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An apology to all of the grandchildren

world-grandchildrenDEAR GRANDCHILDREN, WE’RE SORRY, Ikkuma.com   GARY LEBLANC  September 29, 2043

Dear Grandchildren,

We’re sorry for…

… playing God with mother nature and destroying our food chain with GMOs and indiscriminate biotech engineering.
… neglecting our health and burdening you with insurmountable health costs. We felt we were entitled to do what we wanted.
… destroying our oceans. We didn’t collectively protect our oceans from the billions of tons of toxic waste we dumped in it daily.
… killing off entire species of animals for our selfish wants. Ignorance was an easier path than activism.
… forgetting the meaning of community. I can’t tell you when we stopped supporting those in need. The philosophy of abundance just seemed to take a back seat to one of scarcity.
… ignoring the effects of climate change. We just thought it was too expensive to address the issue. It was too easy to pretend things would be ok.

We really hope you understand. You can’t blame us. Nobody knew this would happen. In the meantime, listen to this song. And really, we’re very sorry.

Sincerely yours,

“Grandparents”    http://ikkuma.com/life/dear-grandchildren/

September 2, 2014 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

USA government plans radioactive trash trains to… nowhere

any-fool-would-know
 
 
 
the only sane thing is to stop making this poisonous stuff
 
 
 
Feds Want Nuclear Waste Train, but Nowhere to Go, abc news,  ATLANTA — Aug 31, 2014,  By RAY HENRY Associated Press The U.S. government is looking for trains to haul radioactive waste from nuclear power plants to disposal sites. Too bad those trains have nowhere to go.

TRAIN-NUCLEAR

Putting the cart before the horse, the U.S. Department of Energy recently asked companies for ideas on how the government should get the rail cars needed to haul 150-ton casks filled with used, radioactive nuclear fuel.

They won’t be moving anytime soon. The latest government plans call for having an interim test storage site in 2021 and a long-term geologic depository in 2048.

No one knows where those sites will be, Continue reading →

September 2, 2014 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Iran’s constructive and pragmatic approach to nuclear talks

diplomacy-not-bombsflag-IranIran is playing a win-win game at the nuclear talks Al Arabia News Camelia Entekhabi-Fard  Monday, 1 September 2014 “……. being too optimistic or too pessimistic is not constructive. Simply put, Iran’s foreign policy has been changed due to the regional and international circumstances…….

President Rowhani and his nuclear negotiating team took very constructive and major steps in order to restore Iran’s image and to try to solve disputes.

They seem to be succeeding because the supreme leader decided to change course and achieve the ambitions they had since the revolution, but in a different way. He understands the importance of being engaged in regional and international matters to play a part rather than sit back in isolation, worrying about national security.

In my opinion, what made Iran’s supreme leader back the nuclear talks and show flexibility, according to his own statement, are the events in the region and the opportunities for Iran to become a regional power once again.

The events in Iraq and Syria,the rise of extremism and Iran’s geopolitical and regional importance coalesce to make Iranians feel like they could gain by changing their language and the way they presen themselves in the region.

Nuclear bombs can’t feed the masses

Continue reading →

September 2, 2014 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Final abandonment of Fukushima communities – as governor agrees to nuclear waste storage

wastes-1flag-japanFukushima governor accepts ‘temporary’ radioactive waste storage http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2014-09-01/fukushima-governor-accepts-temporary-radioactive-waste-storage/1363279  1 September 2014,

The governor of Fukushima has agreed to accept the “temporary” storage of radioactive waste from the 2011 nuclear disaster. Yuhei Sato has been cajoled with the promises of subsidies if he accepts a Japanese government plan to build a depot on land near the battered Fukushima Daiichi plant.

“I have made an agonising decision to accept plans to construct temporary storage facilities in order to achieve recovery in the environment as soon as possible,” Mr Sato told central government ministers in Tokyo. A magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami in March 2011 prompted the meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear plant on Japan’s northeast coast.

The resulting plumes of radiation contaminated areas far and wide, rendering a swathe of Fukushima uninhabitable and forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes.Tokyo’s solution has been to try to scrub the radiation from the affected areas, often by lifting topsoil in the hope that contamination levels will go down. This has left the problem of what to do with all the waste, with no community in Japan prepared to accept its permanent storage.

The government’s answer has been to seek a temporary fix while it works on getting a long-term plan in place.Mr Sato’s acquiescence came after prime minister Shinzo Abe’s government offered subsidies worth more than 300 billion yen ($2.9 billion), including land rent for the facility location.

Under the plan, the government will build storage units on an area of 16 square kilometres near the power plant.

While observers have long said the area around Fukushima is the only viable option, people already displaced have seen it as unacceptable because it would in effect finalise the abandonment of their communities.

