nuclear-news

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

To 30 October – nuclear news

On October 24, seven Catholic peace activists were convicted on all counts for their 2018 protest against nuclear weapons. They face 20 years in gaol. This case is symbolic of where we  are at  – in the nuclear weaponisation of our planet.  At the same time, Julian Assange, in solitary confinement in UK, faces extradition to USA and a life sentence- for exposing the truth on U.S. military atrocities.

Climate change is going to be even more costly than we thought. In California, the severity of wildfires signals the future climate situations.

A bit of good news – The cleanest waste-to-energy power plant in the world.

World Nuclear Waste Report (WNWR) to be launched 11th November.

A young Hannah Rabin was the peace movement’s Greta.

Over 300 financial institutions put $748 billion in to nuclear weapons companies.

The hazards of nuclear submarines.

Offshore wind to become a $1 trillion industry by 2040.

Science journalism – dominated by white males.

ARCTIC. Permafrost is now becoming a carbon emitter.

EUROPE. Press freedom in Europe is on the decline.

JAPAN. Warning on Fukushima fallout for Tokyo 2020 Olympians. Fukushima’s continued struggle with radioactive waste. New plan for dealing with Fukushima’s radioactive water. 340,000 to evacuate Fukushima, landslide fears(- and what about the nuclear waste bags?)

USA.

AFRICA. Desertification and Drought – Sahara.

CHINA. China Rejects Policy of Nuclear Launch on Warning of an Incoming Attack.

UK. Assange Lawyers Issue Stark Warning to Journalists Around the World. Governments manipulate social media – Twitter executive is a British army psychological operations officer.

Brexit’s threat to Scotland’s environmental protection. UK govt postpones decision on Wylfa nuclear project.  Protestors against Sizewell nuclear project get their message out, despite EDF’s blocking tactics.

SWEDEN. Sweden’s wind power to surpass nuclear this year.

FRANCE. France’s government demands that EDF fix Flamanville nuclear reactor within one month.

MARSHALL ISLANDS. National nuclear commission strategy for Marshall Islands.

SOUTH AFRICA. Misuse of funds in South Africa”s nuclear reactor project.

RUSSIA. Highly toxic nuclear waste being imported into Russia, from Germany.  Worrying legacy of radioactive trash under planned Moscow roadway. Russian obfuscation over nuclear accident is a dangerous precedent.

NORTH KOREA. North Korea exasperated with USA’s hostile policies and demands.

IRAN. Iran Looms Over Race to Lead U.N. Nuclear Agency.

October 30, 2019 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

This week’s nuclear and climate news

It seems that it takes the very young and the very old to grasp the world’s climate emergency, and have the guts to demonstrate this to the world. Greta Thunberg and her family are paying the price for her outspoken courage. David Attenborough, (in the past constrained by the BBC) now speaks boldly about the planet’s environmental crisis.

Nothing dramatically new in the nuclear area.

Freedom of information, press freedom, civil liberties, – might not be directly linked to climate/nuclear issues, -but, indirectly, they’re linked to everything. In London, a judge denies Julian Assange a delay in extradition hearings, as he, having been effectively in solitary confinement, struggles to meet the power and resources of the US government. His own country, Australia, spinelessly  backs the USA, as usual. Meanwhile the Australian media is launching a concerted campaign against Australia’s exceptionally repressive laws that target. journalists

2019 Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor report.

JAPAN. note. Apologies and correction re last week’s story – Hurricane Hagibis Spreads Fukushima Radiation (But No, 2,667 Bags of Decontaminated Waste were NOT Washed Away!)

Women make up 80 percent of cancer patients aged 20-39 in Japan, study shows. Distribution of highly radioactive microparticles in Fukushima revealed.  At Least 14 levees broke in Fukushima Prefecture.  Lies dominates typhoon Hagibis Diet debate response.

SOUTH KOREA. South Korea Brings Fukushima Radioactive Water Sea Dumping Issue at International London Convention and Protocol of Marine Pollution. Activists urge Japan to avoid Fukushima in Tokyo Olympics.

USA.

INDIA.  Determined opposition to nuclear expansion in India’s iconic tiger reserve. India keeps increasing its nuclear weaponry – aimed at Pakistan and China.

IRAN. Iranians losing trust that Western countries would keep faith with a nuclear deal.

RUSSIA. Russian nuclear submarine aborts ballistic missile test.

UK. More evidence of safety risks: Hunterston B nuclear reactors should be closed. Safety concerns over Berkshire nuclear weapons factories. Removal of highly radioactive material from 60 year old Dounreay Fast Nuclear Reactor (DFR).

TURKEY. Erdogan’s Ambitions Go Beyond Syria. He Says He Wants Nuclear Weapons. Turkey isn’t “holding 50 US nuclear weapons ‘hostage”. Removing a nuclear arsenal from Turkish soil is a necessary step in reducing a global danger.

ANTARCTICA. Radioactive chlorine from nuclear bomb tests still present in Antarctica.

AUSTRALIA.  Federal govt trying to con Australians that a national nuclear waste dump is a “local” not a NATIONAL ISSUE.

October 23, 2019 Posted by | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

To 15 October – nuclear news this week

Again – climate and nuclear news collide. In Japan, Typhoon Hagibis re-spreads nuclear contamination far and wide – nuclear workers at heightened risk. Low lying Marshall Islands, victim of nuclear testing, now declares a Climate Emergency.

Revealed by Wikileaks – facts about nuclear weapons and the nuclear industry.

Climate Scientists urge protestors to keep on going with Extinction Rebellion.  Google publicly decries climate change, privately donates to climate denialism.  Massive Carbon Tax is needed– International Monetary Fund.   U.N. officials on how Nuclear Power is irrelevant to climate action. The woman who was first to scientifically show, in 1856, how atmospheric C02 caused global warming.

The impossibility of nuclear power solving climate change. Mainstream media fails to cover news on military carbon emissions.

Physics Nobel Laureate predicts NO Migration to Other Planets.

JAPAN.

FRANCE. Soaring costs of France’s Flamanville project casts a blight on the global nuclear industry. EDF’s Flamanville nuclear project – more costs, more delays.  The million year problem – deep burial of nuclear wastes.

UK.

NORTH KOREA. North Korea threatens to resume nuclear, long-range missile tests.  A Partial North Korean Nuclear Agreement Is Better Than None at All.

SOUTH KOREA. Drones a threat to nuclear facilities.

INDIA. Continued strong public opposition to nuclear power in India.

RUSSIA.  Putin warns on the need for a new nuclear weapons treaty.  Russia and the quest for nuclear power in space.

TURKEY. USA anxiety over its nuclear weapons stashed in Turkey.

USA.

IRAN. Iran categorically opposes nuclear weapons – Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.  Urgent need for diplomacy with Iran.

PHILIPPINES. Senate to probe Philippine’s nuclear energy program.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. UAE cooperating with Russia to buy Russian nuclear fuel, minister.

SAUDI ARABIA. Russia ready to work with U.S. to build Saudi nuclear power plant – Rosatom.

ISRAEL. Submarine launched missiles in Israel’s probably 300 Nuclear Weapons.

October 15, 2019 Posted by | Christina's notes | 5 Comments

Nuclear news for first week of October

Radio Ecoshock, which (along with Paul Beckwith) I regard as the best information source about climate change, devoted its most recent programme to Australia. Australia does stand out – as both the “canary in the coal-mine”– for climate change, and as the top climate-denialist country.

In today’s Australian news I find an item which illustrates this. Australian country towns are in drought, losing their water supplies. But the national obsession with sport goes on. Thousands of litres of water were trucked in to the now waterless town of Pooncarie – to settle the dust on the race track, for the annual racing carnival.  Australia’s P.M. Morrison criticised Greta Thunberg, and Australia continues to take no real action on prevention of, or adaptation to, climate change.

Bill Gates is wrong. Nuclear power will not save the climate.

How nuclear power powers the bomb.

NORTH KOREA. USA – North Korea talks broke down, but USA calls them “good discussions”.  North Korea launches missile into waters near Japan days before nuclear talks set to resume with U.S.

IRAN. International Atomic Energy Agency reports improved cooperation with Iran.

INDIA. India and Pakistan sliding toward potential nuclear war.  Strong environmental opposition in India, to uranium mining and nuclear power.

USA.

CHINA. China buried nuclear waste in Sudan desert.

FRANCE. Nuclear company EDF denounced by France’s economy minister as a “state within a state”.

UK. Scrutiny on Britain’s nuclear plans: small modular reactors uncompetitive.

BANGLADESH. Russia’s manipulations in supplying Bangladesh with nuclear technology.

JAPAN. Nuclear Scandal Hangs Over Japan’s Abe as Parliament Opens. Bribery scandals in Japan’s nuclear power sector. Statement of opinion of a resident of the city of Date, Fukushima Prefecture, presented to the Tokyo Regional Court.

SAUDI ARABIA.  Saudi King’s Personal Bodyguard Killed Because He Knew Too Much

October 7, 2019 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear news – last week of September

Greta Thunberg gave an impassioned speech at the United Nations Climate Summit, It has resulted in some quite vicious media attacks on her, while it has highlighted the inability of world leaders to take effective action to stop or slow global heating.

It has also sparked a new burst of climate denialism. Nevertheless, science persists in uncovering the unwelcome facts.  The French National Center for Scientific Research has just released a report warning that  Earth could warm 7 degrees C by the year 2100. Numerous scientific bodies warn on increasing greenhouse gases, and increasing pace of global heating.

The World Nuclear Energy Status Report 2019 was launched on September 24. Some brief notes on its findings are here. They indicate that the commercial nuclear industry is in decline.

AUSTRALIA

CLIMATE. Sir David Attenborough slammed the Australian government’s response to climate change. Scott Morrison and Donald Trump happily together against action on climate change.  Scott Morrison on climate change: he just doesn’t “get it. Behind closed doors: Australia pushes reputation as world’s leading fossil fuel dealer.    Minerals Council of Australia makes global top 10 climate policy opponents.  Australian schoolgirl attends United Nations Youth Climate Summit.

NUCLEAR. 50+ groups sign joint civil society statement on domestic nuclear power.  Submission for the public good: to Federal Nuclear Inquiry – Noel Wauchope.    Lyn Allen and Richard Ledger’s nuclear submission – for the public good.  Nuclear submarines for Australia? Dangerous, would require costly taxpayer insurance.   NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro wants to “normalise”nuclear power.

Nuclear waste dump ballot to go ahead in Kimba, South Australia.

RENEWABLE ENERGY. Clean Energy Finance Corporation and National Farmers Federation back ready-made clean energy solutions for Australian farmersTwo huge renewable hydrogen projects planned for Queensland. Small but “smart” Kanowna solar farm comes on line in northern NSW. Australia’s main grid copes just fine with minimal amount of coal.

INTERNATIONAL

Leaders of world’s largest emitting economies do not have real plans to meet goal of net zero emissions.

Nuclear weapons an unacceptable danger to humanity – U.N.Secretary-General António Guterres.

Weapons proliferation risk of nuclear power in space.

Climate change makes nuclear waste even more of a deadly threat.  Nuclear power is on the skids: it’s really not going to help address climate change.  Nuclear energy too slow, too expensive to save climate: report .

Uranium industry in permanent collapse? And thorium industry probably no better.

IRAN. Iran prepared to make a new nuclear agreement with Trump.

UK.

RUSSIA.  Russia’s deadly explosion in August has awakened Russians to the nuclear danger.  The worst nuclear disaster you’ve never heard of.

USA. Nuclear power’s future is threatened by a mix of solar, wind and batteries.  Shadowy sources, dark money, funding Chinese conspiracy ads against Ohio’s nuclear referendum.

JAPAN.

TAIWAN. Taiwan warns Japan over radioactive water release.

SOUTH KOREA.  Exasperation in South Korea as US-North Korea nuclear talks are failing.   S. Korea slams Japan’s actions over Fukushima plant water crisis.  Dispute between Japan and South Korea, over radiation levels in Fukushima food exports.

MARSHALL ISLANDS. A rude concrete sign indicates a deadly truth about nuclear radiation and cancer.

PACIFIC ISLANDS. Pacific Island nations urge action on climate change at UN.

CHINA. China ‘poised to unveil new nuclear missile’ at military parade in warning to Trump.

INDIA. India has 130 to 140 nuclear warheads—and more are coming, according to a new report. Should the world worry?

AUSTRALIA. 50+ groups sign joint civil society statement on domestic nuclear power.  Sir David Attenborough slammed the Australian government’s response to climate change. Scott Morrison and Donald Trump happily together against action on climate change.  Scott Morrison on climate change: he just doesn’t “get it. Behind closed doors: Australia pushes reputation as world’s leading fossil fuel dealer.    Minerals Council of Australia makes global top 10 climate policy opponents.  Australian schoolgirl attends United Nations Youth Climate Summit.

September 30, 2019 Posted by | Christina's notes | 3 Comments

Nuclear and climate news – to 23 September

It’s been an important week for the world’s climate. Today, the world’s leaders meet in New York for a Climate Action Summit. The United Nations is trying to pressure the world into faster action on climate change.  On Friday, millions, led by children demonstrated in cities around the world, for action, for abandoning fossil fuels https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXXAkt2492c. I was at the Melbourne protest, and I have never seen a rally so massive, paralysing the central business district.  So many children! It’s their future.

Some good news – The ozone layer is repairing – international co-operation pays off.

Nature is being exterminated: the Climate Strikes are just the beginning of our fight back. Climate Emergency – ‘We’re losing the race’. From space, the human impact on the Amazon is clearly visible. The good, the bad and the ugly: the nations leading and failing on climate action.

The health impacts of climate change.

Rising temperatures, rising seas – the growing climate change menace to nuclear power.

The catastrophe that would be a “limited nuclear war“. Dramatic rise in the risk of a US-Russia nuclear war, which would kill mega millions.

The ‘advanced’ nuclear power sector is dystopian.

ANTARCTICA. Surface melting causes Antarctic glaciers to slip faster towards the ocean.

USA. Investigative journalism – Humboldt Bay – a case study in how not to involve the community in cleanup of a dead nuclear reactor nuclear.

RUSSIA. New nuclear weapons that could make continents uninhabitable.

IRAQ. Iraqi children with congenital disabilities caused by depleted uranium.

CANADA. Canada’s Conservative and Liberal politicians in the service of the nuclear lobby, not the Canadian people. Ontario’s secretive role in helping Trump to nuclear weaponise Space.

UK. Ever cheaper wind energy a big threat to UK’s nuclear white elephants. Strong environmental case to scrap Bradwell B new nuclear build.  Opposition in Suffolk to Sizewell nuclear plan, which hugely threatens wildlife. Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) see Revenue Asset Base (RAB) financial model as a danger to UK’s public purse.   More robots needed to clean up nuclear trash at Sellafield UK.

JAPAN. Despite previous warnings, and findings, court finds Tepco executives not guilty after Fukushima nuclear disaster. Japan is  lying about the Fukushima nuclear disaster as it promotes the 2020 Olympic Games. Japan says Dumping Fukushima’s Radioactive Water Into Pacific Ocean Is ‘Only Option. Japan’s Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi hopes son will push for abandonment of nuclear power.

FRANCE. Faulty parts found in a number of France’s nuclear reactors. Iodine tablets for 2.2 million people in France.

AUSTRALIA. In Australia, millions unite in 40 organisations to say NO to nuclear power.

ISRAEL. Israel’s duplicity about its nuclear weapons.

TURKEY. Turkey’s Foreign Minister explains hurdles in Turkey’s path to nuclear weapons.

INDONESIA. Nuclear lobby’s keen propaganda campaign in Indonesia.

NORWAY. Nuclear freighter’s Arctic voyage sparks fear in Norway.

September 23, 2019 Posted by | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

To 17 September Nuclear and (some) climate news

This newsletter is intended to be about matters nuclear. It IS, BUT, again this week, climate change is the overwhelmingly big issue. I cannot do justice to it at all. Thank goodness, we have Covering Climate Now, and other great media, taking up the cause.

A bit of good news – What Was Once One of the Most Polluted Landscapes on Earth Now Has Some of the Cleanest Air in the Region.

The poles in climate crisis, and that includes “third pole” the Mingyong glacier. Forest fires destroying vital buffer against climate change. UN warns that climate crisis is the greatest ever threat to human rights.

Frightening new simulation of a US-Russia war triggered by one ‘tactical’ nuclear weapon.

The danger of government secrecy and cover-ups: Kate Brown’s “Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future” illuminates the truth about radioactive legacy of nuclear industry.

How to warn distant future generations about nuclear waste?

UN Move the Nuclear Weapons Money campaign calls for divestment.

The ‘advanced’ nuclear power sector is fuelling climate change, and Weapons of Mass Destruction. Much touted “advanced” nuclear reactors nonexistent and just not practical. The costs and the risks are too great. Small nuclear reactors safe? Not so.

