2019 February 04 « nuclear-news

IAEA criticises USA’s efforts to sabotage Iran nuclear deal

UN Nuclear Watchdog Warns Against Meddling Over Iran, Bloomberg By Jonathan Tirone, February 2, 2019,

IAEA calls pressure on Iran monitoring ‘extremely harmful’
Comments follow criticism at Tel Aviv event sponsored by U.S.

………Late Wednesday, at a private reception for diplomats, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano lashed out at efforts to hamstring an organization that’s been at the forefront of nuclear security for decades, according to two foreign officials who were there. Without naming Israel and the U.S., the career Japanese diplomat made it clear those countries were the source of his ire, they said.

“The agency’s independence must not be undermined,” Amano said, according to the IAEA’s website. “If attempts are made to micro-manage or put pressure on the agency in nuclear verification, that is counterproductive and extremely harmful.”

An IAEA official said on Saturday that the U.S. wasn’t Amano’s intended target. He declined to specify which countries prompted the rebuke.

Three years into an agreement that was meant to be a hallmark of the Obama administration, in which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief, IAEA inspectors say Tehran is in full compliance.

That hasn’t stopped the Trump administration from backing out of the agreement, piling on new penalties and trying to use the agency to turn the screws with help from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Iran Abides Nuclear Limits

Enriched uranium has remained below thresholds agreed under deal

President Donald Trump’s hardline stance on Iran has heightened tensions with the other signatories to the agreement: China, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K. It’s also sowed divisions between the White House and America’s spy agencies, with Trump castigating his own intelligence officials this week for being “passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran.”

Netanyahu went to the U.S. Congress to lobby against the agreement before it was signed and has continued to criticize the deal since, arguing that it won’t prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons……..

fake newscast in Israel came as Iran’s deputy foreign minister was in Vienna for talks with the IAEA, which is trying to keep the accord from unraveling.

Iran’s leadership has said the country’s ready to re-start its enrichment program using more advanced technology if the agreement fails. The country is considering making the kind of nuclear fuel used in naval propulsion, implying it could enrich uranium closer to the levels needed for weapons.

Meanwhile, the European Union is moving to help countries evade the sanctions that the Trump administration imposed to stop countries from trading with Iran.

On Thursday, the 28-member bloc finalized a new financial mechanism for bypassing the U.S. restrictions. The special purpose vehicle, called the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges, will be headquartered in Paris and staffed with German leadership.

The vehicle will have a positive “impact on trade and economic relations with Iran, but most importantly on the lives of Iranian people,” a draft of the joint communique seen by Bloomberg says.

The U.S. mission to the IAEA in Vienna said in an emailed response to questions that the watchdog “can continue to count on the full support of the United States” as it carries out its “important mandate in Iran.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-01/fake-news-goes-nuclear-as-iaea-sees-u-s-israel-meddling-on-iran

February 4, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

SNC-Lavalin, with its record of corruption should be barred from federal contracts:

SNC-Lavalin should be barred from federal contracts: Angus, Call comes after two former executives pleaded guilty to breaking laws Elizabeth Thompson · CBC News Feb 03, 2019 The Canadian government should suspend engineering giant SNC-Lavalin from competing for future federal government contracts after two former top executives pleaded guilty to charges in recent weeks, says NDP MP Charlie Angus.

“How is it that a company with such a horrific record of corporate malfeasance is able to obtain so many government contracts and continue to bid on government contracts?” said Angus.

On Friday, former SNC-Lavalin CEO Pierre Duhaime pleaded guilty to breach of trust in a plea deal that resulted in 20 months of house arrest, 240 hours of community service and a $200,000 donation to a fund for victims of crime. His trial had been scheduled to begin Monday……….

“I’m astounded that SNC is still given such favoured status with the Liberal government in terms of contracts.”NDP MP Charlie Angus.

SNC Lavalin is still before a court in Montreal, charged with fraud and corruption in connection with payments of nearly $48 million to public officials in Libya under Moammar Gadhafi’s government and allegations it defrauded Libyan organizations of an estimated $130 million.

Ryan said the company is contesting the case and has pleaded not guilty.

If the company is convicted, it could be blocked from federal government contracts for a decade.https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/snc-lavalin-contracts-angus-1.5003135

February 4, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

I lived through Three Mile Island. New nuclear plants are a bad idea.

Gene Eisman, Washington Post 1st Feb 2019 . In 1979, I was working for a member of the Pennsylvania
governor’s Cabinet and lived in Harrisburg, Pa., a few miles from the
Three Mile Island nuclear plant. When one of the reactors melted down, I
saw real panic as state workers left their offices to pick up their
children at school. I spent several days in the state’s underground
emergency command facility during the crisis, talking to the Federal
Emergency Management Agency in Washington, providing it with real-time
updates on the situation. Having been through that, I believe that
Mr. Gates’s idea to build new nuclear power plants would be the height
of folly, any claims he makes notwithstanding.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-lived-through-three-mile-island-new-nuclear-plants-are-a-bad-idea/2019/02/01/3e15b3e8-2573-11e9-b5b4-1d18dfb7b084_story.html

February 4, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | PERSONAL STORIES, USA | Leave a comment

Is Vogtle nuclear station expansion now further behind schedule? Report is delayed?

Proposed deal would delay report on Georgia nuclear plant The News and Observer, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, FEBRUARY 02, 2019 ATLANTA

Georgia utility regulators are being asked to delay a Georgia Power report showing whether the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion has fallen further behind schedule.

Additional construction delays would increase the project’s costs — and that could lead to higher power bills for many Georgians, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Some consumer and environmental groups are objecting to any delay in updates.

“The company and the project do not deserve this break in scrutiny at this critical time,” Sara Barczak, a director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, wrote in an emailed statement to the Journal-Constitution.

“The ratepayers do not deserve this extended period of a lack of protection and transparency as their exposure potentially increases by more than a billion dollars,” Barczak said.

The delay also means the company won’t make its latest disclosure while the state legislature is in session, said Liz Coyle, the executive director of Georgia Watch.

“There is a lack of transparency in what is happening with schedule and budget at a time when the legislature could take some action,” Coyle said.

Georgia Power denied the move is an intentional effort to avoid the legislative session……….https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article225448705.html

February 4, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Russia’s Plan to Solve the North Korea Nuclear Crisis?

Does Russia Have a Plan to Solve the North Korea Nuclear Crisis? https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/does-russia-have-plan-solve-north-korea-nuclear-crisis-43022 2 Feb 19, Some think so. by Stratfor Worldview

What Happened: The Russian government reportedly made a secret proposal to North Korea in the fall of 2018 to construct a nuclear power plant in the country in exchange for North Korea dismantling its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, The Washington Post reported Jan. 29, citing unnamed U.S. officials. The Russian envoy to North Korea, meanwhile, denied the report.

Why It Matters: Russia’s alleged offer would imply attempts to insert itself into the negotiation process over North Korea’s nuclear program. U.S. President Donald Trump is slated to hold a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in late February.

Background: Kim placed a significant emphasis on rectifying North Korea’s electricity problems during his New Year’s speech. Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov received a delegation from North Korea’s Foreign Ministry in Moscow on Jan. 29.

February 4, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | North Korea, politics international, Russia | Leave a comment

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