Averting a Nuclear Dystopia
Ariel (Eli) Levite and Toby Dalton | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
In Ukraine, the world confronts two plausible nuclear catastrophes: a nuclear power accident and Russian use of nuclear weapons. . . . The environmental and humanitarian effects of either potential catastrophe would be severe, but the political fallout would also spread far beyond Ukraine. At stake is the global system to prevent exactly these types of dangers. Russia’s actions lay bare the lack of clear rules or standards for safely treating nuclear facilities and materials in times of war and the broader repercussions of nuclear saber rattling for both conflict escalation and proliferation.
North Korea Test-Fires Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
Timothy W. Martin and Chieko Tsuneoka | Wall Street Journal
North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday, Seoul’s military said, its most significant weapons test in more than four years. Initial flight data suggested the missile had soared higher and longer than North Korea’s last intercontinental ballistic missile test in November 2017—a launch that demonstrated that Kim Jong Un’s regime, for the first time, had the capability to strike the U.S. mainland. The missile was launched at 2:34 p.m. local time from the Sunan area, located on the outskirts of Pyongyang, hitting an altitude of more than 3,700 miles and traveling more than 680 miles, Seoul’s military said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Says Nuclear Deal Closer ‘Than Ever’
Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic and world powers are closer than ever to reviving a 2015 nuclear deal. “If the U.S. acts pragmatically, we are ready to have foreign ministers of countries belonging to the nuclear deal’s joint commission gather in Vienna to finalise the agreement,” Amirabdollahian said during a press conference in Damascus alongside his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad. “We believe that today we are closer to an agreement in Vienna than ever before.”
Russia Destroys Chernobyl Radiation Monitoring Lab, Says Ukraine
Andrew Carey, Kostan Nechyporenko, and Jack Guy | CNN
Russian forces have looted and destroyed a laboratory near the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant that was used to monitor radioactive waste, the Ukrainian government said Wednesday. The site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster fell into Russian hands in the first week of Russia’s invasion, triggering fears that safety standards inside the exclusion zone could be compromised. According to a Ukrainian government agency, the laboratory was part of a European Union-funded attempt to improve radioactive waste management—through on-site analysis of waste samples, as well as the packaging used to dispose of waste.
China Aims to Expand Nuclear Power Programme Amid Threat of Global Energy Crisis Following Ukraine Invasion
Echo Xie | South China Morning Post
China is doubling down on nuclear power and promoting advanced technologies under its energy plan for 2025 as the world faces an energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The plan calls for more demonstration projects of advanced reactors and early-stage research into nuclear fusion reactors. In January China said it had made a breakthrough with the technology, raising hopes that it will one day be able to build reactors that mimic the fusion reactions that power the sun and produce clean energy that leaves little radioactive waste.
How the Ukraine War Could Go Nuclear
Bryan Bender | POLITICO
Not since the Cold War has the specter of nuclear war hung so heavily over a president’s crisis diplomacy. As President Joe Biden meets with fellow NATO leaders, calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine are growing more urgent than ever—to alleviate the widespread human suffering but also to dial back what veterans of nuclear planning consider an alarming potential for it to spiral into a clash of atomic superpowers.