Free Republic

Iran had a peaceful nuclear programme for many years, but in the early 2000s concerns were raised that it was developing technology that could create nuclear weapons - despite the country being a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty Not long after the firebrand then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a series of bold claims about uranium enrichment, the first of a number of UN resolutions was passed, aimed at forcing Iran to backpedal. It wasn't until the 2015 nuclear deal, which happened after Mr Ahmadinejad was replaced as president by the incumbent Hassan Rouhani, that relations began to improve - albeit temporarily....

Today, President Trump is issuing an Executive Order on Promoting Small Modular Reactors for National Defense and Space Exploration, which will further revitalize the United States nuclear energy sector, reinvigorate America’s space exploration program, and produce diverse energy options for national defense needs.The United States has used transportable nuclear reactors for nearly 70 years for functions like propelling aircraft carriers through the sea and enabling submarines to stay underwater for long periods of time. Using small modular reactors for national defense and space exploration will allow the United States to maintain and advance our leadership and dominance across space and...

Iran said Saturday it plans to enrich uranium up to 20% at its underground Fordo nuclear facility “as soon as possible,” pushing its program a technical step away from weapons-grade levels as it increases pressure on the West over the tattered atomic deal.

A major Tennessee newspaper said Sunday it is investigating what its editor called a "horrific" full-page advertisement from a religious group that predicts a terrorist attack in Nashville next month. The paid advertisement that appeared in Sunday's editions of The Tennessean addresses the "citizens of Nashville" and warns that the attack would happen on July 18, 2020. snip....The ad from the group Future For America claims Donald Trump "is the final president of the USA" and features a photo of Trump and Pope Francis. It begins by claiming that a nuclear device would be detonated in Nashville and that the...

BERLIN - World powers that are part of a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran urged Tehran on Wednesday to roll back violations of the accord and return to full compliance during a virtual meeting in Vienna, a German official said. The meeting comes as the signatories to the agreement — Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia — continue to try and keep it from collapsing after the unilateral withdrawal of the United States in 2018. The three European powers have expressed hope that with the change of administrations in Washington, the U.S. could be brought back into the deal,...

I always thought no one -- including Israel -- could pull off something as incredible as the July 4, 1976, raid on Entebbe, Uganda. To remind readers what happened that day: A week earlier, on June 27, two Palestinian and two German terrorists hijacked an Air France Tel Aviv to Paris flight with 248 passengers on board, which they diverted to Entebbe Airport in Uganda. At the airport, the hijackers and four additional terrorists, aided by Uganda's Idi Amin regime, held the Israeli and other Jews, and allowed the 148 non-Jewish passengers to fly on to Paris. The terrorists announced...

DUBAI (Reuters) - The assassination of a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist displayed “the depth of enemies’ hatred” towards the Islamic Republic, Iranian Defence Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami tweeted on Friday. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, long suspected by the West of masterminding a secret nuclear bomb programme, was killed near Tehran on Friday.

NORTH Korea is feared to be building new nuclear weapons after fresh activity was detected at a secret uranium enrichment facility. The International Atomic Energy Agency watchdog confirmed that the Kangson nuclear site near the capital Pyongyang is currently active.... ...Kim Jong-un has refused to acknowledge the existence of the secret facility - which prompted the collapse of peace talks with Donald Trump last year...

BREAKING: Joe Biden spoke to South Korean President about North Korean nuclear issue in 14-minute phone call; both agreed to meet shortly after inauguration - @YonhapNews

The Trump administration fired the heads of three federal agencies after the election, prompting one to claim he was retaliated against for disagreeing with some policy. The heads of the agencies that oversee the nuclear weapons stockpile, electricity and natural gas regulation and overseas aid were sent packing, NPR reported. The sudden departures included Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, who was forced to resign Friday. She was the first woman to oversee the agency in charge of the nuclear stockpile. Last year, she was on the president’s short list as a possible replacement for former National...

Begin Construction of working prototype in 2021, with a supposedly working Nuclear Fusion Reactor producing power in 2025 if all goes well and the technology actually works....

Here’s a fun game. Ask an environmentalist about his top plan of action to fight climate change. You’ll likely get a quick answer urging a carbon-neutral or net-zero-emission clean-energy economy, usually by 2050, echoing the Paris climate agreement. OK, now ask if he’s for nuclear power, which has zero carbon emissions, at which point he’ll usually stare at his shoes and mumble something about high costs. “The biggest problem with nuclear power,” activist Bill McKibben of 350.org told Techonomy, is that “it’s really expensive.” Al Gore, who sounds more and more like a revivalist preacher, told Reuters last month, “They’ve...

Most people seem to believe that wind and solar panels produce no waste and have no negative environmental impacts. Unfortunately, these people are wrong. In reality, everything that humans do has an environmental impact, whether it be mining, using a coal-fired power plant, or even tourism. When it comes to energy and environmental policy, the real question to ask is not “will there be an impact?” but rather, “can the impacts be minimized?” ... Because everything has an effect on the environment, it is important that everyone understands the impacts of all energy sources so we can make the best...

Damage after a fire at the Natanz facility, one of Iran's main uranium enrichment plants, on 2 July 2020 (Iran Atomic Organisation/AFP) By MEE and agencies Published date: 23 August 2020 18:48 UTC | Last update: 16 sec ago A fire at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility last month was the result of sabotage, a spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation told state TV channel al-Alam on Sunday."The explosion at Natanz nuclear facility was a result of sabotage operations," said Behrouz Kamalvandi. "Security authorities will reveal in due time the reason behind the blast."Iran's top security body in July had...

Rolling electric power blackouts afflicted as many as 2 million California residents last week as a heat wave gripped the Golden State. (It's apparently eased up for now.) At the center of the problem is that power demand peaks as overheated people turn up their air conditioning in the late afternoon just as solar power supplies cut off as the sun goes down. In addition, output from California's wind farms was erratic. Currently, about 33 percent of California's electricity comes from renewable sources as mandated by state law. Until this summer, California utilities and grid operators were able to purchase...

Was the power on in your house this morning? If so, thank fossil fuels!A few parts of America do get energy from other sources. Washington state has fast-flowing rivers that allow Washingtonians to get most of their electricity from hydroelectric power. Iowa now gets about 40% of its electricity from wind.But most of us get power from the much-hated fossil fuels, primarily natural gas and coal.Burning them does pollute, although government-mandated controls like scrubbers in smokestacks have nearly eliminated the dangerous pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide. (Yes, government has done some useful things.) But fossil fuels still emit greenhouse gasses, and...

Clarksville, TN (CU) - The locals and Marine Corp called it the birdcage. The US Navy referred to the location as Site #3. Before 1965, even the guards at Clarksville Base weren’t aware of what they were guarding. Operated by the US Navy and guarded by the US Marine Corp, Clarksville Base was layered with intense security. The parameter included four spaced fences with at least one being electrical. In addition to the four fences surrounding the perimeter, there were armed marine patrols with orders of “shoot to kill” attempts to breach the base. Three deaths were recorded at the...

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the first detonation of an atomic bomb. Now famous as the Trinity Test, the giant explosion was the culmination of the ultra-secret Manhattan project and would within weeks lead to the end of the Second World War and usher in the Atomic Age. On July 16, 1945, at 5:29 AM, the predawn darkness on what was then the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range in the Jornada del Muerto desert about 35 miles southeast of Socorro, New Mexico, was suddenly lit up with the light of a thousand suns....

Solomon: FBI Captured Russians Accepting Nuclear Kickbacks During Obama Years Tyler Durden Mon, 07/13/2020 – 13:45 First excerpts from ‘Fallout: Nuclear Bribes, Russian Spies and the Washington Lies that Enriched the Clinton and Biden Dynasties’ by John Solomon and Seamus Bruner. These excerpts come from Chapter 6, ‘Putin and the Pastor: A Nuclear Bribery Plot Exposed.’ As a crisply dressed Doug Campbell stepped into the elevator on the eleventh floor of the Pentagon City-Ritz Carlton, he could feel his heart pounding. At least the sudden rush of adrenaline helped clear his bleary eyes and the sensation of fatigue he had...

By: Hassan.Mahmoudi An accident took place on Thursday, July 2, 2020, at a part of Iran’s atomic facilities. The Iranian authorities say it was a fire in an under-construction silo at the campus of the facility. In lack of crystal-clear explanations, various reports point to a potential ‘sabotage’; Reuters mentioning some. Natanz atomic facility is a part of Iran’s ‘underground facilities’ aimed at enriching uranium. It is located near Natanz in Isfahan Province, central Iran. To save the centrifuges from a ‘potential bombardment’ in this facility, 30 feet of armor-plated cement is used. It is for more than two decades...