Week to 21st August – in nuclear news
A bit of good news. Montana Rules a Healthful Environment Is a Constitutional Right.
TOP STORIES
Nuclear Power Plants as Targets of War — A New Worry?.
Ukraine likely to fail in key counteroffensive aim, says US intelligence. Amid ‘staggering’ Ukrainian toll and souring US polls, Biden seeks billions more for war. Why the Glut of ‘Wonder Weapons’ to Ukraine Won’t Make a Difference.
Huge study of nuclear workers in France, the United Kingdom, and the United States confirms low dose radiation as a cause of cancer. Risk of cancer death after exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation underestimated, suggests nuclear industry study.
Climate. Climate Scientists warn nature’s ‘anaesthetics’ have worn off, now arth is feeling the pain, as ocean heating hits record.
Nuclear. You’d think that the fact that the Ukraine ‘counter-offensive’ is stalling might induce a Western mindset more favorable to the idea of a negotiated end to the war. Not so -the US-NATO plan is for more, and more lethal weapons. It might even put off the idea of a war against China. But no -and sadly, in Australia the mood among the “top people” is all for throwing $billions at preparing for the China war. (The bottom people aren’t consulted)
Christina notes. Bribery and Blackmail: these are the tools for continuing success of the nuclear industry. Perfecting “planned obsolescence” – how the USA and its allies’ taxpayers are locked into perpetual buying of useless weapons.
AUSTRALIA.
- Assange Be Weary: The Dangers of a US Plea Deal. For What Crime? – Good Journalism?. An Assange Plea Deal? A profound change’: AUKUS debate looms for Labor’s rank and file.
- So much Labor hope is riding on an empty vessel. Albanese defends against attempt to strike nuclear submarines out of Labor platform. AUKUS a cover for the Coalition’s nuclear power agenda. ‘Unbelievable’: Defence spends $8.5m on consultants for AUKUS nuclear regulator. The Australian Government, especially Defence Minister Richard Marles, move to squash Labor Party dissent about AUKUS and nuclear submarines.
- Why the Coalition backs nuclear. Stop renewables and wait for nuclear: Nationals stunning rejection of science and industry. Gina Rinehart: Australia’s wealthiest person uses Bush Summit speech to push for nuclear power.
- Game changer: defence industry ‘revolving door’ database to be created.
CLIMATE. The nuclear icebreakers enabling drilling in Russia’s Arctic .
ECONOMICS.
- How the “Nuclear Renaissance” Robs and Roasts Our Earth. Nuclear power plants will mortgage all future generations, says expert.
- Japan’s controversial nuclear waste water plan could impact the UK’s decarbonisation agenda.
- US tightens export controls of nuclear power items to China.
- The nuclear industry needs to show it can deliver economically viable big reactors in time and on budget.
- Finland’s OL2 nuclear reactor off grid; power prices rise.
ENERGY. US climate law introduces billion-dollar ‘game-changer’ for nonprofits.
ENVIRONMENT. Anger as Hinkley Point C allowed to discharge sewage into Bristol Channel and drop fish protection.
ETHICS and RELIGION. The Oppenheimer Imperative: Normalising Atomic Terror. Japanese and US Bishops pledge partnership for a nuclear-free world. Poisoning the planet. Big Brave Western Proxy Warriors Keep Whining That Ukrainian Troops Are Cowards.
HEALTH. Japan mothers’ group fears Fukushima water release could revive health concerns.
LEGAL. Marshall Islands reacts to US expansion of nuclear compensation.
MEDIA. The Connection between Oppenheimer and Gentilly-2: Edward Teller and the H bomb
NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Risks of further delays at Hinkley Point C, EDF warns. Even the UK’s very first small nuclear reactor could could not be decided upon until 2029 . Nuclear Fusion: Energy Breakthrough or Ballyhoo?.
OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR . South Korea’s opposition party to file UN complaint against Japan over nuclear waste .
PERSONAL STORIES. The Financial Legacy of the Nuclear Tests on Bikini Atoll/
POLITICS.
- Biden should promote peace over war in Ukraine for 2 good reasons.
- Pritzker was right to keep moratorium on new Illinois nuclear plants.
- New York governor blocks discharge of radioactive water into Hudson River from closed nuclear plant.
- Zelensky holds court with Ukraine’s most notorious neo-Nazi.
- UK ‘s Minister for Nuclear and Networks very upbeat about nuclear energy’s future.
- OPPENHEIMER AUTHOR ENDORSES NORTON BILL – Nuclear Abolition and Conversion Act, H.R. 2775 .
POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY.
- NATO Official Suggests Ukraine Could Cede Territory to Russia to Join Alliance. Lukashenko shares thoughts on future of Ukraine.
- Iran says it is committed to resolving nuclear dispute through diplomacy.
- Tussle in Europe as France succeeds in getting nuclear energy accepted\ as a ‘”transitional” technology for EU’s green taxonomy .
- Fukushima water release poses test for Japan-South Korea unity.
- France and Russia co-operate on developing a plant in Russia for processing depleted uranium . French cruise ship makes rendezvous with Russian nuclear icebreaker near North Pole.
- Austria cautions against nuclear power in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
PROTESTS. Gwynedd anti-nuclear march ‘sent powerful message’. Japanese citizens’ group protests nuclear discharge.
SAFETY.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Risky Rule Change Ignores History. More Nuclear Emergency Planning Needed, Not Less.
Power-Line Cut Raises Alarm Over Russian-Held Nuclear Plant In Ukraine, But Expert Says Little Has Changed. Russia And Ukraine Trade Blame Over Outages At Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant.
SECRETS and LIES. Most ‘experts’ pushing for endless conflict in Ukraine share a common benefactor.
WASTES. Japan’s nuclear plants are short of storage for spent fuel. A remote town could have the solution.
WAR and CONFLICT. Ralph Nader: Develop an Exit Strategy for the Endless War in Ukraine. The Inevitable Defeat: Retired US Colonel Speaks Candidly On Ukraine’s Losing Battle Against Russia. Back in another quagmire – in Biden’s relentless “Big Muddy” of Ukraine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXnJVkEX8O4 US, Finland Negotiating Defense Agreement That Would See Deployment of American Troops.
Niger is Far From a Typical Coup.
WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES.
- Lethal weapons to Ukraine – endless war prioritised over diplomacy: Address to United Nations Security Council. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS44mvuo7Ow Germany will ‘never’ place troops in Ukraine – Scholz.
- Over Budget and Delayed—What’s Next for U.S. Nuclear Weapons Research and Production Projects? The Pentagon Is Spending $1 Billion a Year on ‘Directed Energy Weapons’.
- What Happened When the US Set Off Nuclear Weapons in One of the Most Geologically Active Places on Earth?
‘Unbelievable’: Defence spends $8.5m on consultants for AUKUS nuclear regulator
Greens defence spokesperson Senator David Shoebridge said: “It’s genuinely unbelievable that in the middle of a national scandal about outsourcing core government functions to the big four consultants, Defence has gifted an $8.5 million contract to one of them to design a new national nuclear regulator.
“It was always wrong to have Defence in control of its own regulator for the AUKUS nuclear submarines, and now we can see how they have hand-picked a pro-nuclear consultant to design the whole thing.”
SMH, Matthew Knott, August 21, 2023
One of the big four consultancy firms will receive almost $8.5 million in taxpayers’ money over the next year to help design a new agency to monitor safety issues associated with Australia’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS pact.
The Defence Department contract with EY, also known as Ernst & Young, comes amid a growing debate about the federal public service’s reliance on advice from external consultants for tasks that would previously have been performed in-house.
The Albanese government announced in March that it would create a new agency, known as the Australian Nuclear-Powered Submarine Safety Regulator, to “regulate the unique circumstances associated with nuclear safety and radiological protection across the lifecycle of Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine enterprise”.
The regulator, which will sit within the Defence Department, will also monitor infrastructure and facilities associated with the AUKUS pact such as the yet-to-be determined east coast submarine base.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stared down concerns from Labor’s Left faction about AUKUS, including about nuclear safety and the risks of nuclear proliferation, at the party’s national conference on the weekend.
Earlier this month the Defence Department revealed that it had awarded a 12-month contract to EY worth $8.4 million to advise on the design of a future nuclear regulatory agency.
Greens defence spokesperson Senator David Shoebridge said: “It’s genuinely unbelievable that in the middle of a national scandal about outsourcing core government functions to the big four consultants, Defence has gifted an $8.5 million contract to one of them to design a new national nuclear regulator.
“It was always wrong to have Defence in control of its own regulator for the AUKUS nuclear submarines, and now we can see how they have hand-picked a pro-nuclear consultant to design the whole thing.”
Shoebridge said he was troubled by EY’s deep connections to nuclear companies including US firm NuScale Power Corporation and China General Nuclear Power Co, as well as its role as the longstanding auditor for Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operated the now decommissioned Fukushima power plant.
“This contract needs to be torn up and then this core duty of government, designing a nuclear oversight agency, needs to be done by government, not by a hired gun from the big four,” Shoebridge said………………………………………………………………………………………..
EY declined to respond to questions about the contract.
During a Senate appearance in July EY Oceania chief executive David Larocca distanced the firm from rival PwC, which is under fire for leaking confidential government information to its clients.
Shoebridge said the nuclear safety regulator should sit inside a separate department – such as the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water – rather than Defence to ensure it could provide independent oversight of the AUKUS submarine program.
…………………………… The government has been widely expected to name Port Kembla, in the Illawarra region of NSW, as the east coast base for Australia’s fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, but the idea has attracted a backlash from residents and unions.
The government has said it will store nuclear waste from the AUKUS submarines on defence land. Woomera in remote South Australia is seen as the most likely location. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/unbelievable-defence-spends-8-5m-on-consultants-for-aukus-nuclear-regulator-20230820-p5dxxo.html
New York governor blocks discharge of radioactive water into Hudson River from closed nuclear plant.
A measure to block discharges of radioactive
water into the Hudson River as part of the Indian Point nuclear plant’s
decommissioning was signed into law Friday by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The bill was introduced to thwart the planned release of 1.3 million
gallons of water with traces of radioactive tritium from the retired
riverside plant 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of New York City.
The plan sparked a groundswell of opposition in the suburban communities along the
river. Many feared the discharges would depress real estate values and
drive away sailors, kayakers and swimmers after decades of progress in
cleaning up the Hudson River.
AP 18th Aug 2023
Trillion-dollar toll of climate change will cost Australia its triple-A rating
Trillion-dollar toll of climate change will cost Australia its triple-A rating
A world-first analysis of the impact of climate change on countries’ credit worthiness shows Australia will be among the worst hit, pushing up annual interest bills.
The world’s oceans are running a fever, scientists are worried
The world’s oceans are running a fever, scientists are worried
Climate scientists say natural “anaesthetics” have been masking the true impact of climate change for years, but this year it’s worn off. The world’s ocean temperature is at record highs, Antarctic sea ice is at record lows, and extreme weather has lashed the world. Here’s what’s behind the intense heat, and what it could bring.
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 