Nuclear news – week to 17 April

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

EDUCATION. Universities and the AUKUS Military-Industrial Complex. 

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

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

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

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

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

POLITICS. 

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

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

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

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

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

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

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

WASTES. 

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

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

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

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

AN ASSESSMENT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS FREE ZONES.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is nuclear power really clean as the industry claims?

really safe?

really effective against climate change?

really affordable? really a good investment?

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

really welcomed by the public?

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

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

TODAY. Oh dear – French President Macron has stepped out of line – no war against China? Heresy!

Yes, I’m afraid it’s true. That French froggie has betrayed us all. I always did know, at the bottom of my not very intelligent mind, that only anglophones can be trusted.

Macron has had the temerity to suggest that it’s not a good idea to go to war with China, over Taiwan.

Now we can expect USA, UK Canada, Australia – to lead the global wave of righteous indignation against France – or rather, against Macron in particular. I expect that the European Union will dutifully follow.

We can’t have unpatriotic ideas like peace interfere with our noble militaristic global rules-based order.

April 11, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

The week’s nuclear news – to 10 April

Some bits of good news – Community rewilding in UK.  Reintroducing elephants, sharks and other big beasts could help keep the Paris agreement alive.

Pandemic.  Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Weekly Epidemiological Update.   Countries set out way forward for negotiations on global agreement to protect world from future pandemic emergencies.

Climate. Three consecutive years of rapidly increasing carbon dioxide emissions

Antarctica’s melting ice sheet could retreat much faster than previously thought. 

  The temperature of the world’s ocean surface has hit an all-time high. Ocean Heat, An El Nino on the Way, Potential New Global Temperature Record by 2024 — robertscribbler.

Nuclear. It’s all about nuclear weapons and the risk of nuclear war, again this week. I’m wondering if the world has got “nuclear-war-fatigue”.  So little awareness in the general public and media compared to previous times of urgent danger of nuclear war.  Some sort of complacent acceptance that we’ve all got to keep the wonderful nuclear weapons industries going  –it means jobs jobs jobs and ever-rising value of those shares. We’ll give the boys the shiny new toys –  fingers crossed that they don’t actually play with them. 

Christina notes. Nuclear war – it’s a manly thing.   The China-bogey-man distraction from the real threat of GLOBAL HEATING

CLIMATE. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report fails to mention military or conflict emissions. France’s riverside reactor build plans “irresponsible” – expert. Rethinking Paris: France braces for 4°C warming in “turning point” strategy — (wonder how France’s nuclear reactors will cope?)

CIVIL LIBERTIES. Washington Says “Journalism Is Not A Crime” While Working To Criminalize Journalism.

CULTURE. Americans now fear cyberattack more than nuclear attack. ‘Everything Russian’ must be eradicated in Crimea – Zelensky aide.

ECONOMICS. Classic Megaproject Early Mistakes Will Create A Fiscal Disaster For Netherlands Nuclear.

ENERGY. IPCC report shows the winners in energy transition – wind and solar, and the losers – nuclear power and carbon capture.     China on track to triple its terawatt-scale wind and solar target. Renewable energy overtakes nuclear power as the EU’s largest source of primary energy production. European nuclear power generation to continue at historically low levels.

HEALTH. Mental illness plagues Japan’s nuclear disaster survivors. Childhood thyroid cancer cases confirmed in the Fukushima Health Management Survey and others.

MEDIA. Japan – Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center news roundup April/May 2023.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Nuclear life extension plans tested by obsolete components. Saudi quest to become a nuclear player is coming up short. Current State of Post-Accident Operations at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (Jun. to Dec. 2022). Nuclear fusion is a never-ending dream,

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. Crowd turns out for town hall on plutonium pits, nuclear waste storage. Campaigners continue to take a stand against the plan for new nuclear power at Bradwell. Saskatchewan must remember opposition to nuclear waste.

PERSONAL STORIES. Northampton nuclear weapons activist Ira Helfand wins peace award.

POLITICS. SCOTT RITTER: The Future of US Nuclear Strategy.  US Department of Energy is once again promoting large nuclear reactors, despite lack of supply chain and absurdly unaffordable costs. More warheads, more nuclear waste to New Mexico. Santa Fe fearful, as Carlsbad leaders support efforts.

. AUKUS, NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY AND AUSTRALIA’S FUTURE – (this article says it all!) Bigger threat than China’: Defence leaders urge release of ‘scary’ climate report. Absolutely disingenuous – DARC – the Deep-Space Advanced Radar Capability – Australia to join USA’s plan for Space as a War-fighting Domain– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KhkdjqSNic 

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. G7 countries are likely to back nuclear power. The West Has Been Planning To Crush China For A Very Long Time. India and Pakistan Must Negotiate Nuclear Responsibilities. Many Speakers Voice Concern over Increase in Dangerous Nuclear Weapons Rhetoric amidst Ongoing War against Ukraine, as Disarmament Commission Opens Session.    Convincing major powers to abide by ASEAN’s nuclear treaty is challenging.    AUKUS nuclear submarine cooperation seriously jeopardizes peace, stability in Asia-Pacific: embassy.

PROTESTS. 8 peaceful protestors arrested at the Nevada National “Security” Site. Four arrested after blockade of two gates at Trident nuclear base in Scotland.

PUBLIC OPINION. The British government doesn’t want to talk about its nuclear weapons. The British public does.

 SAFETY.   Fukushima.  New images from inside Fukushima reactor spark safety worry.  New Images From Inside Fukushima Nuclear Plant Are Causing Big Worries.    Foundation in Fukushima nuclear plant reactor likely badly damaged. Disturbing Clues at Fukushima Nuclear Plant May Be an Omen for Another Disaster. Fukushima Now Part 1: Railroading the Contaminated Water Release is Unacceptable! Current State of Post-Accident Operations at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (Jun. to Dec. 2022). 

Japan’s nuclear regulators find errors in Japan Atomic Power’s safety documents for the Tsuruga plant. Navy’s nuclear-powered super submarine ‘Trident’ fixed with super glue. The Other Atomic Concern in Taiwan—Nuclear Reactors .

SECRETS and LIES. Second batch of Classified Documents Detailing US Ukraine War Secrets Is Leaked Online. ‘A nightmare for the Five Eyes’: New batch of classified documents leaked to social media.

SPINBUSTER. Busting the spin about nuclear wastes – a Letter to the editor of the Hill Times.

WASTES. NMED’s Permit Allows LANL Loopholes for Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility.

WAR and CONFLICT. 

• Ukrainian forces mount highly dangerous attack on Zaporizhzhia site.     Failed Ukrainian nuclear plant attack revealed – The Times.    
• ‘Brink of nuclear war’: North Korea warning on military drills. 
• White House: U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan to wage war with Russia, China. 
• DID THE UK DEPLOY A NUCLEAR-ARMED SUBMARINE TO THE FALKLANDS CONFLICT? 
• Researchers simulate damage from nuclear weapons use in Northeast Asia. 
• European war games: 9,000 U.S. troops, 17,000 from 26 NATO allies, partners in 10 nations.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. 

• Worst-kept secret? In tweet, ex-PM Barak seems to confirm Israel has nuclear weapons. Ex-PM Ehud Barak Confirms Israel Has Nuclear Weapons: Why it Matters. 
• B61-12 nuclear sharing: Finnish flag raised at NATO Air Command HQ . 
• Blinken demands NATO allies cough up more wealth, weapons for Ukraine war. 
• NATO’s biggest infrastructure investment in 30 years: U.S. Army expands base in Poland.   
• NATO orders Poland to deliver 200 APC to Ukraine as “mortars, missiles and MiGs are arriving”.
• US Navy sends nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine to Middle East. 
• US deploys nuclear submarine to West Asia.

April 10, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

TODAY. Nuclear war – it’s a manly thing

I was reminded of this fact today, as I read an article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. An excellent article, by three very good academics – all men, understandably, as we all realise that they are the most expert on these matters.

I was struck by this line, a fair way down in the article – “Women are far less likely than men to support UK possession of nuclear weapons (28 percent of women, compared with 53 percent of men). “

It was nice of them to mention women’s opinions. That doesn’t happen often , but whenever it does, there is this striking difference – with women not at all keen on nuclear weapons and nuclear war.

The sad reality is that when you look at the people making the decisions on nuclear weapons, and on international relations – they’re pretty much always men. Some of these men are all dolled up in pretty military uniforms and colours, with ribbons, and medals – all looking so important.

Very important men – making very silly decisions.

April 8, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 3 Comments

Nuclear news- week to 4 April

Nuclear Winter Webinar 7 April

https://beyondnuclear.org/nuclear-winter-webinar/ The Samuel Lawrence Foundation is hosting its “First Friday” Zoom Event at 11:30 AM PST (2:30 PM EST), featuring Brian Toon, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado at Boulder on:

 “Nuclear Winter: The Environmental Consequences of a Nuclear Exchange.” The event is moderated by Professor Paul Dorfman, Chair of Nuclear Consulting Group, University of Sussex, UK. Professor Toon is a world renowned researcher on the environmental and climate consequences of nuclear war. Even a limited conflict between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, an exchange of 100 nuclear weapons, would have global climate changing consequences. Click here to register for the April 7th webinar.

Christina notes. “Clean” “Renewable” nuclear power – the PERSISTENT LIES.    Corruption in the nuclear industry.

It’s a pivotal time – this AUKUS-nuclear submarine thing.  And not just for Australia – as 3 anglophone nations team up in spreading nuclear weapons-grade technology for the first time – to a non-nuclear nation.  All done – not with the consent of parliaments and people – just done with a stroke by the big boys. And all setting up for the next proxy war, Australia in the lead role?  – against China.

CLIMATE. Climate change amplifies existing threats to national security.

CIVIL LIBERTIES. UN sounds alarm over Ukraine church crackdown.

EMPLOYMENT. Nuclear skills shortage in Britain .

ENERGY. Renewable generation surpassed coal and nuclear in the U.S. electric power sector in 2022,

ENVIRONMENT. EPA finds radioactive contamination in Missouri landfill Sizewell C permits approved despite concerns over potential mass fish deaths. Campaigners claim permit change at Hinkley Point would kill billions of fish. South Korea to keep Fukushima seafood ban despite thaw with Japan.

HEALTH. Exposure to ionizing radiation can increase risk of heart disease. Cancer as Weapon: Sowing Battlefields With Depleted Uranium.

INDIGENOUS ISSUES. An obnoxious clause in Canada’s draft Act for Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)

MEDIA. Nuclear winter webinar – 7 April. Covering (Up) Antiwar Protest in US Media.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Small Modular Nuclear Reactors may not be the holy grail for energy security, net zero. Small nuclear reactors – the global hype and hoax continues, especially in Europe.         North Korea May Be Close to Completing New Nuclear Reactor: 38 North.          No, Nuclear Energy Won’t Save Us.

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. Over 100 Canadian organisations oppose funding for small modular nuclear reactors in federal budget.    Time to revive Scotland’s campaign – Resist the Atomic Menace.       Opponents pack Pilgrim Nuclear meeting as potential discharge of radioactive water looms.

POLITICS.  

USA CONGRESSIONAL EFFORT TO END ASSANGE PROSECUTION IS UNDERWAY.     

• Australia Isn’t A Nation, It’s A US Military Base With Kangaroos, and happy to have Julian Assange imprisoned.
• AUKUS – nuclear submarines. Omigawd! Nuclear zealot Jonathon Mead is to get his own little government department nuclear supergroup. 
• Missouri House votes to ease restrictions on nuclear power plant construction costs. Illinois Senate votes to lift nuclear construction ban.
• Nuclear Power Classified as Environmentally Sustainable in UK’s Green Taxonomy. The Scottish Greens condemn UK Government plans for a major investment in nuclear power. 
• What nuclear disarmament leadership should look like

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

• Nuclear Tug of War Intensifies in Brussels. EU agrees to a compromise on nuclear energy amid French pressure. Nuclear row threatens EU deal on renewable energy goals. Paris plots response to EU Commissioner von der Leyen’s ‘unfortunate’ comments on nuclear. 
• Germany criticizes Russian role in French nuclear fuel plant. 
• AUKUS is ‘going against’ Pacific nuclear free treaty – Cook Islands leader. Aukus subs deal firms China support for Asean nuclear weapon-free zone. 
• Top UN official urgently calls for de-escalating nuclear tensions over Belarus. 
• The cost of being wrong. 
• Inside Saudi Arabia’s Global Push for Nuclear Power.

SAFETY. 

• Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant: How prepared is Europe for a future nuclear disaster? IAEA head warns on danger of intensified fighting near Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. IAEA nuclear safety chief at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, UN watchdog ditches Ukrainian nuclear plant safety zone scheme. 
• Fire on Trident nuclear submarine at Scots navy base prompts safety concern for nearby locals. 
• Concern about Turkey’s Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant. 
• France’s nuclear company planning to extend the life of its creaky old reactors..

SECRETS and LIES. CIA’s surveillance methods on Assange revealed.

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. US-NATO proxy war in Ukraine utilises space technology. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5az_t0YxgmQ&t=1s

SPINBUSTER. 

• ARMY PUTTING ‘OUTRAGEOUS SPIN’ ON DEPLETED URANIUM SCIENCE.    
• Pentagon fake news about Chinese fast breeder reactors.    
•  “Clean, clean, clean!”-says Canada’s budget – But still, nuclear power is still dirty. 
• Elon Musk is remaking Twitter into a climate denier sanctuary. 
• AUKUS deal keeping Julian Assange behind bars. 
• Welsh anti-nuclear groups warn on the nuclear lobbyists behind the new Freeport bid for Anglesea..

WASTES. Moltex vows to help Canada recycle its nuclear waste. Critics say the byproducts would be even worse. TEPCO visually confirms melted nuclear fuel at Fukushima plant. Decommissioning reactors: Germany will complete nuclear phase-out as planned but technology’s risks remain – env min. Divers enter Sellafield’s nuclear pool for first time in 65 years. Pilgrim Nuclear owner agrees to wastewater study, but says it won’t pay for it.

WAR and CONFLICT. THE LAST THING THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE NEED IS DEPLETED URANIUM.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. 

• Russia Calls Out ‘Nuclear Weapons Hypocrisy’: US Has Tactical Nukes In 5 Non-Nuclear Weapon States. 
• Number of usable nuclear warheads increased in 2022 — report. 
• Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor 2022 is out. 
• No Country for Nuclear Madmen. 
• Actual storage of nuclear weapons in Belarus is likely to be a long time away. 
• Canada’s “peaceful” nuclear program intimately involved in selling Plutonium For American Bombs. 
• Germany, Britain deliver more battle tanks to Ukraine . South Korea to provide Poland with 1,000 tanks as well as howitzers. Bankrolled by EU and U.S., Poland to produce, ship 100 armored vehicles to Ukraine . U.S. to deliver 800 Hellfire missiles to Poland . Poland, Slovakia deliver first MiG warplanes to Ukraine . 
• China warns of World War III with ‘nuclear sword hanging over our heads’ over Putin’s plan to send nukes to Belarus.

April 4, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

TODAY. “Clean” “Renewable” nuclear power – the PERSISTENT LIES.

Joseph Goebbels knew what he was doing – he got it right, at least in the short term.

In the long term, not so good, as having murdered his wife, and his six young children, he suicided at age 47.

Goebbels was a genius at persuading, propagandising, and pulling the wool over the eyes of a whole nation, His spiritual heirs are with us today, pulling the wool over the eyes of the whole world with their constant repetition of lies promoting the nuclear industry.

Their current two top dishonest mantras are “clean” and “renewable” .

For one example, Canada’s federal budget, promoting nuclear power in just one paragraph (p.81) mentions clean electricity, Clean Power priority, clean growth infrastructure, clean electricity generation.

For “renewable” – it gets more intriguing. Instead of a straight-out lie, the nuclear lobby will state: ” is nuclear energy renewable? Well… yes and no.”  They admit that it’s not actually renewable. But that doesn’t stop nuclear proponents and their lackey politicians and journalists repeatedly including nuclear power in the renewable category in the same breath as solar and wind.

Just a reminder:

Nuclear is dirty – produces virtually eternal cancer-causing radioactive wastes, has toxic leaks, pollutes land and water, risks disastrous accidents, spreads nuclear weapons. AND – releases Co2 at all stages of the fuel cycle

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

TODAY: Corruption in the nuclear industry.

As the “mainstream” ‘Establishment” “corporate” world enthuses over (demonstrably uneconomic) small nuclear reactors, it really is time to put a searchlight onto the nuclear industry.

Can there be any other industry so enmeshed in corruption as the nuclear industry?

I won’t try to enter here into the wholescale government lying and deception of the public that has gone on in Russia and China – poisoning whole regions with radioactive waste.

Just a brief look at what’s gone on in North America should be enough to raise our suspicions about the companies and individuals leading the push for small nuclear reactors.

Illinois, in March 2022, a federal grand jury indicted the powerful Speaker of the House, Michael Madigan, on racketeering and bribery charges for allegedly using his official position to corruptly solicit and receive personal financial rewards for himself and his associates. 

How about the Ohio First Energy case, with the fraud conviction of Larry Householder, the former Speaker of the House, and in South Carlina the gaoling of Kevin B. Marsh, former SCANA CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors?

Canada’s SNC- Lavalin should take the cake for corruption. There’s the 2019 $10 million hospital bribery case. And between 2004 and 2011 $117,803 flowed from SNC-Lavalin to federal party funds, including Liberal and Conservative. Which politicians received the money remains a mystery. In late November 2018, former SNC-Lavalin vice-president Norman Morin quietly pleaded guilty to charges of violating Canada’s election financing laws. Because Morin accepted the plea deal, the evidence gathered for the trial was never presented in court.

The company faced charges of fraud and corruption in connection with nearly $48 million in payments made to Libyan government officials between 2001 and 2011.

CBC news detailed SNC-Lavalin’s corruption scandals – MUHC contract scandal…….Corruption scandal in Bangladesh …….Libya scandal……Elections Financing in its story – A closer look at SNC-Lavalin’s sometimes murky past.

So many murky areas around nuclear deals – the political gymnastics as powerful individuals like Bill Gates and Elon Musk get involved in government measures that facilitate their nuclear/space enterprises.

The secrecy involved in the nuclear industry lends itself to corruption. The industry chips away at laws that impose safety or transparency limits on it.

To give one scary example – President Vladimir Zelensky has signed an amendment that reduced financial oversight of politicians. The measure “practically kills” efforts to combat money-laundering, the head of the Anti-Corruption Action Centre (AntAC) claimed. The body is funded by the US government and EU member states and elites in Kiev have long been hostile to its work, despite their dependence on Western funding and support. This, as Ukraine aims to build, with USA’s Westinghouse, new nuclear reactors.

We get to hear of some of the shenanigans that corrupt nuclear executives get up to. As the clearly illogical and unaffordable small nuclear reactor push goes on, it is critically time to focus on why on earth this is happening, and who is getting paid to lie about it?

March 28, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 5 Comments

This week in nuclear news

Some bits of good news: What went right this week: ‘a surge in benevolence’, plus more
Coronavirus. A hidden pandemic: the orphans Covid has left behind.

Climate.  Climate change: 5 charts from the IPCC report that show why every increment of warming matters.  Why Normal Is Never Coming Back.

Nuclear.  Apologies – this newsletter is getting out of hand.  It’s good if people can just read the stories in large bold type – usually selected because of their particular importance. 

Worldwide – economics matter – the rampaging costs of weapons, the ever-more apparent unaffordability of small nuclear reactors.

Christina notes. Two ways of looking at the world.   Here we go again. Depleted uranium weapons for Ukraine to use against Russia.      Everything’s OK – depleted uranium is just a pretty harmless “common type of munition”.    NuScam – the sad little canary that’s scared of a tweet . Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles is a master of “weasel words”

CLIMATE. World on ‘thin ice’ as UN climate report gives stark warning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gKGcWqzH1Y Samoa’s desperate plea for world climate action. What is the IPCC AR6 synthesis report and why does it matter? Burning down the house — Climate options are available now- Nuclear power isn’t one of them. Lethal underwater nuclear submarines –their power to devastate the climate.         Nuclear energy will not halt the climate crisis. Climate change may pose key risk to French reactors – said the country’s Court of Auditors.

Briefing Paper on Nuclear Weapons, the Environment, and the Climate Crisis.

CIVIL LIBERTIES. UN Rights Official Concerned Over Summary Executions Of POWs By Both Russia, Ukraine.

CULTURE. Rebooting memories of life before the nuclear devastation of Hiroshima. France in national denial– rejecting renewable energy, clinging to out-dated nuclear.

ECONOMICS. Bad news for NuScale. Author of controversial memo puts the final nail in the coffin: Nuclear power in Denmark is not cost-effective. Tiny Modular Reactor Deal Starts With Absurdly Expensive Electricity.

Marketing. U.S. government marketing nuclear power to Indonesia. Thorium fake charity group cons El Salvador into joining the “Nuclear Power Club”. South Korea coming for a slice of Africa’s emerging nuclear power market. Mini nuclear reactors all the rage, but are they the answer? Rolls Royce marketing its mini nuclear reactors to Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, but deals could collapse.

MEDIA. Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) flexes its muscles – forces the ABC to back down on a Media Watch show that dared to criticise ASPI. 

EMPLOYMENT Strikes hit French nuclear output, disrupt EDF maintenance plans.

ENVIRONMENT. Campaigners claim permit change at Hinkley Point would kill billions of fish.

HEALTH. Radiation Low-dose Radiation Linked to Heart Disease

LEGAL. Second U.S. Citizen Headed to German Prison for Anti-Nuclear Weapons Actions. Legal case begins against Sizewell C nuclear project.  “Together Against Sizewell” argue in UK’s High Court against this nuclear development’s impact on environment . Lawsuit over internal records of 2018 ‘near miss’ at San Onofre nuclear plant moves forward.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. NuScale Power the canary in the small modular nuclear reactor market. European 

OPPOSITION TO NUCLEAR. Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament condemns UK decision to send depleted uranium shells to Ukraine. Restarting Michigan Nuclear Power Plant Risks ‘Chernobyl-Scale Catastrophe,’ Coalition Warns. Bi -Partisan measure opposes Canadian plan to store nuclear waste long term near Lake Huron.

POLITICS. Mixed messages to the nuclear industry as Biden’s budget cuts funding for nuclear energy . The UK Budget pushes nuclear and CCS, and the military link with small nuclear reactors is now overt.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

• Macron’s nuclear power plan hits trouble. Seven countries reject nuclear-derived hydrogen from EU renewables law. EU leaders remain deadlocked on classification of nuclear energy.  France trying to “sell off its old nukes” to the Netherlands? 
• Imperial Visits: US Emissaries in the Pacific. 
• US won’t let Ukraine even consider peace talks – Moscow. Xi Jinping’s Russia trip reduced chance of nuclear war, says EU foreign policy chief.

SAFETY. 12 years later, evacuation orders lifted in parts of two towns near the crippled Fukushima nuclear power station . Fears that France’s nuclear safety system may now fail – from Nuclear Transparency Watch, 11 French and European NGOs and 23 members of European Parliament. Minnesota nuclear plant shuts down for leak; residents worry.      Incidents. Russian Factory That Makes Nuclear Missile Engines Catches Fire.

SECRETS and LIES. UK says no nuclear escalation in Ukraine after row over depleted uranium munitions. US and UK deny harmful effects of depleted uranium. Australian Greens attack Albanese government’s ‘deeply unsettling’ secrecy on submarine nuclear waste plans.

WASTES. US regulators delay decision on nuclear fuel storage license. Will Scotland’s next Chief Minister heed the warnings of Dounreay?

WAR and CONFLICT. 

• Sung-HeeChoi reports on U.S.-NATO military expansion in South Korea. 
• UK’s depleted uranium plan threatens all of Europe – Moscow. The West has ‘brought humankind to the brink of nuclear Armageddon’ with its decision to use depleted uranium ammo in Ukraine, says Russia’s US envoy.
• Stolen Valor: The U.S. Volunteers in Ukraine Who Lie, Waste and Bicker. 
• NATO pushes European Socialists for thirty more years, eternity of new wars. 
• Strengthening the international maritime force: NATO gathers global fleet commanders to study Ukraine war. 
• Declassified Video Shows How B-52 Crews Would Conduct Nuclear Strikes During Cold War.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. 

• A $1 trillion defense budget would be madness. Where the $1.3 Trillion Per Year U.S. Military Budget Goes. 
• EU to ship $2 billion more in shells, other ammunition to Ukraine . Poland’s prime minister boasted of “very good compensation” from the European Union for Polish weapons sent to Ukraine.  Baltic to Black Sea: NATO deploys Portuguese, Romanian F-16s to Russian border .
• Britain supplying depleted uranium rounds to Ukraine.  UK could fuel radioactive disaster in Ukraine – Russia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6FjWEPAGWw 
• The world needs Japan to rally the G-7 against nuclear weapons. 
• North Korea tests new nuclear-capable underwater drone. 
• The cost and unnecessary suffering of military spending.

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

TODAY. NuScam – the sad little canary that’s scared of a tweet

NuScale, maker of the pioneering (supposedly little) Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, must have had a little hissy fit at my beautiful picture of NuScale’s SMR plunging down a bottomless money hole.

I mean, that is pretty much what is in fact happening. But I can understand that NuScale was not all that thrilled with my artwork – they had it removed from Twitter, explaining that –

“This person has taken and modified our rendering without our permission and in a derogatory fashion. “

Well, that’s true. Unfortunately sometimes “derogatory” = “true”.

And “true” can be painful. NuScale is seen as the canary in the coal mine for SMRs,

NuScale and the Utah Municipal Power Systems, its partner in an SMR project planned for Idaho, announced early in January, that the target price for the power from their proposed modular reactor had risen by 53% from $58/MWh to $89/MWh.

So NuScale has a lot more to be sad about than just my little picture, and somebody else’s tweet of it. The reality is that the business prospects for all those hyped-up small nuclear reactors are looking very gloomy indeed.

NuScale, Rolls Royce and the rest of them might soon have to face up to the fact that SMRs can survive only as tax-payer funded toys for the military – nuclear submarines, military stations on the moon, whatever new follies that the macho boys think up.

March 26, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 3 Comments

TODAY. Everything’s OK – depleted uranium is just a pretty harmless “common type of munition”

“This is Eman’s sixth year at the hospital, and her 25th as a physician. Over that time span, she says, she has seen an array of congenital anomalies, most commonly cleft palates, but also spinal deformities, hydrocephaly, and tumors. At the same time, miscarriages and premature births have spiked among Iraqi women, she says, particularly in areas where heavy U.S. military operations occurred as part of the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 to 2011 Iraq War. “ –Environmental Ruin in Modern Iraq – largely due to depleted uranium more https://nuclear-news.net/2021/12/25/environmental-ruin-in-modern-iraq-largely-due-to-depleted-uranium/

But we don’t need to worry now, as we have it from the highest authority – White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby – to reassure us that depleted uranium is OK . “The ammunition, which enhances ability to overcome defenses on tanks, ‘is not radioactive’ –  a commonplace type of munition“

Oh thank goodness. For a bit there, I was worried that the children in the Ukraine war might suffer the miseries continuing in Iraq, from the use of depleted uranium weapons, and also the sufferings of the U.S. soldiers.

But then I remembered that it would be only Russian children, probably, and they don’t matter, do they? And while it might be a pity if Ukrainian soldiers got sick, but the main thing is that no USA soldiers would be at risk.

Why do we continue to allow ourselves to be reassured by these outright criminal liars from the White House?

March 25, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

TODAY. Two ways of looking at the world.

There is certainly a transformation going on in the media. As far as news media goes, there’s a growing chasm between the “mainstream” corporate media, and the “alternative” media.

To give the most topical example – the coverage of the Ukraine war, by the Western media. The permitted themes are – “atrocities by Russians” “Ukraine is winning”, “Zelensky is a hero”. Any more nuanced views (e.g atrocities by Ukrainians) are covered only by the alternative media.

We see and hear only the big guys (and believe me, they’re very much the guys – though wherever possible they push attractive younger women to the forefront). The result is a glorification of big corporate, military, technical, ways to deal with problems, as against more low-key approaches – stuff like negotiation, compromise, diplomacy.

This gulf is happening also in education. Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, are now not just very important (which they are), but are now accepted as pretty much the only subjects that matter. The sissy stuff – languages, literature, art, history – are now second-rate studies.

There is a trend now, for people to distrust the corporate media, because it is too close to government, the military, and industry.

Meanwhile, alternative media of all kinds are multiplying. In amongst all this, are the voices of the “smaller” people – women, indigenous , old, young – keeping alive the culture of art, humanity, hope and peace. This alternative culture is surely what we need, rather than the pompous chest-thumping of the world’s political, military, corporate, financial and media leaders.

March 21, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

Nuclear news – week to 20 March

A bit of good news Sir David Attenborough urges people to unite to save ‘nature in crisis’

Premiere of this so timely movie –

The Road to War – new film premiering in Australia is just so very timely – as Australia is currently foremost in nuclear news. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEU02LTJBxI&t=6s

World premiere–   Melbourne at 6.30pm on 22 March at the Nova in Carlton.  Then in Hobart on 23 March (not 24th as stated in trailer) at the State Cinema .    Q & A panel with Bradbury and special guest, Bob Brown. Capri Theatre in Adelaide 29 March. Other cities and regional centres yet to be announced.        

Christina notes. Australia’s splendid nuclear submarine goat rodeo – funny, but it’s really serious.    Isn’t it wonderful how the men in opposing political parties can unite in hate and belligerence? Nuclear wastes 30 years away. So -no problem for present decision-makers – happily superannuated when the shit hits the fa

CLIMATE. Wiped out: Scientist’s ‘gigantic tsunami’ warning signals ‘grave threat’ to Sizewell C.. UN Secretary-General’s video message to the 58th Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

CULTURE. Permission to speak?– Who gets to talk about nuclear power should not be controlled by the nuclear lobby

ECONOMICS. Despite UK government’s enthusiasm, nuclear power is just not a good investment. UK government is urged to “come clean” over the real cost of Sizewell C nuclear power station . EDF confirms nuclear power target for 2023, despite corrosion problems, and plummeting output in 2022. 

A $18 million a job? The AUKUS subs plan will cost Australia way more than that. Australian nuclear submarine program to cost up to $368b as AUKUS details unveiled in the US.Australia’s Productivity Commission casts doubt on the federal government’s decision to build nuclear-powered submarines.

ETHICS and RELIGION. Grief – Japan marks 12 years since Fukushima nuclear disaster as concerns grow over treated radioactive water release.

ENERGY. Taiwan phasing out nuclear power.

ENVIRONMENT. Campaigners claim permit change at Hinkley Point would kill billions of fish. UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt wants nuclear power classified as ‘environmentally sustainable’ . But is it?

HEALTH. Life on a nuclear submarine takes its toll.

INDIGENOUS ISSUES. Why is Australia’s Labor government determined to silence the Barngarla people, at the same time as Labor promotes the indigenous Voice to Parliament ?. 

MEDIA. “Atomic Bamboozle” Probes False Hopes for the Future of Nuclear Power. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUsPt_xUt7I

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Britain does not have the capacity to support Australia’s plan to build its own nuclear submarine fleet – Rear Admiral. Transparent oceans – Technologies for detection of nuclear submarines will still be all too successful by 2050. Georgia’s big new nuclear reactors could be the ‘last built in the US‘ . World’s largest nuclear fusion reactor promises clean energy, but the challenges are huge.

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. Japanese students’ nuclear abolition petition tops 2.5 million signatures. New Mexico says no to storing spent nuclear fuel as Biden touts nuclear energy: ‘The trouble is this is a forever decision’.

POLITICS.

• Fukushima victims feel left out.
• UK political row over ‘expensive and unnecessary ‘ spending on nuclear power stations. UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt accused of ‘£20bn gamble’ on nuclear energy and carbon capture . UK Chancellor blocks cheap renewable energy , while promoting expensive nuclear power. Scotland’s not-so-Green Freeports: Minister’s equivocal response leaves way open to nuclear manufacturing facility. Sizewell C nuclear plan slammed, despite the UK government’s greenwashing.
• Illinois grapples with the future of nuclear power.
• Ukraine aims to produce full cycle of nuclear nuclear fuel production by 2026, exports to follow.
• The AUKUS nuclear deal “stinks” – Australia’s former environment minister Peter Garret.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY.

• Nuclear power eliminated from European Commission’s text on funding rules, amid heated disagreements between Europe’s nations.
• Changing dynamics of US nuclear alliances, and a brazen violation of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. Watchdog Rafael Grossi pledges ‘demanding’ oversight of nuclear sub deal.  Aukus nuclear submarine deal will be ‘too big to fail’, Richard Marles says. AUKUS nuclear submarine plan brings danger as it uses a loophole in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Chinese official asks if Australia’s Aukus nuclear submarines intended for ‘sightseeing’.   Australia needs to rethink plan to buy nuclear submarines. AUKUS subs deal binds us to a country that can change its mind on whim. What the nuclear-powered submarine deal really means.
• Sociologist urges Japan to stop perpetuating nuclear colonialism.
•   Saudi crown prince is plotting to get US nuclear secrets by playing the White House, Russia, and China off against each other, report says.

PUBLIC OPINION. Something Is Missing From Americans’ Greatest Fears. It’s the Bomb..

SAFETY. Incident. 400,000 gallons of radioactive water leaked from a nuclear plant in Minnesota.

SECRETS and LIES. Libyan general says uranium reported missing by UN nuclear watchdog IAEA has been recovered. Tons of uranium missing from Libyan site, UN nuclear watchdog tells member states. Alarm over 10 drums of uranium missing in Libya.

SPINBUSTER. SIX WAR MONGERING THINK TANKS AND THE MILITARY CONTRACTORS THAT FUND THEM. Lesson from Fukushima: Collusion in the nuclear domain. “Great British Nuclear” launch – an eccentric fraud by the UK government.

WASTES. The (Vancouver) Columbian Editorial Board: Congress must recognize urgency at Hanford. Dumping Fukushima contaminated water is a “cheap and dirty” approach that must be stopped.  Australia hasn’t figured out low-level nuclear waste storage yet – let alone high-level waste from submarines.

From the archives. No country in the world has worked out what to do with its old dead, radioactive, nuclear submarines. UK’s costly struggle to deal with dead nuclear submarines. The daunting, long and untested effort to deal with UK’s dead nuclear submarines. What to do with dead nuclear submarines? A cautionary tale for Australia.

WAR and CONFLICT. Some countries plan to decentralize control of nuclear weapons in a crisis. Here’s why that’s dangerous. Seymour Hersh warns of potential US plan B in Ukraine. U.S. Army launches new headquarters in Poland . North Korea’s Kim led drills ‘simulating nuclear counterattack.’ 

March 20, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 2 Comments