nuclear-news

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

“Doomsday weapon” Israel’s worst kept secret

‘That’s one way’: Israeli cabinet minister says nuking Gaza is an option

Fears that the war against Hamas could spiral into a wider regional conflict have again raised the spectre of Israel’s “worst-kept secret”.

Frank Chung, news.com.au 6 Nov 23

A far-right minister in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has sparked fury after suggesting Israel could nuke Gaza.

The comments, which made headlines in Arab and Israeli media, were quickly disavowed by Mr Netanyahu, who immediately suspended Mr Eliyahu from cabinet meetings……………………………………………………………………….

Israel’s nukes

Fears that the war between Israel and Hamas could spiral into a wider regional conflict have again raised the spectre of nuclear weapons — and Israel’s own “worst kept secret”.

Israel is widely believed to have around 80 to 90 plutonium-based nuclear warheads, and enough material for more than 200, making it one of only nine nuclear-armed countries alongside Russia, the US, China, France, the UK, Pakistan, India and North Korea.

The arsenal consists of an estimated 30 gravity bombs for delivery by aircraft, with the remainder of the warheads for delivery by missiles.

The Jericho II medium-range ballistic missile and Jericho III intermediate-range ballistic missile “are believed to be based with their mobile launchers in caves at a military base east of Jerusalem”, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says.

According to Professor Clive Williams from the ANU’s Centre for Military and Security Law and Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, the Jericho II has an estimated range of 1500 to 1800 kilometres, while the Jericho III can reach more than 4000 kilometres.

Israel also operates a fleet of around half a dozen Dolphin-class diesel-electric submarines out of the northern port city of Haifa.

A number of the German-built submarines are commonly thought to have been adapted to carry cruise missiles armed with nuclear warheads to maintain a second-strike option.

“An estimated 30-40 nuclear weapons have been allocated to the submarines, with a possible missile delivery range of up to 1500 kilometres,” Prof Williams writes.

While never openly acknowledging its capability, Israel has issued veiled threats in the past.

“Our submarine fleet is used first and foremost to deter our enemies who strive to extinguish us,” Mr Netanyahu said in 2016. “They must know that Israel is capable of hitting back hard against anyone who seeks to hurt us.”

‘Nuclear ambiguity’

Officially, Israel refuses to confirm or deny its secret nuclear weapons program, and is not party to the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The policy, known as “nuclear ambiguity” or “nuclear opacity”, dates back more than five decades to a 1969 Oval Office meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and US President Richard Nixon, after nearly a decade of tension between the two countries over the issue.

The two leaders reached an unwritten agreement that effectively amounted to “don’t ask, don’t tell” — Israel would agree not to declare, test or threaten to use nuclear weapons, and the US would not pressure Israel to sign the NPT, which had been co-sponsored and signed by the US the previous year.

Despite this, Israel is suspected to have carried out an illegal nuclear test in 1979, roughly halfway between South Africa and Antarctica — an incident quickly swept under the rug by the Carter White House.

Israel began developing its nuclear program in the 1950s and is believed to have produced its first nuclear weapon in the late ‘60s.

The US government had first caught wind of Israel’s secret nuclear reactor — located in the Negev desert near the city of Dimona and built with the assistance of the French — in 1960.

The Americans, fearful of a Middle East arms race, for several years put pressure on the Israelis to inspect Dimona, with Israel going so far as to build a fake control centre at the plant to mask its true purpose.

“The Israelis, who are one of the few peoples whose survival is genuinely threatened, are probably more likely than almost any other country to actually use their nuclear weapons,” national security adviser Henry Kissinger told President Nixon in a declassified 1969 memo.

“This is one program on which the Israelis have persistently deceived us and may even have stolen from us.”……………………………………………………………….

Successive US presidents honoured this unwritten agreement until it was formalised into a secret letter during the Clinton administration.

According to a 2018 report in The New Yorker, the letter — first signed by President Bill Clinton and known only to a handful of senior officials — amounted to an American pledge not to pressure Israel to give up its nuclear weapons as long as it continued to face existential threats in the region.

“In the letter, according to former officials, President Bill Clinton assured the Jewish state that no future American arms-control initiative would ‘detract’ from Israel’s ‘deterrent’ capabilities, an oblique but clear reference to its nuclear arsenal,” investigative journalist Adam Entous wrote…………..

Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump each signed updated versions of the letter.

Vanunu scandal

The existence of Israel’s nuclear program was only revealed to the general public in 1986 when UK newspaper The Sunday Times published a bombshell story featuring whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu, a former Dimona technician.

Vanunu provided the paper with details and photos of the inner workings of the nuclear plant.

“Based on his revelations, some experts estimated that Israel had built between 100 and 200 nuclear weapons of varying yields and complexity,” writes the Nuclear Threat Initiative……………………………………………………………………………..

‘Doomsday weapon’

In the wake of the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas, which left 1400 Israelis dead and more than 240 taken hostage, fears have grown that any widening of the conflict could involve nuclear weapons……………………

Mr Eliyahu is not the first Israeli politician to suggest using “doomsday” weapons against the Palestinian terror group.

“Jericho missile! Jericho missile! A strategic alert, before we consider introducing our forces. A doomsday weapon!” Revital Gotliv wrote in a post on X two days after the attacks. “This is my opinion. May God preserve all our strength.”

Ms Gotliv, a member of Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party with a history of making inflammatory comments, wrote in a follow-up post that Israel should show no mercy in battling Hamas.

“Only an explosion that shakes the Middle East will restore this country’s dignity, strength, and security! It’s time to kiss doomsday,” she said.

“Shooting powerful missiles without limit. Not flattening a neighbourhood. Crushing and flattening Gaza. Otherwise, we would have done nothing. Not with passwords, with penetrating bombs. Without mercy! Without mercy!”

The post was tagged with a disclaimer by the social media platform that its visibility had been limited as it “may violate X’s rules against Violent Speech”, Insider reported.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), warned last month that “Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons significantly increases the risks associated with the conflict and contributes to regional tensions”.

“Escalation is a real danger,” a spokeswoman told The South China Morning Post frank.chung@news.com.au https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/thats-one-way-israeli-cabinet-minister-says-nuking-gaza-is-an-option/news-story/7822218dceeb4c77e2204d30e1da292b #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes #Israel #Palestine

November 8, 2023 Posted by | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

U.S., European officials broach topic of peace negotiations with Ukraine, sources say

The conversations have included very broad outlines of what Ukraine might need to give up to reach a deal with Russia.

nbc news, Nov. 4, 2023, By Courtney Kube, Carol E. Lee and Kristen Welker

WASHINGTON — U.S. and European officials have begun quietly talking to the Ukrainian government about what possible peace negotiations with Russia might entail to end the war, according to one current senior U.S. official and one former senior U.S. official familiar with the discussions.

The conversations have included very broad outlines of what Ukraine might need to give up to reach a deal, the officials said. Some of the talks, which officials described as delicate, took place last month during a meeting of representatives from more than 50 nations supporting Ukraine, including NATO members, known as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the officials said.

The discussions are an acknowledgment of the dynamics militarily on the ground in Ukraine and politically in the U.S. and Europe, officials said.

They began amid concerns among U.S. and European officials that the war has reached a stalemate and about the ability to continue providing aid to Ukraine, officials said. Biden administration officials also are worried that Ukraine is running out of forces, while Russia has a seemingly endless supply, officials said. Ukraine is also struggling with recruiting and has recently seen public protests about some of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s open-ended conscription requirements.

And there is unease in the U.S. government with how much less public attention the war in Ukraine has garnered since the Israel-Hamas war began nearly a month ago, the officials said. Officials fear that shift could make securing additional aid for Kyiv more difficult. 

Some U.S. military officials have privately begun using the term “stalemate” to describe the current battle in Ukraine, with some saying it may come down to which side can maintain a military force the longest. Neither side is making large strides on the battlefield, which some U.S. officials now describe as a war of inches. Officials also have privately said Ukraine likely only has until the end of the year or shortly thereafter before more urgent discussions about peace negotiations should begin. U.S. officials have shared their views on such a timeline with European allies, officials said…………………………………………………………………………………..

The Biden administration has spent $43.9 billion on security assistance for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, according to the Pentagon. A U.S. official says the administration has about $5 billion left to send to Ukraine before money runs out. There would be no aid left for Ukraine if the administration hadn’t said it found a $6.2 billion accounting error from months of over-valuing equipment sent to Kyiv.

Public support slipping

Progress in Ukraine’s counteroffensive has been very slow, and hope that Ukraine will make significant advances, including reaching the coast near Russia’s frontlines, is fading. A lack of significant progress on the battlefield in Ukraine does not help with trying to reverse the downward trend in public support for sending more aid, officials said.  https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-european-officials-broach-topic-peace-negotiations-ukraine-sources-rcna123628 #Ukraine #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNuke

November 8, 2023 Posted by | politics international, Ukraine, USA | Leave a comment

1,500+ Israelis Urge International Criminal Court Action on ‘War Crimes and Genocide’ in Gaza

“Persistent impunity has created the conditions for the consolidation of the Israeli apartheid regime, which is intent on committing ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Indigenous Palestinian population,” says the open letter.

By Jessica Corbett / Common Dreams, 5 Nov 23,  https://scheerpost.com/2023/11/05/1500-israelis-urge-icc-action-on-war-crimes-and-genocide-in-gaza/

Israelis Against Apartheid, a group representing more than 1,500 citizens, this week urged the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor “to take accelerated action against the escalating Israeli war crimes and genocide of the Palestinian people” in Gaza.

“For the safety and future in the region, all elements of international law must be enforced and war crimes should be investigated,” declares the letter to the ICC’s Karim A. A. Khan, noting his ongoing Palestine investigation and recent remarks on the war.

The letter, dated Thursday, explains that “as Israeli anti-colonial activists, we have joined our voices to the voices of Palestinians for decades warning on the dangerous course of action pursued by the Israeli state and repeatedly called for international intervention.”

“Persistent impunity has created the conditions for the consolidation of the Israeli apartheid regime, which is intent on committing ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Indigenous Palestinian population,” the letter continues. “The acute deterioration in basic conditions of life that we are now witnessing could have been avoided if Israel had not been continuously granted impunity for its ongoing crimes.”

Officials believe Palestinian militants took around 240 hostages in a Hamas-led surprise attack on Israel October 7, which sparked Israeli forces’ retaliatory air and ground assault of Gaza. Since the war began, more than 1,500 Israelis and 9,400 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, along with at least 133 Palestinians in the West Bank, which has seen a surge in Israeli settler violence.

Over the past four weeks, as Israeli forces have killed thousands of civilians and bombed residential, medical, educational, and religious buildings, allegations of war crimes have mounted. Critics worldwide have accused Israel of committing “a textbook case of genocide,” citing not only the bloodshed but also comments from Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We are extremely concerned by the Israeli institutional calls for genocide that are being loudly and clearly voiced in Hebrew and believe that they should be seriously taken into consideration as thousands, if not millions, of lives are at stake,” says the letter to the ICC prosecutor.

“Israeli military personnel and journalists are now openly calling for ethnic cleansing and genocide,” the letter adds. “It is evident that Israel is disregarding the lives of civilians in Gaza, ordering them to evacuate vast areas even as there is no safe place in Gaza to which people can flee.”

The letter to Khan details the remarks from Netanyahu and others calling for or justifying genocide, and urges him to:

  • Issue immediate arrest warrants against Israeli political and military-security leaders who are committing war crimes and crimes against humanity;
  • Accelerate your investigation into the ongoing crimes being perpetrated at this very moment by the state of Israel, its military forces, and armed Israeli citizens under military protection; and
  • Be a validated and balanced platform for alleged crimes arising from the current situation, rather than making reference to unvalidated and unverified claims.

While applauding some of Khan’s statements in Egypt after his trip to the Rafah border crossing with Gaza last weekend, the letter also says that “we deeply regret that, despite the opening of an investigation, followed by the Pre-Trial Chamber I’s 2021 decision that the court may exercise its criminal jurisdiction over the situation in Palestine, you have so far failed to take concrete action to stop the tragic trajectory of events in our region by holding Israel accountable.”

Khan said that “we need the law more than ever. Not the law in abstract terms, not the law as a theory for academicians, lawyers and judges. But we need to see justice in action. People need to see that the law has an impact on their lives. And this law, this justice, must be focused on the most vulnerable. It should be almost tangible. It is something they should be able to cling on to. It is something that they should be able to embrace when they are faced with so much loss, pain, and suffering.”

The prosecutor spoke about both the Hamas-led attack on Israel, including hostage-taking, and the Israeli war on Gaza, where civilians have been cut off from essentials like food, water, electricity, and medicine. He also highlighted an online portal to which anyone can submit information on alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and crimes of aggression.

Khan asked civil society organizations “to send us any and all evidence that underpins their reports or their communiques or their notices that they issue,” stressing that “reports by themselves are, of course, not evidence and I cannot and will not act pursuant to my oath of office without reliable evidence that we can validate that can stand up in a court of law.”

“I also want to be clear that my office is in the business of conducting credible, relevant, professional, and independent criminal investigations,” he said. “And so I don’t, I haven’t, and I won’t be giving a running commentary on social media, or anywhere else for that matter, regarding the state of investigations in this or any other situation. But the absence of commentary does not mean the absence of investigations.” #Israel #Palestine

November 8, 2023 Posted by | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Ukraine’s counteroffensive is finished – governor

 https://www.rt.com/russia/586687-ukraine-counteroffensive-halted-zaporozhye/ 6 Nov 23

The attempt to cut Russia’s land corridor to Crimea in Zaporozhye Region has failed, Evgeny Balitsky has said

Moscow’s forces have stopped the Ukrainian counteroffensive dead in its tracks, Evgeny Balitsky, the governor of Zaporozhye Region, has said. 

He further described what he called Kiev’s last-ditch attempts to breach Russian defenses as not particularly impressive. In recent months, Zaporozhye has emerged as a scene of some of the fiercest fighting.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Balitsky stated that “the enemy has been halted, as has been its much-hyped counteroffensive.” He said that the ongoing fighting near the settlements of Rabotino and Shcherbaki and on the Vremievsky Ridge was “almost an agony for the Ukrainian regime.”

The official declared that Ukrainian forces, which have been trying to storm Russian positions for months, have “completely run out of steam.” 

“Now, when the enemy launches an attack, they deploy only small forces because their companies are understrength,” he added.

According to Balitsky, the plan to reach the Sea of Azov and cut Russia’s land bridge to Crimea – widely seen as the main objective of Kiev’s summer campaign – has been thwarted. He also claimed that Ukrainian attacks are now largely unsupported by armor, as Russian forces have knocked out many vehicles.

The governor stated that the current “meat onslaught” had been organized by Kiev’s Western backers, suggesting that the latter would prefer to lose Ukrainian soldiers rather than their own expensive military equipment.

Ukraine began a large-scale offensive in early June, but has failed to make substantial progress. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said last week that “the Kiev regime is losing.” He has previously estimated Ukraine’s losses at more than 90,000 troops, nearly 600 tanks, and 2,000 armored vehicles since the start of the push.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials have admitted difficulties with the campaign, blaming a lack of progress on delays in Western support, strong Russian defenses, and extensive minefields as well as Moscow’s air superiority. 

Last week, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Valery Zaluzhny, characterized the frontline situation as a “stalemate” due to the level of technological prowess of both sides. That assessment, however, was rejected by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who insisted that while his country found itself in a “difficult” situation, it still had the initiative. #Ukraine

November 8, 2023 Posted by | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Accident proves Japan’s toxic water plan dubious

By LI YANG 2023-11-06 https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202311/06/WS65483427a31090682a5ec88b.html

Despite the strong opposition at home and abroad, Tokyo Electric Power Company, the owner of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant which was damaged in the 2011 earthquake-generated tsunami, started the third release of the radioactive water from the plant into the sea on Nov 2.

The release will continue until Nov 20, with TEPCO planning to dump about 7,800 tons of the nuclear-contaminated water into the sea this time. The company claims the wastewater to be discharged has limited concentration of radioactive tritium. But the radioactive waste sputtering accident that happened last week raises doubts on the credibility of TEPCO’s claim.

As TEPCO itself said, five workers “accidentally” came in contact with the radioactive “fluid” while cleaning the pipelines used to “detoxify “the nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima plant on Oct 25, and two of them, after being “decontaminated” for treatment, will be kept under medical observation.

Although, according to the company, a doctor said the possibility of both men sustaining burns due to radiation exposure was low, the radiation levels in the bodies of the two men did not fall below the standard threshold of 4 becquerels per square centimeter despite the initial treatment at the plant.

The accident exposes the ineffectiveness of the so-called Advanced Liquid Processing System the company uses to treat the radioactive water accumulated at the plant. Also, TEPCO has not explained why and how “the hose used to drain waste liquid containing radioactive substances into a tank became detached” while the workers “were washing (the processing facilities) by pouring nitric acid into the piping”.

The Japanese government claims the ALPS is reliable, and the water obtained after being treated using the ALPS is safe enough to “drink”.So it should explain how only about 100 milliliters of the “fluid” was enough to cause such a serious accident.

It also needs to answer the public’s query that since four of the five workers “were wearing protective gear and full-face masks, which prevented ingestion of the fluid”, how could the “fluid” splash and burn the “lower body and both arms” of one of them, and why the other worker whose “entire body was found to be exposed”, was allowed to do the dangerous work without wearing any protective gear?

The accident shows Japan’s claim of the radioactive water being “safe” to be released into the sea is questionable, and the risks associated with the disposal process of the radioactive water should not be underestimated. #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes

November 8, 2023 Posted by | Japan, oceans | Leave a comment

Why France’s Emmanuel Macron is courting Central Asia

 French President Emmanuel Macron is in Central Asia, on a visit that
highlights the region’s increasing importance to Europe’s supply of nuclear
and fossil fuels. The trip is partly an attempt to drum up business and
foster links with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, but the key to understanding
the presidential visit dates back to July.

A military coup in the West
African country of Niger raised the prospect that supplies to France’s
vital nuclear industry might be in jeopardy. In reality, the fears were
overblown. Last year, Niger was only the second supplier of uranium to
France. The first was the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan.

 BBC 2nd Nov 2023

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67283849

November 8, 2023 Posted by | France, politics international | Leave a comment

China calls for a long-term international monitoring mechanism for Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater

Minister Huang urges Japan on nuclear-contaminated water

By JIANG XUEQING in NAGOYA, JAPAN | chinadaily.com.cn 2023-11-05 https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202311/05/WS65476d92a31090682a5ec7c3.html

Chinese Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu urged Japan to engage in full consultations with stakeholders in handling the release of nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in a responsible manner.

“We also called for the prompt establishment of a long-term international monitoring mechanism with the participation of Japan, neighboring countries, and other relevant stakeholders to effectively protect the global marine environment,” Huang said at the 24th Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting among Japan, South Korea, and China. The two-day meeting closed on Saturday in Nagoya, Japan. #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes

November 8, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Biden Wants Arms Deals With Israel to Be Done in Complete Secrecy

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Josh Paul, a former top State Department official.

By Sharon Zhang , TRUTHOUT November 2, 2023, https://truthout.org/articles/biden-wants-arms-deals-with-israel-to-be-done-in-complete-secrecy/

In a highly unusual move, the White House has requested for it to be able to conduct arms deals with Israel in complete secrecy, without oversight from Congress or the public — in a time when the U.S. is supporting a military that experts say has been committing war crimes in Gaza and beyond.

The White House made the request within a $106 billion supplemental defense funding request sent on October 20. As reported by Women for Weapons Trade Transparency for In These Times, the White House is asking for up to $3.5 billion in military funding for Israel to be able to purchase weapons and other equipment, from sources like the U.S. military or U.S. defense contractors, without the spending having to be approved by or even disclosed to Congress.

Crucially, such notifications to Congress are also logged in the Federal Register, where they are viewable to the public — but the White House is trying to get rid of that transparency for Israel for funding through September 2025 and potentially beyond if Israel chooses to set aside funding before then.

Experts have said that the move is alarming and rare. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Josh Paul, the former director of congressional and public affairs for the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs in the State Department, told In These Times. Within the State Department, where he worked for 11 years, Paul helped the bureau in its work on arms deals and resigned in protest of a push to increase arms sales to Israel amid its genocidal siege on Gaza.

​“A proposal in a legislative request to Congress to waive Congressional notification entirely for [Foreign Military Financing ]-funded Foreign Military Sales or Direct Commercial Contracts is unprecedented in my experience,” Paul said. “Frankly, [it’s] an insult to Congressional oversight prerogatives.”

Paul added that the White House is already allowed to unilaterally approve foreign military transactions in “emergency” situations but still has to notify Congress. The move, then, seems calculated to specifically create opacity around Israel sales. “This doesn’t actually reduce the time, it just reduces the oversight,” he said.

John Ramming Chappell, advocacy and legal fellow on U.S. issues for the Center for Civilians in Conflict, told In These Times that Congress should reject the White House’s request. “The waiver would further undermine meaningful scrutiny of weapons sales on Capitol Hill at a time when U.S. support is enabling bombings that have killed thousands of civilians,” Chappell said.

The request comes as the Biden administration has sought to crush dissent on its support of Israel, even within its own ranks. A new report by HuffPost published Thursday found that Biden officials are sidelining work within the State Department on the atrocities that Israel is committing in Gaza, seeking to seemingly cover up the issue and disallow employees from speaking up against the genocide.

Citing Paul and five workers within the agency, the outlet reports that State Department staff have been told by higher ups that they are not going to be able to move the needle on the executive branch’s approach to Israel, no matter their credentials or the horrific things they report coming out of Gaza.

The workers say work from staff on conditions in Gaza is being ignored — perhaps like a recent internal State Department report finding that over 80,000 babies under six months and pregnant people in Gaza are being forced to drink contaminated or brackish water due to Israel’s blockade.

Rather, State Department staff told HuffPost, the administration seems to be sweeping aside evidence of the humanitarian crisis and genocide, even from its own staff, in favor of fealty to Israel’s fascistic military and leaders. At listening sessions within the agency, discussion about the genocide is redirected to fears of antisemitism, while some staff, particularly Muslim workers, say that they feel like they have to censor themselves.

This culture of silence is happening even as senior agency officials may acknowledge in private that Israel is committing war crimes, according to the report. “Over the past weeks, as I have heard from numerous officials across both the executive and legislative branches, it has become clear to me that many senior leaders not only fully understand how Israel is currently using U.S.-provided arms in Gaza, but are even, behind closed doors, willing to acknowledge that these actions include ‘war crimes,’” Paul told HuffPost. “The fact that none are willing to do so publicly … points to a deep moral rot in our system.” #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes #Israel #Palestine

November 7, 2023 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Storm Ciarán: Hinkley Point C workers transported off site

By Jamie Grover@jamiegrover9

 HINKLEY Point C workers are set to be transported off site imminently as
works have been paused due to the threat posed by Storm Ciarán. A bus
fleet will work to relocate the majority of the 10,000 workers on site, as
all but essential works have come to a halt as a result of the adverse
weather conditions. The office-based staff will continue working as normal,
and the nightshift is expected to continue as scheduled. A spokesperson for
the Hinkley Point C project said: “We will continue to monitor the
situation closely.”

 Bridgwater Mercury 2nd Nov 2023

https://www.bridgwatermercury.co.uk/news/23897372.storm-ciaran-hinkley-point-c-workers-transported- #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes #climatechange

November 7, 2023 Posted by | climate change, UK | Leave a comment

Together Against Sizewell C wait on outcome of battle with government over new nuclear power plant

 https://tasizewellc.org.uk/press-release-tascs-high-court-appeal-1st-2nd-november/

On 1st and 2nd November, the Court of Appeal heard Together Against Sizewell C’s challenge to the development consent for the Sizewell C nuclear power station. The issues of the case are whether the Secretary of State should have assessed the environmental impacts of the power station together with its potable water supply as a single project or, failing that, whether he should have assessed the cumulative effects of the two projects.

TASC Chair, Jenny Kirtley said “As one of the Justices pointed out during one and a half days of legal arguments, in a worse case scenario Kwasi Kwarteng’s decision to grant Sizewell C development consent without identifying or assessing its essential potable water supply could result in a brand new £30 billion+ ‘gleaming power station’ on Suffolk’s Heritage Coast which may never be able to operate. How can granting Sizewell C consent, on the hope that a sustainable and environmentally acceptable supply will someday be found, be lawful?”

Paul Collins, Chair of Stop Sizewell C said “Given the uncertainties that remain around Sizewell C, not only its water but other aspects of the project too, it’s nothing short of scandalous that it has already sucked up over a billion pounds of taxpayers’ money. Potential investors should stay well clear and the government should cut its losses and not waste any more of our hard-earned cash on this risky, damaging project.”

Rachel Fulcher from Suffolk Coastal Friends of the Earth said Rachel Fulcher of Suffolk Coastal Friends of the Earth said: “Our members are heart-broken that Sizewell C Co. is continuing to clear hundreds of acres of the site and its environs, thereby destroying irreplaceable wildlife habitats, even before the outcome of the legal challenge is known.” #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes

November 7, 2023 Posted by | Legal, UK | Leave a comment

NewsReal: Ukraine War Ends, Mid-East War Begins? Why America is Shifting Gears


Sott.net, Sun, 05 Nov 2023

Anglo-American legacy media this week “quietly” announced an “end” to the Ukraine War, informing – correctly, for the first time since February 2022 – Western audiences that Kiev doesn’t stand a chance militarily against Russia, that Zelensky is “deluded” and “messianic” about recovering the four provinces lost to Russia, and that American and European leaders have begun pushing him to enter negotiations with Moscow.

So, peace on Earth?!

Given current events in the Middle East, not least the Israeli obliteration of Gaza and the major deployment of US warships and forces in Israel and on the surrounding seas, it’s more likely that the US Empire is ‘pivoting’ from Ukraine only because it considers the job there ‘done’ and now has bigger goals in sight………. more https://www.sott.net/article/485737-NewsReal-Ukraine-War-Ends-Mid-East-War-Begins-Why-America-is-Shifting-Gears# #Ukraine #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes #Israel #Palestine

November 7, 2023 Posted by | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Showboating for War: Johnson and Morrison in Israel

November 7, 2023,  Dr Binoy Kampmark,  https://theaimn.com/showboating-for-war-johnson-and-morrison-in-israel/

Banished Prime Ministers are an irritation. They clog the airwaves of punditry with their views about how things were and how things should be. But even there, degrees of severity and competence should be observed. The more noble sorts would pursue the goals of peace, even as they bag large wads of cash in stating the obvious. With former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and his disgraced counterpart from the UK, Boris Johnson, the cash is being forked out for war.

That Israeli authorities thought it suitable to invite these two men to bolster their war against Hamas shows a degree of deep desperation. Johnson, a serial rule breaker when it came to his own government’s pandemic regulations, was forced to resign as PM by his own Conservative party in June this year. He proved to be persistently and pathologically mendacious, a ragtag mix of contemptuousness and buffoonery.

Only Australia’s own Morrison could have possibly kept up, secretly commandeering, without knowledge of his own Cabinet, up to five different ministries in addition to his own. Despite losing the May 2022 election to Labor’s Anthony Albanese, he remains a sitting federal member, when not avidly think-tanking for anti-China causes and the US imperium.

As Gaza City is being systematically liquidated, pulverised, demolished and destroyed by Israeli firepower, these two men have decided to cheer matters on with their equivalent of pompoms and drums. The Israeli Defence Force needs all the help it can get in destroying any vestige of Palestinian political power in the small settlement, and history lessons are not what interests them. While Johnson is infinitely more informed about history than Morrison, both were united in their cheap showboating exercise.

Their Israeli hosts, assured that they would never be questioned, took the men to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, the place where 100 residents met their fate at the hands of the al-Qassam Brigade, the military wing of Hamas, on October 7. Here was a chance to compress and cleanse history, to give it that ethical clarity Morrison and Johnson always resisted as prime ministers. It was Johnson’s wish that the world would be able to see what had taken place “so people could be under no illusion about the savagery, the sadism, the lack of humanity of Hamas terrorists.”

That word, again: humanity. The humanity exorcised from any assessment of Palestinian worth, sovereignty, liberty. A humanity reserved for a certain type of privileged victimhood, one rarified in the cool atmosphere of exceptionalism known as God’s chosen people drawn from a document part fiction, part history. It follows that the retaliatory steps taken in prosecuting any response will be justified. “Of course,” Johnson emphasises, “it is right for Israel to take the necessary steps… to stop that happening again.”

On Channel 12 news, Johnson stressed the need to keep the moral compass steady and free of any regard for the Palestinians or their cause: “[S]ince that appalling massacre of October 7, you’re seeing a kind of fog descend, a moral fog, and I just want to remind people of the absolute barbarism of what took place and to make it clear that Israel has the right to defend itself.” With emphasis, he stated that, “There can be no moral equivalence between the terrorism of Hamas and the actions of the Israeli Defence Forces.”

When given the chance to talk about pursuing a ceasefire in the name of ecumenical grace, Johnson was curt. Think of those 240 hostages held by Hamas. “[W]hen you have a crime of this scale, and when there’s the possibility of it happening again, I don’t think it’s the business of the world to tell Israel to stop.” Forget international law, humanitarian restraint on the use of force, proportionate response, and conduct might just find itself within the margins of the tolerable.

Morrison, for his part, saw the trip as “an opportunity to understand firsthand what is occurring on the ground, honour those who have been lost, show support for those who have suffered and are now engaged in this terrible conflict and discuss how to move forward.” He also argued against a ceasefire, as this would only “advantage Hamas to be able to strengthen their positions and make this war go on for even longer”.

As for the matter of making sure the attacks of October 7 are never repeated, the point is all too obvious. It will keep happening again with dreary, bloody predictability. If not next year, then the next decade. Or generation. Eliminating Hamas will simply be a bloody pruning exercise verging on genocide, allowing fresh vegetation to thrive. The forest of vengeance will continue to grow; the thousands of children who survive will never forgive the IDF for what they have done and continue to do. Each dead family brings with it a family of converts for the Palestinian cause. Israel’s publicity relations wonks would be best advised to pay Johnson and Morrison and wish them on their merry way. #Israel #Palestine

November 7, 2023 Posted by | Israel, politics international | Leave a comment

Court of Appeal: Together Against Sizewell v Sec of State for Energy Security

 It could be some time before we know the outcome of the one and a half day
hearing on Sizewell C. Together Against Sizewell C’s KC, David Wolfe, gave
a strong performance and we recommend watching his summing up, 25 minutes
before the end – accessed through the latest of the three videos of this
case. The lead Justice concluded by saying “you’ve given us a lot to think
about”.

 

Court of Appeal 3rd Nov 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odppDe_GO3Y

November 7, 2023 Posted by | Legal, UK | Leave a comment

Senator Durbin did not call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza

Walt Zlotow 6 Nov 23 , West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL 

My senator Dick Durbin got lots of press over being the first senator to call for ceasefire in Gaza. But unlike his 13 colleagues in the House calling for immediate ceasefire, Durbin simply followed standard US policy…give us everything we want before we give you anything.

His direct quote refutes any attempt to achieve an immediate ceasefire to end the relentless destruction and ethnic cleansing of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza:

“At least in the context of both sides agreeing. For example, the release of those kidnapped should be part of this — immediate release. That should be the beginning of it.” 

Just like with US policy toward Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Syria and others, Durbin is simply pushing America’s Zero Sum Game…We win, you lose. Should the hostages be released, Israel will have an even freer hand in turning all of Gaza into rubble.

That policy has failed in every US diplomatic initiative worldwide. It will fail in Gaza, possibly ending with all 2.3 million Palestinians, all but those not dead, ending up in the Sinai Desert.

November 7, 2023 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

300 scientists call for finding safe site to store nuclear waste

By EISUKE SASAKI/ Senior Staff Writer, October 31, 2023 https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15044716
Earth science specialists hold a news conference on Oct. 30 to express their opposition to a plan to bury spent nuclear fuel as a final storage method. (Eisuke Sasaki)

About 300 earth science specialists have released a statement calling for a fundamental review of the Japanese government’s plan for storing spent nuclear fuel.

The process for finding a final storage site in Japan has been proceeding “while keeping a lid on scientific discussions,” said Junji Akai, a professor emeritus of earth science at Niigata University, who signed the statement, at an Oct. 30 news conference.

The current plan is to bury the highly radioactive waste deep underground.

But the statement about 300 scientists signed, including a number of former chairmen of the Geological Society of Japan, said there was no place in Japan where such waste could be kept safe for the 100,000 years or so needed for the radiation to dissipate.

A law passed in 2000 regarding the final handling of nuclear waste stated that the spent nuclear fuel should be buried deep underground.

But the statement released on Oct. 30 noted that several tectonic plates converge on the Japanese archipelago, a mobile belt with active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.

It went on to say that under the current circumstances, it would be “impossible” to choose a location that would not be affected by such tectonic activity for 100,000 years.

The statement called for abolishing the law on the final storage of nuclear waste and setting up a third-party organization to reconsider how such waste should be stored, including temporarily storing it aboveground.

Two small municipalities in Hokkaido are in the first of a three-stage process to determine their suitability as a site for the final storage of nuclear waste. #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNuke

November 6, 2023 Posted by | Japan, wastes | 1 Comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »