Sellafield is Europe’s most toxic nuclear site. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian
Britain’s public spending watchdog has launched an investigation into risks and costs at Sellafield, the UK’s biggest nuclear waste dump.
The National Audit Office (NAO), which scrutinises the use of public funds, has announced it will examine whether the Cumbria site is managing and prioritising the risks and hazards of the site effectively as well as deploying resources appropriately and continuing to improve its project management.
The findings of its investigation are expected to be published this autumn.
Sellafield is Europe’s most toxic nuclear site and also one of the UK’s most expensive infrastructure projects, with the NAO estimating it could cost £84bn to maintain the site into the next century.
Predictions of the ultimate bill for the site, which holds about 85% of the UK’s nuclear waste, vary. It cost £2.5bn to run the site last year, and the government estimates it could ultimately take £263bn to manage the country’s ageing nuclear sites, of which Sellafield accounts for the largest portion.
Injured Palestinians, including children, are brought to Nasser Hospital to receive medical treatment following Israeli attacks in Khan Younis, Gaza on January 22, 2024. (Photo: Belal Khaled/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“The situation is escalating every hour and every minute,” said a surgeon at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
Israeli forces on Thursday stormed the largest hospital in southern Gaza, ignoring warnings from United Nations officials, humanitarian groups, and the facility’s administrators that such a raid would put the lives of patients and people sheltering there at dire risk.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reportedly destroyed the southern wall of the Nasser Hospital complex in Khan Younis and started raiding the facility, where around 10,000 people had sought shelter from Israeli airstrikes and ground attacks.
Without providing evidence, Israel has claimed Hamas is using the hospital for “military activities.” Israel also claimed to have intelligence indicating that hostages or their bodies were being held at Nasser.
Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesman for Gaza’s health ministry, said Thursday that Israel launched a “massive incursion” into the hospital, firing on and wounding people inside and ordering the facility’s staff to move all patients who were unable to flee into a building that’s not adequately equipped, The Associated Press reported.
As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 1,500 displaced people and patients were still inside the Nasser complex, Gaza health officials said in an update on social media.
“Many cannot evacuate, such as those with lower limb amputations, severe burns, or the elderly,” al-Qudra told Al Jazeera.
Others worried that Israeli forces would shoot them if they tried to leave.
“I’m terrified to leave the hospital and get shot,” Hanin Abu Tiba, a 27-year-old English teacher sheltering at the hospital, toldThe New York Times on Wednesday.
The raid began Thursday after Israeli forces reportedly bombed a ward of the hospital that was full of patients. Gaza health officials said the IDF targeted the hospital’s orthopedic department, killing at least one person and injuring “many” more.
Israeli forces bombed Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Thursday. According to sources on the ground, Israel has struck a ward full of patients, resulting in casualties. pic.twitter.com/zTf5HujPAq
The Israeli military, which has encircled Nasser Hospital for weeks, began ordering civilians inside the facility to evacuate on Tuesday.
Citing one of the only remaining journalists inside the facility, The Intercept reported Wednesday that the IDF sent a handcuffed Palestinian man into Nasser to tell people sheltering inside to leave.
An Israeli soldier shot the man, later identified as Jamal Abu Al-Ola, three times in the chest and abdomen as he began walking out of the hospital after delivering the message.
Israeli snipers have also opened fire on people scrambling to flee the hospital as well as medical personnel and patients inside the facility.
Gaza health officials said Wednesday that the situation at Nasser is “catastrophic” and that Israel’s evacuation orders sparked “a state of panic among its residents.”
Dr. Ahmed Moghrabi, a surgeon at Nasser, posted video footage to Instagram that provides a glimpse of the chaos inside the hospital as it comes under Israeli attack.
Dr. Khaled Alserr, another Nasser surgeon, told AP that seven people injured by Israeli attacks on Thursday were already being treated for existing wounds. Alserr said a doctor was also injured when an Israeli drone “opened fire on the upper stories of the hospital.”
“The situation is escalating every hour and every minute,” he said.
Israel’s raid began hours after Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, condemned the evacuation orders and reiterated its call for a permanent cease-fire. MSF said some of its staff members were “still in the building” treating patients “amid near impossible conditions.”
“People have been forced into an impossible situation: stay at Nasser Hospital against the Israeli military’s orders and become a potential target, or exit the compound into an apocalyptic landscape where bombings and evacuation orders are a part of daily life,” Lisa Macheiner, MSF’s project coordinator in Gaza, said in a statement. “Hospitals should be considered as safe places and shouldn’t even be evacuated in the first place.”
In a Nasser update posted to social media Thursday morning, MSF said that “following shelling this morning, our staff reported a chaotic situation, with an undetermined number of people killed and injured.”
“Our medical staff have had to flee the hospital, leaving patients behind,” the group said. “Israeli forces set up a checkpoint to screen people leaving the compound; one of our colleagues was detained at this checkpoint. We call for his safety and the protection of his dignity.”
MSF demanded that the Israeli military “immediately stop this attack, as it endangers medical staff and patients who are still stuck inside the facility.”
This post has been updated with new comments from Médecins Sans Frontières.
Carla Denyer is the co-leader of the Green Party in England and Wales (Image: BristolLive)
Bristol Green Party candidate Carla Denyer is demanding the UK scale up action against the Israeli government over the Gaza conflict. The Greens are calling for an end to all arms sales to Israel, prosecutions of war criminals and sanctions on Israel’s leaders.
The Green Party co-leader, who will stand in Bristol Central, has called for the UK to suspend arms export licences to Israel and to take measures such as excluding Israel from music and sporting events.
Ms Denyer said: “It is clear that the Israeli government is refusing to heed warnings about the catastrophic implications of an all-out attack on Rafah. The UK government must now demand that Israel stop the killing, calling for an immediate ceasefire. Hamas must also agree to this ceasefire of course, and release all hostages.
“Decisions made by the UK government – above all its failure, month after month, to call for an immediate ceasefire – have made them complicit in the killing of almost 28,000 people to date, 12,000 of whom are children.
“Israel relies on certain weapon parts manufactured in the UK, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter whose essential components are made here. A Dutch court has ordered the state to cease the export of F-35 spare parts to Israel. We call on the UK government to follow suit.
“Greens would implement the requirements of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign across the UK economy. This would include excluding Israel from international sporting and music events.
“It is clear that only outside pressure will make Israel stop its mass killing. We can increase the pressure on Israeli leaders by introducing targeted sanctions against key individuals. This would include travel bans and asset freezes on Israel’s leadership and cabinet members, in particular those calling for new settlements in Gaza and the annexation of the West Bank.
“Finally, we would encourage UK authorities including the Metropolitan Police and director of public prosecutions to pursue perpetrators of war crimes committed where UK citizens are the victims or where UK citizens are potential perpetrators.
George Monbiot: “Leave fossil fuels in the ground”
TV presenter and naturalist Chris Packham testified at the crown court trial of Just Stop Oil supporter, Cressie Gethin. 14th February was the eighth day of Cressie’s trial for Public Nuisance. She is appearing at Isleworth Crown Court, appearing before Judge Duncan. Cressie, 22, a music student from Hereford, faces up to ten years in prison if found guilty.
Cressie climbed a motorway gantry above the M25 on the 20th July 2022, two days after the governments’ net zero strategy was declared unlawful, and one day after the UK recorded it’s highest ever temperature of 40.3 degrees celsius, a milestone that scientists previously thought was impossible.
Cressie Gethin testified: On 20th July 2022, I climbed up onto a gantry over the M25. I hung up two banners – one said ‘Just Stop Oil’ (the campaign in whose name I was taking action) and the other said ‘40 Degrees”’ (this was a day after the 40C heatwave scorched the UK, burnt down houses and left people dead).
The prosecution have said that my intention was clearly to stop the traffic. However, it is under oath that I say I was not expecting the police to close the entire motorway. I thought it was possible they may decide to close one or two lanes, or perhaps slow the speed of the traffic, but I was very surprised when they closed the whole thing. I was surprised because I was conducting a nonviolent, peaceful protest, the intention of which was to gain media attention and create public pressure on the government to stop new oil and gas.
When the police did close the motorway, I did not immediately come down – you saw that in the footage. As I said, my intention was to get media attention and I realised that the road closure would be attracting more press coverage and therefore more pressure on the government to take steps to protect its own citizens.
I will also address the matter of delays at Heathrow. Whilst this may sound unbelievable, I did not realise that the stretch of motorway I was on led to Heathrow – as I say, this may sound ridiculous, but I am telling the truth under oath.
Because I am bound to the truth, I will also say that, despite not being aware of the location at the time, I do not think that near Heathrow was an inappropriate place to conduct this protest, given that it was there that 40.2C was first recorded the day before, and because of the relevance of air travel to the message I was trying to get heard.
The 20th July was deliberately chosen to be when the temperature was less dangerous and the Met Office’s extreme heat warnings had been lifted. This was in order to remove any risks linked to heat and dehydration for myself and for any members of the public who were in their cars for longer than anticipated.
I also took safety precautions that minimised any risk to myself or to drivers on the motorway. I ensured that there was at least one point of attachment between the gantry structure and the banners at all times. I also wore a safety harness so that I was attached to the gantry at all times. This gantry was enclosed and felt safe (it is designed for human access and is essentially a footbridge with enclosed sides) – but I took this precaution to make sure I was being as safe and conscientious as possible.
I want to make it clear that in no way did I feel a sense of glee or “yes, I’ve won” when the police closed the road. I understood that by closing the road the police would be having to manage traffic that would have otherwise come down that stretch of the motorway, and that didn’t and doesn’t sit easy with me. The reason I didn’t come down goes back to my original intention to get the attention of the media and public, and ultimately, to address rather than ignore injustice and suffering.
There was a moral dilemma involved in taking this action. I knew there was a possibility that the action would impact some people – that is the nature of visible and attention-grabbing protest. I had to weigh this, which doesn’t sit easy with me, against my sincere desire to protect lives. As I said at the beginning, my overall intentions were and still are to create pressure on the government to writing [righting?] policies that are killing people around the world.
Chris Packham and Cressie Gethin at Iselworth Crown Court. Image: Just Stop Oil
Part of Chris Packham’s testimony:
Prosecution: 26 flights were cancelled.
Chris Packham: As I recall Heathrow was under stress and it had already capped the amount of flights that could leave.
Prosecution: There were over 3000 people impacted, 26 flights delayed and 19 flights cancelled. Do you agree that these people were seriously inconvenienced and seriously annoyed?
Chris Packham: I don’t. It would be difficult for you to apply all of this to Cressie Gethin.
Prosecution: [something about “her” cause]
Chris Packham: It’s not “her” cause – it’s the cause.
Chris Packham: I support the need to raise the alarm on the most serious issue that threatens life and threatens us.
In advance of Julian Assange’s next hearing in the UK courts ahead of his possible extradition to the US, Amnesty International reiterates concerns that Assange faces the risk of serious human rights violations if extradited and warns of a profound ‘chilling effect’ on global media freedom.
“The risk to publishers and investigative journalists around the world hangs in the balance. Should Julian Assange be sent to the US and prosecuted there, global media freedoms will be on trial, too,” said Julia Hall, Amnesty International’s expert on counter-terrorism and criminal justice in Europe.
The US must drop the charges under the espionage act against Assange and bring an end to his arbitrary detention in the UK.
Julia Hall, Amnesty International’s expert on counter-terrorism and criminal justice in Europe
“Assange will suffer personally from these politically-motivated charges and the worldwide media community will be on notice that they too are not safe. The public’s right to information about what their governments are doing in their name will be profoundly undermined. The US must drop the charges under the espionage act against Assange and bring an end to his arbitrary detention in the UK.”
If Julian Assange loses the permission to appeal, he will be at risk of extradition to the US and prosecution under the Espionage Act of 1917, a wartime law never intended to target the legitimate work of publishers and journalists. He could face up to 175 years in jail. On the less serious charge of computer fraud, he could receive a maximum of five years.
Assange would also be at high risk of prolonged solitary confinement in a maximum security prison. Although the US has offered ‘diplomatic assurances’ to the UK, allegedly guaranteeing his safety if imprisoned, the authorities’ assurances include so many caveats that they cannot be considered reliable.
“The US assurances cannot be trusted. Dubious assurances that he will be treated well in a US prison ring hollow considering that Assange potentially faces dozens of years of incarceration in a system well known for its abuses, including prolonged solitary confinement and poor health services for inmates. The US simply cannot guarantee his safety and well-being as it has also failed to do for the hundreds of thousands of people currently imprisoned in the US,” said Julia Hall.
Worldwide threat to media freedom
If Julian Assange is extradited, it will establish a dangerous precedent wherein the US government could target for extradition publishers and journalists around the world. Other countries could take the US example and follow suit.
“Julian Assange’s publication of documents disclosed to him by sources as part of his work with Wikileaks mirrors the work of investigative journalists. They routinely perform the activities outlined in the indictment: speaking with confidential sources, seeking clarification or additional documentation, and receiving and disseminating official and sometimes classified information,” said Julia Hall.
News and publishing outlets often and rightfully publish classified information to inform on matters of utmost public importance. Publishing information that is in the public interest is a cornerstone of media freedom. It’s also protected under international human rights law and should not be criminalized.
“The US’ efforts to intimidate and silence investigative journalists for uncovering governmental misconduct, such as revealing war crimes or other breaches of international law, must be stopped in its tracks.
“Sources such as legitimate whistle blowers who expose governmental wrongdoing to journalists and publishers must also be free to share information in the public interest. They will be far more reluctant to do so if Julian Assange is prosecuted for engaging in legitimate publishing work.
It’s not just Julian Assange in the dock. Silence Assange and others will be gagged
Julia Hall
“This is a test for the US and UK authorities on their commitment to the fundamental tenets of media freedom that underpin the rights to freedom of expression and the public’s right to information. It’s not just Julian Assange in the dock. Silence Assange and others will be gagged,” said Julia Hall.
Background:
The High Court in the UK has confirmed a two-day hearing on 20 and 21 February 2024. The outcome will determine whether Julian Assange will have further opportunities to argue his case before the UK courts or if he will have exhausted all appeals in the UK, leading to the extradition process or an application to the European Court of Human Rights.
sourced from an Amnesty International press release
