Wednesday, April 29, 2015

The evidence that radiation from nuclear reactors causes childhood leukemia | GreenWorld


Radiation spike caused by refueling at one of Bavaria’s Gundremmingen reactors.

Last July, we published a piece on recent groundbreaking work from the U.K.’s Dr. Ian Fairlie and the connection between radiation releases from nuclear reactors and childhood leukemia.
We quoted Dr. Fairlie:
“The core issue is that, world-wide, over 60 epidemiological studies have examined cancer incidences in children near nuclear power plants (NPPs): most (>70%) indicate leukemia increases. I can think of no other area of toxicology (eg asbestos, lead, smoking) with so many studies, and with such clear associations as those between NPPs and child leukemias. Yet many nuclear governments and the nuclear industry refute these findings and continue to resist their implications. It’s similar to the situations with cigarette smoking in the 1960s and with man-made global warming nowadays.”
Today, Ian (full disclosure: an old friend and valued colleague) stopped by NIRS’ office to go over a presentation he made Monday to officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The presentation is available in both Powerpoint and pdf format on NIRS’ website.
The presentation went over much the same ground as our earlier piece, but it’s often the background behind such a presentation that is the most interesting and revealing. And that’s the case here too.
Dr. Fairlie’s thesis is that childhood leukemia is caused by radiation exposure. Period.The data from several fairly recent European governmental studies show elevated childhood leukemia rates within five kilometers (three miles) of nuclear reactors. Past five kilometers, the elevated rates drop off to normal rates...
more: The evidence that radiation from nuclear reactors causes childhood leukemia | GreenWorld


Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Nuclear Power: No Solution to Climate Change - NIRS



"We do not support construction of new nuclear reactors as a means of addressing the climate crisis. Available renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies are faster, cheaper, safer and cleaner strategies for reducing greenhouse emissions than nuclear power."

The nuclear power industry and its governmental allies are spending tens of millions of dollars annually to promote atomic power as an “emissions-free” energy source. Their goal is to encourage the construction of new nuclear reactors in the U.S. and worldwide and prevent the shutdown of dangerous old reactors that cannot compete economically with clean energy sources like wind and solar power.

Yet nuclear power is not only ineffective at addressing climate change, when the entire fuel chain is examined, nuclear power is a net producer of greenhouse gases. Adding enough nuclear power to make a meaningful reduction in greenhouse gas emissions would cost trillions of dollars, create tens of thousands of tons of lethal high-level radioactive waste, contribute to further proliferation of nuclear weapons materials, result in a Chernobyl or Fukushima-scale accident once every decade or so, and, perhaps most significantly, squander the resources necessary to implement meaningful climate change policies.

Here is where to go for up-to-date information on nuclear power and climate.

In November 2000 the world recognized nuclear power as a dirty, dangerous and unnecessary technology by refusing to give it greenhouse gas credits during the UN Climate Change talks in the Hague. The world dealt nuclear power a further blow when a UN Sustainable Development Conference refused to label nuclear a sustainable technology in April 2001. 

This section includes  documents from the COP 6 meeting of the Kyoto Protocol held in the Hague and other materials. This issue is a high priority for the international NIRS/WISE network.

SIGN NOW

A Simple Statement On Nuclear Power and Climate Change - NIRS – We're getting a little tired hearing nuclear industry lobbyists and pro-nuclear politicians allege that environmentalists are now supporting nuclear power as a means of addressing the climate crisis. We know that's not true, and we're sure you do too. In fact, using nuclear power would be counterproductive at reducing carbon emissions. As Amory Lovins of Rocky Mountain Institute points out, "every dollar invested in nuclear expansion will worsen climate change by buying less solution per dollar..."

The simple statement below will be sent to the media and politicians whenever they misstate the facts. We hope you and your organization will join us and sign on in support here.

"We do not support construction of new nuclear reactors as a means of addressing the climate crisis. Available renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies are faster, cheaper, safer and cleaner strategies for reducing greenhouse emissions than nuclear power."

Links to statement in other languages (pdf documents): 


SIGN NOW

Nuclear Power: No Solution to Climate Change - NIRS



whats up: #BustTheMyth
you can't nuke global warming!

Russia To Power Arctic Drilling With Floating Nuclear Reactors


It would sit in the icy waters of the Arctic, and provide a constant supply of electricity to a massive rig drilling for oil. They could be mass produced, potentially cutting the cost of drilling projects. The twist? The electricity on these floating power plants would come from a nuclear reactor...

more: Russia To Power Arctic Drilling With Floating Nuclear Reactors

Monday, April 27, 2015

Dutch parliament: Negotiate a ban! - No Nukes Netherlands | ican




On Thursday, 23 April the Dutch Parliament (Tweede Kamer) adopted a motion saying the government must join, in a substantive manner, international negotiations on a treaty banning nuclear weapons, without preventively judging an end result.
During the debate on the NPT, Minister of Foreign Affairs Koenders made it clear that he was not willing to join negotiations- because he believes banning nuclear weapons is the last step, following their elimination.  A  majority of the parliament disagreed and said the government should not judge a process before it has started and urged the government to join future negotiations...

more:
Dutch parliament: Negotiate a ban! - No Nukes Netherlands




ican: icanw.org

Declaration of the World Uranium Symposium 2015 | Symposium mondial sur l'uranium - 14-15-16 avril 2015 à Québec



Quebec City, Canada | April 16 2015
We, the signatories of this Declaration, including the participants of the World Uranium Symposium 2015, coming from 20 countries on five continents, having gathered in Quebec City, Canada, in April 2015:
Acknowledging that in 1943 Quebec City was the site where the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada entered into a formal cooperation agreement to develop the first atomic bombs, resulting in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945;
Respecting the moratorium imposed by the Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee in Northern Quebec on all uranium-related activities on their lands; supporting the demand for a moratorium by the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, as well as the large consensus against uranium mining as expressed by the Inuit of Nunavik and over 300 municipalities and organizations across the province of Quebec;
Recognizing the growing awareness that nuclear power is not a cost-effective, timely, practical or safe response to climate change, and applauding the enormous expansion of the use of renewable energy and the significant strides made in recent years to phase out nuclear power;
Acknowledging the need for sustainable development and responsible environmental stewardship;
Recognizing the unique health, environmental and social dangers present at all stages of the nuclear chain, from the exploration, mining and milling of uranium, to nuclear power generation, the development of nuclear weapons and the storage of radioactive waste;
Recognizing that the risk of contamination resulting from the extraction, use and storage of radioactive substances presents a unique and grave threat to all living creatures, their environments and watersheds, transcending all political and geographic boundaries and enduring for eons to come;
Recognizing that there are stores of radioactive waste throughout the world that have not been effectively isolated;
Recognizing that there is compelling scientific evidence that there is no safe dose of exposure to radioactive emissions, and that even small doses can present health risks to miners and local populations, animals and plant life;
Recognizing that more must be done to understand, recognize and acknowledge the full scope and extent of all social, health and environmental short and long term impacts of uranium and nuclear-related activities on human life, wildlife and plant life;
Recognizing both that the technological development of nuclear energy opens the door to the development of nuclear weapons against which there is no effective protection, and that nuclear power generation facilities present a serious threat in and of themselves;
Insisting that nuclear regulating bodies be independent and work solely in the best interests of people, animals and plant life;
Recalling the tragedies at Three-Mile Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima Daiichi and many other places around the world;
Convinced that all non-military end-uses of uranium, including energy and medical uses, can be readily satisfied in an alternative manner;
Insisting that nuclear weapons and weapons using depleted uranium be criminalized and that all signatories be held accountable to the obligations set out in the Non-Proliferation Treaty;
Appalled by the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, alarmed by the maintenance and proliferation of nuclear arsenals, and convinced that the devastating consequences of nuclear detonations can be avoided only when all nuclear weapons and the systems that manufacture them have been eliminated;
Affirming that it is in the interest of the survival of humanity and of life on this planet that nuclear weapons are never used again, under any circumstances;
Recognizing that those most immediately affected by uranium and nuclear related activities often lack proper capacity and resources and that, as a result, such activities infringe their fundamental human rights to life and security of the person;
Affirming our commitment to the principles of sustainable and equitable development, and respect for the fundamental human rights of all individuals and peoples for all time;
Acknowledging that unique and irreplaceable cultures and landscapes have been and continue to be endangered by uranium and nuclear related activities;
Acknowledging that the world’s Indigenous Peoples have disproportionately borne the harmful burdens of the global uranium industry, nuclear activities (including nuclear weapons testing) and the dumping of radioactive waste;
Recalling that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples affirms the rights of the world’s Indigenous Peoples to self-determination, and to territorial, social and environmental integrity which includes free, prior and informed consent achieved through an independent, fair, transparent and impartial process, and recognizing that the survival and well-being of Indigenous Peoples depends on full respect for these fundamental and inalienable rights;
Determined to reduce the burden on future generations resulting from the extraction and use of radioactive substances;
Dedicating ourselves to a nuclear-free future;
WE SOLEMNLY DECLARE THAT:
  1. We reaffirm the Declaration of the World Uranium Hearing in Salzburg, Austria in 1992, of the Indigenous World Uranium Summit in Window Rock, Navajo Nation, USA in 2006, and of the IPPNW-World Conference in Basel, Switzerland in 2010:
Uranium and its associated radioactive substances must remain in their natural location.
  1. We demand a worldwide ban on uranium exploration, mining, milling and processing, as well as the reprocessing of nuclear waste, and the irresponsible management of radioactive waste;
  1. We call on all states, authorities and Peoples to recognize and respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples including the right to self-determination and to free prior and informed consent achieved through an independent, fair, transparent and impartial process, and to cease the pursuit of uranium- and nuclear-related activities on Indigenous Peoples’ lands in violation of these rights;
  1. We urge all states, authorities and Peoples to provide full, fair and equitable redress to all those harmed by uranium- and nuclear-related activities and to ensure that those responsible are held accountable for their actions and failures;
  1. We demand that all states, authorities and Peoples phase out and eliminate nuclear power generation and use, and dedicate themselves to the development and use of intelligent energy services based on sustainable, safe and renewable energy resources;
  1. We call on all states, authorities and Peoples to strengthen their commitments to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, to eliminate all existing nuclear weaponry, to cease any and all development of nuclear weapon technologies, and to support and advance a legal treaty to ban all nuclear weapons;
  1. We call on all states, authorities and Peoples to ensure that all existing radioactive products, material and structures from all phases of the nuclear weapons and power systems are secured and managed in accordance with the best and safest available technology for the people, animals and plant life.



Declaration of the World Uranium Symposium 2015 | Symposium mondial sur l'uranium - 14-15-16 avril 2015 à Québec


Nuclear Hotseat #200! – QUEBEC SPECIAL: World Uranium Symposium & Uranium Film Festival | Nuclear Hotseat



LISTEN HERE:


DOWNLOAD HERE


SPECIAL REPORT
NUCLEAR HOTSEAT EXCLUSIVE! 

QUEBEC CITY — The world’s perception of nuclear issues shifted in mid-April in Quebec at the World Uranium Symposium and the Uranium Film Festival.  More than 300 participants from five continents, 20 countries – including South Africa, Mongolia, Australia, India, Mali, Cameroon, Greenland, Germany, and Japan –and more than 50 films from around the world came together to focus international attention on uranium issues.  Why uranium?  Because all things nuclear start with a shovel! 
  • April 14-16, the World Uranium Symposium made international news by issuing a jointly created Declaration of the World Uranium Symposium 2015.  This is HISTORIC, as for the first time our entire platform and position has been spelled out for all to read in a single document.  READ IT AND SIGN HERE 
  • Interviews with more than 20 activists, world experts, filmmakers and actors
  • Focus on Indigenous People’s rights and the need to protect their lands and health from uranium mining.Former Prime Minister of Japan Naoto Kan (r) and indigenous activist in Australia

URANIUM FILM FESTIVAL

  • More than 50 films from around the world on every aspect of the nuclear/uranium issue.
  • Gala Red Carpet Opening including performances by Cirque du Soleil. 
Libbe HaLevy gets steampunked by Cirque du Soleil at the Uranium Film Festival
Libbe HaLevy gets steampunked by Cirque du Soleil at the Uranium Film Festival
  • Special appearance by Hollywood favorite Ed Begley, Jr.
  • Reviews of films and interviews with filmmakers and cast.

AND IN CASE YOU’VE FORGOTTEN…

From June 14, 2011 to April 21, 2015 = 200 episodes of Nuclear Hotseat!

June 14, 2011 to April 21, 2015 =

200 episodes of Nuclear Hotseat!





Nuclear Hotseat #200! – QUEBEC SPECIAL: World Uranium Symposium & Uranium Film Festival | Nuclear Hotseat


Global Wave | Tri-Valley CAREs




Tri-Valley CAREs organized a Global Wave event at the gate of Livermore Lab on Sunday, April 26th as part of the international gathering beginning today in New York later for the 5-year Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

Our picture will be included in a slide show shown to the full UN on Friday with dozens of other events from around the world. Thanks to all who took part.


Tri-Valley CAREs


Sunday, April 26, 2015

CHERNOBYL :: April 26 = 29 years :: see recent articles in The #OcNukeDaily • #OccupyNuclear


via THE US INDEPENDENT


#OcNuke Daily: April 26 | April 25 < sorry, these archives are gone now due to lack of funding | read current issue 


This is a photo of a now dead man next the ‘Elephant’ Foot’ at the Chernobyl power plant. The image distortions in the photo are created by intense level of radiation almost beyond comprehension. There is no way the person in this photo and the person photographing him could have survived for any more that a few years after being there, even if they quickly ran in, took the photos and ran out again. This photo would be impossible to take today as the rates of radioactive decay are even more extreme now due to a failed military experiment to bomb the reactor core with neuron absorbers.
The Elephant's Foot at Chernobyl - Hell on Earth - THE US INDEPENDENT : THE US INDEPENDENT


search blog for "Chernobyl"

Monday, April 20, 2015

4.24-26 NYC: International Conference & April 26 Mobilization | Peace & Planet


International Peace & Planet Conference a Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just, and Sustainable WorldApril 24-25, New York City
The International Peace & Planet Conference, to be held on the eve of the NPT Review Conference, is being organized on the basis of five themes:
  • Nuclear weapons abolition
  • Move the money (cutting military spending to prevent wars and fund essential human needs);
  • Climate change and environmental justice;
  • The new era of global military tensions and wars; and
  • Racism and militarism.
Through plenaries and workshops, the Conference Program will serve to share information and analyses, build and further integrate our movements for the longer term, and increase our impact on the NPT Review Conference. In addition to the five themes, a youth track is being organized.
International Conference | Peace & Planet


Schedule for April 26 Mobilization, New York City
11am-12:30pm: Interfaith Convocation for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (Tillman Chapel of the Church Center at the United Nations, 777 First Avenue)
1amRally (East 17th St, between Park Avenue South and Broadway New York, NY 10003)
The Global Wave action will begin in NYC and move westward to cities and capitals around the world.2pm: March (Beginning at Union Square North. The route will be posted soon)
3pm-6pm: Peace Festival (Dag Hammarskjold Plaza East 47th Street, 2nd Ave New York, NY 10017).
4pm: Presentation of millions of petition signatures calling for the total ban and eliminations of nuclear weapons to Ambassador Taous Feroukhi and United Nations High Representative for Disarmament AffairsAngela Kane
Let our numbers be so large that our voices are certain to be heard inside the UN and around the world!
2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the United States atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It also marks 45 years since the first five nuclear powers agreed in Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to undertake good faith negotiations for the elimination of their nuclear arsenals.
On April 26, the day before the 2015 NPT Review Conference begins, we will gather by the thousands in New York City for an international rally and march to the United Nations. Activists from around the world – including over a thousand from Japan, as well as Hibakusha (survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) – will make our demands for a nuclear-free, peaceful, just, and sustainable world.
With our numbers, speeches, music, banners, chants, hope, creativity, and humor we’ll impact the diplomats and political leaders in New York for the NPT Review Conference and build and reinforce our movements. Recognizing the interconnected human and moral imperatives of abolishing nuclear weapons, ending and preventing wars, ensuring economic and social justice, achieving racial equity and the demilitarization of police, and addressing climate change and environmental degradation, we are committed to exploring the linkages in order to build broader, more issue-integrated movements for the long term.
more info and links: April 26 Mobilization | Peace & Planet


4.24-26 NYC Demonstrators to rally for nuclear abolition


atomic-bomb-398277_640





Thousands of protesters are set to gather in New York City this week to demand a nuclear-free world in advance of the five-year Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference.
Activists, scholars and students with anti-nuclear, peace and environmental justice movements will call on the NPT Review Conference meeting at the United Nations to mandate the commencement of “good faith negotiations” for the complete elimination of the world’s nuclear arsenals, as required by the treaty.
Activist events include an international conference April 24-25 at the Cooper Union featuring speakers from more than a dozen countries.
On April 26, a mass rally will take place in Union Square, followed by a march to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, where millions of petition signatures will be presented to UN and NPT officials.

The rally will launch a “Global Wave,” with participants symbolically waving goodbye to nuclear weapons. The Global Wave will travel west, by time zone, with public events scheduled in Papeete, Manila, Amman, Bethlehem, Stockholm, Paris, London, Sao Paulo and points in-between.
An interfaith service will precede the rally.

Joseph Gerson, disarmament coordinator at the American Friends Service Committee and one of the events’ lead organizers, is working with activists from Tokyo to Toronto and Berlin to Brazil.
He said, “More than a thousand Japanese activists, including 50 Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-bomb survivors, will be joining us in this 70th anniversary year of the U.S. atomic bombings. Their suitcases will be filled with 7,000,000 petition signatures calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.”

In the United States, peace walks originating in Tennessee, at the Oak Ridge nuclear weapons production facility, California and New England, will converge in New York, with groups journeying on peace trains from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut, and coming on buses from as far away as Chicago and Massachusetts.

A “Bike for Peace” ride from Washington, D.C., will arrive in New York City on April 24.
Organizers say nuclear disarmament is now more important than ever.

“We applaud the recent agreement between the U.S. and Iran, but if we are to prevent nuclear calamity, the U.S. and the other nuclear armed nations must fulfill their part of the NPT bargain by ending the era of trillion dollar arms races which drive nuclear weapons proliferation” said Kevin Martin, executive director of Peace Action. “As we see with the nuclear saber rattling over Ukraine, nuclear weapons threaten human survival as they did throughout the Cold War. Endless wars abroad and growing nuclear weapons budgets are reflected in militarism at home, environmental degradation globally, and economic and racial inequality.”

The fundamental NPT bargain was that states not possessing nuclear weapons foreswore ever obtaining them.In exchange, nuclear-armed parties committed in Article VI to undertake good faith negotiations for their complete elimination. The NPT was entered into force 45 years ago and there are no negotiations on the horizon.


Peace and Planet co-organizer Jackie Cabasso of Western States Legal Foundation and United for Peace and Justice, said, “The U.S. plans to spend a trillion dollars to modernize its nuclear weapons arsenal and infrastructure. This means that contrary to President Obama’s pledge in Prague, preparations for nuclear annihilation will remain the cornerstone of U.S. policy throughout the 21st century. This is unacceptable and unsustainable. We say: Yes to a Nuclear-Free World! Yes to Nonviolence! Yes to Economic Justice and Environmental Sustainability! And Yes to Peace!”


Demonstrators to rally for nuclear abolition | Trending | Wisconsin Gazette - Smart, independent and revealing. News, opinion and entertainment coverage


Thursday, April 16, 2015

newspaper malfunction



FYI: there have been some problems with updating the #OcNukeDaily (and also the #RCDaily). the papers did not update properly on the 14th or 15th. when i checked today there was no content, and the archives for the 13th are blank.

paper.li sent me a note saying that i have helped them to find a major bug in their scheduling system, and hopes to have the bug is fixed tomorrow the 17th.

i have ran a manual update in the meantime, and the papers should refresh this evening; but, we will have to wait and see what happens! - watch for updates!

please check the archives for regular features which may not be added into the current issue of #OcNukeDaily - see 12 April issue at:

for #RCDaily it would be:
https://paper.li/r_cherwink/1333493268?edition_id=3ae27900-e188-11e4-b0cf-002590a5ba2d 

UPDATE: it has now also happened with the #OcNuke Weekly... a basically blank archive for 8 April edition; and now a new version by manual refresh – what appears now is a working copy. 

thank you for your understanding!

Monday, April 13, 2015

Nuclear Age Impacts Humans

Nuclear Age Impacts Humans: “What is the impact on the Earth from the Nuclear Age?” CCTV Host Margaret Harrington asks Les Kanat PhD, Professor of Geology in the Department of Environmental and Health Sciences at Johnson State College, Vermont during a televised interview, Dr. Kanat, also a science advisor to Fairewinds Energy Education points out that the Earth is less likely to be effected by the Nuclear Age and poses a new question “What impact will the Nuclear Age have on humans?”

YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Unsafe site won’t ever be safe for nuclear waste | Las Vegas Review-Journal


U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio and Rep. Cresent Hardy, R-Nev., walk along the train tracks during a congressional tour of the Yucca Mountain exploratory tunnel Thursday, April 9, 2015. (Sam Morris/Las Vegas Review-Journal) Follow Sam Morris on Twitter @sammorrisRJ


Nevada Rep. Cresent Hardy, who joined a pro-Yucca Mountain congressional site visit this past week, recently asked the question, “Is there a scenario in which Nevadans would actually welcome nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain?” (“Time for Nevada to talk Yucca Mountain,” March 22 Review-Journal).
The answer to that question is an emphatic “no” for one simple yet unavoidable reason: Because Yucca Mountain is an unsafe place for storing or disposing deadly nuclear waste and was selected for purely political reasons having nothing to do with science or suitability. There is nothing for state officials to negotiate. In fact, our leaders would be remiss in their duty to protect the public and the environment to entertain the notion that any amount of dollars could possibly compensate for likely grievous and lethal harm from siting a facility in such an unsafe location as Yucca Mountain.
From day one, science with respect to Yucca Mountain has taken a back seat to Washington, D.C., power politics...

more: YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Unsafe site won’t ever be safe for nuclear waste | Las Vegas Review-Journal