title: Opuntia ficus-indica

text: "O. ficus-indica" is sensitive to lack of oxygen in the root zone, requiring well-drained soils. It is similar to crassulacean acid metabolism species, which are not salt-tolerant in their root zone, and growth may cease under high salt concentration. "O. ficus-indica" usually grows in regions where relative humidity is above 60%, and saturation deficit occurs. It is absent in regions where less than 40% humidity occurs for more than a month. Mean daily temperature required to develop is at least 1.5–2.0 °C. At −10 to −12 °C, prickly pear growth is inhibited even if it is exposed to these temperatures only for a few minutes. The maximum temperature limit of prickly pear is above 50 °C.


title: Opuntia ficus-indica

text: As the fruits of "O. ficus-indica" are delicate, they need to be carefully harvested by hand. The small spines on the fruits are removed by rubbing them on an abrasive surface or sweeping them through the grass. Before consumption, they are peeled.


title: Opuntia ficus-indica

text: The pads of the plant (mainly used as fodder) also must be harvested by hand. The pads are cut with a knife, detaching the pad from the plant in the joint. If "O. ficus-indica" is cultivated for forage production, spineless cultivars are preferred, but wild plants are also used as fodder. In these cases, the spines must be removed from the pads to avoid animal damage. Primarily, this is achieved by burning the spines off the pads.


title: Opuntia ficus-indica

text: "O. ficus-indica" for human and animal consumption is valuable for its water content in an arid environment, containing about 85% water as a water source for wildlife. The seeds contain 3–10% protein and 6–13% of fatty acids, mainly linoleic acid. However, the seeds contained in the fruits can be unpleasant to chew because of their hardness and can lead to constipation. For this reason, some agronomic studies in Italy and Mexico have focused on decreasing the seed content of "Opuntia ficus-indica" fruits.


title: Opuntia ficus-indica

text: As the fruit contains vitamin C (containing 25–30 mg per 100 g), it was once used to mitigate scurvy. "Opuntia" contains selenium.


title: Opuntia ficus-indica

text: The red color of the fruit and juice is due to betalains, (betanin and indicaxanthin). The plant also contains flavonoids, such as quercetin, isorhamnetin, and kaempferol.


title: Opuntia ficus-indica

text: DNA analysis indicated "O. ficus-indica" was domesticated from "Opuntia" species native to central Mexico. The Codex Mendoza, and other early sources, show "Opuntia" cladodes, as well as cochineal dye (which must be cultivated on "Opuntia"), in Aztec tribute rolls. The plant spread to many parts of the Americas in pre-Columbian times. Since Columbus, it has spread to many parts of the world, especially the Mediterranean, where it has become naturalized.


title: Last Days (2005 film)

text: Last Days is a 2005 American drama film directed, produced and written by Gus Van Sant. It is a fictionalized account of the last days of a musician, loosely based on Kurt Cobain. It was released to theaters in the United States on July 22, 2005 and was produced by HBO. The film stars Michael Pitt as the character Blake, based on Cobain. Lukas Haas, Asia Argento, Scott Patrick Green and Thadeus A. Thomas also star in the film. This is the first film from Picturehouse, a joint venture between Time Warner's New Line Cinema and HBO Films subsidiaries to release art house, independent, foreign, and documentary films. The film received mixed reviews from critics.


title: Last Days (2005 film)

text: A young musician named Blake sneaks out of a rehab clinic and walks home through a forest, also swimming through a lake then lighting a fire for the night. The next day, he gets home and changes his clothes. He walks around in the house with a shotgun pointing it at his sleeping roommates Scott, Luke, Asia, and Nicole. He is greeted by Yellow Pages representative Thadeus A. Thomas who talks to him about placing an ad in the upcoming book. He receives a phone call from his record company telling him that he and his band have to do another tour and that it is important they make the booked dates, but Blake hangs up. He goes upstairs and falls asleep on the floor in one of the rooms. Asia awakes and finds him asleep as two LDS missionaries arrive at the door. Scott and Luke answer the door and the two missionaries talk to them about their church and its teachings. Blake changes into different clothes and leaves the house for the shed outside as the missionaries leave.


title: Last Days (2005 film)

text: Scott, Luke, Asia, and Nicole leave and Blake goes back into the house. His friend Donovan and a private detective come to the house and Blake leaves as they look around the house for him. He waits for them to leave before he enters the house again. He messes with the guitars and drums putting them on loop with his vocals. He stops when his record executive (Kim Gordon) comes over and tries to have him leave with her but Blake refuses. Blake goes to a rock club that night where a friend of his comes up to him and tells him about how he went to a Grateful Dead concert. Blake leaves before his friend can finish telling the story. Blake goes back home where Scott takes some of his money and Luke asks help from Blake on a song.


title: Last Days (2005 film)

text: Scott tells Luke that Donovan had a private detective with him and that they should leave. After Scott and Luke have sex with each other upstairs, Blake plays acoustic one last time before walking out to the shed where he sits quietly, watching his roommates leave. They spend the night at their friend's house, and awake the next morning to see the news announcing that Blake committed suicide and an electrician found his body. Scott, Luke, and Nicole get in a car and leave, driving down a highway while Luke plays the guitar in the back seat.


title: Last Days (2005 film)

text: "Last Days" is the third and final installment in what Van Sant has frequently called his "Death Trilogy", which began with "Gerry" (2002) and continued with "Elephant" (2003). The dialogue and narration in all three films are minimal, and scenes do not proceed linearly. As in "Elephant", scenes are revisited from new angles, starting at differing points in time, without a signal to viewers that the clock has been turned back and a previous scene is being revisited. In a later film, "Paranoid Park" (2007), Van Sant uses the same technique. Also as in the other films, many of the actor's character names are the same as their actual first names.


title: Last Days (2005 film)

text: Van Sant has stated he had contemplated the project for nearly a decade. At one time, he wanted to do a biographical film about Cobain but decided against the idea out of concern over the potential of a lawsuit by Cobain's widow, Courtney Love. Van Sant was unsure how Cobain's fans and family would react to "Last Days"; he spoke to Love several times over the years about his project and recently expressed his concern that it might be painful for her to see the film. Actress Asia Argento stated, "It's been written that I play Courtney Love, and it's not true. I'm so upset. I don't know why people say that. I feel very sorry for her. She's been demonized and I feel sorry for anybody that's lost like that. But no, I play a character that's very dorky."


title: Last Days (2005 film)

text: "Last Days" features two original compositions by Michael Pitt: an acoustic song entitled "Death to Birth" and an electric jam called "Fetus". Lukas Haas composed another piece, "Untitled". Rodrigo Lopresti composed "Seen as None" and "Pointless Ride". The character Scott listens to "Venus in Furs" by The Velvet Underground. Blake, in one scene, watches the music video for "On Bended Knee" by Boyz II Men on television. "Venus in Furs" contains the lyric "...on bended knee". A soundscape piece called "Doors of Perception" ("Türen der Wahrnehmung") was composed by Hildegard Westerkamp.


title: Last Days (2005 film)

text: The film was shot in the Hudson Valley region of New York, which, due in part to cinematographer Harris Savides' specialized treatment of the film stock, suggests the Pacific Northwest, where Van Sant is from.


title: Last Days (2005 film)

text: "Last Days" received mixed reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 57% based on reviews from 120 critics. The site's consensus says, "While the minimalist style is not for all viewers, those who prefer experimentalism will find "Last Days" hypnotic." On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100 based on reviews from 36 critics.


title: Last Days (2005 film)

text: Leslie Felperin of "Variety" wrote: "Result is dead-on depiction of the hedonistic rock lifestyle, punctuated by sequences of haunting beauty but also quasi-religious imagery that borders on tacky."


title: Last Days (2005 film)

text: The film was entered in the 2005 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Technical Grand Prize. It was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography, but failed to win any awards at the festival.


title: Last Days (2005 film)

text: The film was adapted into an opera of the same name by British composer Oliver Leith and visual artist Matt Copson, which premiered in 2022 at the Linbury Theatre as a coproduction of Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal Opera House, featuring French actress Agathe Rousselle in the role of Blake.


title: Manoj Joshi (actor)

text: Manoj N. Joshi (born 3 September 1965) is an Indian film and television actor of Gujarati origin. After graduating from Sir J. J. School of Arts, he began his career in Marathi theatre, also putting up performances in Gujarati and Hindi theatre. He has also acted in over 70 films since 1998, many of his roles being comedy.


title: Manoj Joshi (actor)

text: He acted in TV series including "Chanakya", "Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka", "Rau" (Marathi), "Sangdil", "Kabhi Souten Kabhi Saheli", "Mura Raska Mai La" (Marathi). He debuted in "Sarfarosh" (SI Bajju) alongside his brother who played Bala Thakur in the film. His other works include the film "Hungama" followed by "Hulchul", "Dhoom", "Bhagam Bhag", "Phir Hera Pheri", "Chup Chup Ke", "Bhool Bhulaiyaa" and "Billo Barber". He played the role of Chanakya in "Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat".


title: Manoj Joshi (actor)

text: His father was Navneet Joshi, and his younger brother Rajesh Joshi was an actor too. Rajesh died in 1998. Joshi hails from Adpodara village near Himatnagar in north Gujarat.


title: Igor Tudor

text: Igor Tudor (born 16 April 1978) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of Ligue 1 club Marseille.


title: Igor Tudor

text: Tudor spent most of his playing career at Juventus, winning several trophies during that time. He was a part of the Croatia national team at UEFA Euro 2004, the 2006 and 1998 World Cup, but missed the 2002 World Cup due to injury. Tudor announced his retirement on 22 July 2008 at age 30 after problems with his right ankle reappeared. He spent his final season playing for his youth club, Hajduk Split.


title: Igor Tudor

text: As manager, he took charge of Hajduk from 2013 to 2015, and spent eight months with PAOK in the 2015–16 season. In Turkey, he managed Karabükspor from 2016 to 2017, and Galatasaray in 2017. From April to June 2018, Tudor managed Serie A side Udinese and in that time, saved the club from relegation to Serie B. In March 2019, he came back to Udinese. After he returned to Hajduk in January 2020, Andrea Pirlo invited Tudor to join his coaching staff at Juventus in August 2020, which offer Tudor accepted.


title: Igor Tudor

text: Tudor started his professional career at Hajduk Split in 1995 scoring 5 goals in 58 matches, being considered a revelation for his technique and ball control above the average of a defender.


title: Igor Tudor

text: After three personally successful seasons at Hajduk, he was noticed and acquired by Italian giants Juventus in 1998. During his time with Juventus, he won the Croatian Player of the Year award in 2002. During his eight-year spell with the club, Tudor was in excellent form, despite injuries, and formed impressive defensive partnerships with the likes of Paolo Montero, Mark Iuliano, Gianluca Pessotto, Lilian Thuram, Ciro Ferrara, Alessandro Birindelli, Nicola Legrottaglie, Gianluca Zambrotta, Jonathan Zebina, Giorgio Chiellini and Fabio Cannavaro.


title: Igor Tudor

text: During the 2000–01 season under Carlo Ancelotti, Tudor had a prolific year, scoring six goals. The following season, with the return of his former Juventus coach Marcello Lippi, he was occasionally deployed as a midfielder, scoring four crucial goals (one against Torino in the Turin derby, two goals in Juventus' comebacks against Chievo and Hellas Verona and one during the match against title contenders Internazionale) in Juventus's successful Serie A title campaign. The following season, he also scored a notable goal against Deportivo de La Coruña in the last minute of a second round match of the 2002–03 Champions League, allowing the club to progress to the quarter finals of the competition, en route to the final, in which they were defeated by Italian rivals Milan on penalties.


title: Igor Tudor

text: During this period, Juventus had one of the strongest teams in the world, and Tudor contributed well, with over 150 total appearances for the club, scoring nearly 20 goals, as a centreback. After a major injury in 2004, however, Tudor was loaned out to Siena in January 2005 after seven seasons with Juve. Following the revocation of Juventus' 2004–05 and 2005–06 Serie A titles due to their involvement in the "Calciopoli" scandal, as well as the expiration of his loan contract with Siena, Tudor returned to Juventus, staying with the club despite their relegation to Serie B, but injuries kept him off the pitch for the whole season. His contract expired on 30 June 2007.


title: Igor Tudor

text: During his time at the club, Tudor won two Serie A titles, two Italian Supercups, a Serie B title and a UEFA Intertoto Cup, also reaching the final of the 2001–02 Coppa Italia and 2002–03 Champions League.


title: Igor Tudor

text: Constantly struggling with injuries and mysterious bacterial infection of his ankle, Tudor was almost forced to end his career in 2007, but in June 2007 he decided to join his former club Hajduk Split after not renewing his contract with Juventus. After a highly cautious rehabilitation process his comeback was in the match against Zadar on 20 October 2007. This was his first official match in over 16 months. However, he was unable to reach his previous form and his ankle injury problems continued. On 22 July 2008, at the age of 30, he announced his early retirement due to his recurring ankle injury problems.


title: Igor Tudor

text: Tudor played for the Croatia national team between 1997 and 2006. He also won several international caps for the Croatian under-17, under-19 and under-21 national teams between 1993 and 2000.


title: Igor Tudor

text: Tudor made his debut in Croatia's final match of the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying, a 1–1 draw at Ukraine on 15 November 1997, coming on as a substitute for Aljoša Asanović in the 89th minute. He was subsequently part of the Croatian squad that finished third at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. At the tournament, he made three appearances as a substitute in the closing stages of Croatia's games against Japan, Romania and the Netherlands.


title: Igor Tudor

text: After the 1998 World Cup, he made four appearances in the Croatian national team's unsuccessful qualifying campaign for UEFA Euro 2000, being in the starting line-up on all four occasions. He also appeared in six matches during Croatia's qualifying campaign for the 2002 World Cup, but missed the final tournament in South Korea and Japan due to an injury.


title: Igor Tudor

text: He returned to the national team during the qualifying stages for Euro 2004, appearing in seven qualifying matches. At the finals in Portugal, he appeared in two of Croatia's three group matches. In his first appearance at the tournament, a 2–2 draw against France, he scored an own goal to put the French side 1–0 up midway through the first half. His second appearance at the tournament came in Croatia's final group match against England, where he scored Croatia's second goal to keep their hopes alive after they found themselves 3–1 down in the second half. Frank Lampard, however, soon netted England's fourth goal and Croatia were knocked out of the tournament in the group stage.


title: Igor Tudor

text: Tudor was also included in Croatia's 23-man squad for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, having appeared in eight qualifying matches for the tournament, scoring two goals. He recorded his first goal of the qualifying when he scored Croatia's final goal in their 3–0 win at home to Malta on 30 March 2005. His second goal of the competition came in Croatia's 3–1 win at Bulgaria on 4 June 2005, when he put Croatia 2–0 up just over half an hour from time. At the 2006 World Cup finals, he started all of Croatia's three group matches and played the full 90 minutes in two of them. Croatia, however, were eliminated from the tournament after a 2–2 draw against Australia in their final group match, with Tudor receiving his second yellow card of the tournament for complaining about the penalty kick from which Australia scored a 1–1 equaliser. He made no further appearances for the national team following the tournament.


title: Igor Tudor

text: Tudor was considered one of Croatia's best defenders in the period between the late 1990s and mid-2000s. Tudor was a large, hard-working, strong and imposing defender who excelled in the air, making him a dangerous goal threat during set pieces.


title: Igor Tudor

text: He was also a tight man-marker and a hard tackling defender, with great tactical intelligence. Although primarily a central defender, he was capable of playing anywhere along the back line and even as a defensive midfielder, which was made possible due to his tactical versatility, stamina, and his surprisingly capable technical skills, ball control and distribution for such a large and physical player.


title: Igor Tudor

text: Despite his talent, he was also prone to injuries, which is often thought to have affected his playing career.


title: Igor Tudor

text: Tudor was hired by Hajduk Split in August 2009 to be the assistant manager to Edoardo Reja who then took charge of the Croatian giant. Tudor dramatically increased his managerial knowledge during the seven months he spent watching and learning from Reja. In February 2010, Reja took charge of Lazio and because of that Tudor was fired from Hajduk; he did not join Reja in Italy.


title: Igor Tudor

text: In December 2012, Tudor was appointed by Hajduk's sporting director Sergije Krešić as the new Hajduk U-17 manager. After taking charge of the U-17 squad, he went to spend some time at the Juventus Center in order to improve his managerial skills with Antonio Conte. During his time with the U-17 squad, he managed to teach them how to play modern style football using the 3–5–2 formation. They managed to qualify for the U-17 Croatian Cup 2013 final.


title: Igor Tudor

text: In April 2013 he was hired as the new Hajduk Split manager. He lost his first away match against RNK Split, but in the 2012–13 Croatian Cup final first leg he defeated Lokomotiva 2–1 on Poljud. He achieved his first league victory against Osijek on 17 May 2013. He won the 2012–13 Croatian Cup after a 5–4 aggregate win against Lokomotiva in the final.


title: Igor Tudor

text: On 4 February 2015, Tudor resigned from Hajduk Split after managing the club for more than year and nine months.


title: Igor Tudor

text: On 18 June 2015, Tudor was hired as the new manager of PAOK, signing a three-year contract. He lost 2–1 to Lokomotiva in his debut with PAOK for the second qualifying round of UEFA Europa League. He was dismissed on 9 March 2016 because of "unsuccessful results and disparaging comments about the quality of the team".


title: Igor Tudor

text: On 18 June 2016, Tudor was hired as the new manager of Karabükspor, signing a one-year contract. After making fantastic results with Karabükspor, Tudor left the club in February 2017 to become the new manager of Galatasaray.


title: Igor Tudor

text: On 15 February 2017, Tudor was hired as the new manager of Turkish side Galatasaray, signing a one and a half-year contract with the club. On 18 December, he was sacked by the club.


title: Igor Tudor

text: On 24 April 2018, Tudor became the new manager of Italian team Udinese. His first win with Udinese came on 13 May 2018, in a 1–0 win over Verona.


title: Igor Tudor

text: After saving Udinese from relegation to Serie B, on 7 June 2018, Tudor left the club after not making a new deal with the club's management.


title: Igor Tudor

text: On 20 March 2019, he became for a second time, the manager of Italian team Udinese. His first win as Udinese's manager came on 30 March 2019, a 2–0 home win against Genoa.


title: Igor Tudor

text: On 23 December 2019, Hajduk announced that Tudor has been selected as new manager. On 2 January 2020, he officially took his role.


title: Igor Tudor

text: On 2 February, Tudor led his first match with Hajduk after three and a half years, that The Whites won 3–0 against Varaždin.


title: Igor Tudor

text: On 23 August 2020, Tudor resigned from Hajduk Split, accepting Andrea Pirlo's offer to be his assistant at Serie A side Juventus.


title: Igor Tudor

text: He and Pirlo were sacked at the end of the season following Inter Milan's reclaiming of the Serie A title.


title: Igor Tudor

text: On 14 September 2021, Tudor was appointed at the helm of Serie A club Verona in place of Eusebio Di Francesco. Tudor immediately managed to turn the club's fortunes, ending the season in ninth place and achieving impressive performances throughout the season. On 28 May 2022, Verona announced to have parted ways with Tudor by mutual consent.


title: Jessica DiCicco

text: Jessica Sonya DiCicco (; born June 10, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for voicing in animated television series and video games. Her first voice role was the announcer for Nickelodeon's educational channel Noggin. DiCicco has since voiced various other characters for Nickelodeon, including Gwen Wu in "The Mighty B!", Selina and Miele in "Winx Club", Lynn Loud and Lucy Loud in "The Loud House", and Annie Bramley in "It's Pony".


title: Jessica DiCicco

text: Some of her voice roles on other networks include Maggie Pesky in Disney Channel's "The Buzz on Maggie" and Flame Princess in Cartoon Network's "Adventure Time", which earned her worldwide recognition. She received a Daytime Emmy nomination for voicing Malina in "The Emperor's New School".


title: Jessica DiCicco

text: DiCicco was born in Los Angeles, California on June 10, 1980. Her father is television and film actor Bobby Di Cicco. Her family moved to New York City when she was young and she was raised on the Upper West Side. In second grade, she was selected by Marlo Thomas to appear on the ABC special "Free to Be... A Family". She was also cast by Francis Ford Coppola in "The Godfather Part III" as an unnamed child, and also had a guest role in "Kate and Allie". She had a small role as young Cindy Zagarella in the 1993 film "Household Saints". At age 15, she was the photographer on a cover story for "New York" magazine about prep school gangsters, which was published in December 1996.


title: Jessica DiCicco

text: DiCicco attended Newhouse School at Syracuse University, hoping to learn more about production as she had primarily done on-camera work with Nickelodeon. Before heading to college, she met Newhouse alum and Nickelodeon producer Mike Pecoriello, who offered her an opportunity to be the voice of a new educational channel called Noggin. She agreed to do the work while being a student and offered to record promos from Syracuse. She was the voice of Noggin throughout her college years and graduated in 2002. She was also the voice of "Miguzi"s Erin on Cartoon Network.


title: Jessica DiCicco

text: In 1998, DiCicco appeared in the NBC miniseries "Witness to the Mob" and in the TV film "In the Nick of Time". Besides her appearances in television and commercials, DiCicco has worked on stage with several repertory companies. In 1999, DiCicco and her co-stars in the Nickelodeon pilot "Bus No. 9" were nominated a Young Artist Award, but lost to "The Sweetest Gift". She also starred in a miniseries called "As Our Schoolbus Turns".


title: Jessica DiCicco

text: As a voice actress, DiCicco had lead roles on "The Buzz on Maggie", "The Emperor's New School", "Loonatics Unleashed", and "Shuriken School". She had recurring roles on "The Replacements", "", "", "Bratz", and "All Grown Up!". She co-starred as Shelby in the DreamWorks film "Over the Hedge" and voiced Gwen on Amy Poehler's television series for Nickelodeon, "The Mighty B!". DiCicco was the voice of Master Viper in the "Kung Fu Panda" short film "Secrets of the Furious Five". In 2012, she joined the Cartoon Network show "Adventure Time" starting from its season three finale, where she voiced Flame Princess; the show has now run over seven seasons. She also voiced in "Pound Puppies" and "Gravity Falls". She also voices Lynn and Lucy Loud in the Nickelodeon animated series, "The Loud House". She was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in 2008 for her performance as Malina on "The Emperor's New School", but lost to Eartha Kitt, who did Yzma in the same series. DiCicco provides the voice of Toby the cactus and the sounds of the mule Clementine on "Sheriff Callie's Wild West".


title: Jessica DiCicco

text: DiCicco has also contributed to several video games, including "Psychonauts", "Kingdom Hearts II", "Hot Shots Tennis", and "Pimp My Ride".


title: Ramones discography

text: The Ramones were an American punk rock band from New York City. Their discography consists of fourteen studio albums, ten live albums, sixteen compilation albums, seventy-one singles, thirty-two music videos and ten films. The band formed in early 1974, and upon signing with Seymour Stein of Sire Records, the Ramones released their self-titled debut album on April 23, 1976. Despite the recording process only taking a week and being on a budget of $6,400, the album has since become their most accoladed and iconic release. 1977's "Leave Home" was the band's follow up album, released less than a year later, also through Sire. While it was the first album to chart in the United Kingdom, it did not chart as well in the United States as "Ramones", nor their third record, "Rocket to Russia", which was released in late 1977. "Road to Ruin" was the band's fourth studio album and their first to feature a change in the band member line-up, with drummer Marky Ramone replacing Tommy Ramone.


title: Ramones discography

text: "It's Alive", released in 1979, was the Ramones' first live album, and only one to chart. The band's following studio album, 1980's "End of the Century", was their only record produced by Phil Spector and their most successful album commercially, peaking at #44 on the United States "Billboard" 200 and charting in six other countries. In 1981 they released "Pleasant Dreams" with producer Graham Gouldman who, according to the album's critics, sparked a change in the Ramones' style of music, beginning a transition away from classic punk rock, surf punk and British punk sounds toward heavier punk rock, heavy metal and acid rock elements. "Subterranean Jungle", released in 1983, would be the band's final release to chart within the top 100 of the "Billboard" 200, and was also the final release before firing Marky as drummer. Richie Ramone would be the band's new drummer for 1984's "Too Tough to Die", which was produced by former drummer Tommy alongside Ed Stasium. While the album was critically acclaimed for having similar characteristics to the band's earlier albums, their next release, 1986's "Animal Boy", incorporated more contemporary production techniques and sounds, including synthesizers.


title: Ramones discography

text: Richie's final appearance would be on 1987's "Halfway to Sanity", with Elvis Ramone briefly replacing him for two performances in August before Marky was brought back into the band. The band's first compilation album, entitled "Ramones Mania", was released in 1988 and would go on to be certified Gold in the United States. 1989's "Brain Drain" would be their final album to feature Dee Dee Ramone as bassist, as well as their last to be released through Sire. The Ramones signed to Radioactive Records and released "Mondo Bizarro" in 1992 with new bassist C.J. Ramone. Despite being the band's least successful studio album in respect to the "Billboard" 200, it went Gold in Brazil in 2001. Their first, and only, cover album, "Acid Eaters", was released in 1993, just a year and a half before the band's fourteenth and final studio album, "¡Adios Amigos!", produced by "Halfway to Sanity" producer Daniel Rey. Although the Ramones disbanded in mid-1996, thirteen compilation albums and four live albums have been released since then.


title: Myles Turner

text: Myles Christian Turner (born March 24, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season for the Texas Longhorns before declaring for the 2015 NBA draft and being selected by the Pacers with the 11th overall pick.


title: Myles Turner

text: Turner was born in Bedford, Texas, to parents David and Mary Turner, and started playing basketball as a six-year-old. He attended Central Junior High School, and as a freshman, he led his team to 27 wins.


title: Myles Turner

text: Throughout high school, Turner played AAU basketball for the Texas Select team during the springs and summers to further develop himself and gain recognition as a player, participating in well known tournaments and camps such as the LeBron camp, the Nike Big Man Skills Academy, the NBPA Top 100 camp, Adidas Nations, and the Elite 24 invitational.


title: Myles Turner

text: Between his sophomore and junior year, Turner, then 6'7", broke his ankle during the first spring game of AAU play, hurting his chances of recruitment, but soon recovered and gained some 30 pounds through two-a-day weight training regimen to improve his game.


title: Myles Turner

text: In his junior year, after fully recovering, Turner averaged 15.7 points, 12.87 rebounds and 8.64 blocks per game, leading Trinity to a 17–13 record and reaching the state playoffs for the first time in 10 years, and only the ninth time in school history dating back to the school's establishment in 1968. He also accumulated six triple-doubles.


title: Myles Turner

text: During the 2013 AAU summer circuit, Turner maintained his high level of production, leading his Texas Select team to the title at the 2013 Jayhawk Invitational in front of coaches from most of the Big 12 schools.


title: Myles Turner

text: Going into his senior year, Turner began garnering nationwide attention and becoming a highly sought after recruit for his athleticism, ball handling, shooting ability, and natural shot blocking ability for someone of his height. He solidified that by finishing out his high school career with 18.1 points, 12.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 6.8 blocks per game, leading the Trojans to a 24–7 record.


title: Myles Turner

text: After finishing off his senior year, Turner was one of the last highly sought after recruits left that were uncommitted. He was rated a five-star prospect by many sites including Rivals.com and several more college basketball analysts as well as being considered the No. 2 center in the nation behind Jahlil Okafor. Originally going into his senior year in fall of 2013, Turner had already accumulated 60 various offers, but by his senior year, the list was narrowed down to Texas, Kansas, Duke, Arizona, Kentucky, Ohio State and Oklahoma State. On April 30, 2014, live on ESPNU's "Recruiting Insider", Turner formally announced his commitment to play basketball for the University of Texas.


title: Myles Turner

text: Turner took part in the 2014 McDonald's All-American Boys Game, in which he recorded seven points and seven rebounds. He also represented the United States in the 2014 FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship, helping the country win a gold medal.


title: Myles Turner

text: As a freshman at Texas in 2014–15, Turner averaged 10.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game, earning 2015 Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors.


title: Myles Turner

text: On March 30, 2015, Turner declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final three years of college eligibility. In June 2015, Turner said, "The decision wasn't really that hard because I knew I would be picked pretty high, so I knew this was my opportunity to go."


title: Myles Turner

text: Turner was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 11th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. He missed 21 games between November 13 and December 28 of his rookie season after undergoing surgery to repair a fracture in his left thumb. On January 22, 2016, he scored a then career-high 31 points in a 122–110 loss to the Golden State Warriors. On March 3, he was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for February after ranking third among East first-year players in scoring (13.4 ppg), rebounding (6.6 rpg) and minutes (29.8 mpg) during the month. On March 24, he recorded 24 points and a career-high 16 rebounds in a 92–84 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Turner helped the Pacers reach to the playoffs as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference with a 45–37 record, where they lost 4–3 to the Toronto Raptors in the first round. At the season's end, he earned NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors.


title: Myles Turner

text: In the Pacers' season opener on October 26, 2016, Turner recorded 30 points and a career high-tying 16 rebounds in a 130–121 overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks. On December 15, he scored 26 points in a 102–95 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. On March 26, he had 17 points and tied a career high with 16 rebounds in a 107–94 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.


title: Myles Turner

text: Prior to the start of the 2017–18 season, Turner was elected team captain. In the Pacers' season opener on October 18, 2017, Turner had 21 points and 14 rebounds in a 140–131 win over the Brooklyn Nets. He missed the next eight games due to a concussion. On November 19, he scored a season-high 25 points against Miami Heat. Turner missed nine games in January with an injured right elbow. On March 13, he tied his season high with 25 points against the Philadelphia 76ers.


title: Myles Turner

text: On October 15, 2018, Turner signed a four-year, $72 million contract extension with the Pacers. On October 29, in a 103–93 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, Turner had three blocks to tie James Edwards (391) for number eight on the franchise's NBA career list. On December 10, he recorded a then season-high 26 points and 12 rebounds in a 109–101 win over the Washington Wizards. On December 23, he had 18 points and a career-high 17 rebounds in a 105–89 win over the Wizards. On March 5, he had a then career-high seven blocks in a 105–96 win over the Chicago Bulls. On March 18, he scored a season-high 28 points in a 106–98 loss to the Trail Blazers.


title: Myles Turner

text: On February 25, 2020 Turner recorded a career-high eight blocks in a 119–80 win over the Charlotte Hornets.


title: Myles Turner

text: On December 22, 2020, in the Pacers' season-opener, Turner matched a career-high eight blocks in a 121–107 win over the New York Knicks. On January 6, 2021, he recorded eight blocks again in a 114–107 win over the Houston Rockets. Turner finished the season with a league-leading 3.4 blocks per game.


title: Myles Turner

text: On October 22, 2021, Turner recorded a career-high 40 points, along with five three-pointers, 10 rebounds, and three blocks in a 134–135 overtime loss to the Washington Wizards. On November 4, Turner scored 25 points while recording a career-high seven 3-pointers and grabbing 13 rebounds in a 111–98 victory against the New York Knicks. On January 28, 2022, he was ruled out for at least two weeks with a stress reaction in his left foot. On February 10, he was shut down through the All-Star break. On February 23, Turner was ruled out for multiple more weeks. On March 28, he was ruled out for the remainder of the season. He would have led the league in blocks had he played the necessary 58 games, and finished the season averaging 12.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game in 42 games, while shooting 50.9 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from the three-point line.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: The EPR is a third generation pressurised water reactor design. It has been designed and developed mainly by Framatome (part of Areva between 2001 and 2017) and Électricité de France (EDF) in France, and Siemens in Germany. In Europe this reactor design was called European Pressurised Reactor, and the internationalised name was Evolutionary Power Reactor, but it is now simply named EPR.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: The first operational EPR unit was China's Taishan 1, which started commercial operation in December 2018. Taishan 2 started commercial operation in September 2019. European units have been so far plagued with prolonged construction delays and substantial cost overruns. The first EPR unit to start construction, at Olkiluoto in Finland, achieved criticality in December 2021. It is expected to begin commercial operation after February 2023, a delay of thirteen years. The second EPR unit to start construction, at Flamanville in France, is also facing a decade-long delay (to 2023). Two units at Hinkley Point in the United Kingdom received final approval in September 2016; the first unit is expected to begin operating in 2027.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: EDF has acknowledged severe difficulties in building the EPR design. In September 2015, EDF stated that the design of a "New Model" EPR was being worked on, which will be easier and cheaper to build.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: The main design objectives of the third generation EPR design are increased safety while providing enhanced economic competitiveness through improvements to previous pressurised water reactor designs scaled up to an electrical power output of around 1650 MWe (net) with thermal power of 4500 MW. The reactor can use 5% enriched uranium oxide fuel, reprocessed uranium fuel or 100% mixed uranium plutonium oxide fuel, clad in Areva's M5 variant of zirconium alloy. The EPR is the evolutionary descendant of the Framatome N4 and Siemens Power Generation Division "" reactors. Siemens ceased its nuclear activities in 2011.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: The EPR was designed to use uranium more efficiently than older Generation II reactors, using approximately 17% less uranium per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated than these older reactor technologies.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: The design had gone through a number of iterations. The 1994 conceptual design had a power output of 1450 MWe, the same as the Framatome N4, but using Siemens Konvoi derived instrumentation and including a new core catcher safety system. In 1995, there was concern over excessive cost per MW, and output was increased to 1800 MWe in the 1997 design, though this was subsequently reduced to 1650 MWe in the final certified design.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: , EDF acknowledged the difficulties it was having building the EPR design, with its head of production and engineering, Hervé Machenaud, saying EDF had lost its dominant international position in design and construction of nuclear power stations. Machenaud indicated EDF was considering designing two new lower powered reactors, one with output of 1500 MWe and the other 1000 MWe. Machenaud stated there would be a period of reflection on the best way to improve the EPR design to lower its price and incorporate post-Fukushima safety improvements.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In September 2015, EDF's chief executive Jean-Bernard Lévy stated that the design of a "New Model" EPR, or "EPR 2", was being worked on, which will be easier to build, to be ready for orders from about 2020, describing it in 2016 as "a reactor offering the same characteristics as today’s EPR but it will be cheaper to build with optimised construction times and costs".


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In 2016, EDF planned to build two new model EPR reactors in France by 2030 to prepare for renewing its fleet of older reactors. However, following financial difficulties at Areva and its merger with EDF, French Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot said in January 2018, "for now [building a new model EPR] is neither a priority or a plan. Right now the priority is to develop renewable energy and to reduce the share of nuclear." The industry-government plan for 2019–2022 included work on "a new version of the EPR".


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In July 2019, the French nuclear safety authority ASN issued an opinion on the safety of an outline EPR new model (EPR 2) design. It found that general safety was on the whole satisfactory, though identifying areas for further examination. The most notable simplification is a single layer containment building with a liner as opposed to the EPR's double layer with a liner. ASN highlighted that the EPR design basis assumption that primary and secondary cooling circuit piping could not fail may no longer be appropriate for the simplified EPR 2, and requires additional safety demonstrations. Another simplification is that, unlike the first EPR design, the EPR 2 design does not allow access to the reactor building for maintenance during reactor operation, which simplifies the design of the reactor building.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In 2020, French Energy Minister Élisabeth Borne announced the French government would not decide on the construction of any new reactors until the much delayed Flamanville 3 started operation after 2022. EDF had estimated building six EPR 2 nuclear reactors would cost at least €46 billion. A Court of Audit report concluded that EDF is no longer able to finance EPR 2 construction on its own, so financing and profitability issues need to be resolved.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: The audit office requires that EDF ensure the financing and profitability of EPR 2 before constructing any in France.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In January 2022, junior environment minister Bérangère Abba said that plans for new EPR 2 reactors, to be operational between 2035 and 2037, should be submitted around 2023. The decision was accelerated by the impact of 2021 global energy crisis.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: Construction of the Olkiluoto 3 power station in Finland began in August 2005. The station will have an electrical power output of 1600 MWe (net). The construction was a joint effort of French Areva and German Siemens AG through their common subsidiary Areva NP, for Finnish operator TVO. Siemens ceased nuclear activities in 2011. Initial cost estimates were about €3.7 billion, but the project has since seen several severe cost increases and delays, with latest published cost estimates (from 2012) of more than €8 billion. The station was initially scheduled to go online in 2009.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In May 2006, construction delays of about one year were announced, following quality control problems across the construction. In part, the delays were due to the lack of oversight of subcontractors inexperienced in nuclear construction. The delays led to disappointing financial results for Areva. It blamed delays on the Finnish approach to approving technical documentation and designs.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In December 2006, TVO announced construction was about 18 months behind schedule so completion was now expected 2010–11, and there were reports that Areva was preparing to take a €500 million charge on its accounts for the delay.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: At the end of June 2007, it was reported that Säteilyturvakeskus (STUK), the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, had found a number of safety-related design and manufacturing 'deficiencies'. In August 2007, a further construction delay of up to a year was reported associated with construction problems in reinforcing the reactor building to withstand an aeroplane crash, and the timely supply of adequate documentation to the Finnish authorities.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In September 2007, TVO reported the construction delay as "at least two years" and costs more than 25% over budget. Cost estimates by analysts for the overrun range up to €1.5 billion.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: A further delay was announced in October 2008, making the total delay three years, giving an expected online date of 2012. The parties are in arbitration to resolve a dispute over responsibility for the delays and final cost overruns.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: As of May 2009, the station was at least three and a half years behind schedule and more than 50 percent over-budget. Areva and the utility involved "are in bitter dispute over who will bear the cost overruns and there is a real risk now that the utility will default". In August 2009, Areva announced €550 million additional provisions for the build, taking station costs to €5.3 billion, and wiped out interim operating profits for the first half-year of 2009.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: The dome of the containment structure was topped out in September 2009. 90% of procurement, 80% of engineering works and 73% of civil works were completed.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In June 2010, Areva announced €400 million of further provisions, taking the cost overrun to €2.7 billion. The timescale slipped from June 2012 to the end of 2012. In December 2011, TVO announced a further delay to August 2014. As of July 2012, the station was scheduled to start electricity production no earlier than 2015, a schedule slippage of at least six years. In December 2012 Areva's Chief Executive estimated costs to €8 billion.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In September 2014, Areva announced that operations would start in 2018. In October 2017, the date was pushed back to the spring of 2019. During testing between 2018 and 2021, multiple further delays were announced, of around three years in total.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: Olkiluoto 3 achieved first criticality in December 2021. Grid connection took place in March 2022, In May 2022, foreign material was found in the turbine steam reheater, and the plant was shut down for about three months of repair work. Regular production had been expected to begin in December 2022, after a test production phase. On 28 October 2022, it was announced cracks of a few centimetres had been found in all four of the feedwater pump impellers. The cause of the cracks was yet to be determined, and it was unclear how the commissioning schedule would be affected. The feedwater pumps are larger than in other nuclear reactors.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In 2006, Areva took part in the first bidding process for the construction of four new nuclear reactors in China, together with Toshiba-owned Westinghouse and Russian Atomstroyexport. However Areva lost this bid in favour of Westinghouse's AP1000 reactors, in part because of Areva's refusal to transfer the expertise and knowledge to China.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: Subsequently, Areva managed to win a deal in February 2007, worth about €8 billion ($10.5 billion) for two EPRs located in Taishan, Guangdong Province in southern China, in spite of sticking to its previous conditions. The General Contractor and Operator is the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN).


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: The construction of the first reactor at Taishan started officially on 18 November 2009, and the second on 15 April 2010. Construction of each unit was then planned to take 46 months, significantly faster and cheaper than the first two EPRs in Finland and France.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: The reactor pressure vessel of the first reactor was installed in June 2012, and the second in November 2014. The first pressure vessel had been imported from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan, and steam generators from Areva in France. The second pressure vessel and associated steam generators had been made in China, by Dongfang Electric and Shanghai Electric.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In 2014, construction was reported to be running over two years late, mainly due to key component delays and project management issues.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: Cold function tests were performed on Taishan 1 in February 2016, with start up expected in the first half of 2017. Taishan 2 was scheduled to start up later that year.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: However, commissioning dates were put back six months in February 2017, with commercial operation expected in the second half of 2017 and the first half of 2018.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In December 2017, Hong Kong media reported that a component had cracked during testing, needing to be replaced.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In January 2018, commissioning was rescheduled again, with commercial operation expected in 2018 and 2019.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In June 2018, Taishan 1 achieved criticality for the first time. On June 29, 2018, Taishan 1 was connected to the grid. It entered commercial operation in December 2018. Taishan 2 reached these milestones in May 2019 June 2019 and September 2019, respectively.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: The Taishan project is led by Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Co. (TNPJVC), a joint venture founded by CGN (51% ownership stake), EDF (30%), and Chinese utility Guangdong Energy Group (19%), also known as Yuedian.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: Companies involved in supplying equipment to Taishan Unit 1 include Framatome, which manufactured the steam generators and pressurizer in France, and China’s Dongfang Electric Corp. (DEC), which manufactured the Arabelle turbine in the engine room. That turbine was designed and licensed by General Electric. Other equipment suppliers for Unit 1 include Mitsubishi (reactor vessel); Škoda, a Czech company (core internals); and France’s Jeumont Electric, which along with DEC provided primary pumps.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In April 2020, Framatome signed a long-term service contract with TNPJVC to support operations of the two EPRs. This contract covers nuclear plant outage and maintenance work, including spare parts supply and engineering services for eight years.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In June 2021, higher than expected concentrations of radioactive gases were detected in the primary circuit of unit 1. This was later attributed to faulty fuel cladding. The reactor was taken offline in July 2021 and restarted in August 2022.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: First concrete was poured for the demonstration EPR reactor at the Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant on 6 December 2007.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: As the name implies, this will be the third nuclear reactor on the Flamanville site, and the second instance of an EPR being built. Electrical output will be 1630 MWe (net). The project was planned to involve around €3.3 billion of capital expenditure from EDF.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: From 19 October 2005 to 18 February 2006, the project was submitted to a national public debate. On 4 May 2006, the decision was made by EDF's Board of Directors to continue with the construction. Between 15 June and 31 July 2006, the unit underwent a public enquiry, which rendered a "favourable opinion" on the project. That summer, site preparation works began.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In December 2007, construction of the unit itself began. This was expected to last 54 months, with commissioning planned for 2012.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In April 2008, the French nuclear safety authority ("Autorité de sûreté nucléaire", ASN) reported that a quarter of the welds inspected in the secondary containment steel liner are not in accordance with norms, and that cracks have been found in the concrete base. EDF stated that progress was being made on these issues, which were raised very early in construction; however, on 21 May, ASN ordered a suspension of concrete pouring on the site. A month later, concreting work resumed after ASN accepted EDF's corrective action plan, which included external oversight checks.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In May 2009, Stephen Thomas reported that after 18 months of construction, and after a series of quality control problems, the project is "more than 20 percent over budget and EDF is struggling to keep it on schedule".


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In August 2010, the regulator, ASN, reported further welding problems on the secondary containment steel liner. The same month, EDF announced that costs had increased 50% to €5 billion, and commissioning was delayed by about two years to 2014.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In July 2011, EDF announced that the estimated costs had escalated to €6 billion, and that completion of construction was delayed to 2016.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In December 2012, EDF announced that the estimated costs had escalated to €8.5 billion. Also in December 2012, the Italian power company Enel announced it was relinquishing its 12.5% stake in the project, and five future EPRs, so would be reimbursed its project stake of €613 million, plus interest.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In November 2014, EDF announced that completion of construction was delayed to 2017, due to delays in component delivery by Areva.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In April 2015, Areva informed the French nuclear regulator ASN that anomalies had been detected in the reactor vessel steel, causing "lower than expected mechanical toughness values". Further tests are underway. In July 2015 The Daily Telegraph reported that Areva had been aware of this problem since 2006. In June 2015, multiple faults in cooling system safety valves were discovered by ASN. In September 2015, EDF announced that the estimated costs had escalated to €10.5 billion, and the start-up of the reactor was delayed to the fourth quarter of 2018.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In April 2016, ASN announced that additional weak spots had been found in the reactor steel, and Areva and EDF responded that new tests would be conducted, though construction work would continue.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In February 2017, the Financial Times stated the project was six years late, and €7.2 billion over budget, while renewed delays in the construction of the EPR-reactors at Taishan Nuclear Power Plant prompted EDF to state that Flamanville 3 remains on schedule to start operations by the end of 2018, assuming it receives regulatory approval. In June 2017, the French regulator issued a provisional ruling that Flamanville 3 is safe to start.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: The discovery of quality deviations in the welding led to a further revision of the schedule in July 2018. Fuel loading was delayed until the end of 2019, and the cost estimate was increased from €10.5 billion to €10.9 billion.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In June 2019, nuclear regulator ASN determined that eight welds in steam transfer pipes passing through the two wall containment, that EDF had hoped to repair after startup, must be repaired before the reactor is commissioned. By then, estimated costs were €11 billion.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In October 2019, EDF announced that because of this issue costs would increase to €12.4 billion and that fuel loading would be delayed until the end of 2022. Pierre Moscovici, president of the Court of Audit, gave a statement on 9 July 2020 concerning the release of the report on the delay costs of the Flamanville 3. The report of the Court of Audit revealed that the costs could reach €19.1 billion instead of €12.4 billion when taking into account the additional charges due to the delay in construction.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In January 2022, it was announced that more time was needed for the repair of faulty welds and the solving of other issues. According to the revised schedule fuel loading is to take place in mid 2023. The total cost estimate by EDF was increased to €12.7 billion.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: Hinkley Point C is a nuclear power station under construction with two EPR reactors and an electrical output of 3,200MWe in Somerset, England.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: The EPR underwent Generic Design Assessment by the Office for Nuclear Regulation, along with the Westinghouse AP1000. Interim Design Acceptance Confirmations were postponed until lessons from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster had been taken into account. EDF bought British Energy in 2009. EDF planned to build 4 new EPRs, subject to electricity pricing agreement with the government. Areva has signed a strategic partnership with Rolls-Royce to support the build of EPRs. On 19 March 2013, the Development Consent Order granting planning permission for Hinkley Point C was given, but negotiations with the UK government about electricity pricing, and project financing with private investors, still needed to be concluded.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: On 21 October 2013, EDF Energy announced that an agreement had been reached regarding the nuclear stations to be built on the site of Hinkley Point C. EDF Group and the UK Government agreed on the key commercial terms of the investment contract. The final investment decision was conditional on completion of the remaining key steps, including the agreement of the European Commission.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: On 8 October 2014, the European Commission announced their agreement, with 16 out of 28 commissioners agreeing with the go ahead of the construction. On 21 September 2015, the British government announced it would provide a £2 billion support package for Hinkley Point C as Britain's first nuclear power station in 20 years.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: On 21 October 2015, during Chinese president Xi Jinping's state visit to the United Kingdom, EDF and CGN signed an investment agreement for the £18 billion (€21.3 billion) project to build two reactors at Hinkley Point.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In June 2016, EDF managers told Members of Parliament that the Hinkley Point C proposal should be postponed, until it has "solved a litany of problems", including EDF's "soaring debts". On 28 July 2016, after the resignation of a board member, the EDF board approved the final investment decision for the project. However Greg Clark, the new Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in the new government of Theresa May, then announced that the government would not sign the contract over the next few days as expected, but delay the contract to autumn to "consider carefully all the component parts of this project". Final government approval was given in September 2016.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In July 2017, following an internal review, EDF announced revised estimates for the scheme, which included at least £1.5 billion of additional costs and up to 15 months of additional programme, leading to updated total cost estimates of £19.6–20.3 billion. In September 2019 cost estimates were revised again, to be between £21.5 and £22.5 billion, and again in January 2021 to £2223 billion, with an expected operational start date of June 2026.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In May 2022 cost estimates were revised again, to be between £25 and £26 billion (€29.630.7 billion). The plant is now estimated to start generating electricity in June 2027.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In July 2008, the French President announced a second EPR would be built in France due to high oil and gas prices. Penly was chosen as the site in 2009, with construction planned to start in 2012. However, in 2011, following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, EDF postponed public consultations. In February 2013, the Minister of Industrial Renewal Arnaud Montebourg stated that the plans for a new EPR reactor at Penly had been cancelled, citing the capacity for electricity production and massive investments in renewable energy along with his confidence in the EPR as a competitive project in foreign countries.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: Plans to build new reactors in France were later revived. Penly and Gravelines are among the candidates for the installation of a pair of EPR reactors.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In October 2019, newspaper "Le Monde" reported that the French government had sent EDF a "mission letter" in which it asked the company to prepare to build a total of six EPR reactors across three sites in the next 15 years. A government decision on the construction of new reactors was not expected until after 2022. EDF has submitted a proposal to build six EPR 2s for around €50 billion. In February 2022, French president Emmanuel Macron announced that France would in fact build six new EPR 2 reactors, the first to be commissioned by 2035, and with an option for eight more.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In February 2009, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) signed a memorandum of understanding with Areva to set up two EPR reactors at Jaitapur in Maharashtra. This was followed by a framework agreement in December 2010.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In January 2016, during French president François Hollande's state visit to India a joint statement with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was issued. According to the statement the two leaders "have agreed on a roadmap of cooperation to speed up discussions on the Jaitapur project".


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In March 2018, an Industrial Way Forward Agreement between EDF and NPCIL was signed, with an objective of producing a tender for six reactors.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In April 2021, EDF submitted to NPCIL an offer to develop six EPR reactors at the Jaitapur site, with a combined installed capacity of 9.6 GWe.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: Two EPR units at Sizewell, Suffolk are in the planning phase. In May 2020, EDF Energy applied for a development consent order. If the project goes ahead electricity production is expected to start in 2031 at the earliest.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: Two further EPR units have been proposed for construction at the Moorside site near Sellafield, Cumbria, as part of a future clean energy hub that would also incorporate modular reactors, renewable energy generation, hydrogen production and battery storage technologies.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In October 2012, Czech utility company ČEZ announced that Areva was eliminated from a tender for the construction of two reactors for Temelín nuclear plant. Areva failed to comply with legal requirements of the tender. In April 2014, ČEZ cancelled the tender, because of low power prices and the government's refusal to support a minimum guaranteed energy price.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In June 2021, the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade invited EDF, along with Westinghouse and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power to participate in a pre-qualification round for a new unit at the Dukovany Nuclear Power Station. EDF is proposing a 1200 MWe version of the EPR for the project.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: EPR was considered for the two (possible expansion to four) reactor addition to the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Ontario, Canada. However, the official bids had to include all contingencies, and Areva failed to enter a final bid meeting these requirements. The project was ultimately abandoned when the only bid, made by Canada's AECL, came in at well over $10/Wp.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: EPR was briefly considered for an installation in New Brunswick, replacing or supplanting that province's single CANDU 6. These plans lasted only from June 2010 until an election two months later, when the plan immediately disappeared from further study.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In 2010, the Finnish parliament decided to allow two new reactors. Both TVO and Fennovoima were considering the EPR.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In December 2013, Fennovoima confirmed it had selected a Russian AES-2006 VVER pressurised water reactor in preference to the EPR. In May 2022, after significant delays in the design and licensing phase of the project and in light of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Fennovoima cancelled the contract with Rosatom to build the power plant.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: On 24 February 2009, Italy and France agreed to study the feasibility of building 4 new nuclear power stations in Italy. Following this, on 3 August 2009, EDF and Enel established a joint venture, Sviluppo Nucleare Italia, to study the feasibility of building at least four EPRs.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: However, in the 2011 referendum, soon after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Italians voted to repeal the new regulations permitting nuclear power in Italy. Abrogation of laws is put in effect when at least 50%+1 electors make a valid vote and a majority of these voters are in favour of abrogation. In this referendum, there was a 55% valid voter turnout and 94% voted to abrogate the new regulations.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In March 2008, French president Nicolas Sarkozy reached an agreement with the UAE cabinet that "outlines a cooperation framework for the assessment and possible use of nuclear energy for peaceful ends". This agreement was not a contract for EPR construction by any of the French nuclear companies, Total S.A., Suez or Areva.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In May 2009, US President Barack Obama signed a similar agreement with the UAE. Contracts for reactors were not given, nor was there any guarantee made that US companies would receive them.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In December 2009, the United Arab Emirates declined both the American and French bids and awarded a contract for construction of four non-EPR stations (APR-1400) to a South Korean group including Korea Electric Power Corporation, Hyundai Engineering and Construction, Samsung and Doosan Heavy Industries.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: After losing this order, Areva considered whether it should reintroduce the marketing of a smaller and simpler second-generation reactor design alongside the EPR, for countries that are new to nuclear power. As of 2011 Areva and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries offer a smaller 1100 MWe ATMEA1 Generation III PWR.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: The US-EPR, the version of the EPR submitted to the U.S. regulator, is one of the competitors for the next generation of nuclear stations in the United States, along with the AP1000 and the ESBWR. In February 2015, Areva asked to suspend the Design Certification Application Review process at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). It had been under review there with expectation to submit an application for final design approval and standard design certification since 14 December 2007. UniStar, Amarillo Power, PPL Corp and AmerenUE announced plans to file a Combined Construction and Operating License application in 2008 for the US-EPR at its Callaway station. UniStar filed a partial application in July 2007 for a proposed third unit at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Maryland. However, both proposals were subsequently cancelled.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In April 2009, Missouri legislators balked at preconstruction rate increases, prompting AmerenUE to suspend plans for its reactor. In July 2010, Constellation Energy Group cut spending on UniStar for the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Station because of uncertainties for a loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy, and subsequently pulled out of the project. In October 2008, Areva announced that it would partner with US defense firm Northrop Grumman to establish a $380 million facility to construct modules and assemblies for the EPR and US-EPR reactors at Northrop Grumman's Newport News Shipyard in Virginia.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In October 2021, EDF made an offer to Poland to build four or six EPR reactors across two to three sites. The combined installed capacity of the reactors would be either 6.6 or 9.9 GWe.


title: EPR (nuclear reactor)

text: In October 2022, Poland selected Westinghouse's AP1000 design, with construction of the first three-unit plant expected to start in 2026.


title: Zooropa

text: Zooropa is the eighth studio album by Irish rock band U2. Produced by Flood, Brian Eno, and the Edge, it was released on 5 July 1993 on Island Records. Inspired by the band's experiences on the Zoo TV Tour, "Zooropa" expanded on many of the tour's themes of technology and media oversaturation. The record was a continuation of the group's experimentation with alternative rock, electronic dance music, and electronic sound effects that began with their previous album, "Achtung Baby", in 1991.


title: Zooropa

text: U2 began writing and recording "Zooropa" in Dublin in February 1993, during a six-month break between legs of the Zoo TV Tour. The record was originally intended as an EP to promote the "Zooropa" leg of the tour that was to begin in May 1993, but during the sessions, the group decided to extend the record to a full-length album. Pressed for time, U2 wrote and recorded at a rapid pace, with songs originating from many sources, including leftover material from the "Achtung Baby" sessions. The album was not completed in time for the tour's resumption, forcing the band to travel between Dublin and their tour destinations in May to complete mixing and recording.


title: Zooropa

text: "Zooropa" received generally favourable reviews from critics. Despite none of its three singles—"Numb", "Lemon", and "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)"—being hits consistently across regions, the record sold well upon release, charting in the top ten of 26 countries. The album's charting duration and lifetime sales of 7 million copies, however, were less than those of "Achtung Baby". In 1994, "Zooropa" won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. Although the record was a success and music journalists view it as one of the group's most creative works, the band regard it with mixed feelings.


title: Zooropa

text: U2 regained critical favour with their commercially successful 1991 album "Achtung Baby" and the supporting Zoo TV Tour in 1992. The record was a musical reinvention for the group, incorporating influences from alternative rock, industrial music, and electronic dance music into their sound. The tour was an elaborately staged multimedia event that satirised television and the viewing public's over-stimulation by attempting to instill "sensory overload" in its audience. The band finished 1992 with one of their most successful years, selling 2.9 million concert tickets and reaching 10 million copies sold for "Achtung Baby". Their 73 North American concerts from the year grossed US$67 million, easily the highest amount for any touring artist in 1992.


title: Zooropa

text: The group concluded the North American "Outside Broadcast" leg of the tour on 25 November 1992, leaving them with a six-month break before the tour resumed in Europe in May 1993 with the "Zooropa" leg. Rather than use the time to rest, lead vocalist Bono and guitarist the Edge were keen to record new material. Following a hectic year of touring, the two did not want to settle back into domestic life. Bono said, "We thought we could live a normal life and then go back on the road [in May 1993]. But it turns out that your whole way of thinking, your whole body has been geared toward the madness of Zoo TV... So we decided to put the madness on a record. Everybody's head was spinning, so we thought, why not keep that momentum going...?" The Edge also wished to distract himself from the emotions he was feeling after separating from his wife during the "Achtung Baby" sessions in 1991. The other members, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr., ultimately agreed to join them for recording.


title: Zooropa

text: After handling audio engineering for the recording of "Achtung Baby", Robbie Adams was invited by U2 to manage sound mixing on the Zoo TV Tour. Adams also recorded the group's tour soundchecks. In January 1993, the band asked him to compile these recordings and create loops of interesting parts that they could play to in the studio. After Adams spent a few weeks assembling loops, the group entered The Factory in Dublin that February to begin composing rough demos. Bono and the Edge were most involved during this initial demoing process, which lasted six weeks. Audio services company Audio Engineering installed recording equipment at the Factory that included a Soundcraft 6000 mixing console, an Otari MTR100 multi-track recorder, and four Neve console modules. The company also provided outboard gear such as a UREI 1176 Peak Limiter, a dbx 120X-DS subharmonic synthesizer, two Summit and two LA compressors, a Focusrite 115HD equaliser, a Yamaha SPX1000 multi-effects unit, Lexicon PCM-70 and AMS RMX-16 reverb units, and Yamaha NS-10 and EGV monitor speakers.


title: Zooropa

text: The group employed Brian Eno and his assisting partner Mark "Flood" Ellis—both of whom worked on "Achtung Baby"—to produce the sessions; long-time Eno collaborator Daniel Lanois was busy promoting his solo album and was unavailable. Similar to the "Achtung Baby" sessions, Eno worked two-week shifts. The group often gave him in-progress songs to adjust and to which he could add his own personality. Initially, the band did not have a clear plan for how they would release the material being written. At the time, Clayton said, "I don't know if what we're doing here is the next U2 album or a bunch of rough sketches that in two years will turn into the demos for the next U2 album." The Edge was a proponent of making an EP of new material to promote the upcoming leg of the tour, describing his mentality as thus: "We've got a bit of time off. We've got some ideas hanging around from the last record, let's do an EP, maybe four new songs to spice the next phase of the tour up a bit. It'll be a fan thing. It'll be cool."


title: Zooropa

text: Soon after the sessions commenced, Bono pushed for the band to work towards a full-length album. The Edge was initially hesitant, but saw the opportunity as a challenge to quickly record an album before returning to tour and prove the band had not become spoiled by the luxury of ample recording time. Additionally, Bono and the band's manager Paul McGuinness had discussed the possibility of releasing a "one-two punch" of records since the beginning of the "Achtung Baby" sessions. In early March, U2 reached a consensus to work towards a full-length album. Much like they had for the "Achtung Baby" sessions, the band split work between two studios at once; Adams operated a Soundtracs mixing console at The Factory, while Flood used an SSL console at the newly relocated Windmill Lane Studios.


title: Zooropa

text: Due to the time limit, U2 were forced to write and record songs at a more rapid pace. They continued their long-time practice of jamming in the studio. Eno used an eraseable whiteboard to give instructions and cues to the band while they jammed; he pointed at chords and various commands, such as "hold", "stop", "change", and "change back", to direct their performances. Flood recorded the material, while Eno alternated between performing with U2 and joining Flood in the control room. At the end of a given week, Eno and Flood compared their notes and compiled the week's best jams onto a cassette for the band to listen to. The producers edited together their favourite sections of the jams and then discussed the arrangements with the group. U2 suggested alterations and added lyrics and melodies, before performing to the edited arrangements. To record all of the band's material and test different arrangements, the engineers utilised a technique they called "fatting", which allowed them to achieve more than 48 tracks of audio by using a 24-track analogue recording, a Fostex D20 timecode-capable DAT recorder, and an Adams Smith Zeta Three synchroniser; Adams went through 180 two-hour DAT tapes during the recording sessions. The production crew faced issues with audio spill at The Factory, as all group members recorded in the same room as the mixing desk and Bono frequently sang in-progress lyrics that would need to be replaced. Gobos and wood booths were built to separate the performers' sounds as much as possible.


title: Zooropa

text: Songs originated from and were inspired by a variety of sources. "Zooropa" was the result of combining two separate pieces of music together, one of which the band discovered while reviewing recordings of tour soundchecks. The verse melody to "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" and an instrumental backing track that became "Numb" were originally from the "Achtung Baby" sessions. "Babyface", "Dirty Day", "Lemon", and "The Wanderer" were written during the "Zooropa" sessions. Country singer Johnny Cash recorded vocals for "The Wanderer" during a visit to Dublin, and although Bono recorded his own vocals for the song, he preferred Cash's version. The production crew and the band debated which version to include on the record. Throughout the sessions, U2 were undecided on a unifying musical style for the release, and as a result, they maintained three potential track listings—one for the best songs, one for "vibes", and one for a soundtrack album. Bono suggested editing the best segments of songs together to create a montage.


title: Zooropa

text: As May's "Zooropa" tour leg approached, U2 continued to record while simultaneously rehearsing for the tour. Their time limit prevented them from working on live arrangements for any of the new songs. Despite the sessions' rapid pace, the album was not completed by the time they had to resume touring. Moreover, Flood and Eno had to begin work on other projects. The Edge remembers everyone was telling the group, "Well, it's an EP. You did good but there's a lot more work needed to finish some of these songs." However, the band did not want to shelve the project, as they believed they were on a "creative roll" and that they would be in a completely different frame of mind if they revisited the material six months later.


title: Zooropa

text: The group's solution was to fly back and forth between Dublin and their concert destinations for about ten days to finish recording and mixing at night and during their off-days. Clayton called the process "about the craziest thing you could do to yourself", while Mullen said of it, "It was mad, but it was mad good, as opposed to mad bad." McGuinness later said the band had nearly wrecked themselves in the process. The group simultaneously used three separate rooms at Windmill Lane to mix, overdub, and edit. Adams said the hectic approach meant "there was never anybody sitting around waiting or doing nothing". Flood called the period one of "absolute lunacy". Eschewing console automation, the engineers adopted a "live performance" attitude to mixing, based on past experiences with Lanois. The band and production crew sat in on the mixing and offered encouragement, creating, as Adams put it, "a kind of cheerleader thing. It all induces a nervous energy in you and creates a lot of pressure, and gives the whole thing a performance feel." Flood had to depart about a week prior to the completion of mixing due to prior obligations to produce Nine Inch Nails in Los Angeles. The recording of "Zooropa" concluded on 14 May 1993.


title: Zooropa

text: In the final weeks, the band decided to exclude the traditional rock songs and guitar-driven tracks they had written in favour of an "album of disjointed, experimental pop". The Edge received a production credit—his first on a U2 record—for the extra level of responsibility he assumed for the album. Twenty songs were recorded during the sessions, but ultimately 10 were chosen for the final track listing. One piece that was left off the record was "In Cold Blood", which featured somber lyrics written by Bono in response to the Bosnian War and was previewed prior to the album's release. Other tracks that were left off the album included "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me", "If God Will Send His Angels", "If You Wear That Velvet Dress", and "Wake Up Dead Man". The first was later released as a single from the "Batman Forever" soundtrack in 1995, and the latter three were included on the band's following studio album, "Pop", in 1997.


title: Zooropa

text: With an even more "European" musical aesthetic than "Achtung Baby", "Zooropa" is a further departure from the group's "rootsy" sound of the late 1980s. Much like how the group embraced technology for the Zoo TV Tour, they utilized technology as a musical resource to a greater extent on "Zooropa". The record exhibits additional influences from alternative rock, electronic dance music, and industrial music—it is more synthesised than U2's past work, featuring various sound effects, audio loops, and use of synthesisers. In addition to the Edge playing synthesiser, Brian Eno received credit for the instrument on six tracks.


title: Zooropa

text: The Edge's guitar playing on "Zooropa" marks a further shift away from his trademark style, highlighted by a heavier reliance on guitar effects and the songs' reduced emphasis on his guitar parts. The danceable "Lemon", called a "space-age German disco" by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, features a gated guitar part. The distorted "Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car" was described by Bono as "industrial blues". The instrumentation of the closing song, "The Wanderer", consists primarily of a synthesised bassline and was described by the group as resembling the "ultimate Holiday Inn band from hell". The song was sequenced as the final track because U2 wanted to end the album on a "musical joke".


title: Zooropa

text: Similar to how the Zoo TV Tour display screens sampled video footage from television programming, a number of songs from "Zooropa" sample audio. The introduction to the title track, "Zooropa", contains a noisy collage of indecipherable human voices from radio signals—credited to the "advertising world"—played over sustained synthesiser chords. The industrial-influenced "Numb" features a noisy backdrop of sampled, rhythmic noises, including "arcade sounds", a Walkman rewinding, and a Hitler Youth boy banging a bass drum in the 1935 propaganda film "Triumph of the Will". "Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car" begins with a snippet of fanfare from "Lenin's Favourite Songs" and samples MC 900 Ft. Jesus' song "The City Sleeps".


title: Zooropa

text: The vocals on "Zooropa" are a further departure from U2's previous style. As Jon Pareles described, Bono "underplays his lung power" throughout the record, in contrast to his impassioned, belting vocals from past work. Additionally, in songs such as "Lemon" and "Numb", Bono sings in an operatic falsetto he calls the "Fat Lady" voice. Two tracks feature other people on lead vocals: for "Numb", the Edge provides lead vocals in the form of a droning, monotonous list of "don't" commands; for "The Wanderer", country musician Johnny Cash sings lead vocals, juxtaposing the electronic nature of the song with his haggard voice.


title: Zooropa

text: Bono is credited as the sole lyricist for eight of the ten songs, while the Edge received sole credit for "Numb". The duo share credits for the lyrics to "Dirty Day". Technology is a common theme on "Zooropa", inspired by the group's experiences on the Zoo TV Tour. Jon Pareles wrote that the songs are about how "media messages infect characters' souls", while music journalist David Browne said the songs are concerned with "emotional fracturing in the techno-tronic age". Critic Robert Hilburn interpreted the album as U2 probing into what they saw as the "disillusionment of the modern age".


title: Zooropa

text: "Zooropa" is set amongst neon signs of a brightly lit futuristic city. In the song's introduction, background voices ask, "What do you want?" In response to the question, the lyrics in the first three verses consist of various advertising slogans, including, "Better by design", "Be all that you can be", and "Vorsprung durch technik". Critic Parry Gettelman interpreted these lines as meaning to "signify the emptiness of modern, godless life". In the song's second half, the theme of moral confusion and uncertainty is introduced, particularly in the lines "I have no compass / And I have no map".


title: Zooropa

text: "Babyface" is about a man practicing his obsessive love for a celebrity by manipulating her image on a TV recording. "Lemon", inspired by an old video of Bono's late mother in a lemon-coloured dress, describes man's attempts to preserve time through technology. This is reflected in lines such as, "A man makes a picture / A moving picture / Through the light projected he can see himself up close". The lyrics to "Numb" are a series of "don't" commands, amidst a noisy backdrop of sounds. The Edge notes that the song was inspired by one of the themes of Zoo TV, "that sense that you were getting bombarded with so much that you actually were finding yourself shutting down and unable to respond because there was so much imagery and information being thrown at you".


title: Zooropa

text: In contrast to the technology-inspired lyrics of many songs, others had more domestic themes. "The First Time" was Bono's interpretation of the story of the Prodigal son, but in his version, the son decides not to return home. Similarly, "Dirty Day" was written about a character who abandons his family and returns years later to meet his son. Many of the track's lyrics are taken from phrases that Bono's father commonly used, such as "No blood is thicker than ink" and "It won't last kissing time". "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" is a love song written for an abused woman.


title: Zooropa

text: Bono based his lyrics to "The Wanderer" on the Old Testament's Book of Ecclesiastes, and he modeled the song's character after the book's narrator, "The Preacher". In the song, the narrator wanders through a post-apocalyptic world "in search of experience", sampling all facets of human culture and hoping to find meaning in life. Bono described the song as an "antidote to the "Zooropa" manifesto of uncertainty", and he believes it presents a possible solution to the uncertainty expressed earlier on the album.


title: Zooropa

text: The sleeve was designed by Works Associates of Dublin under the direction of Steve Averill, who had created the majority of U2's album covers. Brian Williams was the graphic designer and created the digital images and layout. Inspired by the Zoo TV Tour's "highly charged electronic TV images in all of their saturated colours and fizz", Works Associates conceived a "kind of electronic flag" for "Zooropa". The cover features a sketch of the circle of stars from the Flag of Europe with an "astrobaby" drawing in the center. The illustration, created by Shaughn McGrath, was an alteration of the "graffiti babyface" by Charlie Whisker that was originally on the face of the "Achtung Baby" compact disc/vinyl record. The cover's drawing was meant to represent an urban legend of a Soviet cosmonaut supposedly left floating in orbit for weeks after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the background is a montage of blurred images, similar to the arrangement of images on "Achtung Baby"s sleeve. The images include shots of a woman's face and mouth, as well as photographs of European leaders, including Vladimir Lenin, Benito Mussolini, and Nicolae Ceauşescu. These images are obscured by distorted purple text comprising the names of songs planned for the record that were provided to Works Associates during the sleeve design process. However, the album's track listing was eventually changed and the titles of several songs withheld from the album were accidentally left in the cover image; the songs include "Wake Up Dead Man", "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me", and "If You Wear That Velvet Dress". Author Višnja Cogan described this text as giving the impression of a "torn veil".


title: Zooropa

text: "Zooropa" was named for the "Zooropa" leg of the Zoo TV Tour, which began in May 1993 while the band completed the record. The name is a portmanteau of "zoo" (from Zoo TV Tour and "Zoo Station") and "Europa". During the album's production, one of the proposed titles was "Squeaky".


title: Zooropa

text: "Zooropa" completed U2's contractual obligation to Island Records, and to PolyGram, the multinational that purchased Island in 1989. Although the group were free to sign a new contract elsewhere, their strong relationship with the label and its founder Chris Blackwell prompted the band to remain with Island/Polygram by signing a long-term, six-album deal in June 1993. The "Los Angeles Times" estimated that the deal was worth US$60 million to U2, making them the highest-paid rock group ever. At the time, the group were cognizant of several emerging technologies that would potentially impact the delivery and transmission of music to consumers in the following years. Author Bill Flanagan speculated, "Record stores could become obsolete as music is delivered over cable, telephone wires, or satellite transmissions directly into consumers' homes." With uncertainty over the future of these technologies and the implications of entertainment and telecommunications companies merging, the band negotiated with Island that the division of their earnings from future transmission systems would be flexible and decided upon at a relevant time. U2 toyed with the idea of releasing "Zooropa" as an interactive audio-video presentation in lieu of conventional physical formats, but the deadline imposed by the Zoo TV Tour prevented the band from realising this idea.


title: Zooropa

text: U2's delivery of "Zooropa" in late May caught PolyGram somewhat off-guard, because they were not expecting a new album by the group for several years. With "Achtung Baby", PolyGram had approximately six months to market the record and plan its release strategy, but the sudden completion of "Zooropa" necessitated a more hurried promotional plan. PolyGram president/CEO Rick Dobbis explained: "For the last one, we prepared for six months. It was like a marathon. But this is like a sprint, and that is the spirit it was made in. The band was so excited about it, they sprinted to complete the album before the ... tour. We want to bring it to the street with that same spirit." Island/PolyGram's and U2's marketing for "Zooropa" was intended to focus less on singles and more on the record as a whole, and ultimately, only three singles were released, compared to "Achtung Baby"s five singles. The first single "Numb" was released in June 1993 exclusively on VHS as a "video single". The music video was directed by Kevin Godley. The song peaked at number seven in Australia and number nine in Canada, while reaching number two on the US "Billboard" Modern Rock Tracks chart. However, it failed to chart on the singles charts in the UK or US.


title: Zooropa

text: "Zooropa" was released on 5 July 1993, during the Zooropa leg of the Zoo TV Tour. An initial shipment of 1.6 million copies was made available in stores at the time of release. The album performed very well commercially, debuting at number one in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Austria, Sweden, and Switzerland. It also reached number one in the Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Norway, Denmark, Ireland, and Iceland. In the US, the album spent its first two weeks on the "Billboard" 200 at the top spot, staying in the top 10 for seven weeks. In its first week on sale, "Zooropa" sold 377,000 copies in the US, the group's best debut in the country to that point. The album reached the top 10 in 26 countries. Despite reaching impressive peak positions, it had a shorter stay on the music charts than "Achtung Baby" did. In total, "Zooropa" spent 40 weeks on the "Billboard" 200, 61 fewer weeks than "Achtung Baby". Similarly, the album's stay of 34 weeks on the UK Albums Chart was a decrease of 58 weeks from its predecessor.


title: Zooropa

text: Two additional commercial singles were released from the album. "Lemon" received a limited commercial release in North America, Australia, and Japan in September 1993. The single peaked at number six in Australia and number three on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The final commercial single was "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)", released worldwide on 22 November 1993. It was the album's most successful single, topping the Irish Singles Chart and peaking at number five in Australia, number six in New Zealand, number four in the UK, and number 61 in the US—making it the record's only single to chart on the UK Singles Chart and Hot 100. "Zooropa" was released as a promotional single in Mexico and the United States. By the end of 1993, "Zooropa" had sold 1.8 million copies in the US.


title: Zooropa

text: In October 2011, "Achtung Baby" was reissued to commemorate its 20th anniversary; CD copies of "Zooropa" were included in the "Super Deluxe" and "Über Deluxe" editions of the release. Continuing a campaign by U2 to reissue all of their records on vinyl, "Zooropa" was re-released on two 180-gram vinyl records on 27 July 2018. Remastered under the Edge's direction, the reissue included two remixes to commemorate the album's 25th anniversary: "Lemon (The Perfecto Mix)" and "Numb (Gimme Some More Dignity Mix)".


title: Zooropa

text: "Zooropa" received generally favourable reviews from critics. Anthony DeCurtis of "Rolling Stone" wrote in his four-star review that the album was "a daring, imaginative coda to "Achtung Baby"" and that "it is varied and vigorously experimental, but its charged mood of giddy anarchy suffused with barely suppressed dread provides a compelling, unifying thread". "Spin" wrote a positive review, commenting that the record "sounds mostly like a band shedding its skin, trying on different selves for size". The review said the album "has the feel of real collectivity", praising the cohesiveness of the individual band members' playing. The review concluded by saying "Zooropa" "indicates U2 might be worthy of whatever absurd mutations the '90s throw our way". Jon Pareles of "The New York Times" praised the group for transforming themselves and becoming "raucous, playful and ready to kick its old habits". Pareles enjoyed the sonics and electronic effects that made the "sound of a straightforward four-man band ... hard to find", and he commented that "The new songs seem destined not for stadiums ... but for late-night radio shows and private listenings through earphones." The "Orlando Sentinel" gave the record a rating of three-out-of-five stars, commenting, "Although U2 leans heavily on the electronic sound of contemporary dance music, the rhythm tracks on "Zooropa" are less than propulsive." The review said that Eno's production and the electronic flourishes made the album interesting, but that ultimately, "there's nothing especially hummable" and "the songs are not very memorable".


title: Zooropa

text: David Browne of "Entertainment Weekly" gave "Zooropa" an "A", calling it "harried, spontaneous-sounding, and ultimately exhilarating album". Browne judged it to sound "messy" and "disconnected", but clarified "that sense of incoherence is the point" in the context of the record's technology themes. He concluded, "For an album that wasn't meant to be an album, it's quite an album." Robert Hilburn of the "Los Angeles Times" gave the record a maximum score of four stars. In two separate articles, he said that it "captured the anxious, even paranoid tone of the Zoo TV Tour" so much so that "it stands as the first tour album that doesn't include any of the songs from the tour" and yet sounds like a "souvenir" of Zoo TV. In a positive review, Jim Sullivan of "The Boston Globe" called the album a "creative stretch", noting that the band experimented more yet retained their recognizable sound. He commented that the group's "yearning anthemic reach" and "obvious, slinky pop charm" were replaced with "darker corners, more disruptive interjections, more moodiness". Paul Du Noyer of "Q" gave "Zooropa" a score of four-out-of-five stars, finding a "freewheeling feel of going with the flow" throughout the album and calling it "rootless and loose, restless and unsettled". For Du Noyer, U2 sounded "monstrously tight as a performing unit and fluidly inventive as composers, so the results transcend the merely experimental".


title: Zooropa

text: A review from "The New Zealand Herald" was more critical, saying that the album started as an EP and "just got longer but not necessarily better". The publication called it "more perplexing than challenging" and commented that it "sounds like the biggest band in the world having one of the biggest, strangest mid-life crises". Jim DeRogatis of the "Chicago Sun Times" gave the record a three-and-a-half star review, calling it "inconsistent", but admitting "it's satisfying and surprising to hear a band of U2's status being so playful, experimental, and downright weird". Robert Christgau gave the album a B−, calling it "half an Eno album" in the same manner that David Bowie's Eno-produced albums "Low" and ""Heroes"" were, but saying, "The difference is that Bowie and Eno were fresher in 1977 than Bono and Eno are today." The Irish media were more critical in their reviews of the album; George Byrne of the "Irish Independent" said, "The songs sound like they were knocked up in double-quick time and with about as much thought put into the lyrics as goes into a DJ's timecheck". Byrne remarked that the record resembles "a lot of mickey-taking over a variety of drum patterns". In a retrospective, four-star review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic stated that "most of the record is far more daring than its predecessor". For him, although there were moments that the album was "unfocused and meandering ... the best moments of "Zooropa" rank among U2's most inspired and rewarding music".