Radioactive contamination at Scottish RAF base
Radiation probe launched at RAF Kinloss http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-news/top-stories/radiation-probe-launched-at-raf-kinloss-1-230528019 May 2012 RAF Kinloss in Moray is being investigated by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to determine the extent of radioactive contamination at the base, it emerged last night. Read more »
UK government wooing county Kent to accept nuclear waste dump
Wetlands of Romney Marsh in Kent could become new home of nuclear waste dump Mail Online, By SUZANNAH HILLS, 17 May 2012 The wildlife-rich wetlands of Romney Marsh in Kent could become the home of an underground nuclear waste dumping ground if government plans get the go ahead.
Thousands of letters have been sent by Shepway District Council to residents living in the area as part of a consultation over the proposal for a multi-million pound Nuclear Research and Disposal Facility.
Under the plans, hazardous nuclear waste would be buried between 200m to 1000m below the ground in underground vaults, while a research facility would be constructed on the surface…. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2145628/Wetlands-Romney-Marsh-Kent-new-home-nuclear-waste-dump.html#ixzz1vGB2CiZp
Kazakhstan’s radioactive disaster continues
Radioactive fallout from nuclear blasts have given Semey and neighboring villages abnormally high rates of cancer and birth defects.
Local oncology centers are screening tens of thousands of patients, trying to detect and treat tumors at early stages. People living in the area are still predisposed to breast and pulmonary cancer.
We are getting more and more disabled infants, each passing day their number increases. Environmental factors work slowly – we can see their effects in 10 or 20 years, in the first, second, third or fourth generation.”
VIDEO Kazakhstan’s Nuclear Legacy Euro News, 14/04/10 http://www.euronews.com/2010/04/14/kazakhstan-s-nuclear-legacy/ At the elderly care home in Semipalatinsk, we met 85 year old Praskovya. Semipalatinsk, or Semey, is a city 150 kilometers from the main Soviet nuclear weapons test site.
Praskovya is a former warehouse manager who used to work in a small town bordering the restricted area in the 1950s. She witnessed one of the nuclear explosions: “We were curious, so we went outside to watch. When the explosion happened, it looked like a large bowl, with black smoke and flames coming from the bowl. Then it rolled into a ball, and
a smoke column went up, and at the top, the mushroom appeared. And then the soldiers came and made us leave the street, shouting “it’s not allowed, it’s not allowed”. But we already saw everything interesting. And then everyone got health problems. Read more »
Kent County Council opposes nuclear waste bunker plan
Kent nuclear waste bunker proposal considered BBC News 16 May 12 A bunker used to store nuclear waste from all over the UK could be built in Kent, under a council’s plans. Shepway District Council is examining whether a nuclear disposal facility, where waste is buried underground, could be built at Romney Marsh. The authority said it could bring jobs to the area as Dungeness A and B power stations are phased out.
However, Kent County Council said it would use “every tool in the box” to oppose the scheme. The Romney Marsh Nuclear Research and Disposal Facility would be buried 200m (656ft) to 1,000m (3,280ft) below ground…..
Council leader’s ‘horror’ The leader of Kent County Council, Paul Carter, said his authority
opposed the plan and would push for a county-wide referendum if necessary. ”We are totally opposed to initiating any process that even entertains the possibility of building a nuclear waste disposal site anywhere near or around Kent,” he said. ”We will do everything possible to oppose this unviable proposal and will use every tool in the box to bring an end to this scheme…. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-18086988
UK govt’s problem – how to make a nuclear subsidy look like ‘not a subsidy’
The coalition government pledged ‘no public subsidy’ for nuclear in its ‘programme for government’ in May 2010.
When is support not a subsidy? UK nuclear London South East, Gerard Wynn , LONDON, May 16 – A British government argument that its planned
support for new nuclear power stops short of a subsidy, to satisfy EU regulators and a coalition pledge, only adds to the sense of a policy in trouble.
The planned UK nuclear build programme would be the biggest in the developed world, but is under threat after the exit of two backers. The economics are not helped by delays and cost over-runs at projects elsewhere in Europe and by low wholesale power prices.
The awkwardness of trying to stand by a commitment to ‘no subsidy,’ even while it accepts the technology needs support, risks boxing the government into a corner. Its predicament illustrates how the technology is struggling to maintain a toehold …
Whether the British programme proceeds will depend on cost, including the amount of price support, plus public acceptance of the technology and the government’s ‘no subsidy’ position, Read more »
$6 billion to renew unnecessary B61 atomic bomb
ACA expert Kimball says it is “tragic that the B61s based in Europe are irrelevant to NATO’s defense.” He says their destructive capability is so massive that it makes their use incredible. “Neither US nor European taxpayers should be asked to waste more money to upgrade the system.”
US Nuclear Weapons Upgrades Experts Report Massive Cost Increase Spiegel Online, By Markus Becker , 16 May 12, The cost of modernizing US nuclear weapons, including those stationed in Germany, has risen sharply, according to estimates. Several independent experts told SPIEGEL ONLINE that the bill for renewing the B61 atomic bomb will rise to $6 billion. The project will also upset Russia, they say.
The B61 is the last remnant of the Cold War in Germany. Read more »
NATO in rather a mess, as USA escalates its nuclear weaponry
Four main issues: Afghanistan, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, Burden-sharing…..
2. Nato-Russian relations and Missile Defence. Nato’s relations with Moscow are bedevilled by US plans to base anti-missile missiles in Romania and Poland. Vladimir Putin, recently re-elected as Russia’s president who has declined an invitation to attend the Chicago summit, claims the missile defence system could be used against Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles aimed at the US. Read more »
UK’s nuclear programme: election of France’s President Hollande increases uncertainty
Now doubt has been cast over the commitment of a joint EDF Energy/Centrica consortium to fulfil its commitment to build two other nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset and Sizewell in Suffolk.
EDF is state-owned and while President Sarkozy had a warm relationship with the nuclear sector, his successor, Francois Hollande does not. During his election campaign, M Hollande pledged to close 24 of France’s 58 reactors and to reduce reliance on atomic power.
French threat to UK energy: François Hollande could close nuclear plants By Oliver Wright, 16 May 2012 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/french-threat-to-uk-energy-franois-hollande-could-close-nuclear-plants-16159391.html#ixzz1v5yddT1I Belfast Telegraph, “……Britain’s nascent new nuclear programme is in trouble, due to a combination of the economic crisis, the disaster in Fukushima and changing political winds.
Yesterday, giving evidence to Parliament, the Energy Minister Charles Hendry appeared to be unable to guarantee with certainty that any of the five agreed new nuclear power plants would go ahead…… Read more »
Japanese govt’s nuclear push with Kazakhstan, and the global nuclear industry web
A complex web of agreements across national borders links many of the biggest players in the nuclear industry.
“Japan hasn’t used the Fukushima disaster as an opportunity to push for renewable energy or energy efficiency,” “Instead, it has used the time since the disaster to push for the restart of nuclear reactors.”
How Long Will Japan’s Nuclear Recess Be? Enter KazakhstanTruth Out , 15 May 2012 By Steve Horn, ”……Japan Announces Big Nuclear Deal with Kazakhstan Unmentioned by all but two news outlets was the fact that a day before the announcement, the Japanese government signed a deal with Kazakhstan’s state-owned nuclear giant, KazAtomProm, to begin supplying Japan with more nuclear fuel starting in 2013. Read more »
Britain’s new nuclear programme in deep trouble
French threat to UK energy: François Hollande could close nuclear plants By Oliver Wright, 16 May 2012 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/french-threat-to-uk-energy-franois-hollande-could-close-nuclear-plants-16159391.html#ixzz1v5yddT1I
Belfast Telegraph, “……Britain’s nascent new nuclear programme is in trouble, due to a combination of the economic crisis, the disaster in Fukushima and changing political winds.
Yesterday, giving evidence to Parliament, the Energy Minister Charles
Hendry appeared to be unable to guarantee with certainty that any of
the five agreed new nuclear power plants would go ahead…… The
first sign of trouble came in March when the German power companies,
RWE npower and E.ON, announced they were pulling out of their joint
venture to build two of the six planned new nuclear reactors at Wylfa
in North Wales and Oldbury-on-Severn, Gloucestershire. ….
it was not practical to go-ahead with a £15bn investment in the UK.
Now doubt has been cast over the commitment of a joint EDF
Energy/Centrica consortium to fulfil its commitment to build two other
nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset and Sizewell in Suffolk.
EDF is state-owned and while President Sarkozy had a warm relationship
with the nuclear sector, his successor, Francois Hollande does not.
During his election campaign, M Hollande pledged to close 24 of
France’s 58 reactors and to reduce reliance on atomic power.
With EDF expected to make a final decision on whether to go ahead with
the UK projects by the end of the year the change of Government could
not have come at a worse time…..
The third nuclear consortium, Nugen, comprises Iberdrola, owner of
Scottish Power, and GDF Suez, the French state-owned gas giant.
Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) was part of the consortium, but
pulled out in September, citing huge costs. ….
Tim Yeo, Chairman of the House of Commons Energy and Climate Change
Committee puts it: “Nuclear energy is exposed to what happens around
the world.
“The industrial nuclear accident in Japan, a decision taken in
Germany, the change in Government in France – all these three things
have a direct impact on global investment in nuclear in this country.
However good the intention is, we are exposed in a particular way –
unlike with some other energy sources – to what happens in countries
quite a long way away which are outside our control.”
Mr Hendry confirmed yesterday that the British Government has no
objection to allowing the contracts for new nuclear to pass to nuclear
nations such as China, Russia and Japan to keep the programme alive.
He said: “As long as they can satisfy us on the safety and the
security then we are happy to talk to them.”
The handing over of such sensitive technology to China or Russia is
certain to re-ignite concerns.
Hinkley nuclear power plans grind to a halt
Hinkley nuclear power station delay deals blow to government hopes Earthwork preparation of Hinkley site put back as election of Francois Hollande as French president hits confidence Damian Carrington guardian.co.uk, 14 May 2012 Massive earthworks needed to prepare the ground for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley in Somerset have been delayed, dealing a further blow to the government’s energy plans.
Half of the big six energy firms have already abandoned their nuclear plans as too costly, but Hinkley is backed by the most pro-nuclear of them, EDF, which is 83% owned by the French state….. Read more »
Chernobyl photographers paid with their lives
Never-seen-before shots of Chernobyl nuclear disaster that cost two of the four photographers their lives http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2142849/Haunting-shots-Chernobyl-nuclear-disaster-revealed-true-scale-catastrophe–cost-photographers-lives.html?ito=feeds-newsxml By DAILY MAIL REPORTER, 11 May 2012 These are the haunting images that captured the true scale of the
Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The black and white shots, taken in the weeks following the 1986 Ukraine tragedy, revealed the truth behind the tragedy Soviet
authorities were trying to hush up.
But despite helping the outside world to understand what happened that fateful April 26 day, the pictures have had a devastating human cost.
Of the four photographers chronicling the tragedy, Anatoly Rasskazov and Valery Zufarov have died from radiation-related diseases and Igor Kostin is constantly ill from the exposure. Read more »
Finland’s plan for eternal storage of nuclear waste
there is the problem of time. HLW will remain dangerous for longer than civilization itself has existed. Future civilizations may not even have the ability to address the dangers—even if we could somehow warn them what they’re dealing with.
Meanwhile, the construction of new nuclear facilities continues apace, even in the U.S. Earlier this year, federal regulators granted licenses to construct two new plants in Georgia, the first such licenses in the U.S. since 1978. So our waste problem, and the world’s, will only get worse.
Finland’s Crazy Plan to Make Nuclear Waste Disappear, Popular Mechanics, By Tim Heffernan 11 May 12, The U.S. plan to bury nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain may be dead, but in Finland, engineers are going ahead with a plan to build an enormous bunker to house the dangerous stuff. And they have a radical solution to keep future civilizations away—hide the nuclear waste somewhere so unremarkable and unpleasant that nobody would ever think to go there. Barring a disaster—or a miracle, depending on your viewpoint—the Finnish government later this year will begin the final licensing of the world’s first permanent storage facility for high-level nuclear waste. Read more »
Germany to be nuclear free within 10 years
includes VIDEO http://www.todaysthv.com/news/article/210528/288/Germany-plans-to-go-nuclear-free-within-a-decade Germany plans to go nuclear free within a decade, May 10, 2012 ”…. Protest against nuclear energy in Germany began shortly after the Fukushima disaster in 2011 and Berlin reacted. After a safety review Angela Merkel’s government decided to shut down eight of Germany’s 17 reactors immediately and abandon nuclear energy altogether by 2022. She says, “We want to make sure that our power supply is safe,” Merkel said. “But at the same time it must be reliable.”
Germany’s answer is renewables! Aside from solar power, the country embarked on an ambitious quest to build dozens of off shore wind parks with thousands of turbines in the North and Baltic Seas. Most of the assembly happens in the northern town of Bremerhaven and local officials say the rush into renewables has led to an economic boom here. Nils Schnorrenberger says, “We had an unemployment rate of 25 per cent six years ago. Now it is 14 per cent and the companies gave 2000 people jobs just here in Bremerhaven.”..
. Ever since the Chernobyl disaster, Germans have had a troubled relationship with
nuclear energy with regular protests against new plants and nuclear waste transports. Since Fukushima, however, the country’s decision to quit atomic power seems irreversible, even in the face of challenges and uncertainties ahead. http://www.todaysthv.com/news/article/210528/288/Germany-plans-to-go-nuclear-free-within-a-decade
Unnecessary, expensive and dangerous new NATO nuclear weapons
“The planned upgrade of Nato’s tactical nuclear forces in Europe will be expensive and is unnecessary. Nato states are fully secure without this additional capability and should be focused on removing all tactical nuclear weapons from Europe, not on modernising them”.
Nato plans to upgrade nuclear weapons ‘expensive and unnecessary’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/11/nato-nuclear-weapons-upgrade Proposals to modernise nuclear arsenal will heighten tensions with Russia, warns thinktank backed by ex-ministers, Richard Norton-Taylor guardian.co.uk, Friday 11 May 2012 Nato’s plans to upgrade the US’s estimated 180 tactical nuclear weapons in western Europe are unnecessary, expensive and likely to exacerbate already difficult relations with Russia, according to a report. Read more »
1 THIS MONTH
- http://ifyoulovethisplanet.org/?p=5755 Mary Olson on how women are more vulnerable to atomic radiation
http://soundcloud.com/flashpoints/flashpoints-daily-newsmag-05-6Fukushima reactor 4 still threatens the world Dr. Micio Kaku
of the week http://www.youtube.com/user/GoddardsJournal
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San Onofre: Bad Vibrations http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP7e83MErWw&feature=share - Low-Dose Radiation ☢ NEW A-Bomb Study http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VAncqK6bl0&feature=share
“Pay-to-print”: How Media Corruption Undermines Indian Democracy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbjsQ_dYuJQ&feature=share
- VIDEO http://vimeo.com/35212151 Cancer Risk To Young Children Near Fukushima Daiichi Underestimated
- and this VIDEO Kazakhstan’s Nuclear Legacy http://www.euronews.com/2010/04/14/kazakhstan-s-nuclear-legacy/
ACTION
USA EMERGENCY PLANNING PETITION NOW OPEN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS IN FAVOR OF EXPANDING EMERGENCY PLANNING ZONES; IMPROVING REGULATIONS The deadline for public comments is July 16, 2012. You can submit your comments here. more information at http://nuclear-news.net/action/
- Shut down the nuclear restart. Sign now!! http://www.avaaz.org/en/japan_no_to_nuclear_restart_ms/
- Stop Kudankulam - Please sign http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5502/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10090 –
EVENTS – USA
- May 31 - Portland, Maine, Bonnie Raitt benefit concert for New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution
The Nuclear Industry and WOMEN- theme for May 2012
Although women have rarely been part of decision-making about nuclear power, they have been at the forefront in opposing it.Women in organisations Strongly present in anti-nuclear activities in peace, environmental, religious and civil liberties, women have also formed their own anti-nuclear organisations . e.g. Women’s International League For Peace and Freedom, Women For Peace. Women Against Nuclear Power, Women Against Nuclear Energy,
“When it comes to opposing nuclear power in Finland, the toughest and most active and conspicuous resistance has been among women. A rather small group of women working as teachers, freelance editors, authors and in rather alternative professions. Women who perfectly well are aware of the fact that they are far too radical to be promoted for high posts within traditional parties or getting well-paying jobs in some big companies. Women who are not trying to reach equality on male values. These women have kept the resistance alive, have invited foreign speakers getting through in the mass media, have arranged post-card campaigns aiming at parliamentarians, have written inserts in daily newspapers, have collected signatures from organizations worldwide against nuclear power, etc.
If women had been asked if nuclear power should be used for energy production or if nuclear weapons should be produced there would hardly be any nuclear power stations in the world and no nuclear weapons. Women represent half of humanity. Our voice must be heard! “- Ulla Klötzer WISE – Nuclear issues information service service
Below, a note on some of the courageous women who have stood out against the nuclear forces and apologies for the thousands of such women who are not mentioned here
Dr Helen Caldicott. - Australia and The World. The single most articulate and passionate advocate of citizen action to remedy the nuclear and environmental crises, Dr Helen Caldicott, has devoted the last 38 years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age and the necessary changes in human behavior to stop environmental destruction. Helen Caldicott – About
Jean McSorley. – UK. A prolific writer and activist, Jean McSorley has advised government and environmental organisations, in the UK and abroad, for many years revealing the facts about Sellafield, and other UK nuclear facilities.
Her MajestyQueen Noor ofJordan is an international humanitarian activist and an outspoken voice on issues of world peace and justice. Today Her Majesty Queen Noor plays a major role in promoting international exchange and understanding of Arab and Muslim culture and politics, Arab-Western relations, and conflict prevention. Queen Noor | Global Zero
Ulla Klötzer - Finland. A powerful speaker and writer, Ulla Klötzer continues to oppose uranium mining, nuclear proliferation, and to expose the construction of Finlands reactor, Olkiluto OL 3 – the biggest nuclear reactor in the world.
Satomi Oba –Japan. Another leading voice for non-proliferation and disarmament was Japan’s Satomi Oba, former president of Plutonium Action Hiroshima and chair member of the international non-proliferation movement Abolition 2000. For decades before her untimely death in February 2005, Oba organized grassroots events, spoke to international groups and broke ground for other activists
Dianne Stokes – Australia An Aboriginal elder of the Yapa Yapa clan, which owns land at Muckaty in the Northern Territory, has for years continued the fight against the Australian government’s plan to put a nuclear waste dump on Aboriginal land, – resisting enormous pressure from powerful interests and politicians Toxic feelings at proposed nuclear dump – National – smh.com.au
Jean Grossholtz – (USA) Professor emeritus at the Dept. of Women’s Studies, Mt. Holyoke College, Jean helped organize the Women’s Pentagon Action (1980-82) and has long been active in peace and social justice work.
Ellen Diederich –Germany A peace activist for more than three decades, Ellen Diederich is Director of the German-based International Fasia Jansen Women’s Peace Archive, an extensive collection of books, print, audio-visual and artistic resources on women and militarism and women’s action for peace, world-wide, collected over 25 years.
Corazon Valdez Fabros - Philippines A lawyer by profession, Corazon Fabros is Chairperson of the Pacific Concerns Resource Centre (the Secretariat of the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement) and Secretary General of the Nuclear Free Philippines Coalition, which led the successful campaign to stop the nuclear power plant projects in the Philippines . Currently Philippine Coordinator of the No Nukes Asia Forum and the International Network on Military Activities and Environmental Justice.
Karen Silkwood remembered In 1974, US anti-nuclear activist Karen Silkwood was killed in a car crash many suspect was deliberately caused by the Kerr McGee nuclear company.Karen Silkwood will be remembered as someone who fought an uphill and often unpopular battle against the ruthless nuclear industry. She is an inspiration to all who believe in environmental justice and workers’ rights BY SHARYN JENKINS. Karen Silkwood remembered | Green Left Weekly
Much of the material here was obtained from Women and Life on Earth: English by Anna Gyorgy, Women & Life on Earth Network coordinator, English website editor. Contact: info(at)wloe.org
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