Tactical Nuclear Weapons Won’t Fix South Korea’s Security Concerns
Toby Dalton | Korea Pro
North Korea’s spate of missile tests since the start of the year and the increasing likelihood that Pyongyang will conduct a seventh nuclear test have given added impetus to South Korea’s nuclear debate. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and associated nuclear threats against the U.S. have also compounded concerns among South Korean policymakers about the country’s vulnerability to nuclear coercion by Kim Jong Un.
U.N. Says Iran Has Enough Uranium to Produce Nuclear Weapon
Laurence Norman | Wall Street Journal
The United Nations atomic agency said Monday that Iran hasn’t offered credible answers to its probe into nuclear material found in the country and reported that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium has grown to roughly enough material for a nuclear bomb. The two reports, circulated to agency member states and seen by The Wall Street Journal, will sharpen concerns about Iran’s nuclear work at the same time negotiations on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal have stalled. That agreement placed tight but temporary restrictions on Iran’s nuclear work in exchange for lifting most international sanctions.
China and the U.S. Are Arranging an In-Person Meeting Between Heads of Defense
Keith Zhai and Alastair Gale | Wall Street Journal
China and the U.S. are working to finalize what would be the first face-to-face meeting between their current top defense officials on the sidelines of a conference in Singapore in June amid rising tensions over Taiwan, according to people familiar with the situation. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said he will travel to the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual defense conference to be held this year June 10-12. The attendance of Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe hasn’t been announced, but he intends to participate in person, according to the people. Defense ministers and other officials typically meet in private before and during the conference. A meeting between Mr. Austin and Gen. Wei would take on extra significance because of increased tension between the U.S. and China over Taiwan.
Mini Nuclear Reactors Have an Outsized Waste Problem
Will Mathis and Jonathan Tirone | Bloomberg
A new generation of smaller atomic reactors, designed to tout nuclear power’s role as a clean-energy alternative, may also come with an outsized waste problem that could send costs surging. Small-modular reactors, known as SMRs, could produce as much as two to 30-times more waste than conventional atomic power plants in operation today, according to scientists including Allison Macfarlane, the former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in research published Monday by the U.S. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Abe Shinzo in His Own Words
The Economist
Abe Shinzo served longer as prime minister than anyone in Japan’s history, holding the office from 2012-2020. He stepped down because of a chronic illness, but quickly returned to his Diet seat. He remains a formidable presence in Japanese politics. He commands the largest faction in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (ldp). Many of his policy ideas have endured beyond his tenure. And in his current capacity, he has been vocal about the need for an even more assertive security policy, using his bully pulpit to broach once-taboo topics, such as the possibility of Japan hosting American nuclear weapons or Japan’s role in a potential crisis around Taiwan.
US Military Wants to Demonstrate New Nuclear Power Systems in Space by 2027
Elizabeth Howell | Space News
Add the Defense Innovation Unit to a growing list of U.S. government organizations furthering their work in nuclear power in space. The organization, which seeks to get the military ready to use emergent commercial products, announced two prototype contracts on May 17 “to demonstrate the next generation of nuclear propulsion and power capability for spacecraft.” The ultimate aim is an orbital flight demonstration in 2027, DIU officials said in a statement. The contracts went to two companies, Ultra Safe Nuclear and Avalanche Energy, to demonstrate nuclear propulsion and power capabilities for small spacecraft that would operate in cislunar (Earth-moon) space. (The values of the contracts were not disclosed in the release.)