Japan Times, KYODO , 12 May 18 HIROSHIMA – A U.S. national park commemorating facilities related to the Manhattan Project, the secret U.S. wartime atomic bomb program, will include exhibits showing the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons, a park official said.
The plan to display the damage caused by the U.S. atomic bombings on Japan during World War II is welcome news for atomic bomb survivors who have worked to convey the horror of the weapons.
“We intend to address this issue thoroughly and respectfully,” said Kris Kirby, superintendent of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, referring to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the use of nuclear weapons.
In November 2015, the U.S. government officially designated as a national park the facilities related to the Manhattan Project located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Hanford in Washington State.
The work to craft the exhibition plan for the facilities may start in 2019, and officials hope to complete it within two years.
It is not yet decided where the exhibits to highlight the inhumane aspects of the weapons will be placed, but Kirby said they would be “incredibly important elements” of the story surrounding the Manhattan Project.
…… An official of the Hiroshima Municipal Government welcomed the latest development and said, “We hope the exhibition … will be based on objective facts, and does not glorify the atomic bomb development.”
….. many people died in the bomb blasts and flames and even those who survived continued to suffer due to the increased risks of cancer and leukemia throughout their lives as well as the loss of family members……https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/05/13/national/u-s-manhattan-project-national-park-include-exhibits-noting-inhumane-nature-atomic-weapons/#.Wvi08O-FPGg
May 14, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
USA, weapons and war |
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Times 12th May 2018 , Independent think tanks are being paid by companies to write policy reports
and to gain access to senior politicians. In the past year leading charitable think tanks have earned millions of pounds from private organisations that want to have influence in Whitehall, research by The Times has found.
The think tanks have commissioned research and published reports in areas of interest to their corporate sponsors and arranged events to discuss them with politicians. Some, such as Policy Exchange, have refused to publish details of their funders. One senior figure at a think tank said that the arrangement allowed companies to “launder their interests” through independent groups with close links to officials.
All the reports seen by this newspaper drew conclusions favourable to the companies concerned. Policy Exchange published a report calling on ministers to invest in small nuclear reactors. The report was funded by Rolls-Royce, the British engineering company that has significant investment in the technology, but this was not stated in the report.
Instead the acknowledgment section thanked “Rolls-Royce for its support of the Energy and Environment Unit”. It did not disclose the funding or the possible conflict of interest. Rolls-Royce said: “While Rolls-Royce funded the report on SMRs [the reactors], the independent research was conducted by Policy Exchange and we categorically had no influence.”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/big-companies-buy-influence-with-funding-for-think-tanks-6x85mpx9q
May 14, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
spinbuster, UK |
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Environmental research web 12th May 2018 ,Dave Elliott: Although progress has been relatively slow, France has a
quite ambitious energy policy, with nuclear to be cut back by around 25%, by 2025, so that it supplied a maximum of 50% of power, and renewables accelerating to supply 32% of energy by 2030 and doubling their share of electricity to 40% by then.
And last year, according to BNEF data, France invested $5bn in Clean Energy, up 15% on 2016. It has some interesting
renewable energy projects at a range of scales. For example, the go ahead has been given for 17GW of small-scale renewables. At the larger scale, a 493 MW offshore wind farm also got a go ahead off Brittany- its biggest offshore project so far.
http://blog.environmentalresearchweb.org/2018/05/12/renewables-in-france-slow-progress/
May 14, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
France, renewable |
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Le Monde 12th May 2018 [Machine Translation] Energy: “French stubbornness on the nuclear path is a
risky strategy”. The French choice for nuclear power is all the more dangerous because it is economically outpaced by other sources of energy, says economist Aurélien Saussay in a forum at the “World”. With the new
multiannual energy program (EPP), in public debate until June 30, France seems to have to renew its wishes for nuclear loyalty. The proponents of the status quo advance mostly economic arguments. Only nuclear electricity, flagship of French technology, would be able to meet our needs for a reasonable cost, while not emitting greenhouse gases.
The economic health of the sector is however not reassuring. Contrary to the hopes of a “renaissance” raised in 2007 at the launch of the EPR project in Flamanville, the past decade has proved disastrous for French and international nuclear power. Areva, which had designed and managed the EPR, was in a critical situation in 2016, after suffering a cumulative loss of 10 billion euros from 2011 to 2015. Only the injection of nearly 5 billion euros by the state and a drastic restructuring saved the company from bankruptcy.
Numerous reactor projects have been canceled in recent years in Brazil, South Africa and the United States. Main exception: China, with 20 reactors under construction and 60 more planned for the coming decade. The world’s first EPR commissioned will be located in southeastern China.
Apart from this Chinese specificity, how to explain the defeat, in France and abroad, of an industry promised to the most beautiful future only ten years ago? If “historic” nuclear power cost only € 0.04 / kWh, an EPR kWh
should exceed € 0.12. However, other technologies for generating electricity without greenhouse gas emissions, such as solar photovoltaic or wind, have followed an exactly opposite cost trajectory. In the case of solar, the fall is spectacular: some international projects have crossed the threshold of 0.04 € / kWh.
http://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2018/05/12/energie-l-entetement-francais-sur-la-voie-du-nucleaire-est-une-strategie-risquee_5297979_3234.html
May 14, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
ENERGY, France |
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Chile’s lithium – blessing or curse?, DW, 11 May 18 Salar de Atacama is rich in lithium, essential to electric cars and other low-carbon tech. But indigenous people are fighting its extraction, saying private interests are cashing in at the expense of their environment.
The Salar de Atacama’s geysers, volcanoes and flamingos attract tourists from around the world. But beneath its dramatic vistas, the Chilean salt flats hide something of far greater economic potential that’s drawing a different kind of interest – from the world’s chemical companies.
Lithium batteries are essential to all kinds of gadgets from laptops and mobile phones to the electric cars and power storage facilities that are to help wean the world of fossil fuels. As the world shifts to renewables, more and more sectors are to be electrified, and demand for lithium is expected to double by 2025.
Salar de Atacama contains some of the world’s richest lithium deposits. Which means Chile is sitting on a goldmine. But exploiting it could come at a terrible environmental cost, protestors say.
The Chilean government wants to boost lithium production and potentially manufacture batteries in the country, breaking classic supply model where Latin American countries provide materials for products produced elsewhere.
To this end, it signed over lithium concessions to Chilean mining company SQM in January – a deal that’s to see extraction triple by 2030.
But environmentalists and mining unions are outraged. “For us, the contract is illegal,” said Miguel Soto, chairman of the Lithium for Chile movement that organized demonstrations against it on the streets of Santiago de Chile.
……….The full extent of environmental damage mining operations could have is still unclear. Domingo Ruiz, a chemist at the University of Santiago who works on lithium-ion technology, says the government should make an environmental impact study and adopt regulations.
More research and regulation needed
“There are no regulations up to now. That is why a lot of people are worried about how the rising production quotas will impact the fragile ecosystem of the Salar de Atacama,” he told DW……..http://www.dw.com/en/chiles-lithium-blessing-or-curse/a-43721539
May 14, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
RARE EARTHS, SOUTH AMERICA |
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Trump will ‘size Kim Jong Un up’ in meeting on his commitment to ending nuclear program: John Bolton By CHEYENNE HASLETT May 13, 2018 National Security Adviser John Bolton said one advantage of President Donald Trump‘s fast-approaching meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is that Trump will be able to “size Kim Jong Un up” on his commitment to ending his nuclear program…..https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-size-kim-jong-commitment-ending-nuclear-program/story?id=55110237
May 14, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
general |
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https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/macron-calls-friend-trump-angry-iran-nuclear-move-55124699
French President Emmanuel Macron has called his friend and ally U.S. President Donald Trump to say he’s very worried about tensions in the Middle East, after Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear accord.
Macron’s office said the two leaders spoke Saturday and the French leader expressed his “great concern about stability” in the region. Macron strongly opposes Trump’s pullout from the 2015 global deal curbing Iran’s nuclear activities. Hostilities between Iran and Israel have already escalated in recent days.
Macron and Trump also discussed trade issues. European governments are scrambling to save billions of dollars in trade with Iran that resumed thanks to the 2015 accord.
In addition, France and the EU are pressing Washington for exemption from Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs.
May 14, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
France, politics international |
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