Brazil follows same nuclear path as Iran

[jpak]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-brazil23.html

RESENDE, Brazil -- As Iran faces international pressure over developing the raw material for nuclear weapons, Brazil is quietly preparing to open its own uranium-enrichment center, capable of producing exactly the same fuel.

Brazil, like Iran, has signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and Brazil's Constitution bans the military use of nuclear energy.

Also like Iran, Brazil has cloaked key aspects of its nuclear technology in secrecy while insisting the program is for peaceful purposes, claims that nuclear weapons experts have debunked.

While Brazil is more cooperative than Iran on international inspections, some worry its new enrichment capability -- which eventually will create more fuel than is needed for its two nuclear plants -- suggests that South America's biggest nation may be rethinking its commitment to nonproliferation.

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[orwell]

1. Nice quote...

"...suggests that South America's biggest nation may be rethinking its commitment to nonproliferation."

And why shouldn't they? The US has clearly displayed that if you don't already have a nuclear threat, you had better start developing one to exist in BushWorld. The alternative is to relegate yourself to permanent vassel status to the US Neocon Warlord cabal.

[marmar]

2. Looks like the rest of the world is losing its fear of Amurka...

Seems the U.S. can't tell everybody what to do anymore. When you're not respected, you're not listened to.

[ladjf]

3. Let's see. Bush can threaten to attack Iran and oil goes to $100.

Then,Venezuela, up to $125. Next, Brazil for another $30 up to $155. By then the CEO of Ex on will be making $650,000 per day instead of the paltry $190,000 that he now makes. This is a simple and easy scam to pull off. Bush and the adversaries don't even have to make a formal deal. The intended foe says that they intend to develop nuclear technology so as to produce electric power. Bush says that he doesn't believe them and that ALL OPTIONS ARE ON THE TABLE. The oil price goes up and all of the crooks make big money. The rest of us accelerate our plunge into poverty and fascism.

This won't end until alternate energy emerges as cheaper than fossil fuels. Even with today's primitive methods of solar, wind, tidal and others, when oil gets to $100, it will be at the break even point.

[NNadir]

4. "Same path as Iran?"

What path is that?

Brazil, a country currently being ravaged by the biofuels industry which is proposing to destroy one of the world's largest wetlands, the pantanal, to make ethanol, is considering building 7 new nuclear power plants.

Unlike the Pantanal, the nuclear stations will occupy a few hundred hectares of land, and unlike the biofuels industry, they will not require the destruction of tens of thousands of hectares of rain forest.

It doesn't matter though. The rain forest is likely to disappear in any case through the vast fires that are expected as a result of global climate change. A planetary scale collapse of the atmosphere, in the minds of some dubious thinkers, is far greater than the possibility that brazil could consider maybe (it could happen you know) building nuclear weapons.

Actually both Brazil and Argentina had nuclear weapons programs in the 1970's and 1980's, and both abandoned them as too technically challenging, and too expensive. The conceit that nuclear weapons follow from uranium enrichment is absurd.

In fact there are a great number of countries that have the capability to enrich uranium, many of whom do not possess nuclear weapons.

In fact there is no evidence whatsoever that Iran possesses nuclear weapons, although you can hear lots of talk about the subject from the very same people who told us that the bogey man (that would be Saddam Hussein) had nuclear weapons. To do this, all they had to do was say "uranium," "terrorist," and "mushroom cloud" and a bunch of credulous Americans with no concept of risk analysis were induced to commit murder for their cars.

[JohnWxy]

5. here's some more of the article you provided the link to.. I actually

read it!


Still, Brazil's enrichment program -- and its reluctance to allow unlimited inspections -- has raised suspicions abroad.

"Brazil is beginning to be perceived as a country apparently wanting to re-evaluate its commitment to nonproliferation, and this is a big part of the problem,'' said Jon Wolfsthal, deputy director for nonproliferation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.