Ballistic Missile Launch Near Japan Pushes Tensions With North Korea
Anthony Kuhn | NPR
North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan Thursday, in its first provocation of the Biden White House. The missiles fell into the waters that lie between North Korea and Japan, and avoided the latter's economic zone, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said in a statement. Suga condemned Pyongyang's actions and said it “threatens the peace and security of Japan and the region.” He noted that North Korea's actions violate UN Security Council resolutions. Thursday's launch was the first ballistic missile test since March 2020, and Suga said officials need to be “more vigilant and watchful than ever before.”
Iran Must Come Clean About Hidden Uranium to Revive Nuclear Deal, IAEA Chief Warns
Jack Dutton | Newsweek
Iran must come clean about recent findings of undeclared uranium to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement, the director general of the UN nuclear watchdog has told Newsweek. In an interview, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi said “detailed and technical discussions” are needed to ascertain the location of Iran's undeclared uranium and that this issue is “totally connected” to the future of the deal. He said there were a number of points that were “still unclear” relating to traces of uranium that were found but had not been declared in the past by Tehran.
Admiral Nominated to Lead Indo-Pacific Forces Contradicts Current Commander on Chinese Nuclear Stockpile
Sarah Cammarata | Stars and Stripes
Adm. John Aquilino, the nominee to be the next commander of American forces in the Pacific, said Tuesday that even if China were to quadruple its nuclear stockpile within the next decade, the United States would still have more warheads deployed than Beijing. The comment from Aquilino, who is expected to be confirmed later Tuesday, contradicts how Adm. Phil Davidson, the Indo-Pacific commander now, described the size of China’s nuclear arsenal to the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier in March. Davidson agreed at the hearing that the Chinese could surpass the U.S. nuclear stockpile by 2030 if they can quadruple their number of warheads.
Taiwan Says Has Begun Mass Production of Long-Range Missile
Ben Blanchard | Reuters
Taiwan has begun mass production of a long-range missile and is developing three other models, a senior official said on Thursday, in a rare admission of efforts to develop strike capacity amid growing Chinese pressure. China, which claims democratic Taiwan as its own territory, has stepped up military activity near the island, as it tries to force the government in Taipei to accept Beijing’s claims of sovereignty. Taiwan’s armed forces, dwarfed by China’s, are in the midst of a modernisation programme to offer a more effective deterrent, including the ability to hit back at bases deep within China in the event of a conflict.
Portable Nuclear Reactor Project Moves Forward at Pentagon
Aaron Mehta | Defense News
The Pentagon has selected two companies to move forward with developing small, portable nuclear reactors for military use in the field. BWXT Advanced Technologies and X-energy were chosen by the department’s Strategic Capabilities Office to continue on with Project Pele, which seeks to develop a reactor of 1- to 5-megawatt output that can last at least three years at full power. In addition, the reactors must be designed to operate within three days of delivery and be safely removed in as few as seven days if needed.
People Downwind of First Atomic Blasts Renew Push for U.S. Compensation
Susan Montoya Bryan | AP
In the desert northeast of Las Vegas, residents living along the Nevada-Arizona border would gather on their front porches for bomb parties or ride horses into the fields to watch as the U.S. government conducted atomic tests during a Cold War-era race to build up the nation’s nuclear arsenal. About 100 of those tests were aboveground, and U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton of Arizona testified during a congressional subcommittee hearing Wednesday that residents at the time marveled at the massive orange mushroom clouds billowing in the distance.