Small nuclear reactors for the moon
Westinghouse Electric and Astrobotic are to develop nuclear reactors and
power grids for use in space exploration for NASA and the Department of
Defense. The US-nuclear firm and space land and rover company have agreed
to collaborate on the development of space nuclear technology and delivery
systems.
Last year, Westinghouse was awarded a NASA/DOE contract to provide
an initial design concept for a fission lunar surface power system.
Westinghouse is developing a scaled-down version of the 5-MWe eVinci
microreactor to power spacecraft in orbit or for deployment on the surface
of planetary bodies such as the Moon or Mars.
Aerospace Testing 6th June 2023
Robotic “dogs” to help clean up Dounreay nuclear site
A ‘pack’ of robotic ‘dogs’ have been harnessed to help Dounreay with
monitoring work on site. Spot, a robotic quadruped (‘dog’) from Boston
Dynamics, has the ability to climb stairs, avoid obstacles, and move over
rough ground, allowing it to monitor and collect data in hazardous areas.
Dounreay and Createc, the systems integrator for Spot, are working together
on a series of 7 use cases for the ROV, that will be carried out over the
next 12 months. A dedicated Createc employee will be based on site to
initially lead the projects, and will train Dounreay staff to use the
robot. Heather Fairweather is the innovation team’s project manager for
the work. She says that the use cases will demonstrate the multi-tasking
value of the ROV, and its ability to carry out practical work.
Dounreay 6th June 2023
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/robotic-dogs-arrive-on-site
Russia warns that supplying nuclear weapons to Ukraine would lead to ‘global, irrevocable collapse’
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accuses Ukraine of readiness to destroy its own land
AA Elena Teslova |08.06.2023
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that if the West supplies Ukraine with nuclear weapons, it would lead to the end of humankind’s existence on the planet.
Asked at a news conference in Moscow if Russia sees as possible nuclear weapons deliveries to Ukraine, Zakharova said: “Why should we comment on their possible insanity or possible control of insanity? This is not our topic.”
She pointed out that in recent months, the Ukrainian authorities took steps that harm the interests of their own country and its population.
“If they want a global, irrevocable collapse, then they will do it (deliver nuclear weapons to Ukraine). You can see what’s going on. The Kyiv regime is ready to destroy its own land…They are ready to infect it with depleted uranium, flood it with water, poison it with ammonia,” she said……………………….
For months, Moscow has been expressing concern over the change in the types of weapons supplied to Ukraine, which started with small arms and now involves deliveries of fighter jets.
Russian authorities also argue that the weapons supplied for the protection of Ukraine’s territory are used for raids into Russian territory…………………………………………………. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/russia-ukraine-war/russia-warns-that-supplying-nuclear-weapons-to-ukraine-would-lead-to-global-irrevocable-collapse/2917099
In Taiwan, DPP, Hou You-yi clash over nuclear power
Taipei Times, By Chen Yun and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer, 7 June 23
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) yesterday clashed over energy policy after Hou reiterated that he would back the utilization of nuclear power plants if elected president.
Hou is the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate in next year’s presidential election.
Taiwan might not have enough electricity reserves to ensure a stable power supply for the nation’s chipmakers to retain their competitive edge, Hou told a news conference after a meeting at city hall………….
Taiwan is to generate 30,000 kWh of renewable electricity by 2030 as per the RE100 initiative, to which Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and the nation’s top enterprises have pledged themselves, Chang said.
The initiative’s definition of renewables does not include nuclear power, he said, adding that Hou does not understand the needs of industry or Taiwan’s international obligations.
……………The New Taipei City Government has sued Taipower multiple times over the past 10 years to prevent the storage of radioactive waste from nuclear power plants in its jurisdiction, he said.
Hou must explain to voters how he would deal with the issue of nuclear waste if elected, Chang said.
“Hou cannot push for nuclear power on the one hand and give empty platitudes [about storage] on the other,” he said. https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2023/06/08/2003801210
Detailed evidence exposes Japan’s lies, loopholes in nuclear-contaminated wastewater dumping plan
Japan’s existing ocean discharge plan and evaluation are based on the assumption that the nuclear-contaminated wastewater can meet discharge standards after treatment.
But unfortunately, the data released by TEPCO showed that as of September 30, 2021, some 70 percent of the then 1.243 million cubic meters of ALPS-treated nuclear-contaminated wastewater still failed to meet the criteria, 18 percent of which even exceeded the standards 10 to 20,000 times over
Firstly, the types of radionuclides that TEPCO monitors are relatively few, making it far from being able to reflect the correct radionuclide dispersion in the contaminated wastewater.
The Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater, coming from the wastewater which was directly in contact with the core of the melted reactor, theoretically contains all the hundreds of types of radionuclides in the melted reactor, such as fission nuclides, a uranium isotope, and transuranic nuclide.
But TEPCO at first only listed 64 types of radionuclides including H-3 and C-14 as a (data) foundation for the works including monitoring and analysis, emission control, and environmental impact assessment. These 64 radionuclides did not include the uranium isotope and certain other α-nuclides, which have long half-lives while some are highly toxic.
TEPCO’s exclusion of the radionuclides mentioned above has greatly compromised the effectiveness of its monitoring work, as well as the credibility of its environmental impact assessment result.
“TEPCO’s plan of only monitoring a few types of radionuclides is unscientific,” the insider told the Global Times.
Later, during the review process of the IAEA Task Force in 2022, TEPCO changed the number of radionuclide types it was monitoring and analyzing to 30, and then decreased it to 29 this year. This is far from enough to provide a complete assessment of the extremely complex nuclides in the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater.
Secondly, there are missing activity concentration values for multiple radionuclides in TEPCO’s monitoring scheme.
TEPCO’s public report on the 64 radionuclides only provides activity concentration values for 12 radioactive nuclides other than tritium, while over 50 other nuclides do not have specific activity concentration values. The report, while only offering gross α and gross β values, doesn’t disclose the respective concentration levels of many highly toxic radionuclides in the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater, such as Pu-239, Pu-240 and Am-241.
“[TEPCO’s] current plan only monitors some of the nuclides and the gross α and gross β values, which cannot accurately indicate the fluctuations or changes in the activity of each nuclide after treating the contaminated wastewater due to the fluctuation of the nuclide source term composition,” said the insider.
This operation of TEPCO has largely increased the uncertainty of the [nuclide] source item information of the nuclear-contaminated wastewater, and thus greatly increases the difficulties of making subsequent monitoring plans and marine ecological environmental impact assessment.
Thirdly, TEPCO didn’t make conservative assumptions in many aspects of its monitoring data, and some of the assumptions it made were somewhat “negligent.”
In the process of treating the nuclear-contaminated wastewater, the slight particle shedding of chemical precipitants and inorganic adsorbents in the ALPS may cause some radionuclides to exist in a colloidal state.
Therefore, TEPCO’s assumption that all nuclides in nuclear-contaminated wastewater in the ALPS are water-soluble is obviously invalid, said the insider. “TEPCO should scientifically and comprehensively analyze whether colloidal nuclides are present in the nuclear-contaminated wastewater based on the long-term operation experience of its ALPS system,” he noted.
Huang Lanlan Jun 05, 2023 https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202306/1291969.shtml
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Photo: VCGAs the date for Japan’s planned dumping of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean approaches, a Pandora’s Box threatening the global marine ecosystem is likely to be opened.
The Japanese government announced its decision on April 13 to release the nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the storage tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea. Starting from 2023, the discharge is scheduled to last about 30 years. This decision has garnered widespread attention and sparked great concern across the globe.
While Japanese authorities are busy colluding with some Western politicians in boasting about the discharge plan, Fukushima residents, international experts in ecology, and various stakeholders around the world have kept calling for Japan to reconsider and modify its flawed plan.
Japan’s attempt to “whitewash” the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater release plan failed again at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in May. The joint statement of the summit did not explicitly state nor allude to the G7 members’ “welcome” of the current dumping plan due to strong opposition. Instead, it only reiterated support for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) review of Fukushima’s treated water release.
An insider familiar with Japan’s dumping plan recently told the Global Times that he has many concerns and doubts about the plan. The insider provided detailed evidence exposing Japan’s lie that whitewashes its dumping plan. He also revealed many loopholes in the plan that the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) have refused to talk about or even deliberately concealed from the public.
All provided evidence considered, it is apparent that, currently, Japan is incapable of properly handling the nuclear-contaminated wastewater dumping. The toxic wastewater processed by the Japanese side cannot currently meet international discharge standards, and the country’s reckless behavior, if not stopped and corrected in time, may cause irreparable damage to the global ecosystem.
“There are still many unresolved issues with the source terms of the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater,” the insider said.
“If the Japanese government and TEPCO continue to have their own way, it may cause improper discharge of nuclear-contaminated water, and that must be taken seriously,” he noted, calling on the two sides to be open, transparent, and honest in solving the problem.
Disappointing data monitoring
Japan’s current plan of releasing nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the sea, though superficially reasonable at first glance, cannot hold up to close scrutiny. Its monitoring on the source terms of the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater is incomplete, and the data it collects is likely unreliable, observers told the Global Times.
In February 2022, the IAEA Task Force released its first report, the IAEA Review of Safety Related Aspects of Handling ALPS-Treated Water at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The report clearly stated that the Task Force “commented on the importance of defining the source term for the discharge of ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) treated water in a sufficiently conservative yet realistic manner.”
Source terms of contaminated water include the composition of radionuclide and the activity of simulation of nuclides dispersion. As the premise of marine environmental monitoring, the accuracy and reliability of the source term-related data is crucial. However, Japan’s data statistics and monitoring on the source terms are disappointingly full of loopholes.
Continue readingLockheed Martin CEO James Taiclet super ecstatic over USA govt’s budget deal.
There you have it folks. Galloping defense spending on perpetual warfare and 835 overseas bases, enriching James Taiclet and his defense CEO comrades. Meanwhile every decent, life enhancing aspect of American life gets the scrapes leftover.
Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coaliton, Glen Ellyn IL 5 June 23
Only American happier than Biden with budget deal
Everyone knows President Biden is ecstatic over the budget deal which prevents another default crisis during his last 2 years
But few knew the guy even happier than Biden, Lockheed Martin CEO James Taiclet. He’s super ecstatic the deal provided a 3% bump to $886 billion in defense spending, while other areas of discretionary spending are frozen at current year levels.
Taiclet wasn’t bashful about bragging over the victory garnered in part by $13 million Taiclet speeds every year lobbying Congress to keep defense spending racing upwards toward a trillion bucks in blood money.
He told defense investors at the Annual Strategic Decisions Conference after the fix was in for weapons makers:
“The current agreement…is 3 percent growth for two years in defense where other areas of the budget are being reduced. And I think, again, that’s as good an outcome as our industry or our company could ask for at this point.”
Lockheed Martin, America’s largest defense contractor, receives 73% of its $66 billion annual sales net sales from the U.S. government. Taiclet is equally thrilled personally as well as for his shareholders. His $24 million in annual compensating largely consists of performance related bonuses.There you have it folks. Galloping defense spending on perpetual warfare and 835 overseas bases, enriching James Taiclet and his defense CEO comrades. Meanwhile every decent, life enhancing aspect of American life gets the scrapes leftover.
Trump-era officials under fire as nuclear fund for Bikini islanders is squandered
Former staff have criticized the interior department for ignoring the risk of fraud after the Trump administration ceased scrutiny of a $59m fund for nuclear survivors, which is now depleted
Former staff have lashed the US Department of the Interior for failing to predict that a 2017 decision to lift oversight from a $59m trust fund for Pacific Islanders displaced by American nuclear testing would lead to the fund’s exhaustion through mismanagement and alleged fraud.
Tom Bussanich, who in 2017 was a senior official in the department’s Office of Insular Affairs, said that he “would have bet money that there would have been issues with the trust fund and that the money would have been wasted”. Allen Stayman, a former director of the Office of Insular Affairs, dismissed the office as “the agency of acquiescence”.
Meanwhile, confidential bank documents reviewed by the Guardian reveal red flags that could have alerted the department to potential issues had it been scrutinising the fund, including the transfer of millions of dollars to two personal checking accounts over which the fund’s trustees had no oversight……………………………..
Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that the fund had been whittled down to about $100,000, largely through extravagant spending by Anderson Jibas mayor of the Bikinian council, on projects including land development in Hawaii, new ships and planes, and an apartment complex in the Marshall Islands………………………………………
The release of large sums to checking accounts that trustees could not scrutinise might have attracted concern from American officials, but by then the interior department was no longer receiving information about the fund from the Bikinian council or bank officials. The department declined to comment on the bank documents…………………….
From 2018, Jibas refused to provide the council’s financial documents to the Marshallese auditor-general, forcing Marshallese police to forcibly seize the documents in 2021. In an interview with the New York Times, Jibas admitted he occasionally used money from the fund to pay for personal items.
Jibas told the Guardian that he had also directed between $200,000 and $250,000 from the fund towards the construction of a two-story house for his personal use. He claimed this project had been approved by the Bikinian council…………………………… more https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/05/bikini-atoll-nuclear-fund-interior-department
Israeli Minister says US should deny Saudi Arabia nuclear reactor
National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Minister Israel Katz says Israel is opposed to uranium enrichment facility for the Saudis in exchange for normalization – a civilian nuclear program would be cover for producing a nuclear bomb.
National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Minister Israel Katz said Monday that the United States might acquiesce to Saudi Arabia’s demand to establish a uranium enrichment facility on its territory as part of a normalization deal with Israel.
Speaking to Ynet, Katz said that “as a matter of fact, Israel does not encourage such things. I don’t think Israel should agree to such a thing, but there are ongoing talks on that matter.” However, he noted that “normalization with Saudi Arabia is important, and I hope there will also be a peace agreement.”
The New York Times reported in March that the approval and establishment of a civilian nuclear program are among the requirements Riyadh set for the anticipated normalization deal, but official elements in Saudi Arabia and the United States did not confirm it.
However, Israel’s concern is that Saudi Arabia, or one of its other neighbors in the Middle East, would use a civilian nuclear program as the cover for producing a nuclear bomb.
Another demand by Riyadh is an arms deal that would provide Saudi Arabia with the most advanced weapons available in the American weapons arsenal, everything that former President Donald Trump promised to Mohamed bin Zayed, the de facto ruler of the Emirates, and much more, as F-35 fighter jets and bunker busters are part of the deal…………………………….
Jerusalem believes that United States’ move toward an agreement with Iran is the main reason for the Israeli leadership to press hard on preparations for a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. In other words, the latest military exercise simulating a multi-front war, including an attack on Iran, is considered an unprecedented exercise in terms of forces and involvement of state officials.
“Our policy is clear – we will not allow Iran to possess nuclear weapons,” Katz said. He noted that the operation is an “intensive two-week exercise lead by the IDF, in which all systems are realistically trained for multi-front combat, including Iran and all its proxies and affiliated organizations.”………………………….. more https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bksbp4jl3
Israel simulates Iran war after Tehran cleared of nuclear allegations
The drill is a response to the IAEA recently ruling that near-weapons grade uranium found in Iran cannot be used to build a nuclear weapon
The Cradle, By News Desk- June 05 2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed his threats of military action against Iran and its nuclear facilities on 4 June while holding an underground mock assessment with the security cabinet in coordination with Israel’s ongoing military drill, dubbed Firm Hand.
The security cabinet meeting, held in a military command bunker in Tel Aviv, aims to “simulate decision-making by the political echelon during a potential multi-front war,” Times of Israel reported.
“We are committed to acting against Iran’s nuclear program, against missile attacks on Israel, and the possibility of these fronts joining up,” Netanyahu said in a video statement from the bunker.
“The reality in our region is changing rapidly. We are not stagnating. We are adjusting our war doctrine and our options of action in accordance with these changes, in accordance with our goals which do not change,” the prime minister said.
He went on to say that Israel is confident that “we can handle any threat on our own,” slamming efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Netanyahu’s comments come just days after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) decided to shut down one of its major probes into Iran’s nuclear program, ruling that near-weapons grade uranium found in Iran was merely residual and cannot be used to build a nuclear bomb………………………….. https://thecradle.co/article-view/25605/israel-simulates-iran-war-after-tehran-cleared-of-nuclear-allegations
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Ralph Nader: Reverse the Accelerating Warfare State Before It’s Too Late!
when the government talks war, organizes for war, has military bases in a hundred countries and provokes belligerence, wars are likely to happen.
Tell elected officials to stop the arms race and pursue arms control treaties before autonomous weapons of mass destruction and miscalculations lead to World War III – the final world war.
By Ralph Nader / Nader.org https://scheerpost.com/2023/06/05/ralph-nader-reverse-the-accelerating-warfare-state-before-its-too-late/
The Military Budget, which devours over half of the entire federal government’s operational expenditures, has been exempted by Biden and the Congressional Republicans from any reductions in the debt limit deal just reached. Also exempted are hundreds of billions of dollars in yearly diverse corporate subsidies to big business freeloaders.
Most of the cuts will slash the domestic programs that protect the health, safety and economic well-being of the American people. Cuts will also be made to the starved I.R.S. budget, further weakening its capacity to pursue super-rich tax cheats and giant corporate tax escapees. The GOP insisted on continuing its aiding and abetting of grand-scale tax evasion that fuels bigger deficits.
Biden also agreed not to restore any of Trump’s tax cuts on these same plutocrats and corporatists who refuse to pay for the undeclared wars of Empire from which they massively profit.
Welcome to America – Land of the Free, Home of the Brave sleepwalking its way through Sucker Land. It gets worse, People. Not only did the Pentagon, and indirectly the giant munitions corporations like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and General Dynamics get exempted, they were told by both the GOP and the Democrats to get ready, in the coming years, to receive additional tens of billions of dollars that the Generals and Biden didn’t even ask for. Biden wants to increase last year’s Pentagon budget by $48 billion, and the blank-check solons on Capitol Hill are inclined to match him. Except for a few dozen progressives, the support for this Niagara of dollars is bipartisan even though the Pentagon budget is and has been unauditable.
Yet, since 1992, the Department of “Offense” has been violating the federal law that requires DOD to submit an auditable budget to Congress every year. Every Secretary of Defense has admitted this noncompliance and promised to correct it. Yet year after year the violation of law continues. No one can fathom the waste, redundance and gigantic cost overruns by the coddled big business military contractors with their government-guaranteed arrangements. Without Congressional investigatory hearings, without instructing the Congressional watchdog GAO (Government Accountability Office) to do its neglected, underfunded specialized auditing, and without giving voice to budget experts like William Hartung or knowledgeable military professionals like retired Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson and MIT Professor Emeritus Ted Postol, the Pentagon has gone unchecked.
The two-Party duopoly has turned Congress into a giant shovel of unaudited money for the military to secure misguided bragging rights for your Representatives and Senators back home about being “strong on defense” rather than watchdogs over your tax dollars.
Meanwhile, back home, schools crumble, existing public transit is dangerously antiquated and in need of repair, as are bridges, roads, clinics, ports, airports, public drinking water systems and waste management facilities. Care for the public lands and national parks suffers massively due to deferred maintenance. Funding to deal with land erosion, toxic water and air pollution is in short supply.
The failure of Congress to provide support for desperately needed programs such as Head Start and other programs to reduce child hunger, homelessness and poverty involving 80 million people, either without health insurance or under-insured, is beyond shameful. Why is the United States, the richest nation on the planet, providing less to its citizens than Western European countries and Canada? Answer: The runaway power of Big Business over public budgets!
Moreover, we are woefully unprepared for the coming pandemics, as we were for COVID-19, and for worsening natural disasters of climate violence perpetuated by the giant fossil fuel companies (e.g. Chevron and Exxon Mobile) that control Congress.
But hey, our war machine can remotely vaporize a cluster of young men idly standing on a dusty road in Yemen with a drone operator pushing buttons in Virginia and Nevada. Over a trillion and a half dollars will be spent on upgrading our nuclear bombs with the same amount being wasted on strategically useless F-35 fighter planes.
And remember citizens, when the government talks war, organizes for war, has military bases in a hundred countries and provokes belligerence, wars are likely to happen.
Not even the money spent on one F-35 is being devoted to waging peace, initiating ceasefire negotiations and launching efforts for international arms control treaties as occurred under former presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
There is no Department of Peace, and the State Department is more bellicose than the Pentagon in its war of words. We’ve been waiting for Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) who has yet to put a bill in the hopper to create such a department – a purported priority of his since long before his election to Congress.
One can hope that the Pentagon Brass – the generals and admirals, some of whom anticipate retiring to become consultants to, or executives of, the corporate weapons industry, would teach the rampaging Congressional Yahoos a lesson in patriotic restraint. Congress must learn to say “no thanks” to more money than requested and use those funds to help save hundreds of thousands of lives in America lost every year to toxic pollution, preventable negligence in hospitals, the opioid epidemic, tobacco, alcohol, occupational hazards and more.
Absent that prospect, the dozens of small citizen peace advocacy groups and organizations such as Veterans for Peace should establish a national “Rein in and Audit the Military Budget and Save American Lives Day” to spark a nationwide grassroots mobilization focused on Congressional offices on Capitol Hill and in the states. There is no time to waste!
Fill the reception rooms of Members of Congress with citizens for peace and justice for a change. Let our elected officials start hearing the rumble from an aroused people conveying irresistible arguments backed by irrefutable evidence. Tell them to stop the arms race and pursue arms control treaties before autonomous weapons of mass destruction and miscalculations lead to World War III – the final world war.
Tiny radioactive particles persist indoors years after Fukushima
Ellen Fiddian , https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/physics/fukushima-caesium-microparticles/ 4 June 23
Radioactive microparticles were still coating buildings near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant five years after the disaster, according to a study in Chemosphere.
The researchers found caesium-rich microparticles (CsMPs) in the dust of an abandoned primary school 2.8 kilometres southwest of the plant.
CsMPs are usually 5 micrometres in size or smaller (<PM5), and pose a threat to human health if inhaled because they’re highly radioactive.
They also don’t dissolve well in water, meaning they’re likely to persist in the environment and in bodies of people and animals.
“Given the small size of the particles, they could penetrate into the deepest parts of the lung, where they could be retained,” says senior author Associate Professor Satoshi Utsunomiya, a researcher at Kyushu University, Japan.
The researchers had previously shown that the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, which was triggered by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami, released CsMPs. They found CsMPs in a wide area including as far south as Tokyo, about 300km away.
While they had shown CsMPs were distributed widely in the Fukushima exclusion zone, but had not yet shown that the particles could get indoors.
“When entering the school building, we were all shocked by what we saw. Five years had passed by the time of sampling in 2016, but everything was left as it was at the moment of the 2011 earthquake. It’s as if time had stood still,” says Utsunomiya.
The researchers examined dust samples from floors near the school entrance, on its second floor, and in the school yard.
They found CsMPs at both indoor locations, with higher concentrations near the door.
“The CsMPs may present a threat; as shown in our work, CsMPs may accumulate locally and form hot spots, even in indoor environments,” says Utsunomiya, although the exact health effects of CsMPs are still unclear.
“The potential occurrence of CsMPs in indoor environments dictates a need for detailed studies of indoor CsMPs in residential areas impacted by Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant fallout,” says co-author Professor Gareth Law, from the University of Helsinki, Finland.
“I believe it is our duty to conduct rigorous scientific research on the tragic Fukushima events, to find and publicize new knowledge that will be important to society and the next generation,” says Utsunomiya.
“Maybe one day time can begin again for abandoned buildings like the school, but for that to happen, significant clean-up efforts are needed, and if that is to proceed, we first need to know about the forms and extent of contamination in those buildings, such that workers and potential occupants can be protected.”
Japan will be releasing treated radioactive water – nuclear waste from the plant – into the Pacific Ocean later this year.
Citizens Advisory Panel to host meetings on recycling spent nuclear fuel, Vermont
“…………………………. The June 12th and June 19th FWNP Committee meetings will both discuss potential recycling and reprocessing options for spent nuclear fuel.
………………………. At the June 12th meeting, Dr. Sven Bader, Technical Consultant at Orano Federal Services, will discuss several spent fuel recycling options. At the June 19th meeting, Dr. Edwin Lyman, Director of Nuclear Power Safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, will provide additional discussion on spent fuel reprocessing………………………….
Written questions and comments pertaining to the June 12th and June 19th Committee meetings may be submitted to VT NDCAP’s email address at PSD.NDCAP@vermont.gov. All emails sent to the Committee become public record and may be published on the VT NDCAP website (https://publicservice.vermont.gov/vermont-nuclear-decommissioning-citizens-advisory-panel-vt-ndcap) or the Committee’s webpage.
Questions regarding the June 12th and June 19th FNWP Committee meetings or any other VT NDCAP meeting may be directed to State Nuclear Engineer Tony Leshinskie via the contact information noted above.
Source: 6.5.2023. Montpelier, VT – Vermont Department of Public Service
Netanyahu convenes Iran war drill, scorns UN nuclear watchdog
Yahoo! News, Dan Williams, Sun, 4 June 2023
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ramped up threats to attack Iranian nuclear facilities on Sunday, convening a rare cabinet war drill after he accused U.N. inspectors of failing to confront Tehran.
With Iran having enriched enough uranium to 60% fissile purity for two nuclear bombs, if refined further – something it denies wanting or planning – Israel has redoubled threats to launch preemptive military strikes if international diplomacy fails. Israel has long maintained that for diplomacy to succeed, Iran must be faced with a credible military threat.
We are committed to acting against Iran’s nuclear (drive), against missile attacks on Israel and the possibility of these fronts joining up,” Netanyahu said in a video statement from Israel’s underground command bunker at its military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
The possibility of multiple fronts, Netanyahu said while surrounded by security cabinet ministers and defence chiefs, requires Israel’s leadership “consider, if possible consider ahead of time,” its major decisions.
Netanyahu’s office issued footage of the drill. The publicity around the preparations appeared to depart from Israel’s 1981 strike on an Iraqi nuclear reactor and a similar sortie in Syria in 2007, carried out without forewarning.
UN WATCHDOG SAID IRAN PROVIDED SATISFACTORY ANSWER
Earlier, Netanyahu levelled sharp criticism of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), following a report last week by the U.N. watchdog that Iran had provided a satisfactory answer on one case of suspect uranium particles and re-installed some monitoring equipment originally put in place under a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal……….
The IAEA declined to comment.
On Wednesday, the agency reported that after years of investigation and lack of progress, Iran had given a satisfactory answer to explain one of three sites at which uranium particles had been detected.
Those particles could be explained by the presence of a onetime Soviet-operated mine and lab there and the IAEA had no further questions, a senior diplomat in Vienna said.
In an apparent reference to this, Netanyahu said Iran’s explanations were “technically impossible.”………………………more https://au.news.yahoo.com/israel-accuses-u-n-nuclear-125127358.html
How Much Would It Cost to Solve Climate Change? And How Would We Pay for It?
Palmer Owyoung, Medium 31st May 2023
We know we need to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. But as of
2023, we still get about 78 % of our energy from fossil fuels, with coal
making up the single biggest source of electricity at 36%. So how do we get
from where are today to 100% renewable energy before 2050? Is there a
climate change solution? Most importantly how much will it cost and who
will pay for it?
To answer the first question, we look to Mark Jacobson, a
professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of the
Atmosphere/Energy Program at Stanford University. In his 2023 Book No
Miracle Needed, he puts together a comprehensive plan based on real-world
data that shows how the world can transition off fossil fuels using
existing technology in the form of wind, solar, geothermal, hydo-electric,
and battery storage.
According to Jacobson we already have 95% of what we
need to get there and the remaining 5% will come from hydrogen fuel cells
that can power airplanes and long-distance cargo ships. The data for his
book comes from a detailed study that he published in 2015 of what each of
the 50 U.S. States needs to transition their electrical grid,
transportation, heating/cooling, and industrial sectors to renewable energy
powered by wind, water and sun.
The plan’s goal is to replace 80 to 85% of
fossil fuels by 2030 and 100% by 2050. This time frame is considerably more
aggressive than the Paris Climate Agreement and Jacobson not only addresses
the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, but does so
while keeping energy costs low, creating new jobs and maintaining a stable
power grid.
One of the biggest issues with solar and wind is the
intermittency problem, which means that the sun does not always shine and
the wind doesn’t always blow. Jacobson’s 2015 report was criticized for
making assumptions about how energy could be stored and it was dismissed as
using unrealistic assumptions. His response was to write the 2018 study
that divided the world into 143 countries and 20 regions around the world.
Using data and a simulator he and his team looked at the grid stability in
each of the regions for every 30 seconds for the past five years to
determine the cost of energy per unit. What they found was that wind, water
and solar power are enough to keep the grid stable and uninterrupted
contrary to what his critics said. In fact, he found that there is enough
wind generated on the Earth to power our needs 6 or 7 times over and while
it’s true this energy is intermittent, he says it would require no more
than 4 hours of battery storage in order to solve the problem.
Furthermore,
a 2023 study published in Nature indicates that electric vehicle batteries
alone could provide the short-term storage needed by global grids as early
as 2030.
·
1.5 C limit is still feasible
Now that the Earth has warmed roughly 1.2°C, “once-in-a-century”
heatwaves, forest fires, and floods are becoming more familiar to us. But
there is still a massive difference between 1.2°C and 1.5°C, and the
science shows that it is still possible to end this century at or below
that threshold.
Project Syndicate 1st June 2023
1 This Month
Read the Public Inquiry Report, the Commissioners’ report, Surrendering Australia: The AUKUS Deception is available to download for free at aukuspublicinquiry.com. Or just watch the replay of the National Press Club Luncheon.
19 November – Webinar – The Reality of Reprocessing
Time: 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada) / 2:00 PM Eastern / 7:00 PM UK / 8:00 PM CET
Register for the Zoom Event Here
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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