nuclear-news

Nuclear (and climate) news to 16 January

Some bits of good news.  Here are all the positive environmental stories from 2023 so far.  How the world fixed the ozone layer. The hole over the pole will be closed by 2066.

Coronavirus. Covid cases in China touch 900 million – study.

Climate. Look –  this whole issue is mind-boggling. Glaciers are melting fast. It’s probable that the cleanup of atmospheric pollution by China and others will, for a while, contribute to global heating. I recommend that everyone follow RADIO ECOSHOCK. It’s the best place for getting the most up-to-date and thorough analyses of what is going on with our heating planet.

Nuclear. This week, I’m a bit overwhelmed with the climate stuff – actually more terrible than nuclear. But hey!  the big tennis is on in my country  – so nobody seems to care. (Except perhaps the flooded-out people).  Christina’s notes. NO – Sir Keir Starmer – nuclear power is NOT clean. Strange and contradictory messages from the global nuclear authority IAEA.

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CIVIL LIBERTIES.  Julian Assange denied permission to attend Vivienne Westwood funeral

CLIMATE. Europe recorded its hottest ever summer in 2022. Worlds oceans were the hottest ever recorded in 2022. Extreme weather is pushing more people to flee their homes.

DECOMMISSIONING REACTORS. Lithuania deal to dismantle Soviet-era nuclear reactors could be world first.

ECONOMICS.

Small nuclear reactors:  Eye-popping new cost estimates released for NuScale small modular reactor. The PG and E plan to sell non-nuclear generation assets could improperly increase rates, groups tell FERC. UK should not be building Sizewell C, and rollout of small nuclear reactors will be a nightmare – energy boss. Uncertainty over government funding for Rolls Royce’s small nuclear reactors . 

The Delusion of Infinite Economic Growth. Slew of companies keeping watch on DOE nuclear cleanup work for small biz. Team Korea to bolster exports of nuclear energy systems.

EMPLOYMENT. The renewable energy transition is creating a green jobs boom.

HEALTH. An unacceptable risk to children.

LEGAL. Pacific states entitled to claims against Japan for discharge of radioactive nuclear wastewater.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Shouldn’t a new and experimental reactor deserve a federal impact assessment? Adam Tooze: Why Nuclear Fusion Is Not the Holy Grail. How close are we to developing commercial nuclear fusion reactors? The problem with nuclear energy advocates. Japan and USA to develop small nuclear reactors “within each country and third countries.”

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. Scottish campaign groups hit back over claims nuclear power is cheaper and more reliable. Significant environmental victory for Savannah River Site Watch in stopping import of high level nuclear waste from Germany.

POLITICS. 

• Trump suggested dropping a nuclear bomb on North Korea and blaming it on someone else in 2017, book claims. 
• Holtec seeks $7.4 billion government loan for expansion tied to new reactor. Going nuclear? MPSC to hire outside firm to study Michigan’s energy future (but will the firm have vested interests?) California PUC launches rulemaking to consider extension of Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. 
• Australia’s nuclear submarine plan – a source of disagreement in US Congress
• New delay for Hinkley Point C nuclear power – could start operating in 2036. Rolls Royce’s frustration as government holds back on orders for mininuclear reactors. 
• Swedish govt to amend law to be able to build more nuclear power plants. Sweden makes regulatory push to allow new nuclear reactors. 
• South Korea Curbs Plans for Renewables in Push For More Nuclear. 
• Bangladesh puts energy hopes in first nuclear power plant, despite delay, and climate concerns.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

• Ukraine war follows decades of warnings that NATO expansion into Eastern Europe could provoke Russia. Ukraine as a country and its armed forces have become members of NATO: defense minister . Republican Rep Joe Wilson of South Carolina wants the US capitol to have a bust of Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky on permanent display. Not all American politicians want to adore Zelensky. 

• Nuclear deal between USA and Saudi Arabia sneaked in under the guise of “clean energy”. 
• Djibouti the 92nd country to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. 
• US military deepens ties with Japan and Philippines to instigate proxy war with China like it did with Russia. 
• The One-Person Monopoly of Nuclear Launches. 
• China’s role in UK nuclear sector poses challenges for net zero push, say think tanks. 
• Alarm in Malta over the proposal for a nuclear reactor in Sicily.
• Philippines looking at Chinese investors for cooperation on nuclear energy. 

SAFETY. Deal on safe zone for Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant getting harder -IAEA. IAEA plans “continuous presence” at all Ukraine nuclear power plants “to help prevent a nuclear accident” amid Russia’s war . Irish Republic monitoring nuclear risk as a consequence of fighting in Ukraine. Nuclear convoys: 40 safety reports in three years. Terror police investigate after uranium found in package at Heathrow airport. Georgia’s Vogtle nuclear plant startup delayed due to vibrating pipe.

SPACE.  Space junk cowboys are ruining our night sky.

WASTES. 

• Huge cost for Japanese tax-payers to clean up the botched nuclear waste storage at Tokai reprocessing plant . 
• Nuclear waste project in New Mexico opposed in recent poll, company asserts local support. 
• Arctic nuclear waste ship gets funding. Nuclear colonialism? 
• Nuclear country Canada “helps” Ghana to develop nuclear waste disposal facility. 
• Fukushima nuclear disaster: Japan to release radioactive water into sea this year. Fukushima water to be released into ocean in next few months, says Japan . Pacific Island Forum could sideline Japan over nuclear waste plan.

WAR and CONFLICT.The Ukraine War Should Alert Us to The Need to Ban Nuclear Weapons. Ukraine on ‘NATO mission’ – defense minister. NATO to train hundreds of Ukrainian troops in US and Germany, in operating Patriot missile system . Ukraine legalizes foreigners in AZOV neo-Nazi regiment. Gordon M. Hahn: The West has been reckless with Vladimir Putin . Britain sending first NATO nation tanks to Ukraine .

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. 

• Nuclear weapons proliferation really just keeps on going.  Support Arms Control, Not Nuclear Weapons.
• Brian Toohey -on Australia’s new arms race.

• The U.S. Can’t Make Enough Plutonium Triggers for Its Nuclear Warheads. Savannah River Site, Los Alamos plutonium pit production plan could cost over $30 billion.
• NATO member sending banned cluster bombs to Ukraine – media. German tank deliveries for Ukraine hinge on US. Pentagon backs Poland’s plans for German, other tanks for Ukraine . 
• The C-17A Has Been Cleared To Transport B61-12 Nuclear Bombs To Europe. 
• Biden Administration Tramples on Japan’s Post-World War II Pacifist Constitution By Pushing Country’s Rearmament. 
• In a first, South Korea declares nuclear weapons a policy option.

January 16, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

TODAY. Strange and contradictory messages from the global nuclear authority IAEA

Ukraine – nuclear dangerous – everywhere else – fine!

