Zaporizhzhia: proposals for demilitarised zone around Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant are unprecedented – expert reveals
The Conversation Ross Peel, Research and Knowledge Transfer Manager, King’s College London, 8nSept 22,
“………………….. In a much-anticipated September 6 update, the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recommended this safety and security zone be put around the Zaporizhzhia plant in southeastern Ukraine to avoid a nuclear disaster.
This would be the first time an international body has overseen an endangered nuclear plant during a war. In previous military actions involving nuclear power plants, they were destroyed outright by aerial bombing – but mostly while under construction, before they were operational, or before building up inventories of hazardous spent nuclear fuel in vulnerable cooling ponds.
Previously, the IAEA has only been able to gain access to such sites afterwards, “to pick up the pieces”. For the IAEA to intervene directly in the delivery of safety and security would be unprecedented, and legally and practically very challenging.
There has been no agreement yet from Russia to these proposals……………………….
This report follows a long-awaited visit by IAEA experts, who began inspecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on September 2. The plant has been occupied by Russian forces since March, with Ukrainian staff working under stressful conditions to prevent a nuclear disaster. Since August, the plant has been shelled many times, damaging critical safety equipment and services. Both Russia and Ukraine blame each another for these attacks…………………………
With IAEA experts now permanently on site, the agency will be able to receive direct updates from its own personnel. They will be able to report on conditions for Ukrainian staff, as well as the status of nuclear safety and security equipment and military actions……….. https://theconversation.com/zaporizhzhia-proposals-for-demilitarised-zone-around-europes-biggest-nuclear-power-plant-are-unprecedented-expert-reveals-189927
Nuclear-news.net – international news is migrating to this site
Temporarily, I hope
Digital Business Media (based in Melbourne) is not allowing us to renew the domain name nuclear-news.net. (Due for renewal payment on Sat 3rd Sept. They expired it on Sunday 4th Sept and refused to accept payment on Mon 6th Sept.)
SO – this site is now taking over the international news, (includes some Australian)
For specifically Australian news, please go to https://nuclearnewsaustralia.wordpress.com/
German chancellor rejects calls to reverse nuclear power plant closures
Kate Connolly in Berlin, Thu 8 Sep 2022, Olaf Scholz says country has enough energy to get through winter after Russia cut gas supplies
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has rejected calls for his government to commit to a longer-term extension of the life of the country’s nuclear power plants and insisted that Europe’s largest economy would have enough energy to get through the winter.
Scholz shut down criticism from the opposition conservative alliance and at least one leading economist, who have described his coalition’s decision to keep two remaining reactors in emergency reserve rather than letting them produce electricity, as “madness” while the government refuses to reverse its long-term plan to close down the last remaining plants…………….
The crisis, triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has been exacerbated in recent weeks by Moscow’s reduction of gas supplies to Germany, which was followed a week ago by a complete halt. Moscow has cited maintenance issues linked to sanctions imposed by the west.
Scholz accused Friedrich Merz’s conservative alliance (CDU/CSU) of refusing to accept responsibility for its role in the crisis, calling it “the party which holds complete responsibility for the fact that Germany made decisions to withdraw both from coal and from atomic energy, but never had the strength to enter into anything else”. He also accused the conservatives of failing to embrace renewable energy and actively campaigning against it.
“You were incapable of bringing about the expansion of renewable energies. You led defensive battles against every single wind turbine,” he said. By trying now to save as much gas, electricity and oil as it can before winter kicks in – in part with the construction of LNG terminals and expanding renewable energy – Scholz said his government was “solving problems that the union failed to recognise as such when it was in power”.
Scholz said Germans would “rise above themselves” and deal with the coming winter with “with boldness and bravery” and said that Germany was close to its goal of becoming independent from Russian gas exports. Gas storage facilities were 86% full on Wednesday……………
On Monday Habeck had announced that two nuclear reactors would remain “on standby” supported by the necessary staff, equipment and security, but would not be producing electricity unless needed……………….
Amira Mohamed Ali, parliamentary leader of the far-left Die Linke, accused the coalition government of having “no social conscience”. She urged the government to approach Russia in an attempt to bring it to the negotiating table and end its hostilities in Ukraine.
The instability of nuclear power is one of the main reason for not relying on it, the economics ministry argued when it presented its plans on Monday. Currently only 28 of 56 plants in France are on the grid, due in part to the shortage of cooling water linked to this summer’s drought, meaning Germany has had to supply its neighbour with electricity.
PM grills Peter Dutton on location of power plants amid Coalition’s nuclear push
Albanese said after “22 failed plans” the Coalition now wants “to go towards nuclear energy”………………. we know they have to be near urban areas and water.”
the shadow climate change minister, Chris Bowen, ruled out consideration of nuclear power because he said “it is by far the most expensive form of energy”.
Guardian, Paul Karp, @Paul_Karp,Wed 7 Sep 2022
Peter Dutton has doubled down on Liberal support for nuclear power, pre-empting a review of its energy policy by arguing nuclear will be needed to support renewables.
Dutton told the Minerals Council on Wednesday that Australia needs a “frank debate” about nuclear energy, suggesting that it has a “wonderful opportunity to add value” to its uranium resources.
The comments sparked a demand from the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, in question time for the Liberals to nominate “where the plants are going to be”.
The Coalition didn’t do much on nuclear energy while in office. Why are they talking about it now?Read more
On Wednesday Dutton confirmed that he appointed Ted O’Brien as shadow energy minister in part because a committee inquiry he chaired in 2019 recommended the partial lifting of the moratorium on nuclear energy to allow for “new and emerging nuclear technologies”.
Dutton suggested nuclear energy could also help Australia “power up irrigation and open up thousands of square kilometres of export opportunities” before concluding the government should “at least allow” the community to have a debate about it.
In August the shadow climate change minister, Chris Bowen, ruled out consideration of nuclear power because he said “it is by far the most expensive form of energy”.
“I mean, this is economic illiteracy from an opposition searching for relevance,” he told ABC News Breakfast.
“[Nuclear] is slow to deploy. It couldn’t be deployed in Australia until 2030.
“The CSIRO has made it very, very clear renewables are the cheapest form of energy. Nuclear is the most expensive. Why with rising energy prices you would put in the most expensive form of energy available is beyond me.”
Albanese replied that the government stands by the modelling supporting the claim, and that Labor’s policy was based on the systems plan of the Australian Energy Market Operator, which identified it would “promote investment in renewables which is the cheapest form of energy”.
Albanese said after “22 failed plans” the Coalition now wants “to go towards nuclear energy”.
“And they can say, if you like, where the plants are going to be. I’ll look forward to their review, letting us know … [because] we know they have to be near urban areas and water.”
While Labor raised the spectre of campaigning on the location of putative nuclear power plants, Dutton accused the government of asking Australians to sign up to an Indigenous voice to parliament “sight unseen”.
“We have no idea what it means for the mining sector,” Dutton told the Minerals Council earlier.
“We don’t know whether a voice that doesn’t represent the elders that you negotiate with or that your agreement is with in a particular location, now, they might be usurped and [the voice will] exercise a veto, right? That would damage your employees, that would damage your business.”
Earlier, Dutton said it was an “inconvenient truth” for climate activists that “decarbonisation will require more mining”, due to critical minerals’ importance in renewable energy, batteries and electric vehicles.
“I take some delight knowing it must keep them up at night.”
Dutton said the Liberals don’t support “locking in” the 43% emissions reduction target in legislation because the “inflexible position” might disadvantage Australia if competitors did not meet their targets and it would make it “harder if not impossible” for government agencies to fund resources projects……………………… https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/07/pm-grills-peter-dutton-on-location-of-power-plants-amid-coalitions-nuclear-push
Topics
Drying up of Europe’s great rivers – the death knell for France’s nuclear fleet?
From the Danube to the Loire, Europe’s prime rivers — lifelines for the continent’s economy — are running low after a brutal five-month drought. After years of dry weather, scientists are warning that low-water conditions could become the norm in Europe as the climate changes.
Could the Drying Up of Europe’s Great Rivers Be the New Normal Yale Environment 369 BY PAUL HOCKENOS • SEPTEMBER 6, 2022 “………………………………. “At towns up and down the Danube, drought and climate change take on an existential meaning,” explains Nick Thorpe, author of The Danube: A Journey Upriver from the Black Sea to the Black Forest. “In contrast to city dwellers, they’re having this disaster unfold before their eyes.”
…………………………. In France, the warmed waters of the Rhône and Garonne can no longer cool the systems of nuclear power plants, forcing numerous plants to shut down. And hundreds of tributaries to the larger rivers are in even worse shape: bone dry.
…………………………. In early August, France’s prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, said that France is in the midst of the “most severe drought” the country has ever experienced, which has so sapped rivers — including the Loire, the Doubs, the Dordogne, and the Garonne — that hundreds of municipalities now require that drinking water be delivered by truck………………………… https://e360.yale.edu/features/europe-rivers-drought
Zaporizhzhia’s ‘last working’ nuclear reactor loses power after Russian shelling
SBS News6 Sept 22, The vast Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant – the largest nuclear power plant in Europe – was captured by Moscow in March, but is still run by Ukrainian staff……….
The imperilled six-reactor facility in southern Ukraine, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, was captured by Moscow in March, but is still run by Ukrainian staff.
“Today, as a result of a fire caused by shelling, the (last working) transmission line was disconnected,” Energoatom said in a statement on Telegram on Monday.
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“As a result, (reactor) unit No. 6, which currently supplies the (plant’s) own needs, was unloaded and disconnected from the grid,” it said.
Ukraine was unable to repair the power lines now because of fighting raging around the station, Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on Facebook.
“Any repairs of the power lines are currently impossible- fighting is ongoing around the station,” he said……
Two reactors at the plant, number five and six, remain in use but are currently disconnected from the grid.
They have suffered repeated disconnections due to shelling over the last fortnight.
Super Typhoon Hinnamnor Could Slam Straight Into Nuclear Power Plant
https://www.newsweek.com/typhoon-hinnamnor-south-korea-kori-nuclear-power-plant-1739947 BY JESS THOMSON ON 9/5/22
The most powerful storm in South Korean history is due to collide with a nuclear power plant.
According to the South Korea Meteorological Administration, Super Typhoon Hinnamnor is due to hit on September 6, and may cause multiple casualties. Kori Nuclear Power Plant, which is in the oncoming path of the Category 5 storm near to industrial city Ulsan, has lowered the run rates of three of its nuclear reactors to less than 30 percent in preparation for the typhoon, according to EnergyVoice.
“We’re now entering a phase where we have to minimize casualties,” Han Sang Un, the chief forecaster at Korea Meteorological Administration, said during a briefing on September 5.
“It’s a massive typhoon with a 400-kilometer (248.5 miles) radius, which is big enough to cover Seoul to Busan. Most regions in Korea will experience intense rain and wind,” he said.
Typhoon Sarah, which hit South Korea in 1959, and Typhoon Maemi, which hit in 2003, are thought to be two of the most powerful storms in the nation’s history. Hinnamnor is forecasted to be potentially more powerful. As of September 5, the storm has wind speeds of 127 miles per hour (mph) with gusts around 155 mph, according to the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
“Super typhoons are defined as a typhoon in the NW Pacific Ocean basin with 1-minute sustained winds of at least 130 kts (150 mph), which is equivalent to a strong Category 4 or Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale,” Dr. Adam Lea, a senior research associate in hurricanes, typhoons and tropical cyclones for University College London’s Department of Space & Climate Physics, told Newsweek.
“The overall diameter of the storm can be hundreds of km but the very damaging winds are confined to a much smaller region surrounding the eye called the eye wall, which is a ring of thunderstorms surrounding the eye where the most extreme conditions occur. This area typically extends to 100km [around 60 miles] from the eye. Hinnamnor is one of the larger typhoons with typhoon force winds extending up to around 140km [around 85 miles] from the center.”
The Kori Nuclear Power Plant, which is in the path of the storm, may therefore be at risk if the typhoon hits it at full power.
Natural disasters of this kind are historically very bad news for power plants: the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan was severely damaged by a tsunami caused by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake in 2011, leading to some 150,000 people to be evacuated from the communities close to the disaster site.
According to Lea, a super typhoon hitting land at peak intensity would cause extreme to catastrophic damage to most buildings not built to resist such winds.
However, typhoon Hinnamnor has weakened considerably from its peak intensity.
“I am not knowledgeable on nuclear power plants, but the buildings are very sturdily constructed and will withstand the winds comfortably,” he said. “In advance of typhoon Maemi in 2003, five nuclear plants were shut down automatically and were ultimately unaffected.”
The typhoon is forecasted by the South Korea Meteorological Administration to hit the resort island of Jeju at about 1 a.m. local time on September 6, and southern coastal cities including Ulsan and Busan at about 7 a.m. Residents have been advised to remain indoors, and according to Bloomberg, 200 residents in coastal areas of Busan have been asked to evacuate to shelters on September 5.
Exposure to ionizing occupational radiation affects over 24 million workers globally
https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_854878/lang–en/index.htm—
3rd International Conference on Occupational Radiation Protection, 5 Sept 22
Over 500 experts from all over the world are to exchange information and experiences on strengthening the protection of workers from radiation. 05 September 2022
GENEVA (ILO News) – The International Labour Organization is co-sponsoring the third international conference on Occupational Radiation Protection , organized with the International Atomic Energy Agency and hosted by the Government of Switzerland.
The conference, which takes place 5 – 9 September in Geneva, will review international standards and recommendations on occupational radiation protection, progress over the past twenty years, and will identify priority actions leading to an improved global occupational radiation protection system.
While radiation exposure is commonly associated with those working in the nuclear field or dealing with radioactive sources, workers in other professions, such as miners, aircrew, researchers, and healthcare professionals can also become seriously affected if adequate measures are not taken.
Moreover, accidents in nuclear power plants can have catastrophic effects not only for the workers but also for communities and the environment. Strict preventive and control measures therefore need to be in place.
“It has been a constitutional objective of the ILO since its establishment in 1919 to protect the health of workers,” said Vic Van Vuuren, Deputy-Director General for Policy Officer in Charge. “Today, we are still a long way away from this objective. Work-related deaths and injuries including those caused by exposure to radiation take a particularly heavy toll, especially in developing countries, where national systems for occupational safety and health are not well established.”
“This conference will serve as an excellent opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience and set the course for further concrete progress in enhancing the radiation protection of workers in all industries and countries and in making working environments safer and healthier, notably though building a global preventative culture.”
In June 1960, the International Labour Conference adopted the Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115) , and its accompanying Recommendation (No. 114) . The Convention applies to all activities involving the exposure of workers to ionizing radiation in the course of their work and provides that each Member of the ILO which ratifies it shall give effect to its provisions by means of laws or regulations, codes of practice or other appropriate means.
It is the only international legal instrument that addresses the protection of workers against radiation. The Convention has been ratified by 50 countries .
One legal win for Aboriginal people in South Australia gives hope to the Barngarla people who are fighting the Kimba nuclear waste dump plan
Nuclear waste site in spotlight following Barngarla court win, Traditional Owners say they fear the destruction that an accident at the waste dump could cause to Country.
By Keira Jenkins, Source: The Point,, 6 SEP 2022,
Barngarla Traditional Owners are fighting for access to a number of federal government documents regarding the proposed nuclear waste facility near Kimba, South Australia.
The Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation (BDAC) and its lawyers have requested the documents that the federal government relied on to choose the 900 hectare site more than 400 kilometres north-west of Adelaide
The argument over the documents is part of a federal court challenge launched by Barngarla people.
Jason Bilney is the chair of the BDAC. He told NITV Barngarla people were not properly consulted about the facility, and were excluded from a community ballot.
“It’s very disrespectful, very hurtful to my people as a community and to my past and present Elders,” he said.
“It’s a disgrace.”
After the Supreme Court overturned authorisation to drill on South Australia’s Lake Torrens last week, Barngarla people are hopeful their fight can lead to protection for the Kimba site as well.
Mr Bilney is joined in the fight against the facility by Lez and Dawn Taylor, who grew up in Kimba.
Standing at the site, which has been fenced off, Dawn Taylor said she’s deeply upset that nuclear waste could be stored on this Country……………………………..
Government officials didn’t talk to the Barngarla people for the study.
Barngarla Elder Harry Dare said the Traditional Owners of the Country should have been involved in this study.
“We know what’s on our Country, they choose not to let us go and have a look at that Country but we already know what’s out there,” he said.
‘I still feel strong’
But regardless of what has occurred up to this point, Jason Bilney said Barngarla people will continue to fight for their Country.
“[The government] think they’re going to put [the facility] there, they’ve still got a long drawn out process and for any government, it doesn’t look good to go against First Nations people,” he said.
“I still feel strong, I still feel proud to keep up this fight for our people, being up there and doing it for our community.
“It has taken its toll for a lot of our family. It’s sad but we’ve got to keep going.”
Barngarla woman Linda Dare said she hopes this fight means the voices of her people will be heard.
“We want them to stop what they’re doing, we want them to listen to us and hear us, take the time to sit down and listen and talk to us not disrespect us and put waste up on our Country,” she said.
Peaceful Walk Against Nuclear Waste Resumes
https://www.ckdr.net/2022/09/05/268111/ Dryden, ON, Canada / CKDR, Mike Ebbeling, Sep 5, 2022,
The Walk Against Nuclear Waste on Treaty #3 Lands resumes today. (Monday)
A group of opponents to a proposed underground nuclear repository in the area left Ignace late last week and after a couple of days staying in Dryden they are now off to Sioux Lookout.
The third annual peaceful walk is being led by Elder Darlene Necan but has received support from others including members of Eagle Lake First Nation and the Sunset Country Spirit Alliance.
Necan says she is committed to raising awareness about the threat to local waterways and future generations of nuclear waste coming to Treaty 3 lands.
She says the Northwestern Ontario candidate site is at the headwaters of the Wabigoon and Turtle River watersheds, from which Wabigoon Lake and Lake of the Woods are downstream.
To follow the journey visit No Nuclear Waste on Treaty Lands
A big week in nuclear news
Unfortunately, right now when alternative news on nuclear issues is needed more than ever, our international website, nuclear-news.net is not available. This is due to a domain name problem, which I hope will soon be fixed. Nuclear-news.net has, for over 12 years, been gathering together those few news items that show the ‘other side’ of nuclear news – in a media landscape dominated by glossy spin from the nuclear lobby – regurgitated by the corporate media.
Indeed – right now – it borders on the hilariously funny – as corporate media pushes nuclear power as safe and clean, while Ukraine, Belarus, even Europe anxiously fear catastrophe at Zaporizhia.
A bit of good news – Humanity’s Moment: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope by Joëlle GergisReviewed by Kara Nicholson
AUSTRALIA.
Our Air Force is already ‘operating against China’. Anti-AUKUS campaign ramps up over U.S.-China war talk.
US admiral issues blunt warning on building Australian submarines in overstretched shipyards. Australian submariners to train onboard British nuclear-powered submarines under AUKUS deal. Britain supports Australia’s nuclear submarines – (UK and USA vying for the sale to Oz?)
AI Group Unveiled: a propaganda service for Defence, big business and the Coalition.
INTERNATIONAL.
Russia and the U.S. are entering ‘dangerous and uncharted’ nuclear territory.
Podcast – How the Western Press has become a propaganda tool of the war industry and the Ukrainian government.
Infographic: The impact of nuclear tests around the world. Can the testing on anti-satellite weapons be banned?.
No energy solution without a radical rethink — World leaders suck in the fossil-nuclear mindset.
$Multibillion costs in the struggle to deal with nuclear wastes across the globe.
Global fossil fuel subsidies rocket to almost $US700 billion in 2021
UKRAINE.
Zaporizhia. Collective madness — Zaporizhzhia is the poster child for abandoning the use of nuclear power. Very real risks of nuclear catastrophe at Zaporizhia nuclear station, with the memory of Chernobyl ever present. A1 IAEA at Zaporizhia nuclear station: Dr Paul Dorfman assesses the risks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7jdMlL3Ohc Ukraine’s nuclear plant partly goes offline amid fighting. Fighting goes on near Ukraine nuclear plant; IAEA on site. Nikopol under attack: Residents flee fighting near Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
UN thanks Russia for keeping nuclear team safe. Fighting at Ukraine nuclear plant brings chances of a meltdown to a ‘coin toss’, expert says. U.S. Calls For ‘Controlled Shutdown’ Of Zaporizhzhya Plant As IAEA Inspectors Seek Access. New artillery attack as IAEA heads to Ukraine nuclear plant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ooAMfR7PrQ
Pentagon admits ‘likelihood’ of Ukrainian shelling near nuclear plant. Ukraine accused of targeting possible route of nuclear inspectors. Russia accuses Ukraine of fresh shelling of nuclear plant. Satellite images show damage to buildings right next to Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactors. Russia blames Ukrainian forces for potential disaster.
European Union providing Ukraine with over 5 million doses of potassium iodide tablets. Zelensky aide says UN nuclear watchdog should be mistrusted ‘by default’. If people take part in referendums in Donbass region, Ukraine government will prosecute them as criminal offenders. Ukrainian government wants to sell nuclear energy to Germany .
Moscow says – US Afraid Inhumane Acts Committed by Azov Terrorists Will Be Made Public. International Atomic Energy Agency inspection team on its way to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
JAPAN. Fukushima town lifts evacuation order, but few former residents want to come back. Fukushima Plants Showing ‘Unusual Growing Patterns’.
PACIFIC ISLANDS. As Japan builds nuclear dumping facilities, Pacific groups say ‘stop‘.
RUSSIA. Gorbachev Ended Cold War, Eased Nuclear Tensions But Trusted US Too Much – Experts.
UK. New nuclear bases and nuclear submarines in Scotland deemed “unachievable” by a UK Government watchdog. Navy officer opposed to nuclear weapons sues UK Ministry of Defence .
You can’t trust Liz Truss (oil and gas devotee) on energy policy for Britain Nuclear power: the accumulating problems. Boris Johnson unveils £1.45billion nuclear submarine. Boris Johnson’s parting gift – a £30 billion nuclear debt. Boris Johnson locking the next Prime Minister into unsustainable nuclear debt. High Court legal challenge to UK government against decision to build Sizewell C nuclear station.
Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion condemns decision for massively costly Sizewell C nuclear station. Boris Johnson’s legacy of the nuclear fantasy. Compulsory purchase orders of land for Sizewell C nuclear project . Stop Sizewell C urges Boris Johnson’s successor to totally review this costly nuclear project. £3.3 million tax-payer boost for untried non-existent technology . Nuclear power for Britain – a “financial basket case “. UK’s Nuclear Gambit Faces Long Odds Even With Sizewell Approval.
GDF Community Partnership promotes “feel good” books to children., making nuclear waste dump ‘cute and safe’. A concerted push now for renewable energy would save Britons billions of pounds.
USA. Mothers For Peace disappointed that California Governor supports ”lifeline” for Diablo Canyon nuclear power station. USA’s Inflation Reduction Act a tidy little bonanza for the nuclear industry . City of Aiken will receive more than $168M in plutonium storage settlement. Radioactive Waste ‘Everywhere’ at Ohio Oilfield Facility, Says Former Worker.
CANADA. Walk in Ignace protests nuclear waste storage site.
EUROPE. Gas prices and nuclear outages put European grid at breaking point.
SWITZERLAND. Future threat to Europe’s water supplies as Switzerland’s glaciers are rapidly thawing . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-18HL-dpWw
FRANCE. France braces for uncertain winter as nuclear power shortage looms.
PAKISTAN. The ‘horrors of climate change‘ hit Pakistan . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGvggMbBfWY
SOUTH ASIA. South Asian countries facing devastating extreme weather events – seek reparation from rich countries.
IRAN. Iran does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, says President Ebrahim Raisi. Iran seeks stronger U.S. guarantees for revival of 2015 nuclear deal.
Collective madness — Zaporizhzhia is the poster child for abandoning the use of nuclear power.
The IAEA team that went to Zaporizhizhia aren’t superheroes and can’t fix what’s broken
Collective madness — Beyond Nuclear International By Linda Pentz Gunter
The deadly peril posed by nuclear power plants embroiled in a war zone — something we have been warning about since before the Russian invasion of Ukraine — just came into even sharper focus.
The continued military activity around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, home to six of Ukraine’s 15 reactors, has raised worldwide concern about the terrible consequences should a missile strike a reactor, or worse, the unprotected irradiated fuel pools or radioactive waste storage casks.
Let’s remember that the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster — the result of the explosion of a single, relatively new unit — has rendered a 1,000 square mile region (the Exlusion Zone) uninhabitable still today and for the foreseeable future. Any one of the Zaporizhzhia reactors contains a far larger radioactive inventory and a more densely packed fuel pool than was the case at Chornobyl. A major breach of any one of the six would release long-lasting radioactive contamination into the environment, forcing permanent evacuations and sickening countless people.
Several obvious conclusions emerge from all this.
- Nuclear reactors cannot be in a war zone.
- The consequences of an attack on a nuclear plant could be catastrophic, long-lasting and far-reaching.
- It is impossible to predict where a war might happen (Lindsey Graham’s recent reckless statements remind us that yes, there could even be (civil) war again here in the US).
- The odds of a catastrophic failure at a nuclear plant must be zero given the unacceptable consequences; an impossibility.
- Nuclear power plants are not only ill-suited to the climate of war, but also to both the present and impending extremes of climate change (major sea-level rise; floods; fires; violent weather events etc).
Therefore, it is senseless and irresponsible to continue using nuclear power as an energy source.
Instead, as a 14-person delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) made its way to the Zaporizhzhia plant, its General Secretary, Rafael Grossi, stated that theirs was a mission “that seeks to prevent a nuclear accident and to preserve this important — the largest, the biggest — nuclear power plant in Europe”.
Preserve? Well, as Henry Sokolski just reminded us in his August 31 article — The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Is Kindling for World War III — “The IAEA was founded seventy years ago to promote nuclear power.” It is set up to “conduct occasional nuclear audits, not to physically protect plants against military attacks or to demilitarize zones around them,” he wrote. “The IAEA can’t provide the Zaporizhzhia plant with any defenses, nor will it risk keeping IAEA staff on-site to serve as defensive tripwires.”
James Acton, co-director of the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, issued similar warnings about the limitations of the IAEA delegation when he was interviewed about the worsening situation at Zaporizhzhia and the IAEA visit on the August 29th edition of The Rachel Maddow Show.
“We should be realistic about what they can achieve,” he said. “It’s their job to report what’s going on in the plant, to assess the safety and security features on the plant and to report back. They don’t have a magic way of defending the plant or repairing broken equipment.”
The White House has called for the Zaporizhzhia reactors to be shut down. It should be calling for all reactors to be shut down. Instead, it is blindly persisting with nuclear power as a present and future energy program.
The White House is not alone, of course. The illogical — and arguably insane — response to the war in Ukraine by a number of governments has been to insist on the continued or even expanded use of nuclear energy. Given what is at stake in so doing — and given the obvious safer, faster and cheaper alternatives of energy efficiency and renewable energy— this appears to be a symptom of some kind of collective madness.
Let’s face it, if Zaporizhzhia was a 6-acre wind farm instead of a 6-reactor nuclear power plant, we wouldn’t even be talking about it, let alone worrying about how to pronounce it.
Linda Pentz Gunter is the international specialist at Beyond Nuclear and writes for and curates Beyond Nuclear International.
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant loses power line – IAEA
ZURICH, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant again lost connection to the last remaining main external power line, but continues to supply electricity to the grid through a reserve line, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Saturday.
The agency also said, in a statement posted on its website, that only one of the station’s six reactors remained in operation…………..
The U.N. nuclear watchdog’s experts now stationed at the plant were told by Ukrainian staff that the site’s fourth operational 750 kilovolt power line was down after three others were lost earlier, the IAEA said.
But IAEA experts also learned that a reserve line linking the facility to a nearby thermal power plant was delivering electricity to the external grid. This reserve line can also provide backup power to the ZNPP if needed, it said.
“One reactor is still operating and producing electricity both for cooling and other essential safety functions at the site and for households, factories and others through the grid,” the IAEA said……… https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-loses-power-line-iaea-2022-09-03/
NSW opens registrations for first big renewables and storage tender
NSW opens registrations for the first big renewable and storage tender that will replace most, if not all, its coal fired generators over the coming decade. The post NSW opens registrations for first big renewables and storage tender appeared first on RenewEconomy.
NSW opens registrations for first big renewables and storage tender — RenewEconomy
1 This month.
20 September –National Day of Action in Melbourne on the International Day of Peace
Help Aunty Sue Protect Her Land and Sacred Sites From Destructive Rocket Testing.
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Australians deserve the truth
about
AUKUS – https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 