Saturday, July 18th, 2pm UK time -Online discussion- “Connections between nuclear weapons and nuclear power”

How much do you know about the connections between nuclear weapons and nuclear power? https://mariannewildart.wordpress.com/2020/07/13/how-much-do-you-know-about-the-connections-between-nuclear-weapons-and-nuclear-power/ JULY 13, 2020 BY MARIANNEWILDART Why is the UK government so addicted to nuclear?

Nuclear weapons and nuclear power share several common features. In fact, the UK’s first nuclear power stations were built primarily to provide fissile material for nuclear weapons during the Cold War.

The development of both the nuclear weapons and nuclear power industries is mutually beneficial. And now it appears that the government is using the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station to subsidise Trident, Britain’s nuclear weapons system.

As part of a Parliamentary investigation into the Hinkley project, it emerged that without the billions of pounds earmarked for building this new power station in Somerset, Trident would be ‘unsupportable’. Professor Andy Stirling and Dr Phil Johnstone argued that the nuclear power station will ‘maintain a large-scale national base of nuclear-specific skills’ essential for maintaining Britain’s military nuclear capability.

Join CND for an online discussion with Professor Stirling and Dr Johnstone about these connections.

Saturday, July 18th, 2pm
Register here
Contact enquiries@cnduk.org with any queries

July 14, 2020 Posted by Christina MacPherson | ACTION | Leave a comment

Could Donald Trump cancel the November 2020 election? Don’t let it happen

PETITION TO: Donald Trump

DONALD TRUMP: Please Guarantee the November, 2020 Election Will Proceed

Campaign created by

Harvey Wasserman

We want Mr. Trump to guarantee that he will not attempt to cancel the November, 2020 election, and that he will guarantee that even if we are still in a pandemic, the necessary steps will be taken to make sure the nation can exercise its right to vote.

Why is this important?

Nothing is more sacred to American democracy that our right to free and fair elections. A major dialogue is under way as to how to conduct this fall’s election even if the Pandemic still rages (see http://www.solartopia.org. Please join us. Thank you.

https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/donald-trump-please-guarantee-the-november-2020-election-will-proceed-1?share=9138aeda-149c-446e-941c-be282d9ea846&source=email-share-button&utm_medium=&utm_source=email

March 21, 2020 Posted by Christina MacPherson | ACTION | 1 Comment

Coronavirus Halts Street Protests, but Climate Activists Have a Plan

Coronavirus Halts Street Protests, but Climate Activists Have a Plan, NYT, 20 Mar 20, Greta Thunberg, protesting in Brussels this month, is now calling for digital strikes. The coronavirus outbreak has prompted climate activists to abandon public demonstrations, one of their most powerful tools for raising public awareness, and shift to online protests.

This week, for example, organizers of the Fridays for Future protests are advising people to stay off the streets and post photos and messages on social media in a wave of digital strikes.

“We are people who listen to the scientists and it would be hypocritical of us to not treat this as a crisis,” said Saoi O’Connor, a 17-year-old Fridays for Future organizer from Cork, Ireland.

Greta Thunberg, the 17-year-old Swedish activist who inspired the Friday youth protest group, last week stayed at home and tweeted a photo of herself and her two dogs, with a message calling on protesters to “take it online.”

Similarly, a coalition of climate movements had planned huge protests around commemorations for the 50th annual Earth Day in April. Those have now been canceled or moved online. One group, Earth Initiative and March for Science New York City, plans to live-stream speakers and performers at an online event.

Dominique Palmer, 20, a Fridays for Future organizer in Britain, acknowledged the challenges of protesting online. Hashtags and snappy videos are good, she said, but really making an impact will require more work. Twitter protests in which activists send out messages aimed directly at selected officials, and phone-banking, in which they telephone them en masse, are two of the ideas under consideration.

The new strategy marks a sharp turnaround for climate activists. A year ago this month, more than a million youth activists took to the streets worldwide in a global day of climate action.

It also comes at a crucial time. With a presidential election in the United States this year, activists had hoped to raise the profile of climate change on the public agenda. And, just days after the election, world leaders are scheduled to gather in Glasgow for United Nations-led climate talks where presidents and prime ministers will face pressure to get more ambitious about reining in greenhouse gas emissions. ….. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/climate/coronavirus-online-climate-protests.html

March 21, 2020 Posted by Christina MacPherson | 2 WORLD, ACTION, climate change | 1 Comment

USA campaign in Count the Nuclear Weapons Money global movement

Four New Mexico Count the Nuclear Weapons Money Events, http://nuclearactive.org/ October 17th, 2019 In less than seven days, CCNS will join with other peace, disarmament, climate and social justice activists across New Mexico to count out one trillion dollars in one million dollar bills at four planned events in Taos, Santa Fe, Socorro, and Los Alamos as part of the global Count the Nuclear Weapons Money campaign. One trillion dollars is the amount proposed for the U.S. nuclear weapons budget over ten years.

The campaign’s goal is to demonstrate the scale of a one trillion dollar investment and how it could be devoted to peace and humanitarian needs, rather than the threat of nuclear annihilation. The scale will be profound in terms of time, the number of bills, the number of people counting the money by hand, and the impact of seeing people around the world counting the money. The events will be live-streamed so people can learn what benefits this money could bring if re-directed to climate protection, just transitions, and sustainable development goals.

The campaign will begin on Thursday, October 24^th and continue through Wednesday October 30^th, during the United Nations’ Disarmament Week. Volunteers are needed! To sign up, contact CCNS at ccns@nuclearactive.org or by phone at 505 986-1973.

On Thursday, October 24^th, New Mexico’s Opening Ceremony will take place in Taos from 3 to 5 pm. It will coincide with the Opening Ceremony in New York City. For more information and to volunteer, please contact Suzie at (575) 770-2629.

On Friday, October 25^th, we will gather at the State Capitol to bring attention to two existential threats – the climate crisis and nuclear weapons. There will be a counting event and an opportunity to present a letter to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.

On Saturday, October 26^th, we will gather in the Socorro Plaza Gazebo from 2 to 4 pm to count 2.4 billion dollars – the amount provided to Downwinders and Uranium Workers under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act since 2000. Despite being overexposed to radiation from the first atomic test at the Trinity Site on July 16, 1945, the Trinity Downwinders have never been included in the compensation program. https://www.trinitydownwinders.com/home

On Monday, October 28th, we will gather in Los Alamos from 2:30 to 4:30 pm to count 13 billion dollars, the amount proposed to modernize the nuclear weapons complex at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The event will coincide with colleagues counting outside of major banking institutions invested in nuclear weapons work. Participants will urge divestment.

For more information and to volunteer to count the money, please contact CCNS at (505) 986-1973.

To learn more about the Campaign, go to http://www.nuclearweaponsmoney.org/count-the-money/

October 21, 2019 Posted by Christina MacPherson | ACTION, USA | Leave a comment

13-15 September 2019 – International Uranium Film Festival in Portugal

International Uranium Film Festival uraniumfilmfestival.org/en/uranium-fil…@URANIUMFESTIVAL

One of the world’s oldest uranium mining regions becomes venue of the International Uranium Film Festival 2019 in Portugal. From 13 to 15 September 2019, the International Uranium Film Festival will take place for the second time in Portugal. But this time, the festival did not choose Lisbon as the venue, but one of the oldest uranium mining regions in the world: Urgeiriça (Nelas) in the center of Portugal.

If you hear or read about „uranium mining“ most people think on the huge open pit mines in Australia, Canada, USA or in Namibia. However one of the oldest uranium mines on earth is in fact located on the „old continent“ in central Portugal, about 300 km north of Lisbon in the district of Viseu. Mining started here in Urgeiriça more than a hundred years ago in 1913 to export the radioactive minerals radium and uranium to nuclear scientist Marie Curie in Paris.

A few decades later, uranium from Urgeiriça was exported to England and USA to fuel the Manhattan project and to make Britain’s first nuclear Bomb, that exploded 1952 in the Monte Bello Islands off Western Australia.

Finally, in 2001, uranium (yellow cake) production in Portugal ceased altogether, but it had left behind a deadly legacy of hazardous ore tailings and a contaminated environment. In 2005 started the Clean-up process (also called decommissioning or remediation) financed by the European Union.

Much of the rehabilitation work in Urgeiriça has been completed, and the region is preparing for a new economic future: sustainable tourism and the establishment of a museum center for uranium mining.

This is one of the reasons why the International Uranium Film Festival takes place here in the historic uranium mining region for the first time now in September 2019. Uranium Film Festival partner and local organizer is the association of former uranium miners of Portugal (ATMU), who fought for years for compensation of the victims and remediation of the more than 60 abandoned portuguese uranium mines and its tailings.

From 13 to 15 September, the world’s most unique film festival will feature a dozen films on uranium mining, nuclear power and radioactive risks in Urgeiriça and the neighboring mining towns of Viseu and Mangualde. All screenings are free, and panel discussions with filmmakers, uranium experts, scientists, former uranium miners and activists complete the program.

Beside of that participants are invited to visit the closed uranium mine and the clean-up process. “You Won’t Leave Here Like You Came.” „The Uranium Film Festival in Portugal this year will not yet be a huge film festival like we use to organize it annually in Rio de Janeiro or Berlin“, says festival director and founder Norbert G. Suchanek, “but it’s the beginning of a hopefully long partnership with Portugal.”

Nonetheless, the Festival Director is confident that the Urgeiriça Uranium Film Festival will be an important and interesting event for both the local population, which has been suffering from uranium mining for decades, as well as for uranium mining and nuclear experts, filmmakers and environmental activists. And even without the Uranium Film Festival, a visit to Urgeiriça would certainly be interesting and valuable for anyone involved in nuclear energy, uranium mining and its consequences. . Suchanek: “In Urgeiriça you can experience the history of uranium mining, its consequences and the attempt to rehabilitate the environment damaged by uranium mining and the clean-up of the radioactive tailings first hand. I am pretty sure: You won’t leave here like you came.”

In addition, just a two hours drive from Urgeiriça you find the medieval town Nisa, another important, but very different example of uranium history and anti-uranium movement in Portugal. Just outside the ancient walls of Nisa build by the crusaders lies one of the largest, yet unexploited uranium deposits in Portugal in the ground. But instead of exploring it, the people of Nisa and its local politicians decided a few years ago, in 2008, just the opposite and banned any uranium mining in their region! The people of Nisa opted for a sustainable income from local natural resources such as extensive sheep and goat farming and the production of cheese and meat instead of the production of yellow cake (uranium oxide). For that, Nisa and his movement against uranium mining MUNN (Movimento Urânio Em Nisa Não) has received in 2012 the Nuclear-Free Future Award.“ Hope to see you in Portugal next September! uraniumfilmfestival.org/en/uranium-fil…

August 20, 2019 Posted by Christina MacPherson | ACTION | Leave a comment

New Hampshire citizens’ group to monitor radiation emanating from the Seabrook Power plant.

Group looks to monitor Seabrook power plant radiation, Seacoastonline.com By Karen Dandurant
news@seacoastonline.com

Jun 3, 2019 at 3:51 DURHAM — A citizens’ initiative group is trying to raise money to improve the capabilities to monitor radiation emanating from the Seabrook Power plant.

Citizens Fundraising Effort for Monitoring in New Hampshire is a group of New Hampshire residents who have launched an effort to raise funds to expand the C-10 system into New Hampshire. A meeting at the Durham home of Dudley Dudley, well known political activist, drew about 20 people, mostly current and past legislators and local politicians.

The group was formed by Natalie Hildt-Treat, executive director of C-10, State Representative Peter Somssich, D-Portsmouth, and Portsmouth resident Damon Thomas. The purpose for the meeting was twofold, to explain the need for additional monitoring of the Seabrook Power plant, and to ask for help in funding the initiative privately.

“I have been concerned about Seabrook from the beginning,” said Dudley. “I was arrested there and I am still waiting for my speedy trial. I am giving money to this and I ask that you all consider giving generously, too.”

Natalie Hildt-Treat, executive director of C-10 Research and Education Foundation, a pro-safety group based in Newburyport, Mass., said their organization has been conducting 24-hour monitoring in the communities within the 10-mile radius of the Seabrook Power plant since 1991 when the plant went online.

“The Citizens Radiological Monitoring Network detects and records beta and gamma radiation,” said Treat. “There are two types of radiation releases. Gamma is the most penetrating and damaging to tissue. Beta is more of an indicator, to let you know something is going on.”………

Treat said the monitoring done in New Hampshire currently, per the requirements of the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) is cumulative, using passive radiological monitoring film strips on poles, collected over a three-month period in the towns. Only Portsmouth, Concord and the plant itself have a form of real-time testing.

“I am told the reports from the three locations are sent to Concord,” said Somssich. “I have asked to see the data. What has ever been detected? My suspicion is nothing unless it’s a big releases because the data is cumulative. I would still like to see the historic data, but knowing I was irradiated three months ago does me no good. This system we are proposing would monitor in real time.”

Treat said there are 23 communities within the 10-mile radius, six in Massachusetts and 17 in New Hampshire.

“New Hampshire has never had public finding for monitoring,” said Treat. “Seabrook monitors at the plan, per requirement of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). There have been past legislative attempts to address this, and there was a bill this year that has been put off to the next session. Since the Seabrook Power Plant was just re-licensed to 2050, a decision was made to try and fund the installation of monitoring systems in the New Hampshire town through private funding.”………

We are looking for funding to expand the monitoring from individuals, organizations and municipalities,” Thomas said. “I am happy to say that we have raised about $34,000 so far this year. We are trying to secure pledges for the rest of the funding. So, we are holding meetings to familiarize people with what we are doing and the reasons why.”

Event sponsors for the night included Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, D-Portsmouth; former State Rep Mindi Messmer, D-Rye; and State Rep. Renny Cushing, D-Hampton.

To learn more, make a pledge or to get involved in the Citizens Initiative, contact State Rep. Peter Somssich at 603-436-5221, or staterep27@myfairpoint.net, or visit www.C-10.org. https://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20190602/group-looks-to-monitor-seabrook-power-plant-radiation

June 4, 2019 Posted by Christina MacPherson | ACTION, environment, radiation, USA | Leave a comment

6th June- world premiere of movie ‘The Beginning of the End of Nuclear Weapons’

Beyond Nuclear 2nd June 2019 , At 7pm, on the 6thof June, at the Village East Cinema, in Lower Manhattan,
Pressenza International Press Agency, of which I am a co-director, will
host the World Premiere of our new documentary on the Treaty to Prohibit
Nuclear Weapons.

The title, The Beginning of the End of Nuclear Weapons, is
a reference to the speech made by Setsuko Thurlow to the assembled throng
of dignitaries and International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons (ICAN)
campaigners, during her Nobel Laureate Speech in December 2017 when the
Peace Prize was awarded to ICAN. The film charts the story of the
development of the atomic bomb through to the negotiations to prohibit
nuclear weapons, and is told through the interventions of 14 people whose
roles have been key in the fields of activism and diplomacy.

https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2019/06/02/the-beginning-of-the-end-of-nuclear-weapons/

June 4, 2019 Posted by Christina MacPherson | ACTION, media, Resources -audiovicual, USA | Leave a comment

Chernobyl- Survival & the Future: Professor Kate Brown

Chernobyl- Survival & the Future: Professor Kate Brown https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/chernobyl-survival-the-future-professor-kate-brown-tickets-61867447200?utm_term=eventurl_text

by chair Lynn Jamieson, discussant Ian Fairlie, speaker Professor Kate Brown Fri, 19 July 2019

15:00 – 17:00 BST

Add to Calendar

Location

room 1.20

Dugald Stewart Building

3 Charles Street

Edinburgh

EH8 9AD

United Kingdom

View Map

Description

Science historian Kate Brown’s painstakingly researched book Manual for Survival. A Chernobyl Guide to the Future reveals a conscious decision by the then Soviet government to downplay and suppress the true extent of harm caused by the April 26, 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion. Come and hear her talk about this and more.

What forces can empower survival and the art of living on a damaged planet? Her research has taken her to Europe’s largest wetlands—the Pripyat Marshes at the border of the Ukraine and Belarus—a site of multi-generational experiences of suffering from revolution, wars, genocide, and chemical and nuclear catastrophe.

June 3, 2019 Posted by Christina MacPherson | ACTION | Leave a comment

Anti-nuclear protesters plan a “die-in” outside Westminster Abbey

Daily Mirror 30th April 2019 . Anti-nuclear protesters plan a “die-in” outside Westminster Abbey this week as a service marking the 50th anniversary of Britain’s
submarine-based missile system is held. Prince William, Government
ministers, military top brass and Royal Navy veterans will pack the London
landmark for a ceremony heralding a half century since Operation Relentless
was launched. But some 180 Church leaders have signed a demand calling on
the Dean of Westminster Abbey to “urgently reconsider” the tribute.
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament general secretary Kate Hudson said:
“Surely Westminster Abbey must now realise it has made a very serious
error of judgement.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/anti-nuclear-activists-plan-die-14974517

May 2, 2019 Posted by Christina MacPherson | ACTION | Leave a comment

ACTION ALERTS – Support two American Veterans for Peace arrested in Ireland and the Kings Bay Plowshares.

APRIL 8 & 9 – TAKE ACTION TO GET KEN AND TARAK HOME! Nuclear Resister,
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Ken Mayers and Tarak Kauff, two American members of Veterans for Peace, were arrested at Ireland’s Shannon Airport on March 17 after entering the airfield to inspect and investigate an OMNI Air International plane on contract to the U.S. military. The pair were refused bail in Ennis District Court the following day. They were granted bail at a later court hearing, and released from Limerick Prison on March 29 pending trial. Their passports were taken and they were ordered to stay away from airports. The men are currently not able to leave Ireland before their trial. An April 4 court hearing was postponed until May 8, and they were not able to raise the issue of being allowed to return to the U.S.

SUPPORT ACTIONS NEEDED

People are asked to make calls, letters and visits to Irish Embassies and Consulates, the State Department, and elected officials on April 8 and 9 so that these institutions experience a flood of support for Tarak and Ken and protest against U.S. military flights through Shannon Airport. Letters to the editor of your local paper are also important.

Ask that Tarak and Ken be allowed to return home to the U.S. until their trial, which is months if not years away. Being forced to stay in Ireland amounts to punishment before being convicted, and not being allowed to return home is damaging to their health, their finances and their families. The two U.S. veterans were arrested trying to get the Irish government to enforce the law and end illegal U.S. military flights (including rendition flights) through Shannon Airport, and stop Ireland’s complicity in the illegal U.S. wars in the Middle East.

See “Action Points” here (https://nukeresister.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e793916f1979bfc73458af19&id=d3e3c3f248&e=e8c4dedfda) for details on who to call, and click on “Talking Points” here (https://nukeresister.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e793916f1979bfc73458af19&id=77670525f4&e=e8c4dedfda) for Ed Horgan’s detailed notes about why Ireland should not be allowing the U.S. flights through Shannon. Under the “Resources” link here (https://nukeresister.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e793916f1979bfc73458af19&id=1d2e02f400&e=e8c4dedfda) are samples of letters to the Irish Embassy, Secretary of State Pompeo, and to local newspaper editors.

* Call the Irish Embassy and consulates in the U.S. (click here (https://nukeresister.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e793916f1979bfc73458af19&id=80e2e63f38&e=e8c4dedfda) for a listing).
* Call the State Department: To comment to the State Dept, call 1(202) 647-6575, then press 8. Prepare your short message first, in case you get the machine. If you get a person, engage.
* Call your senators and representatives, especially if you are in New York or New Mexico, where Tarak and Ken are constituents.
* Write a letter and deliver it in person to your local Irish consulate or embassy (see sample letters here (https://nukeresister.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e793916f1979bfc73458af19&id=442e767502&e=e8c4dedfda) ).
* Organize a vigil at your local Irish consulate or embassy.
* Write letters and op ed pieces for your local newspapers.

More information is posted at stopthesewars.org/kenandtarak (https://nukeresister.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e793916f1979bfc73458af19&id=d9c625c649&e=e8c4dedfda)

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** SIGN A PETITION CALLING FOR ALL CHARGES AGAINST THE KINGS BAY PLOWSHARES TO BE DISMISSED
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One year ago, on April 4, 2018, seven Catholic nuclear disarmament activists entered Georgia’s Kings Bay Trident nuclear submarine base with banners, crime scene tape, hammers and an indictment charging the U.S. government for crimes against peace. Three of the seven Kings Bay Plowshares (Elizabeth McAlister, Fr. Steve Kelly and Mark Colville) remain in jail in Brunswick, Georgia; four are out on bond with ankle monitors (Patrick O’Neill, Carmen Trotta, Clare Grady and Martha Hennessy). They are waiting for the court’s decision on motions for dismissal of their charges based on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

SUPPORT ACTION NEEDED

A global petition has been launched in support of the Kings Bay Plowshares, calling for their charges to be dismissed and for a renewal of the movement to abolish nuclear weapons. Please join several Nobel peace laureates and others, and sign the petition now! Click here (https://nukeresister.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e793916f1979bfc73458af19&id=7ea924158b&e=e8c4dedfda) to sign.

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT THE KINGS BAY PLOWSHARES

Email: kingsbayplowshares@gmail.com (mailto:kingsbayplowshares@gmail.com)
Website: www.kingsbayplowshares7.org (https://nukeresister.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e793916f1979bfc73458af19&id=59ef2f52ba&e=e8c4dedfda)
Facebook: https://nukeresister.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e793916f1979bfc73458af19&id=b05016ed84&e=e8c4dedfda
Twitter: www.twitter.com/kingsbayplow7
Instagram: https://nukeresister.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e793916f1979bfc73458af19&id=1a87a344c2&e=e8c4dedfda (https://nukeresister.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e793916f1979bfc73458af19&id=d1cbfeed9a&e=e8c4dedfda)

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Please support imprisoned anti-nuclear and anti-war activists – The Nuclear Resister needs YOU!
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The Nuclear Resister is a bare bones operation that depends on grassroots support to chronicle anti-nuclear and anti-war resistance, and support the women and men in prison for their acts of conscience. We need your help to continue this work – please read more here (https://nukeresister.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e793916f1979bfc73458af19&id=dd662e0112&e=e8c4dedfda) !! Or go directly here (https://nukeresister.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e793916f1979bfc73458af19&id=c84459d990&e=e8c4dedfda) to make a secure online donation and find information about how to send a check. Each and every donation, large or small, will be gratefully received – thank you!

April 6, 2019 Posted by Christina MacPherson | ACTION | Leave a comment

The Doomsday Statement 2019 – Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will host a live international news conference at 10 a.m. EST/1500 GMT on Thursday, January 24, 2019, to announce the 2019 time of the Doomsday Clock. The news conference will take place at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Watch the announcement live on our website, on our Facebook page, or on Twitter.

Speakers for the Doomsday Clock announcement on January 24, 2019 include:

Jerry Brown, executive chair, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; former Governor of California
William J. Perry, chair, Bulletin Board of Sponsors; former Secretary of Defense
Rachel Bronson, president and CEO; Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Herb Lin, Bulletin Science and Security Board; Senior Research Scholar for cyber policy and security at the Center for International Security and Cooperation and Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, both at Stanford University
Susan Solomon, Bulletin Science and Security Board; Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sharon Squassoni, Bulletin Science and Security Board; Research Professor of Practice at the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University

https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/

It is now two minutes to midnight

2018 Doomsday Clock Statement
Science and Security Board

January 10, 2019 Posted by Christina MacPherson | ACTION | Leave a comment

Public Comments Requested on Portsmouth & Paducah Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride

Huntington News, January 7, 2019 “………IMPACTS OF POTENTIAL DISPOSAL OPTIONS

In December 2018, DOE issued the Draft Supplement Environmental Impact Statement for Disposition of Depleted Uranium Oxide Conversion Product Generated from DEO’s Inventory of Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride DOE/EIS-0359-S1 and DOE/EIS-0360-S1. The purpose and need for this action is to identify and analyze alternatives for the disposition of DU oxide. If a beneficial use cannot be found for the DU oxide, all or a portion of the inventory may need to be disposed of. The proposed scope of this DU Oxide SEIS includes an analysis of the potential impacts from three Action Alternatives and a No Action Alternative (in accordance with 40 CFR 1502.14). Under the Action Alternatives, DU oxide would be disposed of at one or more of the three disposal facilities: (1) the EnergySolutions LLC site near Clive, Utah; (2) the Nevada National Security Site in Nye County, Nevada; and (3) the Waste Control Specialists, LLC site near Andrews, Texas. Under the No Action Alternative, transportation and disposal would not occur, and DU oxide containers would remain in storage at Paducah and Portsmouth. All other aspects of the DUF6 conversion activities remain as described previously in the 2004 EISs and RODs and are not within the scope of this DU Oxide SEIS.

PUBLIC COMMENT

There is a 45-day public comment period open from December 28, 2018 to February 11, 2019. Public hearings will be web-based and on the following dates:

Tuesday, January 22, 2019 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. (EST)
Wednesday, January 23, 2019 from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. (EST)
Thursday, January 24, 2019, from 7:00 –9:00 p.m. (EST)

Comments will be accepted during the web-based public hearing, by mail, by email and through submittal of comment forms on the DU Oxide SEIS website. Persons who wish to speak may sign up to speak before each meeting by submitting a request to DUF6_NEPA@em.doe.gov. Join web-based public hearing via:

WebEx Meeting Room: https://doe.webex.com/join/duf6_nepa (Copy and Paste into web browser).
Phone at US Toll: 1-415-527-5035, access code: 988 230 782 #. Global Call-In Numbers:
- Australia Toll: +61-29037-2586
- Belgium Toll: +32-289-53898
- Japan Toll: +81-345-808170
- Netherlands Toll: +31-20-794-1499
- United Kingdom Toll: +44-203-457-5798
……….http://www.huntingtonnews.net/161561

January 10, 2019 Posted by Christina MacPherson | ACTION | Leave a comment

NRC Sets Hearing, Webinar on Pilgrim Nuclear Plant Decommissioning

https://eponline.com/articles/2019/01/07/nrc-hearing-on-pilgrim-plant.aspx?m=1
The Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report includes a table showing that the entire period from shutdown of the plant to license termination will last 60 years. Jan 07, 2019

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting in Plymouth, Mass., on Jan. 15 to discuss and accept public comments on Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.’s Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report for the Pilgrim nuclear power plant, which is located in Plymouth, some 38 miles southeast of Boston, and entered commercial operation on Dec. 1, 1972. The report calls for placing the plant into long-term storage before dismantlement and decontamination work begins.

Pilgrim is the only nuclear power plant being operated in Massachusetts.

The NRC staff also will present a webinar on Jan. 8 for interested members of the public to participate in discussions regarding the decommissioning of the plant. The webinar will begin at 2 p.m.. It will provide key facts about the decommissioning process and explain how NRC regulates such activities through on-site inspections and other reviews.

Webinar participants will be able to view slides prepared by NRC staff and ask questions in writing via a web page set up to host the session. Online registration is required to participate.

Holtec Decommissioning International LLC has announced that it plans to acquire Pilgrim and conduct an expedited decommissioning of the plant. The commission is reviewing the license transfer application.

Pilgrim is scheduled to permanently cease operations by June 1, 2019. Entergy plans to use the SAFSTOR decommissioning method. Its report explains that the SAFSTOR approach means that, after a plant is shut down and defueled, the facility is placed in a safe, stable condition and maintained in that state (safe storage). The facility is decontaminated and dismantled at the end of the storage period to levels that permit license termination. During SAFSTOR, a facility is left intact or may be partially dismantled, but the fuel is removed from the reactor vessel and radioactive liquids are drained from systems and components and then processed.

The report includes a table showing that the entire period from shutdown of the plant to license termination will last 60 years.

January 8, 2019 Posted by Christina MacPherson | ACTION | Leave a comment

Taiwan to host Asian anti-nuclear forum in 2019

http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201811200015.aspx Taipei, Nov. 20 (CNA) Taiwan is set to host the annual No Nuke Asia Forum (NNAF) next year, the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) said Tuesday.

Founded in 1993, the NNAF is an annual gathering that brings together experts and academics from various anti-nuclear groups across Asia to discuss and share their visions on how to counter nuclear energy.

Taiwan’s upcoming referendum on the government’s policy of phasing out nuclear power in Taiwan by 2025 has been a topic of popular discussion at this year’s NNAF, which was held in the Philippines Nov. 11-15, the TEPU said.

TEPU Chairman Liu Chih-chien (劉志堅), who attended the event, said Taiwan’s efforts to phase out nuclear energy also garnered widespread support from members from Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and India.

During the forum, the union also came to share Taiwan’s past experiences, including a referendum that helped stop the ongoing construction of the country’s fourth nuclear plant in 2014, Liu said.

According to the TEPU, the 26th Asian anti-nuclear forum is scheduled to be held toward the end of 2019.

(By Wu Hsin-yun and Ko Lin)
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November 22, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | ACTION, Taiwan | Leave a comment

22 September – rally near Faslane naval base against nuclear weapons

Ekklesia 13th Sept 2018 , International anti-nuclear campaigners will address a major rally in
Scotland on 22 September 2018. Activists from the United States, Israel,
Russia, Iran, the Netherlands and South Korea will demand support for the
UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, as well as highlighting
the majority opposition to Trident in Scotland. The rally – called by
Scottish CND – will take place thirty miles from Glasgow at Faslane, home
to the naval base that hosts Britain’s nuclear submarines.
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/26767