Christina's notes « nuclear-news

Renewable energy in the news, more than nuclear

Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs

Yes – I know this is supposed to be about nuclear news. But I can’t help noticing that all the interesting, forward-looking investment stuff is about clean energy, not dirty old nuclear.

Sure, the nuke lobby tries. They spruik about nuclear fusion (ridiculously costly and unproven), about Thorium (just as good or better, for nuclear weapons), about This New Generation design and That one.

The nuclear news is all about whether or not USA and Israel should bomb Iran. Tony Blair thinks so. But he was wrong before, wasn’t he, on Iraq? The Brits certainly think so. He can’t even market his book, without getting pelted with eggs, in the UK.

Then it’s all about USA, Russia, France, South Korea, desperately competing to sell nuke reactors to the Third World, ones they can’t even sell to their own people. Nuclear is becoming a bore. – Christina Macpherson

September 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, renewable energy, renewables | Leave a comment

Why the silence about floods and landslides in nuclear areas?

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Climate change is already having its impact in extreme weather conditions.

But nobody’s talking about the impact of these weather events on the nuclear industry.

Except for Russia, where government was forced to admit to (and to play down), the danger to its nuclear facilities, threatened by 400 wildfires.

What about the risks of flooding in nuclear powered Pakistan? What about flooding and mudslides in China’s Sichuan province, home of earthquakes and of nuclear waste dumps?

What about radioactive dust blowing around in the prolonged drought in uranium-mining Niger? Where is the mainstream media in all this?

Oh – I forgot – it’s not polite to talk about such things, not when our betters are trying so hard to sell nuclear power plants to everybody! – Christina Macpherson, 23 August 2010,

August 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Magnificent Nuclear Deception by France’s AREVA corporation

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Are Americans and Canadians really that stupid? Are they going to fall for AREVA’s deceptive sales strategy? The sales pitch is that nuclear power is clean, green and economic. All grand lies.

I suppose that France’s AREVA had to think up such a confidence trick – faced with the ruthless success of South Korea’s KEPCO in selling its wares to the Arabs, and USA’s Westinghouse pitching nuclear to India.

So – AREVA came up with the con trick of the “Clean Energy Park” – combining nuclear reactors with renewable energy generation. Not only does this pretend that nuclear energy is clean, – it also carries a threat – no nuclear, no renewable energy. What a toxic marriage!

Still judging from the actions of the USA government in funding AREVA’s uranium enrichment – Americans and perhaps Canadians, too, ARE that stupid.

July 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, AREVA, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, reactors, renewable energy, renewables, solar, uranium, wind | Leave a comment

Coastal nuclear plants endangered by sea level rise, and oil spills

the NUCLEAR INDUSTRY and CLIMATE CHANGE – our focus for July 2010

NUCLEAR POWER and SEA LEVEL RISE – All reactors on sea coasts endangered by sea level rise

They are also endangered by accidents such as OIL SPILLS, which can affect their cooling safety sytems

July 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, climate change, global warming, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, reactors, uranium, water | 1 Comment

Climate Change is Real, but Nuclear Power is Not the Answer

Time is running out for the expensive, dangerous, dirty, nuclear power industry. The nuclear lobby’s desperate propaganda is that the industry is clean, and is a solution to global warming. That is a lie.

June 30, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, climate change, global warming, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | 1 Comment

Radioactive wastes are produced at all stages of the nuclear fuel cycle

The NUCLEAR INDUSTRY and the GLOBAL NUCLEAR WASTE PROBLEM – our theme for June 2010

June 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

At least the USA TALKS about nuclear wastes!

Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs

This website might well give the impression that it is anti-American, anti-British etc, – especially on the subject of nuclear wastes.

But – spare a thought for those two countries. At least the nuclear waste subject is RAISED there. (That’s how we can publish it)

Very hard to get a few lines about Russia’s nuclear wastes.

As for China, France and also a few other countries (India, Korea, European states , Israel...) – well there’s nary a word about their nuclear wastes! What do they do with radioactive wastes? It’s a worry. And it seems to me to be complete lunacy for countries like Australia to piously claim safety policy, while selling uranium to such countries.

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, reactors | Leave a comment

Nuclear Non-Proliferation not solved, nor is Nuclear Waste

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As the May Nuclear Non Proliferation conference ends, the nuclear industry and President Obama continue to use this story as a selling point for the “peaceful” nuclear industry. And for June, perhaps the critical issue is – how to convince the world that nuclear wastes are OK, that this problem is solved, – when it’s not!

Other selling points are emerging now – perhaps a sign of the desperation of the industry?

There’s a push to use a nuclear bomb as a cure for the oil spill – based on Russian experience – for goodness’ sake! Who in their right mind would trust the Russian history of things nuclear?

Then there’s the push for little reactors, thorium reactors, instead of uranium-fuelled reactors. Anything to look as though the nuclear industry is forging on. But it’s not – except for nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, despite all the propaganda, and lack of real government incentives, renewable energy technologies are forging on.

June 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, disarmament, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, reactors, renewable energy, renewables | 8 Comments

Nuclear wastes, like diamonds, are forever

THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY AND RADIOACTIVE WASTES – our theme for June 2010. “The question whether one generation of men has a right to bind another, seems never to have been started either on this or our side of the water. Yet it is a question of such consequences as not only to merit decision, but place also, among the fundamental principles of every government.” – Thomas Jefferson, September 6, 1789

Half-life is the period of time it takes for a radioisotope atom to degrade to a state having half of its original intensity

As you can see the continued production, use, and dumping of such waste materials as depleted uranium and plutonium, into the world’s air, land, and water leaves a permanent problem for our children, grandchildren. great-grand-children ….

May 30, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, depleted, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, plutonium, radioactive, reprocessing, uranium, wastes, water | Leave a comment

Women at the forefront of the Anti-Nuclear Movement

Women and Nuclear Power, Nuclear Weapons – our theme for May 2010

When it comes to opposing nuclear power, the toughest and most active and conspicuous resistance has been among women.

If women had been asked if nuclear power should be used for energy production or if nuclear weapons should be produced there would hardly be any nuclear power stations in the world and no nuclear weapons. Women represent half of humanity. Our voice must be heard! – Ulla Klötzer, WISE – Nuclear issues information service

May 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | 2 Comments

Nuclear radiation affects women more than men

NUCLEAR POWER and WOMEN – our focus for May 2010

Decisions on nuclear power, nuclear weapons, nuclear wastes are almost exclusively made by men.

Yet the brunt of nuclear-caused cancer is suffered by women and children, as is the brunt of nuclear war, and of depleted uranium spread.

Opinion polls over many years, and in many countries, consistently show that women are opposed to nuclear power and nuclear weapons.

More women than men are concerned about health and environmental effects of the nuclear industry.

Yet they are consistently reassured by narrowly educated nuclear physicists, and other technocrats, that nuclear power is safe, and that they have nothing to worry about in regard to ionising radiation.

April 28, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | 1 Comment

Nuclear salesmen a jump ahead of the public and politicians

Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs

19 April 2010, Now, AREVA and others have convinced the world’s political leaders that their gee-whiz (though only planned, and untested), nuclear systems to re-use old nuclear fuel, are the answer to nuclear terrorism

How many ordinary people understand the words in nuclear technology?

How easily are we ordinary mortals told that it’s all too complex for us to understand. We should trust “the nuclear experts”, – who, by the way, would be out of a job if this expensive way of boiling water (nuclear technology), were to be abandoned.

Re-using dirty, dangerous old radioactive stuff produces even more dangerous radioactive stuff, which terrorists would, of course, like to get their hands on.

AREVA and the rest of them can call it Recycling, Reprocessing, Fast Breeder, Integral Fast Reactor – any fancy term to confuse us, They’re still just trying to sell us still similar expensive ways to boil liquids

Safest would be to shut down the nuclear industry, clean up as best we can, and call it quits for this 70 year old failed energy experiment

April 19, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, AREVA, enriched, fast breeder, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactors, recycling, reprocessing, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear industry jumps on the Nuclear Security bandwagon

The big pitch to get “nuclear security” (now there’s another oxymoron) is being taken up by the nuclear lobby, with fervour. Let’s get new gee-whiz reactors that can use the old nuclear weapons fuel!

The world still ends up with even more toxic waste from these reactors. And the transport of the enriched uranium and plutonium? Still plenty of scope there for somebody to get hold of it and make a bomb. Even a “dirty bomb” will do. – our theme for April – Nuclear Power and Peace

April 17, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radioactive | Leave a comment

Recycling nuclear fuel, dangerous and dirty

Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs

by Christina Macpherson 15 April 2010, It all sounded so good – removing stockpiles of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) and plutonium from international sites, and using them to provide fuel for nuclear reactors in USA and Russia.

And one part is good. This program would end the dirty, dangerous, uranium mining industry.

However, nobody’s talked about :

1. the dangers of transporting this stuff, – risk of accident, as in the movement of HEU from Chile, theft, terrorist attack

2. what to do with the final resulting highly radioactive waste from this process of recycling . It all still ends up with even more toxic, dangerous nuclear wastes. Still a risk of theft. still a target for terrorists, still extremely long-lasting wastes, and no-one has found a way to safely dispose of nuclear wastes.

April 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes, spinbuster | antinuclear, enriched, fast breeder, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

The nuclear lobby jumps on the “peace” bandwagon

Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs

Christina Macpherson.29 March 2010 In April-May there will be international conventions and conferences aimed at reducing the spread of nuclear weapons.
Unfortunately the nuclear lobby is well and truly on this bandwagon. The “peace” message will be joined with the message to increase “civil” nuclear energy, and the George W. Bush initiated plan of “cradle to grave” nuclear fuel cycle of leasing uranium.

Never mind that scientific opinion has already discredited nuclear power as “safe” or “clean”, and discredited George W. Bush’s plan – the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, The GNEP is still being touted as the magic formula that will not only “solve” the nuclear waste problem (by returning wastes to their uranium mining origin). Now the GNEP is going to promote peace too!