Wake up to beauty

Nuclear leaks

Before we jump into bed with the French nuclear power company EDF, there a few more worries than just  finance and failure in Finland.

The French Nuclear Safety Authority  announced a leak from a cracked pipe at a nuclear fuel plant in the south-eastern Drôme region.  It said the leak was small and had not contaminated groundwater. Such was not the case, however, on July 7, when about 75 kilograms (165 pounds) of untreated liquid uranium were spilled at the Tricastin nuclear plant in the Vaucluse, north of Avignon. As the French began to repair to the countryside for their storied six-week summer vacations, those in this corner of Provence were being told not to drink the water—or swim or fish in it. One swimmer at a local lake told the Guardian that people had been ordered out of the water "as if there had been sharks in it."

The French nuclear watchdog group CRIIRAD  reported that the amount of radioactivity released into the environment was 100 times higher than the site's limit for an entire year. The Tricastin facility was temporarily shut down, the water ban remains in effect, and the French government has begun testing the water around all 59 of its nuclear plants.

If that is not scary enough, ponder the advice of the ever-wise never-wrong President George Bush. He urged the world to "waken up to the beauty of nuclear power". Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain called for the construction of 45 new U.S. nuclear power plants.

Has the nuclear Pied Piper cast a spell over them? What accounts for this blind infatuation with the dangerous financial basket case of the nuclear option?

Blissful nightmare

Is there any hope left for a peaceful outcome in the Afghanistan-Pakistan nightmare of tribal fighting?  Des Browne purred with optimistic pleasure in a recent Commons speech. He said everything is going well.

Except 114 British fallen – four short of the total killed in the charge of the Light Brigade.

NGOs (essential for winning hearts and minds) are retreating from previous safe areas because there are too dangerous.

The US accuses Pakistan of helping militants to kill 41 people at the Indian Embassy in Kabul in July.

Tribal rivalries are worse than ever. Durrani Pashtuns are breathing fire against the Ghilzai Pashtuns. Baluchistan is virtually independent. The Tajiks , Uzbeks, Hazaras and Turkmen  are contemptuous of the rule of Karzai and owe their loyalties to their  own rouge corrupt statelets. Tribal loyalties extend to fellow reibesmen in Pakistan, threatening an extension of warfare across borders.

Taliban has captured the Governor in a previously quiet eastern province. They are extending their insurgency beyond Helmand and Kandahar to Kabul and beyond and the north.

Des Brown says our soldiers will be fighting in Afghanistan for a generation. The Americans agree. Truly, this is a war without end and without hope.

What exactly is going right Des?

Devo-sceptic

Which Welsh Politician and blogger said this in a letter to the Western Mail in 1995?

“A Welsh Assembly would be irrelevant to the needs of Wales, expensive, divisive, lead to more government interference, undermine inward investment and be a political and economic disaster for rural Wales in particular.”

I wonder how much of that he agrees with now? Answer tomorrow.

Comments

[Will S]

Sorry, have I missed some great achievement that recently emanated from the direction of the Welsh Assembly? I can't name a single thing that they've done which wows me. And that's without actually knowing the author of your quote.

[paulflynn]

Try this list from my colleague Julie Morgan,

Let's start with all the things that have become free over the last few years, thanks to the Welsh Assembly. Free prescriptions for everybody from April onwards; free bus travel for the disabled and over 60s; free school milk for five- to seven-year-olds; free nursing care in Welsh nursing homes; free breakfasts for primary schoolchildren; free swimming for pensioners and free swimming for schoolchildren during the school holidays in local council pools; free access to national museums in Wales.

I think these measures are tremendous steps forward — they benefit and open up opportunities for many people and are to be applauded.

In terms of public health, I am also very impressed with the great strides that have been taken by the Welsh Assembly. On April 2, I will wholeheartedly welcome the ban on smoking in all public places in Wales. In the NHS too, there is much to salute — health expenditure has nearly doubled since 1999, investment in new buildings and equipment is being trebled, seven new hospitals have been built or are on the way, there are over 8,000 more nurses and over 500 more consultants and waiting times are down.

Of course, there are some problems that are still outstanding, but I think if you ask most people, they cannot speak highly enough of the care they received in the NHS.

I could talk about how the Welsh Assembly has had a positive effect in many other areas. In education, for example, there are 1,700 more teachers and 5,700 more teaching assistants than in 1998, class sizes have been cut, standards have risen in all age groups and there are no top-up fees for Welsh students studying in Wales. Police-wise, working with the UK Government, we have record police numbers — 1,000 more offices in Wales since 1997 and this year, we should have a total of 700 Community Support Officers. 130,000 more people are in work in Wales than at the time of devolution. There has been £93 million in extra funding to boost recycling, investment in arts, culture and sport has grown to more than £150 million for the first time