Nuclear Subsidies, Tax Bill Top NJ Rate Watchdog’s Agenda, By Jeannie O’Sullivan Law360 March 2, 2018, — The New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel will be busy going to bat for utility ratepayers in the coming months by fighting legislation calling for a $300 million subsidy for Public Service Enterprise Group Inc.’s nuclear plants and hunting for savings that utilities may owe consumers in the wake of recent federal tax legislation, according to division Director Stefanie Brand.
Ratepayers can likewise count on the division to scrutinize requests by PSEG and New Jersey American Water for rate increases, according to Brand, the attorney who has… (subscribers only)https://www.law360.com/articles/1016715/nuclear-subsidies-tax-bill-top-nj-rate-watchdog-s-agenda
March 5, 2018
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New York Times 25th Feb 2018, The last thing the Middle East needs is another country with the potential
to build nuclear weapons. Yet that could happen if the United States mishandles Saudi Arabia’s plans to enter the nuclear power business and erect as many as 16 nuclear reactors for electricity generation over 25 years.
The Saudis aren’t saying they want to become the second country, after Israel, to have a nuclear arsenal in the increasingly unstable region. They insist the reactors would be used only to generate energy for domestic purposes, so they can rely on their huge reserves of oil to generate income from overseas.
Still, there are growing signs that the Saudis want the option of building nuclear weapons to hedge against their archrival, Iran, which had a robust nuclear program before accepting severe curbs under a 2015 deal with the United States and other major powers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/25/opinion/americans-saudis-nuclear-weapon.html
February 28, 2018
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Guardian, Eleanor Ainge Roy in Dunedin 26 Feb 18
Australian journalist Charles Wooley criticised for calling PM ‘attractive’ and discussing the conception of her baby.
New Zealanders have criticised an interview with their prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, as “creepy” and “sexist”.
In the opening segment of the Australian current affairs show 60 Minutes , which aired on Sunday night, the veteran reporter Charles Wooley described the 37-year-old Ardern as “attractive”.–
“I’ve met a lot of prime ministers in my time,” says Wooley, filmed strolling the corridors of Parliament House with Ardern, the camera pulling in for a close-up on Ardern’s smiling face. “But none so young, not too many so smart, and never one so attractive.”
Wooley goes on to say that like the rest of New Zealand, he is “smitten” with their prime minister, with Channel Nine describing the interview in promos as a behind-the-scenes special with a world leader “like no other”, who is “young, honest and pregnant”.
“Admittedly, although somewhat smitten just like the rest of her country, I do know, that what’s really important in politics has to be what you leave behind,” Wooley says.
The interview was immediately met with derision from many New Zealanders on social media, who leapt to the defence of Ardern at having to endure the overly personal line of questioning, and dismissed Wooley as misogynistic and inappropriate. Other viewers said the interview was “repugnant”, “creepy” and “painful”.
“How did a nice person like you get into the sordid world of politics?” Wooley asked Ardern
“Nice people go into politics,” replied Ardern, smiling.
Wooley’s questions about her pregnancy appeared to make her and her partner, Clarke Gayford, rather uncomfortable.
“One really important political question that I want to ask you,” Wooley said. “And that is, what exactly is the date that the baby’s due?”
Ardern replied that her baby was due on 17 June, to which Wooley replied: “It’s interesting how many people have been counting back to the conception … as it were,” which made Gayford blush and laugh uncomfortably, responding: “Really?”
Wooley continued: “Having produced six children it doesn’t amaze me that people can have children; why shouldn’t a child be conceived during an election campaign?”
At this, Ardern appeared to roll her eyes, responding: “The election was done. Not that we need to get into those details.”
Wooley’s interviewing style obviously irked Gayford, who later alluded to the program when he tweeted about great places in New Zealand where you could “escape for 60 Minutes or longer”……..
In her weekly media standup Ardern said she did not find the interview offensive though she was initially taken aback by the question concerning the conception date of her child. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/26/sexist-creepy-jacinda-ardern-60-minutes-interview-angers-new-zealand
February 27, 2018
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U.N. Chief Calls for New Push to Rid the World of Nuclear Weapons, U.S. News Feb. 26, 2018, BY TOM MILES GENEVA (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Monday for a new global effort to get rid of nuclear weapons, drawing a cautious response from envoys of atomic-armed powers at odds for decades over nuclear disarmament.
Speaking to the Conference on Disarmament at the U.N. complex in Geneva, Guterres said many states still wrongly thought that nuclear weapons made the world safer.
“There is great and justified anxiety around the world about the threat of nuclear war,” he said.
“Countries persist in clinging to the fallacious idea that nuclear arms make the world safer … At the global level, we must work towards forging a new momentum on eliminating nuclear weapons.”
The Conference on Disarmament is the world’s main forum for nuclear disarmament, but since 1996 it has been deadlocked by disagreements and distrust between rival nuclear powers.
Ambassadors from the United States, China and France said they shared his concerns about the current security environment but their comments suggested it would be an uphill struggle to end two decades of stalemate in nuclear negotiations………..
DANGEROUS DIRECTION Guterres said talks should target not only nuclear, chemical and conventional arms but also autonomous and unmanned weapons, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and space-based systems.
There are currently around 150,000 nuclear weapons worldwide and the arms trade is flourishing more than at any time since the Cold war, with $1.5 trillion of spending annually, he said.
Taboos on nuclear tests and chemical weapons usage were under threat, he added, while talk of tactical nuclear weapons was leading in an extremely dangerous direction.
……..Last week diplomats and disarmament experts discussed Guterres’s initiative with U.N. officials during a retreat near New York, and he is expected to launch his plans around April or May with “practical and implementable actions”.
“The challenges are enormous, but history shows that it has been possible to reach agreement on disarmament and arms control even at the most difficult moments,” Guterres said.
February 27, 2018
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Editor: yan TOKYO, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7 struck off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan’s northeast at 1:28 a.m. local time on Monday, the weather agency here said.
February 26, 2018
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Energy Voice 22nd Feb 2018, A Labour former Cabinet minister has warned of the “cataclysmic
consequence” of leaving the EU without having nuclear safeguarding
arrangements in place. Lord Hutton of Furness said it would be a
“terrible event” and argued it was for ministers to ensure the UK did
not “walk off the edge of this cliff”. The peer, who is chairman of the
Nuclear Industry Association, stressed the need for an agreement to be
reached with Europe’s nuclear regulator to cover the two-year post-Brexit
transition period.
https://www.energyvoice.com/other-news/164349/failure-reach-post-brexit-nuclear-deal-risks-cataclysmic-consequence/
February 24, 2018
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Letter: Nukes don’t kill people — people kill people — and, to protect myself, I need a nuke https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/letters/2018/02/17/letter-nukes-dont-kill-people-people-kill-people-and-to-protect-myself-i-need-a-nuke/ By Brent Pace | The Public Forum
In light of
the recent school shooting in Florida, I have realized that I need to exercise my right to bear arms. It is the only way to keep my family safe. I used to think a knife or a bat was enough. Then maybe a handgun or shotgun. Later I thought, no, an AR-15 under the bed should do the trick. In light of recent events, I have deteremined that the only way I can properly exercise my right to bear arms is to go nuclear.
Yes, Editor, I have decided I need to make my own nuclear weapon. You see, nukes don’t kill people — people kill people (thanks for help in understanding that, NRA!). So I’ve been saving my bitcoin. The plan initially was to buy enough plutonium to build a flux capacitor, which as we all know, is what makes time travel possible.
But now I will need the plutonium to build six miniaturized nuclear weapons. One for me, my wife, and each of my four children. Thank goodness our founding fathers had the foresight to allow us the iron-clad right to keep and bear destructive weapons regardless of any other condition.
Now hold on, I’m gonna have to cancel some of my mental-health doctor appointments to make time for this new project.
February 19, 2018
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/, By Chico Harlan February 17
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — In a visit Saturday to this Winter Olympics host city, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that the Games have helped to lower tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and he expressed hope that the rapprochement would “lead to dialogue between the United...(subscribers only)
February 19, 2018
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Lohud, Thomas C. Zambito, tzambito@lohud.com Feb. 16, 2018 One of Indian Point’s two nuclear reactors automatically shut down early Friday when a generator failed, prompting an inquiry by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
February 17, 2018
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Radio Free Europe, 16 Feb 18, MUNICH — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that for the first time since the end of the Cold War, the world faces the “threat of a nuclear confrontation” in light of North Korea’s nuclear activities, while NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the international community must apply “maximum pressure” on Pyongyang to give up its nuclear and weapons program. ……https://www.rferl.org/a/un-guterres-world-at-risk-of-nuclear-confrontation-cold-war/29044113.html
February 17, 2018
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Energy Voice 15th Feb 2018, The Dounreay nuclear site in Thurso was rated as ‘at risk’ by the 2016
SEPA report owing to a number of management breaches over the period. A
spokeswoman for Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd said: “Safety, security and
environmental compliance is always our first priority and we are committed
to the highest standards of performance. “Decommissioning of the site is
recognised as one of the most complex in Europe as we maintain and
ultimately dismantle a large number of facilities that date back several
decades.
https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/163763/environmental-concerns-scottish-energy-sites-rated-poor/
February 17, 2018
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How Trump budget would boost Yucca project, cut Nevadans’ safety net Las Vegas Sun, By Yvonne Gonzalez (contact), Feb. 14, 2018 “…….Yucca Mountain. The administration is also again seeking money for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, though not nearly the amount that would be required to see the project through. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing $48 million for work related to Yucca Mountain, and the Department of Energy is asking for $120 million for the project and interim storage.
Robert Halstead, executive director of the state’s Agency for Nuclear Projects, says both agencies are pursuing licensing using leftover funds from the 2010-2011 fiscal year. The commission has about a half-million dollars and DOE has more than $10 million that they were court-ordered in 2013 to use to continue the licensing process. The commission expects the process to cost $330 million, but the state pegs the pricetag at about $1.6 billion.
Lawmakers say the whole process would cost at least $96 million, and the requested appropriations are just a small fraction of that total.
“That sum would be a tiny down payment on a project that will cost $100 billion and ship nuclear waste through hundreds of congressional districts across the country,” said Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev……….
It has now been 20 years since the federal government was mandated by law to start accepting nuclear waste for safe long-term storage in a deep geological repository,” Nye County Commission Vice Chairman Dan Schinhofen said in a statement. “Not only is the repository not complete, but we haven’t been allowed to see if the proposed site, at Yucca Mountain, is even safe for its construction.”
Nevada’s Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval said the state will fight the proposal. Nevada has committed millions of dollars over the years to lawsuits and efforts related to stopping the project.
“Yucca Mountain is incapable of safely storing the world’s most toxic substance and Nevada will continue to oppose any efforts to dump nuclear waste in our state,” Sandoval said in a statement. “I am disappointed that the administration’s budget appears to resurrect this dormant project and we will leave no stone unturned in fighting any attempt to revive this failed idea.”……..https://lasvegassun.com/news/2018/feb/14/how-trump-budget-would-boost-yucca-project-cut-nev/
February 16, 2018
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Scientists Have No Idea Why This Enriched Uranium Particle Was Floating Above Alaska Gizmodo, Ryan F. Mandelbaum, Feb 14, 2018, On 3 August 2016, 7km above Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, a research plane captured something mysterious: An atmospheric aerosol particle enriched with the kind of uranium used in nuclear fuel and bombs.
February 16, 2018
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They’re Talking About “Winnable” Nuclear War Again, February 03, 2018, By William Rivers Pitt, Truthout | “……… The missiles are still there. Thousands and thousands of them, marking time in their holes like funnel-web spiders. The astonishingly toxic byproduct left by their creation is still there, entombed in places like Yucca Mountain, and will be there for thousands of years unless it leaks or is stolen. The ability of a sitting president to use them is still there.
Some 25 years ago, we mostly broke the habit of building and testing more of these engines of annihilation, an absolute good in every sense. Not entirely, to be sure: The nuclear weapons program had its own gravity long before Trump came along, and it was President Obama who first put the trillion dollar weapons modernization program on the table. Still, it feels as if we’ve forgotten the things still exist and are existentially lethal…….
Not even Trump’s ongoing middle school shoving match with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and his growing nuclear toybox appears to have ruffled a great many feathers around here. Perhaps it’s the surreal nature of this president and his administration that explains our national shrug at this incredibly dangerous, feckless faceoff. It’s a strange plot twist in a weird animation starring two cartoon characters ordering bombs from the Acme catalog. Who could take these guys seriously?
Enter Robert R. Monroe, Vice Admiral, US Navy (Ret.) and his recent article in The Hill titled, “Only Trump Can Restore America’s Ability to Win a Nuclear War.” Vice Admiral Monroe, former director of the Defense Nuclear Agency, is the kind of man Curtis LeMay would have recognized as a brother on sight. “When the Cold War ended in 1991,” laments Monroe in his opening line, “America made an unwise decision.”
It goes downhill from there. “Ongoing nuclear programs were stopped,” seethes Monroe. “Budgets were cut. New nuclear capabilities were prohibited by law. A presidential moratorium denied underground nuclear testing. No research into advanced nuclear technology was allowed. Essentially, America went into an unannounced a nuclear freeze, and we have progressively increased its restrictions and denials for a quarter-century.”
These are all good things, unless you are one of those interesting individuals who still believe a nuclear war can be won………
Donald Trump has already announced his desire to increase the massive US nuclear arsenal tenfold. The draft of his soon-to-be-released Nuclear Posture Review seeks significant production of so-called “low-yield” nuclear weapons, because our current weapons are theoretically too big to use with any degree of tactical success. It should be noted that, according to modern metrics, the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were also “low-yield.” An arsenal of smaller bombs is key to Admiral Monroe’s fever dream of a winnable nuclear war. It is a dream Trump appears to share.
The world is dangerous enough as it is, one would think. It is so dangerous, in fact, that a great many people are frozen to near-immobility by it, by the sheer immensity of the perils we face. Where to even begin?
If you seek a place to lay your chisel, I have two words: “No Nukes.”
Should you choose this path, your first task is to remind everyone that the threat not only still exists, but is growing again. White House officials were concerned about Richard Nixon’s mindset during the 1973 crisis, mired as he was in the Watergate scandal. Donald Trump makes Richard Nixon look like Marcus Aurelius. We are all in a great deal of trouble, and no one seems to care.
Make them care, please and thank you. Let’s go find that peace dividend they were talking about on my birthday. I think we’ve earned it. http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/43446-they-re-talking-about-winnable-nuclear-war-again
February 5, 2018
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https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180203_10/ Atomic bomb survivors in Japan have expressed anger and disappointment over the new US nuclear strategy.
Toshiyuki Mimaki is a survivor from Hiroshima and a member of Nihon Hidankyo, the Japan Confederation of A-and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations.
Mimaki said he feels outrage at the policy. He says if a president of a major power wants to increase and modernize nuclear capabilities, it means A-bomb survivors will never see a world without nuclear arms.
He said nuclear arms do not make the world safer and such weapons should never be used regardless of size.
Koichi Kawano heads the Nagasaki-based Hibakuren, a liaison council for A-bomb survivors at the prefecture’s Peace Movement Center.
Kawano said the announcement poured cold water on the achievement last year of the adoption of a UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons.
He said the new US strategy, which aims to develop smaller nuclear arms, could lower the bar for the use of such weapons. He said this would raise the likelihood of nuclear war. Noting the presence of US military bases in Japan, Kawano urged the Japanese government to make more diplomatic efforts to prevent war.
February 5, 2018
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