Another ‘Nuclear Iran’ Claim By David Albright Gets Debunked

June 11, 2021

Two days ago FOX News ran another sensational story about Iran's nuclear program.

Satellite images of Iran nuclear site raise alarms as IAEA meets in Vienna

However the claims in that story are based on a report by David Albright's Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS). Albright is known for his false or misleading conclusions about mostly random 'evidence'.

The story:

Fox News has obtained new satellite images that show unusual activity at Iran’s Sanjarian site, which has been exposed in the past as a suspected manufacturing site for "shock wave generators" – devices which would allow Iran to miniaturize a nuclear weapon.

The new images obtained from Maxar show 18 vehicles at the site on October 15, 2020, more vehicles and excavation in January along with a new access road that was later covered up in March of this year. All that is visible by satellite now are excavation swirls and new trenches, according to analysis from Itay Bar Lev of The Intel Lab who worked in conjunction with the Institute for Science and International Security.

The site, which is 25 miles outside Tehran and has a population of 361, was first revealed when Israel's Mossad obtained Iran's secret nuclear archive in 2018: 50,000 computer files and 50,000 documents outlining Iran's Amad project, the scientific program to build a nuclear weapon which the IAEA says was halted in 2003.

The pictures FOX News presents are supposed to show the site on October 15 2020 and on January 18 2021. There are only slight differences.

bigger

Remarks on the pictures note that there are "18 vehicles", "concealment sheeting" and "bulldozer scarring". How those are supposed to be related to alleged manufacturing of "shock wave generators" for nuclear weapons is beyond me.

The Times of Israel adds some quotes:

According to the institute, also known as ISIS, the nuclear archive smuggled out of Iran by Israel’s Mossad spy agency in 2018 contained information about Sanjarian’s role in plans to produce shockwave generators, which are key components in the miniaturization of nuclear weapons.
…
Apparently following that development, activities renewed at the Sanjarian site in October 2020, where excavations continued until January 2021, according to the ISIS.

“The burial site was reopened, but placed under a white sheeting that covered the excavated area, concealing what’s underneath from outside observers, including satellites,” it said Wednesday. “Less than two months later, the area appeared abandoned, with only empty trenches left behind. Then in just the past month, the area was bulldozed and graded over, like nothing ever happened [t]here.”
…
The insinuation appeared to be that Iran, spooked by the IAEA inspecting previously unknown nuclear sites using information obtained by the Mossad, has allegedly attempted to cover up any incriminating evidence from the Sanjarian compound.

There is a history of such insinuation by David Albright's ISIS. The ones in 2008 about an alleged North Korean reactor in Syria turned out to be false. In 2013 Albright's ISIS issued a report about alleged Iranian imports of magnets which, ISIS claimed, were for Uranium centrifuges. There was only one problem with that claims. The magnets Iran allegedly ordered would not have fit for that purpose. In 2015 Albright was very concerned about a massive nuclear explosion chamber in an Iranian building which was covered with a pink(!) tarp. Several media reported about it. When finally people went there they found the building empty.

It is therefore not astonishing that the most recent claims about the Sanjarian (Jajrud) site also turn out to be false.

The Unhappy Scientist explains:

bigger

Machine translated from Farsi and edited for readability:

Unhappy Scientist – @ResindScientist – 5:20 AM · Jun 10, 2021

Iran Nuclear Program: What do the satellite images of Jajrud show?
Short answer: The filming scene of the series "Nun Kh"

Recently the team @TheIntelLab in collaboration with the team @TheGoodISIS have published satellite images of Sanjarian village.

2 / They claimed that they have observed excavations 100 meters away from the Sanjarian site. These activities took place between the fall of last year and the spring of this year. Satellite images show parked cars. In addition to leveling the ground, surface excavation and covering the excavated surface.

3 / The behind-the-scenes film of the series "Nun Kh", which was apparently broadcast during the Eid holidays, shows that the filming took place at exactly the same point between autumn and spring. And these changes are nothing but logistics and filming scenes.
Youtube: Behind the scenes of Noon Kh 3, which is to be broadcast on TV during Nowruz 1400 (video)
…

The location pictures shown in the video are consistent with the satellite pictures. The TV series production time frame fits exactly with the rearranged dirt.

bigger

A production company finds a fitting location for its TV series. Satellite pictures show that some dirt was moved around. "Nuclear, nuclear, something," screams David Albright. The usual media report the nonsense.

One wonders how long it will take Fox News to issue a correction for this one.

Posted by b on June 11, 2021 at 17:50 UTC | Permalink

Comments

The Link
Enlarge the picture….
The trucks look Chinese..
Aren’t two drivers looking 00P & 00B ?

Posted by: Rêver | Jun 11 2021 18:22 utc | 1

some more pics

Posted by: gary | Jun 11 2021 18:33 utc | 2

Good report. The whole ISIS thing is hilarious on more than one level. On the other hand US Secretary of State Blinken warns the longer JCPOA renegotiations go on Iran’s ability to build a bomb could get down to a ‘matter of weeks.’ At least he didn’t hold up an Acme cartoon of a bomb with its fuse lit. On the other other hand Bibi the Baby Killer has only two days left to start his war with Iran. Insane is as insane does.

Posted by: gottlieb | Jun 11 2021 18:47 utc | 3

Albright and ISIS. Where have I heard that before?

Posted by: Norwegian | Jun 11 2021 18:49 utc | 4

thanks b… these stories are a dime a dozen by usa-isreal based ngos..
too bad this conversation isn’t about what israel is hiding in it’s nuclear weapons program.. i guess the usa wouldn’t pay to have this info.. they are too busy being subservient to israel.. this constant story of israel harping on iran is tiring… let the world flip it around.. but no…usa-israel may as well be one country on the foreign policy front.. meanwhile according to an article in rt news –
Ex-Mossad chief indicates Israel was behind Iranian nuclear facility explosion and military scientist assassination
i guess if the usa thinks it is okay to murder solemaini, israel has free range for a continuation of the same warped thinking corruption.. 2 peas in a pod…

Posted by: james | Jun 11 2021 18:54 utc | 5

Today from Catlin
When you go to debunk, debunk it hard and don’t play “by the rules”.
Not ours.

The solution, as I always point out, is to work together to destroy and discredit the oligarchic propaganda apparatus which enables the empire to determine who gets a platform and who doesn’t. As long as they are able to uplift vapid fauxgressives who pretend it’s possible to have a kinder, gentler US empire and marginalize people who actually want to dismantle the status quo, there will never be enough public awareness to force real change.
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2021/06/11/the-lie-that-a-kinder-gentler-us-empire-is-possible/

At the end of the journey, Omar just found Hamas a terror organization and Israel a living democracy with a fine judicial system

Posted by: Rêver | Jun 11 2021 18:57 utc | 6

This Russian article from 14 months ago, IMO, uncovers the real reason why the focus on Iran’s nuclear industry. The article leads with this admission from the US Dept. of Energy:
“‘The United States has lost the competitive advantage of the global leader in nuclear energy among the world’s state-owned companies. Russia and China, along with other states, are actively trying to outdo our country,’ the U.S. Energy Ministry said in a report released on Thursday. In doing so, Washington officially acknowledges its defeat in the nuclear industry. The loss of leadership jeopardizes the national interests and security of the country.” [My Emphasis]
This will come as a shocker to many:
“The only thing the U.S. can do is produce nuclear fuel. However, they have serious problems with the independent production of uranium and, more importantly, with uranium enrichment and the construction of new nuclear power plants on their own.” [My Emphasis]
In a previous article on this topic written by b, we learned that a policy was formed back in the early 1960s that no other nations were to gain the expertise to enrich uranium, but it was hotly debated and never was wholly implemented until Iran’s Revolution when it took possession of the nuclear plant the Outlaw US Empire provided the Shah. The Empire’s policy goal since has been to deny Iran the ability to enrich, but that policy has failed spectacularly. Back to the article:
“The further process, namely uranium enrichment, is much more expensive and technologically complex. A company that enriches uranium must have sophisticated technologies and equipment. And Russia, unlike the United States, has them.
“Moreover, the United States began using Russian services to enrich uranium almost immediately after the end of the Cold War. Because Russian technology was better and more economical than American technology. Every year the volume of exports from Russia only grew. In fact, Russia exports these high-tech services, which is extremely honorable and profitable….
“That is, the American company Westinghouse, which produces nuclear fuel and tries to replace Russian fuel in the Soviet reactors of Ukrainian nuclear power plants, depends on the export of uranium enrichment services, including those provided by Russia (Techsnabexport). ‘The U.S. is now almost entirely dependent on uranium shipments from abroad, with Rosatom’s subsidiaries accounting for their bulk,’ the report said last year.
“Meanwhile, the United States has not only lost its own uranium production and commercial uranium enrichment expertise, it is also lagging behind Russia in building reactors, particularly fast reactors.” [My Emphasis]
So, we ought to view the entire attempt at Hybrid War via sanctions as an attempt to retard the further development of nuclear engineering competence so the Outlaw US Empire doesn’t fall further behind. I recently shared this article, “Hybrid Fusion-Fission Reactors Developed in Russia,” and the news report of China’s recent success with its fusion experiments. In his recent article, Ehret cites at length Putin’s speech at the 2019 Global Industrialization Summit in an important essay that uncovers some interesting facts.
As I wrote in a comment to Norwegian on the last Open Thread:
“Imagine the change in the balance in Geopolitical power if China/Russia master fusion and can provide the fuel while the NATO-Bloc cannot do either. And that possibility of course generates even more thorny questions.”
Iran, of course, will certainly be a participant in the fusion development process, and Iran has already made a contract with ROSATOM for the construction of another nuclear power station. For those wanting to read much more about Russia’s nuclear program during the 21st Century and how it will use its current stockpile of spent fuel to eliminate such waste, this is for you!
It would help the world greatly if the Outlaw US Empire would participate instead of try to emasculate the development of waste-free fission and fusion, particularly since it now has much to learn in that scientific realm.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 11 2021 19:05 utc | 7

The truck drivers looks like they are drunk
Probably they are Russian or Chinese.

Posted by: Andrew | Jun 11 2021 19:24 utc | 8

Fox “News” is an important outlet for Hasbara disinformation targeted to Baby Boomer evangelicals.
Luckily, hardly anyone watches Faux News anymore and the Baby Boomer religious nutjobs are dying everyday.
Hasbara has been struggling to mind control the younger generations as shown with the growing support for BDS and pro-Palestinian movements online.
Oy vey!

Posted by: Mar man | Jun 11 2021 19:52 utc | 9

How about launching the construction of four new plants. And that is just part of joint cooperation in leading nuclear technologies.
Construccion 4 new plants
These initiatives include an experimental fast neutron reactor built in China with Russia’s participation… Russia also supplied China with radionuclide heating blocks for the spacecraft that was the first in history to land on the far side of the Moon in 2019. We were extremely happy about your success, dear Chinese friends.

Posted by: Paco | Jun 11 2021 19:53 utc | 10

@9 Not drunk. They have been under concealment sheeting for 6 months. Just happy to get out.

Posted by: dh | Jun 11 2021 19:54 utc | 11

karlof1 | Jun 11 2021 19:05 utc | 8
I seem to recollect that early nuclear plants “exported” by the US were based on nuclear submarine engines. Made by Westinghouse. They had one failing (at least), and that was the storage of spent fuel above the actual reactor. (Or at least higher). In some places such as Fukushima the same layout was used as it was easier to simply transfer the design to a new location.
Lazy.
The resulting problems in Fukushima were compounded by having fuel storage in close proximity to the reactors themselves, as you all know.
The US now has vast problems of disposal/storage of used fuel, and leaks. As do other Countries. This part of nuclear power’s “future” is no longer discussed !
*****
Obviously all that was needed in Sanjarian, was a bulldozer to cover up traces. They must have worked out the simplest method of storing spent fuel ? Dig a hole, preferably a big one. Nobody will ever find out…….
?:>)

Posted by: Stonebird | Jun 11 2021 19:56 utc | 12

“Fox “News” is an important outlet for Hasbara disinformation targeted to Baby Boomer evangelicals.”
No worse than the NYT or WaPo.

Posted by: ian | Jun 11 2021 20:00 utc | 13

FOX is also upset with, “Russia to supply Iran with advanced satellite -Washington Post”
It is a requirement that Iran must be blind and helpless.
The funny thing (in a sick, perverse way) is that we have proof that Israel is actually using their satellites to kill people in Syria but apparently they are doing God’s work. When Israel publishes satellite photos of the buildings they destroyed the previous day, ever wonder how they acquired the GPS coordinates of those targets in the first place?
Hmmm …. I bet they used the same satellites to do that. So yes, in a manner of speaking, Israel does have orbiting space weapons.

Posted by: Christian J. Chuba | Jun 11 2021 20:01 utc | 14

The same David Albright who sold the story of Syria’s reactor by the Euphrates
That location has been under the control of US allies in Syria for some years. Has the CIA or anyone else carried out an investigation of the site to see what really went on there? No, not that anyone has publicly acknowledged.
Meanwhile the latest Google Map satellite view of the site shows none of the massive foundations one would expect of a Magnox reactor.

Posted by: Ghost Ship | Jun 11 2021 20:01 utc | 15

It seems that Russian will soon start construction of two nuclear power plant in Iran.
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2021/06/10/2518305/president-rouhani-hails-growing-ties-with-russia
Russia military and technical cooperation with Iran
https://tass.com/defense/1296525
Sure this one is really hot..
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-russia-to-supply-iran-with-advanced-satellite-according-to-washington/?ref=premium

Posted by: _AR_ | Jun 11 2021 20:18 utc | 16

The white Western judeo-christian mass media cannot be trusted. The Western media has lost all credibility. It is only capable of producing garbage. Its contents tell us much more about their authors than they do about their ostensible subject.

Posted by: Ali | Jun 11 2021 20:19 utc | 17

8 Cont’d–
I should mention that Ehret links to a missive slamming Biden for doing something similar to Carter. The accusation in the missive is false as proven by this remarkable document: “Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing: U.S. Policy Development,” which reveals the go-stop-go-stop nature of the Outlaw US Empire’s overall nuclear policy. Further research shows the greatest concern was with plutonium and its reprocessing. The “problem” wasn’t Carter’s. The first directive to suspend was made by Ford, continued by Carter, then rescinded by Reagan. As the Russians have now proven, plutonium can be safely reprocessed and eliminated when burned as fuel.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 11 2021 20:49 utc | 18

Congratulations Iran, what a delightful way to mock the enemy and simultaneously support your film industry. That episode will get a lot of viewers.
Thnk you karlof1 for the information on the Russian nuclear reactor program. Surely no one in their right mind would purchase a USA reactor these days. Soon the USA will be incapable of even building warships – good times ahead 😉

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 11 2021 21:24 utc | 19

Stonebird @13–
Actually the waste issue was clearly discussed and acted upon by ROSATOM as they’ve perfected the processes and machinery to eliminate nuclear waste. Indeed, as this 2012 article discusses, what to do with nuclear waste is a subject of discussion for all nations with nuclear power stations, with some nations combining forces to engineer a solution, which ROSATOM and its partners have done. This PR from February reports on ROSATOM’s progress in this endeavor:
“‘In parallel with loading the BN-800 core with MOX fuel, the team of Rosatom specialists continues developing the technologies of such fuel fabrication at the MCC site. In particular, manufacturing of fresh fuel with high-background plutonium extracted from the irradiated fuel of VVER reactors has been mastered. All technological operations are fully automated and are performed without staff presence in vicinity. The first 20 MOX assemblies with high-background fuel have already been manufactured, passed acceptance, and are scheduled to be loaded in 2022. Advanced technologies of fissile materials recycling and re-fabrication of nuclear fuel in the future will make it possible to process irradiated fuel instead of storing it, as well as to reduce the accumulated volumes of waste’, said Alexander Ugryumov, Vice President for Research, Development and Quality at TVEL JSC.”
IMO, one main component of the WEF’s planned Great Reset was the weaponizing of environmentalism do further contain and ostracize both nuclear and fossil fuel producers and users and thus limit the amount of energy produced for their nations in such a manner that it would greatly retard their development, as well as destroying their trade in such products and technology. For the time being, that effort has failed.
That some nations/corporations produced accident prone technology is clear. That Russia and China have a commanding lead over the NATO-Bloc in both fission and fusion energy technology is also quite clear. Economic expansion is dependent on energy. It’s provision to developing nations is also big business for those having the appropriate technology. The last remaining big market in that regard is Africa, and the NATO-Bloc is very concerned they’ll be outcompeted by Russia and China. China and Russia both share a huge advantage over the NATO-Bloc in Africa–neither was involved in its colonization or the slave trade, and both have a history of supporting Anti-colonial movements.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 11 2021 21:25 utc | 20

And as if made to order, today we have this TASS article:
“‘The new reactors and closed-circuit concepts of using nuclear fuel will reduce the amount of radioactive wastes practically to nothing. Roughly speaking, the spent fuel will have a level of radiation no higher than the natural background there, where the uranium was mined,’ Sergeyev said”….
“The unique reactor BREST-300 has begun to be built under a project guideline called Breakthrough for creating a new technological nuclear power industry platform with a closed nuclear fuel cycle, and for resolving the problem of spent nuclear fuel. The project is being implemented on the premises of the Siberian chemical combine of Rosatom corporation. The project is expected to produce a competitive product capable of ensuring Russia’s leadership in the nuclear power industry.
“Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachov earlier said that Rosatom hoped to begin the export of fast reactors and fuel processing modules in 2030-2040.”
When it comes to the worries of Occupied Palestine, I suggest they deal with the multiplicity of issues making it completely dysfunctional and leave neighbors alone.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 11 2021 21:47 utc | 21

@karlof1, 8 and 21
thanks for the very interesting information about the Russian and Chinese developments in nuclear fusion. Reducing, if not eradicating, nuclear waste would be a game-changer. I wonder if the science will be developed in time to stop the Japanese releasing all the nuclear waste from Fukushima into the Pacific Ocean.

Posted by: cirsium | Jun 11 2021 22:08 utc | 22

Mr. cirsium | Jun 11 2021 22:08 utc | 23
In a hypothetical fusion reactor, the containment vessel would be contaminated.
There will also be radioactive isotopes created by the fusion.

Posted by: Fyi | Jun 11 2021 22:34 utc | 23

Cirsium @ 23
You have not been following the story. Most of the radioactive material from Fukushima has been in the Pacific from the beginning. What remains is far past any hopes of reprocessing or remediation.
karlof @21 &22
Do not put faith in press releases. That said the new Russian process does have some promise. Much remains to be seen.
The utter failure of the US nuclear industry is not so much a fault of the technology as a result of culture. Fukushima of course is a General Electric Mk I installation. I have inside information. My father, departed, was chief safety officer for the Commonwealth Edison nuclear fleet, largest in the US. During his tenure the safety officer outranked all the operating engineers and everybody else. Reactors were constantly being revised. No one could order a reactor restarted but my father.
Simple reason why Com Ed bought GE product: You got to play golf with Jack Welch. The reactor as sold was a bundle of loose ends and unresolved bullshit. It all worked by techno-optimism and not much else. The control room staff was all Navy, all trained on the Rickover nukes that had nothing to do with GE or Westinghouse. And all promoted by taking Navy tests, tests where they were handed the answer sheet at the door of the exam room. They were proud and arrogant good old boys and drank heavily. On the job. My fathers own staff were all holders of Bachelor of Sciences degrees. Mostly mechanical engineers, father was a chemical engineer. They sat in our kitchen or our back yard and redesigned nukes with slide rules and guesses. Until my father was unable to speak he got calls from Com Ed for institutional memory. They simply do not know what is inside their nukes.
The Man Behind The Curtain knows no more than you do.

Posted by: oldhippie | Jun 11 2021 23:15 utc | 24

Karloff1 21
Makes me think that COVID19 although a significsnt disease is an austerity tool.

Posted by: Jamie | Jun 11 2021 23:17 utc | 25

cirsium @23–
Unfortunately no as what remains must be able to be reprocessed into fuel and then burned, which destroys the waste. ROSATOM seems confident that they’ll be capable of taking properly preserved waste, converting it to fuel and then burning it, and there’s a very large quantity of such waste in existence.
And oldhippie @25–
Here’s the 8 June announcement about the BREAST-300 construction start. This is Wiki’s discussion of the BREAST-300 type of reactor that’s cooled by lead. And here’s ROSATOM’s own announcement of the BREAST-300 start that contains some technical information. It’ll be awhile before we get to see the actual results as the plant won’t become operational until 2026.
Honestly, I trust ROSATOM far more than the Outlaw US Empire, the latter having lied far too many times, and thus the main reason why environmentalists have zero trust in what the latter says about most anything, especially nuclear.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 12 2021 0:06 utc | 26

karlof1, it’s nearing dinner prep west coast time friday late afternoon, so i’m sure you won’t catch this—bt thank you for your links today…i’ve spent a good part of this very spring west coast day reading your links & learning a great deal. mucho gracias.

Posted by: emersonreturn | Jun 12 2021 0:22 utc | 27

Any nation building Nuke plants right now needs to be IQ tested.

Posted by: vetinLA | Jun 12 2021 0:24 utc | 28

Our adoption of unforgiving technologies reminds me of the ‘the sorcerers apprentice’. A disney production, which starred a lazy apprentice who borrows his sorcerers wand, bringing life to a broom, in order to duck his meanial chores. All goes well until he needs to turn off the magic driving his broom, and he doesn’t know how.

Posted by: Radrider | Jun 12 2021 1:31 utc | 29

The nuclear power industry, and biologic research are fine examples of the ‘philosophers apprentice’ , in that we have no ability to control them , if and when they get out of control. …human nature as it is, they always get out of control …..and we are the sorcerrs apprentice, tryying to put the genie back in the Bottle, without the understanding of how to do it…..

Posted by: Radrider | Jun 12 2021 1:38 utc | 30

The problem is these technologies have absolutely no forgiveness, and we are failure prone. If you have nuclear plants, you will have nuclear catastrophes ….if you have level four biolabs, there will be biological catastrophes … whats so hard to figure. Its only a matter of numbers….the more nuclear plants, the more level four labs … the greater the chance of a catastrophe.

Posted by: Radrider | Jun 12 2021 1:47 utc | 31

You see, we don’t really understand biology. We can manipulate a virus just like a mechano set, but we really don’t know a lot of
How to control that virus once it has gone rogue. The emergency vaccines are Possibly more dangerous than the rogue virus itself. They are our first broadcast of human cell manipulation , without any discussion.
Fukashima will drain its radioactive waste into the pacific. Meanwhile, disquieting news comes from chernobyl ….the casket is beginning to fail…..

Posted by: Radrider | Jun 12 2021 2:00 utc | 32

…
As I wrote in a comment to Norwegian on the last Open Thread:
“Imagine the change in the balance in Geopolitical power if China/Russia master fusion and can provide the fuel while the NATO-Bloc cannot do either. And that possibility of course generates even more thorny questions.”
…
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 11 2021 19:05 utc | 8
The fuel for Fusion reactors (if they ever get them to work) is Hydrogen – the same fuel which powers stars/suns. The attraction of Fusion is that it doesn’t use radio-active fuel, or produce radio-active waste, like Fission reactors.
I appreciate your updates on China’s progress toward viable Fusion power but you appear to be unaware of the basics.
I recommend Wikipedia’s page on TOKAMAK – the most promising of many experimental fusion reactor designs, and a 2017 doco called Nuclear Fusion – Let There Be Light.
LTBL summarises several different Fusion Reactor designs and explores some of the multitude of obstacles to be overcome before a viable power-generating fusion reactor can become a commercial reality.
In the doco someone describes Fusion reactors as Perhaps-a-trons…

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 12 2021 2:07 utc | 33

The IAEA is just another Fake pseudo-Christian/”Israel” NGO.
The “I” stands for Iran because Iran is the only country which has allowed the IAEA’s spies to inspect its peaceful Nuclear program.
The list of countries which do NOT allow intrusive IAEA ‘inspections’ is much longer than the list of countries which do. That “list” contains just one country, Iran.
I’ll believe the IAEA isn’t fake when it inspects and reports on “Israel’s” nuclear activities and reveals what should be obvious – that “Israel’s” ‘ambiguous’ Nukes are imaginary.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 12 2021 2:54 utc | 34

Denial, debunk, fake news, etc. Why all this effort to untangle the nonsense the United States of Israel is putting out?
Why not simply answer:

you, United States of Israel, destroyed the JCPOA, so now the chickens come home to roost. Besides, even if Iran acquires nuclear bombs, so what? Israel has them too, so there is not a single reason in the world Iran should have them.

Posted by: Ernesto Che | Jun 12 2021 2:57 utc | 35

Lol, nice.
Remember the one about the super secret nuclear carpet cleaning warehouse in Tehran a few years ago?
Or, the one where Nikki Haley (if I spelled that right) presented the UN with a bunch of painted pvc pipes as ‘missile fragments’, or some such nonsense.
Then, there’s the one where crime minister Netenyahoo held up a craft cardboard graphic of Wil E Coyote’s own acme do it yourself bomb making shematic…
Hehe…

Posted by: Josh | Jun 12 2021 3:02 utc | 36

What is the problem with Iran producing nuclear weapons? It has never threatened “israel”, unless you believe the lie about it put out by “israel”, yet “israel”, specifically Netanyahu, has threatened Iran with nuclear annihilation – he posed next to the Dimona nuclear reactor and warned Iran not to do anything funny.

Posted by: Ernesto Che | Jun 12 2021 3:07 utc | 37

@Josh, #37: good points. I like the “crime minister”, will have to remember that.

Posted by: Ernesto Che | Jun 12 2021 3:09 utc | 38

“One wonders how long it will take Fox News to issue a correction for this one.”
I don’t think FOX cares much whether its claims are true or false.

Posted by: Edward | Jun 12 2021 11:49 utc | 39

I know this is kind of unrelated but, check this out…
Lack of joint Putin-Biden press conference does not mean low expectations – Kremlin

Posted by: Josh | Jun 12 2021 15:48 utc | 40

Josh | Jun 12 2021 15:48 utc | 41:
Or rather, expectations were already low. The lack of a joint press conference is only more evidence that Dementia Joe would perform poorly in a press conference.

Posted by: corvo | Jun 12 2021 17:47 utc | 41

The thrust of this article is that the goal of this meeting is to enlist the aid of Russia in an existential battle against China.
Hmmmm …
Well, yes, the foreign policy establishment in the United States is that myopic. Only the American foreign policy establishment could believe that Russia would agree to such a thing.
My question is “why did Putin agree to meet?”
My guess is that he knows that the stakes are too high to cut off communications completely.
I think Putin sees that the West is nearing a “Soviet Union” moment. The collapse is going to be a very dangerous time for the entire world. Putin probably wants to keep his hand on the pulse of the dying hegemon as this unfolds. HIs hope would be to steer the collapse towards a peaceful transition to a new international order.
That is my guess.

Posted by: Mike from Jersey | Jun 12 2021 20:35 utc | 42

karlof1 @ 27
Yes, I too would trust Rosatom before NRC. Doesn’t say much.
From your press release the new process uses Pu-239 as primary fuel. This means they will be using plutonium by the ton. One mishap and the entire planet is poisoned. No, I don’t trust Rosatom quite that much. Any who would contemplate such a stunt should not be trusted at all. Relying on perfection is not real world engineering.

Posted by: oldhippie | Jun 12 2021 22:39 utc | 43

@43 Mike from Jersey
Yes, I agree with this thought – if in fact it’s actually that contrived of a thought on Russia’s part. One thing the Russian experts such as Saker and Orlov have taught us is that Russia always talks, always – right up until it’s formally war, Russia continues to talk with all entities. It’s how they roll.
In other words, Putin would need a very compelling reason NOT to engage in talks with Biden.
Of course, no one expects much, but the Russians are superb negotiators. They have squeezed things out of talks that lesser ones might have despaired of ever attaining. Negotiating with them is justly described as being like “buying the same horse twice.”
And, to agree with your thought even more, yes, I think if ever there’s a time to keep the enemy close it’s now.
I keep thinking of Ali’s classic fight with George Foreman in the “Rumble in the Jungle”. Ali used rope-a-dope to let the opponent wear himself out, and then we suddenly saw that there was a strategy, and that Ali was fresh while Foreman was exhausted, and one punch is all it took to put Foreman down.
But the best part is how Norman Mailer described Ali poised with another punch waiting to strike, even as he followed Foreman’s fall to the canvas. It was as if Ali didn’t want to spoil the geometry of Foreman’s going down, and saw how a second punch was not needed. These fighters see things at such split-second speed.
Russia, I think, is very close to being in the same position with the USA.

Posted by: Grieved | Jun 12 2021 23:17 utc | 44

vetinLA #29

Any nation building Nuke plants right now needs to be IQ tested.

Thank you ++
I think the result of any test is predictable. This energy direction is madness. Perhaps fusion is a worthy investment but there are mighty advances in solar, batteries and tidal systems that would seem more benign and profitable. These alternatives don’t support the lunatic elite though.
I cannot see wisdom in any nation pursuing this course.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 13 2021 1:18 utc | 45

Is he related to Madeleine Albright?

Posted by: m | Jun 13 2021 9:51 utc | 46

Is he related to Madeleine Albright?
Posted by: m | Jun 13 2021 9:51 utc | 47
I think her maiden name was Albwrong and he changed name from Aldim, surely not related at all.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 13 2021 11:35 utc | 47

I was channel surfing on the TV this morning and visited the ‘public’/ amateur Channel #44 and caught the last few minutes of the weekly Citizens Electoral Commission update. Their main bandwagon is keeping Oz.gov honest in regard to financial scams and half-truths. And they use this platform to paint word-pictures of a “better world.”
This morning they were painting a picture of a world powered by Nuclear Fusion and played a 2-minute Xinhua clip of Chinese scientists celebrating their creation, and maintenance, in their E.A.S.T gizmo, of a temperature of 120 million degrees for 101 seconds, and 160 million degrees for 20 seconds. China is claiming both achievements as World Records.
Later this morning I Googled >Temperature at centre of Sun< and among the search results was... https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/nmp/st5/SCIENCE/sun.html
It’s a brief description of the Sun focused on its layers and the nature and temperature of each layer. It turns out that the temperature at the centre (where all the Fusion of heavier Elements is presumed to be happening) is 27 million degrees F. Layers farther out are cooler and the ‘surface’ photosphere is only 10,000 degrees F. But in the ‘atmosphere’ temperatures become higher, culminating in the Corona, the outermost layer, which is a whopping 2 million degrees. NASA doesn’t shrink from admitting that there’s still lots of stuff that scientists can’t explain about the Sun.
I’d much rather scientists found a way to improve the World using Fusion than designing H-Bombs to make it glow in the dark using Fusion. So, Good Luck with the Fusion experiments Boffins, but it’s not gonna be easy.
Disclaimer:
I have a theory that high-IQ scientists, such as Astronomers, Atomic Physicists and Astrophysicists, and their Scientific Think Tanks, can out-bamboozle the Neanderthals in Politics with both hands tied behind their backs. Some of the ‘projects’ they persuade politicians to throw government money at are VERY fuzzy.
But, if they can trick politicians into tossing truckloads of cash at weird ideas, maybe they can trick atoms into doing things, on Earth, that they usually only do inside stars?

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 14 2021 5:17 utc | 48

@ Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 14 2021 5:17 utc | 49 with the disclaimer about “Scientists”
The Neanderthals in Politics are successful with their minders of keeping the impact of global private finance from the public which should count for something….
The high-IQ scientists, such as Astronomers, Atomic Physicists and Astrophysicists, and their Scientific Think Tanks that you refer to use the same smoke and mirrors to tell the public that the 95% of reality they know nothing about (dark energy and dark matter) are out in space instead of fucking almost everywhere….like maybe even 95% of our bodies….but don’t tell anyone we know only a little about 5% of our bodies because it doesn’t make us sound very intelligent….
If our hubris doesn’t get us, our stupidity will…..

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jun 14 2021 5:33 utc | 49

Back to Main