nuclear-news

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

 Nuclear news – week to 18 March

Some bits of good news.  Notable wins in climate and environmental justice.   Scotland made rewilding progress.  The Danish City Reimagining Reuse.    

TOP STORIES. Why the US is trying to imprison Assange: Report from inside the Court. 

Reversing Europe’s and Australia’s slide into irrelevance & insecurity – National Press Club of Australia speech- Yanis Varoufakis. 

There is no such thing as a “nuclear waste-eating” reactor . 

Nuclear industry wants Canada to lift ban on reprocessing plutonium, despite proliferation risks. 

Cold turkeys: The demise of nuclear power. 

Conditions inside Fukushima’s melted nuclear reactors still unclear 13 years after disaster struck – also at https://nuclear-news.net/2024/03/14/3-a-conditions-inside-fukushimas-melted-nuclear-reactors-still-unclear-13-years-after-disaster-struck/

Climate. ‘Greenhushing’ Is On the Rise as Companies Go Silent on Climate Pledges.

Nuclear. Australia media – normally focussed on football, has a spasm about nuclear. Rest of the anglophone world gives climate, nuclear, a nod, amongst gaffes of UK royalty, and fashion, celebrities and sport. Gaza gets a mention, too,

Noel’s notes. Julian Assange, atrocities, nuclear war, AI, “Oppenheimer”, and the whole damn thing. AUKUS nuclear pact – a lame duck?         Nuclear power and the ignorance of journalists – it’s almost criminal.

nb. Huge number of articles on nuclear in the Australian media. From next week, I will cut them back to just a representative few.


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 AUSTRALIA. (There are more articles than this – but I had to stop!)

NUCLEAR ISSUES

ARTS and CULTURE. The ideology of war in Ukraine and Israel.ECONOMICS. HSBC leads Sizewell C investment push as time ticks on final investment decision.
NuScale nuclear power is among Top 5 Industrials Stocks That May Fall Off A Cliff In Q1.		EMPLOYMENT, Dounreay workers vote on strike action after pay talks stall,
MEDIA.
 Hollywood stars put their name to a good message, but it’s the messengers who are problematic.
Film poses moral questions about 2011 Fukushima disaster displacement . The Film RADIOACTIVE: The women of Three Mile Island will start streaming on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video from March 12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is3jlNhicFY 

Keep Your Money Out of Nukes! Anti-Nuclear Financial Fitness w/Domini’s Mary Beth Gallagher: PODCAST.
UN report finds Israel deliberately targeted journalists – Reuters.

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR . Bridgwater activists shine light on nuclear power in UK.
POLITICS.Japan’s Nuclear Energy Policy Disaster. Japan Ramps Up Drive to Restart World’s Biggest Nuclear Plant.

Ralph Nader: Open Letter to President Biden 3.12.24. Decision time Democrats: Oppose Biden’s genocide in Gaza or tacitly support it.

UK Steps Up Sizewell Nuclear Push With State-Backed Loans. UK’s Spring budget a ‘myopic sop’ to nuclear obsessives. UK government plans to block foreign control of newspapers – what about foreign control of Sizewell nuclear project ?The U.S. Is Betting Big on Small Nuclear Reactors (done up with green paint)		POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. French president Emmanuel Macron tells Putin ‘WE are a nuclear power and WE are ready’ in latest WW3 rhetoric.

As ‘Oppenheimer’ wins big, we should worry about lowering of nuclear thresholds.
PROTESTS. In pre-election messaging, Putin less strident on nuclear war.

PUBLIC OPINION. 
‘Don’t hold your breath’ – people living in Wylfa’s shadow have say on nuclear development plans.

SAFETY. Incidents. Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant reports shelling by Ukraine army 
Shelling continues near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station.

Observing the 45th Anniversary of the Worst U.S. Commercial Nuclear Power Plant Accident.

SECRETS and LIES.
 The International Atomic Energy Agency recruiting spies?

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS.
Musk’s SpaceX is building spy satellite network for US intelligence agency, sources say

SPINBUSTER. Exposing myths about building French nuclear power.
IAEA director’s visit to Japan widely questioned, seeks to downplay nuclear water dumping.
TECHNOLOGY. La Hague reprocessing plant: expansion and continued operation until at least 2100.
WAR and CONFLICT. Putin warns again that Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty is threatened.

Will Biden’s, NATO’s military personnel in Ukraine cross the last red line to Armageddon?

Netanyahu approves Rafah ground invasion, despite Biden opposition.

War Games in Arctic: What’s Driving the West’s New Passion?


WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Paves Way for Increase in Production in Commercial Reactors of Tritium for Nuclear Weapons.

Huge UK £286bn nuclear submarine deal with US at risk for one reason warns ex Navy chief.

EU to use Russian assets to buy arms for Ukraine – Scholz.

March 19, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

TODAY. Nuclear power and the ignorance of journalists – it’s almost criminal.

