US refuses Marshalls bid to use aid for nuclear victims

MAJURO (AFP) — The US has refused a request by the Marshall Islands to use grant money to compensate victims of the American nuclear weapons testing programme in the western Pacific atoll nation, officials said.

The US tested 67 nuclear weapons at Bikini and Enewetak atolls from 1946 to 1958 and a Nuclear Claims Tribunal was set up by the two governments to compensate those displaced or suffering health problems due to the tests.

But the 150 million dollars the United States provided for paying settlements ran out three years ago and the US State Department has said there is no obligation to pay more

Nigeria: U.S., Govt Searching for Missing Nuclear, Radioactive Sources

The Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) and the United State Embassy in Abuja are collaborating to search for nuclear and radioactive substances scattered in the country. US Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Renee Sanders yesterday donated nuclear radiation detection equipment to the Nigerian government worth $100,000 (about N1.1billion) to search for the sources.

The Director General of the NNRA, Prof. Shams Elegba said radioactive sources are scattered everywhere in the country, especially the oil producing region, “We need to find them and bring them all under regulatory control”.
Speaking at training programme for security personnel engaged to search and secure the radioactive sources, Prof. Elegba said the petroleum industry is the largest importer and user of radioactive sources in the country. “In several transactions between the oil companies and the service companies using radioactive sources, alot of undeclared personae are involved. These include those who transport the sources from the bunkers of the service company to storage pits at the facilities of the oil companies.” He said there are thousands of radioactive sources for various applications in the country mainly used for nuclear well-logging, industrial radiography, nuclear gauging, radio

US paid for border training in Israel for US and Canada

Mohawk Nation News today reports on Canada’s training in Israel for border security. This follows the news that the University of Arizona has been co-opted by Homeland Security for dollars, placing Homeland Security agents on campus and designing lasers shot at migrants’ arteries. The University of Arizona earlier violated the rights of Apache and other Native Americans who struggled to protect sacred Mount Graham from the desecration of telescopes, which was carried out by the university with backing from the Pope.

Recently, US Homeland Security paid for border security training in Israel, for both Canada and the United States. With Israel’s history of Apartheid, the human rights travesties inflicted by Israel on Palestinians, and Israel’s Apartheid border wall, this should alarm everyone in the world. The Mohawks, and others battling for true sovereignty and human rights, are among the first to be targeted.

US considering implications of nuclear decline

The mighty U.S. arsenal of nuclear weapons, midwived by World War II and nurtured by the Cold War, is declining in power and purpose while the military’s competence in handling the world’s most dangerous arms has eroded. At the same time, international efforts to contain the spread of such weapons look ineffective.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, for one, wants the next president to think about what nuclear middle-age and decline means for national security.

Gates joins a growing debate about the reliability and future credibility of the American arsenal with his first extensive speech on nuclear arms Tuesday. The debate is attracting increasing attention inside the Pentagon even as the military is preoccupied with fighting insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan. The unconventional tools of war there include covert commandos, but not nuclear weapons.

Gates is expected to call for increased commitment to preserving the deterrent value of atomic weapons. Their chief function has evolved from first stopping the Nazis and Japanese, then the Soviets. Now the vast U.S. stockpile serves mainly to make any other nation think twice about developing or using even a crude nuclear device of its own.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, wrote in the current issue of an internal publication, Joint Force Quarterly, that the United States is overdue to retool its nuclear strategy. He referred to nuclear deterrence — the idea that the credible threat of U.S. nuclear retaliation is enough by itself to stop a potential enemy from striking first with a weapon of mass destruction

US Sanctions Companies Over WMD

The U.S. government imposed sanctions on 13 corporations in nine countries, including North and South Korea. They are accused of supplying materials that can be used to produce weapons of mass destruction to North Korea, Iran and Syria.

The sanctions were announced on the U.S. Federal Register last month. They took effect on October 23rd, and will remain effective until September 2010.

The companies sanctioned by the U.S. include North Korea’s Korea Mining Development Corporation and Korea Taesong Trading Company, South Korea’s Yolin/Yullin Tech, and Russia’s Rosoboronexport.

The sanctions ban all U.S. government agencies from procuring, or entering into any contract for the procurement of any goods, technology, or services from those foreign companies.

US plans separate nuclear command

The US Air Force (USAF) is planning to set up a new Global Strike Command for its nuclear weapons as part of a re-organisation after recent mishaps.

The move follows the discovery that six nuclear weapons were mistakenly flown across the US, and that nuclear missile fuses were sent unknowingly to Taiwan.

The blunders resulted in the sacking of two of USAF’s most senior officials.

A three-star general will head the new command, part of a project aimed at shaking up USAF’s nuclear mission.

“This is a critical milestone for us. It’s a new starting point for reinvigoration of this enterprise,” said Air Force Secretary Michael Donley.

“It is an extremely important mission for the United States Air Force.”

‘Embarrassing’

In June, Gen T Michael Moseley, USAF chief of staff, and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne were both asked to resign by Defence Secretary Robert Gates after a report revealed that the security of US nuclear weapons and parts had been in question.

The report cited two embarrassing incidents.

US-India nuclear deal violates NPT

Sunday expressed concern about America-India nuclear deal saying the deal has violated the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

He said the countries which are not members of the NPT cannot make use of the privileges of the treaty. The method used by several nuclear states to transfer the technology to non-members of the NPT, will create new crises for the international community, he added.

U.S. Tries to Stop North Korea Resuming Atomic Work

U.S. envoy Christopher Hill extended his visit to North Korea today as he tried to persuade the regime not to re-activate its nuclear program.

Hill will remain in Pyongyang for at least a few more hours, Aaron Tarver, a spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, said by telephone, adding it was unclear whether he would return to South Korea late today or early tomorrow.

Six-party negotiations have been deadlocked since mid- August due to a dispute over how to verify the extent of North Korea’s nuclear weapons development. The government in Pyongyang last week said an international inspection of the country’s nuclear sites would violate its sovereignty and has begun reassembling its Yongbyon reactor.

Hill, who arrived in Pyongyang yesterday, planned to present Kim Jong Il’s government with a face-saving compromise that would see the regime submitting a verification plan to China, before sharing it with the U.S. and other nations involved in the disarmament talks, the Associated Press reported.

India-US in last nuclear push

Bush amid frantic efforts to win US Congressional support for the two countries’ nuclear deal.

The controversial accord needs to be pushed through Congress before lawmakers conclude this year’s session to campaign for November’s elections.

Correspondents say its ratification will be a complicated process.

US officials hope Congress will approve the deal before the leaders meet later on Thursday in Washington, reports say.

Congress is due to go into recess at the end of this week.

‘US hijacked IAEA to pressure Iran’

“Today, it was made clear to the Board of Governors that the original documents and even their duplications regarding alleged studies have not been presented to the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Soltaniyeh said on the sidelines of the IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna on Monday.

During the meeting the IAEA chief had urged the Islamic Republic to be ‘transparent’ and provide the agency with “credible assurances about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran.”

“A member has been accused by another member without presentation of any documents on the claim. How could be possible to level accusations against a country whilst the original documents have not yet been handed over to IAEA officials?” Soltaniyeh asked.