Radiation Free Lakeland 2nd Nov 2017, There is so much wrong with the BBC’s File on 4 programme that it is
difficult to know where to begin.
The narrrator takes us to “Moorside” which is described a a “barren agricultural land”. What nonsense! – this
land, ancient hedgerows, river, floodplain and what would be affected coast line/sea has several special designations (including international ones) Marine Conservation Zone, RAMSAR, SSSI, Habitats Directive, All of no
consequence apparently when it comes to nuclear who can override such piffling considerations with ‘Imperative Reasons of Overriding Public Interest’.
According to the nuclear industry spokesman Moorside would produce 20% of the UKs electricity – WHAT!!! This went unchallenged by the BBC.
Moorside would produce a mere 7% of the UKs electricity and that is a stretch. The only downside of new build according to the BBC is the finance – what utter nonsense – the profligate finance is the least of it …what about the fact that it is killing us with not only routine releases from reactors but now accelerating “decommissioning” projects which are finding ever more novel ways to dump radioactive waste into the environment.
https://mariannewildart.wordpress.com/2017/11/02/bbc-on-nuclear-decommissioning-dumping-what-a-clever-piece-of-misdirection/
November 3, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
media, UK |
Leave a comment
Trump Pick for White House Environmental Council Profited from Oil Drilling, Energy Industry Speaking Fees https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/10/31/trump-s-pick-white-house-environmental-council-profited-oil-drilling-energy-industry-speaking-fees?utm_source=dsb%20newsletter
By Itai Vardi • Tuesday, October 31, 2017 Kathleen Hartnett White, President Trump’s nominee to head the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), has recently made money from both leases on oil drilling and speaking fees at conferences sponsored by the fossil fuel industry. These new details come from Hartnett White’s financial disclosure, obtained by DeSmog.
If her nomination is confirmed, Hartnett White will be charged with interagency coordination of science, energy, and environmental policy and with overseeing crucial environmental review processes for new energy and infrastructure projects. The CEQ, a division of the Executive Office of the President, was established in 1969 as part of the landmark National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
A longtime vocal climate change science denier, Hartnett White directs the Center for Energy and the Environment at the conservative think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation. The foundation’s funders include several major oil and gas companies and climate-denying organizations such as ExxonMobil, the Heartland Institute, and Koch Industries.
Her writings online and elsewhere indicate she categorically denies the science of climate change, calling climatologists “warmists” and lambasting the “green media crusade.” Last week, DeSmog extensively detailed her history of climate denial and pro-industry regulatory positions as former head of the Texas Council on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
Oil Drilling and Industry Speeches
However, Hartnett White’s income in the past two years has not come only from the right-wing think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation.
According to her financial disclosure, she received fees for speaking at the 2015 International Association of Drilling Contractor’s conference, the Energy Conference Network’s Internet of Things in the Oil & Gas Industry conference in 2016, and earlier this year at the 4C Health, Safety & Environmental conference, which brings together compliance professionals from oil and gas, petrochemicals, and other industries.
Hartnett White also enjoyed income from an interest in four oil leases — two in Texas and two in Kansas. These rigs were operated by Central Crude, Linn Operating, CHS Operating, and CVR Refining. Hartnett White indicated in her disclosure that she recently gifted these interests to her nephew.
Additionally, she reported royalties from her co-authored book Fueling Freedom: Exposing the Mad War on Energy, a text that copiously celebrates fossil fuels as the “lifeblood of the modern world.”
Other sources of reported income include a dog breeding business, co-owned with her husband, Beau Brite White.
Derek Seidman, a research analyst at the Public Accountability Initiative, a nonpartisan watchdog research group focused on corporate and government accountability, says that Hartnett-White’s recent earnings from fossil fuel interests is cause for concern.
“It’s unsettling to learn about the close ties that White has to the very interests and entities that she’s been tasked to oversee at the CEQ,” says Seidman, who has reviewed the financial disclosure. “Her cozy relationship with the oil and gas drilling industry is particularly troubling. These types of conflicts undermine public trust in regulatory institutions and open the door to all kinds of potential problems and abuses.”
Kathleen Hartnett-White did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the Texas Public Policy Foundation said that she is not available for interviews.
November 3, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
climate change, environment, politics, USA |
Leave a comment
World Nuclear News 2nd Nov 2017, Only low-level radioactive waste will be disposed of in the planned Near
Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF) at Chalk River, Canadian Nuclear
Laboratories (CNL) has announced. CNL made the decision not to include
intermediate-level waste after reviewing comments and concerns expressed
during a public comment period on the facility’s draft Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS). http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/WR-Low-level-waste-only-for-Canadian-repository-0211178.html
November 3, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Canada, wastes |
Leave a comment
Mining Awareness +
“Fuel Cycle Facility
Event Number: 53026
Facility: WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORPORATION
RX Type: URANIUM FUEL FABRICATION
Comments: LEU CONVERSION (UF6 to UO2)
COMMERCIAL LWR FUEL
Region: 2
City: COLUMBIA State: SC
County: RICHLAND
License #: SNM-1107
Agreement: Y
Docket: 07001151
NRC Notified By: NANCY PARR
HQ OPS Officer: MARK ABRAMOVITZ
Notification Date: 10/19/2017
Notification Time: 10:03 [ET]
Event Date: 10/18/2017
Event Time: 10:05 [EDT]
Last Update Date: 10/19/2017
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
70.50(b)(1) – UNPLANNED CONTAMINATION
Person (Organization):
SHANE SANDAL (R2DO)
GRETCHEN RIVERA-CAPE (NMSS)
NMSS_EVENTS_NOTIFICA (EMAI)
INDIVIDUAL CONTAMINATED WHILE OFFLOADING URANYL NITRATE
“24 Hour Event Notification based on 10 CFR 70.50(b)(1) for an unplanned contamination event that requires access to the contaminated area to be restricted for more than 24 hours, by imposing additional radiological controls or by prohibiting entry into the area.
“On October 18, 2017 at approximately 1005 EDT, while operators were unloading a LR-230 container…
View original post 116 more words
November 3, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Uncategorized |
Leave a comment
geoharvey
Opinion:
¶ “We already know which grid fixes can keep lights on during bad storms. Here are 3.” • There are solutions available on the market today that can reduce the impact of weather related grid outages. Here are three cost-effective grid improvements that could keep the lights on for more people during future storms. [Environmental Defense Fund]
Building a solar microgrid (US Army Corps of Engineers image)
¶ “Puerto Rico Suffers While Defending Against ‘Disaster Capitalism'” • Over a month after Hurricane Maria hit, most of Puerto Rico remains dark. Its 3.5 million US citizens struggle to obtain the basic essentials of life, and many are leaving the island for the mainland. There are people coming to the island, though: disaster capitalists. [Common Dreams]
¶…
View original post 800 more words
November 3, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Uncategorized |
Leave a comment
robertscribbler
Republicans in Congress seem more concerned with cutting taxes for the rich than dealing with present and worsening problems like Russian interference in U.S. democracy or the ever-escalating damages coming from human-caused climate change related to fossil fuel burning. In fact, the Republican Party today signaled its intent to use the presently proposed tax bill in a manner that would make one of these problems dramatically worse.
According to news reports, Republicans intend to use their tax cut plan to remove incentives for electrical vehicle ownership by the end of 2017. Presently, buyers of all-electric vehicles enjoy a $7,500 tax credit. An incentive that helps the U.S. clean up its air and reduce the kinds of greenhouse gas emissions that fuel sea level rise, more powerful storms, and worsening droughts, deluges, and wildfires.
(In the U.S., more than 200,000 people die every year as a result of outdoor air…
View original post 526 more words
November 3, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Uncategorized |
Leave a comment
GarryRogers Nature Conservation
GR: Like an empty deck chair bumping in the wind, I’ve repeated this warning over and over. I’ve tried to find new ways to phrase it, new associations to tie it to, and more reasons that we must search for a solution. I’ve tried to stir anger at inequities, greed, and the corruption of public servants. Great writers, speakers, and leaders have tried as well. And yet the river carrying our little canoe continues on toward the growing rumble of a great falls. The rumble is beyond the blaring horns and sussurating tires on pavement that surrounds us, but if you listen for the calls of birds and crickets you may hear it in the empty spaces they no longer fill.
In the article below, Dr. Glen Barry mixes resignation and hope and suggests that we can still stop before the falls–we just need to “believe in a better world…
View original post 613 more words
November 3, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Uncategorized |
Leave a comment
The energy sector is currently undergoing a hotbed of politically charged emotions and debate. A few weeks ago, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry proposed a new rule in the electricity sector that would fundamentally change how generators, and more specifically coal and nuclear generators, are paid. This rulemaking, the “Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule,” proposes to […]
via How Trump’s coal bailout affects you and your wallet — Save Energy. Get Paid.
November 3, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Uncategorized |
Leave a comment
Stanford professor sues critics of his 100% renewables article, Washington Post, By Chris Mooney November 1 2017, Mark Z. Jacobson, a Stanford University professor who has prominently contended that the United States can fully power itself with wind, water and solar energy, is suing the National Academy of Sciences and the lead author of a study published in its flagship journal that criticized Jacobson’s views — pushing an already bitter academic dispute into a courtroom setting.
The suit, which asks for more than $10 million in damages and retraction of the study, charges that lead author Christopher Clack “knew and was informed prior to publication that many of the statements in the [paper] were false.” It adds that the NAS “knowingly and intentionally published false statements of fact” in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences despite being aware of Jacobson’s complaints.
Jacobson declined to comment on Wednesday, and William Kearney, a spokesman for the academy, said it does not comment on pending litigation……..
Clack’s study had 21 authors, but Jacobson’s lawsuit only names him and the academy. The other authors include a number of high-profile academic names in energy and climate change research and policy — a list that Jacobson charges magnified the impact of the article in the media and thus the damage to his reputation.
“We stand behind the paper, and we think this is a scientific issue that needs to be debated by scientists and not in the courts,” said one co-author, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing litigation.
The suit was filed in late September in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
The dispute turns on Jacobson’s idea, itself published in the PNAS and other journals, that it is feasible to construct a grid for the entire country that would be powered entirely by wind, solar and water energy (hydropower), with additional help from forms of energy storage. “No natural gas, biofuels, nuclear power, or stationary batteries are needed,” Jacobson and his colleagues wrote in 2015.
This idea of “100 percent clean energy” has been embraced by many environmental and climate change advocates, including actor Mark Ruffalo and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). And no wonder, for it presents a highly ambitious and optimistic outlook on how the current transition toward clean energy — which would be central to stopping climate change — could continue to develop.
But Clack argued in PNAS earlier this year that Jacobson’s idea was not only infeasible but also that his work used “invalid modeling tools, contained modeling errors, and made implausible and inadequately supported assumptions.” He and his co-authors said the transition toward cleaner energy will require “a broad portfolio of energy options,” which presumably includes nuclear power, carbon capture and storage, and more.
That’s where the legal dispute begins, since Jacobson charges that after seeing that study prior to publication, he sent a list of its purported errors to the NAS. These were not corrected in the final published version, his lawsuit says. …..
One of his greatest objections is over the claim that his work contained “modeling errors,” which turns on a technical dispute over how much U.S. electricity could be provided by hydropower and how much the current system of dams can be altered to increase their electricity-generating capacity.
This claim is “particularly harmful and damaging to Dr. Jacobson’s reputation because his primary expertise is in computer modeling,” the suit asserts……
According to court documents, the academy has until Nov. 27 to respond to the lawsuit.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/01/stanford-professor-files-libel-suit-against-leading-scientific-journal-over-clean-energy-claims/
November 3, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Legal, USA |
2 Comments
To understand what drives America’s frighteningly militaristic stance and warmongering, follow the money. After the 
Cold War ended, US negotiators promised Mikhail Gorbachev that America would not enlarge NATO, and the world enjoyed a period of relative peace. But the United States reneged on its promise a few short years later: “No war” was bad for business! In 1997 Norman Augustine, the head of Lockheed Martin, traveled to Romania, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the other newly liberated Eastern European countries and asked: Do you want to join NATO and be a democracy? (Joining NATO doesn’t make you a democracy.) But in order to join NATO, these small countries had to spend billions of dollars to buy weapons.
That’s the dynamic that instigated NATO’s expansion from the end of the Cold War to the present time — right up to the border of Russia.
There Is a New Urgency to the Threat of Nuclear Annihilation http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/42458-there-is-a-new-urgency-to-the-threat-of-nuclear-annihilation?key=0 Thursday, November 02, 2017 By Helen Caldicott, The New Press | Book Excerpt In the following excerpt from her introduction to Sleepwalking to Armageddon, pioneering anti-nuclear activist Dr. Helen Caldicott explains why nuclear catastrophe is still a very real and pressing danger to humanity.
Despite Donald Trump’s vows to seal the US border and eradicate ISIS, the real terrorists of the world today are the United States and Russia. They possess 94 percent of the nuclear weapons on the planet, and they hold the rest of the world hostage to their provocative and self-serving foreign policies and misadventures. As a result, we are closer to nuclear war now, at the start of the twenty-first century, than we’ve ever been before, even during the height of the Cold War.
While we must be concerned about global warming — the other existential threat to the planet — it is imperative that we do not take our eyes off the nuclear threat. To do so is to risk sleepwalking to Armageddon. Continue reading →
November 3, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
2 WORLD, resources - print, weapons and war |
Leave a comment
Defector: US strike would trigger automatic North Korea retaliation, Miltary Times, By: Matthew Pennington, The Associated Press WASHINGTON 2 Nov 17 — A high-ranking North Korean defector told a congressional hearing Wednesday that a pre-emptive U.S. military strike on the country would trigger automatic retaliation, with the North unleashing artillery and short-range missile fire on South Korea.
The testimony from Thae Yong Ho, former deputy chief of mission at the North Korean Embassy in London, underscored the high risk in using military force against North Korea. The Trump administration has said this is among its options in stopping leader Kim Jong Un from perfecting a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike the United States.
Thae, the highest-level North Korean defector in two decades, appeared to confirm what has long been suspected but rarely articulated by U.S. officials — that even a selective American strike could rain a potentially devastating North Korean military response on the South Korean capital and its environs, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of the heavily militarized frontier.
Thae, who is making his first visit to Washington since his defection last year, said the U.S. and allied South Korea would win a war after a preventive military strike on the North, but there would be a “human sacrifice” inflicted on the South from the “tens of thousands” of artillery guns and short-range missiles the North has at the frontier.
“North Korean officers are trained to press their button without any further instructions from the general command if anything happens on their side,” Thae told the House Foreign Affairs Committee, referring to a U.S. bombing or military strike. “We have to remember that tens of millions of South Korean population are living 70 to 80 kilometers away from this military demarcation line.”
He urged Washington to use “soft power” instead …….
Thae’s comments come ahead of President Donald Trump’s five-nation trip to Asia that will include a stop in South Korea. The U.S. administration says it seeks a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff but “all options” are on the table. Trump has threatened the total destruction of North Korea if the U.S. is forced to defend itself or its allies.
A Congressional Research Service report published last week said that conservative estimates anticipate that in the first hours of a conflict, North Korean artillery situated along the frontier could cause tens of thousands of casualties in South Korea, where at least 100,000 and possibly as many as 500,000 Americans live — including nearly 30,000 U.S. troops. It said a protracted conflict, particularly one in which North Korea uses its nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, could cause enormous casualties on a greater scale.
Some analysts contend the risk of Kim acquiring a nuclear weapon capable of targeting the U.S. homeland is greater than the risks associated with the outbreak of a regional war, the report said.
November 3, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
North Korea, politics international, USA, weapons and war |
Leave a comment
n.b. North Korea denies the story reported, that a collapsed tunnel killed up to 200 people
Fears North Korea is readying another missile test after ‘brisk activity’ at nuclear research facilityhttp://www.news.com.au/world/asia/fears-north-korea-is-readying-another-missile-test-after-brisk-activity-at-nuclear-research-facility/news-story/4899940a95ab93b052f5a757f85ea24f
KIM Jong-un could test another nuclear weapon “at any time” after his September launch which caused three aftershocks, South Korean spies say.The Sun News Corp Australia Network NOVEMBER 3, 2017 NORTH Korea could be preparing another ballistic missile test amid “brisk activity” at one of Kim Jong-un’s nuclear research facilities, according to local media.
South Korea’s spy agency is anticipating another rocket launch, insisting the crackpot state would continuously push to develop “miniaturised, diversified” warheads, The Sun reports.
The South’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) has spotted “active movement” of vehicles at Kim’s research centre in Pyongyang — indicating the war-hungry despot is preparing another test.
The NIS said “the North will carry out additional nuclear tests and continue to push for the development of miniaturised, diversified nuclear warheads,” adding that a tunnel at a test site was ready to be used “at any time”.
The NIS also mentioned damage to the Punggye-ri nuclear site in the northeast of the country after three aftershocks following the North’s sixth and most powerful nuclear test on September 3.
Last month, a tunnel at the underground nuclear site reportedly collapsed, killing up to 200 people. The disaster happened at the remote Punggye-ri site on October 10, according to Japan’s TV Asahi.
The disaster has prompted fears of a massive radioactive leak which could spark a Chernobyl- or Fukushima-style disaster. The disaster has prompted fears of a massive radioactive leak which could spark a Chernobyl- or Fukushima-style disaster.
A North Korean official said the collapse happened during the construction of an underground tunnel, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reports. Some 100 people are said to have been trapped by the initial tunnel collapse, with a further 100 lost in a second collapse during a rescue operation, Asahi reported on Tuesday.
The accident is believed to have been caused by Kim’s sixth nuclear test which weakened the mountain, according to the report. It was reported earlier this year that the mountain under which the base is believed to be hidden was at risk of collapsing and leaking radiation into the region. Experts said if the peak crumbles, clouds of radioactive dust and gas would blanket the region, the South China Morning Post reported.
The Punggye-ri test site is carved deep into the side of Mount Mantap.
November 3, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
North Korea, weapons and war |
Leave a comment
Report: North Korea runs hospital to treat nuclear radiation patients, By Elizabeth Shim | Nov. 1, 2017 (UPI) — North Korea operates a hospital that treats soldiers exposed to radiation at its nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, according to a Japanese press report.
The Asahi Shimbun reported Wednesday the hospital is located near Pyongyang, in North Hwanghae Province. Patients include soldiers who work at Punggye-ri and their families. The North Korea source who spoke to the Asahi on the condition of anonymity did not disclose the number of North Korea radiation patients at the hospital.
But according to the report, the Kim Jong Un regime retains “hundreds of thousands” of North Korean soldiers who are responsible for digging underground tunnels at Punggye-ri or guarding the site.
North Korea has conducted nuclear tests at the site for more than a decade, starting in October 2006, and most recently in September, when it announced its sixth nuclear test.
The test and recent missile launches earned North Korea universal condemnation and heavy economic sanctions.
The Asahi previously reported rumors were circulating among North Koreans residing near the site a “phantom disease” could be spreading “because of the nuclear tests.”
The report is partly backed by a report from South Korea’s unification ministry, according to News 1. About 30 defectors who left North Korea after the first nuclear test in 2006 have expressed concern they were exposed to radiation and have requested checkups, Seoul said in a report to the National Assembly…..https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2017/11/01/Report-North-Korea-runs-hospital-to-treat-nuclear-radiation-patients/9931509543667/?spt=su&or=btn_tw
November 3, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
health, South Korea |
Leave a comment
nuclear-news 