Showing posts with label Federal government of the United States. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Material For 16000 Nuclear Warheads Eliminated by Megatons to Megawatts

U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear S...

Image via WikipediaMaterial For 16000 Nuclear Warheads Eliminated by Megatons to Megawatts

The fuel generated to date could produce enough electricity to meet the demand for a city the size of Boston or Seattle for approximately 610 years and is the energy equivalent of more than 9.8 billion barrels of oil or nearly three years of U.S. crude oil imports.

by Staff Writers Bethesda MD (SPX) Sep 14, 2010 USEC has announced that the Megatons to Megawatts program has eliminated the equivalent of 16,000 nuclear warheads by recycling 400 metric tons of weapons-grade uranium from Russia into low enriched uranium used as fuel in commercial nuclear power plants. The Megatons to Megawatts program is a unique, commercially financed government-industry partnership in which 500 metric tons of Russian weapons-grade uranium downblended to low enriched uranium is being supplied to USEC for delivery to USEC's customers as commercial reactor fuel.
"For more than 15 years, USEC and TENEX have cooperated in fueling America's nuclear reactors while reducing the threat of nuclear proliferation for the entire world," said John K. Welch, USEC president and chief executive officer. "Our bilateral efforts have made the world safer, benefited the American consumer, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions."
USEC's subsidiary, United States Enrichment Corporation, as executive agent for the U.S. government, and JSC "Techsnabexport" (TENEX), acting for the Russian government, implement the program, which is on track to complete the downblending of the equivalent of 20,000 nuclear warheads into commercial nuclear fuel by the end of 2013.
USEC has paid the Russian Federation more than $6.7 billion for the SWU (separative work units) component of the low enriched uranium delivered since 1995.
The total amount paid to Russia through the 20-year life of the contract is expected to exceed $8 billion. USEC also supplies natural uranium to TENEX in exchange for the uranium component of the low enriched uranium.
The U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is the U.S. lead agency on the Megatons to Megawatts program. Through its HEU Transparency Program, NNSA works to reduce nuclear risks by monitoring the conversion of Russian highly enriched uranium at several sites in Russia.

Monday, September 20, 2010

FORMER LOS ALAMOS PHYSICIST CHARGED WITH SELLING NUKE INFO

FORMER LOS ALAMOS PHYSICIST CHARGED WITH SELLING NUKE INFOhttp://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2010/09/mascheroni.html

A former Los Alamos nuclear weapons scientist, Pedro Leonardo Mascheroni, and his wife, Marjorie Mascheroni, were charged with conspiracy to communicate classified nuclear weapons information with the intent to injure the United States and conspiracy to develop an illict atomic bomb after they allegedly offered to provide assistance to a supposed Venezuelan nuclear weapons program.

"The conduct alleged in this indictment is serious and should serve as a warning to anyone who would consider compromising our nation's nuclear secrets for profit," said Assistant Attorney General Kris in a September 17 news release.

The underlying story is so twisted and psychologically fraught that it may never be completely clarified. Mascheroni has been a fervent advocate of his own concept of inertial confinement fusion, while relentlessly criticizing the existing ICF program as misconceived and destined to fail. He has tangled repeatedly with security officials over clearance and disclosure issues, but he has also found some influential supporters, including former Director of Central Intelligence R. James Woolsey, who provided him with legal representation on a pro bono basis.

According to the indictment (pdf), Mascheroni only thought of selling nuclear secrets (to an FBI agent he thought was a Venezuelan official) because he became increasingly frustrated with the United States government's unresponsiveness to his claims and concerns. The alleged turning point, the indictment says, came in 2007, when he attempted unsuccessfully to instigate a congressional hearing on "DOE-UC mismanagement of the nuclear stockpile, weapons programs, and national security." A copy of his 50-page proposal to Congress, of characteristic length and turgidity, is here (pdf).

"If those guys, the American government, doesn't give me this," he supposedly said, referring to the desired congressional hearing, "you know, I, I, the American government is going to be my enemy really."

"The public is reminded that an indictment contains allegations only and that every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty," the Justice Department properly noted in its news release on the case.

A 1995 Los Alamos report "edited by Marjorie Mascheroni" on environmental contamination at Los Alamos involving high-energy explosives is available here (pdf).

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Audio: The Future of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle from CSIS

In the coming decades, nuclear power is poised to grow quickly in some parts of the world and could grow significantly here in the United States. Key decisions are pending, however, on how to structure that growth. MIT has completed a 3-year study on the Future of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle to address two overarching questions: (1) What are the long-term desirable fuel cycle options and (2) What are the implication for near-term policy choices?
On Thursday, September 16, the study co-chairs: Professor Ernest J. Moniz, Director of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) and Professor Mujid Kazimi, Director of the MIT Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems; and Dr. Charles Forsberg, Executive Director of the MIT Fuel Cycle Study discussed the report's findings and recommendations.http://csis.org/multimedia/audio-future-nuclear-fuel-cycle?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CSIS+%28NEW+%40+CSIS.ORG%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Friday, September 17, 2010

Are U.S. Cybersecurity Plans Lagging? from War News Updates by War News Updates Editor

U.S. Cybersecurity Plans Lagging, Critics Say -- Washington Post

More than a year after President Obama made a White House speech proclaiming that the protection of computer networks was a national priority, the federal government is still grappling with key questions about how to secure its computer systems as well as private networks deemed critical to U.S. security.

The administration unveiled a cyberspace policy review last year, and Obama appointed a White House cyber coordinator to synchronize the government's efforts in December.

Read more ....

Saturday, September 11, 2010