nuclear-news

The week in nuclear news

Huge clean-up tasks face areas affected by Super Typhoon Mangkhut and Hurricane Florence. In the many reports of these extreme weather events, climate change is rarely mentioned. Also played down is the effect on the nuclear industry. Thankfully, there seems to have been no big nuclear disaster. But there is little or no coverage of the effects on hazardous radioactive waste dumps.

Investigative journalism: Authorities deceive the public on radiation from Fukushima Daiichi

Sea levels could rise by up to 30 feet, due to Antarctic melting.

U.N. looks forward to more countries signing and ratifying nuclear ban treaty.

Civil and military nuclear industries locked in dependence on each other.

Heavy radiation effect on astronauts to Mars – now can be measured.

The big lie of ionising radiation hormesis.

NORTH and SOUTH  KOREA . Peaceful agreement between North and South Korea – but little of substance on denuclearization.  North Korea is willing to allow outside inspectors to check its closed nuclear weapons test site.

IRAN and ISRAEL. UN is being pressed by Iran and Israel – each wanting action against the other.

JAPAN. Tepco to build finally extra sea wall to reinforce Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.  Fukushima United Nations OHCR report update 18th September 2018 IDP. Japan tries to dilute tritium danger. Massive flow of money into Japanese coal and nuclear power.

CANADA. The second nuclear industry stillbirth – Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs). Canada’s Brookfield in talks with Toshiba, about buying British new nuclear init NuGen.

EUROPE. Big companies including Facebook, Google and Microsoft not supporting EU’s plan for more ambitious climate change goals.

USA.

• Trump to address U.N. on nuclear non proliferation (pardon my mirth) $13 billion space military force for USA?
• Trump keen to have Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia to speak at UN nuclear meeting.
• USA Democrats’ Bill to ban new low-yield nuclear weapons.
• Effect of Hurricane Florence on nuclear power stations – ruins the Trump administration’s case for supporting nuclear power.  Electricity being restored to Brunswick nuclear power station in North Carolina flooded area. As flooding recedes around Brunswick nuclear power station, NRC considers when it can restart.  Emergency lifted at Brunswick nuclear plant.
• The danger in transporting nuclear wastes to just a “temporary” nuclear morgue.  EnergySolutions wants exemption from Utah law restricting import of depleted uranium.
•  Cost of Georgia’s Vogtle nuclear power project is becoming a big worry to law-makers. Vogtle Nuclear Power plant – last hope of the industry, might not be completed: opposition grows. U.S.Cogress seeks funds to compensate communities affected by nuclear power plant shutdowns.
• USA Bill to allow private-public partnerships for new nuclear power technologies.
•  California law to protect workers, community and environment, as Diablo nuclear power plant to close.
• Exploding Michael Shellenberger’s extraordinary sales pitch for nuclear weapons.
• Hanford: Plutonium a risk to humans and environment for thousands of years.
• Renowned Uranium Film Festival 2018 headed for the American SouthWest.
• Radiation oncologists and conflicts of interest.

FRANCE. French nuclear industry in turmoil, – inadequate welds at Flamanville nuclear reactor. The EPR, France and EDF’s nuclear nightmare.

French court orders EDF to release risk analysis about Hinkley nuclear project. It’s not too late to stop it. Financiers desert France’s EPR nuclear power plan for UK’s Hinkley Point C project.

UK.

• UK’s fleet of nuclear submarines: infrastructure supporting it is no longer “fit for purpose”.– UK Government delayed scrapping potentially unsafe nuclear submarines in bid to cut costs.-
• “I’ll fight tooth and nail” to salvage Moorside nuclear power project – says NuGen chief.
• Britain’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority partnering with Japan Atomic Energy Agency.
• Scottish peace campaigners pressing big financial institutions to divest from nuclear weapons.
•  Judge calls for developers to clarify whether Hinkley radioactive mud dumping is covered by an environmental impact assessment (EIA).  UK: Labour parliamentarians raise concerns about Nuclear plant mud dumping. EDF subsidiary NNB Generation Company (HPC) Ltd argued that Hinkley nuclear station mud dumping near Cardiff did not need an environmental impact assessment.
• Frazer-Nash, engineering consultants, going for new nuclear power in a big way.

INDIA. Community in Madhya Pradesh protest against proposed nuclear plant .

BELGIUM. Engie warns on profit following Belgian nuclear outages. Five Out of 7 Nuclear Reactors in Belgium Halted – National Regulator.

MALAYSIA. A good move – Malaysia rejecting nuclear energy.    Theft of radioactive materials.

CHINA. Typhoon Mangkhut headed straight for 2 Chinese nuclear power stations.

SLOVAKIA. Several nuclear reactors in Slovakia are out of operation.

September 22, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

The merging of climate and nuclear news this week

News media seem rivetted on Hurricane Florence now affecting USA’s Carolina states.  Meanwhile there’s much less coverage of the much greater Typhoon Mangkhut afflicting the Marshall Islands, Guam, and soon the Philippines and Chinese coast.

Hurricane Florence, though now downgraded to Category 1, still threatens at least 9 nuclear waste sites and at least 12 operating nuclear reactors.

The Marshall Islands, already having radioactive leaks, are even more threatened, with the nuclear waste tomb located there.

Crisis of heat across the planet.   Scientists are now establishing the links between climate change and these extreme events.

‘Hothouse Earth’ could become irreversible. U.N.Secretary General- world is at a defining moment for action on climate change. Bangkok climate talks a ‘limited’ success. Next international climate meeting in Poland in December.

Nuclear power uneconomic, investments driven by needs of nuclear weapons industry. Now even the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports a dim view of nuclear energy’s future.

Radiation the biggest of many hazards to space flight to Mars.

USA.

• Hurricane Florence the biggest challenge yet to North Carolina’s Brunswick nuclear power station. Brunswick Nuclear Power Station’s “Cliff Edge” Barriers Appear To Fall Almost 8 Feet Short Of Required Storm Surge Protection Level. North Carolina nuclear stations- danger of spent nuclear fuel over-heating , in the event of an accident.  Nuclear authorities make reassuring noises about Hurricane Florence, and don’t mention radioactive waste dumps.
•  Wildfire burns at Hanford nuclear reservation.
• More $millions for nuclear weapons in US spending bill. American politicians pushing to have tax-payers fund new nuclear. New sanctions on Chinese and Russian companies, over North Korea nuclear program.  U.S. Navy Conducts Military Exercises in Gulf Amid Iran Tension.
• JEA and the city of Jacksonville sue to get out of Georgia nuclear contract. New Jersey’s nuclear subsidy means a loss to electricity consumers.
•  Exhuming nuclear trash in Idaho. Critics becoming more concerned about safety issues in Texas nuclear waste storage plan.

UK.

• Julian Assange‘s future safety hangs in the balance.  Prof. Chris Busby`s home has been raided by … everyone. European Court of Human Rights finds UK’s bulk surveillance powers to be illegal.
• Under cover of darkness, EDF dumps 2,000 tons of ‘nuclear mud’ near Cardiff. Legal challenge to Hinkley nuclear mud dumping off Cardiff. Hinkley nuclear deal with union – work will continue in the event of a worker death accident.   Hinkley Point C and Sea-Level Rise .
• UK government rejects the call to guarantee funding for Moorside nuclear power project. Cumbria business chief in a stew over possible abandonment of £15bn Moorside nuclear project.  UK’s Moorside nuclear power project now teeters on the edge of collapse. UK consumers could pay for new nuclear power plants years before they are built.
• UK’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is NOT backing Small Modular Nuclear Reactors.
• From 1948-till now -UK’s Springfield nuclear plant’s radioactive discharge continues into River Ribble UK’s nuclear wastes- the clean-up will be a bonanza for nuclear companies. UK’s House of Lords show complete contempt for even thinking about, or discussing nuclear waste problem.

JAPAN. The Fukushima nuclear crisis: How communities, doctors, media, and government have responded. Informal Labour, Local Citizens and the Tokyo Electric Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Crisis.

FRANCE. France’s aging nuclear reactors. State owned corporation EDF plans to keep them going, despite France’s phaseout policy. French government to scrutinise nuclear costs: current European pressurized reactor (EPR) project not economic. Despite glut of uranium fuel AREVA – now called Orano, to start a huge new uranium conversion plant.

NORTH KOREA. North Korea now emphasising economic development, not nuclear might.

IRAN.  Iran honored its nuclear deal. But Trump’s sanctions could plunge the region into conflict

September 15, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

To 8th September – nuclear and climate news

Japan acknowledges that prolonged exposure to ‘low level’ ionising radiation caused the cancer death of a Fukushima nuclear worker, and compensation will be paid to his family. This is the first time that the Japanese Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry have ruled on a radiation-caused death.

This will no doubt upset the nuclear lobby, who like to say that only high level radiation is harmful. It’s like the tobacco companies suggesting that only smoking 100 cigarettes a day would cause lung cancer – a few a day would be harmless, or actually good for you.

In fact, worker deaths from low level radiation have been reported many times, notably in the USA research by McClatchy News, which recorded 33,480.

Nuclear power: molten salt reactors and sodium-cooled fast reactors make the radioactive waste problem WORSE.

Nuclear reactors shutting down faster than ones are being built.

Climate change talks – in Bangkok – which sinking below rising sea

Rising CO2 levels could push ‘hundreds of millions’ into malnutrition by 2050.

JAPAN.

• Hokkaido’s Tomari NPP using emergency generators after powerful M6.7 earthquake. Japan nuclear plant’s power restored after quake triggers Hokkaido blackout.
• Fukushima episode of Netflix’s Dark Tourist sparks offence in Japan.  Fukushima government considers action over Dark Tourist episode.
• Japan holds public hearings on what to do with growing amounts of radioactive water from the ruined Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
• Mainstream media carefully avoids mentioning the typhoon danger to Japan’s nuclear power stations and waste dumps.
• Nuclear reprocessing has little future in Japan, as utilities end funding.

UK. A report on Sellafield highlights the likely nuclear damage to Ireland. Spinning’O-Wind Turbine captures wind from any direction.

RUSSIA. Russia’s nuclear wastes, and the clean-up of Andreeva Bay .

USA.

• If Democrats take over Congress in November, there’ll be cuts to USA’s nuclear weapons spending.  USA and Russia – in 20th Century -devised hideously elaborate ways of blowing each other up. A National Campaign Emerges to Prevent Nuclear War.
• Duke Energy rules out any new nuclear plants in its long range plans. Companies Orano – formerly AREVA, and Holtec aim for private-public partnerships on USA’s nuclear wastes.  The economic pain of nuclear power station closures.
•  Tropical storms pose danger to America’s nuclear power stations.

NORTH and SOUTH KOREA. Third summit this year between Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un.

GERMANY. New highs for solar power generation in Germany, as extreme heat shut nuclear and coal plants.

AUSTRIA. Austria continues its legal action crusade against nuclear power in Europe.

September 8, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Christina's notes | 5 Comments

The week to 3 September, in climate and nuclear news

Melting permafrost in Alaska reveals ancient fossils and artifacts. Container ships can now save lots of time, going via a new shipping route through the Arctic. New mining opportunities in Greenland. Americans will be able to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildl.ife Refuge.

Ain’t it all great? Not really. The melting of the Arctic is a global horror story. Is anyone noticing? Does anyone care?  That is the question that our children and grandchildren will be asking.

Bangkok Climate Talks: time to deliver on Paris rulebook. El Nino weather is made more extreme because of climate change.

Media about climate change must address the social impacts, and respect refugees.

UK, USSR, and US soldiers paid the health costs, as guinea pigs for nuclear bomb blasts.   Cosmic ionising radiation is a threat to pregnant flight crew members.

ARCTIC. Arctic sea ice under threat from warm water that has arrived deep below it.

JAPAN.   Fukushima. Opposition to release of Fukushima radioactive tritium water into the sea; longterm storage the better option. Release of tritium-tainted water into sea is opposed by Fukushima fisheries group.  Japan might sue journalist over his coverage of Fukushima, in Dark Tourist series. Japan’s municipalities in growing rejection to hosting nuclear waste dumps.  Fukushima to remove controversial statue of child in radiation protection suit.

Water leak in Japan’s unfinished Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing plant.   Nuclear fuel soon to be removed from Japan’s failed Monju fast breeder reactor. Japanese students submit nuclear abolition petition to UN. Nuclear waste briefings in coastal areas. Japan revises guidelines for earthquake probabilities.

IRAN. U.N. watchdog says Iran continues to comply with nuclear restrictions despite U.S. pullout.

MARSHALL ISLANDS. The woman who tore up the curtain of silence.

USA.

• Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen’s involvement in shady deals to secure huge funding for nuclear project
• USA negotiations with North Korea may be on the verge of breakdown
• Karl Grossman on the nuclear weaponisation of space.
• Terrible sickness price paid by Americans for 1,032 nuclear bombs the govt dropped on America.
• Trump administration partners with weapons contractors, removes Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board power to oversee worker safety.
• Agreement for USA commercial nuclear power to provide tritium for nuclear weapons.
• USA scales back emergency zones for Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) to try to make them affodable.
• Safety measures for America’s nuclear weapons complex to be unravelled.
• A second Hanford radioactive waste tunnel in danger of collapse. Westinghouse nuclear fuel factory – more leaks discovered.
• Slow death of nuclear power, leaving stranded radioactive trash.
• Call for immediate removal of nuclear waste from San Onofre area.
• Lawmaker presses for quicker action to help military clean-up crews of USA’s 1966 nuclear accident in Spain.
• Colorado River polluted since 1969 by nuclear explosion fracturing experiments.

GERMANY. French and German anti nuclear campaigners block uranium transport.  German nuclear waste and Geoscience authorities in selection process for nuclear waste dump.    New documentary claims that Hitler had nuclear weapons ambitions, only thwarted by an accident.

SAUDI ARABIA. Saudi Arabia’s plans to make Qatar a nuclear waste dump island.

CHINA. China reaffirms commitment to no first use of nuclear weapons.  Ecological risks of China’s floating nuclear power plants in South China Sea.

TAIWAN. Taiwan to hold referendum on lifting Fukushima food ban in November.

UK. South Korea’s nuclear corporation in desperate effort to save Moorside nuclear plant project .  How a UK submarine could carry out a nuclear strike, depending on a radio programme.  Protest rally against nuclear power station mud dump.

CANADA. Following Trump, Canada and Australia go backwards on climate change action.

FRANCE. France’s Environment Minister quits in protest about nuclear and climate policy.    Resignation of France’s Environment Minister – he did not do a great deal to pull back nuclear power.

RUSSIA. Russia’s $9 billion nuclear-powered supercarrier will probably never be completed.

AUSTRALIA. Western Australia’s Traditional owners steadfast in 40 years’ opposition to uranium mining. Aboriginal Elders take action against uranium mining.

September 3, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

The week in climate and nuclear news

Putin’s “invulnerable”nuclear-powered missile lost at sea. Joins the rest of Russia’s nuclear junk there, and could be leaking radiation.

Jonathon Porritt and 60 other British writers, politicians and academics condemn the concept of a “balanced debate” about human-caused climate change. “Balance implies equal weight. But this then creates a false equivalence between an overwhelming scientific consensus and a lobby, heavily funded by vested interests, that exists simply to sow doubt to serve those interests.”

The nuclear establishment cannot be trusted on radiation. Beware of the nuclear apologists.

Renewable energy systems set to go ahead with new technology enhancing flexibility.

AUSTRALIA. Australia’s climate change policy sets a dangerous precedent for the world. Australia’s new Cabinet:  A motley crew of climate denialists and pro nuclear proponents.

JAPAN. Japan’s 2020 Olympic Games a public relations cover-up of the Fukushima fiasco, for the nuclear industry.   Risk of terrorist attacks in Japan Olympics: Japan strengthening waterfront security.  Japan’s emergency drill envisages nuclear accidents at multiple locations. Watchdog says TEPCO nuclear disaster drill ‘unacceptable’.   Big safety costs for Japan’s nuclear power stations- and costs will grow yearly.

-Japan plans to reduce its 47.3 tons of stockpiled plutonium. Fukushima: UN says cleanup workers in danger of ‘exploitation’.

FRANCE. Hot weather continues to cause lower nuclear power production in France.    Increased danger for mountaineers, as climate change melts the French Alps.

RUSSIA. Scepticism, even among pro-nukers, about Russia’s much boasted floating nuclear power plant.   Russian official threatens use of nuclear weapons in Syria.

UK. Following Brexit, UK will no longer be a member of Nuclear Fusion for Energy.  UK government outlines plans for the civil nuclear sector if Britain leaves European Union without any deal.

Continued safety worries at UK’s Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE).  Dumping of Hinkley nuclear’s radioactive mud would break the law.  Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) points out the climate change threats to proposed Bradwell B new nuclear power station.

Following Chernobyl, Britain’s District Councils’ information role was limited to PR for the government. Demolition of Windscale Pile One Stack at Sellafield.

USA.

•  Donald Trump has directed the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, to delay a planned trip to North Korea.
• USA emergency measures include preparations for nuclear attacks on 60 U.S. cities.
• The nuclear modernization program is not sustainable economically– Kristensen.  Why bother with an underground bunker? USA tests Upgraded ‘Earth-Penetrating’ Nuclear Bomb.
• Nobody wants to pay the $4.7 Billion Nuclear Bill for South Carolina’s abandoned nuclear project.
• Nevada residents strongly opposing proposed Yucca Mountain dump scheme.
• Plutonium remains in the ground below proposed Rocky Flats national wildlife refuge.
•  Small Modular Nuclear Reactors could be a costly mistake for Idaho utility.
• Hotter water forces Pilgrim nuclear power plant to half capacity.
• U.S. army increasing its investment and use of solar power.

PAKISTAN. Imran Khan and Pakistan’s nuclear bomb.

SOUTH KOREA. War fear panic is good for bunker salesmen in South Korea.

TAIWAN. Taiwan Premier encourages renewable energy, repeats commitment to phase out nuclear power.

IRAN. Britain is now contributing to upgrade of Iran’s Arak nuclear reactor.

FINLAND. Finland company looks to China’s lucrative nuclear decommissionig and nuclear waste market.

August 28, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear and climate news this week

Abrupt thaw’ of permafrost beneath Arctic lakes is irreversible – could accelerate climate change. Climate change is starting to pack an economic punch.

Nothing dramatically new in the nuclear news. Nuclear waste problems are still intractable around the world, while governments continue to promote “new nuclear” – in what looks like a sad act of religious faith.

Climate change brings risks of more devastating tsunamis. Questions about viability of nuclear power in a warming world.  Climate change threats to coastal nuclear power plants.

Asbestos fibres contain radium: lodged in a person’s lungs, this radioactivity causes mesothelioma.

Julian Assange may have to leave the Ecuadorian embassy, due to his poor health. BBC wants to place cameras in apartments opposite Julian Assange’s refuge at Ecuadorian embassy. Julian Assange should be assured of immunity before taking risk of testifying to U.S. Senate.

NORTH KOREA. A new Summit between South and North Korea. North Korea Now in Standoff With U.S.A. on nuclear negotiations.

JAPAN.  Tens of thousands rally for removal of US base off Okinawa.  Fukushima clean-up workers, including homeless, at grave risk of exploitation, say UN experts. For the first time, scientists can reliably estimate highly radioactive cesium-rich microparticles released by Fukushima nuclear disaster .

USA.

• California’s Wildfires and Nuclear Radiation –  A Personal Story.    Wildfires in USA increased due to climate change.
•  Space is to become Donald Trump’s new theatre of nuclear war. Trump administration is fulfilling the National Rifle Association’s wildest dreams. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ indictment of the Trump administration’s position on nuclear arms. Arrests of USA activists protesting against nuclear weapons.
• US Government’s own Energy Information Administration (EIA) says renewable energy is surging while nuclear is declining.
•   USA nuclear bailouts: Led by Secretary Perry, the administration continues to make false and misleading arguments.
•   $2.2 billion jump – costs soar at Georgia’s Vogtle nuclear power project.
• Senators deplore Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s plan to weaken protections on decommissioning reactors, and on wastes.
•  In less than 20 years – signs of nuclear waste cask breakdown! A ‘Fukushima waiting to happen’ – the San Onofre nuclear power station. Former NRC Chief Says San Onofre’s Nuclear Waste May Never Be Moved.
• Potential for a catastrophic nuclear tunnel collapse at Hanford, warn Tri-City mayors.
• Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and nuclear submarines: the dilemma about dismantling them.
•  Danger in transporting nuclear materials through Michigan. New Mexico State could still block Holtec‘s nuclear waste dump plan, despite federal approval.
•  Low power prices add to nuclear industry’s woes: more reactors headed for shut-down.  “Unwelcome” step towards nuclear plant closures.
• St Louis residents near radioactive wastes – high cancer risks – says Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

UK. With the unsolved wastes problem, the threats from climate change, why build new nuclear?    Mud from Hinkley Point nuclear sites may contain Uranium, Plutonium,- to be dumped on South Wales coast. UK’s “new nuclear” commitment not OK by all MPs. Waste disposal problem is the killer factor. Immediate safety changes are needed at UK Atomic Weapons Establishment.  UK compensation for nuclear workers with radiation induced cancers.  The growing costs of Scotland’s police protecting nuclear waste shipments.

CHINA. To the dismay of the global nuclear industry, China’s nuclear expansion has stalled. China aims to lead the world exporting its own nuclear reactor design

RUSSIA. Russia and China pushing to create their economic nuclear empires. Russia’s removal of radioactive barge is helped by Italian floating dock.

SWEDEN. Sweden’s Nuclear Code of Conduct under threat from populist political party.

CANADA. Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) dismisses concerns about the  aging Pickering Nuclear Station.  Cleaner, cheaper, safer, more practical – cyclotrons for medical isotopes.

SAUDI ARABIA. Saudi Arabia’s push for nuclear power and nuclear weapons ability has met an obstacle.

EGYPT. Egypt going into a huge debt to Russia for building Dabaa nuclear plant.

AUSTRALIA.   Barngarla Aboriginal people win injunction to halt nuclear waste dump vote.– Nuclear waste being shipped to Australia by company with a terrible safety record. The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) Says No To Nuclear Ports In South Australia .

ISRAEL. Radioactive sheep in Australia add evidence about Israeli nuclear bomb test.

August 17, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

To 5th August – nuclear and climate news

6th August Hiroshima 9th August Nagasaki  – so far these anniversaries are being ignored by the media. But not in Japan.   Japanese children will pass on the history of Nagasaki’s horror nuclear bombing on 9 Aug 1945

The heatwave continues in the Northern hemisphere, but rarely is that awful left-wing term “climate change”mentioned in news reports. It’s affecting all the Northern countries, though there is more news coverage about USA and Europe. Human-caused climate change made heat wave five times more likely.

Much nuclear news about the heatwave, too. The nuclear lobby’s poster boy, France, is copping it, with nuclear reactors having further cuts to their production, their cooling systems being unable to cope. Other countries’ reactors are similarly affected.

Large retrospective study shows the connection between low level radiation and leukemia.

Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) now recognised as unviable: governments still pouring money into them.

The insidious toll of climate change heat on workers, and on the economy.

EUROPE.  Centre for Security Studies explains NATO Nuclear Sharing. Nordic nuclear power plants hit by unprecedented heat wave. Europe’s nuclear reactors affected by heat waves.

JAPAN.   Ahead of Olympic Games, Fukushima nuclear power plant gets an extreme makeover. Japan’s NRA plans nuclear wastes burial at least 70 meters deep for about 100,000 years. Fukushima Unit 2 Refueling Floor Work Poses Risks. TEPCO’s Plan For Some Of The More Dangerous Work At Daiichi.  No Long Term Storage Location for Fukushima Daiichi Spent Fuel.

UK. £10bn Moorside nuclear power plant plunged into further doubt. Wylfa nuclear power to be very expensive for both taxpayers and consumers. Sorry history of UK’s Moorside nuclear project, and why it might well be abandoned.  Climate change will bring sea level rise – bringing danger to Hinkley Point C nuclear site.

USA.

• Asteroid explosion near a US early warning radar base – could have triggered a nuclear war.
• Pentagon had a plan for “dirty nuclear bombs”.
• Nevada National Security Site experiencing huge wildfire,
• Trump attorney Michael Cohen was offered $10 Million to push for a nuclear project.
• An honest accountant – had to leave SCANA nuclear project rather than tell lies.
• USA’s bailout for coal and nuclear industries could cost over $34 billion. Legal repercussions continue after two South Carolina nuclear fiascos.
• Climate change fears add urgency to environmental fight over Florida nuclear power plant.
• U.S. Navy’s $1 Billion Plan for Breaking Down Old Nuclear-Powered Carrier.
•  State of New Mexico not able to stop Holtec’s nuclear waste plans.  Las Cruces city – resolution opposing transport and storage of nuclear wastes. Wolf Creek, Kansas, to be stuck with stranded nuclear wastes for 60 years or more.

CANADA. Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) of Canada bribing struggling towns to have nuclear waste dump. Secret transport of nuclear wastes from Illinois to Port Huron?  Canadian university develops new particle accelerator to supply medical isotopes. University of Alberta’s Medical Isotope Cyclotron Facility – medical radioisotopes without nuclear reactor.

SOUTH AMERICA. Latin American and Caribbean nations lead the way towards nuclear disarmament

August 4, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

To July 28 – Climate and nuclear news

On the Australian telly news, I saw English people having a lovely time on Brighton beach, because the weather is so warm.  But I think that there’s more to the story of warm days in the Northern hemisphere. Some of the heatwave effects are not so jolly. Could it possibly have something to do with climate change? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG-GlVSKbJQ

And, by the way, Japan’s heatwave is a problem, now, in 2018. The Tokyo Olympics are planned for exactly the same time of the year, in 2020.

We Are Exceeding Earth’s Carrying Capacity.

Acidification could drastically change marine ecosystems

Global warming means all sorts of trouble for the nuclear industry.

Is nuclear power REALLY a worthwhile method of dealing with climate change?

Small Modular Nuclear Reactors – no commercial future? But they make the nuclear industry LOOK viable.

Women of child-bearing age are safer to not work in the nuclear industry.

Electromagnetic radiation from smartphones could be affecting memory performance in teenagers.

ARCTIC CIRCLE COUNTRIES Brutal heat wave brings wildfires across Arctic circle countries.

JAPAN. Japan to deploy large patrol boats to guard nuclear plants.  Japan has amassed enough plutonium to make 6,000 nuclear bombs. Japan’s biggest utility, Tokyo Electric Power Company moving from nuclear power to renewables.

NORTH KOREA. Public opinion being influenced by biased and inaccurate reporting on North Korea.

UK.

•  Impact of global warming is upon us – now!
•  National Infrastructure Commission’s landmark report calls for drastic cut in UK’s nuclear power plans. Electricite de France wants pension funds to cough up for building Sizewell nuclear project. British tax-payers’ liability in the event of a nuclear accident at Wylfa. UK’s nuclear plans mean taxpayers take on unlimited costs for any accidents, and for longterm wastes
• The Small Modular Nuclear Reactor dream could be over for Rolls Royce.
•  Bradwell Nuclear Power Station closed 16 years ago, now ready for decades of “interim” wastes.
• Scandal of radioactive particles on Britain’s beaches.
•   Renewable energy headed to be 50% of total UK electricity generation by 2025.  Optimistic report on Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon– tidal renewable energy for Britain?

CHINA. China’s plan for global nuclear dominance depends on Britain.

USA.

• Prosecuting Julian Assange – a dangerous precedent threatening journalists’ rights.
• Renewable energy ballot in Arizona may spell the end for Palo Verde nuclear station.
• South Carolina Nuclear Plant leaking radioactive uranium into ground below. St. Lucie nuclear power plant is protected against flooding—unless a flood happens.
• More US NRC Safety Related Exemptions for Holtec: Increase Risk of a Criticality Accident and are Illegal (Comment Deadline July 30th, 11:59 pm).
• Tactical nuclear weapons for U.S. submarines: why this is a bad idea.
• Protestors break into US air base housing nuclear weapons.
• Fukushima radioactive cesium particles detected in California wine.

RUSSIA. Russia’s new “doomsday” weapon works by dispersing killer nuclear radiation.

FRANCE. France’s nuclear power stations affected by extreme heat – causing restricted output. Creusot nuclear safety scandal continues with many more anomalies revealed. Further delays, costs escalations, at EDF’s Flamanville European Pressurized Reactor (EPR).

FINLAND. Warming sea water affecting cooling systems in Finland’s nuclear power station

SWITZERLAND.  Switzerland’s Mühleberg Nuclear Power Plant cuts    production because of hot weather.

VIETNAM. Why Vietnam dumped its plans for commercial nuclear power.

AUSTRALIA. The death of Australia’s quality news media? – Fairfax gobbled up by Nine.

July 28, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear news this week

Things appear to be  quiet on the global nuclear news scene. Lulled by the present stalemate in USA-North Korea nuclear tensions, the world’s media complacently reports on the nuclear weapons build-up going on in USA, Russia,  India, Pakistan , and China to a much lesser degree.

The main focus of media about things nuclear is the hype about “new nuclear” – Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, (SMRs). So many news items in praise of SMRs – all sounding suspiciously as if copied from industry handout sheets, and all claiming that nuclear is the cure for climate change. Do these journalists ever bother to check on the facts about this claim?

The world’s many pollution problems are at last being recognised as a global malaise, with the horror stories of epidemic plastic rubbish in oceans and on beaches. Climate change is manifested in various ways: it’s affecting migration patterns, changes in Arctic seas, wildfires, bees, water, hotspots in South Asia.

Russia’s Putin has all the advantages in the coming summit with Trump.

World Nuclear Market is Shrinking – preview of 2018 World Nuclear Industry Status Report (WNISR),

Small Modular Nuclear Reactors are NOT going to save the nuclear industry.

High cancer rates in flight attendants – effect of ionising radiation.

International nuclear decommissioning market will be worth £250bn by 2030.

NORTH KOREA. North Korea has little incentive to “denuclearize”. Trump’s incoherent strategy leaves the world in danger.North Korea carrying out improvements at Yongbyon Nuclear Research Facility. A nuclear North Korea seen not as a threat, but as an ideal stabilizer.

ARCTIC. Arctic climate change: The northern Barents Sea has warmed 1.5 degrees Celsius in just 18 years.

ISRAEL. The dangers in Israel’s and USA’s policy of deception about Israels’ nuclear weapons. Israel is sure that nuclear power for Saudi Arabia will not lead to Saudi nuclear weapons.

RUSSIA.Russia’s environmental groups demand an end to secrecy about Russia’s nuclear wastes.

JAPAN. Delay in removing spent nuclear fuel from Fukushima’s crippled nuclear reactor. Japanese firms shift to clean energy despite state’s cling to nuclear power.  Despite everything, Japan’s power companies are still loyal to nuclear power.

USA.

• U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urges China to enforce sanctions on North Korea. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confident that North Korea understands what is expected in complete denuclearization.  Previously angry and aggressive, John Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser, now chummy with Putin and Kim Jong Un.
• Despite the Outer Space Treaty to prevent this, USA has a long history of planning for nuclear weapons in space.
• A glut of plutonium pits. Oh great! USA can make more nuclear weapons.
• Redress for nuclear industry whistleblowers in USA.
• Radiation from USA’s nuclear bomb tests went far and wide – now compensation is needed.
• New report connects cancer increase in North St Louis County with radioactive pollution from Coldwater Creek.
• Protest campaign to stop nuclear waste transport in Idaho.
•  Trumpocracy – analysed by Noam Chomsky.
• USA local group works to remove investments from nuclear weapons making companies.

CANADA. Toronto schools want anti-radiation pills in case of nuclear incident at Pickering plant. Protesters rally in Pickering to decommission nuclear power plant.

FRANCE. France’s anti nuclear activists not imprisoned. EDF aims to be the key corporation in nuclear station decommissioning. French nuclear corporation EDF hedges its bets: now starting 2 renewable energy programmes.

UK. 

• Scrap Trident or risk a “nuclear annihilation abyss”– former nuclear sub commander warns UK govt.
• How the British government struck such a terrible deal as Hinkley Point C nuclear power project.
• Britain’s Planning Inspectorate has accepted Hitachi unit Horizon’s application for the Wylfa nuclear power station in Wales.
• UK govt launches pro nuclear campaign, pushes for women in the nuclear industry.
•  UK’s nuclear power bigwigs want “community engagement”, but exclude critics of Sizewell nuclear project.
• Theresa May’s UK govt rejects renewables, promotes nuclear – and cancels promising tidal energy project.UK’s nuclear lobby appears to be winning, but the Tidal Lagoon Energy movement has not given up.
• Norwegian anti nuclear protest ship “Nora” sails to Sellafield to campaign for the closure of the nuclear plant.

NORWAY. Halden nuclear reactor shut down not just for safety reasons, more because it lost so much money.

AUSTRALIA. A critical time, as Govt rather secretively tries to set up a nuclear waste dump in a small rural community.

INDIA. India – the global nuclear weapons threat that is being ignored. India’s space dream – to develop nuclear fuel from helium on the moon.  USA’s General Electric and France’s EDF getting together to market to India huge and costly nuclear station.

SOUTH AFRICA. In South Africa, there’s confusion about the new government’s policy on matters nuclear.

JORDAN. Jordan gives up on big nuclear power station, but might be sucked in by “Small Nukes” propaganda.

GERMANY. Germany’s successful development towards nuclear fusion.

FINLAND. Finland’s nuclear waste dump will still be in the trial stage for years.

June 30, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Christina's notes | 4 Comments

Nuclear news to 24 June 18

Amid all the stuff about the nuclear industry, and about climate change, I occasionally come upon articles that are so powerfully written, and about such powerful global subjects –   that they just blow away the specific articles – important though these still are.

This week, Carl Grossman has revealed Donald Trump’s aim for weapons in space (which would be nuclear-powered), and what that means for the world. The nuclear weapons States currently adhere to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 which designates space as the global commons to be used for peaceful purposes. If the U.S. goes up into space with weapons, Russia and China, and then India and Pakistan and other countries, will follow. Trump’s plan does require approval from Congress. The mind boggles also at the cost, and at what human services would disappear, in order to pay for this.

• Nuclear decommissioning in the UK.  UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to spend billions stabilising plutonium canisters.  Continued delays and overspending at the Sellafield nuclear waste clean-up site.
• The nuclear industry has co-opted academia in Cumbria. European Commission gives environmental approval to planned Wylfa Newydd nuclear power plant. UK govt providing $billions for Wylfa nuclear power project, but Hitachi still scrambling for more money from Japan and USA.
• The prolonged closure of nuclear reactor 3 at Hunterston B in North Ayrshire, UK.
• ‘Vague assurances’ to Ireland on post-Brexit nuclear safety ‘not worth much’.

• USA’s nuclear weapons companies need the nuclear weapons race to continue. Trump’s plan for new low-yield nuclear weapon – superfluous and dangerous.
• Pro nuclear spruik of Michael Shellenberger is getting weirder and weirder.
• Senator Heller Successfully Keeps Yucca Mountain out of Defense Bill Approved by the U.S. Senate.
• Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry warn on cancers due to radioactive waste in Coldwater Creek, St Louis County.
• Inadequate funds to decommission FirstEnergy Solutions nuclear reactors.
• Nuclear supply chain fraud.
•  Radioactive Pollution At Los Angeles Jewish Camp.
•  A political problem for US Republicans – conservatives hate Trump’s coal and nuclear bailout.

June 24, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

Nuclear news to 17 June

It’s getting hard for comedians, to compete as far as international relations go, with real life becoming more ridiculous. Politicians in Norway and USA are recommending Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. All sorts of reactions to the much vaunted “Nuclear Summit” between Trump and Kim. My own favourite was Trump’s own proud boast about not preparing for the summit – he makes decisions “by touch and feel”.

Accelerating Sea Level Rise is Being Driven by Rapidly Increasing Melt From Greenland and Antarctica.  Leaked UN draft report – world is on track to exceed 1.5C of warming.

Hopes for peace following the Trump-Kim summit are likely to be short-lived.   Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists hopes for some SUBSTANCE and scientific expertise in USA- North Korea nuclear negotiations. What’s NOT in the summit agreement ?- that’s the revealing part.  What the Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un document actually says.

100 nuclear weapons is the “pragmatic limit” for any country to have in its arsenal.

Economic realities point to a poor future for nuclear power.

USA. 

• Tough sanctions will remain on North Korea until its complete denuclearisation – says USA.    Donald Trump alienates America’s allies – thus increasing the likelihood of nuclear weapons proliferation.
• The huge danger to Americans of keeping hundreds of nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert.
• Radioactive Particles Found in Homes of Workers at Major US Nuclear Weapons Facility.
• Guam wants inclusion in radiation exposure compensation program: U.S. Senate considering this.
•  Moving radioactive sludge from near Columbia River to the middle of the Hanford nuclear site.
• Natural Resources Defense Council warns against closing Hanford’s underground nuclear waste tanks.
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected Trump Administration’s plan to rescue coal and nuclear industries.   A very hard project – Trump trying to bail out coal and nuclear power.
• USA Federal nuclear weapons facilities are getting systems to disable drones.

NORTH KOREA.  In North Korea, Kim Jong Un is seen as the tough winner, in Singapore nuclear summit.   Completely ignored in nuclear summit talks – the forgotten North Korean victims of 1945 atomic bombs.

JAPAN. The global problem of poisonous plutonium: Japan looks at its options.  US demands Japan reduce its plutonium stockpiles.   Why TEPCO should quickly close down Fukushima No. 2 nuclear plant. Japan approves 70-year plan to scrap nuclear reprocessing plant.  Amazingly High Radiation in Tokyo Bay — 131,000 Bq per Meter Squared.

Why wasn’t TEPCO bankrupted? – Japan’s Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center.  Japan’s Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center calls for TEPCO to be liquidated.  Japanese anti nuclear group No Nukes Wakayama flexes their muscles.

UK. Nuclear Industry Association still struggling with inconvenient truth that Brexit is bad for their industry.  Robots the hope for cleaning up the world’s riskiest and massive nuclear waste storage pool, at Sellafield, UK.  Centrica wants to sell its nuclear industry stake, but it’s hard to attract buyers. Fears in Isle of Man community over dangers of new Wylfa nuclear power station.  Fundamental problem with Britain’s Wylfa nuclear power programme – it’s a ripoff.

RUSSIA. Safety measure for World Cup – Russia halts nuclear waste transport.

FRANCE. Systemic failures in France’s Flamanville nuclear project.

SAUDI ARABIA. Huge USA weapons purchase by Saudi Arabia was on condition that USA would KILL THE IRAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT!

JORDAN. Jordan knocks back Russia’s $10 billion nuclear power plant , but contemplates”small floating reactor”

BANGLADESH. Scientists predict millions of climate refugees – but where will they go?

IRAN. Iran says it can’t remain in nuclear deal without benefits.

SPAIN. Thousands protest against uranium mine in Spain.

UKRAINE. Tons of water poured in by planes, to major wildfire inside the Chernobyl ‘dead zone‘.

June 17, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear news this week, and a look towards next week

In the coming week the “nuclear summit” meeting between USA President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un will be a diplomatic conference like no other has ever been. It is remarkable because, between these two dominating national leaders, trading threats and insults, the world has been brought so close to the brink of nuclear war. It is remarkable for being a meeting between two exceptionally narcissistic, sociopathic personalities.

And, behind the scenes, one, Kim Jong Un, risks the loss of his domestic support, even his life endangered, if he should be seen to be weak, or to give up North Korea’s proud achievement of becoming a nuclear weapons State. The other, Donald Trump, proudly ignorant of co-operative negotiating processes, is being advised by a number of belligerent personalities in his closest associates. The world should be relieved if this meeting even comes about, and relieved if there is no outcome, other than pleasant waffle.

A new study suggests several future scenarios – outcomes for the world because of climate change.  Most predict collapse of civilisation.   One, more optimistically, predicts sustainability in both population and global temperatures rise – but only if populations switch to “low-impact” resource use.  It’s  now”Aspiration” rather than a genuine plan for limiting global warming to 2 degrees. Read Climate and Ecological Delusions and Contradictions That Will Rapidly End Humanity.  And listen to Radio Ecoshock. 

International co-operation can prevent nuclear annihilation – not Donald Trump with his “I alone can fix it”. What does “Denuclearisation” actually mean to Kim Jong Un? to Donald Trump?

MALAYSIA.  Malaysia questions why only North Korea, Iran must denuclearise. Why not America, China, Russia, India, Pakistan?

USA.

•  Trump so confident about the nuclear summit with Kim Jong Un that he “doesn’t need to prepare”.   No surprise that Donald Trump is a no-show at G7 climate meeting.
•  USA Congress should decide on controversial nuclear weapons – not let that be decided by Rick Perry all on his own. Barbara Lee Condemns GOP for Embracing Mini Nuclear Weapons.  America wasting $billions on unnecessary and dangerous plutonium pits for nuclear weapons. Groups Release Key DOE Documents on Expanded Plutonium Pit Production, DOE Nuclear Weapons Plan Not Supported by Recent Congressional Actions.
• It makes no economic sense – Trump’s new strategy to promote coal and nuclear. FirstEnergy bankrupt, but still spent hundreds of $thousands on lobbying for nuclear power.
• Move to strip Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project funds from Energy spending bill fails.  Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) resumes its nuclear waste processing.  Opposition to shipping nuclear wastes into Idaho for “temporary” storage.  Oyster Creek nuclear power station will take 60 years to be closed down.
• MOX nuclear fuel project in deep trouble, but judge rules against suspending its construction.
• Safety risks: American missile officers affected by drugs and alcohol. Increased powers for security guards at Missouri’s nuclear power plants.
•  Wildfire season has already begun close to Hanford nuclear reservation.

NORTH KOREA. Even if Kim Jong-un promises to allow nuclear inspections – “complete, verifiable, irreversible dismantlement” is really not possible.  A swift verified nuclear disarmament by North Korea is simply not feasible. North Korea’s economic and social health improving – new confidence brings Kim Jong Un to negotiate.

UK. As nations pull out of nuclear power Britain is isolated, in putting taxpayer funds into new nuclear construction.  British Conservative govt overturns its previous opposition to socialising the nuclear power industry. Ever multiplying financial costs for building new nuclear reactors are hitting UK, and other countries, too Old, unproven, unreliable nuclear technology planned for Britain’s Wylfa nuclear power station. “Temporary” – or rather STRANDED, nuclear wastes for Sellafield, as Britain has no idea what to do with its radioactive trash. UK now setting up an agreement that will replace the nuclear safeguards lost in leaving Euratom.

JAPAN. Niigata governor election centres on the issue of the world’s largest nuclear power plant.  Japan’s divestment campaign from nuclear and coal pits Buddhist priest against banks.  Japan High School Peace Envoys Keen to Deliver Voices of Hibakusha .

Fukushima. Study: Cesium from Fukushima flowed to Tokyo Bay for 5 years. PART 1: Radioactive water at Fukushima Daiichi: What should be done?  PART 2: Radioactive water at Fukushima Daiichi: What should be done?  Is Fukushima doomed to become a dumping ground for toxic waste?

UKRAINE. Despite Ukrainian Prime Minister’s reassurances, Wildfires near Chernobyl are potentially catastrophic. High levels of radioactive Caesium in Ukraine region around Chernobyl a threat to children.

FRANCE.   Finally a parliamentary debate on the safety of used nuclear fuel rod pools.    Welding defects in the Flamanville EPR nuclear reactor. EDF looks to a profitable industry in decommissioning nuclear reactors.

SOUTH AFRICA. Pelindaba nuclear facility in South Afric a has yet another nuclear safety scare. South Africa: draft Integrated Planning Framework Bill – another attempt to push new nuclear build? South Africa’s Minister of Energy says that S.A. has called off the deal with Russia to develop nuclear power.

BULGARIA. Russian-designed nuclear power plant causes tension in Bulgaria. Russia, France, China compete to develop nuclear power station in Bulgaria.

MIDDLE EAST. Nuclear power at a huge disadvantage in Middle East – but do they want it for nuclear weapons?

AUSTRALIA. Decades overdue Ranger Uranium Mine rehabilitation plan released The world is watching. Ranger mine closure and rehab to cost $1bn.

June 9, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear news at the beginning of June

With the world still teetering about North Korea etc, and the famous Kim-Trump summit still supposed to be happening, the nuclear weapons industry continues to thrive.

The impacts of climate change will not affect all regions equally – they will be worse in places with already fragile social and ecological systems.   The nuclear waste time bomb will keep ticking – America’s 60 years of radioactive trash.    And, as if the facts were not enough to worry about, Margaret Attwood (of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale”), suggests a future dystopian world, as the result of climate change.

Nuclear power plant construction even more costly than we thought – new analysis shows.

Energy politics – why renewables are winning over nuclear power.   International Renewable Energy Agency reports on companies across 75 nations sourcing renewable energy.

Further research on how ionising radiation causes cancer.

NORTH KOREA. North Korea likely to follow Pakistan’s nuclear path, not Libya’s. Kim Jong-un knows what he wants from the summit. Does President Trump? Yes, there are concerns, but North Korea’s dismantling of the nuclear weapons site is a positive step.

USA.

• Donald Trump – the worst USA presidential negotiator in modern history?  Donald Trump managing to isolate USA’s allies, by his failures in negotiation.  Trump administration could so easily blow the chance of a diplomatic solution for the Korean Peninsula. U.S. Senator Ed Markey points out the absurdity of John Bolton’s suggesting the “Libya model” for negotiating with North Korea.
• USA government to use Emergency Measures to prop up coal and nuclear industries.
• President Trump’s Washington swamp – the nuclear lobby/politics revolving door.
•  “Nuclear is N.I.C.E” – the latest spin from the desperate nuclear industry.
•  Congress has the power to stop squandering the public purse on new nuclear weapons.
•  Toshiba walks away from involvement in USA nuclear energy project.
• The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Department of Justice support Illinois nuclear subsidies.
• Tennessee Valley Authority was overcharged nearly $4.4 million by contractor at Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant.
• Logan city in Idaho ponders joining in costly and risky Small Modular Nuclear Reactor (SMR) development.
•  Measures to compensate Arizona “Downwinders” approved by USA Congress.   Nevada fights back – resentment against becoming America’s nuclear waste dump.  Don’t overturn the 1995 Batt agreement – stop toxic nuclear waste being imported into Idaho.  Albuquerque city councilors oppose shipping radioactive waste through city.  Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge – the cover-up – the cleanup – but radioactive trash is still there.

INDIA. Nuclear politics between India and Pakistan need attention and understanding. India, a Key U.S. Ally, Plans to Ignore Trump’s Iran Sanctions .

FRANCE. Macron’s France signs up to join nuclear power partnership with Putin’s Russia.  France scaling back nuclear reprocessing – fears of financial disaster as with Japan’s Monju project.  Persisting with the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) has brought France to a costly nuclear crisis. The trials and tribulations of France’s Flamanville EPR nuclear reactor.

UK.

• British scientists distressed at loss of funding as Britain leaves the nuclear safety agency Euratom.
• Hitachi ‘won’t pay’ for nuclear accidents at proposed Wylfa plant on Anglesey. As long as UK tax-payer coughs up, £20bn Hitachi nuclear plant looks set to be built in Wales. Britain’s “nuclear renaissance” in the balance as Hitachi ponders Wylfa nuclear project. Hitachi board of management wavers over costs of Wylfa nuclear power plan.  Wylfa Newydd nuclear plant protesters go to Japan.
•  Licence exists for dumping mud at North Cardiff – but they don’t need Hinkley’s suspect “mud”.  UK is not correctly testing Hinkley Point dumped mud for radioactivity.
• British government used pilots like ‘GUINEA PIGS’ during Cold War nuclear experiments .

JAPAN.    Fukushima mothers at UN tell their story.  Japan is poised to FLOOD the Pacific with one million tons of radioactive water contaminated by the Fukushima nuclear plant  Japanese Buddhist priest joins movement to divest from fossil fuels and nuclear power. Japan’s state-affiliated bank is reluctant to fund Hitachi’s Wylfa nuclear project in UK.   Japanese atomic bomb survivor pays tribute to U.S. POWs killed in A-bombing.

CANADA. Tough times for uranium company Cameco – and no improvement in sight.  Ontario could save $1.2B by closing Pickering plant, buying power from Quebec – Greens.

ISRAEL. Israel selling nuclear information and expertise to Saudi Arabia.  Israel’s PM Netanyahu planned a military strike on Iran in 201l.

GERMANY. Germany is ready to support Iran in restoring its economy as long as Iran adheres to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

RUSSIA. In a drill, fake terrorists take over Russia’s Arctic radioactive waste storage site.

SAUDI ARABIA. Thousands Held Arbitrarily – increasing numbers in Detention Without Trial in Saudi Arabia.

AUSTRALIA.  Federal Government National Nuclear Waste Dump Selection Process – a B-grade horror movie plot.   Sydney’s Opal nuclear reactor’s High Level Wastes off to France, later to return to planned Federal Nuclear waste Dump

June 2, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

The week in nuclear, climate, environment news

Back to the brink, as Donald Trump cancels the North Korea-USA Summit? Optimistic commentators rattle on about how this could turn out better. It’s deeply disappointing for South Korea’s President Moon who has tried so hard to defuse the tensions. Trump has been a failure as a negotiator, – seems aimed at wrecking international agreements – climate, Iran, North Korea ….  Meanwhile, all nuclear powers, but America in particular are doing a feeding frenzy on nuclear weapons spending.  USA excels in illogic, with USA National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) plan for unsafe and unnecessary production of plutonium pits (nuclear weapons triggers), – of which they already have a glut.

Earth’s climate could increase by 4 °C, compared to pre-industrial levels, before the end of 21st century.

I just had to put “environment” in the headline today. Of course, everything is connected anyway, but – what’s happening to the world’s insects? There’s a dramatic decline in insect numbers, the world is losing species. Is it due to climate change?  Is it due to electromagnetic radiation causing disorientation in them?  5 G networks soon, Wow!  Oh heck – insects are only little. They don’t matter. OR DO THEY?

The very real and very serious danger of nuclear reactor accidents in space.   Cosmic radiation will damage the brains of space travellers.

NORTH KOREA. North Korea destroys its nuclear weapons site.

SOUTH KOREA. Korean women lead the peace movement , supported by international delegation of women.

IRAN. Iran negotiating with Europe to stay in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)

CHINA.  China lands nuclear strike bombers on South China Sea islands.     Uncertainty about China‘s nuclear power future.

JAPAN. New research reveals significant Fukushima radioactive particle release.  Storage capacity for radioactive water at Fukushima power plant nears limit.  Japan’s government weighs dumping radioactive Fukushima water into the Pacific. Radiation monitors in Fukushima to be scrapped after malfunctioning to the tune of ¥500 million a year.  Hiroshima bomb survivor Setsuko Thurlow continues her fight for a nuclear free world. Air duct corrosion and holes found at seven nuclear plants.

UK. Britain’s big future nuclear power plans hang on government subsidising Hitachi.  UK short of funds for its £51bn nuclear defence programme. Many years before massive nuclear power station could be built at Bradwell.  Hitachi’s build of Wylfa nuclear power station delayed – may never happen.  UK’s contentious new arrangement for nuclear safeguards, following exit from Euratom.   Toxic radioactive mud dumping is a toxic issue for Wales.  Scotland’s ambitious target for 100% renewable energy.

CANADA. Ontario NDP only party speaking out against nuclear waste bunker near Lake Huron.

USA. 

• USA Congress rejects move to limit new low-yield nuclear weapon.  F-35 bombers to get B61 Mod 12 nuclear weapon.   USA and others start a new desperate push to promote nuclear power.
• Call to White House to oppose Saudi Arabia’s threat to acquire nuclear weapons.
• Trump’s reckless propping up of the nuclear industry pleases its big lobbyists.  Trump’s lawyer Cohen opens doors for Alabama nuclear developer Haney.  Huge corporate subsidy to be given by New Jersey Governor to nuclear industry.     Nuclear industry’s big gamble on going small – but it mightn’t work!
•  Solar and Wind Subsidies  are a Clear Success. The Coal and Nuclear Industries Just Aren’t Ready to Admit it.
•  USA Department of Veterans Affairs conveniently lost hundreds of claims for children, grandchildren of contaminated veterans.  Missouri legal case – claim that cancer caused by Manhattan Project.
•  Fraudulent radioactive data management at San Francisco’s Hunters Point.  SCE and G misled lawmakers about critical nuclear report.
•  Mox plutonium reprocessing plant has been a huge waste of U.S. taxpayers’ money.

AUSTRALIA. Will Australia’s Prime Minister Turnbull cave in to USA pressure for Australia to join in USA efforts against Iran ?

SAUDI ARABIA. USA’s Pentagon speeds up weapons sales to Saudi Arabia.  Saudi government will not be able to silence courageous women activists. -Saudi Arabia arrests 11 human rights activists as “traitors”.

GERMANY. German government to compensate utilities over the phaseout of nuclear power.

SOUTH AFRICA. Eskom ‘abandoned’ plans to build a nuclear power station in the Eastern Cape – but is paying R16.5 million to keep it alive.

PHILIPPINES. Philippines consider nuclear revival, but active earthquake fault poses danger.

May 26, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

The week to 19 May in nuclear and climate news

International politics teeters about over the Iran nuclear deal. Plans falter for nuclear summit meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un. Trump will “decimate” North Korea unless Kim agrees to denuclearise the Korean peninsula.

Pro nuclear propaganda becomes more sophisticated and subtle. National Geographic now a stooge for the International “New Nukes”lobby

Scientists warn that worst-case climate change scenario could be more extreme than previously thought.  Climate change is heading for a major wipeout of the world’s insect species.

Facing the increasing threat of nuclear war.

Global 2 degrees C rise doubles population exposed to multiple climate risks compared to 1.5 degrees C  UN climate talks suspended until September.

Clean energy investment is headed for beating fossil fuels and nuclear.

INDIA. India’s dust storms intensified by climate change.

NORTH KOREA. In nuclear talks, Kim Jong Un fears risking the same fate as Muammar Gaddafi of Libya. Trump’s planned summit meeting with Kim Jong Un in doubt.  North Korea threatens to cancel US summit over military drills.    North Korea promises ‘total ban’ on nuclear tests: satellite photos show removal work at its test site.  Grave danger in hasty methods of closing down North Korea’s nuclear test site.  After closing test site, North Korea could later still resume nuclear bomb tests. North Korea ‘will never fully give up nuclear weapons’.

IRAN. Iran to negotiate with world powers to keep nuclear deal in place.

PACIFIC ISLANDS. New reports on humanitarian and environmental impacts of nuclear bomb testing in the Pacific.

UK

• The British government has offered 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) to Hitachi to built Wylfa nuclear power station.  In UK Parliament Greens Party demands the government comes clean about funding Hitachi for nuclear project.  UK govt denies reports that it will guarantee loans for Wylfa nuclear project.
•  Britain’s wind power stations providing more electricity than its nuclear stations, in first quarter of 2018. Leaked document shows Britain’s nuclear fuel supply at risk after Brexit.
• Concerns raised in UK Parliament about safety of communities along nuclear weapons transport route.  UK Nuclear-Free Local Authorities group (NFLA) slams decision to spend £2.5 billion on nuclear-armed submarines.
• So-called “independent” think tanks, e.g Britain’s Policy Exchange, paid to favour companies.

USA

• Trump administration’s incoherence threatens success of nuclear summit with North Korea.  Donald Trump is being manipulated by both Kim Jong Un and his own security adviser John Bolton. USA tells North Korea it must ship out nuclear weapons soon after nuclear summit.
•  Bernie Sanders says – America headed for war – as Trump ends the Iran nuclear deal .  Iran Deal: US Exit Opening For Russia? Exit Must Make Multiple Trump Friends Happy
• Trump administration abandons costly MOX failed nuclear energy project.  Union of Concerned Scientists says USA government was right to end the MOX nuclear reprocessing program. US could use canceled MOX plutonium fuel plant to make new nuclear weapons.
• More early closures of nuclear stations as many USA plants cannot cover their operating costs.  Alaska’s only nuclear power station to be dismantled.
• A New ‘Screw Nevada’ Bill Passes the House.  The struggle to vitrify radioactive waste.  Danger of moving nuclear waste to new site in New Mexico – Holtec the only winner.   Fraudulent data by a Navy contractor leads to questions over radioactive clean-up of Hunters Point.
• Minnesota Senate passes legislation that would change approval process for Xcel nuclear costs

FRANCE.  Trial of French activists who entered Cruas nuclear plant to demonstrate vulnerability of spent fuel storage pools Electricite de France (EDF) is lying about renewable energy: it’s really dedicated to nuclear power.

RUSSIA. Greenpeace demands strict safety controls on floating nuclear reactor in the Arctic.  Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom trying to market nuclear power to Chile, China, Cuba, Finland, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Spain and Zambia.

JAPAN. Japan’s planned Olympics torch relay route found to have high levels of radiation.   ¥1.13 trillion of taxpayers’ money later, Japan’s Monju nuclear reprocessing reactor a spectacular failure.   Despite costs, safety concerns, waste problem – Japan sets ambitious nuclear energy targets.    Japan’s nuclear regulator reviewing Rokkasho nuclear fuel reprocessing plant.  “When they called me a ‘germ’ I wanted to die”.

UKRAINE. Timothy Mousseau to lead research into radiation in Chernobyl dogs. A personal experience of Chernobyl nuclear radiation.

SOUTH AFRICA. The business case for nuclear power – Oh – it’s NOT GOOD. South Africa’s Energy Minister goes very quiet about nuclear power, at African Utility Week.

FINLAND. New problem is troubling Finland’s Olkiluoto 3 nuclear project.

SAUDI ARABIA. Saudi Arabia is seeking to enrich its own uranium.

CANADA. NDP and Greens call for closure of Pickering Nuclear Station in August.

AFRICA. Solar power is ideal for African countries – nuclear power just doesn’t make sense there.

BULGARIA. Bulgaria’s struggle to find the money for building Belene nuclear power project.

May 19, 2018 Posted by Christina MacPherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment