Mission & Justice

15/5/08

The full horror of the Chinese earthquake emerged yesterday as rescuers discovered towns near the epicentre almost wiped out, including one that lost nearly 80per cent of its population. The death toll has climbed well above 20,000, and is rising by the hour as more information comes in from stricken communities. As many as 60,000 people are believed to still be missing in the region near the quake’s epicentre, prompting fears the death toll could rise dramatically.

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1/5/08

Sydney’s nuclear reactor could resume operations this month, after a 10-month shutdown caused by fuel problems. In July 2007, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), which operates the Open Pool Australian Lightwater (OPAL) research reactor, discovered that several fuel plates had displaced from their original positions in the core of the reactor. ANSTO shut down the reactor and determined that the design of the fuel plates needed to be modified.

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Justin Norrie; 26/4/08

As Chernobyl marks the 22nd anniversary of its nuclear disaster, Japanese fear they are building their own. Between the Pacific Ocean coastline and the rich farmland of Rokkasho, in northern Japan, stands a vast and controversial monument to man’s triumph over nature. The 12.7 trillion yen Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant, which can recycle up to 800 tonnes of nuclear waste a year for reuse, will launch the pacifist nation into a new era of nuclear power when it commences operations in July.

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22/4/08

USA authorities have arrested an engineer on suspicion of passing classified defence information to Israel during the 1980s, according to the justice department. Ben-Ami Kadish is suspected of passing nuclear weapons and air defence information to Israel while working as a mechanical engineer at an army base in New Jersey. Court papers say Kadish’s spying took place between 1979 and 1985, although he maintained contact with an Israeli offical until this year.

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12/4/08

Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu has asked for asylum in Norway for a second time, Norwegian officials said on Friday, but they held out no hope that he would be accepted. Vanunu, whom Israeli authorities have barred from leaving Israel, sent his application directly to Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. His first asylum application to Norway in 2004 was rejected. “We received it yesterday and it has been sent to the Ministry of Labor and Social Inclusion, which will handle it,” a spokeswoman for the Norwegian prime minister’s office said. Vanunu was convicted of treason and imprisoned for 18 years after telling a British newspaper in 1986 about his work as a technician at Israel’s main atomic reactor, disclosures which cracked the secrecy around the assumed Israeli nuclear arsenal.

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