TODAY. The global nuclear industry – rotten to the core

“our nuclear weapons infrastructure is dangerously rotting & is tens of billions secretly in the hole, with huge knockon effects beyond its destructive effects on MoD which has got *even worse* & *even more lying* during the war” – Dominic Cummins, Substack, 31 Dec 2023

Well, Dominic Cummins is the former chief adviser to Boris Johnson, a controversial figure in the UK, and not one of my favourite people. And yet …and yet… Cummins has written extensively and insightfully about nuclear weapons, and the fallacies of our comfortable belief in nuclear deterrence.

Cummins’ political loyalties? They seem non-existent – “not Tory (Conservative), libertarian, ‘populist’ or anything else“, and certainly not Labor. But there’s something to be said for such a stance – from which one can scrutinise all sides impartially.

The global crisis of the nuclear industry and nuclear weapons threatens to destroy us all – partially by the ubiquitous ionising radiation from all “correctly” functioning nuclear facilities, and the multitude of leaks and slip-ups, the pervasive toxic wastes, such as the “undersea Chernobyl”, or more definitely and quickly by nuclear war.

In the background to this truly fearful situation is the natural human optimism of most people – “God’s in his heaven— / All’s right with the world!”

In the middle of this situation is the craven crookedness pervading the global nuclear industry. Few people are willing to crack the screen covering this intrinsic rottenness. At least Cummins did – whatever you think of him.

The UK Ministry of Defence assures that all is well – but The Ferret reports on the alarming safety situation at the Trident nuclear submarine base. Huge tax-payer expense, but not clear where the money goes.

And that is symptomatic of the state of progressive putrefaction of the global nuclear industry.

The secrecy, the lies – it’s hard to know where to start – from 1945 – the reasons given for the hasty bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to the 2023 collusion between the IAEA and the Japanese government in planning the release of irradiated Fukushima water into the Pacific.

There’s the horror of the USSR’s completely irresponsible management of its nuclear industry – it’s “sacrifice zones” , and its deep sea dumping of high level submarine wastes.

Lots of corruption scandals – USA , South Africa, Canada, South Korea …………………..

Now – the prevailing lies – that the industry is “safe”, that it’s got nothing to do with weapons, and that nuclear weapons keep us safe.

Of course, the nuclear industry provides jobs, and profits for shareholders – but it is a truly vicious circle. The top few officials and CEO’s are are making a lot of money – so they’ll go on with the rottenness. If the rest of the world swallows their Koolaid, we are all of us rotten to the core, Maud.

May 1, 2024 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized