Will Nuclear Power in the United States See a Revival This Decade?

FAS Roundup: February 6, 2012

Congress calls for accelerated use of drones, update on radioactive tissue boxes, federal agencies likely to miss 2013 declassification deadline and much more.

From the Blogs

• Raven Rock and Continuity of Government: A newly revised U.S. Air Force directive on continuity of operations under emergency circumstances refers matter-of-factly to Raven Rock Mountain Complex, a largely restricted U.S. government facility in Pennsylvania. Also known as Site R, Raven Rock has been operational since 1953 for purposes of emergency communications, disaster relocation and recovery.  But most operations at the facility have been classified, and the facility itself was rarely mentioned in official publications during most of the past half century.

• Congress Calls for Accelerated Use of Drones in U.S: A House-Senate conference report this week called on the Administration to accelerate the use of civilian unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or “drones,” in U.S. airspace. Steven Aftergood writes that the pending authorization bill for the Federal Aviation Administration directs the Secretary of Transportation to develop within nine months “a comprehensive plan to safely accelerate the integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system.”

• Radioactive Tissue Boxes Redux:  Dr. Y updates readers on the radioactive tissue boxes which were sold at Bed Bath & Beyond, and shares a few issues of concern as a result of this incident.

• An Overview of Special Operations Forces, and More from CRS: Over the past decade, the number of U.S. special operations forces (SOF) personnel has nearly doubled, while budgets for special operations have nearly tripled, and overseas deployments have quadrupled, according to a newly updated report from CRS. Secrecy News has also obtained new CRS reports on U.S. investments in the Middle East and immigration-related detention.

• Agencies are Likely to Miss 2013  Declassification Deadline: Over two years ago, President Obama set December 31, 2013 as the deadline to complete the declassification processing of a backlog of more than 400 million pages of classified historical records that were over 25 years old.  But judging from the limited progress to date, it now seems highly unlikely that the President’s directive will be fulfilled.

FAS Roundup: January 30, 2012

New developments in radiation treatment and diagnosis, no cuts in nuclear forces in defense budget, domestic use of drones, new leak case against CIA officer and much more.

From the Blogs

• Domestic Use of Drones is Well Underway: The use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) within the United States is certain to increase in the years to come, as a new Army policy has recently made clear. But, the use of unmanned aircraft or drones within U.S. airspace has already advanced to a degree that is not widely recognized.

• Budget Blunder: “No Cuts” in Nuclear Forces: “There are no cuts made in the nuclear force in this budget.” That clear statement was made on January 26, 2012 by deputy defense secretary Ashton Carter during the Pentagon’s briefing on the defense budget request for Fiscal Year 2013. Hans Kristensen writes that this statement is disappointing for anyone who had hopes that the administration’s promises about “concrete steps” to reduce the number and role of nuclear weapons and to “put an end to Cold War thinking” would actually be reflected in the new defense budget.

• Presidential Signing Statements and More from CRS:  Secrecy News has obtained new CRS reports on topics such as veterans benefits, Iran sanctions and the FBI and terrorism investigations.

• A Small Death in Tehran: The recent death of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, the 32 year-old deputy director of one of Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities, brings the total of assassinations to five among what was a small group of people to begin with. There are two aspects to this act – the morality of such assassinations and their efficacy, which Dr. Y examines on the ScienceWonk blog.

• New Leak Case Relies on 1982 Law on Intelligence Identities: Former CIA officer John Kiriakou became the latest person to be charged under the Espionage Act with unauthorized disclosures of classified information. But unlike the previous defendants, Mr. Kiriakou was also charged with violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act for allegedly disclosing the identity of a covert intelligence officer to a journalist. Steven Aftergood analyzes the history of this Act and the case against Mr. Kiriakou.

• New Doctrine on Intelligence Support to Military Operations:  Secrecy News has obtained an updated doctrine produced by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on intelligence support to military operations.  The new doctrine reflects changes in intelligence organizations, roles and missions.
• New Developments in Radiation Diagnosis and Treatment: For the last several years the threat of nuclear and radiological terrorism has given us all a good scare and one of our responses has been to throw a lot of money into improving our ability to respond medically to such an attack. Dr. Y writes about a few strategies for diagnosis and treatment.
• DoD Support to Foreign Disaster Relief:  Secrecy News has obtained a new guide prepared by the Department of Defense for military personnel who are engaged in foreign disaster relief operations, an endeavor which arises with some frequency.
• Court Says Review of Security Clearance Dispute is “Prohibited”: A government agency’s decision to revoke an employee’s security clearance cannot be reviewed by a federal court even if the decision is based on ethnic discrimination or religious prejudice or other unconstitutional grounds, a court said last week.

FAS Roundup: January 23, 2012

India’s rejection of nuclear weapons for warfighting, future of nuclear power, reclassificiation of nuclear weapons information  and much more.

From the Blogs

• Dept of Energy Wants to Reclassify Some Info as “Restricted Data”:  Steven Aftergood writes that the Department of Energy has asked Congress to amend the Atomic Energy Act to allow certain nuclear weapons information that has been removed from the “Restricted Data” classification category to be restored to that category. In a letter to Congress requesting the proposed amendment, Energy Secretary Steven Chu suggested that the current arrangement leaves some nuclear weapons design information inadequately protected.

• Indian Army Chief- Nukes Not for Warfighting:  On January 15, 2012, General V.K Singh said that India’s nuclear weapons “are not for warfighting.” Hans Kristensen writes that the rejection of nuclear warfighting ideas is a welcoming development in the debate over the role of nuclear weapons in South Asia.

• Foreign Military Assistance and More from CRS: Secrecy News has obtained new CRS reports on chemical facility security, nuclear power plant design, and U.S. military detainee policy.

• Whither Nuclear Power?: In the aftermath of the Fukushima accident, Germany and Switzerland have put a halt to their nuclear power programs, America’s nuclear renaissance has slowed, and Japan is trying to figure out how to substitute alternative energy sources for nuclear power.  Dr. Y writes on the ScienceWonk Blog that it is understandable that the world might feel an aversion to nuclear power at the moment, but it is no more dangerous than any other form of energy.

• Army Foresees Expanded Use of Drones in U.S. Airspace: The Army issued a new directive last week to govern the growing use of unmanned aircraft systems or “drones” within the United States for training missions and for “domestic operations.” Much of the Army’s UAS activity will be devoted to UAS operator training conducted at or near military facilities. But beyond such training activities, the military also envisions a role for UAS in unspecified “domestic operations” in civilian airspace.

• Radioactive Tissues?: On January 12, 2012, Bed, Bath, & Beyond announced that it had received a shipment of steel tissue holders (manufactured in India) that were contaminated with radioactive cobalt-60. Dr. Y agrees that the tissue boxes are radioactive, but the question is whether or not they are sufficiently radioactive to cause health problems.

• Testimony of Reporter Sought in Sterling Leak Case: In a brief filed in the case against former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling (who is accused of leaking classified information), prosecutors told the U.S. Court of Appeals that New York Times reporter James Risen should be compelled to testify at Mr. Sterling’s trial and to reveal whether it was Mr. Sterling who leaked information to him about a CIA program to disrupt Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

Watch Nuclear Aftershocks on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

FAS Roundup: January 16, 2012

Implications of assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist for Tehran’s nuclear program, musings about EMP, nuclear pursuits in 2012 and much more. 

From the Blogs

• Radiation and Pregnancy:  Can we expect to see legions of children born with birth defects in the aftermath of a radiological attack? True – radiation can cause birth defects and it has been shown to induce mutations in animals. But the amount of radiation required to cause birth defects in humans is substantial.

• After the Pulse-Musings About EMP:  Recently, there has been a flurry of commentary regarding the potential of an EMP attack against the United States by a terrorist group or rogue nuclear nation. Dr. Y gives a brief overview of EMP and discusses the plausibility of this scenario on the ScienceWonk blog.

• The End of the World (as we know it?):  The world is still here. It didn’t end on May 21 as predicted by Harold Camping and it also didn’t end on the date of his revised prophecy – October 21. No matter how convincingly the argument is made, it seems that the world is determined to end at some unpredictable time in the future. The predicted reasons for the end of the world tend to fall into three categories: divine reasons, “scientific” reasons, and human reasons.

• Back to Basics-Radiation Units:  Dr. Y analyzes what radiation safety units really mean and gives a feel for levels that are considered normal, interesting, or alarming on the ScienceWonk blog.

I am excited to tell you that I will appear on PBS’s Frontline on Tuesday, January 17, 2012.  In “Nuclear Aftershocks,” Miles O’Brien examines the hazards and benefits of nuclear energy. I will be speaking about the implications for U.S. nuclear safety after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in Japan last March.

For more information on the episode, click here.

You can find a preview of the episode here.

I encourage you to tune in.  Please check local listings for air times of “Nuclear Aftershocks” on your PBS station.