Prisoners for Peace day, 1st December
Prisoners for Peace day, 1st December
1st December marks ‘Prisoners for Peace’ day. For more than 50 years, War Resisters’ International has used this opportunity to make known the names and stories of those imprisoned for their actions for peace. Some are conscientious objectors, detained for their refusal to join the military. Others have taken nonviolent direct actions to disrupt preparations for war.
This day is also a chance for you to demonstrate your support. We invite you to put aside some time on December 1st, andsend cards that express your solidarity. You might want to gather a group of friends and write together.
Sergeiy Sandler, a conscientious objector in Israel, was imprisoned for this refusal to undertake military service.
“As one who once was on WRI’s Prisoner for Peace list, I can testify to the importance of the scores of support messages I received from people all over the world. They lifted my spirit when I was behind bars”, he said.
One person you could contact is Lee Young-chan, who is detained in South Korea. Lee Young-chan is a Jesuit Priest and campaigner against the construction of a naval base on the Island of Jeju. He was arrested on October 24 on charges of obstruction of business, whilst protesting against the arrest of another peace activist, and remains in custody.
Or, you could write to is Kimberly Rivera, a conscientious objector in the USA. Kimberly served with the US Army in Iraq before developing a conscientious objection. She went absent without leave between deployments in 2007, travelling to Canada with her husband and children, where they claimed refugee status. This was refused, and she returned to the U.S. on 20th September 2012. She she was immediately taken into military custody, where she remains.
Kim has four children. She is likely to be court-martialled for desertion and jailed for between two to five years.
In writing your cards, think about what you would like to receive if you were in prison – maybe include photos, or drawing, telling them about your life, and what you are doing to stop war. Include your name and address, but don’t expect a reply – this may not be possible.
The list of those who are currently in prison is available here: www.wri-irg.org/inprison. Not all prisons have addresses listed, but many do, so keep scrolling thorough the list till you find those that do.
Fukushima appeal -70 Years High conference in Chicago with summary (Video)
“FOE and other NGO`s are demanding a re-think of the compensation scheme and an expansion of the evacuation area to reflect actual contamination and not a line drawn on a map using inaccurate data.”
from summary
“Radiation exposure is high, more than 1 Sievert/hour in my house. I am worried about whether I should make my children live in such an environment”
Fukushima mother September 2011
The Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Disaster
Streamed live on Dec 1, 2012 by chicantv
Akiko Yoshida of Friends of the Earth – Tokyo discusses the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster and Japan’s energy policy after the accident at the Mountain of Waste – 70 Years High conference in Chicago. This program was recorded by Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c32EjEmLwA
Summary of the main points discussed by Akiko Yoshida here
Akiko talks of the children of fukushima being allowed to have 20 millisieverts/year and draws attention to the protest movement. This allowance was for children in the school.
The parents of the children were angry and protested.
On the 23 may 2011. Hundreds of parents surrounded the MEXT government offices demanding a lowering of this limit.They had more than 50 thousands of signatures to deliver.
The diet conceded and rolled back the limit to 1 millisievert/year. Though this target has not been met.
European doses are 1 milisieverts/year and nuclear workers are allowed 5 millisieverts/year.. the Japanese levels were shown to be too high.
Looking at the contamination evacuation levels in the Chernobyl disaster zone, 5 millisieverts/year was the mandatory evacuation level with 1 millisievert/year being a “right of resettlement” level as well.
Some small areas have been designated evacuation areas but the way the Japanese government assessed the terrain left many still in contaminated areas exceeding the 20 millisievert/year dose allowance. Residents of theses contaminated areas are not going to get compensation. Children have been returning to these areas.
Concerning the worst hit mandatory evacuation area there are 100,000 people affected. Their compensation comes to 1,250 dollars US a month with no payments given to anyone outside the most stricken area. by December 2011, the effect of the protests the area was expanded
The larger expanded compensation scheme area received a one of payment of about 1,000 US dollars with about 5000 US dollars per child. The costs of the childrens and mothers voluntary evacuation soon used this payment up and forced mothers and children to return to these areas.
There were many children also voluntarily evacuated from areas outside of the evacuation zone. The cost being carried by the parents.
The issue of excluding “hot spot” contamination from the official measured average is mentioned and some footage from the presented footage from Fukushima shows very high levels above the governments measured levels. These hot spots are found all over the non-evacuation zone as well.
FOE and other NGO`s are demanding a re-think of the compensation scheme and an expansion of the evacuation area to reflect actual contamination and not a line drawn on a map using inaccurate data.
The pressure on families concerning financial ties to their home and the health of their children is a constant strain that threatens to break up families.
The residents demands to the Japanese diet and local officials are;
- Repeal the 20 millisievert/year standard
- A special limit is required for children and pregnant women as has been negotiated in the city of Minamisouma the demands are for this to be taken up also in the city of Fukushima city
- A temporary evacuation of children and pregnant women during the decontamination process
- No single small spots for recommended evacuation, but zones covering larger areas of hot spots
- Compensation for evacuees matching the compensation of those remaining
The centre of Fukushima city was highly contaminated and the eastern part of the city has many hot spots of contamination.
The Watari district near eastern part of Fukushima city has 16,000 residents and many children have been there throughout the disaster. The Government has denied this area to be an evacuation zone.
U.S. asks India to consult IAEA on liability law
To enter the international mainstream civil nuclear commerce, a top United States official said India should consult the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on its nuclear liability law as a means to ensure the objective.
“While we understand that India’s law is currently being examined by the courts, we believe that consultations with the IAEA would be useful as a means to ensure that the liability law accomplishes our shared objective of moving India into the international mainstream of civil nuclear commerce,” Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Geoffrey Pyatt has said. In his remarks to the Pillsbury NEI Nuclear Export Controls Seminar in Washington, Mr. Pyatt identified the nuclear liability law as a major challenge in implementing the “historic” India-U.S. civilian nuclear deal. A copy of his remarks was released by the State Department on Friday. “India’s nuclear liability law is not in line with the international nuclear liability principles reflected in the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage,” he said.
Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/us-asks-india-to-consult-iaea-on-liability-law/article4154469.ece
San Onofre nuclear power plant and the Monks
DECEMBER 1, 2012 · 3:48 PM
I live less than 5 miles from San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) here on the coast in Orange County. The plant has been shut down since January when workers discovered a small radioactive leak. Southern California Edison, which owns 78% of San Onofre, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission assured us it was a tiny leak that was perfectly harmless. Nothing to see here. Move along.
Now, Edison feels that it can restart (at reduced power) one of the two reactors that did not leak back in January. And so they presented their case before the NRC at an overflow crowd public meeting yesterday in Laguna Hills. Although there was extensive questioning, the regulators have not indicated how they expect to rule. If this is a typical case, the regulators will side with industry and Edison will get its way and re-start reactor 2.
Meanwhile and eerily coincidental, Edison has reported that there has been tampering, perhaps sabotage, with the coolant used to keep the reactors within safe range. The FBI is taking over the investigation. As Democratic Underground reports:
This facility has the worst safety record of any nuclear plant in America, its workers are speaking out to warn of dangers, and 9 cities within the evacuation zone have now raised serious concerns.
And because we are in Southern California, a small group of Buddhist monks held a protest march from Dana Point to San Clemente where they plan to fast and pray near the pier. Their mission is to block the restart of the reactor and to shut down the plant permanently. From the Orange County Register:
“We need to shut down the San Onofre,” Gyosen Sawada of Los Angeles, who said he was born in Fukushima, Japan, told the group before beginning a three-hour walk from Dana Point Harbor. “No more Hiroshima. No more Nagasaki. No more Three Mile Island. No more Fukushima. No more San Onofre.”
Sawada and two Seattle-area monks – Senji Kanaeda and Gilberto Perez, who told the group he was a “homey from the projects in New York city, born in Cuba” – then set off down Pacific Coast Highway.
Look for a great slideshow at the Register of the monks and the NRC hearing.
Curiously, Edison has added a virtual tour of the power plant to its site. No mention of sabotage on this tour.
http://www.design-oc.com/2012/12/01/san-onofre-and-the-monks/
NATO Pushing Europe into New Nuclear Arms Race
By Julio GodoyIDN-InDepth NewsAnalysisBERLIN (IDN) –
Between late 2009 and mid-2010, the German government, represented by its foreignminister Guido Westerwelle, made a case for dismantling B61 atomic bombs on German soil. The actualnumber of such weapons of mass destruction is a top military secret, but some 20 of these are reportedto be stationed in Germany.
The German campaign for nuclear disarmament had relevance also for Belgium, Italy and theNetherlands – as well as Turkey – where the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is stated to havepositioned between 150 and 200 nuclear weapons.Like his predecessor Frank Walter Steinmeier, Westerwelle made the arguments of the anti-nuclear weapons activists his own, and recalled that such arsenal is in many ways obsolete, for it was conceivedto be used in conjunction with other armament that itself is out of use, and it aimed at an enemy – theSoviet bloc – that had ceased to exist.
The German campaign, as discreet as it was, was a timely reaction to the historic speech the U.S.president Barack Obama made in the Czech capital Prague in April 2009, where he called the nuclear weapons spread across the world “the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War”.But soon, the German campaign for the denuclearisation of Europe, very much like Obama’s speech inPrague, turned out to be no more than pious words. Already in April 2010, NATO had approved the so-called modernization of its nuclear arsenal in Europe, which should be completed by 2020.
Them odernisation was confirmed in May 2012 at the Chicago summit, during the so called deterrence and defence posture review (DDPR).By so doing, NATO finally admits that the criticism of the present nuclear arsenal is correct – it is constituted of so-called dumb weapons, for they are to be dropped from war planes over target zones,and be guided by a radar that, according to U.S. senate hearings, was constructed in the 1960s and originally designed for “a five-year lifetime”.This radar also features “the now infamous vacuum tubes”, as one U.S. military industry representatives tatedat the senate hearing, and “must be replaced. In addition, both the neutron generator and a battery component are fast approaching obsolescence and must be replaced.”Dropping such dumb nuclear weapons from an airplane would mean that, in case they operate as expected, vast areas would be obliterated from the face of the earth.The old B61 nuclear bombs manifest several dangers: In 2005, a U.S. Air Force review discovered that procedures used during maintenance of the nuclear weapons in Europe held a risk that a lightning strikecould trigger a nuclear detonation. In 2008, yet another U.S. Air Force review concluded that “most”nuclear weapons locations in Europe did not meet U.S. security guidelines and would “require significant additional resources” to bring these up to standard.The modernisation of this archaic arsenal is expected to take place in two phases. In a first step, the B61 bombs currently deployed in Europe will be returned to the United States starting 2016 and converted into precision guided nuclear weapons (the so called B61 life extension programme or B61 LEP) andt hen brought back to Europe as B61-12, with improved military capabilities around 2019/2020. Inaddition, a new stealth fighter bomber – the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter – is under construction to begindeployment to Europe in the early 2020s.However, this modernisation contradicts NATO’s assessment of the present arsenal, and undermines other declared objectives of the military alliance.
IAEA aims to start joint project in Fukushima early next year
VIENNA, Dec. 1, Kyodo
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Saturday the U.N. nuclear watchdog aims to start a joint project with the Fukushima prefectural government early next year to address the March 2011 nuclear accident.
In an interview with Kyodo News and other news organizations, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said, “We’d like to launch (the project) as soon as possible after the turn of the year.”
In the joint project, the IAEA and the Fukushima government are expected to engage in such operations as radioactive decontamination and health management services for local citizens.
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2012/12/196935.html
Centrica writes off £200m to quit nuclear power project because costs have doubled -UK
SUNDAY 02 DECEMBER 2012
British Gas owner Centrica is expected to write off £200m when it pulls out of the country’s nuclear new build programme in the new year.
Centrica has the option of taking a 20 per cent stake in building nuclear power stations at Hinkley Point in Somerset and Sizewell in Suffolk alongside French group EDF.
However, chief executive Sam Laidlaw, right, is almost certain to confirm that Centrica will leave the project at the “final investment decision”in January, having spent virtually all its share of the £1bn in upfront costs that the companies had budgeted to the end of 2012.
This will mean that there is no British involvement left in the three consortiums established to build nuclear plants to bridge the country’s impending energy gap. EDF is likely to seek a new partner and was cheered last week when Hinkley Point was granted the UK’s first nuclear site licence in 25 years.
Centrica fears it cannot make the financial numbers work, as the cost of reactors has gone up from £4.5bn to £7bn each. It is likely to focus on US expansion instead.
Nuclear Waste Gone from Hurricane Sandy’s Path -Forbes
James Conca, Contributor
12/01/2012 @ 5:49PM
As Hurricane Sandy smashed into the northeast of the United States, nuclear power plants in its path were on the minds of many. Fortunately, nothing happened, because we do think about these things and do plan for them.
What was not on the minds of many was the nuclear bomb waste that, until recently, was also in the path of Hurricane Sandy. That’s also because of good planning. Decisions were made a long time ago that this transuranic waste, a legacy from our nuclear weapons days, should not just sit around at the surface waiting for an accident to happen, but should be put in the safest, most isolated place on Earth, so that nothing can happen to it.
Unknown to most, the United States has an operating deep permanent geologic repository for nuclear waste, called the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP. WIPP is located in the massive salts of the Salado Formation near Carlsbad, NM. The repository is 2,150 feet below the surface and is licensed and permitted to accept what’s known as transuranic (TRU) waste, nuclear waste left over from the production of nuclear weapons.
Under the Department of Energy and its contractor, WTS, WIPP has operated flawlessly and without incident since 1999 (www.wipp.energy.gov). By flawlessly, I mean if anyone out there can think of another government program that is ahead of schedule and under budget, with the best safety record of any endeavor in human history, I’d like to know.
In fact, more nuclear waste has gone into WIPP than was ever destined for that other famous nuclear repository, Yucca Mountain. The equivalent of about 400,000 55-gallon drums. It’s a bit different, but some of it is as hot as anything except spent fuel. There’s been a lot of action lately about what we should do with all of our nuclear waste and, as you might expect, WIPP figures prominently in those discussions.
Anglican church: we support the anti-nuclear protests of Kudankulam
Sunday, December 02, 2012
The Protestant leaders of southern India support the protest against the nuclear power plant in Kudankulam (Tamil Nadu).
In an official message, delegates of the Church of South India (CSI, Anglican) expressed “full solidarity with the struggle of the communities of Idinthikarai and Kudankulam, the survival of which is incompatible with the Indo-Russian nuclear project.”
The statement was presented at a seminar organized by the Department of Ecumenical Relations and Ecological Concerns of the CIS, on November 20.
Signed in 1988 but started only in 1997, the Indo-Russian Kudankulam project has long been the center of protests, which have caused several delays.
According to the local population, the reactor’s discharges will kill fish and destroy the marine ecosystem of the Bay of Bengal, the primary source of income for many small fishermen.
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