nuclear-news

Mercifully shorter nuclear news this week

This news roundup has become too long. I am going to try to limit the headlines about the Israeli and Ukraine wars, as not being actually “nuclear” news. That’s harder than you might think, as in each case we are brought closer to the brink of nuclear wars. (Those excluded items will still appear on nuclear-news.net. 

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Some bits of good news.   Blue whales have returned to a region of the Indian Ocean, where they were wiped out by commercial whalers.    Millionaires implored the UK government to tax them.

Some Good News About Climate: Costs for renewables have plummeted and growth is exceeding expectations

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TOP STORIES. A new Palestinian state could never be free as long as its neighbor, Israel, possesses nuclear weapons.     

What Would It Mean to ‘Absorb’ a Nuclear Attack?- nuclear missile silos as a “sponge”. 

The Shape of Nuclear Abolition. 

Soaring death rates raise concerns about Portsmouth nuclear plant .

Climate. COP28 must stick to 1.5°C target to save ice sheets, urge scientists. The great carbon divide: On the trail of the super-polluters.

Christina notes. The international political system of nuclear bullying must change, or it will kill us all. Rafael Grossi’s and the IAEA’s breath-taking hypocrisy , as the nuclear lobby revs up for COP 28.

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CLIMATE. For climate summit the desperate nuclear lobby will pretend that nuclear fusion is a real solution . Energy and Climate Scenarios Paradoxically Assume Considerable Nuclear Energy Growth.

CIVIL LIBERTIES. First Tel Aviv Anti-War Demonstration Reveals the Limits on Protest in Today’s Israel.

ECONOMICS. 

• Rolls Royce panicking, as UK government and investors are lukewarm about its small nuclear reactor project? Poor nuclear prospects in UK. 
• Finland extends nuclear reactor outage, pushing up power price. 
• The Russian nuclear industry during wartime, 2022 and early 2023. 
• Etopia Report: the nuclear problem – economic realities. 
• Engie demands close scrutiny of French nuclear power deal to ensure competition. 
• Xcel’s Prairie Island nuclear plant will be out of commission until January.

ENVIRONMENT. Oceans. Japan’s Fukushima plant completes third water release.

INDIGENOUS ISSUES. The Members of This Reservation Learned They Live with Nuclear Weapons. Can Their Reality Ever Be the Same?

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Small Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) : Failed U.S. Nuclear Project Raises Cost Concerns for Canadian SMR Development .      Small nuclear reactors are NOT emissions-free.       Military revokes planned contract for small nuclear reactor plant at Eielson AFB.

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR . South Texans are publicly fighting SpaceX after second Starship launch.

POLITICS. New Brunswick Premier Higgs says Canada’s federal government should give funding for small nuclear reactor projects.            Malaysian Govt urged to halt Australian company Lynas’ thorium extraction plan.            Revealed: Biden’s ‘nuclear football’ contains BOOK that tells president how to launch attack by contacting ‘Looking Glass’ plane and spherical bunker where four keys ignite missiles

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

• Czech Republic, France and others will use “Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy” to push for EU funding to the nuclear industry.
• UK’s Foreign Secretary urged to send observers to nuclear ban meeting in New York. 
• IAEA urges Countries in Mideast, Israel to join nuclear ban treaty, open facilities for inspection. 
• Second Meeting of State Parties to Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to Be Held at Headquarters, 27 November–1 December. 
• In softening on China, the West may be trying to avoid a nuclear arms race. 
• Japanese and Chinese top envoys eye more talks on Fukushima row.

SAFETY. Incidents. Nuclear submarine scare for 140 British crew due to ‘faulty’ gauge. Hacktivists breach U.S. nuclear research lab, steal employee data. K-219: Russia’s Worst Submarine Ever (And a Nuclear Disaster)?

SECRETS and LIES. Possibly irradiated items stolen at site 3 km from Fukushima plant.

WASTES. The Deeper Dig: A plan for what’s left of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. Decommissioning: Nuclear Power: UK’s Financial Challenge Unveiled. Tories, Labour clash over Milton Keynes nuclear waste claims. A Photographer Goes Inside the Ruins of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.    

WAR and CONFLICT. Israel expands Gaza operation amid hostage deal talks.  Gaza Massacre could lead to Nuclear War. 

   We’re long past nuclear deterrence: Bring on mutually assured prevention.     Disarmament Grows More Distant as US Plans Another “Upgrade” to Nuclear Bomb.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. Why is the US ramping up production of plutonium ‘pits’ for nuclear weapons? 

What do we know about Israel’s nuclear weapons? Nuclear tinderbox’: Kim’s threats put North Korea on wrong side of history. South Korea does not need nuclear subs. Beyond Current Chaos: The Escalating Risks of Nuclear War.

November 27, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes