Too many insulting comments coming in.

I may disagree with some policies of the Joe Biden administration – and I do. But that does not mean that I agree with the vicious personal attacks that people make on Biden.

It’s great to get comments critiquing the USA war economy, but please stop the nastiness.

Biden is probably doing his best, according to his lights, though I think that he is terribly mistaken, and is manipulated by the military-industrial complex.

May 30, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

The week in nuclear news (but climate news is Big)

Some bits of good news:     What went right this week? The good news you should know about –  It was a good week for green energy –   money deserting fossil fuels –  An English city prepared to host a refugee festival.

Climate. Insurance giant halts sale of new home policies in California due to wildfires. Sea level rise will “disappear” California’s famed beaches . Thawing glaciers around Everest show critical need to stop greenhouse emissions . More than 1,500 arrested at Extinction Rebellion protest in The Hague.

Christina notes: It’s the CLIMATE, stupid!

Nuclear. News on climate is so genuinely awesome –  to use the proper meaning of the word –  that it really does dwarf nuclear news.   But the nuclear lying goes on – the pretense that small reactors will be economic and will solve global heating. THat’s such a distraction from real action. 

TOP STORIES

Slowing ocean current caused by melting Antarctic ice could have drastic climate impact, study says. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KlpKq3YEdM

America’s Wars and the US Debt Crisis.

G7 Leaders Falter Over Nuclear Disarmament in Hiroshima.

Sending F-16 planes to Ukraine will create a new Cuban Missile -style nuclear crisis .

Ukraine’s neighbors push for Zelensky to pursue peace as millions of displaced people flow into Europe. ‘Independent’ Ukrainian ‘kill list’ actually run by Kiev, backed by Washington.

Ukraine: Power loss at nuclear plant underscores ‘highly vulnerable’ safety situation.

Atmospheric Testing of Nuclear Weapons in the 1950s and 1960s

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CIVIL LIBERTIES. Australian Prime Minister Albanese refuses to meet with Assange’s wife.

CLIMATE. Hinkley Point C – Why nuclear power accelerates carbon emissions. A clean energy transition means moving away from nuclear power.

CULTURE and ARTS. Everything’s Getting Way More Dangerous And Way More Stupid.

ECONOMICS.  

• Director General Grossi Highlights China as Indispensable IAEA Partner, Leader in Nuclear Energy. 
•  Nuclear power won’t help Maine reach its clean-energy goals, 
•  French defense minister opposes American takeover of nuclear firm. 
•   Point Lepreau nuclear power station – too many expensive shutdowns. 
•  Damning critique of Rolls Royce         Rolls Royce to cut thousands of jobs. . 
• Marketing: USA pours $billions into Poland, in effort to market USA’s small and large nuclear reactors to Europe. Romania to be a guinea pig for NuScam’s small nuclear reactor folly. Putin bribes ‘friendly nations’ with use of 24-hour ‘floating nuclear power stations’.

ENERGY. US Electricity From Renewable Energy Beat Electricity From Coal Or Nuclear In 2022. Taiwan Considers Keeping Nuclear Reactors on Emergency Standby.

ENVIRONMENT. China firmly opposes Japan’s discharge of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into sea. South Korean experts to continue analysis of Fukushima water discharge. South Korean nuclear experts to tour Fukushima plant amid water concerns. Pacific islanders are not convinced that the release of Fukushima wastewater is safe . Nuclear & Toxic Chemicals.

HEALTH. Public health expert says Fukushima waste water release a retrograde step, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_WcZZq9JTU

LEGAL.Court rejects case opposing restart of Miyagi Prefecture nuclear plant.

MEDIA. 60 Minutes Australia Keeps Churning Out War-With-China Propaganda. Review | Netflix drama review: The Days – Netflix Fukushima nuclear disaster series starring Koji Yakusho is an enthralling account of the 2011 event, with strong hints of HBO’s Chernobyl.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQkb7fCr2bQ

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Canadian reactors that “recycle” plutonium would create more problems than they solve. Nuke Power’s “Renaissance 4.0” Has Already Melted. No,        There Won’t Be Nuclear-Powered Commercial Shipping This Time Either.

POLITICS. 

• New Zealand won’t give up its nuclear-free stance, says Prime Minister Chris Hipkins. 
• An Open Letter to the Australian Government from concerned scholars regarding the AUKUS Agreement.
•  While Sullivan and Wang build ‘guardrails’: where is Mr Blinken?
•  Rishi Sunak ‘turns his back’ on UK’s nuclear test veterans a year after pledging support. 
• Israel’s New Minister for Nuclear Absurdity. 
• Nuclear power is neither reliable nor ‘green’ and is not suitable for South Africa’s just transition. 
•   Taiwan Government’s nuclear-free policy remains unchanged: Cabinet

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

•  Ukraine: Why Negotiations Are the Only Rational Option in the Face of Climate Chaos and Nuclear Dangers.
• Hiroshima Survivor Slams G7 Leaders for Embracing War & Rejecting Nuclear Disarmament. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66tf6Ki7sdM. Elders say – Nuclear states must now act following G7 statement – Mary Robinson.          G7 has descended into an ‘anti-China workshop’. Visiting a park is not paying respects:the appalling failure of the G7 to act on nuclear disarmament. 
• France holds up EU energy agreement over nuclear power. 
• After AP report, Iran’s nuclear chief says Tehran to cooperate with inspectors on ‘new activities’.  
• Irony Or What! India “Sidelines” Russia For US Nuclear Tech, But US Remains ‘Critically Dependent’ On Russian Nuke Fuel.

PROTESTS. A Mothers Day protest: Activists blockaded the entrance to the US 2 Navy’s west-coast nuclear submarine base.

RADIATION. Trident: Ministry of Defence confirms more than 50 radiation leaks this year.

SAFETY.    Fukushima reactor 1 found to have damaged pedestal supporting nuclear core. Japan Nuclear Watchdog Asks Fukushima Plant Operator to Assess Reactor Risk.          World’s Biggest Nuclear Plant Kashiwazaki-Kariwa May Stay Closed Due to Papers Left on Car Roof.             Groups Warn Biden that Ukraine War Shows Attacks on Nuclear Plants ‘Could Happen Here’.         Nuclear Security: Department Of Energy Should Take Actions to Fully Implement Insider Threat Program.

SECRETS and LIES. Ukraine admits to murdering “quite a few” Russian civilians. Ukraine claims Russia is plotting ‘a provocation’ at nuclear plant, offers no evidence.

SPINBUSTER. Clean energy transition sparks nuclear reaction. Nuclear Turns Fashionable.

URANIUM. U.S. planning test reactor to run on weapons-grade uranium.

WASTES. IAEA team in Japan for final review before planned discharge of Fukushima nuclear plant water.      What we know about the federal government’s ongoing nuclear waste plans in New Mexico.       Gordon Edwards explains, and comments on. Canada’s policy on radioactive waste and nuclear decommissioning. In Australia civil cociety faces imposition of an AUKUS military High Level nuclear waste dump.

Since Cold War. Russia Issues Dire Warning After US Approves Ukrainian Strikes On Crimea. Russia moves ahead with deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Russia Claims Group Crossed Border From Ukraine In Attack. Russia evacuates nuclear munitions due to incursion from Ukraine into Belgorodoblast-Ukraine’s Intel. Belgorod Attacks | Russia Removes Nuclear Warheads From Grayvoron Amid Attacks

Russian vessel attacked by Ukrainian sea drones off Bosporus. Ex-Pentagon Analyst: Biden Faces Shrinking Options on Ukraine. A grim vision of nuclear warfare in Ukraine. Russia warns about nuclear power war risk.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES.

• ‘Cold feet’: Big problems emerge in controversial US-Australia submarine deal. AUKUS nuclear submarine bases in Western Australia will seriously weaken current safeguards against nuclear weapons proliferation. Transferring US nuclear subs to Australia far from smooth sailing. Aukus ‘expensive’ and not ‘easy to replicate’.
• US sends largest warship ever constructed to Norway.
• Russia to move newest nuclear sub to Pacific in August.
• Iran Builds an Underground and Possibly Unreachable Nuclear Facility.
• Nuclear umbrella to protect Taiwan could be globally catastrophic.
• A Nuclear Collision Course in South Asia. Can the Pakistan-India nuclear deterrence hold – in the nuclearisation of South Asia in the New Nuclear Age.
• Belarusian president offers nuclear weapons to those willing to join his alliance.  

May 30, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 5 Comments

TODAY. It’s the CLIMATE, stupid!

The Southern Overturning Circulation is slowing down, because of the rapidly melting ice around Antarctica. What does this mean?

It means a speed-up of climate effects (double the speed of the effects of slowing down of the better-known Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) from the Arctic ). Rapid sea-level rise, changed rain patterns in tropical areas, drastic loss of nutrients essential for marine life – effects will occur within the next few decades.

Why is this not the top news story around the world? The whole process might not now be stopped – but what is so important is that it could be slowed, if homo-not-very-sapiens stopped pouring carbon into the atmosphere.

Why are we swallowing the propaganda about STEM education – with its focus on Technology and Engineering? That focus should be on Temperature and Ecology – not on how to do big industrial stuff, but on how to maintain our planet home, – and whether or not we should be doing big industrial stuff, (including costly, wasteful narcissistic adventuring to Mars.)

I have been focussing on the nuclear industry, But in reality, nuclear is irrelevant to our big threat – Global Heating. [except of course – in the case of nuclear war]

The one important relevance is in regard to Truth and Lies. The propaganda now prevailing from the nuclear lobby is the biggest example of lying. If the world can be persuaded to believe that nuclear spin-rubbish – then any lie can prevail. And that includes the omissions, half-truths, and lies that tell us that climate change doesn’t matter

May 27, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

This week’s (mercifully shorter) nuclear news

A bit of good news –   A low birthrate is good news for the planet.   What went right this week? The good news you should know about.Climate.  Cop28 host UAE’s approach is ‘dangerous’, says UN’s ex-climate chief.
Christina notes: Pathetic war-mongering response by G7 stuffed shirts at the historic Hiroshima nuclear-bombing site.

Nuclear.  Linda Gunter writes “Lying is the new black” – about the promotion of nuclear energy. But it’s timely too, about the latest developments in Ukraine. Have the Russians had a win? We are told – not really!  The G7 leaders went to Hiroshima –  all for world peace of course, paid lip service to America’s horror nuclear bombing in 1945, and went on to militaristic planning against Russia and China  – nothing about nuclear disarmament. No suggestion of negotiation.

TOP STORIES:

Hiroshima survivors warn G7 leaders about using nuclear bombs.

Ukraine’s Depleted Uranium Blast: Europe on Brink of ‘Environmental Disaster’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kqpbw6YTLo Depleted uranium won’t end a war that has no winners.

Global heating is predicted to trigger more nuclear outages in France every year..

Should South Carolina have canceled Plant Summer? Yes, and Georgia should have canceled, too

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CIVIL LIBERTIES  Stella Assange: ‘This is the closest we’ve ever been to securing Julian’s release’   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6N33Ca8UrA   

CLIMATE. Siting new nuclear power stations — an unsustainable geography.

ECONOMICS. Finnish nuclear plant throttles production as electricity price plunges. Russia’s Atomflot added to U.S. sanctions list.

ENERGY. Finance for renewable energy.        Germany’s green revolution puts nuclear power in the past.          The nine hours in which Spain made the 100% renewable dream a reality. New report finds millions of Britons planning to get rid of their cars .

ENVIRONMENT. Nuclear Free Local Authorities condemn UK Environment Agency’s failure to protect the marine environment in Hinkley Point C’s nuclear project .

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Nuclear Fusion breakthrough hits hurdles as five experiments fail.

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. How a small activist sailing ship successfully challenged the nuclear arms race.

POLITICS.  Sceptical opinions about Vladimir Zelensky.      Australia: Labor, Greens & Defence Experts call for AUKUS Parliamentary Inquiry  Richard Marles and the ‘seamless’ transfer of Australian sovereignty.        Pentagon seeks authority to transfer nuclear submarines (and costs) to Australia.    Why nuclear power won’t work in Australia — yet another explainer.    France to speed up nuclear power deployment.         Poland’s Greens oppose construction of small nuclear reactor in Kraków.  Energy minister Andrew Bowie in visit to Suffolk projects.        Robert F Kennedy’s Peace Platform.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

• At a G7 summit high on ambition, nuclear disarmament takes a backseat to Zelensky’s diplomatic appeals.        Facing Russia’s nuclear threats, the U.S. and its allies must not whitewash their own.       Former world leaders urge G7 to get nuclear arms control back on track .  Hiroshima’s nuclear history sounds an urgent warning for G-7 summit.
• Indonesia calls for destruction of the world’s nuclear arsenals.
•  Ukraine’s neighbors ready to pay off Zelensky to stop conflict – Seymour Hersh. 
• France holds up EU energy agreement over nuclear power. 
• Drink Fukushima water if it’s clean, South Korea tells Japanese officials.    Ocean release of Fukushima nuclear wastewater endangers Pacific Islanders’ welfare.
•  French Polynesia’s anti-nuclear organisation Association 193 criticises France for downplaying impact of atomic tests. 
• New UK sanctions on Russian energy to include Rosatom and nuclear energy ( a little bit) .
• Stronger Global Governance is the Only Way to a World Free of Nuclear Weapons.

PROTESTS. Anti-nuclear activists protest Japanese government plans to release radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.

SAFETY. Nuclear Safety Authority identified faults in Olkiluoto nuclear power plant .     IAEA Warns of Tense Military Situation Near Ukraine Nuclear Plant.

SECRETS and LIES. Lying is the new black.  AUKUS may turn out to be the largest financial swindle perpetrated by the United States and the United Kingdom against Australia and other Asia Pacific nations. 

WASTES. Fukushima fishermen speak out against nuclear-contaminated wastewater dumping plan.

WAR and CONFLICT.  US hopes to snatch victory from jaws of defeat in Ukraine. Ukrainians forced by Russia to retreat from Artyomovsk (Bakhmut) , their supposed ‘fortress’ in Donbass. Russian forces dig in at Ukrainian nuclear plant, witnesses say.   Ukrainian diplomat fears ‘terrible summer’ ahead.

G7 Desecrates Hiroshima A-Bomb Memory With Warmongering Summit.  Biden Won’t Apologize for 1945 Nuclear Attacks on Japan as G7 Leaders Gather in Hiroshima.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. UK and Netherlands agree ‘international coalition’ to help Ukraine procure F-16 jets.    Western Weapons to Ukraine: Black Market for Terrorists “On Command”.        $3 BILLION Pentagon ‘accounting error’ means more weapons for Ukraine.

May 22, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

TODAY. Pathetic war-mongering response by G7 stuffed shirts at the historic Hiroshima nuclear-bombing site.

Look at them ! Our taxes paid for their travel, their accomodation, their fine food- and all the surrounding blah blah – as they spent the briefest possible time at the remembrance of the horrific atomic bombing, and they paid lip service to the pleas of the Hibakusha for no nuclear weapons.

No, the tone of the meeting was to castigate Russia, and prepare for more war in Ukraine.

Russian threats of using nuclear weapons were condemned (and rightly so), but not a mention of Western nations policies of first use of nuclear weapons.

The hypocrisy of it all – in the place where the only country to ever let fly a nuclear attack now poses as the saviour of peace – while making sure that all its hanger-on nations ignore the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Meanwhile – Vladimir Zelensky doing his frantic rush – first at that citadel of integrity – Saudi Arabia – to drum up further $billions of weaponry . Then to be welcomed to a pitch at the G7 in Hiroshima.

By the way – I guess that I should be following the new Western fashion of saying Volodymyr – a tactical change from the old spelling – it must have sounded too Russian. too Putinesque?

May 20, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Sceptical opinions about Vladimir Zelensky.

Admittedly these comments come from a pro Russian site.

The pity is that there is no scepticism about Zelensky in the Western media – who don’t understand that we are not formally at war against Russia.

My own opinion is that Zelensky is a prisoner of his own (ill-informed) charisma. He does not now dare to negotiate with Russia – if he tried, he would be probably be killed very quickly by Ukraine’s right-wing zealouts.

Adonis Cirillo Forgotten Fact :
The Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts Self-Governance Referendums were part of the original Minsk Agreements…

That everybody agreed to…

Including the United Nations!

D_Banner “other EU countries that want to see an end to the fighting “. It’s not that hard to fix. The war will stop the day after they stop paying for it.

TBTB The US has its own special units surrounding Zelensky. He can’t make any move or statement the US does not allow or he will ‘suffer an accident’ to be blamed on Russia, of course. The scripts are ready. But Seymour story has some veracity as the burden of supporting Ukrainian refugees and subsidizing the neo-Nazi regime while facing inflation and economic crisis is too much for many Europeans. Sooner or later, Europe will split into camps, those who will stick with the US hawks and those who dissent. Time is not on the West side. The biggest threat for the cabal is the rapid expansion of the BRICS and dedollarization.

Gamab Sol you can bribe him all you want – he won’t stop this war until all of Ukraine belongs to private American equity firms, and full scale war with Russia is provoked. It would be better to take Ukranian refugees in, than to negotiate with piano comedian

Scorched Earth Zelensky decides totally nothing.
The US decides whether the war stops or not.

Lectrodectus Ukraine Is Now A Country In Ruin, Millions Displaced, Thousands Of Ukrainian Soldiers Killed, All This Could Have Been Avoided If Zelensky Had Of Implemented The 2014 Minsk Treaty… The Aftermath Of This (Avoidable) Conflict Will Condemn Future Generations Of Ukrainians To Decades Of Extreme Financial Hardship As It Will Be They Who Will Be Made To Repay The Billions Upon Billions Zelensky And His Neo-Nazi Regime Have Borrowed To Wage Their Personal War Against Russia. A Bleak Future Awaits All Ukrainians. Merkel And Macron..Were Instrumental In Preventing The 2014 Minsk Agreement From Being Implemented, Both Should Stand Trial In The Hague (ICC) For Aiding And Abetting Zelensky With His War Against Russia.

RNC91 These neighboring countries need to understand that the Clown Zelensky can’t and won’t stop this conflict without the corrupt Big Brother, aka, US telling him to do so. The US wants a war with Russia and if they keep pushing the stick in the bears face, it will happen.

Scorched Earth Zelensky decides totally nothing.
The US decides whether the war stops or not.

Kingdomcome23 I believe Hersh. So this European tour is really just a fake PR stunt? So they can all save face? There are people speculating that half of Washington DC is wanting to wrap this up too. Maybe we are watching a script leading up to a peace negotiation. All the players are probably just making plans to launder as much as they can before it ends. They’d better wrap it up before Putin decides to take the entire country like colonel Macgreggor keeps mentioning. They’ll end up losing their opportunity to launder more money in the rebuild phase.

Darkness This is another good proposal to get Zelensky to start peace talks with Russia. Let him keep what he wants but he also needs to show the world signs that he is ready for peace. If Zelensky is ready for peace we will support him.

SaxonGreene One wonders how much the publicity campaign corporation(s) has been getting paid, more recently. Their attempts at the emotional, manipulative advertising of “trust, unity, assurance and togetherness” fall flat, are not convincing, but obtrusive and off-putting. Their casting of Zelensky as the Supreme Arbiter and Ruler of the West is clearly one that appeals to Zelensky and his plutocratic masters’ egomania.

RichardD And so, the comedian might get his highest ever pay off/ show of his career in a final act as the Hero that stops everyone’s bleeding for this war, all he needs to do is having Biden committed so the US support is stopped and all is over

Kingdomcome23 “Zelensky has been promoting his ten-point peace plan, which calls for Russian forces to withdraw to borders claimed by Ukraine, to pay reparations, and to submit to war-crime tribunals.” 🤣 What is Zelensky smoking, anyway? Is he being told to say this or is he just that stupid?

Jae19821982I cannot believe so many of my countrymen still think this conflict is being driven by Russia. Its not. Its being driven by the US and the WEF (who have 60%+ of US politicians in their pocket).

freddienerk What those countries fear is not the current refugees but when Kiev regime collapses or is liquidated, millions will flee Ukraine in panic. There will be huge traffic jams as people are desperate to leave because the Kiev regime will be bankrupt and no law and order. It will be everyone trying to grab what they can, legally or not. Just like when Saigon and Kabul fell, panic and riots. So they want Zelensky to get out of the way and have someone else negotiate a capitulation and preserve security. Good luck with that! more https://www.rt.com/news/576436-zelensky-poland-us-hersh/

May 19, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear news (too much) this week

A bit of good news – What is Black Climate Week? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1YQWBoDN_w

Climate. 75 active wildfires rage in Alberta, Canada. Wildfires, heat waves in Canada, Russia, Mongolia Kazakhstan.

Nuclear. Hard to know which issue to tackle. There’s the frenzied pro nuclear propaganda (type “nuclear” into Google News and see what you get). There’s Zaporizhzhia. There’s waste. And there’s Zelensky and Ukraine – where the Washington Post forgot that its job is adulation, and quickly has to correct any suggestion that Zelensky is less than a saintly hero. USA and its lackeys (UK, Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan etc) are not actually at war against Russia. But the Western media must think that we all are, so its infra dig to publish anything other than war-mongering propaganda worthy of the WW1 British style.

AUSTRALIA. 

•   Assange and the Australian government’s persecution of alleged Afghan war crimes whistleblower. 
•   Australian Radioactive Waste Agency a “zombie measure”– no funding left by Morrison government.
•   ‘Dumb idea’: Energy minister fires at Peter Dutton’s nuclear power plan, urging him to ‘come clean’ about the facts . Boring new pro nuclear push in Australia – same old excessively optimistic arguments.  Nuclear advocates energised despite economic reality  Nuclear power at least 15 years away, says regulator. Peter FitzSimons takes aim at schoolboy campaigning for nuclear energy with scathing Twitter post, 
• Very bad advice: $368b nuclear submarines and the Federal budget.     Weakening of Australia’s nuclear prohibition laws – necessary to develop the submarines. Budget reveals cutbacks on funding for Australia’s military and navy, in order to pay $billions for nuclear submarines. This week’s budget confirms the death of Labor’s nuclear disarmament diplomacy. 
•  A Warrnambool artist recalls the physical and emotional effects of nuclear testing in Maralinga. 
•   Nuclear waste is a $476m problem even before AUKUS.

CLIMATE. How a campaign to keep fossil fuels underground is gaining traction. Weatherwatch: concerns over climate impact on UK nuclear power sites.

CIVIL LIBERTIES. Chris Hedges: Julian Assange – A Fight We Must Not Lose. Threats to journalism posed by UK National Security Bill brushed aside by Parliament.

ECONOMICS. 

•   Sowing Seeds of Plunder: A Lose-Lose Situation in Ukraine. 
•   Putin Still Selling U.S. Nearly $1 Billion in Nuclear Fuel.  UK government’s own workplace pension scheme won’t back nuclear projects. Rolls-Royce falls 6% as update lacks oomph and news on small nuclear business. 
• Counting the rising costs of Scotland’s nuclear testing facility.
• Marketing. Bill Gates, Rolls Royce, and others, in the scrum to con the UK government into buying useless nuclear reactor minitrash.

EDUCATION. Nuclear enthusiast Jennifer Granholm ‘hopeful’ about $1B in federal loans to restart Palisades nuclear plant.

ENERGY. Germany’s Nuclear Energy Phase-Out, Explained,

ENVIRONMENT. Campaigners claim permit change at Hinkley Point would kill billions of fish. What to Know About Fukushima’s Exclusion Zone and Nuclear Mutations. Japan’s nuclear contaminated wastewater dump plan a cause of concerns even for New Caledonia.

HEALTH. The terrible toll of A-bomb tests — Beyond Nuclear

INDIGENOUS ISSUES. The Quiet Warrior: Russell Jim’s Struggle Against Nuclear Colonialism.

LEGAL. New Mexico State law and multiple federal court challenges may yet block the Holtec nuclear waste project.

MEDIA. Washington Post censors its own report of interview that showed President Vladimir Zelensky in a poor light. THE NUCLEAR CLUB. Christopher Nolan’s New ‘Oppenheimer’ Trailer Sees U.S. On the Brink of Nuclear War. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CXFpWTxS3M The Women of Three Mile Island. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is3jlNhicFY

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Microsoft just made a huge, dodgy bet on nuclear fusion. Helion and Microsoft Lead World Down Nuclear Fusion Rabbit Hole, China’s nuclear ambitions get a boost from Russia, but is energy the only goal?.

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. Save our sceptred isle: NFLAs issue appeal to King over Lincolnshire Nuke Dump. UK’s Nuclear Waste Services ignore overwhelming local council opposition to siting plan for waste dump. Pacific leaders remain steadfast against nuclear waste disposal.

POLITICS 

• Nuclear power and the technocratic system are not compatible with democracy: France’s group in Grenoble that fights this system. 
• US nuclear companies urge Congress for $billions, as Russia’s nuclear industry profits from both sides of the Ukraine war . Power alert: Be wary of lifting moratorium on new Illinois nuclear plants. Robert Kennedy Jr: America needs a revolution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY89a_zXi9s  Understanding The Highly Complex World Of Western China Analysis. 
• Campaigners against UK nuclear waste dump plan claim victory in local elections. How the Greens are conquering the Tory countryside.   No more Hibakusha: Nuclear Free Local Authorities urge PM to make peace pledge at Hiroshima Summit. 

• Jamaica’s government planning for small nuclear reactors – but there’s been no public discussion. 
• Philippines unprepared for nuclear-related dangers,

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY.  The success of the Zelensky regime coming unstuck?                                                                                                                          France to host pro-nuclear meet to push for EU recognition of climate benefits.            Whitewashing history. Estonia to issue fines for celebrating WW2 victory over Nazis.              Five years after Trump’s exit, no return to the Iran nuclear deal.                                          NATO – a great predatory bird – now keen to gobble up Japan, too.

PROTESTS. 8 arrested at nuclear protest on Mother’s Day

SAFETY. Luck is not a safety plan. Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant facing ‘catastrophic’ staff shortage amid Russian evacuation. Russia orders evacuation of civilians around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant amid warnings of ‘severe nuclear accident’. Ukraine war: ‘Mad panic’ as Russia evacuates town near Zaporizhzhia plant. Risks too high at Zaporizhzhia. 

Experts urge G7 leaders to discuss nuclear security.                                                              Vogtle-3 nuclear reactor flunked cybersecurity inspections, still at 0% power (7 May)          French nuclear group Orano (previously Areva) evacuates foreign workers to Niger capital following security threat.

SECRETS and LIES. The US silence on Israeli nuclear weapons and the right-wing Israeli government.

SPINBUSTER. Missteps deliver Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez into the hands of the pro-nuclear propagandists – REPROCESSING IS NOT RECYCLING.

WASTES. 

• Nuclear’s Dangerous Waste Is ‘Rapidly Catching Up’ With Industry 
• Canada’s radioactive waste and decommissioning policy is a failure. 
• Regulator issues permit for New Mexico nuclear waste facility against wishes of  local, state, and federal leaders.  New Mexico shouldn’t be the nation’s nuclear dump.
• Prevent, protect, consult – the NFLA (Nuclear Free Local Authorities)’ three priorities for UK radioactive waste policy. Profitable industry in trying to clean up dead nuclear reactors. The Nuclear Industry Thinks It Can Get Away With Dumping Far Hotter Wastes Because Cumbria Has a Short Memory? 
• Stanford-led research finds small modular reactors will exacerbate challenges of highly radioactive nuclear waste.  
• Fukushima greets summer with dread as nuclear-contaminated wastewater dumping approaches.

WAR and CONFLICT. Leak reveals Zelensky privately plots bold attacks inside Russia.(Is his halo slipping?) Zelensky plotted attacks deep inside Russia – Washington Post. As Donetsk civilians live in constant fear of Ukrainian shelling, from on the ground, I detail the terror. 

Poland: Pentagon, NATO reach milestone in plans for direct confrontation with Russia. NATO Weapons Go Boom, British Missiles Strike Russia – Ukraine War Escalates Russia’s Nuclear-Capable Tu-95, Tu-160 Bombers Deployed Near NATO Border As Tensions Escalate With Ukraine. NATO holds submarine warfare exercise to block Russia’s entry to Atlantic . 

US Politicians Suggest Bombing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in Event of Cross-Strait Conflict.                                                                                                                        Japanese protesters call for US military to be evicted.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. Biden is selling weapons to the majority of the world’s autocracies. Britain leads the way in escalating the Ukraine war with long range missiles. US to Provide Ukraine $1.2 Billion in Long-Term Security Aid. Pentagon chief pledges Abrams tanks to Ukraine soon. 

US and Taiwan in talks for US$500 million in free weapons after arms deliveries stalled. Pentagon: U.S. deploys warplanes, warships, interceptor missiles to Europe, troops to Mexican border . Links between Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power. U.S. transfers F-22s from Poland to Estonia to “defend NATO’s eastern flank” . Pentagon wants authority to start work on new technologies without Congressional approval.

May 16, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

This week in nuclear news

Some bits of good news. I’ve been ignoring energy sources other than nuclear. But that’s hard to do this week. I’ve come to at least 3 very positive stories: Germany produces 40GW of solar, and much of it exported to other countries. Great Lakes wind power could give Ontario to 100% renewable energy.   Bristol solar farm connects directly to the grid

Climate. Record low Antarctic sea ice is another alarming sign the ocean’s role as climate regulator is changing

Christina Notes. Time for a laugh – in this sorry world.

Nuclear. Sorry – it’s no different from last week – war-mongering rhetoric. But James W. Pfister offers a timely reminder of President John F. Kennedy and Chairman Nikita Khrushchev’s joint “withdrawal from the brink” in 1962. “Both sides settled for less than a win.”

AUSTRALIA. Australian prime minister feigns concern for Assange but defends “national security” secrecy.

Labor’s serial betrayal of Australia. JOHN PILGER: Danger of war exists if we don’t speak up now. Location for nuclear submarine’s base ‘close to a decade’ away. Port Kembla May Day march rejects AUKUS nuclear submarine base plan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgL307PMWMY Unions, communities tell Labor: ‘Port Kembla is no place for a nuclear base’. Unions to march against nuclear subs, citing health risks over jobs. Port Kembla rally to demand NSW site be ruled out as Aukus nuclear submarine base. AUKUS high-level nuclear waste dump must be subject to Indigenous veto.

CLIMATE. Former Nuclear Leaders: Say ‘No’ to New Reactors,

CIVIL LIBERTIES. Julian Assange makes ‘Kingly Proposal’ to Charles III.

ECONOMICS. Newbuild: How Much of Vogtle Nuclear Plant’s Capital Costs Can Southern Recover?   Canada and Ontario are turning to nuclear energy as a green solution –Here’s the problem with that. 

  Marketing. Blaine Higgs, Premier of New Brunswick, Canada, heads to Europe to promote non-existent small nuclear reactors. The Philippines to be the South East Asian guinea pig for NuScam’s small nuclear reactors? US Sells Taiwan 400 Harpoon Anti-Ship Missiles – Profits and Provocations, Not Protection 

HEALTH. DEPLETED URANIUM: COURTS ACCEPT CANCER RISK DENIED BY ARMY. Radiation. Ukrainian soldiers train to deal with radiation as worries over nuclear plant grow.

MEDIA. Multiple US Officials Confronted About US Assange Hypocrisy On World Press Freedom Day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8osNmcVkoY Hypocritical Commemorations: World Press Freedom Day. The Antidote to Oliver Stone is Philippe Carillo’s Film “Fukushima Disaster: The Hidden Side of the Story” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBqk0OtlE8k . A nuclear Bacchanalia .

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. The danger of artificial intelligence controlling nuclear codes. A mess of different Small Nuclear Reactor Designs in UK.

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. Abolish Nukes, Kishida, G7!

PERSONAL STORIES. A life uprooted and stolen — Japanese victims speak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzaE_9l5mSw&t=83s. A Tribute to Daniel Ellsberg .

POLITICS.   

Fukushima: Only 1% of people return home despite lifting of evacuation order

UK.  

• Opposition to Sizewell C nuclear was a factor in Green Party success in East Suffolk. What’s happening with Great British Nuclear? Not Much. Now the UK government is saying they need costly large nuclear reactors as well as small ones. UK government to take 50% stake in Sizewell C nuclear project, amid legal challenge, soaring costs, and pension funds pulling out. 
•   UK government’s proposals on radioactive substances : -all of its 7 “consultation questions” should be vigourously opposed . Reply to UK government’s nuclear dump consultation – STOP Undersea Nuclear Dump NOW! 
•   MPs, Scientists Raise Alarm Over Climate Hype for Small Modular Reactor

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. James W. Pfister: Cumulative risk and nuclear war.          Biden’s leadership on nuclear disarmament to be tested in Hiroshima,

PROTESTS. Protest against investment in Sizewell C nuclear power station.

SAFETY. 

 More Than 1,600 Evacuated From Areas Near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant.          IAEA head calls situation near Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant ‘unpredictable and potentially dangerous‘. Record high water levels threaten dam near Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Evacuations spur UN watchdog concern over Ukraine nuclear plant. Disaster Fears After Explosives Found Inside Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant. 

 France’s government postpones its nuclear safety reform indefinitely. Backup generator at Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant fails, triggering special federal review. ‘Lessons not being learned’ as nuclear safety lapses rocket by a third in a year. West Hartford Preps For Hypothetical Nuclear Nightmare.

SECRETS and LIES. Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, and the ‘made men’ of the Biden administration. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken embroiled in alleged attempt to influence US officials on allegedly corrupt company Burisma.

Former CIA Officer Says Decision to Drone Attack Kremlin Was Made by the United States. Meet the Ukrainian children killed by US/NATO funding and weapons.

WASTES. What happens to the UK’s nuclear waste?    Germany’s Asse nuclear waste interim storage facility continues to cause controversy.

WAR and CONFLICT. Russia ‘very unlikely’ to use nuclear weapons, US intel chief. WWIII on the Instalment Plan. The dangers of nuclear escalation have not receded. US ‘Dangerously Close’ To Another Nuclear Missile Crisis; After Russia, China Could Respond To Deployment Of Nuke Subs To S.Korea.   As US-China Tensions Mount, We Must Resist the Push Toward Interimperialist War.   

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. The Twenty-First Century of (Profitable) War– Not Your Grandfather’s Military-Industrial Complex. Nuclear weapons may not be in Seoul’s best interest. Impending NATO inductee Finland welcomes “significant military infrastructure” from Pentagon .  

May 8, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

TODAY. Time for a laugh – in this sorry world

My thanks to Caitlin Johnstone for her jolly thought about how we good upright Westerners can destroy Russia. We’re being told by our betters, the Western experts – that the recent drone attack on the Kremlin could be   “ a false flag operation by Moscow  designed to justify more intense attacks in Ukraine or more conscription“.

So, as Caitlin observes, the logical conclusion is to send heaps of weaponry to Russia and let Russia destroy itself!

Another laugh could come from watching the gyrations of the Australian government, as it aims for setting up a high-level radioactive waste dump on Aboriginal land. (ABORIGINAL LAND is, of course, what they mean when they say ‘A “REMOTE SITE“).

The Australian government is currently fighting a legal battle against an Aboriginal group who are objecting to the government siting a radioactive waste dump on their traditional land.

At the same time, the Australian government is ever so piously saying that it wants to establish an “Aboriginal Voice to Parliament”.

May 6, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 4 Comments

Another nuclear war-mongering week in the news

A bit of good news. The Golden Rule, the first boat to protest nuclear weapons is back to inspire a new generation.

Events. 17 May Online Seminar – Beyond Nuclear “Tritium and the U.S. Nuclear Power Sector”. 18 – 28 May .12TH INTERNATIONAL URANIUM FILM FESTIVAL RIO DE JANEIRO .

Climate. The most at-risk regions in the world for high-impact heatwaves.

Nuclear. What can I say? The longest section below “Weapons and Weapons Sales” says it all. It’s the war-mongering economy, stupid.

Christina notes. Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles – a puppet of the American war industry – leading us on to WW3.

CLIMATE. Despite the dangers of climate change, UK nuclear power stations still sited on the coastline!

ECONOMICS. Preparing for War: The Global Military Budget. Nuclear vs Solar: The Race For Renewable Dominance. Marketing. UK courts Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates for investments to salvage the nuclear dream

ENERGY. EDF Q1 revenues rise but nuclear output declines.

ENVIRONMENT. Remembering Chornobyl — Beyond Nuclear. Why did Russians dig trenches in radioactive Chernobyl woods? Marine deaths prompt calls for investigation and halt into any new nuclear dump tests. Hinkley fish deterrent farce makes mockery of Environment Agency and Minister.

HEALTH. Russian troops ‘went FISHING in the nuclear reactor cooling channel at Chernobyl’ and are now suffering from radiation sickness. ‘New Zealand should say sorry’ – sailors posted to watch nuclear tests.

HISTORY. REGAN Vest: Inside Denmark’s secret nuclear bunker.

MEDIA. BBC launches 7 part series on Fukushima nuclear disaster. Fukushima nuclear disaster – new Netflix series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtB8P59xWjw Survivors of Britain’s Cold War radiation experiments to have their stories recorded.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. The age of small modular nuclear? Amid maintenance delays and strikes in nuclear industry, France restarts one reactor.

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. MPs and activists push back as Ottawa pitches expansion of nuclear energy -“a dirty dangerous distraction”.     Citizen opposition blocks discharge of radioactive water from Indian Point nuke into Hudson River, for now.             Anti nuclear campaign groups in Wales (Dwyfor and Meirionnydd) urge government to invest in energy conservation, NOT dirty nuclear power.

PERSONAL STORIES. The mind of Oppenheimer, inventor of nuclear bomb who turned pacifist. Chernobyl: Survivors reflect on nuclear accident, Russian occupation.

POLITICS. 

• . New Defence Review Further Enslaves Australia To US War Agendas. Australia pays former US defence chiefs $7000 a day for advice.  Australia being seduced into war again by the US, this time over Taiwan. 
• Biden’s team fears the aftermath of a failed Ukrainian counteroffensive. Scott Ritter: ‘Ukraine Victory Resolution’ Act – a Delusional Suicide Pact. 
• US Senators and Congress Members introduce Bill to stop A1 from power to launch a nuclear weapon. Lawmakers propose banning AI from singlehandedly launching nuclear weapons.
• Canada’s push for small nuclear reactors will be costly, ineffective, some MPs warn. New nuclear tech not the answer to Canada’s climate woes, MPs say. 

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

• Biden and South Korea’s Yoon sign new agreement on nuclear weapons. 
• France to participate in Russian Rosatom’s Hungary nuclear power plant project. Will The EU Sanction Russia’s Nuclear Industry? (I don’t think France will agree to this) 
• Pentagon-EU-NATO merger proceeds apace. New pact mandates EU honor NATO’s Article 5 collective war clause . 
• Statement by the G7 Parliamentarian Forum for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. G-7 Expected to Focus on Nuclear Dangers in Hiroshima.

PROTESTS.“We won’t be scapegoats!” — French opposition to nuclear waste dumping.

PUBLIC OPINION. Is nuclear power attractive or risky? In Minnesota, it’s both.

SAFETY Remembering Chernobyl as nuclear danger grows with attacks in the Zaporizhzhia region. Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant: a Catastrophe Waiting to Happen, Ukraine’s nuclear power plants are still a source of nightmares years after the Chornobyl disaster. Chernobyl anniversary offers a bleak look at what may await other Ukrainian nuclear plants. Russia fixing power line from Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to land it controls, IAEA says. 

Japanese authorities doubtful of removal process of Fukushima radioactive sandbags. Libya lost, then found, 2.5 tonnes of uranium – a red flag for nuclear safety.   No change to nuclear transport rules following accident down under, says regulator.

SECRETS and LIES. 

• Foiled Escape: UC Global, the CIA and Julian Assange.
•  ‘Crazy’ that Russia and Ukraine still trade – Seymour Hersh.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_2kfZKtSRg
• Once Shocking, U.S. Spying on Its Allies Draws a Global Shrug. 
• How The FBI Helps Ukrainian Intelligence Hunt ‘Disinformation’ On Social Media. 
• Sensitive files on nuclear submarine found in English pub restroom. 
• ACTION ALERT: False NYT Spy Claim on Iran Nukes Needs Correction.
• Australia Pays “retired U.S. military figure” Clapper to advance USA’s Military Aims

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. India needs ‘space-based’ weapons – top generals. Stop SpaceX from crashing rockets in the Pacific. The wrong stuff – Musk and the 4/20 rocket drill .

SPINBUSTER. Caitlin Johnstone – The Single Dumbest Thing The Empire Asks Us To Believe.

WASTES. Nuclear waste from small modular reactors – Simon Daigle comments on recent article. A means to dispose of nuclear waste remains elusive and Canada continues to store the most per capita. The long and dirty legacy of nuclear power. Plans to release nuclear wastewater into Hudson River delayed following outcry.

WAR and CONFLICT. 

• Daniel Ellsberg Warns Risk of Nuclear War Is Rising as Tension Mounts over Ukraine & Taiwan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RAxEnqZt3w 
• US deployed Nuclear Disablement Teams to S. Korea in March.
• Russia is preparing to defend Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. 
• NATO drills fifth-generation warplanes for all-domain “immediate response under Article 5”. 
• Germany trains Ukrainian special forces, tank crews for attacks on Russian forces. 
• Estonia: NATO absorbs national forces on Russia’s northwest border . 
• Sardinia: NATO strike force practices war with Russia . 
• Mombasa Appeal for peace and prevention of Nuclear War – International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. 

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES.

•  UK replacing its Nuclear Warhead Programme – at what cost? UK underlines commitment to NATO nuclear capability  and a £3 billion funding uplift for the nuclear enterprise. UK Gave Ukraine Thousands of Shells, Including Depleted Uranium Rounds. 
• Will the West turn Ukraine into a nuclear battlefield? 
• US nuclear weapons modernization plan spurs cost questions. Dealing with a debacle: A better plan for US plutonium pit production. 
• US to send nuclear-armed submarines to South Korea. Kim Jong Un’s influential sister says North Korea determined to develop nuclear arsenal following US-South Korea summit. 
• Pentagon: Poland leader among NATO nations, “wonderful host” to U.S. combat forces . 
• Largest short-range missile acquisition in NATO: UK to deliver more missile batteries to Poland . 
• NATO conference pushes arms procurements for Ukraine, future wars .  
• NATO allies, partners provide Ukraine with 1,550 armored vehicles, 230 tanks . 
• Ukraine signs new contracts with Turkish drone manufacturer for “new-generation weapons” . 
• France: NATO’s rehearsal for war with Russia includes cyber, space, electromagnetic components . 
• Nuclear weapons: a big threat to Africa, too — IPPNW peace and health blog.

May 2, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

TODAY. Space X rocket – “A successful failure” – George Orwell would love it!

If only George Orwell were alive today! He would love it – Orwell, who wrote:

“It’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words.”

George Orwell tried to show us the danger of accepting sloppy, dishonest language, and how this erodes democracy.

Already we have the mantra on Ukraine and Taiwan, spreading one of Orwell’s favourites “War is Peace“, and the corporate media news happy with “Ignorance is strength.”

“Failure is Success” – this beautiful Orwellian-style phrase is right now being pushed across the media, as we learn of the obscenely expensive, tax-payer funded Star X space rocket launch. So successful that it lasted a full 3 minutes before it exploded!

Wake up people – we are all being taken for a ride by the space-nuclear-weapons establishment – for a pointless aim of USA ruling space and colonising Mars

Meanwhile people are homeless, children go hungry, and global heating rampages on.

And we’re supposed to rejoice at this disgusting rocket “success” !

April 22, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 3 Comments

Nuclear news – week to 17 April

Some bits of good news :    What went right this week: malaria progress, animal comebacks, and more.

Webinar Is New Nuclear a Smart Climate Solution? Thur. Apr. 27, 7 – 8:30 p.m. ET  https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/is-new-nuclear-a-smart-climate-solution-tickets-605041444247    Watch online OR attend at the Ottawa Quaker Meetinghouse, 91-A Fourth Ave. Ottawa.

Coronavirus. While the latest versions are highly infectious, the number of recently reported deaths world-wide has decreased by 30%. However  increases in reported cases and deaths were seen in the South-East Asia and Eastern Mediterranean regions, and others, including Australia. Australian results show that 80-5% of deaths were in people with pre-existing chronic conditions. Pre-existing bad health may be the major problem, as with influenza and even “the common cold”.  I am thinking now that at present, Covid-19 is not at the same level of seriousness as climate and nuclear

Climate.  The poles are the ‘canaries in the coalmine’ of the climate crisis.  Seas have drastically risen along southern U.S. coast in past decade .

Nuclear.  The global nuclear lobby is having a little hissy fit about Germany. Despite all sorts of pressure from nuclear companies and their bought politicians and media, on 15 April, Germany stuck to its agenda – and finally shut down all nuclear power 

Christina notes. Shouldn’t we all get out of nuclear, before the next nuclear failure (whether it be financial, security, accident, pollution ………)

CLIMATE. Nuclear disasters could leave a lasting legacy of contaminants in glaciers.

ECONOMICS. The Pros And Cons of Modular Nuclear Reactors. One German company persists with nuclear power -interests in reactors in Sweden.

EDUCATION. Universities and the AUKUS Military-Industrial Complex. 

ENERGY. 16% of France’s power supply blocked amid protest – as nuclear reactor maintenance disrupted.

LEGAL. Lawsuit seeks to uphold closing California´s last nuke plant. Ciaron says he was arrested for trying to give ‘the key to Julian Assange’s cell’ to Joe Biden.

MEDIA. Media falsely blames Russia, as Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) target Donbass towns with illegal “butterfly” cluster mines..

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. ITER fusion: $16-million-a-second and no electricity. Massive undersea works to commence for HinkleyPoint C nuclear project.

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. Local Indigenous peoples protest possible licence renewal for world’s largest uranium mine.

POLITICS. 

• Progressive Democrats Urge Attorney General To Drop Charges Against Julian Assange https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaomrxxL4Zw    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyekPpdjAaU
• A new era’: Germany quits nuclear power, closing its final three plants. German nuclear phaseout – a victory of reason over the lust for profit. Germany’s phaseout of nuclear power is irreversible. Germany’s Greenpeace celebrate nuclear phaseout. German government rejects new call to delay nuclear shutdown. 
• Leaks confirm that Biden admin has lied about Ukraine. 
• Friends of the Earth accuses the Australian Government Industry Department of blatant racism in its Kimba nuclear waste dump plan.
• Netherlands energy experts recommend limiting energy demand, see little or no role for nuclear power, but Cabinet wants nuclear anyway. 
• U.S. Senate Weighs Big Plans for Small Reactors. Holtec seeking $300M from Michigan to restart Palisades nuclear plant.   Virginia lawmakers kill Governor Youngkin’s amendment to define nuclear energy as renewable.
• Nuclear is not the solution to our energy troubles. Nuclear storage dump opponents sweep into Theddlethorpe parish council.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

• After leak of secret documents, South Korea to raise spying allegations with U.S. 
• Finland’s NATO entry raises nuclear war stakes. Finland’s membership in NATO marks the end of the nation’s admirable tradition as a global peacemaker. 
• Macron speaks out against war with China- the furious USA reaction shows American insecurity?.

PROTESTS. German protests against Framatome’s nuclear fuel production in Lingen.

SAFETY. UN’s nuclear chief warns ‘we are living on borrowed time‘ after two landmine explosions near Europe’s largest atomic power station in Ukraine. ‘It’s time to pump the brakes on reintroduction of nuclear energy to Trawsfynydd’.

SECRETS and LIES. Corruption in the Ukraine government, as Zelensky skims $millions from USA for diesel, while buying cheap diesel fromRussia. Leaked documents expose US-NATO Ukraine war plans. ‘No Business In The Public Domain’: National Security Council spokesman Kirby Warns Journalists Not To Report On Leaked Pentagon Documents. Ukraine-Russia war – live: Damning Pentagon leak has not affected relations, Kyiv says. Westminster keeps nuclear secrets to avoid upsetting Scottish Government. Zelensky losing control of intelligence agents – media.

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. An operational domain’: Fear UK nuclear power plan for moon may lead to militarisation of space.

WASTES. 

• Law to ban high-level nuclear waste storage facility effective June. A Cold War Legacy — uranium pollution. Cleaning Up America’s Nuclear Weapons Complex (hundreds of $billions): 2023 Holtec’s Plan for Dumping Nuclear Wastewater Into Hudson River Is Paused. 
• Nuclear waste abandonment risks the dangers of amnesia. Update For Governors. 
• Concern over funding ‘stigma’ from Theddlethorpe nuclear storage. 
• Ignoring science, environmental protection and international law – G7 endorses Japan’s Fukushima water discharge plans. How Fukushima wastewater into Pacific will disrupt seafood trade. 4,200 tons of radioactive sewage sludge kept in Kanto area 12 yrs after Fukushima disaster.

WAR and CONFLICT . Two American brigades close to the Ukrainian border, but no plan, no leadership towards ending the war!. US Special Forces in Ukraine at embassy, official confirms, as Pentagon document leak probe heats up.

US troops in Taiwan ‘on the table’ if China invades, Michael McCaul says. US troops to China? Not a good idea, really. The coming war on China: the real target is the American people. 

CONTAINING THE BOMB:  Finland participated in new NATO air combat exercise over Baltic Sea — . Top of the world: Pentagon’s Ultima Thule is rebranded. 

AN ASSESSMENT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS FREE ZONES.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. 

• 83 Hiroshimas— New nuclear bombs coming to Europe and UK . 
• UK ignites new depleted uranium weapons debate . From the Manhattan Project to the Bronx Project: the toxic legacy of the nuclear age- depleted uranium. Russia warns of Ukraine weapons spillover. 
• Australia: Weapons-makers set to gain more influence in defence operations. 
• Rex Patrick on AUKUS submarines: “an astonishingly bad deal”
• Why a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East is more needed than ever. 
• The (South) Korean Nuclear Threat. 
• Poland primed to produce depleted uranium ammunition for U.S. Abrams tanks . 
• Unprecedented French war games include 14 NATO allies, nuclear carrier. 
• Russian news reports NATO to open base in Moldova near Transnistria.

April 17, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

TODAY. Shouldn’t we all get out of nuclear, before the next nuclear failure (whether it be financial, security, accident, pollution ………)?

Today the global military-industrial-political-corporate -media is awash with its sorrow and regret, and recriminations against Germany’s action in shutting down nuclear power.

However, I thought that CNN gave the whole story a pretty fair coverage, concluding with:

“There will be a moment of decision as to whether nuclear really has a future”

Otherwise, the main media felt obligated to express concerns of the nuclear lobby – that Germany is in the thrall of the evil Green Party, that nuclear can save the climate, that renewable industries can’t really succeed, that the public demands that nuclear stations stay open

Meanwhile the G7 countries are now going to discuss “the essential contribution” of nuclear energy to achieving climate and energy security!!

All this going on as the IAEA’s nuclear security chief warns that  ‘we are living on borrowed time’ after two landmine explosions near Europe’s largest atomic power station in Ukraine.

Just who is telling the truth, and who is lying about nuclear power?

Is nuclear power really clean as the industry claims?

really safe?

really effective against climate change?

really affordable? really a good investment?

really has no problem to worry about with its radioactive wastes.

really welcomed by the public?

The final shutdown of Germany’s nuclear power has led CNN to ask that remarkable question – “whether nuclear really has a future”

April 15, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment