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Is The U.S. About To Break One Of Its Own Nuclear Treaties?
Submitted by Llewellyn King via OilPrice.com,
Bill Richardson could teach Donald Trump something about the art of the deal.
He has done a lot of them. Richardson also wrote a book about the art of the deal, the big deal, entitled “How to Sweet-Talk a Shark; Strategies and Stories from a Master Negotiator.”
In a towering life of public service (U.S. representative, U.N. ambassador, secretary of Energy, New Mexico governor, and peripatetic hostage negotiator), Richardson confronted Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, the Taliban, two of North Korea’s dictators, and an assortment of international thugs. He was a five-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The essence of Richardson's deal-making was that the commitment must be kept by both parties.
At present Richardson sees one of his deals in jeopardy, and he was in Washington last week to raise the alarm, meeting privately with former colleagues and appearing at a press conference at the National Press Club.
The deal in jeopardy involves a commitment he made, when he was secretary of Energy in the Clinton administration, with the Russians to dispose of weapons-grade plutonium, the long-lived ingredient in nuclear weapons. There are 34 metric tons of the stuff that the United States is bound, by treaty with Russia, to dispose of by integrating it into nuclear fuel and burning it in civilian power plants. This is known as mixed oxide fuel or MOX.
But the Obama administration wants to end the program, before a fleck of plutonium has been processed for fuel. It is seeking to pull the plug on the construction of the facility at a Department of Energy site on the Savannah River in South Carolina, which is two-thirds complete and has already cost over $4 billion.
The administration is now looking not at the completion cost, but at the lifetime cost of the facility. And it is saying that it is too high; although that could have been calculated years ago.
The deal was signed by Vice President Al Gore with Russia back in 2000. The Russians, for their part, are burning their surplus plutonium in fast reactors, which we do not have in operation.
The back story may be not about lifetime cost, but about the deployment of federal dollars in the very near future. Nuclear industry insiders believe that the Department of Energy, which makes nuclear weapons and stockpiles them, wants to divert all available resources to its weapons refurbishment program and, in argot of the moment, kick the plutonium can down the road. New funds are harder to come by than re-purposing extant ones.
The department is floating the idea that the plutonium should be “down-blended,” meaning mixed with some secret ingredient that the department believes will render it safe for all time, and stored in a troubled existing facility: the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP) in New Mexico.
“I don’t believe this is a good course of action.” Richardson told reporters at the press club event. He said the WIPP facility was designed for low-level waste, “... there would be a lot of opposition in New Mexico.” He was involved in that project, too, when he was in government.
On sanctity of treaties, Richardson said, “I think that [closing down the MOX facility] would be a grave mistake across the board.”
Richardson said that he had negotiated with the Russians as U.N. ambassador and as Energy secretary. In the matter of plutonium disposal, he said the Russians have kept their side of the deal. There was plenty of tension over Ukraine and Syria, and “we don’t need any more tension.” He said, “This is one potential area of cooperation that should not be discarded, and it would be, should the MOX facility be discarded.”
If the MOX facility is shuttered, it will be one of many nuclear facilities across the country, paid for by taxpayers, which have been abandoned because of other priorities or political agendas. The price is high in enthusiasm, creativity and commitment from the workforce at facilities, like the MOX one.
The dollars spent have no legacy except a sad, new kind of national monument: structures that have been left forlorn and incomplete as politics have zigged and zagged. These abandoned structures range from the experimental Fast Flux Test Facility in Hanford, Wash. to the Integrated Fast Reactor in Idaho Falls, Idaho to the sad, $18-billion Yucca Mountain facility sitting unused in Nevada. There are many more.
As Richardson might tell, in a long life in public service, you have to defend the deal long after it was signed, sealed and delivered. Not so, perhaps, in real estate transactions.
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Wait What !? The U.S. is going back on it's word??!
Wow. Wow. Gotta sit down....unbelievable....
- The ghosts of all the dead US aboriginals plus all those dead Phillipinos, Iranians, Iraqis, etc. etc. etc.
We can give it back to Russia, I suspect. It sounds like they can use it.
Boris is not recommend for storage in apartment, even on balcony in old refrigerator.
Boris, great to see you here again.
Your humour has been missed.
Boris, Welcome back,
You been holidaying in Cuba?
As far as the US is concerned, treaties are made to be broken.
Let's not forget that Fukushima Daichi #3 was running MOX, and that was the one that had the small nuclear detonation.
This WIPP facility in NM has had leaks recently, too! What could possibly go wrong?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/27/us-usa-nuclear-new-mexico-idUS...
This is more evidence that the Obama-Jarrett administration hates the United States. He's against electricity generation from any source, from coal to nuclear. He is pro nuclear when it works for the mullahs in Iran(their civilian nuclear program is so important to us all), but against nuclear in the West.
Good to see Boris still on the hedge.
An excellent compromise.
The US should send all of it's weapons grade plutonium to Russia, they can dispose of it at will.
Boris!!
Welcome back.
PS
your mug is still ugly ... :-)
Yes, indeed.
If the US finds itself unable to honor the treaty for financial reasons then it should return the Plutonium to Russia for them to dispose of it safely.
Downblending is not a safe method of disposal. Especially not in the impoverished nation that the US has become.
Russia has about the same GDP as Italy.
Fine but on the balance, considering debt, Russia is much better off financially than Italy or the US.
Considering demographics, Russia is in worse shape than Italy.
When has US honored a treaty ?
I don't know, but S.C. is trying to make them honor this one.
http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article13842521.html
Suing the Feeds to prevent them closing the MOX facility.
I had a grandmother whose ancestors walked the trail of tears. (I think they were her great grandparents, but enough time has passed that I'm no-longer sure. She has passed as well so I can't ask her...).
She did have a firm opinion about "The Great White Father in Washington" and the value of his treaties...
Probably a ditto from every other tribe out there... (She was "Mostly" Chickasaw with a bit of Cherokee on the side).
The US has no words as the US considers treaties as toilet paper. The US is the record holder in terms of treaty breachs, this in something like 200+ years. Trading with the US is the start of all your woes.
The US has had this song called the rule of law.
The rule of law, that is "everyone but me".
The US Govt even reagrds the US Constitution as just a piece of paper. This reflects their hubris acquired from breaking so many agreements with impunity. Those days may be coming to an end.
"American Exceptionalism"
My sister-in-law started cheating on my brother-in-law. To justify it she created a rationalization in her mind that it was her husband's fault that she was cheating.
They got divorced (it was also found that she had not been paying taxes and social security for the employees of my brother-in-law's business ... she handled the books and instead had been using the money for her affair) and my brother-in-law is now happily married to another woman and living in a different state. The sister-in-law went on to have a kid by the other guy, get briefly married, get divorced and did her best to alienate the kids of from the first marriage against the brother-in-law... by telling lies about their father.
It is not only governments that go bad, but real people too. Hopefully my ex-sister-in-law will find a good peace with herself. I have greater concerns for the government.
tl; dr
"Is The U.S. About To Break One Of Its Own Nuclear Treaties?"
You mean, 'Is the US about to break another one of its own nuclear treaties... again.'
Are there any nuclear treaties the US hasn't broken?
The US does not follow its own constitution as all freedoms have been severely curtailed by the Patriot Act and NDAA and the NSA is constantly spying on you and Obama can legally assassinate you without trial. Why do you expect a fascist, police state to respect its treaties?
Yes, if you betray your own people, then you surely will betray the rest of the world. The US is getting more exposed each passing day.
The fact that you "need" a license to drive "travel", a permit to build a backyard deck, a Marriage license to be Married. Pay income and property taxes etc. Have a birth cert, a SS# assigned to you. Are all blatant facts that show the Constitution and Bill of Rights are ignored. The Civil war and 1933 were to very pivotal periods in US history.
"The fact that you "need" a license to..."
No, you don't lawfully need a license to do those things. The problem is you will have to vigorously and repeatedly assert your rights in the courts when the fraudulent state steals your rights by force and threat. Are you prepared to go the distance of years of litigation all by your lonesome (believe me, it is very lonesome trying to do that)?
What is needed are mass class action suits, filing of claims against each perp. and filing of complaints under the RICO statutes. This takes multi millions of $$ and perhaps a decade of struggle. The people that knowingly perpetuate the fraud understand full well the difficulty of people taking their rights back.
Hundreds of organizations have taken up fights against specific targeted causes. These organizations may succeed to a limited extent in fighting a particular statute or defeating a legislative bill but they will never succeed with their approach to make any meaningful lasting change. People will continue to send money to these organizations thinking they can eventually win against the system but unless the system is killed at the head, merely clipping the toe nails or amputating a finger will not slay the beast.
The ultimate self fulfilling prophecy when the "White Chimp" uttered that "he alone commands the most powerful military the World has "ever known" and is prepared to use it in protecting it's interests... at a place that is the edifice of peaceful coexistence!
As the American people contemplate the only thing that matters in their lives... What will they have for dinner tonight and which football game will they watch this Saturday and Sunday while their government makes the conscientious decision to self destruct on the lemmings behalf!
Thanks for reminding me about pulling that pork shoulder out of the freezer.
BBQ pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw.
Yum.
Why you're most welcome "shovel"
Must be getting bad for the Hasbara's in the U.S. when they are "eating pork sandwiches"... I understand pork for a Jew is like the ultimate indulgence when they are depressed!!!
Keep a look out for the next "blood moon" that will be arriving here shortly... I think Reverend Hagee and retired General(s) Petraeus and Clark want to invite you to the house to watch Russia on T.V. tearing the U.S. a new asshole in Syria...
Only gonna get worse my friend for the Zionist holding American $$$s!!!
..thank you ZH'ers about pork...I just pulled some great pork spareribs outta my freezer!
I had forgotten all about this! Hhahahah
Cool so when do we start up the Nevada test site again?
Cool so when do we start up the Nevada test sight again?
Why on earth would we do that when we can let the Russians and Chinese volunteer with their own weapons on D.C., Tel Aviv and London?...
Those cats in Washington are always thinking ahead of the curve on how to save the taxpayer money. Sometimes it just takes a few decades!!!
Makes you miss the time when Bush was president. All problems were results of "The Bush administration".
Now all problems are just labled as "The US".
Has to be the jooooooooooos.
The U.S. can't follow it's own constitution. Breaking a treay from 2000? Yawn...
You mistakenly said "The US can't follow it's own constitution." The US is following it's own constitution, it is just ignoring it's obligation to protect and uphold The Constitution For The United States of America.
You are assuming that U.S. and United States of America are the same. They are not! When Congress is legislating it is primarily for the Corporate State and not for the States United.
These issues and terminology are complex in detail but simple in concept. You are never educated by the state to know anything about it. You have been captured by the corporate state as has the last 5+ generations. It is a slow process which is part of a long thought out basic plan. The slower the plan is implemented the more compliant the unknowing populous is.
Well,if US broke it's promise (again). Then russia can enriched those diluted Pu from 4.4% to weapon grades in no time. Russia has the biggest nuclear enrichment facilities in the world.
http://www.rt.com/news/253245-rosatom-uranium-enrichment-centrifuge/
And this not the first time, US broke int'l treaties. US broke the ABM treaties with Russia.
https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2002_07-08/abmjul_aug02
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OOT.
I never responds to troll. This is the reasons
http://cryptome.org/2012/07/gent-forum-spies.htm
I hope you'll learns the same. Bookmarks & save the html file. In case this site got erased.
Using that tutorials its easy to spot, which one i shouldn't be engaged.
For a while, i will put this link on top of my comment, just so whomever haven't know? Can get the link to learns.
Thanks.
Funny.
As if anyone at ZH really cares about what anyone else thinks.
That crap is for the blue/red nitwits and even most of those types are ideologically locked in tight.
This is "A pox on everyone's house" country.
Enjoy your stay. :)
+1 lol
habitual
Bill Richardson was a joke..he must have wrote this article to make him sound so great ......and if you really believe Russia is destroying theirs...come on liberals....get a brain
Bill Richardson was/is a crook. When he was governor, it was pay-to-play. He just happens to be a much more pragmatic crook than the fucks that are calling the shots now.
All of a sudden, I want to get run out of town, don't know why, but I just do.
What's this got to do with oil prices or Trump?
I remember Norman Schwartzkopf's comments about the middle eastern folk, back during when he was commanding the US forces, something like "They are talented if not practiced liars". Looks like that virus made it back to the US and has infected just about everyone in power.
That is old news. It happened millennia past. That is why the ME is called the cradle of civilization. Didn't it all start in what is now Iraq?
and have been for 900 years... Obama and his ilk were busy reading traitors and communists manifesto to know this
Government projects..just look to Denver Colorado and the new Veterans HOSPITAL.....one billion over budget now..and needs several more to finish it...what a joke that project is....how it was bid..and built....just a joke using someone elses money....
Technology can render previous decisions obsolete and offer alternatives. If true, should we throw more money at a costly project? Which politician do you believe? And if the Constitution, the Bible are living documents surely a treaty is also.
Living documents? I guess it depends on who you ask. You may be more comfortable over at Huffington Post.
Treaties are not living documents. Treaties are binding contracts between soveriegn States. As such they may ammended by unanimous consent of the parties.
"LIving document" = It means whatever the fuck you want it to mean. It is complete fucking bullshit. But you don't like your rights, do you.
Yucca mountain was built as a fallout shelter for our Reptillian Overlords.
So, if you hear in the news that Obama will be visiting Nevada in the near future then you'll know the shit is about to hit the fan.
I'll volunteer to shove a broomstick in the door handles once he's in.
Make sure you bring two broomstick handles.
One to shove up his ass as he walks in the door and the other to use as you've indicated.
You want to make him happy as he walks in?
Thanks I needed that laugh. People are just like God has said we are..in the venacular "we are ate-up".
We'll book it, be there or be square.
Ask any American Indian about the United States of America's record upholding treaty commitments.
White Chief can be relied upon to uphold Treaties (with Indians or anyone they deem inferior) with the same commitment as upholding the US Constitution.
Knowing most ZH readers, they figure we Americans stole America fair and square, and the Injuns got what they deserved. Now just get them off welfare and get our land back.
Ship it all to the US Mint so they can start making trillion dollar coins out of it.
The plutonium should be "down blended"? Awesome thinking! Put the entire planet in a giant Vitamix on 10 for a minute.
Treaty? We don't need no stinking treaties! We impose our will.
'Murica!
Hey Gang it's Scooby.
FYI, Vice President Al Gore always signs using invisible ink.
Hey Gang it's Scooby.
FYI, Vice President Al Gore always signs using invisible ink.
Hey Gang it's Scooby.
FYI, Vice President Al Gore always signs using invisible ink.
Woops!
Scooby did a boo boo.
Maybe this is part of a side deal with Iran -
Instead or reprocessing the plutonium Obama will ship it to Iran for storage at a location of their choice with no need to monitor.
Obama has never honored anything is his life.... He is a life of dishonor!
"There are 34 metric tons of the stuff that the United States is bound, by treaty with Russia, to dispose of by integrating it into nuclear fuel and burning it in civilian power plants."
Given that the Specific Gravity of PuO2 (MOX) is 11,460+/+80 kg/m3, the 34 metric tons of MOX waste has a volume of a cube with 3 meters per side. A 10 cm cube weighs ~ 11.5 +/- 0.8 kg (about 25 lbs). There are ~ 3,000 such 10 cm cubes in 34 tons.
Perhaps if they were turned into 25 lb and 50 lb weights for weightlifting, and used by military 'Contractors' in sanctioned fitness and training centers, two birds would be killed with one stone. Although 1 Stone = 14 lbs, if you're a Brit.
Richardson is a total fraud and crook, he'd be on the short list for the Presidency if it wasn't for all that bribery. kickbacks, looting, incompetence on his resume'
This would actually be worth reading if Bill Richardson wasn't one of the biggest idiots on the planet! He's just another libturd that wants to give America away and as the former governor of my state, I have the right to say, he's a dumbass!
Obama doesn't honor our own Constitution, why would a treaty with the Russians be any different