nuclear, missile 11 no 23 dec 15... · 2019. 12. 21. · 1 nuclear, missile nuclear, missile &...

Nuclear, Missile & Space Digest1 Nuclear, Missile&

Space Digest

Indian Pugwash Society

No.1, Development Enclave,Rao Tula Ram Marg, Near USI , Delhi-110010

Email: [email protected]

Tel. No (91-11) 2671-7983 Fax No. (91-11)2615-4192

Volume 11, Number 23 A Fortnightly Newsletter from the Indian Pugwash Society December 15, 2019

ConvenorAmb. Sujan R. Chinoy

Executive CouncilCdr. (Dr.) Probal K. Ghosh

Air Marshal S. G. Inamdar(Retd.)

Dr. Roshan Khanijo

Amb. R. Rajagopalan

Dr. Rajesh Rajagopalan

Shri Dinesh KumarYadvendra

ContentsA. India

India: Parliament in session, ministry's answers to question session Launch of Chandrayaan-II Progress of IRNSS Satellites to Assess Pollution Status Cyber attack on KKNPP Preparations for Chandrayaan-3 Mission Commercial Exploitation of Space Research and Development Nuclear Power Plants for Electricity Generation Functioning of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant India's Nuclear Energy Target Cyber Security Audit Kknpp Proposal of ISRO to transfer space-grade Li-Ion cell technology to BHEL Setting Up of Rocket Launching Pad in Tamil Nadu Contract to Supply Uranium Ore Concentrates CHANDRAYAAN-III PSLV-C47 successfully launches Cartosat-3 and 13 Commercial

nanosatellites into Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit Dr Jitendra Singh calls for wider applications of nuclear technology in

everyday life India conducts first night trial of Agni-II missile Nuclear-capable Prithvi-II Missile successfully testfired off Odisha coast Tamil Nadu, Karnataka to soon have 440-MW of Nuclear power plants Make in India: Plans to build light water reactors in atomic power plants

B. China Mars mission test opened to foreigners Will hypersonic DF-17 missile transform Beijing's Taiwan strategy? China Ripped Off the M16A1 Rifle. The Only Question We Have Is Why? China plans to complete space station construction around 2022: expert China sends two global multimedia satellites into planned orbit

mailto:[email protected]

Volume 11, Number 23 December 15, 20192

China's homemade carrier sails through Taiwan Straits, commissioning imminent China to build space station accommodating 3 astronauts China says aircraft carrier on way to S.China Sea after Taiwan passage Successful satellite tests to allow 'Hongyun speed' by 2020 Pentagon fears new airborne ship killer missile Taikonaut, scientists mull space and future humanity Nato set to keep close eye on China's growing military might China's new commercial rocket to debut in 2020 Wuhan industry park aims to manufacture 120 satellites a year China's Chang'e-4 probe resumes work for 12th lunar day China's latest robots move so smoothly scientists dubbed them 'zero gravity' China's "artificial sun" device set to be commissioned in 2020 Chang'e 4 lunar mission team awarded gold medal Odd galaxies found that contradict theories of formation China tests killer drones for street-to-street urban warfare, plans sales overseas Chinese navy set to build fourth aircraft carrier, but plans for a more advanced ship

are put on hold Chinese Military Sets Up Think Tank to Guide Reform, Could Feature Top Weapon

Makers: Analysts Chinese warship showcases vertical launch missile system Biggest stellar-mass black hole discovered China's first electromagnetic satellite bears fruitful results DF-17 may not sole hypersonic missile program: media

C. Pakistan Shaheen-I ballistic missile training launch successful 'Pak's nuke threat is to avoid bashing in war' IOR stands as a potential nuclear flashpoint Federal govt launches programme for business community

D. USA Conference: Advancing the rebirth of nuclear power U.S. to no longer waive sanctions on Iranian nuclear site Framatome implements cavitation peening at Millstone U.S. aircraft carrier strike group sails through Strait of Hormuz EDF plans to sell stake in US joint venture OECD/NEA highlights challenges facing isotope supply chain MOX Services gets settlement deal for shuttered facility at Savannah River US legislature considers waste management reforms EDF Will Bail on Three Nuclear Plants, Exelon Holds the Bag Partnership to produce medical isotope from legacy waste Bulgaria and USA to explore nuclear energy cooperation U.S. assures banks on dollar dealings with China's COSCO hit by Iran sanctions Frazer-Nash to support IMSR graphite moderator fabrication

Nuclear, Missile & Space Digest3

E. Europe France regrets U.S. decision on Fordow, rebukes Iran Hungary aims to reach NATO defense spending goal in 2023 Exclusive: Hungary makes EU bid to soften nuclear licensing rules to ease Paks expansion France warns Iran over nuclear deal dispute mechanism France's Macron denies accepting Putin's missile proposal Nuclear Deal Requires More European Efforts to Survive European countries join INSTEX exchange to preserve Iran nuclear deal Germany is closing all its nuclear power plants. Now it must find a place to bury the

deadly waste for 1 million years EU Committed to Finding Diplomatic Resolution to Nuclear Dispute

F. Russia Russia ponders a floating nuclear plant for India Moscow condemns US plans to end sanctions waiver over Iran's Fordow nuclear site Russia condemns U.S. decision to end sanctions waiver on Iran's Fordow Putin Says 'Unparalleled' Weapons Tested at Deadly Nuclear Accident Site Rosatom Plans Multi-Billion-Dollar Expansion into Ocean Freight Russian Watchdog Detects 'Radiation Incident' in South China Sea Russia's Avangard hypersonic missile system to go on combat alert in December - top

brass Russia Shows Off Hypersonic Nuclear Missile to U.S. Inspectors Russia says it showed hypersonic nuclear missile system to U.S. inspectors Russia urges U.S. to extend nuclear pact due to expire in 2021 Kingdom in talks with Russia for nuclear science EBRD announces breakthrough in clean-up of Andreeva Bay Russian strategic nuclear forces test-launch Topol ICBM Moscow May Stop Using Nukes as Deterrent Force, Commander of Russian Strategic

Missile Forces Says Russia tests hypersonic missile in Arctic - TASS cites sources

West Asia

G. Israel 'Ex-security chief: Israel needs to attack Iran to stop nukes, 'ring of fire'

H. Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia: Iran misusing nuclear revenue to trigger unrest in region Saudi Arabia decries Iran's nuclear breaches

I. Iran Reinvigorating Iran's defense power best way to counter sanctions: minister 'Exiting JCPOA would punish Washington' 'Book recounting Leader's criticism of JCPOA published 'Iran urges intl. community to make U.S., Israel to agree to nuclear free zone Middle

East


Rouhani: JCPOA collapse will harm the entire world Russia to continue cooperation with Iran on Fordow reconfiguration Russia says U.S. remains isolated at IAEA meeting on Iran Europe should pay price to salvage JCPOA: envoy Iran still faithful to all its JCPOA obligations, envoy tells IAEA Iran voices serious concern over UAE nuclear safety Sanctions on Fordow is a blow to nuclear deal: Russian CENESS director Iran, IAEA sign new projects for technical cooperation JCPOA joint commission to convene on December 6 Iran dismisses French comments about nuclear deal's dispute mechanism Iran : Invoking nuclear deal's dispute resolution mechanism impossible - TV Six European countries to join INSTEX New IAEA chief says he wants 'constructive' relation with Iran France welcomes six European countries' decision to join INSTEX Diplomat hopes INSTEX would be implemented as six more countries join in Salehi: Iran views IAEA inspector's act as 'industrial sabotage'

East Asia

J. North Korea North Korea says nuclear issues will not be on agenda unless U.S. 'hostile policy'

discussed: KCNA North Korea says will not offer anything to Trump without receiving in return: KCNA KAPPC chief warns US against anti-DPRK hostility North Korea says it's gained nothing from US but `betrayal' N. Korea, Russia discuss 'strategic communications, cooperation North Korea appears to have launched a missile, Japan's coastguard says North Korea test fires rockets in Thanksgiving reminder of year-end deadline for

U.S. N. Korea hails 'successful test of super-large multiple rocket launcher' North Korea threatens Japan with 'real ballistic missile'

K. South Korea S. Korea, US hold annual defense ministers' talks 'Third US-North Korea summit to surely produce results': Moon Ruling, main opposition parties welcome gov't's decision to postpone GSOMIA

termination South Korea decides to renew GSOMIA Ambassador hopes GSOMIA decision helps strengthen S. Korea-US ties NK's latest weapons test intended to warn it can return to past behavior: Seoul Top nuclear envoys of S. Korea, US, Japan hold phone talks on NK firing

L. Japan Pope Francis to take anti-nuclear mission to Japan's ground zeros China warns Japan, S. Korea over deployment of U.S. missiles Pope calls use of nuclear weapons immoral in video post to Japan


Rich in dramatic Catholic history, Nagasaki awaits the pope Pope in Hiroshima: Use and possession of atom bomb 'immoral' Pope urges abolition of nuclear weapons at Japan's ground zeros In Japan, Pope Francis urges rethink of reliance on nuclear energy Pope urges world leaders to renounce nuclear weapons Pope Francis leaves Japan after trip centred on anti-nuclear message Tohoku reactor close to 2011 quake epicenter OK'd to restart

M. Op-EdIndia Are India and China Drifting into War? U.S.-India Defense Ties Grow Closer as Shared Concerns in Asia Loom Emerging nuclear crises that the world must brace forPakistan Structural Prejudice, Nuclear Technology and World Peace Conventional balance of power between India and Pakistan Rising irrationality in India's nuclear thinkingUSA America's Iranian headache California's San Onofre nuclear plant is a Chernobyl waiting to happen How to advance nuclear energy in the US Nuclear is a necessary part of our clean-energy future Trump official who suggested dropping nuclear bombs on Afghanistan now

responsible for arms control issuesRussia Back in 2017, Russian Nuclear Submarines Fired Torpedoes at Each Other Why Did Russia Launch 8 Submarines All at Once? World War III? In 1956, Russia Almost Fought Britain, France, and Israel With Nuclear

Weapons NATO Nukes Can't Save the Baltic States From a Russian Invasion Nuclear reactors with a newly proposed barrier could've withstood Chernobyl and

Fukushima Meet the Terrifying Russian 'Stealth' Submarine That Scares the U.S. Navy Russia set to dominate the Arctic unless Canada acts quickly to address shipping

concerns Russia, China, Arms Control, and the Value of New STARTWest AsiaIran U.N. nuclear watchdog presses Iran for answers on uranium traces US cancels civil nuclear cooperation waiver for Iran Inside Iran's plot to attack Saudi Arabia - analysis The missile and nuclear threat from IranEast AsiaNorth Korea N. Korea's ultimatum Troops for Nukes: Should the US Trade Its Forces in South Korea for North Korean

Denuclearization?


Time Is Running Out for Trump's North Korean Diplomacy, Analysts Say North Korea Test Fires Rockets Ahead Of Nuclear Talks Deadline An Unexpected Way to Change North Korea's Nuclear AmbitionsSouth Korea Suggesting plebiscite on energy denuclearizationJapan In Japan, Pope Francis denounces nuclear weapons and questions nuclear power Revisiting Japan's nuclear arms debate

N. Miscellaneous Should the Government Subsidize Nuclear Power? Advocates Square Off Is Nuclear Power a Solution for Climate Change? Nuclear Power Does Slow Climate Change Cyber Battles, Nuclear Outcomes? Dangerous New Pathways to Escalation

O. Think Tanks Ditch the Bomb, not the NPT In Japan, Pope Francis denounces nuclear weapons and questions nuclear power What happened after an explosion at a Russian disease research lab called VECTOR?

P. Original Reports and Documents India's Thorium (Nuclear Fuel) Market Outlook to 2023 - India is Set to Become a Global Manufacturing Hub, Increasing the Demand for Nuclear Power in the Future Update to OFAC's list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) and Blocked Persons Issuance of New and Amended Iran-related Frequently Asked Questions


A. India

India: Parliament in session,ministry’s answers to questionsession

Launch of Chandrayaan-II

PIB Delhi, November 20, 2019

The approved cost of Chandrayaan-IIProject is Rs. 603 Crore (excluding launchcost). Chandrayaan-II was launched on-board the GSLV MK III M1. The cost ofGSLV MK III M1 vehicle is Rs. 367 Crore. Chandrayaan-II Spacecraft was successfullylaunched. The objectives of Chandrayaan-II Mission were: 1. Scientific studies throughpayloads on-board the orbiter, 2. Technologydemonstration of soft landing and roving onthe lunar surface. The indigenouslydeveloped Chandrayaan-2 spacecraftcomprising of Orbiter, Lander and Roverwas successfully launched on-boardindigenous GSLV MK III-M1 Mission on22nd July 2019. After accomplishing fourearth bound maneuvers and Trans LunarInjection, the spacecraft was successfullyinserted into the Lunar orbit on 20th August2019. A series of moon bound maneuverswere then carried out to achieve a Lunarorbit of 119x127 km. The Lander ‘Vikram’was separated, as planned, from the Orbiteron 2nd September 2019. After twosuccessful de-orbiting maneuvers, powereddescent of the Lander was initiated on 7thSeptember 2019 to achieve soft landing onthe moon surface.

Most of the components of Technologydemonstration, including the launch, orbitalcritical maneuvers, lander separation, de-boost and rough braking phase weresuccessfully accomplished. With regards tothe scientific objectives, all the 8 state of theart scientific instruments of the Orbiter areperforming as per the design and providingvaluable scientific data. Due to the preciselaunch and orbital maneuvers, the missionlife of the Orbiter is increased to 7 years. Thedata received from the Orbiter is beingprovided continuously to the scientific

community. The same was recentlyreviewed in an all India user meetorganized at New Delhi.

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1592495

Progress of IRNSSPIB Delhi, November 20, 2019

India’s indigenous navigation satellitesystem termed as Navigation with IndianConstellation (NavIC) is alreadyestablished by ISRO and is functional sinceApril 2018.NavIC consists of SpaceSegment (constellation of seven IRNSSsatellites) and Ground Segment (spreadacross India).The system is providingPositioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT)service and one satellite (IRNSS-1A) isproviding messaging service.

Use of AIS-140 compliant NavIC-basedvehicle trackers system has been madecompulsory to all commercial vehicles.More than 75 companies are nowmanufacturing NavIC based vehicletrackers, and several thousand vehicles arenow plying on the roads equipped withthese devices. The updated version of newmobile models will be having NavIC basedpositioning systems. NavIC has beenaccepted by 3GPP (Third GenerationProject Partnership) thereby enablingincorporation of NavIC as part of assistedGNSS. NavIC is also useful for applicationslike timing solution, drones, surveying,weather radiosondes, forestry, precisionagriculture, etc.


Satellites to Assess PollutionStatusPIB Delhi, November 20, 2019

The Imager payload on-board ISRO’sINSAT-3D & 3DR satellites is used tomonitor Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD),which is indicator of particles and smokefrom biomass burning affecting visibility

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and increase of PM2.5 and PM10concentration in the atmosphere. It is foundthat AOD, PM2.5 and PM10 concentrationsare higher over Indo-Gangetic Plain coveringparts of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Biharduring October and November. Highconcentration of these pollutants is seenoriginating from parts of Punjab andHaryana during stubble burning.

INSAT 3D & 3DR Imager based AOD,PM2.5 and PM10 spatial maps are madeavailable on web portalsviz. airquality.iirs.gov.in and www.mosdac.gov.inalongwith other ancillary parameters forvisualization. Using medium resolutionIndian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite data,stubble burned area maps are generated atthe end of stubble burning activity in Kharifseason. ISRO has been carrying outmonitoring of stubble burning since 2015.The products generated are comparable tothe NASA products.


Cyber attack on KKNPP


A malware infection was identified inNPCIL KKNPP Internet connected system.There was an identification of a malwareinfection on KKNPP administrative networkused for day to day administrative activities. The affected system contains data related toadministrative function. Plant control andinstrumentation system is not connected toany external network such as Intranet,Internet and administrative system. Themalware infection was not able to get accessto the controls of the Nuclear Power Plant.Investigations have been carried out by theComputer & Information Security AdvisoryGroup (CISAG) – DAE along with thenational agency, Indian ComputerEmergency Response Team (CERT-In). Theinvestigation concluded that the malwareinfection was limited to the administrativenetwork of KKNPP.


Preparations for Chandrayaan-3MissionPIB Delhi, November 20, 2019

ISRO has drawn out a roadmap of lunarexploration missions to master thetechnologies required. This roadmap hasbeen presented to the space commission.Based on the final analysis andrecommendations of the expert committee,work on future lunar missions isprogressing.

The expert committee has analyzed theflight data and extensive simulations werecarried out to re-construct the flightbehavior. The recommendations of theexpert committee will be implemented infuture lunar missions.


Commercial Exploitation of SpaceResearch and DevelopmentPIB Delhi, November 21, 2019

A new company by name, “New SpaceIndia Limited (NSIL)”, has beenincorporated on 06th March 2019, as awholly owned Government of IndiaUndertaking / Central Public SectorEnterprise (CPSE), under theadministrative control of Department ofSpace (DOS) to commercially exploit theresearch and development work of IndianSpace Research Organisation (ISRO).

Mandate of NSIL includes viz. (i) SmallSatellite technology transfer to industrywherein NSIL will obtain license fromDOS/ISRO and sub-license it to industries;(ii) Manufacture of Small Satellite LaunchVehicle (SSLV) in collaboration withPrivate Sector; (iii) Productionisation ofPolar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)through Indian Industry; (iv)Productionisation and marketing of Spacebased services, including launch andapplication; (v) Transfer of technologydeveloped by ISRO Centres andconstituent institutions of DOS; and (vi)

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Marketing of spin-off technologies andproducts, both in India and abroad and (vii)any other subject which Government ofIndia deems fit.

All the involved technologies related toISRO’s small satellite and its sub-systemsthat could be transferred to Indian industriesfor productionisation which eventuallywould cater to national demand as well ascommercial needs of domestic and globalmarket. This activity is also likely to give riseto several spin-off technologies that couldbe marketed nationally and globally.

Through the sale of products related to smallsatellite, sub-system technology and the spinoff products in domestic and global market,foreign exchange revenue will be generated.


Nuclear Power Plants for ElectricityGenerationPIB Delhi, November 21, 2019

The present installed nuclear power capacityin the country comprises of 22 reactors witha total capacity of 6780 MW. Of these onereactor, RAPS-1 (100 MW) is underextended shutdown for techno-economicassessment. The nuclear power plantscontribute about 3% of the total electricitygenerated in the country. The electricalenergy requirement of the country for year2018-19 is 1274595 MUs whereas projectedenergy requirement for year 2021-22 is1566023 MUs. The percentage increase inenergy requirement for the country till 2021-2022 w.r.t. energy requirement of 2018-19is 22.86%


Functioning of KudankulamNuclear Power PlantPIB Delhi, November 27, 2019

The second unit of Kudankulam NuclearPower Plant (KKNPP) -2 is operating atabout 65% power. KKNPP-2 is presently

being operated at about 65% power asincreased vibration in generator stator isobserved at higher power levels. Thegenerator stator is planned to be replacedduring the next refueling outage plannedfrom December 2019, following which theunit is expected to be operated at fullpower.


India’s Nuclear Energy TargetPIB Delhi, November 27, 2019

Seven (07) reactor units with a capacityof 5300 MW are under construction andexcavation is in progress for start ofconstruction of four (04) more units havinga capacity of 3400 MW. The Governmenthas accorded administrative approval andfinancial sanction of ten (10) more reactorunits of 700 MW each. Additionally, theGovernment has accorded ‘in-principle’approval to five (05) sites of which four(04) sites are earmarked for housing sixlarge size reactor units at each site incooperation with foreign technologypartners and one site for housing fourreactor units based on indigenoustechnology.

The Government has taken severalmeasures for augmenting nuclear powercapacity. These include:

i. Accord of administrative approvaland financial sanction of - ten (10)indigenous 700 MW PressurizedHeavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) to beset up in fleet mode & two (02) unitsof Light Water Reactors (LWRs) to beset up in cooperation with RussianFederation.

ii. Creation of Indian Nuclear InsurancePool (INIP) in the context of CivilLiability for Nuclear Damage (CLND)Act 2010.

iii. Amendment of the Atomic EnergyAct to enable Joint Ventures of PublicSector Companies to set up nuclearpower projects.

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iv. Entering into enabling agreements withforeign countries for nuclear powercooperation.


Cyber Security Audit Kknpp


Complete check of the administrativenetwork of Kudankulam Nuclear PowerPlant (KKNPP) was done by IndianComputer Emergency Response Team(CERT-In) along with Computer &Information Security Advisory Group(CISAG) of Department of Atomic Energy(DAE).Certain measures for immediate andshort term implementation has beenrecommended. Several measures have beentaken for further strengthening ofInformation Security in administrativenetworks viz. hardening of internet andadministrative intranet connectivity,restriction on removable media, blocking ofwebsites & IPs which have been identifiedwith malicious activity etc.


Proposal of ISRO to transfer space-grade Li-Ion cell technology toBHELPIB Delhi, November 28, 2019

ISRO has transferred its indigenoustechnology to produce space-grade Li-Ioncells to BHEL.

In March 2018, BHEL signed the TechnologyTransfer Agreement with ISRO for acquiringthe Li-Ion Cell production technology. Thisproduction facility is primarily targeting tomeet Li-Ion Cell requirements for ISRO andother strategic sectors. However, BHEL canalso produce and sell Li-Ion cells for meetingother national/commercial applications bysuitably modifying the space-grade cellwhich can lead to cost reduction.

BHEL is in the process of establishing theLi-Ion production facility near Bangalore inKarnataka. Various equipments (both

indigenous and imported) for establishingthis facility are procured and beingcommissioned. ISRO has already providedall technical documentation forestablishing the production plant as wellas hands-on training in various productionactivities for BHEL staff at ISRO’s facilities.

As per the Technology TransferAgreement, space-grade Li-Ion cellsmanufactured by BHEL are meant formeeting the national requirements only. However, BHEL can also sell the space-grade Li-Ion cells to parties outside Indiaafter obtaining prior written consent fromISRO.


Setting Up of Rocket LaunchingPad in Tamil NaduPIB Delhi, November 28, 2019

Government has proposal to set up rocketlaunching pad near Kulasekarapattinamin the State of Tamil Nadu.


Contract to Supply Uranium OreConcentratesPIB Delhi, November 28, 2019

India has signed a long term contract withUzbekistan on 18.01.2019 for supply of1100 MTU of natural uranium oreconcentrates during the years 2022 to2026. India has entered into similaragreements with overseas suppliers fromvarious countries like Canada,Kazakhstan and France for the supply ofUranium Ore.


CHANDRAYAAN-IIIPIB Delhi, November 27, 2019

ISRO has drawn out a roadmap of lunarexploration missions to master thetechnologies required. This roadmap has

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been presented to the space commission.Based on the final analysis andrecommendations of the expert committee,works on future lunar missions areprogressing.


PSLV-C47 successfully launchesCartosat-3 and 13 Commercialnanosatellites into Sun SynchronousPolar OrbitPIB Delhi, November 27, 2019

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in itsforty ninth flight (PSLV-C47), successfullylaunched Cartosat-3 along with 13Nanosatellites of USA from Satish DhawanSpace Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikotatoday. PSLV-C47 lifted-off at 0928 Hrs (IST)from the Second Launch Pad. After 17minutes and 38 seconds, Cartosat-3 wassuccessfully injected into a sun synchronousorbit of 509 km. Subsequently, the 13nanosatellites were injected into theirintended orbits. After separation, solararrays of Cartosat-3 were deployedautomatically and the ISRO TelemetryTracking and Command Network atBengaluru assumed control of the satellite.In the coming days, the satellite will bebrought to its final operationalconfiguration.

“Cartosat-3 is the most complex andadvanced earth observation satellite built byISRO.” Dr Sivan said. He further added thatit was a third generation agile advancedsatellite having high resolution imagingcapability.

The mission life of the Cartosat-3 is 5 years.Cartosat-3 will address the increased user’sdemands for large scale urban planning,rural resource and infrastructuredevelopment, coastal land use and landcover, etc. ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivancongratulated and complimented thelaunch vehicle and satellite teams involvedin the mission. He also acknowledged thesupport from Indian Industry. PSLV-C47was the 21st flight of PSLV in ‘XL’configuration (with 6 solid strap-on motors).

This was the 74th launch vehicle missionfrom SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota and 9thsatellite of Cartosat series. About 5000visitors witnessed the launch live from theViewer’s Gallery in Sriharikota


Dr Jitendra Singh calls for widerapplications of nuclear technologyin everyday lifePIB Delhi, November 29, 2019

The Minister of State (Independent charge)of the Ministry of DONER, Minister ofState for PMO, Personnel, PublicGrievances & Pensions; Atomic Energy &Space, DrJitendra Singh has called forwider applications of nuclear technologyin everyday life. He said the vision of thefounding father of India’s nuclearprogramme, Dr. HomiBhabhawas not tolimit the nuclear research to the confinesof the laboratory, but to take thetechnology to the outside world for thebenefit of mankind. He was addressing ata roadshow on Advances in Nuclear Foodand Agriculture, organised by the BhabhaAtomic Research Centre (BARC),Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), heretoday. The Secretary, DAE, Shri K N Vyasand other senior officers were also presenton the occasion.

DrJitendra Singh said way back in theFifties, when Dr Homi Bhabhasaid ournuclear programme is based on thepeaceful use of atomic energy, the worlddid not believe us. But today we arerunning a successful and safe nuclearenergy programme.


India conducts first night trial ofAgni-II missileIndia Today, November 16, 2019

India on Saturday successfully conductedthe first night trial of nuclear-capableintermediate range ballistic missile Agni-

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II from the Abdul Kalam Island off theOdisha coast.

The Strategic Forces Command of the IndianArmy test-fired the versatile surface-to-surface medium-range nuclear-capablemissile from launching complex IV of theIntegrated Test Range on Saturday evening,defence sources said. Developed by theDefence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO), the missile hasalready been inducted into the armed forces.

The 20-metre-long, two-stage ballistic missilehas a strike range of 2,000 km. It has alaunch weight of 17 tonnes and can carry apayload of 1,000 kg, the sources said.

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/india-conducts-first-night-trial-of-agni-ii-missile-1619704-2019-11-16

Nuclear-capable Prithvi-II Missilesuccessfully testfired off OdishacoastMohammad Suffian, India Today, November21, 2019

India on Wednesday successfully test-firedtwo rounds of its indigenously developednuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile back-to-back at night as part of a user trial by theArmy from a mobile launcher from LaunchComplex-3 of Chandipur Integrated TestRange (ITR) in Balasore district.

It is capable of carrying 500 to 1,000 kg ofwarheads and is powered by liquidpropulsion twin engines. The state-of-the-art missile uses an advanced inertialguidance system with maneuvering orbit tohit its target.

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/nuclear-capable-prithvi-ii-missile-successfully-testfired-off-odisha-coast-1621012-2019-11-21

Tamil Nadu, Karnataka to soon have440-MW of Nuclear power plantsIBT Times, November 25, 2019

A total of 440-megawatt (MW) of NuclearPower generation is expected to begin

in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka betweenNovember 27 and December 1 this year,as per Power System OperationCorporation Ltd (POSOCO). The two unitsof 220 MW each belongs to India’s nuclearpower operator Nuclear PowerCorporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). The firstnuclear power unit that is expected torestart generation is the third unit 220 MWunit at Kaiga Generating Station inKarnataka that stopped generation onNovember 5, 2019 for ‘GeneratorProtection Operated’ said POSOCO.

https://www.ibtimes.co.in/440-mw-nuclear-power-plants-tn-karnataka-soon-809301

Make in India: Plans to build lightwater reactors in atomic powerplantsC Shivakumar, The New Indian Express,November 30, 2019

Is India looking at building light waterreactors (LWRs) under ‘Make in India’programme? According to Russia’sRosatom State Atomic EnergyCorporation, India is looking atpossibilities of localisation of LWR systemsmanufacturing within the framework ofthe programme. It is learnt that during theinternational conference organised byBhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)and Nuclear Power Corporation of IndiaLimited (NPCIL), under the aegis of HomiBhabha National Institute (HBNI) inMumbai earlier this month, discussionswere held over future utilisation of LWRsin India to supplement existing plans ofconstruction of heavy water pressurisedreactors. Rosatom said participants at theevent discussed issues and possibilities oflocalisation of LWR systemsmanufacturing within the framework ofthe “Make in India” program. It saidBusiness to Business meetings were held.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2019/nov/30/make-in-india-plans-to-build-light-water-reactors-in-atomic-power-plants-2069178.html

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/india-

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/nuclear-

https://www.ibtimes.co.in/440-mw-nuclear-

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B. China

Mars mission test opened toforeignersZhao Lei, China Daily, November 15, 2019

China carried out a key experiment for itscoming Mars mission in Huailai, Hebeiprovince, on Thursday in front of dozens offoreign diplomats and journalists. Theexperiment aimed to verify the design andcapability of the lander of China’s roboticMars probe, the first of its kind in China,according to Zhang Kejian, director of theChina National Space Administration, whooversaw the test. It also was the first timeChina had opened its Mars mission, whichis expected to be launched into space nextyear, to foreign visitors, he said, adding thatit was a practical step in the nation’sexchange and cooperation with theinternational space community.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2019-11/15/content_37523079.htm

Will hypersonic DF-17 missiletransform Beijing’s Taiwanstrategy?Minnie Chan, South China Morning Post,November 16, 2019

China’s DF-17 hypersonic boost-glide missilemay be powerful enough to penetrate USmissile shields in the region, transformingBeijing’s previously defensive strategy ofcontaining independence-leaning forces inthe Taiwan Strait.

Zhou Chenming, a Beijing-based militaryexpert, said the DF-17 missile had extendedChina’s range from the Taiwan Strait to theUS military base in Yokosuka, Japan. Whilethe primary aim was to deter anindependence movement taking hold in theself-ruled island, China was now in aposition to prevent a possible interventionby the US aircraft carrier strike group,should Beijing decide to take back the islandby force.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3037972/will-hypersonic-df-17-missile-transform-beijings-taiwan

China Ripped Off the M16A1Rifle. The Only Question We HaveIs Why?Kyle Mizokami, National Interest Blog,November 16, 2019

Key Point: The gun is mysterious; why’dthe Chinese manufacture it, why was itnot given to their security services, andwhy has it been able to make its awayacross the world?

Some weapons are so ubiquitous they aremanufactured even in countries one mightnot associate them with. One example ofthis is the M16 rifle series. In service withthe U.S. Military for more than fifty years,it has fallen into the hands of many groupsthat were not originally issued them, suchas the Viet Cong, communist guerrillas inthe Philippines, and now the Islamic State.Only one of America’s potentialadversaries took the step of making theirown M16s, however: that distinctionbelongs to China with the production ofthe CQ rifle.

The Cold War saw large numbers of M16style rifles issued to America’s alliesworldwide, from the South VietnameseArmy to the Israeli Defense Forces.Lightweight and reasonably effective oncea series of embarrassing—and deadly—kinks were ironed out, the M16A1 riflewas also a visual symbol of a country’salliance with the United States, just as theAK-47/M assault rifle was a symbol ofsupport by the Soviet Union.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/china-ripped-m16a1-rifle-only-question-we-have-why-96501

China plans to complete spacestation construction around 2022:expertXinhua, November 17, 2019

China plans to complete the constructionof a space station and have it put intooperation around 2022, said ZhouJianping, the chief designer of China’smanned space program, at a forum heldin south China’s Guangdong Province.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2019-11/15/

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/china-


“The main goal of the construction of thespace station is to enable China to become acountry independently mastering thetechnology for long-term manned flight innear-Earth space, and having the capabilityto carry out long-term manned scientificexperiments in near-Earth space andcomprehensive development and utilizationof space resources,” said Zhou at the 4thChina Summit Forum on Human FactorsEngineering, which was held at Sun Yat-senUniversity from Saturday to Sunday.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-11/17/c_138562388.htm

China sends two global multimediasatellites into planned orbitXinhua, November 17, 2019

Two global multimedia satellites were sentinto planned orbit from the Jiuquan SatelliteLaunch Center in northwest China onSunday. The two global multimediasatellites, KL-a-A and KL-a-B, was launchedby Kuaizhou-1A (KZ- 1A), a carrier rocket.

The two satellites are internationalcooperative commercial projects deliveredby the Innovation Academy forMicrosatellites of the Chinese Academy ofSciences. They are mainly used for the Ka-band communication technology test, andthe user is a German company. KZ-1A is alow-cost solid-fuel carrier rocket with highreliability and a short preparation period.The rocket, developed by a company underthe China Aerospace Science and IndustryCorporation, is mainly used to launch low-orbit microsatellites. Sunday’s launch wasthe third mission for KZ-1A this year.


China’s homemade carrier sailsthrough Taiwan Straits,commissioning imminentGuo Yuandan and Liu Xuanzun, GlobalTimes, November 17, 2019

China’s first domestically built aircraftcarrier, the second in total, sailed throughthe Taiwan Straits and headed from north

to south on Saturday, media reported onSunday, with experts saying the warshipis now technically mature and could becommissioned into military service soon,as a base in Sanya, South China’s HainanProvince, could host large naval vessels.

Accompanied by an escort fleet, theaircraft carrier entered the Taiwan Straitsfrom its north on Saturday evening, Taipei-based China Times reported on Sunday,citing information released by the defenseauthority in the island of Taiwan.

China’s Ministry of National Defense orthe Chinese People’s Liberation Army(PLA) did not release any information onthe warship’s activity as of press time. Thedomestically developed carrier is believedto be on its ninth sea trial since itsdeparture from the Dalian Shipyard inNortheast China’s Liaoning Province sinceThursday, Hong Kong-basedwenweipo.com reported on Thursday.

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1170339.shtml

China to build space stationaccommodating 3 astronautsGlobal Times, November 18, 2019

China is scheduled to build and operate aspace station in 2022, which willaccommodate three astronauts, and spacewould be reserved for enlargement. Thestation will last at least 10 years and couldbe extended through in-orbit maintenance.

A total of 16 experiment racks will beinstalled to support hundreds of spaceresearch projects, the report said. “Themain goal of the station construction is torealize China a country capable ofindependently mastering the long-termmanned flight technology, carrying outlong-term manned experiments in near-earth space, and comprehensivelydeveloping and utilizing space resources.”Zhou said in the report.


http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-11/17/


http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/



China says aircraft carrier on way toS.China Sea after Taiwan passageReuters, November 18, 2019

China’s first domestically-built aircraftcarrier is on its way to the South China Seafor tests and to take part in exercises, theChinese navy said on Monday, after sailingthrough the Taiwan Strait in a missiondenounced by Taipei as intimidation.Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Sundaya Chinese carrier group led by the shippassed through the sensitive strait with U.S.and Japanese vessels tailing it. Self-ruledTaiwan, regarded by China as a waywardprovince, said Beijing was trying tointimidate the island ahead of a presidentialelection in January. In a statement, theChinese Navy said the carrier passedthrough the Taiwan Strait on Sunday night,going to the South China Sea for “scientifictests and routine drills”.

China’s still-unnamed carrier, the first to bebuilt domestically, began sea trials last year.Chinese military experts have told statemedia it is not expected to enter service until2020, once it has been kitted out and armed.The ship has been undergoing sea trials fromit base in the northern port city of Dalian,where it was built. Little is known aboutChina’s carrier programme, which is a statesecret. The government has said the newvessel’s design draws on experiences withits first carrier, the Liaoning, which wasbought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998and refitted in China.

https://in.reuters.com/article/china-taiwan-military/update-1-china-says-aircraft-carrier-on-way- to-schina-sea-after-taiwan-passage-idINL4N27Y130

Successful satellite tests to allow‘Hongyun speed’ by 2020Deng Xiaoci, Global Times, November 19,2019

The demonstration system for China’sHongyun Project, a low-orbit broadbandcommunication satellite system, will becomeoperational at the beginning of 2020, makingsubstantial progress toward the eventual

goal of providing internet connectivity tousers around the world, developers toldthe Global Times on Tuesday. The project,also known as the H-cloud, was developedby CASIC. The first tech-experimentalsatellite for the project was launched onDecember 22, 2018 from the JiuquanSatellite Launch Center in NorthwestChina’s Gansu Province. CASIC said in astatement it sent to the Global Times onTuesday that all satellite performance andfunction tests have been completed. Thetesting included under different weatherconditions, and for different businessscenarios such as website browsing, videochats and high-resolution streamingservices. During the tests, there was noframe loss or buffering, and all functionsand indicators met the designrequirements, it said.

By the beginning of 2020, users acrossChina will be able access thedemonstration system of the HongyunProject, and they will be able to takeadvantage of what it described as“Hongyun speed,” CASIC said. TheHongyun Project, which was announcedin 2017, is expected to launch four moresatellites to gain preliminary experience by2020. CASIC expects to have a total of 156satellites in operation by the middle of the14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25).

The project can offer communication andinternet services for China and less-developed countries with reduced latency.


Pentagon fears new airborne shipkiller missileDave Makichuk, Asia Times, November 20,2019

The US Navy has a new weapon to fear— and this one could change the entiregame. The Chinese air force has modifieda small number of H-6 bombersapparently to carry a very large new anti-ship missile, The National Interestreported. The new munition, possibly avariant of the DF-21D ballistic anti-ship

https://in.reuters.com/article/china-taiwan-



missile, could pose a serious danger to USNavy vessels operating in the westernPacific. Aircraft carriers, in particular, couldbe at risk. The new H-6N variant of thevenerable Chinese bomber — itself a cloneof the Soviet Tu-16 — first appeared overBeijing during preparations for celebrationsmarking the 70th anniversary of thefounding of the People’s Republic of China.

The H-6Ns feature an under-fuselage recessthat could accommodate a single, very largemissile. The DF-21D is more than 30 feetlong and weighs around 32,000 pounds. Itcan travel as far as 1,300 miles with a 1,200-pound warhead, the National Interestreported. “Experts say that there at leastfour of these aircraft presently assigned to aPeople’s Liberation Army Air Force bomberbrigade in China’s Central TheaterCommand region,” Joseph Trevithick wroteat The War Zone. In recent years China hasdredged several reefs in the Paracels andbuilt military outposts on them.

https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/11/article/pentagon-fears-new-airborne-ship-killer-missile/

Taikonaut, scientists mull space andfuture humanityChina Daily, November 20, 2019

More than 800 astronauts, scientists, experts,and business bellwethers from eightcountries including the US, UK, Russia,France, and Germany are gathered at theZhuhai International Convention &Exhibition Center in Shizimen from Nov 17to 20 to explore space technology andhumanity’s future. Themed “The SameHome Under the Same Sky,” the 2019International Symposium on the PeacefulUses of Space Technology (Health) consistsof 50 keynote speeches on space economy,space medical technology, remote-sensingtechnology application, aerospace breedingand space carrying technology, as well asspace education.

The event exhibits medical robots, precisionmedical treatment, medical diagnosis,artificial intelligence, and other technologiesrelated to space medical technology and

human health. Aerospace breeding andspace carrying technology are showcasedfrom the aspects of rice breeding,biotechnological experiments on the spacestations, and commercial recoverablesatellite carrying technology.

http://www.cityofzhuhai.com/2019-11/20/c_425740.htm

Nato set to keep close eye onChina’s growing military mightSouth China Morning Post, November 20,2019

Foreign ministers to meet in London todiscuss plans to monitor the build-up ofBeijing’s armed forces as the bloc tries toshow that it is rising to today’s challenges.Nato foreign ministers are set onWednesday to make space a domain ofwarfare and agree to closely monitorChina’s growing military might indecisions that many allies say show thealliance is not dying, as France hassuggested. Envoys hope that two majorpolicies – on space as a new frontier indefence and on China – will show thatNato is not a cold war relic but a shieldagainst threats, including Russia’s decisionto develop missiles capable of hittingEurope at short notice. The space policy,which has been months in negotiation,will mean that battles can be waged notonly on land, in the air, at sea and oncomputer networks, but also in space.

Nato will not deploy weapons to space. Itwill begin work on protecting satellitescrucial for modern communications. Natodiplomats denied that the alliance wouldbe on a war footing in space, but said thatdeclaring it a domain would begin adebate over whether Nato shouldeventually use space weapons that couldshut down enemy missiles and air defencesor destroy satellites. China and Russia arealso active in space.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3038644/nato-set-keep-close-eye-chinas-growing-military-might

https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/11/article/

http://www.cityofzhuhai.com/2019-11/20/

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/


China’s new commercial rocket todebut in 2020Deng Xiaoci, Global Times, November 20,2019

China’s new carrier rocket the Long March-8 has entered final assembly and test stagesand is expected to make its maiden flight in2020, the Global Times has learned from thedeveloper - China Academy of LaunchVehicle Technology under the ChinaAerospace Science and TechnologyCorporation (CASC). The new carrier rocketwill fill a void in the Chinese space landscapein terms of sending payloads weighingbetween 3 and 4.5 tons to the Sun’ssynchronous orbit, as well as its capabilityto send cargo into low-earth orbit andgeosynchronous orbit, which promises abright future for the commercial launchmarket of the Long March-8.

It will take around 12 months from when aclient signs a contract with the company towhen the rocket is prepared for a mission.The launch window is around 10 days. Tangpredicted the rocket, after entering themarket, will primarily carry out more than10 launch missions a year and later on it willbe able to undertake such missions morethan 20 times per year.


Wuhan industry park aims tomanufacture 120 satellites a yearDeng Xiaoci, Global Times, November 20,2019

China plans to build a satellite industry parkin Wuhan, capital of Central China’s HubeiProvince that can make as many as 120satellites a year, the Global Times learnedfrom the project contractor. According toChina Aerospace Science and IndustryCorporation (CASIC), the Wuhan satelliteindustry park, a new addition to the city’snational space industrial base, will becomeoperational in 2020 and will manufacture120 satellites for general use, each weighingless than a ton. A rocket assembly plant isalso scheduled to start operation by the end

of 2019, which will enable the country tomanufacture 20 more rockets a year.


China’s Chang’e-4 probe resumeswork for 12th lunar dayXinhua, November 22, 2019

The lander and rover of the Chang’e-4probe have resumed work for the 12thlunar day on the far side of the moon after“sleeping” during the extremely coldnight. The lander woke up at 5:03 p.m.Thursday (Beijing Time), and the rover,Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2), awoke at 0:51 a.m.the same day. Both are in normal workingorder, according to the Lunar Explorationand Space Program Center of the ChinaNational Space Administration.

The rover has traveled about 319 meterson the moon to conduct scientificexploration of the virgin territory. TheChang’e-4 probe, launched on Dec. 8,2018, made the first-ever soft landing onthe Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moonon Jan. 3, 2019. A lunar day equals 14 dayson Earth, and a lunar night is the samelength. The Chang’e-4 probe switched todormant mode during the lunar night dueto the lack of solar power.


China’s latest robots move sosmoothly scientists dubbed them‘zero gravity’Stephen Chen, South China Morning Post,November 25, 2019

China is developing robotic arms to helpfurther its advances in space that operateso smoothly alongside humans thatscientists have dubbed their movements“zero gravity”. The technology usesartificial intelligence (AI) with cutting-edgesensors to help the “robot”, essentially agiant arm, grip and lift heavy objects,according to scientists with China





Aerospace Science and TechnologyCorporation, the state-owned maincontractor for the country’s spaceprogramme. The sensors allow the arm tocollaborate seamlessly with humantechnicians to perform tasks in a fraction ofthe time they took before – which is provinga particular advantage in China’sendeavours in space.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3038783/chinas-latest-robots-move-sosmoothly-scientists-dubbed-them

China’s “artificial sun” device set tobe commissioned in 2020Xinhua, November 26, 2019

The HL-2M Tokamak, China’s next-generation “artificial sun,” is expected to beoperational in 2020 as installation work hasgone smoothly since the delivery of the coilsystem in June. Designed to replicate thenatural reactions that occur in the sun usinghydrogen and deuterium gases as fuels, thedevice aims at providing clean energythrough controlled nuclear fusion. The newapparatus, with a more advanced structureand control mode, is expected to generateplasmas hotter than 200 million degreesCelsius, said Duan Xuru, head of theSouthwestern Institute of Physics under theChina National Nuclear Corporation.

Duan was quoted at the ongoing 2019 ChinaFusion Energy Conference held in Leshan,southwest China’s Sichuan Province. Theartificial sun will provide key technicalsupport for China’s participation in theInternational Thermonuclear ExperimentalReactor project, as well as the self- designingand building of fusion reactors, he noted.


Chang’e 4 lunar mission teamawarded gold medalZhao Lei, China Daily, November 26, 2019

Chinese scientists and engineers involved inthe Chang’e 4 lunar exploration missionreceived the Royal Aeronautical Society’sTeam Gold Medal at a ceremony in London

on Monday, the China National SpaceAdministration said. It is the first time theBritish institution, founded in 1866 and theoldest aerospace society in the world, hasconferred a medal on a Chinese spaceprogram, the administration said in astatement issued on Tuesday. Wu Weiren,chief designer of China’s Chang’e lunarprograms and an academician of theChinese Academy of Engineering, andrepresentatives from the Chang’e 4mission team took part in the awardceremony.

The Chang’e 4 robotic probe, whichconsists of a stationary lander and the Yutu2 rover, was launched atop a Long March3B rocket in early December from theXichang Satellite Launch Center inSichuan province, becoming the country’sfourth lunar exploration mission and theworld’s first expedition to the moon’s farside, which never faces the Earth.

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201911/26/WS5ddcc651a310cf3e3557a176.html

Odd galaxies found that contradicttheories of formationChina Daily Global, November 27, 2019

Chinese astronomers have discovered aspecial population of dwarf galaxies thatmainly consist of baryons with radii of upto tens of thousands of light-years, wherethey are expected to be dominated by darkmatter. The discovery, made byresearchers from the NationalAstronomical Observatories of the ChineseAcademy of Sciences, Peking Universityand Tsinghua University, was publishedin the latest issue of the science journalNature Astronomy.

The finding provides observationalevidence that could challenge theformation theory of dwarf galaxies in theframework of standard cosmology, andmay provide new clues to the nature ofdark matter, said Guo Qi, a researcherfrom the NAOC and head of the researchteam. In standard cosmology, the universeis dominated by cold dark matter anddark energy, while baryons only occupy

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/


https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201911/26/


4.6 percent of outer space. Galaxies form andevolve in systems dominated

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/global/2019-11/27/content_37525679.htm

China tests killer drones for street-to-street urban warfare, plans salesoverseasLiu Zhen South China Morning Post,November 28, 2019

Tianyi quadcopter built by a subsidiary of astate aerospace corporation is designed tocarry out ground-level reconnaissance andprecision strikes in cities. A Chinesetechnology firm is testing a new attack dronespecifically designed to help ground troopsin street-level combat, in the hope that it cansell the unit abroad, reports say. Thedeveloper, Tianjin Zhongwei AerospaceData System Technology, said theunmanned aerial vehicle had been designedto carry out both reconnaissance missionsand close-range strikes against armouredvehicles or individuals in an urbanenvironment.

Chinese drone manufacturers are also ableto sell to markets that Western companiesare barred from due to political concerns orother reasons. The country’s main droneexports include the fixed-wing CH-4 andCH-5 drones, developed by the ChinaAcademy of Aerospace Aerodynamics,which have proved popular with buyersfrom central Asia and the Middle East dueto their versatility, fire power and relativelylow cost.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3039827/chinese-tech-firm-testing-urban-attack-drone-designed-carry-out

Chinese navy set to build fourthaircraft carrier, but plans for a moreadvanced ship are put on holdMinnie Chan, South China Morning Post,November 28, 2019

The Chinese navy is moving ahead withplans to build another aircraft carrier, butplans for a fifth have been put on hold fornow, according to military insiders. They

said that technical challenges and highcosts had put the brakes on theprogramme and the recent merger of thecountry’s two major shipbuilders wasunlikely to have a significant short- termimpact.

But plans for a next-generation carrierappear to be on hold for now as engineersstruggle to overcome technical problems.“There is no plan to build more aircraftcarriers,” said one military source.

“The third and fourth Chinese aircraftcarriers on the agenda are both Type 002s,the country’s next generation warshipequipped with electromagnetic catapults[for launching jets].”

The new conglomerate – which retains thename CSIC name – has a total of 147research institutes, business enterprisesand listed companies with a combinedasset value of 790 billion yuan (US$112billion). It also employs 310,000 people,according to the official news agencyXinhua.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3039653/chinese-navy-set-build-fourth-aircraft-carrier-plans-more

Chinese Military Sets Up ThinkTank to Guide Reform, CouldFeature Top Weapon Makers:AnalystsDefence-aerospace, November 28, 2019

The Central Military Committee (CMC) onMonday announced a new think tankconsisting of military and civilian expertsto evaluate drafts on military policies andinstitutional reform, with analysts sayingon Tuesday that top weapon andequipment developers could be involved,potentially providing valuable opinions todeepen the comprehensive military reform.A meeting to assign tasks on theconsultation and evaluation of militarypolicies and institutional reform was heldon Monday in Beijing, with Xu Qiliang,vice chairman of the CMC, delivering aspeech, the People’s Liberation Army(PLA) Daily reported on Tuesday.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/global/2019-11/27/




Reform of policies and institutions is animportant part of China’s military reform,and the new think tank will help the reformto become more comprehensive, LiDaguang, a professor at the NationalDefense University of the PLA, told theGlobal Times on Tuesday. Li pointed outthat having experts within the military inthe think tank is natural since they are theones who truly understand whether thereform is working, but appointing civilianexperts is a measure that can provide newand constructive perspectives.

Under the reform, military policies andinstitutions should be adjusted inaccordance with the changing times associalism with Chinese characteristics andnational defense have entered a new era,said defense ministry spokesperson WuQian at a November 2018 press conference,the Xinhua News Agency reported. Thesystem, which is scheduled to be completelyformed before 2022, will feature distinctguidance, full coverage, a rigorous structureand sound coordination, the spokespersonsaid.

https://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/207828/chinese-military-sets-up- think-tank-to-guide-reform.html

Chinese warship showcases verticallaunch missile systemChina Mail, November 28, 2019

After returning from a major refit, thePeople’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navydestroyer Shenzhen showcased its airdefense firepower by displaying its newmissile vertical launch system on Monday.The Navy’s sole Type 051B destroyer hasgained very powerful combat capabilityafter the modernization, said Weihutang, acolumn on military affairs affiliated withChina Central Television (CCTV) onMonday.

