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Nuclear

Fusion Energy: The Nuclear Weapons Connection

December 25, 2022 Karl Grossman, Counter Punch. , , ,
In 1980, in my book Cover Up: What You Are Not Supposed to Know About Nuclear Power published that year, I wrote: “What about fusion? This has been held out by the nuclear establishment as a somewhat cleaner form of nuclear power—as the hydrogen bomb, a fusion device, is somewhat cleaner in fall-out than an atomic bomb. Somewhat.” “Fusion is theoretically supposed to get its power from fusing nuclei together,” I continued. “This would be the opposite of fission, which blasts the nuclei apart. But to start the process, extremely high temperatures are required—100 million degrees Centigrade, more than six times the estimated temperature of the sun’s interior.” “Although Dwight Eisenhower, when he was President, suggested that the AEC keep the public ‘confused about fission and fusion,’ fusion is a dirty, radioactive process, too.

Fusion—And Its Radioactive And Nuclear Weapons

December 21, 2022 Karl Grossman, Nation Of Change. , , ,
There was great hoopla—largely unquestioned by media— with the announcement last week by the U.S. Department of Energy of a “major scientific breakthrough” in the development of fusion energy. “This is a landmark achievement,” declared Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. Her department’s press release said the experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California “produced more energy from fusion than the laser energy used to drive it” and will “provide invaluable insights into the prospects of clean fusion energy.” “Nuclear fusion technology has been around since the creation of the hydrogen bomb,” noted a CBS News article covering the announcement. “Nuclear fusion has been considered the holy grail of energy creation.” And “now fusion’s moment appears to be finally here,” said the CBS piece.

Game Of Nuclear Chicken In Zaporozhye

August 30, 2022 Prabir Purkayastha, People's Dispatch. , , ,
The Zaporozhye (also spelt Zaporizhzhia) Nuclear Power Plant has become a focal point in the Ukraine war, as any major nuclear incident risks radioactivity release over a vast area. In such an accident, not only Ukraine but large parts of Europe could face radioactive contamination and much higher cancer rates and other diseases. Russia has claimed the Ukrainian side shelled the Zaporozhye plant in July and August and, on August 23, submitted photographic and other documentary evidence to the UN Security Council. Ukraine contends Russia has been shelling the plant even though it is under Russia’s occupation. The Zaporozhye plant in the town of Enerhodar is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, with six 1,000 MW capacity units.

The Terrifying Research Nuclear Powers Don’t Want You To See

August 27, 2022 Robert Scheer, Scheer Post. , , , ,
Humanity is, according to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, “just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation.” The warning , made at the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, arrives at a time of alarmingly heightened tensions around the world. Just a few days after Guterres made that statement, Nature Food published a harrowing scientific paper that drove home the UN Secretary General’s message: “Global food insecurity and famine from the reduced crop, marine fishery and livestock production due to climate disruption from nuclear war soot injection.” The paper (which you can read in full here) was written by a handful of leading experts who have spent years studying the potential impact of nuclear war on food supplies. The results are stark.

Iran Says US Responsible For Halt In Vienna Nuclear Talks

April 4, 2022 Telesur English. , , ,
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that the United States is responsible for the halt in Vienna talks aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Iran has transmitted its "clear" message to the United States through Enrique Mora, the European Union coordinator for the Vienna talks, but no new response has been received from them yet. "The United States should make its political decisions. The U.S. is responsible for the pause in the negotiations today, as in the final stages of talks, Washington tries to prevent Tehran from the economic benefits of the JCPOA," Khatibzadeh said, adding that "if the United States makes a political decision, an agreement is available."

US Doesn’t Know How And Where To Store Its Growing Nuclear Waste

January 1, 2022 Charles Pekow, Earth Island Journal. , ,
A year-and-a-half after a scathing Government Accountability Office (GAO) report revealed that the US Department of Energy (DoE) has no coherent plan in place to manage nuclear waste from weapons manufacturing piling up at more than 150 sites across the country, the DoE has made little progress in developing a safe and strategic plan to handle the waste. Meanwhile, the estimated cost of handling the material is rising steadily — $512 billion at last count — and the federal government hasn’t yet figured out how to pay for it. And, of course, much of the waste will have to somehow remain safely stored for 10,000 years or more, a timeframe even more mind boggling than the size of the debt.

A Whistleblower And Constant Thorn In The Government’s Side

December 17, 2021 Robert Scheer, Scheer Post. , ,
Joseph Carson, an Energy Department nuclear safety engineer originally from Brooklyn, NY, walked into the moral hazard of working for the U.S. government nearly as soon as his career started. The very first program he worked in during the Cold War led to the development of a nuclear weapon that could kill 20 million people in one fell swoop. The alarm bells immediately started ringing as the federal employee considered his work in the context of the engineering code of ethics he’d been educated in. What started as disclosures about the safety of federal workers in 1991–a report his manager immediately threw away–later became charges about reprisals against him for blowing the whistle on his employer.

Tehran Warns Israel Against ‘Military Adventure’

October 15, 2021 Morgan Artyukhina , Sputnik News. , , ,
Delivered on Thursday and printed in Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, the letter comes as Iran makes preparations to return to Vienna for negotiations on reviving the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) next week. “We warn the Zionist regime against any miscalculation or military adventure targeting Iran and its nuclear program,” wrote Majid Takht Ravanchi, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, referring to Israel. Ravanchi said Israel has taken its “provocative and adventurous threats… to alarming levels” in recent months, especially as the Biden administration in Washington continues to slowly press ahead on the Vienna talks. He said the “systematic and explicit threats by the Zionist regime … prove that it is responsible for terrorist attacks against [Iran’s] peaceful nuclear program in the past.”

Saugeen Ojibway Nation Has Saved Lake Huron From A Nuclear Waste Dump

February 20, 2020 Joyce  Nelson, Counterpunch.org , , , ,
A major victory for Canada’s First Nations has just been won in Ontario. On January 31, the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) overwhelmingly voted down the proposed deep geological repository (DGR) for storage of low- and intermediate-level radioactive nuclear waste next to Lake Huron. The DGR had long been proposed by Ontario Power Generation (OPG), but in 2013 OPG had committed to SON that it would not build the DGR without their support.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif Speaks To US Peace Delegation

March 7, 2019 Audio from Chris Weaver and transcript Sean Reynolds and Yayoi Wakabayashi, Popular Resistance. , , ,
Tehran, Iran -  A group of twenty eight US citizens traveled to Iran for a peace delegation from February 23 to March 3 to speak with Iranians and learn about the impacts of US sanctions and withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Agreement. On Monday, February 25, the group met with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif who spoke about the nuclear agreement, the sanctions, Iranian foreign policy and more. Below is audio of Zarif's speech and the question and answers afterwards.

United States Peace Delegation Heads To Iran

February 21, 2019 CODEPINK, Popular Resistance. , ,
A CODEPINK delegation of 30 United States citizens will be traveling in Iran from February 25 to March 6 to express their deep concern to the Iranian people about the effect of the Trump  administration’s brutal sanctions, abrogation of the Nuclear Agreement and building a case for war. The delegation is composed of lawyers, journalists, physicians, activists, artists, and other professionals who hope to help move our two nations from a place of hostility and military threats to a place of mutual respect and peace.

Utility Survey: Trump Will Not Stop the Clean Energy Transition

April 2, 2017 Gavin Bade, www.utilitydive.com , , , , , , , ,
By Gavin Bade for Utility Dive. Today, President Trump is poised to release a long-anticipated executive order to roll back the Clean Power Plan, the Obama administration’s signature climate initiative. The order is expected to be accompanied by directives to lift a moratorium on federal land coal leases and to cease the use of the social cost of carbon — all part of a broad campaign to dismantle environmental regulations on the power sector that Trump blames for the decline of the coal economy in the United States. But while rescinding the rules could help slow coal power’s decline in the short term, analysts say it is unlikely to reverse its long-term downturn, mostly due to the economics of natural gas and renewables. That attitude is shared not just by market observers, but by electric utilities themselves.

Toshiba: A Big Business Failure In The Nuclear Industry

February 4, 2017 Staff, www.japantimes.co.jp ,
By Staff of The Japan Times - Toshiba Corp. will cease taking orders related to the building of nuclear power stations, sources said Saturday, in a move that would effectively mark its withdrawal from the nuclear plant construction business. The news comes amid reports Toshiba’s chairman may resign over the massive write-down that has doomed the company’s U.S. nuclear business. The multinational conglomerate said Friday it will review its nuclear operations and spin off its chip business to raise funds in a bid to cover an expected asset impairment loss of up to ¥700 billion ($6.08 billion).

On World Day Of Peace, Recognizing Those Who Work For Nuclear Disarmament

December 31, 2016 Gail DeGeorge, www.globalsistersreport.org , , ,
By Gail DeGeorge for Global Sisters Report - In observance of the World Day of Peace January 1, we at Global Sisters Report join in prayer for peace in all regions, for all victims of war and for women religious around the world who dedicate their lives to helping them and to build peace. Sr. Megan Rice, a member of the Holy Child Jesus sisters, was released in May 2015 after serving more than two years in prison for trespassing on a Tennessee uranium enrichment facility. In December 2015, GSR had an interview with Rice about her peacemaking work. Sr. Martha Ann Kirk, a Sister of the Incarnate Word, has researched pockets of tolerance in hostile parts of the Middle East.

Protest And Survive: Reclaiming William Morris From Britain’s Nuclear Fleet

September 27, 2016 David Mabb, www.thebulletin.org , ,
By David Mabb for Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists - The HMS Courageous is a 285-foot, nuclear-powered submarine that saw service in the British Royal Navy for about two decades starting in the early 1970s. Decommissioned in 1992 after, among other things, participating in the Falklands War of 1982, it now resides at the Devonport naval dockyard in Plymouth, on the southwest coast of England, where visitors can tour its inner workings free of charge—provided they book in advance and bring their passports for “security” purposes.
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