The pandemic is a direct threat to Russia’s secret nuclear cities – says Rosatom chief
Rosatom fears for its nuclear cities amid coronavirus pandemic, The head of 
Russia’s state nuclear corporation has expressed concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus to three of its so-called “nuclear cities,” including one that houses a top-secret research institute that helped develop the Soviet nuclear bomb. May 5, 2020 by Charles Digges charles@bellona.noThe head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation has expressed concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus to three of its so-called “nuclear cities,” including one that houses a top-secret research institute that helped develop the Soviet nuclear bomb.
The cities hold a fabled place in Russia’s nuclear industry, which is managed by the state-controled Rosatom corporation. Most of them are closed to foreigners and even most Russians require special permission to enter them because of the top-secret facilities that many of them house.
In his most recent video appearance, Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev said a special delivery of ventilators and personal protective equipment for medical workers has been sent to the city of Sarov and other closed towns where dozens of cases have been reported.
“This (pandemic) creates a direct threat to our nuclear towns,” Likhachev said in the video address on the Rosatom website – a communication method he has embraced since the beginning of the pandemic. “The situation in Sarov, Elektrostal, Desnogorsk is today particularly alarming.”
His remarks come as Russia reports a total of 155,370 cases of coronavirus infection and 1,451 deaths, making Russian the seventh most infected country, having surpassed China, Turkey and Iran last week.
The spread of the coronavirus has posed special challenges to the worldwide nuclear industry, where small groups of highly trained specialists are required to safely run reactors and manage nuclear fuel and radioactive waste services in close quarters.
In Russia, Rosatom has moved to sequester its nuclear technicians onsite at the plants and facilities where they work to minimize their exposure to carriers of the coronavirus.
Rosenergoatom, which is the utility subsidiary of Rosatom, hasn’t made clear precisely how many Russian nuclear workers have been put in isolation or ordered to shelter at their plants. But Rosatom controls a sprawling network of reactors, laboratories, commercial structures and fuel fabrication facilities that employ some 250,000 people.
Russia’s 11 commercial nuclear power plants operate a total of 38 nuclear reactors. Rosatom also has 36 power units at different stages of implementation in 12 countries around the world. It is currently constructing seven reactors overseas: two each in Bangladesh, Belarus and India, plus one unit in Turkey.
In a sense, Russian nuclear power and scientific facilities are uniquely designed to handle outbreaks of the virus. The 10 so-called “closed administrative territorial formations,” which were formed as part of the Soviet nuclear weapons program, are nearly entirely off limits for foreigners as well as most Russians.
The cities hosting Russia’s commercial nuclear plants, while less strictly separated from the rest of the country, are nonetheless surrounded by checkpoints and often require foreign visitors to get special permission to enter them.
As of last week, said Likhachev in his address, there were 47 infected personnel among the corporation’s ranks.
In the city of Sarov alone, there have been 23 cases of Covid-19, Likhachev said – 7 of them Rosatom employees.
Known formerly as Arzamas-16, Sarov didn’t even appear on maps until the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. It remains home to the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics, which made headlines last year when five of its scientists died in a mysterious radiological explosion at a weapons testing site in the Russian Arctic.
The institute, which is now run by Rosatom, is an important part of Russia’s nuclear military complex. Likhachev indicated in his address that the workers who tested positive are affiliated with the institute.
In the city of Sarov alone, there have been 23 cases of Covid-19, Likhachev said – 7 of them Rosatom employees.
Known formerly as Arzamas-16, Sarov didn’t even appear on maps until the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. It remains home to the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics, which made headlines last year when five of its scientists died in a mysterious radiological explosion at a weapons testing site in the Russian Arctic.
The institute, which is now run by Rosatom, is an important part of Russia’s nuclear military complex. Likhachev indicated in his address that the workers who tested positive are affiliated with the institute.
International co-operation – essential for Coronavirus action, and for Climate action
Coronavirus hasn’t killed globalisation – it proves why we need it The
Conversation Sunil Venaik Associate Professor of International Business, The University of Queensland, May 6, 2020 “………………… One person practising social distancing during the pandemic might think their effect is negligible. But coronavirus is highly infectious: on one estimate, a single person with coronavirus could eventually infect 59,000 others.
