Nuclear news to 18 October

The past week has seen a bigger than usual burst of news items about small nuclear reactors (SMRs) – with  numerous claims about how SMRs are going to be the focus of a nuclear revival that will combat climate change. In country after country, political leaders announce SMRs  as a central part of their climate policy, even reversing policies to phase out nuclear power. France is the leading example. There’s even a very interesting logic that goes like this: 
‘‘Big nuclear power reactors are unsustainable: therefore small nuclear reactors will be sustainable” –  as they say in all those police shows on TV – copy that!

Pandemic Coronavirus around the world.

The climate disaster is here.  Climate. Earth is already becoming unlivable. Will governments act to stop this disaster from getting worse?

Some bits of good news.–  Solar-Powered Desalination Device Will Turn Sea Water Into Fresh Water For 400,000 People.  World’s First Totally-Green Tractor Set to Plow Down European Farming Emissions

New push for nuclear energy in Australia, but does it really stand the test? Pro nuclear argument has ‘more holes than Swiss cheese’ – Ian Lowe. Nuclear power is too expensive for Australia. Collapse of the nuclear industry‘s ”golden hope”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvpmGP8P6Mk

‘It makes us sick’: remote NT community wants answers about uranium in its water supply.

INTERNATIONAL.

Bizarre twists in USA’s war on Julian Assange and Wikileaks.

Epidemiology – research on baby teeth gives valuable information on health effects of ionising radiation.

What Does Building A Nuclear Power Station Mean for CO2 Emissions As We Near COP26 ?

Crypto currency and nuclear power – a worrying partnership.

Smoke from nuclear war would devastate ozone layer, alter climate.

The scale of global e-waste .

Vale Sister Megan Rice – an anti-nuclear hero. Libbe HaLevy’s interview with Sister Megan Rice 2019.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_cguuNy-3U

Prince William: Saving Earth should come before space tourism.

Catholic Archbishop at UN urges immorality of nuclear weapons, and of militarising space.

Patients lack knowledge on radiation in medical imaging,

JAPAN. Nuclear hawks under Kishida threaten Suga’s renewables push. Japan’s new pro nuclear push – and for small nuclear reactors. Lethal radiation levels detected in Fukushima nuclear plant reactor lid . Japan’s new PM won’t delay release of contaminated water into ocean.

CHINA. US nuclear submarine accident sparks safety fears in South China Sea.

EUROPE. European Commission urges member states to speed up solar energy deployment .

Prince William: Saving Earth should come before space tourism.

Catholic Archbishop at UN urges immorality of nuclear weapons, and of militarising space.

Patients lack knowledge on radiation in medical imaging,

JAPAN. Nuclear hawks under Kishida threaten Suga’s renewables push. Japan’s new pro nuclear push – and for small nuclear reactors. Lethal radiation levels detected in Fukushima nuclear plant reactor lid . Japan’s new PM won’t delay release of contaminated water into ocean.

CHINA. US nuclear submarine accident sparks safety fears in South China Sea.

EUROPE. European Commission urges member states to speed up solar energy deployment .

USA.

• ‘Profiteers of Armageddon’: Report Reveals Who Benefits From US ‘Nuclear Modernization’ Plan. 
•  America’s paralysis on nuclear waste, as radioactive trash continues to accumulate. 
•   Radioactive contamination from the partially-burned former Santa Susanna nuclear research facility ,
•   Waste Isolation Pilot Plant adds space for nuclear waste disposal near Carlsbad. 
•  Pentagon Denies Chinese Accusation of Cover-Up in Nuclear Attack Submarine Crash. 
•  Georgia Power customers to pay up even more for Vogtle nuclear project. 
•  Residents near Perry Nuclear Station to get potassium iodide, in case of a nuclear accident.

FRANCE. 

• France is betting on small nuclear reactors, but obstacles remain. French President Macron now goes for small nuclear reactors – with vision of an exporting bonanza. President Macron backs nuclear energy, but France’s Greens want speedier end to nuclear power. France building a pro-nuclear European alliance in lead-up to Cop26.   Activists call on EU not to count nuclear energy as sustainable . 
• Flamanville nuclear power plant has exceeded the threshold for discharging a powerful greenhouse gas. 
•  Exposed: French nuclear companies dumping radioactive waste in Siberia. .  Greenpeace France denounces shipments of uranium from Orano to Russia.     
•  There are Much More Powerful Greenhouse Gases than CO2 and EDF’s Nuclear Reactors are Spewing Them Out.
• France – a new Bill calls for transparency on costs of nuclear power.
•   Corrosion problems cause shutdown of Orano’s nuclear reprocessing station in La Hague. Orano’s nuclear reprocessing problems at La Hague Orano building 5km wall around its La Hague nuclear reprocessing station.

UK. 

• Rebranded – ROLLS-ROYCE SMR , a new conglomerate of 9 groups (to spread the risks of uneconomic small nuclear reactors?) Many businesses urge UK government to incentivise the uptake of genuinely clean energy . UK government’s grand energy plan – focus is on saving the nuclear industry.  UK to push for nuclear power: households to pay up long before the reactors are built. 
•  Suffolk County Council taking ”big ticket” concerns to Government over Sizewell C nuclear project . Sizewell C nuclear station – a white elephant that will irreversibly damage the environment. 
• They don’t even know if the geology of Theddlethorpe, Lincolnshire is suitable for nuclear waste burial. Lincolnshire nuclear waste burial can go ahead only if the local community suports it. 
• UK Climate denialist group rebrands itself as ”Zero Watch (NZW)”
•   Opposition to UK’s plans for nuclear fusion.
•   Demonising China is unhelpful while encouraging China to participate in Cop26.

INDIA. India, China and the new missile silos.

BELGIUM. Belgium’s Energy Minister calls for the government to speed up plan to shut down nuclear reactors.

GERMANY. Nuclear power is not sustainable energy – German environment ministry.

NEW ZEALAND. Keep space for peace – opposition to New Zealand’s space industry and its military connections.

PHILIPPINES. AUKUS and the Philippines – sleepwalking into military-nuclear entanglements. 

AUSTRALIA. AUKUS nuclear submarines deal must be abandoned.     Australia’s nuclear submarines are looking more and more like a mirage. 

 

October 18, 2021 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized