Cuban scientists put myopic Marxist ideology before scientific scepticism over Soviet nuclear safety

This is what happens when you put ideology  ahead of scientific analysis: the cable is almost exactly 7 years before the catastrophic accident at Chernobyl CUBAN REACTION TO THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR ACCIDENT
Date: 1979 April 17, 00:00 (Tuesday)	Canonical ID: 1979HAVANA03121_e
Original Classification: CONFIDENTIAL	Current Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Handling Restrictions -- N/A or Blank --	Character Count: 4489
Executive Order: GS 19850417 GLASSMAN, JON D	Locator: TEXT ON MICROFILM,TEXT ONLINE
TAGS: CU - Cuba | MNUC - Military and Defense Affairs--Military Nuclear Applications | PARM - Political Affairs--Arms Controls and Disarmament | TECH - Technology and Science--Technology | UR - Soviet Union (USSR)	Concepts: ACCIDENTS | GOVERNMENT REACTIONS | NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS | THREE MILE ISLAND
Enclosure: -- N/A or Blank --	Type: TE - Telegram (cable)
Office Origin: -- N/A or Blank -- Office Action: ACTION ARA - Bureau of Inter-American Affairs	Archive Status: Electronic Telegrams
From: Cuba Havana | HAVANA OR-O | USINT HAVANA	Markings: Sheryl P. Walter Declassified/Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review 20 Mar 2014
To: Department of State

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CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 01 HAVANA 03121 171512Z ACTION ARA-15 INFO OCT-01 EUR-12 ADS-00 ACDA-12 CIAE-00 INR-10 IO-14 L-03 NSAE-00 NSC-05 EB-08 NRC-02 OES-09 SOE-02 DODE-00 DOE-15 SS-15 SP-02 CEQ-01 PM-05 SAS-02 SMS-01 /134 W ------------------093295 180636Z /17 R 171342Z APR 79 FM USINT HAVANA TO SECSTATE WASHDC 7373 INFO AMEMBASSY MOSCOW AMEMBASSY VIENNA C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 3121 E.O. 12065: GDS 4/16/85 (GLASSMAN, JON D.) OR-0 TAGS: MNUC, TECH, PARM, CU, UR SUBJECT: (C) CUBAN REACTION TO THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR ACCIDENT

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1. (C) SUMMARY: CUBANS, ANTICIPATING CONSTRUCTION OF THEIR FIRST NUCLEAR POWER GENERATING PLANT, HAVE SOUGHT TO ATTRIBUTE THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR ACCIDENT TO LACK OF SAFETY PECULIAR TO US REACTORS AND CONSTRUCTION PRACTICES. CUBANS CLAIM THAT SOVIET COMMERCIAL POWER REACTORS, IN CONTRAST, HAVE NEVER SUFFERED ACCIDENT. CUBANS ALSO DOWNPLAY RISK IN GENERAL OF NUCLEAR ACCIDENTS. END SUMMARY. 2. (U) CUBAN MAJAZINE BOHEMIA, APRIL 13, CARRIES EXTENSIVE COVERAGE OF THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR ACCIDENT WITH ACCOMPANING COMMENTARY SHOWING WHY SIMILAR ACCIDENTS WILL NOT HAPPEN HERE. RAIMUNDO FRANCO PARELLADA, DIRECTOR OF CUBAN INSTITUTE OF NUCLEAR RESEARCH, IS QUOTED AS SAYING THAT: (A) US REACTOR MANUFACTURING SUFFERS FROM LACK OF ADEQUATE REGULATION; (B) SOVIET COMMERCIAL POWER REACTORS--BECAUSE OF SUPERIOR DESIGN--HAVE NEVER SUFFERED AN ACCIDENT; (C) SOVIETS DO NOT HOLD BACK ON INSTALLATION OF REACTOR SAFETY FEATURES EVEN IF IT RAISES INITIAL COST OF INVESTMENT; AND (D) SOVIET REACTORS ARE OPERATED UNDER STRICT STATE SUPERVISION WHICH ENSURES THAT SAFETY MEASURES ARE "ONE-HUNDRED PERCENT" FULFILLED. (FYI REGARDING REACTOR DESIGN, BOHEMIA NOTES THAT SOVIET BBER-1000 REACTOR CONTAINS AT LEAST "SIX SYSTEMS" TO SHUT DOWN REACTOR WHICH MAKES SOVIET REACTOR "VERY MUCH MORE SAFE AND RELIABLE" THAN ANALOGOUS AMERICAN REACTORS. END FYI.) Sheryl P. Walter Declassified/Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review 20 Mar 2014

Castro retrospective: How CIA screwed up Bay of Pigs invasion - the secret documents

CIA Releases Controversial Bay of Pigs History

http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB564-CIA-Releases-Controversial-Bay-of-Pigs-History/

CIA Releases Controversial Bay of Pigs History nsarchive.gwu.edu Washington, D.C., October 31, 2016 – The CIA today released the long-contested Volume V of its official history of the Bay of Pigs invasion, which it had ...

Toggle Description Document 02.CIA History Staff, Official History of the Bay of Pigs Operation, Draft Volume V: "CIA's Internal Investigation of the Bay of Pigs," Jack B. Pfeiffer, April 18, 1984, Secret (with undated, unsigned cover sheet from J.K. McDonald, Chief, CIA History Staff, and three Top Secret appendices)

CIA History Staff, Official History of the Bay of Pigs Operation, Draft Volume V: "CIA's Internal Investigation of the Bay of Pigs," Jack B. Pfeiffer, April 18, 1984, Secret (with undated, unsigned cover sheet from J.K. McDonald, Chief, CIA History Staff, and three Top Secret appendices)

Contents

Original Document (PDF) »

 

The following quotes are from Volume V by its author, Jack Pfeiffer:

“After more than twenty years, it appears that fear of exposing the Agency’s dirty linen, rather than any significant security information, is what prompts continued denial of requests for release of these records. Although this volume may do nothing to modify that position, hopefully it does put one of the nastiest internal power struggles into proper perspective for the Agency’s own record.” Page 4.

“He [member of the Inspector General staff Robert Shaffer] also remembers that Kirkpatrick directed the team members to destroy all of their working papers relating to the survey because of the report’s sensitivity.” Page 13. A June 4, 1981, memo on page 149 also notes that “We have no record of any Kirkpatrick ‘working papers’ on this subject. As far as we can tell, all of the OIG survey team’s working papers related to the Bay of Pigs operation survey were destroyed in accordance with Kirkpatrick’s instructions.”

“As Kirkpatrick had suggested to PFIAB [President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board], the only way a realistic evaluation of the operation could be made was to put these documents in the hands of an impartial investigator. Reviewed without reference to the four memorandums which make up the Taylor report, the IG and DDP documents appear to be the results of a skunk pissing contest.” Page 145.

 

»

Document 02.CIA History Staff, Official History of the Bay of Pigs Operation, Draft Volume V: "CIA's Internal Investigation of the Bay 

 

 

2016 Change in FOI Law Overturns Agency Stonewalling

CIA fought release for years, claimed draft would “confuse the public”

National Security Archive FOIA case prompted Congress’s 25-year sunset

 

Posted October 31, 2016

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 564

Compiled and edited by Lauren Harper and Thomas Blanton

For further information, contact:
Peter Kornbluh: 202.374.7281 and peter.kornbluh@gmail.com
Thomas Blanton: 202.994.7000 and nsarchiv@gwu.edu

 

 

 

To read all five volumes of the CIA's Official History of the Bay of Pigs Operation – together at last – click here

 

 

---

 

 

READ MORE

Legal Fight for the Volume’s Release

Key Quotes and Revelations

 

 

RELATED LINKS

President Obama Signs Freedom of Information Act Improvements Into Law
June 30, 2016

CIA Successfully Conceals Bay of Pigs History
May 21, 2014

U.S. Court of Appeals Rejects CIA's Motion to Squash Lawsuit on Bay of Pigs History
December 7, 2012

CIA Allowed to Sustain Cover-up of Bay of Pigs History
May 10, 2012

CIA Claims Release of its History of the Bay of Pigs Debacle Would “Confuse the Public.”
April 17, 2012

History Held Hostage
By Peter Kornbluh, The Daily Beast, August 13, 2010

 

 

Washington, D.C., October 31, 2016 – The CIA today released the long-contested Volume V of its official history of the Bay of Pigs invasion, which it had successfully concealed until now by claiming that it was a “draft” and could be withheld from the public under the FOIA’s "deliberative process" privilege. The National Security Archive fought the agency for years in court to release the historically significant volume, only to have the U.S. Court of Appeals in 2014 uphold the CIA’s overly-broad interpretation of the "deliberative process" privilege. Special credit for today’s release goes to the champions of the 2016 FOIA amendments, which set a 25-year sunset for the exemption:  Senators John Cornyn, Patrick Leahy, and Chuck Grassley, and Representatives Jason Chaffetz, Elijah Cummings, and Darrell Issa.

Chief CIA Historian David Robarge states in the cover letter announcing the document’s release that the agency is “releasing this draft volume today because recent 2016 changes in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requires us to release some drafts that are responsive to FOIA requests if they are more than 25 years old.” This improvement – codified by the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 – came directly from the National Security Archive’s years of litigation.

The CIA argued in court for years – backed by Department of Justice lawyers – that the release of this volume, written by Agency historian Jack B. Pfeiffer, would “confuse the public.” National Security Archive Director Tom Blanton says, “Now the public gets to decide for itself how confusing the CIA can be.  How many thousands of taxpayer dollars were wasted trying to hide a CIA historian's opinion that the Bay of Pigs aftermath degenerated into a nasty internal power struggle?” Archive senior analyst and Cuba Project Director Peter Kornbluh notes, “We know now why the CIA attempted to cover up this document for so long. It is a vivid historical example of what Pfeiffer called ‘the Agency's dirty linen’ that CIA officials never wanted to air in public."

 

READ THE DOCUMENTS

 

 

Volume V - New Release

2016-09-00
Document 01: CIA History Staff, Cover letter, David S. Robarge, CIA Chief Historian, “Context for Readers of the Attached CIA Draft Volume,” September 2016, Non-classified

1984-04-18
Document 02: CIA History Staff, Official History of the Bay of Pigs Operation, Draft Volume V: “CIA’s Internal Investigation of the Bay of Pigs,” Jack B. Pfeiffer, April 18, 1984, Secret (with undated, unsigned cover sheet from J.K. McDonald, Chief, CIA History Staff, and three Top Secret appendices)

 

 

Volumes I, II, III, IV - Previously Released

1979-09-00
Document 03: CIA History Staff, Official History of the Bay of Pigs Operation, Volume I: “Air Operations, March 1960 - April 1961," Jack B. Pfeiffer, September 1979, Top Secret

1979-10-00
Document 04: CIA History Staff, Official History of the Bay of Pigs Operation, Volume II: “Participation in the Conduct of Foreign Policy,” Jack B. Pfeiffer, October 1979, Top Secret

1979-12-00
Document 05: CIA History Staff, Official History of the Bay of Pigs Operation, Volume III: "Evolution of CIA's Anti-Castro Policies, 1951- January 1961,” Jack B. Pfeiffer, December 1979, Top Secret

1984-11-09
Document 06: CIA History Staff, Official History of the Bay of Pigs Operation, Volume IV: “The Taylor Committee Investigation of the Bay of Pigs,” Jack B. Pfeiffer, November 9, 1984, Unclassified

Fracked off

Letter sent to The Times:

Your deputy business editor and energy expert, Robin Pagnamenta, raises the prospect that fracking in the United States could receive a new kick start under the forthcoming Trump administration (“America’s frackers prepare for good times under President Trump,” The Times, Nov 21, http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/business/us-fracking-industry-prepares-for-good-times-ahead-under-trump-zppz92s3g) if an oil industry executive is appointed to head the US Department of Energy.

It is also reported by the New York Times ( Nov 12 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/science/myron-ebell-trump-epa.html) that Myron Ebell, an extreme deregulator, who is Director of Global Warming and International Environmental Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington DC, has been given the role by the Trump transition team, to slim down - if not abolish altogether – the US Environmental Protection Agency.  

But the incoming Trump administration should not act in such haste.

A study published by independent academic researchers at the University of  Missouri at the end of 2013 found greater hormone- disrupting  (so-called  ‘gender-bender’ chemicals) properties in water located near  fracking than in areas without drilling.

Endocrine disruptors interfere with the body’s endocrine system, which controls numerous body functions with hormones such as the female hormone estrogen and the male hormone androgen. Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, such as those studied in the MU research, has been linked by other research to cancer, birth defects and infertility. (for full study see: http://medicine.missouri.edu/news/0214.php).

Other US-based scientists at Yale University have found 55 fracking pollutants linked to cancer, including 20 associated with leukaemia or lymphoma. “These findings support the hypothesis that exposure to unconventional oil and gas development could increase the risk of leukaemia,” the recent study concludes.

The pollutants linked to leukaemia include benzene, cadmium, formaldehyde and several toxic types of hydrocarbons. More than 80 % of the 1,177 water pollutants and 143 air pollutants from the US fracking industry couldn’t be assessed for cancer risk because of a lack of data, the paper, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, states.

Moreover, research published in the US by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health that found levels of radon in Pennsylvania homes – where 42% of readings surpass what the US government considers safe – have been on the rise since 2004, around the time that the fracking industry began drilling natural gas wells in the state. (‘Increased Levels of Radon in Pennsylvania Homes Correspond to Onset of Fracking’, April 9, 2015; www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2015/increased-levels-of-radon-in-pennsylvania-homes-correspond-to-onset-of-fracking.html)

In the UK, the heath watchdog, Public Health England, warned in a report published three years ago “If the natural gas delivery point were to be close to the extraction point with a short transit time, radon present in the natural gas would have little time to decay … there is therefore the potential for radon gas to be present in natural gas extracted from UK shale.”

 

(‘Shale gas extraction: review of the potential public health impacts of exposures to chemical and radioactive pollutants,’ 30 October 2013; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/shale-gas-extraction-review-of-the-potential-public-health-impacts-of-exposures-to-chemical-and-radioactive-pollutants-draft-for-comment)

Trump offers vintage nuclear disarmament opportunity

Letter sent to the Financial Times:

Your Big Read analysis (“Return of an existential threat,” Financial Times,  November 16) of the implications for nuclear weapons policy of Donald Trump’s election as US President seems to have been authored  by writers who have little knowledge of Mr Trump’s several very interesting comments on nuclear weapons across several decades.

 

For instance, on 15 December 2015, he said “The biggest problem we have is nuclear—nuclear proliferation and having some maniac, having some madman go out and get a nuclear weapon. That's in my opinion that is the single biggest problem that our country faces right now.”( https://thinkprogress.org/9-terrifying-things-donald-trump-has-publicly-said-about-nuclear-weapons-99f6290bc32a)

At the end of March this year he told People magazine that pushing the nuclear button “would be such a last resort …”  (http://www.people.com/article/real-donald-trump-people-special-report) and has stressed that he would be “very, very slow on the draw” repeating his assertion of  23 November last year that he would  be somebody that would be ”amazingly calm under pressure.” (http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/donald-trump-nuclear-weapons_uk_56fbec2ae4b0c5bd919aa058).

 

Fascinatingly, as long ago as 1987, he told  Manhattan Inc magazine he wanted to begin a crusade to find a way to halt  a national security policy based on nuclear mutually assured destruction (MAD)  “before a wild-card nuke deals death to millions” (www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_spectator/2016/03/trump_s_nuclear_experience_advice_for_reagan_in_1987.html

 

One very constructive rapprochement  New York–born  British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson could, indeed should, initiate as Mr Trump formulates his  national security policy, is to to begin discussions with the President-elect’s transition team to promote Mr Trump’s three decade vintage multilateral nuclear disarmament plan

Nuclear security: Does the Baroness really know what she is talking about?

Last week, the only British Government minister with died blue hair, delivered a speech to the annual conference hosted by the Office  for Nuclear Regulation for its industry stakeholders.( https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/baroness-neville-rolfes-speech-at-the-office-for-nuclear-regulation-onr-industry-conference)

Junior energy minister Baroness Neville-Rolfe, inter alia, asserted to the ONR Conference on 1 November:

 

 

 

“Undoubtedly, one of [the nuclear industry’s] strengths lies in its people. Everyone from the nuclear technicians to the guards at the gate of power stations plays a vital role…

The Government is committed to continuing to provide a safe and secure UK nuclear industry, developing both safety and security initiatives on a national and international level.

This includes collaborative work between my Department and the ONR on a number of key initiatives that cover both policy and operation.

The Government supports the ONR’s work to transition nuclear security regulation to become outcome-focused, in line with the approach taken for nuclear safety.

We have been working closely with the ONR on the development of their ‘Security Assessment Principles’ document to be issued next year. This will lead to clear benefits that will ultimately enhance security across the sector. It will give the industry greater flexibility and innovation in developing its own security plans that will enhance the security expertise in the industry; It will further ensure consistent regulatory decision-making; and It will increase the focus on new and emerging threats, including cyber security.

This is important. Anyone watching the news on television or reading the front page of a newspaper will know that we live in a very dangerous and uncertain world.

We are all only too aware of the risks and hazards associated with nuclear and radiological material. Because of this their protection is one of heaviest responsibilities we have and it must be one of our highest priorities.

The threat from terrorism and crime we face is changing and evolving. We must be able to respond to this. Ten years ago the cyber threat was not really on our radar. Now it most definitely is.

Thankfully, the UK also has its own civil nuclear police force. The Civil Nuclear Constabulary is a widely recognised and highly skilled fully armed police force.

It protects the UK’s nuclear material on site and in transit and is a pivotal part of their protected security efforts for nuclear power 14 nuclear sites across England, Scotland and Wales.”

What she did not address were the following revelations in the ONR chief nuclear inspector’s annual report for 2015/16, released on 7 July: (www.onr.org.uk/documents/2016/annual-report-2015-16.pdf)

On Sellafield, he revealed: ” A requirement to improve processes in place for Cyber Security and Information Assurance (CS&IA) was identified. A contributory factor in this area was associated with a lack of resources within Sellafield’s CS&IS capability.”

More generally, he reported: “There are areas where the duty holder’s security arrangements did not meet regulatory expectations.” ONR has refused to explain the details of this failure. But surely ministers should avail themselves of the details.

‘Shoot The B*tch!’ ‘Hang The N*gger!’: Unfiltered Rally Videos Show Trump’s America

 

This article was published in August. It seems very relevant today after The Donald was supported by just under 50% of the US electorate to take the 45th US  Presidency. It is salutary:

 

‘Shoot The B*tch!’ ‘Hang The N*gger!’: Unfiltered Rally Videos Show Trump’s America


By Ron Delancer

The fact that the press is not reporting on the continuing violent rhetoric at Donald Trump’s rallies reflects an acceptance that is deeply troubling. Thankfully, today the New York Times posted a video “Unfiltered: Voices from Trump’s Crowds,” that captures the tone of the language used at Trump rallies, language that often revolves around hatred and violence, and is filled with crude slurs.

What we seem to have here is a case of the normalization of the deplorable. It is a sinister sight to watch. Masses of people shout racial slurs against Hispanics and our black President, they call for the lynching of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and they hurl anti-LGBTQ epithets.

It’s disturbing that Trump’s outrages are so frequent that the mob atmosphere at his rallies is evidently no longer terribly “newsworthy.” While Benghazi and emails remain part of everyday reporting over the months, journalists don’t remind us of Trump’s earlier incitements.

The mob outbursts and the incitements have become routine, part of the furniture — sort of like Trump’s remarkable 70-year-old hair, no longer worthy of comment. Another day, another deplorable outburst, either from the candidate or his deplorables or both.



The media has to stop taking mob violence for granted. Trump has styled himself as the only viable outlet for hatred that has been teeming under the surface for years. And the danger for the republic is evident. If outbursts of violence, as of venom, fade into the hush of background noise, the deplorables have won.

Watch the full video here (this footage includes vulgarities and racial and ethnic slurs.)

http://politicaldig.com/shoot-the-btch-hang-the-ngger-unfiltered-rally-videos-show-trumps-america/

 

 

and here is Donald J Trump's more magnanimous acceptance speech:

Following is a transcript of Donald J. Trump’s victory speech, as compiled by Federal News Services.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/10/us/politics/trump-speech-transcript.html

TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you very much, everyone.

(APPLAUSE)

Sorry to keep you waiting; complicated business; complicated.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you very much.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: I’ve just received a call from Secretary Clinton.

(APPLAUSE)

She congratulated us — it’s about us — on our victory, and I congratulated her and her family on a very, very hard-fought campaign. I mean, she — she fought very hard.

(APPLAUSE)

Hillary has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time, and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country.

 (APPLAUSE)

I mean that very sincerely.

(APPLAUSE)

Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division; have to get together. To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people.

(APPLAUSE)

It’s time. I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans, and this is so important to me.

(APPLAUSE)

For those who have chosen not to support me in the past, of which there were a few people. . .

(LAUGHTER)

. . . I’m reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so that we can work together and unify our great country.

(APPLAUSE)

As I’ve said from the beginning, ours was not a campaign, but rather an incredible and great movement made up of millions of hard-working men and women who love their country and want a better, brighter future for themselves and for their families.

(APPLAUSE)

It’s a movement comprised of Americans from all races, religions, backgrounds and beliefs who want and expect our government to serve the people, and serve the people it will.

(APPLAUSE)

Working together, we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding our nation and renewing the American dream. I’ve spent my entire life and business looking at the untapped potential in projects and in people all over the world. That is now what I want to do for our country.

(APPLAUSE)

Tremendous potential. I’ve gotten to know our country so well — tremendous potential. It’s going to be a beautiful thing. Every single American will have the opportunity to realize his or her fullest potential. The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.

(APPLAUSE)

We are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals. We’re going to rebuild our infrastructure, which will become by the way, second to none. And we will put millions of our people to work as we rebuild it.

We will also finally take care of our great veterans.

(APPLAUSE)

They’ve been so loyal, and I’ve gotten to know so many over this 18-month journey. The time I’ve spent with them during this campaign has been among my greatest honors. Our veterans are incredible people. We will embark upon a project of national growth and renewal. I will harness the creative talents of our people and we will call upon the best and brightest to leverage their tremendous talent for the benefit of all. It’s going to happen.

(APPLAUSE)

We have a great economic plan. We will double our growth and have the strongest economy anywhere in the world. At the same time, we will get along with all other nations willing to get along with us. We will be.

(APPLAUSE)

We’ll have great relationships. We expect to have great, great relationships. No dream is too big, no challenge is too great.

TRUMP: Nothing we want for our future is beyond our reach.

America will no longer settle for anything less than the best.

(APPLAUSE)

We must reclaim our country’s destiny and dream big and bold and daring. We have to do that. We’re going to dream of things for our country and beautiful things and successful things once again.

I want to tell the world community that while we will always put America’s interests first, we will deal fairly with everyone, with everyone — all people and all other nations. We will seek common ground, not hostility; partnership, not conflict.

And now I’d like to take this moment to thank some of the people who really helped me with this, what they are calling tonight, very, very historic victory.

This was tough.

 

 

 

( . .