France: Macron unveils nuclear doctrine, warns EU ‘cannot remain spectators’ in arms race

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday unveiled his nuclear doctrine advocating a more coordinated European Union defence strategy in which France, the bloc's only post-Brexit nuclear power, and…

Read more at :
https://www.france24.com/en/20200207-macron-unveils-nuclear-doctrine-warns-eu-cannot-remain-spectators-in-arms-race

‘EU wants to become a nuclear power’ - by Marco Giannangeli

President Trump has urged all Nato member states in Europe to follow the US example and spend four per cent of GDP on defence.

Britain’s departure from the EU next year will leave France as the only nuclear power.

President Macron’s comments came after six months of intense debate and it was raised in February by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Poland’s former prime minister and now head of its ruling party.

And German foreign policy spokesman Roderich Kiesewetter said: “If the United States no longer wants to provide this guarantee, Europe still needs nuclear protection for deterrent purposes.

‘
Read more: EU wants to become a nuclear power’ | World | News | Express.co.uk

North Korea: The US Has to Accept North Korea as a Nuclear Power - by Alon Ben-Meir

Although President Trump is not responsible for the complete failure of the U.S. to stop North Korea from becoming a nuclear power, his bellicose threats against North Korea and the acceleration of Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear program have dangerously increased regional tension.

The conflicting messages emerging from the White House, the lack of coordination with the Department of Defense and the absence of effective diplomacy point to a total lack of a coherent strategy to deal with North Korea.

It is time for the United States to accept the reality that North Korea is a nuclear power.

Read more: The US Has to Accept North Korea as a Nuclear Power - The Globalist

Belgium - Nuclear P)ower Plants: Belgium's ageing nuclear plants worry neighbours

As the two cooling towers at Belgium's Doel nuclear power belch thick white steam into a wintry sky, people over the border in the Dutch town of Nieuw-Namen are on ed

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-01-belgium-ageing-nuclear-neighbours.html#jCp

As the two cooling towers at Belgium's Doel nuclear power belch thick white steam into a wintry sky, people over the border in the Dutch town of Nieuw-Namen are on edge.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-01-belgium-ageing-nuclear-neighbours.html#jCp

They are part of a groundswell of concern in the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg over the safety of Belgium's seven ageing reactors at Doel and at Tihange, further to the south and east.
"I'm happy Holland, Germany and Luxembourg are reacting because they (officials) don't listen to you and me," butcher Filip van Vlierberge told AFP at his shop in Nieuw-Namen, where people can see the Doel plant.
Benedicte, one of his customers, nodded in agreement.
Van Vlierberge said he was particularly uneasy with the Belgian government's decision in December to extend the lives of 40-year-old reactors Doel 1 and Doel 2 until 2025 under a deal to preserve jobs and invest in the transition to cleaner energy.
"I'm concerned they are too old," he said.
Belgium's creaking nuclear plants have been causing safety concerns with its neighbours for some time now after a series of problems ranging from leaks to cracks and an unsolved sabotage incident.
Luxembourg's sustainable development minister Camille Gira is due in Belgium on Monday to raise his concerns.


Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-01-belgium-ageing-nuclear-neighbours.html#jCp

As the two cooling towers at Belgium's Doel nuclear power belch thick white steam into a wintry sky, people over the border in the Dutch town of Nieuw-Namen are on edge.

They are part of a groundswell of concern in the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg over the safety of Belgium's seven ageing reactors at Doel and at Tihange, further to the south and east.

"I'm happy Holland, Germany and Luxembourg are reacting because they (officials) don't listen to you and me," butcher Filip van Vlierberge told AFP at his shop in Nieuw-Namen, where people can see the Doel plant.

Benedicte, one of his customers, nodded in agreement.

Van Vlierberge said he was particularly uneasy with the Belgian government's decision in December to extend the lives of 40-year-old reactors Doel 1 and Doel 2 until 2025 under a deal to preserve jobs and invest in the transition to cleaner energy.

"I'm concerned they are too old," he said.

Belgium's creaking nuclear plants have been causing safety concerns with its neighbours for some time now after a series of problems ranging from leaks to cracks and an unsolved sabotage incident.

Luxembourg's sustainable development minister Camille Gira is due in Belgium on Monday to raise his concerns.

As the two cooling towers at Belgium's Doel nuclear power belch thick white steam into a wintry sky, people over the border in the Dutch town of Nieuw-Namen are on ed

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-01-belgium-ageing-nuclear-neighbours.html#jCp

Read more: Belgium's ageing nuclear plants worry neighbours

Middle East: Israel nuclear program remains unsupervised

Israel persistently refuses to sign the NPT while the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regulations require all countries with nuclear energy to be committed to the NPT. The question here is to know why the Zionist regime is reluctant to accept IAEA monitoring of its nuclear activities.

Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons; however, Israeli officials have yet to acknowledge Tel Aviv’s nuclear arsenal.

