nuclear-news

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

The week in nuclear news – to March 1

Like most people, I have not been able to keep up with the pandemic news. Figures on the incidence of Covid-19, and on deaths, seem to fluctuate.  Amidst the uncertainties about types of vaccines, new virus strains, and the anti-vaxxer movement, still there is an atmosphere of optimism.  Vaccine acceptance is rising in many countries, and health workers and many volunteers are putting in the efforts to administer vaccines , and care for those who are ill.

David Attenborough warns the U.N. Security Council –  the world risks ‘collapse of everything’ without strong climate action.

A bit of good news – Pollution in the Mississippi River Has Plummeted Since The 1980s

 

The role of the Churches in promoting the U.N. Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty.  Nuclear-weapons treaty the right way forward.

The media revels in rockets to Mars, ignores the horrible risk of plutonium pollution.

Why is the media fawning over nuclear businessman Bill Gates?  Nuclear power-not clean, not renewable – Bill Gates is wrong.

Dr Helen Caldicott on Independent Australia tells The Truth About Nuclear Power.

JAPAN. Investigative journalism – Fukushima nuclear containment system failed: this kind of disaster will happen again.  Fukushima nuclear station seismometers not functioning when latest earthquake happened.  Fukushima nuclear mess 2021 – the tasks ahead.  Fukushima evacuees on return visits find radiation signs confusing.  The Fukushima nuclear catastrophe – far from over, 10 years later.

CANADA.  What would go into the Chalk River Mound?  Opposition to nuclear dump plan for upstream at Chalk River.  Ways in which Near Surface Radioactive Waste Disposal would leak.

FRANCE.  France’s nuclear reactors’ lives to be extended beyond 40 years.  France slow to leave nuclear power, (cheaper to extend lives of reactors).

IRAN. IAEA and Iran strike three-month deal over nuclear inspections.  Iran lawmakers call for president’s prosecution over IAEA deal.  Iran talks ‘avert’ impact of nuclear inspection deadline.  Some Iranians and Israelis in full agreement on wanting to stop Iran nuclear deal.

USA.

UK.  Assange’s partner exposes ongoing denial of his legal and democratic rights,  Jeremy Corbyn – Britain Should Join Nuclear Ban Treaty and Scrap Nukes.  Labour’s nuclear weapons stance needs a rethink.   RSPB petition on Sizewell C with over 105,000 signatures shows the depth of public concern with this development – highlighted in upcoming NFLA meeting.

INDIA.  Influence of Biden administration brings peaceful push between India, China, Pakistan.

SOUTH AFRICA.  New nuclear build would face legal stumbling blocks.

EUROPE.  Radioactive dust over Europe – from France’s nuclear bomb tests in the Sahara!    Luxembourg’s continued fight against nuclear power in Europe.

ISRAEL.  Israel should come clean about the expansion at its secret nuclear weapons plant.

AUSTRALIA. Australian federal and state governments keeping laws banning nuclear power, despite Murdoch pro nuclear propaganda.  Legislation banning nuclear power in Australia should be retained.

March 1, 2021 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear, coronavirus, climate -news to 22 February

Coronavrus update:

Climate;  disinformation is rampant.   –”we have allowed governments around the world to throw away the time when we could have stopped the endless killer heat waves, fires, rising seas, superstorms, dying coral, dying everything. We let governments from Monarchies to Oligarchies to alleged Democracies endanger life on this planet, including our kids future.

If we can’t change that, we really are doomed.” – Alex Smith, Radio Ecoshock.

Nuclear – it is disappointing to me to listen to interviews with Bill Gates-  he is not questioned on his statements pushing nuclear power for climate. It seems that being a billionaire entrepreneur qualifies him for a kind of reverent belief and trust . Meanwhile, a real climate expert , Michael Mann, has just published an authoritative book on the subject.

Hunting for good news – but it’s tricky. Lots of good news on things like individuals being kind to homeless people. But there’s a dearth of news about public, government, action to provide homes for the homeless.

Nuclear lobby planning to take over the U.N Climate Change Conference.

Living longterm in radioactively contaminated areas damages our health.

On nuclear power as climate solution, Bill Gates shows alarming ignorance.  Bill Gates’undemocratic approach to climate crisis.  New books on climate change; Michael Mann versus (nuclear promoter) Bill Gates.

The “negaWatt” – the best energy is the energy you don’t use.

JAPAN.    ICAN chief urges Japanese govt to attend UN Nuclear Ban Treaty meeting.  Japan town mayor OKs restarting nuclear reactor over 40 years old– A decade after the Fukushima meltdown, this Japanese region faces a new nightmare — radioactive water in the sea. Water leaks indicate new damage at Fukushima nuclear plant.  New highly radioactive particles found in Fukushima .

EUROPE.  Nuclear industry very nervous about EU evaluation of its’green’ claims.

CANADA.  Community fights Canadian govt’s slick propaganda pushing for high-level radioactive waste dump.  Canada’s nuclear waste storage ”“cannot and will not go forward without the informed and willing consent of potential host communities”

UKRAINE.  New documentary explores Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

USA.

BRAZIL.  Global nuclear industry – rotten to the core: it’s not just Brazil.

UK.

IRAN.  Iran foiled series of assassinations planned by Israel – says Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi.  Iran vows to limit nuclear inspections if partners fail to act.

POLAND.  Germany concerned about Poland’s nuclear energy plans.

BULGARIA.  Bulgaria prosecutes former energy ministers over mismanagement of Belene nuclear power project.

SOUTH AFRICA.  South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa ignores nuclear his State of the Nation Address.  South Africa: an example of how nuclear waste costs are passed on to later generations.

ISRAEL.  Israel expands Dimona nuclear facility previously used for weapons material.

FRANCE. Significant safety incident at EDF nuclear power plant in Flamanville.

AUSTRALIA. Wise warning to Australian government to withdraw embarrassing Nuclear Waste Dump Bill.

February 22, 2021 Posted by | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

I am appalled at the idea of ”Mothers For Nuclear”

As a mother myself, I am appalled that such a group as ”Mothers For Nuclear” even exists.  Dont

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

they know about the effects of ionising radiation on women, especially pregnant women?   Don’t they know about the breast cancers, the birth deformities in irradiated areas such as Pacific atomic bomb sites, and Belarus-Ukraine, near the Chernobyl site.  No, they don’t seem to.  (Perhaps that ‘s the beauty of a narrowly S.T.E.M. education?)

Both Heather Hoff and Kristin Zaitz work at the Diablo Nuclear Power Plant.   Hoff worked as a plant operator, and now as a procedure writer.  Zaitz works as a civil engineer.

Hoff was inspired by none other than that top nuclear schill Michael Shellenberger, and by the glossy  nuclear advertising film ”Pandora’s Promise”.

They sound very sincere, but also very ignorant of the negative issues around the nuclear industry.

Why am I not surprised?   The nuclear industry is busting its guts trying to get women onside.  Their favourite thing is getting (preferably young and attractive) women into engineering, and at the top of nuclear companies.    (This is good in two ways  – good to promote the industry’s ‘gender equality’ image, and good if they muck up, as Leslie Dewan did, in her bogus claims for Transatomic’s molten salt reactor –  let a woman take the flak!)

The thing is – lots of women have expertise in biology, genetics – and an understanding of the effects of ionising radiation.  But the nuclear industry has got us all conned that these are ”soft”sciences.  So – if you’ve got ”hard” scienvce knowledge – like engineering, then you can be an authority on nuclear issues.

These two women sound very sincere – alarmingly so.

The Activists Who Embrace Nuclear Power, New Yorker, By Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow, February 19, 2021

“……… But Hoff and Zaitz work at a nuclear plant and have been flown to give talks at industry-sponsored events; Mothers for Nuclear has received small donations from others who work in the industry. There is no denying the conflict of interest posed by their employment; even within the pro-nuclear community, their industry ties provoke uneasiness. Nordhaus, the executive director of the Breakthrough Institute, wrote in an e-mail that, although he thinks Hoff and Zaitz are “well-intentioned,” nuclear advocacy should be independent of what he called “the legacy industry.” ……..
On the air, Hoff explained who they were. “Mothers for Nuclear offers a different voice,” she said. “Nuclear power plants are run by lots of men, and women have been more scared of nuclear energy. We’re here to offer the motherly side of nuclear—nuclear for the future, for our children, for the planet.”…….

To be fervently pro-nuclear, in the manner of Hoff and Zaitz, is to see in the peaceful splitting of the atom something almost miraculous. It is to see an energy source that has been steadily providing low-carbon electricity for decades—doing vastly more good than harm, saving vastly more lives than it has taken—but which has received little credit and instead been maligned. It is to believe that the most significant problem with nuclear power, by far, is public perception. ………..—the pro-nuclear world view can edge toward dogmatism. Hoff and Zaitz certainly seem readier to tout studies that confirm their views, and reluctant to acknowledge any flaws that nuclear energy may have. ……https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-activists-who-embrace-nuclear-power

February 20, 2021 Posted by | Christina's notes, spinbuster, USA, Women | 3 Comments

Nuclear news – week to 15 February

 

The Julian Assange extradition case is back in the news, As Joe Biden pushes for extradition,   What did we really expect from a Biden win?   I am reminded of an old English comedian, who explained America’s political parties:

” Well the Republican Party is the same as our Conservatives, whereas the Democratic Party is the same as our Conservatives”

In nuclear news,  Japan is alerted by a 7.3m  earthquake all too close to Fukushima nuclear plant wreck.   The systemic corruption in the industry is highlighted this week,, with the continuing saga of political crookedness in Ohio.

CLIMATE  –   the role of methane in global heating, – the Arctic, and USA’s leaking natural gas.

Some bits of good news  – 10 Positive COVID Updates From Around the World – 2021 is Looking Brighter.

‘Ecocide’ proposal aiming to make environmental destruction an international crime.

The real value of the nuclear ban treaty.

Drone swarms: coming (sometime) to a war near you. Just not today.

UK. 

USA. 

CANADA. Even a pro nuclear enthusiast admits that Small Nuclear Reactors cause toxic radioactive wastes.

ASIA.  No nukes in Asia…or anywhere.  New types of computer malaware target nuclear facilities.

