"Another 'Nuclear Iran' Claim By David Albright Gets Debunked"
by b
Moon of Alabama (June 11, 2021)
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/06/another-nuclear-iran-claim-made-by-david-albrights-isis-gets-debunked.html#more
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.
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 [my emphasis added].
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 [Karlof1's emphasis].
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:
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.
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 [my emphasis added].
One wonders how long it will take Fox News to issue a correction for this one.
[Comments]
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 11 2021 19:05 utc 8
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." [Karlof1's 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." [Karlof1's 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. [Karlof1's emphasis]
"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." [[Karlof1's 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 20:49 utc | 19
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 [my emphasis added]. 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 [my emphasis added].
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 11 2021 21:25 utc | 21
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 21:47 utc | 22
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.