "Even when burning plasma is achieved, energy is still lost from the process. But this is one of the last remaining milestones before AES's bigger goal of "ignition" and self-sustaining energy production. The biggest obstacle is managing this on a scale where the reaction once began can be self sustaining as at present to control it the size of the initial set up is too small to be continuous."

AES have begun promoting their work in nuclear energy globally having secured contracts with Lijiang and interest from several other countries. Professor Thibaun said, "It is our dream to make AES the go to for clean energy. We have made great strides in promoting green nuclear energy and if we can achieve true fusion then we will be I believe the global leader in all energy production. Currently I believe we are about 70% the way towards creating ignition.

Altona:

MICA news expected soon---Lijiang powerplat construction "going well"---Rutger to visit Hassfurt in coming weeks.


NUCLEAR MERCHANT SHIP BEGINS CONSTRUCTION
The MV Atom has begun construction in Arcaibh and will be among one of the first nuclear powered merchant ships to enter regular service. The vessel is being constructed by respected ship builders in the Celtic nation and a team from the Altonan Electrical Syndicate (AES) will travel there to complete the installation of a small small molten salt reactor which will provide the energy to power the ship. The move is the first partnership between the two parties and it is hoped will mark the beginning of a long term relationship. "We have been considering this move for a while." The AES spokesman stated, "We however were looking for a party with excellent reputations for ship manufacture and we saw an opportunity with Arcaibh. We hope to eventually see a large fleet of nuclear powered civilian vessels, the worth of military ones has long been established but as the world tries to ween itself off oil alternatives need to be sought. The recent oil spill will we hope be the thing of the past if we can complete this successfully. Naturally around the world people may be wary of safety but in many years of military nuclear shipping we have seen no incidents of the propulsion systems causing environmental damage."

One obstacle may be the MAEA which the AES spokesman recognised. "We may have to look at almost a system of two fleets, one flagged in a MAEA nation and one in the non-MAEA nations. We would have to see what stance nations we hope will become firm trading partners such as East Moreland would take on a non-MAEA flagged vessel entering their nation." It is suspected that there is nothing in the MAEA that would stop a nuclear powered vessel stopping in a MAEA nation even if flagged from a non-member as most maritime laws that already exist would cover the necessary inspections etc. This however is something that would need to be tested in reality.

Prince Lukas is expected to act as a kind of royal liaison on the construction project which he hailed as a "positive step towards a time when oil spills like those near Dauntel are a thing of the past. Even the most standard ship operations see large amounts of engine oil leak into the bilge and from there into the ocean. By removing a traditional engine that guzzles oil based fuels we can ensure this is cut and thus be better for the environment. One day I believe that majority of merchant shipping could be powered by small nuclear reactors and it is great to see AES at the forefront of this."

It is also understood that AES are holding talks with several other nations regarding "unrelated but complimentary" projects however the company would not reveal whether this was the case or who the nations involved are.

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