Our continued possession of nuclear weapons; production of radioactive waste due to our use of nuclear power; and our inadequate action on climate change are crimes against future generations, write Andreas Nidecker, Emilie Gaillard and Alyn Ware. Read their article.
British CND campaigner, Rae Street, vows she will never "shut up" as long as nuclear weapons exist in the world. She has campaigned resolutely to get rid of them for 40 years. Now 80, she just helped mark CND's 60th anniversary. Here is her story.
A 15-year old boy lost everything he loved when he was forced to evacuate from his Fukushima home. Bullied at his new school and, because he came from a radioactive area, called a "germ," there were moments when he wanted to die. Instead, he bravely testified before a Tokyo court to get justice and compensation for evacuees. Read his story.
Return of the Yucca Dump Zombie?! Las Vegas Review Journal political cartoonist Jim Day declared the dump scheme dead in 2010, with the Obama administration's move to withdraw the DOE license application, and de-funding of the project. But today's U.S. House vote shows some twitching in one of the Yucca Dump Zombie Mutant's six toes (on each foot!). Opponents will have to redouble their efforts to block Yucca, as well as "parking lot dumps" targeted at NM and TX.One of the six toes, on one of the feet, of the Yucca Dump Mutant Zombie (see image, left), twitched yesterday. By a lopsided vote of 340 to 72, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of "Screw Nevada 2.0," a reprise of the 1987 "Screw Nevada" bill, that singled out Yucca Mountain for the country's highly radioactive waste dump-site in the first place. This was the biggest vote on nuclear waste in the U.S. House in 16 years, and seeks to overturn the Obama administration's wise 2010 cancellation of the unsuitable Yucca Mountain Project. In addition to approving H.R. 3053, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2018, the House, "in its wisdom" (or lack thereof!), similarly voted down an amendment offered by Dina Titus (Democrat-NV), that would have required consent-based siting for a dump like Yucca, per the 2012 recommendations by the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future. Thank you to everyone who contacted their U.S. Rep. urging opposition to H.R. 3053. Please check this link for more info., including to see how your U.S. Rep. voted on the Titus amendment, and the overall bill. Then please thank or "spank" (express your disappointment to) your U.S. Rep., accordingly, and point out the high-risk "Mobile Chernobyl" impacts of shipping 110,000 metric tons (an increase from the current legal limit of 70,000) of highly radioactive waste, by truck, train, and/or barge, through 44 states, dozens of major cities, and 330 of 435 U.S. congressional districts, if H.R. 3053 becomes law. In addition to expediting the opening of the Yucca dump, by gutting due process and environmental and safety regulations, H.R. 3053 would authorize centralized interim storage facilities (CISFs, or de facto permanent, surface storage, "parking lot dumps"), as targeted at Holtec/ELEA, NM and WCS, TX. Re: Holtec/ELEA, please continue submitting environmental scoping public comments to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the May 29th deadline -- see how, and for more info., at this link. And please also contact both your U.S. Senators, urging them to oppose bad, dangerous nuke waste dumps targeted at NM, NV, and/or TX, and the inevitable Mobile Chernobyls they would launch: call your U.S. Senators via the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and fill out and submit Food & Water Watch's webform! To learn more about the Yucca dump scheme, CISF proposals, and nuclear waste transport risks, please see the corresponding Beyond Nuclear website sub-sections.
The Trump White House, predictably, and against advice from Germany, France and the UK, has withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal. This effectively reimposes economic sanctions on Iran and pressures other partners in the deal not to do business there. So far, Iran's government has indicated it may not withdraw from the deal. However, if sanctions force it to do so, Iran could start enriching uranium to at least “weapons usable” if not “weapons grade” level. But is Trump’s accusation that the nuclear deal was “the worst ever” and the Mattis claim that Iran “is the single biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world” really what’s behind the US withdrawal? Iran’s sworn enemy in the region is Saudi Arabia. Weakening Iran by reimposing sanctions when the country is already struggling economically, is in Saudi Arabia’s political interests. The US views the Saudi Kingdom as a strong ally -- despite the fact that most of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudis -- and supports the Saudis’ relentless bombing campaign of starved civilians in Yemen. The Saudis are our friends, and they are our friends to the tune of tens of billions of dollars flowing from Saudi Arabia to the US in arms deals.This could all be another case of “follow the money.” More
May 14, 2018