nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

This week’s countering the nuclear spin

Some bits of good news.  Solar Power’s Giants Are Providing More Energy Than Big Oil.     Clean-Energy Investment This Year To Be Twice That of Fossil Fuels, IEA Says.  A River’s Rights: Indigenous Kukama Women Lead the Way with Landmark Legal Victory.

TOP STORIES. Blinken made secret weapons promise to Israel – Netanyahu. The US, Russia, and Ukraine: 75 Years of Hate Propaganda. Nuclear-armed countries spent $2,898 per second last year on nuclear weapons. We’ve barely scratched the surface of how energy efficiency can help the energy transition.

Climate. Extreme heat and flash floods: Scientists warn of hazardous summer weather in Europe. Climate Emergency strikes Islam’s Holy Ritual, with nearly 600 dead of Heat stroke at 124.24° F. in Mecca. Saudi Arabia shuts pilgrims out of air-conditioned areas as more than 1,000 die in extreme heat.

Nuclear.  Overwhelmed with Australian stuff this week!

Noel’s notes. Nuclear culture wars – especially in Australia.      What a disaster, if the anti-war movement brings Donald Trump back to the White House!

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AUSTRALIA  Keep up to date at this site: 
Australia’s media quagmire on nuclear power. 
Lockheed Martin, Australian Government: joined at the hip. Australian Futures: 
Bringing AUKUS Out of Stealth Mode, and the true financial costs.

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NUCLEAR ISSUES

ECONOMICS.  Big Tech Wants Nuclear Power But
 Doesn’t See Role as Investor.      Australian Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan could cost as much as $600bn and supply just 3.7% of Australia’s energy by 2050, experts say. Nuclear power’s financial problems exposed in new report. Very late and over budget: Why newest large nuclear plant in US is likely to be the last. UK’s nuclear plant will cost nearly three times what was estimated.

ENERGY. Why we are heading for a globally connected electricity system based on renewable energy.EVENTS. Veterans for Peace Golden Rule Project 2024: the Pacific Northwest.ETHICS and RELIGION. Ten Holocaust survivors condemn Israel’s Gaza genocide.
HEALTH. Nuclear industry workers face significant, inevitable and unavoidable radiation health risks.LEGAL. Sellafield operators plead guilty to criminal charges over security breaches. Veterans for Peace Golden Rule Project 2024: the Pacific Northwest.MEDIA. Comments to The Times: Nuclear won’t fix our energy crisis

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR .
 Kenya’s first nuclear plant: why plans face fierce opposition in country’s coastal paradise.

POLITICS.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY.Why ‘no’ to NATO? U.S. and China hold first informal nuclear talks in five years, France’s Orano loses operating licence at major uranium mine in Niger.SAFETY. ‘Lax’ nuclear security leaving UK at risk of cyber attacks from hostile nations.SECRETS and LIES. Leaked doc reveals Israeli military KNEW of Hamas plan to raid and take hostages 2 weeks before Oct 7, Israeli news reports.

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS The United Nations Security Council takes up Space Security – it might have been best if it had not.

SPINBUSTER. Australia’s Nuclear debate is getting heated, but whose energy plan stacks up?WASTES. Specialised device tried to recover highly radioactive melted fuel at Fukushima plant.

TECHNOLOGY. Researchers have doubts, but Bill Gates is hyping his new liquid-sodium nuclear reactor.URANIUM.

 Iran’s Nuclear Point Man : We Won’t Bow to Pressure.  

WAR and CONFLICT. Can Israel defeat Hamas? Its own military doesn’t seem to think so, clashing with Netanyahu. Delusional Netanyahu joins delusional Zelensky in seeking total victory when none possible. Israeli ‘extremist’ tells Australian audience Gaza should have been reduced to ashes.

Ukraine, Continued Aid, and the Prevailing Logic of Slaughter.

What nuclear annihilation could look like.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES.


June 25, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | , , , , | Leave a comment

TODAY. Time to abandon the hypocrisy about Israel’s nuclear weapons – they are now a perilous target

For many decades, the world, led by the USA, has swallowed the lie that nuclear weapons keep us safe.

“Deterrence” – what a hollow, hypocritical notion that is!

Along with that huge deception, there has been the deception that Israel does not have nuclear weapons -(it has 90 nuclear warheads, with fissile material stockpiles for about 200 weapons.)

Greedy, unethical, leaders of weapons manufacturers have continued to ply their wares – especially in the USA, but also among other Western powers, and Russia, and China, India, Pakistan, and Middle Eastern powers. And public and politicians have bought the lie, as clever lobbying preys on emotions of fear and patriotism.

Suddenly, the lie is all too apparent.

Why did Israel evacuate 91,000 citizens recently?

They feared an attack by Hezbollah.

Now that fear is starkly real – as Israel perpetrates atrocities on the Muslim people of Gaza, other Muslims are enraged and seek revenge.

What better target than Israel’s supposedly non-existent stash of nuclear weapons?

Apart from this current very real anxiety about Israel, this situation demonstrates the reality that nuclear weapons sites – (and indeed all nuclear sites) are the very opposite of public safety facilities.

It is almost comic, that politicians, and communities, seem comfortable with the idea of being incinerated, as long as the other side is incinerated too!

If by some magic, a nuclear conflagration in the Middle East is now avoided, perhaps the world will wake up to the peril of our safety deterrents being really our suicidal threats.

June 25, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | , , , , | Leave a comment

This week’s nuclear news

TOP STORIES. 

Israel Is Terrified the World Court Will Decide It’s Committing Genocide.  

The ‘Ghost Budget’: How America Pays for Endless War.  US prepares for nuclear war at foreign bases – with “Steadfast Noon”.  

 ‘PR Fairy Dust’ Has Canada Tripling Nuclear Capacity by 2050. Cancelled 

NuScale contract weighs heavy on new nuclear.   

Nuclear Continues To Lag Far Behind Renewables In China Deployments.

‘Do or die’: MPs launch urgent bid to spare Assange from US extradition.   

****************************Covid. Yes, it’s still there – it’s NOT over yet.

Climate.  Analysis: Record opposition to climate action by UK’s right-leaning newspapers in 2023.  2023 confirmed as world’s hottest year on record. Human ‘behavioural crisis’ at root of climate breakdown, say scientists.

Nuclear. It’s all over the UK media  – enthusiasm for Civil Nuclear Roadmap  – methinks the ladies and gentlemen do protest too much.   Meanwhile – back at the Israel-Palestine-Lebanon-USA-Iran ranch – it’s all getting perilous –   while I try to keep that stuff out of this newsletter

Noel’s notes. Aw gee! Did ya know that Australia is partnering USA in making multiple strikes on Yemen?. Who can be believed?       New heights of folly as UK government releases its Civil Nuclear Roadmap.

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CLIMATE. “The defense of nuclear power as a low-carbon energy weakens the European Union’s action against climate change”.

ECONOMICS. Nuclear power and net zero: Too little, too late, too expensive.       Sizewell C: UK and France-owned EDF look to raise £20bn for Suffolk nuclear site.     Housing unaffordability – implications for Somerset with huge increase in nuclear workers for Hinkley Point C.

EDUCATION. Peace Pod: an aural adventure in anti-militarist activism. With teacher resources.

EMPLOYMENT. Nuclear defence workers to strike over pay.  Hotel near Bridgwater could be repurposed to house Hinkley Point C workers.

ENERGY. Reducing energy demand- technologies are available, scalable and affordable today.   ’The potential is extraordinary’: Business action on energy efficiency could save $2tr a year, new research claims.       Unplanned nuclear power outages are reducing UK’s electricity output.

ENVIRONMENT.

ETHICS and RELIGION.  ‘The Evidence of Genocide Is Not Only Chilling, It Is Also Overwhelming and Incontrovertible’: Quotes from International Court of Justice.

HEALTH. The mystery of a Truchas woman who died with extraordinary amounts of plutonium in her body.

HISTORY. The Spectacular Failure of the Zionist Project

INDIGENOUS ISSUES.  Commission decision a ‘gut-punch’, so years-long battle over radioactive waste mound will continue.

LEGAL. An international law expert explains why South Africa’s case at the ICJ is so important. Craig Murray: Observations on Israel’s defense in the International Court of Justice.

MEDIA. Nuclear technology: the shady beginnings and the uncertain future. Book (fiction): The Secret of the Three Bullets- How New Nuclear Weapons Are Back on Battlefields

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR . No to nuclear power: stop the expansion. Will Sizewell nuclear project go ahead? Campaigners question the timetable and the funding.

POLITICS. Energy Transition Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher enthuses over “the rebirth of France’s nuclear industry”. Mr President, saying that nuclear power will save the climate is a lie. France Moves Away from Renewable Targets in Favor of Nuclear Power. 

UK Government unveils biggest nuclear expansion in 70 years. Mini nuclear plants to be built almost anywhere in UK.  On the road to nowhere… UK Ministers launch nuclear ‘Roadmap’ in election year. UK’s Nuclear Roadmap is Pure Fantasy.  UK Government’s nuclear power expansion plans branded hot air.   Bradwell Nuclear – Falling Off the (Road)Map. Allan Dorans: Scottish Labour’s support for nuclear fuel poses a risk.  Government remains committed to Sizewell C timetable before a general election. Ministers told to say how Sizewell C will be funded as new nuclear plan launched. 

 Setback for Japan’s Nuclear Revival as Reactor Restart Delayed. NZ’s anti-nuclear stance is at risk of compromise but must be upheld.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY.   What Does ‘Rules-Based International Order’ Mean When US Can Bomb Yemen at Will?      Peace from River to Sea.– (pages 21-25).  Net-Zero and Nonproliferation: Assessing Nuclear Power and Its Alternatives.

SAFETY. UK’s dwindling nuclear fleet – four ageing reactors to be kept going beyond their planned closure date. Sellafield nuclear safety and security director to leave. Nuclear convoys: Blacked-out lorries carry ‘deadly cargo’ through the village.  Fresh Trident safety fears as submarines’ ‘life expectancy’ extended repeatedly.  

Japan’s Hokuriku Elec reports second oil leak from Shika nuclear plant. Japan’s NRA orders probe on quake damage at Shika nuclear power plant. Japan quake stressed nuclear plant beyond design limit: panel. Japanese nuclear plant admits 20,000 litres of oil leaked when it was hit by 10ft tsunami sparked by New Year’s Day earthquake – as officials call for drones to monitor radiation levels.

SECRETS and LIES. Dutch engineer spread Stuxnet in Iran nuclear plant in 2008: report. New Revelations Shed More Light On Sabotage Of Iran Nuclear Program.   

Outrage as Government admits it kept medical results on nuke test veterans a ‘state secret’ in a move Tory grandee Sir John Hayes said ‘beggars belief’. Nuclear Free Local Authorities question the Chief Constable on alleged misconduct among Civil Nuclear Constabulary. 

SPINBUSTER. In the name of ‘fake news,’ NewsGuard extorts sites to follow the government narrative.

TECHNOLOGY. Killer Robots: UN Vote Should Spur Action on Treaty.  Dissension in the nuclear lobby – it had to happen – Small Nuclear versus Big Nuclear.  Touting a ‘new age of nuclear fusion‘. Nuclear, CCS & LNG Are Distractions As Shipping Goes Low Carbon.

WASTES. Carlsbad depositary- 79% of waste came from nuclear wastes from Idaho National Laboratory.  Kebaowek First Nation strongly opposes nuclear waste storage facility in Chalk River.  Behind the (somewhat dirty) scenes of nuclear waste processing.

WAR and CONFLICT. Could Israel’s War in Gaza Spiral Into a Regional War? Defence Minister Marles announces Australia has joined in U.S. attacks on Yemen.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. Israel’s nuclear arsenal: what we know. Nuclear Arms Buildup Isn’t Just about War. It Also Harms People and Communities.  IG report finds Pentagon failed to account for more than $1B in weapons sent to Ukraine. Biden’s $582 Million Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia. Can It Be Blocked?.


 

January 15, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | , , , , | Leave a comment