Kim Jong Un Vows North Korea Will Withstand Sanctions Pressure, Prove its Self-Reliance
Simon Denyer and Min Joo Kim | Washington Post
Kim Jong Un said North Korea should prove its self-reliance and deliver a “telling blow” to the hostile foreign forces who mistakenly believe sanctions will bring his country to its knees. The comments, reported by state media Thursday, represent Kim’s first official, defiant response to the breakdown of the second U.S.-North Korea summit in February and were delivered to a plenary session of officials from the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. They also come as South Korean President Moon Jae-in is due to meet President Trump in Washington on Thursday, as he tries to find a way to mediate between the United States and North Korea and restart a stalled dialogue. Kim underlined the need to “vigorously advance socialist construction” based on North Korea’s own efforts, technology and resources, “under the uplifted banner of self-reliance, so as to deal a telling blow to the hostile forces who go with bloodshot eyes miscalculating that sanctions can bring the DPRK to its knees.”
Fresh U.S. Divide on Iran Emerges Over Expiring Nuclear Waivers
Nick Wadhams | Bloomberg
A fresh divide is emerging between some Trump administration officials and hard-line opponents of Iran in the Senate over how far to go in the White House’s “maximum pressure” campaign against the Islamic Republic.In a letter to President Donald Trump this week, a group of Republican senators demanded that Secretary of State Michael Pompeo stop letting Iran continue its limited civilian nuclear research program. At issue are three waivers the Trump administration granted after it withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal last year. They allow Iran to work with nations that remain in the deal at three sites -- Fordow, Bushehr and Arak -- to ensure it doesn’t seek to enrich uranium to high levels. It’s part of an effort to limit the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation.
Mike Pompeo Wants China to Join Russia in START Nuclear Treaty
Japan Times
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that China should join in the next START treaty on curbing nuclear warheads as Washington prepares for talks on an extension with Russia. The New START treaty, which caps the number of nuclear warheads well below Cold War limits, is set to expire in 2021 at a time of high tensions between Russia and the United States. Pompeo said that Russia and the United States have both shown “large compliance” with New START — unlike the separate INF treaty on medium-range missiles from which Washington this year said it would pull out, accusing Moscow of violations. President Donald Trump “has made very clear that if we can get a good, solid arms control agreement, we ought to get one,” Pompeo told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when asked about extending New START. But Pompeo said that the next START — which stands for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty — should include China, although he stopped short of describing Beijing’s role as a condition. “We need to make sure that we’ve got all of the parties that are relevant as a component of this as well,” Pompeo said.
Senators Seek Oversight Power After Trump Administration Reveals Nuclear Energy Transfers to Saudi Arabia
Tom DiChristopher | CNBC
A group of bipartisan senators on Wednesday introduced legislation that would require the executive branch to regularly disclose when it allows companies to engage in nuclear energy cooperation with foreign countries. The move comes amid an uproar on Capitol Hill following reports that the Department of Energy gave permission to several companies to share nuclear energy information with Saudi Arabia. The Energy Department later confirmed that it has granted seven of the so-called Part 810 authorizations to U.S. firms competing to build nuclear reactors in the kingdom. Part 810 authorizations are issued to companies so they can discuss nonpublic nuclear energy technology with foreign counterparts. The companies responding to the Saudi request for bids would need the permissions to make their pitches.
New Mexico is Divided Over the ‘Perfect Site’ to Store Nation’s Nuclear Waste
Nathan Rott | NPR
Thirty-five miles out of Carlsbad, in the pancake-flat desert of southeast New Mexico, there's a patch of scrub-covered dirt that may offer a fix — albeit temporarily — to one of the nation's most vexing and expensive environmental problems: What to do with our nuclear waste? Despite more than 50 years of searching and billions of dollars spent, the federal government still hasn't been able to identify a permanent repository for nuclear material. No state seems to want it. So instead, dozens of states are stuck with it. More than 80,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel, a still-radioactive byproduct of nuclear power generation, is spread across the country at power plants and sites in 35 states. The issue has dogged politicians for decades. Energy Secretary Rick Perry recently described the situation as a "logjam." But some hope that this remote, rural corner of New Mexico may present a breakthrough.
The Threat of Nuclear War Is Still With Us
George Shultz, William Perry, and Sam Nunn | Wall Street Journal
The U.S., its allies and Russia are caught in a dangerous policy paralysis that could lead—most likely by mistake or miscalculation—to a military confrontation and potentially the use of nuclear weapons for the first time in nearly 74 years. A bold policy shift is needed to support a strategic re-engagement with Russia and walk back from this perilous precipice. Otherwise, our nations may soon be entrenched in a nuclear standoff more precarious, disorienting and economically costly than the Cold War. The most difficult task facing the U.S. is also the most important—to refocus on America’s most vital interests even as we respond firmly to Russia’s aggressions.