Author: Martyn

Present And Future Nukiller Power Problems – Wasted

Back Then And In To The Future.

Some problems take a long time to solve,
while others get worse over the years.

This is certainly the case when it comes to just how we will have to deal with the long term problem of nukiller waste.

Back In The 1970s

Here is what the UK nukiller authorities had to say about this problem way back in the late 1970s:-

– – –

Waste disposal

If nuclear power is to go ahead to its full potential acceptable ways must be found of dealing with radioactive wastes, especially the long-lived fission products. At present high level radioactive wastes are stored in liquid form mainly at Windscale in Cumbria; but to reduce the need for surveillance it is planned to convert them to glass blocks. After a period of supervised storage these will be disposed of either deep underground or on or under the ocean bed. Britain is working in association with other countries to assess the suitability of a number of geological formations for the disposal of radioactive waste. Granite and other hard rocks, clays, shales and salt are being looked at to study porosity, heat resistance and other relevant properties, both in the laboratory and in the ground at the proposed burial depth of about 300 metres. The rocks that are of interest are widely distributed: much of  Britain’s granite is found in Scotland, while other rock types are found predominantly  in England and Wales. Research and testing will need to go on for several years before a demonstration disposal site for high level radioactive waste can be identified.

Source:
Scotland and Nuclear Power.

UK Atomic Energy Authority.
June 1979

– – –

All handling processes involving radioactive materials are carried out remotely until the fission products are removed. The concentrated fission product waste extracted during reprocessing is at present stored in stainless steel tanks. The tanks are double-walled and are located in concrete vaults which are themselves lined with stainless steel. The fission product waste that has accumulated in this country over the last 25 years is stored in some 14 stainless  steel tanks at Windscale. The total volume is about 750 cubic metres, the size of a four-bedroom, family, detached house. The storage of liquid fission product waste is well established and safe, but there are advantages in making it solid for more effective disposal. A process to convert this waste to a solid, glass-like form for long term storage is being developed and will be installed at Windscale in due course. The process comprises mixing the liquid waste with silica and borax and heating the slurry in a furnace to form glass. The glass is cast into cylindrical, stainless-steel sealed containers which can be stored under water in ponds. The glass is chemically inert and practically insoluble and thus the radioactive waste is permanently “locked-in”.

Source:
Energy from the atom.
2 – nuclear fuel.

British Nuclear Fuels Limited.
1978

– – –

Right Now and In to the Future.

The amount of this radioactive waste has really grown since these words were published.

There is a lot more such waste which is currently being produced,
and a lot more will be produced in the decades to come. *

While we have learnt just how silly it is to ever contemplate the storage of this waste in shale or salt.

– There is still the question of just how you might make such places safe by keeping out ground water ?

&

– Just how to prevent any major earthquake damage to these depositaries?

I was not reassured about the long term safety of these nukiller waste dumps when I read these pamphlets some 35 years ago, and I still believe that this is a problem which can never be solved by those who run the nukiller power industry.

* Unless we manage to close down all of the nukiller power stations.

Present And Future Nukiller Power Problems – Part Two – Islands In The Making.

Right Now.

There is an increasingly optimistic prospect that the proposed two
new EDF nukiller plants at Sizewell and Hinkley may not be
built.

If Centrica be also be persuaded to pull out of new build,
then what we will have left are just the existing plants to close down within the UK.

In to the future.

The real problem with campaigning about nukiller power is that
it involves some very long term thinking.

Within 30 – 40 years Sizewell could be a island if sea levels
continue to rise as the result of global warming.

While at Bradwell the decommissioning process
will not be completed until 2087.

That is 75 years from now,
by which time all of the current anti-nukiller power activists will be dead.

In to the centuries to come.

This says nothing about all the other long term problems about
the safe storage of nukiller waste which  will pose major problems
in the centuries to come.

In other words: –
We not only need to think about short term campaign to stop new
build and closing down the existing nukiller plants,
but make sure that what’s left over at the plants does not become
an environmental danger in the years to come.

This means we will all need to do some very long term thinking,
and that must also be a very different way of thinking.

Gothic thinking.

It all reminds me about those who built the Gothic cathedrals.

They would plan and work upon them,
while also knowing that they would be long dead after the
buildings were completed.

It’s a very long term vision of a nukiller free world which we now
need to start thinking upon.

It’s a very long term campaign for us all.

Westinghouse And Toshiba Nukiller.

Following the news that both E.ON and RWE are pulling out of a
project to building new nukiller plants in the UK,
there has been a lot of speculation about which companies will
buy in to Horizon.

One of the companies which has been mentioned in this context is
Westinghouse.

Westinghouse already own the Springfields plant in Lancashire
where nukiller fuel rods are manufactured.

Westinghouse has been in the ownership of Toshiba since 2006.

Another subsidiary of  Toshiba is the
Toshiba Power System Company,
which is heavily involved in the nukiller power industry.

Here is a quote from their website: –
‘ The Power Systems Company’s capabilities cover the full
spectrum of power generation systems, including high-efficiency
thermal and hydro power generation, renewables such as
geothermal and wind power, and nuclear power, all essential for
realizing the stable electricity supply essential for powering our
modern world.’

I doubt that many people in japan believe that line after the disaster at Fukushima.

Toshiba needs to be reminded about just how dangerous nukes can be.

Following that you can also boycott Toshiba –
until they pull out of the nukiller power industry.

Present And Future Nukiller Power Problems – Part One – Chernobyl.

There is no such thing as a safe nukiller power plant,
&
there certainly is no easy way to clean up the mess after any
nukiller power disaster.

The word at both Fukushima and Chernobyl is that it’s much
more of a dangerous situation that we face than the last time
anyone looked at what was happening at these sites.

After the  Chernobyl Nukiller Power Plant disaster of the 1986 a
sarcophagus was built over the plant.

Now a quarter  of a century later there is to be a new sarcophagus,
known as a Safe Confinement (NSC or New Shelter),
built over the plant.

The reason for this is that plant is currently leaking a lot of
radiation,
while we still don’t know what the full state of the present
sarcophagus might be.

Building the new sarcophagus will be a major civil engineering project.

My only Question is just how long will it be before that in turn
needs to be replaced?

When Is A Griffin Not A Griffin?

Griffins.

Griffins are mythological creatures which protect the gold.

They are used in the coat of arms of the City of London,
& thus upon the helmets of the City of London police.

Griffins are also used upon the crest of the Civil Nuclear
Constabulary, which is why many anti nukiller activists  refer to
them as Griffins.

A Mix and Match Police Force.

One of the most interesting trends in policing over the last few
years has been the way in which police forces help each other out.

For example:
After the riots in Haringey last year,
it became very common to see the streets of Turnpike Lane and
Wood Green patrolled by none metropolitan police offices.
e.g.
From the Strathclyde force,
etc, etc.

Earlier this year I was on the protest at the Hinkley and Sizewell
nukiller power plant protests.

At Hinkley the local Somerset police were on duty outside of the
plant.

At Sizewell the local Suffolk police were on duty outside of the
plant.

While the security just inside these EDF owned nukiller plants
was being provided by a private security company.

The Shape of the Future Nukiller Police.

Now comes the news that the Cumbrian police are being asked to
provide security at the Sellafield ( Windscale ) plant.

This is so that in future:
‘the nuclear constabulary will deal solely with anti-terrorism issues’.

Boots, Truncheons, & Iodine Tablets.

Apart from the cost aspect of local police forces undertaking to
‘protect’ nukiller plants,
there is another question which comes to my mind.

Given the move towards that mix & match form of policing.
then will all those police officers who are deployed at nukiller
plants be given extra training and equipment to deal with any
future radiation leaks?

Will they now all be provided with iodine tablets,
or guider counters as part of their standard equipment ?

or

Is this yet another ill thought out set of ideas?

It would be interesting to learn just what rank and file police
officers think about these issues.

Images Of War

Books.

Some books contain such horrific images that I would be very
reluctant to show them to anyone who has no need to view them.

Such books include: –

Ernst Friedrich.
Krieg Dem Kriege
( War against war ).

&

Lord Russel of Liverpool.
The Knights of Bushido: A Short History of Japanese War Crimes.

Both of these works contain very important information about the
horrors of war, but there they also have some very disturbing
photographic images.

The same also applies to those works which describe the effects of
Atomic Bombs dropped at Hiroshima & Nagasaki.

What applies to books about war also applies to those works
which show the medical effects of radioactive leaks from Nukiller
Power stations.

War is Not a Game.

Many media images of soldiers just show men in combat or
on military parades.

This also extends to the model soldiers which are on sale in toy
shops.  Most of these models either glorify war, or show soldiers
engaged in acts of violence.

This is why many pacifists are concerned with the sale of war toys.

It is very rare to come across model soldiers as the casualties of war, or in need of medical Help.

Veterans for Peace.

Veterans for Peace UK has recently been established with the following Aims:-

– To resist war through non-violent action.
– Support persecuted war-resisters.
– Counter militarism in society through education.
– Increase public awareness of the costs of war.
– End the arms race and to reduce and eventually eliminate
nuclear weapons.
&
– Abolish war as an instrument of national policy

As ex soldiers they have experienced the truth about war.

They deserve to be heard.

Looking At Paintings.

I spend a lot of my time visiting art galleries, which is why I have come to the
following conclusion:-

That the classification of art can sometimes prevent us from really understanding
just what the artist is or was doing.

I’d like to illustrate this observation by looking at the work of two artists.

Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne ( 1839–1906 ) has traditionally been thought of as an Impressionist
painter,
yet in many ways he was more than that.

Just look at these painting:-

L’Estaque
1883–1885

The Bay of Marseilles, view from L’Estaque
1885

Still Life, Drapery, Pitcher, and Fruit Bowl
1893–1894

&

The  watercolour

Mill at the River
1900–1906

If you look these works closely enough you will realise that they are more cubist
than impressionist in nature.

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh ( 30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890 ) is always referred to as being a
post-Impressionist painter.

What are less commented upon are  his drawings.

For example:-

Cypresses (Les Cyprès), 1889

or

Starry Night, after the painting, 1889

Now just start looking at his paintings such as:-

The Starry Night, June 1889

Wheatfield with Crows, 1890

and

Cypresses, 1889

What will then become very obvious to you is that many of his paintings were no
more and no less than drawings in colour.

Understand that,
and start to look at the rest of his works with a fresh eye.

These observations about looking afresh at works of art can also be applied to political thought.

Just you think about it.

More A Force Than A Police Force

The Civil Nuclear Constabulary are planning to build a new
£1.6m firing range at Dounreay.

Dounreay was used for fast Breader Nukiller Reactor research and development.
The site is now run by Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL).

Coming together with other information about the
CNC,  it would seem that they are now aiming to become more of
an armed force: – rather than an old fashioned constabulary.

A Date To Remember

People tend to remember what happened at Chernobyl, but very
few will be able to tell you just what happened at Mayak.

This was the Kyshtym Disaster which happened on
September 29th 1957.

Long out of print the following book will tell you something
about just why it was hushed up at the time: –

Medvedev, Zhores A.
Nuclear disaster in the Urals.

It would be really good if we could have a series of events around
the world to mark the 55th anniversary of this disaster.

Resisting the Olympics – A Resource List.

The 2012 Olympics are currently being built up by an
unprecedented media hype.

Yet there are many major objections as to how the event is being
run,  and just as many campaigners who are working to stop the
long lasting damage which it will create.


Background information and Resources.

This summer an army of occupation will take over the East End of
Cockneyland.

I refer to the army of  10,000 ‘security guards’,   7,000 military,
and the  large  number of extra police which will be in place
during this years Olympic event.

There are also many concerns about the way that this event will
both destroy many locally important ecological sites,
and how it will impact upon the civil rights of those who live in
the East End.

Resisting the Olympics.

The good news is that there are now a growing number of groups
and organisations which are countering the Olympics.

Here are a few links to these networks: –

– Games Monitor  – debunking Olympics myths.

– SAY NO TO LONDON 2012

– The New Lammas Lands Defence Committee

&

– NOGOE (No to Greenwich Olympic Equestrian Events)

Resistance to the Multinational Sponsors.

The other really perturbing aspect of the Olympics is that it is
being sponsored by some of the worlds largest & most
irresponsible multi-nationals.

Rather that list them all:
here is a list of some campaigns which are working against them.

On BP – The UK No Tar Sands Network

On EDF –  Boycott EDF

On RTZ – Partizans (People against Rio Tinto and its Subsidiaries)

On Coca-Cola – No Sweat

On Muckdonalds – McCruelty

&

On Dow Chemical – The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) have also protested against this Dow sponsorship.

The 2012 Olympic games will be a disaster, and we should support all of these campaigns.


Vancouver 2010

There was also a lot of resistance to the
2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver BC Canada.

There is a lot of information you can find online about just what happened during this event.

These include: –

– No One Is Illegal Vancouver!

&

– Resisting the Olympics Resources