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The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Preventing a climate catastrophe in the middle of a coronavirus catastrophe

Times 17th May 2020, Chris Stark is trying to save the world from his bedroom in the leafy West
End of Glasgow. As chief executive of the Committee on Climate Change, the
independent organisation charged by parliament with holding the British
government to account on greenhouse gas emissions, Stark is attempting to
prevent a future global catastrophe in the middle of a global catastrophe.

“The interesting thing is that, while that is true, even in a moment as
tough as this, it does almost nothing at all for climate change. The
problem is that you have a chronic cumulative problem. It’s like water in
a bath and, even this year, we are adding water to the bath. The CO2 in the
atmosphere is being added to. We are still making climate change worse this
year — we have just turned the tap down a bit.

This doesn’t crack the problem. What you need is long-term structural change that guides those
emissions down permanently. We will see those emissions rebound immediately
as economic activity restarts, but there are interesting questions about
what may or may not last after this period.” In the past few weeks the
committee has sent a letter to the Scottish government, at its request, on
how to rebuild the economy, post-Covid, in a manner that best tackles
climate change.

As Stark explained: “Coming out of this there is a moment
of unfreezing of several things which means you can change the trajectory
of climate-change policy and grow the economy. “The straightforward
question of what you do is that there are four or five priorities coming
out of it. One is to use the government’s ability to invest, to get the
economy going, but in areas that you know you will need in a net-zero
future — and that means renewable energy, electric vehicles, cycling and
walking provision, and digging up the ground to make sure the energy
networks are ready when we need them in the future.

“What will matter most is, when we are able to, going in and improving the fabric of our
housing stock so that we are more energy-efficient and ready for different
sources of heating in our homes. The last thing is tree planting. It is a
really sensible thing for the government to support because it has many
added benefits, and gives lots of new jobs in new areas.”

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/scottish-eco-warrior-chris-stark-fights-the-battle-from-his-bedroom-p7vbvmsj3

May 17, 2020 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Everyone is needed in bid for a future free of nuclear 

Everyone is needed in bid for a future free of nuclear  https://www.thenational.scot/news/18418402.everyone-needed-bid-future-free-nuclear/

 By Readers of The National   Malcolm Bruce, Edinburgh HOW fitting that you publish a letter on Monday from Tor Justed of Highlands Against Nuclear Transport (HANT) (A reminder why we need nuclear-free campaign, The National, April 27), this week being the anniversary of the explosion and fire at Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the Ukraine in 1986.
Radiation spread over the USSR and western Europe and the death toll is believed to be thousands over the following years from the cancers caused. Some areas near the reactors are now uninhabitable.The three nuclear meltdowns and explosions at Fukushima reactor in Japan after the Tsunami of March 2011 were of an equal severity to Chernobyl. A subsequent inquiry found the scenario was foreseeable but had not been prepared for.l

To propose new reactors in the UK and transporting deadly plutonium to fuel them risks disaster.

As well as the risks, we know from numerous examples that nuclear power is enormously expensive.

Hinkley C in Somerset, currently being built, will, if completed and it actually works, produce the most expensive electricity in the world, ever!

Meanwhile cash-strapped EDF lobbies our governments hard to allow the ageing Torness and Hunterston reactors, pictured, to carry on beyond their design lives despite one Hunterston reactor having extensive cracks in its graphite blocks, vital for safety. Anyone with commonsense can see the precautionary principle applies here and that a shut down reactor in this condition should stay shut down. An accident and release of radiation from Hunterston could cause central Scotland to be evacuated – permanently.

And last but not least we have the biggest arsenal of nuclear weapons in Western Europe based a few miles from Helensburgh. These missile subs could destroy the lives of millions and are, of course, a target themselves. A government report in the late-1950s concluded that a nuclear war would annihilate the country and that civil defence was pointless. With Trump in the White House don’t assume we won’t end up in a nuclear confrontation that could take us all into the abyss. Year round the warheads are driven up and down our roads with all the risks of terrorism and crashes that entails.

Fifty years ago the UK signed up to a nuclear non-proliferation treaty that committed us to negotiating nuclear disarmament in good faith. Nothing has happened in that direction, a conspiracy of silence by the UK political parties and the media.

So, yes, HANT, you’re right, we need everyone to lobby for a nuclear-free future in Scotland and worldwide, and thank you for your campaigning.

May 2, 2020 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Nuclear Non-Proliferation in a Deadlock

Nuclear Non-Proliferation in a Deadlock   https://css.ethz.ch/en/services/digital-library/publications/publication.html/ae6c357e-353b-4152-a5e6-508115882177  

Main content  Apr 2020   Oliver Thränert writes that since its entry into force on 5 March 1970, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has established an international norm against the proliferation of nuclear weapons and served as the basis for a comprehensive non-proliferation regime. However, the NPT has been mired in a crisis of credibility for years and there is little prospect for a successful review conference for the treaty in 2020, something which takes place every five years. In this analysis, Thränert looks back on the NPT’s history, its achievements, the role of Switzerland and more

April 11, 2020 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

We spend billions on nuclear weapons. Let’s fund the NHS instead

We spend billions on nuclear weapons. Let’s fund the NHS instead, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/10/we-spend-billions-on-nuclear-weapons-lets-fund-the-nhs-instead  The Covid-19 pandemic highlights the folly of spending billions on nuclear warheads at the expense of a robust health service, write two former naval commanders, while Bruce Kent describes it as ‘theft from the NHS’George Monbiot points out that the UK dismissed early warnings about coronavirus, spending billions on the arms industry while ignoring real threats (What does ‘national defence’ mean in a pandemic? It’s no time to buy fighter jets, Journal, 8 April). This Covid-19 crisis focuses our minds on where priorities really lie; the NHS will undoubtedly emerge as a frontrunner.

We need to spend on “national defence” because that is a prime responsibility of government, but it should be commensurate with our national income and with the real threats facing our nation.

In that light, one has to question whether spending between £2bn and £3bn per year (actual government figures are hard to come by) on maintaining a Trident submarine on constant nuclear deterrent patrol at sea – when the missiles are not targeted and have been at “several days’ notice to fire” for over 20 years for lack of any perceived nuclear threat – is now a proper use of our rapidly vanishing national financial resources.

This is on top of some £60bn-plus to replace the submarines, their missiles and other assorted costs associated with Trident.
Cmdr Robert Forsyth RN (Ret’d)
Former executive officer of a Polaris submarine and nuclear submarine commanding officer
Cmdr Robert Green RN (Ret’d)

Former Fleet Air Arm nuclear-armed aircraft bombardier-navigator 

April 11, 2020 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

 $35B for nuclear weapons better spent on doctors

April 9, 2020 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Navy sailor dies in accident onboard under-construction nuclear submarine.

Navy sailor dies in accident onboard under-construction nuclear submarine. Navy has ordered a Board of Inquiry into the incident, By Pradip R Sagar April 04, 2020 A navy sailor has died in an accident on board one of Indian Navy’s under-construction nuclear submarines. Considering the secrecy of the project, the Navy has not divulged the name of the submarine.

The Incident happened at Navy’s Vizag-based eastern naval command ship building centre jetty on April 1. …. https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2020/04/04/navy-sailor-dies-in-accident-onboard-under-construction-nuclear-.html

April 6, 2020 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Radiation poses major obstacle to future deep-space astronauts bound for Mars

Radiation poses major obstacle to future deep-space astronauts bound for Mars, Space.com By Doris Elin Urrutia 3 Apr 20

A roundtrip from Earth to Mars, plus time on the Red Planet, would mean a human crew could spend months or years in deep space.

Mars seems to be on everybody’s mind in the space industry. There are already several robotic missions to the Red Planet underway, and companies and space agencies are already working to one day send humans there.

But a crewed mission would present many more challenges. One of these obstacles is radiation, and so researchers are working to find a way to protect a crew against the dangerous radiation of deep space.

Humans evolved underneath the protective blanket that is the Earth’s atmosphere and magnetosphere. Our bodies are not like the robots we shoot into the far reaches of the solar system. We are made of organic matter that needs to be shielded from harmful radiation. …… https://www.space.com/mars-radiation-obstacle-crewed-human-missions.html

April 4, 2020 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Morgan, Gardner: More Time Needed For Nuclear Storage Discussion  

Morgan, Gardner: More Time Needed For Nuclear Storage Discussion  https://www.wortfm.org/morgan-gardner-more-time-needed-for-nuclear-storage-discussion/

APRIL 1, 2020 BY 8 O’CLOCK BUZZ   Interim nuclear storage is a problem, not just with where the highly radioactive materials are stored, but the routes of transportation on rail, highways, and waterways. Leona Morgan from the Nuclear Issues Study Group and Rose Gardner from the Alliance for Environmental Strategies discuss the current proposals and are urging an extension to the public comment period for the bill.

April 2, 2020 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

In the current mood – time for international co-operation and prompt action to stall global heating

FT 23rd March 2020 , None of the fundamentals have changed: emissions will fall a little this year in line with energy consumption but the shift is not permanent. Nick  Butler says there will be a time, and a need, to recapture the world’s attention. We should do this – he says – by focusing on two areas that link action on climate with the current mood.
The need for international co-operation and making goals far more immediate and tangible. “It is time to move on from proclamations of extinction and vague promises to do something by 2050. Over the coming weeks we should turn our idle, if wellwashed, hands to producing a practical, pragmatic plan to reduce emissions over the next decade.”

March 24, 2020 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Global response to Covid-19 is rapid. Response to climate change is too damn slow

Climate Policy Times 15th March 2020
The deadly threat posed by the rapid spread of Covid-19 has resulted in
unprecedented action from governments around the world. There’s a lesson
here for climate change: it’s too damn slow. What would happen, for
example, if we learnt that the polar icecaps had reduced by almost half
overnight, rather than since the 1980s? What if some of the world’s
largest lakes mysteriously dried up over January, not over the past decade?
What sort of panic would ensue if a quarter of the world’s population
found their homes under water tomorrow, instead of being told it would
happen in 80 years?

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sarah-mcinerney-climate-change-will-be-deadlier-than-covid-19-lstrdl6t7

March 16, 2020 Posted by | general | 1 Comment

Greta Thunberg calls for Friday climate rallies to be held online

Greta Thunberg calls for Friday climate rallies to be held online, https://www.sbs.com.au/news/greta-thunberg-calls-for-friday-climate-rallies-to-be-held-online    Climate activist Greta Thunberg has called on fellow climate activists to move their weekly rallies online to prevent the spread COVID-19.

March 14, 2020 Posted by | general | 1 Comment

Snazzy little nuclear reactors the next big thing for Australia? I don’t think so

NUCLEAR PRICES ITSELF OUT OF THE FUTURE, HTTPS://WWW.AUMANUFACTURING.COM.AU/NUCLEAR-PRICES-ITSELF-OUT-OF-THE-FUTURE BY PETER ROBERTS, 9 Mar 20, 

I was at lunch the other day and out came the familiar theme – Australia should go nuclear to de-carbonise the economy.

Well, a just-released report from the NSW Parliament’s State Development Committee should put an end to such talk – it is just too expensive and problematic.

The report, detailed in Channel 9 media, found the cost of the two reactors being built in the US is now thought to be between $20.4 billion and $22.6 billion for each reactor.

In the UK the cost of two reactors being build has jumped seven-fold to $25.9 billion each.

And those being built in France and Finland are now costed at upwards of $17.7 billion each.

Cost over-runs and delays mean that big nuclear power plants are only going to be built where there are massive government subsidies.

And this is even before factoring in the cost of the odd Fukushima or Chernobyl.

This morning on social media the pro-nuclear trolls were out in force – people are living happily now at Chernobyl one said.

Well I visited Chernobyl 18 months ago and there is nothing normal about it.

Maintaining the remains of the reactors at Chernobyl consumes 10 per cent of Ukraine’s admittedly modest GDP, and the long term effects of radiation continue to be felt.

This is why nuclear proponents now talk about snazzy new small reactors which are going to be the next big thing.

The same story is unfolding in small reactor construction as large – cost over-runs, very few small reactors actually under construction, and the need for massive, yes there’s that word again, government subsidies.

We already know what the answer to our carbon crisis is – renewables. Wind and solar plus storage is already cheaper and getting cheaper every day.

The future is not nuclear.

March 10, 2020 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Karen Silk remembered – nuclear unsafety whistleblower

Observer 23rd Feb 2020, Life is never easy for whistleblowers – see Mordechai Vanunu, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden among many others. But in 1974 Karen Silkwood, a lab technician who had doubts about the safety of the nuclear plant she worked at in Oklahoma, died – in extremely mysterious circumstances – before she could reveal the information.

It was her death itself that led
investigations into safety practices at the plant. Joyce Eddinton
interviewed Meryl Streep, who played Silkwood in Mike Nichols’s eponymous
film, for the Observer Magazine of 8 April 1984 (‘The Karen Silkwood
File’).https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/feb/23/from-the-archive-meryl-streep-as-muclear-whistleblower-karen-silkwood-1984-mike-nichols-film

February 24, 2020 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

The containers the U.S. plans to use for nuclear waste storage may corrode

February 3, 2020 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Accident in the Hinkley Point site area

Somerset Live 20th Jan 2020, There have been multiple reports this evening of severe delays around the Hinkley Point site after a serious crash in the area. Emergency services including an air ambulance are reported to have attended the scene this evening, Monday, January 20.

https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/reports-hundreds-trapped-hinkley-point-3760129

January 23, 2020 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

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