Europe’s Nuclear Woes: Mitigating the Challenges of the Next Years
Ulrich Kühn, Shatabhisha Shetty, Polina Sinovets | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
As long as the relationship between Russia and the West continues to be confrontational, the urgent task will be to stabilize and manage the confrontation. For NATO, this primarily means balancing deterrence and assurance measures to its easternmost allies without entering a new arms race. NATO should step up its efforts to foster talks with Russia on current military threats and on arms control, possibly by seeking reconstitution of the NATO-Russia Council as a crisis management forum and mechanism for dialog, dealing with dangerous military incidents and better communicating each side’s intentions.
How to Reason With a Nuclear Rogue
Jon Wolfsthal | Foreign Policy
A country bent on threatening the United States with annihilation develops nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them from Asia to the U.S. homeland, putting America and its allies, including Japan and South Korea, at grave risk. It is clear that only grave consequences will come from ignoring this danger any longer, but taking military action in the vain attempt to eliminate the program threatens to provoke unspeakable destruction.
U.K. Plan to Quit European Nuclear Treaty Stirs Alarm
Dan Bilefsky | New York Times
The British government’s plan to withdraw from a seminal European treaty governing the movement of nuclear material is generating alarm that it might hobble Britain’s nuclear industry, destroy thousands of jobs and even deny cancer patients treatments that rely heavily on nuclear isotopes.At issue is the six-decades old European Atomic Energy Community, also known as Euratom, a seemingly arcane sounding treaty signed in 1957 with a nevertheless crucial role.
U.S. THAAD Missile Defenses Hit Test Target as North Korea Tension Rises
Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali | Reuters
The United States said on Tuesday it shot down a simulated, incoming intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) similar to the ones being developed by countries like North Korea, in a new test of the nation’s THAAD missile defenses. Planned months ago, the U.S. missile defense test over the Pacific Ocean has gained significance after North Korea’s July 4 launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) heightened concerns about the threat from Pyongyang.
South Korea’s Anti-nuclear Push Casts Cloud Over KEPCO’s Reactor Exports
Reuters
A decision by South Korea’s new president to scrap plans for more domestic nuclear power plants will make it harder for the country to sell reactors to buyers overseas, experts warn. State-run Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) is building the first of four nuclear plants in the United Arab Emirates in an $18.6 billion deal, and is scouting for more business in Britain and other countries.
Perry: Threat to U.S. Nuclear Reactors ‘real,’ Ongoing
Matthew Daly | Washington Post
Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Tuesday that “state-sponsored” or criminal hackers are targeting U.S. nuclear power plants and other energy providers, but said the government has resources to safeguard the nation’s electric grid. Perry told Fox Business Network that the threat of cyberattacks on the electric grid “is real, it’s ongoing and we shouldn’t be surprised when you think of the world we live in today.” The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security told energy providers last week that hackers may be trying to breach their computer systems. Hackers appear to have tried to breach the business and administrative networks of unidentified facilities, DHS said.