blog!

Class is over, but whatever

I found a nice tumblr with lots of atomic goodies.

-Cat

Could the Middle East Become a Nuclear-Free Zone?

"Israel's nuclear arsenal stands like the radioactive elephant in the room."

madeline snively

NKorea claims to achieve elusive nuclear fusion

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j8BHi4EzLfTCTaNJn6JSAueuOKZwD9FL3VKO0

they must be out of their mind.

Quantum wonders: The Elitzur-Vaidman bomb-tester

madeline snively

Finland’s 100,000-Year Plan to Banish Its Nuclear Waste

New York TImes

An article about the documentary "Into Eternity" directed by Michael Madsen. It explores a lot of the issues with nuclear waste that we discussed in this class, for instance, how to store our nuclear waste and how to warn future generations about the repositories. The film explores these issues specifically regarding Finland's nuclear repository, Onkalo.

Very interesting article!

--Grace Claiborn

Elusive tetraquark

Elusive Tetraquark Spotted in Data Forest

(I'm not sure what a lot of this means, but it's still cool!)

Madeline

Nuclear Free Middle East?

We were just talking about this in class yesterday!  Remember that article Madeline posted about Egypt proposing a plan for a nuclear-free Middle East at this month's NPT conference?  It sounds like the US is on board, along with Russia, Britain, France, and China.

And to answer the obvious question, yes, this would require Israel to admit their nukes and give them up.  Remember that since Israel isn't a signatory to the NPT, they are not involved in this particular set of discussions.  That means they may simply reject this whole idea.

More from the New York Times. 

Radiation death in India raises nuclear safety concerns.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6431TO20100504

kang

5,113

That's the number of nuclear warheads in the U.S. arsenal.  Disclosed to the public for the first time (ever, as far as I know!).  Obama hopes that this transparency will help build confidence in the U.S. disarmament agenda.

Oh, and, the largest arsenal we've had:  31,225 nuclear warheads in 1967.

For more:  Reuters update on the NPT discussions

Dr Strangelove!

It's free on hulu!

link

-Cat

three articles from this morning.

Another India Update from BBC: India watchdog seeks radioactive waste explanation

Southern Co. Nuclear Power plant to hire up to 21,000 new workers (seeking out college students)

Playing peace to target Iran

"Every time the US president tries painstakingly to build a coalition against Iran up pops Israel, writes Graham Usher in New York"

Madeline Snively (sorry, I'm bad with webpage formatting!)

Update on Cobalt 60 Leak in India

The New York Times ran an article yesterday on the incident in India where several scrap yard employees were hospitalized after exposure to Cobalt-60, the radioactive isotope used in radiotherapy and food irradiation. The New York Times reported that the material originated inside a medical machine that was auctioned off by the chemistry department of a nearby university. The machine was, apparently, from 1968, and nobody knew it contained anything toxic. It had been in a basement at the university for many years.

The New York Times also reported that one of the shop workers passed away in the hospital from multiple organ failure due to radiation poisoning.

Here is the full article:

Indian University Is Deemed Source of Radiation Exposure - NEW YORK TIMES

-Grace Claiborn

Power for Progress

Power for Progress Comic

-Caitlin

US Weighs Iran Military Option

"If Iran decides to go for nuclear weapons, the US may not be able to permanently stop this from happening unless it is willing to occupy the country."

madeline snively

Not nuclear...but electrical

First U.S. Offshore Wind Farm Gets Government OK

This is a little off-topic, but not by much. Many people believe wind power is unrealistic and that nuclear power is the only "ecological electricity" for our (America's) finances and sciences.

madeline snively

Chernobyl Today

Some spooky but beautiful photos from Chernobyl.

Link

-Pablo

A cold war-era sign giving instructions for the aftermath of a nuclear attack from Portland, USA.

larger image here

Jameson Doody

Tsar Bomba

http://sonicbomb.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=90

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfoQsZa8F1c&feature=related

Jameson Doody

Brazil dismisses sanctions over Iran's nuclear standoff, prefers dialogue

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki (R) talks with his Brazilian counterpart Celso Amorin during a joint press conference in Tehran, capital of Iran, April 27, 2010. Mottaki said that Iran is willing to consider enriching uranium in other countries as suggested by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-04/27/c_13270045.htm

Kerry Yang

The world's views of Nuclear Weapons at a glance

Check out this news site where they categorize nuclear news from different views of each nuclear country.  

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-04/15/c_13252337_2.htm

Kerry Yang

Cobalt-60 Leak in Inda

Here's an article from the New York Times detailing the leak in India. (I've been waiting for the NY Times to pick this story up...)

Scrap Metal Radiation Raises Concerns in India

An interesting tidbit: One of the workers from the scrap metal shop took a sliver of the contaminated metal, so he could test if it was potentially valuable. He put the little piece of metal in his wallet, and slipped it in his back pocket. He forgot about the scrap, and after several weeks, he complained of pains in his buttocks. The pain grew worse and he finally collapsed and was taken to the doctor.

-Grace Claiborn

Replacing Nukes?

"In coming years, President Obama will decide whether to deploy a new class of weapons capable of reaching any corner of the earth from the United States in under an hour and with such accuracy and force that they would greatly diminish America’s reliance on its nuclear arsenal.

Yet even now, concerns about the technology are so strong that the Obama administration has acceded to a demand by Russia that the United States decommission one nuclear missile for every one of these conventional weapons fielded by the Pentagon. That provision, the White House said, is buried deep inside the New Start treaty that Mr. Obama and President Dmitri A. Medvedev signed in Prague two weeks ago. "
More


-Cat

Tactical Nukes Under Dispute!

Rememver those US 'tactical nukes' that are in Europe, that we talked about on Wednesday in class?  Well, sounds like they're being discussed at the NATO meeting that is going on right now.  Some members of NATO would like them to be removed, but the US is taking the stance that the NATO alliance is a "nuclear alliance".


Check it out:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/world/europe/23diplo.html

At Los Alamos, Working Against Their Own Creation

madeline snively

Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Cartoon

This piece of cartoon reproduced the atomic bombing situation on August 6th Hiroshima in 1945.

Beautifully done but yet very very sad and violent.

Kerry Yang

Current debates

Here's an interesting critique of Obama's nuclear summit from last week.  It's pretty blistering:


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/15/AR2010041504663.html
Worth reading also are a couple of letters that were written to the Washington Post in reply:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/19/AR2010041904666.html
Your final project for this class could easily take the form of argumentation pieces like these!


While we're mining the Washington Post for interesting nuclear news, here's an update on Iran's current approach to the international debate over its nuclear program:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/20/AR2010042004423.html
Looks like they're trying to prevent sanctions, and still aiming for a fuel swap under very specific conditions.  They are also aiming to remind the world about the fundamental flaws in the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and to undermine the upcoming review of that Treaty by stirring up conflict between the nuclear "haves" and the nuclear "have-nots". 

Meanwhile, a Boston Globe editorial claims we need to learn to live with a nuclear Iran:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/04/21/get_ready_to_live_with_nuclear_iran/

Cobalt-60 Leak in India

Cobalt-60 found a local scrap metal shop in Delhi, India. The shop owner is in critical condition at the hospital, while several other shop workers are hospitalized with varying levels of radiation sickness. Seven victims are currently known and hospitalized, while at least four others have been exposed. The police in India are still in the dark about the source of the metal. The event has inspired new interest in installing radiation detectors throughout the city.

Yahoo News article: Radiation Leak: Did Cobalt-60 Come From Abroad?

Another article summarizing the event:

Fresh radiation source found in Delhi, cops to scan area

-Grace Claiborn

Want to survive 50 megaton nuclear blast?

An American company, Vevos, is claiming to have an underground shelter that sustains life for a year after a 50 megaton nuclear explosion (within a ten mile radius). It's probably a really expensive scam, considering the "end times" rhetoric on the company's website... but an interesting thought, nonetheless.

Vevos's shelters are underground communities that can hold 3,400 people. They have furnished living quarters that are self-sustaining, and some other interesting perks like a DNA depository for every living species on earth.

An article about the "Apocalypse-proof" bunker

Vivos commercial website

-Jameson Doody

Iran's response to the Nuclear Posture Review.

www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/world/middleeast/12iran.html

-Lauren Wassmer

U.S. Nuclear Posturing Makes No Major Promises

Huffington Post , opinion piece by Michael J. Martin about the NUCLEAR POSTURE REPORT

the article

- Nimisha

Aussie Uranium won't be used in Russian Nukes

Australia is a large producer of uranium

and is Kevin Rudd is making

decisions to which countries australia

will sell to. ( australia will not supply uranium to India)

Aussie Uranium won't be used in Russian Nukes

"Australia would effectively be relinquishing responsibility for supplying the raw ingredient for bomb fuel to a nuclear weapons state with an acknowledged lack of transparency in its civil-military arrangements," spokesman Bill Williams said.

- Nimisha Gupta

Radon Spa information links

Radon Spa Therapy for Arthritis

"A placebo-controlled study from Germany reports that radon spa therapy offers benefits for patients with rheumatoid arthritis."

Low Dose Radon as Alternative Therapy for Chronic Illness

Photo caption: "The water here contains calcium, magnesium-hydrogen-carbonic, iodine, bromide and radon. Thus the spa is recommended for those who have motor disorders, rheums, some backbone problems, or heart and blood system disease."

Madeline Snively

Obama's nuclear summit

Today was the second and final day of a nuclear security summit hosted in Washington by President Obama.  The two major objectives (as well as I can tell) were to address the risk of nuclear terrorism, and to rally support for sanctions against Iran.  It sounds like the summit was more successful on the former than the latter.  While none of the final agreements between nations are legally binding, many nations pledged to destroy weapons-grade nuclear materials and work towards better nuclear security. 

On the question of Iran, China has been advocating a diplomatic approach rather than sanctions. It's a little unclear where China stands at the moment, but Obama claims there has been progress on the question of sanctions.  China imports a lot of oil from Iran, and it's also at odds with the U.S. over currency issues at the moment, so there are some significant roadblocks to full cooperation with the Obama agenda on Iran. 

A decent summary article from CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/04/13/obama.hu.nuclear.meeting/?hpt=T1

An interesting Fox News article about the U.S. taking on all the nuclear material of the world:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/13/popular-destination-worlds-unwanted-nuclear-supply/

I LOVE OBAMA THIS WEEK!

"Saying that the prospect of nuclear terrorism had emerged as one of the greatest threats to global security, President Obama called on world leaders “not simply to talk, but to act” to secure or destroy vulnerable stockpiles of nuclear materials.

...

Seeking to lend force to his warning, Mr. Obama said that dozens of countries held nuclear materials that could be sold or stolen, and that a weapon fashioned from an apple-size piece of plutonium could kill or injure hundreds of thousands of people"

Here

-Cat

Like Ike...

Apparently Eisenhower had a similar nuke policy, this is really interesting...

"On Monday, President Obama announced, in his Nuclear Posture Review, a new American approach to nuclear war that comes right out of Eisenhower’s playbook."

-Cat

New regulations for medical radiation equipment...

I AM HYJACKING THIS BLOG

:)

-Cat

"Even as the two presidents hailed the treaty, however, they found no common ground on American plans to build an antimissile shield in Europe to counter any Iranian threat. Mr. Obama refused Russian demands to include limits on missile defense in the treaty, nearly scuttling the agreement. In the days leading up to the ceremony here, Russian officials alternately claimed the agreement would bind the program or complained that it did not and threatened to withdraw if it went forward.

The treaty, if ratified by lawmakers in both countries, would require each country to deploy no more than 1,550 strategic warheads, down from 2,200 allowed in the Treaty of Moscow signed by President George W. Bush in 2002. Each would be limited to 800 total land-, air- and sea-based launchers — 700 of which can be deployed at any given time — down from 1,600 permitted under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991, or Start."

Here.

-Cat

NPR NYT Editorial

Here.

-Cat

NPR

Here.

-Cat

Weird Science

Something so heavy it's stable?

-Cat

NPR: dig in!

 
 (Image from the Department of Defense website)


The full-blown announcement of the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) was today!  Is it weird that I find this incredibly exciting?

There were remarks by Secretaries Gates, Clinton, and Chu describing the report in a briefing earlier today.  The NPR is the policy document that explicitly defines the U.S. policy on nuclear weapons:  how many we should have, the conditions under which we might use them, our strategies for addressing nuclear proliferation, the treaty obligations we will support, and the weapons development projects we will perform. 

The Obama NPR breaks very significantly from several of the previous versions, and I would anticipate significant commentary and response world-wide in the next few weeks.  Of note:  this is the first such review that is completely unclassified!  You can read the whole thing at:
 http://www.defense.gov/npr/

Here's a CNN article with video from the briefing.  

Get ready for controversy!

Finally, there is some news about the Nuclear Posture Review that has been going on in the background in the Obama administration.  Everyone with an interest in 'things nuclear' has been waiting to see how much Obama changes previous policy. 

Here's a quote from a New York Times article on one of the biggest announced changes in the imminent Review:  "For the first time, the United States is explicitly committing not to use nuclear weapons against nonnuclear states that are in compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty"

Believe it or not, this is a big change in policy, that does seem to be in line with Obama's stated anti-nuke agenda.  Suddenly, we should start hearing a lot more about what nuclear weapons mean in the U.S. these days!

See an interesting opinion article?  Post it!

Readings for HW6

To continue our discussion of some of the aspects of the (very complex) argument over nuclear power, I've picked just a couple of selected topics for followup this week.  The written questions about these readings are posted to the portal page under Week 8.

Topic 1:  Tritium Leaks at Vermont Yankee Power Plant
A Vermont Public Radio update from last week
A "Vermont Digger" blog posting/news release about Greenpeace criticisms of the Yankee plant
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Backgrounder on Tritium releases at power plants


Topic 2:  Security of Nuclear Power Plants
A repost (see posts last week) of an opinion piece by retired CIA terrorism expert Charles Faddis
A rebuttal of this piece, written by the head of the Nuclear Energy Institute (an industry group)


Topic 3:  The argument against reprocessing
I've pointed out that there are some experts out there who feel that "reprocessing" nuclear waste is a really bad idea.  Here's an opinion piece that argues that point of view (it's a pdf document - if you have trouble reading it, email me and I'll send it to you):
Frank von Hippel opinion piece against reprocessing

China, US, Iran and the UN

China is backing the UN's 'Iran' policy but disapproving Obama with visiting the Dalai Lama, along with some good ol' US selling of $6 billion worth of weapons...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/02/world/asia/02china.html?hp

-Harrison Brunswick

"Profit And 'Peril' In The Secret Nuclear Trade"

Just listened to an episode of Fresh Air from two weeks ago. They talk about North Korea helping Syria develop a nuclear program and A.Q. Khan. I thought it was interesting that A.Q. Khan refused to help al-Qaida with this technology.

listen to the podcast
read the transcript

- Gina

Large Hadron Collider

It's smashing, but we'll see for how long!

Links for Homework 5: Pros and Cons of Nuclear Power

Hi folks,

The links I supplied for homework 5 will give you some idea of pros and cons of nuclear power, but they are far from exhaustive!  Here are the four originally suggested links:
Wall Street Journal overview of the pros and cons
Greenpeace website and fact sheet on nuclear power  (against nuclear power)
Wired Magazine interview with Greenpeace founder Patrick Moore (pro nuclear power)
Union of Concerned Scientists critique of a "nuclear renaissance" (against nuclear power)


You can find lots of sources for information (and opinions, and misinformation) on the web.  With anything you find, pay some attention to the agendas of the authors!  Here are a few other interesting recent articles I found that touch on some of the pro-con issues. 
Christian Science Monitor article on the status of the nuclear waste question in the U.S.
CNN editorial arguing that nuclear power plants need to be made more secure
New York Times article that addresses the importing and exporting of nuclear technology as nuclear power plants become more widespread
Washington Post (Reuters) article on an increase in public support for nuclear power
An Anti-Nuclear opinion piece on a blog

Updates on the big nuclear news items:

 
 (Image of a Russian ICBM driven through Red Square last year.  Taken from the news article here, image credit: Dmitry Kostyukov/AFP/Getty Images)


1) START negotiations finalized! Now, how will this play into the current divisive politics in the U.S.?
Last week, the U.S. and Russia finalized their agreements on the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).  The treaty includes new "verification" provisions and also allows the U.S. to continue developing anti-ballistic missile technology.  Obama intends to sign the treaty April 8, and then it gets reviewed by the Senate, requiring a 2/3 majority vote to approve its ratification.  This will require bipartisan support.  Will this issue bring up a lot of debate or will everyone in the Senate basically support it?  Here's an op-ed piece from the Boston Globe advocating for approval of the treaty, which brings up some of the key issues involved. 


2)  Yikes!  More enrichment plants in Iran!  And, battle plans being seriously discussed?
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency) apparently believes that Iran may have started building two more enrichment facilities underneath mountains.  Anonymous sources reported this to the New York Times.   Suddenly it is a very interesting time to look at news on Iran from around the world.  Some highlights:
* A Reuters article published in the Washington Post reports on a U.S. think tank that advocates Isreal using "tactical nuclear weapons" against Iran.  This means some experts out there are seriously advocating the use of nukes to prevent nukes. 
* An article from Press TV (an Iranian news source) characterizes Iran as a "pioneer in fight against U.S. unilateralism".  It quotes Iranian officials maintaining that the Iranian nuclear program as being solely for peaceful purposes.
* Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post reported on former U.S. ambassador to the UN John Bolton claiming that "Obama is resigned to a nuclear Iran". 


 3) A report from the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Labs claims we need new replacement nuclear weapons technology.  Is this aimed to influence the policies in the still-pending Nuclear Posture Review?
As long as the U.S. has nuclear weapons, our government needs to ensure they will work, but hopefully without dangerous and environmentally damaging nuclear weapons testing.  Some nuclear weapons engineers are advocating greater funding for the development of new nuclear weapons technology to make sure our arsenal is robust.  This debate gets right into the politics - does the Obama Administration have the stamina and "political capital" to go up against the nuclear weapons labs or will they basically grant the labs whatever they want? A New York Times article describes the recent report and some of the reactions.  Very interesting!

US and Russia announce deal to cut nuclear weapons

update on the Start treaty

- nimisha

Race on to sniff out dirty bombs

"None has yet been detonated but nuclear security experts fear it is only a matter of time before one is.

"

Cheryl Jones, The Australian, March 10 , 2010
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/race-on-to-sniff-out-dirty-bombs/story-e6frgcjx-1225838861956

- Nimisha

German atomic waste dump under the threat of collapse

German government is grappling with the decision to commit to nuclear energy due to the recent leak in a radioactive dumpsite the " previous Social DemocratGreen government pushed through legislation for a phased
withdrawal from nuclear energy, it is back on the agenda as a way of reducing dependence
on Russian gas and cutting carbon dioxide emissions."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/german-atomic-waste-dumpbrunder-threat-of-collapse/story-e6frg6so-1225822671487
Roger Boyes, The Times, January 23, 2010


- Nimisha

Areva develops new nuclear reactors that 'destroy' atomic waste

Robin Pagamenta , The Times, March 22 2010

French scientists have developed a new nuclear reactor to minimize atomic waste .




- Nimisha

Bill Gates funds Japanese R&D for mini nuclear reactors

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/03/24/bill-gates-wants-nuclear-reactor/

Don't know about you guys, but I really like Bill Gates.

-Matthew

Iran...

Yet another article about Uranium Enrichment in Iran.



http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/science/09enrich.html

-Cat

Quilted Bombs

This is a fibers artist who does tons of quilts, this is one of the bomb...
If I remember correctly she stitches these by hand.

http://www.annavonmertens.com/portfolio.php?genus=9&specimen=36#


-Cat

Possible Alternative for Nuclear Waste?

"Belgian nuclear scientists have been given the go-ahead to work towards an advanced new research reactor system with a role in researching the transmutation of wastes."


http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/WR_Approval_for_Myhhra_0503101.html

-Pablo

Smashing!

Little blurb on the Geneva atom smasher

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9EKDT302.htm

-Harrison

Scary

"The government filed its request in an effort to investigate Mr. Khan regarding recent news reports in which he was said to have confessed to supplying Iran with information related to the nuclear program."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/world/asia/23pstan.html

-Cat

By request: Rad Town

I've shown this a couple of times in class but here's the link:  Environmental Protection Agency's RadTown graphic information interface.

That START Treaty thing again

I keep bringing this up in class, but it isn't making much of the U.S. news lately.  Here is a great cartoon from the Moscow Times (an English-language newspaper covering Russia) from today:



Here's the link to the associated article.

Tsar Bomba

How could I forget the Tsar Bomba?
-Oliver

Force Majeure

OPERATION CHAGAI-I
OPERATION TRINITY
OPERATION TUMBLER-SNAPPER
OPERATION WIGWAM
OPERATION PLUMBBOB: I II
OPERATION DOMONIC
***
SELECTED LISTENING: I II

-Oliver

More nuclear power plants for Illinois?

 (Image from Chicago Public Radio article, photo by Ryan Wakeley via Flickr)


Two pieces of interesting news about nuclear power plants in our region.  First, the Illinois Senate has overturned a ban on building new power plants in our state.  This could be the first step towards furthering Obama's goals for more nuclear power in our region (currently the main nuclear expansion efforts are in the Southeast).  The bill still has to go through the Illinois House.  Here's the news blurb.

The second interesting piece of news concerns a reactor in Ohio (my home state).  Workers at the Davis-Besse power plant in Oak Harbor, Ohio have found more corrosion cracks in the reactor vessel.  They had some serious problems with this back in 2002.  So far, no leaks of radioactive material have occurred, but this highlights the fact that our current nuclear power infrastructure is not always as robust as we would like it to be.  Here's the article.

Three articles:

1. "What is Causing Deformities in Fallujah's Children?"
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2010/03/what-is-causing-deformities-in.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

2. "Hybrid Fusion: The Third Nuclear Option"
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527505.900-hybrid-fusion-the-third-nuclear-option.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

3. "The US Lagging in Nuclear Reactor Technology"
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527503.800-the-us-is-lagging-on-nuclear-reactor-technology.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

Madeline Snively

Three news stories to follow

This is an interesting spring to be learning about nuclear technology!  There are three major nuclear news stories right now that I think we should all be following in detail.  They all deal with nuclear weapons, which we will be covering in a lot more depth later in the semester. However, if needed I'll rearrange some of the in-class material to facilitate ongoing discussion of these topics. Browse the articles below (or any others you may find), keep your eyes and ears open for the latest updates, and collect any questions about these subjects so we can discuss them in class!

Topic 1:  the U.S. Nuclear Posture Review:
Every four years or so, the U.S. government reviews its nuclear weapons policy.  Even though we are well past the cold war era, there is a lot of subtlety and complexity to our policy for nuclear weapons development, strategy, and potential use.  The 'posture review' discussion takes place between the administration and the Department of Defense, and the final document describing U.S. nuclear weapons policy is generally classified.  However, a public version is usually released.  We're anxiously awaiting the Obama administration's version, but it keeps getting delayed.  Madeline posted one article a couple of days ago, and here are a couple of opinion/commentary pieces:
New York Times editorial on the Nuclear Posture Review
Foreign Policy's 'The Cable' blog posting on delays in the Nuclear Posture Review 


Topic 2:  Negotiations over the START Treaty with Russia:
For decades, the U.S. and Russia (or the Soviet Union previously) have written and signed treaties for mutual arms reduction (with some mixed success).  The STrategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) was one of the more successful arms reduction efforts.  However, it recently expired in December of 2009.  Throughout the last year, the Obama administration and the Russian government have been attempting to negotiate a replacement treaty.  While the public hasn't heard a lot about this, these debates have led to some pretty scary rhetoric and escalating tensions between the two nations at times.  Supposedly, an agreement is right around the corner (although, that's been the case for months).  Here are a few updates:
CNN article giving an update on the START negotiations
Reuters update


Topic 3:  Iran's Nuclear Ambitions and the International Response
Last fall, secret nuclear facilities in Iran were revealed, sparking the beginning of a big international mess.  Iran maintains that its nuclear program is solely intended to provide nuclear power (electricity).  However, their infrastructure does not seem consistent with this, and most international observers believe there is ample evidence that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons.  Iran's internal political situation is fairly unstable, and the rhetoric coming out of the government is confusing and often confrontational.  The Obama administration has been trying to get international support for sanctions against Iran, to force them to give up their nuclear technology program.  A few recent updates:
Bloomberg News Agency Article on Iran sanctions
New York Times article highlighting another confusing move by Iran

Once again, you may find better articles in the coming days about each of these topics (please post if you do!)

WWII Letter on Atomic Energy (By my Grandpa)

This is a transcribed letter my aunt sent me, from my grandpa, Jerry, to my grandma Doris.

* * *
July 6, 1945

My Dearest Sweetheart,

Did you hear the big news today about those atomic bombs and the production of atomic power? Wow, but the future is catching up with us fast. I have known for some time that the production of atomic power was possible. In fact, it has been accomplished on a small scale. The trouble was that it was terribly expensive and the material from which it was produced was very rare. It was produced first from the element uranium-235, the number 235 is to distinguish it from several other isotopes of uranium which have different atomic weights. But in the whole world there wasn’t much more uranium-235 than there was radium, so it was impossible to produce much atomic power. For myself I’m wondering just how they have accomplished this recent miracle. I wonder if they have found methods for transmuting other elements into uranium-235 or have they approached the problem from another direction such as using Munroe hollow charges of explosive to create pressure and temperatures high enough to crush the atoms. You see, if explosives are shaped like this [drawing] the power of the explosive is focused into a small jet, which has terrific speed and power. It can punch holes in armor plate like it was wax. That’s the secret of the bazooka shell, which is able to smack out all but the heaviest tanks. If a large number of these hollow charges were focused on a single small point they might be able to crush the atom.
I think they have used uranium, though, because that was by far the most promising method, and now that we have atomic power there are ever so many things we can do that weren’t possible before, such as flight through space. We may be reading before long about trips to Mars or Venus or the moon. You may remember I wrote about that just a few days ago. Most important of all though, I hope it will give the Japs some incentive to give up.
P.S. Sorry this is another academic letter, but I have to talk to someone.

With all my love,
Jerry

* * *
-Grace Claiborn

White House is Rethinking Nuclear Policy

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/us/politics/01nuke.html?ref=politics

-Madeline

End of Nuclear Debate?

Future of nuclear power.....


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703791504575079370538466574.html?KEYWORDS=nuclear


-Harrison

Airborne. missile-beating lasers

I don't think this is "nuclear" per se, but it's definitely along similar lines...and interesting!


http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18556-back-to-the-drawing-board-with-missilebeating-laser.html

-Madeline Snively

Alexander Litvinenko

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/books/12weisberg.html?_r=1


Alan Cowell wrote a book (The Terminal Spy: A true story of espionage, betrayal and murder-the first act of nuclear terrorism and the new Cold War) about this murder, and now it's totally on my to-read list. Apparently he was poisoned on my 18th birthday, sad :(.

"As the multiple subtitles in Mr. Cowell’s book suggest, he believes that the Litvinenko murder has far-reaching significance. He argues that the West has become embroiled in a new cold war with Russia, and that Mr. Litvinenko’s poisoning, whether authorized at the very top or not, was the act of an angry, newly ascendant Russia. He also believes that the murder was the world’s first act of nuclear terrorism, and that the use of polonium or similar elements in a slightly modified manner could be much more effective for terrorists than a dirty bomb."

-Cat

Maps...

http://www.atomicarchive.com/Maps/index.shtml

The map above is from the 'BRAVO' test at Bikini Atoll (http://www.atomicarchive.com/Maps/BravoMap.shtml)...

"No one was living on the Bikini atoll at the time of the BRAVO blast. However, a total of 236 people were living on the atolls of Rongelap and Utirik, 100 and 300 miles east of Bikini, respectively. The residents of Rongelap were exposed to as much as 200 rems of radiation. They were evacuated 24 hours after the detonation. The residents of Utirik, which were exposed to lower levels of radiation, were not evacuated until at least two days later. After their evacuation, many experienced typical symptoms of radiation poisoning; burning of the mouth and eyes, nausea, diarrhea, loss of hair, and skin burns.

Ten years after the blast the first thyroid tumors began to appear. Of those under twelve on Rongelap at the time of BRAVO, 90% have developed thyroid tumors. In 1964, the U. S. Government admitted responsibility for exposing the islanders to radiation and appropriated funds to compensate them."


-Cat

Map of Nuclear Illinois

There was a question in class today about the location of the nearest nuclear reactor to Chicago.  I couldn't quite remember the distance.  Below is a map from the "Nuclear Energy Information Service", which is a citizen's "watchdog" group.  I downloaded it from:
http://www.neis.org/Content/Nuclear_Illinois.shtml

The mushroom cloud in popular art.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2002/aug/06/art.artsfeatures

-Madeline Snively

US Goverment Funding for New Nuclear Power Plants

Sorry I am most definitely not in the class anymore and still posting articles.
They are looking at having two plants operational in eight years. Cheers

Julie Brower


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8518670.stm

The Latest on Iran

Secretary of State Clinton is in the Middle East right now, and one of her main goals is to get support for aggressive international sanctions against Iran.  These sanctions are intended to be a strong response to Iran's apparent nuclear weapons ambitions, but to work they need to have broad international support.  Clinton is warning that Iran may start a new nuclear arms race in the region, but at the moment the dialog seems to largely consist of insults being traded back and forth between Iran and the U.S.  Meanwhile, China and Russia are still holding back.  Where is this all going?

New York Times article on Clinton and Iran

Namibia and uranium production.

This site states how the Namibian uranium production is substantially increasing, where the once-prosperous diamond industry used to. ("Uranium output to quadruple in 4-5 years")
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSGEE5B801320091211

This second URL is to the Rossing Uranium Mine in Namibia, about 30 miles from where I co-reside (Swakopmund). Kind of scary as the mine is close to large salt deposits (which many people use for cooking and baths) and often tourist-y airplane tours are taken over the mine. It's also the third-largest producer of uranium...
http://www.rossing.com/

Other "powerhouse countries" have had an interest in Namibia's uranium.
http://www.namibian.com.na/index.php?id=28&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=35621&no_cache=1

-Madeline Snively

"F.D.A. to Increase Oversight of Medical Radiation"

Article from today's New York Times
(February 10, 2010)

-Grace Claiborn

Iran, Obama's Loan Guarantees, and Tritium Leaks in Vermont

There's so much going on in the world that relates to this class, I hardly even know where to start (plus, my head is still reeling from the notion of wearing a dress patterned with a nuclear bomb explosion - cool post, Cat!).

A few news stories worth following:

Iran:
 L.A. Times article that gives the current status with the situation with Iran.  It sounds like they're boldly proclaiming that they're going to build more uranium enrichment facilities, and also enrich uranium to a higher degree than "allowed" by the international community.  It may take us a bit to unravel what all this means, but we'll start this week by discussing what "enrichment" is.

Obama's Nuclear Power Agenda:
Remember last week how we talked about Obama's state of the union address, and his intention to boost the U.S. Nuclear Energy program significantly?  Well, the first step towards building new nuclear power plants is to make sure that the companies can get financing.  Nuclear power is still viewed as pretty risky, so Obama is promising loan guarantees so that the nuclear power companies can get the financing they need.  Remember how we also discussed the potential political payoffs of Obama's nuclear agenda?  Here's a New York Times article about that. 

Tritium Leaking from a Nuclear Power Plant in Vermont:
 As the existing U.S. nuclear power plants age, leaks of radioactive water are likely to become more common.  It's pretty hard to control the spread of radioactivity that is carried in water.  Here's a transcript of a recent Vermont Public Radio piece on what's going on with just such a leak at the Yankee Nuclear Plant.  In class this week another think we'll cover is what tritium is exactly.

subnormality bombs again

-caitlin m.

Christopher Kane

"I wanted something natural, but I'm so fed up with florals," he explained in his London studio. "And then I came across these images of nuclear test explosions from the fifties to the seventies on the Internet. I like the crazy-bright chemical colors. The way they're sinister—but beautiful."


http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/2010RST-CKANE/


-Cat

Welcome to the Spring 2010 Unstable Nucleus Class!

It's that time again, to restart regular class blog updates.  The first assignment deals with radiation topics in the news.  Some of the readings are re-used from last semester, and some are new.  The articles I would like you to read are:

1) BBC news article on France's plans to compensate soldiers exposed to nuclear weapons tests
2) New York Times article on radiation from granite countertops
3) Washington Post article on new scanning technology in airports
4) Web MD article on radiation exposure due to medical testing
5) Science Daily article on the National Institutes of Health beginning to monitor radiation exposure from medical tests.
6) Chicago Tribune article on radium issues in neighboring Joliet

What ever happened with the START follow-up negotiations?

This amazing image of Obama and Putin staring each other down is from Foreign Policy's The Cable blog, from a posting by Josh Rogin on December 30, 2009. 

If you've been following the "nuclear news", you'll remember that the START treaty (a long-standing, and successful, arms reduction treaty between the U.S. and Russia) expired December 5.  Negotiations have been underway to put in place some kind of follow-up agreement, but they keep hitting snags.  Since no agreements were ready by the December 5 deadline, Obama and Putin agreed to uphold the terms of the original START I treaty for some indefinite period of time until negotiations made some progress.

The latest (and potentially significant) snag in the negotiations is Putin's recent re-awakening of the missile defense issue.  You may remember that there used to be a treaty in place between the U.S. and Russia called the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty.  This treaty prevented both sides from building "missile defense shields", and it was seen as crucial in maintaining the cold-war balance of power and limiting the offensive arms race.  As a part of President Bush's nuclear policy, the U.S. pulled out of the ABM treaty, and began working on a new missile shield in Europe.  Ostensibly, this missile shield is intended to protect against nuclear attacks from Iran or North Korea, not Russia.  However, Putin warns that the U.S. missile defense agenda could drive Russia to develop new offensive capabilities.  A relatively recent article on this can be found here:
New York Times article on Putin's recent statements

While this may just be a negotiating tactic, Putin is holding up START treaty negotiations over the missile defense issue.  Negotiations are supposed to restart in the middle of this month. 

Meanwhile, back home, a group of republican senators is claiming they will oppose a follow-up START treaty unless the Obama administration funds modernization efforts for our existing nuclear arsenal:
Wall Street Journal opinion piece

Overall, what we are seeing here is Obama's idealistic nuclear disarmament agenda being confronted with real world complexities.  It will be a very interesting year to keep tabs on the "nuclear news"!