nuclear-news

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

Nuclear – the not so wonderful news this week

Some bits of good news. The Beautiful Place that Stopped Big Bottled Water.    A Tidal Wetland Restoration of Epic Proportions. 

TOP STORIES. 

Annie Jacobsen: ‘What if we had a nuclear war?’

What are the risks at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after drone attack? –ALSO AT … https://nuclear-news.net/2024/04/10/3-a-what-are-the-risks-at-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-power-plant-after-drone-attack/    

What’s Inside the President’s Nuclear Football?

Climate. Heatwaves now last much longer than they did in the 1980s. What if global emissions went down instead of up?- ALSO AT …… https://nuclear-news.net/2024/04/12/2-b1-what-if-global-emissions-went-down-instead-of-up/         Swiss women win landmark climate victory at European Court of Human Rights.

Nuclear. I’m quite fascinated that the UK is using Fujitsu’s software in its nuclear lab –    after the total scandal and shemozzle of Fujitsu’s software in the UK Post  Offices –  more about that next week.

Noel’s notes. Australia is EVER so grateful to the global nuclear lobby!   The nuclear lobby’s new “prime wheeze” – Community Interest Companies.

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AUSTRALIA. 

NUCLEAR ISSUES

CLIMATE. Nuclear energy ‘now an obstacle to delivering net zero’ – Greenpeace.CIVIL LIBERTIES. Flicker of Hope: Biden’s Throwaway Lines on Assange.

ECONOMICS.

EDUCATION. U.S. adds to the $1billion already granted to education for the nuclear industry.ENERGY. Finland: Grid Limitations Force Olkiluoto-3 to Curtail Output.HEALTH. St. Louis Residents Seek Compensation for Illnesses Tied to Nuclear Contamination.
LEGAL. Kevin Gosztola: Correcting the Record on the Assange Case. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2xPL230qCY
UK Government decision to withhold nuclear power plant information unlawful.		MEDIA. Books. Nuclear Lies, Cover-Ups and Secrecy
OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR . Past anti-nuclear activists in Europe speak out against current plans.

Non-proliferation experts urge US to not support nuclear fuel project. 
Tax day and war resistance.

Sizewell C Nuclear : too destructive, too costly, too late.
PERSONAL STORIES. Five Years At Belmarsh: A Chronicle Of Julian Assange’s Imprisonment.
POLITICS.UK government could still replace Fujitsu in key nuclear contract.UK revamps Sizewell C nuclear funding to avoid delays.Hunterston: Scottish National Party see no nuclear future due to terrorism risk – ALSO AT …https://nuclear-news.net/2024/04/13/1-b1-hunterston-scottish-national-party-see-no-nuclear-future-due-to-terrorism-risk/Keir Starmer slammed over staunch defence of nuclear weapons.The Scottish National Party support signing an international treaty banning nuclear weapons, post independence.In an Ontario town split over a nuclear dump site, the fallout is over how they’ll vote on the future. Ballooning costs and secret projects at Canada’s federal nuclear labsPOLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY.US Declines Israel’s Invitation To Start WW3 (For Now).There Is No Grudge That Cannot Be Resolved, China’s Xi Jinping Tells Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou in Momentous Beijing Meeting.
The Mutually Reinforcing U.S. and Israeli Empires.
The US and Japan’s Mission to Push Next Generation Nuclear Power .
Former Australian PM Paul Keating on a craven acceptance of US strategic hegemony in Asia. 
PUBLIC OPINION. Ukraine fatigue: Kiev and the West are tiring of war and each otherSAFETY. Zaporizhzhia: Russia claims Ukrainian drone hit dome of nuclear powerplant. Nuclear power plants in war zones: Lessons learned from the war in Ukraine. Attacks on Ukrainian nuclear facilities ‘must cease immediately’: UN atomic watchdog. UN nuclear watchdog’s board sets emergency meeting after Zaporizhzhia attacks. Ukraine: Briefing on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant: The ‘Sum Of All Fears’.
Towards an international regulatory framework for AI safety: lessons from the IAEA’s nuclear safety regulations.
SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. Not enough war on the ground, the US is taking it to space.
U.S. Space Command adopts multipronged approach to prepare for ‘a conflict that has never happened’.
Rolls Royce taps funding for nuclear-powered space missions.		TECHNOLOGY. Getting bigger but not safer or cheaper – the myth of Rolls Royce and its very big non-modular reactor.U.S. nuclear industry upbeat on small reactors, despite setback.
Death by Algorithm: Israel’s AI War in Gaza.		URANIUM. Production of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) threatens our environment, health, and safety.WASTES.   First Images Inside Fukushima’s Nuclear Reactor Show “Icicle-Like”Structures
WAR and CONFLICT. Amid Serious Iran-Israel Tension, The Nuclear Elephant Is In The Room.

US, Philippines, Japan, and Australia Conduct First Joint Military Exercise in South China Sea.

Brutal, chaotic war – norms, conventions and laws of conduct are being erased.

Israel Prepares For Potential Strike On Iranian Nuclear Sites.

Will Biden’s zero sum game approach to foreign conflict bumble US into regional/nuclear war in Europe and Middle East?

The Longer it Takes the West to Accept that Ukraine is Losing, the Worse Things Will Get for Ukraine.		WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES.Civil and military nuclear mutuality.Increased activity at nuclear test site in northern Russia: expert.

Patrick Lawrence: ‘Automated Murder’: Israel’s ‘AI’ in Gaza. ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza. Israel’s ‘Where’s Daddy?’ AI system helps target suspected Hamas militants when they’re at home with their families, report says.

BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR BRITAIN’S WEAPONS EXPORTS.

The Math on Ukraine Doesn’t Add Up

Secret Agreements: The Australian-Israel Defence Memorandum of Understanding.

April 15, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

TODAY.”Lavender” Where’s Daddy” -Sweet euphemisms for a dehumanized, grotesquely technologized future in “the Cloud”

It’s not really new. It has always been part of the playful little-boy mentality of the clever men who design weapons. Think of “Little Boy” – the atomic bomb that devastated Hiroshima, and the less fun-named “Fat Man” plutonium bomb dropped on Nagasaki.

Perhaps, for the servicemen actually dropping those bombs, the fun names might have helped to ease them in any anxiety about killing many thousands of civilians – children, women and men.

Well, no need for servicemen to worry like that nowadays. With Artificial Intelligence making the kill decisions, no human need feel any guilt.

So – why do they bother with the cute sweet names?

Well, apart from the little-boy mentality of the weapons designers, there is the very much more important reason – to deceive the public, to obfuscate, cover-up, veil, the horror of the new AI weaponry. And where better to hide things these days, than in the cloud?

I’ve written before about the cloud. It’s such a light, pretty, concept. Just wafting away into the never-never – nothing to worry about, nothing for mere mortals to try to understand. Leave it to the grown-up little boys to work out what to do with the cloud, and the new cute war toys too.

The cloud is, of course, an ever-increasing set of dirty great data “farms” (another cutesy word) around the world – large areas on land, not in the sky, with huge steel containers, with servers and computers guzzling electricity and water.

There is nothing vague about these things, except for the language used.

“Lavender” – an accurate name would be “Finder for Kill Victims “

“Where’s Daddy” – an accurate name would be “Tracker for Killing Location”

George Orwell would be delighted with this 21st Century obfuscating language. He warned us about vague and meaningless language intended to hide the truth rather than express it. 

And – it’s not as if these automatic killing systems are just being perfected so that the evil Hamas can be defeated. There’s another purpose for using them in Gaza . They’re a practise run for trying out this merchandise – a lucrative industry for Israel for the future: –

“intelligent” weapons proven effective in Gaza were major attractions when Israel marketed them last month at the Singapore Airshow, East Asia’s biggest arms bazaar”.  

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

This week – the less positive news about nuclear

Some bits of good news.
Global Life Expectancy Rises by 6.2 Years After Drop in Deaths from Stroke, Diarrhea, and Respiratory Infections     Saving Migratory Fish, One Culvert at a Time.

TOP STORIES. Aukusing for War: The Real Target Is China .
The $97 billion mess – spent nuclear fuel reprocessing in Japan.
Xi Jinping’s Thoughts on China’s Nuclear Weapons.
America’s Nuclear War Plan in the 1960s Was Utter Madness. It Still Is.

Inside Sellafield behind the razor wire gun- toting guards and blast barriers at the toxic nuclear site – also at 

 Nuclear regulators should weigh climate change risk to power plants, report says. 

Spent nuclear fuel mismanagement poses a major threat to the United States. Here’s how..

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Climate. Climate change requires kind of collective effort that British people made during Second World War . ‘Simply mind-boggling’: world record temperature jump in Antarctic raises fears of catastrophe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXwmCLqQESQ

Nuclear.  I find it overwhelming – the enthusiasm of the world’s leaders  for ever more deadly nuclear weaponry – in view of  The day of nuclear Armageddon.

Noel’s notes. NATO – dancing macabrely to World War 3?  Why I am really a CONSERVATIVE, and you should be, too.  Ethics, intelligence, literature, and nuclear reprocessing.

NUCLEAR ISSUES.

CLIMATE. Nuclear energy cannot lead the global energy transition. Portents of a nuclear war on a burning planet.
Climate change and nuclear waste are a toxic stew.
Nuclear Power Plants: NRC Should Take Actions to Fully Consider the Potential Effects of Climate Change. Nuclear regulator delinquent on climate.		ECONOMICS. Russia’s state-owned energy company Rosatom is drumming up new nuclear business in Africa.

United Arab Emirates in talks to invest in European nuclear power infrastructure.

The cost of Europe’s new nuclear power plants.
EDUCATION. Small Nuclear Reactors – free and comprehensive information from SMRs Education Task Force.
ENERGY Fukushima City: 100 MW solar farm. China’s quiet energy revolution: the switch from nuclear to renewable energy.

ENVIRONMENT. Ecocide a ‘Critical Dimension of Israel’s Genocidal Campaign’ in Gaza: Probe. 3 B 1 Say no to small modular reactors: Stop normalizing the exploitation of nature. Radiation. Russia declares ‘state of emergency’ after radiation detected in eastern city of Khabarovsk
ETHICS and RELIGION. Holy See: ‘Nuclear deterrence is an illusion’.

EVENTS. 11 April WEBINAR Nuclear exploitation: how uranium mining harms communities.    https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_iThP7xYKRVy6XxQ46hOwpA#/registration

HEALTH. St. Louis-area residents make plea for compensation for illnesses tied to nuclear contamination.
LEGAL UK govt lawyers conclude Israel in breach of humanitarian law.

Sprawling Sellafield Nuclear Waste Site Prosecuted for Cybersecurity Failings.

Lawsuit challenges $1 billion in federal funding to sustain California’s last nuclear power plant.		MEDIA. An interview with Annie Jacobsen, author of ‘Nuclear War: A Scenario’.

‘Oppenheimer’ finally opens in Japan, the only nation to experience horror of nuclear war
OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR . 45 years after Three Mile Island, we need a ‘No Nukes’ comeback.

POLITICS.  Australia’s Liberal National Coalition “in a panic” about response to confused and unpopular nuclear power plan.  U.S. government extends key nuclear power subsidy by another 40 years.

Dennis Kucinich: the US engineered a coup to drag Ukraine into a conflict.
POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY.
 US Secretary of State Blinken says Ukraine will be NATO member. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddI8OJKTWxc

Japan confirms experts met in China to ease concerns over discharge of treated radioactive water.
The Case for Nuclear Diplomacy (doesn’t mention the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons!)		SAFETY. 
M6.0 earthquake hits coast of Japan’s Fukushima: Japan Meteorological Agency.

EDF confirms cracks on 1.3 GW Paluel 2 reactor.

TEPCO plans new installations at Fukushima nuclear plant, to deal with radioactive leakage.

Mystery of America’s first fatal nuclear disaster – explosion of small nuclear reactor.

Russia urges IAEA to publicly reveal Ukrainian attacks on nuclear plant. Ukrainian artillery cuts last backup power line to Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant.
SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. Russia calls out US over plans to militarize space.

SPINBUSTER. Jim Green demolishes Rolls Royce’s claims about so-called “small” and “cheap” nuclear reactors for Australia.

TECHNOLOGY. Nuclear energy is an ugly duckling in every possible respect: Too late, too costly, too toxic.   Not content with nuclear wastes to the seas, the nuclear lobby now wants floating nuclear power – (for the environment! they say).
WAR and CONFLICT. The day of nuclear Armageddon: Newly declassified documents reveal in macabre minute-by-minute detail what the end of the world would like. And why those vaporised instantly by an atomic bomb will be the lucky ones…

The Looming Ukraine Debacle. Ukrainian counteroffensive ‘biggest debacle in modern military history’ – David Sacks. West helping Ukraine attack deep inside Russia – CNN.		WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. U.S. Nuclear Weapons Costs, Projections Continue to Rise.

‘Obscene’: Biden Quietly OKs More 2,000-Pound Bombs, Warplanes for Israel.

Ukraine aid will bankrupt future US generations – congressman.

April 8, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

TODAY. NATO/USA – dancing macabrely to World War 3?

The Danse Macabre consists of the dead, or a personification of death, summoning representatives from all walks of life to dance along to the grave, The effect is both frivolous and terrifying, beseeching its audience to react emotionally. – Wikipedia

I wonder did those lovely well-paid NATO representatives have a nice social time, too, in the Brussels Summit April 3 -4, surely a dinner, perhaps a dance? Well, they did, in a way, do a danse macabre, as they fell in like ninepins to the aims of Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and of my favourite sweetly spoken war-monger, Antony Blinken. ( All except Hungary, but they don’t count, as they’re on speaking terms with Russia.)

The danse macabre idea derived from the Middle Ages – when mass deaths happened from famine and plague – it was perhaps some kind of coping mechanism – and a way to face up to the fears of what was coming.

NATO representatives dutifully discussed $107b Ukraine military aid package, a multi-year financial commitment for Ukraine, dutifully agreeing that everyone must do more to ensure a Ukrainian victory against Russia, and “rock solid” that Ukraine will join NATO.  “Our purpose at the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership,” – Antony Blinken.

NATO/USA aims to draw in “Indo-Pacific partners” – Australia, NZ. South Korea ,Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan. NATO/USA sees a Ukrainian victory as a necessity for global peace and freedom. And I guess that a Taiwanese victory over China will be visualised in the same way.

Did anyone raise matters like the situation of Ukrainian casualties, the crippling of Ukraine’s environment, economy, and social structure, the Russian success on the ground, the perils of Ukraine striking sites far inside Russia? Apart from Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó , did anyone suggest a negotiated end to the Ukrainian bloodbath?

The Ukrainian people are overwhelmed with the sufferings of fighting Russia on behalf of NATO/USA. But to NATO/USA – is it some sort of game of Russian roulette – how far can they push Russia? And is it preparatory to another game of Taiwan fighting China? And is it fun to toy with the chance of World War 3 ?

April 6, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes, politics international | 2 Comments

TODAY. Why I am really a CONSERVATIVE, and you should be, too.

Years ago, when I was a member of the Australian Labor Party, I was shocked when someone accused me of being really a conservative at heart. Sacrilege! to a Leftie, to be given such an accusation!

Now I know that it is true.

Conservative – “holding traditional values.”

Conservation – “seeking the proper use of nature, a careful preservation and protection of natural resources to prevent exploitation, pollution, destruction, or neglect.”

It is fashionable, and of course, attention-grabbing in the media – to condemn things that are “old” and claim that “youth opinion” and “feelings” (rather than facts) are what matter , to downgrade our institutions of justice, and representative democracy that have served us well over time.

How is it that now there is worldwide acceptance of the idea that Donald Trump, and indeed the USA Republican Party, the Tories in Britain, and the Australian Liberal-National Coalition are CONSERVATIVES?

They are not conservative at all. They are out to wreck the natural environment, in the interests of a few rich corporations. They are out to wreck the social environment in spurning domestic courts and other legal institutions, like the International Court of Justice. They have attitudes of unfairness to non-white people, indigenous people, refugees, at times of suppression of women’s rights, especially, over their own bodies. This is not conservative. This is RADICAL – uprooting Christian values, and the natural world.

Admittedly, there was a time when the Western world held cruel “Christian” values, – like divine right of kings, slavery, racism, severe suppression of women’s rights, of religious and political rights…. Hanging on to those ideas was then conservatism.

But that’s a while back. In Western countries, values like Christian ideas of equal human rights, compassion and fairness, and also proper care of land, water, and animals – have been around for a long time now.

And that’s why we need to be conservatives There’s really no point in being left-wing or right-wing. No point in slavishly supporting your political party. A genuine conservativism is in looking beyond all the guff, and using those common sense traditional values. The political parties seem to get ever closer together, in the radical new doctrine of ever-increasing profit as the main purpose in life.

April 4, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | 3 Comments

TODAY. Ethics, intelligence, literature, and nuclear reprocessing

What on Earth has literature got to do with nuclear power? Well, nothing, really, I suppose.

And yet…….

An article today, about nuclear reprocessing, brought to mind the dilemma for Shakespeare’s Macbeth as he continues on the path to his doom.

Macbeth decides to go on, though he knows it is hopeless:

“I am in blood
Stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as go o’er“

He decides to just keep doing the same thing, rather than to stop, and think about alternatives:

 ” Strange things I have in head, that will to hand; Which must be acted ere they may be scann’d.”

“They have invested too much money in the program to give up on it halfway“

That’s the reason why the Japanese government will continue with this $97 billion massive white elephant of the Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing plant.

Even if the reprocessing plant is completed, it can treat only 800 tons of spent nuclear fuel annually at full capacity, compared with 19,250 tons of spent fuel stored nationwide.

Calls have grown over the years to abandon the nuclear fuel cycle project. – The Asahi Shimbun.

What has intelligence got to do with it? Well, meaning common sense, (rather than spying) – it would be intelligent to stop this futile project, and take some different actions, such as stopping making this toxic trash.

Finally – what has ethics got to do with this?

Well, everything. The Japanese government won’t face up to the truth. Neither will world leaders. It’s all too hard – leave it to our great-grandchildren to deal with the radioactive trash, and all the environmental, social, and weapons-and war-dangers of this noxious industry.

April 3, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

Nuclear news for the last week of March.

Some bits of good news.   More Teens Than You Think Understand the Positive and Negative Aspects of Smartphones–Survey. India makes significant progress on malaria. Renewables blew gas away in the UK. 

TOP STORIES

UK Court Gives Biden Chance to Dodge Assange Appeal by “Assuring” His Rights . 

Spending Unlimited – The Pentagon’s Budget Follies Come at a High Price.

“Nuclear comes last”

Air attacks on Ukraine have again put the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant(ZNPP), under Russian control, in danger. ALSO AT ……… 

Nuclear waste clean-up company to be prosecuted over alleged cyber blunders, lax security. 

THE R.A.F’S NUCLEAR FLIGHTS OVER BRITAIN AND THE ATLANTIC.

Is Nuclear Fusion Really The Ultimate Solution to AI’s Crazy Power Use?

Climate. Oil company chief urges investment in fossil fuels, as world heats at a record pace. Antarctic sea ice ‘behaving strangely’ as Arctic reaches ‘below-average’ winter peak.    Copernicus online portal offers a terrifying view of climate emergency.

Noel’s notes.   Sellafield scandals – a case study in why the nuclear industry must be shut down.     A world run by 11 year-old boys?  The tiresome spin of the nuclear lobby in Australia.

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NUCLEAR ISSUES

ART and CULTURE. Decades of Dissent: Anti-Nuclear movement explored in LSE Library exhibition, London.

CIVIL LIBERTIES. The Empire Slowly Suffocates Assange Like It Slowly Suffocates All Its Enemies.

Arrested for peaceful protest against Israeli-owned military technology company.

ECONOMICS.

EDUCATION. Nuclear and weapons industry propaganda to schools.
Missing Links in Textbook History: War		EMPLOYMENT. Sellafield’s head of information security to step down.ETHICS and RELIGION. A Genocide Foretold.

EVENTS. The First Annual Plutonium Trail Caravan is on Saturday April 6th – Join Us!

LEGAL. Assange Extradition Delayed Unless US Provides ‘Assurances’ He Won’t Be Executed for Revealing the Truth. Chris Hedges: The Crucifixion of Julian Assange. Purgatorial Torments: Assange and the UK High Court.
Now there are three court challenges against Ontario nuclear waste disposal facility.
The Decision That Wasn’t A Decision. The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) will prosecute Sellafield Ltd on charges of security offences. British nuclear site Sellafield to be prosecuted for cybersecurity failures.
Court Allows Ageing Japanese Nuclear Plants to Continue Operations.		MEDIA. This is how nuclear war would begin – in terrifying detail. ‘My jaw dropped’: Annie Jacobsen on her scenario for nuclear war. Review: Annie Jacobsen’s ‘Nuclear War: A Scenario’ Will Make You Start Worrying And Hate The Bomb.

The Rising Nuclear Threat: Readers respond to the “At the Brink” series of Opinion articles

Einstein’s vision for peace.

Oppenheimer: Monaghan man, Daniel A. McGovern, who captured nuclear devastation.
OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR . Scotland’s National Party attacks £200m extra for nuclear deterrent and industry.POLITICS. Whaat! Romania’s state-owned Nuclearelectrica to partner with NuScale to build small nuclear reactors-
U.S, government to give $1.52 billion loan guarantee to Holtec to resuscitate Palisades Nuclear Plant.
IAEA Warns Of Iraq-Like Scenario For Iran Without Transparency
Australian government seeks top quality PR team to persuade Aborigines that a nuclear waste dump is a good thing.   
POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 
New NATO member Finland admits US pact ‘restricts sovereignty’.

Biden claims binding UN Security Council Gaza ceasefire resolution is ‘non-binding.’		PUBLIC OPINION.
Most Americans now disapprove of Israel’s military action in Gaza new poll reveals as tensions rise between allies.		SAFETY. Atomic blackmail – Russia-Ukraine war and Ramberg’s theory of vulnerability.
NRC admits San Onofre Holtec nuclear waste canisters are all damaged.
Special nuclear flights between the US and UK: the dangers involved.
Security concerns as UAE Eyeing Investments in Europe’s Nuclear Energy Sector.
SECRETS and LIES. IAEA Unaware Of Secret Iranian Nuclear Site Targeted By Israel.SPINBUSTER.ChatGPT’s boss claims nuclear fusion is the answer to AI’s soaring energy needs. Not so fast, experts say.
Cancer “epidemic” in the Young as Radioactive Wastes are Increasingly Dispersed to the Environment meanwhile Nuclear given “green” status in Brussels..		TECHNOLOGY. Weaponizing Reality: The Dawn of Neurowarfare.
New nuclear reactor types will not solve waste and safety issues.
WASTES. UK nuclear watchdog takes Sellafield nuclear waste operator to court over alleged IT breaches.
Experts from Japan and China held talks on treated radioactive wastewater.
Decommissioning. How much will extra decades of nuclear decommissioning work at Dounreay cost? Dounreay decommissioning date ‘never achievable’ says Caithness councillor Also at https://nuclear-news.net/2024/04/01/1-b1-dounreay-decommissioning-date-never-achievable-says-caithness-councillor/.		WAR and CONFLICT. Putin says Russia will not attack NATO, but F-16s will be shot down in Ukraine.

Atrocities. Israel Remains Intent on Genocide Despite World Court Orders.

Michigan Republican congressman says Gaza should be destroyed with nuclear bomb ‘like Nagasaki and Hiroshima’, as he slams US for sending humanitarian aid.		WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES.Biden Is Quietly Funding Nuclear Weapons Upgrades That Could Imperil the Planet. The Nuclear Explosion That Makes US Aid to Israel Illegal. US secretly sending more bombs to Israel – Washington Post.. U.S., Germany Supplied 99% of Israel Weapons Import Despite Pressure: Data.France will help Brazil develop nuclear-powered submarines, Macron says.Nabbed Australian Protestors Stopping Military Shipment to Israel.UK to test new ‘Astraea’ nuclear warheads without detonation.

April 1, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | , , , , | Leave a comment

TODAY. The nuclear lobby’s new “prime wheeze” – Community Interest Companies

The UK, famous for comedy, had a great character, Bertie Wooster, who kept thinking up wonderful (useless and silly) new ideas, that he called “Prime Wheezes”. In true Bertie Wooster tradition, the nuclear lobby does the same.

They usually go for “registered charities” – and there’s any number of these, that the industry creates, really nuclear front groups, that pose as genuinely working for the public good.

So why is the nuclear lobby now going for the non-profit Community Interest Companies (CICs)?

Some of the reasons:

  •  The nuclear industry can get approval and respectability,  “piggy-back” on a lot of genuinely positive and popular businesses in an existing CIC.
  •   The CIC business model can incorporate a wider range of social aims than are allowed for charities. This is because the definition of community interest within the test applied to a CIC is broader than the Public Benefit Test for charities. 
  • easier to set up than is a charity..   
  •  murkiness of funding – relatively easy from private donors, grants or community development finance  
  • can more easily buy and sell commercially.  
  •   It is a lightweight structure, it is unencumbered by bureaucracy. It can be set up in a couple of days
  • it  is  like a standard profit-making company then, but with social objectives supposedly built in.   
  • it avoids the accountability mechanisms that charities have, e.g a CIC can have just one director. It does have a (poorly funded) government regulator, Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies, but  there appears to be no pro-active monitoring of whether CICs are operating for community benefit.
  •  Directors and functioning can change overtime, not encumbered by  rules that ensure its social aims. The directors of a CIC can pay themselves whatever they can argue could reasonably be seen as necessary. 
  • any money in the organisation can very easily be siphoned out to profit-making enterprises. 
  • No legal requirement to have a democratic structure   

In Somerset UK, where there is community anxiety about the development of Hinkley Point C nuclear station, and its effect on the environment – what better prime wheeze for the nuclear lobby, than to join an existing reputable Community Interest Company?

Hinkley Point C, has teamed up with the CIC Passion for Somerset. as a principal partner.

April 1, 2024 Posted by | business and costs, Christina's notes, spinbuster, UK | Leave a comment

TODAY. Sellafield scandals – a case study in why the nuclear industry must be shut down.

If you had any illusions about the nuclear industry being “clean” and “safe” and “honest”, the latest bit of news in the tawdry saga of UK’s Sellafield nuclear waste dump might cause you to stop and think.

It doesn’t seem that much – “prosecution for alleged cybersecurity offences” and  “no suggestion that public safety has been compromised”.

But if you bother to do your homework on this sprawling rubbish dump, the world’s most complex nuclear site, with the world’s largest  stockpile of plutonium – you will find a litany of alarming nuclear stories:

And what does the world nuclear authority, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have to say about all this? –

“World nuclear chief praises Sellafield progress”

Wake up world!

I’m sorry to have to say this, – but you can’t depend on the world leaders and the nuclear authorities to tell you the truth about this ghastly industry. So many depend on it for their livelihood, for their local economy – etc etc. But the truth must be told.

The political and business leaders are waiting till after their retirement – hoping that the shit won’t hit the fan while they might cop the blame. Like the security bosses at Sellafield, they might have to get out in time. I wonder how long Rafael Grossi can last, can keep up the pretense.

Sellafield is arguably the worst case of nuclear danger and corruption. But then there are the horrors of the Russian nuclear industry, including City 40. Then there’s Japan, with its eternal Fukushima calamity, and its many nuclear reactors close to earthquake zones.

It’s really only thanks to Anna Isaac and Alex Lawson, of the Guardian, that we get to find out about Sellafield.

And to others, like Kate Brown. revealing the reality of the nuclear waste-plutonium disaster endangering the planet

And I wonder, as the USA prepares to lock up Julian Assange forever, how long will the powerful allow these intrepid writers to spill the beans on nuclear scandals?

March 30, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

TODAY. A world run by 11 year-old boys?

They can be delightful people, full of fun, curiosity, competitiveness and inventiveness. They come up with the bright ideas, sometimes daring and a bit risky, but always interesting.

Neuroscience tells us that the part of the brain, the frontal lobe, that deals with judgement and inhibition, develops fully only later in the male , – up to nearly age 30 – compared to, in females, a lot earlier. Also the male brain is, by and large, better at focussing on one thing, as compared with the female, where the electric impulses dart around the brain – considering various aspects.

These differences must have been useful in the past, when sabretooth tigers were a big danger – the larger, less inhibited young male person being more likely to rush out and fight this predator. Less useful now, when the danger is other aggressive male persons.

Which brings me to my thought. I was looking at this picture of Sam Altman – of ChatGPT fame. He’s actually 38, but he’s got that bright-eyed 11 year-old boyish look.

In fact, I reckon that they all do – Elon Musk, Bill Gates – and the rest of the billionaire tech entrepreneurs. Gee – they’re brilliantly clever, and daring, and wow! – they do great stuff, and a lot of it brings us a lot of benefits.

And they’re a lot more fun than boring old fogies, people like Ralph Nader, who warned about automobile safety, and nuclear danger.

AND YET … AND YET ……

Sam Altman is enthused about Artificial Intelligence – needing an orgy of electricity. But no worry – nuclear fusion will solve that! (only nuclear fusion is many decades away).

They all seem to love nuclear energy, and endless AI, and rockets to Mars – and all that wow stuff. Things like nuclear waste apparently are not that important, nor are ideas like energy conservation to address global heating, nor the growth of devastating weaponry – in space as well as on Earth, nor the consequences of all this for the environment, the fragile ecosystem that supports our species, as well as all those other species such as the insects, that don’t matter.

The world’s leaders seem to hang on every word from these guys. I think they are making a big mistake.

I postulate that the tech billionaires had such fun when they were 11, that they never left that persona behind. Inside, they are still 11. The super- confidence, the risk-taking, the narrow brain focus – it’s all still there.

Meanwhile, ordinary mortals, and that includes women with their more generalised thinking, are pondering about the climate, biodiversity, the environment, wars, the heritage for our grandchildren. I think that we need to listen more to ordinary mortals, more likely to be co-operative rather than competitive, and to men like boring old Ralph Nader, who is older than 11 inside.

March 28, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

TODAY. UK High Court caving in before USA’s power, leaving decision on Julian Assange’s future up to USA’s “kindness”?

Well, well, what better example of America’s dominance over the anglophone world could you find?

The UK High Court was charged with making a decision on whether or not Julian Assange could appeal against the British government’s decision to extradite him to the USA on charges of ” complicity in illegal acts to obtain or receive voluminous databases of classified information and for agreeing and attempting to obtain classified information through computer hacking”, under the rarely used Espionage Act of 1917

This High Court case is the latest in the series of legal cases around the issue of extradition.

Julian Assange has languished for almost five years, in solitary confinement, in the notorious Belmarsh prison, Britain’s “Guantanamo Bay” for the worst criminals. Now he has to endure this for more weeks. Talk about death by a thousand cuts. ( Perhaps Russia is kinder – they just poison their problem people, or crash them in a plane – it’s quicker)

All this because Assange revealed and published the truth about America’s military atrocities.

So – now we know.

If a journalist anywhere in the world should have the temerity to reveal inconvenient facts about the USA military, then look out!

Not only are the Western political leaders, and especially in the anglophone countries, subservient to their master – the USA, but now we know that even their legal systems are subservient too.

Dame Victoria Sharp, took 66 pages to explain why the High Court couldn’t actually make a decision, without the blessing of the USA government.

So – the High Court will reconvene in three weeks, after receiving “assurances” from the USA government – about no death penalty (on the present charges, they could make new ones?),  that he  is permitted to rely on the First Amendment, – he is not ‘prejudiced at trial’ .

Of course the USA government will come up with kindly phrases – not worth the paper they are written on.

It’s a sad day for justice.

March 26, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear news this week – 25 March

Some bits of good news –   

TOP STORIES. Julian Assange and the Plea Nibble. Report: Justice Department Considering Plea Deal for Assange. 

House Democrats Tell Biden To Enforce US Law and Suspend Military Aid to Israel.

Dozens of countries pledge support for nuclear power, despite lingering concerns. 

Filling Nuclear Power’s $5 Trillion Hole Is Beyond the Banks.Glorious new financial jargon from the nuclear lobby – the “International Bank for Nuclear Infrastructure (IBNI)”.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Cannot Both Police Proliferation and Promote Nuclear Power.

BASE study: Alternative reactor concepts do not solve the repository problem.
Climate .  

Mainstream climate scientists run the risk of becoming the new climate deniers. Hundreds of groups for climate action reject nuclear power at Brussels Summit.

State of the Global Climate 2023.

Environment. Where have all the insects gone?

Noel’s notes. Antony Blinken would get into bed with the devil, if it meant lucrative sales of USA weapons and nukes to Hell. Desperation of the nuclear lobby! Its new financial fantasy scheme, couched in impenetrable jargon!”  In talking about nuclear matters, why is money the only game in town?

********************************************

NUCLEAR ISSUES

ARTS and CULTURE. A One-State Solution Could Transform the World.  

ECONOMICS. 

ENERGY. For France’s EPR at Flamanville, the objective of loading fuel before the end of March is no longer tenable.ENVIRONMENT. Oceans. Fourth discharge of treated Fukushima water completed. 
Canadian officials found radiation levels in these northern Ontario homes ‘well above’ the safe limit. Their response: ‘¯\_(ツ)_/¯’ also at https://nuclear-news.net/2024/03/23/1-a-canadian-officials-found-radiation-levels-in-these-northern-ontario-homes-well-above-the-safe-limit-their-response-%c2%af_%e3%83%84_-%c2%af/
Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility – Re: Radiation in Elliot Lake homes .		ETHICS and RELIGION. Just Seeing Through The Propaganda Isn’t Enough – We’ve Got To Open Our Hearts As Well.
HEALTH. Nuclear test veterans demand compensation and medical records access.INDIGENOUS ISSUES. Heavy resistance to Canada’s 1st nuclear waste repository, while Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) says it is safe..MEDIA. Normalizing starvation and massacres: Flour Massacre Called ‘Aid-Related Deaths’—Rather Than Part of Israel’s Engineered Famine.
PUBLIC OPINION. In Japan, Opposition to restarting nuclear power plants has grown, especially among womenSECRETS and LIES. “Anonymous” claims it has infiltrated Israel’s nuclear plant in Dimona.

 AUKUS: Red flag for arms industry corruption. 		SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. US and Japan seek UN resolution calling on all nations to ban nuclear weapons in outer space.
Space tourists and crew suffer high radiation risks – regulation is needed to protect them.
To Mars and Back: Will NASA’s Ambitious Endeavor Be Worth It?
SPINBUSTER. The Lying Piper of Nukeland: the IAEA’s nuclear fairy tales are leading nations — and all of us — into climate catastrophe.
Zion Lights and her lying, climate-denying mentor Michael Shellenberger
TECHNOLOGY. The questionable promises behind new nuclear power.
WASTES. 100,000 years and counting: how do we tell future generations about highly radioactive nuclear waste repositories?
Japan finishes first-year ocean discharge of nuclear-tainted wastewater amid backlash.
Inside Fukushima: Eerie drone footage reveals first ever look at melted nuclear reactor with 880 tonnes of radioactive fuel still inside – 13 years after disaster.
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Opened 25 Years Ago; It Was Supposed to Close Next Week.		WAR and CONFLICT. Ukraine’s losses ‘in the millions’ – retired Polish general.
Atrocities. ‘We are the masters of the house’: Israeli channels air snuff videos featuring systematic torture of Palestinians		WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES.How Biden’s budget plunged the Aukus submarines pact into doubt.
Can the U.S. Develop A Nuclear Bomb Without Ever Testing It? We’re About to Find Out.US Air Force tests very expensive third-stage rocket motor for next nuclear missile

NATO Builds Largest Europe Base Near Black Sea.
Nuclear weapons: France to restart tritium production with EDF.Nuclear Deterrence At Sea – France Begins Work On ‘Cutting Edge’ Nuke-Powered Ballistic Missile Submarine.Canada to stop arms sales to Israel – Foreign Minister.
UK launches ‘national endeavour’ to reinforce nuclear deterrent. Iranian Cleric Calls For Nuclear Arms.

March 26, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | , , , , | 2 Comments

TODAY. A SUMMIT of nuclear fantasy, folly and ignorance

Yes they all gathered in Brussels, all those very well-paid stuffed-shirt blokes, and that one even-better paid token woman.

First there was propaganda to “more than 70 young science communicators” – with top salesman Rafael Grossi in full flight, (necessary because the marketing body IAEA has decided that we must make nuclear power look lively and YOUTHFUL)

Then the top bananas – Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo and the Director General of the IAEA Rafael Mariano Grossi kicked off the spin buildup, leading to the adoption of a key declaration about nuclear energy.

Then the trail of international followers-on had their bit of a say.

Then heaps of big-wigs from nuclear energy agencies – panel talks on how to get nuclear power resuscitated world-wide

Finally – the Big One – how on earth to con taxpayers worldwide, and investors, to suddenly come up with the $billions needed to resuscitate this dirty and failing industry, with its only raison d’etre being nuclear weapons-making.

March 23, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

TODAY. Desperation of the nuclear lobby! Its new financial fantasy scheme, couched in impenetrable jargon!

“International Bank for Nuclear Infrastructure (IBNI) will become the ‘Gold Standard’ of nuclear finance.“

Yes, I diligently tried to grasp it all- “Why nuclear energy needs exclusive global multilateral infrastructure bank”. I really did. Then I realised that I probably wasn’t really supposed to understand it.

It was not for me, an ordinary mortal, to understand why an International Bank for Nuclear Infrastructure (IBNI) is such a good idea . The point is – this IBNI will save the world from global heating – that’s the message!

I’m not sure that even the worthy financial and nuclear and government experts are going to be able to fully understand it either. But I guess that the nuclear lobby is banking on this bank as a last desperate measure to get heaps of taxpayer money into the failing nuclear industry.

It’s grim times for nuclear. They seem to have managed to convince everyone that nuclear wastes, and health, environmental, safety, and weapons proliferation risks don’t matter.

They used in the past, along with their coal, oil, gas industry mates, deny that climate change was real. Now they love it – and have adopted climate change as their only raison d’etre.

The nuclear lobby used to boast that their industry provided super-cheap electricity. But now they’re obviously admitting that nuclear electricity is in fact very expensive. But hey – pull a magic trick, – con governments again – and perhaps we’ll all agree to pour money into this incomprehensible new gimmick – the ” International Bank for Nuclear Infrastructure (IBNI)”

Sure sounds pretty desperate to me!

March 22, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

TODAY. Anthony Blinken would get into bed with the devil, if it meant lucrative sales of USA weapons and nukes to Hell

One cannot help but admire the frantic peregrinations of Antony Blinken all around the world, in pursuit of American weapons companies’ interest, as well as doing the smarmy cover-up for USA’s support of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The guy has amazing energy and zeal. Not sure about integrity.

However, this is all symptomatic of American prevailing culture. The Biden administration does seem hell-bent on backing Israel – even though the horror of the atrocity in Gaza is visible to the world. Even though the world’s Jews now fear an awful backlash, and the rise of nasty anti-semitism.

But the USA blunders on. The war in Ukraine drags on, and the weapons flow no doubt will continue there. (The U.S. Republicans will surely eventually find a way to back the provision of more weapons to UKraine). The weapons flow continues to Israel, despite Biden’s pious proclamations about peace.

I’m forever reading in the U.S. press about other countries clamouring to buy USA nuclear technology – plans to sell small and large nuclear reactors to Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Ukraine, Kenya, Ghana, and of course, the big nuclear submarine coup sale to Australia ………………

I also read – what I find rather nauseous – stuff about how the USA is “helping” the people of Gaza – compassionate aid, plans for when Israel is finally completely victorious, and so on.

But it was the BBC’s story today that really impressed me: Blinken visits Middle East to discuss Gaza post-war plan.

“The major Arab sponsor Saudi Arabia would normalise relations with Israel in return for access to advanced US weapons and an American-backed civilian nuclear power programme.“

I momentarily lack the energy to write about the USA’s new best friend – Saudi Arabia, (itself a buyer of USA arms), about the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi, about the discrimination against women, and Saudi Arabia’s whole theocratic suppression of human rights.

But all is forgiven, if we can make money selling weapons, and if that means some delicate diplomatic acrobatics what better acrobat than Antony Blinken?

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

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