Whitehaven
Category: Nukiller Power
Atoms and Ashes – Book Review
Plokhy, Serhii
Atoms and Ashes: From Bikini Atoll to Fukushima
Penguin Books – Paperback – 2023
ISBN 978-0141997179
This very readable book covers some of worst nukiller disasters which have taken place so far. That includes the windscale fire, Chernobyl, Fukushima, Kyshtym in Russia, and the fallout of the 1954 atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll.
The author details just how they were all caused by negligence, bad designs, or the effects of nature such as the Fukushima Tsunami. Yet all of them have been subject to governmental or company cover-ups.
What is not covered in this book is the radioactive pollution from Uranium mining such as the Rum Jungle disaster in Australia, which is a major cause of climate change, or the ongoing problem of nukiller waste storage.
The last chapter of the book covers the military attacks which have taken place at various reactors.
For example: –
- The Osiak nukiller facility in Iraq.
- The Iranian Bushehr plant.
- The Israeli Dimona reactor.
Or more recently the Russian attacks upon both the Chernobyl and Zaporizhia reactors.
As the author points out there is no international law to stop such attacks if they are classified as military facilities.
The last sentence in the book is well worth quoting: –
‘We can hardly afford to build new reactors before we find a way to protect existing ones.’
That is something which we all need to keep stating.
1902
My grandfather on my mother’s side was born in 1900. That is some 18 months before the end of the Boer War.
That is 120 years ago.
Yet how many people living now would of ever met anyone who was involved in that particular war?
In contrast we still note what happened during World War One, but very few young people would of meet anyone with memories of that conflict.
I was lucky enough to know a number of the extremely brave COs of WW1.
We think of what happened 120 years ago as history, but it is going to take that long to complete decommissioning some of the nukiller power plants.
That is way before any of the radioactive waste becomes safe to handle.
Thus if anyone asks you about decommissioning, just mention the year 1902, and tell them about this.
Future Finance For Future [Radioactive] Waste
The issue of Nukiller Waste is one which the industry does not want to face up to, or finance.
As it stands the tax payer will be for paying for dealing with this waste many many years in to the future. That is before any more is added to it.
Aside from the need to sort out the mess at Drigg and Sellafield / Windscale, we have an issue of rising tides which will affect all the coastal plants.
Thus we do need to focus out campaigning attention upon these issues.
While showing just how much CO2 the nukiller industry produces.
Thus this is what we urgently need: –
Immediate Campaigning Finance For To Stop All Future Radioactive Waste.
Observe And Take Action.
Have You noticed ?
We are now living in a Dystopian nightmare where image is everything, but reality is hard to see.
Time flows in different ways while the booze flows.
For politicians who get drunk on their own self delusions the long term effects of this kind of thinking are very heady stuff, but we all have to suffer from the results.
While we all buy in to some form of referral to brand names, or Kapitalist propaganda, as it is constantly thrown at us via the ‘Mass Media’.
Paid to act for.
Anyone who lives within Brexitland will be very familiar with how politicians are making a nice living as advisers or sit on the board of various companies.
That is on top of the previous Cash for Question scandal of a few years ago, which should be classified with what is otherwise colloquially know as ‘Rent in Kind’.
None of these observations are in anyway new.
Only one thing is new about it all, is just how many of these scandals have, or rather are, coming to light within such a short period of time.
In a just or more egalitarian society all of this would be regarded as absolutely shocking, but the citizens of Brexitland are well used to learning such things about elected politicians.
It all flows in to us developing a very high appreciation of hard bitten satirical humour.
Where our attention should really be focused upon.
Meanwhile in the real world, and away from the Westminster Village, there are other more important issues to deal with. All of which I keep repeating time and time and time and time again.
What is now becoming really obvious is the way in which Greenwash exasperates many of the problems we have.
Moving from extreme energy [ petrol and diesel personal vehicles to battery powered ones is not going to solve the urban mess, or encourage people to walk more.
Neither is spending tax payers money on an infrastructure to support them going to help finance all the tram and train networks which we so desperately need.
While the idea which is currently being flogged that Nukiller power is the solution to stopping climate change can only be described as ill founded.
Nukiller power is a cause of global warming.
Yet again it is a case of not properly focusing upon both the issues and realistic solutions.
Recent Activities
Despite Lockdown and the continuing difficulties which we are all experiencing, it has been possible for me to continue working upon various projects. This is a brief summary of some of the them.
Anti Nukiller Power
I recently put together the latest issue of Countering Capenhurst.
This contains a lot of information about DRS [ Direct Rail Services ] which transports Highly Radioactive uses fuel rods and other nukiller waste.
What I now have is enough material and written pieces to produce a pamphlet on the issue, but it is never wise to edit ones own articles .
Thus I am looking for someone to work on it with me.
5 Cale Road
The 5 Caledonian Road Project website has just been launched.
The subtitle of being 60 years of books and activism.
This is a project which I was interviewed for. You can hear a little of this interview under Small Scale Demonstrations on the website.
The ongoing Spycops Public Inquiry
Aspects of being a CP [Core Participant] in the Undercover Policing [Spycops ] Public Inquiry are still taking up a lot of my time.
Of particular interest to me is a 1980 Special Branch report describing the development of the anti-nuclear movement in the UK
Sorting out my various collections
One of the side effects of such a long lockdown has been that I’ve had the chance to go through and properly sort out my various collections.
I’ve done the same with my various documents which are now ready to be put to an archive.
I would never of been able to do this if there were a lot of meetings and events to attend.
Soon
Soon it will be possible to start organising some more proactive campaigning.
That is something which I am looking forward to doing.
Greenpeace [ London ] Protests During The 1970s
Anti Nukiller Protests During the 1970s
This is not a definitive history of the Greenpeace [ London ] group, but just small part of it.
French Nukiller Bomb Protests
During 1973 Greenpeace [ London ] organised the London to Paris march against the French nukiller bomb tests at Mururoa in the Pacific.
The march was attacked by the French CRS [ riot police ] at the boarder between Belgium and France.
Though some people did manage to cross over the boarder at other points, and took part in the Paris Protest which followed this event.
During both 1973 & 1974 the group organised many protests outside the French Embassy, and a number of die-ins too.
The group organised a number of protest marches about the French Nukiller Bomb tests during 1973 and 1974.
I spent a lot of my time upon these various protests, leafleting sessions, and organising the Greenpeace [London ] protest marches which took place during 1974.
On August the 4th 1974 the group organised a march from Hyde Park Corner to Trafalgar Square where a rally was held. It was the one and only time I ever spoke in the square.
Starting to campaign upon nukiller power
During 1974 and 1975 the group started looking at the issue of Nukiller power. which took a while to do so, as at that stage there were very few books or articles upon the dangers they pose.
It was because of the follow up work upon the import of uranium [Yellowcake] to be processed Capenhurst and Springfields that the group become of interest to the SDS spycops.
Now follow this on by looking at the spycop public inquiry.
Extracts From The Book – Poverty and Ecological Disaster. A Post Brexit Study
The following book extracts are taken from the most renowned academic study of the UK during the first half of the 21stnd century.
Poverty and ecological disaster.
A study of life in Britain during the post Brexit years .
Published by the CLO University press.
The Peak district School.
2052.
Chapter 1
The Brexit disaster.
‘ As predicted the state of the UK rapidly declined with the introduction of Brexit.
The dysfunctional desires of the rabid right wing Tory government were no more than a delusional set of nightmare policies.
After Brexit the UK continued its rapid economic decline.
In the poorest areas of the country begging for food on the street increased at an alarming rate. This was not helped by the fact that most of the population no longer had the income to be able to donate to all the food banks which had rapidly increased by the 2nd decade of the century.
The social and economic effects of the withdrawal of all the EU regional funding to some of the poorest areas of Europe was increasingly noticeable as the years went by.’
Chapter 16
Eduction and Illiteracy.
‘Unlike the rest the rest of Europe, British government public spending on education plummeted.
Thus by 2038 the official school leaving age dropped to 14. That was the same as it had been a century before.
The rate of public library closures continued.
Most alarming of all the rate of functional illiteracy in the country rose from 1 in 7, to 90 in 100 of the population.
Thus the rate of unemployment rose, as fewer and fewer of the population became qualified or skilled workers.’
‘The effects upon higher education became profound. This was especially so after the universities of Cambridge, London, and Oxford were forced to merge and become the CLO university.’
Chapter 22
The Toxic Legacy.
‘ One of the most alarming aspects of the period was that all the nukiller plants became engulfed by rising tides, as did many of the radioactive and toxic waste dumps. The government stated that dealing with this was a priority, but there was no money left in the exchequer to solve it.
Thus the UK government had to declare a national emergency, but it was just too late to solve all these problems.
Thousands died of starvation and exposure to all the radioactive and toxic waste.’
‘ Finally, in 2042 the country became such an ecological disaster area, that the UK government begged the EU to become a European dependency, as it was totally incapable of becoming a full EU member state.’
– – –
Postscript.
December 2019
All of the above could happen: –
If we don’t take Action Now !
Campaigning For Failure.
A Few Observations
Aim for revolution and you will achieve some reforms.
Aim for reforms and nothing will fundamentally change,
Engage in a tactical non-violence, as opposed to a Principled Nonviolence, and we will not achieve a total Nonviolent Social Revolution.
What Needs Doing.
In order to achieve any fundamental social change, or ecological improvements, we must: –
Make sure all our actions are consistent as Ends and means.
&
Engage in joined-up-Campaigning.
I hate to Say this.
Extinction Rebellion are not engaged upon campaigning against Nukiller Power, or actively promoting Veganism.
This failure to do so will mean that their aim of stopping climate change will not be achieved.
If Extinction Rebellion does not change this policy of blocking such important issues, then all radically realistic environmentalists will need to create a new campaigning body which will do so.
Long Term Rules For Activists – Part Six
A Few Considerations.
First Consideration.
One of the aspects of any political analysis, social, or world view, which always needs to be considered, is just how it may match up with what goes on in the real world.
Things change over the decades, our individual situations change, and that it something we always need to be aware about.
Second Consideration.
Many of the campaigning manuals make sets of assumptions about how activists are able to see each other on a very regular basis, or have very close friends, a partner, or family members living in the immediate area. All of whom can give them support if things go wrong.
That’s nice in theory, but excludes a lot of would be activists whose homes are spread over a very wide geographical area.
Meeting Up.
It also takes no account of the fact that many campaigning groups come together for a short while before the individuals in it move on to other towns, cities, villages, or countries.
Something which I’ve realised over this last decade, is that if I tried to meet up with everyone I’ve campaigned with over the years, then it would mean going on a 6 month world tour.
I jest not.
So – – –
So we all need to spend time refining &/or questioning our world view.
While always spending a lot more time talking with, and getting to better know, all those activists we work with.
This especially goes for those individuals who do not have a good support network around them, or who are fresh to many of our radical ideas.
Long Term – Short Term
Many of the major issues we face seem to take a long while to solve, but here’s the key question: –
Will they take a few years, or a few decades to solve?
Some issues come down to changing peoples attitudes, such as racism, gay rights, sex discrimination, or ageism.
While some campaigning centres around stopping specific wars.
All of which is achievable.
What will take much longer is countering just what has and is being done to our environment.
Be it burning fossil fuels, allowing plastics to land up in the middle of our oceans, or pollute the earth with radioactive waste, there is going to be no quick fix.
All we can do is work to stop these problems growing, and then put our finances in to various measures to clean up all of this mess.
So What To Do, or What Options Do We Have ?
The follow up question is:-
Just how many of us are capable of very long term thinking?
The answer is Not Many.
That’s why we find so many people who are able to think in terms of campaigning for achievable immediate objectives, but are not able to do this in conjunction with working to achieve longer term aims.
This might be summed up with a mind set which goes:-
It feels ever so, ever so, ever so – ever so in to the future.
Thus we are for ever mounting short term campaigns after short term campaigns, which are not conducive to any sort long term or longer term thinking, as opposed to building campaigns that have a decades or centuries long vision.
It really does make it very difficult to do any long term planning if we have to constantly keep focusing upon short term campaigns and short term campaign fund raising.
Thus in any campaign we need to work upon both our short term and long term aims.
For example: –
In the short term stopping specific arms exports.
While in the long term illuminating all the causes of war.
Ecological effects
Much of the major ecological damage to the global has been done over the last couple of hundred years, but we have as a species been able to reverse some of it.
For example by banning the use of those gases which damaged the ozone layer, and by Species reintroduction projects.
While we are currently campaigning to curtail the use of the plastics which are killing so many creatures in our oceans.
Such projects take decades to get results and a lot of dedicated hard work to make them happen.
While in many coastal areas community groups are going out to the shore line to clear them of plastics.
Radioactivity makes for a set of long term issues.
What we can’t clean up or easily reverse are the effects of radioactive matter in our environment, which will effect us for hundreds of centuries.
Thus the urgent need to stop more being produced in the first place, which will then have to be followed my many decades of campaigning to make sure this waste does no more harm by getting in to the environment.
That the kind of campaigning which is both very urgently needed to be done, and which will need continually worked upon for many centuries to come.
Rethinking the time scales
There are no campaigning handbooks which I have ever seen which take in to account just how many generations of activists will be needed to campaign about these same ecological problems.
When the nukiller power industry developed in the 1940s and 50s nobody thought about the long term effects of what they were doing.
They just developed the reactors and dumped the waste where they could. That’s why we have so such of what is refereed to by the industry as ‘legacy waste’.
There are no short term fixes to many of our various social, political, and ecological problems.
That’s why we need to think about actions which look towards long term solutions, as opposed to a lots of short term protests.