Iran building underground nuclear facility, replacing the damaged one.
Iran building underground nuclear facility: UN watchdog, SMH, By David Rising, October 28, 2020, Berlin: Inspectors from the UN’s atomic watchdog have confirmed Iran has started building an underground centrifuge assembly plant after its previous one exploded in what Tehran called a sabotage attack over the summer, the agency’s head said.
Iran also continues to stockpile greater amounts of low-enriched uranium, but does not appear to possess enough to produce a weapon, Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the AP in an interview in Berlin.
Following the July explosion at the Natanz nuclear site, Tehran said it would build a new, more secure, structure in the mountains around the area. Satellite pictures of Natanz analysed by experts have yet to show any obvious signs of excavation at the site in Iran’s central Isfahan province……
Natanz had been targeted by the Stuxnet computer virus previously, which was believed to be a creation of the US and Israel. Iran has yet to say whom it suspects of carrying out the sabotage in the July incident. Suspicion has fallen on Israel as well, despite a claim of responsibility by a previously unheard-of group at the time.
Under the provisions of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran is allowed to produce a certain amount of enriched uranium for non-military purposes.
In return, Iran was offered economic incentives by the countries involved.
Since President Donald Trump pulled the US unilaterally out of the deal in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions, however, the other signatories — Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China — have been struggling to keep the deal alive.
Meanwhile, Iran has been steadily exceeding the deal’s limits on how much uranium it can stockpile, the purity to which it can enrich uranium and other restrictions to pressure those countries to come up with a plan to offset US sanctions.
Still though, Iran has continued to allow IAEA inspectors full access to its nuclear facilities, including Natanz, Grossi said………
Grossi personally visited Tehran in late August for meetings with top officials, and managed to break a months-long impasse over two locations thought to be from the early 2000s where Iran was suspected of having stored or used undeclared nuclear material and possibly conducted nuclear-related activities.
Inspectors have now taken samples from both of those sites, and Grossi said they are still undergoing lab analysis.
“It was a constructive solution to a problem what we were having,” he said. “And I would say since then we have kept the good level of cooperation in the sense that our inspectors are regularly present and visiting the sites.” https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/iran-building-underground-nuclear-facility-un-watchdog-20201028-p569ht.html
Japan’s net zero emissions target should be combined with zero nuclear power
Japan’s net zero emissions target should be combined with zero nuclear power, October 28, 2020 (Mainichi Japan) ”…………… Under Japan’s basic energy plan, the country aims to raise the ratio of renewables to 22 to 24% by fiscal 2030. But this target is far from sufficient. As the government is currently working on a revision to the plan, it should drastically review the energy mix.
It is imperative to reconsider the nuclear power ratio said to account for 20-22% of Japan’s power mix. The government is aspiring to secure constant nuclear power output by replacing aging nuclear power stations and through other measures while moving ahead with reactivation of idled nuclear plants.
However, nuclear power complexes carry the risk of severe accidents. As it costs enormous money to secure safety at those facilities, the idea of labeling nuclear power as cheap energy is not globally accepted. The government has a responsibility to provide a road map for breaking Japan’s dependence on nuclear power.
In European countries, efforts to revive their economies severely hit by the novel coronavirus pandemic through environmental investment are underway. This initiative, called “green recovery,” can come into line with the principle of a “virtuous cycle of environment and economic growth” emphasized by Prime Minister Suga.
It is hoped that Japan will achieve a decarbonized society through improvement of renewable energy technologies and active investments in research and development of hydrogen energy and retrieval and storage of carbon dioxide.
It is also necessary to build a mechanism to guarantee the realization of the promise of net zero greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to discussions on a carbon tax, levied in accordance with the volumes of greenhouse gas emissions, the government is urged to consider specifying this goal in Japan’s Act on Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures.
Hurdles for attaining the goal remain high and we have a limited time frame. It is urgently needed to craft a strategy to prevent the net zero target from ending up as a mere empty promise. https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20201028/p2a/00m/0na/017000c
Britain to lose protection of the environment – as a result of Brexit
behalf of citizens is being undermined by the UK government. Ministers
promised that after Brexit, laws on air, water and waste would be policed
by an independent Office for Environmental Protection (OEP).
these laws were enforced by European courts, which prosecuted EU
governments that breached green rules. Ministers promised the OEP would be
similarly independent. But they now want to grant themselves powers to
“advise” the new body. These plans were revealed in a tabled amendment
to the Environment Bill. Critics fear ministers may counsel the OEP against
taking the government to court if it breaches laws.
Hokkaido municipalities gamble on a nuclear future, but at what cost?
Hokkaido municipalities gamble on a nuclear future, but at what cost? https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/10/24/national/media-national/hokkaido-gambling-casinos/ BY PHILIP BRASOR Since August, two local governments on the western shore of Hokkaido have said they will apply to the central government for a survey that could eventually lead to their municipalities hosting a permanent underground repository for high-level radioactive waste. The fact that these two localities made their announcements about a month apart and are situated not far from each other was enough to attract more than the usual media attention, which revealed not only the straitened financial situations of the two areas, but also the muddled official policy regarding waste produced by the country’s nuclear power plants.
Then again, neither Suttsu nor Kamoenai may make it past the first stage. Yugo Ono, an honorary geology professor at Hokkaido University, told the magazine Aera that Suttsu is located relatively close to a convergence of faults that caused a major earthquake in 2018. And Kamoenai is already considered inappropriate for a repository on a map drawn up by the trade ministry in 2017.
If the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s process for selecting a site sounds arbitrary, it could reflect the government’s general attitude toward future plans for nuclear power, which is still considered national policy, despite the fact that only three reactors nationwide are online. Presently, spent fuel is being stored in cooling pools at 17 nuclear plants comprising a storage capacity of 21,400 tons. As of March, 75 percent of that capacity was being used, so there is still some time to find a final resting place for the waste. Some of this spent fuel was supposed to be recycled at the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant in Aomori Prefecture, but, due to numerous setbacks, it doesn’t look as if it’s ever going to open, so the fuel will just become hazardous garbage.
Ono tells Aera that the individual private nuclear plants should, in line with product liability laws, be required to manage their own waste themselves. If they don’t have the capacity, then they should create more. It’s wrong to bury the waste 300 meters underground, which is the plan, because many things can happen over the course of future millennia. The waste should be in a safe place on the surface, where it can be readily monitored.
However, that would require lots of money virtually forever, something the government would prefer not to think about, much less explain. Instead, they’ve made plans that allow them to kick the can down the road for as long as possible.
Shadow of $25 billion Nuclear Plant Vogtle hangs over Georgia Public Service Commission elections
Nuclear costs loom over races for Georgia PSC races
Public Service Commission must deal with $25 billion Plant Vogtle’s impact on electric rates, News 4 Ajax, Jeff Amy, Associated Press, 25 Oct 20, ATLANTA – The shadow of two nuclear reactors that Georgia Power Co. is building near Waynesboro hangs over two statewide elections for the Georgia Public Service Commission. Although the reactors are now getting so close to completion that they are likely to enter service, whoever is elected will have to deal with the $25 billion project’s ultimate impact on customer bills.
Electric customers statewide and even in Jacksonville will help pay for Plant Vogtle, as Georgia Power has contracts to provide power from the plant around the Southeast.
The five-person utility regulatory body is currently all Republican, with two members up for reelection this year. ………..
Amid rising costs, the plan to add a third and fourth nuclear reactor at Plant Vogtle survived a cost-overrun scare in 2018 with the heavy support of the state’s Republican establishment. Georgia Power, the largest subsidiary of the Atlanta-based Southern Co. is now building the only new nuclear plants in the U.S. ……… https://www.news4jax.com/news/georgia/2020/10/25/nuclear-costs-loom-over-races-for-georgia-utility-regulator/
USA government puts out a financial lifeline to the failing nuclear industry
But the winds of change could soon be blowing for U.S. nuclear. Last month the nuclear sector got a small but certainly not insignificant state-sponsored lifeline when the the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that “it would be awarding more than $65m in nuclear energy research, crosscutting technology development, facility access, and infrastructure awards.” According to reporting by PowerTechnology, “the awards fall under the department’s nuclear energy programs – the Nuclear Energy University Programme, the Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies, and the Nuclear Science User Facilities.”
And now, just this week, there’s even better news for U.S. nuclear power. “After hemming and hawing for decades, the United States is taking some big steps in developing advanced nuclear reactor technologies,” Forbes reported on Wednesday. The article is referring to yet another major announcement from the DOE that took place just last week. The department will be awarding $80 million each–and that’s just in initial funding–to two different teams under the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). The DOE has planned for an additional $3.2 billion in investment over the next seven years, an impressive sum that will be matched by the private sector within the nuclear industry. One of these teams is to be led by Bill Gates’ brainchild TerraPower in a joint effort with GE Hitachi. The other will be spearheaded by X-energy. …….https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Nuclear-Energy-Granted-A-State-Sponsored-Lifeline-In-The-US.html
Another city leaves small nuclear reactor project – unanimous vote by Murray City Council, Utah
Murray City votes to withdraw from nuclear power project, Salt Lake Tribune, By Taylor Stevens– 23 Oct 20, The Murray City Council voted unanimously this week to back out of a first-of-its-kind nuclear power project that has the support of a number of Utah municipalities.
It’s the fourth Utah city to exit the small modular nuclear reactor pursuit over the last few months amid pressure from opponents who have raised concerns about environmental and financial risks of the proposed 12-module plant, which would be located at Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls and produce a total 720 megawatts of electricity.
During the city’s Tuesday council meeting, Murray Power Manager Blaine Haacke outlined several advantages of the project, including the potential that it could fill the energy gap that will be left when the Hunter Power Plant in Castle Dale goes offline in the coming years.
He told the council that he expects UAMPS will carry the project forward without Murray. But he said the association’s members will meet during the first week of November to make a final decision, after they find out how many cities have exited.
USA Nuclear Regulatory Commission to effectively deregulate massive amounts of radioactive wastes
PEER 21st Oct 2020, The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is finalizing a year-long drive to functionally deregulate disposal of massive amounts of radioactive waste.
NRC’s plan would allow commercial nuclear reactors to dump virtually all their radioactive waste, except spent fuel, in local garbage landfills, which are designed for household trash not rad-waste, according to commentsfiled today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
https://www.peer.org/deregulation-rad-waste-disposal-plows-ahead/
The cruel and lonely death of an American nuclear weapons scientist
And if you’re a believer that violent ends produce restless spirits, the Presidio is full up with phantoms as a result.
The most haunted place is said to be Letterman Army Hospital, once the base’s largest medical facility
In looking for Presidio ghost stories, though, we stumbled across a far stranger tale than any haunting: the real-life demise of a nuclear scientist — a chapter of the Cold War, as far as we can tell, untold since 1953.
The brain tumor presented a particular problem for the Atomic Energy Commission: It had the potential to cause erratic behavior and uncontrolled verbal outbursts. They were fearful that as he lost control of his mental faculties, Twitchell would begin spilling nuclear secrets. He knew “as much about atomic energy as any one man,” an anonymous source in the commission would later tell the Oakland Tribune.
So they built a secret ward just for Twitchell. At the cost of $100,000 — nearly $1 million today — construction began at the Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco’s Presidio for the unusual patient. Once finished, all doctors and nurses who might interact with Twitchell were given rigorous screenings for any national security issues. In the end, only one male nurse was trusted to primarily care for Twitchell. A guard stood watch outside the room at all times.
Unbeknownst to the other military patients at the hospital, a civilian lay dying in his own wing. “He was the hospital’s hush-hush case,” the San Francisco Examiner reported.
An anonymous source told the Tribune this was standard protocol to keep scientists from blabbing while “unbalanced, anesthetized or under the influence of dentists’ ‘laughing gas.'” Although expensive, it was the only way to maintain national security.
Miyagi Prefectural Assembly approves nuclear reactor restart, despite very strong public opposition
|
Miyagi assembly approves restart of Onagawa nuclear reactor, HTTPS://WWW.JAPANTIMES.CO.JP/NEWS/2020/10/23/NATIONAL/MIYAGI-APPROVES-ONAGAWA-NUCLEAR-RESTART/SENDAI – The Miyagi Prefectural Assembly has adopted a petition seeking the restart of the No. 2 reactor at Tohoku Electric Power Co.’s Onagawa nuclear plant in the prefecture.The petition was approved by a majority vote at a plenary meeting of the assembly on Thursday.
It is now highly likely that Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai will agree to resuming operation of the reactor at the nuclear plant, which straddles the city of Ishinomaki and the town of Onagawa, as the governor has said he plans to respect the will of the prefectural assembly. The municipal assemblies of Ishinomaki and Onagawa have already approved the reactor’s restart. At Thursday’s prefectural assembly meeting, the petition submitted by the commerce and industry association in Onagawa was approved by 35 members and rejected by 19 members. Meanwhile, a petition opposing the proposed restart, submitted by 53 organizations, including civic groups, in their joint names, was voted down, securing the support of only 19 members. After the meeting, Murai said, “This is the first time that an assembly of a tsunami-afflicted prefecture that hosts a nuclear power plant has approved a reactor restart. “I take the judgment seriously,” Murai added. Miyagi is one of the prefectures that were severely affected by the March 2011 tsunami. The governor plans to hear opinions on the proposed restart at a meeting of heads of municipalities in the prefecture in November, and make his judgment after having discussions with the mayors of Ishinomaki and Onagawa. |
|
UK’s Conservative politicians want strong action on climate change
|
Business Green 20th Oct 2020, The UK’s departure from the EU provides an opportunity to establish a “much
more” ambitious climate target for 2030 that aligns with its longer-term statutory goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, Conservative backbenchers have told the government. In a letter sent this morning to Business Secretary Alok Sharma, dozens of Tory MPs urged the government to submit a strengthened climate goal – or nationally determined contribution (NDC), in the UN jargon – that follows the forthcoming recommendations of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), which is in December due to unveil its advice for meeting the UK’s emissions goals for the 2033-37 period, also known as the sixth carbon budget. Signatories to the letter include
former Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers, former First Secretary of State Damian Green, and former Under Secretary of State for BEIS Lord Duncan. The UK government, meanwhile – which has not updated its UN Paris
Agreement climate pledges since adopting its 2050 net zero target last year – has said it plans to submit its enhanced, net zero-aligned NDC ahead of next year’s UN climate summit in Glasgow. And, in a bid to keep up pressure
on the government to ensure the UK’s plans are as ambitious as possible, 42 MPs and Lords in the Conservative Environment Network have signed today’s letter arguing the UK has a responsibility as host of the forthcoming COP26 climate conference to establish a world-leading national climate plan that sets an example to other member states and raises collective international ambition. |
|
Many 1000s sick in USA, but government spending priority is $billions, $trillions – for nuclear missiles!
 Pentagon estimates cost of new nuclear missiles at $95.8B
By ROBERT BURNS, 29 Oct 20,
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has raised to $95.8 billion the estimated cost of fielding a new fleet of land-based nuclear missiles to replace the Minuteman 3 arsenal that has operated continuously for 50 years, officials said Monday. The estimate is up about $10 billion from four years ago. The weapons, known as intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, are intended as part of a near-total replacement of the American nuclear force over the next few decades at a total cost of more than $1.2 trillion. Some, including former Defense Secretary William J. Perry, argue that U.S. national security can be ensured without ICBMs, but the Pentagon says they are vital to deterring war. The Trump administration affirmed its commitment to fielding a new generation of ICBMs in a 2018 review of nuclear policy……… The current fleet of 400 deployed Minuteman missiles, each armed with a single nuclear warhead, is based in underground silos in Montana, North Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska. Their numbers are governed in part by the 2010 New START treaty with Russia, which is due to expire in February. Russia wants to extend the treaty but the Trump administration has set conditions not accepted by Moscow. The U.S. also is building a new fleet of ballistic missile submarines to replace the current Ohio-class strategic subs; a new long-range nuclear-capable bomber to replace the B-2 stealth aircraft; a next-generation air-launched nuclear cruise missile; and a new nuclear command and communications system. It also is working on updated warheads, including an ICBM warhead replacement for an estimated $14.8 billion…….. Last month the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $13.3 billion contract for engineering and manufacturing development of the new missiles. The total “lifecycle” cost, including operating and sustaining the missiles over their expected lifetime into the 2070s, is set at $263.9 billion. https://apnews.com/article/politics-e4b80421be5dba5c5f5a162e55ac0d94 |
|
Ask pro-HB 6 lawmakers seeking reelection what they plan to do about the nuclear bailout bill
Ask pro-HB 6 lawmakers seeking reelection what they plan to do about the nuclear 
bailout bill https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/2020/10/ask-pro-hb-6-lawmakers-seeking-reelection-what-they-plan-to-do-about-the-nuclear-bailout-bill.html Oct 18, 2020, By Thomas Suddes, cleveland.com
House Bill 6, which Ohio’s House and Senate passed last year, requires Ohio’s electricity consumers to bail out two nuclear power plants formerly owned by FirstEnergy Corp. – Perry, in Lake County, and Davis-Besse, in Ottawa County.
HB 6 also requires electricity customers to subsidize two coal-burning power plants, one of them in Indiana. Evidently, our General Assembly has solved all Ohio’s problems and now has the time, not to mention the wisdom, to address an Indiana problem.
True, Ohio’s House and Senate usually favor utilities over consumers. That’s not news. But this was: In July, a federal grand jury indicted then-House Speaker Larry Householder, a Republican from Perry County’s Glenford, and four other Statehouse figures because of an alleged racketeering conspiracy, “involving approximately $60 million,” to pass HB 6 – “a billion-dollar nuclear plant bailout.” (Householder and the others are presumed innocent unless convicted.)
Oh yes, the Senate will consider repealing HB 6 – but only after the House repeals it. There’s no reason why the Senate (led by President Larry Obhof, a Medina Republican who voted “yes” on HB 6) can’t repeal HB 6 before the House does. Maybe the real reason is that GOP senators think the House will never repeal it.
About all that Ohio electricity consumers can do is ask those members of the General Assembly who voted “yes” on House Bill 6 whether they will now vote to repeal it.
These Greater Cleveland House members also voted “yes” on HB 6 and are asking voters to reelect them: Republican Reps. Thomas F. Patton, of Strongsville; Jamie Callender, of Concord Township (HB 6′s co-sponsor); Diane V. Grendell, of Chesterland (whose district includes parts of Geauga and Portage counties); Darrell Kick, of Loudonville (whose district includes Ashland County and part of Medina County); Scott Oelslager, of North Canton; Bill Roemer, of Richfield; Dick Stein of Norwalk (whose district includes part of Lorain County); and Scott Wiggam, of Wooster.
Even if legislators run unopposed, they’re still answerable to residents of their districts.
If HB 6 is such great legislation, why did it only attract 51 “yes” votes in the 99-member House – just one more “yes” vote than the 50-vote constitutional minimum?
And why did 15 of the House’s 61 Republicans – one in four – vote “no” on HB 6 even though then-GOP leader Householder wanted it passed?
Finally: Why would anybody allegedly spend $60 million in dark money to pass a bill that’s supposed to be such a great deal for Ohio electricity consumers – unless it isn’t?
French nuclear company EDF disdains the Suffolk community with its cavalier change of plans
Stop Sizewell C (Instagram) 16th Oct 2020, This morning the East Anglian Daily Times published a story about EDFwanting to change its Sizewell C proposals, and plans to hold a new 30-day
consultation. This has generated much confusion and outrage – but having
spoken to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) we have a little more
information about what this means.
looks like a 30-day consultation could be held from 16 November until 15
December during which we would be expected to send feedback to EDF.
Authority, which would then decide whether to accept these revised
proposals for examination. Whether new Relevant Representations would have
to be made, or whether the Examining Authority would decide the examination
timetable based on the ones already sent, is not totally clear to us.
cavalier treatment of people. Since it is not credible that EDF has only
just come up with these changes since 30 September (when Councils and MPs
expressed such strong concerns), EDF should have told us before 30
September that changes were coming, paused the process in order to conduct
their consultations, and then restarted it, so that everyone could make
their Relevant Representations based on up to date information.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGaTm8TJ6Fw/?igshid=101p11ihmpbc2
 |
ReplyForward
|
Sizewell nuclear project: EDF messes Suffolk communities about, with yet another public consultation, after 1200 responses already
C plans which have been submitted just days after more than 1,200
respondents gave their views on the project.
– and a 30-day public consultation is to take place next month.
materials for the massive project, with an increase in trains and
alterations to the proposed beach landing facility. It was only a few days
ago that the opportunity to comment on the project closed and the Planning
Inspectorate is still verifying each of the 1,287 submissions from people,
businesses, councils and agencies.
that people are likely now to be asked all over again to submit comments on
EDF’s revised proposals. Stop Sizewell C said it could not believe EDF
had only just realised after years of consultation that Suffolk people
didn’t want a road-led transport strategy for delivery of construction
materials that would put 1,000 HGVs on the roads.
https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/sizewell-c-changes-provoke-frustration-from-campaigners-1-6887930
1 This Month
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
-
Archives
- October 2026 (256)
- September 2026 (339)
- August 2026 (330)
- July 2026 (355)
- June 2026 (287)
- May 2026 (306)
- April 2026 (356)
- March 2026 (251)
- February 2026 (267)
- January 2026 (308)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
