Nuclear Hotseat

San Onofre nuclear waste storage casks, each containing a Chernobyl's worth of radioactivity, now partially loaded and ID'ed as vulnerable to becoming a "radioactive Yellowstone geyser" if flooded.

This Week's Featured Interviews:

• San Onofre nuclear reactors on the coast of southern California continue to offer a smorgasbord of nightmares to the eight-million people living within 50 miles of its radioactive waste. Public Watchdogs, a San Onofre citizens oversight group, consulted with veteran nuclear engineer Paul Blanch about the feasibility of flooding of high level radioactive waste storage canisters. Might these 5/8" thin-walled canister - sited  only 108 feet from mean high tide - cause superheated steam flashes and geyser-like emissions of radioactive waste? Nuclear Hotseat's Libbe HaLevy interviews engineer Blanch on the possibilities of an "Old Faithful" at San Onofre.
• Want to stop nuclear weapons? Nuclear divestment means institutional nuke investments are going down — and Susi Snyder explains how any one of us can join the movement. She is project lead for the PAX No Nukes Project and coordinator for the Don’t Bank on the Bomb research and campaign.  She’s an expert on nuclear weapons, with over two decades of experience working at the intersect between nuclear weapons and human rights. 
• Until the 2019 report is released, here's Don't Bank on the Bomb's LINK to the 2018 Global Report on the Financing of Nuclear Weapons Producers. The 2019 report, due in May, 2020, will contain all the same companies; only details and financial figures will change.
  To find out which financial institutions provide funding for nuclear weapons producers, CLICK HERE.

Numnutz of the Week (for Outstanding Nuclear Boneheadedness):

Water, water everywhere... and nuclear boosters in government think it's just swell to dump radioactive waste from weapons production, nuclear submarines, fracking and whatever else into whatever body of water happens to be closest! This week, Oregon, Japan, and the UK Ministry of Defense off the coast of Scotland.

Action Links:

• Radiation Disinformation and Human Rights Violations at the Heart of Fukushima and the Olympic Games by Shaun Burnie of Greenpeace.
• 2.5 Million Pounds Of Radioactive Waste Illegally Dumped In Oregon Landfill Near Columbia River
• Trident commanders ‘not legally responsible’ for nuclear attack

Anti-nuclear, anti-war protestors from the Kings Bay Plowshares action.
Front row (l-r) - Clare Grady, Elizabeth McAlister, Carmen Trotta, Martha Hennessy;
Back row: Patrick O'Neill, Stephen Kelly SJ, Mark Colville.

This Week's Featured Interview:

• Anti-nuclear, anti-war - the Kings Bay Plowshares 7. These Catholic Peace Activists performed a peaceful action protesting the nuclear weapons aboard Trident nuclear submarines at the Kings Bay Naval Base in Georgia, 38 miles from Jacksonville, Florida. They were arrested, tried, and found guilty on three felony counts and one misdemeanor. Now, nearly two years after the action took place, they are still awaiting sentencing.
  
  We talk with Martha Hennessey and Patrick O'Neill (71) about the Plowshares Movement, their religiously-based dedication to peace, how the Kings Bay action was planned and executed, and what happened the night they did it -- April 4, 2018, the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's death. Then we learn what has happened to them since the trial.
  On October 24, 2018, all seven were found guilty of three felony charges and one misdemeanor, which could lead to 20 or more years of imprisonment for each of them. Sentencing has been delayed almost two full years because, according to them, it's an extension of the cruelty with which the government has treated them, and punishment that cannot be claimed as "time served" once they are sentenced.
  
  NOTE: I'm not often moved to tears by my Nuclear Hotseat interviews, but this one really got to me.
  
  WHAT YOU CAN DO: The Kings Bay Plowshares 7 request the following actions be taken by listeners to Nuclear Hotseat:
  
  • Sign the petition asking for leniency from the court
  • Write a letter to Judge Lisa Godbey Wood, requesting leniency for the protestors.
  • Visit the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 website to keep informed about the case and learn further actions you can take.

Numnutz of the Week (for Outstanding Nuclear Boneheadedness):

Japan can dish it out, but they can't take it! Cries of "Propaganda!" greet South Korean posters that elegantly, brilliantly capture the true nature of the Radioactive Tokyo 2020 Olympics - and Japan pours gasoline on the radioactive torch by taking to the media in high dudgeon to protest them!

South Korean Olympics posters in Seoul, placed across from where the new Japanese Embassy is being built. Brought to you by VANK (Voluntary Agency Network of Korea),
a self-professed "cyber-diplomacy" group. All I know is - I WANT ONE OF EACH!

And in case you never saw the visual was generated by Rainbow Warriors in 2013:

Action Links:

• ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) held its xxx