I’d like to believe that it is just ignorance – the way journalists complacently regurgitate the lying propaganda vomited forth by the nuclear industry.

And to be fair – I really do think that it is the result of journalists’ ignorance, rather than a cynical “knowing which side is their bread buttered on” – (where the money is)

Why are journalists SO IGNORANT ABOUT THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY?

I think it goes back to the industry’s traditional and very effective ploy :

– “only nuclear engineers can really understand it“

This meant that any discussion or reporting would have to be enshrined in technical jargon, impenetrable to the normal person. The nuclear lobby made sure of this, although the facts and various aspects could well be discussed in normal language. Nuclear experts could have chosen to make it clearly – for example Albert Einstein did –  “Nuclear power is one hell of a way to boil water.”

This ploy has worked well over the decades, causing journalists to be wary about possibly saying something inaccurate or silly. Their safest course has indeed been to just regurgitate the industry’s handouts, including the approving comments by politicians etc (who are supported by the industry, and who themselves know little about it)

Even today, it is rare to find nuclear matters clearly explained to the “lay person”

You do find articles on the costs of nuclear, the opponents of it, – but not much on how it works, what the wastes actually are, and so on.

It was refreshing today, to find an article from France, explaining “fast breeder reactors” – reprocessing, as in Bill Gates’ much touted new Natrium reactor plan . That article was written by a journalist who has taken the trouble to do his research.

The nuclear lobby still prefers to do its media spin via articles handed out in their own obscurantist language. You don’t need to be a nuclear engineer or physicist to do your research. But it takes time and trouble and asking the hard questions.

Journalists are either too lazy or too bought to do this. Easier to regurgitate.

But with nuclear war an ever more looming possibility, it is definitely time for journalists to woke up and do their homework on the industry whose reason for existence is nuclear weapons.

March 18, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes, media | 1 Comment

TODAY. A morally bankrupt organisation – the International Atomic Energy Agency.

I do not know how this guy can sleep at night – his main job is propaganda- telling the world to trust in the “safety of the nuclear industry” – the latest effort is conning the Japanese.

The International Atomic Energy (IAEA) was set up in 1957 for the purpose of promoting the “peaceful” nuclear industry.

Already that was morally dubious, as the real reason was to distract attention from the guilt of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atrocities, and from the industry’s true purpose – making nuclear weapons.

Over the decades, the IAEA has successfully pitched itself as the watchdog for nuclear safety. And to a certain extent, that is true. The IAEA’s inspection system does monitor nuclear facilities for safety, and compliance with commitments, under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Obviously, given the nuclear industry’s potential for catastrophic accidents, and for spreading nuclear weapons and the danger of catastrophic wars, – it needed some sort of safety body to be able to continue to exist.

But when the crunch comes – what do we find?

We find the IAEA pushing for “safe” new nuclear power while the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station, the biggest nuclear power station in Europe , is in the middle of a war.

We find the IAEA pretending that it is environmentally OK to permanently pour nuclear irradiated water into the oceans, from the wrecked Fukushima power plant, – thereby legitimising the ocean dumping of radioactive wastes

And now – the latest, (but I’m sure not the last), straw – the IAEA is pushing for the restart and regrowth of the nuclear industry in Japan.

Should Japan ever have set up a nuclear industry?

“An earthquake-and-tsunami zone crowded with 127 million people is an unwise place for 54 reactors”– Amory Lovins

So why did they do it?

To assuage USA’s guilt over the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To turn a bad thing into a “good thing”: “Many Americans are now aware…that the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan was not necessary. How better to make a contribution to amends than by offering Japan…atomic energy” – Washington Post, 23 September 1954, p. 18, “A Reactor for Japan”

But now – the 2011 and never-ending Fukushima nuclear disaster is still there.. No worries – the nuclear lobby is all for restarting Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, the world’s biggest nuclear power station, with its 7 reactors, just about 200 km away for Tokyo, with its population of 37 million.

But the bit that gets me is: Rafael Gross is not only pledging IAEA technical assistance for the restart of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa., he is “sending a team of experts to assist Tepco’s effort to gain public trust.” The IAEA’s job clearly is to mislead the public on the dangers of nuclear energy

March 16, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

TODAY. AUKUS nuclear pact – a lame duck?

What is AUKUS? It’s a weird nuclear pact – loftily described as a trilateral security pact for the Indo-Pacific region.

In reality it’s an agreement made without the knowledge of the Australian people, without discussion in Parliament , to make Australia pay close to $400 billion for second-hand nuclear attack submarines, including their radioactive trash.

How did this agreement come about?

In 2021, Australia’s then Prime Minister, Scott Morrison was a Trump-like figure, basically incompetent, but willing to do anything to get his face on the international media. He organised this extraordinary agreement, much to the joy of the nuclear lobby and Western war-hawks in general.

Morrison caused an international incident, in breaking Australia’s contract with France for non-nuclear submarines, (which would be much better suited for Australia’s coastal security monitoring”)

Is there opposition in Australia to this costly boondoggle?

Yes, but not enough. With the media about 70% owned by Murdoch outlets, the Australian public was fed a steady diet of what a threat China is to us, and how the AUKUS nuclear submarine will save us and blah blah.

And then, we got a new Prime Minister – Labor’s Anthony Albanese, (who has a history of opposition to nuclear). It was a national sigh of relief to get rid of the narcissistic and unpredictable Morrison. But ’twas too much to hope that Albanese would have the guts to stand up to the USA, or indeed to appear “weak” to the Australian public.

What is the present situation with AUKUS?

Well, apart from the misgivings of Australia’s near neighbours, like Indonesia, and the Nuclear-Free Zone, now there’s even trouble in the USA camp. On 12 March came the Tuesday release of the Biden administration’s 2025 defence budget request,  – with reduced funding, well below the production rate of 2.33 subs a year the US says is necessary to sell any submarines to Australia. They got cold feet about the deal, as the USA is struggling to build the nuclear submarines that it needs for itself.

Meanwhile the American opposition, whatever you think of Donald Trump, is at the moment less keen on the idea of waging war against China. I mean – they probably do want to, – but they don’t like spending the money on making military stuff for another country.

There are, of course, other problems with the AUKUS nuclear submarine plan. Like the fact these subs will almost certainly be obsolete before they ever get under the water. China, with its shallow coastal waters, is making lots of small drones , that could detect and destroy these nuclear submarines. The AUKUS sub and its peers are intended for surveillance only. but they could be fitted with nuclear warheads. Perhaps that’s the plan. Who knows?

Meanwhile – is there a chance that Australia could avoid this costly boondoggle? And actually have the money to meet some real needs?

March 14, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | , , , , | Leave a comment

This week in nuclear news

A vertical garden at Medellin’s City Hall.

Ralph Nader: Stop the Worsening Undercount of Palestinian Casualties in Gaza.
The horrors of nuclear weapons testing.
March 11 – reflecting on Fukushima.

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Climate.  Climate change is warping the seasons.   The world is not moving fast enough on climate change — social sciences can help explain why.Europe unprepared for rapidly growing climate risks, report finds.

Noel’s notes. The need for clear thinking on the Holocaust in Gaza.  Oh for a bit of sanity and genuine leadership!  Normalising the unthinkable – the 16th Annual Nuclear (so-called) Deterrence Summit.

NUCLEAR ISSUES 

EMPLOYMENT. Fukushima fishers strive to recover catches amid water concerns.ENVIRONMENT. Hinkley Point Responds to Environmental Concerns Over Bristol Channel Eel Populations.ETHICS and RELIGION. Aiding Those We Kill: US Humanitarianism in Gaza. The West has set itself on a path of collective suicide — both moral and economic’
Oceans. Could Fukushima’s radioactive water pose lasting threat to humans and the environment?
HISTORY. The lesson from the criminal H Bomb Bravo “test”– Hibakusha remind us.
Oppenheimer feared nuclear annihilation – and only a chance pause by a Soviet submariner kept it from happening in 1962		MEDIA. New York Times: Nuclear Risks Have Not Gone Away.US Media and Factcheckers Fail to Note Israel’s Refutation of ‘Beheaded Babies’ Stories.
‘Mr Dutton is right’: Murdoch’s News Corp papers grant nuclear power glowing coverage.
NewsGuard AI Censorship Targets People Who Read Primary Sources To Fact-Check The News. – (a pro-Trumpist article?- but probably true)		OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR . ‘It’ll be a shortlist of one!’ Villagers in England fear nuclear dump proposal.
An Open Letter from Hollywood On Oppenheimer and Nuclear Weapons.
Kenya. Senator Omtatah to take the Uyombo nuclear power plant war international.
POLITICS Australia’s Opposition party’s nuclear red herring is a betrayal of the Australian people  . – also at https://antinuclear.net/2024/03/11/1-a-coalitions-nuclear-red-herring-is-a-betrayal-of-the-australian-people/ . Australia has had many significant inquiries into nuclear power, over the past 60 years. 

Scottish National Party ministers to set out plans for removing nuclear weapons after independence.

UK Labour versus Green. UK Budget: Government confirms £160m deal to acquire Hitachi nuclear sites.
U.S. Congress about to fund revival of nuclear waste recycling to be led by private start-ups.		SAFETY. Greenpeace warns on danger of restarting Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant .

Improvement notice served over storage of hazardous materials at Dounreay.

‘Sometimes I can’t sleep at night’: Adi Roche warns of nuclear risks of Ukraine conflict as she picks up peace award.

Aberdeen shipping logistics company warned over nuclear transport safety failings..		SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. China outlines position on use of space resources.

Russia says it is considering putting a nuclear power plant on the moon with China. Russia and China announce plan to build shared nuclear reactor on the moon by 2035, ‘without humans’.

SPINBUSTER. The nuclear narrative also at https://nuclear-news.net/2024/03/05/3-b1-the-nuclear-narrative/

More fusion hot air, literally!

Nuclear Illusions.

WASTES. 13 Years On: Fukushima Governor Urges State to Clarify Soil Policy.

WAR and CONFLICT. 3 The Ukrainian Intelligence Committee Is Preparing For The Worst-Case Scenario.

Was Victoria Nuland Fired for Her Role In the Ukraine Debacle?

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. 

WOMEN. Our International Women’s Day Heroine: Rosalie Bertell.

March 11, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | , , , , | Leave a comment

The need for clear thinking on the Holocaust in Gaza

Sometimes I wonder if very high education and learning can be an impediment to clear thinking. So many highly educated, prestigious, individuals calmly accept without question the numbers published by various authorities, on the deaths in Gaza. But when you ignore all the learned and official stuff – and just stop and think about this matter – they’re counting only the deaths that have been definitely identified, not the number who lie under the rubble of the bombing.

Fortunately, not all prestigious individuals are as complacent as that. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, warned of an “‘unknown number of people’ – believed to be in the tens of thousands – lying under the rubble of buildings brought down by Israeli strikes.”

And what about the deaths from disease, malnutrition, starvation? Are these deaths from “natural causes” – or from the actions of the Israeli campaign against the Gazans?

Ralph Nader gives an estimate – considering all factors, of a Palestinian death toll today of 200,000 – a number “accelerating by the hour”

And here’s another matter for clear thinking. The Israeli administration and their supporters are vociferous about the evil of Hamas. And I think that they are right about this . Hamas (Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya ) can purport to respect other nations, and merely seek Palestinian rights, but in fact, their beliefs are profoundly anti-Jewish, denying the Holocaust, aiming to destroy the State of Israel and kill all Jews.

But – not all Gazans believe in that extreme philosophy. Many adults there have joined Hamas simply because that is necessary to get a decent job. And are we to believe that all children there understand and support that philosophy?

So – the Hamas philosophy is evil. Does that make Jewish Zionism good?

Zionism should not be confused with Judaism. Zionism is not the Jewish religion. It is a philosophy dedicated to the continuance of “the Jewish State” run by “the chosen people” at all costs, and the eradication of those untermenschen – the Palestinians. It’s very like Nazism – it’s OK to kill children , pregnant women, anyone -in revenge for Hamas’ violent actions.

Of course, there are historic reasons for the development of Zionism, and of Hamas. But that doesn’t make either of them OK.

Clear thinking is not black and white, supporting one side because we’ve decided that the other side is evil.

Clear thinking is about what is actually happening now. 200,000 Gazans have been killed, and that number is accelerating, – as the world-leader USA feigns regret, pretends to help the Gazans, while funding Israel and providing the weapons for the killing.

Meanwhile – the USA focusses on two individuals strutting about, trying to become the next President, each boasting about himself, and how bad his opponent is – both apparently oblivious to the reality of Gazan catastrophe that America is promoting – what a pathetic sight – American politics!

March 8, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

TODAY. Oh for a bit of sanity and genuine leadership!

I couldn’t resist this facebook comment. It encapsulates the madness of what America and its allies – the Anglosphere and Europe, are doing about the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Does the “West” – slavish followers of the USA – understand that they are observing and apparently accepting a repeat of genocidal atrocities, as they did in the 1930s about Nazi Germany? (At least there was some excuse in the 30’s. that “they didn’t know about it”)

We all know about it now. We know that Joe Biden and co are supplying Israel with the weapons and know-how for its mass murder of Gazans, while mouthing pious statements about humanitarian aid, and about ending the atrocity that they are in fact prolonging.

That lovely word “zeitgeist” – I’m not sure what it means really. But I think it’s time to change the zeitgeist that says that the important goal for human beings is the individualistic one, to make ever-increasing profit. You see, making and selling weaponry is America’s big export industry – and it provides ever-increasing shareholders’ profits, – and jobs and industry and pride and blah blah blah.

So – the Israeli’s disastrous genocide in Gaza is after all – good for business.

And so is the interminable war in Ukraine – in which “negotiation” “diplomacy” “agreement” are dirty words, never to be contemplated. Ukraine is being steadily destroyed militarily, environmentally, humanly, under the messianic Zelenksy cult. The Raytheon, Norhrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Halliburton etc etc celebrations party on…………

Who knows how much money from these, and many other corporations, goes to the USA’s Republican and Democratic parties? Does any politician get in, without that backing? At the moment – all the USA fuss about Biden versus Trump. It is irrelevant. Whoever gets to be president will be the puppet of the corporations and especially of the military-industrial-nuclear complex.

All of which means that getting a decent leader in the USA is an impossible task – as he or she must always be beholden to big business.

It is probably a pretty difficult task anywhere, with the power of corporate lobbies to influence politicians, and the USA’s history of CIA-backed removal of leaders in other countries.

Still – we’d better try. If we can’t change from the paradigm of individualism, and ever-increasing profit – to a paradigm of collective action for human and environmental good, – well, we’ve had it!

March 6, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

TODAY. Normalising the unthinkable –  the 16th Annual Nuclear (so-called) Deterrence Summit

The 16th Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit in Washington DC finished in early February

The propaganda guff should alert us to the deliberately misty thinking of the war-mongers, as they contort the facts, and kid themselves, and us, that they work for a peaceful world. The lovely phrases trip off their tongues so easily:

“Analytically driven data” “state of the art capabilities” “incredible efficiencies ” ” the cloud-based environments” “A digitalized enterprise”. Blah blah . My favourite is always “the cloud”, when what they really mean is acres and acres of dirty great machines guzzling electricity and water.

What this whole conference (now more gloriously termed “summit”) is really about, is profit, money for the American corporations – weapons ones, digital ones, space companies, contractors, and also the Pentagon, government agencies, corporate media and universities. Check out the sponsors –

There are words and phrases that you won’t hear at these conferences – “diplomacy” “negotiation” “understanding”. There’s no money in that stuff.

But you will hear “adversaries” “enemies” “evil” – there’s money in being “war ready” even better “global war ready”. Some participants actually believe that the USA could wage a nuclear war and win it – (whatever “winning a nuclear war” might mean)

I’m not religious, but I can’t help thinking what might have happened if Jesus somehow got into this crooked conference. He wouldn’t have been polite – tables overturned, lap-tops and projectors busted, corporate salesmen driven. Of course, he would be arrested as a terrorist, and given the Julian Assange treatment.

March 5, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear news – week to 4 March 2024

Some bits of good news –  Passion for compassion: the group working to make the Commons kinder.   Major research suggests humans can break free from tribalism                                               **************************************
TOP STORIES. US Refuses to Assure UK Judges That Assange Won’t Be Executed If He’s Extradited. Atlantic Council report lays out options and possible first use of nuclear weapons against China over Taiwan.
Texas wildfires continue to pose threat to Pantex nuclear weapons plant, and climate change will bring further threats to nuclear facilities. USA is littered with nuclear sites that could face danger from natural disasters.

Nuclear space-based ASAT weapons – A brief international legal perspective.Get These Rich People Off the Moon.
AI’s craving for data is matched only by a runaway thirst for water and energy.

Climate. New Research from Antarctica Affirms the Threat of the ‘Doomsday Glacier,’ but Funding to Keep Studying It Is Running Out.

Noel’s notes. My dilemma in writing about nuclear issues. Nuclear power stopping climate change? IT’S THE OTHER WAY AROUND!

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NUCLEAR ISSUES 

CLIMATE. Texas: Disaster declaration issued and nuclear weapons plant shut down as wildfires spread. Texas nuclear weapons facility pauses as fires spread. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba_oPoqeF2Y

Buried Nuclear Waste From the Cold War Could Resurface as Ice Sheets Melt. USA is littered with nuclear sites that could face danger from natural disasters. Could climate change release 35 swimming pools’ worth of nuclear waste? Or worse… unleash a world-ending pandemic? These are the terrifying unexpected consequences of melting ice.

ECONOMICS.  Tax-payer to take bigger financial risks under new payment plan for nuclear command satellites. The Cost of Nuclear War in Space.
Inside Europe’s only nuclear unicorn — and its €1bn fundraising hopes.		ENERGY. Blackout risks due to Hinkley nuclear delays – a reminder of the value of energy efficiencENVIRONMENT. Oceans. Release of fourth batch of Fukushima treated radioactive water begins. China is ‘unlikely’ to lift import ban on Japanese seafood as dumping continues.
Conservationists say Hinkley C nuclear water intakes could wipe out Atlantic salmon stocks
LEGAL. Fish v. electricity: Could Salem nuclear plant be shut down?More indictments for Ohio nuclear crimes.MEDIA. When The Imperial Media Report On An Israeli Massacre.Einstein’s Postwar Campaign To Save The World From Nuclear Destruction.Chilling Pictures of Hiroshima Weeks After Atomic Bomb Dropped Emerge.OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR . IT’S TIME TO CANCEL SIZEWELL C
POLITICS. Has the nuclear lobby hijacked Welsh democracy?
“Big nuclear reactor” lobby fights back against “Small nuclear reactor” lobby.		POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. Biden administration restores Trump-rescinded policy on illegitimacy of Israeli settlements.
France accused of ‘unacceptable’ behaviour after demanding UK taxpayer cash for Hinkley nuclear. Chris Huhne Letter: UK Tax­pay­ers shouldn’t be foot­ing bill for EDF fail­ings.
Macron stands by remarks on NATO troops in Ukraine.		SAFETY. New nuclear reactors shielded from liability if federal law passes Congress: Price-Anderson Act renewal hidden from public.
Mistakes, Misfiring and Trident: Britain’s Flawed Nuclear Deterrence
SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. Satellites burning up in our atmosphere may not be as harmless as first thought.TECHNOLOGY.So They’re Experimenting With Military Robots In Gaza Now.SMRs are useless says the UK’s leading SMR analyst! – 100 per cent renewable energy is much more feasible!UK spurns European invitation to join ITER nuclear fusion project.Microsoft’s Kate Crawford: ‘AI is neither artificial nor intelligent’.Finland’s Olkiluoto nuclear power station to be disconnected for 37 days.WASTES.“Tritium Removal” A Report on the Proposed MCECE nuclear Facility at Chalk River also at  https://nuclear-news.net/2024/03/03/2-b1-tritium-removal-a-report-on-the-proposed-mcece-facility-at-chalk-river/Burying nuclear waste the best of a bad bunch of options.Locals oppose nuclear waste plant – parish council. Holderness: Government guarantees plans for nuclear waste dump will be dropped for good.New plans to dismantle Rosyth dead nuclear submarines left for decades.Nuclear Restoration Services has been served with an “improvement notice” after the ONR found failures in its storage methods
WAR and CONFLICT.Wargame simulated a conflict between Israel and Iran: It quickly went nuclear. Israeli Calls to ‘Nuke Gaza’ Are Undermining the Nuclear Ambiguity Doctrine.After Macron touted troops to Ukraine, Putin warns West of nuclear war risk.Leaked Russian military files reveal its nuclear strike rules.Full Transcript of German Top Military Officials’ Leaked Plot to Attack Crimean Bridge.China urges largest nuclear states to negotiate a ‘no-first-use’ treaty.NewsReal: How Serious Are Western Leaders About Full-on War With Russia?WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. France creates coalition to arm Ukraine with long-range weapons. Victoria Nuland accidentally reveals the true aim of the West in Ukraine.
Setting the record straight on Canada’s arms exports to Israel.
The reawakening of America’s nuclear dinosaurs.
Iran Reduces Near-Weapons-Grade Stockpile, Defying Expectations.

March 4, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Today. My dilemma in writing about nuclear issues.

This might be a peculiarly Australian dilemma. I don’t know. The thing is – most people seem able to tolerate a bit of criticism of the nuclear industry. And indeed, when I post articles on my websites – nuclear-news.net and antinuclear.net, or on my newsletter, – that’s OK.

But if I bring in the subject of Ukraine, or especially of Gaza and Israel, – people get upset. What has that got to do with the nuclear industry? (Well, a lot really – as both situations bring us ever closer to the brink of nuclear war).

The big problem is this. As part of an Australian, and indeed worldwide, movement, for a safe clean nuclear-free world, my stuff is accepted as worthwhile. But, when I digress into examining what is going on in Ukraine, or worse, in Israel – then I am no longer to be trusted. Indeed, I am sometimes being called a Putin-lover, a communist. a terrorist – and especially anti-semitic.

As a consequence, then my anti-nuclear coverage is not to be trusted, either. It’s OK to be anti-nuclear – that’s a respectable opinion, as long as you’re pro Ukraine and pro Israel.

I really don’t know how to deal with this. It seems that, to be respected at all, it is necessary to conform to certain dogmas, such as “Russia is always evil” and “Israelis are holy victims”.

In my view – Putin is a murderous thug, but Russia is not always to blame, and Russian policies and aspirations should be viewed fairly.

Similarly, I think that the Jews, over history, have been terribly persecuted and murdered, but that doesn’t give Israel the licence to now do mass murder of the Gazan people.

There’s a dreadful conformity in Australia, and perhaps in all supposedly-white, English speaking countries. We must side with Ukraine, no matter what. And we must not be seen to be anti-semitic, no matter what.

So – I am left with the dilemma – should I ignore those two nuclear-war-trigger situations, in order to sound credible about nuclear matters?

Should I act “nice” about what Israel is doing, and pretend that I don’t notice? That is all too easy to do, in Australia, with its relentless media focus on sport.

March 2, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | 9 Comments

TODAY, Nuclear power stopping climate change? IT’S THE OTHER WAY AROUND!

Climate change makes the nuclear industry EVEN MORE DANGEROUS!

Bad enough that nuclear facilities run the risk of catastrophic nuclear meltdown. Admittedly, that is a risk for some, but not all nuclear facilities, and it is a very rare event.

But while the probability of such an event is rare, the consequences of such an event are severe. That is why nuclear facilities can’t get insurance

Bad enough that nuclear facilities, even when running well, release low level ionising radiation, which increases the risk of cancer for millions of people. Bad enough that nuclear workers have a higher risk and rate of cancer and other radiation-associated diseases.

Bad enough that the nuclear industry’s only real raison d’etre is to produce nuclear weapons, thus endangering the whole world.

But now we’ve got climate change.

This week’s news carries not only the wildfire danger to nuclear facilities, but also some of the drastic risks of sea level rise- Buried Nuclear Waste From the Cold War Could Resurface as Ice Sheets Melt. And that’s only one of the “water effects” of global heating.

On the one hand – there’s the danger of sea surges, rising sea levels, floods. On the other hand – the shortage of water when nuclear reactors require continuous huge amounts of water for cooling. ( Do they think of this as they bound into the Artificial Intelligence Age, with its plans for huge data farms powered by nuclear?)

It sure is time, as a global human community, that we really took global heating seriously.

It’s also time to put a stop to this nefarious nuclear industry – before climate change puts a stop to it, in a very nasty way.

February 29, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

Nuclear news – week to 26 February.

A bit of good news:   Success in  protecting and restoring isolated island ecosystems

TOP STORIES. The Show Trial against Julian Assange. After years of avoiding extradition, Julian Assange’s appeal is likely his last chance. Here’s how it might unfold (and how we got here). Chris Hedges: Julian Assange’s Day in Court 

Germany and nuclear weapons: A difficult history. 

Fatal Flaws Undermine America’s Defense Industrial Base.

Environment. The Growing Environmental Footprint Of Generative AI

Climate. Antarctica sea ice reaches alarming low for third year in a row.

Nuclear. Same same – media promotion of small nuclear reactors, despite the economic realities. UK in turmoil over nuclear costs. Angst over the idea of nuclear war in space.

Noel’s notes. Alexei Navalny – the paradox of his legacy

   NUCLEAR ISSUES

ECONOMICS. Utility EdF Writes Down $14B Loss on Delayed UK Nuclear Megaproject. Citizens Advice says Sizewell C costs should not be paid with energy bill hikes. Energy Costs UK : The Price Of Power-Nuclear Fandango.
 Private Financiers Pour Billions Into Nuclear Weapons Production. 
Most Japan fishing groups hit by China import ban in Fukushima row.		ENVIRONMENT. Hinkley Point C could kill 22 BILLION fish in the Severn estuary. Environment Agency and Natural England behind Hinkley Point wetland plan, says MP.
HEALTH. Body Map – Nuclear Power.
HISTORY. Rethinking Ukraine: Putin and the Mystery of National Identity

LEGAL. John J Mearsheimer On behalf of Julian Assange. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN_Shacd2Iw    DAY ONE: Assange Timeline Exposes US Motives. Assange’s final appeal – Your man in the public gallery, part 2. Julian Assange Faces Final “Life or Death” Extradition Appeal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPfB2z-lotU 

Japanese mafia boss conspired to traffic nuclear materials, says US. Justice Department Announces Nuclear Materials Trafficking Charges Against Japanese Yakuza Leader. 

More indictments for Ohio nuclear crimes.

MEDIA. Ralph Nader: What the Mass Media Needs to Cover Re: Israel/Gaza Conflict.

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR . Stop Sizewell C’s Response to Regulated Asset Base Licence Consultation.

Locals campaign to oppose Hinkley Point C’s plans to build a saltmarsh on the Pawlett Hams .

POLITICS. Great British Nuclear seeks to buy EDF land for small modular reactor .
Victory: Nuclear Free Local Authorities welcome Council vote on South Holderness nuke dump plan.
 House is heading toward “nuclear” war over Ukraine funding, one top House GOP leader says .
 Nuclear route does Scotland no favours – Tommy Sheppard.

Billionaire mining magnate Andrew Forrest lampoons Coalition’s nuclear push as ‘bulldust’.   		POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. The odds of China using nuclear war to resolve the Taiwan issue.

SAFETY. UK lawmakers seek reassurances after nuclear missile test fails for second time. Minister urges TEPCO to ensure nuclear safety measures.

SECRETS and LIES. How British Intelligence Framed Julian Assange As Russian Agent.

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. U.S. Militarizes Space While Accusing Russia of Doing So. Touring South Korea to support opposition to US space warfare plans. Putin says Russia has no intention of putting nuclear weapons in space. Shock Horror! Serious risk TO INVESTORS of nuclear war in space!

SPINBUSTER. What’s fueling the commercial fusion hype? Proponents of nuclear power are peddling hot air.

TECHNOLOGY. Rolls-Royce will build first mini-nuclear reactor in Europe instead of UK, boss warns.

WASTES. Decommissioning. The San Onofre Briefing: The Latest on SoCal’s Shut Down Nuclear Power Plant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGDwkokX1NA
The War Over Burying Nuclear Waste in America’s Busiest Oil Field.
Nuclear industry veterans warn some radioactive waste destined for Ontario disposal facility should not be accepted.		WAR and CONFLICT. Ukraine: how nuclear weapons continue to increase the risks, two years on. NATO says Kiev can use F-16 jets to strike targets ‘outside Ukraine‘, despite Russia’s warning. First 2 years of US proxy war against Russia finds both US and Ukraine in downward spiral.
Netanyahu’s Post-War Plans for Gaza Call for Military Occupation ‘Without T

February 26, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

TODAY. How the USA betrays and disdains its allies – the case of Julian Assange.

Right now, USA leaders are bewailing and admiring Alexei Navalny  – the courageous Russian who stood up to Putin, and paid the ultimate price for publicly exposing the government’s crimes .

The hypocrisy of Joe Biden and the rest of these phony U.S. “patriots” – too cowardly to face up to the truth, – to accept that their great “exceptional” nation could have done some wrong things! Like the Russian government, you get rid of, you kill, the person who exposed your wrongdoing.

Only the Russians do it quickly, without finesse.

The American government constructs an elaborate legal justification, and, with the sycophantic support of the British government, a long-drawn out procedure of torture – over many years – punishing the truth-speaker – the Australian citizen Julian Assange – in the name of “justice”.

Julian Assange is not an American citizen. He was not an official of the USA government. He did not hack into U.S. government computers to discover classified documents. Yet Assange is charged with this computer misuse, and espionage of classified documents! With violating 17 counts of the 1917 Espionage Act, with a potential sentence of 170 years! 

What Assange did was to do what journalists do – publish information given to him by a source (- Chelsea Manning). The New York Times, The Guardian, and Der Spiegel also published this information. Why are their editors and journalists not also being charged with espionage?

Assange revealed crimes –  massacres of civilians, torture, assassinations, the list of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay and the conditions they were subjected to, as well as the Rules of Engagement in Iraq, helicopter pilots who gunned down two Reuters journalists and 10 other civilians and severely injured two children. These perpetrators have never been charged. with anything.

Apart from the intrinsic injustice of the claims against Assange, there has been a whole series of illegal and very questionable actions against him. Some examples – the surveillance of Assange and his lawyers by a Spanish firm, while he was in the Ecuadorian Embassy, Ecuador’s  rescinding Julian’s asylum status  allowing police in, the UK court’s acceptance of the claim that Assange is “not a journalist”. A key witness admitted to fabricating the accusations against him. The CIA made plans for kidnapping and assassinating him.

Julian was convicted of breaching his bail conditions. The punishment? Almost 5 years in solitary confinement in maximum security Belmarsh prison. Belmarsh is for Category A prisoners, those who “pose the most threat to the public, the police or national security” and stand accused of terrorism, murder, or sexual violence.

Article 4 of the Extradition Treaty between USA and UK prohibits extradition for political offenses. Why has this been ignored in the drive to send Assange to trial in the USA?

It is likely that the British court will continue the British kow-towing to America.

As for Australia – the Australian Parliament, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, actually now have put their heads above the parapet, and called on the USA to release Assange. A bit of courage on their part – not seen since the days of Gough Whitlam (who was severely punished for attempting to stand up to the USA.)

But it matters little – what Australia wants for its citizen Assange. Australia has signed up for the nuclear submarine boondoggle, and for plastering U.S. military bases around the nation, and for being ready to join in attacking China whenever asked to.

Right now, Australia IS making some feeble attempts to separate itself from Joe Biden’s fealty to Israel, and even from castigating China. These will be disregarded by the mighty USA.

“Friendship’ with the USA is entirely one way, and Assange awaits his ultimate persecution.

February 21, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

TODAY. 11 year old boys and nukes in space.

Yeah – I’ve been reading about the awful threat of Russia sending its evil nuclear weapons up into space to destroy our benign satellites. Shock horror – we could lose TikTok coverage and our media focus on Taylor Swift!

Not to mention that it’s not a great idea to cause nuclear explosions in space, and spread toxic radioactive debris all over the place.

But – is it true?

Are the Russians that stupid?

or the North Koreans, or the Chinese ? Or anyone else that we’re scared of?

Well, they might be. Because. Here’s the rub. The biological development of the male does mean that they have a tendency towards aggression, and to develop inhibition rather late – say towards the age of 30. So the young teenage boys, on average, are a bit keener on risk-taking than they will be at later ages.

This aggression, competitive drive, and low fear of danger was probably useful way back when sabre-toothed tigers were the big threat. But not so useful now when other teenage boys can be a big threat.

The problem is – that risk-taking, competitive, aggressive teenager seems to still live and thrive within the men that are actually running things in our world.

They probably are not planning nuclear weapons to hit satellites, because even they see what a stupid idea that is. However, they’re surely organising all sorts of other ways to damage the satellites of “the other side”. Do you think for one moment that it’s only the Russians etc who are doing this? Of course the 11 year-old boys inside the psyche of the Western leaders are up to the same tricks, and probably leading the pack.

February 17, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

AGAIN – THE POWER OF THE ZIONIST LOBBY

I was banned from Mastodon because I posted a link to an article supporting humanitarian aid to Gaza.Now I have been banned from one part of Reddit ( r/worldnews) for posting this link https://www.unz.com/…/over-a-million-palestinians-are…/

I can still post to other parts of Reddit.

February 17, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

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