NukeNews No. 28 - ENGLISH

************************************************************ *    NukeNews #28 - Anti-Nuclear Information Service      * ************************************************************ -- 0. Preface -- Big apologies to you for this newsletter reaching you with so much delay! Despite the delay, we hope you will find the messages we share here useful! If you want to support our information work, send us your anti-nuclear news and updates in the required format as explained in the footer section of this email. Besides, we need to inform about our updated privacy policy due to European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in force since May 2018. We inform you on our website what data we receive and how it is processed as well as about your rights concerning that: http://www.nuclear-heritage.net/index.php/Nuclear_Heritage:Privacy_policy By using our services you agree with this policy. However, you can at any time unsubscribe the newsletter if you don't accept the processing of data. -- Outline of the current NukeNews issue #28 -- 0. Preface 1. Final repository plans in Sweden failed 2. International Anti-nuclear Summer Camp 2018 3. News about nuclear power in California 4. When will the Czech Republic wake up from dreams of nuclear reactors? 5. Nuclear waste: Unwanted legacy of nuclear power 6. NEC 2018 report 7. Polish atomic developments update 8. Walkatjurra Walkabout against uranium mining in Australia needs support 9. Japan Olympics 2020 - oppression of critics of contamination 10. UK nuclear industry has a sinking feeling 11. Upcoming events 12. About NukeNews -- 1. Final repository plans in Sweden failed -- After five weeks of reviewing the Swedish final disposal plans for high level active waste (HAW) in the Swedish Land and Environmental Court (MMD), the judges' conclusions were published in the end of January 2018: They recommended the government not to issue the operator SKB (Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company) a license for their proposed underground repository 500 meters underground in Forsmark, on the coast north of Stockholm. However, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) stated to the government they support the application of SKB. It is unique that two governmental bodies land on totally different opinions. Read the complete article: http://www.nuclear-heritage.net/index.php/Final_repository_plans_in_Sweden_failed -- 2. International Anti-nuclear Summer Camp 2018 -- From 6th-12th of August we participated in another Nuclear Heritage Network Gathering, this time in Southern France near Narbonne. Between 100-120 participants came from 17 nations for a week of international knowledge exchange and experience sharing. The organizing group was composed by independent anti-nuclear activists from different countries across the world. We wanted to organize this gathering to provide a lot of space for international networking, share of knowledge and experiences and extend of knowledge about anti-nuclear topics, which was filled with more than 25 lectures or workshops, a few small actions, an excursion to the Malvesi atomic plant area, four music performances and two film screening evenings. A main topic was the uranium conversion facility of the company Orano (formerly Areva) in Narbonne-Malvési. We wanted to focus on this topic because we think it is important to support the local groups and to share knowledge about developments in uranium conversion processes like the disposal of radioactive waste. Connected to that was the issue of transportation of uranium and other radioactive materials, and radioactive waste including safety issues. Learn more: http://www.nuclear-heritage.net/index.php/International_Anti-nuclear_Summer_Camp_2018 -- 3. News about nuclear power in California -- California's Public Utilities Commission announced that the Diablo Canyon nuclear facility, the state's last operating reactors would be closed down at the end of its current license period in 2024-25, and possibly sooner if the facility's finances or safety issues suggest earlier closure. The same agency also returned over $873 million to ratepayers as part of the closure of San Onofre in Southern California in 2013. Protests continued around onsite storage of spent nuclear fuel at the former site which has many active faults close by. -- 4. When will the Czech Republic wake up from dreams of nuclear reactors? -- The Czech Republic's energy security requires a new energy policy with an emphasis on the still untapped potential of energy efficiency and the necessary continuation of the development of renewable energy sources. The fulfillment of a number of obligations of today's rapidly obsolete State Energy Policy has been delayed for years. The fundamental deficiency of plans for building new reactors is the high investment costs – direct/indirect and current/future. Read the complete article: http://www.nuclear-heritage.net/index.php/When_will_the_Czech_Republic_wake_up_from_dreams_of_nuclear_reactors%3F -- 5. Nuclear waste: Unwanted legacy of nuclear power -- Like other countries that chose to generate electricity in nuclear reactors, the Czech Republic is facing the problem where to put the spent nuclear fuel. The dreams of its reuse as a raw material have gone up in smoke, so the world is burdened every year with thousands of tonnes of this highly dangerous waste, which has to stay isolated from the biosphere safely for hundreds of thousands of years to come. But who would want such a "neighbor"? Various European countries have differing attitudes to finding the solution. The objective of the international conference NEC 2018 "Nuclear waste: Unwanted legacy of nuclear power" was to discuss, in the presence of international and Czech experts, the options of finding a solution to the nuclear waste problem without restricting citizens’ rights to defend their interests and those of future generations. Read more: http://www.nuclear-heritage.net/index.php/Nuclear_Energy_Conference_2018 -- 6. NEC 2018 report -- The conference was loaded with information on the management of spent nuclear waste and its deep storage. 116 participants from 12 countries were then able to compare the new concept of Germany and other countries with the attitude of Czech governmental authorities. This is a very hot topic in the Czech Republic, as the decision on the selection of four most convenient sites for the repository out of the nine potential ones should be made this year. Brief speeches by participants from Eastern Europe completed the information at the end of the conference. Browse through the presentations online or you can contact the speakers. You can get a feeling of the conference atmosphere in the photogallery. Find more: https://nec2018.eu/en/ -- 7. Polish atomic developments update -- No major promise from the Polish Ministry of Energy (MoE) related to the nuclear policy has materialized since they were constantly being made during the FY2017 H2 period: it has not submitted the revision of the principal nuclear program (PNEP) of 2014 to the government. Its preparation has been further delayed, and now MoE says that it should be announced "before mid-2018", so six months later then the ministry had been claiming by end-2017. Read more: http://www.nuclear-heritage.net/index.php/Polish_atomic_developments_update -- 8. Walkatjurra Walkabout against uranium mining in Australia needs support -- When this message reached us, the Walkatjurra Walkabout had survived the first ten days of walking with Traditional Owners to protect country, despite freezing overnight temperatures and long hot days. This report shares an impression of the walk and finally asks for your support. Read the complete story: http://www.nuclear-heritage.net/index.php/Walkatjurra_Walkabout_against_uranium_mining_in_Australia_needs_support -- 9. Japan Olympics 2020 - oppression of critics of contamination -- On 6th of August, remembrance day of the atomic bombing on the Japanese town of Hiroshima, activists informing about the impacts of the bomb and the ongoing damage caused by the nuclear disaster in Fukushima have been faced with oppression by the local Hiroshima police, one activist being arrested on trumped-up charges. Learn more: http://www.nuclear-heritage.net/index.php/Japan_Olympics_2020_-_oppression_of_critics_of_contamination -- 10. UK nuclear industry has a sinking feeling -- Officially the UK nuclear industry is going ahead with building a new generation of power stations. But it can’t find anyone to pay for them. The future of the UK nuclear industry looks increasingly bleak, despite the Conservative government’s continued insistence that it wants to build up to 10 new nuclear power stations. Read the complete article: https://www.nuclearconsult.com/blog/uk-nuclear-industry-has-a-sinking-feeling/ -- 11. Upcoming events -- Feel free to send us your local and international events for the large upcoming events collection on Nuclear Heritage Network website, and for this extract in the NukeNews! http://upcoming.nuclear-heritage.net 29/11/18-12/12/18: International Uranium Film Festival in the American Southwest (USA) 26/04/19:         Nuclear Energy Conference with focus on NPP lifetime extension in Linz (A) 30/05/19-10/06/19: Kulturelle Landpartie in Wendland region (D) fall 2019:        Anti-nuclear World Social Forum in Madrid (E) http://uraniumfilmfestival.org/en/2018-uranium-film-festival-in-the-american-southwest http://upcoming.nuclear-heritage.net https://www.kulturelle-landpartie.de -- 12. About NukeNews -- NukeNews is a multilingual newsletter system of the Nuclear Heritage Network. It reflects the activities, topics and struggles of anti-nuclear activists connected through this international community. The messages are written and translated by activists, additionally to their usual anti-nuclear activities. The newsletter aims to inform and update as well activists as the interested audience. Your contributions to the NukeNews are welcome! Send them via email to "newsletter AT nuclear-heritage DOT net". The text should be very brief and in English. Please don't make it longer than one paragraph. We need a concise headline for your article, and you can add a link to a webpage providing more information. Deadline for the 29th issue of the NukeNews is 18th of January, 2019. Spread the word and learn more about the NukeNews: http://NukeNews.Nuclear-Heritage.NET