Biden to Tell Israel PM He Shares Alarm Over Iran but Sticking to Nuclear Diplomacy
Matt Spetalnick and Jarrett Renshaw | Reuters
President Joe Biden will tell Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at the White House on Thursday that Washington shares Israel’s concern that Iran has accelerated its nuclear program but remains committed for now to diplomacy with Tehran. Briefing reporters on their first face-to-face talks, a senior U.S. official said: “Since the last administration left the Iran nuclear deal, Iran’s nuclear program has just dramatically broken out of the box, and it's accelerating from week to week.”
US Says Open to N. Korea Aid, Regardless of Denuclearization Progress
William Gallo | Voice of America
The United States supports humanitarian aid for North Korea regardless of progress on the country’s denuclearization, the U.S. envoy to Pyongyang said Tuesday. The comments by the envoy, Sung Kim, came at the end of his four-day visit to Seoul, where he reiterated his readiness to meet North Korean leaders “anywhere, anytime.” In a column in South Korea’s Hankyoreh newspaper, Kim also said the United States supports humanitarian cooperation projects between North and South Korea and is “open to exploring meaningful confidence-building initiatives.”
Nuclear Inspectors Seek to Plug Gaps Observing Iran’s Program
Jonathan Tirone | Bloomberg
Locked out of key facilities in Iran’s rapidly expanding nuclear program, international inspectors are developing contingency plans that might plug knowledge gaps should talks between the Islamic Republic and world powers fail. Officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency are preparing their quarterly safeguards report about Iran’s nuclear activities, which they’ll present to diplomats at a meeting next month in Vienna.
Space Force’s Next Generation of Missile Warning Satellites Passes Major Design Milestone
Nathan Strout | Defense News
The U.S. Space Force’s next generation of missile warning satellites has passed a major design milestone, clearing the way for fabrication and integration to begin. The Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared program is the successor to the Space Based Infrared System, which currently operates as the military’s premier missile warning satellite constellation. Next Gen OPIR will be made up of five satellites: three in geostationary orbit (Next Gen OPIR GEO) and another two in highly elliptical orbits for polar coverage. The first satellite is set to launch in 2025.
Sweden Risks Blackouts as It Runs Out of Space to Store Nuclear Waste
Jesper Starn | Bloomberg
Sweden has less than a week to decide where to store its nuclear waste or risk having the lights go out. The Scandinavian country is running out of space to store the waste produced by its six reactors, which supply about a third of the nation’s power. Without a decision before the end of the month, nuclear operators including Vattenfall AB say they will have to start halting plants in just three years. That would trigger a national power crisis and put Sweden’s net-zero target at risk. As the government meets on Thursday, members of the ruling coalition formed by the Social Democrats and the Green Party are likely to address the issue, which has stalled for more than a year.
Fukushima Nuclear Water to Be Released Via Undersea Tunnel
Mari Yamaguchi | Associated Press
The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant said Wednesday it plans to build an undersea tunnel so that massive amounts of treated but still radioactive water can be released into the ocean about 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) away from the plant to avoid interference with local fishing. The operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, said it hopes to start releasing the water in spring 2023. TEPCO says hundreds of storage tanks at the plant need to be removed to make room for facilities necessary for the plant’s decommissioning.