nuclear-news

TODAY. No real research into the effects of releasing nuclear waste-water into rivers and seas. Oh goody! That means it’s OK, (doesn’t it?)

it has become clear that regulation of tritium in the United States is grossly insufficient to the current risk from tritium contamination, not to mention future risks that could arise if tritium production, use, and associated leakage rise

tritium “easily can cross the placenta and irradiate developing fetuses in utero, thereby raising the risk of birth defects, miscarriages, and other problems.”

 the dangers this pernicious contaminant will pose in the future, absent more effective regulation that includes lower limits for human tritium exposure.  https://thebulletin.org/2023/06/exploring-tritiums-danger-a-book-review/

There is no way to separate tritium from contaminated water. Tritium, a soft beta emitter, is a potent carcinogen which remains radioactive for over 100 years. It concentrates in aquatic organisms including algae, seaweed, crustaceans and fish. Because it is tasteless, odorless and invisible, it will inevitably be ingested in food, including seafood, over many decades. It combines in the DNA molecule – the gene – where it can induce mutations that later lead to cancer. It causes brain tumors, birth deformities, and cancers of many organs. The situation is dire because there is no way to contain this radioactive water permanently and it will inevitable leak into the Pacific Ocean for over 50 years or longer along with many other very dangerous isotopes including cesium 137 which lasts for 300 years and causes very malignant muscle cancers –rhabdomyosarcomas, strontium 90 which also is radioactive for 300 years and causes bone cancers and leukemia, amongst many other radioactive elements.  http://akiomatsumura.com/2013/06/experts-explain-effects-of-radioactive-water-at-fukushima.htm

July 8, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

TODAY. And the prize for HYPOCRISY goes to Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency

It’s hard to grasp the full level of the hypocrisy of the well-paid staff of this sham institution. They no doubt have swallowed their own propaganda.

The IAEA’s loyalty is to the nuclear industry – NOT to the world’s people.

And, the purpose of small nuclear reactors, the big new thing, is increasingly military.

“The IAEA was founded to promote the peaceful applications of nuclear and to ensure that these civilian applications were not used for military purposes.”

July 6, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

TODAY. IAEA hypocrisy, and the little Fukushima nuclear radiation mill

Do you remember the old Norwegian folk story? In this, the little salt mill is thrown into the sea, because it won’t stop producing salt. That’s why the sea is salty.

Well, the not-so-little damaged Fukushima nuclear reactor will soon be releasing radioactively-contaminated water (equivalent in volume to about 500 Olympic-size swimming pools) into the sea – and that’s just the start. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s Director General Rafael Grossi will visit Japan from Tuesday to deliver a final report on the safety of the process.

That is just a formality. Despite the perilous situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Rafael Grossi and the rest of the well-paid IAEA troop, and Japan’s political big-wigs, and TEPCO -all are happy to release irradiated water ad infinitum into the world’s oceans.

This really should be a wake-up call for the world. The International Atomic Energy Agency doesn’t give a damn about your health, your children’s health, your grandchildren’s health, your great-grandchildren’s health – and so on ad infinitum.

The religious belief that nuclear reactors, and especially small nuclear reactors will save the world from global heating – that is a load of codswallop, and the IAEA knows this.

There are safer alternatives for dealing with the Fukushima nuclear wastewater, and with wastes from other nuclear reactors.

This “permission” – from the ultimate authority whose real job is saving the nuclear industry, this “permission” should be a wake-up call to the world.

July 3, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

TODAY. Cool thinking is needed on the Ukraine situation. Would Russia really blow up a nuclear plant that it controls?

A leader may popular, brave, hard-working, charismatic, and zealously against the evils of communism, – and a brilliant media performer.

But that does not necessarily mean that we should blindly believe everything that he says, or dutifully act on his advice.

Cool thinking is needed now, more than ever. Is Ukraine really winning this war?

Is it really wise to plan to pretty much encircle Russia with weaponry, with NATO at the nuclear-attack ready?

Russians still remember, and still endure, the effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster – which President Gorbachev blamed for starting the collapse of the Soviet Union.

We are expected now to believe that Putin is stupid enough to blow up the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, because Russia is supposedly losing the war in Ukraine?

Really?

Consider the possibility that Putin is not stupid. Consider the possibility that Ukraine’s much-vaunted “counter-offensive” is not bringing about the complete rout of Russia, which is Zelensky’s stated aim. Even consider the possibility that Zelensky and his supporters are zealous enough to do this blowing up themselves, as a last-ditch effort to get NATO to attack Russia.

You do realise that a NATO attack on Russia will bring about World War 3?

p.s. What nobody is telling us about – how many Ukrainian soldiers being killed each day? the total Ukrainian military casualties?.

June 23, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 10 Comments

TODAY. Sleeping our way to doom, through the media lies about the Ukraine war

Right now, there’s the Ukraine so-called “counter-offensive” (an interesting new term coined and designed to imply something a lot more substantial than the more familiar term “counter-attack”)

Well according to the Western corporate media, this “counter-offensive” IS something substantial. Indeed, it means that Ukraine is winning, will win, this war. Crimea and the Donbass will be returned to Ukraine, the Russian army will be routed, and the Russian economy crippled. And Ukraine will join NATO. Sure, it’ll take a while, but with more weapons from the West, it will be a success, and the West will fund the post-war repairs and restoration of Ukraine.

The other story, from Russia, is that even if it does take a while, the defeat of Ukraine is assured. And indeed, the Ukrainian “counter-offensive” will probably be over in a few weeks.

Somewhere in the middle, a few brave souls strive for the truth. Being myself a Westerner, I know little about independent thinkers and writers in Russia. But I suspect that any who criticise Putin and the Russian military authorities get punished.

As for Western writers who criticise Zelensky, or cast doubt on the Ukraine success story – well, politicians, academics, and the corporate media have no trouble in discrediting them, branding them as ‘Putin’s puppets’

The tragedy of it all is that we are now on the road to nuclear Armageddon, – and the public cannot trust “respected” media reports – as ill-advised “patriotism” trumps truth, and we just do not get the facts.

June 22, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 10 Comments

TODAY. Two ruthless killer regimes, who hate each other, are now to cosy up for the benefit of the “peaceful” nuclear industry. What could possibly go wrong?

ISRAEL has been systematically committing serious human rights violations against Palestinians for decades. Violations such as forcible transfer, administrative detention, torture, unlawful killings and serious injuries, and the denial of basic rights and freedoms have been well documented by Amnesty and others.

SAUDI ARABIA – Torture is used as a punishment – Executions are on the increase –  No free speech – No protests – Women are widely discriminated against  – Torture in police custody is common – You can be detained and arrested with no good reason – Religious discrimination is rife – Migrant workers have been deported en masse – Human rights organisations banned.

The glorious global nuclear industry now brings these despicable national leaders together. For the “peace-loving” USA etc, all is now forgiven and forgotten .

Israel – ever ready for nuclear war – and Saudi Arabia soon to be. What could possibly go wrong?

Jun 17, 202 NBC News , Hanan Khashoggi says she lives in fear, afraid she could “be assassinated at any time,” following the brutal killing of her husband, Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which a U.S. intelligence report found was approved by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman. CNBC’s Eamon Javers brings us the NBC News exclusive interview.

June 20, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 8 Comments

Week to June 19, in nuclear news

A bit of good news .  The ‘lost’ underwater forests that came back from the dead.

Climate. Greta Thunberg: not phasing out fossil fuels is ‘death sentence’ for world’s poor…….   . Oil-rich nations dominate COP28 – now offering rich sponsorships, in the effort to silence critics. Fossil fuel lobbyists will have to identify themselves as such in registering for the UN Cop28 climate summit,

Environment.     Global biodiversity crisis

Nuclear. Russiamoved small “tactical” nuclear weapons to Belarus, sparking anxiety that the Ukraine war could “go nuclear”. Meanwhile, I have no doubt that Russia propaganda is portraying the war as being won by Russia.  And it is also patently obvious that Western media depicts the Ukraine “counter-offensive” as being a winner.  What gets me is that we – that’s the USA and all its “like-minded” hangers-on – are not actually at war against Russia. So we don’t really have to have the blanket of anti-Russian spin thrown over every news item of this proxy war, (as is the  practice in a real war)

Christina notes. Rafael Grossi – suffering a sort of “Schizophrenia” about nuclear so-called “safety?      Nuclear industry puppet France is bullying Europe into environmental destruction.   Council of Polluting Corporations COP28 – in charge of the November-December global climate talks.

TOP STORIES

The Imminent Extradition of Julian Assange and the Death of Journalism.

Milley Predicts Long, ‘Very Violent’ Ukrainian Counter-offensive.   Jacques Baud on the legitimacy and legality of Russia’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine.       The Voltaire Network on the collapse of Kiev. Ukraine -its past, and now.

EU states back nuclear energy while diluting biodiversity reforms.

USA’s Inflation Reduction Act expands tax-payer funding for nuclear power plants.

USA Majority say taking nuclear, military secrets a national security threat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_j38JnnKxw

Fukushima waste-water plan a nuclear threat to Asia-Pacific.

AUSTRALIA.

  The AUKUS mess – false promises about Australian jobs: Richard Marles, Jonathon Mead duped? Dreadnoughts and Virginias: why is Australia paying more than twice the price for submarines?          

 Australia’s Atomic Survivors want Prime Minister Albanese to sign treaty to ban nuclear weapons. Karina’s father went blind at Emu Field. Now, she’s fighting for a treaty on nuclear weapons. 

Pro-nuclear brigade ignores inconvenient truth. Member of Parliament Ted O’Brien gets it so wrong about nuclear power.

CIVIL LIBERTIES. Democracy out the window in USA – as teachers and others punished for making pro-Russian comments.

CULTURE and ARTS.  The Fukushima Wastewater ‘Discharge’: What’s in a Name? – technostrategic language.

ECONOMICS. 

• Lawmakers seek clearer picture of nuclear command and control costs. 
• Pension funds and investment managers are not willing to take the risks on the dying nuclear industry. 
• More trouble at Vogtle. 
• Marketing. USA to market small nuclear reactors to Slovakia?  Egypt joining IAEA’s Convention on Nuclear Safety, as Russia successfully markets its nuclear industry to Egypt; Russia trying to market nuclear power stations to Sri Lanka. USA marketing nuclear power to Bulgaria.

EMPLOYMENT. Workers, residents, at US site that made Nagasaki A-bomb’s plutonium are still suffering.

 ENERGY. Expert: Germany’s energy system has coped with nuclear shutdown. 45 nations pledge to double their rate of energy efficiency improvements.        Nuclear Free Local Authorities – visiting community owned project in the UK, at the start of Community Energy Fortnight.

ENVIRONMENT   The profligate use of our stressed freshwater resource by the nuclear industry.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogeKk9b-yjY        Macao SAR to suspend Japanese food import after nuclear-contaminated wastewater discharge.          Japan urged to halt release of toxic water.

HEALTH. Cancer patients can possibly avoid radiation. Silent Danger: Hidden Link Discovered Between Low-Dose Radiation and Heart Disease.

LEGAL. Why Biden Wants Assange in Jail: Case at the Tipping Point, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joAMokiAllk

MEDIA. “Radioactive – The Women of Three Mile Island”” is compelling viewing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iotD7_cKWfc

POLITICS. 

• Japanese government making “all-out” efforts to convince fishermen that Fukushima waste-water release is OK . 
• U.S. Congress caves in to nuclear industry pressure for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to dumb down standards, and shift fees to tax-payers. 
• Connecticut Governor Lamont should veto SB 7 that would advance dangerous nuclear power. 
• Beware: we ignore Robert F Kennedy Jr’s candidacy at our peril. 
• Why Saudi Arabia wants a ‘nuclear Aramco’. 
• Zelensky’s Swiss parliament speech boycotted by right-wing Swiss People’s Party. 
• ‘Nuclear not allowed’: Papua New Guinea’s Marape backtracks on comments about Japan’s plan to dump nuclear wastewater. 
• Independent Scotland would ban nuclear weapons in written constitution.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

•  Victoria Nuland to announce Ukraine to join NATO – the start of World War 3. In July, NATO nations will upgrade Ukraine’s status as a future member, but in a rather confusing way. Zelensky admits that there was an ongoing civil war prior to the Russian invasion, claims Russia will attack a NATO member. 

•     Iranian Supreme Leader Says ‘Nothing Wrong’ With A Nuclear Deal With West. 
• Oman facilitating Iran-US talks to replace 2015 nuclear accord. 
• EU to vote on renewables bill again after being stalled on nuclear row.  Key renewables vote in European Council postponed over nuclear spat.
• South Korea begins public briefings to address concern over Fukushima water.

SAFETY.   UN: Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s Largest, Faces ‘Dangerous Situation‘. UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi continues to have a bet each way on nuclear power “safety”. UN concerned by ‘discrepancy’ in Ukraine nuclear plant water levels after dam collapse. U.N. nuclear chief visits Ukraine nuke plant after dam explosion, to “help prevent a nuclear accident“. 

French nuclear watchdog specifies questions for EDF reactor life extensions. Safety issues for 9 French nuclear reactors make their lifetime extension doubtful. 

Nuclear Weapons Cybersecurity.   Lawmakers propose shoring up nuclear cyber standards ahead of National Defense Authorization Act markup.

SECRETS and LIES. CIA: Black Market of Arms Trade. Part 1. Israel Worries U.S. Weapons for Ukraine Are Ending Up in Iran’s Hands.

SPINBUSTER. Ukraine’s propaganda machine is vital for Zelensky: Here is how it works. Ignoring the Fiction of a Nuclear Silver Bullet. The absurdity of Western reporting on the war in Ukraine – Schrodinger’s Offensive. “Nuclear is CLEAN” Trumpets Westinghouse’s Uranium Fuel in Cumbrian Press Adverts.

WASTES. 

• Czech nuclear problem: Where to store toxic waste? 
• Ontario Government Response on Nuclear Proximity Principle Expected by Mid-October.
• Fukushima nuclear plant begins tests of wastewater release plan; fishing officials remain opposed. 
• Talks ongoing over plans for UK’s Vulcan base to move into hands of Nuclear Decommissioning Authority 
• The US Energy Department is spending $26M to help find a temporary site to store spent nuclear fuel.

WAR and CONFLICT. Zelensky Confirms Ukrainian Counteroffensive Has Started.        Kiev intends to kill as many Russians as possible – top Zelensky aide.       Moscow estimates Ukraine’s counteroffensive losses.     Why Russia must not take the Western bait, to use nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war.     Putin warns NATO over being drawn into Ukraine war.     Time to remove nuclear weapons from NATO countries, in return for Putin not putting them in Belarus? [ on nuclear-news.net]Trudeau visits Kiev to bolster US-NATO war on Russia.   Vienna Summit: Anti-War Activists From 32 Countries Call For Diplomacy to End Ukraine War. Ukraine Becomes A ‘Nuclear Battleground’ As US, UK Russia Could Unleash Their ‘Cursed Ammo’ To The Warzone. Norman Solomon: Bipartisan Obsession With War.Darkness: nuclear winter – fire, ice, famine.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. Number of nuclear weapons held by major powers rising, says thinktank. Nuclear weapons on rise in a world where ‘peace through deterrence’ is a myth. Nuclear weapons spending increases while global security decreases. Nuclear arsenals growing as chances for diplomacy shrink: report.     Tit For Tat: Putin says Russia will use depleted uranium against Ukraine if necessary.      US nuclear-powered submarine arrives in South Korea.

June 19, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 4 Comments

TODAY. Nuclear industry puppet France is bullying Europe into environmental destruction.

The children, the grandchildren, the great grandchildren don’t get to vote. Let alone the animals, the birds, the insects, -the total environment on which we all depend.

The European Union is poised to throw away all pretence of protecting the environment. The parliamentary committee will finish voting on June 27, when they will dutifully kow-tow to the polluting industries of the Netherlands, and other industrial countries, and pretty much destroy the much vaunted European “taxonomy”, originally designed to address climate change, and save the planet’s environment.

Above all, these cringing, useless politicians, (obsessed as ever with keeping their own lucrative jobs), are now caving in to France’s nuclear industry, which controls Emmanuel Macron and his delusions of nuclear grandeur.

June 17, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

This week in nuclear news

Some bits of good news –     The planet’s economist: has Kate Raworth found a model for sustainable living?A watchdog acted on fossil fuel ‘greenwashing’

Climate. Is peaceful protest enough to make a difference to the climate crisis. or do we need a “tornado of change”?

AI is the new big worry – Why make a world that nobody wants?

Nuclear.  The drums of war are beating ever more severely.  The break in Ukraine’s Nova Kakhovka dam increases the danger to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station – all rather doom and gloom this  wek.

Christina notes. What is Zelensky’s “peace formula”, and why on Earth are we backing it?

TOP STORIES

Is nuclear fusion energy salvation?

Ralph Nader: Reverse the Accelerating Warfare State Before It’s Too Late!

The War in Ukraine Was Provoked—and Why That Matters to Achieve Peace.

Kiev’s Long Term Plans To Blow Up The Kakhovka Dam. Ukrainian dam is destroyed; nuclear plant lives in a ‘grace period’.

 Detailed evidence exposes Japan’s lies, loopholes in nuclear-contaminated wastewater dumping plan.2

Rosatom says nuclear cleanup in Arctic done – Far from the case, says Bellona.

CLIMATE. Europe’s Nuclear Power Puzzle.

CULTURE and ARTS. A-bombed artist to distribute ‘war brooms’ in Hiroshima as he calls for nuclear abolition.

ECONOMICS. 

• Cost of building Hinkley nuclear station soars from £18bn to  £32.7bn. Increasing costs and delays in building Hinkley nuclear station. 
• France fully nationalises debt-laden nuclear power group EDF, after its record loss last year.  
• Marketing. China and Russia building most nuclear power plants, – the main goal is to market them to developing countries. 
•  

EDUCATION. Lockheed Martin CEO James Taiclet super ecstatic over USA govt’s budget deal.

EMPLOYMENT. The ABCs of a nuclear education.

ENERGY. Wind and solar overtake fossil fuel generation in the European Union. European Union to try again for renewable energy deal after nuclear row.

ENVIRONMENT. Content of radioactive element in fish at Fukushima‘s Nuclear Power Plant  180 times of safe limit.   World Ocean Day appeal to international bodies over Fukushima dump plan. Hong Kong to ban seafood from high-risk regions near Fukushima if Japan dumps nuclear-contaminated water into ocean. Despite scientific evidence and public opposition, Japan to test ocean nuclear wastewater discharge on June 12

ETHICS and RELIGION. U.S. leaders must take responsibility for past nuclear atrocities..

HEALTH. Energy Northwest nuclear plant failed to properly measure workers’ radioactive exposure, report says.

LEGAL. Judge orders the Crown Prosecution Service to come clean about the destruction of key documents on Julian Assange. UK: Julian Assange Dangerously Close to Extradition Following High Court Rejection of Appeal. ASSANGE JUDGE IS 40-YEAR ‘GOOD FRIEND’ OF MINISTER WHO ORCHESTRATED HIS ARREST.

MEDIA. Journalists Are Asking Ukrainian Soldiers To Hide Their Nazi Patches, New York Times Admits. War propaganda machine silencing voices of truth.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Robotic “dogs” to help clean up Dounreay nuclear site. Small nuclear reactors for the moon. Nuclear-Powered Cargo Ships Are Trying to Stage a Comeback. A.I. or Nuclear Weapons: Can You Tell These Quotes Apart?

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. Mayors call for action against nuclear war.

PERSONAL STORIES. My nuclear family. A reader’s scathing rebuke on this site’s use of Tucker Carlson article [on nuclear-news.net]

POLITICS. 

• Citizens Advisory Panel to host meetings on recycling spent nuclear fuel, Vermont. 
• Britain’s taxpayers, slugged with uneconomic Hinkley nuclear plant ‘s costs, now to be slugged again with Sizewell. 
• In Taiwan, DPP, Hou You-yi clash over nuclear power. US presidential candidate 
• Nikki Haley says that arming UKraine is “preventing war”. 
• AUKUS coming to dinner.
• Letter. Nuclear plan raises suspicions. 
• Anxiety and disagreement in South Korea about Fukushima radioactive wastewater.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

• Major Progress Made in Nuclear Talks Between U.S. and Iran in Preparation for a New Agreement. UN nuclear chief, facing Israeli criticism on Iran, says his agency ‘very fair but firm’. 
• Amid Blinken visit, top Saudi diplomat says kingdom seeks U.S. nuclear aid. Israel undecided on Saudi Arabia’s demand for civil nuclear technology Israeli Minister says US should deny Saudi Arabia nuclear reactor. 
• OpenAI’s Sam Altman calls for an international agency like the UN’s nuclear watchdog to oversee AI. 
• Washington banned Kiev from signing truce with Moscow – Russian security chief. 
• German TV Shows Nazi Symbols on Helmets of Ukraine Soldiers. 
• France says nuclear power is ‘non-negotiable’. France’s EDF and the global nuclear lobby sulking because Europe won’t accept their lie that nuclear power is “renewable”. 
• Are We Back to Nuclear Brinkmanship for Good?
• Universalization of Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty Is Essential – now more than ever.

RADIATION. As Japan prepares to release Fukushima nuclear waste water – a reminder that countries can ban goods with radiation contamination risks.

SAFETY. 

• Kakhovka dam breach raises risk for Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant – receding waters narrow options for cooling. Ukrainian dam collapse ‘no immediate risk’ to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Water levels at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant ‘critical’ after dam collapses in Ukraine. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant used water from the destroyed Nova Kakhovka dam. What happens now? Last reactor at Ukraine’s biggest nuclear power plant shut down for safety 
• Ukraine: Nuclear threat shows danger of small modular reactors . 
• Japan passes law to allow nuclear power stations to operate beyond 60 years. 
• Canadian Federal Court Upholds Alcohol and Drug Testing at Nuclear Facilities. 
• Non Government Organisations Tell Biden that US Nuclear Plants Aren’t Safe from Attack. 
• Minor’ leak at nuclear submarine dock.

SECRETS and LIES. Washington Post reported Ukraine conducted a test strike with HIMARS on the Kahovka dam last year.  Trump-era officials under fire as nuclear fund for Bikini islanders is squandered. Leaks reveal FBI helps Ukraine censor Twitter users and obtain their info. Snowden Warns Today’s Surveillance Technology Makes 2013 Look Like ‘Child’s Play’ . Trump held secret nuclear documents. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DErGSfKuXcg

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS.Stealth actions by SpaceX, as 36 space launches approved by California Coastal Commission without a vote, public hearing, or public notice.[ on nuclear-news.net]

SPINBUSTER. Tucker Carlson steamrolls Ukraine propaganda in new show. Patrick Lawrence: Neo-Nazis in Ukraine? No, Yes, No–Yes.

WASTES. Amid opposition, Japan takes 1st step to release nuclear waste water into ocean. Problems ahead for the nuclear industry in the closing and disposal of dead nuclear reactors. Chalk River: Radioactive Wastes and the Honour of the Crown. (from the archives – Canada’s controversial nuclear waste disposal design for Chalk River) Timeline: The history of radioactive contamination in St. Louis County. Consent-based or bribery?

WAR and CONFLICT. The Ukrainian “counter-offensive”: A new stage in the US-NATO war against Russia. Suicide Day Four, all so that NATO can Expand. Ukraine rebuffs Vatican peace attempt. BLINKEN’S BATTLE HYMN. Four nuclear myths. Israel simulates Iran war after Tehran cleared of nuclear allegations.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. Russia says U.S.-built F-16s could ‘accommodate’ nuclear weapons if sent to Ukraine. Russia warns that supplying nuclear weapons to Ukraine would lead to ‘global, irrevocable collapse’. Starve the Poor; Feed the Pentagon. US “Doomsday” Plane, Capable Of Surviving Nuclear War, Just Got A Big Revamp.

June 12, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 5 Comments

TODAY. What is Zelensky’s “peace formula”, and why on Earth are we backing it?

The “peace formula”  is a list of Zelensky’s demands first revealed in November 2022, ranging from Russia’s withdrawal from all territories Ukraine claims – including Crimea and the Donbass – payment of reparations, war crimes trials for the Russian leadership, and Ukraine’s membership in NATO. 

USA, NATO, and all “like-minded countries” are mindlessly pouring weapons into Ukraine, putting up with the effects of economic sanctions, putting up with a tsunami of anti-Russian propaganda and distortion of history. We’re agonising over Russian atrocities, but completely ignoring Ukrainian atrocities.

It would be laughable if it were not so serious. We’re supplying weapons for Ukrainian troops some wearing NAZI insignia, at the very same time that we are condemning and banning NAZI insignia in Western countries.

There has been no attempt by our great leader, USA, to allow negotiations with Russia, (which Zelensky, earlier on, actually wanted). No attempt to understand the pain of ethnic Russians in Ukraine, of 8 years of war in the Donbass, with many there wanting autonomy from Ukraine. The reality of Crimea, reasonably comfortable, with its large Russian population, as now part of Russia. The reality of Russia seeing its virtually complete encirclement by NATO , with Ukraine as NATO member, as utterly unacceptable.

Zelensky’s “peace formula” is impossible – and everyone knows that. Carried away by his own charisma, Zelensky is plunging his people into dreadful destruction.

USA and NATO glorify this fool, as they pursue their war-mongering goal. And we, Western media consumers, join in this adoration.

June 10, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 4 Comments

Too many insulting comments coming in.

I may disagree with some policies of the Joe Biden administration – and I do. But that does not mean that I agree with the vicious personal attacks that people make on Biden.

It’s great to get comments critiquing the USA war economy, but please stop the nastiness.

Biden is probably doing his best, according to his lights, though I think that he is terribly mistaken, and is manipulated by the military-industrial complex.

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

The week in nuclear news (but climate news is Big)

Some bits of good news:     What went right this week? The good news you should know about –  It was a good week for green energy –   money deserting fossil fuels –  An English city prepared to host a refugee festival.

Climate. Insurance giant halts sale of new home policies in California due to wildfires. Sea level rise will “disappear” California’s famed beaches . Thawing glaciers around Everest show critical need to stop greenhouse emissions . More than 1,500 arrested at Extinction Rebellion protest in The Hague.

Christina notes: It’s the CLIMATE, stupid!

Nuclear. News on climate is so genuinely awesome –  to use the proper meaning of the word –  that it really does dwarf nuclear news.   But the nuclear lying goes on – the pretense that small reactors will be economic and will solve global heating. THat’s such a distraction from real action. 

TOP STORIES

Slowing ocean current caused by melting Antarctic ice could have drastic climate impact, study says. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KlpKq3YEdM

America’s Wars and the US Debt Crisis.

G7 Leaders Falter Over Nuclear Disarmament in Hiroshima.

Sending F-16 planes to Ukraine will create a new Cuban Missile -style nuclear crisis .

Ukraine’s neighbors push for Zelensky to pursue peace as millions of displaced people flow into Europe. ‘Independent’ Ukrainian ‘kill list’ actually run by Kiev, backed by Washington.

Ukraine: Power loss at nuclear plant underscores ‘highly vulnerable’ safety situation.

Atmospheric Testing of Nuclear Weapons in the 1950s and 1960s

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CIVIL LIBERTIES. Australian Prime Minister Albanese refuses to meet with Assange’s wife.

CLIMATE. Hinkley Point C – Why nuclear power accelerates carbon emissions. A clean energy transition means moving away from nuclear power.

CULTURE and ARTS. Everything’s Getting Way More Dangerous And Way More Stupid.

ECONOMICS.  

• Director General Grossi Highlights China as Indispensable IAEA Partner, Leader in Nuclear Energy. 
•  Nuclear power won’t help Maine reach its clean-energy goals, 
•  French defense minister opposes American takeover of nuclear firm. 
•   Point Lepreau nuclear power station – too many expensive shutdowns. 
•  Damning critique of Rolls Royce         Rolls Royce to cut thousands of jobs. . 
• Marketing: USA pours $billions into Poland, in effort to market USA’s small and large nuclear reactors to Europe. Romania to be a guinea pig for NuScam’s small nuclear reactor folly. Putin bribes ‘friendly nations’ with use of 24-hour ‘floating nuclear power stations’.

ENERGY. US Electricity From Renewable Energy Beat Electricity From Coal Or Nuclear In 2022. Taiwan Considers Keeping Nuclear Reactors on Emergency Standby.

ENVIRONMENT. China firmly opposes Japan’s discharge of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into sea. South Korean experts to continue analysis of Fukushima water discharge. South Korean nuclear experts to tour Fukushima plant amid water concerns. Pacific islanders are not convinced that the release of Fukushima wastewater is safe . Nuclear & Toxic Chemicals.

HEALTH. Public health expert says Fukushima waste water release a retrograde step, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_WcZZq9JTU

LEGAL.Court rejects case opposing restart of Miyagi Prefecture nuclear plant.

MEDIA. 60 Minutes Australia Keeps Churning Out War-With-China Propaganda. Review | Netflix drama review: The Days – Netflix Fukushima nuclear disaster series starring Koji Yakusho is an enthralling account of the 2011 event, with strong hints of HBO’s Chernobyl.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQkb7fCr2bQ

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Canadian reactors that “recycle” plutonium would create more problems than they solve. Nuke Power’s “Renaissance 4.0” Has Already Melted. No,        There Won’t Be Nuclear-Powered Commercial Shipping This Time Either.

POLITICS. 

• New Zealand won’t give up its nuclear-free stance, says Prime Minister Chris Hipkins. 
• An Open Letter to the Australian Government from concerned scholars regarding the AUKUS Agreement.
•  While Sullivan and Wang build ‘guardrails’: where is Mr Blinken?
•  Rishi Sunak ‘turns his back’ on UK’s nuclear test veterans a year after pledging support. 
• Israel’s New Minister for Nuclear Absurdity. 
• Nuclear power is neither reliable nor ‘green’ and is not suitable for South Africa’s just transition. 
•   Taiwan Government’s nuclear-free policy remains unchanged: Cabinet

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

•  Ukraine: Why Negotiations Are the Only Rational Option in the Face of Climate Chaos and Nuclear Dangers.
• Hiroshima Survivor Slams G7 Leaders for Embracing War & Rejecting Nuclear Disarmament. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66tf6Ki7sdM. Elders say – Nuclear states must now act following G7 statement – Mary Robinson.          G7 has descended into an ‘anti-China workshop’. Visiting a park is not paying respects:the appalling failure of the G7 to act on nuclear disarmament. 
• France holds up EU energy agreement over nuclear power. 
• After AP report, Iran’s nuclear chief says Tehran to cooperate with inspectors on ‘new activities’.  
• Irony Or What! India “Sidelines” Russia For US Nuclear Tech, But US Remains ‘Critically Dependent’ On Russian Nuke Fuel.

PROTESTS. A Mothers Day protest: Activists blockaded the entrance to the US 2 Navy’s west-coast nuclear submarine base.

RADIATION. Trident: Ministry of Defence confirms more than 50 radiation leaks this year.

SAFETY.    Fukushima reactor 1 found to have damaged pedestal supporting nuclear core. Japan Nuclear Watchdog Asks Fukushima Plant Operator to Assess Reactor Risk.          World’s Biggest Nuclear Plant Kashiwazaki-Kariwa May Stay Closed Due to Papers Left on Car Roof.             Groups Warn Biden that Ukraine War Shows Attacks on Nuclear Plants ‘Could Happen Here’.         Nuclear Security: Department Of Energy Should Take Actions to Fully Implement Insider Threat Program.

SECRETS and LIES. Ukraine admits to murdering “quite a few” Russian civilians. Ukraine claims Russia is plotting ‘a provocation’ at nuclear plant, offers no evidence.

SPINBUSTER. Clean energy transition sparks nuclear reaction. Nuclear Turns Fashionable.

URANIUM. U.S. planning test reactor to run on weapons-grade uranium.

WASTES. IAEA team in Japan for final review before planned discharge of Fukushima nuclear plant water.      What we know about the federal government’s ongoing nuclear waste plans in New Mexico.       Gordon Edwards explains, and comments on. Canada’s policy on radioactive waste and nuclear decommissioning. In Australia civil cociety faces imposition of an AUKUS military High Level nuclear waste dump.

Since Cold War. Russia Issues Dire Warning After US Approves Ukrainian Strikes On Crimea. Russia moves ahead with deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Russia Claims Group Crossed Border From Ukraine In Attack. Russia evacuates nuclear munitions due to incursion from Ukraine into Belgorodoblast-Ukraine’s Intel. Belgorod Attacks | Russia Removes Nuclear Warheads From Grayvoron Amid Attacks

Russian vessel attacked by Ukrainian sea drones off Bosporus. Ex-Pentagon Analyst: Biden Faces Shrinking Options on Ukraine. A grim vision of nuclear warfare in Ukraine. Russia warns about nuclear power war risk.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES.

• ‘Cold feet’: Big problems emerge in controversial US-Australia submarine deal. AUKUS nuclear submarine bases in Western Australia will seriously weaken current safeguards against nuclear weapons proliferation. Transferring US nuclear subs to Australia far from smooth sailing. Aukus ‘expensive’ and not ‘easy to replicate’.
• US sends largest warship ever constructed to Norway.
• Russia to move newest nuclear sub to Pacific in August.
• Iran Builds an Underground and Possibly Unreachable Nuclear Facility.
• Nuclear umbrella to protect Taiwan could be globally catastrophic.
• A Nuclear Collision Course in South Asia. Can the Pakistan-India nuclear deterrence hold – in the nuclearisation of South Asia in the New Nuclear Age.
• Belarusian president offers nuclear weapons to those willing to join his alliance.  

May 30, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 5 Comments

TODAY. It’s the CLIMATE, stupid!

The Southern Overturning Circulation is slowing down, because of the rapidly melting ice around Antarctica. What does this mean?

It means a speed-up of climate effects (double the speed of the effects of slowing down of the better-known Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) from the Arctic ). Rapid sea-level rise, changed rain patterns in tropical areas, drastic loss of nutrients essential for marine life – effects will occur within the next few decades.

Why is this not the top news story around the world? The whole process might not now be stopped – but what is so important is that it could be slowed, if homo-not-very-sapiens stopped pouring carbon into the atmosphere.

Why are we swallowing the propaganda about STEM education – with its focus on Technology and Engineering? That focus should be on Temperature and Ecology – not on how to do big industrial stuff, but on how to maintain our planet home, – and whether or not we should be doing big industrial stuff, (including costly, wasteful narcissistic adventuring to Mars.)

I have been focussing on the nuclear industry, But in reality, nuclear is irrelevant to our big threat – Global Heating. [except of course – in the case of nuclear war]

The one important relevance is in regard to Truth and Lies. The propaganda now prevailing from the nuclear lobby is the biggest example of lying. If the world can be persuaded to believe that nuclear spin-rubbish – then any lie can prevail. And that includes the omissions, half-truths, and lies that tell us that climate change doesn’t matter

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

This week’s (mercifully shorter) nuclear news

A bit of good news –   A low birthrate is good news for the planet.   What went right this week? The good news you should know about.Climate.  Cop28 host UAE’s approach is ‘dangerous’, says UN’s ex-climate chief.
Christina notes: Pathetic war-mongering response by G7 stuffed shirts at the historic Hiroshima nuclear-bombing site.

Nuclear.  Linda Gunter writes “Lying is the new black” – about the promotion of nuclear energy. But it’s timely too, about the latest developments in Ukraine. Have the Russians had a win? We are told – not really!  The G7 leaders went to Hiroshima –  all for world peace of course, paid lip service to America’s horror nuclear bombing in 1945, and went on to militaristic planning against Russia and China  – nothing about nuclear disarmament. No suggestion of negotiation.

TOP STORIES:

Hiroshima survivors warn G7 leaders about using nuclear bombs.

Ukraine’s Depleted Uranium Blast: Europe on Brink of ‘Environmental Disaster’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kqpbw6YTLo Depleted uranium won’t end a war that has no winners.

Global heating is predicted to trigger more nuclear outages in France every year..

Should South Carolina have canceled Plant Summer? Yes, and Georgia should have canceled, too

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

CIVIL LIBERTIES  Stella Assange: ‘This is the closest we’ve ever been to securing Julian’s release’   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6N33Ca8UrA   

CLIMATE. Siting new nuclear power stations — an unsustainable geography.

ECONOMICS. Finnish nuclear plant throttles production as electricity price plunges. Russia’s Atomflot added to U.S. sanctions list.

ENERGY. Finance for renewable energy.        Germany’s green revolution puts nuclear power in the past.          The nine hours in which Spain made the 100% renewable dream a reality. New report finds millions of Britons planning to get rid of their cars .

ENVIRONMENT. Nuclear Free Local Authorities condemn UK Environment Agency’s failure to protect the marine environment in Hinkley Point C’s nuclear project .

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Nuclear Fusion breakthrough hits hurdles as five experiments fail.

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. How a small activist sailing ship successfully challenged the nuclear arms race.

POLITICS.  Sceptical opinions about Vladimir Zelensky.      Australia: Labor, Greens & Defence Experts call for AUKUS Parliamentary Inquiry  Richard Marles and the ‘seamless’ transfer of Australian sovereignty.        Pentagon seeks authority to transfer nuclear submarines (and costs) to Australia.    Why nuclear power won’t work in Australia — yet another explainer.    France to speed up nuclear power deployment.         Poland’s Greens oppose construction of small nuclear reactor in Kraków.  Energy minister Andrew Bowie in visit to Suffolk projects.        Robert F Kennedy’s Peace Platform.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

• At a G7 summit high on ambition, nuclear disarmament takes a backseat to Zelensky’s diplomatic appeals.        Facing Russia’s nuclear threats, the U.S. and its allies must not whitewash their own.       Former world leaders urge G7 to get nuclear arms control back on track .  Hiroshima’s nuclear history sounds an urgent warning for G-7 summit.
• Indonesia calls for destruction of the world’s nuclear arsenals.
•  Ukraine’s neighbors ready to pay off Zelensky to stop conflict – Seymour Hersh. 
• France holds up EU energy agreement over nuclear power. 
• Drink Fukushima water if it’s clean, South Korea tells Japanese officials.    Ocean release of Fukushima nuclear wastewater endangers Pacific Islanders’ welfare.
•  French Polynesia’s anti-nuclear organisation Association 193 criticises France for downplaying impact of atomic tests. 
• New UK sanctions on Russian energy to include Rosatom and nuclear energy ( a little bit) .
• Stronger Global Governance is the Only Way to a World Free of Nuclear Weapons.

PROTESTS. Anti-nuclear activists protest Japanese government plans to release radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.

SAFETY. Nuclear Safety Authority identified faults in Olkiluoto nuclear power plant .     IAEA Warns of Tense Military Situation Near Ukraine Nuclear Plant.

SECRETS and LIES. Lying is the new black.  AUKUS may turn out to be the largest financial swindle perpetrated by the United States and the United Kingdom against Australia and other Asia Pacific nations. 

WASTES. Fukushima fishermen speak out against nuclear-contaminated wastewater dumping plan.

WAR and CONFLICT.  US hopes to snatch victory from jaws of defeat in Ukraine. Ukrainians forced by Russia to retreat from Artyomovsk (Bakhmut) , their supposed ‘fortress’ in Donbass. Russian forces dig in at Ukrainian nuclear plant, witnesses say.   Ukrainian diplomat fears ‘terrible summer’ ahead.

G7 Desecrates Hiroshima A-Bomb Memory With Warmongering Summit.  Biden Won’t Apologize for 1945 Nuclear Attacks on Japan as G7 Leaders Gather in Hiroshima.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. UK and Netherlands agree ‘international coalition’ to help Ukraine procure F-16 jets.    Western Weapons to Ukraine: Black Market for Terrorists “On Command”.        $3 BILLION Pentagon ‘accounting error’ means more weapons for Ukraine.

May 22, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment