New START nuclear treaty critical issue – beyond party politics

Standard-bearers and negotiators for nuclear weapons controls in the United States span the spectrum from conservative to liberal. This is a subject so momentous it defies partisan politics. Or it should.

National security at greater risk without New START, The Cap Times, Susan Shaer, 26 Sept 10, “………..The United States and Russia maintain over 90 percent of the world’s arsenal of some 23,000 nuclear weapons. The original Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between our two countries providing for inspections and monitoring of these weapons expired nearly a year ago. The Senate now must ratify the New START treaty by a two-thirds margin (67 votes) to preserve the security protections of on-the-ground intelligence we have relied on. Continue reading →

September 27, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Why Israel will not attack Iran’s nukes

Israel will not attack Iran’s nuclear facilities partly because Iran is far away and would be very difficult and costly to attack, but mainly because it’s not necessary

The Persian Bomb – Living Lake Country, By Al Neuhauser

Sept. 26, 2010 Lot of folks seem to be exercised over the potential of Iran developing an atomic bomb to loft into Israel or even across the pond to us. Equally dire is the potential for Israel to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. Continue reading →

September 27, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Royal British Legion supports nuclear veterans call for justice

Now the respected British Legion – the nation’s leading armed forces charity – has said it will put up £25,000 to pay for 17 veterans to fight the MoD at the tribunal.

THE ROYAL British Legion has pitted itself against the Government by backing veterans of British nuclear weapons tests who are seeking compensation from the Ministry of Defence. By joseph watts telegraph.co.uk 26 Sept 10, The veterans took part in the UK’s nuclear tests in the 1950s and 1960s in Australia and the South Pacific and say they now suffer health problems from being exposed to radiation. Continue reading →

September 27, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

International Atomic Energy Agency refuses to urge Israel to join Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on the last day of its annual general conference, voted against a non-binding resolution urging Israel to accede to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

UN atomic watchdog rejects resolution against Israel, Google hosted news, By Simon Morgan (AFP) – 25 Sept 10 VIENNA — The UN atomic watchdog rejected Friday an Arab-backed resolution against Israel which the United States and its Western allies feared could have jeopardised newly relaunched Middle East peace talks. Continue reading →

September 25, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

USA and Iran ready to resume nuclear talks

US and Iran edging back to nuclear talks THE AUSTRALIAN, AFP September 25, 2010 US and Iranian leaders have signalled a new desire to revive talks to end the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear aims, despite a US-led walkout. Continue reading →

September 25, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, USA | antinuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

UK Member of Parliament calls for justice for nuclear veterans

These were young men who were put in the vicinity of weapons tests of which we had no idea about what the side effects would be. “Many of them have now died, many of them are extremely ill and successive governments have done all they can to block compensation to these men.

A MEMBER of an influential parliamentary committee has backed the Derby Telegraph’s campaign to make the Government compensate British nuclear test veterans. derbyshire telegraph 21Sept 10, Some 20,000 servicemen took part in Britain’s atomic bomb tests in the 1950s and 1960s, with many now claiming they suffer ill health as a result of radiation exposure. Continue reading →

September 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

UK govt report reveals safety problems with nuclear submarines

Exercise at nuclear submarine yard exposes serious safety failings BAE Systems to rerun mock accident after mistakes at Barrow dockyard that could have put lives at risk Rob Edwards guardian.co.uk, 22 September 2010 Continue reading →

September 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

UK’s new Trident nuclear missiles put on hold

Delegates at the Lib Dem conference voted unanimously for a motion calling on ministers to allow a full review of alternatives to the like-for-like replacement of Trident.

Lib Dems say Trident decision should be put on hold until after the next election | Mail Online, 23 Sept 10, Trident decision ‘could be put on hold until 2015’ as Lib Dems say judgment should be delayed until after the next election By Daniel Martin Continue reading →

September 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Spread of nuclear technology in region worries India

comments came amid reports that Beijing and Islamabad were in talks to set up a new giant one gigawatt atomic power plant in Pakistan.

India concerned over N-proliferation in neighbourhood: Rao PTI IBN Live News ,Sep 21,2010Boston, Amid reports of Sino-Pak plans to set up a new giant atomic power plant in Pakistan, India has said it has been affected by clandestine nuclear proliferation in its neighbourhood and is concerned about the possibility of atomic terrorism in the region. Continue reading →

September 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, politics international | nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Cover-up of uranium news in India

As we shuttled between the police station and the district court in Jamshedpur for a week to get our equipment back, we got a glimpse into the kind of helplessness local villagers experience throughout their lives. If a journalist working for a national newsmagazine could be arrested and booked for visiting villages that have an overview of the mine, who would listen to the villagers?

Uranium mines afecting health of workers and local communities, India Info Online, 20 Sept 10, “…….UCIL seems to believe that national interest overrides the baggage of liabilities the pursuit of nuclear ambitions carries. Is it in our national interest to stand by silently as this scenario plays out in other uranium mines in the next year? Continue reading →

September 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, secrets,lies and civil liberties, Uranium | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

German anti nuclear movement to keep up the pressure on Merkel

rallies were planned on October 6 in the southern city of Stuttgart, on October 9 in Munich and on November 6 against the arrival of a shipment of highly radioactive nuclear waste in the northern region of Wendland.

German anti-nuclear movement vows to continue protests, Expatica Germany, 20 Sept 10, After a major protest that drew tens of thousands of people to the streets of Berlin, Germany’s anti-nuclear movement vowed Sunday to keep up the pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government. Continue reading →

September 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Berlin protest as thousands reject nuclear power

the anti-nuclear movement has not seen such strong public support since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union, in 1986.

Berlin / Munich – Two Cities / Different Crowds, EU Australia Online , September 19th, 2010 Weekend events in Germany saw a large protest in Berlin over nuclear power stations,…….CONFRONTATION OVER NUCLEAR STATIONS Crowds estimated at between 40-100000, depending on who was counting, paraded to the office of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, in Berlin, objecting to government plans for extending the life of ageing nuclear power plants. Continue reading →

September 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, opposition to nuclear | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

So called “clean” nuclear technology might return to Hanford

Among the first decisions that DOE is expected to make is whether to lease land to Energy Northwest that’s near the Hanford 300 Area, which is just north of Richland, for a (?) clean energy park……At some point Energy Northwest might look at energy production through new small nuclear modules,

Future of Hanford land up for debate, Northwest News – The News Tribune By Annette Cary, 09/19/10 HANFORD — At the start of the 1940s, most of the 586 square miles that now make up the Hanford nuclear reservation was crop land and sagebrush range land where 20,000 sheep grazed…. Continue reading →

September 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Nuclear missile shields are a provocation, not a prevention

No missile shield system will be able to prevent every missile from reaching its target. The expansion of the shield encourages more nations to develop means of penetrating it. The penetration and detonation of one modern nuclear weapon and its radioactive fallout would be so devastating as to traumatize any nation and its neighbors.

Stop the Missile Shield Now PETER G. COHEN FOR BUZZFLASH/TRUTHOUT, 20 Sept 10, The United States is now installing a missile shield from Northern Poland through the Mediterranean and Black Sea to Asia and Japan. The nations and warships involved are near to or bordering on Russia and China, though the stated intent is to protect our allies from the missiles of Iran and North Korea. Continue reading →

September 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Nuclear power a goer only in new nuclear weapons states

…….. the nuclear industry, at heart, is a military industry holding up a battered commercial facade.

Nowhere is this more true than in the new markets of China, Russia and India – nuclear weapons states -.

Old-tech nuclear power is not the answer * Scott Ludlam The Australian * September 17, 2010 LET’S not expect a volatile, antiquated technology to solve any problems “…… All nuclear power stations are based on 1940s-era technology to build nuclear weapons. They are essentially plutonium factories, producing small quantities of plutonium while shedding vast amounts of heat.

In the 50s, Soviet and US engineers realised they could adapt these plants for power generation, hooking them up to steam turbines and promising electricity that was “too cheap to meter”. Now we have more than 400 of these hybridised weapons plants generating a shrinking fraction of electricity across the world. Continue reading →

September 17, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment