International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

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Gerard
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

Post by Gerard »

Thorium Power loses $1.3M
The McLean-based U.S. nuclear energy company lost $1.3 million compared to a loss of $997,000 in the second quarter of 2008.
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

Post by wasu »

China appoints new nuclear chief
Source: Xinhua | 2009-8-14 | ONLINE EDITION
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUN Qin, deputy director of the National Energy Administration, was appointed general manager of the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) to replace Kang Rixin, who was sacked due to alleged "grave violations of discipline," Xinhua learned from the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee today.
Gerard
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

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allegations of corruption wrt contracts signed with foreign reactor suppliers IIRC
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

Post by Gerard »

The hawkish case for nuclear disarmament
Traditionally, military power was measured in relative, not absolute, terms, meaning that your security was a function not of how many weapons you had, but of how many more you had than your enemy. The advent of nuclear weapons skewed that calculation. Because it would take only a few nuclear weapons to destroy a civilization, the atomic bomb became an equalizer for Davids confronting Goliath-sized enemies.

During the Cold War, one could argue that that dynamic helped the U.S. because Warsaw Pact forces outnumbered NATO's. But today, with the specter of rogue-state nuclear programs, it's more likely that we are the ones who would be deterred. For example, would we have waged Operation Desert Storm (let alone Operation Iraqi Freedom) if Saddam Hussein had been able to strike New York or Washington with a nuclear weapon? Probably not. Our half-trillion-dollar-a-year military can, in essence, be defanged by any dictator with a handful of A-bombs.

That is a remarkable waste of America's incredible conventional superiority.
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

Post by Sanatanan »

Is India not able to utilise this opportunity to increase its exports and meet the demand? If so, why?
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

Post by Sanjay M »

NASA has developed a nuclear reactor coupled to a Stirling engine, which they say would be more reliable and robust for missions to the moon and mars:

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/23247/

I'm wondering if this type of reactor wouldn't be useful as a submarine powerplant. The Stirling engine would be extremely quiet in comparison to the noisy pumps of a conventional reactor design, and that's important for submarine stealth.

Is it possible that India could develop something like this for that purpose? Is this design only capable of mere kilowatts, or is it scalable to megawatts? It might also be useful for a lunar mission.
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

Post by rohiths »

Can gurus speculate why it may be so ?
Do they have enough nukes or their game is up?
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

Post by Sanjay M »

Naturally, they're frightened of being frozen into nuclear inferiority, fearing that they won't have enough fissile material. Let's see what kind of pressure is put on them.
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

Post by Anujan »

Sanjay M wrote:Naturally, they're frightened of being frozen into nuclear inferiority, fearing that they won't have enough fissile material. Let's see what kind of pressure is put on them.
Pakis are trying to move their bum from uranium to plutonium. They are massively expanding facilities in Khushab, and the pu route is needed for the thermonuclear bum.

There was some noises of a cheeni suppled pu bum being tested in '98.

Some with tinfoil hats speculate NoKo Pu bum tests had something to do with pakis.

Nevertheless, the ingredient for the bum, pu, has been produced only in small quantities in current reactors pakis have. So they probably have a U stockpile but not Pu stockpile. Hence all this takleef.
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

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Africa Renounces Nukes: Treaty's Entry Into Force Makes Entire Southern Hemisphere Free of Nuclear Weapons

http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/200 ... unces.html
The entry into force of the Treaty of Pelindaba ensures that Southern hemisphere territories are now a zone free of nuclear weapons. In fact, similar Treaties are in force in South America (Treaty of Tlatelolco), the South Pacific (Treaty of Rarotonga), Southeast Asia (Treaty of Bangkok), and Antarctica (Antarctic Treaty).
Gerard
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

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Gerard
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

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US Navy removes top nuclear weapons facility officer
The Navy has removed the commanding officer at its Bangor nuclear weapons facility, citing a loss of confidence in his ability to lead.
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'Evidence lacking' of Burma's nuke plans

...
Media reports last month claimed Burma had embarked on a secret nuclear weapons program, aided by North Korea which has long conducted a clandestine nuclear weapons program, testing devices in 2006 and 2009.

