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Finland hints at allowing NATO to station nuclear weapons (?targets) on its soil

 https://euroweeklynews.com/2022/10/31/finland-hints-at-allowing-nato-to-station-nuclear-weapons-on-its-soil/ By Chris King • 31 October 2022 ,

The Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, hinted that nuclear weapons could be deployed on Finnish soil should the country’s application to join NATO be approved.

It was recently reported by a newspaper in Helsinki that nuclear weapons could soon be stationed on Finland’s border with Russia if the country’s bid to join NATO is approved. Should it come to that, it is bound to anger Moscow.

Nuclear missiles launched from the Finnish border would take far less than a minute to reach Moscow. That is a very short warning period. It is certain that the Kremlin will not like this at all, but it could soon become reality. 

The reason: Finland – together with Sweden – submitted an application to join NATO in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to the Helsinki newspaper Iltalehti, the draft accession law, as submitted by the Finnish government to Parliament, does not include an exemption for nuclear weapons

Finnish Foreign and Defence Ministers Pekka Haavisto and Antti Kaikkonen both pledged to NATO in July that they would not seek ‘restrictions or national reservations’ if Helsinki’s proposal goes through. This was reported by various defence sources to exxpress.at.

Foreign policy insiders said that NATO nuclear weapons could be moved through Finnish territory or stationed there. In addition, there are no restrictions on establishing NATO bases in the country.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin told Finnish broadcaster Yle on Saturday 29: “I think it’s very important that we don’t set any preconditions or limit our own room for manoeuvre when it comes to permanent bases or nuclear weapons”. It is thought highly unlikely though that nuclear weapons would be stationed on Finnish soil.

According to the Federation of American Scientists, the US already has around 100 nuclear weapons in Europe. They are located in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey. Britain and France, both NATO members, also maintain their own independent nuclear arsenals.

Earlier this month, the Polish government said it had held talks with Washington about hosting US nuclear weapons, but the Americans have not confirmed this. Polish President Andrzej Duda said there was a ‘potential opportunity’ for his country to engage in ‘nuclear sharing’.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Finland and Sweden’s applications for membership in May, calling the move a ‘historic moment’ for the alliance.

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November 1, 2022 Posted by | Finland, weapons and war | Leave a comment

As Australia gets American nuclear-capable bombers, it risks becoming a dangerous military mess and target – like Guam

China’s furious reaction as Australia gets US nuclear-capable bombers A furious Beijing has blasted reports of the US gifting Australia nuclear-capable bombers, prompting a concerning warning from China.

 https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/chinas-ominous-threat-to-australia-over-us-nuclearcapable-bombers/news-story/ca67d55d29ef716883078e4fb8e2101f Ally Foster and Frank Chung, November 1, 2022 –

Australia has been issued an ominous threat, after China lashed out at reports of the US sending nuclear-capable bombers to the Northern Territory.

According to an investigation by the ABC’s Four Cornersthat aired on Monday, Washington has drawn up plans to build a dedicated a “squadron operations facility” at the Tindal air base south of Darwin that will house “six B-52s”.

These aircraft are capable of delivering both nuclear and conventional weapons, with a combat range of more than 14,000km.

The news has prompted a furious response from Beijing, with the former editor-in-chief of the CCP-run Global Times issuing an ominous warning to Australia.military

Commentator Hu Xijin said Australia would need to “bear the risks” of this move.

“The PLA’s Dongfeng missiles definitely fly faster than the B-52 bombers,” he wrote on Twitter.

“If Australia wants to become a “big Guam,” then it must bear the corresponding strategic risks.”

There have even been warnings that accepting these bombers could “trigger a regional arms race”.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian said by sending the bombers to Australia, the US had “increased regional tensions, seriously undermined regional peace and stability, and may trigger a regional arms race”.

“Defence and security co-operation between any countries should be conducive to regional peace and stability and not target or harm the interests of third parties,” he told reporters in Beijing.

