A short burst of nuclear news – Australia and more

The good news from 2020: 10 sunny stories from an otherwise dark year.

In ‘Huge Victory for Polar Bears’, Court Rejects Arctic Offshore Drilling Project.  U.S. “climate mayors” are hopeful that a Biden administration will help cities accelerate progress toward climate goals.

AUSTRALIA

Curiouser and curiouser – the dishonest acrobatics of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)

Cowardly silence from South Australia’s Premier on nuclear waste dump plan.  Australia’s lying Minister for Resources gets an “F” in assessment of govt ministers.

INTERNATIONAL

The Madness of Nuclear Deterrence.

Nuclear power ridiculously expensive and uncompetitive – the market has spoken.

ARCTIC.  Russia marketing small nuclear reactors to the Arctic , (who cares about the toxic wastes?).

JAPAN.  Fukushima nuclear debris removal to be delayed due to pandemic.

USA.

• A scary reality, Trump still has the nuclear codes.  Donald Trump’s dangerous nuclear legacy.   In USA’s economic and health crisis – nuclear weapons spending is booming.   $128 billion next-generation submarine program at risk of cost overruns.  Joe Biden administration might consider cutting nuclear weapons spending.
• Nuclear weapons agency updates Congress on hacking attempt.
•  Draft EIS on Versatile Test Reactor (VTR); Lacking Justification and Due to Proliferation Risks, VTR Project Must Not Go Forward..  USA’s Dept of Energy pouring $millions into gimmicky new untested nuclear projects.  U.S. Congress approves nuclear energy funding for Financial Year 2021. Trump Signs Directive to Bolster Nuclear Power in Space . Biden flirts with the fantasy of small nuclear reactors as the cure for climate change.
• Exploration.
• Former SCANA CEO to plead guilty on another charge for failed nuclear plant project. Ohio House Fails To Take Any Action On Nuclear Bailout Law.
• USS Calhoun County sailors dumped thousands of tons of radioactive waste into ocean.

UK. Unacceptable secrecy by the nuclear industry in Sizewell documentation.  UK’s quest for nuclear fusion.  No acknowledgment, no compensation, for a British nuclear test hero.

EUROPE. Chinese demands on nuclear power investment complicate EU talks.  Marketing nuclear technology to Slovakia.

UKRAINE.  Are forest fires unlocking radiation in Chernobyl?  Dredging of the Pripyat river poses danger of Chernobyl radioactivity to drinking water of 8 million people.  Storage of Chernobyl nuclear waste – in reality unsafe for 1000s of years.

SOUTH KOREA.  South Korea: mayors and governors of all 17 major cities and provinces call on Japan not to dump Fukushima radioactive water into the ocean.

NORTH KOREA.  Economic crisis forces North Korea to put new nuclear parade facilities on ice..

BELARUS.  EU visit to Belarus nuclear plant called off, deepening safety concerns.

IRAN.  Iran nuclear deal: ‘Heated rhetoric and the heightened risk of miscalculation’ widen differences.

CHINA.  China rejects reports of hitch in investment pact talks with EU.

RUSSIA.  Russia keenly marketing nuclear technology to Bolivia.  Russian Army Chief Warns of Nuclear Risks in Cyber Hacks, Space .  Russia’s nuclear-powered ice-breaker in trouble.