The Unraveling of North Korea’s Proliferation Blackmail Strategy
Tristan Volpe
North Korea’s steady development of nuclear forces raises questions about why Pyongyang used its nuclear program to pursue coercive diplomacy in the past, and when the regime was in the strongest position to leverage this nuclear latency as an instrument of compellence against the United States.
S. Korea, China Warn of Strong Response to N. Korea Nuke, ICBM Tests
Yonhap News
South Korea and China agreed on Monday to take strong new measures in line with U.N. resolutions if North Korea conducts new nuclear and missile tests, a Seoul official said. The warning came after chief negotiators on the North's nuclear program from the two countries met in Seoul amid growing concerns that the North may carry out its sixth nuclear test and launch an intercontinental ballistic missile this month.
South Africa's Controversial Nuclear Power Plans
Deutsche Welle
President Jacob Zuma's recent cabinet reshuffle didn't just send the markets into a tailspin. It also removed key political figures from government who are opposed to proposals to build more nuclear reactors. The initial shock waves triggered by President Jacob Zuma's radical cabinet overhaul may have subsided, but South Africa has since been gripped by fresh controversy over plans for expanding its nuclear power program.
Revised Law Enables Surprise Inspection of Nuclear Plants
Japan Today
The Diet passed on Friday a sweeping reform of nuclear inspections to allow regulators to conduct unannounced inspections of nuclear plants and give them unlimited access to needed data. The enactment of the revised nuclear reactor regulation law comes after the International Atomic Energy Agency suggested Japan, which has been holding periodic inspections using checklists, needs a more flexible system.
France to Close Its Oldest Nuclear Plant by April 2020
Bate Felix | Reuters
France's oldest nuclear power reactor will stop electricity production by April 2020, once a new generation EPR reactor in Flamanville is operational, according to a government decree issued on Sunday. The closure of Fessenheim, in northeastern France, was a 2012 electoral promise by French President Francois Hollande, who promised to curb French dependency on nuclear power and develop other renewable energy sources.
Raytheon to Upgrade U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense Radars
Ryan Maass | UPI
Raytheon received a $10 million contract from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency to upgrade components for the AN/TPY-2 ballistic missile radar. The company's work will focus on enhancing software and hardware to bolster the radar's detection capabilities, including its gallium nitride semiconductor technology, or GaN. Raytheon says its work will help the system discriminate between threats and non-threats more easily.