2020 October 05 « nuclear-news

Week to 5 October – climate/nuclear news

As happens all too often, news media is fixated on you know who. Conflicting stories – Donald Trump ‘incapacitated’ by COVID-19 drug side effects, law professor claims. The White House’s medical team said Donald Trump “has continued to improve” since Saturday and could be released as early as Monday. Darned if I know what to think, and how this might affect the U.S. election.

Fierce fighting continues in the Armenia, Azerbaijan conflict . (The media doesn’t mention the Azerbaijan threat to bomb Armenia’s nuclear power plant. But perhaps it’s Azerbaiji fear of radioactive pollution that prevents this)

A bit of good news – Good living standards for the world can be attained with reduced energy use

‘We have a chance’: David Attenborough says $500 billion needed to save earth. A Positive Narrative for the Anthropocene . Extinction crisis: ′The window of opportunity is closing′. Debunking myths about saving the natural world.

The climate crisis is heating up nights faster than days in many parts of the world. Climate change responsible for record sea temperature levels, says study Coastal flooding will disproportionately impact 31 million people globally

The safety of the world requires a nuclear-free planet.

Julian Assange could face life in America’s most dreaded ‘Supermax’ prison.

From 38 million English-language articles, study shows Trump as world’s biggest driver of coronavirus misinformation. Nuclear power and the mainstream media – a convenient advertising platform?

Lunar base woud have to be underground, due to the danger of high radiation on the moon. On the moon ”normal” humans (i.e males) will get 200 Times the Radiation Experienced on Earth, (what about females?).

‘Reverse course’ towards full nuclear disarmament – UN chief.

Nuclear power is now the most expensive form of generation, except for gas peaking plants’. Nano diamond batteries from nuclear waste? Impractical and not likely to ever happen.

Exposed! Extinction Rebellion fact checks pro-nuclear front. Refuting the nuclear lobby‘s nonsense on risks of ionising radiation. It’s important to bust the pro-nuclear spin.

Ionising radiation – the tragedy of the ”radium girls”.

ARCTIC. Accelerating rate of ice sheet loss from Greenland.

USA.

Trump with Covid-19 – a potential power vacuum. E-6B Mercury nuclear war command posts in flight on each coast. As Donald Trump gets coronavirus, USA’s ”doomsday” planes take flight.
False claims of hacked voter information likely intended to cast doubt on legitimacy of U.S. elections. America’s nuclear waste crisis doesn’t get a mention in Democrats’ or Republicans’ platform. Joe Biden on climate change. U.S. election: Progressive groups are mobilizing to de-escalate far right violence at the polls. The road to fascism. Trump is quite open about his plans to derail the election. Donald Trump Junior calls for volunteers to join an ”army” and ”secure” the 2020 election. The American election- what will the nuclear order look like after this?
”Peaceful” nuclear power for weaponry in space. USA provocation of China, Iran, Russia. Heightened risk of nuclear confrontation between the US and China. USA threatens putting more weapons on bombers and submarines if Russia doesn’t agree to USA conditions for arms talks. The Trump administration’s stances on nuclear negotiations don’t even make sense as a starting point. ”The Bomb’ Presents A ‘Secret History’ Of Nuclear War Planning In America. At Greenfield, Sunderland standouts, residents protest nuclear weapons.
Do Ohio nuclear stations really need a bailout ? Where’s the evidence?. Greater Cleveland Partnership calls for repeal of Ohio nuclear bailout law. Ohio’s nuclear bailout law caused dissent and trouble for renewables industries.
One more Utah city withdraws from NuScam small nuclear reactor project.
USA Dept of Energy unsafely disposing of useless MOX plutonium weapons grade nuclear fuel? State of New Mexico strngly objects to licensing og Holtec’s nuclear waste dump project.

JAPAN. Offshore wind energy could replace more than half of the nation’s generation capacity by 2050. TEPCO’s fitness to operate nuke reactors still open to question. Court rules Fukushima nuclear disaster preventable, increases liabilities. Japanese Government Is Ordered to Pay Damages Over Fukushima Disaster. TEPCO: 11m seawall completed at Fukushima plant. In Rural Fukushima, ‘The Border Between Monkeys And Humans Has Blurred’. Tokyo Olympic torch relay to start on March 25, 2021 in Fukushima. Fukushima and freedom of expression. Japan Struggles to Secure Radioactive Nuclear Waste Dump Sites.

UK. UK to return high-level nuclear waste to Germany. Plans for Bradwell B nuclear power station could collapse. UK govt to give EDF a blank cheque for building Sizewell C nuclear power plant. Call to British govt to not allow restart of Hinkley Point B nuclear reactors, with cracks in their cores.

EUROPE. Severe floods in Italy and France.

RUSSIA. Daunting task of removal of Russia’s spent nuclear fuel rods from Andreeva Bay.

INDIA. Tensions between 3 nuclear-armed powers are rising toward the boiling point .

ARMENIA. Heavy military clashes between Armenian and Azeri forces.

IRAQ. Congenital abnormalities. Thorium and uranium, in infants and children living near an active U.S. military base in Iraq.

GERMANY. Germany launches new search for permanent nuclear waste disposal site. 90 areas in Germany identified as potentially suitable for nuclear waste burial.

FRANCE. Flamanville nuclear reactor – patched up, but – dangerous and illegal , say groups. Two new appeals against the Flamanville EPR. In September, French nuclear production reached its second lowest level on record.

IRAN. UN nuclear watchdog inspects second Iran site.

INDONESIA. Call to Indonesia to ratify UN Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty.

BRAZIL. Brazil has 1.2 million renewable energy jobs. — GO ECO GREEN21

PHILIPPINES. Cost and safety dangers should rule out nuclear power for the Philippines.

AUSTRALIA. China’s zero emissions target is contrasted with Australia’s inaction on global heating.

October 5, 2020 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear power and the mainstream media – a convenient advertising platform?

Google headlines on ”nuclear” today, Noel Wauchope 5 October 20, Google headlines give you some idea on what the media are saying about nuclear issues. If you look up Google News right now ( 6 pm AEST 5 October 20) – you get a total of 93 headlines.
I went through these 93 articles, and found that 54 of them were clearly nuclear promotion articles. 19 were anti nuclear, or critical of nuclear technology, and 20 were neutral – in the sense that they reported events and facts, without opinion or comment.

The media reflects society, in that they separate issues about nuclear weapons, from issues about nuclear power. It looks as if nuclear weapons get a bad press. That’s OK.

But when it comes to nuclear power, it’s a different story: by and large, it looks as if the mainstream media is happy to function pretty much as an advertising platform for the nuclear industry.

In the 54 articles approving of, or supporting nuclear power , these were the themes:

The dominant theme in 20 articles was ‘New nuclear”- especially small nuclear reactors, depicted as essential to combat climate change -clean, sustainable, future depends on them, should be subsidised. Sometimes portrayed as in tandem with renewable energy, or transitional to renewable energy, sometimes subtly or clearly disparaging renewable energy.

Another theme was nuclear fusion, with 9 enthusiastic articles.

6 countries were described in positive terms as going ahead with nuclear power. Other pro nuclear articles claimed – that it’s necessary for the economy and jobs, that ionising radiation is not really dangerous. Claim about ”diamond batteries” from nuclear wastes. Positive stories about fixing corrosion in nuclear reactors, and about robots solving nuclear waste problems. One article enthused about the benefits of nuclear power for women.There were a couple of articles positive about nuclear weapons – had a style of boasting about their development for the countries concerned .

For anti-nuclear articles, well, themes of nuclear disarmament were prominent. Four articles were about costs, 2 articles about Fukushima, 2 criticising small nuclear reactors, Articles warned on Saudi Arabia getting nuclear power, on China’s development. One article refuted the ”diamond battery”plan for nuclear wastes.

October 5, 2020 Posted by Christina MacPherson | 2 WORLD, media | Leave a comment

The safety of the world requires a nuclear-free planet

power: A gargantuan threat, Independent Australia By Karl Grossman | 4 October 2020, At the start of 2020, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved its Doomsday Clock to 100 seconds to midnight — the closest to midnight, doomsday, since the clock started in 1947.

There are two gargantuan threats — the climate crisis and nuclear weapons/nuclear power.

The only realistic way to secure a future for the world without nuclear war is for the entire planet to become a nuclear-free zone — no nuclear weapons, no nuclear power. A nuclear-free Earth.

How did India get an atomic bomb in 1974? Canada supplied a reactor and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission provided heavy water for it under the U.S. so-called “Atoms for Peace” program. From the reactor, India got the plutonium for its first nuclear weapon.

Any nation with a nuclear facility can use plutonium produced in it to construct nuclear arms.

Nuclear technology continues to spread around the world — a recent headline: ‘Trump Administration Spearheads International Push for Nuclear Power.’ Russia, despite Chernobyl, is pushing hard at selling nuclear plants.

Can the atomic genie be put back in the bottle? Anything people have done other people can undo. And the prospect of massive loss of life from nuclear destruction is the best of reasons.

There is a precedent: the outlawing of poison gas after World War I when its terrible impacts were tragically demonstrated, killing 90,000. The Geneva Protocol of 1925 and the Chemicals Weapons Convention of 1933 outlawed chemical warfare and to a large degree the prohibition has held.

There are major regions of the Earth – all of Africa and South America, the South Pacific and others – that are Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones based on the United Nations provision for such zones.

But if we are truly to have a world free of the horrific threat of nuclear arms, the goal needs to be more. A world free of the other side of the nuclear coin – nuclear power –is also necessary.

Radical? Yes, but consider the even more radical alternative: a world where many nations will be able to have nuclear weapons because they have nuclear technology. And the world continuing to try using carrots and sticks to try to stop nuclear proliferation — juggling on the road to nuclear catastrophe…………

It took decades of struggle to make the place where I live – Long Island, New York – nuclear-free. The Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant was stopped and the six to ten more the Long Island Lighting Company wanted to build, prevented. The two reactors at Brookhaven National Laboratory leaking radioactive tritium into its underground water table have been shut down.

On this 50th anniversary of Earth Day, let us strive for the goals of defeating global warming and having all the Earth nuclear-free. These are existential threats that must be overcome.

A version of this article was given as a presentation at the Long Island Earth Day 2020 Program on 21 September.

Karl Grossman is a full professor of journalism at the State University of New York. He is also an award-winning investigative reporter. Click here to go to Karl’s website. https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/nuclear-power-a-gargantuan-threat,14372

October 5, 2020 Posted by Christina MacPherson | 2 WORLD, oceans | Leave a comment

Debunking myths about saving the natural world

An Explorer Debunks 5 Myths About Saving The Earth,
National Geographic ecologist Enric Sala explains why protecting the planet is not a selfless act. Huffington Post , By Amanda Schupak 4 Oct 2o, ”…………. Sala picked apart five common misapprehensions about conservation for HuffPost. The following are his responses to each myth, edited for length and clarity.

Myth No. 1: Conservation is an altruistic, bleeding-heart pursuit.

Sala says: It’s a myth that conserving our life-support system is a luxury. Come on. Everybody’s so worried about the financial markets and the economy, but there is no economy without people. And there are no people without the natural world, because everything we need to survive — the oxygen we breathe, the food we eat, the clean water we drink — it’s produced by the work of other species. We cannot replicate any of the goods and services that nature gives us for free.

Myth No. 2: Conservation costs too much money.

Sala says: Actually, the lack of conservation costs more money. One example: the COVID-19 pandemic. Every single person on the planet has been affected by this. What is the cost of the pandemic? The International Monetary Fund estimated $9 trillion. Other estimates run as high as $15.8 trillion.

How much would it have cost to prevent this pandemic? Well, let’s look at the source of the epidemic: wildlife trade. In previous pandemics, it was also wildlife trade — moving species around the world like commodities — but also the destruction of their natural habitat. HIV, Ebola, SARS and many other infectious diseases have come from animals.

So, how much would it have cost to prevent the destruction of these places? We released an economic report this year that estimated that, on average, protecting what the science is telling us is the very minimum, which is 30% of the planet (land and sea), would cost $140 billion per year.

Is this a lot of money? Well, let’s compare it with a couple of things. One is how much money governments spend today to subsidize activities that actually destroy nature, like burning fossil fuels and industrial agriculture: hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars per year. So what it would cost to protect a third of our life-support system is only a fraction of what the governments of the world spend now to destroy it.

This $140 billion is less than what the world spends today on video games. So to people who say, “Well, can we afford it?” I would say that is the most disingenuous argument in the world. The question should be, “How can we afford not to?”

Myth No. 3: Ending deforestation is at odds with meeting humanity’s needs.

Sala says: We have let ourselves be hijacked by industries that monopolize the use of our land for just a single commodity, at the expense of all the other benefits that society gets if that land is not degraded. ………..

Myth No. 4: We cannot protect more of the ocean because we need to fish more.

Sala says: Today only 7% of the ocean is protected, and science is telling us that we need at least 30%. So why don’t we have more of the ocean protected? Because there is a conflict with fishing. We hear from the industrial fishing lobby that we need to fish more because we need to feed more people, but now we’re going to do it sustainably. Well, we reached peak fishing in the mid-’90s ― that was the maximum catch of wild fish and it’s been declining since. Eighty-two percent of fish stocks are overfished, meaning we’re taking them out of water faster than they can reproduce.

However, if we get at least 30% of the ocean protected [from fishing], the ocean actually would give us a net gain in fishing catch. In these areas where you don’t kill the fish, they take a longer time to die. They grow larger, they have more sex, they produce many more babies. So this helps to replenish the areas around these reserves. We protect the right 30% of the ocean, [then] actually fishing less, with less effort, we will catch more fish. So what’s not to like here?

Myth No. 5: Humans are separate from nature.

Sala says: We need to shift from our view of humans as masters of the universe and that everything is centered around us. We are one species living among millions of species of plants and animals and a trillion different types of microbes. And even though, ironically, the fate of all these species is in our hands, without them there will be no us, either. …… https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/explorer-debunks-myths-saving-earth_n_5f74de08c5b66377b27c92cc?ri18n=true

October 5, 2020 Posted by Christina MacPherson | 2 WORLD, environment | Leave a comment

Coastal flooding will disproportionately impact 31 million people globally

Indiana University researchers analyzed these geographic regions, which include cities like New Orleans, Bangkok, and Shanghai, using a new global dataset to determine how many people live on river deltas, how many are vulnerable to a 100-year storm surge event, and the ability of the deltas to naturally mitigate impacts of climate change.

October 5, 2020 Posted by Christina MacPherson | 2 WORLD, climate change | Leave a comment

Climate change responsible for record sea temperature levels, says study

Global warming is driving an unprecedented rise in sea temperatures including in the Mediterranean, according to a major new report published by the peer-reviewed Journal of Operational Oceanography

October 5, 2020 Posted by Christina MacPherson | general | Leave a comment

Severe floods in Italy and France

Many people missing in severe floods in Italy and France A storm hit southeastern France and northern Italy, leading to destroyed homes, bridges and blocked roads. Aljazeera ,Oct 2020

Flooding from record rains in the mountainous region that spans France and Italy killed two people in Italy and left at least 24 people missing in the two countries, authorities said on Saturday.

A storm which moved overnight across southeastern France, and then northern Italy caused major flooding on both sides of the border, damaging homes, destroying bridges, blocking roads and isolating communities………

Unrelenting rainfall overnight hit levels not seen since 1958 in northern Italy’s Piedmont region, where 630mm (24.8 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours, according to the Italian civil protection agency.

