Pentagon calls on corporations for nuclear-powered propulsion for its satellites
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General Atomics, Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin are the prime contractors on that effort
Pentagon taps industry for nuclear-powered propulsion for its satellitesBy Nathan Strout WASHINGTON — The Department of Defense is looking to industry for nuclear-powered propulsion technology to drive its spacecraft, freeing them from the low-energy limitations of current electric and solar-based propulsion systems.
……. DIU’s government customers are looking for lightweight, long-lasting commercial nuclear power solutions that can provide greater propulsion and electric power for small and medium-sized spacecraft. Interested companies that can show a plan for prototype development within three to five years could be awarded other transaction authority contracts to support laboratory-based prototyping of such systems, followed by a path to flight-based testing.
This isn’t the military’s first time dipping its toe into developing nuclear-powered spacecraft. Most recently, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency issued contracts to three companies in April to design a nuclear thermal propulsion system for space. The program, known as the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations, seeks to build nuclear thermal propulsion that can enable rapid maneuver in space, particularly for cislunar operations.
General Atomics, Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin are the prime contractors on that effort………. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2021/09/10/pentagon-taps-industry-for-nuclear-powered-propulsion-for-its-satellites/
BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) reaffirmed commitment to preventing an arms race in space.
BRICS countries reaffirm commitment to preventing arms race in space, https://tass.com/science/1335943“We stand together for the long-term sustainability of outer space activities and enhancing safety of space operations through implementation and development of the relevant UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space guidelines,” the leaders noted in the New Delhi Declaration,
NEW DELHI, September 9. /TASS/. BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) reaffirmed commitment to preventing an arms race in space in the New Delhi Declaration adopted at the 13th BRICS summit on Thursday.
“We confirm the commitment to ensure prevention of an arms race in outer space and its weaponization, and the long-term sustainability of outer space activities, including through the adoption of a relevant multilateral legally binding instrument. In this regard, we note the draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat or Use of Force against Outer Space Objects,” the document reads.
“We stand together for the long-term sustainability of outer space activities and enhancing safety of space operations through implementation and development of the relevant UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) guidelines,” the leaders pointed out.
U.S., Japan, S.Korea to meet over N.Korea nuclear standoff
U.S., Japan, S.Korea to meet over N.Korea nuclear standoff, By Josh Smith SEOUL, Sept 10 (Reuters) – Officials from the United States, South Korea and Japan will hold a meeting on North Korea next week in Tokyo, South Korea’s foreign ministry confirmed on Friday.
The three countries have been discussing ways to break a standoff with North Korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, which have drawn international sanctions.
……………. U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has said it will explore diplomacy to achieve North Korean denuclearisation, but has shown no willingness to ease sanctions.
…… Pyongyang has also said it is open to diplomacy, but that it sees no sign of policy changes from the United States, citing issues such as sanctions as well as joint military drills with South Korea.Reporting by Josh Smith and Hyonhee Shin in Seoul and David Brunnstrom in Washiington; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Alistair Bell https://www.reuters.com/world/us-japan-skorea-meet-over-nkorea-nuclear-standoff-2021-09-10/
Mururoa nuclear test veterans fight for their children and grandchildren
Mururoa nuclear test veterans fight for their children and grandchildren, Stuff Jimmy Ellingham, Sep 11 2021 Forty-eight years after 500 Kiwi sailors were sent to French Polynesia to protest French nuclear testing in the Pacific the effects on their health and families continue to reverberate.
Those aboard the HMNZS Otago and HMNZS Canterbury were several dozen kilometres away from the atmospheric tests they witnessed at Mururoa Atoll.
The sailors drank, washed in and cleaned their clothes in desalinated water from the fallout zone, and the ships’ decks were washed down with it.
In 2020, an Otago University study of 83 sailors and 65 children published in the New Zealand Medical Journal found they were at higher risk of transferring genetic illnesses across generations.
The research found 30 per cent of veterans had cancer and 31 per cent joint problems. Among their children, 40 per cent reported fertility problems, while many chose not to have offspring of their own because their fathers were exposed to radiation.
The veterans can get help or certain health conditions. Their descendants can’t get anything.
The Mururoa Nuclear Veterans Group, an incorporated society representing the men from the two frigates and HMAS Supply, is working to change this.
Retired Rear Admiral Jack Steer, who didn’t serve at Mururoa but works with the group to advocate for veterans, said children and grandchildren were affected by their fathers and grandfathers being exposed to radiation on the protest mission.
The group wants to see as many veterans and descendants as possible tested to see if there is a link.
“A number of the veterans have died of various forms of cancer and some of them are very unwell. They believe they were eradiated. This test will prove beyond reasonable doubt whether they were.”
The group wanted to collect blood samples, so they’re available for scrutiny as science advances. It’s a costly process. Each sample costed $117, although the group had secured a place to store them, Steer said.
The group was hoping to secure government funding for testing, as had happened for Operation Grapple veterans, who witnesses British nuclear testing in the Pacific in the 1950s.
Steer said the Mururoa veterans weren’t after compensation.
“What they want is that testing proves that their children and grandchildren were exposed to radiation or affected by their dads’ exposure to radiation.”
The group had recently secured $50,000 funding from the Returned and Services’ Association to start the testing project……. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300404527/mururoa-nuclear-test-veterans-fight-for-their-children-and-grandchildren
Thorium fuel has risks
Thorium fuel has risks
- Stephen F. Ashley,
- Geoffrey T. Parks,
- William J. Nuttall,
- Colin Boxall &
- Robin W. Grimes Nature 5 Dec 2012
Simple chemical pathways open up proliferation possibilities for the proposed nuclear ‘wonder fuel’, warn Stephen F. Ashley and colleagues.
Thorium is being touted as a potential wonder fuel. Proponents believe that this element could be used in a new generation of nuclear-power plants to produce relatively safe, low-carbon energy with more resistance against potential nuclear-weapons proliferation than uranium. Although thorium offers some benefits, we contend that the public debate is too one-sided: small-scale chemical reprocessing of irradiated thorium can create an isotope of uranium that could be used in nuclear weapons, raising proliferation concerns.
Naturally-occurring thorium is made up almost entirely of thorium-232, an isotope that is unable to sustain nuclear fission. When bombarded with neutrons, thorium is converted through a series of decays into uranium-233, which is fissile and long-lived — its half-life is 160,000 years. A side product is uranium-232, which decays into other isotopes that give off intense γ-radiation that is difficult to shield against. Spent thorium fuel is typically difficult to handle and thus resistant to proliferation.
We are concerned, however, that other processes, which might be conducted in smaller facilities, could be used to convert 232Th into 233U while minimizing contamination by 232U, thus posing a proliferation threat. Notably, the chemical separation of an intermediate isotope — protactinium-233 — that decays into 233U is a cause for concern.
Thorium is not a route to a nuclear future that is free from proliferation risks. Policies should be strengthened around thorium’s use in declared nuclear activities, and greater vigilance is needed to protect against surreptitious activities involving this element.
Protactinium pathway
Continue readingWe must listen to young people on the climate crisis as-they will inherit the earth if theres anything left of it
Here in Scotland 50 young activists from across the country have joined
forces to create an official COP26 Youth Climate Programme. The initiative
has been designed to equip other young Scots with the knowledge, skills and
confidence to engage with proceedings at the conference. With Scottish
Government support, it will see youngsters from all backgrounds and regions
come together to take part in tailored training schemes.
Scotsman 10th Sept 2021
Planned UK-Australia trade deal – a dangerous precedent for climate change policy
Green groups and opposition MPs have responded angrily to news the UK
government has agreed to drop binding climate targets from the planned
UK-Australia trade deal, accusing Ministers of “a massive betrayal of our
country and our planet”.
Greenpeace’s John Sauven offered a withering
assessment of the government’s decision, warning that it set a dangerous
precedent for future trade deals with other carbon intensive nations. “It
will be a race to the bottom, impacting on clean tech sectors and farmers’
livelihoods. There should be a moratorium on trade deals with countries
like Australia until they improve on their weak climate targets and end
deforestation. At the moment the public and parliament are being duped by
the Prime Minister into thinking this deal is great for Britain when in
reality nothing could be further from the truth.”
Business Green 9th Sept 2021
Earthquake risks for proposed coal mine in Cumbria, all too close to Sellafield nuclear site
Geotechnical experts have urged caution over claims from a campaign group
that the proposed Cumbrian coal mine could cause earthquakes. Before the
start of the public inquiry into the mine – which began yesterday –
campaign group Radiation Free Lakeland said that the development poses
induced earthquake and subsidence risk. The group believes that “mining
induced seismicity is likely to occur” at the coal mine, and also
emphasised that nuclear waste site Sellafield is 8km away.
“The majority
of anthropogenic-related earthquakes were caused by coal mining and the
decline in their numbers from the 1980s to the 2000s was concurrent with a
decline in UK coal production,” Radiation Free Lakeland said. “The coal
mine will induce earthquakes in the vicinity of the world’s riskiest
nuclear site – that is a given – let’s hope and pray that the massive
silence from NGOs over the nuclear elephant in the room does not give the
government (who are employing the coal boss) wriggle room to approve the
coal mine.
“We urge all those speaking against the mine at the public
inquiry to give at least a mention to the fact that this coal mine would
mine out voids faster than any previous coal mine in UK history and would
induce earthquakes and cause subsidence in the Irish Sea and Sellafield
area.” Geotechnical specialist Clive Edmonds said that “in principle,
mining can induce low magnitude, shallow depth earthquake activity”.
“Such activity has been noted in many former coal field areas where
several different depth coal seams underlying each other were extracted in
close proximity to fault lines,” he said.
However, Edmonds emphasised
that “whether and to what degree” the Cumbrian coal mine will cause
earthquake activity “will depend upon the specific mine design and
development plan over time taking account of the known regional structural
geology”.
New Civil Engineer 8th sept 2021
Texas Legislature passes Bill to prevent import and storage of high level nuclear waste
A bill passed by the Texas Legislature could ban the storage of high-level
nuclear waste in the state and could prove a path to similar efforts in
neighboring New Mexico. House Bill 7 was passed by the Texas House of
Representatives on an 119-3 vote Sept. 2 and unanimously by the Texas
Senate. The bill was sent to Gov. Greg Abbott for a signature and which
would create a new state law. If enacted, the bill would expressly prohibit
the state from issuing permits to construct or operate a facility to store
nuclear waste within the state, with the exception of existing nuclear
facilities like power plants that store the waste on-site.
Carlsbad Current Argus 9th Sept 2021
West Cumbria Mining Unconvincingly Play Down Seismic Impacts of their Mine — RADIATION FREE LAKELAND
Originally posted on Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole: Windscale (now Sellafield) Nuclear Emergency 10 October 1957 – Will West Cumbria Mining Be The Catalyst For the Next Nuclear Emergency? New Civil Engineer Full Report : below are extracts from yesterday’s article in New Civil Engineer “Cumbrian coal mine | Geotech experts play down earthquake…
West Cumbria Mining Unconvincingly Play Down Seismic Impacts of their Mine — RADIATION FREE LAKELAND
Month 9 Energy News — geoharvey
Opinion: ¶ “Is This Controversial Money Manager And Tesla Bull Changing The Face Of Wall Street?” • In a profile in the New York Times, Matt Phillips calls Cathie Wood, the founder and CEO of investment management firm Ark Invest, “the most influential investor at work in the markets today,” and gives her credit for […]
Month 9 Energy News — geoharvey
USA Bill to protect journalists – EXCEPT FOR JULIAN ASSANGE
press freedom advocates, while supportive of the press freedom bill, said that the legislation would yield the biggest impact if the U.S. followed its own policies.
“Anytime we, or the U.S. government, or members of Congress are talking about press freedom internationally, it’s, in my mind, a good thing,” said Trevor Timm, co-founder and executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. “But for any of that advocacy to be remotely effective, it’s important for the U.S. to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.”
PRESS FREEDOM BILL WOULD PROTECT JOURNALISTS FACING PERSECUTION — BUT NOT JULIAN ASSANGE https://theintercept.com/2021/09/08/julian-assange-international-press-freedom-act/ 8 Sept21,
Senators say they want to protect foreign journalists from government aggression. But what happens when the U.S. is the aggressor? Rose Adams
September 8 2021, EARLIER THIS YEAR, just days before World Press Freedom Day, Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., joined forces to introduce the International Press Freedom Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill to protect at-risk journalists working in highly censored countries. The legislation is predicated on the idea that the United States is a uniquely safe place for journalists — but that notion doesn’t always hold up under scrutiny.
Introduced on April 29, the International Press Freedom Act is one of at least three press freedom bills that Congress has considered since Saudi authorities killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018. But while other bills have proposed piecemeal protections — such as sanctions on restrictive governments or a government office for threatened journalists — Kaine and Graham’s bill takes a more comprehensive approach. In addition to directing State Department funds toward investigating and prosecuting crimes against journalists abroad, the law would create a new visa category for threatened reporters and open a State Department office with a $30 million annual fund to help journalists report safely or relocate.
Press advocacy groups such as the Committee to Protect Journalists have praised Kaine and Graham’s bill, claiming that the legislation would “bolster U.S. foreign diplomacy on global press freedom.” In a statement, Kaine emphasized the U.S.’s responsibility to spread its free speech ethos.
“Enshrined in both our Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, press freedom is a core American value that we must constantly promote around the globe,” he said in a press release. “With this bill, our country will let journalists know that we will protect their right to report and offer safe harbor when they are threatened.”
But that safe harbor doesn’t seem to apply to foreign journalists the U.S. government itself has threatened. For years, the Justice Department has worked to extradite and prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for publishing Army war logs provided by Chelsea Manning in 2010, and increased the pressure following his 2016 publication leaked Democratic Party emails that the Justice Department said were hacked by Russia. And though the government’s extradition efforts are inching closer to fruition amid several U.S. appeals, Kaine and Graham have remained silent.
Continue readingPharyngeal cancer recognized as work-related injury for two convergence workers after Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident
September 09, 2011
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) has recognized the causal relationship between the cancer and the work, and certified it as a work-related accident.
This is the first time that pharyngeal cancer has been recognized as an occupational injury related to the convergence work of the nuclear power plant accident.
The two victims were a man in his 60s who worked for TEPCO, and a man who worked for a subcontractor who developed the disease in his 40s and later died.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, after the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March 2011, the two men worked on the premises of the plant, removing debris and measuring radiation levels.
However, in December 2018 and January of last year, they both developed pharyngeal cancer and applied for workers’ compensation.
The two men were exposed to about 85 millisieverts and 44 millisieverts, respectively, during their work at the plant.
A panel of experts from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare recognized a causal relationship between the two workers’ radiation doses and their cancer, as their radiation doses exceeded 100 millisieverts, which is the standard for certification.
This is the first time that pharyngeal cancer has been recognized as an occupational injury related to the convergence work of the nuclear power plant accident.
Since the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, six workers have been recognized as suffering from leukemia, thyroid cancer, and lung cancer.
Energy Markets Bet Against Nuclear As Election Nears In Japan
Energy Markets Bet Against Nuclear As Election Nears In Japan, Oil Price, By Haley Zaremba – Sep 08, 2021 Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga shocked the world on Friday when he announced that he will be stepping down and declining to seek re-election after serving one term. ………
one candidate has emerged as a major frontrunner. ….. Taro Kono served as the minister in charge of battling Covid-19 in Japan. It is looking likely that Kono will garner the support of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), whose majority in the Japanese parliament ensures that any candidate who heads the party will ultimately win the race for Prime Minister. Kono emerged as the clear frontrunner in Japanese media polls over the weekend that asked respondents to indicate their preferred leader.
It remains to be seen whether Taro Kono will take the helm of Japan, but if he sticks to his guns, the Japanese nuclear energy sector could soon recede into the rearview.
In addition to being known for his role in combating the novel coronavirus pandemic, Kono is also a noted anti-nuclear advocate with a long history of outspoken dissent about the nuclear energy that currently represents a fifth of Japan’s energy mix. Due to this history, the news of Kono’s ascent toward the Prime Minister position on Monday has already sent shockwaves through Japan’s energy markets.
So far, renewable energy markets are winning big. “Frenzied buying from retail traders sent Japan’s renewable energy stocks soaring Monday,” in response to Kono’s emergence as a top contender according to reporting from Bloomberg. Solar and biomass power company Renova Inc. saw its stock increase by 15% while solar firm West Holdings Co. hit an all-time high after its stocks jumped 9%. These gains came at a cost to nuclear energy firms and power companies, and Kansai Electric Power Co. stocks notably dropped 2.7%.
Although the markets have already spoken, it remains to be seen whether Kono will stick to his staunchly anti-nuclear stance if he enters office as Prime Minister. “Whether he will actually reflect his previous stance into his policies once the race for the prime minister position begins is a different story,” Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Tokyo’s Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. was quoted by Bloomberg. “The market is just getting ahead of itself.”
…….. Currently, the national plan “calls for renewable sources to provide between 22% and 24% of Japan’s electricity by 2030, and for nuclear energy to provide between 20% and 22%.” But nuclear energy is a hard sell in Japan, a country that is still recovering from the devastating 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster
Just this week, a full decade after the tragedy caused by an earthquake and ensuing tsunami, the International Atomic Energy Agency is reaching out to Japan to work alongside them in their continuing struggles to manage the radioactive waste still piling up after the 2011 accident. Japan has continued to use more than a million tonnes of water to cool the damaged reactors and prevent a meltdown, and now they’re running out of storage space for the radioactive waste water. Their plan? Dump it into the Pacific Ocean.
The continued complications and hazardous aftereffects of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima throw the dark side of nuclear into stark relief for the Japanese public. ……… It remains to be seen whether Taro Kono will take the helm of Japan, but if he sticks to his guns, the Japanese nuclear energy sector could soon recede into the rearview. https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Energy-Markets-Bet-Against-Nuclear-As-Election-Nears-In-Japan.html
NEW -British Scientist discovers the cause of cancer in the Hiroshima Black Rain survivors -2021
British Scientist discovers the cause of cancer in the Hiroshima Black Rain survivors
Massive errors in the basis of legal controls on radiation exposures
In a peer-reviewed paper published by the respectable journal Cancer Investigations ,British Scientist Dr Christopher Busby reveals the results of his investigative research into the Hiroshima A-Bomb Black Rain, torrential rain that fell on Hiroshima after the detonation of the US atomic bomb.
The issue of cancer risks in people who lived in the area of the back rain was headlined recently when the Japanese government lost a court case taken by Hibakusha groups who believed that their cancers were a result of the A-Bomb, but who lived in the black rain areas too far from the detonation to have received any external radiation dose. One problem for these people is that there has been no scientific explanation. The black rain was believed to be insufficiently radioactive to cause cancer.
The report: “The Hiroshima A-Bomb black rain—a resolution of the enigma” provides evidence from an obscure US restricted report from 1976, declassified in 2014, that the 55kg of unfissioned material of the bomb, Enriched Uranium, contained vary large amounts of the Uranium isotope U234 which formed the condensation nuclei for the black rain and contaminated Hiroshima’s water and air for many years.
The calculated exposures from the long-lived Uranium particles due to inhalation and ingestion by those living in Hiroshima after the bomb were 10,000 times greater than exposures to the isotope Caesium-137. U-234, which is lighter than U235 (the fissile component) is extracted into the Enriched Uranium during the separation process.
Dr Busby said: “It is astonishing that no one has drawn attention to the presence of large amounts of this dangerous long lived alpha emitter on the test sites. All the calculations that have been made of exposures, from Hiroshima to the Marshall Islands tests, to Christmas Island, will have to be re-assessed.”
He added: “Of course, this also means that the Life Span Study basis of the current radiation risk models is worthless. The true risks from internal exposures to Uranium, as in Depleted Uranium weapons, are more than a hundred times or more than current legal limits are based on. The implications of this discovery are clearly massive and far-reaching for all things involving nuclear.”
Dr Busby (aged 76) is an international expert on radiation and health and served on two British Government committees. He represented Nuclear Test Veterans in the Royal Courts of Justice in 2016. He relocated to Latvia in 2020 after Brexit where he continues to carry out research on internal radiation and health.
The paper can be found at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07357907.2021.1977818?src=&journalCode=icnv20
Dr Busby’s CV can be found at: www.greenaudit.org
Contact:
Richard Bramhall; lowradcampaign@gmail.com +44 7887 942043
Christopher Busby christo@greenaudit.org +371 29419511; +447989428833
Other recent reports and findings on how science is challenging industry beliefs on health risks after nuclear accidents and nuclear testing;
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