New North Korean Talk?

The next round of the six-party talks to end North Korea's nuclear weapons program is likely to open in the second week of next month, with optimism for a substantial agreement, as both the United States and North Korea appear positive on future negotiations. [via Yahoo! News]

Labels: North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, Six-Party talks

U.N. says Iran plans nuclear development

Iran plans to start installing thousands of centrifuges in an underground facility next month, U.N. officials said Friday, paving the way to large-scale uranium enrichment, a potential way of making nuclear weapons.

Iran ultimately plans to expand its enrichment program to 54,000 centrifuges, which spin uranium gas into enriched material to produce nuclear fuel. That would give it the capacity to produce dozens of nuclear warheads a year, if it chose to develop weapons.

Diplomats briefed on the IAEA's latest findings said earlier this month the Iranians recently finished all pre-assembly work at their Natanz facility, which is underground as protection against attack. And senior Iranian officials have repeatedly said recently that large-scale installation work at Natanz would begin soon. [via Yahoo! News]

Labels: centrifuges, IAEA, Iran, nuclear power, Uranium enrichment

Nuclear Power Workshop for educators

Washington & Lee University and the Council on Foreign Relations will sponsor an interdisciplinary workshop for educators on the role of nuclear power in meeting future U.S. energy requirements. The workshop will be held June 20-24, 2007, on the campus of Washington & Lee in Lexington, VA. Experts in science, technology, economics, regulation, and proliferation will provide information and insights to address the deliberations surrounding this energy source. The presenters representing different positions on scientific and policy issues associated with this important question will be announced in early 2007. Time will also be dedicated to the presentation of these issues in a variety of educational environments. Stipends will be available to participants for travel and living expenses. For more information contact Ms. Lynda Bassett-deMaria (Bassett-deMariaL@wlu.edu). For details of the agenda see http://npw.wlu.edu

Labels: educators, nuclear power, workshop

The Doomsday clock moves closer to midnight.

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS) will move the minute hand of the "Doomsday Clock" on January 17, 2007, the first such change to the Clock since February 2002. The major new step reflects growing concerns about a "Second Nuclear Age" marked by grave threats, including: nuclear ambitions in Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing "launch-ready" status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the U.S. and Russia, escalating terrorism, and new pressure from climate change for expanded civilian nuclear power that could increase proliferation risks.

Touring Nuclear Sites

Recently the New York Times ran an article about visiting some nuclear related sites in the southwest. I've been to all but the NTS. For more information, visit http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/01/05/travel/escapes/05atomic.html