Britain secretly builds nuclear plants

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158367.html


Britain has already started work to build two new nuclear power stations even before receiving the building process approval, says a new alliance of anti-nuclear power campaigners.

The alliance accused the nuclear industry of jumping the gun by launching preparatory works at two sites including Hinkley Point in Somerset, Sizewell in Suffolk, the daily Morning Star reported.

The group said it has opposed proposals to construct nuclear power stations at Hinkley Point, Sizewell, Bradwell in Essex, Wylfa in Anglesey, Oldbury in Gloucestershire, Sellafield in Cumbria and Hartlepool in County Durham.

Communities Opposed to New Nuclear Energy Development (Conned) aims to bring together groups around seven sites earmarked for possible development.

Conned aims to not only raise public awareness about the health, environment and safety consequences of potential new nuclear power developments but also support the use of alternative energy strategies.

"It's clear that the industry wants to give the impression that everything is signed, sealed and delivered, hoping that the opposition will fade away,” Conned spokesman Crispin Aubrey said.

"In fact this is far from being the case. Opposition is strong and some investment analysts even argue that it will be extremely difficult for the companies to finance these expensive white elephants. Our local countryside will then have been trashed in vain," he added.

US rejects EU diplomacy over Iran N program

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118082§ionid=351020104


Leading US senators Joseph Lieberman and John Kerry inveigh against a top EU official for supporting further diplomatic talks with Iran over its nuclear program.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, the two US officials criticized the European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashto who threw her lot with more dialogue over Iran's nuclear program.

The two went on to claim that Iran has been 'explicitly dishonest' over its uranium enrichment and thus does not deserve further dialogue, or diplomacy for that matter.

"Iran comes to the international conference like this and talks in a way that is simply dishonest," said Lieberman, who chairs the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs and is known for his pro-Israeli stance on international issues.

Rather than dealing with Iran through diplomatic negotiations, Lieberman asserted that the US should try to deal with the Tehran government through other means.

"Dialogues have being going on for last six years, (and) there are always dialogues," he said. "But the Iranians do not take the chance. I think it simply has to get a tougher economic sanction if any kind of diplomacy is over, and military will never be necessary."

His remarks were instantly backed by John Kerry, the former US presidential candidate who now heads the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.

"We are united in the congress, senate house, the administration and with our allies here in Europe," said Kerry.

This comes as Iran is trying to find a middle ground with the West in swapping its low-enriched uranium with more refined nuclear material for the Tehran research reactor.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki expressed hop on Saturday that an agreement on the nuclear fuel proposal will soon be reached with the Western side, but with the changes that Tehran seeks.

His remarks were largely ignored by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates who has instead insisted on the imposition of fresh sanctions on the country.

Washington accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons and has for years levied sanctions and threatened the country with war scenarios to force the Tehran government into halting its nuclear activities.

Iran which has been under various US sanctions after the Islamic Revolution toppled a US-backed monarch in 1979 rejects the accusations as politically motivated.

Iran's nuclear program was launched in the 1950s with the help of the United States as part of the Atoms for Peace program. After the 1979 Revolution, Western companies working on Iran's program refused to fulfill their obligations even though they had been paid in full.

Iran is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and, unlike some of its regional neighbors, has opened its enrichment plants to UN inspection.

'Iranian weapon ends Apache copters' air supremacy'

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117711§ionid=351020101


A senior Iranian military official says Iran has developed a special weapon that can bring down Apache helicopters.

Col. Nasser Arab-Beigi, the director of the self-sufficiency organization of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), told the Fars news agency on Tuesday that the “special weapon” can also target advanced tanks.

He noted that the new weapon will put an end to the battlefield supremacy of the United States' Apache helicopters.

“The enemy should not assume that if it attacks Iran, its Apache helicopters will perform as satisfactorily as they do in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Arab-Beigi stated.

He noted that the IRGC self-sufficiency organization has focused its research on the enemies' threats, adding that the organization closely studies the enemies' capabilities and singles out those that could be a threat to Iran.

Nasser-Beigi said that the organization then establishes research teams to develop the weapons necessary to fend off the threats.

Japan ends refueling mission for US forces

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116188§ionid=351020406


Japan's Democratic party-led government in an unprecedented decision has ended its nearly a decade-long refueling mission of the US-led forces in Afghanistan.

Incoming reports say Defense Minister Tishimi Kitazawar ordered all naval ships and their hundreds of personnel to return home after nine years of helping supply oil to vessels used by foreign forces that are engaged in a controversial war in landlocked Afghanistan.

Kitazawar is also expected to issue an official order that will totally terminate refueling operation in the Indian Ocean on Friday.

Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force has been refueling the US mission since the Afghan war began in 2001.

Reports say Japanese ships have provided more than 500,000 liters of oil to vessels from 12 countries, including the US, France, Britain and Pakistan since last December.

A defense ministry tally shows the fuel cost has gone above 26 million dollars.

Japan has promised to change the old way things worked between Tokyo and Washington.

The new Japanese government, which is against a military solution for the conflict, has pledged up to five billion dollars in civilian aid to Afghanistan.

In addition, Tokyo's relations with Washington have been strained over a number of issues since Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama took office last year.

Diplomatic ties between Japan and the US have recently witnessed a low over a previously signed deal to relocate an American base on Okinawa.

The premier has suggested that the US military bases should be moved off the island of Okinawa or even outside of Japan altogether.

Hatoyama says he will press for more equal ties with the United States.