2013 May 13 « nuclear-news

Highly radioactive material accumulating in areas in Fukushima City

‘Emergency decontamination’ needed in places used by Fukushima kids — Highly radioactive material accumulating — City Official: Many times higher than previous record for urban areas http://enenews.com/emergency-decontamination-needed-places-childrens-activities-highly-radioactive-material-accumulating-official-many-times-higher-anything-previously-found-urban-area-fukushima Title: Fukushima closes 2 parking lots for emergency decontamination work
Source: Asahi
Author: MASAKAZU HONDA
Date: May 08, 2013
Two parking lots in the city of Fukushima were declared off-limits to the public on May 7 after high concentrations of radioactive cesium were detected […]

“It’s the first time that soil with cesium levels exceeding 100,000 becquerels was found on the grounds of an urban area, not in sludge accumulated in ditches,” said a city official in charge of decontamination work. […]
The exposed soil had accumulated to a height of 1 to 3 centimeters around the edges of the parking lots or in sunken parts of the surface, mixed with fragments of dead leaves and other material.

The survey at the Matsuki parking lot found radioactive cesium concentrations of 220,000 or more becquerels per kilogram of soil, with the highest level at 433,772 becquerels. […]
In addition to visitors to the facilities, local residents, including students, usually enter the sites for walking and extracurricular activities. […]
See also: Nuclear material in pools at Fukushima schools exceed 100,000 Bq/kg — Level nearly doubled since last year

May 13, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Fukushima 2013 | Leave a comment

Palisades Nuclear Power Plant chronology of incidents over last 6 years

A timeline of incidents at Palisades Nuclear Power Plant since 2007, Michigan Live COVERT TOWNSHIP, MI , 12 May 13– The leak that shut down Palisades Nuclear Power Plant May 5 is one of a series of incidents that have bedeviled the nuclear reactor in recent years.

Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner Kristine Svinicki will tour Palisades Nuclear Power Plant on Monday, May 13, at the invitation of U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, who will accompany her……. http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2013/05/palisades_nuclear_power_plant_14.html

May 13, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | incidents, USA | 1 Comment

British court recognises radiation harm done to nuclear test veterans

Nuclear test veterans win war pensions after four year battle with Ministry of Defence http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nuclear-test-veterans-win-war-1884147 12 May 2013 The ruling is the first time UK nuke vets have been awarded money in recognition of their illnesses Survivors of Britain’s nuclear tests have won war pensions after a four-year fight with the Ministry of Defence.

A judge ruled this week that men ordered into the fallout zone were injured by radiation in the 1950s and 60s.

The ruling is the first time UK nuke vets have been awarded money in recognition of their illnesses. They say radiation left them with cancers, rare illnesses and birth defects in their children.

It opens the door for remaining veterans, now thought to number less than 3,000, to finally claim against the government that ordered them into danger. Their long running battle for compensation has so far been unsuccessful.

The war pensions, linked to injuries, are seen as recognition that some veterans are due money for their suffering. ”We didn’t stop fighting on the battlefield and we shouldn’t stop fighting now,” said Nick Simons, 70, after winning his case.

He believes the MoD has paid out only to avoid releasing secret medical papers. ”If enough of us win a pension perhaps they will finally say sorry,” he added.

May 13, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, UK | Leave a comment

India’s nuclear policies meeting with determined opposition

Activists slam govt’s nuclear policies http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Activists-slam-govt-s-nuclear-policies/Article1-1058924.aspx Nikhil M Ghanekar, Hindustan Times Mumbai, May 12, 2013 On Saturday, the Coal-ition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) and anti-nuclear activists criticised the Centre’s policy of expediting civilian nuclear energy projects when most developed nations have shunned the technology following the Fukushima disaster.

CNDP founder Achin Vanaik and activists such as Praful Bidwai and Vaishali Patil spoke on nuclear disarmament, the secrecy around nuclear power and the huge costs of producing nuclear energy at the seminar- ‘Coming out of the nuclear trap’.

Bidwai said the department of atomic energy had propagated myths about the advantage of nuclear power. “The costs of producing nuclear energy are exorbitant… the cost of decommissioning reactors is half of what is used to build them.”

The seminar’s organiser Kumar Sundaram criticised the Supreme Court’s decision on the Kudankulam plant. “The court did not take into account the safety standard violations. But this judgment will not deter other protests,” said Sundaram.

May 13, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Character assassination, legalised kidnapping, in USA’s hunt for Julian Assange

An Interview With Julian Assange, the Nation, Chris Hedges, 8 May 13 “…..Assange’s suitcase and computer were stolen on a flight from Sweden to Germany on September 27, 2010. His bankcards were blocked. WikiLeaks’s Moneybookers primary donation account was shut down after being placed on a blacklist in Australia and a “watch list” in the United States. Financial service companies including Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Bank of America, Western Union and American Express, following denunciations of WikiLeaks by the US government, blacklisted the organization. Last month the Supreme Court of Iceland found the blacklisting to be unlawful and ordered it lifted in Iceland by May 8. There have been frequent massive denial-of-service attacks on WikiLeak’s infrastructure.

And there is a well-orchestrated campaign of character assassination against Assange, including mischaracterizations of the sexual misconduct case brought against him by Swedish police. Assange has not formally been charged with a crime. The two women involved have not accused him of rape.

Bradley Manning’s heroism extends to his steadfast refusal, despite what appears to be tremendous pressure, to implicate Assange in espionage. If Manning alleges that Assange had instructed him on how to ferret out classified documents, the United States might try to charge Assange with espionage.

Assange sought asylum in the Ecuadorean Embassy after exhausting his fight to avoid extradition from the United Kingdom to Sweden. He and his lawyers say that an extradition to Sweden would mean an extradition to the United States If Sweden refused to comply with US demands for Assange, kidnapping, or “extraordinary rendition,” would remain an option for Washington.

Kidnapping was given legal cover by a 1989 memorandum issued by the Justice Department stating that “the FBI may use its statutory authority to investigate and arrest individuals for violating United States law, even if the FBI’s actions contravene customary international law” and that an “arrest that is inconsistent with international or foreign law does not violate the Fourth Amendment.” This is a stunning example of the security and surveillance state’s Orwellian doublespeak. The persecution of Assange and WikiLeaks and the practice of extraordinary rendition embody the shredding of the Fourth Amendment, which was designed to protect us from unreasonable searches and seizures and requires any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause.

Two Swedes and a Briton were seized by the United States last August somewhere in Africa—it is assumed to have been in Somalia—and held in one of our black sites. They suddenly reappeared—with the Briton stripped of his citizenship—in a Brooklyn courtroom in December facing terrorism charges. Sweden, rather than object to the extradition of its two citizens, dropped the Swedish charges against the prisoners to permit the rendition to occur. The prisoners, The Washington Post reported, were secretly indicted by a federal grand jury two months after being taken……” .http://www.thenation.com/article/174227/interview-julian-assange#

May 13, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, USA | 1 Comment

USA nuclear officers in a dead-end career?

Is there a morale crisis in the US nuclear force? Arab News ROBERT BURNS 13 May 2013 Beyond the US Air Force’s embarrassing suspension of 17 nuclear missile launch officers lie two broader questions.

Do those entrusted with the world’s most destructive weapons feel stuck in a dead-end career field, given the momentum toward more nuclear arms reductions? And is there a morale crisis among these officers?
This matters because the missiles — 450 of them standing in below-ground silos, ready for launch at a moment’s notice — form a critical part of America’s nuclear defenses. There is little room for error. Although none has ever been fired in anger, the risk of accidental launch or unauthorized intrusion is real.
In a rare look inside the secretive world of nuclear missiles, The Associated Press reported this past week that the deputy commander of operations for the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, complained to his officers about “rot” within their ranks.
In a confidential email obtained by the AP, Lt. Col. Jay Folds wrote of 17 launch officers, 10 percent of his force, being removed from duty for what he likened to incompetence. They are being given remedial training, with the goal of being back on duty within two months….. http://www.arabnews.com/news/451372

May 13, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Soldier reveals experience as “guinea pig” for US nuclear radiation tests

U.S. Army vet reveals 1950s nuclear secret, Rapid City Journal 12 May 13, “…… As impossible as it seems, Shuck said Operation Tumblesnapper involved exploding atomic bombs over the desert in an effort to study and better understand the effects of nuclear radiation.

“Our clothes and shoes were found to be contaminated with radiation, and we were ‘decontaminated’ with an air blower after Shot Charlie,” said Shuck, who drives the Disabled American Veterans bus throughout the Black Hills area.

“We were issued no special or protective clothing. We did wear film badges, which were to measure our exposure to skin radiation. Some personnel were required to shower until skin contamination was lowered to zero, and then put on clean clothing. I was never decontaminated beyond an air blower blowing the sand off my clothing.”

Some of the live animals used in the tests didn’t fare as well, said Shuck. Like the sheep and rabbits that were burned to a crisp on one side, and virtually untouched on the other…….

A stripped B-52 nearby broke right in the middle.

Shuck says he took part in four blasts altogether: Shot Charlie, the 31-kiloton bomb dropped from a C-50 aircraft flying over Yucca Flat; and Shots Easy, Fox, and George, three tower drops. During Shot Charlie, Shuck and his group were stationed about three miles away from “Ground Zero,” and watched the dust storm and fire ball approach and pass over the trenches.

After the blast passed, Shuck’s group marched in formation toward “Ground Zero” within half an hour after the detonation.“On the tower shot, I noticed the sand looked like burnt glass, as if the sand had been melted,” says Shuck.

After the tests, they had to bury the equipment, and not much more was said, Shuck said. “They just wanted to test the bombs and find out more about the effects of radiation. We were guinea pigs.”

Since then, as the dangers of radiation have become more publicized, Shuck pointed to a book called “American Ground Zero: The Secret Nuclear war” which details alleged health, crop, livestock, and private property damage as a result of these and other atomic tests. He and his Army group weren’t the only ones affected, he says.

Shuck, who is currently retired, said that out of that group, only half are left alive.“Many of them have died of cancer or leukemia,” he said, “which are probably effects of the blasts.”….. apidcityjournal.com/news/local/communities/belle_fourche/u-s-army-vet-reveals-s-nuclear-secret/article_1e32b6ef-93b5-5769-9ff4-b48d8db27c7e.html

May 13, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, history, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Evidence of the use of American nuclear weapons in Syria has come to light.

…..We also have film and photographs from Syria showing something we have no other explanation for. Would Israel use such weapons? Do they have the means? Do they have a motive? Have they had the opportunity?
Do they have sufficient control of press organizations to encourage this kind of blatant recklessness?……

Fri May 10, 2013

PressTV

Striking evidence of the use of American EPW (Earth Penetrating Weapons) nuclear weapons in Syria has come to light. Experts say the proof is irrefutable.

File photo shows damage caused by an Israeli airstrike near Damascus on May 5, 2013.

Dramatic video footage from Syria has revealed startling evidence that counters Israel’s claims of “surgical strikes” on weapons headed to Lebanon.

What were said to be air strikes is now proven to have actually been artillery, something easily discernible to even an untrained observer.

What happens next is shocking. While artillery shells rain down on Syrian army positions, mobile Israeli artillery in direct support and even accompanying rebel forces inside Syria, a huge explosion occurs.

After analysis, it had become clear, Syria had come under attack by Israel using, not just nuclear weapons, but an American nuclear bunker buster bomb, one of several supplied to Israel to use against Iran, one of the last acts of the Bush/Cheney administration.

Submitted for analysis, the footage was compared with tests of the 37,000-pound MOB (Massive Ordnance Penetrator), designed by Boeing to be used against Iran’s underground facilities. There was no similarity whatsoever noted between the Syrian “event” and a conventional “bunker buster” including the GBU 57, the largest conventional weapon every to be used.

More Proof
Colonel James Hanke, former Defense Attaché and Liaison between the Pentagon and Netanyahu’s government , reviewed the footage.
He indicated that the GBU 57 is considered too high a risk for use because of its danger to the earth’s crust.

The Syrian/African fault line spreads into Israel. Were it to be subjected to this kind of explosive power, the threat of an earthquake doing significant damage in Israel is a reality. The nuclear bunker busters have far less penetrating power and, I am not saying that this was a nuclear device, not until more evidence is in, but the ‘event profile’ shows striking similarities.

The other problem with the GBU 57 is delivery. Only two aircraft are capable of delivering this weapon, the B-52 and B-2 Stealth Bomber. Israel does not have these aircraft.

Collapse of UD Air Force Command Structure, Again
Thus, if a MOP where used, it could have only been delivered by the United States Air Force, an organization reeling from recent disasters within its own ranks after a second lapse in nuclear weapons security in a five-year period was discovered at Minot Air Force Base in South Dakota.

Seventeen officers have been removed, a “house cleaning” of unprecedented scale. Back in 2008, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates ordered a restructuring of America’s nuclear security command after a 2007 incident at Minot.

A B-52 was loaded with thermonuclear weapons and flown off the base, violating 84 separate authorization protocols. The plane was later recovered over 1500 miles away under circumstances that have never been adequately explained. What is also not clear is whether the entire nuclear payload was recovered, complete and intact.

Nuclear Use in Iraq Proven
The most important consideration is whether any command organization, be it Israeli, American or any other, would be willing to use nuclear weapons. There is little question that their use has been advocated by both political and military leaders.

Continue reading →

May 13, 2013 Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment