South Korea Plans Energy U-Turn Away From Nuclear Power
Jane Chung | Reuters
A proposed energy U-turn by South Korea's new government would put the environment at the center of energy policy, shifting one of the world's staunchest supporters of coal and nuclear power toward natural gas and renewables. If implemented, the ambitious plans by the world's fourth biggest coal importer and No.2 liquefied natural gas (LNG) buyer will have a big impact on producers. South Korea's LNG imports could jump by more than 50 percent by 2030, while coal shipments could peak as early as next year.
Trump, Who Pledged to Overhaul Nuclear Arsenal, Now Faces Increased Costs
James Glanz and David E. Sanger | New York Times
When President Barack Obama’s term ended in January, he left a momentous decision to the Trump administration: whether to continue a 30-year, $1 trillion program to remake America’s atomic weapons, as well as its bombers, submarines and land-based missiles. Mr. Trump has pledged to overhaul the arsenal, which he has called obsolete. But his challenge is growing: The first official government estimate of the project, prepared by the Congressional Budget Office and due to be published in the coming weeks, will put the cost at more than $1.2 trillion — 20 percent more than the figure envisioned by the Obama administration.
Navy's D5 Missile, Most Powerful U.S. Weapon, To Provide Backbone Of Nuclear Deterrent Through 2040
Loren Thompson | Forbes
The U.S. Navy announced on May 26 that it was awarding Lockheed Martin a $43.9 million contract for work supporting production and sustainment of the Trident II D5 missile. It was a relatively modest award as these things go, so the announcement went largely unnoticed outside the defense community.
The Hypersonic Threat That Keeps U.S. Commanders Up at Night
Jamie McIntyre | Washington Examiner
But since Russia already has an arsenal of nuclear-tipped ICBMs sufficient to obliterate the U.S., hypersonic gliders don't actually tip the "balance of terror," experts say. "I would argue in the case of Russia, very long-range nuclear-armed gliders would actually just reinforce the status quo, would not create a new threat," said James Acton, senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "As scary as that sounds, Russia already has the ability to annihilate the United States with nuclear weapons, and there is nothing we can do about that."
THAAD Deployment Faces Delay Due to New Environment Assessment
Yonhap News
South Korea's defense ministry began preparations for a full-blown environmental impact assessment on the ongoing deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system Tuesday, a ministry official said, a move that will inevitably delay its operation. The move came one day after President Moon Jae-in personally ordered a thorough study on the environmental impact of the advanced missile shield, which, when fully deployed, will consist of at least six rocket launchers with 48 rockets designed to intercept aerial threats flying over the peninsula.
Don't Count on Germany to Save the West
Stanley R. Sloan | War on the Rocks
One of the early German reactions to Donald Trump’s assaults on the NATO allies was speculation about Germany becoming a nuclear weapons state. Suggestions that Germany should “think the previously unthinkable,” raised by a prominent German newspaper and a conservative member of the German parliament, were met with cautionary responses and alternative proposals. One proposal envisioned creating a European deterrent on French and British nuclear capabilities, with Germany funding the operation. Chances are neither an autonomous German nuclear force nor a European deterrent force are on the table. They are simply too potentially destabilizing in the former case (as well as a breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) and most likely, in the latter, a bridge too far beyond sovereign control of nuclear weapons for France and the United Kingdom.