Saturday, September 25, 2010

Iran 'attacked' by computer worm Iran's nuclear agency trying to combat a virus capable of taking over systems that control power plants, media says.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/09/2010925135358149112.html

Foreign media has speculated that the worm is aimed at disrupting the Bushehr nuclear plant [EPA]

Iran's nuclear agency is trying to combat a complex computer worm that has affected industrial sites throughout the country and is capable of taking over the control systems of power plants, Iranian media reports have said.
Experts from the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran met this week to discuss how to remove the malicious computer code, or worm, the semi-official Isna news agency reported on Friday.
No damage or disruption of nuclear facilities has yet been reported, however.
The computer worm, dubbed Stuxnet, can take over systems that control the inner workings of industrial plants.
Experts in Germany discovered the worm in July, and it has since shown up in a number of attacks - primarily in Iran, Indonesia, India and the US.
'Disrupting Bushehr'
Isna said the malware had spread throughout Iran, but did not name specific sites affected.
Foreign media reports have speculated the worm was aimed at disrupting Iran's first nuclear power plant, which is to go online in October in the southern port city of Bushehr.

The Russian-built plant will be internationally supervised, but world powers remain concerned that Iran wants to use its civil nuclear power programme as a cover for making weapons.
Iran denies such an aim and says its nuclear work is solely for peaceful purposes.
The destructive Stuxnet worm has surprised experts because it is the first one specifically created to take over industrial control systems, rather than just steal or manipulate data.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Rik Ferguson, a senior security adviser at the computer security company Trend Micro, described the worm as "very sophisticated".
"It is designed both for information theft, looking for design documents and sending that information back to the controllers, and for disruptive purposes," he said.
"It can issue new commands or change commands used in manufacturing.
"It's difficult to say with any certainty who is behind it. There are multiple theories, and in all honesty, any of of them could be correct."
Western experts have said the worm's sophistication - and the fact that about 60 per cent of computers infected looked to be in Iran - pointed to a government-backed attack.
Washington is also tracking the worm, and the Department of Homeland Security is building specialised teams that can respond quickly to cyber emergencies at industrial facilities across the US.

Tehran confirms its industrial computers under Stuxnet virus attack DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

http://www.debka.com/article/9045/

Iran is first nation to admit to being victim of cyber-terror

Mahmoud Alyaee, secretary-general of Iran's industrial computer servers, including its nuclear facilities control systems, confirmed Saturday, Sept. 25, that30,000 computers belonging to classified industrial units had been infected and disabled bythemalicious Stuxnet virus.
This followed debkafile's exclusive report Thursday, Sept. 23, from its Washington and defense sources that a clandestine cyber war is being fought against Iran by the United States with elite cyber war units established by Israel. Stuxnet is believed to be the most destructive virus ever devised for attacking major industrial complexes, reactors and infrastructure. The experts say it is beyond the capabilities of private or individual hackers and could have been produced by a high-tech state like America or Israel, or its military cyber specialists.
The Iranian official said Stuxnet had been designed to strike the industrial control systems in Iran manufactured by the German Siemens and transfer classified data abroad.
The head of the Pentagon's cyber war department, Vice Adm. Bernard McCullough said Thursday, Sept. 22, that Stuxnet had capabilities never seen before. In a briefing to the Armed Forces Committee of US Congress, he testified that it was regarded as the most advanced and sophisticated piece of Malware to date.
According to Alyaee, the virus began attacking Iranian industrial systems two months ago. He had no doubt that Iran was the victim of a cyber attack which its anti-terror computer experts had so far failed to fight. Stuxnet is powerful enough to change an entire environment, he said without elaborating. Not only has it taken control of automatic industrial systems, but has raided them for classified information and transferred the date abroad.
This was the first time an Iranian official has explained how the United States and Israel intelligence agencies have been able to keep pace step by step of progress made in Iran's nuclear program. Until now, Tehran attributed the leaks to Western spies using Iranian double agents.
Last Thursday, debkafile first reported from its Washington sources that US president Barack Obama had resolved to deal with the nuclear impasse with Iran by going after the Islamic republic on two tracks: UN and unilateral sanctions for biting deep into the financial resources Iran has earmarked for its nuclear program, and a secret cyber war with Israel to cripple its nuclear facilities.
In New York, the US offer to go back to the negotiating table was made against this background.
Leaks by American security sources to US media referred to the recruitment by Israel military and security agencies of cyber raiders with the technical knowhow and mental toughness for operating in difficult and hazardous circumstances, such as assignments for stealing or destroying enemy technology, according to one report.
debkafile's sources disclose that Israel has had special elite units carrying out such assignments for some time. Three years ago, for instance, cyber raiders played a role in the destruction of the plutonium reactor North Korea was building at A-Zur in northern Syria.
Some computer security specialists reported speculated that the virus was devised specifically to target part of the Iranian nuclear infrastructure, either the Bushehr nuclear plant activated last month - which has not been confirmed - or the centrifuge facility in Natanz.
debkafile's sources add: Since August, American and UN nuclear watchdog sources have been reporting a slowdown in Iran's enrichment processing due to technical problems which have knocked out a large number of centrifuges and which its nuclear technicians have been unable to repair. It is estimated that at Natanz alone, 3,000 centrifuges have been idled.

Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire: Iranian nuclear plants likely target of foiled cyber sabotage Speculation grows that Israeli hackers were behind operation – but analysts say it may be impossible to identify perpetrators

Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire: Iranian nuclear plants likely target of foiled cyber sabotage Speculation grows that Israeli hackers were behind operation – but analysts say it may be impossible to identify perpetrators

Iranian nuclear plants likely target of foiled cyber sabotage Speculation grows that Israeli hackers were behind operation – but analysts say it may be impossible to identify perpetrators

Who Is Trying To Hack Into Iran's Nuclear Plants?

Image: from Red Orbit

Iranian Nuclear Plants Likely Target Of Foiled Cyber Sabotage -- The Guardian

Speculation grows that Israeli hackers were behind operation – but analysts say it may be impossible to identify perpetrators

Iran was the likely target of a sophisticated computer worm designed to sabotage factories and infrastructure which was almost certainly the work of a national government agency, security experts told the Guardian yesterday.

According to the security company Symantec, 60% of the computers infected by the Stuxnet computer worm are in Iran, which is where the malicious software, known as malware, was discovered by a Belarussian computer security company.

Read more ....http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/25/iran-cyber-hacking-nuclear-plants

More News On The Stuxnet Computer Worm

Iran's nuclear agency trying to stop computer worm -- AP
Cyber attack 'targeted Iran' -- Al Jazeera
'Stuxnet' Attack May Have Been Aimed At Iran: Experts -- Red Orbit
Stuxnet worm mystery: What's the cyber weapon after? -- Christian Science Monitor
Analysis: Iran "attack" points to rising cyber warfare risk -- Reuters

Matt Gurney: It’s great that Iran is getting sabotaged. But let’s not get cocky

Last week, the United States was pushing its allies in NATO to address gaping weaknesses in their cyber defences, computerized firewalls and virus-killing programs designed to secure critical online infrastructure from attack by hostile nation states, terrorist groups or even creepily talented hackers with more smarts than ethics. Saying that NATO needs to take the threat of cyber warfare seriously, the U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary warned that the United States faces over a hundred computer attacks a day and proposed a combined NATO cyber shield that would protect against and actively combat any attempts to disrupt the alliance’s communications and critical infrastructure.
What makes this interesting, and timely, is that it looks like a country might have just fallen victim of a cyber attack, aimed directly at the kind of military projects and critical infrastructure that America is so concerned about securing. The country is Iran, and the target, its nuclear program.
The details of the probable attack are sketchy, and much of the information that is available is in the form of technogargon inpenetrable to mere mortals. But in short, a hostile computer program designed to disrupt activity recently popped up on a huge scale in Iran. It is tailored specifically to knock out industrial computers of the sort being used in Iran’s nuclear facilities, and appeared so suddenly and on such a scale that it would have required the resources of a state intelligence service. The obvious suspects are Israel and the United States.
Particularly the latter. While the Obama administration, and the Bush administration before him, has been roundly accused to letting the Tehran mullahs waltz merrily towards membership in the nuclear nations club, there have been past reports suggesting that while America has chosen to not wage war on Iran, it has been doing everything in its power to destabilize, disrupt and delay Iran’s nuclear ambitions since at least 2006.
It’s a poor man’s way of fighting, but given the strains currently in place on American military might and economic resources, it’s better than nothing. Not necessarily much better, since it can’t stop Iran’s development of a bomb. But at the very least, it buys time in the hopes of cooler heads someday prevailing or the Iranian reformers somehow seizing power. It also fits well with how the Obama administration has thus far chosen to fight its battles: talk peace abroad, bring troops home to fulfill campaign promises, and quietly use drones to drop Hellfire missiles onto the heads of anyone who needs killing.
While America’s efforts to use non-violent (or at least discretely violent) means to accomplish military goals is to be commended, it must take care to not reap what it sows. America’s military computer networks are believed to be largely secure, some past mistakes notwithstanding, but the civilian sector infrastructure is virtually lit up by a neon sign saying, “Please hack me.” Most of the civilian essential infrastructure in North America dates back to the 1950s and lays completely open to a computer attack that could leave North Americans without heat, power and water for days or even weeks, all without an enemy having to so much as fire a shot or open a missile launch tube. Russia is already believed to have waged cyber warfare against Georgia and NATO-member Estonia.
China and Russia are known to have attempted to penetrate the continental power grid already. In any future conflict, while America maneuvered war fleets and Air Force squadrons around the world in a show of strength, hackers in Moscow and Beijing could turn off the lights in Chicago and the water in Boston, perhaps anonymously. These cyber security gaps leave the entire civilian population of North America virtually hostage, and efforts to patch the gaps are only getting underway now.
It’s good to hear that Iran’s nuclear program is being slowed down, even if just a little bit. But let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that someone else can’t do the same thing to us, on a much more devastating scale.
National Post
mgurney@nationalpost.com

