to 4th September – nuclear news this week

Some bits of good news. How UNESCO is supporting Afghan girls and women with literacy classes. Wind-powered shipping is back as a quiet revolution sweeps the seas. Plant-based filter removes up to 99.9% of microplastics from water.

TOP STORIES.

Australian Teachers in boycott of nuclear submarine project.

US Victim of Own Propaganda in Ukraine War. Sen. Blumenthal: US Getting Its ‘Money’s Worth’ in Ukraine Because Americans Aren’t Dying. Nuclear “lobbying” blurs into bribery

Climate. The extreme summer weather that scorched and soaked the world.

Nuclear and war. Over the years, I have been surprised, and encouraged, at the interest that people have shown in stories about ETHICS. Some pretty shocking stories about Ethics have come up this week – the number of influential politicians and journalists who actually rejoice in the carnage of the Ukraine war – because it’s all making money for American shareholders while cleverly organised not to risk any American lives – only Ukrainian ones – who apparently don’t matter.

CLIMATE. Chinese government acknowledges problems for nuclear power due to climate change.

ECONOMICS.

Nuclear discharge leading tourists to rethink travel plans.
US Doubles Imports of Russian Uranium to Largest Amount Since 2005.
Nuclear is the new green – (Really?)
Tax-payer funding to develop small nuclear reactor business? Easy, get Defense and the Air Force to buy them. New small nuclear reactor company merges with a dubious ‘special purpose acquisition’ company, -reactors for use by USA Air Force in Alaska.
UK government announces a further £341m to speed up Sizewell C development.
Georgia Power customers could see monthly bills rise to pay for the Vogtle nuclear plant.
New Brunswick Power has its head stuck in uranium.

ENERGY. The UK Government’s seventh Energy Secretary in the space of four years has “a huge amount of catching up to do” to kickstart a renewables revolution. Focus on renewables, not nuclear, to fuel Canada’s electric needs

ENVIRONMENT. Radiation. Fukushima floodgates: dilution of the wastewater will not alter the total amount of radionuclides released. Brink of catastrophe: Japan as Pacific polluter. The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Still Casts a Shadow Over Japan. We are all Hibakusha- the global footprint of nuclear fallout.

Nuclear weapons testing cause of radioactivity in wild boars, study says.

ETHICS and RELIGION. US Officials Keep Boasting About How Much The Ukraine War Serves US Interests. Rocket-Launching Billionaires Promise a New Pie in the Sky. Archbishop Caccia recalls harm done by nuclear energy.

LEGAL. Federal appeals court blocks plan to ship nuclear waste to West Texas. Top prosecutors back compensation for those sickened by US nuclear weapons testing.

MEDIA. Why is The New York Times Burning Peace Activist Jodie Evans at the Stake? Critics Picked Up on Oppenheimer’s All-Too-Timely Warning on Nuclear War. ‘Then the black rain fell’: survivor’s recollections of Hiroshima inspire new film.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Hinkley Point C Nuclear Station will need daily 4,200 Olympic swimming pools’ amount of cooling water.

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR . A bottomless pit of public money for the UK government’s nuclear vanity project. ‘Unrealistic and irrational’: Government announces Sizewell C nuclear station £341m speed-up despite local backlash in Suffolk. Anger over claims RAF Lakenheath could host US nuclear weapons.

POLITICS. An Argument for the Relevance of RFK, Jr. ‘Peaceful Atom’ Sparks Fierce Debate In Kazakh Village Slated To Host Nuclear Power Plant. German Chancellor Scholz speaks out against new nuclear power, Deutschlandfunk reports. Chancellor Scholz dismisses talk of keeping nuclear energy option open in Germany.

UK Government’s investment in Sizewell C nuclear plant passes £1bn. Money thrown at Sizewell C to win hearts and minds.. South Koreans worry about Fukushima water: more disapprove of President Yoon. Peace a winning strategy for Democrats in ‘24.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY.

There should be no Saudi uranium enrichment. Saudi Arabia’s Nuclear Ambitions Have Put The U.S. Into A Bind.
Young Vietnamese Diplomat, Lê Nguyen An Khanh, Envisions Nuclear-Free World.
Rush to accept Ukraine into EU could spell ‘disaster’ – Austrian FM. Ukraine war: how China can get the world to step back from nuclear Armageddon.
China Outlines ‘Obstacles’ to Resuming High-Level Military Talks With U.S.
The State of Nuclear Instability in South Asia: India, Pakistan, and China.
Only Idiots Believe The US Is Protecting Australia From China. Challenging Australia’s blind allegiance to USA against China.

SAFETY. Atomic Blackmail: Ukraine war realises predictions of nuclear power plant threat, says Leicester civil safety expert. Over 100 security incidents at UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) nuclear weapons body. USA Nuclear Regulatory Commission ready to remove “barriers” so as to speed up licensing of new untested nuclear reactors.

WASTES. Germany facing up to its nuclear waste problem.

WAR and CONFLICT. Ukraine’s army is running out of men to recruit, and time to win. Ukraine conflict may be lengthy – Canadian PM. The Economist says West enables Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian civilian targets. NATO’s ‘proxy war’ blues: How the US-led campaign to use Ukraine to ‘cripple’ Russia has failed.

Report: US, Israel to Conduct Joint Drills Simulating Attacks on Iran. Living on a War Planet.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES.

Kazakhstan’s 40-Year History of Nuclear Testing: Call to Action for Nonproliferation Education.
Vivek Ramaswamy: Cut funding for Ukraine or face ‘post-Zelensky warlord’. Why Ukraine’s Western backers are happy to feed Zelensky’s fantasies about American F-16s. Russia puts advanced Sarmat nuclear missile system on ‘combat duty’. Ukraine war: the implications of Moscow moving tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.
US fighter jets capable of nuclear bombing to be based in UK.
North Korea says it has simulated a nuclear missile attack to warn US of ‘nuclear war danger’.