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Oak Ridge Nuclear weapons protestors soon to face trial

justiceTrial Begins For Protesters Who Broke Into Nuclear Complex http://www.npr.org/2013/04/30/180116785/trial-begins-for-protesters-who-broke-into-nuclear-complex by MATT POWELL April 30, 2013 Jury selection begins next week in the trial of three nuclear protestors who broke into the Y-12 Nuclear Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., last summer. The Department of Energy facility houses the nation’s stockpile of highly-enriched uranium. The break-in was significant in some unexpected ways.

May 1, 2013 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

text-Please-NoteCOMMENT DEADLINE: May 14, 2013

Email your comment today: comments-southwestern-cibola@fs.fed.us

Please Help Stop Uranium Mining on Sacred Mt. Taylor http://my.firedoglake.com/wendydavis/2013/04/27/please-help-stop-uranium-mining-on-sacred-mt-taylor/ By: wendydavis   April 27, 2013  To the Navajo (Diné), Mt. Taylor in northern New Mexico is the southernmost of the four mountains that describe the cardinal points of their ancestral sacred lands, Dinétah, the others being the San Francisco Peaks, Blanca Peak, and Mt. Hesperus, the highest peak we see out our bedroom door as we greet the new day.  To the Navajo, the volcanic mountain is known as Tsoodzil, or Turquoise Mountain, and in their cosmology, is home to holy people Black God, Turquoise Boy, and Turquoise Girl.

To many Southwest tribes, but especially the Zuni, Hopi, Acoma and Laguna, Mt. Taylor is also sacred, and used for ceremonial purposes, including gathering medicinal plants, planting payos, or prayer sticks…and more.

In 2009, the mountain was given awarded Permanent Traditional Cultural Property Designation by the New Mexico Cultural Properties Review Committee.

This week, the Cibola National Forest Service (CNFS) issued a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for a uranium mine that violates its own Forest Management Plan and current standards of historic and cultural preservation.  The Cibola Forest Circus folks are calling their crushing, ruinous deviation a “Project-Specific Forest Plan Amendment.”  Yes, quite specific.  Here’s the deal:

Roca Honda Resources, a partnership with Strathmore Minerals in Canada, and Sumitomo of Japan, is intending to mine 2.6 million pounds of uranium ore per year at an average depth of around 2500 feet. ……

If you’d be willing to take a couple minutes to register your objections to the plan, this page has talking points, but in addition, they’re asking allies for three things:

1.) Urge the Forest Service to deny Roca Honda’s Plan of Operations

2.) Urge the Forest Service to choose the “No Action” Alternative for the DEIS

3.) Urge the Forest Service to reissue a new DEIS because the current one is inadequate

They’ve chosen to go with bureaucrat-speak rather than the ‘WTH are you talking about, ya great idjits? No Nukes, No Way!…that I might actually prefer.  But feel free to comment as you will…

My guess is that Forest Circus will end up okaying the ‘scaled down version of the plan’ based on my many encounters with similar ‘choices’.  The compromise one is the one they probably know they’ll approve, but the ‘scaled down version’ wouldn’t look much different than the radical approval one.  If you choose to register your objections to the plan, thank you in advance.

COMMENT DEADLINE: May 14, 2013

Email your comment today: comments-southwestern-cibola@fs.fed.us

Letters can be mailed to:

TRAVIS G. MOSELEY
Acting Forest Supervisor,

Cibola National Forest and Grasslands,

2113 Osuna Rd. NE,

Albuquerque, NM 87113

or by fax to 505-346-3901

April 29, 2013 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Iran again calls for world nuclear disarmament

Iran reiterates call for total nuclear disarmament http://www.tehrantimes.com/politics/107215-iran-reiterates-call-for-total-nuclear-disarmament- 28 April 13, TEHRAN– Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaee reiterated Iran’s call for total nuclear disarmament at a meeting with the current president of the UN General Assembly, Vuk Jeremic, in New York, Iranian media reported on Sunday.

 
During the meeting, Khazaee emphasized the importance of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on nuclear disarmament, scheduled to be held on September 26, and expressed the readiness of Iran, which holds the rotating presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement, to assist in the running of the conference.
 
The Iranian ambassador also called on UN officials to take the measures necessary to encourage the participation of heads of states in the conference.
 
Representatives from Egypt, Venezuela, Indonesia, Cuba, and a number of experts were meeting.

April 29, 2013 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Iran dispute can be resolved without sanctions

Iran can enjoy nuclear energy without sanctions: Presidential hopeful Press TV, 27 April 13,  Iran’s presidential hopeful Ali Akbar Velayati says the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear activities can be resolved so that the country could enjoy the benefits of a peaceful energy program without sanctions.

“The nuclear program issue can be resolved, without losing nuclear technology,” Velayati said on Saturday. … Tehran rejects the allegation over its nuclear energy activities, maintaining that as a committed signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Pointing to the fact that Iran is the first political power in the region, Velayati said none of the important regional issues can be resolved without Tehran’s effective intervention, which demonstrates the country’s influence.

The former foreign minister, who currently advises Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said with proper management Iran could become the region’s number one economic power by 2025.

Presidential hopeful Ali Akbar Velayati has formed a coalition with key principlist figures, Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel and Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf.

The coalition is to pick one of its members with the highest approval rating as the nominee to succeed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iran’s 11th presidential election will be held on June 14. Presidential hopefuls can register from May 7 to 11.

The president of Iran is elected for a four-year term in a national election and candidates must be vetted for qualifications by the Guardian Council.  http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/04/27/300599/nuclear-program-issue-can-be-resolved-velayati/

April 29, 2013 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

The nuclear deterrence illusion

The Nuclear Illusion, Project Syndicate, Gareth Evans, 26 April 13 ”……the US refuses to de-alert its own nuclear missiles if Russia will not. So nearly 2,000 weapons of mass destruction still face each other on high alert, maximizing the prospect of a catastrophe through human or system error or cyber sabotage.

This deterrence logic produces a snowball effect. With Russia and the US holding 18,000 of the world’s current stockpile of 19,000 nuclear weapons, it is proving impossible to persuade any of the other nuclear-armed states to reduce their own (much smaller) arsenals until the Big Two make further drastic cuts to theirs.

China shares Russia’s concerns about US conventional and missile-defense superiority, and is increasing and modernizing its estimated 240-weapon stockpile. With China taking that course, India – outside the NPT but with 100 weapons of its own – feels the need to add to its own arsenal. And Pakistan then becomes even more determined to try to keep ahead of India.

The truth is that none of the nuclear-armed states, inside or outside the NPT, pays anything more than lip service to the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons. The continued seductive power of the Cold War logic and language of nuclear deterrence is the primary reason, though for some states it is clear that the testosterone factor – perceived status and prestige – also plays a role.

The uplifting pro-disarmament rhetoric of US President Barack Obama remains just that. No nuclear-armed state will set a timetable for a major reduction in the number of nuclear weapons, let alone their abolition. The size of their arsenals, their fissile material stocks, their force-modernization plans, their stated doctrine, and their known deployment practices all point in the same direction. All foresee indefinite retention of their nuclear weapons, and a continuing role for them in their security policies.

The implications of this stance are profoundly troubling. Concern about states in the Middle East and Northeast Asia joining the nuclear club is as high as it has ever been. But the foot-dragging by the nuclear states on disarmament is making it increasingly difficult to add necessary new muscle to the global non-proliferation regime……..
Progress toward achieving a safer and saner world requires all of the nuclear-armed states to break out of their Cold War mindset, rethink the strategic utility of nuclear deterrence in current conditions, and recalibrate the huge risks implied by retaining their arsenals. It is time for them to recognize that in today’s world, nuclear weapons are the problem, not the solution.
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/foot-dragging-at-the-npt-review-conference-by-gareth-evans#2BMXAx4LDS5Qy1xS.99

April 29, 2013 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Radiation researcher got thyroid cysts – Japan

Radiation researcher in Ibaraki got two thyroid cysts http://fukushima-diary.com/2013/04/radiation-researcher-in-ibaraki-got-two-thyroid-cysts/  by Mochizuki on April 23rd, 2013   Fukushima Diary is following this radiation researcher of citizen.(cf, [It happens] 0.60~0.80 μSv/h measured from a man in Ibaraki directly on his body [URL])

(cf, Radiation researcher “Social welfare service corporation for children stopped us from measuring radiation” [URL])

They had the thyroid test in Iwaki city Fukushima. The laboratory is “Iwaki citizens’ radiation measurement station -Tarachine”. It’s supported by the chief editor of Days Japan, Hirokawa and the citizens in Iwaki city.

The laboratory offers whole body counter test, food test and ultrasound scan of thyroid.

The result of the thyroid test shows the researcher has 4mm of a thyroid cyst on the right side and 2mm of a cyst on the left side.

The researcher has been in the highly contaminated areas. Unfortunately, he might have been affected.

 

April 28, 2013 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

A new Iranian president may bring reconciliation with the West

Could former nuclear negotiator help bring Iran in from the cold? Gareth Smyth for Tehran Bureau 24 April 2013  guardian.co.uk  Presidential candidate Hassan Rowhani may have the credentials to steer Iran to a diplomatic breakthrough Hassan Rowhani was considered an early frontrunner in the runup to the 2005 Iranian presidential election, before eventually deciding not to run.

The former nuclear negotiator’s entry into the 2013 election, then, carries a hint of deja vu. Leading the Iranian delegation in the 2003-05 nuclear talks with Europe, Rowhani took Iran the nearest it has come to a substantive diplomatic agreement with the west since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Nearly a decade later, could a Rowhani presidency lead to a diplomatic breakthrough, easing Iran back from punitive sanctions and the possibility of US or Israeli attack?

It is a tall order. To win the election, he will need to convince voters he is a man of the future and not the past. And to reach international agreement over the nuclear programme, he will need to succeed where he previously failed in bringing together Iran’s Islamic leadership and western powers whose real goal – many in Iran believe – is to overthrow the Islamic republic.

Perhaps Rowhani has as good credentials as anyone for such a task. Essentially a pragmatic conservative, the 64-year-old cleric is an insider of the Islamic establishment…….. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/iran-blog/2013/apr/24/former-nuclear-negotiator-iran-cold

April 25, 2013 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

New legislation could boost renewable energy investment in USA

The New Alphabet of Renewable Energy Investing: MLPs and REITs, Forbes, 24 April 13, Institutional investors manage more than $70 trillion in assets globally. But when it comes to renewable energy, a large portion of that capital is sitting on the sidelines.

It’s not that renewable energy is a bad investment—in fact, as I’ve explained before, clean energy projects provide exactly the kind of stable, consistent returns that long-term investors love. For example, when Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary MidAmerican Energy Holdings issued a $850 million bond offering for its Topaz Solar Farm last year, it was oversubscribed by nearly $400 million.

Investors want in on renewable energy investments; however, the types of investment vehicles available today are limited. Some of these limitations can be addressed by extending the same benefits that fossil fuel and real estate developers have enjoyed for years. New legislation and a call for clarity from the Internal Revenue Service could make two investment structures, Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) and Real Estate Investment Trusts(REITs), the new alphabet of renewable energy investing. Continue reading →

April 25, 2013 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Nuclear-News supports ANONYMOUS in protest against The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act

censorshipChristina Macpherson , 22 April 13, The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, just passed by USA house, will allow Internet companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and this blog’s web host, to share personal information with the government – a move that threatens civil liberties and freedom of speech.

No news from this website for 24 hours, in support of Anonymous’ campaign for freedom of speech

April 22, 2013 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

VIDEO: North Korea now wants talks

see-this.wayVIDEO Nuclear showdown continues as North Korea issues list of demandsflag-N-Korea
http://www.euronews.com/2013/04/18/nuclear-showdown-continues-as-north-korea-issues-list-of-demands/North Korea has issued a list of conditions in the latest development
in their nuclear showdown. Continue reading →

April 19, 2013 Posted by | general | 1 Comment

French company EDF quite prepared to pull out of building Britain’s new nukes

 ” As far as I am concerned, negotiations can also fail,” Proglio told reporters on the sidelines of a debate about France’s energy policy

flag-franceEDF SAYS “IN NO HURRY” FOR UK NUCLEAR PROJECTS PARISflag-UK Reuters April 19, 2013 – EDF chief executive officer Henri Proglio said on Thursday talks are continuing between the French utility and the British government about its nuclear projects in Britain but added that he was “in no hurry” to sign an agreement. Continue reading →

April 19, 2013 Posted by | general | 2 Comments

Gregory Jaczko appointed to advisory panel on nuclear security

Jaczko,-GregoryReid Appoints Besieged Regulator to Nuclear-Weapons Panel National Journal, By  April 18 Late in the evening on Wednesday, one of the busiest and most unnerving times Washington has seen in a long while, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid quietly appointed a controversial former nuclear-energy regulator to a key but obscure panel.

Reid appointed Gregory Jaczko, the beleaguered former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to a newly created congressional advisory panel that oversees the Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration, which manages the nation’s nuclear-weapons stockpile and nuclear nonproliferation with about $8 billion taxpayer dollars……..

Jaczko also made waves recently in the wake of multiple interviews, including with the trade publication Nuclear Intelligence Weekly and the New York Times, where he called to phase out all nuclear power plants. “What is needed is a phaseout of all nuclear plants in this country,” Jaczko said, according to a March 29 issue of the Nuclear Intelligence Weekly. “They’re not safe.” http://www.nationaljournal.com/energy/reid-appoints-besieged-regulator-to-nuclear-weapons-panel-20130418

April 19, 2013 Posted by | general | 3 Comments

According to Obama, North Korea does not have nuclear missile

Obama-1Obama says he doesn’t believe North Korea has nuclear missile By flag-N-KoreaJethro Mullen,  April 17, 2013 (CNN) — President Barack Obama has said he doesn’t believe North Korea can fit a nuclear warhead on a missile, casting strong doubt on an alarming assessment disclosed last week by the Pentagon’s intelligence arm.And he warned the young North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that weeks of threats against the United States and South Korea had only served to isolate the regime further….. http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/17/world/asia/koreas-tensions/index.html

April 18, 2013 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

USA raises “permissable” radiation level. Why?

exclamation-Shocking raise in nuclear radiation ‘safety levels’ announced Digital Flag-USAJournal By R. C. Camphausen Apr 17, 2013 –  Washington – Shocking is not only that the White House is significantly raising so-termed ‘safety levels’ for nuclear radiation in drinking water and soil, but also that mainstream media are all too quiet about this assault on people’s health.

 There are a few websites, for example here and here, who’ve picked up and reproduced the information, it will be interesting to watch how long it takes major media outlets to report and comment on this development.

Rather than doing something to reduce the dangers invisibly emanating from nuclear plants and enriched weaponry, the White House and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) have apparently chosen to accommodate the nuclear industry rather than protect the population.

In the original article, published on the website of Helen Caldicott and also at Global Research, we read that the new ‘safety levels’ couldincrease a longstanding 1 in 10,000 person cancer rate to a rate of 1 in 23 persons exposed over a 30-year period.

Raising these radiation guides known as PAGs (Protective Action Guides), can only mean one or two things. Either, radiation levels in drinking water and soil are terribly high right now, due to Chernobyl and Fukushima for example, or they are expected be alarmingly high in the near future.…. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/348161

 

April 18, 2013 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Fracking brings high rates of uranium into wastewater

Fracking for Uranium Earth First Newswire, by John Upton, 17 April 13, “…….The U.S. Geological Survey found in 2011 that fracking wastewater wells in the northeastern U.S. were contaminated with uranium at levels 300 times greater than the national limit for nuclear plant discharges. Yet Pennsylvania has insisted that there is no problem. The state was reluctant even to test for uranium in fracking wastewater. Now the state has agreed to study the issue….http://earthfirstnews.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/fracking-for-uranium/

April 18, 2013 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

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