Researchers show that Syria’s supposed nuclear site is a textile factory
That secret nuclear facility in Syria? It’s a textile factory, researchers say in new report, Washington Post By Joby Warrick 4 Nov After a four-year search for hidden atomic facilities in Syria, U.N. officials appeared this week to have finally struck gold: News reports linked a large factory in eastern Syria to a suspected clandestine effort to spin uranium gas into fuel for nuclear bombs.
But after further probing by private researchers, Syria’s mystery plant is looking far less mysterious. A new reportconcludes that the facility and its thousands of fast-spinning machines were intended to make not uranium, but cloth — a very ordinary cotton-polyester.
“It is, and always has been, a textile factory,” said one of the researchers, Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear policy expert at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies and publisher of the blog Arms Control Wonk…..
United Nations passes Iran’s nuclear disarmament bill
UN passes Iran’s bid for N disarmament, Press TV 1 Nov 11The UN General Assembly’s First Committee has endorsed an Iran-sponsored resolution on nuclear disarmament despite attempts by the US and the Israeli regime to kill the bid.
The resolution calls for the implementation of pledges made at the three most recent Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conferences. It also reiterates the urgency for a nuclear-free Middle East and demands that the Israeli regime must sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Israel, widely believed to be the sole possessor of a nuclear arsenal in the Middle East with over 200 undeclared nuclear warheads, pursues the policy of “deliberate ambiguity” for its nuclear program.
Tel Aviv has so far rejected all global demands to join the NPT and does not allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to inspect and monitor its controversial nuclear program.
The Israeli regime has never denied or confirmed the existence of its nuclear arsenal as part of its long-held ‘nuclear ambiguity’ policy. Despite international objections to such dubious policy, the UN and its nuclear regulatory agencies have never taken serious steps to censure or impose sanctions on the defiant regime. Tehran has also proposed a draft resolution on missiles, which is to be discussed in the committee’s next session.
UN investigators suspect nuclear weapons site in Syria
Syria nuclear weapons site revealed by UN investigators, Guardian UK 1 Nov 11, IAEA identifies uranium enrichment plant design at Hasakah and finds correspondence with Pakistan atomic expert, sources claim
UN investigators have identified a previously unknown complex in Syria that bolsters suspicions the government in Damascus worked with Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan‘s atomic bomb, to acquire nuclear weapons technology. Continue reading
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/
Iran’s troubled nuclear program
Iran’s nuclear program suffering new setbacks, diplomats and experts say, Washington PostBy Joby Warrick, October 17 Iran’s nuclear program, which stumbled badly after a reported cyber attack last year, appears beset by poorly performing equipment, shortages of parts and other woes as global sanctions exert a mounting toll, Western diplomats and nuclear experts say. Continue reading
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
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
Nuclear industry fears on the safety of Iran’s nuclear power plant
“They say trust us, but there’s no such thing as trust us in nuclear politics. “
Iran reactor disaster warning from whistleblower, The Australian, Martin Fletcher October 08, 2011 IRAN’S first nuclear power station is unsafe and will probably cause a “tragic disaster” according to a document apparently written by an Iranian whistleblower. Continue reading
Israel prevents nuclear whistleblower Vanunu from emigrating
Israel bars nuclear whistle-blower from emigrating: media, Google News, 7 Oct 11 JERUSALEM — Israel’s supreme court on Thursday barred nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu from emigrating on the grounds he still poses a threat to state security, Israeli media reported. Vanunu, under orders to stay in Tel Aviv and not to speak to journalists, “has proved several times he can not be trusted and does not respect the letter of the law,” supreme court judges said in turning down his appeal.The prosecution charged he posed “a real danger to the security of Israel,” while the judges stressed the 56-year-old former nuclear technician had contacts with unspecified “foreign elements.”
Vanunu served 18 years behind bars for disclosing the inner workings of Israel’s Dimona nuclear plant to Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper in 1986. He was released in 2004 but banned from travel or contact with foreigners without prior permission. He has since been sanctioned more than 20 times for breaking the rules.
Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed power in the Middle East, with between 100 and 300 warheads, but it has a policy of neither confirming nor denying that.
The Jewish state has refused to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or to allow international surveillance of its Dimona plant in the Negev desert of southern Israel. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g9x-LXW9KK7ZK3qTE9Lev88ZJTHg?docId=CNG.c05571d1da8b533f5fbbc6407b4da20d.ae1
Israel’s increasing isolation – danger of Israeli pre-emptive nuclear strike
Fears an excluded Israel may strike Iran’s nuclear sites, SMH, Ruth Pollard.October 6, 2011 JERUSALEM: There are growing fears Israel’s increasing isolation in the region has led it to consider a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, prompting a flurry of diplomatic activity and a public warning against any unilateral action from a former Mossad chief. Continue reading
Israel a nuclear threat to Middle East
Turkey claims Israel nuclear threat, Sky News, October 6, 2011 Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has branded Israel as a ‘threat’ to its region, accusing it of owning nuclear weapons.
‘I right now see Israel as a threat for its region, because it has the atomic bomb,’ Erdogan said in a foreign policy speech during an official visit to South Africa. Israel has never officially admitting to possessing nuclear weapons, but is widely believed to be the only Middle East country to have them….. http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories/article.aspx?id=669810&vId=
Iran’s nuclear deal offer seen as a positive move
For the West, the idea offered a way to restore a degree of trust in ties with Tehran and help in the search for a comprehensive diplomatic solution to the nuclear dispute.
US cool on Iran atom offer, experts see chance, Arab News By FREDRIK DAHL | REUTERS Oct 3, 2011 VIENNA: An Iranian attempt to revive a nuclear fuel deal that fell apart in 2009 has drawn skepticism from the United States, even though two Western think-tanks urged Washington and its allies to pursue the proposal. Continue reading
Opportunity for USA and Iran to compromise
An Iranian Offer Worth Considering, WSJ, By ALI VAEZ AND CHARLES D. FERGUSON, September 29, 2011 A nuclear research reactor in Tehran may hold the key to resolving the prolonged nuclear stalemate between Iran and the West. The Iranian government is running out of the 20 percent-enriched uranium it needs to operate the reactor, and that appears to be making it amenable to compromise.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently proposed that Iran suspend production of some uranium-enrichment activities in exchange for fuel supplies from the United States. Whether the offer is an olive branch or an act of necessity, it is an unprecedented opportunity for Washington and its allies…. read more – http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/opinion/30iht-edvaez30.html
Assassination of Syrian nuclear engineer
Unguarded uranium – yellowcake for the taking, in Libya
post-Gaddafi Libya affords little or no protection to this vast haul of material which, if refined, is the essential element of a nuclear bomb.
‘Uranium’ stockpile uncovered in Libya, SMH, Richard Spencer, September 27, 2011 SABHA: International atomic agencies and Libya’s rebels say it will take weeks to safeguard at least 10,000 abandoned drums thought to contain uranium. 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/
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
-
Archives
- September 2026 (339)
- August 2026 (330)
- July 2026 (355)
- June 2026 (287)
- May 2026 (306)
- April 2026 (356)
- March 2026 (251)
- February 2026 (267)
- January 2026 (308)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
- October 2025 (375)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
