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Exposed! Extinction Rebellion fact checks pro-nuclear front

XR reveal climate-denying behind pro-nuclear front groups

Exposed! — Beyond Nuclear International

Extinction Rebellion fact checks pro-nuclear front groups  https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/72759838/posts/2936415505  Beyond Nuclear International, 28 Sept 20, 

The following is a statement from Extinction Rebellion, UK, in light of misrepresentations of their movement by a former team member now working for a pro-nuclear front group. It alleges that Environmental Progress, its new employee, Zion Lights, its founder, Michael Shellenberger, and the group’s predecessor, Breakthrough Institute (still operating as well) have ties to big corporations and to climate denial.

There have been a number of stories in the press in the last few weeks with criticisms about Extinction Rebellion by Zion Lights, UK director of the pro-nuclear lobby group Environmental Progress. It appears that Lights is engaged in a deliberate PR campaign to discredit Extinction Rebellion. 

For any editors who might be considering platforming Lights, we would like to make you aware of some information about the organisation she works for and her employer, Michael Shellenberger. 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRESS & MICHAEL SHELLENBERGER

Environmental Progress is a pro-nuclear energy lobby group. While the group itself was only established in 2016, its backers and affiliates have a long and well-documented history of denying human-caused climate change and/or attempting to delay action on the climate crisis. A quick look at groups currently promoting Zion Lights through their social media channels include climate deniers and industry lobbyists such as The Global Warming Policy Foundation and the Genetic Literacy Project (formerly funded by Monsanto).* 

The founder of Environmental Progress, Michael Shellenberger, has a record of spreading misinformation around climate change and using marketing techniques to distort the narrative around climate science. He has a reputation for downplaying the severity of the climate crisis and promoting aggressive economic growth and green technocapitalist solutions.

Shellenberger appeared on the Tucker Carlson Show on Fox News just last week to say that the forest fires currently raging in California are due to “more people and more electrical wires that they’ve failed to maintain because we’ve focused on other things like building renewables” and we’ve been “so focused on renewables, so focused on climate change.”

In his recent book Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts us All, Shellenberger argues that there are no limits to growth and that environmental problems can be solved by everyone getting richer. The book has been widely criticised by many respected scientists both for its central premise and its misunderstanding, misinterpretation and misuse of the facts. (See here and here.)

His stance on fundamental and vitally important points of scientific consensus around the climate crisis is flat out wrong. In his essay promoting his book published in June of this year on the Environmental Progress website and The Australian – ‘On behalf of environmentalists, I apologise for the climate scare’ – he claims that “climate change is not making natural disasters worse” and that “Humans are not causing a ‘sixth mass extinction”. He also argues that “fires have declined 25% around the world since 2003,” and, “The build-up of wood fuel and more houses near forests, not climate change, explain why there are more, and more dangerous, fires in Australia and California.” These claims contradict reports from the IPCC and misrepresent the discussion taking place in the scientific community. 

One science advisor with Environmental Progress, respected MIT climate expert Professor Kerry Emanuel, spoke publicly about being “very concerned” about the essay, and felt unsure whether he would remain involved with the organisation. 

The article was published in Forbes, before being pulled offline the same day for violating its code of ethics around self-promotion.  

A key tactic from the climate delayer playbook used in the essay is that of the repentant environmentalist, according to investigative journalist, Paul Thacker. After gaining credibility by aligning themselves with a section of the environmental movement, the repentant environmentalist then performs a volte face and attacks their former position. 

This tactic has also been used by Zion Lights, who first overstated her role within Extinction Rebellion (she was a member of the media team, not ‘co-lead’ as stated on the Environmental Progress website) and then denounced the movement following an apparent change of heart.

BREAKTHROUGH INSTITUTE

Shellenberger is co-founder of the Breakthrough Institute, a lobbying group masquerading as a “think tank”. The Breakthrough Institute has “a clear history as a contrarian outlet for information on climate change [which] regularly criticises environmental groups”, according to Paul Thacker. Breakthrough has also been described as a “program for hippie-punching your way to fame and fortune.” 

Shellenberger co-founded the Breakthrough Institute with Ted Nordhaus, nephew of economist, William Nordhuas. William Nordhaus features in Merchants of Doubt – Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway’s examination of the PR strategies used both by the tobacco and fossil fuel industries. His interventions in the 1990s helped set back essential action on climate change by decades. 

Other figures associated with Shellenberger and the Breakthrough Institute include:


  • Owen Paterson
    , one of the UK’s most prominent climate deniers who helped with the UK launch of the group’s Ecomodernist manifesto in 2015.
  • Matt Ridley, coal mine owner, once hereditary Conservative Peer and famous climate delayer / ‘lukewarmist’ who spoke at the UK launch event. Continue reading →

September 29, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, Reference, spinbuster | Leave a comment

USA provocation of China, Iran, Russia.

Provocation on the High Seas: U.S. Naval Adventures Near the Shores of Russia, China and Iran, by  https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/09/25/provocation-on-the-high-seas-u-s-naval-adventures-near-the-shores-of-russia-china-and-iran/?fbclid=IwAR3aA7GT52EdGN66LcYfQzrWYby-J9MqmSRI9xaU0gz7TyVLcRXJMa9z6GM   EVE OTTENBERG   The war on terror is slowly ending. The U.S. military will try to keep bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, but with most troops gone in the next few years, the lives of the few who remain will be at constant risk. Pressure will mount to get those soldiers out. But Pentagon bureaucrats and brass are masters of institutional infighting, and, apparently, ignoring presidential orders they don’t like, so who knows how that will turn out? One thing is sure: the military’s focus has shifted, from the Middle East to Russia and China. That means U.S. soldiers and materiel will continue to be in places they shouldn’t, in ever greater numbers, namely the Black Sea and the South China Sea.

Lest you fear that peace might break out in the Middle East, there’s always the possibility of a U.S. assault on Iran. That chance greatly increased with the Trump regime’s monumental blunder of smashing the Iran nuclear treaty. Trump clearly thought his high-handed rejection would cow the Iranians. He was wrong. In an apparent rage, he ratcheted up sanctions, threats, insults and then – an assassination, the logical conclusion of which was war, had Trump not come to his senses. Since then things have cooled down a bit, though not enough to stop the Trump regime from interfering with Iran’s oil trade with Venezuela or from making preposterous accusations about Iranian plots against the U.S. ambassador to South Africa, an official with no relation to Iran, known mostly for her business in expensive handbags and for donating to Trump.

What the idiotically bellicose U.S. policy toward Iran – including the recent U.S. push for more sanctions – has mainly achieved is a warm embrace between Iran and China. And that’s not a matter susceptible to piracy on the high seas – the preferred U.S. approach to tankers taking Iranian fuel to Caracas. Nor will wild charges about planned assassinations of obscure, random U.S. bureaucrats affect this relationship. The Trump regime has blustered, threatened, insulted and caused the great Iran-China friendship to sink deep roots and blossom.  Lest you fear that peace might break out in the Middle East, there’s always the possibility of a U.S. assault on Iran. That chance greatly increased with the Trump regime’s monumental blunder of smashing the Iran nuclear treaty. Trump clearly thought his high-handed rejection would cow the Iranians. He was wrong. In an apparent rage, he ratcheted up sanctions, threats, insults and then – an assassination, the logical conclusion of which was war, had Trump not come to his senses. Since then things have cooled down a bit, though not enough to stop the Trump regime from interfering with Iran’s oil trade with Venezuela or from making preposterous accusations about Iranian plots against the U.S. ambassador to South Africa, an official with no relation to Iran, known mostly for her business in expensive handbags and for donating to Trump.

What the idiotically bellicose U.S. policy toward Iran – including the recent U.S. push for more sanctions – has mainly achieved is a warm embrace between Iran and China. And that’s not a matter susceptible to piracy on the high seas – the preferred U.S. approach to tankers taking Iranian fuel to Caracas. Nor will wild charges about planned assassinations of obscure, random U.S. bureaucrats affect this relationship. The Trump regime has blustered, threatened, insulted and caused the great Iran-China friendship to sink deep roots and blossom.  It probably would have anyway, but Trump surely deserves credit for nourishing it.

As Time reported on July 29, Iran is negotiating a 25-year deal with China, with “billions of dollars worth of Chinese investments in energy, transportation, banking and cybersecurity in Iran.” There also could be “weapons development and intelligence sharing and joint military drills.” In short, this $400 billion deal is huge and alarm bells are ringing frantically in Washington. They shouldn’t be. If the Trump regime had been paying attention, they would have seen this coming, because it’s the logical outcome of their absurd hostility to both countries.

