nuclear-news

A big week in climate news, a hushed week in nuclear news

The world has 10 years to ward off global warming disaster.  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its 2018 Report on Monday 8th October. By Tuesday, its news was all over the media.  By Wednesday, other news had to some extent taken over. By now, in Australia, we’re back to the important stuff – horse racing and royal weddings.

However, climate change is still important, and indeed, urgent. Experts warn that the IPCC report may be understating the climate situation. And in particular – the risk of catastrophic sea-level rise.

Again, however much the nuclear lobby might not want you to know this, – the dangers of climate change and nuclear power are merging. Hurricane Michael has threatened nuclear power stations in Georgia and Florida. But there’s precious little information on how that is going.

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Rising sea levels will mean flooding of vulnerable cities- e.g: London, Jakarta, Shanghai and Houston.

ExxonMobil CEO Depressed After Realizing Earth Could End Before They Finish Extracting All The Oil.

$2.4 Trillion Fossil Fuel Shift – better than climate apocalypse.

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What the IPCC Report 2018 says about nuclear power.

Cheap flexibility from storage, demand-side response and distributed renewable energy generation poses a “huge threat” to the nuclear industry.

USA-Russia relations at a low ebb: nuclear treaties are under threat.

Genetic changes in children of soldiers who were exposed to ionising radiation.

Vitrified nuclear waste: glass corrodes and melts long before the radioactive trash is inert.

The very bad news about what space travel can do to your gut.

JAPAN. Residents in Miyagi file suit to block burning of radiation-tainted waste from Fukushima nuclear disaster. Fukushima nuclear plant owner apologises for still-radioactive water.  TEPCO bungles it again in dealing with Fukushima tainted water.

SOUTH KOREA. S. Korean activists demand Japan not dump Fukushima’s radioactive water into the sea.

USA. 

•  VA Nuke Plant Suffers Transformer Trip From Hurricane Michael .
• USA’s Nuclear Protection Agency, -sorry, Environment Protection Agency , set to weaken radiation guidelines. “Transparency”- the Trump administration’s dirty trick to strangle access to reputable science on nuclear radiation.  The Leader in the Fight to Stop Yucca Mountain, Heller Demands Information on the Proposed Reclassification of High-Level Radioactive Waste.
• New research raises further concern about radioactive contamination from US arms testing.
• Donald Trump’s priority is profit from weapons sales to Saudi Arabia: murder of Washington Post journalist is irrelevant. Trump administration’s unreasonable tolerance for Saudi Arabia’s war crimes in Yemen.  USA administration salivating about lucrative sale of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia – if only they could get over the proliferation problem.
• USA restricts nuclear technology exports to China.
• MOX nuclear fuel plant in South Carolina “on life support”, following court case.
• How workers inadvertently contributed to Westinghouse nuclear factory’s radiation leak.
• Towns face the end of the nuclear era, and the problems of radioactive trash.

UK. Welsh Labour Government allows Hinkley nuclear station’s mud dumping off Penarth, despite local opposition.    Dumping of Hinkley nuclear station mud closed – for now  Wales should be “sceptical” about nuclear power – Welsh Labour leadership candidate.  Anniversary of UK’s Windscale nuclear accident. Jeremy Corbyn gives a vision of a smarter, cleaner, more secure and equitable future. UK agonising over its nuclear industry future, leaving the Euratom Treaty, because of Brexit.

NORTH KOREA. North Korea is not really making any big nuclear concession. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says that North Korea is ready to allow inspection of key nuclear site. Nuclear safety should be the first priority in the Korean Peninsula.

TURKEY. Council of Europe concerned at construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in an earthquake-prone region.

FRANCE. New delay in sight for Flamanville EPR.   France to defend lawsuit over its Pacific nuclear tests- “accepted its nuclear legacy with serenity” (whatever that means!).  Plan to sue France over ‘crimes against humanity’ in nuclear tests in South Pacific. France’s government to postpone the phaseout of nuclear power – to the detriment of the renewable energy industry.

BELGIUM Belgium’s phaseout of nuclear power.

CHINA. Nuclear weapons proliferation risks in China’s push to export nuclear reactors.

RUSSIA. Dubious claim from Russia, about bacteria “neutralising nuclear waste”.

October 13, 2018 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes