Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – theme for January 2021
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first international ban on nuclear weapons, will take full legal effect on Jan. 22, 2021.
It joins the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention as a treaty prohibiting weapons of mass destruction . It joins those international agreements that prohibit and eliminate weapons based on their humanitarian harm. The treaty has widespread support in the international community — 122 countries voted for its adoption in 2017, and these countries have continued to express their support for the treaty .
The Traty is not merely symbolic. It prohibits states parties from developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, transferring, possessing, stockpiling, using (or threatening to use) nuclear weapons, or allowing nuclear weapons to be stationed on their territory. It also prohibits states parties from assisting, encouraging, or inducing states to engage in any of these prohibited activities.
A NATO State may join the Treaty and remain in the alliance as long as that state renounces participation in the nuclear dimension of the alliance and indicates that it does not support activities prohibited by the treaty.
About compliance concerns in the Treaty. international treaties reinforce norms and provide a forum to discuss and condemn violations of international standards for peace and security.
The treaty will continue to grow and integrate into the international system well beyond its entry into force in January and first meeting of states parties. The norm established by previous weapons prohibitions impacted banks, companies, and government policies in countries that had not joined the treaty, and the same can be expected for the nuclear prohibition norm.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will impact the norm against nuclear weapons and in the meantime will provide concrete assistance for victims of nuclear weapons use and testing and contribute to remediating radiologically contaminated areas.
These notes adapted from https://warontherocks.com/2020/11/five-common-mistakes-on-the-treaty-on-the-prohibition-of-nuclear-weapons/
Law and Disorder: The case of Julian Assange
In the case of Julian Assange, what is on trial is nothing less than our right to know what is done by governments in our name, and our capacity to hold power to account.
Law and Disorder: The case of Julian Assange, DiEM25, By Pam Stavropoulos | 10/12/2020,
What kind of law allows pursuit of charges under the 1917 United States Espionage Act — for which there is no public interest defence — against a journalist who is a foreign national?
The closing argument of the defence in the extradition hearing of WikiLeaks founder and publisher Julian Assange has been filed. For this and other reasons it is apposite to consider the authority invested in the law before which, in democratic societies, we are ostensibly all equal.
In fact, notwithstanding the familiar claims of objectivity (and as `everybody knows’ in Leonard Cohen’s famous lyric) the reality is somewhat different. Jokes about the law attest to this:
‘One law for the rich…’
‘Everyone has the right to their day in court — if they can pay for it’
‘What’s the difference between a good lawyer and a great one? A good lawyer knows the law. A great lawyer knows the judge’
The term ‘legal fiction’ calls into question the relationship between law, objectivity, and truth. On the one hand, law is the essential pillar of a functioning society. On the other, it is replete with anomalies both in conception and execution. To what extent can these perspectives be reconciled? High stakes are attached to this question.
Questioning claims of objectivity in the context of law.
Britain: Controversial funding arrangements for unnecessary Sizewell C nuclear project ?
 Sizewell C: government reignites £20bn nuclear power station row, Talks with EDF could lead to energy customers being charged for construction costs, Guardian, Jillian Ambrose Energy Energy correspondent, Tue 15 Dec 2020 The government has reignited a row over Britain’s nuclear energy ambitions by agreeing to restart talks with EDF over plans to build a reactor at Sizewell C in Suffolk.The talks could lead to the government taking a direct financial stake in the project before the end of the current parliamentary term in 2024, and using a new financial model that would make the public liable for cost overruns.
The formal negotiations over the £20bn nuclear plant will hinge on whether the French state-owned EDF can prove it has learned lessons from its Hinkley Point nuclear project in Somerset, and that a successor plant would offer the public value for money. If it succeeds it may be offered a multi-billion-pound deal that allows it to charge energy customers for the cost of construction while it builds the reactor, effectively putting bill payers on the hook for delays or cost overruns. Ed Miliband, Labour’s shadow business secretary, accused the government of “kicking big decisions into touch” and failing to offer a “definitive statement today one way or the other on financing, costs or an overall plan. The decision to restart talks is also expected to reopen a debate over whether nuclear energy can offer good value for money, and whether the UK needs new nuclear reactors to help meet a steep rise in demand for low-carbon electricity to power a boom in electric vehicles, induction hobs and heat pumps. …….. The decision to restart formal negotiations follows a hiatus in talks that have been dogged by concerns over cost, and the involvement of China General Nuclear Power (CGN), which owns 20% of the project. But environmental campaigners, including Greenpeace, have warned that nuclear reactors are “unnecessary” and expensive compared with renewable energy combined with battery storage technology. The community group Stop Sizewell added that the reactor posed a risk to the natural habitats along the Suffolk coast and the nearby Minsmere nature reserve. ……. The government said it would only consider playing a greater role in the Sizewell project if there was “clear value for money for consumers and taxpayers”. It is also planning to back a new generation of small modular nuclear reactors, or “mini nukes”, which can be built at a lower cost…… https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/dec/14/sizewell-c-government-talks-nuclear-power-station-edf-suffolk |
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European Leadership Network appeals to nuclear weapons States to reduce nuclear risks
Group statement | 14 December 2020
European Leadership Network ELN Group Statement: Appeal for P5 states to reduce nuclear weapons risks.
Over the past decade, geopolitical relations among the major powers have deteriorated and the threshold of nuclear use has lowered due to the near-total erosion of arms control, the modernisation of nuclear arsenals in all P5 states as well as a move, by some P5 states, to include “limited nuclear use” in their national security strategies. These developments, and the fiftieth anniversary of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty’s entry-into-force, are stark reminders of the risks stemming from nuclear weapons.
Against this strained security environment, the ELN has issued a group statement, signed by 140 security experts from 30 countries, calling upon the five recognised nuclear-weapon states by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States (the P5) – to launch a sustained, open-ended and regular panel on strategic risk reduction.
Full statement reproduced below……….. (Many signatories from many States ) https://www.europeanleadershipnetwork.org/group-statement/eln-group-statement-appeal-for-p5-states-to-reduce-nuclear-weapons-risks/
Investigation of mass alterations of data on nuclear safety by Japanese company
 Japanese nuclear power firm inspected following mass data alterations https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20201214/p2a/00m/0na/012000c December 14, 2020 (Mainichi Japan) TOKYO — Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) launched an on-site inspection at the Japan Atomic Power Co.’s head office in Tokyo on Dec. 14 after it was learned earlier this year that the firm rewrote data related to safety reviews necessary to restart its Tsuruga Power Station Unit 2 in central Japan.
The nuclear watchdog will check related documents and interview Japan Atomic Power employees, based on the nuclear regulation law, through Dec. 15. It is rare for the NRA to make an on-site inspection of a company over issues related to safety reviews. At around 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 14, workers of the Secretariat of the Nuclear Regulation Authority entered the building in the capital’s Taito Ward housing the Japan Atomic Power head office. The NRA apparently plans to also conduct an inspection on the trouble-ridden power station’s No. 2 unit located in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, depending on how the probe at the head office develops. NRA Chairman Toyoshi Fuketa has said, “We hope to clarify the Japan Atomic Power’s vision through the inspection.” Regarding Tsuruga Power Station Unit 2, it has been pointed out that there lies an active fault directly beneath the reactor building, which Japan Atomic Power has argued against, claiming that it’s not an active fault line. If it is determined that an active fault runs beneath the building, the firm will not be able to restart the power station. The NRA had temporarily halted its safety review of the Tsuruga plant’s No. 2 unit after finding 80 data alterations and deletions in documents related to the power plant’s geological condition. (Japanese original by Hisashi Tsukamoto, Science and Environment News Department) |
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USA House Armed Servcies Chairman very sceptical of New Plutonium “Pit” Plans for Nuclear Warheads
New Plutonium “Pit” Plans for Nuclear Warheads Questioned by House Armed Servcies Chairman, Doubts NNSA Competency, EIN Presswire, NEWS PROVIDED BY Savannah River Site Watch, December 14, 2020, 1Chairman of the powerful House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith, casts doubt on plans for expanding plutonium pit production for nuclear weapons at SRS
COLUMBIA, SC, US, December 14, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ — Chairman of House Armed Services Committee Reveals Great Skepticism in NNSA’s Ability to Covert Terminated Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Facility at DOE’s Savannah River Site into Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP), Refers to $6 Billion Project as Potential “Rat Hole”
Representative Adam Smith Asserts that Failed Plutonium Fuel (MOX) Project at SRS is “Pretty Close to White Collar Crime”. The powerful chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Representation Adam Smith, has raised great doubt about the U.S. Department of Energy’s ability to pull off the project at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina to produce plutonium “pits,” or cores, for nuclear warheads.
In an on-line presentation on December 11 with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Rep. Smith (D-WA) expressed deep concern in the ability of the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to pull off the project to convert the partially finished plutonium fuel (MOX) plant, halted in 2017, into the proposed Plutonium Bomb Plant (PBP) at SRS. The event featured Rep. Smith talking about nuclear weapons matters coming before Congress in 2021. The transcript of the event was released late in the afternoon of December 11.
The skepticism of Rep. Smith about pit production at SRS was based in part on his continued concern about NNSA’s role in the failed MOX project at SRS: “Because the thing that really sticks in my craw on this basic competency issue is the Savannah River Site and the MOX facility. OK, that is pretty close to white collar crime, all right?” The public interest group Savannah River Site Watch believes Congress should follow through and conduct investigations into the MOX debacle.
Smith’s comments on pit production at SRS were harsh and, noting the mismanaged construction of the MOX building, said “So I am highly skeptical that they’re going to be able to turn that building into an effective pit production facility – highly skeptical.” He reiterated skepticism in NNSA’s ability and said “I am highly skeptical of the level of competence within the NNSA.”
Concerning the potential monetary waste on the pit project at SRS, Rep. Smith recognized parochial financial interests near SRS pushing for the pit project at the site and said “But if they’re going to have that say, they’d better not use that say to take $6 billion and dump it down a rat hole in South Carolina. That’s what I would argue.”…..
Los Alamos, which has not been able to produce its mandated 20 pits per year, is slated to make 30 or more pits per year by 2026 and SRS, which has zero pit experience and little recent experience handling plutonium, is being presented with the daunting challenge to produce 50 or more pits per year by 2030……. https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/532745444/new-plutonium-pit-plans-for-nuclear-warheads-questioned-by-house-armed-servcies-chariman-doubts-nnsa-competency
Iran’s Rouhani: No conditions or negotiations on nuclear deal
Iran’s Rouhani: No conditions or negotiations on nuclear deal
The US tried to include Iran’s missile programme and regional issues in the original nuclear deal but it is non-negotiable, president says. Aljazeera, By Maziar Motamedi, 14 Dec 2020, Tehran, Iran – President Hassan Rouhani said Iran will not accept any preconditions in returning to the nuclear deal it signed with world powers and will not negotiate its missiles programme or regional activities.
The United States and European powers have said in recent weeks they remain committed to revitalising the nuclear deal – formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – which outgoing US President Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned in 2018……….. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/14/irans-rouhani-no-conditions-or-negotiations-on-nuclear-deal
China has 350 nuclear warheads, compared to USA and Russia’s many thousands of them
The report, written by Hans Kristensen, the director at the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, and Matt Korda, a research associate at FAS, arrived at the number by counting both operational warheads and newer weapons “still in development.”…….
the report noted that the size of the Chinese nuclear stockpile is still significantly below that of the United States and Russia, which have thousands of nuclear weapons in their respective stockpiles. The authors wrote that claims by the Trump administration’s special envoy for arms control, Marshall Billingslea, that China is striving for a form of “nuclear parity” with the U.S. and Russia “appears to have little basis in reality.”
It also added that China has traditionally maintained a low alert level for its nuclear forces, with most warheads at a central storage facility and smaller numbers kept in regional equivalents…….
China refers to its nuclear posture as at a “moderate state of alert,” with the report suggesting that in peacetime this “might involve designated units to be deployed in high combat-ready condition with nuclear warheads in nearby storage sites under control of the Central Military Commission that could be released to the unit quickly if necessary.” https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2020/12/14/report-estimates-chinese-nuclear-stockpile-at-350-warheads/
David and Goliath fight to repeal crooked nuclear plant bailouts in Ohio
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Why Ohio Lawmakers Are Rethinking Recent Nuclear Power Plant Bailouts, NPR , December 14, 2020
Heard on Morning Edition
ANDY CHOW RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: Lawmakers in Ohio are looking at repealing a nuclear power plant bailout that was passed last year. Federal investigators are linking the passage of the bill to the biggest corruption case in the state’s history. Here’s Ohio Public Radio’s Andy Chow. ANDY CHOW, BYLINE: Ohio’s sweeping energy law that bailed out two of the state’s nuclear power plants is now tied to a $61 million bribery scheme. It’s an alleged web of conspiracy entangling the speaker of the House, a huge energy company and the state’s top utilities regulator. Let’s go back to 2017. The U.S. Department of Justice says that’s when Republican State Representative Larry Householder hashed out a plan with a utility company, not directly named but believed to be FirstEnergy. That plan was a quid pro quo. Householder would get money to help him become speaker, and FirstEnergy would get a bailout of its nuclear power plants. From 2017 to 2018, Householder was backed by millions of dollars in so-called dark money used to elect his allies in House races around the state.
Fast-forward to January 2019. Those allies elect Householder as speaker, and he then rolls out a plan for a billion-dollar nuclear power plant bailout, the money coming from ratepayers. Rachael Belz, a ratepayer advocate with Ohio Consumers Power Alliance, says something smelled fishy.RACHAEL BELZ: It seemed an awful lot like a real setup. It was never more apparent than HB6 and even heading into it that we were David and they were Goliath……….. https://www.npr.org/2020/12/14/946189606/why-ohio-lawmakers-are-reconsidering-nuclear-power-plant-bailouts. |
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UK’s Sizewell nuclear project could be a costly fiasco like Hinkley Point C
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Britain must tread with caution on new nuclear
The country’s first power plant in over 20 years is costly and late,THE EDITORIAL BOARD, Ft.com, 14 Dec 20, The government cannot afford a repeat of what happened with Hinkley Point. Thanks to spiralling construction costs and a controversial support system that guaranteed EDF and its junior partner, China’s CGN, a steep price for the electricity, it has become one of the most expensive nuclear reactor projects in the world. Under the 2013 deal, the coalition government agreed a price of £92.50 per megawatt hour for the electricity — at the time, close to double the wholesale price. The price is also indexed to inflation. Since then, the cost of renewables has plummeted, making Hinkley Point look even more expensive. ….. https://www.ft.com/content/b528ba1c-3e29-4472-89ef-6627b60b6b0c
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UK Sizewell nuclear project could be a costly fiasco like Hikley Point C
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Britain must tread with caution on new nuclear
The country’s first power plant in over 20 years is costly and late,THE EDITORIAL BOARD, Ft.com, 14 Dec 20 The government cannot afford a repeat of what happened with Hinkley Point. Thanks to spiralling construction costs and a controversial support system that guaranteed EDF and its junior partner, China’s CGN, a steep price for the electricity, it has become one of the most expensive nuclear reactor projects in the world. Under the 2013 deal, the coalition government agreed a price of £92.50 per megawatt hour for the electricity — at the time, close to double the wholesale price. The price is also indexed to inflation. Since then, the cost of renewables has plummeted, making Hinkley Point look even more expensive. ….. https://www.ft.com/content/b528ba1c-3e29-4472-89ef-6627b60b6b0c
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No “green light” for £20bn Sizewell nuclear project, but the UK govt “in talks” with EDF
Sizewell C: Government in talks to fund £20bn nuclear plant, BBC , By Roger Harrabin & Simon Read, 14 Dec 20, The government has begun talks with EDF about the construction of a new £20bn nuclear power plant in Suffolk…….. it has proved controversial with campaigners saying it is “ridiculously expensive” and that taxpayers will have to foot the bill for extra costs.
The government said any deal would be subject to approval on areas such as value for money and affordability.,,,,,,
The government said talks with EDF about Sizewell C would depend on the progress of the Hinkley Point C. However, that project is set to cost up to £2.9bn more than originally thought and will be up to 15 months late.
China General Nuclear Power has a 20% stake in Sizewell C but is thought to be planning to pull out after security concerns were raised about a Chinese state-owned company designing and running its own design nuclear reactor on UK soil…….
If it does pull out, it would increase the need for new investors. One option could be for the government to take a stake in the plant……
“We are starting negotiations with EDF, it is not a green light on the construction,” Business and Energy Secretary Alok Sharma told the BBC’s Today programme. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55299511
1 This Month.
5 January -Webinar-What is Trump’s Golden Dome?
REGISTER AT Massachusetts Peace Action Education
New book – https://www.amazon.com/dp/1923372157?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Now until to February 10, 2026 Radioactive waste storage in France: the debate is finally open! How to participate?
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