Demand for nuclear weapons in Kim Jong-Il’s will
Kim Jong-Il’s will demands WMDs, The Telegraph, AFP April 13, 2012 KIM Jong-Il’s will urges North Korea to develop weapons of mass destruction, a top defector has said. A top North Korean defector yesterday said he had obtained the last will and testament of Kim Jong-Il.
“Keep in mind that constantly developing and keeping nuclear (weapons), long-range missiles and biochemical weapons is the way to keep peace on the Korean peninsula, and never drop your guard,” the will said, according to Japanese weekly tabloid magazine Shukan Bunshun. Continue reading
How the Stuxnet computer worm was introduced into Iran’s nuclear plant
Stuxnet delivered to Iranian nuclear plant on thumb drive, CNET News, 12 April 12, Citing U.S. intelligence sources, ISSSource says an infected memory stick was used to hit the facility with the worm that severely damaged Iran’s nuclear program.
by Daniel Terdiman April 12, 2012 An Iranian double agent working for Israel used a standard thumb drive carrying a deadly payload to infect Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility with the highly destructive Stuxnet computer worm, according to a story by ISSSource. Stuxnet quickly propagated throughout Natanz — knocking that facility offline and at least temporarily crippling Iran’s nuclear program — once a user did nothing more than click on a Windows icon. The worm was discovered nearly two years ago.
ISSSource’s report yesterday was based on sources inside the U.S. intelligence community.
These sources, who requested anonymity because of their close proximity to investigations, said a saboteur at the Natanz nuclear facility, probably a member of an Iranian dissident group, used a memory stick to infect the machines there. They said using a person on the ground would greatly increase the probability of computer infection, as opposed to passively waiting for the software to spread through the computer facility. “Iranian double agents” would have helped to target the most vulnerable spots in the system,” one source said. In October 2010, Iran’s intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi said an unspecified number of “nuclear spies” were arrested in connection with Stuxnet.33 virus.
More unusual wear found in San Onofre nuclear plant
Additional tube wear found at troubled San Onofre nuclear plant on California coast Washington Post, By Associated Press, April 12 LOS ANGELES — The operator of an idled nuclear plant on the California coast announced Thursday that more unusual wear has been found on tubing that carries radioactive water, the latest disclosure in an ongoing mystery involving the plant’s steam generators.
Southern California Edison said in a statement that investigators at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station found additional wear in its Unit 2 generators that is similar to degradation in its sister reactor, Unit 3, though at a lower level…….
The new findings show “all of the generators are exhibiting the same kind of wear, though the wear in unit 3 is more excessive than in Unit 2,” Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Victor Dricks said.
The twin-reactor plant has been shut down for more than two months while federal regulators and company officials try to find out why tubing designed to withstand many years of use under high pressure has been quickly wearing away……..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/additional-tube-wear-found-at-troubled-san-onofre-nuclear-plant-on-california-coast/2012/04/12/gIQAWEx8CT_story.html
Developing nuclear weapons together – Japan and UK
UK and Japan agree to act in unison on nuclear interests Enformable, 13 April 12, For the first time in history, Japan has agreed to develop weapons with a country other than the United States, proclaiming the agreement will strengthen bilateral defense cooperation, including joint weapons development. Continue reading
UK’s messy situation – the economics of new nuclear reactors
Japan, the nation who cannot even restart its own reactors or bring the Fukushima disaster to a close, will be allowed, no encouraged, to sell the UK its own technology right back, and presumably for a profit.
The Nuclear Powers of Japan and United Kingdom Enformable, 13 April 12, “……The history of nuclear energy economics in the UK is equally complex. The once-mighty UK nuclear fleet, which at the beginning of the 1990s generated over 25% of the nations power, has fallen hard in more recent years. Continue reading
Continued poor prospects for uranium. ERA may close its Ranger mine
Spot Uranium Grafting, 9 News Finance, 13 April 12, ”………Activity in general remains sluggish, and while two transactions were reported last week in the term market they were both pretty small by term market standards…
..Energy Resources of Australia managed a 5% price increase over the quarter but remains in thebalance. The company has elected to spend $120m to explore the underground potential at its premier Ranger mine in the northern territory, known as the Ranger Deeps project.
If ERA decides the Deeps is not a commercially viable proposition, Ranger is destined to quietly shut down. Merrills suggests known reserves are unlikely to last beyond this year and stockpiles would be gone in 3-4 years.
Meanwhile, Merrills has ceased coverage of Extract Resources post takeover and its impending de-listing this week.
The broker has also taken the opportunity to review its uranium price forecasts to account for weaker Japanese demand now apparent one year after Fukushima. The analysts’ 2012 spot price forecast falls to US$56.25/lb from US$58.50/lb and 2013 to US$67.50/lb from US$70.00/lb. Merrills’ long term price drops to US$63.00/lb from US$65.00/lb. …
http://finance.ninemsn.com.au/newscolumnists/greg/8449091/spot-uranium-grafting
New radiation monitoring dosimeter technology
The way in which radiation workers are monitored is set to change with the introduction of a new and very different type of dosimeter that has just been approved for legal use in New Zealand.
