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Japan planning to export nuclear technology to India, Vietnam

Japan Closer to Exporting Nuclear Technology to India, Vietnam, WSJ By TATSUO ITOTOKYO, 30 Oct 11 —Nearly eight months after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, Japan is resuming steps it hopes will lead to exports of commercial nuclear technology to India and Vietnam, even as Japan itself is scaling back the use of nuclear energy at home.

On Saturday, Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and his Indian counterpart, S.M. Krishna agreed to move ahead with talks toward a civilian nuclear power agreement—a precondition that would enable Tokyo to export nuclear power plant technology to the South Asian nation.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Tan Dung, will likely discuss nuclear power cooperation when they meet Monday, a government official said. Japan has already signed off on talks toward a nuclear power pact with Vietnam, but the parliamentary approval needed to ratify the agreement has been put on hold…..The agreement with India may draw criticism, as it comes at a time when the Fukushima crisis isn’t yet resolved. Moreover, India isn’t a member of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and technology, while promoting peaceful uses of nuclear energy…. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204528204577007712071441558.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

October 31, 2011 Posted by | Japan, politics international | Leave a comment

New Zealand MP seeks inquiry on Australia’s nuclear shipments

Uranium passing through NZ ports, Sky News October 30, 2011 A Greens MP has called for an inquiry into Australian shipments of radioactive uranium passing through New Zealand waters and ports in breach of its anti-nuclear stance.

Fortnightly shipments of Australian yellowcake uranium, totalling five thousand tonnes annually, are being shipped through New Zealand ports, according to documents provided to the Sunday Star Times by Green MP Gareth Hughes.

The paperwork shows the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) was unaware of the shipments for 13 years, until late 2009.

That agency had since been replaced by the new Environmental Protection Authority, and an EPA spokeswoman told the newspaper that even though ERMA was unaware of the shipments, the regime that permitted them to pass through New Zealand’s ports had still followed international best practice…..

A spokesman for Prime Minister John Key told the Sunday Star Times yellowcake was ‘Australian dirt, which is essentially harmless’…..

Hughes is calling for an independent inquiry, saying the shipments had no place in a nuclear-free country.

‘Why did the authority fail to approve it for so long, do we have adequate safeguards and response strategies, and what role is New Zealand playing in the international nuclear cycle?’ he said.  http://www.skynews.com.au/eco/article.aspx?id=679499&vId=

October 31, 2011 Posted by | New Zealand, politics international, Uranium | Leave a comment

India and Japan planning a deal on rare earths

Japan, India to jointly develop rare earths, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 31 Oct 11 Japan and India agreed Saturday to promote at the private level joint development of rare earths, which are indispensable for automobiles and information technology products.

Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and Indian Foreign Minister Shri S.M. Krishna also agreed to step up negotiations toward conclusion of an India-Japan nuclear agreement during a meeting at the Foreign Ministry’s Iikura Guest House in Minato Ward, Tokyo, according to officials.

In addition, they agreed to enhance cooperation in security policies by carrying out joint exercises by the Maritime Self-Defense Force and Indian Navy and in other ways, they said.

The exercises are likely to focus on ensuring the safety of sea-lanes in the Indian Ocean, observers said…..   India, which has nuclear weapons but does not participate in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, is cautious about Japan’s stance in promoting nuclear arms reduction and nonproliferation through conclusion of a bilateral nuclear pact.

Japan wants to hold negotiations with India on the export of nuclear technologies and nuclear-related equipment, but it may be some time before an agreement is reached, the observers said… http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111029002574.htm

October 31, 2011 Posted by | India, Japan, politics international, Uranium | Leave a comment

Wikileaks reveal Saudi Arabia’s fears about Iran’s nuclear plant

Plumbing WikiLeaks: Saudi Arabia Fears Iranian Nuclear Meltdown and Potential Terrorism to Desalination, Circle of Blue, By Brett Walton, 28 OCTOBER 2011  Classified cables show that Saudi and U.S. officials believe water supplies along the Persian Gulf are at high-risk for terrorist attacks and possible contamination from nearby nuclear plants. This is the first of a new series that will analyze the water-related U.S. embassy cables published by WikiLeaks.

“The location is so dangerous,” said Prince Turki Al-Kabeer, the undersecretary for multilateral affairs from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Not just to us, but to the world economy!”

Ostensibly, Prince Turki was meeting with the Netherlands ambassador, the Russian ambassador, and a political/military counselor from the American embassy to discuss an initiative against nuclear terrorism. But — according to a classified American embassy cable from 2009 that has since been published by WikiLeaks — the conversation turned to Iran’s nuclear program and the Russian-built reactor at Bushehr, a site less than 300 kilometers (186 miles) from Saudi shores on Iran’s Persian Gulf coast.

Prince Turki went on to say that Russia should “use its influence” to persuade Iran to relocate the reactor to the Caspian Sea, where there would be sufficient water for cooling, and, the cable’s author makes clear, isolation from Saudi territory, if a nuclear accident were to occur.

At risk, according to both Saudi and U.S. officials, are the desalination plants supplying much of Saudi Arabia’s drinking water, and the Persian Gulf waterway that conveys a large portion of the world’s oil exports — 6.6 million barrels per day… http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2011/world/plumbing-wikileaks-saudi-arabia-fears-iranian-nuclear-meltdown-and-potential-terrorism-to-desalination/

October 29, 2011 Posted by | politics international, Saudi Arabia, water | Leave a comment

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting – behind the scenes, India lobbies for Australian uranium

India lobbies for Australian uranium, THE HINDU PRISCILLA JEBARAJ, 28 Oct 11 “……Informal, behind-the-scenes diplomacy is a key part of the CHOGM summits, and India seemed to be using the opportunity to lobby for a change in Australia’s uranium exports policy banning sales to India, which is not a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The issue reportedly came up at Mr. Ansari’s meeting with Australian Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott on Thursday. Mr. Abbott heads the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia, which favours allowing Australia — which has the world’s largest reserves of uranium — to export the mineral to India…..

Mr. Ansari is also likely to discuss the issue at his bilateral meeting with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard later this week. The ruling Labour party is split on the issue, which is expected to be a subject of hot debate at the party conference this December. Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd argued that India’s civil nuclear power programme was not dependent on Australian uranium.

“If you hear an argument from an Indian businessperson that the future of the nuclear industry in India depends exclusively on access to uranium, that is simply not sustainable as a proposition. Have a look at the data,” he said at a mining industry breakfast, according to a report by Australian news agency AAP. Both Indian officials and businessmen have been raising the issue on the sidelines of the CHOGM. “There is no problem in terms of global supply, let’s just be very, very blunt about this.”However, Resources Minister Martin Ferguson who supports uranium exports to India, said he was eager to debate the issue at the party conference, which could turn out to be pivotal for India’s hopes of accessing Australian uranium….http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2574653.ece

October 28, 2011 Posted by | India, politics international, Uranium | Leave a comment

Movement against India’s nuclear power program goes national

The writ petition mentions, “How under the pressure of foreign countries and the multi-billion dollar nuclear industry, the government has been pushing forward an expensive, unviable and dangerous nuclear power programme without proper safety assessment and without a thorough comparative cost-benefit analysis vis-a-vis other sources of energy, especially renewable sources.”

Country-wide protests against nuclear plants have escalated following the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

Humongous nuclear costs at the expense of exchequer  

Activists nationwide unite to battle UPA’s nuclear dreams,  Rediff, October 14, 2011, Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi Activists, experts and scientists across the country have come together to challenge Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s dream project to double the nuclear energy-based power generation in the country,    A writ petition filed by eminent lawyer Prashant Bhushan under Article 32 seeks appropriate writ for declaring Nuclear Liability Act, 2010, unconstitutional and to call for safety re-assessment and cost-benefit analysis of all nuclear facilities in India. The petitioners want the overhaul of the ‘dysfunctional’ regulatory system.

The petitioners comprise of distinguished personalities or organisations who have first time come together to challenge one of the biggest policy decisions of the United Progressive Alliance government. Continue reading →

October 15, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear, politics international | Leave a comment

UK Coroner to fully investigate radiation murder of Alexander Litvinenko

Marina Litvinenko, Mr. Litvinenko’s widow, said the inquiry would include “an investigation into the involvement of the Russian state in his murder, which is exactly what I want.”

Britain Agrees to New Inquiry Into Poisoning Death of a Former K.G.B. Officer NYT, By  October 14, 2011  LONDON — A coroner has agreed to open a full inquest into the radiation poisoning of the former K.G.B. officer Alexander V. Litvinenko, potentially bringing the case before a British legal forum for the first time, opening new seams of information about his death and possibly stirring new tensions with Moscow. Continue reading →

October 15, 2011 Posted by | Legal, politics international, UK | 1 Comment

France’s distressed nuclear companies desperate to sell reactors to South Africa

The French companies Areva and EDF need to sell reactors abroad to survive and, after Fukushima, the number of countries investing in new nuclear industry is very limited. Hence France’s strong nuclear lobby and “friendship” with South African politicians over the past few years.

Nuclear power will cost the country dearly, Mail and Guardian RIANNE TEULE: ENERGY Oct 14 2011   The Mail & Guardian’s front-page story last week (October 7) highlighted the upcoming nuclear battle for a total of R1-trillion worth of reactors in South Africa and the fact that the country is being forcefully lobbied by the French and other nuclear countries. The exorbitant costs and the nuclear industry’s desperation prove that it is absolute lunacy for South Africa to choose the nuclear route.  Continue reading →

October 14, 2011 Posted by | politics international, South Africa | 1 Comment

Environmentalists from several European countries against Belarus – Russia nuclear power deal

Belarus and Russia sign off on Ostrovets nuclear plant in dubious contract Bellona Charles Digges, 13/10-2011 Russian and Belarusian environmentalists are concerned over a contract agreement signed by the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, for construction of the first two nuclear reactors in the Stalinist country, which was signed earlier this week.

Belarus’s state-owned Directorate for Construction of Nuclear Power Plants signed the contract with Atomstoriexport, the foreign construction wing of the Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, for the construction of a 2400 megawatt plant of the untested AES 2006 (NPP -2006) design.

The site for the plant is in Ostrovets in the Grodno region, close to Lithuania – which has vociferously protested the building of the nuclear power plan. Continue reading →

October 14, 2011 Posted by | Belarus, opposition to nuclear, politics international | Leave a comment

Iran’s uranium enrichment offer should be accepted by USA

“These measures set out a foundation for diplomatic efforts focusing on establishing enhanced safeguards on Iran,” according to Vaez. He added that he thinks there is still “plenty of time” to strike a diplomatic accord.

U.S. Should Accept Iran’s Latest Uranium Enrichment Offer, Experts Say, Oct. 7, 2011 By Martin Matishak Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The United States should accept Iran’s offer to halt its production of higher-enriched uranium if provided equivalent material by Western powers as the first step in breaking the diplomatic standoff between the two countries, a new report by a pair of nonproliferation experts argues (seeGSN, Oct. 5). Continue reading →

October 10, 2011 Posted by | Iran, politics international, Uranium | Leave a comment

USA puts the pressure on India to buy US nuclear reactors

US puts onus on India for implementation of nuclear deal, Economic Times 9 OCT, 2011,  WASHINGTON: Putting the onus on India, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today said the US has made clear the steps New Delhi needs to take “to allow us to move forward” on implementation of bilateral civilnuclear deal.

“We remain fully committed to expanding the civil nuclear cooperation with India and have made clear the steps that India needs to take to allow us to move forward,” she told PTI when asked if India’s nuclear liability bill was an irritant in the bilateral relations. …
India’s liability regime has been a bone of contention between it and many of its nuclear partners, including the US, which have expressed reservations about some aspects of the domestic law that they fear will impose huge penalty on foreign suppliers in case of nuclear accidents.