Similarly, many countries seek to avoid responsibility for taking climate action by claiming their contribution to the global problem is small. The Australian government, for example, repeatedly points out it contributes just 1.3% to the world’s emissions total.
But on a per capita basis, Australia is one of the world’s highest emitters. And as a rich, developed nation, we must be seen to be taking action on cutting emissions if poorer nations are expected to follow suit. So actions Australia takes will have major global consequences.
Act quickly
In the two months it took the virus to spread from China and become a global pandemic, other nations could have readied themselves by amassing test kits, ventilators and personal protective equipment. But many nations did not adequately prepare.
Of course the world has had a far longer time to adapt to and mitigate climate change. The time lag between emissions and their consequences is years, even centuries. There has been ample opportunity to take progressive and thoughtful corrective action against climate change. Instead, the crisis has been met with complacency.
Challenges ahead
As others have noted, a major supplier of swabs used for coronavirus testing is based in Italy, and a German company is a primary supplier of chemicals needed for the tests. Many counties rely on foreign suppliers for ventilators, and an Indian firm – the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer – says once a COVID-19 vaccine is ready for mass production, it will supply large volumes to the world, at low cost.
It’s clear that international cooperation is critical for effective mass testing and treatment for the virus. Nations must work together to improve production and distribution, and resources must be shared.
So too is cooperation needed to deal with the worldwide economic downturn. The global recovery will be long and slow if nations adopt sovereign mindsets, putting up barriers to protect their own economies.
With the coronavirus as with climate change, working together is best way to secure humanity’s safety, health and well-being. https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-hasnt-killed-globalisation-it-proves-why-we-need-it-135077
Looking back to May 1986 – the exodus from Kiev, after the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe
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From the Guardian archive Chernobyl nuclear disaster Exodus from Kiev: aftermath of
 Chernobyl nuclear accident – archive, 1986
5 May 1986: Moscow has seen many Russians arriving by train from Kiev in the disaster area Martin Walker The first real signs of alarm among the Soviet public began to emerge over the weekend as Russians arriving by train from Kiev in the Chernobyl disaster area, began saying frankly that they were worried by radiation. “I am very glad to be able to be in Moscow at this time,” a young father, with two daughters, said on arrival at the Kiev Station in Moscow yesterday. “Of course I am worried about radiation. It is not something any government can control.”
There was no sign of any organised evacuation, and the exodus seems to be spontaneous, provoked by the highly publicised visit to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster area last Friday by the Prime Minister, Mr Nikolai Ryzhkov, and the party ideology chief, Mr Yegor Ligachev, perhaps the two most powerful men in the country after Mr Mikhail Gorbachev. Their visit to the area was clearly intended to continue the official campaign of reassurance and to fend off panic. It seems to be having the opposite effect, however. …… Japanese experts testing Moscow water, milk and foods in their embassy reported yesterday that they had found “low but distinct radiation,” which was the more alarming since winds had not carried the radiation direct to Moscow. The Japanese embassy and Japanese companies are now flying in milk, fruit and vegetables for their personnel. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Dr Hans Blix, is to arrive in Moscow today, and Soviet authorities have promised to give him “full documentation” of the nuclear accident. But it is not clear whether he will be allowed to visit the site, or if he will be restricted to Moscow.
It emerged over the weekend that some rudimentary precautions were being recommended to the Soviet population. Soviet friends report that their children in Moscow schools had been told that some foodstuffs had been accidentally infected with rat poison in the city warehouses, and that all vegetables should be scrubbed and peeled. In Kiev, the Greek and Lebanese students still there have been warned by their Soviet liaison officials not to bathe or shower in the local water, nor to drink tap water, and to stay away from the local lake reservoir known as the Sea of Kiev. Bottled water had disappeared from Moscow shops yesterday…….. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/05/exodus-from-kiev-aftermath-of-chernobyl-nuclear-accident-archive-1986
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2020 hurtles toward the warmest year milestone
Global warming pushes April temperatures into record territory, as 2020 heads for disquieting milestone, WP, By Andrew Freedman, May 5 Last month tied for the warmest April on record for the globe, as 2020 hurtles toward the warmest year milestone.New data, released Tuesday from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, lends further support to the prediction that 2020 will rank among the top two warmest years recorded.
In April, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, using its own temperature monitoring data, reported that there is a 75 percent chance that 2020 will become the planet’s warmest year since instrument records began in 1880, and very likely long before that.
Human-caused climate change from increasing amounts of planet-warming greenhouse gases is vaulting temperatures higher, making it easier for a given month or year to set a new warmth milestone. Carbon dioxide is the most important long-lived greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, released by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil for energy and transportation.
Daily carbon dioxide levels measured at the summit of Mauna Loa in Hawaii have reached 418 parts per million this month, the highest level in at least 3 million years. It’s expected that the monthly average value for 2020 will be set this month, and will be near 417 ppm, compared with last year’s measurement of 414.7 ppm.
The new Copernicus data shows a huge area of crimson red for the month of April, denoting much-above-average temperatures, across northern Asia, especially Siberia.
Temperatures were also well above average for the month across northern and coastal central Greenland, parts of Antarctica, areas of Alaska and the Arctic Ocean……. https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/05/05/global-warming-pushes-april-temperatures-into-record-territory-2020-heads-disquieting-milestone/
As U.S. military is plagued by COVID-19, Trump could end America’s endless losing wars, but will he?
Trump Must Choose Between a Global Ceasefire and America’s Long Lost Wars
Like his predecessors from Truman to Obama, Trump has been caught in the trap of America’s blind, deluded militarism. Portside, May 5, 2020 Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies
As President Trump nears the end of his first term, he knows that at least some Americans hold him responsible for his broken promises to bring U.S. troops home and wind down Bush’s and Obama’s wars. Trump’s own day-in-day-out war-making has gone largely unreported by the subservient, tweet-baited U.S. corporate media, but Trump has dropped at least 69,000 bombs and missiles on Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, more than either Bush or Obama did in their first terms, including in Bush’s invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Undercover of highly publicized redeployments of small numbers of troops from a few isolated bases in Syria and Iraq, Trump has actually expanded U.S. bases and deployed at least 14,000 more U.S. troops to the greater Middle East, even after the U.S. bombing and artillery campaigns that destroyed Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria ended in 2017. Under the U.S. agreement with the Taliban, Trump has finally agreed to withdraw 4,400 troops from Afghanistan by July, still leaving at least 8,600 behind to conduct airstrikes, “kill or capture” raids and an even more isolated and beleaguered military occupation.
Now a compelling call by U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres for a global ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic has given Trump a chance to gracefully deescalate his unwinnable wars – if indeed he really wants to. Over 70 nations have expressed their support for the ceasefire. President Macron of France claimed on April 15th that he had persuaded Trump to join other world leaders supporting a U.N. Security Council resolution backing the Secretary General’s call. But within days it became clear that the U.S. was opposing the resolution, insisting that its own “counterterrorism” wars must go on, and that any resolution must condemn China as the source of the pandemic, a poison pill calculated to draw a swift Chinese veto.
So Trump has so far spurned this chance to make good on his promise to bring U.S. troops home, even as his lost wars and ill-defined global military occupation expose thousands of troops to the Covid-19 virus. The U.S. Navy has been plagued by the virus: as of mid-April 40 ships had confirmed cases, affecting 1,298 sailors. Training exercises, troop movements and travel have been canceled for U.S.-based troops and their families. The military reported 7,145 cases as of May 1, with more falling sick every day.
Trump plans to divert development aid for poor countries, to promoting the nuclear industry
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In a list of official recommendations to President Trump last month, the Nuclear Fuels Working Group argued the U.S. needs to sell nuclear power technology abroad and battle the influence of countries like China and Russia that have become dominant suppliers. One way to do that, the group said, is to lift restrictions at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to let the agency fund nuclear projects alongside other development work. But development groups worry that tapping the DFC to greenlight nuclear projects will do more to promote American interests than alleviate poverty.
“I struggle to see it as something they should be doing,” Conor Savoy, executive director of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network. There’s also a concern that the projects won’t benefit the poorer countries the DFC is charged with helping. Setting up nuclear power systems requires a higher level of infrastructure, meaning overseas projects might be more likely to find a home in Eastern Europe than Sub-Saharan Africa. “The DFC was supposed to invest in those countries very sparingly,” Savoy said of wealthier nations.
To access DFC funds for an initiative of this kind, the agency would have to lift its prohibition on supporting nuclear projects, a move that only requires an internal policy change, without any congressional action. The agency has signaled a willingness to make that change. “DFC welcomes the recommendation in the administration’s Nuclear Fuel Working Group report to remove DFC’s prohibition on financing nuclear power projects in developing countries. Access to affordable and reliable power is essential for developing countries to advance their economies,” the agency said in a statement Monday…….
The DFC was started in 2019, replacing its predecessor — the Overseas Private Investment Corporation — with double the funding and fewer restrictions on how to spend it. But the $60 billion agency also has an expanded mission: elevating the world’s poorest countries while also advancing U.S. foreign policy. Development experts, however, say there’s been an imbalance between those two goals in the agency’s short history…….
There’s been a skewing toward more national security areas. They’ve tried to counter that by highlighting their more development-focused projects, but in terms of volume of commitments, in terms of sheer volume of money, it does seem to be skewing more toward national security priorities and less toward development,” Savoy said…….. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/496295-trumps-push-to-use-global-aid-for-nuclear-projects-alarms
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U.S. Congress kept in the dark about government nuclear negotiations with Saudi Arabia
U.S. should keep Congress informed about nuclear talks with Saudis: GAO, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-saudi-nuclearpower/us-should-keep-congress-informed-about-nuclear-talks-with-saudis-gao-idUSKBN22G2X Timothy Gardner
6 May 20, WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Departments of State and Energy should commit to regular briefings to relevant committees in Congress on talks about nuclear power cooperation with Saudi Arabia, a congressional watchdog said in a report on Monday.
The Government Accountability Office, or GAO, report said Congress should consider amending the 1954 Atomic Energy Act, or AEA, to require the briefings for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations about negotiations on nuclear power sharing.
Lawmakers concerned about nonproliferation issues associated with nuclear power development had complained they were being kept in the dark about Trump administration talks with Saudi Arabia, many of which were led by former Energy Secretary Rick Perry. Concern grew after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told CBS in 2018 that the kingdom did not want to acquire a nuclear bomb, but would do so if its rival Iran did so.
Some U.S. lawmakers want the United States to insist that Saudi Arabia agree to a so-called gold standard that restricts enrichment and reprocessing, potential pathways to making fissile material for nuclear weapons. The United States struck such an agreement with the United Arab Emirates in 2009. If Saudi Arabia develops nuclear power without the gold standard, the UAE would likely seek to be released from its agreement.
Senators Robert Menendez, a Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Republican, had asked the GAO last year to review U.S. agency negotiations with Saudi Arabia on nuclear power, partially because they were concerned the Energy Department, not the State Department took the lead.
The senators said they would explore legislative changes recommended by the GAO. “Congress must reassert its critical role in reviewing nuclear cooperation agreements to ensure these agreements do not pose an unnecessary risk to the United States” they said.
The senators said they would explore legislative changes recommended by the GAO. “Congress must reassert its critical role in reviewing nuclear cooperation agreements to ensure these agreements do not pose an unnecessary risk to the United States” they said.
As UK’s Torness nuclear power station deteriorates, – cheaper to build renewables than to repair aging reactors
The Ferret 6th May 2020, Cracks that could increase the risk of a radioactive accident at Torness
nuclear power station in East Lothian will start appearing six years sooner than previously thought, according to the UK government’s safety watchdog. The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) said that cracking which could cause debris to inhibit vital cooling of highly radioactive reactor fuel is now predicted to begin in 2022 rather than 2028.
After a major review ONR has given Torness permission to keep operating until 2030 –
but only if inspections to check for cracks are intensified. ONR promises
to “robustly challenge” the plant’s operators, EDF Energy, to ensure
that it “remains safe”.
Campaigners fear that Torness will become
increasingly unsafe, and warn it may have to close down sooner than
expected. EDF, however, insists that the station will keep generating
electricity safely until 2030. The coalition of 50 nuclear-free local
authorities in the UK has called on ONR to keep Torness under close
scrutiny. “These safety reservations surrounding the Torness periodic
safety review need to be cleared up as soon as possible,” said the
group’s Scotland convenor, SNP Glasgow councillor, Feargal Dalton.
“Whilst EDF is having to spend large resources trying to persuade the
regulator that it is safe to restart the Hunterston B reactors, this report
emphasises that similar issues with ageing are likely to arise at Torness
over coming years.” Councils would press ONR “to forensically
scrutinise what look like significant weaknesses in the EDF safety case,”
Dalton added.
“In the meantime, the Scottish Government should start
discussions about a ‘just transition’ for the workers at both
Hunterston and Torness so that Scotland can move to a safe, sustainable and
non-nuclear economy as quickly as possible.” The Edinburgh-based nuclear
consultant, Pete Roche, argued that it could be cheaper to build new
renewable capacity instead of continuing to operate ageing reactors.
“This could soon be the case with Torness, especially if it has to keep
being turned on and off to inspect the graphite core,” he said.
“Scotland clearly needs to be prepared for the possibility that Torness
might be forced to close not long after 2022.”
https://theferret.scot/torness-nuclear-reactors-cracking-2022/
Time extended by 60 days for comment on planned New Mexico nuclear waste dump
US Regulators Grant More Time to Consider Nuclear Fuel Plan https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/new-mexico/articles/2020-05-05/us-regulators-grant-more-time-to-consider-nuclear-fuel-plan
The public will have more time to comment on an environmental review related to a proposed multibillion-dollar complex in New Mexico that would store spent nuclear fuel from commercial power plants around the U.S. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted a request by members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation, providing another 60 days for the process. By Associated Press, Wire Service Content May 5, 2020,
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The public will have more time to comment on an environmental review related to a proposed multibillion-dollar complex in New Mexico that would store spent nuclear fuel from commercial power plants around the U.S
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently granted a request by members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation, providing another 60 days for the process. The delegation had argued for more time and a delay of any public meetings given the health emergency that has resulted from the coronavirus outbreak.
The delegation said in a statement that full public participation is particularly important for projects involving nuclear waste.
Any proposal to store commercial spent nuclear fuel raises a number of health, safety and environmental issues, including potential impacts on local agriculture and industry, issues related to the transportation of nuclear waste, and disproportionate impacts on Native American communities,” they said.
The commission plans to hold a nationwide webinar and five public meetings in New Mexico during the revised public comment period.
Commission Chairwoman Kristine Svinicki said in a recent letter to the delegation that as the health emergency evolves, staff will continue to re-evaluate plans for public participation and will consider whether additional extensions are warranted.
In a preliminary recommendation, the commission favors approval of a license for Holtec International to build the facility in southeastern New Mexico.
The New Jersey-based company is seeking a 40-year license to build what it has described as a state-of-the-art complex near Carlsbad. The first phase calls for storing up to 8,680 metric tons of uranium, which would be packed into 500 canisters. Future expansion could make room for as many as 10,000 canisters of spent nuclear fuel.
Holtec has said the U.S. currently has more than 80,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel in storage at dozens of sites around the country and the inventory is growing at a rate of about 2,000 metric tons a year.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and other elected officials are among those with concerns about the potential environmental effects and the prospects of New Mexico becoming a permanent dumping ground for spent nuclear fuel. They point to the lack of a permanent plan by the federal government phase calls for storing up to 8,680 metric tons of uranium, which would be packed into 500 canisters. Future expansion could make room for as many as 10,000 canisters of spent nuclear fuel.
Holtec has said the U.S. currently has more than 80,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel in storage at dozens of sites around the country and the inventory is growing at a rate of about 2,000 metric tons a year.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and other elected officials are among those with concerns about the potential environmental effects and the prospects of New Mexico becoming a permanent dumping ground for spent nuclear fuel. They point to the lack of a permanent plan by the federal government for dealing with the waste piling up at power plants around the country.
The governor and others also have questions about whether the facility would compromise oil and gas development in the Permian Basin, one of the world’s most prolific energy production regions.
The NRC staff’s preliminary recommendation states there are no environmental impacts that would preclude the commission from issuing a license for environmental reasons.
Big drop in France’s nuclear power generation.
The fall in output is “due to a drop in demand and prolonged (nuclear reactor) outages linked in particular to the health crisis,” EDF said.
Electricity consumption has plunged across Europe due to shutdown measures ordered by governments to halt the spread of the virus.
The utility added that its nuclear generation in Britain fell 18.7% year-on-year in April to 3.7 TWh, while total output since January was at 15.6 TWh, down 5.3% compared with the same period in 2019.
EDF’s subsidiary in Britain, EDF Energy has been asked to temporarily reduce output at its Sizewell B nuclear plant in the east of England to help balance the grid and prevent blackouts, due to the fall in energy demand, EDF and grid operator National Grid said separately on Wednesday. (Reporting by Bate Felix; Editing by GV De Clercq and Elaine Hardcastle) AT TOP https://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL8N2CO843
Planet of the Humans – Film Review —
Review of Planet of the Humans Michael Moore’s film produced in 2019 called the ‘Planet of the Humans’ comprehensively demonises all renewables, has recently been streamed online and now watched by millions. I agree with the underlying premise of the film that Big business on a Big multinational scale looks primarily at the bottom […]
Survivors of nuclear radiation exposure are at greater risk from COVID-19.
Nuclear Frontline Communities
Our race for nuclear dominance during WWII and the Cold War left many casualties in its wake: workers in the uranium industry, workers and those downwind of nuclear production sites, soldiers and civilians exposed to above-ground nuclear testing, those who attempt to clean-up and dispose of nuclear waste, and those unlucky enough to live near that waste. These people were exposed to radiation and other toxic chemicals, in many cases causing severe health problems, while never being told by their government or their employers about the risks. To add insult to injury, these exposed populations are disproportionately from Indigenous communities, communities of color, low-income, or rural communities, and often face significant barriers to receiving adequate health care even in the best of times.
Today, the injustice of their exposure stings a little sharper because they have an added fear of contracting COVID-19. Many factors may increase their risk: age, radioactive and toxic chemical exposures, air, soil, and water pollution, existing health conditions such as cancer, poverty, institutionalized racism, etc. These factors can also all contribute to a suppressed immune system.
The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
Some of the individuals in these communities are able to apply for compensation from the US government through a program called the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). RECA is meant to offset what are often debilitating health care costs, though the funds can be hugely insufficient. The program is set to expire in 2022, and many exposed communities are still not covered by RECA. This includes those downwind of the 1945 Trinity Test in New Mexico, downwinders of the Nevada Test Site in states and counties originally excluded from RECA, residents of Guam, veterans who cleaned up radioactive waste in the Marshall Islands, uranium workers past 1971, and civilians downwind of nuclear production sites.
The deficiencies of RECA, and the threat of it disappearing entirely, are already a huge disservice to these communities. But in the face of an international pandemic, those already struggling to manage extreme health consequences from radiation exposure must now also face the spectre of COVID-19.
One of the most common illnesses suffered by those exposed to radiation is cancer. Recent studies show that those with cancers are up to three times as likely to die of COVID-19 than those without cancer – especially blood and lung malignancies, two common cancers that are eligible for RECA compensation.
Tina Cordova, a downwinder of the Trinity Test and co-founder of Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium adds: “Many of us live in fear of the virus now not only because it is highly infectious and deadly to most but because we also know we are highly susceptible to getting the virus and dying from it due to our underlying health issues as a result of being exposed to radiation. Once you’ve been diagnosed with cancer and been through the radiation and chemotherapy necessary to save your life you know your immune system has been compromised.”
While flawed, RECA is a crucial program. It can mean the difference between care and no care, financial stability or bankruptcy, losing or keeping your house, and even life or death.
These communities must not be left without health care. The good news is that there is a solution. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments Act of 2019 – HR 3783 and S. 947 – would extend RECA to 2045 and expand access to many of the communities currently excluded. Many members of Congress have already been championing the effort to pass this bipartisan legislation, including Congressman Lujan (D-NM), Senator Crapo (R-ID), and Senator Udall (D-NM).
Given the urgency of health care access for these communities today, UCS is calling on Congress to include the provisions of the RECA Amendments Act in upcoming stimulus packages……….. https://allthingsnuclear.org/guest-commentary/covid-19-nuclear-weapons
As with viruses, containment of atomic weapons may be good, but eradication is best.
The Novel Coronavirus and Nuclear Weapons As with viruses, containment of atomic weapons may be good, but eradication is best. Common Dreams by Sergio Duarte , Ira Helfand 4 May 20
The entire international community is justifiably concerned and disturbed with the serious consequences of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Thousands have already died and many more are in danger. Local and national governments find it increasingly difficult to deal adequately with the sanitary and social emergency deriving from the spread of the virus. It will take many months before the situation can come back to normal.
What has this to do with nuclear weapons?
