Martyn Lowe – Page 15 – The Project. Thoughts & ideas of a radical pragmatist

I Refuse To Be Intimidated

I keep getting increasingly threatening letters from the television licensing mob, who have now ‘opened an investigation’ on my flat, and will be around to see me in the next few weeks.

Nowhere in the legislation does it state one has to contact them if [ like me] one does Not Own a television, or any equipment capable of receiving a live television signal.

Thus I will continue to ignore them.

Yet they continue to treat me and many others I know as Guilty Until Proven Innocent.

Such letters as they send are both libellous, and show no understanding of the law.

I refuse to be intimidated by them.

No Cause For Alarm – Or Lets Not Worry, As It’s Party Time

Lethargy can cause more harm to the environment than most people ever realise.

In other words, we have so little time to do anything about it, that there is just no time to stop or rest.

Let’s just sum up the situation which faces us all: –

– The Pacific is dying.

– We are at the long predicted stage of tipping over climate change.

– The amount of nukiller waste is going to be polluting the planet for many thousand of years,

and still they want to build many new reactors.

As I keep saying: –

We have so much to do in order to stop this mess, that there is no time to party, or take time off during the gloom day period.

If more people were on the ball, then some of the nukiller industry PR propaganda would have been challenged in the way the closure of the Wylfa reactor was reported by the media.

While the other story which would of got more coverage is the one which slipped most people by, as it was announced on December 31^st.

‘The City regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has shelved plans for an inquiry into the culture, pay and behaviour of staff in banking.’

What more can I say ?

Atomic Issues.

A brief list of some of the issues which various campaigning groups are currently working on, or which relate to these concerns.

New Build.

– Moorside.

– Hinkley.

– Wylfa.

– Sizewell.

– Bradwell.

– Oldbury

– EDF.

– NuGen.

– Horizon (now 100% Hitachi owned)

Waste processing and storage.

– Sellafield [ Windscale ].

– New proposals for the medium and long term storage of radioactive waste.

– Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride [ Hex ].

Civil Liberties and Secrecy.

– The Civil Nuclear Constabulary.

– Official Secrecy.

Transport.

– Nukiller Waste trains

– DRS [ Direct Rail Services ] which have depots at Crewe and Carlisle.

– Advance Uranium Asset Management Ltd, which transports Hex by Road & Sea.

Sea Transport.

– James Fisher and Sons – Barrow.

– Bibby – Liverpool.

– ACL – Liverpool.

Uranium Mining.

– RTZ.

– BHP Billiton.

– Indigenous peoples and land rights.

– Mining Pollution.

Uranium Enrichment, and Fuel Fabrication.

– URENCO.

– Capenhurst.

– Springfields.

Rising Tides and the danger of existing plants being flooded.

– Dungeness.

– Hinkley.

– Heysham.

– Sizewell.

Ongoing Safety and Cost Issues.

– All of the above.

– DECC.

Supporting Campaigns in Other Countries.

– Japan.

– India.

– The USA.

– Australia.

– Canada.

– France.

Giving ‘One 2 One’ Background Briefings To Activists.

I’ve recently put together a 200 page binder file of notes, maps, illustrations, graphics, and photos, which cover all the main aspects of the nukiller power industry.

Amongst other things there is a lot of information about nukiller waste transport, URENCO / Capenhurst, Uranium Hex / Uranium Hex transport, etc, etc.

This file also includes some historical information about flood & storms around existing reactors, and the current flood maps which go along with them.

There are also various maps which show the location of various reactors in a number of countries, together with that of Uranium mines.

To back up all this information I also use the OS maps which show Hinkley, Sizewell, & Dungeness.

These are maps show exactly why these reactors are likely to be effected by storms and high tides.

This file is used both for any talks that which I might give, and as a way of giving ‘one 2 one’ background briefings to activists.

I’m very willing to go through it all with any activist who want to know the fuller picture, and has the time to do so.

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 7^{th .}

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.