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Commander of the Iranian Navy: Production of Nuclear Propulsion Systems on Agenda

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Speaking in a televised interview, the commander of the Iranian Navy Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi, stressing that one of the major tasks of the Navy is to defend the country in times of war, announced the intention to employ submarine vessels equipped with diesel or nuclear propulsion systems. In fact, the Navy has put the production of nuclear propulsion systems on its agenda. Nuclear propulsion system is more advantageous than diesel one because it increases submarines’ ability to remain submerged and thus increases the country’s deterrent power. “Given that in recent years, there have been good advances in the country’s nuclear science, the production of nuclear propulsion (systems)… is on the agenda of the Navy”, as commander Rear Admiral Khanzadi said. In recent years, Iranian military experts and technicians have made great progresses in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment, making the armed forces self-sufficient in the arms sphere. Tehran has always assured other nations that its military might poses no threat to the regional countries: the Islamic Republic’s defense doctrine is entirely based on deterrence.

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Radioactive cloud in Europe came from Russia or Kazakhstan

in EUROPE/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

In a November 9 statement, IRSN( Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire) ruled out an accident in a nuclear reactor, saying it was a likely leak in a nuclear fuel-treatment site or center for radioactive medicine.In recent weeks, IRSN and several other nuclear safety institutes in Europe had measured high levels of ruthenium 106, a radioactive nuclide which does not occur naturally and is the product of splitting atoms in a nuclear reactor. There has been no impact on human health or the environment in Europe, said IRSN, the technical arm of the French nuclear regulator ASN. The IRSN statement said it could not accurately locate the release of radioactive material but, based on weather patterns, it most likely originated south of the Ural Mountains, between the Urals and the Volga River. This could indicate Russia or possibly Kazakhstan as the site of the origin of the cloud.

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Saudi Arabia plans to extract uranium for ‘self-sufficient’ nuclear program

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Saudi Arabia plans to extract uranium domestically as part of its nuclear power program and sees this as a step toward “self-sufficiency” in producing atomic fuel. Extracting its own uranium also makes sense from an economic point of view, said Hashim bin Abdullah Yamani, head of the Saudi government agency tasked with the nuclear plans, the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE). The Kingdom says it wants to tap atomic power for peaceful purposes only in order to diversify its energy supply, and will award a construction contract for its first two nuclear reactors by the end of 2018. Atomic reactors need uranium enriched to around 5 percent purity, but the same technology in this process can also be used to enrich the heavy metal to higher, weapons-grade levels. Saudi Arabia would be the second country in the Arab Gulf region to tap nuclear after the UAE, which is set to start up its first, South Korean-built reactor in 2018. The UAE has committed not to enrich uranium itself and not to reprocess spent fuel. Industry sources have told Reuters Saudi Arabia is reaching out to potential vendors from South Korea, China, France, Russia, Japan and the US for its first two reactors. The plans have received extra momentum as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, an ambitious economic reform program launched last year by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Yamani said Saudi Arabia will soon pass laws for its nuclear program, and will have set up all of the regulations for its nuclear regulator by the third quarter of 2018. Saudi Arabia is considering building some 17.6 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2032, the equivalent of about 17 reactors, making it one of the strongest prospects for an industry struggling after the 2011 nuclear disaster in Japan. Preliminary studies have estimated Saudi Arabia has around 60,000 tons of uranium ore, Maher Al-Odan, the chief atomic energy officer of KACARE, said at an electricity forum in Riyadh on Oct 11.

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China’s trade with North Korea slumped after nuclear sanctions

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China’s trade with North Korea slumped in September, amid United Nations sanctions aimed at deterring Kim Jong-un from pursuing his missile and nuclear weapons programmes. Exports to the restive state in the month fell 6.7 per cent from a year ago, while imports fell 37.9 per cent, customs administration spokesman Huang Songping said at a briefing in Beijing. North Korea’s deficit with China in the first nine months more than tripled from the same period of 2016, to US$1.07 billion, he said, without elaborating. With China’s support, the UN has agreed on two rounds of sanctions since the beginning of August, including bans on North Korean exports of iron, coal, lead, seafood, textiles, and oil import restrictions.  China’s overall trade with North Korea for the first nine months of the year rose 3.7 per cent year on year to US$4.03 billion, slowing from 7.5 per cent for the January through August period. China’s exports to North Korea from January to September rose 20.9 per cent to US$2.55 billion while imports fell 16.7 per cent to US$1.48 billion. The customs agency said it would publish details of its trade in specific products with North Korea on October 23.

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AEOI Chief: Iran’s Nuclear Activities Meant for Peaceful Purposes

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Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi underlined that Tehran has always sought nuclear activities for only peaceful purposes. “Despite the fact that Iran’s original interest in the nuclear industry dates back to the post-WWII ‘Atom for Peace Program’ era, its nuclear program is yet at a humble stage in comparison with the state of the industry in more advanced countries”, Salehi said on Tuesday, addressing the 20th Edoardo Amaldi Conference on International Cooperation for Enhancing Nuclear Safety, Security, Safeguards and Non-Proliferation. He reiterated that nowadays nothing appears to be more pressing and important than the fate of Iran nuclear deal, also known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and said, “So, that constitutes the thrust of my remarks here today; what it means for us and presumably for the international community”.

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JCPOA major step in non-proliferation of nuclear weapons

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Iran nuclear deal known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has been a major step in non–proliferation of nuclear weapons, Iranian official said. Tehran has continuous cooperation and consultation with Moscow and Ankara on the regional and international issues, including Syria, Bahram Qasemi told reporters during his weekly press briefing. The three countries, addressing issues, coordinate all efforts in due time, Qasemi said. sked if Iran has any plan to dispatch inspectors to the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib where the Turkish government has declared the start of a military operation within the framework of the Astana agreement, the spokesman said the expert talks on the issue will be reviewed. egotiations are underway to examine expert and military issues, Qasemi said.

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Saudi Arabia says still examining options for nuclear power plants

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Saudi Arabia said it was still undertaking feasibility studies before deciding how and where to build its first nuclear power stations. Saudi Arabia want to launch a tendering process for its first nuclear reactors as early as next month and would contact potential vendors from a number of countries including South Korea, France and China. The world’s top oil exporter wants to start construction next year on two nuclear power plants with a total electricity generating capacity of up to 2.8 gigawatts, as it follows Gulf neighbour the United Arab Emirates in seeking to produce atomic energy. Hashim bin Abdullah Yamani, president of the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE), said that their are carrying out feasibility studies, technically and economically to build those nuclear reactors in addition to detailed technical studies for the selection of the best locations. He told the annual general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna that Saudi Arabia had teamed up with South Korean partners to locally build reactors which can function in remote areas without links to power grids.

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China detects rising radiation levels in areas close to North Korean nuclear blast site

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The nuclear test by North Korea, relase a radiation level in Changbai Korean, closest Chinese urban area in Punggye-ri, the estimated 100 kiloton. Guo Qiuju, a professor of radiation protection at the school of physics at Peking University, said it was too early to be certain what had caused the rising trend at the monitoring stations as radiation levels change over time even under normal conditions. The current radiation levels were far below anything that could be regarded as a risk to people’s health, she said, but if the figures keep going up it may require a closer look. Guo explained that it was considered normal for readings to fluctuate within a 20 nanogray range due to the effects of wind, rain and cosmic rays. Radioactive materials floating high in the atmosphere could be carried down into the soil by rain, she said. Several regions close to the test site had recorded rain in the past few days, according to Chinese weather authorities.

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