nuclear weapons « nuclear-news

In U.S. Congress race, push for nuclear bomb testing strongly opposed

Matheson said the track record of nuclear weapons testing in Nevada should make future efforts out of the question…..……..If the largest nuclear threat to the U.S. is a terrorist getting a nuclear bomb, it wouldn’t make much sense to have more, candidate Claudia Wright said, adding that she doesn’t believe anyone who says underground testing is safe…

Nuclear testing hot topic in Congress race, The Spectrum, 25 May 2010, ST. GEORGE – Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson blasted two Republican Senate candidates Monday for saying they would support renewed nuclear weapons testing. Continue reading →

May 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Double standards in Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons

Israel’s tacit defence, pursued on its behalf by its allies, has been that it – unlike Iran – is a ‘responsible’ nuclear power. Yet here you have Shimon Peres talking nukes with a nutcase white supremacist government..

A responsible nuclear power? by Julian Borger 24 May 2010 guardian.uk The revelations of Israel’s nuclear flirtation with South Africa will add weight to claims of double standards Continue reading →

May 25, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Russian firms now off “blacklist” despite their weapons sales to Iran,

Obama Administration Lifts Russian Firms from Blacklist – World Market Media May 24, 2010

// <![CDATA[// John Rummo Four Russian firms, accused of helping Syrian and Iranian Weapons programs, including Rosoboronexport and Tula Instrument Design Bureau were lifted off the U.S. government’s black list. Both of these aforementioned companies have been noted in selling antitank, artillery, and rockets to both Iran and Syria, some of which have turned up in Lebanon……. Obama Administration Lifts Russian Firms from Blacklist – Online Investment Community – World Market Media

May 25, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

U.S. public will wake up to danger of far right nuclear politics

The public debate will also likely expand with the July 23 release of a new documentary from the team that made An Inconvenient Truth. The film, Countdown to Zero, is a nuclear wake-up call about the real threats we face and the urgent need for action.

Nuclear Naivete,THE HUFFINGTON POST, Joe Cirincione: , 24 May 2010, Far-right conservatives posture as nuclear tough guys, but push a shockingly naive policy. Clinging to Cold War doctrines, they play politics with our nuclear weapons. It is a dangerous game that puts American security at risk. Representative Mike Turner (R-OH) rammed through an amendment at the House Armed Services Committee mark-up of the Defense Authorization Bill last week that condemns the new U.S. nuclear strategy endorsed by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the directors of the nation’s nuclear laboratories. Why? Rep. Turner wants to use nuclear weapons in Afghanistan……. Continue reading →

May 25, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Radioactive carbon in human teeth – thanks to nuclear bomb testing

The Radioactive Clock In Your Teeth – Forbes.com Jonathan Fahey, 05.21.10, How bomb testing in the 1950s is helping scientists determine a person’s age.“……….They had discovered that a bygone era of world political history had made it possible to date unidentified human remains more precisely than other forensic methods. Aboveground testing of nuclear bombs in the 1950s and early 1960s created elevated levels of radioactive carbon that soon became incorporated into all living things. Continue reading →

May 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, environment | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Radioactive exposure guinea pigs – the Marshall Islanders

…. The desire to study humans living in a radiation-contaminated environment appeared to be a major element of this decision…” by far the most contaminated place in the world.”

The Legacy of U.S. Nuclear Testing in the Marshall Islands, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Robert Alvarez: 23 May 2010, The radiological legacy of U.S. nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands remains to this day and will persist for many years to come. Continue reading →

May 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | OCEANIA, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | 1 Comment

American industry becoming more militarised with nuclear weapons

The militarization of our society could increase much more, as U.S. geopolitical power decreases further overall and as our society begins to cave in further, leaving the military as by far the strongest and most trusted institution in society. It is easy to forget that corporations can now contribute unlimited sums to congressional races, a new factor in our politics.

Boost to the Nuclear Weapons Industry under Obama The Dangers of the New Nuclear Legislation in the US Congress by Greg Mello Global Research May 23, 2010 New Nuclear Legislatiom …………Despite the increase in nuclear activism, all the fine work that people been done leading up to and including the NPT Conference and NGO meetings, the overall situation is growing more alarming due to the persistance of the nuclear industry and pressures exerted on the US congress Arn Specter, editor, The Nuclear Review Continue reading →

May 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

No real solution for Hanford’s deadly nuclear weapons waste

one of the biggest challenges the US nuclear weapons complex, and consequentially, the Department of Energy, has ever had to deal with………… the tanks were leaking, and the government had failed to report the leaks and the spreading contamination……….

Cleaning Up After The Cold War: Hanford’s Tank Waste, Daily Kos:by Page van der Linden May 23, 2010 “…..the remote sites around the United States, consisting of laboratories and manufacturing facilities, the complex that made The Bomb possible. And unless you’re very familiar with this complex, or you’re a resident of the Pacific Northwest, you may not know about a remote part of Washington State known as the Hanford Site Continue reading →

May 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, plutonium, radiation, radioactive, wastes | Leave a comment

High cancer rates in Iraq believed due to depleted uranium

..“2,000 new cancer cases are reported in Basra annually. Our patients come from Basra, An-Nasiriyah, Amara and other provinces,” Doctor Jivad Ali, an oncologist, said…..

Battlefields contaminated with depleted uranium bred cancer, RT Top Stories 23 May, 2010, Depleted uranium has been used for nearly 20 years as sub-ammunition of artillery shells in international conflicts like the two Iraq Wars and the NATO conflict with Serbia, but the long-term effects of it are unknown.
In Iraq, many doctors believe that the radiation leaked from old weapons used by foreign forces in 1991 and 2003 are continuing to have a deadly impact. Continue reading →

May 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, Iraq | antinuclear, depleted, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | 2 Comments

Uranium mining’s radioactive pollution of World Heritage National Park

Mine fears grow as pollutants flow to Kakadu, Sydney Morning Herald, LINDSAY MURDOCHMay 24, 2010

MILLIONS of litres of radioactive water from the Ranger uranium mine have flowed into internationally acclaimed and World Heritage-listed wetlands in Kakadu National Park. Continue reading →

May 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, environment | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Realistic fears that North Korea might use nuclear weapons

A diplomatic black hole, guardian.co.uk, 24 May 2010, Having accused North Korea of sinking its warship, Seoul finds its options severely limited “……The threat of annihilation is fairly par for the course for Pyongyang, the equivalent of a demarche from any other government. A year ago, the regime threatened the US with a “fire shower of nuclear retaliation” and an “annihilating blow” in response to any attack, at a time when an American naval vessel was shadowing a North Korean cargo ship suspected of carrying banned goods off the Chinese coast.Just because a threat is used frequently does not mean it can safely be ignored, however. Pyongyang is very unlikely to court its own destruction by launching a nuclear attack, but no responsible government in Seoul can bet on that. There is always the small chance that Kim Jong-il has descended into total madness or a struggle for power in Pyongyang has unleashed a strain of suicidal militarism…… A diplomatic black hole | World news | guardian.co.uk

May 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | North Korea, weapons and war | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | 1 Comment

Documentary evidence of Israel’s nuclear weapons

ISRAEL OFFERED TO SELL NUCLEAR WEAPONS TO SOUTH AFRICA – FIRST HARD EVIDENCE ISRAEL HAS THE BOMB, San Francisco Sentinel, 23 May 2010, By Chris McGreal The London Guardian Secret South African documents reveal that Israel offered to sell nuclear warheads to the apartheid regime, providing the first official documentary evidence of the state’s possession of nuclear weapons. Continue reading →

May 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Israel’s Armageddon Scenario – Nuclear Terrorism

The Armageddon Scenario, CBN News, Chris Mitchell, 24 May 2010, Just today, the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies – BESA – published a new report called “The Armageddon Scenario: Israel and the Threat of Nuclear Terrorism.”…. The author of the report is Chuck Freilich, Israel’s former deputy national security advisor. Freilich focuses on the threat of nuclear terrorism and advises that Israel adopt an “… uncompromising deterrent policy such as the ‘retaliate first, no questions asked’ approach ….”You can read the report at www.besacenter.org

The Armageddon Scenario

May 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Essential to remove nuclear industry pressure from Radiation and Health Study

Beyond Nuclear, 22 May, 2010, The time for a full-scale bona-fide health study on the impacts of radiation exposure to communities downwind and downstream of US nuclear power facilities is long overdue. The responsibilities to assure that this study is fair and independent are immense.

Given the growing political promotion of nuclear power currently underway, the study’s development, execution and interpretation will no doubt be a tug-of-war. The effort for an independent health study on the impacts from nuclear power facilities raises many of the same questions that have dogged the nuclear industry from the exposure of “down winders” in St. George, Utah to atomic testing fallout, the communities around the Three Mile Island accident, the Massachusetts cancer study around the Pilgrim nuclear power plant and entire countries contaminated by the Chernobyl explosion.

One continuing focus among many will to be to monitor how the NAS policy will be applied to the review and vetting of hundreds of potential committee members for final committee selection. The recusal of Dr. Meserve with his obvious”impaired objectivity” is a good first step and welcome sign. However, the task to watchdog this massive government effort in the public interest is only beginning.

May 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear weapons, radiation, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Britain’s top scientist calls for nuclear disarmament laboratories

Martin Rees calls on UN to establish nuclear disarmament laboratoriesThe president of the Royal Society, Sir Martin Rees, wants the UN to set up the laboratories to verify that countries are keeping their promises on nuclear disarmament, Ian Sample, science correspondent guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 19 May 2010
Britain’s most senior scientist has called on the United Nations to establish a network of laboratories specialised in detecting and dismantling nuclear weapons. Continue reading →