Nuclear propaganda film “Pandora’s Promise” scrutinised again
The film’s claim that nuclear is cheaper than energy from clean, renewable sources is completely false.
The film minimizes the question of what to do with high-level nuclear waste.
The very reasons not to support nuclear power are ignored by the film. The risks, economic realities, waste disposal problems, regulatory issues, and environmental and health impacts from the complete nuclear fuel chain are not addressed in “Pandora’s Promise.” Anyone who is interested is these issues should continue to ask questions and seek answers outside industry propaganda.
Don’t believe the pro nuclear hype, http://www.moabsunnews.com/opinion/article_c24fc8cc-62d2-11e5-8359-e3fcae67ba87.html?mode=story— Sarah Fields, Director, Uranium Watch,
24 Sept 15 On Thursday, September 24, the Grand County Library and Utah Film Society will be showing the film, 
“Pandora’s Promise,” at Star Hall, starting at 7 p.m. The film is a one-sided and factually challenged look at nuclear power as an answer to climate change. The film’s premise is that nuclear power will provide clean energy and help developing countries end poverty. This claim is presented in interviews with several former opponents of nuclear power who have had a change of heart, and with some nuclear scientists.There were no interviews with citizens, environmentalists, legal experts, or scientists who are currently involved with the many serious and complex issues related to the production of nuclear power in the U.S.
The film neglects to discuss the environmental impacts of the whole nuclear fuel chain, from uranium mining and milling to the disposal and long-term care of low- and high-level nuclear waste. As we know here in southeast Utah, uranium mining and milling is not carbon-free and impacts our land, air, water and public health. There are hundreds of abandoned uranium mines in Utah and nearby states that have yet to be remediated. Hundreds of uranium mine and mill workers died or continue to suffer severe health impacts from the production of uranium.
The film’s claim that nuclear is cheaper than energy from clean, renewable sources is completely false. Nuclear reactors cost billions of dollars to construct, taking 10 years or longer to license and bring online. Reactors under construction in the U.S. have construction delays and serious cost overruns, which are passed onto the ratepayers. The cost of reactors keeps going up and the cost of renewables keeps going down.
The film minimizes the question of what to do with high-level nuclear waste. For decades, that problem has been pushed back for future generations to deal with. The type of spent fuel casket that the proposed Yucca Mountain disposal site was designed for is no longer being developed. There is no approved casket for the storage of high-burn up fuel — the fuel used at most reactors today. The government and industry has no long-term solution for high-level nuclear waste, except for indefinite storage at reactor sites. If Yucca Mountain were approved, much of the spent fuel would be transported through Utah, including Grand County.
The proposed reactor near Green River is an example the realities of nuclear power development. The Blue Castle Project would require about 87 million gallons of water per day in a time of drought and reduced runoff. It would impact the recovery program for threatened and endangered fish species in the Green River. Thus far, the proponent of the reactor, Blue Castle Holdings, has only raised $19 million. It will take from $50 to $100 million to obtain an Early Site Permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and many millions more to obtain a construction and operation license. It will take billions to construct the reactor. Thus far, no utility has joined this project, so there is no place for the electricity to go and no outside funding.
The very reasons not to support nuclear power are ignored by the film. The risks, economic realities, waste disposal problems, regulatory issues, and environmental and health impacts from the complete nuclear fuel chain are not addressed in “Pandora’s Promise.” Anyone who is interested is these issues should continue to ask questions and seek answers outside industry propaganda.
North Korea’s nuclear belligerence highlights need for diplomacy and global disarmament treaty
The right lessons to take from North Korea’s nuclear belligerence are that nuclear weapons threaten the security of all nations, even those that possess them, and that nuclear double standards are a recipe for proliferation, not disarmament. Continuing to point nuclear weapons at North Korea while asking them not to point them back obviously won’t work.
For biological and chemical weapons, anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions, a clear treaty prohibition paved the way for their progressive elimination. Establishing a clear moral, political and legal norm against these indiscriminate and inhumane weapons has drastically reduced their use and influenced even countries not signed up to the relevant treaty. Yet the nuclear-armed states show no intent of fulfilling their legally binding obligation to disarm.
Indeed, all are investing massively in modernising their nuclear arsenals. That is why states without the weapons need to take the lead and start negotiations that are open to all states but blockable by none, for a global treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons and provide for their verifiable elimination from the arsenals of all nations
If we can’t stop an impoverished nation like North Korea making nuclear weapons, our
tactics are clearly wrong The Conversation, Tilman Ruff Associate Professor, International Education and Learning Unit, Nossal Institute for Global Health, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, 24 Sept 15 The timing of North Korea’s announcement last week that it has resumed “normal operation” of its Yongbyon nuclear reactor – along with a reaffirmation of its belligerent rhetoric against the United States – might be interpreted simply as a response to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s current US state visit.
But that is not to say that it shouldn’t be taken seriously. Continue reading
Pressure on nuclear weapons States to speed up nuclear disarmament process
Austrian ambassador in Scotland: ‘We can speed up nuclear disarmament process’ Alexander Kmentt speaks of growing international action in opposition to weapons of mass destruction, Common Space, 24 Sept 15
PRESSURE is building on nuclear weapons states to speed up their legal commitments to disarm their weapons of mass destruction, according to the Austrian ambassador for disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation.
Alexander Kmentt, speaking at the Scottish Parliament of a growing international movement to ban the weapons, explained to CommonSpace that non-nuclear nations are becoming impatient for change.
“There is a new awareness of a change in the humanitarian impact of the use of nuclear weapons. There is a need to consider security in a broader sense. Consider the threats and risks associated with nuclear weapons. For countries in Africa there is now a growing awareness of how the use of nuclear weapons would impact on issues such as harvests and food security.
“The same is true for issues surrounding health impacts and the environment. Even the countries that do have nuclear weapons concede that the use of nuclear weapons would have a disastrous impact. It’s necessary to talk about nuclear weapons in these broader terms.”
Kmentt was a lead organiser of the third International Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, which took place in December 2014 with a record 158 states in attendance.
Over three quarters of the world’s states are now part of a process to eliminate nuclear weapons, and over 100 states have signed a statement led by the Austrian government in favour of abolition.
Increasingly, the UK Government and the other six nuclear powers are isolated within the field of international states and policy makers. ………https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/2496/austrian-ambassador-in-scotland-we-can-speed-up-nuclear-disarmament-process
Britain tries to wrap up Hinkley nuclear deal with China, with $3.1 billion bribe
In Courting Chinese Companies, Britain to Help Fund Planned Nuclear Plant NYT, By STANLEY REED SEPT. 20, 2015 LONDON — The British government said on Monday that it would provide 2 billion pounds, or about $3.1 billion, in state aid for a nuclear power station planned for Hinkley Point in southwest England.
The announcement of financial support — which was made by George Osborne, the chancellor of the Exchequer, on a visit to China — appeared to be a confidence-building measure aimed at wrapping up a deal, years in gestation, to build Britain’s first nuclear plant since the mid-1990s.
“They are edging toward trying to sign a deal, but it is taking a long time,” said Antony Froggatt, a nuclear analyst at Chatham House, a London research organization.
The British government said that it expected EDF, the French state-controlled utility leading the project, to make a final decision later this year to go ahead with the plant. If EDF moves forward, it will be supported by two Chinese companies, China General Nuclear Corporation and China National Nuclear Corporation, the government said. Mr. Osborne has been courting Chinese companies to help finance the new Hinkley Point station, which will cost at least £16 billion…….
In trying to build nuclear plants, Britain is bucking the trend in the West. ……
The British government is not only offering financing to help with the construction but has guaranteed EDF a much higher price for the electricity it generates than current market rates. The government also says that it may increase financial support for the plant as the project progresses. Last year, the European Union approved Britain’s use of state aid to finance the plant……Still, Britain’s effort to build nuclear plants has proceeded at what seems a glacial pace. The Hinkley Point project is already several years behind its original schedule.
Centrica, a British utility, walked away from an option to take a 20 percent stake in Hinkley Point and another nuclear plant, citing frustration over delay and costs. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/21/business/energy-environment/britain-says-it-will-aid-planned-nuclear-plant.html?_r=1
Pope Francis not facing up to role of population growth in climate change
while the scientist applauded the pope’s overall message on the environment, he said Francis had undermined his own cause by failing to acknowledge the need for birth control and reproductive choice
Pope’s climate push is ‘raving nonsense’ without population control, says top US scientist, Suzanne Goldenberg, Guardian , 24 Sept 15
Scientists applauded Pope Francis’s overall message on climate but criticised his failure to acknowledge the need for birth control.
Paul Ehrlich writes in Nature Climate Change that Francis is wrong to fight climate change without also addressing the strain from population growth on resources One of America’s leading scientists has dismissed as “raving nonsense” the pope’s call for action on climate change – so long as the leader of the world’s 1 billion Catholics rejects the need for population control.
In a commentary in the journal Nature Climate Change, Paul Ehrlich, a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, argues that Pope Francis is simply wrong in trying to fight climate change without also addressing the additional strain on global resources from population rise. “That’s raving nonsense,” Ehrlich told the Guardian. “He is right on some things but he is just dead wrong on that.”
The critique in “Society and the Pope’s encyclical”, part of a special package from scientists on the encyclical, marked a rare note of dissent from scientists and campaigners. Many hope that the pope will drive home his call to action on poverty and the environment in his speech to Congress on Thursday.
Ehrlich, in his Nature Climate Change commentary, accuses Francis of a dangerous flaw in his indictment of consumerism and its effects on the poor and the environment. The pope had fallen for the usual clerical “obsession” with contraception and abortion – when he could have instead broken new ground on the Catholic church’s approaches to women’s reproductive rights and family planning.
The broadside exposes some of the difficulties of embracing a figure such as the pope – for those on the left as well as the right.
Conservative allies of the pope, on issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion, have balked at his denunciation of capitalism and call to action on climate change.
Those thrilled by the pope’s intervention on climate change – and Ehrlich counts himself among them – were troubled by Francis’s refusal to countenance the need to limit population, the scientist said. “It is crystal clear. No one concerned with the state of the planet and the state of the global economy can avoid dealing with population. It is the elephant in the room,” he said.
Ehrlich became a household name in the US nearly 50 years ago for warning of a global catastrophe because of population growth – a scenario he later conceded did not entirely materialise.
But while the scientist applauded the pope’s overall message on the environment, he said Francis had undermined his own cause by failing to acknowledge the need for birth control and reproductive choice……….http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/24/popes-climate-stance-is-nonsense-rejects-population-control-says-top-us-scientist
Pope Franc is at White House urges ‘critical’ action on climate change
Pope Francis urges ‘critical’ action on climate change, calls for a tolerant society at White House, ABC News, 24 Sept 15 Pope Francis has urged the United States to help tackle climate change at a “critical moment of history” and called on Americans to build a truly tolerant and inclusive society.
In a speech on the White House South Lawn, the Argentine pontiff lauded US president Barack Obama’s efforts to reduce air pollution.
“It seems clear to me also that climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation,” the Pope said at a welcoming ceremony for his first visit to the United States.
“When it comes to the care of our common home, we are living at a critical moment of history,”
The Pope also invoked America’s best known civil rights leader, the late Martin Luther King, to make his point on the environment…..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-24/pope-praises-obamas-action-on-climate-change-at-white-house/6800338
Japan’s former Atomic Energy Commission vice-chairman Dr Tatsujiro Suzuki annoys South African govt
Nuclear advice angers ANC, IOL, September 23 2015 By Marianne Merten Cape Town – Japan’s former Atomic Energy Commission vice-chairman Dr Tatsujiro Suzuki was caught up in South Africa’s controversial nuclear build programme when an ANC MP and domestic nuclear regulator chief tackled him for not outlining the positives of nuclear power.
After Tuesday’s public lecture, Suzuki admitted being somewhat “surprised”, but emphasised that while he did not want to get involved in local matters, it was important to share Japan’s experience following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident……….
Speaking at the University of the Western Cape, Suzuki recounted the loss of public trust, not only in nuclear energy, but also government over the Fukushima disaster. “Even after four years, in Japan public trust has not been recovered,” he said, adding that as a nuclear engineer the incident showcased the importance of socio-political issues beyond technical matters. “The social, political and economic risks are so large. Protection of human life is not good enough.”………… http://www.iol.co.za/business/news/nuclear-advice-angers-anc-1.1920124#.VgRwyNKqpHw
Entergy Nuclear withdraws license amendment request
WT, By – Associated Press – Thursday, September 24, 2015 BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (AP) – The company that owns the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant has dropped its fight against the state’s 30-day written notice requirement.
Entergy Nuclear said Wednesday it is withdrawing its license amendment request to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to eliminate a requirement that it notify the state when it plans to make withdrawals from the Vermont Yankee decommissioning trust fund…..
The Shumlin administration says the advance notice is necessary for a meaningful review of trust fund spending.
Officials say the state may ask for hearings each time Entergy asks for money from the fund. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/sep/24/entergy-nuclear-withdraws-license-amendment-reques/
Climate news items today
Brazil and Germany take lead in tackling climate change.
Brazil and Germany, the two largest national economies within their respective continents, are taking the lead in tackling climate change through outstanding policies and bilateral relations, according to experts.
http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/1883833204302301644
Study shows new forests cannot take in as much carbon as predicted
As carbon emissions continue to rise, scientists project forests will grow faster and larger, due to an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, which fuels photosynthesis.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-09/uoia-ssn092415.php
Purdue study – climate change consensus extends beyond climate scientists
A Purdue University-led survey of nearly 700 scientists from non-climate disciplines shows that more than 90 percent believe that average global temperatures are higher than pre-1800s levels and that human activity has significantly contributed to the rise.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-09/pu-psc092415.php
Renewable news items today
Some of the world’s largest businesses have today announced plans to fully transition to using renewable electricity, providing a further boost to the global renewables market
http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/5853354358935459092 Solar power is booming in India. Will it reach the people who need it most?
As renewable energy ramps up, entrepreneurs work to bring its benefits to the 300 million citizens who lack electricity.
http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/1750342758482763082
Information Emerges on MOX-Related Plutonium Incident at Savannah River Nuclear Site
H-Canyon, US DOE
From Savannah River Site Watch:
“The incident that caused the partial site shutdown occurred on September 3 and involved transfer in the HB-Line – sits atop the H-Canyon reprocessing plant – of 400 grams of weapon-grade plutonium from a single “3013” plutonium storage can into 3 sample cans.
Criticality control procedures were violated by personnel in how the cans were handled, resulting in not only closure of H-Canyon but many other site activities managed by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNL).
Plutonium removed from the 3013 cans (stored in K Aea) is being processed into plutonium oxide for the mismanaged MOX project though it is more likely that such purified plutonium will be discarded at much lower cost as nuclear waste. DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is paying DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM), which operates H-Canyon, about $20 million/year for oxide production. NNSA must be…
View original post 311 more words
Study: First signs of global warming felt in the 1960s
As early as the 1960s, temperature records from the tropics where signalling the global warming trend.
Parts of U.S. still defying worldwide trend — but not for long
Staff Report
Taking a careful look at the temperature records of the past few decades has enabled climate scientists to show that the first signs of global warming were detectable as early as the 1960s in the tropics.
The new research published in Environmental Research Letters gives an insight into the global impacts that have already been felt, even at this very early stage, and where those impacts are likely to intensify in the coming years.
View original post 314 more words
America’s Elders Flex Their Political Muscles On Climate Change #Auspol
Few things strike fear into the hearts of politicians like a disgruntled grandparent entering a voting booth. Seniors wield immense political power in the United States, a fact made plain by their voting record. In the 2014 midterm elections, a year of historically low voter turnout, nearly 59 percent of adults aged 65 and older pulled the lever on Election Day. Just 23 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds bothered to do the same. It’s numbers like these that have made Social Security and Medicare the third rail of American politics.So, what happens when America’s seniors find out what climate change means for their grandkids?
Recently, dozens of retirees descended on Capitol Hill to advocate for climate action. Organized by the Conscious Elders Network, the Grandparents Climate Action Day brought together seniors from around the country. Following a day of training, during which renowned NASA climatologist James Hansen spoke to those…
View original post 425 more words
Will Toshiba Recup from Accounting Scandal-Losses on the Backs of American-UK Electric Ratepayers? 8th Rate Increase to Pay for New Nuclear Power Station in SC?
“Toshiba booked a net loss for the last financial year and pledged a bold restructuring, raising hopes it was finally moving beyond a $1.3 billion accounting scandal.” http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/business/after-delays-toshiba-posts-a-yearly-loss.html
Toshiba had overinflated its value. According to The Economist (25 July 2015): “Mr Tanaka and two predecessors had incited subordinates to cook the firm’s books and inflate profits by ¥152 billion ($1.2 billion) over seven years to 2014.“[a]
8th electric rate increase for late, over-budget, Westinghouse (Toshiba) Nuclear Project?
Photo from SRS Watch
“In the midst of growing concern about mounting costs, the South Carolina Public Service Commission (SC PSC) is set to vote on Wednesday, September 23, at 2 p.m. on the annual rate hike for the over-budget, behind-schedule $6.8 billion nuclear reactor construction project of South Carolina Electric and Gas (SCE&G). The rate hike under consideration will be the 8th rate increase to pay for…
View original post 1,646 more words
OMG The hidden meltdown of Greenland
NEWS | September 22, 2015The hidden meltdown of Greenland
From NASA Science News
NASA-supported researchers have found that ice covering Greenland is melting faster than thought.
More than 90 percent of our planet’s freshwater ice is bound in the massive ice sheets and glaciers of the Antarctic and Greenland. As temperatures around the world slowly climb, melt waters from these vast stores of ice add to rising sea levels. All by itself, Greenland could bump sea levels by 7 meters (23 feet) if its ice melted completely.
And … it’s melting.
In August 2014, Eric Rignot, a glaciologist working at the University of California, Irvine and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, led a team in mapping ice cliffs at the front edges of three outlet glaciers in Greenland. The researchers found cavities that undercut the base of these leading edges that can destabilize the ice front and enhance iceberg calving, the…
View original post 430 more words
1 This Month
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
of the week–London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
-
Archives
- April 2026 (126)
- March 2026 (251)
- February 2026 (268)
- January 2026 (308)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
- October 2025 (376)
- September 2025 (257)
- August 2025 (319)
- July 2025 (230)
- June 2025 (348)
- May 2025 (261)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
nuclear-news 