Free Republic

A vast cloud of nuclear radiation that spreadover continental Europe in 2017 has been traced to an unacknowledged nuclear accident in southern Russia, according to an international team of scientists. The experts say the cloud of radiation detected over Europe in late September 2017 could only have been caused by a nuclear fuel-reprocessing accident at the Mayak Production Association, a nuclear facility in the Chelyabinsk region of the Ural Mountains in Russia, sometime between noon on Sept. 26 and noon on Sept. 27. Russia confirmed that a cloud of nuclear radiation was detected over the Urals at the time, but...

North Korea released a number of images of Kim Jong-un inspecting a new submarine. The images show the North Korean leader touring what appears to be a submarine in drydock, under construction. Experts believe the new sub will carry nuclear-tipped missiles that could be used to threaten U.S. military bases in Japan and throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The photos, released via the state-run KCNA news agency, show Kim and an entourage touring a submarine inside a massive construction building. The submarine appears similar to existing North Korean subs—but with a catch. The submarine appears to have an expanded sail with...

Plan would allow enhanced, permanent nuclear inspections Foreign minister: ‘It’s not about photo ops. We want substance’ Iran has offered a deal with the US in which it would formally and permanently accept enhanced inspections of its nuclear programme, in return for the permanent lifting of US sanctions. The offer was made by the Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on a visit to New York. But it is unlikely to be warmly received by the Trump administration, which is currently demanding Iran make a range of sweeping concessions, including cessation of uranium enrichment and support for proxies and allies...

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday said that the bond that has been established between Israel and Arab countries over the Iranian nuclear issue is encouraging. In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Pompeo also noted that the US sanctions on Iran are working despite some having predicted they would not. Asked about the relationship that has been established between the US, Israel, the Jordanians, Egyptians, the Saudis, the Emirates, and others, the Secretary of State replied, “That’s something that’s really very – frankly, very encouraging. The framework that had set the Middle East for so many...

In 1986, the Albuquerque Journal received documents from an FOIA request. To their surprise, the Air Force had kept a nuclear accident secret for 29 years. The story of how a B-36 bomber dropped the biggest bomb the United States ever made on New Mexico deserves to be remembered. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0gRHgwSGhE

There are two possible sources of carbon-free power available today: solar power and nuclear power. Solar power includes solar photovoltaic (converting sunlight directly into electrical power) and solar thermal (heating a fluid with sunlight and converting the heat to electricity). Solar power has received hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies and research grants in the United States alone, and perhaps as much as a trillion worldwide over the past 30 years. For that investment, solar contributes roughly 1% of the world's total power. So which is better, solar or nuclear? While it is impossible to provide a definitive answer...

Mossad led IAEA to radioactive material at Iran site, proving it broke deal railway packages for containers with uranium hexafluoride salt The IAEA has found signs of radioactive material which would violate the 2015 nuclear deal at an Iranian nuclear site identified to the agency by Israeli intelligence ... top Israeli sources revealed to it that the IAEA is sitting on the information and has avoided making it public to date.In April, Reuters reported that the IAEA had finally visited the secret Iranian nuclear site at Turquzabad revealed in a September 2018 UN speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Since...

A £2billion project to confine the leaking of radioactive debris at the Chernobyl nuclear plant has been unveiled. The structure – which took nine years to build – was constructed to secure the molten reactor core and 200 tons of radioactive material at the site. Officials have described the shelter as the largest moveable land-based structure ever built, with a span of 257 metres and a total weight of over 36,000 metric tons. Reactor Number 4 at the plant in what was then Soviet Ukraine exploded and burned on April 26, 1986, spewing radiation across Europe in the world's worst...

Radiation levels in the water around a sunken Soviet-era nuclear submarine are some 100,000 times higher than normal, scientists have warned, raising fears that the K-278 Komsomolets may still pose a threat 30 years after it sunk. Norwegian scientists have been analyzing the area around the submarine, which came to rest on the floor of the Norwegian Sea after sinking on April 7, 1989. The accident—caused by a fire in the engine room—resulted in the deaths of 42 of the Komsomolets' 69 crew. Most were killed by radiation exposure while waiting for the Soviet navy to rescue them. The 400...

<p>And just like that, the most unlikely of the 25-plus candidates running for the party's nomination has become the first individual to exit the primary, failing to hold on for as long as even Oprah's personal spiritual adviser. To be honest, this is probably best for everyone involved. Being spared a Swalwell presidency is the simple mercy America deserves....</p>

The crew on a nuclear-powered Russian military submarine prevented a “planetary catastrophe,” according to a top naval officer who spoke at the funeral for the 14 sailors who died during a fire on the vessel. Captain Sergei Pavlov, an aide to the commander of Russia’s navy, said Sunday the sailors “saved the lives of their colleagues, saved the vessel and prevented a planetary catastrophe.” Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said there were no signs the incident could have caused a larger catastrophe. “As for the reactor, there are no problems with that,” he said. After days of secrecy about the...

Police in northern Turkey's northern Bolu province seize 18.1 grams of radioactive Californium, an element used in nuclear weapons and reactors. Five suspects reportedly being investigated over the incident. Police in northern Turkey's Bolu province seized $72 million worth of radioactive Californium, an element used in nuclear weapons and reactors, local authorities said Saturday. Some 18.1 grams (0.638 ounces) of Californium was seized in a car by anti-smuggling and organized crime police. Five suspects were reportedly being investigated over the incident.

President Trump lobbed a strong warning to Iran on Sunday after the rogue nation announced it had ratcheted up its uranium enrichment beyond the limit allowed by the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. “Iran better be careful. … Iran is doing a lot of bad things,” Trump said. “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.” Iran has said it was inching its program closer toward weapons-grade levels, while calling for a diplomatic solution to a crisis that has raised tensions with the U.S.

Russian President Vladimir Putin disclosed on Thursday for the first time that a secret military submarine hit by a fatal fire three days ago was nuclear-powered, prompting Russia's defense minister to assure him its reactor had been safely contained. Russian officials have faced accusations of trying to cover up the full details of the accident that killed 14 sailors as they were carrying out what the defense ministry called a survey of the sea floor near the Arctic. Moscow's slow release of information about the incident has drawn comparisons with the opaque way the Soviet Union handled the 1986 Chernobyl...

"No, no message to Iran," Trump said. "They know what they're doing. They know what they're playing with. And I think the're playing with fire. So no message to Iran whatsoever." Earlier in the day, the semi-official Fars news agency in Iran cited an unnamed source as saying that U.N. inspectors had recently weighed Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium. According to the report, Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium was greater than the 660-pound limit set by the nuclear deal. While uranium enriched to 3.67 percent is usable for nuclear power plants, enrichment closer to 90 percent is needed for atomic...

Russia's civilian nuclear industry also faced public questions following the Chernobyl catastrophe, which shaped concerns about "the peaceful atom" for decades to follow. Construction of dozens of nuclear plants stopped, affecting not only massive Chernobyl-scale projects but also slowing down the use of low-power reactors like the one in what would become the floating station (The Chernobyl plant produced up to 4,000 megawatts. Lomonosov has two reactors producing 35 megawatts each).

It seems every major Russian media outlet had to chime in about the “Chernobyl” TV series by HBO. Although the foreign program airs only online to paying viewers, the show has become something of a national sensation in Russia where the pro-Kremlin media have launched a mini-crusade against it. Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP), Russia’s most popular newspaper, raised suspicions that competitors of state-atomic center Rosatom were using the series to tarnish this country’s image as a nuclear power. Argumenty i Fakty...dismissed the show as “a caricature and not the truth.” “The only things missing are the bears and accordions!” quipped Stanislav...

<p>Don’t let HBO’s acclaimed five-part series Chernobyl (HBO, IMDb, Wikipedia) demonize all nuclear power in your mind. It made this kid eager to read Mac MacDowell’s important June 3 article here at American Thinker. In “Rare Earth Minerals and Thorium,” MacDowell explains a different type of nuclear reactor that would do more than just help us produce clean energy. “Global Warmists” would do well to read it.</p>

Cheap renewables won’t stop global warming, says Bill Gates “Electricity is just 25 percent of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Gates. “There is no substitute for how the industrial economy runs today.” When financial analysts proposed rating companies on their CO2 output to drive down emissions, Gates was appalled by the idea that the climate and energy problem would be easy to solve. He asked them: “Do you guys on Wall Street have something in your desks that makes steel? Where is fertilizer, cement, plastic going to come from? Do planes fly through the sky because of some number you put...

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has ordered his agency to release more than four years' worth of data from air monitors near an Ohio school where trace amounts of radioactive material were discovered. Perry says the data from 2015 through the first quarter of this year comes from six air monitoring stations on Energy Department property and ten in the surrounding southern Ohio community. Perry told Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine in a letter Monday the data was provided to Pike County authorities, and to the Ohio Department of Health and the state Environmental Protection Agency. Zahn's Corner Middle School was...