Instead of waiting months for information about a possible exposure, radiation workers can now plug their dosimeter directly into a USB port of an Internet-connected Windows or Maccomputer and get an instant readout of any dose received.
Exposure information now available for radiation workers http://www.voxy.co.nz/business/exposure-information-now-available-radiation-workers/5/120503, 13 April, 2012 – We tend to think of New Zealand as nuclear-free but the reality is quite different. Radioactive material produced in nuclear reactors in other parts of the world is imported into the country on a near daily basis and thousands of x-ray generations are at work up and down the country. X-rays, gamma rays and radiopharmaceuticals are used extensively in human and animal health and radioactive sources are deployed in a plethora of industrial and research applications.
Human senses cannot detect the presence of ionising radiation and over time the cumulative effects of undetected radiation exposure become a threat to health. This is of particular significance for the thousands of workers whose occupation brings them into close and frequent contact with sources of ionising radiation. Continue reading
The eternal cost of dealing with dead, but radioactive, nuclear reactors
Turkish nuclear power – an unwarranted venture, Hurriyet Daily News, ERHUN KULA, 12 April 12 “……Studies in France (available from the author), the most nuclear dependent nation, reveal that nuclear energy is more expensive then hydro and fossil fuel powered units, even when the end cost of nuclear power plants – which is decommissioning and storing highly dangerous nuclear wastes in repositories for thousands of years – is ignored. The most expensive and risky problem with nuclear energy is the safe disposal of the radioactive waste. It has to be transported over long distances, stored and monitored over a very long period of time.
A few months ago the Mersin Akkuyu Nuclear Electricity Production Corporation commissioned an “independent” engineering company, DOKAY, to carry out an environmental impact assessment of the proposed nuclear power unit. In its over 100 page report, DOKAY provided a “pleasing” document to its sponsor. As for nuclear wastes – the end product – only a few sentences are reserved, which is quite outrageous.
There are more than 400 nuclear reactors operating in various countries. A nuclear power station has 35-40 years of operating life. After that it must be dismantled and the area must be cleaned up (the decommissioning process). But so far, no nuclear power station has been completely decommissioned in the world. It has been estimated that decommissioning could last about 50 years and it would cost more than the construction cost.
One of the earliest decommissioning efforts is taking place at Dounrey plant, on the northern tip of Scotland. It started more than 15 years ago and we need at least 30 years more to finish the job. After that, waste must be stored in nuclear graves (waste repositories) for thousands of years. United States regulations require the storage period to be at least 10,000 years.
The cost of decommissioning and waste storage will fall upon future generations at huge costs. My American colleague, Prof. S. Frachette, argues that large quantities of nuclear waste is likely to endanger the health, safety and civil liberties of generations yet to be born.
Professor Erhun Kula, from Istanbul’s Bahçesehir University, researched economic and moral aspects of nuclear power in the U.K., the United States and Sweden, and has published widely in this field. http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-nuclear-power–an-unwarranted-venture.aspx?pageID=238&nID=18223&NewsCatID=396
Russia joins Japan in planning to make money out of Britain’s nukes
‘The British market is very attractive,’ said the group’s director of communications, Sergei Novikov…..
An agreement yesterday between the UK government and Japan ‘will open up opportunities’ for British firms to decommission the country’s nuclear sites.
Russian nuclear giant that built Chernobyl interested in erecting generators in Britain… well, they do have glowing references Daily Mail, By PETER CAMPBELL, 11 April 2012 | The Russian nuclear giant that built Chernobyl has confirmed interest in erecting generators in Britain. Kremlin-owned Rosatom is fundamentally the same group that built the Ukrainian reactors, one of which exploded in 1986. Continue reading
Germany needs to make sure that nuclear companies pay for nuclear decommissioning
Germany open to nuclear shutdown fund – minister Greenpeace calls for state to run nuclear dismantling fund
* Environment minister says Greenpeace proposal can be examined
* Major utilities reject idea
DUESSELDORF, Germany, April 11 (Reuters) – Germany would consider ringfencing billions of euros to be put aside by utilities for disposing of radioactive waste, the environment minister said, to ensure decommissioning of the country’s nuclear power plants is completed decades from now. He was speaking on Wednesday in response to a call from environmental group Greenpeace that wants the government to administer some of the money earmarked for nuclear decommissioning.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision last year, following Japan’s nuclear plant disaster, to phase out nuclear power by 2022 has thrown big utilities on the defensive, weakening their finances and forcing them to rethink their business models.
Germany’s top four nuclear operators – E.ON, RWE , EnBW and Swedish’s Vattenfall – are footing the bill to dismantle the plants and dispose of radioactive waste. They have already made provisions of more than 30 billion euros ($39.3 billion).
Managing the disposal of waste will take decades after the last nuclear plant is due to shut in 2022 and Greenpeace fears that the companies may not be able to honour their obligations in the future or could try to wriggle out of them.
Parking the companies’ money in a separate state-run fund would protect German taxpayers should one or more of the firms become insolvent, Greenpeace said. “This is an idea that can be examined,” Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen told Reuters on Wednesday, adding it was clear that the operators of nuclear plants were responsible for dismantling them. ”We need to look at whether a combined fund is a better solution than relying on individual responsibility,” he added.
Greenpeace has also called for provisions to be raised to 44 billion euros. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/11/germany-nuclear-idUSL6E8FB2XT20120411
Exelon Nuclear company begging for taxpayer charity
State Help Needed for New Nuclear Units, Exelon Chief Says Bloomberg News, By Brian Wingfield April 11, 2012 U.S. utilities will need government help to build nuclear reactors as other forms of electric power become less expensive, a top executive of Exelon Corp. (EXC) (EXC), the nation’s largest commercial producer of atomic energy, said.
State support may include letting companies recover costs from customers during construction, providing loan guarantees or agreeing to buy power from the plant, Mayo Shattuck III, executive chairman of Chicago-based Exelon, said today at a conference in Washington.
Building reactors may require “the sovereign support of that state, which really means it’s on the backs of the ratepayers, not the backs of the shareholders,” Shattuck said at an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission on March 30 awarded Scana Corp. (SCG) (SCG) a permit to build two reactors at a plant near Columbia, South Carolina, and on Feb. 9 approved Southern Co. (SO) (SO)’s plan for two units at its Vogtle plant near Augusta, Georgia. Southern expects its project to
cost $14 billion. Scana will cover 55 percent of the estimated $10.2 billion for the South Carolina reactors. The plants, being financed partly by customers, may be among the last in the U.S. this decade…..
Economic conditions raise “very serious questions” about the possibility of building new reactors without government support, Shattuck said……
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-11/state-help-needed-for-nuclear-units-exelon-chief-says
USA military bases in Australia – making Australia a nuclear target?
If too closely aligned with the US, Australia will be associated with any mistakes. US actions, mounted from Australia, will implicate Australia. In the Cold War US joint intelligence facilities were a target for Soviet nuclear weapons……
Australia needs to be careful that it does not make inevitable the future that it should fear the most. Current decisions are being made without public debate or discussion. Once made they will be difficult to reverse.
We must not get too close to the US, BY: PETER LEAHY The Australian April 12, 2012 “……. there can be too much of a good thing, especially if it involves putting unnecessary pressure on China. By substantially increasing its
close relationship with the US, Australia may unduly complicate its relationship with China. Care needs to be taken to ensure that Australia is not caught between the US, as security guarantor, and China as economic underwriter.
As a sovereign nation Australia should maintain the ability to say no to the US and separate itself from its actions. This will require careful thought and deft diplomacy……By agreeing to the US Marine Corps and potentially more extensive air and naval access requests, Australia has confirmed that it is firmly in the US security camp……. Continue reading
Nuclear election issue in France: former AREVA chief exposed Sarkozy’s manipulations
“Atomic Anne” tries to nuke France’s Sarkozy, Apr 11, 
2012 * Ex-CEO says Sarkozy tried to sell reactor to Gaddafi * Government says Lauvergeon’s account is “fiction” * Socialists question EDF boss’ future By Paul Taylor, PARIS, April 11 (Reuters) – Nuclear warfare has broken out between France’s two main political parties 11 days before the first round of a presidential election, with a woman known as “Atomic Anne” launching a strike on President Nicolas Sarkozy. Continue reading
Diplomacy the best hope in dealing with Iran’s nuclear ambitions
Give nuclear talks a chance, Haaretz, 12 April 12, The talks due to be renewed in Istanbul on Saturday between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council along with Germany have already been dubbed “the last diplomatic opportunity.” Continue reading
Mystery of USA’s lost nuclear attack submarine
Experts out to solve deep-sea mystery of the USS Scorpion By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY 12 April 12, Shipwreck disaster experts are calling for a deep-sea expedition to a lost U.S. nuclear attack sub, the USS Scorpion, in an effort to verify a new theory on what caused the Cold War vessel to sink. Continue reading
1 This Month
10 June – Assessing Canada’s Investments in Small Modular Nuclear Reactors – https://zoom.us/meeting/register/IiqHA5feRhaEBycOLNTJlA#/registration
Cuba Is Not a Failed State – It Is a Besieged State
PETITION: “Global Appeal to Endorse Palestinian Right of Return of Refugees”
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