Catholic Pope and other religions acting on climate change
Climate change gets religious SMH, 19 June 13 Few religious communities have gone as far in fighting climate change as a church in Queensland which has 24 solar panels bolted to the roof in the shape of a Christian cross. “It’s very effective. It’s inspired some members of our congregation to install panels on their homes,” Reverend David Lowry said of the “solar cross” mounted in 2009 on the Caloundra Uniting Church, which groups three Protestant denominations.
Many religions have been wary of moving to install renewable energy sources on their places of worship, from cathedrals to mosques – or of taking a strong stand on climate change in general – despite teachings that people should be custodians of nature.
But slowly, that may be changing, thanks to new religious leaders including Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
Radiation and the ethics of sending astronauts to Mars
One thing is certain: there can be no more romantic idealism. No amount of wishful thinking, or crowdsourcing, or press releasing can circumvent this problem. Space radiation is dangerous, potentially deadly. Manned missions to Mars with current technology will carry significant exposure risks.
At what price ethically do we want the Red Planet?
Space radiation results should spark manned Mars mission debate, Guardian UK, Stuart Clark 5 June 13Nasa data shows radiation doses would be so high on a manned Mars mission that we must now debate the ethics of deep space exploration – or wait decades to develop safer technology
It is time for idealism about missions to Mars to end. Going there with current technology would carry a significant risk of harmful radiation exposure. Continue reading
How Tom Toles sees the way for astronauts to Mars, radiation and all
Oh that radiation thing http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tom-toles/post/oh-that-radiation-thing/2013/05/31/9d2e044a-ca19-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_blog.html By Tom Toles E-mail the writer
Among the zillion ways that outer space is not like in the movies is lethal radiation. Other ways? Distances, travel speeds, costs, lack of anything but punishing, lifeless voids, and no economically harvestable anything. But let’s pause to reflect again, or possibly for the first time, about thatlethal radiation thingy.
Why we persist in a grade-school-level discussion about human space travel confounds me. Maybe it’s because we spent all our space education funds sending astronauts to grade schools, to tell them that there was a good career in human space travel, which there wasn’t and never will be. The ‘humans have always explored’ theme is true, but the main thing that is left unexplored is that theme itself. Yes, humans have always explored, and what it’s been about is finding things and places that are of value and doing it in a way that makes sense. You don’t walk into an erupting volcano just because people like to explore.
We have all the information we need already about habitation suitability in our solar system (slim to none), and we have all the information we need about its value aside from cheap thrills (none). We have the technology to robotically do everything humans can do in space at a tiny fraction of the cost. It’s still exploration!
Okay, the story cited here does say that in a trip to Mars, barring a big solar event, the amount of radiation received might “not be lethal” as long as you get lucky and beat the odds of your measurably increased cancer risk from a years-long adventure in a bath of ‘galactic cosmic rays.’ The good news? A Mars trip might not be “impossible!” “The space agencies could decide that the importance of a Mars mission would justify the waving of the the [safe] radiation exposure limit.” Woot. WHAT importance, again?
USA did nuclear tests to find out effects on animals
Veteran recalls 1940s radiation contamination study http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/2013/05/27/veteran-recalls-1940s-radiation-contamin-470111.php By: Greg Bischof – Texarkana Gazette John Cary served in the Navy during World War II and participated in Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll. The operation consisted of two nuclear weapon tests to determine radiation’s effects on animals.
However, unlike the biblical Noah’s ark, the animals’ placement wasn’t to p…subscribers only
Saving the irradiated animals of Fukushima
PROMETHEUS TRAP/ The disaster and animals (8): Woman repeatedly rescued pets in the Fukushima off-limits zoneAsahi Shimbun May 08, 2013 By MISUZU TSUKUE/ Staff Writer
Editor’s note: This is the eighth part of a new series that has run in the past under the title of The Prometheus Trap. This series deals with how pets and livestock fared in the evacuation zone around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The series will appear on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
After the government on April 22, 2011, banned entry into a 20-kilometer radius from the disaster-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, declaring it to be an evacuation zone, many people still began to enter the area illegally to rescue pets left behind.
One of them was Mieko Yoshida, a 63-year-old cram school teacher who lived in Odaka Ward in the city of Minami-soma…….
Yoshida started a one-woman campaign for the rescue and protection of pets left behind in the no-go zone. When she stood in front of the city office, carrying a placard reading, “Give me back my family,” many pet owners approached her, saying, “The same here.”
Yoshida compiled a list of some 80 houses in the off-limits zone where pets had been left behind. She secretly went to these houses to feed and rescue the animals. Her concern for the lives of these vulnerable animals outweighed her fear of radiation.
Police kept bolstering the barricades erected to keep people from entering the zone, but that didn’t deter Yoshida from her stealth animal rescue mission…… http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/life_and_death/AJ201305080006
Nuclear weapons industry exploits dogs, as well as humans
Security dogs overworked at nuclear site, report says http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-bomb-dogs-overworked-20130426,0,7319317.story By Julie Cart April 26, 2013 Dogs trained to search for explosives and other substances were pushed “beyond their physical capacity” while working last year at a federal facility that handles, processes and stores highly enriched uranium, according to a report released this week.
The Energy Department’s inspector general found that canine security teams at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., were overworked, citing an instance in which a handler and a dog conducted 102 vehicle searches over a two-hour period.
Workers for the private contractor providing the dogs told investigators that requests for breaks were ignored by supervisors. The highly sensitive site is patrolled by human-dog teams that search for explosives, drugs and intruders. The facility was broken into last year by antiwar activists, prompting questions into the security at Energy Department installations.
Investigators were unable to corroborate reports that some dog competence testing had been rigged, but the report did find that “half of the canine teams we observed failed explosive detection tests, many canines failed to respond to at least one of the handler’s commands, and that canines did not receive all required training.”
A Buddhist analysis of the nuclear industry
The Three Nuclear Poisons, HUFFINGTON POST, David Loy, 1 April 13, David Loy, Zen Teacher, dscusses nuclear power as itrelated to Buddhist teachings about greed, aggression and delusion. “……..Today we have not only more powerful technologies such as nuclear power (and nuclear weapons), but also much more powerful institutions that control them, which are socially structured in such a way that they take on a life of their own. And if institutions attain a life of their own, does it also mean that they have their own motivations? That brings us to the crucial question: Can we detect institutionalized greed, aggression, and delusion in the promotion of nuclear power? Continue reading
Australian uranium companies use taxpayer funds to set up overseas aid, and look good
Paladin, which has been the subject of some controversy in Malawi over job cuts, was last year linked to a funding application through its employees’ charity – Friends and Employees of Paladin for African Children.
Paladin’s (African) Ltd general manager, international affairs, Greg Walker, who was invited late last year to be Australia’s honorary consul to Malawi, was involved in the process, according to 2012 correspondence from Australia’s ambassador to Zimbabwe, Matthew Neuhaus, to Mr Walker. The letter obtained under freedom of information confirmed Mr Walker’s successful application for the employees’ charity funding proposal.
The Aidwatch director Thulsi Narayanasamy said it was not the place of the Australian aid program to fund the corporate social responsibility programs of wealthy mining companies.
Firms use tax money for aid projects : http://www.smh.com.au/money/tax/firms-use-tax-money-for-aid-projects-20130129-2ditd.html#ixzz2Jbp0RzOT January 30, 2013 Rory Callinan
WEALTHY resource companies operating overseas are tapping into Australian taxpayer funds to set up aid projects potentially benefiting their corporate social responsibility credentials.
Aid and mining watchdogs have expressed concerns about the practice, arguing the corporations are wealthy enough to bankroll their own aid and that linking donations to controversial mine operations is a conflict of interest.
Nine mining companies all operating in Africa have been linked to the successful applications via the Foreign Affairs Department’s Direct Aid Program – a scheme that allows heads of missions to give up to $30,000 to local causes.
About $215,000 of taxpayers’ money went to the mining company-conceived projects last financial year, including a school for the deaf, providing trade skill training to local workers, establishing women’s groups and digging wells. Two applications involved uranium mining companies, Paladin Energy in Malawi and Bannerman Resources in Namibia. Continue reading
New safety regulations for Japanese nuclear reactors: in force from July
Japanese nuclear regulators present new safety measures THE HINDU, TOKYO, JAN 21: Japan’s nuclear regulators on Monday presented a draft outline of new safety measures to prevent or minimise the consequences of severe accidents like Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Among other features, the Nuclear Regulation Authority said utilities will be required to build a special safety facility housing a secondary control room for reactor operations to guard against accidents from natural disasters or acts of terrorism, such as intentional aircraft crashes.
Japan’s new nuclear safety standards are expected to come into force in July, replacing the current ones that proved insufficient in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
The implementation of new safety standards is a major precondition for Japanese power companies to apply for government permits to put their idled reactors back online…… Continue reading
Binding religious decree against nuclear weapons for Iran
Iran: Religious decree against nuclear weapons is binding TEHRAN, IRAN http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57564199/iran-religious-decree-against-nuclear-weapons-is-binding/ 15 Jan 13,
Iran sought Tuesday to spell out in its clearest terms yet that it is not seeking nuclear weapons, highlighting a religious decree issued by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that bans nuclear weapons. Continue reading
Black ministers join in supporting Virginia’s ban on uranium mining
it would be a tragic mistake for the Virginia General
Assembly to even consider allowing Virginia Uranium Inc., or whater
it’s called today, to open a uranium mine in our beautiful but
frequently flooded Southside Virginia
Seventeen black ministers signed a resolution requesting a permanent
ban on uranium mining in Virginia.
Roanoke pastor: uranium mining is bad news for Va.By Ralph Berrier
Jr.The Roanoke Times January 4, 2013
A coalition of black ministers from the Roanoke Valley and Southside
Virginia spoke out today in Roanoke against lifting Virginia’s ban on
uranium mining, citing what they believe would be disproportionate
negative consequences on minority populations should the ban be
lifted.
State lawmakers are considering ending the 30-year moratorium on
uranium mining, as Virginia Uranium Inc. hopes to mine one of the
world’s largest known uranium deposits in Pittsylvania County. Continue reading
Inquest on gun murder aboard UK nuclear submarine
HMS Astute nuclear submarine officer shot tackling gunman BBC News 2
Jan 13, A navy officer was shot in the head as he tried to stop a
junior rating killing others on a nuclear-powered submarine, an
inquest heard.
Lt Cdr Ian Molyneux, 36, of Wigan, Greater Manchester, was shot at
close range on board HMS Astute while docked in Southampton in 2011.
The inquest into his death heard he would have fallen unconscious
immediately and died shortly after.
Able Seaman Ryan Donovan was jailed for at least 25 years for murder.
The navigator yeoman also pleaded guilty to attempting to murder Lt
Cdr Christopher Hodge, 45, who he shot in the stomach, Petty Officer
Christopher Brown, 36, and Chief Petty Officer David McCoy, 37.
Donovan’s attack, on 8 April 2011, was only stopped when the then
leader of Southampton City Council, Royston Smith, and its chief
executive, Alistair Neill, wrestled the weapon from
him…..http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-20893271
Japanese waking up to the false economics of nuclear power
Radiation leaking from the damaged power plants has laid bare national policies and economic choices that have long gone unquestioned in Japan. “Please imagine!” one man told a priest. “A rural town, where there were no jobs, no money and no industries, was able to receive a chunk of money suddenly just by welcoming the construction of nuclear power plants.”
The conferees pledged “to pray for and with the people of Fukushima and other communities suffering the harms caused by nuclear power” and to send the conference’s final statement to next year’s WCC Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea.
Nuclear tragedy finds a human face in Fukushima, 
Insights, ON 19 DEC 2012 BY STEPHENW “……..Christian and Buddhist clergy, as well as laypersons, told the 87 conferees from Asia, Europe and North America of their struggle to support families and communities, to cope with the disaster themselves and to challenge the official disaster response.
Conference participants resolved to initiate discussions in faith communities about “civilian and military uses of nuclear energy”, and to develop plans of action “including lifestyle changes”.
The conference began in the city of Koriyama, 100 kilometres from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and well beyond the official disaster exclusion zones. Radiation hotspots there—created when a reactor building exploded and contamination was spread by prevailing winds—are as dangerous as areas in the town nearest to the nuclear plant. Continue reading
Use practical diplomacy with Iran, says USA Conference of Catholic Bishops
The international community should affirm Iran’s “right to enrich uranium” in exchange for an Iranian commitment to “limit enrichment convincingly short of weapons-grade potential, as confirmed by verifiable inspections,” he said.
U.S. Bishops Call for Nuclear Negotiations With Iran http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/u.s.-bishops-call-for-nuclear-negotiations-with-iran/ Bishop Richard Pates, chairman of USCCB’s justice and peace committee, voices ‘deep concern’ over the current ‘dangerous situation.’ 20 Dec 12, ASHINGTON — The U.S. bishops’ leader on international peace issues said that dialogue is the path to a peaceful resolution of nuclear concerns between the United States and Iran.
“Bold steps must be considered to counter this unfortunate and continually rising tide of aggressive posturing between our own nation and Iran,” said Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines, Iowa. In a Dec. 18 letter to Thomas Donilon, national security advisor to the Obama administration, he explained that a “peaceful resolution will require direct, sustained negotiations over a considerable period of time.”
The bishop, who chairs the Committee on International Justice and Peace for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, voiced “deep concern” over the “dangerous situation facing our nation, the international community and Iran.”
Speaking on behalf of his committee, he urged the U.S. to immediately begin direct negotiations with the nation in order to avoid further escalation. “Initiating such talks should be done without preconditions and might include extending to Iran some relief from current international sanctions,” he said. Continue reading
Conflict of interest in Japanese scientists on International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP)
The doctor on the parliamentary panel, Hisako Sakiyama, is outraged about utility funding for Japan’s ICRP members. She fears that radiation standards are being set leniently to limit costly evacuations.
“The assertion of the utilities became the rule. That’s ethically unacceptable. People’s health is at stake,” she says. “The view was twisted so it came out as though there is no clear evidence of the risks, or that we simply don’t know.”
Japanese Radiation Regulators Admit Conflict of Interest, Laboratory Equipment, 12 Dec 12 Yuri Kageyama Influential scientists who help set Japan’s radiation exposure limits have for years had trips paid for by the country’s nuclear plant operators to attend overseas meetings of the world’s top academic group on radiation safety.
The potential conflict of interest is revealed in one sentence buried in a 600-page parliamentary investigation into last year’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant disaster and pointed out to The Associated Press by a medical doctor on the 10-person investigation
panel.
Some of these same scientists have consistently given optimistic assessments about the health risks of radiation, interviews with the scientists and government documents show. Their pivotal role in setting policy after the March 2011 tsunami and ensuing nuclear meltdowns meant the difference between schoolchildren playing outside or indoors and families staying or evacuating their homes.
One leading scientist, Ohtsura Niwa, acknowledged that the electricity industry pays for flights and hotels to go to meetings of the International Commission on Radiological Protection, and for overseas members visiting Japan……… Continue reading
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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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