Did France’s Secrecy Cause a Nuclear Submarine Collision?
TIME by Eben Harrell 17 Feb 09
A collision between a British nuclear-powered submarine carrying multiple nuclear warheads and a French nuclear submarine armed with a similar payload may have been the result of lack of communication between France and NATO nations, according to a former British submarine commander whose revelations were partially corroborated by an official at the French navy.
Sometime on Feb. 3 or 4, the British HMS Vanguard and France’s Le Triomphant collided in the mid-Atlantic. The accident probably happened because the two submarines were not aware of each other. NATO operates a traffic control system that alerts allied nations to the deployment zones of friendly submarines. The system is designed to avoid collisions. But because France is not part of NATO’s military command structure, it does not provide information on the location of its mobile nuclear arms to that system,………………………….French are particularly secretive due to their position outside NATO’s command structure. And past policy-level discussions suggest a concern over a lack of communication…………………………………While the intersection of two sonar-equipped nuclear submarines in a vast ocean may seem an unlikely event even without communication, there are environmental anomalies in the Atlantic that make a collision more likely……………………………………
…………..had a nuclear reactor been damaged on either boat, it could have poisoned the crew and spread radioactive waste for miles across the Atlantic………………………
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1879777,00.html?iid=tsmodule
British and French nuclear subs collide
Sydney Morning Herald February
Robin Millard
17, 2009
The collision between French and British nuclear submarines was a hugely improbable one-off, but it was no surprise that they did not detect each other, experts said on Monday.
For one nuclear-powered, nuclear arms submarine to collide with another one in the middle of an ocean was unprecedented and sheer bad luck, they said……………
…………..The RUSI expert said despite the close NATO and European Union ties between Britain and France, the two countries would be very reticent to share information on what their nuclear submarines were up to.
Finds of Radioactive Steel on the Rise in Germany, probably from India
SPIEGEL ONLINE
By Christian Schwägerl 16 Feb 09
German authorities in recent months have found a disturbingly large amount of radioactive steel in factories across the country. Much of the contaminated metal is thought to have originated in India………………….radiometers indicated unusually high levels of radiation. They measured a level of 71 microsieverts per hour, a level that in 24 hours would exceed the amount permitted for an entire year………………………..For months, similar cases have been found across Germany, all involving bits of metal contaminated with radioactive cobalt. And most of them come from the same source: three steelworks in India, in particular a company called Vipras Casting, based in Mumbai. Germany’s environmental authorities are alarmed……………………………..Since last August, a total of 150 tons of contaminated metal has been seized. Some of it has been sent back to India. The rest is being stored by the companies that discovered the radioactivity, pending a decision on how to safely dispose of the material……………………..
Authorities noted that there is already a European Union directive designed to prevent the import of radioactive materials. Enforcement, however, apparently remains problematic………………..
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,607840,00.html
Anti-nuclear group urges people to be afraid of Drigg ‘secrets’
Last updated 16:44, Monday, 16 February 2009
An anti-nuclear group has warned west Cumbrians: “Be afraid, very afraid” after bosses at the Drigg waste dump admitted they don’t know what’s buried there.
Management at the Low Level Waste Repository (LLWR), near Sellafield, have placed newspaper adverts appealing for ex-employees who worked at the site in 1960s, 70s and 80s to come forward.
The aim is to build up a picture of what was stored there and how it was buried………………………….Martin Forwood, spokesman for Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment (Core), said the admission should send shockwaves through the local community. He added: “Be afraid, very afraid.
“If they can’t even account for the lower category of radioactive wastes, what hope is there for the volumes of significantly more dangerous intermediate and high level wastes they now so desperately want to dump deep underground somewhere in the UK?
“(The) advert implores workers who tipped nuclear waste into the site’s open trenches over a 25-year period from 1960 to try and remember exactly what it was they dumped……………………….
UK scraps advisory body that warned of nuclear risks
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) disbands nuclear body that warned of risks
The Guardian Rob Edwards and Terry Macalister 17 Feb 09
An expert advisory committee has been quietly scrapped after it warned that the safety of Britain’s ageing nuclear plants was being put at risk by poor performance, delays and budget cuts.
The Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee (NuSAC), which has been offering critical advice to Britain’s health and safety watchdog for nearly 50 years, was disbanded without any public announcement.
Former members of NuSAC are now worried about the lack of independent safety advice at a time when the government is embarking on a big expansion and clean-up of nuclear power.
Some former members privately suspect that NuSAC was shut down in October because it could have hampered government plans for a new programme of nuclear reactors. “This was just the time to get rid of a potential pest and spanner in the works of the brave new world of nuclear regulation and build,” said one.
Some of NuSAC’s recent criticisms, particularly on potential shortfalls in the funding of nuclear decommissioning and radioactive waste management, were forthright………………………NuSAC consisted of 19 safety experts, including scientists, academics, trade unionists and business executives, none of whom were paid. It reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and was chaired for the past four years by Stephen Vranch, a chemical engineer from Jacobs Engineering……………………………
In an unpublicised report last July, NuSAC warned that programmes to deal with radioactive waste from decommissioning the Sellafield nuclear complex in Cumbria and other old nuclear plants had suffered “substantial slippages”.
The slippages were caused by the “poor performance” of nuclear plants, delays in developing waste processing and budget restrictions, the report concluded. “There remains a lack of confidence that the high hazards are being tackled to a robust programme,” it said.
Israel seen undermining nuclear disarmament – ElBaradei
Mon Feb 16, 2009
BERLIN (Reuters) – A perception among Arab nations that Israel has undermined the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is a major obstacle to global nuclear disarmament, head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said on Monday.
Tensions within the IAEA run deep over Israel’s presumed nuclear might and its shunning of the NPT. Israel is widely believed to have the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal but it has never confirmed or denied it.
In an article for the International Herald Tribune, Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, set out what he thought should be done to achieve consensus on nuclear disarmament.
“What compounds the problem is that the nuclear non-proliferation regime has lost its legitimacy in the eyes of Arab public opinion because of the perceived double-standards concerning Israel, the only state in the region outside the NPT and known to possess nuclear weapons,” he wrote.
ElBaradei also reiterated he was encouraged by new U.S. President Barack Obama’s commitment to making the elimination of all nuclear weapons a central part of his policy platform.
To do that, nations have to overcome cynical attitudes to the United Nations, he said.
“The U.N. and related agencies must be given adequate authority and funding and put in the hands of leaders who have vision, courage and credibility,” wrote ElBaradei.
In a broadside against the United States and Israel, he said: “Above all, we need to halt the glaring breach of core principles of international law such as limitations on the unilateral use of force, proportionality in self-defence and the protection of civilians during hostilities in order to avoid a repeat of the civilian carnage in Iraq and, most recently, in Gaza.”
ElBaradei, who is due to leave office in November when his third term expires, clashed with the former Bush administration over what he saw as its unilateralism and refusal to engage with foes like Iran.
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-38051120090216
Earthquake in area nuclear facility in Japan
Strong earthquake hits northern Japan
Canada.com 17 Feb 09 A strong earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale shook northern Japan early Thursday………………..
Japan endures some 20 per cent of the world’s powerful earthquakes.
The area of the earthquake lies near Rokkasho, the hub of Japan’s nuclear power industry and site of a controversial plant that reprocesses spent fuel.
Officials said they detected no problems in the nuclear power plants, with some shut down manually.
An earthquake last year caused a small leak in the world’s largest nuclear power plant in Niigata prefecture northwest of Tokyo………………………
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/story.html?id=9aae5ae9-fb31-4bb4-a19a-1912849b8ddc
MPs demand inquiry into ‘hushed-up’ nuclear subs crash
THE SCOTSMAN 17 February 2009
The vessels, the Faslane-based HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant, both believed to be carrying nuclear missiles, collided two weeks ago. Intelligence experts said that the crews might have been playing a game of cat and mouse when the incident happened.
The Ministry of Defence admitted the collision only yesterday, after it was confirmed by French officials, prompting one politician to accuse it of a “hush-hush attitude”. The submarines – each nearly 500ft long – were both damaged in the underwater incident, thought to have happened on the night of 3-4 February…………………….Disarmament campaigners described the incident – in the Atlantic’s 41 million square miles – as a “nuclear nightmare of the highest order”, which could have released “vast amounts of radiation”…………………..”The MoD needs to explain how it is possible for a submarine carrying weapons of mass destruction to collide with another submarine carrying weapons of mass destruction in the middle of the world’s second-largest ocean.”
Japanese firms played key role in Pakistan’s nuclear programme
| Press Trust of India 17 Feb 09 | |||||||
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This supply “knowingly or unknowingly” helped Islamabad to acquire nuclear capability and were incorporated in its supply framework, it emerged today.
“Japanese companies played a key role in supplying equipment used for Pakistan’s nuclear development,” Japan’s Kyodo News reported, quoting the outcome of its investigations in Islamabad and Tokyo.
Comments by Khan and former employees of the companies reveal in detail for the first time how leading Japanese manufacturers knowingly and unknowingly helped Pakistan acquire nuclear capability and were incorporated into its supply framework.
Investigations revealed that both Khan and the head of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission visited Japan at least once in the 1980s to shop for their respective programmes.
Khan, dubbed the “father of Pakistan’s nuclear programme,” told Kyodo in a written interview that Khan Research Laboratories acquired a wide range of machines, laboratory equipment and metal products from Japan. PTI
Russia won’t toughen policy on Iran
Russia won’t toughen policy on Iran
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia does not intend to toughen its policy toward Iran regarding its nuclear program, a senior Russian diplomat said Monday.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said it’s necessary to intensify international efforts to reach a political settlement of the Iranian nuclear standoff. But Ryabkov added that Russia has no intention to take a harsher attitude to Iran, Russian news agencies reported.
“Our stance on the Iranian nuclear program has no elements which could be interpreted as toughening of approach,” Ryabkov was quoted as saying.
The U.S. has accused Iran of supporting terrorism and secretly seeking to build nuclear weapons — charges that Iran denies.
Russia has developed close ties with Iran and is building its first nuclear power plant. Moscow has supported limited U.N. sanctions on Iran, but opposed the U.S. push for tougher measures…………………..
Ryabkov said Monday that ending the Iranian nuclear standoff could also help advance U.S.-Russian talks on possible cooperation on missile defense.
“As soon as there is a shift toward restoring confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, opportunities will open for deeper talk on prospects for cooperation on missile defense,” Ryabkov said. “We are studying signals from the U.S. administration, and, for our part, have made proposals on how we can cooperate in the missile defense field.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iBLHJGdHUD5xKiB9QYH6NlZhfTXgD96CSI0G0
Israel launches covert war against Iran
Israel has launched a covert war against Iran as an alternative to direct military strikes against Tehran’s nuclear programme, US intelligence sources have revealed.
It is using hitmen, sabotage, front companies and double agents to disrupt the regime’s illicit weapons project, the experts say.
The most dramatic element of the “decapitation” programme is the planned assassination of top figures involved in Iran’s atomic operations.
Despite fears in Israel and the US that Iran is approaching the point of no return in its ability to build atom bomb, Israeli officials are aware of the change in mood in Washington since President Barack Obama took office.
They privately acknowledge the new US administration is unlikely to sanction an air attack on Iran’s nuclear installations and Mr Obama’s offer to extend a hand of peace to Tehran puts any direct military action beyond reach for now.
The aim is to slow down or interrupt Iran’s research programme, without the gamble of a direct confrontation that could lead to a wider war…………………………………
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