But then, cultural illiteracy regarding Iran is a feature of Republican policy in the Middle East. After all, the Bush regime invaded, conquered and destroyed Iraq – war crimes whose main beneficiary was Iran, which had no love, to say the least, for Saddam Hussein and was more than happy to cement its brotherhood with newly ascendant Iraqi Shia. This is the sort of stuff any high schooler could have alerted the Bush regime to in advance. But alas, the GOP’s geopolitical geniuses had no use for even high school wisdom. To ensure we all got that point, the Trump regime quickly pounced on one of Obama’s few decent and intelligent moves in the Middle East – the Iran nuclear treaty – and shredded it.

Still, the U.S. military’s focus has shifted. That shift started with Obama’s odious “pivot to China.” According to Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi, quoted by Russia Today, U.S. intervention in the South China Sea is “the main driver of militarization there.” Currently several countries in the region claim territory in the South China Sea – China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Brunei. Some of these claims overlap, thus causing disputes, RT reports. The U.S. stirs the pot with its “freedom of navigation” military patrols. Naturally this intervention has led to incidents between the Chinese and U.S. militaries. And worse could happen any time. China regards the South China Sea as its backyard and the U.S. presence there as a provocation. After all, how would Washington react to Chinese military patrols in the Gulf of Mexico? That is the territorial equivalent of what the U.S. does to China, though Washington refuses to recognize this in its quest for global dominance.

It’s the same with U.S. aggression in the Black Sea, where the target is Russia. In August, the U.S. held military drills in the Black Sea, known, in the not too distant past, as the shores of Russia. Earlier, Andrei Krasov of the State Duma Defense Committee told the Interfax agency: “The actions of American reconnaissance aircraft will not remain without reaction.” Indeed, in late July, Russia reported intercepting an American reconnaissance flight over the Black Sea. Two much of this sort of stuff could lead to war.

So what we have here is the U.S. fishing in troubled waters. NATO has already nearly surrounded Russia, which now boasts supersonic nuclear weapons. In response, Trump recently revealed that the U.S. has some sort of secret “super” weapon. Which only makes the Black Sea brinksmanship more dangerous. Both adversaries are armed to the teeth. To make matters worse, Trump has ripped up all nuclear treaties with Russia except START – and that is at death’s door.

A war with either Russia, China or Iran would be catastrophic, as anyone with a brain knows. Nor would it solve any of the myriad disasters currently besetting the U.S.: an out-of-control pandemic, with more fatalities than any other country in the world and no end in sight; economic collapse, with tens of millions jobless and millions facing eviction and homelessness in a few months; a climate taking revenge on fossil fuel capitalism by burning up large swaths of the globe, including the American West Coast; other human-induced, climate change, extreme weather events elsewhere in the U.S., like the currently soggy Gulf Coast; the rise of violent, over-armed, know-nothing, radical right-wing vigilantes; racial unrest. And those are just the big, obvious monster weeds in the American front yard. Washington should take a page from Voltaire and tend its own garden. Forget about the Black Sea, the South China Sea and the Gulf of Oman. Now is not the time for new conflict. Because as every school child knows, never is the only time for nuclear war.

September 29, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Donald Trump Junior calls for volunteers to join an ”army” and ”secure” the 2020 election

DONALD TRUMP JR. CALLS FOR VOLUNTEERS TO JOIN AN ‘ARMY’ AND ‘SECURE’ THE 2020 ELECTION https://www.lancastercourier.com/2020/09/27/donald-trump-jr-calls-for-volunteers-to-join-an-army-and-secure-the-2020-election/, by Will Bishop | Sep 27, 2020 | Election 2020,  A new video ad appearing on social media features the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., urging volunteers to join an “army” and keep the “radical left” from succeeding in their attempt to “steal” the 2020 election:    [tweets shown here]…….

Be sure and note the militancy of the language in the ad, which could easily lead some Trump supporters to take up arms and show up at polling places in an attempt to intimidate voters trying to cast a ballot. The intent could not possibly be clearer or more disgusting: To hold down turnout on Election Day because Republicans don’t do well in high turnout elections. As high-tech website BoingBoing explains.

“What else does one even say about these insane … Trump-Pence ads, and the curiously addled Don Jr., who resembles a crackhead in the throes of addiction? What else does one say, but holy shit. Long past time for Twitter and Facebook, where these ads are trending, to take action — the ads are lying, and they’re inciting armed violence against Americans.”

That sentiment was echoed by tech reporter Garrett Graff of Wired:
Garrett M. Graff
@vermontgmg
These posts, by a president’s son, should rank among the most worrisome threats to American democracy in our history. Calling for an “army” to prevent the election from being stolen?!? This should be disowned by the GOP—but we know it won’t be.

If there is indeed violence on Election Day and it can be traced back to this ad or others circulating online, those who made the spots need to be arrested and charged with conspiracy to interfere with an election and accessory to commit a violent crime.

Oh, and let’s make sure the first person arrested is Donald Trump

September 29, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | election USA 2020 | Leave a comment

Flamanville nuclear reactor – patched up, but – dangerous and illegal , say groups

27th Sept , press release from the “Sortir du nuclear” Network, Greenpeace, France Nature Environnement, France Nature Environnement Normandy, CRILAN, Stop EPR Ni at Penly Ni Ailleurs. On March 25, 2020, in full confinement, the government published a decree extending to 2024 the validity of the decree authorizing the creation of the Flamanville EPR, which previously set April 2020 as its deadline for commissioning.

Our  associations strongly denounce the government’s obstinacy in tolerating the continuation of this catastrophic project, despite the many poor workmanships and scandals that affect it and the considerable sums already swallowed up. Dangerous and patched up even before starting, this reactor should never be in service. In addition, this amending decree published hastily in full confinement ignores the fact that the current state of thereactor, riddled with poor workmanship, no longer corresponds to what was required in the initial decree, and that EDF clerly does not have clearly the financial and technical capacities required to complete the work. With
regard to European case law, being satisfied with a simple modification of the dates is therefore manifestly illegal, and above all profoundly dishonest.

http://crilan.fr/lepr-de-flamanville-ne-doit-pas-entrer-en-fonctionnement-nous-saisissons-le-conseil-detat-suite-a-la-seconde-prorogation-de-son-decret-dautorisation/

September 29, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Plans for Bradwell B nuclear power station could collapse

Campaigners claim plans for Bradwell B nuclear power station could collapse, Clacton Gazette , By Alex Gidden Reporter  28 Sept 20,  CAMPAIGNERS claim plans to build a nuclear power station off the coast of Essex could collapse before the end of the year.

The Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group says there is growing “hostility” towards proposals to build a power station in Bradwell and believes the scheme could even be shelved in the coming weeks.

Group chairman Prof Andy Blowers made the bold claim after seeing Japanese firm Hitachi pull out of plans to build its own nuclear power station in north Wales.

He says Hitachi’s decision underlines the “huge expense” associated with building nuclear power stations and believes the Bradwell B project will be binned because of the costs and scale of opposition.

Both Colchester and Maldon councils have rejected planning applications for the power station in the past month.

The applications were jointly submitted by the China General Nuclear Power Group, also known as CGN, and energy firm EDF.

A spokesman for the Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group said: “CGN is now fully aware of the mountain it has to climb to get anywhere near planning permission for its massive nuclear juggernaut, which will utterly destroy the environment and wellbeing of the Blackwater region.

“Widespread public protest and influential councils have produced a powerful coalition of outright opposition to the proposals.

Its progress will not be straightforward and will take years to complete.

“By the time it could start operating, it will be a white elephant, unnecessary, uneconomic and redundant……… https://www.clactonandfrintongazette.co.uk/news/north_essex_news/18749213.campaigners-claim-plans-bradwell-b-nuclear-power-station-collapse/

September 29, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Greater Cleveland Partnership calls for repeal of Ohio nuclear bailout law

Greater Cleveland Partnership calls for repeal of Ohio nuclear bailout law, By staff | cleveland.com28 Sept 20, CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Greater Cleveland Partnership is calling on Ohio lawmakers to repeal and possibly replace House Bill 6, the $1.3 billion nuclear plant bailout law that federal authorities say was the product of a massive corruption scheme.

“We recommend a repeal and replace stance on HB 6 to remove the alleged stain of corruption on the law and to enable the restoration of the energy efficiency programs supported by our members,” said Joe Roman, President and CEO of the GCP. “Our membership continues to encourage policies that provide incentives for businesses to leverage energy programming to foster growth. We recognize a level of flexibility may be needed to meet those goals, reverse HB 6, and balance Ohio’s energy environment……….

A select committee of lawmakers is considering whether to repeal and replace the law. The committee has held hearings but hasn’t yet recommended specific actions.

The nuclear bailout is funded by new monthly surcharges ranging from 85 cents for residential customers to as much as $2,400 for large industrial plants. In addition to the nuclear plant bailout, House Bill 6 provides subsidies to specific coal and solar plants around the state, dismantles the state’s green-energy standards for utilities, and allows FirstEnergy Corp. and other utilities to lock in a guaranteed level of ratepayer revenue for years to come.   https://www.cleveland.com/open/2020/09/greater-cleveland-partnership-calls-for-repeal-of-ohio-nuclear-bailout-law.html

September 29, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, politics, USA | Leave a comment

At Greenfield, Sunderland standouts, residents protest nuclear weapons

At Greenfield, Sunderland standouts, residents protest nuclear weapons, Greenfield Recorder   By MARY BYRNE

Staff Writer, 9/27/2020 

Members of the Greenfield and surrounding communities gathered on the Greenfield Common Saturday morning, joining a national movement in support of eliminating nuclear weapons.

Activists stood on each corner of the intersection from 11 a.m to noon on Saturday, according to Anna Gyorgy, communications coordinator for Traprock Center for Peace and Justice. A standout was also expected to take place on Saturday in Sunderland.

The date for the standouts was chosen, Gyorgy explained, in recognition of the United Nation’s International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, which was established in the months following a meeting of the UN General Assembly in 2013.

The standouts on Saturday were two of the five expected to take place across Western Massachusetts.  ……….https://www.recorder.com/At-Greenfield-Sunderland-standouts-residents-protest-nuclear-weapons-36467000

September 29, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | opposition to nuclear, USA | Leave a comment

90 areas in Germany identified as potentially suitable for nuclear waste burial

Agency report identifies 90 areas in Germany suitable as nuclear waste repository, https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2020/09/29/agency-report-identifies-90-areas-in-germany-suitable-as-nuclear-waste-repository  By M OritzRommerskirchen and Zhang Yirong, BERLIN, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) — Germany had 90 areas with favorable geological conditions to facilitate the final storage of nuclear waste, the federal agency for radioactive waste disposal (BGE) announced on Monday.According to the interim report of the BGE, around 54 percent of Germany’s total territory, or about 194,000 square kms, were classified as potential sites for nuclear waste repository.

“The geology in Germany is so favorable that we can say with conviction that the one site with the best possible safety for the repository of high-level radioactive waste can be found,” said BGE managing director Stefan Studt during a press conference.

However, identifying a potential area is “still a long way off” from becoming a repository site in Germany, said Studt but stressed the chances of finding a site in Germany that offers safety for a million years are “very good.”

The BGE report did not make a preliminary decision on a possible repository site for high-level radioactive waste in Germany, but only identified the so-called sub-areas where a “favorable overall geological condition for the storage of highly radioactive waste can be expected.”

The German government is scheduled to close all of its nuclear power plants by 2022. The process of looking for a repository site for nuclear waste in Germany has been ongoing since 2017. The BGE interim report started the first of the three phases and would also serve as a basis to involve the public.

“We have achieved the first widely visible progress in the search for a repository,” said Environment Minister Svenja Schulze, adding that “this is a good news. Because it is a task for society as a whole.”

In the coming months and years, the list of potential locations would be gradually narrowed down further. According to BGE, after the completion of the underground exploration, the final recommendation of a site is expected in 2031.

September 29, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, wastes | Leave a comment

UK to return high-level nuclear waste to Germany

UK to return high-level nuclear waste to Germany  https://www.energylivenews.com/2020/09/28/uk-to-return-high-level-nuclear-waste-to-germany/
28 Sept 20, 
Preparations are underway for the first of the three shipments in late 2020,   
The UK will be returning high-level nuclear waste in the form of vitrified residues to Germany over the coming years.The waste results from the reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel at the Sellafield site in West Cumbria, which had previously been used to produce electricity by utilities in Germany.

Preparations are underway for the first shipment in late 2020 under the Vitrified Residue Returns programme, which is a key component of the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) strategy to repatriate high-level waste from the UK.

A total of three shipments will be made to storage facilities in Germany, with the returns involving Sellafield Ltd working with International Nuclear Services (INS), a subsidiary of the NDA.

INS will transport the waste by sea on a specialised vessel to a German port, followed by rail to the final destinations.   Daher Nuclear Technologies has been contracted to safely manage the overland transport in Germany.

September 29, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, UK, wastes | Leave a comment

Heightened risk of nuclear confrontation between the US and China

‘Needs to be carefully monitored’: Heightened risk of nuclear confrontation between the US and China, SMH, By Anthony Galloway, September 29, 2020, The risk of a nuclear confrontation between the United States and China is growing, as Beijing acquires new weapons allowing it to potentially strike its adversaries first.As both countries enter into a new period of intense strategic competition, there is a small risk of deliberate nuclear use and a bigger risk of either the US or China inadvertently using nuclear weapons against the other.

This could occur if one of the countries degrades the other’s nuclear arsenal using conventional weapons, whether by accident or collateral damage, causing that nation to respond with nuclear weapons.

A new report by the United States Studies Centre says a US conventional strike or cyber attack disabling China’s ability to launch conventional ballistic missiles could accidentally damage its nuclear missiles. Beijing could then see this attack as a prelude to disarming its nuclear weapons, and choose to use them first before they were further degraded.

Alternatively, China could launch a space attack against US satellites, or a cyber attack, to interfere with US missile defences, sparking a US nuclear counter-attack.

China’s nuclear strategy over recent decades has focused on deterring nuclear threats, but it has been acquiring new capabilities – such as launchers for its DF-26 intermediate-range ballistic missile – that could enable a shift to a nuclear “first-use” strategy.

The new report by the centre’s non-resident fellow Fiona Cunningham has called for Australia and other countries to urge the US and China back to arms control talks. ……….

“China’s nuclear strategy still looks quite different from countries that explicitly threaten first-use like Pakistan, or don’t rule out the option of using nuclear weapons first, like the United States.”……..

The lower stakes for the United States and China in a South China Sea confrontation, and low intensity with which a conflict could start, would give both countries more opportunities to end a confrontation before it got to the point of nuclear threats or use.” https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/needs-to-be-carefully-monitored-heightened-risk-of-nuclear-confrontation-between-the-us-and-china-20200928-p55zwp.html

September 29, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Germany launches new search for permanent nuclear waste disposal site

Germany launches new search for permanent nuclear waste disposal site, DW, 28 Sep 20,

Germany has named 90 locations that could safely house containers of radioactive nuclear waste permanently. The controversy over what to do with waste from the country’s nuclear power plants has been long and divisive.

Germany formally launched its new search for a permanent nuclear waste disposal site on Monday.

BGE, the nation’s waste management organization, named 90 areas around the country as possible candidates for the permanent waste disposal. It said in a long-awaited report that a location needs to be found by 2031. The aim is to start storing containers of radioactive waste at the site by 2050.

Germany is seeking a safe place to store 1,900 containers of waste. The containers make up only 5% of the country’s nuclear waste but 99% of its radioactivity, according to BGE chairman Stefan Studt.

Regions in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany, as well as Lower Saxony and states in eastern Germany, are among the potential waste disposal sites. The locations suggested “favorable geological conditions for the safe disposal of radioactive waste,” the BGE said. The sites will now be vetted to account for other factors, including population density.

Gorleben ruled out

Not on the list of possible storage sites is Gorleben, a small settlement in Lower Saxony of 650 residents, and the location of a salt mine which had been earmarked as a site for nuclear waste disposal almost forty years ago.

The dispute that led to so much bitterness in Germany over the years began on 22 February 1977: the State Premier of Lower Saxony, the conservative Ernst Albrecht, father of the current European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, made an announcement: Gorleben, near the border to what was then East Germany, was to be the site of Germany’s facility for permanent nuclear waste storage.

Locals never accepted the decision, arguing that the salt in the ground cold weaken containment structures and cause radioactive leaks. Gorleben became the focus of Germany’s anti-nuclear movement. Protestors staged sit-ins at the building site and rallied round the farming community in the region. In subsequent years, every transport of nuclear waste to Gorleben was accompanied by major demonstrations.

Despite these massive protests, construction work on a new mine began there, in which the salt dome’s geological characteristics were to be explored. This mine alone, which never produced a grain of salt or any other natural resource, has already cost the German tax-payer 1.6 billion euros ($1.9 bn.) So much money has been spent conducting research there that the announcement by Kanitz that the salt dome’s surface cover is not intact and that the chemical composition of the ground water is unsuitable, amounts to a political bombshell. This is exactly what opponents of nuclear power have been saying for years.

The debate is almost certain to keep reverberating. But Monday’s announcement in Berlin by Stefan Kanitz, managing director of the state “Federal Society for Permanent Nuclear Waste Storage” still marks a milestone: “Gorleben is not the best possible location,” he said.

Following decades of debate which, above all, fueled the rise of the anti-nuclear Green Party, the German government decided after the reactor disaster at Fukushima in Japan in 2011 to permanently phase out nuclear power. Of the roughly 20 nuclear power plants once built, many have already been disconnected from the grid. Currently, six are still in use. They are all scheduled to be decommissioned by the end of 2022.

Germany is likely to run into resistance from local politicians at whichever waste disposal site it chooses. Bavaria’s state government has already insisted that it is unsuited for permanent waste disposal.

The plan now is to discuss things step by step with the local communities in the 90 regions shortlisted. That is one reason why the process is scheduled to take so long. Construction is to begin on a new permanent storage facility for nuclear waste in 2031. ……… https://www.dw.com/en/germany-launches-new-search-for-permanent-nuclear-waste-disposal-site/a-55077967

September 29, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, wastes | Leave a comment

‘The Bomb’ Presents A ‘Secret History’ Of Nuclear War Planning In America

‘The Bomb’ Presents A ‘Secret History’ Of Nuclear War Planning In America, NPR, September 28, 2020
Heard on Fresh Air

DAVE DAVIES,   Author Fred Kaplan reveals how U.S. presidents, their advisers and generals have thought about, planned for — and sometimes narrowly avoided — nuclear war. Originally broadcast Jan. 27, 2020.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

DAVE DAVIES, HOST:

This is FRESH AIR. I’m Dave Davies, in for Terry Gross. In 2017, when President Trump threatened to rain fire and fury on North Korea if it leveled any more threats at the United States, our guest, Fred Kaplan, decided it was time for a new book. Kaplan’s 1983 book, “The Wizards Of Armageddon,” was about nuclear war strategy during the Cold War. He says the recent confrontation between North Korea and the United States got Americans thinking about the prospect of nuclear war in a way they hadn’t since the end of the Cold War nearly 30 years before. So he decided it was time to look again at how American leaders have managed these terrifying weapons and the threat they pose to the world today.

Kaplan read thousands of declassified documents and interviewed former military leaders and government officials. The result is his new book about how American presidents and their advisers and generals have thought about, planned for and sometimes narrowly avoided nuclear war over the past 70 years. Fred Kaplan is a national security columnist for Slate and the author of five previous books. His latest is “The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, And The Secret History Of Nuclear War.”

Fred Kaplan, welcome back to FRESH AIR…… https://www.npr.org/2020/09/28/917734532/the-bomb-presents-a-secret-history-of-nuclear-war-planning-in-america

September 29, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

‘Nuclear power is now the most expensive form of generation, except for gas peaking plants’

‘Nuclear power is now the most expensive form of generation, except for gas peaking plants’

The latest edition of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report indicates the stagnation of the sector continues. Just 2.4 GW of new nuclear generation capacity came online last year, compared to 98 GW of solar. The world’s operational nuclear power capacity had declined by 2.1%, to 362 GW, at the end of June.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2020 EMILIANO BELLINI  PV MAGAZINE AUSTRALIA  The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) from nuclear power rose from around $117/MWh in 2015 to $155 at the end of last year, according to the latest edition of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report, published annually by French nuclear consultant Mycle Schneider.

By contrast, the LCOE from solar power decreased from $65/MWh to approximately $49 and that of wind from $55 to $41.

“What is remarkable about these trends, is that the costs of renewables continue to fall due to incremental manufacturing and installation improvements while nuclear, despite over half a century of industrial experience, continues to see costs rising,” stated the report, citing a recent study from financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard. “Nuclear power is now the most expensive form of generation, except for gas peaking plants,” added the study, which did not provide an LCOE for gas peaker generation.

The cost difference is having a huge impact in new generation capacity deployment, with just 2.4 GW of new nuclear plants installed last year, compared to 98 GW of solar and 59.2 GW of wind, according to the report. The world’s operational nuclear capacity fell 2.1% to 362 GW by the end of June. “The number of operating reactors in the world has dropped … to 408 as of mid-2020, that is below the level already reached in 1988 and 30 units below the historic peak of 438 in 2002,” the study reported.

Six nuclear reactors were grid-connected last year: three in Russia, two in China and one in South Korea. At the same time, five nuclear plants closed last year and three more were shuttered in the first half of this year, with no nuclear facilities added from January to June. An additional eight facilities, which had ceased operations, were decommissioned in 2019………. https://www.pv-magazine-australia.com/2020/09/25/nuclear-power-is-now-the-most-expensive-form-of-generation-except-for-gas-peaking-plants/

September 29, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | Leave a comment

Sizewell nuclear project: deadline for being ”interested parties” is due soon

East Anglian Daily Times 27th Sept 2020, The deadline is nearing for people who want to apply to become
“interested parties” who will have their say on the examination of the
application to build Sizewell C. The deadline is nearing for people who
want to apply to become “interested parties” who will have their say on
the examination of the application to build Sizewell C.

https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/sizewell-c-interested-parties-deadline-nears-1-6858029

September 29, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

‘Reverse course’ towards full nuclear disarmament – UN chief

‘Reverse course’ towards full nuclear disarmament – UN chief, https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/09/1073832 

25 September 2020, Peace and Security

On the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons marked on Saturday, the UN chief has underscored the need to “reverse course and return to a common path to nuclear disarmament”.

Almost 75 years since the adoption of the first General Assembly resolution in 1946, which committed the UN to the goal of ridding the planet of nuclear weapons, “the world continues to live in the shadow of nuclear catastrophe”, Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message commemorating the day.

Relationships between States possessing nuclear weapons are characterized by “division, distrust and an absence of dialogue”, he warned, noting that as they increasingly choose to pursue strategic competition over cooperation, “the dangers posed by nuclear weapons are becoming more acute”.

According to the UN chief, all States have a responsibility to ensure that such deadly armaments “eliminated completely” from national arsenals.

COVID in the mix

Drawing attention to the wide range of global fragilities brought about by COVID-19 – from pandemic readiness and inequality to climate change to lawlessness in cyberspace – the top UN official called “preparedness to address the threat of nuclear weapons” one of those vulnerabilities.

“We need a strengthened, inclusive and renewed multilateralism built on trust and based on international law that can guide us to our shared goal of a world free of nuclear weapons”, he said.

Pressurize nuclear powers

The UN has long upheld that the onus to lead disarmament is on the States that possess nuclear weapons.

Mr. Guterres concurred that those nations must “return to real, good-faith dialogue to restore trust and confidence, reduce nuclear risk and take tangible steps in nuclear disarmament”.

He also stressed that they reaffirm the shared understanding that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must not be fought” and take steps to implement the commitments they have made.

A gloomy picture

Yet, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), some 13,400 nuclear weapons remain today.

Moreover, the countries possessing these weapons have well-funded, long-term plans to modernize their nuclear arsenals.

And while the number of deployed nuclear weapons has significantly decreased since the height of the Cold War, SIPRI attests that not one nuclear weapon had been physically destroyed pursuant to a treaty.

Additionally, no meaningful nuclear disarmament negotiations are currently underway.

Mr. Guterres emphasized that the death, suffering and destruction caused by the atomic bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki “must not be repeated”.

“The only guarantee against the use of these abhorrent weapons is their total elimination”, spelled out the Secretary-General, adding that the UN “stands ready to work with all States to achieve this shared goal”.

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September 29, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries    

1.This Month

above – Nagasaki child victim

Harry Truman and the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Frank Jackson, 9 Aug 20 Whether the bombing of Hiroshima   or the entry of the Soviet Union into the war was the crucial event in causing the Japanese surrender can never be conclusively settled (Hiroshima at 75: bitter row persists over US decision to drop the bomb, 5 August). However, very little is said about the motives for the second bomb, on Nagasaki three days later. Few argued that it was necessary to reinforce the message of Hiroshima. Rather, the military and scientific imperative was to test a different bomb design – “Fat Man”, an implosion type using plutonium, as opposed to the uranium of Hiroshima’s “Little Boy”. To my mind that, destroying a mainly civilian city for such reasons, makes it even more of a war crime, if that is possible, than the bombing of Hiroshim.a

Frank Jackson
Former co-chair, World Disarmament Campaign   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/07/harry-truman-and-the-nuclear-bombs-dropped-on-hiroshima-and-nagasaki

 “Shinda Onnanoko” (“Dead Girl”), by Nâzim Hikmet, translated into Japanese by Nobuyuki Nakamoto

I come and stand at every door
But no one hears my silent tread.
I knock and yet remain unseen
For I am dead, for I am dead.

I’m only seven, although I died
In Hiroshima long ago.
I’m seven now as I was then.
When children die, they do not grow.

My hair was scorched by swirling flame.
My eyes grew dim; my eyes grew blind.
Death came and turned my bones to dust
And that was scattered by the wind.

I need no fruit, I need no rice.
I need no sweets, nor even bread.
I ask for nothing for myself
For I am dead, for I am dead.

All that I ask is that for peace
You fight today, you fight today
So that the children of the world
May live and grow and laugh and play.

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