Read more: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/09/24/matt-gurney-its-great-that-iran-is-getting-sabotaged-but-lets-not-get-cocky/#ixzz10YQoVJdy

Why the LFTR is Still Needed

A new MiT report, The Future of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle, argues that

Uranium supplies will not limit the expansion of nuclear power in the US or around the world for the foreseeable futurer . . .

This should quiet the anti-nuclear power camp on that particular issue, but it won/t. Critics of nuclear power have a tin ear when it comes to evidence. Any evidence that discredits their position simply does not exist, in their minds, and thus they will discount the MiT Report, and continue to tell us that we are running out of uranium.

If we are not running out of uranium is their any justification for the LFTR, a reactor that operates on an alternative - Thorium - fuel cycle? The answer is that there are several good reasons for adopting LFTR technology, even though there may be a large supply of accessible uranium.

One major reason for choosing the LFTR is that it invites far lower fuel cycle related capital investments. If the future reactor fleet is to be entirely uranium fueled, very large capital investments will have to go into uranium mines, processing facilities, enrichment facilities, and spent fuel management. in addition all of these facilities have significant operation costs attached.

More at:
http://nucleargreen.blogspot.com/2010/09/wht-lftr-is-still-needed.html

Friday, September 24, 2010

: Israel's Nuclear Weapons By Warner D. Farr, LTC, U.S. Army

This paper is a history of the Israeli nuclear weapons program drawn from a review of unclassified sources. Israel began its search for nuclear weapons at the inception of the state in 1948. As payment for Israeli participation in the Suez Crisis of 1956, France provided nuclear expertise and constructed a reactor complex for Israel at Dimona capable of large-scale plutonium production and reprocessing. Continue

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26442.htm

IAEA rejects resolution on Israel (bbc.co.uk)
Q+A: What is at stake in Israel row at UN atom body? (reuters.com)
Admiral stirs questions on Israel's "nuclear" subs (reuters.com)
U.N. nuclear assembly rejects Arab move targeting Israel (reuters.com)
Arab move to censure Israel stymied at UN meeting (theglobeandmail.com)
Arab League chief: No peace talks if Israel continues building settlements (foxnews.com)
Arabs: No peace talks if Israel contin

"In the Interests of Israel" Why Russia will not sell the S-300 Air Defense System to Iran By Gen. Vladimir Ivashov

-Russian army chief of staff Gen. N. Makarov broke the news on September 22 that Russia will not sell the S-300 air defense systems to Iran. Regardless of official explanations, it does not take an expert to realize that as a purely defensive system designed to shield a country from aircraft and cruise missile attacks the S-300 complexes cannot pose a threat to any country unless it attacks the one owning them. As for the standoff between Iran and Israel, Tehran is constantly confronted with threats of massive air strikes, and taking steps to prevent the aggression is a must for any country seeking to sustain peace, especially for a permanent UN Security Council member sharing the responsibility for global security. Aggression is least likely in the situation of military parity or if the potential victim is able to inflict unacceptable damage on the aggressor. Iran's possession of the S-300 complexes could expose Israel's air forces to the risk of unacceptable damage in case the letter choses to attack the former. Denying Iran the right to efficient means of self-defense is tantamount to encouraging aggression against it. Isn't Russia thus helping to unleash a disastrous war in the proximity of its own borders, a war against a country which, by the way, hosts a large colony of Russian specialists? On top of that, the refusal to supply the S-300 complexes to Iran clearly hurts Russia's political and economic interests.

What could be the motivation behind Russia's recent decision? Obviously, it stems from several regards. Ostensibly unaware of the existence of Israel' nuclear arsenal, Moscow has for years been playing the game of taming Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions and voted for sanctions against the country in the UN Security Council. Actually, Tehran proposed a number of times to turn the Middle East into a nuclear-free zone. The plan was welcomed by the majority of the Arab world but seems to be a taboo for Russia's foreign ministry. Now, why is that?

Continue

Israel's Nuclear Weapons By Warner D. Farr, LTC, U.S. Army

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26442.htm

German Cyber-Security Expert: Stuxnet’s Target, Natanz Reactor

Did Stuxnet target Iran's Natanz nuclear reactor? (Reuters)

Might Stuxnet have been the preemptive first strike in Israel’s campaign against Iran’s nuclear program?

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2010/09/23/german-cyber-security-expert-stuxnets-target-natanz-reactor/

Japanese Plant Begins Use of MOX Fuel

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100924a6.html

A Japanese power company yesterday began operating an Okuma-based nuclear power reactor using fuel converted from weapon-capable plutonium, Kyodo News reported (see GSN, April 9).
Tokyo Electric Power Co. is expected in around five days to start running the mixed-oxide nuclear fuel reactor at full capacity. A government inspection of the reactor slated for Oct. 26 would precede its use for commercial power production, according to the firm.
The reactor was the third in Japan to begin using MOX fuel; the other two reactors are located in the towns of Genkai and Ikata (Kyodo News, Japan Times, Sept. 24).

Online: The No. 3 reactor (second from left) at Tepco's Fukushima nuclear power plant was started up Thursday. KYODO PHOTO

Tepco starts power output with MOX fuel

FUKUSHIMA (Kyodo) Power generation using plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel started at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant Thursday morning, the utility said.

The No. 3 reactor at the plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, is the third in Japan for MOX fuel power generation, known as "pluthermal," with the others at Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s Genkai plant in Saga Prefecture and Shikoku Electric Power Co.'s Ikata plant in Ehime Prefecture.

Tepco will boost the reactor's power output to nearly 100 percent in about five days. It will then launch commercial operations after a final government inspection on Oct. 26, it said.

Pluthermal, a Japanese word that combines "plutonium" and "thermal," involves the use of MOX fuel, a mixture of uranium and plutonium reprocessed from spent uranium, to produce electricity.

Is Nuclear Proliferation Contagious? Authors: William Potter, CNS Director Gaukhar Mukhatzhanova, Research Associate

James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies

The spread of nuclear weapons is a danger, but if one nation should decide to disavow its nonproliferation commitments, there is little reason to expect an epidemic.

Judging by the comments of most political figures, scholars and media pundits, regardless of political orientation, the future of nuclear proliferation is bleak.
This time, the sky is surely falling. At the very least, the world is at a "tipping point" in the direction of a nuclear armed crowd with far more countries actively pursuing and acquiring nuclear weapons. On this point, Hillary Clinton, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ban Ki-moon and John McCain all agree.
This proliferation pessimism often finds expression in metaphors about nuclear dominoes, chains, cascades and waves. In most cases the gloomy scenario anticipates a reactive process in which Iran's "going nuclear" leads to decisions by other states in the region and possibly elsewhere to follow suit in quick succession.
Such prognoses are often cited in support of arguments for urgent action to stop Iran's nuclear program. And yet, as was the case with the "domino theory" of the spread of Communism, little evidence is marshaled to support assertions about reactive proliferation.
A review of declassified U.S. national intelligence estimates (NIEs), as well as scholarly prognoses, shows that nuclear alarmism has been a feature of U.S. threat assessments throughout most of the nuclear age.
The catalysts for projections of rapid proliferation and the characteristics of "threshold states" have changed over time, but past forecasts have routinely overestimated the pace of proliferation.

