Europe to Make Fresh Push to Revive Iran Nuclear Deal
Laurence Norman | Wall Street Journal
European officials are preparing to make a fresh push to salvage a nuclear deal with Iran, offering to send a top European Union negotiator to Tehran in an effort to break a stalemate in talks, according to Western diplomats. Enrique Mora, the European Union coordinator of the negotiations, has told Iranian counterparts he is ready to return to Tehran to open a pathway through the deadlock, the people said. So far, Iran hasn’t responded with an invitation, the people added. The negotiations, which started in Vienna in April 2021, are aimed at agreeing to steps the U.S. and Iran must take to return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal signed under President Obama, which lifted most international sanctions on Iran in exchange for tight but temporary limits on Iran’s nuclear activities.
Incoming Gov’t to Seek N. Korea’s Complete Denuclearization, Boost Defense Capability
Lee Haye-ah | Yonhap News Agency
The incoming Yoon Suk-yeol government will seek North Korea’s “complete and verifiable” denuclearization and a “revolutionary” reinforcement of South Korea’s capability to respond to the North’s nuclear and missile threats, the transition team said Tuesday. The committee outlined 110 key policy tasks to pursue under the Yoon government, which included 18 tasks in foreign policy and national security under the overarching goal of achieving “a global leading nation that contributes to freedom, peace and prosperity.” Under the task of North Korea’s denuclearization, the transition team said the aim will be to realize sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula through North Korea’s “complete and verifiable denuclearization.”
IAEA Publishes First Report on Fukushima Water Discharge Plan
World Nuclear News
The task force report is the first in a series of reports due to be published as a result of International Atomic Energy Agency missions to Japan in the coming months and years to assess the water discharge against IAEA safety standards. It summarises progress in technical preparations for the water discharge, with the initial findings from the 15-strong team of experts’ first review mission, in February, to Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station (FDNPS) operator, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
North Korea Preparing for First Nuclear Test Since 2017, Warn Experts
Christian Davies | Financial Times
New satellite images of a North Korean nuclear facility suggest that Pyongyang is inching towards its first nuclear test since 2017, experts have warned, as Kim Jong Un ratchets up tensions on the Korean peninsula. The commercial satellite images were collected this week and analysed by experts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. They revealed the construction of buildings, movement of lumber and an increase in equipment and supplies immediately outside a new entrance to the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the country’s north-east. The images also showed personnel playing volleyball in the courtyard of the test site’s main administrative and support area.
U.K. in Talks With South Korea to Build Nuclear Power Plants
Rachel Morison and Alex Morales | Bloomberg
The U.K. is in talks with South Korea about building nuclear power plants in Britain to help the government’s push to triple installed capacity by 2050. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng met with state-owned Korea Electric Power Corp. to discuss participation in future projects, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the talks are private. The discussions, first reported by the Daily Telegraph, are part of efforts to revive a planned industry renaissance that has faltered over more than a decade. Prime Minister Boris Johnson committed to building as many as eight nuclear plants by 2050 in the energy security strategy he announced last month. But achieving that will require a significant acceleration in pace of development. Several projects have failed to get up and running and the only new nuclear power station being built—at Hinkley Point in southwest England—isn’t due to come online until 2026.
Why the Debate Over Russian Uranium Worries U.S. Tribal Nations
Simon Romero | New York Times
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the United States slapped bans on Russian energy sources from oil to coal. But one critical Russian energy import was left alone: uranium, which the United States relies on to fuel more than 90 nuclear reactors around the country. That dependence on Russia is breathing life into ambitions to resurrect the uranium industry around the American West—and also evoking fears of the industry’s toxic legacy of pollution. With some of the most coveted uranium lodes found around Indigenous lands, the moves are setting up clashes between mining companies and energy security hawks on one side and tribal nations and environmentalists on the other.