This week, in Australian and other nuclear news

A bit of good news. Quitea shortage of good news this week. I’m reduced to falling back on stories of individual goodness. Well, why not? Individuals in their millions are doing kind things every day – that just doesn’t get into the news media. The Top 10 Acts of Kindness in 2022 Warmed Our Hearts and Restored Our Faith in Strangers and Neighbors.

Coronavirus. Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19

Climate. Climate change could cause ‘disaster’ in the world’s oceans.

Nuclear. Not much happening, except hype for small nuclear reactors. Australia’s nuclear submarines project is beginning to sound less like a goer, and more like something of a 171$billion ego-trip by former PM Scott Morrison, in a bid to look important on the world stage

Christina’s notes: They’re at it again! The nuclear industry dazzles journalists with its newest hogwash – “inflection point”. Corporate media focusses on ‘new’ nuclear solutions. Are they stupid? Or is it just what they’re paid to write?

AUSTRALIA.

US President Joe Biden warned AUKUS nuclear submarine deal could come at cost to American fleet. Dear US Congress, thank you for saving Australia from itself.
Australia to buy long-range HIMARS missile system from United States – at unknown cost (? 2 $billion). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_M2JqeY8CA
Military join rescue effort as floods ravage outback. Bushfire deaths and smoke-related healthcare costs predicted to rise in next few years.

*************************************

CIVIL LIBERTIES. Guilty of Journalism. Key US Allies Collaborate On Espionage Laws Considered Harmful To Whistleblowers And Journalists.

CLIMATE. Coal 2 Nuclear: From the fossil fuel frying pan into the fission fire. Under present conditions, a huge loss of the planet’s glaciers will happen in the next 30 years. Writers protest against UK’s imprisonment of climate activists.

ECONOMICS

Green surge is circuit breaker on nuclear revival. Nuclear power saw multiple gains in 2022, but economic and other questions remain.
Sizewell C Nuclear Project’s biggest stumbling block is its funding problem. Sizewell C: How will the £20billion plant be fully-funded? Is EDF using Britain’s “windfall tax” as an excuse to get out of uneconomic Hartlepool and Heysham nuclear reactors?
Japan’s shortage of engineers and manufacturing capacity sets back its nuclear ambitions.
GUSTAFSON: Russian nuclear power – unsanctioned – is prospering worldwide.

ENERGY. Analysis Shows U.S. Wind and Solar Could Outpace Coal and Nuclear Power in 2023. European Energy Crisis: France Close to Electricity Rationing Over Problems with Local Nuclear Plants. The Future Remains Uncertain For Nuclear Energy. Nuclear is not the answer to the UK’s energy requirements, and honesty about Sizewell is needed. Solar power innovation by two British local councils. Great Britain produced a record amount of wind-powered electricity in 2022.

ENVIRONMENT. Namibia orders Russian uranium exploration to stop due to environmental concerns.

HEALTH. Electromagnetic radiation – cellphones as a health hazard. Ionising radiation. Return to studying baby teeth for radioactivity from nuclear weapons and nuclear facilities.

HISTORY. It’s all about the bomb: why civilian nuclear power is merely a cover for producing more nuclear weapons. Why Did Portland General Electric Want to Build Trojan Nuclear Plant in the First Place?

LEGAL. John LaForge Set to Be First US Activist Jailed in Germany for Anti-Nuke Protests. Take Japan to court for nuclear water dumping.

MEDIA. Under Musk, Twitter Continues to Promote US Propaganda Networks. Zelensky Expands Crackdown on Ukrainian Media. Media Silent as Latest Twitter Files Expose Flagrant Misconduct in Govt. & Journalism.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY.

$Billions of tax-payer money to go to kickstarting the “new nuclear reactor” industry’s “inflection point”.
Small Nuclear Reactor (SMR) developers submit 6 designs for UK approval. SMRs – an oversold hype?
International nuclear fusion project may be delayed by years, its head admits. Is Nuclear Fusion Hotter Than the Sun?. Nuclear fusion may change our world but renewable energy sources will save it: experts.

PERSONAL STORIES.. Beatrice Fihn – a decade fighting to ban nuclear weapons. This man saved the world from nuclear war. His story is a heart-pumper.

POLITICS. German minister reignites coalition row with call to review nuclear exit.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. US and South Korea hold talks on “nuclear sharing”. South Korea asks US for greater role in managing nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons and the resistance to reality. U.S. President Biden contradicts South Korea’s President‘s claim that the two countries are planning joint nuclear exercises.

Pakistan supplies India with a list of its nuclear facilities. US Says ‘All Options’ On Table As Iran Nuclear Talks Remain Deadlocked.

SAFETY.

Nuclear Ukraine? Amid concerns over alleged Russian threat, the world overlooks the real danger .
Canada: Pressure tubes at two nuclear reactors deteriorated far too quickly .
Letter in the Morning Star Exposes Links Between Subsea Coal Mine and Subsea Nuclear Dumping. Enforcement action revealed after Hinkley Point C worker death.
Japan to use Self-Defense Forces to guard nuclear power plants.
South Korea: Credible nuclear regulation needs independence transparency.

SECRETS and LIES.

White Lives Matter More in Ukraine. Japan
Data rewriting and erroneous statements…Sloppy handling continues at Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant Unit No.2 of JAERI, Regulatory Commission suggests termination of review if no improvement is made. Kashiwazaki Kariwa, a Distant Recovery of Confidence TEPCO Shares Crisis Awareness to Prevent Misconduct. British-run spy tech powers Ukraine proxy war, putting civilians at risk.
Russian computer hacking team targeted 3 USA nuclear weapons facilities.
Can nuclear safety protocols be maintained in a poor country like Kyrgyzstan, where corruption is rampant?.

SPINBUSTER. Countering nuclear industry propaganda by telling the facts – Joshua Frank’s book “Atomic Days”. Workington under siege from new nuclear plans.

WASTES.

Fukushima, Our ongoing accident. Japan must work with the Pacific to find a solution to the Fukushima water release issue – otherwise we face disaster.
Feds push plan to dispose plutonium using nuclear waste repository near Carlsbad. Editorial: New Mexico right to ask for accounting of nuclear waste.
Indigenous Taiwanese kept in the dark as a massive nuclear waste dump was imposed on their island.
UK. Coal Boss Compiles Lastest Nuclear Dump Report for Government who have just Approved his Coal Mine.

WAR and CONFLICT. Before the Bombs Come the Platitudes. Cold War estimates of deaths in nuclear conflict. A Secret War in the Making: Americans Should Not Die to Defend Taiwan.

Number of civilians killed in Donbass revealed. Ukraine – The Big Push To End The War. CODEPINK calls on Zelensky, Biden and Congress to seize this chance for peace in Ukraine. Donetsk shelled in first minute of Christmas truce . Los Alamos National Laboratory’s record $4.6B budget will still mostly fund nuclear weapons.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. Pentagon pressures NATO allies to boost arms flow to Ukraine. Defensive and offensive operations: “tank-killers” part of new U.S. $45b arms package to Ukraine

North Korea to have “exponential increase” in its nuclear arsenal. Raytheon sells long-range missiles to Romania for war in Black Sea