By David Swanson in World Beyond War – By the latest count, the nuclear agreement with Iran has enough support in the U.S. Senate to survive. This, even more than stopping the missile strikes on Syria in 2013, may be as close as we come to public recognition of the prevention of a war (something that happens quite a bit but generally goes unrecognized and for which there are no national holidays). Here, for what they’re worth, are 10 teachings for this teachable moment. There is never an urgent need for war. Wars are often begun with great urgency, not because there’s no other option, but because delay might allow another option to emerge.
By Pressimus – In more than 100 cities across the globe people rallied in support of the Iran nuclear deal, calling on the United States to give peace a chance. The #SupportIranDeal mobilization spanned continents as participants called for peace. The organizers said “Our aim is to make a video using the photos of our events around the world, and show our support for the agreement with Iran to the rest of the world because this deal is ours, that will empower us, and strengthen our elected officials to help the gradual reform we want for our country.” They went on to say “. . . there are proponents of war in the U.S. spending millions of dollars to kill this agreement. This deal is still fragile, this seed of reconciliation has to be protected until the day it spreads seeds of peace all over the region.”
By World Nuclear Industry Status Report – Japan without nuclear power for a full calendar year for the first time since the first commercial nuclear power plant started up in the country 50 years ago. Nuclear plant construction starts plunge from fifteen in 2010 to three in 2014. 62 reactors under construction—five fewer than a year ago—of which at least three- quarters delayed. In 10 of the 14 building countries all projects are delayed, often by years. Five units have been listed as “under construction” for over 30 years. Share of nuclear power in global electricity mix stable at less than 11% for a third year in a row. AREVA, technically bankrupt, downgraded to “junk” by Standard & Poor’s, sees its share value plunge to a new historic low on 9 July 2015—a value loss of 90 percent since 2007.
By Pepe Escobar in Asian Times – This is it. It is indeed historic. And diplomacy eventually wins. In terms of the New Great Game in Eurasia, and the ongoing tectonic shifts reorganizing Eurasia, this is huge: Iran — supported by Russia and China — has finally, successfully, called the long, winding 12-year-long Atlanticist bluff on its “nuclear weapons.” And this only happened because the Obama administration needed 1) a lone foreign policy success, and 2) a go at trying to influence at least laterally the onset of the new Eurasia-centered geopolitical order. So here it is – the 159-page, as detailed as possible, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA); the actual P5+1/Iran nuclear deal. As Iranian diplomats have stressed, the JCPOA will be presented to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which will then adopt a resolution within 7 to 10 days making it an official international document.
By Bruce K. Gagnon in Organizing Notes – Iran has reached an agreement to significantly limit its nuclear ability for more than a decade in return for lifting international oil and financial sanctions. The agreement is between Iran and Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United States, and the European Union. The deal would not have likely been possible without the active participation of the Russian Federation. Israel and Saudi Arabia will likely try to kill the deal as will the Republican led Congress in Washington. The US has long maintained that the Pentagon’s deployment of ‘missile defense’ (MD) systems into eastern Europe are not aimed at Russia but have been aimed at Iran’s nuclear potential. Of course this has always been nonsense but just for a moment let’s pretend it was true.
By Action Network – This is the final showdown to stop Congressional hawks from starting a war with Iran. The United States, Iran and five other world powers announced a historic deal to dramatically curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for easing international sanctions on Iran. Republican hawks are trying to sabotage the deal, put us back on the path to confrontation with Iran and start a war – but they can’t do it unless Democrats help them. We need to build an impenetrable firewall in Congress to prevent Congressional hawks from passing any legislation to kill the deal and putting us back on the path to confrontation and war. Tell members of Congress to go on record in support of the deal.
By Robert Kazel in Waging Peace – When Lee Butler looks back at his anti-nuclear efforts of the mid- to late-’90s, he views himself as a “reluctant activist.” The former commander in chief of U.S. strategic nuclear forces never felt comfortable fully allying himself with longstanding organizations that had waged the fight for nuclear abolition for many years already. To do so, he feared, would tarnish his reputation with elite decision-makers—government officials and military leaders. He felt his particular value to the cause of disarmament was as an expert who’d have access to the corridors of power in many countries, not as a radical peacenik. So Butler’s relationship with abolition groups was never uncomplicated, though he consistently lauded them for their patience and dedication.
A CAMPAIGN group have set up camp at the Blitzed Charles Church in protest of government spending on nuclear submarines. But despite using the bombed out shell for symbolic reasons, the peaceful group have been met with fierce opposition. Edmund Shillabeer, a city vet and Conservative councillor candidate, said the church is a “sacred” place and a “memorial to those who died during the Blitz”. “Having lived through the Blitz I think it is completely disrespectful,” he said. “No one should be in there.” The Trident Ploughshares group hope their protest will highlight the amount of tax payers’ money spent on the Trident submarine.
The Wall Street Journal cited senior administration officials as saying the Israeli espionage operation began soon after the US opened up a secret channel of communications with Tehran in 2012, aimed at resolving the decade-long standoff over Iran’s nuclear aspirations. The apparent decision by the White House to leak the allegations is the latest symptom of the growing gulf between Barack Obama’s administration and Binyamin Netanyahu’s government over the Iran talks, in which the Israeli leader suspects US officials of being ready to make too many concessions at the expense of Israeli security. Intelligence
The most controversial economic-development proposal in the history of this area may have just had its Elijah Harper moment. Brandishing a feather in her hand, Eileen Linklater announced her native band, Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, is against bringing radioactive waste to the Flin Flon region. “We don’t want (any) nuclear waste in our territory,” Linklater, a PBCN councillor, told officials studying the concept in May. To say PBCN’s opposition complicates the potential of nuclear-waste storage in Creighton, Flin Flon’s sister community just across the Saskatchewan border, is an understatement. Creighton (pop. 1,498) is involved in the early, learning phase with the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), which is mandated to find a site to stockpile Canada’s nuclear waste. The waste — spent nuclear fuel rods from nuclear power plants — will be buried about 500 metres underground in a highly secure repository. The geology of the chosen area must be sound, but just as importantly, surrounding residents must convincingly demonstrate they want the project. On that point, NWMO has placed heavy emphasis on the will of First Nations people, recognizing they have “unique status and rights,” says the agency’s website.
It is clear that Eastern Japan and Metropolitan Tokyo have been contaminated with radiation. Contamination of the soil can be shown by measuring Bq/kg. Within the 23 districts of Metropolitan Tokyo, contamination in the east part is 1000-4000 Bq/kg and the west part is 300-1000 Bq/kg. The contamination of Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine, is 500 Bq/kg (Ce137 only). West Germany after the Chernobyl accident has 90 Bq/kg, Italy has 100 and France has 30 Bq/kg on average. Many cases of health problems have been reported in Germany and Italy. Shinjuku, the location of the Tokyo municipal government, was measured at 0.5-1.5 Bq/kg before 2011. Kodaira currently has 200-300 Bq/kg contamination. I recommend all of you to watch the NHK program, “ETV special: Chernobyl nuclear accident: Report from a contaminated land”, which is available on Internet. I think it is important to acknowledge what people who visited Belarus and Ukraine, and heard the stories of the locals, have seen and felt there, and listen to those who served in rescue operations in Chernobyl in the past more than 20 years. Their experience tells them that Tokyo should no longer be inhabited, and that those who insist on living in Tokyo must take regular breaks in safer areas.
The idea of storing radioactive nuclear waste inside a hollowed-out salt cavern might look good on paper. The concept is to carve out the insides of the caverns, deep underground, then carefully move in the waste. Over time, the logic goes, the salt will move in and insulate the containers for thousands of generations. “The whole game is to engineer something that can contain those contaminants on the order of tens of thousands of years,” Tim Judson, the executive director of the Nuclear Information Resource Service (NIRS), told Truthout. NIRS is intended to be a national information and networking center for citizens and environmental activists concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation and sustainable energy issues, according to Judson. Salt-cavern storage was the plan for the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP), the world’s third-deepest geological repository, constructed and licensed to permanently dispose of radioactive waste for 10,000 years. The repository sits approximately 26 miles east of the town of Carlsbad in southeastern New Mexico. Since shipments began in 1999, more than 80,000 cubic meters and 11,000 shipments of waste have been transferred to WIPP.
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