Some progress in USA – North Korea nuclear talks
U.S. nuclear talks with N. Korea produce progress but no breakthrough, Washington Post, By Chico Harlan, February 24, TOKYO — The United States’ nuclear negotiations with North Korea ended Friday with “a little bit of progress” but no breakthrough, said chief U.S. negotiator Glyn Davies, who hinted that a long and slow process will determine Pyongyang’s willingness to swap its weapons program for aid. Continue reading
Two big hurdles to USA selling nuclear reactors to India
US control regime a hurdle in N-deal, Deccan Herald, Kalyan Ray New Delhi, Feb 22, 2012, US export control regime has become a major stumbling block for concluding commercial nuclear agreements under the four-year-old Indo-US civil nuclear agreement signed in 2008 for peaceful uses of nuclear power.
US nuclear suppliers on Wednesday identified their own country’s control regime as the spoil sport for entering into agreements with Indian companies. The most immediate concern for the two US nuclear majors – GE and Westinghouse – is a specific provision in the US export control rules under which they have to 
obtain clearance from the US government not only for supplying reactors to NPCIL but also for other Indian companies involved in constructing a nuclear power plant. “The 810 licence in the US export control regime is the most immediate issue,” Aris S Candris, president and chief executive officer of Westinghouse told Deccan Herald. on the sidelines of an international nuclear symposium here.
At the symposium organised by the World Nuclear Association, both Westinghouse and GE flagged 810 licence as the most immediate stumbling block to kick-start nuclear commerce between the two countries, though both admitted that stiff Indian nuclear liability regime posed another big hurdle. India currently plans to purchase two AP-1000 light water reactors from Westinghouse to install in Chhaya Mithi Virdi in Gujarat and two 1000 MW reactors from GE for Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh. However, land acquisition process has not started yet.
Candris said Westinghouse obtained the 810 approval for the Indian operator, Nuclear Power Corporation of India and regulator, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. But it needed similar clearance for other nuclear industry players like Larsen and Toubro as well as other companies who will be engaged in constructing nuclear power plant….. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/229404/us-control-regime-hurdle-n.html
A Jewish plea for sanity on Iran
The only realistic option is to allow Iran to enrich uranium in return for enhanced oversight and inspection of its nuclear program.
Leaders of Cleveland’s Jewish community urgently need to promote discussion of this best option for Israel and the U.S. before it is too late.
Allow Iran to enrich uranium, http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/opinion/op-eds/article_56abe920-5c9b-11e1-88cc-001871e3ce6c.html Cleveland Jewish News, February 17, 2012 Norman Robbins If you’re pro-Israel and want to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon, it’s time to leave the U.S./Israeli echo chamber that gives only two ineffective options – more sanctions or war.
First, some background. It is vitally important to distinguish between nuclear “break-out” capability and the actual building of a nuclear weapon. As long as Iran is not attacked, it has many reasons to achieve nuclear capability but not manufacture.
An attack on Iran by nuclear powers such as Israel and the U.S. in the absence of concrete evidence of actual nuclear bomb manufacture would violate international law and be intensely criticized by most of the world. It would legitimize a subsequent crash-program of bomb-making by Iran, as many experts anticipate. Therefore, not making a bomb actually serves Iran as a better deterrent than manufacture, which would cross an obvious “red line.”
In addition, Iran has genuine religious compunctions about building a weapon of mass destruction, as it showed by choosing not to use chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq war , by Ayatollah Khamenei’s fatwa against nuclear weapons and by Iran’s support of a nuclear-free Middle East. Also, it is inconceivable that Iran would pre-emptively use a nuclear weapon against Israel, when it would kill huge numbers of Palestinians, contaminate Islam’s third-most holy site, enrage the entire Muslim world, and suffer Israel’s terrible retaliation. In fact, three directors of Israel’s intelligence (Ephraim Halevy, Meir Dagan and Tamir Pardo), who should know best, have said that Iran poses no “existential” threat to Israel. Continue reading
No agreement between IAEA experts and Iran
U.N. experts leave Iran without nuclear agreement, By the CNN Wire Staff February 22, 2012 Two days of talks with Iran have failed to produce agreement on how to verify that Iran’s nuclear program remains peaceful, the International Atomic Energy Agency announced
Tuesday. Iran also refused to allow a team from the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency to visit its military base at Parchin, southeast of Tehran, during the two-day visit, the IAEA said.
“Intensive efforts were made to reach agreement on a document facilitating the clarification of unresolved issues in connection with Iran’s nuclear program, particularly those relating to possible military dimensions,” an IAEA statement on the visit read. “Unfortunately, agreement was not reached on this document.” The high-level team of experts was on its way back from Iran late Tuesday, the agency said.
There was no immediate comment on its account from Iranian authorities….. http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/21/world/meast/iran-nuclear/?hpt=wo_c2
Canada denies asylum to Japanese nuclear refugee
“The claimant feared risks of exposure to radiation,” an IRB member said in a ruling. “She was not convinced by the Japanese government’s assurances of safety from radiation.”
The woman was one of hundreds of Japanese citizens who sought refuge in other countries following the March 11, 2011 catastrophe …. A board member said the claimant’s risk “is characterized as being widespread and prevalent in Japan.”
The woman can still appeal her case to the Federal Court of Canada, and that decision can still be appealed. She claimed her life was in danger from radioactive contaminants that spewed into the environment from the Fukushima plant. …..http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2012/02/18/19397881.html
New nukes for UK – a desperate effort to save France’s nuclear industry?
the world is experiencing a ‘glut’ of gas according to the IEA
it is now looking increasingly likely that there will be no new nuclear power stations in Britain
The decision on whether or not new nuclear is actually built in Britain will be taken in Paris, not London. And very possibly by a new French President less in thrall to the nuclear industry.
No More Nukes?, (UK) February 17, 2012 by tomburke It is just David Cameron’s bad luck to have chosen to back a nuclear future for Britain at a moment when it is becoming increasingly unlikely that it will happen. And it is entirely appropriate that he should find himself doing so in Paris since that is where the fate of DECC’s nuclear policy will be determined.
The idea of replacing Britain’s aging AGRs with Areva’s EPR was always inspired by a French government seeking to close an emerging decades long gap in domestic nuclear orders. The justification for British homeowners and businesses being forced to pay for a French industrial policy was a supposed electricity generation gap.
Without French nuclear power stations, Britons would be freezing in the dark by 2015 according to energy ministers. This was always nonsense but has been made totally ridiculous by several recent developments. Continue reading
Russia getting annoyed with delays in selling its nukes to India
Russia running out of patience as nuclear plant row intensifies, Daily Mail, By M C RAJAN 16th February 2012 Russia seems to be stuck in a catch-22 situation. The ongoing anti-nuke stir in Southern Tamil Nadu has placed the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) in a limbo.
It is only now that Russia has realised that the going might get tough. Continue reading
USA and North Korea to resume talks
U.S. to Meet North Koreans for New Talks By STEVEN LEE MYERS NYT, February 13, 2012 WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced on Monday that it would hold its first talks with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program since the death of the
country’s leader, Kim Jong-il, in December.
The talks, to be held in Beijing on Feb. 23, will be the third since last summer to explore the
possibility of resuming negotiations to get North Korea to dismantle its nuclear arsenal. They will offer a chance to gauge whether Mr. Kim’s son and successor as supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, is more open, to diplomacy.
The United States, along with South Korea, Japan, Russia and China, has called on North Korea to suspend activities at its nuclear sites and allow international inspectors to verify a freeze as a condition for resuming talks on a broader agreement that would provide economic
and other assistance in exchange for dismantling the weapons program…. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/14/world/asia/united-states-to-hold-talks-with-north-korea-on-nuclear-program.html
Objection by Argentina to British nuclear submarine in South Atlantic
UK sent nuclear sub near Falklands, says Argentina, BBC News, 10 Feb 12, The UK says the HMS Dauntless is being sent to the South Atlantic as part of routine operations
Argentina’s foreign minister has accused the UK of sending a nuclear-armed submarine to the South Atlantic, after making an
official complaint to the UN over the Falklands dispute. Hector Timerman demanded that the British confirm the location of
nuclear submarines in the region. Continue reading
Why is Iran singled out on the nuclear issue?
What exactly is Iran’s crime? Guardian UK, Anna Romano, 7 Feb 12, (EU risks oil embargo, 27 January)? Its burgeoning nuclear activities are not in contravention of international law.
There are several countries that have nuclear weapons and are not subject to scrutiny and inspection from the IAEA, most notably Israel. It remains a source of contention that this institution is prepared to tolerate Israel’s policy of deliberate ambiguity.
Additionally, countries such as India and Pakistan could never have obtained their nuclear capability without the consent of the US. Neither of these nations is a signed up member of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, while Iran is.
Iran has little reason to trust the west. Its first more or less democratically elected leader, Mossadegh was toppled from power in a CIA coup in 1953, with Britain’s blessing and support.
Iran’s real offence is to strongly criticise the west’s double standards regarding foreign policy in the region and to remain in control of its resources. The crux of the matter lies within this power structure, and so the west must support wars in the Middle East every two or three years to preserve’s Israel’s position as the only viable, militarised nuclear state in the region. Indeed, the aim of recently imposed sanctions may well be to go even further and covertly instigate regime change, illegal under international law.
Reference to Iran’s’ repressive government has little leverage in light of Saudi Arabia’s record and its repression of democracy in Bahrain. David Cameron’s recent visit to the region to sell more weapons to Saudis reflects this amorality. http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2012/feb/07/letters?newsfeed=true
Iran says enriching uranium under IAEA supervision
Iran Starts Uranium Enrichment at Underground Complex, VOA, January 9th, 2012 Iran on Monday confirmed it has started uranium enrichment at a second facility where the material can be upgraded quickly for potential use in a nuclear bomb.
Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said Tehran is refining uranium at the newly-launched Fordo complex and an older facility in the city of Natanz. He told Iran’s Arabic language al Alam TV network the work was taking place under thesupervision of the United Nations atomic agency.
Diplomats with ties to the IAEA confirmed that Iranian centrifuges have begun refining uranium to a purity of 20 percent at Fordo, an underground complex near the Shi’ite holy city of Qom.
The United States and France condemned the move…… Most of the work at the Natanz facility has involved refining uranium to a relatively low purity of 3.5 percent. Enrichment to the 20 percent level at the Fordo complex could reduce the time needed for Iran to further refine the material to the 90 percent purity required for nuclear weapons.
Iran says its nuclear program is designed only to generate electricity and material for medical research.
The United States and its ally Israel have not ruled out military action to stop the program. Israel sees a nuclear-armed Iran as a threat to its existence.
http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2012/01/09/iran-starts-uranium-enrichment-at-underground-complex-3/
There is a diplomatic avenue that would prevent war with Iran
Now, the West is all but isolated. Most non-Westerners would prefer to see Iran treated like other treaty parties – allowed to enrich uranium in return for intrusive monitoring by IAEA inspectors.
this gathering crisis could be avoided by a deal along the following lines – Iran would accept top-notch IAEA safeguards in return for being allowed to continue enriching uranium. In addition, Iran would volunteer some confidence-building measures to show it has no intention of making nuclear weapons.
Iran deal would allow West to make U-turn on highway to war, The Age, January 25, 2012 There is little realism behind the demand that Tehran give up its capacity to enrich uranium, writes Peter Jenkins.
The Iranian nuclear controversy is reaching a critical juncture. On Monday, the European Union agreed on an oil embargo as part of sanctions against the country. On Sunday, Britain, the US and France sent warships through the Strait of Hormuz. Recent months have seen a big rise in the twin risks of military action and grave damage to the world economy. This is the consequence of what I believe to be a great diplomatic overbid – the West’s demand that Iran surrender its capacity to enrich uranium.
Continue reading
Double standards of the West in sanctions against Iran
Like sanctions, war will not work either. A war could not deter Iran from pursuing its nuclear program and seeking nuclear weapons.
The flaw in the arguments used by the United States, Israel and the European Union against Iran’s nuclear program is the apparent double standard. How can the US expect to persuade Iran to relinquish its nuclear program when America has acquiesced to India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea acquiring nuclear weapons? The US has even signed a nuclear partnership pact with India…….
Accepting the inevitable: A nuclear Iran, DAILY NEWS EGYPT, By Mamdouh G. Salameh January 22, 2012, The only sanctions able to hurt Iran are those that ban its crude oil exports, but getting the international community to agree on such sanctions is virtually impossible.
The international political and economic repercussions of these sanctions would be so huge that they are not worth pondering. Even if, by the very unlikely chance, such sanctions were agreed upon by the United Nations Security Council, Iran’s retaliation would be immediate and destructive.
Iran could easily mine the Strait of Hormuz in the face of the 17 million barrels of oil a day (mbd) exported by the Arab Gulf oil producers. This would push the price of oil to more than $150-$200 a barrel (it is currently about $100 a barrel). The biggest loser, of course, would be the biggest oil consumer — namely the United States, which imports 12-14 million barrels of oil every day. This would spell an economic catastrophe for the United States in particular and the world-at-large. Continue reading
French Polynesia to regain islands, France to provide radiation protection
most of the radioactive material was transported into the upper atmosphere and dispersed.”….
in August 2006, an official report by the French government confirmed the link between an increase in cases of thyroid cancer on the atolls and France’s atmospheric nuclear tests.
French Senate OKs Return of Nuclear Test Atolls to French Polynesia PARIS, France, January 19, 2012 (ENS) http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2012/2012-01-19-01.html – The Senate of France has passed legislation that transfers two Pacific atolls used for atmospheric and underground nuclear testing back into the public
domain of French Polynesia….
…If the proposed legislation becomes law, the atolls would be returned to French Polynesia, but France would continue environmental remediation and monitoring of radiation
and geomechanics there “in a sustainable manner.” Continue reading
Time France gave back its atomic test islands to their Pacific peoples
The two atolls Moruroa and Fangataufa were ceded to France at no cost in 1964 to allow its military to begin testing its nuclear weapons.
The two islands were used as nuclear weapon testing sites in the late 1960s by the French government which made use of ship-based, bomb, and atmospheric detonation trials.
TAHITI LEADER PUSHES FOR RETURN OF NUCLEAR ATOLLS President calls for France to give back Moruroa and Fangataufa WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, ) 19 Jan 12, Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i – The French Polynesian president Oscar Temaru has called for street protests should France refuse to return the two atolls used for its nuclear weapons tests.
Mr. Temaru made the call as one of the territory’s senators, Richard Tuheiava, is to submit a proposed law in Paris seeking the atolls’ return and a review of the compensation offered for the tests’ impact. Continue reading
1 This Month
PLEASE OPPOSE HR 8255 AND S.3639 – bills would accelerate satellite deployment, with no environmental review or safeguards – https://ncstd5li.quorum.us/campaign/169331/
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