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'If you go outside...you may die': The BBC script prepared in event of n...
Had Britain been hit with a nuclear bomb in the 1970s, terrified survivors would have huddled around their radios listening for a message from the Government.
And the chilling transcript of that pre-recorded announcement, contained in records from the National Archives, has been released.
The tapes, the work of Cabinet officials and the BBC, were kept at the broadcaster's wartime studios Wood Norton, to be played in an emergency by the engineer in charge - should he survive.
Instructing civilians not to flee their homes, this is how the message would have sounded to a panic-stricken population:
'This is the Wartime Broadcasting Service.
'This country has been attacked with nuclear weapons. Communications have been severely disrupted and the number of casualties and the extent of the damage are not yet known.
'We shall bring you further information as soon as possible. Meanwhile, stay tuned to this wavelength, stay calm and stay in your own homes. Remember there is nothing to be gained by trying to get away.
'By leaving your homes you could be exposing yourselves to greater danger. If you leave you may find yourself without food, without water, without accommodation and without protection.
'Radioactive fall-out, which follows a nuclear explosion, is many times more dangerous if you are directly exposed to it in the open.
'Roofs and walls offer substantial protection. The safest place is indoors. Make sure gas and other fuel supplies are turned off and that all fires are extinguished. If mains water is available, this can be used for fire-fighting.
'You should also refill all your containers for drinking water after the fires have been put out, because the mains water supply may not be availablefor very long.
'Water must not be used for flushing lavatories: until you are told they may be used again, other toilet arrangements must be made. Use your water only for essential drinking and cooking purposes. Water means life. Don't waste it.
'Make your food stocks last: ration your supply, because it may have to last 14 days or more. If you have fresh food in the house, use this first to avoid wasting it: food in tins will keep.
'If you live in an area where a fallout warning has been given, stay in your fall-out room until you are told it is safe to come out. When the immediate danger has passed the sirens will sound a steady note.
'Do not, in any circumstances, go outside the house. Radioactive fallout can kill. You cannot see it or feel it, but it is there.
'If you go outside, you will bring danger to your family and you may die. Stay in your fall- out room until you are told it is safe to come out or you hear the 'all clear' on the sirens.' Had Britain been hit with a nuclear bomb in the 1970s, terrified survivors would have huddled around their radios listening for a mess... more -
Nuclear Fuel Recycling: More Trouble Than It's Worth
From the first Presidential debate:
McCain: "And Senator Obama says he's for nuclear, but he's against reprocessing and he's against storing."
Obama: "I -- I just have to correct the record here. I have never said that I object to nuclear waste. What I've said is that we have to store it safely."
From article:
"Separated plutonium, being only weakly radioactive, is easily carried off—whereas the plutonium in spent fuel is mixed with fission products that emit lethal gamma rays. Because of its great radioactivity, spent fuel can be transported only inside casks weighing tens of tons, and its plutonium can only be recovered with great difficulty, typically behind thick shielding using sophisticated, remotely operated equipment. So unseparated plutonium in spent fuel poses a far smaller risk of ending up in the wrong hands." From the first Presidential debate: ... more -
Israel asked US for a green light to bomb Iran's nuclear sites
Luckily for humanity, Bush said No. This apparently happened back in May, as Israel was becoming increasingly concerned about Iran's nuclear programs and capabilities. Bush's refusal was reportedly for two reasons: concern over Iran's retaliations, and anxiety that Israel wouldn't clear all nuclear facilities in a single attack, thus risking full-scale war.
"Even if Israel were to launch an attack on Iran without US approval its planes could not reach their targets without the US becoming aware of their flightpath and having time to ask them to abandon their mission. "The shortest route to Natanz lies across Iraq and the US has total control of Iraqi airspace", the official said. Natanz, about 100 miles north of Isfahan, is the site of an uranium enrichment plant. In this context Iran would be bound to assume Bush had approved it, even if the White House denied fore-knowledge, raising the prospect of an attack against the US."
BUT, shortly after Bush gave the red light, Israel carried out a massive air drill involving dozens of warplanes curiously covering an area the size and scope of which is about the same from Israel to Natanz.
And this was all BEFORE the EU issued it's report that Iran is very close to having nuclear capabilities...
http://current.com/items/89336001_eu_warns_iran_is_clos...
The plot thickens... Luckily for humanity, Bush said No. This apparently happened back in May, as Israel was becoming increasingly concerned about Iran... more -
Iran: secret nuclear bomb? Blocking IAEA probe
"A UN inquiry into intelligence allegations of secret atom bomb research in Iran has reached a standstill because of Iranian failure to cooperate, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report said on Monday." "A UN inquiry into intelligence allegations of secret atom bomb research in Iran has reached a standstill because of Iranian fail... more
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Is Iran ending cooperation with IAEA?
