French media exposes secret report on French nuclear tests on humans

RIA Novosti
16/02/2010

France carried out nuclear tests on its servicemen in the 1960s to study the effect of radiation on humans, according to a secret report uncovered by French media.

The 260-page document, reported by Le Parisien newspaper on Monday, said the experiments were carried out on French soldiers in Algeria's Sahara Desert in 1960-1966. The unattributed report was apparently written by one or several military officers in 1998, after nuclear tests were officially prohibited by then-French President Jacques Chirac.

According to the report, the experiments, intended to study the possibility of carrying out offensive and defensive operations in a contaminated area, involved some 300 infantrymen and tank crews, the paper said.

The French military authorities reportedly intended to "study the physical and psychological effect of nuclear weapons on humans."

The report said that on April 25, 1961, the soldiers were ordered to go on foot toward the site of a nuclear explosion 20 minutes after detonation. They covered 2 kilometers (1.24 miles), observed the destruction caused by the explosion from a distance of 1.1 kilometers (0.7 miles) and stopped some 0.7 kilometers (0.43 miles) away from the explosion's epicenter.

An hour after the blast, a vehicle patrol was ordered to carry out a raid to "point zero." They stopped just 275 meters (900 feet) away from the epicenter.

The experiments showed the soldiers were "able to continue fighting as they did not suffer serious moral harm," the report said. The conclusion was that in case of war, a direct nuclear strike would be needed to disable the enemy.

French Defense Minister Herve Morin did not comment on the report, saying he was unaware of it. He also pointed to a French law which stipulates compensation for victims of nuclear tests.

In March 2009, Morin said his ministry would spend some 10 million euros ($13.6 million) annually on compensation for victims of nuclear experiments, which were carried out in 1960-1966 in Algeria's Sahara Desert and in Polynesian islands and involved some 150 French servicemen.

According to media reports, the tests affected some 2,000 Polynesian residents, including 600 children under the age of 15.

PARIS, February 16 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100216/157904922.html

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Xinhua | Japanese gov't finds documents proving existence of secret Japan-U.S. nuke pact: reports

TOKYO, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese foreign ministry has found documents proving the existence of a secret Japan-U.S. pact that allows U.S. military vessels or aircraft carrying nuclear weapons to enter Japanese territory, local media reported Sunday, citing ministry sources.

A team of about 15 people, led by Mitsuru Kitano, a secretariat councilor in the ministry, found the documents during an investigation of ministry files, according to the sources. And the team informed Okada of its discovery on Friday.

"The probe is now in the final stage, and we will announce the outcome in January," Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada was quoted by Kyodo News as saying on Saturday.

On Sept. 17, Okada ordered thorough investigation into the alleged secret pacts one day after Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama formally launched his DPJ-led cabinet.

As the secret nuclear pact serves as a breach of Japan's three non-nuclear principles of possessing, producing or permitting the bringing-in of nuclear weapons on its soil, Former LDP-led government had always denied its existence, arguing that as they had never faced demands for prior consultations, they had to conclude that nuclear weapons had not been brought to Japan.

MyNews.IN | China gave uranium to Pakistan for two nuclear-bombs

November 13, 2009 - Washington: In a disclosure likely to embarrass Beijing on the eve of President Barack Obama's visit, a leading US daily Friday reported that China gifted 50 kg of uranium to Pakistan with a do-it-yourself kit to make two atomic bombs in 1982.

Citing accounts by controversial Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan, The Washington Post said enough weapons-grade uranium for two atomic bombs was transferred to Pakistan in five stainless-steel boxes loaded on a Pakistani military C-130 aircraft from the western Chinese city of Urumqi.

The uranium transfer was part of a broad-ranging, secret nuclear deal approved years earlier by Mao Zedong and Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, according to the accounts by Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme, who is under house arrest in Pakistan, the daily said.

USGS | 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit NORTHERN QINGHAI, CHINA - Thursday, November 05, 2009 at 05:56:10 AM at epicenter

WHAT IS THE EFFECT OF EARTHQUAKES UPON NUCLEAR MISSILE AND LAUNCH SITES?

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2009npb3.php#details
Earthquake: Location 37.684°N, 95.756°E
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FAS: Federation of American Scientists

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/facility/da_qaidam.htm

Da Qaidam - 412 Brigade
Ta-ch'ai-tan / Tsaidam
37°50'N 95°18'E

China established a nuclear missile deployment and launch site for DF-4 missiles (China's first ICBM) in the early 1970s to the west of Dhashu (Haiyan) in the Da Qaidam [Tsaidam] basin. The Larger Tsaidam (Da Qaidam) site has two missiles stored horizontally in tunnels near the launch pad. Fuel and oxidiser is stored in separate tunnels with lines to the launch pad. According to the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) in Washington DC, nuclear missiles are stationed in Small Tsaidam and are only moved to Large Tsaidam in times of emergency. Da Qaidam is one of five location at which a total of between 10 and 20 DF-4s were deployed as of early 1998. The facility is probably headquarters for one of the three launch brigades, each with up to three launch battalions, subordinated to the Second Artillery Corps 80306 Unit, a Division headquartered in Xining, Qinghai province. The 80306 Unit is able to target sites in the former Soviet Union and India, and indications exist that the 80306 Unit may upgrade to the DF-21. Da Qaidam [Large Tsaidam] has been identified as the location of this Brigade headquarters. The reported relationship between Da Qaidam and Xiao Qaidam, notably the disposition of nuclear warheads, might suggest that the Xiao Qaidam facility is the primary location for this unit. However, the apparent Chinese practice of locating headquarters units separately from operational weapons locations, as seen with Second Artillery Corps Division headquarters locations, would appear to confirm Da Qaidam as the probable location for the Brigade headquarters.

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ALBUQUERQUE (AP) | Quake could pose risk to the main plutonium laboratory at Los Alamos National Laboratory

Updated: Tuesday, 27 Oct 2009, 2:45 PM MDT
Published : Tuesday, 27 Oct 2009, 2:45 PM MDT

• By TIM KORTE, Associated Press Writer

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - An independent safety oversight board is warning that a major earthquake could cause a catastrophic fire at the main plutonium laboratory at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which could trigger a massive radiation release.

The four-page letter issued Tuesday by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board urged Energy Secretary Stephen Chu to make changes to reduce potential hazards.

The board is an auditing agency that oversees federal nuclear programs. It typically examines worst-case scenarios involving national nuclear facilities, then makes recommendations to the Department of Energy on how to minimize risks.

Lab officials released a response, citing several actions taken this year to improve fire safety at the plutonium laboratory building known as Technical Area 55.

Related:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos_National_Laboratory

Los Alamos is one of two laboratories in the United States where classified work towards the design of nuclear weapons is undertaken. The other, since 1952, is Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

After Soviet collapse, U.S. hunted leftover nuclear bomb fuel - New details emerge on how the U.S. spirited half a ton of uranium out of Kazakhstan

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/world/2009/09/27/0927arms.html

PressTV.ir | 'Castro suggested nuclear strike against US'

AFP | Mafia sank boat with radioactive waste: official

ROME — Italian authorities have discovered a ship that was sunk by the mafia off the coast of southern Italy with 120 barrels of radioactive waste on board, a local prosecutor said Monday.

The 110-metre (360-feet) long ship was found on Saturday 500 metres (1,640 feet) under water and around 28 kilometres (17 miles) from the coast of Calabria, Paola city prosecutor Bruno Giordano told AFP.

"For the moment, we do not know the origin of the waste, but it is probably from abroad. It is a first lead," he said.

The Cunsky is one of 32 vessels carrying toxic material that has been sunk by the mafia in the Mediterranean, according to the prosecutor's office in Reggio Calabria.

The location of the Cunsky was revealed by a Calabrese mafia turncoat, Francesco Fonti, who confessed to being behind the explosion that brought the ship down, officials said.

Sebastiano Venneri, vice president of the environmental group Legambiente, said former members of the 'Ndrangheta mafia have said that the crime syndicate was paid to sink ships with radioactive material for the last 20 years.

"An investigation on the origin of this waste is therefore necessary as soon as possible," Venneri told AFP.

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RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service | Nuclear Event - Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, Lacey Township, New Jersy USA - 27/08/2009

RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service
Budapest, Hungary

EDIS NumberNC-20090827-22940-USA
A leak at the Oyster Creek Generating Station contains tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, and officials have lowered power at the plant to make repairs. Oyster Creek, the nation's oldest continuously operating nuclear power plant, is now working at about 50 percent capacity, according to spokesman David Benson. There is no threat to public or employee safety, Benson and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said. The tritium has not spread into any public water supplies and is contained on the site, Benson said. The levels of tritium found in this latest leak, which was first identified Monday, are higher than those found in an April leak. The tritium levels have been 10 million picocuries per liter of water, higher than the 5 to 6 million picocuries per liter of tritium identified in the leak found in April, he said. By comparison, anything above 20,000 picocuries per liter is considered unsafe for drinking water. "We are addressing this leak aggressively even as we speak," Benson said. Exelon, the company that owns Oyster Creek, hasn't decided whether to fully shut down the plant to make repairs, Benson said. The plant notified New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection within nine minutes after a water sample from the leak tested positive for tritium, he said.

According to a report released Wednesday morning by the NRC, the leakage appears to come from a 6-inch aluminum transfer line that is used to transport water from condensation. It is leaking at a rate of less than 20 gallons per minute. To operate properly, the plant needs the aluminum line to be in good condition. However, the plant may be able to make temporary repairs and not have to shut down the plant while those repairs are made, according to Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the NRC. The preliminary report from the NRC suggests the leakage is passing through the condenser building wall, which is about 4 feet thick. Staff at Oyster Creek have excavated around the wall and found leakage coming from that area. This suggests that the leak is located inside the wall, Sheehan said. The aluminum pipe is surrounded by a sleeve, so plant personnel would be able to make repairs to the pipe without excavating the wall, according to Sheehan. Oyster Creek is required to stop the leak as soon as possible. This is the second leak to contain tritium that the Oyster Creek plant has faced in 2009. The leak in April occurred within days of the plant's operating license being renewed for another 20 years. Assemblyman Brian E. Rumpf, R-Ocean, Burlington, Atlantic, was pleased that the plant acted appropriately in reporting the leak and immediately attempting to fix it. However, the assemblyman previously pressed the NRC to be more open with documents related to the previous leak at Oyster Creek.

Sheehan said that the documents have been withheld because of concerns from Exelon that the documents could contain private information. "This begs the bigger question of why (the leaks are) happening," Rumpf said Wednesday. New Jersey environmentalists who protested the relicensing pointed to the fact that this is the second leak this year. "This clearly demonstrates that plant should not have been relicensed for another 20 years," said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, in a statement released Wednesday. "The plant is unsafe, and the NRC is more concerned about protecting Exelon than public health and safety." "We know that Oyster Creek is unsafe and unreliable," said Matt Elliott, clean energy advocate for the group Environment New Jersey. "That gets proven every time it leaks. At what point do we pull the plug on this dinosaur's life support and move full-speed ahead toward cleaner, safer, renewable technologies?" The nuclear plant has a capacity of 619 megawatts, enough to generate electricity for about half a million homes in New Jersey. About 450 people are employed at the plant, not including security personnel, according to Exelon's Web site.)