nuclear weapons « nuclear-news

Equipment for Iran’s uranium enrichment smuggled in via Dubai

Report: Iran smuggling German-made nuclear equipment via Dubai, Haaretz Daily Newspaper 06.06.10 Sunday Telegraph: Dubai intermediary sells Iran components bought from German manufacturer without its knowledge in violation of UN resolutions. Iran has been able to smuggle advanced technological equipment to its uranium enrichment plant in Natanz via a complex smuggling route based in Dubai, the Sunday Telegraph reported on Sunday.
According to the report, an Iranian company has purchased control systems from one of Germany’s leading electronic manufacturers. The deal was negotiated with a Dubai trading company, which in turn sold Iran a range of electronic equipment for use at its enrichment facility, the British website reported…..According to the Sunday Telegraph, Iran has smuggled German computers, controllers, communication cards and cables into Iran. The equipment was sold to Iran via a Dubai intermediary, using false certificates for company .. Report: Iran smuggling German-made nuclear equipment via Dubai – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

June 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear bomb to solve oil spill crisis – a crazy idea, says USA

Nuclear Option on Gulf Oil Spill? No Way, U.S. Says, NYTimes.com, By WILLIAM J. BROAD : June 2, 2010 The chatter began weeks ago as armchair engineers brainstormed for ways to stop the torrent of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico: What about nuking the well?…. Stephanie Mueller, a spokeswoman for the Energy Department, said that neither Energy Secretary, Steven Chu nor anyone else was thinking about a nuclear blast under the gulf. The nuclear option was not — and never had been — on the table, federal officials said. “It’s crazy,” one senior official said.

Government and private nuclear experts agreed that using a nuclear bomb would be not only risky technically, with unknown and possibly disastrous consequences from radiation, but also unwise geopolitically — it would violate arms treaties that the United States has signed and championed over the decades and do so at a time when President Obama is pushing for global nuclear disarmament.Nuclear Option on Gulf Oil Spill? No Way, U.S. Says – NYTimes.com

June 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Britain faces ever-increasing debt with nuclear wastes

Chris Huhne warns of £4bn black hole in nuclear power budget, guardian.co.uk, Patrick Wintour, 1 June 2010 Energy secretary blames predecessors for avoiding tough decisions in ‘classic example of short-termism’ Chris Huhne, the new energy secretary, said: ‘What we are effectively paying for here is decades of cheap nuclear electricity.’
Britain is facing a £4bn black hole in unavoidable nuclear decommissioning and waste costs, Chris Huhne, the energy and climate change secretary disclosed tonight. Continue reading →

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Terrorists seeking nuclear materials in Russia

Terrorists still trying to access nuclear materials in Russia and former-Soviet republics: Russia by : RIA Novosti , June 02 2010 PoliJAM, Terrorists have not given up their attempts to access nuclear materials in Russia and former-Soviet republics, the head of the Russian Federal Security Service said on Wednesday.

“We have information that terrorists are continuing their attempts to access nuclear materials, as well as biological and chemical components,” Alexander Bortnikov said at a news conference after a meeting of the heads of security services from the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Breaking News, Politics, US and World News, and Entertainment – The PoliJAM Times

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Russia, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radioactive | Leave a comment

Mordechai Vanunu, lonely anti nuclear whistleblower

Mr. Vanunu’s story is to be seen in the wider context of the secrecy that has surrounded Israel’s nuclear weapons programme and its western allies’ complicity.

Lonely battle of an Israeli whistle-blower, The Hindu, Hasan Suroor , June 1, 2010 Mordechai Vanunu’s case is as much about suppressing dissent by a supposedly democratic state as it is a demonstration of western double standards.

Had Mordechai Vanunu been, say, an Iranian or a Russian whistle-blower and facing persecution at home, he would have been assured of a prominent place in the western pantheon of heroes. But he is an Israeli dissident and Israel’s friends in the West have no time for him. Continue reading →

June 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | 1 Comment

Nuclear Non-Proliferation not solved, nor is Nuclear Waste

Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs

As the May Nuclear Non Proliferation conference ends, the nuclear industry and President Obama continue to use this story as a selling point for the “peaceful” nuclear industry. And for June, perhaps the critical issue is – how to convince the world that nuclear wastes are OK, that this problem is solved, – when it’s not!

Other selling points are emerging now – perhaps a sign of the desperation of the industry?

There’s a push to use a nuclear bomb as a cure for the oil spill – based on Russian experience – for goodness’ sake! Who in their right mind would trust the Russian history of things nuclear?

Then there’s the push for little reactors, thorium reactors, instead of uranium-fuelled reactors. Anything to look as though the nuclear industry is forging on. But it’s not – except for nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, despite all the propaganda, and lack of real government incentives, renewable energy technologies are forging on.

June 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, disarmament, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, reactors, renewable energy, renewables | 8 Comments

Birth defects from depleted uranium bring lawsuit

Atomic radiation has increased the number of babies born with defects in the southern provinces of Iraq.

VIDEO Fallujah babies born with birth defects as a result of Depleted Uranium WMD contaminated dust. | mesothelioma Lawyer,Mesothelioma, Asbestos Cancer, Mesothelioma Treatments, Lawyers / Attorneys

Fallujah babies born with birth defects as a result of Depleted Uranium WMD contaminated dust. 1 June 2010, Iraq WILL sue US and Britain over depleted uranium bombs FULL story here- http://www.presstv.ir Ministry for Human Rights will file a lawsuit against Britain and the US over their use of depleted uranium bombs in Iraq, an Iraqi minister says. Continue reading →

June 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, Iraq | antinuclear, depleted, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Some responses to the idea of “nuking the oil spill”

Using a nuclear device in an attempt to shut down the GOM oil spill seems like using a battleship to cross a river.Success is not guaranteed and the side effects could be horrendous.”

Nuking The Oil Slick? The Oil Drum by Big Gav on May 31, 2010 – ]A recent interview with Matthew Simmons on Bloomberg discussed the possibility of a nuclear explosion being used to seal the leaking Macondo oil well. Continue reading →

June 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

The nuclear industry promoted under the banner of non-proliferation

Statement by the President on the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, Politics News, usgov, 31 May 2010 The NPT must be at the center of our global efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons around the world, while pursuing the ultimate goal of a world without them.This agreement includes balanced and practical steps that will advance non-proliferation, nuclear disarmament, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy, which are critical pillars of the global non-proliferation regime. ..

Statement by the President on the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference

June 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, peace | Leave a comment

Israel’s nuclear weapons status is critical to Non Proliferation conference

Israel Key To Conference On Banning Nuclear Weapons, THE HUFFINGTON POST, by Edith M. Lederer, 29 May 2010, UNITED NATIONS — After 15 years, Arab nations finally won agreement from the United States and the other nuclear powers to take the first step toward banning nuclear weapons from the Middle East. Now the next move is Israel’s. Continue reading →

June 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

UN report that Iran has sufficient fuel for 2 nuclear weapons

Iran Has Enough Fuel To Build Two Nuclear Weapons, Says U.N. Report Daily Intel 5/31/10 According to a report from international nuclear inspectors, Iran now has enough fuel so that, “with further enrichment,” they would be able to make two nuclear weapons. The report comes before the U.N. Security Council’s vote on a potential fourth round of sanctions against the country, which has been supported by the Obama administration. Iran did tentatively agree eight months ago to send some of its nuclear material out of the country, but the White House said the deal would still leave Iran with enough fuel to build one weapon. Furthermore, the report claims Iran has expanded work at one of its nuclear sites. Iran maintains that they are using their nuclear facilities to work toward “peaceful projects.” U.N. Report Says Iran Has Fuel for 2 Nuclear Weapons [NYT] By: Josh Duboff

Iran Has Enough Fuel To Build Two Nuclear Weapons, Says U.N. Report — Daily Intel

June 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Syria’s past nuclear experiments revealed

IAEA report: Syria reveals past nuclear experiments, Earth Times News, 31 May Vienna – Syria has revealed details about past nuclear experiments to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA said Monday in a document that otherwise reported no cooperation from the Middle Eastern country.Syria’s lack of transparency has so far prevented the Vienna-based IAEA from fully investigating a site that Israel bombed in 2007 on suspicion it was a secret nuclear reactor being built with North Korean help.In the course of the probe, Syrian officials admitted between March and May that experiments to convert and irradiate uranium chemicals were carried out in 2004.”They failed to report those,” a senior diplomat familiar with the IAEA’s work in Syria said.But he explained that it was too early to say whether these experiments were really purely small scientific projects, as Syria claims, or whether additional work was done…IAEA report: Syria reveals past nuclear experiments | Earth Times News

June 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, Syria | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Short term approach to nuclear wastes masks reality of the problem

as the world’s nuclear military powers are discovering the costs continue after the submarines and power stations have been decommissioned from active service. The equipment and reactors cannot easily or cheaply be dismantled and will remain radioactive for hundreds of years

Nuclear and radioactive waste disposal – by Patrick Boniface – Helium, 30 May 2010, Nuclear waste is dangerously toxic, its environmental impact if released would be devastating, as was witnessed during both the Chernobyl explosion, the American Three Mile Island scare and the Windscale fire of 1957.In these cases radioactive material was released into the atmosphere. With the Windscale fire some 15,000 terabequerels (TBq) of radioactive material (notably Iodine-131) were released (3).

A report compiled by Crick & Linsley in 1983 estimated that 260 people would eventually die from dieases, such as thyroid cancers, related to the release of the material during the fire, (4).

Other aspects that environmentalist’s voice concerns over include the storage of spent nuclear fuels, from commercial nuclear reactors and increasingly from redundant nuclear warships such as submarines.

In particular in the former Soviet Union around the submarine base of Arkangel in Northern Russia there are around sixty nuclear submarines that are rotting away but still with large amounts of nuclear material contained within their hulls.

The Russian economy is unable to afford the costs of de-commissioning these submarines. The cost of decommissioning is between $100-300 million per submarine (5). Continue reading →

May 31, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Russia, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear company AREVA’s waste dumping in Russia

Less than 10% of the uranium mass shipped from France to Russia over the past four years “came back”….Considering the fact that the total amount of spent fuel reprocessed in France is about 38,000 tons, a significant share has gone elsewhere. It is clear now that most of it ended up in Russia

End of reprocessed uranium exports to Russia? Fissile material, By Mycle Schneider on May 29, AREVA’s controversial shipments of uranium wastes from France to Russia could be terminated as early as July 2010, according to media reports and a press release by the French chapter of the environmental group Greenpeace. Continue reading →

May 31, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, wastes | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

U.N. – 189 countries want Israel to sign Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty

Israel not yielding to NPT pressure – PALESTINE NOTE, 30 May Washington – 189 countries have agreed to a declaration that calls for Israel to sign the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the organization of a 2012 Middle East nuclear conference, Al-Jazeera English reported Sunday. Israel, however, will not be moved. Continue reading →