The Shenzhen is now equipped with avertical launch system, which consists of foursets of eight units, allowing it to host 32 ship-to-air missiles that can shoot down incoming

hostile aircraft and missiles, TongZhenrong, deputy captain of theShenzhen, said on CCTV on Sunday.Joining military service as a fleet flagshipin 1998, the Shenzhen participated inmany operations and visited manycountries, making it a star in navaldiplomacy, China Youth Daily reported,noting that the warship undertook the refitin 2017 that saw its capabilitiessignificantly upgraded, allowing it tobecome a guided missile destroyer with thecapability to command a joint operationfleet. This capability allows the Shenzhento integrate information gathered by everyunit and distribute it to other units thatneed it, Weihutang said.

http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/view/2019-11/28/content_9685050.htm

Biggest stellar-mass black holediscoveredZhang Zhihao China Daily, November 29,2019

An international team of scientists led byChina has discovered a king-size, stellar-mass black hole in Earth’s “cosmicbackyard” containing the mass of 70 suns.It is the biggest known of its kind androughly three times bigger than whatscientists previously thought was possible,researchers said. The black hole, namedLB-1, was found slowly devouring gasfrom a nearby star more than 13,800 light-years from Earth - relatively nearby,considering the estimated 105,700 light-year diameter of Earth’s galaxy.

Scientists believed that stellar-mass blackholes were created when massive starsdied and collapsed, but current theoreticalcalculations show that no matter how bigthe star initially was, the mass of the finalblack hole cannot exceed 25 solar massesif the star is rich in metals like the onediscovered in the new research

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/global/2019-11/29/content_37526501.htm

https://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/

http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/view/2019-11/28/

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/global/2019-11/


China’s first electromagneticsatellite bears fruitful resultsXinhua, November 30, 2019

China’s first seismo-electromagnetic satelliteZhangheng 1 has obtained fruitfulelectromagnetic data, according to the ChinaAerospace Science and TechnologyCorporation (CASC). The satellite hasenabled China to obtain a globalgeomagnetic map and an ionospheric mapwith its own intellectual property rights. Ithas obtained information about globalground artificial sources, magnetic stormsand signals of earthquakes above 7magnitude.

It also helps with understanding thecoupling mechanisms of the lithosphere,atmosphere and ionosphere. Shen Xuhui,the chief scientist of the satellite, said Chinais expected to have three electromagneticsatellites in orbit by 2022, offering supportfor earthquake forecasting as well as spaceweather monitoring and warning.Developed by DFH Satellite Co., Ltd. underthe CASC.


DF-17 may not sole hypersonicmissile program: mediaLiu Xuanzun Global Times, December 1,2019

The DF-17, China’s hypersonic missile thatwas first revealed at the National Daymilitary parade on October 1, might not bethe only hypersonic aircraft program Chinapossesses, a report by the state broadcastersuggested. Analysts stressed that China willnot fall behind in related technologiescompared with the US and Russia. “Fromthe test subjects that were made availableto the public, the Xingkong-2 (Starry Sky-2)might use a different flight pattern to theDF-17,” said military expert Ma Jun onMilitary Time, a China Central Television(CCTV) program on military affairs, onSaturday, without further elaboration.

When the DF-17 missile made its debut atthe National Day parade this year, some

thought it might be the final product ofthe Xingkong-2 project. One distinctivedifference between the Xingkong-2 andthe DF-17 is that the former has a fairingand the latter does not, making the twovery different in appearance alone,analysts pointed out. They noted that thetime does not match either, as theXingkong-2 was only tested in 2018 andis not likely to enter Chinese militaryservice as early as 2019. The CCTVprogram introduced two genres ofhypersonic aircraft: one is a glide-boost,meaning the aircraft is propelled into thesky via a rocket and glides in the air usingshock waves generated by its ownhypersonic flight, while the other is air-breathing, meaning the aircraft uses ascramjet engine to provide thrust.

The DF-17 is said to be a glide-boostvehicle, but it is not known what type theXingkong-2 might be, other than it couldbe different from the DF-17, although itwas also propelled by a rocket, accordingto Ma. The US and Russia are striving todevelop hypersonic weapons with bothglide- boost and air-breathingtechnologies, as the two have differentstrengths and shortcomings, a militaryexpert who asked not to be named toldthe Global Times. China will not fallbehind and could develop multiple typesof hypersonic weapons using differenttechnologies in the future, the expertpredicted.


C. Pakistan

Shaheen-I ballistic missiletraining launch successfulPakistan Today, November 18, 2019

Two days after India conducted the firstnight trial of nuclear-capable ballisticmissile Agni-II, Pakistan on Mondayconducted a successful training launch ofShaheen-I, a surface-to-surface ballisticmissile.

According to an Inter-Services PublicRelations (ISPR) press release, the launch




was conducted as part of a training exercise“aimed at testing the operational readinessof Army Strategic Forces Command”.

Shaheen-I is a short-range solid-propellantballistic missile with a range of 650km (404miles) which has been in the national arsenalsince 2003. It can carry either a conventionalor a nuclear warhead and usually uses amobile launcher as a platform.

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/11/18/shaheen-i-ballistic-missile-training-launch-successful-ispr/

‘Pak’s nuke threat is to avoidbashing in war’Sanjeev k. Sharma, Daily Excelsior,November 18, 2019

Pakistan’s bid to counter every Indianwarning, by the rhetoric of nuke use againstus, in response to India’ s constant thruston it to end support to terrorism, have lostits relevance and significance. These werethe views expressed by former DefenceResearch and Development Organization(DRDO) Director General, Dr. SudershanKumar in an exclusive interaction with theExcelsior.

“Using the pretext that both India andPakistan are nuclear powers to avoidbashings in war and in the guise of thisinflicting bloodshed in India throughterrorists has become a habit of Pakleadership,” he said. Presently a DefenceAnalyst, Dr. Kumar said, “It was only inWorld War-II when the atom bomb wasused but afterwards no country of the worldhas found it as a viable option againstadversary.”

It is pertinent to mention here that in WorldWar-II two nuclear weapons weredetonated over Japanese cities Hiroshimaand Nagasaki which brought an abrupt endto the war.

“If the insane leadership ever decided thisoption against India, it will have to pay aheavy cost which it will not be able towithstand because of the ‘aggressive

retaliatory action’ from Indian side,” Dr.Kumar said obviously referring to India’sbelligerent neighbour Pakistan.

https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/paks-nuke-threat-is-to-avoid-bashing-in-war/

IOR stands as a potential nuclearflashpointM Waqas Jan, Pakistan Observer,November 19, 2019

This year has seen tension between nucleararmed Pakistan and India reachunprecedented levels with both countriesflirting with a dangerous escalation spiral.February’s aerial engagement between thetwo countries’ air forces, sustainedexchanges of small arms and artillery fireover the LOC, as well as the ongoingcurfew and communications blackout(now over 100th days) have all left manyto contemplate the long-termconsequences of these altercations on thestability and overall security of the entireSouth Asian region.

These include consequences leading to asfar as the Indian Ocean region (IOR),which despite being more than 1300kmsaway from the LoC, remains witness to aseries of dangerous developments,especially within context of the currentscenario. For instance, India’s recentlyplanned test of its K4 SubmarineLaunched Ballistic Missile (SLBM)represents a key part of India’s long-helddesires of developing a robust second-strike capability. While the test itself ismeant to signal a major tipping pointwithin the overall strategic balance of theregion, the worsening situation in Kashmircarries the risk of unnecessarilyheightening tension at a time when theregional situation is already quite complex.This is largely because the K4 with itspurported range of 3500 kms is capable oftargeting most of mainland China inaddition to Pakistan from the relativelysafer distance of India’s coastal waters. Itsvalue as a strategic deterrent is evidentfrom its planned deployment on India’s

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/11/18/

https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/paks-nuke-


nascent fleet of nuclear-powered ballisticmissile submarines (SSBNs). These includethe INS Arihant and the recentlycommissioned INS Arighant for which theK4 has been designed to spec. With theIndian navy planning to induct even moreSSBNS over the next decade, there are soonlikely to be dozens of K4 missiles deployedon these subs, which themselves are likelyto remain scattered across the IOR.

While the planned deployment of thesemissiles was to supposedly herald India’scoming of age as a major global power, thecurrent context in which these actions arebeing taken presents a troubling scenario.Particularly keeping in mind the apparentshifts in India’s nuclear doctrinal and policyframework, the very thought of such nuclearweapons being readily deployed across theIndian Ocean represents a major cause forconcern the world over. Unlike India’s land-based nuclear arsenal where its nuclearwarheads are largely demated from theseveral delivery systems available to itsmilitary, India’s seabased nuclear arsenal islikely to be deployed at a much moreheightened state of alert. As a result, it isalso likely to be subject to an altered or moresophisticated command and controlstructure which in itself requires seamlesscommunications not only between theIndian State and military but also within themany arms of the Indian military itself. Suchintegration is further conditional on Indiaacquiring highly robust intelligence,surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)capabilities that leave absolutely no marginfor error considering the immense risks atstake in one of the world’s most volatileregions.

Add to that the Indian government’s nowinstitutionalized approach to nuclearbrinkmanship and its steady revocation ofits ‘No First Use’ policy, there exists a highlydangerous mix of hubris and recklessnesswhere the entire human race risks beingannihilated from even the smallest ofmissteps.

https://pakobserver.net/ior-stands-as-a-potential-nuclear-flashpoint-2/

Federal govt launches programmefor business communityMehtab Haider, The News International,November 23, 2019

Federal Government has launched firsttrade facilitation programme of its kindunder the name and banner of“Authorised Economic Operators”(AEOs). The programme has been chalkedout in line with best international practicesand in accordance with WCO securitystandards. Under the said programme, thegovernment will certify trustworthybusiness entities which could demonstratethat they are credible, secure and have aclean history of compliance with nationallaws and, in return, a policy of maximumfacilitation will be adopted by allgovernment departments towards suchtrusted entities so that they couldconcentrate on the growth of theirbusinesses.

The representatives from governmentdepartments i.e., Ministry of ForeignAffairs, Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF),Engineering Development Board (EDB),Ministry of Industries, Home DepartmentSind & KP, Pakistan Nuclear RegulatoryAuthority, Pakistan Quality Standards &Quality Certification Authority (PSQCA),Climate Change and PEMRA appreciatedthe AEO initiative and agreed that it wasthe first initiative of its kind which aims atrecognition of trusted business partners atfederal government level and entailsbenefits from all government departments.Such unique initiative, the participantsadded, has great potential to boostbusinesses which are the backbone ofnational economy. Chairman FBR briefedthe participants that initially, AEOProgramme will be implemented onexport stage that will not only boostnational exports, but will also play vitalrole in jobs creation. Subsequently, ambitof AEO Programme will be extended toother sectors of the economy for maximumfacilitation and priority treatment by allgovernment departments.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/572933-federal-govt-launches-programme-for-business-community

https://pakobserver.net/ior-stands-as-a-potential-

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/572933-


D. USA

Conference: Advancing the rebirthof nuclear powerWorld Nuclear News, November 16, 2019

Innovation has always been at the heart ofthe nuclear power industry and its futuredepends on this commitment totechnological advancement in both large andsmall reactor designs. This was the messageof the International Framework for NuclearEnergy Cooperation (IFNEC) GeneralMinisterial Conference held in WashingtonDC last week. Titled ‘Bringing the worldSMRs and advanced nuclear’, the eventincluded a session at the White House, inthe Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry remindeddelegates of the former US president’s‘Atoms for Peace’ address to the UnitedNations in 1953, which had called for theexpansion of nuclear power to enable world-wide prosperity. Sadly, that ambition still hasrelevance today, Perry said.

“If we look at a satellite image of the globe,we see vast tracts of land that are shroudedin darkness. Those images reveal a starkreality: More than a billion people arecompletely without electricity; they aretrapped in energy poverty.” To pursue a‘renewables-only’ approach to climatechange and sustainable development would“lock them into that state maybe for ever”,he said. “What the world needs is 24/7energy, energy that is on-site, energy thatcan be stockpiled, energy that powers thegrid of nations regardless of the weather.”

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Conference-Advancing-the-rebirth-of-nuclear-power

U.S. to no longer waive sanctions onIranian nuclear siteDaphne Psaledakis, Reuters, November 19,2019

The United States said on Monday it will nolonger waive sanctions related to Iran’sFordow nuclear plant after Tehran resumeduranium enrichment at the undergroundsite.

“The right amount of uranium enrichmentfor the world’s largest state sponsor ofterror is zero ... There is no legitimatereason for Iran to resume enrichment atthis previously clandestine site,” U.S.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo toldreporters.

The U.N. atomic watchdog and Iran itselfsaid this month Tehran is again enrichinguranium at the sensitive site, which Iranhid from U.N. non-proliferation inspectorsuntil its exposure in 2009. [nL8N27R5MN]

While European countries have tried tosalvage the 2015 nuclear nonproliferationagreement, Iran has increasinglydistanced itself from the accord since theUnited States withdrew last year.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran/u-s-to-no-longer-waive-sanctions-on-iranian-nuclear-site-idUSKBN1XS2DG

Framatome implements cavitationpeening at MillstoneWorld Nuclear News, November 19, 2019

Framatome earlier this year applied itsultra-high pressure (UHP) cavitationpeening process on reactor vessel primarynozzles at Dominion Energy’s Millstonenuclear power plant in Waterford,Connecticut. This marked the firstunderwater application of thismaintenance technique on reactorpressure vessel nozzles to primary pipewelds.

Reactor vessel head nozzle penetrations,bottom mounted nozzle instrumentationpenetrations, and reactor vessel primarynozzles - comprised of Alloy 600 weldedwith Alloy 82/182 - are highly susceptibleto primary water stress corrosion cracking(PWSCC).

Framatome’s UHP cavitation peeningprocess uses submerged, ultra-high-pressure water jets to work the surface ofreactor vessel components. The high-pressure water flow creates vapourbubbles. As these vapour bubbles collapseon the component’s surface, shock wavestravel into the material and create

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran/u-


compressive residual stresses. Rather thanallowing operational stresses to createmultiple, random fractures on acomponent’s surface, cavitation peeningcreates compressive stresses on the surfaceof the material in a controlled manner,preventing PWSCC initiation.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Framatome-implements-cavitation-peening-at-Millsto

U.S. aircraft carrier strike groupsails through Strait of HormuzIdrees Al, Reuters, November 19, 2019

The U.S. aircraft carrier strike groupAbraham Lincoln sailed through the vitalStrait of Hormuz on Tuesday, U.S. officialstold Reuters, amid simmering tensionsbetween Iran and the United States.

Tensions in the Gulf have risen since attackson oil tankers this summer, including off thecoast of the United Arab Emirates, and amajor assault on energy facilities in SaudiArabia. Washington has blamed Iran, whichhas denied being behind the attacks on globalenergy infrastructure.

The commander overseeing U.S. naval forcesin the Middle East told Reuters in May thathe would send an aircraft carrier throughthe Strait of Hormuz if needed.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-carrier-iran/u-s-aircraft-carrier-strike-group-sails-through-strait-of-hormuz-idUSKBN1XT2EG

EDF plans to sell stake in US jointventureWorld Nuclear News, November 20, 2019

France’s EDF said today it will exercise anoption to sell its 49.99% stake inConstellation Energy Nuclear Group(CENG), its joint venture with US utilityExelon. CENG owns five nuclear powerreactors at three sites in the USA.

In July 2013, EDF and Exelon agreed totransfer the operating licences of the reactorsowned by CENG to Exelon. Under the termsof the agreement - announced on 1 April

2014 - Exelon paid EDF USD400 millionin dividends and EDF had a put option tosell its CENG shares to Exelon between2016 and 2022. EDF has today notifiedExelon of the exercise of that option.

“The transaction price will follow from thedetermination of the fair market value ofCENG shares pursuant to the contractualprovisions of the put option agreement,”EDF said, noting that closing of thetransaction is conditional upon regulatoryapprovals. The disposal of CENG sharesis part of the disposal plan of non-coreassets announced by EDF Group, it added.

The plants concerned are the single-unitR E Ginna plant, Nine Mile Point units 1and 2, and Calvert Cliffs units 1 and 2. InNovember 2009, EDF and ConstellationEnergy established Constellation EnergyNuclear Group, in which EDF andConstellation owned stakes of 49.99% and50.01% respectively.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/EDF-to-sell-its-stake-in-US-joint-venture

OECD/NEA highlights challengesfacing isotope supply chainWorld Nuclear News, November 20, 2019

The structure of the medical radioisotopesupply chain is impeding the provision oftechnetium-99m (Tc-99m), a new reportby an OECD Nuclear Energy Agency(NEA) high-level group has found.Supplies of the world’s most widely usedmedical radioisotope remain fragile.

No medical radioisotope is moreimportant than Tc-99m, NEA DirectorGeneral William Magwood said at thelaunch of The Supply of MedicalRadioisotopes: An Economic Diagnosisand Possible Solutions on 18 November.The radioisotope is used some 30 milliontimes each year around the world todiagnose cancer and other diseases, hesaid. However the properties of Tc-99mmean its supply chain is complicated andthe isotope - and the molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) used to generate it in hospitals - cannotbe stored.


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-



Operation of the research reactors in whichradioisotopes are produced is generallysubsidised by the governments of thecountries where they are based.

“As commercial companies come into thismarket they are finding it very difficult tomake a profit and be successful, and tosustain operation, under the currentcircumstances,” Magwood said. “In orderto make sure there is a stable supply, wehave to ensure there is a stable market.”

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/NEA-publishes-isotope-supply-chain-report

MOX Services gets settlement dealfor shuttered facility at SavannahRiverWorld Nuclear News, November 20, 2019

The Department of Energy’s NationalNuclear Security Administration (NNSA)has reached a settlement agreement withMOX Services and its parent companies toresolve all contract closeout matterspertaining to the Mixed Oxide FuelFabrication Facility (MFFF) project at theSavannah River Site in Aiken, SouthCarolina.

The agreement, announced yesterday,resolves all contract litigation and covers thecost of contract closeout. If it had continued,NNSA said the MFFF project would not havebeen completed until 2048, at a cost ofUSD17 billion.

Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, DOE under-secretaryfor nuclear security and NNSAadministrator, said the agreement allowsNNSA to move forward with its plan torepurpose MOX for plutonium pitproduction, while it remains committed toremoving surplus plutonium from SouthCarolina “using the proven dilute anddispose method”.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/MOX-Services-gets-settlement-deal-for-shuttered-fa

US legislature considers wastemanagement reformsWorld Nuclear News, November 21, 2019

Draft legislation to update the USDepartment of Energy’s (DOE) ability tomanage nuclear waste - passed by theHouse Energy and Commerce Committeeyesterday - would allow DOE to build andoperate interim storage sites to consolidateused fuel from decommissioned reactors.Similar draft legislation has now beenintroduced in the US Senate.

The two versions of the draftlegislation, HR 2699 and S 2197, whichare both titled the Nuclear Waste PolicyAmendments Act of 2019, seek to amenda 1982 act, under which the federalgovernment - through the DOE - isresponsible for all civil used nuclear fueland its removal for disposal in a federalfacility.

HR 2699 would prioritise the transfer ofused fuel from seismically active areas, andpermit DOE to undertake infrastructureactivities to support the construction andoperation of a repository at YuccaMountain. The bill also includes reformsto the finance mechanism of the NuclearWaste Fund and assures that DOE hasadequate funding to construct and operatea repository.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/US-legislature-considers-waste-management-reforms

EDF Will Bail on Three NuclearPlants, Exelon Holds the BagAaron Larson, Power Mag, November 21,2019

Exelon Generation said EDF Group—aFrench integrated electricity company—isexercising a put option to sell its 49.99%interest in the R.E. Ginna, Nine Mile Point,and Calvert Cliffs nuclear energy facilities.The two companies will now begin





negotiations for Exelon to acquire fullownership of the plants.

EDF’s involvement in the facilities wasthrough the Constellation Energy NuclearGroup (CENG), a joint venture between itand Constellation Energy, which wasnegotiated in 2009. Exelon acquired itsmajority stake in the plants as part of amerger with Constellation Energy, a dealthat closed in March 2012.

EDF said the disposal of CENG shares is partof a previously announced non-core-assetdisposal plan. The put option could havebeen exercised by EDF anytime between Jan.1, 2016, and June 30, 2022. A transactionprice will follow from the determination ofthe fair market value of CENG sharespursuant to the contractual provisions of theput option agreement, EDF said.

“Since Exelon Generation took overoperations, we have created value for bothExelon and EDF by integrating the threeplants into the nation’s largest and best-runnuclear fleet. Leveraging the Exelonmanagement model, we’ve improved overallfleet performance and efficiency whilereducing costs in a challenging marketenvironment,” Chris Crane, Exelonpresident and CEO, said in a statement. “Wehave worked collaboratively with EDFleadership as co-owners of these threenuclear plants and look forward topartnering with them in a productiveprocess to purchase their ownership stake.”

https://www.powermag.com/edf-will-bail-on-three-nuclear-plants-exelon-holds-the-bag/

Partnership to produce medicalisotope from legacy wasteWorld Nuclear News, November 25, 2019

Isotek Systems, TerraPower and the USDepartment of Energy (DOE) have signed apublic-private partnership agreement to usematerial recovered from a legacy uranium-233 (U-233) inventory to increase the supplyof the medical radioisotope actinium-225(Ac-225).

Isotek is responsible for the removal of theinventory of U-233 currently stored at the

Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a DOEcontractor under Atkins Nuclear Secured.Under the new agreement, which wassigned at a ceremony on 22 November,Isotek will extract thorium-229 (Th-229)from the U-233, which TerraPower willthen use for the production of Ac-225. Thisarrangement will give TerraPower thecapacity to produce 100 times more cancertreatment doses per year of Ac-225 thanthe 4000 doses currently available, thepartners said. Ac-225, a short-lived alpha-emitting isotope that can be used in a formof treatment known as targeted alphatherapy, has previously been described asone of the world’s rarest medicalradioisotopes.

Jay Mullis, manager of DOE’s Oak RidgeOffice of Environmental Management,said the partnership was a “success” forall involved. “Through Isotek’s innovativeapproach, we are able to accelerate one ofour highest priority projects, spend lesstaxpayer dollars to complete the project,and provide material that will greatlybenefit the public in the future,” he said.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Partnership-to-produce-medical-isotope-from-legacy

Bulgaria and USA to explorenuclear energy cooperationWorld Nuclear News, November 26, 2019

The USA intends to send a technical teamto Bulgaria to explore the possibilities forfurther cooperation in different areas ofenergy, including nuclear, PresidentDonald Trump said yesterday in a jointstatement issued with Prime MinisterBoyko Borissov of Bulgaria. The twoleaders also expressed support for thelicensing and use of US nuclear fuel forBulgaria’s Kozloduy nuclear power plant.

They set out a number of measuresintended to strengthen the strategicpartnership between the two countries,following their meeting at the WhiteHouse.

“The United States and Bulgariaunderstand that energy security is national

https://www.powermag.com/edf-will-bail-on-



security. We underline our commonunderstanding that the diversification ofenergy sources is a guarantee of energysecurity, independence, and competitivenessfor our economies,” they said.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Bulgaria-and-USA-to-explore-nuclear-energy-coopera

U.S. assures banks on dollardealings with China’s COSCO hitby Iran sanctionsTimothy Gardner, Reuters, November 28,2019

The Trump administration assured U.S.banks on Wednesday that they cantemporarily process U.S. dollar transactionson a Dalian unit of China’s biggest shippingcompany COSCO that Washington hadimposed sanctions on over suspicions ittransported oil from Iran.

The United States’ sanctions on Sept. 25pushed global freight costs to record highsand added millions of dollars in costs tomany voyages.

David Peyman, a U.S. State Departmentofficial on sanctions, said this month thatthe ships were the “key artery” for evadingU.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil exports and thatif the behavior did not change theadministration would look to aggressivelyand fully enforce U.S. sanctions.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-china-tankers/u-s-assures-banks-on-dollar-dealings-with-chinas-cosco-hit-by-iran-sanctions-idUSKBN1Y12B5

Frazer-Nash to support IMSRgraphite moderator fabricationWorld Nuclear News, November 28, 2019

Frazer-Nash is to provide engineeringservices related to the fabrication of thegraphite moderator for Terrestrial Energy’sIntegrated Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR)under a newly announced contract betweenthe two companies.

UK- and Australia-based systems andengineering technology company Frazer-

Nash has provided consulting services tothe UK government and the operators ofthe country’s current fleet of 14 advancedgas-cooled reactors (AGRs), which usegraphite moderators. Terrestrial Energysaid it would draw on this “world-leadinggraphite knowledge and nuclearengineering experience” as it proceedswith engineering programmes fordeployment of the first IMSR plant.“Graphite moderator engineering forfabrication is a key element in our IMSRdevelopment programme,” TerrestrialEnergy CEO Simon Irish said.

The UK has operated graphite-moderatednuclear reactors - Magnox and AGRs - forelectricity generation since 1956, duringwhich extensive studies on theperformance of reactor graphite have beencounducted, the companies said.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Frazer-Nash-to-support-IMSR-graphite-moderator-fab

E. Europe

France regrets U.S. decision onFordow, rebukes IranReuters, November 19, 2019

France lamented on Tuesday a U.S.decision to end a sanctions waiver relatedto Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, but alsosaid it feared Tehran’s latest violations ofa 2015 deal could lead to serious nuclearproliferation. “We regret the decision ofthe United States, following Iran’sresumption of enrichment on the Fordowsite, to terminate an exemption that wouldfacilitate the conduct of civilian projectson this site,” foreign ministryspokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll toldreporters in an online briefing.

The Trump administration, which last yearpulled out of the Iran nuclear deal and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran, had untilMonday let the work go forward at theFordow fuel enrichment plant by issuingwaivers to sanctions that bar non-U.S.firms from dealing with the Atomic EnergyOrganization of Iran (AEOI). The U.N.


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-



atomic watchdog and Iran itself said thismonth Tehran is again enriching uraniumat the sensitive site, which Iran hid fromU.N. non-proliferation inspectors until itsexposure in 2009.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-france/france-regrets-u-s-decision-on-fordow-rebukes-iran-idUSKBN1XT2CE

Hungary aims to reach NATOdefense spending goal in 2023Robin Emmott, Reuters, November 21, 2019

Hungary hopes to reach a NATO defensespending target in 2023, a year ahead of thedeadline agreed by allies who are facingstrong pressure from U.S. President DonaldTrump to invest more in European security.Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjartotold Reuters that Budapest would spend 2%of economic output on its military ahead ofthe NATO target date of 2024, up from lessthan 1% just a few years ago, buyingweaponry and equipment from Turkey,France, Germany and the Czech Republic.

“I really understood the position of PresidentTrump because he wanted Europeans tospend more, to put more emphasis on theirsecurity,” Szijjarto said in the margins of aNATO foreign ministers meeting. “We havebeen implementing a very significant androbust modernization strategy of our armedforces, which will last until 2026. We willhit the 2% (level) in 2023,” he said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hungary-nato/hungary-aims-to-reach-nato-defense-spending-goal-in-2023-idUSKBN1XU2HF

Exclusive: Hungary makes EU bid tosoften nuclear licensing rules toease Paks expansionMarton Dunai, Reuters, November 26, 2019

Hungary has submitted draft legislation tothe European Commission to amend thecountry’s nuclear safety protocols tocustom-fit a 12 billion euro Russian-lednuclear plant expansion project that it wantsto speed up, eight sources told Reuters. Thedraft legislation was detailed to Reuters bythe Hungarian Atomic Energy Agency(HAEA), and corroborated by several

sources with knowledge of the matterwho wanted to remain unidentified.

The EU review was confirmed by an EUofficial requesting anonymity, as well asseveral Hungarian government sources.Eight sources, including high-rankinggovernment officials, confirmed the plan.Hungary wants to expand its 2-gigawattPaks nuclear power plant with twoRussian-made VVER reactors, each witha capacity of 1.2 gigawatts. The project,awarded in 2014 without a tender tonuclear giant Rosatom, an arm of theRussian government, is often cited as asign of exceptionally warm ties betweenHungarian premier Viktor Orban andRussian President Vladimir Putin, aconnection that has unnerved Westernallies.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hungary-nuclearpower-exclusive/exclusive-hungary-makes-eu-bid-to-soften-nuclear-licensing-rules-to-ease-paks-expansion-idUSKBN1Y01WQ

France warns Iran over nucleardeal dispute mechanismJohn Irish, Reuters, November 28, 2019

France’s foreign minister suggested onWednesday that Paris was seriouslyconsidering triggering a mechanismwithin the Iran nuclear deal that could leadto U.N. sanctions, given Tehran’s repeatedbreach of parts of the 2015 accord withworld powers. “Every two months, thereis another dent (in the deal by Iran) to thepoint where today we ask ourselves, andI’m saying this very clearly, about theimplementation of the dispute resolutionmechanism that exists in the deal,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told a parliamentaryhearing.

Britain, France and Germany have soughtto salvage the pact, under which Iranundertook to curtail its uraniumenrichment program in return for relieffrom sanctions crippling its economy, sincethe United States withdrew last year.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-france/france-warns-iran-over-nuclear-deal-dispute-mechanism-idUSKBN1Y12AI

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hungary-nato/

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hungary-

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-


France’s Macron denies acceptingPutin’s missile proposalReuters, November 28, 2019

French President Emmanuel Macron onThursday denied having accepted a Russianproposal to impose a moratorium on missiledeployments in Europe, but said it wasimportant the Kremlin initiative not besimply dismissed. Russia has called on theUnited States and other countries to declarea moratorium on the deployment of short-and intermediate-range nuclear missiles inEurope after a treaty banning such a moveformally ended in August.

Macron, who met transatlantic allianceNATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenbergin Paris for talks on Thursday, said Francehad “absolutely not accepted” the proposal,as suggested in leaks in the German pressearlier this week.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-missiles-france/frances-macron-denies-accepting-putins-missile-proposal-idUSKBN1Y21E4

Nuclear Deal Requires MoreEuropean Efforts to SurviveFinancial Tribune, November 28, 2019

Asenior Iranian diplomat said the 2015nuclear deal with major powers is under“intensive care”, requiring the Europeansignatories to the deal to intensify efforts tosave the accord. Talking to the Dutch NRCwebsite, Deputy Foreign Minister forPolitical Affairs Abbas Araqchi said Iran hasdone its part as per the agreement, officiallyknown as the Joint Comprehensive Plan ofAction. “Now, it is the other JCPOA parties’turn to do the same. We accepted to limitour nuclear program [under the deal], butwere made a target of the United States’maximum pressure [campaign] in return.Under such circumstances, JCPOA’s otherpartners are bound to think up practicalapproaches to extricate Iran from thesanctions,” he said.

“European countries claim they seek to savethe agreement, but so far, they have actuallyshown that they are either incapable orreluctant to resist the US dominance overEurope’s financial system to protect it.” The

deal between Iran and the P5+1 group—the United States, the UK, France, Russiaand China, plus Germany—lifted nuclear-related sanctions against Iran, whichvoluntarily curbed some aspects of itsnuclear energy program.

https://financialtribune.com/articles/national/100973/nuclear-deal-requires-more-european-efforts-to-survive

European countries join INSTEXexchange to preserve Iran nucleardealZane Wolfang, Reuters, November 30,2019

Six major European countries announcedon Friday that they would join a specialtrade exchange designed to alleviate theimpact of the US sanctions on Iran.Belgium, Denmark, Finland, theNetherlands, Norway, and Sweden will alljoin INSTEX, a trade mechanism thatallows Iranian and European companiesto circumvent severe US sanctions againstIran. The six European countries made ajoint statement announcing their decisionto become shareholders in the exchangeand stressed their commitment to the JointComprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),the nuclear nonproliferation agreementreached with Iran in 2015. The statementcomes ahead of talks between all partiesof the JCPOA, due to be held in Viennanext Wednesday.

The JCPOA was originally brokered by USpresident Barack Obama, and signed byIran, China, France, Germany, Russia,UK, US, Germany, and the EU. The dealdemanded that Iran make majorconcessions in its nuclear enrichmentprogram, forfeit a stockpile of highlyenriched uranium and allow InternationalAtomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectorsunprecedented access to its nuclearfacilities to ensure compliance. Inexchange, Iran was offered relief forlongstanding economic sanctions and theability to trade with the rest of theinternational community.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/30112019

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-

https://financialtribune.com/articles/national/

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/


Germany is closing all its nuclearpower plants. Now it must find aplace to bury the deadly waste for 1million yearsSheena McKenzie, CNN, November 30, 2019

Germany decided to phase out all its nuclearpower plants in the wake of the Fukushimadisaster in 2011, amid increasing safetyconcerns. The seven power stations still inoperation today are due to close by 2022.With their closure comes a new challenge— finding a permanent nuclear graveyardby the government’s 2031 deadline.Germany’s Ministry for Economic Affairsand Energy says it aims to find a finalrepository for highly radioactive waste“which offers the best possible safety andsecurity for a period of a million years.”

Where do you safely bury more than 28,000cubic meters — roughly six Big Ben clocktowers — of deadly radioactive waste forthe next million years? This is the “wickedproblem” facing Germany as it closes all ofits nuclear power plants in the coming years,according to Professor Miranda Schreurs,part of the team searching for a storage site.Experts are now hunting for somewhere tobury almost 2,000 containers of high-levelradioactive waste. The site must be beyondrock-solid, with no groundwater orearthquakes that could cause a leakage.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/30/europe/germany-nuclear-waste-grm-intl/index.html

EU Committed to FindingDiplomatic Resolution to NuclearDisputeFinancial Tribune, December 1, 2019

The three European parties to the 2015nuclear deal have reaffirmed theircommitment to pursue efforts for adiplomatic resolution to ensure the fullimplementation of the accord by all parties.In a statement published by the Britishgovernment’s website, France, Britain andGermany said, “We remain fully committedto pursuing our efforts toward a diplomaticresolution within the framework ofJCPOA.” They used the abbreviation of the

deal’s formal name, the JointComprehensive Plan of Action.

As evidence for their efforts, the threecountries cited the decision by sixEuropean Union states to join theirfinancial system to facilitate trade withIran in the face of sweeping sanctions thatthe United States reimposed on Tehranafter unilaterally exiting the agreement lastyear. Their mechanism, known as INSTEX(Instrument in Support of TradeExchanges), is among Europe’s solutionsto salvage the deal by protecting Iranianinterests. It was established by France,Germany and Britain in January 2019 andaims to keep the country’s trade afloat bycircumventing US sanctions through anon-dollar system. However, it has not yetpractically mitigated Iran’s economicsituation.

https://financialtribune.com/articles/national/101001/eu-committed-to-finding-diplomatic-resolution-to-nuclear-dispute

F. Russia

Russia ponders a floating nuclearplant for IndiaCharles Digges, Bellona, November 18,2019

Rosatom, Russia’s nuclear corporation, haspublicly expressed interest in jointlydeveloping a floating nuclear power plantwith India, alongside other small andmedium sized reactors, The Times of Indiahas reported.

Nikita Mazein, vice president of RusatomOverseas, Rosatom’s international branch,told a nuclear conference in New Delhiearlier this month that remote coastal areasof South Asia could be served by small-scale reactors like the ones Rosatom iscurrently developing, as well as by afloating nuclear plant.

The 140-meter floating plant, which wasmore than a decade in the making, isequipped with two KLT-40 reactors thatprovide a combined 70 megawatts ofpower. The operational staff of about 70

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/30/europe/

https://financialtribune.com/articles/national/


can also make use of the plant’s gym,swimming pool and bar.

Rosatom has estimated that the AkademikLomonosov can power a city of 100,000residents. Pevek’s population, however, is amere 4,700, so the bulk of the plant’selectricity will power local miningoperations and offshore oil drilling rigs. Itcan operate for 12 years before it needs tobe refueled.

The company has billed the plant, which isthe only one of its kind currently operatingin the world, as a prototype for futurefloating plants, though has admitted that thecost of the Akademik Lomomosov wasprohibitive for serial production.

https://bellona.org/news/nuclear-issues/2019-11-russia-ponders-a-floating-nuclear-plant-for-india

Moscow condemns US plans to endsanctions waiver over Iran’s Fordownuclear siteRussian Times, November 19, 2019

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesdayresolutely condemned the statement ofSecretary of State Mike Pompeo the previousday that the US is terminating the sanctionswaiver related to Iran’s Fordow nuclearplant. ”There is no legitimate reason for Iranto resume enrichment at this previouslyclandestine site,” Pompeo said.

Washington’s intentions are a blatantviolation of international obligations, theRussian ministry said. Taking into accountthe US statements, a substantial reactionfrom the Commission on the JointComprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) willbe required, according to the statement.

Moscow hopes that Europeancolleagues ”will find the strength to gobeyond the duty regrets about the US actionsand together with us and China to defendthe JCPOA,” the ministry said. It added thatthe Fordow project, as well as othersimportant elements of the Iran nuclear deal,should be protected ”from US sanctionsattacks.”

https://www.rt.com/newsline/473819-russia-us-iran-fordow/

Russia condemns U.S. decision toend sanctions waiver on Iran’sFordowReuters, November 19, 2019

Russia strongly condemns the U.S. decisionto drop a sanctions waiver related to Iran’sFordow nuclear facility and believes thedecision violates U.S. internationalcommitments, Russia’s foreign ministrysaid in a statement on Tuesday.

Moscow is continuing its close cooperationwith Iran on the Fordow reconfiguration,it said. The United States said on Mondayit will no longer waive sanctions relatedto Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant afterTehran resumed uranium enrichment atthe underground site.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-russia/russia-condemns-u-s-decision-to-end-sanctions-waiver-on-irans-fordow-idUSKBN1XT28J

Putin Says ‘Unparalleled’Weapons Tested at DeadlyNuclear Accident SiteThe Moscow Times, November 22, 2019

President Vladimir Putin said Thursdaythat the scientists killed in a mysteriousnuclear explosion in northwestern Russiathis summer had been testing an“unparalleled” weapon.

A liquid propulsion system blast on Aug.8 at a naval missile test facility inNyonoksa in Arkhangelsk region killed fivepeople and led to a brief radiation spikenearby. Putin said at the time the accidentoccurred during testing of what he calledpromising new weapons systems.

“We’re talking about the most advancedand unparalleled technical ideas andsolutions, about weapons designed toensure Russia’s sovereignty and securityfor decades to come,” Putin told thevictims’ relatives at a televised state awardsceremony in the Kremlin.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/11/22/putin-says-unparalleled-weapons-tested-at-deadly-nuclear-accident-site-a68274

https://bellona.org/news/nuclear-issues/2019-11-

https://www.rt.com/newsline/473819-russia-us-

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/11/22/


Rosatom Plans Multi-Billion-DollarExpansion into Ocean FreightThe Maritime Executive, November 22, 2019

Russian state nuclear power companyRosatom, the operator of Russia’s nuclearicebreaker fleet and the designated managerfor the development of Russia’s NorthernSea Route, is reportedly planning to plowbillions of dollars into a fleet of containerships in order to make Asia-to-Europe cargoruns through Arctic waters.

Unlike CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC,Nike, H&M and other Western companiesthat have pledged to avoid the Northern SeaRoute due to environmental concerns,Rosatom is officially tasked with maximizingthe Arctic region’s economic potential.Russian outlet Vedomosti reports that basedon information from sources close to thecompany, Rosatom plans to become ashipping giant: it wants to capture aboutseven percent of the containerized cargo thatcurrently transits the Malacca-Suez-Gibraltar route to and from Europe.

The NSR would offer shippers a fasteralternative to transport containerized goodsbetween Asian and European markets - notas fast as air freight, nor as quick as the SilkRoad rail line, but still considerably fasterthan the standard ocean freight route. Underlegislation passed by the state Duma lastyear, Rosatom has authority over shipping,access, security and infrastructure on theNorthern Sea Route, with the Ministry ofTransport playing a subordinate role.

https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/rosatom-plans-multi-billion-dollar-expansion-into-ocean-freight

Russian Watchdog Detects‘Radiation Incident’ in South ChinaSeaThe Moscow Times, November 22, 2019

The Russian government’s consumerprotection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor saidFriday it has detected a “radiation incident”in the South China Sea.

“Based on data received from the GlobalEnvironmental Monitoring System, there’san increase in background radiation in theSouth China Sea in connection with aradiation incident,” Rospotrebnadzor saidin an online statement.

A website run by far-right U.S. talk showradio host Hal Turner claimed Wednesdaythat unidentified military sources hadallegedly detected an underwater nuclearexplosion in the area that caused powerfulshockwaves. The U.S. tech news websiteGizmodo cited two scientistswho dismissed the report as fake.

Gizmodo reported that uRADMonitorGlobal Environmental MonitoringNetwork data used in the initial reportregistered “negligible” radiation and notedthat two other agencies in the regionshowed normal radiation readings.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/11/22/russian-watchdog-detects-radiation-incident-in-south-china-sea-a68287

Russia’s Avangard hypersonicmissile system to go on combatalert in December — top brassTASS News Agency, November 26, 2019

Russia’s breakthrough Avangard missilesystem with the hypersonic boost-glidevehicle will assume combat duty inDecember this year, the Defense Ministryof Russia reported on Tuesday.

“This missile system is set to go on combatalert in December 2019,” the ministry saidin a statement.

A source in the defense industry told TASSon November 13 that the first two UR-100N UTTKh intercontinental ballisticmissiles (ICBMs) outfitted with theAvangard nuclear boost-glide vehiclewould go on experimental combat duty inlate November - early December in theDombarovsky division of the StrategicMissile Force.

As another source in the defense industrytold TASS in October last year, two

https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/



Avangard regiments with six silo-basedmissiles each were due to assume combatduty in Russia.

https://tass.com/defense/1092905

Russia Shows Off HypersonicNuclear Missile to U.S. InspectorsThe Moscow Times, November 26, 2019

Russia said it has showed its new hypersonicnuclear missile system to U.S. inspectors aspart of a bilateral arms control treaty aheadof the missile’s deployment,Interfax reported Tuesday.

President Vladimir Putin said late last yearthat Russia would be ready to deploy theAvangard missile system in one year’s time.One of several new weapons announced in2018, the Avangard was touted as a highlymaneuverable weapon able to evade theUnited States’ missile defense systems.

“The Russian side held a demonstration tohelp ensure the viability and effectivenessof the [New] START Treaty,” the Russianmilitary was quoted as saying, adding thatit plans to put Avangard into combat dutybefore the end of the year.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/11/26/russia-shows-off-hypersonic-nuclear-missile-to-us-inspectors-a68329

Russia says it showed hypersonicnuclear missile system to U.S.inspectorsReuters, November 26, 2019

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Tuesdayit had shown the country’s new Avangardnuclear missile system to U.S. inspectors forthe first time, a move Moscow said showeda key arms control treaty was still effective.

Russia is due to deploy next month theAvangard system, a hypersonic glide vehicledesigned to sit atop an intercontinentalballistic missile, one of several new types ofweapons touted by President VladimirPutin as ahead of their time.

The Defence Ministry said a group of visiting

U.S. arms inspectors had been shown theAvangard system from Nov. 24-26 underthe auspices of the New START treaty,which came into effect in 2011.

The treaty limits the number of strategicnuclear warheads the world’s two biggestnuclear powers can deploy to no more than1,550 each.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-missiles/russia-says-it-showed-hypersonic-nuclear-missile-system-to-u-s-inspectors-idUSKBN1Y01Z0

Russia urges U.S. to extendnuclear pact due to expire in 2021Reuters, November 27, 2019

Russia has formally proposed to the UnitedStates that the two nuclear superpowersextend their New START arms controltreaty by five years, though Moscowwould also settle for a shorter extension, asenior Russian official said on Wednesday.

The New START accord, which is due toexpire in February 2021, is the last majornuclear arms control treaty betweenMoscow and Washington. It limits thenumber of strategic nuclear warheadsthey can deploy to 1,550 each.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-missiles/russia-urges-u-s-to-extend-nuclear-pact-due-to-expire-in-2021-idUSKBN1Y123W

Kingdom in talks with Russia fornuclear scienceTaing Vida, Khmer Times, November 27,2019

Cambodian and Russian experts yesterdayconcluded discussions on the possibility ofconstructing and establishing a NuclearScience and Technology Centre in theKingdom.

The discussion, which was held in SiemReap province over two days, took placeat the 3rd meeting of a Cambodia-Russiajoint working group on cooperation in theuse of nuclear energy for peacefulpurposes.

https://tass.com/defense/1092905


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-


The meeting was chaired by Sok Kean, anundersecretary of state at the EnvironmentMinistry, and Russian Ambassador DmitryTsvetkov.

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50664303/kingdom-in-talks-with-russia-for-nuclear-science/

EBRD announces breakthrough inclean-up of Andreeva BayWorld Nuclear News, November 28, 2019

The European Bank for Reconstruction andDevelopment (EBRD) has announced theretrieval of abandoned, highly radioactiveused nuclear fuel assemblies from the bottomof Building 5 at Andreeva Bay in north-western Russian. Following the successfuloperation, radiation levels at the facility havefallen by over 40%, enabling furtherdecommissioning work and removing “oneof the most significant radiological risks tothe Barent Sea region”, the London-headquartered bank said.

The project is part of the EBRD-managedNDEP Nuclear Window fundingprogramme to overcome the legacy of theformer Soviet Northern Fleet. The fund isfinanced by contributions from Belgium,Canada, Denmark, the European Union,Finland, France, Germany, The Netherlands,Norway and the UK.

Simon Evans, EBRD associate director fornuclear safety, said: “This is a major steptowards making Andreeva Bayenvironmentally safe and secure andtestimony to what can be achieved throughinternational cooperation. This successfuloperation follows other milestones, like therecent first shipment of spent nuclear fuelfrom the former service ship Lepse.”

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/EBRD-announces-breakthrough-in-clean-up-of-Andreev

Russian strategic nuclear forcestest-launch Topol ICBMRussian Times, November 28, 2019

The Russian military has test-fired a nuclear-capable RS-12M Topol, capturing a chillingview of an intercontinental ballistic missile

ascending into the night sky in acaptivating video.

The test launch was performed from theKapustin Yar military range in Russia’ssouthern Astrakhan Region, the DefenseMinistry said, revealing little detail besidesthat the test warhead ”successfully hit itsdesignated target” some 2,100km away atthe Sary-Shagan range in Kazakhstan.

https://www.rt.com/russia/474600-topol-missile-test-video/

Moscow May Stop Using Nukes asDeterrent Force, Commander ofRussian Strategic Missile ForcesSaysSputnik, November 29, 2019

Earlier, Sergei Karakaev said that Russia’sstrategic missile forces have more than 200mobile and stationary missile systems.Speaking with the Russian Armed Forces’official newspaper, Krasnaya Zvezda,Karakaev said that Russia’s military is nowreplacing the last missile systems that weremade in the Soviet Union.

Commander of Russia’s Strategic MissileForces Colonel-General Sergei Karakaevsaid that Moscow could stop using nuclearweapons as a deterrent force in the future.Speaking to Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper,Karakaev said that nuclear weapons couldalso stop playing the most important rolein defending Russia from external threats.Russia’s strategic missile forces will remainthe guarantor of Russia’s security untilscientists come up with new type ofweapons or until the situation on thepolitical arena changes.

Previously, high-ranking Russian militaryofficials and politicians, includingPresident Putin, have highlighted theimportance of Russia’s nuclear triad.President Putin noted that the country’sstrategic missile forces play a crucial rolein deterring aggressors and maintainingthe balance of power on the internationalarena.

https://sputniknews.com/military/201911291077437004-moscow-may-stop-

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50664303/


https://www.rt.com/russia/474600-topol-

https://sputniknews.com/military/


using-nukes-as-deterrent-force-commander-of-russian-strategic-missile-forces-says/

Russia tests hypersonic missile inArctic - TASS cites sourcesReuters, November 30, 2019

Russia’s MiG-31K interceptor jet carried outa test of the Kinjal (Dagger) hypersonicmissile in Russia’s part of Arctic earlier thismonth, TASS new agency reported onSaturday, citing two military sources.

The report came a day after Danishintelligence service warned of intensifyinggeopolitical rivalry in the Earth’s freezingNorth, and said that China’s military wasincreasingly using scientific research in theArctic as a way into the region.

“The tests took place in mid-November,”TASS quoted one of its sources as saying.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-arctic-missiles/russia-tests-hypersonic-missile-in-arctic-tass-cites-sources-idUSKBN1Y40BB

West Asia

G. Israel

Ex-security chief: Israel needs toattack Iran to stop nukes, ‘ring offire’Yonah Jeremy Bob, Jerusalem Post, November19, 2019

Amidror said, “there might come a situationwhere we will have to act directly in Iran tostop the Iranians. The world is not ready toact…not NATO, not the US…they prefer toclose their eyes.”

Israel will likely need to attack Iran directlyto stop it from developing nuclear weaponsand a “ring of fire” around Israel, ex-national security council chief Maj.Gen. Yaakov Amidror of the JerusalemInstitute for Strategy and Security (JISS) saidon Monday. Speaking at the INSS annualArms Control conference in Tel Aviv,Amidror said, “there might come a situationwhere we will have to act directly in Iran tostop the Iranians. The world is not ready toact. It might be costly, it might be

problematic, it’s not going to be easy,” butwhen it comes to ensuring Israel’s security,he said he did not see any alternative.

Amidror said that, “there is a strongconnection between a nuclear Iran and thering of fire around Israel. With a nuclearumbrella, Iran would be free to build a ringof fire around Israel” at which point, itwould be too late for Jerusalem to stopeither the nuclear program or Iran’sdestabilizing behavior in the region.

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israel-will-need-to-attack-Iran-to-block-nuke-umbrella-ring-of-fire-607533

H. Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: Iran misusingnuclear revenue to trigger unrestin regionSaudi Gazette, November 21, 2019

Saudi Arabia has emphasized that Iranhas used its economic revenue from thenuclear deal to trigger unrest in the region.Addressing the session of the InternationalAtomic Energy Agency (IAEA) here,Prince Abdullah Bin Khalid, SaudiArabia’s ambassador to Austria, said thatIran’s enrichment at Fordow reactor is aform of blackmail and a threat to theinternational community. Heading theSaudi delegation to the IAEA meeting,Prince Abdullah said that reports releasedby the IAEA on Iran’s violations of thenuclear agreement in terms of enrichmentof uranium, the quantity produced fromit, the installation of advanced centrifuges,halting all its obligations with regard toresearch and development, and its recenturanium enrichment at the Fordowfacility, amount to blackmailing of andthreats to the international community. “Italso underlines the shortcomings of thisagreement, and reinforces doubts aboutthe intentions and peacefulness of Iran’snuclear program,” he said. PrinceAbdullah considered that Iran has misusedthe economic return from the nuclearagreement in provoking internal unrest inneighboring countries, in light of itsinsistence on the development of ballistic

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-arctic-

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israel-will-


missiles, supporting terrorist groups in theregion, threatening international navigationand maritime straits and destabilizing thesecurity and stability of the region inparticular.

http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/583141/SAUDI-ARABIA/Saudi-Arabia-Iran-misusing-nuclear-revenue-to-trigger-unrest-in-region

Saudi Arabia decries Iran’s nuclearbreachesSaudi Gazette, November 26, 2019

The Council of Ministers has condemnedIran’s continued violations and breaches ofinternational conventions and treatiespertaining to its nuclear program. TheCabinet session was chaired by Custodianof the Two Holy Mosques King Salman atAl-Yamamah Palace here on Tuesday.Minister of Media Turki Al-Shabanah toldSaudi Press Agency (SPA) that the Cabinetwelcomed the joint ministerial statement ofthe three European countries, which areparties to the agreement and therepresentative of the European Union, aswell as the decision of the United States toend the exemption of Iran’s Fordow nuclearplant from sanctions. The Cabinet stressedthe need for the international community totake a firm position toward Iran’s violationswhich are undermining global peace andsecurity. Congratulating the Organizationof Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on the 50thanniversary of its foundation, the Cabinetappreciated the pan-Islamic organizationand its affiliated bodies and all their stafffor their efforts in serving and defending thecauses of the Islamic World and achievingthe overall objectives of enhancingcooperation among the member states tobecome a model for joint Islamic action invarious fields. Al-Shabanah said the Cabinetviewed that OIC, through its march allthrough these years, has turned to be theuniform voice of the Islamic World andsought to protect the interests of the IslamicWorld until it became the second-largestintergovernmental organization after theUnited Nations.

http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/583508/SAUDI-ARABIA/Saudi-Arabia-decries-Irans-nuclear-breaches

I. Iran

Reinvigorating Iran’s defensepower best way to countersanctions: ministerTehran Times, November 16, 2019

The Iranian defense minister announcedon Saturday that the only way to counterthe U.S. sanctions is to upgrade thecountry’s competency regarding the entirevital components, especially in militarysector. Addressing a professional meetingon reviewing ways to counter-sanctionson the country’s defense field, BrigadierGeneral Amir Hatami said, “The U.S. willnot narrow down sanctions (on Iran) dueto some reasons, so, the only way to facesuch sanctions is to strengthen thecountry’s might in all vital arenas,especially in defense sector.” “Today, theenemy has targeted our existence, sobeyond embarking on hitting Iran, they areresolved to eliminate us,” the ministeropined. He further said that the hegemonicsystem has now applied its entire abilityvia using its agents to infiltrate into thecountry’s infrastructure as well ascultural, political and economic programsto access information to hit the country.

“Therefore, access to the information inwars and confrontations can be amongmain elements in supremacy in battles,”Hatami further explained. “Thank God,the U.S-led hegemonic system’s plotsagainst Iran have thus far been thwartedin various confrontations, but, (we mustnot ignore that) the enemy will not neglectany opportunity to harm our country,” thebrigadier general stressed. The UnitedStates has slapped the harshest eversanctions against Iran in line with its“maximum pressure” strategy againstIran. This happened after the Trumpadministration exited the 2015 nuclearagreement, officially called the JCPOA, inMay 2018 in violation of the resolution2231 adopted by the UN Security Councilconfirming the JCPOA. The U.S. hasintroduced a total ban on Iran’s oil export,which is the main source of Iran’s income.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442050/Reinvigorating-Iran-s-defense-power-best-way-to-counter-sanctions

http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/583141/

http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/583508/

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442050/


‘Exiting JCPOA would punishWashington’Tehran Times, November 16, 2019

Abbasali Kadkhodaei, the spokesman for theGuardian Council, says pulling out of the2015 nuclear pact would “punish” theUnited States. In an interview with TheAssociated Press on November 14,Kadkhodaei said the Islamic Republicshould stop honoring all terms of thecollapsing 2015 nuclear deal with worldpowers amid tensions with the UnitedStates.

“I think those who disrupted the gameshould be punished since they damagedother parties’ interests,” he asserted. U.S.President Donald Trump withdrew from thenuclear accord, officially known as theJCPOA, in May 2018, and imposed economicand financial sanctions against the IslamicRepublic.

Under the nuclear agreement, Tehranundertook to put limits on its nuclearprogram in exchange for the removal ofeconomic and financial sanctions. Followingthe U.S. withdrawal, Iran remained fullycommitted to the JCPOA for a year, butannounced on the anniversary ofWashington’s bellicose move that its“strategic patience” is over and wouldgradually reduce its commitments to thedeal at 60-day intervals, which weredesigned as deadlines for Europe to protectTehran’s interests under the deal.

So far, Iran has taken four steps in thatregard. In the first step, Iran removed capon its nuclear deal stockpile which waslimited to 300 kilograms enriched to purityof 3.67 percent. In the second step, whichstarted in July 7, Iran started enrichingnuclear fuel to more than 3.67 percent.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442057/Exiting-JCPOA-would-punish-Washington

Book recounting Leader’s criticismof JCPOA published Tehran Times, November 17, 2019

A book recounting Leader of the IslamicRevolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali

Khamenei’s criticism of the 2015 nucleardeal (JCPOA) has recently been publishedin Tehran. Entitled “I Told You Not toTrust”, the book has been compiled byHossein Izadi at the Islamic RevolutionDialogue Study Office, and Shahid KazmeiPublications is the publisher of thecollection.The criticisms have beencompiled from the speeches the Leaderdelivered during the time when the dealwas in process. The book actually aims todocument the file of Iran’s nuclear deal,and is a historiography of the nuclear dealin the Hassan Rouhani administration.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442090/Book-recounting-Leader-s-criticism-of-JCPOA-published

Iran urges intl. community tomake U.S., Israel to agree tonuclear free zone Middle EastTehran Times, November 19, 2019

Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran’s ambassadorto the United Nations, said on Mondaythat the international community mustcompel the United States and the Zionistregime of Israel to fulfil their commitmentsin establishing a WMD-free zone in theMiddle East.

“The international community must makethe United States and Israel behaveresponsibly and fulfil nuclearcommitments,” Takht-Ravanchi said in astatement read at the Conference on theEstablishment of a Middle East Zone Freeof Nuclear Weapons and Other Weaponsof Mass Destruction. The conference,underway in New York, began onNovember 18 and will last until November22.

The president-designate of the first sessionis Ambassador Sima Bahous of Jordan.Israel is the only country in the Middle Eastwhich has nuclear weapons. Beingsupported by the United States, it has beenblocking all efforts by the United Nationsand the international community to makethe region a WMD-free zone. Takht-Ravanchi said that the main obstacles arethe weapons of mass destruction held byIsrael, which is supported by the U.S., and




the unwillingness of the U.S. to engage inthe conference.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442155/Iran-urges-intl-community-to-make-U-S-Israel-to-agree-to-nuclear

Rouhani: JCPOA collapse will harmthe entire world Tehran Times, November 19, 2019

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani onTuesday called on the entire world nationsto pay due attention to key internationalagreements, including the JCPOA whosecollapse he warned will harm the wholeworld. In a meeting with the newly-appointed Australian Ambassador toTehran, Rouhani said, “The U.S. decision toreimpose illegal sanctions on Iran was a greatpolitical and economic mistake and in themeantime, it was against internationalresolutions and regulations.”

By abandoning the 2015 nuclear agreement,officially called the JCPOA, the U.S. not onlyreturned previous sanctions it also addednew harsh ones. Under the JCPOA, Iranagreed to curbs on its nuclear program inexchange for the termination of economicand financial sanctions.

Rouhani went on to say that Tehran will notallow the sanctions to block the way toexpand its ties with the outside world. Thepresident suggested that independentcountries should stand up against the U.S.illegal measures and force the White Houseofficials to understand that everybodyshould obey international law.

The United States violated UN SecurityCouncil Resolution 2231 which endorsed thenuclear deal. Rouhani said the U.S. has donean unprecedented act in the history of theworld by punishing those nations that havecomplied with the UN resolution,reiterating, “We must not let the U.S. besuccessful in face of internationalobligations.” “The U.S. must understandthat it is not the leader of the entire world,but only a country similar to others,”Rouhani remarked.


Rouhani-JCPOA-collapse-will-harm-the-entire-world

Russia to continue cooperationwith Iran on FordowreconfigurationTehran Times, November 20, 2019

The statement also strongly condemnedthe United States’ decision to drop asanctions waiver related to Iran’s Fordownuclear facility and believes the decisionviolates U.S. international commitments.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeoannounced on Monday that the U.S. willno longer waive sanctions related to theFordow nuclear plant after Tehranresumed uranium enrichment at the sitemore than a year after Washingtonwithdrew from the 2015 nuclearagreement.

“The right amount of uranium enrichmentfor the world’s largest state sponsor ofterror is zero ... There is no legitimatereason for Iran to resume enrichment atthis previously clandestine site,” Reutersquoted Pompeo as saying. Earlier thismonth, Iran started to inject uranium gasinto centrifuges at Fordow under thesupervision of inspectors from the UNnuclear watchdog, officially going on withthe fourth step since it began respondingto Washington’s abandonment of thenuclear deal and an inaction by theremaining parties, including Europeans, toshield Iran from sanctions.

Iran took the first step to scale downnuclear commitments on May 8. Theother two steps were taken two monthslater each. In the first step, Iran removedcap on its stockpile of nuclear enrichmentwhich had been limited to 300 kilograms.In the second, Iran started enrichinguranium beyond 3.67 percent. And in thethird, Iran removed ban on nuclearresearch and development.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442197/Russia-to-continue-cooperation-with-Iran-on-Fordow-reconfiguration

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442155/Iran-




Russia says U.S. remains isolated atIAEA meeting on IranTehran Times, November 22, 2019

Almost all parties are fully committed to the2015 nuclear deal, formally known as theJCPOA, and the U.S. remains isolated,Ulyanov said in a tweet. “Debates on #Iranin #IAEA Board of Governors today weretough. 3 main observations: 1) manyexpressed disappointment at US policy on#JCPOA, 2) even more speakers wereconcerned over reductions of Iraniancommitments, 3)almost all are fullycommitted to JCPOA. US remain isolated,”he tweeted.

In an exclusive interview with IRNApublished on Sunday, Ulyanov said Moscowis concerned about the fate of the nucleardeal. Ulyanov said the deal is very importantand the parties have been working for morethan 10 years to achieve it.

Iran has started to gradually reduce itscommitments to the JCPOA in response tothe United States which abandoned thelandmark deal in May 2018 and reinstitutedsanctions. So far, the Atomic EnergyOrganization of Iran (AEOI) has taken foursteps to cut back commitments inaccordance to paragraph 36 of the JCPOAwhich “allows one side, under certaincircumstances, to stop complying with thedeal if the other side is out of compliance.”

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442243/Russia-says-U-S-remains-isolated-at-IAEA-meeting-on-Iran

Europe should pay price to salvageJCPOA: envoyTehran Times, November 22, 2019

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s ambassador andpermanent representative to the Vienna-based international organizations, saysEurope should be ready to pay the price if itwants to preserve the nuclear deal. “It iscompletely visible that turning a blind eyeto the current state of the affairs shows thatEuropeans are not ready yet to pay thenecessary price for maintaining the most

important diplomatic achievement and asthey call it one of the most importantfoundations of non-proliferationarchitecture,” Gharibabadi said whileaddressing the IAEA’s board of governorson Thursday, Mehr reported.

Pointing to Iran’s reduction of itscommitments to the nuclear agreement,also known as the Joint ComprehensivePlan of Action (JCPOA), in the pastmonths, the envoy said the only way tokeep the historic pact alive is that all sideslive up to their commitments. “Europeneeds to define the U.S. destructive roleas the main reason for the current state ofthe affairs instead of criticizing Iran,” headded. Gharibabadi also dismissed as“baseless” claims of nuclear proliferationby Western countries as Iran has removedsome limits on nuclear energy program,stressing that such baseless remarks willnot stop Iran from continuing its nationalplans.

Iran still faithful to all its JCPOAobligations, envoy tells IAEATehran Times, November 22, 2019

“Iran has shown its good will byimplementing all of its commitments underthe deal wholeheartedly, and as the worldwitnessed, the Agency has continuouslyreported the full compliance of Iran withthe JCPOA,” said Kazem Gharibabadi, theIranian envoy to the IAEA.

“Iran tries to protect its national interestin accordance with international rules,regulations and negotiated agreements,and even the recent steps taken by Iran tocease the implementation of some of itscommitments under the JCPOA not onlyare the continuation of its full compliancewith the provisions of the deal consistentwith its paragraph 36, but also do notbreak any of its international obligations,and Iran still is acting within the nucleardeal,” he added.

“However, if it [Iran] is to be the only, andI stress, the only participant who bears theburden and implements the deal



unilaterally, such a lopsided implementation,naturally, would not last long, and gradualcessation of implementation ofcommitments would be the first step for Iranto take to bring back the lost balance in thedeal,” he warned. He made the remarks ina statement on Thursday before the IAEABoard of Governors which met onVerification and Monitoring of Iran in Lightof United Nations Security CouncilResolution 2231 passed in 2015.

During the meeting, IAEA Acting Director-General Cornel Feruta claimed the Agencyhas “detected natural uranium particles ofanthropogenic origin at a location in Irannot declared to the agency” and said theissue has remained “unresolved”. “Ameeting between the Agency and Iran isscheduled next week in Tehran to discussthe matter,” he said.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442220/Iran-still-faithful-to-all-its-JCPOA-obligations-envoy-tells

Iran voices serious concern overUAE nuclear safetyTehran Times, November 23, 2019

Iran’s permanent representative to theUnited Nations Office and otherInternational Organizations in Vienna hasvoiced Tehran’s deep concern over the safetyof the United Arab Emirates’ nuclearprogram. Kazem Gharib Abadi’s remarkscame in his address on Thursday to theInternational Atomic Energy Agency’sBoard of Governors on Verification andMonitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iranin Light of the United Nations SecurityCouncil resolution 2231.

Gharib Abadi said, “The UAE’s nuclearprogram is a full-scale imported program.It does not rely on domestic capacities andknowledge, therefore we are seriouslyconcerned about the program’s security andsafety.”

He said that according to the IAEA’sregulations, the host country must acceptresponsibility of the nuclear sites’ safety andsecurity. “Safety and security cannot be

provided from oversees,” AmbassadorGharib Abadi added.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442285/Iran-voices-serious-concern-over-UAE-nuclear-safety

Sanctions on Fordow is a blow tonuclear deal: Russian CENESSdirectorTehran Times, November 24, 2019

Director of the Russian Center for Energyand Security Studies (CENESS) AntonKhlopkov has said that the United States’sanctions on the Fordow nuclear plant isa blow to the 2015 nuclear deal, formallyknown as the JCPOA. In an interviewwith IRNA published on Saturday, he saidthe U.S. action in dropping sanctionswaiver for Fordow is a violation ofinternational law.

“In the past year and a half, the UnitedStates has taken various actions againstthe JCPOA which are contrary toResolution 2231 of the United NationsSecurity Council, while the United Stateswas among the initiators of this resolutionand the JCPOA,” he said.

Resolution 2231 endorsed the nuclear dealand annulled all the previous sanctionsresolutions against Iran. U.S. Secretary ofState Mike Pompeo announced onNovember 18 that the U.S. will no longerwaive sanctions related to the Fordownuclear plant after Tehran resumeduranium enrichment work at the site morethan a year after Washington withdrewfrom the nuclear pact and imposedsanctions on Iran.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442312/Sanctions-on-Fordow-is-a-blow-to-nuclear-deal-Russian-CENESS

Iran, IAEA sign new projects fortechnical cooperationTehran Times, November 25, 2019

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s ambassador tothe Vienna-based internationalorganizations, has said that Iran and the





International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) have signed new projects fortechnical cooperation in nuclear industry.“Our country’s Atomic Energy Organizationand the Agency [IAEA] held technical talksand are supposed to continue implementingtwo projects of technical cooperation inareas of power plants and cancer treatmentin 2020 and 2021,” IRNA reportedGharibabadi as saying on Monday. “Inaddition to that, four new projects fortechnical cooperation have been signed,” theambassador said.

He added, “These projects, whoseimplementation requires over one millioneuro and are financed by the Agency, are inareas of promoting safety in exploitingnuclear research reactors, promotinghuman capacities in area of nuclear fuel andalso promoting capacity of producers in areaof main grains and also managing waste.”

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442334/Iran-IAEA-sign-new-projects-for-technical-cooperation

JCPOA joint commission to conveneon December 6Tehran Times, November 25, 2019

Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavisaid on Monday that the Joint Commissionof the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action(JCPOA) may convene on December 6 at thelevel of deputy foreign ministers. The latestdevelopments in implementing the JCPOAwill be discussed in the meeting, he saidduring a press conference. Iran has startedto gradually reduce its commitments to theJCPOA in response to the United Stateswhich abandoned the landmark deal in May2018 and reinstituted sanctions.

So far, the Atomic Energy Organization ofIran (AEOI) has taken four steps to cut backcommitments in accordance with paragraph36 of the JCPOA which “allows one side,under certain circumstances, to stopcomplying with the deal if the other side isout of compliance.”

On May 8, exactly one year after the U.S.abandoned the deal, Tehran announced thatits “strategic patience” is over and began to

partially reduce its commitments to theagreement at bi-monthly intervals.

In the first stage, Iran announced that itwill not limit its stockpile of the nuclearfuel to 300 kilograms allowed under thedeal. On that date (May 8) Iran’s SupremeNational Security Council (SNSC) said ifthe remaining parties to the JCPOA,especially Europeans, devise a mechanismto protect Iran from the sanctions’ effectin the two-month deadline it will reverseits decision.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442351/JCPOA-joint-commission-to-convene-on-December-6

Iran dismisses French commentsabout nuclear deal’s disputemechanismReuters, November 28, 2019

Iran rejects as “irresponsible” commentsby France that it is seriously consideringtriggering a mechanism within the Irannuclear deal that could lead to U.N.sanctions, Iranian Foreign Ministryspokesman Abbas Mousavi said onThursday. “Iran’s scaling back of itsnuclear commitments was implementationof its legal rights to react to America’sillegal and unilateral exit of the deal andthe European parties’ failure to fulfill theirobligations,” Mousavi said in remarksquoted by state television. “Under thesecircumstances, the deal does not allowtriggering of the mechanism by theEuropean parties to the deal ... suchremarks by the French official areirresponsible and not constructive.” Themechanism involves a party referring adispute to a Joint Commission comprisingIran, Russia, China, the three Europeanpowers, and the European Union andthen on to the U.N. Security Council if thatcommission cannot resolve it.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-eu/iran-dismisses-french-comments-about-nuclear-deals-dispute-mechanism-idUSKBN1Y216Z





Iran : Invoking nuclear deal’sdispute resolution mechanismimpossible – TVReuters, November 28, 2019

Iran rejected as “irresponsible” France’scomments that Paris was seriouslyconsidering triggering a mechanism withinthe Iran nuclear deal that could lead to U.N.sanctions, Iranian Foreign Ministryspokesman Abbas Mousavi said onThursday, state TV reported. “Iran’s scalingback of its nuclear commitments wasimplementation of its legal rights to react toAmerica’s illegal and unilateral exit of thedeal and the European parties’ failure tofulfil their obligations,” Mousavi said.“Under these circumstances, the deal doesnot allow triggering of the mechanism bythe European parties to the deal ... suchremarks by the French official areirresponsible and not constructive.”

https://in.reuters.com/article/iran-nuclear-eu/iran-invoking-nuclear-deals-dispute-resolution-mechanism-impossible-tv-idINL1N288058

Six European countries to joinINSTEXTehran Times, November 29, 2019

“In light of the continuous Europeansupport for the agreement and the ongoingefforts to implement the economic part of itand to facilitate legitimate trade betweenEurope and Iran, we are now in the processof becoming shareholders of the Instrumentin Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX)subject to completion of national procedures.INSTEX was established by France,Germany and the United Kingdom inJanuary 2019,” read the statement,published by the Foreign Ministry of Finland.

It added, “The nuclear agreement wasunanimously endorsed by the UN SecurityCouncil and is as a key instrument for theglobal non-proliferation regime and a majorcontribution to stability in the region.”

INSTEX has been designed by the EuropeanUnion to facilitate legitimate trade withTehran. It was introduced on January 31 byFrance, Germany and Britain, the three

countries party to the 2015 nuclear deal.It was introduced long after the U.S.imposed sanctions on Iran and threatenedto punish any country or company thatdoes business with Iran. INSTEX issupposed to be a financial channel and aspecial mechanism for transferring moneyin spite of U.S. sanctions on Iran. Itsobjective is to facilitate Iran’s transactionswith European companies. On March 20,Iran’s central bank governor AbdolnaserHemmati announced that a mechanismsimilar to INSTEX has been registered inIran, officially called the Special Trade andFinance Institute (STFI).

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442470/Six-European-countries-to-join-INSTEX

New IAEA chief says he wants‘constructive’ relation with IranTehran Times, November 30, 2019

In an interview with NHK published onSaturday, he said he will take a fair stanceon Iran. Rafael Grossi is set to take officeas director general of the UN nuclearwatchdog on Tuesday. The agency’s boardappointed him to the post in October,following the death of the previous chiefYukiya Amano in July. Foreign Ministryspokesman Abbas Mousavi said onOctober 31 that Iran is ready to expandcooperation with the IAEA based on“mutual trust” and adoption of aprofessional approach by the UN nuclearbody.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready tomaintain and expand constructiveinteraction and cooperation with theagency based on mutual respect andprofessional precision and neutrality ofthis institution,” he said in a message,congratulating appointment of Grossi asthe director general of the IAEA. Mousaviexpressed hope that Grossi would fulfil hisinternational duties professionally andwith adopting an independent position.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442521/New-IAEA-chief-says-he-wants-constructive-relation-with-Iran

https://in.reuters.com/article/iran-nuclear-eu/iran-




France welcomes six Europeancountries’ decision to join INSTEXTehran Times, November 30, 2019

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drianhas welcomed six European countries’decision to join the Instrument in Supportof Trade Exchanges (INSTEX). Belgium,Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands,Norway, and Sweden issued a jointstatement on Friday announcing becomingshareholders of INSTEX. In a tweet onFriday, Le Drian said that the six Europeancountries made an important decision to joinINSTEX.

He also said that the Europeans are stronglycommitted to support the 2015 nuclear deal,officially known as the Joint ComprehensivePlan of Action. The statement issued by thesix European countries says, “In light of thecontinuous European support for theagreement and the ongoing efforts toimplement the economic part of it and tofacilitate legitimate trade between Europeand Iran, we are now in the process ofbecoming shareholders of the Instrument inSupport of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX)subject to completion of national procedures.INSTEX was established by France,Germany and the United Kingdom inJanuary 2019.”

It added, “The nuclear agreement wasunanimously endorsed by the UN SecurityCouncil and is as a key instrument for theglobal non-proliferation regime and a majorcontribution to stability in the region.”INSTEX has been designed by the EuropeanUnion to facilitate legitimate trade withTehran. It was introduced on January 31 byFrance, Germany, and Britain, the threecountries party to the nuclear deal. It wasintroduced long after the U.S. imposedsanctions on Iran and threatened to punishany country or company that does businesswith Iran.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442515/France-welcomes-six-European-countries-deci-sion-to-join-INSTEX

Diplomat hopes INSTEX would beimplemented as six morecountries join inTehran Times, November 30, 2019

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister forPolitical Affairs Abbas Araghchi said onSaturday that he hopes the Instrument inSupport of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX)would become operational as six moreEuropean countries join the financialmechanism. His comments came asBelgium, Denmark, Finland, theNetherlands, Norway, and Sweden issueda joint statement on Friday announcingbecoming shareholders of INSTEX.

In an interview with IRNA correspondentin Beijing on Saturday, Araghchi said theEuropean countries’ action in joiningINSTEX is “valuable”. INSTEX has beendesigned by the European Union tofacilitate legitimate trade with Tehran. Itwas introduced on January 31 by France,Germany, and Britain, the three countriesparty to the 2015 nuclear deal. It wasintroduced long after the U.S. imposedsanctions on Iran and threatened topunish any country or company that doesbusiness with Iran. It is supposed to be afinancial channel and a special mechanismfor transferring money in spite of U.S.sanctions on Iran. Its objective is tofacilitate Iran’s transactions withEuropean companies.

“The fact that the European countries areserious about having INSTEX as a businessmechanism to keep economic relationswith Iran and finding a way in order forIran to have economic interaction withEuropeans despite the United States’sanctions is very valuable,” said Araqchi.

Araqchi served as a senior negotiator incrafting the 2015 nuclear deal, officiallyknown as the JCPOA, with the otherparties, which includes the five permanentmembers of the UN Security Council(China, Russia, Britain, France, and the



U.S.) Germany and the European Union.However, the U.S., under President DonaldTrump, abandoned the deal and reinstitutedsanctions on Iran.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442518/Diplomat-hopes-INSTEX-would-be-implemented-as-six-more-countries

Salehi: Iran views IAEA inspector’sact as ‘industrial sabotage’Tehran Times, November 30, 2019

Nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi has said Iranviews the conduct of an IAEA inspector whowas carrying suspicious material whileentering the Natanz nuclear enrichment siteas an “industrial sabotage”. In earlyNovember Iran confirmed that it hadprevented an inspector from theInternational Atomic Energy Agency fromaccessing the site because she was carryingsuspicious material.

“The Agency’s inspectors must be checkedwhile entering Iran’s sites and in this checkthe devices showed that one of the inspectorswas carrying suspicious material,” Salehitold the Youth Journalists Club in interviewpublished on Saturday. Salehi said when theinspector was asked about the issue “heranswers were not convincing and notacceptable.”

Salehi, a nuclear scientist, said some otherthings happened that “I cannot reveal theirdetails.”

All these events were “documented” and“filmed” but since the inspector enjoyeddiplomatic immunity “we could not holdher,” director of the Atomic EnergyOrganization of Iran explained. Referringto the history of malicious moves againstIran’s nuclear work in the past, he said theWest used Stuxnet virus against the Iraniannuclear industry, committed industrialsabotage, and sold faulty equipment to Iran.“We see the recent act by the Agency’sinspector is in line with those measures.”

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/442524/Salehi-Iran-views-IAEA-inspector-s-act-as-industrial-sabotage

East Asia

J. North Korea

North Korea says nuclear issueswill not be on agenda unless U.S.‘hostile policy’ discussed: KCNAReuters, November 17, 2019

North Korea said on Sunday nuclear issueswill not be discussed when talks with theUnited States restart unless thewithdrawal of U.S. “hostile policy” wasput on the agenda, state media reported.The North’s foreign ministry said in astatement carried by the official KCNAnews agency that the recent passage of aUnited Nations resolution on Pyongyang’shuman rights was a U.S.-led “politicalprovocation.” North Korea has previouslydescribed the U.N. criticism as a productof U.S. “hostile policy”.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa/north-korea-says-nuclear-issues-will-not-be-on-agenda-unless-u-s-hostile-policy-discussed-kcna-idUSKBN1XR081

North Korea says will not offeranything to Trump withoutreceiving in return: KCNAReuters, November 18, 2019

North Korea will not offer anything forU.S. President Donald Trump to bragabout without receiving anything inreturn, a statement on its state newsagency KCNA said on Monday. NorthKorea was not interested in a summit thatwas “useless to itself”, said the statement,under the name of Foreign Ministryadviser Kim Kye Gwan, referring toTrump’s message on Sunday to NorthKorean leader Kim Jong Un on Twitter.“If the U.S. does not really want to let goof its dialogue with us, it should make adecision to withdraw its hostile policy ofviewing us as an enemy,” the KCNAstatement said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-trump/north-korea-says-will-not-offer-anything-to-trump-without-receiving-in-return-kcna-idUSKBN1XS0WF



https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-



KAPPC chief warns US againstanti-DPRK hostilityPyongyang Times, November 19, 2019

The US secretary of Defense said on Nov17 that the US decided to suspend the jointaerial drill with south Korea, adding thatnorth Korea should make a “good response”to the US “measure of good will” and comeback to the negotiating table without anycondition. The US tries to make a goodimpression as if it contributes to peace andstability on the Korean peninsula, describingthe suspension as “consideration for andconcession” to someone. But, we demandthat the US quit the drill or stop it once andfor all.

The suspension of the drill does not meanensuring peace and security on the Koreanpeninsula and is not helpful to thediplomatic efforts for the settlement ofissues. If the US is concerned about theDPRK-US dialogue, the question is why itpersistently depends on “human rights”racket, sanctions and pressure aiming atdefaming and stifling the DPRK, its dialoguepartner. From the viewpoint of theinternational community, such behavior ofthe US may be seen vague as the oneconfused and contradictory, but the DPRKclearly see it.

The US is resorting to every crafty artifice,obsessed with hostility towards the DPRK,seeking to earn time to get out of the criticalsituation in the run-up to the year in andyear out. The US always calls for negotiationfor denuclearization, but there is no roomto say about the negotiation before thecomplete and irrevocable withdrawal of itshostile policy toward the DPRK, the rootcause of the nuclear issue of the Koreanpeninsula. We have nothing pressing andhave no intention to sit on the table withthe tricky US.

From now on, the DPRK will get duecompensation for every administrativeachievement the US president has talked toomuch about for over a year. It will bepossible to consult the denuclearization onlywhen confidence-building between theDPRK and the US goes first and all the

threats to the security and developmentof the DPRK are removed, rather thandiscuss the issues for the improvement ofDPRK-US relations and establishment ofpeace mechanism within the frameworkof negotiation for denuclearization. TheUS should not dream of the negotiationsfor denuclearization before dropping itshostile policy toward the DPRK.

http://www.pyongyangtimes.com.kp/?bbs=32157

North Korea says it’s gainednothing from US but ‘betrayal’Korea Times, November 23, 2019

North Korea’s U.N. Mission says thecountry has gained ‘’nothing but a senseof betrayal’’ since its leader Kim Jong Unand U.S. President Donald Trumpcommitted to establishing a newrelationship. The mission said in asummary of its assessment of North Korea-U.S. relations on Friday that ‘’the currentlyimbalanced situation can no longer beallowed.’’ It said that since the U.S. hasfailed to take reciprocal measures to itssuspension of ‘’a number of actions,’’ thereis no reason for further restraint and ‘’it isquite natural for us to bolster ourcapabilities.’’ Kim Jong Un has demandedthe U.S. come up with new, acceptablemeasures to salvage nuclear talks by year’send. And Pyongyang has been steppingup its pressures on Washington to makebigger concessions. (AP)

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2019/11/103_279203.html

N. Korea, Russia discuss ‘strategiccommunications, cooperationKorea Times, November 23, 2019

North Korean First Vice Foreign MinisterChoe Son-hui, considered a key nuclearstrategist of leader Kim Jong-un, has metwith a senior Russian diplomat anddiscussed the need for “strategiccommunications and cooperation”between the two countries, the North’sstate media said Saturday. Choe met withRussian Vice Foreign Minister Igor

http://www.pyongyangtimes.com.kp/

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2019/


Morgulov in Moscow on Friday andexchanged views on the situation on theKorean Peninsula and in the region,according to the Korean Central NewsAgency. “(They) mentioned the need for theDPRK and Russia to intensify strategiccommunications and cooperation,” thereport said. DPRK stands for the North’sofficial name, the Democratic People’sRepublic of Korea.

On Thursday, Choe also met with RussianVice Defense Minister Alexander Fomin,according to the report. Choe arrived inMoscow on Tuesday for the first round ofstrategic dialogue between North Korea andRussia, which was launched after the firstsummit between Kim and Russian PresidentVladimir Putin in April.


North Korea appears to havelaunched a missile, Japan’scoastguard saysReuters, November 28, 2019

Japan’s coastguard on Thursday said thatNorth Korea had launched what appearedto be a missile, adding that it was monitoringwhere the projectile would land. Thecoastguard offered no further details. Theincident follows the launch of two short-range projectiles by Pyongyang in lateOctober, which landed in waters betweenNorth Korea and Japan.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-japan/north-korea-appears-to-have-launched-a-missile-japans-coastguard-says-idUSKBN1Y20RE

North Korea test fires rockets inThanksgiving reminder of year-enddeadline for U.S.Hyonhee Shin, Jack Kim, Reuters, November28, 2019

Breaking a month-long lull in missile tests,North Korea fired two short rangeprojectiles into the sea off its east coast onThursday in what appeared to be the latesttry out of its new multiple rocket launchers,

South Korea’s military said. The test-firingcame as the clock ticks down on the year-end deadline that Pyongyang had giventhe United States to show flexibility in theirstalled denuclearization talks. It alsocoincided with the U.S. Thanksgivingholiday, and took place one day before thesecond anniversary of the North’s test ofan intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS)said the North fired the two projectiles intothe sea from launchers in the easterncoastal town of Yonpo at around 5 p.m.(0800 GMT). The rockets traveled up to 380km (236 miles) and reached an altitude of97 km (60 miles), the JCS said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles/north-korea-test-fires-rockets-in-thanksgiving-reminder-of-year-end-deadline-for-u-s-idUSKBN1Y20QX

N. Korea hails ‘successful test ofsuper-large multiple rocketlauncher’Korea Times, November 29, 2019

North Korea said Friday it successfullytested a super-large multiple rocketlauncher’s successive firing system underleader Kim Jong-un’s guidance in thelaunch of two projectiles the previous day.On Thursday, South Korea’s military saidthe North fired two projectiles from whatis presumed to be a super-large multiplerocket launcher from Yeonpo in thecountry’s eastern South HamgyongProvince toward the East Sea. The North’sofficial Korean Central News Agency saidthe Academy of Defence Scienceconducted the drill to “finally examine thecombat applicability” of the launcher. Kimexpressed “great satisfaction” over the testresults.

The test-fire “proved the military andtechnical superiority of the weapon systemand its firm reliability,” the report said.The commanders of the North’s militaryexpressed gratitude to the leader “whosaw to it that lots of arms and equipmentof powerful performance were developed





and perfected this year for the military andtechnical strengthening of the KoreanPeople’s Army,” it said. Thursday’s firingsmarked the 13th major weapons test NorthKorea conducted this year, and the fourthtest of its super-large rocket launcher system,which is presumed to be a 600-millimeterdiameter one. The North previously testedthe weapon on Aug. 24, Sept. 10 and Oct.31. The latest projectiles were fired within a30-second interval and flew around 380kilometers, reaching a maximum altitude ofaround 97 km, according to the Joint Chiefsof Staff (JCS). The JCS has expressed “strongregret” about the launches, saying they willnot help efforts to ease tensions on theKorean Peninsula.

The unification ministry also urgedPyongyang to stop acts that escalatetensions and stressed the need to improveinter-Korean relations through dialogue andcooperation. North Korea resumed its majorweapons tests in May after an 18-monthhiatus. In previous tests, it launched newtypes of short-range missiles, including itsversion of Russia’s Iskander, as well as anupgraded version of a submarine-launchedballistic missile, the Pukguksong-3.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-kim/north-koreas-thanksgiving-day-test-shows-improving-speed-for-missile-crews-idUSKBN1Y229Z

North Korea threatens Japan with‘real ballistic missile’BBC November 30, 2019

North Korea has branded Japan’s PMShinzo Abe an “imbecile” and “politicaldwarf”, accusing him of mislabelling itslatest weapons test. Mr Abe condemned theNorth for “repeated launches of ballisticmissiles” after two projectiles were fired onThursday. But the North insisted it wastesting a “super-large multiple-rocketlauncher”. On Saturday, state media saidJapan “may see what a real ballistic missileis in the not distant future”. North Korea isbanned from firing ballistic missiles underUN Security Council resolutions.

The country is under various sets ofsanctions over its missile and nuclearprogrammes. Lifting the sanctions hasbeen a key aim of the North in talks withthe US - Japan’s ally - but these have stalledsince a summit between its leader KimJong-un and President Donald Trumpbroke down in February.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50613051

K. South Korea

S. Korea, US hold annual defenseministers’ talks

Yonhap, Korea Herald, November 15, 2019

South Korea and the United States heldannual defense ministers’ talks in Seoul onFriday as the allies face tricky issues suchas a soon-to-expire intelligence-sharingpact between Seoul and Tokyo anddefense cost-sharing negotiations. DefenseMinister Jeong Kyeong-doo and USSecretary of Defense Mark Esper held the51st Security Consultative Meeting for “in-depth discussions on various pendingsecurity issues,” the defense ministry said.Key agenda items included the securitysituation on the Korean Peninsula and theconditions-based transfer of wartimeoperational control of South Korean forcesfrom Washington to Seoul, the ministrysaid in a release. Later in the day, the twoministers plan to hold a joint pressconference.

This year’s meeting is the subject ofparticular attention as it takes place just aweek before South Korea’s earlier decisionto end the General Security of MilitaryInformation Agreement between Seouland Tokyo takes effect on Nov. 23. Seoulmade the decision in August after Japanimposed export curbs in a row overwartime forced labor. The US has calledfor GSOMIA to be renewed as it sees thethree-year-old pact as a key trilateralsecurity mechanism to counter threatsposed by North Korea and an assertiveChina that has deepened defense ties withRussia. Seoul says it can reconsider the


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-


GSOMIA decision only if Japan first changesits course.

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20191115000254&ACE_SEARCH=1

‘Third US-North Korea summit tosurely produce results’: MoonKim Yoo-chul, Korea Times, November 19,2019

If a third summit between U.S. PresidentDonald Trump and North Korean leaderKim Jong-un takes place, then that will“surely produce results,” President MoonJae-in said, Tuesday night. Speaking in anationally-televised question-and-answersession with 300 selected South Koreancitizens at MBC news center in Mapo,northern Seoul, the President said effortswere already underway to make the thirdsummit North Korea happens. “Just as theUnited States and North Korea haveannounced publicly, I think efforts viaworking-level discussions are alreadyunderway for another Trump and Kimsummit within this year,” Moon said; butdeclined to elaborate further. He remainedpositive with regard to the outcomes of sucha meeting. “I am sure results will begenerated if the third summit betweenTrump and Kim actually happens,” thePresident said.


Ruling, main opposition partieswelcome gov’t’s decision topostpone GSOMIA terminationYonhap, Korea Herald, November 22, 2019

The ruling and the main opposition partiesboth welcomed the government’s decisionFriday to conditionally suspend the expiryof a military intelligence-sharing pact withJapan. South Korea’s announcement camesix hours before the expiration of the GeneralSecurity of Military Information Agreement(GSOMIA) at midnight, amid deterioratingties between Seoul and Tokyo over a tradespat. The decision could also be a relief to

the United States, which had pleaded withits two Asian allies not to let theirworsening relations to affect GSOMIA.The pact was signed in 2016 to bettercounter nuclear and missile threats fromNorth Korea.


South Korea decides to renewGSOMIAKim Yoo-chul, Jhoo Dong-chan, KoreaTimes, November 22, 2019

South Korea decided to renew a militaryintelligence-sharing pact with Japan,Japanese media reports said, Fridayafternoon. According to NHK in Japan,South Korea notified Japan of its decisionto renew the General Security of MilitaryInformation Agreement (GSOMIA). NHKdidn’t elaborate. First and second deputiesof the presidential National Security OfficeKim You-geun and Kim Hyun-chong areexpected to announce Seoul’s final decisionregarding GSOMIA around 6 p.m. at theearliest, according to officials familiar withthe issue. The foreign ministry is set to holda briefing session right after the CheongWa Dae announcement.

Forecasts earlier in the day were that Seoulwill officially allow the General Securityof Military Information Agreement(GSOMIA) to expire, with President MoonJae-in and top South Korean governmentofficials repeatedly reaffirming Seoul’sstance not to reverse course unless Japancancels its July move to restrict exports toSouth Korea. GSOMIA is aimed atcountering North Korean nuclear andmissile threats. It had been renewedautomatically annually since it was singedon Nov. 23, 2016, and was due to beextended unless one of the countriesdecided to drop it 90 days prior to itsextension deadline, said Cheong Wa Daeofficials.


http://www.koreaherald.com/





Ambassador hopes GSOMIAdecision helps strengthen S. Korea-US tiesYonhap, Korea Herald, November 26, 2019

South Korea’s ambassador to the UnitedStates voiced hope Monday that Seoul’sdecision to tentatively extend a militaryinformation-sharing pact with Japan willbolster its ties with Washington.Ambassador Lee Soo-hyuck was referringto Seoul’s decision last week to postpone thetermination of the General Security ofMilitary Information Agreement followingTokyo’s willingness to hold working-leveltalks on each country’s export controlmeasures. Washington had pressed both ofits allies to salvage the pact in the interest oftrilateral cooperation against North Korea’snuclear threats and China’s military rise. OnFriday, the State Department welcomedSeoul’s move.


NK’s latest weapons test intendedto warn it can return to pastbehavior: SeoulYonhap, Korea Herald, November 29, 2019

North Korea appears to have tested a super-large multiple rocket launcher as a warningsign that it can return to its past behavior ofresorting to provocations if it fails to getwhat it wants during talks with the UnitedStates, Seoul’s spy agency said Friday. TheNational Intelligence Service also assessedas “premeditated” the North’s recentartillery firing drills on an inter-Koreanborder island in the Yellow Sea. OnThursday, the North fired two short-rangeprojectiles in a row from a super-largemultiple rocket launcher from its easterntown of Yeonpo into the East Sea. It markedthe 13th major weapons test by the Norththis year.

“North Korea apparently intended to givea warning message to the US and SouthKorea that it can return to the past (patternof behavior) if it fails to achieve its goal fromdialogue with Washington by the end of this

year,” the NIS was quoted as saying bylawmakers.


Top nuclear envoys of S. Korea,US, Japan hold phone talks on NKfiringYonhap, Korea Herald, November 29, 2019

South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy has heldtelephone talks with his counterparts ofthe United States and Japan and discussedNorth Korea’s latest firing of projectiles,Seoul’s foreign ministry said Friday. LeeDo-hoon, special representative for KoreanPeninsula peace and security affairs, spokeby phone with Steven Biegun, specialrepresentative for North Korea, earlyFriday (Seoul time). He spoke to ShigekiTakizaki, head of the Japanese foreignministry’s Asian and Oceanian AffairsBureau late Thursday. During the calls,Lee shared assessments with each side onNorth Korea’s test-firing of two projectilesfrom a super-large multiple rocketlauncher and discussed joint efforts forfuture coordination related to the issue.

On Thursday, the North conducted thetest-firing from the country’s eastern areainto the East Sea, marking the fourth suchtest involving the super-large rocketlauncher system and the 13th weapons testso far this year. The latest launch cameamid a lack of progress in thedenuclearization talks betweenPyongyang and Washington, with theNorth demanding the US drop its“hostile” policy toward the regime.


L .Japan

Pope Francis to take anti-nuclearmission to Japan’s ground zerosPhilip Pullella, Reuters, November 18,2019

Pope Francis takes his mission to bannuclear weapons this week to the onlyplaces where they were used in war,





visiting the World War Two ground zerosof Hiroshima and Nagasaki as part of a tourof Japan and Thailand. The seven-day trip,one of his longest and most distant, givesFrancis an opportunity to support andencourage the tiny but well respectedCatholic communities, which make up lessthan 1% of the population in each country.

In fact, the Catholic populations of eachcountry - 389,000 in Thailand and 536,000in Japan - are smaller than crowds he hasattracted at single events in other countries.Francis, making the 32nd trip since hebecame pope in 2013, leaves on Tuesday forThailand, where he arrives on Wednesdayafternoon after an 11-1/2 hour flight toBangkok. In his three days there, he will meetthe supreme patriarch of Thai Buddhists,Somdet Phra Maha Muniwong, who at 91is nearly a decade older than the pope, andKing Maha Vajiralongkorn, 67.After fourdays in Thailand, Francis moves on toJapan, where international and domesticpolitics will loom large, particularly on Nov.24, when he visits Hiroshima and Nagasaki.Francis wants a total ban on nuclearweapons, going further than hispredecessors when he said in 2017 thatcountries should not stockpile them even forthe purpose of deterrence. This stance wascriticized by conservatives within andoutside the Catholic Church who saydeterrence had worked for 75 years.

https://in.reuters.com/article/pope-asia/pope-francis-to-take-anti-nuclear-mission-to-japans-ground-zeros-idINKBN1XR0D3

China warns Japan, S. Korea overdeployment of U.S. missilesYoshihiro Makino, The Asahi Shimbun,November 19, 2019 at 15:40 JST

Chinese officials have warned Japan andSouth Korea that their relations with Beijingwill deteriorate if they allow the UnitedStates to base intermediate-range missiles ontheir soil, several sources said. One of thewarnings came during Chinese ForeignMinister Wang Yi’s separate meetings withhis Japanese and South Korean counterpartsin August, Japanese and U.S. governmentsources said.

With the INF now invalidated, Beijing isconcerned that Washington plans todeploy intermediate-range missiles inJapan and South Korea where they wouldbe capable of reaching China. Accordingto the Japanese and U.S. governmentsources, China relayed its concerns inbilateral meetings held on the sidelines ofthe foreign ministers conference betweenJapan, China and South Korea in Beijingin August. “If the United States deploysintermediate-range missiles in Japan, thatwould have a major effect on Japan-Chinarelations,” Wang was quoted as tellingthen Foreign Minister Taro Kono.

A Japanese specialist on China said, “AfterChinese President Xi Jinping visits Japannext spring, a major issue that will likelyarise between Japan and China will bewhether Japan allows the United Statesto base new missiles here.” A ForeignMinistry source said the official ministryposition was that no decision had beenmade about deploying U.S. intermediate-range missiles in Japan. The source addedthat it would likely take five years beforeU.S. missiles would be ready for an actualdeployment.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201911190037.html

Pope calls use of nuclear weaponsimmoral in video post to JapanShinichi Kawarada, The Asahi Shimbun,November 19, 2019

Pope Francis posted a personal videomessage online to the people of Japan onNov. 18, as part of preparations for hisNov. 23 visit to the country. Francis, whois scheduled to visit the atomic-bombedcities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, offeredwords of solidarity with citizens opposedto nuclear weapons. The United Statesbombed the cities in August 1945 at theend of World War II, the only time nuclearweapons have been used in war.

“Together with all of you, I pray that thedestructive power of nuclear weapons isnever used again in human history,” thepope said in the video. “It is immoral touse nuclear weapons.” It is customary for

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the pope to send out the message before heleaves on trips to other countries. In thethree-minute message, the pope spoke of theneed for humans to act to protect all life.

“This strong instinct that resonates in ourheart, to defend the value and dignity of allhuman persons, it takes a special importancein front of the threats to the peacefulcoexistence that in the present moment theworld has to face, especially the armedconflicts.”


Rich in dramatic Catholic history,Nagasaki awaits the popeMari Yamaguchi, AP News, November 20,2019

It’s fitting that Pope Francis will start his firstofficial visit to Japan in Nagasaki, the citywhere Christianity first took hold in thecountry and where nearly 500 years later itremains steeped in blood-soaked symbolism,both religious and political. It was here thata small group of beleaguered Catholicconverts went deep underground duringcenturies of violent persecution. It was herethat their descendants dramatically emergedfrom hiding in the 19th century, their faithunbroken. And it was here that a U.S. atombomb brought death and destruction to thecathedral that community was finally ableto build. As Francis makes the first papalvisit to Japan in 38 years, he will likely lookto the past by honoring the doggedness ofthose so-called Hidden Christians, while alsolaying out his vision for a future free fromthe threat of nuclear weapons.

https://apnews.com/8d0e2f30a03245b5899cb3ba20566714

Pope Francis arrives in Japan topromote anti-nuclear messageReuters, November 23, 2019

Pope Francis arrived on Saturday in Japan,the second leg of a week-long Asian tripwhose main aim is to bring an anti-nuclearmessage to Nagasaki and Hiroshima, theworld’s only cities to suffer atomic bombing

in wartime. Francis, a determined anti-nuclear campaigner who will read amessage on nuclear weapons in Nagasaki,will also meet survivors of the March 11,2011 nuclear meltdown at Fukushima, theworld’s worst nuclear disaster sinceChernobyl in 1986. The pope toucheddown in Tokyo after flying from Thailandfor a four-day visit that will be the first in38 years and only the second in history.Another goal of his visit is to encouragethe Catholic community in Japan, wherejust about 1 percent of the populationidentifies as Christian, about half of themCatholic. He will say two Masses, one inNagasaki and one in Tokyo, as well asmeeting Japanese officials and EmperorNaruhito.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-japan-arrival/pope-francis-arrives-in-japan-to-pro-mote-anti-nuclear-message-idUSKBN1XX063

Pope in Hiroshima: Use andpossession of atom bomb‘immoral’Nicole Winfield And Kaori Hitomi, APNews, November 24, 2019

Pope Francis traveled to Hiroshima andNagasaki on Sunday to demand that worldpowers renounce their nuclear arsenals,declaring the use and possession of atomicbombs an “immoral” crime and adangerous waste. Standing beforesurvivors of the 1945 U.S. atomicbombings, Francis denounced the steadyerosion of arms control agreements andrejected the Cold War-era doctrine ofdeterrence that had been sanctioned by theCatholic Church for nearly three decades.

In the rain of Nagasaki and the silentdarkness of Hiroshima, he urged politicalleaders to accept that true peace andinternational security cannot be built in aclimate of distrust, but rather solidarity.“The use of atomic energy for purposes ofwar is immoral,” the pope declared duringa nighttime prayer at Hiroshima’s peacememorial. He added off-the-cuff, “As isthe possession of atomic weapons.” “Wewill be judged for this,” he warned.

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Pope urges abolition of nuclearweapons at Japan’s ground zerosPhilip Pullella, Reuters, November 24, 2019

Pope Francis brought his campaign toabolish nuclear weapons to the only twocities ever hit by atomic bombs on Sunday,calling their possession indefensibly perverseand immoral and their use a crime againstmankind and nature. Francis visited theground zeros of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,both seared in the world’s collectiveconsciousness after the bombs dropped thereby the United States three days apart inAugust 1945 in an effort to end World WarTwo. “Here, in an incandescent burst oflightning and fire, so many men andwomen, so many dreams and hopes,disappeared, leaving behind only shadowsand silence,” Francis said at Hiroshima’sPeace Memorial after standing in silentprayer and listening to a harrowing accountby a survivor.

Yoshiko Kajimoto, who was 14 at the time,recalled “people walking side by side likeghosts, people whose whole body was soburnt that I could not tell the differencebetween men and women, their hairstanding on end, their faces swollen todouble size, their lips hanging loose, withboth hands held out with burnt skin hangingfrom them.” “No one in this world canimagine such a scene of hell,” she said. Morethan 100,000 people died instantly in thetwin attacks and about 400,000 others diedin subsequent months, years and decades ofradiation sickness or illnesses.

https://fr.reuters.com/article/ukall/idUKKBN1XX0PI

In Japan, Pope Francis urges rethinkof reliance on nuclear energyReiji Yoshida, Japan Times, November 25,2019

Meeting survivors of the 2011 earthquakeand tsunami disaster, which triggeredmeltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclearpower plant, visiting Pope Francis urgedcaution in Tokyo on Monday regardingdecisions that could affect futuregenerations, particularly concerning the use

of energy. The pope did not directly callfor the abolition of nuclear power plants,but he did note that Japanese bishops havecalled for the “immediate abolition” ofsuch plants since the triple meltdowns inFukushima. “Our age is tempted to maketechnological progress the measure ofhuman progress,” he said. “So it isimportant to pause and reflect on who weare … and who we want to be. “Importantdecisions will have to be made about theuse of natural resources, and future energysources in particular,” he stressed.

The pontiff, who arrived Saturday on afour-day tour in what is the first papal visitto Japan in 38 years, listened tokindergarten teacher Toshito Kato,Buddhist priest Tokuun Tanaka andMatsuki Kamoshita, who was eight yearsold when she and her family wereevacuated to Tokyo following theFukushima disaster. All three are survivorsof the 2011 disasters.

The debate on nuclear plants still continuesin Japan eight years after the Fukushimaincident. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe haspromoted the reactivation of dozens ofcommercial nuclear plants that weresuspended after the accident. Hisgovernment argues that it hasimplemented strict safety regulations, andthat reactivation is necessary for Japan —which has few domestic energy sources.On Monday the pope also met about 900young people who gathered at St. Mary’sCathedral in Bunkyo Ward in the capital.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/11/25/national/pope-francis-nuclear-energy-japan/#.Xe9AA1QzbIU

Pope urges world leaders torenounce nuclear weaponsThe Asahi Shimbun, November 26, 2019

Pope Francis appealed on Monday toworld leaders to ensure that nuclearweapons are never used again, a day afterhe visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki, theonly cities ever to be hit by atomic bombs.Nuclear disarmament has been a keytheme of the pope’s trip to Japan, acountry not only haunted by the memory

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of the two attacks that ended World War IIbut also alarmed by the nuclear program andmissile tests of nearby North Korea.

“(I) invite all persons of good will toencourage and promote every necessarymeans of dissuasion so that the destructiongenerated by atomic bombs in Hiroshimaand Nagasaki will never take place again inhuman history,” Francis told dignitariesincluding Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abesaid Japan is committed to a world free ofnuclear weapons but still depends on U.S.nuclear deterrence because of the worseningsecurity environment in the region.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga saiddependence on the U.S. nuclear umbrella,and even strengthening it, was “realistic andappropriate.” Abe’s conservativegovernment, which is seeking to amend thepostwar pacifist Constitution to allow a full-fledged military, has explained not signingthe new U.N. treaty on the prohibition ofnuclear weapons by saying it wants to be a“bridge” between nuclear and non-nuclearstates.

Pyongyang has conducted seven missile testssince U.S. President Donald Trump metNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un earlierthis year. One of North Korea’s top nuclearnegotiators said on Friday it would be thefault of the United States if diplomacy onthe issue broke down. Francis backs a U.N.treaty aiming to ban nuclear weapons andsays even their possession for the purposeof deterrence is immoral. Nucleardevastation was also a topic of the pope’smeeting on Monday with EmperorNaruhito.


Pope Francis leaves Japan after tripcentred on anti-nuclear messageReuters, November 26, 2019

Pope Francis departed from Japan onTuesday after a four-day visit highlightedby pleas to world leaders to abandon nuclear

weapons that were given extra weightbecause they were delivered from the onlytwo cities to have suffered atomicbombings. Francis also met with survivorsof the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident,comforting one teenager who had to fleehis home due to high radiation, and saidtwo Masses packed with faithful wholined up before dawn for the chance to takepart. It was the first visit to Japan by apope in 38 years and only the second inhistory, after John Paul II.

https://in.reuters.com/article/us-pope-japan-leave/pope-francis-leaves-japan-after-trip-centred-on-anti-nuclear-message-idINKBN1Y008C

Tohoku reactor close to 2011 quakeepicenter OK’d to restartThe Asahi Shimbun, November 27, 2019Share

Japan’s Tohoku Electric Power said onWednesday it has won initial regulatoryapproval to restart a reactor at itsOnagawa nuclear power plant, more than8 years after it was damaged in theearthquake and tsunami that caused theFukushima disaster. Tohoku Electric saidin a statement it has received a first greenlight from Japan’s Nuclear RegulationAuthority to restart the No. 2 reactor atOnagawa, subject to a public consultationperiod.

Onagawa was the closest among Japan’snuclear stations to the epicenter of themagnitude-9 quake in March 2011, whichtriggered a tsunami that killed nearly20,000 people, as well as causing the worstatomic disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.The station was swamped by the tsunami,but survived with its cooling system intact,saving its reactors from the threat ofmeltdowns similar to those that occurredat Tokyo Electric Power’s Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant to the south.



https://in.reuters.com/article/us-pope-japan-



M. Op-Ed

India

Are India and China Drifting intoWar?Richard E. Caroll, India Policy Digest,November, 2019

Since the conclusion of the Indo-ChineseWar in 1962, an uneasy peace has reignedover the “McMahon Line” as China nowtrumpets the discovery of an estimated $60billion gold find, and the beginning ofmining operations in Arunachal Pradeshregion on the Chinese side of the Himalayas,along with plans to dam the headwaters ofthe major rivers in South East Asia and thepublishing of new maps which showsArunachal Pradesh as “South Tibet.”Tensions are rising. While China denies itwill construct more dams affecting theBrahmaputra River, China also lied aboutthe construction of the first dam that wasconstructed on the Brahmaputra, whichwas finished in 2015. With both nationsbecoming ever more nationalistic, thepossibility has increased.

The Chinese government has also beenencouraging the settlement of the HanChinese in this area in order to strengthenits claim to the Himalayas, and what Chinaclaims is their rightful ownership of territoryunder dispute between China and India.Recently, the Chinese government has beenreferring to Arunachal Pradesh, which iscurrently under India’s governance, as“Southern Tibet” or South Tibet. Since Tibetis under the military control of the Chinesein the Tibetan Plateau, China is followingthe same political formula which it followedwhen it seized the South China Sea via themilitary buildup of artificial islands in theExclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of thePhilippines.

https://intpolicydigest.org/2019/11/19/are-india-and-china-drifting-into-war/

U.S.-India Defense Ties GrowCloser as Shared Concerns in AsiaLoomZach Montague

New York Times, November 20, 2019

As Indian helicopters touched down thisweek on the deck of an American warshipin the Bay of Bengal, what was billed as amodest military simulation became thelatest sign of progress in a growing greatpower partnership in Asia.

The United States and India on Thursdaywill conclude the first land, sea and airexercise in their history of militaryexchanges, a step forward in White Houseefforts to deepen defense cooperationbetween the countries.

The exercise, Tiger Triumph, broughttogether 500 American Marines andsailors, and about 1,200 Indian soldiers,sailors and air force personnel to train side-by-side for nine days. While the officialfocus was to prepare for rescue operationsand disaster response, it also includedsearch-and-seizure training and live-firedrills.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/world/asia/india-military-exercises-trump.html

Emerging nuclear crises that theworld must brace forRichard N. Haass, Livemint, November 26,2019

Until just a few years ago, it looked as ifthe problem posed by nuclear weaponshad been successfully managed, if notsolved. American and Russian nuclearstockpiles had been reduced substantiallyfrom their Cold War highs, and arms-control agreements were in place thatlimited both intermediate- and long-rangesystems. But all of this now could comeundone.

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Progress over the last generation was notlimited to the US and Russia. Libya waspersuaded to abandon its nuclear ambitions,Israel thwarted Iraqi and Syrian nucleardevelopment, and South Africa relinquishedits small nuclear arsenal. Iran signed theJoint Comprehensive Plan of Action(JCPOA), which constrained its ability toacquire many of the essential prerequisitesof nuclear weapons. Most recently, theUnited Nations Security Council imposedtough sanctions aimed at persuading NorthKorea to give up its still modest nuclearweapons programme, clearing the way forhigh-level talks between North Korean andUS officials. And, of course, no nuclearweapon has been used in combat for three-quarters of a century, since the US droppedtwo nuclear bombs on Japan to hasten theend of World War II.

This past summer, however, the USwithdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty after itconcluded Russia had violated its terms. Thetreaty limiting longer-range US and Russiannuclear weapons will expire in 2021 unlessit’s extended, and it’s not clear that it willbe: both countries are committing resourcesto modernize their existing arsenals.

https://www.livemint.com/opinion/columns/opinion-emerging-nuclear-crises-that-the-world-must-brace-for-11574788920248.html

Pakistan

Structural Prejudice, NuclearTechnology and World PeaceMaria Malik, Daily Times, November 18,2019

Recently, the news of Iran stepping furtheraway from the nuclear pact has surfacedand ignited a debate of nuclear proliferationonce again. Iran, the P5 (the US, Russia,China, France and UK) and EU made a“Nuclear Deal Framework” back in 2015,which the US had withdrawn from in 2018,and imposed economic sanctions on Iran.In response to the withdrawal and sanctionsfrom the nuclear pact, Iran has also taken adetour from the pact. Earlier duringObama’s administration, Iran had agreed to

put a stop to making any fissile materialto be used to make bombs. The uraniumenrichment at Iran’s Fordow plant is beingconsidered as a fourth step away from theagreement and has alarmed the Westernstates that were a party to the agreementback in 2015.

Iran, which has always denied the non-peaceful use of nuclear energy, is enrichingthe Uranium at Fordow to the level of 4.5per cent. The 2015 pact set a limit ofenrichment of uranium at 3.7 per cent atthe time when Iran was doing it at 20 percent level. However, a concentration ofmore than 90 per cent is required for boththe Uranium’s isotope 235 andPlutonium’s isotope 239 for makingnuclear weapons. These figures complywith Iran’s claim of using nuclear energyfor peaceful purposes as it cannot build anuclear weapon program at this stage.Though the seven stages of Nuclear FuelCycle (NFC) are all peaceful elements yetUranium enrichment and Plutonium’sseparation through reprocessing are themost crucial aspects of NFC. However,enrichment and reprocessing capabilitiesdo not inherently signal the intent todevelop nuclear weapons. Highly-enriched Uranium and Plutonium can alsobe used in the nuclear fuel reactor togenerate electricity. Thus, it becomesdifficult to judge the intent of a state at astage as early as this.

https://dailytimes.com.pk/501853/structural-prejudice-nuclear-technology-and-world-peace/

Conventional balance of powerbetween India and PakistanAhmad Faruqui, Daily Times, November23, 2019

A simple way to measure the conventionalbalance of power is to compare the size ofthe armed forces between the warringsiblings. Currently, India’s armed force istwice as large as Pakistan’s; yielding a ratioof 2:1. The ratio has hovered at 2:1 for thepast two decades. During the 1965 war, itwas 4.2. During the 1971 war, it haddropped to 2.5:1. Of course, in 1971, the

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ratio was heavily in India’s favour in EastPakistan. The Pakistani forces were worn outafter months of fighting a tenaciousinsurgency and the troops had been flownthere without their full complement ofarmour or artillery. They were without anyair cover once the Indian Air Force had putthe Dacca runway out of commission.

The chart below shows the Indian andPakistani forces from 1964 to 1999. Thehigher dots show the Indian forces and thelower dots show the Pakistan forces,measured in thousands of armed personnel.

https://dailytimes.com.pk/505578/conventional-balance-of-power-between-india-and-pakistan/

Rising irrationality in India’snuclear thinkingTahir Nazir, Daily Times, November 30,2019

Pinning high hopes on “nuclear weaponscapability” and reducing the role of humanagency is against the logic of “deterrencetheory.”

And we all know that deterrence work wellwhen decision-makers behave in a “rationalmanner.” Nonetheless, the deterrence theoryis silent about the behaviour of “an irrationalactor.” According to the US Admiral,Arleigh Burke, the longest-serving Chief ofNaval Operations in the US Navy’s history,“The major deterrent to war, is in a man’smind.”

And history has witnessed that technologicaltransformation has had a little effect on thehuman inner self. Despite humans’tremendous progress, basic human instinctsare the same. The “threat to survival” hasbeen a central element in shaping humanlives and their surroundings.

Famous architect of nuclear deterrencestrategy, Bernard Brodie, once observed that“Thus far, the chief purpose of our militaryestablishment has been to win wars. Fromnow on its chief purpose must be to avertthem. It can have almost no other usefulpurpose.”

https://dailytimes.com.pk/510012/rising-irratio-nality-in-indias-nuclear-thinking-dailytimes/

USA

America’s Iranian headacheLivemint, November 18, 2019

When US President George W. Bushdecided to invade Iraq in response to theterror attacks of 11 September 2001, fewhad foreseen what a set of leakeddocuments appears to confirm: thatTehran now wields significant influenceover Baghdad. According to a report inThe New York Times, hundreds of secretintelligence reports have come to light thatpoint to this.

Iranian domination of Iraq is hardly a bigrevelation, though. Like Iran, Iraq has aShia Muslim majority. Saddam Hussein’sregime, the one deposed by the US, waslargely Sunni. A power shift in Baghdadwas sure to empower followers of Islam’sminority Shia sect in this war-ravagedcountry, and while Iraq’s Arabic milieu isdistinct from Iran’s Persian culture, asectarian affiliation has taken politicalprecedence in the river basin of the Tigrisand Euphrates.

https://www.livemint.com/opinion/quick-edit/opinion-america-s-iranian-headache-11574070720640.html

California’s San Onofre nuclearplant is a Chernobyl waiting tohappenKate Brown, LA Times, November 19, 2019

Nuclear accidents often aren’t surprises.Whistleblowers had warned of the dangersbefore such disasters occurred in 1986 inChernobyl, Ukraine, and 25 years later inFukushima, Japan. As one of the world’swealthiest and most technologicallyadvanced nations, the U.S. may be nobetter prepared.

Many U.S. states have aging nuclearpower plants brimming with four decadesof self-heating, highly corrosive and toxicradioactive waste. Last month, theCalifornia Coastal Commission gaveSouthern California Edison permission todismantle the San Onofre NuclearGenerating Station and move its 3.55

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million pounds of nuclear waste from wetto dry storage.

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-11-19/san-onofre-nuclear-plant-waste-radioactive

How to advance nuclear energy inthe USRita Baranwal; Washington Examiner,November 21, 2019

America is still a powerhouse in nuclearinnovation, and it’s time to show the rest ofthe world.

The United States was the first to harnessthe atom that is now used to power our Navy,fight cancer cells, protect our food, explorespace, and even solve crimes. Much of theconversation today is about how we canmeet our clean energy goals. What betterway to do that than with the clean andreliable attributes of nuclear energy?Rig htnow, more than 60 companies are workingon new reactor designs that will beeconomically competitive, faster to build,more flexible to operate and generate lesswaste. This new generation of reactors istruly amazing. To use this powerfultechnology to enhance today’s reactors andbuild the reactors of tomorrow, the countryneeds to reestablish infrastructure to test andqualify advanced materials that will makethese designs a reality.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/how-to-advance-nuclear-energy-in-the-us

Nuclear is a necessary part of ourclean-energy futureRep. Rick Allen, Washington Examiner,November 22, 2019

Over the past year, clean energy has becomea hot topic, dominating news cycles andconversations around the country. I welcomethis conversation and believe the Americanpeople deserve to get all the facts. Liberalskeep offering unrealistic and costly energy“solutions.” Democratic Rep. AlexandriaOcasio-Cortez’s socialist “Green New Deal”is a prime example. It’s one of the worstpieces of legislation I’ve ever seen during mytime in Congress. It would cost American

taxpayers upward of $93 trillion and is acomplete government takeover of energy,agriculture, and transportation. In theSenate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren’sopposition to building new nuclear plantsand her support for phasing out existingnuclear power is particularly alarming.

Nuclear energy fuels our nation whilehelping to provide America withenvironmental, economic, and nationalsecurity. Anyone who wants to reducecarbon emissions should supportprotecting and expanding nuclear energy.It currently generates nearly 20% of ourcountry’s electricity without any carbonemissions. No other source contributes asmuch to our country’s energy demandswithout emissions. According to theEnergy Information Administration,nuclear energy produces more carbon-freeelectricity than all other sources combined.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/nuclear-is-a-necessary-part-of-our-clean-energy-future

Trump official who suggesteddropping nuclear bombs onAfghanistan now responsible forarms control issuesJohn Hudson

Washington Post, November 28, 2019

A former conservative talk radio host andnaval intelligence officer who suggesteddropping nuclear bombs on Afghanistanafter the 9/11 attacks now works on armscontrol issues at the State Department,according to two U.S. officials familiarwith the matter. Frank Wuco, a senioradviser at the State Department’s Bureauof Arms Control, Verification andCompliance, came under scrutiny last yearwhen his past comments involving thepromotion of far-right conspiracy theoriessurfaced. Some of those includeddebunked claims that former presidentBarack Obama was not born in the UnitedStates, former CIA director John Brennanconverted to Islam, former attorneygeneral Eric H. Holder Jr. had been a

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member of the Black Panthers and formerHillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin had tiesto the Muslim Brotherhood.

When a CNN investigation unearthed theremarks last year, Wuco was working at theDepartment of Homeland Security. Aspokesman for the agency defended him atthe time, saying the comments had “nobearing on his ability to perform his job forthe American people.”

Now Wuco works at the State Department,though some arms control advocates havequestioned his suitability for the area of armscontrol given his past remarks. The StateDepartment declined to comment.

During an exchange on the DoughertyReport radio show in 2016, Wuco was askedwhy the United States doesn’t turn Syria andIran “into glass already.” “I don’t think it’sbeen our policy really to just start nukingcountries,” Wuco said. “I think if we weregoing to have done that, my preferencewould have been to have dropped a coupleof low-yield tactical nuclear weapons overAfghanistan the day after 9/11 to send adefinite message to the world that they hadscrewed up in a big way.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-official-who-suggested-dropping-nuclear-bombs-on-afghanistan-now-responsible-for-arms-control-issues/2019/11/27/235f2976-10af-11ea-a533-90a7becf7713_story.html

Russia

Back in 2017, Russian NuclearSubmarines Fired Torpedoes at EachOtherNational Interest Blog, November 17, 2019

Russia still maintains a powerful submarinefleet. Back in May of 2017, the Russiannuclear-powered attacksubmarine Obninsk fired a torpedo againstone of Moscow’s newest nuclear-poweredballistic missile submarines, Yuri Dolgoruky.

The massive Project 955 Borei missile boatin turn launched a torpedo back at Obninsk,a smaller Project 671RTMK Schuka-class

vessel more commonly known asa Victor III in NATO parlance. But unlikein the Tom Clancy’s classic novel TheHunt for RedOctober, Dolgoruky’s skipper was notplanning to defect to the United Statesalong with his crew; rather the torpedoduel was part of a Russian naval exercise.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/back-2017-russian-nuclear-submarines-fired-torpe-does-each-other-96496

Why Did Russia Launch 8Submarines All at Once?David Axe, National Interest Blog,November 21, 2019

The Russian navy in mid-October 2019sortied eight submarines in the country’sbiggest undersea exercise since the ColdWar. The eight submarines, including sixnuclear-powered ships, sailed from theirbases in northern Russia into the coldwaters of the Barents and Norwegian Seas.At the same time, an additional two boats— the nuclear-powered Sierra-class attacksubmarines Pskov and Nizhny Novgorod— sailed into roughly the same waters fortests and training.

The 10 vessels represent around 20 percentof the Russian submarine force. Forcomparison, the U.S. Pacific Fleet with itsroughly 30 subs as recently as 2013 reliablycould deploy eight boats on short notice.The U.S. fleet in total operates more than50 submarines split between the Pacificand Atlantic Fleets. This number isshrinking. The eight vessels in the planned,60-day Russian exercise are practicingprotecting a “bastion” of open ocean inwhich Russian ballistic-missile submarinescan hide. “The aim of the massiveoperation is to get as far out to the NorthAtlantic as possible without beingdiscovered by NATO,” BarentsObserver noted, citing Norwegianintelligence sources speaking to newsoutlet NRK.

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World War III? In 1956, RussiaAlmost Fought Britain, France, andIsrael With Nuclear WeaponsMichael Peck, National Interest Blog,November 22, 2019

The war began with an imperialist invasionto seize the Suez Canal. It ended with theSoviet Union threatening to nuke Britain,France and Israel. The 1956 British andFrench attack on Suez, and the parallel 1956Israel-Egypt War, have to be among thestrangest conflicts in history. The cast ofcharacters includes two fading empiresreluctant to admit their decline, acharismatic Arab dictator, a paranoidJewish state, a semi-fake war and asuperpower with nuclear weapons.

The crisis began over who just owned theSuez Canal, gateway between Europe andAsia. In July 1956, Egyptian president GamalAbdel Nasser announced he wouldnationalize the canal, which was controlledstill by European shareholders even afterEgypt achieved independence from Britain(the same situation would later apply to theUnited States and the Panama Canal).Nasser’s decision was prompted by thecutoff of American funding for the massiveAswan Dam, after Nasser had signed a hugearms deal with the Soviet bloc.

Nasser’s response was simple: if theAmericans and British wouldn’t subsidizethe Aswan Dam, then Egypt wouldnationalize the Suez Canal and use the tollrevenues to build the dam itself.Unfortunately, he forgot a basic rule ofhistory: there is nothing more dangerousthan a declining empire.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/world-war-iii-1956-russia-almost-fought-britain-france-and-israel-nuclear-weapons-98927

NATO Nukes Can’t Save the BalticStates From a Russian InvasionMichael Peck, National Interest Blog,November 23, 2019

Even if NATO resorts to tactical nuclearweapons, it still can’t save the Baltic Statesfrom a Russian invasion. One reason? The

Warsaw Pact—the Eastern Europeansatellites of the Soviet empire—can’t beheld hostage anymore. That’s theconclusion of a wargame by the RANDCorporation. In RAND’s view, NATO’snukes are not a deterrent to Russia becauseEurope would have far more to lose froma tactical nuclear exchange than Russia.

“The biggest takeaway from the wargameexercise is that NATO lacks escalationdominance, and Russia has the benefit ofit,” the study found. “In contemplatingwar in the Baltic states, once nuclearattacks commence, NATO would havemuch stronger military incentives toterminate nuclear operations, if not all ofits operations, than Russia would.”

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/nato-nukes-can%E2%80%99t-save-baltic-states-russian-invasion-99222

Nuclear reactors with a newlyproposed barrier could’vewithstood Chernobyl andFukushimaNews Wise, November 26, 2019

In the aftermath of the notorious accidentsin the history of nuclear energy at ThreeMile Island (1979), Chernobyl (1986) andFukushima (2011), where all three haveturned into devastating disasters due tomeltdown in the core of a reactor, leadingin turn to the release of radiation into theenvironment, many countries around theworld have already pledged to a nuclearpower phase-out.

However, while actions towards theclosure of all nuclear power plants in onlya few decades’ time are already wellunderway, the alternative energy sourcescurrently in operation have some majordrawbacks: they rely mainly on non-renewable resources, produce significantlyless energy compared with nuclear powerplants and, most importantly, areconsidered to be amongst the maincontributors of carbon emissions and,thereby, the climate crisis which humanityis now set to battle.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/world-war-

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/nato-


Nevertheless, a future powered by nuclearenergy might be neither a lost cause, nor agame of “Russian roulette”, according to theresearch team of Francesco D’Auria(University of Pisa, Italy), Nenad Debrecin(University of Zagreb, Croatia) and HorstGlaeser (Global Research for Safety,Germany). In a recent paper, published inthe open-access peer-reviewedjournal Nuclear Energy andTechnology and the result of 30-40 years ofcollaboration, they propose a new safetybarrier to be implemented in large LightWater Reactors around the world. Comingat a fraction of the cost of the alreadyobsolete one that it is about to replace, thisbarrier is expected to reduce the probabilityof core melt to that of a large meteoritehitting the site.

https://www.newswise.com/articles/nuclear-reactors-with-a-newly-proposed-barrier-could-ve-withstood-chernobyl-and-fukushima

Meet the Terrifying Russian‘Stealth’ Submarine That Scares theU.S. NavySebastien Roblin, National Interest Blog,November 27, 2019

The Akula is old, but it still packs adangerous—and secretive—punch. TheSoviet Union produced hot-rod submarinesthat could swim faster, take more damage,and dive deeper than their Americancounterparts—but the U.S. Navy remainedfairly confident it had the Soviet submarinesoutmatched because they were all extremelynoisy. Should the superpowers clash, thequieter American subs had better odds ofdetecting their Soviet counterparts first, andgreeting them with a homing torpedo.However, that confidence was dented in themid-1980s, when the Soviet Navy launchedits Akula-class nuclear-powered attacksubmarines. Thirty years later they remainthe mainstay of the Russian nuclear attacksubmarine fleet—and are quieter than themajority of their American counterparts.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/meet-terrifying-russian-stealth-submarine-scares-us-navy-100787

Russia set to dominate the Arcticunless Canada acts quickly toaddress shipping concernsDavid J. Bercuson, National Post,November 28, 2019

The Arctic Ocean is warming and with itmaritime traffic on the Northwest andNortheast passages is increasing. The onlyArctic nation that has the capacity tomonitor and support such shipping isRussia. Neither Canada nor the UnitedStates have much to offer in the event of amaritime disaster in North AmericanArctic waters.

More famously the Franklin Expedition of1845 under British captain Sir JohnFranklin brought two Royal Navy ships,HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, to anuntimely end when both vessels becameice bound in Victoria Strait and all 129men, including Franklin, perished.

The waters to the north of Siberia, Canadaand Alaska are now open in limitedperiods each year as the ice retreats andlimited shipping has started off both Arcticcoasts. North of Russia shipping fromEurope to Asia now takes place on anintermittent basis. In Canadian Arcticwaters, cruise ships have sailed theNorthwest Passage on occasion. In bothnorthern sea routes, point-to-pointshipping takes place regularly during thesummer season.

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/david-j-bercuson-russia-set-to-dominate-the-arctic-unless-canada-acts-quickly-to-address-shipping-concerns

Russia, China, Arms Control, andthe Value of New STARTThomas Countryman, Arms Control,November 2019

Until President Donald Trump took officein 2017, every U.S. president for theprevious 50 years proposed and pursuednegotiations with Moscow as a means toregulate destabilizing nuclear arms

https://www.newswise.com/articles/nuclear-

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/meet-

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competition and reduce the risk of theUnited States and its allies being destroyedin a nuclear war. They sought andconcluded a series of treaties, with strongbipartisan support, that have made theUnited States and the world much safer.

Nearly exactly 50 years ago, for example,the United States and Russia opened theStrategic Arms Limitation Talks on Nov. 17,1969. Lead U.S. negotiator Gerard Smithwrote that his opening message that daywas that “[t]he limitation of strategic armsis in the mutual interests of our country andthe Soviet Union.” What was true then istrue now. Sadly, Trump has not continuedthe efforts of his predecessors. The UnitedStates abandoned the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty this yearand appears ready to allow the 2010 NewStrategic Arms Reduction Treaty (NewSTART) to lapse in 2021. If New STARTexpires, there will be no legally binding,verifiable limits on the world’s two largestnuclear arsenals for the first time in nearlyhalf a century.

https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2019-11/features/russia-china-arms-control-value-new-start

West Asia

Iran

U.N. nuclear watchdog presses Iranfor answers on uranium tracesFrancois Murphy, Reuters, November 21,2019

The U.N. nuclear watchdog’s top inspectorwill travel to Tehran next week to press Iranto finally explain the origin of uraniumtraces found at an undeclared site, theagency’s acting chief said on Thursday.Reuters first reported in September that theInternational Atomic Energy Agency foundthe uranium traces at the site that IsraeliPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drewattention to in a speech last year, calling it a“secret atomic warehouse”. Tehran has saidthe site is a carpet-cleaning facility.

Two weeks ago the IAEA confirmed tomember states that environmental samplestaken at a still unspecified site had showntraces of uranium that was processed butnot enriched.

“We have continued our interactions withIran since then, but have not received anyadditional information and the matterremains unresolved,” acting IAEADirector General Cornel Feruta told aquarterly meeting of his agency’s 35-nationBoard of Governors in Vienna.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-iaea/u-n-nuclear-watchdog-presses-iran-for-answers-on-uranium-traces-idUSKBN1XV18K

US cancels civil nuclearcooperation waiver for IranMatthew Lee, Associated Press , November19, 2019

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saidMonday he is canceling one of foursanctions waivers that had allowedforeign companies to work with Iran’scivilian nuclear program without U.S.penalties. Pompeo also warned Iran’sleadership not to crack down on proteststhat recent fuel price increases havesparked. The waivers are among the lastremaining components of the 2015 nucleardeal the Trump administration withdrewfrom last year. Pompeo said the waiver forIran’s once-secret Fordow site will beeliminated Dec. 15. Iran recentlyannounced it would resume uraniumenrichment at the fortified facility, whichis built into a mountain.

“The right amount of uranium enrichmentfor the world’s largest state sponsor ofterrorism is zero,” he said. “There is nolegitimate reason for Iran to resumeenrichment at this previously clandestinesite. Iran should reverse its activity thereimmediately.” Iran hawks in Congresshave been pressing Pompeo to eliminateall the waivers but have most strenuouslyobjected to the one that allowed Russian,

https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2019-11/



Chinese and European companies to workat Fordow. The waivers for Fordow as wellas the Bushehr nuclear power station, theArak heavy water plant and the TehranResearch Reactor were last extended in lateOctober.

https://apnews.com/584e02d1e6d94cc2ae4c5038971d696c

Inside Iran’s plot to attack SaudiArabia - analysisReuters, November 25, 2019

Four months before a swarm of drones andmissiles crippled the world’s biggest oilprocessing facility in Saudi Arabia, Iraniansecurity officials gathered at a heavilyfortified compound in Tehran. The groupincluded the top echelons of the IslamicRevolutionary Guard Corps, an elite branchof the Iranian military whose portfolioincludes missile development and covertoperations. The main topic that day in May:How to punish the United States for pullingout of a landmark nuclear treaty and re-imposing economic sanctions on Iran, movesthat have hit the Islamic Republic hard.

With Major General Hossein Salami, leaderof the Revolutionary Guards, looking on, asenior commander took the floor. “It is timeto take out our swords and teach them alesson,” the commander said, according tofour people familiar with the meeting.

Hard-liners in the meeting talked ofattacking high-value targets, includingAmerican military bases.

Yet, what ultimately emerged was a planthat stopped short of direct confrontationthat could trigger a devastating U.S.response. Iran opted instead to target oilinstallations of America’s ally, Saudi Arabia,a proposal discussed by top Iranian militaryofficials in that May meeting and at leastfour that followed.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-aramco-attacks-iran-special-rep/special-report-time-to-take-out-our-swords-inside-irans-plot-to-attack-saudi-arabia-idUSKBN1XZ16H

The missile and nuclear threatfrom IranEphraim Asculai, Jerusalem Post,November 17, 2019

Two areas of Iranian activity in recenttimes can be seen both as provocative andas tests of the limits that can be reachedwithout incurring serious penalties fromthe international community: missiles andnuclear.

Although UN Security Council Resolution2231 dealt with Iranian nuclear-weaponscapable ballistic missiles, it failed to dealwith or even mention the issue of cruisemissiles. While this failure had beenmentioned in the past, nobody seemed tonotice or attach much importance to it.The international community took noticeof this lack only following the September2019 Iranian attack on Saudi oil facilities,which employed both cruise missiles andUAVs (drones).

That attack not only proved the viabilityof these Iranian weapons, but showedtheir capabilities in pre-programmeddefense-avoiding routes and theirutilization as precise weapons. The knownrange of the cruise missiles is shorter thanthe distance from mainland Iran to Israel,and the range of Iranian UAVs is as yetunknown. However, with the emergingpresence of Iranian forces in Syria andIraq, the range issue could perhaps besolved for the Iranians, at the same timeforcing Israel to take strong preventiveactions, which it did. How long can thisgo on without causing a major crisis? Thisquestion cannot be answered at this time.

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/The-missile-and-nuclear-threat-from-Iran-608100

East Asia

North Korea

N. Korea’s ultimatumKorea Times, November 15, 2019

North Korea said Friday it has sent an“ultimatum” to South Korea that it will

https://apnews.com/

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-aramco-

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/The-missile-


demolish all facilities owned by SouthKorean firms at its Mount GeumgangResort. The Unification Ministry expressedconcerns about the move, calling fornegotiations in accordance with inter-Korean agreements. The North’sannouncement followed a report aboutthree weeks ago that its leader Kim Jong-unhad ordered the removal of the facilities fromthe resort, vowing to redevelop the areausing the country’s own resources. TheNorth then asked the South to remove theassets from Geumgang, or it would demolishthem.

Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said the ultimatum, sent Nov. 11to the South, carried a warning that if theSouth persist in its “useless assertion,” theNorth will tear down the facilitiesunilaterally.

“We will develop Mount Geumgang to bethe world renowned tourist resort as itsowner for the sake of the nation andposterity,” KCNA said. “There is no roomfor South Korea to find its place there.” Thereport said the “timetable” has been set,indicating that the North will keep ignoringdialogue offers from the South to go aheadwith the redevelopment project withoutSeoul’s participation. If the North destroysthe facilities at the Geumgang resort, it willprove again that North Korea is a risky placefor investment. Given the symbolic meaningof the Mount Geumgang Resort for inter-Korean peace, the unilateral move raisesdoubts over the North’s commitment toimproving relations with the South.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2019/11/137_278789.html

Troops for Nukes: Should the USTrade Its Forces in South Korea forNorth Korean Denuclearization?Daniel R. Depetris, 38 North, November 21,2019

US-DPRK negotiations on denuclearizationare on life support and there are bleakprospects for recovery before the end-of-the-year deadline for progress declared by NorthKorean leader Kim Jong Un. It is not

unimaginable that US President DonaldTrump, as he did when he decided to dealdirectly with Kim, will go for a bold andunconventional move to break theimpasse: a proposal to pull US forces outof South Korea in exchange for NorthKorea’s final, complete and verifiabledenuclearization. Such a last-gaspattempt to keep diplomacy alive may seemattractive to the impulsive and mercurialTrump, but it would inevitably confront amyriad of daunting negotiating,diplomatic, political and technicalproblems that would likely strangle theidea in its crib.

Will Trump Pull the Trigger on a US ForceWithdrawal? For Trump, who hasdemonstrated a penchant for demandingan exorbitant increase in Seoul’scontribution to US defense costs on thepeninsula, the departure of US forces fromSouth Korea would have significantpersonal and political appeal. As farback as his time as a private real estatedeveloper, Trump has accused US alliesand partners of ripping the Americanpeople off. The president has been mostpassionate when discussing South Koreaand Japan, two wealthy countries hethinks are taking advantage of the UnitedStates’ generosity.

https://www.38north.org/2019/11/ddepetris112119/

Time Is Running Out for Trump’sNorth Korean Diplomacy,Analysts SayChoe Sang-Hun, The New York Times,November 28, 2019

Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, hassaid that the United States has until theend of the year to make a new proposal tocreate a breakthrough in stallednegotiations on denuclearizing the KoreanPeninsula. The looming deadline — whichNorth Korea has issued repeated warningsabout — carries the implicit threat that thecountry could return to its alarmingbehavior of the past by ending its self-imposed moratorium on nuclear tests andlaunching long-range missiles capable of

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2019/

https://www.38north.org/2019/11/


hitting American cities. On Thursday,it launched two short-range rockets, its 13throcket or missile test since May.

“Today, we sit on top of a live volcano,” saidRobert L. Carlin, a former nuclear negotiatorat the State Department and longtime NorthKorea observer, describing a rapidlydeteriorating situation on the peninsuladuring a lecture this month at YonseiUniversity in Seoul, the South Koreancapital. “We don’t have a lot of time to backaway.” In the past month, North Korea haswarned that the Trumpadministration should not even “dream of”discussing denuclearization without firstending its “hostile” policies, includingsmothering economic sanctions. It swore“shocking punishment” if Washington wereto ignore the year-end deadline.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/28/world/asia/north-korea-trump-nuclear-talks-deadline.html

North Korea Test Fires RocketsAhead Of Nuclear Talks DeadlineIsabel Togoh, Forbes, November 28, 2019

North Korea broke a monthlong pause inmissile tests with the launch of two rocketsinto the sea on Thursday morning, accordingto South Korea’s military, as the clock ticksdown on Kim Jong-un’s year-end deadlinefor the restart of nuclear talks with theUnited States. South Korea’s defenseministry said two unidentified projectileswere launched off the North’s coast into thesea on Thursday afternoon localtime, Reuters reported. Japan’s coastguardsaid it was monitoring where the missilemight land, but said it did not enter itsairspace.

It is the first test launch since October 31,when the North fired two suspected missilesinto the sea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has set adeadline of December 31 fordenuclearization talks with the U.S. afternegotiations stalled in October. North Koreahas pushed for a lifting of sanctions andpullback of U.S. military forces in SouthKorea in return for abandoning, or limiting,its nuclear weapons program, but

Pyongyang threatened to walk away fromthe talks earlier this month

https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2019/11/28/north-korea-test-fires-rockets-ahead-of-nuclear-talks-deadline/#573d3c0a55a3

An Unexpected Way to ChangeNorth Korea’s Nuclear AmbitionsHun Park, National Interest, November 30,2019

Given that air pollution doesn’t recogniseborders, there are already severalemissions-reduction projects underwaythat will require cooperation betweenAsian nations. To meet its obligations,South Korea has pledged to buy emissionscredits on the international market,offsetting 11.3% of its business-as-usualemissions in 2030. That is 96.1 milliontonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalentemissions – already more than NorthKorea’s total greenhouse gas emissions in2013 (78 million tonnes). Because NorthKorea has its own obligations now, foreigncountries including South Korea can nolonger earn carbon credits from theircarbon-offsetting projects in the country.

But if South Korea provides technicalassistance such as satellite monitoring ofNorth Korea’s reforestation progressionand then can obtain the country’s“informed consent”, a mutual effort togenerate carbon credits could be discussed.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/unex-pected-way-change-north-koreas-nuclear-ambitions-100297

South Korea

Suggesting plebiscite on energydenuclearizationKim Myong-sik, Korea Herald, November20, 2019

Passing the halfway point in his five-yeartenure, President Moon Jae-in’s approvalrate hovers just above the 40 percent mark,half the level immediately after his electionin May 2017. Woes grow amongmanufacturers, traders and consumers,security threats loom large and political

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/28/world/asia/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2019/

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/unex-


groups are sharpening hostility. Amid risingdiscontent, the energy denuclearizationpolicy has emerged as a top destabilizingissue. University students at nuclear sciencedepartments see no future in their chosencareers, as the nation’s nuclear power plants,operating 25 reactors, are all to be shutdown by the target year of 2060. No newnuclear plants will be built except for thethree already under construction. There willbe no service extension, although renewalis easy and common, should leftist rulecontinue.

Local builders and parts suppliers aremaking layoffs while desperately seekingoverseas contracts, yet few potential clientssee strong reliability in firms that have allbut lost local demand. The media incessantlyreports scandals involving renewable energybusinesses and people around power.


Japan

Revisiting Japan’s nuclear armsdebateMichael Macarthur Bosack, Japan Times,November 28, 2019

This week, Pope Francis made a historic visitto Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On Sunday, thepontiff was clear in his call for global nucleardisarmament, stating, “The use of atomicenergy for purposes of war is immoral. …As is the possession of atomic weapons.”This message resonated with the largesegment of the Japanese public whovehemently opposes nuclear weapons andprompted a question to Chief CabinetSecretary Yoshihide Suga about Japan’s ownreliance on the U.S. nuclear umbrella. Sugaresponded that the long-standing policy is“realistic and appropriate.”

Suga’s response may have been concise andresolute, but we are likely to see a revisitingof the nuclear weapons debate in Japan. Theregion has witnessed North Korea’sdevelopment of increasingly devastatingnuclear technology and more sophisticated

delivery vehicles. Fears of U.S.abandonment will lead many to questionwhether Japan may indeed pursue its ownnuclear arsenal — which is technicallyfeasible given the country’s technology andavailability of nuclear material.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2019/11/28/commentary/japan-commentary/revisiting-japans-nuclear-arms-debate/#.Xe9AEFQzbIU

N. Miscellaneous

Should the Government SubsidizeNuclear Power? Advocates SquareOffThe Wall Street Journal, November 19,2019

The U.S. has made a big bet on subsidizingnuclear power. But is it the right one?Nuclear-power proponents argue that theplants are the most reliable source of greenpower around. But critics say renewablesare improving steadily, removing any needfor nuclear

Some states have provided billions ofdollars in aid packages to keep strugglingnuclear plants operating. Meanwhile, thefederal government offers a loan-guarantee program for nuclear plants,and the Energy Department plans tospend $115 million to help developadvanced fuels for next-generationreactors, worried that the country may befalling behind overseas rivals in nuclear-power technology.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/should-the-government-subsidize-nuclear-power-advocates-square-off-11574211794

Is Nuclear Power a Solution forClimate Change?Edis Osmanbasic, Engineering.com,November 22, 2019

Climate scientists have assessed that allcoal-fired power plants should be phasedout by 2030 in the Organization forEconomic Co-operation and Development(OECD) countries and by 2050 in the rest


https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2019/11/

https://www.wsj.com/articles/should-the-


of the world. The logical question is, ifclimate scientists don’t want us to use fossilfuels, which energy source should serve asthe basis for electricity generation?

Although renewable energy is the go-togreen energy solution, due to its unreliablenature—wind is not always blowing, the sunis not always shining, etc.—it likely cannotmeet the requirements for the main electricalenergy source. In this article, let’s discussnuclear energy as a best possible alternativeto fossil fuels, despite its bad reputation inthe environmental and human aspects.We’ll also review the various nuclear energytechnologies and examine the economics ofnuclear sources.

In recent years, one of the world’s loudestdiscussions is how to moderate the impactsof human activities on the environment—the energy as the most dominant factoraffecting the environment. Consequently,the term “greenness of energy supply” hasreceived the most attention in the effort toreduce environmental impacts.

https://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/19734/Is-Nuclear-Power-a-Solution-for-Climate-Change.aspx

Nuclear Power Does Slow ClimateChangeJames Conca, Forbes, November 25, 2019

Indeed it does. Contrary to claims by thosewho just don’t like nuclear, every timenuclear plants close, carbon emissions go up.Using opaque financial jargon, grandioseclaims for renewables, and political spin,doesn’t change this. There a number ofexamples. The unnecessary closing of theVermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station atthe end of 2014 led to an increase in fossilfuel use, specifically natural gas, thatcompletely filled the gap. Same with SanOnofre in California.

In a report on the impact of shutting downIndian Point Nuclear Plant, the NYISO saidthree natural gas plants would replace thelost nuclear power when Indian Pointcompletely shuts down in 2021. The

potential closing of a few more nuclearplants in the North East will increase gasuse even more and its concomitant CO2emissions.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2019/11/25/nuclear-power-does-slow-climate-change/#2e5ab1587202

Cyber Battles, Nuclear Outcomes?Dangerous New Pathways toEscalationMichael T. Klare, Arms Control, November28, 2019

In January 2018, details of the Trumpadministration’s Nuclear Posture Review(NPR) were posted online by theHuffington Post, provoking widespreadalarm over what were viewed asdangerous shifts in U.S. nuclear policy.Arousing most concern was a call for theacquisition of several types of low-yieldnuclear weapons, a proposal viewed bymany analysts as increasing the risk ofnuclear weapons use. Another initiativeincorporated in the strategy documentalso aroused concern: the claim that anenemy cyberattack on U.S. nuclearcommand, control, and communications(NC3) facilities would constitute a “non-nuclear strategic attack” of sufficientmagnitude to justify the use of nuclearweapons in response.

Under the Obama administration’s NPRreport, released in April 2010, thecircumstances under which the UnitedStates would consider responding to non-nuclear attacks with nuclear weaponswere said to be few. “The United Stateswill continue to…reduce the role ofnuclear weapons in deterring non-nuclearattacks,” the report stated. Although littlewas said about whatsort of non-nuclearattacks might be deemed severe enoughto justify a nuclear response, cyberstrikeswere not identified as one of these

https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2019-11/features/cyber-battles-nuclear-outcomes-dangerous-new-pathways-escalation

https://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2019/

https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2019-11/


O. Think Tanks

Ditch the Bomb, not the NPTSergio Duarte, Bulletin of Atomic Science,November 18, 2019

At 2017’s fiftieth anniversary celebration ofthe signing of the Nuclear Non-ProliferationTreaty (NPT) in Washington, DC, some participants enthused that the treaty shouldlast for the next five decades and beyond.

On the contrary, however, a recentprovocative and timely article in the Bulletinof the Atomic Scientists by Tom Sauer andJoelien Pretorius (“Is it time to ditch theNPT?”) expressed serious doubts about theNPT’s longevity and actual usefulness, inview of the disappointing implementationof some of its key provisions.

In response, Adam Scheinman, arecognized expert in arms control andnuclear non-proliferation matters, wrote“No, it is not time to ditch the NPT,” whichdisagreed sharply the former’s premise, andextolled the enduring value of the NPT—pointing out its contribution to worldsecurity and stability.

In my view, the perceived shortcomings ofthe NPT are not sufficient grounds to justifymass withdrawal.

https://thebulletin.org/2019/11/ditch-the-bomb-not-the-npt/#

In Japan, Pope Francis denouncesnuclear weapons and questionsnuclear powerMatt Field, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, ,November 26, 2019

Pope Francis moved past the position of hispredecessors and denounced any use ofnuclear weapons as a “crime against thedignity of human beings” during a visit toJapan this past week. Francis travelled to theatomic-bombed cities of Hiroshima andNagasaki and subsequently met with victimsof the 2011 earthquake and tsunami thatcrippled the Fukushima Daiichi NuclearPlant.

In Tokyo, the pope met with survivors of the

so-called triple-disaster, the earthquakeand tsunami that killed 18,000 people in2011 and led to the nuclear meltdowns atFukushima Daichi. After hearing fromthree survivors, Francis, a Vatican pressrelease said, talked about the people “wholived in the affected areas” and who “nowfeel forgotten by others,” and “mustface ongoing problems: contaminatedland and forests and the long-term effectsof radiation.” “In addition to scientific ormedical concerns, there is also theimmense challenge of restoring the fabricof society. Until social bonds in localcommunities are re-established, andpeople can once more enjoy safe and stablelives, the Fukushima accident will not befully resolved,” Francis said.

“In turn, this involves, as my brotherbishops in Japan have emphasized,concern about the continuing use ofnuclear power; for this reason, they havecalled for the abolition of nuclear powerplants.”

https://thebulletin.org/2019/11/in-japan-pope-francis-denounces-nuclear-weapons-and-questions-nuclear-power/

What happened after an explosionat a Russian disease research labcalled VECTOR?Filippa Lentzos, Bulletin of AtomicScientist, November 27, 2019

At a huge Soviet-era virology campus inSiberia called VECTOR, a sudden,unexpected explosion in September blewout the windows and set parts of abuilding ablaze. Around the world, peoplesat up and took notice. Global public healthand security officials were concerned theexplosion might have affected labs holdingdangerous viruses. Biosecurity expertsquestioned whether it was a deliberateattack, and international security analystsand biodefense experts deliberated how toread the situation—acutely aware thatbiosafety breaches in a similar facility 40years ago had caused a large and deadlyanthrax outbreak that eventually exposedthe Soviet Union’s prohibited biowarfareactivities.

https://thebulletin.org/2019/11/ditch-the-bomb-

https://thebulletin.org/2019/11/in-japan-pope-


From media reports on the explosion, it wasunclear exactly which parts of VECTOR,and which labs, had been affected by theexplosion and fire. Of particular concernwas the facility housing the uniquesmallpox-causing variola virus, one of justtwo such repositories in the world, bothroutinely monitored by the World HealthOrganization. Following the media reports,VECTOR management responded to queriesfrom the World Health Organization withreassurance that the smallpox repositoryhad not been affected, according to anorganization spokesperson. From theorganization’s perspective, there was noneed to follow up with a visit or ad hocinspection.

https://thebulletin.org/2019/11/what-happened-after-an-explosion-at-a-russian-disease-research-lab-called-vector/

P. Reports and Original Documents

India’s Thorium (Nuclear Fuel)Market Outlook to 2023 - India isSet to Become a GlobalManufacturing Hub, Increasing theDemand for Nuclear Power in theFutureResearch and Markets, November 26, 2019

The ”Thorium (Nuclear Fuel) Market inIndia (2018-2023) Share based on PowerResources (Thermal, Renewable, Hydro,Nuclear) Trade Analysis (Export-ImportData) Drivers, Challenges and CompetitiveLandscape” report has been addedto ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering.

The nuclear fuel market comprises ofcompanies, industry associations, andgovernmental bodies which are involved inmining, refining, and storage of nuclearfuels and construction of nuclear reactors.The major application of nuclear fuels is inthe nuclear reactor for sustaining a nuclearchain reaction required for generatingelectric energy. The nuclear fuels likeuranium-235 and thorium-232 areradioactive metals which are fissile in nature.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/11/26/1952543/0/en/India-s-Thorium-Nuclear-Fuel-Market-Outlook-to-2023-India-is-

Set-to-Become-a-Global-Manufacturing-Hub-Increasing-the-Demand-for-Nuclear-Power-in-the-Future.html

Update to OFAC’s list of SpeciallyDesignated Nationals (SDN) andBlocked PersonsUS Department of the Treasury, Office ofForeign Assets Control, November 22,2019

The SDN list has recently been updated. The following individual has been addedto OFAC’s SDN List: AZARI JAHROMI,Mohammad Javad, Iran; DOB 16 Sep1981; POB Jahrom, Iran; AdditionalSanctions Information - Subject toSecondary Sanctions; Gender Male(individual) [IRAN] [IRAN-TRA].

https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20191122.aspx

Issuance of New and AmendedIran-related Frequently AskedQuestionsUS Department of the Treasury, Office ofForeign Assets Control, November 27,2019

Today, the Department of the Treasury’sOffice of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)is updating existing FAQ 303 and FAQ804, and is publishing three new Iran-related FAQs. Frequently Asked QuestionsRelated to the “Snap-back” of Iraniansanctions in November, 2018630. Is theprovision or delivery of goods or servicesto an Iranian counterparty afterNovember 4, 2018 allowed? The wind-down period has ended and the UnitedStates intends to fully enforce the sanctionsthat have come back into effect. Theprovision or delivery of goods or servicesand/or the extension of additional loansor credits to an Iranian counterparty afterNovember 4, 2018 — even pursuant towritten contracts or written agreementsentered into prior to May 8, 2018 — mayresult in the imposition of U.S. sanctionsunless such activities are exempt fromregulation, authorized by OFAC, or

https://thebulletin.org/2019/11/what-happened-

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/

https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/


otherwise not sanctionable. The UnitedStates maintains authorizations andexceptions under U.S. sanctions that allowfor the sale of agricultural commodities,food, medicine, and medical devices to Iranby U.S. persons and non-U.S. persons.However, these authorizations andexceptions do not apply to transactionsinvolving persons on OFAC’s List ofSpecially Designated Nationals and BlockedPersons (SDN List) that have beendesignated in connection with Iran’s supportfor international terrorism or proliferationof weapons of mass destruction, includingdesignated Iranian financial institutions orthe Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps(IRGC), or activity that is subject to othersanctions (see FAQ 637). [11-05-2018]

https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Sanctions/Pages/faq_iran.aspx#805

https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/


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The Indian Pugwash Society aims to promote the study, discussion, andknowledge of and to stimulate general interest in, and to diffuse knowledge inregards to problems relating on WMD proliferation, arms control, disarmament,space security, export controls, nuclear technology and other related issues.This newsletter is part of the project "Emerging Nuclear Order in Asia:Implications for India" sanctioned to us by Department of Atomic Energy-Boardof Research in Nuclear Sciences (DAE-BRNS).

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