The week in nuclear, climate, pandemic news

The media’s, politicians’ and the public’s gaze has now shifted from the health aspects of coronavirus, to the economic effects of the pandemic, and of the response to it.

Which brings us to the question of – what should governments be doing with tax-payers’ money?

Well, one thing they shouldn’t be doing is wasting it. Yet, in the case of the nuclear industry, that is what’s happening, and especially in the cause of nuclear weapons. Alex Smith, of Radio Ecoshock covers not only the shocking economics of the nuclear industry, but its unsafety in this time of pandemic, the associated secrecy and bungling in America, Russia, Japan, China, Canada, Europe and beyond. And this includes the vulnerability of nuclear facilities to the effects of global heating.

Eminent Persons Warn Against Any Demonstration Nuclear Test Explosion. – “grave challenge to global peace and security” – Nuclear watchdog on potential U.S. nuclear test.

The Environmental Legacy of Nuclear Weapons Production: Five Case Studies — HUMAN WRONGS WATCH

‘The Triumph of Doubt‘ – corporations’ war on science.

Research is needed into health effects of 4G and 5G [electromagnetic] radiation.

SOUTH ASIA. Extreme heat, humidity, air pollution – combined threat to South Asia.

EUROPE. European Union’s recovery plan promotes renewable energy, omits nuclear

FINLAND. Finland’s new nuclear reactor hit by valve leak.

LUXEMBOURG. New Luxembourg law allows claims over nuclear accidents.

BELARUS. Lithuania, Belarus sign nuclear incident notification agreement.

SWEDEN. Sweden gets a new Nuclear Emergency Plan.

USA.

Trump withdraws from Open Skies Treaty, throws more doubt on the future of the New START nuclear treaty.
Resuming nuclear testing a Slap in the Face to Survivors. Trump’s ominous creation of the U.S. Space Force – for the purposes of war. During pandemic, U.S. military runs the largest maritime war games in the world.
Nuclear industry brazenly exploiting Pandemic to get tax-payer funding. Now with the pandemic, it is a free-for-all for the nuclear operators . The claim that nuclear power is needed for national security is a masked money-grab.
Nuclear emissions cause cancer.
Here’s a supremely unaffordable nuclear fantasy – reactors on the moon and Mars.
Nuclear deregulation threatens workers at Pennsylvania plants and nationwide.
Federal report: 2019 Seattle radiation leak could have been disastrous, was a ‘near miss’.
Heavy problems in transporting dead nuclear reactor, especially in hot weather. Huge task of carting 770-ton nuclear reactor from Southern California to Utah. Huge dead nuclear reactor is a tough haul on Nevada’s roads.
Removing US caps on Russian nuclear fuel imports.

CANADA. Ontario’s nuclear re-build postponed due to pandemic. Opposition in Canada to nuclear waste dump on agricultural land. Canadian farming community not happy about taking on nuclear wastes.

RUSSIA. Oleg Bodrov on the status of the Russian nuclear industry.

UK.

Estimated costs of Uk’s nuclear power projects – Sizewell C £18 billion ($22bn), Hinkley Point C £22.5bn. Soaring costs of UK’s Hinkley Point C nuclear project, and other nuclear plans, while renewables get cheaper.
Sizewell nuclear planning application should be rejected until coronavirus lockdown restrictions are lifted. Sizewell C nuclear project now becoming prohibitively expensive? Government-owned Chinese company wants to build Sizewell nuclear plant. Chinese involvement in Sizewell nuclear plant the ‘next Huawei. Is it in the national interest?
Opposition to unnecessary, environmentally destructive Sizewell nuclear project . Wildlife charities unite to oppose Sizewell C nuclear power station. UK’s National Trust says new Sizewell C nuclear power station poses threat to rare birds.
Chinese nuclear reactors for Bradwell.
UK’s new nuclear plants – nearly all parts are sourced and/or funded from China and France. Bankrupt French company AREVA, now resuscitated as Framatome to engineer UK’s nuclear fleet.
Nationally important – to stop the dumping of radioactive mud off Cardiff coast.

JAPAN. Green light for Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing plant, but is it viable? Coronavirus pandemic hampers Japan’s nuclear regulators’ probe into Fukushima disaster.

FRANCE. Resistance developing to EDF’s plan to store nuclear waste at Belleville-sur-Loire. Safety lapses at France’s nuclear reactors, new delays at EDF’s Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor . Radioactive pollution at the Bugey nuclear power plant in France : EDF condemned. Court set-back to France’s EDF nuclear supply contracts.

IRAN. Iran tops the list of countries which accepted inspections of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2019. Britain, France, Germany not happy that USA will end waivers for Iran civilian nuclear projects . Iran envoy says that Trump has pulled the final plug in violating nuclear deal. Trump administration to remove almost all sanctions relief to Iran.

CHINA. The way that China plans its nuclear weapons strategy.

UKRAINE. Ex-president Kravchuk estimates compensation for Ukraine’s nuclear weapons at US$250 bln.

FIJI. Fiji ratifies the TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

AUSTRALIA. Australian nuclear dump decision trashes indigenous peoples’ rights. The Australian government has officially given up on climate action.