Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs
WORDS. on the theme the power of words – here are a few news items: New names for nuclear weapons – covering up the $billions spent on them. Russia’s nuclear industry to “educate” South Africans. Book “Atomic Comics” shows corporate influence, glossing over nuclear dangers. Mainstream media is complicit in cover-up of effects of Fukushima radiation.
WORLD. Ionising Radiation & Risk of Death from Leukaemia & Lymphoma in Radiation-Monitored Workers (INWORKS): anInternational Cohort Study
NIGERIA‘ s Akwa Ibom State Leaders Caucus says NO to nuclear power.
FRANCE: Grim future for France’s nuclear companies AREVA and EDF. When France shuts its nuclear reactors, it will be left with amonumental radioactive trash problem.
UK. Game Over for UK’s Hinkley Point Nuclear power project? Hinkley Point nuclear project could be delayed by years, due to Austrian legal action. Revelations on the dirty work given to Windscale nuclear cleanup workers – and at Hanford.
UKRAINE. Increased ionising radiation in Chernobyl area, following wildfires.
MARSHALL ISLANDS. Nuclear Waste Tomb in Marshall Islands – becoming more dangerous because of climate change
JAPAN. Fukushima
SOUTH AFRICA. Investigation at last into radioactive pollution of Johannesburg, from uranium mining.
FINLAND. Russia’s Rosatom behind the funding for Finland’s Fennovoima nuclear project.
USA. NASA cancelling solar space missions, favouring plutonium fuelled space flights ! A losing bet – Bill Gates’ gamble on nuclear power. USA’s faith groups unite in push for clean energy. Why the nuclear industry keen to save US government’s Export-Import Bank.
CANADA. Canada’s last shipment of weapons grade uranium. Medical radioisotopes to be made in cyclotron, not nuclear reactor. Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries (OCI) to work with Romania to market nuclear reactors.
RUSSIA. Russia trying to sell nuclear reactors to Europe, but financing them is a snag
July 10, 2015
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When politicians are telling us that they’re trying to create a world without nuclear weapons, it’s misleading for the military to just give nuclear weapons new names. It’s even more misleading to spend billions of dollars rebuilding and renaming old nuclear weapons, just so that those politicians can say that we’re not creating any new ones.
The Air Force Just Dropped an Expensive (and Useless) Nuke in Nevada http://gizmodo.com/the-air-force-just-dropped-an-expensive-and-useless-n-1716527174 Adam Clark Estes 7/08/15 In the face of mounting criticism, the Air Force just completed the first test flight of the B61 Mod 12 mock up nuclear bomb in the Nevada desert. This marks the next step in updating a cold war-era weapon that many experts consider to be completely useless today. The military might as well drop a nuke on a pile of taxpayer dollars.
The whole situation is frustrating, in part, because it’s based on some scary assumptions about an impending nuclear apocalypse. Since its development in 1963—a year after the Cuban missile crisis—the B61 has been one of top weapons in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Capable of carriage in supersonic aircraft and a two-stage radiation implosion, this is a bad bomb that we might’ve dropped on Moscow if things had escalated with the Soviets.
However, as the New York Times editorial board explained things a couple years ago, the bombs are “the detritus of the cold war.” The updated B61s are also a very, very expensive detritus. President Obama is already throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at this program to keep these nukes on life support. The total cost of the program is expected to be as high as $11 billion by its completion in the 2020s, while the true nature of the upgrade is being masked.
This is a nonsensical decision, not least because it is at odds with Mr. Obama’s own vision. In a seminal speech in Prague in 2009 and a strategy review in 2010, Mr. Obama advocated the long-term goal of a world without nuclear arms and promised to reduce America’s reliance on them. He also promised not to field a new and improved warhead.
But refurbishing warheads from the 1960s is apparently cool. Meanwhile, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Air Force still insists on referring to these types of weapons as “gravity bombs” in this modern era. This is misleading since a gravity bomb is really any unguided bomb. Really, it’s a nuke wrapped in a gravity bomb wrapped in a euphemism.
So it’s basically bullshit when Obama and friends talk up their anti-proliferation efforts. In truth, the government is still spending billions on nukes tuned towards the former USSR, while also doing nothing to influence with China, India, or Pakistan (or Israel) to rein in their nuclear programs. An expert gave a lengthy Congressional Testimony on this very topic just a few months ago. Similarly, the Air Force is actively updating its nuclear weapons operation in order to fight a nuclear war when the time is right. As Maj. Gen. Sandra Finan, the commander of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, put it in an April press release, “Our mission is still to deliver nuclear capabilities and winning solutions that warfighters use daily to deter our enemies and assure our allies.”
This is what brings us back to those assumptions about a scary nuclear apocalypse. When politicians are telling us that they’re trying to create a world without nuclear weapons, it’s misleading for the military to just give nuclear weapons new names. It’s even more misleading to spend billions of dollars rebuilding and renaming old nuclear weapons, just so that those politicians can say that we’re not creating any new ones.
Just call a nuke a nuke. The Air Force just dropped an expensive and inevitably useless nuke in the Nevada desert. There was no mushroom cloud this time. But there’s always a next time.
July 10, 2015
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spinbuster, USA, weapons and war |
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Nuclear deal – 200 South Africans to be “educated” during excursions to Russia http://www.biznews.com/briefs/2015/07/09/nuclear-deal-200-south-africans-to-be-educated-during-excursions-to-russia/ ALEC HOGG JULY 9, 2015 Cape Town – The Department of Energy announced in a statement on Thursday that it has signed two memoranda of understanding with Russian state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom at the 7th summit of the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries in the Russian city of Ufa.
According to the first document, Russia and South Africa aim to implement several joint projects for education in the nuclear power industry.
The countries will cooperate to provide training for five categories of specialists for the South African nuclear industry: nuclear power plant personnel, engineers and construction workers, staff for operations not related to the power industry, personnel for nuclear infrastructure, students and teachers.
There will also be education programmes for 200 South African candidates at Russian universities and educational organisations. This memorandum stipulates the development of educational materials and scientific literature on nuclear power, student exchange programmes for students of various levels of training, organisation of internships and summer courses, student competitions and teacher training.
The second memorandum signed in Ufa stipulates joint efforts of the parties to promote nuclear power in South Africa, increasing the awareness of local residents of modern nuclear technologies used in the power industry and in other industries, and ensuring public acceptance of nuclear power.
In particular, the parties have agreed to work out a plan for the implementation of a joint communication programme to be launched in South Africa. This will involve the organisation of round tables and other events aimed at promoting nuclear power and modern nuclear technologies.
A nuclear energy information centre in South Africa is also under consideration. “The parties seek to exchange information and best practices in the nuclear industry by organising working visits and international conferences and exhibitions,” said the Department of Energy. Source: http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Rosatom-seeks-to-educate-SA-on-nuclear-power-20150709
July 10, 2015
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
politics, Russia, South Africa |
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Nigeria: Caucus Rejects Siting of Nuclear Plant in Akwa Ibom All Africa, By Idongesit Ashameri, 7 July 15
Uyo — The Akwa Ibom State Leaders Caucus has rejected plans by the Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) to site a Nuclear Power plant in Itu local Government Area of the state. The group attributed their rejection of the Nuclear Power plant to disastrous consequences that failure of nuclear plants had brought in other parts of the world.
The leaders’ caucus questioned why Nigeria, which they said had a perennial incompetence in matters of safety and security, could venture into such a risky project, while countries with known competences, like Germany, Italy, USA, Russia and Japan are shutting down such plants.
Addressing a press conference in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital on last week Thursday, the Leaders Caucus represented by Senator Anietie Okon said that for Nigeria with its famed lack of maintainable culture, to dabble into such risky venture was a clear and deliberate invitation to disaster of monumental proportions……..
http://allafrica.com/stories/201507071359.html
July 10, 2015
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Nigeria, opposition to nuclear |
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“[Johannesburg] is undoubtedly the most uranium-contaminated city in the world,”
Bench Marks, which receives support from UK charity Christian Aid, is mid-way through a three-year impact assessment of pollution levels in an around Johannesburg’s Soweto district. By systematically tracking air and water contamination, Bench Marks hopes to provide a scientific basis for the alleged health impacts of the tailings
Radioactive city: how Johannesburg’s townships are paying for its mining past, Guardian, Oliver Balch , 6 July 15
Much of the waste from 600 abandoned mines around South Africa’s largest city is piled high next to residential communities – most of which are poor and black Plaatjies is one of tens of thousands in Johannesburg’s impoverished townships who are paying a high cost for the city’s rich mining past. More than 600 abandoned mines surround South Africa’s largest city, with much of their waste now piled up high next to residential communities – most of which are poor and black.
Residents here fear the wind most. When it blows, fine particles from these man-made dumps are carried up into the air and deposited on to residents’ homes. It is no ordinary dust, either: the residue of decades of mining, it can contain traces of everything from copper and lead to cyanide and arsenic.
“During August and September, the dust is terrible. You stop cleaning the floor after a while. It’s just useless,” says Plaatjies.
In the local clinic, respiratory cases such as tuberculosis and asthma are ubiquitous across all age groups, says Musa Mbatha, chairman of the clinic’s civic committee. Rashes and skins diseases are commonplace, too.
“People can’t afford to buy food every day, so they leave the food and it gets contaminated,” Mbatha adds. “The government said that it would do a survey of the health impacts of the mining dust, but until today it hasn’t happened.”
An even more dangerous pollutant is lurking in Johannesburg’s mine dumps, however: radioactive waste. According to one university study, an estimated 600,000 metric tonnes of radioactive uranium are buried in waste rock in and around Johannesburg – around three times what was exported during the Cold War. Continue reading →
July 10, 2015
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environment, Uranium |
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Fukushima Unit 3 Decommissioning Plan Released, Simply Info, July 8th, 2015 [Excellent graphs and photos] TEPCO released significant new information about the plan and progress for dealing with unit 3′s spent fuel pool. The report was buried among other documents related to periodic reporting and didn’t receive any press in Japan.
Radiation levels are a constant problem for this work effort. A significant portion of the planning has gone into ways to lower the radiation doses on the refueling floor even though work such as crane operations will be done remotely from another building. Damage to the building structure is another major challenge. The defueling building and any shielding must be designed to not further damage unstable portions of the building.
The defueling building will span over the existing remains of unit 3. Footings will run down to the ground on one side and to an accessory building on the other. Radiation levels are going to be a problem not just for any workers that might have to do some sort of hands on work but to equipment installed over time. High levels of radiation can damage electronics.
The actual defueling building has already been built. A dry run assembly was done in 2014 at the storage facility at Onahama Port near Fukushima Daiichi. The building now sits disassembled at the port waiting for installation on site………..http://www.fukuleaks.org/web/?p=14857
July 10, 2015
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Fukushima 2015 |
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That’s not the end of nuclear problems in Finland. The country is suffering through a protracted mess with Areva, the French nuclear company, over the building the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant. The project is years late and billions over budget with no end to the problems in sight.
With lessons like those from Rosatom and Areva’s Finnish nuclear projects, it is no wonder that in Finland the public majority is against nuclear.
It has been said often on the Nuclear Reaction blog but bears repeating: the nuclear industry really can’t be trusted. A good case in point is the bizarre antics in Finland right now. On June 30th, Fennovoima, a Finnish utility, submitted an application to the government to build a nuclear plant. One of the utility’s partners is Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear corporation.
To apply for a license, the government requires the project to be 60% owned by companies from the European Union or the European Trade Association. The 60% criterion was put in place by the Finnish government in order to control Russian influence over the country’s energy policy. And that means that Rosatom can’t be the biggest player in this game.
But, a strange thing happened on the filing deadline of June 30. Out of the blue, a new financing partner was found so that the project could meet the 60% rule and could go ahead. At least, that’s the claim.
Greenpeace Nordic decided to take a closer look at this strangely fortuitous development for Rosatom’s Finnish nuclear project. We uncovered what appears to be quite a different story, from a serendipitous turn of events in the form of a new nuclear investment partner.
Instead of a viable European company with a track record that would suggest it is a credible business partner, Greenpeace found a Croatian company, Migrit Solarna Energija, that operates out of an apartment block in Zagreb. It has no employees, capital stock of only 26,000 Euros, and absolutely no income in 2012-2013. And yet, this company is supposedly going to be able to contribute 150 million Euros to the project?
More importantly, Greenpeace found what appear to be strong ties between this tiny company holed up in an apartment complex, and Russia’s nuclear giant, Rosatom. Continue reading →
July 10, 2015
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Finland, secrets,lies and civil liberties |
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AUSTRIAN LEGAL ACTION COULD DELAY HINKLEY POINT NUCLEAR FOR THREE TO FOUR YEARS, Power Engineering 09/07/2015
By Diarmaid Williams
International Digital Editor Based on the average data associated with such cases, the legal objection made by Austria this week against the European Commission to facilitate Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant could delay the progress of the facility for around three to four years.
That timeframe is based on the average expectation associated with such cases, as confirmed this week by a legal expert who had been advising the Austrian government on the matter. It is less than the worst case scenario timeframe of five to eight years but that delay is not beyond the bounds of possibility as the subsequent decision could still be challenged.
Dr Dorte Fouquet, Partner, BBH Brussels who has been advising Vienna on the matter of their objection to Britain’s flagship nuclear power project on the basis of State Aid contravention told Power Engineering International, “From the publication on average statistics from the European Court in State Aid cases the duration can be on average between 31,5 und 50,3 months.”
Dr Fouquet quoted the information from the 2013 Annual report of the European Court of Justice, (pg. 186).
She had told an audience at Platts Power Summit in central London at the end of April that if Vienna pressed on with its challenge it could set back construction of the Hinkley Point C project for even longer than that average.
“Based on whether a party was unhappy with that, it could then go again before the European Court of Justice, which could also take years, though probably not as much as the first; this is based on average procedures.”……….
July 10, 2015
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
EUROPE, Legal, UK |
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View from Inside Fukushima Prefecture: Vastly Different from Govt. Pronouncements, UK Progressive, by Robert Hunziker, 8 July 15 Because of Japan’s unconscionable open-ended new secrecy law, it is very likely journalism in the nation has turned tail, scared of its own shadow. Nevertheless, glimmers of what has happened, of what is happening, do surface when brave people come forward.
On May 22nd 2015 Hiromichi Ugaya, a photojournalist who is well-informed, insightful, and engaging, was interviewed about what he witnessed in the aftermath of one of the world’s most horrendous disasters……..
Naïveté of Public Continue reading →
July 10, 2015
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties |
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MOX fuel rods used in Japanese Nuclear Reactor present multiple dangers, DC Bureau By Joseph TrentoMarch 15th, 2011 The mixed oxide fuel rods used in the compromised number three reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi complex contain enough plutonium to threaten public health with the possibility of inhalation of airborne plutonium particles. The compromised fuel rods supplied to the Tokyo Electric Company by the French firm AREVA.
Plutonium is at its most dangerous when it is inhaled and gets into the lungs. The effect on the human body is to vastly increase the chance of developing fatal cancers.
Masashi Goto, a reactor researcher and designer for Toshiba, told the Foreign Correspondents Club in Toyko the mixed oxide (MOX) fuel used in unit 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility uses plutonium, which is “much more toxic than the fuel used in the other reactors.”
Goto said that the MOX also has a lower melting point than the other reactor fuels. The Fukushima facility began using MOX fuel in September 2010, becoming the third plant in Japan to do so, according to MOX supplier AREVA.
Part of the process of making MOX fuel is to grind plutonium into a fine power before it is robotically inserted into fuel rods. Experts agree these tiny plutonium particles once airborne are extremely dangerous to human health. One of the unique characteristics of mixed oxide fuel is that relatively little of the plutonium in the fuel rods is used up in the fuel cycle in a reactor. “When the plutonium in the fuel rods goes into a reactor for commercial power, a very little of it is going to be consumed. I don’t know what percentage, maybe half percentage or something like that, but it’s going to generate an extraordinary amount of contamination throughout the fuel rods…,” says William Lawler, an expert on radioactive waste…….
Mixed oxide fuel is a combination of finely ground up plutonium particles and uranium oxide fabricated into fuel rods at an AREVA subsidiary in La Hague, France. The fuel is made from reprocessing old reactor fuel. Reprocessing was abandoned by the United States in the 1970s because of the dangers of weapons proliferation.
The CIA has reported that Japan’s nuclear power program was not limited to the peaceful production of electrical power. The program had its roots in a secret weapons program that caused the CIA to conclude as far back as 1964 that Japan could assemble within months a nuclear weapon.
Because of the Japanese public’s fear of nuclear weapons, the various subsequent Japanese governments have kept the program secret and have repeatedly denied its existence when news organizations made inquiries. http://www.dcbureau.org/20110315782/natural-resources-news-service/mox-fuel-rods-used-in-japanese-nuclear-reactor-present-multiple-dangers.html#sthash.NydPfWmn.dpuf
July 10, 2015
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
- plutonium, Japan, safety |
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Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs
As a proud non-subscriber to THE AUSTRALIAN, I haven’t been able to read this article. But on past performance of BHP, I reckon that I can have a pretty good guess on what BHP’s enthusiasm for climate action really means.
Last month, all the nuclear big-wigs met somewhere in Europe to plan a campaign about the Paris Climate Summit in December . The idea is to have nuclear power established as a solution to climate change.
BHP would love that – otherwise they couldn’t give a damn about climate change.
BHP embraces climate debate, THE AUSTRALIAN, ? 8 July 15
The private sector needs to play a part in this year’s Paris climate talks, says BHP Billiton’s Dean Dalla Valle…. (subscribers only)
July 10, 2015
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA, climate change |
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Why There Is No Safe Level of Man Made Radiation, Radiation Prevention, [Good diagrams, photos and video] People on the west coast of North America inhaled an average of 5 hot particles every day during the month of April 2011 alone. Arnie Gundersen, Fairewinds, 8 July 15
Nuclear Myths Abound
Many public figures like to equate environmental effects of the Nuclear Industry to things such as bananas, X-rays, and even taking a flight to Mexico. Below we will do our best to explain to you, exactly why they are so very, very wrong.
This article is an excerpt of a larger feature coming out in May, and specifically focuses on man made radiation. It isn’t meant to minimise the health affects of natural forms of radiation, as there is no safe dose of radiation.
Let’s Talk Bananas
There exists in the world, naturally occurring forms of radiation. There are many of them, they come in many different shapes and forms. We have adapted to some of them, others, not so much.
Bananas contain a radioactive isotope called Potassium40 (k40). This isotope is also naturally found in milk, soil, and countless other things. Even oranges, as noted here.
If you have one gram of potassium from a banana, only 0.0117% of that potassium is considered radioactive.
Now to put things in perspective, if you have one gram of cesium (which mimics potassium in our bodies) 100% of that gram is radioactive.
And that’s not all.
I’m sure everyone has heard the term “half life” by now. Without getting too geeky on the subject, I will try to explain exactly what that means below………… http://radiationprevention.com/safe-level-manmade-radiation/#ixzz3fR1xuR8z
July 10, 2015
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
2 WORLD, radiation |
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Reactor in Japan being loaded with nuke fuel before restart ,Stars and Stripes, By By MARI YAMAGUCHI The Associated Press July 7, 2015 TOKYO — A Japanese utility on Tuesday began loading fuel into a nuclear reactor where operations are scheduled to resume next month in the country’s first restart under safety requirements set following the Fukushima disaster.
Kyushu Electric Power Co. said the first four fuel bundles were loaded into the Sendai plant’s No. 1 reactor as of late Tuesday. A crane slowly lifts each bundle out of a cooling fuel storage pool and places it into the reactor, in a round- the-clock operation. The utility plans to finish loading all 157 fuel bundles Friday ahead of final inspections before restarting the reactor around Aug. 10.
All of Japan’s more than 40 reactors are offline for repairs or safety checks. Sendai No. 1 is one of 25 reactors seeking restarts and under safety inspection, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government wants to operate as many of them as possible …..
The second reactor in Sendai is scheduled to be restarted in October.
While the trade ministry and local municipalities have approved the restart of the two reactors in southern Japan, many residents oppose the plan, citing potential danger from active volcanos in the region. Opponents of the restarts and nuclear experts are also concerned the evacuation plans in case of a disaster may not work effectively.
July 10, 2015
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
business and costs, Japan |
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From Pope Francis to Green Muslims, faith groups steadfast in push for clean energy, Midwest Energy News, BY Kari Lydersen, 9 July 15 Rev. Booker Steven Vance took to the pulpit in historic Old St. Patrick’s Church in downtown Chicago on June 22 to praise Pope Francis’ ground-breaking encyclicalon climate change and sustainability.
Vance attached a very concrete and local element to the Pope’s sweeping call to action. He and other religious and environmental leaders hosting a press conference declared that passing a proposed Clean Jobs bill in the Illinois legislature is one way the Pope’s call to action should be answered.
“The encyclical provides an opportunity for a game-changer, bringing this conversation to a whole new level,” said Vance. “I’m talking about the bill downstate in Springfield that deals with clean air, clean energy and clean jobs. The pope is absolutely correct, we are responsible and the onus falls on us.”
That same evening 90 miles north in Milwaukee, the Islamic Environmental Group of Wisconsin, also known as the Wisconsin Green Muslims, gathered to break the Ramadan fast together while also talking about a spiritual obligation to care for the earth, in part by reducing carbon emissions and embracing a more sustainable lifestyle…………
The Clean Jobs bill would create about 32,000 jobs in Illinois, according to proponents, by increasing the state’s commitment to renewable energy and energy efficiency. A study by the Union of Concerned Scientists found it would spur $23 billion in clean energy investment and lower consumer bills by a total of $12 billion over 15 years.
The bill has widespread support — including from interfaith groups and religious leaders — but it also faces competing bills backed by powerful energy interests and a state budget crisis that is consuming the legislature’s attention.
Meanwhile the Wisconsin Green Muslims also are up against powerful forces in trying to promote clean energy……….http://midwestenergynews.com/2015/07/09/from-pope-francis-to-green-muslims-faith-groups-steadfast-in-push-for-clean-energy/
July 10, 2015
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Religion and ethics, USA |
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Looking back on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) review conference, May 2015
ICAN Campaign Update, June 2015: 107 nations pledge to stigmatise, prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons
By the end of the month-long Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference in New York, 107 governments had endorsed an Austrian-sponsored pledge “to fill the legal gap for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons”. Although this high-level conference, which concluded on 22 May, could not adopt a consensus outcome document, the preferred course of action for the majority of nations was clear: it is time to begin negotiations on a new treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons outright and establish a framework for their elimination. …
https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a6e5567f81275b06aabcfd87e/files/June2015Update_ICAN.pdf
Nuclear disarmament? Forget it.
- More than 100 countries snubbed by nuclear powers
- UK defence budget – nuclear v conventional
The latest nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) review conference did not make waves. There was hardly a word in the mainstream media.
Perhaps it was not surprising. What is there newsworthy in hundreds of diplomats and scores of NGOs over a period of four weeks calling for nuclear disarmament, in effect praising motherhood and apple pie?
Yet the UN-sponsored conference in New York did not end in bland consensus. Far from it. It ended in disarray and angry exchanges. http://www.theguardian.com/news/defence-and-security-blog/2015/jun/02/nuclear-disarmament-forget-it
July 10, 2015
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
general |
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nuclear-news 