Why Beijing Stands by Pyongyang Lora Saalman | Wall Street Journal
On the heels of North Korea's third nuclear test, speculation aboun ds that China has reached a new height of embarrassment and frustration over its neighbor's intransigence. The thinking goes that Beijing's new leadership will undertake a more active role on the North Korean nuclear issue. However, this view underestimates Beijing's strong preference for multilateral negotiations and for the kind of stability its leaders see as necessary for economic growth. It also misses the depth of Beijing's aversion to the use of force or sanctions. Full Article
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Rachel Oswald | Global Security Newswire
James Acton of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace concluded the North's third nuclear test took place in the same tunnel at Punggye-ri and at nearly the same depth as the 2009 blast. From this, he calculated the most recent detonation had an explosive power 2.5 times larger than the prior trial. Acton and other scientists emphasize that estimations at this point are preliminary. Full Article
Lee Eun-joo | Korea JoongAng Daily
Some lawmakers of the ruling Saenuri Party yesterday intensified their hardline stance on North Korea, calling on Seoul to establish its own nuclear deterrence capability to cope with the growing threat from Pyongyang. Full Article
Diane Barnes | Global Security Newswire
The United States is overhauling oversight of security at atomic arms facilities in light of last year's infiltration of a Tennessee site housing much of the nation's nuclear-bomb fuel, a top U.S. official said on Wednesday. Full Article
National Public Radio
Tehran has started installing high-tech machines at its main uranium enrichment site that are capable of accelerating production of reactor fuel and — with further upgrading — the core of nuclear warheads, diplomats said Wednesday.Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency saw close to 100 or more machines mounted when they toured the site a few days ago. Depending on experts' estimates, the new-generation centrifuges can enrich uranium three to five times faster than Iran's present working model. Full Article
Terry Macalister and Richard Cookson | Guardian
RWE npower, one of the big six power suppliers, has warned ministers not to seal a long-term subsidy deal with the nuclear industry behind the backs of consumers and saddle them with "unnecessarily high bills" for the next 40 years. Full Article
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