Illegal and opposed — Beyond Nuclear International
Besides threatening public health, safety, and the environment, evading federal law to license the ISP facility would also impact the public financially. Transferring title and liability for irradiated fuel from the nuclear utilities that generated it to DOE would mean that federal taxpayers would have to pay many billions of dollars for so-called “interim” storage of the waste. That’s on top of the many tens of billions of dollars that ratepayers and taxpayers have already paid to fund a permanent geologic repository that hasn’t yet materialized.
Beyond Nuclear files suit to stop massive radioactive waste dump https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2021/02/15/illegal-and-opposed/
From Beyond Nuclear staff. Beyond Nuclear has filed suit in federal court to prevent the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) from licensing a massive “consolidated interim storage facility” (CISF) for highly radioactive waste in Andrews County, West Texas.
In its Petition for Review filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Beyond Nuclear asked the Court to dismiss the NRC licensing proceeding for a permit to build and operate a CISF proposed by Interim Storage Partners (ISP), a business consortium. ISP plans to use the facility to store 40,000 metric tons of highly radioactive irradiated fuel generated by nuclear reactors across the U.S., (also euphemistically known as “used” or “spent” fuel), amounting to nearly half of the nation’s current inventory.
The irradiated fuel would be housed on the surface of the land, on the site of an existing facility for storage and disposal of so-called “low-level radioactive waste” (LLRW). The LLRW facility is owned and operated by Waste Control Specialists (WCS). WCS and Orano (formerly Areva) comprise ISP. ISP’s CISF is located about 0.37 miles from the New Mexico border, and very near the Ogallala Aquifer, an essential source of irrigation and drinking water across eight High Plains states.
The Beyond Nuclear petition charges that orders issued by the NRC in 2018 and 2020 violate federal law by contemplating that the U.S. government will become the owner of the irradiated fuel during transportation to and storage at the ISP facility. Under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, the government is precluded from taking title to irradiated fuel unless and until a repository is licensed and operating. No such repository has been licensed in the U.S. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) most recent estimate for the opening of a geologic repository is the year 2048 at the earliest.
In its 2020 decision, in which the NRC rejected challenges to the license application, the NRC Commissioners admitted that the Nuclear Waste Policy Act would indeed be violated if title to irradiated fuel were transferred to the federal government so it could be stored at the ISP facility. But they refused to remove the proposed license provision which contemplates federal ownership of the irradiated fuel.
Instead, they ruled that approving ISP’s application would not directly involve NRC in a violation of federal law – according to the NRC, that violation would occur only if DOE acted on the approved license – and therefore they could approve it, despite the fact the provision is illegal. The NRC Commissioners also noted with approval that “ISP acknowledges that it hopes Congress will change the law to allow DOE to enter storage contracts prior to the availability of a repository” (December 17, 2020 order, page 5).
But the petition contends that the NRC may not approve license provisions that violate federal law in the hope the law will change. “This NRC decision flagrantly violates the federal Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which prohibits an agency from acting contrary to the law as issued by Congress and signed by the President,” said Mindy Goldstein, an attorney for Beyond Nuclear.
“The Commission lacks a legal or logical basis for its rationale that it may issue a license with an illegal provision, in the hopes that ISP or the Department of Energy won’t complete the illegal activity it authorized. The buck must stop with the NRC,” Goldstein said. Co-counsel Diane Curran stated, “Our claim is simple. The NRC is not above the law, nor does it stand apart from it.” Continue reading
Lancaster City Council will call on UK to join nuclear weapons ban
Lancaster City Council will call on government to join nuclear weapons ban
City councillors have voted in favour of writing to the government to urge it to sign up to the United Nation’s Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which came into force last month. Lancaster Guardian, By Nick Lakin, Monday, 15th February 2021, The motion was brought to council by Green Councillor Mandy Bannon, who represents Marsh ward.
South Lakeland and Lancaster District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), has praised the council for its decision.
The motion brought to council was in response to a global campaign organised by the International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017………
Lancaster will join 16 other UK councils who already support the ICAN campaign including Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh, Oxford, Norwich, and several authorities in London and Scotland…….https://www.lancasterguardian.co.uk/news/uk-news/lancaster-city-council-will-call-government-join-nuclear-weapons-ban-3134898
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa omits mention of nuclear in his State of the Nation Address
Experts speculate on meaning of Ramaphosa’s nuclear omission in SONA https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/experts-speculate-on-meaning-of-ramaphosas-nuclear-omission-in-sona-fe6bd6f4-15da-496d-88b7-0009b080661c
By Mwangi 15 Feb 21, Githahu Cape Town – Energy experts and commentators are speculating on the the significance of the omission of any mention of nuclear energy by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation address, with one suggesting this might be a sign that the government may have dropped its commitment to the nuclear power option.
In his speech on Thursday night, Ramaphosa said: “The fourth priority intervention of the recovery plan is to rapidly expand energy-generation capacity.
“Over the last year, we have taken action to urgently and substantially increase generation capacity in addition to what Eskom generates. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) will soon be announcing the successful bids for 2 000 megawatts of emergency power.
“Government will soon be initiating the procurement of an additional 11 800 megawatts of power from renewable energy, natural gas, battery storage and coal in line with the Integrated Resource Plan 2019.”
Mark Swilling, Distinguished Professor of sustainable development at the School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University, said: “It is significant that nuclear wasn’t mentioned. It’s not like government forgot about nuclear.
“The DMRE has after all been pushing nuclear power very hard. What is more likely is that the department failed to get its way, and that can only be a good thing, as nuclear is expensive and risky, especially when there are cheaper alternatives.
“What the president announced is a very good start, but not enough. Instead of the procurement of an additional 11 800 megawatts, what we need is at least 20 000MW if we are to be free of load shedding by 2025.
“There is a problem if the 11 800 includes coal because it’s not as though you can build a new coal mine. Nobody is funding them anymore. Around the world even new coal stations are shutting down. The 11 800MW should be strictly from renewables.”
Executive director of the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (Safcei), Francesca de Gasparis, said: “The president’s speech was silent on nuclear power, yet we know from recent developments that the government has been pushing on with its nuclear plans, despite more nuclear not being needed and being one of the most costly electricity generation options.
“In terms of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which lays out our energy choices, this risky and outdated technology is not even identified as a necessary part of the solution to the country’s ongoing energy crisis. Renewable energy is significantly quicker to install and a more cost-effective choice.”
The Climate Justice Charter Movement lobby group said in a statement: “The economic recovery plan calls for more off-shore extraction of oil and gas. If the president is serious about the climate crisis he would make it clear that nuclear energy plans are also off the national agenda. In this context, we would have taken his climate change commission more seriously.”
The merging of the economic and the political power of big nuclear corporations
Big money, nuclear subsidies, and systemic corruption, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, By Cassandra Jeffery, M. V. Ramana | February 12, 2021, ”………… the long-term impact of legislation that favors nuclear energy firms involves the great economic and political power that these large utilities possess. To better understand the basis of the economic power of these corporations, we analyzed financial data from electric utilities listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) between 1970 and 2019 on the standard Compustat database.
The first trend that is evident is one of increasing market concentration. From the 1970s through to the mid-1990s, there were roughly 80 to 85 companies listed in this sector on the NYSE. By 2000, that number had dropped to 56. The reason was a series of mergers and acquisitions through which large companies absorbed smaller companies. For example, Commonweath Edison became part of Unicom in 1994. Unicom and the Philadelphia Electric Company merged in 2000 to form Exelon. Similar mergers and acquisitions have continued, and by 2019 there were only 36 utility companies operating in the United States.
Measured through their market capitalization values, these 36 corporations are not equal. By and large, the corporations with the largest market cap values are the ones that own nuclear plants. Exelon is a good example, owning 17 of the 94 nuclear units that are operating in the United States as of November 2020. In 2019, Exelon’s average market capitalization was $44.3 billion. But Exelon is by no means the largest utility. Nextera Energy ($118 billion), Dominion ($69 billion), Duke ($67 billion), and American Electric ($47 billion) dominate the industry in terms of market capitalization. All of these five companies had a higher market capitalization in 2019 than the largest utility that did not own nuclear plants: Sempra Energy ($44.1 bn).
Over the last six years, when there have been no mergers or acquisitions among these companies, 11 out of the 14 companies that own nuclear assets have consistently held market capitalization values well above the median (based on 36 companies in all). Two of the remaining three hover near the median value, sometimes higher, sometimes lower. (The one remaining utility, El Paso, was recently bought out by JP Morgan, and will no longer be a publicly traded company.) On the whole, companies with nuclear plants have recorded larger market capitalization values than the median of 22 utilities that don’t own nuclear assets.
The legislative means used to take money away from electricity consumers and bail out economically failing nuclear plants owned by these large corporations helps further their market power, as illustrated by Dominion’s value rising from $49.5 billion in 2018 to $69.4 billion in 2019. While it is well known that wealthy corporations have a lot of political power, it seems from these examples that the converse might also be true: The political power enjoyed by these large corporations is at the root of their economic power. Indeed, as political economists Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler have argued at length, the standard economic concept of capital symbolizes “organized power writ large,” challenging the conventional division between politics and economics. The various bills passed in state legislatures offer a political assurance to investors that revenues for these utilities are assured for the foreseeable future, which naturally translates into higher stock prices and market capitalizations.………https://thebulletin.org/2021/02/big-money-nuclear-subsidies-and-systemic-corruption/
American media and politicians, including Biden, in the grip of the war profiteers
Who Are the Ultimate War Profiteers? A U.S. Air Force Veteran Removes the Veil, Covert Action Magazine By Christian Sorensen, February 10, 2021 “………….The most well-known industry pressure comes in the form of lobbying both political parties and funding their congressional campaigns (with extra focus on members of pertinent committees, such as Armed Services, Intelligence, Appropriations, and Foreign Relations)
This produces tangible results. As Steven Semler of the non-corporate Security Policy Reform Institute calculated, Democratic votes on the National Defense Authorization Act
correlate strongly with the campaign cash members accepted from the war industry. On average, House Democrats who voted for the NDAA accepted four times the amount of war industry cash as those who voted against it. In the Senate, Democrats who cast supporting votes took in six times as much industry cash.
Warmonger-In-Chief
The Executive Branch is not exempt. Rapacious financiers—including hedge fund chiefs and venture capitalists—top the list of donors to the Biden Administration, though dark money groups prevent a full understanding of the overall campaign finance picture. Between July and September at least 67 billionaires and their spouses made contributions of more than $100,000 to committees supporting Joe Biden and the Democratic Party, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Biden’s campaign received over $9 million from Donald Sussman, CEO of Palmora Partners, a multi-billion dollar hedge fund, which has more than 260,000 shares in Raytheon, a preeminent weapons manufacturer and supplier of weapons to Saudi Arabia, which recently won a $100 million contract for Afghan Air Force training.
Another of Biden’s top donors, Jim Simons, who gave over $7 million, founded Renaissance Capital, which owns 1.2 million shares in Raytheon worth over $75 million, and 130,000 shares in Lockheed Martin worth $50 million.
Big Tech is positioned prominently among donors to the Biden inauguration celebration. Biden has been clear on the campaign trail that he does not intend to cut the military budget, even going so far as stating, “I’ve met with a number of my advisors and some have suggested in certain areas the budget is going to have to be increased.” Biden’s advisors are part and parcel of the military-industrial-congressional complex. Cozying up to wealthy donors, Biden infamously assured them that “nothing would fundamentally change” in a Biden presidency. https://covertactionmagazine.com/2021/02/10/who-are-the-ultimate-war-profiteers-a-u-s-air-force-veteran-removes-the-veil/
Corporate Media Kool-aid
Corporate media prevent the public from understanding the nature of the problem. A handful of business interests owns media outlets in the United States. Profit drives corporate media. U.S. corporate media (e.g. CNN, MSNBC, FoxNews) share the same business model: air what attracts the highest ratings in order to get more advertising revenue.
Corporate media air info-tainment, designed not to inform or foster critical thinking. Informing the public is not a priority. Maintaining the existing economic order is.
To the extent that corporate media air any information at all, the information reflects the opinions of the ruling class and the dogma of Corporate America.
Politically conditioning the U.S. public, corporate media never blame the military-industrial-congressional complex or capitalism for any of the problems in the world. Aiming for high ratings and lucrative advertising revenue, corporate media self-censor and taper the spectrum of acceptable foreign policy debate. War corporations purchase advertisements on corporate “news” shows to further confine the debate. Corporate pundits and newscasters do not speak out against advertisers.
Corporate media hire career militants (e.g. former CIA Director John Brennan, MSNBC; former CIA Deputy Director Mike Morrell, CBS News; retired General Jack Keane, FoxNews) who further confine the debate. Retired generals and admirals regularly contribute to all forms of corporate media, often without disclosing existing ties to war corporations or financial investments in war.
The Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 allowed government to increase its propaganda in corporate media. Drawing funding from the wealthy donor class and large corporate interests, National Public Radio is similarly confined. NPR’s new CEO as of September 2019 is John Lansing, who recently led U.S. propaganda at the U.S. Agency for Global Media.
Other industry pressure comes in the form of funding and running pressure groups [e.g. National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), Association of the United States Army (AUSA)] to dominate the Pentagon, administer arms fairs, and push favorable policies; funding think tanks to keep the narrative neoliberal and pro-war; recruiting retired generals and admirals (e.g. Dunford at Lockheed Martin, Mattis at General Dynamics, Winnefeld at Raytheon) to leverage their knowledge for financial gain; and flooding the Pentagon’s civilian offices with corporate executives (e.g., Esper and then Austin, Secretary of Defense; Lord, Undersecretary for Acquisition and Sustainment; McCarthy, Secretary of the Army). …………
Christian Sorensen is an Air Force veteran and author of the new book entitled Understanding the War Industry. See CAM’s review of the book: Wars R Us: A Review of Christian Sorensen’s New Book. https://covertactionmagazine.com/2021/02/10/who-are-the-ultimate-war-profiteers-a-u-s-air-force-veteran-removes-the-veil/
Wales government irresponsible to consider expensive move towards nuclear power development
PAWB 7th Feb 2021, OPEN LETTER TO MARK DRAKEFORD, FIRST MINISTER OF WALES. Surprise if not disbelief was our response to the story in the Sunday Times today that reported on the Welsh Government being in talks with Hitachi about buying almost 750 acres of land near the Wylfa nuclear power station. It is worrying that your Education Minister, Kirsty Williams did not deny the story in a television interview today.
Far too much time, money and political energy has been wasted over the past twenty years in Wales as politicians from all parties in the Senedd in Cardiff have followed the political whims of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson in favour of having a new generation of large nuclear reactors.
The history of the site near Wylfa bought by RWE from EdF in 2007 is a perfect illustration of this complete waste of time and money. The RWE/Eon consortium from Germany who set up Horizon stepped aside in March 2012 and were very lucky to sell the Wylfa and Oldbury sites for quite a profit to Hitachi.
Of course, over two years have now passed since Hitachi made the majority of the Horizon workforce redundant and suspended work on the Wylfa site. The writing was on the wall and it was only a matter of time before the announcement in September 2020 that Hitachi were giving up completely on building two of its ABWR reactors on the site. To rub salt into the wound, Hitachi has announced Horizon will cease to exist at the end of March, and even more significantly, the Planning Inspectorate’s report on Horizon’s full planning application was published a few days ago noting that the application would not have been approved.
The main reasons given for refusal were the substantial effect on the biodiversity of this expansive area that such a huge plan would have, whether the tern colony at Cemlyn or grassland across the site.
Significantly also, the inspectors believed that the huge scale of the development would cause
great damage to the linguistic balance of the county with the second highest percentage of Welsh speakers in Wales. Stepping in by the Welsh Government immediately after the publication of the Planning Inspectorate’s report to try to buy the site would show extreme lack of judgement and sensitivity.
Now, of all times, with the COVID-19 pandemic having turned our world upside down, it would be a totally irresponsible action by your Government to spend millions of pounds on a site which is not considered suitable by the Planning Inspectorate for large nuclear reactors.
Call for an independent Scotland to demand removal of nuclear weapons from Faslane
Daily Record 10th Feb 2021. An independent Scotland should delay NATO membership until nuclear weapons are removed from Faslane, a campaign group has demanded. The call is a
challenge to current SNP policy which is to seek continuing membership of
the defence alliance if a majority of Scots vote Yes at a future
referendum.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/independent-scotland-should-delay-nato-23461400
As Wylfa nuclear project is rejected, Sizewell C nuclear project should be dead in the water
East Anglian Daily Times 9th Feb 2021, Campaigners fighting plans for a new nuclear power station on the Suffolkcoast say the project should be “dead in the water” after a similar schemewas rejected on environmental grounds. They say the proposed Sizewell C
site has far more important wildlife and environment than Wylfa, which has
been described as “the best site available globally” for a new power plant.
Inspectorate has recommended that the Wylfa Newydd project site regarded as
“the best” be rejected by the Government.
Beauty and impacting Sizewell Marshes SSSI and internationally famous RSPB
Minsmere, this project should be dead in the water. “Our grave concern is
that the Secretary of State could approve a project they would otherwise
refuse because it is seen as their only remaining option.”https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/sizewell-c-dead-in-the-water-7314394
Financial and environmental uncertainties made UK Planning inspectorate reject Wylfa nuclear project
Nuclear Engineering International 8th Feb 2021The UK Planning inspectorate on 4 February released its report on the WylfaNewydd project on Anglesey for which energy company Horizon – a subsidiaryof Hitachi – had needed approval of the Development Consent Order (DCO)
to allow the project to go ahead.
However, in their 906-page report, the
government appointed planning inspectors recommended that the project
should be rejected, citing a number of expert concerns. The application has
since been withdrawn after Hitachi, decided that the plant was too
expensive to build without government funding, and Horizon subsequently
failed to find any other backers for the project.
On funding, the inspectorate’s report said that “despite the Applicant’s commitment
to continued dialogue with UK Government, there remains “considerable
uncertainty regarding the overall funding for the proposal and the extent
to which the private sector alone can, or is prepared to accept, the
business risk to fund it”.
The planning inspectors’ report said there
was a lack of scientific evidence put forward by developers to demonstrate
that the Arctic and Sandwich tern (seabird) populations around the Cemlyn
Bay area would not be disturbed by construction. There were fears that
these birds would abandon the Bay as a result. It also raised wider
concerns over the general impact on Cemlyn Bay, the Cae Gwyn site of
special scientific interest and Tre’r Gof.
Ukraine’s complicated plan to deal with its excess nuclear energy generation
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Ukraine plans nuclear-powered block reward mining facility. coingeek, Ed Drake The government of Ukraine is contemplating investing in a new block reward mining facility, to take advantage of an excess of nuclear power being generated in the country……. Vladimirov said the proposals would allow the country to make better use of excess nuclear capacity, as well as boosting tax take. “The idea of creating a data center based on a nuclear power plant, of course, deserves attention because the Ukrainian UES [unified energy system] has unused base capacity.”……. According to Hotmine, the proposals will help Ukraine build on its reputation as an emerging center for block reward mining, with the firm suggesting the country’s low cost nuclear power could help it become a world leader in nuclear-powered block reward mining. ,,………. https://coingeek.com/ukraine-plans-nuclear-powered-block-reward-mining-facility/ |
8 Feb 21, Republican lawmaker reintroduces Bill to repeal Ohio’s corrupt nuclear bailout law
 Ohio Lawmaker Reintroduces Bill To Repeal Nuclear Bailout  Law https://radio.wosu.org/post/ohio-lawmaker-reintroduces-bill-repeal-nuclear-bailout-law#stream/0
By ASSOCIATED PRESS 8 Feb 21, • A bill to repeal a bailout of two aging nuclear power plants at the heart of a federal $60 million bribery probe has been re-introduced in the Ohio House by its Republican sponsor.
State Rep. Laura Lanese (R-Grove City) introduced a repeal bill last week similar to the one she introduced last year. That died after some fellow Republicans in the GOP-controlled House disagreed on whether a repeal was necessary. “A full repeal of House Bill 6 would protect consumers from predatory pricing, restore our renewable energy policy, and instill public confidence in the legislative process,” Lanese said in a statement. The legislation known as HB6 was signed into law by GOP Gov. Mike DeWine in 2019. The Justice Department accused five individuals, including former Republican House Speaker Larry Householder, of shepherding $60 million in energy company money for personal and political use in exchange for passing the law and then derailing an attempt to place a rejection of the bailout on the ballot. Two of those five have pleaded guilty, and a plea deal has also been reached with a nonprofit that authorities believe was used to funnel payments from the scheme. Householder, who pleaded not guilty to the rackteering charges, was removed as Speaker over the summer but won re-election to his House seat in November. |
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How to Support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Without Signing It
 How to Support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Without Signing It Lawfare By Jayita Sarkar, February 7, 2021, Editor’s Note: The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which outlaws nuclear weapons, entered force just after Biden’s inauguration. Although the Biden administration is highly unlikely to adhere to it directly, can it take smaller steps in line with the TPNW’s goals? Boston University’s Jayita Sarkar outlines a series of measures the administration could take, such as providing assistance to victims of radiation, that would advance the TPNW’s agenda but do not require complete adherence. – Daniel Byman
……….. How will the Biden administration respond now that it is international law? In recent weeks, former policymakers, including former Secretary of Defense William Perry and former Undersecretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation Thomas Countryman, have called for the Biden administration to adopt a supportive position on the TPNW. Critics of the treaty, such as then-U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, have called for proactive opposition, or at least benign neglect. But perhaps there is a third option that the administration could consider: the middle ground of selective support. …………… When the world is viewed solely through the prism of nuclear deterrence, the TPNW seems unrealistic and its supporters appear as impractical idealists. The TPNW, though, was developed from the approach that foregrounds the “humanitarian consequences” of nuclear weapons. This approach encompasses much more than the notion of a fragile balance of power maintained by nuclear weapons. Much of the treaty is about the effects of nuclear weapons and nuclear explosive devices on the human body. The Biden administration can show its selective support on this issue, breaking with the policy of the past two U.S. administrations. The United States is responsible for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 and for 1,032 nuclear weapons tests that took place between 1945 and 1992. The majority of the tests were conducted in New Mexico, Nevada, Alaska, and the Pacific Ocean. Article 6 of the TPNW, entitled “Victim assistance and environmental remediation,” calls on state parties to “adequately provide age- and gender-sensitive assistance, without discrimination, including medical care, rehabilitation and psychological support, as well as provide []social and economic inclusion” to those affected by nuclear weapons and nuclear explosive devices. Providing assistance to victims of radiation in the United States has been a slow, arduous and incomplete process. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was passed only in October 1990 and expanded in 2000. Administered by the U.S. Department of Justice, RECA provides one-time benefits payments to those who have developed cancers and specified diseases as a consequence of radiation exposure caused by nuclear weapons testing and uranium mining, milling or transporting. RECA has provided $2.4 billion in benefits to more than 37,000 claimants since 1990 but is expected to sunset in July 2022. RECA itself has several limitations. First, it has a narrow definition of “downwinders”—the individuals living downwind of the Nevada Test Site who are eligible for compensation. Downwinder-eligibility requires individuals to have a diagnosis of a compensable disease caused by radiation exposure and proof of residence in selected counties of Arizona, Nevada, and Utah during the period of atmospheric testing at the Nevada Test Site. Second, RECA denies compensation to victims of uranium mining after 1971, when the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission’s mining activities were transferred to commercial firms. The 2020 Democratic Party platform explicitly called for increasing victim assistance under RECA. More broadly, the platform also pledged the party to “pursuing environmental justice and climate justice, including for Indigenous peoples and communities.” Given that the majority of downwinders and uranium miners are from Indigenous communities in the United States, the Democratic Party’s commitment to “protecting Native American health” is compatible with the humanitarian consequences approach to nuclear weapons. Moreover, for the first time in its history, the Department of the Interior, the federal agency responsible for appropriation of Indigenous lands since the 19th century westward expansion, will have a Native American head—Rep. Deb Haaland, an enrolled citizen of the Pueblo of Laguna. Haaland and her fellow Democrats from New Mexico have been proactive in pushing for legislation to expand radiation compensation. In other words, the Biden administration has already promised to act on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear testing in the United States. If the administration delivers on its promise, it would be addressing commitments covered in Article 6 of the TPNW, even without signing the treaty. The TPNW is a multilateral treaty, which requires policy harmonization through domestic legislation to be implemented. RECA offers preexisting legal infrastructure on which the Biden administration can build and, with its inclusion of uranium mining, even corrects a major weakness of the TPNW, which focuses solely on victims of nuclear weapons and nuclear explosive devices. To be sure, promoting an expanded RECA as evidence of U.S. selective support for the TPNW would require diplomatic finesse at the United Nations. But, if backed by political will, the State Department under Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Deputy Secretary of State-designee Wendy Sherman, and Undersecretary-designee for Arms Control and International Security Affairs Bonnie Jenkins will have the wherewithal for it. Selective U.S. support to the TPNW would be an unusual approach toward a new treaty, but it would not be unprecedented………… By selectively supporting the TPNW through Article 6 commitments while not acceding to it, the Biden administration can be at the forefront of an anti-racist global nuclear agenda. It can promote the U.S. image abroad, which has been tarnished by the Trump administration’s four years of isolationist “America First” rhetoric. It could also win support at home. According to a 2020 poll by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, 66 percent of Americans want a world without nuclear weapons. The present moment offers the promise of unprecedented change in global nuclear politics. When the 10th NPT Review Conference takes place in New York in August 2021 (postponed from 2020), it will be the first time in the history of the nuclear age that there will be another nuclear treaty demanding attention and action. The Biden administration could seize the day and make history. https://www.lawfareblog.com/how-support-treaty-prohibition-nuclear-weapons-without-signing-it |
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Planning inspectors recommended against Wylfa Newydd project on Anglesey
Planning inspectors recommended refusal for new nuclear power plant, Nation Cymru Gareth Williams, local democracy reporter
Plans to build a new nuclear power station were likely to be refused even before the project was shelved by backers.
UK Government appointed planning inspectors had recommended that the Wylfa Newydd project on Anglesey be rejected over a number of concerns from experts.
The application has since been withdrawn after Hitachi, the company behind the project, decided that the power plant was too expensive to build without a funding deal with the UK Government in place.
Energy company Horizon – a subsidiary of Hitatchi – needed an Approval of the Development Consent Order (DCO) to allow the £16bn project to go ahead.
DCOs are needed for any planning application regarded as a major UK infrastructure project and DCO process for Wylfa Newydd had been underway since 2018.
The Planning Inspectorate’s conclusion, which was made public for the first time on Thursday, was intended to be considered as a recommendation – with the final decision down to the UK Government.
But expert planning officers felt that the scheme would fail to meet some of the United Nations’ biological diversity standards.
Inspectors also told UK Government ministers it had concerns over the project’s impact on the local economy, housing stock and the Welsh language…..
The findings of the planning inspectors’ report, which were made public for the first time on Thursday, said there was a lack of scientific evidence put forward by developers to demonstrate that the Arctic and Sandwich tern populations around the Cemlyn Bay area, where the plant was set to be built, would not be disturbed by construction.
There were fears that these birds would subsequently abandon nearby Cemlyn Bay as a result.
It also raised wider concerns over the general impact on Cemlyn Bay, the Cae Gwyn site of special scientific interest and Tre’r Gof……..
It went on to conclude: “Having regard to all the matters referred in this report, the ExA’s conclusion is that, on balance, the matters weighing against the proposed development outweigh the matters weighing in favour of it.
“The ExA therefore finds the case for development is not made and it recommends accordingly.”
‘Pulling the plug’
Before pulling the plug on the DCO application last month, Hitachi confirmed that talks had been taking place with potential new investors. But with no concrete offer forthcoming, Hitachi announced it would wind up its Horizon Nuclear Power subsidiary by March 2021……… https://nation.cymru/news/planning-inspectors-recommended-refusal-for-new-nuclear-power-plant/
Daily Post 5th Feb 2021, The UK’s Planning Inspectorate has released its report into Wylfa Newydd –
showing they had recommended refusal over biodiversity issues.
The complicated politics of removing nuclear subsidies: the crooked Ohio legislation
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The new owners of two Ohio nuclear power plants have given indications they are no longer interested in receiving as much as $1 billion in subsidies handed out in a tainted energy bill, according to two state lawmakers.
One of the lawmakers, freshman GOP Sen. Jerry Cirino, last week cosponsored Senate Bill 44, legislation that would eradicate subsidies that would have been paid by electric customers across the state for the plants now owned by a privately held company called Energy Harbor.
The plants, one of which is in Cirino’s district, were operated by a wholly owned subsidiary of Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. when the bill known as HB6 was approved in July 2019 and quickly signed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.
Messages were left Friday with Energy Harbor spokespersons seeking comment about the company’s plans.
“I believe there is extremely broad support for Senate Bill 44 in the Legislature and broad external support as well,” said Cirino, who added that recent discussions with Energy Harbor officials lead him to believe they will not find any problems with SB44.
One of the lawmakers, freshman GOP Sen. Jerry Cirino, last week cosponsored Senate Bill 44, legislation that would eradicate subsidies that would have been paid by electric customers across the state for the plants now owned by a privately held company called Energy Harbor.
The plants, one of which is in Cirino’s district, were operated by a wholly owned subsidiary of Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. when the bill known as HB6 was approved in July 2019 and quickly signed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine………..
Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican who was a key player in pushing HB6 through the Legislature, said an Energy Harbor lobbyist told him in December that the company would like the option to decline the subsidies.
Both Seitz and Cirino said Energy Harbor officials were concerned that accepting subsidies would put the company at a disadvantage competing with non-subsidized suppliers, given priority on pricing in the 13-state PJM energy markets where electricity is bought and sold……….
HB6 critics have questioned whether Energy Harbor needs financial help to keep the plants operating after buying back $800 million of company shares last year. Energy Harbor officially took ownership of the plants in February 2020 in a deal struck with a FirstEnergy subsidiary in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
“It’s quite a turnaround if Energy Harbor is now telling the legislature to repeal its billion-dollar corporate welfare subsidy from Ohioans,” said Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Bruce Weston in a statement. “Questions that come to mind include: Did the two nuclear plants really need the subsidy that they got from Ohioans’ state government? And were the nuclear plants really going to be closed without the subsidy?”
Former PUCO Chair Todd Snitchler, now president and CEO of the Washington-based Electric Supply Association, on Friday called HB6 a “shameful piece of legislation.”
“Ohioans don’t need to pay more only to support struggling plants,” Snitchler said in a statement. “Competitive power markets are delivering reliable power and billions in cost savings to electric customers while significantly reducing emissions and enabling new clean energy build — without subsidies and extra ratepayer charges.”
…………… HB6 has been under intense scrutiny since U.S. Attorney David DeVillers announced on July 21 that then-House Speaker Larry Householder and four others had been arrested for their involvement in a $60 million bribery scheme secretly funded by an unidentified company that clearly was FirstEnergy. Authorities have described it as the biggest bribery scheme in state history.
The five men and a dark money group were subsequently indicted on federal racketeering charges. Householder has pleaded not guilty and awaits trial. Two political operatives have pleaded guilty to charges. The dark money group called Generation Now filed a plea agreement on Friday.
Republicans who control both legislative chambers have not been able to reach a consensus so far on repealing or replacing the measure.
Sponsor testimony on the new bill eliminating the nuclear subsidies begins Tuesday. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/ohio/articles/2021-02-07/owners-of-two-ohio-nuclear-plants-may-decline-subsidies
Nuclear power unaffordable in USA, Russia, India, France, even China, but NO SOLUTION TO WASTES
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Germany: Nuclear phaseout or renaissance? https://www.dw.com/en/germany-looking-for-final-repository-for-nuclear-waste-global-outlook/a-56449115– 5 Feb 21,
Germany’s nuclear phaseout will be completed by the end of 2022. Safe final repositories for nuclear waste still haven’t been found, but some countries are still building new reactors. Does nuclear have a future? There are currently 413 nuclear reactors in operation in 32 countries around the globe. According to the annual World Nuclear Industry Status Report (WNISR), nuclear power accounted for about 10% of global electricity demand in 2019, the highest share being 17.5% in 1996. Most reactors were built between 1968 and 1986, mainly in Europe, the United States, the former Soviet Union and Japan. The global average age of these reactors is 31 years.
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1 This Month
26 April – Chernobyl: Inside the Meltdown airs on National Geographic on Sunday 26th April from 4pm
29 April – Nuclear Expert Webinar #1 – Radiation Impacts on Families with Mary Olson and Cindy Folkers
- 12:15 PM MT – 1:45 PM MT
- Location: Virtual – REGISTER TODAY
4 May -West Suburban Peace Coalition to discuss Iran war at May Educational Forum
Monday, May 4, 7:00 – 8:00 PM Central Standard Time
Title: : How Trump’s Narrative Tries to Shape the Reality of the War on Iran.
Contact Walt Zlotow, zlotow@hotmail.com 630 442 3045 for further information
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
Pine Ridge Uranium is the real threat, not Tehran- Tell Burgum: Stop the Extraction.
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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