North Korea’s New Nuclear Law Drives Nail in the Coffin of Denuclearization
Ankit Panda | NK News
North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly has adopted a new law on nuclear policy, updating a 2013 antecedent. While the law does not fundamentally upend North Korean nuclear strategy or doctrine, it expands the scenarios under which the country’s nuclear weapons may be released. It also includes the most detailed official declaratory statements about matters relating to the country’s nuclear command and control practices.
UN Nuclear Watchdog Lays Out Plan for Protection Zone Around Zaporizhzhia Plant
Louise Guillot | POLITICO
The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog on Monday laid out plans for establishing a security protection zone around Europe's largest nuclear power plant in the south of Ukraine. The idea is to "keep things simple," said Rafael Mariano Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "What we need here, really, is to have Ukraine and Russia not attacking or not shelling at the plant." The establishment of a security zone would be "a commitment that no military action will include or will imply aiming at the plant or at a radius affecting its normal operation." The IAEA would ensure that the security perimeter is respected, Grossi added: "We have our monitors, inspectors there that can inform whether this is being observed or not."
The Last Reactor at Zaporizhzhia, Europe's Largest Nuclear Power Plant, has Stopped
Elissa Nadworny | NPR
The nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, controlled by Russia and at the center of much international concern, has announced they are powering down the final working reactor. In a message Sunday morning, the nuclear operator Energoatom said that power lines had been restored to the Zaporizhzhia plant but that they were powering down Reactor No. 6, preparing it to be cooled and transferred to a safer state.
U.S., European Officials See Fading Prospects of Iran Nuclear-Deal Revival Soon
Laurence Norman | The Wall Street Journal
Uranium prices have surged to their highest level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent convulsions through commodities markets, as the European energy crisis fuels bullish bets on the future of nuclear power. The material known as “yellowcake” has jumped 7 per cent since mid-August to breach $50 a pound, a price last seen when many commodities were propelled higher by supply fears in the spring. Many market participants expect uranium to rise even further, with Bank of America predicting it will hit $70 a pound next year.
A Proud Nuclear Town Grapples With How to Remember the Bomb
Mike Baker | The New York Times
In the arid shrublands of southeastern Washington state, a small agricultural outpost underwent a covert transformation during World War II. Thousands of workers converged next to the Columbia River, rushing to produce the material needed for the ultimate weapon. These days, decades after a nuclear bomb destroyed Nagasaki, Japan, the engineers and scientists who enriched the radioactive material for it have a legacy. Diners at a brewpub in this company town can wash down a reactor core pizza with a Plutonium Porter. Nearby, when I visited recently, teenagers were mingling at the Atomic Bowl bowling alley. Across the way sits Richland High School, home of the bombers, where flags, walls, and the school basketball court feature a mushroom cloud.