Australian and other nuclear news – week to 17 April

Some bits of good news :    What went right this week: malaria progress, animal comebacks, and more.

Webinar Is New Nuclear a Smart Climate Solution? Thur. Apr. 27, 7 – 8:30 p.m. ET  https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/is-new-nuclear-a-smart-climate-solution-tickets-605041444247    Watch online OR attend at the Ottawa Quaker Meetinghouse, 91-A Fourth Ave. Ottawa.

Coronavirus. While the latest versions are highly infectious, the number of recently reported deaths world-wide has decreased by 30%. However  increases in reported cases and deaths were seen in the South-East Asia and Eastern Mediterranean regions, and others, including Australia. Australian results show that 80-5% of deaths were in people with pre-existing chronic conditions. Pre-existing bad health may be the major problem, as with influenza and even “the common cold”.  I am thinking now that at present, Covid-19 is not at the same level of seriousness as climate and nuclear

Climate.  The poles are the ‘canaries in the coalmine’ of the climate crisis.  Seas have drastically risen along southern U.S. coast in past decade .

Nuclear.  The global nuclear lobby is having a little hissy fit about Germany. Despite all sorts of pressure from nuclear companies and their bought politicians and media, on 15 April, Germany stuck to its agenda – and finally shut down all nuclear power 

Christina notes. Shouldn’t we all get out of nuclear, before the next nuclear failure (whether it be financial, security, accident, pollution ………)?

AUSTRALIA.  The dangerous one is the U.S, not China.Weapons-makers set to gain more influence in defence operations. Universities and the AUKUS Military-Industrial Complex. 

Rex Patrick on AUKUS submarines: “an astonishingly bad deal”.  Former Pacific leaders blast Australia over nuclear powered submarine deal. Australia’s 9 news papers gave Navy chief a platform for a resounding attack the doubters on AUKUS nuclear submarine 

Submissions to Senate.  Friends of the Earth accuses the Australian Government Industry Department of blatant racism in its Kimba nuclear waste dump plan.   Professor George W Burns says – Keep the Nuclear Prohibitions, in the immediate and long-term interests of all Australians… and of the planet. Monica Leggett, powerfully calls on all Australian MPs to reject nuclear power. 

Western Australian company to build low-level radioactive waste facility – Kimba dump a decade away – now irrelevant?

CLIMATE. Nuclear disasters could leave a lasting legacy of contaminants in glaciers.

ECONOMICS. The Pros And Cons of Modular Nuclear Reactors. One German company persists with nuclear power -interests in reactors in Sweden..

ENERGY. 16% of France’s power supply blocked amid protest – as nuclear reactor maintenance disrupted.

LEGAL. Lawsuit seeks to uphold closing California´s last nuke plant. Ciaron says he was arrested for trying to give ‘the key to Julian Assange’s cell’ to Joe Biden.

MEDIA. Media falsely blames Russia, as Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) target Donbass towns with illegal “butterfly” cluster mines..

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. ITER fusion: $16-million-a-second and no electricity. Massive undersea works to commence for HinkleyPoint C nuclear project.

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. Local Indigenous peoples protest possible licence renewal for world’s largest uranium mine.

POLITICS. 

• Progressive Democrats Urge Attorney General To Drop Charges Against Julian Assange https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaomrxxL4Zw    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyekPpdjAaU
• A new era’: Germany quits nuclear power, closing its final three plants. German nuclear phaseout – a victory of reason over the lust for profit. Germany’s phaseout of nuclear power is irreversible. Germany’s Greenpeace celebrate nuclear phaseout. German government rejects new call to delay nuclear shutdown. 
• Leaks confirm that Biden admin has lied about Ukraine. 
• Netherlands energy experts recommend limiting energy demand, see little or no role for nuclear power, but Cabinet wants nuclear anyway. 
• U.S. Senate Weighs Big Plans for Small Reactors. Holtec seeking $300M from Michigan to restart Palisades nuclear plant.   Virginia lawmakers kill Governor Youngkin’s amendment to define nuclear energy as renewable.
• Nuclear is not the solution to our energy troubles. Nuclear storage dump opponents sweep into Theddlethorpe parish council.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

• After leak of secret documents, South Korea to raise spying allegations with U.S. 
• Finland’s NATO entry raises nuclear war stakes. Finland’s membership in NATO marks the end of the nation’s admirable tradition as a global peacemaker. 
• Macron speaks out against war with China- the furious USA reaction shows American insecurity?.

PROTESTS. German protests against Framatome’s nuclear fuel production in Lingen.

SAFETY. UN’s nuclear chief warns ‘we are living on borrowed time‘ after two landmine explosions near Europe’s largest atomic power station in Ukraine. ‘It’s time to pump the brakes on reintroduction of nuclear energy to Trawsfynydd’.

SECRETS and LIES. Corruption in the Ukraine government, as Zelensky skims $millions from USA for diesel, while buying cheap diesel fromRussia. Leaked documents expose US-NATO Ukraine war plans. ‘No Business In The Public Domain’: National Security Council spokesman Kirby Warns Journalists Not To Report On Leaked Pentagon Documents. Ukraine-Russia war – live: Damning Pentagon leak has not affected relations, Kyiv says. Westminster keeps nuclear secrets to avoid upsetting Scottish Government. Zelensky losing control of intelligence agents – media.

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. An operational domain’: Fear UK nuclear power plan for moon may lead to militarisation of space.

WASTES. 

• Law to ban high-level nuclear waste storage facility effective June. A Cold War Legacy — uranium pollution. Cleaning Up America’s Nuclear Weapons Complex (hundreds of $billions): 2023 Holtec’s Plan for Dumping Nuclear Wastewater Into Hudson River Is Paused. 
• Nuclear waste abandonment risks the dangers of amnesia. Update For Governors. 
• Concern over funding ‘stigma’ from Theddlethorpe nuclear storage. 
• Ignoring science, environmental protection and international law – G7 endorses Japan’s Fukushima water discharge plans. How Fukushima wastewater into Pacific will disrupt seafood trade. 4,200 tons of radioactive sewage sludge kept in Kanto area 12 yrs after Fukushima disaster.

WAR and CONFLICT . Two American brigades close to the Ukrainian border, but no plan, no leadership towards ending the war!. US Special Forces in Ukraine at embassy, official confirms, as Pentagon document leak probe heats up.

US troops in Taiwan ‘on the table’ if China invades, Michael McCaul says. US troops to China? Not a good idea, really. The coming war on China: the real target is the American people. 

CONTAINING THE BOMB:  Finland participated in new NATO air combat exercise over Baltic Sea — . Top of the world: Pentagon’s Ultima Thule is rebranded. 

AN ASSESSMENT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS FREE ZONES.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. 

• 83 Hiroshimas— New nuclear bombs coming to Europe and UK . 
• UK ignites new depleted uranium weapons debate . From the Manhattan Project to the Bronx Project: the toxic legacy of the nuclear age- depleted uranium. Russia warns of Ukraine weapons spillover. 
• Why a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East is more needed than ever. 
• The (South) Korean Nuclear Threat. 
• Poland primed to produce depleted uranium ammunition for U.S. Abrams tanks . 
• Unprecedented French war games include 14 NATO allies, nuclear carrier. 
• Russian news reports NATO to open base in Moldova near Transnistria.

April 17, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews | Leave a comment

Australian, and other, nuclear news this sweek

Some bits of good news – Community rewilding in UK.  Reintroducing elephants, sharks and other big beasts could help keep the Paris agreement alive.

Pandemic.  Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Weekly Epidemiological Update.   Countries set out way forward for negotiations on global agreement to protect world from future pandemic emergencies.

Climate. Three consecutive years of rapidly increasing carbon dioxide emissions

Antarctica’s melting ice sheet could retreat much faster than previously thought. 

  The temperature of the world’s ocean surface has hit an all-time high. Ocean Heat, An El Nino on the Way, Potential New Global Temperature Record by 2024 — robertscribbler.

Nuclear. It’s all about nuclear weapons and the risk of nuclear war, again this week. I’m wondering if the world has got “nuclear-war-fatigue”.  So little awareness in the general public and media compared to previous times of urgent danger of nuclear war.  Some sort of complacent acceptance that we’ve all got to keep the wonderful nuclear weapons industries going  –it means jobs jobs jobs and ever-rising value of those shares. We’ll give the boys the shiny new toys –  fingers crossed that they don’t actually play with them. 

Christina notes. Nuclear war – it’s a manly thing.   The China-bogey-man distraction from the real threat of GLOBAL HEATING.

AUSTRALIA. AUKUS, NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY AND AUSTRALIA’S FUTURE – (this article says it all!) Bigger threat than China’: Defence leaders urge release of ‘scary’ climate report. Absolutely disingenuous – DARC – the Deep-Space Advanced Radar Capability – Australia to join USA’s plan for Space as a War-fighting Domain– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KhkdjqSNic 

ERA hopes to raise $369 million to continue rehabilitation of Ranger uranium mine in Kakadu . How Australia helped the US keep tabs on its nuclear rivals through a secret balloon program.

CLIMATE. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report fails to mention military or conflict emissions. France’s riverside reactor build plans “irresponsible” – expert. Rethinking Paris: France braces for 4°C warming in “turning point” strategy — (wonder how France’s nuclear reactors will cope?)

CIVIL LIBERTIES. Washington Says “Journalism Is Not A Crime” While Working To Criminalize Journalism.

CULTURE. Americans now fear cyberattack more than nuclear attack. ‘Everything Russian’ must be eradicated in Crimea – Zelensky aide.

ECONOMICS. Classic Megaproject Early Mistakes Will Create A Fiscal Disaster For Netherlands Nuclear.

ENERGY. IPCC report shows the winners in energy transition – wind and solar, and the losers – nuclear power and carbon capture.     China on track to triple its terawatt-scale wind and solar target. Renewable energy overtakes nuclear power as the EU’s largest source of primary energy production. European nuclear power generation to continue at historically low levels.

HEALTH. Mental illness plagues Japan’s nuclear disaster survivors. Childhood thyroid cancer cases confirmed in the Fukushima Health Management Survey and others.

MEDIA. Japan – Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center news roundup April/May 2023.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Nuclear life extension plans tested by obsolete components. Saudi quest to become a nuclear player is coming up short. Current State of Post-Accident Operations at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (Jun. to Dec. 2022). Nuclear fusion is a never-ending dream,

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. Crowd turns out for town hall on plutonium pits, nuclear waste storage. Campaigners continue to take a stand against the plan for new nuclear power at Bradwell. Saskatchewan must remember opposition to nuclear waste.

PERSONAL STORIES. Northampton nuclear weapons activist Ira Helfand wins peace award.

POLITICS. SCOTT RITTER: The Future of US Nuclear Strategy.  US Department of Energy is once again promoting large nuclear reactors, despite lack of supply chain and absurdly unaffordable costs. More warheads, more nuclear waste to New Mexico. Santa Fe fearful, as Carlsbad leaders support efforts.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. G7 countries are likely to back nuclear power. The West Has Been Planning To Crush China For A Very Long Time. India and Pakistan Must Negotiate Nuclear Responsibilities. Many Speakers Voice Concern over Increase in Dangerous Nuclear Weapons Rhetoric amidst Ongoing War against Ukraine, as Disarmament Commission Opens Session.    Convincing major powers to abide by ASEAN’s nuclear treaty is challenging.    AUKUS nuclear submarine cooperation seriously jeopardizes peace, stability in Asia-Pacific: embassy.

PROTESTS. 8 peaceful protestors arrested at the Nevada National “Security” Site. Four arrested after blockade of two gates at Trident nuclear base in Scotland.

PUBLIC OPINION. The British government doesn’t want to talk about its nuclear weapons. The British public does.

 SAFETY.   Fukushima.  New images from inside Fukushima reactor spark safety worry.  New Images From Inside Fukushima Nuclear Plant Are Causing Big Worries.    Foundation in Fukushima nuclear plant reactor likely badly damaged. Disturbing Clues at Fukushima Nuclear Plant May Be an Omen for Another Disaster. Fukushima Now Part 1: Railroading the Contaminated Water Release is Unacceptable! Current State of Post-Accident Operations at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (Jun. to Dec. 2022). 

Japan’s nuclear regulators find errors in Japan Atomic Power’s safety documents for the Tsuruga plant. Navy’s nuclear-powered super submarine ‘Trident’ fixed with super glue. The Other Atomic Concern in Taiwan—Nuclear Reactors .

SECRETS and LIES. Second batch of Classified Documents Detailing US Ukraine War Secrets Is Leaked Online. ‘A nightmare for the Five Eyes’: New batch of classified documents leaked to social media.

SPINBUSTER. Busting the spin about nuclear wastes – a Letter to the editor of the Hill Times.

WASTES. NMED’s Permit Allows LANL Loopholes for Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility.

WAR and CONFLICT. 

• Ukrainian forces mount highly dangerous attack on Zaporizhzhia site.     Failed Ukrainian nuclear plant attack revealed – The Times.    
• ‘Brink of nuclear war’: North Korea warning on military drills. 
• White House: U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan to wage war with Russia, China. 
• DID THE UK DEPLOY A NUCLEAR-ARMED SUBMARINE TO THE FALKLANDS CONFLICT? 
• Researchers simulate damage from nuclear weapons use in Northeast Asia. 
• European war games: 9,000 U.S. troops, 17,000 from 26 NATO allies, partners in 10 nations.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. 

• Worst-kept secret? In tweet, ex-PM Barak seems to confirm Israel has nuclear weapons. Ex-PM Ehud Barak Confirms Israel Has Nuclear Weapons: Why it Matters. 
• B61-12 nuclear sharing: Finnish flag raised at NATO Air Command HQ . 
• Blinken demands NATO allies cough up more wealth, weapons for Ukraine war. 
• NATO’s biggest infrastructure investment in 30 years: U.S. Army expands base in Poland.   
• NATO orders Poland to deliver 200 APC to Ukraine as “mortars, missiles and MiGs are arriving”.
• US Navy sends nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine to Middle East. 
• US deploys nuclear submarine to West Asia.

April 10, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews | Leave a comment

The week in nuclear news

Nuclear Winter Webinar 7 April

https://beyondnuclear.org/nuclear-winter-webinar/ The Samuel Lawrence Foundation is hosting its “First Friday” Zoom Event at 11:30 AM PST (2:30 PM EST), featuring Brian Toon, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado at Boulder on:

 “Nuclear Winter: The Environmental Consequences of a Nuclear Exchange.” The event is moderated by Professor Paul Dorfman, Chair of Nuclear Consulting Group, University of Sussex, UK. Professor Toon is a world renowned researcher on the environmental and climate consequences of nuclear war. Even a limited conflict between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, an exchange of 100 nuclear weapons, would have global climate changing consequences. Click here to register for the April 7th webinar.

Christina notes. “Clean” “Renewable” nuclear power – the PERSISTENT LIES.    Corruption in the nuclear industry.

Once again –   this is miles too long. And also – sorry – too much about Australia.   But, it’s a pivotal time – this AUKUS-nuclear submarine thing.  And not just for Australia – as 3 anglophone nations team up in spreading nuclear weapons-grade technology for the first time – to a non-nuclear nation.  All done – not with the consent of parliaments and people – just done with a stroke by the big boys. And all setting up for the next proxy war, Australia in the lead role?  – against China.

AUSTRALIA.  Australia Isn’t A Nation, It’s A US Military Base With Kangaroos, and happy to have Julian Assange imprisoned. Julian Assange – when “quiet diplomacy” means diddly squat. Inglorious inertia: The Albanese Government and Julian Assange.

The Road to War: latest film by David Bradbury. Fight For Country – the story of the Jabiluka Blockade (Pip Starr) – anniversary 1 April 23 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUYOwA7qwGY

AUKUS – nuclear submarines. Omigawd! Nuclear zealot Jonathon Mead is to get his own little government department nuclear supergroup.    AUKUS: Mirage or reality? AUKUS Exists To Manage The Risks Created By Its Existence.  China’s new warning to Australia over nuclear submarine deal.     Unions question Labor over AUKUS nuclear submarines. Trade Unions ACTU digs in on nuclear-free policy in headache for Labor over Aukus subs.         East coast nuclear submarine base decision likely to be made after next federal election. The three big questions Australia’s leaders must answer about the Aukus deal.        Australian government always knew that Australia would end up with AUKUS nuclear wastes – they just didn’t let on to the public. AUKUS Gets Awkward Down Under. 

• Has the USA captured Australia’s media? 
• To sign or not to sign. Australia’s dilemma over the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.              
• Letter to the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), dispelling its deceptions about nuclear medicine and nuclear wastes.   
• Community trust requires public discussion and transparency.

Submissions to the Senate:

• Jan Wu –  renewables are very suitable for Australia, not dirty nuclear power.
• Alan Hewett – Nuclear power could only delay Australia’s transition to clean renewable energy. 
• Michele Kwok – nuclear power is not clean -it’s polluting at every stage. 
• Jean M Christie – nuclear power is expensive, polluting, and too slow to be of any use to Australians. 
• Diana Rickard – Australia’s nuclear bans reflect public rejection of the nuclear industry, and support for clean renewables. 
• Helen Bradbury –nuclear power not only useless against climate change, but also becomes a serious risk in extreme weather events. 
• Name withheld – exposes the fake charity group behind the pro nuclear propaganda.
• Timothy Clifford – Australia has the opportunity to become a clean energy superpower – nuclear is an unviable distraction.
• Name withheld – a trenchant critique of Australia’s pro nuclear fringe.

CLIMATE. Climate change amplifies existing threats to national security.

CIVIL LIBERTIES. UN sounds alarm over Ukraine church crackdown.

EMPLOYMENT. Nuclear skills shortage in Britain .

ENERGY. Renewable generation surpassed coal and nuclear in the U.S. electric power sector in 2022,

ENVIRONMENT. EPA finds radioactive contamination in Missouri landfill Sizewell C permits approved despite concerns over potential mass fish deaths. Campaigners claim permit change at Hinkley Point would kill billions of fish. South Korea to keep Fukushima seafood ban despite thaw with Japan.

HEALTH. Exposure to ionizing radiation can increase risk of heart disease. Cancer as Weapon: Sowing Battlefields With Depleted Uranium.

INDIGENOUS ISSUES. An obnoxious clause in Canada’s draft Act for Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)

MEDIA. Nuclear winter webinar – 7 April. Covering (Up) Antiwar Protest in US Media.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Small Modular Nuclear Reactors may not be the holy grail for energy security, net zero. Small nuclear reactors – the global hype and hoax continues, especially in Europe.         North Korea May Be Close to Completing New Nuclear Reactor: 38 North.          No, Nuclear Energy Won’t Save Us.

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. Over 100 Canadian organisations oppose funding for small modular nuclear reactors in federal budget.    Time to revive Scotland’s campaign – Resist the Atomic Menace.       Opponents pack Pilgrim Nuclear meeting as potential discharge of radioactive water looms.

POLITICS.  USA CONGRESSIONAL EFFORT TO END ASSANGE PROSECUTION IS UNDERWAY.     

• Missouri House votes to ease restrictions on nuclear power plant construction costs. Illinois Senate votes to lift nuclear construction ban.
• Nuclear Power Classified as Environmentally Sustainable in UK’s Green Taxonomy. The Scottish Greens condemn UK Government plans for a major investment in nuclear power. 
• What nuclear disarmament leadership should look like

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

• Nuclear Tug of War Intensifies in Brussels. EU agrees to a compromise on nuclear energy amid French pressure. Nuclear row threatens EU deal on renewable energy goals. Paris plots response to EU Commissioner von der Leyen’s ‘unfortunate’ comments on nuclear. 
• Germany criticizes Russian role in French nuclear fuel plant. 
• AUKUS is ‘going against’ Pacific nuclear free treaty – Cook Islands leader. Aukus subs deal firms China support for Asean nuclear weapon-free zone. 
• Top UN official urgently calls for de-escalating nuclear tensions over Belarus. 
• The cost of being wrong. 
• Inside Saudi Arabia’s Global Push for Nuclear Power.

SAFETY. 

• Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant: How prepared is Europe for a future nuclear disaster? IAEA head warns on danger of intensified fighting near Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. IAEA nuclear safety chief at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, UN watchdog ditches Ukrainian nuclear plant safety zone scheme. 
• Fire on Trident nuclear submarine at Scots navy base prompts safety concern for nearby locals. 
• Concern about Turkey’s Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant. 
• France’s nuclear company planning to extend the life of its creaky old reactors..

SECRETS and LIES. CIA’s surveillance methods on Assange revealed.

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. US-NATO proxy war in Ukraine utilises space technology. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5az_t0YxgmQ&t=1s

SPINBUSTER. 

• ARMY PUTTING ‘OUTRAGEOUS SPIN’ ON DEPLETED URANIUM SCIENCE.    
• Pentagon fake news about Chinese fast breeder reactors.    
•  “Clean, clean, clean!”-says Canada’s budget – But still, nuclear power is still dirty. 
• Elon Musk is remaking Twitter into a climate denier sanctuary. 
• AUKUS deal keeping Julian Assange behind bars. 
• Welsh anti-nuclear groups warn on the nuclear lobbyists behind the new Freeport bid for Anglesea..

WASTES. Moltex vows to help Canada recycle its nuclear waste. Critics say the byproducts would be even worse. TEPCO visually confirms melted nuclear fuel at Fukushima plant. Decommissioning reactors: Germany will complete nuclear phase-out as planned but technology’s risks remain – env min. Divers enter Sellafield’s nuclear pool for first time in 65 years. Pilgrim Nuclear owner agrees to wastewater study, but says it won’t pay for it.

WAR and CONFLICT. THE LAST THING THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE NEED IS DEPLETED URANIUM.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. 

• Russia Calls Out ‘Nuclear Weapons Hypocrisy’: US Has Tactical Nukes In 5 Non-Nuclear Weapon States. 
• Number of usable nuclear warheads increased in 2022 — report. 
• Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor 2022 is out. 
• No Country for Nuclear Madmen. 
• Actual storage of nuclear weapons in Belarus is likely to be a long time away. 
• Canada’s “peaceful” nuclear program intimately involved in selling Plutonium For American Bombs. 
• Germany, Britain deliver more battle tanks to Ukraine . South Korea to provide Poland with 1,000 tanks as well as howitzers. Bankrolled by EU and U.S., Poland to produce, ship 100 armored vehicles to Ukraine . U.S. to deliver 800 Hellfire missiles to Poland . Poland, Slovakia deliver first MiG warplanes to Ukraine . 
• China warns of World War III with ‘nuclear sword hanging over our heads’ over Putin’s plan to send nukes to Belarus.

April 4, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews | Leave a comment

Australian and other nuclear news this week

Some bits of good news: What went right this week: ‘a surge in benevolence’, plus more
Coronavirus. A hidden pandemic: the orphans Covid has left behind.

Climate.  Climate change: 5 charts from the IPCC report that show why every increment of warming matters.  Why Normal Is Never Coming Back.

Nuclear.  Apologies – this newsletter is getting out of hand.  It’s good if people can just read the stories in large bold green type – usually selected because of their particular importance.  Sorry – so much Australian stuff –  AUKUS remains a very big deal here.

Worldwide – economics matter – the rampaging costs of weapons, the ever-more apparent unaffordability of small nuclear reactors.

Christina notes. Two ways of looking at the world.   Here we go again. Depleted uranium weapons for Ukraine to use against Russia.      Everything’s OK – depleted uranium is just a pretty harmless “common type of munition”.    NuScam – the sad little canary that’s scared of a tweet . Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles is a master of “weasel words”

AUSTRALIA. 

• AUKUS and Nuclear Submarines.  Senator Barbara Pocock demolishes the arguments put up for small nuclear reactors, and for nuclear submarines. Greens attack Albanese government’s ‘deeply unsettling’ secrecy on submarine nuclear waste plans. May Day March planned – against AUKUS. Some Labor and Independent members of parliament not happy with AUKUS nuclear submarine deal.     AUKUS, the Australian Labor Party, and Growing Dissent.   In Australian conventional media, when it comes to discussion on AUKUS, only certain limited views are permissable.   Richard Marles’ ill-advised spending on completely inappropriate Tomahawk missiles for Australia’s existing submarines. Australia’s defence policy explained  – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTCqXlDjx18
• Big Tech, weapons, tax havens, even Rupert Murdoch – secrets from the Future Fund investment vault. Australian military looks to build crucial space capabilities that will support Aukus nuclear subs. Guardian Essential Poll: AUKUS support collapses, 3-in-4 oppose. AUKUS nuclear subs deal should torpedo Kimba radioactive waste plan. 
• The cost and unnecessary suffering of military spending. National Party MPs seek nuclear submarine base in central Qld. PM flags nuclear prohibition treaty still on agenda despite AUKUS subs deal. Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) flexes its muscles – forces the ABC to back down on a Media Watch show that dared to criticise ASPI.  Nuclear power costs prohibitive.

Submissions to Senate. 

• Ivan Quail – a devastating fact-filled critique of the costly, dangerous, unhealthy, nuclear industry. 
• Judy Schneider – keep Australia’s nuclear bans, use renewables, including tidal energy. 
• Ray Tauss = for health, safety, and future generations’ well-being – Australia’s nuclear bans should NOT be repealed. 
• Greg Chapman – Nuclear power is dirty and its fallout lasts forever.

CLIMATE. World on ‘thin ice’ as UN climate report gives stark warning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gKGcWqzH1Y Samoa’s desperate plea for world climate action. What is the IPCC AR6 synthesis report and why does it matter? Burning down the house — Climate options are available now- Nuclear power isn’t one of them. Lethal underwater nuclear submarines –their power to devastate the climate.         Nuclear energy will not halt the climate crisis. Climate change may pose key risk to French reactors – said the country’s Court of Auditors.

Briefing Paper on Nuclear Weapons, the Environment, and the Climate Crisis.

CIVIL LIBERTIES. UN Rights Official Concerned Over Summary Executions Of POWs By Both Russia, Ukraine.

CULTURE. Rebooting memories of life before the nuclear devastation of Hiroshima. France in national denial– rejecting renewable energy, clinging to out-dated nuclear.

ECONOMICS. Bad news for NuScale. Author of controversial memo puts the final nail in the coffin: Nuclear power in Denmark is not cost-effective. Tiny Modular Reactor Deal Starts With Absurdly Expensive Electricity.

Marketing. U.S. government marketing nuclear power to Indonesia. Thorium fake charity group cons El Salvador into joining the “Nuclear Power Club”. South Korea coming for a slice of Africa’s emerging nuclear power market. Mini nuclear reactors all the rage, but are they the answer? Rolls Royce marketing its mini nuclear reactors to Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, but deals could collapse.

EMPLOYMENT Strikes hit French nuclear output, disrupt EDF maintenance plans.

ENVIRONMENT. Campaigners claim permit change at Hinkley Point would kill billions of fish.

HEALTH. Radiation Low-dose Radiation Linked to Heart Disease

LEGAL. Second U.S. Citizen Headed to German Prison for Anti-Nuclear Weapons Actions. Legal case begins against Sizewell C nuclear project.  “Together Against Sizewell” argue in UK’s High Court against this nuclear development’s impact on environment . Lawsuit over internal records of 2018 ‘near miss’ at San Onofre nuclear plant moves forward.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. NuScale Power the canary in the small modular nuclear reactor market. European 

OPPOSITION TO NUCLEAR. Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament condemns UK decision to send depleted uranium shells to Ukraine. Restarting Michigan Nuclear Power Plant Risks ‘Chernobyl-Scale Catastrophe,’ Coalition Warns. Bi -Partisan measure opposes Canadian plan to store nuclear waste long term near Lake Huron.

POLITICS. Mixed messages to the nuclear industry as Biden’s budget cuts funding for nuclear energy . The UK Budget pushes nuclear and CCS, and the military link with small nuclear reactors is now overt.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

• Macron’s nuclear power plan hits trouble. Seven countries reject nuclear-derived hydrogen from EU renewables law. EU leaders remain deadlocked on classification of nuclear energy.  France trying to “sell off its old nukes” to the Netherlands? 
• Imperial Visits: US Emissaries in the Pacific. 
• US won’t let Ukraine even consider peace talks – Moscow. Xi Jinping’s Russia trip reduced chance of nuclear war, says EU foreign policy chief.

SAFETY. 12 years later, evacuation orders lifted in parts of two towns near the crippled Fukushima nuclear power station . Fears that France’s nuclear safety system may now fail – from Nuclear Transparency Watch, 11 French and European NGOs and 23 members of European Parliament. Minnesota nuclear plant shuts down for leak; residents worry.      Incidents. Russian Factory That Makes Nuclear Missile Engines Catches Fire.

SECRETS and LIES. UK says no nuclear escalation in Ukraine after row over depleted uranium munitions. US and UK deny harmful effects of depleted uranium.

WASTES. US regulators delay decision on nuclear fuel storage license. Will Scotland’s next Chief Minister heed the warnings of Dounreay?

WAR and CONFLICT. 

• Sung-HeeChoi reports on U.S.-NATO military expansion in South Korea. 
• UK’s depleted uranium plan threatens all of Europe – Moscow. The West has ‘brought humankind to the brink of nuclear Armageddon’ with its decision to use depleted uranium ammo in Ukraine, says Russia’s US envoy.
• Stolen Valor: The U.S. Volunteers in Ukraine Who Lie, Waste and Bicker. 
• NATO pushes European Socialists for thirty more years, eternity of new wars. 
• Strengthening the international maritime force: NATO gathers global fleet commanders to study Ukraine war. 
• Declassified Video Shows How B-52 Crews Would Conduct Nuclear Strikes During Cold War.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. 

• A $1 trillion defense budget would be madness. Where the $1.3 Trillion Per Year U.S. Military Budget Goes. 
• EU to ship $2 billion more in shells, other ammunition to Ukraine . Poland’s prime minister boasted of “very good compensation” from the European Union for Polish weapons sent to Ukraine.  Baltic to Black Sea: NATO deploys Portuguese, Romanian F-16s to Russian border .
• Britain supplying depleted uranium rounds to Ukraine.  UK could fuel radioactive disaster in Ukraine – Russia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6FjWEPAGWw 
• The world needs Japan to rally the G-7 against nuclear weapons. 
• North Korea tests new nuclear-capable underwater drone. 

March 27, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews | Leave a comment

This week’s nuclear news

A bit of good news Sir David Attenborough urges people to unite to save ‘nature in crisis’

Premiere of this so timely movie –

The Road to War – new film premiering in Australia is just so very timely – as Australia is currently foremost in nuclear news. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEU02LTJBxI&t=6s

World premiere–   Melbourne at 6.30pm on 22 March at the Nova in Carlton.  Then in Hobart on 23 March (not 24th as stated in trailer) at the State Cinema .    Q & A panel with Bradbury and special guest, Bob Brown. Capri Theatre in Adelaide 29 March. Other cities and regional centres yet to be announced.        

Christina notes. Australia’s splendid nuclear submarine goat rodeo – funny, but it’s really serious.    Isn’t it wonderful how the men in opposing political parties can unite in hate and belligerence? Nuclear wastes 30 years away. So -no problem for present decision-makers – happily superannuated when the shit hits the fan.

AUSTRALIA.What the nuclear-powered submarine deal really means. Editorial Geppetto logic. AUKUS subs deal binds us to a country that can change its mind on whim. Port Kembla a nuclear submarine hub? Not such a great idea! Australian Strategic Policy Institute among the group of crooked “Think Tanks” funded by weapons companies in order to promote war. Sub-standard: AUKUS plan means more risks for Australia. Australian nuclear submarine program to cost up to $368b as AUKUS details unveiled in the US. Uncle Sam, can you target my Tomahawk, please?.

Australia hasn’t figured out low-level nuclear waste storage yet – let alone high-level waste from submarines. Australia news live: Aukus subs deal includes commitment to dispose of nuclear waste; Greens say plan is ‘mortgaging our future’. Nuclear dump to be built on Defence land. Labor Premiers’ dispute over location for AUKUS nuclear wastes, – but planned Kimba waste dump is”now dead in the water”? ‘Send it to Woomera’: Premier McGowan cold on nuclear waste being stored in Western Australia. Spent Matters: The AUKUS Nuclear Waste Problem. Aukus nuclear submarine deal loophole prompts proliferation fears. Porky pies and half-truths from our USA- captured Prime Minister Albanese . Are these wildly expensive nuclear-powered submarines really in Australia’s best interests? Paul Keating savages AUKUS nuclear submarine deal as Labor’s worst since conscription in World War 1. Why is the Labor government determined to silence the Barngarla people, at the same time as Labor promotes the indigenous Voice to Parliament ?. 

CLIMATE. Wiped out: Scientist’s ‘gigantic tsunami’ warning signals ‘grave threat’ to Sizewell C.. UN Secretary-General’s video message to the 58th Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

CULTURE. Permission to speak?– Who gets to talk about nuclear power should not be controlled by the nuclear lobby

ECONOMICS. Despite UK government’s enthusiasm, nuclear power is just not a good investment. UK government is urged to “come clean” over the real cost of Sizewell C nuclear power station . EDF confirms nuclear power target for 2023, despite corrosion problems, and plummeting output in 2022. 

A $18 million a job? The AUKUS subs plan will cost Australia way more than that. Australia’s Productivity Commission casts doubt on the federal government’s decision to build nuclear-powered submarines.

ETHICS and RELIGION. Grief – Japan marks 12 years since Fukushima nuclear disaster as concerns grow over treated radioactive water release.

ENERGY. Taiwan phasing out nuclear power.

ENVIRONMENT. Campaigners claim permit change at Hinkley Point would kill billions of fish. UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt wants nuclear power classified as ‘environmentally sustainable’ . But is it?

HEALTH. Life on a nuclear submarine takes its toll.

MEDIA. “Atomic Bamboozle” Probes False Hopes for the Future of Nuclear Power. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUsPt_xUt7I

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Britain does not have the capacity to support Australia’s plan to build its own nuclear submarine fleet – Rear Admiral. Transparent oceans – Technologies for detection of nuclear submarines will still be all too successful by 2050. Georgia’s big new nuclear reactors could be the ‘last built in the US‘ . World’s largest nuclear fusion reactor promises clean energy, but the challenges are huge.

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. Japanese students’ nuclear abolition petition tops 2.5 million signatures. New Mexico says no to storing spent nuclear fuel as Biden touts nuclear energy: ‘The trouble is this is a forever decision’.

POLITICS.

• Fukushima victims feel left out.
• UK political row over ‘expensive and unnecessary ‘ spending on nuclear power stations. UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt accused of ‘£20bn gamble’ on nuclear energy and carbon capture . UK Chancellor blocks cheap renewable energy , while promoting expensive nuclear power. Scotland’s not-so-Green Freeports: Minister’s equivocal response leaves way open to nuclear manufacturing facility. Sizewell C nuclear plan slammed, despite the UK government’s greenwashing.
• Illinois grapples with the future of nuclear power.
• Ukraine aims to produce full cycle of nuclear nuclear fuel production by 2026, exports to follow.
• The AUKUS nuclear deal “stinks” – Australia’s former environment minister Peter Garret.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY.

• Nuclear power eliminated from European Commission’s text on funding rules, amid heated disagreements between Europe’s nations.
• Changing dynamics of US nuclear alliances, and a brazen violation of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. Watchdog Rafael Grossi pledges ‘demanding’ oversight of nuclear sub deal.  Aukus nuclear submarine deal will be ‘too big to fail’, Richard Marles says. AUKUS nuclear submarine plan brings danger as it uses a loophole in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Chinese official asks if Australia’s Aukus nuclear submarines intended for ‘sightseeing’.   Australia needs to rethink plan to buy nuclear submarines. 
• Sociologist urges Japan to stop perpetuating nuclear colonialism.
•   Saudi crown prince is plotting to get US nuclear secrets by playing the White House, Russia, and China off against each other, report says.

PUBLIC OPINION. Something Is Missing From Americans’ Greatest Fears. It’s the Bomb..

SAFETY. Incident. 400,000 gallons of radioactive water leaked from a nuclear plant in Minnesota.

SECRETS and LIES. Libyan general says uranium reported missing by UN nuclear watchdog IAEA has been recovered. Tons of uranium missing from Libyan site, UN nuclear watchdog tells member states. Alarm over 10 drums of uranium missing in Libya.

SPINBUSTER. SIX WAR MONGERING THINK TANKS AND THE MILITARY CONTRACTORS THAT FUND THEM. Lesson from Fukushima: Collusion in the nuclear domain. “Great British Nuclear” launch – an eccentric fraud by the UK government.

WASTES. The (Vancouver) Columbian Editorial Board: Congress must recognize urgency at Hanford. Dumping Fukushima contaminated water is a “cheap and dirty” approach that must be stopped. 

From the archives. No country in the world has worked out what to do with its old dead, radioactive, nuclear submarines. UK’s costly struggle to deal with dead nuclear submarines. The daunting, long and untested effort to deal with UK’s dead nuclear submarines. What to do with dead nuclear submarines? A cautionary tale for Australia.

WAR and CONFLICT. Some countries plan to decentralize control of nuclear weapons in a crisis. Here’s why that’s dangerous. Seymour Hersh warns of potential US plan B in Ukraine. U.S. Army launches new headquarters in Poland . North Korea’s Kim led drills ‘simulating nuclear counterattack.’ 

March 20, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews | Leave a comment

TODAY. Nuclear wastes 30 years away. So -no problem for present decision-makers – happily superannuated when the shit hits the fan

The lovely thing about being a Minister in the Parliament, indeed being an MP , especially in the Labor Party, is that you don’t have to take responsibility for the consequences of any decision that you, and the Party have made.

In 2021, the Australian Labor Party – Anthony Albanese, Penny Wong, Richard Marles etc , had the opportunity to oppose the Morrison government’s crackpot plan for buying nuclear submarines (which will be obsolete before they ever come into operation). But no – the Labor opposition had to show themselves to be just as tough against China as the corrupt and crackpot Liberal government.

Good little Party loyalists, – Labor has to stick to a decision, however silly.

So now in government, they complacently plunge Australia into a super-expensive, super-dangerous, nuclear submarine provocation against China. Australia is now locked into joining USA whenever it decides to goad China into action to fully incorporate Taiwan. (Both USA and Australia recognise Taiwan as politically part of China, but that apparently doesn’t matter.)

The nuclear industry is now gloating – having long held the aim of turning Australia into the world’s nuclear waste dump, At least there will now be this foot in the door for them.

Who’s going to oppose a nuclear waste dump in Australia? The media will welcome it, and scream “Jobs Jobs Jobs”. ( If it were a napalm factory for burning Vietnamese children, they’d still rejoice – “Jobs Jobs Jobs“)

The big opposition to nuclear waste dumping in Australia has always come from the Aborigines.

If the nuclear lobby can’t buy the indigenous people, then they just ignore them, as second rate citizens. Hell they weren’t even citizens at all, when their homes were bombed by the UK nuclear tests.

But any way that you look at it, the great comfort for the government decision-makers, is that they can comfortably retire, without any worries about things like a toxic waste dump, that they could have prevented,- NOT THEIR PROBLEM !

March 18, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews | Leave a comment

TODAY. Australia’s splendid nuclear submarine goat rodeo – funny, but it’s really serious

Time for an Australian Monty Python group to emerge. I mean – Scott Morrison as PM was fodder enough for humour. And he must be having a good laugh – at the trap that PM Anthony has fallen into. This latest fabulous nuclear goat rodeo* has every possible comic element – hilarious cost, unseemly wrangling USA v UK for profits, fawning Pm, lying spruiking Biden and Sunak, sceptical public……..

The whole thing is such a glorious farce. Australians should all be falling about laughing – except for one sobering fact – it is really happening.

This is the worst thing that has happened to Australia since the CIA, the USA and UK governments orchestrated the dismissal of Australia’s visionary Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, in 1975. That was a major step in transferring Australia from its British semi-colonial status, to its USA semi-colonial status.

With the AUKUS goat rodeo, Australia now moves to full American military-industrial-complex colonial status.

*Goat rodeo : “a slang term for something going totally, unbelievably, disastrously wrong, and there’s nothing left to do but to sit back and watch the trainwreck. In other words, a goat rodeo is a chaotic situation, fiasco, or, more vulgarly, a s…show.”

March 14, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews | Leave a comment

Fukushima remembrance week – nuclear news

Some bits of good news – It’s time for some good news about protections for mother Earth.

Climate. 60 Climate Feedbacks & “A Better Catastrophe”.

Coronavirus. Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Weekly Epidemiological Update.

Nuclear. 11 March was the 12 year anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe. The Japanese government would prefer that this should be forgotten. Trouble is – the catastrophe is not over.

As an Australian, I am finding our media – TV, radio, newspapers – quite nauseating. All falling over themselves in an orgasmic joy over the decision to pay $squillions for motley USA-UK-pretend-Australian nuclear submarines, that will be useless for monitoring our coast, but useful for feeding the coffers of USA-UK weapons-makers who now seem to own their governments. Everyone’s on the bandwagon – even former PM Kevin Rudd, supposedly a friend of China, now twisting himself in knots with weasel words about China, as he’s about to be Australia’s ambassador to Washington.  We need a Diogenes, to go about Australian politics and media,  in daylight, with a lighted lantern, trying to find an honest person.

AUSTRALIA. Australian Media Are Outright Telling Us They Are Feeding Us War Propaganda About China. Rare admission from Australia’s corporate media that hosting America’s Pine Gap surveillance system makes Australia a legitimate target for long-range ICBMs. Australian corporate papers call for war with China, nuclear weapons and mass conscription.

. War over Taiwan: Australia’s Gang of Five. For Australia, horror of war over Taiwan is not inevitable. ‘Red Alert’ is a paper tiger.

The British-American coup that ended Australian independence.

Australia to buy 5 nuclear-powered submarines as part of AUKUS in violation of previous commitments to China. Albanese and the subs: a looming “Goat Rodeo”.

Aukus submarine deal: Australia expected to choose UK design, sources say. Nuclear submarine zealot Jonathon Mead tries hard to reassure Australians about the “sovereignty” safety etc of the $171 billion submarine purchase, (avoids mention of costs and wastes). Fixing a fatal, nuclear flaw in AUKUS. Port Kembla to be the target! – with nuclear submarines.

On anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, Australia must stand firm against nuclear. Meet the man who uncovered the scandal of nuclear testing in South Australia. Benjamin Cronshaw Submission – nuclear power a bad choice – would delay real climate action.

ECONOMICS

• Why Russia has such a strong grip on Europe’s nuclear power. 
•  Costs for safety measures necessary to restart Japan’s idle nuclear reactors keep ballooning.
•  Britain’s Public Accounts Committee reveals that UK’s nuclear reactors have been a poor investment .  . Britain’s “Regulated Asset Base” funding method for nuclear power is deemed not likely to work.    British government poised to label nuclear as “green”, but investors are not impressed  
• Former top U.S. admiral cashes in on nuclear sub deal with Australia.
•  US Department of Energy announces a $1.2 billion fund to save America’s aged nuclear power stations.
• Marketing. China marketing nuclear power to Uganda

EDUCATION. Nuclear and space lobbies increase their grip on universities, a new example in UK . The extraordinary popularity of renewable energy university courses.

ENVIRONMENT. Campaigners claim permit change at Hinkley Point would kill billions of fish.

HEALTH. Why were studies canceled? . The voices of the victims . Social effects. 2 yrs after Fukushima nuclear disaster, gov’t not facing evacuees’ hardship.

LEGAL. Another executive goes to prison for lying about doomed nuclear project. National remembrance day , and huge civil case penalty for Tepco executives, but memory of Fukushima now fading in Japan.

OPPOSITION To NUCLEAR. In Taiwan, strong opposition to extending life of nuclear reactor.

PERSONAL STORIES. Fukushima’s first responders recall the disaster 12 years on.

PLUTONIUM. DOE wanted to quadruple plutonium pit production. For now, activists have stopped them.

POLITICS. The Nightmare Espionage Act That is Killing Julian Assange and the First Amendment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shvZy_95uOg. Some ‘sober thinking’ remains in Ukraine as portions of population are in favor of peace talks.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. Saudi Arabia Seeks U.S. Security Pledges, Nuclear Help. Saudi Arabia seeks US security guarantees, nuclear assistance in return for Israel normalisation.

PROTESTS. Fukushima Vigil Outside the UK’s Uranium Fuel Manufacturing Factory .

RADIATION. Low-dose radiation linked to increased lifetime risk of heart disease. Dr Ian Fairlie -Low-dose radiation a health danger in the nuclear industry , as well as in medicine.

SAFETY. 

•   “Thermal fatigue” is causing flaws in the cooling pipes of France’s nuclear reactors. EDF ordered to inspect 200 nuclear pipe weldings after more cracks discovered. Electricite De France (EDF) discovers a “significant defect” on a weld in Penly nuclear reactor. Nuclear reactor: a deep crack discovered at Penly 1 risks destabilizing EDF. Crack in piping of Penly nuclear reactor further complicates EDF’s situation. 
• The narrow field of options for safely managing Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. 
•  Lessons from Chernobyl and Fukushima: Is Europe prepared for another nuclear disaster?
•   Why are the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the corporate media ignoring the safety problems of Holtec’s thin-walled nuclear waste canisters? 
•   Britain’s Office for Nuclear Regulation warns on the need for a safety case, as EDF wants to extend the life of 2 nuclear power Stations . Nuclear crash exercise beset by blunders, says UK’s Ministry of Defence. 
• Nuclear research center reiterates need for separate regulatory body.

SECRETS and LIES. Fake ‘nuclear bomb’ alert on TV and radio scares Russians.

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS.  War in space: U.S. officials debating rules for a conflict in orbit.

SPINBUSTER. How the nuclear lobby scuttled the EU’s anti-greenwashing tool.

WASTES. Twelve years after 3/11, dispute grows over Fukushima’s radioactive soil. What´s happening at Fukushima plant 12 years after meltdown? Massive amounts of fatally radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the reactors. Pacific island leaders urge Japan to stop dumping nuclear waste into ocean: report. Graphite – deadly dirt or dusty diamonds? Ocean discharge is the worst plan for Fukushima waste water.  new blow to fishermen.

WAR and CONFLICT Observations on the NATO-Russia Ukrainian War. Ukraine: A war to end all wars in Europe. The Foreseeable End of Ukraine. Netanyahu justifies strikes on nuclear facilities. Romania: airborne troops among 100,000 U.S. forces in Europe poised for war with Russia.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES .  

• China is competing in a great Asian arms race because it has no other choice.  
• Biden’s $1 trillion budget for world war.   
•  Australia ‘to buy up to five US nuclear submarines’ under AUKUS pact. US Navy Wants to Turn Australia Into a Full-Service Submarine Hub.
•   EU steps up “wareconomy” to rush arms to Ukraine .
•   NATO chief orders EU cohorts to boost arms purchases, stockpiles for Ukraine war . 
•   Ukraine: Pentagon delivers precision-guided bombs . 
•   Pentagon delivers first long-range Patriot interceptors for Polish air defense system. Ukraine demands “incredible amount” of new Turkish combat drones – DM. 
•   U.S. to deliver first of 116 Abrams tanks to Poland soon. 
•   Kosovo participates in NATO multinational war games for “wide-area ground combat” throughout Europe .
• UK/NATO air combat exercise includes India, Saudi Arabia, Finland for first time.
•  China increasing the number of nuclear warheads, aiming to match USA’s nuclear arsenal .

March 13, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews | Leave a comment

TODAY. Wouldn’t it be sane, if Australia just cancelled this absurd nuclear submarine mess?

Why do I call it a mess? Let me count the ways:

1. Australia does not need nuclear submarines. They’re suitable for the USA to make long distance attacks on China, but not suitable for Australia’s need – which is to monitor our coastline.
2. They will be obsolete before they’re able to be operational.
3. They are an absurd expense $171 billion and upwards, depriving Australia’s regular military of needed funds, and adding to Australia’s economic woes, and national debt
4. They are to be fuelled by Highly Enriched Uranium, meaning that regional and global nuclear proliferation norms are overturned, causing tensions and problems with Australia’s near neighbours . Not only New Zealand, but also several South East Asian and South Pacific States are members of nuclear-free zone treaties.
5. The  decision on the nuclear submarines was made with no real debate in Parliament . On the only occasion when Australians were able to give their views on this issue to the parliament’s treaties committee, more than 100 submissions were made, even though only five days’ notice was given for these to be received. These submissions were overwhelmingly against the proposal.
6. There has been little or no discussion on the toxic wastes from the nuclear submarines, nor on the final disposal of the submarines themselves – there seems to be no plan for this, nor on other safety aspects.
7. It is clear, to the point of mirth, that the uK and UK are competing with each other to market the subs to Australia.
8. The process of deciding on the subs is full of conflicts of interest and corruption
9. The subs are now being “sold” to the Australian public on the premise of “jobs, jobs jobs” – when it’s likely that the bulk of jobs, especially high career ones, will go to USA or UK workers
10. The Australian public is being fed a media barrage of enthusiasm for the subs, with rare mention of any downsides.

I am utterly fed up with Australia’s political leaders –    quite a nauseating spectacle on ABC TV news tonight, with Defence Minister Richard Marles fawning all over that dreadful previous PM Morrison, and the warmongering Liberal leader Peter Dutton.

March 9, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews | Leave a comment

Australian and other nuclear news this week

Some bits of good news. International Women’s Day: 15 trailblazing women making the world better.    Historic treaty to protect oceans’ biodiversity.

Coronavirus. Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Weekly Epidemiological Update ( March 2023)

Climate.   The 2023 Climate Risk Landscape

Nuclear. Where to start?  Well, the danger of nuclear war is the most urgent thing.  There’s Ukraine – with Zelensky wanting to attack Crimea, and with Biden surrounded by his warmongering advisors Victoria Nuland, Jake Sullivan and more- “whatever it takes“.

The USA warhawks are getting smarter. Instead of starting a war, with USA troops, as in Iraq, Afghanistan etc – the system now is to goad another country into an invasion –   Russia invading Iraq,  That not only preserves USA troops from any danger, but is a business coup for US weapons company, – as in Ukraine buying $billions of weapons. Intended result –  a weakened Russia

Next step, even cleverer  –   get Australia to buy $171 billions of nuclear submarines, goad China into attacking its own province, Taiwan, and let Australia as China’s adversary and target, take the human and financial brunt of it all . Intended result – a weakened China.  USA is in dire need of some intelligent leaders and advisors.

Christina notes. Pauvre chere Agnes – unhappy about “discrimination” against nuclear energy!

AUSTRALIA. Movie Premiere -“The Road to War”– Australia is being set up to be the US proxy in its coming war with China  –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEU02LTJBxI–Don’t ask the government about the next war. Former Prime Minister Keating lashes Nine newspapers over ‘news abuse’ in China coverage. 

  Richard Marles and the betrayal of Australian sovereignty. Avalon Military Bonanza. If the nuclear submarines aren’t ready in time – no worries – Australia will get lots of fun weaponry against China. Isn’t it exciting? UK, US or a hybrid? Intense speculation as Australia’s $170bn nuclear submarine choice looms. AUKUS nuclear sub announcement surfaces as PM heads to India. The USA is letting Australia buy air-to ground missile for attacking China. 

 Barngarla women warn Kimba nuclear waste plan will ‘destroy’ sacred site, Dreaming stories. Traditional owners fight to stop SA nuclear waste dump.

CIVIL LIBERTIES. Der Spiegel asks: “Is the CIA hunting Assange’s supporters?”

ECONOMICS. France Sees ‘No Problem’ Funding Macron’s New Nuclear Reactors. Marketing: South Korea, France keen to sell nuclear reactors to Saudi Arabia (no connection with nuclear weapons OF COURSE!)

ENVIRONMENT. Spain renews call for US to remove soil from nuclear accident site. Campaigners claim permit change at Hinkley Point would kill billions of fish. Ministry to delay trial on reusing Fukushima soil in Kanto area.

HEALTH. Compensation sought for victims of nuclear weapons development. Scientists: Fukushima’s nuclear wastewater capable of producing cancers after release.

LEGAL. ‘David and Goliath’ – legal case, as indigenous group fights the Australian government to stop a nuclear waste dump on their traditional land. Idaho county challenges spent nuclear fuel storage.

MEDIA. It Is The Mass Media’s Job To Help Suppress Anti-War Movements. DieDieBooks releases nuclear horror Threads essay, with plenty of nods to Lawrence’s The Day After – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG-e52yAxfs

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. The Dream of NuScale Small Nuclear Reactors Hangs in the Balance. Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor project running out of cash.

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. Nuclear Free Local Authorities call on Secretary of State to end ‘wanton vandalism’ of environment at Sizewell. Canadian environmental watchdog group ROEE does not support expansion of nuclear power.

POLITICS. Japan’s Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center Protest the Cabinet Decision on the Nuclear Power Promotion Bundle Bill.     Many Fukushima mayors reluctant to take stand on nuke energy shift. Fukushima residents feel left out in TEPCO’s water plan. 

  Boris Johnson champions small nuclear reactors, UK government’s commitment to nuclear power wavering, as Hinkley Point C’s costs and delays escalate? French MPs pave way to dropping legal limit on nuclear in energy mix.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. 

•   Biden’s “Fools-Based International Order” – a network to bring about war against China. The world returns to an era of nuclear angst. 
•   The West hasn’t gone after Russia’s nuclear energy- Here’s why. 
•  SCOTT RITTER: Reimagining Arms Control After Ukraine. Zelensky warns Americans that US will lose global influence if it stops backing war.
• France mounts battle for nuclear energy in Europe. France pushing hard to make the European Union a pro-nuclear organisation. A “nuclear alliance” in Europe, as France leads a pack of EU member states to count nuclear energy as “green and renewable” Others disagree. EU rewrites climate diplomacy deal to resolve nuclear sticking point.
•   Russian nuclear energy diplomacy and its implications for energy security in the context of the war in Ukraine. 
•   Saudi Arabia Aiming for Complete Nuclear Fuel Cycle. 
• UN nuclear chief says Iran pledges more access for inspectors. Is nuclear power in a global death spiral
• Fighting for Earth – South Koreans protest Japan’s plan of dumping Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the sea .

PROTESTS. Fukushima Anniversary Vigil Outside UK’s Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing Plant Near Preston — RADIATION FREE LAKELAND

SAFETY. The Nuclear “War” in Ukraine May Not Be the One We Expect. Belgian nuclear regulator tells govt not to extend oldest reactors. Evacuation plans still missing around 6 of Japan’s nuclear power plants.

SECRETS and LIES. US has spent billions on Ukraine war aid. But is that money landing in corrupt pockets? The West has fostered the creeping “nazification” of Ukraine, to increase hostility to Russia – philospher Aleksandr Dugin.

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. Space dangers: Contested orbits and mounting space junk.

SPINBUSTER. Jennifer Granholm was Pwned (Pwned = utterly and humiliatingly defeated in a game) in the continuing Edward Teller tradition.

WASTES 

• The Fukushima controversy. Japan to Delay Ocean Dumping of Contaminated Waste Water from Fukushima. Little progress seen in removing fuel debris at Fukushima plant.  China urges Japan not to arbitrarily dump nuclear-contaminated water: Chinese officials at IAEA meeting.
•  Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization looks to First Nations to back waste storage, AND small nuclear reactors. 
• The nuclear war for Lincolnshire – a toxic plan for a bucolic village.  
• Nuclear Waste Is Piling Up.-Does the U.S. Have a Plan?.

WAR and CONFLICT. The ninth anniversary of the Ukraine war. A coming wider war with Crimea in US sights. Ukraine preparing attack on Crimea – Zelensky. ‘Ukrainian kamikaze drone’ crashes down near gas plant just 68 miles from the Kremlin as Putin demands tighter security. Ukrainian Army War Crimes Include Shelling of Ambulances, Firetrucks, and Rescue Workers in the Donbass Republics. Viktor Orban: “In A War Taking Place In Europe The Americans Have The Final Word“.   NATO conducts massive submarine warfare exercise in Mediterranean   

Pentagon Prepares for Island Combat in the Pacific as US-China Tensions Rise. G7 should declare ‘no first use‘ of nuclear weapons: ex-Hiroshima mayor.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. Trudeau sends more German tanks to Ukraine F-16 Aircraft Delivery To Ukraine Only Matter Of Time – Merezhko. Scholz vows to ‘permanently’ increase Germany’s military output to aid Ukraine: CNN. U.S. to train NATO eastern flank allies on HIMARS Preparing for war with Russia: Texas air base has trained over 8,000 NATO pilots. 

March 8, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews | Leave a comment

This week in Australian and other nuclear news

Bits of good news?

 – hard to find this week. There are “good news” sites, but these tend to focus on individual stories – about cute kittens, or kind teenagers. Still, I know that there are wonderful groups of people all over, collectively doing good things. I’m seeing my own examples of this, while reading through so many excellent submissions to Parliament from Australian environmental groups opposing nuclear power.

Nuclear.  It is getting more bizarre – as the USA contemplates artificial intelligence for launching nuclear weapons. As one of the very most “progressive” Democrats wants more opportunities for small companies to benefit in the weapons sales boom.

The propaganda tsunami – always a part of a war- is upon us.  But is this a war– between Russia and the entire world?  I have no doubt that some Russian soldiers have committed atrocities – and we’re told this every day.  But – really – are there no Ukrainian- committed atrocities?   Does Saint Zelensky really know what he is doing – or is he just following the USA line? Truth isn’t just the first casualty in this war – – it’s the second, third and so on casualty.

AUSTRALIA

• Margaret Beavis | Here’s how to tone down the nuclear threat. 
• The US Can Secretly Rotate Nuclear Warheads Through Australia. 
• Sacred site and nuclear target Pine Gap are neighbours. 
• Anthony Albanese insists that Australia will control AUKUS nuclear submarines, but others doubt this . Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles Attempts to Reassure Thailand Over Nuclear Subs. Strict new security rules for Adelaide nuclear submarine-building facility in bid to protect military secrets. 
• NSW Ports boss backs offshore wind farm plant ahead of nuclear base.
• Submissions to Senate: Electrical Trades Union of Australia Submission to Senate : Nuclear power a dangerous and costly distraction. Noel Wauchope. Submission to Senate calls for retaining Australia’s nuclear bans. Environment House  – Nuclear power unwanted, will delay climate action, is expensive and dangerous. Friends of the Earth Adelaide –  nuclear power an unrealistic distraction. Australia’s top 11 Environmental Organisations  – Nuclear power has no role to play in Australia’s energy future.

Christina’s notes. TODAY. Painful realisation that our Labor defence minister is even more stupid and subservient to USA than the Liberals were!   Media determined to ignore the intrinsic connection between “new small nuclear reactors” and nuclear weapons.

CLIMATE. Temperature rise can be stopped. It is a dangerous myth to say that it’s too late to act. 

ECONOMICS. Yet another £6 billion cost hike for UK’s Hinkley Point C nuclear project. Cost of EDF’s new UK nuclear project rises to $40 billion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owfj0gSeAbw Debt-ridden EDF’s woes increase, with big rise in costs of Hinkley and Sizewell nuclear projects .  UK: big talk about small nuclear reactors, but not much is happening, really.     Russia’s nuclear industry is making great money – thanks to customers in Europe. Marketing: Seoul aims to use strengthened US ties to expand nuclear plant exports.

ENERGY. ‘No miracles needed’: Prof. Mark Jacobson on how much wind, sun and water can power the world. The Unholy Alliance – nuclear power, endless data centers, and endless energy use.

ENVIRONMENT. Groundwater carries radiation risk for North Korean cities near nuke test site – rights group . Toxic US-Japan collusion on nuke wastewater taints global environment.

ETHICS and RELIGION. Japan not only dumps wastewater but also morality.

HEALTH. Health appeal: avert nuclear war and respect international humanitarian law,

LEGAL. Linda Pentz Gunter on the Nuclear Corruption Cases. World dreads Japan’s date with disaster.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Spreading the Bomb – Will Ottawa revisit Canada’s support for plutonium reprocessing?. Belarus’ second nuclear reactor is far behind schedule, while Unit 1 reactor remains unstable. .

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. Fury as Japan plans to dump a million tonnes of contaminated water in the Pacific. Group calls for the stoppage of works at Sizewell C nuclear site, as Sizewell project is not yet authorised, and works are damaging the environment.

POLITICS.   Biden team has ‘deeply rooted hatred for Russia’ – US congressman. How US and Ukraine’s far-right made pro-peace Zelensky a ‘no peace’ president . Caitlin Johnstone – The Empire Gives People The Illusion Of Fighting The Power Without Ever Endangering Real Power. Democrats Praise Bush, Want More Small-Business War Profiteers. 

Canada launches $30 million small modular reactor funding program. USA’ Inflation Reduction Act is a game-changer for the nuclear industry -says Public Service Enterprise Group. 

Hinkley Point Nuclear Megaproject is really a colossal miscalculation of risk management. Do not bring nuclear energy plants to Scotland, SNP tells new UK energy minister.  Boris Johnson demands that UK government declares nuclear to be “a green energy” source, and boosts the industry .   Nuclear power – carbon intensive and environmentally damaging –NOT GREEN – Nuclear Free Local Authorities.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. Reckless or rhetoric? — Putin suspends New START nuclear treaty. The New START nuclear treaty, and why Vladimir Putin is walking away from it. Scott Ritter: Anyone Who Doesn’t Get How Serious New START Suspension is ‘Doesn’t Appreciate Life’.       Vladimir Putin says the US-led military alliance in Ukraine seeks defeat and liquidation of Russia. 

Chomsky: A Stronger NATO Is the Last Thing We Need as Russia-Ukraine War Turns 1. China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis. India, China may have averted nuclear war in Ukraine by influencing Russia- US.   Tamara Lorincz: Canada’s Support For Ukraine’s War on the Donbass & Canada’s Anti-Russia Policies — In Gaza https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpEaovhVois.   China calls for Russia to not go down the ‘nuclear weapons route’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRr4HuXsTQ8 .

France mounts ‘aggressive’ nuclear push with eye on EU industrial plan. Poland to buy 1st nuclear power plant with Westinghouse.           Japan beefs up moves in seeking G7 support for wastewater dump.

RADIATION. Our Global Surveillance System on NUKE TESTING is inadequate . Seoul offers radiation tests to N Korea defectors as group flags nuclear risks. Japan slammed for loosening test standards on Fukushima radioactive water.

SAFETY. Courting disaster —Missiles have been passing too close to Ukraine’s reactors.

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. Russia Sends Ship To Space Station To Rescue “Stranded Crew”  .

SPINBUSTER. B1 Officials reveal cost of shooting down ‘UFOs’ – WSJ

WASTES. Japan postponing its controversial plan for trials to reuse radioactively contaminated soil . World Insights: Science should guide Fukushima wastewater release plan, Pacific leaders say.       Academic speaks out against Japan’s wastewater plan for Pacific.       800,000 cubic meters of new radioactive waste to be generated as a result of decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

WAR and CONFLICT. There has never in history been a greater need for a large Anti-War Movement . More Evidence Emerges That US Wanted Russia to Invade. Thousands rally in Berlin, Paris to call for peace in Ukraine. Forgotten heroes of Britain’s nuclear tests to FINALLY get long-awaited medal this summer. Should Algorithms Control Nuclear Launch Codes?.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. 

• Stop or START? — Shouldn’t we ban, rather than limit, nuclear weapons? 
• Nuclear weapons consortium enthusiastically revving up their business. 
• Vladimir Putin vows to strengthen Russia’s nuclear forces to guarantee its sovereignty. U.S. floods Ukraine with $2 billion more in arms, ammunition for second year of war . 
• U.S. to deliver 500 more HIMARS launchers to Poland .    Poland delivers first Leopard tanks to Ukraine, Sweden to follow.
• Nuclear-capable U.S. B-52s join allied warplanes over Estonia .  North Korea test-fires four missiles to show ability to launch nuclear attack.

February 28, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews | Leave a comment

TODAY. Painful realisation that our Labor defence minister is even more stupid and subservient to USA than the Liberals were!

From the Guardian yesterday :

The sustained controversy has prompted the defence minister, Richard Marles, to declare in a speech to parliament that acquiring nuclear-powered submarines would  “dramatically enhance” Australia’s sovereignty, rather than undermine it.

I am almost lost for words…. Is Richard Marles really that stupid? (a) to believe this nonsense himself and (b) to think that aware Australians would believe it.

Australia’s “sovereignty” has always been dubious. From 1770 we were absolutely a British colony . From 1901 we were still a British colony in reality, though no longer in name. Australian soldiers went to World War 1, unnecessarily, for the British. I would argue that since 1945, Australia morphed into an American colony, in our gratitude for USA fighting off the Japanese in WW2.

My measure for true colony-status is – going to war on behalf of the boss nation. Australia has enthusiastically (and unnecessarily) sent our young men and women to fight for America’s wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan – wars that had nothing whatever to do with Australia.

America has got smarter about running wars now. They’ve got Ukraine to try to conquer Russia on USA’s behalf (rather than work out a diplomatic solution to the 8 year war in the Donbass). America just sells Ukraine the weapons . This is a two-way win – both financially and politically – no American lives at risk.

Ukraine is probably a dress rehearsal for the big one – against China. This time Australia will be the patsy.

As a prelude, America sells us $171 billion of nuclear submarines. Which Australia can ill afford. These are so that we can fight China on USA’s behalf, (along with nuclear bombers based in Australia). Once again – the colony practically bankrupts itself, (as in Ukraine), and takes all the risks (as in Ukraine).

Why did I imagine that a Labor government would really be any better that the Liberals, when it comes to international relations?

Instead of macho-muscling up against China, – Australia should be recognising its position as a part of Southern Asia, teaching Asian languages and cultures, and fostering good relations and trade with our neighbours, and honestly expressing our differences. That includes China, which shows no intention to attack Australia militarily. Why should they, when they’re better at spreading influence with trade and culture? The Chinese have a different system, in some ways deplorable, – but evolving, and they are not demons.

February 23, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews | Leave a comment

Nuclear news- week to 21 February

Some bits of good news –  What went right this week: relief for the Great Barrier Reef, plus more. Man Finally Meets Family That Hid Him During Nazi Holocaust 80 Years Ago–And Visits the House.

Coronavirus. Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Weekly Epidemiological Update. Current trends in reported COVID-19 cases are underestimates of the true number of global infections and reinfections.

Climate.China provinces top list of regions at risk from climate change.  Australian states among world’s most at risk from climate change, extreme weather.

Nuclear.  Much the same as last week. USA warmongers panicking about balloons. Nuclear safety issues being downplayed. The media faithfully regurgitating gushing nuclear lobby handouts about small nuclear reactors.

Christina notes:  Complacency about nuclear safety – a killer waiting to strike!  Bewdy! It’s gonna happen sooner than we thought. Just like Ukraine does against Russia, Australia will fight America’s war against China.

 AUSTRALIA

•  Submissions to Senate Committee on move to remove Australia’s bans on the nuclear industry – now published. 
• Nuclear zealout Jonathan Mead touts nuclear-powered submarines- Australia to have “full control” – (oh yeah?). 7.30 Report: Sarah Ferguson Opens Up New Perspectives on the AUKUS Nuclear Submarine Deal.
•  Australian government OK with not knowing whether or not visiting US aircraft carry nuclear weapons! With weasel words, Australia’s top military brass, and sycophant Richard Marles, justify allowing U.S. nuclear weapons in Australia.        Irresponsible Politics: Australia’s B-52 Nuclear Weapons Problem, and weasel words from Foreign Minister Penny Wong. The Defence Strategic Review and Australia’s ‘Alliance’ obsession.    
• Murdoch Propaganda Pushes Australia To Double Its Military Budget For War With China. Sky News presents rubbishy programme on “preparing Australia for war against China”.
• Kazzi Jai comments on ARPANSA ( The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency) and the issue of the mislaid highly radioactive device. 
• ANSTO Chief blowing hot air on radioactive waste. French nuclear giant EDF buys massive Australian floating offshore wind project

CLIMATE. Global leaders are dropping the ball on climate change. Rising seas threaten ‘mass exodus on a biblical scale’, UN chief warns. Judge commends Just Stop Oil activists. “No regrets” as UK government portrays nuclear power as “clean” and “green”. 

The ‘Icefin’ bore deep into an Antarctic glacier. What it found were temperatures warmer than melting point. Antarctic sea ice level now lowest on record. War is a climate killer.

EARTH EVENTS. Earth Changes Summary – January 2023: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs.

ECONOMICS. Russia’s Grip on Nuclear-Power Trade Is Only Getting Stronger. EDF’s historic $13.5 billion loss in 2022 – as France became an importer of electricity. Zelensky is literally selling Ukraine to US corporations on Wall Street. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fHZCfRE3n4

EDUCATION. We’ve Forgotton The Potential Horrors of What a Nuclear Winter Would Be Like. Pentagon-Funded Plymouth University Cancels Anti-War Academic: the militarization of higher education.

EMPLOYMENT. Renewable energy workers are in high demand, global survey reveals. At Sellafield nuclear site workers ready to go on strike .

ENERGY.  Thousands of solar panels sent to power recovery effort in earthquake devastated Türkiye . France’s nuclear output plummeted in 2022. Small scale renewable technology installations being deployed rapidly in Britain without government subsidies.

ECONOMY. 

•  EDF posts record net loss after nuclear fleet hit by repairs.  Financial disaster looms for France’s nuclear corporation EDF.
• Southern Co boosts cost estimate, delays timing for nuclear reactors. 
• Spiralling cost of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. 
• Rolls Royce’s financial problems, as it plans to make small nuclear reactors for the British government. 

ENVIRONMENT. Fukushima: Japan insists release of 1.3m tonnes of ‘treated’ water is safe. Campaigners claim permit change at Hinkley Point would kill billions of fish.

INDIGENOUS ISSUES. Some, but not all, First Nations support small nuclear reactors in New Brunswick.

MEDIA. Microsoft Puts New Limits On Bing’s AI Chatbot After It Expressed Desire To Steal Nuclear Secrets.  Media Ignores Evidence That West Opposed Ukraine Peace Deal. Pro nuclear film.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Checking Back in on China’s Nuclear Icebreaker. Rolls Royce’s “small” nuclear reactor will occupy 5.3 acres..

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR. Scotland’s campaign groups call on government to reject plans for nuclear power at new Green Freeports.

POLITICS. Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick (CRED-NB) informs Senate with analysis of “advanced” small nuclear reactors. Scotland’s Minister Matheson reassures the Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) that no small nuclear power station will be permitted near Grangemouth refinery.   Small modular nuclear reactors: a good deal for Southwest Virginia? Despite massive losses of nuclear company EDF, and reactor corrosions, France plans to build a new fleet of EPR reactors. France’s government may switch funds from social housing to the cause of propping up the nuclear industry.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. Biden says three aerial ‘objects’ US shot down likely not related to China surveillance. EU Commission abandons plans to sanction Russia’s nuclear industry. Ukraine approves second sanctions package targeting Russian nuclear industry Post-war Ukraine – a triumphal land owned by Western business corporations. Iran denies enriching uranium to 84 percent purity amid IAEA row. Iranians Caught Between Optimism, Pessimism Over Nuclear Talks.

SAFETY. Turkey’s Akkuyu nuclear power plant – a useless and dangerous prestige project?. Concerns over the construction of a nuclear power plant in Akkuyu, Turkey, due to its proximity to the 7.8 magnitude earthquake’s epicentre. Quake revives debate over Turkey’s nuclear plant Japan to extend life of nuclear power stations, and also. remove rules specifying the operational periods of reactors. Operational life of Finland’s nuclear reactors extended till 2050, and wastes to be stored onsite till 2090. Sizewell B nuclear station switched off for 66 days for maintenance work. Extending more than two nuclear reactors is dangerous, says deputy prime minister Gilkinet.

SECRETS and LIES. Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across the US. Watchdogs File FOIA Request for Holtec’s Secretive “Regulatory Path to Reauthorize Power Operations at Palisades Nuclear Plant”. Ukraine Hawk Who Heads European Commission Has a Nazi Pedigree She Does Not Want You to Know About.

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. NASA Gets High on Its Nuclear Supply. NATO reveals new space fleet.

SPINBUSTER. Japan PM Kishida tells ministers to assuage public concerns over nuclear policy. Object downed by US missile may have been amateur hobbyists’ $12 balloon. What We Know About The US Air Force’s Balloon Party So Far.

WASTES. The World’s Dumping Ground for Nuclear Waste Doesn’t Want Fukushima’s Wastewater. Dumping 1M gallons of radioactive water in Hudson is ‘best option,’ per Indian Point nuclear plant owner.

WAR and CONFLICT. The Horrifying Endgame in Ukraine. Betting on Ukraine victory was ‘suicidal’ – Seymour Hersh. Ukraine ‘peace petition’ backed by nearly half a million Germans.    American Architect of the Ukraine War Gives Go Ahead to Attack Crimea. NATO to participate in Ukraine war “for as long as it takes”.     Why the US seeks War with China by 2025.

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. 

• U.S. military’s newest weapon against China and Russia: Hot air balloon. Alien Balloon Malarkey! 
• Setting The Stage For Proxy War Against China? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42MGfBIVjkI&t=63s 
• U.S. compensates Czech Republic for arms shipments to Ukraine 
• Munich: Germany rallies NATO allies, partners to send more tanks to Ukraine 
• Germany: Pentagon trains Ukrainian troops on Bradley, Stryker combat vehicles — 
• Ukraine Presses US Congress Members for F-16 Jetfighters.     
• South Korea’s Nuclear Flirtations Highlight the Growing Risks of Allied Proliferation. South Korea’s First Attempt at Going Nuclear. 
• Cities must not be targets. 
• N Korea confirms ICBM test, touts nuclear counterattack ability. 
• Saudi Arabia says nuclear arms race in the Middle East ‘cannot be ruled out’.

February 21, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews | Leave a comment

TODAY. Bewdy! It’s gonna happen sooner than we thought. Just like Ukraine does against Russia, Australia will fight America’s war against China

Isn’t it exciting?

We thought that it would take a while, for little ole Australia (population under 26 million), to become important on the world stage. I mean, most Americans are amazed that we speak English: that’s because they’ve heard of Austria, but not of Australia. Until now.

I mean, Ukraine (pop.44 million) was pretty much ignored, but now it’s big-time. They are “weakening” Russia, and isolating Russia culturally from Europe. Having their own country utterly trashed, environmentally, financially, health-wise, and morally – a small price to pay for being famous.

Australia can achieve the same. Right now, America is plying Australia with propaganda, weaponry and marines, and war games, and best of all, nuclear weapons. Despite international law, these can be based in Australia ‘temporarily”. Australians can’t know when or where the U.S. nukes will be. Fortunately, it is nearly Footee Season, so Australians won’t care anyway.

Australia’s war against China needs to happen soon, (though, preferably, some sort of delicate balance should happen in Ukraine first).

It needs to happen soon, before China becomes even more alarmed, and develops long-range nuclear missiles that could strike too many American bases and cities. Better to have China just focus on hitting Australia. Australia’s current Prime Minister is a bit of a wimp. We need our own charismatic Zelensky – but Peter Dutton might do?

February 16, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews | Leave a comment