North Korea Says Pompeo Undercuts Its Interest in Restarting Talks
Hyonhee Shin and Heekyong Yang | Reuters
North Korea said on Monday that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo undermined its willingness to restart stalled denuclearisation talks, criticising his recent remarks on sanctions on Pyongyang. Pompeo had said after a teleconference with G7 foreign ministers last week that all nations must remain united in calling for North Korea to return to negotiations and applying diplomatic and economic pressure over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. That comment highlighted the United States cannot reverse its hostile policy toward North Korea “no matter how excellent and firm the relationship” their two leaders have, state media KCNA said, citing an unnamed foreign ministry official responsible for the negotiations. But little progress has been made on dismantling Pyongyang’s weapons programmes, with a last round of working-level talks in October falling apart.
Coronavirus Is Idling North Korea's Ships, Achieving What Sanctions Did Not
Christoph Koetti | New York Times
According to a satellite-image analysis published Thursday by the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based research organization, and a review of additional satellite imagery by The New York Times, many North Korean commercial vessels that once carried sanctioned material to and from China — or transferred them illicitly ship-to-ship at sea — are now idled in their home ports. The change, seen after North Korea sought to seal itself off two months ago as neighboring China battled the coronavirus outbreak, effectively puts “an end to the large and coordinated efforts to evade United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSC) by shipping resources to China,” according to the analysis. The State Department declined through a spokesperson to comment on the analysis or its implications.
US Extends Iran Nuclear Cooperation Sanctions Waivers
Al Jazeera
The United States has allowed companies from Russia, China and Europe to continue their work at Iranian nuclear facilities without being subject to American sanctions, the US State Department announced on Monday. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signed off on the waiver extensions but couched the decision as one that continues restrictions on Iran's atomic work. Current and former officials familiar with the matter said Pompeo had opposed extending the waivers, which are among the few remaining components of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that the administration had not cancelled. However, the officials told The Associated Press news agency (AP) that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had prevailed in an internal debate on the subject last week.
Report: ICBMs to Fall Short of Mission Needs in 2026
Rachel Cohen | Air Force Magazine
The Air Force expects to lose confidence in the full viability of its 400 intercontinental ballistic missiles starting in 2026, three years before replacement nuclear missiles start entering the ground, according to a new Government Accountability Office report. “According to Air Force officials, as a result of the expected attrition of current field assets, the Minuteman III weapon system will be unable to meet full mission requirements after 2026, should full deployment be required,” the March 26 report said. USAF expends a few unarmed ICBMs for testing each year, drawing down the stockpile while the Minuteman III’s replacement, the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent, will not be fully available until 2036.
Nuclear Regulators Ease Some Power Regs in Response to COVID-19
Matthew Bandyk | Utility Drive
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its strain on available nuclear plant personnel, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is allowing power reactor operators to apply for temporary exemptions from regulations limiting the amount of hours workers can stay on the job, according to a letter released by the agency on Monday. In addition, the NRC staff is also working on a separate memorandum that will guide nuclear plants as to which labor and time-intensive tasks they can temporarily waive, such as many of the inspections during refueling outages. Nuclear reactors have already been enacting contingency plans designed to limit the amount of workers onsite in order to avoid exposure to the coronavirus.
TEPCO Puts Cost to Remove Melted Nuclear Fuel at Over 1 Trillion Yen
Rintaro Sakurai | Asahi Shimbun
Tokyo Electric Power Co. estimates that 1.37 trillion yen ($12.6 billion) will be needed over 12 years to remove melted nuclear fuel from reactors at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. TEPCO's announcement on March 30 covers only two of the three reactors that suffered meltdowns triggered by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. No estimate was attempted for the cost to prepare for the removal of melted nuclear fuel from the No. 1 reactor. The situation at that reactor is the most difficult among the three reactors, and TEPCO officials are still struggling to come up with a plan for removing the debris from within.