1/31/2012 War Propaganda: 70% of Americans believe Iran has a nuke, the same percentage as in 2002 who believed Saddam Hussein had a WMD

Source: RT News
Date: 1/31/2012
by: Liz Wahl


On Tuesday the Senate held a hearing to discuss what the US views as worldwide threats. It is no surprise that Iran made the top of the list as tensions between the West and Iran have grown. According to some reports, 70 percent of Americans believe Iran has a nuclear weapon despite Secretary Defense Leon Panetta admitting that is false. Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst, joins us to discuss should Americans be afraid of Iran and if America should go to war on an if.

[Editor's Note:  The following article by Ray McGovern, senior CIA analyst who used to brief Ronald Reagan, breaks down the war propaganda and true agenda (in McGovern's view) behind deceptively making the public think Iran has a nuke and is about to use it: Israel Tamps Down Iran War Threats]

1/31/2012 Depleted Uranium and the Boeing 747 Airplane Program

Source: Enformable
Date: 1/31/2012
by: Lucas Whitefield Hixson

Neither the Federal Aviation Administration nor the major aircraft manufacturers publish information about which planes and helicopters contain DU components. As one industry insider told the Journal, “No one brags about DU.”

However many wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 747, Lockheed L-1011,  McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed military C-130 all require the use of counter-balance weights for proper flight control.
...
Read the rest of this shocking article here

1/31/2012 Radioactive Steam Released At Nuclear Power Plant In Illinois

Source: CBS News
Date: 1/31/2012
by: Betty Nguyen


From the Chicago Tribune 1/30/2012: Backup generators kick in after shutdown at Exelon's Byron plant

Map of Byron Nuclear Generating Station:
View Live Ustream Radiation Detectors in a larger map

1/25/2012 Leaked Japanese Report Details 'Worst-Case' Nuclear Scenario

Source: Voice of America
Date: 1/25/2012

Photo: Reuters

The crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant's No.4 reactor building is seen after the removal of debris on the upper side of the unit in Fukushima prefecture, January 5, 2012.

The Japanese government predicted a worst-case scenario at the height of its nuclear crisis last year warning that tens of millions of people, including Tokyo residents, might need to evacuate the region to avoid contamination.
...
Read full article here

Here is the link to the AP article about this report:

• Jan 25, 10:04 AM EST Japan kept silent on worst nuclear crisis scenario

1/24/2012 New Material to Remove Radioactive Gas from Spent Nuclear Fuel

Source: Science Daily
Date: 1/24/2012

ScienceDaily (Jan. 24, 2012) — Research by a team of Sandia chemists could impact worldwide efforts to produce clean, safe nuclear energy and reduce radioactive waste.
...
Read full article here

1/25/2012 Contrary to Widespread Claims, There Is NO EVIDENCE that Iran Is Building a Nuclear Weapon

Source: Washington's Blog
Date: 1/25/2012

Iran Is NOT Building a Nuclear Bomb

Earlier this month, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said:

Are they [the Iranians] trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No. But we know that they’re trying to develop a nuclear capability. And that’s what concerns us.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper confirmed in a Senate hearing – following the release of the classified National Intelligence Estimate in 2011 – that he has a “high level of confidence” that Iran “has not made a decision as of this point to restart its nuclear weapons program.”
Mohamed ElBaradei – who spent more than a decade as the director of the IAEA – said that he had not “seen a shred of evidence” that Iran was pursuing the bomb.
Six former ambassadors to Iran within the last decade say that there is no evidence that Iran is building nuclear weapons, and that Iran is complying with international law.
The International Atomic Energy Agency states:

All nuclear material in the facility remains under the Agency’s containment and surveillance.

In other words, all nuclear fuel is accounted for and is being controlled and monitored by the international agency tasked with nuclear non-proliferation.
What about Iran’s enriching uranium to 20%? The IAEA considers 20 percent enriched uranium to be low-enriched uranium and “a fully adequate isotopic barrier” to weaponization. In other words, 20% is well within the legal guidelines for developing a program of nuclear energy.

1/24/2012 Radiation Measurement from Eastern Ontario

Source: firebombclipper YouTube channel
Date: 1/24/2012
by: Ray Marsalas

More high numbers in the wet snow falling. Jan 24. High mark 0.67 micro-sieverts. {4 or 5 times background}.

1/24/2012 Governments Worldwide Raise Acceptable Radiation Levels Based Upon Politics … Not Science

Source: Washington's Blog
Date: 1/24/2012

Instead of Protecting People, Governments Cover Up by Raising “Safe” Radiation Levels

American and Canadian authorities have virtually stopped monitoring airborne radiation.
Neither American nor Canadian authorities are testing fish for radioactivity.
Does that mean that we don’t have to worry about radiation from Fukushima?
It is a little hard to know, given that what is deemed a “safe level” of radiation is determined by politics … rather than science. For example, current safety standards are based on the ridiculous assumption that everyone exposed is a healthy man in his 20s – and that radioactive particles ingested into the body cause no more damage than radiation hitting the outside of the body.
And one of the main advisors to the Japanese government on Fukushima announced:

If you smile, the radiation will not affect you.

(Here’s the video.)

1/22/2012 (Video) ☢ Low-Dose Radiation ☢ Department of Energy Study

Source: Goddard's Journal
Date: 1/22/2012 upload date

Sources cited:

DOE: "Supporting Our Nation's Nuclear Industry"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LkHYerK8y8

DOE low-dose study:
http://lowdose.energy.gov/pdf/2011/PNAS.pdf

DOE low-dose study press release:
http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2011/12/20/low-dose-radiation

DOE Low Dose Radiation Research Program:
http://lowdose.energy.gov

Evidence Pyramid
http://library.downstate.edu/EBM2/2100.htm

Bhatti et al (2010) finds high genetic damage at low doses in vivo
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3075914

1/19/2011 Radiation Alert from Taos, New Mexico

Source: Radiation Network
Date: 1/19/2010 11:30 AM

[Editor's Note: Copy and pasted from the site since the URL presents a continuous page with no breaks.]

[...]

Update: 1/19/12, 11:30 A.M. - Radiation Alert from Taos

On January 18th, at about 5:48 PM local time, the Nokaoi station in the Taos area of New Mexico broadcast a Radiation Alert over the Network.  See the graph at right, depicting elevated readings averaging over 100 CPM (Counts per Minute) for a sustained period of about 20 minutes, then subsiding to near normal background levels of about 60 to 70 CPM.

For context, the station is operating the Inspector Geiger counter, which is a high count rate model built around an ultra-sensitive pancake style Geiger- Mueller tube.  Between that high count rate, and the high elevation of Taos at 7,300 feet, their background count of about 60 CPM is therefore considered normal.

During the alert period, the station reports they were monitoring indoors on the second floor of an adobe structure, with the instrument sitting on the bed, monitoring the environment only - no specific materials were being scanned at the time.  A few minutes of outdoor monitoring preceded the graphed activity shown above, which readings were also elevated.  It was neither raining nor snowing at the time, and the wind was still, against relatively clear skies, although the station reported a "heavy orange cloud" on the western horizon at dusk, reminiscent of an LA sunset that is color enhanced by smog.

So what was the cause?  In short, we don't know, but the fact that the elevated radiation levels were sustained for many minutes, versus a momentary spike, and then fell back to normal levels, tends to rule out a false alert that our network occasionally generates from an instrument glitch or the like.  A jet stream map from last evening located the flow too far north to be a factor, its southern edge dipping down only as far as Colorado.  Did the orange cloud somehow relate to the elevated radiation levels?  Was there a passing radioactive "plume" from Japan?  Or perhaps a downwind release from Los Alamos National Lab to the west?  These are speculative questions only.  A greater number of Monitoring Stations would provide a chance to corroborate readings, so that must be the continuing mission of the Radiation Network.

[...]

Visit here for the radiation network map

1/20/2012 Despite Entergy's Court Win, Yankee Still Needs State Permit

Source: VPR (Vermont Public Radio) News
Date: Friday, 01/20/12 5:50pm
by: John Dillon

(Host) Despite a big win in federal court, Entergy Vermont Yankee still needs permission from state utility regulators to operate for another 20 years.
...
Read full article here and access radio broadcast segment

1/19/2012 Tepco Drills a Hole in Fukushima Reactor … Finds that Nuclear Fuel Has Gone Missing

Source: Washington's Blog
Date: 1/19/2012

Cold Shutdown … or Escape of Hot Fuel?

I noted last month in connection with Tepco’s announcement of “cold shutdown” of the Fukushima reactors:

If the reactors are “cold”, it may be because most of the hot radioactive fuel has leaked out.
***
The New York Times pointed out last month:

A former nuclear engineer with three decades of experience at a major engineering firm … who has worked at all three nuclear power complexes operated by Tokyo Electric [said] “If the fuel is still inside the reactor core, that’s one thing” …. But if the fuel has been dispersed more widely, then we are far from any stable shutdown.”

Indeed, if the center of the reactors are in fact relatively “cold”, it may be because most of the hot radioactive fuel has leaked out of the containment vessels and escaped into areas where it can do damage to the environment.