In the current climate of fear, uncertainty and helplessness, it is impossible not to think about what would happen in the case of a different and more ominous disaster: a nuclear conflagration, albeit of limited proportions. The possessors of nuclear weapons are relentlessly increasing the destructive power of their arsenals and seem willing to use them as they see fit to respond to their perceived security concerns. This, in fact, brings insecurity to all. Command and control systems are not immune against cyber viruses and accidents, nor are they protected against whimsical or emotionally unstable rulers. ……..
The entire international community is justifiably concerned and disturbed with the serious consequences of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Thousands have already died and many more are in danger. Local and national governments find it increasingly difficult to deal adequately with the sanitary and social emergency deriving from the spread of the virus. It will take many months before the situation can come back to normal.
What has this to do with nuclear weapons?
In the current climate of fear, uncertainty and helplessness, it is impossible not to think about what would happen in the case of a different and more ominous disaster: a nuclear conflagration, albeit of limited proportions. The possessors of nuclear weapons are relentlessly increasing the destructive power of their arsenals and seem willing to use them as they see fit to respond to their perceived security concerns. This, in fact, brings insecurity to all. Command and control systems are not immune against cyber viruses and accidents, nor are they protected against whimsical or emotionally unstable rulers.
It may well be impossible to eliminate all disease-causing viruses; yet nuclear disarmament is not only possible, but a legally binding obligation embedded in Article VI of the NPT. Fifty years after the Treaty’s inception, it is high time for the possessors of nuclear weapons to effectively comply with this obligation. As with viruses, containment may be good, but eradication is best. https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/05/04/novel-coronavirus-and-nuclear-weapons, Common Dreams
Workers at ‘most toxic place in America’ – Hanford nuclear site – in fear of coronavirus
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A nuclear waste site where the biggest fear isn’t radiation, but coronavirus
Workers at ‘most toxic place in America’ are terrified to return to a site where there has been very little protection from the outbreak, Guardian, Hallie Golden in Seattle, 4 May, 20 For more than a month, coronavirus has brought cleanup of a 586-square-mile decommissioned nuclear production complex in south-eastern Washington state to a near standstill. Most of the more than 11,000 employees at the Hanford site were sent home in late March, with only essential workers remaining to make sure the “most toxic place in America” stays safe and secure. Now with signs that Washington has turned a corner with the virus and the state’s governor slowly starting to relax some safety measures, Hanford workers are looking at the very real possibility of returning to work. But after facing those initial few weeks of Washington’s coronavirus crisis on-site at Hanford, workers say they received little information and even fewer safety measures from leadership, and some employees are terrified by the prospect. “When you come back to work, what’s the expectation [for protections]?” asked a maintenance and operations worker at Hanford, who asked not to be identified by the Guardian to protect his job. “There are none.”…….. After Washington health officials reported the first US death associated with coronavirus in late February and then, with each passing week, were documenting the most cases in the country, employees say it remained business as usual at Hanford, where the cleanup project is run by the federal Department of Energy, with work completed through contractors. During those first few weeks, workers recall receiving little guidance on site-specific coronavirus safety measures. They say information from Hanford officials tended to be overly broad, focusing on the nationwide situation rather than the unique needs of workers in a state that was at that time at the center of the US coronavirus crisis. A radiological control technician, who has worked at Hanford for more than 15 years, said trailers continued to be shared by as many as 50 people and each Monday morning 200 employees would come together for a meeting in a single room. When workers finished at one of the many contaminated areas of Hanford, they needed to be checked for radiation before leaving. Technicians would stand next to them, without a mask on, running a handheld device over their body – being sure to stay within a quarter of an inch of their skin to ensure accurate readings. In a single hour, one of these radiological control technicians, may have surveyed as many as 30 people. “There’s no way to keep that social distancing. You’re right up in somebody’s face, they’re breathing on you, they’re sweaty,” said the technician, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation at work. Tom Carpenter, executive director of the Hanford Challenge, a not-for-profit watchdog organization in Seattle, said he received at least 10 emails and phone calls in two weeks in March from employees worried about Hanford not providing face masks or gloves or requiring social distancing to protect them from coronavirus. “Workers were highly distressed about their own health and safety, and felt that management was not taking this issue seriously,” he said. “Stop works”, a protocol at Hanford in which an employee notices something is unsafe or hazardous and work is halted until officials can fix the problem, became so frequent on issues related to coronavirus, said the radiological control technician, that little work was actually getting done. …….. It wasn’t until 25 March – after Governor Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home mandate, which involved the closure of all non-essential companies (Hanford is considered essential) – that the site switched to a state of essential mission-critical operations. The site will remain functioning in this capacity through at least Friday. It’s unclear whether this will be renewed beyond then. Carpenter said the concern over the lack of protection is about more than keeping workers safe from coronavirus. He said if the virus were to get passed throughout Hanford, it could put the highly sensitive work being done there in jeopardy. …… Carpenter said Hanford officials have reported that two workers have been diagnosed with coronavirus, but he said, “there’s almost assuredly more”….. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/04/hanford-nuclear-waste-site-coronavirus-washington Mon 4 May 2020 20.00 AESTLast modified on Tue 5 May 2020 02.36 AEST |
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A small window of opportunity to stave off rapid global heating
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‘Blown away’: Safe climate niche closing fast, with billions at risk, https://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/blown-away-safe-climate-niche-closing-fast-with-billions-at-risk-20200504-p54pod.html By Peter Hannam, May 5, 2020 As much as one-third of the world’s population will be exposed to Sahara Desert-like heat within half a century if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise at the pace of recent years.Scientists from China, the US and Europe found that the narrow climate niche that has supported human society would shift more over the next 50 years than it had in the preceding 6000 years. As many as 3.5 billion people will be exposed to “near-unliveable” temperatures averaging 29 degrees through the year by 2070. Less than 1 per cent of the Earth’s surface now endures such heat. That heat compares with the narrow 11- to 15-degree range that has supported civilisation over the past six millennia, according to research published Tuesday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Absent climate mitigation or migration, a substantial part of humanity will be exposed to mean annual temperatures warmer than nearly anywhere today,” the paper said. Xu Chi, a researcher at China’s Nanjing University and one of the paper’s authors, said: “We were frankly blown away by our own initial results. As our findings were so striking, we took an extra year to carefully check all assumptions and computations.” “Clearly we will need a global approach to safeguard our children against the potentially enormous social tensions the projected change could invoke.” Among the most exposed nations will be India – where many people live in “already-hot places” – with as many as 1.2 billion people likely to be forced to move if population and warming trends continue. For Nigeria, the number exposed could be 485 million, according to a media release distributed along with the paper. The scenario used projected the total populations in India and Nigeria to reach 2.2 billion and 600 million, respectively, by 2070, Dr Xu told the Herald and The Age. In Australia, areas of Western Australia and the Northern Territory home to about 200,000 people will be at risk. The research extended current population and greenhouse gas emissions trends into the future, and excluded impacts from the coronavirus pandemic on both. The researchers also considered possible rainfall changed. “The global pattern of population distribution seems less constrained by precipitation – while there is also an optimum around 1000 mm [of rainfall a year ] – so we focused on temperature,” Dr Xu said. “Changes of precipitation regime would definitely have impacts, but such impacts together those of temperature change would be more complex to foresee.”
Compared with pre-industrial-era conditions, temperatures globally will be about 3 degrees hotter by 2070. But as land warms faster than the oceans, the rise for people on average will be about 7.5 degrees, the paper found. Should the world adopt strong emissions reductions – the so-called Representative Concentration Pathway 2.6 – it would “substantially reduce the geographical shift in the niche of humans and would reduce the theoretically needed movement to about 1.5 billion people”, the paper said. Still, that number would account for about one in seven of the world’s population. “Each degree of temperature rise above the current baseline roughly corresponds to 1 billion humans left outside the temperature niche, absent migration,” it said.
The researchers added that upheavals among populations – and the ecosystems that support them – could happen well before 2070. “Migration inevitably causes tension, even now, when a relatively modest number of about 250 million people live outside their countries of birth.” Tim Lenton, director of the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter and one of the paper’s authors, said: “The good news is that these impacts can be greatly reduced if humanity succeeds in curbing global warming.” Marten Scheffer, a professor at Wageningen University and an author of the report, said the response to the coronavirus should give cause for some optimism that climate change’s looming threats could also be tackled. “The COVID-19 response revealed that if a problem appears to be urgent and serious, humanity globally is able to act massively if needed, even if there are economic costs,” he told the Herald and The Age. “Perhaps this may serve to make it feel more doable to address global warming too. Our findings indicate that that would be worthwhile.” |
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