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Global surge in Covid-19 infections, over 600.000 deaths

Coronavirus deaths top 600,000 worldwide as pandemic infections surge. 9 news, By Associated Press Jul 20, 2020  The coronavirus pandemic has found fresh legs around the world, as confirmed deaths pass 600,000 and countries from the US to South Africa to India struggle to contain a surge of new infections.

Hong Kong issued tougher new rules on wearing face masks, Spain closed overcrowded beaches and Germany reported another outbreak at a slaughterhouse. Pope Francis said “the pandemic is showing no sign of stopping” and urged compassion for those whose suffering during the outbreak has been worsened by conflicts.
The World Health Organisation said that 259,848 new infections were reported yesterday, its highest one-day tally yet.
While the US leads global infections, South Africa now ranks as the fifth worst-hit country in the pandemic with more than 350,000 cases, or around half of all those confirmed on the continent.
Its struggles are a sign of trouble to come for nations with even fewer health care resources.
India, which has now confirmed more than one million infections, on Sunday (local time) reported a 24-hour record of 38,902 new cases……
Confirmed global virus deaths risen to nearly 603,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins.
The United States tops the list with over 140,000, followed by more than 78,000 in Brazil. Europe as a continent has seen about 200,000 deaths.
The number of confirmed infections worldwide has passed 14.2 million, with 3.7 million in the United States and more than two million in Brazil.
Experts believe the pandemic’s true toll around the world is much higher because of testing shortages and data collection issues.
Infections have been soaring in US states such as Florida, Texas, Arizona, with many blaming a haphazard, partisan approach to lifting lockdowns as well as the resistance of some Americans to wearing masks. https://www.9news.com.au/world/coronavirus-world-news-deaths-top-600000-worldwide-as-pandemic-infections-surge/c6e3df77-2f6b-45ec-b700-0e07e9330e4c#close

July 21, 2020 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health | Leave a comment

770-ton nuclear reactor pressure vessel completes trip to Utah

July 21, 2020 Posted by | decommission reactor, safety, USA | Leave a comment

Settlement for ratepayers over failed VC Summer nuclear project

July 21, 2020 Posted by | legal, USA | Leave a comment

Western Shoshone land stolen for nuclear weapons tests and waste dump

A dark legacy  https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2020/07/19/a-dark-legacy/ July 19, 2020 by beyondnuclearinternational

Western Shoshone land stolen for nuclear weapons tests and waste dump, By Ian Zabarte Shoshone land was illegally seized by the U.S government, breaking a historic treaty, first for the atomic test site in Nevada, and then for the planned — but still canceled — Yucca Mountain high-level radioactive waste dump. Throughout, the Shoshone people have paid a terrible price.

As a Shoshone, we always had horses. My grandfather always told me, “Stop kicking up dust.” Now I understand that it was because of the radioactive fallout.

To hide the impacts from nuclear weapons testing, Congress defined Shoshone Indian ponies as “wild horses.” There is no such thing as a wild horse. They are feral horses, but the Wild Horse and Burrow Acts of 1971 gave the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) the affirmative act to take Shoshone livestock while blaming the Shoshone ranchers for destruction of the range caused by nuclear weapons testing.

My livelihood was taken and the Shoshone economy destroyed by the BLM. On the land, radioactive fallout destroyed the delicate high desert flora and fauna, creating huge vulnerabilities where noxious and invasive plant species took hold.

Nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada National Security Site has left a dark legacy of radiation exposure to Americans downwind from the battlefield of the Cold War. Among the victims are the Shoshone people, who, by no fault of our own, were exposed to radiation in fallout from more than 924 nuclear tests.

The Shoshone people never consented to the nuclear weapons testing.

“Yucca Mountain is a serpent…and if you don’t do the things you’re supposed to do the snake will release its poison.” Ian ZabarteToday, the media does not report Native American past exposure to radioactive fallout from US/UK secret nuclear testing and disproportionate burden of risk.

The Shoshone people cannot endure any increased burden of risk from any source including resumption of WMD testing by US/UK, plutonium disposal from the Savannah River Site, depleted uranium disposal, proposed high-level nuclear waste disposal at Yucca Mountain, coal ash uranium or fracking released radiation.

Nuclear testing is a violation of the peace treaty with the Shoshone, the Treaty of Ruby Valley, and the U.S. Constitution, Article 6 Section 2, the treaty supremacy clause. Nothing in the treaty contemplated the secret massacre of Shoshone people with radioactive poison from nuclear weapons testing within our own homelands. My tribe and family are the victims.

The enduring purpose of nuclear technology is the creation of weapons of mass destruction. Their tests within the Shoshone homelands are deliberate acts that destroy the Shoshone people. No Shoshone, not one person, should be sacrificed for the benefit of some Americans and the profit of the military industrial complex.

What the Shoshone people experience is a deliberate intent by the US to systematically dismantle the living life-ways of the Shoshone people for the benefit of the US and the profit of the nuclear industry. This meets the minimum threshold of genocide under both the UN Convention and the US enactments of the crime of genocide.

Nuclear weapons development in Shoshone homelands violates humanitarian law, human rights law and environmental law and is racist. Racism is a crime. It is called genocide, “a crime against humanity.”

To prove intent to commit genocide, we have only to look at the culture of secrecy of the military occupation of Shoshone homelands during and since the Cold War at the test site. The acts committed in nuclear weapons development and testing against the Shoshone people benefit other Americans. The Shoshone people suffer without relief or acknowledgement of our silent sacrifice. Secrecy is not transparent. Secrecy is not democratic and is unconstitutional when the acts are conducted in and upon the Shoshone land and people.

Nothing in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended in 1987, considered the fact of Shoshone ownership of the proposed Yucca Mountain high-level nuclear waste repository. Almost $15 billion was spent to characterize the site, giving it the label as, “the most studied piece of real estate in the world.” The Nuclear Regulatory Commission admitted in the licensing proceedings that the Department of Energy has not proven ownership.

Nevada took hundreds of millions of dollars for characterization studies from the federal government in grants equal to taxes from Shoshone property and gave nothing to the Shoshone. A clear case of taxation without representation to defraud the Shoshone people of our property interests.

What is needed now are hearings on and support for the extension and funding of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 2019. The Shoshone people need DNA testing and funding for tribal community health education on radiation basics and information on appropriate protective behavior to mitigate radiation exposure.

The Shoshone people are committed to the enforcement of law in the service of justice and human dignity. That is human growth and development, not nuclear weapons.

Ian Zabarte is Principal Man for the Western Bands of the Shoshone Nation of Indians.

July 20, 2020 Posted by | indigenous issues, USA, wastes, weapons and war | Leave a comment

The next threat: A high-level nuclear waste dump near Lake Huron

July 20, 2020 Posted by | Canada, wastes | Leave a comment

Radioactive Contamination of Europe

Free News 17th July 2020, An international consortium of scientists has specified a map of
concentrations of cesium and plutonium radionuclides in soils in
Switzerland and several neighboring countries. Using an archive of European
soil samples, a team of researchers led by Catherine Meisburger from the
University of Basel was able to track down the sources of radioactive
fallout between 1960 and 2009.

This study was published in the journal
Scientific Reports. On the new map of radioactive contamination of the
soil, there are not only Switzerland but also several neighboring countries
– France, Italy, Germany and Belgium. The map is based on a new
calculation method, namely the use of the ratio of cesium to plutonium.
These two radionuclides were released during military nuclear tests in the
1960s. Additional cesium fell into some countries during the Chernobyl
accident in 1986.

https://freenews.live/a-new-map-of-radioactive-contamination-of-the-soil-with-cesium-and-plutonium/

July 20, 2020 Posted by | environment, EUROPE, radiation, Reference | Leave a comment

Los Alamos Study Group press Santa Fe Council – to stop Santa Fe becoming a nuclear sacrifice zone

Santa Fe shouldn’t become a nuclear sacrifice zone   https://www.abqjournal.com/1477033/santa-fe-shouldnt-become-a-nuclear-sacrifice-zone-ex-where-does-the-city-stand-in-matters-of-peace-the-environment-and-citizens-health-and-welfare.html,BY LYDIA CLARK, July 19th, 2020   This is an open letter to Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber and the City Council:We, the Los Alamos Study Group, have now written to the Santa Fe City Council and the mayor of Santa Fe numerous times regarding two very important resolutions we have proposed, with no response of any significance from anyone.

These resolutions are of great import to the safety, health and welfare of the city and citizens of Santa Fe, and we are very concerned the City Council and mayor are ignoring these issues.

The City of Santa Fe has had a long-standing policy of resolutions supporting nuclear disarmament, supporting environmental impact statements and opposing production of nuclear weapons, specifically plutonium pit production.

Santa Fe has also been and is still a member of “Mayors for Peace,” which states that “nuclear weapons are inhumane” and calls for “their abolition.”

Recently, Mayor Webber attended a “peaceful protest” regarding racial issues. Is the destruction of humanity and the planet less important in keeping the peace?

The safety, health and welfare are only a part of the impact created from nuclear weapons production at Los Alamos National Laboratory. It uses and diverts much-needed funding for education, health care, sustainable jobs, and real safety and security away from New Mexico. The proposed FY2021 federal budget solely for plutonium pit production at LANL is now $1.1 billion (an increase since our last letter). How many truly beneficial programs for New Mexico would this support?

Nuclear weapons production creates vast amounts of toxic waste that has no safe method of disposal, with the potential to contaminate our environment from spills, leakage, fire hazard, seismic activity and human error. The waste currently being stored at LANL will not be transported for disposal any time in the near future. Where will the new waste be stored?

The recent exposure to LANL workers from a breach in a plutonium glove box is foreshadowing of things to come with the proposed plutonium pit factory at the facility. LANL has a history of safety failures.

The last plutonium pit factory, Rocky Flats (in Colorado), was forcibly closed for egregious environmental violations, worker injuries and deaths. Is New Mexico willing to create Rocky Flats II?

Why would the city officials not support asking for a Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (which is part of one of the above-referenced resolutions) that can help protect not only Santa Fe, but also the entire northern New Mexico region in this crucial matter?

The other resolution would bar the city from entering into development agreements with LANL or other nuclear weapons agencies. (There has been talk of a LANL presence on the city-owned Midtown Campus).

Your lack of concern and response is disturbing, and we ask once more for a prompt response to the request for support and implementation of these two resolutions, and an explanation to the public of the position of the city of Santa Fe in matters of peace, sustainability, environmental protection, and the health and welfare of our citizens, and the citizens of New Mexico.

Do not allow our city to become a nuclear sacrifice zone.

Lydia Clark is outreach director-Santa Fe for the Los Alamos Study Group.

July 20, 2020 Posted by | - plutonium, opposition to nuclear, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Atomic veterans – the health damage to America’s nuclear workers and soldiers

The lasting effects of working with nuclear weapons    https://www.wcax.com/2020/07/19/the-lasting-effects-of-working-with-nuclear-weapons/   By WCAX News Team  [includes excellent short video]   Jul. 19, 2020  BURLINGTON, Vt.  Seventy-five years after the world’s first atomic bombs were dropped in Japan, the people and the island are still feeling the impacts.

Nuclear weapons also have had a lasting effect on American soldiers.

Garry DeFour is a Vermonter who served in the U.S. Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs between 1979 and 1981.

During those few years, he learned about the U.S. Marines who were sent to Nagasaki to help with the clean-up process after the Atomic bomb was dropped.    “Now, thirty-five years later several Veterans that served in Nagasaki — are inflicted with rare blood diseases and bone-cancer,” Atomic Veterans Specialist Garry DeFour said.

He says many soldiers who helped create and test nuclear weapons also became contaminated.

Years later, some started to report severe illnesses, stemming from what they believe was from their time serving in the military.

“We were told for years to keep out mouths shut until President Clinton in 1996 did a proclamation that now Veterans could talk about it to the V.A.,” DeFour said.    Vets did talk about it, and some even got compensation from the Government because of the on-going health problems they face.

They’re known as Atomic Veterans.

DuFour’s been working on a documentary highlighting the soldiers.

He estimates there are still about 28,000 still living. He believes the U.S. has no need for nuclear weapons and cites a colleague who helped create the hydrogen bomb.

“As Dr. Kenneth Ford told me, he said we have enough conventional weapons, to give a great defense,” DeFour said

July 20, 2020 Posted by | health, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Nuclear threat still looms

Commentary: Nuclear threat still looms   https://www.limaohio.com/opinion/columns/418966/commentary-nuclear-threat-still-looms, By Lilly Adams – Tribune News Service, 19 Jul 20, 

On July 16, 1945, at around 5:30 a.m., 11-year-old Henry Herrera was outside his home in Tularosa, New Mexico, helping his father work on the radiator of their truck, when he saw a blinding flash of light. He thought he was witnessing the end of the world. In fact, he was witnessing the first ever use of a nuclear weapon — the Trinity nuclear test.

A few weeks later, on Aug. 6 and 9, the newly tested weapons were used on Japan, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing 150,000 to 246,000 innocent people. In 1946, nuclear testing began in the Marshall Islands; it would continue there until 1958, and in the United States until 1992. The production of these weapons, with its own harmful consequences, continues today. Even worse, Congress recently voted to fund expansion of the nation’s nuclear weapons program.

In a cruel twist of fate, July 16 is a double nuclear anniversary for New Mexico. On that day in 1979, a dam holding back radioactive waste at the Church Rock uranium mill broke, releasing 1,100 tons of uranium waste and 94 million gallons of radioactive water into the Rio Puerco, across three Navajo Nation chapters, and into Arizona. After both July 16 events, no health studies or medical resources were provided for residents, leaving those affected to battle the resulting illnesses and deaths alone.

Last summer, after marking these anniversaries, my colleagues and I felt a sense of anti-climax. Something was missing. Perhaps after so long, we had become numb in the face of this history of death.

As we approached the 75th anniversary of the fateful bombings of Japan, we decided we needed to do more.

To begin, we reached out to our partners in Japan, and learned an important lesson. The survivors of the bombings, known as hibakusha, generally focus on messages of hope and resiliency, in pursuit of opportunities to build a peaceful world. They share their haunting memories of the bombings, but then they look forward and demand progress.

We also looked to the survivors of nuclear weapons activities here at home. Estimates range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of people in the United States and in the Marshall Islands that have been sickened and killed due to nuclear weapons testing, uranium mining and nuclear-weapons production.

Despite the distances between them — in time, place and culture — the stories of many of these survivors are the same. A flash of blinding light, the feeling the world was ending. Falling dust and powder — like snow — that sickened people and would lead, eventually, to cancers. Secrecy and neglect shrouded their experiences for decades.

United by these tragedies, now most impacted communities have the same ultimate goals: ensuring these weapons are never used again, and that they are one day eliminated.

With these goals in mind, our national coalition is gathering virtually on Aug. 6 and 9, the anniversaries of the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The event will feature presentations from many of the 150 groups that have joined the effort so far. We hope readers will join us to learn more and hear from the people who have been impacted and are fighting for change.

Seventy-five years after these bombings, nuclear weapons are still here, continuing to threaten every person on earth. But the survivors are still here, too. And in a time of separation and mourning, this is a chance to stand in solidarity with communities around the world that are calling for peace.

July 20, 2020 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, USA | Leave a comment

India has not committed to the great transition to nuclear power it once envisioned.

A nuclear accord, 15 years ago: Has the agreement, and US-India partnership, lived up to the 2005 hype? The answer is mixed. Times of India, July 18, 2020,  Donald Camp i  The visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Washington between July 17 and July 19, 2005, was heralded as a new beginning in the US-India partnership by both the countries. The highlight of the summit – an agreement to cooperate in civil nuclear power – was indeed path breaking as it upended the US (and international) focus on rolling back India’s nuclear weapons capabilities, and implicitly acknowledged India’s status as a nuclear weapons power.
Fifteen years later, has the agreement – and the partnership – lived up to the hype? The answer is mixed. ……..
The US-India relationship has continued to grow since 2005 but not in the way the agreement had intended. There has been no great cooperation in civilian nuclear energy; in fact, no contract has been signed with a US company towards that end till today. Of the two American nuclear engineering giants, General Electric (builder of India’s Tarapur reactor in the 1960s) had left the business and Westinghouse was sold to Toshiba in 2006.
India itself has not committed to the great transition to nuclear power it once envisioned. Russia and France are the major nuclear suppliers to India, though Westinghouse was promised a contract for six reactors in 2016, before its bankruptcy in 2017. Today solar and other renewable energy sources are attracting more attention and investment. …………
Over fifteen years, China’s increasing global power as well as its territorial ambitions in both the Himalayas and the South China Sea have significantly worsened China’s relations with both India and the US. After border clashes in recent years in Doklam and now Aksai Chin, India seems less hesitant about a partnership explicitly aimed at containing China. In addition to new arms sales, there is a renewed commitment to the “Quad”, the informal mechanism for security discussions and more between Japan, the US, India and Australia. The current US administration would be delighted to have India buy in more completely to its Indo-Pacific strategy………. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/a-nuclear-accord-15-years-ago-has-the-agreement-and-us-india-partnership-lived-up-to-the-2005-hype-the-answer-is-mixed/

July 20, 2020 Posted by | India, politics | Leave a comment

VETERAN MP is calling for safeguards against a Chinese-built nuclear power station.  

Sir Bernard Jenkin calls for safeguards at Bradwell B nuclear plant, A VETERAN MP is calling for safeguards against a Chinese-built nuclear power station.   https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/18590085.veteran-mp-calls-safeguards-chinese-built-nuclear-power-station/ By Francesca Edwards  @bwt_Francesca  Multimedia Reporter, 18 Jul 20,   

Harwich and North Essex MP Sir Bernard Jenkin is calling on ministers to introduce provisions to grant the UK Government a golden share in critical infrastructure projects such as the proposed Bradwell B power plant.

Under his proposal, the share would grant the Government powers to prevent takeovers and appoint board members.

It will also place obligations on directors to inform the Government if activities, such as the theft of nuclear secrets, were taking place against the national interest.

Sir Bernard, who is chairman of the Liaison Committee, said the safeguards in place for nuclear power stations were “wholly inadequate”.

In an article on the ConservativeHome website he wrote: “The only safeguards proposed for Bradwell B are the same as for any nuclear power station. They are wholly inadequate.

“At present, China will finance, build, own and operate Bradwell B. The Government has agreed that the Chinese government should build a key part of our own critical national infrastructure.

If this is to go ahead, the very least we should insist upon is a set of safeguards to protect our national security and critical national infrastructure from malign foreign influence from a hostile government.

“Chinese companies are not the same as private companies based in Europe or the United States, or even state owned ones like the French EDF, which is building Hinkley Point.

“If we don’t want the UK taxpayer to contribute to the strength of the Chinese military, or UK-based technology to mysteriously end up in Beijing, we need to act swiftly and decisively, whilst also recognising that, at least for now, we still need Chinese financing and technical expertise in order to expand the UK’s civil nuclear infrastructure.”

July 20, 2020 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Reflecting on Cape Cod’s Cold War nuclear history

MY VIEW: Reflecting on Cape Cod’s Cold War nuclear history , Cape Cod Times,   By Abby Pokraka, 18 July 20,  Soaking in the beauty of the Cape while watching the sunset over Old Silver Beach, it is hard to think about this place as anything but a quiet, picturesque summer escape. But nestled among the hydrangeas and cranberry bogs, more than 50 nuclear weapons once sat ready, their operators waiting for the end of the world. As we mark the 75th year of the nuclear age, it’s worth reflecting on Cape Cod’s nuclear history in a world still rife with nuclear dangers……

 
It’s unclear how many ordinary residents knew that some of the most destructive devices ever created were sitting just a few miles from their favorite beach spots   My father could feel the aircraft and bombing practice inside his home, growing up just miles from the base, an ever-present reminder of a Cold War that could one day turn hot. But he never knew about the nuclear weapons, and is sure many others didn’t either. ………

Sadly, this lack of nuclear knowledge is not solely a Cape Cod problem. Nationwide, nuclear education is lacking. Most people do not know the United States government conducted 1,032 nuclear tests that sickened and killed thousands of people around the world. It is not general knowledge that the United States and Russia still possess more than 90% of the world’s remaining nuclear weapons — about 6,000 each.

Seventy-five years after the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it’s easy to feel far removed from the nuclear threat. The bombs have gone from our sandy shores and the threat of nuclear war seems distant and antiquated. That is not the case.

So, as you eat ice cream, photograph cotton candy sunsets, and talk about how different the world is because of the pandemic, it’s worth brushing up on your nuclear history and learning how nuclear weapons continue to affect our daily lives. Thankfully, when it comes to reducing nuclear threats, Massachusetts legislators have led the way for decades. Today, our delegation continues to champion policies that protect their constituents — and the world — from nuclear catastrophe.

Abby Pokraka, an alumna of Falmouth High School, is program coordinator for the nonprofit Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in Washington, D.C.   https://www.capecodtimes.com/opinion/20200718/my-view-reflecting-on-cape-cods-cold-war-nuclear-history

July 20, 2020 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Kentucky man indicted after illegally dumping nuclear waste at landfill.

Kentucky man indicted after illegally dumping nuclear waste at landfill, officials say, Courier Journal, 
Associated Press  19 Jul 29, LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A federal grand jury has indicted a Kentucky man with illegally dumping low-level nuclear waste at an Estill County landfill.The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that Cory David Hoskins was indicted Thursday on multiple charges earlier this week, including violating safety regulations and mail fraud due to checks as part of the alleged crimes.

In 2016, Hoskins and his company TENORM were each fined $2.65 million by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services after officials said Advanced TENORM was responsible for dumping of out-of-state radioactive waste in landfills in Estill and Greenup counties.

Officials say the waste was a byproduct of fracking and had been transported from Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania in 2015…….. https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/crime/2020/07/18/kentucky-man-indicted-illegally-dumping-nuclear-waste-landfill/5465037002/

July 20, 2020 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Campaign group Geiger Bay press for full testing of Hinkley nuclear plant sediment

Nation Cymru 18th July 2020, Campaigners press for full testing of nuclear plant sediment in effort to
halt dumping off Cardiff coast. Campaigners are calling for plans to dump
mud from the construction of the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station
into the sea off Cardiff Bay to be halted.

Campaign group Geiger Bay are
pressing for extensive testing of the sediment following what they say is
evidence of plutonium contamination, a claim that Westminster’s
Environment Agency (EA) denies.

In February environment watchdog Natural
Resources Wales confirmed they had received an application from EDF Energy,
who want to dump 800,0000 tonnes of sediment dredged as part of building
work for the new plant at Hinkley Point, the site of the disused Hinkley
Point A facility.

Geiger Bay are a coalition of scientists, experts,
individuals and organisations formed to oppose the plans. Two years ago,
EDF were given the green light to dump 300,000 tonnes of mud off the
Cardiff coast. Despite protests and a petition signed by over 7,000 people,
and the support of Senedd Member Neil McEvoy, a full Senedd debate failed
to convince the Welsh Government to halt the dumping.

https://nation.cymru/news/campaigners-press-for-full-testing-of-nuclear-plant-sediment-in-effort-to-halt-dumping-off-cardiff-coast/

July 20, 2020 Posted by | environment, opposition to nuclear, UK | Leave a comment

Banning weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear ones – theme for August 2020

You might think that it’s naive to be talking about banning nuclear weapons, in this present climate of international tension. Yes, an international agreement to ban them is not going to get rid of nuclear weapons overnight, or indeed, anytime soon.

BUT – as things stand now, nuclear weapons, held by all the so virtuous States –  USA, Britain, France, India, China Pakistan, Israel, (- and now North Korea)  – are accepted as respectable ,  defensive, necessary. 

The idea of the world recognising weapons of mass destruction as unacceptable is not new.  It’s been done before.

Human beings, after all, are social animals, and their greatest successes have been achieved by co-operation. Years of co-operative effort by intelligent and thoughtful people have shed light on the humanitarian horror of mass killings, and mass sufferings of those who survived such attacks.

Under the auspices of he United Nations, the concerted efforts of so many have brought about  the recognition that mass murder is unacceptable, and has been judged to be illegal.  No, these threats have not been completely eliminated. But they have been vastly diminished, and no leader can get away with pronouncing them to be acceptable or necessary.

The United Nations Ban on  the use of chemical and biological weapons in warfare was signed in 1925, and  strengthened in 1997 in the  the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) 

The United Nations Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) came into force in 1975.

In both cases, these agreements outlawed  the development, stockpiling, acquisition, retention, and production of these inhumane weapons, and reaffirmed the 1925 ban on their use.

These bans, agreed on by 178 nations  (the BWC), 192 (the CWC) have been further developed over many years of successive conventions, the most recent being in November 2016.

There’s  a wealth of information on the effects of nuclear weapons production and use – not just the immediate effects on victim communities, but the pervasive global effect on climate, agriculture and teh world’ s food supply.

Right now, we all live under a terrible threat of nuclear war. It is surely time to make a start on removing that threat. The United Nations Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty is that start. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is close to the number of 50 ratifications , required to make it international law.

July 18, 2020 Posted by | 2 WORLD, Christina's themes, weapons and war | 1 Comment

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