An economic report sponsored by the government of Wales in Britain presented some big numbers for the region to consider, and the economic minister Edwina Hart called the $20.87 billion build under consideration a “once in a generation [economic] opportunity” nuclearstreet.com

Restarting progress on the Jaitapur nuclear power plant in India will be high on the list of discussion points between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande, according to media reports. nuclearstreet.com

A Russian nuclear submarine caught fire while undergoing repairs in a dry dock outside the city of Arkhangelsk and smoke billowed from it through the day on Tuesday.  nytimes.com

Ten years after the controversial India-US civilian nuclear deal was first announced with much fanfare from the US administration and the nuclear industry that it would envisage the sale of several US-made nuclear reactors to India and generate several thousand American jobs, rediff.com

              My last several posts have been about the negotiations between the members of the U.N. Security Council and Iran over Iran’s nuclear program. A ‘framework” has been agreed upon which will be used to construct a final agreement by June. The agreement will have to be ratified by the Security Council members and Iran. The New York Times just published an editorial about five things that they think will need to happen before any final agreement can be reached. “In reality — and as the coming weeks, months, and years will demonstrate — major issues have yet to be settled. It is closer to the truth to say the real debate about the Iran nuclear accord is just beginning.”

      First, the agreed upon “framework” will have to be translated into a complete final agreement by June. This allows only ninety days for the participants to work out a number of unanswered questions. Already the different parties are representing the “framework” in different ways to their citizens. There are hardliners in the U.S. and Iran who will fight hard to prevent any final agreement.

      Second, the removal of the sanctions has been given no timetable. This is the most important issue for Iran. The only reason they came to the negotiating table was to find a way remove the crippling sanctions that have been instituted by the members of the U.N. Security Council. Iran wants the sanctions to be lifted as soon as a final agreement is signed. The Security Council members want to leave some sanctions in place while they see how well Iran adheres to a final agreement.

       Third, Iran has uranium mines and the technological infrastructure to develop civilian nuclear power. The “framework” calls for limits on certain Iranian nuclear activities for fifteen years in one case and twenty five years in another case. There are serious concerns about whether monitoring will be adequate and what Iran will do following the expirations of limits on certain activities. U.S. hardliners and Israel are calling for strict limits on any nuclear activity in Iran. The Iranians are a proud people and the hardliners may be able to use that pride to sink any agreement that places harsh limits on Iranian nuclear research.

        Fourth, Iran has been accused of withholding relevant information from inspectors with respect to past agreement. U.S. critics of any deal claim that Iran cannot be trusted and that they will most certainly not abide by the terms of any agreement. Following any final agreement, the question of how to insure Iranian compliance becomes the important issue.

       Fifth, critics of the negotiations point out that the “framework” only covers Iran’s nuclear program. Iran has been criticized for supporting terrorists and proxies in other countries to extend Iran’s influence in the region. There have also been complaints about Iran’s missile development program. There are other Iranian foreign policies that other nations find unacceptable. Critics of the “framework” and continuing negotiations insist that any new agreement with Iran should include additional matters beyond their nuclear program.

       Any agreement with Iran that slows its nuclear program will benefit their neighbors and other countries. As difficult as it may be to reach a final agreement, it will be preferable to abandoning negotiations, seeing sanctions cancelled and leaving Iran free to develop nuclear weapons if it chooses to do so.

TEPCO officials have finally admitted that it may not be technologically possible to decommission the plant. rense.com

Scientists detect Fukushima radiation on North American shores. enenews.com

Anomalies have been identified in the composition of the steel in certain parts of the reactor vessel of the EPR under construction at Flamanville, Areva has informed the French nuclear regulator.  world-nuclear-news.org

Westinghouse Electric Company and the Bulgarian government are in talks to set a structure and timeline for their agreement to build a seventh reactor at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. world-nuclear-news.org

In March of 2015, it was reported in the Times of London, that Akira Ono, the chief of the Fukushima power station admitted that the technology needed to decommission the three melted-down reactors does not exist, and he has no idea how it will be developed dougmichaeltruth.wordpress.com

A Fukushima rice kit developed by veteran copywriter Shigesato Itoi and a group of farmers in Fukushima Prefecture is becoming the talk of the town online. mainichi.jp

After four years of consecutive losses, including a $5.4 billion loss in 2014, talks of re-organizing or selling parts or all of French nuclear giant Areva are stirring back and forth headlines this week. nuclearsteet.com

Operators safely shut down Unit 2 at Prairie Island Nuclear  Plant. yournuclearnews.com

(This is Part Two of a post about the newly negotiated framework for the Iran nuclear program. – Please read Part One first)        

         My last post began covering the newly negotiated framework between Iran and the U.N. Security Council (U.S, U.K., Russia, China, France and Germany) dealing with Iran’s nuclear program. A final agreement is to be completed by June. Here are the terms of the “framework” with respect to monitoring and sanctions. (Part One covers enrichment and facilities.)

         Drafting an agreement to reduce the threat of Iran creating a nuclear bomb has been difficult enough but how can we be sure that Iran is complying with the agreement? Monitoring of Iran’s nuclear program is critical to the success of the agreement. Under the new framework, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will have continuous access to all of Iran’s nuclear facilities. In addition, the IAEA will also monitor the “supply chain that supports Iran’s nuclear program” in order to “prevent diversion to a secret program.” These new monitoring program are far more thorough and intrusive than any monitoring that Iran has accepted in the past. Iran has also agreed to allow IAEA inspectors monitor Iranian uranium mines and mills for the next twenty five years.

        So far we have been talking about what Iran is willing to give up and to allow IAEA to monitor. In return for curtailing its nuclear program, Iran will see a reduction in the international sanctions that have been crippling its economy. While the enrichment, facilities and monitoring terms of the framework are very specific, the lifting of the sanctions is more vague. Sanctions will be removed “if it (Iran) verifiably abides by its commitments.” There is no specific timeframe in the new framework for the ending of sanctions.

         The new framework states that the “U.S. and E.U. nuclear-related sanctions will be suspended after the IAEA has verified that Iran has taken all of its key nuclear-related steps. If at any time Iran fails to fulfill its commitments, these sanctions will snap back into place.” In addition, “the architecture of U.S. nuclear-related sanctions on Iran will be retained for much of the duration of the deal and allow for snap-back of sanctions in the event of significant non-performance.” “All past UN Security Council resolutions on the Iran nuclear issue will be lifted simultaneous with the completion, by Iran, of nuclear-related actions addressing all key concerns (enrichment, Fordow, Arak, PMD, and transparency).”

        This negotiated framework will have to be refined into a final agreement by June. Then it will have to be approved by the members of the U.N. Security Council and Iran. There are hardliners in the U.S. and Iran that would like to see this deal fail and are working hard to make sure that it does. Frankly, I am more skeptical that the Iranian hardliners will accept the stringent requirements of the agreement than that the U.S, Republican dominated Congress will reject the final deal. If the deal fails, and the Republicans try to pass bills for even more sanctions, it is likely that the other members of the U.N. Security Council will drop their sanctions against Iran. If that happens, the Iranians will be free to continue their nuclear program and will have an influx of capital from trade that will be available to finance their nuclear program. No deal is perfect, but this new framework would give us more time to work on preventing the development of an Iranian nuclear weapon.