U.S. officials are telling us nothing about Fukushima contamination in West Coast seafood. enenews.com

TEPCO is going to train amateur workers to remove fuel rods from Fukushima Unit 4 spent fuel pool. fukushima-diary.com

In a case that triggered extensive investigations by Canadian law enforcement, nuclear regulators and Ontario Power Generation, a judge has sentenced a 23-year-old man to more than a year in jail for fabricating a terrorist plot against the Pickering nuclear plant. nuclearstreet.com

While the negotiations are scheduled to resume on Nov. 20, the closed-door discussions left unresolved questions about Iran’s willingness to suspend or dismantle its nuclear-enrichment activities and the wisdom of any move by the U.S. and allies to ease economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic. bloomberg.com

Ambient office = 83 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 58 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 80 nanosieverts per hour

Vine ripened tomatos from Top Foods =  78 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 95 nanosieverts per hour

Filtered water = 75 nanosieverts per hour

November 10 2013 charts.png

Fukushima is potentially the biggest ticking time bomb in human history. enenews.com

Radioactive water from Fukushima is its on way to the U.S. West Coast and will be arriving in the next few months. enenews.com

Scientist say that Pandora’s Promise, a pronuclear film, hypes the promise of advanced nuclear technology. nuclear-news.net

Four days after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission put Pilgrim nuclear power plant on a short list of underperforming plants in the U.S., the NRC’s chairman Allison Macfarlane toured the 685-megawatt plant Friday morning and emerged with some tough assessments. patriotledger.com

Ambient office = 110 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 108 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 90 nanosieverts per hour

Romaine lettuce from Top Foods =  146 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 83 nanosieverts per hour

Filtered water = 72 nanosieverts per hour

November 9 2013 charts.png

          In my last post, I talked about the volatility of the Middle East and the possibility that Saudi Arabia might obtain nuclear weapons. I mentioned the nuclear program of Iran and the nuclear weapons in Israel. The U.S. and other countries are worried that Iran may be developing nuclear weapons despite their denial. They have maintained serious trade sanctions against Iran  for years. This has had a large impact on the Iranian economy.

         Recently, negotiations with Iran have been moving forward and there are hints that a preliminary deal may be in the works. In return for allowing international inspection of Iranian nuclear facilities and the freezing of the Iranian nuclear program, the trade sanctions might be partially lifted. One of the effects of this would be to unfreeze sixty billion dollars that Iran has on deposit in international banks. This would allow Iran to begin to repair the damage that trade sanctions have done to the Iranian economy. Today it was revealed that the United States quietly dropped some trade sanctions against Iran for some categories of consumer goods as part of the negotiations that have been ongoing. This was done several months ago but the news has just been made public.

        The Israeli government was shocked and angered by the news of the U.S. action. Israel has strongly criticized the possibility of any temporary deal with Iran. The Prime Minister of Israel is afraid that Iran will use take the interim deal, stall during the further negotiations and, despite assurances that they will not pursue nuclear weapons, use the freed up billions to do exactly that. Israel demands that, as part of any deal, Iran must halt all enrichment of uranium, remove stockpiles of enriched uranium from Iran, close their enrichment facilities as well as facilities that can produce plutonium. The Iranians have said that these terms are unacceptable.

           Estimates of how long it would take Iran to create a nuclear bomb have been tossed around recently varying from months to years. Israel has been adamant that they will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons and will consider a unilateral strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. Despite the skill and weaponry of the Israeli air force, hitting the Iranian nuclear installations would be very difficult because they are widely distributed and some are buried deep underground. There is also the problem of passage through other countries’ airspace. It is extremely unlikely that any of the countries that lie between Israel and Iran would allow Israel permission to cross their airspace.  If Israel tries to cross without permission, they might be attacked with surface to air missiles.

(Update 11/17/13 – There are rumors circulating that Saudi Arabia is so concerned about a possible Iranian nuclear weapon that it may allow the Israeli air force to cross Saudi Arabia airspace for an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.)

           If Israel attacks Iran, there may be retaliation in the form of Iranian missile strikes on Israel as well as expanded attacks on Israel by the terrorist organizations that Iran supports. If Israel is attacked, they will surely call on the support of the United States. Both World Wars started with conflict between two nations that then escalated as allies on both sides of the disputes joined in. Let us hope that the Iran-Israeli dispute does not escalate and draw other nations into armed conflict.

