Institute for Government 2nd Feb 2018, The Nuclear Safeguards Bill may not protect the UK’s nuclear industry
after Brexit. While the Nuclear Safeguards Bill is an important step
towards avoiding a regulatory gap for the UK’s nuclear industry
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/nuclear-safeguard-bill-brexit
Eskom: the power giant at the core of S.Africa’s state rot, by Philippe ALFROY/AFP
The name of Eskom, Africa’s largest electricity company, has become synonymous with the worst corruption scandals in South Africa and the utility could well become the final nail in the political coffin of President Jacob Zuma.
The sacking of yet another of its short-lived CEOs this week and the release of dire financial results confirmed the depth of the crisis plaguing the power utility.
Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba admitted Eskom represents the single worst crisis facing the government…….https://citizen.co.za/news/news-africa/1805933/safrica-politics-energy-corruption/
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2018/02/02/doctors-say-exposure-to-west-lake-radiation-could-cause-cancer/ February 2, 2018 ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – What are the health dangers associated with radioactive contaminants such as those found at the West Lake Landfill site?
Dr. Adetunji Toriola is an epidemiologist at Siteman Cancer Center. He breaks down what effect radiation exposure may have on health:
“Exposure to radiation can cause some cancers, Leukemia is one, thyroid cancer is another one, and bone cancer is another one,” hes says.
Radon exposure, he says, is associated with respiratory diseases such as asthma and bronchitis, as well as lung cancer. Cancer risk associated with radiation, he says, varies depending on the length and proximity of the exposure.
Former national monuments shrunk by Trump to be opened for mining claims
Presidential order reduced protections for land once part of Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments, Guardian, Alastair Gee , 2 Feb 18,
Hundreds of thousands of acres of land that were part of two US national monuments shrunk by Donald Trump are being opened on Friday to mining claims for uranium and other minerals.
It is a symbolic step in a broader conflict over the fate of America’s public lands, on which Trump hopes to encourage greater access for extractive industries.
In December, Trump ordered that Bears Ears national monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monument, both in southern Utah and home to ancient Native American sites, spectacular landscapes and rare flora and fauna, be downsized by a total of 2m acres.How Trump’s cuts to public lands threaten future dinosaur discoveries
His proclamation judged that large portions of the monuments were not unique or of particular scientific or historic interest, a point fiercely contested by environmentalists, Native American groups and scientists, who have brought five lawsuits.
Today is when “the Trump administration is no longer stopping itself from opening up those lands to development”, said Dan Hartinger, national monuments campaign director at the Wilderness Society……. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/02/former-national-monuments-shrunk-by-trump-to-be-opened-for-mining-claims
The Long Shadow of A.Q. Khan, How One Scientist Helped the World Go Nuclear https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/north-korea/2018-01-31/long-shadow-aq-khan?cid=nlc-fa_twofa-20180201
Trump is leading us into nuclear war, says Daniel Ellsberg (and he should know, he used to plan them) The Current CBC Radio 1 Feb 18 A “Doomsday Machine” has loomed over humanity for decades, according to the man who once helped U.S. presidents plan for nuclear war.
In his new book, The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner, Daniel Ellsberg details how a nuclear strike during the Cold War would have clouded the earth’s atmosphere and killed hundreds of millions.
Far more people still have access to launch codes than the public realize, he said, and it is only through luck that we avoided nuclear winter.
Not only does that threat still exist, but for the first time since the Cuban missile crisis, “an American president is threatening imminent attack on a nuclear-weapons state,” he said. “On a state that can retaliate with nuclear weapons.”
“I think there’s a very significant chance — I would say better than even — that this president does mean to launch some kind of an attack on North Korea,” he said, “that will lead to a response that will then cause a two-sided nuclear war.”
“It would kill millions of people in the first day or week, which would be more violence than the human species has ever seen in a day or week.”
“I think nothing at this moment is of higher importance than there not be a war with North Korea.”
The whistleblower’s dilemma
Ellsberg, 86, was the whistleblower who revealed the Pentagon Papers, the secret history of the Vietnam War that eventually led to the Watergate scandal and the fall of President Richard Nixon.
What is lesser known is that he had a second batch of top-secret documents — about nuclear weapons and nuclear war ……… http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-february-1-2018-1.4513033/trump-is-leading-us-into-nuclear-war-says-daniel-ellsberg-and-he-should-know-he-used-to-plan-them-1.4513062
Failed nuclear project still shapes agenda for S.C. lawmakers. Here’s what’s happening this week, By Andrew Brown abrown@postandcourier.com,
Nearly Half of Hunters Point Shipyard Radiation Cleanup in Question; Contractor Possibly Faked Data, NBC Bay Area, Navy review finds “inconsistencies” in cleanup contractor’s radiation data and says a good portion of it is likely fraudulent. By Liz Wagner, 31 Jan 18,
The Navy has decided to retest all of the Hunters Point Shipyard for radiation after losing confidence in Tetra Tech, the contractor it hired to clean up contamination.
A yearlong review of Tetra Tech’s radiation data by Navy consultants found that nearly half of it may have been faked. The consultants found inconsistencies in Tetra Tech’s test results and the Navy said that a good portion of it is likely fraudulent.
The revelations are the latest setback for the shipyard, the superfund site along San Francisco’s southeastern waterfront that’s slated for major redevelopment, including homes, parks and shops.
The Navy awarded Tetra Tech at least $300 million in taxpayer dollars to rid the shipyard of radiological contamination left over from Cold War era-radiation experiments. Tetra Tech spent 12 years on the project, but half of the cleanup is now in question.
“That data that’s been collected over 12 years we lost confidence in,” said Derek Robinson, the Navy’s cleanup coordinator for Hunters Point. “It’s a big deal.”
Tetra Tech declined to comment, referring all questions to the Navy.
At the onset of the cleanup more than a decade ago, Navy officials divided the 900 acre shipyard into separate parcels. On several parcels, up to 67 percent of the cleanup data may have been falsified. That means some of Hunters Point could still be contaminated with radiation.
At this point the Navy doesn’t know if the land is safe. Officials said the Navy must now redo all of Tetra Tech’s work, which may include excavating and sampling the soil, and scanning the land for radiological contamination……… https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/Nearly-Half-of-Hunters-Point-Shipyard-Radiation-Cleanup-in-Question-Contractor-Possibly-Faked-Data-471799074.html
NUCLEAR FAR FROM A DONE DEAL – ENERGY EXPERT http://ewn.co.za/2018/01/30/nuclear-far-from-a-done-deal-energy-expert Deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa, who is next in line to lead the country, told reporters at the World Economic Forum that South Africa can’t afford to build a nuclear plant. Gia Nicolaides | 31 Jan 18, JOHANNESBURG – Deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa‘s remarks about South Africa not having money for nuclear power may halt plans for now, but some experts say that this depends on decisions taken in the next few months by the new political leadership.
Ramaphosa, who is next in line to lead the country, told reporters at the World Economic Forum that South Africa can’t afford to build a nuclear plant.
This differs from President Jacob Zuma’s approach, who has pushed to build as many as eight reactors worth around R1 trillion.
Energy expert Chris Yelland had a meeting at the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) on Monday.
“A representative of the Department of Energy spoke and he indicated that the officials at the DoE are in a state of limbo with the change in political leadership at the ANC and perhaps even a Cabinet reshuffle. Nuclear is far from a done deal.”
However, the Coalition Against Nuclear Energy’s Mike Kantey says that when it comes to affordability a deal can always be made.
“There’ve been a few deals around the world – Turkey and also in Egypt – where what they talk about is a build, own and operate model, where the payback is over 35 years at a specific rate. So, money can be found. Our problem with all of this is that it defies the logic of renewable energy.”
EGEB: New renewables cheaper than old coal/nuclear, Jersey applying carbon tax, heterojunction solar cells from Russia, more, Electrek, John Fitzgerald Weaver– Jan. 30th 2018
ANDY BRACK: What really needs to happen with General Assembly’s nuclear mess, South Carolina Now, ANDY BRACK Statehouse Report, 28 Jan 18
BY ANNETTE CARY acary@tricityherald.com, January 26, 2018, The late July day was hot, dry and windy. But the training with live ammunition at the Yakima Training Center went ahead as usual.
A gunner fired at a target and the burst of ammunition ricocheted onto the ridge line, sparking a fire that spread across 275 square miles and threatened the Hanford nuclear reservation, according to a lawsuit filed this week in federal court…..http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/crime/article196986384.html
U.S. WAR WITH NORTH KOREA WOULD BE ‘REALLY TOUGH’ TO WIN, SAYS TOP MARINE, NewsWeek, BY The commander of the U.S. Marine Corps warned about the realities of getting into a war with North Korea, a militarized state that vowed to continue developing nuclear and ballistic weapons despite international pressure.
Addressing the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, four-star Marine Corps General Robert Neller said Thursday that the U.S. military was already preparing for a potential conflict with the armed forces of Kim Jong Un, who last year successfully launched intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and declared his country a nuclear state. Neller said that such a fight would likely be the most daunting challenge his troops have ever faced………
Last month, Neller told U.S. Marines stationed in Norway to be ready for a “big-ass fight,” but did not specify who the enemy would be. http://www.newsweek.com/us-war-north-korea-would-be-really-tough-win-says-top-marine-791470
Ecowatch 22nd Jan 2018, A reported public financing deal between the UK and Japanese governments for a new nuclear plant in Anglesey, Wales, could set the UK government up to provide state-support for a raft of nuclear projects hit by financial difficulties.
Antony Froggatt, a senior research fellow in energy at Chatham House, told Unearthed that the Conservatives were shifting their policy because new nuclear plants are unlikely to come online without significant state backing. “What we’re seeing, and this has been the case for the last 5-10 years, is that the Conservatives have gradually been salami slicing away at their pledge to allow the construction of new nuclear, provided that they ‘receive no public subsidy’,” he said. “There’s been a shift on this because nuclear can’t happen without significant government financial support.”
https://www.ecowatch.com/nuclear-plants-uk-2527676949.html
This is the West Country 22nd Jan 2018, DRAMATIC new drone footage shows Europe’s biggest building site – where a
new nuclear power plant is being constructed by 3,000 workers every day.
Hinkley Point C will be the most expensive man-made object on Earth when it
is finished. The EDF Energy site will generate enough electricity for 5.8
million homes and is costing £19.6 billion to build.
http://www.thisisthewestcountry.co.uk/news/somerset_news/15889340._/
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