UK. “The Guardian” co-opted by UK security services? Julian Assange to remain behind bars. Unacceptable risk to consumers: “regulated asset base” system to fund UK’s new nuclear reactors.  Forest to be chopped down for Sizewell C nuclear project, though project approval not yet complete.  UK continues to pour tax-payers’ money into (non-existent) Small Modular Nuclear Reactors.

RUSSIA. Russia’s Floating Nuclear Power Plant Arrives At Far East Base Pevek.  Why Russia’s first atomic submarines were a nuclear nightmare. Russia’s nuclear torpedoes at the bottom of the sea.

UKRAINE. An emigrant’s memory of Chernobyl.

JAPAN. Japan’s New Environmental Minister Calls for Closing Down All Nuclear Reactors to Prevent Another Disaster Like Fukushima. Japan says TEPCO will dump more than 1 million tons of radioactive water from Fukushima nuclear plant into Pacific Ocean.  Plan to Release Radioactive Fukushima Wastewater Into Pacific Ocean Panned by Critics.

USA.

FRANCE. Fears of nuclear closures in France, as welding faults found in more nuclear reactors. France’s loyalty to the nuclear industry is now fading.

CHINA. China’s plans for a nuclear-powered icebreaker ship. China might come to regret its gamble on a nuclear future.

IRAN. UN urges Iran to co-operate with UN regulatory agency.

NORTH KOREA. North Korea willing to resume negotiations, wants USA to take a fresh approach.

SAUDI ARABIA. Saudi Arabia Plans To Enrich Uranium.

September 16, 2019 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Climate and Nuclear News This Week

In an extraordinary article in the New Yorker, Jonathan Franzen predicts that the climate apocalypse is now inevitable, and that main goal should preparation rather than prevention. He makes a persuasive argument, but has aroused the ire of climate scientists.

In nuclear news, the problem of Russia’s recent nuclear explosion lingers, as abandoned boats and beaches near the accident area are found to have high levels of radiation.   Also lingering are the catastrophic effects of radiation and chemical poisons unleashed on Iraq, with thorium, a product of depleted uranium decay, still causing birth defects.

Global catastrophe ever closer as nuclear arms race revs up.

‘All of us are in danger’: John Pilger delivers warning from Julian Assange.

UN warns on need for global action – treaty – as the world’s oceans are in dire trouble.

JAPAN.

RUSSIA. A small nuclear reactor was definitely the cause of the Russian missile engine explosion. Akademik Lomonosov — the first floating nuclear power stations – both a nuclear and a climate danger. Safety and security preparations for remote Prevek as floating nuclear power plant enters East Siberian Sea.

UKRAINE. The radioactive fallout from Chernobyl continues to impact lives.

USA.

CENTRAL AMERICA. Emigration from Central America is driven by climate change.

UK. UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) gives incorrect information on Calder Hall. County Council rejects plans for transport of Hinkley Point A nuclear wastes through Somerset. Nuclear power is uninsurable. Britain’s Sizewell C and Bradwell B are not done deals.

FRANCE. Europe’s record heat linked to climate change. Deaths in France. France pledges to press Iran to comply with nuclear deal.

BANGLADESH. Excessive costs of nuclear power for Bangladesh.

BELGIUM. No more room for Belgium’s nuclear waste .

CHINA. Nuclear waste problem to be explored by China, in giant underground lab.

September 9, 2019 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

This week’s nuclear and climate news

It’s not that climate change is getting any better – it’s just that there were fewer news articles about it this week. There was a pretty desperate call from Pope Francis for governments to act.

One weather news item that is getting a lot of coverage is Hurricane Dorian -. not necessarily caused by climate change, but exacerbated by it. It’s of particular interest because of the St. Lucie and Turkey Point nuclear power stations on alert in Florida, potentially in its path. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YERxqsFXRQ0

August, the month when we remember the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,– has been an ominous month for bringing us all closer to World War 3. Donald Trump moved to trash all the nuclear arms agreements, that might put the brakes on international conflict.  Pentagon experts recommended Artificial Intelligence to control nuclear weapons. There have been at least 3 occasions when the imagination and intuition of a human being has just narrowly saved the world from a nuclear holocaust. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGsrO3klcAs

A bit of good news. Spanish group gives summer holidays to kids from Chernobyl’s polluted region.

Climate change is destabilising the Earth’s marine environment. ‘12 Years to Act on Climate Change’ – what does this really mean?

Nuclear winter – the global threat to life.   A freezing and deathly aftermath would follow a US-Russian nuclear war.

They are trying to break Julian Assange “physically and psychologically”. Injustices to Julian Assange in British prison. (Why is Australia making a huge fuss about an Australian detained in China, but ignoring Assange?)

BRAZIL. International calls for urgent action on climate, as new fires rage in Amazon forests.

JAPAN. Nearly 17 Tons of Radioactive Materials Detected in Japanese Food Imports. The danger of sourcing food and material from the Fukushima region.  Radioactive sushi: Japan-South Korea spat extends to Olympic cuisine.  South Korea concerned over food safety at Olympics with events slated for Fukushima.

Fukushima tragedy: The day of black snow. Japan says no specific decision yet on disposal of Fukushima radioactive water.  New tactics from TEPCO to get Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP reopening approval.

USA. 

UK. Expert on birds warns of environmental catastrophe if UK’s planned Sizewell nuclear station goes ahead. A report corrects Sellafield nuclear damage to Ireland scenario from the UK.

INDIA. Tensions between India and Pakistan, as India contemplates abandoning its No First Use policy on nuclear weapons.

FRANCE.  France’s plan for a Generation IV nuclear reactor bites the dust.  France’s sodium-cooled fast Nuclear reactor turns out to be a dud. Cancelled.  The rocketing costs of Jules Horowitz materials testing reactor (JHR) hastened the demise of the Astrid fast nuclear reactor project.  The Flamanville EPR nuclear reactor – a nightmare site for EDF. “Chernobyl on the Seine” – Marie curie’s radioactive legacy.

IRAN. Iran’s President Rouhani talks with Emmanuel Macron, warning on reducing nuclear commitments.

RUSSIA. U.S. intelligence assessment – Russia’s Mystery Nuclear Explosion Occurred During Missile Recovery at Sea.  Trump’s friendliness with Putin makes it hard for NATO to do anything about Russia’s weapons tests and radioactive explosion. Examining the radioactive isotopes from Russia’s mystery explosion. Russia Spreads Influence in Africa Using Nuclear Power.

NORWAY. Nuclear Norway: Halden spiralling costs and no home for the radioactive waste.

CANADA. Canada didn’t sign the UN nuclear ban treaty, but can still take up its humanitarian provisions .

September 2, 2019 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

To 27 August – the week in nuclear and climate news

The thing about climate change is –  it’s all happening faster than we expected!  Only a few days ago, MEDIA MATTERS was highlighting the way that mainstream media was practically ignoring the Amazon forest fires. That is changing. World leaders are now alert to this international tragedy.The Amazon fires bring to the fore the awful dilemma facing climate scientists in telling the public the truth about the world’s climate crisis.

The recent Russian nuclear accident cast a bit of gloom over Russia’s launching of its floating nuclear reactor for the Arctic region. Questions are still flying around about the radioactive illnesses and deaths involved in that accident. Also – a general recognition of the Russian government’s record of secrecy about nuclear accidents.

I suspect that the USA and UK nuclear industries are getting pretty desperate about their commercial future, and the necessity to export new nuclear technology.   There’s a hasty push going on in Australia to buy Small Modular Nuclear Reactors. In a rater undignified rush, there are no less than 4 separate Parliamentary Nuclear Inquiries going on, with abnormally short times permitted for Submissions.

Distinguished scientist Martin Rees – world must fight climate change, don’t waste tax-payers’ money on space travel.

Massive wildfires are burning across the world- July was hottest month ever.  New fires – hundreds – in Amazon rainforests. Life on Earth threatened by climate change – loss of Amazon Forests.

Sea level rise only half the story – climate change is altering ocean waves.

Chinese Academy of Sciences warns on the safety hazards of new nuclear .

JAPAN. Hiroshima Round Table’s urgent appeal to save nuclear agreements.  International concern growing over Fukushima’s radioactive contamination of surface-level soil. Warning on radiation risks at some parts of Fukushima, for Olympic Games 2020. Controversy over radiation and heat surrounding Tokyo Olympics.  The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster and Its Tragic Aftermath.

GREENLAND. Who will clean up America’s nuclear wastes in Greenland?

ICELAND. Funeral for the first glacier lost to climate change.

USA.

EUROPE. 18 nuclear power plants in the EU are operating without a valid license.  Wind and rooftop solar could meet most of EU electricity needs. Renewables – onshore wind from Europe– enough to power the world.

IRAN. Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif visits G-7 Summit. Iran working productively with France, to save nuclear deal,

RUSSIA.

UK. Brexit proving a problem for the nuclear industry – shortage of welders for Hinkley Point C project.  Cumbria councillors worried at “regulated asset base” plan for residents to pay in advance for new nuclear build. Dismay at safety risks of restarting Hunterston Nuclear Reactor 4.  UK Office of Nuclear Regulation seems to have increased the number of cracks permitted in Hunterston nuclear reactor. Rolls-Royce in talks to sell French nuclear business to Framatome.

SOUTH KOREA. South Korea to increase radiation testing of Japanese food.  South Korea might make own food arrangements for Fukushima Olympic events.  South Korea demands answers over Fukushima radioactive water eventual sea dumping.

NORTH KOREA.  Kim Jong-un oversaw test of ‘super large multiple rocket launcher.    Toxic leak from North Korea’s nuclear programme.

UKRAINE. Bitcoin Hackers Charged As Nuclear Power Plant Security Compromised.

SOUTH AFRICA. South Africa scraps Russian nuclear plant plans.

CHINA. China dominates worldwide solar and wind energy generation.

August 26, 2019 Posted by | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

The week in nuclear news – to 19 August

The repercussions of the Russian explosion at a missile test centre continue. However, the radiation release was brief, and did not extend beyond the region, and not to neighbouring countries. There was confusion and secrecy following the explosion and Russian doctors were kept in the dark about patients being nuclear accident victims.

Attention has moved to questioning the missile project, – a mystery new nuclear weapon, dubbed Russia’s ‘flying Chernobyl’. What is clear, is that, in the month when we commemorate the nuclear tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,  – the world, led by Donald Trump, is ripping up arms control measures, and ramping up nuclear weapons development.

I haven’t been able to keep up with the news on climate change –  extreme weather events in various countries, the UN report including humanitarian effects, the costs, injustices, and inability to meet the goal of confining temperature rise to 1.5 C. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHdcpxmJ6vg   In a powerful symbol, Iceland holds a funeral for the first glacier lost to climate change.

A bit of good news: a win for Aboriginal people in the abandonment of uranium mining in Australia’s Northern Territory. Mirrarr people to lead the Kakadu region’s transition.

Investigative journalism:  Australian investigative journalist Mark Davis explodes the myths around Julian Assange. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZkyLoaMvRg

Climate change killing nuclear power? nuclear reactors can’t cope with water needs, as temperatures rise.

Cyber wars – as dangerous and deadly as nuclear wars ? Warning of  10 year totally dark Earth. – after a nuclear war between the US and Russia.

The Anthropocene is not an epoch. It’s a passing blink in geological time.

ARCTIC. Melting Ice Everywhere — Arctic Sea Ice Extent Hit New Record Lows in Late July and Early August.  Arctic sea ice could disappear completely through September if temps increase 2 degrees.

USA.

RUSSIA. Russia says small nuclear reactor blew up in deadly accident.    Russian Region Orders Gas Masks After Deadly Nuclear Blast. ‘Dirty bomb’: Mystery Russian ‘superweapon’ kills five.  Russia Testing Nuclear-Powered Mega-Torpedo Near Where Deadly Explosion Occurred.  USA abandoned the Nuclear-Powered Missile long ago due to its extreme danger. It seems that Russia just tried it again.     Russia’s fast nuclear reactor project is postponed.

JAPAN. Anxiety over risks of radiation and heat at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Fukushima: Nuclear-contaminated water raises 2020 Games site fears.  Swim marathon: Tokyo 2020, FINA watching water quality, temperature. Japan’s govt urges Fukushima evacuees to return – in drive to promote 2020 Olympics.   Will the propaganda ploy – the Tokyo 2020 Olympics really revitalise the nuclear industry and Fukushima?

Fukushima Daiichi’s radioactive water to run out of tanks in 2022.  Japan to resume effort to tackle contaminated water problem at Fukushima.   Tepco toughens stance toward nuclear disaster damages settlement. Fukushima students speak on 2011 disaster in Berlin.

SOUTH KOREA. South Korea Wary of Japan’s Plans to Dump Fukushima Daiichi Radioactive Water into the Pacific.

KASHMIR. Kashmir – a “nuclear flashpoint“?

PAKISTAN. Pakistan’s “triad” of nuclear weaponry.

INDIA. India ponders changing its “no first use” nuclear weapons policy.     Implications for India if it revokes its No First Use nuclear weapons policy.

UKRAINE. HBO “Chernobyl”series grasped the truth about the conditions that led to the disaster.

UK. Hinkley nuclear project: UK govt faces questions about involvement of US export blacklisted Chinese firm. Revealed: mental health crisis at Hinkley Point C nuclear construction site. UK’s nuclear waste plans – squabbles in a local Council. No it wasn’t the wind turbines that caused a UK blackout.

CHINA. Li Yang’s photography of 404: China’s abandoned nuclear city. Solar power is now cheaper than grid electricity in cities across China.

GERMANY. Germany shows how it can lead the world in neatly shutting down nuclear power.

SAUDI ARABIA. Saudi Arabia wind farm claims world record low energy cost.

August 19, 2019 Posted by | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

To August 12 – nuclear news this week

NUCLEAR. This week , the spotlight has been on Russia, as conflicting and ambiguous reports come out, about a Russian rocket test explosion that caused radiation levels to spike in the Arkhangelsk region. The Russian nuclear agency Rosatom finally admitted its involvement. Russia honours as ‘national heroes’ the 5 nuclear scientists who died in this suspected secret testing of a nuclear-powered cruise missile.

CLIMATE. While governments and the older generation in general continue on their merry way with business as usual, young people are ever more concerned about climate change. It’s THE issue at this week ‘s International Congress of Youth Voices, in Puerto Rico.  High school students are organising Youth Climate Strikes.    Why stay in school if our planet will die?

How the viewing public was ‘protected’ from seeing what the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombing did to people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uas1WtocwOo  Hiroshima nuclear bombing, and the birth of the Doomsday Clock.

Another expensive nuclear weapons race about to take off. Putin And Trump are ‘normalising’ the increasing numbers, and the use, of nuclear weapons.

Wildfire cloud study sheds light on the processes of ‘nuclear winter”

Harm to astronauts’ brains from space radiation.

Even the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)  is concerned about radioactive trash management from Small Modular Nuclear Reactors.

JAPAN.

RUSSIA.

Putin’s silence on mysterious radiation accident. Test rocket explosion causes radiation spike in northern Russian city.   Two accidents involving Russia’s military. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK_WDxjhu0Y  Nuclear fuel carrier “Serebryanka” is still at anchor near Russian military test site.  Naval base is on mysterious lockdown after an accidental missile explosion  Scientists found evidence that Russia covered up – a major nuclear accident in 2017.

Barents Observer report on Russian nuclear reactors in the Arctic. Russia’s planned dangerous expansion into the Arctic with nuclear icebreakers, Rosatom in control, increasing climate change.

KASHMIR. India and Pakistan on Hair-Trigger Nuclear Alert Over Kashmir.  Pakistan on the brink again, as India abolishes self-rule for Kashmir.

ARCTIC. Anxiety over Russian nuclear power plant afloat in Arctic.

MURUROA. Health research on descendants of Pacific nuclear veterans.

NORTH KOREA. It’s realistic to accept North Korea as a nuclear state.

USA.

UKRAINE. Chernobyl ‘sarcophagus” on the verge of collapse.

CHINA. China’s nuclear policy.  China buried nuclear waste in Sudan desert.

UK. Three British nuclear submariners sacked over cocaine use.

THAILAND. Government under pressure with growing opposition to nuclear reactor plan.

AUSTRALIA  Three  Parliamentary Nuclear Inquiries are now underway, with short deadlines for submissions. (You can bet that the nuclear lobby’s well-paid shills have sent theirs in already.) National Radioactive Waste Management Facility Taskforce’s heavy-handed, repressive, approach to community consultation. It’s even more undemocratic than the one in Wales

GERMANY. Tower of German nuclear station demolished. The plant was on line for only 13 months.

August 12, 2019 Posted by | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

Hiroshima – Nagasaki week – nuclear news

There’s a not at all funny irony in that significant nuclear weapons decisions have been made by USA and Russia in this anniversary week.    USA formally withdraws from nuclear treaty with Russia and prepares to test new missile. Putin warns that Russia will follow if USA develops new nuclear missiles. A dangerous nuclear arms race likely to follow, if the New Start Treaty is not renewed.  USA Democrats struggle with Senator Elizabeth Warren and others’ determination to change America’s present “presidential first use” policy, and make it official U.S. policy not to be the first to use a nuclear weapon.

Intense heat waves have swept Europe this summer, breaking temperature records in at least a dozen countries. Scientists have warned that the world should expect more scorching heat waves and extreme weather due to climate change.   July confirmed as the world’s hottest month ever recorded.

Samantha Smith – a 10 year old who acted to reduce nuclear weapons.

The Myths, the Silence, and the Propaganda That Keep Nuclear Weapons in Existence.  Collapse of the INF treaty could be followed by the expiry of New Start.     What Exactly Is Nuclear ‘No First Use’?

Nuclear power will ‘lumber into extinction,’ ex-regulator says.  Nuclear power has never been financially viable.

Major problem for astronauts – radiation damages mood and memory?

UKRAINE. Belarus’ forgotten children – victims of Chernobyl’s nuclear radiation.

JAPAN.

USA. 

MARSHALL ISLANDS. Radiation Levels Higher in Marshall Islands Than in Chernobyl. Marshall Islands to survey leaking nuclear dome.

FRANCE. Another French nuclear plant having difficulties due to hot weather and poor river flow. Climate change continues to affect France’s nuclear power industry.

RUSSIA. Sunken Soviet Sub leaking high levels of radiation, Norwegian researchers say.The nuclear disasters that we don’t hear about – The Kyshtym Disaster.  Russia’s coverup of 2017 nuclear accident in the Ural mountains.   The nuclear accidents we don’t hear about – Soviet Submarine K-19.

INDIA. Kashmir, nexus of conflict between nuclear antagonists India and Pakistan, faces crackdown, plunges into fear.

UK. The nuclear disasters we don’t hear about – The Windscale Fire.

IRELAND. Overwhelming arguments against nuclear power for Ireland.

BRAZIL. The nuclear accidents we don’t hear about – The Goiânia Accident.

CANADA. The nuclear accidents we don’t hear about – Chalk River Ontario.

BELGIUM. Belgium broke law but can keep nuclear plants open, EU court rules.

UK. Brexit: nuclear medicine at risk from no-deal. UK union unhappy with financing plan for new nuclear power plants.  Concern in Suffolk over the socio-economic and environmental effects of massive Sizewell nuclear project.

August 6, 2019 Posted by | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

Week to 31 July in nuclear news

Oh it’s climate again! How can we ignore it?  This time, it’s not just the heat-waves across the Norther hemisphere, but the effects of that hot air moving to the Arctic. Greenland and the Arctic in general, are headed for a record sea ice melt.  It will be an unprecedented ice loss – ultimately rapid loss will lead to rising sea levels.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E6PazzbEoA&t=23s

Nuclear news?   There doesn’t seem to be much. Is that because the important stuff is kept secret, or at best, pretty quiet?   Russia is the best at this.  Now it is revealed, by an international team of scientists, that in September 2017 there must have been a nuclear accident at the Mayak nuclear reprocessing facility in Southern Russia. It’s the only feasible explanation for the cloud of Ruthenium-106 across Europe in late September.

New economic research discusses nuclear power’s real costs – ‘seven decades of economic ruin’. (a brief report on this is here)

Bits of good news – International kindness to Chernobyl children from radiation-contaminated areas – but more help is needed.  For First Time Ever, Scientists Identify How Many Trees to Plant and Where to Plant Them to Stop Climate Crisis

‘Thermal limits’ – extreme heat effects on the body

The horrors of nuclear weapons testing – 460,000 premature deaths.

New report: nuclear energy cannot be classified as “clean”, nor as economic.

ARCTIC.  Unprecedented wildfires in the Arctic release huge CO2 to the atmosphere.

PACIFIC ISLANDS. Bikini Atoll, site of nuclear bomb testing, still 10 times more radioactive than Chernobyl.

JAPAN.

Toxic water level at Fukushima plant still not under control. 17 years needed to send treated Fukushima water into sea: expert. Robots the only hope for highly radioactive areas in wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The ghost towns in Fukushima Prefecture.   Is Fukushima Safe for the Olympics?  Olympic Games as PR to change the image of Fukushima and its radiation problems. Anti-Olympics groups want more attention put on event’s downfalls.   Opponents want Olympic money used to rebuild Fukushima. The 2020 Olympics may become a disaster. Tokyo’s 2020 Olympics are showing the nightmare waiting for L.A. in 2028.    Asahi’s ‘Fukushima beer’ launch invites South Korea scorn.

Mothers’ group in Kyoto hosts Fukushima preschoolers, parents for retreat.  Beach in Fukushima Prefecture reopens for first time since 2011 disasters. Temporal variation of radionuclides contamination of marine plants on the Fukushima coast after the East Japan nuclear disaster. TEPCO to decommission all four reactors at Fukushima Daini.

International Symposium for Peace: The Road to Nuclear Weapons Abolition.  Nuclear-Free Forum in Japan calls for worldwide end to nuclear power. Churches aim for joint church action to end nuclear energy.

IRAN. Constructive talks between Iran and Europe, but no definite result. Iran links tanker row to nuclear deal.  Iran intends to restart activities at Arak heavy water nuclear reactor.

MIDDLE EAST. Heading for a Nuclear and Ballistic Missile Arms Race in the Middle East.

USA. Investigative journalism –  How did Ohio’s nuclear industry get a $1.1billion bailout? –dark money did the job! Ohio takes a backward leap, as Ohio Governor Signs Coal and Nuclear Bailout at Expense of Renewable Energy,

UK. Surprise surprise! UK’s New Prime Minister Boris Johnson is a big fan of the nuclear industry.

UK Nuclear Finance: From No Subsidies to Nuclear Tax. A layman’s guide to the ‘Regulated Asset Base’ that will fund Sizewell C nuclear power plant. Tax-payers still on the hook for UK’s planned ‘nuclear renaissance’. UK’s love-in with “an innovative funding model” does not hide the hideous expense of nuclear power.

Yet more delay at Flamanville nuclear debacle – doesn’t bode well for UK’s Hinkley Point C project.  UK government commits to ordering mini nuclear reactors from Rolls Royce.

Boris Johnson’s secret instructions on nuclear action.

UKRAINE.  The dreadful truth of Chernobyl radiation’s health and death toll is now coming out.

RUSSIA. The often forgotten nuclear disaster in Russia’s Ural Mountains. Fears about a Soviet-era nuclear waste site, on the planned route for a Moscow expressway.

CHINA.China absolutely clear on its policy of No First Use of Nuclear Weapons.

EUROPE.  Nuclear power losing its appeal in Eastern Europe. Soaring temperatures in Europe – risk of record ice melt in Greenland.

INDIA. India’s Govt prohibits mining of thorium and other atomic minerals by private entities  .

GERMANY  Germany’s Grohnde nuclear plant headed for shutdown, due to high temperatures. Renewable energy providing more electricity than coal and nuclear power combined in Germany.

NORTH KOREA. North Korea’s new submarine.

AUSTRALIA.   Australian Senate passes motion to retain Australia’s ban on nuclear power. Australia’s legal ban on nuclear power will remain, says Environment Minister Sussan Ley.

July 31, 2019 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear/climate news to July 23

Again – hard to focus on nuclear issues, as extreme climate events continue.  Africa is suffering from a crippling drought, as is Indonesia.  Europe Faces Another Record-Setting Heat Wave This Week . India cops both flooding and heatwaves. Record high temperatures in America. Australian writer Peter Boyer– outlines the plight not only of his country, but of countries across the globe.

Nuclear news – less  dramatic, but still important.    In USA and UK, how to fund nuclear development is the preoccupation of the industry. The State of Ohio is just about to finalise a vote for a dodgy plan that will subsidise its nuclear plants, while ending incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency. Meanwhile the UK plan is for consumers to pay upfront through energy bills, for new nuclear projects before they’re even built,  – and might not even be built.   Alas, we don’t have access to information on Russia and China, but it appears that both countries are more and more relying on selling nuclear reactors overseas, rather than making them economically viable at home.

America’s original moon plan was to explode a nuclear bomb on the moon.  A heightened solar cycle, by chance, reduced the exposure of Apollo astronauts to space radiation.   Future space travellers will be, in reality, radiation guinea pigs.

Dangerous nuclear arms race to follow, if New Start Treaty is not renewed. World security needs nuclear New Start agreement – USA-Russia, not a distraction about China.

July to be world’s hottest month on record.

UN nuclear watchdog chief Yukiya Amano dies at 72.

New research shows how low dose ionising radiation promotes cancer.

The radioactively polluted oceans.

MARSHALL ISLANDS.  New revelations on the very high radiation in the Marshall Islands.

IRAN. Iran makes ‘substantial’ nuclear offer in return for US lifting sanctions. Iran’s diplomatic offer on nuclear inspections meets with USA scepticism.  U.S. Slaps Sanctions On Nuclear Supply Network for Iran’s Enrichment Program.

NORTH KOREA. North Korea, angered by US military exercises, plans to resume nuclear, missile, tests.

JAPAN. 40 years, $2.5bn costs for 4 Fukushima Daini nuclear reactors to be shut down.   Fukushima Upper House candidates face cynical voters despite anti-nuclear platforms. Fukushima: The ‘100 times normal’ radiation area outside exclusion zone – ‘Worrying!’

FRANCE. Climate change continues to affect France’s nuclear power industry.  France’s nuclear reactors impacted by latest heat wave.   Swedish climate champion Greta Thunberg has received the first Freedom Prize in France.

GERMANY. Activists walk “cease and desist” order into nuclear weapons base.

USA.

GUAM.  New bill introduced in U.S. Congress will benefit Guam victims of radiation exposure

CHINA. China faces up to the pollution and radioactive waste problems of rare earths mining and processing.

UKRAINE.  Doubts on the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear reactors.    Vladimir Shevchenko – heroic photographer of Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti-WdTF2Qr8&t=3s

UK. Hinkley Pt nuclear station’s cooling system will mean massacres of fish.

TURKEY. A lot of safety worries for Turkey’s Akkuyu nuclear plant.

CANADA, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors – at least 10 years away – Canadian Nuclear Association.

EUROPE. Secret Locations of U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe revealed.

INDONESIA. Strong rejection of nuclear power for Indonesia.

RUSSIA. For the second time in a week, take-down of Russian nuclear reactors, due to malfunction. Uncertainty over safety of Russia’s floating nuclear power plants. Moscow’s Polymetals Plant’s slag heap – an intractable radioactive hazard=- could become Moscow’s Chernobyl?.

SOUTH AFRICA. The sorry history and sorry future of nuclear power in South Africa.

AUSTRALIA.  French journalists arrested while filming anti-coal activities.  How the Mirrar Aboriginal people, helped by environmentalists stopped uranium mining at Jabiluka.

July 23, 2019 Posted by | Christina's notes | 5 Comments

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