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A legend in her lifetime
This week’s Nuclear Hotseat with Libbe HaLevy features an extended interview with Dr. Helen Caldicott. Writes HaLevy: “Dr. Helen Caldicott has probably done more to make the public around the world aware of the dangers of nuclear weapons, nuclear war, nuclear reactors and the entire nuclear fuel chain than any other individual in history. During…
Read MoreMajority of countries want a nuclear ban
Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, with its attendant nuclear risks, a majority of the world’s countries have reaffirmed their support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), writes the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. The TPNW entered into force last year and makes nuclear weapons illegal under international…
Read MoreFrance restarts coal plants as cracking nuclear fleet drives a crisis
In response to an emerging electricity shortage this winter, France is restarting permanently closed coal-fired electricity plants. France’s energy crisis is part of a broader predicament across Europe ignited by sanctions against Russia for its invasion of sovereign Ukraine. Russia cut off its natural gas pipeline to France on June 15, 2022. But France now…
Read MoreVirtual Teach-In on the Current Nuclear Crisis, Thursday, October 27, 7 to 9pm ET
Vasily Arkhipov Day: After 60 Years, The Nuclear Threat Returns A Virtual Teach-In on the Current Nuclear Crisis, Thursday, October 27, 7 to 9pm Thursday, October 27 marks the 60th anniversary of the day Vasily Arkhipov (pictured above) single-handedly saved the world from nuclear annihilation. Off the coast of Cuba, the US Navy was attacking…
Read MoreDirty bombs and Ukraine’s reactors
Beyond Nuclear today issued a press release as a reminder to media that nuclear power plants are inherently dangerous pre-deployed nuclear weapons. The possibility that nuclear reactor sites in Ukraine — and specifically the radioactive dry storage casks — might be used as “dirty bombs”, sends a clear message that nuclear power is a far…
Read MoreSchool contaminated by atomic bomb waste
Jana Elementary in the suburbs of St. Louis, is a majority minority school. It is also contaminated by radionuclides left over from a nearby WWII atomic weapons facility operated by Mallinckrodt Chemical Works. The school sits in the floodplain of Coldwater Creek, which itself was contaminated. Samples collected just outside and inside the school found…
Read MoreUranium exports fuel Russian war
Ironically, some of the finances fueling Russia’s war on Ukraine are coming from the very countries that decry Russia’s invasion. European Union countries continue to purchase Russian raw uranium and nuclear fuel for their nuclear reactors — to the tune of almost $455 million a year if Kazakhstan is included — funds that in turn…
Read MoreNo real nuclear backtrack in Germany
The headlines were all about Germany’s decision to extend the life of its last three nuclear reactors into mid-April to meet winter energy shortages brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But what German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, actually did — and said — sounded quite a different note. “On April 15, it’s over for nuclear…
Read MoreEver worse at Zaporizhzhia
The six-reactor Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian forces since March 4, is now within the regions “annexed” by Russia and under martial law. An already perilous situation is now even worse. Surrounding countries are taking this seriously. We’ve been warning of this danger since before the Russian invasion. And yet, insanely, “new” nuclear…
Read MoreOnly a ban can save us
Two years ago, October 24th 2020, the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was ratified by the 50th member nation and thus qualified for implementation as international law. To mark this anniversary, Libbe HaLevy’s Nuclear Hotseat is revisiting an interview recorded at that time with Ray Acheson, an organizer, activist, writer and Director of…
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