The Israeli nuclear program started in 1956 following a pact signed between Paris and Tel Aviv. The pact required France to establish nuclear arsenal without any restrictions for the Zionist regime. France was also committed to erecting a plutonium separation factory which set the stage for the military aspects of Israel’s nuclear program.

In 1958, Israel built the Dimona reactor. In a bid to shift public attention away from this arsenal, Israeli officials first claimed they were building a textile factory. But not long after, The New York Times disclosed the identity of this nuclear reactor in December 1960. Israel’s then prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, admitted before Knesset that the Zionist regime was building a nuclear arsenal.  

In 1967, then US President Richard Nixon and then Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir agreed on a secret pact which required Israel to never unveil its nuclear strength in return for the US’s ignorance of the Zionist regime’s atomic power.

Having adopted this policy of nuclear ambiguity, Israel refuses to sign any treaty and continues proliferation of its nuclear weapons without any international control. In 1998, then Israeli prime minister, Shimon Peres, acknowledged that Israel is a nuclear power, Peres meant Israel owned nuclear weapons and reactor.

Israeli nuclear activities were mainly leaked by the whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu, who was a former Israeli nuclear technician in the Negev research center.

Also known as John Crossman, Vanunu revealed in 1986 details of Israel's nuclear weapons program to the British press. He was handed down spent 18 years in prison and served more than 11 years in solitary confinement. He was released from prison in 2004, but was subject to a broad array of restrictions.

In 2006, Israel’s then prime minister Ehud Olmert’s interview on Germany’s N24 television channel dispelled any doubt about the nuclear activities of Israel. Olmert said in the interview that Israel aligned itself with China, Russia and the US in terms of nuclear strength.  

Read more: PressTV - Israel nuclear program remains unsupervised

Nuclear Power - the Netherlands: Support for development aid and nuclear power continues to shrink

Only 22% of the Dutch population thinks more money should be spent on development aid, compared with 50% in 2006, the national statistics office CBS said on Friday.

The contrast is clearest within the two coalition parties. Just 7% of the right-wing VVD say more money should go to aid projects, compared with over 30% of Labour voters.

The new coalition agreed to slash the aid budget by €1bn from next year, taking the Netherlands below the UN target of 0.7% of GDP.

The new CBS survey also shows just 20% of voters favour building more nuclear power stations. In 2010, one third of the population backed an expansion of nuclear power.

The figures are contained in the latest CBS voter survey, which canvassed public opinion on the big issues shortly after the general election.

Read more: DutchNews.nl - Support for development aid and nuclear power continues to shrink

Wind energy blowing away nuclear power

Wind energy supplies 3 percent of global electricity needs and will soon supply more electricity than nuclear power. In 2011, some 50 billion euros were invested in wind, leading some to say it's cheap and creates jobs.

Wind energy is booming and it is gaining in significance worldwide. It supplies some 20 percent of electricity in Spain and Denmark as well as about 10 percent in Germany. By 2020, the share of wind energy will have risen to between 20 percent and 25 percent in Germany, according to estimates.

Last year, new wind power plants with a total capacity of some 40 gigawatts (GW) were installed worldwide, according to the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA). This puts wind energy's global capacity at 237 GW by the end of 2011- the equivalent of what some 280 nuclear power plants generate. Currently, there are some 380 nuclear power plants producing electricity worldwide.

Read more: Wind energy blowing away nuclear power | Environment | DW.DE | 22.04.2012

Berlusconi woes mount as Italians say ‘no’ to nuclear

Analysts say early indications point to a heavy defeat for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in referendums on nuclear power, water privatisation and trial immunity for government ministers.

The opposition initiated the polls which propose to overturn legislation passed by the government. The turnout of around 57 per cent is more than the 50 per cent required to validate the result.

One voter said “as far as nuclear power is concerned, I voted yes to the cancellation, because we can use alternative forms of energy.”

For more: Berlusconi woes mount as Italians say ‘no’ to nuclear | euronews, world news

Italy shelves nuclear plans after Japan quake

Italy's government proposed on Tuesday to shelve indefinitely its nuclear plans following radiation leaks at Japan's nuclear plant.

The government presented an amendment to legislation under consideration in the Senate that would call off plans to find, build and activate nuclear plants in the country. The amendment says the government plans to define a new energy strategy instead.

Economic Development Minister Paolo Romani said the leaks at Japan's Fukushima plant had changed everything and that Italy was merely taking the same steps as Germany and others in altering energy strategies following the disaster.

For more: The Associated Press: Italy shelves nuclear plans after Japan quake

Quake-prone Turkey should drop nuclear

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said plans for a Russian-built plant on Turkey's Mediterranean coast and a second one for its Black Sea coast, which is under discussion with Tokyo Electric Power Co and Toshiba, won't be affected by the risk of a natural disaster like the earthquake that struck Japan.

For more: Greenpeace: Quake-prone Turkey should drop nuclear | Reuters