JAPAN.   Powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake jolts Fukushima area.  Tremors continue in northeast Japan.  Leak at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant a concern after  Earthquake.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o51cN-oxm0o  Court orders Tokyo Electric Power Company pay ¥600 million to 271 plaintiffs.   Fukushima to Triple Wind Power Generation .

RUSSIA.  Crimea to demolish dangerous, (and never operational), nuclear power station.  Despite punishment by the government, Russia’s ‘‘Eco-Defense’ has helped to stop construction of a nuclear power plant.

FRANCE.  French nuclear attack submarine patrolling South China Sea .  No apologies from France, over nuclear bomb tests’ pollution in Algeria.

UKRAINE.  Ukraine’s complicated plan to deal with its excess nuclear energy generation.

NORTH KOREA. Expert panel reports that North Korea is relying on cyberattacks to fund nuclear weapons.

EUROPE. European Parliament calls for a halt to Belarus nuclear plant in Ostrovets.

IRAN.  Israel’s military threat to Iran. Iran calls on U.N. to respond.–Iran warned by France, Germany, UK, over uranium metal production

ALGERIA. Radioactive poisoning of the environment: France’s nuclear legacy of wastes in Algeria.

INDIA.  Amidst the trauma of the Chamoli flash floods, people recall an old lost nuclear device.

SOUTH AFRICA. Koeberg Nuclear Power Station containment buildings damaged by prolonged exposure to sea air.– Koeberg has suffered severe damage, according to Koeberg Alert Alliance.

AUSTRALIA.  Australian government’s brazen duplicity concerning Julian Assange. Australian Government could face an unwinnable legal case if Senate passes the Kimba Nuclear Waste Dump Bill,

February 15, 2021 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

This week: Not a lot happening in nuclear news, while coronavirus and climate change rage on.

It is getting harder to keep up with the coronavirus news – the fluctuating numbers regarding new cases, the comparisons between various vaccines, the good news  (Israel’s success), the bad news (new more infectious strains).

Then there’s the new preoccupation in the media about big sporting events.  In USA the Superbowl could turn into a super-spreader. The Australian Open Grand Slam tennis is watched anxiously, as an indication of whether the July Tokyo Olympics could safely go ahead.

Meanwhile it’s becoming clear that this pandemic is not going to be over quickly, that the vaccines are not a ”silver bullet’‘, and it is truly a global problem, needing global treatment.

CLIMATE. We are all too often focussing on USA, Canada, Australia, in news coverage. This week, a horror event in India brings home the impacts of global heating elsewhere in the world. Indian Glacier in Himalayan Valley Crumbles, Causing Flash Flooding. Himalayan glaciers melting at alarming speed.

RENEWABLE ENERGY.  I muse that these industries are also becoming corporate giants, encouraging endless energy use, and overconsumption of new technologies, with little care about their toxic wastes. Whatever happened to energy conservation?

Largely due to the pandemic, nuclear developments have gone very quiet –  I guess that’s one compensation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gWXFcFfN7E&t=55s       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XIW9hHTHnU

A bit of good news – Good news on ozone: world scientists make global assessment 5 February 2021.

 

Economics’ failure over destruction of nature presents ‘extreme risks’,

Nuclear power unaffordable in USA, Russia, India, France, even China, but NO SOLUTION TO WASTES.

USA and Russia extend The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START Treaty) to 2026.

Bees may be more susceptible to ionising radiation than previously estimated.

As outdated nuclear power closes down, pro nuclear shills viciously attack critics.

USA.

CANADA.  Canadian local community group opposes nuclear waste dump on farming land.

IRAN.  Zarif: compensation not pre-condition for reviving Iran nuclear deal.

CUBA.  Cuba signs up to another nuclear disarmament treaty.

EUROPE.   Increasing business and jobs in closing down Europe’s nuclear reactors, as renewable energy grows/    New Chernobyls on Europe’s doorstep?

JAPAN. In desperate economic plight, two Japanese towns willing to host nuclear waste dump.  Kepco seeks prefectural government approval to restart aging nuclear reactors.  Japan’s huge radioactive waste problem.  Research into radiocesium in forests after the Fukushima disaster: Concerns and some hope.

UK.  UK’s Infrastructure Planning Inspectorate recommends against development of Wyfa nuclear project.        Pandemic causes Britain’s Trident nuclear submarine replacement to be delayed by another year.  Aviva Investors doubtful about backing Sizewell nuclear power station.

SPAIN.  Why Spain plans to ban uranium mining.

FRANCE . Unusually damaging Mw 4.9 earthquake near several French nuclear reactors.  Unprecedented number of France’s nuclear reactors to go offline, and strikes continue.  The dangers and uncertainties in Andra’s radioactive waste disposal project in Bure (Meuse)

SOUTH AFRICA.  South Africa’s new nuclear power plan would be a costly mistake

AUSTRALIA.     Kimba Nuclear Waste Dump Bill yet again postponed in the Australian Senate.  High Court ruling a helpful precedent for opponents of Kimba nuclear dump.    Meanwhile South Australia achieved world-leading 60pct wind and solar share over last year.

February 8, 2021 Posted by | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

With Biden in power, the nuclear lobby is emboldened , and pushing its false ”climate solution” propaganda

After a lovely non-computer day in the country, I start looking through the Google news

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

on”nuclear” – and what do I find?.   Article after article on how good it’s going to be now, for the nuclear industry, the (false) climate cure, because Joe Biden is backing it!

– a few headlines :

Nuclear Backers Already Like Joe Biden

Illinois Lawmakers work on a solution to keep Byron Nuclear Power Plant open

The nuclear science path to sustainable development.

Japan says nuclear energy crucial to hitting net zero goal by 2050 .

Will France abandon nuclear power ? (a pro nuclear article)
Nuclear power the key to zero emissions .
China supports the peaceful use of nuclear energy
*******
Does everyone think that a clean, decent world is to be attained by taking the cowardly and easy way out?   We need to help workers and communities into clean industries that they can be proud of, and out of the toxic nuclear grip.   NOW!

 

February 2, 2021 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

To February 1st – nuclear news

Crisis within a crisis: Responding to COVID-19 around the world.

Climate crisis: world is at its hottest for at least 12,000 years – study.  Scientists say temperatures globally at highest level since start of human civilisation.

On nuclear news –  there’s a kind of hush, all over the world.…..     Well, I suppose that this could be seen, in one twisted way – as good news. This is the fact that the coronavirus pandemic is putting the brakes on nuclear development, in UK, and the USA.   As always, we don’t know much about its impact on Russia and China.

Still, the global nuclear lobby keeps up its unrelenting propaganda on nuclear power  as the (false) cure for climate change. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0poNgL57kc&feature=emb_title         Also distressing is the move for nuclear reactors to be permitted to operate for 100 years, a cunning, but dangerous, way to avoid costs of decommissioning them,

A bit of good news –.  Oh dear, I had trouble finding it this week – had to revert to one a few weeks back – What went right this week: hope for stabilising the climate.

 

Avoiding a ‘Ghastly Future’: Hard Truths on the State of the Planet.

The most dangerous situation humanity has ever faced – Doomsday Clock stays at 100 seconds to midnight.  Who’s next? Experts worry about East Asia and the Middle East getting nuclear weapons.  Nuclear weapons proliferation can be contagious.

Nuclear wastes – deliberately left to our grandchildren.

Why nuclear power is a bad way to balance renewable energy .

French parliamentarians nominate Julian Assange for Nobel Peace Prize.

AFRICA.  All-Africa Conference of Churches welcomes Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty.

JAPAN.  Fukushima nuclear clean-up delayed as new radioactive contamination found.  Fukushima businesses battle for survival, as few former residents return.  “The Toxic Pigs of Fukushima” a contender for the Oscar Awards.

UK.  Britain’s unaffordable nuclear power plans collapse, one by one.    Ho hum – another delay, another cost rise – for the beleaguered Hinkley nuclear power project.  Half a £billion here, half a £billion there – the costs of Hinkley Point C go up again.

In its failed search for a national dump site, UK govt rebrands its nuclear waste agency, promises honesty this time.   EDF plans 2 new sites for dumping radioactive mud dredged from Hinkley Point. From both UK and Ireland – calls for independent review into dumping Hinkley nuclear mud into the sea.     Isle of Man Wakes Up to What is Planned – sub sea nuclear dump.  Huge legacy of radioactive trash in UK, much of it already in Cumbria.   It is all over for Britain’s £20bn Wylfa nuclear project.

In Burghfield, homes to built dangerously close to nuclear weapons establishment.

RUSSIA.  Russian lawmakers  approve New START nuclear treaty extension.

IRAN.  Iran rejects reversing nuclear steps before US lifts sanctions.

USA.

FRANCE.  Should France extend the life of its oldest nuclear reactors?  Use of illegal workers at Flamanville nuclear site..

TURKEY. Dire problems at Turkey’s Akkuyu nuclear Project.

GERMANY.  Get the Nuclear Weapons Out of Germany.

ITALY. Italian government lists 61 potential sites for nuclear waste dumping.

ARMENIA. Armenia’s nuclear power station a danger to Azerbaijan and the region.

CZECH REPUBLIC. Anxiety in Czech Republic about nuclear supplies from China, or from Russia

SOUTH KOREA.  South Korea considered setting up a nuclear power station with North Korea.

AUSTRALIA   Kimba nuclear waste dump issue is in limbo in the Australian Senate.  The Australian government’s Radioactive Waste Bill does not meet required IAEA standards.

February 1, 2021 Posted by | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

The week in nuclear news

Of course, the big world news is the coronavirus. Climate is as always, the vital second issue.

There was much favourable reaction to the nuclear ban treaty coming into force last week. The critics and sabotage from the nuclear weapons nations will no doubt come later.

Apart from the ban treaty, nuclear news has been very much in the background.  The global nuclear industry is not wasting this ”quiet” time, but instead is ramping up and reorganising for a 2021 propaganda blitz.

Some bits of good news –   Arctic Oil Drilling Plans Suffer ‘Stunning Setback’ as Almost ‘No One Shows Up’ For the Sale. UK Prioritizes Climate Crisis By Supporting Sustainability in Developing Countries With $4 Billion Plan.  Startup Builds 3 Huge Indoor Farms in Appalachia Turning Coal Country into Agricultural Hub

 

International Physicians for the Preve.ntion of Nuclear War comment on “The great evasion “.    Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – a major step towards a safe world. Praise from United Nations, Pope Francis, for nuclear ban treaty coming into force.  5 nuclear activities that are now Illegal under international law.  Nuclear Ban Treaty obligates countries to assist nuclear victims and remediate environments.

Russia and USA exchange documents to extend the NEW START nuclear weapons agreement.

Quietly, under the brouhaha of the pandemic, the global nuclear lobby prepares a propaganda onslaught.

Pro nuclear publicist James Conca made a very big gaffe about Fukushima disaster.

GREENLAND.  Uranium mining plunder of Greenland, and the threat to the sub-arctic environment.

JAPAN.

USA.

RUSSIA.  Russia to withdraw form Open Skies Treaty, EU concerned.  Russia welcomes US proposal to extend New Start nuclear treaty.

UK.

FRANCE.  The hidden costs of France’s old, past-their-use-by-date nuclear reactors.  Radioactive releases from the Golfech nuclear power plant accumulate downstream. Serious shortcomings in the file on Bure (Meuse) underground nuclear waste storage.  EDF collapses on the stock market amid difficult negotiations in Brussels..

CANADA.  We need parliamentarians to stop project, prevent Ottawa River from being permanently contaminated — Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area.  Canada’s nuclear regulator updates its drug and alcohol testing requirements.

IRAN.  President Hassan Rouhani has urged U.S. President Joe Biden to return America to the nuclear deal.

PAKISTAN. Pakistan test-fires nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile.

SOUTH AFRICA, South Africa the only country to have nuclear weapons, then abandon them.

MOROCCO.  Another bit of boring nuclear propaganda – from Morocco this time.

ALGERIA. Investigation of Algerians affected by France’s nuclear bomb tests.

TAIWAN.  Taiwan. Nuclear power plant referendum set to take place in August.

AUSTRALIA. Morrison government gets in early to disparage nuclear ban treaty, but Labor supports it.   Australia could sign the Nuclear Ban Treaty and still keep its military co=operation with America.

January 27, 2021 Posted by | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

Quietly, under the brouhaha of the pandemic, the global nuclear lobby prepares a propaganda onslaught

”If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. A lie told once remains a lie but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth ” – Joseph Goebbels 

This month, I’ve concentrated my efforts on the ground-breaking and historic UN Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons coming into force. Of course, the nuclear weapons states will try to destroy that Treaty.   Failing destruction, they will aim for pooh poohing and rubbishing that Treaty. Finally they’ll go for a favourite strategy – ignoring it, and hoping that the world will just forget about it.

I don’t think that the world will forget about it. The challenge will be to help those workers and communities that depend on nuclear-weapons-making to be helped out of that toxic situation, and into life-sustaining work and activities.

MEANWHILE, as media and science correctly focus on the global coronavirus pandemic, the issue of nuclear power has pretty much disappeared from view.  Nothing is happening?

Not so. Things are happening, and the nuclear lobby is busy planning a big propaganda push – a Goebbels-worthy spinfest, for 2021.

Today, the nuclear weapons industry is pretty much the only reason for”peaceful” nuclear power.  ”Peaceful nukes” provide the trained experts, the technology development necessary for the weapons industry.  If governments and universities can be persuaded to back commercial nuclear energy, this solves a lot of probems. Especially, it helps to blur the picture on the astronomic costs of nuclear weapons, as quite a lot of costs are covered by ”peaceful” nuclear development.

There’s another pressing reason to keep nuclear power going. It’s the horrible and never-ending cost of shutting down reactors and dealing with their toxic wastes.  How much cheaper to just relicense them for 100 years?    That way, the present responsible officials will all be gone, and they don’t have to worry about that problem. Heck – they’ve handed it over to our great-grandchildre,  What a fine idea!  NOT!!

Against this background, the nuclear lobby is girding its loins for the public perception battle.

Armed with lies –  that nuclear fixes climate –  that it’s cheap, is clean, works great with renewables, essential for society –  blah blah,  the nuclear lobby is preparing its onslaught. They generally try pretty hard to ignore matters like comparative costs, and wastes problems.  But they can just lie again, if put on the spot about such problems.

Just a few quotatios from World Nuclear News :-

The barrier to nuclear is perception“

”addressing perceptions of its alleged drawbacks”

Bilbao y León –  “the nuclear industry has responsibly managed all its used nuclear fuel and waste “from day one”.

“We know where every ounce of used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste is because we have been managing it throughout the history of the nuclear industry.  …….

“The real challenges to nuclear are external”  – ”small modular reactors ..cheaper, safer, better, and going to provide more discreet financial solutions” [the discreet bit is true?]

The government nuclear regulatory authorities are, unfortunately, usually well onside with the industry –  in what is known as “regulatory capture”.   Again, from World Nuclear News –

”The hurdles advanced nuclear developers face‘ – ””We, as the regulator, are working on building public trust, confidence and social acceptance in these new technologies.’‘ 

Joseph Goebbels would be proud of the skills of Sama Bilbao y Leon, Director General of the World Nuclear Association. She’s great with language (as the global nuclear lobby has realised, in appointing her, and several other women, to top promotional positions.)

