Can the UN Help the Nuclear Victims, At Last?
A new resolution in the General Assembly aims to address the devastating legacy of testing and use.
The Nation, IVANA NIKOLIĆ HUGHES and CHRISTIAN N. CIOBANU 18 Oct 23
The very first resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, titled “Establishment of a Commission to Deal with the Problems Raised by the Discovery of Atomic Energy,” was adopted in January of 1946, less than three months after the founding of the United Nations (UN).
Recognizing the devastating humanitarian consequences of the United States atomic bombings on Japan half a year earlier, the resolution called for “the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and of all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction.” The states that had just come together in a new international forum were clear about the need to prevent the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from ever happening again.
More than 77 years later, a new resolution aims to address the destruction and harm that nuclear weapons have caused in the intervening decades.
In 1946, the United States was the only country with a nuclear weapons program capable of actually making atomic bombs. The previous year, the US built three weapons—and only three weapons—and used the first in a nuclear test called Trinity in New Mexico on July 16, 1945, recently depicted in graphic terms in the year’s blockbuster Oppenheimer, and then two more in Japan on August 6 and 9. Not only did the US not cease its nuclear program in 1946 in response to the first UN resolution, we would go on to build an arsenal containing over 32 thousand warheads (at its peak in 1967), to develop weapons thousands of times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb (called hydrogen bombs), and to test not just at home but also near those whose protection we were entrusted with, such as the people of the Marshall Islands.
Nor did the first resolution prevent other countries from establishing their own nuclear weapons programs, with the Soviet Union reaching the status of a nuclear weapon possessor in 1949 and the United Kingdom, France, and China, all joining the nuclear club by 1964. Today, nine countries possess nuclear weapons, including Israel, India, Pakistan, and North Korea. Although far fewer than the peak numbers in the mid-1980s, when there were more than 60 thousand warheads in the world, today there are still more than 12 thousand, enough to destroy human civilization and potentially even all of life, as a result of nuclear winter.
And yet, the symbolic importance of the first resolution cannot be overstated. Through the decades, it continued to inspire hundreds of resolutions, calling for nuclear disarmament and for a world free of nuclear weapons. As time passed, internationally binding treaties became a part of the picture, including the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which entered into force in 1970 and is currently one of the largest agreements amongst states, and more recently, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which entered into force in 2021, with elimination goals perfectly aligned with those of the very first resolution.
While one can certainly conclude that success has eluded us, given the existential threat that nuclear weapons still pose today, the bleak picture may have been far worse had the international community not been as serious about this threat from the very beginning of the nuclear age. We might not have been here to tell the tale.
The Devastating Legacy of Nuclear Testing
hat we have avoided a repeat of Hiroshima or Nagasaki is of course good news, but what we have not done is avoided having victims of nuclear weapons. Rather than from direct attacks, the nuclear development and testing programs of all of the nuclear possessors have created millions of victims around the world. This includes the people who suffered radiation exposure from working in or living near uranium mines or nuclear weapon laboratories and the so-called atomic veterans, who were involved in nuclear testing and cleanup programs as part of their military duties. The largest affected groups, however, were and still are the people living downwind from nuclear tests, who, in addition to radiation exposure, in some cases were also forced to relocate, losing their homes. These communities are found around the globe…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
The New Resolution
Two of these affected states—Kazakhstan and Kiribati—have been leading recent efforts to address the devastating legacy of nuclear testing comprehensively, fairly, and with support of the international community.
One such effort has been through the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which not only aims to eliminate all nuclear weapons from the world but also provides humanitarian provisions for those who have suffered due to nuclear weapons use and testing. Articles 6 and 7 of the treaty specifically address the need for victim assistance, environmental remediation, and international cooperation, and Kazakhstan and Kiribati are cochairing the working group on these humanitarian provisions. There are currently 97 states that have either signed or ratified the treaty, and soon more than half of all states at the UN will have done so.
Not yet among them are the nine nuclear weapons states. Other ways of making the nuclear weapons possessors confront the devastating legacy of nuclear weapons are needed before they all join the treaty.
Kazakhstan and Kiribati have now put forward a resolution for the UN General Assembly to address these long-standing injustices and give all states the opportunity to express their views.
The resolution, entitled “Addressing the Legacy of Nuclear Weapons: Providing Victim Assistance and Environmental Remediation to Member States Affected by the Use or Testing of Nuclear Weapons” emphasizes the commonly shared goal of a world free of nuclear weapons and calls for greater cooperation amongst states on addressing the humanitarian consequences of past nuclear explosions.
The two goals are inextricably linked. The harm and suffering tell us why nuclear weapons must be abolished. Getting rid of the weapons is the only way to ensure that similar or far worse catastrophes will never happen. https://www.thenation.com/article/world/can-the-un-help-the-nuclear-victims-at-last/ #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
Germany caves in to French demands for government subsidies to the nuclear industry in the EU electricity market
Germany has given leeway for France to use state subsidies to fund its
nuclear power plants, unblocking a long-stalled reform of the EU
electricity market in the face of vast state aid regimes in China and the
US.
The agreement reached on Tuesday among energy ministers in Luxembourg
will mean that France could use government support to finance its largely
state-owned nuclear plants, which generate about 70 per cent of its
electricity.
Such a move had been heavily contested by Germany, Austria and
Luxembourg, which have been historically opposed to nuclear power but also
feared that allowing Paris to subsidise its nuclear plants would provide
French industry with structurally lower energy prices, giving it a
competitive advantage.
As part of the new EU rules for the bloc’s
electricity market, France will be allowed to use funding structures known
as contracts for difference. These set a minimum price guarantee for power
providers, as well as a ceiling above which the state can recover any
revenue.
FT 17th Oct 2023
https://www.ft.com/content/73629c7f-d8a8-4d31-9487-02301c9fe894 #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
Existence of Nuclear Weapons Creates Temptation, Risk of Use, First Committee Hears as It Unpacks Assumptions about Complex Path to Peace
United Nations, MEETINGS COVERAGE, GENERAL ASSEMBLY, FIRST COMMITTEE 17 Oct 23
Thematic Debate Begins on Other Mass Destruction Weapons
Disarmament is not a lofty ideal, but a practical imperative, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it concluded its thematic debate on nuclear weapons and began debating other mass destruction weapons.
Nuclear weapons, the most inhumane and indiscriminate weapons ever created, remain a constant spectre of destruction, Namibia’s representative warned. Their sheer existence, capable of unimaginable harm to humanity and the planet, creates a temptation and risk of use. Decisions made today will impact the planet left to future generations, she cautioned.
Zambia’s speaker warned of a “probable risk” of nuclear war, as long as retention persists. Nuclear weapons have no place in the modern world, and there is no justification for their proliferation, testing and stockpiling. Their destructive power has fueled international tensions and created an uncertain, unsafe world. Relying on deterrence for security only perpetuates a cycle of fear, where mutually assured destruction looms over the world community, he said.
The representative of Colombia echoed the deep concern about the fragile premise that nuclear defence and deterrence systems provide security. “We are on the brink of an abyss”, she said. Two major nuclear Powers have suspended bilateral strategic dialogue and disagreements are increasing. The risk of a nuclear war is not zero, and the assumption that it would be possible to contain the fallout is a “pipe dream”.
As the Committee concluded its thematic debate on nuclear weapons and proceeded to discuss other weapons of mass destruction, several speakers reiterated that all such weapons — including biological and chemical weapons — must not be used by anyone, anywhere, under any circumstance and at any time. All those responsible for their use must be held accountable………………………………………………… more https://press.un.org/en/2023/gadis3720.doc.htm #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
France insists on nuclear for green hydrogen
Alarabiya News, 18 Oct 23
France on Wednesday repeated calls to class hydrogen produced with atomic power as “green”, lining up a new clash with Germany over nuclear’s role in Europe’s energy plans.
“The development of the hydrogen market will be delayed if there is no equal treatment between renewable and low-carbon hydrogen,” the French ambassador to Germany Francois Delattre said in Berlin.
……………………..Discussions are ongoing between EU member states on a package of regulations that will determine whether volumes of the gas produced with nuclear power can be considered “green”.
……….. Paris has repeatedly clashed with Berlin over nuclear energy playing a bigger role in Europe’s energy plans. https://english.alarabiya.net/business/energy/2023/10/18/-France-insists-on-nuclear-for-green-hydrogen-
Russia takes the first step towards revoking ratification of the nuclear test ban treaty.
Russia has taken the first step towards revoking ratification of the
nuclear test ban treaty. The country’s lawmakers today voted on the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and their decision has moved them
closer to abandoning the landmark agreement. The vote comes after President
Vladimir Putin said earlier this month he was ‘not ready to say’ whether
Russia needed to carry out live nuclear tests – which they promised not to
do when ratifying the treaty in 2000.
Daily Mail 17th Oct 2023
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12640363/Russia-takes-step-revoking-ratification-nuclear-test-ban-treaty.html #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
Israel Hamas conflict: US President Joe Biden heading to Israel as Iran threatens ‘action within hours’
US President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday and has warned other nations to stay out of the conflict, after Iran threatened to launch “action within hours”.
news.com.au Shannon Molloy, October 17, 2023
Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday for high-level talks about the worsening conflict in Palestine, as Iran threatened to involve itself in the war.
The US President has reaffirmed America’s “iron-clad commitment to [Israel’s] security” and warned other state and non-state actors to stay away.
Some 2000 troops have been ordered to “prepare to deploy” as American warships head to the region.
Meanwhile, aid organisations say time is running out to avoid a devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza as food, water and fuel runs out, aid organisations warn.
Biden heading to Israel
United States President Joe Biden will visit Israel for high-level talks about the escalating conflict with Hamas in Palestine, after Iran threatened to become involved “within hours”.
Speaking just now to reporters in Tel Aviv, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed the visit, during which Mr Biden will “reaffirm the United States’ solidarity … and iron-clad commitment to its security”.
“The president will hear from Israel what it needs to defend its people as we continue to work with Congress to meet those needs,” Mr Blinken said.
Mr Biden will also “underscore our crystal-clear message” to others to not seek to take advantage of the crisis “to attack Israel”.
“To that end, he has deployed aircraft carrier groups and other military assets to the region.”
That warning to “state or non-state” forces and the president’s confirmed visit to Israel on Wednesday came just moments after Iran issued a stern threat that is prepared to involve itself in the conflict……………………………………………………….. more https://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/israel-hamas-conflict-israeli-family-of-five-found-dead-in-an-embrace/news-story/6d79f51f5bcc759020697fa44e63e33b #Israel
‘Humanity Must Prevail’ in Gaza, Says UN Official as Refugee Shelters Become IDF Targets
“Wars have rules,” said the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. “Civilians, hospitals, schools, clinics, and UN premises cannot be a target.”
By Julia Conley / Common Dreams SCHEERPOST, October 15, 2023
The emergency relief coordinator for the United Nations on Saturday said that “humanity is failing” as officials in the United States and other powerful Western countries refused to hear the calls of a growing number of humanitarian groups, progressive lawmakers, and governments for a cease-fire in Gaza—allowing Israel to forge ahead with what will likely be an imminent ground assault on the blockaded enclave.
“The past week has been a test for humanity,” said Martin Griffiths one week after Hamas unleashed a brutal surprise attack on Israel, killing at least 1,300 people and taking scores of people hostage. As Israel’s response has targeted Gaza—home to two million people, about half of whom are children—repeated airstrikes have bombarded “homes, schools, shelters, health centers, and places of worship,” Griffith said, leaving at least 2,215 Palestinians dead, including more than 600 children.
“Entire residential neighborhoods have been razed to the ground,” added Griffiths, who serves as under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs at the United Nations. “Aid workers have been killed. The humanitarian situation in Gaza, already critical, is fast becoming untenable.”
Griffith’s comments came as the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported that the indiscriminate bombing campaign has placed its own shelters in “unprecedented” danger, making it impossible for workers to ensure the safety of some 270,000 peoplewho have been displaced and sought shelter at 102 schools run by the agency.
“Wars have rules. Civilians, hospitals, schools, clinics, and UN premises cannot be a target,” said the UNWRA said in a statement. “We are sparing no effort to advocate with parties to the conflicts to meet their obligations under international law to protect civilians including those seeking refuge in UNRWA shelters.”……………………………………………………………………………….. more https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/15/humanity-must-prevail-in-gaza-says-un-official-as-refugee-shelters-become-idf-targets/ #Israel #Palestine
US diplomats told to avoid calls for Gaza ‘ceasefire’
Rt.com 14 Oct 23
A memo to officials suggests Washington will not urge Israel to restrain its military action in the Palestinian enclave
The US State Department has advised diplomats to avoid calling for “de-escalation” or a “ceasefire” in Gaza amid continued fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants, multiple media outlets have reported. US officials have voiced loud support for the Jewish state’s right to “self-defense” in the wake of a deadly Hamas raid last week.
In an email addressed to a small group of officials on Friday, the State Department said US press materials should steer clear of phrases such as “restoring calm,” “end to violence/bloodshed,” or “de-escalation/ceasefire,” unnamed administration officials told NBC News and other outlets.
The Huffington Post, which obtained a copy of the email, called the missive a “stunning signal” and an indication of the White House’s “reluctance to push for Israeli restraint.” The email was sent amid a new round of airstrikes on Gaza in response to a Hamas-led terrorist attack last Saturday.
Asked about the directive, an unnamed State Department official told HuffPo that they would not comment on internal communications…………………………………. https://www.rt.com/news/584883-diplomats-avoid-gaza-ceasefire/
The nuclear dispute driving a wedge between France and Germany
The two nations have opposing ideas about atomic energy, threatening the EU’s transition
away from fossil fuels. France and Germany’s split over nuclear power is a
tale of diverging mindsets fashioned over decades, including since the
Chernobyl disaster in USSR-era Ukraine.
But it has now become a major
faultline in a touchy relationship between Europe’s two biggest economies.
Their stand-off over how to treat nuclear in a series of EU reforms has
consequences for how Europe plans to advance towards cleaner energy. It
will also affect how the bloc secures power supplies as the region weans
itself off Russian gas, and how it provides its industry with affordable
energy to compete with the US and China.
France, which produces two-thirds
of its power from nuclear plants and has plans for more reactors, is
fighting for nuclear technology to be factored into its targets for
reducing emissions and for leeway to use state subsidies to fund the
sector.
For Germany, which closed its last nuclear plants this year and has
been particularly shaken by its former reliance on Russian gas, there’s
concern that a nuclear drive will detract from renewable energy advances.
Berlin is wary that Paris would benefit more than its neighbours if it ends
up being able to guarantee low power prices from its large nuclear output
as a result of new EU rules on electricity markets, people close to talks
between the two countries say.
FT 15th Oct 2023
https://www.ft.com/content/b1dbd7b4-d8b9-45eb-bd18-4976f7c9af5e #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants
Time to implement UN decisions on Palestine – Lavrov
Rt.com 16 Oct 23
When the current Israel-Palestine hostilities end, progress should be made towards a two-state solution, the Russian foreign minister as said.
The escalation of violence in the Middle East should provide an impetus for implementing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, the top diplomat reiterated a call for a swift resolution of the crisis. After that, hopefully “everyone would take responsibility for implementing the decisions of the UN Security Council on the creation of a Palestinian state under the principles that the UN has approved.”
Lavrov spoke to the media in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, after meeting his counterparts from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a regional intergovernmental organization composed of former parts of the Soviet Union.
“All of us had the same opinion… that this confrontation must be stopped immediately, that parties should respect international humanitarian law, prevent any terrorist actions and indiscriminate use of force,” Lavrov said.
He stressed that civilians from both sides were suffering en masse and that the failure to create a viable Palestinian state was the root of continued tensions in the region……………………………………………… more https://www.rt.com/russia/584744-lavrov-state-palestine-un/ #Israel #Palestine
US bails on Ukraine…but doesn’t tell Zelensky.
Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL 13 Oct 23
In an astonishing statement at a press briefing Wednesday, National Security Department spokesperson John Kirby admitted the US is running out of interest in weaponizing Ukraine for the long term. Since Ukraine is on US life support to continue fighting their lost cause to recapture Crimea, Donbas and join NATO, it’s clear ‘game over’ for Ukraine looms.
“I think in the immediate term, right now, we can continue to support Ukraine – with the authorities in the appropriations we have. But, you know, we’re … certainly running out of runway.”
Kirby then shifted from the runway metaphor to one even starker. “The US administration had the means to support Ukraine in the near term. But you don’t want to be trying to bake in long-term support when you’re at the end of the rope,” And on the Ukraine funding, we’re coming near to the end of the rope. I mean, today we announced $200 million, and we’ll keep that aid going as long as we can, but it’s not going to be indefinite”
Is Ukraine President Zelensky listening to Kirby’s ominous warning? If he had an iota of understanding of Ukraine’s rapidly deteriorating plight, he’d immediately partner with responsible countries such as Turkey to initiate negotiations with Russia to end the war. He did that 18 months ago, Marcy 31-April 1, 2022, inking a tentative deal with Russia to end the war without losing any territory in Donbas, albeit giving Donbas regional autonomy under Ukraine sovereignty. The agreement would also have ended Ukraine’s self-destructive NATO aspirations.
To sum up: The US provoked the war by championing Ukraine NATO membership and weaponizing their civil war that killed thousands in Donbas. When Russia invaded to prevent both, the US sabotaged every effort to end the war quickly and peaceably, prolonging it with $113 billion in weapons and other aid. Result? Hundreds of thousands of dead Ukrainians with no chance of victory.
It’s not just the US that is “certainly running out of runway” and “coming near to the end of the rope.” The US is moving on to enabling and supplying the ongoing destruction of Gaza. No more runway and no more rope are much more appropriate to the former comedian staring in ‘Tragedy in Ukraine.’ #Ukraine #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants
Fascism in the West to Enable Genocide in Palestine
Craig Murray, https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2023/10/fascism-in-the-west-to-enable-genocide-in-palestine/
The UK and the US are both sending military assistance to Israel to commit a calculated and deliberate act of genocide, which is already underway.
Over 500 children have been killed in Gaza in the last week and over 2,000 maimed, many with life changing injuries. Nobody can claim they do not know what is already happening or what is about to unfold. The cutting off of food and water to Gaza is a major international crime, which the western proponents of the “rules based order” universally refuse to condemn.
In both the UK and the US there can be no more stark illustration of the lack of any kind of meaningful democracy, than the fact that there is no major political party that opposes the genocide – despite massive public opposition.
The bought and paid for media and political class in the west are extremely nervous, throughout the western world. Now they have come to the final genocide for which zionism has always aimed, they face a good deal of popular resistance.
Throughout Europe there is a massive gap between the zionist unanimity of the politicians and the much greater understanding of the Palestinian situation among the general public. Tellingly the response by the zionist political class has been a wave of outright fascist suppression.
In France, Macron has made all pro-Palestinian demonstrations illegal, but as so often the French people are not standing for that kind of authoritarianism.
In the UK, the police have adopted the cowardly tactic of arresting a couple of individuals, one in Brighton and one in Manchester, for pro-Palestinian demonstration. Under Tony Blair’s notorious draconian “anti-terror” legislation, they could face up to 14 years in prison.
The young man in Manchester was arrested on the precise site of the famous “Peterloo massacre”, which generations of British people were taught at school was a terrible crime in breach of the rights to freedom of speech and assembly. Let the irony of that set in.
You can go out in the streets of the UK with an Israeli flag and yell that you want every Palestinian to be cleansed from Gaza. That is not illegal. If you say the Palestinians have a right to resist their genocide, that is illegal.
That appears to be a genuine analysis of the law in the UK, France and many other western countries.
That is intended to terrify all of us. It will not work.
The European Commission has been ferociously zionist and gung-ho for this Palestinian genocide. It displayed the Israeli flag on its Berlaymont headquarters. It has taken a side in the most ferocious way.
It is therefore deeply sinister that the European Commission is actively working to shut down pro-Palestinian information and comment on social media. The European Commission has written to all major social media organisations and is able to threaten them with massive fines if they do not remove information of which the European Union disapproves.
The notion is plainly nonsense that through the fog of war the European Commission – which is 100% parti pris – is qualified to say what information is true and what information is false, and what comment is legitimate.
Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner in charge of this operation, is a former chief executive of electronic companies – and defence contractors – Atos and Thomson. He has no genuine interest in freedom of speech, and is engaged in a process of silencing dissent for military aims, which is quite simply fascist.
We are witnessing almost all western governments deliberately facilitating massacre, ethnic cleansing and genocide. We are witnessing almost all western governments turning on their own people to crush dissent at that complicity in genocide.
This feels not so much like the week that western democracy died, as the week it was impossible any longer to deny that western democracy died some time ago. #Israel
Israel’s vengeance will not make for a better world
Pearls and Irritations, By Richard Hill, Oct 14, 2023
The depressing, crushing spectacle of extreme violence and mayhem unleashed across Israel and Palestine over recent days is a reminder of the depths to which humanity can sink.
To see complex historical, cultural and geopolitical questions – let alone humanity and decency – reduced to a ceaseless cycle of hatred, death and destruction is hard to stomach. We gaze at our TV screens aghast, we hear the threats, counter-threats, and the endless justifications and commentary. Meanwhile, the bloodletting goes on – and on. Western politicians, weighed down with simple binaries, take sides and in so doing obliterate any sense of context or complexity that might help us understand how this mess occurred in the first place.
Projecting the colours of the Israeli flag across the Sydney Opera House, declaring unflagging support for a state that for decades has thumbed its nose at UN resolutions and violently oppressed a besieged and impoverished population, is morally abhorrent.
The attempt to erase such concerns over recent days has been startling. At this point, to call for some acknowledgment of the origins of the conflict is to court accusations of siding with terrorists. And yet, as US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, arrives in Israel to demonstrate the US’s unwavering support, Israel is imposing an illegal blockade on Gaza (cutting of life-saving electricity and preventing passage of urgently needed medicines, food and other supplies) as bombs rein down with impunity on a narrow, congested strip of land occupied by 2.3 million people.
How can this be? Why has nuance been shed and historical memory so conveniently erased? Such abstractionism is of course continuing the egregious practice of labelling anyone who dares criticise Israel as antisemitic. This is absurd and ludicrous, and entirely misleading. In the meantime, we have the leader of the most extreme right-wing government in Israel’s history banging his fists together on TV urging extreme violence upon the people of Gaza. He urges them to flee to a checkpoint on the Egyptian border, knowing full well that it’s closed. So, in effect, the people in Gaza are trapped in a hellhole that day-by-day is being reduced to rubble. All this under the watch of the US, Britain and Australia.
Hamas’s attacks were horrific and utterly unacceptable; there’s no denying that. Many innocent people lost their lives, and the human suffering is unimaginable. But to then offer unwavering support to Israel, minus any mention of current and past wrongdoing, borders on the insane. It demonstrates a cruel, collective indifference. And Australia is complicit in this by implicitly endorsing the long-term suffering of Palestinians as Israeli government priority.
There are so many other ways western and other political leaders (including those in Israel) could have responded to a violent attack on innocent people. ……………………………………………..
It is worth remembering the words of former Norwegian Prime Minister, and new NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg who in the wake of the 2011 mass murder of 70 young people by right-wing gunman Anders Breivik said: “We are still shocked by what has happened, but will never give up our values…Our response is more democracy, more openness, and more humanity.” He vowed his country would not seek vengeance; “we will answer hatred with love”. In a later news conference, Stoltenberg added: “The message to whoever attacked us, the message from all of Norway is that you will not destroy us, you will not destroy our democracy and our ideals for a better world.” This better world does not include blind rage and vengeance, or continuing oppression and violence………………more https://johnmenadue.com/israels-vengeance-will-not-make-for-a-better-world/— #Israel
France seeks European subsidies for its nuclear industry – fears “discrimination against nuclear”
France urges swift deal on EU power reform to counter US subsidies Energy minister says bloc will lose out to Biden’s IRA if Paris and Berlin fail to resolve differences over nuclear power.
The US will be the main winner if a Franco-German divide over nuclear power prevents a long-awaited reform of Europe’s electricity market being finalised, France’s energy minister has warned. Agnès Pannier-Runacher said in an interview with the Financial Times that the sweeping overhaul of EU rules was needed as soon as possible to give businesses visibility on power prices, at a time when the US was luring industry with President Joe Biden’s clean energy subsidy programme under the Inflation Reduction Act……………….
The call comes ahead of a bilateral conference in Hamburg, starting on Monday, between French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Olaf Scholz, accompanied by their cabinet ministers. Energy issues will be high on the agenda because Paris and Berlin have been arguing for months over the EU electricity market reform, specifically over how nuclear energy will be priced and the extent to which it can be subsidised……………
Behind the scenes in recent days, Paris and Berlin have been exchanging duelling policy papers and rewritten clauses for the draft law, while marshalling support from other EU member states.
On this reform and others, France has mounted a pro-nuclear campaign now joined by other countries that use the technology, including Poland and Hungary, in an effort to ensure the sector will be treated favourably.
But its drive has hit roadblocks, particularly in Germany, over concerns France will end up riding roughshod over state aid rules and benefit from lower prices for consumers and industry that other countries cannot match………………………………………………………..
Whether France and Germany will be able to square their differences in time for the next meeting of EU energy ministers on October 17 is unclear. The risk is that the reform will not be done by the end of the year and only become harder as EU parliament elections approach……………………..
The main thing still to be ironed out in the reform is the use of a mechanism known as “contracts for difference” (CFDs) which guarantee a minimum price for energy produced, and whether they should be applied to existing nuclear plants or just new ones. The CFDs have typically been used to incentivise renewable energy projects by guaranteeing revenues for producers, and Berlin has argued they should only apply to new investments.
France’s Energy Minister Pannier-Runacher said French reactors built decades ago required billions of euros in new investments for maintenance and to extend their lifespan and therefore should not be penalised with heavy restrictions around the application of CFDs.
As well as a minimum price, the CFD mechanism allows governments to recover excess revenues if prices jump past a set threshold, raising more questions about how governments then use those funds, especially if they were to be directed at providing further energy subsidies.
France had been happy with an original proposal on market reform put forward by the European Commission in March. But subsequent amendments with more restrictions on the uses of CFDs in a version presented by the European parliament have sparked the pushback. “At a certain stage it amounts to a discrimination against nuclear. We would not be allowed to do in the French system what other countries can [with their energy assets],” Pannier-Runacher said.
Senators worry about Saudi nuclear arms plans
Beyond Nuclear #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclear-free #NoNukes
US should reconsider helping Saudi Arabia develop domestic nuclear power, they wrote
Editor’s introduction: Brett Wilkins with Common Dreams has reported on an important step taken by a handful of US Senators who pushed back last week on selling commercial nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. We republish the article below. (As always, any views expressed in the article are the writer’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Beyond Nuclear.) But while the Senators’ letter to President Joe Biden voices concern that the Saudis could use a domestic reactor program to transition to nuclear weapons, it fails to recognize that this is an inevitable outcome of nuclear power technology no matter whose hands it is in.
By Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams
Amid reports that Saudi Arabia is seeking United States support for its nuclear energy program—whose capacities critics fear could be utilized to develop nuclear weapons—a group of 20 U.S. senators on Wednesday urged President Joe Biden to “seriously consider” whether such a move is in the national interest as the administration brokers a possible normalization deal between the kingdom and Israel.
In addition to concerns over the fundamentalist monarchy’s desire for a U.S. security guarantee as a condition for normalizing relations with apartheid Israel, as well as the future of a two-state solution in illegally occupied Palestine, the senators note in a letter to Biden that “the Saudi government is also reportedly seeking U.S. support to develop a civilian nuclear program, and to purchase more advanced U.S. weaponry.”
“While we should seriously consider whether it is in U.S. interests to help Saudi Arabia develop a domestic nuclear program, we should always maintain the high bar of the ‘gold standard’ 123 Agreement and insist on adherence to the Additional Protocol,” the senators wrote, referring to a provision of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 requiring a country seeking a nuclear cooperation deal with the United States to commit to a set of nine nonproliferation criteria and expanded International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections. The U.S. has entered into such agreements with more than two dozen countries, Taiwan, and the IAEA…………………………
The lawmakers’ letter was led by Democratic Sens. Chris Murphy (Conn.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), and Peter Welch (Vt.). Signatories include Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.)……………………………………………………………………………. more https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2023/10/08/senators-worry-about-saudi-nuclear-arms-plans/
1 This Month
of the week– Nuclear Reactor Information Task Force
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
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