France, Germany and UK lose faith in negotiations with Iran, to restore the nuclear agreement.
We the governments of France, Germany and the United Kingdom have
negotiated with Iran, in good faith, since April 2021 to restore and fully
implement the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), along with other
participants to the deal and the United States.
In early August, after a
year and a half of negotiations, the JCPoA Coordinator submitted a final
set of texts which would allow for an Iranian return to compliance with its
JCPoA commitments and a US return to the deal. In this final package, the
Coordinator made additional changes that took us to the limit of our
flexibility.
Unfortunately, Iran has chosen not to seize this critical
diplomatic opportunity. Instead, Iran continues to escalate its nuclear
program way beyond any plausible civilian justification. While we were
edging closer to an agreement, Iran reopened separate issues that relate to
its legally binding international obligations under the Non Proliferation
Treaty (NPT) and its NPT safeguards agreement concluded with the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
This latest demand raises
serious doubts as to Iran’s intentions and commitment to a successful
outcome on the JCPoA. Iran’s position contradicts its legally binding
obligations and jeopardizes prospects of restoring the JCPoA.
French Ministry of Foreign Affairs 10th Sept 2022
Lawmakers demand reparations for New Mexicans imperiled by nuclear bomb testing
Adrian Hedden, Carlsbad Current-Argus, 10 Sept 22,
When the U.S.’ first nuclear bomb was detonated in south-central New Mexico, it was believed to set off a chain of cancers and health problems suffered by the surrounding communities for generations.
People who grew up near the Trinity Test Site, near the remote communities of Carrizozo or Tularosa, were denied federal relief dollars afforded to other “downwinders” impacted by nuclear testing around the country.
Both towns were within 50 miles of the blast site, and advocates say they were exposed to radiation from the bomb testing.
They advocated for years that New Mexico’s downwinders be included in cash payments made to those affected by nuclear activities under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).
Members of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium advocated for such support from state lawmakers during a Tuesday meeting of the interim Radioactive and Hazardous Waste Committee.
“It’s very emotional to reflect on all we’ve lost as a result of being exposed to radiation,” said consortium founder Tina Cordova, herself a survivor of thyroid cancer who said members of her family also suffered from myriad forms of the disease.’
The committee, made up of state senators and representatives voted to send a letter to Congress, calling on the federal leaders to expand reparations to include New Mexicans…………………………..
Cordova pointed to high infant mortality rates and diseases among the people living near the site, which she said were the result of testing at the site.
She also pointed to economic depression in the rural community as its residents struggled for years with high medical bills Cordova attributed to the testing.
“We don’t have a chance in New Mexico to develop generational wealth,” Cordova said. “This has contributed greatly to the poverty we see here.”
Congress voted earlier this year to extend the RECA by two more years, via legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) and supported by the state’s entire congressional delegation and via a letter sent by the Radioactive and Hazardous Waste Committee.
But that legislation did not expand the compensation to include New Mexican downwinders, although it does give funds to some uranium miners mostly in the northern part of the state.
So far, downwinders were only federally recognized in parts of Arizona, Utah and Nevada attributed to activities at another nuclear test site in Nevada. ………………………. https://www.currentargus.com/story/news/2022/09/09/reparations-demanded-for-new-mexicans-imperiled-by-nuclear-bomb-testing/66874718007/
—
Jung Jae Kwon: Questioning the nuclear umbrella
Dissatisfied with security guarantees from the US, America’s junior allies want greater control over their own defenses.
MIT News, Leda Zimmerman | Department of Political Science, September 9, 2022,
Many of America’s allies have little faith that huddling under America’s nuclear umbrella will keep them safe. “The conventional wisdom has been that the threat of nuclear retaliation by the U.S. is enough to defend our junior non-nuclear allies,” says Jung Jae Kwon, a political science doctoral student at MIT. “But this threat is not as credible as is often believed, and the allies do not simply want to depend on it for their security.”
Kwon has been researching defense strategies of American client states, gathering data to analyze the security policy and military postures of frontline states that came to rely on U.S. nuclear protection during and after the Cold War………………………………………………………
“When conflicts arise, these allies don’t want to give up territory or lose anything,” says Kwon. “They ask for plans where they have a viable option for victory.”
One example Kwon cites is South Korea, where the U.S. stationed tactical nuclear weapons. “But the U.S. didn’t give South Korea any control over the deterrent, no mechanisms for coordination when it came to nuclear planning,” he says. As a result, South Korea tries to maintain superiority in conventional power against North Korea. “It’s their fate; they don’t just want to rely on the U.S. for security,” he says………………….
And West Germany, America’s most important ally in Western Europe during the Cold War, “wanted assurance from the U.S. that nuclear weapons would be used first,” says Kwon. “They were overwhelmed by conventional Soviet military power, and wanted to assert more control over the U.S. nuclear threat.”
With the end of the Cold War and dissolution of the Soviet Union, European allies grew less concerned about attacks from their neighbors, and more content to rely on the U.S. nuclear deterrent. But recently, the war in Ukraine has shifted defense postures, says Kwon, prompting allies’ calls for greater conventional military presence along Europe’s eastern border. ………………………
“My biggest takeaway is that allies won’t be assured simply by gestures of solidarity, formal alliance treaties, or even the huge nuclear arsenal the U.S. possesses,” he says. https://news.mit.edu/2022/questioning-nuclear-umbrella-jung-jae-kwon-0909
Mishandling of Classified Nuclear Documents Is Bad. Mishandling of the Sole Authority to Use Nuclear Weapons Would Be Much Worse.
Union of Concerned Scientists, Eryn MacDonald, 9 Sept 22, Headlines about the discovery of nuclear weapons-related materials in the trove of highly classified documents that former President Trump stashed at his private residence in Mar-a-Lago are not exactly confidence inspiring. The fact that a former president simply walked off with information at the highest levels of classification leaving it unguarded for more than a year should raise alarms for anyone who is concerned about national security.
But if you think it’s unbelievable that it was so easy to sidestep the safeguards and procedures in place to ensure that some of the most secret information known to our government was not packed up and stuck in a basement, I’ve got even worse news for you. Because the process to order the launch of US nuclear weapons has fewer safeguards and would require no sidestepping, leaving it even more vulnerable to the whims of an unstable leader. That decision is put in the hands of a single individual—the president—while the rest of us all just have to cross our fingers and hope that they take this responsibility more seriously than the former president took his responsibility to safeguard those classified documents.
The process that the United States has now for making decisions about the use of nuclear weapons is called “sole authority.” It is an outdated artifact of an earlier time that now carries more risks than benefits. ……………
sole authority intentionally includes no checks and balances. No requirement to consult with advisers or Congress. There is also no one with the legal authority to countermand the order if the president does decide to launch…….. And once missiles are launched, there is no going back—they cannot be called back or ordered to self-destruct.
The good news: we can fix it
Times have changed since the decision was made to give the president sole authority over the decision to launch a nuclear attack. Communications systems have improved immensely. And despite the deterioration of US-Russian relations, a surprise Russian nuclear attack on the US homeland is still not a realistic concern these days. And, the US now has a fleet of nuclear ballistic missile submarines that are essentially invulnerable when they are hidden on patrol in the ocean, rendering the need for split-second nuclear launch decisions obsolete.
Unfortunately, the nuclear launch decision-making system has not kept pace with the times. The good news, however, is that it would be an easy fix, that we could implement very quickly. There have been many suggestions of how this could be done, including a proposal by some of my colleagues at UCS.
The UCS proposal would require that the president obtain the consent of two other high-level officials in the presidential line of succession—for example, the vice president and the speaker of the House—to carry out any order to launch a nuclear attack. …………….
The time to change the system is now..…………………………….
We do not have the luxury of waiting for “lessons learned.” We must take the only opportunity we have to change this outdated, undemocratic, and dangerous system—now. Making this change permanent would require action from Congress, but that is no reason to delay the immediate steps that we can take. UCS and many others, including members of Congress, have already asked President Biden to change the decision-making procedures for using nuclear weapons.
You can join us in asking him to take his opportunity to do so, before it is too late.
https://allthingsnuclear.org/emacdonald/mishandling-of-classified-nuclear-documents/
Public opinion in UK – overwhelming support for solar and wind energy
The UK’s general public is overwhelmingly supportive in building new
wind and solar farms in order to tackle the ongoing cost of energy crisis,
according to Survation. Identified within polling released by Survation and
commissioned by RenewableUK, the data showcased that almost every
constituency in the UK is in favour of developing renewable generation
sites in a bid to reduce the cost of energy.
In fact, 77% of people in the
UK believe the government should use new wind and solar farms to reduce
electricity bills, with 76% of people also in support of building renewable
energy projects in their local area, according to Survation’s data.
This contradicts the new prime Minister, Liz Truss’ previous statement about
solar farms being “paraphernalia”, as in fact the majority of the
general public thoroughly support the development of these farms to tackle
the energy crisis. Causing a further headache for Truss is the fact that
84% of those who backed the Tories at the last election now urge the
government to use new wind and solar farms to cut electricity bills. 81% of
2019 Tory voters also support a renewable energy project being developed in
their local area.
Current 8th Sept 2022
Some UK government ministers are mentioning the radical idea of ENERGY CONSERVATION!
Ministers are drawing up plans for a public information campaign to
encourage people to reduce energy use this winter amid fears that a price
freeze will deter them from doing so.
There is concern within government
that an intervention by Liz Truss to tackle the sharp rise in energy costs
could increase the risk of blackouts if it means that households and
businesses do not reduce consumption.
The Times has been told that
ministers want to work with energy companies on a public information
campaign over the winter to encourage people to turn down their thermostats
and turn off electrical appliances instead of leaving them on standby.
Times 8th Sept 2022
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-will-implore-public-to-cut-use-of-power-wpb38bhtk
France’s problems with nuclear power now causing electricity shortage in Britain, too
More than half of France’s 56 nuclear reactors are offline due to issues
around corrosion. That has left their owner, EDF, struggling to generate
enough electricity to meet the nation’s needs.
Last week it warned it
would take a €29 billion hit as production from nuclear power dipped to a
30-year low. EDF has indicated it wants to get its reactors back online by
the winter, but the problems have raised fears not just for France’s
energy supply, but the UK, which typically imports a chunk of its energy
via undersea cables called interconnectors.
Times 18th Sept 2022
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hunt-for-cash-fund-britain-new-nuclear-age-sizewell-edf-hq9fg3zt3
Turkey, Russia reach deal resolving nuclear plant dispute, media report
ISTANBUL, Sept 17 (Reuters) – President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey and Russia had reached a deal resolving a dispute over a nuclear power plant being built at Akkuyu in southern Turkey, reinstating a Turkish contractor, broadcaster NTV and other media said on Saturday……………
more https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkey-russia-reach-deal-resolving-nuclear-plant-dispute-erdoganmedia-2022-09-17/
Permit problems for Sizewell C nuclear project? Cooling system could kill millions of fish.
Permit problems for Sizewell C predicted after report confirms cooling
mechanisms can kill millions of fish. The Sizewell C nuclear reactor may
face obstacles in receiving an environmental permit after a report revealed
that the cooling mechanism at a similar development could kill millions of
fish.
ENDS 12th Sept 2022
New forum on nuclear waste policy in UK
A founding document was signed in Edinburgh by the Nuclear Decommissioning
Authority’s Head of Stakeholder Engagement and the Secretary of the Nuclear
Free Local Authorities to launch a new NGO Forum. The informal signing
ceremony by Paul Vallance for the NDA and Richard Outram on behalf of the
NGO community took place at the NDA Stakeholder Summit held in the Scottish
capital on 7-8 September.
Work on establishing a forum had started under
Richard’s predecessor, Sean Morris. Good progress was made before
everything halted with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Contact between
the parties was renewed in February 2022 after the NDA had completed its
restructuring into four ‘pillars’ – Sellafield, Magnox/Dounreay, Nuclear
Transport Services and Nuclear Waste Services. An NGO forum to cover waste
issues is already well established and ‘lively’ as meetings represent an
opportunity for representatives from NGOs, generally campaign groups
opposed to local civil nuclear power projects, to question and challenge
senior nuclear industry figures.
NFLA 12th Sept 2022
Navy Seeks Solution for Decommissioned Nuclear Carrier USS Enterprise
SEP 9, 2022 BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE
The U.S Navy is grappling with a huge dilemma on what to do with the decommissioned USS Enterprise, the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the pride of the Navy for 50 years from her commissioning in 1961 to her deactivation in 2012. Officially decommissioned in 2017, she sits in Virginia costing millions of dollars annually in maintenance costs but could require more than a billion dollars and up to 15 years to safely dismantle.
Having been the embodiment of the U.S military might not only because of its sheer size, which earned her the nickname “Big E” she became the centerpiece of the modern Navy. ………………………………………… more https://maritime-executive.com/article/navy-seeks-solution-for-decommissioned-nuclear-carrier-uss-enterprise
NUCLEAR is the worst possible way to back up wind power
Letter to Scottish Herald Pete Roche: NUCLEAR is the worst possible way to
back up wind power. Full Stop. Baseload – which Iain Macwhirter in his
Herald on Sunday article “Nuclear is the worst possible option … except
for the others” (September 4) suggests is needed when the wind doesn’t
blow – is an outdated concept. Renewables should not be described as
intermittent – they are variable, which means their output can be
forecast with good accuracy. Nuclear plants are on 24/7, so can’t balance
the output from variable renewables, and would get in the way of their
expansion, because they are inflexible. There are plenty of better ways of
balancing the grid. We need a more flexible system with smart grids,
time-of-use tariffs, batteries and storage including heat storage and
hydrogen, made using surplus renewables power. A rapidly growing number of
studies show that 100% renewable energy systems are not only feasible but
also cost effective. And we are not just talking about wind. Solar would
also be a central pillar, but other sources will include geothermal, tidal
and wave power, all backed up with an ambitious energy efficiency
programme. Nuclear power is too expensive. Building nuclear stations will
put energy bills up. Electricity from offshore wind is currently about £37
per megawatt hour. If the UK Government goes ahead with Sizewell, in about
15 years its electricity would cost around £120 per megawatt hour. An
added problem is that new nuclear stations take too long to build. The
United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says
that we have less than 10 years in which to make massive and unprecedented
changes to global energy infrastructure to limit global warming to moderate
levels. The UK Government first started consulting on building new nuclear
power stations in May 2007, but Hinkley Point C is not expected to start
generating electricity until around 2027.
Herald 9th Sept 2022
Lucky timing for Liz Truss’s absurd energy policy
Not wishing to sound disrespectful, but –
The death of Queen Elizabeth has come at a lucky time for Liz Truss and her new Tory ministry. It has swamped the anglophone media – which seems to be ignoring the absurdity of Truss’s energy (and other) policies
Great British Nuclear will bring forward new nuclear projects at a rate of one a year this decade.
and the green light for more fossil
fuel extraction
A farcical detachment from reality’: Green groups respond to UK Government’s energy bills plan.
The Government has unveiled plans to
introduce a price freeze on energy bills to combat the energy crisis, but
decisions to reverse fracking bans and not introduce a windfall tax on
energy firms have been criticised by green groups.
Jess Ralston, Senior
Analyst with the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU): “All the
experts and even the industry agree more UK gas won’t bring down British
bills. To bring down bills we need to use less gas by investing in
insulating homes, a measure which could be cost neutral to the Treasury
given it will spend billions on the price cap freeze.
There is a real danger of the Government serving up a red herring with local communities
likely to oppose fracking rigs while focus is diverted from efficiency and
renewables which can be quick to introduce and are popular, rather than
unpopular, with the public.”
Mike Childs, head of science, policy and
research at Friends of the Earth, “The government’s energy plan is
farcical in its detachment from reality. It does nothing to tackle the root
cause of the energy crisis – our reliance on costly, polluting fossil
fuels – and only lines the pockets of the oil and gas companies driving
the cost of living and climate emergencies. “
Most of us will be relieved
about the cap on energy bills ahead of this winter but with energy, food
and fuel costs remaining high many people will still struggle to heat their
homes and put food on the table. “To bring down bills for good, we need a
street-by-street insulation programme targeted at the neighbourhoods where
most homes are poorly insulated. There are five million homes without even
basic insulation, such as loft or cavity wall insulation, and the Committee
on Climate Change has said 15 million homes would benefit from other
insulation measures.
“The biggest winners today are the oil and gas
companies. Not only will they benefit from the green light for more fossil
fuel extraction but the tens of billions of pounds of public expenditure on
the energy cap will go into their pockets and further fuel their
eye-watering profits.”
Edie 8th Sept 2022 https://www.edie.net/a-farcical-detachment-from-reality-green-groups-respond-to-governments-energy-bills-plan/
1 This Month
23 April – WEBINAR – Why new nuclear reactors are the wrong tools for decarbonization Thursday, April 23 • 1 AM – 2 AM AEST
Pine Ridge Uranium is the real threat, not Tehran- Tell Burgum: Stop the Extraction.
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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