Group items tagged

"Ten years have passed since Alexander Nikitin was acquitted charges of treason and espionage by the Russian Supreme Court, which could have landed him in a jail cell for 20 years if not earned him the death penalty. But for the confusion of those years in Russia, Nikitin believes that he would not have been acquitted of the same charges, however innocent he was, in Russia today. Nikitin here tells of the events that took four years, eleven months and eight days. Alexander Nikitin, 14/06-2010 - Translated by Charles Digges I was arrested very early on the morning of February 6th 1996. It read like a page from Stalin's Russia. Someone rang the door and ordered me to come to an interrogation by the FSB, the Russian intelligence service (and the successor to the KGB). They said that I not need to take anything with me and my family should not worry because I would soon come home again. But I did not come home. Instead I found myself in a jail cell. The FSB's accusations against me turned out to be very serious: high treason and espionage. I was at risk for the death penalty. "

CPS Energy knew a year ago that contractor Toshiba Inc. wanted at least $4 billion more than San Antonio was willing to pay for the nuclear expansion, according to several sources close to the deal. Despite this, utility officials used a much lower figure as they pitched the project at public meetings during the summer, arguing that nuclear was the most cost-effective way for San Antonio to meet its future energy needs. They took the same message to elected officials who were to vote on a $400 million bond issue and rate increases to finance the multibillion-dollar expansion of the South Texas Project near Bay City. The response of City Council members and CPS Energy trustees to the 2008 estimate was muted Saturday. "Nothing can surprise me anymore," Councilwoman Elisa Chan said. But several officials said the revelation only deepens their mistrust of the city-owned utility's leadership. "It concerns me greatly that neither the council nor the board was informed," said Mayor Julián Castro, who acknowledged he, too, recently learned of the existence of the 2008 high estimate.

CPS Energy knew a year ago that contractor Toshiba Inc. wanted at least $4 billion more than San Antonio was willing to pay for the nuclear expansion, according to several sources close to the deal. Despite this, utility officials used a much lower figure as they pitched the project at public meetings during the summer, arguing that nuclear was the most cost-effective way for San Antonio to meet its future energy needs. They took the same message to elected officials who were to vote on a $400 million bond issue and rate increases to finance the multibillion-dollar expansion of the South Texas Project near Bay City. The response of City Council members and CPS Energy trustees to the 2008 estimate was muted Saturday. "Nothing can surprise me anymore," Councilwoman Elisa Chan said. But several officials said the revelation only deepens their mistrust of the city-owned utility's leadership. "It concerns me greatly that neither the council nor the board was informed," said Mayor Julián Castro, who acknowledged he, too, recently learned of the existence of the 2008 high estimate.

Sir Isaac Newton often has been quoted as stating in paraphrase, "The scientific achievements credited to me are based on standing on the shoulders of the giants who came before me." We can extend this thought to the many atomic veterans employed at the Piketon uranium enrichment plant from the 1950s to the present.

On Tuesday, the Energy Department held public hearings in Washington on its plans to "transform" the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. Last time I went to Energy headquarters I was turned away because I wasn't a U.S. citizen. (See "Misadventures at the U.S. Energy Department.") This time they let me in without inquiring about my citizenship; they even let me roam the halls unescorted to look for a bathroom. Go figure.

Alyaksandr Valchanin, leader of the Union Chernobyl-Belarus, met with Mikhail Rusy, chairperson of the Chernobyl aftermath committee in the House of Representatives, on Monday to discuss the rights of workers involved in the massive cleanup effort after the 1986 nuclear accident. In an interview with BelaPAN, the activist said that he had been pushing for a meeting with the lawmaker for a long time but all of his petitions had been unanswered. The meeting was arranged after Mr. Valchanin petitioned Uladzimir Makey, head of the Presidential Administration, over the matter. The activist described the meeting as "constructive." "Mr. Rusy assured me that we can develop joint projects and representatives of our association would be invited to the committee's meetings. We discussed health resort treatment for Chernobyl cleanup workers, benefits for Chernobyl-affected people," he said. Mr. Valchanin said that the Belarusian authorities were ready to maintain some cooperation with the association. "This is even good that Mr. Rusy is poised for dialogue. I, for my part, offered to use my international contacts for solving the problems of Chernobyl-affected people. It seems to me that the proposal found understanding," he noted. Mr. Valchanin said that the possible registration of the union in Belarus had not been discussed. "But we intend to get registered in our country and will make every effort for this," he said. BelaPAN

I've always been interested in nuclear weapons. They are a small device that can cause a disproportionally large effect. Not only the sheer power of a nuclear explosion, but their role as a deterrent, the formation of the "nuclear club", and the political psychology that goes along with them are all aspects about nuclear weapons that fascinate me. It's kind of a morbid fascination, I know. But cut me some slack-what red-blooded guy doesn't like big explosions? I have read criticisms before of America's large nuclear arsenal-the largest in the world, and predictably so. I have never been in favor of complete nuclear disarmament, partially because there are many nuclear weapons out there that are unaccounted for that could end up in the hands of the bad guys, and partially because I think they could have their uses in a conventional conflict. I'm sure we've all heard, though, the quips that the US has the power to destroy the entire world X times over if we used every weapon in our nuclear arsenal. If that's true, I think it's a fair question to ask why it is so, when just one nuclear weapon is so effective.

If you ever wondered how much control our Pentagon exercises over our supposed America Free Press, wonder NO MORE. We see and hear only what our Government wants us to see, and the proof can be found in the cloak of SCECRACY that has been thrown around the MASSIVE COLLISION of the USS Hartford Nuclear Fast Attack Sub with the MONSTER WAR SHIP the USS New Orleans...can hear the Military Crowd now accusing me of YELLOW JOURNALISM as was done when I first reported on this story. Let me be clear...the Collission of these two Naval Vessels is possibly as close as we will ever come to sinking two American Naval Vessels, one of them a nuclear submarine...and all through our Military's own ingnorance and poor troop performance. Well done Nuclear Navy, you must be so proud of the exclusionary zone you have thrown around this almost Chernobyl event...at least now Admiral Skip Bowman can stop his lie of the nuclear Navy never having a serious accident?

"On March 4, the Austin American-Statesman published an op-ed article by Sheldon Landsberger, professor of nuclear engineering at UT. Headlined "Funds for nuclear waste storage should be used for just that," the column argues that the government is fleecing electric-utility ratepayers, who contribute mandatory per-kilowatt-hour fees toward the development of the proposed national nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Landsberger charges that a portion of the fees earmarked for the federal Nuclear Waste Fund are diverted to the general U.S. Treasury. "This is stealing money from taxpayers who were required to support the waste management project," Landsberger writes. Strong words. But they're not Landsberger's. Nor are the other 633 words that appeared in the Statesman that morning under Landsberger's byline. "It was something which was written for me," Landsberger told me later on the phone. "I agreed with it, I went over it, read it a couple of times, took all of 15, 20 minutes." "

The thinning ranks of men struggling to tame Japan's nuclear emergency are invoking the spirit of the samurai as they ignore personal radiation limits in their battle to avert disaster. Some are so determined to push on with a task they see as vital to saving Japan they are leaving their dosimetres at home so bosses do not know the true level of their exposure to radiation at the crippled plant. As Japan declared the Fukushima Daiichi disaster a level seven emergency -- the worst on an international scale -- engineer Hiroyuki Kohno was heading back into the leaking plant, fully aware that one day it could make him very ill. "My boss phoned me three days ago. He told me: 'The situation over there is much worse than what the media are reporting. It is beyond our imagination. But, will you still come?'," he told AFP. "It was just that. We didn't need to say anything more because we both knew that the situation is really dreadful," the soft-spoken Kohno said, leaving lengthy pauses between his sentences. The two did not discuss financial reward or compensation for the possible long-term health risks, which could include cancer.

"Egypt will not enjoy its sovereignty unless it has the strength to implement a just peace, and therefore developing a nuclear program is part of national security," says Dr. Rashad Al-Qubaisi, the former head of the International Center for Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations and the person responsible for preparing a report on establishing a nuclear reactor in Egypt. "I am of the opinion that possessing an atom bomb is essential if you want to enjoy power and sovereignty. I will not forget what the Indian ambassador said to me when we discovered that India was holding nuclear experiments in 1997 - 'Our national security is more important to us than water or food.'" Qubaisi, who criticizes the Egyptian government for not approving nuclear supervision in its territory, says no country in the region, including Israel, has conducted nuclear experiments because they are so simple to trace. "Israel conducts its experiments via computer simulations - impossible to detect," he says.

"Egypt will not enjoy its sovereignty unless it has the strength to implement a just peace, and therefore developing a nuclear program is part of national security," says Dr. Rashad Al-Qubaisi, the former head of the International Center for Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations and the person responsible for preparing a report on establishing a nuclear reactor in Egypt. "I am of the opinion that possessing an atom bomb is essential if you want to enjoy power and sovereignty. I will not forget what the Indian ambassador said to me when we discovered that India was holding nuclear experiments in 1997 - 'Our national security is more important to us than water or food.'" Qubaisi, who criticizes the Egyptian government for not approving nuclear supervision in its territory, says no country in the region, including Israel, has conducted nuclear experiments because they are so simple to trace. "Israel conducts its experiments via computer simulations - impossible to detect," he says.

)I have lost a lot of sleep lately thinking about the nuclear train that is headed to Utah. During that time I have tried to think of something that I could do to help reverse the path that we are now on. The only thing that I could think of is to tell you my story and hopefully it will only be one of many, many Utahans putting a voice this issue. I know the effects of past radiation policies. I lost my father to leukemia after the nuclear testing in the 1950's and early 1960's that blanketed Utah. This has affected my entire life since I was 12 years old. I also fought my own battle with cancer in 1995. Ironically, it was radiation that saved me then BUT oh what a price I have paid! I was never really afraid of hell until I faced the effects of going through that treatment. The effects still linger even after 14 years. If I had known the true short-term and long-term effects of radiation treatment then, I would not have gone through with having the treatment. We should be asking what Utah gets out of the Energy Solutions deal to become the nuclear dumping ground for the world. How can we place short term gains and profits by gambling the entire future of Utah?

)I have lost a lot of sleep lately thinking about the nuclear train that is headed to Utah. During that time I have tried to think of something that I could do to help reverse the path that we are now on. The only thing that I could think of is to tell you my story and hopefully it will only be one of many, many Utahans putting a voice this issue. I know the effects of past radiation policies. I lost my father to leukemia after the nuclear testing in the 1950's and early 1960's that blanketed Utah. This has affected my entire life since I was 12 years old. I also fought my own battle with cancer in 1995. Ironically, it was radiation that saved me then BUT oh what a price I have paid! I was never really afraid of hell until I faced the effects of going through that treatment. The effects still linger even after 14 years. If I had known the true short-term and long-term effects of radiation treatment then, I would not have gone through with having the treatment. We should be asking what Utah gets out of the Energy Solutions deal to become the nuclear dumping ground for the world. How can we place short term gains and profits by gambling the entire future of Utah?

As Japan on Tuesday renewed its call to India to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), India put the onus on the US and China for taking a lead by ratifying the agreement and reiterated its commitment to ''universal, verifiable and non-discriminatory'' nuclear disarmament. Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, left, shakes hand with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, after signing a joint statement in New Delhi, on Tuesday. APJapanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh that Tokyo expected New Delhi to sign the CTBT soon. Singh reminded Hatoyama about India's impeccable non-proliferation record and its unilateral and voluntary moratorium on nuclear explosive testing. "I expressed the hope that India would sign and ratify the CTBT," Hatoyama told reporters here at a joint press conference with Singh. "Prime Minister Singh told me that if the US and China signed the treaty, it would create a new situation." Hatoyama is currently on a tour to India. He and Singh held the annual India-Japan summit on Tuesday.

As Japan on Tuesday renewed its call to India to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), India put the onus on the US and China for taking a lead by ratifying the agreement and reiterated its commitment to ''universal, verifiable and non-discriminatory'' nuclear disarmament. Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, left, shakes hand with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, after signing a joint statement in New Delhi, on Tuesday. APJapanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh that Tokyo expected New Delhi to sign the CTBT soon. Singh reminded Hatoyama about India's impeccable non-proliferation record and its unilateral and voluntary moratorium on nuclear explosive testing. "I expressed the hope that India would sign and ratify the CTBT," Hatoyama told reporters here at a joint press conference with Singh. "Prime Minister Singh told me that if the US and China signed the treaty, it would create a new situation." Hatoyama is currently on a tour to India. He and Singh held the annual India-Japan summit on Tuesday.

CHRONOLOGY (CONTEXT) FOR UNDERSTANDING HOW MORE MONEY WILL BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE GOVERNMENT TO THE NUCLEAR/URANIUM INDUSTRY. THE UNIVERSITY IS THE MIDDLE MAN. The following chronology is an aid to understanding the November 30th decision of the "Expert Review Panel". It creates CONTEXT. It is just a sampling of evidence from the public record. Some of you will add your own information to it. I want to get this chronology out prior to the announcement of the decision of the panel, in case it might be useful. Please consider forwarding it to media people you might know, as background. I will send supporting news reports for the chronology later; don't want to overload you with email today! If you don't hear from me it will be because of computer troubles.

CHRONOLOGY (CONTEXT) FOR UNDERSTANDING HOW MORE MONEY WILL BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE GOVERNMENT TO THE NUCLEAR/URANIUM INDUSTRY. THE UNIVERSITY IS THE MIDDLE MAN. The following chronology is an aid to understanding the November 30th decision of the "Expert Review Panel". It creates CONTEXT. It is just a sampling of evidence from the public record. Some of you will add your own information to it. I want to get this chronology out prior to the announcement of the decision of the panel, in case it might be useful. Please consider forwarding it to media people you might know, as background. I will send supporting news reports for the chronology later; don't want to overload you with email today! If you don't hear from me it will be because of computer troubles.

CPS Energy's longest-serving board trustee, Steve Hennigan, hasn't actually given me a copy of his nine-page "not so far-fetched theory document," but we spoke at length Friday night and Saturday afternoon about what's in it as he fights to keep his board seat and remain a major player at the municipal utility. "I'm not a conspiracy theorist," said Hennigan, a credit union executive by day and an unmistakably nice man. Conspiracy theory, nevertheless, is making the rounds these days in one of those "truth stranger than fiction" scenarios as business and civic leaders ask what went wrong with a multibillion-dollar plan to expand the South Texas Project nuclear facility, the source of 30 percent of the city's current energy usage.

CPS Energy's longest-serving board trustee, Steve Hennigan, hasn't actually given me a copy of his nine-page "not so far-fetched theory document," but we spoke at length Friday night and Saturday afternoon about what's in it as he fights to keep his board seat and remain a major player at the municipal utility. "I'm not a conspiracy theorist," said Hennigan, a credit union executive by day and an unmistakably nice man. Conspiracy theory, nevertheless, is making the rounds these days in one of those "truth stranger than fiction" scenarios as business and civic leaders ask what went wrong with a multibillion-dollar plan to expand the South Texas Project nuclear facility, the source of 30 percent of the city's current energy usage.

Even before its first Alamogordo test, the atomic bomb was the highest-stakes game around. It still is. At the July 1945 Potsdam Conference, President Harry Truman followed a careful plan to tell Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. In "Red Cloud at Dawn," Princeton University history professor Michael D. Gordin quotes Truman's interpreter, Charles "Chip" Bohlen, who watched out of earshot: "Truman said he would stroll over to Stalin and nonchalantly inform him. He instructed me not to accompany him . . . because he did not want to indicate there was anything particularly momentous" about it. "So it was . . . the Russian interpreter who translated.

Even before its first Alamogordo test, the atomic bomb was the highest-stakes game around. It still is. At the July 1945 Potsdam Conference, President Harry Truman followed a careful plan to tell Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. In "Red Cloud at Dawn," Princeton University history professor Michael D. Gordin quotes Truman's interpreter, Charles "Chip" Bohlen, who watched out of earshot: "Truman said he would stroll over to Stalin and nonchalantly inform him. He instructed me not to accompany him . . . because he did not want to indicate there was anything particularly momentous" about it. "So it was . . . the Russian interpreter who translated.

Washington » EnergySolutions told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it would suffer "substantial economic harm" if a license is not granted to import 20,000 tons of Italian low-level radioactive waste because the Salt Lake City-based company had contracts it must fill. But EnergySolutions President Val Christensen acknowledged under questioning by a congressional committee Friday that there were no signed contracts with Italy or the waste holders. "Help me here," Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., asked Christensen. "You wrote to the NRC, a federal agency" that you would suffer harm because of existing contracts. "Because contract negotiations were under way," Christensen To see the EnergySolutions brief, filed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, click on the icon (pdf) responded.

Washington » EnergySolutions told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it would suffer "substantial economic harm" if a license is not granted to import 20,000 tons of Italian low-level radioactive waste because the Salt Lake City-based company had contracts it must fill. But EnergySolutions President Val Christensen acknowledged under questioning by a congressional committee Friday that there were no signed contracts with Italy or the waste holders. "Help me here," Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., asked Christensen. "You wrote to the NRC, a federal agency" that you would suffer harm because of existing contracts. "Because contract negotiations were under way," Christensen To see the EnergySolutions brief, filed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, click on the icon (pdf) responded.

Powerful Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., praises many Italian imports: Ferrari cars, Armani suits and delicious prosciutto ham. But when it comes to importing Italian low-level radioactive waste to Utah, he winced and exclaimed Friday, "It makes me say, 'Mama mia!' " Markey chaired a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on a bill co-sponsored by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, to ban shipment of such foreign waste to America. Witnesses from all sides of the issue said action by Congress may be the only way to stop it, if recent court rulings hold.

Powerful Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., praises many Italian imports: Ferrari cars, Armani suits and delicious prosciutto ham. But when it comes to importing Italian low-level radioactive waste to Utah, he winced and exclaimed Friday, "It makes me say, 'Mama mia!' " Markey chaired a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on a bill co-sponsored by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, to ban shipment of such foreign waste to America. Witnesses from all sides of the issue said action by Congress may be the only way to stop it, if recent court rulings hold.

Way back when I was in college, someone gave me a book that they thought I should read. "You've been working with plutonium, and you have an interest in nuclear weapons. You really ought to read this book." The book was The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes. He was awarded the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction for that book, and it is well deserved. It's my belief that anyone who wants to truly understand the American legacy of the first two nuclear bombs, and the consequences of their use, should read that book, as well as Rhodes two subsequent books on nuclear weapons: Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb, and Arsenals of Folly: The Making of the Nuclear Arms Race. Since I've been writing quite a bit about current-day nuclear weapons issues, I thought it would be good to step back and take a look at the big picture again. What better way to do that than to talk to Richard Rhodes, nuclear weapons historian and journalist extraordinaire?

Way back when I was in college, someone gave me a book that they thought I should read. "You've been working with plutonium, and you have an interest in nuclear weapons. You really ought to read this book." The book was The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes. He was awarded the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction for that book, and it is well deserved. It's my belief that anyone who wants to truly understand the American legacy of the first two nuclear bombs, and the consequences of their use, should read that book, as well as Rhodes two subsequent books on nuclear weapons: Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb, and Arsenals of Folly: The Making of the Nuclear Arms Race. Since I've been writing quite a bit about current-day nuclear weapons issues, I thought it would be good to step back and take a look at the big picture again. What better way to do that than to talk to Richard Rhodes, nuclear weapons historian and journalist extraordinaire?

Earlier this month, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a hearing in Dana Point regarding the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, commonly known as SONGS. At the hearing, Southern California Edison claimed it is doing everything necessary to fix the "culture of cover-up" that exists - ahem, pardon me - existed at the plant. But in reality, firing about 70 percent of the staff did not fix it, and nor has anything else. Not only does that culture of cover-up still exist, but actually, it is a necessary component of the operation in the eyes of everyone who works there. Because they'll get in trouble if the media or the public find out what leaks, what cracks, what drops, what bursts, what spills, who gets contaminated, or by how much. Especially when it's you getting contaminated - they don't want to tell you that. Nor do the so-called "regulators."

Earlier this month, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a hearing in Dana Point regarding the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, commonly known as SONGS. At the hearing, Southern California Edison claimed it is doing everything necessary to fix the "culture of cover-up" that exists - ahem, pardon me - existed at the plant. But in reality, firing about 70 percent of the staff did not fix it, and nor has anything else. Not only does that culture of cover-up still exist, but actually, it is a necessary component of the operation in the eyes of everyone who works there. Because they'll get in trouble if the media or the public find out what leaks, what cracks, what drops, what bursts, what spills, who gets contaminated, or by how much. Especially when it's you getting contaminated - they don't want to tell you that. Nor do the so-called "regulators."

To an estate agent it was a charming fisherman's cottage on the Kent coast. To anyone else, it was the two nuclear power stations next door that were the main feature. The cottage in Dungeness was highlighted recently after agents found no space in the "for sale" advert to mention the power plants, which were nowhere to be seen in accompanying photographs either. Though the agents have not been accused of any offence, some viewers were appalled to discover the perimeter fence 100 yards from the front door when they arrived. "It was unbelievable. I had seen the property online and thought it looked just right for me and my family," said Alex Robertson, 32."The photos make out it is an isolated cottage with nothing surrounding it - but that could not be further from the truth.

To an estate agent it was a charming fisherman's cottage on the Kent coast. To anyone else, it was the two nuclear power stations next door that were the main feature. The cottage in Dungeness was highlighted recently after agents found no space in the "for sale" advert to mention the power plants, which were nowhere to be seen in accompanying photographs either. Though the agents have not been accused of any offence, some viewers were appalled to discover the perimeter fence 100 yards from the front door when they arrived. "It was unbelievable. I had seen the property online and thought it looked just right for me and my family," said Alex Robertson, 32."The photos make out it is an isolated cottage with nothing surrounding it - but that could not be further from the truth.