nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

The week in nuclear, climate, and yes, coronavirus news

There’s  no avoiding coronavirus news, and it changes all the time.  The focus has shifted to”post – virus”, though it is not clear that it is “post” now, or even within 2020.  At present, New Zealand and Vietnam are looking like shining success stories.  The secret of their success? –  strategic testing, aggressive contact tracing and effective public communications campaigns. That last point -all important -that everyone, down to small kids, understands the basic story, the national plan and what they need to do.  Planning needs to be national, and then, international.

Who knows whether the post-Covid-19 period will move towards a cleaner and more humane world, or back to “business as usual” or worse?     Meanwhile the non-stop news cycle takes its toll, and of course, being news, it’s all bad.   It’s probably good to (a) take lots of breaks from the news, and (b) follow good news.  Some examples:

  • The IEA says greenhouse gas emissions will fall by more than 8% this year, the largest annual decrease ever recorded. NPR
  • A decade ago over 40% of the UK’s electricity came from coal. This week, it clocked up its first full coal free month since the advent of the power grid in 1882. Gizmodo
  • Sweden has closed its last coal-fired power station two years ahead of schedule, becoming the third European country to exit coal. Independent .
  • Freshwater insect species have risen by 11%, possibly due to efforts to clean up rivers and lakes. Science

You can find good news at FUTURE CRUNCH, and at GOOD NEWS NETWORK.

The torture that awaits Julian Assange in the US.

Latest climate models suggest global heating could be worse than we thought. Killer heat and humidity already with us.   Covid-19 highlights risks of doing nothing on global heating.    Water loss in northern peatlands threatens to intensify fires, global warming.

How much radioactive waste is stored on our planet?

The race to nuclear suicide continues despite Covid-19 crisis.  $73 billion world spent in 2019 on nuclear weapons, half of it by USA.  The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty– its promise and its failure.

THE ATOM: A LOVE AFFAIR – nuclear dream to global nightmare.

USA.

JAPAN.  3600 working in Nuclear power plants in Japan – concerns raised over coronavirus. Worker infection halts anti-terror project at Genkai nuclear plant.  Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing, a pointless effort , to postpone coping with plutonium trash.  Korean navy to study impact of Fukushima Daiichi’s radioactive water leak.  Onagawa 2 upgrade faces further delay.  Fukushima Daiichi buildings pose safety risks.  The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster and Civil Actions as a Social Movement.

UK.

CANADA. ‘Small Modular Nuclear Reactor’ entrepreneurs trying to revive dangerous ‘plutonium economy’ dream. Investigative journalism –Nuclear waste plan divides South Bruce community.

RUSSIA.  Russia proposes 3 year extension of Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start-3): USA silent.    Raising dangerously radioactive Russian submarines from the bottom of Arctic oceans.

NORWAY. Nuclear fraud in Norway could affect nuclear safety in other countries.

FRANCE. Coronavirus affecting France’s nuclear reactors’ safety and output. French government tries to downgrade radiation risk, avoid compensating Polynesian victims of nuclear testing.

SOUTH KOREA. South Korea, Germany to bolster ties in transition towards renewable energy.

IRAN.  Iran’s Nuclear and Military Efforts in the Shadow of Coronavirus and Economic Collapse.

UKRAINE. How an innovative  community overcame Ukraine’s nuclear trauma.

SOUTH AFRICA. South Africa’s nuclear waste problem– why plan to increase it?

GERMANY. Radiation leak at nuclear research reactor.  As Germany transitions to renewables, massive nuclear cooling towers are demolished.

PAKISTAN. Nuclear war between India and Pakistan very unlikely.

AUSTRALIA.  Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) question government’s plan for nuclear waste dump near Kimba, South Australia.  13 top Australian non government organisations say that the Kimba nuclear waste dump plan is illogical.

May 18, 2020 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Climate, nuclear, coronavirus news this week

An unidentified member of AIM Native American woman sits with her rifle at ready on steps of building in Wounded Knee, South Dakota, March 2, 1973. Indians still have control of town having seized it on Tuesday. Eleven hostages they had taken were finally released. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

The movement is on, in many countries, to return things to”normal” as the infection “curve” is reported to be “flattening”.  But as lockdown rules are eased, in Germany and South  Korea, infection rates go up again.  With 4 million confirmed cases globally, there is no slowdown in the rate of infection. USA’s death toll is 80,000, while Russia’s and Brazil’s are thought to be soaring.  COVID-19 is such a strange disease. Like climate denialism, –  is a form of coronavirus denial going on?

A potential US extradition of Julian Assange poses existential threats to democracy..

Another world is possible.

Tiny killer agents – Cornaviruses, and also, Nuclear Radiation.  As with viruses, containment of atomic weapons may be good, but eradication is best.  .

International co-operation – essential for Coronavirus action, and for Climate action .  Can Covid-19 response be a model for climate action?.  Climate change – a bigger still challenge follows coronavirus.  A small window of opportunity to stave off rapid global heating.

2020 hurtles toward the warmest year milestone –Heat+ humidity – global heating has already made parts of the world too hot for humans.

Trilateral Track 2 Nuclear Dialogues Consensus Statement.

USA.

UK.   Wide and growing coalition of real concern about EDF’s Sizewell C nuclear project.  Delay in preparations for Wylfa nuclear plant.    Barrow, UK – hub of nuclear weapons work and nuclear transport.  As UK’s Torness nuclear power station deteriorates, – cheaper to build renewables than to repair aging reactors.  UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) gags staff on subject of Trident nuclear weapons in Scotland..

BAHRAIN. Bahrain’s new environmental bill – strict laws against nuclear waste dumping.

JAPAN. More delay for Japan to open Onagawa nuclear power plant Unit 2: Unit 1 to be closed.

NORTH KOREA. Satellite images reveal North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s new nuclear facility.

RUSSIA. The pandemic is a direct threat to Russia’s secret nuclear cities – says Rosatom chief.

INDIA. Lockdown in Tamil Nadu: 800 guest workers  stage protest at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, attack cops .

