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TODAY, Nuclear power stopping climate change? IT’S THE OTHER WAY AROUND!

Climate change makes the nuclear industry EVEN MORE DANGEROUS!

Bad enough that nuclear facilities run the risk of catastrophic nuclear meltdown. Admittedly, that is a risk for some, but not all nuclear facilities, and it is a very rare event.

But while the probability of such an event is rare, the consequences of such an event are severe. That is why nuclear facilities can’t get insurance

Bad enough that nuclear facilities, even when running well, release low level ionising radiation, which increases the risk of cancer for millions of people. Bad enough that nuclear workers have a higher risk and rate of cancer and other radiation-associated diseases.

Bad enough that the nuclear industry’s only real raison d’etre is to produce nuclear weapons, thus endangering the whole world.

But now we’ve got climate change.

This week’s news carries not only the wildfire danger to nuclear facilities, but also some of the drastic risks of sea level rise- Buried Nuclear Waste From the Cold War Could Resurface as Ice Sheets Melt. And that’s only one of the “water effects” of global heating.

On the one hand – there’s the danger of sea surges, rising sea levels, floods. On the other hand – the shortage of water when nuclear reactors require continuous huge amounts of water for cooling. ( Do they think of this as they bound into the Artificial Intelligence Age, with its plans for huge data farms powered by nuclear?)

It sure is time, as a global human community, that we really took global heating seriously.

It’s also time to put a stop to this nefarious nuclear industry – before climate change puts a stop to it, in a very nasty way.

February 29, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

Texas: Disaster declaration issued and nuclear weapons plant shut down as wildfires spread

Sky News, Reemul Balla, 28 Feb 24

A disaster declaration has been issued for dozens of counties in northern Texas as raging wildfires forced evacuations in several towns and a nuclear weapons plant to shut down.

Republican governor Greg Abbott proclaimed 60 counties were in a state of disaster and called for extra emergency services to support local firefighters in tackling the blazes………………………………………………………………………….

Pantex nuclear facility paused operations until further notice due to an out-of-control fire approaching its Panhandle site near Amarillo.

Its 16,000-acre site is home to the plant that builds and disassembles America’s nuclear weapons.

“The fire near Pantex is not contained,” the company said. “Response efforts have shifted to evacuations.”

Pantex confirmed there was no fire on the site as emergency services continued to monitor the situation.

It added “all employees” had been accounted for and “non-essential personnel” were no longer on site………………………………………………………………………………………. more https://news.sky.com/story/texas-disaster-declaration-issued-and-nuclear-weapons-plant-shut-down-as-wildfires-spread-13082651

February 29, 2024 Posted by | climate change, USA | Leave a comment

Leaked Russian military files reveal its nuclear strike rules

A doctrine for tactical nuclear weapons is outlined in training scenarios, including for a possible invasion by China.

Max Seddon and Chris Cook, Feb 29, 2024 

ladimir Putin’s forces have rehearsed using tactical nuclear weapons at an early stage of conflict with a major world power, according to leaked Russian military files that include training scenarios for an invasion by China.

The classified papers, seen by the Financial Times, describe a threshold for using tactical nuclear weapons that is lower than Russia has publicly admitted, according to experts who reviewed and verified the documents.

The cache consists of 29 secret Russian military files drawn up between 2008 and 2014, including scenarios for war-gaming and presentations for naval officers, which discuss operating principles for the use of nuclear weapons.

Criteria for a potential nuclear response range from an enemy incursion on Russian territory to more specific triggers, such as the destruction of 20 per cent of Russia’s strategic ballistic missile submarines.

“This is the first time that we have seen documents like this reported in the public domain,” said Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre in Berlin. “They show that the operational threshold for using nuclear weapons is pretty low if the desired result can’t be achieved through conventional means.”

Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons, which can be delivered by land or sea-launched missiles or from aircraft, are designed for limited battlefield use in Europe and Asia, as opposed to the larger “strategic” weapons intended to target the US. Modern tactical warheads can still release significantly more energy than the weapons dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945.

Deep suspicions of China

Although the files date back 10 years and more, experts say they remain relevant to current Russian military doctrine. The documents were shown to the FT by Western sources.

The defensive plans expose deeply held suspicions of China among Moscow’s security elite even as Putin began forging an alliance with Beijing, which as early as 2001 included a nuclear no-first-strike agreement.

In the years since, Russia and China have deepened their partnership, particularly since Xi Jinping took power in Beijing in 2012……………………………………………………………………………………………..

more https://www.afr.com/world/europe/leaked-russian-files-reveal-nuclear-strike-rules-20240229-p5f8mz—

February 29, 2024 Posted by | Russia, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Fish v. electricity: Could Salem nuclear plant be shut down?

Delaware Live  KARL BAKER FEBRUARY 16, 2024

A judge in an obscure administrative court in Trenton, N.J., is set to hand down a ruling that could end a challenge to the Salem nuclear plant’s ability to pump billions of gallons of water out of the Delaware River each day.

The case, which strikes at the heart of the mid-Atlantic electricity ecosystem, pits a tenacious environmental group against one of the region’s largest energy companies, and its ultimate resolution could impact electricity prices for Delawareans, the health of birds and fish in the Delaware estuary, and President Joe Biden’s most ambitious energy initiative to date.

In short, it’s the region’s biggest environmental battle that you’ve probably never heard of.

At issue is the way in which the Salem Nuclear Generating Station’s two reactors cool steam created by the heat of nuclear fission. Currently, the plant pumps cold water from the Delaware River through a system of pipes that lead it to the steam, which is then cooled back to a liquid form.

The river water then returns to the estuary, but at far higher temperatures than when it was pumped in.

In all, the process kills large numbers of fish and fish larvae, though the exact amounts are disputed.

In late 2016, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network , an environment group and active critic of heavy industry in the region – petitioned New Jersey to rescind a permit that allows the plant to pump water out of the river.

When filed, the challenge was the latest of more than a decade of petitions, disputes and complaints brought against the Salem facility by the environmental group and its outspoken leader Maya van Rossum, who calls the power plant the largest “predator” in the Delaware estuary.

Van Rossum claims that 3 billion adult fish are killed on average each year by the plant’s cooling operations, plus billions more eggs and larvae. Those include the bay anchovy, a species that has suffered a declining local population even as larger fish, eagles, herons, and even whales rely on it for food.

“The cause of the problem for the fish is that the Salem Nuclear Generating Station is sucking them in, cooking them, ripping them apart, destroying them,” she said.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, which declined to comment for this story, suggested in their permit issued to Salem that the mortality figures cited by van Rossum and other critics are overstated.

Still, they do not appear to have presented current, counter estimate

During the early 2000s, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued new rules mandating that new large power plants use closed-cycle cooling…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. more https://delawarelive.com/fish-v-electricity-could-salem-be-shut-down/

February 29, 2024 Posted by | environment, Legal, opposition to nuclear, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear security is under attack in Ukraine, say experts at Bellona forum.

 https://bellona.org/news/nuclear-issues/2024-02-nuclear-security-is-under-attack-in-ukraine-say-experts-at-bellona-forum—

These and other questions were raised during today’s Bellona forum, “War and the Russian Nuclear Industry,” which brough together experts from Norway and Bellona’s new offices in Vilnius — the new locale for the organization’s Russian staff, who can no longer safely conduct their work on Russian soil.

“We have full-scale war in a country with full-scale nuclear installations, and a situation where international cooperation on nuclear security no longer exists,” said Bellona founder Frederic Hauge in the forum’s opening remarks.

Bellona has worked on nuclear cleanup in Russia since the early 1990s, and this month mark 30 years since Bellona released its first report on the nuclear threat caused by the legacy of the Soviet nuclear navy. It has also been almost exactly two years since Russia invaded Ukraine. That was the backdrop for today’s Bellona Forum, where about 100 people participated physically or digitally.

Tons of Nuclear Waste

Aleksandr Nikitin, a former Russian nuclear submarine officer and Bellona employee of 30 years standing, opened the forum by discussing Bellona’s strategic goals for its nuclear project in Russia.

“First and foremost, together with international actors, we have worked to prevent radiation and nuclear accidents at Russian facilities,” he said. “We have also been concerned with ensuring the elimination or safe conversion of the Soviet nuclear and radiation legacy.”

He noted that the Russian nuclear and radiation legacy consists of nearly 20,000 tons of used nuclear fuel, approximately 800,000 cubic meters of radioactive waste, over 4,700 nuclear and radiation hazardous facilities — as well as more than 30,000 cubic meters of radioactive waste dumped on the seabed.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, international efforts to grapple with those issues have stalled.

“But at Bellona, we still have full focus on the Russian nuclear industry, even though now, since we were banned by Russian authorities, we must operate from outside Russia’s borders,” Nikitin said. “We are still working to gather and disseminate information; we share knowledge about the use of nuclear technologies and how the Russian nuclear industry contributes to the continuation of the war in Ukraine.”

‘Rosatom Significantly Involved in the War’

One of the employees at Bellona’s Environmental Transparency Center in Vilnius is nuclear expert Dmitry Gorchakov, who spoke at the Bellona Forum about the role of the Russian atomic agency Rosatom in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“We closely monitor nuclear risks in Ukraine. And we monitor Rosatom’s global nuclear activities and the agency’s role in the international nuclear market closely,” said Gorchakov.

Rosatom is the world’s largest builder of nuclear power plants. One-third of all nuclear power plants under construction in the world are either built by Rosatom or according to Rosatom’s technology and design.

“Rosatom is significantly involved in the ongoing war. One of the most critical situations is the occupation of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia (in southeastern Ukraine), which the Russians have occupied since the first weeks of the war. Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been denied access to several areas of the facility,” said Gorchakov.

He highlighted three main risks at the nuclear power plant as it continues to be controlled by Russia on the front lines of the conflict.

“First, there is a risk of equipment damage due to abnormal operation and lack of maintenance. The second risk is the lack of qualified personnel. But the biggest risk, of course, is the war itself; it is unpredictable and creates chaos. Dramatic changes can occur at any time. For example, if Russia decides to switch reactors to power mode or if military activity escalates near the plant,” said Gorchakov.

Secret Nuclear Weapons Program

Thomas Nilsen from The Independent Barents Observer also participated in the Bellona forum. He talked about Russia’s secret reactor-driven nuclear weapons program and its development and testing in the Arctic.

We are in a new arms race involving new nuclear weapons and new reactor systems. And we are back to the flow of information that existed during the Soviet era, meaning almost no information. We at The Barents Observer have not reported a single incident from Russian nuclear submarines in the past four years, and that’s not because accidents haven’t happened. It’s becoming harder and harder to obtain information from Russia,” Nilsen explained.

The Barents Observer is the only Norwegian media outlet with four exiled Russian journalists on its editorial staff.

You can watch the entire Bellona forum by clicking on this link.

February 29, 2024 Posted by | safety, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Release of fourth batch of Fukushima treated radioactive water begins

Japan Times, 28 Feb 24

The operator of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on Wednesday started releasing a fourth batch of treated radioactive water into the sea, in what will be the last discharge for the fiscal year ending March.

As in previous rounds, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco) will discharge 7,800 metric tons of treated water over about 17 days, having confirmed that the radioactivity level of the latest batch of water meets the standards set by the government and the utility.

China, which opposes the water release, has banned Japanese seafood imports since the first discharge in late August. The two countries have engaged in informal discussions to resolve the matter, but no substantial progress has been made……………………….. more https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/02/28/japan/society/fukushima-radioactive-water-fourth-release/

February 29, 2024 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, oceans | Leave a comment

Locals oppose nuclear waste plant – parish council

Bob Cooper, Political reporter, BBC Radio Cumbria, 28 Feb 24  https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0jvjx8kn5xo—

Opponents of plans to seal some of the UK’s most lethal nuclear waste underground have called for communities to have more of say.

Whicham Parish Council in west Cumbria held a postal survey, in which more than three quarters of those who responded opposed the idea.

It is part of an area in which officials are exploring the possibility of siting a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF).

Cumberland Council said there was “no reason” for parish councils to conduct ballots.

Nuclear Waste Services, the body that oversees the project, described a GDF as “a highly engineered structure consisting of multiple barriers that will provide protection over hundreds of thousands of years.”

High-level nuclear waste would be sealed up to 1km (0.62 mile) underground, or possibly under the seabed.

Searches for a potential place for the facility are taking place in three areas, including two in Cumbria and another in Lincolnshire.

‘Impact on communities’

The process of identifying a site is expected to take 10 to 15 years and it could be ready to start receiving waste in the 2050s.

The Whicham postal vote was carried out in 2023 and the parish council said 251 out of 400 parishioners replied, which was a 63% turnout.

The council said 77% were opposed to a GDF in the parish, 15% were in favour, 6% were neutral, while the rest of the forms were blank.

Richard Outram, from Nuclear Free Local Authorities, a group of councils opposed to nuclear developments, said other parish councils should follow Whicham and conduct polls.

“The geological disposal facility, or a nuclear waste dump, is a massive engineering project that’s going to impact on communities for tens of years,” he said.

“It’s important to regularly take the public temperature and one way of doing that is by each parish council holding a regular parish poll.”

‘Too early’

Cumberland Council is the authority with the power to withdraw local communities from the siting process, external.

It is also responsible for conducting a formal test of public support, external, such as a local referendum, before a site can be approved.

The Labour-led authority recently wrote to parish councils telling them they did not need to conduct polls because “detailed public opinion monitoring in the Search Areas is already carried out”.

It also said it was too early in the process to carry out an official test of public support.

Meanwhile, Nuclear Waste Services said surveys to monitor local opinion would be carried out by a professional polling company.

February 29, 2024 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, UK, wastes | Leave a comment

‘I was a guinea pig during secret Christmas Island nuclear tests’

By Nicola Haseler & Lewis Adams. BBC News, Bedfordshire. 28 Feb 24

A former Royal Engineer who witnessed several atomic and hydrogen bomb explosions as part of the UK’s nuclear tests said he was a “guinea pig”.

Brian Cantle, from Bedfordshire, was 21 when he was sent to Christmas Island as part of his national service in 1957.

He and the other soldiers were not told what they were going to do there – due to the covert nature of the programme.

Mr Cantle, now 87, has been awarded a Nuclear Test Medal for his work on the Pacific Ocean island.

The veteran, from Whipsnade, witnessed several atomic and hydrogen bomb explosions during his 12 months on the island.

He was one of 22,000 British servicemen who participated in the British and United States’ nuclear tests and clean-ups between 1952 and 1965……………………………………………

On the days when bombs were tested, Mr Cantle said troops would have to put on brown overalls and face the other way to the bomb going off.

He added: “It was just a big flash and then we were told we could turn round and see it. It was an enormous explosion.”

‘We were guinea pigs’

In the decades that have followed the tests, calls have been made for the men who witnessed a nuclear test to receive an apology for the health risks they were exposed to.

“We were guinea pigs, we were just told what to do and did it,” Mr Cantle said………

The Grapple H-bomb nuclear test series was intended to show that the British had the technology to influence the Cold War, following the development of the atomic bomb by U.S. scientist Robert Oppenheimer.

The hydrogen bombs, which were much more powerful than atomic bombs, were detonated every three months…….  https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-68415338

February 29, 2024 Posted by | history, UK | Leave a comment

Burying nuclear waste the best of a bad bunch of options

A reader offers her opinion on what to do with nuclear waste as Saskatchewan considers small modular reactors for its future energy needs.

 https://thestarphoenix.com/opinion/letters/letter-burying-nuclear-waste-the-best-of-a-bad-bunch-of-options

  I share the concern that Dale Dewar expressed in the StarPhoenix of Feb. 20 about the long-term management of Canada’s used nuclear fuel.

However, my conclusion is that, while far from ideal, deep burial is the best of a bunch of bad available options. There are no good options. Even proposals to extract recyclable material from the used fuel will leave behind most of the waste to be somehow disposed of.

Dewar’s suggestion that the wastes should remain permanently on the surface, with a system of rolling stewardship that would be passed on from generation to generation, might work in a world that could be guaranteed to be permanently free of war, terrorism, natural disasters, negligence and political instability.

But that’s not the world we live in. We cannot assume that safe stewardship would be maintained in perpetuity. Leaving the wastes indefinitely on the surface would seem to create far greater risk than deep geological burial would.

Of course, it would have been nice if we had thought about this problem before we started creating these wastes.

February 29, 2024 Posted by | Canada, wastes | Leave a comment