US nuclear weapons in Poland would be priority military target – Moscow
Warsaw wants to host NATO arms under the bloc’s sharing scheme
https://www.rt.com/russia/596553-ryabkov-nuclear-weapons-poland/
Russia would consider foreign deployments of nuclear weapons in Poland a primary military target, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has warned.
Warsaw is in talks with Washington on potentially hosting nuclear arms as part of a NATO program. President Andrzej Duda reiterated Poland’s willingness to host the weapons in an interview this week.
Moscow considers any expansion of NATO’s nuclear-sharing arrangement as “deeply destabilizing” in nature, “and in fact threatening” Russia, Ryabkov was quoted as saying by TASS on Thursday.
This applies to joint missions, where non-nuclear members of the US-led bloc are trained to use American hardware, and even more so to the permanent stationing of such weapons “which hotheads in Warsaw are talking about,” he said.
Polish politicians vying for American nukes on their soil “must understand that any shift in that direction will not provide additional security to Poland, since relevant sites will definitely become targets. Our military planners will consider them a priority,” the senior diplomat added.
Duda told the Fakt newspaper on Monday that he had personally asked the US to station part of its nuclear arsenal in Poland.
”If our allies decide to deploy nuclear weapons as part of nuclear sharing also on our territory to strengthen the security of NATO’s eastern flank, we are ready for it,” he said.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who belongs to a rival political force, downplayed the president’s remarks on the same day, saying he would like Duda to clarify what his intentions were in making them.
”This idea is very massive, I would say very serious,” the prime minister added, explaining that Poland has no specific plans to host foreign nukes.
According to public sources, the US keeps some of its nuclear gravity bombs in five non-nuclear NATO states: Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Türkiye. Poland’s previous conservative government led by Law and Justice (PiS), to which Duda belongs, has been seeking admission into this club for years. Tusk is the leader of Civic Platform, and returned to power as prime minister last December.
Acknowledging the Horrors of Gaza—Without Wanting to End Them
GREGORY SHUPAK, FAIR, 26 Apr 24
The International Court of Justice in January found it “plausible” that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The next month, in a lawsuit aimed at ending US military support for Israel, a federal court in California ruled that Israel’s actions in the Strip “plausibly” amount to genocide (Guardian, 2/1/24). Shortly thereafter, Michael Fakhri (Guardian, 2/27/24), the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, said of Israeli actions:
There is no reason to intentionally block the passage of humanitarian aid or intentionally obliterate small-scale fishing vessels, greenhouses and orchards in Gaza—other than to deny people access to food….
Intentionally depriving people of food is clearly a war crime. Israel has announced its intention to destroy the Palestinian people, in whole or in part, simply for being Palestinian. In my view as a UN human rights expert, this is now a situation of genocide. This means the state of Israel in its entirety is culpable and should be held accountable—not just individuals or this government or that person.
In March, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese released a report concluding “that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating Israel’s commission of genocide is met.” During its campaign in Gaza, Israel’s “military has been heavily reliant on imported aircraft, guided bombs and missiles,” and 69% of Israel’s arms imports between 2019 and 2023 have come from the US (BBC, 4/5/24).
In this context, corporate media, which have long been strong supporters of both the Israeli colonization of Palestine and the US imperial violence undergirding it, face a dilemma. At this stage, corporate media cannot simply conceal the daily horrors that are unfolding, particularly as much of their audience is exposed to it whenever they open a social media app. So media’s challenge is to frame the “plausible” genocide in a way that will not undermine long-term US/Israeli domination of Palestine. In this context, many corporate media analysts acknowledge the grave harm done to the Palestinians in Gaza—without also saying that it must end.
A Washington Post editorial (3/30/24), for example, lamented how “hunger threatens Gaza’s civilians, who, through displacement, disease and death, have already paid a horrible price.” (“Israel is forcing hunger on Gaza with US support” would be better, but I digress.) Subsequently, the paper noted that “objective conditions for the 2 million or so people in Gaza, most displaced from ruined homes, are horrendous.”
The editors’ prescription in “the short run” was “a six-week truce with Hamas, during which the militants would release at least some of their hostages and relief supplies could flow into Gaza more safely.” At that point, Palestinians can resume paying that “horrible price” in “horrendous” conditions, such as having “the biggest cohort of pediatric amputees in history” (New Yorker, 3/21/24).
‘The weapons it needs
Columnist David French likewise wrote in the New York Times (4/7/24) that “the terrible civilian toll and looming famine in Gaza are a human tragedy that should grieve us all,” but endorsed “giving Israel the weapons it needs to prevail against Hamas.” He favorably compared the Biden’s administration’s lavishing Israel with weapons to Donald’s Trump’s remark that Israel has “got to finish what they started, and they’ve got to finish it fast, and we have to get on with life.” French said:
…………… “Israel,” French asserted, “possesses both the legal right and moral obligation to its people to end Hamas’s rule and destroy its effectiveness as a fighting force.” French’s argument was that the US should keep arming Israel, but ensure that more aid reaches Palestinians in Gaza. The absurdity of this position is that Israel’s use of that “military aid” is what causes “the terrible civilian toll and looming famine in Gaza.”
At the time French was writing, at least 27 Palestinians in Gaza had already starved to death, 23 of them children (Al Jazeera, 3/27/24). As the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification System, a hunger-monitoring coalition of multinational and nongovernmental organizations, noted in December:
The cessation of hostilities and the restoration of humanitarian space to deliver…multi-sectoral assistance and restore services are essential first steps in eliminating any risk of famine.
Commenting on the report, famine expert Alex de Waal (Guardian, 3/21/24) said that
Israel has had ample warning of what will happen if it continues its campaign of destroying everything necessary to sustain life. The IPC’s Famine Review Committee report on 21 December authoritatively warned of starvation if Israel did not cease destruction and failed to allow humanitarian aid at scale.
………………………………..A Los Angeles Times editorial (4/9/24) expressed concern for “the level of death and destruction in Gaza” and wrote that, in a February news conference, “Biden was particularly critical—appropriately so—of the inability of humanitarian relief workers to get food and water to Gaza’s 2.3 million people, many of whom face famine.” The piece went on to call for “hostage releases and a lasting ceasefire.”
Yet the article’s penultimate paragraph read: “It is Hamas that keeps the war going by continuing to hold the hostages it brutally kidnapped in its October attack.”
…………………………………..the reality was exactly the opposite of what the LA Times said: The Israeli/US side wanted to take a short break from slaughtering Palestinians, whereas the Palestinian side was insisting on the “lasting ceasefire” that the paper claimed to favor. Whatever the editors purport to want, regurgitating anti-Palestinian propaganda that essentially blames Palestinians for their own genocide, rather than the US/Israeli perpetrators, is hardly an effective way to contribute to ending the killing.
I’ve cited four authoritative sources either saying that Israel is committing genocide, or that there are reasonable grounds for interpreting the evidence that way. Yet none of the opinion articles I’ve analyzed here contained the word “genocide,” even as each one suggested that it was worried about the well-being of Palestinians in Gaza. If corporate media were serious about that, they would accurately name what the US and Israel are doing. Instead, US media outlets are pretending that a genocide isn’t happening and, when the war on Gaza eventually ends, this approach will make it easier to act as if one hadn’t taken place, and as if the US and Israel have a right to rule Palestine. https://fair.org/home/acknowledging-the-horrors-of-gaza-without-wanting-to-end-them/
Chernobyl campaigner Adi Roche warns of global nuclear threat as power plant attacked in Ukraine
Irish Examiner , 26 Apr 24
The world must face the stark reality of a looming global nuclear threat following fresh drone strikes near the Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine, Chernobyl campaigner Adi Roche has warned.
“It is a nightmare scenario,” Ms Roche said on the eve of UN Chernobyl remembrance day on Friday which recalls the horror of the 1986 nuclear disaster.
But that tragedy could pale into insignificance if Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, is damaged by or as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, she said.
“We have never had a situation in any war where something like this has happened. This war has changed the face of warfare,” she said.
“Putin is weaponising nuclear power facilities.
“The world was shocked by the scale of Chernobyl’s impact but I don’t think we even have a model for what might happen if there’s an incident at Zaporizhzhia.
“We are looking down the barrel of loaded gun and one of these days, our luck is going to run out.”
Drone strikes
Drone strikes were reported near the plant again on April 7 in what was the first direct military action against the plant since November 2022, when Russia assumed control of the facility.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors deployed to monitor the site reported three drone impacts, none of which damaged critical nuclear safety or security systems.
But Russia has recently announced plans to restart the plant, greatly increasing the danger of a nuclear accident………………………….. https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-41381947.html
National Not-the-Nuclear-Lobby Returns to Parliament Hill, Ottawa
OTTAWA — Citizens groups from six provinces are returning to Ottawa to press members of Parliament to increase scrutiny and security of nuclear operations. They will be back on Parliament Hill from April 29 to May 2, following a successful lobby in 2023.
This year there are two public events, three invitational community events and visits with as many MPs as can be convinced to open their doors.
Not-the-Nuclear Lobby is supported by members from 17 citizen and public interest groups across Canada. Members – teachers, professors, doctors, engineers and educated citizens – will meet on Parliament Hill to share important details that MPs, lobbied as they are by the nuclear industry, don’t usually hear about nuclear energy and the radioactivity the nuclear industry generates.
The lobby’s key themes this year are:
Developing new nuclear reactors will delay climate action; nuclear is not a climate solution
Parliamentarians should oversee nuclear waste management and nuclear site decommissioning
Parliament should ban reprocessing nuclear fuel waste
“New nuclear reactor deployment is too slow – the climate emergency won’t wait,” says Angela Bischoff, director of Ontario Clean Air Alliance. “Nuclear is a much more expensive energy option than its competitors. Proven alternatives to nuclear energy already exist and can be built now: energy efficiency, and wind, solar and energy storage.”
“Canada is the only country where elected representatives do not oversee nuclear waste management,” says Dr. Susan O’Donnell, spokesperson for Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick. “Uranium mine tailings, nuclear generating stations and nuclear waste sites, and new nuclear reactors will leave a toxic legacy for millennia. Decisions about nuclear waste must be made by parliamentarians accountable to the electorate.
The public events include a stunning award-winning film recently released, Radioactive: The Women of Three Mile Island on Monday, April 29 at 6:30 PM at the Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank St., Ottawa. This event is hosted by Council of Canadians Ottawa and Sierra Club Canada and sponsored by Patagonia.
The federal and provincial governments have provided more than a billion dollars of publicly funded subsidies to new nuclear development. In response, a public forum, Canada’s Nuclear Future – Renaissance or Relic, will be held on Wednesday, May 1 at 7 PM at St. James United Church, 650 Lyon St. S. in the Glebe, Ottawa and online, featuring experts from across Canada. This event is hosted by Seniors for Climate Action Now (SCAN! Ottawa).
Saudi Arabia is set to witness major developments in nuclear sector: IAEA chief Rafael Grossi
The director general’s visit reaffirms the IAEA’s commitment to supporting Saudi Arabia’s nuclear ambitions and signifies a positive collaboration between international and national institutions
Arab News, December 13, 2023
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is poised to witness significant developments in its nuclear sector, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In his first visit to the Kingdom, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi expressed his delight and admiration for Saudi Arabia’s nuclear capabilities and high professionalism within the sector.
Grossi also acknowledged Saudi Arabia’s imminent entry into nuclear operations, starting with a research reactor and paving the way for more extensive facilities in the future, expressing confidence in the preparedness of the Saudi workforce to embrace this new chapter in the Kingdom’s development.
“Saudi Arabia is on the doorsteps of nuclear operation starting with this research reactor, and later with bigger facilities. …………………………………..
The top official said: “When we talk about the nuclear regulator, it is the institution that must make sure that all these activities will not have any negative impact on the country, that will be a perfect protection of the population.”…………………………………………………………….
The director general’s visit reaffirms the IAEA’s commitment to supporting Saudi Arabia’s nuclear ambitions and signifies a positive collaboration between international and national institutions. https://www.arabnews.com/node/2425281/business-economy
Unstable nuclear-waste dams threaten fertile Central Asia heartland
- Summary
- Dams unstable following a landslide in 2017
- 22-25 million euros needed to move the waste to safer areas
- 16 million could be displaced from region in event of disaster
MAILUU-SUU, Kyrgyzstan, April 23 (Reuters) – Dams holding vast amounts of uranium mine tailings above the fertile Fergana valley in Central Asia are unstable, threatening a possible Chernobyl-scale nuclear disaster if they collapse that would make the region uninhabitable, studies have revealed.
Dams holding some 700,000 cubic meters (185 million gallons) of uranium mine tailings in Kyrgyzstan have become unreliable following a 2017 landslide. A further landslide or earthquake could send their contents into a river system used to irrigate Kyrgyz, Uzbek and Tajik farmlands, the studies at the Soviet-era radioactive waste disposal facility showed. That event would possibly displace millions in those three countries.
The studies, part of a project by the European Commission and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to reinforce the facilities, show that the type of waste involved cannot be safely contained in their current locations and needs to be moved away from the banks of the Mailuu-Suu river.
The Fergana valley, where the contaminated water would go, is the most densely populated area in Central Asia with 16 million people, many of whom are involved in the cultivation of cotton, rice, grains, fruit and vegetables.
“If a landslide causes the river to burst, the waste from two mine dumps will enter the water,” says Gulshair Abdullayeva, a manager of the Mailuu-Suu radiology lab.
“The environmental disaster would almost be comparable with Chernobyl.”
Studies have shown that the waste in those dumps is liquid, making it more hazardous, and it could flow into the river in the event of a strong earthquake, says Sebastian Hess, an engineer with German firm G.E.O.S. contracted by the Kyrgyz government.
“That would be a horrible catastrophe,” he said. “This water is used to irrigate fields which means agricultural produce would be contaminated.”
The dams’ foundations were weakened by water during a 2017 landslide which raised the river’s water level, bring it closer to the tailings, engineers have said.
The Bishkek government and G.E.O.S. estimate that 22-25 million euros would be needed to move the waste from the two unsafe locations to one further away from the river.
The area near the town of the Mailuu-Suu, one of the world’s biggest uranium ore dumps, was developed by the Soviet Union between the 1940s and 1960s. A factory in the town also processed uranium ore from other nearby mines.
Biden signs $95bn aid bill to be sent ‘right away’ – for wars in Ukraine, Israel, and provocations in Taiwan
SOTT – Signs of the Times, BBC, Wed, 24 Apr 2024
US President Joe Biden has signed a $95bn (£76bn) package of aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
“It’s going to make America safer, it’s going to make the world safer,” he said after signing the bill into law.
The president said the US would “right away” send fresh weapons and equipment to Ukraine to help Kyiv fend off Russian advances.
Comment: The West has depleted much of its weapon stocks, so much of the money is to go to US weapons manufacturers to actually make the weapons, first.
He spoke a day after the US Senate approved the aid package following months of congressional gridlock.
Ukraine has recently stepped up its calls for Western assistance as Russia makes steady gains in its invasion.
Included in the package is $61bn in military aid for Ukraine. It passed the Senate in a bipartisan vote of 79-18.
Tuesday evening’s approval came after the measurepassed the US House of Representativeson Saturday.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said: “After more than six months of hard work and many twists and turns in the road, America sends a message to the entire world: we will not turn our back on you.”
Comment: They will, however, turn their backs on their own citizens.
Reacting to the vote, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it “reinforces America’s role as a beacon of democracy and leader of the free world”.
The Senate passed a similar aid package in February, but a group of conservatives who oppose new Ukraine support had prevented it from coming to a vote in the House of Representatives.
Last week, Democrats and Republicans in the lower chamber joined together to bypass this opposition.
They ultimately agreed to a package bill that included the foreign aid as well as legislation to confiscate Russian assets held by Western banks; new sanctions on Russia, Iran and China; and a provision that will force the Chinese company ByteDance to sell the popular social media service TikTok.
Comment: The theft of Russian assets will backfire, both with Russia’s retaliation, and global investors who will be reluctant to operate in the US; as will the sanctions; and the control of TikTok only further serves as proof of America as a surveillance state
In the House on Saturday, a majority of Republicans in the chamber voted against the foreign aid package.
The bill also faced resistance among a handful of Senate Republicans who opposed any new aid to Ukraine.
Fifteen voted with two Democrats – as well as independent Senator Bernie Sanders who objected to providing new offensive weapons to Israel – against the bill.
“Pouring more money into Ukraine’s coffers will only prolong the conflict and lead to more loss of life,” Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville said in remarks on Tuesday.
“No-one at the White House, the Pentagon, or the state department can articulate what victory looks like in this fight.”
The aid package is expected to provide a significant boost to Ukraine’s forces, which have suffered from a shortage of ammunition and air defence systems in recent months.
On Tuesday, Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, faced the latest in a series of recent drone and missile strikes, with authorities saying two people in a residential neighbourhood were injured.
The commander of Ukraine’s National Guard, Oleksandr Pivnenko, said he was expecting an attempt by Russian forces to advance on the city, which is near the Russian border.
Between February 2022 and January 2024, the US gave Ukraine more than $40bn in military aid, according to German research organisation, the Kiel Institute.
Comment: The EU has allocated 50 Billion euros of taxpayers money.
Aid for Israel and Taiwan
The foreign aid package passed on Tuesday also allocates $17bn to Israel, as well as $9bn for civilians suffering in conflict zones around the world, including Palestinians in Gaza.
Comment: So $17 billion to wage genocide, less than a few billion for those suffering from it?
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz reacted to the vote by thanking congressional leaders for their “unwavering commitment to Israel’s security”.
“Israel and the United States stand together in the fight against terrorism, defending democracy and our shared values,” he said.
The US already provides Israel with $3.8bn in military aid each year.
Over in Asia, a Chinese government spokeswoman called the military aid for Taiwan a “serious violation of the one-China principle” that would “send the wrong signal to the pro-independence separatist forces” in Taiwan.
“We urge the US to take practical actions to fulfil its commitment not to support Taiwan independence by not arming Taiwan in any way,” she said.
Taiwan’s incoming President William Lai said the aid package would “strengthen deterrence against authoritarianism”.
Taiwan is a self-governing island and considers itself distinct from China, but Beijing views it as a breakaway province and hopes to bring it back under its own control.
TikTok ban
The national security package also includes a provision that could lead to a nationwide ban on TikTok………………….. more https://www.sott.net/article/490878-Biden-signs-95bn-aid-bill-to-be-sent-right-away-for-wars-in-Ukraine-Israel-and-provocations-in-Taiwan
Scottish National Party and UK Government in row over cost of nuclear dumping grounds
The SNP has claimed that Scotland could be saddled with a bill of over £22 billion as part of Westminster’s cleanup of nuclear dumping grounds.
By Andrew Quinn, Westminster Reporter, 23 Apr 24, https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/snp-uk-government-row-over-32644089
A row has broken out between the SNP and the UK Government over how much Scotland will pay on radioactive waste.
The SNP has claimed that Scotland could be saddled with a bill of over £22 billion as part of Westminster’s cleanup of nuclear dumping grounds.
But the UK Government has said that the figure is actually much lower.
Radioactive waste is an issue which is devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
The party said this would mean Scotland could be made to pay £22,618,000,000 in total as it contributes 8.6 per cent of the UK’s tax revenue.
This would work out to £22,000,000 every year for a century.
But the UK Government has dismissed these claims, saying that the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s annual statement from last year put future costs at £124bn across the UK.
It also said that calculating the amount that Scotland would pay by its tax share was wrong.
Scotland has three nuclear power stations which are currently being decommissioned. England and Wales have 14 sites.
SNP MP Martin Docherty-Hughes said the money should be spent on public services.
He said: “Westminster’s obsession with nuclear energy and weapons neither benefits nor helps ordinary Scots, and yet they’re expected to fork out tens of millions every year for a century to pay for the cleanup of radioactive materials.
“While the Tories have lined up funding for the cleanup of material that shouldn’t have been used anyway, public services have been decimated, and a cost of living crisis that has seen energy bills go through the roof has hammered households.
“Conventional military spending has been recklessly slashed as global tensions rise, with the Tories instead focussing obscene amounts of cash on disposing of nuclear materials from weapons of mass destruction we should never, and will never, use.
“And in prioritising expensive nuclear energy they’ve even refused to support efforts to save jobs and future proof Scotland’s already established and thriving energy sector by matching the SNP Scottish Government’s £500 million funding for a Just Transition.
“The list of projects and causes Scotland’s £22 billion could be better spent on is endless, but as ever Westminster’s spending priorities are askew and based around making Scotland pay for things Scots neither want nor need.
“Hospitals, doctors, nurses, teachers, police officers, members of the armed forces – none of this is a priority for Westminster who’d rather spend billions on unnecessary nuclear projects. Scotland could do far better with independence and focus spending on areas that would actually benefit the people who live and work here. Only a vote for the SNP can secure representatives who will fight Scotland’s corner and stand up for our unique needs and interests.”
The UK Government was approached for comment
Scotland could be hit ‘with £22bn nuclear clean-up bill’.
SCOTLAND could be saddled with a bill of more than £22 billion as part of
Westminster’s clean up of nuclear dumping grounds over the next century,
the SNP have said. Official estimates published by the UK Government last
November estimated total clean-up costs for sites which contained disposed
nuclear material from weapons programmes and energy generation could come
to £263bn over the next 100 years.
This means Scotland, which contributes
8.6% of the UK’s tax revenue, could be made to pay £22,618,000,000 in
total, working out to £22m every year for a century. The SNP’s defence
spokesperson Martin Docherty-Hughes criticised how conventional military
spending had been “recklessly slashed” while the Tories focus cash on
disposing nuclear materials from weapons of mass destruction.
The National 23rd April 2024
https://www.thenational.scot/news/24272520.scotland-hit-with-22bn-nuclear-clean-up-bill
Nuclear: In Flamanville, the EPR farce continues
During a meeting of the local information commission on April 12, the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) assured that it could give the green light to the start-up of the reactor by the beginning of May. However, not all technical problems are resolved. And now a new one – of vibrations – appeared at the end of last year on the primary circuit. Revelations.
Blast, Thierry Gadault , 22 Apr 24
A few kilometers from the Flamanville nuclear power plant, Les Pieux (Manche) is typical of the many nuclear communities that we cross along the Rhône and Loire valleys: stone facades scrubbed with a toothbrush, paved sidewalks shiny as a new penny, innumerable municipal facilities that a town of some 3,500 inhabitants could never hope to afford, even in its wildest dreams, if it were not for the millions poured every year by EDF into the Department………………………..
Dialogue of the deaf in the basement
Behind the town hall, an old mansion which dominates the village, is the Pieux proximity center. In the basement of the building, which houses part of the municipal services, an auditorium with around fifty seats hosts the meetings of the Local Information Commission (CLI), a consultative body bringing together EDF, the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), local elected officials, the State and association representatives.
April 12, 2024, there was a crowd for the extraordinary meeting of the CLI. The menu was potentially copious: it was a question of taking stock of the EPR, before the ASN gave the green light to EDF to install the nuclear fuel in the vessel. While the independent authority was in full public consultation (it ended on April 17), an essential prerequisite for its decision-making, the associations had obtained this appointment in the form of a last-chance meeting, to try to derail the process.
But neither the ASN representative, Gaëtan Lafforge, the head of the Caen division, nor that of EDF, Alain Morvan, the director of the Flamanville EPR project, had the intention of revealing the reality of the numerous problems which still affect the reactor. And it was a dialogue of the deaf that the participants engaged in.
On the ASN and EDF side, the speech can easily be summarized: officially, everything is in order and the objective is now to gradually bring the reactor to operate at full power, at the end of the year. The authority also specified that the green light will be given by the beginning of May. Alain Morvan, with slides reduced to the strict minimum, simply outlined the process of starting up the new reactor.
On April 12, questioned on this subject by Yannick Rousselet, nuclear safety consultant at Greenpeace, the ASN representative had the greatest difficulty in answering the question clearly. “I can’t tell you that there won’t be anything left, there could be possible deviations during the tests,” stammered Gaëtan Lafforge. This then led to a short lunar exchange with the anti-nuclear activist, which triggered laughter from the audience.
On the anti-nuclear activist side, the troops left after two hours with their questions. In particular, lo and behold, a new vibration problem on the primary circuit detected last year.
The information was given to Blast by Julien Collet, the deputy director general of ASN, during the authority’s annual press conference organized at the end of last January. The DGA then told us that EDF was in the process of investigating this umpteenth glitch on the EPR.
On April 12, questioned on this subject by Yannick Rousselet, nuclear safety consultant at Greenpeace, the ASN representative had the greatest difficulty in answering the question clearly. “I can’t tell you that there won’t be anything left, there could be possible deviations during the tests,” stammered Gaëtan Lafforge. This then led to a short lunar exchange with the anti-nuclear activist, which triggered laughter from the audience.
Strangely, Alain Morvan, who could have provided technical details, remained silent. And no one thought to give him the floor. Especially since the president of the CLI, perhaps impatient to go to lunch, hastened to close the session. Questioned by Blast after the meeting, the director of the EPR project, cornered by a member of EDF communications, refused to answer us.
Hardly any more luck with the Parisian communications department, a few moments later. “The vibrational issues have been dealt with and technical solutions put in place,” she simply responded in the usual wooden language. In short, move around, there is nothing to see.
Yes, but here it is: questioned by a journalist from Presse de la Manche, the local daily which covered the event, EDF gave another answer : “There is no new vibration subject,” said the electrician. to our colleague. Um… we should know: has the subject been covered or does it not exist?
It’s not me, it’s him !
To try to see things clearly, Blast turned to the Institute of Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), the public research establishment which provides technical advice to the ASN.
Perhaps concerned about its future – following the merger with the ASN imposed by the government and ratified by the National Assembly and the Senate – the establishment informed us through its press manager that the subject was not his responsibility. And to send us back to the ASN…
Unfortunately, ASN did not answer our questions. As Martine Aubry, the mayor of Lille and former candidate defeated in the 2011 socialist primary, said about François Hollande, “when it’s vague, there’s a wolf…”
The lid saga
This new problem… sorry “subject” vibration is therefore added to the numerous unresolved technical files that EDF has decided to leave as is, with the agreement of the ASN, to provide a response only after the commissioning of the reactor – it is unusual, we will agree. Starting obviously with the lid of the tank, weakened by a manufacturing defect (positive carbon segregation also present in the bottom of the tank). When the authority finally authorized the use of the tank and its lid in 2018, when it was no longer possible to exclude the risk of rupture but only to prevent it (which does not have the same meaning), she had asked EDF to change the cover no later than December 2024.
……………………………………..Questioned by activists to know why the company was not waiting for this new cover, Alain Morvan got confused in his explanations. He first suggested that it was not finished, and that it would therefore not be installed before the summer of 2025, before contradicting himself to finally assure that it would be delivered to the nuclear power plant at the end of the year…
In fact, the public group has nothing to do with it: in 2023, Framatome obtained from the ASN to postpone the replacement of the cover by one year, without giving any justification for such a postponement. According to the order issued by the authority last year, it must now be replaced during the first full inspection of the installation, after its start-up.
While it was possible to change this part in complete safety for the health of workers, if the new one had been installed before start-up, this postponement changes everything. The current cover will be irradiated and it will in fact become nuclear waste. In other words, an object that cannot be handled like that.
Apart from the fact that this unnecessarily exposes workers to taking doses during operations to replace it, this poses another problem. This question has not been resolved to date by EDF: that of the storage of this contaminated part, when it is removed. ASN asked the EDF group to construct a building for this purpose which would allow it to be stored safely on the power plant site. Which still doesn’t seem to be done…
Radioactivity, haphazardly
Emblematic, the tank cover file is not the only one which demonstrates EDF’s lack of consideration for nuclear employees, whether they are in-house agents or subcontracting employees. A second major project, also planned after the start-up of the reactor, will expose those involved to radioactive risks. Here again, this intervention could have been carried out in complete safety before the installation was started: the modification of the cooling system of the reactor auxiliary networks (RRI) and rescued raw water (SEC). Essential elements, particularly during reactor shutdown…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Later, again
Still in the same logic, EDF has postponed the modification of the tank internals until later, more precisely the lower plenum which directs the distribution of the hydraulic flow in the tank. Since the incident that occurred on one of the two EPRs at Taishan in China, in 2021, we have had some feedback: it has been established that this equipment generates poor distribution of hydraulic flow which causes greater fluctuations. greater than expected in the neutron flux, which could lead to difficulties in controlling the nuclear reaction. Although ASN asked EDF to modify the lower plenum, the studies are still in progress………………………………………………………….
In China, to avoid major problems while waiting for the modification of the lower plenum, the power of the reactors (officially 1,750 MW) would have been limited to 1,500 MW. Will this also be the case for the Flamanville EPR? Questioned during the CLI meeting on April 12 by Yannick Rousselet, neither ASN nor EDF deigned to respond.
Let’s cross our fingers, hoping that there will be no runaway nuclear reaction in the Flamanville EPR tank. Especially since Libération revealed in July 2022, two systems of probes and sensors essential for operating the reactor, installed either in the tank or outside, are malfunctioning.
The EPR, political totem
“It would have been smarter to do all this work before the reactor was started,” exasperates Gilles Reynaud, the president of Ma Zone Contrôlée , which brings together nuclear subcontracting employees. But EDF wants to put the EPR into production to say: “that’s it, it works.” Doing all this work afterwards, I don’t find it very respectful for the workers and the population. »
No matter the cost
“We are starting at all costs for purely political reasons,” judge Yannick Rousselet, interviewed by Blast at the end of the CLI on April 12. As President Macron announced the relaunch of nuclear power with the construction of new EPRs, they want to send the message that we are out of the rut. » For Rousselet, this is a very short-term vision: “Even if this reactor shuts down in a few months for a long period, no one cares. We must be able to say: “That’s it, the Flamanville EPR is loaded. He started.” This is what is most dangerous. We don’t try to solve the problems first. »
The secrets of an engineer
And then, potentially, there is another problem in the medium term. Recently, an engineer, Thierry C, contacted Blast to tell us about his short experience in nuclear power.
………………………………. “When I took the file, I quickly realized that most of the valves that had to be installed could not meet the temperature and pressure conditions planned during these requalification tests,” he explains to Blast. Of the approximately 650 pipes equipped with valves, there were approximately 450 that had to be cut to remove the equipment and replace it with a temporary device to block the pipes. » A not really reassuring observation. “I spoke about it to my superiors who asked me to keep quiet and not talk to EDF about it. »
The documents and plans consulted by Blast seem to confirm these remarks. Which poses a problem: the requalification tests must be carried out with the valves to be validated. However, this analysis work was carried out in 2008-2009, when the EPR construction site, which had just started, was still in the civil engineering stage. Thierry C. left the group shortly after carrying out this study. What has happened since then? Has the error made by Alstom on the technical characteristics of the valves been corrected? Impossible to know: neither EDF, nor ASN, nor IRSN wanted to answer us.
Overall, given these unresolved problems and the lack of transparency from EDF and ASN regarding the technical setbacks of the installation, within the Flamanville CLI but also vis-à-vis the press, the long nightmare of the EPR construction site may not be over. This bad dream led to its bill exploding – which reached some 19.1 billion euros . A farce that could end up boring and no longer make anyone laugh. https://www.blast-info.fr/articles/2024/nucleaire-a-flamanville-la-farce-de-lepr-se-poursuit-G9PeKawaRwmShmxp6sJL3g
UN report demolishes Israeli propaganda campaign against UNRWA
Israel has waged a multi-year campaign against the UN aid group for Palestinian refugees in hopes of eradicating the right of return
The Cradle, News Desk, APR 22, 2024
Israel has failed to provide any evidence of its claims that employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) are members of “terrorist organizations,” according to an independent review led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna.
In January, Israel claimed without evidence that some UNRWA staff – until then the primary conduit of humanitarian aid into the besieged and bombed Gaza Strip – were members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and had participated in the Hamas-led attack on Israeli military bases and settlements on 7 October, known as Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
The Israeli allegations promptly caused the US and other western nations to cut funding to UNRWA. This came amid reports from rights groups that Israel was using starvation as a weapon against the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.
The Guardian reported on 22 April that the “Colonna report,” which was commissioned by the UN in the wake of Israeli allegations, found that UNRWA had regularly supplied Israel with lists of its employees for vetting, and that “the Israeli government has not informed UNRWA of any concerns relating to any UNRWA staff based on these staff lists since 2011.”
The Guardian added that most donor nations have resumed their funding in recent weeks. However, UK ministers had said they would wait for the Colonna report to decide whether to resume funding. The US Congress has since banned any future financial support of UNRWA.
The Colonna review was drafted with the help of three Nordic research institutes and will be published later on Monday.
It confirms that Israel has yet to provide any evidence of its claims………………………………………………..
more https://thecradle.co/articles/un-report-demolishes-israeli-propaganda-campaign-against-unrwa
Former Sellafield consultant claims the nuclear complex tampered with evidence
Whistleblower Alison McDermott claims former employer Sellafield tampered with metadata in letters used in evidence during an employment tribunal.
Tommy Greene, Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly, 22 Apr 24
A former consultant at Sellafield has claimed that metadata in letters used against her in a tribunal hearing by the nuclear facility has been interfered with.
A tribunal has heard that three letters produced by managers at the vast nuclear complex and submitted as evidence in the employment dispute were “fabricated” and “tampered with”.
Alison McDermott lost a whistleblowing claim against the Cumbrian nuclear facility and is now fighting a demand to pay £40,000 costs.
The former Sellafield consultant said the metadata for one of the three letters was “wiped” by legal representatives for Sellafield.
She formally withdrew the allegations in her first employment tribunal claim against the nuclear complex.
The 2021 tribunal judgment determined that the letters were not “fabrications”.
“These letters are not fabrications, as had previously been asserted by the Claimant,” it found.
However, the ex-contractor raised her claims about the letters’ production and of alleged tampering during last week’s tribunal when defending herself from allegations she had acted “unreasonably” in the legal action with Sellafield and a regulatory body.
Sellafield maintains that McDermott’s allegations are “untrue”.
McDermott, a human resources (HR) consultant, signed a two-day-a-week contract with Sellafield worth £1,500 per day and was tasked in 2018 with looking at an employee’s sexual harassment allegations.
But within days of submitting a report that found the HR team was viewed as “broken and dysfunctional” by some staff, her contract was ended.
She has contested cost awards as a litigant-in-person during a one-day hearing in Leeds.
Summarising her arguments, tribunal judge Stuart Robertson said McDermott had suggested that the three letters used against her by Sellafield during the employment case over the termination of her contract were “fabricated and not genuine”.
Deshpal Panesar KC, who represented Sellafield at the tribunal, accused McDermott of “making baseless claims of the most damaging sort – representing an existential threat to the careers of multiple public servants”.
Panesar said McDermott had accused Sellafield and its regulatory body, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), of “illicit conduct, fabrication of evidence and false representations” when making her case.
McDermott sought to challenge cost awards made against her, amounting to £40,000, in a previous tribunal decision.
The employment tribunal claim she brought against Sellafield in 2021 was unsuccessful. But an appeal judge found aspects of her case “troubling” and she was subsequently recognised as a whistleblower under UK employment law.
Robertson, a new tribunal judge, is now considering whether McDermott’s claims and conduct have been “unreasonable”.
McDermott claims she suffered a number of detriments when her contract was terminated. She has since spoken out publicly against Sellafield, branding its workplace culture as “toxic”.
Sellafield and the NDA have contested the claims robustly, initially arguing McDermott’s work was ended for “financial reasons” and later as a result of her “poor” performance.
Suspicious of the letters
The three letters have been a central point of contention in McDermott’s court battle.
The Information Commissioner’s Office ruled in early 2021 that Sellafield had acted unlawfully, having broken data laws and committed security breaches for, among other things, failing to supply McDermott with the letters after she had made a data subject access request.
Sellafield subsequently used the critical letters against McDermott in the employment tribunal case she brought over the termination of her contract.
McDermott told Thursday’s tribunal that the letters had caused her “significant detriment”………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… more https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366581793/Former-Sellafield-consultant-claims-the-nuclear-complex-tampered-with-evidence
Problems delay OL3 reactor restart by 6 days
Olkiluoto 3 was taken offline at the beginning of last month for annual maintenance.
The outage of Olkiluoto 3, Finland’s newest nuclear reactor which is
currently offline for maintenance, is being extended by six days due to
technical problems, operator Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) announced on Sunday.
The facility was shut down for its first round of annual maintenance on 2
March, according to the firm, which added that around 1,100 professionals
were involved in the effort. The firm’s other two reactors, Olkiluoto 1 and
2, were generating electricity at normal levels of approximately 1,780MW,
the company said. Maintenance on OL3 is now scheduled to be completed on 4
May.
The reactor was put into service just over a year ago, following
construction delays of 14 years. The scheduled break was originally due to
end on 8 April.
YLE News 21st April 2024
Japan halts nuclear wastewater discharge from Fukushima power plant
Japan has halted the discharge of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant due to a power glitch, local media
reported on Wednesday.
CGTN 24th April 2024
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-04-24/news-1t3zLN4TLri/p.html
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Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
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Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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