nuclear-news

Nuclear news for the first week of 2021

“News” is by its nature , all about the bad stuff, while the majority of people, trying to live a decent, co-operative, life, are not reported. No surprise the, that 2020 news has been all about the bad stuff.

And bad it has been, and still is, with world-wide coronavirus cases heading to 90 million, and economic disruption resulting from the situation. At the same time, global heating moves on inexorably, with polar ice melting changing the world ecosystem.

The pandemic and global heating have been, still are, the defining problems of our time.  BUT, the nuclear danger is equally important, and it is the one that could be addressed, if the deceptive propaganda of the nuclear industry were to be countered. The industry has done a great job of keeping its issues out of the public eye, with its subtle theme that only technical experts can have an opinion.

That’s why, reluctantly, I decided to concentrate on nuclear issues, and leave those other critical topics to the media.

This month is especially important, with the coming into force of the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, on January 22.  There will be voices rubbishing this Treaty. But it complements existing agreements, and most significantly it will make nuclear weapons look, (like chemical and biological ones), unacceptable and immoral as well as illegal 

Some bits of good news  -Amid 2020’s gloom, there are reasons to be hopeful about the climate in 2021.

What went right in 2020:  some big wins for the environment, society and culture, human rights, even health.

Legal case on extradition of Julian Assange is an alarming precedent for freedom of speech.

Pandemic, climate, nuclear weapons – lessons for survival in 2021.This is the sort of letter that citizens need to be writing – in support of the nuclear weapons ban.

Mary Olson on the 6 mentors who guided her on gender and radiation study.

The Nuclear Industry’s Really Bad Safety Analysis.

How the USA and Soviet Union planned to use nuclear radiation as a weapon.

Get ready for a 2021 barrage of pro nuclear spin, from a desperate industry.

JAPAN. Fukushima nuclear clean-up hugely affected by discovery of lethal radiation levels.   Tokyo Olympics Impossible.  Never give up! 95 year old Hibakusha welcomes the UN nuclear ban treaty.  In March 2011 Japan’s government considered evacuating the then Emperor Akihito further away from Fukushima.

USA.

• Donald Trump left a hawkish nuclear weapons mess, but  Joe Biden can make a lot of improvements, on his own.  USA show of force -flying nuclear bombers over Iran.  Joe Biden reported to be considering cuts to America’s $1.2trillion nuclear modernization program.

Plowshare anti nuclear-weapons activists again face prison . Joe Biden must end the cover-up of, and the huge money to, Israel’s nuclear weapons.  Nuclear Command and Control: Session 3 of the Congressional Study Group.  LGBTQ Activists Jump Into the Atlantic to upport Treaty banning nuclear weapons.  Biden Wants US Back in Iran Nuclear Deal (Video).

Doubtful that aging Los Alamos National Laboratory could safely produce plutonium triggers, no matter how much funding it gets.

•   Avril Haines is unfit for Director of National Intelligence, with her history of coverup of tortures.
• Never mind health spending: USA aims to be Topp in Space Race.
• Ohio Supreme Court stops collection of nuclear plant subsidy.
• Hanford’s dangerous collection of nuclear waste sites, including 177 underground leaky tanks.  USA is not facing up to the climate threats to its nuclear wastes.
• Extending the operating licences on nuclear reactors to 60, 80, 100 years – a recipe for disaster.
• The Shoshone Nation’s battle against nuclear racism and trespassers on indigenous land.
• Non violent anti-nuclear action – the Clamshell Alliance model for success.

UK. 

• Brexit: UK and Euratom have signed a Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (NCA).
• Scotland wants no part in the Tories’ latest nuclear energy folly.
• In so many ways, Sizewell C nuclear plan is a bad deal for Britain, and especially for climate action.  Cover-up! how consumers will be forced to pay for cost-overruns for Sizewell C nuclear construction.  Sisters, aged 9 and 11, plead to UK PM to save environment from Sixewell C nuclear project.
• New delay in planning decision for £16bn Wylfa nuclear development on Anglesey.  Bechtel, Westinghouse and Southern Company’s hopeless case to save shambolic Wylfa nuclear project.  With all the costs and delays – why not scrap the Wylfa nuclear project right now?
• Glenn Greenwald: Julian Assange’s Imprisonment Exposes U.S. Myths About Freedom.

POLAND.  Trump’s nuclear construction deal with Poland – strained with Biden victory ?

SOUTH KOREA.  South Korean government to cut nuclear power generation.

CANADA.  Small modular reactor plan – a dangerous distraction from climate change action.  The gigantic Chalk River Mound (the so-called ‘NSDF’) would not reduce Canada’s radioactive waste liabilities and could in fact increase them.

INDONESIA.  In Indonesia – small nuclear reactors as a prelude to nuclear weapons?

SLOVAKIA.  Slovakia: Krško nuclear power station shut down as a precaution after quake.

TURKEY.  Turkey’s aspirations to become a nuclear weapons power.

RUSSIA.  How a Soviet spy helped to avoid nuclear war

AUSTRALIA. The Australian government’s shameful record in the Kimba nuclear dump fiasco.  The decay of mainstream media in Australia – and the rise of new independent media.

January 4, 2021 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

9 of the important nuclear stories of 2020

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

In the news media, nuclear news has today gone very quiet.

Of course, it’s not only the “festive” season, but more importantly, the global tragedy of pandemic that is afflicting the lives of so many millions of people. In turn, the economic disruption is affecting society, and grinding down activities, including nuclear ones.

Today, even the advertorials promoting small nuclear reactors,, fusion, and the “need” for more nuclear weapons have gone quiet.

So, it seems a good opportunity to revisit some of the many significant stories of 2020.  So, below this post, I’m listing just 9 of these.

December 29, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Briefly, nuclear news this week

The good news from 2020: 10 sunny stories from an otherwise dark year.

In ‘Huge Victory for Polar Bears’, Court Rejects Arctic Offshore Drilling Project.  U.S. “climate mayors” are hopeful that a Biden administration will help cities accelerate progress toward climate goals.

The Madness of Nuclear Deterrence.

Nuclear power ridiculously expensive and uncompetitive – the market has spoken.

ARCTIC.  Russia marketing small nuclear reactors to the Arctic , (who cares about the toxic wastes?).

JAPAN.  Fukushima nuclear debris removal to be delayed due to pandemic.

USA.

• A scary reality, Trump still has the nuclear codes.  Donald Trump’s dangerous nuclear legacy.   In USA’s economic and health crisis – nuclear weapons spending is booming.   $128 billion next-generation submarine program at risk of cost overruns.  Joe Biden administration might consider cutting nuclear weapons spending.
• Nuclear weapons agency updates Congress on hacking attempt.
•  Draft EIS on Versatile Test Reactor (VTR); Lacking Justification and Due to Proliferation Risks, VTR Project Must Not Go Forward..  USA’s Dept of Energy pouring $millions into gimmicky new untested nuclear projects.  U.S. Congress approves nuclear energy funding for Financial Year 2021. Trump Signs Directive to Bolster Nuclear Power in Space . Biden flirts with the fantasy of small nuclear reactors as the cure for climate change.
• Exploration.
• Former SCANA CEO to plead guilty on another charge for failed nuclear plant project. Ohio House Fails To Take Any Action On Nuclear Bailout Law.
• USS Calhoun County sailors dumped thousands of tons of radioactive waste into ocean.

UK. Unacceptable secrecy by the nuclear industry in Sizewell documentation.  UK’s quest for nuclear fusion.  No acknowledgment, no compensation, for a British nuclear test hero.

EUROPE. Chinese demands on nuclear power investment complicate EU talks.  Marketing nuclear technology to Slovakia.

UKRAINE.  Are forest fires unlocking radiation in Chernobyl?  Dredging of the Pripyat river poses danger of Chernobyl radioactivity to drinking water of 8 million people.  Storage of Chernobyl nuclear waste – in reality unsafe for 1000s of years.

SOUTH KOREA.  South Korea: mayors and governors of all 17 major cities and provinces call on Japan not to dump Fukushima radioactive water into the ocean.

NORTH KOREA.  Economic crisis forces North Korea to put new nuclear parade facilities on ice..

BELARUS.  EU visit to Belarus nuclear plant called off, deepening safety concerns.

IRAN.  Iran nuclear deal: ‘Heated rhetoric and the heightened risk of miscalculation’ widen differences.

CHINA.  China rejects reports of hitch in investment pact talks with EU.

RUSSIA.  Russia keenly marketing nuclear technology to Bolivia.  Russian Army Chief Warns of Nuclear Risks in Cyber Hacks, Space .  Russia’s nuclear-powered ice-breaker in trouble.

AUSTRALIA. Curiouser and curiouser – the dishonest acrobatics of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)

December 28, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear news – week to 22 December

‘Tis the season to be jolly.  But, honestly, I can’t.  If you want to know what’s really going on in this human-species-afflicted planet, I recommend Radio Ecoshock.  Here you will learn about  Climate Collapse & The Plastic Plague

It’s not about some distant future problem. It’s about now, and how we are living on a trashed planet.  And we’re and adding more to this with all our festive junk and unnecessary gifts.

Having said that –    there are so many good people trying to clean up, and keep clean, our fragile planet.   For some examples – I recommend  99 Good News Stories From 2020 You Probably Didn’t Hear About.

Also, I am reading “The Good Germans – resisting the NAZIs  1933 – 1945“, by Catrine Clay. I find this book a very timely reminder that in very worst of modern times, there were so many people who saw evil being done, and resisted it, and also helped the persecuted, as best they could.

Sleepwalking Toward the Nuclear Precipice.

The insanity of nuclear power in space.

About writing about the nuclear crisis. We’re in a storytelling crisis”: Advice for writing on nuclear issues, from the author of “Fallout”.

Unveiling New Billboards: “Nukes Are Now Illegal!” (Nuclear Weapons) .

AUSTRALIA. 2020 in Australia – a successful year for resistance to nuclear pollution.

CANADA.  Canada’s Small Modular Nuclear Reactor ‘Action Plan’ banks on private sector nuclear pipe dreams.    NuScale exultant that their scam small nuclear reactors have conned the Canadian government.  Many Canadian organisations dispute the government’s plan for small nuclear reactors.

JAPAN.

75% of the Japanese public want Japan to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.  Major Japan life insurers shun investing in nuclear weapons-linked firms.

Uninhabitable:   Booklet by citizen scientists uncovers true extent of radioactive contamination in Japan’s soil and food.

2 million yen ($19,300) incentive for families to move to near crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Investigation of mass alterations of data on nuclear safety by Japanese company.

Mutsu Mayor Soichiro Miyashita made it clear that spent nuclear fuel facility will not go ahead.  44 year old Mihama nuclear station, with waste disposal problem may be allowed to restart.  Nuclear waste plan spells doom for a Hokkaido fishing community.

UK. 

• Law and Disorder: The case of Julian Assange.
• Disabled Russian nuclear-powered feighter to pass  through UK and European waters.
• Sizewell C nuclear project. No “green light” for £20bn Sizewell nuclear project, but the UK govt “in talks” with EDF.       UK’s Sizewell nuclear project could be a costly fiasco like Hinkley Point C.  Controversial funding arrangements for unnecessary Sizewell C nuclear project?  Why is UK govt taking the financial and flooding risk of Sizewell nuclear, when renewables are clearly safer and cheaper?.  Ipswich Council raises fresh worries about Sizewell nuclear power plan.  Sizewell C nuclear plan – a disastrous and expensive mistake.  EDF did a small survey of Suffolk community opinion –weighted to favour nuclear industry?
•  Doubts about planned Berkshire ”garden town”, because it’s too close to AWE nuclear weapons factory.

USA. 

•  Investigative journalism – A Legacy of Contamination, How the Kingston coal ash spill unearthed a nuclear nightmare.
• Investigative journalism – USA government resists paying compensation to nuclear workers made ill by ionising radiation.
• For the USA, despite the “Green Nuclear Deal” propaganda, solar power is looking a whole lot better.
• David and Goliath fight to repeal crooked nuclear plant bailouts in Ohio. Following huge bribery scandal, Energy Harbor still manipulating to keep nuclear bailout law.
• Is Energy Harbor cutting nuclear plant workers’ benefits in violation of labor deal?
• USA House Armed Servcies Chairman very sceptical of New Plutonium “Pit” Plans for Nuclear Warheads.
• Russian hackers evaded layers of U.S. security to attack America’s military and intelligence agencies.  In a massive cyber-attack, U.S. nuclear agency has been hacked.  Hacking of U.S. nuclear weapons agency went undetected for 9 months.    6 Things to Know about the 2020 Cyberattack and Nuclear Power Plants.
• In midst of pandemic crisis, more U.S. tax-payer money to go to nuclear power in space.  USA to turn the moon into a nuclear weapons site.

CHINA.  China has 350 nuclear warheads, compared to USA and Russia’s many thousands of them.

RUSSIA.  Russian environmental defenders under attack.

IRAN.  World powers renew commitment to preserve Iran nuclear deal.   Iran’s Rouhani: No conditions or negotiations on nuclear deal.  Iran builds at underground nuclear plant.   Iran Rejects New UN Report over Nuclear Violations.  West yet to condemn Iranian nuclear scientist’s assassination.

US Navy nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine and 2 warships sail through Strait of Hormuz, (Persian Gulf-Gulf of Oman).

EUROPE.  European Leadership Network appeals to nuclear weapons States to reduce nuclear risks.

UKRAINE.  34 years later, food crops near Chernobyl still contain ionising radiation.

TURKEY.  Turkey’s unfinished nuclear plant already redundant.

DENMARK.  Big boasts for small nuclear reactors on ships – but are they a recipe for disaster?

JORDAN.   Did a research reactor in Jordan leak?

December 22, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

About writing about the nuclear crisis

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

This is such an important article (– We’re in a storytelling crisis”: Advice for writing on nuclear issues, from the author of “Fallout”)    Whether we like it or not, an issue becomes important to people  – not because it actually IS vitally important, but because it is described, pictured, written about as something that is important to the simplest non-expert, ordinary person.

In this pandemic period, the nuclear lobbyhas done a damn good job in just not covering the true importance of nuclear weapons. The mindless mainstream media happlygoes along with this impressive non coverage at all.

On January 22nd, the Trarty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will become international law.    The global nuclear lobby will be working overtime to portray this as silly, ineffectual, counter-productive – blah blah.

It will be a challenging time for journalism.  The need is to show that this Treaty is as valid as existing  treaties banning inhuman weapons of mass destruction, and that this Treaty enhances existing disarmament agreements, and does not conflctwith national security agreements (e.g as betweenUSA and Australia.     This Treaty is based on humanitarian concerns, an idea which the technocrats find hard to understand.

