Free Republic

Insurgents in Iraq have seized nuclear materials used for scientific research at a university in the country's north, Iraq told the United Nations in a letter appealing for help to "stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad." Nearly 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of uranium compounds were kept at Mosul University, Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the July 8 letter obtained by Reuters on Wednesday. "Terrorist groups have seized control of nuclear material at the sites that came out of the control of the state," Alhakim wrote, adding...

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Workers are preparing to enter one of the most dangerous rooms on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation — the site of a 1976 blast that exposed a technician to a massive dose of radiation, leading to him being nicknamed the "Atomic Man." Harold McCluskey was working in the room when a chemical reaction caused a glass glove box to explode. He was exposed to the highest dose of radiation from the chemical element americium ever recorded — 500 times the occupational standard. Hanford, located in central Washington state, made plutonium for nuclear weapons for decades. The room...

Molten Salt Reactors enjoy 15 minutes of fame 11 June 2014   Print Email   A next-generation fast breeder reactor design is gaining popularity in research circles.On 6 June, UK researchers Jasper Tomlinson and Trevor Griffiths won £75,000 in Technology Strategy Board funding (including £20,000 of contributions-in-kind) to carry out an eight-month feasibility study.The project, which will be managed by mechanical engineer Rory O'Sullivan, aims to develop a ranking of alternatives and configurations of a liquid-fuelled molten-salt reactor, including costs, regulatory, public acceptance and site issues for building and licensing a pilot-scale demonstration reactor in the UK. It would...

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has censured the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for its failure to abide by its previous agreements with Tehran. In a Thursday interview with Inter Press Service, Ali Akbar Salehi said pursuant to the February 2014 “Framework for Cooperation” agreement between Tehran and the IAEA, the UN nuclear supervisory body should have ended the investigation into Iran’s “exploding bridge-wire (EBW) experiments.” IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano has so far refused to finalize the issues regarding the fast-functioning detonators, despite the fact that the EBW was the first issue that the two sides...

A newly-declassified report reveals that two nuclear bombs accidentally dropped in North Carolina were much closer to detonation than previously reported. On January 21, 1961 a B-52 bomber went into a tailspin, breaking apart mid-flight over Goldsboro, N.C. The plane was carrying two nuclear bombs, both of which were pushed into free-fall. The parachute for one of the bombs was safely deployed, but the other continued to plummet. It had been previously believed that, though nerve-racking, the incident was not nearly as dangerous as it sounded as neither bomb was armed. But documents released Thursday by the National Security Archive...

The government released an annual energy report Tuesday that called for a return to nuclear power generation, saying increasing fuel costs for thermal power and a surge in CO2 emissions are reasons why Japan should power up its idled reactors. The report reflects the pro-nuclear government’s latest national energy policy, which defined nuclear power as an “important base-load power source.” All reactors nationwide are currently offline, as most of them have remained since the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, triggered by the massive earthquake and tsunami of March 2011.

A top Iranian defense official's claim that a U.S. military base in the Indian Ocean is now within missile range served both as a threat to American interests and a revelation that, if true, Tehran has doubled its striking distance. "In the event of an irrational attack by the U.S., America's military bases will not be safe from our missiles, whether in Bahrain or at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean," the senior official, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) adviser Mojtaba Zonnour, was quoted as saying to Iran's "Defa Moghadas," or Holy Defense.

Changing the rules by which nuclear power stations are judged to be safe or not may sound unpalatable to some, even outright dangerous. But this is what the Office of Nuclear Regulation is considering in order to extend the life of Britain’s ageing reactor fleet. Rest assured, however, such things are done carefully. The adjustment would alter the level of graphite loss in the reactor core that is deemed safe. Several of the UK’s second generation Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR) power stations are due to close in the next few years. Graphite is a moderator and it is fundamental to...

Brazil is constructing five new submarines, including one atomic-powered vessel, to boost patrolling across the South American country's 8,500km coast. The $10bn project is being undertaken by a joint venture comprising the Brazilian Navy, construction firm Odebrecht and French state-defence firm DCNS, reported AFP. The new submarines are expected to replace the navy's existing ageing fleet of five conventional vessels. "The new submarines are expected to replace the navy's existing ageing fleet of five conventional vessels." Construction on the nuclear submarine, named SNBR, is expected to commence in 2017 with its launch targeted for 2025. Brazil Navy official Gilberto Max...

The International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran last week issued a joint statement in which Tehran pledged to apprise the Agency of "the initiation of high explosives, including the conduct of large scale high explosives experimentation in Iran." In a word: weaponization, the most secretive dimension of the Iranian nuclear program. Tehran's willingness to broach the topic will be hailed by supporters of the current talks as a sign that they're yielding results. Yet Iran has thus far dismissed as "fabrications" evidence of its weaponization work compiled by the IAEA. We'll believe honest disclosures of prior weaponization activity when we...

All hands on board the project for proving that Iran is amenable to dialogue and concessions on its nuclear program worked overtime this week to mask the truth, which is that negotiations were going nowhere. On May 21, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, for instance, said “The nuclear negotiation is progressing and is on the threshold of reaching a conclusion." On May 23, the Vienna-based nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, reported that the nuclear stockpile left to Iran after most of its enriched material, 80 percent, had been either converted or diluted “was far below the 250 kg which...

Iran has thrown up new roadblocks to reaching a deal with the P5+1 world powers over its illicit nuclear program. Three days of negotiations in the fourth round of Geneva discussions ended Friday in arguments and confrontations when the Iranian team presented their country’s new “red lines,” diminishing any hope by the Obama administration to claim victory in its approach to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, according to reports from Iran. Hossein Shariatmadari, a former torturer and now managing editor of the conservative newspaper Keyhan, the mouthpiece of the country’s supreme leader, in an Op-Ed published Saturday revealed details of the Geneva...

Iran's Fateh 110 balllistic missile Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threw a large spanner in the works of nuclear diplomacy Sunday, May 11. Less than a week before the next round of talks with the six powers, he said: “The Revolutionary Guards should definitely… not be satisfied with the present level [of missile production]. They should mass produce.” Referring to Western concerns that Iran is designing missiles able to carry nuclear warheads, Khamenei said: “They [the West] expect us to limit our missile program while they constantly threaten Iran with military action. So this is a stupid, idiotic expectation.”...

Rep. Jared Polis’s decision to sponsor a barrelful of anti-fracking initiatives is threatening to make a tough election year even rougher for Colorado Democrats, starting with Sen. Mark Udall. Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper is attempting to broker a deal that would persuade Polis to pull his proposed anti-fracking initiatives, but if the governor can’t get it done, every Democratic candidate will face pressure to take a stand this year on an issue that has badly divided the state party. That starts with the Democrat Udall, who’s already under fire for refusing to stake out a position on whether to construct...

…The Energy Department will stop charging the fee by court order on Friday. The amount is only a small percentage of most customers’ bills, but it adds up to $750 million a year. The fund now holds $37 billion. The money was collected to build a long-term disposal site for the highly radioactive nuclear waste generated by the nation’s nuclear power plants that is, by law, the federal government’s responsibility. …Don’t expect a refund, however. The latest Energy Department strategy, laid out in a report last year, is to have a site designed by 2042 and built by 2048 using...

India has secretly test fired its most potent submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), which gives it the capability to nuclear-bombard a target on land 3,000 km away from an undersea firing platform. The successful maiden launch of the K-4 on 24 March marks one of the most significant advances in its nuclear weapons programme, say sources. This came ahead of the 16th anniversary of the 11 May 1998 Pokhran-II detonations, when India declared itself a nuclear weapons state. "The K-4 is a worthy successor to the 750-km-range K-15 (also known as the B-05), India's first undersea missile, and extends India's strike...

The U.S. Strategic Command, which is in charge of waging nuclear war, will hold large-scale bomber exercises this week—days after Russia held what Moscow called “massive” war games simulating a U.S. and NATO nuclear attack. Ten U.S. B-52 bombers and up to six B-2 strategic bombers will take part in the war games called “Global Lightning 14” from Monday through May 16, the command said in a statement late Sunday. The purpose is to “demonstrate flexibility and responsiveness in training scenarios throughout the continental U.S.,” the command said in a statement from its Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska headquarters. “This...

Russia could deploy short-range Iskander missiles in the country’s westernmost Kaliningrad region if NATO decides to strengthen its military presence in Eastern Europe, Lt. Gen. Yevgeny Buzhinsky told RIA Novosti. “Russia is a nuclear power,” he said. “If NATO becomes more active, we will deploy a division of Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad Region,” added Buzhinsky, who previously headed the department of international agreements in the Russian Defense Ministry. US Air Force General Philip Breedlove said Tuesday that NATO will consider permanently stationing troops in parts of Eastern Europe following the increased tensions over Ukraine, Reuters reported. “I think this is...

An immense explosion has been heard throughout the northern Iranian city of Qazvin, semi-official Fars news agency reported, and many casualties are expected from the blast. Around 1.1 million people live in the city, which is located about 100 miles north of Tehran. The blast may be related to nuclear development in Iran, according to the Los Angeles Times. Iranian officials in the past have strongly denied claims by Mujahedin Khalq Organization, or MKO, a cult-like Iranian exile group, that it has a secret nuclear enrichment facility in Abyek, near the major city, according to the daily. The source of...

Creation Conversion: The Turning Point Last month we ran our first Creation Conversion article, in which ICR zoologist Frank Sherwin described his shift from adhering to a billions-of-years evolutionary model to believing in biblical creation, which holds that the universe is only thousands of years old. A scientist with a similar experience, nuclear physicist Dr. Vernon Cupps, came to ICR from Fermilab, America’s particle physics laboratory.1 He describes his creation conversion as follows: "I came to believe in a young-earth view of creation when I took the time to investigate the actual scriptural, observational, and experimental evidences for both the...