A little Light Reading.

 

Behind the Headlines.

To be a really effective campaigner one has to read a lot, and that means getting away from what’s printed as the headline news.

Here is just a sample of what I have been reading of late.

 

New Build.

A good example of this is what has been in the press over the last couple of weeks concerns new build at Hinkley.

Despite all the headlines about the UK and Chinese governments signing a deal to built a new reactor at Hinkley, it is far from a done deal. EDF have still to sign such a deal, and there are lots of obstacles which need to be completed before any such contract can come in to force.

As to the whizzo idea of building a new reactor at Bradwell, well that’s another none starter. Just look that the flood map for the area, and then think about rising sea levels.

Thus the headline should have been: –

Hinkley and Bradwell.

It’s all smoke and Mirrors.

 

The Atlantic Cartier.

During October the

Bundesstelle für Seeunfalluntersuchung

[ Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation ]

published the following: –

Investigation Report 99/13  Serious Marine Casualty Fire on the con-ro carrier.

ATLANTIC CARTIER on 1 May 2013 in the Port of Hamburg

At the time of the fire the ship was carrying uranium hexafluoride (UF6), and flammable ethanol as a part of the cargo.

– Uranium Hexafluoride is highly toxic.

– Uranium Hexafluoride is corrosive to most metals.

– Uranium Hexafluoride reacts violently with water.

– Uranium Hexafluoride is radioactive.

The transport of Hex is one of the most worrying concerns which we should all have.

Meanwhile there are are growing worries about the Uranium Hex which is to be found at Capenhurst, and aspect of the proposed sale of Urenco.

 

The Pitchford Inquiry.

The Pitchford Inquiry in to Undercover Policing started in July.

A first preliminary hearing took place on October 7th . 

While the Sixth Preliminary Hearing be heard during March.

The inquiry will last for circa two and a half years.

It will cover many of the questions which activists have been asking for a long time, but just how many of the answers we receive is very much an open question for now.

 

The Kings New Centre For The Enhancement Of Magic

This is a story from from the EDF book of fairy stories and nursery rhymes.

The Kings new centre for the enhancement of magic

There was once a king who was so poor, both financially and intellectually, that he decided to sell some of his kingdom to his fellow monarchs.

Of course this was not going to be easy to do, and so he announced that he would build a new centre for the enhancement of magic.

He knew that this was going to be really difficult to do, and so he offered many bags of gold to go with it.

This was a very very popular move, or at least that is what his advisers told him.

So he spent a lot more of the gold, which he had taken from his impoverished subjects, in producing many hand coloured maps to show what a wonderful place the new magic education centre might be.

One fine morning he opened the gates to his palace in order to show just what wonderful maps they were.

While his advisers stood around and praised him for his visionary ideas.

One small boy happened to pass by, and having never been allowed in the the palace before, [ as a result of all the heavy armoured guards with the shiny new weapons which surrounded the place ], he decided to take a look at what was going on.

As luck would have it the small boy had not heard about these very fine maps, and so he was able to see what they really were.

Thus he exclaimed:-    ‘ It’s wet and it’s water, and it’s water and it’s wet.’

This was because the map showed that much of the new magic education centre would soon be under the sea.

This did not go down well for the king. So he ordered that the small boy be clapped in irons and thrown in to his deepest dungeon.

Yet the small boy continued to shout:-      ‘ It’s wet and it’s water, and it’s water and it’s wet.’

Yet it took many years for the people to hear his cries.

While the king is still trying to sell his new centre for the enhancement of magic.

A Reply From The CNC On My Data File

I’ve just had the reply to my request for any data files which the Civil Nuclear Constabulary [ CNC ] might hold on me.

I also asked that this might include anything which they might have which was passed in the them by the UKAEA   [United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority] Special Constabulary.

This is what it says:-

‘ I can conform that the Civil Nuclear Constabulary do not hold any information on you. The Civil Nuclear records are constantly reviewed in line with MOPI ( Management of Police Information ). ‘

In other words – They claim to hold nothing on me right now, they might of done so in the past.

I know of no other anti nukiller power activist who has asked for their personal data records from the CNC. So there is no way in which I can compare this with the kind of reply which any other activist might of received. So that’s why it would be really useful if a few other activists did so.

Any one what to take this up ?

Here In Contrast

I keep reading stories like the following one in Enenews: – 

Radiation Expert: Horrific health toll from Fukushima

Yet here in contrast is a quote which just about says it all.

‘Although the conservation of nuclear industry buildings presents obvious problems, it may be wondered whether future generations will be pleased at the loss of so many pioneering pieces of technology.’*

Though it is a very different heritage which worries me.

It’s what the nukiller industry now refers to as ‘legacy waste’.


* Taken from the section about Sellafield in

Hyde, M  & Pevsner, N

Cumbria

Cumberland, Westmorland, and Furness.

Continue reading Here In Contrast

What Next For New Build ?

Here is a thought or two about nukiller new build.

Looking at all the companies & countries which want to do it we find: –

– EDF has suspended all work on its planned Hinkley C nukiller plant.

That goes hand in hand with the companies financial crisis.

– The Chinese stock market is falling, and so they might have to re-finance what they are doing.

– While Toshiba has just taken a two to three Billion Dollar loss.

That follows on from the companies earlier financial scandals.

All of which make me wonder just what the future will hold for these companies, and whether they are really willing to chance their money in such investments.

At this stage all we can do is specular upon just how this will play out over the next year to eighteen months.

Have Leaflets – Do Travel.

One of the joys of campaigning is that it does get one out of the house.

Over the last 2 years I have been on anti-nukiller-power demonstrations and leafleting sessions at the following places:-

– Carlisle.

– Capenhurst.

– Chester

– Crewe

– Heysham.

– Kendal.

– Outside of the Japanese Embassy.

– Preston.

– Warrington.

– Whitehaven.

&

– Wigan

That’s aside from various meetings about the issue in Liverpool & Manchester.

Plus the Fukushima day marches – of course.

That list of locations will be growing in the next few months.

Remodelling The Campaigning Model

“I shall continue to be an impossible person so long as those who are now possible remain possible.” ― Mikhail Bakunin

The Current Situation

One of the things I keep repeating is something which seems very obvious to may activists.

We have reached the tipping end of Climate Change, and there is very little we can do except to try to mitigate the most extreme aspects of that change.

The Pacific is dying.

&

We have a major long term problems with nukiller power & nukiller waste.

Yet the number of activists who are campaigning to stop these problems is extremely small.


Countering the campaigning myth.

One of the continual myths that abounds is that we can change things by organising big national demonstrations, lots of nonviolent direct action, and building a mass movement.

I’ve heard the same thing said many a time, and then watched people fall away with burnout, while stating that they need to ‘take a rest for a while’.

Thus campaigning goes in waves of activities, while the latest political crisis diverts a lot of individuals attention from these issues.

Yet the dangers posed by global warning, nukiller power, and radioactive waste grow by the hour.

Having regular rests might be good for the individual activists, but it’s not good for the those activists who keep going hour by day by month by year by decade on end. [ That comes with a financial and emotional cost which I’ll not go in to right now.]

For the long term activists it’s not just a question of keeping up with the issue, as the nukiller industry is multifaceted, but constantly working to share that knowledge.

Thus the best campaigners need have to a wide ranging knowledge of different subjects, be multi-skilled, and possess the ability to keep summing up that knowledge in different ways.

Just doing that while organising very small actions is the very most which most long term activists can hope to achieve.

This is particularly so as there are just not the numbers to sustain anything else.

Thus the line about ‘direct action is the only way’ becomes more of a chant than the reality.

Just keep in mind that:-

– Long term campaigning means we have to transcend both class and culture.

– Long term campaigning means constant self-education.

– Long term campaigning means just that.

– Long term campaigning means constantly campaigning for years on end without a break.

Constantly campaigning is the name of the game.


Just How do we do it?

The reality for most campaigning groups is that everything comes down to a few activists.

So:-

– How do we get away from only ever being able to organise regular pickets or leafleting sessions which just consist of 2,3, or 4 people ?

– How do we get away from meetings or public meetings at which we are only a small group of committed individuals ?

– How do we keep campaigning for years on end with little or no support?

&

Most importantly of all.

– How do we motivate people in to action ?

There are no easy answers to these questions.


A few workable options.

My thinking is that there is just not the money, people, or the resources around to think about any major national events.

Yet we can do the following:-

– Make sure to get to any pickets of demonstrations by other groups which are going on within the area or region one is living in.

– Hold more co-ordinated demonstrations or pickets on set dates.

e.g. During the next DRS open day will be held at their Carlisle depot on July 18th.

– Have more nukiller waste train leafleting sessions which are held at those times when regular commuters go through the effected stations.

That in turn could be used as a pre-requisite to setting up more local anti-nukiller groups.

– Encourage activists from other local groups to come visit & find out more about our own nukiller plants.

This is something which will both widen our knowledge base, and help to build support for each other.

For example: –

It would be very useful for more activists to go see all of those plants which will be effected by rising sea levels, such as Sizewell, Dungeness, & Heysham.

Or

Capenhurst & all those places through which Uranium Hex is transported.

&

– Getting away from thinking about supporting those these groups which have paid fund-raisers.

The real need is to pay for the leaflets which are handed out by activists, and getting people to these protests on a regular basis.

That means making a few small regular donations to cover paper, ink, and train fares.

All of this might not seem like such,

but it is a very basis need if we are ever going to sustain any long term anti-nukiller campaigning.


Re-penning the campaigning manuals.

As a last observation.

Many of these issues are just not covered in most campaigning manuals.

The presumption being that each campaign has an easily defined time scale.

Yet this does not apply to nukiller power, as we need to look at the many year which they will be around, and the long term impact they will make.

Even if we stop new build and close down all the nukiller plants in one go, then there will still be the decommissioning and radioactive waste issue which will need to be addressed.

There is real need for campaigning manuals to examine just how we might support long term campaigning, and thus how best to work in mixed aged groups.

Imagine

Imagine a world in which shops and restaurants have to hold a special licence in order to sell meat or fish for people to eat.

Imagine a world in which there are next to no shops or restaurants which sell meat or fish for people to eat.

Imagine a world in which people regard the raising and killing of animals to eat as being a totally barbaric activity.

Imagine a world in which so few people eat fish, that there are no more fishing fleets, as it has become totally uneconomic for them operate.

Imagine a world in which the manufactures of fishing equipment, and the shops which used to sell such items have become bankrupt, as no one engages in such activities.

Imagine a world in which all forms of hunting do no need to be outlawed, because everyone regards such activities as both totally degenerate and utterly barbaric.

Imagine a world in which photographs of meat, or the preparation of meat, is restricted to films & publications for the over 18s, and only if the covers of these items have a BIG NOTICE warming people that they contain very emotionally upsetting images.

Imagine a world in which no one writes cook books with meat or fish dishes in them.

Imagine all of the above, as it’s the sort of world I would like to live in.

Two More Nukiller Disasters In The Making

Here are two news stories which make me worry that there are a lot more nukiller problems in the making.

Cumbrian nuclear dump ‘virtually certain’ to be eroded by rising sea levels

Although this will come as no surprise to anyone who has ever studied any of the current or historical maps of the area.

Tepco’s frugality rapped after 48,000 PCs found running Windows XP

Within this news story it states that:- ‘Microsoft stopped providing security updates and technical support for Windows XP last year, aggravating concerns about cybersecurity.’

Which leaves me wondering just how many other nukiller reactors are run on this dodgy Mircosoft system ? ? ?

The Political Kipper Season

The Political Kipper Season has now arrived for the British Press.

Yes it’s Election time.

So don’t expect to read much more than what various politicians are trading as insults, one to the other, for the next four weeks.

Yet what’s the point in voting when
We Have No Say in Many of the Decisions Which Effect Our Lives?

So here are six reasons why I don’t vote, have never voted, and will never vote in any government or local government election: –

– The unelected House of Lords.

– The City of London Corperation, or last rotten borough.

This is where any company which operates in the city can get to vote, and vote again.

– The unelected and overpriced monarchy.

– The Greater London Council which was aboblished in 1986.

To misquote the old saying:-
When voting changed the system, then the System was Aboblished.

– The various unaccountable multinations,
such as the banks, and mining companies.

&

– How we now have no say as to just where nukiller waste will be dumped.

To quote Pierre-Joseph Proudhon: –

‘To be governed is to be watched over, inspected, spied on, directed, legislated at, regulated, docketed, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, assessed, weighed, censored, ordered about, by men who have neither the right, nor the knowledge, nor the virtue.

… To be governed is to be at every operation, at every transaction, noted, registered, enrolled, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorized, admonished, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under the pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be placed under contribution, trained, ransomed, exploited, monopolized, extorted, squeezed, mystified, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, despised, harassed, tracked, abused, clubbed, disarmed, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and, to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, outraged, dishonoured.

That is government; that is its justice; that is its morality.’