SOUTH AFRICA. South Africa’s financially difficult nuclear ambitions.

BOSNIA. Bosnia aims to stop Croatia’s plan for radioactive waste dump close to the border.

LITHUANIA.  Lithuania presses Belarus to delay use of nuclear fuel, for safety reasons.

UKRAINE. Ukraine’s Energy ministry limits operations of nuclear power plants.  Looking back to May 1986 – the exodus from Kiev, after the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe.

SOUTH KOREA.  South Korea sticking to its policy of phasing out nuclear power, switching to renewables.

FRANCE. France’s Strategic Nuclear Forces.  Big drop in France’s nuclear power generation..

SPAIN. The search for the 4th hydrogen bomb dropped over Palomares, Spain.

GERMANY. SPD, junior partner in Germany’s coalition government, calls to withdraw US nuclear arms.

AUSTRALIA.  Bogus claims and dodgy Fed govt nuclear waste dumps process.  Tilman Ruff: the Australian government has not made the case for Kimba nuclear waste site: a transparent public review is needed.

May 12, 2020 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

This week’s nuclear and climate news

Well, ya can’t get away from it. It’s always the pandemic! This week, the news moves on to considering the future.  Biodiversity scientists warn that future pandemics are on the horizon, if we don’t stop our rapid destruction of nature. With increasing human population, encroaching on wild habitats, there’s increased risk of pathogens transferring between animals and humans. 

But also, the pandemic is showing us how our trashed world can heal.

Amidst the continuing propaganda for the (still non existent) new “cheap ” small nuclear reactors, comes the sobering fact that the nuclear industry is in trouble, in this time of pandemic.  It’s not just nuclear’s unique  safety problem, but now the business problem. As wind and solar power thrive , nuclear power is going down the drain, with low prices and slumping demand.

A bit of good news –  Hole in the ozone layer is now closed.

The nuclear pandemic.  Nuclear Issues and Epidemiology.    Low Oil Prices May Kill Off The Next Nuclear Boom Before It Begins.

New START is the only U.S.-Russian nuclear treaty still in effect. Time to renew it.

Petersberg Climate Dialogue to be held virtually this year.  Climate change: lakes and rivers will become drier, increasingly infectious and toxic.

Solar and Wind Cheapest Sources of Power in Most of the World   Solar heating.

ARCTIC. An Arctic island is warming SIX times faster than the global average.

JAPAN.  16 Japanese Financial institutions won’t invest in companies involved in nuclear weapons. Half of highly radioactive exhaust stack dismantled at Fukushima Nuclear Reactor 1,

RUSSIA. Coronavirus a big threat to Russia’s secret nuclear cities, as virus incidence rises. Russia warns US against using low-yield nuclear weapons, threatening all-out retaliation.   With international finance help, Russia is dismantling its most radioactive ship.

USA.

UK. UK ignored warnings about pandemic danger, cut health funding, spent up big on nuclear weapons.  Report warns on the threat of sea level rise to Sizewell nuclear plan.  Everyone is needed in bid for a future free of nuclear .

NORTH KOREA. Time to support humanitarian initiatives for North Korea.

ISRAEL. Netanyahu’s deceitful push to try to get USA to attack Iran.

INDIA. Hundreds of foreign companies procuring nuclear materials for India and Pakistan.

FRANCE.  France’s unfairly heavy monitoring of anti-nuclear activists, treating them as violent criminals.

AUSTRALIA. Flinders Local Action Group want a new process for disposal of Australia’s nuclear waste.  South Australian group calls –  ” No to radioactive waste on agricultural land in Kimba or South Australia.”  Dr Helen Caldicott explains the (virtually eternal) problem of toxic nuclear waste.

May 4, 2020 Posted by | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

The week in climate and nuclear news

While we are preoccupied with the pandemic, global heating is not going away. Climate Change Made 2019 The Warmest Year On Record. Eleven of 12 hottest years have occurred since 2000, new climate report warns. What happens after coronavirus will determine our climate‘s future.

Coronavirus illustrates the unsafety of nuclear facilities. In the USA , and presumably in Russia and other countries, too, nuclear power stations have to be refuelled, a process that involves many hundreds of workers – a real problem for “social distancing”.   Compare that situation with solar and wind power plants, where the fuel is delivered directly, all by itself – requiring no transport, no armies of workers.

That, and other considerations, such as astronomic costs, do not deter the American government, locked as it is in the embrace of the nuclear lobby.  Now they are coming straight out with the admission, or perhaps the boast, that new nuclear reactors are essential for the nuclear weapons industry. I am sure that it is the same in Russia.

A bit of good news –  For the First Time in 240 Years, White-Tailed Eagles Spotted Flying Over England

To save the planet, cultural, social and political transformation is essential; new technologies only part of the answer.  Arctic marine life threatened as a result of Alaskan sea ice disappearing.   International climate ministers meet to discuss green recovery post COVID-19.  European Solar Generation Breaks Records, As Coronavirus Shutdowns Reduce Air Pollution.

Animals in radiation zones are not doing well.

Occupational Radiation Exposure: Serious Risks and Safety Solutions.

Animals in radiation zones are not doing well.

ARCTIC.  North pole soon to be ice free in summer .

USA.

NORTH KOREA South Korea’s government dismissed rumours about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un being gravely ill. Expert reveals ‘power struggle’ for ‘control of nuclear weapons and military’. Kim Jong Un Mystery Grows on Reports of Train, Medical Team. North Korea already has its nuclear arsenal. even if Kim should die..

JAPAN.  Tsunami could overtake Fukushima Daiichi’s seawall.   Buildings around Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in poor condition, unsafe.  Friends of the Earth and Peace Boat launch video series about Fukushima evacuees.

UKRAINE. Ukraine Continues Fighting Fires Near Defunct Chernobyl Nuclear Plant.

UK. UK govt again to try “astronomically expensive” plutonium reprocessing nuclear reactors . The end of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel has left an expensive UK plutonium stockpile with no peaceful use.   Under cover of Coronavirus constraints, EDF could speed application for £14 billion Sizewell nuclear reactor build, without pubic consultation.

INDIA. A dire need  to closely scrutinize  Indian procurement and export practices in defense and nuclear deals. .

TAIWAN. Taiwan environmentalists mark Chernobyl nuclear disaster anniversary, call for renewables not nuclear.

CANADA.  Canada on verge of investing in plutonium.

FRANCE. France’s nuclear company EDF in spiralling debt crisis.    Fitch downgrades EDF’s Outlook to Negative.   EDF nuclear power company looks to a profitable future in small-scale, distributed RENEWABLE energy.   France: The Forgotten Nuclear Power That Could Kill Billions of People.

RUSSIA. Russia dumps its plans for costly huge Nuclear Destroyer and supersized Frigate Programs. Russia building 69,700-ton nuclear powered icebreakers to keep the Northern Sea Route navigable year round.

FINLAND. Latest delay inuclear-news.net/…/latest-delay-in-olkiluoto-nuclear-fuel-loadings-leads-to-fitch-revising-outlook-to-negativen Olkiluoto nuclear fuel loadings leads to Fitch revising outlook to negative.

AUSTRALIA. Australian govt’s devious ploy to further dispossess the Bangarla Aboriginal people. South Australia’s $27.9 billion food, wine and tourism markets endangered by Kimba nuclear waste dump plan.

April 28, 2020 Posted by | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

The past week in climate and nuclear news

Everything’s quieter, as we all batten down the hatches, and wait for that Covid 19 curve to flatten ….

The planet needs a green recovery. But are governments up for this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1e7zXAGMKQ

Some bits of good news –   Optimistic COVID Updates  – Himalayan Mountaintops Visible for the First Time in 30 Years as Air Pollution Continues to Plummet in India.

2020 predicted to be Earth’s warmest year on record.   Climate Change Multiplies the Threats of Infectious Diseases.  To tackle the climate crisis, the world cannot return to normal after Covid-19.  Changes for a low carbon economy are possible: we must advocate for this.

Artificial Intelligence in nuclear weapons and military systems.

UKRAINE. Smoke from Chernobyl area wildfires made Ukraine’s capital have the worst air pollution in the world.  With dry and windy conditions, new areas of ‘smoldering’ reported near Chernobyl nuclear plant.  Heavy winds fan new fires breaking out in Chernobyl exclusion zone.  Criirad final report on Chernobyl Fires – Recommendations and findings.  Abandoned Chernobyl nuclear plant is threatened by approaching wildfires.

USA.

UK.  UK’s plutonium problem as it shuts down its last nuclear reprocessing facility.    Environmental rules governing radioactive waste, fish farming, recycling and other sectors are being weakened due to Covid 19.   For UK’s new Labour leader, climate action and Green New Deal will be key goals

FRANCE.  Covid 19 outbreak causes EDF to extend outages of nuclear reactors for several months.  EDF cutting back on its nuclear energy goals.

RUSSIA.  Opening the lid on Russia’s super-secretive nuclear industry.    No easy fix for Russia’s troubled Arktica ice-breaker – delivery delayed for at least a year.

BELARUS. Belarus to get a new nuclear reactor along with $10 billion debt to Russia.

PACIFIC ISLANDS. With the threat of Covid 9, nuclear test affected Pacific Islanders need Medicaid restored.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. United Arab Emirates’ new ‘cheap and cheerful’ Barakah nuclear reactor adds to danger and Middle East tensions.

SAUDI ARABIA.  Saudi Arabia’s nuclear reactor will eventually lead to a Saudi nuclear weapon, and to its use.

AUSTRALIA. Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) is critical of Government propaganda on Kimba nuclear waste dump plan.  Parliamentary committee finds that Kimba nuclear waste dump law may breach Indigenous human rights. 1

 

April 20, 2020 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Climate and nuclear news – week to 13 April

With the whole world in the grip of anxiety about coronavirus, and preoccupied with responding to the pandemic, climate scientists and activists ponder the opportunity to develop a green economy when it is over.  And indeed, the global climate, and the world’s biodiversity are right now benefiting from the lockdown response.  But, alas, the signs are already there, that, in recovering from the health crisis, governments are more likely to promote polluting industries and consumer spending, and to relax environmental safeguards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XhzBSMBpuY It’s too early to tell.

As for the nuclear lobby, it continues to battle bravely on, with propaganda about nuclear’s role in diagnosing COVID 19, and with promoting small nuclear reactors. Despite the nuclear industry’s present urgent problem with Coronavirus and staffing– or perhaps because of this, it is heavily promoting “clean”, “safe”, “cheap” nuclear power to Africa.

A bit of good news – Reports Find Social Restrictions Are Working to Curb New COVID-19 Cases From Italy to Seattle

The coronavirus pandemic, like other global catastrophes, reveals the limitations of nationalism.

Climate change could cause sudden biodiversity losses worldwide.

Ordinary people can beat the nuclear establishment: it’s been done before.

New START treaty must be extended, a U.S. – Russia nuclear arms race an intolerable threat to the whole world.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation in a Deadlock.

Nuclear fusion, too hot, too costly? And not ready before 2050.

UKRAINE. Chernobyl wildfires now ‘close’ to exploded nuclear reactor.  What is causing the Chernobyl Wildfires? Year on Year, mostly in the Summer. Fukushima forests future? CRIIRAD monitoring Kiev nuclear risk of Chernobyl radioactive plumes #Strontium90 #Plutonium #Cesium137/134.  Satellite Imagery of Chernobyl Fires April 8 and 9 2020 – NASA.  Ukrainian firefighters continue to struggle with Chernobyl are fires, amid radiation fears. As at 5 April, radiation levels in Chernobyl area were 16 times above normal, due to forest fires.   The unsafety of Ukraine’s nuclear reactors: Ukrainian Association of Veterans of Atomic Energy and Industry fear “another Chernobyl”.

USA.

UK. Who has the UK nuclear button while Johnson is ill? No comment.    David Lowry: Covid-19 spread shows up vulnerability at heart of nuclear programmes. With coronavirus problem, Hinkley Point C nuclear project should be paused.  Sellafield nuclear construction stalled – pause in construction extended to April 27. Call to stop construction at Hinkley Point C nuclear project, due to coronavirus risk.

More delay in planning application for UK’s Wylfa Newydd nuclear project.  Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) call for more stringent safety measures, and the closure of EDF’s old nuclear reactors.     Microbes in nuclear fuel ponds slow down the decommissioning process. University boffins discuss the eternal problem of nuclear wastes.  U.S. taxpayers might cough up for a private company’s new “Small Nuclear” space travel gimmick.

JAPAN. To help future generations, Fukushima mothers have become radiation scientists’.

SOUTH KOREA. The Carbon Brief Profile: South Korea.

INDIA. India’s dangerous nuclear triad.

BOSNIA. Bosnia might need international arbitration over Croatia’s nuclear waste dump plan near the border.

PAKISTAN. Pakistan’s tactical nuclear weapons, even defensively used, could usher in a larger nuclear war.

RUSSIA. Russia wants to extend New START nuclear weapons treaty, but the U.S. has not revealed its plans.  Russia gambles on safety and cost, in extending life of fast breeder reactor.

BANGLADESH. Russia evacuates some employees from Bangladesh nuclear site.

VIETNAM. 277,700 Vietnamese support “Appeal of the Hibakusha “ – call to eliminate nuclear weapons.

SWEDEN.  Sweden’s wind power on the way to putting nuclear out of business.

ISRAEL. USA has helped Israel to develop a mighty armory of nuclear missiles.

April 13, 2020 Posted by | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

Nuclear and climate news this week

Global problems intertwine. Global heating contributes to epidemics of infectious diseases, by promoting the spread of disease vectors, like mosquitoes.  There is no established link between covid-19 and climate change. However, the way we are altering the planet will make the spread of some diseases more likely.  National responses to the coronavirus pandemic bring the opportunity to tackle climate change.  To get a perspective – the climate crisis is a greater catastrophe than Coronavirus.

The current story of Captain Brett Crozier, captain of the nuclear aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, illustrates the moral poverty of the secretive nuclear culture, and the moral poverty of USA’s nuclear commander-in-chief, Donald Trump. The ship, with nearly 5000 crew, had a number of cases of coronavirus. The captain wrote to the Navy, begging to have the sailors evacuated, a plea which was rejected. Later, the sailors were evacuated, but the captain was fired.  President Trump explained that what Crozier did “was terrible” .

But that’s just one nuclear ship – what about the world’s nuclear ships and nuclear submarines? How safe  are they, with warship crews now falling victim to COVID-19 ?

Some bits of good news –   Another Roundup of Positive Updates on the COVID Outbreaks From Around the World. Earth’s Ozone Layer Continues to Repair Itself. (Also – if you can persevere with  the video “Sam and the Plant Next Door”- it’s  quite uplifting. )

Despite propaganda from nuclear/coal front group, Breakthrough Institute, NOW IS the time to talk about climate change.  The Climate Crisis Will Be Just as Shockingly Abrupt as the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Put people and health before nukes.  New hypersonic weaponry complicates Nuclear Arms Control Regime. Noam Chomsky on the urgent need to eradicate nuclear weapons.

Covid 19 and government responses are affecting nuclear construction world-wide. The nuclear industry and the impact of coronavirus.   A creeping catastrophe: the world’s nuclear reactors are getting dangerously old.

JAPAN. Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant’s deadly hazard – highly radioactive sandbags.-TEPCO plans to take 30 years to release Fukushima nuke plant water into sea or air .  Countries may use coronavirus crisis to rein in climate commitments: Japan a case in point. Protective gear shortage hits Fukushima workers.   Coronavirus question mark still hangs over Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

UK. Doctors warn on coronavirus danger for Australian citizen, Julian Assange, imprisoned without conviction, in a coronavirus incubator. Expert opinion recommends furloughing Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons.    EDF’s hypocrisy –Hinkley C nuclear construction continued, despite pandemic, as “essential” work. Sizewell C nuclear project: community has lost faith in the integrity of EDF.  UK ‘s new nuclear projects further delayed.  Sam and the Plant Next Door – growing up by the nuclear power plant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMhYngrEgZU

USA.

UKRAINE. Wildfires in Ukraine: authorities say that those near Chernobyl are now extinguished.  Firefighters battle forest blazes near Chernobyl nuclear site.  Radiation spike as forest fire hits Chernobyl nuclear zone .

RUSSIA. Russia’s response to coronavirus risk for nuclear stations – isolate the nuclear workforce.  The Russian point of view on nuclear arms control.

CANADA. Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization to spend millions on propaganda.

CHINA. Nuclear power plant shut down by host of tiny shrimp clogging filters.

BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA. Bosnia and Herzegovina oppose Croatia’s nuclear waste plan.

SWEDEN. Sweden’s Vattenfall AB’s 44-year-old Ringhals-1 shut down, as energy prices fall.

GERMANY.   Germany averages more than 50% renewables over March quarter.

April 6, 2020 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

The week in climate and nuclear news

Yes, I know, it’s bad form to be writing about anything but the virus. But here goes, anyway.  As to climate change,  the current dread of the coronavirus feels awfully like a familiar version of the anxiety that many of us have felt about the climate crisis. There’s a bit of a silver lining, in that global greenhouse has emissions have dropped.

The pandemic, and its consequence – social isolation, have  stalled industry, and are expected to wipe out global growth in renewables deployment in 2020.

The nuclear industry has put a bold face on it, claiming that construction of huge new reactor stations are essential, so that workers at UK’s Hinkley Point C build, and USA’s giant Vogtle nuclear build  can count as “essential” so the building programmes can stay on track.  But, even more remarkable, the USA nuclear industry uses coronavirus to gouge $billions of tax-payer money.

Anyway, what should we do about this truly awful global situation?  I can think only of Voltaire’s famous advice – given by his fictional character Candide – “we must go and work our garden.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcTsMirQoG0&t=8s

A bit of good news – Chinese Company Ships Crates of Masks to Italy , Covered in Italian Poetry: We Are ‘Leaves of the Same Tree’

AUSTRALIA

A major scorecard gives the health of Australia’s environment less than 1 out of 10.  With the pandemic, and the bushfires, we now must strengthen the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC).  Webinar: Yeelirrie – A Case for Environmental Law Reform .

Action on Covid19 gives a lesson for action on climate change.

Pandemic brings a danger that is unique to the nuclear industry.  Nuclear security must not be forgotten, even in times of pandemic.

With all eyes on pandemic, Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty still needs attention.

Nuclear waste disposal: Why the case for deep boreholes is … full of holes.

How will the IAEA spin the mind-boggling costs of Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs)?

JAPAN.

UK. Call to suspend all contractor work at Hinkley new nuclear site, because of Covid19.  EDF, French company building Hinkley Point power station, shifts workers’ costs to UK govt.  Government under pressure to suspend non-essential construction work (such as building nuclear plants) Hinkley nuclear construction work continues, while rest of UK is in lockdown. UK and Fench govts consider nuclear construction as “essential”, so can remain open.

RUSSIA. Entire crew of nuclear submarine in coronavirus quarantine.  Moscow preparing highway though nuclear waste site, despite protests.

USA.

BELARUS. Belarus to swap gas dependence on Moscow for nuclear dependence on Moscow .

TURKEY. British small nuclear reactors to help Turkey to get nuclear weapons?

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

A weird week of news in nuclear, climate, Covid19

graph above is of world total.

Events happen so quickly. It becomes important to know what news is true, and what is not. It is something of a crisis in journalism, – which analysis, which interpretation is credible? I try to follow articles that make sense, and come from reliable writers and journals. Reported numbers vary a lot – of those infected with Cov19, of the deaths. For one example – USA infection numbers are almost certainly far greater than reported, because of inadequate testing. In interpretation, Donald Trump’s phrase the “Chinese virus” feeds in to xenophobia, an unfortunate theme when global co-operation is needed, to combat a global epidemic. Politicians exploit false conspiracy theory that the coronavirus is a bioweapon.

What action is needed?  I found this article, with its excellent graph, a reliable guide. It helped me to conclude that the drastic shutdowns and “social distancing”will have awful results, but that inaction on coronavirus would be worse.

Some bits of good news – 10 Positive Updates on the COVID-19 Outbreaks From Around the World

Coronavirus Covid-19 Testing Per Capita By Country; The US Near The Bottom; India Worse

Tokyo Olympic Games‘ costly chaos: they can’t be held in 2020.

“Balance” a dangerous practice – journalists presenting as equal -Trump’s and scientists’ opinion on coronavirus science.

Coronavirus threatens nuclear power plants with staff shortages, possible shutdowns.

Destruction of habitats, loss of biodiversity, bring pandemics.

Impact of coronavirus is curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

Paul Ehrlich on Coronavirus and the growthmania that drives environmental destruction. Bill McKibben on the Virus and the Climate Movement.  Global warming influence on extreme weather events has been frequently underestimated. Coronavirus Halts Street Protests, but Climate Activists Have a Plan.– Ozone-depleting chemicals appearing again in the atmosphere.

Nuclear Power Plants: Tritium is a lot more hazardous than they say. Dr Ian Fairlea on Epidemiological Evidence of Cancer Risks.

“Peaceful” and military nuclear reactors always inextricably linked.  Nuclear-powered submarines – fraught with legal and political problems.   New research on the global climate impacts of a small nuclear war.  The catastrophic danger to nuclear weapons complexes, of climate change’s extreme weather.

A new low-cost solar technology for environmental cooling.

USA.

UK Sellafield nuclear facility cuts back drastically on staff working onsite.  Sellafield nuclear waste site to close due to coronavirus. Nuclear waste transport disrupted by measures to stall coronavirus.  Hinkley nuclear worker concerned at coronavirus risks at the site. EDF reassures UK that during coronavirus epidemic, nuclear operations will continue.   Britain’s Trident nuclear submarine base is in the grip of a Coronavirus scare.

The Sizewell C project would tear through preciously fragile nature preserve. The Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) protests the lack of full information on nuclear plans.

JAPAN.

RUSSIA.   Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News.   Big European bank offers to help Russia retrieve 1000s of radioactive junk from the Arctic sea.

FRANCE. French nuclear workers in fear of coronavirus infection.  Coronavirus cluster in the area – construction stalled at France’s Flamanville nuclear reactor.

CANADA. Canada pushing Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, but the outlook for uranium/nuclear industry is bleak.

IRAN. Iran, hit by hardship and coronavirus, gets callous sanctions from Trump administration.

BULGARIA. Bulgaria delays deadline for Belene nuclear project bids.

NORTH KOREA. What effect will pandemic have on tensions with North Korea?

AUSTRALIA. Doctors again call on Australian govt about Julian Assange’s precarious health, risk of coronavirus.  The Morrison govt’s emergency measures are a massive subsidy to Australia’s largest corporations.

March 24, 2020 Posted by | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

Nuclear, climate, coronavirus news

Awareness about infectious diseases seems to have faded, up until suddenly just lately. It really is a long time between epidemics, and now we have a pandemic. The quickly spreading Coronavirus disease is being handled differently, according to each country. Climate scientist Paul Beckwith explains this, and warns on the necessity of urgent action.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_udREjTrBo&t=59s  Another excellent resource is Corona Virus – With Dr. John Campbell. There is also the inhumane theory of “herd immunity”, being recommended by some as a strategy for Britain.

Climate scientists are bemoaning the slowness to take action on the coronavirus, but, even more so, the continuing slowness to act on global heating.

A bit of good news – One Million ‘Wonder Plant’ Seedlings Are Planted in Wales to Fight Climate Crisis—and Create Healthy Seas

Polar ice melting at an accelerating rate. The planet’s largest ecosystems could collapse faster than we thought.

Global response to Covid-19 is rapid. Response to climate change is too damn slow. Coronavirus poses threat to climate action.

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists warns on doomsday.   Hypocrisy: new commitments to Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) include push for nuclear power.

Nuclear modernisation, cyber operations, raise a dilemma for nuclear deterrence.

Investigative journalism –  Fukushima, and the ocean’s history of nuclear waste dumping.

Tritium – more hazardous than gamma rays and most X-rays.

JAPAN.

USA.

UK. UK’s nuclear regulated asset base (RAB) financing passes all financial risks to electricity customers.  Nuclear waste transport disrupted by measures to stall coronavirus. Bradwell B Nuclear power plant consultations cancelled amid coronavirus fears. Groups question the viability of the three coastal sites for UK’s new nuclear plants.  The lies about nuclear waste dumping in Scotland – from U.S. nuclear submarines.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Nuclear power, then nuclear weapons? for United Arab Emirates.

SOUTH AFRICA. Murky links between the nuclear and coal lobbies in South Africa. Eskom nuclear troubles – the outcome of years of corruption.

INDONESIA. Nuclear Agency employee accused of illegally storing radioactive waste at his home. Indonesia warned on dangers of nuclear power, advantages of renewable energy.

GERMANY. German grid and nuclear plant operators step up coronavirus precautions.

IRAN. Iran continues to provide international inspectors access to its nuclear facilities.

AUSTRALIA. Australian govt rejects a report that recommends nuclear submarines.  Small Nuclear Reactors, like large ones, are out of the question for Australia, due to staggering costs. Small nuclear reactors, (just like large) can survive only with massive subsidies. This week’s uranium report- prices fall again, Australia’s “nuclear future” going nowhere.

March 16, 2020 Posted by | Christina's notes | 4 Comments

Nuclear and climate news in International Women’s Week

The nuclear industry took the opportunity to push itself as an equality-for-women champion. Also, in the media, parents were warned to see that their girls got STEM skills (Science Technology Engineering Maths), or else they’d be jobless dropouts.

Now I too believe that these skills are important.  But I deplore the downgrading of the so-called “soft” studies, that is going on at the same time. With the crises facing the world now, surely for decision-making, we need people with knowledge of languages, history, sociology, ecology. On the health effects of nuclear radiation, and of global heating, the “soft” sciences of biology and genetics are essential.  And, as social commentator Eva Cox has pointed out, the occupations with social values of caring and nurturing ought not to be downgraded and poorly paid, in comparison with the techno world and competitive occupations with macho values.

While climate and nuclear threats are the focus of this newsletter,  the reality is that the planetary mess is made of many interconnecting factors, in the unsustainable economy of “endless growth”. A big reminder –  investigative journalism – Planet Plastic.

A bit of good news -Farming in the Forest: A Chance to Reverse 1,000 Years of Destructive Land-Use Practices

Why don’t we treat the climate crisis with the same urgency as coronavirus?

Investigative journalism – Big Oil and Big Soda and plastically polluted Planet Earth.

The Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty – now more important than ever.The Threat of a Nuclear War Between the US and Russia Is Now at Its Greatest Since 1983.

A sceptical look at NuScam’s small nuclear reactor plans.

RUSSIA. Nuclear reactors on the sea floor – Russia’s costly problem. Russia’s Poseidon thermonuclear torpedo being tested.

JAPAN.

UK. Government advisers warn Britain against costly new nuclear reactors.  Nuclear industry appeals for new funding model to support Sizewell C.    12 week public consultation on proposals for Bradwell B nuclear reactors. 50 years of uranium enrichment.   Protesters call for Capenhurst Urenco nuclear plant to be closed down.    Worker at Hinkley Point nuclear station has now developed coronavirus COVID-19. Nuclear and other toxic wastes dumped in Beaufort’s Dyke, which lies between Scotland and Northern Ireland.

USA.  Investigative journalism – Deceit and Dark Money -Ohio’s nuclear subsidy saga.  Dr Chris Busby exposes the facts on Cancer in US Navy  Nuclear Powered Ships.  Trump gives huge funding increase to nuclear agency that develops nuclear warheads.  Trump’s America prepares to use  low-level nuclear weapons as a “viable option“. – Russia fears.   Trump picks nuclear envoy – Marshall Billingslea, formerly involved in torture program. Tennessee Valley Authority violated whistleblower protections for nuclear workers.  Bill in California to call nuclear power “renewable“!.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES.  Middle East arms race to begin, as United Arab Emirates to open world’s largest nuclear reactor?

INDIA. Westinghouse nuclear reactors – a very poor deal for India. India retains its nuclear weapons no-first-use policy.

FRANCE. France starts a series of nuclear power shutdowns.

MARSHALL ISLANDS. Marshall islanders continue their fight for nuclear justice.

SOUTH AFRICA. Strange turnaround for South Africa’s EFF leader Julius Malema – nuclear best for blacks, renewables for white elites?

PHILIPPINES. Catholic prelate calls on President Duterte to reject nuclear energy. Nuclear power a very bad option for the Philippines.

CANADA. Nuclear – a failing technology, example Canada’s risky CANDU reactors.

POLAND. Poland’s nuclear power development with USA to cost $15.56 billion.

AUSTRALIA. The demonisation of Julian Assange: Former foreign minister Carr calls on the Australian govt to intervene.     Investigative journalism  – Flinders University, South Australia: collusion with nuclear power promotion, Prof Pam Sykes, and the scam of “hormesis”,

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

The week in climate and nuclear news

This week there’s quite a lot of news about nuclear weapons development. Nobody seems very interested – all same-same? Weapons anxiety fatigue? UN disarmament chief hopes upcoming conference will address current nuclear challenges. Some experts think that the subject should get a mention in the USA 2020 election race.

The Coronavirus has gripped the media – with climate change taking a back seat. Bad though that epidemic is, global heating also moves on inexorably.

a bit of good news –  Designer Works to Erect First Modern Village to Generate its Own Electricity–and Food–in 100% Sustainable Loop

Coronavirus – right-wing media reactions and conspiracy theories.

The Planet Is Screwed, Says Bank That Screwed the Planet. USA fails to stop G20 finance ministers and central bank governors‘ warning on climate change.

Nuclear testing left a signature of radioactive carbon all around the world.  The Castle Bravo bomb and its effects on the soldiers, and on the planet.

A Brief Study of Molten Salt Reactors.

Climate action? – you simply couldn’t build enough nuclear reactors.

ANTARCTICA . Antarctic ice walls protect the climate.

IRAN. Iran Nuclear Accord Parties Meet to Try to Salvage Deal.

JAPAN.

USA.  2020 election – Big climate change policy unlikely no matter who wins the White House. Trump is using Yucca Mountain to drum up Republican votes.

Half the US population favors the nuclear abolition treaty. U.S. Pentagon demands $167 billion tax-payer nuclear funding through to 2025. Pentagon toys with a plan to win a “limited nuclear war” against Russia .  USA’s nuclear insurance places the big responsibility on the tax-payer.

California’s Super Tuesday primary and Diablo nuclear station – symbol of USA’s nuclear corruption.

Hanford’s radioactive underground structures likely to collapse. New Mexico’s elected leaders waver on Holtec’s nuclear waste plan. No vote on high level nuclear waste storage in New Mexico, despite Memorial opposing the dump. Plans to remove Lewiston nuclear waste.

Safety check records falsified at SC nuclear plant. USA desperately pushing the fantasy of Small Nuclear Reactors to India. NuScam’s nuclear reactor looks suspiciously like an old design, (that melted down).

FRENCH POLYNESIA. Veterans groups not happy -France wants to abolish the National Commission for Monitoring the Consequences of Nuclear Tests.

INDIA. Trump’s toxic nuclear sales pitch to India- undermining India’s nuclear liability law.

UK. Radioactive wastes into River Clyde could have devastating effects on community and wildlife. Is Cumbria about to become the world’s plutonium dump? Outage’s at EDF’s Hinkley nuclear station extended until June.

AUSTRALIA.  Investigative journalism –  Legislation banning nuclear power in Australia should be retained.

EGYPT. Egypt going into $25 billion debt to Russia, to buy nuclear reactors.

KAZAKHSTAN. Kazakhstan local residents may be stuck with costs of decommissioning nuclear reactor.

SWEDEN. Sweden now faces years of nuclear reactor shutdowns and waste disposal problems.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES.  Nuclear power not economic, nor safe, but it bolsters a secretive autocratic regime, United Arab Emirates.

INDONESIA. Illegal radioactive substances found in South Tangerang house, Jakarta.

March 3, 2020 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Climate and Nuclear news for the past week

When their finances are affected by climate change, the guys at the top at last start to pay attention.  G20 finance ministers and central bank governors met in Saudi Arabia, and sounded the alarm over the climate emergency, despite U.S. objections. Leaked report for world’s major fossil fuel financier says Earth is on unsustainable trajectory.

Of course, nuclear weapons tensions are always there, particularly as regards USA and Iran.  However, when it comes to the so-called “peaceful nukes”, things are very quiet.  All that continues is an endless stream of  “journalism” promoting Small Modular Reactors (they leave out that unpopular word ‘Nuclear’). This hype resembles the early 2000s hype about the “nuclear renaissance’ and is sounding more and more hollow.

A bit of good news – All Australian Bushfires in NSW Have Officially Been Contained Thanks to Week of Heavy Rain. Australian Soldiers Are Using Their Time Off to Care for Koalas Displaced by the Fires.

Immoral and illegal spying on Julian Assange and his lawyers Investigative journalism – How will Julian Assange’s extradition case proceed in court?

All the world is betraying the world’s children, the World Health Organisation has found.

A war correspondent turns to today’s war on climate change, as he studies Antarctica.

Scientists warn on the seriousness of the collapse of many insect species.

Climate denialists using bots on Twitter to get their message across.

Reprocessing is NOT a solution to the nuclear waste problem.  Small nuclear reactors are no better than large ones.

UK. Britain buying new nuclear warheads from USA: Pentagon knew about it. Nuclear Energy Agency’s “pretend transparency“.  UK Parliament did not.  Chinese-led nuclear company pretending that Sizewell project is a ‘fait accompli’ – no, it is far from it.  Huge rise predicted for Britain’s seas and tidal rivers.

JAPAN. Survey finds most Japanese do not want to attend live Olympic or Paralympic events. Replace Tokyo by London as Host of 2020 Olympics. Time running out on Tokyo Olympics. South Korean activists and professors sign petition against Japan’s push to dump radioactive water into the ocean.  Japan’s paralysis over what to do with the nuclear industry’s plutonium wastes.

USA.

FRANCE.  Anti Nuclear activists break into France’s Tricastin nuclear station. France starts out on the path to withdraw from nuclear energy. France shuts down Fessenheim reactor in first phase of retreat from nuclear power.

INDIA. Trump to visit India as salesman for Westinghouse nuclear reactors.– Large U.S. nuclear delegation to India to con Indians into buying Small Modular Nuclear Reactors. Why India is not defined as a “Nuclear Power”, though it has nuclear bombs.

INDONESIA. Indonesian authorities investigate suspected nuclear waste dumping at housing estate.   Positive tests for Caesium-137 in some South Tangerang residents. Indonesia eases import limits on processed foods from Japan imposed after Fukushima nuclear disaster.

BAVARIA (GERMANY). Bavaria’s renewable capacity growing as nuclear plant shutdown boosts power imports.

CANADA. Bruce County, Ontario, protest against nuclear waste dump plan.

ALGERIA. Algeria and French Polynesia suffer from France’s 30 years of nuclear bomb testing.

TAIWAN. Taiwan searches for a solution to its nuclear waste problem.

AUSTRALIA.    Australia the ‘poster child’ for climate change inaction.

February 24, 2020 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

This week’s climate and nuclear news

Climate change is, as always, the big news this week. Some climate models now predict unexpected , unprecedented spike in global temperatures.  Can the insurance industry afford the rising flood risk?

  Giant iceberg ‘calves’ from Antarctic ice shelf.

The nuclear connection is significant for the UK, too, as sea level rise threatens its new nuclear projects, at Sizewell, Hinkley Point C, as well as existing nuclear reactors and waste facilities at Sellafield and Drigg.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tesHVSZJOg

There are many organisations worldwide, that are pushing for, and working on, action to slow or stall global warming.  Global Optimism is the latest example, in which Christiana Figueres features, with her new book “The Future We Choose”

#WETOOARE PROTESTERS   FREE JULIAN ASSANGE

189 nuclear and radioactive material incidents in 2019.

Radioactive material ‘a magnet for groups with malicious intent’, warns UN nuclear watchdog chief.

Hysteria isn’t killing nuclear power. – It’s the very real dangers and catastrophic costs.  Uranium prices at rock bottom- doesn’t help the struggling nuclear industry.

ANTARCTICA. Giant iceberg ‘calves’ from Antarctic ice shelf.

JAPAN. Tokyo protesting against South Korea’s Tokyo 2020 radioactive Olympics posters. Britain’s trade deal with Japan could lead to Fukushima food restrictions being dropped.

Japan wants cruise ship infected separated from country’s total over economy fears.

Fogwater deposition of radiocesium in the forested mountains of East Japan during the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident: A key process in regional radioactive contamination. 5.2-magnitude earthquake near Fukushima.

FRANCE.  European  Pressurised Reactor at Flamanville: nuclear is expensive and it doesn’t work. French govt considers a “0% ” nuclear energy plan: with problems in existing nukes

UK. Climate change to continue hitting UK with bigger storms. The plutonium dilemma –  UK and Japan.  Decline and uncertainty in UK nuclear construction.   Tortuous progress, ever-increasing costs for UK’s Sizewell and Hinkley Point C nuclear projects.  Rolls Royce plans small nuclear reactors near Snowdonia National Park in Wales.  Few permanent jobs in small modular nuclear reactors?

RUSSIA. Ultimate Doomsday Weapon: Missiles Powered By Nuclear Reactors.  Excess radiation level recorded in Moscow.  Anti-terrorism exercises for Russia’s nuclear-powered ice-breakers.

BELARUS.  Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania oppose energy imports from a Belarusian nuclear power plant.

USA. Cuts to public benefit programs,$billions to nuclear weapons – Trump’s 2021 budget .  Trump’s 2021 budget boosts nuclear energy.   Plutonium-affected U.S. airmen, cancers, deaths, a new legal ruling.

Radioactive leaks and other problems at Westinghouse nuclear  fuel factory near Columbia. Three South Carolina lawmakers Pressed Trump for More Nuclear Funding.

IRAN. Iran would return to 2015 nuclear agreement if Europe would provides “meaningful” economic benefits.

INDONESIA. High levels of radioactivity in housing complex, Jakarta National Nuclear Energy Agency urges calm.

ALGERIA.  Algeria’s radioactive legacy from France’s nuclear bomb tests.

INDIA. India’s problematic nuclear security.

AUSTRALIA. MPs Andrew Wilkie and George Christensen to UK to help free Julian Assange.  For Australia “business as usual”  on climate change will cost many $billions. Climate change extreme weather making parts of Australia uninsurable.

February 19, 2020 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

The week to 11 February in climate and nuclear news

I never want to minimise the nuclear perils. But, it is a dying industry, and can look irrelevant as news about the climate crisis continues to be revealed.

One thing about nuclear power – the mainstream media continues to mindlessly hype the industry as the climate solution, while in fact nuclear is the third highest carbon emitter after coal-fired plants and natural gas. Even if they were “zero carbon”, nuclear reactors would never be installed in time to make a difference.

CLIMATE – where to start? Combined environmental crises could trigger ‘global systemic collapse‘, scientists warn.  Some climate modelling is now predicting an unprecedented and alarming spike in global temperatures — perhaps as much as 5 degrees Celsius.   Ya know that things are getting serious when it hits industry and markets –  The northern hemisphere winter has been unusually mild: That’s making life difficult for oil and gas traders,

Antarctica posts a record high temperature. Arctic ice melt is changing ocean currents .  Coronavirus likely to be connected to climate change – bats the likely first vector. Fires and floods: Australia already seesaws between climate extremes – and there’s more to come. Delhi’s disaster – disappearing water supplies.

A little bit of good news – Nuclear energy exhibit to be closed, turned into clinic for doctor-hungry Yamaguchi town

Climate emergency plans must have a ‘no new nuclear’ clause.

Nuclear power went backwards in 2019, and the outlook is bleak.

Nuclear power and harm to animals.

Permafrost thawing -“fast and dramatic, affecting landscapes in unprecedented ways.

MALAYSIA. Malaysia – a definite NO to nuclear power.

USA. Trump’s budget – slashes foreign aid, but $billions more for nuclear weapons.  Presidential nuclear decision by Twitter: Trump confuses about policy on Yucca for waste dump. Rep. Newhouse and Trump at odds after tweets about dangerous nuclear waste disposal . Sea-level rise – an Unmanaged climate risks to spent fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants..

NORWAY. Norways Nuclear Naughtiness – Censored Secrets and Haldens Hurtful History.

SPAIN. Spain scraps controversial nuclear waste facility.

POLYNESIA. Polynesian MP calls on France for “vast project” to withdraw radioactive waste in Mururoa.

FRANCE. French President Emmanuel Macron seeks leading role in post-Brexit EU nuclear strategy.

JAPAN. The ” task force” stage of Olympic cancellation ?  Fukushima and the 2020 Olympics.  High-level radiation at Fukushima Daiichi No.2 reactor.

RUSSIA.  Russia ready to discuss nuclear weapon restrictions. Russian Orthodox Church rethinks its practice of blessing nuclear weapons.

CANADA. Ontario Power Generation says ‘no’ to proposed nuclear waste disposal site following opposition from Saugeen FN.

TAHITI. France drags its heel over nuclear compensation claims from Tahiti.

February 11, 2020 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »