Free Republic

Richards Murphy writes that Boko Haram is the brainchild of some powerful interests targeting the untapped natural resources in Northern NigeriaThe curse of natural resources is apparently real or more accurately, cursed interests in resource exploration are real. This evil often goes about masked as something less sinister. Take for instance the insanity that is todayÂ’s Afghanistan, which began in a fashion not too different from what Boko Haram is acting out in Nigeria today. Somewhere in the convoluted mix of transitions and mishmash of Mujahedeen, Taliban and al-Qaeda was UNOCAL, an oil multinational and its effort to construct pipelines...

Washington, D.C., February 1, 2017 – ADP is designed to contain all decommission U.S. nuclear energy sites … to accelerate decommissioning of shutdown nuclear power facilities through a complete and permanent transfer of ownership of the asset, including used nuclear fuel, from utility owners to an entity who is an expert in decommissioning and used fuel management, Sam Shakir, CEO of AREVA Nuclear Materials. //Back-snip// http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/239819-new-questions-about-clinton-foundation-russian-nuclear Clinton Foundation donors sold one of the largest uranium mining companies in America to a Russian nuclear agency in a deal signed off by the State Department during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of...

(Reuters) - France has ordered special forces to protect uranium sites run by state-owned Areva in Niger as the threat of attacks on its interests rises after its intervention against rebels in Mali, a military source said on Thursday. ... Seven workers, including five French nationals, were kidnapped in Arlit by al Qaeda's north African arm AQIM in September 2010. It later released three of the hostages but four French citizens are still being held. ... According to a parliamentary committee enquiring into France's supplies of uranium, about 18 percent of the raw material used to power France's 58 nuclear...

Very interesting stuff going on in the Mary McCarthy files. It appears many of us missed a few important connections: One aspect of her background so far comparatively unexamined is her West African uranium connection. She served in a key government position concerned with West African nations producing yellowcake uranium at the same time that Joseph Wilson was working in the area. The two may be considered members of the “yellowcake community” within the Clinton national security apparatus of the 1990s.There are more questions than answers for the moment, but yellowcake uramium is not only of strategic importance for WMD...

Days after a deadly suicide attack at a French-run uranium mine in Niger, a FRANCE 24 team that was given access to the high security site found evidence that the assailants had meticulously studied their target and likely received inside help. The explosives-packed car that rammed a grinding unit at a uranium mine in Arlit, a remote town in northern Niger, last week is in tatters. The shell of the car’s transmission system stands upright in the rubble, while the twisted frame was flung about ten meters away. Days after suicide bombers attacked a uranium mine in this West African...

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 French Nuke Fuel Firm Head, 5 Experts To Visit Japan To Offer Aid PARIS (Kyodo)--A French nuclear fuel company said Tuesday its president is about to visit Japan with five of the country's nuclear experts to tackle the crisis at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, according to Radio France. Anne Lauvergeon, president of Areva SA, and the experts are expected to offer assistance in removing contaminated water accumulating inside nuclear reactors at the plant in northeastern Japan, a task currently considered to be of the highest importance as the water has been hindering restoration...

The Fukushima Daiichi Incident 1. Plant Design 2. Accident Progression 3. Radiological Releases 4. Spent Fuel Pools 5. Sources of Information Dr. Matthias Braun PEPA4-G, AREVA-NP GmbH

Japan asks French nuclear sector for help Japan has asked the French nuclear sector for help in dealing with the Fukushima nuclear plant for the first time since disaster struck earlier this month, French Energy Minister Eric Besson said on Monday. Skip related content This reflects growing unease about efforts by the Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) to control the six-reactor Fukushima Daiichi complex after it was crippled by an earthquake and tsunami. "Japan explicitly asked EDF, Areva and France's nuclear research body (CEA) to help them," Besson said adding this was the first time Japan had done so.

TOKYO -- North Korea provided about 45 tons of "yellowcake" uranium to Syria in September 2007 for production of fuel for an undeclared nuclear reactor, diplomatic and military sources knowledgeable on North Korean issues said Saturday. But the shipment was followed shortly by an Israeli air strike targeting the reactor and the uranium involved is believed to have been transferred to Iran around last summer, according to a Western diplomatic source.

Niger voted on Tuesday in a referendum the president hopes will give him a mandate to change the constitution and rule beyond the end of his term. Mamadou Tandja’s growing authoritarianism has raised fears of unrest in Africa’s second biggest uranium producer. The European Union on Tuesday warned that Mr Tandja’s actions could lead it to cut aid. In recent months, the president has governed by decree after dissolving parliament and disregarding the Supreme Court’s ruling against his plans to extend his stay in office beyond a two-term limit. “In voting today [Tuesday], I believe I have responded to the...

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding is partnering with Areva, a multinational energy company based in France, to construct a $363.4 million manufacturing facility for nuclear reactors in Newport News, Northrop Grumman Corp. announced Thursday.Construction will begin early next year on the 300,000-square-foot plant that will eventually bring 540 engineering and production jobs to the region, including 340 initial hires when production begins in 2012, said Margaret Mitchell-Jones, a spokeswoman for Northrop Grumman.No radioactive nuclear material will be handled, she said. Rather, the facility will produce reactor parts such as steam generators and pressurizers, most weighing more than 500 tons.“This joint venture project...

French nuclear firm Areva has found a uranium leak at a factory in southeastern France, but there is no danger to the environment, the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) said on Friday. The news came a day after the government ordered safety tests at all the country's 19 nuclear power plants following another leak at an Areva facility earlier this month. However, Energy and Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo moved to reassure the public over the latest incident. "We mustn't over-exaggerate," he told reporters, saying there were 115 such "little anomalies" in France's nuclear industry each year. "This is something which...

Twelve nuclear power reactors could be ordered at once by struggling South African generator Eskom. Today [31Jan08] Areva and Westinghouse both submitted one proposal each for two or three reactors, and another for 12 or 17.

TOKYO, June 22, 2007 (AFP) - Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Friday it and France's Areva have jointly bid for a multi-million-dollar research and development project on a US nuclear fuel cycle program. The United States is set to resume building nuclear power plants after a gap of more than two decades amid growing concern about high oil prices and greenhouse gas emissions. Under the plan, Japan's top heavy machinery maker will mainly work on fast breeder reactors -- which are in part driven by plutonium fuel -- while Areva will design facilities to reprocess spent nuclear fuel, said...

YEREVAN, May 3 (Itar-Tass) -- Armenia will build a new nuclear power plant with the capacity of 1,000 megawatt, Finance and Economy Minister Vartan Khachatrian said on Tuesday, after the 12th meeting of the Armenian-U.S. economic cooperation group. He said the new power plant will replace the old one with the capacity of 440 megawatt. The United States objects to building a new nuclear power plant in Armenia for safety reasons, as the country is located in a seismically active zone, U.S. coordinator for Europe and Eurasia Thomas Adams said. Not a single American company will agree to build a...