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COLUMBIA, SC — The story of an accused arsonist’s employment at a South Carolina nuclear plant ended quietly when SCE&G learned more about the criminal charges and fired him. But while the man isn’t believed to have been a threat to safety at the V.C. Summer power plant, experts say his hiring underscores the need to thoroughly check prospective employees before putting them on the payroll and giving them access to atomic energy plants. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week cited SCE&G for not completely checking the worker’s background and allowing him “unescorted access” to the nuclear plant about 25...

Pressed by ABC News’ Jonathan Karl to comment on a threat made last night on state TV that Russia is still “the only country in the world capable of turning the U.S.A. into radioactive dust,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney dismissively said, “people say crazy things on TV all the time.” See below for the full exchange: JON KARL: And let me ask you just something on — that was on Russian television, state-controlled television, the main state-controlled channel. Dmitry Kiselev, prominent Russian television anchor, posed in front of a mushroom cloud and warned that Russia’s the only country...

Netanyahu: “Iran will next hide nuclear suitcases.” (DEBKAfile: Bought 10 years ago from Ukraine) Nuclear-capable X-55 missiles sold by Ukraine to Iran ten yeas ago Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Monday, March 10, that because the world chooses to slide over Iran’s concealed nuclear program, the next Klos C ship may not carry missiles but “nuclear suitcases.” They would not only reach an Israeli port, he said, but any port in the world. He spoke at Israel’s naval base in Eilat at the presentation of the 60 missiles, 181 mortar shells and hundreds of bullets unloaded from the Klos C...

TEHRAN -- Russia will build two nuclear power plants in Iran's southern Persian Gulf littoral city of Bushehr, the spokesman for Iran Atomic Energy Organization Behrouz Kamalvandi was quoted as saying by official IRNA news agency on Wednesday. Iran and Russia reached a preliminary agreement to build at least two nuclear plants in Iran, Kamalvandi told IRNA. "According to the agreement, the capacity of each plant will be at least 1,000 megawatt and the new plants will be built by the side of the existent Bushehr nuclear power plant," Kamalvandi said.

The spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) says the construction of Arak heavy water production plant in the country’s Markazi (Central) Province has made a nearly 90-percent progress. In an interview with Iran’s Arabic-language Al-Alam News Network, Behrouz Kamalvandi said Arak heavy water complex has been “built [using] indigenous knowledge and technology and [its construction] has made an 87-percent progress.” “Given the concerns that they have about reprocessing (at the Arak plant), the possibility exists for the reprocessing not to take place for a certain period of time; however, in the long run, when the concerns are...

TEHRAN (FNA)- Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami underlined that Iranian military commanders are prepared to attack and destroy the Zionist regime of Israel as soon as they receive such an order. “Today, we can destroy every spot which is under the Zionist regime's control with any volume of fire power (that we want) right from here,” Salami said, addressing a conference in Tehran on Tuesday dubbed ‘the Islamic World's Role in the Geometry of the World Power’. “Islam has given us this wish, capacity and power to destroy the Zionist regime so...

Full title: Fukushima disaster: Plan to send residents home three years after nuclear accident labelled 'irresponsible' A nuclear industry insider has told the ABC that the situation at the stricken Fukushima reactor is still not under control, three years after the disaster there. Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe has announced he wants 30,000 residents to return to their homes and the reactors to be switched back on within two years. SNIP At the risk of losing his job if his identity is revealed, a senior TEPCO staffer, who has worked at the Fukushima plant for more than 20 years, says...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Monday, March 10, that because the world chooses to slide over Iran’s concealed nuclear program, the next Klos C ship may not carry missiles but “nuclear suitcases.” They would not only reach an Israeli port, he said, but any port in the world. He spoke at Israel’s naval base in Eilat at the presentation of the 60 missiles, 181 mortar shells and hundreds of bullets unloaded from the Klos C that was apprehended by Israeli commandos on the Red Sea opposite Sudan last week. Present too were defense minister Moshe Ya’alan, chief of staff Lt....

Energy is arguably the single most important strategic issue of our time. It literally powers everything we do. The world economy see-saws to the gyrations of oil prices. Most of our geopolitical squabbles are about energy in one way or another. And, of course, above all hovers the threatening Armageddon of global climate change. But when it comes to energy, you probably don't know who, or what, to trust. Clean energy! No, wait, that doesn't work! (And what does that mean, exactly?) Shale gas! No, wait, you will pollute everything. There's a band of hipsters within the community of people...

Masoud Jazayeri says the ‘low-IQ’ president’s ‘all options are on the table’ remarks are a farce; warns against US strike President Barack Obama is a “low-IQ US president,” whose threat to launch a military offensive should nuclear talks fail is an oft-cited punchline in the Islamic Republic, particularly among children, an Iranian general said on Tuesday. “The low-IQ US president and his country’s Secretary of State John Kerry speak of the effectiveness of ‘the US options on the table’ on Iran while this phrase is mocked at and has become a joke among the Iranian nation, especially the children,” General...

The Texas electric grid operator extended its call for residents and businesses to conserve power until Tuesday morning as a late arctic cold front that barreled as far as South Texas boosted the state's electricity consumption to a monthly record on Monday. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state's primary grid, had issued a public call for conservation on Sunday evening, citing freezing temperatures that would strain available generation capacity. "With the continued cold weather, we expect conditions to remain tight, especially during the early evening tonight and early morning hours tomorrow," said Dan Woodfin, director of system...

The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Russia’s parliament, Mikhail Margelov, said on Monday that his country expects all economic sanctions against Iran to be removed immediately, Israeli daily Ma’ariv reported. “There have been important developments. President Hassan Rouhani has openly declared that Iran has no intention to develop an atomic bomb,” Margelov said. ”Furthermore, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has issued a decree that prohibits the building of a bomb, calling it ‘a sin.’ ” As a result of these public statements, Marglov concluded, “The conditions have now been met to justify the full lifting of sanctions on...

WASHINGTON -- As Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flies to Washington - due to arrive on Sunday (March 2), to prepare for talks with President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday - it's clear that there are several points of friction between Israel and the United States. The two countries are allies, but their leaders often differ on the details of key issues: Israel's peace talks with the Palestinians, America's nuclear talks with Iran, how to approach political turmoil in Egypt, what might be done to limit Syria's horrible civil war, and a broader issue of whether the...

Remarks made by Iranian foreign minister signal Tehran won't agree to dismantle atomic facilities in talks with world powers on final settlement of decade-old dispute over its nuclear activity.By ReutersNEW DELHI - Iran is willing to address international concerns about its atomic activities but will keep its nuclear program "intact", not close it down, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday. His remarks signaled that Tehran will not agree to dismantle any of its atomic facilities in talks with six world powers on a final settlement of the decade-old dispute over its nuclear activity. Related: Those negotiations got under...

President Obama signed off Monday on a controversial civilian nuclear deal with Vietnam. The cooperation agreement with the communist nation allows the U.S. to sell nuclear fuel and technology to its former foe. It aims to help guarantee Vietnams' energy independence as China asserts a more prominent role in the region. “I have determined that the performance of the Agreement will promote, and will not constitute an unreasonable risk to, the common defense and security,” Obama wrote in a memo for the secretaries of State and Energy. The deal aims to get Vietnam to import the fuel it needs for...

Wendy Sherman, undersecretary of state for political affairs and the head of the American negotiation team to the nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers (P5+1), said Saturday that the goal is to reach a permanent agreement with Iran by July 20. Sherman was speaking to reporters in Jerusalem, where she arrived in order to brief the Israelis on the latest round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 in Vienna. In what appeared to be a warning to Israel, she said the United States hopes no one will interfere with the talks. "We don't enter these talks with...

The electricity price index soared to a new high in January 2014 with the largest month-to-month increase in almost four years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, data from the Energy Information Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Energy, indicates that electricity production in the United States has declined since 2007, when it hit its all-time peak. The U.S. is producing less electricity than it did seven years ago for a population that has added more than 14 million people. ... Between 2007 and 2012, the nation's annual coal-fired electricity generation declined by about 25 percent,...

A large amount of radioactive water has leaked from a holding tank at Japan's troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, its operator said Thursday. The leak of an estimated 100 metric tons of highly contaminated water was discovered late Wednesday, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said in a statement. The tainted water flowed over a barrier around the tank and is being absorbed into the ground, TEPCO said. The plant has shut off the inflow of water into the tank and the leaking has stopped, it added.

Last month it emerged Iran and Russia were negotiating to swap up to 500,000 barrels of oil per day for goods. The deal sparked fears that it would undermine Western efforts to maintain economic pressure on Tehran while global powers seek to curb its nuclear programme. In an interview published a day before the six powers including Russia resume talks with Tehran on a nuclear deal, Sanaei confirmed Russia and Iran were discussing supplies of 'a few hundred thousand barrels per day'. 'Iran could use some of the proceeds (to pay for) the construction by Russia companies of a second...

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) this week called on President Obama to release the text of the Iran nuclear agreement. That agreement, which took effect in January, requires Iran to reduce its uranium enrichment activities in return for a loosening of international sanctions. But Ros-Lehtinen, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, said Congress has no way to judge its implementation, unless it has a copy of the agreement. "In order for Congress to properly perform its oversight functions and for the American people and our allies to have a full and open debate...