US refuses Marshalls bid to use aid for nuclear victims

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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

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gJ6og9tVGTsSLcfLljk0-kcRfCcw

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

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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”.

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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

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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.
Read more at
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2008/11/us-paid-for-border-training-in-israel.html

US considering implications of nuclear decline

By ROBERT BURNS – 3 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.

“Many, if not most, of the individuals who worked deterrence in the 1970s and 1980s — the real experts at this discipline — are not doing it anymore,” Mullen wrote. “And we have not even tried to find their replacements.”

Gen. Kevin Chilton, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, which is responsible for maintaining the nation’s nuclear war plans, told Congress last spring that technical nuclear expertise also is lagging.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hX5GadlcESC58A8Iw_-X3mDd7NzgD9425F280

US Sanctions Companies Over WMD

US Sanctions Companies Over WMD Saturday, October 25, 2008 13:21:37

Related News Bush Urges UN to Enforce Sanctions against NK Japan, NK Discuss Lifting Sanctions Abductees’ Families Oppose Japan’s Lifting NK Sanctions Japan Extends Sanctions against N. Korea 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. Meanwhile, Bloomberg news agency reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the measures violate international law and would affect Washington-Moscow relations. Reported by KBS WORLD Radio <!–, KBS–> Contact the KBS News: englishweb@kbs.co.kr

US plans separate nuclear command

All nuclear-capable B-52 bombers will be moved to the new 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.

The first occurred in 2006 when electrical fuses for ballistic missiles were mistakenly sent from a US base in Wyoming to Taiwan in place of helicopter batteries.

The Chinese government, which vehemently opposes US arms sales to Taiwan and has threatened to attack the island if it declares independence, was informed by the US about the error.

The other embarrassing incident occurred last year when a B-52 bomber mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles flew across the country, without anyone realising the weapons were on board.

The new Global Strike Command will be established by September 2009, said officials.

All nuclear-capable B-52 and B-2 bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles will be shifted from their current locations to the new command.

Officials did not disclose the location of the new command or how much the re-organisation would cost.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7690447.stm

US-India nuclear deal violates NPT

US-India nuclear deal violates NPT

01:54:21 È.Ù Deputy head of IRI’s Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Saeedi on 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. According to the NPT, only signatories to the treaty can make use of the rights mentioned in the treaty, Saeedi noted. Cooperation in the area of transfer of nuclear technology to the NPT non-members will endanger the treaty, he said, adding that although India is enjoying nuclear weapons it is not a signatory to the NPT treaty. American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in India Saturday to showcase a historic bilateral nuclear deal, but last-minute hitches raised doubts that the pact would be signed on her trip. A signing delay would be another bump in a three-year rollercoaster for an agreement aimed at lifting a ban on America-Indian civilian nuclear trade imposed after India’s first nuclear test in 1974. Both houses of the American Congress voted in favor of the landmark nuclear deal this week, but President George W. Bush has yet to sign it into law. The deal offers India access to sophisticated America technology and cheap atomic energy in return for New Delhi allowing UN inspections of some of its civilian nuclear facilities. http://www.iribnews.ir/Full_en.asp?news_id=259510&n=15

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

U.S. Tries to Stop North Korea Resuming Atomic Work (Update1)

By Ed Johnson and Heejin Koo

Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) — 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.

China, which chairs the six-party talks, has played a “special role” in the past and served as a “repository for documents and information,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said yesterday when asked to comment on the U.S. proposal. Hill will discuss “choreography,” said McCormack, or “who hands what, to what person, when.”

Beijing, Tokyo

After returning to Seoul, Hill is scheduled to meet with Chinese officials in Beijing before traveling to Tokyo, the State Department said.

North Korea, which tested a nuclear device in 2006, signed the six-party disarmament accord in February 2007 with the U.S., China, South Korea, Russia and Japan. The communist state pledged to disable its nuclear program in return for energy aid and normalized diplomatic ties with the U.S. and Japan.

Kim’s regime shut down the Yongbyon reactor, the source of its weapons-grade plutonium, last year and in June blew up a cooling tower at the plant in a symbolic gesture.

North Korea stopped disabling Yongbyon in mid-August to protest delays in being removed from a U.S. terrorism blacklist. The Bush administration has said the regime will remain on the list until a verification system is in place.

Kim’s regime last week expelled International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors from Yongbyon. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said this week North Korea may be able to restart operations at Yongbyon’s nuclear material reprocessing plant within two to three months.

To contact the reporters on this story:

Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net; Heejin Koo in Seoul at hjkoo@bloomberg.net

India-US in last nuclear push

PM Manmohan Singh has described the nuclear deal as “momentous”

Indian PM Manmohan Singh is due to
meet US President George 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.

Time running out

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the bill on
Tuesday, but there are still several steps to be taken before it can be
passed and signed.

The bill has not so far been presented on the floor of the Senate or the House of Representatives.

The deal would give India access to US civilian nuclear technology

Last-minute attempts to ratify the bill have been made more
complicated because it was presented late to Congress, which is also
debating a critical $700bn bank bailout plan, in addition to numerous
other important measures before it shuts down for the year.

Correspondents say that the Bush administration needs the help
of the Democrats – who control both houses of Congress – to over-ride a
law that says Congress must wait 30 working days after receiving a bill
before it can ratify it.

The House and the Senate must pass and send identical bills to
President Bush for the deal to go through before a new administration
takes office in January.

The Bush administration submitted the deal to Congress on 10
September, but that did not leave enough time for its ratification
before the election break without a change in the law.

Correspondents say it will be a race against time if Prime
Minister Singh and President Bush sign the deal – first agreed three
years ago – and regarded as a key foreign policy priority for both the
Indian and US governments.

Precedent

American lawmakers are now reported to be looking at “all
options” to get Congressional approval for the accord, perhaps as part
of another bill.

Earlier this month, the Nuclear Suppliers Group lifted a ban
that had stopped India from getting access to the global nuclear
market.

India says the deal with the US is vital for it to meet its civil energy demands.

But critics say it creates a dangerous precedent – effectively
allowing India to expand its nuclear power industry without requiring
it to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as other nations must.

They say the deal would undermine the arguments for isolating
Iran over its nuclear programme and be a disaster for international
non-proliferation efforts.

The agreement is the centrepiece of US efforts to bolster ties with India.

The US restricted nuclear co-operation with India after it tested a nuclear weapon in 1974.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7635280.stm

‘US hijacked IAEA to pressure Iran’

‘US hijacked IAEA to pressure Iran’
Tue, 23 Sep 2008 03:05:37 GMT

Iran’s Ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh

Iranian Ambassador to the IAEA Ali Ashgar Soltaniyeh has said Washington is hijacking the UN nuclear watchdog for an anti-Iran campaign.

“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.

The Iranian envoy also underlined that the US has brought the technical activities to a halt by putting hurdles on the way of IAEA as well as the international community.

The US has created problems in the verification process and technical activities of the secretariat by refusing to offer the original so-called documents, he elaborated, saying the situation forced IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei to call on Washington to present the original documents to the agency.

“The international community and all member states of the IAEA are frustrated with this kind of actions from the United States in the IAEA.” The Americans are every day isolating themselves,” Soltaniyeh concluded.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=70287&sectionid=351020104