North Korean nuclear tests sickening residents with ‘ghost disease,’ defectors say
North Koreans who defected but once lived near a nuclear testing site in the rogue nation now believe they are experiencing the dangerous effects of exposure to harmful radiation — and it’s triggered severe health problems, according to a report published Sunday.
“So many people died we began calling it ‘ghost disease,'” Lee Jeong Hwa, who in 2010 escaped her home in Kilju County where the nuclear testing site Punggye-ri is located, told NBC News. “We thought we were dying because we were poor and we ate badly. Now we know it was the radiation.”
Lee isn’t the only defector who believes the radiation is taking its toll people who lived there.
South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported in November that close to two dozen defectors said the area surrounding Punggye-ri is turning into a “wasteland” where vegetation is dying and babies are born with deformities.
NORTH KOREA’S NUCLEAR TEST SITE CAUSING ‘DEFORMED BABIES,’ KILLING VEGETATION, DEFECTORS SAY
The defectors said drinking water in the area came from Mount Mantap, where nuclear tests reportedly were conducted underground.
Rhee Yeong Sil told NBC News that before she defected in 2013, a neighbor of hers gave birth to a baby so deformed that nobody could determine its gender.
“It didn’t have any genitals,” Rhee said. “In North Korea, deformed babies are usually killed. So the parents killed the baby.”
Lee told NBC News that South Korea’s Ministry of Unification has tested her, along with other defectors, and has found no signs of contamination due to radiation from nuclear tests.
It’s “assumed” that cancer or other diseases found in North Korean defectors are due to nuclear testing, but it’s hard to confirm, the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety told the network.
There is also concern that strong winds could blow lingering radiation to Japan across the Sea of Japan.
Less than a week ago, the regime launched what it called its “greatest” intercontinental ballistic missile which, according to South Korean officials, could have the capability to hit targets as far as 8,100 miles away — putting Washington, D.C., within reach.
The missile, launched on Nov. 28 around 1:30 p.m. ET, was the first the regime conducted since its Sept. 15 test when it fired an intermediate-range missile that flew over Japan’s Hokkaido Island.
October marked the first month the regime didn’t test a missile since January. Between February and September, North Korea launched a missile an average of every two weeks.
Are nuclear reactor risks from terrorrorist being played down?
Thanks to Greenpeace France we are able to see how vulnerable nuclear power stations are even when there is still a state of national emergency currently in France.
Nuclear sites like Sellafield in the UK are also at risk from Terrorist attack and the reports concerning accident damage to these sites and pollution damage is not even being assessed properly (report from Irish EPA on accident at Sellafield ignores the most dangerous scenario, a concerted attack on the spent fuel pools by determined terrorists with the fires lasting more than a day)
Thanks to EDF for this magnificent infographie on the classification of safety zones in nuclear power plants, which confirms that Greenpeace activists were in the hot ‘nuclear zone’.
The Director of EDF has therefore lied.
Only added on the drawing, only the position of militants (only blue colour). No changes to original infographie. h/t Yannick Rousselet
UAE approaches generating electricity from nuclear energy
Dubai – Mubasher: The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) on Sunday received the first nuclear fuel shipment to operate the first plant of the UAE’s peaceful nuclear programme, and stored it safely according to security requirements.
The UAE’s nuclear programme is about to produce the first megawatt of nuclear energy, as the UAE built four nuclear plants in 2017, according to the Emirates News Agency (WAM).
The UAE completed the construction of the first nuclear power plant and assigned its operations to the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, WAM reported.
https://www.dotemirates.com/en/details/4266527?from=dot
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ICAN official urges Japan to join anti-nuke weapons treaty
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
December 3, 2017 at 18:05 JS
GENEVA–An executive of the international nongovernmental organization that won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize vowed to strengthen the campaign to ask Japan and other countries to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Beatrice Fihn, 35, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), also said that her group will use the Nobel Peace Prize award money to establish a new fund to promote its activities.
She made those remarks in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun here on Dec. 1 ahead of the awards ceremony to be held Dec. 10 in Oslo.
ICAN, based in Geneva, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October on the grounds that it advocated the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and contributed to the adoption of the treaty in July.
In the interview, Fihn pointed out that the Japanese government’s stance of relying on the U.S. nuclear umbrella means that it supports the idea of threatening other countries with nuclear weapons.
She cast doubts on that stance, saying ICAN will ask Japanese politicians and people the serious question of whether Japan is accepting the idea of threatening to do the same thing to others as what happened to Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.
Amid North Korea’s ongoing development of nuclear weapons and missiles, Fihn said, “With the threats, we no longer have to convince people that the threat is real. People are feeling it. They know it’s real. So I think we have a unique opportunity now to really make progress.
“I think when we’re thinking about the humans or putting humans first, that’s when we make progress … Not ‘America First,’ (but) humans first.”
The signing of the treaty started in September but only three countries have ratified it. Ratification of 50 countries is necessary for the treaty to take effect, which ICAN is aiming to realize within two years. For that purpose, it plans to set up a new fund within ICAN.
The group named it the “1,000-day fund” so that it can achieve the ratification of 50 countries within 1,000 days from Dec. 10, the day of the awards ceremony.
In addition to the prize money of 9 million Swedish kronor (about 120 million yen, or $1.1 million), ICAN will collect donations for the fund.
The fund will be used to support activities of cooperating groups throughout the world so that they can promote their campaigns to urge the governments and the people of their countries to sign and ratify the treaty.
Fihn harbors strong doubts on the “nuclear deterrence” that Japan is relying on, saying that it will be unable to stop accidents from occurring due to misunderstandings, cyberattacks or individuals that aren’t rational.
“Nuclear deterrence isn’t flawless. Even if it does work to some extent, it can still fail and the consequences would be devastating,” she said.
As Foreign Minister Taro Kono says, the Japanese government asserts that nuclear weapons are necessary to deter North Korea.
However, Fihn said that the mechanism to create peace and stability based on fear of nuclear weapons is not working and, on the contrary, is creating an unstable situation.
“Introducing nuclear weapons in a conflict situation makes it more tense and increases the risk of an accident where these weapons will actually be used,” she said.
(This article was written by correspondents Tsutomu Ishiai and Ichiro Matsuo.)
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201712030021.html
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Yemen’s Houthi group says fires missile toward Abu Dhabi nuclear reactor
DUBAI (Reuters) – Yemen’s Houthi group has fired a cruise missile towards a nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, the group’s television service said on its website on Sunday, without providing any evidence.
“The missile force announces the launching of a winged cruise missile … towards the al-Barakah nuclear reactor in Abu Dhabi,” the website said. It gave no further details.
(Reporting by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Mark Potter)
http://www.journalistbook.com/2017/12/03/yemens-houthi-group-says/
Earthquake detected near North Korea nuclear site
Earthquake detected near North Korea nuclear site
A 2.5-magnitude earthquake has been detected in North Korea near where the country recently conducted a nuclear test, Seoul’s weather agency said.
The tremor occurred at 7.45am on Saturday in Kilju, North Hamgyeong Province, around 2.7 kilometres away from the Punggye-ri nuclear site, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).
Kim Jong-Un‘s regime conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test at the site on 3 September, damaging geological structures in the area, the agency said. Four tremors have been detected there since.
“The quake is a natural one and it is believed to have occurred in the aftermath of the sixth nuclear test,” the KMA said.
The September atomic explosion triggered an artificial 6.3-magnitude earthquake at the test site, monitors at the time said. It was almost 10 times more powerful than the 10-kiloton test carried out by the North last year, according to South Korean experts.
North Korean monitoring group 38 North said the tremors could be an indication of “Tired Mountain Syndrome” — a condition where rock becomes increasingly permeable following a below-ground nuclear blast.
Reports have speculated the nuclear test site will have to close because of the tremors, but 38 North said “complete abandonment of the test site as a whole remains unlikely”.
The isolationist state recently tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile that, it claimed, could reach anywhere on the US mainland.
Experts said the Hwasong-15 appeared capable of transporting a nuclear warhead, although it is unclear whether the isolated state is yet capable of making a weapon small enough to be fitted to the missile.
At the end of November the US unveiled fresh sanctions against the North, which it said were designed to stop its funding of nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
Donald Trump has also redesignated North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism.
On Friday the US state of Hawaii tested a nuclear attack warning siren for the first time since the Cold War. Some experts believe a North Korean missile could take just 20 minutes to reach the state.
Although Hawaii is protected by US anti-missile systems, local people are being told to have an emergency plan if alarms warn a strike is imminent.
The independent UK
Pope says world has reached moral limit on nuclear deterrence
By Cindy Wooden
ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM BANGLADESH (CNS) — The Cold War policy of nuclear deterrence appears morally unacceptable today, Pope Francis said.
St. John Paul II, in a 1982 message to the U.N. General Assembly, said deterrence “may still be judged morally acceptable” as a stage in the process of ridding the world of nuclear weapons.
But Pope Francis, in a message in early November to a Vatican conference, said “the very possession” of nuclear weapons “is to be firmly condemned.”
During a news conference Dec. 2 on his flight back to Rome from Dhaka, Bangladesh, Pope Francis was asked what had changed since St. John Paul wrote to the United Nations and whether the war of words between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un influenced his position.
“What has changed?” the pope responded. “The irrationality has changed.”
Pope Francis said his position is open to debate, but “I’m convinced that we are at the limit of licitly having and using nuclear weapons.”
The world’s nuclear arsenals, he said, “are so sophisticated that you risk the destruction of humanity or a great part of humanity.”
Even nuclear power plants raise questions, the pope said, because it seems that preventing accidents and cleaning up after them is almost impossible.
Pope Francis said he was not dictating “papal magisterium,” or formal church teaching, but was raising a question that a pope should raise: “Today is it licit to maintain the nuclear arsenals as they are or, to save creation and to save humanity, isn’t it necessary to turn back?”
The weapons are designed to bring one side victory by destroying the other, he said, “and we are at the limit of what is licit.”
Pope says world has reached moral limit on nuclear deterrence
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Vietnam ditched nuclear power plans over local concerns: ex-leader
(Mainichi Japan)
HO CHI MINH CITY (Kyodo) — Vietnam last year abandoned plans to build the country’s first nuclear power plants with Japanese and Russian assistance due to heightened concern over nuclear energy in the wake of events such as the Fukushima nuclear disaster, according to former President Truong Tan Sang.
In an interview in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday, Sang, 68, said, “The situation in the world had changed. Due to the fluctuations of the world situation, the Vietnamese people were very worried, especially the people in the area where the nuclear power plants were to be located. They had reactions. Therefore, we had to temporarily halt (the plans).”
The interview was his first with a foreign news media outlet since stepping down from power in April last year.
In scrapping the plans to build two multi-billion-dollar nuclear power plants in November last year, the government cited the country’s tight financial situation, saying safety was not an issue.
On Vietnam’s territorial conflict with China in the South China Sea, Sang said his country welcomes the concerns of countries in and outside the region to contribute to ensuring peace and stability in the South China Sea.
“We protect our interests on the basis of international law, and at the same time we also respect the interests of the countries concerned on the basis of international law,” he said.
“Japan is very close to Vietnam’s view,” he added, expressing hope for Tokyo’s continued support for its stance in the dispute.
On the economic front, he praised Japan for its active promotion of globalization, especially after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free trade agreement signed by 12 nations including Vietnam and Japan.
“(Japanese Prime Minister) Shinzo Abe was one of the first leaders to promote and connect remaining countries together. As a result, at the APEC meeting in Danang recently, the TPP 11 meeting successfully took place,” he said.
On bilateral relations, he said the relationship between the two countries is “very good. There is no obstacle.”
“The extensive strategic partnership in all areas has been strengthened, bringing clear benefits,” he said.
By taking advantage of Japan’s advanced technology and Vietnam’s abundant natural and human resources, he expressed hope for greater cooperation in areas such as high-quality infrastructure, high-tech agriculture and renewable energy.
“Vietnam learns from the experience and realities of countries around the world to perfect the organizational model of our political system,” he said, indicating the necessity of reform of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party and government based on global trends and the domestic situation.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20171203/p2g/00m/0in/062000c
Morningstar’s Sunny Outlook For Nuclear Power Suddenly Clouds Over
Morningstar analysts broke with the pessimistic consensus on nuclear power this fall when they predicted the industry would not just hold its own against renewables and cheap natural gas, it might even grow up to 5 percent.
But that prediction, which appeared in the October/November issue of Morningstar magazine, has already fallen flat.
“At the time we were developing the forecasts, we were assuming the two new units at the VC Summer (SC) plant would go forward, totaling 2.2 GW of new capacity. But as you probably know, Scana and partner Santee Cooper decided to cancel the project in late July,” said Travis Miller, an equity strategist with Morningstar Research Services LLC.
“The VC Summer plant is key. If indeed it never goes into service, you would have to remove that 2.2 GW from our forecast, thus our base estimate would go from flat to down 2.2 GW. Other than that, the status of the Exelon plants are the primary difference from our high- and low-end estimates.”
Exelon operates five nuclear plants in Illinois and New York that it has threatened to close. Both states passed subsidies to keep the plants open, but those subsidies are being challenged in the courts.
“If courts strike down those subsidies, we expect those plants to close, absent other power market reforms,” Miller said.
In their original forecast, the analysts suggested pessimism about nuclear power was short-sighted and overlooked nuclear’s “more favorable” environmental profile, given political pressure to reduce emissions. They argued that nuclear capacity could grow through uprates—a process in which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission grants permission to operate plants “hotter” than is typically allowed.
Competition from cheap natural gas generation and renewable energy are pinching profits now, but we think a long-term perspective is important… Our forecast for flat or growing U.S. nuclear capacity is more bullish than most forecasts. In particular, we disagree with the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s prediction that nuclear capacity will fall 11% by 2040. We think the U.S. could add as much as 5% net new nuclear capacity by 2040.”
In addition to Exelon and Scana, the analysts profiled the “actionable” stocks of Dominion Energy, Southern Company, and FirstEnergy.
The nuclear technology was born 75 years ago yesterday when a team of physicists led by Enrico Fermi successfully triggered the first manmade nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago.
Stalkers in Chernobyl: Radioactive exclusion zone plagued by thrill-seekers & looters
The latest group of Chernobyl trespassers was busted on Saturday. A trio aged between 18 and 23 was caught by a patrol after crossing into the expulsion zone, the police reported, describing them as “extreme tourists.” In mid-November a 21-year-old man from Ukraine and a 20-year-old woman from Russia were likewise caught sneaking in. Three separate groups of thrill-seekers had been busted in mid-October.
Chernobyl, once a byword for the terror experienced millions of people following the 1986 nuclear power plant explosion, has by now become a magnet for the curious. Access to the exclusion zone remains restricted, but most of it has long been safe for brief visits. The exception is the ruin of the plant itself, which is to be covered by a new shelter construction commissioned last year and expected to be finished in the first half of 2018.
The zone is a destination for scientists studying the effects of long-term radiation exposure on wildlife, as well as for documentary film crews and curious tourists. But some people don’t want to deal with the red tape and prefer to simply trespass, sometimes with the help of local guides, knowing that the only thing they risk if caught is a fine. The experience however may be far more dangerous than expected even for seasoned extreme travelers.
On Tuesday, a 33-year-old father of three died in the Chernobyl exclusion zone after a 15-meter fall. Dmitry Shkinder from Belarus went inside to climb the abandoned Soviet missile silo via the receiving antenna of early warning radar Duga, located a dozen kilometers from the destroyed nuclear power plant. Judging by his social media accounts, he had climbed the massive construction in the past, but the latest selfie quest proved to be fatal.
“That object has seen no maintenance for three decades. Its rusty, some ladders are loose. On that day it was really wet and cold and there was thick fog,” his friend Roman, who was with Dmitry when he died, told a Belarusian TV station.
While most of the trespassers come to Chernobyl for the thrill, other visits have a more practical purpose. Occasionally Ukrainian police report catching somebody trying to smuggle scrap metal, which can be later sold for recycling. A man carrying about 200 kg of rusty metal in his motorcycle sidecar was caught last week. In September, a man tried to carry out 15kg of lead pellets from Chernobyl, but was busted at a checkpoint. Metal hunters are typically unconcerned that their loot may be radioactive.
Arguably an even more irresponsible way to make money on Chernobyl is picking mushrooms and wild berries in the exclusion zone, where competition for the foodstuffs is virtually non-existent. In September, the police reported intercepting two villagers leaving the restricted area carrying 40kg of mushrooms, which they claimed were for their personal consumption. The report said Geiger meters proved that this was not the best idea: the mushroom radiation levels were some 30 times higher than what is considered safe.
https://www.rt.com/news/411729-chernobyl-thrill-seekers-looters/
Other resources; https://nuclear-news.net/?s=timothy+mousseau+chernobyl+fukushima
Life after Fukushima and Chernobyl nuclear disasters with Prof. T. Mousseau
Comparing Fukushima and Chernobyl concerning radionuclide distribution and Isotopic variations on Land and effects on the environment. New studies by Timothy Mousseu and his team. Tim was interviewed and he gave us an overall look at the situation and compares the 2 nuclear disasters for us. Link to Timothy Mousseau cricket.biol.sc.edu/Mousseau/Mousseau.html Link to podcast here; … Continue reading
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