Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items

This week’s nuclear news, but climate is a bigger story

Some bits of good news:  Positive tipping points could save the climate – this man is showing us how.   Deforestation rates plummeted in Brazil.

Last week it was a “watershed week”.   And it seems that this one is also, – though for a largely different reason.  The Ukraine-NATO thing is a mess.  The Western media continues to religiously recite the story of Ukraine’s successful “counter-offensive”. But there’s whisper of dissension in NATO, and even some whispered criticism of  Volodymyr Zelensky .

 But really –  the big watershed thing is global heating. At last, the media seems to be abandoning the pretense that global heating effects happen to hit one country, then another –  sort of separately. It is becoming obvious that global heating is a global event  –  at least now enveloping the Northern part of the globe. (We in the cooler South are still comfortably preoccupied with sport, as the major event)

Climate. Temperatures above average almost every day this year. UK to see biggest increase in ‘uncomfortably hot’ days in the world as climate change bites. More than 113 million Americans under extreme heat alerts as relentless temperatures continueThe US says it will not “under any circumstances” pay reparations to developing countries hit by climate change-fuelled disasters. Greenpeace: Asset managers are ‘ignoring’ climate impact of bitcoin.

Christina notes. “As long as it takes” – WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?   Zelensky mania! – But are cracks appearing in NATO?Nuclear power is SO IRRELEVANT – to climate! It’s almost funny, -but it’s NOT funny.

TOP STORIES

Julian Assange Is “Dangerously Close” to Extradition for Revealing US War Crimes.

Climate Change Threatens U.S. Nuclear Strike Capability.

Scott Ritter Investigation: Agent Zelensky – Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLeBb6hPUC8      Will the Ukraine war be the undoing for the European Union?

IN KOSOVO, NATO ALLIES BLAME DEPLETED URANIUM FOR CANCER CASES.

Cuba condemns US deployment of nuclear submarine in its waters.

Failed Fukushima Fixes Falling Like Dominoes.

‘Atomic Fallout’: Records reveal government downplayed, ignored health risks of St. Louis radioactive waste for decades.

AUSTRALIA

CLIMATE. Extreme weather increasingly disrupted generation of nuclear power in last 30 years: State of the Climate in Europe 2022. Heatwaves: Why this summer has been so hot. High river temperatures to limit French nuclear power production. France Cuts Nuclear Output as Heat Triggers Water Restrictions. How much water do French nuclear plants use? Hungary’s nuclear power plant reduces output due to the hot weather.

ECONOMICS. UK govt discusses sale of Wylfa nuclear site. Michigan ratepayers will foot the bill for Resuscitation of Palisades Nuclear Reactor.  Small nuclear reactor industry in big trouble? France to decide on nuclear financing by end of 2024.

EMPLOYMENTNuclear safety staffing in the United States: a crisis with no easy fix.

ENERGY. The Path to a Sustainable Civilisation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hTjLH4T6X8 Welsh campaigners call for Wylfa to be at heart of Ynys Mon ‘green energy’ island.

ENVIRONMENTOceans ‘Grave concerns’ as Japan’s plan to release Fukushima wastewater to the Pacific. Safe or septic – Japan’s nuclear wastewater dumping. Dumping Doubts: Releasing Fukushima’s Waste Water. 12 years on, Fukushima’s citizen-scientists continue to test local fish for radioactive substances.. Nuclear bomb plutonium fallout marks dawn of new epoch in which humanity dominates planet.

ETHICS and RELIGIONArchbishop to denounce nuclear arms on Trinity test’s 78th anniversary.

HEALTH. Nuked blood: PM Rishi Sunak is urged to uncover the truth on veterans’ missing health recordsRadiation. New Evidence on Tritium Hazards How the world’s most radioactive man cried blood while his skin melted as he was kept alive in 83-day nightmare after horror accident at Japanese nuclear power plant.

INDIGENOUS ISSUES. Nuclear waste issue must be resolved before new facility can be explored, says Saugeen Ojibway Nation.

LEGALSizewell C faces fresh legal action in fall out over water supply. 

MEDIA.  Terrible truths about nuclear energy exposed. The War on journalism: the Case of Julian Assangehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90OIGGpfHDo&t=366s Oppenheimer: what you need to know before watching. A Pro-Nuke Snoozer.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Small size, big problems: NuScale’s troublesome small modular nuclear reactor plan. An Unholy Alliance: billionaire technocrats delight in planning Artificial Intelligence to run nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons!

OPPOSITION to NUCLEARKenya has restated its commitment to ensuring nuclear energy and nuclear weapons are not used in the continent. Postpone plans for Kilifi nuclear power, Kenya. Protests stopped nuclear waste dumping at Bradwell in the 80s, and now will likely do so again. Nuclear power is still an option at Comanche 3. These Pueblo activists want to change that. France detonated nearly 200 nuclear ‘tests’ in French Polynesia — now this activist is calling for accountability. 

PERSONAL STORIESListening to Oppenheimer, Seven Decades Later. Oppenheimer’s tragedy — and ours.

POLITICS

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY

SAFETY. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is a ‘dirty bomb’ waiting to happen – a nuclear expert explains. Security concerns for Britain as China might be controlling its nuclear power stations. Incidents. Novouralsk Nuclear Plant Blast—What We Know, as Russians Rushed to Hospital. Russia says West is sponsoring ‘nuclear terrorism’ after Ukrainian drone strike.

SECRETS and LIES. White House opposes independent oversight of Ukraine aid.    FBI colluded with Ukraine in social media crackdown – lawmakers.   China says Japanese govt’s fund subsidizing local fishing industry ‘hush money’.

SPACE: EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. SpaceX’s Starlink satellites are leaking electromagnetic radiation that’s ‘photobombing’ our attempts to study the cosmos.

SPINBUSTER. Exposing the lying claims of pro nuclear shill Zion Lights.

URANIUM. CANATOMIC: Canada’s Neglected Uranium History.

WASTES. Global Impact: Japan, nuclear watchdog under intense scrutiny over discharge of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water. Dumping Doubts: Releasing Fukushima’s Waste Water. Japan to Release 1.3 Million Tonnes of Water Used During Fukushima Nuclear Accident.  US could stop Ukraine conflict instantly – Hungary. 

Takeaways from AP’s examination of nuclear waste problems in the St. Louis regionCanada’s Civil Society Groups Call for Public Debate on Radioactive Waste Management Strategy.

WAR and CONFLICTNATO fails to reduce nuclear risks at Vilnius Summit. The NATO ultimatum to Ukraine – invitation to win by winter or die . Ukraine admits responsibility for terror attack on Crimean bridge. Drone crashes in Russian ‘atomic city’ – governor. Russia prevents Ukraine attack on Crimea’s Sevastopol. Need more cannon-fodder: Ukraine stepping up mercenary recruitment effort . Ukraine’s chances of victory in 2023 are ‘vanishingly small’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH2mmqhTpi8

Crimea invasion to cost Kiev 200,000 soldiers: Ex-Zelensky aide. WHY ARE AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN UKRAINE? Indonesia Warns Nuclear Weapons Put Southeast Asia a ‘Miscalculation Away’ From Disaster.White House: Ordering the Selected Reserve and Certain Members of the Individual Ready Reserve of the Armed Forces to Active Duty.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. 

July 17, 2023 Posted by | Christina reviews | Leave a comment

NATO’s talk of further Asian engagement should be feared by Australia

Independent Australia, By Binoy Kampmark | 13 July 2023

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has undermined its mission to foster stability, becoming a vessel of U.S. power. Where NATO goes, war is most likely — Australia should take note, writes Dr Binoy Kampmark.

SINCE THE end of the Cold War, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has distinctly strayed from its original purpose. It has become, almost shamelessly, the vessel and handmaiden of U.S. power, while its burgeoning expansion eastwards has done wonders to upend the applecart of stability. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

A continent was thereby destabilised. The true beneficiaries proved to be the tapestry of warring rebel groups characterised by sectarian impulses and a voracious appetite for human rights abuses and war crimes.

The Ukraine War has been another crude lesson in the failings of the NATO project. The constant teasing and wooing of Kyiv as a potential future member never sat well with Moscow, and while much can be made of the Russian invasion, no realistic assessment of the war’s origins can excise NATO from playing a deep, compromised role. 

The Alliance is also proving dissonant among its members. Not all are exactly jumping at the chance of admitting Ukraine. ………………………………………

– Biden did draw the logical conclusion that bringing Kyiv into an alliance of obligatory collective defence during current hostilities would automatically put NATO at war with Moscow.

With such a spotty, blood-speckled record marked by stumbles and bungles, any suggestions of further engagement by the Alliance in other areas of the globe should be treated with abundant wariness. 

The latest talk of further Asian engagement should also be greeted with a sense of dread. 

According to a recent July statement:

‘The Indo-Pacific is important for the Alliance, given that developments in that region can directly affect Euro-Atlantic security. Moreover, NATO and its partners in the region share a common goal of working together to strengthen the rules-based international order.’

With these views, conflict lurks.

The form of that engagement is being suggested by such ideas as opening a liaison office in Japan, intended as the first outpost in Asia. It also promises to feature in the NATO Summit to take place in Vilnius on 11 and 12 July, which will again repeat the attendance format of the Madrid Summit held in 2022. 

That new format featuring the presence of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea – or the AP4 – should have induced much head-scratching. But the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), Washington’s beady eyes in Canberra, celebrated this ‘shift to taking a truly global approach to strategic competition’

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is also much in favour of such competition, warning member states of Beijing’s ambitions.“We should not make the same mistake with China and other authoritarian regimes”, he suggested, alluding to a dangerous and flawed comparison between Ukraine and Taiwan. 

Cautioned Stoltenberg:

“What is happening in Europe today could happen in Asia tomorrow.”

One of the prominent headscratchers at this erroneous reasoning is French President Emmanuel Macron. Taking issue with setting up the Japan liaison office, Macron has expressed opposition to such expansion by an alliance which, at least in terms of treaty obligations, has a strict geographical limit. ……..

In 2021, Macron made it clear that NATO’s increasingly obsessed approach with China as a dangerous belligerent entailed a confusion of goals:

Said Macron:

“NATO is a military organisation; the issue of our relationship with China isn’t just a military issue. NATO is an organisation that concerns the North Atlantic, China has little to do with the North Atlantic.”

Such views have also pleased former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating, whose waspish ire has also been trained on the NATO Secretary General. 

In his latest statement, Keating condemned Stoltenberg as ‘the supreme fool’ of ‘the international stage’.

Declared Keating:

‘Stoltenberg, by instinct and by policy, is simply an accident on its way to happen.’

China, Keating said,

“… represents 20 per cent of humanity and now possesses the largest economy in the world… and has no record for attacking other states, unlike the United States, whose bidding Stoltenberg is happy to do”.

The record of this ceramic-breaking bloc speaks for itself. In its post-Cold War visage, the Alliance has undermined its own mission to foster stability, becoming Washington’s axe, spear and spade. Where NATO goes, war is most likely. Countries of the Indo-Pacific, take note.  https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/natos-talk-of-further-asian-engagement-should-be-feared-by-australia,17709

July 17, 2023 Posted by | politics international | Leave a comment

The War on Journalism: the Case of Julian Assange

Real Change Is Impossible While Our World Is Shrouded In Secrecy, Caitlin Johnstone, 15 Jul 23

I saw a video clip of Julian Assange speaking in London in 2010 where he made an important observation while explaining the philosophy behind his work with WikiLeaks. He said that all our political theories are to some extent “bankrupt” in our current situation, because our institutions are so shrouded in secrecy that we can’t even know what’s really going on in the world.

“We can all write about our political issues, we can all push for particular things we believe in, we can all have particular brands of politics, but I say actually it’s all bankrupt,” Assange said. “And the reason it’s all bankrupt, and all current political theories are bankrupt and particular lines of political thought, is because actually we don’t know what the hell is going on. And until we know the basic structures of our institutions — how they operate in practice, these titanic organizations, how they behave inside, not just through stories but through vast amounts of internal documentations — until we know that, how can we possibly make a diagnosis? How can we set the direction to go until we know where we are? We don’t even have a map of where we are. So our first task is to build up a sort of intellectual heritage that describes where we are. And once we know where we are, then we have a hope of setting course for a different direction. Until then, I think all political theories — to greater and lesser extents of course — are bankrupt.”

……………………………………………………………………….The fact that all the most important aspects of our civilization’s operation are hidden, manipulated and obfuscated by the powerful makes a joke of the very idea of democracy, because how can people know what government policies to vote for if they can’t even clearly see those policies? How can people know what to vote for when everything about their understanding of the world is being actively distorted for the benefit of the powerful?

We can’t form solid political theories while everything’s hidden from us, and even if we could we’re unable to organize any means to put those theories into action for the same reason. The fact that the nature of our world is being so aggressively obfuscated from our view keeps us from knowing exactly what needs to change, and keeps us from effecting change.

For this reason I often argue that our most urgent priority as a civilization is rolling back all the secrecy and obfuscation, because until that happens we’ll never get change, and we’ll never know what should be changed. I have my ideological preferences of course, but I’m just one person taking their best guess at what needs to happen in a world where so many of the lights are switched off. Not until our society can actually see the world as it really is will we have the ability to begin, as Assange says, “setting course for a different direction.”

And those who benefit from our current course are lucidly aware of this. That’s why we’re not allowed to see what they’re up to behind the veils of secrecy, that’s why our entire civilization is saturated in nonstop propaganda, that’s why the internet is being increasingly censored and manipulated, and that’s why Julian Assange is in prison.

We can only begin fighting this from where we’re at. None of us individually have the power to rip the veil of secrecy away from the empire, but we do each individually have the ability to call out its lies where they can be seen and help wake people up to the fact that we’re being deceived and manipulated. Every pair of eyelids you help open is one more pair of eyes looking around helping to get an accurate picture of what’s going on, and one more pair of eyes helping to open the eyes of others.

Once we have enough open eyes, we will have the potential for a real course of action. https://caityjohnstone.medium.com/real-change-is-impossible-while-our-world-is-shrouded-in-secrecy-89ea0126821

July 17, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

An Unholy Alliance: billionaire technocrats delight in planning Artificial Intelligence to run nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons!

AI to run nuclear reactors?

AI to run weapons?

What could possibly go wrong?

Imagine! if artificial intelligence had run the Soviet Union’s missile system on September 26 1983, all-out nuclear war would have erupted. It took the imaginative thinking of  Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov to prevent that.

With AI in charge, we will not have a Stanislav Petrov to save us.

New Startup Looks To Blend AI And Nuclear Energy, Oil Price, By Haley Zaremba – Jul 15, 2023

  • AI’s increasing role in the energy sector is challenged by its own high energy demands.
  • Sam Altman proposes a symbiotic relationship between AI and nuclear energy to address this issue.

……The future of the global energy sector is in the hands of Artificial Intelligence. ……..

…………..But the relationship between AI and energy goes two ways. AI doesn’t just present opportunities to the energy sector; it also presents significant challenges – one of which is the huge amount of energy that AI itself needs for operational purposes. In some cases, the energy footprints of singular AI training models have equaled that of 125 New York-Beijing round-trip flights, or the lifetime carbon footprint of five cars.

Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI – the now (in)famous firm behind ChatGPT – thinks that nuclear energy will play a key role in keeping AI’s carbon footprint in check. “The AI systems of the future will need tremendous amounts of energy and this fission and fusion can help deliver them,” Altman was recently quoted in the Wall Street Journal. Altman also expressed that he thinks that AI will have some positive implications for nuclear-system designs as well, creating a kind of symbiotic AI-nuclear relationship. This is not a new idea – for years now, researchers have been looking into the various ways that AI and machine learning can be integrated into nuclear power production for a more efficient, less expensive, and safer nuclear energy sector.

Altman is clearly serious about his hope for nuclear energy’s role in the future of the energy and technology sectors. Just this week, it was announced that Oklo, an AI-integrated startup specializing in “nuclear microreactors” will go public in 2024.

Oklo is valued at around $850 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company expects that its innovative microreactors will be ideal for military applications where connection to an existing power grid isn’t possible,…………  Oklo has already secured $50 million in funding, $420,000 in grants from the Department of Energy (DOE), and a permit to build its first microreactor at the Idaho National Laboratory, the nation’s leading center for nuclear research. The pilot project is slated to come online by 2026 or 2027.

…………………………………Altman is the just latest in a long line of tech billionaires investing in nuclear energy. High-profile proponents of nuclear power include Elon Musk and Bill Gates……..more https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/New-Startup-Looks-To-Blend-AI-And-Nuclear-Energy.html

July 17, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Cuba condemns US deployment of nuclear submarine in its waters

 https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/cuba-condemns-us-deployment-nuclear-submarine-its-waters

BEN CHACKO, SUNDAY, JULY 16, 2023

CUBA protested at the weekend over the US deployment of a nuclear-armed submarine to its waters.

The Cuban Foreign Ministry said a nuclear submarine equipped with Trident II ballistic missiles had entered waters around Guantanamo Bay, the illegal US military base imposed on occupied Cuban territory from 1903, at the start of July.

“The presence of a nuclear submarine forces one to question the military reason for its presence in this peaceful region of the world, against what objective it is directed, and what strategic purpose it is pursuing.”

The submarine’s presence in its waters for at least a week “constitutes a provocative escalation by the United States, whose political or strategic motives are unknown,” it added.

But US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller retorted that “the United States will continue to fly and sail as well as move its military forces where it deems appropriate.”

All 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean had signed the declaration of the region as a zone of peace in Havana in 2014, Cuba pointed out: but despite this “the United States has established more than 70 military bases in the region.”

The US has nine military bases in Panama, 12 in Puerto Rico, nine in Colombia and eight in Peru.

The country’s Congress — which overthrew elected socialist president Pedro Castillo in December and has waged a crackdown that has killed scores of democracy protesters since — authorised “the entry of naval units and foreign military personnel with weapons of war” in January. Earlier this month, US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced an amendment to the country’s military budget seeking to suspend funds for operations in Peru given their potential role in helping suppress the democracy movement.

The US claims to lease Guantanamo Bay from Cuba for a token rent of $4,085 (£3,120) a year, but Cuba has rejected the agreement since the revolution of 1959 and does not cash the cheques, which are still made out to the pre-revolutionary, now nonexistent post of “treasurer-general of the republic.” Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro once showed journalists a desk in his office stuffed with the uncashed cheques.

July 17, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Kenya has restated its commitment to ensuring nuclear energy and nuclear weapons are not used in the continent.

Kenya reiterates stand on nuclear weapons during exhibition

Ogola noted that Kenya recently enacted the Nuclear Regulatory Act 29 of 2019.

Star 16 July 23

In Summary

  • The Treaty of Pelindaba is the international agreement that establishes Africa as a zone free of nuclear weapons.
  • Hence contributing to peace and security in Africa. 

Kenya has restated its commitment to ensuring nuclear energy and nuclear weapons are not used in the continent. 

This was when stakeholders in the Energy sector convened on Saturday to commemorate the 14th Anniversary of the African Nuclear Weapon Free Zone treaty. 

The treaty is called the Treaty of Pelindaba. 

The Treaty of Pelindaba is the international agreement that establishes Africa as a zone free of nuclear weapons, hence contributing to peace and security in Africa. 

The event took place at the Trademark Hotel in Nairobi under the auspices of the Kenyan government. 

Former Prisons Commissioner Wycliffe Ogola, while speaking on behalf of Energy CS Davis Chirchir, reiterated Kenya’s stand against possession of nuclear weapons adding that Kenya recognises the pivotal role the treaty plays in protecting civilians against nuclear weapons. 

Ogola noted that Kenya recently enacted the Nuclear Regulatory Act 29 of 2019. 

“The Act has committed the country to exclusively exclude uses of nuclear technology, recognising the need to meet Kenya’s obligation under various international considerations and criminalised access to nuclear material and radiation sources,” Ogola said.

He called for more forums to allow for the exchange of ideas on how to ensure nuclear weapons and technology are not used in Africa. ………………………. more https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/realtime/2023-07-16-kenya-reiterates-stand-on-nuclear-weapons-during-exhibition/

July 17, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

How much water do French nuclear plants use?

Figures showing that the cooling of reactors could capture 30% of water resources have been removed from the site of the Ministry of Environment.

Le Monde ,By Perrine Mouterde, March 26, 2023,

How much do nuclear power plants contribute to total water consumption in France? This simple question no longer seems to have a clear answer. At the root of the confusion lies the Ministry of Environmental Transition’s removal of a background paper on the resourcing and use of water in France on around March 10. According to this fact sheet from the statistical service, power plant cooling represented the second most water-consuming activity in the country (31%), behind agriculture (45%) and ahead of drinking water (21%) and industrial use (4%). The annual volume of water consumed in mainland France, over the period 2008-2018, was estimated at 5.3 billion cubic meters.

In the midst of the review of the parliamentary bill to accelerate the construction of new reactors, the figure of 31% was being used by opponents of atomic energy to demonstrate that this energy source was not adapted to climate change. “Once and for all, let’s say it, simply and firmly: at this rate, there will soon not be enough water in our rivers to cool the nuclear power plants!,” stated Marine Tondelier – the national secretary of Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV, Greens) – on March 7, based on this data.

Three days later, the Ministry of Environmental Transition………….(subscribers only)

 https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2023/03/26/how-much-water-do-french-nuclear-plants-use_6020697_114.html

July 17, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment