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The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

German public, churches, oppose nuclear energy, prefer more modest lifestyle

Those in favour of ditching nuclear energy have the churches on their side too, it emerged on Sunday, when the Catholic and Protestant representatives on the Ethics Commission on Atomic Energy expressed their views.

Most Germans would sacrifice lifestyle to ditch nuclear energy – The Local, 4 April 11, A majority of Germans would sacrifice a certain level of quality of life in order to close down the country’s nuclear power stations, according to a new survey. Continue reading →

April 4, 2011 Posted by | Germany, opposition to nuclear, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

The world’s nuclear priesthood faces a crisis of faith

This week the nuclear priesthood is facing a crisis of faith, as engineers in Asia’s most advanced nuclear industry struggle to contain the overheated reactor cores at Japan’s Fukushima No. 1 power plant, run by the Tokyo Electric Power Company.

Crisis of faith for nuclear brahmins, The Age, HAMISH McDONALD. March 19, 2011
Across the countries of Asia, the leaders of their nuclear industries have moved with the remote authority and mystique of brahmin or Shinto priests, intoning ancient and arcane scriptures, conducting rites and interpreting the heavens. Continue reading →

March 22, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

Japanese nuclear workers called upon for heroic sacrifice

Disaster officials could face a grim choice: Scale back their containment efforts or allow workers to face radiation levels that could significantly increase their risk of cancer…..The actions of the power plant workers in Japan have already been described as heroic,

Japan nuclear accident poses crisis for worker safety, latimes.com, 17 march 11, Workers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant could rapidly reach their annual radiation exposure limit and may have to be rotated out soon. Continue reading →

March 18, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Japan, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

Nuclear technology – never really safe

I used to be a believer in “safe” nuclear technology. I saw the renaissance of nuclear plants as a means to combat global warming (please restrain the hysterical giggling at this point). After Fukushima, and in reflection on the history of nuclear power plants, I have changed my mind…….the bubble of lethal radiation around Reactors 3 and 4 could make it impossible to even send workers — except on a suicide mission — to contain the damage. And even if they are successful — and we all pray they do — it seems clear that this area of Japan may be off-limits to human habitation for a very, very long time……

Japan’s Nuclear Nightmare; Is any Nuclear Plant Safe? : SF Gate, Michael Yaki , 18 March 11, Continue reading →

March 18, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

Call for grassroots action to dismantle nuclear weapons

“We need a new paradigm of leadership – the leadership exercised by ordinary people who have decided to reject the ‘stability’ of deterrence, which rests ultimately on the threat of mutual annihilation.”

Arab World Protests Could Reignite Anti-Nuke Campaign By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Mar 7, 2011 (IPS) – The global civil society campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons could be politically reignited by the phenomenal successes of the grassroots demonstrations in Egypt and Tunisia, shadowed closely by Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Jordan. Continue reading →

March 7, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

Nuclear weapons are against Iran’s religious principles

Iranian minister: Islam opposes nukes  03.04.11,   / Israel News Share on  The development or use of nuclear weapons contradicts Iran’s religious principles and would violate the tenets of Islam, the country’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says. “Islamic Republic authorities have reiterated that nuclear arms are against the country’s religious principals,” Salehi said in an interview with the Euronews channel in Germany said. “We have been committed to the NPT and believe that the proliferation of a nuclear bomb is against the tenets of Islam.” (Ynet) Iranian minister: Islam opposes nukes – Israel News, Ynetnews

March 5, 2011 Posted by | Iran, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

Ethical, but very real, dilemma about nuclear power

in a nuclear context, total destruction of the target is assured and so, if one’s own annihilation is certain, is retaliation for its own sake a valid course of action?….is a reaction that wipes out the rest of humanity morally justifiable? Further, if one decides it is, what would the post-holocaust world look like and would it be worth living in for those who were not part of the original conflict?
This is just one of the dilemmas we face when considering the application of nuclear power,…..

Review: How the End Begins by Ron Rosenbaum | CultureMob, 24 Feb 2011, “………………. argues Ron Rosenbaum, author of the highly-acclaimed Explaining Hitler and The Shakespeare Wars, in his sensational new book How the End Begins: The Road to a Nuclear World War III . We are, and always have been, perilously close to nuclear war at any given time, and the threats are not just external. Glaring, to the point of grimly comical, flaws exist in our own nuclear response processes that make very real the possibility of a global inferno started by mistake. Continue reading →

February 24, 2011 Posted by | Religion and ethics, resources - print | Leave a comment

In the mind of a nuclear missile man

Missile training fosters an unquestioning, automation mentality. I was trained to be a cog in the machine: Orders were orders, and a lawful command from the president was not subject to debate or dissonance.

Every missileer is carefully screened for mental aptitude and stability, yet they’re evaluated for their readiness to unleash hell.


In Nuclear Silos, Death Wears a Snuggie | Danger Room | Wired.com,

“………America and her nuclear warriors have an odd relationship. For decades, missileers (as we’re known in the military) have quietly performed their duties, custodians of a dying breed of weapon. But American citizens have no real connection with the shadowy operators who stand the old posts of the Cold War, despite the fact that they spend up to $8 billion a year to maintain our country’s nuclear deterrent. The truth is the job is an awesome responsibility, but it’s deeply weird………….. Continue reading →

January 15, 2011 Posted by | Religion and ethics, USA | 1 Comment

Secret radiation experiments on human patients in USA

More on Human Experimentation Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog, 28 Dec 10, Atomic Energy Commission Radiation Experiments. In December, 1993, Secretary of Energy Hazel O’Leary made a disturbing announcement: since the 1940′s, the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission had been sponsoring a series of tests on the effects of radiation on the human body.

American citizens who had checked into hospitals for a variety of ailments had been secretly injected with varying amounts of plutonium and other radioactive materials without their knowledge. Most patients thought it was “just another injection,” but the secret studies left enough radioactive material in the patients’ bodies to readily induce cancer………More on Human Experimentation « Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog

December 28, 2010 Posted by | history, Religion and ethics, USA | Leave a comment

The ethical dilemma of medical radiation

much of decision-making in medicine is in the hands of individual physicians, and it is theoretically in our power to limit unnecessary procedures. But this can create a conflict between what is good for an individual patient and what is good for the health of the entire population.

Patient 1, Society 0  NYTimes.comBy DANIELLE OFRI, M.D. 24 Dec 10, If I did a CT scan for every one of my many patients with headache, I might pick up an otherwise unsuspected tumor in one of out of thousands of them. For that one patient, it would be valuable. For the many more who would have side effects from the scan — from the contrast dye or radiation, or from false positive results leading to yet more tests — it would be harmful. And when finite health care dollars get shifted to unnecessary tests — well, we all lose out eventually….. Continue reading →

December 24, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

Tiny squirrel monkeys saved from radiation tests – a win for ethics!

In November 2009, PCRM filed a federal petition for administrative action seeking to compel the federal government to halt these experiments because they violate the NASA Principles for the Ethical Care and Use of Animals,..filing legal complaints stating the monkey experiments violate the federal Animal Welfare Act.

Department of Energy Blocks NASA’s Planned Monkey Radiation Experiments , News and Media Center PCRM, 16 Dec 10, Brookhaven National Laboratory Confirms Cancellation of Space Agency’s $1.75 Million Boondoggle WASHINGTON—NASA’s plan to expose live squirrel monkeys to radiation has been canceled, Continue reading →

December 16, 2010 Posted by | Religion and ethics, USA | Leave a comment

Gaol terms loom for elderly religious anti nuclear activists

Anne Montgomery, 83, a Sacred Heart sister from New York; Bill Bischel, SJ, 81, a Jesuit priest from Tacoma Washington; ….Steve Kelly, SJ, 60, a Jesuit priest from Oakland California.

Jury Reaches Verdict in Disarm Now Plowshares Trial, CommonDreams.org, WASHINGTON – December 13 – The federal criminal trial of five veteran peace activists that began December 7 ended today after the jury found them guilty on all counts. Continue reading →

December 14, 2010 Posted by | Religion and ethics, USA | Leave a comment

NASA’s radiation tests on monkeys not relevant to space research

The monkey experiment — which NASA plans to fund with $1.75 million of taxpayer money – disregards both ethics and common sense.

No need to harm primates in NASA’s radiation tests, By APRIL EVANS HOUSTON CHRONICLE

9 Dec 10, “…….I’m extremely disappointed that during tough program cuts, NASA continues to defend expensive primate research that is unlikely to produce anything of value to human space flight. Continue reading →

December 11, 2010 Posted by | Religion and ethics, USA | Leave a comment

Depleted uranium weapons – ethics discussion in Norway

humanitarian consequences of weapons must guide the government’s disarmament policy. Not only does this cover landmines and cluster munitions, but also nuclear weapons….the principles enshrined in international humanitarian law – in particular the distinction between civilians and combatants.

Norwegian Foreign Minister makes statement on depleted uranium International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons, 10 Dec 10, Norway’s Foreign Minister has called for continued research into the potential impact of depleted uranium weapons during a discussion on the issue in the Norwegian parliament. 9 December 2010 – ICBUW Continue reading →

December 10, 2010 Posted by | EUROPE, Religion and ethics, Uranium | Leave a comment

Public outcry results in closure of NASA’s cruel radiation monkey experiements

dozens of squirrel monkeys …. will be spared from receiving harmful doses of radiation and then being isolated in cages and subjected to years of behavioral experiments

NASA Grounds Monkey Radiation Experiments! | PETA.org. by Alisa Mullins, 9 Dec 10, Well, folks, you did it. After scores of protests and more than 100,000 letters, phone calls, and e-mails from PETA supporters—including some high-profile allies, such as Sir Paul McCartney,  Bob Barker, Alicia Silverstone, members of Congress, and even a former NASA astronaut and engineer—the space agency has quietly called off plans to conduct cruel radiation experiments on monkeys. Continue reading →

December 9, 2010 Posted by | Religion and ethics, USA | Leave a comment

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