2018 March 14 « nuclear-news

UK renews process – geological screening for nuclear waste dump

Geological Screening, NO2 NuclearPower 14 Mar 18 On 30th January 2013, Cumbria County Council rejected the Government’s plans to undertake preliminary work on an underground radioactive waste dump. (See Cumbria Plan Dumped nuClear News No.47) The county and its western district councils Allerdale and Copeland were the only local authorities in the UK still involved in feasibility studies for a £12bn – £19bn disposal facility. So the rejection left the UK once again, without a plan for dealing with its nuclear waste legacy, let alone waste from proposed new reactors.

Then, in July 2014 the UK Government published a renewed process for siting a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) – the ‘Implementing Geological Disposal’ White Paper. (1)

The White Paper explained that certain ‘Initial Actions’ would have to happen before formal discussions between communities interested in hosting a GDF and the delivery body Radioactive Waste Management Limited (RWM) could take place. (2)

These ‘Initial Actions’ included: · A National Geological Screening exercise; · The establishment of a policy framework for planning decisions in England; and · Development of a process of Working with Communities, including Community Engagement, Community Representation, Community Investment and the Test of Public Support…….http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/NuClearNews_No105.pdf

March 14, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, wastes | Leave a comment

Koch brothers get an even better climate denying stooge as U.S. Secretary of State

Rex Tillerson is out, and the Koch brothers are in. https://grist.org/briefly/rex-tillerson-is-out-and-the-koch-brothers-are-in/

In an early morning tweet, President Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and announced that Mike Pompeo, CIA director and unofficial third Koch brother, would be taking over. In other words, a guy who believes climate change is merely an “engineering problem” is being replaced by someone who probably doesn’t think it’s even real.

Pompeo’s environmental record is pretty damning:

In a 2013 interview with C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, he argued that there’s considerable debate within the scientific community about the causes of global warming. There isn’t.
Since 2009, he has accepted more than a million dollars from the oil and gas industry while campaigning for Congress.
He was the largest recipient of Koch Industries campaign money in 2010. And soon afterward, as a newly elected Kansas representative, he hired a former Koch lawyer to be his chief of staff.

It looks like the Koch brothers, who’ve played a huge part in galvanizing the Republican Party against climate change, have Pompeo exactly where they want him.

And why is it important for our secretary of state to understand the basics of climate change? For one, climate change poses a “growing geopolitical threat” to national security — a threat that Pompeo appears quite unequipped to tackle.

March 14, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, politics, USA | Leave a comment