Attacks on NRC Chairman take attention away from nuclear safety issues
The grumbling over Jaczko is a convenient smokescreen to draw attention away from the fact that, for the first time in decades, the NRC actually has a Chairman who, in his own words, is “a very passionate person about safety” at the country’s 104 operating nuclear reactors. That shows up the other four, who, much of the time, adhere to an old culture of capitulation to the demands of the nuclear power industry, a practice which almost invariably diminishes safety…….
Congress could better spend its time looking deeper into lax safety oversight at NRC and tell its commissioners to stop favoring the nuclear industry’s financial priorities over public safety.
The Jaczko DebateNuclear Agency Squabbling Throws Smokescreen Over Safety Lapses, Counter Punch, 6 Jan 12, by LINDA PENTZ GUNTER Four of the five commissioners at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission have charged their boss, Chairman Gregory Jaczko, with “causing serious damage to this institution.” That is tough talk coming from an agency where mismanagement under previous chairmanships actually did serious damage, not only to the regulatory integrity of the institution, but to safety integrity at nuclear reactors. Continue reading
Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul has some sane nuclear ideas
like former president (and five-star general) Dwight D. Eisenhower, he 
thinks the current military-industrial complex wields excessive influence on our politics and has become a self-perpetuating engine for counter-productive meddling abroad.
The rest of the GOP candidates are mostly competing to see who can sound the most eager for war (usually with Iran) or most willing to toss more money at the Pentagon….
Why Ron Paul may actually have something right, Foreign
Policy, By Stephen M. Walt, January 6, 2012 – “…….despite his bizarre views on the gold standard, climate change, social security, and the like, Paul has put his finger on a number of issues that could resonate broadly with the American people, … Continue reading
Threats make Iran more anxious to have nuclear weapons
The ultimate irony, of course, is that the more the West tries to punish Iran for pursuing
nuclear weapons, the more they prove to the Iranian leadership the necessity of acquiring them.
A nuclear-armed state doesn’t get pushed around by bigger bullies,
Standoff Over Iran’s Oil and Nuclear Program Isn’t Going Away, Atlantic Wire, DASHIELL BENNETT 6 Jan 12, Iran promises more military action in the Strait of Hormuz, as western
nations try turn up the economic pressure in an attempt to stop the country’s nuclear program. After the Iranians conducted 10 days of drills near the all-important entrance to the Persian Gulf and threatened to close the Strait altogether if the U.S. and Europe impose more oil sanctions … Europe and the U.S. decided to consider more sanctions.
So Iranian naval officials announced a new set of war games that would take place in February. Meanwhile, Israel is talking about having its own missile defense exercise and the European Union is openly talking about a near total ban on Iranian oil imports, ratcheting up tensions instead of deflating them. Continue reading
War games – all about Iran’s nuclear ambitions
Face-off in the Gulf as U.S., Israel and Iran all launch war games in show of force over nuclear plans and key oil route UK warns that it is prepared to use force to stop Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz By DAILY MAIL REPORTER 6th January 2012 The U.S. and Israel are planning a massive military exercise in the Persian Gulf in an attempt to face down Iran over its sabre-rattling in the region.
But the Islamic Republic is also preparing war games in the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic oil route which the country has threatened to block off in a move which could seriously restrict energy supplies. Britain’s Defence Secretary yesterday said that the UK would take military action to prevent Iran – which is believed to be developing secret nuclear weapons – from cutting off the strait.
Iran announced last night that an annual naval exercise known as ‘The Great Prophet’ would take place in the strait next month…….
Last month, the head of the British armed forces said the biggest strategic risk facing the UK was economic rather than military. General Sir David Richards, the Chief of the Defence Staff, said ‘no country can defend itself if bankrupt’.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2082961/Face-Gulf-U-S–Israel-Iran-launch-war-games-force-nuclear-plans-key-oil-route.html#ixzz1inkW205N
Depleted uranium has wreaked havoc on health in Iraq
The US and UK militaries have sent mixed signals about the effects of depleted uranium, but Iraqi doctors like Alwachi and Alani, and along with researchers, blame the increasing cancer and birth defect rates on the weapon.
Abdulhaq Al-Ani, author of Uranium in Iraq, has been researching the effects of depleted uranium on Iraqis since 1991. He told Al Jazeera he personally measured radiation levels in the city of Kerbala, as well as in Basra, and his Geiger counter was “screaming” because “the indicator went beyond the range”.
Fallujah babies: Under a new kind of siege, Doctors and residents blame US weapons for catastrophic levels of birth defects in Fallujah’s newborns, Al Jazeera, Dahr Jamail 06 Jan 2012 Fallujah, Iraq – While the US military has formally withdrawn from Iraq, doctors and residents of Fallujah are blaming weapons like depleted uranium and white phosphorous used during two devastating US attacks on Fallujah in 2004 for what are being described as “catastrophic” levels of birth defects and abnormalities.
Dr Samira Alani, a paediatric specialist at Fallujah General Hospital, has taken a personal interest in investigating an explosion of congenital abnormalities that have mushroomed in the wake of the US sieges since 2005. ”We have all kinds of defects now, ranging from congenital heart disease to severe physical abnormalities, both in numbers you cannot imagine,” Alani told Al Jazeera at her office in the hospital, while showing countless photos of shocking birth defects.
As of December 21, Alani, who has worked at the hospital since 1997, told Al Jazeera she had personally logged 677 cases of birth defects since October 2009. Just eight days later when Al Jazeera visited the city on December 29, that number had already risen to 699. Continue reading
USA ‘s cautious move to reduce nuclear weapons
Pentagon cuts: What will the new US military look like? BBC News, By Heather Hurlburt, Executive Director, National Security Network, 6 Jan 12,“…..The president’s 2009 Prague pledge to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in US strategy, and move toward their elimination, will begin to have practical force.
Stephen Young of the Union of Concerned Scientists describes the future of the nuclear weapons complex as “cautious but suggestive”. The strategy review document maintains a nuclear arsenal but hints at reductions, saying “it is possible our deterrence goals can be achieved with a smaller nuclear force”.
What might this mean in practice? In the near-term, disappointment for those on the US right who have advocated aggressive investment in new nuclear bombs and even a return to testing. In the longer-term, many Pentagon generals, especially those not in submarine, missile or nuclear bomber commands, are willing to consider shrinking the nuclear “triad”. There is also a raft of influential players in the nuclear sphere who have been eager to retire the weapons…..” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16433138
New uranium mining banned near Grand Canyon
U.S. to Ban New Uranium Mining Near Grand Canyon, NYT, 6 Jan 12, By JOHN M. BRODER Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is expected to announce on Monday that he has approved a 20-year moratorium on new uranium mining claims in a million-acre buffer zone around the Grand Canyon.
The decision, which has been under consideration for nearly two years, would allow a small number of existing uranium and other hard rock mining operations in the region to continue while barring the new claims. In 2009 Mr. Salazar suspended new uranium claims on public lands surrounding the Grand Canyon for two years, overturning a Bush administration policy that encouraged thousands of new claims when the price of uranium soared in 2006 and 2007.
Many of the stakeholders are foreign interests, including Rosatom, Russia’s state atomic energy corporation.
The Interior Department took public comment and prepared an environmental impact statement before deciding to extend the moratorium for another 20 years…. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/06/u-s-to-ban-new-uranium-mining-near-grand-canyon/
Protect our grandchildren- close down New York’s nuclear plants
demand that New York state devise a plan to phase out all nuclear power and replace it with a combination of energy conservation and wind, solar and geothermal energy! That way we could all feel a lot safer, and protect generations of American children.
It’s time to close the facilities in New York Syracuse.com, Rick Olanoff, January 06, 2012 Did you know that Germany is planning to phase out its nuclear power plants?
Did you read that German children living near nuclear power plants are twice as likely to develop leukemia as those who live elsewhere? (And there have been no nuclear disasters in Germany that would greatly increase these risks.) Continue reading
Kim Jong Un – an unknown quantity in charge of North Korea’s nukes
Understanding the youngest man who can launch a nuclear weapon Kim was ‘dim’ and a Chicago Bulls fan to his Swiss schoolmates Gulf News, By Malcolm MoorePublished: 00:00 January 7, 2012 Shanghai: Officially aged 29, but probably only 26 or 27, he is the youngest man in history with the power to launch a nuclear weapon.
But the man who appears to have risen smoothly to become North Korea’s “Supreme Military Commander”, the title bestowed on him on Friday and confirmed by the country’s ruling politburo on Thursday, is a worrying blank to most of the outside world…. Inside North Korea, the country’s secretive regime has begun honing propaganda messages about the new leader…. http://gulfnews.com/news/world/other-world/understanding-the-youngest-man-who-can-launch-a-nuclear-weapon-1.962297
“ WHAT ARE THE RESULTS OF TISSUE ANALYSIS TAKEN FROM DECEASED NUCLEAR TEST VETERANS ? “
“ The motives for the work appear to have been similar to those set out in relation to nuclear industry , namely scientific research and potential claims for damages .”
Why Nuclear Veterans are Being Silenced, Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog, 6 Jan 12,”..……Secret examination of tissue , organs and body parts of nuclear industry workers and nuclear test veterans …..
Michael Redfern QC published his report on tissue analysis at nuclear installations on the 16th November 2010 . This report took some three and half years to complete and covers 655 pages .It was originally set up to investigate claims by the families of deceased nuclear industry worker that their beloved ones body parts had been secretly removed
for examination , without family consent , for analysis and destruction .
One bereaved family found the body of a nuclear industry worker in his coffin had a broom stick put in place of a removed leg bone to give the appearance on burial that the body was whole and not desecrated.
The Redfern Report links Nuclear Test Veterans and Power Workers in on-going medical research programmes . Continue reading
Japan: taxpayers to take on nuclear costs, companies to keep profits?
Fukushima exposes contradictions / Nuclear crisis prompts govt to rethink private companies’ operation of N-plants Hiroshi Ikematsu / Yomiuri Shimbun, 7 Jan 12
The government’s moves to overhaul the state’s nuclear policy were prompted by serious contradictions discovered in that policy, as a result of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Although the Law on Compensation for Nuclear Damage stipulates that electric companies have unlimited liability in the case of accidents, the government had no choice but to support Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s efforts to pay compensation for damage caused by the Fukushima crisis. Therefore, the government plans to overhaul the law, including a review of utilities’ unlimited liability.
If it does so, however, entrusting utility companies with the operation of cost-efficient nuclear power plants, the companies may just siphon off profits and push the risk of accidents onto the
state……. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120106005620.htm
New book on nuclear security
New Book Chronicles Shultz-Perry-Kissinger-Nunn Initiative , NTI Global Security Newswire , 5 Jan 12, In a new book, award-winning journalist Philip Taubman tells the intimate story of five men—Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, Sam Nunn, William Perry, and Stanford physicist Sidney Drell—and their campaign to reduce the threat of a nuclear attack and, ultimately, eliminate nuclear weapons altogether.
The Partnership explores this bipartisan partnership which forms NTI’s Nuclear Security Project (NSP). Offering a clear analysis of the danger of nuclear terrorism and how it can be prevented, The Partnership sheds light on one of the most divisive security issues facing Washington today. Taubman illuminates our vulnerability in the face of this pressing terrorist threat–and the unlikely efforts of five key Cold War players to eliminate the nuclear arsenal they helped create.
The New York Times called it “fascinating and haunting.” “The Partnership is a richly detailed account one of the most important issues of our time – the management and future of the world’s nuclear arsenal. Taubman brings this compelling subject to life with original reporting and vivid descriptions of the major players. It’s a book that should be on the bedside of every presidential candidate, national affairs journalist and engaged citizen.” – Tom Brokaw
Bob Woodward calls it a “brilliant, penetrating study… Readers will tremble at the dangers the world has faced and still faces today.” http://www.nti.org/newsroom/news/new-book-chronicles-shultz-perry-kissinger-nunn-initiative/
Fort Calhoun nuclear plant still shut, – problems other than flooding
Regulators to hold meeting on Neb. nuclear plant CBS News, (AP) 5 Jan 12, OMAHA, Neb. — Federal regulators will hold a public meeting about their plan to oversee Nebraska’s Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant, which remains shut down because of flood damage.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to meet with Omaha Public Power District officials on Jan. 19 to discuss the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant, which is 20 miles north of Omaha. The public canask questions at the 6 p.m. meeting at Omaha’s Doubletree Hotel downtown.
Regulators said last month they were imposing tougher oversight on Fort Calhoun because several problems had been found at the plant unrelated to last summer’s flooding along the Missouri River. This meeting will outline what that oversight will look like.
Fort Calhoun has been shut down since last spring’s refueling.Flooding along the Missouri forced it to remain closed. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57353123/regulators-to-hold-meeting-on-neb-nuclear-plant/
Slovakia wrestles with nuclear question, and costs of “decommissioning”
amidst the country’s nuclear quandary, one state agency seems poised for growth. Jadrova a vyradovacia spolocnost, a.s., Slovakia’s nuclear decommissioning company,
Slovakia’s Nuclear Schizophrenia: Shut Down, Continue As Usual, or Boldly Go — Where? Minyanville, by John C.K. Daly of Oilprice.com.Jan 06, 2012 The answer is anything but clear. “…….the last two decades have devolved into a series of unseemly squabbles between Brussels and new Eastern European members, with the EU demanding the prompt shutdown of Soviet-era nuclear power plants, while governments east of Berlin plead understanding and extended timelines to shut down the facilities that provide major electrical input as they search for alternatives.
The latest post-Cold War post-Soviet space energy front line is Slovakia. What to do in Bratislava on the way to becoming good, clean, green members of the European Union? “……Slovakia currently has four operational nuclear reactors at complexes in Jaslovske Bohunice and Mochovce, commissioned between 1984 and 1999. The facilities’ threeoldest reactors have been shut down in accordance with EU mandates….. Continue reading
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