nuclear-news

Nuclear news – week to 28 March

Some bits of good news. Some welcome news, in UK  Government support for energy saving.  Some Good News About Corals and Climate Change   The UK’s first hospital-owned solar farm shows how renewables could be a way out of reliance on fossil fuels.. The Good News About Renewable Energy.

I’ve read so much on the Ukraine crisis. For an overview of that situation, Charles Freeman, former USA diplomat, is the best source. His interview is long. ”USA fighting Russia to the last Ukrainian’‘. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vxufUeqnuc I think I’m the only one to transcribe it. (that took me hours!). But I recommend that you persist with it. It is worth 100 other commentaries on Ukraine.

Ukraine war shows nuclear deterrence doesn’t work; we need disarmament — IPPNW peace and health blog. Dalai Lama, Other Nobel Winners Demand Explicit Vow Not to Use Nuclear Weapons in Ukraine. U.S. Peace Council Statement on Russia’s Military Intervention in Ukraine.

Zelensky ready to negotiate with Russia over NATO and Donbas sovereignty, but Biden won’t budge. More Evidence That The US Is Trying To Prolong This War– Caitlin Johnstone lays it bare.

We have a new energy crisis, and EFFICIENCY is the largest, cheapest, safest, cleanest and fastest way to address it.

Official cover-up by 7 governments of the cancer deaths of nuclear test veterans.

Western countries importing Russian uranium and nuclear supplies – WITH NO SANCTIONS.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to discuss climate mitigation efforts, including technology to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

Climate change at the Poles.    Temperatures hit ‘unthinkable’ highs at both of Earth’s poles on the weekend.   Climate scientists are trying to find out why.   Record-smashing heatwaves are hitting Antarctica and the Arctic simultaneously.  Here’s what’s driving them, and how they’ll impact wildlife.   Wildfires caused by global warming ‘are accelerating global warming’.    In 20 years of studying how ecosystems absorb carbon, here’s why we’re worried about a tipping point of collapse.    Fridays for Future school climate strikes resume across the world

Bitcoin miners want to recast themselves as eco-friendly

ANTARCTICA. Climate scientists alarmed at unprecedented heat at both the Antarctic and the Arctic. Record-smashing heatwaves are hitting Antarctica and the Arctic simultaneously. Here’s what’s driving them, and how they’ll impact wildlife. Antarctic heat – a horrifying reminder of the future with global heating. Gigantic Antarctic ice shelf collapses into the sea.

ARCTIC. Very low Arctic sea ice.

UKRAINE. 

Forest fires erupt around Chernobyl nuclear plant. Chernobyl radiation monitors ‘not working‘. Chernobyl nuclear worker gives the inside story on the dire situation for the staff as Russians took over. 

Ukraine war – the Nazi factor. What is the risk of a nuclear accident in Ukraine?  Deal on Ukrainian nuclear safety to come ‘soon,’ says IAEA chief. Bellona explains Ukraine’s nuclear stations.  International Atomic Energy Agency’s grave concern over safety of Ukraine’s nuclear reactors. IAEA concerned that Russia is shelling Ukrainian checkpoints in the city of Slavutych, near Chernobyl. The work of Ukraine-based European Institute of Chernobyl. So far, Zaporizhzhya’s nuclear reactors are being managed safely under Russian control . Warning on effect of Russian force’s attack on nuclear research facility.

HUNGARY. NATO troops deployed to Hungary despite government’s reservations — Anti-bellum

USA. 

• No chance of a fair trial for Julian Assange in America. Caitlin Johnstone – yes, it’s a proxy war. 
• Re-Visiting Russiagate In Light Of The Ukraine War.
•  Biden keeping up the big spend on nuclear weapons. 
• Dozens Of Men Got Sick During A Secret Training Exercise At A Nuclear Site In 1991. They’re Still Fighting For Answers. 
• Nuclear Information and Resource Servic calls upon the Biden administration to sanction the Russian nuclear industry .
• Nuclear energy development not possible in USA, unless it is tax-payer funded? 
• Multi $billion plutonium cores project – unsafe, unnecessary, and ill-conceived. USA’s production for plutonium ”pits”will fall short of the goal. 
• Nuclear lobby touting small nuclear reactors to Alaska. 
• With threats of nuclear war and climate disaster growing, America’s ‘bunker fantasy’ is woefully inadequate.
• Nearly 60% of USA is in prolonged drought. 
• Editorial: Washington conducts international Inquisition over Ukraine — Anti-bellum
• World’s richest men enthuse over new nuclear power, despite its poor progress .

CANADA. Ottawa’s Nuclear Funding Delays Climate Action, Ignores Indigenous Objections, Opponents Warn. Saskatchewn ponders new small nuclear reactors, but opposition unsure about safety and environmental impacts.

JAPAN. Nagasaki survivor calls for joint resistance to nuclear threat amid Russian invasion.

RUSSIA. Kremlin says Russia could use nuclear weapons, if its existence were threatened. Russia holds back on full assaults on Ukraine, and Zelensky prepared to negotiate on NATO and Donbas/Crimea.

FRANCE. France’s nuclear energy output continues to slump.

UK. 

• As UK government touted ”media freedom”, Julian Assange in high security Belmarsh Prison was an embarassment. 
• Big ‘doomsday plane’ for the Big Nobs, in the event of nuclear war, arrives in Britain. 
• London. Anti-nuclear campaigners have won a victory for free expression. 
• Boris Johnson determined to show ‘leadership’ on nuclear power. Boris Johnson’s enthusiasm for UK nuclear power should raise huge red flags for Scotland.  UK Tories split over nuclear power. Sceptism over Boris Johnson’s plan for ”Britain carpeted in mini-nukes. UK’s Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng considering launching State-owned nuclear company.   Boris Johnson’s splashy style still avoids the costs, lack of financial commitments for nuclear power development.   Boris Johnson in the grip of the nuclear lobby.   Evangelical fervour for new nuclear power in UK’s Tory government.   Boris Johnson ‘gung ho’ for new nuclear power, but Chancellor Rishi Sunak applying the brakes.     Boris Johnson all for nuclear power – but there are tensions with the Treasury about this.  Some Brits not very impressed with their government’s newbound love affair with nuclear power.
• UK’s Green Party calls for big effort on energy efficiency and renewables – nuclear is an ”expensive distraction”. Greens firm on Scotland’s opposition to nuclear power. Greenpeace scathing about Boris Johnson’s plan for nuclear power.
• British public in the dark about what ”Modular” nuclear reactors really means (hint -they’re like Lego pieces) . 
• Energy efficiency and renewables – faster, safer, than nuclear power, to move away from Russian fuel, and combat climate change.   The energy crisis is now, new nuclear will be (at least) twenty years too late – UK’s Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA).  UK does NOT need more nuclear power. Electricity demand has fallen.
• Campaigners against Sizewell C nuclear project concerned that UK govt plans to stop local opposition to it. Boris Johnson government to put limits on local community opposition to nuclear power.   
• Water supply problems for planned £20billion twin reactor on the Suffolk coast . 
• People Against Wylfa-B (PAWB) calls for sanctions on UK importing enriched uranium from Russia.  
• Catholic bishops assert their opposition to nuclear weapons.  Residents react after huge military convoy spotted travelling through Preston. 
• Campaigners lose legal challenge to stop Hinkley Point C mud being dumped in the sea. 
•  Over 1000 tonnes of steel drums full of nuclear waste dumped at Drigg, Cumbria.

IRELAND. NATO grooming yet another new member: Ireland — Anti-bellum

IRAN. Iran’s foreign minister says nuclear deal closer ‘than ever’. Iran blames US for delays in reaching nuclear deal.

INDIA. Opinion: U.S. pressure on India over Ukraine doomed to fail — Anti-bellum

EUROPE. Europeans stocking up on anti-radiation pills. No surety that Europe will favour nuclear power, following Ukraine crisis,

CHINA. Chinese analysts: U.S. hopes to bleed Russia, collapse it like USSR — Anti-bellum

AUSTRIA. Renewable energy: Austria, a leader of anti-nuclear advocacy in Europe.

RUSSIA. Russia about to announce an export ban on uranium.

SERBIA. Serbia won’t be dragged into broader European war: president — Anti-bellum      Brutal, horrible, criminal, inhuman attack on a small country: Serbs commemorate victims of NATO’s war — Anti-bellum

NORTH KOREA. North Korea preparing for its first nuclear test in 5 years.

PHILIPPINES. Greenpeace: Nuclear power is not the solution to Philippines’ energy woes.

CZECH REPUBLIC. World’s biggest bunker where billionaires could survive in luxury for 10 years.

AUSTRALIA. Australian Radioactive Waste Agency – a couple of English nuclear waste officials conning the Australian public? Wilful ignorance . Blaming war and deadly floods on climate change activists .

March 28, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

The week in nuclear news

Some bits of good news:     Giant Floating Solar Panel Flowers Replace Coal in Korea. 

Most significant environmental deal since Paris’: UN agrees on landmark plastic pollution treaty.        Solar Panels Built From Waste Crops Can Make Energy Without Direct Light. The ‘charismatic’ Mexican tequila  fish has been saved from extinction

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I know that it’s all about Ukraine.  BUT – is anybody noticing? – the global climate is weird-  it’s getting hot at the Poles. In the total scheme of things – that process is going to matter more to the world, even than the Ukraine horror.

Meanwhile, inexplicably, governments are pushing futuristic not-yet -existing gee-whiz nuclear reactors to solve this climate problem, which is already upon us!       A space alien, observing us, might have a laugh at that.   And also laugh that, just as the Ukraine war is demonstrating the awful danger to nuclear reactors there, politicians are touting nuclear as the safest energy source.!

Oh, and by the way, – the pandemic is still happening.

Extradition of Julian Assange. REMEMBER – he’s an Australian citizen, not an American! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv5GDnApfqc

A “no-fly zone” does not becalm the skies. Veterans warn against no-fly zone in Ukraine: Examine Western propaganda critically.       Putin’s ‘Peaceful Atom’ Apocalypse Draws Closer by the Minute. How Much Less Newsworthy Are Civilians in Other Conflicts?

Chris Hedges: Waltzing to Armageddon .

HELEN CALDICOTT: Russia’s war could spell worldwide nuclear disaster. International Committee of the Red Cross calls for States to join UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The $multibillion question. Will UKraine have to pay for all those foreign weapons?

“Russian Invasion of Ukraine Spotlights the Dangers of Nuclear Reactors in War,”

Why New Technology Is Making Nuclear Arms Control Harder.

Fears of nuclear war in Europe stoke demand for fancy bunkers.

  What the nuclear industry and its supporters have to say about the economic viability of nuclear power.

ANTARCTICA. Record minimum amount of Antarctic sea ice. Temperatures in eastern Antarctica are 70 degrees warmer than usual.    

 ARCTIC. Exceptional warmth at North Pole    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nJczShXwaU

  UKRAINE. Zelensky Says He’s ‘Cooled’ on Joining NATO, Ready for Talks With Russia on Crimea, Donbas. Shrouded in doubt: safety issues at Russian-occupied nuclear stations in Ukraine. Electric Power Restored to Ukraine’s Chernobyl Plant.   Safety fears, as Chernobyl nuclear staff tired and stressed.    Danger of radioactive disaster at Chernobyl and other nuclear sites, with exhausted staff, and risk of loss of remote control.       Understanding the war in Ukraine.    What next for Ukraine’s nuclear sites and Wylfa and Trawsfynydd?
Zelensky Announces Ban on 11 Political Parties-, although no evidence linking any to Russian government.

EUROPE. European countries make an exception for uranium from Russia – no sanctions on importing that! EU seeks to boost stockpile of iodine pills and nuclear protective gear.

JAPAN. Japan’s new awareness of nuclear dangers – nuclear reactors as targets in war-time.     11 years on, Fukushima morass still poses danger.    Ukraine war triggers debate on Japan’s nuclear option.  Radioactive iodine levels in primary cooling water at the Ikata Nuclear Power Plant Unit 3 increase threefold.      Massive 7.3 earthquake hits Japan near site of Fukushima nuclear disaster.   Renewed worries about restarting nuclear plants, after 7-3 earthquake near Fukushima. 

  Hope, hard reality mix in Fukushima town wrecked by nuclear disaster .  Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, risk of earthquakes revealed... Failure of seismometers, building deterioration, tanks shifting….      Ruling pressures Japan to set proper damages for Fukushima nuclear disaster.     Contaminated soil piles up in vast Fukushima cleanup project.

USA

• Russia’s Ukraine invasion may have been preventable, The US made a huge mistake?  Peace Talks in Ukraine “Will Get Nowhere” If US Keeps Refusing to Join, Message to Biden: Help De-Escalation in Ukraine or Risk Nuclear War. ‘Let them kill as many as possible‘ The Roots of US Militarism in Russia and Around the World. 
• 5 USA States selected for target areas for the enemy, in a nuclear war.
•  Potassium iodide tablets SELL OUT in US .   
• US Republican senators say they will not back Iran nuclear deal.
• Another burst of tax-payer funding for Bill Gate’s gee-whiz Natrium reactor project. 
•  The Ukraine war is bad for USA’s nuclear industry– hard to get the Highly Enriched Uranium needed from Russia for Advanced Nuclear Reactors. 
•  Fate of Radioactive Waste at Plymouth Nuclear Site Continues to Raise Concerns. 
• U.S. loses plane, crew in NATO exercise in Arctic .
•  Dangerous wildfires in Texas.

CANADA. Canada’s green bond program specifically prohibits investments in nuclear energy . Indigenous, scientific, environmental and citizen groups strongly oppose Ottawa’s push for small nuclear reactors. . Fossil and nuclear energy regimes threaten global security, Small modular nuclear reactors – no good for Canada’s indigenous communities, no good for climate action.

UK. 

•   Silence in the media and Labour “left” on Assange’s extradition danger. 
• Push for UK govt to call nuclear power ”green”, so that nuclear industry can get money from the Green Financing Framework. UK’s Nuclear All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) condemned for calling on govt to reclassify nuclear energy as ‘green’. 
•   Rolls Royce wants to hurry up the introduction of small nuclear reactors, but UK govt is focussed on a big one for Wylfa. UK government now considering extending life of Sizewell nuclear power station by 20 years.
• Radiation Free Lakeland protests against plan for a Near Surface Nuclear Waste Dump.

GERMANY. The return of the nuclear threat

CHINA. China continues to resist U.S. demand to join “global web to strangle Russia” — Anti-bellum Global  

PHILIPPINES. US to help Philippines develop nuclear power program; groups push renewable energy instead

INDIA. India will not join any move by NATO against Russia.

RUSSIA. Putin set to hold nuclear evacuation drill; moved family to Siberia.

AUSTRALIA.  South Australian Unions stand with Traditional Owners in rejecting nuclear waste dump.

  Report to U.S. Congress on AUKUS agreement, allows Australia access to Highly Enriched Uranium and Plutonium.    Australia’s ‘Historic’ Submarine Pact Enters 1st Phase; Will Become Only The 2nd Country With US Nuclear Propulsion Tech. What does a ‘once-in-100-year’ weather event actually mean?

March 21, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

The $multibillion question. Will Ukraine have to pay for all those foreign weapons?

This is one of those questions that only an ignorant peasant like me dare ask. All the experts seem to be ignoring it (perhaps to the joy of oligarchs in Ukraine and foreign countries too?)

I undestand that, even before this war, Ukraine had foreign debt resulting in some 12 $billion in annual interest costs.

Let’s suppose that Ukraine wins this war, or emerges from it as an independent State. A poverty-stricken State, beholden to other counntries.

Will the U.S. and other corporations forgive the debt? Will pigs fly?

March 17, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear news – it’s been a big week

Some bits of good news – Climate-resilient coral species offer hope for the world’s reefs           How China uses renewable energy to restore the desert  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Uv-Yw9MZFE   Solar-Powered Desalination Device is a Game-Changer: Requires Only Cheap Common Materials and Sunlight.

I’m sorry, people, but they’re putting it over us big-time, on the root causes of  the current Ukraine disaster.. This week, I am shocked at the propaganda blanketing all media .  Universally we are brainwashed with the depiction of Putin as an evil madman, and of the need to buy ever more weaponry from the big USA, UK and German corporations. No – Putin is not a nice man, and Yes, the attack on Ukraine is illegal , cruel and wrong.   

BUT – there is never a mention of genuine negotiation, which would accept Russia’s genuine cause to not be surrounded by NATO and its missiles, not have Ukraine as a NATO base.  There is no consideration of the plight of ethnic Russians in the Donbass area, nor of the existence of the Nazi faction in the Ukrainian side  And there’s the mindless repetition of lies about Crimea, where 87% turned out to make a 97% vote to rejoin Russia. President Biden is doing his best, I suppose, but can he hold out against the belligerent calls for an air war against Russia?

  Julian Assange denied permission to appeal      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFk7Gqfmih8   Lies leave the Assange case exposed – this is a political persecution.

Los Alamos Study Group outlines a clear solution to the Ukraine war. So many half-truths from Zelensky, and from the nuclear industry! The politics behind Ukraine’s alarming nuclear warnings. Western media trumpets blanket condemnation of Putin, without any consideration of the circumstances. 

Ukrainians will pay the price in suffering for long drawn-out USA’s proxy war on behalf of wealthy corporations. Hypocritical cries of grief from weapons and other corporate businesses, as Western governments and media ramp up war fever.

Umm….. Are we the baddies?

Women leading the fight against climate change. New IPCC Report Calls for Adapting Today to Ensure Tomorrow’s Climate Security .

 ‘Limited’ Tactical Nuclear Weapons Would Be Catastrophic. Markets are in denial about nuclear risk.

The importance of continuous cooling of nuclear spent fuel.

I was a nuclear missile operator. There have been more near-misses than the world knows.

Ukraine war fills Pentagon’s, NATO allies’ war chests.

UKRAINE. Nuclear facilities targeted in Russia’s war on Ukraine. Video analysis reveals Russian attack on Ukrainian nuclear plant veered near disaster.

 Ukrainian military to blow up experimental nuclear reactor at Kharkov Institute. Russians fire at Kharkov Institute nuclear reactor. [two versions of the story]. Research reactor in Kharkiv has been completely destroyed. IAEA doubts that the attack on Kharkiv Institute was a serious radiation hazard. 

External electricity returned to Chernobyl.     Chernobyl workers still stranded at the power station. Chernobyl nuclear workers ”exhausted and desperate’‘. Fears are growing over nuclear safety atthe Chernobyl nuclear plant as staff remain hostage. Chernobyl’s radiation monitoring system has stopped sending readings to IAEA. What a Power Cutoff Could Mean for Chernobyl’s Nuclear Waste.      The dangers of uncontrolled releases of the vast amounts of radioactivity contained in the Ukrainian reactors and their unprotected fuel stores should not be underestimated. 

EUROPE.. NATO fighters integrate with U.S. nuclear-capable B-52s in Black Sea region . European Union won’t be including nuclear power in its plan to get off Russian gas. European countries report a rush in sales of iodine tablets, in fear of nuclear war. Nuclear option is not the best for transition away from Russian fuels. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) very anxious about Chernobyl nuclear situation. Former Yugoslav FM: U.S., NATO expansion root cause of Ukraine war.    EU military aid to Ukraine to exceed $1 billion.

RUSSIA. Russia prepared to stop war, if Ukraine agrees to conditions, including independence of Donbass areas. Russia’s disinformation machine, (and Trump’s, in USA).    Rosatom’s woes before and beyond the war: implications of Russia’s embattled nuclear industry.

SERBIA. Serbian parliament president: When Hitler entered Ukraine, the U.S. did not declare war. Serbia will not join NATO, will never forget bombing victims – president .

USA The US And Ukraine Have Every Reason To Lie About The War . Ukraine is a sacrificial pawn on the imperial chessboard. USA cheers Ukrainian fighters on, makes sure to keep Americans out of it.

JAPAN. Greenpeace statement on anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear accident. Japan’s power companies move to reduce plutonium stockpiles held overseas. Court rejects bid to suspend nuclear reactors in Takahama. Eleven years on and impact of Fukushima still felt in Japan.  Japan to finish radioactive soil transfer to interim storage site . Fukushima Workers Tell The Harrowing Story Of How They Tamed One Of The World’s Worst Nuclear Disasters.   Fukushima nuclear tragedy hovers over Japan and region 11 years after tsunami and accident.

GERMANY. German government concludes that it is unwise to extend the life of its remaining nuclear power stations.

UK.      UK love-in between Tories and Labour, on wasting billions of pounds on new nuclear reactors. Nuclear threat: Faslane, home to Trident, symbol of humanity’s power and folly.   UK’s Ministry of Defence called out for lobbying MPs on nuclear weapons. Investors keen on renewable energy, while UK govt is trapping consumers into paying upfront for nuclear power plants to be built in a decade or more, Hopes for Bradwell nuclear power station now fading away like the ebbing tide.

  Cumbrian campaigners’ strong opposition to nuclear waste dump in the Lake District. ‘‘Save the Severn Estuary’‘ fights to stop EDF dumping Hinkley Point’s nuclear mud into this Marine Protected Area. 

FRANCE. Macron government considering nationalising France’s debt-laden nuclear company EDF.  

AUSTRALIA. Morrison’s selected sites for nuclear submarine base were not the Defence Dept choices – and opposed by the local towns. Directors net $3.7 million in selling off their Paladin Energy uranium shares, then uranium stocks plummet. Scott Morrison has been urged to act over fears Australian uranium could be used to fuel Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

March 14, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

This week in nuclear news

A bit of nearly good news. On International Women’s Day we can reflect that, in some parts of the world, justice and equality for women continue to improve. Also, the role of women in addressing climate change is becoming apparent – WOMEN LEADING THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE.  In the nuclear-free movement, too, women continue to show their leadership – going on from Dr Rosalie Bertell, Alice Stewart, to Setsuko Thurlow , (pictured above),  Dr Helen Caldicott , Beatrice Fihn, Linda Pentz Gunter  and so many more. Their work has slowed, if not yet stopped, the development of the nuclear horror.

Ralph Nader: Everyone Loses in the Conflict Over Ukraine 

Now Is the Time for a Global Movement Demanding Nuclear De-escalation. Freedom & Democracy Via Censorship. NATO Intervention In Ukraine Could Spark Nuclear War. Here’s How It Could Happen. The US and NATO’s Sacrifice Of Ukraine.

As Russia’s Ukraine war intensifies, some warn nuclear escalation is possible. Russia’s nuclear alert means Nato must tread carefully. Countries Flood Ukraine With Military Support After Zelensky’s Appeal.

Noam Chomsky: US Military Escalation Against Russia Would Have No Victors.  How the U.S. Started a Cold War with Russia and Left Ukraine to Fight It. Calling Russia’s Attack ‘Unprovoked’ Lets USA Off the Hook. Mapping the unthinkable: inside the new nuclear war games. A fatal disconnect? the different narratives of Russia and the West on the Ukraine crisis. Ukraine war – a great opportunity – each new NATO country was a new customer for the weapons industry.

Kevin Rudd on the ‘decisive decade’ between USA and China. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeZBMvyJ9bU

The US and NATO have never been sanctioned for starting wars. Why? — RT World News.

UKRAINE. The situation at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station. ‘Grave concern’ as Ukraine Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant under Russian orders. The Risks of Russian Attacks near Ukraine Nuclear Power Plants. Fire Is Out at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Seized by Russian Forces, Officials Watch for Leaks. Ukraine: Fire breaks out at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. The very perilous situation of Ukraine’s nuclear power stations. Greenpeace analysis of nuclear power plant vulnerability during military conflict – Key Findings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEqpc1b03rs .   New analysis on severe nuclear hazards at Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine– only solution is immediate end to war.    Russian military claims Chernobyl nuclear plant under joint protection with Ukrainian forces. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noFe_iNnAbk.   Setting the record straight on the background to events in Ukraine.     Western govt, media, and public, ignorant about the complex history of Ukraine.

JAPAN. 

Japan’s Supreme Court rules on damages for people whose lives were disrupted by Fukushima nuclear catastrophe.  The Fukushima disaster ruined their lives.   The Fukushima taboo  

 Chain cutting device breaks off this time, and no progress in removing contaminated piping at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant .   TEPCO begins removal of pipes contaminated at the time of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident.

 Radioactive waste stuck at 830 sites with nowhere to go.   Greenpeace says Fukushima dismantling, dumping not credible.   Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Decommissioning: “It is Impossible to Foresee the End Date” says the Nuclear Regulation Commission.  Statement by Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency: 11 Years of Oblivion: An Alarming Abandonment of a Culture of Safety,

FINLAND. Experts: Finnish nuclear project “directly supports Russian nuclear weapon production”.

IRAN. Russia still part of Iran nuclear talks, US hopes for progress, White House says.

UK. British government searching for investors, needs to raise billions of pounds for Sizewell nuclear project.  Coal and Nuclear Interests Linked — RADIATION FREE LAKELAND  LAKELAND

AUSTRALIA.  Australian Security Policy Institute – funded by weapons corporations, and federal govt – drumming up the frenzy for war with China. Australia’s Defence Department silent about its slippery dealings using tax-payers’ money, involving Russian contractors .    While Scott Morrison froths against Putin, Australia rushes to become a top weapons seller to the world.

March 7, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

The week in nuclear news

Some bits of good news (hard to find this week!):

India’s Mass Tree Planting Success: Forest Cover Grows by Half-Million Acres in Two Years
Humpback whales no longer listed as endangered after major recovery.

What can I say ?–  No breakthrough at Ukraine talks as Russian assault continues. Ralph Nader: Everyone Loses in the Conflict Over Ukraine We’re in a new era. Not only is the war situation now so different, with the nuclear threat looming as never before.   But also, the media war has become so very complex and confusing. Social media plays its role –   but increasingly  – much information is crooked, devised to mislead the recipient. Bad enough from Western sources, but Russia has turned this deception into a pervasive mass art.

A rogue journalist ponders on Ukraine situation. Glenn Greenwald: war propaganda about Ukraine becoming more militaristic, authoritarian, and reckless. Blanket anti-Russian propaganda leaves no tolerance for nuanced reporting – media censorship is expanding.

As Russia Seizes Chernobyl Site, Ukraine’s 15 Nuclear Reactors Pose Unprecedented Risk in War Zone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20gVRaQdVmY

Climate impacts should be a regular part of war coverage

UN report on global increase in wildfires due to climate change change.

ANTARCTICA. Antarctica’s pristine snow besmirched with horrid black pollution, scientists say

UKRAINE. Ukraine has 0% of winning, so sending weapons is a pointless exercise, except for the money. U.N. nuclear watchdog to hold emergency meeting on Ukraine. Russian control of Chernobyl may have been aimed against alleged Ukrainian plan to produce nuclear weapons. 

Ukraine’s reactors – largest nuclear complex in Europe – IN DANGER Russian forces now control Chernobyl, inviting speculation and uncertainty. The Most Immediate Nuclear Danger in Ukraine Isn’t Chernobyl. 

Increased radiation levels around Chernobyl probably due to military’s disturbance of soil around exclusion zone.    Radiation levels increased at Chernobyl, after Russian troops seized the area.     

Why nuclear risk from war in Ukraine isn’t missiles but accidental hits on reactors. Putin says that Ukraine is a nuclear threat. Abandoned mines and old Yunkom nuclear test site in Donbas region of Ukraine pose ”singular threat” of radiation contamination.

RUSSIA. Russia President Vladimir Putin puts his nuclear forces on alert.

EUROPE. EU to purchase weapons for Ukraine — live updates, DW.

JAPAN. PM Kishida rules out Japan’s possession of nuclear weapons. Radioactive farm to be leased to wind farm without decontamination. Online Tour by Reconstruction Agency to Consider Decommissioning of TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. 46% of school lunches use ingredients from Fukushima Prefecture, the highest rate since 2010. Miyagi prefectural assembly: “Don’t hand out flyers to schools about treated nuclear water.

UK. The U.K. Wanted to Extradite Assange to the U.S. From the Start. .Britain’s nuclear submarine base at risk from climate change. UK government study shows that nuclear test veterans were more likely to have cancer and die. On shaky ground? Latest EDF planning application casts doubt on suitability of Sizewell site.

USA. Activist groups to rally against plutonium disposal project at Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Doubts about extending the lives of USA’s nuclear reactors as federal regulators halt 80 year extension time for 3 reactors. Vogtle delayed again — $30 billion reactors may never be completed.

FRANCE. Warning on faults in EPR nuclear reactors – Commission de Recherche et d’Information Indépendantes sur la Radioactivité. 12 nuclear power reactors in France shut down, 6 because of corrosion problems. 

Limitless power arriving too late: Why fusion won’t help us decarbonise.French nuclear regulator halts assembly of huge ITER nuclear fusion reactor. France’s nuclear company EDF fined a measly 300 million euros for its decades of deception and misuse of its position. France’s nuclear ”energy independence” is a fake, as it has to import all its uranium fuel. 

BELARUS. Belarus to end its non-nuclear-weapon status.

FINLAND. Finland’s Russian-backed Fennovoima nuclear power station project now coming to a halt.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Drone and missile attacks on UAE’s Barakah nuclear plant.

SOUTH AFRICA. South Africa removes critic of nuclear power from regulatory board.

IRAN. Iran rejects deadline – wants IAEA to drop politically motivated claims in nuclear talks.

AUSTRALIA. How Australian uranium ended up in war-torn Ukraine. Meet Australian Public Affairs, the lobbying firm that pushed the Kimba nuclear waste dump for the Federal Government. 

March 1, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

This week in nuclear news

The news about events in Ukraine is just coming in. Vladimir Putin would have us believe that it is at last the end of the 8 years of war in the two self-proclaimed rebel republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.  But it could be the beginning of something worse.

Russia-Ukraine live updates: United States and UK expected to announce sanctions against Kremlin

Some bits of good news:   Replacing environmental despair with hope and action   ECUADOR’S SUPREME COURT: NATURE WINS OVER MINING  .

The Ukraine Crisis Could Trigger a Nuclear Catastrophe – Tilman Ruff   Media forecasting on Russian invasion is just like religious cult leaders predicting the apocalypse.

Western Democracies Have Mutated Into Propagandists for War and Conflict. Headlines that cause wars.

Antarctica and Greenland’s polar ice shelves are melting from below

Public Opposition to Nuclear Power.

 Terrifying “nuke map” reveals danger zone if nuclear bomb dropped on YOUR city.

The supposed new rise in nuclear power and the uranium business is doubtful!

Reality check: The green inflation myth

Highest Number of Reactor Closures in a Decade.

ANTARCTICA.  Antarctica will likely set a record for lowest sea ice extent this year

  UKRAINE. Russian President Vladimir Putin orders Russian forces to ‘maintain peace’ in eastern Ukraine‘s two breakaway regions. Nuke Power at the Brink of Bankruptcy, War, Apocalypse. Standoff ending, Ukraine and Russia both claim victory? Today’s Crisis Over UkraineUkrainian Pacifists Say US, NATO and Russia Share Responsibility to Avoid War.  ACURA ViewPoint. Ambassador suggested that Ukraine might drop its bid for NATO membership – but he was quickly corrected. UK trained Ukraine military, including a thousand-strong neo-Nazi unit.     Aspects of the Ukraine crisis and some suggested solutions for de-escalation.

JAPAN. 

• I just wanted to live a normal life – Akiko Morimatsu.
•   IAEA ‘will not approve or oppose’ release of treated water from Fukushima plant, ‘responsibility of each country’.  UN to review Japan’s plan to release Fukushima water into Pacific  
•  Where to in 2045? Contaminated Soil from the Nuclear Power Plant Accident: Current Status of Interim Storage Facilities in Fukushima.  11 years after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, residents angered by the retreat from decontamination of the entire area.
•   Legal action on Fukushima nuclear disaster’s impact on health. 
•  . Latest look inside Fukushima ruins show mounds of melted nuclear fuel . Robots used to remove Fukushima’s highly radioactive used nuclear fuel, but they’re still problematic
• . Shadow of Hiroshima” at Fukushima nuclear power plant: Animation depicts history of nuclear power.

UK.

• Plutonium problems won’t go away. Brief summary of Engineering and Technology’s fine article on UK’s plutonium problem.
• Should the Taishan nuclear plant shutdown worry UK regulators?
• Update on the status of Britain’s Rolls Royce Small Nuclear Reactor project. Mini-reactor for Highlands -too “high cost and high risk” says Scottish MP Maree Todd.
• Bradwell nuclear project -dead in the water? – partly due to work of BANNG (Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group).
• Time is running out to save the Severn Estuary. Severn Estuary – internationally significant fish nursery – threatened by Hinkley radioactive mud. Legal challenge to license for EDF to dump radioactive mud in the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary. Super Furry Animals call out alleged nuclear mud dumping at Hinkley Power Station. The case for Saving the Severn Estuary from the dumping of radioactive wastes.
• New report: Nuclear waste’s shifting sands on the lakeland fringe.
• Lord Truscott questioned the idea that a thermonuclear war with Russia would be an ”unwelcome outcome”.
• Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament marks 40th anniversary of Nuclear Free Wales Declaration.  
•    Julian Assange appeals to the Supreme Court.

CANADA. Michigan Senators Oppose Canadian Nuclear Waste Site Near Great Lakes. MPs and groups oppose hearings to license Canada’s first permanent radioactive waste dump. Proposed license for the NSDF includes no enforceable requirements for “waste characterization” — Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area. In-Depth: Dangers of Burying Nuclear Waste.

USA. 

• Damage limitation and US nuclear strategy . Are You Ready for the Big New War? You Damn Well Better Be.
• Nuclear power doesn’t belong in the Green New Deal. ‘Serious problems’ with NuScale’s proposed small nuclear reactors .
• USA’s Department of Energy (DOE) will give $6 Billion in a program to to stop uneconomic nuclear reactors from closing down.
• Beleagured Vogtle nuclear project delayed yet again. 
•  Opposition to Holtec dumping nuclear waste into Cape Cod Bay. 
• Maryland Couple Conspired to Sell Nuclear Secrets. 
• New USA Federal Report Warns of Accelerating Impacts From Sea Level Rise.  

IRAN. Why the Iran nuclear talks have stalled.

ISRAEL. The Iran Nuclear Deal Isn’t a Threat, and Israel Must Find a New Approach.

RUSSIA. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov informs UN chief about Russia’s talks with NATO on security guarantees.

EUROPE. Any missile launch may be perceived as nuclear strike amid tensions. EU greenwashing nuclear power: Short sighted &  counterproductive.  Europe’s nuclear power plants will need investments of EUR 500 Billion, so they need to be labelled ‘green” !   The EU’s ‘green taxonomy’ classification system – no longer fit for purpose, if nuclear and gas are included.

FRANCE . French government to subsidise EDF nuclear power company by another €2.1bn, to prop up its failing share price. French utility EDF will check auxiliary cooling circuits, or RRAs, at its 56 domestic reactors, after faults found. No end in sight as the French nuclear industry reduces its output.

BULGARIA. Nuclear project with Russian reactors shakes Bulgarian politics.

NORTH KOREA. Radiation fears after earthquakes at North Korea nuclear test site.

INDIA. Tamil Nadu people’s lives are more important than Kudankulam nuclear reactors: PMK.  Concern in Tamil Nadu over spent nuclear fuel storage at Kudankulam site .

BELGIUM. ENGIE Doubles Down On Renewables And Reaffirms Closure Of Belgian Nuclear Industry.

GERMANY. How dare Germany oppose USA over nuclear power !

AUSTRALIA.  Early closure of coal plant, battery and renewable developments – all spell the end for nuclear power hopes in Australia . 

February 22, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

UKRAINE Special – the madness continues

It is almost unbelievable that the entire Western media and just about all governments are mindlessly jumping on the war bandwagon again. All that Russia wants is for the West to keep to the 2014 Minsk agreement , and not to be surrounded by hostile NATO and its weaponry.

But no – Biden’s USA is intransigent, and all the lackey nations just fall into line, (including my own, Australia). ”National Security” – my foot! Russia is not threatening any of them.

Haven’t they learned?

There was Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya – all unmitigated disasters, all unnecessary – and now the sheep are going in for fleecing again!

And fleecing it is. Ukraine and everybody else is buying not only the story, but more importantly the weaponry from multinational weapons corporations led of course by the USA. (Probably Russia and China’s equivalent macho men love weaponry, too)

When do we all wake up? The USA government is in the grip of the military-industrial-complex. Remember – the Pentagon brass, the weapons executives and big shareholders are NRB (Not Real Bright), and don’t quite grasp that even they themselves are not immune from the effects of war.

February 19, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

Nuclear news- week to 15 February

Some bits of good news:      The green bucket list When you’re immersed in environmental science and environmental politics, it’s sometimes hard to step back and measure progress. Here are a few gains and victories to charge your batteries .

The stunning recovery of a heavily polluted river in the heart of the Blue Mountains World Heritage area.

Nuclear.   Ukraine dominated the news. The map above might help to explain why Russia really doesn’t need another NATO base on its doorstep.

Coronavirus:  COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 14 February

Climate.   Adapting to climate change ‘happening worldwide’, essential. Fixing the Climate: Hopes and Hazards.

Today’s Crisis Over Ukraine.

Ukraine Special – 11 February 22

Conflict resolution – the positive way out of the Ukraine crisis. USA does not have to march into war with Russia over Ukraine. It can choose to keep to the Minsk-Normandy process. Amid Ukraine Tension, US Deploys Nuclear-Ready B-52 Bombers to UK.

Comfortably numb . CounterVortex Episode 110: Nuclear power? No thanks! .

Oceans are better at storing carbon than trees. In a warmer future, ocean carbon sinks could help stabilise our planet

JAPAN. Kenichi Hasegawa, former dairy farmer who continued to tell the truth about the nuclear accident in Fukushima, passes away. PCB waste treatment plan in Fukushima: “Insufficient explanation” and opposition from many people. Robot photos appear to show melted fuel at Fukushima reactor. Zero Contaminated Water” and “Dismantling of Reactor Buildings” Missing from the Plan: The Final Form of Decommissioning the TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

RUSSIA.   The goal of Russia is to destroy NATO by exposing its impotence.   Russian Congress of Intellectuals: An Open Letter to the Russian Leadership.

UKRAINE. In Ukraine, USA to finance American companies to sell nuclear technology there, and to other States. USA’s plan – far right Ukrainian militia to attack Russia-speaking Donbass Region – drawing Russian support – USA then to claim Russia aggression.

CANADA. Canadian First Nations do not want small nuclear reactors on their lands.
INDIA. India’s Nuclear Weapons Could Kill Millions Of People- a matter of pride?

UK 

• UK spends over £80m on media in 20 countries around Russia. 
• What to do with dead nuclear submarines? 
• Hinkley nuclear mud.  Judicial review on the dumping of Hinkley Point C radioactive mud. 
• Local Councils are signing up to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. 
• Government approval for Bradwell B project does not really give a green light for nuclear reactors to be built. 
• BBC Cons the Public with Reports of “Sadness as Somerset nuclear power station nears closure” Tell us the Truth. The radioactive 
• ‘Cumbrian mud patch’ would be shaken up by a coal mine at the Sellafield site. 
• Fusion delusion – unsafe, too uncertain, too expensive, and too late – even if it worked.

EUROPE. European dispute over the Taxonomy plan to class nuclear power as ”green”, qualifying it for billions of euros in subsidies. Hugely costly venture – nuclear fusion – now going private – but success is as elusive as ever.

FRANCE.    Macron pledged to close down over a dozen nuclear plants, but now he’s done a U-turn . Macron goes for a new nuclear renaissance, despite the industry’s woes in France.    President Macron assures France’s EDF of tens of billions of euros in public financing for new nuclear reactors. Macron promises 52 billion euros for 6 new EPR nuclear reactors – but this ”nuclear renaissance” is far from certain. As presidential elections approach in France, only the far right and communists support nuclear power. 

French government suppressed, postponed, distributing report that recommended no new EPR nuclear reactors. EDF predicts more cuts in nuclear output, as repairs needed for defects in reactors.

USA. 

• The RAND Corporation’s plan for regime change in Moscow. 
• Environmental Working Group (EWG) urges Biden to reject ‘outrageous’ call for more nuclear power subsidies in clean energy agenda. 
• Ahead of regulatory approval the US Dept of Energy wants Govt to grant $4 billion for Small Nuclear Reactors development. 
• Safety concerns as counterfeit parts found in U.S, nuclear reactors. 
• Entergy nuclear plant accused of overcharging ratepayers – customers could now get $millions on refunds. 
• Temporary spent nuclear fuel storage isn’t temporary. South Carolina Bill to compensate the region for federal govt’s failure to clean up plutonium contamination. 
• Space rocket with NASA satellites launched, but now lost in space.

SWEDEN. Reactor at Oskarshamn 3 nuclear power plant in Sweden shut down due to ‘fuel damage.   Sweden takes a chance on Forsmark.

SLOVAKIA. Slovak government plans to tax nuclear power plants, owners threaten bankruptcy.

ASIA. EU plan to call nuclear power ”green”, but for Asia, nuclear’s outlook is poor. 

CHINA. As China tackles plastic pollution at home, it feeds the scourge globally

PHILIPPINES. The case against coal, other fossil fuels and nuclear power.

AUSTRALIA.   Practical considerations may hamper Australia’s path to nuclear submarines.

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

Ukraine Special – 11 February 22

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We might have been better off under Donald Trump? A heretical thought – I admit. But at least Trump had an idea of his own (even if it was only about his own glory and money).

Joe Biden, the Democrats, the Republicans are so beholden to the military industries, that they have no option but to pursue the ”Hate Russia” doctrine – even to the point of national and global suicide? Will there be a Stanislove Petrov around as in 1983, to refuse to fire a nuclear missile, – the next time some mistake or misinterpretation happens?

The USA just HAS to surround Russia with weaponry through its puppet organisation NATO?

Things have changed. Nuclear weapons, even nuclear power plants, (especially in Ukraine) have become omnicidal time bombs. The ”Hate Russia” philiosophy, going for over 100 years – (and soon if we survive this one, also the ”Hate China” philosophy), will have to change – the human race needs an alternative to the lucrative road to omnicide

February 11, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear news this week- (too long: pick out bits)

Some bits of good news. Not much of it about. But I did find, in nuclear history, a story that can give some hope. From 2000 to 2012, 47 nations co-operated, in a clean-up, led by Kazakhstan, Russia and USA, of ”Plutonium Mountain” – showing that it is possible for countries to work together, to heal this wounded world.  Small island communities – pioneers for sustainability and climate action.  Renewable energy: The past decade has seen stunning change. Australia -the next 10 years will be breathtaking.  

Coronavirus. In the USA  case numbers are dropping. In other countries mounting numbers are breaking records

Climate change.  Fixing the Climate: Hopes and Hazards.

 
UK court should slap down the US Justice Department in the Assange case.

Claims Over Broken Promises About NATO Simmer at the Heart of the Ukraine Crisis.

Can Space Tourism Co-exist with Space being turned into a War Zone?

The nuclear future and the dread factor. Time to start stopping the wars: No war in Ukraine, then no war anywhere. How giving AI bots control over nuclear weapons could spark World War III.

Electromagnetic radiation, said by telecom companies to be harmless, could be hurting wildlife..

UKRAINE. Stop the lies about Ukraine. Claims Over Broken Promises About NATO Simmer at the Heart of the Ukraine Crisis. Lake animals near Chernobyl have mutations.

FRANCE. The nuclear power dilemma: where to put the lethal waste. Cracks found in Civaux nuclear reactors, both 1 and 2. French nuclear capacity low in February, need for vigilance remains .

EUROPE. 

THE ILLEGALITY OF NATO    

The European Commission declares nuclear power to be green, but the devil is in the detail. Inclusion of nuclear and gas is ”attempted robbery”. European Taxonomy – more like Fakeonomy – now including coal and nuclear. Despite scientific objections, the European Commission sticks to its draft plan to include nuclear and gas in “taxonomy for sustainable finance”. Austria, Luxembourg to take green label for nuclear and gas to EU courts. ‘Nuclear is neither green nor sustainable” – Austria to sue European Commission if it approves nuclear power for financial incentives.

FINLAND. Electricity production at the new Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor in southwest Finland has been hit by yet further delays.

UK. Wastes  A big pile of Plutonium – UK reprocessing ceases, leaving deadly waste and no plan. Community Partnership” alerted to surveillance and “intimidation” by Radioactive Waste Management . The Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) of the UK and Ireland call for truly green energy on old nuclear sites. Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) of the UK and Ireland call for clear commitment to employ LOCAL nuclear decommissioning workers. Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) demands deadly plutonium stockpile be placed ‘out of use’ BBC Inside Science Nuclear Waste Podcast Kicks Off With a Big Fat Lie – Fact Check!?

 Predictions of technical problems for Hinkley nuclear design turn out to be well founded.Sizewell C nuclear project issues have been glossed over. Sizewell nuclear developers co-opting Suffolk New College. UK close to opening coal mine under Marine Conservation Zone just 5 miles from Sellafield nuclear facility!

USA.US created Ukraine mess, now it must repair Russia relationship. Even the right-wing Cato Institute wants USA to deal with Ukraine crisis by diplomacy, not weaponry.America’s military leaders reassure their staff ”We will win a nuclear war!” Raytheon and Lockheed Martin boast to investors that Ukraine-Russia crisis is a boon for their business

. Chomsky: US Approach to Ukraine and Russia Has “Left the Domain of Rational Discourse” . As Ukraine Crisis Raises Specter of Nuclear War

 Veterans Call for Disarmament and Peace. 

• Nuclear baloney in today’s media. US DOE announces clean-up progress at Savannah River Site. 
• Terra Power chose Wyoming because it is an oligarch and dictator’s paradise.  
• Nuclear weapons plutonium pits developmnt planned for Los Alamos National Laboratory, but there’s strong opposition on safety grounds. 
• Nuclear power: CO2 fix or cost disaster? 
• COVID-19 an obstacle for nuclear waste disposal at Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, officials say. 
•  Cornell University Library launches online Nuclear Freeze documents. 
•  Give Nuclear Exposure Victims a Break. Indigenous support for Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium. Shoshone Nation need radiation exposure compensation. In 2022, compensation funds for the nuclear-affected ”Downwinders” are due to expire. 
•  UK preparing for ‘exo-atmospheric nuclear attack’ as greatest threat in space war, government report warns.
• New Mexico’s Bill to stop the State becoming a ‘sacrifice zone’ for nuclear wastes. Bill To Ban Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage In New Mexico Passes House Committee. In New Mexico, two Bills to block the storage of high level nuclear waste. Decommissioning is just the beginning of the huge nuclear legacy problem. Bill to help build small nuclear reactors in Indiana passes Senate. 
•   Increased risk of flooding due to population increase and global heating ,

terans Call for Disarmament and Peace. 

NORTH KOREA. North Korea, Perpetual Victim of the US Military-Industrial Complex. North Korea isn’t going to give up nuclear weapons, but that’s not a crisis.

RUSSIA. Russia calls for USA to remove its nuclear weapons from European countries.

JAPAN. Japan to renew subsidies for plutonium nuclear recycling . After the hibakusha: the future of Japan’s anti-nuclear movement. 

Fukushima.  Doubts grow on water-release schedule at Fukushima plant. Japan’s Bid to Dump Tons of Radioactive Water From Fukushima Into Sea Hits Snag. I couldn’t tell anyone for 10 years, Kishida says statement by five former prime ministers ‘inappropriate’:. Thyroid cancer caused by Fukushima nuclear accident. A Step Toward Fuel Debris Removal: Robotic Arm Arrives at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant “debris” storage method to be reconsidered – Chairman of the Regulatory Commission, Mr. Sarada. Homesick. Russia, China concerned over Japan’s plans to dump Fukushima radioactive water.    

IRAN. Iran says nuclear talks have made ‘significant’ headway. US Grants Sanctions Relief To Iran,Inches Closer To Nuclear Deal Renewal. A nuclear end game as 2 stubborn nations dig in . Movie on assassination of nuclear scientist Dariush Rezainejad premieres at FajrCulture.

SOUTH AFRICA. Fight Over Africa’s Sole Atomic Plant Entangles Energy Minister Mantashe.

ISRAEL. Israel Simulated Attack On Iran’s Nuclear Facilities In Recent Drills.

RUSSIA. Russia, China call on nuclear powers to abandon Cold War mentality.

KAZAKHSTAN. Kazakhstan calls on CANWFZ states parties to join Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons 

AUSTRALIA. The coming Khaki election: will Labor join in the belligerence against China?   Nuclear waste dumping.  Channel 10’s ”The Project” had the guts to show Australia the Kimba nuclear waste dump story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGwsbGufXc0 

February 7, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

Nuclear news – to wind up January 22

The Ukraine crisis drags on – no American soldiers will be fighting, but American weapons companies making great sales.  Here’s hoping that in the event of war, nobody will strike Ukraines’s nuclear reactors  – each of them in them in themselves a sitting nuclear bomb.

Some bits of good news : Chinese Method For Growing Veggies Year-Round in Frigid Canada Really Works–And Has No Heating Costs.    South Australia Smashes Renewable Record Using 100% Solar And Wind For Full WeekSolar Power Will Account for Nearly Half of New U.S. Electric Generating Capacity in 2022

CoronavirusLPandemic or endemic: Where is COVID heading next?
Climate, Hot Oceans & Escaping Consumerism

The rulers of the great powers are playing with fire. Voices for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons .   The threat of nuclear winter hangs over our warming planet. 

 Swapping one dangerous fossil fuel technology for another dangerous nuclear technology is NOT progress.  Former nuclear regulators say that nuclear power is not a feasible option for tackling the climate crisis.

Russia proposes US returns American nuclear weapons from NATO countries close to Russia. U.S. and Russian Threats Over Ukraine—What They’re About .

US and British governments are effectively using “lawfare” to ensure Assange’s continued detention. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2KuzriLnaU UK High Court gives very little chance for Julian Assange.

Rockets Destroy Ozone and Cause Climate Change – Aerospace Programs’ Deadly Impacts to the Earth.

Scientists say no to Solar Geoengineering . 

Nuclear incidents and meltdowns – far more than we realised. ‘We have to stop believing the nuclear hype’ , former chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and other leaders.  Busting the nuclear propaganda about Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors (LFTR).

UKRAINE. Full scale war in Ukraine? With its 15 nuclear reactors – no more Ukraine, no more Europe. Increased mutations in animals affected by Chernobyl radiation. “Nuclear warfare without bombs”.
JAPAN.Japan needs a realistic debate instead of new push for fast nuclear reactors. Momentum building for nuclear ban treaty, with hopes that Japan will participate.
Fukushima.Leakage of coolant water from ice wall around crippled Fukushima nuclear power station. Can reactor fuel debris be safely removed from Fukushima Daiichi? Fukushima nuclear radiation has had strange effects on plants and trees. The more radiation, the weirder Fukushima’s fir trees became. Father continues to suffer in court over Fukushima nuclear accident: “I exposed my son to radiation.

USA, 

•  ”All options on the table”to punish Moscow –could bring about a nuclear conflict.   Democrats urge Biden to keep pledge to limit nuclear weapons. Anniversary Of The Night Nuclear Bombs Fell Near Goldsboro.  Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile.    
• Montana communities have better options than nuclear power. Leaders say nuclear will save Kemmerer. Residents aren’t convinced. West Virginia public weighs in on nuclear power plant prohibition repeal . 
•   Another case of the nuclear industry bribing a university.    
•   Forensic experts are working to recover texts deleted by ex-FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones after he was fired. Lawsuit looks to force nuclear regulator to turn over records from San Onofre ‘near-miss’ incident. 
•   Nuclear-Testing ‘Downwinders’ Speak about History and Fear.
• Nuclear waste storage in New Mexico would be blocked if Senate, House bill pass Legislature.
•  Elon Musk SpaceX rocket on collision course with moon. 

CANADA. NB POWER seeks unprecedented 25-year licence for Point Lepreau nuclear power station.   Unease in Ontario about planned nuclear waste dump (nobody suggests that they stop making this trash?) Canada’s nuclear waste body ousted liaison officer for being ‘too much on the side of the community,’ lawsuit claims. 
 Chief Hugh Akagi will present the case against having a CANDU-6 nuclear reactor on Peskotomuhkati land. NB Power and New Brunswick government gamble on untested, non existent ”small” nuclear reactors (SMRs). 
Canada’s state broadcaster CBC peddles lies and slanders about jailed journalist Julian Assange.

UK. 

•  What’s plan B if the government can’t attract investors willing to fund Sizewell C? Sizewell C nuclear project– subsidised construction, subsidised power generation, subsidised waste management, subsidised company. Sizewell C nuclear plant will have catastrophic effects on nature, and the Minsmere nature reserve. UK’s Green Party opposes £100 million government bailout for Sizewell C nuclear project.    Nuclear power – a burden that will only slow the energy transition – UK Greens 
• Tight timetable for the Rolls Royce-led conglomeration to ever get their small nuclear reactors built. Local MP has vision for a non-nuclear future for Hunterston.  
• The escalating costs of decommissioning UK’s nuclear reactors pose a warning about new nuclear reactors. Decommissioning of the AGR nuclear power stations: National Audit Office UK. 
• Anti-radiation pills handed out in case of nuclear emergency at BAE Systems
•  Map shows the horrible impact a nuclear bomb would have on Coventry.

SWEDEN. Swedish government to decide on construction of nuclear waste dump. Sweden approves plan to bury spent nuclear fuel for 100000 years. The Swedish government allows the nuclear industry to build https://www.mkg.se/en/the-swedish-government-allows-the-nuclear-industry-to-build-an-unsafe-repository-for-spent-nuclear   an unsafe repository for spent nuclear fuel.

FRANCE.  Marine Le Pen has pro nuclear, anti-renewables policy for the coming election.   Striking workers reduced France’s nuclear power generation by 2.2gigawatts (GW). France’s far-rightEUROPE.Debate flares in Amiens over the attempt to include nuclear in the ”green taxonomy”. Europe must get serious about energy conservation.

ITALY. Nuclear not competitive’ and too late for energy transition: Enel Green Power CEO..

IRELAND. “Ireland must take firm stance against greenwashing of EU Taxonomy” – Member of European Parliament.PACIFIC ISLANDS. What’s the situation of Bikini atoll and its people now?

IRAN. Iran ‘will consider’ direct talks with US, says foreign minister. Nuclear deal unlikely unless Iran releases US prisoners: Report. Iran nuclear negotiations reaching final stage. MOST of Iran’s nuclear facilities are vulnerable to devastating drone attacks.

ISRAEL. Shadowy battle – Israel’s attacks on Iran’s facilities and personnel.

GERMANY. Germany’s dramatic departure from the nuclear industry. Other European States follow.

CHINA. China now well and truly the world leader in offshore wind.

RUSSIA. Russia’s nuclear powered container ship is sailing into thick ice. NATO practices nuclear missile sorties near borders of the Russia-Belarus Union.NORTH KOREA. Nuclear-armed North Korea tests long range missile.        

AUSTRALIA. Massive flooding in Kimba district, – the Agricultural (no it’s now the Nuclear Waste) Town of the Year. Serious doubts that the Australian government has a plan for nuclear waste dump vulnerable to flooding. Kimba flooding: Australian government must immediately abort nuclear waste dump project.

January 31, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

To 24 January – the week in nuclear news

Readers of this news summary seem to like the ”Bits of good news” – so I think I’ll put them at the top:  Meet the scientist moms fighting climate change for their children,  . Transition to genuinely clean energy has succeeded in many cases, including economically.When it rains, it soars: Wetland birds come back from the brink 

Coronavirus: What’s happening in Canada and around the world

Climate Change. What will the climate be like in the year 2500? Provocative new science.

Nuclear.  Ukraine is the urgent news this week-   it’s not nuclear news? – well, I certainly hope that is the case.  France is the country of most interest this week, as Emmanuel Macron tries to hold it all together. In the lead-up to the presidential election, Macron must convince everyone of a positive future for the nuclear industry, despite its multiple problems.

Common Security Approaches to Resolve the Ukraine and European Crises.

Washington pumping up war fever .

January 22 -one year since nuclear weapons became illegal. U.N. Treaty on the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons – in force one year. Doomsday clock stays at 100 seconds to midnight. Doomsday Clock continues to hover dangerously.

Nuclear energy too costly for humans — and the planet .

2021 was one of the hottest years on record – and it could also be the coldest we’ll ever see again .     Research shows planning for climate change will save billions

Changing from a consumer economy to a conserver economy – painful but necessary.

Chemical pollution has passed safe limit for humanity, say scientists.      Nanoplastic pollution found at both of Earth’s poles for first time    

NATO to apply Article 5 collective war clause to outer space.

ANTARCTICA. Giant canyon discovered underneath Antarctic glacier, adding to history of rising sea levels.     World’s largest iceberg melted – now one trillion tonnes of ice – gone

UKRAINE. What the heck is going on with Ukraine? Ukraine crisis is a terrifying impasse. 200,000 pounds of lethal arms and ammunition, “directed by Biden,” arrive in Ukraine.

JAPAN. Call for Japan to join nuclear ban treaty on first anniversary.    Robot for removing nuclear fuel debris at Fukushima Daiichi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyJ_Or6Vzdw&t=5s        Six people to sue Tepco over thyroid cancer after Fukushima disaster. Class action suit against Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (TEPCO) by 6 thyroid cancer sufferers.

EUROPE. Redesigning nuclear arms control for new realities. Why nuclear power can never be green. European States opposing inclusion of nuclear in ‘green’ taxonomy warn on diverting investement from genuinely clean technologies. Europe’s nuclear waste remains an unsolved and highly dangerous problem – EU Assessment Report.       ITER nuclear fusion – a spectacular waste of time, money, and political clout.

GERMANY. Germany formally opposes inclusion of nuclear energy in EU’s ”sustainable” taxonomy.

AUSTRIA. Austria preparing for a legal battle to prevent EU from calling nuclear power ‘sustainable’.

SWEDEN. Having sat out first two world wars, NATOzied Sweden gearing up for third . Drones sighted over Sweden’s nuclear power stations.

SWITZERLAND. Swiss reactor meltdown.

CANADA. Holding in the deep: what Canada wants to do with its decades-long pile-up of nuclear waste. New radioactive waste plan poses ‘Milennia of Risk” for Ottawa River communities.

ISRAEL. Nuclear Notebook: Israeli nuclear weapons, 2021.

USA. 

• UKRAINE CRISIS: US ‘Toolboxes’ Are Empty, Hypocritical Scolding Won’t Stop a Russian War on Ukraine.
•  Missouri Bill to honour nuclear veterans. King’s voice thundered: “It costs $500,000 to kill every enemy soldier while we spend only $53 a year for every poor person. Nuclear weapons must be relegated to the past – Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Nuclear weapons standout calls for US commitment to UN treaty. 
•  On Cape Cod, a nuclear nightmare arrives. Officials at San Onofre conspicuously silent on the risks of tsunami waves to nuclear waste storage. In Georgia   Could Plutonium Shipping in New Mexico Lead to Disaster?  
• Bloated Costs Take Over a Nuclear Power Plant and a Fight Looms Over Who Pays.  

FRANCE. 

• How France greenwashes nuclear weapons. 
• France’s nuclear company EDF accused of cover-ups over ‘serious and unexpected’ corrosion on Tricastin and other reactors. Electricite de France has become a nightmare for investors, and a danger to regional energy security. EDF’s costly EPR nuclear reactor failures – in France, UK, China. Contradictory demands on EDF 
• Does the Flamanville EPR nuclear reactor have a design fault? Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) warns France on problems, costs, safety in nuclear projects. Design flaws in Flamanville EPR nuclear reactor vessel, and attempts to solve these. The tribulations of France’s Flamanville nuclear reactor. 
• Difficulties at Orano nuclear elements site adds to France’s nuclear woes. 
• France’s Nuclear Safety Authority considers abandoning the reprocessing of nuclear waste. France’s nuclear regulator warns on the ”security fragility” of both the reactors, and the reprocessing system. France’s nuclear waste problem, and the lack of transparency on military wastes.

UK. 

• Mayors for Peace UK / Ireland Chapter and NFLA celebrates first nuclear weapons ‘banniversary’. 
• Anglesey does not need nuclear energy – Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA).  
•   Small nuclear reactors a poor solution for UK’s and the world’s climate action. Small nuclear reactors for Scotland? Expensive, unpopular, and not even small. 

• Largest increase in the UK nuclear liability regime for 50 years. 
• Row over plans to reform groups at nuclear sites.  
• Anti-radiation pills given out to residents, nurseries, schools, care homes and clinics near UK’s nuclear submarine ports. The production, servicing and berthing of nuclear-powered submarines in or near population centres present unacceptable health risks. 
• Rolls Royce aims to market its Small Nuclear Reactors to Saudi Arabia (a good step towards nuclear weapons?) 
• 13 wards in Cumbria recommended against their will, for UK’s nuclear waste dump. Hinkley Point mud dredging and dumping plan faces a legal challenge.

CHINA. China hits back at US, Japan over nuclear transparency call.

RUSSIA. Stranded in Vladivostok: KIMO International and NFLA express concern at mysterious plight of Russian nuclear-powered freighter. Just a reminder. Russia did not INVADE Crimea.

ASIA. EU plans may boost Asian nuclear ambitions but progress likely to stutter, say analysts. (journalist)

AUSTRALIA. A mutual suicide pact: Australia’s undeclared nuclear weapons strategy. Australia-UK talks – all about nuclear submarines and military co-operation against China. 

January 24, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

This week in nuclear news

The undersea volcano near Tonga is bad enough. But one wonders what would be the effect of disrupting nuclear wastes undersea, whether they  be from atomic bomb testing, or from the dumping of nuclear trash.

Coronavirus.  It’s not that I have given up on studying this: it’s just that the news, and changes, come thick and fast, and we all live in uncertainty.

Climate change. It’s all happening. Keep up with the latest at Radio Ecoshock – Arctic Will Change Your Life. Nitrous Oxide, Sea Ice, & Western Fires.

Nuclear. This week,  Ukraine stalemate, and the same old issues drag on – Europe’s struggle to depict nuclear as ”green”, UK’s struggle to finance the nuclear industry, France’s struggle with old, (and some cracking) reactors. And Fukushima’s crisis springs eternal.

Some bits of good news. By the way, – biggest response ever this newsletter has received on any subject –   about the butterfly story last week!   Some wins for the planet in 2021.  Nice stories about animals – including several ”non-extinctions”.   Beavers Saved From Euthanasia Transform and Replenish Rivers in the Utah Desert.

Is US extradition inevitable for Julian Assange? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aw4Yz0Va1c

In 2022, nuclear power’s future looks grimmer than ever.   Nuclear: economically unsustainable, inherently dangerous and absolutely unfeasible as a solution to climate change.      A hopeless pursuit? National efforts to promote small modular nuclear reactors and revive nuclear power. Small modular reactors (SMRs) offer no hope for nuclear energy.

Climate change crisis ranked as the biggest threat facing the global economy ahead of wars and pandemics. The environmental impact of emissions from space launches: a comprehensive review .

The Guardian view on The Green Planet: verdant and necessary

We study ocean temperatures. The Earth just broke a heat increase record.

Global heating linked to early birth and damage to babies’ health, scientists find

Stoltenberg: NATO ready for war in Europe.

Horrors of Hiroshima, a reminder nuclear weapons remain global threat.

ARCTIC. Climate change destroying homes across the Arctic. Fieldwork in the High Arctic found cataclysmic impact of climate change happening 70 years ahead of what the scientific models expected.

UKRAINE. The media downplays Ukraine’s ties to Nazism, as they promote weapons sales, and war against Russia.  This is how I feel about the Ukraine crisis.

UK.

• UK’s Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill passes in House of Commons. UK’s Nuclear Financing Bill – very strange logic – with £40 billion to £60 billion for a new nuclear power station seen as a good thing. ‘Nuclear obsession’: Tory bill to let firms charge customers to build plants. Scotland’s electricity consumers will pay up for UK’s Hinkley nuclear plant, though it’s not even built. Regulated Asset Base – UK’s nuclear tax on electricity consumers – supposed to attract foreign investment. Labour tries to curb cost overruns from Sizewell C development 
• Cracked’ nuclear power station retired.  EDF’s Advanced Gas Cooled (AGRs) reactors should be shut, as they are vulnerable to cracking. 
•  Just the bare 144 years of above-ground storage for UK’s Chapelcross Intermediate Level Nuclear Waste. Factoring in the full cost of the radioactive wastes, the price to pay for nuclear power is astronomic. 
•  You thought Rolls Royce’s Small Nuclear Reactors would be for electricity on Earth? 
•   Scots plan to celebrate anniversary of Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW)
• The desperate nuclear industry now looks to get its claws into electric cars.

JAPAN.  Fukushima Takes a Turn for the Worse . Survey at Fukushima No. 1 reactor container halted.   Severely damaged fuel at Fukushima No 1 reactor – survey to find this has been halted.   Robotic failure: “We don’t know the cause, and the outlook is unclear…” High barrier to internal investigation of high radiation dose at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1.     Japan to join with NuScale, Bill Gates’ TerraPower, to develop plutonium fast reactors and small nuclear reactors.

FRANCE. 

•  Ho hum – Flamanville nuclear power project delayed again. France’s new-generation nuclear plant delayed again. 
•  Claim that EDF contract for nuclear emergency generators was rigged. 
• Drop in EDF’s 2022 production target due to nuclear outages because of cracks. 10 out of 56 French nuclear reactors are currently shut down.
•  A fifth French nuclear reactor affected by corrosion in safety system. Greenpeace France calls for a halt to Flamanville EPR nuclear project, to assess viability of EPR reactors. Commission for Independent Research and Information on Radioactivity (CRIIRAD) wants transparency on the safety of EPR nuclear reactor design. Cracks on safety-critical pipes in France’s nuclear reactors.
•    President Macron’s plan for electricity price cut could cost EDF €8 billion. Big fall in EDF’s shares. Why Emmanuel Macron is slow to clarify his nuclear promises. France’s nuclear company EDF in trouble, and with election looming.

NORWAY. Norway Activists Protest After Docking Of US Nuclear Submarine In Tromso: Reports.

USA.

• Joe Manchin and Big Coal are destroying the planet Jeff Goodell. 
•   Sydney Poitier film ”The Bedford Incident” was based on true nuclear war near misses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA-rgKBq7Ss
•   Rogue nuclear regulator/former NRC chair Jaczko spills the nuclear beans on Fukushima, reactor “safety,” nuclear politics.  
• The US and China Could Soon Be In Race For Nuclear-Powered Satellites.
• Biden is urged to eliminate land-based nuclear missiles, as US policy is revised.    Biden team weighs killing Trump’s new nuclear weapons. To Avert ‘Global Nuclear Holocaust,’    US Groups Demand Abolition of ICBMs       Can Santa Fe survive as a nuclear weapons suburb?
• Legal case over compensation for workers in ”uniquely dangerous” nuclear sites.   Texas ‘downwinders’ should be eligible for nuclear radiation compensation, advocates say.
•  Claims of strange unidentified craft flying over top secret US Air Force base.

SOUTH KOREA. Why joint US-South Korean research on plutonium separation raises nuclear proliferation danger .

IRAN. Former Israeli premier says notion of destroying Iran’s nuclear capabilities mere ‘nonsense’.

EUROPE. The science-based case for excluding nuclear power from the EU taxonomy. EU delays deadline on green investment rules for nuclear and gas. The detail in the European Commission’s draft for ”sustainable nuclear energy” makes nuclear energy unfeasible – even the nuke lobby hates it!  Downright absurd to classify a technology with the potential danger of nuclear power plants as green and sustainable. The European Union will need to invest 500 billion euros ($568 billion) in new generation nuclear power stations! The European Association for Renewable Energie Eurosolar rejects inclusion of nuclear and natural in the EU taxonomy.

RUSSIA. Russia finds worrisome NATO’s wish to lower nuclear threshold — diplomat.

MIDDLE EAST. Nuclear war is a genuine threat, so why have non-proliferation efforts stalled?  

CANADA. What motivates Canadian province Premiers to enthuse about costly, probably useless, Small Nuclear Reactors?

GERMANY. Germany to stick to its guns on phasing out nuclear and coal energy . Germany’s admirable record in promoting renewable energy, as it leaves nuclear behind.

FINLAND. No plans for new nuclear , and Fennovoima project hampered by the Ukraine crisis.

LUXEMBOURG.. Luxembourg’s Energy Minister denounces France’s actions on promoting nuclear to Europe.

SWEDEN. Large drone observed over Forsmark nuclear station . Police hunt for drone seen flying over Forsmark nuclear station.  

AUSTRALIA.  AUKUS an unwelcome guest at the table of nuclear disarmament.  In Western Australia, first Cameco’s Kintyre uranium project was disallowed, now Toro’s uranium project also rejected. 

January 17, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment