The week that has been in nuclear news

International relations seem to become ever more complicated and risky. Donald Trump says ” I probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un”. It is really hard to make sense out of Trump’s utterances, and the climate of “new media” makes that all the more difficult, and dangerous. Donald Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster thinks it’s about time to bomb North Korea. 17 former nuclear launch officers warn Congress about Trump’s power to destroy.

European powers urge US not to withdraw from Iran nuclear deal. If he did, it would certainly not help international efforts to persuade North Korea to cease its nuclear weapons drive.

The new media landscape allows Donald Trump’s lies and brutal language to be “normal“.

Time for new movies to raise awareness of nuclear bombing.

U.S. and Russia Race to Build Nuclear Weapons They Can Actually Use Against Each Other.

Accidental nuclear weapons launches could result from cyber attacks.

Fukushima Darkness: Radiation of Triple Meltdowns Felt Worldwide.

Atomic batteries, including plutonium pacemakers – not monitored.

USA.

Donald Trump’s mental health – a matter of public interest. Donald Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster thinks it’s about time to bomb North Korea. Donald Trump wants to kill the Iran nuclear deal – but not just yet. U.S. Secretary of State Tillerson to attend North Korea talks in Canada.- Former nuclear weapons launch officers call for restricting Trump’s access to ‘nuclear button’
Radiation problem so serious that Hanford Plutonium Plant demolition has been stopped.
USA’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission makes a fact-based decision against subsidies for coal and nuclear power.
New Bill in USA Congress for compensation for sick nuclear workers.
USA Energy Dept must pay South Carolina $1million daily for MOX facility failure, and non removal of plutonium wastes. Connecticut lawmakers anxious about accumulating nuclear radioactive trash. Ticking Time Bomb at San Onofre Nuclear Plant.
– California regulators OK closing state’s last nuclear plant.
Will Trump allow irreparable damage to the Grand Canyon, and expand uneconomic uranium mining?
US Man Indicted for Allegedly Bribing Russian Nuclear Energy Official

NORTH KOREA. North and South Korea agree on Winter Olympics, but not on denuclearization. Chromosome defects found among N. Korean defectors who lived near nuke test site.

EUROPE. European civic leaders worried about dangers of nuclear facilities stationed near borders of their counties.

JAPAN. HELEN CALDICOTT: THE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR MELTDOWN CONTINUES UNABATED. Bill calling for “immediate halt” to Japan’s reliance on nuclear power. Regulator urges release of treated Fukushima radioactive water into sea. Experts anxious about lifting of Japan food ban.

CHINA. China becoming the global leader in renewable energy. China unlikely to go ahead with AREVA’s nuclear reprocessing plan, despite Macron’s support. China’s huge bunker for leaders to survive nuclear war

UK. Japanese and British taxpayers at risk as their governments commit to $20 billion loan for Wylfa nuclear project– Cumbria not the safest, nor cheapest, nor easiest place to bury UK’s nuclear waste. Westinghouse saved – nuclear industry must not be allowed to go belly up?- Nuclear Liability – UK government sets out new rules for ‘intermediate risks’. Protest opposing USA military use of Ireland’s Shannon Airport. UK Trident bomb base in Scotland has ‘significant’ radioactive waste problem.

RUSSIA. Putin fears that terrorists might attack nuclear power stations, using drones.

FRANCE. The troubled and exorbitantly expensive history of the EPR nuclear reactor.

BRAZIL. Armed raid on nuclear workers’ housing raises fears over Brazil’s two reactors.

1.This Month

of the week

https://www.ecoshock.org/

Paul Beckwith, Climate System Scientist

The climate change threat to nuclear power

By Natalie Kopytko “…………The final problem is droughts, which climate models predict will become longer and larger. Legal battles have already been fought in the US over scarce water resources in regions with nuclear power plants, including the Catawba river basin in the Carolinas and the Apalachicola/Chattahoochee/Flint river basin in Georgia, Florida and Alabama. These battles show us that adapting our systems – including nuclear power – to a reduced supply of water will not be easy.

The International Atomic Energy Agency advises the nuclear industry to build power plants to last for 100 years. Given that climate models don’t agree on what to expect within this time period, it is not at all clear how this can be achieved.

New reactors could use dry or hybrid systems with lower water requirements, but the costs of running these systems are likely to be prohibitive. Considering nuclear power plants already have problems with construction cost overruns, any additional costs are likely to meet resistance.

What is to be done? Most forms of energy generation are vulnerable in some way to the effects of climate change, and the fact that nuclear power is among them is yet another argument against a wholesale shift towards this source of energy.

The bottom line is that if nuclear power is to be used to mitigate the effects of climate change, it must also be capable of adapting to them. There are serious doubts that it can. more https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028138-200-the-climate-change-threat-to-nuclear-power/

Uninhabitable Regions with Extreme Heat and Humidity

Human Core Body Temperature Limits Adaptability to Heat Stress

PETITIONS

Tell Congress: Stop Trump from ordering a nuclear first strike without a Congressional declaration of war.

PREVENT UNNECESSARY RADIOACTIVE RISKS ACROSS THE USA NATION

Protect Idaho’s water. Stop nuclear waste.

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