A nightmarish similarity – San Francisco and Sydney’s summer fire season
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Is San Francisco’s nightmarish echo of Sydney’s summer now a template for fire seasons to come?, Guardian Kirsten Tranter– 14 Sept 20, Just as in Australia, landscape along the US west coast has evolved to withstand fire. But precedents are collapsing all around us
People love to say that Sydney is like San Francisco: a city built around the water with a temperate climate and a pretty bridge. At certain moments the slant of light on the water of San Francisco Bay looks uncannily like Sydney. Australian foliage thrives here — eucalypts, flowering gums, bottle brush, colourful lantana. Over the seven years that I have spent here in the Bay, after growing up in Sydney and living on the US east coast for a long stretch, those echoes usually bring a nostalgic frisson, a bittersweet longing for home. Now, in September 2020, the reminders of Sydney are frankly alarming. I returned to Australia exactly one year ago with my family for a long sabbatical, just in time for the unprecedented horrors of the bushfire season when smoke choked the cities, ash rained down, and an estimated three billion animals perished. We came back to Berkeley a few weeks before the coronavirus lockdown in March. Over the past several weeks, the fires raging along the west coast have delivered sharp parallels with our Sydney summer………
It can’t be like this again anytime soon, we told ourselves in Sydney, just as we told ourselves here in 2018. It is an instinctive human response, I suppose, to get through a disaster by imagining that it’s a one-time thing, a rarity. But climate change means that the seasons will just keep getting hotter. Records will keep being broken. Will this be the last year we can get away with calling the fires “unprecedented”? …….. “Night is day in Berkeley today — but it’s not the apocalypse,” claimed a headline on 9 September. The story explained plausibly that the red sky was caused by light-filtering effects of smoke floating high above and that air quality in the Bay was surprisingly good, but it failed to reassure me. This is what the end of the world looks like, surely, if only we could bear the grief that envelops that vision right in front of us, in our lungs, under our fingers as we draw a smiley face in the ash on the car to make the small child laugh – because making light of the end of the world is now our full-time job.https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/14/is-san-franciscos-nightmarish-echo-of-sydneys-summer-now-a-template-for-fire-seasons-to-come |
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Climate change is affecting the Antarctic sponge ecosystem
Small nuclear reactors exist only in theory – costs and safety problems hamper their develpment
These so-called small nuclear reactors are a big scam. NuScam is planning them to be operating in batches of at least 12- not small, really. The entire nuclear fuel chain emits plenty of CO2, even if the actual reactor doesn’t. Anyway climate change is moving far too fast for these reactors to be operating in time, even if they did work against global heating. They are realy tied to the military uses of nuclear, and are just a distraction from genuine efforts to deal with climate change.
Recent history suggests there’s good reason to be concerned about spiraling costs: Nuclear projects have gone spectacularly over budget. An anti-tax group, the Utah Taxpayers Association, is asking towns to back out of the coalition, warning that it’s fiscally risky. Two cities have already peeled off.
During the press conference, Lyman said this project could also pose health risks. He said NuScale’s claim that its reactors can cool themselves in an emergency is no more than “a public relations campaign.” One member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently suggested that NuScale’s safety design might not stop nuclear reaction in all circumstances. Though that wouldn’t lead to a disaster like Chernobyl, or Fukushima, it’s still a serious problem that should be resolved so they don’t cause delays or cost increases later, Lyman said. https://grist.org/energy/nuclear-powers-big-new-idea-is-really-small/
Campaigners call on all Suffolk residents to submit comments on Sizewell C
ITV 5th Sept 2020, Campaigners call on all Suffolk residents to submit comments on Sizewell C
before deadline at end of month. A campaign group has encouraged all
residents to comment on plans to build a new nuclear power station at
Sizewell on the Suffolk coast before a deadline is reached at the end of
September.
Stop Sizewell C held a meeting at Theberton church on Saturday,
5 September, to hear the views of local residents. EDF claim the new power
station will create 2,400 jobs in the county if plans are approved by the
government. The proposals are now with the Planning Inspectorate, but
comments can be submitted until the 30 September by those registered as an
‘interested party’.
Members of Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) should get out of NuScam small nuclear project -NOW!
Nuclear Power Warning https://www.kuer.org/2020-09-03/am-news-brief-vp-debate-moderator-nuclear-power-warning-report-finds-blm-misled-congress-on-agency-moveA researcher at the University of British Columbia is raising concerns about a nuclear power plant project funded primarily by cities in Utah. In a report published Wednesday, physicist M.V. Ramana detailed cost increases and delays that have plagued the project since it began in 2008.
Britain’s nuclear industry faces sharp U-turn
Given the balance of cost and risk, a renewables-based energy system now looks a safer bet than building new nuclear power plants
EDF trying to scam UK gvernment to back uneconomic Sizewell C nuclear project
100% Renewables 1st Sept 2020, EDF are trying to bamboozle ministers to back a scheme that would pay EDFmassive subsidies and premium prices to produce hydrogen that renewable
energy would generate for less than half the cost.
British electricity consumers to fund the proposed Sizewell C plant, on top
of which EDF will also be paid a high guaranteed premium price for all of
their electricity production.
Monroe County, Wegmans hand out KI pills to people living near Ginna Nuclear Power Plant
The pills, which help to protect the thyroid gland from radioactive iodine that could be released in the event of a nuclear event, will be handed out at no cost.
KI pills are being distributed at the Holt Rd., Eastway, and Penfield Wegmans stores, which fall within the 10-mile emergency planning zone for the plant. Ginna would use its Emergency Alert System if such an event were to arise.
“Providing KI to residents who live in close proximity to the Ginna Nuclear Power Plant is an important step we can take to help protect our community in the unlikely event an emergency situation should arise at the plant,” Bello said……… https://13wham.com/news/local/monroe-county-wegmans-hand-out-ki-pills-to-people-living-near-ginna-nuclear-power-plan
Nuclear plant operator appointed as director of schools facilities
Schools officials have named Christina Renaud, a licensed nuclear plant operator, to take over as director of facilities next month. 30 Aug 20 …….
Householder and HB 6: A Nuclear ‘Environmental Nightmare’ Fueled By ‘Corruption’,
Householder & HB 6: An ‘Environmental Nightmare’ Fueled By ‘Corruption’, Cincinnati Public Radio , By MICHAEL MONKS • JUL 28, 2020 The arrest of Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and others charged in an alleged $60 million bribery scheme has led to calls for the Republican lawmaker’s resignation and a repeal of the legislation at the center of it all.
Titled House Bill 6 when it was adopted, the bill was described as a bailout for the operator of power plants.
State Rep. David Leland (D-Columbus) is among the many lawmakers now calling for a repeal of the bill, which he had criticized after its 2019 passage as “an environmental nightmare,” according to reports at the time.
State Rep. Leland joins Cincinnati Edition to talk about his position and feelings on the matter.
Meanwhile, author and educator Leah Stokes, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, penned an article for Vox that called House Bill 6 and the current legal controversy “an abysmal energy law … fueled by corruption.”
Leah Stokes joins Cincinnati Edition, too.
Cincinnati Edition reached out to FirstEnergy Corp. to invite CEO Charles Jones on our program. He was unable to participate but FirstEnergy Corp released to us a transcript of an earnings call from Friday during which CEO Charles Jones comments about the Department of Justice investigation. You can read that full statement below.
Statement From Charles Jones by WVXU News on Scribd …….. https://www.wvxu.org/post/householder-hb-6-environmental-nightmare-fueled-corruption
NuScam’s small nuclear project could fall through – spelling trouble for the whole nuclear industry
Judge to hear whistleblower’s claim against nuclear organisations in Cumbria
heard in full – a judge has decided. Alison McDermott alleged that
Sellafield Ltd, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and Heather
Roberts, former HR director at Sellafield, terminated her contract at the
nuclear plant in 2018 to silence her concerns about bullying. Last month,
Employment Judge Marion Batten, sitting at the Manchester tribunal, heard
an application from Mrs McDermott to strike-out responses from the nuclear
organisations and Ms Roberts, on the grounds they hadn’t complied with
tribunal orders of disclosure and that there was no reasonable prospect of
success.
Derecho (Extreme wind) Damage Results in Early Retirement of Duane Arnold Nuclear Power Plant
Derecho Damage Results in Early Retirement of Duane Arnold Nuclear Power Plant, Power Aug 26, 2020. by Aaron Larson
The Duane Arnold Energy Center (DAEC, Figure 1)—a 615-MW nuclear power plant located in Palo, Iowa—will reportedly not restart after high winds caused extensive damage to the station’s cooling towers. The plant owner, NextEra Energy Resources, had planned to retire the unit on Oct. 30, but after assessing damage caused by an Aug. 10 derecho, the company decided to accelerate the retirement process. ……… https://www.powermag.com/derecho-damage-results-in-early-retirement-of-duane-arnold-nuclear-power-plant/
Earthquake prompts inspections at Fermi 2 nuclear power plant; NRC virtual meeting planned
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Earthquake prompts inspections at Fermi 2 nuclear power plant; NRC virtual meeting planned, Detroit News, Sarah Rahal 23 Aug 20,
The Detroit News The earthquake felt throughout Metro Detroit on Friday did not trigger seismic alarms at the Fermi 2 nuclear plant in Monroe County, but it did prompt safety inspections, according to DTE Energy.
The 3.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded Friday evening south-southeast of Detroit Beach near Monroe by the U.S. Geological Survey. Officials said the plant was unaffected by the tremor and is operating normally. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will host a previously scheduled virtual meeting on the plant’s performance at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. Those who wish to participate must register online………. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/08/22/dte-fermi-2-nuclear-power-plant-operating-normally-after-quake/3421602001/ |
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Take the money away from nuclear weapons – spend it on Covid-19 relief
Nuclear weapons must go, https://www.goskagit.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/letter-nuclear-weapons-must-go/article_668b33b7-76f9-5a31-9c0c-7c85e222aae3.html, By Kathleen Lorence-Flanagan
On the 75th anniversaries of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombings, there were two days of videotaped testimony by hibakusha (survivors), scientists, artists, students, downwinders, mayors, Marshall Islanders, etc. Moving, informative, and inspiring testimony.
The question that kept arising was why do nuclear weapons still exist? It was said that as weapons of global annihilation, “we need to get rid of them before they get rid of us.”
Total global spending on nuclear weapons in 2019 was $73 billion, $35 billion of that by the U.S. alone (CNN).
Could that money not be better spent for COVID economic relief, education, health care, jobs, etc.?
More spending, deregulation of nuclear waste and resumption of nuclear testing are proposed by the current administration.
A positive note: the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has recently been signed by three more countries, bringing the total to 43.
A total of 50 are needed, at which point nuclear weapons will fall into the same category as biological and chemical weapons. Hopefully seven more nations will step up to the plate.
1.This Month
Saskatchewan First Nations Targeted for Untested Small Modular Nuclear Reactors: Candyce Paul http://nuclearhotseat.com/2020/09/03/480-saskatchewan-first-nations-targeted-for-untested-small-modular-nuclear-reactors-candyce-paul/?fbclid=IwAR3CtbqMu3BPrHUOCAoUueMqfSD0un5NNp2WkVmv7X7Zb1pkaMBtulSYsF8
by Libbe HaLevy | Sep 3, 2020
Join my fight to free Julian Assange and stop US extradition
https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/julianassange/
of the week
The Santa Susana Nuclear Catastrophe Continues
https://www.enviroreporter.com/2020/08/nasas-last-stand-investigation/
Committee for Future Generations
Inter-Church Uranium Committee Educational Co-operative (ICUCEC)
https://climatetippingpoints.info/
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