UK’s Labour and Scottish National Party to join forces opposing Trident nuclear weapons system
Corbyn says Labour and SNP will join forces to oppose nuclear deterrent. Irish Times, 25 Sept 15 Labour leader’s opposition to Trident puts him at odds with many in his own party The British Labour Party will work with the Scottish nationalists to try to block the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent in a parliamentary vote due next year, Labour’s new leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said on Friday.
The Conservative government backs the multibillion-pound renewal of Britain’s ageing fleet of nuclear-armed submarines. It has a slim majority in parliament, so some of prime minister David Cameron’s own MPs, as well as other opposition parties, would have to join with Labour and the SNP to defeat the plans.
The Scottish National Party, which won 56 out of 59 seats in Scotland in the general election in May, has long opposed renewing the weapons and had called on veteran antiwar campaigner Mr Corbyn to support them.
“My position on Trident has been very clear all of my life. I am opposed to nuclear weapons,” Mr Corbyn, who was elected as Labour’s leader earlier this month, told BBC Scotland.
“Trident should go. I do not believe that it is a form of defence. I do not believe it is something that anyone in their proper mind would ever want to use.”
Labour’s existing position is to back the renewal of Trident, although it has previously suggested reducing the number of submarines to three from four……..http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/corbyn-says-labour-and-snp-will-join-forces-to-oppose-nuclear-deterrent-1.2366935
NRC approves Maryland nuclear station, despite safety concerns
NRC says North Anna nuclear plant passes muster , The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, Virginia, September 5, 2015 By Bill McKelway, Richmond Times-Dispatch RICHMOND — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has set aside multiple concerns raised by an anti-nuclear power group about operations at Dominion Energy’s North Anna nuclear generating facility.
In a petition filed four years ago after the meltdown of the Fukushima Dalichi facility in Japan and the 5.8-magnitude Louisa County earthquake that tripped the Louisa County nuclear facility offline, the effort by Maryland-based Beyond Nuclear came up empty-handed.
The NRC notified the group and Dominion late last month that none of 12 areas of concern reviewed by the NRC warranted changes in North Anna operations.
The group sought a re-analysis of the North Anna operation’s design basis for earthquakes, its spent fuel storage facility, its reliability of seismic activity measures, an assessment of boil-off or drain-downs of the spent fuel pool and a review of emergency evacuation plans, among other issues.
The NRC review completed late last month rejected a need for changes in 12 specific areas that the NRC agreed to look into. Beyond Nuclear had sought a suspension of operations at the plant, where a third nuclear facility is in the planning stages………
Paul Gunter, a leader with Beyond Nuclear, said the decision to close out the review “comes as no surprise.”
“The NRC continues to ignore growing concerns about high-density storage and overcrowding of high-level nuclear waste spent fuel pools on site,” he said in a written statement. Radioactivity released by a fire or explosion from a drain-down or boil-off “would produce widespread contamination that would likely overwhelm current emergency plans,” he wrote.
He said the group’s effort at least establishes a “public record for what we believe to be ‘willful negligence’ on the part of the nuclear industry and the current federal regulator.”……….http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/nrc-says-north-anna-nuclear-plant-passes-muster/article_d6ea2456-542e-11e5-b7c6-b7cab0860a58.html
No to uranium mining – Virginia Beach City Council
Another no vote on uranium The Virginian-Pilot© September 1, 2015 The Virginia Beach City Council is set tonight to vote — again — on a resolution opposing uranium mining in Virginia.
The issue is still, thankfully and for all practical purposes, dead. Mining uranium is still illegal in the commonwealth. The General Assembly’s 1982 ban is still in place despite years of extensive lobbying by the company wanting to mine ore in Pittsylvania County.
But because Virginia Uranium Inc. has recently challenged the legality of the ban and asked the federal courts to force the state to treat uranium mining like any other mining process, Virginia Beach is making doubly sure everyone knows the city opposes lifting the ban.
The Roanoke River Basin Association, which is downstream from the Virginia Uranium site, does, too. As do the cities of Norfolk, Chesapeake, Roanoke and Danville. The mining site is less than 50 miles upstream of the John H. Kerr Reservoir, which provides 93 percent of Lake Gaston’s inflow — a source of drinking water for much of South Hampton Roads. If Kerr Reservoir were contaminated, then Lake Gaston would be as well……..http://hamptonroads.com/2015/08/another-no-vote-uranium
The Japanese Scientists’ Association joins strong public opinion against nuclear power
Fukushima today: A first-person account from the field and the conference table, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 26 Aug 15 Subrata Ghoshroy “…… It is hard to tell if the government’s promotional campaign is succeeding. The Abe government is continuing to push for the revival of nuclear power in Japan, as exemplified by the recent restart of the Sendai plant.
By doing so, it clearly sought to lay down a marker—and also perhaps to gauge public opinion before proceeding to restart other plants.
On the other hand, public opinion has been growing stronger in opposition—although the opinion polls have not been overwhelming. One of the significant aspects of the conference was the vigorous participation of women scientists like Miyake, who spoke out strongly against nuclear power and also challenged the male domination in the scientific community. Young mothers were participating in increasing numbers in anti-nuclear protests in Japan and also in Korea, we were told by Hye-Jeong Kim, a leader of the anti-nuclear movement in South Korea, who is also a member of the country’s Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, an equivalent of the NRC in the United States.
With these developments in mind, a scientific community that can speak with one voice and make a credible case against the government-industry publicity campaign is crucial. The Japanese Scientists’ Association envisioned its role as accurately communicating to people around the world the dangers of nuclear power and the seriousness of the damage suffered by the Japanese people. And the group hoped to use science to counter the forces that promote nuclear power in Japan, and demand that Japan give top priority to renewables……
…………Editor’s note: The conference was organized in collaboration with the International Network of Engineers and Scientists; other conference organizers included Keiiji Ujikawa, (an economics professor at Yokohama National University, Shinjiro Hagiwara (an emeritus professor of economics at the same institution), and Fujio Yamamoto, (an emeritus professor of mechanical engineering at Fukui University.)
The author had made a video presentation earlier about his visit to Fukushima at a meeting in Boston. http://thebulletin.org/fukushima-today-first-person-account-field-and-conference-table8683#.Vd6Rj7YbwEs.twitter
“Trojan horse’ – anti nuclear protest in Pretoria, South Africa
Green Peace activists protest against SA’s nuclear power plans http://citizen.co.za/652983/green-peace-activists-protest-against-sas-nuclear-power-plans/ Valeska Abreu , 25 Aug 15,
Green Peace activists have tied themselves to a four meter high Trojan horse which has been changed to a pillar at the entrance of the Department of Energy in Pretoria.
They are silently protesting against South Africa’s plans for nuclear power. Four activists are sitting on the cold cemented floor wearing white safety overalls and masks, holding up placards that read “no future in nuclear” and “solar is the solution”.
The activist group is calling for the department to focus its plans on renewable energy rather than nuclear. Melita Steele, senior climate and energy campaign manager, says nuclear energy is a trap and could bankrupt the country.
The lobby group wrote a letter of demands to the department seven days ago but say they have not received any response. “It’s indicative of how the department is engaging on the issue of nuclear,” said Steele.
She said they would remain outside the department until they received feedback.
Protest by 3 middle aged women costs nuclear firm €1million
Anti-nuclear demo ‘cost firm €1million’ http://www.bridgwatermercury.co.uk/news/13610163.Anti_nuclear_demo____cost_firm____1million___/?ref=twtrec AN anti-nuclear protest by three women that blocked the main road into Hinkley B power station cost EDF approximately one million euros, it it was claimed at Taunton Magistrates Court on Friday.
Ornella Saibene, 55, Marian Connelly, 61, and Caroline Hope, 73, effectively prevented all access to the power plant on April 1 this year when they chained themselves together and lay across the road, preventing workers from accessing the site.
The protest started just after 7am and caused a three-mile build up of traffic until they agreed to move at 90.30 a.m.
The women – all from Bristol – were each fined £200 and ordered to pay £105 costs after pleading guilty to obstructing the route. Joanne Pearce, prosecuting, said: “The closure cost one million euros. Their disregard to safety and the security of a nuclear power station cannot be tolerated.”
Connelly, Saibene and Hope argued they were exercising their democratic right to civil disobedience and had not committed a criminal offence.
She read out a statement from Green West Euro MP Molly Scott Cato comparing nuclear power stations to “ageing dinosaurs.”
PCAH says…1:04pm Wed 19 Aug 15
Taipei prosecutors lose legal case against anti nuclear protestors
Prosecutors lose case on anti-nuclear protesters, Taipei Times, 18 Aug 15 By Chang Wen-chuan and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer National Taiwan University student Hung Chung-yen (洪崇晏) and Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan convener Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴) were yesterday found not guilty on charges linked to their involvement in anti-nuclear protests in Taipei in April last year.
Prosecutors had charged Hung and Tsay with violating the Parade and Assembly Act (集會遊行法) for allegedly urging participants in the April 27 anti-nuclear protest to deviate from the route that organizers had laid out in their application for a demonstration permit and ignoring orders from Zhongxiao E Road police office chief Tsui Chi-ying (崔企英) to disband the crowd.
Some of the protesters removed the center road blocks along a section of Zhongxiao W Road in front of Taipei Railway Station and occupied both sides of the road, paralyzing traffic in the area……..http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2015/08/18/2003625629
Momentum growing in campaign to shut down Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant
Grassroots Pressure Escalates to Shut Down Diablo Canyon Nuke Plant, EcoWatch, 14 Aug 15 Harvey Wasserman | The two reactors at Diablo Canyon are the last ones still operating in California. And the grassroots pressure to shut them down is escalating.
Together grassroots activists have shut three California reactors at San Onofre, between Los Angeles and San Diego and one each at Rancho Seco, near Sacramento and at Humboldt, perched on an earthquake zone in the north.
But the two at the aptly named Diablo still run, much to the terror of the millions downwind………
the earthquake issue is now in the federal courts. So are questions about water usage. Diablo’s once-through cooling system dumps billions of gallons of over-heated water into the ocean every day, killing countless quantities of aquatic life. Two key California boards do havethe power to shut Diablo if they deny it further permission to violate state and federal water quality laws.
That issue is being fiercely contended on a state level. Decisions may come by the end of the year, at which point the battle will rise to a whole new level……
It’s also become clear that the sinking costs of renewables and efficiency have made Diablo’s energy extraneous. And that the jobs being created by the transition to green power will more than compensate for any lost at the nukes. Among other things, shut-down advocates are demanding that all key workers be retained at the reactors to make sure the decommissioning is done right………
Japanese environment groups protest against Restart of Sendai Nuclear Power
Joint Statement to Protest Restart of Sendai Nuclear Power http://www.foejapan.org/en/energy/doc/150811.htmlGovernment does half-hearted review, downplays risks, pretends Fukushima accident never happened
Today, the Sendai No. 1 nuclear reactor was restarted.
We strongly protest the restart of the Sendai nuclear power plant, which has been done as if the Fukushima nuclear accident never occurred.
The problems with the Fukushima accident have still not been resolved. More than 100,000 people lost their communities and are being forced to live in long-term shelters. Contaminated water is still being discharged, and radiation concentrations continue at high levels in seawater inside and outside of the bay. In Fukushima Prefecture, more than 100 children have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and even the prefecture’s thyroid assessment committee has had to admit that there are many cases.
The review by the Nuclear Regulation Authority is merely a facade to produce the desired result. It is no guarantee of the safety of the Sendai power plant.
The volcanic risk assessment went ahead without a volcano expert. Kyushu Electric Power. The Authority blindly accepted Kyushu Electric Power’s monitoring guidelines that pretend they can predict a major eruption. Earthquake-related reviews were done based on the Irikura method, which has been pointed out to underestimate earthquakes, and NRA’s “ aging management implementation guideline for nuclear power generation equipment ” were circumvented at the last minute in order to rush the restart of the reactors .
Evacuation plans are riddled with problems, and no one has verified their feasibility.
The problem of nuclear waste remains completely unresolved.
In public opinion surveys, nearly 60% of the public both in Kagoshima Prefecture and nationwide are opposed to the restart of the reactors. Many people demanded that Kyushu Electric Power and the national government hold briefings and public hearings, but their voices were ignored.
Many people are aware of the deceptive actions of the government and Nuclear Regulation Authority, and are raising their voices in protest.
Once again, we call on the government to acknowledge the seriousness of the Fukushima nuclear accident, to listen to the many voices demanding an end to nuclear power in Japan, and to change course toward nuclear-free policy.
Daniel Ellsberg and Takashi Tanemori join Hiroshima Day protest at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory
Daniel Ellsberg speaks during a demonstration to protest nuclear weapons outside the fence of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015. Thursday marked the 70th anniversary of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group)
Bay area activists protest nuclear weapons on 70th anniversary of atomic bomb, Contra Costa Times, 7 Aug 15 By Dan Lawton dlawton@bayareanewsgroup.com LIVERMORE — About 300 activists from a wide range of Bay Area organizations converged early Thursday on Lawrence Livermore Laboratory to protest nuclear weapons on the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.
Similar events were held across the world.
“U.S. plans to modernize the arsenal are also underway at Livermore Lab,” said Marylia Kelley, a lead organizer and executive director of Tri-Valley Cares, which was one of about 40 organizations taking part in the protest.
Kelley said a large part of the lab’s funding in the 2016 fiscal year — about 85 percent, or $1 billion — is earmarked for weapons. Those statistics are backed up by documents from the Department of Energy. She said that money is being spent on tasks such as designing new long-range warheads and other improvements to the nuclear arsenal.
The United States is prohibited from manufacturing new nuclear weapons by a nonproliferation treaty signed in 1968……
Takashi Tanemori, who was an 8-year-old boy living in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped, told the crowd that he has made peace with losing his family in the bombing, as well as his eyesight.
“The greatest way to avenge your enemy is by learning how to forgive,” he said.
But Tanemori, dressed in flowing black robes and wearing sunglasses, also cautioned the crowd that the threat of nuclear weapons will be extremely hard to eradicate……
Also speaking at the event was Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower and former military contractor who released the Pentagon Papers in 1971. The documents were a top-secret study of U.S. strategy in Vietnam. Ellsberg was sentenced to 109 years in prison for his actions, but his conviction was eventually overturned.
Now a prominent anti-nuclear weapons activist, Ellsberg, 84, said he still remembered the “ominous feeling” he had when the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
“The killing at Hiroshima was mass murder,” he said…….http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_28597321/bay-area-activists-protest-nuclear-weapons-70th-anniversary
UK public not supporting nuclear power and shale gas
Public support for UK nuclear and shale gas falls to new low, Guardian, Adam Vaughan, 5 Aug 15
Long-running government survey drops usual polling showing support for renewable energy, for first time. British public support for nuclear power and shale gas has fallen to its lowest ever level in a long-running official government survey, which has also briefly ceased polling showing widespread public support for renewable energy. Continue reading
The long and continuing struggle of Japan’s Hibakusha against nuclear weapons
Japan’s atomic bomb survivors continue in fight against nuclear weapons
As Japan prepares to mark the 70th anniversary of the world’s first nuclear attack, survivors ponder how to continue warning of the horrors of nuclear war, Guardian, Justin McCurry 31 July It is not as if Sunao Tsuboi needs another reminder of his violent encounter, as a 20-year-old university student, with a “living hell on earth”. The facial scars he has carried for seven decades are proof enough. But, as if to remind himself of the day he became a witness to the horrors of nuclear warfare, he removes a a black-and-white photograph and points to the shaved head of a young man looking away from the lens.
“That’s me,” he says. “We were hoping we would find some sort of medical help, but there was no treatment available, and no food or water. I thought I had reached the end.”
The location is Miyuki Bridge, Hiroshima, three hours after the Enola Gay, a US B-29 bomber, dropped a 15-kiloton nuclear bomb on the city on the morning of 6 August 1945. Between 60,000 and 80,000 people were killed instantly; in the months that followed the death toll rose to 140,000.
In the photo, one of only a handful of surviving images taken in Hiroshima that day, Tsuboi is sitting on the road with several other people, their gaze directed at the gutted buildings around them. To one side, police officers douse schoolchildren with cooking oil to help soothe the pain of their burns.
As Japan prepares to mark the 70th anniversary of the first nuclear attack in history, Tsuboi and tens of thousands of other hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) are again confronting their own mortality.
“People like me are losing the strength to talk about their experiences and continue the campaign against nuclear weapons,” says Tsuboi, a retired school principal who has travelled the world to warn of the horrors of nuclear warfare.
The average age of the 183,000 registered survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks rose just above 80 for the first time last month.
While each has a unique recollection of the morning of 6 August and its aftermath, near disbelief at the scale of destruction is a theme that runs through hibakusha testimony…..
“If the hibakusha continue to speak out against nuclear weapons, then other people will follow suit. That’s why we have to continue our campaign for as long as we are physically able.”….http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/31/japan-atomic-bomb-survivors-nuclear-weapons-hiroshima-70th-anniversary
Nigeria’s Akwa Ibom State Leaders Caucus says NO to nuclear power
Nigeria: Caucus Rejects Siting of Nuclear Plant in Akwa Ibom All Africa, By Idongesit Ashameri, 7 July 15
Uyo — The Akwa Ibom State Leaders Caucus has rejected plans by the Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) to site a Nuclear Power plant in Itu local Government Area of the state. The group attributed their rejection of the Nuclear Power plant to disastrous consequences that failure of nuclear plants had brought in other parts of the world.
The leaders’ caucus questioned why Nigeria, which they said had a perennial incompetence in matters of safety and security, could venture into such a risky project, while countries with known competences, like Germany, Italy, USA, Russia and Japan are shutting down such plants.
Community leaders in Nigeria oppose nuclear power facility
Nigeria: Community leaders oppose nuclear plant site, Star Africa, APA July 3, 2015 The Leaders Caucus of the Akwa Ibom State in south-eastern Nigeria has rejected plans by the Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) to site nuclear power plant in Itu Local Government Area of the state.
He wondered what gave Nigeria, where perennial incompetence in matters of safety and security has become legendary, the impetus to venture into such a risky project, while countries with known competences like Germany, Italy, US, Russia and Japan are shutting down such plants.
Okon said that gambling with such risky issue by Nigeria was a clear and deliberate invitation to disaster of monumental proportions.
Declaring Akwa Ibom as grossly unsuitable for such projects, the leaders noted that the location of nuclear plants all over the world is done far away from human habitation, noting that Akwa Ibom is small and compact, even as there is no distance across the state that is beyond 50km……….http://en.starafrica.com/news/nigeria-community-leaders-oppose-nuclear-plant-site.html
No to nuclear for Nigeria – already hit by the health toll from uranium mining
NGO warns FG That Setting up a nuclear power plant in Nigeria would be suicidal, FunGrade, 29 June 15
Mr Nnimmo Bassey, the Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), said setting up a nuclear plant in Nigeria would be suicidal given the high level of operational challenges it would face. Bassey said this in Abuja while presenting a paper titled: “Risks and deaths as workers generate wealth’’ organised by HOMEF’s Sustainability Academy on Health and the Extractive Sector Workers. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the programme was sponsored by the UNDP and the Federal Ministry of Environment in collaboration with HOMEF. He said that the setting up of a nuclear plant was suicidal because of the high technical and environmental demand associated with handling radioactive materials. “Uranium and nuclear power plants are inseparable. ”
Nigeria has found it difficult to run simple hydroelectric and thermal power plants. “It would be suicidal to install nuclear power plants here,’’ Bassey said. The director said the proposal to site such a facility in Akwa Ibom would not be advisable because of the serious environmental implication. “And to think of locating one in Akwa Ibom State is nothing but adding insult to injury in an already highly polluted Niger Delta. “It will also be a time bomb set against the workers,’’ he said. Bassey said that the sustainability academy was aimed at highlighting the fact that workers and communities were at the frontlines of exposure to toxic chemicals that often result in fatalities. The director further said that more than 2.3 million workers worldwide had been exposed to work-related diseases or accidents annually. He said that more than one million extractive industries workers die annually of toxic chemical across the globe.
1 This Month
26 September – International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
PLEASE OPPOSE HR 8255 AND S.3639 – bills would accelerate satellite deployment, with no environmental review or safeguards – https://ncstd5li.quorum.us/campaign/169331/
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