Radiation and Health
Letter from Marianne Birkby: Even if the mantra – “Nuclear is Carbon Free” were true – flying pigs are still flying pigs, not angels. If nuclear power led to freedom from oil then why is France’s per capita consumption of oil higher than in non-nuclear Italy, nuclear phase-out Germany or the rest of the EU? Even if nuclear was everything the Government and industry claimed regarding CO2 – that would not justify new build. But the industry and Government are so keen to justify nuclear new build at any cost, the law of the land is twisted and the truth buried. A well-respected medical journal has recently published a paper by Dr Ian Fairlie which concludes “The KiKK study and its implications raise difficult questions, including whether vulnerable people, in particular, pregnant women and women of child-bearing age, should be advised to move away from nuclear facilities. Another question is whether local residents should be advised not to eat produce from their gardens or wild foods, as the food pathway is the largest contributor to local doses.”
Carlisle News and Star 4th Sept 2009 more >>
North Korea
North Korea has announced that it is producing radioactive fuel for a second arsenal of nuclear weapons, in a new provocation to the international community. The statement comes in a letter sent to the United Nations in which North Korea states that it is successfully enriching uranium, in addition to its existing programme of plutonium warheads. The message emphasises that North Korea is willing to negotiate an end to its nuclear programme, but it angrily criticises the sanctions imposed by the UN and promises “hardline countermeasures” if they continue.
Times 5th Sept 2009 more >>
Glasgow Evening Times 4th Sept 2009 more >>
Guardian 4th Sept 2009 more >>
European Union foreign ministers voiced concern at North Korea’s announcement Friday that it has reached the final stages of enriching uranium.
EU Business 4th Sept 2009 more >>
Proliferation
Remarks by Susan Rice – US Ambassador to UN: The Security Council, as you well know, has a very important role to play in preventing the spread and use of nuclear weapons, and it’s the world’s principal body for dealing with global security cooperation. The session will focus on nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear disarmament broadly, and not on any particular countries. Key areas to be highlighted will include arms control and nuclear disarmament, strengthening the NPT regime, and denying and disrupting trafficking in and the securing of nuclear materials.
eGov Monitor 4th September 2009 more >>
Iran
Iran has accused the US of using “forged documents” and relying on subterfuge to make its case that Tehran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, according to a confidential letter.
Channel 4 News 4th Sept 2009 more >>
Irish Examiner 4th Sept 2009 more >>
Climate
Anthony Giddens: Climate change is a problem that transcends political differences: it is not a left/right issue. Support from all sides of the political spectrum will be needed if we are successfully to minimise the threats posed to our collective future. Hence it is encouraging that an unprecedented coalition of groups and individuals has got together to initiate the 10:10 campaign, announced in the Guardian on Tuesday and also trailed prominently in the Sun.
Guardian 5th Sept 2009 more >>
Geoffrey Lean: There are many good reasons why even those who do not accept that we are heating up the planet should commit, as the campaign asks, to cutting their carbon dioxide emissions by 10 per cent in 2010. Reducing consumption of fossil fuels saves money. It helps reduce our dependence on unstable, and possibly hostile, countries, increasingly important with the rapid decline of supplies from the North Sea: British offshore production of oil and gas has crashed by a half and a third respectively since the peak at the turn of the millennium.
Telegraph 5th Sept 2009 more >>
