Feinstein Presses Mattis On LRSO; Mattis Still Thinking
Colin Clark | Breaking Defense
One of the most controversial new weapons in the U.S. arsenal, the Long Range Standoff cruise missile (LRSO), meant to replace the Air Launched Cruise Missile, came under direct fire by a top Senate defense and intelligence lawmaker, Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The senior California senator holds seats both on the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee and the Senate Intelligence Committee and is respected on both sides of the aisle for her command of the facts. Why did she question Defense Secretary Jim Mattis so closely during a Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing about a proposed nuclear weapon that, at first glance, seems to be a replacement of an existing system?
North Korea’s Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site: Media Report of Intensified Activity Cannot be Corroborated
38 North
A June 11, 2017 Asahi Shimbun news report[1] described “intensified” activity at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site “indicating Pyongyang may be preparing a sixth nuclear test, which it warned last month was ‘imminent’,” and that “The preparations near the Punggyeri site match those of past occasions before North Korea conducted a nuclear test.” The report quoted knowledgeable sources, who stated that nuclear scientists associated with nuclear materials and testing had gathered at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site. It went on to state that, “traffic to the site has been apparently shut down at the checkpoints leading to the area in northeastern North Korea. However, movement of vehicles and humans within the test site continues to be active.”
More Than Half of America's Nuclear Reactors Are Losing Money
Jim Polson | Bloomberg
More than half of America’s nuclear reactors are bleeding cash, racking up losses totaling about $2.9 billion a year, based on a Bloomberg New Energy Finance analysis. Nuclear power plants are getting paid $20 to $30 a megawatt-hour for their electricity, Nicholas Steckler, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said in a report Wednesday. Meanwhile, it costs them an average of $35 a megawatt-hour to run. That puts 34 of the nation’s 61 plants out of the money, with almost all of the merchant reactors owned by Exelon Corp., Entergy Corp. and FirstEnergy Corp. appearing to be below break-even, he said.
Barrasso: Senate Risks Closing Nuclear Energy Watchdog
John Siciliano | Washington Examiner
The Senate is under a strict deadline to confirm the head of the nation's top nuclear watchdog or risk closing the agency for lack of members. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, raised the concern Thursday in advancing the nomination of Kristine Svinicki, President Trump's pick to head the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, by voice vote to the Senate floor. "Unless Ms. Svinicki is confirmed by June 30th, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will lose its quorum," Barrasso said. "We must not let that happen."
Turkey Gives Rosatom Go Ahead to Build Nuclear Plant
Reuters
Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) won approval from Turkey's energy watchdog on Thursday to go ahead with building its $20 billion Akkuyu nuclear power plant in southern Turkey. The project to construct four nuclear reactors has repeatedly run into delays, including being briefly halted after Turkey downed a Russian jet near the Syrian border in November 2015. Ties have since normalised between the two countries and work on the plant has resumed.
S. Korea Willing to Enter Talks if North Stops Nuclear, Missile Tests: Moon
Dagyum Ji | North Korea News
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday that his government is willing to open up dialogue with the North “without conditions”, but only if the DPRK ceases its missile and nuclear tests.