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In April 2009, reports surfaced that Vietnam had agreed in principle to a deal with Russia for 6 of its diesel-electric Kilo/ Project 636 Class fast attack submarines. There have been rumors that Vietnam owns 2 ex-Yugoslav mini-submarines for use in commando operations, but the Vietnamese People’s Navy doesn’t own any full size submarines that can take on enemy subs and ships. That’s about to change, thanks to a December 2009 contract. In addition to submarines, the Vietnamese Navy order is said to include new heavyweight torpedoes and missiles (most likely Klub family) to arm them. China’s April 2009 display...

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GAZA ROCKETS PUT ISRAEL NUKE PLANT IN BATTLE ZONE

Two people have been taken into custody on suspicions of preparing acts of sabotage at the Oskarshamn nuclear plant on Wednesday morning, according to police and plant operators, reports the Kvällsposten newspaper. A Swedish contractor was arrested on Wednesday when traces of highly explosive material were found on him as he was about to enter a nuclear power plant in southern Sweden, police and the plant said. "At 8am we received a call from the nuclear plant at Oskarshamn. They told us one worker was stopped in the control. He had explosive material in his bags," Sven-Erik Karlsson of the...

LAKE NORMAN, N.C. - Nuclear reactors across the Southeast could be forced to throttle back or temporarily shut down later this year because drought is drying up the rivers and lakes that supply power plants with the awesome amounts of cooling water they need to operate. Utility officials say such shutdowns probably wouldn't result in blackouts. But they could lead to shockingly higher electric bills for millions of Southerners, because the region's utilities could be forced to buy expensive replacement power from other energy companies. Already, there has been one brief, drought-related shutdown, at a reactor in Alabama over the...

Report: Series of explosions rip through Iranian military site By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent tags: military, Iran A series of explosions blasted through a crucial Iranian military industrial site last Tuesday, according to a statement released by "The National Opposition Council of Iran." According to the statement, the explosions were in Parchin, about 30 km south of Tehran, and sparked a large fire which caused some injuries to personnel at the site.

MOSCOW - Russia began construction of its first floating nuclear power plant Sunday, and plans to build at least six more despite long-standing environmental concerns that they are vulnerable to accidents at sea, Russian news agencies reported. Russia justifies the program as a way of bringing power to some of the country's most remote areas, also saying some of the plants could be sold to other nations. The head of Russia's atomic energy agency, Sergei Kiriyenko, said the plants will be safe. "This plant is much safer than atomic energy stations on the ground," the RIA-Novosti news agency quoted him...

WASHINGTON — Future nuclear power plants should include design improvements to better protect against a terrorist attack by large aircraft, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday. The chairman, Dale Klein, said the commission soon will give guidance to reactor manufacturers on "what we believe the reactors should be designed to withstand," including the possibility of a terrorist crashing a plane into the reactor. -snip-The NRC is gearing up for a rush of applications for new power reactors, the first such applications since the 1970s before the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. Klein said four or five firm...

A suspected terrorist accused of conspiring to assassinate President Bush said he proposed the plot but it wasn't pursued, and he was frustrated that other members of his al-Qaida cell lacked initiative, according to prosecutors. A government motion unsealed this week by a federal judge reveals new details in the case against Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 24, who is scheduled to go on trial next month. Prosecutors say the Falls Church resident has admitted joining al- Qaida while attending college in Saudi Arabia and that he discussed numerous terrorist plots, including plans to assassinate Bush and hijack airplanes. Abu Ali...

PORT DARLINGTON, Ont. (CP) - Explosions that sent debris into the air "like rockets" and a blaze at what was believed to be a propane company forced the evacuation of about 5,000 people late Tuesday, police said. The fire near the waterfront in the community east of Toronto could be seen for miles and the explosions rocked homes in the area. "I opened the blinds and there was this explosion, at least eight or nine storeys into the sky of light and fire," a woman named Heather reported. "Then we just started hearing the explosions of the propane tanks every...

NEW YORK — Satellite photos of two locations in Iran show the nation may be continuing to pursue and hide a program to produce nuclear weapons, images obtained exclusively by Fox News show. One site at Natanz appears to show a hidden uranium enrichment plant, possibly surrounded by defense fortifications capable of thwarting an attack. The other site, Arak, is a heavy water facility used to make plutonium. The two sites together could be capable of building atomic bombs. "You have to conclude this is not part of an energy program, this is part of a weapons program," John Pike,...

TORONTO - An anti-terrorism probe that led to the arrest of 19 Pakistani men, including one who took commercial flight training over a nuclear power plant, highlights security holes that should have been plugged after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, Ontario officials said. The Public Security and Anti-Terrorism Unit, a federal national security task force, quietly arrested the group of mostly young men last week. The men appear to have used fraudulent student visas to enter Canada or to maintain their residency here. Federal authorities documented a pattern of suspicious behaviour that shows an interest in Ontario's nuclear generators...

A diagram of a New Jersey nuclear power plant was discovered by U.S. forces scouring al Qaeda caves in Afghanistan, a New Jersey state assemblyman says he was told by an unnamed military official this week. Assemblyman Gary Guear made the claim to the New York Daily News, which reported Thursday that the diagram included floor plans for the Lower Alloways Creek Township nuclear power plant in Salem County, N.J. However, security officials at the plant and a National Guard source familiar with the matter disputed the claim, saying no "specific plans" were found. Still, Guear insisted late Wednesday that...