Iranian Imperial Coat of Arms:

Iran-Imperial-State-Coat-of-Arms.jpg

David Suzuki says that another Fukushima quake would mean the destruction of Japan and force evacuation of the West Coast of the United States. infowars.com

TEPCO prepares to remove spent nuclear fuel rods from Unit 4 at Fukushima plant. ajw.asahi.com

The first safety-related concrete has been poured for the foundation slab of the initial reactor at the Ostrovets site in Belarus marking the official start of construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant. world-nuclear-news.org

Western diplomats and Iran appear to be inching toward a breakthrough agreement that could slow the Middle Eastern nation’s suspected progress toward a nuclear bomb while easing some sanctions that have hobbled its economy. cnn.com

Ambient office = 89 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 76 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 89 nanosieverts per hour

Mango from Top Foods =  111 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 87 nanosieverts per hour

Filtered water = 66 nanosieverts per hour

November 8 2013 charts.png

           I have been blogging about fast breeder reactors recently. One of the major concerns about fast breeder reactors is the fact that plutonium is recovered from their fuel and can be purified to make nuclear weapons. Over the decades of research and development, this has been a constant concern. Various international cooperative agreements to develop this technology usual include some way of dealing with the dangers of nuclear weapons proliferation. The International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation which currently has around thirty members explicitly states that prevention of nuclear weapons proliferation is a major goal.

          The Middle East has been and is a major problem for nuclear proliferation. It is well known that Israel has nuclear weapons and delivery systems but they refuse to admit it. One of the excuses given for our invasion of Iraq was the fear that Saddam Hussein  might be developing nuclear weapons. The world is wrestling with the issue of the Iranian nuclear program right now because of a concern that they are working on nuclear weapons even though they claim that they are not. Israel is so worried about Iran having nuclear weapons that they are considering a preemptive strike on Iranian nuclear installations with or without the help of the United States. All of this has been going on for years and has been widely reported.

          While the spot light has been on Israel, Iraq and Iran, there are other disturbing developments in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia has stated in the past that if its sworn enemy Iran develops nuclear weapons, then Saudi Arabia will obtain nuclear weapons. This is not an empty threat. For years Saudi Arabia has been funneling money into the Pakistani nuclear program. For some time it has been rumored that Saudi Arabia has essentially “ordered” nuclear weapons from Pakistan and has paid for them. Now that Iran may be on the threshold of developing nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia may decide to “take delivery” off Pakistani nuclear weapons. If they actually do have nuclear weapons waiting for them in Pakistan, then Saudi Arabia could easily have nuclear weapons before Iran if Iran is indeed trying to develop them.

          Saudi Arabia was created after World War I by western powers to reward the support of Bedouin tribes on the peninsula against the Ottoman Empire and its allies. The major powers in Saudi Arabia are the hundreds of royal princes running the economy and the Wahabist sect demanding a strict adherence to a very conservative form of Islam in the moral sphere. If you are not a Royal prince or an enthusiastic Wahabist, then you may not support the current order in Saudi Arabia. There is a big population of Shiites in the eastern part of the country which is where most of the oil is. They are not being treated well by the Saudi authorities. There are a lot of guest workers who are considered second-class citizens. And, there is massive suppression of all the women in the country.

           Recently Saudi Arabia managed to anger the Chinese and the Russians. A powerful member of the Saudi Government complained recently that the U.S. has not been active enough in the support of the rebels in Syria and the Saudis are really upset by a possible thawing relations between the U.S. and Iran. Osama Bin Laden came from Saudi Arabia. Nineteen of the 911 hijackers were Saudi citizens. Al Qaeda, founded by Osama Bin Laden, is very active in Syria and seem to be gaining more land and power than other rebel groups. There appears to be a growing turbulence in Saudi Arabia that could lead to a struggle for power and even civil war.

           Given the volatile nature of the situation in Saudi Arabia and the general volatility of the Middle East, the possession of nuclear weapons by the Saudis would inject a new and very dangerous element. We went into Iraq to look for nuclear weapons out of fear that radical Islamic terrorist might obtain nuclear weapons. One of the stated goals of Al Qaeda is to overthrow the Saudi Royal family. If the Saudis possess nuclear weapons and Al Qaeda foments a rebellion in Saudi Arabia, our Iraqi nightmare might come true.

Coat of Arms for the Saudi Kingdom:

Coat_of_arms_of_Saudi_Arabia.svg_.png

A video animation by the operators of the Fukushima plant, the Tokyo Electric Company, shows how 1,534 damaged fuel rods will be removed from the site. theguardian.com

The Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry has initiated the process of setting up a radiation plant in Madurai, the first of its kind in the state. timesofindia.indiatimes.com

The director of Pandora’s Promise defends his nuclear energy film. kmbc.com

Operators shut down a reactor at Pennsylvania’s Beaver Valley nuclear plant Tuesday following an explosion and a small fire in its turbine building. nuclearstreet.com

Ambient office = 90 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 87 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 103 nanosieverts per hour

Iceberg lettuce from Top Foods =  160 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 118 nanosieverts per hour

Filtered water = 103 nanosieverts per hour

November 7 2013 charts.png