Israel’s Barak dismisses talk of attacking Iran

Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak arrives to the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on April 3, 2011


Defence Minister Ehud Barak today played down speculation that Israel intended to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, saying it had not decided to embark on any military operation.

“War is not a picnic. We want a picnic. We don’t want a war,” Barak told Israel Radio ahead of the release this week of an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iran’s nuclear activity.

“(Israel) had not yet decided to embark on any operation,” he said, dismissing Israeli media speculation that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had chosen that option. ― Reuters

Calls for tougher sanctions against Iran following IAEA report

A UN nuclear watchdog report is expected to show concern that Iran benefited from foreign expertise to help develop technology that could be used to build atomic bombs, Western officials said yesterday.

Tehran is “clearly trying to reach out to nuclear scientists around the world,” a Western diplomat accredited to the UN agency in Vienna said, suggesting it was a case of Iran contacting individuals rather than their governments.

Other Western officials painted a similar picture of suspected foreign involvement in providing know-how for activities seen as geared to developing a nuclear weapons capability, but it was unclear how extensive it had been.

China warns of turmoil over Iran, mute on sanctions

A general view shows the nuclear power plant in Bushehr, about 1,215km south of Tehran, in this file photo of November 30, 2009. China warned on November 9, 2011 against turmoil in the Middle East from action over Iran’s nuclear programme.


China warned today against turmoil in the Middle East from action over Iran’s nuclear programme, but declined to comment on the possibility of new sanctions following a UN report that Iran appears to have worked on designing an atomic weapon.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China was “studying” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report, and repeated a call to resolve the issue peacefully through talks.

UN report reinforces worries over Iranian threat

Germany says it will push for resolution urging Iran to return to negotiating table; Hague: Britain considering how to raise pressure on Iran.

US Navy intercepted North Korean ship sending missile material to Myanmar

The guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell transits the western Pacific Ocean during combat system ship qualification trials in this US Navy handout photo dated May 26, 2010.

The US Navy intercepted a North Korean ship suspected of carrying missile parts to Myanmar two weeks ago, media reports and a US official said yesterday.

The New York Times reported late on Sunday, citing senior American officials, that a North Korean cargo ship was forced to return home after a standoff at sea and several days of diplomatic pressure from Washington and Asian nations.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner confirmed the interception, but declined to comment on the cargo or destination of the North Korean vessel.

“We talked directly with the North Koreans to stress the importance of not engaging in proliferation-related transfers,” he said.

“We learned that the ship, the vessel, changed course at sea, and we believe it returned to North Korea,” said Toner.

UN sanctions imposed on North Korea after it conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 include a ban on trade in nuclear and missile technology with North Korea. A UN resolution adopted last year authorised UN member states to inspect North Korean sea, air and land cargo.

According to the Times, the destroyer USS McCampbell caught up with the cargo ship M/V Light south of Shanghai on May 26 after American officials began tracking the vessel, which was believed to have been involved in previous illegal shipments.

The destroyer asked to board the vessel under authority given by Belize, but the North Koreans refused, Toner said.

“The ship’s master refusing us permission to board it, as well as the fact that it turned around and headed back to North Korea, speaks to ... some of our concerns about its cargo,” he said.

Japan earthquake - IAEA: Japan underestimated nuclear plant tsunami risk

Shares of Tokyo Electric Power Co fell to 289 yen on Thursday, the lowest level since it was listed on the stock exchange, coming under increasing pressure from selling by retail investors.

Radioactive water accumulating in Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant is set to start overflowing from storage trenches in five days, data provided by the company show. ...

The radiation from Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi reactors poisoned farmlands, contaminated the sea, and sent invisible mists of radiation wafting around the world. The latest – and it's just the latest – atomic accident has raised new ...

UN report puts focus on Japan nuclear plant flaws

International Atomic Energy Agency fact-finding mission team leader and Britian’s top nuclear safety official Mike Weightman answers questions from reporters after a meeting with Goshi Hosono, special adviser to Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan in Tokyo on June 1, 2011.

Less than a week after touring the radioactive rubble of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, a team of international safety inspectors today plans to hand Japan’s government a preliminary review of what triggered the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

Saudi plans to build 16 nuclear reactors by 2030

Saudi Arabia plans to build 16 nuclear power reactors by 2030 which could costs more than US$100 billion (RM303 billion), a Saudi-based newspaper reported today, citing a top official.

The world’s top crude exporter, Saudi is struggling to keep up with rapidly rising power demand. It has considered boosting its domestic energy capacity using nuclear reactors.

“After 10 years we will have the first two reactors,” Abdul Ghani bin Melaibari, coordinator of scientific collaboration at King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, told Arab News.

Pakistan's nuclear surge exposed

Recent satellite images obtained by Fox News from the aerial imagery company GEOEYE show an expanding nuclear facility at the Khushab facility about 100 miles south of Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad.

Radiation found in seaweed near crippled Japan plant

An aerial view of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station is seen in this file photo taken on March 24, 2011.

Seaweed collected from the coast near Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant and sewage in Tokyo have shown elevated levels of radiation, according to data released by an environmental group and government officials today.

The findings, released separately by Greenpeace and Tokyo government officials, underline the difficulty of containing the water-borne spread of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was seriously damaged by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami, triggering a still-unfolding crisis.

Operator Tokyo Electric Power has poured massive amounts of water on four of the reactors at the plant to cool the fuel they contain, but struggled to keep the radioactive water from leaking out to the sea.

Environmental critics have also raised worries about contaminated water seeping into the water table.

Japan may close one nuclear plant, tiny radiation leak at another

Japan Atomic Power Co.’s Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant No.2 reactor is seen in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, in this March 14, 2010 file photo taken by Kyodo.


Japan today announced a tiny radiation leak at a nuclear reactor on its west coast, while another power company is expected to close a nuclear plant in central Japan due to its vulnerability to a major quake.

Electricity wholesaler Japan Atomic Power said it had stopped the leak after a minute amount of radiation was found in gas that escaped from the Tsuruga nuclear plant yesterday. It said there had been no impact on the environment.

Japan Atomic said it was investigating the cause of the leak, which is bound to increase public unease over the troubled nuclear industry in the wake of the massive earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima nuclear facility in March.

Fukushima workers make progress in tackling reactor - "Fukushima is no Chernobyl" say nuclear experts - New video of Fukushima plant

Japan's TEPCO puts out fire at damaged nuke plant

Crews are said to be fighting a fire at Fukushima's No. 4 reactor (AFP/Jiji Press) A fresh fire broke out at Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant this morning, while a strong aftershock hit the east of the country. The operator of Japan's crippled nuclear power plant says workers discovered a small fire near a reactor building at its tsunami-stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi complex but it was extinguished quickly.

Japan set to extend nuclear evacuation zone

Anti-nuclear protesters shout slogans during a march in front of Tokyo Electric Power Co’s headquarters in Tokyo, April 10, 2011.

A protester wearing a mask reading “Stop! Genpatsu”, or stop nuclear power plant, as she marches in Tokyo.

Japan plans to extend the evacuation zone around its crippled nuclear plant because of high radiation levels, local media reported today, with engineers no closer to regaining control of six reactors hit by a giant tsunami one month ago.

Concern at Japan’s inability to contain its nuclear crisis, caused by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami, is mounting, with Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s ruling party suffering embarrassing losses in local elections yesterday, and neighbouring China and South Korea voicing criticism.

Engineers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant north of Tokyo said yesterday that they were no closer to restoring the plant’s cooling system, which is critical if overheated fuel rods are to be cooled and the six reactors brought under control.

They are hoping to stop pumping radioactive water into the ocean today, days later than planned.

Four weeks after the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl a quarter of a century ago, the government was moving to extend the 20km evacuation zone due to high levels of radiation, the Asahi newspaper reported.

The government has so far refused to widen the zone, despite being urged to by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)and countries such as the United States and Australia advising its citizens to stay 80km away from the plant.

The Asahi said the government would extend the zone to 30km in certain areas, depending on wind direction, and residents would be given a week to prepare for evacuation.

The Japan Times said authorities would soon forcibly close the 20km zone, stopping people returning to their shattered homes to pick through the rubble for belongings.

Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato criticised the evacuation policy, saying residents in a 20-30km radius were initially told to stay indoors and then advised to evacuate voluntarily.

“Residents in the 20-30km radius were really confused about what to do.” Sato told NHK television yesterday.

One month to the day after Japan was devastated by the tsunami that left 25,000 dead, ANOTHER earthquake strikes off the SAME coast

* Tremors struck as country prepared to remember the dead
* Crippled nuclear plant evacuated after latest seismic activity
* Government pledges to do all it can to help survivors
* Frustrations increasing among residents of Fukushima exclusion zone
* Nuclear officials admit they cannot offer end date for plant crisis
* Evacuation zone around stricken plant could be expanded due to accumulation of radiation

A tsunami warning was issued for an hour after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Iwaki in Fukushima province, a month after a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan's north-east coast.

The latest quake came as sombre ceremonies were planned today to mark one month passing since the tragedy.

And there are fears it could have catastrophic ramifications for the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

The plant has since been evacuated, although its operator said no nuclear damage has been reported after this latest burst of seismic activity.

 Silent reflection: Japan's Ground Self-Defence Force members in a moment of silence at 2:46 pm, exactly a month after a massive earthquake struck the area in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture

 Police officers in protective suits search for bodies at a destroyed area, about 18km from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power station

 Memorial: A group of Japanese Shinto priests (on the left) and Buddhist monks at Yugihama Beach during a pray for Japan memorial event in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture

 Police officers in protective suits observe a moment of silence for those who were killed by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, as they search for bodies at a destroyed area in Minamisoma, Fukushima prefecture

 Buddhist monks pray in an area destroyed by tsunami in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, one month to the day after an earthquake and tsunami devastated the city

With mops, cranes and immense courage, Japan picks up the pieces and begins the long, slow process of rebuilding

For days after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami which obliterated the north-east Japanese coast, the people were simply shellshocked.

There followed a lot of suffering, bereavement in horrific measures and the realisation that for the lucky survivors life would never be the same again.

But slowly - despite thousands of refugees living out of cardboard boxes and with fears of radiation ever-present - the Japanese are beginning to swing into action.

Firstly, there is an enormous amount of mopping and cleaning to be done, and how some of the ships, cars, houses, mangled steel and general detritus will be removed is anyone's guess, but construction is occurring if only on a small scale.

The stoic Japanese have got a mammoth job in front of them, but some of them can glimpse the light at the end of the tunnel, even if it appears very dim to the rest of us.

 Volunteer workers clear the mud on in Matsushima, Miyagi

 The lights are on and there's someone home: Lights from vehicles are caught in a long exposure in Yamada where a bedroom window light shows signs of life

The buildings represent a new beginning for the local people

A set of 36 houses are being built in the grounds of a junior high school Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture

People shift mud and debris from a boutique at Kamaishi in Iwate prefecture

Sailors from Navy Misawa sailors are assisting with clean up in the tsunami-damaged city of Hachinohe

Students and U.S. soldiers mop up in a high school gymnasium in Ishinomaki

A U.S. Marine teams up with Japanese soldiers in cleaning up the mud-covered floor of a classroom at the devastated city of Ishinomaki

Marines team up with Japanese soldiers and a school official in cleaning up the mud-covered floor of an auditorium

Japan's Leader Vows Victory in Nuke Battle - Latest super close-up footage of Fukushima wrecked nuclear reactor - Japanese Radiation Levels Measure 10,000 Times Standard - Japan Seeks Foreign Help in Nuke Crisis -

Cooling breaks down at third reactor in Japan - 2nd explosion rocks Japan's nuke reactor - Second blast at nuclear plant - A second blast rocks Japan's quake-damaged nuclear plant

Three days of Nuclear Nightmare

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