nuclear-news

Nuclear news this week – submarines and more

Well, this is something of an overdose on nuclear submarines. Sorry, because, important though they are , especially for Australia, they are not the only issue for this week. It’s getting closer to the COP26 climate summit  (31 October – 12 November 2021).  Research shows that children will face more climate disasters than their grandparents did.  Lord Stern and Mary Robinson are among  the key people warning that Cop26 climate talks will not fulfil the aims of the Paris agreement, but they still offer hope.  The nuclear issue is a huge threat, but the world is awakening – too late, really, to global heating, and struggling to find ways to address it..   Of course, the pandemic is still there too

 
Women to bring a wake-up call to a world facing nuclear annihilation. 2030 . Jane Goodall launches effort in support of planting 1 trillion trees by 2030 . Young global climate strikers vow change is coming – from the streets

‘Humanity remains unacceptably close to nuclear annihilation, says UN chief on International Day. Security Council marks 25th anniversary of Test Ban Treaty with call for nuclear weapons-free worldThe Record-Breaking Failures and Costs of Nuclear Power.

Plutonium: How Nuclear Power’s Dream Fuel Became a Nightmare..

Going nuclear: the secret submarine deal to challenge China, PODCAST  Vatican concerned over deal for Australian nuclear-powered subs.

Interaction of Nuclear Waste With the Environment More Complicated Than Previously Thought.

Bitcoin miners strike deals with nuclear industry [on the ”clean energy” lie].

Novel chemical entities: Are we sleepwalking through a planetary boundary?

JAPAN. LDP candidates debate on nuke power must be based on realities. Japan’s election campaign – Liberal Democratic Party candidates’ differing views on nuclear recycling. Nuclear submarine for Japan? Kono says yes, Kishida says no . Will Fukushima’s Water Dump Set a Risky Precedent?       More evac ation orders to be lifted in Fukushima for some areas.

FRANCE. AUKUS deal leaves France out of South East Asian security arrangement.

GERMANY. Climate change to loom large in talks to form new German government

  USA. 

•  Nuclear Consulting Group reports on the dangers of sea level rise and storm surges to military nuclear bases. 
•  AUKUS Sub Deal Could Sink USA’s Relations With France.
•   Pentagon forces out  Leonor Tomero, a top official with moderate views (they can’t have that!). Senator Markey calls on Biden administration for answers on removal of top Defense official Ms. Tomero. 
•   Veterans to President Biden: just say NO to nuclear war! Bold action needed on nuclear weapons . Democrat politicians, who get big donations from weapons corporations, vote against cuts to Pentagon spending. 
•  Nuclear lobby fan Jennifer Granholm wants ”unusual partnerships’‘ in order to save the nuclear industry. Jennifer Granholm and Westinghouse enthusiastic to sell ”clean” nuclear power to Poland.
•  ‘Fast Reactors’ Also Present a Fast Path to Nuclear Weapons
•  New push on to expand nuclear radiation compensation in US. Texas sues federal government to block nuclear waste facility along the New Mexico border. 
• CIA Reportedly Considered Kidnapping, Assassinating Julian Assange,

UK. 

•  No quick fix. Reducing demand is the key to energy supply. The gas crisis shows it’s time to speed up UK green energy plans ,
•   SNP and Greens vow to block new nuclear reactors in Scotland, ‘Lightning rod’ Trident decisions should require Scottish consent, says MSP.
• Protest against UK university‘s Nuclear Futures Institute, as nuclear suffers a new setback. 
• UK government close to deal for Regulated Asset Base (RAB) funding for Sizewell nuclear project. Uncertainty on how UK will exclude Chinese involvement in Sizewell and Bradwell nuclear projects. UK should think twice before ousting Chinese company from its nuclear project.    Sizewell C nuclear project no longer viable, with new developments in cheaper wind power- energy expert .      
•  Nuclear power for UK – slow, dangerous, exorbitantly expensive and useless to counter climate change. Far from being the solution to climate change, nuclear power will be a victim of global heating.

IRAN. Iran clearly wants to return to nuclear talks.   Iran and IAEA in new disagreement over nuclear monitoring.

NORTH KOREA. North Korea returns to its missile diplomacy.

UKRAINE. Chernobyl’s legacy recorded in trees.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Already the ‘‘nuclear for climate for COP26 ” deceitful propaganda is underway, with a ”clean energy certificate”.

GERMANY. In ageing Germany, the young get desperate over climate .

BRAZIL.  Brazil might get nuclear-powered submarines even before Australia.

AUSTRALIA.
Nuclear submarines. – what it’s about Why America is ecstatic about Morrison’s AUKUS pact. Much posturing, but little content, on how AUKUS, and the nuclear submarines, will work. An incompetent threesome – Morrison, Biden; Johnson – out of their depth on nuclear submarine decision.

International ramifications.  Talk of war with China reveals Australia’s delusions of grandeur.  What is the Quad?.   AUKUS and talk of conflict with China could torpedo COP26 climate summit.   AUKUS and confronting China throws fuel on the fire of Indo-Pacific tensions – an accelerating arms race will follow. France and other NATO members perturbed at the AUKUS agreement. Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the defensive as Europe and South-East Asian countries react badly to AUKUS and the nuclear submarines. “Rolling amateur hour”: Kevin Rudd lashes Scott Morrison’s handling of nuclear subs deal.   

Deception and politics. Morrison and cronies have really botched this nuclear submarine deal. Deceived’: France says it had assurances from Australia on day subs deal cancelled. The Federal government’s nuclear submarine promotion masks a huge mess of its own making. Former Labor PM Paul Keating castigates Labor for supporting the Liberals’ AUKUS and submarine deal.

Highly Enriched Fuel (HEF) and related problems.  AUKUS, nuclear submarines, Highly Enriched Uranium and weapons proliferation.   .  Nuclear submarines – a step towards full nuclear chain, importing wastes, and joining in USA nuclear brinkmanship.    . Nuclear submarines must be ‘subject to rigorous parliamentary review’: Senator Rex Patrick.

Financial aspects. USA has conned Australia into paying for its super-costly nuclear submarine project. The massive subsidy to nuclear submarines must not be used to justify subsidy to nuclear power.   

Opposition to programme Former subs boss blasts ‘hocus pocus’ nuclear deal. Maritime and electrical trades unions stand against nuclear submarines.   Australia’s Nuclear-Sub Shakeup Hits Shipbuilding Supply Chain. Submarine shift puts thousands of jobs at risk: unions. No nuclear submarines, say protesters.

September 29, 2021 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment