Really useful background on the situation with Iran

(From Oscar)
About the nuclear crisis, in 4 minutes (with some opinion added): Background on the history of the US and Iran:

Russia and India - nuclear power deal?

From Jamie: 
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2014/12/india-build-nuclear-reactors-with-russia-2014121110318518210.html
I feel like it's a little suspicious for these two countries to collaborate so enthusiastically and at the same time I feel that maybe the United States should not warn or give advice so confidently.

Nuclear safety... and nuclear subs

From Caleb, here's an article that outlines part of the model we use for mandating safety measures, namely establishing a cost per human life risked in order to create a cost-benefit comparison. The international community is putting pressure on the U.S. to agree to new international policies regarding nuclear safety. Even Russia is on the sane side. U.S. business interests, however, are campaigning very hard to keep the U.S. from agreeing and thereby raising costs by imposing new safety standards.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-10/american-lives-valued-at-6-million-less-in-nuclear-meltdown.html


Also, from the related articles on Bloomberg, China is launching nuclear subs that will change the dynamic of nuclear politics between Asia and the west http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-08/china-takes-nuclear-weapons-undersea-where-prying-eyes-can-t-see.html

We shouldn't worry though, they probably wouldn't be able to bomb anywhere in the U.S. besides Hawaii and Alaska. So fewer Palins and volcanoes. I'd miss the bears though.

Government fined for violations on nuclear waste

From Megan, here's an article about a fine (of $54m) New Mexico placed on the Federal Government for violations of nuclear waste.
http://rt.com/usa/212215-new-mexico-nuclear-fine/

White Light/Black Rain
HBO Documentary

This documentary by Steven Okazaki examines the aftereffects of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  The movie interviews 14 survivors of the bombing, and investigates the trauma of living through that event.  In addition, the movie looks more broadly at the effects on the national psyche of postwar Japan. Several Americans who were involved in the bombings are also profiled to gauge their perspectives looking back.  You can watch the whole thing via this youtube link, or on HBOgo if you have a subscription.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpMZkXXHf6o


-Taylor Larson

New Defense Secretary and Nuclear Implications?

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nuclear-weapons-military-hagel-20141114-story.html#page=1
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/defense-secretary-chuck-hagel-resigning/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/12/04/obama-ashton-carter-chuck-hagel-defense-secretary/19895589/

Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced an overhaul of management in nuclear force along with improvements and modernization of weapons and facilities on November 14. Ten days later, he resigned and this morning Obama announced his nomination of Ashton Carter as new Secretary of Defense. Carter was involved in nuclear management, disarmament both domestically and internationally as well as removal of nuclear materials from certain countries. It seems likely, in my opinion, for him to continue with this policy of reduction, especially with the Obama administration, and it is unclear whether Hagel's policy will be continued.

Rachel

History of the Iconic Peace Sign

The "Peace Sign"was originally designed as the symbol of the CND- Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. CND was launched in February of 1958 and soon after the Aldermaston Marches attracted attention, this was the first time the CND symbol appeared. The Aldermaston marches were anti-nuclear weapons demonstrations in the 1950's and 1960's demonstrated on easter weekend. The distance between Aldermaston and London is 52 miles.
http://cnduk.org/about/item/437

-Kristi

Ukraine Nuclear Plant Accident

Ukraine nuclear accident 'no threat': Minister

It is interesting to see the level of calm surrounding a mishap at a nuclear plant.
Though it was a small incident, the accident has the potential to cause hysteria as it deals with such a sensitive topic of nuclear plants and the danger involved with them. The article shows how media can set a distinct mood when announcing events and thus affects the way we all approach these incidents.

In addition to that, the writer ends the article noting the amount ("60 million tonnes") of coal the Ukraine produced--inviting an even larger discussion (of coal vs. nuclear energy) and a possible explanation for the moderate tone of the article and surrounding the incident.

-Jamie G.

ISAO HASHIMOTO

An interesting video of the 2053 nuclear explosions conducted in various parts of the globe. Quite similar to the video of the number of earthquakes in Japan each year, Hashimoto intended to evoke "the fear and the folly of nuclear weapons."

"This piece of work is a bird's eye view of the history by scaling down a month length of time into one second. No letter is used for equal messaging to all viewers without language barrier. The blinking light, sound and the numbers on the world map show when, where and how many experiments each country have conducted. I created this work for the means of an interface to the people who are yet to know of the extremely grave, but present problem of the world."

Overkillded by Isao puts the number of explosions into a creepy time lapse perspective

I think it's interesting how Isao expresses explosions in different forms in his work. The elegance and simplicity of this video reminds me of the pedestal that we put these tests on. 

-Kristi

So many things are wrong here...

I recommend this recent opinion piece talking about the situation today in Eniwetok Atoll, a small island in the pacific where the U.S. did many nuclear tests in the past.  The article only has one side of the story, but it is pretty mind-blowing that we (the U.S.) have left things in such a state:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/opinion/a-pacific-isle-radioactive-and-forgotten.html

Uranium mine found in Sahara Desert

http://imgur.com/gallery/6gE7D

- Jacob C

Nuclear Weapons Modernization

There have been a number of news stories popping up lately about investing more money into modernizing, remaking, and even testing nuclear weapons again.  Here's one from the LA Times - an interesting read, perhaps relevant for your final papers?

Sonic Deep Map

http://theradius.us/episode48

Sonic Deep Map, released in 2014, by Radio Aktiv, is an hour and a half long sound piece comprised of interviews, spoken, and sonic poetry. It uses direct quotes from residents of Pyhäjoki, Finland, along with abstractions of the negative emotional reaction to the potential threat of a nuclear power plant being placed in their town, to give a voice to further articulate and organize the rejection. An industrial pulse weaves in and out of the human voices as they describe the natural beauty of their seaside town, creating a cyborg landscape to listen in.

“To produce the audio content for Sonic Deep Map, Radio Aktiv conducted interviews with local activists of the organization Pro Hanhikivi, which is led by two mothers — local community members Hanna Halmeenpää and Helena Maijala — who fight every day to stop the proposed power plant; made field recordings in the stunning seaside landscape of the Hanhikivi Cape; did group vocalization exercises — humming and screaming to conjure the rage and sadness that the threat of the power plant proffers; traveled by boat; and documented the sounds made in a Geiger counter building workshop led by Erich Berger and Martin Howes.” 

This reminds me of the rejection the residents of Nevada had (and still have) for the plans for Yucca Mountain. This piece is an example of a way artists can speak out against nuclear power, or for it. The piece is completely biased against nuclear power, but it could also be biased completely for it. I think the reason people choose to have extreme biases, particularly in this issue, is because it’s so complicated to explain the positive and negative aspects that are inherent to it.

This piece is an episode from Radius, which is “an experimental radio broadcast platform based in Chicago, IL, USA.” One of the directors of Radius, Jeff Kolar, came in to speak to one of my classes about his work. He talked about Radius, and mentioned some of the more recent works produced under it, including this. Radius is local, and active. 

http://theradius.us

-Ava Threlkel

Something Funny When Considering Nuclear Weapons

Blame my roommate.
-Connie C.

Nuclear Slide Rule

slide rules that compute everything from dosage to the size of craters left by nuclear bombs. https://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/sliderules/sliderules.htm

More paper 2 resources

More articles on a few topics:

Iran

Talks about Iran's nuclear program, underway this week.  One of the interesting threads here is how these negotiations are seen as a 'proxy' for much bigger ideological and policy issues related to the Middle East.  One of the core terms being negotiated is how many centrifuges Iran is 'allowed' to operate, and this is arguably tied to how quickly they would be able to enrich uranium to bomb-grade levels if they wanted to (so-called 'breakout capacity').  But some have argued that if Iran really went for a bomb, they would do so in secret, so maybe this decision doesn't end up making any difference?  That would be an interesting place to weigh in, if you want to write about this topic.  A few starting articles:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/world/middleeast/nuclear-deal-with-iran-runs-into-obstacles-.html
http://www.theguardian.com/world/julian-borger-global-security-blog/2014/nov/19/the-iran-nuclear-talks-too-big-to-fail
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30078132

CTBT

If you're thinking about this issue, check out this very recent speech by Rose Gottemoeller, our Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security:  http://www.state.gov/t/us/2014/233254.htm

Here's a recent opinion piece from a Washington political blog:  http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/221692-new-senate-must-finish-what-ike-jfk-started

Here's a somewhat older anti-CTBT article that makes some good points:  http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/276530/reconsidering-comprehensive-test-ban-treaty-r-james-woolsey


Feel free to contact me if you could use some help finding reliable sources on other topics!

Hopefull video for fusion from BBC

http://youtu.be/DyB7Ho_W9RE?list=LLsU3Oi0jji1MUZGLyF6LcuQ
Sorry, I don't know why it didn't publish with the link the first time.
-Sappho Finnegan

Starting points for your papers

For the final paper for this class, you'll need to take a stand on a current nuclear weapons issue and back up your position drawing on what you have learned in class.

There are a lot of things going on in the world right now that relate directly to nuclear weapons, and I would like to call your attention to a few of them as starting points.  A number of these articles are from the New York Times, and if you run into the paywall issues, remember that you can get access to these through the library digital resources.

1.  Addressing flaws in the management and maintenance of U.S. Nuclear Weapons.  Here's a New York Times article about this but you can find other, tied to a recent Pentagon study and a press conference today by defense secretary Hagel.

2.  Disintegrating relations with Russia and their impact on nuclear disarmament and security issues.  Lately, we've been at odds with the world's other big nuclear superpower.  This has an impact on our overall nuclear stance (and theirs).  It might modify negotiations over treaties, alter what happens in Iran, or upset ongoing projects to prevent nuclear terrorism.  On this last point, this is a really interesting New York Times article.  

3.  Of course, taking a stand on what should happen with the current talks in Iran would be great.  However, this is unfolding right at the same time you will be writing your papers, so between your first and second drafts, things might substantially change!  Just be prepared!  Here's a CNN article to get started thinking about what's going on politically in the U.S. surrounding this issue.

4.  How is Obama doing on his goals for disarmament?  Do you support the planned expenditures on modernizing our nuclear weapons infrastructure?  Here's an analysis by the New York Times to start thinking about this. 

5.  Hey, Pakistan just tested a nuclear-capable long-range missile... should we be worried about this?

6. Treaties!  Of course, great places to weigh in are on the CTBT, the proposals for the FMCT, or what should follow New START.  I will post more resources on those soon.

The Colbert Report
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Not related to nuclear energy but a good video of earthquakes around Japan in 2011. The date is in the upper left corner and remember the big earthquake hit on March 11th.