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The number of potential nuclear weapons states could more than double in a few years unless the major powers take radical steps towards disarmament, the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog has warned. In a Guardian interview, Mohamed ElBaradei said the threat of proliferation was particularly grave in the Middle East, a region he described as a "ticking bomb". Mohamed ElBaradei talks to Julian Borger Link to this audio ElBaradei, the outgoing director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the current international regime limiting the spread of nuclear weapons was in danger of falling apart under its own inequity. "Any regime … has to have a sense of fairness and equity and it is not there," he said in an interview at his offices in Vienna.

A French Polynesian court has ruled in favour of three children of a deceased nuclear weapons test veteran who sought compensation for the effects of the tests. The court found that the Atomic Energy Commissariat had failed in its obligation as an employer to provide security. The labour court in Papeete ordered that they each be paid 11,000 US dollars. Three other cases were rejected while another four cases are to be subject to further medical tests. This means that the court failed to recognise claims that linked poor health to the effects of the weapons tests. The ruling can be appealed.

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In a triumph for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed sweeping legislation Friday that calls for the nation's first limits on pollution linked to global warming and aims to usher in a new era of cleaner, yet more costly energy. The vote was 219-212, capping months of negotiations and days of intense bargaining among Democrats. Republicans were overwhelmingly against the measure, arguing it would destroy jobs in the midst of a recession while burdening consumers with a new tax in the form of higher energy costs. At the White House, Obama said the bill would create jobs, and added that with its vote, the House had put America on a path toward leading the way toward "creating a 21st century global economy."

Russia is ready to invest billions of dollars in Nigeria, President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday as Moscow flagged up its bid to challenge Chinese and Western influence across Africa. In a first visit by a Kremlin leader to the west African energy powerhouse, the two countries signed a raft of agreements with Russian gas giant Gazprom unveiling plans to link vast reserves in Nigeria to Europe via a Trans-Saharan pipeline. "The basis for such work for years to come has been put in place today," Medvedev told reporters after talks with President Umaru Yar'Adua in Abuja. "The prospects are very good," the Kremlin chief said. Russian potential investment in Nigerian energy sector could be worth "billions of dollars."

The feature article of a new journal, published by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, contends that there are misconceptions about the links between radiation exposure and genetic (birth) defects. During the period between 1946 and 1958, a total of 67 nuclear tests were conducted on Bikini and Enewetak Atolls and adjacent regions within the Republic of the Marshall Islands. In recent years, there have been Marshallese children born to parents living in the northern atolls, diagnosed with Waardenburg's syndrome. "Based on current medical and scientific data, a connection between Waardenburg's syndrome and radiation exposure in the Marshall Islands is very unlikely," concludes the study.

Last month, I posted a copy of a letter sent to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis by Antoinette Bonsignore (on behalf of the Alliance of Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups), objecting strongly to DOL's performance evaluation on the sick nuclear worker compensation program. Here is the link for that post. Now, Terrie Barrie of ANWAG has distributed a copy of the June 23 response from DOL, written by Rachel P. Leiton, director of the Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation. Among Leiton's comments is this: "I do note, and it should be borne in mind by all interested parties, that the EEOICPA is a compensation program with statutorily specified eligibility requirements, and that, despite all best efforts, there will be some claimants who will not qualify for benefits."

In an apparent protest against recent sanctions, North Korea fired four short-range missiles yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul said. The ministry said the first missile was fired at 5:20 p.m. The second followed at 6:00 p.m., the third at 7:50 p.m. and the fourth at 9:20 p.m. All missiles were launched from a missile base in Sinsang-ri, South Hamgyong, on the northeast coast of the Korean Peninsula. The launches followed a U.S. decision on Wednesday to freeze assets of two companies - one North Korean, the other Iranian - for alleged links to the North Korean nuclear and missile development programs. Then yesterday, the U.S. State Department said it would not provide further food aid to North Korea unless it was assured the food reached starving North Koreans.

Plans to destroy sensitive documents relating to an international nuclear smuggling ring mustn't go ahead. That's the decision of a parliamentary control delegation. It says that the government is capable of safely storing files which contain evidence linked to an investigation of three Swiss engineers - the Tinner brothers and their father - suspected of smuggling nuclear weapons technology. The documents are copies of files destroyed two years ago on the say-so of the government. This prompted criticism from parliament and legal experts who accused the government of undermining the prosecution in the smuggling case.

Sellafield's Thorp reprocessing plant is to shut down while a probe into an evaporator is carried out. Site bosses said the move is not linked to a rumour sweeping west Cumbria last week that the troubled site would be closed because of the failure of another, older evaporator. Thorp's 1,500 workers were told last Thursday that evaporator B had been fixed, normal operations would resume and the threat of closure had been lifted. However, it emerged this morning that Thorp will be shut down, for a routine inspection of evaporator C.

NUCLEAR test veterans have won their 12-year battle for the right to sue for compensation. Around 1,000 servicemen who blame their ill health on their involvement in Britain's nuclear tests in the '50s want to sue the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Yesterday, at London's High Court, Judge Mr Justice Foskett gave the veterans the green light to proceed with the claims. The veterans, who took part in the programme on the Australia mainland, Monte-Bello islands and Christmas Island between 1952 and 1958, say new scientific evidence has shown links between exposure to ionising radiation and their conditions, which include cancer, skin defects and infertility.

Progress Energy said Friday it has pushed back by 20 months its schedule for bringing on-line two planned new nuclear reactors in Florida, after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said its review of the plant site will take longer than expected. Progress also said it will spread out over five years certain early-stage costs for the new reactors that it could legally bill to ratepayers entirely in 2010, an apparent bid to tamp down customer anger over rate increases linked to the project that took effect earlier this year.

Janine Anderson, a sick nuclear worker and an advocate for thousands of others, died this morning after a long struggle with debilitating illnesses linked to her work in Oak Ridge. Richard Anderson, her husband of seven years, said she died in her sleep at their home in Maryville. Doctors said it was probably due to a heart attack or stroke, he said. Anderson, 56, was major player in the national effort to get legislation passed to provide a compensation fund for workers made sick by exposures in the Cold War workplace at nuclear facilities around the country.

A court in French Polynesia has begun hearing complaints from former workers at France's nuclear weapons test sites. The cases, being heard for the first time, relate to work in Mururoa and Fangataufa and seek recognition and compensation for ill health. Eight cases have been lodged, although five of the workers have already died of what have been called radiation-linked diseases. In March, the French government enacted legislation to allow compensation.

Three structural components were procured and installed by the prime contractor at the MOX Facility that did not meet the technical specifications for items relied on for safety. * In six instances, items used in the construction of TEF failed to satisfy quality standards. In one instance, operating procedures had to be modified to ensure that the problem item did not compromise safety; and, * At ISP, one component that did not meet quality standards was procured. The failure of the item could have resulted in a spill of up to 15,000 gallons of high-level radioactive waste. We concluded that these failures were attributable to inadequate attention to quality assurance at Savannah River. Departmental controls were not adequate to prevent and/or detect quality problems. Additionally, management did not effectively communicate quality assurance concerns between the several Departmental program elements operating at Savannah River. The procurement and installation of these nonconforming components resulted in cost increases. The internal control weaknesses we discovered could have permitted, without detection, the procurement and installation of safety critical components that did not meet quality assurance standards. In a worst case scenario, undetected, nonconforming components could fail and injure workers or the public. In certain instances, the Department took steps to ensure that the prime contractors at Savannah River began action to remediate nonconforming components and to strengthen policies and procedures. Accordingly, we made several recommendations designed to strengthen quality assurance at Savannah River. Finally, the matters discussed in this report provide valuable lessons learned as the Department implements the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Department will use Recovery Act stimulus funds to initiate new and to accelerate ongoing projects throughout its complex. The Department must maintain a focus on quality assurance issues to ensur

Editor's note: This story originally appeared in Facing South, the online magazine of the Institute for Southern Studies. For links to supporting documents, please see the original story. Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near It was April Fool's Day, 1979-30 years ago this month-when Randall Thompson first set foot inside the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pa. Just four days earlier, in the early morning hours of March 28, a relatively minor problem in the plant's Unit 2 reactor sparked a series of mishaps that led to the meltdown of almost half the uranium fuel and uncontrolled releases of radiation into the air and surrounding Susquehanna River.

Thyroid cancer seems to be more aggressive in patients who were exposed to radiation at work or for treatment of another condition, a Canadian study says. Survivors of atomic bombs and children living near areas contaminated by the 1986 nuclear reactor accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine suggest radiation is linked to both benign and malignant thyroid tumours, according to the study in the April issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery. In the 1950s and 60s, people were radiated for benign conditions such as acne, ear problems or fungal infections of the skin and the chest. "[T]his study suggests that patients who have been exposed to radiation have more aggressive disease and worse clinical outcome than other patients with thyroid cancer and, therefore, may require more aggressive treatment," Dr. Jeremy Freeman, chair of otolaryngology at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, and his colleagues concluded in the study.

AFTER years of public pressure, the NSW Government yesterday agreed to a thorough clean-up of radioactive land in Hunters Hill. It will dig out thousands of tonnes of contaminated dirt and uranium tailings from the site of a former uranium smelter by the end of next year, supervised by an independent auditor. It will then sell the waterside land in Nelson Parade for housing if it is declared safe. At least six people who have lived on or near the radioactive section of the street have died of cancer, though there is no proven link between the elevated radiation levels and their deaths.

Thorium is a slightly radioactive element, a cousin of uranium. For the past four decades, in fits and starts, researchers have been testing it as a potentially attractive competitor to uranium as a source of nuclear fuel. Within the nuclear community, it's won a small, devoted following. Up to now, it's had little commercial impact. People Who Read This Also Read * Gauging the Prospects for Nuclear Power in the Obama Era 23399268 * The Truth About All Those Green Jobs 23289542 * Gang of Juvenile Dinosaurs Discovered 23288904 * Bailout Scorecard: The End of the Beginning 23296138 * Depression Linked to Brain Thinning 23391986 Recommendations by Loomia Today, however, thorium is getting a serious second look from some powerful global players. With interest in nuclear power soaring, thorium is being re-examined as a potential solution to-or at least a palliative for-some of the industry's daunting problems, particularly the production of hazardous radioactive waste. Advocates say that adding thorium to a nuclear reaction would help reduce the volume of nuclear waste that is produced and help prevent civilian nuclear fuels from being converted into weapons-grade material.

The Czech government has suspended the ratification of its agreement with the United States on the deployment of a missile tracking radar. Some military analysts link this decision with the changes in the new U.S. administration's attitude to the plans to deploy anti-ballistic missile systems in Eastern Europe. Barack Obama said during his election campaign that the efficiency of the system should be scrutinized. When he was elected president, he said he might put off the ABM plans for Europe or bury the idea, especially if Russia would help convince Iran to suspend its nuclear weapons program.