nuclear-news

Climate and Nuclear news to 18th September

CLIMATE.  Approaching the First Climate Tipping Point — On Track to Hit 1.5 C Before 2035.   Low Arctic sea ice in 2016 – close to record low level. Marshall Islanders culture threatened: emigration as sea level rises.   Polar bears losing habitat as sea ice melting earlier, and refreezing later. Extreme drought: the impact of climate change and El Nino on the Amazon rainforest. Climate change endangers nuclear facilities, as water supplies heat up and evaporate.

NUCLEAR. In Britain, Prime Minister Theresa May finally gave the go-ahead for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power project. This decision, like New York’s decision to subsidise the nuclear industry, will have global effects.

The decision was probably inevitable, given the circumstances. The factors at play were:

• UK government under strong pressure
• Global nuclear lobby’s pressing need for a new ‘poster’ project to start happening. American  corporation General Electric ready for contracts.
• For France’s nuclear company EDF ,  the Hinkley project is their last chance to regain credibility, market their wares, and avoid bankruptcy.
• For China it’s an important overseas marketing coup, and a prelude to more, and lucrative, nuclear projects in Britain.
• Conflicts of interest: Costain engineering company is in Theresa May’s constituency, and is receiving contracts for work in the Hinkley C nuclear project. Top level former UK advisers and civil servants are linked with EDF, former MPs, especially, (but not only) Tories, now work as nuclear lobbyists and advisers to EDF.  May’s husband, Philip, works for investment company Capital Group. It, in turn, has a nearly 10% stake in French company Schneider Electric, which has been awarded a contract at Hinkley.

For everyone else, especially the British public, it’s  a very bad deal. –  E3G, a leading climate change think tank sets out reasons why going ahead with Hinkley is a massive mistake. It is  a megaproject which could become a “stranded asset”.  After all, Hinkley still might not ever happen.  Renewables are faster and better.

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 DNA damage, cancer caused by ionizing radiation identified.   Linear No Threshold Theory (LNT) of ionising radiation is backed by new research.

Gloom pervades The World Nuclear Association (WNA) Symposium 2016.

USA.  Hillary Clinton’s role in the Fukushima nuclear disaster cover-up. Illegal hiding of emails.  Nuclear industry will grind to a halt, if no waste disposal solution.   America giving up on the Mixed Oxide Nuclear Fuel (MOX) nuclear reprocessing boondoggle.

UK. It could have been an ISIS terrorist. Lucky it was only a peace protestor holding up nuclear weapons convoy

SOUTH AFRICA  South Africa’s economy could be destroyed by this unnecessary nuclear power build.

IRAN. West not keeping its commitment for Iran trade, in nuclear deal.

RUSSIA. Russia has not changed its nuclear weapons doctrine -Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference

SOUTH KOREA. Earthquakes cause South Korea to halt four nuclear reactors.

CANADA. Canadian political parties forced to reimburse illegal SNC-Lavalin donations.

September 18, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes