Atomic Leverage: Compellence with Nuclear Latency
Tristan Volpe
When countries as different as Saudi Arabia, Japan, or North Korea employ the threat of proliferation as a bargaining chip, there is a sweet spot between having too little and too much nuclear latency to extract concessions from Washington. Once a country is in this Goldilocks zone, it can leverage nuclear latency to gain a coercive advantage over the United States well before crossing the weapons acquisition threshold.
Trump Reportedly Open to Meeting Kim Jong Un in U.S. if North Korea Abandons Nuclear Weapons Program
Japan Times
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has told China he is open to welcoming North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for a meeting in the United States if Pyongyang abandons its nuclear and missile programs, according to diplomatic sources. The idea is among a set of proposals that the U.S. floated during recent discussions with Chinese officials on how best to deal with the North Korean nuclear issue.
U.S. to Review Lifting of Sanctions Against Iran Under the Nuclear Deal
Firstpost
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday he had informed Congress of plans to review whether the lifting of sanctions against Iran under the nuclear deal was in the United States’ national security interests.
Dismantling Nuclear: German Power Firms Sell New Skills
Christoph Steitz | Reuters
Energy groups E.ON and EnBW are tearing down their nuclear plants at massive cost following Germany’s decision to abandon nuclear power by 2022, but they are seeking to turn a burden into business by exporting their newfound dismantling skills. Germany is the only country in the world to dump the technology as a direct consequence of Japan’s Fukushima disaster in 2011, a decision that came as a major blow to the two energy firms which owned most of Germany's 17 operational nuclear stations.
Seongju Residents Seek Injunction Against THAAD Deployment
Yonhap News
Hundreds of residents near the deployment site of a U.S. missile defense system here filed a petition with the Constitutional Court on Monday to obtain an injunction against its construction and operation.
America’s First “21st Century Nuclear Plant” Already Has Been Shut Down for Repairs
Michael Hiltzik | Los Angeles Times
When the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar 2 nuclear power plant was finally approaching completion the big public utility hailed it as “the nation’s first new nuclear generation of the 21st century.” That was in October 2015, and the plant was thought to be only a few months away from going online. But it wasn’t until October 2016 that Watts Bar 2 began operating commercially. In March, just over five months later, the plant went offline — and it’s expected to remain offline at least into this summer, the TVA region’s peak period for electrical demand.