Australia makes undisclosed ‘political commitments’ in new AUKUS deal on transfer of naval nuclear technology
ABC News, By defence correspondent Andrew Greene, 8 Aug 2024
In short:
AUKUS partners have struck a revamped agreement to allow the transfer of US and UK naval nuclear material to Australia.
Critics of the trilateral submarine project warn the new document could eventually see high-level radioactive waste stored locally.
What’s next?
The agreement between the US, UK and Australia will need to be ratified by each AUKUS partner before coming into effect.
Undisclosed “political commitments” have been made between the Albanese government and its AUKUS partners in a new agreement for the transfer of naval nuclear technology to Australia, which critics warn is likely to also allow radioactive waste to be dumped here.
The White House confirmed Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States had reached another significant “AUKUS milestone” that set up further trilateral cooperation that would be essential for this country to build, operate and maintain nuclear-powered submarines.
Under the AUKUS “optimal pathway” unveiled in San Diego last year, Australia will spend up to $368 billion over the next three decades to first purchase second-hand Virginia-class submarines and then develop a new SSN-AUKUS fleet using British technology.
In a letter to speaker the US House of Representatives speaker and the US Senate president, President Joe Biden urged Congress to give the revamped AUKUS agreement “favourable consideration”
Mr Biden’s letter explains that the new agreement would permit the continued communication and exchange of Naval Nuclear Propulsion Information (NNPI), including certain Restricted Data (RD), only previously shared between the US and UK…………………………………………………………………..
Concerns over radioactive waste ‘loophole’
AUKUS critics, including the Greens party, warn that the new agreement is likely to eventually allow high-level radioactive waste to be stored in Australia and for uranium enrichment to be undertaken locally, but the government insists that is not the case.
“A political assurance is there — a legal assurance, a legislative assurance, an institutional assurance is not. That gate needs to be closed, that loophole needs to be closed,” warns Dave Sweeney, a nuclear free campaigner from the Australian Conservation Foundation.
“And that’s one of many concerns and many options for interpretation of how AUKUS is operationalised that can add greater pressure, nuclear threat in our ports, in our harbours and waters and on land around the management of radioactive waste.” https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-08/australia-makes-political-commitments-in-new-aukus-deal/104200814
Iran Is Better Positioned to Launch Nuclear-Weapons Program
New U.S. Intelligence Assessment Says. U.S. officials say Iran isn’t currently
seeking to build a nuclear device but is engaged in activities that could
help it do so. Iran is pursuing research that has put it in a better
position to launch a nuclear-weapons program, according to a new assessment
by U.S. intelligence agencies. The shift in Washington’s view of Iran’s
nuclear efforts comes at a critical time, with Iran having produced enough
highly enriched nuclear fuel for a few nuclear weapons.
Wall St Journal 9th Aug 2024
IAEA chief calls for restraint as fighting remains ongoing ‘in the vicinity’ of Russia’s Kursk Nuclear Power Plant
by Dmytro Basmat, Kyiv Independent 10th Aug 2024
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi called on both Kyiv and Moscow to “exercise maximum restraint” in order to avoid a nuclear accident as fighting is reportedly ongoing in the region around the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP).
In a statement issued by the IAEA on Aug. 9, Grossi said that a nuclear accident at the KNPP would have “the potential for serious radiological consequences.”
Grossi noted that two of the six nuclear reactors at the KNPP are in shutdown, while another two are fully operational. The remaining two reactors are under construction.
The statement comes as Ukraine’s continues its surprise incursion across the border into Kursk Oblast, with Ukraine reportedly making gains deeper into Russian territory.
Earlier in the day on Aug. 9, a fire caused by an alleged drone attack on a power substation led to power outages in several areas of Kurchatov which houses the KNPP, regional Governor Alexei Smirnov claimed.
On Aug. 8, Kurchatov’s mayor, Igor Korpunkov, claimed that battles are ongoing “a few dozen kilometers” from the town.
Independent Russian news outlet IStories reported on Aug. 9 that Russia is currently preparing to defend the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant as Ukrainian troops are approaching it.
The entrances to the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant were blocked as of the afternoon of Aug. 9, the pro-government regional newspaper network Bloknot claimed, citing its undisclosed sources.
Everything at the nuclear power plant’s units under construction has been de-energized, and construction workers have left the site, Bloknot claimed………………………………………..
Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry also said on Aug. 9 that the situation in Kursk Oblast had been declared a “federal emergency,” and began sending additional military equipment into the region. https://kyivindependent.com/iaea-chief-calls-for-restraint-to-ensure-nuclear-safety-at-kursk-nuclear-power-plant/
Spy cop ‘made up absurd bomb plot’ over nuclear waste on railway route
Undercover officer infiltrated ‘anarchist movement’ in the early 1980s
Friday, 9th August — By Tom Foot, https://www.islingtontribune.co.uk/article/spy-cop-made-up-absurd-bomb-plot-over-nuclear-waste-on-railway-route
A SPY cop’s report about a plot to blow up North London Line trains transporting nuclear waste was an absurd fantasy used to justify a top secret undercover unit’s existence, an inquiry has heard.
An officer who infiltrated the “anarchist movement” in the early 1980s claimed “people against the nuclear programme built a bomb” that was “actually found” on the overground railway that runs through Islington.
The route goes through Highbury and Islington station and has recently been renamed the Mildmay Line by London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
The explosive claims from Roger Pearce, known to the inquiry as officer HN85, are discredited by several activists in statements published by the Undercover Policing Inquiry for the first time this week.
The statements tell how for many years nuclear waste was transported on the line from power stations in Kent, Suffolk and Essex to Sellafield, Cumbria.
The documents show how peace groups feared a terrorist attack on the trains could cause a national emergency and considered planting a fake bomb on the network for publicity.
The witness statement from Michael Zeitlin, a campaigner for the anti-nuclear movement, said: “I firmly believe that HN85 has deliberately suggested that a real bomb was planted in order to elevate the status of his reports and so justify his spying.
“I am convinced that any possible ‘bomb on the North London Line’ refers to informal discussions of placing a fake bomb as a publicity stunt, in order to draw attention to the threat created by the transportation of nuclear waste through residential areas.
“The idea that an actual bomb would have been planted is patently absurd as the whole issue was one of public safety. Such a bomb plot does sounds very much like fiction as might be found in a novel.”
The documentss show how a meeting of the Hampstead CND branch had heard discussions about “some form of action to protest against the transportation of nuclear fuel” but this had been “completely taken out of context and then grossly exaggerated” by the undercover officer.
Mr Pearce’s statement to the inquiry said: “There were people who were prepared to take violent action against the nuclear policy of the UK and I felt this provided justification for reporting on them.
“People against the nuclear programme, including anarchists who were my associates, built a bomb on the North London Line which transport nuclear waste.”
The inquiry docs show how Roger Pearce – there is no reporting restriction on using his name – trained as an Anglican Priest at Durham before joining the police in 1973.
He joined the Special Demonstration Squad that was set up by the Met to “prevent violent disorder” but led to officers spying on dozens of left-wing organisations and pacifist groups over four decades with little to no gain.
Training for the “top secret unit” took place at Holborn police station, Mr Pearce’s witness statement reveals, while recruitment took place on a “tap on the shoulder in the corridor” basis.
He chose the “legend” Adrian Roger Thorley, a name taken from a child who was killed in a road accident in in Stoke on Trent, and lied about being a van driver delivering spare parts for the car company Ford.
He lived in a “cover flat” off the Goldhawk Road in west London and wore red and black with shoes with “worn through soles”, claiming he was given the prestigious nickname “Trotsky” by activists he was spying on.
“Using a deceased child’s identity was a distasteful practice and a violation of privacy but we felt it would never be revealed,” his statement said.
The UCP Inquiry was launched in 2017 after it was revealed that some SDS officers used names of dead children and fathered children with activists.
Huge resources were ploughed into the discredited project with critics saying the ends did not justify the means.
More than one million documents have been submitted to the inquiry –already the longest and most expensive in British history – that is not expected to conclude until 2026.
The Space Force can require private companies to cut off service to their other customers.
Space Force Seeks Industry Input On Draft Civil Reserve Framework
The U.S. Space Force is calling on the commercial space industry to weigh in on its draft plan for a Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve.
Released through a request for information, the Space Force’s draft plan includes several questions about whether the proposed incentives are enough to encourage participation from commercial companies.
The framework proposes two levels of industry involvement. The first level supports regular and surge operations through pre-negotiated agreements. The second level, known as “full CASR execution,” kicks in when the Secretary of Defense orders top-priority support from commercial participants.
At this point, the Space Force can require companies to cut off service to their other customers, if necessary, to focus on military needs, resulting in concern about the potential loss of income if companies are required to deny service to other customers during a crisis.
To address this, the RFI asks for feedback on nine proposed incentives, such as early R&D funding, preferred contract status with the Space Force, and financial protections against potential losses if satellites are damaged during operations.
The U.S. Space Force <https://www.spaceforce.mil/> is reportedly https://breakingdefense.com/2024/08/space-force-asks-industry-to-critique-draft-civil-reserve-framework-including-incentives/> calling on the commercial space industry to weigh in on its draft plan for a Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve (CASR). This initiative aims to create a commercial space reserve fleet that supports national security during both peacetime and conflict. Released through a request for information (RFI), the Space Force’s draft plan includes several questions about whether the proposed incentives are enough to encourage participation from commercial companies.
The CASR framework, developed by the Space Systems Command’s Commercial Space Office, led by Col. Rich Kniseley, builds on the concept of the Air Force’s Civil Reserve Air Fleet but adapts it to the unique challenges of space operations. Unlike the Air Force’s model, which involves aircraft, the CASR must account for the diverse capabilities provided by different space systems. This requires a more tailored approach to each mission area.
The framework proposes two levels of industry involvement. The first level supports regular and surge operations through pre-negotiated agreements. The second level, known as “full CASR execution,” kicks in when the Secretary of Defense orders top-priority support from commercial participants.
At this point, the Space Force can require companies to cut off service to their other customers, if necessary, to focus on military needs. A key concern for commercial companies is the potential loss of income if they are required to deny service to other customers during a crisis.
To address this, the RFI asks for feedback on nine proposed incentives, such as early R&D funding, preferred contract status with the Space Force, and financial protections against potential losses if satellites are damaged during operations.
The Space Force plans to begin initial CASR pilot contracts soon, with the goal of achieving initial operational capability by fiscal year 2026. The RFI represents an important step in engaging industry stakeholders to ensure that the final CASR framework is both effective and fair, balancing national security needs with commercial interests.
EPA Public Meetings about Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Expansion: August 26th in Carlsbad and August 28th in Santa Fe
| Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety | Aug 9, 2024, https://nuclearactive.org/ |
EPA Public Meetings about WIPP Expansion: August 26th in Carlsbad and August 28th in Santa Fe
The Department of Energy (DOE) wants to expand its operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for plutonium-contaminated waste from the fabrication of nuclear weapons. In March, DOE submitted a Planned Change Request to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeking permission to mine and operate two underground disposal panels in the WIPP underground disposal facility. EPA wants to hear from you and is hosting public meetings in Carlsbad and Santa Fe the week of August 26th. https://www.epa.gov/radiation/wipp-news#WIPP-PCR
EPA has one of two ways to decide whether to grant permission. One is through an internal administrative process. The second is through a legal rulemaking that allows the public to present legal challenges to the decision. A full rulemaking and a comprehensive review of the risks from DOE’s proposed changes is the only way to ensure nuclear safety.
Further, DOE wants to significantly expand the WIPP underground with Panels 11 and 12 and eventually mine seven additional panels – Panels 13 through 19 – to bring new types of waste to WIPP, including surplus plutonium. As a result EPA requested additional scientific data and information about how seven new panels and new types of waste would affect WIPP’s ability to contain the waste for 10,000 years.
To help you prepare public comments, the Stop Forever WIPP Coalition is hosting a virtual educational webinar on Wednesday, August 21st from 6 to 8 pm. Don Hancock, the Director of the Southwest Research and Information Center Nuclear Waste Program http://sric.org/ , and Doug Meiklejohn, the Water Quality and Land Restoration Advocate at Conservation Voters of New Mexico https://cvnm.org/ , will present about the DOE Planned Change Request, EPA’s decision making process, and how you can help stop WIPP expansion. Zoom registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZckdu2urzovG9HUHimFBKcTho4p_amGvt8L#/registration
The informational webinar will prepare you to provide public comments at the in-person and virtual EPA meeting on Monday, August 26th from 2 to 4 pm at the DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office, 4021 National Parks Highway. Zoom registration link:
https://usepa.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsdeiqrTwpHUkjZ1z_djiz7fqgYMDqcc8
On Wednesday, August 28th from 1 to 3 pm in Santa Fe, EPA will host an in-person and virtual technical meeting among experts about planned changed request. The public is invited to observe. Zoom registration link: https://usepa.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsdOyqqjosG2w3uwOoOk4UNSxZwyXxE2s
From 6 to 8 pm EPA will host an in-person and virtual public meeting and receive comments about DOE’s Planned Change Request. https://usepa.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsdumqrzIvHZWmhyQ_Jh7EBe1EcgTmi5Y
Both Santa Fe meetings will take place in the Canyon Ballroom at the Hilton Santa Fe-Historic Plaza, 100 Sandoval Street.
‘Massive disinformation campaign’ is slowing global transition to green energy
UN says a global ‘backlash’ against climate action is being stoked by fossil fuel companies
Fiona Harvey Environment editor, Thu 8 Aug 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/08/fossil-fuel-industry-using-disinformation-campaign-to-slow-green-transition-says-un
Fossil fuel companies are running “a massive mis- and disinformation campaign” so that countries will slow down the adoption of renewable energy and the speed with which they “transition away” from a carbon-intensive economy, the UN has said.
Selwin Hart, the assistant secretary general of the UN, said that talk of a global “backlash” against climate action was being stoked by the fossil fuel industry, in an effort to persuade world leaders to delay emissions-cutting policies. The perception among many political observers of a rejection of climate policies was a result of this campaign, rather than reflecting the reality of what people think, he added.
“There is this prevailing narrative – and a lot of it is being pushed by the fossil fuel industry and their enablers – that climate action is too difficult, it’s too expensive,” he said. “It is absolutely critical that leaders, and all of us, push back and explain to people the value of climate action, but also the consequences of climate inaction.”
He contrasted the perception of a backlash with the findings of the biggest poll ever conducted on the climate, which found clear majorities of people around the world supporting measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The survey found 72% of people wanted a “quick transition” away from fossil fuels, including majorities in the countries that produce the most coal, oil and gas. Green parties and plans may have suffered reverses in some parts of the world, he said, but in others they have gained seats, and seen policies that would once have been considered radical enter the mainstream.
Governments must take note, said Hart, who acts as special adviser on climate to the UN secretary general, António Guterres. “This should alert political leaders – those that are ambitious are not only on the right side of history, they’re on the side of their people as well.
“Climate appears to be dropping down the list of priorities of leaders,” he said. “But we really need leaders now to deliver maximum ambition. And we need maximum cooperation. Unfortunately, we are not seeing that at the moment.”
He warned that the consequences of inaction were being felt in rich countries as well as poor. In the US, many thousands of people are finding it increasingly impossible to insure their homes, as extreme weather worsens. “This is directly due to the climate crisis, and directly due to the use of fossil fuels,” he said. “Ordinary people are having to pay the price of a climate crisis while the fossil fuel industry continues to reap excess profits and still receives massive government subsidies.”
Yet the world has never been better equipped to tackle climate breakdown, Hart added. “Renewables are the cheapest they’ve ever been, the pace of the energy transition is accelerating,” he said.
Governments should also take care to ensure that their climate policies did not place unfair burdens on those on low incomes, as poorly designed measures could hurt the poor, according to Hart. “Each country will really need to ensure its transition is well planned to minimise the impact on people and vulnerable populations, because a lot of the so-called pushback comes when there’s a perception that the costs on poor and vulnerable persons are being disproportionately felt,” he said.
For that reason, the UN is calling for new national plans on the emissions reductions required under the 2015 Paris agreement, in which governments must set out clearly not just their targets but how they will be achieved through policy, and what the probable impacts are.
The new national plans, called nationally determined contributions (NDCs), should be “as consultative as possible so that whole segments of society – young people, women, children, workers – will be able to provide their perspective on how the transition should be planned and well-managed, and how it will be financed”, he said.
“Despite everything we see [in the form of extreme weather], we’re still not seeing the level of ambition or action that the world desperately needs.”
Radiation monitoring keeps track of nuclear waste contamination
Nuclear reactors – whether operational or undergoing decommissioning –
create radioactive waste. Management of this waste is a critical task and
this practice has been optimized over the past few decades. Nevertheless,
strategies for nuclear waste disposal employed back in the 1960s and 70s
were far from ideal, and the consequences remain for today’s scientists
and engineers to deal with.
In the UK, spent nuclear fuel is typically
stored in ponds or water-filled silos. The water provides radiation
shielding, as well as a source of cooling for the heat generated by this
material.
In England and Wales, the long-term disposal strategy involves
ultimately transferring the waste to a deep geological disposal facility,
while in Scotland, near-surface disposal is considered appropriate.
The problem, however, is that some of the legacy storage sites are many decades
old and some are at risk of leaking. And when this radioactive waste leaks
it can contaminate surrounding land and groundwater. The potential for
radioactive contamination to get into the wet environment is an ongoing
problem, particularly at legacy nuclear reactor sites.
“The strategy for waste storage 50 years ago was different to that used now. There wasn’t
the same consideration for where this waste would be disposed of long
term,” explains Malcolm Joyce, distinguished professor of nuclear
engineering at Lancaster University. “A common assumption might have been
‘well it’s going to go in the ground at some point’ whereas actually,
disposal is a necessarily rigorous, regulated and complicated programme.”
In one example, explains Joyce, radioactive waste was stored temporarily in
drums and sited in near-surface spaces. “But the drums have corroded over
time and they’ve started to deteriorate, putting containment at risk and
requiring secondary containment protection,” he says. “Elsewhere, some
of the larger ponds in which spent nuclear fuel was stored are also
deteriorating and risking loss of containment.”
Physics World 7th Aug 2024, https://physicsworld.com/a/radiation-monitoring-keeps-track-of-nuclear-waste-contamination/
US, UK boycott Japan nuclear bomb memorial after Israel snubbed
The Mayor of Nagasaki said that there was a possibility of protests against the Israeli presence over it’s war on Gaza.
The New Arab Staff & Agencies, 07 August, 2024
Ambassadors from Western countries – including the US and UK – will skip a ceremony marking the 79th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki after Israel was snubbed, officials said Wednesday.
Nagasaki’s mayor said last week that Israel’s ambassador Gilad Cohen was not invited to Friday’s event in the southern Japanese city because of the risk of possible protests over the Gaza conflict.
The US and UK embassies said on Wednesday their ambassadors would not take part as a result and that their countries would be represented by lower-ranking diplomats.
Media reports said Australia, Italy, Canada, and the EU, who together with the US, UK, and Germany signed a strongly worded joint letter to Nagasaki’s mayor last month, would follow suit.
US ambassador Rahm Emanuel will not attend “after the mayor of Nagasaki politicised the event by not inviting the Israeli ambassador”, an embassy spokesperson told AFP.
nstead, Emanuel, 64, who was ex-president Barack Obama’s chief of staff, will go to a separate event at a temple in Tokyo, the spokesperson said.
Emanuel is fiercely pro-Israel, with his father being a former member of the Irgun, a Jewish paramilitary group that targeted British soldiers and Palestinian civilians in mandatory Palestine.
The British embassy said Ambassador Julia Longbottom would also not be in Nagasaki, adding that not inviting Israel “creates an unfortunate and misleading equivalency with Russia and Belarus – the only other countries not invited to this year’s ceremony”.
A spokesperson for the French embassy said its number two would attend, telling AFP that the “decision not to invite the representative of Israel is regrettable and questionable”.
The European Union’s ambassador would not take part “due to his agenda” and the bloc would be represented by a lower-level diplomat, a spokesperson told AFP.
The German embassy told AFP that the head of its political division would attend, with the decision made “in light of the absences and availability” of senior embassy staff………………………………………………………………………………….https://www.newarab.com/news/us-uk-boycott-japan-nuclear-bomb-memorial-after-israel-snubbed
US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki remembered amid growing threat of nuclear war
US bombings of the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 of 1945 are the only incidents of nuclear bombings in world historyAugust 07, 2024 by Abdul Rahman
Over 50,000 people, including representatives from 109 countries, joined an event marking the 79th anniversary of the US’s bombing of Hiroshima. The main ceremony was held at Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park on Tuesday, August 6.
A total of 344,306 people were killed during the bombing as well as in the aftermath. Despite knowing the widespread destruction and irreversible losses caused by the attack, the US dropped another nuclear bomb on Nagasaki just three days later on August 9, killing 40,000 people immediately. The number of people killed in Nagasaki would double that figure in most estimates.
Speaking during the ceremony, Hiroshima city Mayor Matsui Kazumi expressed concerns that the world is moving towards greater reliance on military forces to solve issues. “Our unity will move leaders now relying on nuclear deterrence to shift their policies,” Kazumi said.
Kazumi cited the wars in Ukraine and Gaza as examples of how growing reliance on military solutions may end up causing irreparable damage to humanity.
Israel was not invited to the ceremony due to its genocidal war in Gaza, which has killed close to 40,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 100,000 since October of last year.
Marking the day, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, “nuclear weapons and the threat of their use are not confined to history books. They have once again appeared in the daily rhetoric of international relations. They represent a real and present danger that remains with us today.”
Kazumi also demanded that Japan join the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The third conference of the parties to this treaty is scheduled to be held in March of next year in New York.
As per a UN General Assembly resolution, a conference was first held in 2017 which adopted the TPNW. The treaty “includes a comprehensive set of prohibitions on participating in any nuclear weapon activities. These include undertakings not to develop, test, produce, acquire, possess, stockpile, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons.” The TPNW entered into force in January 2021.
Although over 90 countries have signed the TPNW thus far, the treaty does not include a single nuclear power.
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio also attended the ceremony. The Kishida government has remained vague regarding its position on the treaty. Representatives of the atomic bomb survivors met him on the sideline of the memorial, demanding that Japan join the treaty. Kishida responded by averting any direct commitment, claiming instead that he wants “to move forward together with those working on the treaty.”
Several survivors quoted by HKS Japan also emphasized the need for complete abolition of nuclear weapons. Survivor Suemasa Sadako, now 90, maintains that “nuclear weapons and humans can’t coexist.”
“Atomic bombs will lead to the destruction of mankind,” Sadako articulated.
The Japanese Communist Party is leading a campaign to press the government to sign the TPNW. The party has opposed Japan’s recent abandonment of its defensive military strategy and its push towards armament and militarization, and firmly stands with the push towards nuclear disarmament.
Why US nuclear waste policy got stalled. And what to do about it.
The lack of a repository doesn’t seem to worry nuclear enthusiasts anymore, probably because it doesn’t threaten what reactor licensing there is. Recent legislation—the ADVANCE Act—to accelerate approval of new nuclear technologies does not mention nuclear waste at all. The focus is on subsidizing new reactor projects and “streamlining” licensing.
A difficulty is that current law requires that, before the Energy Department can go forward with a surface storage facility to consolidate the used fuel, it has to have already selected a new geologic repository site, which isn’t happening.
Bulletin, By Victor Gilinsky | July 31, 2024, Victor Gilinsky is a physicist and was a commissioner of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the Ford, Carter, and Reagan administrations
It is often said—somewhat accusingly—that it isn’t technical issues that stand in the way of siting a US geologic repository for highly radioactive waste, but political and social ones. In fact, the issues are inextricably connected. The root of the US failure lies in the original motive of the nuclear establishment in siting such an underground repository. It was not to protect public safety, but to protect continued licensing of nuclear power plants from attack in the courts on grounds that there were no provisions for dealing with the plants’ highly radioactive waste.
The disdain for public safety and the rush to open a repository infected the design process and fostered slapdash decisions. These ultimately sank the technical case for the repository at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain. And while in the end the project was shelved by a political act, behind it were Energy Department and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) actions that left a deep residue of public distrust, so deep that there isn’t likely to be a US geologic repository, ever.
The contrast with successful waste repository projects in Sweden and Finland is clear. Their regulatory standards were much tighter than those applied by the NRC, the sites were chosen carefully from a scientific point of view, and the designs strictly focused on public safety. It is not surprising that the Scandinavian authorities were able to gain the confidence of their public, and not just because they took pains to consult the public—which the Energy Department did not. They presented a good case for a sound underground facility.
Waste become a problem. ………………………………………………..
Selecting a bad site. Yucca Mountain was initially advertised as being very dry. It turned out there was lots more water in the mountain than the Department expected……………………………. It became clear the waste canisters would corrode much more rapidly than forecast and radioactive leakage beyond the site boundary would exceed even the lax standards imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency and adopted by the NRC……
A flawed licensing process. While the Energy Department wanted credit for the 11,000 drip shields in the NRC review of its license application, it didn’t intend to install them with the waste canisters. For one thing, the cost of the needed 55,000 tons of titanium alloy was substantial, and putting in drip shields would have complicated the waste installation process and required new, as yet undesigned, equipment. Instead, the Energy Department’s plan “postponed” drip shield installation until the repository closed for good, in 100-300 years. But by then it would be impossible to install drip shields over the waste canisters: The internal underground transportation system would not be functioning, and rockfall would anyhow make passage impossible. Asked how the NRC could possibly accept this fantastical commitment, I remember an Energy Department official responding that “the NRC may not question the promise of a sister agency.”
The Energy Department refused to run any computer analyses on how the repository would perform if the drip shields didn’t get installed. Nevada managed to do this and found that, without drip shields, the repository failed the licensing requirement for radioactive leakage from the site. ………………………………………………………
NRC staff participates in all agency licensing hearings. Since at that point staffers had already reviewed the application favorably, they supported the license applicant. In the Yucca Mountain case, the staff outdid itself in its support of the Energy Department. …………………………..
Stop the stalemate. The Yucca Mountain project was stalled indefinitely by the Obama administration before any substantive licensing hearing took place. It was not irrelevant that Nevada Senator Harry Reid was the Democratic majority leader, and his former assistant was NRC chairman. But the technical failures were a vital part of the background leading to this decision.
The 2012 report of a “Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future” recommended a “consent-based approach” to managing nuclear waste. The Energy Department got religion and formed an Office of Consent-Based Siting, whose website explains that consent-based siting “prioritizes the participation and needs of people and communities and seeks their willing and informed consent to accept a project in their community.” But the department still didn’t get it. It’s not making a show of consulting the public that gains trust. You need a good technical plan to start with and demonstrated competence and sense of responsibility to carry it out, as was the case in the Scandinavian countries. In my judgment, it’s too late for the Energy Department. I don’t think any state would ever trust the Energy Department to build and operate a nuclear waste repository.
The lack of a repository doesn’t seem to worry nuclear enthusiasts anymore, probably because it doesn’t threaten what reactor licensing there is. Recent legislation—the ADVANCE Act—to accelerate approval of new nuclear technologies does not mention nuclear waste at all. The focus is on subsidizing new reactor projects and “streamlining” licensing.
The United States, however, does need a better system for storing highly radioactive used fuel than the current situation of keeping it at over 80 storage locations in 36 states. A difficulty is that current law requires that, before the Energy Department can go forward with a surface storage facility to consolidate the used fuel, it has to have already selected a new geologic repository site, which isn’t happening. This restriction was inserted into the Nuclear Waste Policy Act to prevent the government from siting a “temporary” storage facility and then giving up on an underground repository for permanent disposal of the waste. Now, because of this restriction, the United States has neither centralized storage nor a repository, and the waste keeps piling up. Relaxing the provision in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act that has prevented temporary consolidated storage has to be the starting point of a sensible nuclear waste policy. https://thebulletin.org/2024/07/why-us-nuclear-waste-policy-got-stalled-and-what-to-do-about-it/?utm_source=Newsletter+&utm_medium=Email+&utm_campaign=ThursdayNewsletter08012024&utm_content=NuclearRisk_NuclearWastePolicyStalled_07312024
The deceitfulness of the nuclear weapons industry -as it plays the jobs jobs jobs card
World-Ending Maneuvers? Inside the Nuclear-Weapons Lobby Today, TomDispatch, By Hekmat Aboukhater and William D. Hartung August 7, 2024
“……………………………………………………………………………Playing the Jobs Card
The argument of last resort for the Sentinel and similar questionable weapons programs is that they create well-paying jobs in key states and districts. Northrop Grumman has played the jobs card effectively with respect to the Sentinel, claiming it will create 10,000 jobs in its development phase alone, including about 2,250 in the state of Utah, where the hub for the program is located.
As a start, however, those 10,000 jobs will help a miniscule fraction of the 167-million-member American workforce. Moreover, Northrop Grumman claims facilities tied to the program will be set up in 32 states. If 2,250 of those jobs end up in Utah, that leaves 7,750 more jobs spread across 31 states — an average of about 250 jobs per state, essentially a rounding error compared to total employment in most localities.
Nor has Northrop Grumman provided any documentation for the number of jobs the Sentinel program will allegedly create. Journalist Taylor Barnes of ReThink Media was rebuffed in her efforts to get a copy of the agreement between Northrop Grumman and the state of Utah that reportedly indicates how many Sentinel-related jobs the company needs to create to get the full subsidy offered to put its primary facility in Utah.
A statement by a Utah official justifying that lack of transparency suggested Northrop Grumman was operating in “a competitive defense industry” and that revealing details of the agreement might somehow harm the company. But any modest financial harm Northrop Grumman might suffer, were those details revealed, pales in comparison with the immense risks and costs of the Sentinel program itself.
There are two major flaws in the jobs argument with respect to the future production of nuclear weapons. First, military spending should be based on security considerations, not pork-barrel politics. Second, as Heidi Peltier of the Costs of War Project has effectively demonstrated, virtually any other expenditure of funds currently devoted to Pentagon programs would create between 9% and 250% more jobs than weapons spending does. If Congress were instead to put such funds into addressing climate change, dealing with future disease epidemics, poverty, or homelessness — all serious threats to public safety — the American economy would gain hundreds of thousands of jobs. Choosing to fund those ICBMs instead is, in fact, a job killer, not a job creator……………………………… https://tomdispatch.com/world-ending-maneuvers/
The United States is launching a new nuclear arms race: to catch up and outsmart Russia and China
August 6th, 2024
Подробнее: https://eadaily.com/en/news/2024/08/06/the-united-states-is-launching-a-new-nuclear-arms-race-to-catch-up-and-outsmart-russia-and-china
Under the slogan of “nuclear deterrence”, the United States began investing in nuclear weapons. Washington plans to modernize and adopt new systems in order to catch up with Russia and China and be able to confront two adversaries at once.
“As a result of investments made under the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations, NNSA was able to deliver more than 200 upgraded nuclear weapons to the Department of Defense last year. This is our largest delivery in one year since the end of the Cold War,” Jill Hruby, administrator of the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA), said at the breakfast of the National Institute for Deterrence Studies “Peace through Strength.“
She noted that the situation with US nuclear weapons has undergone significant changes compared to what it was just a few years ago. The representative of the NNSA explained the reasons for the sharp turn in US policy by external threats.▼ читать продолжение новости ▼
“This is a unique, unprecedented time in the field of global nuclear security. We face growing threats of nuclear weapons from Russia and an expanding nuclear arsenal in China. Russia has deployed nuclear weapons in Belarus, strengthened its partnership with China, and developed new military partnerships with North Korea and Iran.… It is also exploring the possibility of using nuclear weapons in space, which poses an asymmetric threat to the West. In addition to ramping up the pace of nuclear weapons production, China has demonstrated an amazing ability to improve its delivery systems, including deploying hypersonic missiles faster than the United States. If this direction does not change, China will become an equal nuclear adversary with significant economic power,” said Jill Hurby.
In her opinion, the current situation represents a fundamentally different “nuclear” landscape than the last 80 years.
“In general, this is a less predictable and more dangerous time, and our thinking about deterrence needs to be adjusted,” the representative of the department explained. She added that the situation is complicated by the fact that nuclear power is on the verge of revival to combat climate change.
“If this renaissance happens, there will be more nuclear materials and know-how in the world than ever before. In addition, advanced nuclear reactor technology is likely to use higher-grade low-enriched uranium instead of 5 percent low-enriched uranium. Reactor types and reactor fuels are likely to evolve. Despite the fact that this renaissance will bring the necessary options for an environmentally friendly electric power base, it will challenge the current nuclear non—proliferation regime,” the NNSA also notes the potential of breakthrough technologies such as artificial intelligence, which can simplify and accelerate the design of nuclear devices.
But for now, the United States is focusing on confrontation with Russia and China.
“Russia and China are ready to change and expand their nuclear arsenals. But so will we, if we continue to invest and support the program. This means that although we are facing a deteriorating global security situation, we do not need to panic. There is still a lot of work to do, but we also need to prepare well, take the time and think intelligently about the future,” Jill Hurby continued.
According to her, over the past few years, the United States has continued to implement five programs to modernize the weapons of the nuclear triad (strategic aviation, intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear submarines).
“Last year we added two more types of weapons to the existing program. These new systems directly respond to emerging deterrence needs and expand the nuclear capabilities available to the president,” the NNSA representative said that we are talking about the B61—13 nuclear bomb and the SLCM−N sea-based cruise missile.
“We now have seven systems that should be developed and put into production by the mid-2030s. This program is not only a major modernization of all three components of the nuclear triad, but also adds new deterrence capabilities that do not currently exist,” said Jill Hurby.
According to her, for 2025, NNSA has applied for the allocation of $ 25 billion from the state budget.
Since the end of the Cold War, a significant part of the scientific and industrial infrastructure in the United States has fallen into disrepair and needs to be restored and modernized, the NNSA representative noted.
“Some of the buildings that we currently use for key processes belong to the Manhattan project or use manufacturing technologies that are less safe and efficient than modern methods. Therefore, in our budget request over the past few years, approximately equal amounts have been spent on inventory modernization and infrastructure modernization,” said Jill Hurby.
The main priority, she added, is to restore the ability to produce new plutonium cores.:
“NNSA is implementing a production strategy at two sites at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and at the Savannah River site in South Carolina. When both sites are fully operational, we expect that we will have the necessary capacity: Los Alamos will produce 30 cores per year, and Savannah River will produce at least 50.”
The construction of a uranium processing plant in Tennessee is also considered a priority in the United States. It is planned to complete its construction in 2027, and bring it to full capacity by 2031.
This year, the United States is completing work on the creation of a scheme that will identify high-priority facilities needed for science, production, safety and security until 2050.
“Our thinking about deterrence needs to be changed in order to create an effective deterrence of two equal opponents. Although we all recognize that Russia and China are innovating in their means of deterrence, we have not yet fundamentally changed our own thinking. But we know that we need to outsmart our opponents. It’s time to start this work seriously, not in a panic,” added Jill Hurby.
Biden administration lies on Ukraine war are monstrous
https://heartlandprogressive.blogspot.com/ 6 Aug 24
Notice mainstream news has imposed a virtual blackout of news about US proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. One can watch 24/7 and see nary a story on a war that could go nuclear in a heartbeat.
Couple of reasons for this. Mainstream news understands the US is suffering a staggering defeat in its effort to save its proxy state Ukraine in order to weaken Russia. Neither Republican nor Democratic media want to touch covering America’s dysfunctional war policy. Bleeding only leads when it’s the other side doing all the bleeding.
A second reason is media fatigue from the Biden administration endless lies for all 30 months of this war without a single truth worth reporting.
The original and biggest lie was the one that kicked off this war on February 24, 2022. Biden claimed Russian President Putin woke up one morning and decided to recreate the Soviet Union…starting by gobbling up Ukraine.
The truth is the US had been provoking the Russian invasion starting with President George W. Bush’s 2008 pledge to entice Ukraine into NATO to weaken, isolate Russia. Russia allowing this senseless US provocation to go on for 14 years is something America would never have done if the situation were reversed. It took the US about 14 hours to respond militarily to Russian missiles in Cuba 60 years earlier.
Biden’s next big whopper was framing the resulting conflict as democracy versus authoritarianism. He proclaimed Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky ‘The 21st Century Churchill’, saving Ukrainian democracy from Russian authoritarianism.
But for the past 30 months Zelensky has snuffed out every vestige of the touted Ukraine democracy. He’s cancelled elections under martial law, essentially making him president for the war’s life. No wonder he’s doing nothing to negotiate its end. When the war ends, so does Zelensky’s grasp on power, and possibly his life.
Additionally, Zelensky has banned opposition parties, squelched Ukraine’s free press, curtailed religious freedom and erased any hint of Russian culture among Ukrainian citizens so inclined.
But Biden’s most monstrous lie was that he’d do nothing in supporting Ukraine that could trigger nuclear war, something he said was a real possibility.at the war’s start. For 30 months he’s done the opposite, steadily arming Ukraine with nuclear capable F-16 fighters, Abram tanks and long-range missiles that can hit the heart of Russia. Telling Ukraine to be cautious not to provoke nuclear war with them is akin to giving matches to a kid, then telling him to use them judiciously.
There are many more in Biden’s blizzard of lies over the US proxy war in Ukraine. The saddest for the dying country of Ukraine being sacrificed on the altar of Biden’s lust to weaken, isolate Russia is this. “We will stand with Ukraine forever. We will never abandon Ukraine to Russian aggression.” Biden abandoned Ukraine 30 months ago. The US press and citizenry, weary of Biden’s endless lies on Ukraine, have moved on.
‘It made me cry’: photos taken 15 years apart show melting Swiss glaciers
A tourist has posted “staggering” photos of himself and his wife at
the same spot in the Swiss Alps almost exactly 15 years apart, in a pair of
photos that highlight the speed with which global heating is melting
glaciers. Duncan Porter, a software developer from Bristol, posted photos
that were taken in the same spot at the Rhône glacier in August 2009 and
August 2024. The white ice that filled the background has shrunk to reveal
grey rock. A once-small pool at the bottom, out of sight in the original,
has turned into a vast green lake. “Not gonna lie, it made me cry,”
Porter said in a viral post on social media platform X on Sunday night.
Guardian 6th Aug 2024
1 This Month
25 June- THE PUKE ON NUKES
Thursday, June 25, 2026
7pm Central Time (8pm ET, 6pm MT, 5pm PT) UTC – 5
From NRC & DOE Deregulation to Techno-Fascist Billionaires Going Nuclear, Plus a Few Songs from Atomic Cabaret REGISTER
26 June – Radiation Trainwreck at the NRC / Join the Protect Better Campaign – https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/4ZlZ5_qLSHGiLSCg8FF6Bg#/registration
1st July – Webinar Waste of Space: The Environmental Harm of Military and Civil Space Activity st July, 7 pm
Report Launch Online: We are seeing an increasing exploitation of space for military and commercial purposes. This must change.
Protect Sazan Island from the Trump family! https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/protect_sazan_island_from_the_trump_family_loc/?bqFCVab&v=174511&cl=22707147157&_checksum=5e9dde668860e8231c33699735e16a1fbf22ab2cb01da50c999fe8732b9775ef&utm_source=email&utm_medium=blast_email&utm_campaign=174511
Cuba Is Not a Failed State – It Is a Besieged State
PETITION: “Global Appeal to Endorse Palestinian Right of Return of Refugees”
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