Missile Test Showed Highly Accurate Warhead, Says North Korea
Brad Lendon | CNN
North Korea claims it fired a new type of ballistic missile Monday, demonstrating its ability to carry out a highly accurate strike. Experts, however, have expressed skepticism, noting there is no way to independently verify the test results. The warhead atop the test missile fell just 23 feet (seven meters) from its target point, according to a statement from Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency.
THAAD Launchers Brought in Without Moon's Knowledge
Kim Rahm | Korea Times
The U.S. military has brought in four additional launchers for its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery deployed here, in addition to the two already in operation, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday. The Ministry of National Defense, however, failed to share the information with the new administration until very recently, the office said.
Leery of North Korea, U.S. Plans First Test of ICBM Intercept
Robert Burns | ABC News
Preparing for North Korea's growing threat, the Pentagon will try to shoot down an intercontinental-range missile for the first time in a test next week. The goal is to more closely simulate a North Korean ICBM aimed at the U.S. homeland, officials said Friday.
Trump Seeks to Spend More on Nuclear Weapons But Buys Little Added Capability
Patrick Malone | Center for Public Integrity
President Trump’s proposed budget for 2018 aims to pump an extra $589 million into building nuclear bombs. What will he get for that sum? Pretty much the same results that President Obama expected a year ago, when they appeared to cost much less. The Trump administration has proposed to make room for the new nuclear weapons spending by cutting expenditures in other areas at the Department of Energy, including scientific research that looks at alternatives to fossil fuels. It also has proposed a 65-percent cut in the budget for a program that helps other countries keep the ingredients for a nuclear weapon out of terrorists’ hands.
Russia Building First 'Floating' Nuclear Power Plant
Economic Times
Russia is in advanced stages of building the world's first "floating" nuclear power plant (FNPP) for installation in remote areas and hopes FNPP technology will also interest South Asian countries like India. Pavel Ipatov, Deputy CEO (Special Projects) in Russia's state atomic energy corporation Rosatom, told IANS in an e-mail interview from Moscow that an FNPP is basically a mobile, low-capacity reactor unit operable in remote areas isolated from the main power distribution system, or in places hard to access by land.
Missile Defense Can't Save Us From North Korea
Kingston Reif | War on the Rocks
There is no more urgent threat to the global nuclear nonproliferation order than North Korea’s accelerating and unconstrained nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Pyongyang is estimated to possess enough nuclear explosive material for at least 10 nuclear warheads, and in all likelihood already has the capability to deliver some of these weapons on its arsenal of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles. By 2020, some experts believe Pyongyang may have enough fissile material for 100 warheads.