UAE to buy uranium for nuclear plants

Nuclear reactors (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/191420.html

The United Arab Emirates is advancing its plans to buy the uranium that will be needed to begin operating nuclear power plants.

The UAE's nuclear operator, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), will issue an international tender to buy nuclear fuel, the Arabic language newspaper Al-Ittihad reported on Friday.

According to the paper, ENEC was expected to complete its negotiations for fuel and sign final contracts by the first quarter of 2012, Reuters reported.

"It is expected that the contracts will meet the amount of imported fuel needed for the future operational period and for the following 15 years," the daily quoted ENEC as saying.

The UAE has said it plans to bring its first nuclear power plant on stream in 2017.

The Persian Gulf state expects nuclear energy to eventually account for 25 percent of its power requirements.

Despite being a leading oil exporter, the UAE has embarked on a nuclear program to meet its domestic demand for power.

Israel rebuffs call to join NPT

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/155507.html


Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has dismissed Australia's call on Tel Aviv to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd recently told The Australian newspaper, "Our view has been consistent for a long period of time, and that is that all states in the region should adhere to the NPT, and that includes Israel."

"And therefore their nuclear facility should be subject to IAEA inspection," Rudd said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

On Tuesday, however, Lieberman rejected the demand, saying that it did not matter if Tel Aviv refused to be a signatory to the pact, Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported.

Since 1958, when Tel Aviv began building its Dimona plutonium and uranium processing facility in the Negev desert, it has allegedly manufactured scores of nuclear warheads, turning into the sole owner of such weapons in the Middle East.

Former United States President Jimmy Carter has attested to the existence of the arsenal, which he has said includes between 200 to 300 nuclear warheads.

Rudd is on a tour to the region, which has already taken him to Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian territories.

He has also referred to Tel Aviv's relentless settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank as an obstacle to establishment of, what he referred to as, "peace" in the Middle East.

'US cannot garner support for Iran war'

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=129902§ionid=351020104



A former chief UN weapons inspector says the UN Security Council would never approve an attack on Iran, amid US efforts to punish the country for its nuclear work.

Hans Blix made the remarks in an interview with Austrian daily Der Standard published on Wednesday, as the UN Security Council voted to impose a fourth round of sanctions against Tehran.

"A military solution is unlikely. It is clear that the UN will not approve such an action," he said. "Under the UN Charter, there are two possibilities for military action: self-defense against an armed attack or an invasion authorized by the UN Security Council."

The former weapons inspector highlighted the fact it would be impossible for the US to evaluate the existence of low-enriched uranium -- which Iran is producing domestically to make medical isotopes and to fuel its under-construction nuclear power plants -- as an armed attack and compel the UN Security Council to authorize an offensive military strike against Tehran.

Asked on the likelihood of a US military unilateralism, Blix said the odds were very low as the US knew Iran was not unprepared and would dread a situation similar to the preemptive invasion of Iraq --the legality of which remains internationally contested.

"Even the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, US Admiral Michael Mullen, has spoken out against it. He said that one must consider the consequences. And he said the situation was a bit like that in Iraq: you know what to do when you go in, but little about how one makes advances."

Noting West's lack of proof to back allegations against Iran's nuclear program, Blix stressed that the "hot" nuclear standoff could very well be resolved through diplomacy.

Iran -- a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) -- argues that is has the legal right to a civilian nuclear program.

The US and Israel, meanwhile, have kept "all options" on the table to prevent Iran from developing its program.

Veto-wielding UNSC members Russia and China, which joined the sanctions campaign despite earlier opposition, say the issue should be resolved through diplomacy and have warned against any military strike against the second oil producer in the world.

At IAEA, Iran slams Israel nukes

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=129932§ionid=351020202



While the US and the EU have refused to put Israel's nuclear program under the spotlight, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA says Israeli nukes pose a major threat to piece and stability across the world.

Iran's Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltanieh slammed Israel's nuclear weapons program on Thursday.

"Its (Israel) nuclear weapons capabilities shall undoubtedly increase the potential threat to peace and security of the Middle East and the world at large," he said.

Israel, which has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), is widely believed to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, with around 200 warheads in its arsenal, but has maintained a policy of deliberate ambiguity about its capabilities.

Arab nations along with Russia have also censured Israel at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board meeting, for preventing the Middle East from becoming a nuclear-free region.

Speaking on behalf of the Arab group, Sudan's Ambassador to the IAEA Mahmoud al-Amin told the closed-door session that Israel was a "nuclear danger."

Meanwhile, the US and the European Union expressed concern over the examination of Israel's case at the IAEA board.

"Singling out Israel for censure is in our view both counterproductive and inappropriate," Glyn Davies, the US ambassador to the IAEA, said

The IAEA meeting was held only a day after the UN Security Council (UNSC) imposed a fourth set of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

The imposition of new sanctions is a "clear indication that others, particularly the United States, are following the path of confrontation, as if the [former US President George W.] Bush era is continuing, and that is very disappointing and the slogan of change has not translated into the action," Soltanieh told Press TV after the meeting.

The forth round of UNSC sanctions came after Iran, Turkey, and Brazil signed a declaration on May 17, according to which Iran would ship 1,200 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey to be exchanged for 120 kilograms of 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel rods to power the Tehran research reactor, which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment.

The nuclear declaration gives Iran a guarantee since the low-enriched uranium is to be stored in Turkey and would be returned if Iran does not receive the 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel within one year.

Despite the fact that Iran agreed to conduct the fuel swap in a third country -- a demand by the West that Iran had previously rejected due to guarantee concerns -- on June 9 the UNSC passed a resolution imposing new sanctions on Iran.

Tehran says it sees the declaration as a confidence-building measure that provides an opportunity for cooperation between Iran and the West.