However, Indian officials have maintained that the law was in accordance with international standards but India was ready to allay any apprehension in this regard. …

Clinton emphasised Washington’s commitment on the issue by citing the recent Nuclear Safety Energy Summit in Mumbai, “where you saw a host of top-tier American companies working to expand our private engagement and investment in the civil nuclear sector.”..

October 10, 2011 Posted by | India, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear disarmament is possible, and essential – Mikhail Gorbachev,

A Farewell to Nuclear Arms, by Mikhail Gorbachev, Straits Times, 10 Oct 11, MOSCOW – Twenty-five years ago this month, I sat across from Ronald Reagan in Reykjavik, Iceland to negotiate a deal that would have reduced, and could have ultimately eliminated by 2000, the fearsome arsenals of nuclear weapons held by the United States and the Soviet Union.

For all our differences, Reagan and I shared the strong conviction that civilised countries should not make such barbaric weapons the linchpin of their security. Even though we failed to achieve our highest aspirations in Reykjavik, the summit was nonetheless, in the words of my former counterpart, ‘a major turning point in the quest for a safer and secure world.’

The next few years may well determine if our shared dream of ridding the world of nuclear weapons will ever be realised. Continue reading →

October 10, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, politics international, weapons and war | 1 Comment

USA – Israel’s cyberwar against Iran’s nukes

US, Israel Guilty for Worm Attack on Iran’s Nuclear Program: Russia, SPAMfighter News – 07-10-2011 Though it is shocking, it is true. Russia has blamed the United States and Israel for the Stuxnet worm, calling it a case of real cyber-war, according to a Techworld news report published on September 26, 2011. A number of Stuxnet infections were found in Iran and it was speculated that the worm, which was skilled to identify the system it was to hit, targeted at damaging the country’s nuclear facilities.

The experts, however claims that the Stuxnet system was initiated in June 2010 against the centrifuge control system with an intention to enrich uranium in Iran. Though Iran has also blamed Israel for the Stuxnet, it could not offer much evidence.

Meanwhile, Tehran has also held Israel and the US responsible for killing its two nuclear scientists in November 2010 and January 2011….. In early 2011, Russia’s NATO ambassador Dmitry Rogozi asserted that the Stuxnet infection had seriously affected Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant causing the equipment to breakdown.

The Stuxnet has drawn their attention towards the susceptibility resulting due to the industrial control systems that were under attack by the worm.Who created the Stuxnet still remains unproven and a mystery, but according to experts, Israel was responsible for this malicious cyber attack, which was likely funded by the US. http://www.spamfighter.com/News-16866-US-Israel-Guilty-for-Worm-Attack-on-Iran%27s-Nuclear-Program-Russia.htm

October 8, 2011 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Germany objecting to Poland’s plans for nuclear reactors

German anger at Polish nuclear plant on border, The Australian David Charter ,October 08, 2011 “….. plans in neighbouring Poland to build an atomic plant in its western border region near to Berlin.

Brandenburg state, which borders Poland, said it had voiced strong objections after learning of four possible locations being considered for a reactor, including one just 275km from Berlin….

Opposition to nuclear power has grown in Poland after Fukushima, but the country has signed up to EU targets to reduce greenhouse emissions and 90 per cent of its electricity comes from coal-fired generators.

October 7, 2011 Posted by | EUROPE, politics international | Leave a comment

Court action over nuclear plant, Bulgaria versus Russia

Bulgaria takes Russia to court over nuclear plant

* Bulgaria files counter claim against Atomstroyexport

* Says Russian nuclear firm owes it over 60 mln euros

* Decision on Belene plant delayed until April

SOFIA, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Bulgaria has taken Russia’s nuclear company Atomstroyexport to court over delayed payments for equipment it agreed to buy under a deal to build the Belene nuclear power plant, the economy and energy minister said. Continue reading →

October 7, 2011 Posted by | Bulgaria, politics international | Leave a comment

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