160 nations endorse doubling of renewable energy – IRENA
Adirec sees consensus on doubling deployment of renewable energy, The Gulf Today,, 19 Jan 13, ABU DHABI: Over 160 countries on Thursday endorsed the growth of renewable energy in a balanced global energy portfolio and noted the leading role of the UAE and Middle East.
Economic dangers of climate change – The World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Risks Report 2013
Reports Reiterate Link Between Environment and Economy http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/45486 18 Jan 13, Two new reports reiterate the scientific veracity of anthropogenic climate change while reinforcing the interconnectedness of the economy and the environment. The World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Risks Report 2013 clearly points to the interrelationship between the environment and the economy. (Diagram on left illustrates the true basis of the economy – on the right, the false basis.)
A draft of the third National Climate Assessment Report indicates that climate change is both an environmental and economic issue.
The draft report was prepared by a Federal Advisory Committee known as the “National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee” (NCADAC). The report was mandated by Congress in 1990 with the passage of the Global Change Research Act, which requires that a national climate assessment be conducted every four years and the results be issued to the President and Congress. As a consequence of the 1990 legislation, the US Global Change Research Program was formed, which is an inter-governmental body involving 13 federal agencies and departments.A draft of the third National Climate Assessment Report indicates that climate change is both an environmental and economic issue. The draft report was prepared by a federal committee and offers a comprehensive analysis of the latest and best peer-reviewed science on the extent and impacts of global warming on the US. The report restates the fact that climate change will have a wide range of impacts ranging from agriculture to water.
The 2013 NCADAC report, which engaged more than 240 authors, indicated that one of the salient reasons given for the rapidly changing climate is the copious burning of fossil fuels. Following two consecutive years of extreme weather, the report makes the connection between the increased incidence and severity of extreme weather and anthropogenic climate change. Continue reading
France’s drive to sell nuclear abroad, while getting out of it at home
France on nuclear charm offensive in Saudi Arabia, By Geert De Clercq PARIS, Jan 18 (Reuters) – A top French minister and the chief executives of French utility EDF and reactor builder Areva are visiting Saudi Arabiathis weekend to build a case for selling French nuclear reactors to the oil-rich country.
Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg will meet with Saudi officials and with representatives of EDF and Areva, who opened a joint office in Riyadh six months ago to lay the groundwork for a French nuclear offer.
Montebourg will build on a Nov. 4 visit by French President Francois Hollande to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah and a 2011 agreement betweenFrance and Saudi Arabia that offered the Saudis atomic know-how and training for local staff….
France plays a strong hand in Saudi Arabia, which has no nuclear capabilities of its own but has deep pockets and wants to acquire the most modern technology…..
Unlike other suppliers, Areva also sells uranium, offering utilities long-term supply contracts…….
he French will face formidable competition from U.S., Japanese and South Korean consortia. Westinghouse-Toshiba has deep ties with the Middle East, and a Korean-led consortium dealt the French a humiliating blow with its surprise win of a $40 billion contract in Abu Dhabi three years ago…….
Hollande’s government, despite having decided to cut the share of nuclear in French electricity generation to 50 percent in 2025 from the current 75 percent, is keen to export reactors….. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/18/france-saudi-nuclear-idUSL6N0ANEA120130118
Iran answers IAEA questions if it sees an end to process: Analyst (video)
“Just take a look at the history of IAEA’s dealings with Tehran, they first raised the issue of a laptop that they got from nowhere and focused on it for several years and then totally forgot about it and moved on to a different issue which is the Parchin military site.”
Press TV
Image socioecohistory.wordpress.com
“I have talked to Iranian diplomats and they told me that Iran has constantly expressed its willingness to answer all the questions that have been raised [by IAEA], provided that when the questions are answered, the process comes to an end,” Hamid Reza Emadi said in an interview with Press TV on Friday.
He went on to say that the United States has stopped the IAEA from fulfilling its duties, making the agency unwilling to end its questioning process with regards to Iran.
“The International Atomic Energy Agency, which is clearly working under a US-dictated mandate that has prevented it from performing its professional obligations, wants to maintain the pressure on Tehran. The agency, as the diplomats told me, does not want the case to be closed any time soon and they want to raise more questions, to raise more issues once the existing questions are fully answered by Iran. So this is going to be an endless process,” Emadi pointed out.
1,000 000 Curies of radiation released from the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory since it began!
Published on Jan 18, 2013
Abby Martin takes a look at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in California, the nuclear testing that occurs at this site and the surrounding community’s unawareness of the potential danger it poses.
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USA’s nuclear workers – cancer from radiation exposure
U.S. ACKNOWLEDGES RADIATION KILLED WEAPONS WORKERS , By MATTHEW L. WALD Published: January 29, 2000 WASHINGTON, Jan. 28— After decades of denials, the government is conceding that since the dawn of the atomic age, workers making nuclear weapons have been exposed to radiation and chemicals that have produced cancer and early death.
https://nuclear-news.net/2012/03/17/usas-nuclear-workers-cancer-from-radiation-exposure/
Plutonium left Livermore – (but where did it go?)
UK useful Cumbria waste storage activist links for upcoming meetings
18 January 2013
Radwaste
no2nuclearpower.org.uk
On 10 January 2013, the group of all 6 Cumbria MP’s met in Westminster Parliament, to hear evidence concerning radioactive waste investigations and the NDA proposals to buld a GDF, should a suitable site be found. Evidence presented by Stuart Haszeldine and David Smythe is available here.
Edinburgh University School of Geo Sciences 17th Jan 2013 more »
FOUR of Cumbria’s six MPs favour a geological search to see if there is anywhere in the west of the county which might prove suitable to bury radioactive waste. West Cumbria’s two MPs – Jamie Reed (Copeland) and Sir Tony Cunningham (Workington) – have given their backing along with Carlisle’s John Stevenson and Barrow’s John Woodcock following an informal Cumbria cross-party MP session in Westminster. But Rory Stewart (Penrith and The Border) and Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) say no formal decision was reached in last Thursday’s evidence-gathering session, held ahead of the January 30 meetings in which Cumbria County Council Cabinet, Copeland and Allerdale borough council executives will decide whether to start trying to identify a potentially suitable underground site through desk top studies. Meanwhile energy minister Baroness Verma has written to the three councils stressing government commitment to make “right of withdrawal” from the repository process legally binding as well as giving assurances over community benefits at a future stage.
Whitehaven News 17th Jan 2013 more »
Baroness Verma’s webchat is available here.
Carlisle News and Stat 17th Jan 2013 more »
Whitehaven News 17th Jan 2013 more »
Stop Nuclear Waste Plans for the Lake District Petition.
38 Degress 17th Jan 2013 more »
Businesses from across Cumbria will be heading down to Westminster to take part in the first Cumbria Day. It has been organised by the county’s MPs who have put party politics to one side to promote Cumbria together. The aim is show decision makers that there is more to Cumbria than the lakes and mountain which draw millions of visitors each year.
ITV 17th Jan 2013 more »
More than 500 people attended a meeting in Keswick to discuss their opposition to plans to bury radioactive waste under the Lake District or the Solway. Cumbria County Council, Allerdale Council and Copeland Council are to vote on whether the Government should include West Cumbria in a list of sites being searched for a a new underground repository for high-level radioactive waste. A quarter of West Cumbria was ruled out of the site search by a preliminary report of the British Geological Survey in 2010. The survey shows 75 per cent of the area left is within the national park. Campaigners have produced a video explaining their opposition to the plans to use Ennerdale as a place to dump nuclear waste underground.
Cumbria24 13th Jan 2013 more »
DITCH THE DUMP DEMO at Bowness Bay on Saturday 19th January 10am for a couple of hours. Come along and join in the Demonstration! There will be street theatre and art events. Help make a giant postcard to present to the Cabinet of Cumbria County Council and come along to make your voice heard.
Facebook 17th Jan 2013 more »
There is a demo in Cumbria on Saturday about the concerns of waste storage up there. Many of us here aren’t able to get up there this saturday so we want to offer solidarity to their action. We have recently been creating a presecence at the railhead where they transfer the highly dangerous radwaste in the middle of Bridgwater town right next to Eastover Primary School. Because of this this saturdays solidarity demo will be outside the railway station in Bridgwater with or without radioactive waste barrel costumes, please come and lend a hand giving out fliers, or just being a presence as a group.
Facebook 17th Jan 2013 more »
Kit and Charles Graves, directors of Lake District Hotels Ltd, have sent this message to people in the hope it will be forwarded, and those of you who object to what may happen will do something to help.
Visit Cumbria (accessed) 17th Jan 2013 more »
HALF a million pounds will be spent on protecting the Lake District’s image if councils agree to look for a nuclear waste burial site in West Cumbria. The Government has earmarked the £500,000 for a nationwide advertising campaign on top of £3.25 million already spent by the Department of Energy on the repository process, The Whitehaven News can reveal. Repository critic and Ennerdale parish councillor David Wood said: “The prospect of this money confirms that siting a GDF in the Lake District will damage the Lake District brand image – otherwise why is so much additional public money being used to promote tourism in Cumbria?
Whitehaven News 17th Jan 2013 more »
Letter from Bruce McKirdy: First, regarding Ennerdale – Mr Wood is entirely correct in saying that we have no current proposals for Ennerdale. The fact that Dr Dearlove, who advised the MRWS Partnership on geology, thinks it may be suitable does not mean we will investigate it in Stage 4. However, if the community decides to proceed to stage 4 and offers it up for investigation we will investigate it (as we would any other site or area offered up by a community). By community, I mean the decision- making bodies (DMBs) who would be advised by a community siting partnership. The definition of those terms is given in the report from the MRWS partnership.
Whitehaven News 17th Jan 2013 more »
Africa mining uranium – GROUPE FORREST INTERNATIONAL (GFI S.A.) – How to improve your image!
“It is relatively easy for someone to break into the nuclear reactor building or the nuclear waste storage building and steal rods or nuclear waste, with no greater tool than a lock cutter,” the cable continues. “It would also be feasible to pay a CREN-K employee to steal nuclear material.” In fact, this cable reports, one of two nuclear fuel rods stolen from CREN-K in 1998 was later recovered from the Italian Mafia in Rome. Mafia members were allegedly trying to sell it to unidentified customers in the Middle East, the cable adds.
“The second fuel rod has never been found,”
Uranium Mining in the DR Congo A Radiant Business for European Nuclear Companies ?
June 2011
“…The European Union (EU) and North America together consume almost two-thirds of today’s world uranium….”
http://www.nuclear-risks.org/fileadmin/user_upload/pdfs/Uranium_Mining_in_the_DRC_OENZ_June_2011.pdf
GROUPE FORREST INTERNATIONAL (GFI S.A.) is a limited company, under Belgian law, based at Wavre in Belgium. GFI S.A. has a holding structure, which encompasses a range of companies with a common shareholder, the Forrest family. The companies comprising the holding are active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Kenya, Nigeria, Central African Republic and in Belgium.
http://www.forrestgroup.com/en/gfi.html
http://www.africaintelligence.com/AMA/who-s-who/2011/03/02/george-forrest,88398625-ART
Uranium being smuggled via EA to Iran –
WikiLeaks 2011
Secret messages published by WikiLeaks show great concern on the part of US diplomats with alleged smuggling of uranium from poorly secured mines and nuclear facilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In one leaked cable from September 2006, the US embassy in Dar es Salaam suggests that uranium from the DRC may be passing through Tanzania en route to Iran.
Such trafficking is “common knowledge to two Swiss shipping companies,” this message states, citing “a senior Swiss diplomat” as the source of the allegation. In addition to its worries about Iran’s nuclear programme, the United States fears that raw uranium and processed nuclear material could make its way from Central and East Africa into the hands of terrorist networks.
A United Nations report in November revealed that a Rwandan gang operating in the eastern DRC tried unsuccessfully in 2008 to sell six containers of what was claimed to be uranium mined during the Belgian colonial era. American concern was highlighted last week by the signing of an agreement with the DRC aimed at preventing trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials. The DRC and Tanzania are both rich in uranium resources. Congo was the source of the uranium used in the US nuclear weapons that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.
And a July 2007 message from the US embassy in Kinshasa notes that “all of Katanga Province could be said to be somewhat radioactive.” Tanzania, meanwhile, was reported by Reuters in May last year to have at least 54 million pounds (108 million kilos) of uranium oxide deposits. Tanzania expects to begin mining this motherlode in the coming year, Reuters added, reporting that the French energy group Areva is interested in exploiting the country’s uranium deposits. Uranium is a valuable commodity.
The July 2007 cable from the US Kinshasa embassy notes that the price for a pound of the mineral increased from $15 in 2004 to $135 in 2007. (effective January 14, 2013 the market price of U3O8 is US $42.25/lb.* (Price changed -0.50 since last survey a week ago).
At Least Three Japanese Hostages in Algerian Gas Plant, Japanese PM Abe Protests the Use of Force by Algerial Military
THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013
EXSKF
(UPDATE) From Reuters, 30 hostages and 11 “Islamic militants” (aren’t they terrorists?) reported dead. Dead hostages include 2 Japanese, 2 Britons, and a French.
According to Yomiuri, there were 17 Japanese from Nikki, a plant engineering company.
================================
Conflicting information on what’s unfolding in Algeria:
- New York Times says “at least four hostages freed”;
- Reuters says “twenty-five were freed and six were killed”;
- Al Jazeera (quoted in Reuters article) says “34 of the captives and 15 of their captors had been killed”.
The Guardian has the live update. The military operation to free the hostages has ended, according to the Guardian.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo pork-cutlet-over-curry-rice Abe called the Algerian counterpart to tell him to stop military operation, according to Yomiuri Shinbun(1/17/2013):
安倍首相は１７日深夜（日本時間１８日未明）、アルジェリアのセラル首相と緊急電話会談を行い、「人命最優先での対応を申し入れていたが、人質の生命を危険にさらす行動を強く懸念している。厳に控えていただきたい」と抗議、軍事行動の即時中止を求めた。
Prime Minister Abe made an emergency telephone call to Algerian Prime Minister Sellal, and protested, “We have requested that the human lives come first, and now we are worried that your action will endanger the lives of the hostages. I want you to stop immediately.”
セラル首相は「危険なテロ集団で、これ（軍事行動）が最善だ」と述べた。一方、アルジェリアに到着した外務省の城内実政務官も１７日午後（日本時間１７日夜）、同国のメデルチ外相と会談し、同様の要請をした。
Prime Minister Sellal answered, “They are a dangerous terrorist group, and this (military action) is the best course of action.” Parliamentary Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minoru Kiuchi arrived in Algeria, and met with Algerian Foreign Minister Medelci to make a similar request.
PM Abe wants to ditch the Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution so that he can send his “military” (SDF) to war zones to succor his allies. In hostage-taking situations like this, the Japanese government under LDP has always insisted that the situations be resolved in a peaceful manner.
http://ex-skf.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/at-least-three-japanese-hostages-in.html
Niger -1,600 tonnes of metal used in uranium extraction at Arlit – Now in the public domain!
“…They said that around 1,000 tonnes of this had been found at a scrap metal dealer’s, where handheld Geiger counter measurements in August showed gamma radioactivity levels to be “more than nine times greater than normal.”“There remains doubt about the fate of the other 600 tonnes,” the groups said in a press release. “Part of this scrap may have been sold abroad.”…”
Two giant towers emit steam at the Areva plant in Tricastin, France, on April 4, 2011. Areva said on Thursday it had beefed up safety procedures at two uranium mines in Niger after green activists said contaminated scrap metal from the facilitieshad been discovered at a local junkyard.AFP – French nuclear energy conglomerate Areva said on Thursday it had beefed up safety procedures at two uranium mines in Niger after green activists said contaminated scrap metal from the facilities had been discovered at a local junkyard.
A nuclear watchdog association, CRIIRAD, and a group in Niger called Aghir In’Man said 1,600 tonnes of metal used in uranium extraction had been hauled out of the mine complexes at Arlit and were now in the public domain.
The nuclear week that was
Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs
There’s a lot going on. Most critically – it looks as if the Iraq invasion (for oil), is now being repeated with the Mali invasion (for uranium). Forbes declares nuclear reactors to be not a good investment. However, at the same time,there’s a media rash of propaganda for thorium nuclear reactors.
State of the nuclear industry: IAEA reports a drop in operating reactors worldwide – now down from 437 to 390, as it declares 47 Japanese reactors to be in “Long-term Shutdown” (LTS).
USA: very discreetly, the USA government rejects nuclear reprocessing. San Onofre nuclear power plant looks like setting the pattern for the shutdown of USA’s rustbucket nuclear reactors. USA govt considers melting down radioactive metals and putting them into consumer goods, such as kitchen cutlery.
UK. NIMBYism. In Cumbria, some local councils want continued nuclear operations at Sellafield, but at the same time, they just don’t want any waste disposal in their area.
South Korea: another nuclear reactor shut down due to malfunction.
Fukushima: revelations continue – radioactive groundwater leaking back into reactors.
In Mali – a war for grabbing resources – especially uranium
Uranium: encouraging signs and exploration in full swing. Exploration is currently being carried out by several companies with clear indications of deposits of uranium in Mali. Uranium potential is located in the Falea area which covers 150 km² of the Falea- North Guinea basin, a Neoproterozoic sedimentary basin marked by significant radiometric anomalies. Uranium potential in Falea is thought to be 5000 tonnes. The Kidal Project, in the north eastern part of Mali, with an area of 19,930 km2, the project covers a large crystalline geological province known as L’Adrar Des Iforas. Uranium potential in the Samit deposit, Gao region alone is thought to be 200 tonnes.
The War on Mali What You Should Know: An Eldorado of Uranium, Gold, Petroleum, Strategic Minerals SPY GhanaBy 4thmedia.org R. Teichman, News Beacon Ireland, 17 Jan 13
The French government has stated that: …… We have one goal. To ensure that when we leave, when we end our intervention, Mali is safe, has legitimate authorities, an electoral process and there are no more terrorists threatening its territory.” [1]
So this is the official narrative of France and those who support it. And of course this is what is widely reported by the mainstrem media.
France is supported by other NATO members. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta confirmed that the US was providing intelligence to French forces in Mali. [2] Canada, Belgium, Denmark and Germany have also publicly backed the French incursion, pledging logistical support in the crackdown on the rebels. [3]
If we are to believe this narrative we are misled again about the real reasons. A look at Mali’s natural resources reveals what this is really about. Continue reading
Even very low level “background” radiation is harmful
Recent evidence on the risks of very low-level radiation, Dr Ian Fairlie, January 17, 2013“…….I’ve previously shown that a great deal of evidence supports the LNT hypothesis and indicates radiation effects well below 100 mSv.
But in recent months, a flurry of epidemiological studies go further than merely refuting ill-informed articles. They indicate adverse effects to people exposed to very low doses from medical CT scans and other clinical procedures; to infants living near nuclear power stations; and to Chernobyl clean-up workers. They even reveal adverse effects from background radiation to which all of us are exposed.
Together they reveal a pattern of higher-than-expected risks from very low exposures to radiation.
1. Background Radiation
Perhaps the most eye-opening of the recent studies concern background radiation. Most people think that background radiation levels (typically 2 to 3 mSv per year) are very low and are of little concern. But recent authoritative studies clearly indicate that background radiation is not harmless. Continue reading
Uranium/nuclear film festival – India 19 January
MIC to host film fest on nuclear threat from Jan 19 http://www.deccanherald.com/content/306047/mic-host-film-fest-nuclear.html Manipal, Jan 18, 2013, DHNS:
Manipal Institute of Communication and Manipal Film Study Centre at Manipal University will be organising ‘The Traveling Uranium Film Festival’ on January 19 and 20.
The International film festival is dedicated to independent documentaries and movies about nuclear power and the whole nuclear fuel chain from uranium mining, nuclear bombs to nuclear waste, from Hiroshima to Fukushima.
Started in Rio de Janeiro in 2011, the International Uranium Film Festival has traveled across Europe and has now come to India.
After successful screenings in New Delhi, Shillong and Ranchi, the film festival is set to showcase documentaries and movies about nuclear issues. Continue reading
Taos and Santa Fe need cleanup of Los Alamos, not nuclear weapons
a comprehensive cleanup of Area G, the Lab’s biggest
radioactive dump, could create hundreds of high paying jobs while
permanently protecting the environment. The cities and counties of
Taos and Santa Fe should be pushing the New Mexico Environment
Department (NMED) to require comprehensive cleanup, and they should
insist on that now
Taos should back LANL cleanup, not nuclear weapons
http://www.taosnews.com/opinion/article_f8ef67d6-60d5-11e2-abf3-001a4bcf887a.html
17 Jan 13,
Just under two-thirds of Los Alamos Lab’s annual $2.3 billion budget
is for core nuclear weapons programs, and all remaining LANL programs
support them through excessive overhead and internal lab taxes.
Nevertheless, the city and county of Taos have joined a “Regional
Coalition of LANL Communities” funded by the Department of Energy and
the Los Alamos County government (which is enriched by gross receipts
taxes on Lab operations).
The original purpose of the Regional Coalition was to have local
governments lobby Congress in support of the Lab’s cleanup budget, but
this has already been compromised into supporting LANL’s budget in
general.
The city and county of Taos should be clear and insistent
that it is cleanup they support, and not nuclear weapons programs! Continue reading
USA government quietly rejects nuclear reprocessing
Steve Skutnik January 17, 2013 There is a hallowed tradition in Washington known as the “Friday Document Dump,” in which news and announcements the government wishes to bury are strategically timed for Friday afternoons, when such announcements tend to fall through the cracks of the typical news cycle (i.e., assuming reporters are even present to cover the event, the strategic timing tends to ensure it will miss the weekend papers, thus effectively “burying” the story by the time the new week rolls around).
1 This Month
Protect Sazan Island from the Trump family! https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/protect_sazan_island_from_the_trump_family_loc/?bqFCVab&v=174511&cl=22707147157&_checksum=5e9dde668860e8231c33699735e16a1fbf22ab2cb01da50c999fe8732b9775ef&utm_source=email&utm_medium=blast_email&utm_campaign=174511
Cuba Is Not a Failed State – It Is a Besieged State
PETITION: “Global Appeal to Endorse Palestinian Right of Return of Refugees”
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