Nuclear news – Australia and more – this week
A bit of good news – Antibody “master key” discovery could neutralize all COVID variants.
Climate change- The Social, Cultural, and Economic Implications
Nuclear. A strange contradiction going on – with double messaging coming from the nuclear lobby and IAEA. We must bear in mind that the goal of the IAEA is to “assist its Member States, in the context of social and economic goals, in planning for and using nuclear science and technology for various peaceful purposes, including the generation of electricity, and facilitates the transfer of such technology and knowledge in a sustainable manner to developing Member States” – in other words – to promote nuclear power.
So -we are being told that the safe way towards climate action is nuclear power, and especially now , as we need to avoid Russian gas. (Apparently Russian uranium is OK. ) At the same time, the IAEA is warning that the presence of the Zaporizhia nuclear plant in a military zone is a threat to European, even global safety. So – nuclear reactors are safe, but in some circumstances, very unsafe.
AUSTRALIA.
Gem Romuld – ‘Reject the deadly logic of nuclear deterrence’. Richard Marles reaffirms Australia’s commitment to the one-China policy and ‘stabilising’ Canberra-Beijing relations.
Australia is failing to deliver on the UN Rights of Indigenous people.
INTERNATIONAL.
The Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is a fraud as the nuclear Mafia continue to spend $billions on their nuclear arsenals
” The New Space Race is Going Nuclear”. As Threat of Militarisation Rises, International Community Races to Set Standards for Responsible Behaviour in Outer Space. (without much luck!)
Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the world – new research. ‘Off the charts’: Glaciers in Europe experience extreme melt.
UKRAINE.
- Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant: Analysing safety of nuclear power in conflict zones. Is Ukraine ready for another Chernobyl-like catastrophe? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGxQBeQp0FQ Ukraine nuclear accident fears heightened. IAEA reiterates need for all military action to stop near Zaporizhzya Nuclear PP. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Macron that Ukrainian shelling of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant risks disaster. Russia agrees to allow investigators to inspect Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
- Ukraine using very advanced long range rockets to strike Russian air base in Crimea? Why Crimea matters. Russia shoots down Ukrainian drone over Crimea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6rwj_Qk6ws
- Russian Military From Nuclear Plant Showing Signs Of Radiation Sickness – Paramedic.
- Why Am I Banned in Ukraine?
- War Propaganda About Ukraine Starting to Wear Thin.
- Putin Claim U.S. Is Dragging Out War Isn’t Crazy, Military Expert Says.
PACIFIC ISLANDS. Pacific Alliance of Municipal Councils starts Petition against dumping nuclear wastewater in Pacific.
‘Reject the deadly logic of nuclear deterrence’
So, who is on board? More than 100 federal MPs and another 150 in state and territory parliaments, the Australian Greens, Labor and most other cross-benchers, including most of the new independents.
Two dozen unions, including the Australian Council of Trade Unions, more than 60 faith-based organizations, including the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, the Australian Medical Association, dozens of civil society organisations and three quarters of the general public.
Fifty five former Australian Ambassadors and High Commissioners signed an open letter urging PM Albanese to fulfill Labor’s commitment.
Gem Romuld, August 21, 2022, Gem Romuld, the Australian Director at International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Australia, delivered this speech to the Sydney Hiroshima Day rally on August 8.
I want to acknowledge that First Nations people suffer the worst of nuclear technologies, not just nuclear weapons’ testing but all aspects of the nuclear chain, including uranium mining and radioactive waste dumping.
These struggles are ongoing today with threats of uranium mining at Mulga Rock in Western Australia, a radioactive waste dump planned for Barngarla land at Kimba, South Australia and the ongoing un-remedied impacts of 12 major nuclear explosions at Monte Bello in WA, Emu Field and Maralinga in SA, followed by hundreds of radioactive experiments — “the minor trials” —at Maralinga.
Today is a really important marker in time, one that we are keeping alive by gathering here.
What happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is why the vast majority of sensible people totally abhor nuclear weapons and want to see every last one decommissioned and dismantled.
Five years ago, the treaty banning nuclear weapons was created and last year it entered into force. It is something that experts, governments, diplomats and, even some activists, said could and would not happen.
But with strategy and persistence it did. Now, it has permanently altered the international legal architecture on nuclear weapons: it has raised the bar and all nations are measured against this powerful new standard.
Right now, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has 86 signatories and 66 states parties, with those numbers going out of date regularly as more nations sign on.
Every new signature and ratification is a rejection of the deadly logic of nuclear deterrence and a bold expression of the alternative — human security without nuclear weapons.
The first meeting of states parties in Vienna in June was a big success that culminated in a Declaration and Action Plan, including 50 Points outlining practical ways members of the TPNW can “facilitate effective and timely implementation” of the Treaty articles and the Vienna Declaration commitments.
The second meeting of states parties will be in November-December 2023 at the United Nations in New York City. It will come around quickly. We need Australia to be at that meeting at least as a signatory, if not a state party.
Why is this treaty important?
It’s the first treaty to make illegal everything to do with nuclear weapons.
It completes the triad of bans on the three weapons of mass destruction: nuclear weapons; biological weapons and chemical weapons.
It is a powerful instrument of international law, as well as humanitarian law: it not only prohibits, but it also compels states’ parties to seek nuclear justice by assisting victims and remediating environments impacted by nuclear weapons.
In force as of January last year it is the ultimate test for all nations, including Australia. You are either against nuclear weapons or complicit with them.
Any nations that profess commitment to nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation but haven’t yet joined this treaty are exposed for their double-speak.
Under the previous federal government, prospects for this treaty were dire.
But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party have committed to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons since 2018. Further, three quarters of all Labor MPs have personally pledged their commitment.
We all know that MPs make and break promises. But this is one we won’t let them break, will we?
Our efforts right now are critically important. We cannot for a minute drop the expectation that the government will do what it has promised. We have to be involved and keep up the pressure with MPs, councils, superannuation funds, unions and civil society organisations.
Like most meaningful change, it will take time and be hard won but we are well and truly on the way.
So, who is on board? More than 100 federal MPs and another 150 in state and territory parliaments, the Australian Greens, Labor and most other cross-benchers, including most of the new independents.
Two dozen unions, including the Australian Council of Trade Unions, more than 60 faith-based organizations, including the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, the Australian Medical Association, dozens of civil society organisations and three quarters of the general public.
Fifty five former Australian Ambassadors and High Commissioners signed an open letter urging PM Albanese to fulfill Labor’s commitment.
We have all the right ingredients: the moment is ripe. We can get Australia to join the nuclear weapon ban treaty in this term of government.
Doing that will help other nuclear endorsing states resist the pressure of the nuclear-armed bullies. Slowly, they will be isolated and, eventually, one of them will begin the process of disarming.
Is Ukraine ready for another Chernobyl-like catastrophe? – Paul Dorfman
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling Zaporizhzhia. Now,
International atomic energy agency team will visit Zaporizhzhia. Still the
question arises, is Ukraine ready for another Chernobyl-like catastrophe?
Paul Dorfman at 3.57
WION 20th Aug 2022
Pacific Alliance of Municipal Councils starts Petition against dumping nuclear wastewater in Pacific
https://www.mvariety.com/news/petition-against-dumping-nuclear-wastewater-in-pacific/article_5ad4f2f2-2103-11ed-ac27-6ffcaa93ec58.html Aug 22, 2022 , The Pacific Alliance of Municipal Councils or PAMC has started a petition on change.org (https://chng.it/JLT2btJQB6) to try and stop Japan from dumping its Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.
PAMC President and Secretary of the Rota Municipal Council, Councilman Jim Atalig, expressed his strong opposition saying, “If it’s not good for their land, it is definitely not good for our ocean where most of us get our food on a daily basis!”
Chairman Joseph E. Santos, PAMC member and chairman of the Tinian Municipal Council, says, “It is an outrage for anyone to think that it’s okay to dump their toxic wastes in our ocean when we rely on it for food, health activities, and economic sustainability.”
The other members of PAMC are Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council member Ana Demapan-Castro, Chairwoman, Antonia Tudela, member Daniel Aquino; Rota Municipal Council Chairman Jonovan Lizama, Vice Chairman William Taitano; Tinian Municipal Council Vice Chairwoman Thomasa P. Mendiola, and Secretary Juanita M. Mendiola, who is also the vice president of PAMC.
PAMC is urging everyone to please circulate the petition through their Facebook page so we can prevail in preventing Japan and any other countries from using our ocean as their toxic waste dumping ground!
“Nothing good will come out of this, just as the toll of human suffering as a result of all nuclear energy fallouts were never worth their well-intended, but disastrously misguided, objectives!”
Even a one year delay in new transmission links will hurt homes and businesses — RenewEconomy
New modelling shows the impact on consumer electricity bills of delays to the electricity transmission upgrade and build – and it’s not pretty. The post Even a one year delay in new transmission links will hurt homes and businesses appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Even a one year delay in new transmission links will hurt homes and businesses — RenewEconomy
Fossil fuel industry may have lost power, but it’s still got its foot on the brakes — RenewEconomy
The EV Summit in Canberra will likely emerge as a pivotal moment in Australia’s transition to electric vehicles. But there are still powerful forces at work trying to slow it down. The post Fossil fuel industry may have lost power, but it’s still got its foot on the brakes appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Fossil fuel industry may have lost power, but it’s still got its foot on the brakes — RenewEconomy
Islanders in Latin America face relocation, because of climate change.
Some 2,000 islanders in Guna Yala will become one of the first indigenous
communities in Latin America to relocate because of climate change.
Islander Magdalena Martínez, who has campaigned for new housing on the
mainland, tells the BBC how she feels about leaving the island she grew up
on.
The Panama government estimates all islands of the Guna people could be
under water by 2050, based on forecasts by an independent group of
scientists, although others think the islands may not all be submerged
until the end of the century.
BBC 20th Aug 2022
Why Crimea matters. Russia shoots down Ukrainian drone over Crimea
Russia shoots down Ukrainian drone over Crimea | DW News 21 Aug 22, Russian officials in occupied Crimea say they’ve shot down a drone, headed for a key military base. It was targeting the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol. It was the second assault of its kind against the naval command in Crimea in less than a month – and it comes as Russia claims to have shot down drones elsewhere on the peninsula. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. However, the international community still recognizes it as part of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Macron that Ukrainian shelling of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant risks disaster
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned his French counterpart Emmanuel
Macron that shelling of the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power
plant in southern Ukraine, which he blamed on Kyiv, could result in a
large-scale disaster.
Reuters 19th Aug 2022
Expert forum Claverton Energy Group concludes that renewable energy +battery storage can meet UK’s needs – nuclear is not needed.
Open University Professor Bill Nuttall’s updated version of his 2005 ‘Nuclear Renaissance’ book makes a case for nuclear power as low carbon and reliable, although, as the promotional blurb says, it accepts that
‘in recent years it has struggled to play a strong role in global plans for electricity generation in the 21st century’.
The new book also accepts that the much-hyped renaissance didn’t in the event happen- with Fukushima blowing it off course. Do we really want to build new nuclear plants to be ready on standby to provide spinning reserve backup and/or to provide rotational grid stability? Hydro can do that, and wind too to some extent, and virtual inertia can be provided by battery systems fed by PV solar.
Claverton Energy Group (CEG), a UK energy expert forum, has recently summarised some of the key conclusions of current research on energy system mixes and say they show that renewables can supply all our needs, with grid balancing provided in part by battery and heat storage.
Nuclear is not needed. The newly revised and updated 100% renewables global energy scenario produced by Prof Mark Jacobson and his team at Stanford University has come to similar conclusions, with 4 hour battery storage playing major balancing roles. All at competitive costs.
Renew Extra 20th Aug 2022
https://renewextraweekly.blogspot.com/2022/08/nuclear-renaissance-revisited.html
EDITORIAL: TEPCO must be candid on plan to discharge “tainted” water into ocean
Tainted, what an euphemism!
August 17, 2022
Radiation-contaminated water is still being produced in the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co.
Progress is being made on the government’s plan to release treated water into the ocean, and local governments have approved the construction of pertinent facilities.
However, local opposition to the project remains fierce, particularly from the fisheries industry.
The central government and TEPCO must spare no effort to thoroughly explain the project to the parties concerned, as well as to the rest of the nation and the world.
At the crippled plant, groundwater is continuing to mix into cooling water for melted nuclear fuel, raising the volume of radiation-contaminated water by about 130 tons a day.
The contaminated water is treated to remove most of its radioactive content and is kept in storage tanks.
But with the existing tanks now nearly full, the government decided in spring last year to dilute the stored water with seawater and discharge it into the sea, fearing that building more storage tanks could affect post-disaster recovery work.
TEPCO is currently proceeding with preparations for the offshore discharge about 1 kilometer from the plant.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority approved the plan last month, saying it saw no safety issues.
NRA Chairman Toyoshi Fuketa told a news conference, “While I recognize opposition to the plan, the offshore discharge (of treated water) cannot be avoided if we are to proceed with the decommissioning of reactors.”
Residual tritium in the treated water is released into the sea by active nuclear power stations in and outside Japan.
The government’s plan is to dilute the tritium content to less than one-40th of the national standard, and keep the annual release volume below the pre-accident level.
The International Atomic Energy Agency noted in its report in April to the effect that the radiological impact on the public was expected to be very low and significantly below the level set by the Japanese regulatory body.
The Fukushima prefectural government and the municipal governments of Okuma and Futaba–which co-host the Fukushima No. 1 plant–approved the construction of discharge facilities in early August.
Two days later, TEPCO advanced the project to the phase of actual construction of an undersea tunnel through which the treated water will be released into the ocean.
But the local fisheries industry and other opponents of the project are not yielding an inch. They claim that even though the radiation level is below the required safety standard, anything that is being discharged from the crippled plant cannot be considered completely safe and can cause damage due to rumors or misinformation.
In fact, when the NRA solicited opinions from the public, all sorts of questions and negative comments were sent in.
In 2015, the government and TEPCO promised the fishing industry that “no treated water will ever be discharged without the understanding of the parties concerned.” This is the kind of promise they must not be allowed to renege on.
TEPCO says that it fully understands the “importance of explaining everything thoroughly” and will provide information on its official website. Of course, the company must be completely open and be willing to answer questions.
But its trustworthiness is suspect, as the utility proceeded with its tunnel construction project as soon as it was approved by the local governments.
If TEPCO genuinely wants the understanding of the parties concerned, it must listen directly to people’s questions and opposing views and strive to keep up the conversation.
As if causing an unprecedented nuclear disaster at Fukushima wasn’t bad enough, the damage compensations that TEPCO made to victims were hardly generous, and the company even kept up wrongful practices at its other nuclear power stations.
Unless TEPCO makes every imaginable effort, we doubt it will ever be able to build a relationship of trust with local communities.
It is time for the utility’s president and top executives to consider holding candid, face-to-face meetings with fisheries industry representatives and local residents.
August 21 Energy News — geoharvey
Opinion: ¶ “Chipmakers Cut Investments After Subsidies – Shame On You!” • Covid has been awful, leading to inflation, supply chain failures, and global political crises. As if all that hasn’t been bad enough, big chipmakers like Intel and Micron have reduced their manufacturing investments, just as major government subsidies are coming their way. [CleanTechnica] […]
August 21 Energy News — geoharvey
Antinuclear 