Extinction
Radio – Sunday, 28 March, 2015
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Tuesday, 31 March 2015
The action of a police state
I wrote about what I regard as a False Flag on the same day that more damaging revelations about government spying by the GCSB on New Zealand's spying partners.
I still think it was primarlly about deflecting attention away from this, but it has also been used to try and put fear into a movement that opposes the use of a highly-toxic poison used to fight bovine tuberculosis in what is seen as a strategic industry.
Now tell me we don't have a fascist state (albeit one with, up-to-now, velvet gloves)
I still think it was primarlly about deflecting attention away from this, but it has also been used to try and put fear into a movement that opposes the use of a highly-toxic poison used to fight bovine tuberculosis in what is seen as a strategic industry.
Now tell me we don't have a fascist state (albeit one with, up-to-now, velvet gloves)
Anti-1080
activists raided by police, interrogated
1080
raid made pair 'feel like criminals'
Rolf
and Ute Kleine, of Takaka, say they were made to feel like terrorists
when police searched their home and business as part of an
investigation into a 1080 contamination scare.
A Takaka couple say they were made to feel like terrorists when police
searched their home and business as part of an investigation into a
1080 threat to dairy company Fonterra.
Rolf
and Ute Kleine, open anti-1080 activists, were eating breakfast at
their Pohara home on Wednesday when they saw four unmarked cars pull
into their driveway about 7am.
At
least 10 police officers got out of the cars and knocked on the door.
The
police officers, believed to be from Auckland, presented two search
warrants - one for their home and the other for their business,
Takaka Infusion, a vegetarian teahouse and bakery outlet.
The
warrants said police had reasonable grounds to suspect Rolf and Ute
of blackmail, a criminal offence, and that searches of their
properties would find evidence of this.
Rolf
and Ute were not allowed to leave the detectives' sight. Ute said a
police officer watched while she brushed her teeth.
They
were both taken to separate police stations for questioning - Rolf to
Motueka and Ute to Takaka.
"It
was all recorded and filmed and at the same time they searched the
shop and searched our home - everything - the computers, cellphones,
and they came up with questions in between," Rolf said.
"They
looked at everything that we Googled in the last five years."
Ute
said: "I was pretty nervous, of course, and shocked and
traumatised."
There
are good reasons why Rolf and Ute were questioned as part of the
police investigation into letters sent to Federated Farmers and
Fonterra in November threatening to contaminate milk products,
including infant formula, if New Zealand did not stop using 1080 by
the end of March.
In
2012, Rolf wrote three "strong" letters to Fonterra about
1080 pellets being dropped close to dairy farms in Golden Bay.
In
the letters he expressed concerns that milk products would be
contaminated.
However,
he signed the letters with his name, address and phone number and
printed them off for police two weeks ago.
The
Kleines are from Germany and police told them the threat letter
seemed as though it was written by someone with English as a second
language.
They
are also part of the Golden Bay anti-1080 group Beyond 1080 and voted
for the Ban 1080 Party at last year's election.
"I
fully understand that you have to investigate," Ute said.
However,
they have concerns about how police went about their business.
Rolf
was questioned for six hours and Ute for four. When they returned
home they said their veranda door was wide open, rubbish had been
tipped out on a benchtop, insulation had been
ripped
from a ventilation system and there were dirty boot prints all over
the floor.
The
search of their business meant they lost a day's income.
Ute
said the police officers were polite, but she felt disrespected.
"We
felt totally like criminals."
Rolf
said: "I really felt like a terrorist and it's such a bad
feeling. Really knowing you never did anything in your life and it's
enforced on you. It's really unbelievable. They could have done it in
a different way."
A
police spokesman said specific individuals or details of the
investigation would not be discussed.
"In
the course of a criminal investigation, police staff must act
professionally at all times and there is a clear expectation that
staff will act lawfully," he said in a written statement.
"If
any issues arise from this activity then there are a number of
avenues by which these concerns can be addressed."
Rolf
and Ute condemned the threat letters.
"We
think it's really awful. It's something really terrible and we feel
really how can you do that to parents as well," Rolf said.
"An
anti-1080 protester would never do it because everyone's pointing."
Ute
said that she was afraid that police were searching for someone to
blame.
Beyond
1080 spokeswoman Rebecca Reider said Rolf and Ute were some of the
"sweetest people in the world" and the way they were
treated by police was troubling.
"They
picked some of the nicest people in the world to paint as
terrorists," she said. "I just find it really unfortunate
that lovely people who have expressed a particular political opinion
in the past are now being treated as criminals."
Police target 1080 activists after contamination threat
Four
months after a threat was made to poison infant formula with 1080,
police have been targeting anti-1080 activists. Several in the Golden
Bay area have been questioned in the last week including Takaka
teashop owner Rolf Kleine and environmental scientist and anti 1080
activist
My comments -
I
looked up the Kleines on Google and could not find a single reference
to them outside of the two above reports. That showed me exactly how
'active' they have been. It seems they don't even bother expressing
their views on Facebook!
There
is no doubt that this is a complete false flag and if you want
to understand why this has been chosen - just think the word 'DAIRY'.
1080 is used to kill possums in the fight against bovine tuberculosis
as well as to protect our native bush.
It
is also extremely toxic for other species. If you own a dog on
the West Coast you run the very real risk that it might end up
dead from 1080 poisoning.
It
is almost an impossibility that anyone (if they indeed exist) could
get their hands on the stuff - we are not talking about the green
pellets - you don't put that into infant formula- but the
white powder that comes from the US. It is under incredible
security.
Listen
to the following comments.
The only people who could get 1080 pellets are Animal Control Products. There is tight security as 1080 is imported from Tull Chemical Company in Alabama, USA and goes to Animal Control Products in Wanganui, where they incorporate it into various baits, and there would be no power outside the factory. If there's 1080 powder it's an inside job
(NOTE - not an exact quote)
It
is no accident that Key, when interviewed on Radio New Zealand's
first reaction was "GCSB" and then, as an afterthought,
"tuberculosis...dairy". Not a thought about NZ's native
bush and birds - he doesn't give a shit about that!
"If you capitulated on the back of a threat like this where would it ever stop? Ultimately, the next issue would be that they don't like the GCSB or they don't like something else the government does...."
No
doubt about it. This was a false flag carried out by this government,
first - and - foremost to try and deflect attention away from
damaging revelations about government spying and secondarily, to have
a chilling effect on any dissent and opposition to anything that will
effect our dairy industry.
If
they are willing to suspend democracy in Canterbury, why wouldn't
they do this?
Monday, 30 March 2015
Yarosh: "The authorities are more afraid of the Right Sector than the seperatists"
Ukraine's
Right Sector
Leader Wants Donbas Residents Deported
Dmitri
Yarosh, Rada MP and leader of Ukraine's Right Sector, has declared
that the unruly residents of eastern Ukraine must be deported and
deprived of their civil rights before a program of 'affectionate
Ukrainianization' can begin.
29
March, 2015
In
an interview for Ukrainian newspaper Obosrevatel published on Sunday,
Ukrainian Right Sector leader and Rada deputy Dmitri Yarosh stated
that the unruly residents of eastern Ukraine should be deported and
deprived of their civil rights.
Yarosh
noted that much of Donbas is populated by 'Sovoks', an insulting
slang term in Ukrainian and Russian derived from the word 'Soviet'.
Yarosh stated that the region "is populated by Sovoks –real
Sovoks. And they should be deported. We have to deal with those who
do not want to live by the rules and the laws of the state in a very
harsh manner. This includes deportation, the deprivation of civil
rights, and so on. Without force, it will not be possible to do
anything with the region, to turn the tide so to speak."
The
Right Sector leader added that the region's "unruly"
residents must also be dealt with. "If we get rid of the unruly
ones, everything will be fine, quiet and peaceful. And then, of
course, a program of affectionate Ukrainianization can begin."
The MP noted that "spiritual rebirth" can begin only if
authorities act in a consistent and forceful manner.
Yarosh
cited Ukrainian authorities' response to events in Konstantinovka,
Donetsk, controlled by the Ukrainian military, where an inebriated
Ukrainian armored vehicle driver recently crashed into a crowd of
people and crushed and killed an eight-year-old girl in a hit and run
incident, leading to riots in the streets.
"The
events in Konstantinovka are an example of what I mean. If we had
shown even a little bit of weakness…Right from the beginning a
whole bunch of 'heroes' began crawling out of the woodwork, using the
tragedy in their own separatist interests. And when our guys came out
and began shooting into the air and arresting the instigators of
riots, everything ceased at once. This is the rule," Yarosh
explained.
The
MP noted that in his view, there are still many "real patriots"
of Ukraine in the region, and that the present anti-Kiev attitudes
are the result of many years of Russian propaganda and the removal of
genuinely Ukrainian spiritual values. Yarosh explained that the "guys
from Donetsk and Lugansk regions" fighting for the Ukrainian
army "should become the [new] elite, on whose basis a
qualitatively new society can be built…And those Vatnik [slang for
Russians blindly loving their country], criminal oligarchic attitudes
sitting in the minds of ordinary people for one reason or another
must be removed."
As
part of an effort to get the country's volunteer battalions under his
control, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko is said to have offered
Right Sector leader Dmitri Yarosh a post in the Ministry of Defense.
The
extreme nationalist leader noted that he has accepted the president's
invitation to come work in the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, adding
that he has chosen to do so on a volunteer basis.
Speaking
about the Ukrainian army's recent losses on the battlefield, Yarosh
recalled that "we faced a route near Ilovaisk…On the one hand,
we have learned to fight, with morale at a high level. But things are
very bad when a pride of lions is led by sheep. They cannot lead us
to victory, and only roll us back…Speaking about the current
situation on the front, our forces are still threatened by several
encirclements. And I don't know, again, whether the sheep will react
to this, or whether they are playing some sort of geopolitical game."
The
Right Sector is a far-right wing Ukrainian nationalist party. In
January and February of 2014, the movement's members participated
heavily in fighting with Ukrainian police in the streets of Kiev, and
in the capture of government buildings during the Euro-Maidan coup.
Since April, they have taken the lead in the crushing of protest
movements in eastern Ukraine, and enforcing the new order of the
revolutionary government. In addition, they have also been involved
in Kiev's military operation in Donbas. Right Sector's Ukrainian
Volunteer Corps includes two battalions operating in eastern Ukraine,
as well as eight reserve battalions throughout the rest of the
country.
In
November 2014, the Russian Supreme Court declared the Right Sector to
be an extremist organization, and its activity has been banned on the
territory of the Russian Federation. Earlier, in March, 2014, Russian
authorities issued an arrest warrant against Dmitri Yarosh for
incitement of terrorism, and for his organization's combat operations
in the First Chechen War against the Russian military.
Dmitry
Yarosh to Poroshenko: "We toppled Yanukovich, and can topple
you". Interview.
 |
29
March, 2015
Translated
by Kristina Rus
Our
conversation took place on the day the "Right Sector" was
ordered to leave the area of the ATO, and a new head of
administration was introduced in Dnepropetrovsk. The leader of the
"Right Sector" shared with us how he sees the situation,
and also spoke about the relationship with the authorities, the
future of the volunteer battalions, and much more.
About
the order to leave the area ATO
I
was preparing the draft laws on social protection of volunteers, but,
as far as I understand, the President put a stop to it. In my
opinion, Poroshenko does not understand still, what country he lives
in, does not understand the realities. I am not forcing events from
my side. And they are shaking the situation for some reason. Our
politicians who have become state officials, by circumstances, by the
will of the people, by
the blood that was spilled on the Maidan [did
not earn the power themselves, but were given the power by those like
Yarosh
- KR], in this war are too dependent on the opinions from abroad.
Putin, Merkel, Hollande.
They are given an algorithm of behavior,
and they will follow it. Even if it is at the expense of
national interests, even the sacred, the blood of the guys who died.
This is where it "shoots" from. [The
government betrayed the patriots, surprise - the "patriots"
served their role and are no longer needed, but they don't want
to step back -
KR]
I
realized this even at the airport. They begged me for a long time to
take the Right Sector out of there. When the fighting intensity came
down due to the "truce," which was quite ephemeral. At the
end of November I pulled the fighters. Often
my guys stopped the [UAF]
soldiers from running away and under a barrel of a gun simply did not
allow to give up the airport.
[This is a war of the "radical patriots" and not of the
people of Ukraine, and Yarosh doesn't get it, thinking most of them
are traitors of the motherland - KR] Twice
we were given the order to leave the airport.
As
soon as we left - the old terminal was surrendered. It became
clear that the new terminal is next - in a matter of time it will be
either captured or surrendered.
Although
we offered a lot of options. To move the firing positions outside of
its territory. To blow up the runway across, to dig a trench, 600
meters from the control tower, which we controlled. We went there
first, and then brought in the experienced soldiers. Captured the
height over the airfield. That is, we planned to fully capture it,
and under normal control and operations there would be no problems
with retaining this location. We even proposed to build a new
terminal!
They
looked at us, like... But it is very simple. Need shipping
containers, they are dug into the ground, filled with soil, even a
tank can't get them, it can be done in one day. They didn't agree to
anything. Now there is a [Right Sector] company in Shirokino, another
scandal began. I was already told that there is an order for the
withdrawal of troops of the Right Sector from Peski and Shirokino,
and anyway, we're represented across the entire front, I have
medical brigades and combat units. Many do not like it. Including
soldiers.
About
the relations with the army
When
our guys are under fire, they, as a rule, do not sit back and fire in
response. Mainly, we are in good relations with those brigades, with
which we fought before together [thats
it?
- KR]. But before the injury, when I was in Lugansk region,
near Schastje, drove the medics, we
were not accepted well...
But there the war is different than in Donetsk region. Checkpoints
are close to each other. They even go to visit each other (laughs).
Like it was in Afghanistan, when field commanders agreed among
themselves, existed peacefully. Until there was an incident when
national guardsmen on a jeep flew into a checkpoint to the other side
without stopping (were drunk), and they were shot. From our side they
began to pull APC's, to take them out, from that side they began to
pull the heavy weapons, and that's how it starts.
About
lawmaking, plans and relations with the authorities
I
want to introduce some bills, to form the armed forces under three
categories: conscripts, contractors and volunteers. To make
DUK [Volunteer Corps] a volunteer reserve, with its own area of
responsibility. One of the bills I have already registered. My
assistants betrayed me. Of course, changes will have to be made in
other legislation.
It
will be a natural relationship of the armed forces and volunteers. We
never subordinated to them. We initially established normal relations
with the main command. Only those suggestions that we have received
back in the spring... Initially, for example, agreed in the AP
[Presidential Administration], with Pashinsky that we will work under
the main directorate of intelligence. But in the Ministry of Defense,
they tell us: "Territorial defense" in God knows which
region. Wait, but we talked about something else?! "No, we'll
change it later..." Uh, no, guys, I say, I know your Ministry of
Defense, the bureaucracy, you will find any reason not to let us
fight. Had to refuse. And later there were many such proposals. To
join one brigade, then another. Everyone who wanted to go, went to
"Aidar", "Azov", UAF, we do not force anyone. But
there are people who don't believe the military commanders, and have
reasons not to believe. After Ilovaysk, Debaltsevo.
Now
I talk with the fighters, they ask: "Who are you leaving us to
rip us apart?" If they (the government - ed.) managed well, if
we had normal upgraded armed forces, with normal approach to staff,
there would be no need for any DUC, nor anything else. And what I
see, not in all, but in many units - no work with the staff. So that
a political officer would come, explained the political situation,
explained the motivation, why you are here, why to storm or to
protect an object, this doesn't happen. [Ukrainian
soldiers don't understand what they are fighting for, and Yarosh
wants to explain it to them - KR]
This is the Soviet
model,
they do not work. But we are doing everything according to NATO
standards.
The lack of bureaucracy gives full mobility. We
are not perfect, but much more efficient than today's regular army.
If only we had sufficient quantity of weapons, I think, we would
outnumber the armed forces (laughs). I know many, among the
commanders and fighters of armed forces of Ukraine, who would
immediately come to our side, if we were given weapons.
They
[the authorities] only can't understand one thing - they think that I
am competing with them for power. I don't need it at all!. If I
wanted power - I would have long started to work on that. All I want
is to win the war and to babysit grandchildren - nothing more.
[Didn't
you just describe how you want to call the shots?
- KR]
(Wife
Olga: "What about me?!.." - Yarosh: "Well, and you, of
course, sweetie! We will babysit each other!")
They
added amendments to the bills that I proposed, at the last
session on Thursday they were supposed to vote, but did not vote, and
it is unclear if they will vote at all, after
all these statements about the "cynical Banderites"
[Poroshenko
slip of tongue - KR],
and "those who love to shoot"
(regarding the killing of the SBU agent - ed.)...
I know that he (Poroshenko
- ed)
is afraid of us. Can't stand us. I told him everything in his face.
When Ilovaysk happened,
and the first agreements. The battle is raging, and I am told -
"Minsk agreement is signed". Called his assistant, said,
tell him it's complete idiocy. And the betrayal of national
interests. And also said: we toppled Yanukovych
and can topple you too. He got very offended.
I
can understand a lot: diplomatic maneuveringg, buying time, creating
the armed forces. But what killed me was a truce in September.
Debaltsevo. There was, for example, the moment when in Gorlovka only
a company of the separatists was left, we could go in there.
Debaltsevo could be prevented. And what? No orders. Lost a chance,
they were building up forces. And we were denied requests for arms.
But they (the authorities - ed) are afraid of the Right Sector more
than of the terrorists, obviously.
On
foreign instructors
Every
experience should be adopted. Will come in handy. We also hired
instructors, they came from all over the place. Our army did not
fight, their army came back from Iraq, Afghanistan, and so on. When
instructors see that our guys are interested, they are happy to share
the knowledge, it is very useful. They compared, went to the army.
They say this is not a drill, they [army
soldiers - KR]
are not interested. They do one hour of training, and done. But the
volunteers light up, they have a million questions, of course, the
instructors love it. In one of my battalions there are four Georgian
instructors, they also went through training. When they work, they
are very organized. Perfect supply, communications. When
they see someone managing a battle with text messages on a cell
phone (laughs),
it's hard for them to understand.
On
the work in the Verkhovna Rada
I
didn't really want to do it, the truth is, the guys came up with the
idea, I did not really want it, knew that it's not for me.
What
will happen to the volunteer battalions
Legitimization
of the status may help to save the volunteer units. But DUK just
cannot go under the subordination of the armed forces, under their
command. Because
it means we will be liquidated.
I have some commanders without higher military education, and some
even without any higher education. They will immediately loose their
positions. But they are more efficient than those with two diplomas.
We must have our own system of knowledge, hierarchy, and the
opportunity to grow. This should be reflected in the law. Then, after
the war, if they wish, they can receive a higher education. Our
Charter says: DUK is formed and operates only during the period of
war [undeclared?
- KR]. We
will return Crimea, restore our territorial integrity, and then
dissolve. We
have more discipline than the army. But it is normal to see a
commander on the front lines. Find me a general, who will come
there and lead the men from the trenches.
Our
fighters are well provided with helmets, body armor, and so on. We
are supported by volunteer organizations. If we will depend on
[state] tenders, it will be useless. We never set a goal to obtain
heavy equipment, we are light infantry, at most - we can have
mortars. Will not say no to tanks, of course, but it is not the goal.
We offer a completely different model of warfare. After
air reconnaissance, armored pickups or "Cougars" can
appear at the front, work on a target in three minutes and disappear.
The [enemy's] artillery will cover the position, but there will be no
one there.
About
the "ceasefire"
It
is relative, we see that there is fighting on many fronts. How long
it will last - depends on Putin and his decisions. They have
assembled forces for a strike, they will have deceptive battles, and
there will be the main ones. 3-4 shock troops they already have.
There are some in Donetsk, they may go to Konstantinovka, Slavyansk,
for them it is symbolic. The second direction is Mariupol. The third
- Stanitsa Luganskaya, Schastye, another cauldron may develop there.
And Volnovakha. They
will wait until the fields are dry to start the offensive.
We don't see their chessboard, may be they will have aviation.
About
relations with Kolomoisky
I
saw him twice in my life, there is no special relationship. With
Gennady Korban, Slava Oleynik, Boris Filatov I have a friendly
relationship. But then again, we also met after the revolution. War,
so to speak, made us friends. I judge by real results. I saw that the
guys are working not for their own pocket but for the country. That's
the main thing.
Although
I hear different things about "Privat", and I don't deny
it. Gena wrote yesterday in FB, that in
our country the conditions are such that you cannot legally do
business.
And
it's true. If you want to achieve anything, you have to violate the
rules, and only then you will achieve something.
I am very grateful for everything they've done for us, even though we
never asked for anything. Help with the body armor, helmets, cars,
without them it would be much harder. I am grateful to them, as a
resident of this region. We saw the situation in Kharkov, Odessa,
couldn't do this there. But they managed to do it, despite the
influence of Vilkul clan, which has considerable influence here. We
will ensure that they (the members of the clan - ed.) don't raise
their head, we can't afford to lose the Dnepropetrovsk region.
Without options.
The changing media narrative on abrupt climate change
See
what the story the media was telling back in 2007, even in late-2011
Now
that methane emissions are going exponential the media has gone
silent on the matter, and denial and avoidance are the order of the
day while the US goes full tilt with plans to extract oil in the
Arctic.
When was the last time Igor Semiletov or Natalia Shakhova were quoted in MSM (especially the Guardian)
Welcome
to the world of suicidal ecocide
"Countdown
to Doomsday" Methane Release MSNBC
Vast
methane 'plumes' seen in Arctic ocean as sea ice retreats
13
December, 2011
Dramatic
and unprecedented plumes of methane - a greenhouse gas 20 times more
potent than carbon dioxide - have been seen bubbling to the surface
of the Arctic Ocean by scientists undertaking an extensive survey of
the region.
The
scale and volume of the methane release has astonished the head of
the Russian research team who has been surveying the seabed of the
East Siberian Arctic Shelf off northern Russia for nearly 20 years.
In
an exclusive interview with The Independent, Igor Semiletov of the
International Arctic Research Centre at the University of Alaska
Fairbanks, who led the 8th joint US-Russia cruise of the East
Siberian Arctic seas, said that he has never before witnessed the
scale and force of the methane being released from beneath the Arctic
seabed.
"Earlier
we found torch-like structures like this but they were only tens of
metres in diameter. This is the first time that we've found
continuous, powerful and impressive seeping structures more than
1,000 metres in diameter. It's amazing," Dr Semiletov said.
"I
was most impressed by the sheer scale and the high density of the
plumes. Over a relatively small area we found more than 100, but
over a wider area there should be thousands of them," he said.
Scientists
estimate that there are hundreds of millions of tons of methane gas
locked away beneath the Arctic permafrost, which extends from the
mainland into the seabed of the relatively shallow sea of the East
Siberian Arctic Shelf.
One
of the greatest fears is that with the disappearance of the Arctic
sea ice in summer, and rapidly rising temperatures across the entire
Arctic region, which are already melting the Siberian permafrost, the
trapped methane could be suddenly released into the atmosphere
leading to rapid and severe climate change.
Dr
Semiletov's team published a study in 2010 estimating that the
methane emissions from this region were in the region of 8 million
tons a year but the latest expedition suggests this is a significant
underestimate of the true scale of the phenomenon.
In
late summer, the Russian research vessel Academician Lavrentiev
conducted an extensive survey of about 10,000 square miles of sea off
the East Siberian coast, in cooperating with the University of
Georgia Athens. Scientists deployed four highly sensitive
instruments, both seismic and acoustic, to monitor the "fountains"
or plumes of methane bubbles rising to the sea surface from beneath
the seabed.
"In
a very small area, less than 10,000 square miles, we have counted
more than 100 fountains, or torch-like structures, bubbling through
the water column and injected directly into the atmosphere from the
seabed," Dr Semiletov said.
"We
carried out checks at about 115 stationary points and discovered
methane fields of a fantastic scale - I think on a scale not seen
before. Some of the plumes were a kilometre or more wide and the
emissions went directly into the atmosphere - the concentration was a
hundred times higher than normal," he said.
Dr
Semiletov released his findings for the first time last week at the
American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. He is now
preparing the study for publication in a scientific journal.
The
total amount of methane stored beneath the Arctic is calculated to be
greater than the overall quantity of carbon locked up in global coal
reserves so there is intense interest in the stability of these
deposits as the polar region warms at a faster rate than other places
on earth.
Natalia
Shakhova, a colleague at the International Arctic Research Centre at
the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said that the Arctic is becoming
a major source of atmospheric methane and the concentrations of the
powerful greenhouse gas have risen dramatically since pre-industrial
times, largely due to agriculture.
However,
with the melting of Arctic sea ice and permafrost, the huge stores of
methane that have been locked away underground for many thousands of
years might be released over a relatively short period of time, Dr
Shakhova said.
"I
am concerned about this process, I am really concerned. But no-one
can tell the timescale of catastrophic releases. There is a
probability of future massive releases might occur within the decadal
scale, but to be more accurate about how high that probability is, we
just don't know," Dr Shakova said.
"Methane
released from the Arctic shelf deposits contributes to global
increase and the best evidence for that is the higher concentration
of atmospheric methane above the Arctic Ocean," she said.
"The
concentration of atmospheric methane increased unto three times in
the past two centuries from 0.7 parts per million to 1.7ppm, and in
the Arctic to 1.9ppm. That's a huge increase, between two and three
times, and this has never happened in the history of the planet,"
she added.
Each
methane molecule is about 70 times more potent in terms of trapping
heat than a molecule of carbon dioxide. However, because methane it
broken down more rapidly in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide,
scientist calculate that methane is about 20 times more potent than
carbon dioxide over a hundred-year cycle
CO2 emisson levels
Climate
Change: CO2 Threat Level
The present level of CO2 is 405.46 ppm
The highest record of CO2 recorded is 411.52 ppm
To see the CO2 emission clock GO HERE
Counting down to Armageddon
Doomsday
Clock Moves Closer to Midnight As California’s Last Active Nuke
Plant Puts Millions at Risk
24
March, 2015
Humanity’s
clock is ticking but few in power seem to recognize how late it’s
getting. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has been keeping time
though with their “Doomsday
Clock,” established in 1947 to
convey threats to humanity and the planet in the new atomic age
launched by the Manhattan Project two years before. Widely recognized
as an indicator of the world’s vulnerability to catastrophe from
nuclear weapons, global climate
change and
other emerging technologies, the Doomsday Clock was moved forward two
minutes in January to 11:57 p.m. It’s the closest the clock has
been to midnight since the height of the Cold War in 1984.
“The
clock ticks now at just three minutes to midnight because
international leaders are failing to perform their most important
duty—ensuring and preserving the health and vitality of human
civilization,” the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board stated
in their announcement.
“The probability of global catastrophe is very high, and the
actions needed to reduce the risks of disaster must be taken very
soon.”
Global
climate change and the nuclear weapons industry were listed as the
primary threats, but the Bulletin’s analysis also cited “the
leadership failure on nuclear
power.”
The Bulletin noted that “the international community has not
developed coordinated plans to meet the challenges that nuclear power
faces in terms of cost, safety, radioactive waste management, and
proliferation risk.” The triple meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima
Dai-ichi power plant in 2011 brought the issue to global attention
after an unpredictable earthquake stronger than the plant was built
to withstand overwhelmed the reactors in conjunction with a massive
tsunami. This unprecedented disaster even led the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) to establish a Fukushima
Lessons Learned Division.
But the situation at California’s
last remaining active nuclear plant has
generated widespread concern about whether the NRC has learned
anything at all from Fukushima.
Diablo
Canyon—An American nuclear plant with troubling similarities to
Fukushima
The Diablo
Canyon Power Plant near scenic San Luis Obispo on
the Golden State’s central coast sits in an area where several new
fault lines have been discovered over the decades. Controversy flared
in 2014 due to revelations about regulatory safety questions from the
plant’s former senior resident inspector Michael Peck, who served
in that role from 2007-12. Peck became concerned that new seismic
data suggested the plant was operating outside the safety margins of
its license. He issued a non-concurrence in 2012, a Dissenting
Professional Opinion in 2013 and a DPO Appeal in 2014. Debate between
Peck and his bosses at the NRC has centered around what methodology
should be used to determine whether the plant could survive a massive
quake it might not be built to withstand.
Michael
Peck, former senior resident inspector of Diablo Canyon Power Plant,
at Avila Beach, near Diablo Canyon. Photo credit: Michael Peck
“I
wrote the non-concurrence, DPO, and the Appeal to draw attention to
the failure of the NRC to enforce nuclear safety rules and license
requirements at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant. These requirements
include the regulatory safeguards relied on to protect California
residents from a radiation release following a major earthquake,”
Peck said in a recent interview by both phone and email.
He
went on to explain how NRC regulations require a plant’s operating
license to be amended before “non-conservative” changes are
applied to safety analysis methodologies, yet PG&E had been
allowed to make such changes without a license amendment.
“PG&E
completed a reevaluation of Diablo Canyon seismology in January 2011.
This reevaluation concluded that three local faults were capable of
exceeding equipment seismic qualification limits established by the
facility design basis. In September 2014, PG&E completed an
additional reevaluation as mandated by California Assembly Bill 1632.
This latest reevaluation revealed that several of these faults are
even more capable than previously considered,” Peck explained.
“PG&E created the appearance that the facility design basis
remained satisfied by presenting the reevaluation results using less
conservative methods than specified in the facility license. While
these new methods and assumptions may or may not be technically
justifiable, NRC rules required that PG&E first obtain an
amendment to the Operating License before they were used in facility
safety analyses. When applying the licensed methodology, the new
seismic data results in stress levels on important equipment well in
excess of safety limits. As a result, key safety barriers protecting
the public from a radiation release may fail following a major
earthquake.”
Michael
Peck at the Diablo Canyon Power Pant.
Peck
went against the politically desired outcome because PG&E was no
longer adhering to the parameters of the plant’s license and the
NRC was no longer enforcing it.
“Bypassing
this regulatory framework was not only irresponsible but also
represented a serious violation of the public trust. The amendment
process also would have provided public notice and hearing
opportunities for these facility safety analysis changes that
directly affect the principle safety barriers for ensuring public
protection from radiation,” Peck dded.
The
NRC put together a three-person “independent” panel to rule on
Peck’s DPO. Eric Leeds, director of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, appointed Mike Case, director from the Division
of Engineering in the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research,
as panel chair. Peck, as DPO submitter, was entitled to recommend one
panel member and selected NRC’s Rudolph Bernhard, a senior reactor
analyst. The other panel member selected by Leeds, Brit Hill, is a
bit more curious. Hill is COO of NUTECH
Energy Alliance,
a Houston-based oilfield services company. He previously spent 13
years working for the notorious Halliburton Company, before moving on
to NUTECH (which was co-founded by former Halliburton execs). NRC
spokesperson Lara Uselding says Hill has relevant seismic experience
and has worked with NRC for almost a decade.
The
panel apparently spent almost a year analyzing Peck’s DPO before
rejecting it in May of 2014 and declaring that PG&E had satisfied
all regulatory requirements. A primary issue for Peck was a
difference of opinion about Diablo Canyon’s Safe Shutdown
Earthquake (SSE), the level of seismic activity the plant could
withstand. Peck says the panel used “circular logic” in
justifying a change to the seismic standard that conflicted with the
facility’s license application (FSAR) and then used that assumption
to support their conclusion.
“When
I asked the Panel Chairman (Mike Case) the basis for their
assumption, he directed me to a recently changed FSAR Section
(Revision 21). NRC regulations (10 CFR 50.59) required PG&E to
first obtain an amendment to the Operating License before changing
either the facility design basis or using a less conservative
methodology or input assumptions in safety analyses that demonstrate
that the design basis is satisfied. So, the basis the Panel chairman
provided was built on an unauthorized change of the Operating License
by PG&E,” Peck says.
Peck’s
concerns about circular logic by the NRC drew support of varying
parties such as the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and
environmental non-profit Friends of the Earth.
Dave
Lochbaum, director of the Nuclear Safety Project for the UCS,
authored a November
2013 report, “Seismic Shift: Diablo Canyon Literally and
Figuratively on Shaky Ground,”
in which he backed Peck’s concerns and voiced some of his own. “Of
the 100 reactors currently operating in the U.S., the two at Diablo
Canyon top the NRC’s list as being most likely to experience an
earthquake larger than they are designed to withstand,” wrote
Lochbaum.
He
cited figures indicating that “the Diablo Canyon reactors are more
than 10 times more likely to experience an earthquake larger than
they are designed to withstand than the average U.S. reactor” and
he calculated that “the chance such a large earthquake will occur
at Diablo Canyon over the 40-year lifetime of the plant is … about
1 in 6—which is a toss of a die.”
“PG&E
sought to have the NRC increase the SSE value to a level PG&E
believed its reactors could withstand, but that had not been
justified by a rigorous analysis meeting the NRC’s regulatory
standards,” Lochbaum wrote. “David Copperfield and other
magicians get paid when performing such feats of illusion. PG&E
also gets paid for its illusion from the revenue generated by the
continuing operation of Diablo Canyon’s two reactors.”
Lochbaum
used the NRC’s seismic data to calculate that Diablo Canyon could
be expected to suffer an earthquake larger than its SSE every 256
years. Reached by email, he put that number into context by comparing
it with what happened at Fukushima.
“That
seems like a fairly rare event. But for comparison, the odds that
Fukushima would experience a tsunami as large as it experienced on
March 11, 2011, were about one such tsunami every 1,000 years or so …
So, Diablo Canyon is nearly four times more likely to experience an
earthquake larger than its SSE than Fukushima was to experience its
devastating tsunami,” Lochbaum explained.
Peck submitted an appeal to the DPO decision in June of 2014, stating that the decision appeared to be built around a misunderstanding of the plant’s license requirements and agency rules. But his concerns were again rejected. “I have exhausted the NRC processes for raising nuclear safety concerns,” Peck wrote in an editorial for the Santa Barbara Independent in September. “I was left with the impression that the NRC may have applied a different standard to Diablo Canyon.”
Part
of the NRC’s justification for rejecting Peck’s appeal is that
Peck agreed in a meeting last summer with Mark Satorius, the NRC’s
Executive Director for Operations, that there is “no immediate or
significant safety issue” at Diablo Canyon.
“I
was only agreeing that there wasn’t an imminent threat of a core
meltdown,” Peck says, standing by his concerns that the plant
continues to operate outside the safety margins of its license. “We
consider an immediate safety issue one requiring immediate
intervention to protect the public from an imminent or potential
release of radioactive material. We consider a significant safety
issue one representing an increase of core damage probability in the
range of about one in a hundred. The probability of a large
earthquake at Diablo Canyon is outside of this frequency range.”
“That
said, NRC regulations require the plant design basis to ensure
important plant structures, systems, and components are designed to
withstand the effects of the most severe earthquake reported for the
site and surrounding area. PG&E’s new seismic evaluations
indicated that local faults can produce about twice the ground motion
established by the facility license. While a major earthquake is
unlikely to occur, as we saw in Japan, the consequence to the local
population can be quite severe,” Peck added. “The lack of an
‘immediate or significant safety issue’ does not justify the
failure of the NRC to enforce agency regulations and license
requirements at Diablo Canyon …”
Lochbaum
backed Peck again in another
report for the UCS last August,
citing information that UCS had acquired from the NRC through Freedom
of Information Act requests. “It is clear and undeniable that Dr.
Peck’s findings are correct: the company’s [PG&E] evaluation
of the Shoreline Fault and its implications on safety at Diablo
Canyon is incomplete and does not use methods and assumptions
accepted by the NRC,” Lochbaum concluded.
A
Congressional hearing debates the diabolical questions at Diablo
Canyon
Peck’s
dissent drew the attention of California Sen. Barbara Boxer, who made
Diablo Canyon a focal point of the Senate Environment and Public
Works Committee’s Dec. 3 hearing on “NRC’s Implementation of
the Fukushima Near-Term Task Force Recommendations and Other Actions
to Maintain and Enhance Nuclear Safety.” Daniel
Hirsch, who lectures on nuclear policy at the University of
California-Santa Cruz, testified and
compared the situation at Diablo Canyon with Fukushima to illustrate
the NRC’s failure to learn from the Japanese disaster.
“In
the Diablo case, the decisions have turned out to be erroneous, over
and over again. And yet the pattern is repeated, over and over again.
How many times do they get to be wrong before something changes?”
Hirsch asked. “Unless we fix these problems—of regulated entities
pressing for exceptions to and weakening of safety requirements and
of regulators viewing themselves more as advocates for and allies of
the industry they are to regulate rather than primarily protectors of
public safety—we will not have learned the lessons of Fukushima.”
Hirsch
went on to elaborate on the historical pattern of political
interference and subterfuge at Diablo Canyon.
“NRC
and PG&E attempt to avoid public licensing hearings on the
critical seismic issues. Overly optimistic assumptions are thus
chosen, only to be, time and time again, disproven by newly
discovered scientific facts. Rather than shut the plant down or
require sufficient upgrades to address the newly revealed seismic
challenges, NRC and PG&E carve more and more safety margins out
of the design, using ever less conservative (i.e., less protective)
assumptions and methodologies. And they try to do this behind closed
doors, with the public locked out of their right to evidentiary
hearings … The problem is that nature may not go along with the
regulatory fictions. As at Fukushima, an earthquake larger than the
plant can withstand could occur at any moment. And as at Fukushima,
it will not be an act of nature, but a man-made disaster, caused by
the failure of our institutions. “
Tony
Pietrangelo, Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer at the
Nuclear Energy Institute,
testified along with NRC commissioners in support of PG&E and
NRC’s decisions at Diablo Canyon. “Differing professional
opinions do occur among the 4,000 staff at the NRC, and the NRC has a
process for addressing them. In this case, the conclusion was that,
‘there is not now nor has there ever been an immediate safety
concern’ with this issue at Diablo Canyon. In addition, the panel
concluded that older analytical techniques were overly conservative
and no longer technically justified since the license at Diablo
Canyon allows for newer technologies to be used,” Pietrangelo said.
Peck
doesn’t doubt “that the geo-science has improved greatly since
the 1980s,” but he remains steadfast that PG&E is still
violating the terms of Diablo Canyon’s license.
“PG&E
didn’t even bother to ask for NRC permission to use the new methods
associated with the September 2014 data. They just went ahead
and used them. Remember, the plant would be shut down if PG&E
used the methods and inputs required by the license,” Peck points
out.
PG&E
stands by their seismic data, asserting that they have completed
exhaustive research to confirm Diablo Canyon is not vulnerable to a
potential earthquake stronger than it’s designed to withstand.
“As
the NRC confirmed in the hearing, Diablo Canyon is being operated
safely and is in compliance with its seismic licensing requirements,”
PG&E spokesperson Blair Jones said to the media after the
hearing, adding that the
company’s Long Term Seismic Program (LTSP)continues
to assess seismic safety at the plant. “The LTSP is a unique
program in the U.S. commercial nuclear power plant industry. It is
comprised of a geosciences team of professionals who partner with
independent seismic experts on an ongoing basis to evaluate regional
geology and global seismic events to ensure the facility remains
safe. Because of our LTSP and decades of industry-leading research,
the seismic region around Diablo Canyon is among the most studied and
understood areas in the nation.”
Daniel
Hirsch’s argument that NRC management has greater allegiance to
profits than safety gained further ammunition in the early part of
2015 when American diplomats at the International Atomic Energy
Agency’s (IAEA) Convention on Nuclear Safety were blamed for
rejecting a Swiss-led European Union proposal to strengthen
international nuclear safety rules.
“Opposition
to the Swiss proposal mirrors the situation of the international
nuclear industry,” Paris-based Mycle Schneider, lead author of the
World Nuclear Industry Status Report, told
Bloomberg.com. “Nuclear
operators are confronted with severely shrinking profit margins
everywhere.”
The
U.S. delegation insisted that it did not oppose the initiative due to
increasing costs and market losses to the nuclear industry, saying
that current upgrades are adequate. But watchdog group Beyond Nuclear
took issue, noting that the NRC had already shown its hand by
rejecting another reactor safety upgrade recommendation from its own
Japan Lessons Learned Task Force.
“The
lesson, now unlearned by the Commission, would have ordered all U.S.
operators of Fukushima-style reactors (GE Mark I and Mark II boiling
water reactors) to install high capacity external radiation filters
for hardened vents on the vulnerable containment systems,”reported
BeyondNuclear.org.
“Senior staff had concluded that installing external filters was ‘a
cost-benefited substantial safety enhancement’
to more reliably manage the next severe nuclear accident by venting
the extreme heat, high pressure, explosive gases while still
significantly reducing the consequences by capturing large amounts of
radioactivity. However, the UBS international energy investment bank
had earlier predicted that the Commission would likely vote down its
senior managers’ recommendation because of the ‘added stress this
places on the incumbent’s portfolio’ and ‘the fragile state of
affairs’ of their licensees’ financial and economic condition.”
As
for Michael Peck, he now works as a senior instructor at the NRC’s
Technical Training Center in Tennessee, a position he applied for
after he saw the writing on the wall at Diablo Canyon.
“I
went from being the ‘senior resident inspector’ to having both
performance and conduct issues after I submitted the
non-concurrence,” Peck explains about his departure from Diablo
Canyon. “I felt that [NRC] Region IV was setting me up to
involuntarily reassign me to their Dallas-Fort Worth office. Over
the years, I’ve seen it happen to many other inspectors. So, rather
than wait for the other shoe to drop, I applied and was selected for
the position in Chattanooga. I’m sure that had I not filed
the non-concurrence or DPO, I would still be a senior resident
inspector.”
It
looks like the controversial status of Diablo Canyon will be decided
in the courts. Washington, DC-based non-profit Friends of the Earth
has filed a lawsuit against the NRC in the U.S. District Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia, the court that reviews
decisions of federal agencies. The lawsuit asks the court to order
the NRC to conduct public hearings on the amending of Diablo Canyon’s
license and to shut down the plant until that process concludes.
The
NRC motioned to have the case dismissed but on February 20 the D.C.
Circuit ruled not to grant the motion and that the case should be
heard on its merits. “This is a big victory,” said
Damon Moglen, senior strategic advisor for Friends of the Earth, in a
press release. “The
public has a right to know what the NRC and PG&E won’t
admit—hundreds of thousands of people are put at immediate risk by
earthquake danger at Diablo Canyon.”
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