| Fuel Loaded Into Iranian Nuclear Power Plant |
Fuel Loaded Into Iranian Nuclear Power PlantNTI Newswire 23 Aug 2010| Link to the original article Iran's sole atomic energy plant on Saturday began receiving nuclear fuel, a major step in bringing the long-delayed facility online, Reuters reported."Despite all the pressures, sanctions and hardships imposed by Western nations, we are now witnessing the startup of the largest symbol of Iran's peaceful nuclear activities," said Iranian atomic energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi. The United States and other nations suspect Tehran's nuclear program is aimed at developing a weapons capability, a charge vehemently denied in Iran A total of 163 fuel assemblies are to be installed within the facility's reactor core in the next two weeks, the Associated Press reported. Electricity production would begin two months later. “Not a single professional in the world has any questions about the chance that the Bushehr nuclear power plant could be used for nonpeaceful purposes,” said Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Russian state-run atomic energy firm Rosatom, who was on hand for the fueling. The U.N. nuclear watchdog on Saturday said it "regularly inspects the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Iran," AFP reported. "The agency is taking the appropriate verification measures in line with its established safeguards procedures," which are intended to prevent civilian atomic sites from supporting proliferation, said IAEA spokesman Ayhan Evrensel. Meanwhile, Tehran also rolled out what was said to be its first drone bomber, Reuters reported. The Karrar system can fly as far as 620 miles at speeds reaching 560 mph, according to state television. It reportedly could carry four cruise missiles, or a load-out of either two 250-pound bombs or a single 500-pound bomb. "If there is an ignorant person or an egoist or a tyrant who just wanted to make an aggression then our Defense Ministry should reach a point where it could cut off the hand of the aggressor before it decided to make an aggression," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at the unveiling ceremony. "We should reach a point when Iran would serve as a defense umbrella for all freedom-loving nations in the face of world aggressors," he added. "We don't want to attack anywhere, Iran will never decide to attack anywhere, but our revolution cannot sit idle in the face of tyranny, we can't remain indifferent." Iran regularly warns Israel and the United States against attacking its nuclear facilities. Such a strike would be "suicidal," Ahmadinejad said. Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi also said Friday the nation had conducted a test launch of a new ground-to-ground missile, AFP reported. He did not offer details on when the test had occurred or how far the Qiam missile could fly. "The missile has new technical aspects and has a unique tactical capacity," Vahidi said of the "new class" weapon. "Since the surface-to-surface missile has no wings, it has [a] lot of tactical power, which also reduces the chances of it being intercepted," he added. Issue specialists are generally skeptical of Iran's claims regarding its military capabilities, the Los Angeles Times reported. The nation's annual military spending barely exceeds $10 billion, an amount dwarfed by the U.S. defense budget. Tehran, though, could use friendly militant groups to carry out strikes aimed at causing a significant number of deaths and injuries and at pulling the United States into an unwanted armed engagement. |
6 Feb 2012
U.S. Intelligence Assessment of Iran’s Nuclear Program: Essentials Remain the Same
ARN, 3 Feb 2012.
The United States’ intelligence community’s judgments on Iran’s nuclear program have not fundamentally changed from those revealed in its controversial 2007 National Intelligence Estimate. In presenting the intelligence community’s annual “Worldwide Threat Assessment” to the Senate Committee on Intelligence on January 31, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper used language identical to that used in recent years on a number of critical points.
The First Nuclear Test at the Nevada Test Site
CTBTO, 3 Feb 2012.
‘Able’ was the first air-dropped nuclear device to be exploded on American soil. The test took place on 27 January 1951 at Frenchman Flat, a dry lakebed in the Nevada Test Site. The 1-kiloton explosion launched the fourth U.S. nuclear test series code-named ‘Ranger’, which consisted of five air-dropped nuclear tests in early 1951.
Is Biosecurity the Low-Hanging Fruit?
CNS, 3 Feb 2012.
The Seventh Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) took place in December 2011 in Geneva, Switzerland. The conference focused transparency in bio-industry and biodefense and on confidence-building measures. But the review conference might also contribute to the incremental approach to banning all weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the Middle East—an approach that will be promoted at a conference later this year in Finland.
Bulava missile ready to deploy
RIANOVOSTI, with comments by NPSGlobal, 27 Dec 2011.
The flight tests of the Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile have been completed and it will now be adopted for service with the Russian Navy, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday. “We have made a very important step - we have completed the cycle of flight tests… of the Bulava missile,” he said. “Now it will be put into service.”
Largest city evacuation since WWII
Cnn.com, by Rick Noack with comments by NPSGlobal, 4 Dec 2011.
Bomb squads in Germany successfully defused on Sunday two bombs and disposed of an additional air-dropped military device that had caused an evacuation of historic proportions in a city in the country's west. "It's the largest German evacuation since the end of the war," fire brigade spokesman Ronald Eppelsheim said Sunday.
Wave of bombings across Iraqi capital kills 60
AP, with comments by NPSGlobal, 22 Dec 2011.
A wave of at least 14 bombings ripped across Baghdad, killing at least 60 people in the worst violence in Iraq for months. The apparently coordinated attacks struck days after the last American forces left the country and in the midst of a major government crisis between Shiite and Sunni politicians that has sent sectarian tensions soaring.
NRC says it knew about cracks at Ohio nuke plant
Associated Press, 8 Dec 2011.
Federal regulators confirmed Thursday that they had been told by operators of a nuclear reactor about additional cracks found in the plant's concrete shell, which were discovered several weeks after workers initially discovered the concrete was cracked in other spots.
U.K. Plans Subterranean Plutonium Storage Site
Global Security Newswire, 2 Dec 2011.
The United Kingdom intends to transfer some of its 114.8-ton plutonium stockpile to a subterranean storage facility, in part to help secure the material against seizure by terrorists for potential use in a weapon, the Mainichi Daily News reported (see GSN, Nov. 29).
Turkey, Japan to Resume Atomic Trade Dialogue
Global Security Newswire, 10 Jan 2012.
Turkey and Japan have jointly decided to focus on relaunching formal talks for an atomic trade deal, Kyodo News reported on Sunday (see GSN, June 15, 2010).
Libya Should Ship Away Uranium Holdings: IAEA
Global Security Newswire, with comments by NPSGlobal, 23 Dec 2011.
Libya could face problems protecting 6,400 drums of unrefined uranium "yellowcake" against accidents or seizure over an extended period, prompting the International Atomic Energy Agency to press calls for the material to be sold and shipped abroad, the U.N. chief envoy to the North African state said on Thursday (see GSN, Nov. 23).
Michael Douglas about the CTBT
NPSGlobal supports this international campaign to bring the CTBT into force and, therefore, to get rid of nuclear explosions in the world. This is a critical step to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.
"Our vision: A World Free of Weapons of Mass Destruction"
