nuclear-news

Questions raised about China’s funding and management of UK’s nuclear power project

Nuclear venture raises questions about UK-China relationship George Osborne says Britain wants to be China’s best partner in the west, but open-door approach raises security issues, Guardian  Julian Borger and Emma Graham-Harrison, 23 Sept 15, Britain’s open-door policy towards Chinese nuclear investment has raised fresh questions about relations with Beijing: is it an adversary, a partner or a bit of both?

For years, intelligence officials – in particular the electronic surveillance centre GCHQ – have warned that Chinese hacking attacks are one of the most substantial threats to Britain’s cybersecurity. When the Foreign Office announced in 2011 that it had repelled an attack on its internal communications from “a hostile state intelligence agency”, officials briefed that China was the culprit.

Now George Osborne says Britain wants to be “China’s best partner in the west”, and to that end Chinese companies will be permitted to build a nuclear power station in Bradwell, Essex, possibly the first of several such ventures. The dissonance has not gone unnoticed.

“All western countries are torn between their desire to cash in on China’s rise and their fears about China’s longer-term intentions,” said Mark Leonard, the director of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “The United States goes to great lengths to try to protect their critical infrastructure from China – from stoppingChina from investing in oil companies and windfarms to placing limits on telecoms companies like Huawei. Americans are slightly horrified by the open-door approach of the UK government, which welcomed Huawei to protect the London tube and to run its nuclear power stations.”

China already owns a significant slice of the UK’s strategic infrastructure. …….

Prof Steve Tsang, a senior fellow of the China policy institute at Nottingham University, said: “It clearly shows that the UK’s China policy and energy policy are now made by the Treasury, not by the Foreign Office and energy department.” http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/sep/22/nuclear-venture-questions-uk-china-relationship-security

September 23, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Long term effect of radiation leakage to the sea

Officials: “Trillions of becquerels of radioactive material still flowing into sea” at Fukushima — Map shows nuclear waste coming up from bottom of ocean far offshore — Japan TV Journalist: “Contaminated seawater will circulate around globe… disaster like a huge cloth expanding everyday” (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/officials-trillions-becquerels-radioactive-material-flowing-sea-fukushima-map-shows-nuclear-waste-flowing-bottom-ocean-offshore-japan-tv-journalist-contaminated-seawater-will-circulate-around-gl August 11th, 2015

Interview with NHK journalist Morley Robertson, by the Center for Remembering 3.11, published Jun 30, 2012 (emphasis added): I begin with the radiation leakage. Radiation leakage exerts a long term effect on the environment. It contaminates our food chain, the groundwaterand the ocean. And the contaminated seawater will circulate around the globe. We never know how much this will impact on the environment… We’ll never able to study such issues with empirical certainty… [Due to nuclear testing] we have already accumulated “hidden losses” of radiation damage… how much is the [Fukushima] cesium in relation to that?… I believe we should enjoy delicious food rather than worrying about the food. I enjoyed the town’s delicacy… I didn’t mind about how the beef was produced or where it came from. As long as it is tasty, it is no problem for me. With regard to radiation, I have become more optimistic. My hypothesis is that it’s no use worrying about radiation. For people in Fukushima, they have a lot to worry about their future, like damaged reputation… One reason why we have relied on nuclear plants is because we didn’t know about the facts… We need to face the facts… Rad-waste from the nuclear cycle is said to be unsolvable even after 2.5 million years. Continue reading →

September 21, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

End the uneconomic nuclear power industry – former Japan PM Naoto Kan

Former PM Naoto Kan says nuclear power makes little economic sense, must end  http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/09/16/national/former-pm-naoto-kan-says-nuclear-power-makes-little-economic-sense-must-end/#.Vf8titKqpHx BY KAZUAKI NAGATA  Although the first reactor in Japan to be fired up in two years went online last month, former Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Wednesday that Japan needs to seek a nuclear-free path.

This is a lesson the country has learned from the Fukushima nuclear disaster, said Kan, who was prime minister when the Fukushima No. 1 plant was hit by a huge quake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.

“I’m absolutely sure that there will no longer be nuclear power by the end of this century. This is because it doesn’t make sense economically, and enough energy can be provided without it,” Kan said in a lecture to foreign residents in Tokyo.

While reactor 1 at the Sendai plant in Kagoshima Prefecture was restarted in August, Japan has survived the past few summers without nuclear power, Kan said.

He added that although the current government is still promoting nuclear power, Japan has seen an increase of renewable energy since the Fukushima accident, especially from solar panels.

He said nuclear power was believed to be a cheap source of energy, but it is actually expensive, considering the cost of decommissioning and managing nuclear waste.

Kan also shared his experience of visiting Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant in Finland, where a final nuclear waste repository is being constructed. There, he was told it would take 100,000 years for the radiation of nuclear waste to descend to the same level of the uranium that exists in the natural environment.

Using nuclear power, Kan said, means increasing the amount of dangerous waste that will trouble future generations, adding that this is why other former prime ministers such as Junichiro Koizumi and Morihiro Hosokawa are also voicing their wish to end Japan’s dependence on it.

September 21, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

UK taxpayers to boost nuclear project by £2 billion support package for Hinkley Point C.

Taxpayer to give nuclear project a £2bn boost, Times,  Robin Pagnamenta Energy Editor, 21 Sep 15 The government has moved to shore up flagging support for Britain’s first new nuclear power station in 20 years with a £2 billion support package for Hinkley Point C. It was originally estimated that Hinkley Point C would cost £5.6bn to build, [now at £24.5bn and rising]
The financing guarantee, backed by taxpayers, was announced as George Osborne arrived in China for final talks about the troubled project to build two giant 1.6-gigawatt nuclear reactors in Somerset……...(subscribers only)  http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/utilities/article4562711.ece

September 21, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

USA’s Republicans now pretend to support action on climate change

Republicans go from embracing junk science to junk policy on climate change https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/republicans-go-from-embracing-junk-science-to-junk-policy-on-climate-change/2015/09/17/ae717fea-5d77-11e5-9757-e49273f05f65_story.html  By Editorial Board September 17

WHAT’S A larger lapse in leadership, refusing to admit that the country has a problem, or acknowledging the problem and refusing to tackle it? That question emerges from Wednesday’s GOP debate, in which Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) took offense at the notion that he is a climate “denier” but nevertheless led his fellow Republicans in condemning “left-wing” plans to address climate change.

“We’re not going to destroy our economy the way the left-wing government that we are under now wants to do,” Mr. Rubio declared. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie piled on, warning against the “wild left-wing idea that somehow us by ourselves is going to fix the climate.” Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker attacked the Environmental Protection Agency for allegedly endangering tens of thousands of jobs in its quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Not everyone on stage followed this script. Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) tried to break into the conversation: “If you want a skeptic, Jake, I will happily jump into that briar patch.” Thankfully, the moderators shut him down for speaking out of turn, and others on stage who might have attacked scientists weren’t called on.

But the resulting conversation wasn’t much better. The message of the evening was: Climate change may be happening, but shame on those trying to address it.

In fact, the EPA estimates its carbon dioxide rules would cost $5.1 billion to $8.4 billion in 2030. Even if they are off somewhat, numbers of that size do not threaten a $17 trillion national economy. Mr. Rubio also argued that the country will reap no benefits from acting because the United States can’t solve climate change by itself. But the United States isn’t acting alone; its leadership is prompting action from other countries, which will meet in Paristhis year to pledge specific carbon-reduction goals. As with free trade, the way to coax other nations to move is for the United States to show willingness to move. Mr. Rubio condemns U.S. politicians who would fail to lead other nations, but he excuses himself from that responsibility on this issue.

If the candidates had any good alternatives to President Obama’s climate agenda, they didn’t let on. Mr. Christie bragged about one of his worst decisions as governor of New Jersey, pulling the state out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a market-based agreement among states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. He claimed that his state still kept emissions down by using nuclear power and burning natural gas. But nuclear power is expensive and the nuclear fleet is aging. Natural gas, meanwhile, has been a success story but still produces significant greenhouse emissions and can be only a bridge to newer and cleaner energy technologies.

True conservatives would recoil from picking winners and losers in the energy debate and instead embrace the policies Mr. Christie attacked — market-based, technology-neutral plans that cut emissions while maximizing individual choice and minimizing costs.

Should we be grateful that some Republicans have moved from junk science to junk policy? Sadly, they remain on the reckless fringes of the debate, which is not where any credible candidate for president can be.

September 21, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Unexpected shutdown at Pickering nuclear plant

System ‘trip’ at Pickering nuclear plant prompts scramble for energy http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/system-trip-at-pickering-nuclear-plant-prompts-scramble-for-energy-1.2571689 TVNews.ca Staff  September 19, 2015 

September 21, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Great Lakes risk disaster with Nuclear waste site near Huron

Nuclear waste site near Huron spells disaster for Great Lakes By State Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood, D–Taylor Burying radioactive nuclear waste less than a half-mile from one of the Great Lakes is a really bad idea.

Ontario Power Generation is proposing an underground, radioactive nuclear waste repository near the shores of Lake Huron in Kincardine, which is less than a mile inland and about 120 miles upstream from the main drinking water intakes for southeast Michigan.

A review panel has approved the utility’s proposal, which awaits a decision by Leona Aglukkaq, Canada’s Minister of the Environment. Aglukkaq has until Dec. 2 to make a final decision.

It is my belief that this project must be immediately stopped. The Great Lakes are a precious water resource, and the health of Michigan’s citizens must be protected — this dangerous proposal simply puts too much at risk.

The nuclear waste to be buried at this location — which is the only location under consideration — includes chemically hazardous materials, some of which can remain radioactive for nearly 100,000 years.

The waste would be buried in water-soluble shale limestone, a material that is entirely untested and unproven for the disposal of nuclear waste. In fact, this method is so uncertain that there is not a single scientist or geologist who can guarantee the nuclear dump will not contaminate the Great Lakes.

Despite these concerns, Canadian officials continue to move forward in reviewing the project, even though state and federal elected officials, members of the medical community, and more than 15 broad-based Michigan industrial and environmental groups — along with the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, and other Canadian organizations — are opposed to this dangerous plan.
According to the Canadian nonprofit Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump Inc., as of Aug. 26, 170 resolutions — representing nearly 23 million people — have been passed expressing opposition to the plan, which could be economically devastating to Michigan.

The potential impact of nuclear waste contaminating the Great Lakes is nothing short of catastrophic. It could discourage visitors and disrupt our tourism and agricultural industries.

In addition, millions of Michigan and Canadian citizens live downstream from this proposed repository. The potential for contamination of the water that our livelihoods depend upon is a very real, and extremely serious, risk.

Yet, contaminated drinking water is just one way that Michigan citizens could be negatively impacted……..http://www.mlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/09/nuclear_waste_site_near_huron.html

September 19, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Farewell to Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station?

Say goodbye to Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station? By Kristin Toussaint @kristindakota Boston.com Staff | 09.18.15 Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station—officially one of the worst-ranked nuclear plants in the country—might soon close if officials can’t afford to make it safer, according to The Boston Globe .

September 19, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

U.S. ballistic missile submarine arrives in Scotland

U.S. Nuclear Missile Submarine Surfaces in Scotland Pentagon deploys USS Wyoming amid tensions with Moscow Washington Free Beacon, BY: Bill Gertz  September 17, 2015

The submarine, the USS Wyoming, arrived at the British naval base at Faslane, Scotland, Wednesday morning for what the U.S. Strategic Command said is a routine visit.

However, ballistic missile submarine movements and port visits normally are not announced by the Navy or the Strategic Command, an indication the Wyoming’s port call is intended as strategic messaging to Moscow……….

The Wyoming’s visit followed the disclosure last week that Russia is building an underwater nuclear-armed drone submarine known as Kanyon. The drone is in development and is designed for strategic nuclear strikes on U.S. ports and coastal cities, according to Pentagon officials.

Russia has been building up its nuclear forces by adding 40 new long-range nuclear missiles, new submarines, and a new bomber. The buildup comes as Russian leaders, including President Vladimir Putin, have issued threats to use nuclear weapons against NATO members over the alliance’s opposition to U.S. missile defenses, the Russian annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea, and continued covert action aimed at destabilizing eastern Ukraine……..http://freebeacon.com/national-security/u-s-nuclear-missile-submarine-surfaces-in-scotland/

September 18, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Donald Trump on nuclear codes

GOP debate: Donald Trump responds to question about nuclear codes with unprovoked attack on Rand Paul and “his looks”, Salon http://www.salon.com/2015/09/17/gop_debate_donald_trump_responds_to_question_about_nuclear_codes_with_unprovoked_attack_on_rand_paul_and_his_looks/

“I’ve never attacked him on his looks, and believe me, there’s plenty of subject matter there,” Trump said

SCOTT ERIC KAUFMAN …..

September 18, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Why we must expose the true ugly nature of the nuclear industry

Hervé Courtois, (D’un Renard), 60 years old, Picardie, France My daughter French-Japanese lives in Iwaki city, Fukushima prefecture, 50 kms South from the nuclear plant of Fukushima Daiichi. Sandra Sagae Courtois, born in Paris in 1982, grown up in Fukushima, 33 years old,unmarried, no children, does not want to give birth anymore by fear of possible tetragenic birth due to radioactive contamination thru her living environment and the contaminated food.
I have been following the Fukushima catastrophe day and night from the right beginning, and I am very well aware of the real dangers of Fukushima and of nuclear, my own blood and flesh French-Japanese daughter being one of the victims of nuclear in Fukushima, l will therefore continue to fight nuclear until it ends or until my last breath.
I am a member of Sortir du Nucléaire France and of Greenpeace France, activist in the real world and on internet.
I am opposed to all pro-nuclear and their paid shills, but I am also oppose to those irresponsable people who produce hoax after hoax about Fukushima to satisfy their attention-glory-narcissist craving and their donations milking. All those people in different ways are harming the truth, harming our antinuclear cause.
Nuclear is more than bad, we will only win by exposing its ugly real nature, the true real solid facts. We won’t win by spinning sensationalism or hoaxes, which only become ammunitions for the pro-nuke shills to discredit us and the true dangers of nuclear in the mind of the general public.

September 16, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | 3 Comments

Support for Iran nuclear deal from professors in Washington panel

Professors speak in strong support of Iran nuclear deal, Brown Daily  Herald, Four of 5 panelists approve of agreement, cite strict supervision of Iranian nuclear power By JACLYN TORRES STAFF WRITER September 14, 2015 “Iran could have had a bomb in a few weeks or a few months without this agreement,” said Leon Cooper, professor of physics, at a Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs teach-in Monday afternoon. The event focused on the controversial foreign policy agreement and featured five panelists: Cooper; Sue Eckert, senior fellow in international and public affairs at the Watson Institute; Derek Stein, associate professor of physics and engineering; Thomas Nichols, professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College; and Nicholas Miller, assistant professor of nuclear security and policy, political science and international and public affairs.

Iran’s domestic record with terrorism and human rights warrants caution about the deal, Eckert said. With this agreement, U.N. sanctions previously imposed on Iran will go away, but the U.S. sanctions on terrorism and domestic affairs will continue, she said.

Cooper and Stein, who both have backgrounds in nuclear weapon science and technology, argued the real possibility of a nuclear Iran and the security threat that would entail. Iran has two centrifuge facilities with nuclear capability in the cities Natanz and Fordow, Stein said. The restrictions imposed on Iran by the Obama administration’s deal would decrease the amount of enriched uranium and complicate the process of building nuclear weaponry.

“We should adopt this agreement and force its provisions aggressively,” Stein said.

Cooper, along with 28 other physicists, recently signed a letter congratulating President Obama on his “technically sound, remarkably stringent, innovative deal.”

Miller also expressed support for the deal. “Iran with nuclear weapons is way worse than Iran with $50 billion,” he said. Despite the compromise made with Iran, the deal still stands as one of the most stringent in history, he added……..

If Congress approves the measure, the deal will proceed Sept. 17 and will be officially adopted Oct. 19. Then “implementation day” — the date when the terms of the deal will take effect — will arrive six to nine months from now, Eckert said. Iranians say the implementation will come sooner than forecasted, but regardless of the date, the new regulations will prove complicated for U.S. businesses, she added.

When the deal takes effect, foreign firms will head to Iran for business opportunities. But the U.S. will not become involved in business relations as a result of other sanctions levied under the Obama administration. The deal is still being discussed in Congress, and 42 members of the Senate filibustered the agreement — a number low enough that Democrats blocked Republican opposition. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell then called for another vote…….

Jo-Anne Hart, adjunct professor of international and public affairs at the Watson Institute, attended the lecture and said thedeal is the right step forward for Iran. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has staked his presidency on the deal to get Iran more involved in the international community, Eckert said. http://www.browndailyherald.com/2015/09/14/professors-speak-in-strong-support-of-iran-nuclear-deal/

September 16, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Sustainable infrastructure needed – there’s no Planet B

We Have Just One Planet (Not Four), Huffington Post , Denise Nelson Vice President for Public Education at the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure 15 Sept 15 The United Nations estimates the world population to reach 9.6 billion by 2050 and 10.9 billion by 2100. These billions of new people will need infrastructure to provide clean water, sanitary-waste removal, energy, transportation systems, data systems, and more. This infrastructure is the foundation necessary to achieve other global goals: promoting good health, clean water, and sanitation; providing access to quality education and jobs in a thriving economy; and supporting sustainable cities and economies.

September 16, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Is UK’s ‘white elephant’ nuclear power programme linked to nuclear weapons programme?

“Shouldn’t we really go back to the drawing board, rather than plumping for what I think will be a kind of bottomless pit and a big white elephant?” – House of Lords economic affairs committee chairman, Lord Turnbull

Why the UK Government Is Building 11 New Nuclear Plants Despite Mounting Criticism,EcoWatch Paul Brown, Climate News Network | September 13, 2015 Electricity from proposed new nuclear stations in the UK will be more expensive than from any other nuclear reactors in the world, yet the government is pressing ahead with its plan to build 11 new installations, despite mounting criticism.

September 14, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s scathing attack on the Koch brothers and corporate greed

said Kennedy, “You will hear no criticism from the press, the supposed guardians of our democracy. And that’s because most of that money will go to media advertising—the 4th estate has been bought off.”

“Renewables fill the Koch brothers with fear. In order to compete, they have to rig the rules that govern energy in this country to favor the dirtiest, filthiest, most destructive, most poisonous and addictive fuels from hell over the cheap, clean, green, local and patriotic fuels from heaven. But even with market and utility rules against them, new renewable technologies are so efficient that the allow wind and solar to beat the carbon industry even in their rigged markets and slanted playing fields—the only way for carbon to survive is by massive subsidies. The Koch brothers cannot compete against renewables in a free market without their subsidies.”

A recent report by the International Monetary Fund said, global energy subsidies amounts to $5 trillion annually, with the U.S. providing $700 billion in subsidizes to big oil “the richest industry in the history of the planet,” remarks Kennedy

Koch Brothers: Apocalyptical Forces of Ignorance and Greed, Says RFK Jr., EcoWatch Stefanie Spear | September 10, 2015 At this year’s Waterkeeper Alliance conference in Boulder, Colorado, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. delivered a provocative unscripted keynote that lambasted the carbon lobby for undermining democracy and subverting the common right to a healthy environment.

Speaking to a group of activists, including more than 200 Waterkeepers from 30 nations, Kennedy declared, “We are engaged, as Abraham Lincoln said, ‘in a great Civil War.’” This time, he said, “the conflict involves all the Earth’s peoples. It’s not just a battle to protect our waterways, our livelihoods, our property and our backyards. It’s a struggle for our sovereignty, our values, our health and our lives. It’s a battle for dignified humane and wholesome communities. It’s a defensive war against toxic and economic aggression by Big Oil and King Coal. It’s a struggle to break free of the ‘soft colonialism’ of carbon’s corporate tyranny and create an economic and energy system that is fair, rooted in justice, economic independence and freedom.”

He started by talking about the disproportionate impact of pollution on the poor and minorities. “Polluters,” he explained, “assault soft targets first—and that means the poor.” He recounted how the majority of toxic industrial sites and noxious facilities are in lower income communities where residents lack political power or connections to protect themselves. He gave examples of these environmental injustices including, Emelle, Alabama, which is home to the largest toxic waste dump in America—one of the country’s most impoverished regions where one-third of the residents live below the poverty line and more than 65 percent of the residents are black—Chicago’s south side, which has more toxic waste sites than any other American community and East Los Angeles, a primarily black and Hispanic community, which is the most contaminated zip code in America.

“In these communities,” he said, “Not just the land and water, but the people have been commoditized—and everything becomes expendable in the drive for corporate profits.”

But he added, “It’s not just the poor who are under assault. The corporate hunger for profit is threatening all people with loss of their natural world and the other assets of their patrimony.” Continue reading →

September 14, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment