International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 20 Aug 2008 05:16

Commission finds U.S. vulnerable to electromagnetic pulse attack

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 20 Aug 2008 23:50

Russia warns of response to US missile shield

Russia says its response to the further development of a U.S. missile shield in Poland will go beyond diplomacy.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 21 Aug 2008 02:37

Workers overcook nuclear warheads at Y-12

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 22 Aug 2008 20:36

Recycling radioactive waste no longer a problem

Washington, Aug 22

A new plant will help recover uranium from the ashes of radioactive wastes, which can then be recycled with an efficient, eco-friendly technology inspired by decaffeinated coffee.

The technique's future may even hold the key to recycling the most dangerous forms of radioactive waste in the near future.

Chien Wai, University of Idaho chemistry professor, has developed a process that uses supercritical fluids to dissolve toxic metals. When coupled with purifying process developed in partnership with Sydney Koegler, an engineer with nuclear industry leader AREVA and University of Idaho, enriched uranium can be recovered from the ashes of contaminated materials.

'Radioactive waste is a big problem facing the US and the entire world,' said Wai. 'We need new, innovative technology, and I think supercritical fluid is one such technology that will play an important role in the very near future.'

A supercritical fluid - in this case carbon dioxide - is any substance raised to a temperature and pressure at which it exhibits properties of both a gas and a liquid.

When supercritical, the substance can move directly into a solid like a gas and yet dissolve compounds like a liquid. For example, said Wai, supercritical carbon dioxide has directly dissolved and removed caffeine from whole coffee beans for decades.

When the carbon dioxide's pressure is returned to normal, it becomes a gas and evaporates, leaving behind only the extracted metals. No solvents required, no acids applied, and no organic waste left behind.

'That's why decaffeinated coffee tastes so good,' said Wai, while chuckling at the beauty and simplicity of the process. 'There is no solvent used, and so no solvent left behind.'

Because the technology is so simple, cost-effective and environmentally friendly, AREVA is eager to test its first full-scale use on 32 tonnes of incinerator ash in Richland, Washington.

The existing plant in Richland fabricates fuel for commercial nuclear power plants from raw enriched uranium supplied by utility customers as uranium hexafluoride (UF6).

During normal operation, common items including filters, rags, paper wipes, and gloves become contaminated with uranium. The waste is burned to reduce its volume and increase its uranium content, making it easier to recover the uranium.

Nearly 10 percent of the ash's weight is usable enriched uranium, worth about $1,800 dollars a kg in today's market. This means about $5 million dollars is currently sitting in the garbage waiting to be recovered.

The new recycling plant is expected to be operational in 2009 and will take about a year to process AREVA's ash inventory. When finished, much of its operating time can be devoted to ash received from other sites.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 23 Aug 2008 18:42

Russian Nuclear Pact Stalls

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 23 Aug 2008 18:54

Russian Nuclear Pact Stalls
Tensions Prompt U.S. to Reconsider Proliferation Agreement
By JAY SOLOMON
August 23, 2008; Page A1

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's landmark nuclear-cooperation agreement with Russia is unlikely to gain passage before President George W. Bush leaves office, the latest sign of how Russia's offensive in Georgia has roiled the international scene.

The accord, which Mr. Bush and Russia's then-President Vladimir Putin signed in 2007, would allow for greater U.S.-Russian cooperation in developing proliferation-resistant reactors and nuclear fuel banks. The White House saw the pact as enhancing post-Cold War strategic cooperation between Washington and Moscow on issues ranging from weapons proliferation to alternative energy supplies.

The Bush administration initially presented a bill to Congress in May in the hope it could be passed into law by September.

An administration official familiar with National Security Council deliberations said Friday the White House is now "reviewing all options regarding Russia," as a result of the Georgia conflict, including its support for the nuclear-cooperation initiative. "It's no longer business as usual," the official said.

In addition, leading congressional officials said there's little chance of the nuclear pact being approved by Congress before the current session ends, a result of rising opposition to the bill among key lawmakers in the House of Representatives and Senate.

Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said this week he's no longer going to push the bill during the current session, after concluding a fact-finding trip to Georgia. The Democrat, who has been mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate, said he'd initially been inclined to favor the pact.

"Russia's actions have already erased the possibility of advancing legislative efforts to promote U.S.-Russian partnership...including an agreement to allow for increased collaboration with Russia on nuclear energy production," Sen. Biden said in a written statement.

The deal's uncertain future is the latest example of how the Russian-Georgian conflict has changed the international landscape. Earlier this month, the Bush administration and Poland reached an agreement to base part of a planned U.S. missile shield on Polish soil, a move long in the works that sped up as a result of the conflict.

The delay also represents a blow to the Bush administration's anti-proliferation efforts, which are a cornerstone of its attempt to better secure the international supply of nuclear materials. At the same time, the White House is struggling to complete a similar deal with India.

Earlier this month, a long-simmering conflict between Russia and Georgia over two Georgian provinces burst into open conflict, in which Russian forces battered their opponents before agreeing to a ceasefire. Western governments, who to varying degrees decried Moscow's actions, have since complained that the Russians aren't abiding by the terms of the agreement, but have few options to address the situation.

To be sure, current and former U.S. officials say that cooperation between Washington and Moscow on issues ranging from weapons proliferation and energy security could still move ahead, once the conflict in Georgia is resolved. Indeed, they say the Bush administration's nuclear-cooperation pact could be picked up by a successive administration. And some are even calling for an enhanced U.S.-Russia dialogue over key national-security issues, once the Georgia crisis subsides.

"We need to develop a solid framework" for a renewed dialogue with Russia, said Thomas Pickering, a former U.S. ambassador to Moscow, at a conference this week. As a model, he cited the Bush administration's current high-level strategic dialogue with China, headed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

Even before Russia's battles with Georgia, the nuclear-cooperation agreement had sparked a sharp debate inside Washington over the future path of U.S.-Russian relations.

The Bush administration and other supporters of the accord viewed its implementation as essential to nurturing Moscow as the West's partner on key strategic issues, such as denying Iran nuclear weapons. They also believed U.S.-Russian nuclear cooperation could serve as the cornerstone of a new international nonproliferation regime.

The White House has sought to persuade developing nations against mastering a nuclear-fuel cycle in their pursuit of alternative energy sources due to related risk of weapons proliferation. The U.S. sought instead to develop an international nuclear fuel bank these nations could draw upon. And Russia, with among the world's most advanced nuclear-energy industries, was seen as potentially hosting the fuel bank. Fuel banks store the processed nuclear fuels that can be used in electricity-generating power plants.

Russia also had high hopes for the accord and the impact it could have on its nuclear industry, which had been one of the most advanced under the Soviet system but later found itself short of funding and orders.

In recent years, the Kremlin has set up a new state-run company to expand the nuclear industry, seeking out contracts to build and service plants outside Russia, as well as making a major new investment in Russia's own civilian-nuclear program. The industry is one of several the Russian authorities are promoting in an effort to wean the economy away from its dependence on oil and gas.

Opponents of the nuclear accord have argued Russia can't be trusted as a partner, citing Moscow's strategic ties to rogue states such as Iran and Syria. Moscow is currently assisting Tehran in building a light-water nuclear reactor in the Iranian city of Bushehr and has also supplied Iran with conventional weapons systems in recent years.

These critics say Moscow's actions in Georgia clearly undercut the arguments of some U.S. strategists who've sought to define the new Russian government as a potentially benign player on the international stage.

"As goes the nuclear deal, as goes U.S.-Russia relations," said Henry Sokolski of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, a Washington think tank that opposes the Russia agreement. "By walking away from the agreement, the administration will be less willing to make excuses for Moscow."

Still, many U.S. national security strategists say any U.S. effort to engage in a new Cold War with Russia risks further destabilizing a global order already facing rising threats from conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and the wider Middle East. They note the Kremlin could seek to further undercut U.S. efforts to promote peace agreements in the Middle East and to end the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea.

In a troubling sign, U.S. officials point to Syria's call this week for enhanced military cooperation with Russia. President Bashar Assad met with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, in Moscow and praised the Kremlin's actions in Georgia as a strike against Western hegemony. The Russians, in turn, said they were prepared to provide new weapons systems to Damascus.

"We have always said to the Russians that these sales should not go forward, that they don't contribute to regional stability," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Friday. "I urge them not to go through with these sales."

Write to Jay Solomon at [email protected]

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 24 Aug 2008 19:13

Cameco Acquires Uranium Exploration Interest in Niger

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 25 Aug 2008 06:16

A new wave of nuclear proliferation

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 25 Aug 2008 19:14

Iran designing a new nuclear power plant : reports

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 25 Aug 2008 21:56

New US president 'could bring nuclear disarmament'

Does Gareth Evans also believe in Santa Claus?

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 25 Aug 2008 22:17

Jordan to buy nuclear reactor from France

It is estimated that Jordan can extract 80,000 tons of uranium from its uranic ores and that the country's phosphate reserves also contains some 100,000 tons of uranium, officials data showed.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 25 Aug 2008 22:21

U.S. should shelve 123 nuclear deal: Russian official

"If you take into account the recent political events, Congress is unlikely to pass it, so to avoid it being blocked it would be right and proper to recall it and let it be looked at by the new administration."

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 26 Aug 2008 07:07

World's first nuclear reactor now a landmark

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 26 Aug 2008 21:30

North Korea 'stops nuclear disabling'

North Korea says it has stopped disabling its nuclear facilities, accusing the US of reneging on a six-party disarmament deal.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 27 Aug 2008 20:38

Asean Okays Plan By Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam To Build Nuclear Power Plant

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 27 Aug 2008 20:39

South Africa seeks firms to reprocess nuclear fuel

The preference at the department is that we will use existing commercial reprocessing plants in the world for reprocessing spent fuel," Tseliso Maqubela, the Department of Minerals and Energy's nuclear chief director told Reuters.
"In the medium to long-term we will also look at whether it's economically viable to establish a reprocessing plant in South Africa, but economically it makes sense in the short-term that we use existing facilities."

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 27 Aug 2008 21:58

Gerard wrote:New US president 'could bring nuclear disarmament'

Does Gareth Evans also believe in Santa Claus?

Dont laugh but population demographics and failure to Americnaize the minorities might lead to this. It might become like the transition of aparthied SA to Mandela SA. Europe will have its own fight between the Church religion and the its heresies to normatize the Middle East.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 27 Aug 2008 22:38

Pakistan aims for nuclear acceptance

Vick · Post by **Vick** » 28 Aug 2008 03:00

Until I read this article, I had no idea that there was anything called a "nuclear isomer bomb". Intriguing...

Russia's Isomer Bomb, Funded by Your Taxes

We have the also very large field of work with the nuclear energy. Besides the isotopes of fissionable elements there are the so-called isomers. Isotopes differ from each other only in terms of number of neutrons in the nucleus. But isomers have the same number of electrons, and protons, and neutrons. The entire difference is in the fact that the isomer is in an excited state, but can convert to stable state.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 29 Aug 2008 01:01

U.S. weighs sanctions, Russia nuclear deal at risk

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 30 Aug 2008 08:39

Iran Offers Nuclear Technology to Nigeria

G Subramaniam · Post by **G Subramaniam** » 30 Aug 2008 09:06

ramana wrote:
Gerard wrote:New US president 'could bring nuclear disarmament'

Does Gareth Evans also believe in Santa Claus?

Dont laugh but population demographics and failure to Americnaize the minorities might lead to this. It might become like the transition of aparthied SA to Mandela SA. Europe will have its own fight between the Church religion and the its heresies to normatize the Middle East.

France will denuclearise by 2050, when muslims reach 25%

US will denuclearise by 2050, when whites become a minority

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 30 Aug 2008 20:53

Sorry if already posted: Physics Today Report ...from usatoday reports

Report says China offered widespread help on nukes
8/29/2008 10:43 AM
By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY
(USA) -- China gave Pakistan the blueprint for an atomic bomb, testing the finished product in 1990, and unveiled a sophisticated nuclear weapons complex to visiting U.S. scientists in the last decade, report former weapons lab officials.

Former Air Force secretary Thomas Reed, a former weapons lab scientist, paints a portrait of China as a reckless distributor of nuclear weapons know-how in a report released Thursday in PhysicsToday magazine. He charges the Chinese with giving extensive weapons support to Pakistan in detail far beyond a 2001 Defense Department report that acknowledged such links.

"The Chinese nuclear weapons program is incredibly sophisticated," Reed says. "The scary part is how much Pakistan has learned from them." The Chinese and Pakistani embassies in Washington did not reply to requests for comment on the report.

Reed is the co-author with Danny Stillman, former Los Alamos (N.M.) National Laboratory technical intelligence director, of a book coming out in January on the Chinese nuclear weapons program.

Stillman sued the Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and Department of Defense after they classified 23 of the book's pages, preventing their publication. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan upheld the classification last year.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 30 Aug 2008 21:07

More on the PhysicsToday article on the Chinese Nuclear Testing:

The Chinese nuclear tests, 1964–1996: Abstract from Sept, '08 Issue of PhysicsToday

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 30 Aug 2008 21:29

That is a very interesting Article in PhysicsToday:

The Chinese nuclear tests: 1964 - 1996: PDF

Stilman's visit to the SINR (05.04.1990) also produced his first insight into the extensive hospitality extended to Pakistani nuclear scientists during that same late-1980s time period. As we shall see, that cooperation, initiated earlier in the decade, led to a joint nuclear test in China soon after Stillman's departure.

In 1982 China's premier Deng Xiaping began the transfer of nuclear weapons technology to Pakistan and, in time, to other third world countries. Those transfers included blueprints for the ultrasimple CHIC-4 design using highly enriched uranium, first tested by China in 1966.

A Pakistani derivative of CHIC-4 apparently was tested in China on 26 May 1990.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 30 Aug 2008 23:12

Swedish Daily Says Russia Planning to Build Nuclear Power Plant in Kaliningrad

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 30 Aug 2008 23:17

Radioactive substance that leaked from U.S. nuclear-powered sub was cobalt

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 30 Aug 2008 23:18

Brazil bets on nuclear powered nuke to protect oil fields

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 31 Aug 2008 03:08

Mitsubishi Heavy to boost reactor production: report

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 31 Aug 2008 18:50

Bidders circle Britain's £4bn Urenco stake

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 01 Sep 2008 02:25

Interesting

http://www.staynehoff.net/trident_lineart_big.jpg

the W88 & Mk-5 package
http://www.staynehoff.net/w88.jpg

http://www.staynehoff.net/c4_d5_together_1280x1024.jpg

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 01 Sep 2008 04:28

Iran, Russia seek Bushehr completion

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 01 Sep 2008 17:49

The NSGs G-6 should be very happy to note: US wary of Zardari's control over Pak's N-arsenal

Several US officials have expressed concern over reports that PPP chief Asif Ali Zardari, who was diagnosed with mental problems as late as last year, will have partial control over Pakistan's nuclear arsenal if elected president, a media report said on Monday

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 02 Sep 2008 05:16

The Chinese nuclear tests, 1964–1996

For one thing, the Chinese probably sought deterrence. An American awareness of Chinese nuclear capabilities should lead to a more cautious American military posture around Taiwan and in the Pacific Ocean. Or perhaps it was an intelligence gimmick. Chinese scientists often displayed the inner workings of their technical devices to American visitors just to see how they would react. A raised eyebrow or a sudden scowl could confirm or discount a year's work. Maybe Chinese nuclear technology was no longer top secret. With the coming of Deng Xiaoping's regime around 1980, the proliferation of nuclear technology into the third world had become state policy. Perhaps it was time to let the Americans have a look.

So, the Chinese walmart was well known but deliberately played down by the west ?

Stillman's visit to the SINR also produced his first insight into the extensive hospitality extended to Pakistani nuclear scientists during that same late-1980s time period. As we shall see, that cooperation, initiated earlier in the decade, led to a joint nuclear test in China soon after Stillman's departure.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 02 Sep 2008 06:47

Australia reconsiders nuclear deal with Russia

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 03 Sep 2008 05:39

Canada offers to compensate nuclear test veterans

arnab · Post by **arnab** » 03 Sep 2008 07:27

Sinosteel's bid for outback uranium

Sinosteel's bid for outback uraniumFont Size: Decrease Increase Print Page: Print Jamie Walker | September 03, 2008
THE Chinese have moved to buy into Australia's booming uranium industry, with steelmaker Sinosteel yesterday applying to develop a $160 million mine in the South Australian outback, posing a further challenge to foreign investment controls.

The cashed-up Beijing-based consortium is eyeing opportunities in Australian resources, testing the Government's will to regulate Chinese investment in the sector.

Treasurer Wayne Swan already faces a tough foreign investment decision over a bid by Sinosteel for up to 100 per cent of West Australian iron ore miner Murchison Metals.

But Sinosteel yesterday insisted that its joint venture to develop a uranium ore deposit at Crocker Well, 400km northeast of Adelaide, had been approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board under the former Howard government. Sinosteel has a 60 per cent share in the joint venture company, with the remainder held by publicly listed PepinNini Minerals.

Sinosteel PepinNini Curnamona Management yesterday lodged a minerals claim with the South Australian Government, the precursor to a formal mining lease application.

Mike Rann's state Government is Labor's strongest advocate of uranium mining, having backed a new mine at Honeymoon near the Crocker Well site, and generally welcoming further investment in the industry.

Were it to proceed, the Crocker Well operation would be Australia's sixth uranium mine, and the fourth to receive approval in South Australia, after the federal ALP dumped its no-new-uranium-mines policy last year.

Joint venture managing director Fusheng Gao yesterday said that FIRB approval had been granted for the investment before Sinosteel bought into the joint venture company.

It would be the first investment Sinosteel has made in uranium mining, and underlines the Chinese giant's determination to use some of its $18 billion in annual revenues to snap up Australian resources.

This has raised concern about the potential for Chinese buyers of Australian mineral exports such as iron ore and coal to "vertically integrate" by gaining direct control of mines.

China is an emerging market for Australian uranium, with shipments due to begin later this year, according to Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson.

Unlike India, which is also interested in Australian uranium, China is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, removing any legal impediment to exports of the nuclear fuel.

Asked to clarify whether the company believed it would require additional FIRB approval to proceed with the Croker Well mine, a spokeswoman said: "Their understanding is that there is no further FIRB approval required."

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/st ... 42,00.html

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 04 Sep 2008 03:29

How Pakistan secures its nuclear weapons

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 04 Sep 2008 07:02

German mine used for nuclear waste leaking

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 05 Sep 2008 13:22

Nuclear envoys to gather over North Korea impasse

...The North began moving disassembled parts of its main nuclear reactor back to the plutonium-producing facility this week, putting into action a threat it would restore atomic facilities that had been partially disabled under a disarmament pact, South Korea said Wednesday.