Sellafield could leak until 2050s, MPs warn
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0lne622kk7o
The UK’s largest nuclear site could continue leaking radioactive water until the 2050s, MPs have warned, while its clean-up operations struggle to progress quickly enough.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) criticised the speed of decommissioning work at Sellafield in Cumbria, citing “cost overruns and continuing safety concerns” in a report published on Wednesday.
Although the committee noted there were “signs of improvement”, PAC chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said Sellafield continued to present “intolerable risks”.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) acknowledged the leak at its Magnox Swarf Storage Silo (MSSS) was its “single biggest environmental issue”.
The MSSS, which the NDA described as “the most hazardous building in the UK”, has been leaking radioactive water into the ground since 2018, releasing enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool every three years.
It is likely to continue leaking until the oldest section of the building has been emptied in the 2050s, about a decade later than previously expected.
Sir Geoffrey said: “As with the fight against climate change, the sheer scale of the hundred-year timeframe of the decommissioning project makes it hard to grasp the immediacy of safety hazards and cost overruns that delays can have.
“Every day at Sellafield is a race against time to complete works before buildings reach the end of their life.
“Our report contains too many signs that this is a race that Sellafield risks losing.”
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Article continues at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0lne622kk7o
US Wields ‘Hand of Genocide’ by Vetoing Yet Another UN Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution
Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
“This latest shameful U.S. veto—one in a long list—gives Israel the green light to continue its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” said the head of Amnesty International.
For the fifth time since Israel launched its genocidal assault and siege of the Gaza Strip—and for the first time during President Donald Trump’s tenure—the United States has vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire, a move that came as Palestinians continue to suffer daily massacres, mass starvation, and ethnic cleansing in the embattled enclave.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Dorothy Shea—a former political officer at the American Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel—was the lone vote against the Security Council draft resolution demanding an “immediate, unconditional, and permanent cease-fire” in Gaza and the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups.
“Any product that undermines our close ally Israel’s security is a nonstarter,” Shea explained after sinking the resolution. In addition to diplomatic cover, the U.S. provides Israel with tens of billions of dollars in armed aid, including weapons that have been used in some of the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) deadliest massacres in Gaza.
The resolution was put forth by the 10 non-permanent Security Council members—Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Somalia, and South Korea—who explained Wednesday in a joint statement that the measure was “prompted by our deep concern over the catastrophic situation in Gaza, which deteriorated further after the resumption of hostilities in March.”
According toThe Palestine Chronicle, Hamas—which governs Gaza and led the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel—said the U.S. veto shows “Washington’s blind bias towards the occupation government” and support for Israel’s “crimes against humanity in Gaza.”
At least hundreds of Gazans, mostly children, have recently died from malnutrition and lack of medical care amid Israel’s tightened siege, according to local officials. Israeli airstrikes continue to kill and wound scores of Palestinians—and sometimes more—daily, and upward of 100 Gazans have been shot dead while desperately trying to secure humanitarian aid in recent days.
“This latest shameful U.S. veto—one in a long list—gives Israel the green light to continue its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” Amnesty International secretary general Agnès Callamard said in a statement. “It allows Israel to continue starving Palestinian civilians and creating conditions of life meant to bring about their destruction.”
In addition to vetoing five Security Council cease-fire resolutions, the U.S. last year used its veto power to block Palestine’s bid to become a full U.N. member. The U.S. also abstained from voting on two Security Council cease-fire resolutions during the Biden administration.
“The U.S. has squandered yet another crucial opportunity to demand that Israel ends civilian bloodshed,” Callamard added. “What possible justification can there be for blocking action by the U.N. Security Council that could help to end the harrowing starvation and suffering, free hostages, and lift Israel’s suffocating aid restrictions?”
All told, more than 194,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded—including over 14,000 people who are missing and believed dead and buried beneath rubble—during 606 days of an onslaught for which Israel is facing a genocide case at the World Court and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity including extermination and weaponized starvation.
Upward of 2 million Palestinians have also been forcibly displaced, often multiple times, most recently during Operation Gideon’s Chariots, the IDF’s ongoing campaign to indefinitely occupy and ethnically cleanse Gaza, possibly to facilitate Israeli recolonization, as pushed by far-right figures.
On Wednesday, International Committee of the Red Cross president Mirjana Spoljaric said conditions in Gaza are “worse” than last month, when she described them as “hell on Earth.”
All this, as a cease-fire proves as elusive as ever due to what pro-Palestine critics say is Netanyahu’s desire to prolong the war in order to delay his own criminal corruption trial and Hamas’ demand for a guaranteed end to Israel’s onslaught.
“The world is watching, day after day, horrifying scenes of Palestinians being shot, wounded, or killed in Gaza while simply trying to eat,” Tom Fletcher, the U.N.’s top humanitarian chief, said Wednesday. “We must be allowed to do our jobs. We have the teams, the plan, the supplies, and the experience.”
“It’s simply unconscionable to stand in the way of this resolution.”
Amnesty International USA executive director Paul O’Brien said: “Once again, the U.S. government, this time under Trump’s leadership, is on the wrong side of history. While it’s not a surprise the U.S. vetoed this resolution, it’s nonetheless devastating.”
“The language is focused on the urgency of the unconditional release of all hostages and unfettered access to humanitarian aid,” O’Brien added. “When children are dying of starvation and the fate of the hostages is uncertain, it’s simply unconscionable to stand in the way of this resolution.”
Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
- ‘Disgraceful’: US Abstains After Watering Down UN Gaza Resolution
- US Abstains as UN Security Council Demands ‘Immediate Cease-Fire’ in Gaza
- UN Security Council’s Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution Is Not Enough—But It’s a Start
- As Israeli Forces Fire on Starving Palestinians, US Again Vetoes UN Cease-Fire Resolution
- After Another US Security Council Veto, UN General Assembly Votes for Gaza Cease-Fire
- In 14-1 UN Security Council Vote, Lone US Veto Kills Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution
Morning Star Editorial: Corbyn’s Gaza Inquiry Bill reflects public opinion – Starmer’s pro-war policy does not
People take part in a pro-Palestine march in central London organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, April 13, 2024…
Corbyn’s Gaza (Independent Public Inquiry) Bill, tabled the very day that polling shows a majority of the public want a full arms embargo on Israel and even for the country to be expelled from the United Nations for its genocidal war on Palestinians, shows he is still playing that vital role: voicing, in the corridors of power, the views of millions of ordinary people shut out by a suffocating ruling-class consensus.
His Bill is supported by a range of independent and Labour MPs, as well as some from the Greens, Plaid Cymru and Scottish National Party.
The numbers should be much higher: Britain’s active role in the genocide runs deep, and too much of it is cloaked in secrecy.
The bits people know about, such as continuing arms sales to a military killing scores of civilians every single day, have appalled public opinion.
How much more so if the whole sordid story, the details of what is passed from the hundreds of RAF surveillance flights over Gaza to the Israeli authorities, the troop-training and logistical support, the ways in which our air force’s Akrotiri base on Cyprus supports Israel’s war effort, were to come into the open.
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See the original article at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/corbyns-gaza-inquiry-bill-reflects-public-opinion-starmers-pro-war-policy-does-not
Rule of law in Britain under threat after Palestine activists arrested under counter-terrorism laws, legal organisations warn
FW Pomeroy’s Statue of Justice standing atop the Central Criminal Court building, Old Bailey, LondonINTERNATIONAL legal associations and human rights groups have warned that the rule of law is under threat in Britain following the arrest of pro-Palestine activists through the misuse of counterterrorism laws.
An open letter, signed by 21 groups, relates to the case of Palestine Action protesters known as the “Filton 18,” who have been jailed over an action targeting a facility in Bristol owned by Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons firm.
The activists were detained under counterterror powers, despite being charged with criminal offences including aggravated burglary and criminal damage.
The Crown Prosecution Service has, however, said it will submit to the court that the offences had a “terrorist connection,” which could lead to more severe sentences.
The activists have consequently been denied bail and subjected to higher security protocols.
The 21 group’s letter states that the case “is a litmus test for democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights in the United Kingdom.”
They add that a freedom of information request shows that the government shared the contact details of counterterrorism police with the Israeli embassy during the investigation.
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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/rule-law-britain-under-threat-after-palestine-activists-arrested-under-counter-terrorism
