Norway to support Nuclear Fuel Reserve

Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere has announced that Norway will contribute US$5 million to the IAEA Nuclear Fuel Reserve as a practical steps to support global non-proliferation.

29.02.2008

Stoere’s announcement came during a widely attended international conference in Oslo this week on “Achieving the Vision of a World Free of Nuclear Weapons” hosted by the government of Norway in cooperation with the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority.

“Norway will join efforts to create a low enriched uranium reserve, controlled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),” Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway Jonas Gahr Stoere said. More >>>

IAEA says world nuclear security faltering

IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei says world nuclear security faltering
February 26th 2008

OSLO (Reuters) - The United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday that global nuclear security was faltering and called on leaders to refocus on nuclear issues and kick-start a new round of disarmament talks.
"We need to bolster the non-proliferation regime and move on to nuclear disarmament," said Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "We are at a crucial juncture. The system is faltering," ElBaradei told a conference in the Norwegian capital where he and the IAEA received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.
He said the IAEA was aware of 150 cases per year of nuclear material or weapons gone missing, which could potentially end up in the hands of "organized crime or worse -- extremists".
ElBaradei said nuclear topics, leading issues in the Cold War, had "gone out of fashion and almost disappeared from the international agenda", yielding to causes like global warming.
"There continue to be many gaps in the current security system which make it vulnerable to abuse ... This is actually the greatest danger we face -- that nuclear weapons or material could fall into the wrong hands," said ElBaradei. More >>>

Punjab govt to act tough on farmers sowing early paddy

CHANDIGARH (Reuters) - Alarmed at the sharp fall in water table, the Punjab government has planned to take tough measures against farmers sowing early paddy.

"Fields of all farmers, who sow early paddy, will be ploughed and a penalty of 10,000 rupees each will be imposed," said Sucha Singh Langah, the state farm minister.

Due to depleting ground water, the state government has announced that farmers will not be allowed to transplant paddy before June 15. Early sowing of paddy is one of the main reasons for receding of water table in Punjab, scientists said. More >>>

U.S. Plans to Work With India to Implement Nuclear Agreement

Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) --

The U.S. says it will work with the Indian government to implement a stalled nuclear energy accord between the two nations, a key element of President George W. Bush's foreign policy.

``This agreement is one that we have done very carefully,'' Dana Perino, White House spokeswoman, said at a press briefing yesterday. ``We are trying to work with India and will continue to work with them to make it happen.'' More >>>

Turkey decides on nuclear power plant site

13 February 2008

The Turkish government has decided to build its first nuclear power plant at Akkuyu, on the Mediterranean coast. This puts aside a decision two years ago to locate it at Sinop, on the Black Sea coast.

Akkuyu is the site which has been under consideration since the 1970s and up to 2000 for a nuclear power plant, and has the advantage of already being licensed.

Sinop would have had the advantage of cooling water temperatures about 5 degrees below those at Akkuyu, allowing about 1% greater power output. The announcement of the site selection said that preparatory work is also under way to build a second nuclear plant there. In addition, Akkuyu is to be the site for a €1.7 billion ($2.5 billion) nuclear technology centre. More >>>

'Big boys' undermining non-proliferation regime

Mohamed ElBaradei's speech at the 44th Munich Conference on Security Policy

Mon, 11 Feb 2008

The following is the full text of Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei's speech at the 44th Munich Conference on Security Policy:

I usually look at security from a wide angle zoom. You look here from a European transatlantic zoom; I look at it not from a European zoom but from the Indian perspective, the Chinese, the Burkina Faso, and South African. I would like to spend a few minutes on this.

I saw it on the wall that the question is "Is the world in disarray?" and unfortunately my answer is "yes".

The world is in disarray. The world is going through a period of insecurity both at the individual level and at the state level. I think we all agree on that. You just look at the security we have to go at the airport. It's an awful kind of life we have to go through.

I look at insecurity from the very beginning, from poverty and I'll tell you how it ends up with weapons of mass destruction. I look also how weapons of mass destruction in fact exacerbate our insecurity. It doesn't solve any of our problems. More >>>

UN Gathering to Address Climate Change

Follow-up to the international climate conference in December on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly is bringing together business leaders, activists and government officials for a debate on climate change starting Monday — an effort to keep up the momentum for a new treaty by 2009 to fight global warming.

The two-day session is a follow-up to the international climate conference in December on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, where delegates from nearly 190 nations agreed to adopt a blueprint to control global warming gases before the end of next year.

Michael Bloomberg, New York's climate-activist mayor who attended the Bali conference, will be the keynote speaker, and special guests include British billionaire Richard Branson, who has decided to invest heavily in "biofuels," and actress Daryl Hannah. Nearly 100 countries have signed up to speak and 20 are sending ministers, assembly spokesman Janos Tisovszky said Friday. More >>>

Pak-Iran Bilateral Dialogue held at ISSI

February 9 2008

ISLAMABAD, (APP): The year 2008 is a crucial year where many regional and international developments are taking place which have direct impact on both Pakistan and Iran.

Dr M. Mohammadi, Deputy Foreign Minister for Education and Research, Iran said this in the opening session of 7th ISSI-IPIS Bilateral Dialogue organised jointly by the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad (ISSI), in collaboration with the Institute of Political and International Studies (IPIS), Tehran He said global powers were reshaping their policies towards the Middle Eastern region, which was essentially the Muslim world. He emphasised the role of think-tanks for giving valuable input to policy makers at this juncture. More >>>