More at link:http://cns.miis.edu/stories/100923_contagious_iht.htm

Uranium Mine Productions to Meet Growth Needs IAEA General Conference

Flag of the International Atomic Energy Agency...

Image via WikipediaSufficient uranium resources have been identified to meet demand in even high case growth scenarios, explained Jan Slezak, Uranium Resource Specialist at the IAEA´s Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Materials Section, during a roundtable discussion with industry, government and regulator experts from various countries held at the margins of the 54th IAEA General Conference on 22 September.
"Uranium mine production is planned to increase in a number of countries, including Russia, Niger, Namibia, Australia, Canada and Kazakhstan, to meet the needs of an expected increase," he said.
However, several challenges remain despite strong market conditions. These include high production costs, a thin supply chain, aging facilities and workforce, shortage of new and experienced staff for the expansion as well as geopolitical issues.
Mr. Slezak was presenting the results of the latest edition of the Red Book, a biennial publication covering costs of production, current global base and distribution of global uranium resources. More at:

http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2010/uraniummine.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IaeaTopNews+%28IAEA+Top+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

John Rowe's Bet on Nuclear Energy Why Exelon's chairman decided to stake the company's future on nuclear instead of coal As told to Diane Brady

http://images.businessweek.com/mz/10/40/370/1040_mz_96etchardchoices.jpg

Mike McGregor for Bloomberg Businessweek

In 1998 I became chairman of Commonwealth Edison. It was a big, troubled Chicago utility with a history of high rates, a clunky fossil fleet, and poorly performing nuclear plants. And I came in as the Illinois legislature decided to bring competition to the electricity business.
Something had to give. We contemplated breaking up the company, but we would have gotten very little for those nuclear plants. Given how they were running, they were virtually worthless. We had invested $10 billion and weren't getting a return. When you have nuclear plants, they own you. They're a massive responsibility; they make or break your reputation.
We needed cash. We couldn't rebuild the nuclear fleet and upgrade the coal plants, too, so I decided to give up coal. In the middle of all this, we were having terrible reliability problems. Mayor Daley was gnawing my liver out because of service, and he was right. After my first year, he let me know time was running out. Honeymoons don't last long in Chicago.
My choices were constrained by the fact that we'd invested so much in our nuclear plants. We had to make a bet that nuclear would work and, in the long run, be worth more than coal. There was also a lot of nervousness around nuclear energy. Three Mile Island, which didn't hurt anyone, ruined the industry for more than a decade and destroyed growth for several decades.
I orchestrated a merger with PECO (Philadelphia Electric Co.) to create Exelon (EXC). Life isn't just about what you want to be. It's about what you are. We had become a culture of trying rather than a culture of succeeding. A lot of good people had to go. We needed some way to grow. Real growth requires a totally new technology or consolidation. We've since become one of the fastest-growing players in the industry.
This is a massively unforgiving business. It's not China or Japan that you worry about. It's that unidentifiable country that builds one plant but doesn't have the regulatory or engineering infrastructure to handle it. If something goes wrong, it affects all of us.
More at:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_40/b4197096559482.htm

Bhel in JV with NPCIL & Alstom for N-plant

New Delhi: State-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd will soon set up a joint venture with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd and Alstom Ltd for setting up civil nuclear power plants in the country, Heavy Industries secretary Bhawani Singh Meena said on Thursday.
All the three companies will have 33.33% equity each in the joint venture, which would get approval from department of atomic energy within a month, Meena said.
The investment details are being worked out, Meena said, adding the joint venture was conceived a couple of years ago but government was awaiting the passage of nuclear liability Bill for the joint venture to take off.
The bill was passed in last monsoon session of Parliament.
Currently, nuclear power plants can be set up only by Nuclear Power Corporation of India.
Alstom, a French company, is a global major involved with manufacture of power equipment. The company would be technology partner in the joint venture.

(India)http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Bhel-in-JV-with-NPCIL---Alstom-for-N-plant/686729/

GE Chief Slams U.S. on Energy

General Electric Co. Chief Executive Jeff Immelt warned that the lack of a comprehensive U.S. energy policy and the "stupid" current structure of the industry are causing America to fall behind in new energy fields.

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Bloomberg News

GE's Jeff Immelt called the U.S. energy regulatory system 'a relic of 1860 or something' at the Gridwise Global Forum in Washington Thursday.

State: VY leaks had little effect on public

Report: Communities near Vt. plant are healthy
There is no evidence of "significant adverse health effects" from the communities near Entergy's Vermont Yankee plant in 2009, according to the Vermont Department of Health. The facility's operations complied with the state's radiological health standard, even after tritium was found in water supplies near the plant. Brattleboro Reformer (Vt.)http://www.reformer.com/localnews/ci_16149302

FirstEnergy wants room for nuke waste By Kim Leonard, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

FirstEnergy seeks to expand waste-storage space at Pa. plant
FirstEnergy wants to ramp up storage capacity for used fuel rods at its Beaver Valley nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. "It doesn't look like Yucca Mountain is going to open, ever," said Todd Schneider, a spokesman for the company. The Department of Energy has not met its disposal obligation, "so the plants have to safely store it on-site," he added. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_701045.html

Aid Sought for Nuclear Plants By MATTHEW L. WALD

Constellation Energy Will a reactor be added? The Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in Lusby, Md

CEG assesses factors needed for Calvert Cliffs expansion
Constellation Energy Group may need more than just federal loan guarantees for it to press forward with a third reactor at its Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in Maryland, said CEO Mayo Shattuck. Since Calvert Cliffs is a "merchant" plant, it would benefit from high prices for competing fuels and high demand. But if prices are weak, owners may be unable to pay back construction loans. "I'd like to think we could get over the hurdle of this merchant dilemma," he added. The New York Times (free registration)/Green blog
.http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/aid-sought-for-nuclear-plants/?ref=energy-environment

GE Hitachi seeks customers for enrichment facility not yet built By Jim Brumm

GE Hitachi has $400M enrichment contract with TVA
GE Hitachi's Global Laser Enrichment operation secured a $400 million contract to supply about 12% of the Tennessee Valley Authority's expected enrichment needs for a decade. The deal, cleared by TVA directors, is a "memorandum of understanding which says the two sides have generally agreed to commercial terms but is nonbinding," said Michael Tetuan, a spokesman for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy. Star-News (Wilmington, N.C.)http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20100923/ARTICLES/100929833/-1/news300

TVEL wins tender for Ukraine nuclear fuel plant The Ukrainian government has reportedly declared Russian nuclear fuel company TVEL the winner of the tender to construct a fuel manufacturing plant in Ukraine.

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/ENF-TVEL_wins_tender_for_Ukraine_nuclear_fuel_plant-2409104.html
Ukraine's cabinet approved the Ministry of Fuel and Energy's proposal to construct the nuclear fuel plant at a meeting on 22 September, the country's national news agency Ukrinform reported.

TVEL was said to have won the tender as, unlike the other bidder Westinghouse, it had expressed willingness to invest its own money in the construction of the plant. The cost of constructing the fuel plant is put at some $212 million. Vitaliy Lukianenko, the prime minister’s press secretary, noted, "TVEL was unanimously supported during a competition for choosing the company to build the plant."

A condition of the tender is that Ukraine holds a controlling stake in the joint venture company that is to be established to manage the plant, despite TVEL likely to provide the majority of the funds to construct it. Another condition is the requirement for the transfer of technology for the manufacture of fuel assemblies under a non-exclusive licence by 2020 for reactors both in Ukraine and abroad.

According to Yuriy Nedashkovsky, president of national electricity generator Energoatom, nuclear fuel fabrication could start at the new plant in 2013. Initial production capacity of the plant will be 200 tonnes of uranium equivalent (tUe) per year of fuel rods and assemblies. In 2017, capacity to manufacture fuel pellets is set to increase to 400 tUe, while in 2020 the plant will be able to produce 400 tUe of fuel rods and assemblies.

Cooperation with OMZ

Energoatom signed a memorandum of cooperation with Russia's OMZ on 23 September for cooperation in the manufacture of high-technology power engineering equipment, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

The memorandum also calls for the two companies to exchange information and cooperate in the maintenance of nuclear power plant equipment.

Ukraine has 15 nuclear power reactors at four nuclear power plants (Khmelnitski, Rovno, South Ukraine and Zaporozhe), all operated by Energoatom. All the units are Russian VVER types, two being 440 MWe V-312 models and the rest the larger 1000 MWe units - two early models and the others V-320s. In 2009, almost half of Ukraine's electricity was produced by its nuclear plants.
In common with other VVER reactors, all of Ukraine's are routinely supplied with fuel by TVEL, although trials of 42 Westinghouse fuel assemblies are ongoing at the three South Ukraine units. This is taking place on an experimental basis, with final regulatory approval for the use of Westinghouse-supplied fuel outstanding.

Efforts to establish fuel manufactuing in Ukraine are an extension of this bid to break TVEL's technological monopoly on nuclear fuel supply. In addition to nuclear services, Ukraine also depends on Russia for much oil and gas, supplies of which have twice been cut off in a long-running payment dispute. Ukraine is able to mitigate this by supplying about 30% of the uranium that goes as the raw material for nuclear fuel. It also produces the zirconium alloys needed for fuel elements, but uranium enrichment and manufacture of finished fuel assemblies takes place in Russia.

Expert: Stuxnet was built to sabotage Iran nuclear plant

Expert: Stuxnet was built to sabotage Iran nuclear plant
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20017201-245.html#ixzz10SWuqWEq

An industrial control security researcher in Germany who has analyzed the Stuxnet computer worm is speculating that it may have been created to sabotage a nuclear plant in Iran.
The worm, which targeted computers running Siemens software used in industrial control systems, appeared in July and was later found to have code that could be used to control plant operations remotely. Stuxnet spreads by exploiting three holes in Windows, one of which has been patched.
The high number of infections in Iran and the fact that the opening of the Bushehr nuclear plant there has been delayed led Ralph Langner to theorize that the plant was a target. Langner gave a talk on the subject at the Applied Control Solutions' Industrial Control Cyber Security conference today and published details of his code analysis on his Web site last week.
As one of his data points, Langner refers to a UPI screenshot of a computer screen at the Bushehr plant running the targeted Siemens software.
"With the forensics we now have, it is evident and provable that Stuxnet is a directed sabotage attack involving heavy insider knowledge," he wrote. "The attack combines an awful lot of skills--just think about the multiple zero-day vulnerabilities, the stolen certificates, etc. This was assembled by a highly qualified team of experts, involving some with specific control system expertise. This is not some hacker sitting in the basement of his parents' house. To me, it seems that the resources needed to stage this attack point to a nation state."
Langner does not say he has evidence to support his speculation as to the target, nor does he say exactly what the code is designed to do on the target's system.
The presentation shocked attendees of the cybersecurity conference, Joe Weiss, the organizer of the event, told CNET. As a result, "there are a whole slew of recommendations coming out of this to address control system cybersecurity that had not been addressed before," he said.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20017201-245.html#ixzz10SXLsuqt

Another Feeble-Headed Nuke Drops Dead by Harvey Wasserman

As the "reactor renaissance" desperately demands new billions from a lame duck Congress, one of its shining stars has dropped dead. Other much-hyped "new generation" plans may soon die with it. http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/09/24-0

China nuclear firm unveils huge investment plan

Beijing (AFP) Sept 21, 2010 China's main nuclear power company plans to invest nearly 120 billion dollars to expand its business over the next decade, state media said Tuesday, amid efforts to boost renewable energy sources. To fund the 800-billion-yuan spending spree, state-run China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) intends to list its subsidiary, CNNC Nuclear Power Co Ltd, the China Daily said, citing senior officials from both companies.
"We plan to rope in strategic investors by the end of this year," said Chen Hua, president of CNNC Nuclear Power Co Ltd.
"Our company will get ready for listing in the first half of next year," Chen said, without specifying which stock market it was targeting.

Germany approves disputed nuclear shipment to Russia

Germany approves disputed nuclear shipment to Russia
Berlin (AFP) Sept 23, 2010 - German authorities approved Thursday hotly disputed plans to ship radioactive nuclear waste to Russia in a move expected to spark fresh protests by atomic energy opponents in both countries. Germany's nuclear watchdog green-lighted the shipment of 951 spent fuel elements from the temporary storage site Ahaus in the west of the country to the Mayak nuclear facility, 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) east of Moscow.
"The fuel elements... will be returned to Russia on the basis of the Russian Research Reactor Fuel Return Programme agreed between the United States, Russia and the International Atomic Energy Agency," the Federal Office for Radiation Protection said in a statement.
It did not release a date for the shipment, which will be packaged in a maximum of 18 specially sealed containers.

Lawmaker questions Kuwait's nuclear energy plans

A Kuwaiti lawmaker on Thursday questioned plans by the oil-rich Gulf emirate to build a number of nuclear reactors for power generation and demanded information about the expected costs. In a series of questions to Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the head of parliament's financial and economic affairs panel, Yussef al-Zalzalah, asked if sufficient studies have been made on the issue.
He also demanded to know the size of the budget allocated for the project and what has been spent so far.
In its drive to develop nuclear energy for peaceful use, particularly to generate electricity, the Gulf state set up Kuwait National Nuclear Energy Committee (KNENEC) in 2009 headed by the prime minister.
The emirate has signed memoranda of cooperation with France, the United States, Japan and Russia and, in April, upgraded its deal with France to the level of a full agreement.
KNNEC secretary general Ahmad Bishara said earlier this month that Kuwait will sign a fifth memorandum of cooperation with South Korea, which last year clinched a multi-billion-dollar deal with the neighbouring United Arab Emirates.
Zalzalah also inquired about press statements that Kuwait planned to build four 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactors by 2022, and if sufficient studies were made, and demanded documents related to the issue.
Kuwait's deals with the nuclear powers call for preparation, planning and nuclear power development which include training, human resources and infrastructure.
Bishara has said Kuwait expects electricity demand to double in 10 to 15 years from the current 11,000 megawatts, which would make the country face a serious power shortage.
The OPEC member currently burns 12 percent of its oil production to meet local electricity needs, and the figure will rise to 20 percent by 2030 if no alternative sources of energy are found, Bishara said.
Kuwait currently pumps around 2.3 million barrels of oil per day.
If the nuclear plans proceed as projected, Bishara estimated nuclear power would meet 15-20 percent of Kuwait's total electricity needs.
KNNEC is conducting a series of studies on the cost of power generation by nuclear energy, setting up legal frameworks, reviews on potential sites for nuclear reactors and human resources, Bishara said.
These studies are expected to be completed before the end of the year, and then the KNNEC will make the decision if Kuwait is to go nuclear, he said.

Russia expands Middle East nuke presence

Moscow (UPI) Sep 22, 2010 Russia and Kuwait have signed a five-year nuclear cooperation agreement. The memorandum of understanding between the Kuwait National Nuclear Energy Committee and Russia's Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation was signed in Vienna on the sidelines of the 54th session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Robsbalt news agency reported Wednesday.
Earlier this month Kuwait signed a similar agreement with Japan, along with an April memorandum with France.
Kuwait state media quoted Ahmad Bishara, the secretary general of Kuwait's National Nuclear Energy Committee as saying, "The memo ... stipulated training cadres, exploration for metals, establishing a network of nuclear reactors in Kuwait and building a relevant infrastructure."
Earlier this month Kuwait announced that it intends to construct four 1,000-megawatt atomic energy reactors over the next decade. Kuwait is currently the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, while Russia is tied with Saudi Arabia for first place.
Rosatom Director General Sergey Kirienko said that Russia stands ready to assist Kuwait in all aspects of developing its civil nuclear power program, not only in the construction of nuclear power stations, but exploration and mining of uranium, training of personnel and research.
The MoU will also cover nuclear medicine and the nuclear fuel cycle. Kirienko said, "We in Russia are developing the atomic energy sector on a wide scale and we welcome Kuwait's plans to develop it, too."
Kirienko added that Russia is actively cooperating with several states in the Middle East, with Rosatom bidding to build a nuclear power plant in Jordan along with submitting a tender to build a nuclear power plant in Egypt. Rosatom has also signed an intergovernmental civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Bahrain and is actively developing its nuclear cooperation with the United Arab Emirates.
Russia is also increasing its nuclear energy footprint in Turkey. Rosatom Deputy Director General for Finance and Economics Nikolai Solomon, speaking at the World Nuclear Association's annual symposium in London last week, said Russia was pressing on with a multibillion-dollar deal on a build-own-operate agreement with Ankara to build the country's first nuclear power plant at Akkuyu near the country's Mediterranean coast.
Under the BOO arrangement Russia's Atomstroiekhsport will own 100 percent of the Akkuyu project, owning, operating and maintaining the facility and selling its electrical output under a deal with the Turkish government to guarantee plant's power supply for a 15-20 year period.
The Akkuyu nuclear power plant will be Russia's first built and owned foreign power plant, with construction expected to take several years.

Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire

Saturday, September 25, 2010

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More at:
http://nucleargreen.blogspot.com/2010/09/wht-lftr-is-still-needed.html