September 2, 2014 Posted by | Fukushima 2014, Japan, wastes | 1 Comment

India and Japan fail to reach a deal on nuclear technology sales

Abe,-Shinzo-nuke-1No Nuclear Deal In PM Modi’s Talks With Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe NDTV,  All India | Edited by Deepshikha Ghosh  September 01, 2014 TOKYO:  Despite the bonhomie between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese premier Shinzo Abe, India and Japan failed to break new grounds in ongoing talks on a nuclear deal between the two countries.

The two sides today signed a statement of intent to continue talks on the nuclear deal, officials said after summit talks between the two leaders in Tokyo today……..
Talks on a deal have been stuck on Japan’s insistence on a clause that India won’t test again and will allow more intrusive inspections of its nuclear facilities to ensure that spent fuel is not diverted to make bombs.

Sources say the Modi government had hoped to lure investment into its $85 billion market while addressing Japan’s concerns.

India has been pushing for an agreement with Japan on the lines of a 2008 deal with the United States under which India was allowed to import US nuclear fuel and technology without giving up its military nuclear programme……..

A civil nuclear energy pact with India would give Japanese nuclear technology firms such as Toshiba Corp and Hitachi Ltd access to India’s fast-growing market as they seek opportunities overseas to offset an anti-nuclear backlash at home in response to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident.

India operates 20 mostly small reactors at six sites with a capacity of 4,780 MW, or 2 percent of its total power capacity, according to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited. The government hopes to increase its nuclear capacity to 63,000 MW by 2032 by adding nearly 30 reactors. http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/no-nuclear-deal-in-pm-modi-s-talks-with-japanese-premier-shinzo-abe-585088

September 2, 2014 Posted by | general | 1 Comment

Video: children of UK’s nuclear veterans call for compensation

see-this.wayVideo: Children of nuclear guinea pigs demand compensation http://www.3news.co.nz/world/kids-of-nuclear-guinea-pigs-demand-compensation-2014090209

Tuesday 2 Sep 2014 British veterans who took part in nuclear testing in the 1950s and 1960s are campaigning for a charitable fund to help them and their relatives.

Campaigners say over the decades many of them – and their children – have suffered health problems caused by deliberate exposure to radiation.

The UK’s nuclear arsenal was developed as a result of experimental explosions, and 22,000 service personnel were used as guinea pigs – standing in line as bombs many times the power of the one used on Hiroshima were detonated at Christmas Island.

They weren’t given any protection at all – some just wearing t-shirts and jandals.

The risks of radiation were poorly understood at the time.
Watch the video for the full report.

September 2, 2014 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

China to start huge carbon trading scheme

China’s national carbon market to start in 2016, official says SMH, September 1, 2014  China plans to roll out its national market for carbon permit trading in 2016, an official said Sunday, adding that the government is close to finalising rules for what will be the world’s biggest emissions trading scheme.

The world’s biggest-emitting nation, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, plans to use the market to slow its rapid growth in climate-changing emissions.

China has pledged to reduce the amount of carbon it emits per unit of GDP to 40-45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020.

It has already launched seven regional pilot markets in a bid to gain experience ahead of a nationwide scheme…….The Chinese market, when fully functional, would dwarf the European emissions trading system, which is currently the world’s biggest.

It would be the main carbon trading hub in Asia and the Pacific, where Kazakhstan and New Zealand already operate similar markets. South Korea will launch a national scheme on Jan. 1, 2015, while Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam are drawing up plans for markets of their own. http://www.smh.com.au/business/carbon-economy/chinas-national-carbon-market-to-start-in-2016-official-says-20140901-10arz1.html#ixzz3CDBKLO8u

September 2, 2014 Posted by | China, climate change | Leave a comment

Depleted uranium as a carcinogen and genotoxin

depleted-uraniumMalignant Effects: depleted uranium as a carcinogen and genotoxin http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/en/malignant-effects

The purpose of this report is to introduce the reader to the growing weight of evidence relating to how DU can damage DNA, interfere with cellular processes and contribute to the development of cancer. The report uses peer-reviewed studies, many of which have been published during the last decade and, wherever possible, has sought to simplify the scientific language to make it accessible to the lay reader.
29 August 2014 – ICBUW

A PDF version of Malignant Effects is available to download at the end of this article.

Executive summary
What is depleted uranium?

Depleted uranium (DU) is a by-product of the uranium enrichment process. It is used by a number of states in armour-piercing tank shells and bullets.

The use of DU weapons is controversial because DU is radioactive and chemically toxic. Its use can generate particles that can be inhaled or ingested. DU creates large quantities of contaminated wreckage and hotspots of persistent contamination that present a hazard to civilians long after conflict ends. Continue reading →

September 2, 2014 Posted by | 2 WORLD, depleted uranium, Reference | Leave a comment