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USA Republican presidential candidate calls for preemptive strike on Iran

Rick Santorum Calls for a ‘Preemptive Strike’ if Iran Is Developing, Nuclear Weapons, ABC News, Nov 10, NEW BOSTON, N.H. – Rick Santorum said the United States should be open to a military strike to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. “A country that is developing a weapon of mass destruction to use it to destroy another country must be stopped in a preemptive strike,” Santorum told a crowd of about 50 people in a rural part of New Hampshire this evening.
This was his second policy speech in a series of three in his “Faith, Family and Freedom” tour…. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/rick-santorum-calls-for-a-preemptive-strike-if-iran-is-developing-nuclear-weapons/

November 11, 2011 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Call to Iran and the West for diplomacy – United Nations – Ban Ki-moon

UN’s Ban Urges Diplomacy in Iran Nuclear Dispute Voice of America,  November 10th, 2011  United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is calling on Iran and the West to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program through talks instead of military action.

A Ban spokesman said Thursday that diplomacy is the only way to settle the issue. Recent Israeli media reports say Israel has been considering a military strike on Iran’s nuclear sites to stop what the West suspects is Iranian plans build nuclear weapons.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Thursday Iran will respond to any military strike by Israel or the United States with “iron fists.”….http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/11/10/uns-ban-urges-diplomacy-in-iran-nuclear-dispute-2/

November 11, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, politics international | 1 Comment

Iran warns against Israeli military strike

Nuclear standoff: Iran warns US, Israel against strike News.com.Au 11 Nov 11 IRAN will hit back against any attack or even threat of military action, the country’s supreme leader says after Israel warned the world must act to prevent Tehran getting nuclear weapons.

Iran “will respond with full force to any aggression or even threats in a way that will demolish the aggressors from within”, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told students at a Tehran military college, according to his official website. Continue reading →

November 11, 2011 Posted by | Iran, Israel, politics international | Leave a comment

France’s spy court case shows up dirty tactics of nuclear lobby

This spying scandal and verdict against EDF couldn’t have come at a worse time for the global nuclear industry

 Nuclear giant EDF found guilty of spying on Greenpeace, Greenpeace,  by JustinMcKeating – November 10, 2011, As the great Mahatma Gandhi (nearly) said, ”First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they spy on you, then you win”.

That’s pretty much the chain of events that lead to today’s conviction by a French court of French state electricity company, Electricité de France SA (EDF) for spying on us. The court fined the company 1.5 million Euros and ordered it to pay €500,000 in damages to Greenpeace France. In addition, the court sent the four men involved, two of them senior EDF executives, to jail as well – and fined three of them. Continue reading →

November 11, 2011 Posted by | France, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Parliamentarians taking up the cause of South Africa’s sick former nuclear workers

Political allies for past and present nuclear workers  Workers at Necsa are not alone. Support for their plight is at hand.  The New Age Mel Frykberg, 10 Nov 11 Former nuclear workers who have died or are suffering ill health, allegedly from working at the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa’s (Necsa) nuclear complex, have found an ally in the DA’s new chief whip.

 

Wattie Watson, who was sworn in yesterday, has pledged to speed up answers to Parliamentary questions, including those affecting the nuclear workers. “I support the establishment of an independent enquiry into the former nuclear workers’ case,” Gareth Morgan, the DA shadow minister of water and environmental affairs told The New Age. “These workers haven’t received a fair hearing and we want to know how the government is going to respond,” said Morgan.

Watson said at the top of his priority list would be a request to Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe to pressure government ministers to respond to unanswered questions raised in Parliament. Labour Minister Nelisiwe Mildred Oliphant was asked on July 1 how many workers at Necsa’s Pelindaba, Koeberg and Ithuba laboratories had applied for occupational health compensation since inception and how many had applied annually.

The minister was further asked about the number of successful applications, the number who had received compensation, the amount compensated and the names of the recipients. To date, the DA has still not received a response despite the Parliamentary custom of responding in writing within 10 days.

The Habitat Council, the Pelindaba Working Group (PWG), comprising antinuclear activists and former workers, Earthlife Africa and former Atteridgeville workers, have also called for an independent enquiry, particularly into “Necsa’s suspect rebuttal of workers’ sicknesses”.
The public protector is investigating the case but told The New Age that more medical files were needed to support the compensation claims. However, Judith Taylor, Earthlife Africa Johannesburg’s coordinator, said that the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR), the nuclear watchdog, was largely to blame for the stalemate.

Mariette Liefferlink, a NNR board member, who expressed concern in her capacity as an activist and the CEO of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, is deeply concerned by the plight of former nuclear workers. http://thenewage.co.za/34642-1007-53-Political_allies_for_past_and_present_nuclear_workers

November 11, 2011 Posted by | health, South Africa | 1 Comment

Blockade by protestors delays Kudankulam nuclear plant

Commissioning of India Kudankulam nuclear plant delayed BBC News, 10 Nov 11 Commissioning of a controversial planned nuclear plant in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu has been delayed by a few months, officials have told the BBC. Kudankulam plant Chief Superintendent MK Balaji said that the delay was due to public protests at the site which had disrupted building work.

He said that the site had been subjected to a total blockade by protesters since 13 October. Protesters say the facility is unsafe and in an earthquake area. They fear a repeat of the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima plant…. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15684591

November 11, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Time running out for action on Climate Change

Five years to act on climate: report The Age , Tom Arup and David Wroe November 11, 2011THE world has just five years to make ”urgent and radical policy changes” or lock in dangerous climate change, the world’s leading energy agency has warned, sparking a debate about whether Australia should shift to gas or renewable energy.

The 2011 World Energy Outlook – released by the International Energy Agency late on Wednesday night – finds the world is on track to build enough fossil-fuel power stations, energy-intensive factories and buildings by 2017 to close the door on keeping climate change to a safe level…… The outlook says coal consumption needs to peak well before 2020 if the world wants to halt global warming at a 2 degrees rise, which scientists say is needed to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

If energy and climate policies currently proposed by all world governments – including Australia’s carbon tax – are put in place, temperatures will rise by 3.5 degrees. If the world remains on its current path of growth in fossil fuels global temperatures will rise by 6 degrees, the outlook says.

Agency chief economist Fatih Birol said if by 2017 there is not a start to major new clean infrastructure investments ”the door to 2 degrees will be closed”. ”I am very worried,” he said, ”if we don’t change direction now on how we use energy, we will end up beyond what scientists tell us is the minimum. The door will be closed forever.”

The outlook comes as nations prepare to converge on the South African city of Durban later this month for the next round of global climate change negotiations, but there is almost no expectation significant progress on a global pact will be made.

The agency’s report says emissions from existing fossil-fuel power plants, factories and buildings have already locked in 80 per cent of the emissions allowed by 2035 to keep carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere to 450 parts per million, the maximum possible to keep temperature rises to 2 degrees. The other 20 per cent will be eaten up by 2017 on current development trends the outlook says….  http://www.theage.com.au/national/five-years-to-act-on-climate-report-20111110-1n9he.html#ixzz1dRh1PZbd

November 11, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, climate change, Reference | Leave a comment

Environmental groups to tale legal action, if NRC approves Westinghouse nuclear reactor design

Environmental group raises new objections to AP1000 reactor Charlotte Business Journal by John Downey, Senior Staff Writer, November 10, 2011 Environmental groups opposed toWestinghouse    ’s AP1000 nuclear reactor contend the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has no authority to approve the reactor’s design until it considers design changes recommended by the Fukushima Task Force on lessons learned from the Japanese nuclear accident.

John Runkle, an environmental lawyer from Chapel Hill, says the AP1000 Oversight Group is prepared to go to court to attempt to block certification of the design if, as expected, the commission goes ahead with approval. Continue reading →

November 11, 2011 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Japanese people using crowdsourcing to track radiation

 Safecast Draws on Power of the Crowd to Map Japan’s Radiation PBS Newshour 10 Nov JEFFREY BROWN: Now, tracking the spread of radiation in Japan eight months after the tsunami caused a nuclear accident.

Japanese people are using new technology and the power of crowdsourcing to find hotspots.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/july-dec11/japanradiation_11-10.html

November 11, 2011 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual | 2 Comments

Nuclear issues looming in USA Republican presidential debates

Ron Paul got cheers and applause in Las Vegas when he said: “What right does 49 states have to punish one state and say, we’re going to put our garbage in your state? I think that’s wrong.’’

In South Carolina, though, things play differently

 Nuclear Waste Is Likely to Come Up at Next Debate NYT By MATTHEW W. WALD, November 10, 2011, Most of the Republican presidential candidates said exactly the right thing about nuclear waste when they debated in Las Vegas in October — that they were against opening the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain. But when they meet in Spartanburg, S.C., on Saturday, that will be exactly the wrong thing to say. Continue reading →

November 11, 2011 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

New safety worries about Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear plant design

 

 

The public interest groups maintain that the NRC has given priority to the construction schedules of these corporations instead of resolving the continuously emerging problems with the design.   

Nuclear Expert Cites New Concerns About Westinghouse Reactor Design Based On Fukushima Disaster ENews Park Forest 10 Nov 11 Groups say design approval can’t legally be finalized until Fukushima lessons are incorporated, and that NRC plans to shove costly design corrections onto Georgia, South Carolina customers   DURHAM, N.C.  – Nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen has documented at least six areas of unreviewed safety concern involving the Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear plant design based on the ongoing Fukushima disaster, and he says these problems require full technical review by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission before the plant design can be “certified.”  Today public interest groups filed his report – which expands on problems identified by a federal task force – with NRC commissioners who are considering a final vote on the plant design without responding to a long list of problems raised earlier by experts within and outside the industry.

The Fairewinds report and the legal motion can be found at www.ncwarn.org.  A video presentation by engineer Gundersen will be posted today both at www.ncwarn.org and at www.fairewinds.com Continue reading →

November 11, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Taxpayers and ratepayers petition NRC on nuclear safety

Taxpayers and Ratepayers United, et al.; Environmental Impacts of Severe … Middle East North Africa Financial Network – ‎11 Nov 11 (Nuclear Regulatory Commission Documents and Publications/ContentWorks via COMTEX) — SUMMARY: The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) has received 15 petitions for rulemaking (PRMs), each dated August 10, August 11, …http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp?storyid=%7B0448c247-6832-40a7-ae0e-028ca23f029c%7D

November 11, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

In closed meeting of nuclear trade group, NRC warns on safety issues

NRC chair warns nuclear industry against complacency, says it must resolve long-running issues Washington Post, By Ray Henry, Associated Press,  November 10 ATLANTA — The country’s top nuclear safety regulator warned power companies against complacency Thursday and said the agency must push ahead with new rules prompted by a nuclear crisis in Japan while also resolving long-running issues involving fire protection and a new analysis of earthquake risks. Continue reading →

November 11, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment