United Nations marks International Day against Nuclear Tests http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45726&Cr=nuclear&Cr1=#.UiD4iNJwonE 29 August 2013– As the United marked the International Day against Nuclear Tests,Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on all States that have not yet signed and ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) to do so in order to achieve the goal of a safer and more secure world.
In his message on the occasion of the International Day against Nuclear Tests, commemorated each year on 29 August, Mr. Ban noted that “although twenty years have passed since the Conference on Disarmament began negotiations on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), this treaty has still not entered into force.”
Mr. Ban said that there are “no justifiable grounds for further delay in” preventing the CTBT’s entry into force. He added that “it is time to avert any more of the horrific human and environmental effects caused by nuclear tests through a global ban, the most reliable means possible to meet this challenge.”
The International Day highlights the efforts of the UN and a growing community of advocates, including Member States, non-governmental organizations, academia, and media, in raising awareness of the importance of the nuclear test ban.
The General Assembly chose 29 August as the annual commemoration date since it marks the day in 1991 when Semipalatinsk, one of the largest test sites in the world and located in north-eastern Kazakhstan, was closed permanently.
With the aim of establishing a verifiable, permanent global ban on all types of nuclear explosive tests, the CTBT enjoys near-universal support but has yet to enter into force. The Secretary-General is the depositary of the treaty, which, as of today, has been signed by 183 States and ratified by 159.
“The eight remaining States whose ratifications are necessary for the Treaty to enter into force have a special responsibility; none should wait for others to act first. In the meantime, all States should maintain or implement moratoria on nuclear explosions,” Mr. Ban stressed in the message.
The International Day against Nuclear Tests is being marked around the world with events to call attention to the dangers of nuclear test explosions, the threats posed to humans and the environment, and the need to ultimately eliminate all nuclear weapons and their testing.
Massive amounts of depleted uranium created by uranium enrichment
Uranium Enrichment Creates Massive Amounts Of Depleted Uranium (DU) – Used In Weapons Of Mass Destruction
Depleted uranium, radiation, and fracking
Wrecking the Earth: Fracking has grave radiation risks few talk about Rt.com Christopher Busby 28 Aug 13, Environmentalists point to various dangerous consequences of using fracking technology, but none can be compared to the issue of radiation exposure and radioactive contamination of the development areas it poses…….. The key to fracking
Uranium is the key element to fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, to use its proper name. In the real-world version of Phineas Fogg’s “Eighty Days Around the World,” burning the ship’s masts and furniture to make steam, governments are now encouraging the oil and gas merchants to blast their way deep into the Earth to squeeze the last ounce of oil and gas from that poor creature. But there will be a terrible revenge. Locked up in the strata into which they pump the pressurized process water, to fracture and thus create the huge surface area sponge which will yield up its cargo of gas and oil, is a monstrous amount of natural uranium and its deadly daughter Radium-226. And vast amounts of the radioactive alpha emitting gas Radon-222, and its own daughters Bismuth 214, Lead-210 and the alpha emitter Polonium-210. Remember Polonium-210? That was the material used when a few millionths of a gram poisoned ex-Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko. Continue reading
USA’s Minuteman missiles – supremely dangerous – to the USA
US nuclear weapons poised for catastrophe By James Carroll BOSTON GLOBE AUGUST 26, 2013
The vulnerability is there for all to see. The United States nuclear establishment has been wracked with problems for years. These are especially acute among thousands of officers at the controls of three bases where 450 Minuteman III missiles stand in buried silos on high alert.
In 2008, a Pentagon review found “a dramatic and unacceptable decline” in the way the Air Force was handling its nuclear mission. Senior officials were cashiered. Their replacements were ordered to fix the problems. They have failed to do so. What should be the most rigorously disciplined element in the US military is repeatedly found unworthy of its awesome responsibility. That’s a wake-up call, yet the nation sleeps on……..
supremely dangerous. The missiles are positioned in easily targeted fixed silos across a wide-open western landscape. They are poised for launch on moments’ notice less because of strategic necessity than because they are bound by the rule of “use them or lose them.” The scenario was conceived 50 years ago, under circumstances that are now forgotten. The land-based ICBMs, more than nuclear armed submarines or aircraft, have become the thread from which hangs the sword of accidental holocaust. Fail-safe “right procedures” are the only protection — yet current crews are proving incapable of following those procedures. Fail-safe is the joke that is not funny……… http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2013/08/26/nuclear-tipped-missiles-posed-for-nightmare-holocaust/VZ3KQOUsAUFm4qfuchjmCI/story.html
How the West ignores the horror of depleted uranium weapons and their biological effects
Last week, U.K. foreign secretary William Hague, said that the use of chemical weapons in Syria is “not something that a humane or civilized world can ignore.” Ironically, Western countries such as the U.K. and their allies have appeared to ignore the use of weapons that are equally vicious.
When “non-Westerners” make use of weapons of mass destruction, there is outrage and calls for military intervention from “the West,” but when “Westerners” themselves use them, it is totally permissible and the world can hardly react.
U.S. DEPLETED URANIUM AS MALICIOUS AS SYRIAN CHEMICAL WEAPONS HTTPS://CRAIGCONSIDINETCD.WORDPRESS.COM/2013/08/25/U-S-DEPLETED-URANIUM-AS-MALICIOUS-AS-SYRIAN-CHEMICAL-WEAPONS/ CRAIG CONSIDINE
By this time you have likely heard of the atrocity that recently took place in which over 1,000 Syrian civilians reportedly died at the hands of a chemical weapon attack. Seeing the video and images of dead or helpless Syrian civilians struggling for life reminds me of another terrible weapon of war – depleted uranium.
It is no secret that the U.S., with the assistance of OTHER GOVERNMENTS, used depleted uranium in the Gulf and Iraq War. A simple Google search of this topic can produce dozens and dozens of credible reports or stories to confirm these war crimes. For example, an important REPORT on Harvard University’s website discusses the fallout of depleted uranium contamination in Iraq. Dr. Souad N. Al-Azzawi, who authored the report after the GULF WAR, wrote that:
“DEPLETED URANIUM (DU) WEAPONRY HAS BEEN USED AGAINST IRAQ FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF RECENT WARS. THE MAGNITUDE OF THE COMPLICATIONS AND DAMAGE RELATED TO THE USE OF SUCH RADIOACTIVE AND TOXIC WEAPONS ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE HUMAN POPULATION MOSTLY RESULTS FROM THE INTENDED CONCEALMENT, DENIAL AND MISLEADING INFORMATION RELEASED BY THE PENTAGON ABOUT THE QUANTITIES, CHARACTERISTICS AND THE AREA’S IN IRAQ, IN WHICH THESE WEAPONS HAVE BEEN USED.”
Similarly, as Democracy Now! REPORTED in an interview with Al Jazeera reporter Dahr Jamail, ”the U.S. INVASION OF IRAQ has left behind a legacy of cancer and birth defects suspected of being caused by the U.S. military’s extensive use of depleted uranium and white phosphorus.” Democracy Now! wrote: Continue reading
UK Labour has an electoral asset – opposition to Trident nuclear replacement
New nuclear weapons for the UK: a challenge Labour can’t dodge REBECCA JOHNSON 50-50, 23 August 2013 Labour could turn opposition to the billion pound Trident replacement into an electoral asset, but instead appears to be sleepwalking to oblivion. Rebecca Johnson makes the case for challenging Trident replacement, and says it’s time to mobilise civil society
The 2015 general election may be this country’s last chance to avoid wasting billions of pounds on new nuclear weapons that one of Labour’s greatest Foreign Secretaries, Robin Cook, condemned as “worse than irrelevant” for addressing 21st century security challenges. Following the sham Trident Alternatives Review, it is clear that we need to mobilise civil society pressure to scrap Trident and elect a new government that is willing and able to participate in multilateral disarmament negotiations to rid the world of the scourge of nuclear weapons for all time.
The rational case was won a long time ago, even with many Conservatives. Across most of the world, nuclear weapons are recognised to be clumsy, outdated weapons that carry residual risks but cannot be used for dealing with the real world security challenges we might face in the 21st century and beyond. Replacing the current submarines with another Trident system is a foolish project driven by the economic interests of a handful of British and American defence contractors well versed in manipulating political fears, vanity, and inertia among our politicians and civil servants. Tony Blair’s memoirs reveal that despite recognising that there was no military or security case for replacing Trident, he felt it would be easier to carry on nuclear business as usual than to initiate the political arguments at home and be accused of “downgrading our status”. Now this shortsighted procurement is being taken forward by David Cameron. Nick Clegg – having been outmanoeuvred by Cameron over the Review – is bent on overcoming Liberal Democrat scepticism and getting his Party to back Trident replacement. Labour could turn opposition to Trident replacement into an electoral asset, but instead appears to be sleepwalking to oblivion…… http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/rebecca-johnson/new-nuclear-weapons-for-uk-challenge-labour-can%E2%80%99t-dodge
USA nuclear weapons units – not so safe at all
Military removes commander of nuclear weapons unit KHON 2, By The Associated Press August 25, 2013, MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. (AP) — The Air Force has removed the commander of a nuclear weapons unit at a Montana base following a failed safety and security inspection this month that marked the second major misstep this year for one of the military’s most sensitive missions.
Military leaders say the decision to relieve Col. David Lynch of command at Malmstrom Air Force Base stems from a loss of confidence. They say it is not the result of the failed inspection first reported by The Associated Press on Aug. 13.
The 341st Missile Wing operates land-based nuclear missiles known as 450 Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles. The unit failed a review of its adherence to rules that ensure the safety, security and control of its nuclear weapons. Lynch’s removal was announced Friday.
This is the second time in recent months that an Air Force nuclear commander was replaced following a high-profile security problem…… http://www.khon2.com/2013/08/25/military-removes-commander-of-nuclear-weapons-unit/
Nuclear deterrence – a dangerous myth
Nuclear deterrence is overrated, THE HINDU RAMESH THAKUR , 23 Aug 13 The real risks and costs of having these weapons, both monetary and human, far outweigh their security benefits The Indian Navy has figured in three recent, global news items. The launch of the indigenously developed aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, expected to be operational by 2018, makes India only the fifth country after the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom and France to have such capability. …. The strategic rationale is to acquire and consolidate the three legs of land, air and sea-based nuclear weapons to underpin the policy of nuclear deterrence. Unfortunately, however, the whole concept of nuclear deterrence is deeply flawed.
Desensitised
Nuclear weapons are uniquely destructive and hence uniquely threatening to our common security. There is a compelling need to challenge and overcome the reigning complacency on the nuclear risks and dangers, to sensitise policy communities to the urgency and gravity of nuclear threats and the availability of non-nuclear alternatives as anchors of national and international security.
A nuclear catastrophe could destroy us any time. Because we have learnt to live with nuclear weapons for 68 years, we have become desensitised to the gravity and immediacy of the threat. The tyranny of complacency could yet exact a fearful price if we sleepwalk our way into a nuclear Armageddon. It really is long past time to lift the shroud of the mushroom cloud from the international body politic. Continue reading
Israel is the stumbling block to a nuclear weapons free Middle East
Israel, Arab Nations Differ on Mideast Nuclear-free Zone: U.N. Official Yahoo News, Global Security Newswire Staff 20 Aug 13, Efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency to help persuade Israel and Arab nations to agree on a path toward a Middle East free of nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction have been unsuccessful thus far, according to a new report by agency head Yukiya Amano’s office, Reutersreported on Tuesday.
Interchanges have revealed that there still is a “fundamental difference of views” between Arab nations and Israel, but Amano will continue trying to bridge the diverging perspectives, according to his team.
IAEA member nations last year tasked Amano with meeting with officials from the region to discuss bringing all atomic programs under agency safeguards. Israel is thought to be the area’s sole nuclear-weapons nation, but it by policy does not confirm or deny its arsenal and is not a member of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty…… http://news.yahoo.com/israel-arab-nations-differ-mideast-nuclear-free-zone-110205580.html
A political advantage: the reason why USA bombed Japanese cities
.it wasn’t necessary to use the bomb against the cities of Japan in order to win the war but our possession and demonstration of the bomb would make the Russians more manageable in Europe.
The real purpose in incinerating two high-density civilian population centers, says Stimson, was “to persuade Russia to play ball.”
that’s the very definition of terrorism: using violence or the threat of violence as the means to achieve political ends. It’s terrorism with a vengeance. Americans just don’t do that kind of thing. Americans would never behave in such a horribly depraved and cruel manner. But, in fact, we did. And, as Part II of this article will make devastatingly clear, we still do. And it won’t stop until America awakens to the truth about itself, and, openly acknowledging that truth with a show of genuine heartfelt remorse, proceeds to make amends where amends are due.
America’s Nuclear Madness: Terrorism With A Vengeance (Part I) By Robert Quinn” OpEdNews 8/11/2013 “………The inhumanity of it all couldn’t be more telling. The dropping of the second bomb on Nagasaki was especially brutal and cruel. Knowing of the horrendous horrors that had already been unleashed in Hiroshima, three days later the U.S. did the same thing to the civilian population of Nagasaki. Why? Japan’s surrender was already assured without the bombs. Surely surrender would soon be following on the heels of Hiroshima’s decimation. So, again, why the second bomb?
The answer is as simple as it is grotesque. The second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki because Japan’s surrender was never the issue. Getting Japan to surrender was the pretext. The bombs were dropped to make a point. There were political reasons for nuking those two high-density civilian populations, and the United States was not going to let Japan interfere with its political agenda by way of an untimely surrender. The dropping of the second bomb on Nagasaki was part of a political maneuver that had already been decided upon — a one-two punch stratagem designed to strike fear into post-war Russia (our ally in the war against Germany) and convince them to accept their subordinate position on the postwar world stage.
Atomic Bombs Were Dropped On High-Density Civilian Populations In Japan To Make A Political Statement Continue reading
America’s official lies about the reasons for atomic bombing of Japanese cities
Regardless of the number of American lives Truman claims to have saved, the vast majority of Americans accept the official story as gospel. The indoctrinating media and sixty-eight years of propagandistic history texts from grammar school through high school did its job well. But, except for the fact of the bombs having been dropped, the official story is a lie. Not merely mistaken, but a lie.
In terms of moral justification, the official story no doubt provides a great deal of comfort to a great many Americans. Unfortunately, all indications are that this moral centerpiece of the official story just isn’t true. The truth, as it turns out, is so barbaric that it’s almost inconceivable..
America’s Nuclear Madness: Terrorism With A Vengeance (Part I) By Robert Quinn“ OpEdNews 8/11/2013 “………..The Official Story
Sixty-eight years ago, August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb to ever be used in warfare on the civilian population of Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later a second atomic bomb was dropped on the civilian population of Nagasaki, Japan. All toll, nearly a quarter of a million civilian men, woman, children, and babies lost their lives in those blasts. Of those who survived the blasts, many were maimed for life and many more would later die slow, painful deaths due to radiation poisoning and various forms of cancer.
In Hiroshima, a city with a population of 290,000, the initial death count by the end of August 1945 was estimated at 100,000. By the end of 1950 the estimated death toll had risen, according to some estimates, to 200,000. In Nagasaki, a city with a population of 240,000, including 400 prisoners of war, it’s estimated that some 70,000 were killed by the initial blast, with 140,000 dead within the next five years.
The official story at the time was that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were military targets whose destruction was necessary to bring the war to an end. This was a lie. The American public was also told that leaflets were dropped warning the inhabitants of these cities of the impending destruction and that they should leave. This, too, was a lie. The official story tells of President Truman’s decision to go nuclear on Japan as a necessary last resort designed to hasten a Japanese surrender, thereby saving American soldiers the horrors of a ground invasion of the Japanese mainland. As we will see, this, too, was a lie.
The official story claims that dropping the bombs saved the lives of many thousands of American soldiers which otherwise most certainly would have been lost. In October 1945, two months after the bombs were dropped, Truman wrote in his diary: Continue reading
No military need for atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
America’s Nuclear Madness: Terrorism With A Vengeance (Part I) By Robert Quinn” OpEdNews 8/11/2013 “………….Japan Had Already Been Defeated Prior To Dropping the Bombs After the war had ended, the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey (a board consisting of more than 1,000 individuals, both military and civilian), was tasked by U.S. Secretary of War Henry Stimson with the examination and analysis of U.S. involvement in WW II. The Survey concluded in 1946 that “Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated.”
But it was not only with the advantage of hindsight that this conclusion was reached. General Eisenhower (Supreme Commander of allied forces in Europe) and General MacArthur (Supreme Commander of the U.S. Army in the Pacific) came to the same conclusion before the bombs were ever dropped. I don’t think there’s any question that both General Eisenhower and General MacArthur would have done whatever was necessary to spare their troops the horrors of a ground invasion. But the fact is that neither of them believed that a ground invasion of mainland Japan was necessary. Continue reading
Syria now attacked with tactical nuclear weapons?
It is awfully ironic that an inhuman weapon such as nuclear weapons and chemical weapons could be used to promote human rights and freedom in the world.
Nuclear Strike on Syria The Genie is Out of the Bottle http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/08/07/nuclear-strike-on-syria/ By Jon Snow, 7 Aug 13
Note – This item was posted on the Channel 4 (UK) website at this locationhttp://blogs.channel4.com/snowblog/nuclear-strikes-syria-genie-bottle/20846 on August 05, 2013, and has since been removed. A copy can still be found at Google Cache – and has been recovered and archived below. The fight against Assad’s brutal regime has taken an unexpected turn late Thursday afternoon when a large weapons cache belonging to the so-called national protection force in Homs city, an arm of Assad’s Shabeeha, was destroyed.
The explosion was reminiscent of the attack on Qasyoon mountain, a stronghold for the Syrian army and a location said to house missiles targeting Israel.
It was first reported that the missile fueling station had blown up which seemed like a reasonable proposition especially since an ammunition depot was targeted.
But the two explosions in Homs and Qasyoon share the same property: They are both above ground air bursts according to Greg Thielmann, an expert on arms control policy whom I spoke with on Saturday at great length. I was first alerted to the connection by slow twitter chatter right after the bombing in Homs.
Needless to say I was shocked at what he told me next: “The fact of the matter is, what we are seeing in both these cases is a tactical nuclear strike, probably by cruise missiles launched from aircrafts near the borders of Syria or right off the coast in the Mediterranean.” Continue reading
Mayor of Nagasaki’s Peace Declaration
Full text of Nagasaki Peace Declaration http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130809p2a00m0na002000c.html By Tomihisa Taue,Mayor of Nagasaki The following is the full text of the Peace Declaration presented Aug. 9, 2013 by Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue, at a ceremony to mark the 68th anniversary of the World War II atomic bombing of the city.
Sixty-eight years ago today, a United States bomber dropped a single atomic bomb directly over Nagasaki. The bomb’s heat rays, blast winds, and radiation were immense, and the fire that followed engulfed the city in flames into the night. The city was instantly reduced to ruins. Of the 240,000 residents in the city, around 150,000 were afflicted and 74,000 of them died within the year. Those who survived have continued to suffer from a higher incidence of contracting leukemia, cancer, and other serious radiation-induced diseases. Even after 68 years, they still live in fear and suffer deep psychological scars.
Humankind invented and produced this cruel weapon. Humankind has even gone so far as using nuclear weapons on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Humankind has repeatedly conducted nuclear tests, contaminating the earth. Humankind has committed a great many mistakes. This is why we must on occasion reaffirm the pledges we have made in the past that must not be forgotten and start anew. Continue reading
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty aimed to protect world from radiation
The Legacy of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, counterpunch by JOSEPH J. MANGANO and JANETTE D. SHERMAN, MD, 5 Aug 13, “…….The treaty is often referred to as a peace treaty, a step against nuclear war. While it was a goodwill gesture between hostile nations, it did nothing to prevent a war, since both sides continued to furiously test weapons underground and add to its already-large stockpiles. Only in the 1970s did non-proliferation treaties begin the process of cutting nuclear arsenals.
The 1963 test ban treaty was actually an environmental and public health action to reduce threats of deadly radiation, especially to the more susceptible infants and children. In a speech urging passage of the treaty, Kennedy – whose prematurely born son died that summer after living only 39 hours – made the case to prevent suffering among the youngest members of society:
“The number of children and grandchildren with cancer in their bones, with leukemia in their blood, or with poison in their lungs might seem statistically small to some, in comparison with natural health hazards. But this is not a natural health hazard, and it is not a statistical issue. The loss of even one human life, or the malformation of even one baby, who may be born long after we are gone, should be of concern to us all. Our children and grandchildren are not merely statistics toward which we can be indifferent.” Officials who had downplayed the idea that fallout was causing cancer and other diseases now told the truth. In October 1964, at a campaign stop in New Mexico, President Lyndon B. Johnson triumphantly told a cheering crowd:
“We cannot and will not abandon the test ban treaty to which I just referred, which is the world’s insurance policy against polluting the air we breathe and the milk we give our children.
Already that policy has paid off more than you will ever know, and since this agreement was signed and the tests stopped, the dread strontium-89 and iodine-131 have disappeared from the environment. The amount of strontium-90 and cesium-137 has already been, in a year, cut in half. This is technical language, but what it means is that we can breathe safely again.”
Johnson was correct. U.S. infant mortality had only dropped 13% in the 14-year period from 1951 to 1965, during bomb testing (the fallout peak was 1964). The next 14 years showed a decline of about 50% – the same 50% drop during the prior 14 year period. The years 1951-1965 had the poorest improvement in infant mortality during the 20th century. Cancer cases in children under age five in Connecticut, the only state with a cancer registry, plunged from 58 to 30 from 1963 to 1968. Years later, a 1999 report by the National Academy of Sciences estimated that up to 212,000 Americans developed thyroid cancer from radioactive iodine in bomb fallout. ….. http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/08/05/the-legacy-of-the-comprehensive-test-ban-treaty/
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23-25 October – on Zoom – World BEYOND War’s annual global conferenc
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
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Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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