nuclear-news

This week’s nuclear/climate news, with a focus on ionising radiation

Try as I may, I can’t seem to make this weekly news roundup shorter. I don’t expect that people will read it all, or go to all links.  However, just the 3 top links here are very much worth reading. They deal with the subject of ionising radiation.  On October 7 Dr Helen Caldicott is speaking at Sydney Universityon this subject. Meanwhile the global nuclear lobby is intensifying its propaganda lie that ionising radiation is harmless.

1. Three Nobel Prize winners calculated the genetic damage of nuclear energy.
2. Biological Consequences of Nuclear Disasters: From Chernobyl to Fukushima.
3. Film ‘The Martian” gets it really wrong about ionising radiation.

CLIMATE CHANGE. Narrow window of opportunity to prevent rapid drastic fall in Antarctic ice sheets.

IRAN.  IAEA has completed its investigation of Iran’s nuclear past. Nuclear deal approved by Iran Parliament.

USA.

• ‘New Nuclear” lobby wants to weaken USA’s safety regulations.
• USA’s nuclear industry staggers to its tomb, as Pilgrim Station shuts down. Financial facts were the killer.  Closure of Pilgrim nuclear station opens a new era of costly, dangerous, radioactive trash clean-up.
• Threat of out of control fire to radioactive trash site.  Is the Missouri Landfill Fire a US Chernobyl or Fukushima in the Making?
• Burial of radioactive trash at San Onofre? NOT a good idea.
• The fight to preserve pure water in Nebraska from uranium mining contamination.
• Move for Grand Canyon Monument that would ban uranium mining.
• Dramatic fall in price of solar electricity.

UK.   Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) plan legal action against Hinkley nuclear power project. Britain fawns over Xi Jinping – preparatory to China taking over UK’s nuclear industry .   Security concern over China’s involvement in UK’s nuclear project   Overwhelming costs of Britain’s Trident nuclear submarines – cannot be measured. How UK govt helped the nuclear industry hide the truth on the Fukushima catastrophe.

FRANCE. Nuclear energy falls from France’s pride and joy, to its expensive source of woe.

SWEDEN  shutting down 2 nuclear reactors.

JAPAN. No evacuation plan, yet PM Abe restarts another Sendai nuclear reactor. Second nuclear reactor started at Sendai, despite public opposition.  Anxious about 2020 Olympics, Tepco to hasten ice wall project at Fukushima nuclear station.

SOUTH KOREA. Expansion of South Korea’s massive Kori Nuclear Power Plant near 3.4 million people – an insane plan.

INDIA. Record low price for solar power to be sold by Indian Government.

CHINA keen to market nuclear technology overseas.

KENYA. Remote Kenya will be connected to grid with Africa’s larges wind farm.

October 16, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

This week’s nuclear news

Study shows there is no safe low level of ionising radiation. Astronauts to Mars would get cancer from ionising radiation in space.

Exaggerated, inaccurate, reporting about nuclear smugglers. Smugglers tried to sell radioactive material to extremists.

Cyber security danger to nuclear stations.

Wikileaks released text of Trans Pacific Partnership – worrying sections about freedom of information.

CLIMATE CHANGE. International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde says now is the time for carbon tax.

European regulators approve nuclear waste plan – all too generous to the operators.

UK. Scotland’s Labour MPs join new labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, in supporting nuclear disarmament. Britain’s national embarrassment – the failing Hinkley nuclear white elephant. Nuclear power building – UK’s worry of China’s poor health and safety record. Serious questions about China’s involvement in Britain’s new nuclear power projects. Rating agencies warn EDF of downgrade, if they continue with Hinkley nuclear station plan.

JAPAN. Fukushima. Surge in thyroid cancers in Fukushima.  Radiation danger forces delay to inspection of Fukushima Unit 2 Containment.  Critical problem of Fukushima nuclear reactor No2 – where is molten core?  Nuclear contamination case against TEPCO is sent by police to prosecutors.  Chilling Fukushima photos by Arkadiusz Podniesinski.

RUSSIA.  The continuing scandal of Russia’s Mayak nuclear contamination – whistleblower seeks asylum in France. At least four Russian cruise missiles have crash-landed in Iran

USA.

• Bill Gates to export ‘new nuclear’ reactors to China, where the safety regulations are slacker.
• Examining Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s deceptive article about ending the cancer research.
• San Onofre site to get “concrete monolith” for high level radioactive trash – spent nuclear fuel. Secret deals to fleece ratepayers over costs of closing the San Onofre nuclear plant.
• Duke Energy very doubtful about new nuclear stations.
• Republican politicians trying to remove Wisconsin’s ban on new nuclear power stations.
• Fake parts sold for nuclear submarines.

FRANCE. France’s nuclear corporation AREVA is still there – only just. France hoping to get Japan to help save failed nuclear company AREVA.

SOUTH KOREA. Increasing public opposition to South Korean govt’s nuclear power policy.

SOUTH AFRICA. Impossible to fund South Africa’s nuclear power plan.

INDIA. A nuclear power plant project is stalled.

October 11, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

This week’s nuclear and climate news

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

Don’t fall for nuclear industry propaganda about radiation “hormesis” !

CLIMATE CHANGE.  Still possible to contain climate change: Paris UN conference will be critical.   Pope Francis’ US visit has triggered awareness of climate change as a moral issue.   Bank of England warns on climate change’s threat to global stability. Coming refugee crisis as sea levels rise on Pacific Islands.

JAPAN. Afraid about radiation, but afraid to speak out: Fukushima mothers. Japan’s coastal population: risks from radiation ignored by govt and IAEA. Death of heroic anti war photographer Kikujiro Fukushima. Fukushima’s Unitno.5 nuclear reactor was gravely endangered, IAEA finally admits. ‘Japanese govt creates illusion of normality at Fukushima’

GERMANY. Massive Protest Planned Against New Atomic Weapons In Germany.

UK.

• Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn opposes renewal of Trident nuclear weapons programme.
• PICAT – A Public Interest Case Against Trident, co-ordinated by Trident Ploughshares.
• Dr Ian Fairlea sets out the grim facts on costs at the end of the nuclear power chain.
• British media needs to wake up to the national scandal of the Hinkley nuclear project.
• British nuclear submarine stricken with technical problems off coast of Iran.
• Shetland Islands Council endorses Mayors for Peace call for nuclear weapons free world.

UKRAINE. Ukraine’s Nuclear Truth: No Free Speech. Energoatom Lawsuit Against Ukrainian Activists is the Latest Attempt to Stifle Public Debate Over Ageing Nuclear Reactors; Transboundary Impacts.

USA.

• Tick of approval for NRC’s decision to Restore Public Access to Information.
• Former Los Alamos worker counters the disinformation from the nuclear lobby .
• Storage of radioactive debris on beach near San Onofre nuclear facility!
• NBC4 investigates cover-up of Southern California nuclear disaster.
• Medical and Media Manipulation by Boeing, in cover-up of USA Nuclear Disaster.
• Nuclear lobby keen to ‘educate’ public.
• USA nuclear fans trivialise effects of nuclear bombing.

SWEDEN European court upholds Sweden’s right to tax nuclear power stations.

MARSHALL ISLANDS. Mururoa Nuclear Radiation Report Scheduled for October.  Alternative Nobel Prize  goes to Marshall Island’s nuclear challenger.

SOUTH AFRICA ‘s Treasury kept its nuclear work secret.

October 3, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Roundup of the week’s nuclear and climate news

The deck chairs at the Titanic Paris Climate Talks in December include a chair for EDF the giant French nuclear company, which is a sponsor of the conference.  Meanwhile in UK, the Thorium Nuclear lobby has got itself charity status.  The global nuclear lobby is working hard to win the world to its new, though yet non-existent, technologies. It is using 3 main lies:

LIE 1  “new nuclear solves the wastes problem”. For September  www.antinuclear.net and  www.nuclear-news.net have focused on that particular lie. LIE 2. “Low dose ionising radiation is harmless, even good for you” – a focus  for October. LIE 3. “nuclear solves climate change” – the focus for November.

• The real reason the Nuclear Regulatory Commission cancelled its cancer research.
• How the USA govt covered up a nuclear meltdown, and radiation pollution in Southern California.
• Pentagon Preparing War Plans for Baltic Battle Against Russia. 
• Privatisation of USA’s nuclear arsenal – wasteful, inefficient, irresponsible.
•  South Carolina to review law that allows nuclear utilities to charge rate-payers in advance.
• Salem nuclear plant cooling-water affecting the Delaware River.
• Pilgrim nuclear plant just too costly to keep running.

September 25, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

In the news this week – Nuclear and Climate

WORLD. Learn about these terrific films showing at Uranium Film Festival in Berlin. Russian who saved world from nuclear war.

IndependentWHO: Our demands to World Health Organisation.

Arab Bid to Monitor Israel’s Nuclear Sites Rejected at UN Atomic Agency.

MEDIA. Fukushima Sensationalism and Hoaxes

CLIMATE Climate change at a ‘turning point’ – could now move faster. Climate Risks from Nuclear Power. Radioactive Krypton 85: Atmospheric-Electrical and Air-Chemical Effects of Ionizing Radiation in the Atmosphere.

RENEWABLE ENERGY Renewable energy race – 5 developing countries fast ditching fossil fuels. 100% renewable energy achieved in city of Columbia, Maryland. Colorado city Aspen achieves 100% renewable energy. 500 MW Renewable Energy Plan for Alabama.

JAPAN ignores post Fukushima nuclear safety guidelines     JAPAN lifts evacuation orders on irradiated towns in preparation for 2020 Summer Olympics. Call by former Prime Minister Koizumi for a national anti nuclear movement. Unspoken Death Toll of Fukushima: Nuclear Disaster Killing Japanese Slowly.

Fukushima  Typhoon Etau flooded Fukushima Daiichi.  Strontium-90 density rose up 155 percent of the previous highest reading in the seaside of Reactor 2.  395 bags of tainted material washed away in floods. Tepco started discharging contaminated groundwater beside crippled reactor buildings. 850 tons of ‘decontaminated’ Fukushima water dumped into ocean.  Another Fukushima worker died / No media coverage. Solar farms in Fukushima.

FRANCE.French govt uses amendment to impose nuclear waste dump without parliament vote

UK.  Bloomberg Finance gives 5 good reasons not to build Hinkley nuclear station.  Lib Dem Leader Tim Farron Calls for Independent Investigation into Environmental Damage from Nuclear Industries. Britain’s nuclear plans: the Corbyn factor. U.S. Nuclear Missile Submarine Surfaces in Scotland. Is UK’s ‘white elephant’ nuclear power programme linked to nuclear weapons programme?

USA. Nuclear Regulatory Commission might back quack pro nuclear ‘science’ on ionising radiation!  Entergy’s FitzPatrick Nuclear Reactor next to bite the dust? Resentencing of USA’s nun who broke into nuclear weapons complex. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s scathing attack on the Koch brothers and corporate greed  How Charles Koch Prevents Clean Energy Businesses From Succeeding. Last bid to kill Iran nuclear deal blocked in Senate.  Former Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann wants USA to bomb Iran.

NORWAY Norway, Russia sign deal on nuclear accidents.

SOUTH AFRICA  fires key nuclear negotiator

NORTH KOREA Experts guessing about meaning of North Korea’s renewed nuclear threat.

INDIA. India: Dumping of Radioactive Water Imperils Mumbai; 9 Nuclear Scientists “Commit Suicide”

IRAN. How world health will benefit from Iran nuclear deal.

AUSTRALIA. Gets rid of worst ever Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, but govt nuclear and climate policies unchanged

September 18, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Nuclear and climate news wrap up for this week

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

SBS TV showed “The Sugar Conspiracy” on 6th Sept.  This documentary revealed the tactics of the International Sugar Association, in PR over decades, showing that fructose (sugar) does not cause dental decay, diabetes, obesity, heart disease. They convinced health authorities, governments, media, by spending $billions on propaganda that just shed doubton medical facts about fructose.

Familiar story?  the Tobacco corporations did the same thing – just shed doubt for decades, on the facts in cigarette smoking and lung cancer.  The Asbestos companies did it for decades about mesothelioma. The Fossil Fuel companies successfully shed doubt on the science about global warming.

The Sugar documentary just reminded me that all the Nuclear lobby needs to do, is to shed doubt on the science about ionising radiation. Just delay the truth – and keep on with the business!

Well – I digress, but I enjoyed it!

 WORLD

“Everything I was Dreaming of is Gone” — How Climate Change is Spurring a Global Refugee Crisis to Rapidly Worsen.

CSRP 2015 – The Fifth Citizen-Scientist International Symposium on Radiation Protection

International conferences in Hiroshima: call for disarmament measures isweakened by USA, Britain and Canada.

Nuclear lobby’s wishful thinking about Small Modular (SMR) and Generation IV reactors.

‘Climate Change Fix” chosen as 2015 theme by World Nuclear Association.

JAPAN.

• Record rain overwhelming Fukushima’s nuclear station’s drainage pumps.
• Fukushima Daiichi drainage system enters operation.
• Scrutinising Japan’s government PR about The Reopening Of Nahara Fukushima.
• Japan’s Monju nuclear reprocessing reactor, plagued by safety errors, offline for most of 20 years.  
• Significant setback to Japan’s #nuclear revival.
• In Japan’s hot summer, solar power ramped up its contribution to electricity.

KAZAKHSTAN’s disaster of dead animals near Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site.

FRANCE heading towards a nuclear industry phaseout?

USA. Outrageous decision of USA’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)to cancel research on cancer-nuclear links. Nuclear Regulatory Commissionprevents hearing on Fermi nuclear plant. Nuclear Regulatory Commissionscraps public rulemaking on weak GE containments. St Louis suburb anger about radioactive landfill. Washington State sues US Energy Dept over Hanford workers made sick by toxic fumes.

UK. EDF admits Hinkley Point Nuclear Station won’t be ready by 2023.

CHINA. Anxieties in China over the safety of the nation’s nuclear power programme.

ISRAEL. Nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu again under house arrest.  Vanunu discussed Israel’s nuclear program on primetime TV.

September 11, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Roundup of nuclear news this week

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

Three months until the Paris United Nations Climate Conference – November 30 to December 11

The cashed up nuclear lobby will be there promoting themselves as the world’s saviour from climate change, and pollution.

They will base this claim on 3 lies:

1. that new nuclear power will solve the wastes problem
2. that low dose ionising rdaiation is harmless, even healthy
3. that nuclear power is essential to combat climate change

I would love it if people would join  in examining and exposing those 3 lies.

For September the focus is on Lie No. 1

I see that the Nuclear Information and Resource Center has already a website for this:   http://www.nirs.org/cop21/dontnuketheclimate.htm

Much as I hate Facebook, I have started a Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/No-Nuclear-for-Paris-Climate-Action/1490419381255842 The more the merrier- perhaps.

Red Cross Red Crescent call for binding international agreement on nuclear disarmament.

OCEAN. Ken Buesseler, Jay Cullen, lead independent research into radiation in the Pacific Ocean

JAPAN   Ex-Fukushima No. 1 worker sues Tepco over cancer.  Despite Sendai restart, the outlook for Japan’s nuclear industry is poor. Miyagi residents physically block officials from surveying proposed nuke waste dump sites. Tochigi town residents rally against selection as candidate site for final disposal of radiation-tainted waste. How nuclear-free Japan made it through hottest summer yet without brownouts.

Fukushima:

• IAEA’s Fukushima Report Dangerously Downplays Ongoing Health Risks: Greenpeace.
•  Cs-134/137 density became the highest reading at 4 points inside and outside Fukushima plant port.
• Fukushima Staff to Start Pumping Radioactive Ground Water Away From Plant.
• Morphological defects found in Japanese fir trees around Fukushima nuclear plant.

USA. Key Democrat votes now ensure success in the Iran nuclear deal. USA’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission ignores Recommendation on Plans to Address a Core-Melt Accident.  Radiation testing by govt in 4 Bay area cities in USA, by low flying drones. A splurge of spin for NuScale’s Small Modular Nuclear Reactors. USA’s super costly new bomb could ignite anew arms race. Significant levels of thorium 230, a radioactive isotope found in USA residential area. USA’s Department of Energy finds that Disposal of plutonium – burial is cheaper than MOX processing.

GERMANY. German govt to change nuclear liability law – to make utilities pay up for nuclear exit costs.

UKRAINE. Ukraine’s Neo Nazi unit The Azov Battalion is training child soldiers, and getting USA funding.

S KOREA. Radioactive trash mounting in South Korea, with no solution in sight.

S AFRICA. Exposed: confidential agreement gives Russia unfair control over South Africa’s #nuclear project.

UK. UK govt pre-empts Parliament on more money for Trident nuclear weapons. Yet more delay for New Hinkley Point nuclear power station. UK under pressure to buy nuclear reactors – from GE/Hitachi, Westinghouse/Toshiba and Areva/Mitsubishi.

September 4, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Brief notes on this week’s nuclear, climate news

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

CLIMATE.  Mass climate action is needed as world readies for December Paris conference.  Forest fires out of control around Lake Baikal in Siberia. Drought-Fueled Wildfires Burn 7 Million Acres in U.S.

UK‘s Hinkley Point C nuclear station is now officially mothballed. Protest by 3 middle aged women costs nuclear firm €1million.

USA. Leaked review tells of ‘Significant Design Vulnerabilities’ at Hanford radioactive trash site.  Disposal of nuclear waste turning out to be half the cost of reprocessing with MOX fuel.  Escalating costs, expanding timelines, cast doubt on the future of modular nuclear construction.  Lockheed Martin used government nuclear money to lobby for more government nuclear money. St Louis suburb contaminated by radioactive thorium. New measures to promote rooftop solar, by President Obama.

JAPAN.  The Japanese Scientists’ Association joins strong public opinion against nuclear power. Sendai nuclear plant operator set to plug leaks in 5 cooling system pipes. Tepco bid to restart Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant stymied by governor.

Fukushima:

• Oshidori Mako Interviews Experts Regarding Excess Occurrence of Pediatric Thyroid Cancer in Fukushima. (very long, but very thorough)
• Persistence of radioactive caesium in ocean floor near Fukushima Daiichi.
• Fukushima operator’s mounting legal woes to fuel nuclear opposition.
•  Nuclear disaster evacuees promised 2017 return but ‘ineffective’ clear-up may take 200 years.

TAIWAN. Taipei prosecutors lose legal case against anti nuclear protestors.

August 28, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

The week that was, in nuclear and climate news

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

WORLD.   Ionising radiation:

• Concerted Uranium Research Europe (CURE) to conduct independent research on ionising radiation.
• International Research Team studies Fukushima contaminants in seafloor sediments.
• Nuclear bomb testing has resulted in radioactive polonium in seafoods.
• Unusual Pro nuclear search for making ionising radiation look good.

Iran nuclear agreement is endorsed by Nuclear Nonproliferation Experts. Over 300 US rabbis urge Congress to support Iran nuclear deal. Obama can still do the Iran nuclear deal, despite Congress opposition. Iran has compliedon key condition of the nuclear deal – submitting documents to IAEA.

CLIMATE CHANGE. Islamic leaders call on the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims to embrace climate change action. Dangerous Heat Sets Sights on Southern United States.

CHINA. Tianjin explosion highlights need to prioritise environment over economic growth. China censors Internet on Tianjin explosion news. France worried that China’s hasty nuclear power programme is unsafe.

JAPAN. Japanese environment groups protest against Restart of Sendai Nuclear Power.  Volcano alert issued just miles from newly reopened nuclear reactor.  Japan nuclear utility says no special precautions over volcano.  Utilities spent ¥1.4 trillion last year to maintain idled reactors. Japan’s Plutonium Problem.

Fukushima. Extra high radiation level in atmosphere above Melted slag storage facility of Fukushima sewage plant. Fukushima operator’s mounting legal woes. Earthquake M5.0 offshore of Fukushima prefecture.

USA.  Momentum growing in campaign to shut down Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant. Questions on safety, and silencing of critics – HUMBOLDT BAY POWER PLANT.  America feared that Israel would deploy nuclear weapons.

UK. Bristol Nuclear Protestors Fined...instead…shouldn’t they be awarded Medals?!

CANADA ‘s radioactive trash dump plan, all too close to USA border.  Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission called upon to disclose study on nuclear disaster.

SOUTH AFRICA. African National Congress calls for transparency on nuclear tender process.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Tax-payer money going to nuclear related companies in UAE.

NORTH KOREA. Concern over North Korea’s uranium enrichment.

NORWAY‘s dangerous plan to dump nuclear trash on island

AUSTRALIA: Nuclear stooge Senator Bob Day not able to dismantle Australia’s law against establishing nuclear facilities.

August 21, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Were there radioactive materials in the Tianjin warehouse?

As China races to clean up the still very dangerous Tianjin explosion site, and censors the Internet on news and images of this disaster – we are left with the question  – “What was stored in that warehouse?”

The fact that military staff, and International Atomic Energy Agency staff rushed to the area – does make you think that Chinese authorities considered that there was radioactive material stored in that warehouse.

If that were the case – the local area and even Beijing might be in danger from radioactive isotopes blown out by the massive explosion.

Unfortunately, information about this possibility is not forthcoming.

It underlines a serious problem about China being the current poster boy for the nuclear industry. A totalitarian and secretive regime is simply not  a safe place at all for nuclear facilities.

Tianjin doesn’t have nuclear power plants, as far as I can find out. But it is  a worry to find that Tianjin has a company that makes nuclear reactors – Tianjin Electric Power Company – Construction of Nuclear Power Plants  http://www.tepc.com.cn/en/MainBusiness.asp?Title=HeDianJS

Of course, it’s not as if ionising radiation is the only, or even the most serious, threat from this explosion. The chemical fallout in itself is  a monstrous heath hazard to the clean-up workers, and to the area’s residents.

August 17, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

Notes on the week’s nuclear and climate news

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

WORLD. Ban nuclear weapons – call from Pope Francis on Nagasaki remembrance day.

EUROPE. Transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) provisions undermine democracy.

CHINA. Nuclear experts sent to test China’s Tianjin explosion site. Explosion in warehouse supplying nuclear fuel.This item has since disappeared from Internet news.

Typhoon Soudelor hits Taiwan, then China’s coast – danger to nuclear stations.  Solar power races ahead as China builds huge station in Gobi desert

UKRAINE. More Wildfires Near Chernobyl .

JAPAN. Sendai nuclear station restarted because economics are ‘more important’ than human life. But a nuclear revival in Japan is by no means a sure thing. Volcano issues unaddressed in nuclear plant restart.  Thousands hospitalised as Tokyo experiences record heat wave .

Fukushima. “Trillions of becquerels of radioactive material still flowing into sea” at Fukushima. With 2020 Olympics in mind. Japan’s govt trying to coerce Fukushima evacuees back.

IRAN.  The essence of the Iran nuclear deal.   Iran would not be able to hide evidence of nuclear weapons work. 29top USA scientists back Obama’s ‘stringent’ deal with Iran.  Iran nuclear deal is supported by Jews in Iran.   Israel toonce again assassinate Iranian Nuclear Scientists?

USA. USA nuclear weapons numbers shrink, but nuclear weapons budget balloons out.  $4.1-million settlement to Hanford nuclear weapons site whistle-blower. Total lifetime costs of Vogtle nuclear station estimated at $65 billion and rising. Seawater heating up causes partial shutdown for Pilgrim nuclear station. Confusing message in new documentary about #uranium – a ‘soft sell’ for the nuclear lobby? Northern California National Forests on Fire.

UK. UK energy analysts unhappy with super costly Hinkley nuclear project. How the BBC distorted the story of Sellafield. UK government just quietly funding Small Modular Nuclear Reactors.

MIDDLE EAST. Extreme Heat Leads To Deaths, Protests.

August 14, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

This Week: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Nuclear News

GLOBAL:  Independent assessment of the state of the nuclear industry. Bleak outlook for Generation IV nuclear reactors, as Generation III look like failing.  Nuclear lobby promotes a new ‘health disorder’ – radiophobia.

(TOPICS THAT I’M IGNORING:

• The psychological effects of Fukushima nuclear catastrophe.  The internet is awash with articles about this. I am sure that it is true – that the mental and stress effects are huge, and taking a huge toll on health. My problem is – that the nuclear lobby is using this fact to propagandise their idea that ionising radiation is not harmful to the body.
•  Sickness and death of marine animals. The Internet is also awash with this, and many are naming Fukushima ionising radiation as the cause. And it might be. But there are other possible causes – such as the direct and indirect effects of ocean warming, and other climate change features. We need to scrutinise these news items, with a sceptical eye.)

HIROSHIMA. Commemorative events around the world. And let us not forget Nagaskai’s experience of nuclear bombing. Every year, thousands of Hiroshima survivors treated for radiation-induced illnesses. Japan’s nuclear bombing survivors speak out against nuclear power

CLIMATE CHANGE: Climate change brings increasing dangers and costs to nuclear stations  The nightmares of climate change are already upon us. Ecomigration happening as climate change already submerging islands.

JAPAN: Problems ahead, if Japan restarts mothballed nuclear reactors. Judicial review panel votes to indict ex-Tepco executives. Nuclear watchdog proposes raising maximum radiation dose to 250 millisieverts. Japan’s Abe Government Risks Fukushima Victims’ Lives with “Forced Return” to Contaminated Areas.

Fukushima: Damaged fuel rod containers, suspicious death at Fukushima nuclear plant. TEPCO exploits homeless, mentally disabled men, in Fukushima nuclear clean-up. Discharge Canal Contamination Rising in Fukushima Daiichi. Fukushima buildings sinking — Structures decaying, getting more unstable. China sends back infant milk formula to Fukushima.

USA: Obama props up a failing nuclear industry, with nuclear energy a centerpiece of his climate push!  New nuclear reactor technologies benefit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan. The  Plan does not support existing nuclear reactors. USA government makes rules on ionising radiation in water more lax. Will USA’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission allow the nuclear lobby to set radiation standards?   Postponed indefinitely – the opening of U.S. government’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Hundreds Flee California Wildfires as Governor Declares State of Emergency. $10 billion bonanza to save Exelon nuclear plants in Illinois? Problem for Modular Nuclear Reactors – they’re just as costly as the old ones

UK: Top bank advises UK government to delay or cancel Hinkley nuclear project. Bradwell: Handing Future UK nuclear Infrastructure to the Chinese.  Labor leader candidate Jeremy Corbyn sets out plans for UK nuclear disarmament.

FRANCE: The end of the line for AREVA’s model of “birth to grave” nuclear processes. €7bn needed to keep loss-making nuclear company AREVA alive.

FINLAND: Fennovoima the last hurrah for nuclear industry in Finland.

SPAIN: Dispute in Spain about where to put radioactive trash.

SOUTH AFRICA:  facing a R1-trillion nuclear financial disaster.

August 7, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

THIS WEEK – news about nuclear and climate issues

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

I muse on Toshiba’s ECO and his shame. He apologised for faking the accounts on nuclear (supposed) profits. However, he gained no personal income from this. It was done out of loyalty to the company.  Wouldn’t happen in Australia, – they’d all do it for themselves here!

JAPAN:  Fukushima:

• the Evacuees Situation .
•  Confirmed equipment failure for ice wall – Ice wall building resumed.
• Fukushima fishermen OK TEPCO plan to release decontaminated water into sea.
• Tepco to start removing the largest debris from Reactor 3 pool / Worker “The most dangerous process”.
• Fukushima will likely go down in history as the biggest cover-up of the 21st Century.
•  Tepco finally admitted irregular sinking in Fukushima plant.
•  Fukushima scrub-down aims to make villages safe, although woods may remain no-go zones.
• Japanese Government – aided by the IAEA – puts nuclear victims at risk with forced resettlement scheme.

Crucial emergency test begins at Sendai nuclear plant ahead of upcoming restart on August 10, 2015.

No idea what to do with the radioactive trash, but Japan still plans to make more of it.

CEO of Toshiba took loyalty to the company too far – resigns over doctored accounts.  How Toshiba cooked the nuclear books.

IRAN: Nuclear experts explain how the Iran nuclear deal cuts off pathways to nuclear weapons.

SWITZERLAND: Thorough analysis of Switzerland’s plan for exit from nuclear power.

CANADA: Canada Environment Minister to decide on Lake Huron nuclear waste plan before court case happens?  Stephen Harper, Canada’s PM blocking action on climate change.

CLIMATE CHANGE:   New UN document seeks to simplify Paris climate negotiations. Climate change danger hangs overChina’s coastal cities (and their nukes!).

INDIA: As Areva Goes Belly Up, Modi’s French Nuclear Plans May Start Unravelling.

USA:  Nuclear Regulatory Commission seriously considering quack science of “radiation hormesis”!   Potassium Iodide pills to be distributed to residents in area of nuclear facility.

FRANCE: quadruples carbon price, will move towards renewable energy.

July 29, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 2 Comments

The week that was in nuclear news

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

nuclear-news site theme for July is The use of words to trivialise the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe   Nuclear lobby anxious about its image – trying to “engender optimism” about the industry.

Nuclear agreement finally reached between Iran and world powers A win for non-proliferation – the Iran nuclear deal. It has become international law. USA’s reputation at stake, if Congress votes against Iran nuclear deal.

 JAPAN: Japanese nuclear scandals. Toshiba faked financial reports. Earthquake faults found under Shika nuclear facility. Despite pressing need, Japan continues to grope for nuclear waste site

Fukushima: 

• TEPCO to Resume Fukushima Daiichi Reactor One Protective Cover Removal on July 28.
• Thousands of workers sweat in  the summer heat, wearing plastic protection suits, scrubbing radiation from villages in Fukushima prefecture.
• Japan Accused of Coercing Fukushima Refugees to Return to Unsafe Homes.
• Worrying future for Fukushima’s nuclear refugees.
• White lungs on Fukushima’s dead dolphins indicates radiation poisoning.
•  Highest Strontium-90 density detected in seawater of Fukushima plant port / 1,500,000 Bq/m3

UK‘s plan for Hinkley C nuclear power station runs into more and more trouble

CANADA: The Cree Nation backs the report advising against uranium mining in Northern Quebec     Legal action planned against Canada’s plan for radioactive trash dump near Lake Huron.

USA. 21 years after shutdown, USA’s  Breeder Nuclear Reactor-II (EBR-II) is entombed

Jamaica passes Bill to regulate ionising radiation, prohibit building of nuclear reactor.

Secretive South Africa hides costs of nuclear build programme

CLIMATE CHANGE:

• Unstoppable warming of oceans due to climate change.
• Human caused global warming hardly dinted by a new grand solar minimum.
•  Unprecedented Fire Season Has Burned 11 Million Acres So Far For Alaska and Canada
•  Progress is being made, in climate talks, quietly, behind the scenes.
• Pope Francis and international Mayors get together to work on climate action.

Global investment is going to renewables: much less is going to nuclear power

July 23, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | Leave a comment