January 26, 2021 Posted by | 2 WORLD, Christina's notes, spinbuster | 1 Comment

A good week coming up in nuclear news?

An eventful week coming up.  And from the point of view of nuclear issues, a good week!

On 22nd January the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will come into force.   Yes, nuclear weapons will still be there, but no longer respectable, acceptable, and no longer an attractive investment option. The humanitarian cause for ending nuclear weaponry is made clear and legal.

This week is good news, too, for the immediately more pressing problems, coronavirus and climate. The inauguration of President Joe Biden on 20th January means that the American government will suddenly take the pandemic seriously and take action. Equally important, it will take action on climate change, and will rejoin the world in the Paris climate treaty.

The new administration under Biden will not play nuclear war brinkmanship, as Donald Trump did  –  (remember ”fire and fury”).  There is hope for some rational negotiations internationally on arms control.

However, as Obama was, Biden will be firmly in the grip of the nuclear lobby.  You don’t get to be President of the United States unless you have the backing of the nuclear industry.

Some other bits of good news – Stories of change from children in the Asia-Pacific  .

Catholics welcome Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons coming into force.

Global nuclear policy is stuck in colonialist thinking. The weapons ban treaty offers a way out.

Scientists must tell the truth on our consumerist, ecology-killing Ponzi culture.

Nuclear power, too inflexible, is in conflict with sustainable development goals.

Investigative journalism – ‘Mini-Nukes, Big Bucks: The Interests Behind the SMR Push.

Hydrogen from wind and solar systems could be the ultimate solution to the planet’s pollution problem..

JAPAN.

Investigative journalism – Thyroid cancer at ages 0 and 2 at the time of the nuclear accident-Health survey in Fukushima Prefecture January 2021. 

Why Japanese people should say ‘Sayonara’ to nuclear energy- a nun’s voice for nuclear victims.  13.7 million sign petition urging all nations to ban nuclear weapons.

USA. 

CANADA. Why Won’t Canada Back a Nuclear Weapons Ban?  Small modular reactor plan bolsters nuclear industry‘s future, but renewables could address energy issues now.  Big doubts on small nuclear reactors – on economics, on waste problems.  New consultations in Ignace, Ontario, over nuclear waste site.

EUROPE. While European organisations discuss nuclear wastes, UK unveils plan for Cumbria waste burial

UK.

INDIA.  India must oppose dumping of radioactive waste into the Pacific, but IAEA and Indian govt downplay the dangers.

RUSSIA.  Russia eager to salvage START nuclear weapons treaty, once Biden is USA president . The horror of Russia’s nuclear submarines and nuclear trash dumped at sea.

ISRAEL. Israeli Defence Force drawing up plans to strike Iran’s nuclear program.

CZECH REPUBLIC.  Czech government plans to impose nuclear dump on municipalities against their will.

IRAN.  Iran tests missiles under apparent watch of US nuclear sub.

FRANCE. France says Iran is building nuclear weapons capacity, urgent to revive 2015 deal.

BELARUS. Belarus Nuclear Plant Taken Offline After ‘Protection System Activated’.

AUSTRALIA.   How will Entry Into Force of the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty impact non weapons states parties, including Australia?

Why did ANSTO shut down National Medical Cyclotron, that made medical isotopes without nuclear waste?  ANSTO gets a blank cheque for its nuclear waste production at Lucas Heights?  Because ANSTO shut down cyclotron, Australia has the problem of importing a short-lived medical isotope.

Australia’s environmental scientists intimidated, silenced by threats of job loss.

 

January 18, 2021 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

to 11 January – nuclear news this week

Midst all of the Trumpian circus, and the dire problems of the pandemic, it’s hard to find news about the underlying grave problems of the climate. I did vow to stay off that subject.  But that’s hard to do, when global heating has accelerated over 2020, when it should have been a cooler year, with La Nina prevailing.   Not only accelerating – climate change is here with us. The Earthbound Report lists 10 big impacts in 2020.

But – to return to the nuclear, it hasn’t been just a background problem lately, as the Washington mayhem raises anxieties about Donald Trump’s finger on the trigger of nuclear war.

A bit of good news – The good news hidden within one of America’s darkest weeks

Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: The Road There and the Road Ahead.  Beatrice Fihn: How to implement the nuclear weapons ban treaty.

Multinational effort could help solve U.S.-Russia nuclear issue.

Geopolitics Of Nuclear Generation Delayed Renewables By Decades To Fossil Fuel Industry Benefit, Our Detriment.

Ten compelling reasons to stay away from nuclear power .

Judge’s refusal to extradite Julian Assange is still part of cowardly process to deny freedom of information.

JAPAN.   High court drops TEPCO’s appeal against order for compensation to affected Fukushima worker.  Radiation levels at Fukushima plant found worse and more lethal than previously assumed. Only 30% of Fukushima residents happy with disaster recovery progress.

INDIA.  Military strategy relying on nuclear weapons – a dangerous myth.

CANADA.  Canada vocal about nuclear disarmament, but silent about the Treaty for Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.  Canada shows how nuclear reactors are not needed for production of technetium-99m.    Creating jobs and community opportunities -Pickering City Council wants immediate dismantling of nuclear station.

UK. 

USA. 

ITALY. Seven regions in Italy to take legal action against plan for nuclear waste dumping.    Beautiful Italian regions furious at sites recommended for nuclear trash.

IRAN. Iran will expel U.N. nuclear inspectors unless sanctions are lifted.

NORTH KOREA. Kim Jong Un signals plans to develop new nuclear weapons.

INDONESIA.  Indonesia’s nuclear ambitions could prove disastrous for the Southeast Asian region.

FRANCE.  France’s declining nuclear production.  Nuclear in France: why bother? This technology is on the way out.  France conducts enhanced thermonuclear missile test.  Government control over nuclear and radiation information; firing of sociologist Christine Fassert.

ISRAEL.  Restoring Iran nuclear deal is good for Israel.

LEBANON.  Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief says nuclear button with “crazy fool” Trump.

AUSTRALIA.  Australian govt has quiet nuclear deal with China, but condemns Victoria-China medical research.

January 11, 2021 Posted by | Christina's notes | 3 Comments

Nuclear news for the first week of 2021

“News” is by its nature , all about the bad stuff, while the majority of people, trying to live a decent, co-operative, life, are not reported. No surprise the, that 2020 news has been all about the bad stuff.

And bad it has been, and still is, with world-wide coronavirus cases heading to 90 million, and economic disruption resulting from the situation. At the same time, global heating moves on inexorably, with polar ice melting changing the world ecosystem.

The pandemic and global heating have been, still are, the defining problems of our time.  BUT, the nuclear danger is equally important, and it is the one that could be addressed, if the deceptive propaganda of the nuclear industry were to be countered. The industry has done a great job of keeping its issues out of the public eye, with its subtle theme that only technical experts can have an opinion.

That’s why, reluctantly, I decided to concentrate on nuclear issues, and leave those other critical topics to the media.

This month is especially important, with the coming into force of the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, on January 22.  There will be voices rubbishing this Treaty. But it complements existing agreements, and most significantly it will make nuclear weapons look, (like chemical and biological ones), unacceptable and immoral as well as illegal 

Some bits of good news  -Amid 2020’s gloom, there are reasons to be hopeful about the climate in 2021.

What went right in 2020:  some big wins for the environment, society and culture, human rights, even health.

 

Legal case on extradition of Julian Assange is an alarming precedent for freedom of speech.

Pandemic, climate, nuclear weapons – lessons for survival in 2021.This is the sort of letter that citizens need to be writing – in support of the nuclear weapons ban.

Mary Olson on the 6 mentors who guided her on gender and radiation study.

The Nuclear Industry’s Really Bad Safety Analysis.

How the USA and Soviet Union planned to use nuclear radiation as a weapon.

Get ready for a 2021 barrage of pro nuclear spin, from a desperate industry.

JAPAN. Fukushima nuclear clean-up hugely affected by discovery of lethal radiation levels.   Tokyo Olympics Impossible.  Never give up! 95 year old Hibakusha welcomes the UN nuclear ban treaty.  In March 2011 Japan’s government considered evacuating the then Emperor Akihito further away from Fukushima.

USA.

Plowshare anti nuclear-weapons activists again face prison . Joe Biden must end the cover-up of, and the huge money to, Israel’s nuclear weapons.  Nuclear Command and Control: Session 3 of the Congressional Study Group.  LGBTQ Activists Jump Into the Atlantic to upport Treaty banning nuclear weapons.  Biden Wants US Back in Iran Nuclear Deal (Video).

Doubtful that aging Los Alamos National Laboratory could safely produce plutonium triggers, no matter how much funding it gets.

UK. 

POLAND.  Trump’s nuclear construction deal with Poland – strained with Biden victory ?

SOUTH KOREA.  South Korean government to cut nuclear power generation.

CANADA.  Small modular reactor plan – a dangerous distraction from climate change action.  The gigantic Chalk River Mound (the so-called ‘NSDF’) would not reduce Canada’s radioactive waste liabilities and could in fact increase them.

INDONESIA.  In Indonesia – small nuclear reactors as a prelude to nuclear weapons?

SLOVAKIA.  Slovakia: Krško nuclear power station shut down as a precaution after quake.

TURKEY.  Turkey’s aspirations to become a nuclear weapons power.

RUSSIA.  How a Soviet spy helped to avoid nuclear war

AUSTRALIA. The Australian government’s shameful record in the Kimba nuclear dump fiasco.  The decay of mainstream media in Australia – and the rise of new independent media.

January 4, 2021 Posted by | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

9 of the important nuclear stories of 2020

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

In the news media, nuclear news has today gone very quiet.

Of course, it’s not only the “festive” season, but more importantly, the global tragedy of pandemic that is afflicting the lives of so many millions of people. In turn, the economic disruption is affecting society, and grinding down activities, including nuclear ones.

Today, even the advertorials promoting small nuclear reactors,, fusion, and the “need” for more nuclear weapons have gone quiet.

So, it seems a good opportunity to revisit some of the many significant stories of 2020.  So, below this post, I’m listing just 9 of these.

December 29, 2020 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Briefly, nuclear news this week

The good news from 2020: 10 sunny stories from an otherwise dark year.

In ‘Huge Victory for Polar Bears’, Court Rejects Arctic Offshore Drilling Project.  U.S. “climate mayors” are hopeful that a Biden administration will help cities accelerate progress toward climate goals.

 

The Madness of Nuclear Deterrence.

Nuclear power ridiculously expensive and uncompetitive – the market has spoken.

ARCTIC.  Russia marketing small nuclear reactors to the Arctic , (who cares about the toxic wastes?).

JAPAN.  Fukushima nuclear debris removal to be delayed due to pandemic.

USA.

UK. Unacceptable secrecy by the nuclear industry in Sizewell documentation.  UK’s quest for nuclear fusion.  No acknowledgment, no compensation, for a British nuclear test hero.

EUROPE. Chinese demands on nuclear power investment complicate EU talks.  Marketing nuclear technology to Slovakia.

UKRAINE.  Are forest fires unlocking radiation in Chernobyl?  Dredging of the Pripyat river poses danger of Chernobyl radioactivity to drinking water of 8 million people.  Storage of Chernobyl nuclear waste – in reality unsafe for 1000s of years.

SOUTH KOREA.  South Korea: mayors and governors of all 17 major cities and provinces call on Japan not to dump Fukushima radioactive water into the ocean.

NORTH KOREA.  Economic crisis forces North Korea to put new nuclear parade facilities on ice..

BELARUS.  EU visit to Belarus nuclear plant called off, deepening safety concerns.

IRAN.  Iran nuclear deal: ‘Heated rhetoric and the heightened risk of miscalculation’ widen differences.

CHINA.  China rejects reports of hitch in investment pact talks with EU.

RUSSIA.  Russia keenly marketing nuclear technology to Bolivia.  Russian Army Chief Warns of Nuclear Risks in Cyber Hacks, Space .  Russia’s nuclear-powered ice-breaker in trouble.

AUSTRALIA. Curiouser and curiouser – the dishonest acrobatics of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)

December 28, 2020 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear news – week to 22 December

‘Tis the season to be jolly.  But, honestly, I can’t.  If you want to know what’s really going on in this human-species-afflicted planet, I recommend Radio Ecoshock.  Here you will learn about  Climate Collapse & The Plastic Plague

It’s not about some distant future problem. It’s about now, and how we are living on a trashed planet.  And we’re and adding more to this with all our festive junk and unnecessary gifts.

Having said that –    there are so many good people trying to clean up, and keep clean, our fragile planet.   For some examples – I recommend  99 Good News Stories From 2020 You Probably Didn’t Hear About.

Also, I am reading “The Good Germans – resisting the NAZIs  1933 – 1945“, by Catrine Clay. I find this book a very timely reminder that in very worst of modern times, there were so many people who saw evil being done, and resisted it, and also helped the persecuted, as best they could.

 

Sleepwalking Toward the Nuclear Precipice.

The insanity of nuclear power in space.

About writing about the nuclear crisis. We’re in a storytelling crisis”: Advice for writing on nuclear issues, from the author of “Fallout”.

Unveiling New Billboards: “Nukes Are Now Illegal!” (Nuclear Weapons) .

AUSTRALIA. 2020 in Australia – a successful year for resistance to nuclear pollution.

CANADA.  Canada’s Small Modular Nuclear Reactor ‘Action Plan’ banks on private sector nuclear pipe dreams.    NuScale exultant that their scam small nuclear reactors have conned the Canadian government.  Many Canadian organisations dispute the government’s plan for small nuclear reactors.

JAPAN.

75% of the Japanese public want Japan to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.  Major Japan life insurers shun investing in nuclear weapons-linked firms.

Uninhabitable:   Booklet by citizen scientists uncovers true extent of radioactive contamination in Japan’s soil and food.

2 million yen ($19,300) incentive for families to move to near crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Investigation of mass alterations of data on nuclear safety by Japanese company.

Mutsu Mayor Soichiro Miyashita made it clear that spent nuclear fuel facility will not go ahead.  44 year old Mihama nuclear station, with waste disposal problem may be allowed to restart.  Nuclear waste plan spells doom for a Hokkaido fishing community.

UK. 

USA. 

CHINA.  China has 350 nuclear warheads, compared to USA and Russia’s many thousands of them.

RUSSIA.  Russian environmental defenders under attack.

IRAN.  World powers renew commitment to preserve Iran nuclear deal.   Iran’s Rouhani: No conditions or negotiations on nuclear deal.  Iran builds at underground nuclear plant.   Iran Rejects New UN Report over Nuclear Violations.  West yet to condemn Iranian nuclear scientist’s assassination.

US Navy nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine and 2 warships sail through Strait of Hormuz, (Persian Gulf-Gulf of Oman).

EUROPE.  European Leadership Network appeals to nuclear weapons States to reduce nuclear risks.

UKRAINE.  34 years later, food crops near Chernobyl still contain ionising radiation.

TURKEY.  Turkey’s unfinished nuclear plant already redundant.

DENMARK.  Big boasts for small nuclear reactors on ships – but are they a recipe for disaster?

JORDAN.   Did a research reactor in Jordan leak?

December 22, 2020 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries