Nuclear Power

• Greece Handed New Terms as Tsipras Approaches Decision Time (BBG)
• As U.S. Probes $12.7 Trillion Treasury Market, Trader Talk Is a Good Place to Start (BBG)
• Signs Swedish QE Backfiring as Liquidity Evaporates (BBG)
• ECB approves ELA funding requested by Greece- banking source (Reuters)
• Greek Millennials Can't Find Work But Actually Want to Keep the Euro (BBG)
• Greek deal or not, the euro is now a different beast (Reuters)
• Promoter’s Arrest Sheds Light on Cynk’s $6 Billion Surge (BBG)
• The World's Biggest Economies Are About to Feel the Impact of China's Slowdown (BBG)
• Senate Clears Trade Bill’s Way to Passage (WSJ)

• Greek PM sticks to hard line as contagion hits euro zone bonds (Reuters)
• Greek Deadlock Has Leader Hoping for Miracle to Avoid Default (BBG)
• Greek Showdown Puts Merkel's Teflon Legacy at Risk (BBG)
• Greek standoff saps Europe, dollar swings ahead of Fed (Reuters)
• Allianz Increased Holdings of Greek Debt as Its Largest Investor (BBG)
• French Bonds Infected as Greek Crisis Swells Euro-Region Spreads (BBG)
• Statoil to cut 1,500 more jobs as savings drive intensifies (FT)
• UnitedHealth, Anthem Seek to Buy Smaller Rivals (WSJ)
• Five Million Reasons Why China Could Go to War (BBG)

In a stunning report by The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Director General Yukiya Amano fingers Japanese over-confidence and complacency among the main reasons why the country was unprepared to the Fukushima Daiichi disaster of 2011. As Sputnik News reports, Amano exclaimed "there was a widespread belief in Japan that Japanese nuclear power plants are very safe and there would never be a severe accident. This belief was one of the reasons why Japan was not well prepared for severe accident." Four years later, he hopes many have learned the painful lesson that "there can be no grounds for complacency about nuclear safety in any country."

As We Show In This Updated List, You’re Much More Likely to Be Killed By Brain-Eating Parasites, Toddlers, Lightning, Falling Out of Bed, Alcoholism, Food Poisoning, Choking On Your Meal, a Financial Crash, Obesity, Medical Errors or “Autoerotic Asphyxiation” than by Terrorists

We previously warned of the risks of escalation in The Middle East to something much more dangerous, but, as the Saudi ambassador to UK confirmed today, the risk of Wahhabis going nuclear is even higher than many expected, "...if [Iran will not offer assurances it will not pursue nuclear weapons], then all options will be on the table for Saudi Arabia... Iran’s nuclear program poses a direct threat to the entire region and constitutes a major source and incentive for nuclear proliferation across the Middle East, including Israel."

Last year, Elliott Management's Paul Singer highlighted "one risk that stands way above the rest in terms of the scope of potential damage adjusted for the likelihood of occurrence" - an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). As Michael Snyder previously details, our entire way of life can be ended in a single day.  And it wouldn’t even take a nuclear war to do it.  All it would take for a rogue nation or terror organization to bring us to our knees is the explosion of a couple well-placed nuclear devices high up in our atmosphere.  The resulting electromagnetic pulses would fry electronics from coast to coast, and, as PeakProsperity.com's Chris Martenson explains, the country is extremely vulnerable to an EMP...

• Greece, creditors exchanging documents to reach deal - Commission (Reuters)
• Greece’s Creditors Reach Consensus on Proposal to Athensa (WSJ)
• Greece calls on lenders to accept 'realistic' plan sent on Monday (Reuters)
• Hundreds missing, many elderly tourists, after ship capsizes on China's Yangtze (Reuters)
• Oil up ahead of OPEC meeting as dollar slips (Reuters)
• U.S. Met Secretly With Yemen Rebels (WSJ)
• Euro zone back to inflation as May prices beat forecast (Reuters)
• Patients Get Extreme to Obtain Hepatitis Drug That's 1% the Cost Outside U.S. (BBG)

In Part 1 of “The New Silk Road,” we examined the China’s plan for rebuilding the Silk Road, stretching from Europe to Asia. In Part 2, we look at currently proposed projects, and geopolitical rivalries that could stall and hamper progress. Until very recently, it was widely assumed that the US would lead its western allies in a campaign against the Russian/Chinese deal to develop the Silk Road, but events have been reversing with remarkable speed.

Genuine economic growth is something you can allow, but you cannot force. If you try to trick your way to it – with phony interest rates, more debt, and cockamamie inflation targets – you will retard the growth, not speed it up. This is obvious, too. But Ms. Yellen is paid not to see it. And in the absence of real growth, the Dow at 18,000 looks vulnerable. It wouldn’t be at all surprising to see a rolling top take shape... with a sharp break in the fall. But here we leave the vagaries of the market to pay homage to America’s Second Greatest Generation.

Containers holding contaminated water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant are at risk of hydrogen explosions, The Telegraph reports, with 10% of them found to be leaking. The discovery was reported to the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), which raised concerns surrounding the potential hazards of accumulated hydrogen building up in the containers warning that "a spark caused by static electricity could cause a container to explode." TEPCO officials reassuringly note that they "think the possibility of an occurrence of hydrogen explosion from these storage facilities is extremely low, since there is no fire origin, or anything that generates static electricity nearby," but this is the same company that a recent IAEA report blasted for "failing to implement adequate safeguards at Fukushima – despite being aware of the tsunami risk."

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail

May is usually the time when farmers in Japan's Fukushima prefecture - best known for being the tragic venue of the 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disaster - plant rice. This year, however, they will be planting something else: an unknown, and quite lethal, amount of radioactive dust.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Having explained to the general public that there was nothing to be concerned about, when an exploding transformer shut down at least one unit of the Indian River nuclear power plant, noting "no danger to public safety," it appears the situation is not as 'contained' as officials hoped. As Sputnik News reports, thousands of gallons of oil that leaked into the Hudson River after the explosion has formed a gigantic oil sheen on the waterway. NY Governor Andrew Cuomo has demanded a probe into the incident, adding that Entergy and contractors will clean up the spill.