So-called “independent” Lowy Institute shows its pro nuclear bias

Despite its claim to champion “open debate” and to “encourage the widest range of opinions”, the Lowy Institute refused to publish a critique of Medcalf’s propaganda. Friends of the Earth will soon be writing to the Institute’s sponsors suggesting they redirect funding to organisations upholding reasonable intellectual standards and promoting peace instead of militarism and WMD proliferation. We don’t expect a positive response from at least two of those sponsors − uranium miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.

The Lowy Institute’s dangerous nuclear propaganda, Online Opinion, Jim Green, 28 December 12m “….. The Lowy Institute, a well-resourced think-tank with considerable foreign policy experience, ought to have played a constructive, educational role. Executive Director Michael Fullilove claims the Institute is “independent, non-partisan and evidence-driven; that we encourage the widest range of opinions but are the advocate of none.” Bollocks. The Institute − led by staff member Rory Medcalf − has run a disgraceful propaganda campaign in support of uranium sales to India.

All the rhetoric about using uranium sales to leverage disarmament concessions has been quickly forgotten. In 2007 Medcalf proposed a “political price” from Delhi in return for uranium sales. India would acknowledge Australia’s right to cease supply if India tested another nuclear bomb; affirm its moratorium on nuclear tests; state that it will support negotiation of a global treaty to ban producing fissile material for weapons; proclaim its determination to help thwart efforts by any other state to acquire nuclear weapons; commit India’s navy to interdicting illegal nuclear trade; and reiterate that India has a strictly defensive nuclear posture based on no first use, along with a moral commitment to global nuclear disarmament.

Australian invention Silex Laser Uranium Enrichment opens danger of nuclear weapons proliferation

many of the good things GE is using to make a case about Silex—less use of resources and electricity and increased efficiency—are actually negatives that make it easier for rogue states to hide clandestine plants…..methods for the production and use of nuclear materials that would be more difficult to detect,” the report states

New Uranium Enrichment Technology Alarms,  Aviation Week, By Kristin Majcher Washington 23 Nov 11 General Electric says it has successfully tested a faster, cheaper way to produce nuclear reactor fuel, and is planning to commercialize the technology by building a facility in Wilmington, N.C. While the prospect of saving resources to generate energy at a lower price sounds like a breakthrough, scientists are concerned that the top-secret method of enrichment that GE is using will indirectly elevate proliferation risks around the world, thus inspiring rogue states to develop their own laser enrichment facilities for nuclear
weapons.
The enrichment technology is the Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation (Silex). It was developed by Silex of Australia in 1992. The technology company USEC funded early research on Silex, but abandoned it in favor of focusing on centrifuge enrichment. In 2006, GE signed an exclusive agreement to commercialize and license the technology and spearhead further research and development.
Although Silex is the only known method of laser enrichment that works and could be commercially viable, scientists are concerned because many countries have funded laser-enrichment projects. According to the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, more than 20 countries have researched laser isotope separation techniques, including China, India, Iraq, Russia, Japan and Pakistan. Although they were unsuccessful, scientists say that putting Silex back into the public eye, regardless of the safeguards GE promises, poses a problem. Showing that it works could renew efforts by countries to develop the process.

Tracking India’s uranium enrichment via Google Earth

Researcher Uses Google Earth to Track India’s Nuclear Program, PC World, By John Ribeiro, IDG News    Oct 13, 2011  The Institute for Science and International Security in Washington has used imagery from Google Earth to arrive at the conclusion that India may be constructing a gas centrifuge plant for uranium enrichment for military purposes, reinforcing Indian fears that Google Earth can be misused to compromise national security.

The imagery in Google Earth is built from information that is available from a broad range of both commercial and public sources, a Google spokeswoman said in an email. “The same information is available to anyone who buys it from these widely-available public sources”…..

n 2005, India’s former president, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam , criticized Google Earth and other online satellite mapping services for exposing sensitive installations in developing countries to terrorists.

ISIS is a nonprofit organization, focused on stopping the spread of nuclear weapons.

The research published by ISIS senior analyst Paul Brannan had four clear images, said to be of India’s Rare Materials Plant, which were credited to Google Earth.

Google Earth is becoming an increasingly useful tool in providing transparency for the general public on the issue of nuclear proliferation, Brannan said in an email. “Only a few years ago, wide swaths of the earth were only available in low-resolution imagery. Today, not only can people see more and more parts of the world in high-resolution, but Google Earth is also more frequently updating its platform with newer imagery,” he added.

The Indian authorities have been concerned about any collection of imagery by online service providers like Google. The Internet giant’s attempt to collect imagery in Bangalore for its Street View was blocked in June by the local police……

India’s argument that public imagery of its nuclear sites should be unavailable to the public or blurred because terrorists could use the information is a red herring, according to Brannan. The imagery is publicly available through commercial satellite imaging companies anyway, and Google Earth is merely one avenue of presenting the images, he said.

“And where would one draw the line on censorship ?” he asked. “The public’s right to know about nuclear proliferation greatly outweighs these arguments.”

India and arch-enemy Pakistan are not signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and both are known to have nuclear weapons. Agreements in 2008 between India and the U.S. and some other countries allowed them to cooperate and do commerce in civil nuclear areas, while allowing India to keep its military nuclear facilities separate.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/241913/researcher_uses_google_earth_to_track_indias_nuclear_program.htm