The Nuclear Suppliers Group’s Critical India Decision
Mark Hibbs | Diplomat
Beginning on Monday, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, or NSG – 48 countries that export most of the world’s nuclear material, equipment, and technology – will meet in Seoul to decide whether India should now be allowed to join. The United States has strongly urged the NSG to say yes. The NSG should not say yes next week. It should tell India that there are good reasons to include it, but also that the group needs to complete an internal fact-finding and consensus-forming process in part to prepare the NSG for the consequences of possible Indian membership.
Japan Military on Alert for Possible North Korean Ballistic Missile Launch
Reuters
Japan's military was on alert for a possible North Korean ballistic missile launch, a government source said on Tuesday, with media reporting its navy and anti-missile Patriot batteries have been told to shoot down any projectile heading for Japan. North Korea appeared to have moved an intermediate-range missile to its east coast, but there were no signs of an imminent launch, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported, citing an unnamed government source. A South Korean defense ministry official said it could not confirm the Yonhap report and said the military was watching the North's missile activities closely.
Uranium Provides New Clue on Iran’s Past Nuclear Arms Work
Jay Solomon | Wall Street Journal
The Obama administration has concluded that uranium particles discovered last year at a secretive Iranian military base likely were tied to the country’s past, covert nuclear weapons program, current and former officials said, a finding that contradicts Tehran’s longstanding denials that it was pursuing a bomb. Traces of man made uranium were found at the Parchin facility, southeast of Tehran, by investigators from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, as part of an investigation tied to the landmark nuclear deal reached last July between Iran and global powers.
Israel Backs Nuclear Test Ban Treaty - With No Timeframe for Ratification
Deutsche Welle
The test ban treaty was signed by 183 nations in 1996 but is still awaiting ratification from eight countries. As a bulwark against Iran Netanyahu is reportedly seeking closer ties with moderate Sunni Arabs. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he supports the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) but is not ready to ratify it. The UN adopted the pact almost 20 years ago but it has yet to take effect as several key players have not ratified it. The CTBT, which bans all nuclear explosions, was passed by UN General Assembly in September 1996.
NRA Gives Two-Decade Extension to 40-Year-Old Takahama Reactors;
Residents’ Reactions Mixed
Japan Times
The Nuclear Regulation Authority on Monday approved an additional 20 years of operation for two aging reactors on the Sea of Japan coast that will become the first such units to be rebooted under new rules introduced after the Fukushima disaster. The atomic regulator green-lighted Kansai Electric Power Co.’s plan to restart its No. 1 and No. 2 reactors—both more than 40 years old—at the Takahama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture.
Sweden Decides It’s Not So Easy to Give Up Nuclear Power
Brad Plummer | Vox
Nuclear power has been falling out of favor in Europe ever since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Italy has closed all its reactors. Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland are in the midst of retiring their fleets. Even France, which gets 77 percent of its electricity from nuclear, has been discussing a partial phaseout. Yet for a continent that prides itself on being a leader on global warming, shutting down a major source of reliable, carbon-free electricity isn’t always easy. And Sweden is a great case study here.