The feckless four – hypocrisy of the nuclear weapons nations
What do governments led by Rishi Sunak, Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron and Kim Jong-un have in common?
Inside Story NIC MACLELLAN ,2 FEBRUARY 2024
Just three days before Christmas, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution designed to assist survivors of nuclear testing and restore environments contaminated by nuclear weapons testing and use. Jointly developed by Kiribati and Kazakhstan, the resolution won overwhelming support, with 171 nations in favour, six abstentions and just four votes against.
It’s little surprise that five of the six abstentions came from nuclear weapon states: the United States, China, Israel, Pakistan and India (joined, oddly, by South Sudan). But in a dismaying display of power politics, France and Britain voted with Russia and North Korea to oppose assistance to people and landscapes irradiated during decades of nuclear testing.
Diplomats representing Western powers are prone to talk about “the international community,” “the rules-based order” and “democratic versus authoritarian states.” But on this occasion the jargon was undercut by the willingness of London and Paris to line up alongside Moscow and Pyongyang to avoid responsibility for past actions and to limit reparations.
With the International Court of Justice debating genocide in Ukraine, Myanmar and Palestine and UN agencies seeking to defend international humanitarian law, the hypocrisy of major powers has been polarising international opinion. Developing nations are increasingly challenging an international order that sanctions official enemies, at the same time as absolving major powers of the responsibility to deal with their own breaches of international law.
Over the past three years, ambassadors Teburoro Tito of Kiribati and Akan Rakhmetullin of Kazakhstan have coordinated international consultations on how the nuclear assistance provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, or TPNW, should be implemented. Articles 6 and 7 of the treaty, which entered into force in January 2021, include unprecedented obligations on parties to the treaty to aid nuclear survivors and contribute to environmental remediation.
Kiribati and Kazakhstan might seem an unlikely couple, but they have bonded over a common twentieth-century legacy. Both nations’ lands, waters and peoples have been devastated by cold war nuclear testing, and in each case the responsible countries refuse to take responsibility. Britain and Russia have bonded, too, but in their case, they’re united in their refusal to assist their former colonies.
After conducting twelve atmospheric atomic tests in Australia in 1952–57 — at the Monte Bello Islands, Emu Field and Maralinga — Britain sought a new location for developing and testing more powerful hydrogen bombs. During Operation Grapple, the British military conducted nine atmospheric thermonuclear tests at Malden and Christmas (Kiritimati) islands in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, which is today part of the Republic of Kiribati.
Just as Britain chose the “vast empty spaces” of the South Australian desert and the isolated atolls of Kiribati for its tests, Moscow sought similar expanses within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Over more than four decades, it held 456 nuclear tests in the Semipalatinsk region of Kazakhstan. The history of Soviet testing in the Central Asian republic and its radioactive legacies, spread across more than 18,000 square kilometres, has been documented by Kazakh scholar Togzhan Kassenova in her compelling 2022 book Atomic Steppe.
Once the TPNW was adopted, Kiribati and Kazakhstan led efforts to develop mechanisms for dealing with the health and environmental effects of radioactive fallout. After seeking technical advice from survivors, nuclear scientists and UN agencies, they developed a set of proposals for action and a UN resolution seeking international support.
Now adopted by the UN General Assembly, that resolution proposes bilateral, regional and multilateral action and the sharing of technical and scientific information about nuclear legacies, and “calls upon Member States in a position to do so to contribute technical and financial assistance as appropriate.” It requires UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres to seek members’ views and proposals about assistance to nuclear survivors and report back to the General Assembly…………………………………………………. more https://insidestory.org.au/the-feckless-four/
Residents ask for full examination of damage to nuclear plant caused by quake
Japan Today, By MARI YAMAGUCHI, TOKYO, 3 Feb 24
A group of residents of towns near Japanese nuclear plants submitted a petition on Friday asking regulators to halt safety screening for the restart of idled reactors until damage to a plant that partially lost external power and spilled radioactive water during a recent powerful earthquake is fully examined.
The magnitude 7.6 quake on New Year’s Day and dozens of strong aftershocks in north-central Ishikawa prefecture left 240 people dead and 15 unaccounted for and triggered a small tsunami.
Two idled reactors at Shika nuclear power plant on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa suffered power outages because of damage to transformers. Radioactive water spilled from spent fuel cooling pools and cracks appeared on the ground, but no radiation leaked outside, operator Hokuriku Electric Power Co. said.
The damage rekindled safety concerns and residents are asking whether they could have evacuated safely if it had been more severe. The earthquake badly damaged roads and houses in the region.
All Japanese nuclear power plants were temporarily shut down after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster for safety checks under stricter standards. The government is pushing for them to be restarted but the process has been slow, in part because of lingering anti-nuclear sentiment among the public. Twelve of the 33 workable reactors have since restarted.
Residents of Ishikawa and other towns with nuclear plants gathered in Tokyo on Friday and handed their petition to officials at the Nuclear Regulation Authority. They are asking officials to freeze the screening process while damage at the Shika nuclear plant is fully examined and safety measures are implemented.
Susumu Kitano, a Noto Peninsula resident, said there would be no way to escape from his town in case of a major accident at the plant.
Nuclear safety officials have noted that the extensive damage suffered by houses and roads in the area of the Shika plant make current evacuation plans largely unworkable. The damage, including landslides, made many places inaccessible, trapping thousands of people on the narrow peninsula.
Experts say current nuclear emergency response plans often fail to consider the effects of damage from compounded disasters and need to be revised to take into account more possible scenarios.
Takako Nakagaki, a resident of Kanazawa, about 60 kilometers (35 miles) south of the Shika plant, said the current evacuation plan is “pie in the sky.” Under the plan, residents closer to the plant are advised to stay indoors in case of a radiation leak, but that would be impossible if houses are damaged in an earthquake.
The Noto quake also sparked fear in neighboring Fukui prefecture, where seven reactors at three plants have restarted, and in Niigata prefecture, where the operator of the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear plant is preparing to restart its only workable nuclear plant, the world’s largest seven-reactor Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant.
Hundreds of other residents of towns hosting nuclear plants submitted similar requests to regulators and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida earlier this week……………………. more https://japantoday.com/category/national/residents-ask-for-a-full-examination-of-damage-to-a-japanese-nuclear-plant-caused-by-a-recent-quake
Holtec to get $1.5 bln loan to re-open Michigan nuclear power plant -source
By Timothy Gardner, February 1, 2024
Jan 30 (Reuters) – Holtec International is set to get a $1.5 billion conditional loan in February from the U.S. Energy Department to help it restart the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.
The loan from the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) is likely to be announced in late February, the person said, declining to be identified as the information was not yet public.
The energy technology firm said it was “optimistic” about the federal loan process, which would help the company re-open a closed U.S. nuclear power plant for the first time in history.
“We hope for a timely approval to bring the plant back to full power operation toward the end of 2025,” said Holtec spokesperson Nick Culp, declining to comment on the size or timing of the loan.
Florida-based Holtec bought Palisades in 2022 from Entergy (ETR.N), opens new tab to decommission the plant after it struggled to compete with natural gas-fired plants and renewable energy……………………………………
Bloomberg first, opens new tab reported that the administration was poised to loan the company $1.5 billion as soon as next month, citing sources………………….
The Biden administration earlier this month finalized $1.1 billion in credits to keep PG&E Corp’s (PCG.N), opens new tab Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in operation in California…………….more https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/holtec-get-15-bln-loan-re-open-michigan-nuclear-power-plant-source-2024-01-31/
Uranium remains in Logan County groundwater decades after nuclear facility closed
Nearly five decades after an Oklahoma nuclear facility closed its doors, clean-up efforts still aren’t complete.
KOCO5 News, 1 Feb 24
It was 49 years ago when a nuclear fuel production facility near Crescent, made famous by the movie “Silkwood,” shut down. To this day, records from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission show that radioactive material is still present at the site.
Groundwater remains contaminated by uranium, which was once produced at the facility. Clean-up efforts began after the plant closed in 1975. That work is expected to last until at least 2040 – 65 years after it ceased operations.
We are reviewing proposals for the final groundwater cleanup for the site. So that’s the one piece that’s still under license under the NRC,” said Amy Brittain with the Department of Environmental Equality in 2019.
That was five years ago when KOCO first investigated the contaminants at two Oklahoma facilities once owned by the Kerr McGee Chemical Corporation. Five years after that interview, a plan has yet to be finalized to treat that groundwater contamination near Crescent.
But as decommissioning was still not complete in Logan County, Oklahoma lawmakers discussed the possibility of bringing nuclear energy back to the state……………………….. https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-nuclear-plants-kerr-mcgee-crescent-plant-uranium-contamination/46618779
How not to go nuclear: Hinkley and Sizewell
by DAVID HOWELL
David Howell: This is not just a matter of finding the cash to meet the
enormous budget overrun. The Chinese payments halt at Hinkley leaves a
growing gap. Love or hate them nowadays, they have already been edged out
of the Sizewell plan (they were actually paid £100m to leave), so the very
large Chinese contribution there will also have to be found from elsewhere.
But EDF has no more money, and the French think the British Government
should open its chequebook. HM Treasury thinks no such thing. So, to
repeat, who is going to fill the gap?
Copying Hinkley, and certainly copying its financial story, looks less attractive by the day. The British hope is that at Sizewell a new financial model, requiring consumers and
customers to pay extra for years in advance for their electricity, will
entice in investors, to replace the Chinese. One allegedly interested
“private investor” is said to be the not-so-private United Arab
Emirates government. But is that the kind of swap — the very non-aligned
UAE in place of the Chinese — that we need?
The Article 29th Jan 2024
https://www.thearticle.com/how-not-to-go-nuclear-hinckley-and-sizewell
Hinkley Point shambles shows why UK must scrap disastrous nuclear strategy.
Energy spokesperson Mark Ruskell is accusing Tories and Labour of wasting billions of pounds on nuclear technology
The UK government must scrap its disastrous nuclear strategy in light of the shambolic saga of the Hinkley Point power station, says the Scottish Greens climate spokesperson, Mark Ruskell MSP.
The call follows revelations that the Hinkley Point project has been hit by yet another delay of up to four more years, and that it could cost an eye watering £46 billion.
This month the UK government announced plans for the biggest expansion on nuclear energy for 70 years.
Mr Ruskell said: “Hinkley Point C has been a shambolic money pit. It’s been hit by delay after delay and the costs are escalating at an alarming rate. Nobody can say with any confidence when it will go live or how much money will have been wasted on it.
“Yet, the UK government wants to throw even more time and money into an unsafe, unreliable and eye-wateringly expensive energy source that will leave a terrible legacy for future generations.
“The climate crisis is happening all around us. We don’t have time to waste on a disastrous nuclear strategy. Renewable energy is the cleanest, greenest and cheapest energy available, that is what all governments should be focusing on.
“That is what we are doing with Scottish Greens in government in Scotland. Yet the Tories and Labour are committed to wasting billions of pounds on nuclear technology.”
Democrats press Blinken on arms sales to Israel without congressional approval
The Hill BY NICK ROBERTSON – 01/29/24
A bicameral coalition of nearly 20 Democrats urged the State Department on Monday to provide information on the Biden administration’s decisions to sell arms to Israel amid its ongoing war with Hamas without explicit congressional approval.
The letter, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), increases pressure on the Biden White House from Democrats concerned with the U.S. role in the Gaza conflict, which has raged since Hamas’s attack in early October.
The Biden administration has bypassed congressional notification on Israel arms sales twice, raising concerns among the lawmakers.
The members of Congress “shared the world’s horror” over the violence of Hamas militants but are also “deeply disturbed” over Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” of Palestinians in Gaza, the letter says.
“It is essential for Congress to be able to conduct oversight of these arms transfers and determine whether they are consistent with humanitarian principles and U.S. law, and whether they advance or harm U.S. national security,” the letter reads.
“It is highly unusual for the president to bypass congressional oversight through an emergency declaration,” it continues. “In fact, since the [Arms Export Control Act] was passed into law, an emergency declaration authority has only been used 18 times in nearly 50 years.”
The lawmakers drew attention to the mass civilian casualties in the conflict, and the use of U.S. munitions in strikes that killed civilians. More than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
“We are also troubled by the decision to provide equipment for 155mm shells, which over 30 U.S.-based civil society organizations warned poses ‘a grave risk to civilians’ and are ‘inherently indiscriminate’ when used in densely populated areas like Gaza,” the letter reads.
Specifically, the letter demands Secretary of State Antony Blinken provide official explanations for why the administration chose to pursue emergency transfers of arms instead of the standard procedure of congressional notification.
“Congress and the American public deserve thorough answers on how this policy was applied for these two emergency transfers,” the lawmakers continued. “Use of a national emergency waiver does not exempt the U.S. government from assessing whether arms sales are consistent with these policies.”
Warren and McGovern were joined on the letter by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Reps. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Maxine Waters (D-Fla.), and 11 other lawmakers……………..https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4435699-democrats-blinken-arms-sales-to-israel-congressional-approval/
International Court of Justice rejects most of Ukraine’s terror financing and discrimination case against Russia
PBS, Wed, 31 Jan 2024
The United Nations’ top court on Wednesday rejected large parts of a case filed by Ukraine alleging that Russia bankrolled separatist rebels in the country’s east a decade ago and has discriminated against Crimea’s multiethnic community since its annexation of the peninsula.
The International Court of Justice ruled that Moscow violated articles of two treaties — one on terrorism financing and another on eradicating racial discrimination — but it rejected far more of Kyiv’s claims under the treaties.
It rejected Ukraine’s request for Moscow to pay reparations for attacks in eastern Ukraine blamed on pro-Russia Ukrainian rebels, including the July 17, 2014, downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 that killed all 298 passengers and crew.
Comment: Russia was not responsible. This point is all the more glaring considering how, in just the last few days, Ukraine shot down a plane carrying 65 of its own troops…………………………………………………………………………….
This is hugely significant because effectively, Ukraine and its Western backers poured enormous time, energy, and money into proving everything Western media/governments were saying about the Maidan government’s brutal Donbas crackdown for eight years was true. And they failed.
…………………………………………more https://www.sott.net/article/488433-International-Court-of-Justice-REJECTS-most-of-Ukraines-case-against-Russia
Ontario counts nuclear power as “Green”.
Ontario to include nuclear power projects in its green bonds, JEFF GRAYQUEEN’S PARK REPORTER, TORONTO, 2 Feb 24
Ontario has rewritten the rules for its multibillion-dollar green bond program and will now for the first time be able to use the proceeds for nuclear-power projects, the latest in a series of pro-nuclear moves made by the Progressive Conservative government.
The Ontario Financing Authority, which issues the province’s bonds, unveiled a new framework on Thursday for green bonds, which Ontario offers when it borrows money to finance capital projects that advance environmental goals.
While the program previously funded a range of infrastructure, it specifically excluded nuclear power. The new framework now includes a provision for “the deployment of nuclear energy to generate electricity and/or heat.”…….
The province has just pledged several large, and costly, expansions of nuclear power as it seeks to expand its electricity grid to meet future demand. This week, it announced the refurbishment of four 40-year-old reactors at Ontario Power Generation’s aging Pickering power station east of Toronto. That project is expected to take more than a decade and cost billions, although the government released no total cost estimate and a feasibility study is not being released to the public……………
The change made on Thursday is not the first time a debt issuer has tested whether the global market for so-called green bonds is willing to embrace nuclear power. Privately held Bruce Power, which operates the province’s largest nuclear power plant, on the shores of Lake Huron, in Tiverton, Ont., issued what was billed as the world’s first nuclear green bond back in 2021, as it sought financing for a massive refurbishment project. Provincially owned Ontario Power Generation has also recently issued a nuclear green bond.
The federal government moved to include nuclear in its green bond program late last year, after objections from the nuclear industry when Ottawa initially failed to include the sector. The European Union has made similar changes, and is being challenged over them in court by the environmental group Greenpeace.
Ontario, which is among the largest sub-sovereign debt issuers in the world, has issued green bonds for a decade. It is the largest issuer of these bonds in Canadian dollars, outstripping the federal government and all other provinces combined, at $16.5-billion. It is expected to issue its first green bonds under the new regime before March 31………………….
Keith Stewart, a senior energy strategist with Greenpeace Canada, said nuclear power should not be considered green enough for green bonds, the way renewable solar and wind power are. He noted that there is still no permanent solution for the radioactive waste it produces.
“If you are getting some kind of a bonus for being green, you should have really high standards for that,” he said.
As Ukraine begs for more weapons, corruption in its Defense Ministry is revealed
Corruption in Ukraine sparks outrage in US Congress – media https://www.rt.com/russia/591647-us-congress-slams-ukraine-corruption/ 2 Feb 24
A large-scale embezzlement scheme has been revealed amid Kiev’s struggle to secure more aid in its conflict with Russia
Republicans in the US Congress have slammed Ukraine after the country’s successor to the KGB (SBU) uncovered an embezzlement scheme in which top officials are implicated. It comes as Kiev attempts to secure more funding from its supporters for its conflict with Russia, despite growing reluctance in the West.
The SBU announced on Saturday that it had uncovered a major embezzlement scheme involving high-ranking Defense Ministry officials and a private arms manufacturer. Five suspects attempted to steal 1.5 billion hryvnia (around $39.6 million) in state funds intended for mortar shells for Ukrainian troops, according to the security service.
The announcement comes as Republicans in the US Congress push back against President Joe Biden’s efforts to send a further $60 billion aid package to Ukraine.
On Wednesday, the American Conservative (TAC) magazine published an article in which several congresspeople were asked to comment on the matter.
In a phone interview with TAC, Republican Matt Rosendale of Montana said, “Just a few years ago, the only thing that we knew about Ukraine was that it was the most corrupt country that anyone had ever heard of… To even try to believe and hope that maybe the funding is being managed better now than it was previously is laughable.”
Republican Lauren Boebert of Colorado said she does not support providing Ukraine “with another penny,” stressing that the US should “worry about securing our own borders.”
“Clearly, the money designated for Ukraine isn’t going where it was supposed to,” she said, calling for a full audit of the funds sent to Ukraine.
Republican Congressman Eli Crane of Arizona told TAC that the latest instance of fraud “is likely just the tip of the iceberg.” In a written statement, Crane questioned the idea of expecting “a full and clean accounting from a country whose leader dissolved rival political parties and aims to suspend national elections.”
In September, Ukrainian Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov was dismissed from his post over graft allegations. His successor, Rustem Umerov, announced earlier this month that a probe he had initiated revealed $262 million in theft-related costs in weapons procurement.
Moscow has condemned Western military support for Ukraine, arguing that pumping the country with more weapons will only prolong the fighting and cause more bloodshed.
Sellafield nuclear plant: Cancer fears raised by Scottish MP.
By Hamish Morrison The National, 1st Feb 2024
CANCER fears have been raised amid fresh concerns about the level of nuclear waste found in Scottish waters.
As delays and costs mount on Britain’s new flagship nuclear project, SNP MP Allan Dorans has unearthed research showing the environmental impact of atomic energy – and has
raised fears it could cause cancer. Dorans has previously raised concerns
about the Sellafield nuclear waste processing plant in Cumbria, which pumps
waste out into the sea, reaching as far as the Ayrshire coast in his
constituency. While the levels of radiation remain within what the UK
authorities consider safe, Dorans has repeatedly raised fears these
assessments may be underplaying the health risks of exposure to
radioactivity.
Now he has highlighted research from Manchester University
which examined how the sea bed conditions around the Sellafield site
effectively contain radioactive waste which is then distributed around the
coast to Scotland and disturbed by fish, including haddock. Dorans said:
“While most Government advisors insist that this radioactivity only
inches down is safe from transmission into the food chain, the activity of
bottom-feeding species and the disturbance that storms and flooding must
cause in the sediment suggests to me complacency.”
The National 1st Feb 2024
https://www.thenational.scot/news/24091797.sellafield-nuclear-plant-cancer-fears-raised-scottish-mp
Britain plans ‘robocop’ force to protect nuclear sites with paint bombs
AI-powered drones are being designed to cut labour costs and boost
security at Sellafield. Britain’s nuclear sites could soon be protected
by a “robocop” style police force made up of AI-powered drones equipped
with paint bombs and smoke guns.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
(NDA), which runs high-security nuclear sites such as Sellafield and
Dounreay, wants to build a robotic police force to cut costs and boost
security across sites containing radioactive waste. It has offered £1.5m
to security and defence companies for initial designs of a robotic defence
system, with a view to commissioning a fully-fledged version in the future.
The NDA’s document for the project says that a key aim is to cut labour
costs by reducing the number of armed police. Currently, the Civil Nuclear
Constabulary employs nearly 1,600 people, with its cost bill rising to
£130m in 2022/23 – up from £110m in 2018.
The procurement document
said: “The NDA covers 17 nuclear sites, 1,000 hectares of land and over
800 buildings. We are interested in innovative ways to ensure our sites
remain safe and secure in a resource-constrained environment.” A
spokesman for the NDA confirmed the “roboforce” plans, claiming that
police officers will be able to control the technology without being
exposed to danger. “They will be able to override the system, or
investigate and deal with intruders from a control room,” the spokesman
said.
Telegraph 1st Feb 2024
Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) firmly contradicts Therese Coffey, MP on Bradwell as a nuclear site.
Therese Coffey MP suggests Bradwell is a large brownfield site. In fact,
the site is occupied by the long closed Bradwell A power station now in the
process of decommissioning before being returned to greenfield land use.
Perhaps her most preposterous assertion is that ‘Bradwell has hosted
nuclear power and hopes to do so again in the future’. In fact, the
communities and Councils around the Blackwater estuary in Essex are
overwhelmingly against new nuclear development at Bradwell.
Many years ago, BANNG gathered 10,000 signatures face-to-face for a petition against new
nuclear development at Bradwell which was taken to Whitehall. Since then,
the Chinese developer, CGN, has withdrawn its proposals for a massive new
nuclear power station in the face of implacable hostility from the local
community.
‘Therese Coffey would do well to check her facts and look to
her own backyard and devote her campaigning against the destruction of the
Suffolk coast by the giant Sizewell C nuclear power station project, with
its long-term stores of radioactive wastes, rather than seek to impose
unwanted infrastructure on the precious marshlands of Essex.’
BANNG 31st Jan 2023
International Court of Justice Rules Against Ukraine on Terrorism, MH17
In a blow to Ukraine, the World Court ruled Russia didn’t finance terrorism in Donbass and the court refused to blame Moscow for the downing of Flight MH17.2
Joe Lauria, in The Hague, Netherlands, Consortium News, https://consortiumnews.com/2024/02/01/icj-rules-against-ukraine-v-russia-on-terrorism-mh17/
The World Court ruled on Wednesday that Russia did not finance terrorism in its defense of separatists in Ukraine and the court refused to find Russia guilty of downing Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 as Ukraine had asked.
The case was brought to the ICJ by Ukraine in 2017, three years after the U.S.-backed coup in Kiev overthrew the democratically-elected President Viktor Yanukovych.
When Russian speakers in Donbass rebelled against the unconstitutional change in government that they had voted for, the coup leaders in 2014 launched what it called an “anti-terrorist” military operation to put down the rebellion.
Russia responded by helping ethnic Russians with arms and other military equipment. Ukraine claimed to the court that that was in breach of a treaty barring terrorism financing.
But the ICJ ruled on Wednesday that the treaty only covered cash transfers made to alleged terrorist groups. This “does not include the means used to commit acts of terrorism, including weapons or training camps,” the Court said in its judgement.
“Consequently, the alleged supply of weapons to various armed groups operating in Ukraine… fall outside the material scope” of the anti-terrorism financing convention, the Court ruled. The Court also said it had no evidence to show that any of the armed militias in Donbass fighting against the government could be characterized as terrorist groups.
The ICJ found only that Russia was, “failing to take measures to investigate facts… regarding persons who have allegedly committed an offense.” It added that the court “rejects all other submissions made by the Ukraine.”
The ruling is highly significant in undermining Kiev’s claim to be fighting a war against terrorists in Donbass, an essential part of the Ukraine’s and the West’s narrative in justifying its brutal operation that left more than 10,000 civilians dead.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 amid indications that Kiev was beginning a new offensive against Donbass. Ukraine and the West had failed to implement two peace agreements negotiated in Minsk and endorsed by the U.N. Security Council.
Western and Ukrainian officials later admitted they never had any intention of implementing the deal and pretended to to buy time to build up its forces against Russia.
Rejected MH17 Claim
In its complaint to the Court, Ukraine had also claimed that Russia was responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014, killing all 298 civilian passengers and crew on board. Kiev wanted Russia to pay compensation to the victims.
But the court refused to rule whether Russia was responsible and to order compensation. This ruling appears to contradict the results of the official investigation into the incident.
The Dutch Safety Board (DSB) and a Dutch-led joint investigation team (JIT) concluded in 2016 that the plane was shot down by ethnic Russian separatists using a missile supplied by Russia. Moscow has denied involvement in the incident.
The ruling on MH17 came two weeks after the European Court of Justice decided that the Dutch government was not required to release information it has about the incident. The Dutch news outlet RTL Nieuws had brought the case before the ICJ.
It wanted to know what reports the Dutch government had received about Ukrainian airspace before the plane was shot down. The government refused to release that data and the European court ruled it did not have to divulge information regarding aviation safety.
No Discrimination
Ukraine was also denied compensation for what it said was discrimination against ethnic Tatars and Ukrainians in Crimea after Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014.
The court only agreed that Russia failed to adequately protect Ukrainian language education in Crimea. This complaint came as Ukraine passed laws discriminating against the Russian language in the country.
US Judge Votes Against Russia
Joan Donoghue, the American judge who is president of the Court, voted to protect Ukraine against several of the measures of the judgement.
For instance, she voted (in a 10-5 vote) against rejecting “all other submissions made by Ukraine with respect to the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.” She only voted for the point criticizing Russia for not properly investigating the charge and against rejecting Ukraine’s demands for compensation.
Donoghue also voted (in another 10-5 vote) against rejecting Ukraine’s charge regarding discrimination against Ukrainians and Tartars in Crimea.
France’s ASN nuclear safety authority warns of fraud risk in nuclear industry
ELISE WU, Montel Paris, 31 Jan 2024
Montel) The head of France’s ASN nuclear safety authority has revealed that it found 43 cases of fraud and forgery in the French nuclear industry last year, warning that the threat of corruption is growing.
“There are a fairly constant 40 or so situations reported to us each year,” said ASN chief Bernard Doroszczuk.
The cases were related to materials used in nuclear reactors as well as false certificates from welders and inspectors, he added.
“Inspections of the supply chain of materials used in the nuclear sector reveal recurring weaknesses: mainly a lack of knowledge among suppliers of safety requirements, a lack of…….. (Subscribers only) ……………………………..more https://www.montelnews.com/news/1536520/french-asn-warns-of-fraud-risk-in-nuclear-industry—
1 This Month
petition to oppose the rapid increase of space-military industry threatening Jeju Island and the region.
[Petition by April 19th (KST)] Stop the joint military-Hanwha Systems-Jeju Provincial Government Sea Launch!
World Nuclear Power. Reactors 1951-2026, 75 Years of Nuclear Power.
Interactive Map– https://dv.worldnuclearreport.org/
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
of the week–London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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