North Korean Media, in Rare Critique of China, Says Nuclear Program Will Continue
Choe Sang-Hun | New York Times
In a rare and surprisingly pointed criticism of China, North Korea’s state-run news agency warned in a commentary that the country would continue its nuclear weapons program even if it risked losing a friendly relationship with its longtime ally. The angry commentary, attributed to a writer named Kim Chol and carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday, came as President Trump was pressing China to increase the enforcement of sanctions against its neighbor to contain its nuclear and long-range missile programs.
Lawmakers Back Push to Curtail Trump’s Nuclear Strike Ability
Ellen Mitchell | Hill
A petition to block President Trump from being able to launch nuclear weapons was presented to Congress on Wednesday after garnering nearly a half-million signatures. The petition backs the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act, which would deny Trump the authority to launch a first strike with nuclear weapons without a declaration of war from Congress.
Missile Launched From California Coast In a “Nuclear Deterrent” Test, Air Force Says
Veronica Rocha | Los Angeles Times
An unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile was launched Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base to test the weapon’s reliability and ensure an “effective nuclear deterrent,” according to the U.S. Air Force. The Minuteman III missile test launch occurred at 12:02 a.m. from the base northwest of Santa Barbara, according to Air Force Global Strike Command. The missile, equipped with a single-test reentry vehicle, traveled 4,200 miles to a test range near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
UK’s Brexit Plan Poses A Risk to Nuclear Industry - Lawmakers
Nina Chestney | Reuters
Britain’s plan to leave the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) when it quits the European Union will severely hinder nuclear trade and research, and threaten power supplies, a UK parliamentary committee said in a report on Tuesday. The government says Britain must leave Euratom as part of its goal to end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice when the country leaves the EU.
With Renewables Surging, Nuclear And Petroleum Battle Over Subsidies
Jeff McMahon | Forbes
If the petroleum industry continues to fight subsidies for nuclear power, the nuclear industry will go after petroleum-industry tax breaks, the president of the Nuclear Energy Institute said Tuesday. “They might say, oh don’t subsidize this, but let me tell you, you open up the books and you might not call it a subsidy but I tell you there’s a lot of tax breaks that the American Petroleum Institute gets," said Maria Korsnick, president and CEO of NEI, the leading nuclear industry lobbying group.
The President’s Secret Air Force
Garrett M. Graff | Politico
The photo this winter of a smiling Mar-a-Lago guest with the uniformed military aide who carries the “nuclear football” was a rare—and unease-inducing—public reminder that just steps from the president at all times are the keys to end the world as we know it. Americans normally see very little of the massive apparatus that surrounds the modern presidency—and it’s easy to forget that much of it exists primarily to help ensure that the commander in chief, wherever he is in the world, is able to access the nation’s nuclear weapons and launch a retaliatory strike.