Putin often cites Russia’s ‘nuclear doctrine’ governing the use of atomic weapons. But what is it?
9 News, By Associated Press, 1 August 24
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, President Vladimir Putin and other Kremlin voices have frequently threatened the West with its nuclear arsenal.
On Day 1 of the war, Putin said “whoever tries to impede us, let alone create threats for our country and its people, must know that the Russian response will be immediate and lead to consequences you have never seen in history”.
Over nearly two and a half years of fighting, the West has given Ukraine billions of dollars of advanced weapons, some of which have struck Russian soil.
And while there have been more Kremlin threats – and even the deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons in Belarus, just over the border from Ukraine – so far it has remained only a blunt message.
What could finally trigger a nuclear response?
Asked that in June by international news agencies, Putin pointed to Russia’s so-called nuclear doctrine.
“Look what is written there,” he said at the St Petersburg session.
“If somebody’s actions threaten our sovereignty and territorial integrity, we consider it possible to use all means at our disposal.”
Now Russian hawks are urging him to change the doctrine to lower the threshold for using nuclear weapons, and Putin says the document could be modified to take into account the evolving global situation.
What is Russia’s nuclear doctrine?
Formally known as the “Basic Principles of State Policy on Nuclear Deterrence”, it was signed by Putin in 2020 and outlines when Russia could dip into its atomic arsenal, the world’s largest.
It describes nuclear weapons as “a means of deterrence”, noting that their use is an “extreme and compelled measure”.
It declares that Russia “takes all necessary efforts to reduce the nuclear threat and prevent aggravation of interstate relations that could trigger military conflicts, including nuclear ones”.
The document states that “nuclear deterrence is aimed to provide comprehension by a potential adversary of the inevitability of retaliation in the event of aggression against the Russian Federation and/or its allies.”
What does it say will trigger using nuclear weapons?
Russia could use them, the doctrine says, “in response to the use of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction against it and/or its allies, as well as in the event of aggression against the Russian Federation with the use of conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is in jeopardy”.
It says nuclear weapons could be used under the following specific situations:
- If reliable information is received about the launch of ballistic missiles targeting the territory of Russia or its allies.
- If nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction are used against Russia or its allies.
- If an enemy attack with conventional weapons threatens Russia’s existence.
- If there are attacks on critically important Russian government or military facilities that could undermine the country’s retaliatory nuclear strike capability.
Has any attack so far come close to crossing this threshold?
As Russia attacked parts of northeastern Ukraine near the city of Kharkiv, Washington has allowed Kyiv to use longer-range US-supplied weapons for strikes in Russian territory in the border region.
But these attacks have been limited in scope and would not seem to pose an existential threat that would fall under the nuclear doctrine.
However, the hawks in Moscow have pointed to a series of Ukrainian attacks on Russian air bases that host long-range nuclear capable bombers earlier in the conflict, as well as recent raids on early warning radars.
They say these circumstances would seem to warrant the use of nuclear weapons as laid out in the doctrine…………………………………………………………………………. more https://www.9news.com.au/world/russia-nuclear-weapons-vladimir-putin/c2c4b211-658d-4b11-b6bc-656b56c5bd39
Nagasaki decides against inviting Israel to commemorate nuclear bombing of Japan amid war on Gaza
In contrast, another US nuclear bomb-hit Hiroshima city has invited Tel Aviv to annual event
Riyaz ul Khaliq 01.08.2024, ISTANBUL https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/nagasaki-decides-against-inviting-israel-to-commemorate-nuclear-bombing-of-japan-amid-war-on-gaza/3290598
The local government in Nagasaki province declared Wednesday it will not invite Israel to its annual conference to commemorate US nuclear bombing of Japan.
Mayor Shiro Suzuki said Israel would “not be invited to the Aug. 9 annual peace ceremony,” Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported.
The decision to not invite Israel to the event comes on a day Israel assassinated Palestinian resistance group Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh at his residence in Iranian capital Tehran.
Nagasaki and Hiroshima cities will be commemorating 79th anniversary of 1945 atomic bombing by the US on Japan next month.
Japan has refused to invite Russia and Belarus for similar conference since Moscow waged war on Ukraine in Feb. 2022.
However, local government in Hiroshima has invited Tel Aviv to its event on Aug. 6.
The local authorities in Hiroshima, however, have called for an “immediate cease-fire in the Palestinian territory.”
The Hiroshima government has come under severe criticism for purported double standards and many activists are pressing the authorities to withdraw the invite to Tel Aviv.
Several programs against Israel’s participation have been planned in the run up to Aug. 6.
Japan has witnessed many demonstrations and protests against Israeli war on Palestinian besieged enclave of Gaza, with calls to ceases military relations with Tel Aviv.
Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.
At least 39,400 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 91,000 injured, according to local health authorities.
Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
2-3 August, and 6-8 August Hiroshima Seen: Survivors and Witnesses Picture the Nuclear Age –
Learn more by exploring the galleries:
On August 6th, 1945, one U.S. B29 bomber dropped one bomb, code-named Little Boy, on the city of Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m. without warning. The destruction it loosened upon the city’s 300,000 inhabitants was unimaginable. Never had such a fierce weapon existed: its flash released heat up to one million degrees centigrade, the shock wave toppled some 60,000 buildings, a firestorm erupted that burned four square miles. Radioactive oily black rain fell—and many gasping for water opened their mouths to drink it.
Some 70,000 people perished instantly or within days, due to radiation poisoning and other grave injuries; 70,000 more died before the end of the year. Those exposed to radioactivity faced punishing illnesses, cancers, and disorders such as bone crushing fatigue and recurring bleeding. Due to the censorship imposed over the seven-year U.S. Occupation, personal stories were repressed, but not forgotten. More than 25 years after the bombing, survivors were asked to make drawings of what they remembered of that day, reflecting their harrowing memories. These images were donated to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, whose mission is to witness and educate about the devastating effects of nuclear warfare—and to prevent its ever happening again.
This exhibition is co-sponsored by Hiroshima Nagasaki Day Coalition (HNDC) and Artspace Gallery. Images are courtesy of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Curated by Katy McCormick.
Bruce County Council nuclear endorsement undermines local democracy
Dr. Sandy Greer, PhD, Blyth, https://midwesternnewspapers.com/letter/bruce-county-council-nuclear-endorsement-undermines-local-democracy/ July 2024
Bruce County Council’s endorsement of the declaration of Global Partnership for Nuclear Communities of principles, based on membership in the Canadian Association of Nuclear Host Communities (CANHC), ought to raise alarm bells by any thinking regional citizen. Read for yourself the two documents behind this endorsement, which are publicly available in the online agenda of the County’s June 6th meeting.
CANHC, in collaboration with European and American nuclear community alliances, published a press release dated March 21, 2024 to announce this global partnership based on “supporting clean energy development in local communities” in accordance with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) approach to address climate change. The longstanding question to raise, of course, is whether nuclear energy can truthfully be characterized as clean and safe, when it produces radioactive waste.
Meanwhile, although I concede that Bruce County Council’s membership, as well as the Municipality of Kincardine, in the CANHC, is logical, given the longstanding presence of Bruce Power located in Kincardine, there is a huge problem – and I would call it misleading and even dishonest – for CANHC to include the Municipality of South Bruce as a `nuclear host community.’ The rationale, apparently, is because CANHC welcomes “current, future and interested nuclear host communities… in an ongoing proactive relationship with the Canadian nuclear industry and regulators.”
The biggest alarm bell here is triggered by what is written in the second document shown in the June 6th agenda, as a staff report titled: Engagement on Nuclear Energy Sector Projects” which reads: “Endorsing…helps establish expectations as the County is involved in the pre-planning and initial phases of the federal impact assessment processes on nuclear energy sector projects. Current initiatives related to the nuclear energy sector in the pre-planning stage of engagement in Bruce County include the NWMO Deep Geological Repository project
Upon watching the online June 6th Bruce County Council meeting, while Deputy Warden Luke Charbonneau championed the principles, in reference to “the multitude of [nuclear] projects we are privileged to have in our County,” Huron-Kinloss councillor Don Murray cautioned that “sometimes people feel we at County Council are trying to take over projects – not so.”
But, given the county council endorsement of the global declaration, Councillor Murray’s words ring hollow, when in referring to the proposed NWMO DGR as “in the pre-planning stage of engagement” gives the impression that the DGR will go forward.
What happened to the promise of a Referendum by-election vote, for the people who live in South Bruce, which is scheduled for late October this year? Does that actually mean nothing? Has this entire enterprise through the past dozen years been a fraudulent engagement in democracy, in which the people most predominantly impacted in so many ways actually will have no voice at all?
As a regional citizen who was a ratepayer in South Bruce for 13 years, the first problem which I observe is not so much the County taking over projects but, instead, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) taking over the Municipality of South Bruce Any opposition to the proposed deep geological repository has continuously been marginalized by NWMO, with the complicity of South Bruce Council which has been enchanted by the vision of an economic boom, since it first became engaged in 2012 in the NWMO site selection process. I have witnessed it from that beginning.
Dialogue with the local community is a lie. NWMO only engages in one-sided forums of information, and never has been willing to sit in a town hall with voices who can communicate well-informed independent research which exposes the lack of science behind DGRs globally. Regional citizens are not being fully informed, because points of view which raise awkward questions are continuously discredited if not silenced entirely.
A lot of questions need to be asked, for which working journalists carry a responsibility. I am a former journalist who always dug for the deeper truth. I weep at the plight of journalism today. An important way for local journalism to regain trust from citizens is to ask difficult questions rather than merely repeat what politicians want us to hear.
Texas safety dept responds to fire involving radioactive materials
AUSTIN – On Friday, July 19, around 7:45 p.m., members of the Texas Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Radiation/Nuclear Detection Unit, along with the Upton County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Department of Transportation and other local agencies, responded to the scene of a truck tractor semi-trailer on fire along State Highway 329 northwest of Rankin, Texas. The trailer was transporting UN3332—a radioactive material that contains Cesium-137 which can pose a serious health threat.
The road was immediately closed by local authorities, and DPS personnel began taking action to ensure the public’s safety, as well as that of the first responders who had been exposed to potential radiation.
DPS Corporal Scott Keane screened the area for radiation using his vehicle’s radiation detection system and found the area was clear. Corporal Keane and Corporal Dustin Henderson then conducted radiation contamination surveys on each of the first responders using their handheld radiation survey equipment.
Once Corporals Keane and Henderson had secured the burned truck tractor semi-trailer and determined the area was safe, the company was allowed to safely transport the UN3332 back to its facility.
The road reopened to traffic around 11 p.m.
TODAY. “People of a generally nervous disposition” worry about mishaps with nuclear bombs.
I just couldn’t resist that little quotation from an article today about an undetonated nuclear bomb lying at the bottom of a river. To be fair, I think that the writer might have been being sarcastic. He also mentions that “bomb-enthusiasts” worry, too.
Nevertheless, his statement is symptomatic of the comfortable attitude of the authorities to the whole subject of nuclear weapons – in this system, quaintly called deterrence. We’re all a bit worried that someone, like Putin, for example, might actually use one, some day.
But, in the “normal” course of events, nuclear weapons provide good, reliable jobs, and all sorts of government benefits to the community, and something to be proud of- “my strong country” etc. Don’t they?
So, it’s a bit annoying, when someone kicks up a fuss about the nuclear weapons that get accidentally dropped, and lost. They have all sorts of safety features, so they can’t easily explode. well, the land-based ones are supposed not to, anyway. The Atomic Archive lists for the USA 32 “Broken Arrow” nuclear accidents. Of course, that’s only the American ones. What about the others – French, British, Russian, North Korean, Chinese nuclear weapons? Russia was known to have 45.000 nuclear weapons up to 1986 – most of them on submarines – how many got lost undersea? Can they explode, undersea?
But that’s the thing. We are comforted by the reassurance from the experts, that explosion of a lost nuclear weapon is extremely unlikely. We are safe.
What they don’t talk about – is corrosion, leakage of radioactive materials. Over time, increased radioactivity in water and land will affect millions of people, – but don’t worry – of all those millions, only a few million will get cancer from this. So you see, a few million cancer deaths is nothing much really, to worry about. Or so the experts would have us think.
The nuclear lobby has achieved a wonderful global brainwashing. The only thing to worry about is a dramatic event, – an explosion with high levels of radiation released.
If you worry about those less dramatic millions of cancers, well, you must be “a person of a generally nervous disposition”. Hell – it’s your fault – you need psychiatric care, you poor thing.
UK – the Ed Milliband Nuclear Nonsense Show
Great British Nuclear’s life started out as a Boris Johnson publicity stunt to get some cheap headlines, and it’s been downhill since then. It took two years to set up (civil servants at DESNZ kept asking what this particular Bojo wet dream was all about, and are still waiting for an answer), has no proper governance arrangements, is run by a bunch of nuclear non-entities, and so far has had only one task: to run “the competition “to see who will be the recipient of pots of taxpayers’ money to bring forward our “world-beating” Small Modular Reactor programmes.
Jonathon Porritt, Sustainability Campaigner and Writer, 31 July 24
1 I’m loving the Ed Miliband Show! The curtain went up on July 5th, and it’s been one reveal a day since then………………………………….
On Friday, he brought forward the Bill to establish Great British Energy (GBE), a cornerstone of Labour’s manifesto and its Net Zero ambitions. The one thing that grabbed everyone’s attention was the new partnership between GBE and the Crown Estate to unlock £60 billion of private investment in offshore wind – with a view to securing 30 GW of electricity before 2030 (enough to provide electricity for 20 million homes). To help make this happen, another Bill was introduced to overcome some of the barriers that the Crown Estate currently faces in expediting investment at that scale. Serious stuff!
The GBE Bill also referenced another partnership – with Great British Nuclear, with the emphasis on “exploring how Great British Energy and Great British Nuclear will work together”. And end more of the same kind of meaningless blather!
Let me elaborate a bit by way of contrasting these two strategic partners.
1. The Crown Estate
This is a powerful organisation that knows what it’s doing, does it with a real sense of purpose, and has been leading the charge on offshore wind for the last decade. It has a tried and tested CEO (Dan Labbad), formerly CEO of property developer Lend Lease here in the UK), a proven sustainability champion, deal-maker and job-creator.
Other big players in the energy sector get this kind of proposition and are already coming forward with their “in principle” commitments.
2. Great British Nuclear
Great British Nuclear’s life started out as a Boris Johnson publicity stunt to get some cheap headlines, and it’s been downhill since then. It took two years to set up (civil servants at DESNZ kept asking what this particular Bojo wet dream was all about, and are still waiting for an answer), has no proper governance arrangements, is run by a bunch of nuclear non-entities, and so far has had only one task: to run “the competition “to see who will be the recipient of pots of taxpayers’ money to bring forward our “world-beating” Small Modular Reactor programmes.
It’s struggled with this somewhat limited remit (already nine months behind schedule, with at least another six months to go), even though everybody already knows that the Government’s favoured SMR black hole will be Rolls Royce – there’s nothing worse for ministers than having Tufan Erginbilgic (Rolls Royce’s powerful, whining bully of a CEO) making trouble for you.
So, Ed, where are you going to go with all this? Both the Crown Estate and Great British Energy will, theoretically, help you “de-risk” prospects for critical private sector investors. The Crown Estate will do it for real, reducing the cost of capital, smoothing planning consents, securing supply chains, creating jobs – and, in due course (if not before 2030) – making offshore wind significantly cheaper. Exactly as has happened in Denmark. Great British Nuclear will suck you in, suck you dry, and do none of that…………..
The Treasury has always been less enthusiastic about nuclear power than the rest of government. It won’t object to a few more tens of millions bunged at Rolls Royce or a few more well-paid nuclear wastrels at Culham (emphasising the links with our inconceivably costly nuclear weapons establishment).
But the tens of billions that will be required to de-risk private sector investment in Sizewell C – that’s another matter. This is the time, surely, to let Sizewell C die under the weight of its own monstrous irrelevance.
Sizewell C will obviously make literally zero contribution to the 2030 target that Labour has for decarbonising the grid. As it happens, Ed shouldn’t really be worrying too much about 2030 anyway. This isn’t going to happen (full marks to those sad gits at the Telegraph for spotting this!), but it really doesn’t matter. The key date is 2029, the date of the next election, not 2030.
……………………………..So, Ed, keep your eyes on the prize: making people feel good (and possibly even a bit excited) about the UK’s low-carbon future – in terms of jobs, skills, supply chains, lower bills and so on. Deep down, you must know as well as I do that’s all about prioritising real delivery partners (viz the Crown Estate), not about preposterous pipe-dreaming fantasists in the nuclear industry. https://www.jonathonporritt.com/go-ed-go/
Iran vows revenge after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Tehran
Death came hours after Israel said it killed a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut, fuelling fears of regional conflict
Guardian, Emma Graham-Harrison, Quique Kierszenbaum and Bethan McKernan in Jerusalem, and William Christou in Beirut 31 July 24
Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, was killed by a strike in Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday morning, only hours after Israel said it had killed a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
The dual assassinations are heavy blows to Hamas and Hezbollah, but also raise the stakes for Iran, which backs both groups and vowed revenge. They will fuel growing fears that the war in Gaza could escalate into a broader regional conflict.
A senior Hamas official described Haniyeh’s killing as a “cowardly act that will not go unpunished”. Mediators Qatar and Egypt warned it would set back talks on a ceasefire and a deal to release hostages held in Gaza.
Haniyeh was targeted by an airstrike at a “residence in Tehran”, Hamas said, after he travelled to the Iranian capital for the inauguration of the country’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that because the attack took place in Tehran, “we consider his revenge as our duty”. Pezeshkian said his country would defend its territorial integrity and honour, and make the “terrorist occupiers regret their cowardly action”.
The Israeli government officially declined to comment on Haniyeh’s death, but the strike was widely acknowledged as an Israeli operation both inside the country and beyond.
Israel vowed to kill all Hamas leaders after the 7 October attacks, and its intelligence services have a history of carrying out covert killings inside Iran, mostly targeting scientists working on the country’s nuclear programme.
The retired general Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate, described the attacks on Wednesday night as “two quality operations of Israel defence forces against two top terrorists, one in Beirut and one in Tehran”.
The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, speaking after the assassinations, said the Biden administration was “doing things to take the temperature down” but would come to Israel’s defence if it were attacked…………………………………………………………………….
Haniyeh’s death came hours after Israel claimed it had killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fuad Shukur, in an airstrike on a south Beirut suburb launched in retaliation for a rocket attack that killed 12 children at the weekend…………………………………………………………….. more https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/31/hamas-leader-ismail-haniyeh-death-raid-iran-home-israel-gaza-war
Government partnership is needed if Dutch pension fund PME is to make “risky” nuclear investment.
Dutch pension fund PME keen for nuclear power investments
European Pensions , By Natalie Tuck, 30/07/24
The Dutch pension fund PME is keen to invest in nuclear investment but this must be in partnership with the Dutch government, due to it being such a “risky investment”.
The pension fund, for those working in the tech and metal industry, has published a position paper on investing in nuclear energy in the wake of the publication of the Dutch National Energy System Plan, which looks to scale up the use of nuclear energy in the Netherlands………………………….
Making the case for nuclear energy, PME said the “manageable disadvantage” of radioactive waste and the high level of safety of nuclear power plants weigh into PME’s positive view of nuclear energy as a stable addition to the energy mix……………
When it comes to financing, PME said the “high cost of construction and the long duration of construction make nuclear power plants a very risky investment”.
The paper continued: “Financing nuclear power plants requires a leading role of the state, which will have to assume a significant part of the risk in all phases of the nuclear power plant’s life. Security of return is a basic requirement for PME so that funding also contributes to participants’ pension accrual and pensioners.
“The construction of nuclear power plants takes a very long time and is very costly. It is precisely for these reasons that risk-return requirements are paramount in any financing of nuclear power.”
It therefore advocates for the use of a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model to finance the construction of nuclear power plants. In this model, private parties bear the investment, and receive a fixed ‘fair return’ (the RAB fee) from the start of construction.In the RAB model, at each stage, the primary risk is shared between the state and the financing market party or parties.
……………………….“In addition to the quantitative participant survey, PME holds focus groups with participants, retirees and employers. PME also organises retiree meetings where the topic of nuclear energy was discussed recently. The basic attitude toward nuclear energy is almost always positive among the majority of constituents. However, there are concerns about the yield, the risks, the safety of nuclear power plants and the problem of radioactive waste,” PME stated. https://www.europeanpensions.net/ep/Dutch-pension-fund-PME-keen-for-nuclear-power-investments.php
Japan continues search for its first nuclear waste disposal site by screening tiny rural town
by undergoing just the first step of screening, the town can receive grants of up to 2 billion yen (US$12.7 million).
Channel Newws Asia Michiyo Ishida, Louisa Tang 31 July 24
Japan has produced more than 19,000 tonnes of nuclear waste since it began generating atomic energy in the 1960s.
GENKAI, Japan: Cattle farmer Hiroshi Nakayama practically grew up with nuclear power in the rural town of Genkai, which has a population of just under 5,000.
The 56-year-old raises 2,000 black-haired wagyu, selling the best as premium and highly sought after Saga beef.
Even though his hometown in southern Kyushu island may one day become Japan’s final destination for nuclear waste, he brushed off concerns that it would affect his business.
Screening began last month to assess if Genkai, which has hosted a nuclear plant for about five decades, is suitable to serve as the country’s first radioactive waste disposal facility.
“Given Japan’s technology, I do not think there will be environmental contamination. Some people say it is dangerous, but no one has died from (the existence of) the nuclear plant,” Mr Nakayama told CNA…………………………
THIRD SITE TO BE SCREENED
Genkai is the third site to undergo screening after two others in Hokkaido which are still being reviewed. It is the only one among them that hosts a nuclear plant.
Japan needs a radioactive waste disposal facility as it has produced more than 19,000 tonnes of nuclear waste since it began generating atomic energy in the 1960s.
This waste will continue to accumulate in interim storage that is dangerous in the long run.
Nuclear waste needs to be stored at least 300 metres underground for about 100,000 years until radioactivity falls to acceptable levels.
Meanwhile, the entire process to select a permanent disposal site will take about 20 years.
Local authorities have the right to pull out at each stage, but by undergoing just the first step of screening, the town can receive grants of up to 2 billion yen (US$12.7 million).
The process begins with the collection of documents describing the town’s geological features. The central government-linked Nuclear Waste Management Organization will then spend two years studying the documents before publishing a report.
Based on that, local leaders will decide whether to move on to the next step.
MAYOR EXPRESSES MISGIVINGS
Some groups in Genkai, including hotel and restaurant associations, had pushed for their town to be screened by submitting petitions. These were approved by the local assembly which represents residents in Genkai.
While the town’s mayor Shintarou Wakiyama gave the green light in May, he said he has misgivings about a disposal site being built there.
One reason he cited was the size of Genkai – just 36 sq km.
“I thought we are too small and not suitable for hosting a final nuclear waste disposal site,” he added……………………………..
By having Genkai undergo screening, he said he hopes other towns will come forward.
He stressed that his decision to approve the screening was not driven by money, noting that the town’s coffers were already in good shape from substantial payouts due to hosting a nuclear plant. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/japan-nuclear-radioactive-waste-disposal-site-screening-genkai-town-4513641
Largest wildfire in US grows to cover area bigger than Los Angeles
The largest wildfire in the US swelled to more than 380,000 acres (154,000
hectares) on Tuesday morning, an area bigger than the city of Los Angeles
and three times the surface area of Lake Tahoe, as thousands of
firefighters battled the blaze in a remote wilderness area in northern
California. Meanwhile, the destruction caused by wildfires raging across
the US west came into sharp focus as photographers documented the
destruction left by the Borel fire in southern California. The fast-growing
fire tore through the historic mining town of Havilah, leaving burnt
buildings, cars and forests.
Guardian 30th July 2024
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/30/california-wildfires-los-angeles
Assange, CIA Surveillance and Spain’s Audencia Nacional
Australian Independent Media, August 1, 2024, Dr Binoy Kampmark
The sordid story on the CIA-backed operation against the WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange during his time cramped in London’s Ecuadorian Embassy continues to froth and thicken. US officials have persisted in their reticent attitude, refusing to cooperate with Spain’s national high court, the Audiencia Nacional, regarding its investigation into the Agency’s espionage operations against the publisher, spearheaded by the Spanish security firm Undercover (UC) Global.
Since 2019, requests for assistance regarding the matter, including querying public statements by former CIA director Mike Pompeo and former head of counterintelligence, William Evanina, along with information mustered by the relevant Senate Intelligence Committee, have been made to US authorities by judges José de la Mata and Santiago Pedraz. These have been treated with a glacial silence.
On December 12, 2023, the General Subdirectorate of International Legal Cooperation furnished the US authorities “an express announcement” whether such judicial assistance would be denied.
Spain’s liaison magistrate in the US, María de las Heras García, duly revealed that the tardiness to engage had been occasioned by ongoing legal proceedings being conducted before the US District Court of the Southern District of New York. As Courtney E. Lee, trial attorney at the US Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs explained, supplying Spain’s national high court with such information would “interfere” with “ongoing US litigation”. Hardly a satisfactory response, given requests made prior to the putative litigation.
The litigation in question involved a legal suit filed in the US District Court of the Southern District of New York by civil rights attorney Margaret Ratner Kunstler, media lawyer Deborah Hrbek, and journalists John Goetz and Charles Glass.
In their August 2022 action, the complainants alleged that they had been the subject of surveillance during visits to Assange during his embassy tenure, conduct said to be in breach of the Fourth Amendment. The plaintiffs accordingly argued that this entitled them to money damages and injunctive relief from former CIA director Mike Pompeo, the director of the Spanish security firm Undercover (UC) GlobalDavid Morales, and UC Global itself.
On December 19, 2023 District Judge John G. Koeltl granted, in part, the US government’s motion to dismiss while denying other portions of it. The judge accepted the record of hostility shown by Pompeo to WikiLeaks openly expressed by his April 2017 speech and acknowledged that “Morales was recruited to conduct surveillance on Assange and his visitors on behalf of the CIA and that this recruitment occurred at a January 2017 private security industry convention at the Las Vegas Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The litigants found themselves on solid ground with Koeltl in the finding that they had standing to sue the intelligence organisation. “In this case, the plaintiffs need not allege, as the Government argues, that the Government will imminently use their information collected at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.” The plaintiffs would “have suffered a concrete and particularized injury fairly traceable to the challenged program and redressable by favorable ruling” if the search of the conversations and electronic devices along with the seizure of the contents of the electronic devices were found to be unlawful.
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The plaintiffs also convinced the judge that they had “sufficient allegations that the CIA and Pompeo, through Morales and UC Global, violated their reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of their electronic devices.” But they failed to convince Koeltl that they had a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding their conversations with Assange, given the rather odd reasoning that they were aware the publisher was already being “surveilled even before the CIA’s alleged involvement.” Nor could such an expectation arise given the acceptance of video surveillance of government buildings. Problematically, the judge also held that those surrendering devices and passports at an Embassy reception desk “assumed the risk that the information may be conveyed to the Government.”
Sadly, Pompeo was spared the legal lash and could not be held personally accountable for violating the constitutional rightsof US citizens. “As a presidential appointee confirmed by Congress […] Defendant Pompeo is in a different category of defendant from a law enforcement agent of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.”…………………………………………………………………………..
As long as the Agency stifles and drags out proceedings on the grounds of this misused privilege, the Justice Department is bound to remain inert in the face of the Spanish investigation. https://theaimn.com/assange-cia-surveillance-and-spains-audencia-nacional/
Some UK higher education rejoices in the nuclear and military partnership
Nuclear decommissioning centre shares learning with MoD apprentices
An innovative engineering and maintenance centre is forging links with the Ministry of Defence to help share learnings between the nuclear and defence sectors.
Sellafield Ltd Engineering Centre of Excellence in Cleator Moor, hosted degree apprentices from Royal Naval Armaments Depot Coulport in Argyll and Bute, Scotland on Wednesday.
The visit was arranged by the Sellafield Engineering Centre of Excellence team to showcase its pioneering work with robotics, unmanned aerial vehicles, remotely operated vehicles, flight and electrical simulators and VR technology.
Five MoD degree apprentices, all on a five-year programme linked to the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David, at Swansea, gained hands-on experience of operating a drone simulator, using VR equipment and a range of other remotely operated technology at the state-of-the-art centre in Cumbria. ………………………………………………………………more https://cumbriacrack.com/2024/07/30/nuclear-decommissioning-centre-shares-learning-with-mod-apprentices/
TODAY. Who will honestly face up to the problem of nuclear wastes? Rolling Stewardship as a practical option.
Dr Edwards is the first I’ve come across to simply acknowledge that there really is no definitive solution for disposing of nuclear wastes. But he moves on to a practical method of managing the wastes that now exist, (along with the aim of not creating any more). He suggests adapting a plan by the National Academy of Sciences for dealing with long-lived toxic substances – Rolling Stewardship.
Do not trust the authorities on this problem. Get real.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was set up in order to promote the nuclear industry, (and to blur and assuage the guilt from the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).
So – don’t expect the IAEA, and all the other worthy bodies set up to manage the industry, to genuinely face up to the problem. If it means adding costs to today’s industry – they’re not interested. (Just let’s pass it on to our grandchildren)
Do not trust the “respectable” media to genuinely address, let alone even understand, this problem. They can’t – (A) because they want to keep their jobs, and (B) they are intimidated by their feeling of not really understanding such technical matters – best leave it to the experts!
Trouble is – the experts all have a vested interest in the nuclear/ nuclear-weapons and associated industries.
Having said that, I do acknowledge that there are a courageous few – experts who see the bad stuff about nuclear. (These are soon dismissed and labelled as cranks etc) .
There are a few courageous journalists who manage to speak the truth, and still hold down their jobs in the “mainstream” media. (I will not name these, for their own employment safety.)
So – now we come to talking about nuclear wastes.
I am grateful to Gordon Edwards for coming up with a genuine examination of the question of nuclear wastes. Gordon Edwards is a mathematician, physicist, nuclear consultant, and president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility (www.ccnr.org). No doubt he will soon be trashed by the “experts” as a foolish and dangerous crank.
Dr Edwards is the first I’ve come across to simply acknowledge that there really is no definitive solution for disposing of nuclear wastes. But he moves on to a practical method of managing the wastes that now exist, (along with the aim of not creating any more). He suggests adapting a plan by the National Academy of Sciences for dealing with long-lived toxic substances – Rolling Stewardship.
Dr Edwards’ concept is outlined here – Rolling stewardship of nuclear wastes. In brief, it means that we should take responsibility now for nuclear waste – store it safely and strongly above ground, away from large water bodies, and monitor it, repair and repackage containers. This is an alternative to the present plan for bury it and forget about it – leave it to future generations to cope with any issues.
This stewardship plan is expensive – the costs of making the containers really strong, and kept in repair, and the ongoing work of monitoring and repair. Indeed it will add to the already well-known diseconomics of the industry.
So the authorities and experts will not like it. But perhaps – some will. Some will join the ranks of the discredited critics of the nuclear industry. It would be something to be proud of – to join with Gordon Edwards and others who look towards a positive plan – as we exit from the nuclear age.
“Unspeakable”: Doctors Back from Gaza Say Death Toll “Much Higher,” Push Harris, Biden for Ceasefire
Democracy Now, AMY GOODMAN, 26 Jul 24
We speak to two doctors who are part of a group of 45 U.S. doctors, surgeons and nurses who have volunteered in Gaza since October 7 and wrote an open letter to President Biden and Vice President Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, demanding an immediate ceasefire and an international arms embargo of Israel. The group includes evidence of a much higher death toll than is usually cited: more than 92,000 people, which represents over 4% of Gaza’s population. The doctors write, “With only marginal exceptions, everyone in Gaza is sick, injured, or both. Israel’s continued, repeated displacement of the malnourished and sick population of Gaza, half of whom are children, to areas with no running water or even toilets available is absolutely shocking.” The conditions in Gaza are “unacceptable,” and “people know this is wrong but no one is speaking up,” says Dr. Thalia Pachiyannakis, an obstetrician and gynecologist who volunteered at the Nasser Medical Complex. “We all saw evidence of a death toll that is certainly much higher than what is reported by the Gaza Ministry of Health,” adds Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma surgeon who volunteered at the European Hospital.
Transcript
AMY GOODMAN: As Israel carries out new airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency, known as UNRWA, is reporting nine in every 10 Palestinians in Gaza have been forcibly displaced. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme is warning Israel continues to block delivery of aid, and says it’s been forced to reduce food rations, quote, “to ensure broader coverage for newly displaced people,” unquote. U.N. experts are blaming Israel for the onset of famine in Gaza, accusing it of carrying out a targeted starvation campaign.
Here in the United States, days after launching her White House presidential campaign and skipping Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress, vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris met privately Thursday afternoon with Netanyahu, who also met with President Biden. Harris spoke afterwards.
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating. The images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time, we cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb
to the suffering. And I will not be silent.
AMY GOODMAN: Harris described her private meeting with Netanyahu as “frank and constructive.” She said nothing about cutting U.S. military assistance for Israel, even as she reiterated calls to finalize a ceasefire deal.
This comes as a group of 45 U.S. doctors, surgeons, nurses who have volunteered in Gaza since October 7th have written an open letter to President Biden and Vice President Harris, demanding an immediate ceasefire and an international arms embargo against Israel. The group of health workers include evidence of a much higher — they say there’s evidence of a much higher death toll than is usually cited: more than 92,000 people, which represents over 4% of Gaza’s population.
Two of the doctors join us now. In South Bend, Indiana, we’re joined by Thalia Pachiyannakis. She’s an obstetrician-gynecologist who returned from Gaza earlier this month after having worked at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. And joining us from Stockton, California, is Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma surgeon who volunteered at European Hospital in Khan Younis in the early spring. He worked with the Palestinian American Medical Association in collaboration with the World Health Organization. He recently co-wrote the recent Politico article, “We Volunteered at a Gaza Hospital. What We Saw Was Unspeakable.”………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….more https://www.democracynow.org/2024/7/26/feroze_sidhwa_thalia_pachiyannakis_gaza_war
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