Ukraine: Chernobyl NPP no longer sending safeguards monitoring system data

 The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is no longer transmitting data from safeguards monitoring systems installed at the facility, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General informed

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is no longer transmitting data from safeguards monitoring systems installed at the facility, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi informed in a statement on Tuesday. The Director-General indicated that remote data transmission from safeguards monitoring systems installed at the Chornobyl NPP had been lost, the IAEA press release said, adding that, the Agency is looking into the status of safeguards monitoring systems in other locations in Ukraine and will provide further information soon.

The Director-General also raised deep concerns about the rotation of staff at the nuclear facility which was also the site of one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters in 1986. Director-General Grossi stressed that staff operating nuclear facilities must be able to rest and work in regular shifts, stating that it is crucial for overall nuclear safety. “I’m deeply concerned about the difficult and stressful situation facing staff at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and the potential risks this entails for nuclear safety. I call on the forces in effective control of the site to urgently facilitate the safe rotation of personnel there,” Grossi said….Read More

Wildlife now roam where US once manufactured its deadliest weapons

Despite the complicated and expensive cleanups, significant contamination has been left behind, some experts say.

From a tiny Pacific island to a leafy Indiana forest, a handful of sites where the United States manufactured and tested some of the most lethal weapons known to humankind are now peaceful havens for wildlife.

An astonishing array of animals and habitats flourished on six obsolete weapons complexes mostly for nuclear or chemical arms because the sites banned the public and other intrusions for decades.

The government converted them into refuges under US Fish and Wildlife Service management, and they now protect black bears and black-footed ferrets, coral reefs and brushy steppes, rare birds and imperiled salmon. But the cost of the conversions is staggering, and some critics say the sites have not been scrubbed well enough of pollutants to make them safe for humans.

The military, the US Department of Energy and private companies have spent more than $57 billion to clean up the six heavily polluted sites, according to figures gathered by The Associated Press from military and civil agencies. And the biggest bills have yet to be paid.

The Energy Department estimates it will cost between $323 billion and $677 billion more to finish the costliest cleanup, at the Hanford Site in Washington state where the government produced plutonium for bombs and missiles. Despite the complicated and expensive cleanups, significant contamination has been left behind, some experts say….Read More

North Korea is 'begging for war'; strongest measures needed: US to UNSC

North Korea on Sunday announced that it has successfully conducted a test of a hydrogen bomb

 

 

The United States' top UN representative has said that North Korea is "begging for war" and urged the UN Security Council to impose "the strongest possible measures" on Pyongyang over its sixth and largest nuclear test.

"To the members of the UN Security Council, I must say - enough is enough.The time for half-measures in the Security Council is over. We must now adopt the strongest possible measures", Sputnik quoted US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley as saying during an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the recent hydrogen bomb test by North Korea.

"Kim Jong-un's abusive use of missiles and his nuclear threats show that he is begging for war. War is never something the United States wants. We don't want it now. But our country's patience is not unlimited," she added.

United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman dubbed North Korea's nuclear tests as a dangerous provocation and said that Pyongyang has undermined the international non-proliferation efforts.

"We are alarmed by this dangerous provocation. The secretary-general condemns the underground nuclear test announced by the DPRK. This act is yet another serious breach of the DPRK's international obligations and undermines international non-proliferation and disarmament efforts," he said.

Japan's UN Ambassador Koro Bessho called for UNSC to adopt swiftly a new resolution with further robust sanction measures against Pyongyang.

He said UNSC must act to stop North Korea from continuing such actions and should put maximum pressure to change its policy.

He further said that North Korea's nuclear test was an outrageous and unacceptable challenge to the security and safety of the world.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump on Sunday termed North Korea a "rogue nation" for conducting nuclear tests and said that its "actions continue to be very dangerous to the Washington."

In a series of tweets, Trump further said that North Korea has become a great threat and embarrassment to China.

North Korea has conducted a major Nuclear Test. Their words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous to the United States.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2017

..North Korea is a rogue nation which has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2017

South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!.....Read More