Today we learn that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be boosting its presence in Ukraine to help prevent a possible disaster.

It will soon have a permanent presence at all five of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities, including Chernobyl, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi will visit Ukraine next week to begin the operation, the agency said in a statement. 11 or 12 agency experts will be present in Ukraine to monitor the plants and provide technical assistance.

 The IAEA said it “continues to prepare to deploy soon IAEA teams on a continual basis to the four other Ukrainian nuclear facilities, the Khmelnitsky, Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs [nuclear power plants], as well as the Chornobyl site.

Well that is all fine and dandy and even a bit reassuring. Poor Mr Grossi, – no wonder he always looks super-anxious.

Obviously the IAEA people are scared stiff about the potential for a catastrophic accident , a release of ionising radiation, amidst the hostilities in Ukraine.

BUT – does that cause the IAEA to pause in its promotion of nuclear energy worldwide?

The world’s corporate media is constantly awash with excited promotion of “new nuclear” , and how we supposedly need nuclear power to solve climate change. (As Helen Caldicott said this is “like recommending smoking as the cure for obesity”).

Not a peep about this out of the IAEA , which apparently regards all other nuclear facilities except the ones in Ukraine as safe, and a boon to humankind. If you go to the IAEA’s websites on nuclear safety you find very complacent spiels promoting nuclear.

Let’s not forget, the IAEA is basically a nuclear marketing agency. Its mission statement includes this purpose:

assists its Member States…… in planning for and using nuclear science and technology for various peaceful purposes, including the generation of electricity, and facilitates the transfer of such technology and knowledge ……

January 14, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

to 9th January – nuclear news this week

A bit of good news. Quitea shortage of good news this week. I’m reduced to falling back on stories of individual goodness. Well, why not?  Individuals in their millions are doing kind things every day – that just doesn’t get into the news media. The Top 10 Acts of Kindness in 2022 Warmed Our Hearts and Restored Our Faith in Strangers and Neighbors.

Coronavirus.  Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19

Climate.  Climate change could cause ‘disaster’ in the world’s oceans.

Nuclear. Not much happening, except hype for small nuclear reactors. Australia’s nuclear submarines project is beginning to sound less like a goer, and more like something of a 171$billion ego-trip by former PM Scott Morrison, in a bid to look important on the world stage

Christina’s notes: They’re at it again! The nuclear industry dazzles journalists with its newest hogwash – “inflection point”.         Corporate media focusses on ‘new’ nuclear solutions. Are they stupid? Or is it just what they’re paid to write?

AUSTRALIA.  

• US President Joe Biden warned AUKUS nuclear submarine deal could come at cost to American fleet. Dear US Congress, thank you for saving Australia from itself.    
• Australia to buy long-range HIMARS missile system from United States – at unknown cost (? 2 $billion). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_M2JqeY8CA 
• Military join rescue effort as floods ravage outback. Bushfire deaths and smoke-related healthcare costs predicted to rise in next few years.

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CIVIL LIBERTIES. Guilty of Journalism. Key US Allies Collaborate On Espionage Laws Considered Harmful To Whistleblowers And Journalists.

CLIMATE.  Coal 2 Nuclear: From the fossil fuel frying pan into the fission fire.   Under present conditions, a huge loss of the planet’s glaciers will happen in the next 30 years. Writers protest against UK’s imprisonment of climate activists. 

ECONOMICS  

• Green surge is circuit breaker on nuclear revival.   Nuclear power saw multiple gains in 2022, but economic and other questions remain. 
• Sizewell C Nuclear Project’s biggest stumbling block is its funding problem. Sizewell C: How will the £20billion plant be fully-funded? Is EDF using Britain’s “windfall tax” as an excuse to get out of uneconomic Hartlepool and Heysham nuclear reactors? 
• Japan’s shortage of engineers and manufacturing capacity sets back its nuclear ambitions. 
• GUSTAFSON: Russian nuclear power – unsanctioned – is prospering worldwide.

ENERGY. Analysis Shows U.S. Wind and Solar Could Outpace Coal and Nuclear Power in 2023.    European Energy Crisis: France Close to Electricity Rationing Over Problems with Local Nuclear Plants.  The Future Remains Uncertain For Nuclear Energy.   Nuclear is not the answer to the UK’s energy requirements, and honesty about Sizewell is needed.  Solar power innovation by two British local councils. Great Britain produced a record amount of wind-powered electricity in 2022. 

ENVIRONMENT. Namibia orders Russian uranium exploration to stop due to environmental concerns.

HEALTH. Electromagnetic radiation – cellphones as a health hazard.  Ionising radiation. Return to studying baby teeth for radioactivity from nuclear weapons and nuclear facilities.

HISTORY. It’s all about the bomb: why civilian nuclear power is merely a cover for producing more nuclear weapons. Why Did Portland General Electric Want to Build Trojan Nuclear Plant in the First Place?

LEGAL. John LaForge Set to Be First US Activist Jailed in Germany for Anti-Nuke Protests. Take Japan to court for nuclear water dumping.

MEDIA. Under Musk, Twitter Continues to Promote US Propaganda Networks. Zelensky Expands Crackdown on Ukrainian Media. Media Silent as Latest Twitter Files Expose Flagrant Misconduct in Govt. & Journalism.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY.  

• $Billions of tax-payer money to go to kickstarting the “new nuclear reactor” industry’s “inflection point”. 
• Small Nuclear Reactor (SMR) developers submit 6 designs for UK approval. SMRs – an oversold hype? 
• International nuclear fusion project may be delayed by years, its head admits. Is Nuclear Fusion Hotter Than the Sun?. Nuclear fusion may change our world but renewable energy sources will save it: experts.

PERSONAL STORIES.. Beatrice Fihn – a decade fighting to ban nuclear weapons. This man saved the world from nuclear war. His story is a heart-pumper.

POLITICS. German minister reignites coalition row with call to review nuclear exit.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. US and South Korea hold talks on “nuclear sharing”. South Korea asks US for greater role in managing nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons and the resistance to reality.  U.S. President Biden contradicts South Korea’s President‘s claim that the two countries are planning joint nuclear exercises.   

 Pakistan supplies India with a list of its nuclear facilities.  US Says ‘All Options’ On Table As Iran Nuclear Talks Remain Deadlocked.

SAFETY. 

• Nuclear Ukraine? Amid concerns over alleged Russian threat, the world overlooks the real danger .  
• Canada: Pressure tubes at two nuclear reactors deteriorated far too quickly .   
• Letter in the Morning Star Exposes Links Between Subsea Coal Mine and Subsea Nuclear Dumping.  Enforcement action revealed after Hinkley Point C worker death.
•  Japan to use Self-Defense Forces to guard nuclear power plants. 
• South Korea: Credible nuclear regulation needs independence transparency.

SECRETS and LIES.   

• White Lives Matter More in Ukraine. Japan  
• Data rewriting and erroneous statements…Sloppy handling continues at Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant Unit No.2 of JAERI, Regulatory Commission suggests termination of review if no improvement is made. Kashiwazaki Kariwa, a Distant Recovery of Confidence TEPCO Shares Crisis Awareness to Prevent Misconduct. British-run spy tech powers Ukraine proxy war, putting civilians at risk. 
• Russian computer hacking team targeted 3 USA nuclear weapons facilities. 
• Can nuclear safety protocols be maintained in a poor country like Kyrgyzstan, where corruption is rampant?.

SPINBUSTER. Countering nuclear industry propaganda by telling the facts – Joshua Frank’s book “Atomic Days”.      Workington under siege from new nuclear plans.

WASTES. 

• Fukushima, Our ongoing accident. Japan must work with the Pacific to find a solution to the Fukushima water release issue – otherwise we face disaster. 
• Feds push plan to dispose plutonium using nuclear waste repository near Carlsbad. Editorial: New Mexico right to ask for accounting of nuclear waste. 
• Indigenous Taiwanese kept in the dark as a massive nuclear waste dump was imposed on their island. 
• UK. Coal Boss Compiles Lastest Nuclear Dump Report for Government who have just Approved his Coal Mine.

WAR and CONFLICT. Before the Bombs Come the Platitudes. Cold War estimates of deaths in nuclear conflict. A Secret War in the Making: Americans Should Not Die to Defend Taiwan. 

Number of civilians killed in Donbass revealed. Ukraine – The Big Push To End The War. CODEPINK calls on Zelensky, Biden and Congress to seize this chance for peace in Ukraine. Donetsk shelled in first minute of Christmas truce .  Los Alamos National Laboratory’s record $4.6B budget will still mostly fund nuclear weapons. 

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. Pentagon pressures NATO allies to boost arms flow to Ukraine. Defensive and offensive operations: “tank-killers” part of new U.S. $45b arms package to Ukraine

North Korea to have “exponential increase” in its nuclear arsenal. Raytheon sells long-range missiles to Romania for war in Black Sea 

January 9, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Corporate media focusses on ‘new’ nuclear solutions. Are they stupid? Or is it just what they’re paid to write?

The truth is that there are so many faster, simpler, and cheaper new ways to provide energy, conserve energy, and produce genuinely clean energy .

Some examples –  commercially-viable perovskite solar cells,  printable solar cells, production-ready solar-powered car. 

There are projects like car parking spaces covered with solar panels. The possibility of cooling buildings by mirrors on rooftops is being explored.

The many clean new ways, and old ways, to manage energy don’t get the political and media support that they deserve.

Yet the corporate journalists must know that SMRs are: very Slow, very Costly, very Dirty (produce long-lived wastes, very Dangerous (target for terrorism)

Yesterday I deplored the corporate media’s enthusiastic focus on Small Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) Today they’re at it again. In the UK, “NuCell” SMRs will  be worth “some tens of millions of pounds” to the local economy, and will make Britain “a global leader” – BBC. In the USA they’re a “bold new direction“, and will be “powering everything from homes to factories to transportation – American Opinion editorial .

Last week, it was nuclear-fusion-enthusiasm, but that’s fading away now – it was a useful little distraction from the reality of the sagging nuclear power industry.

However – perhaps I write too soon.

For one thing – NuScam and Rolls Royce – the leading pushers of SMRs have been rather quiet lately. Their propaganda now concentrates on their political gymnastics to get tax-payers’ money out of governments, build dodgy mergers between companies, and adopt systems like SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) – designed to save their skins when it all goes bust.

For another thing – some corporate journalists now dip their toe into the negative side of the SMR story.

Larry Pearl, senior editor for Utility Dive points out the big questions about cost and safety of SMRs. In Canada’s National Observer Cloe Logan concludes her long article with the big question “Are SMRs viable? – “Although the plans for these next-generation nuclear units might hypothetically work, their viability hasn’t been proven anywhere.”  Robert Cyran in Reuters is sceptical of any nuclear revival –  “a surging supply of green power is likely to limit any renaissance”.

Of course, all good patriotic corporate journalists stay away from the military connection – the underlying reason for the push for small nuclear reactors

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

Nuclear news to January 2nd

Some bits of good news.      What went right in 2022: the top 25 good news stories of the year  – Climate action – Return of threatened species –   The rights of nature were strengthened  – Land was returned to nature – and indigenous people – and more.

Coronavirus. Three years since coronavirus was detected in China, and how it changed the world.

Climate.  Environmental review of 2022: another mile on the ‘highway to climate hell’.

Nuclear.  In reality – not much is happening. The corporate media is still banging on about nuclear fusion ,  a complete distraction from anything that is really happening in energy and climate issues. In fact, the most interesting thing that is happening is the Europe-wide cutting down on energy use – “demand reduction” – the most unsexy but effective way to address global heating.  The other thing that the corporate media is banging on about is –   small nuclear reactors (SMRs). They faithfully regurgitate nuclear industry handouts – even though these SMRs actually don’t exist, and investors hold back – waiting for governments to pour even more tax-payer money into SMRs.

However, lurking all the time, is the risk of nuclear accident, especially in Ukraine.  And as USA and NATO promise more advanced weapons for the Ukrainians, and Putin flexes his “unrivalled” nuclear-powered missile cruisers, the world could be now teetering on the brink of nuclear war.

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CLIMATE. Growing climate, nuclear risks spark doomsday fears. Growing urgency and intensity — Weather extremes won’t be solved by nuclear power.

CULTURE and ART. MIND OF THE MACHINE Chilling AI predicts what nuclear war would look like with attacks on London, Moscow and Washington .

ECONOMICS. How did the US nuclear industry fare in 2022?

EDUCATION. Physicists push for nuclear science education: their environmental colleagues not so sure.

ENERGY. As France’s nuclear energy sector falters, Britain’s wind and solar power booms. France’s nuclear headache – Macron on the brink of rationing electricity. Europe shows how to cut demand for energy use.

ENVIRONMENT. Hot water — radiation in drinking water.

MEDIA. US spies pushed Twitter to censor ‘anti-Ukraine narratives’ – media.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Nuclear Fusion:  Don’t Believe the Hype!. Small modular reactors will not save the day. The US can get to 100% clean power without new nuclear. Japan’s Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing project delayed again – for the 26th time.

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. Civil society groups urge feds to ban reprocessing used nuclear fuel. No new nuclear weapons in Europe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgfckOtqWb8

POLITICS. Canada’s first new nuclear power reactor in 30 years has embarked on a crucial review. Can it pass quickly?

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. The 2022 nuclear year in review: A global nuclear order in shambles.     Tucker “Gets It” – Putin Doesn’t Want American Missiles on His Border.  Ukraine became de facto member of NATO in 2022: DM .     What the Pentagon Doesn’t Want You to Know About China.  Europe’s nuclear industry heavily dependent on Russian fuel and technology – no sanctions there.

RADIATION. Marie Curie’s Belongings Will Be Radioactive For Another 1,500 Years.

SAFETY. German residents told to prepare for nuclear emergencies.

SECRETS and LIES. This Year’s Nobel Peace Prize winners are deeply connected to the CIA. Every social media firm censors for US government – Musk.

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. Military satellites add to Earth’s orbit, which is already crowded with satellites.

SPINBUSTER. Calling nuclear fusion a potential ‘climate solution’ may undermine actual solutions.

WASTES. In the Pacific, Outcry Over Japan’s Plan to Release FukushimaWastewater.

WAR and CONFLICT. 3,000 civilians dead in Mariupol – Russian officials investigating – and claim that Ukrainian troops are responsible.        Germany assumes command of NATO’s 12,000-troop strike force EU.               Britain to train 15,000 Ukrainian “warfighters” in Lithuania.                100,000 U.S. troops, 20,000 new, to stay in Europe, train Ukrainian counterparts . Historic Golden Rule Peace Boat On Its Way to Cuba.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. More weapons to Ukraine “to bring peace” – says NATO chief. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2_ktxVQooQ                 Under pressure from Washington, Japan rearms.             Increasing kill chain speed: Pentagon augments HIMARS for Ukraine, Latvia, Taiwan .             North Korea says it will boost nuclear warhead production ‘exponentially‘, as another missile fired.            Russia Adds ‘Unrivaled’ Nuclear-Powered Missile Cruisers To Its Arsenal; Putin Says Has No Analogs In The World. Scott Morrison’s booby trap: Buying US submarines is a huge mistake. 

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

TODAY: The growing influence of the nuclear lobby on education

It’s one thing for the nuclear lobby to pour money into universities in the USA and UK, to set up prestigious-looking nuclear departments. That’s one way to gain the respectability, approval and awe that the nuclear priesthood crave.

The original scientists of the Manhattan atomic bomb project enjoyed adulation (for a while) when everyone was encouraged to think that their brilliant device saved the world from Hitler. But that adoration faded as it transpired that Japan would have surrendered anyway, and the war in Europe was over, months before the “wonderful” bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

To assuage their guilt, most nuclear scientists enthusiastically embraced “Atoms for Peace” – and off and away went the public story that nuclear power is so good. The nuclear priesthood, being highly technical and male – developed a mindset, a reductionist point of view – the idea that technical achievement is all-important, and side issues like radiation effects, biology, environment, ecology, health, economics, history, criminal connections, are – well – just side issues.

But dammit! Those side issues just keep on coming up. Perhaps this is because the universities have been teaching too much of that other girlie “soft” stuff. So we need not just more more Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths – but Nuclear Science now too!

Australian journalist Liam Mannix, covers this new nuclear lobby push in his article ‘Cherish’ the power”, and points out that the uranium and nuclear industries have much more money to push for their interests, than do those “more socially constructive areas”.

The previous government in Australia determinedly downgraded humanities studies. Perhaps this is a worldwide trend. Anyway there is a saving grace for increasing STEM education – it gives girls and women that necessary knowledge – traditionally reserved for males. They, and men who can think, can gain the knowledge they need, to better evaluate pro nuclear propaganda.

Perhaps the world does need more nuclear scientists – there will be much need for them, in the marathon tasks of dismantling the toxic nuclear power/nuclear weapons industry. But we surely need also more humanities education, to understand and face the crises coming upon the world.

December 29, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

The week in nuclear news

It’s that time of year, and I hope that you all did have a really lovely time, despite the madness of the festive season  – and will continue to survive and enjoy the rest of it. And on to a good 2023, one can only hope.

Roberto Prusso’sCopy of painting by PreRaphaelite artist Frederick Sandys

I feel that I should change my name from Christina to Cassandra. Not that I’m a princess, nor  look like her!   And indeed, I’m not as unlucky as Cassandra, in that nobody believed her warnings.   Many do now realise the perils that the world is in.  But still, for 2023,  there’s a prevailing complacency about pandemics. climate change, the “progress” of the Ukraine war, and about nuclear reactors and weapons .

Some readers have complained that this newsletter is too long. (Well, sorry – it’s hard to prune it, and anyway, I hope that you just pick out the topics that interest you).  I put outstanding stories in larger green text.

Recently there have been two remarkable articles that absolutely stood out  – stuff that people really need to know.

This one –  Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site – this one is must.  If anyone ever tells you that nuclear waste is “manageable” – this article would enlighten them.

The other article has a much more subtle tone. It’s about small nuclear reactors (SMRs). You could read it even as being in favour of SMRs.  It is enlightening as it rather quietly suggests all the problems about SMR development. It touches ever so lightly on the nuclear weapons connection –  “security” is the codeword for the military aspect.  And even more interesting, it shows the mindset of the corporate leaders and politicians who are pushing for SMRs. The article is Building promises of small modular reactors—one conference at a time.

Meanwhile, over the past week –   2 things stand out.  Both of them illustrate the gullibility, the lack of imagination, or the sheer subservience of the corporate press.

1,  the fawning of the USA Congress, and the West in general – over the visit of  Volodymyr Zelenskyy  to get more weapons. 

2. the euphoria over a tiny, and hugely expensive, experiment in nuclear fusion.

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Herewith – the dreary old real newsletter. (things don’t stop happening for Christmas, Hannukkah …….)

AUSTRALIA. The nuclear lobby is revving up its campaign, with submissions to the Senate to remove legal bans on nuclear activities. Australia has a new nuclear lobby front group “REPLANET Australia” . Fake, dishonest ‘Australian Greens for Nuclear Energy’ group. Mining lobby tricks government with its big taxpayer fairytale.

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CLIMATE. Greenland’s glaciers are melting 100 times faster than estimated.

ECONOMICS. Bank of America, investors, thrilled and delighted with the nuclear arms race. National Guard informs troops last paycheck before Christmas will be late as Biden admin sends $billions to Ukraine. Zelensky’s diaspora delegation led by economic hit-woman who led plunder of Ukraine. The Ukraine Arms Drain.           Never mind about sanctions – Russia’s export of nuclear products and services is soaring.

EDUCATION. Propaganda drive: Nuclear Power 2.0 Eyes Opportunity, Steep Climb in Coal Country.

ENERGY. UK tipped to export even more energy to France despite blackout fears. Sunak’s wrongheaded renewables tax risks trashing Britain’s wind and solar ambitions..

ENVIRONMENT. 

• ‘Historic’ agreement reached at UN conference to halt biodiversity loss by 2030. 
• Canada’s Federal environment minister rejects impact assessment for small modular nuclear reactor on the Bay of Fundy. ARC-100 SMR: Does the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada do anything other than recommending not to do impact assessments? — Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area Canada’s Feds forgo environmental assessment for controversial nuclear project. 
• Highland campaigners ‘disturbed and disappointed’ to learn 15 radioactive particles discovered near Dounreay.

ETHICS and RELIGION. U.S. Faith Leaders Call for Xmas Truce in Ukraine as Zelensky Visits D.C. Seeking More Arms & Money.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. 

• What’s not to like about nuclear fusion? Nuclear fusion – expensive, far away in time, and not clean, not safe. 
• Small nuclear reactors – the nuclear industry’s last ditch chance to thrive?. Building promises of small modular reactors—one conference at a time – (my comments on this) 
• Dounreay pushes forward plans to build new 37-metre-high stack at prototype fast breeder reactor.

OPPOSITION TO NUCLEAR.  In protecting the biosphere from plutonium and other wastes, the first step is to stop producing them.

POLITICS.

• Democrats Are Making a Devil’s Bargain on Pentagon Funding. It’s Not Paying Off. 
• Bill Gates’ Natrium project stalled, lacks Russian fuel – call for tax-payer funding for nuclear fuel development. The Nuclear Subsidy Tango of Bill Gates and Joe Manchin. Owner of Palisades to reapply for taxpayer funding to reopen nuclear power plant. 
• Macron ‘panicking’ as France faces ‘catastrophic’ nuclear energy crisis. 
• Nuclear Free Local Authorities ‘bitterly disappointed’ government will press ahead with ‘criminal nuclear power tax’.
• How Ukraine’s Jewish president Zelensky made peace with neo-Nazi paramilitaries on front lines of war with Russia. 
• EDITORIAL JAPAN : Without national debate, radical nuclear policy shift intolerable.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

• The Democrats are Now the War Party. 
• Iran says Jordan summit ‘good opportunity’ for nuclear talks. Iran after a region free of nuclear weapons, Kharrazi says. 
• Chinese nuclear company still has a stake in UK’s Hinkley Point C project, and approval to build Bradwell project. 
• Comments on a Jerusalem Post article that praised Ukraine’s Nazi Azov battalion. Zelensky’s ‘Hollywood-style’ US visit a ‘proxy war’ promotion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41asLQD1GiU European NATO members should reduce reliance on US – Macron .

SAFETY. In a blow to France’s electricity supply, EDF extends maintenance at nuclear reactors.

SECRETS and LIES. Atomic Bomb Effects Cover-up Reported in New York Times. Dishonesty: British authorities knew it was wrong to proceed with the thermal oxide reprocessing plant (Thorp) at Sellafield.

SPINBUSTER. Despite the hype, we shouldn’t bank on nuclear fusion to save the world from climate catastrophe. Media hype about nuclear fusion is designed to make research on thermonuclear weapons look acceptable. 

The Claim That The Ukraine War Advances US Interests Discredits The Claim That It’s “Unprovoked”. Why all the hysteria over not clapping for Zelensky?

WASTES   America’s complicated problem of disposing of tons of plutonium bomb cores, as the government to spend $1.7 billion on more plutonium bomb cores. Getting rid of plutonium pits — so many questions. Trawsfynydd as a nuclear waste dump? Campaign groups want answers on increase in radioactive particles found on Dounreay foreshore. Exposing the dishonest spiel that nuclear waste is “manageable”.

WAR and CONFLICT. Feverishly Racing Toward Our Own Destruction.            Kremlin: “US & Russia On The Brink Of A Direct Clash” In Ukraine. While others are preparing for their holidays, NATO is preparing for war in Black Sea Ukraine: * Congress as War Prop * Christmas Truce  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd-RvfQfUJI It’s worse than they’re telling you in Ukraine – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLh0KYZB9qM&t=249s

“Eva Bartlett: Western Silence As Ukraine Targets Civilians in Donbass” — In Gaza https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETpa-W0lJMc

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. U.S, €100b European next-generation warplanes to carry U.S. nuclear warheads. Fusion Energy: the Nuclear Weapons Connection. Over 500 U.S. military personnel have sought Washington’s okay to work for foreign governments: case of Azerbaijan.

December 27, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear news for the end of December

Some bits of good news – COP15: Biodiversity experts share 6 reasons why our environment is not yet doomed.  Your Good News round-up: swear words can make you more resistant to pain, and more…Coronavirus.Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Weekly Epidemiological Update.

Climate. Computer modelling predicts climate change causing cascading animal ‘co-extinctions‘.   Climate change can be beaten – why some scientists are hopeful.

Nuclear. This week, it’s all about fusion ( process in which  2 nuclei merge to one nucleus releasing energy, as against fission, in which the nucleus of an atom splits into 2 nuclei).   Literally hundreds of articles extolling an experiment in which, at enormous expense,  a tiny amount of “net” energy was produced for a fraction of a second. Still a few articles that pour cold water on all this euphoria.

It’s that time of year when in mainly- Christian countries everyone goes a bit silly, madly exchanging gifts and socialising. Serious stuff sort of stops for a bit, which is rather nice, really, (though the nuclear lobby never stops)

Anyway, may we all enjoy the good aspects, have a care for the many who are suffering, and look forward to renewed efforts for decency and care in the New Year 

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

CHRISTINA’s SHORT THOUGHTS.   The media – dishonest – or just sloppy and incompetent ?– nuclear fusion coverage as a case in point.    Toad’s new fad– nuclear fusion.

ECONOMICS. Paul Dorfman: Nuclear power is just a slow and expensive distraction.    Nuclear blow for EDF, the Flamanville EPR delayed again by six months.    Costs of France’s Flamanville nuclear reactor blow out to over $14 billion as project delayed again.

EDUCATION. Military Groomers Are Increasingly Infiltrating US High Schools.

ENERGY. France wants to cut its electricity exports to UK as its aging nuclear reactors are limited, with maintenance issues.               Opinion is split on UK government plan for new nuclear and hydrogen projects.         Point Lepreau nuclear plant taken offline after power loss.

MEDIA. A new book investigates the toxic legacy of Hanford, the Washington state facility that produced plutonium for nuclear weapons.        ‘We are all downwinders’: New film discusses Nevada’s nuclear fallout.       Media enthuses over “sexy”high tech nuclear energy, but ignores the really effective one – energy saving.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. It’s all about fusion.  Exaggerated fusion breakthrough is for military purposes. Fusion. Really?  Fusion “breakthrough” is largely irrelevant to the climate crisis .  Clean energy or weapons ? What the ‘breakthrough’ in nuclear fusion really means. The energy from the nuclear fusion experiment was a tiny fraction of the energy put into the experiment. Very significant barriers to further progress on nuclear fusion .   Fusion breakthrough thrills physicists, but won’t power your home soon.    Researchers claim a breakthrough in nuclear fusion, but that does not mean fusion as an energy force any time soon.        Nuclear fusion – if it eventually works – will require many hundreds of millions of dollars.        ‘Bottling the Sun’: is this a new dawn for the fusion industry? (actually – no!). 

Mini nuclear reactor firms battle it out in UK for approval and government support . Bill Gates-backed nuclear demonstration project in Wyoming delayed because Russia was the only fuel source.

POLITICS. Can France rely on its nuclear fleet for a low-carbon 2050? New Delay, Cost Overrun For France’s Next-gen Nuclear Plant.   UK government ‘s announcement was NOT yet a funding decision for Sizewell C nuclear, just an exclusion of China from the project .

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. A Tale of Two Nuclear Plants Reveals Europe’s Energy Divide.   Hungary’s risky bet on Russia’s nuclear power.        For the Western leaders, Minsk Agreements were designed to buy time for Ukrainians to get ready for conflict with Russia.       German states oppose construction of Poland’s first nuclear power plant.        US prolongs Russia-Ukraine conflict for three aims, aggravates nuclear war risk: experts at GT annual forum.

PUBLIC OPINION. Twice as many people support onshore wind compared to nuclear poweraccording to UK Government survey.

SAFETY. Safety of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant hangs in the balance. Russia building giant dome over Europe’s largest nuclear plant’s spent fuel stores, to shield them from Ukrainian attacks.    Russia installs shield over Zaporizhzhia nuclear storage site.    Ukraine Crisis Highlights Security Needs Of Civilian Nuclear Power.    Ineos: Ine-Not a safe location for any nuclear reactor, say Scottish Nuclear Free Local Authorities. Japanese Power Plants Less Than 40 Years Old Are Experiencing Problems. 

Incident. US Nuclear Bomber Erupts In Flames After Emergency Landing; US Air Force Confirms Mishap With B-2 Spirit.

SECRETS and LIES. The SECOND U.S. suburban husband indicted for smuggling nuclear weapon tech to Russia  . Coal Mine Boss Should be Sacked from Position as Government’s Nuclear Dump Advisor

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. For Heaven’s Sake – Examining the UK’s Militarisation of Space.

SPINBUSTER. “FUSION NET GAIN” is manufactured ignorance. What’s all the fuss about fusion?  – a breakthrough, and if so, for whom? It’s All About the Bomb.: civilian nuclear power is merely a cover for producing more nuclear weapons.

WASTES. Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site. Alliance of Pacific organisations condemn Japan’s decision to discharge nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. At the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant new areas begin to be filled with radioactive debris.

WAR and CONFLICT. INTERVIEW: Ukraine has lost the war, it just isn’t over yet, says Col. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdshHJW3PMU             Kiev’s Worst Attack Against Donetsk In Eight Years Is A Desperate Attempt To Save Face. The folly of the proxy war in Ukraine and how the military-industrial-complex has become the enemy from within. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b079rbpYIzUU.S. troops deployed near Russian border. 

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. US to send Patriot air defence system to Ukraine: CNN Weapons delivered to Ukraine ‘beginning to filter’ to Africa: Nigeria. UN committee adopts Russian draft resolution on prevention of arms race in space. Remilitarized Japan doubles war spending to meet NATO standards, confront Russia, China . -All about buying weapons. Dumb Ways to Buy: Defence “shambles” unveiled – former submariner and senator Rex Patrick.     Nuclear fusion ambitions in Australia from a coalition of technology companies – a dodgy dream?         Australia’s defence industry and Minister Richard Marles dazzled by (useless) B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber.       The War Memorial plays along with Lockheed Martin.

WOMEN. Mothering a Movement: Notes from India’s Longest Anti-Nuclear Struggle.

December 19, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

TODAY: Toad’s new fad- nuclear fusion.

Sadly, in this age of omnipresent Disney characters, it is rare to see the whimsical children’s favoutites of last century. Mr Toad, of the Wind in the Willows, was a great favourite. Lovable, but foolish, he entertained with his enthusiastic obsessions for new technology, inevitably ending himself in trouble. Luckily those surrounding him saw through his follies, and helped him scrape out.

Not so lovable, today’s technical experts come up with new nuclear gimmicks, and the media fawn over them.

Today I find news item after news item, whether it be in print, radio TV or social media – extolling the wonder of the latest nuclear fusion breakthrough.

Wow! It will be boundless, super-clean, cheap electricity for all of us! We can hardly wait – to spend $squillions of tax-payer funding to produce this planet-saving marvel!

I tell you – you gotta scour through a heap of information to find these little scraps of thoughtful knowledge:

• The lasers creating the nuclear fusion  emitted 2.05 megajoules, but they took about 500 megajoules of energy to power, 
• the actual experiment made a tiny  net gain of 1.1 megajoules of energy. (Expert Gordon Edwards estimates that a typical household  averages 273 megajoules per day). 
• it will take at least 20-30 years to have a prototype fusion reactor in operation, even if things go quite well, and more decades will be required to scale it up to a commercial level.
• fusion reactors will not produce high-level nuclear waste, but  will release an enormous amount of tritium (radioactive hydrogen) to the environment.
• the structural materials in a fusion reactor will become very radioactive. The decommissioning wastes will remain dangerously radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years
• And of course – there’s a military connection, (as with all nuclear stuff)

December 14, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear news – week to 13 December.

A bit of good news – Once devastated Pacific reefs see amazing recovery.

Coronavirus.  COVID is running rampant in China and its hospitals are overwhelmed.  Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Weekly Epidemiological Update

Climate.          Climate Honesty – Ending Climate Brightsiding, ( but also including revolutionary technology – mirrors to reflect the sun’s energy back into space).   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw85K7MjwYk Climate change could force 1.2 billion to move by 2050. Is the world even remotely ready?

Nuclear.  Is the West playing some sort of Russian roulette with the war in Ukraine?   Supplying Zelensky with long range missiles, that Ukraine is now using to target sites within Russia –    this amounts to some sick sort of game of chicken.   How far can we push Putin into using even more devastating methods against Ukraine?   Of course nobody’s going to use “tactical” supposedly sorta “little”” nuclear weapons, are they? 

Do the men who run the world ever consider the psychology of the macho military men who are mad keen to use the most powerful weapons?  So much easier and quicker to make such a decision , compared with the dreary task of negotiating an end to the horror, an end which would mean conceding to some of Russia’s not unrealistic demands.  Meanwhile Zelensky and co are being bolstered with all sorts of honours and acclaim – encouraged to continue in their ultranationalistic  and probaly suicidal dream of complete victory over Russia.

AUSTRALIA.  

• Call for Parliamentary vote required before Australia goes to war. War veterans call for Parliamentary vote on going to war, but most politicians OK with Prime Minister’s power to alone make that decision. Aukus will lock in Australia’s dependence on US, intelligence expert warns.   
• Australia a”pot of gold” for America’s military section to wage war in space. Nuclear submarines will be ‘massively expensive’ – (even Australia’s right-wing is waking up to this!)    Undue influence of the arms industry. 
• Nuclear power does not stack up for Australia – PM Albanese. South Australia’s premier, Peter Malinauskas, is in ‘furious agreement’ with PM that nuclear power would not work for Australia. Nuclear off table as states seek power fix. 
•  Dangerous radiation mishaps surge across NSW hospitals and medical centres. 
•   Mining lobby tricks government with its big taxpayer fairytale.

CIVIL LIBERTIES. Biden faces growing pressure to drop charges against Julian Assange.

ECONOMICS. Another dodgy Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) set up to promote small nuclear reactors. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAJTkL99anI&t=22s

EDUCATION. Nuclear lobby continues to capture universities. 

ENERGY.  Every home and community could be a power station’: the Nuclear Free Local Authorities’s future renewable energy vision for Wales. How to scale rooftop community solar in cities, UK policy changes: windfalls and renewables.

ENVIRONMENT. ‘Humanity has become a weapon of mass extinction‘. Past time for action — France should clean up atomic mess in Algeria. Commitments to nuclear HS2 and Sizewell C undermine UK Government promises on climate.

HEALTH.

•  What are the risks and treatments if nuclear power plant radioactivity is released? 
•  Radiation: Missouri Community and Its Children Grappling With Exposure to Nuclear Waste. US military atomic cleanup crews were sent out in the wake of American nuclear testing, and many paid a heavy price, veterans say.  Plutonium:   Plutonium’s Fatal Attraction. The ‘Demon Core,’ The 14-Pound Plutonium Sphere That Killed Two Scientists.
• Large Multinational Study Shows Link Between CT Radiation Exposure and Brain Cancer in Children and Young Adults.

LEGAL. Revealing He Too Had Manning Leaks, Ellsberg Dares Justice Dept to Prosecute Him Like Assange. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nHA0zhYma8

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. ‘New’ Nuclear Reactors Will Make Us a Guinea Pig Nation. Will small modular reactors seed a nuclear renaissance? THE ROBOTS OF FUKUSHIMA: GOING WHERE NO HUMAN HAS GONE BEFORE (AND LIVED).

OPPOSITION TO NUCLEAR. Ineos Grangemouth refinery: Anti-nuclear campaigners will put up a huge fight against any attempt to build small nuclear reactors – Dr Richard Dixon.

POLITICS.

• Lawmakers reject bid to audit US aid for Ukraine.   Five ways the Biden DOE is spending tax-payers money big on nuclear energy .
• UK Tories getting nervous about nuclear power plans? Hypocrites: Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) decries government ministers for promising wind turbines, but not new nuclear projects, must have ‘local support’.
• If Finland joins NATO, it needs a new nuclear weapons policy.
• European Commission supports French government in funding for small nuclear reactors.
• Objections to nuclear power in Taiwan.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. Macron: Russia Needs Security Guarantees ‘Essential’ To Ending The War. USA and UK welded together firmly in the grip of the nuclear lobby, with their Small Nuclear Reactor folly. UN: Israel must take ‘immediate steps’ to give up nuclear weapons. Japanese prime minister may seek in-depth nuclear abolition talks at Hiroshima G7 summit.

SAFETY.Why nuclear-powered France faces power outage risks. France: EDF extends nuclear outages by up to 42 days. Finland warns of power outage risk over nuclear plant startup delay – Olkiluoto 3 reactor unreliable?       Slovakia’s new nuclear power plant delayed due to a technical fault.           US imposes sanctions on six Pakistan companies for unsafeguarded nuclear activities.          TVA sends calendars to households near nuclear plants with preparedness tips in case of emergencies.

SECRETS and LIES. How the Global Spyware Industry Spiraled Out of Control.

SPINBUSTER. Watch Stella Assange Slap The Mustache Off John Bolton’s War Criminal Face.

WASTES. The world’s deepest nuclear clean-up – the Dounreay shaft. Nuclear waste permit ‘more stringent’ New Mexico says as feds look to renew for 10 years.

WAR and CONFLICT. NATO Chief Voices Fear Of War With Russia While US Greenlights Drone Strikes On Russian Territory.   Putin: Nuclear risk is rising, but we are not mad.      Ukraine war: Red Cross appeal, Kremlin sees Crimea attack ‘risks’.        Maligned in Western Media, Donbass Forces are Defending their Future from Ukrainian Shelling and Fascism.     PETER HITCHENS: The arrogance and folly in Ukraine that could yet send us hurtling towards nuclear catastrophe.’         Warfare Development Conference: NATO touts successful operations on four continents. 

WEAPONS INDUSTRY. Are the bombs are back in town? US atomic weapons in Britain would make nuclear war more likely. U.S. provides more missiles to Ukraine in new $275 million arms package Weapons interoperability and “sovereignty”: Polish state bank backs purchase of $4b more in U.S. arms . What could possibly go wrong?

December 13, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 6 Comments

to 6 December – nuclear news

Some bits of good news :  Greece says its entire electrical grid ran on 100% renewables for the first time.  Efforts to Save Endangered Blue Butterfly Quadruples its Population–but Also Saves a Lupine from extinction.
Coronavirus. 

(COVID-19): Weekly Epidemiological Update.

Climate.  Nature needs $384 billion a year, and other climate change stories you need to read this week. 
Climate techno-fixes keep planet on ‘palliative care’.

Nuclear. I’ve been a bit obsessed with Australia this week. The probable nuclearisation of my country could proceed so fast, –  with the enthusiasm of Australian war-mongers, to embrace our role in American plans for a war on China, enthusiasm of American firms to sell nuclear-capable aircraft to us, and News Corpse and the noisy minority extreme Right touting for small nuclear reactors.

Japan is the country often forgotten in the Anglophone media. Our website www.nuclear-news.net keeps news on Japan up to date, because our amazing contributor, dunrenard, provides thorough information translated from the Japanese originals.

AUSTRALIA.

•   Australian PM Anthony Albanese urges US government to end pursuit of Julian Assange. Julian Assange and Albanese’s Intervention. 
•   Albo nukes nuclear energy idea. MP Ted O’Brien’s “grassroots” survey linked to a firm that promotes NuScam’s small nuclear reactors. South Australian Premier and Opposition leader enthuse about nuclear military submarines, and nuclear power, except for the costs. 
•  U.S. weapons firm Northrop Grumman  no doubt salivating as Australia looks to buy its nuclear-capable B-21 stealth bomber. Australia a”pot of gold” for America’s military section to wage war in space.
•   Mining lobby tricks government with its big taxpayer fairytale.

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

CLIMATE. Climate change brings risk of flooding to the multi billion pound nuclear project Sizewell C.

ECONOMICS. 

• UK government desperate for investors in its Sizewell C nuclear project, as it pays out the Chinese company previously involved. Sizewll C nuclear white elephant could cost up to £43 billion.  Eco-Unfriendly White Elephant? Stop Sizewell C’s Alison Downes vs. EDF’s Prof Michael Fitzpatrick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXouiZv_DRU    
•  Marketing. Emmanuel Macron picks a bad time to promote France’s nuclear nuclear technology in a marketing tour to USA. Macron pushes a “renaissance” while French nuclear flops. 

ENERGY. Warning of power cuts for France, as nuclear reactors are working at half capacity. Potential for ‘worrying’ Hinkley Point C delay highlights need for renewables. Europe, weaning off fossil fuels from Russia, but still dependent on Russia for nuclear fuel.

ENVIRONMENT. UK govt goes ahead, with Sizewell nuclear project, despite strong objections on environmental grounds, especially about water use.

LEGAL. Pursuing Assange in a US court could cause even more embarrassment than the WikiLeaks’ publications. European General Court refuses Austria’s appeal against the Commission’s decision to support 2 nuclear reactors for Hungary.

Japan. A book titled “Fukushima Daiichi NPP Accident Nakadori Litigation” (published by Sakuhinsha, Inc.) The compensation standards for voluntary evacuees from the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident will finally be reviewed on May 5, and there are concerns about whether the standards will be commensurate with the actual situation.

MEDIA. NATO Narratives and Corporate Media Are Leading to ‘Doorstep of Doom’

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Ukraine’s nuclear plants 

face uncertain future . 

USA trying to use Philippines as a guinea pig for its unviable small nuclear reactors – and for military purposes. No legitimate reason to support the 

controversial nuclear technology planned for New Brunswick. Talking

 football pitches but not in Qatar.

OPPOSITION TO NUCLEAR. No place for nuclear in NY’s clean energy future.    140,000 signatures of “opposition” to extension of operation period and reconstruction of nuclear power plants Submitted to the government “Reduction of dependence is the voice of the people”.

POLITICS. 

• Britain may be scaling back its nuclear plans.. UK Funding subsidy to French firm EDF, for the £26bn Hinkley Point C nuclear plant even if it does not start operating until 2036. UK’s £26bn Hinkley Point C nuclear station now faces 11 year delay. 
• UK government to take 50% stake in the French development of Sizewell C nuclear station.
• Small modular reactor plans to be blocked by the Scottish government. 
• ‘A form of self-destruction’: Japan weighs up plan to expand nuclear power. Japan’s Ministry’s action plan drops nuclear policies set after 3/11.  Japanese  plaintiffs against Onagawa  NPP claim that the wide-area evacuation plan is ineffective.
• Iran increasing its nuclear power. 
• The complicated politics of nuclear power.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

• UK Taxpayers to hand China millions of pounds to quit Sizewell nuclear plant.
•  Vladimir Putin open to talks on Ukraine if West accepts Moscow’s demands. 
• NATO Exists To Solve The Problems Created By NATO’s Existence. NATO Expands but Original Anti-Russia Mission Is Static 73 Years On. U.S. to use “all tools” to evict Russia from Abkhazia, S. Ossetia, thus paving way for Georgia’s NATO membership 
• Why a new convention to protect nuclear installations in war is a bad idea.

SAFETY. 

• ‘Guinea Pig Nation’– Lax rules for new reactors deliberately endanger communities. 
• War and Nuclear Power: Stakes Are High for People, Environment, and Industry. Situation at Ukrainian nuclear plants worrying as shelling and power cuts threaten containment. UN votes to press countries to stop terrorists from getting nuclear weapons.   IAEA hoping to get a protection zone at the Zaporizhzia nuclear power plant.     
• ‘A form of self-destruction’: Japan weighs up plan to expand nuclear power. Concrete melted off ‘pedestal’ for damaged reactor in Fukushima.  Evacuation of Iitate Village’s Nagadori District, Fukushima Prefecture, to be lifted in May.
• Workers at hazardous nuclear waste site test positive for drugs.

SECRETS and LIES. Stolen cryptocurrency has fuelled North Korea’s nuclear program. Could it collapse amid market turmoil? UK government may be covering up the extent of its involvement in the arrest and incarceration of Julian Assange.

SPINBUSTER. China keeps aggressively surrounding itself with US bases. Expert panel full of proponents of nuclear power plants to discuss direction on March 28th, extending operation period and developing next-generation models, rushing to conclusion on “Prime Minister’s directive.

WASTES. Nuclear Free Local Authorities call for Community Partnerships to include critics of the UK undersea Geological Disposal Facility plan. Misleading claims about the supposed recycling of nuclear wastes.

WAR and CONFLICT. Explosion at Nuclear Airbase Just 150 Miles From Moscow Opens Stunning New Phase of War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFug2Wf3DcU       Britain’s bunkers offer little chance of survival after a nuclear attack. Imperialist wars—and what could be done about them — IPPNW peace and health blog.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. 

• Broken promises: how nuclear armed states are failing on their commitments to disarm. 
• Secrecy on USA’s new nuclear stealth bomber, and of course, secrecy on its cost to taxpayers. 
• Thousands rally in Rome against arming Ukraine. Weapons company Raytheon continues to be the winner in the Ukraine war, with new $1.2 billion surface-to-air missile contract . Blinken: NATO nations have provided $40 billion in weapons to Ukraine, more on way. 
• Kim Jong Un wants North Korea to be a nuclear superpower – the real risk is a regional arms race. 
• ‘Deliberate ambiguity’: Israel’s nuclear weapons are greatest threat to Middle East.

WORLD CRISES. The Guardian view on biodiversity collapse: the crisis humanity can no longer ignore.

December 6, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

TODAY. Australia looks like being really ground under by America

First of all, there’s the Julian Assange horror persecution.

Does anyone think for a moment that Joe Biden, or any other U.S. President would give in to an Australian Prime Minister’s request to free Assange?

Decades ago, the USA made sure that another journalist, Wilfred Burchett, became an international leper, because Burchett went to Hiroshima in the days immediately after the atomic bombing, and photographed and documented what he saw.

That is the fate of anyone who publicly reveals American military atrocities.

At the same time, the USA Space Force now visits Australia – and can’t wait to use Australia for its War in Space aims.

Of course the USA military wankers are also thrilled with the idea of launching attacks on China from Australia.

Ukraine is good practise for waging war “safely” from another country. Taiwan will be next, but it’s nice to have Australia in the fray too – keep the targets well out of the home country. Australia’s military wankers haven’t really thought of that – they’re NRB (Not Real Bright)

I suppose some might think that releasing Julian Assange in exchange for getting Australia to be a U.S. military base like Guam, might be a fair deal. But why do a deal, when you know that you can both persecute Assange and set up Australia as a target , without any deal?

The Australian media can be relied on to (a) ignore it all, or (b) just scream “jobs jobs” – their standard response to any military or nuclear development.

December 3, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment