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The unnecessary atrocity of Hiroshima nuclear bombing

Ham’s conclusion to his very well documented and stringently argued book is that for 70 years the world has accepted an American myth – that the atomic bombs ended the war by shocking Japan into surrender. In fact it was ‘a planned massacre of innocent civilians – an unwarranted, American atrocity’.

Hiroshima: A stain on human history , HIROSHIMA NAGASAKI BY PAUL HAM(Bantam Press £25) By PETER LEWIS, PUBLISHED, 26 July 2012 This controversial book delivers a double-whammy in the way of shocks. First, it argues that the Atomic Bombing of two Japanese cities in August, 1945, was militarily unnecessary and politically unjustified.

Second, by interviewing many survivors while he was living in the two cities, Paul Ham, an Australian journalist and expert on the Pacific war, gives an eye-witness picture that leaves Dante’s Inferno looking pale.

Let me start with the inferno, so that we realise just what we are considering. Tomiko Nakamura was a schoolgirl of 13 at Shintaku High School in Hiroshima when the Bomb exploded, killing almost all her 300 schoolmates in the playground. Although over a mile from the blast, the flash, she remembers, ‘felt like the sun had fallen out of the sky and landed right in front of us’.


She regained consciousness in darkness. The mushroom cloud had turned dirty brown and cut off the sun. Flashes like ‘sunrises’ were coming from it in all directions. She examined her scalp covered in glass splinters. ‘My skin rolled off my legs like stockings’. Her shirt and trousers had been burnt onto her flesh. ‘I felt very sick and sat down but the flames were coming closer’. She started to walk over the rubble. ‘Voices beneath the timbers cried “Help! Help! It’s so hot!” I just kept walking’.
She reached a bridge where people with black or red faces were jumping into the river. ‘I couldn’t tell men from women. Some were holding their insides in their hands, staring at them. Everywhere dehydrated people were crying for water but when they drank some they died. A girl screamed: ‘The faster I die the better!’ as she jumped into the river. Continue reading →

August 1, 2012 Posted by | history, resources - print | Leave a comment

Genetic damage from ionising radiation

Researchers have been surprised to find that genetic damage, and above all perigenetic damage, which is responsible for genomic instability, to descendants is far worse than to parents; and this risk increases from one generation to the next.

In equal doses, external radiation is ten to a hundred times less damaging than chronic internal radiation, which essentially results from the oral absorption of radionuclides. These concentrate in organs like the thymus, the endocrine glands, the spleen, the bone surfaces and the heart.

Genetic mutations from radiation exposure are up to 100 times higher than anything we have encountered in the animal kingdom -Dr. Fernex, Former WHO Consultant   http://enenews.com/genetic-mutations-from-radiation-exposure-are-up-to-100-times-higher-than-anything-we-have-encountered-in-the-animal-kingdom-dr-fernex-former-who-consultant  July 31st, 2012   By ENENews  : Fukushima: precious time has been lost
Author: Michel Fernex Date: June 7, 2012 Dr. Michel Fernex Emeritus Professor, Basel Faculty of Medecine Former Consultant, World Health Organization
“What should WHO have done after Chernobyl ?” asked Dr Nabarro in 2002 when he was Acting Director-General of the World Health Organization. I replied immediately, and then confirmed it in writing: “Convene a Scientific Working Group on Ionising Radiation and Genetics” like the one in 1956, and add the words “and Genomic Instability”…..
Since 1959, an agreement signed between WHO and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and then a number of additional legal texts, prohibit WHO from intervening in nuclear accidents….. Continue reading →

August 1, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health, Reference | Leave a comment

USA’s B61 nuclear warhead – useless but oh so costly!

A Golden Mistakehttp://www.ploughshares.org/blog/2012-07-30/golden-mistake BY BENJAMIN LOEHRKE JULY 30, 2012 The B61 life extension program gets a gold medal for setting records as the most expensive nuclear warhead in U.S. history. It also gets another ignominious recognition – costing more than its weight in solid gold.

The B61 bombs are the oldest bombs in the operational arsenal – first deployed in the 1960s. The Life Extension Program is intended to update and overhaul the warheads to keep them in the arsenal for decades to come, allowing the B61 to continue serving as the last remaining tactical nuclear warhead in the arsenal. The bombs remain deployed in Europe, despite broad recognition that they have no military utility. Continue reading →

August 1, 2012 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Nuclear company’s financial burden, trying to sell to UK

EDF open to partners on UK nuclear scheme, Ft.com, July 31, 2012  By James Boxell in Paris EDF  of France is seeking partners to share the financial burden of its project to build four atomic reactors in the UK, sparking fresh concerns about whether nuclear energy is becoming too expensive.
The cost of atomic power was called into question this week by Jeff Immelt, chief executive of General Electric , who said it had become “really hard” to justify compared with cheap shale gas.

The UK wants to replace ageing nuclear reactors but it is locked in negotiations with EDF – the world’s largest supplier of atomic energy by kilowatt hours – over setting a price for electricity that would justify the heavy investment.

EDF said on Tuesday it would decide this year whether to push on with the first UK facility in Somerset. But Thomas Piquemal, finance director, said it was looking at cutting its 80 per cent share of the project to spread the risk. The UK’s Centrica  owns the other 20 per cent of the four-reactor consortium.

“We are thinking about the best ways of financing this and attracting new partners,” Mr Piquemal said.

EDF is 84 per cent-owned by the French state, but private shareholders are worried about spiralling costs in the UK unless favourable terms are offered. The company is planning to build next-generation EPR reactors, which have suffered big cost overruns in France and Finland.

RWE  and EON  of Germany abandoned plans to build reactors in the UK because of increasing industry costs, which have jumped since the nuclear disaster in Fukushima in Japan last year http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/49b4ef00-daea-11e1-8074-00144feab49a.html#axzz22Kejy7Ba

August 1, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

USA’s Pentagon curse of costly nuclear weapons

The Midas Touch of Nuclear Weapons  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-cirincione/the-midas-touch-of-nuclea_b_1726028.html    07/31/2012  The United States is about to buy a nuclear bomb that costs 1.5 times its weight in solid gold. It would make even King Midas blush. Nuclear weapons programs now cost so much they are actually more expensive than if they were made of gold.

The defense budget is famous for waste . The Pentagon has bought a $640 toilet seat, a $7,600 coffee maker , and a $436 hammer.

Now, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the agency in charge of the United State’s nuclear warheads, wants to pay $10 billion  to overhaul its B-61 nuclear bombs — at $28 million per bomb . This is a bomb designed to fight a nuclear war in Europe, and still kept in our inventory.

Today on the Ploughshares Fund blog, we’ve presented an infographic  depicting the B-61 bomb’s current cost versus its cost in solid gold. Even with the record gold prices, the real bomb is more expensive than its hypothetical golden cousin by roughly $10 million per bomb.

The solid gold nuclear bomb is only one example, but the Midas touch does not stop there. Across the board, nuclear costs are exploding.

A few years ago, NNSA told Congress it wanted to build a new plutonium plant for its nuclear bombs (called the CMRR) for an estimated $660 million . The cost for the plant has now skyrocketed to over $6 billion .

The Navy wants to build 12 new nuclear-armed submarines for an estimated $350 billion  over the life of the program. When these boats go into production, they will eat up to 25 percent of theNavy’s entire shipbuilding budget .

There’s a smarter approach. Former officials like Gen. James Cartwright and Amb. Thomas Pickering  say the U.S. should get rid of its excess Cold War weapons, not waste money on them. With almost 5,000  nuclear bombs in our active stockpile, we have plenty of room to cut.

At the end of the myth, King Midas was starving and begging to be relieved of his terrible golden touch. Isn’t it time for the Pentagon to get rid of its own golden curse, before it starves our military of the resources they truly need?

August 1, 2012 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

AP: Link between nuclear weapons and nuclear power is “becoming increasingly clear” says Japan professor — Nuclear power industry not thrilled people are talking about it July 31st, 2012  By ENENews Title: Japan pro-bomb voices grow louder amid nuke debateSource: Associated Press Date: July 31, 2012 “.. as Japan weighs whether to phase out nuclear power, some conservatives, including some influential politicians and thinkers, are becoming more vocal about their belief that Japan should have at least the ability to make nuclear weapons.

The two issues are intertwined because nuclear plants can develop the technology and produce the fuel needed for weaponry, as highlighted by concerns that nuclear power programs in Iran and North Korea are masking bomb development.

Shigeru Ishiba, former Defense Minister and current lawmaker told The Associated Press

  • “Having nuclear plants shows to other nations that Japan can make nuclear weapons”

Hitoshi Yoshioka, professor of social and cultural studies at Kyushu University

  • “The recognition that both nuclear issues must be addressed is heightening in Japan”
  • The link between the two is “becoming increasingly clear”

Tatsujiro Suzuki, vice chairman at the Japan Atomic Energy Commission, a government panel that shapes nuclear policy

August 1, 2012 Posted by | Japan, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Close nuclear and coal plants early, says clean air alliance
The Star July 31, 2012 Closing Ontario’s coal burning power plants and the Pickering nuclear station ahead of schedule could save Ontario $720 million a year, says the Ontario Clean Air Alliance.

In a new paper , the alliance says the plants could be closed early without threatening the province’s energy security….  http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1234876–close-nuclear-and-coal-plants-early-says-clean-air-alliance

August 1, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

That naughty 82 year old anti nuclear nun!

Aging protesters paint nuclear arsenal in Tenn. Knox News Associated Press  July 31, 2012 OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (AP) — Emerging details about a security alert at the federal government’s Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge reveal three aging activists staged the protest.
According to The Knoxville News Sentinel (http://bit.ly/T1UfNV  ), guards found an 82-year-old Roman Catholic nun, a gardener and a housepainter splashing blood and painting messages on the $549 million storage bunker that holds the nation’s primary supply of bomb-grade
uranium.
The intrusion early Saturday resulted in armed security guards being scrambled to find Megean Rice; Greg Boertje-Obed, 57; and Michael Walli, 63, hanging banners in the dark and reportedly singing and offering to break bread with them. The protesters reportedly
offered to share a Bible, candles and white roses with the guards.
Rice is from Nevada; Boertje-Obed is from Duluth, Minn.; and Walli is from Washington, D.C. They were arrested on federal trespassing charges.

The protesters called themselves “Transform Now Plowshares.” There is no known Plowshares national protest group, but there is a philosophical practice of using high-profile demonstrations to draw attention to nuclear disarmament and related causes.

Details about how they got into the high-security area aren’t known….. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/jul/31/aging-protesters-paint-nuclear-arsenal-in-02/

August 1, 2012 Posted by | Religion and ethics, USA | 1 Comment

Catholic nun and two workers breach top security nuclear weapons complex

Catholic activists breach Tennessee nuclear weapons plant in protest National Catholic Reporter, Jul. 31, 2012 By Joshua J. McElwee  Michael Walli, Sr. Megan Rice and Greg Boertje-Obed. The three were arrested Saturday at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Three Catholics broke into a guarded nuclear weapons complex in Tennessee on Saturday in an act of civil disobedience and made their way into one of its most secure facilities before they were arrested.
The three, an 82-year-old religious sister and two middle-aged men connected with the Catholic Worker movement, were able to enter the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge early Saturday before a guard found them inside the complex’s storage facility for bomb-grade uranium.
The three call themselves the Transform Now Plowshares and said they wished to “indict the U.S. government” for its nuclear weapons modernization program and for planning to build a new facility at the Y-12 site, according to friends of the activists….

The activists’ next hearing has been set for Thursday. They are currently being held
in the Blount County Detention Facility in Maryville, Tenn.
In the documents explaining their action, the activists said the continued use of the facility is an “ongoing criminal endeavor in violation of international treaty law.”
“The ongoing building and maintenance of Oak Ridge Y-12 constitute war crimes that can and should be investigated and prosecuted by judicial authorities at all levels,” the activists wrote. “We are required by International Law to denounce and resist known crimes.”   …
http://ncronline.org/news/peace/catholic-activists-breachtennessee-nuclear-weapons-plant-protest

August 1, 2012 Posted by | Religion and ethics, USA | Leave a comment

Fukushima Film: It’s murder not allowing children to escape    http://enenews.com/local-official-fukushima-allowing-children-escape-murder-will-be-late-when-second-chernobyl-video    — It will be too late when we are the 2nd Chernobyl -Local Japanese Official (VIDEO)  July 31st, 2012   By ENENews  

Two workers fall ill while at Reactor 3, transported to hospital in ambulance — Both had altered consciousness »
Fukushima Film: It’s murder not allowing children to escape — It will be too late when we are the 2nd Chernobyl -Local Japanese Official (VIDEO)
Transcript Excerpt Surviving Japan (2012)  Filmmaker: Chris Noland

Minamisoma city council member Koichi Oyama: I would like to explain something historical to better your understanding. Japan used to be ruled by a king, the emperor…..
Parents and teacher tell children the best thing you can do was die for your country.
Kamikaze pilots in the war embodied this spirit.
In World War II they always told us we were winning every battle.
No one knew about Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The same thing is happening now. The current government not telling people what is happening is the same we have had since World War II.
Keep your country alive by killing yourself.
I think the way to save the children at Fukushima is to get the world involved. If we don’t protect our children now, it will be too late when we are the second Chernobyl.
Not allowing the children to escape is murder.

August 1, 2012 Posted by | Japan, media, Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

$73 billion for fixing and restarting San Onofre nuclear plant

Ailing California Nuclear Plant Has $48 Million Repair Bill
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/07/31/ailing-california-nuclear-plant-has-48-million-repair-bill/ July 31, 2012 LOS ANGELES (AP) — The operator of the ailing San Onofre nuclear power plant in California says the company has been saddled with $48 million in inspection and repair costs related to damage to tubes that carry radioactive water.

Financial records released Tuesday by Edison International — the parent company of Southern California Edison — also estimate that it will cost $25 million to begin to restart the Unit 2 reactor at reduced power.
The company has not submitted a request to federal regulators to restart either of the twin reactors that have been shut down since January. The figures were included in a report on Edison’s operations betweenApril and June.
The plant is located between Los Angeles and San Diego.

August 1, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Reference, USA | Leave a comment

Japanese government effectively nationalises TEPCO nuclear power company

Japan Nuclear Disaster Probe: TEPCO Gets $12.8 Billion Crisis Bailout (includes VIDEO)  HUFFINGTON POST, By MARI YAMAGUCHI 07/31/12    ONAGAWA,
Japan — The Japanese operator of the nuclear power plant devastated in last year’s disasters received a 1 trillion yen ($12.8 billion) bailout Tuesday, putting it under government ownership, while international experts visited another plant that survived the
tsunami’s impact….

The company faces massive compensation demands from those forced to evacuate and whose land and products were contaminated by radiation leaks following the crisis that began March
11 last year when Japan’s northeast was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami.

TEPCO must also shoulder the enormous costs of decommissioning three reactors with melted cores and placing nuclear fuel rods from a fourth reactor into safe storage……
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/31/japan-nuclear-disaster_n_1722716.html

August 1, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Navajo Nation determined to get uranium cleanup

The Navajo Nation Diné Natural Resources Protection Act of 2005 prohibits uranium mining within Navajo Indian Country.

Uranium Cleanup is Priority for Navajos NEW MINING IS SECONDARY OFFICIALS SIGN AGREEMENT , Cibola Beacon, July 31, 2012   By Donald Jaramillo Beacon Managing Editor   CIBOLA COUNTY – The Navajo Nation and many of its members have stated it loud and clear, no new uranium mining until cleanup is complete on Navajo lands.
An agreement was signed on July 19 between the Navajo Nation and Hydro Resources, Inc. (HRI), a subsidiary of Uranium Resources, Inc. (URI).  Continue reading →

August 1, 2012 Posted by | indigenous issues, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment