https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/02/after-60-years-is-nu...

"As a nuclear technology, some will remain implacably opposed to fusion. While fusion reactions produce only harmless helium, the high-energy neutrons also ejected irradiate the walls of the reactor, leading to radioactive waste.

Again, the key is timescale, says Campbell. Waste from fission can remain radioactive for 250,000 years, making plans to store dangerous waste for many times longer than the whole of human civilisation speculative. In contrast, fusion waste will decay on the scale of decades. “Looking after the waste for 100 years is credible,” he says.

Fusion is also intrinsically safe, with the large meltdowns seen in fission accidents such as Fukushima and Chernobyl physically impossible. Part of the reason is the tiny amount of fuel in a fusion reactor at any one time and part is the temperamental nature of plasma, a boiling gas of ions and electrons. “If you lose control of the plasma, it doesn’t just sit there, it disappears like that,” says Campbell, clicking his fingers.

“After Fukushima, we thought we would be flushed down the toilet like all nuclear,” says Sabina Griffith, a communications manager at Iter. “But the opposite happened – governments thought if not fission, then what?”

“We are convinced we can deliver hundreds of megawatts through Iter,” up to 10 times more energy than is put in, says David Campbell, the director of science and operations at Iter (which means “the way” in Latin).

More than 200 smaller tokamaks have been built around the world and Campbell says the decades of physics and engineering that Iter is building on is a strong guarantee of success.

The site is a cathedral to the fusion dream: it spans the equivalent of 60 football fields and the reactor building will weigh 320,000 tonnes, all resting on rubber bearings in case of an unlikely, but not impossible, earthquake. The reactor itself will weigh 23,000 tonnes, three times more than the Eiffel Tower.

More than 2,800 tonnes of superconducting magnets, some heavier than a jumbo jet, will be connected by 200km of superconducting cables, all kept at -269C by the world’s largest cryogenic plant, which will pump 12,000 litres per hour of liquid helium.

Iter’s schedule is to create the first plasma in 2025, then start firing tiny 5mm frozen pellets of heavy hydrogen – deuterium and tritium – into the plasma and generating energy. Deuterium is easily refined from seawater and fuses with tritium, which is harvested from fission reactors but could be self-generated in Iter in future. The aim is to reach its maximum power output by 2035 and, if so, Iter will be the foundation of the first fusion power plants.

Bernard Bigot, the director general of Iter, is certain it will produce plentiful power, “but what is not granted so far is that this technology will be simple and efficient enough that it could be industrialised,” he says.

The point of Iter is finding out, says Bigot: “The world needs to know if this technology is available or not. Fusion could help deliver the energy supplies of the world for a very long time, maybe forever.”

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/sep/16/nuclear-power-plants-li...

"“Nuclear power should be kept open as an option – but there is a risk that it may not be able to keep the lights on and that it may not be the lowest-cost option,..”

"If the Lib Dems were to go so far as opposing atomic power again, it would mark a break in the pro-nuclear cross-party consensus of the three main parties.

Senior Lib Dems believe the party has an opportunity to seize the momentum on environmental issues, with Labour constrained on issues such as nuclear power because of its close association with trade unions.

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem MP and former energy minister who was pivotal in the party’s support for nuclear, said of the report: “It’s not about taking nuclear off the table. It’s responding to the evidence of the last two years.

“It’s a recalibration off the back of the fact nuclear is not proving to be a practical, affordable technology. It’s not saying never [to nuclear], but the costs are coming down fast with renewables.”

The report also backed an acceleration of renewable energy, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and greater flexibility of the energy system through storage and interconnectors with other countries.

The party accused the Conservatives of “unravelling” progress on climate change made by the Lib Dems during the coalition government years.

“What worries me about the Tories is they have taken CCS off table, they’re not pushing forward with renewables,” said Davey."

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/sep/18/most-britons-dislike-pr...

"Most small modular reactors (SMRs) would generate less than a tenth of the power the projected Hinkley Point C will provide, but are backed by industry as a cheaper option to big nuclear plants and an opportunity for British firms to be first in a new technology.

The government’s multimillion-pound competition to help build the first one in the UK has, however, been repeatedly delayed. Ministers are expected to lay out their intentions later this autumn.

Rolls-Royce, Britain’s leading multinational manufacturer, last week added to pressure on the government to give industry clarity on its plans for the mini nuclear power stations.

Harry Holt, the president of nuclear at Rolls-Royce, said: “With demand for energy set to rise in the near future, in part due to the growing popularity of electric cars, we believe that a UK SMR programme is a vital addition to our national infrastructure.”

The company predicted that once the reactor had been built, future ones could at some point after 2028 be built for a subsidy price of £60 per megawatt hour of power they supplied."

Best not mention the Decorative Lighting ...

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/environment/radiation-checks-on-shee...

Meanwhile heres a fella that knows about the after-effects of Chernobyl, worried sheep and the homeless.

Ooh arr ooh arrh

Selective scapegoat? And they wonder why ... oh why.

One that got away ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR3Vdo5etCQ

"Britain should offer developers of mini nuclear plants subsidies similar to those made available to the offshore wind industry, an independent review commissioned by the government has recommended.

Britain needs to invest in new power-generating capacity to replace ageing coal and nuclear plants that are due to close in the 2020s, and is seeking low-carbon options to help meet its emission reduction targets.

The government has been investigating whether mini nuclear plants – so-called small modular reactors (SMR) – could offer a solution, and whether the industry could help boost much-needed exports as Britain leaves the European Union.

"The government “should establish an advanced manufacturing supply chain initiative (as it did with offshore wind) to bring forward existing and new manufacturing capability”, said the report by the Expert Finance Working Group on Small Reactors.

Government support for offshore wind has enabled that industry to drive down costs, and reduce subsidies.

The report also said the nascent SMR industry could provide a boost for British manufacturing and exports.

“There is a real short-term opportunity for the UK as supply chains are yet to be established for small nuclear projects (unlike large nuclear with established supply chains largely outside the UK),” the report said.

Rolls-Royce, which hopes to build SMRs in Britain as part of a consortium, said the export market could be worth as much as £400bn.

SMRs use existing or new nuclear technology scaled down to a fraction of the size of larger plants and would be able to produce around a tenth of the electricity created by large-scale projects.

The mini plants, which could be deployed by 2030 according to the review, would be made in factories, with parts small enough to be transported on trucks and barges where they could be assembled much more quickly than their large-scale counterparts.

The energy minister Richard Harrington said the government would consider the review’s findings.

The review “recognises the opportunity presented by small nuclear reactors and shows the potential for how investors, industry and government can work together to make small nuclear reactors a reality,” he said.

Rolls-Royce has launched a bid to build SMRs as part of a UK consortium with Amec Foster Wheeler, Nuvia, Arup and Laing O’Rourke, with the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre.

Another group to express an interest is NuScale, majority owned by US group Fluor Corp."

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/07/uk-should-support-mi...

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/aug/11/homebase-to-review-sale...

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/aug/08/inside-ashgabat-the-flash...

lol

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-45143429/what-do-russia...

"As a scientifically impossible conspiracy theory linking the deployment of 5G radio antennas to the coronavirus pandemic refuses to go away, Sky News explains why it is nonsense.

According to the conspiracy theories the symptoms of COVID-19 are caused by electromagnetic radiation and not by a virus.

These claims have now been tied to dozens of attacks on telecommunications engineers and masts in the UK, even as information debunking such claims is widespread.

The conspiracy theorists say the coronavirus pandemic is an illness caused by exposure to radio emissions from the new 5G antennas - despite these antennas not being present in countries such as Iran, which has seen a deadly outbreak.

To support their claim, the theorists have pointed out that these antennas have continued to be deployed during the lockdown in the UK. They ask why network engineers aren't staying at home like everyone else.

This is because mobile network engineers are considered key workers maintaining critical national infrastructure. With so many of us working from home, it is crucial that telecommunications networks are functioning.

Sky News found groups on Facebook calling for the harassment of these engineers and celebrating criminal damage to the masts, with one post claiming "we are being murdered by the world government" - a common trope in conspiracy theories - and stating it is "time to fight or die".

In reality, the risks of electromagnetic radiation are known and understood by scientists, and so the power that telecommunications masts are able to broadcast at is tightly regulated.

Even though these protections are in place, some individuals have reported health problems which they claim are a result of being exposed to levels of radiation beneath these guideline figures.

As the World Health Organisation notes, studies on these individuals have consistently found they can't actually detect electromagnetic radiation any more accurately than individuals who don't claim to have a special sensitivity to it.

The WHO reports there are some indications these symptoms may be due to pre-existing psychiatric conditions, as well as stress reactions as a result of worrying about the health effects of exposure, rather than being exposed.

Even then, the way that 5G could harm the body (which it can't) simply doesn't match the symptoms which COVID-19 patients are experiencing.

How can electromagnetic radiation cause harm?

5G is using a new part of the electromagnetic spectrum, the portion from 22GHz to 86GHz - although much less than this is being used in the UK.

This radiation is incapable of breaking molecular bonds, knocking off electrons from atoms and causing the molecule to have an electric charge - which provoke the main health dangers associated with electromagnetic radiation.

The conspiracy theorists claim that 5G exposure leads to symptoms including nausea, hair loss, and bone marrow damage - as covered by Full Fact, the UK's independent fact-checking charity - which doesn't match-up with the symptoms of COVID-19.

These are, however, symptoms of radiation sickness, or acute radiation syndrome - almost exactly as would be described if someone performed a web search for "radiation sickness" rather than actually suffered from it.

Even so, radiation sickness cases are almost always tied to huge nuclear incidents, such as the atomic bombings in Japan or the Chernobyl disaster - with rare exceptions, such as the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko.

What are the symptoms of COVID-19?

The strain of the novel coronavirus, officially known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is believed to have emerged from a coronavirus in bats and crossed over to humans, potentially through an intermediate species, in late 2019.

Coronaviruses were named for the Latin word "corona", the origin of the English word "crown" - this refers to the appearance of the infectious virus under an electron microscope, shows spike proteins emerging from the cell envelope and looks a bit like a crown.

These spike proteins are molecules on the outside of the virus which it uses to grab hold of and penetrate the outer walls of human cells. Scientists have described these proteins as strong evidence the virus evolved organically and was not created in a laboratory.

Two key features of the spike proteins have allowed the virus to be so deadly - and also explain why the virus, and not radiation sickness, is responsible for the harm it causes.

The first is what's called the receptor-binding domain (RBD) which scientists describe as "a kind of grappling hook that grips on to host cells", while the second is known as the cleavage site, "a molecular can opener that allows the virus to crack open and enter host cells".

Once the virus is inside the host cell it can begin to replicate.

The viruses typically first enter the body through either the nose or throat - which is where symptoms such as a loss of smell and taste come from. If the immune system is unable to beat the virus back at this stage, it can then travel down the trachea and attack the lungs.

Because the lung's alveoli are lined with receptors that these spike proteins are designed to latch on to, they are particularly susceptible to the virus.

But here the fight between the virus particles and the immune system becomes dangerous. White blood cells fight the infection by dumping molecules called chemokines, magnets for other immune system cells which kill anything infected by the virus.

So many dead cells are left behind that the alveoli quickly fill up with pus and fluid, causing pneumonia in patients.

X-ray images and CT scans of coronavirus patients reveal how their lungs are being ravaged by the virus and filled with this sticky mucus that prevents them from inhaling because there is no space for air."

https://www.yorkshirecoastradio.com/news/national/3086622/coronavirus-th...

Erm ...

Not quite an independent review, is it?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52331534

"Much of the population is working from home and schools have closed, meaning home computers and televisions are busier than ever.

The highest peak is at lunchtime, when cooking is added to the power consumption of working from home.

But overall, the country is actually using less energy because of businesses being closed.

The National Grid reports that morning and afternoon electricity demand is down by nearly 20%. But most of that is due to lower demand from large, industrial users like factories.

At home, where individuals are paying, overall demand is up - and may reveal some details about our new habits."

lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OouTay_7_hw

Thou must not ...count

Glass half full ;-))

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTP_SdjD5ms

Oh, OK:

""It's been about six weeks from the beginning to this point right now for us, where it's essentially our lives turned around," he said. "Definitely scary and unsettling and nervous. And I think that's been like a real collected world experience.

"You know, everyone's sort of feeling the way we have been feeling, but it has definitely been sort of just a complete upheaval.""

Oh.

"Amateur astronomers could be in for a treat this week as shooting stars are set to light up the night sky - and some could even see fireballs during the first major showers since January.

The Lyrid meteor shower is a burst of activity which takes place annually - usually around mid to late April - and is associated with the Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, according to the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

The Lyrids appear to radiate close to the constellation Lyra and are bits of rock and dust left behind by the comet.

The shower is expected to peak on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, and there could be around 20 meteors an hour.

Experts also claim stargazers could see "occasional fireballs" that can be "bigger and brighter" than shooting stars, and last longer - "for between five and 10 seconds", as they say you could "blink and miss a meteor"."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcTU7H9YEwQ

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-52358920

"While not mentioning 5G by name, Icke referred to an "electro-magnetic, technologically generated soup of radiation toxicity" that he claimed had damaged old people's immune systems...

London Live is owned by the Russian businessman Evgeny Lebedev, who also owns the Evening Standard and Independent newspapers."