Mr Zhao said Beijing was urging all the countries concerned to “abandon the old Cold War zero-sum thinking and narrow geopolitical concepts”.

The focus should instead be on contributing more to regional peace and stability and enhancing “mutual trust”, he said.

November 1, 2022 Posted by | South Africa, weapons and war | Leave a comment

The nuclear threats that hang over the world

Even a limited strike in Ukraine would have catastrophic global effects

Ft.com GIDEON RACHMAN, 31 Oct 22,

“A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” That joint statement was issued at the beginning of this year by China, France, Russia, the UK and the US — the five official nuclear weapons states. The following month, Russia invaded Ukraine. Ever since, world leaders have been grappling with the threat that a nuclear war might indeed be fought — quite soon.

From the outset, Vladimir Putin has described the conflict as existential for Russia and hinted that he might use nuclear weapons to prevail………………………………….

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The US and its allies are focused on preventing Russia from making that fatal step across the nuclear threshold — through a mixture of deterrence and diplomacy. But they are also already thinking hard about the global aftermath of the use of a Russian nuclear weapon. This is unknown territory and the pressure is intense…….

Broadly speaking, there are four main scenarios to consider: nuclear normalisation, nuclear blackmail, avoidance of war, and Armageddon.

It is not hard to see how the use of a Russian nuclear weapon could spiral into an all-out nuclear war — leading to what President Biden himself has termed “Armageddon”. Washington has warned that if Moscow were to use a nuclear weapon, there would be a response with “catastrophic” consequences for Russia.

The Americans have not spelt out in public what that response would be. Many commentators think that it would be military, but non-nuclear. General David Petraeus, a former CIA head, has talked of Nato forces attacking Russian troops on the ground in Ukraine with conventional weapons and sinking the Russian Black Sea fleet……………

But direct western military involvement would probably trigger a further Russian response. The west and Russia might then rapidly move up the “escalation ladder”, making the nightmare of all-out nuclear war distinctly possible. As one US official puts it: “I don’t think anyone should be confident that we can control the escalation risks.”

Because the prospect of escalation to Armageddon is so horrific, there is also a real possibility that even the use of a Russian nuclear weapon would not trigger a direct western military response — with the US instead trying to organise the complete economic and diplomatic isolation of Russia. But that would open the door to another disturbing future: “nuclear normalisation”.

Nuclear weapons would have been shown to be tools that can be used in a war of aggression — not just for deterrence. Russia, and even China, might be tempted to cross the nuclear threshold again. And non-nuclear states — such as Japan, South Korea, Germany and a host of others — would rush to acquire nuclear weapons to protect themselves.

Global turmoil would follow the use of a nuclear weapon. Markets would crash and publics might panic across the world, with the possibility of large-scale population movements out of cities………………………………..

The three darkest scenarios — Armageddon, normalisation and successful nuclear blackmail — are all far more possible than they should be. But, collectively, they remain less likely than the fourth possibility — that nuclear war is avoided. In all previous nuclear crises since 1945, the leaders of great powers have drawn back from the brink. The knowledge that a false move could cause millions of deaths — or even destroy the planet — is enormously sobering. It has kept the world from sliding into nuclear conflict since 1945. It should work again. Probably. https://www.ft.com/content/f3dce448-a7e4-4fbe-80a4-d317af4b8317—

November 1, 2022 Posted by | 2 WORLD, weapons and war | Leave a comment

World Nuclear Industry Status Report delivers all the empirical data we need to know about nuclear power’s decline

  The Annual Goldmine https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2022/10/31/the-annual-goldmine/ By Linda Pentz Gunter 31 Oct 22

The annual goldmine of empirical data on nuclear power that is the World Nuclear Industry Status Report (WNISR) was duly rolled out on October 5th, this year in Berlin. The 2022 edition is available for download here and is an indispensable reference source, updated each year. 

While delivering an in-depth overview, as its title suggests, of the status of nuclear power worldwide, the report also provides sections focused on particular areas of the technology or on certain countries or regions of the world.

As its principal author, Mycle Schneider, pointed out during the rollout, the report’s authors are big fans of empirical data. Indeed, many of the findings in the report are taken from the nuclear industry itself. Facts and physics are pretty much immutable when it comes to nuclear power, and neither favor the industry very well.  No amount of nuclear industry aspirational rhetoric can hide the truth about a waning and outdated technology.

The over-riding finding of the 2022 edition of the report is that nuclear power’s share of global commercial gross electricity generation in 2021 dropped to below 10 percent for the first time ever, sinking to its lowest in four decades.

As in past years, if you take China out of the picture — a country with 21 new reactors under construction as of mid-2022 — the decline of nuclear power worldwide is even more dramatic. 

At close to 400 pages, the WNISR is a tome, but it is packed full of essential detail on every important topic related to nuclear power and its declining place in the world. Whether you are interested in new builds or closure, decommissioning or small modular reactors, or a specific country, there is something in the report that will flesh out the details.

And this year, there is an important chapter late in the report — Nuclear Power and War — dealing with the fate of nuclear power plants caught up in the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the warfare that is exploding around them.

We have of course been talking, writing and warning about the perils of reactors in a war zone since the time a Russian invasion was first intimated late in 2021. But the WNISR helpfully lays out all the possible causes and consequences of a nuclear disaster in Ukraine. It answers the many questions we have about the robustness, or not, of reactors, fuel pools and radioactive waste casks to withstand and survive a bombardment or even a prolonged power outage.

As former IAEA director of nuclear safety, Aybars Gurpinar, told Bloomberg when addressing the risks to reactors in Ukraine: “Even if structures are extremely well designed, you cannot expect them to withstand a military-style attack. They are not designed for this.”

The WNISR concludes, on page 259: “Nuclear power plants are immediately vulnerable in war situations. This is directly due to the constant and permanent need for cooling. Extensive failure of the necessary electrical power or destruction of the cooling systems would lead to overheating of the reactor core. It is relatively unimportant whether this damage is intentional, unintentional, or of indeterminate cause and motivation.

“On the other hand, with increasing duration, the specific stress on the personnel and poorer maintenance worsens the operating conditions which also increases the probability of triggering serious accidents.”

In addition to covering the most obviously disastrous impacts, such as loss of coolant leading to fires and meltdowns, the report also explores some of the other essentials that could be lost during war but that are less often discussed. 

These include lack of access to the plant due to the destruction of roadways; absence of diesel fuel supplies for backup generators; the continued presence of a fire department with necessary equipment and access; the availability of a skilled operating personnel and the consequences of staff working under duress or takeover; and the necessity of continued maintenance, repairs and inspections.

These add to the already long list of technical things that could go wrong at a reactor under war conditions. This makes it particularly important to focus on the prevention of such a disaster, rather than speculating about who is at fault.

Speculation is not to be found in the WNISR. Accordingly, the authors chose to point out in conclusion that the reports coming in about who is firing on what and why are not necessarily reliable. All they, and we, can assess, is what the damage might be and what the consequences of that damage could lead to.

“In a war situation, it is particularly difficult to verify whether certain reports cover indisputable facts, are exaggerated, or false,” the WNISR authors write. “The warring parties, as well as organizations and individuals interacting with them, have an interest in a representation that is not necessarily objective.”

Wars will happen and the fog of war will mask and confuse what is actually going on. But the one abiding problem is the nuclear power plants being there in the first place. And that’s the one thing we do have the power to change.

Linda Pentz Gunter is the international specialist at Beyond Nuclear and writes for and curates Beyond Nuclear International.

November 1, 2022 Posted by | 2 WORLD, politics international | Leave a comment

Nuclear gravity bomb more powerful than Hiroshima blast to be added to NATO’s arsenal

it makes using nuclear weapons thinkable for the first time since the 1940s and deploying the B61-12 only encourages this trend further………………….. The new bombs will be able to be dropped from numerous aircraft including B-2 stealth bombers, and smaller warplanes like the F-15, F-35 and Tornado.

The new B61-12 gravity nuclear bomb which can carry a yield more powerful than the Hiroshima blast will be delivered by the US to Europe months earlier than planned

By Rachel Hagan, World News Reporter, 28 Oct 2022

The US is speeding up the delivery of highly accurate guided tactical nuclear weapons to Europe by around four months as tensions rise between Moscow and the West.

The B61-12 gravity bomb was due for Spring 2023 but they are now accelerating plans to have it ready for this December, US officials told NATO allies during a closed-door meeting in Brussels this month.

But what are these weapons and what are they capable of?

The new thermonuclear bombs are “dial-a-yield” devices and are one of the most versatile in the US’ arsenal because its explosive power can be ramped up or down depending on the target.

Specialist defence magazine, the National Interest, called the bomb the most devastating nuclear bomb in the arsenal of the US……………………………

They say it makes using nuclear weapons thinkable for the first time since the 1940s and deploying the B61-12 only encourages this trend further………………….. The new bombs will be able to be dropped from numerous aircraft including B-2 stealth bombers, and smaller warplanes like the F-15, F-35 and Tornado.

November 1, 2022 Posted by | EUROPE, weapons and war | Leave a comment

The climate crisis and the danger of nuclear war are deeply intertwined

A lesson from the TPNW.  by beyondnuclearinternational

A Fossil-Fuel Non-ProliferationTreaty will save lives, By Ira Helfand and Marjaneh Moini

“…………………………………………………………………………The two overriding issues of our era—the climate crisis and the danger of nuclear war—are deeply intertwined. The climate crisis is leading to greater international conflict and stockpiling nuclear weapons redirects precious resources away from equitable climate actions while increasing risk of a nuclear conflict. A nuclear war, in addition to killing billions of people and disrupting all aspects of our economy, would also cause abrupt and catastrophic climate disruption.

How are the politicians running our governments on the global stage responding to these threats? The policies our governments are implementing will lead to fossil fuel production in 2030 that is double the cap we need to maintain to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. Carbon dioxide emissions in 2021 were 36.3 billion tonnes, the highest ever. They are also stockpiling nuclear weapons and will not even promise not to start a nuclear war in Ukraine.

How is our government responding? The United States continues to increase subsidies to fossil fuel operations and expands its investments in nuclear weapons, reinforcing the two existential threats faced by humanity today. In turn, fossil fuel companies and the military industrial complex use their profits in lobbying efforts…………………more https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2022/10/31/a-lesson-from-the-tpnw/

November 1, 2022 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment

Biden lost temper with Zelenskyy in June phone call when Ukrainian leader asked for more aid

Biden had barely finished telling Zelenskyy he’d just greenlighted another $1 billion in military assistance when the Ukrainian president started listing all the additional help he needed.

NBC News, Oct. 31, 2022, By Carol E. Lee, Courtney Kube and Dan De Luce

It’s become routine since Russia invaded Ukraine: President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speak by phone whenever the U.S. announces a new package of military assistance for Kyiv.

But a phone call between the two leaders in June played out differently from previous ones, according to four people familiar with the call. Biden had barely finished telling Zelenskyy he’d just greenlighted another $1 billion in U.S. military assistance for Ukraine when Zelenskyy started listing all the additional help he needed and wasn’t getting. Biden lost his temper, the people familiar with the call said. The American people were being quite generous, and his administration and the U.S. military were working hard to help Ukraine, he said, raising his voice, and Zelenskyy could show a little more gratitude.

Administration officials said Biden and Zelenskyy’s relationship has only improved since the June phone call, after which Zelenskyy made a statement praising the U.S. for its generous assistance. But the clash reflects Biden’s early awareness that both congressional and public support for sending billions of dollars to Ukraine could begin to fade. That moment has arrived just as the president prepares to ask Congress to greenlight even more money for Ukraine.

Biden now faces resistance from some Republicans and Democrats that wasn’t present when Congress approved previous Ukraine funds. The White House has discussed asking Congress for billions of dollars during the lame-duck legislative session after the midterm elections.

The White House hasn’t specified an amount publicly. Lawmakers and Ukraine lobbyists hope for $40 billion to $60 billion, and some officials familiar with the discussions expect the number to be roughly $50 billion. 

A source familiar with the conversation said that Biden was direct with Zelenskyy about handling the issues in the appropriate military channels but that the exchange wasn’t heated or angry.

A spokesperson for the National Security Council declined to comment on the story. 

A spokesperson for Zelenskyy didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

Top U.S. officials warn there are no signs the war is ending any time soon. 

Before the June 15 phone call, the president’s frustrations with Zelenskyy had been building for weeks, three people familiar with the call said. Biden and some of his top aides felt that the administration was doing as much as it could as quickly as it could but that Zelenskyy continued to focus publicly on only what wasn’t being done. 

From Zelenskyy’s perspective — as well as that of some Eastern European governments and U.S. lawmakers from both parties — there has been repeated frustration that the Biden White House moves too slowly on weapons requests, initially hesitating to approve certain capabilities Ukraine requested most urgently, only to relent weeks or months later under pressure, according to two sources familiar with the Ukraine government’s view, congressional aides and two European officials……………………………………..

The proportion of Americans who are extremely or very concerned about Ukraine’s losing the war has dropped by 17 percentage points since May, from 55% to 38%, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted last month. And the proportion of Americans who say they’re not too concerned or not at all concerned about Russia’s winning was up from 16% to 26%, according to the survey.

The potential change in political will in the U.S. for continuing to send aid to Ukraine could upend how both the White House and Zelenskyy have approached the issue so far.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the Biden administration has been criticized for moving too cautiously. Now the president faces potential pushback from some Republican lawmakers and progressive Democrats that he’s providing too much aid.

The shifting dynamics on Capitol Hill also could force Zelenskyy’s team to rethink how it engages with Washington, as it has often tried to leverage its support in Congress to get more out of the White House.  https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/biden-lost-temper-zelenskyy-phone-call-ukraine-aid-rcna54592
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November 1, 2022 Posted by | politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Poland, South Korea sign outline accords on nuclear power project

Aljazeera 31 Oct 22

South Korea and Poland to assess the viability of building four 1,400-megawatt nuclear reactors in Patnow.

Seoul and Warsaw have signed outline agreements to develop nuclear power in Poland, according to ministries from both countries, as Poland strives to phase out coal and lower its carbon emissions and South Korea seeks to revive its nuclear industry.

Poland’s ZE PAK and PGE and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) will assess the viability of building four 1,400-megawatt nuclear reactors in Patnow, central Poland, using South Korean technology, the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on Monday in a joint statement with the Polish Ministry of State Assets.

The companies, with government backing, intend to prepare a preliminary development plan for the plant by the end of this year, they said in a statement.

Since the election this year of President Yoon Suk-yeol, who pledged to revive the country’s nuclear power industry, South Korea has stepped up efforts to win nuclear power plant export orders……………………

Monday’s agreements follow an announcement on Friday when Warsaw said US firm Westinghouse Electric Co will build the country’s first nuclear power plant in northern Poland.  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/31/poland-south-korea-sign-outline-accords-on-nuclear-power-project

November 1, 2022 Posted by | politics international, South Korea | Leave a comment

Pentagon Scraps Submarine Nuclear Cruise Missile Program

The United States’ newly declassified Nuclear Posture Review and its National Defense Strategy show that the U.S. government is intent on modernizing and updating its nuclear arsenal.

National Interest, by Caleb Larson, 31 Oct 22, The U.S. Department of Defense has decided to ax the sea-launched nuclear cruise missile, known as the SLCM-N, instead opting to refurbish current stockpiles of nuclear weapons and rely on the Trident, a submarine-launched nuclear ballistic missile.

A fact sheet for the recently-published nuclear posture review, which outlines the United States’ nuclear capabilities, described the future of the U.S. strategic deterrence arsenal…………………………………………………

For now, it seems the United States will not pursue a naval nuclear cruise missile but instead focus on modernizing and refurbishing the capabilities it already has.  https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/pentagon-scraps-submarine-nuclear-cruise-missile-program-205627

November 1, 2022 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Nuclear news – scary stuff this week, but we need to be aware.

some bits of good news. India headed towards 100% renewables power by 2050. Mini Wind Turbines For Rooftops: ‘Up to 50% More Power’ and No Spinning Blades    Ozone Hole Continues Shrinking in 2022.

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Oh dear. This newsletter is miles too long. I have put the most interesting items in larger, bold, green. Perhaps you might read just those, and any other topics of interest to you.

This week, I have been overwhelmed with the media tsunami of war-mongering events and articles – all gearing up to the supposedly inevitable war against China !!

But at the same time –    are you  noticing climate change, -global heating events and research? We might escape nuclear apocalypse, BUT –   I urge you to pay attention to Alex Smith’s Radio Ecoshock, the world-leading coverage of things climate .  This week’s episode is CLIMATE ENDGAME – “irreversible transition to Hothouse Earth”? – Greenland  sea-level rise – and a worrying Culture of Underestimation.

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CLIMATE. Climate summit – window for avoiding catastrophe is closing fast. Global heating levels threaten to destroy economies. “The voices in this world which have the most power belong to those who are destroying it”, writes Greta Thunberg.

Atmospheric levels of all three greenhouse gases hit record high. Rising Sea Levels Spell Disaster For America’s Coastal Nuclear Plants. Insect apocalypse looms as world warms

CIVIL LIBERTIES. Reporters Without Borders leads 16 organisations urging UK Home Secretary to intervene in extradition of Julian Assange.

ECONOMICS . French nuclear power group EDF to have a bigger loss than previously expected. Scotland ‘could fund England’s nuclear plants after independence‘ under “regulated asset base” (RAB) model. Sizewell C nuclear station to be funded 20% by French taxpayers, and 20% by British taxpayers. Rooppur nuclear power plant (Bangladesh) : Cost may rise for multiple factors. USA’s Westingouse likely to build and fund 49% of Poland’s first nuclear power station

EMPLOYMENT. About 100 Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant employees, including senior managers, agree to collaborate with Russian occupiers.

ENERGY. Nuclear power – a ‘religion’ in France. now turning out to be a curse..

ENVIRONMENT. This Abandoned Nuclear City Is Trapped Under Ice, What Happens If It Thaws? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9uW-8vPpAU Dounreay nuclear plant radiation scare over high numbers of ‘harmful’ radioactive particles. The Fukushima Area Has Seen Better Days as Nobuhiko Ito Shows. Long-lived radionuclides from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, and consequences for Pacific ecosystems and seafood consumers.

HEALTH. ‘The nuclear bomb was so bright I could see the bones in my fingers’: The atomic veterans fighting for justice. Meetings scheduled on compensation for Utah’s ‘downwinders‘ affected by nuclear testing.

LEGAL. US nuclear firm Westinghouse sues South Korean supplier over Poland reactor deal. Together Against Sizewell and other groups to fight on, despite legal setback.

MEDIA. All at once corporate media pundits push for World War III. Western military-industrial corporate-media show only the NATO-USA war-mongering side of the news. The biggest lie – ADDICTED TO WAR – what most American people don’t know and don’t want to know. Steps towards multilateral nuclear disarmament – but media silence.  Captive media: what does the submarine scandal tell us about Australia’s “defence correspondents”?

POLITICS. Kucinich Says Call for Diplomacy to end Ukraine-Russia War Must be Heard; Silencing of Congressional Progressive Caucus Casts Democrats as the “War Party” Progressives retract Ukraine letter to Biden after uproar. Worthless House Progressives Retract Mild Peace Advocacy Under Pressure From Warmongers. Democrats Should Not Make Support for War a Test of Party Loyalty – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f76p7NUbV5M Dennis Kucinich: Where Are the Pro-Peace Democrats? 

Government Confirms No Nuclear for Australia.

Crushing blow to French President Macron as EDF braces for £28billion hit over nuclear shortfall. Academics and industry questioned on UK nuclear power supply. Sizewell C nuclear could become low on the priority list of UK government projects. Minister Vows Response to Fukushima Reputational Damage.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. New Study Finds The Rest Of The World Supports China And Russia. West must stop blocking negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Kremlin reveals possible basis for Putin-Biden talks. Zelenskyy blasts Israel, suggests Russia-Iran nuclear collusion. Russia suspends participation in grain deal after Ukrainian attack.   Australia changes policy tack – moves in the direction of supporting the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

SAFETY. Ukraine’s Biggest Nuclear Plant Needs a Safety Zone. France discovers ominous cracks in dozens of nuclear reactors. Every nuclear power plant is a ‘dirty bomb’ in waiting: watchdog. Cracks found in all four Olkiluoto Nuclear 3 feedwater pumps. Bulgarian nuclear reactor shut down after technical glitch. ‘Swarm’ of drones spotted flying above UK nuclear plan.

SECRETS and LIES. Meet the spooks, mercenaries s and chickenhawk politicos enlisting as “North Atlantic Fellas Organization” (NAFO) trolls.   Criminals in Finland obtain weapons from Ukraine – police. 

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. Rocket Lab: Helping the US wage endless wars from space. Rocket Report: Norway’s nuclear rocket concerns.   Russian delegation at UN calls on USA to join initiative to renounce weapons in space.

SPINBUSTER. War, propaganda, and blindness. George Monbiot leads the “left” into being cheer- leaders for USA’s endless wars.

WASTES and REACTOR SHUTDOWNS. Cocooning the past – Plutonium reactor in Eastern Washington encased in steel to protect the river. Bring voices from the coast into the Fukushima treated water debate.

WAR and CONFLICT. EU ‘dancing on edge of volcano’ with Ukraine – French ex-president. Allegations fly about plans to use “dirty bomb” and nuclear weapons in Ukraine war. ‘No need’ for nuclear strikes on Ukraine, Putin says. Kremlin diplomat assures that Russia has no intention of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine. NATO primes 20 prospective new members for global strike force. NATO could deploy nuclear warheads to Poland: official.    60 years ago today, this man stopped the Cuban missile crisis from going nuclear. Cuban missile crisis, 60 years on: new papers reveal how close the world came to nuclear disaster. 

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. Cities should increase role in effort to abolish nuclear weapons.24 – 30 October UN Disarmament Week – don’t let the world powers normalise “tactical” nuclear weapons – demand abolition of nuclear weapons now! Tactical Nuclear Fantasists. Spokane poised to declare city a nuclear free zone. US, Japan, S Korea vow response if N Korea tests nuclear bomb. USA upgrades its B61-12 nuclear bombs in Europe. Biden to scrap Trump missile project but critics attack US ‘nuclear overkill’/ NATO adds to warplane, missile defense assets in Baltic Sea. A failure to review America’s nuclear posture.

The Pentagon builds a network in Australian Department of Defence amidst media silence.  With nuclear-capable B-52 bombers in Australia, USA could make lethal nuclear attack on mainland China. US Air Force to deploy nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to Australia. US deployment of nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to Australia’s north likely to fuel China tensions. 

November 1, 2022 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment