Today is the anniversary of the Windscale fire, and the annual Nukiller Greenwash award is announced.
To mark the 66th anniversary of the Windscale Fire -the worst nuclear accident in the UK (October 10th 1957) the Close Capenhurst Campaign and Lakes Against Nuclear Dump present the George Monbiot Nukiller Greenwash Award to Labour Leader Keir Starmer and Labour’s Workington and Whitehaven candidate Josh MacAlister
I’ve been meaning to do an update about just what I have been doing of late, but not been able to do so until now.
So here goes ….
During the year I was interviewed for the 5CaleRoad project.
A part of the interview is now to be found here
The full interview will be archived at the Bishopsgate Institute.
I did spent some time working upon the Liverpool anti arms fare campaign,
as well as the more long term Anti nukiller power campaigning work, even though it is still very difficult to get any protest events organised.
I’ve also been dealing with some of the ongoing spycop issues.
Talking of which it looks like I will be an octogenarian by the time the spycops public inquiry is completed.
Aside from that I have managed some day trips of late to such exciting places at Wigan, Chester, Preston, and Wrexham.
I also got to the Manchester Anarchist Book fare, and the protest march about the Tory Party conference which took place in the town during September.
Just like a lot of other people I do hope it will be possible to do much more over the coming months.
Here’s Hoping.
Despite Lockdown and the continuing difficulties which we are all experiencing, it has been possible for me to continue working upon various projects. This is a brief summary of some of the them.
Anti Nukiller Power
I recently put together the latest issue of Countering Capenhurst.
This contains a lot of information about DRS [ Direct Rail Services ] which transports Highly Radioactive uses fuel rods and other nukiller waste.
What I now have is enough material and written pieces to produce a pamphlet on the issue, but it is never wise to edit ones own articles .
Thus I am looking for someone to work on it with me.
5 Cale Road
The 5 Caledonian Road Project website has just been launched.
The subtitle of being 60 years of books and activism.
This is a project which I was interviewed for. You can hear a little of this interview under Small Scale Demonstrations on the website.
The ongoing Spycops Public Inquiry
Aspects of being a CP [Core Participant] in the Undercover Policing [Spycops ] Public Inquiry are still taking up a lot of my time.
Of particular interest to me is a 1980 Special Branch report describing the development of the anti-nuclear movement in the UK
Sorting out my various collections
One of the side effects of such a long lockdown has been that I’ve had the chance to go through and properly sort out my various collections.
I’ve done the same with my various documents which are now ready to be put to an archive.
I would never of been able to do this if there were a lot of meetings and events to attend.
Soon
Soon it will be possible to start organising some more proactive campaigning.
That is something which I am looking forward to doing.
WOOOPS!
I tripped over two weeks and now have a fractured shoulder. Thus it is very difficult and extremely painful for me to use my right arm. So everything I type is one handed, which slows me down a lot. It looks like it may be another 8 weeks of the same for me.
It’s amazing just what you learn in these situations, and just how much time one can spend working out different ways to do the most ordinary tasks.
Yet my body will mend and all will be well again in the new year.
But Not so with the nukiller industry where it is always going to be a case of Woops!.
Here a few recent examples just what I mean.
Woops!
but then comes the follow on –
Woops!
Hexafluoride Leak Worse Than Initially Reported, Regulator Says
or to put it another way —
Woops!
It’s a wake up call for Capenhurst.
Yet that’s not been the most frightening story of late.
Woops!
Leaked Sellafield photos reveal ‘massive radioactive release’ threat.
Woops!
Here is what the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority have to say about it all.
But don’t worry about that as we are very well protected.
Woops!
The civil nukiller cops have opened a £2.5m firing range near Dounreay.
Woops!
Meanwhile – as predicted.
Fukushima radiation identified off northern California.
While over at the Fukushima plant it’s a case of —
Woops!
TEPCO states the entire decommissioning will be still ending in 30 ~ 40 years, but this is also baseless. The actual decommissioning may take over a century.
So it goes on, and on, and on, and on again and again and again..
Woops!
Woops!
Woops!
and
Woops!
I’m getting medical treatment for to fix my shoulder, but it will take a very different kind of fix to fix all the problems listed above.
In the meanwhile I’m learning just what I can and can not do with my fractured shoulder.
If only the nukiller power industry were to start to learn from their continuous mistakes.
This coming Tuesday I will mark 2/3rds of my life as a vegetarian.
Now that’s something which I think of as an achievement.
I just wish that there were more people making it a 1st day vegie,
&
there would be a lot more to celebrate next week.
On November 3rd it will be exactly 40 years since I first
become involved in the peace movement.
I remember this exact date as I was on a sitdown outside of a
company which made military plane equipment that was
being used in Vietnam.
It was my 19th birthday when I joined a demonstration
outside of a company called Elliott Automation.
Elliott Automation made navigation equipment which was
used upon American Military Aircraft in Vietnam.
I knew no one upon the demonstration, but felt that it was
important to show my opposition to the war
What happened on the demonstration,
& information upon Elliott Automation,
appeared within Peace News: –
November 1st & 8th 1968.
If you look very carefully:
you can see me in a photo of the demonstration that was
published within Peace News.
The first copy of Peace News I ever purchased was sold to
me by a street seller outside of Holborn Tube station.
It was dated November 8th 1968.
While upon the demonstration I picked up a leaflet about
the Peace Pledge Union ( PPU ).
I joined the PPU,
started to read Peace News,
and the rest is history.