International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Japan must urgently tackle Fukushima’s radioactive water buildup
Reuters 13th Oct 2018 , Japan must urgently tackle a buildup of contaminated water at its Fukushima
nuclear plant, destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami more than seven years
ago, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Tuesday. The
call after a site visit by IAEA experts follows last month’s admission by
plant owner Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), that water treated there still
contained radioactive material, despite having said for years it had been
removed.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-japan-disaster-nuclear-water/iaea-pushes-japan-for-urgent-disposal-of-contaminated-fukushima-water-idUKKCN1NI14X?rpc=401&
For the first time, a full account of the horror results of UK’s nuclear bomb experiments
Britain’s nuclear bomb test legacy of early deaths and deformed children, Mirror, Susie Boniface 14 NOV 2018
The horrific story behind the UK’s nuclear experiments have been told in full for the first time. After the horrors of the Second World War, it was deemed necessary for Britain to have a weapon that could unleash hell.
When atom bombs were dropped on Japan in 1945, LIFE magazine reported: “People’s bodies were terribly squeezed, then their internal organs ruptured…….
Of the 22,000 scientists and servicemen who took part in radioactive experiments in Australia and the South Pacific, just a handful are alive.
Their families report cancers, rare medical problems, high rates of miscarriage – and deformities, disability and death for their children – and their grandchildren.
Now, the full story of Britain’s nuclear experiments has been told for the first time in a new Mirror website that details not only the scientific, military and political battles, but the human fallout.
DAMNED features top-secret documents, eyewitness accounts and searing testimonies.
The site takes its name from an editorial written in 2002 by Mirror editor Richard Stott, who thundered: “How many more generations of the damned will our politicians allow to suffer before they accept the calamities of their predecessors and the consequences of their own cowardice?”
In May, the Mirror called for an award for the veterans and Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has ordered a medal review.
DAMNED begins with Operation Hurricane in 1952, when Britain exploded its first atomic bomb, covers the Minor Trials in South Australia, which left the landscape littered with plutonium debris for decades, and reports on Operation Grapple in 1958 when the UK detonated its biggest weapon.
It also details the human cost and shows how every other nuclear nation on Earth came to accept and recognise their nuclear heroes – leaving Britain the only one to deny a duty of care………
In May, the Mirror called for an award for the veterans and Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has ordered a medal review……….
DAMNED has a memorial section with the pictures and health problems of every veteran from our archives. Some of their stories can be read here: …… https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/britains-nuclear-bomb-test-legacy-13590455
Global warming is making hurricanes more extreme
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Climate change is making hurricanes even more destructive, research finds, Guardian, Oliver Milman, @olliemilman 15 Nov 18 Hurricane rainfall could increase by a third and wind speeds boosted by up to 25 knots if global warming continues. Climate change worsened the most destructive hurricanes of recent years, including Katrina, Irma and Maria, by intensifying rainfall by as much as 10%, new research has found.
High-resolution climate simulations of 15 tropical cyclones in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans found that warming in the ocean and atmosphere increased rainfall by between 5% and 10%, although wind speeds remained largely unchanged. This situation is set to worsen under future anticipated warming, however. Researchers found that if little is done to constrain greenhouse gas emissions and the world warms by 3C to 4C this century then hurricane rainfall could increase by a third, while wind speeds would be boosted by as much as 25 knots…… The research, published in the journal Nature, used climate models to see how factors such as air and ocean temperatures have influenced hurricanes. Projections into the future were then made, based upon various levels of planetary warming. The findings suggest that enormously destructive storms have already been bolstered by climate change and similar events in the future are on course to be cataclysmic. In a world where temperatures were 3C warmer on average, Hurricane Katrina, which resulted in nearly 2,000 deaths when levees breached near New Orleans in 2005, would’ve been even worse, with around 25% more rainfall. Cyclone Yasi, which hit Australia in 2011, would have had around a third more rain, while the deluge during Gafilo, a huge storm that killed more than 300 people in Madagascar in 2004, would have been 40% more intense. …. Hurricanes, or cyclones as they are known in the Pacific region, draw their strength from warmth in the upper layers of the ocean, while their rainfall is influenced by the amount of moisture in the atmosphere. Climate change, driven by human activity, is creating more favorable conditions for stronger hurricanes, with recent research finding that storms are intensifying more rapidly than they were 30 years ago…….https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/14/climate-change-hurricanes-study-global-warming |
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Court order. USA Veterans Affairs must reveal numbers of troops exposed to radiation after 1966 Spanish nuclear disaster
Court forces VA to reveal extent of veterans’ contamination in Spanish nuclear disaster https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/11/14/court-forces-va-to-reveal-extent-of-veterans-contamination-in-spanish-nuclear-
How France plays with nuclear fire – new book reveals the scandals
 Reporterre 12th Nov 2018 In ” Nuclear: a French catastrophe “,Erwan Benezet recounts how, between under-investment, scandals of all kinds, denials of terrorist threats, and the problems of waste storage, France persists in defending this ” jewel “, Even to put the people at risk. https://reporterre.net/OEP-Comment-la-France-joue-avec-le-feu-nucleaire Liberation 12th Nov 2018 The journalist Erwan Benezet publishes “Nuclear: a French catastrophe”. A journalist in the Parisian where he writes under the heading of energy, this specialist seems to
have acquired the conviction that it was necessary to “extinguish the nuclear fire”, and decided to demonstrate it in a well-substantiated book.
Nuclear: a French disaster is not just an “anti” flyer aligned with
Greenpeace’s positions. It would be more like a smoke extraction company aimed at lifting the thick fog that surrounds the French nuclear complex.
The author’s goal is to enable all citizens to make their voices heard in a
meaningful way, as the country is “in the same pivotal moment as the one that occurred in the 1960s” when it was tried to launch the civilian nuclear program. Because despite public debate that preceded the preparation of the famous “EPP” (multi-year energy planning), the case seems already heard: in fact “historical” announcements recently brandished by Emmanuel Macron, the State shareholder will probably not conflict with the interests of EDF and a sector that holds the keys to the bomb and works 200 000 people in France. Thecompany has just agreed to close Fessenheim, the oldest of its plants that has reached its theoretical age limit of forty years. https://www.liberation.fr/france/2018/11/12/nucleaire-francais-un-livre-pour-arreter-les-frais_1691112 |
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The horrible legacy of Chernobyl’s nuclear disaster explained in prize-winning new book
‘A horror story’: history of Chernobyl nuclear disaster wins Baillie Gifford prize, Guardian, 14 Nov 18
Ukrainian author Serhii Plokhy, who grew up downstream from the damaged reactor, wins £30,000 prize for Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy. A Harvard history professor’s “haunting” account of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which delves into the “heartbreaking stories of heroism” from the people who helped to prevent the whole of Europe from becoming uninhabitable, has won the £30,000 Baillie Gifford prize for non-fiction.
Serhii Plokhy’s Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy opens as a radiation alarm goes off in a power plant in Sweden, and as staff begin to suspect a Soviet accident. It goes on to lay out what led to the worst nuclear disaster in history, telling the stories of the firefighters, scientists, soldiers, engineers and policemen who worked to extinguish the nuclear inferno in Chernobyl on 26 April 1986. ……
“It is a horror story – of political cynicism and scientific ignorance – in which the world was saved only by heroism and luck … It’s a kind of biblical book – haunting. And it has terrifying lessons for the world,” said the chair of judges, Fiammetta Rocco, the Economist’s culture correspondent. “At the core of it there are heartbreaking stories of heroism – of the firemen, of the people who were sent to close the reactor doors, of doctors, of soldiers – the people on the roof of the reactor who were kicking off burning stuff that had fallen back on it after the explosion. The closer they are to the disaster, the more quickly they die.” …….
In an interview ahead of the Baillie Gifford awards ceremony, Plokhy stressed that “we have to be super careful with nuclear energy, because it was introduced into the world as the cleanest energy possible.
“Today, with global warming there is an attempt to bring it back as a solution to the problems we have with climate, and the lesson that I learned from looking at Chernobyl is that yes it is the cleanest energy as long as nothing happens. Once it happens, it is the dirtiest energy in the world,” he said……https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/nov/14/a-horror-story-history-of-chernobyl-nuclear-disaster-wins-baillie-gifford-prize
USA’s next chairman of the House Armed Services Committee aims to scrap Trump’s nuclear weapons policy
Smith aims to scrap Trump’s nuclear weapons policy, Defense News , 13 Nov 18WASHINGTON — Rep. Adam Smith — set to become the next chairman of the House Armed Services Committee in the new Congress — and other Democratic lawmakers said Wednesday they hope to use their party’s takeover of the House to check the Trump administration’s expansive policies toward nuclear weapons.
U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry lobbying in Prague for the U.S. nuclear industry
US energy secretary In Prague to lobby for nuclear industry, WP, By Associated Press, November 14 PRAGUE — U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has been lobbying in Prague for the U.S. civil nuclear industry as the most suitable to develop the Czech nuclear program……..Perry warned against cooperation with Russia, saying it has used energy “as a political weapon. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/us-energy-secretary-in-prague-to-lobby-for-nuclear-industry/2018/11/14/61409b2e-e826-11e8-8449-1ff263609a31_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.ba83c6382a8f
USA’s Office of Nuclear Energy – subsidies to “new nuclear: hopefuls now total $25 million
U.S. Advanced Nuclear Technology Projects to Receive $18 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, NOVEMBER 13, 2018 ,DOE AWARDS $18 MILLION FOR U.S. ADVANCED NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced funding selections for eleven domestic advanced nuclear technology projects. These projects, located across six states, will receive varying amounts for a total of approximately $18 million in funding, with project values totaling approximately $25 million. The projects are cost-shared and will allow industry-led teams, including participants from federal agencies, public and private laboratories, institutions of higher education, and other domestic entities, to advance the state of U.S. commercial nuclear capability…….https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/us-advanced-nuclear-technology-projects-receive-18-million-us-department-energy
Woolsey fire has reached a Cold War-era rocket testing site, raising radiation fears
WOOLSEY fire has caused alarm in the community as the blaze has reached a Cold War-era rocket testing site. But is there a health risk as Woolsey Fire tears through a nuclear site?By RACHEL RUSSELL, Nov 14, 2018
The 2,800-acre site is also known as Rocketdyne.
Members of the community have now expressed concern that flames from the Woolsey fire, which has burning since Thursday, could have burned through toxins that have already contaminated the soil and vegetations around the site.
This potentially could have then released the toxins into the air, along with smoke and ash.
s there a health risk?
California Department of Toxic Substance Control have issued a statement to reassure people the laboratory does not pose an immediate dangers.
The statement read: “There is no evidence that smoke from the area around the SSFL is any more dangerous than other wildfire smoke.”
The statement added LA and Ventura county fire department hazardous materials experts agreed there was no risk.
The department said full testing has not yet been completed due to the area remaining an active evacuation zone.
India: laboratories to prepare for assessing rasiation damage adter a nuclear disaster
‘India building three specialised labs to assess nuclear radiation damage’, Economic Times Nov 14, 2018 NEW DELHI: Scientists at INMAS are developing three new specialised laboratories which they say could boost India’s nuclear preparedness and help save thousands of lives in case of an atomic war or a nuclear disaster.
“During radioactive accidents, thousands of patients may be rushed to hospitals. The blood of such patients will have damaged components in proportion to the radiation received that this test assess,” A K Singh, Director General of Life Sciences at the DRDO, told PTI.
“Biodosimetry labs employ a test called Dicentric Chromosomal test. Laborious work is needed for three to four days and only then one can report on the severity of the damage,” he added.
//economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/66618963.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Oil industry worried about safety risks of New Mexoco’s high level nuclear storage
“There is as much nuclear radiation in one cask as was released in Chernobyl in 1986, and they want to eventually bring 20,000 casks here,” said Tommy Taylor, director of oil and gas development for Fasken Oil and Ranch. “One cask has as much radiation as the nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki.”
Taylor addressed the Midland chapter, Society of Independent Professional Earth Scientists Wednesday in an effort to raise
awareness of the impact the sites could have, not just on Permian Basin communities but on the region’s oil and gas industry.
The Permian Basin is the No. 1 oil producing region in the U.S. It has changed the geopolitical environment around the world,” he said. “This region is too important to U.S. security to allow this.”
SIPES member Stephen Robichaud agreed, pointing out that a serious leak from one of the casks could shut in 100 percent of the nation’s oil and gas production as well as the Ogallala Aquifer, a main source of water for the middle of the country.
Beyond the environmental impact, “we’re talking about monetary damages in the many trillions of dollars. The impact could be enormous,” Robichaud said……..
The applications are for interim storage sites, which Taylor said is between 40 and 100 years.
“What we’re worried about is, it could be stored here permanently,” he said. “The government has been looking for a permanent site for 40 years and hasn’t found one yet. This waste could be for our lifetime, our children’s lifetimes, maybe even our grandchildren’s lifetimes.”……https://www.mrt.com/business/oil/article/Fasken-executive-High-level-nuclear-storage-13393012.php
Russia boasting of a spaceship to Mars ‘in very near future’
Russia reveals nuclear spaceship that will fly to Mars ‘in very near future’, Fox News, By Sean Keach, Digital Technology and Science Editor, 13 Nov 18 Russia has revealed a “spacecraft of the future” that could one day put humans on Mars.
Roscosmos showed off concept designs for the sci-fi spacecraft – but failed to say exactly when it would launch.
According to Russia’s TASS news agency, Vladimir Koshlakov, head of the Keldysh Centre, believes that a flight to Mars using a nuclear propulsion engine is “technically feasible in the near future”. …. https://www.foxnews.com/science/russia-reveals-nuclear-spaceship-that-will-fly-to-mars-in-very-near-future
Attorney for SCANA defends deletions to critical SC nuclear report
The State. BY TOM BARTON, tbarton@thestate.com, November 14, 2018 COLUMBIA, S.C.
An attorney involved in hiring a consultant to study problems at a failed $9 billion nuclear expansion project Wednesday defended deleting items from that critical report.
Atlanta-based attorney George Wenick testified during Day 10 of S.C. Public Service Commission hearings into the failed effort by SCE&G, a SCANA subsidiary, to build two nuclear reactors in Fairfield County. The commission also is considering SCE&G’s future electric rates and a proposal by Dominion Energy to buy SCE&G’s parent, SCANA.
The report by the San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp., completed in February 2016, showed SCE&G knew the project was troubled long before it collapsed……
SCANA chief executive Jimmy Addison last week testified he never had read the damning Bechtel report and never intends to, calling it “history.” But, he added, he wished it had been disclosed to the Public Service Commission and the public in 2015.
At stake is who will pay for the failed nuclear project — SCE&G’s customers, SCANA’s shareholders or both — and how big the future power bills will be for SCE&G’s roughly 730,000 electric customers.
SCE&G increased the electric rates for its typical residential customer by about $27 a month to pay for the nuclear project before it pulled the plug on the unfinished reactors in July 2017. Subsequently, the PSC cut SCE&G’s nuclear-related rates temporarily.
Wenick’s testimony could also be used in ongoing federal investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article221641145.html
SCE and G ignored warning signs as costs ballooned for failed nuclear power project
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Utility consultant: SCE&G ignored ‘stop signs’ about failed nuclear project, Greenville News,Tom Barton, The State Nov. 13, 2018SCE&G ignored numerous warning signs before walking away from a failed $9 billion nuclear expansion project, an industry consultant told the S.C. Public Service Commission on Monday.
“Let me be blunt: You have a utility that bet the farm and lost,” Scott Rubin, an independent utility consultant and attorney from Pennsylvania, testified Monday on behalf of AARP South Carolina. “By the end of this year, customers will have paid $2.2 billion for absolutely nothing — not a single watt of electricity.” Rubin’s testimony came on the eighth day of PSC hearings into the failed effort by SCE&G, a SCANA subsidiary, to build two nuclear reactors in Fairfield County. The commission also is considering SCE&G’s future electric rates and a proposal by Richmond-based Dominion Energy to buy its parent, Cayce-based SCANA. At stake is who will pay for that failed project — SCE&G’s customers, SCANA’s shareholders or both — and how big the future power bills will be for SCE&G’s roughly 730,000 electric customers. …..https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2018/11/13/utility-consultant-sce-g-ignored-stop-signs-nuclear-project/1988385002/ |
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1 This Month.
5 January -Webinar-What is Trump’s Golden Dome?
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New book – https://www.amazon.com/dp/1923372157?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Now until to February 10, 2026 Radioactive waste storage in France: the debate is finally open! How to participate?
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