VIENNA (AP) — Iran signaled Thursday that it will no longer cooperate with U.N. experts probing for signs of clandestine nuclear weapons work, confirming the investigation is at a dead end a year after it began.
The announcement from Iranian Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh compounded skepticism about denting Tehran's nuclear defiance, just five days after Tehran stonewalled demands from six world powers that it halt activities capable of producing the fissile core of warheads.
Besides demanding a suspension of uranium enrichment — a process that can create both fuel for nuclear reactors and payloads for atomic bombs — the six powers have been pressing Tehran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency's probe.
Iran, which is obligated as a signer of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty not to develop nuclear arms, raised suspicions about its intentions when it admitted in 2002 that it had run a secret nuclear program for nearly two decades in violation of its commitment.
The Tehran regime insists it halted such work and is now only trying to produce fuel for nuclear reactors to generate electricity. It agreed on a "work plan" with the Vienna-based IAEA a year ago for U.N. inspectors to look into allegations Iran is still doing weapons work. VIENNA (AP) — Iran signaled Thursday that it will no longer cooperate with U.N. experts probing for signs of clandestine nuclear weapo... more -
Russian plans to station nuclear bombers in Cuba
The media has been abuzz today at the prospect of Russian nuclear bombers being stationed in Cuba if the US goes ahead with plans for missile defence bases in Eastern Europe.
[for copyright reasons, you'll need to visit the article to read the rest] The media has been abuzz today at the prospect of Russian nuclear bombers being stationed in Cuba if the US goes ahead with plans for ... more -
Iran 'silent' over nuclear deal
Iran has given "no clear answer" to a Western-backed proposal to suspend its controversial nuclear activities, says EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. Iran has given "no clear answer" to a Western-backed proposal to suspend its controversial nuclear activities, says EU forei... more
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Nuclear explosions key to detecting counterfeit paintings?
A Russian curator says she has developed a foolproof method of determining whether a piece of art was made before or after 1945 as a way of sniffing out fake paintings.
In collaboration with scientists Elena Basner has developed a method based on the idea that the 500 or so man-made nuclear detonations from 1945 to 1963 released isotopes into the environment, which then permeated the Earth's oil and plant life. Because natural oils were used as binding agents for paints in the post-war era, traces of the isotopes will should reveal paintings which were created post-1945, rather than the earlier dates they are claimed to date from. A Russian curator says she has developed a foolproof method of determining whether a piece of art was made before or after 1945 as a w... more -
U.S. to take North Korea off terror list
TOKYO — North Korea took a major step on Thursday toward re-integration into the world community and rapprochement with the United States by submitting for outside inspection a long-delayed declaration of its nuclear program
The Bush administration almost immediately announced it would remove the country it once described as part of the “axis of evil” from the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The declaration from North Korea, one of the world’s most isolated and impoverished nations, was expected to describe in previously undisclosed detail its capabilities in nuclear power and nuclear weapons — meeting a major demand of the United States and other countries that consider the North a dangerous source of instability.
“This can be a moment of opportunity for North Korea,” said President Bush, announcing the declaration at the White House. “If it continues to make the right choices it can repair its relationship with the international community.”
Mr. Bush said in the principle of “action for action,” the United States would lift some restrictions on commercial dealings with North Korea and within 45 days end its designation of North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism.
China, which has been the host of the six-nation talks on the North’s nuclear program, said Thursday afternoon that the North was submitting its declaration. The White House confirmed the exchange shortly afterward and said that it would remove North Korea from the terrorism list and thus make it eligible for aid and assistance, a goal long sought by the cash-starved country.
American officials expected that the declaration, which had been due at the end of last year, would provide important details about North Korea’s nuclear facilities and programs, including the amount of plutonium produced at its nuclear reactor in Yongbyon.
"I do think it’s important to note that if we can verifiably determine the amount of plutonium that has been made, we then have an upper hand in understanding what may have happened in terms of weaponisation," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after arriving in Kyoto, Japan, on Thursday for a meeting of the Group of Eight industrialized powers.
Ms. Rice added that the declaration was “a natural step on the way to dealing verifiably with the devices or weapons themselves."
Partly to deflect criticism from hard-line critics in Washington that the current deal was too soft on North Korea, American officials have emphasized the importance of the information on plutonium. The North is believed to have produced enough weapons-grade plutonium at its reactor in Yongbyon to make as many as half a dozen bombs. TOKYO — North Korea took a major step on Thursday toward re-integration into the world community and rapprochement with the United Sta... more -
Israel flies 100 planes to show Iran its striking power
Tehran yesterday "denounced Israel as a "threat to global peace" after Israel held a large military exercise in an apparent dress rehearsal for a potential attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.
An Iranian government spokesman, Gholam-Hossein Elham, dismissed suggestions of an attack by Israel as "impossible", the official IRNA news agency reported.
He said "the threats and the claims of [the] Zionist regime" proved Iran's view that Israel was "dangerous and a threat to the global peace and security".
Elham's remarks came after Pentagon officials confirmed US media reports of a large military exercise by Israel earlier this month to show Iran that it had the capacity to strike at its nuclear facilities.
More than 100 Israeli F-16s and F-15s flew more than 900 miles in the Mediterranean, roughly the distance from Israel to Iran's Natanz nuclear plant. They were accompanied by refuelling planes and helicopters for rescuing any downed crews.
A source in Washington described the exercise as "sabre-rattling" and said he did not think an attack was imminent.
"If the Israelis were serious about it, no one would know about it until after it has happened," he said.
Nonetheless, the development sent oil prices higher after it was leaked to the New York Times by the Pentagon.
Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, responded to the news by saying an attack would turn the region into a "fireball" adding that he would resign if there were a military strike.
Both the US and Israel have said they will not allow Iran to secure a nuclear weapon capability. Iran says its nuclear development is for civilian purposes and it has no ambition to build a bomb.
Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, warned Israel and the US against any attack, saying there was no evidence that Iran was intent on building a nuclear weapon. Asked about Israeli warnings this month, Lavrov said yesterday: "I hope the actual actions would be based on international law. And international law clearly protects Iran's and anyone else's territorial integrity."
Pentagon officials told reporters that the Israelis "have been conducting some large-scale exercises - they live in a tough neighbourhood".
The leak came a week after Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, offered a deal to Tehran to stop uranium enrichment, a stage in the development of a nuclear weapon capability. Tehran has not ruled it out.
The leak could be designed to put pressure on Iran - but it may be counterproductive, pushing Tehran into rejection. Two days after the offer, while George Bush was visiting London, Gordon Brown announced tougher financial sanctions against Iran.
There has long been speculation that Bush, prodded by Dick Cheney, the US vice-president, might launch an attack - or give the green light to Israel to launch one - before leaving office next January. But that speculation is receding.
The Israeli military refused to comment on the exercise but said its air force "regularly trains for various missions in order to confront and meet the challenges posed by the threats facing Israel".
Although Israel says it favours tougher sanctions to curb Iranian nuclear ambitions, it has pointedly not ruled out military action.
This week, Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, repeated his warning that Iran remained the biggest threat in the region. "I don't think we deserve to live under the threat of a nuclear Iran," he said in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald published on Thursday.
Shaul Mofaz, a deputy prime minister and former army chief, provoked criticism this month when he told an Israeli newspaper that an attack was unavoidable. "If Iran continues its programme to develop nuclear weapons we will attack it," said Mofaz, who is in charge of Israel's strategic dialogue with the US over such issues as Iran" ....
By Ewen MacAskill, Rory McCarthy and agencies. Tehran yesterday "denounced Israel as a "threat to global peace" after Israel held a large military exercise in an appa... more -
UN watchdog warns against Iran attack
The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief said a military strike on Iran would turn the Middle East into a fireball and prompt Tehran to launch a crash course to build nuclear weapons.Russia also warned against military threats on Friday, after The New York Times quoted U.S. officials as saying Israel had carried out a large military exercise, apparently a rehearsal for a potential bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities."A military strike, in my opinion, would be worse than anything," International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Mohamad ElBaradei told Al Arabiya television in an interview aired on Frida"It would turn the region into a fireball."
He said any attack would only make the Islamic Republic more determined in its confrontation with the West over its nuclear programme."If you do a military strike, it will mean that Iran, if it is not already making nuclear weapons, will launch a crash course to build nuclear weapons with the blessing of all Iranians, even those in the West.""If a military strike is carried out against Iran at this time ... it would make me unable to continue my work," he added.Russia's U.N. envoy said threatening Iran with military action could undermine newfound momentum in the drive by six world powers to resolve the standoff with Tehran.European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana went to Tehran last week for talks on the matter.Diplomats say that on behalf of major powers, he offered Iran preliminary talks on its nuclear work and a freeze on moves to harsher sanctions if it limited its uranium enrichment to current levels for six weeks.The United States accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear bombs. It has not ruled out an attack on the Islamic Republic, but says it is focusing on diplomatic pressure. Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful but has refused to suspend uranium enrichment despite three rounds of U.N. sanctions imposed since 2006. It has also turned down offers of economic benefits to suspend its uranium enrichment, which it says is to produce fuel for electricity generation.A U.S. official said this stance could lead to a new round of sanctions against Iran.ElBaradei said sanctions alone would not be effective in persuading Iran to halt nuclear enrichment, saying that more international dialogue was required. The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief said a military strike on Iran would turn the Middle East into a fireball and prompt Tehran to launch ... more -
Bush and Brown issue Iran warning
LONDON, England (CNN) -- "Britain and Europe are to agree tough new sanctions against Iran, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday following talks with U.S. President George W. Bush after which he also announced additional troops for Afghanistan.
Brown said new measures against Iran, including a freeze on overseas assets of the country's biggest bank, would be continued if the Islamic regime failed to address concerns over its nuclear ambitions.
"Action will start today in new phase of sanctions on oil and gas. We will take any necessary action so that Iran is aware of the choice it needs to make," Brown said.
Bush said he has not ruled out the use of force to end Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program, but added that he preferred to resolve the dispute diplomatically." LONDON, England (CNN) -- "Britain and Europe are to agree tough new sanctions against Iran, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Mond... more -
Bush-Olmert to meet on Mideast peace and Iran
Israel's fears that Iran could obtain nuclear weapons and the Israeli government's attempts to negotiate peace with the Palestinians and Syria are top agenda items when Israel's beleaguered prime minister, Ehud Olmert, meets President Bush.
"Beleaguered" is an understatement. Both these leaders have some major issues to contend with besides world politics and peace. But Peace, the way the real Mideast and Israel wants are two different things. When the Palestinians meet demands, Israel comes back with something else for the Palestinians to meet. The Israeli government continuously puts another roadblock up so real peace is unattainable. (Read "Center of the Storm" by former CIA director George Tennent)
Israel government needs to give back land it illegally took from the Palestinian people, throwing them out into the street without medical and food supplies and continually making it impossible for these people to live. It is a genocide in the making and something needs to take place to afford these people a way of life. Only then will we see peace and no more bloodshed from either side.
As far as the nukes are concerned, Israeli governments illegal possession of these weapons makes them a axis of evil in this writers eyes. The only reason they are afraid of Iran possessing them is that Iran may step up to the plate and put an end to the crimes Israeli government has committed.
Credit: Yahoo News Israel's fears that Iran could obtain nuclear weapons and the Israeli government's attempts to negotiate peace with the Pale... more -
Nuclear Explosion Suspected at Epicenter of the Sichuan Earthquake
An unnamed expert believes that a nuclear explosion caused the recent 8.0 magnitude Sichuan earthquake in China, where three weeks after the catastrophe the death toll has reached 69,000 plus.
Overseas Chinese website Boxun News reported that the expert confirmed there was a nuclear explosion near the epicenter, based on witness reports and the discovery of concrete rubble believed to have come from an underground military installation.
Mr. He, a local resident, stated that when the earthquake occurred on May 12, people saw something erupt from the top of a mountain next to the valley, "It looked like toothpaste being squeezed out," said He. "No, it wasn't [magma]. It was these concrete pieces. The eruption lasted about three minutes."
According to a China News Services (CNS) report on May 31, 2008, paramedics from People's Liberation Army (PLA) hospitals and psychologists from Beijing onsite May 23 found concrete debris at the bottom of a valley near the epicenter. The half-mile-wide valley was covered with debris 10 - 20 inches thick, covering the valley floor for almost 1.5 miles.
No major construction was occurring in the area at the time of the earthquake.
The thickness of the concrete pieces seemed to match that used in China's underground military bases, according to Boxun's expert. He explained that while there are documented cases that earthquakes cause volcanic eruptions, there are no accounts of eruptions ejecting concrete.
Based on the CNS report and timing of the eruption at the scene, there seemed to be no evidence of natural volcanic activity. The expert stated he was certain a nuclear weapon explosion shattered the underground concrete structures, hurling debris into the air.
At least one of China's nuclear military bases is located in Mianyang City, Sichuan, near the epicenter.
Chinese Internet surfers commented that right after the quake military Special Forces blocked traffic heading toward the epicenter on the mountain, and men in white chemical protective clothing in military vehicles were also spotted driving toward the mountain. Rescue personnel near the epicenter were all military, according to witnesses.
The expert believes the nuclear explosion was not confined to the underground test area and has caused radiation contamination, stating that in a call to Beijing he recommended authorities accept help from other countries, seal the area, find and provide help to those who had been exposed to contamination during the rescue work, and take emergency measures to prevent water contamination.
International relief teams delayed
After the Sichuan earthquake took place, Beijing did not allow international relief groups to begin rescue efforts until 72 hours later, missing the most crucial window for saving lives.
There are also accounts of predictions of the earthquake before it took place. Local government officials in Aba District openly stated the predictions were 'rumors.'
As of Monday, the toll from the earthquake stands at 69,019 dead, 373,573 injured, and 18,627 still missing, according to China's state run media. An unnamed expert believes that a nuclear explosion caused the recent 8.0 magnitude Sichuan earthquake in China, where three weeks aft... more -
The Bomb People
What puts the "mass" in Weapons of Mass Destruction? Nuclear Weapons. Adam Yamaguchi visits the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria, the world's nuclear detective agency, and learns about the state of nuclear proliferation today, and what the UN's nuclear watchdogs are doing to keep tabs on it. What puts the "mass" in Weapons of Mass Destruction? Nuclear Weapons. Adam Yamaguchi visits the International Atomic Energ... more
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No more Nuclear bombs! Abolish Nukes!!!!
Please sign this and pass it onto everyone you know.
Help me tell the next President that we will no longer stand for this terrible stuff.
Thank you-
PEACE Please sign this and pass it onto everyone you know. ... more -
The World's Hardest Working Shaman
Western Shoshone leader, Corbin Harney talks about his prophetic conversation with the water
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IAEA: Iran may be withholding info in nuke probe
"Iran may be withholding information needed to establish whether it tried to make nuclear arms, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday in an unusually strongly worded report."
"The tone of the language suggesting Tehran continues to stonewall the U.N. nuclear monitor revealed a glimpse of the frustration felt by agency investigators stymied in their attempts to gain full answers to suspicious aspects of Iran's past nuclear activities." "Iran may be withholding information needed to establish whether it tried to make nuclear arms, the International Atomic Energy A... more -
UN nuclear watchdog chief: 'Iran isn't building a bomb'
"The UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei has once again highlighted the lack of evidence to prove Iran is after a nuclear bomb.
Speaking at a session of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, ElBaradei reiterated the International Atomic Energy Agency has no evidence that Iran is seeking to develop an atomic bomb.
"We haven't seen indications or any concrete evidence that Iran is building a nuclear weapon and I've been saying that consistently for the last five years," ElBaradei asserted.
He said that the issue of Iran's nuclear standoff with the West is a problem of trust.
The IAEA boss referred to a December 3 joint assessment by 16 US spy agencies, which conceded that Tehran is not running a nuclear weapons program, and said that the US intelligence report agreed with his agency's assessment on Iran's nuclear program.
ElBaradei also criticized US President George W. Bush's remarks at the forum and suggested that the US hold direct talks with Iran in order to resolve the long-drawn-out standoff over the country's nuclear program.
"If you need to resolve an issue, you need to see where people are coming from," said ElBaradei. "We should have learned from now that dialogue, not isolation, is the way to move forward."
Iran has repeatedly stated that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, it is entitled to enriching uranium, which will provide fuel for the country's under-construction nuclear power plants.
However, the US president's flagrant disregard for international reports on Iran indicates his determination to drum up support for an act of aggression against the Islamic Republic.
"I have said Iran is dangerous, and the NIE estimate doesn't do anything to change my opinion about the danger Iran poses to the world - quite the contrary," Bush said in response to the release of the US National Intelligence Estimate."
CS/BGH "The UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei has once again highlighted the lack of evidence to prove Iran is after a nuclear... more -
US: North Korea helped build reactor
The White House is today set to unveil a video it claims supports allegations that North Korea was helping Syria build a nuclear reactor.
The suspected reactor was destroyed by Israeli planes last September, in an attack reminiscent of Israel's 1981 raid on the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq.
Little is still known about the raid seven months on, and today's evidence has been keenly anticipated. US media reports say the video images, believed to have been obtained via Israeli intelligence, show Korean faces among the workers at the Syrian plant.
Reports said the video also showed that the Syrian reactor core's design is the same as that of the North Korean reactor at Yongbon, including a virtually identical configuration and number of holes for fuel rods.
Following the Israeli attack, Syria kept relatively quiet for what was a serious incident – a bombing raid on its territory. It bulldozed the area and constructed a building on the exact location of the old one.
Damascus refused to allow international nuclear inspectors to visit the location, an act that fuelled suspicions that it had something to cover up.
The Bush administration is going public with the video at a sensitive time in negotiations with North Korea on its nuclear programme. Under a recent deal, Pyongyang said it would reveal full details of its nuclear programme in return for a lifting of US economic sanctions. The White House is today set to unveil a video it claims supports allegations that North Korea was helping Syria build a nuclear react... more
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