Antarctica – global heating and nuclear issues – polar theme for September 20

Antarctica is not in the news as much as the Arctic is, But global heating is affecting Antarctica too, and Antarctica has its nuclear issues.

Antarctica has made headlines several times this year due to extremely warmer than usual temperatures. It has been steadily heating up for decades. Antarctic ice shelves have lost nearly 4 trillion metric tons of ice since the mid-1990s, scientists say. Ocean water is melting them from the bottom up, causing them to lose mass faster than they can refreeze. As ice shelves melt, they become thinner, weaker and more likely to break. When this happens, they can unleash streams of ice from the glaciers behind them, raising global sea levels. Antarctica is also losing ice from melting ice sheets, and chunks of ice falling from glaciers.

Less studied than the Arctic region, Antarctic is now being investigated by Australian researchers, using robots to gather data from difficult to reach underwater areas. Satellite monitoring confirms the shelves’ melting trend.

Nuclear issues. From 6,000 nautical miles away, uranium mining in Australia is polluting the Antarctic. After 1945 atomic bomb testing sent radioactive pollution to the South Pole, as well as to everywhere else on the planet.

USA operated a small nuclear power plant at Antarctica’s McMurdo Sound. It was known as “nukey poo” because of its frequent radioactive leaks. It had 438 malfunctions – nearly 56 a year – in its operational lifetime, including leaking water surrounding the reactor and hairline cracks in the reactor lining. The emissions of low level waste water where in direct contravention of the Antarctic Treaty, which bans military operations as well as radioactive waste in Antarctica. After the reactor was closed down, the US shipped 7700 cubic metres of radioactive contaminated rock and dirt to California. Many USA naval workers there developed cancers.

Today, small nuclear reactors similar to this one, are being touted for remote areas in Australia and other countries. The history of this one in Antarctica, and 7 others elsewhere, was one of malfunctions, and closing down within a few years. This does not augur well for the small nuclear reactors being promoted today.

September 6, 2020 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | ANTARCTICA, Christina's themes

6 Comments »

Im pretty sure Trump will get re-elected.

In the time between his re-election and inauguration, there will be one or two major nuclear meltdowns with fuel fires .

They will covwr it up but the resulting massive radionuclide fallout storms, will inundate most of america with more massive amounts of nuclear pollution.

By next spring people will be going mad in the streets of the United States from the evictions, the starvation, the unemployment. The corpses of malnourished children will be omnipresent.

Trump will have tanks in every major city. There will be thousands of internment camps around america.

By next summer the whole bloody country will be on fire from the pyrophoric nuclear pollution everywhere.
From the intense global warming. From the nuclear and climate inferno, engulfing the earth and probably from 1 or two small nuclear weapons conflagrations somewhere. That is what i saw in my dream Sorry but, that was it.

Comment by Dream watcher | September 9, 2020 | Reply
- I think you’re over-doing it, Dream Watcher. For a sart, if there really were ”major nuclear meltdowns with fuel fires” – they would not be able to cover it up. Too many people would know, too many iphone recordss etc…….
  
  Comment by Christina MacPherson | September 10, 2020 | Reply
  - What do u think the idaho national lab fire was? Always the naysayers. That is why this filth and omnicide, continues. WE LIKE YA CHRISTINA BUT HALF OF THE USA IS ON FIRE!
    No use in downplaying it anymore. No one is going to do anything to ya.U dont even live here.
    Aside from the nuclear madness here, that the establishment has a deep interest in perpetuating, there is fascist murder in the streets!
    My friends brother, was murdered by a fascist in kenosha.
    My nephew is a black kid who got half beaten to death and shot in a walmart for nothing. Down playing things, because they bumb ya out does not help. 900,000 acres burned in Idaho at inl.
    50 reactors 10 thousand tons of hi level nuke waste. much of it put in the air and atmosphere My physicist friend ,from idaho went to fukushima with a gammaspectrometer. He says there is more cesium 137 hi level radionuclides and plutonium in parts of idaho falls than fukushima. ironic because that is the place, where one of the first nuclear meltwons occured.There is now a book about it. Nobody gives a darned about it or, even heard about it till 2003 it occured in the 50s.
    u r wrong the reactor at santa susana melted down in 1958 and 1968. Just frikin lies.That part of calif has an outrageous cancer rate. I do not even know if u read dr browns chernobyl or, dr iversens full body burden. It is all there ms. mcpherson. There was once enough dispersion for the biosphere to absorb enough the the billionth of a gram mutagenic-toxic-pyrophoric radionuclides. Not anymore. It is also highly pryrphoric, in trace amounts . Half the usa is on fire lady. The most radionuclide contaminated place in the world where they open air tested hundreds of nuke bombs and spread pyrophric radioclides in three quartes of the country with other things to set off these massive infernoes. All denialdoes is makes things worse sweetie. U know that in australia.
    Most people agree that there was a partial meldown at brunswick. i cannot figure out wats in it for ya to play it down. maybe fear. yur a nice person. it is depressing but no use lying anymore. My best friend’s dad , was a nuclear physcist who worked at los alamos. he commited suicide in 1970 because he knew ho evil this shit his. my best friend commited suicide shortly after the evil fukushima omnicide event occured.have u had leukemia or cancer or been on a ward with dozens of children dying of ccanncer from this evil nuclear shit? dont tell me lady. please dont cover for these bastards. ask kristen about the murders and coverups or kitty. she brought the silkwood murder to light and there are thpusands of nuclear thugeries that have occured outside the 10s of millions who have died from it. Our genome is on the cusp of destruction dont tell me lady
    
    Comment by @ | September 10, 2020
  - I am accused of “playing down” the seriousness of the facts about the nuclear industry, and of “covering for the bastards”. If that means that I try to publicise the facts, rather than exaggerated versions of the facts, well OK. Actually, I think that more harm is done to the cause of truth-seeking, by exaggerated comments , such as the one to which I am now replying.
    
    Comment by Christina MacPherson | September 10, 2020
  - No exaggerated facts lady. Too bad. No one accuses you. Soon the wildfires will start in australia. Jave you ever been to Hanford or Idaho National Laboratory. I would imagine that fear makes people ball-up.It does not help anything. The only facts released are by the ones who cause the problems. Do you deny that people were not aware ofbthe santa susana meltdown until the past 10 years? Go read Iversens book. Read Browns book. Hiding behind carefully manipulated facts does no one any good.
    
    Comment by ta | September 11, 2020
  - No exaggerated facts? That’s a matter of opinion.
    
    “No one accuses” me. The anonymous commenter said: ” i cannot figure out wats in it for ya to play it down.” ” lady. please don’t cover for these bastards.” Sounds awfully like an accusation to me.
    
    I am not impressed by your patronising tone.
    
    Comment by Christina MacPherson | September 11, 2020