December 17, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

The week in nuclear news

The pandemic and the development of the vaccine have dominated the news this week.  Also, the impending USA electoral college vote is holding media attention, along with the potentially violent movement to overthrow Joe Biden’s election win.

The U.N.  Climate Change Action Summit drew attention both to the scale ofthe action needed, and to the efforts being made by different nations .

On the broad news, nuclear issues are in the background. For me, life has been busy, too. So this week’s notes are mercifully short.

Dr Helen Caldicott on the nuclear lessons of the past – time to take note of them.

Greenhouse gas emissions transforming the Arctic into ‘an entirely different climate’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOV9QB4c4BA

Google headline news on “Nuclear” – articles are strongly pro nuclear, and for “Small Modular Reactors”, even more so.

Small Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) if they work, will arrive too late to make a difference to global heating.

Uranium Film Festival 2020 – a huge success under difficult circumstances.

Microwave Radiation ‘Most Plausible’ Cause Of Diplomats’ Ailments.

USA.

• Biden’s opportunity to make much needed changes on nuclear weapons policy.  House Armed Service Committee calls for new National Defense Strategy, including “no first use” nuclear policy. Denouncing the immorality of nuclear weapons also means to jail for some.
• Nuclear powered electric vehicles? not existing, and not likely.
• Opponents of the Ohio bailout of nuclear industry want more than just a freeze on this law.
• Trying to test for cracks in nuclear waste containers that have to last for over a million years.

UK.

• Significant problems for UK’s Trident nuclear deterrent , if U.S. Congress refuses to fund a next-generation warhead.  The new way to hide the money splurged on nuclear weapons – via Small Nuclear Reactors.
• Nuclear developers keenly await UK government support for new reactors large and small.  Sizewell C nuclear power station, thrown into doubt as China ponders pulling out of £20bn project.  Beware the nuclear road to nowhere.
• British government’s “perpetual” lack of knowledge about £130bn clean-up of 17 old nuclear sites..

CANADA.  Canada’s Coalition for Responsible Energy Development is sceptical about Small Nuclear Reactors.  Federal funding for new nuclear reactors is a serious mistake that blocks swift ation on climate.  With Small Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) Canada is back in the nuclear weapons business.  Growing political opposition in Canada to Small Nuclear Reactors.

EUROPE.  European Commission excludes nuclear power from the EU’s proposed green finance taxonomy,

FRANCE.  France and European Union have not yet agreed on  nuclear reform–  Four organisations join in legal action aimed at stopping the Flamanville nuclear power project.  Botches and crisis in France’s nuclear energy system.

JAPAN. Japanese govt trying to entice people by money grants, to come and live in Fukushima .  For the first time ever, a Japanese court rules against a government approval on nuclear safety.  Nuclear power industry stunned by Osaka District Court ruling canceling central government approval for reactor restarts. For safety the 40 year limit on nuclear reactor’s life should be kept.  Japan’s power companies consider opening up Aomari nuclear waste site to other utilities.

 IRAN. Iran hastens nuclear legislation in response to the assassination of its nuclear scientist.  Iran’s President Rouhani ready to restore the nuclear deal. Iran clearly wants to maintain the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).  Iran Awards Military Medal To Nuclear Scientist Assassinated Last Month,

RUSSIA. Russian Ambassador to U.S. Sees Hope for Nuclear Arms Treaty Extension.  Thieves steal equipment from Russia’s nuclear war ‘doomsday’ plane..

UKRAINE –Shutdown of 3 uranium mines in midst of dispute could lead to ecological disaster in Ukraine.

MARSHALL ISLANDS.  The continuing tragedy and nuclear abomination of U.S. tests on the Marshall Islands.

AUSTRALIA.  Far from “broad community consent”– nuclear waste dump plan for Kimba South Australia..

December 14, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

This week’s nuclear news

The big news worldwide continues to be about the coronavirus, which is still raging in many countries, especially in the USA.  Meanwhile the race to develop and implement vaccines is already on.

December 7, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

The week in nuclear news

The global corona virus – deaths nearly 1.5 million. Global heating moves on – Arctic events affect the world. BUT- the nuclear threat is also still with us, always there, and must not be forgotten.

With the assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, the world is yet again teetering on the brink.

Some bits of good news –  Britain Helps World’s Most Remote Inhabited Islands to Establish Biggest Marine Sanctuary in the Atlantic.

Today’s Google headlines on nuclear issues – weapons and Iran dominate the stories.

The global energy revolution.

The Australian government”s intimidation of whistleblowers – the torture of Julian Assange.

Correcting 5 wrong opinions about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.  Living with the Nuclear Prohibition Treaty: nuclear weapons states would be unwise to attack it.

Nuclear power hinders fight against climate change.

Standard nuclear reactor designs are still too costly, and safety features are only a third of nuclear costs.

Solar energy is bullish in the market; the same can’t be said for nuclear.

The creeping carbon costs of digital communication.

Book review: The Case for Degrowth.

Extradition hearing of Julian Assange – defence witnesses destroy myths, demonstrate his integrity

JAPAN.  Japanese local governments depend on “nuclear money”.  No. 2 reactor at Tohoku Electric Power Co’s Onagawa nuclear power plant for restart, despite problems.  Surveys to identify nuclear waste disposal site begin in Hokkaido.

Fukushima. Destructive potential of over a million tons of radioactive water into the Pacific.  Fukushima nuclear reactor no.1 – debris prevented from falling into fuel storage pool.  Nuclear disaster: Fukushima schools frozen in time.  Survey finds that most Fukushima evacuees do not intend to return.

TAIWAN.  Taiwanese protest plan to dump water from Japan nuclear plant into sea.

UK

• Depressing news for the nuclear lobby in UK, Western Europe – Boris Johnson’s government adding nuclear power to its long list of failures. UK government losing enthusiasm for new nuclear power stations, as grim financial realities set in.    British MP’s continue to botch it in the ever more costly saga of Britain’s “old” nukes and “new” nukes.  Inaccuracies in Boris Johnson’s document supporting nuclear power development.  Britain’s enthusiasm for nuclear power stations is waning.
• Large and small nuclear reactors should not be included in UK’s ‘clean, green’ 10 point plan. British govt’s foolhardy plan to pay up for non existent Rolls Royce small nuclear reactors.  UK government wastes tax-payer money on small and large nuclear reactors that will never be cheap or safe.
•  Sizewell C nuclear plant ‘not value for money’, and would sabotage the govt’s pledge for nature. Destruction of habitat, Coronation Wood to be felled, for Sizewell C nuclear project, British govt produced no evidence that nuclear plants are essential, in secret deals for the convenience of the nuclear industry.  30-day public consultation about UK’s Sizewell nuclear reactor project.  Bankrupt AREVA, resuscitated as ‘Framatome’, joins the the Sizewell C nuclear build Consortium.   £525 million pledged to build UK small nuclear reactors, no funding package yet revealed for £20 billion Sizewell plant. UK government’s plans for Sizewell and Wylfa nuclear stations are wavering, with doubts about costs.
• Decommissioning and wastes.  Hazardous plan for Peel Ports to take over the decommissioning of Britain’s dead nuclear submarines . Hinkley Point B nuclear reactor offline now, and will be shut down earlier than planned. Both Hinkley Point B and Hunterston B nuclear power stations will close early due to cracks in graphite cores.  £132billion and counting – Britain’s nuclear decommissioning mess could take 120 years. UK tax-payers foot huge bill for incompetence of Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).  UK’s beautiful Lake District – no “final solution” for the nuclear waste problem.The Irish sea – plagued by dumped munitions and radioactive trash.
• Cheap and effective, but solar energy is omitted  from UK govt’s 10 point plan. Mayor of London announces solar and energy efficiency projects funded by ‘Green New Deal.

USA.

• Could a mad, unhinged US president, push the nuclear button? Trump still has the awesome power to launch America’s nuclear arsenal.  It is likely that Trump gove the nod for assassination of Iran nuclear scientist.  European security officials fear that Trump may trigger a war against Iran.  Trump’s Impact on Nuclear Proliferation,  Treating Foreign Policy as a Business.  Trump administration pulls out of Open Skies treaty with Russia.
•  Investigative journalism –  Joe Biden’s ” transition team”includes men with strong links to the weapons industry– Beware the “madness of militarism” – Biden likely to appoint war-loving Michèle Flournoy as Defense Secretary.    For Joe Biden – an early trial problem – the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
• With Joe Biden in Charge, No More Flashy Kim Jong Un Summits. –The Biden- Harris administration can change nuclear weapons policy, make it safer, and much cheaper. President Joe Biden will have just 16 days from Inauguration Day to rescue the new START Treaty
• How a nuclear weapons officer came to support the Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons.
• A New U.S. Missile Defense Test May Have Increased the Risk of Nuclear War.  Closer to nuclear war – as USA tests ICBM intercept.     Resuming nuclear testing is unnecessary — and unsafe  
• Prison, big fines, for Catholic anti nuclear activists.  Anti-Nuclear Pacifists Get Federal Prison Terms for Nonviolent Protest.    A mock B61-12 nuclear bomb dropped for the first time.
• USA revives plan for fast reactor, despite terrorism risks .
• USA looks to get $18billion now, maybe $40billion later, in flogging off nuclear reactors to Poland.
• Former CEO of failed V.C. Summer nuclear project pleads guilty to fraud charges.  Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has filed a second lawsuit to stop bailout of nuclear reactors. Ohio likely to require nuclear reactor audit before renewing bailout.
• 30 more years for Wisconson’s old nuclear power station? Is this a good idea?
• Dismantling Duke Energy’s Crystal River nuclear plant.
• Unanswered questions cloud the future of NuScam’s Small Modular Nuclear Reactor project.  Concerns in Utah cities about costs and safety of NuScam’s small nuclear reactor scheme.
• The intractible problem of San Onofre’s, and indeed, America’s, nuclear waste.
• NRC approves financially dodgy sale of Indian Point Nuclear Station to Holtec.
•  Lack of safety documents in Los Alamos National Laboratory’s handling of radioactive wastes.  Waste Isolation Pilot Plant – building of ventilation shaft is halted, due to Covid-19 and planning problems. Danger to San Onofre nuclear waste, from ocean’s king tides.  Why we shouldn’t be talking about nuclear waste “disposal”.
• Slowly moving lawsuit on the health impacts of a national nuclear laboratory.

INDIA.  Cybersecurity breach at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) undetected for over 6 months.

EUROPE.  The effect on Europe of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

FRANCE. Orano, formerly Areva, targeted by judicial investigation for corruption.  Corruption investigation into AREVA’s sale of Nigerian uranium. New comic book investigates the dilemma about France’s nuclear wastes.

  Extended shutdown for work on Flamanville nuclear reactor build.  Greenpeace launches legal appeal against French nuclear safety authority allowing extension of lifetime of nuclear reactors.  Concern in France over lack of expert inspection of nuclear sites.

CANADA.  Canada’s environmental groups join to oppose experimental Small Nuclear Reactors (SMRs).    Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, the nuclear industry’s latest pipe dream.  Canadian government’s misplacing funding into unviable small nuclear reactors for North West Territories.  Safety dangers of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs).  In the face of public opposition, Ottawa delays small nuclear reactor plan.  Ontario could get clean renewable energy from neighbouring provinces, with no need for nuclear power.

IRAN.  Architect of its nuclear programme assassinated – Iran vows retaliation.   Tehran’s UN ambassador says rival Saudi Arabia is looking for an excuse to build nuclear weapons and blaming Iran.  Iran admits breach of nuclear deal discovered by UN inspectorate.  Iran slams European criticism on expanding nuclear programme. What’s behind the assaisnation of Iran’s top nuclear scientist? UAE, Jordan Condemn Killing of Iranian Nuclear Scientist, Call for Self-restraint.

BANGLADESH.  Bangladesh draws up a nuclear disaster response plan.

GERMANY.  Uranprojekt –The Nazi Nuclear Program.

RUSSIA. Russia’s latest nuclear icebreaker had to abort maiden Arctic voyage.  Russia claims to have successfully tested an “unstoppable” nuclear missile.

UKRAINE.  First canister of used nuclear fuel loaded into Chernobyl storage facility.  Comprehensive research now shows that irradiated areas near Chernobyl have fewest mammals.

SAUDI ARABIA.  Saudi minister says nuclear armament against Iran ‘an option’.

NORTH KOREA. North Korea sparks new nuclear weapons fears.

ROMANIA. European Commission approves Romania’s purchase of nuclear reactors.

RWANDA.   Growing opposition to nuclear power in Rwanda.

AUSTRALIA.  Investigative journalism – Australian children targetted for propaganda by the weapons industry.    – Australia’s Department of Defence captured by foreign weapons makers Thales, BAE.

November 30, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear news – week to 23 November

As I decided previously, I’m leaving out the news on Coronavirus and Global Heating,  important though they are.

Even so, this newsletter is too long. Especially as we seem to be in a sort of timewarp, waiting for a resolution in the USA, waiting for a new direction in the pandemic.

Some bits of good news – Future Crunch’s summary of good news.  Jeff Bezos Created $10 Billion ‘Earth Fund’ to Meet Climate Crisis, First Grants of $800M Go to Iconic Environmental Groups

Correcting 5 wrong opinions about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Nuclear power hinders fight against climate change.

Standard nuclear reactor designs are still too costly, and safety features are only a third of nuclear costs.

Solar energy is bullish in the market; the same can’t be said for nuclear.

The creeping carbon costs of digital communication.

Book review: The Case for Degrowth.

Extradition hearing of Julian Assange – defence witnesses destroy myths, demonstrate his integrity

JAPAN.   No. 2 reactor at Tohoku Electric Power Co’s Onagawa nuclear power plant for restart, despite problems. Resident against Japanese nuclear reactor OK’d for restart says safe evacuation impossible.  Surveys to identify nuclear waste disposal site begin in Hokkaido.

Nuclear disaster: Fukushima schools frozen in time. Forests affected by Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident.  Japan Set to Decide Timing of Fukushima Water Release As Early As This Year.  Release of Fukushima’s radioactive water into sea will harm entire Asia’s coasts: Indian experts.

TAIWAN.  Taiwanese protest plan to dump water from Japan nuclear plant into sea.

UK –

• Boris Johnson’s government adding nuclear power to its long list of failures. UK government losing enthusiasm for new nuclear power stations, as grim financial realities set in.   British govt produced no evidence that nuclear plants are essential, in secret deals for the convenience of the nuclear industry
• Large and small nuclear reactors should not be included in UK’s ‘clean, green’ 10 point plan. Inaccuracies in Boris Johnson’s document supporting nuclear power development.  Britain’s enthusiasm for nuclear power stations is waning.
• Cheap and effective, but solar energy is omitted  from UK govt’s 10 point plan. Mayor of London announces solar and energy efficiency projects funded by ‘Green New Deal’.
•    British govt’s foolhardy plan to pay up for non existent Rolls Royce small nuclear reactors.  UK government wastes tax-payer money on small and large nuclear reactors that will never be cheap or safe.
• Sizewell C nuclear plant ‘not value for money’, and would sabotage the govt’s pledge for nature. Destruction of habitat, Coronation Wood to be felled, for Sizewell C nuclear project.   30-day public consultation about UK’s Sizewell nuclear reactor project.  Bankrupt AREVA, resuscitated as ‘Framatome’, joins the the Sizewell C nuclear build Consortium.   £525 million pledged to build UK small nuclear reactors, no funding package yet revealed for £20 billion Sizewell plant. UK government’s plans for Sizewell and Wylfa nuclear stations are wavering, with doubts about costs.
• Hazardous plan for Peel Ports to take over the decommissioning of Britain’s dead nuclear submarines .
• Hinkley Point B nuclear reactor offline now, and will be shut down earlier than planned. Both Hinkley Point B and Hunterston B nuclear power stations will close early due to cracks in graphite cores.
•  The Irish sea – plagued by dumped munitions and radioactive trash.

USA. 

• Could a mad, unhinged US president, push the nuclear button? Trump still has the awesome power to launch America’s nuclear arsenal.   European security officials fear that Trump may trigger a war against Iran. Trump’s Impact on Nuclear Proliferation,  Treating Foreign Policy as a Business.  Trump administration pulls out of Open Skies treaty with Russia.
• The Biden- Harris administration can change nuclear weapons policy, make it safer, and much cheaper.    For Joe Biden – an early trial problem – the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. How a nuclear weapons officer came to support the Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons.  A New U.S. Missile Defense Test May Have Increased the Risk of Nuclear War. Investigative journalism –  Joe Biden’s ” transition team”includes men with strong links to the weapons industry With Joe Biden in Charge, No More Flashy Kim Jong Un Summits.
• Prison, big fines, for Catholic anti nuclear activists.  Anti-Nuclear Pacifists Get Federal Prison Terms for Nonviolent Protest.
• USA revives plan for fast reactor, despite terrorism risks .
• USA looks to get $18billion now, maybe $40billion later, in flogging off nuclear reactors to Poland.
• Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has filed a second lawsuit to stop bailout of nuclear reactors. Ohio likely to require nuclear reactor audit before renewing bailout.
• 30 more years for Wisconson’s old nuclear power station? Is this a good idea?
• Unanswered questions cloud the future of NuScam’s Small Modular Nuclear Reactor project.  Concerns in Utah cities about costs and safety of NuScam’s small nuclear reactor scheme.
• The intractible problem of San Onofre’s, and indeed, America’s, nuclear waste.  Lack of safety documents in Los Alamos National Laboratory’s handling of radioactive wastes.
• Slowly moving lawsuit on the health impacts of a national nuclear laboratory.

FRANCE.  Extended shutdown for work on Flamanville nuclear reactor build.  Greenpeace launches legal appeal against French nuclear safety authority allowing extension of lifetime of nuclear reactors.

CANADA.  Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, the nuclear industry’s latest pipe dream.  Canadian government’s misplacing funding into unviable small nuclear reactors

IRAN.  Tehran’s UN ambassador says rival Saudi Arabia is looking for an excuse to build nuclear weapons and blaming Iran.  Iran admits breach of nuclear deal discovered by UN inspectorate.  Iran slams European criticism on expanding nuclear programme.

BANGLADESH.  Bangladesh draws up a nuclear disaster response plan.

GERMANY.  Uranprojekt –The Nazi Nuclear Program.

RUSSIA. Russia’s latest nuclear icebreaker had to abort maiden Arctic voyage.

UKRAINE.  First canister of used nuclear fuel loaded into Chernobyl storage facility.

SAUDI ARABIA.  Saudi minister says nuclear armament against Iran ‘an option’.

NORTH KOREA. North Korea sparks new nuclear weapons fears.

AUSTRALIA. Australia’s Department of Defence captured by foreign weapons makers Thales, BAE.

November 23, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

Nuclear news – week to 16 November

As in last week. the media continues to be preoccupied with the American presidential situation, and after all, that IS pretty important.  The really big global stories are the global coronavirus and climate change.

Still, nuclear issues continue – simmering tensions in nuclear weapons states, and the remarkably co-ordinated promotion of Small Nuclear Reactors to governments around the world, in both rich and developing countries.  The nuclear-news.net  site will now have to stick to just NUCLEAR news.

 Some bits of good news –          Vaccine Alliance Raises $2 Billion to Buy COVID Shots for Poor Nations. Renewable Energy Defies COVID-19 Downturn To Hit Record Growth in 2020.

Hibakusha renew their push for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Julian Assange ‘targeted as a political opponent of Trump administration and threatened with the death penalty’.

Topics in today’s “Nuclear” headlines on Google News.

JAPAN.   TEPCO claims it is running out of space to store radioactive water and simply must discharge it into the Pacific.  Over one million tons of radioactive water will be discharged into the sea from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Disposal plan all at sea? apan’s nuclear regulator maintains view on Fukushima reactor 3 blasts.  Radioactive Isotopes Measured at Olympic and Paralympic Venues in Fukushima Prefecture and Tokyo, Japan.

Governor of Miyagi Prefecture approves plan to restart Onagawa nuclear reactor. Japanese govt rules out new nuclear reactors for 10 years.

USA.

• Biden and Harris include fantasy of ”small nuclear reactors” in an otherwise progressive climate policy.  Harris and Biden – what are their views on nuclear power? Joe Biden’s Transition Announcements largely skirt nuclear power, waste issues. Predicting Biden’s attitude and actions on the big nuclear weapons issues.
• The nuclear perils of Trump’s last days. We should require a second voice when it comes to ordering first use of nuclear arms.
• American universities in the US nuclear weapons complex.   Kings Bay Plowshares peace activists get lighter sentences than expected.  The human impact of ”Trinity” and a thousand other nuuclear bomb tests on American soil. Project Pluto – The USA devised an apocalyptic nuclear weapon – the Supersonic Low Altitude Missile or SLAM.
• U.S. nuclear security administrator resigns – lost the confidence of Donald Trump?
• Ohio Attorney General takes legal action to stop nuclear bailout. –Federal utility fined $900K for nuclear violations, coverup.
• In New Jersey, ratepayers form Association to stop the bailing out of nuclear power.  Quite a lot of hurdles for NuScam’s Utah project, and only 27 of UAMPS members signed up.
• Long-delayed remediation of a nuclear waste site near Pittsburgh.

UK.

• Rolls Royce and Exelon get together to market ‘small’ nuclear reactors.  Small nuclear reactor plan by Rolls Royce consortium – not likely to be economically feasible.  Relentless lobbying by Small Nuclear Reactor companies still doesn’t make them economic or safe.
• Suffolk County Council raised over 50 concerns about the Sizewell nuclear project, but UK govt going ahead anyway?  UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds condemns the Sizewell nuclear project. Guardians of UK’s precious habitat in Suffolk are fearful of government decision on Sizewell nuclear plan.
•  Consortium wants to take over Wylfa nuclear power project – includes Bechtel, Southern Comapny and Westinghouse.
• China’s ambition to build Bradwell nuclear plant in Essex will likely fail on  national security grounds.
• Hunterston nuclear reactor allowed to restart, despite increasing cracks in the graphite core.
• Dismantling of Trawsfynydd nuclear power plant held back due to coronavirus outbreak.

MIDDLE EAST.  Financial problems, proliferation concerns put the brakes on nuclear development in the Middle East.

EUROPE.  U.S and Russia battling it out to market new nuclear reactors to Eastern Europe countries.
Source: UxC Research.  New European Court of Auditors report has concerns about the EU’s nuclear fusion project.

BELARUS.  Belarus shuts down its newly inaugurated nuclear power plant to replace equipment.

IRAN. Iran’s president calls on Biden to return to nuclear deal.  Iran moderates hail Biden win, but any nuclear talks expected to be fraught.

SOUTH AFRICA. NuScam pushing to sell its ”small” nuclear reactors to South Africa.

INDIA. Nuclear lobby gets its tentacles into education in India

RUSSIA. Putin and officials discuss huge new underground bunker almost completed.   Russia shuts down West Russian nuclear reactor.

CANADA.  Canada’s Greens call on federal government to abandon nuclear and invest in renewables.

AUSTRALIA.  Senate dumps on the Australian government’s radioactive waste plan.

November 16, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

This site will now have to stick to just NUCLEAR news

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

Despite the enormous and present threats of pandemic and climate change, it’s now time for this site to return to its original focus –  the NUCLEAR horror.

Others are covering well those two other related dangers.

The nuclear danger stays in the backround. And the mindless cringing mainstream media keeps on regurgitating handouts from NuScam and the rest of the global nuclear salesmen.

The switch in the  USA to a Democrat administration will make the nuclear lobby’s path just so much smoother and easier.  Biden and Harris look so much nicer than Trump, (and they are nicer).  So much easier for progressive people to support their pro nuclear policies.

And hey shucks – we all worry about climate change – and NuScale’s small nuclear reactors are going to fix that –  aren’t they?

November 10, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

This week: nuclear news – under the radar, but still there

Inundation of news this week, mostly about the USA election. But also about coronoavirus and climate.

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November 9, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment