Mr President, saying that nuclear power will save the climate is a lie.
While Emmanuel Macron continues to affirm his attachment to the atom,
Yannick Jadot, Marine Tondelier, Eric Piolle and Sandra Regol are calling
on France not to get stuck again in costly and dangerous dependence on this
energy.
At the end of 2023, first in a forum, then in his wishes to the
French, President Macron reaffirmed his attachment to the relaunch of
nuclear power. He who questioned in 2017 the relevance of depending
three-quarters on a single source of electricity production has today
transformed into a nuclear industry salesman.
In Dubai, busy tripling
global production by 2050, he actively campaigned for the mention of
nuclear power in the final COP 28 agreement.
Liberation 9th Jan 2024
Behind the (somewhat dirty) scenes of nuclear waste processing
Behind the (somewhat dirty) scenes of nuclear waste processing. Nuclear
energy, even if many call it “clean”, produces a lot of waste (and costs
“crazy money”). A researcher was able to carry out a survey lasting
approximately one year on two French waste landfill sites. How are these
things managed? Exclusive interview. “There is no such thing as
decontamination. This is an abuse of language. You don’t kill the
radioactivity, you move it.”
Mediapart 9th Jan 2024
Nuclear defence workers to strike over pay
Daisy Stephens & PA Media – BBC News, Thu, 11 January 2024
Workers at a nuclear warhead factory are set to strike in a dispute over pay, their union has announced.
Members of Prospect at Berkshire-based Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) will walk out for 24 hours on 24 January, after two months of other forms of industrial action.
The company is facing “a recruitment and retention crisis” and risks “being unable to fulfil its critical role in safeguarding our national security” if pay is not improved, Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy warned. ……………………………………more https://au.news.yahoo.com/nuclear-defence-workers-strike-over-150520892.html
UK Government unveils biggest nuclear expansion in 70 years
Jemma Dempsey – BBC News, Thu, 11 January 2024
The government hopes to boost the nuclear power industry with the biggest expansion of the sector in 70 years.
A new large scale nuclear plant would quadruple supplies by 2050, which the government claims would lower bills and improve energy security.
It also said its £300m ($382.6m) nuclear fuel programme would reduce reliance on overseas supply.
But the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA) said all clean energy needed fast-tracking.
Nuclear power currently provides around 15% of the UK’s electricity but many of the country’s aging reactors are due to be decommissioned over the next decade.
The government’s Civil Nuclear Roadmap is intended to bolster the UK’s energy independence by exploring a new site for another nuclear power station of the size and scale of the £30bn plants under construction at Hinkley Point in Somerset and committed to Sizewell in Suffolk.
Industry sources have told the BBC the leading candidates would include Wylfa in Anglesea or Moorside in Cumbria.
“Dragging their feet”
But progress is could be slow – from planning to “power on” can take nearly 20 years. Consultations for Sizewell took 10 years alone and building work there is yet to start, because of ongoing protests………………………………………………………………… https://au.news.yahoo.com/government-unveils-biggest-nuclear-expansion-013230324.html
Energy Transition Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher enthuses over “the rebirth of France’s nuclear industry”
EDF will construct the new plants with tens of billions in public financing
“EDF will construct the new plants with tens of billions in public financing ” – what could possibly go wrong?
France sees potential for 14 new nuclear reactors. 8 Jan 24, https://www.power-technology.com/news/france-may-build-14-new-nuclear-reactors/
France may need to build more than 14 new nuclear power plants, more than the six currently planned, if the nation is to meet its energy transition goal of reducing fossil fuel dependence from 60% to 40% by 2035.
Energy Transition Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher stressed that nuclear will play an increasingly vital role in France’s energy mix. Speaking to La Tribune Dimanche just a few weeks before parliament reveals a bill relating to energy sovereignty, Pannier-Runacher said: “We need nuclear power beyond the first six EPRs [European Pressurised Reactors] since the existing (nuclear) park will not be eternal.”
This new energy strategy will be debated in parliament from late January and must be codified into law.
In 2022, French nuclear power output fell to a 30-year low after operational issues forced many reactors offline. This placed additional upward pressure on European energy prices, which were already being driven up reduced gas flows from Russia. However, French President Emmanuel Macron emphasised the importance of nuclear, stating: “What our country needs, and the conditions are there, is the rebirth of France’s nuclear industry.”
Over the course of 2023, availability improved, falling in line with state-controlled energy provider EDF’s target of 300–330 terawatt-hours. EDF will construct the new plants with tens of billions in public financing and chief executive Luc Rémont said his company aims to build roughly one 1.6GW reactor a year.
President Macron also reinforced his country’s commitment to nuclear at the recent COP28 climate summit in Dubai, where he led a group of 20 world leaders signing a pledge to “triple nuclear energy capacity from 2020 by 2050”. Shortly after signing, Macron pronounced that “nuclear energy is back”.
France currently has 56 operable reactors that produce around 70% of the nation’s electricity. Comparatively, Germany, another European superpower, does not produce any of its electricity from nuclear power, while in the UK the figure is 15%.
Outrage as Government admits it kept medical results on nuke test veterans a ‘state secret’ in a move Tory grandee Sir John Hayes said ‘beggars belief’
Daily Mail, By EIRIAN JANE PROSSER , 8 January 2024 |
The Government has admitted it has kept medical results of military veterans who survived British nuclear tests a state secret, prompting a furious outrage.
Blood and urine samples from servicemen, civilians and indigenous people during the Cold War are among the thousands of personal records being held in a move that Tory grandee Sir John Hayes slammed as ‘beggars belief’.
The confidential documents could reveal whether those made to witness the atomic bomb tests had radiation enter their body, which could lead to a huge payout for veterans if they can prove the health consequences.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is now facing calls for the files to be made public. Previously the Ministry of Defence denied it held the records, until the Mirror revealed a cache of 150 documents discussing blood tests last year.
Reacting to the revelation MP Sir Hayes said: ‘It beggars belief that a diagnostic medical test confirming whether or not radiation entered a person’s body, with possible long-term health consequences, is in any way a state secret.
‘Veterans and survivors of this weapons testing have a legal and moral right to know what if anything happened to their bodies as a result, and I am sure they can be disclosed to individuals without any impact on national security.’
The Mirror reported that in 2018 the Ministry of Defence denied that the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) holds any evidence that blood samples were taken at nuclear tests until it rowed back on the claim in 2023.
Freedom of Information requests by the paper revealed how both blood and urine samples were taken at test sites under a Lord Chancellor’s instruction, which is why the documents could be held from the National Achieves
Culture minister John Whittindale admitted to Parliament the withholding of such documents is down to various factors including national security, security against possible terrorist activity and international relations.
He also said ‘the risk of proliferation of nuclear weapons or to allow a more detailed review’ are also reasons to retain the files.
The files are said to relate to three nuclear tests in Australia that took place in 1957 dubbed Operation Antler.
One of the files, seen by the Mirror, is said to have been entitled ‘nuclear test veterans’ and were said to have first been hidden when Tony Blair came to power in 1997.
The AWE has been asked to confirm how many other records were also hidden in similar fashion, with Labour leader Keir Starmer pledging to give veterans and their families affected their records and compensation if they take office.
Those affected by the testing were previously asked to come forward by law firm McCue Jury & Partners, with managing partner Jason McCue stating that nuclear veterans had been ‘gaslighted by the British state’. ………………………………………………………………………………..
Nearly £21,000 has now been raised to help nuclear veterans sue the Government for ‘the toxic legacy of trauma and illness they have been left to endure’.
Servicemen were ordered to sail or crawl through the radioactive fallout to test the effects of radiation, as well as fly through mushroom clouds on sampling missions.
Many lived on testing sites for a year or more and when they returned began developing rare blood disorders and cancers, often proving fatal.
Their wives had three times the normal rate of miscarriages and their children suffered 10 times the normal rate of birth defects.
The British government carried out hundreds of explosions of atom bombs, fissile material, trigger devices and thermonuclear weapons in the US, Australia and South Pacific following the Second World War…………………….. more https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12936311/government-outrage-medical-results-nuke-text-secret.html?fbclid=IwAR284fF3V4h_LgFtbGW5W6CP_Ux9ZNHvgRtT87fif8uzKQgVrgjNIf2uIrw
Touting a ‘new age of nuclear fusion’
West Burton, a sprawling site that is also home to a gas-fired station,
has been chosen as the location for a nuclear fusion plant that the
government aims to have in operation by 2040.
It is an ambitious plan.
Fusion has been the next big thing in energy since the 1950s, but it still
faces big technical obstacles to becoming a reality. It also will be a race
against a big field of international rivals.
The largest developed
economies, in particular the United States and Japan, are pouring billions
into fusion research, as are a gaggle of deep-pocketed technology
billionaires.
Before Brexit, Britain was a leading member of a
multinational effort spearheaded by the European Union. The West Burton
plan represents it striking out on its own.
It will not be a small
undertaking. Paul Methven, the executive in charge of the project, says it
is too early to estimate the likely cost, but suggests that the plant and
its associated infrastructure will be of a similar size to Hinkley Point C,
the nuclear power station being built in Somerset by EDF. That scheme’s
latest budget estimate is £33 billion.
Times 7th Jan 2024
France has more grandiose plans for building nuclear reactors, but has no renewable energy targets.
France outstrips plans, to build additional nuclear plants beyond six
DAILY SABAH, BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE – PARIS JAN 07, 2024
France is set to build eight new nuclear plants on top of six already announced, the energy minister has said, arguing more reactors are needed to hit carbon reduction targets.
A draft law set to be presented soon recognizes that “we will need nuclear power beyond the six first European Pressurized Reactors” (EPRs) announced by President Emmanuel Macron in early 2022, Agnes Pannier-Runacher told Sunday’s edition of the weekly newspaper Tribune Dimanche.
The bill will include a further eight plants that had until now been discussed as an “option” by the government, Pannier-Runacher said.
By contrast, the text would not include any targets for renewable energy generation by 2030, remaining “technologically neutral,” she added………………………………………………..
Pannier-Runacher suggested that the construction of even more than 14 nuclear reactors could be raised in talks with lawmakers once the energy bill reaches Parliament.
State energy firm EDF’s next-generation EPR has had a rocky start.
Three are online, one in Finland and two in China, after suffering massive construction delays and cost overruns that have also beset projects in Britain and France.
The first EPR in France, at Flamanville in Normandy, is set to come online for testing in mid-2024, EDF said last month – 17 years after construction started and at a cost of 12.7 billion euros ($13.9 billion), around four times the initial budget of 3.3 billion. more https://www.dailysabah.com/business/energy/france-outstrips-plans-to-build-additional-nuclear-plants-beyond-six
Challenging questions concerning UK’s Geological Disposal Facility (GDF)Test of Public Support.
Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), the division of the taxpayer-funded Nuclear
Decommissioning Authority, charged with identifying a location for a
Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) into which Britain’s legacy and future
high-level radioactive waste will be deposited, has stated that the two
criteria that will determine the location are – the availability of
sufficient ‘suitable’ geology and the consent of a ‘willing
community’.
Three ‘Search Areas’ are known to be under consideration
for the GDF – Theddlethorpe on the East Lincolnshire coast and Mid and
South Copeland on the West coast of Cumbria.
According to the government
and industry guidance that governs the conduct of this investigation,
whether such consent exists will ultimately be determined by a Test of
Public Support amongst the members of the Potential Host Community (PHC).
The timing of the test is down to the Relevant Principal Local Authorities
(RPLAs) – Cumberland Council in Cumbria and Lincolnshire County Council
and East Lindsey District Council in Lincolnshire, but its nature and the
participants in it are determined by the Community Partnerships that have
been established supposedly to provide stakeholder oversight to the
process.
Whether the test is then carried out by the RPLAs, NWS staff or
both is not specified, but if the result is negative, NWS are required to
withdraw the area from further consideration.
NFLA 2nd Jan 2024
UK’s Nuclear Waste Service (NWS) to grant £millions to the 3 Community Partnerships, to seek a site for nuclear waste dump.
In Phase 1, Community Investment Funding of up to £1 million per annum is
made available by Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) to each of the three
Community Partnerships currently engaged in the siting process for a
Geological Disposal Facility (GDF).
Where a Community Partnership / Search
Area is taken forward into Phase 2, involving the commencement of borehole
investigations, this sum will increase to £2.5 million per annum.
A decision on which two Search Areas will be taken forward is anticipated in
2026. The grants can be used to fund projects, schemes or initiatives
benefiting the community of each Search Area that: provide economic
opportunities, enhance the natural and built environment, or improve
community wellbeing. Each Community Partnership can also agree its own
criteria for awards based on local circumstances.
A Freedom of Information
request was submitted to NWS with a short question set which was identical
for each of the Community Partnerships. The responses received from NWS
follow.
NFLA 5th Jan 2024
BBC Panorama to feature RAF Lakenheath nuclear weapons saga- BBC Two on Thursday, January 18
A new BBC Panorama documentary is set to look into the ongoing saga around
nuclear weapons potentially being stored at RAF Lakenheath. Fears have been
mounting that the north Suffolk airbase is set to host nuclear weapons for
the first time in 16 years. The first US nuclear bombs arrived on British
soil in September 1954, and several sources confirmed the withdrawal of the
weapons from Lakenheath in 2008. Panorama’s senior foreign affairs
correspondent Jane Corbin will speak to campaigners in Suffolk in the
documentary that is set to air on BBC Two on Thursday, January 18.
East Anglian Daily Times 6th Jan 2024
https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/24031890.bbc-panorama-feature-raf-lakenheath-nuclear-weapons-saga/
Hinkley Point C proposes new wetland reserve to protect fish from cooling system
Pippa Neill, https://www.endsreport.com/article/1856616/hinkley-point-c-proposes-new-wetland-reserve-protect-fish-cooling-system. 05 Jan 2024
The developers of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station are asking the public for views on plans to create more than 320 hectares of saltmarsh habitat on the river Parrett in Somerset, which it says will act as a natural alternative to installing an acoustic fish deterrent.
Under a previous proposal, French energy firm EDF Energy was planning to install an acoustic fish deterrent (AFD) system to keep some fish species away from the power station’s cooling water system.
This system would have used 280 speakers to make noise louder than a jumbo jet, 24 hours a day for 60 years. However EDF said there were “significant issues” associated with the installation, namely that installing and maintaining the sound projectors underwater would present risks to divers and offshore works.
In August last year, the Environment Agency approved an amendment to the permit allowing the firm to remove this AFD system from the plans.
Campaigners have warned that the removal of the AFD could “decimate” fish stocks. A report published in 2021 by the Hinkley Point C stakeholder reference group, an expert panel which advises the Welsh government on the development of the new power station, estimated that without AFDs, 182 million fish would be caught by the system annually, “and it is likely that many of these will not survive”.
The firm has said that the proposed saltmarsh will help wildlife and the environment around the Severn estuary by providing breeding grounds for fish and providing food and shelter for birds and animals. The plans are being developed with Natural England, Natural Resources Wales and the Environment Agency.
It also said that Hinkley Point C is “still the first power station in the area to have any fish protection measures in place – including a fish recovery and return system and low velocity water intakes. Power stations have been taking cooling water from the Bristol Channel for decades with no significant impact on fish populations”.
In March, the Environment Agency issued three new permits linked to the Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk, despite concerns that the approved cooling system and lack of fish deterrent device could result in “thousands of fish dying every day”.
Chris Fayers, head of environment at Hinkley Point C, said: “The new wetland would be a fantastic place for wildlife and a beautiful place to visit. Using natural and proven ways to improve the environment is better than creating 60 years of noise pollution with a system that is untested far offshore in the fast-flowing waters of the Severn.
“Hinkley Point C is one of Britain’s biggest acts in the fight against climate change and its operation will provide significant benefits for the environment”.
The proposals for habitat creation and other changes to Hinkley Point C’s design, such as alterations to the way the power station will store spent fuel, will be included in a public consultation launching on 9 January.
Pentagon ‘out of money’ for Ukraine
https://www.rt.com/news/590145-pentagon-no-money-ukraine/ 5Jan 24
The US Congress must approve additional funds to maintain the flow of arms to Kiev, a top general has said
The US government has exhausted its funds for military assistance to Ukraine, Pentagon spokesman Major General Patrick Ryder has said, noting that Washington is simply “out of money” unless lawmakers pass a new aid package.
Speaking to reporters at a Thursday briefing, Ryder explained that while the Pentagon is authorized to spend another $4.2 billion on weapons for Ukraine, the actual funds are not available and must be set aside by Congress.
“We have the authority to spend that [$4.2 billion] from available funds but wouldn’t have the ability to replenish the stocks by taking money out – or taking stuff out of our inventory,” the spokesman said, adding “We’re out of money.”
The admission came after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that his country had no “plan B” without American military aid, reiterating demands for new combat drones, long-range missiles and air defense capabilities, among other gear.
Kuleba also noted growing political divisions In the US regarding Ukraine, as a vocal group of Republican critics have blocked the passage of additional aid funds while demanding sweeping immigration reforms. Though the party backed dozens of separate aid packages following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, some GOP members have soured on the American largesse in recent months, creating a widening partisan divide on the issue.
While President Joe Biden has urged lawmakers to pass a massive aid package including some $61 billion for Kiev, Congress has remained deadlocked for weeks amid Republican opposition, though independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema has said lawmakers are “closing in” on a deal.
Nonetheless, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Thursday to expect decreases in US aid in the future, voicing hopes to eventually help Ukraine “build its own military industrial base so it can both finance and build and acquire munitions on its own.”
The United States has authorized nearly $45 billion in direct military assistance to Ukraine since the conflict with Russia escalated in early 2022, in addition to other indirect military aid and financial and humanitarian assistance. Moscow has repeatedly condemned Western arms shipments to Kiev, arguing they would only prolong the fighting and do little to deter its military aims.
Nuclear Fuel: Russian Cutoff Would Upend Global Market
Jan 5, 2024, Author, Grace Symes, London. Editor. Phil Chaffee
The global nuclear fuel market could be upended this year by one increasingly likely scenario: the possibility that Moscow cuts off all nuclear fuel supplies to the US in retaliation for a bill expected to pass this month in the US Congress.
That bill would ban imports of Russian low-enriched uranium with waivers through 2028, but US nuclear operators fear it would prompt more immediate Russian retaliation, which would in turn have far-reaching effects on the global nuclear fuel sector and leave US utilities in a precarious position, whether or not they were reliant on Russian fuel. US utilities are unlikely to have to actually stop operating reactors due to a lack of available fuel, , but sources expect such a scenario to push further north already high prices for uranium, conversion
and enrichment.
Energy Intelligence 5th Jan 2024
https://www.energyintel.com/0000018c-cabf-d61c-a7cc-fbbf5b580000
Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLAs) call upon nuke cops chief to issue statement on ‘toxic’ Sellafield allegations
Following the disturbing revelations in The Guardian that a ‘toxic’
workplace culture exists within the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, the Nuclear
Free Local Authorities Chair has written to the force’s Chief Constable
‘offering him the opportunity’ to issue a statement.
The Guardian
published its allegations on 6 December, and this article included a
comment from Chief Constable Chesterman who said that he has ‘made it
clear that anyone holding misogynistic, racist, homophobic, or other
unacceptable views, or who carries out behaviour that breaches our
standards of professional conduct, has no place in the CNC.’
NFLA 3rd Jan 2024
1 This Month
4 May -West Suburban Peace Coalition to discuss Iran war at May Educational Forum
Monday, May 4, 7:00 – 8:00 PM Central Standard Time
Title: : How Trump’s Narrative Tries to Shape the Reality of the War on Iran.
Contact Walt Zlotow, zlotow@hotmail.com 630 442 3045 for further information
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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