Mr Selth said the US had steadfastly refused to accuse Burma of a secret WMD program, probably because it did not feel there was sufficient reliable evidence to mount a public case.

"Understandably, foreign officials looking at this issue are being very cautious. No one wants a repetition of the mistakes which preceded the 2003 Iraq War, either in underestimating a country's capabilities, or by giving too much credibility to a few untested intelligence sources," he said.
...
"The exposure of a WMD program would probably see Burma expelled from ASEAN," he said.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-na ... -ewf7.html
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

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Russia regains foothold in Mongolia's uranium mines
By: Reuters
25th August 2009
ULAN BATOR - Mongolia welcomed Russia as its partner in a uranium mining venture on Tuesday as part of a wider pact to boost co-operation in infrastructure and farming, raising concerns for the Canadian miner that owns the deposit.

Russian and Mongolian state-owned companies formed a joint venture to develop the Dornad deposit, which holds seven times as much uranium as Russia produced last year, after the Soviet-era allies settled a $150 million debt owed to Moscow.

Toronto-listed Khan Resources, which still owns a 58 percent interest in the mining licence, is seeking to determine how Mongolia's new law on nuclear energy will affect its investment in the country.
...
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

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The Leaking Game
Western officials are leaking stories to the Associated Press and Reuters aimed at pressuring the outgoing chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, to include a summary of intelligence alleging that Iran has been actively pursuing work on nuclear weapons in the IAEA report due out this week.

The aim of the pressure for publication of the document appears to be to discredit the November 2007 U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on the Iranian nuclear programme, which concluded that Iran had ended work on nuclear weapons in 2003.
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

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Nuclear scientist says first Soviet A-bomb 'miracle'
Arkadi Brich also criticised banning atomic tests, saying they boosted scientific research and produced "very nice" mushroom clouds.
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Gerard
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

Post by sukhdeo »

http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/sep/ ... ii-row.htm

Whats everybody's take on this.

Why cant we test again ?
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

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Disarmament concerns and Pakistan
At the Geneva-based conference, where until recently there was consensus to work towards a verifiable fissile material treaty (FMT), there are now attempts to set aside the principle of verification to cater to some specific interests
This was a clear indication that India intends to seek exemptions in the FMT similar to those it has been granted under the US-India nuclear deal. It means that India would be free to keep its eight ‘civil’ nuclear reactors and the breeder programme outside safeguards. These reactors can produce a significant amount of plutonium. Any FMT with such exemptions will obviously be meaningless. But no one in the Geneva session sought to question India’s conditionalities.
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

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80-ton test of explosives in the Negev
The surface explosion left a crater six meters deep and 27 meters in diameter. The blast was equivalent to an earthquake measuring 2.5 on the Richter scale.
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

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Louis Rosen, 91, dies, worked on first nuclear bombs
On May 9, 1951, on a coral atoll in the Pacific, scientists ignited what they hoped would be the first man-made thermonuclear reaction, the basis of the hydrogen bomb. A fireball rose 1,800 feet.

But the explosion alone, awe-inspiring though it was, was not enough to convince one eyewitness, Edward Teller, considered the father of the H-bomb, that thermonuclear fusion had indeed occurred. For that, he had to wait for the results of a test devised by two young fellow physicists who worked with him at Los Alamos, N.M., where the first atomic bombs had been built.
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

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Gerard
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Attacking Iran unacceptable: Putin
Mr. Putin drew an interesting parallel with India's nuclear programme. "What Iran is doing today is little different from what India did several years ago," he remarked to general laughter.
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Re: International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

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Too soon to talk disarmament: Canadian government
"Canada supports the principle of creating a Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC) as the final step in a progressive, incremental effort to end the capacity of states to produce and develop nuclear weapons, and to reduce and eventually eliminate existing nuclear stockpiles," DFAIT spokeswoman Dana Cryderman wrote in an emailed statement.

The statement said it is too early to negotiate an NWC. Necessary prerequisite treaties must first be in force, Ms. Cryderman wrote, including the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a functioning Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty.

"Until other treaties are in place to end the capacity of states to develop and produce nuclear weapons, it would be premature to launch NWC negotiations," the email said. "Canada is taking action to urge all states to support the treaties that must first be in place before a NWC should be considered."
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