Two brothers were swept away by floodwaters while they were tending animals near the French border. One brother managed to grab onto a tree and was saved, while authorities were searching on the French side for the other brother.

Flooding in France

On the other side of the border, in southeastern France, almost a year’s average rainfall fell in less than 12 hours in the mountainous area surrounding the city of Nice.

Local firefighters said at least eight people were missing, including two firefighters whose vehicle was swept away by water when the road collapsed during a rescue operation. Several dozen people were evacuated from their homes overnight, firefighters said.

The storm, dubbed Alex, ravaged several villages around the city of Nice on the French Riviera. Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi called it the most severe flooding disaster in the area for more than a century after flying over the worst-hit area by helicopter.

“The roads and about 100 houses were swept away or partially destroyed,” he told French news channel BFM……. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/3/one-killed-25-missing-in-severe-floods-in-italy-and-france

October 5, 2020 Posted by Christina MacPherson | climate change, France | Leave a comment

State of New Mexico strngly objects to licensing og Holtec’s nuclear waste dump project

New Mexico objects to license for nuclear fuel storage plan, KRQE 23 Sept 20,
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The state of New Mexico is strongly objecting to federal nuclear regulators’ preliminary recommendation that a license be granted to build a multibillion-dollar storage facility for spent nuclear fuel from commercial power plants around the U.S.

State officials, in a letter submitted Tuesday to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said the site is geologically unsuitable and technical analysis has been inadequate so far. They also say regulators have failed to consider environmental justice concerns and have therefore fallen short of requirements spelled out by federal environmental laws.

The letter also reiterates the state’s concerns that the storage facility would become a permanent dumping ground for the spent fuel, as the federal government has no permanent plan for dealing with the waste that has been piling up at nuclear power plants.

The officials pointed to a legacy of contamination in New Mexico that includes uranium mining and milling and decades of nuclear research and bomb-making at national laboratories, saying minority and low-income populations already have suffered disproportionate health and environmental effects as a result.

Given the concerns, state officials wrote that a draft environmental review of the project “fails to demonstrate that residents of New Mexico, including vulnerable populations, will be adequately protected from exposure to the radioactive and toxic contaminants that could be released to air and water by the proposed action.”

A group of Democratic state lawmakers also raised concerns, sending separate comments to the commission that pointed to resolutions passed by a number of cities and counties in New Mexico and Texas that are opposed to building the facility……

The deadline to comment on draft environmental review was Tuesday. A study on the project’s impact on human safety is pending and will require another round of public comment.

New Jersey-based Holtec 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……..

ew Mexico officials blasted numerous elements of the proposal in the comments submitted this week. Among other concerns, the state said that without robust surety and warrant proposals, decommissioning and reclamation of the facility could end up being the state’s responsibility if Holtec should experience financial challenges or unplanned setbacks.

Another company also is seeking a license for a similar facility that would be located across the state line in West Texas…… https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/new-mexico-objects-to-license-for-nuclear-fuel-storage-plan/

October 5, 2020 Posted by Christina MacPherson | opposition to nuclear, wastes | Leave a comment

Ohio’s nuclear bailout law caused dissent and trouble for renewables industries

Revival of renewables sought in debate over nuclear bailout, imaohio.com, By Jim Provance – The (Toledo) Blade, 4 Oct 20, COLUMBUS — EDP Renewables North America, the world’s fourth-largest wind developer, invested more than $700 million into projects in Paulding and Hardin counties when Ohio first rolled out the red carpet.

But more recent signals from the state — including last year’s passage of the $1 billion bailout of two nuclear plants — have convinced the company to look elsewhere for its future investments.

“HB 6 created a false dichotomy — that Ohio must sacrifice a clean-energy future at the expense of its energy past,” Erin Bowser, EDP’s director of project management, on Wednesday told a House of Representatives select committee now considering repealing House Bill 6.

“But rather than pit technologies against each other, we encourage the state to leverage the strengths of each and maximize the contributions that can come from various energy sectors,” she said.

Most of the effects of the law at the heart of a $60 million Statehouse bribery scandal are set to take effect Jan. 1. The law generally creates or expands consumer-fueled subsidies for legacy nuclear and coal-fired power plants in Ohio and offsets those costs by rolling back and eliminating existing surcharges designed to create markets for renewable sources like wind and solar and reduce energy consumption overall.

House Bill 6 — and stricter property-line setback requirements separately enacted several years ago — have rolled up that red carpet first extended in 2008, Bowser said.

The House Select Committee on Energy Policy and Oversight, chaired by state Rep. Jim Hoops, R-Napoleon, whose district includes Putnam County, is considering two bills — separately introduced by Republicans and Democrats — that would outright repeal House Bill 6.

But the committee is also considering whether to replace the law, which has many moving parts that go well beyond the $1 billion, seven-year bailout of the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant near Oak Harbor and its sister Perry plant east of Cleveland.

The law also contains expanded customer subsidies through 2030 for two 1950s-era, coal-fired power plants in southern Ohio and across the border in Indiana that are owned by a consortium of utilities. American Electric Power holds the biggest share.

It also holds $20 million a year for five specific utility-scale solar projects in Hardin County and southern Ohio

The latter provision has caused a split within the Utility Scale Solar Energy Coalition of Ohio, an 18-member trade association for developers, manufacturers, and industry leaders.

“Some of our members benefited from the solar language in current law while others took a loss with the reduction in (the renewable power mandates),” said Jason Rafield, the group’s executive director. “Our members would support a return to the previous (renewable standards) because it’s good for the industry.”

But the projects that have received or been promised a piece of the $20 million solar pie under House Bill 6 don’t want to see that disappear.

Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, R-Glenford, and four of his allies face federal racketeering charges for allegedly using a non-profit corporation to launder some $60 million in “dark money” from FirstEnergy Corp. and related entities.

The money was used to help elect state representatives loyal to Householder, who then helped to elect him speaker in 2019. The new speaker then used his power to push through the law that would provide $150 million a year to support the two nuclear plants owned by a former FirstEnergy subsidiary now called Energy Harbor.

Once it became law, the funding scheme allegedly continued to fight successfully an effort to ask voters to repeal the law on this fall’s ballot. All of the defendants have been accused of diverting some of the money for their personal use……… https://www.limaohio.com/news/430030/revival-of-renewables-sought-in-debate-over-nuclear-bailout

October 5, 2020 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

”Peaceful” nuclear powerr for nuclear weaponry in space

US military eyes nuclear thermal rocket for missions in Earth-moon space, Space.com, By Mike Wall 1 Oct 20,

DARPA awarded a $14 million task order to help make it happen. The U.S. military aims to get a nuclear thermal rocket up and running, to boost its ability to monitor the goings-on in Earth-moon space.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) just awarded a $14 million task order to Gryphon Technologies, a company in Washington, D.C., that provides engineering and technical solutions to national security organizations.

The money will support DARPA’s Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program, whose main goal is to demonstrate a nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) system in Earth orbit. ……. https://www.space.com/darpa-nuclear-thermal-rocket-for-moon-contract

October 5, 2020 Posted by Christina MacPherson | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Chris Hedges: The Cost of Resistance — Rise Up Times

“The governing elites, when truly threatened, turn the rule of law into farce. Dissent becomes treason. They use the state mechanisms of control – intelligence agencies, police, courts, black propaganda and a compliant press that acts as their echo chamber, along with the jails and prisons, not only to marginalize and isolate rebels, but to psychologically and physically destroy them.”
Chris Hedges: The Cost of Resistance — Rise Up Times

October 5, 2020 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

October 4 Energy News — geoharvey

Opinion: ¶ “Trump’s Policies Indicate Love For Toxic And Deadly Pollution, Not Electric Vehicles” • When Trump claimed in the recent debate that “I think I’m all for electric cars, I’ve given big incentives for electric cars, but what they’ve done in California is just crazy,” I cracked up. Then I cried. That’s our president. […]
October 4 Energy News — geoharvey

October 5, 2020 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment