Nuclear news – scary stuff this week, but we need to be aware.

some bits of good news. India headed towards 100% renewables power by 2050. Mini Wind Turbines For Rooftops: ‘Up to 50% More Power’ and No Spinning Blades    Ozone Hole Continues Shrinking in 2022.

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Oh dear. This newsletter is miles too long. I have put the most interesting items in larger, bold, green. Perhaps you might read just those, and any other topics of interest to you.

This week, I have been overwhelmed with the media tsunami of war-mongering events and articles – all gearing up to the supposedly inevitable war against China !!

But at the same time –    are you  noticing climate change, -global heating events and research? We might escape nuclear apocalypse, BUT –   I urge you to pay attention to Alex Smith’s Radio Ecoshock, the world-leading coverage of things climate .  This week’s episode is CLIMATE ENDGAME – “irreversible transition to Hothouse Earth”? – Greenland  sea-level rise – and a worrying Culture of Underestimation.

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AUSTRALIA 

The Pentagon builds a network in our Australian Department of Defence amidst media silence.  With nuclear-capable B-52 bombers in Australia, USA could make lethal nuclear attack on mainland China. US Air Force to deploy nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to Australia. US deployment of nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to Australia’s north likely to fuel China tensions

Nuclear zealot Jonathon Mead – in charge of the nuclear submarine deliberations? Wants to “cultivate a nuclear mindset”.      Wong, Marles schedule US trip as nuclear submarine deadline nears.   Captive media: what does the submarine scandal tell us about our “defence correspondents”?

Australia changes policy tack – moves in the direction of supporting the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. ‘Small but important step’: Australia’s shift on treaty banning nuclear weapons applauded

Government Confirms No Nuclear for Australia. Rather than an endlessly reheated nuclear debate, politicians should be powered by the evidence. Rex Patrick: has the Australian Senate lost its mojo?.

‘Australia’s greatest threat is from within’: Why we’re unprepared for the health effects of climate change

CLIMATE. Climate summit – window for avoiding catastrophe is closing fast. Global heating levels threaten to destroy economies. “The voices in this world which have the most power belong to those who are destroying it”, writes Greta Thunberg.

Atmospheric levels of all three greenhouse gases hit record highRising Sea Levels Spell Disaster For America’s Coastal Nuclear Plants. Insect apocalypse looms as world warms

CIVIL LIBERTIES. Reporters Without Borders leads 16 organisations urging UK Home Secretary to intervene in extradition of Julian Assange.

ECONOMICS . French nuclear power group EDF to have a bigger loss than previously expected. Scotland ‘could fund England’s nuclear plants after independence‘ under “regulated asset base” (RAB) model. Sizewell C nuclear station to be funded 20% by French taxpayers, and 20% by British taxpayers. Rooppur nuclear power plant (Bangladesh) : Cost may rise for multiple factors. USA’s Westingouse likely to build and fund 49% of Poland’s first nuclear power station

EMPLOYMENT. About 100 Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant employees, including senior managers, agree to collaborate with Russian occupiers.

ENERGY. Nuclear power – a ‘religion’ in France. now turning out to be a curse..

ENVIRONMENT. This Abandoned Nuclear City Is Trapped Under Ice, What Happens If It Thaws? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9uW-8vPpAU Dounreay nuclear plant radiation scare over high numbers of ‘harmful’ radioactive particles. The Fukushima Area Has Seen Better Days as Nobuhiko Ito Shows. Long-lived radionuclides from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, and consequences for Pacific ecosystems and seafood consumers.

HEALTH. ‘The nuclear bomb was so bright I could see the bones in my fingers’: The atomic veterans fighting for justice. Meetings scheduled on compensation for Utah’s ‘downwinders‘ affected by nuclear testing.

LEGAL. US nuclear firm Westinghouse sues South Korean supplier over Poland reactor deal. Together Against Sizewell and other groups to fight on, despite legal setback.

MEDIAAll at once corporate media pundits push for World War III. Western military-industrial corporate-media show only the NATO-USA war-mongering side of the news. The biggest lie – ADDICTED TO WAR – what most American people don’t know and don’t want to know. Steps towards multilateral nuclear disarmament – but media silence.

POLITICS. Kucinich Says Call for Diplomacy to end Ukraine-Russia War Must be Heard; Silencing of Congressional Progressive Caucus Casts Democrats as the “War Party” Progressives retract Ukraine letter to Biden after uproar. Worthless House Progressives Retract Mild Peace Advocacy Under Pressure From Warmongers. Democrats Should Not Make Support for War a Test of Party Loyalty – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f76p7NUbV5M Dennis Kucinich: Where Are the Pro-Peace Democrats? 

Crushing blow to French President Macron as EDF braces for £28billion hit over nuclear shortfall. Academics and industry questioned on UK nuclear power supplySizewell C nuclear could become low on the priority list of UK government projects. Minister Vows Response to Fukushima Reputational Damage.

POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACYNew Study Finds The Rest Of The World Supports China And RussiaWest must stop blocking negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Kremlin reveals possible basis for Putin-Biden talks. Zelenskyy blasts Israel, suggests Russia-Iran nuclear collusion. Russia suspends participation in grain deal after Ukrainian attack.   

SAFETY. Ukraine’s Biggest Nuclear Plant Needs a Safety Zone. France discovers ominous cracks in dozens of nuclear reactorsEvery nuclear power plant is a ‘dirty bomb’ in waiting: watchdog. Cracks found in all four Olkiluoto Nuclear 3 feedwater pumps. Bulgarian nuclear reactor shut down after technical glitch. ‘Swarm’ of drones spotted flying above UK nuclear plan.

SECRETS and LIES. Meet the spooks, mercenaries s and chickenhawk politicos enlisting as “North Atlantic Fellas Organization” (NAFO) trolls.   Criminals in Finland obtain weapons from Ukraine – police. 

SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. Rocket Lab: Helping the US wage endless wars from space. Rocket Report: Norway’s nuclear rocket concerns.   Russian delegation at UN calls on USA to join initiative to renounce weapons in space.

SPINBUSTERWar, propaganda, and blindness. George Monbiot leads the “left” into being cheer- leaders for USA’s endless wars.

WASTES and REACTOR SHUTDOWNS. Cocooning the past – Plutonium reactor in Eastern Washington encased in steel to protect the river. Bring voices from the coast into the Fukushima treated water debate.

WAR and CONFLICT. EU ‘dancing on edge of volcano’ with Ukraine – French ex-president. Allegations fly about plans to use “dirty bomb” and nuclear weapons in Ukraine war. ‘No need’ for nuclear strikes on Ukraine, Putin says. Kremlin diplomat assures that Russia has no intention of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine. NATO primes 20 prospective new members for global strike forceNATO could deploy nuclear warheads to Poland: official.    60 years ago today, this man stopped the Cuban missile crisis from going nuclear. Cuban missile crisis, 60 years on: new papers reveal how close the world came to nuclear disaster

WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALESCities should increase role in effort to abolish nuclear weapons.24 – 30 October UN Disarmament Week – don’t let the world powers normalise “tactical” nuclear weapons – demand abolition of nuclear weapons now! Tactical Nuclear Fantasists. Spokane poised to declare city a nuclear free zoneUS, Japan, S Korea vow response if N Korea tests nuclear bomb. USA upgrades its B61-12 nuclear bombs in EuropeBiden to scrap Trump missile project but critics attack US ‘nuclear overkill’/ NATO adds to warplane, missile defense assets in Baltic Sea. A failure to review America’s nuclear posture.

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