vol. 12 no. 3 feb 15, 2020 12 no.3 feb 15, 2020.pdf · 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 12, Number 3 A Fortnightly Newsletter from the Indian Pugwash Society February 2020

Convenor

Amb. Sujan R. Chinoy

Executive Council

Cdr. (Dr.) Probal K. Ghosh

Air Marshal S. G. Inamdar(Retd.)

Dr. Roshan Khanijo

Amb. R. Rajagopalan

Dr. Rajesh Rajagopalan

Shri Dinesh KumarYadvendra

Contents

A. India� India's communication satellite GSAT-30 launched successfully� Dr. Jitendra Singh launches Bhuvan Panchayat V 3.0 Web portal Space

technology has reached the houses of common man, says Minister� India Can Bring US Back Into Compliance With Iran Nuclear Deal: Iran

Finance Minister Javad Zarif� Gaganyaan astronauts to get ISRO's module-specific training in India after

Russia session� PM congratulates ISRO on GSAT-30 launch� India test fires K-4, a 3,500 km nuclear-capable missile meant for Arihant

submarine� Adani out of race for mega Navy submarine deal, Ministry of Defence

shortlists 2 firms� India Tests K-4 Submarine-Launched Missile, Pushing Its Sea-Based

Deterrent Forward� Kashmir, UN, defence, nuclear pacts - France has always had India's back,

no matter what� Imran Khan's remarks on India, Kashmir show frustration: MEA� K4 test and new fighter base boost India's Act East Policy� Chandrayaan 3: Isro Starts Work on Second Lander Mission to the Moon,

Launch Planned in Early 2021� India, Russia discuss cooperation in third countries� Nuclear power for India! Stalled reactor project to get back on track ahead

of US President Donald Trump's visit� Chandrayaan-2 stimulated youth's interest in technology: President Kovind

B. China

� China regrets Britain, France, Germany's decision to trigger Iran dealdispute mechanism

� China's first LEO 5G broadband satellite moves into orbit� Chinese Rocket Force exercise ensures nuclear counterattack capability� China reveals space plan for 2020� China makes major breakthrough in space propulsion technology� China and Russia's push to develop hypersonic weapons raises fears of

arms race with US� Three seaborne launches planned for Long March 11 rocket this year

Volume 12, Number 3 February 15, 20202

C. Pakistan

� Pakistan Nuclear Smuggling Activity Caught as US Indicts Five Men for RunningWeapons Racket

� Idea of war between two nuclear-armed countries can't even be contemplated, saysPM Imran

� Pakistan expresses concern over India's missile defence system� Pakistan today conducted a successful training launch of surface to surface ballistic

missile Ghaznavi, capable of delivering multiple types of warheads upto a range of290 kilometers.

� Indian Nuclear Threats Must Be Taken Seriously: AJK President:

D. USA

� U.S. allows time to wind down deals hit by fresh Iran sanctions� Orano achieves industry first in used fuel transfer� Trump, EU chief to meet in Davos as U.S tariffs loom over digital tax: sources� Large-box cask transfers resume at WIPP� U.S. urges China to join nuclear arms talks with Russia� US committee hears plea for Green Nuclear Deal� GEH and TerraPower team up for VTR development� Oak Ridge prepares for legacy waste processing� San Onofre dismantlement starts next month� US DOE funds compact particle accelerator development� U.S. renews waivers on Iran nuclear work, but sanctions top Iran nuclear official� Edging World Closer to Nuclear War, Trump Deploys 'Low Yield'-More 'Usable'-Atomic

Warhead on US Submarine� Illinois governor wants clean energy legislation, could push state out of PJM power

grid� GE Hitachi initiates US licensing of BWRX-300

E. Europe

� Germany confirms Trump made trade threat to Europe over Iran policy� UK's Johnson, France's Macron reiterate commitment to Iran nuclear deal� Macron, meeting Netanyahu, says Iran must not acquire nuclear weapons� Denmark urges all JCPOA signatories to honor their obligations� EU chief, German FM discuss JCPOA

F. Russia

� New sea tanker to enter service with Russia's Northern Fleet on January 21� Russia's Nuclear-Powered Icebreaker Escorts Up 54% in 2019� Lavrov slams E3's statement on Iran nuclear deal as 'dangerous turn'� US and Russia discuss possibility of moving beyond bilateral format on arms control� Rosatom transfers Tianwan unit 3 to Chinese customer� KHNP awards new uranium enrichment contract to Russia's Tenex� NATO initiates dangerous games in space - Lavrov� Shipbuilders to build five more Project 23130 logistic support tankers for Russian Navy� New sea tanker enters service with Russia's Northern Fleet� Third Project 22220 serial icebreaker to be laid by July 2020 - Baltic Shipyard

Nuclear, Missile & Space Digest3

� Russia completes testing of latest fast reactor fuel� Russia expects commission on Iranian nuclear deal to prevent crisis� Russia proceeds with tests of new fast reactor fuel� Russia-North Korea Trade Up Despite Sanctions, Reports Say� Russian floating nuclear plant supplies 10GWh of electricity to Chukotka� First serial batch of MOX fuel loaded into BN-800� Fortum, Tractebel to assist in Estonian SMR deployment� Roscosmos says first Russian nuclear space tug set for launch in 2030� Kazatomprom to sell stake in enrichment JV

West Asia

G. Iran

� Iran's Rouhani threatens European troops amid nuclear pressure� Iran's nuclear enrichment at higher level than before 2015 deal: Rouhani� E3 think they're living in 19th century: Zarif� Iran's top leader praises attack on US bases in Iraq� Zarif says Iran will never negotiate a new deal with U.S.� Iran may review cooperation with IAEA if EU pressure mounts: TV� Iran says it is preparing for satellite launch� Iran says it will quit global nuclear treaty if case goes to U.N.� Zarif says quitting NPT to be raised if Europeans refer Iran to UN Security Council� Iran has not ruled out talks to end nuclear dispute� Iran threatens to quit global nuclear treaty and build a bomb� Iran MP offers reward for killing Trump, U.S. calls it 'ridiculous'� By triggering dispute mechanism, Europe proves its incapability: Salehi� Iran tells Europe not to follow U.S. by undermining nuclear pact� No talks over NPT withdrawal in cabinet: Iran� Iranian diplomat says maximum pressure will spread unilateralism� Trump administration officials to brief senators on Iran next week� EU's Borrell extends timeline for dispute mechanism on Iran deal� Fars news goes offline 'due to U.S. sanctions'� 'NPT withdrawal plan' now on MPs' agenda

H. Saudi Arabia

� Saudi Arabia a 'pioneer' in energy transformation, minister tells Davos� Saudi Arabia's envoy to UK: We need to do a better job of showing who we are

I. Iraq

� Iraqi FM: U.S. pullout from Iran nuclear deal destabilizes region� U.S. seeks Iraqi nod to bring in air defenses after Iran attack

J. Turkey

� Turkey, Japan scrap partnership in Sinop nuclear plant in Turkey's north� Welded reactor cover completed for Turkey's first nuclear plant: Akkuyu NPP� 'Armenian nuclear plant poses threat to Turkey'


K. Israel

� Report: Israel, Russia agree in principle on Issachar pardon, finalizing details� Energy minister: Israel stopped 'very serious' cyber attack on power plant

East Asia

L. North Korea

� North Korea's Kim taps tough-talking military veteran as foreign minister� North Korea signals tougher stance against US� North Korea says may seek 'new path' of weapons build-up� North Korea abandons nuclear freeze pledge, blames 'brutal' U.S. sanctions� North Korea to make Munich Security Conference debut in 2020� North Korea to make Munich Security Conference debut in 2020� North Korea urges citizens to 'break through barriers' as nuclear standoff continues� US defense official expresses support for peace declaration with N. Korea� Satellite imagery suggests security patrols at NK nuclear test site� North Korea's Kim offers condolences to China's Xi about virus outbreak: KCNA

M. South Korea

� US envoy surprised that NKorea didn't give 'Christmas gift'� S. Korea, US agree to closely coordinate on inter-Korean projects: nuclear envoy� Inter-Korean cooperation will occur within framework of denuclearization: official� S. Korea to jack up spending on energy R&D in 2020� Moon stresses military reform, innovation� US to continue 'patient' diplomacy with N. Korea: official� Furlough threat hangs over US military bases in S. Korea� Moon says no progress in nuclear talks with North Korea in 2019 'regrettable'� S. Korean envoy departs for Europe for talks on denuclearization, peace efforts

N. Japan

� Costs for managing Japan's nuclear plants to total 13 trillion yen� Residents win appeal to halt Ikata reactor over safety fears� Japan's Shikoku Electric says to delay nuclear reactor restart after court order� Japan nuclear plant host town mayor received money from construction firm� Kansai Electric begins extracting MOX fuel from nuclear plant� Kepco to halt two nuclear reactors after missing counterterrorism deadline

O. Misc

� U.N. sanctions experts warn - stay away from North Korea cryptocurrency conference� Michelle Nichols� US sends nuke-detecting plane to air base in Japan� Why nuclear doomsday threat is not waning� Love without borders, or nuclear threats?� The NPT - nuclear development for the few� Canada Nuclear Waste Storage Plan Near Lake Huron Faces Vote� Iran's revenge might be to go nuclear


P. Op-Ed

India

� Inside India's Large and Deadly Nuclear Weapons Program� India Stands Up New Su-30MKI Squadron� Explained: What is Vyommitra's space job?

China

� US should repent over its foiled plot against Huawei� US Space Force can't be taken lightly

Pakistan

� Pakistan Has a Truly Deadly and Scary Nuclear Weapons Program� India's Evolving Nuclear Posture: Implications for Pakistan

USA

� How America Planned to Use Its Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carriers Against Russia� Why and How Russia Is Jamming American Fighter Jets Near Iran� The United States Must Contain North Korea� Iran-US conflict: Worst is over, but core issues remain unresolved� Want to stop climate change? Embrace the nuclear option� How America's B-1 Bomber Is Basically a Flying Missile Carrier� Why the Navy's Decision to Build the First Supercarrier Was Such as Big Deal

Europe

� Europe Gives More Time to Nuclear Diplomacy� Europe's Goals To Activate Snapback Mechanism: Buy Time Or Take Case To Security

Council?Russia

� Is Russia's Submarine Force Dying?� How Russia's Kilo-Class Submarines Are a Huge Threat to American Aircraft Carriers� Sailing These Russian Nuclear Submarines Was Basically A Suicide Mission� How We Know Russia Is Probably (Not) Secretly Testing Nuclear Weapons

Underground� These 5 Submarines Could Destroy The World In 30 Minutes

West Asia

Iran

� Iranian regime under pressure from three sides� How close is Iran to producing a nuclear bomb?� 'Europe must take a separate path from U.S.'� Iran's one strike may have changed Mideast forever

Turkey

� The Rift Between Turkey and America Has Paved the Way for Russia's Rebound� The Turkish-Qatari Axis Challenges Washington� Ties binding Turkey and Russia more diverse than ever

Israel

� Netanyahu calls for sanctions against International Criminal Court� Trump Is Failing to Protect Israel Against Iran

East Asia

North Korea

� Taking 'new path'� Test in March on N. Korea

South Korea

� Joseon era of 19th century vs. 21st century Korea� Test in March on N. Korea


Japan

� Japan planning to release over a million tonnes of radioactive water into sea fromFukushima power plant

Q. Think Tanks

� Memo to Mr. Trump: This nuclear treaty with Russia will make you a winner!� Don't gut the US-South Korea alliance� Bosnia and Herzegovina Veterinary Labs Equipped to Diagnose Animal Diseases

Using Nuclear-Derived Techniques� Physicists mobilize to reduce the nuclear threat. Again.� New START: The Future of U.S.-Russia Nuclear Arms Control� The low-yield nuclear warhead: A dangerous weapon based on bad strategic thinking� Why U.S.-Iran Conflict Suits Russia� Russia Is Updating Their Nuclear Weapons: What Does That Mean for the Rest of

Us?� The US has a backup plan to kill the Iran nuclear deal. It could spark a crisis at the

UN.


A. India

India’s communication satelliteGSAT-30 launched successfully

PIB Delhi, January 17, 2020

India’s latest communication satellite GSAT-3 0 w a s s u c c e s s f u l l y l a u n c h e d f r o mthe Spaceport in French Guiana during the early hours today. The launch vehicleAriane 5 VA-251 lifted off from KourouLaunch Base, French Guiana at 2:35 amI S T c a r r y i n g I n d i a ’ s G S A T - 3 0 a n dEUTELSAT KONNECT for Eutelsat, asscheduled. After a flight lasting 38 minutes 25 seconds, GSAT-30 separatedfrom the Ariane 5 upper stage in an elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.

With a lift-off mass of 3357 kg, GSAT-30 will provide continuity to operationalservices on some of the in-orbit satellites. GSAT-30 derives its heritage from ISRO’s earlier INSAT/GSAT satellite series and will replace INSAT-4A in orbit. “GSAT-30 has a unique configuration of providing flexible frequency segments and flexible coverage. The satellite will providecommunication services to Indian mainlandand islands through Ku-band and widecoverage covering Gulf countries, a largenumber of Asian countries and Australiathrough C-band” ISRO Chairman Dr KSivan said. Dr. Sivan also said that ”GSAT-30 will provide DTH Television Services,connectivity to VSATs for ATM, Stock-exchange, Television uplinking andTeleport Services, Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) and e-governanceapplications. The satellite will also be used for bulk data transfer for a host ofemerging telecommunication applications.”

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1599635

Dr Jitendra Singh launches BhuvanPanchayat V 3.0 Web portal Spacetechnology has reached the housesof common man, says Minister

PIB Delhi, January 28, January 2020

The Union Minister of State (I/C) Ministryof Development of North Eastern Region,MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances and

Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, DrJitendra Singh launched the BhuvanPanchayat V 3.0 web portal in Bengalurutoday.

Speaking after inaugurating the NationalWorkshop on “Space Based InformationSupport for Decentralised PlanningUpdate”, the Minister appreciated theISRO’s effort in developing the portal andalso said that Space technology hasreached the houses of the common man.He further said that the space technologyhas contributed to ease of living of commonman. Space technology has applicationsin various fields, he said. The Governmentinitiatives have boosted the Indian SpaceProgramme, he added. The Minister addedthat that the vision of Vikram Sarabhai hasbeen fulfilled.

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1600855

India Can Bring US Back IntoCompliance With Iran NuclearDeal: Iran Finance Minister JavadZarif

India, January 17, 2020

‘India has good relations with the US,’ saidIran Foreign Minister Mohammad JavadZarif on Friday has sought New Delhi’sassistance in recoursing the United Statesfor negotiating on withdrawing from thenuclear deal. “India can play a leading rolein bringing US back into compliance withthe agreement and we’ll not reject thatpossibility,” Zarif said, speaking at a publicevent.

“India is a very dear friend of Iran andhas good relations with US, it canencourage US to come back to the table,”he added, seeking India’s support inbuilding a dialogue with the US to pursuenegotiations. The Iran foreign minister’sstatement comes a day after he outrightlyrefused any negotiations with the globalsuperpower and described the currentpolitical situation in West Asia asdangerous and sad.

https://www.india.com/news/world/india-can-bring-us-back-into-compliance-with-iran-nuclear-deal-iran-finance-minister-javad-zarif-3913001/


Gaganyaan astronauts to get ISRO’smodule-specific training in Indiaafter Russia session

Sandhya Ramesh, The Print, January 17,2020

The four astronauts, who have been selectedfor the Gaganyaan project, will begin their11-month training in Russia from nextweek. Union Minister of State (IndependentCharge) for Atomic Energy and SpaceJitendra Singh has said in a statement theastronauts shall also receive module-specifictraining in India after that. In India, “theywill be trained in crew and service moduledesigned by ISRO, learn to operate it, workaround it and do simulations”, said thestatement.

ISRO has put out a call asking for 10 typesof microgravity experiments to be placedinside and outside the crew module.Experiments with bacteria, medicalinvestigations, environmental monitoring,and more are also expected to take place.

https://theprint.in/science/gaganyaan-astronauts-to-get-isros-module-specific-training-in-india-after-russia-session/350893/

PM congratulates ISRO on GSAT-30launch

Deccan Herald, January 17, 2020

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Fridaycongratulated the Indian Space ResearchOrganisation for the launch of its firstsatellite in the year 2020, saying it will helpin enhancing DTH services, ATM and stockexchange connectivity. “Congratulations toour @isro team for the first satellite launchof 2020. GSAT-30, with its uniqueconfiguration will provide DTH Televisionservices, connectivity to ATMs, stockexchanges and e-Governance. Wish manymore successful missions to ISRO in theyear,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in atweet quoting Modi.

India’s “high power” communicationsatellite GSAT-30, aimed at providing high-quality television, telecommunications andbroadcasting services was launchedsuccessfully by Ariane space rocket from

French Guiana in the early hours of Friday.

https://www.deccanherald.com/national/pm-congratulates-isro-on-gsat-30-launch-

795624.html

India test fires K-4, a 3,500 kmnuclear-capable missile meant forArihant submarine

Snehesh Alex Philip, The Print, January 19,2020

After repeated delays, India successfullytest fired the 3,500 km range K-4 nuclear-capable missile meant for the indigenousArihant-class submarines. The missile wastested Sunday from a fixed underwaterpontoon on the east coast. This is thefourth time the Defence Research andDevelopment Organisation (DRDO) hasattempted to test fire the missile sinceOctober, but various climatic conditionsprevented it.

The K-4 is the most potent missile in India’sinventory that can be fired from asubmarine, giving the countryunprecedented second-strike capabilityand a huge deterrence power.

https://theprint.in/defence/india-test-fires-k-4-a-3500-km-nuclear-capable-missile-meant-for-arihant-submarine/351853/

Adani out of race for mega Navysubmarine deal, Ministry ofDefence shortlists 2 firms

Snehesh Alex Philip, The Print, January 21,2020

The Ministry of Defence Tuesdayshortlisted two domestic firms for themulti-billion-dollar contract to build sixconventional submarines for the IndianNavy. They are Larsen & Toubro and state-run Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders. AdaniGroup was also in the race, but wasn’tconsidered. The ministry also approvedfive foreign companies for the megacontract, valued at over Rs 60,000 crore,which is part of a 30-year plan to construct18 conventional and six nuclear-poweredsubmarines.


“Defence Acquisition Council (DAC)headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh,in its first meeting of 2020 and after theconstitution of Chief of the Defence Staff,approved shortlisting of Indian StrategicPartners (SP) and the potential OriginalEquipment Manufacturers (OEMs) thatwould collaborate with SPs to construct sixconventional submarines in India,” astatement released by the defence ministrysaid.

https://theprint.in/defence/adani-out-of-race-for-mega-navy-submarine-deal-ministry-of-defence-shortlists-2-firms/352787/

India Tests K-4 Submarine-Launched Missile, Pushing Its Sea-Based Deterrent Forward

Ankit Panda, The Diplomat, January 21, 2020

On Sunday, India conducted a test launchof the K-4 intermediate-range submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). The testwas overseen by the Defense Research andDevelopment Organization (DRDO), theIndian agency tasked with developingindigenous weapons systems. The test tookplace in the Bay of Bengal, off the coast ofthe Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, nearVizag. The test took place between noon and1 p.m. local time on Sunday, according toIndian reports.

A nuclear-capable missile, the K-4 willeventually arm India’s fleet of nuclear-propelled ballistic missile submarines.Currently, a single Indian ballistic missilesubmarine, INS Arihant, is operational. TheK-4 is reported to have a range capability ofaround 3,500 kilometers.

https://thediplomat.com/2020/01/india-tests-k-4-submarine-launched-missile-pushing-its-sea-based-deterrent-forward/

Kashmir, UN, defence, nuclear pacts— France has always had India’sback, no matter what

Nayanima Basu, The Print, January 23, 2020,

From supporting India’s stance on theKashmir issue at the United Nations Security

Council, building its defence ecosystem tobatting for the country at criticalmultilateral forums, Paris has never shiedaway from promoting New Delhi’sinterests on the global platform.

While the defence cooperation betweenboth nations is well-known, a lesser-known fact is that it was because theFrench took the lead that India was ableto join three of the four critical nuclearnon-proliferation regimes — the MissileTechnology Control Regime (MTCR), theWassenaar Arrangement and now theAustralia Group.

https://theprint.in/diplomacy/kashmir-un-defence-nuclear-pacts-france-has-always-had-indias-back-no-matter-what/353155/

Imran Khan’s remarks on India,Kashmir show frustration: MEA

Elizabeth Roche, Livemint, January 23,2020

India on Thursday dismissed PakistanPrime Minister Imran Khan’s reported callfor global intervention to prevent ashowdown between “two nuclear-armedcountries”, saying that Islamabad’s effortswould be better spent in taking verifiableaction against terror groups on its territorythan trying to “distract” the globalcommunity. Indian foreign ministryspokesman Raveesh Kumar said there was“nothing new” in what Khan had said atthe World Economic Forum meet in theSwiss resort town of Davos earlier thisweek.

“His remarks suggest that he is desperateand rapidly losing hope. The globalcommunity can now see through theirdouble standards. While they pretend tobe victims of terrorism on the one hand,they foster extremists who spreadterrorism in India and other countries onthe other,” Kumar said.

https://www.livemint.com/news/india/imran-khan-s-remarks-on-india-kashmir-show-frustra-tion-mea-11579792378197.html


K4 test and new fighter base boostIndia’s Act East Policy

Atul Aneja and Dinakar Peri, The Hindu,January 23, 2020

India’s decision to test the K4 SubmarineLaunched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) and toestablish a new base of Sukhoi-30 fighter jetsnot far from the Bay of Bengal coast isadding new teeth to its Act East Policy. It isalso reinforcing lines of contact with China’sBelt and Road Initiative (BRI) — a giantconnectivity project on land and sea.

The 3,500-km range K4 missile, which canbe launched from Arihant class nuclearsubmarines, add a new dimension to India’ssecond strike capability—the ability to carryout a retaliatory nuclear attack afterabsorbing an initial strike by an atomicweapon. The newly acquired heft to carryout a crushing nuclear counterattack withan Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile(IRBM), from a concealed underwaterplatform, steels India’s nuclear deterrent.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/k4-test-and-new-fighter-base-boost-indias-act-east-policy/article30634867.ece

Chandrayaan 3: Isro Starts Work onSecond Lander Mission to the Moon,Launch Planned in Early 2021

Firstpost, January 27, 2020

Months after the Chandrayaan 2 Vikrammoon lander failed to make its intended soft-landing, the Indian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO) has reportedly begunwork on a second attempt, with India’s thirdmoon mission, Chandrayaan 3. Top officialsat the agency have said that the missionis scheduled for launch as soon as 2021. On1 January 2020, the ISRO Chairman Sivantold media at a press conference that thegovernment had approved a spacecraft androver to land on the Moon’s south pole latestby early 2021.

“We have started working on our third lunarmission to land an unmanned spacecraftnear the Moon’s south pole. The projectwork has gained momentum to launch thelander and rover by early 2021,” Sivan said

at a space event in Bengaluru. India’s firstattempt to soft-land at a chosen spot in thelunar South Pole failed on 7 September2019, when the Vikram lander (and therover inside it) crash-landed due to avelocity glitch. That said, the mission willfeature a lander and rover, but not anorbiter.

https://www.firstpost.com/tech/science/chandrayaan-3-isro-starts-work-on-second-lander-mission-to-the-moon-launch-planned-in-early-2021-7959961.html

India, Russia discuss cooperationin third countries

World Nuclear News, January 27, 2020

Russia and India are discussing theconstruction of power plants in Africa asthe next stage in their cooperation innuclear energy, the Indian ambassador toMoscow, Venkatesh Varma, told Russiannews agency RIA Novosti last week. Theycould replicate the Rooppur project inBangladesh, he reportedly said. Moscowand New Delhi are collaborating in theproject to build two VVER-1200 units forthe Bangladesh Atomic EnergyCommission at Rooppur, on the easternbank of the river Ganges in Pabna district.Unit 1 is scheduled for commissioning in2023, the second in 2024.

“Russia already has agreements on thistopic with a number of African countries,Ethiopia is one of them, as well as withseveral countries in the Middle East. Thesewill be Russian projects, but with theparticipation of India. Negotiations are on-going at the initial stage, but we hope thatthis will be a new era of cooperationbetween Russia and India in the field ofnuclear energy. This follows the successof Russian-Indian cooperation inBangladesh,” the diplomat said.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/India-Russia-discuss-cooperation-in-third-countrie


Nuclear power for India! Stalledreactor project to get back on trackahead of US President DonaldTrump’s visit

Huma Siddiqui, Financial Express, January29, 2020

Ahead of the forthcoming visit of the USPresident Donald Trump next month, topofficials of both sides are having severalrounds of talks in an effort to resolve issuesrelated to the six US nuclear power plantsin India. For over a decade officials fromboth sides have had several rounds ofcommercial as well as technology-relatednegotiations for the US company to buildsix nuclear reactors. India has planned totriple its nuclear capacity by 2024 in an effortto give up the fossil fuels. If and when thecontract between India and the US becomesactive it is expected to give a big push to thecountry’s $150-billion nuclear powerprogramme. Though the dates of PresidentTrump’s visit have not been officiallyannounced, it is expected that the visit willbe in the second half of February.

A site in Gujarat to build a nuclear powerstation with a total capacity of 2,500 MWhas already been allotted. As has beenreported earlier, sites have been identifiedfor GE plants in Andhra Pradesh with aninitial capacity of 3,200 MW. Negotiationsare stuck with US’ Exim Bank for a loan ofaround $8-9 billion to part-fund the buildingof the reactors. In the hope that the problemscould be sorted fast, the two sides werenegotiating the terms of the loan with EximBank.

https://www.financialexpress.com/defence/nuclear-power-for-india-stalled-reactor-project-to-get-back-on-track-ahead-of-us-president-donald-trumps-visit/1838386/

Chandrayaan-2 stimulated youth’sinterest in technology: PresidentKovind

India Today, January 31, 2020

The Indian Space Research Organisation’s(Isro) Moon mission Chandrayaan-2, India’ssecond lunar mission, has stimulated a newa new interest in technology among the

country’s youth, President Ram NathKovind said on Friday. “The objective ofIndia’s space programme has always beenservice to humanity. Due to the tirelesswork of country’s space scientists,Chandrayaan-2 has stimulated a newinterest in technology among the country’syouth,” Ram Nath Kovind told lawmakersduring a joint sitting of the Parliament.

“My government has already approvedChandrayaan-3. The Isro is also workingexpeditiously on the manned spacecraftprogramme - Gaganyaan, as well asAditya-1 Mission,” Ram Nath Kovindsaid.

https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/chandrayaan2-isro-president-ram-nath-kovind-youth-gaganyaan-aditya1-1642085-2020-01-31

B. China

China regrets Britain, France,Germany’s decision to trigger Irandeal dispute mechanism

Global Times, January 15, 2020

China regrets that the UK, France andGermany - known as E3 - have launchedthe dispute resolution mechanism of theJoint Comprehensive Plan of Action(JCPOA), believing that this will not helpsolve the problem or ease current tensions,the Chinese Foreign Ministry saidWednesday. “China believes that there isa reason for Iran to reduce theimplementation of the comprehensiveagreement,” Ministry of Foreign Affairsspokesperson Geng Shuang said during aroutine press conference in response to aquery on China’s thoughts on the threecountries’ pulling the diplomatic trigger onJCPOA. Geng noted that the fundamentalreason for Iran’s nuclear tensions lie in US’disregard of international law, unilateralwithdrawal from the comprehensiveagreement and its extreme pressure onIran, as well as its obstruction of otherparties to fulfill the agreement.

China will continue to maintain closecommunication with relevant parties,actively promote peace talks, foster apolitical and diplomatic settlement of the


Iranian nuclear issue, and make unremittingefforts to safeguard the comprehensiveagreement, ease tensions in the Iraniannuclear issue and the Middle East, Gengadded. The UK, France and Germany onTuesday formally accused Iran ofwithdrawing from the 2015 agreement thatlimited its nuclear program, taking the firststep toward reimposing UN sanctions. Iranannounced on January 5 that it would nolonger commit to any limits on therestrictions contained in JCPOA, a deal tofreeze Iran’s nuclear program in return fora progressive lifting of internationalsanctions, after the US assassinated Iraniangeneral Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in adrone attack, CNN reported on January 6.

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

1176987.shtml

China’s first LEO 5G broadbandsatellite moves into orbit

Zhang Hongpei, Global Times, January 15,2020

China’s first low-Earth orbit (LEO) 5Gbroadband satellite was successfullydelivered to its preselected orbit via theKuaizhou-1A launch vehicle on Thursdayfrom the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center,Northwest China’s Gansu Province. Thesatellite, developed by domestic commercialaerospace company Galaxy Space, is the firstin China with data transmission capacity of10 gigabits per second. It’s also the world’sfirst LEO broadband satellite in the Q/Vband, an extremely high-frequency band,according to the company.

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1177150.shtml

Chinese Rocket Force exerciseensures nuclear counterattackcapability

Liu Xuanzun, Global Times, January 16, 2020

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA)Rocket Force has conducted a nuclear attacksurvival exercise where troops in anunderground missile facility had to endureextreme conditions and make sure theycould still launch nuclear counterattacks.

During the undated exercise, a RocketForce brigade mobilized into the launchbunker at an undisclosed location andcompletely sealed themselves off from theoutside world, as the troops readied forcombat, China Central Television (CCTV)reported on Wednesday. The bunker wasthen struck by a mock hostile nuclearattack as the troops inside, fully dressedin protection suits, carried out contingencyplans and operated missiles for upcomingcounterattacks, according to the report.

They also simulated a situation wheremissile fuel leaked after a hostile strike anda troubleshooting team was immediatelydeployed to repair. Tactics including a fastmissile condition check, rapid logistics,bunker defense and hasty launch were alsopracticed, CCTV reported. While China isone of a few countries in the world thatoperate nuclear weapons, it has promisedno first use, a military expert who askednot to be named told the Global Times onThursday. It was crucial the force survivean initial hostile strike to launch acounterattack, the expert noted. Suchexercises ensure that capability andcontribute to China’s nuclear deterrence,the expert said.


China reveals space plan for 2020

China Daily, January 17, 2020

China will smash its record for spacelaunches in 2020. The country is going tosend more than 60 spacecraft into orbit viaover 40 launches this year, according to aplan released Friday in Beijing. “This yearwill continue to see intensive launches,”said Shang Zhi, director of the SpaceDepartment of the China AerospaceScience and Technology Corporation(CASC), at a press conference, where ablue book setting out China’s spaceachievements and future missions wasreleased.According to Shang, there arethree major missions, mainly focusing onthe completion of the BeiDou-3 NavigationSatellite System, the lunar exploration andthe network of Gaofen observationsatellites. Two geostationary orbit BeiDou


satellites will be sent into space in the firsthalf of 2020. The Chang’e-5 lunar probe,which is expected to bring moon samplesback to Earth, and China’s first Mars probeare also planned to be launched this year.

In addition, three new types of carrierrockets, which are the Long March-5B, LongMarch-7A and Long March-8, will maketheir maiden flights in 2020.As a newgeneration of carrier rocket, the Long March-5B has the largest carrying capacity to low-Earth orbit. It will carry the core capsule andexperiment capsules of China’s spacestation. The Long March 7A represents thenew generation of China’s medium-sizedhigh-orbit rocket. The Long March-8 rocketwill increase China’s lift capacity forlaunches to sun-synchronous orbits andmeet the growing needs of commerciallaunches. The Long March-5 rockets will belaunched three times in 2020, carrying a newgeneration of manned spacecraft, a Marsprobe and a Chang’e-5 probe into space. TheCASC will also send a number of satellitesfor China’s civil space infrastructure systemand plan a series of commercial launches thisyear, according to the blue book. Chinacompleted 34 space launches in 2019,ranking first in the world.

https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202001/17/WS5e21c45aa310128217271cd2.html

China makes major breakthrough inspace propulsion technology


China has made a major breakthrough inthe development of the Hall-effect thruster(HET), an important space propulsiontechnology. Researchers from the ChinaAerospace Science and TechnologyCorporation (CASC) have developed thecountry’s first HET with an input power of20 kilowatts that can produce a thrust ofone newton, marking a leap for China’sHETs from millinewton level to newtonlevel. The applications of HETs includecontrol of the orientation and position oforbiting satellites and use as a mainpropulsion engine for medium-size roboticspace vehicles.

During a test, the thruster showed stableoperation, with a specific impulse of 3068

seconds and working efficiency above 70percent, reaching international advancedlevel. Such a high-power HET withfeatures of strong thrust, long working lifeand high reliability will be able to providehighly efficient impetus for the positioning,orbital maneuvering and motion controlof large GEO (geostational orbit) satellites,deep space probes and space shuttlevehicles.


China and Russia’s push todevelop hypersonic weaponsraises fears of arms race with US

Minnie Chan, South China Morning Post,January 19, 2020

China became the first country toannounce the deployment of the missiles,but Russia recently announced it haddeveloped a much more advanced versionthe Avangard. Defence analysts say theweapons are not a game changer for nowbut could give Moscow extra leverage innegotiations with the US. Recentbreakthroughs in the development ofhypersonic weapons have heightened fearsabout a new arms race between China,Russia and the US, with some defenceobservers calling for new internationalarms control agreements. The emergenceof hypersonic weapons has raisedconcerns about the “invincible” arms,which cannot be intercepted by anyexisting defence systems, being used toenhance nuclear powers’ capabilities.

A hypersonic weapon is usually definedas one that reaches speeds of at least Mach5, five times the speed of sound. The UShas resumed hypersonic missiledevelopment under Donald Trump afterhis predecessor Barack Obama suspendedthe programme but is yet to announce thedevelopment of its own weapons. Russiaand China currently enjoy an advantagein the development of hypersonictechnology, based on the number ofsuccessful test flights they have conducted,while India and France are close behind,according to a recent report published bythe Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.


“Hypersonics are not likely to substantiallychange the relationships between China,Russia and the US. The hype aroundhypersonics, however, will generate enoughinterest to prompt productive discussionsand increased Track I and Track IIdiplomatic efforts both bilaterally andtrilaterally,” she said, referring tobackchannel diplomacy through non-governmental contacts.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3046667/china-and-russias-push-develophypersonic-weapons-raises-fears

Three seaborne launches plannedfor Long March 11 rocket this year

Zhao Lei, China Daily, January 20, 2020

China plans to conduct three seabornelaunches using its Long March 11 solid-propellant carrier rocket this year, Jin Xin,the rocket’s deputy project manager, said.He told a news conference at ChinaAerospace Science and Technology Corp inBeijing that the launches will take place inthe East China Sea from self-propelledplatforms. “We intend to use these missionsto further improve our seaborne launchtechnologies and procedures,” he said.“Compared with the first seaborne flight, thecoming missions will feature better ships andstreamlined tracking and support systems.”

https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202001/20/WS5e2500d4a3101282172721f2.html

C. Pakistan

Pakistan Nuclear SmugglingActivity Caught as US Indicts FiveMen for Running Weapons Racket

News 18, January 17, 2020

Five men have been indicted in the UnitedStates for allegedly running an internationalnetwork that purchased US products forPakistan’s nuclear weapons program. “Thedefendants smuggled US origin goods toentities that have been designated for yearsas threats to US national security for theirties to Pakistan’s weapons programs,”assistant attorney general John Demers saidin a statement.

The five, who live outside the United Statesand have not been apprehended, wereindicted by a grand jury in October, theJustice Department said. The indictmentwas unsealed on Wednesday and arrestwarrants are pending.

https://www.news18.com/news/world/pakistan-nuclear-smuggling-activity-caught-as-us-indicts-five-men-for-running-weapons-racket-

2461761.html

Idea of war between two nuclear-armed countries can’t even becontemplated, says PM Imran

The Daily Times, January 22, 2020

Prime Minister Imran Khan said onWednesday that one should not even thinkabout a conflict between two nucleararmed states owing to the devastation itwould create across the world.

“Whatever is happening in India isdisastrous for people in India, speciallythose living in Occupied Jammu andKashmir,” he said while speaking to theinternational media on the sidelines ofWorld Economic Forum in Davos onWednesday.

https://dailytimes.com.pk/544139/idea-of-war-between-two-nuclear-armed-countries-cant-even-be-contemplated-says-pm-imran/

Pakistan expresses concern overIndia’s missile defence system

The News International, January 23, 2020

Pakistan said Thursday that India’sacquisition of the S-400 ballistic missiledefence system can lead to an unnecessaryarms race in the region. In her weeklypress briefing, Aisha Farooqui, thespokesperson of the Ministry of ForeignAffairs, said Islamabad had alwaysexpressed concern over the induction ofthe S-400 Air Defense system. Answeringa question about India’s missile defencesystem, she said it would harm theregional stability as it would lead to anunnecessary arms race in the region.

She said Pakistan has proposed adiscussion on a strategic restraint regime


for South Asia that includes the proposal toavoid the induction of weapons that wouldcontribute towards destabilisation in theregion. S-400 missile system to lead torenewed arms race: Pakistan Last year,Pakistan had shared concerns that the S-400missile defence system would lead to an armsrace in the region. “The Indian purchase ofS-400 missile system is a part of their effortsto acquire a Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD)System through multiple sources,” theForeign Office of Pakistan said in astatement.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/603053-pakistan-expresses-concern-over-indias-missile-defence-system

Pakistan today conducted asuccessful training launch ofsurface to surface ballistic missileGhaznavi, capable of deliveringmultiple types of warheads upto arange of 290 kilometers.

ISPR, January 23, 2020

Pakistan today conducted a successfultraining launch of surface to surface ballisticmissile Ghaznavi, capable of deliveringmultiple types of warheads upto a range of290 kilometers. The training launch was partof Field Training Exercise of Army StrategicForces Command aimed at rehearsingoperational readiness procedures duringday and night.

The training launch was witness byLieutenant General Nadeem Zaki Manj,Director General Strategic Plans Division,Commander Army Strategic ForcesCommand, Chairman NESCOM, seniorofficers from Strategic Plans Division, ArmyStrategic Forces Command, Scientists andEngineers of the strategic organizations.Director General Strategic Plans Divisionappreciated the operational preparedness ofArmy Strategic Forces Command fordisplaying a very high standard of proficiencyin handling and operating the weaponsystem. He also expressed full confidence inthe robust Strategic Command and ControlSystem and the capability of Strategic Forces.

https://www.ispr.gov.pk/press-release-detail.php?id=5592

Indian Nuclear Threats Must BeTaken Seriously: AJK President:

Sumaira FH, Urdu Point, January 30, 2020

Azad Jammu Kashmir President SardarMasood Khan while describing as animportant development the tabling of sixresolutions by the Members of EuropeanParliament in support of the demand forholding plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmiras per the UN resolutions Thursday saidthat now the international community hasrealized the legitimacy of the struggle ofthe Kashmiri people for their right to self-determination.

He said in a message read out at theconcluding session of the Kashmirconference organized in Karachi byPakistan Institute of International Affairs(PIIA), he said that draft resolutions tabledin the European Parliament (EP) criticalof India’s Citizenship (Amendment) Acthave also strongly condemned the IndianCitizenship Law and the use of forceagainst the protesters who oppose the law,AJK Presidential secretariat said instatement released to the media hereThursday evening.

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/kashmir/indian-nuclear-threats-must-be-taken-seriousl-824571.html

D. USA

U.S. allows time to wind downdeals hit by fresh Iran sanctions

Reuters, January 16, 2020

The U.S. Treasury Department said onThursday it will allow for a 90-day periodto wind down transactions in certainsectors of Iran’s economy hit with freshU.S. sanctions last week. The period, goodthrough April 9, allows transactions in theconstruction, mining, manufacturing ortextiles sectors of Iran’s economy thatcould be targeted under last week’s actionto be wound down without exposure tosanctions, the Treasury Department saidin an update to its frequently askedquestions, or FAQs, on Iran sanctions onits website.


Entering into new business that falls underthe sanctions imposed on Friday, however,would not be considered winding down andcould still be sanctionable, the FAQ said. TheUnited States imposed more sanctions onIran on Friday in retaliation for its missileattack on U.S. forces in Iraq last week andvowed to tighten the economic screws ifTehran continued “terrorist” acts or pursueda nuclear bomb. The targets of the sanctionsincluded Iran’s manufacturing, mining andtextile sectors as well as senior Iranianofficials who Washington said were involvedin the Jan. 8 attack on military bases housingU.S. troops.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-sanctions/us-allows-time-to-wind-down-deals-hit-by-fresh-iran-sanctions-idUSKBN1ZF24J

Orano achieves industry first inused fuel transfer


Orano TN has completed the first transferand storage of used fuel canisters with ahigher than usual heat load using itsExtended Optimised Storage (EOS) drystorage system. The use of EOS, which islicensed by the US Nuclear RegulatoryCommission for heat loads of up to 50 kWper canister, means used fuel can betransferred to secure dry storage after ashorter period of time. On removal from anuclear reactor, used fuel is transferred to apool where it is allowed to cool sufficientlyto be moved into dry storage or, in somecountries, for reprocessing. Typically usedfuel will remain in a pool for at least fiveyears before this can take place. Heat loadis a measurement of the used fuel’s decayheat. Averaging a total heat load per EOScanister of 44.75 kilowatts, the EOS systemis the first dry storage system to load andstore used nuclear fuel with heat loads wellabove industry experience to date, which hasranged between 14-34 kW per canister,Orano said.

The transfer of 296 used nuclear fuelassemblies from the wet storage pool at aUS reactor to the onsite dry storageIndependent Spent Fuel Storage Facility(ISFSI) used eight EOS 37PTH canisters to

securely store the used fuel in eightNUHOMS EOS Horizontal StorageModules (HSM), Orano said. Being able totransfer hotter fuel assemblies and fuelcooled for less time from wet to dry storagebenefits operating nuclear facilities bysimplifying the management of the poolsand continuously reducing the wet-storedinventory of high heat and short-cooledfuel assemblies.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/High-heat-load-used-fuel-transfer-is-an-industry-f

Trump, EU chief to meet in Davosas U.S tariffs loom over digital tax:sources

Andrea Shalal, Alexandra Alper, Reuters,January 18, 2020

Donald Trump is expected to meet withEU leader Ursula von der Leyen in Davos,Switzerland, next week, three sources saidon Friday, as tensions mount between theallies over tariff threats and the U.S.president faces an impeachment trial athome. Just days after Trump scored bigvictories by inking a partial trade deal withChina and passing a revamp of the NorthAmerican Free Trade Agreement, he willtravel to the World Economic Forum wherehe is expected to discuss deepening tradedisputes with the European Commissionpresident.

The White House and the EuropeanCommission did not immediately respondto requests for comment. Among the raftof trade issues dividing the allies,Washington’s most immediate concern isFrance’s plan to impose a 3% digitalservices tax, which the U.S. governmentbelieves would harm U.S. technologygiants like Alphabet Inc’s Google andAmazon.com Inc, with a host of othercountries poised to follow suit.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-eu/trump-eu-chief-to-meet-in-davos-as-u-s-tariffs-loom-over-digital-tax-sources-idUSKBN1ZH01D


Large-box cask transfers resume atWIPP


The US Department of Energy’s (DOE)Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) hasreceived its first large-box cask of transuranicwaste since the facility’s temporary closurein 2014. Re-entry into service of theTRUPACT-III cask will accelerate the paceof clean-up at DOE sites while reducingworker safety risks. The TRUPACT-III -Transuranic Package Transporter Model 3 -cask allows DOE Office of EnvironmentalManagement (EM) sites to package and shiplarge-sized transuranic waste from thedefence sector in a single box rather than inseveral smaller waste boxes. Largetransuranic waste includes glove boxes,used motors and large-scale analyticalequipment which has been contaminatedwith small amounts of plutonium and otherman-made radioactive elements.

Mark Pearcy, chief operating officer anddeputy operations manager of WIPPmanagement and operations contractor,said the large boxes had been added backinto the portfolio of waste packages whichcan safely be shipped to WIPP for disposalafter the Implementation of new wastecertification requirements and readinessperformance. This had been achievedthrough the teamwork of the Savanah RiverSite waste generator, the National TRUProgram, and WIPP, he said.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Large-box-cask-transfers-resume-at-WIPP

U.S. urges China to join nucleararms talks with Russia

Emma Farge, Reuters, January 21, 2020

The United States urged China on Tuesdayto join trilateral nuclear arms talks withMoscow, calling Beijing’s secrecy aroundgrowing stockpiles a “serious threat tostrategic stability”. U.S. President DonaldTrump said last year he had discussed a newaccord on limiting nuclear arms withRussian President Vladimir Putin andhoped to extend that to China in whatwould be a major deal between the globe’s

top three atomic powers. But China hasso far refused to take part. “We think,given the fact that China’s nuclearstockpile is estimated to double over thenext ten years, now is the time to have thattrilateral discussion,” Robert Wood, U.S.disarmament ambassador, told reporterson the opening day of the U.N.-backedConference on Disarmament in Geneva.

He said that Washington had discussedthe potential trilateral talks in a securitymeeting with Russia last week and hadreached an “understanding” aboutpursuing them. “We cannot afford towait,” he added. Asked how to go aboutpressuring Beijing to join, Wood said thathe hoped Russia, and others, would help.“Hopefully over time and through theinfluence of others besides the UnitedStates, they (China) will come to the table.We think it’s imperative for global securitythat the Chinese do that.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-putin-china/u-s-urges-china-to-join-nuclear-arms-talks-with-russia-idUSKBN1ZK24B

US committee hears plea forGreen Nuclear Deal


Environmental advocate MichaelShellenberger has called for the USadministration to support the nation’snuclear energy industry in what he calls aGreen Nuclear Deal. Speaking to the USHouse of Representatives Committee onScience, Space, and Technology last week,Shellenberger said people need not bepassive victims of climate change and thereis much that could be done to reduce theimpacts of “climate-driven extremes”.

Shellenberger was speaking as an expertwitness at the 15 January hearing, AnUpdate on the Climate Crisis: FromScience to Solutions. The president ofresearch and policy organisationEnvironmental Progress, he was one of apanel of five expert witnesses called totestify before the full committee meeting,alongside Pamela McElwee, associateprofessor of human ecology at Rutgers,The State University of New Jersey;


Richard Murray, deputy director and vicepresident for research at Woods HoleOceanographic Institution; Heidi Steltzer,professor of environment and sustainabilityat Fort Lewis College, Colorado; and TarynFransen, senior fellow of global climateprogramme at the World ResourcesInstitute. In his testimony, Shellenberger said“apocalyptic assertions” relating to climatechange had contributed to rising levels ofanxiety, particularly amongst young people,and worsening political polarisation. Suchextreme assertions could be debunked byscience, he said, and although climatechange may make some natural disastersmore frequent and more extreme, humansneed not be “passive victims” ofenvironmental change. “Policymakersroutinely take action on non-apocalypticproblems,” he said, adding that while therisk of crossing unknown “tipping points”rises with higher temperatures, there ismuch that could be done to reduce theimpacts of climate-driven extremes.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/US-committee-hears-plea-for-Green-Nuclear-Deal

GEH and TerraPower team up forVTR development


GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) andTerraPower are to collaborate on pursuinga public private partnership to design andconstruct the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR)for the US Department of Energy (DOE).Utility Energy Northwest will support thejoint GEH-TerraPower effort, with otherparties said to be interested in joining.

Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA) - themanaging and operating contractor for theDOE’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) -last November issued an Expression ofInterest from industry stakeholdersinterested in forming a partnership for a cost-sharing arrangement to develop the VTR.GEH and TerraPower have now announcedthey recently submitted a joint response tothe Expression of Interest. Energy Northwest- a consortium of 27 public utility districtsand municipalities across Washington stateand operator of the state’s only operatingnuclear power plant, the Columbia

Generating Station - will support theireffort. Additional companies and investorshave expressed interest in being part of thiseffort and, if brought on board, will benamed later, GEH and TerraPower saidin a joint statement. “To achieve nuclearenergy’s full potential, business andgovernment must work together to investin both testing new materials anddemonstrating advanced technologies,”said TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/GEH-and-TerraPower-team-up-for-VTR-development

Oak Ridge prepares for legacywaste processing


A facility at the US Department ofEnergy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge NationalLaboratory site in Tennessee is beingprepared to process an inventory of legacyhigh-dose uranium-233 from whichmaterials will be extracted for medicalresearch. Protective shielding and remotemechanical arms are needed to handle theuranium-233 canisters. DOE Office ofEnvironmental Management (EM)contractor Isotek Systems - a subsidiary ofAtkins - is carrying out upgrades to existinghot cells at Oak Ridge Building 2026,where the canisters will be processed. Thehot cells have radiological contaminationfrom previous DOE research missions, andcrews wear protective suits and constructcontainment tents to prevent the spreadof radiological contamination once a hotcell is opened.

Old equipment is being removed to makeway for new installations, including a cellportal to make material entry easier,cutting tools to open the uranium-233storage canisters, pumping systems forchemicals, filtration systems to extract thethorium, and remote manipulators. Roomswill be remodelled to store large tanks ofdownblended material, and a two-storymixing silo will be constructed outside thefacility to provide cement to mix with thedownblended material, EM said.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Oak-Ridge-prepares-for-legacy-waste-processing


San Onofre dismantlement startsnext month


Dismantlement of the San Onofre NuclearGenerating Station is to begin in February,Southern California Edison (SCE) hasannounced. This follows the receipt inOctober of the final permit required for thedecommissioning and dismantlement of theplant which closed in 2013. SCE is requiredby the California State Lands Commissionto provide 30 days’ notice to residents beforethe start of deconstruction. It duly mailedits Notice of Deconstruction to residentswithin a five-mile radius of the plant on 22January. The notification provides keytimeframes for initial dismantlement activityand resources to learn more about overalldecommissioning of the site.

“We’re going to be a good neighbourthroughout the decommissioning process, andthat means providing timely, usableinformation to the community and to thepeople who use the recreational resourcesnext door to us,” Doug Bauder, SCE vicepresident and chief nuclear officer for SanOnofre, said. The company will providequarterly updates “so folks are aware of thework that is happening on site”, he added.The dismantlement process will take eightyears and involves the removal of buildings,containment domes and other above-gradestructures associated with the two units incompliance with US Nuclear RegulatoryCommission requirements, as well as thepartial removal of the offshore conduits thatbrought and discharged ocean coolingwater to the plant, and the removal ofoffshore buoys and anchors, SCE said. Initialwork will focus on preparatory activities andsite characterisation. This will take placewithin the plant’s boundaries and isexpected to have minimal impact on thesurrounding recreational areas.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/February-start-for-San-Onofre-dismantlement

US DOE funds compact particleaccelerator development


The US Department of Energy (DOE) has

announced a plan to provide USD10million over three years to advanceparticle accelerator technology for medical,security, energy, and industrialapplications, with a focus on thedevelopment of novel “compact”accelerator technologies for cancertreatment and other uses. The awards areaimed specifically at helping transformsophisticated accelerator technology usedprimarily for scientific research into aneffective tool of medicine and industry, theDOE said. The initiative includes a newtopic focused on the development of novelcompact accelerators which range fromthe size of a tabletop up to several metres,and may help make valuable acceleratortechnologies less expensive and morewidely available.

“Particle accelerators were developedmainly for scientific research, but havecome to be indispensable tools of medicine,industry, national security, and manyothers,” Under Secretary for Science PaulDabbar said. “This research helps toensure that both government and theprivate sector benefit from the very latestadvances in accelerator technology.”

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/US-DOE-funds-compact-particle-accelerator-developm

U.S. renews waivers on Irannuclear work, but sanctions topIran nuclear official

Humeyra Pamuk, John Irish, Reuters,January 30, 2020

The Trump administration on Thursdaysaid it will allow Russian, Chinese andEuropean companies to continue theirwork at Iranian nuclear sites, arguing thattheir presence makes it harder for Tehranto develop nuclear weapons. But theUnited States also imposed sanctions onIran’s Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI)and its chief, a move the Iranian entity’sspokesman described as a sign ofWashington’s “despair.”

The Trump administration, which in 2018pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear dealand reimposed sanctions on Iran, will let


the work go forward by issuing waivers tosanctions that bar non-U.S. firms fromdealing with the AEOI. The waivers’renewal for 60 days will allownonproliferation work to continue at theArak heavy-water research reactor, theBushehr nuclear power plant, the TehranResearch Reactor and other nuclearcooperation initiatives.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-usa/u-s-renews-waivers-on-iran-nuclear-work-but-sanctions-top-iran-nuclear-official-idUSKBN1ZT1PW

Edging World Closer to NuclearWar, Trump Deploys ‘Low Yield’—More ‘Usable’—Atomic Warhead onUS Submarine

Julia Conley, Common Dreams, January 30,2020

Anti-nuclear campaigners expressed alarmThursday as the Federation of AmericanScientists revealed the U.S. has for the firsttime deployed a “low-yield” nuclearwarhead on a submarine that is currentlypatrolling the Atlantic Ocean. The USSTennessee left a port in Georgia last month,and Hans Kristenson of FAS saidWednesday that the submarine is the firstU.S. ship to patrol with the W76-2 onboard—an occurrence which arms controlgroups says will make nuclear war morelikely.

Tim Wright, treaty coordinator for theInternational Campaign to Abolish NuclearWeapons (ICAN), called the news “analarming development that heightens therisk of nuclear war.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/30/edging-world-closer-nuclear-war-trump-deploys-low-yield-more-usable-atomic-warhead

Illinois governor wants clean energylegislation, could push state out ofPJM power grid


Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker called on thestate legislature to pass clean energylegislation in his State of the State address,

providing a boost to advocates of the CleanEnergy Jobs Act, which could push thestate out of the PJM power grid. PJMInterconnection operates the power systemin 13 states from Illinois to New Jersey.Analysts at Height Capital Markets inWashington said in a report on Thursdaythat they expect lawmakers will pass thebill this spring.

PJM uses the capacity market to paygenerators to be available for service toensure the grid has enough resources tomeet peak demand. That is different thanthe grid’s energy market, which paysgenerators for the power they produce.PJM’s capacity market has come under firein several states after the U.S. FederalEnergy Regulatory Commission (FERC),which regulates PJM, said in December thecapacity market must do a better job oftreating all generation sources equally.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-illinois-pjm-nuclearpower/illinois-governor-wants-clean-energy-legislation-could-push-state-out-of-pjm-power-grid-idUSKBN1ZT259

GE Hitachi initiates US licensingof BWRX-300


GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) hasofficially started the regulatory licensingprocess for its BWRX-300 reactor design.On 30 December, the company submittedthe first licensing topical report for thesmall modular reactor to the US NuclearRegulatory Commission (NRC). Thecompany expects such reports to serve asa foundation for the development of aPreliminary Safety Analysis Report thatcould potentially be submitted to the NRCby a utility customer.

The BWRX-300 is a 300 MWe SMR derivedfrom GEH’s 1520 MWe EconomicSimplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR)design. According to GEH, the BWRX-300leverages the design and licensing basis ofthe ESBWR, which received designcertification from the NRC in 2014. GEHsays that, by leveraging the existingESBWR design certification, utilisinglicensed and proven nuclear fuel designs,


incorporating proven components andsupply chains, and implementingsimplification innovations, the BWRX-300can, become cost competitive with powergeneration from combined cycle gas plantsand renewable energy platforms. “The firstlicensing topical report was submitted to theNRC at the end of 2019 as part of anaggressive timeline that we set forourselves,” Jon Ball, executive vice presidentof nuclear products for GEH, said. “As theglobal demand for carbon-free energyincreases, we are seeing significant interestin this groundbreaking SMR technologyand are excited about continuing to worktoward US licensing,” he added.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/GE-Hitachi-initiates-US-licensing-of-BWRX-300

E. Europe

Germany confirms Trump madetrade threat to Europe over Iranpolicy

Patrick Wintour, The Gaurdian, January 16,2020

Germany’s defence minister confirmed aWashington Post story that Donald Trumphad threatened Europe with a 25% tariff onEuropean cars unless it toed the line on itsIran policy. The US threatened to impose25% tariffs on cars to push Europeans toinitiate proceedings against Iran for violatingthe nuclear deal, the German defenceminister has confirmed. “This threat exists,”said the German defence minister, AnnegretKramp-Karrenbauer, at a press conferencein London.

She was asked about an article in theWashington Post that claimed Trump hadsecretly warned France, Germany and theUK that the US would impose a “25% tariffson European cars” if they did not activatethe mechanism for the settlement of disputes(MRD) of the Iranian international nuclearagreement reached in Vienna in 2015.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/16/iran-says-it-is-enriching-more-uranium-than-before-nuclear-deal

UK’s Johnson, France’s Macronreiterate commitment to Irannuclear deal

Tehran Times, January 20, 2020

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson andFrench President Emmanuel Macronreiterated their commitment on Sunday tothe Iran nuclear deal and agreed a long-term framework was needed, DowningStreet said on Sunday. “On Iran, the leadersreiterated their commitment to the JCPOA(Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) andalso acknowledged the need to define a long-term framework…,” a Downing Streetspokeswoman said in a statement after thetwo met on the sidelines of a Libya summitin Berlin. “They agreed on the importanceof de-escalation and of working withinternational partners to find a diplomaticway through the current tensions.”

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444347/UK-s-Johnson-France-s-Macron-reiterate-commitment-to-Iran-nuclear

Macron, meeting Netanyahu, saysIran must not acquire nuclearweapons

John Irish, Reuters, January 22, 2020

President Emmanuel Macron said Francewas determined Iran would never gain anuclear weapon but it wanted to avoid anymilitary escalation in the Middle East, afterhe met with Israeli Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu on Wednesday. Macron’s two-day trip to Israel and the Palestinianterritories is timed to coincide with the 75-year anniversary of the liberation of theAuschwitz death camp. He is one of dozensof world leaders due to attend Thursday’sWorld Holocaust Forum at the Yad VashemHolocaust memorial center in Jerusalem.

Macron started his visit with a morningmeeting with Netanyahu at his officialresidence in Jerusalem, where the twodiscussed Iran’s nuclear program andregional security issues from Libya toTurkey, according to Netanyahu’s office.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-france-macron-church/macron-meeting-netanyahu-says-iran-must-not-acquire-nuclear-weapons-idUSKBN1ZL09J


Denmark urges all JCPOAsignatories to honor theirobligations


Christina Markus Lassen, political directorat the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs,on Wednesday voiced her country’s concernover the activation of the dispute mechanismin the nuclear deal by the European sides,urging all signatories to the JointComprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) toadhere to their commitments. In a meetingwith senior advisor to the IranianParliament Speaker Hossein AmirAbdollahian in Tehran, the Danish diplomatsaid, “Denmark calls on all sides to returnto their obligations and adhere to theirundertakings.”

She further said that utilizing diplomacy isthe only way out of the current criticalsituation to protect the region against theexisting threat of war. Lassen laterhighlighted Iran’s key role and standing inthe region, saying, “Continuation of talksand friendly relations with Iran is of greatimportance in Denmark’s foreign policy.”Amir Abdollahian, for his part, said that theU.S. unilateral measures have led the worldtowards severe widespread insecurity. OnMonday, Foreign Minister MohammadJavad Zarif warned that Iran would considerquitting the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty(NPT) if the Europeans refer Iran’s nuclearcase to the UN Security Council. “If they(Europeans) take any action, the issue ofquitting the NPT will be raised based on theletter of the President dating May 2018,”Zarif said.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444512/Denmark-urges-all-JCPOA-signatories-to-honor-their-obligations

EU chief, German FM discussJCPOA


Josep Borrell, the European Union foreignpolicy chief, and German Foreign MinisterHeiko Maas met in Berlin on Monday todiscuss the 2015 nuclear deal, officiallyknown as the JCPOA. “Good meeting with

my friend German Minister of ForeignAffairs @HeikoMaas this morning inBerlin. Discussed pressing internationalissues and European foreign policy action:Berlin #Libya conference, #JCPOA andWestern Balkans. We will continue towork hand in glove,” Borrell tweeted onMonday.

U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterallyquit the nuclear deal in May 2018 andintroduced the harshest ever sanctions inhistory on Iran as part of hisadministration’s “maximum pressure”strategy against Iran. In response to thismove, on May 8, 2019, Iran announcedthat its “strategic patience” is over andstarted to gradually reduce itscommitments to the JCPOA at bi-monthlyintervals. At the time Iran announced ifthe European parties to the deal takeconcrete steps to shield Iran’s economyfrom the U.S. sanctions it will reverse itsdecision.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444637/EU-chief-German-FM-discuss-JCPOA

F. Russia

New sea tanker to enter servicewith Russia’s Northern Fleet onJanuary 21

TASS News Agency, January 16, 2020

The new sea tanker Academician Pashinwill join the Northern Fleet’s logistics andrear support forces in late January, theFleet’s press office reported on Thursday.“On January 21, a solemn ceremony ofhoisting the flag of the Navy’s auxiliaryfleet will take place aboard the new seatanker Academician Pashin at theNorthern Fleet’s main base ofSeveromorsk. This day will become thedate of officially accepting the vessel forservice in the Northern Fleet,” the pressoffice said in a statement.

In 2019, the new sea tanker successfullyunderwent a full program of trials in theBarents Sea. The heavy nuclear-poweredmissile cruiser Pyotr Veliky and the frigateAdmiral Gorshkov provided assistanceduring the tanker’s trials, the statement


says. The Project 23130 medium-sized sea-going supply tanker Academician Pashinwas built at the Nevsky Shipyard on orderfrom Russia’s Defense Ministry. The tankeris equipped with a diesel single-shaftpropulsion unit and a bow thruster and isan Arc4 ice-class vessel. The crew andpassenger rooms and the service premisesare located in the aft-end livingsuperstructure.

https://tass.com/defense/1109475

Russia’s Nuclear-PoweredIcebreaker Escorts Up 54% in 2019

The Moscow Times, January 17, 2020

The number of ships escorted by Russianicebreakers along the Northern Sea Routeincreased by 54% between 2018 and 2019.The increase in ship escorting is caused byan increase in LNG production on the YamalPeninsula, Rosatomflot, the companymanaging Russia’s fleet of nuclear-poweredicebreakers, said.

The 510 vessels that were escorted throughthe Arctic ice had a total gross tonnage of30.29 million tons, Rosatomflot says. That is54% more than it was in 2018 when 331vessels with a total tonnage of 12,7 milliontons were carried out through the area. “Itis connected with the full project capacityreached by the LNG production plant inSabetta port,” General Director at AtomflotMustafa Kashka said. Meanwhile, the totalvolume of goods shipped on the route in2019 is still unknown. In mid-November2019, Rosatom said that goods volumes hadreached 26 million tons and that by the endof the year it was expected to reach 30million tons.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/01/17/russias-nuclear-powered-icebreaker-escorts-up-54-in-2019-a68942

Lavrov slams E3’s statement on Irannuclear deal as ‘dangerous turn’


Acting Russian Foreign Minister SergeyLavrov has described the E3’s plans to triggerthe dispute resolution mechanism on the

Iran nuclear deal as “a dangerous turn.”He recalled that the Joint ComprehensivePlan of Action agreed on in 2015 was “anintegral part of international law approvedby the UN Security Council in a resolution,which is binding.”

“However, the Americans decided toapply their own rules. They withdrewfrom the JCPOA [Joint ComprehensivePlan of Action]. They not only stoppedhonoring their commitments, but alsoprohibit other countries to trade with Iran.On the other hand, they demand that Irancomply with its obligations under thedocument, which President Trumpdescribed as the worst deal ever,” Lavrovtold reporters at a news conference onFriday.

https://tass.com/politics/1109951

US and Russia discuss possibilityof moving beyond bilateral formaton arms control


Russia and the United States havediscussed the possibility of moving beyonda bilateral format on arms control, the USDepartment of State said in a statementreleased on Thursday.

At the talks, Russia was represented byDeputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov,and the US was represented by AssistantSecretary for International Security andNonproliferation Christopher Ford, who“has been delegated the authorities andfunctions of the Under Secretary of Statefor Arms Control and InternationalSecurity.”

The delegations discussed “their respectivenational strategic policies as a means toreduce misunderstandings andmisperceptions on key security issues,” thestatement said. “The U.S. and Russiandelegations discussed nuclear stockpilesand strategy, crisis and arms race stability,and the role and potential future of armscontrol, including the importance ofmoving beyond a solely bilateral format,”the statement noted.

https://tass.com/world/1109787


Rosatom transfers Tianwan unit 3 toChinese customer


Russia and China today signed the finalacceptance protocol for the nuclear islandof unit 3 of the Tianwan nuclear powerplant, which transfers ownership to theChinese customer for permanent operation.The protocol was signed by Alexey Bannik,vice president of ASE Group, Rosatom’sengineering division, and Zhang Yi, deputygeneral director of Jiangsu Nuclear PowerCorporation. The signing ceremony tookplace during Rosatom Director GeneralAlexey Likhachov’s working visit to theTianwan plant, where he met with the headof the China Atomic Energy Authority,Zhang Kejian.

Likhachov noted that Tianwan units 3 and4 had been put into commercial operation“in record time”. The plant is “a vividexample of the highest skills of Russian andChinese nuclear scientists, the bestconfirmation of the synergy of the personaland professional contribution of eachemployee”, he said. Likhachov and Kejianalso visited the site allocated for theconstruction of VVER-1200 units 7 and 8.They said they hoped first concrete of unit 7would be poured in December, five monthsahead of schedule.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Rosatom-transfers-Tianwan-unit-3-to-Chinese-custom

KHNP awards new uraniumenrichment contract to Russia’sTenex


Tenex, a trading arm of the Russian nuclearcorporation Rosatom, won the tender stagedby Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd.(KHNP) on a new uranium enrichmentcontract, the Russian company says.

The new contract with the term by 2030 isvalued at $500 mln.

The portfolio of Tenex contracts with KHNPhas increased to $2 bln as a result of the newcontract award, the company said.

https://tass.com/economy/1110755

NATO initiates dangerous gamesin space — Lavrov


NATO’s plans to declare space andcyberspace its operational domainsundermine the global system of strategicstability, Russia’s Acting Foreign MinisterSergey Lavrov said at a meeting of theRussian International Affairs Council onTuesday. “We can see moves aimed atexacerbating tensions in the area ofstrategic stability and nuclear weapons,”he pointed out. “In addition, NATO isinitiating a rather dangerous game,declaring space and cyberspace itsoperational domains,” he added.

According to Lavrov, some in the West“are still guided not even by yesterday’slogic but by the logic of the day beforeyesterday in a bid to reclaim their formerglobal dominance, taking increasinglyaggressive actions.” “I would like to pointto the situation in the field of globalstrategic stability, which is under attackright now,” the Russian top diplomat wenton to say. “The Americans have destroyedtwo of the three landmark treaties — theAnti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the INFTreaty, while the future of New START,which is the last tool in the strategicstability area, remains unclear,” Lavrovnoted.

https://tass.com/politics/1111359

Shipbuilders to build five moreProject 23130 logistic supporttankers for Russian Navy


The Russian Navy will receive five moreProject 23130 logistic support tankerssimilar to the vessel Academician Pashinthat entered service with Russia’sNorthern Fleet on January 21, Chief of theAuxiliary Fleet Service in the DefenseMinistry’s Transport Support DepartmentSergei Yepifanov said on Tuesday. “As forthe prospects of these vessels, the Russiandefense minister made a decision in 2019on building five more tankers of thisProject,” he said at the ceremony of


hoisting the flag aboard the tankerAcademician Pashin in the northwesternMurmansk Region.

The Russian Navy will receive five moreProject 23130 logistic support tankers similarto the vessel Academician Pashin thatentered service with Russia’s Northern Fleeton January 21, Chief of the Auxiliary FleetService in the Defense Ministry’s TransportSupport Department Sergei Yepifanov saidon Tuesday. “As for the prospects of thesevessels, the Russian defense minister madea decision in 2019 on building five moretankers of this Project,” he said at theceremony of hoisting the flag aboard thetanker Academician Pashin in thenorthwestern Murmansk Region.


New sea tanker enters service withRussia’s Northern Fleet


The new sea tanker Academician Pashinwith improved technical characteristics hasentered service with the Northern Fleet’slogistics and rear support forces, the Fleet’spress office reported on Tuesday. Thesolemn ceremony of hoisting the flag tookplace aboard the new sea tanker inSeveromorsk with the participation of FleetCommander Vice-Admiral AlexanderMoiseyev.

“Today, a solemn ceremony of hoisting theflag of the Russian Navy’s auxiliary fleettook place aboard the medium sea tankerAcademician Pashin at the Northern Fleet’smain naval base of Severomorsk. Now thetanker has been officially accepted forservice with the Northern Fleet,” the pressoffice said in a statement.


Third Project 22220 serialicebreaker to be laid by July 2020 —Baltic Shipyard


The third serial icebreaker of Project 22220is planned to be laid at the Baltic Shipyardin April — June 2020, the company’s press

service told TASS on Monday. “Laying ofthe third [serial] icebreaker of Series 22220is planned in the second quarter of 2020,”the spokesperson said.

Two serial icebreakers of Project 22220 —Sibir and Ural — are currently underconstruction at the Baltic Shipyard. Thelead icebreaker Arktika of this projectsuccessfully completed the first stage of seatrials.


Russia completes testing of latestfast reactor fuel


Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC) hascompleted acceptance tests of its ETVS-22,ETVS-23 and ETVS-24 experimental fuelassemblies with mixed uranium-plutonium (nitride) nuclear fuel for fastneutron reactors. Based in Seversk, SCCis a subsidiary of TVEL, the nuclear fuelmanufacturing subsidiary of Russian statenuclear corporation Rosatom. The workis part of Rosatom’s ‘Proryv’, orBreakthrough, project to enable a closednuclear fuel cycle. This project comprisesa fuel production/refabrication module forproduction of dense uranium plutonium(nitride) fuel for fast reactors; a nuclearpower plant with a BREST reactor; and aused fuel retreatment module.

The acceptance committee was chaired byAlexey Glushenkov, chief expert of the AABochvar Research Institute of InorganicMaterials, and included representativesfrom SCC, TVEL, OKBM Afrikantov,Nikiet and Zarubezhatomenergostroy, aswell as from the Breakthrough project.They checked the qualitative andquantitative characteristics of the fuel,namely: the quality of welded joints andassembly structures; the absence of surfaceradioactive and mechanicalcontamination; and compliance with theworking design documentation.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Russia-completes-testing-of-latest-fast-reactor-fu


Russia expects commission onIranian nuclear deal to preventcrisis


Russia hopes that the next meeting of thecommission on the implementation of theJoint Comprehensive Plan of Action(JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear dealscheduled to be held in February will helpprevent the crisis around the agreementfrom escalating, the Russian ForeignMinistry said in a statement on Friday. “Asfor the next meeting of the JCPOA JointCommission scheduled for February, wehope that it will help prevent the crisis fromescalating further and consolidate thesignatories around the common task ofsalvaging the nuclear deal. We urge the E3and the EU’s JCPOA coordinators to focusprecisely on that,” the ministry said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry drew attentionto a statement made by EU Foreign PolicyChief Josep Borrell, which was published onJanuary 24. In it, he summed up the interimresults of working contacts and informalconsultations with the JCPOA signatoriesheld after the UK, Germany and Francenotified him on January 14 that they weretriggering the Dispute ResolutionMechanism envisaged by the JCPOA.

https://tass.com/world/1112841

Russia proceeds with tests of newfast reactor fuel

Nuclear Engineering, January 25, 2020

Russia’s Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC)in Seversk said on 22 January that it hascompleted acceptance tests of its ETVS-22,ETVS-23 and ETVS-24 experimental fuelassemblies with mixed uranium-plutonium(nitride) nuclear fuel for fast neutronreactors. SCC is a subsidiary of nuclear fuelcompany Tvel, part of state nuclearcorporation Rosatom. The fuel is beingdeveloped within the framework of theProryv (Breakthrough), project todemonstrate a closed nuclear fuel cycle. Thisproject, based at SCC, comprises a fuelproduction/refabrication module forproduction of dense uranium plutonium

(nitride) fuel for fast reactors; a nuclearpower plant with a lead cooled BREST OD-300 fast reactor; and a used fuelretreatment module.

The acceptance committee was chaired byAlexey Glushenkov, chief expert of the AABochvar Research Institute of InorganicMaterials (VNIINM), and includedrepresentatives from SCC, Tvel, OKBMAfrikantov, the NN Dollezhal Research &Development Institute of PowerEngineering (Nikiet) andZarubezhatomenergostroy, as well asfrom Proryv. Zarubezhatomenergostroy,founded in 1973, with 24 subsidiaries invarious regions of Russia, is a specialisedorganisation that provides technicalacceptance of nuclear fuel and assesses thecompliance of equipment, devices andmaterials for nuclear power plants,including those abroad. The Committeechecked the qualitative and quantitativecharacteristics of the fuel, including thequality of welded joints and assemblystructures; the absence of surfaceradioactive and mechanicalcontamination; and compliance with theworking design documentation. Rosatomsaid the experimental fuel wasmanufactured using technology “as closeas possible” to the industrial design, whichwill be used for the fabrication and re-fabrication module of the pilotdemonstration energy complex under theProryv project. Four fuel rods equippedwith “bevelled tablets” were installed ineach fuel assembly.

https://www.neimagazine.com/news/newsrussia-proceeds-with-tests-of-new-fast-

reactor-fuel-7653733

Russia-North Korea Trade UpDespite Sanctions, Reports Say

Moscow Times, January 25, 2020

Russia and North Korea ramped up tradein 2019 despite international sanctions, theSouth Korean news networkArirang reported, citing data from theGeneva-based International Trade Center.Pyongyang has been under UN sanctionssince 2006 over its missile and nuclear


programs, which the Security Council hasunanimously strengthened over the years.

Despite that, North Korea imported morethan $42 million in goods from Russia inJanuary-November 2019, Arirang reportedMonday. That’s 20% higher than the $32million in goods North Korea imported fromRussia in 2018, it said. Pyongyang’s imports consisted mostly of petroleumproducts from Russia, followed by animaloil, food and medical products, accordingto South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/01/24/russia-north-korea-trade-up-a69040

Russian floating nuclear plantsupplies 10GWh of electricity toChukotka

Nuclear Engineering, January 27, 2020

Russia’s floating NPP (FNPP), AkademikLomonosov, now moored at Pevek in theArctic northeast, has supplied 10GWh ofelectricity to the Chukotka network since itwas connected to the local grid on 19December, nuclear utility Rosenergoatomreported on 24 January. Currently, the FNPPprovides 20% of the needs of the Chaun-Bilibino energy centre. In future it will fullycover the growing electricity needs ofChukotka, becoming a reliable source for thecity of Pevek and the more extensive theregion.

Vitaly Trutnev, Director of theRosenergoatom Directorate for theConstruction and Operation of FloatingNuclear Thermal Power Plants, said: “In thefuture, the FNPP will provide electricity tothe development of enterprises for theextraction of gold, copper and other mineralresources in the territory of Chukotka.” “Inaddition, the FNPP will become one of thesupporting elements of the infrastructure ofthe Northern Sea Route. The key objectiveof 2020 is the commissioning of the facility,”he added.

https://www.neimagazine.com/news/newsrussian-floating-nuclear-plant-supplies-10gwh-of-electricity-to-chukotka-7741808

First serial batch of MOX fuelloaded into BN-800


Unit 4 of the Beloyarsk nuclear powerplant in Russia’s Sverdlovsk district hasbeen restarted after being loaded with thefirst serial batch of mixed-oxide (MOX)fuel. By 2021, the BN-800 fast neutronreactor should be operating with a fullcore of MOX fuel assemblies. Beloyarsk 4was initially fuelled with a hybrid corecontaining both uranium and MOX fuels.The uranium fuel assemblies wereproduced by Elemash, fuel manufacturerTVEL’s major fabrication facility inElekrostal, near Moscow, while theexperimental MOX fuel assemblies hadbeen fabricated at the Research Instituteof Atomic Reactors in Dimitrovgrad, in theUlyanovsk region.

Workers have now loaded 18 MOX fuelassemblies - manufactured by the Miningand Chemical Combine (MCC) inZheleznogorsk, in the Krasnoyarsk region- into the reactor’s core. The productionline - located in a mine 200 metresunderground - was built as part of Russia’s‘Proryv’, or Breakthrough, project toenable a closed nuclear fuel cycle. Theultimate aim is to eliminate production ofradioactive waste from nuclear powergeneration. The facility completed tests onputting together the first nuclear fuelassemblies for the BN-800 reactor inAugust 2015. Serial batch production ofMOX fuel started at MCC in late 2018. Thebasic technology for manufacturing theMOX fuel pellets was developed by TVELsubsidiary AA Bochvar Research Instituteof Inorganic Materials. The fuel pellets aremanufactured from a mixture of oxides ofdepleted uranium accumulated at TVELfacilities and oxides of plutonium extractedduring the reprocessing of used nuclearfuel.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/First-serial-batch-of-MOX-fuel-loaded-into-BN-800


Fortum, Tractebel to assist inEstonian SMR deployment


Estonia’s Fermi Energia has signedMemoranda of Understanding (MoUs) withFinnish power company Fortum and Belgianengineering firm Tractebel to cooperate onstudying the deployment of small modularreactors (SMRs) in the Baltic country. FermiEnergia was founded by Estonian energyand nuclear energy professionals to developdeployment of SMRs in Estonia. Under theMoUs with Fortum and Tractebel,cooperation will focus on developing alicensing model suitable for SMRs and apreliminary siting study for a light waterSMR. Through the agreements, thecompanies have agreed to share with eachother the results of the studies.

“For us, the greatest value of thiscollaboration is to start mutual learningthrough hands-on work with currentnuclear power producers,” said FermiEnergia board member and co-founderKalev Kallemets. “The introduction ofnuclear energy requires a number of relatedelements to be thoroughly analysed andfurther developed so that this form of energyproduction is competitive with otheralternatives. Already in the early stages ofworking together to find the best solutions,we can be sure that there will be greatermutual understanding at a later stage.”Kallemets noted the desynchronisation ofthe Baltic States - Estonia, Latvia andLithuania - from Russia’s electricity grid andthe end of electricity imports from therewhich is scheduled to be completed by theend of 2025

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Fortum-Tractebel-to-assist-in-Estonian-SMR-deploym

Roscosmos says first Russiannuclear space tug set for launch in2030


A space tug, equipped with a megawattclass nuclear engine is scheduled to belaunched in 2030, according to a

presentation by Roscosmos First DeputyDirector General Yuri Urlichich, displayedat the 44th Korolev Academic SpaceConference. “The launch of a nuclear-powered spacecraft, and flight tests(2030),” the presentation reads. After2030, the nuclear-propelled space vehiclemust enter serial production andcommercial use, it says.

Before the end of 2030, a testing andexperimenting facility must be built, andthe future nuclear engine must be perfectedon the ground, including conductingresource tests, the presentation revealed.

https://tass.com/science/1113827

Kazatomprom to sell stake inenrichment JV


Kazatomprom announced today it intendsto sell its 50% interest (minus one share)in Uranium Enrichment Centre JSC (UEC)to its partner in the joint venture, TVEL,for RUB6.253 billion (about USD100million). TVEL is the nuclear fuelmanufacturer subsidiary of Russian statenuclear corporation Rosatom. The Kazakhuranium producer said the decision wasbased on its “value-driven strategy”, aswell as its review of current uraniumenrichment market conditions. UEC is ajoint Kazakhstan-Russian enterpriseestablished in 2006 as part of theimplementation of the ComprehensiveProgramme of Kazakhstan-RussiaCooperation in the Peaceful Use of AtomicEnergy. It owns 25% (plus one share) ofthe Ural Electrochemical Integrated PlantJSC in Novouralsk, in the Sverdlovsk regionof Russia. UEC was the first company withforeign-ownership to have an interest in aRussian uranium enrichment facility.

Kazatomprom said its interest in UEC wasbased on “an independent fair marketvaluation carried out by a major globaladvisory firm”. It plans to retain one sharein UEC, which will preserve its rights toaccess uranium enrichment services underthe conditions previously agreed uponwith TVEL. Following negotiations withTVEL and approval by Kazatomprom’s


board of directors, the transaction wasapproved by Russia’s Federal AntimonopolyService yesterday, and it is now subject toapproval by TVEL’s board of directors.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Kazatomprom-sells-stake-in-enrichment-JV

West Asia

G. Iran

Iran’s Rouhani threatens Europeantroops amid nuclear pressure

Arab News, January 15, 2020

Iran’s president issued a warning onWednesday that European forces in theMiddle East could be at risk if their nationsjoined the US pressure campaign against hiscountry and challenged Tehran overbreaking the limits of a 2015 nuclear deal.“Today, the American soldier is in danger,tomorrow the European soldier could be indanger,” president Hassan Rouhani said ata Cabinet meeting without elaborating.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign MinisterMohammad Javad Zarif acknowledged onWednesday during a summit in New Delhithat Iranians “were lied to” for daysfollowing the accidental shoot down of aUkrainian jetliner that killed 176 people.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1613676/middle-east

Iran’s nuclear enrichment at higherlevel than before 2015 deal: Rouhani


Iran is now enriching more uranium thanTehran did before it agreed to a nuclear dealwith world powers in 2015, IranianPresident Hassan Rouhani said on Thursdayin a televised speech. “We are enrichingmore uranium before the deal was reached... Pressure has increased on Iran but wecontinue to progress,” Rouhani said. Iranhas gradually scaled back its commitmentsunder the nuclear deal in retaliation toWashington’s withdrawal from the pact in2018 and its reimposition of sanctions thathave crippled the country’s economy.


E3 think they’re living in 19thcentury: Zarif


Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarifhas said that the European Union trio,known as E3, still think they’re living inthe 19th century when they did whateverthey liked. “E3 think they’re living in the19th Century, when they dictated tocountries, lied, & got away with it,” Zariftweeted on Wednesday. Zarif again urgedthe Europeans to fulfil their commitmentsunder the 2015 nuclear deal, officiallyknown as the JCPOA, rather thansubmitting to the U.S. bullying. “Forgetabout compensating for US: fulfill your ownobligations. EVEN JUST ONE,” he said.

The chief diplomat added, “IRAN is NOTthe one emptying the accord of itssubstance—the E3 is.” Foreign ministersof France, Germany and the UnitedKingdom issued a joint statement onTuesday announcing they have formallytriggered the dispute mechanism in thenuclear deal.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444253/E3-think-they-re-living-in-19th-century-Zarif

Iran’s top leader praises attack onUS bases in Iraq


Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneisaid in a Friday prayers sermon that Iran’smissile strikes on US targets in Iraq showedit had divine support in delivering a “slapon the face” to a world power. Making themain weekly sermon in Tehran for the firsttime since 2012, with Iran and its clericalrulers under pressure at home and abroad,Khamenei also said that US sanctionsimposed in a row over its nuclear programwould not make Iran yield.

Thousands had gathered inside a largeprayer hall in central Tehran and packedthe area and streets outside the building,chanting “Death to America.” The sermonwas delivered after Iran’s rulers faced daysof often violent protests after the militaryadmitted to mistakenly shooting down anairliner in the tense hours after the missile


strikes, which were in turn launched inretaliation for the US killing on Jan. 3 of atop Iranian commander, close to Khamenei.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1614481/middle-

east

Zarif says Iran will never negotiatea new deal with U.S.


Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarifsaid on Friday that Iran will never negotiatea new nuclear deal with the United States.“We will never negotiate a new deal,” Zarifsaid in a meeting with All India Associationof Industries (AIAI) in Mumbai. The 2015nuclear deal, officially called the JointComprehensive Plan of Action, is endorsedby the UN Security Council Resolution 2231.Under the accord Iran agreed to put limitson its nuclear activities in exchange for thetermination of economic and financialsanctions. However, U.S. President DonaldTrump ditched the deal in May 2018 andslapped the harshest ever sanctions inhistory against Iran in line with hisadministration’s “maximum pressure”strategy against Iran.

“Resolution of the United Nations’ SecurityCouncil on Iran’s nuclear program is 159pages which may be the longest resolutionof the United Nations. However, India canplay a role if the United States returns tothe JCPOA,” Zarif said when asked aboutthe possibility of India’s mediation to reduceIran-U.S. tension. Former U.S. Secretary ofState John Kerry told CBS News in aninterview published on January 12 that theJCPOA is the “strongest” and “mosttransparent” agreement on the planet.“Britain, China, Russia are all still trying tokeep the agreement in place because theyrecognize it’s the strongest, mosttransparent, most accountable nuclearagreement on the planet,” he said. In a high-profile speech on Friday, Leader of theIslamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khameneiruled out the possibility of talks with the U.S.,saying dialogue with the enemy is mixedwith chicanery and deceit.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444297/Zarif-says-Iran-will-never-negotiate-a-new-deal-with-U-S

Iran may review cooperation withIAEA if EU pressure mounts: TV

Parisa Hafezi, Reuters, January 19, 2020

Iran will review its cooperation with theUnited Nations’ nuclear watchdog shouldit face “unjust” measures, Iranianparliament speaker Ali Larijani said, afterEU powers last week triggered a disputemechanism under Tehran’s 2015 nucleardeal. The move by France, Britain andGermany amounts to formally accusingIran of violating the terms of the deal andcould lead eventually to reimposing U.N.sanctions that were lifted under the pact.“We state openly that if the Europeanpowers, for any reason, adopt an unfairapproach in using the dispute mechanism,we will seriously reconsider ourcooperation with the International AtomicEnergy Agency,” state TV quoted Larijanias saying.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-iaea/iran-may-review-cooperation-with-iaea-if-eu-pressure-mounts-tv-idUSKBN1ZI09N

Iran says it is preparing forsatellite launch


Iran said Sunday that two newlyconstructed satellites have passed pre-launch tests and will be transported to thenation’s space center for eventual launch,without elaborating. TelecommunicationsMinister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromitweeted about the development, calling itan “important research step.” Iran has notsaid when it will launch the satellites, butoften coordinates its launches withnational holidays. It will celebrate the 41stanniversary of the Islamic Revolution nextmonth.

Iran’s largely state-run media say the 90-kilogram (200-pound) Zafar satellites eachhave four high-resolution color camerasand will monitor and transmit data onnatural resources as well as agriculturaland environmental developments.Iransays its satellite program, like its nuclearactivities, is aimed at scientific research andother civilian applications. The US and


other Western countries have long beensuspicious of the program because the sametechnology can be used to develop long-range missiles. Iran tried and failed tolaunch two satellites into orbit in Januaryand February last year.


Iran says it will quit global nucleartreaty if case goes to U.N.

Babak Dehghanpisheh, Reuters, January 20,2020

Iran said on Monday it could quit the globalnuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) ifEuropean countries refer it to the U.N.Security Council over a nuclear agreement,a move that would overturn diplomacy inits confrontation with the West.

The 1968 NPT has been the foundation ofglobal nuclear arms control since the ColdWar, including a 2015 deal Iran signed withworld powers that offered it access to globaltrade in return for accepting curbs to itsatomic program. The fate of the 2015 pacthas been in doubt since U.S. PresidentDonald Trump pulled the United States outof it and reimposed sanctions. Iran hasresponded by scaling back its commitments,although it says it wants the pact to survive.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear/iran-says-it-will-quit-global-nuclear-treaty-if-case-goes-to-u-n-idUSKBN1ZJ0ML

Zarif says quitting NPT to be raisedif Europeans refer Iran to UNSecurity Council


Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarifwarned on Monday that Iran will raise theissue of quitting the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the Europeansrefer Iran’s nuclear case to the UN SecurityCouncil. “If they (Europeans) take anyaction, the issue of quitting the NPT will beraised based on the letter of the Presidentdating May 2018,” Zarif told ICANA.France, Germany and the United Kingdom,the three European states signatory to the

JCPOA, issued a joint statement onJanuary 14, announcing they haveformally triggered the dispute mechanismwhich could bring the issue before the UNSecurity Council. “Steps in reducing the[JCPOA] commitments have already beentaken. However, Iran will quit the NPT ifthe Europeans continue their behavior orsend Iran’s case to the Security Council,”Zarif stated. Zarif went on to say that theForeign Ministry is legally pursuing thetriggering of dispute mechanism byEuropeans. “The Islamic Republic of Iranofficially started the dispute mechanism inMay 2018 after the United States’withdrawal from the JCPOA.

Three letters were sent to Mrs. Mogherini[then European Union foreign policy chief]on May 10, 2018, August 26, 2018 andNovember 2018 in which it wasannounced officially that Iran has startedthe dispute mechanism.” He added, “Inthe letter which was sent in November2018, we said that Iran has started thedispute mechanism and therefore, wehave no choice but to reduce commitmentsto the JCPOA.” “After the aforementionedletter, the Islamic Republic of Iran gave theEuropean Union seven months and thenstarted to reduce the JCPOAcommitments in May 2019,” the foreignminister explained. Zarif noted that Iranwill reverse its decision once theEuropeans return to their commitments.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444356/Zarif-says-quitting-NPT-to-be-raised-if-Europeans-refer-Iran

Iran has not ruled out talks to endnuclear dispute


Iran said on Monday that it had not closedthe “door to negotiations” in efforts toresolve a dispute over its nuclearagreement with world powers that hasescalated steadily since the United Stateswithdrew from the deal in 2018. ForeignMinistry spokesman Abbas Mousavi saidany further move by Tehran to scale backits commitments to the deal would dependon actions by other parties, after European


states triggered a mechanism that could leadto the reimposition of UN sanctions. Iran hasgradually stepped back from its obligationsto the 2015 deal, under which Tehransecured sanctions relief in return for limitingits nuclear work, after Washington quit theagreement and then imposed stringent U.S.sanctions.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1615581/middle-

east

Iran threatens to quit global nucleartreaty and build a bomb


Iran threatened on Monday to withdrawfrom the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty(NPT), paving the way for construction of anuclear bomb. The threat is Iran’s latestgambit to save the Joint Comprehensive Planof Action (JCPOA), the 2015 deal to curbTehran’s nuclear program in return for aneasing of sanctions. US President DonaldTrump withdrew from the JCPOA in May2018, and reimposed sanctions. In response,Iran began enriching uranium in breach ofthe agreement, in an attempt to put pressureon European states to save the deal.

That tactic backfired last week when Britain,France and Germany declared Iran to be inviolation of the JCPOA, and triggered adispute mechanism under which the issuewill be referred to the UN Security Council,with full UN sanctions reimposed within 60days. “If the Europeans continue theirimproper behavior or send Iran’s file to theSecurity Council, we will withdraw from theNPT,” Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarifsaid on Monday.


Iran MP offers reward for killingTrump, U.S. calls it ‘ridiculous’

Parisa Hafezi, Reuters, January 21, 2020

An Iranian lawmaker offered a $3 millionreward to anyone who killed U.S. PresidentDonald Trump and said Iran could avoidthreats if it had nuclear arms, ISNA newsagency reported on Tuesday amid Tehran’slatest standoff with Washington. U.S.

disarmament ambassador Robert Wooddismissed the reward as “ridiculous”,telling reporters in Geneva it showed the“terrorist underpinnings” of Iran’sestablishment.

Tensions have escalated since Trump in2018 pulled the United States out of amultilateral 2015 agreement meant tocontain Iran’s nuclear programme, sayingit was flawed, then reimposed heavy U.S.sanctions on Tehran. The standoff eruptedinto tit-for-tat military strikes earlier thismonth. “On behalf of the people ofKerman province, we will pay a $3 millionreward in cash to whoever kills Trump,”lawmaker Ahmad Hamzeh told the 290-seat parliament, ISNA reported.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iran-usa-trump/iran-mp-offers-reward-for-killing-trump-u-s-calls-it-ridiculous-idUKKBN1ZK0ZI

By triggering dispute mechanism,Europe proves its incapability:Salehi


Ali Akbar Salehi, director of the AtomicEnergy Organization of Iran, has said thatthe Europeans’ action in triggering thedispute mechanism in the 2015 nucleardeal proves their “incapability” and“indiscretion”. France, Germany and theUnited Kingdom, three parties to thenuclear deal, issued a joint statement onJanuary 14, announcing they haveformally triggered the dispute mechanismthat may lead to the snapback of UNsanctions against Iran.

“Statement of Germany, France, and Britainon triggering the dispute mechanism provestheir lack of wisdom and incapability inthe face of the United States’ demands,”Salehi told IRNA in an interviewpublished on Wednesday. U.S. PresidentDonald Trump unilaterally quit thenuclear deal in May 2018 and introducedthe harshest ever sanctions in history on Iranas part of his administration’s “maximumpressure” strategy against Iran.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444456/By-triggering-dispute-mechanism-Europe-proves-its-incapability


Iran tells Europe not to follow U.S.by undermining nuclear pact

Parisa Hafezi, Babak Dehghanpisheh,Reuters, January 22, 2020

Iran’s president told European powers onWednesday not to copy the United Statesby undermining Tehran’s strained nuclearpact with world powers, and said Tehranwould not seek nuclear weapons whetheror not the deal survived.

Britain, France and Germany launched adispute mechanism in the 2015 nuclear dealthis month, accusing Iran of violating the dealthat has become increasingly frayed sinceWashington pulled out in 2018 and thenreimposed sanctions on Tehran. The disputemechanism could ultimately lead to the casebeing referred to the U.N. Security Councilto restore U.N. sanctions. Iranian officials havethreatened a range of steps if this shouldhappen, including quitting the 2015 deal oreven withdrawing from the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), basis for globalnuclear arms control since the Cold War.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear/iran-tells-europe-not-to-follow-u-s-by-undermin-ing-nuclear-pact-idUSKBN1ZL1TR

No talks over NPT withdrawal incabinet: Iran


Mahmoud Vaezi, President HassanRouhani’s chief of staff, said on Wednesdaythat there has not been any debate in thecabinet about leaving the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). “In thegovernment, we did not have any talks overapproval of Iran’s withdrawal from the NPT.Naturally, the issue is among thegovernment’s authorities,” Vaezi toldreporters after the cabinet meeting. Hefurther said, “President Rouhani, in a letterto the 4+1 countries (Russian, China,Britain, France plus Germany) in April,announce that Iran is interested in remainingin the JCPOA (the Joint ComprehensivePlan of Action) and is prepared to fulfill itsobligations under the deal provided thatother sides adhere to their commitmentunder the pact too.”

“The president, in the letter, hadannounced that if the U.S. or any othersignatories of the pact try to send Iran’scase to the United Nations SecurityCouncil, Iran will embark on makingtougher decisions, including withdrawalfrom the NPT,” Vaezi went on to say. OnMonday, Foreign Minister MohammadJavad Zarif warned that Iran may quit theNPT if the Europeans refer Iran’s nuclearcase to the UN Security Council. “If they(Europeans) take any action, the issue ofquitting the NPT will be raised based onthe letter of the President dating May2018,” Zarif said.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444457/No-talks-over-NPT-withdrawal-in-cabinet-Iran

Iranian diplomat says maximumpressure will spread unilateralism


Bahram Qassemi, Iran’s ambassador toFrance, said on Thursday thatintensification of the United States’maximum pressure against Iran will justspread unilateralism. “Those who help theUnited States intensify maximum pressureagainst Iran are moving on the path ofspreading unilateralism and destabilizingthe region,” IRNA quoted him as sayingin a tweet.

He said in another tweet, “Europe whichclaimed of supporting the JCPOA [the2015 nuclear deal] never fulfilled itseconomic commitments.” He described theINSTEX - the Instrument in support ofTrade Exchanges – as an “empty box” and“leverage of propaganda”. “Now, they aretalking about an action which will lead tocollapse of the JCPOA. This is the sameresult which the United States wants,” hesaid. He was pointing to Europe’striggering the dispute mechanism.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444503/Iranian-diplomat-says-maximum-pressure-will-spread-unilateralism


Trump administration officials tobrief senators on Iran next week


Top officials from the U.S. State Departmentwill conduct a classified briefing next weekon Iran policy for members of the SenateForeign Relations Committee, the committeesaid on Friday, amid a push for legislationto restrict President Donald Trump’s abilityto wage war on Iran.

Trump’s special representative for Iran,Brian Hook, will lead the Tuesday briefing.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who leaveson Wednesday for an international trip toUkraine and other countries, is notparticipating. Senate leaders had said theyexpected to vote as soon as this week on anIran war powers resolution, but there hadbeen no word on when that vote might takeplace.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-congress/trump-administration-officials-to-brief-senators-on-iran-next-week-idUSKBN1ZN253

EU’s Borrell extends timeline fordispute mechanism on Iran deal


The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrellsaid on Friday he had extended the timeavailable to discuss ways to save the 2015nuclear deal with Iran under a disputemechanism triggered by France, Germanyand Britain. “There is agreement that moretime is needed due to the complexity of theissues involved. The timeline is thereforeextended,” Borrell said in a statement.

On Jan. 14 Borrell was notified by Paris,London and Berlin that they had triggeredthe dispute mechanism, in theory starting a15-day process to resolve issues with Iran.However, in practice it is not clear when the15-day period should start because Iran hasnot formally recognised the consultationprocess, officials have said. Borrell said thejoint commission that regulates the Irannuclear deal will meet in February but didnot give a date.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444505/EU-s-Borrell-extends-timeline-for-dispute-mechanism-on-Iran-deal

Fars news goes offline ‘due to U.S.sanctions’


The website of the Fars news agency hasgone offline worldwide due to U.S.sanctions, the agency announced onFriday night. In a post on its Twitteraccount, Fars said access to its .comdomain had been blocked upon the U.S.Treasury’s order. Internet users trying toaccess farsnews.com also found only ablank screen, along with a message stating“farsnews.com’s server IP address couldnot be found.” The news agency said ithad received an email from its servercompany, which “explicitly said that theblockage is due to an order by theTreasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control(OFAC) and its inclusion in the list ofSpecially Designated Nationals (SDN).”However, Fars can still be accessed throughits .ir domain.

Previously, Google, YouTube, Facebook,Instagram and Twitter targeted Iranianaccounts, including those belonging tobroadcasters. In December 2019, Googleblocked access to Press TV and HispanTV’s official YouTube accounts withoutany prior notice. Ever since Donald Trumpbecome the president of the United Statesin 2017, Washington has ramped up anti-Iran measures. Trump adopted a“maximum pressure” policy against Iranlater on, after withdrawing from thehistoric 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May2018.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444549/Fars-news-goes-offline-due-to-U-S-sanctions

‘NPT withdrawal plan’ now onMPs’ agenda


Presiding Board of the Iranian Parliament,on Tuesday, received a proposed plan onIran’s withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty(NPT). On the same day, the Parliamentreceived a plan on ‘banning production,maintenance and use of nuclear weapon’,as well. In addition, the MPs received a


plan on ‘inflecting punishment on thosecountries cooperating with the US onimposing anti-Iranian sanctions’.

After Britain, France, and Germany,collectively known as the E3, formallytriggered a dispute settlement mechanismfeatured in the JCPOA, a step that could leadto the restoration of UN sanctions againstthe Islamic Republic, Iran warned thatTehran would leave the Non-ProliferationTreaty (NPT) if EU took Iran’s nuclear caseto UN Security Council. “The European’sstatement is in no way legal. If theEuropeans take another step, Iran willconsider leaving the NPT according to aletter by the Iranian president in May 2019,”Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarifhad said. According to the EU’s foreign policychief, the European Union will discuss waysto preserve the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) andthe possibility of triggering a disputemechanism featured in it.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444651/NPT-withdrawal-plan-now-on-MPs-agenda

H. Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia a ‘pioneer’ in energytransformation, minister tells Davos

Frank Kane, Arab News, January 22, 2020

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz binSalman mounted a strong defense of theKingdom’s record on climate change andclean energy production at a special eventduring the annual meeting of the WorldEconomic Forum in Davos. On a panel titled,“The Future of Fossil Fuels,” with otherenergy industry leaders, the prince tolddelegates that Saudi Arabia was a “pioneer”in many areas of clean energy productionand usage, and that it had taken big stepstoward diversifying its energy mix.

“My job is to promote Saudi Arabia, ofcourse, but on this issue I’m proud to do so,because we are doing it all,” he said, beforeoutlining “clean energy” policies in detail.“We have developed the idea of the circularcarbon economy, and we are pioneers ofcarbon sequestration at Aramco, as well asmeasures on upstream and downstreamefficiency. We have the lowest carbon cost

in production and extraction. “We havereduced domestic consumption and theenergy intensity of our economy by manypercentage points. We are converting carsto be more efficient, as well as othergadgets, to be more efficient than any inthe world. And we manufacture themtoo,” he added.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1618046/saudi-arabia

Saudi Arabia’s envoy to UK: Weneed to do a better job of showingwho we are


Saudi Arabia needs “to do a better job” of“showing the world who we really are,”its ambassador to Britain said. “In Saudiwe do not always represent ourselves verywell because we are a reticent people andour culture does not push us to talkingabout ourselves,” Prince Khalid binBandar bin Sultan told the DailyTelegraph. He made his comments in lightof recent allegations that Saudi CrownPrince Mohammed bin Salman wasinvolved in hacking the phone of AmazonCEO Jeff Bezos.

“It is very easy for people to throw theseunsubstantiated allegations against SaudiArabia because they know that it is verydifficult for Riyadh to defend itself whenit does not have proper access to thedetails,” the ambassador said. “We needto see the evidence before we make anyresponse, because the evidence madepublic so far is circumstantial at best.”Prince Khalid, who was appointed lastyear, encouraged people to visit hiscountry before forming an opinion of it.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1616771/business-economy

I. Iraq

Iraqi FM: U.S. pullout from Irannuclear deal destabilizes region


Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad Ali AlHakim, in a news conference with his


Jordanian counterpart Ayman Al Safadi inBaghdad, has said that Washington’sunilateral withdrawal from the JointComprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) hasbeen the cause of recent tensions in theregion. U.S. President Donald Trump quitthe nuclear deal in May 2018 and introducedthe harshest ever sanctions in history on Iranas part of his administration’s “maximumpressure” campaign against Tehran. Underthe JCPOA, Iran promised to put limits onits nuclear activities in exchange for thetermination of economic and financialsanctions.

“We must take steps in line with preventingalien forces’ presence in the region,” headded, Azad University News Agency(ANA) reported on Saturday. Al Hakimfurther said that any escalation of tensionsin the region will pave the way for theterrorist groups to reequip and reemerge. AlSafadi, for his part, said, “I have a messageof Jordanian King Abdulla II for Baghdad.The message concentrates on Iraq’sindependency and de-escalation oftensions.”

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444292/Iraqi-FM-U-S-pullout-from-Iran-nuclear-deal-destabi-lizes-region

U.S. seeks Iraqi nod to bring in airdefenses after Iran attack


The United States is trying to securepermission from Iraq to take Patriot missiledefenses into the country to better defendU.S. forces after Iran’s Jan. 8 missile attack,which wounded 50 American troops,Defense Secretary Mark Esper said onThursday. The United States did not havePatriot air defenses deployed to al-Asad airbase in Iraq, where at least 11 of Iran’sballistic missiles struck, killing no one buttriggering massive blasts that causedtraumatic brain injury among U.S. forces.“We need the permission of the Iraqis,” Espertold a news conference. He said securingtheir permission was one factor slowing therepositioning of the air defenses. He said theU.S. military was still deciding on moretactical issues, such as where best to placethe defenses. Tehran had been expected to

retaliate against the United States over thekilling of a top Iranian general, likely usingballistic missiles.

But in the days prior to the Iranian strikes,the Pentagon had expected Tehran morelikely to target U.S. positions in countriesother than Iraq, since Tehran countsinfluential allies in Baghdad. The UnitedStates had moved Patriot batteries last yearto Saudi Arabia, for example. Thanks toU.S. intelligence, the Pentagon gainedhours of warning time that allowed it tomove troops to bunkers that were strongenough to prevent loss of life or limb whenthe Iranian missiles struck, U.S. officialssay. The bunkers were not designed toprevent the traumatic brain injuries fromthe massive blasts. The injuries so far havebeen categorized as “mild.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iran-usa-iraq/u-s-seeks-iraqi-nod-to-bring-in-air-defenses-after-iran-attack-idUSKBN1ZT2DI

J. Turkey

Turkey, Japan scrap partnership inSinop nuclear plant in Turkey’snorth

Hurriyat Daily News, January 20, 2020

Turkey is reassessing its major partner forthe country’s second nuclear plant in theBlack Sea province of Sinop, EnergyMinister Fatih Dönmez said on Jan. 19. Inan interview with state-run AnadoluAgency, Dönmez said that the timeschedule and pricing of the nuclear powerplant in Sinop fell short of the ministry’sexpectations after the results of feasibilitystudies, carried out by Japanese MitsubishiHeavy Industries, Ltd., came out. “Weagreed with the Japanese side to notcontinue our cooperation regarding thismatter,” Dönmez said.

The minister added that Turkey can holdtalks with other suppliers for theconstruction of the nuclear plant. Theproject was agreed on by the Japanese andTurkish governments in 2013. Aconsortium led by Mitsubishi HeavyIndustries had been conducting a


feasibility study until March for theconstruction of a 4,500-megawatt plant inSinop.

https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-japan-scrap-partnership-in-sinop-nuclear-plant-in-turkeys-north-151212

Welded reactor cover completed forTurkey’s first nuclear plant: AkkuyuNPP

Daily Sabah, January 23, 2020

The welding of the reactor cover on the firstunit of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant(NPP) has been completed, the reactor’smanufacturer Atomenergomashannounced on Wednesday. Atommash, theVolgodonsk branch of AEM-technology,which operates alongside Russian stateatomic energy corporation Rosatom’smachine-building division ofAtomenergomash, has completed thewelding of the reactor cover for Turkey’sfirst nuclear plant, according to thestatement.

The welding of the circumferential joint attemperatures ranging between 179 and 200degrees Celsius was carried out over thecourse of 17 days, Akkuyu NPP’s reactorequipment and turbine island manufacturerconfirmed. Later, the reactor’s welded jointwill undergo heat treatment at 600 degreesCelsius for three days to relieve residualwelding stresses and to ensure optimalresilience, according to the company.

https://www.dailysabah.com/energy/2020/01/23/welded-reactor-cover-completed-for-turkeys-first-nuclear-plant-akkuyu-npp

‘Armenian nuclear plant posesthreat to Turkey’

Yeni Safak, January 31, 2020

A nuclear power plant in neighboringArmenia poses a threat to Turkey, said aTurkish opposition party on Friday. “TheMetsamor Nuclear Power Plant jeopardizesthe lives of people in this region,” HabibEksik, a Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)lawmaker from the eastern Igdir province,told journalists in parliament.

He said the plant is in close proximity toIgdir and has many flaws in its design.“The plant has been constructed withprimitive technology and it lacks adequatesecurity measures,” said Eksik. Metsamor,first launched in 1976, is just 16 kilometers(10 miles) from Turkey’s eastern borderwith Armenia, and produces about 40%of the country’s electricity.

https://www.yenisafak.com/en/news/armenian-nuclear-plant-poses-threat-to-turkey-3510952

K. Israel

Report: Israel, Russia agree inprinciple on Issachar pardon,finalizing details

Michael Bachner, The Times of Israel,January 20, 2020

Iran’s foreign minister threatens to quit theNon-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a keyinternational agreement to curb nucleararms, if the matter of Tehran’s ongoingviolations of the atomic deal is sent to theUnited Nations Security Council, Iranianmedia reports. “If the Europeans continuetheir improper behavior or send Iran’s fileto the Security Council, we will withdrawfrom the NPT,” Mohammad Javad Zarifis quoted as saying by the IRNA newsagency, according to Reuters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin submitsa package of constitutional amendmentsto parliament less than a week afterannouncing a surprise plan to reform thepolitical system. The bill on theamendments, available on the website ofthe lower house State Duma, proposeschanges including the transfer of somepower away from the presidency. Thereform has indicated Putin is working tocarve out a new governing position forhimself after his current six-year term endsin 2024, although it remains unclear whatspecific path he will take to stay in charge.Under the current law, Putin must stepdown when his current term ends.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-january-20-2020/


Energy minister: Israel stopped‘very serious’ cyber attack on powerplant

Eytan Halon, Jerusalem Post, January 29,2020

Israel detected and prevented a “veryserious cyberattack” on one of the country’spower plants, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitzsaid on Wednesday.

Addressing the Cybertech Global Tel Aviv2020 conference, Steinitz said the attemptedattack was detected “a few months ago,”and represented one of only a few seriouscyberattacks on Israeli energy facilities todate.

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Energy-minister-Israel-prevented-cyber-attack-on-power-plant-615802

East Asia

L. North Korea

North Korea’s Kim taps tough-talking military veteran as foreignminister

Hyonhee Shin, Reuters, January 20, 2020

North Korea’s new foreign minister is aformer defense commander with littlediplomatic experience, spotlighting leaderKim Jong Un’s reliance on party and militaryloyalists at a sensitive time amid stalled U.S.talks, analysts in Seoul said on Monday. Lastweek, North Korea told countries withembassies in Pyongyang that Ri Son Gwon,a senior military officer and official of theruling Workers’ Party, had been appointedforeign minister, a diplomatic source inSeoul told Reuters.

He replaces Ri Yong Ho, a career diplomatwith years of experience negotiating withWashington, but who often took a backseatto other officials during the last two yearsof diplomacy.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-politics/north-koreas-kim-taps-tough-talking-military-veteran-as-foreign-minister-idUSKBN1ZJ0RE

North Korea signals tougherstance against US

Kang Seung-woo, Korea Times, January 20,2020

The unexpected replacement of NorthKorea’s top diplomat indicates thatPyongyang is picking up where it left offmore than two years ago, or a new anti-U.S. hardline policy, according todiplomatic observers, Monday. Thereplacement is also unlikely to helpimprove inter-Korean ties, experts said.According to media reports, the North hasappointed Ri Son-gwon, chairman of theCommittee for the Peaceful Reunificationof the Country, as its foreign minister,sacking Ri Yong-ho, a career diplomat,apparently over the stalled nuclear talkswith the U.S., despite three meetingsbetween their leaders. The new foreignminister had been the North’s key officialfor relations with South Korea.

The regime has yet to confirm theappointment; while the South Koreanunification ministry said it was also tryingto confirm the reports.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2020/01/103_282217.html

North Korea says may seek ‘newpath’ of weapons build-up

Space Daily, January 21, 2020

Pyongyang on Tuesday warned that itcould seek a “new path” and accelerateits weapons programme, after Washingtonimposed fresh sanctions on North Koreancompanies amid stalled nuclear talks.North Korean representative Ju Yong Choltold the Conference on Disarmament inGeneva that his country’s efforts toimprove relations with Washington hadbeen met with hostility. “Although the USis talking about the resumption ofdialogue, it has no intention at all from thebeginning to drop its hostile policytowards the DPRK (Democratic Republicof Korea),” he said.

“The DPRK will steadily develop strategicweapons essential and prerequisite for


national security until the US abandons itshostile policy and lasting and durablepeace... is in place on the Korean peninsula,”he said. He said the scope of the build upwould depend on the “future attitude” ofthe US. Pyongyang has previously firedmissiles capable of reaching the entire USmainland, and has carried out six nucleartests, the last of them 16 times more powerfulthan the Hiroshima blast, according to thehighest estimates.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/North_Korea_says_may_seek_new_path_of_weapons_build-up_999.html

North Korea abandons nuclearfreeze pledge, blames ‘brutal’ U.S.sanctions

Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters, January 21,2020

North Korea said on Tuesday it was nolonger bound by commitments to haltnuclear and missile testing, blaming theUnited States’ failure to meet a year-enddeadline for nuclear talks and “brutal andinhumane” U.S. sanctions. North Koreanleader Kim Jong Un set an end-Decemberdeadline for denuclearization talks with theUnited States and White House nationalsecurity adviser Robert O’Brien said at thetime the United States had opened channelsof communication. O’Brien said then hehoped Kim would follow through ondenuclearization commitments he made atsummits with U.S. President DonaldTrump.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-nuclear-usa/north-korea-abandons-nuclear-freeze-pledge-blames-brutal-u-s-sanctions-idUSKBN1ZK1FX

North Korea to make MunichSecurity Conference debut in 2020

Korea Herald, January 23, 2020

North Korea will send a delegation to theMunich Security Conference for the firsttime in the 56-year history of the topdiplomatic gathering, organizers saidThursday. An MSC spokesperson confirmedthat North Korean vice foreign minister Kim

Son-gyong would attend next month’sevent. The announcement comes a monthafter Pyongyang declared it wasabandoning moratoriums on nuclear andintercontinental ballistic missile tests. Theself-imposed ban on tests had been thecenterpiece of two years of nucleardiplomacy between the US and NorthKorea, including three meetings betweenthe two countries’ leaders Donald Trumpand Kim Jong-un.

Also expected to attend the Munich talksthis year are US Secretary of State MikePompeo, Defense Secretary Mark Esperand the leader of the House ofRepresentatives Nancy Pelosi. The Iranianforeign minister Mohammad Javad Zarifis likewise expected to attend.

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200123000664&ACE_SEARCH=1

North Korea to make MunichSecurity Conference debut in 2020

Korea Herald, January 27, 2020

North Korea will send a delegation to theMunich Security Conference for the firsttime in the 56-year history of the topdiplomatic gathering, organizers saidThursday. An MSC spokespersonconfirmed that North Korean vice foreignminister Kim Son-gyong would attendnext month’s event. The announcementcomes a month after Pyongyang declaredit was abandoning moratoriums onnuclear and intercontinental ballisticmissile tests.

The self-imposed ban on tests had been thecenterpiece of two years of nucleardiplomacy between the US and NorthKorea, including three meetings betweenthe two countries’ leaders Donald Trumpand Kim Jong-un. Also expected to attendthe Munich talks this year are US Secretaryof State Mike Pompeo, Defense SecretaryMark Esper and the leader of the Houseof Representatives Nancy Pelosi. TheIranian foreign minister MohammadJavad Zarif is likewise expected to attend.



North Korea urges citizens to ‘breakthrough barriers’ as nuclearstandoff continues

Josh Smith, Reuters, January 27, 2020

While a North Korean deadline for theUnited States to soften its stand ondenuclearization talks passed uneventfullyover the New Year, state media andpropaganda efforts have been focusing onthe prospect of a long confrontation withthe United States. Optimism that two yearsof contacts between leader Kim Jong Un andU.S. President Donald Trump would usherin a new age, and related hopes for economicimprovement after decades of deprivation,appear to have faded.

Instead, the government has been hard atwork in recent weeks using state media,propaganda posters, and performances towarn the public of a bumpy road aheadunder U.S. and international pressure. Thepropaganda effort has included calls forNorth Koreans to “break through barriers”and strengthen the country.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-propaganda-analysis/north-korea-urges-citizens-to-break-through-barriers-as-nuclear-standoff-continues-idUSKBN1ZQ0A9

US defense official expressessupport for peace declaration withN. Korea

Yonhap, Korea Herald, January 29, 2020

A senior US defense official on Tuesdayvoiced support for a peace declarationbetween the United States and North Korea,saying such an agreement would bebeneficial to Washington if it can benegotiated. John Rood, under secretary ofdefense for policy, was commenting on thepossibility the administration of US PresidentDonald Trump could offer a peacedeclaration as part of a denuclearizationdeal with the North. In particular, he wasasked by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) of theHouse Armed Services Committee if the UScould first agree to a peace declarationbefore negotiating the details of NorthKorea’s denuclearization.

“From the Defense Departmentperspective ... if something like that couldbe negotiated with the North Koreans wewould see that as being a beneficial thing,”Rood told a committee hearing, notingthat it is up to the State Department todecide on the sequencing of the steps. “Thearmistice was not intended to survivedecade after decade after decade, and soif something like that could be negotiatedwith the North Koreans, I think that’d bein our interest,” he said.


Satellite imagery suggests securitypatrols at NK nuclear test site


North Korea’s decommissioned nucleartest site in Punggye-ri shows signs ofroutine security patrols, a US monitor saidWednesday. In commercial satelliteimagery from Jan. 17, footpaths andvehicle tracks were visible in the snowaround the portal areas and at the mainadministrative support area, 38 North saidon its website. The imagery also showedsnow-cleared roads leading from thesecurity barracks area to the commandcenter, it said.

“There are no indications of renewedexcavation, construction or other activitythat would suggest the North is trying toreopen the complex,” 38 North added.“Instead, track activity is more likelyrelated to security patrols of the area.”


North Korea’s Kim offerscondolences to China’s Xi aboutvirus outbreak: KCNA


North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent aletter to Chinese President Xi Jinpingoffering condolences about thecoronavirus outbreak in China, NorthKorean state news agency KCNAreported on Saturday. Kim “expressed the


conviction that the party, government andpeople of China would surely emergevictorious in the campaign to combat thedisease” under Xi’s guidance, KCNA said.China is the closest ally that isolated NorthKorea has. The country has canceled mostflights to China, imposed mandatoryquarantine on all arrivals from China, andheavily restricted border crossings followingthe outbreak.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-northkorea/north-koreas-kim-offers-condolences-to-chinas-xi-about-virus-outbreak-kcna-idUSKBN1ZV3LL

M. South Korea

US envoy surprised that NKoreadidn’t give ‘Christmas gift’

Hyung-jin Kim, AP News, January 16, 2020

The U.S. ambassador to South Korea saidThursday he was surprised and pleased thatNorth Korea did not give the U.S. anunwelcome “Christmas gift” because ofstalled nuclear disarmament talks, and thatPresident Donald Trump is still confident itwill denuclearize. North Korea had warnedthat its “Christmas gift” to the U.S. woulddepend on what action Washington took inthe talks, leading to concerns that it mightconduct a major weapons test.

It hasn’t conducted any such test, althoughthe U.S. didn’t meet a year-end deadline setby leader Kim Jong Un to make concessions.

“You can say that I personally wassurprised. But I’m glad also ... there was noChristmas gift,” Ambassador Harry Harristold reporters in Seoul. “Washington wasready for any eventuality, and we were allglad that there was no ICBM test or nucleartest.”He said both Trump and South KoreanPresident Moon Jae-in “are keeping the dooropen to negotiations and hoping Kim JongUn will walk through that door.” “So theball is in his court,” he said.

https://apnews.com/10de37c16afd94bb66db6b09a297c0d7

S. Korea, US agree to closelycoordinate on inter-Koreanprojects: nuclear envoy

Yonhap, Korea herald, January 17, 2020

South Korea and the United States agreedThursday to coordinate closely on possibleinter-Korean projects amid stalled nucleartalks between Washington andPyongyang, Seoul’s chief nuclear envoysaid Thursday. Lee Do-hoon, specialrepresentative for Korean Peninsula peaceand security affairs, made the remark toreporters after holding talks with his UScounterpart, Deputy Secretary of StateStephen Biegun, in Washington.

The pair met after President Moon Jae-inexpressed a desire earlier this week toimplement inter-Korean projects as a wayto facilitate denuclearization negotiationsbetween the North and the U.S. Most ofthe projects, including efforts to reconnectrailways and roads between the Koreas,have stalled due to United Nationssanctions on Pyongyang.


Inter-Korean cooperation willoccur within framework ofdenuclearization: official


South Korea’s push for inter-Koreancooperation will be done in a way that canfacilitate the denuclearization negotiationsbetween the United States and NorthKorea, a senior presidential official saidSaturday. The official made the remarkone day after the office of President MoonJae-in openly reproached US AmbassadorHarry Harris for his remarks on Moon’splans to resume inter-Korean cooperation,calling them “very inappropriate.” Amidconcerns about the allies’ friction over apossible mismatch in the progress of inter-Korean cooperation and denuclearization,the presidential official said the cooperationwill “not be pushed in a way that underminesthe bargaining power of either side.”



S. Korea to jack up spending onenergy R&D in 2020


South Korea said Monday it will spend moreon research and development in the energysegment this year as the country targetsclean and sustainable economic growth.South Korea will spend 916.3 billion won($789 million), a 19-percent rise from lastyear, on such projects, according to theMinistry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Most of the money will be allocated toprojects related to South Korea’s greenenergy drive.

Last year, Seoul unveiled its initiative tocreate a hydrogen economy, seeking toutilize the resource as a major source ofenergy for power generation, vehicles andother daily uses while reducing reliance onfossil fuels and nuclear power. The ministrysaid it will spend 43.1 billion won ondeveloping technologies to further promotehydrogen-related policies.


Moon stresses military reform,innovation

Choi He-suk, Korea Herald, January 21, 2020

The military will focus on strengthening itsability to respond to nuclear weapons andother weapons of mass destruction in 2020,and on applying cutting-edge technologiesto its defense systems, the Ministry ofNational Defense said. The plans wererevealed in an annual briefing session forPresident Moon Jae-in at the Gyeryongdaecomplex — an Army, Navy and Air Forceheadquarters near Daejeon. At the briefing,Moon stressed the importance of defense,pointing to the increased defense budgetunder his administration. “Our ultimate goalof peace and prosperity on the KoreanPeninsula is possible with the backing of astrong defense,” Moon said.

During Moon’s term, the country’s defensebudget has increased at an annual averageof 7.6 percent. It exceeded the 50 trillion won($42.9 billion) mark for the first time thisyear. Moon also called on the military to

carry out its plans for the transfer ofwartime operational control, saying SouthKorea should secure the capabilities itneeds to play the leading role in its owndefense. Moon also called on the militaryto follow through on its defense reformplans, and to secure the ability to respondto nontraditional threats. The presidentalso emphasized the need to apply newtechnologies to defense, saying advancesin defense technology would also benefitthe economy. Regarding the applicationof new technologies to defense, theministry has compiled a list of technologiesand capabilities it would concentrate ondeveloping. They include artificialintelligence, robotics and virtual reality.The ministry also said it would push toreform defense industry regulations toenable new technologies to be appliedmore quickly.


US to continue ‘patient’ diplomacywith N. Korea: official


The United States will continue “patient”diplomacy with North Korea to makeclear that the regime needs to return todenuclearization talks, a senior StateDepartment official said. The official spoketo reporters on condition of anonymity todiscuss last week’s meetings involving thetop diplomats of South Korea, the US andJapan. His remark suggests Washington isnot willing to offer concessions to getPyongyang back to the negotiation table.

“On North Korea — slow, patient, steadydiplomacy,” the official said when askedabout plans for future engagement withthe North. “We’re going to stick with thisplan. It’s working. We’ll coordinate withallies and partners in the region tocontinue to make sure that that pressureis steady and insist that UN SecurityCouncil resolutions are enforced. That willcontinue to make clear to the North thatthey need to come out and negotiate andtalk.”



Furlough threat hangs over USmilitary bases in S. Korea

Bloomberg, January 23, 2020

The US is warning it will send furloughnotices within weeks to almost 9,000 SouthKorean workers at US bases if the twocountries don’t reach agreement onPresident Donald Trump’s demand for Seoulto increase dramatically what it pays forAmerican troops. Trump’s push for SouthKorea to contribute much more has put thealliance under strain at a time when NorthKorean leader Kim Jong-un’s regime has saidit would no longer be bound by its previouspromise to halt testing of nuclear weaponsand long-range ballistic missiles.

The two sides remained deadlocked, thoughUS officials have indicated they’ve backedoff Trump’s initial demand that PresidentMoon Jae-in’s administration pay about $5billion a year for US forces stationed there,more than five times the $900 million in astopgap one-year agreement that expired onDec. 31.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-22/furlough-threat-hangs-over-u-s-military-bases-in-south-korea

Moon says no progress in nucleartalks with North Korea in 2019‘regrettable’

Korea Times, January 24, 2020

President Moon Jae-in said Friday lack ofprogress in denuclearization talks betweenNorth Korea and the United States was themost regrettable thing for him last year,along with a slower-than-expectedimprovement in the living conditions ofSouth Koreans. He especially mentioned theno-deal Hanoi summit between U.S.President Donald Trump and the North’sleader Kim Jong-un during a phoneinterview with an SBS radio program. “Ifthere had been some headway in the NorthKorea-U.S. dialogue, (we) could haveadvanced peace on the Korean Peninsulaand South-North cooperation,” he said.


S. Korean envoy departs forEurope for talks ondenuclearization, peace efforts


South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy, Lee Do-hoon, embarked on a trip to Europe onWednesday for talks with senior officialsthere over ongoing efforts fordenuclearization and a lasting peace onthe Korean Peninsula, Seoul officials said.Lee’s trip to Belgium and Germany cameas Seoul has been striving to secure globalsupport for its push to bolster inter-Koreancooperation projects, such as individualtours to the communist state, and moveforward stalled nuclear negotiationsbetween Washington and Pyongyang.

During his stay in Brussels on Wednesdayand Thursday, Lee will visit the EUheadquarters to meet members of the EUPolitical and Security Committee and holdtalks with Helga Schmid, the secretarygeneral of the European External ActionService. From Thursday through Saturday,he will be in Berlin for talks with NielsAnnen, minister of state at Germany’sFederal Foreign Office, and other officials.To incentivize Pyongyang to return to thedenuclearization track, Seoul has beentrying to enhance inter-Koreancooperation through such projects aslinking roads and railways across theborder and turning the Demilitarized Zoneinto an international peace zone.


N. Japan

Costs for managing Japan’s nuclearplants to total 13 trillion yen

Kyodo News, January 15, 2020

The total costs to implement government-mandated safety measures, maintainfacilities and decommission commerciallyoperated nuclear power plants in Japanwill reach around 13.46 trillion yen ($123billion), a Kyodo News tally showedWednesday. The amount, which couldballoon further and eventually lead to


higher electricity fees, was calculated basedon financial documents from 11 powercompanies that own 57 nuclear reactors at19 plants, as well as interviews with theutilities.

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2020/01/8722fafaff9b-costs-for-managing-japans-nuclear-plants-to-total-13-trillion-yen.html

Residents win appeal to halt Ikatareactor over safety fears

The Asahi Shimbun, January 17, 2020

The high court here Jan. 17 ordered a haltto operations of the No. 3 reactor at the Ikatanuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture dueto fears it is located near an active fault. Thetemporary injunction issued by theHiroshima High Court does not allow foroperations of the reactor to resume unlessthe Supreme Court hands down a rulingreversing it. The No. 3 reactor at the plant,which is located in Ikata in the prefectureand operated by Shikoku Electric Power Co.,is currently offline for regular inspections.

Three residents living on an island in the SetoInland Sea within a roughly 50-kilometerradius of the plant had filed a request for atemporary injunction, but the Iwakunibranch of the Yamaguchi District Courtrejected it in March 2019. The plaintiffs thenappealed the decision to the Hiroshima HighCourt.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13043094

Japan’s Shikoku Electric says todelay nuclear reactor restart aftercourt order


Japanese utility Shikoku Electric Power Cosaid on Friday it had been ordered by aHiroshima court to suspend operations ofits only operable nuclear reactor, the No.3unit at its Ikata plant in western Japan. Thereactor had been shut for regularmaintenance work since late December andwas likely to restart within a couple ofmonths, but must now remain idled pendingan appeal.

The Hiroshima High Court decisionoverturned a ruling by a branch ofYamaguchi District Court last year, sayingShikoku Electric had given insufficientexplanation why the plant would remainsafe, and not pose a danger to residents inthe event of volcanic eruptions orearthquakes.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-nuclear/japans-shikoku-electric-says-to-delay-nuclear-reactor-restart-after-court-order-idUSKBN1ZG0LH

Japan nuclear plant host townmayor received money fromconstruction firm

Mainichi Japan, January 23, 2020

The mayor of a southwestern Japan townhosting a nuclear power plant hasadmitted to receiving 1 million yen ($9,100)in cash from a construction company in2018, in apparent violation of the politicalfunds law. Shintaro Wakiyama, the mayorof Genkai in Saga Prefecture, told KyodoNews he recently returned the moneyreceived days after he was elected in July2018 from a then executive of ShiohamaIndustry Corp., which is known to havehad close ties with a man at the heart of agift scandal involving Kansai ElectricPower Co. The mayor told a pressconference Thursday afternoon that hewill consider whether to resign afterconsulting with his support group.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200123/p2g/00m/0na/057000c

Kansai Electric begins extractingMOX fuel from nuclear plant

Ippei Yaoita, The Asahi Shimbun, January27, 2020

Kansai Electric Power Co. startedremoving spent mixed-oxide (MOX) fuelfrom the No. 3 reactor at its Takahamanuclear power plant here on Jan. 27, buta disposal method has yet to bedetermined. It is the first time KansaiElectric has removed spent MOX fuel fromany of its reactors. Shikoku Electric PowerCo. began the first such MOX fuel-removal


operation at the No. 3 reactor of its Ikatanuclear power plant in Ehime Prefectureearlier this month. The Takahama plant’sNo. 3 reactor has been undergoing a regularsafety inspection since Jan. 6. Eighty-one ofthe reactor’s 157 fuel assemblies will beremoved, including 8 MOX assemblies.

The process is expected to be completed byJan. 29. The MOX fuel will be kept in a poolat the nuclear plant along with uranium fuelrods. The reactor currently has 28 MOX fuelassemblies. The 8 units being removed wereintroduced in December 2010. Theremaining 20 units will continue to be usedfor commercial operations of pluthermalpower generation that started in January2011. The Takahama plant’s No. 3 and No.4 reactors, the Ikata plant’s No. 3 reactorand the Genkai nuclear power plant’s No. 3reactor in Saga Prefecture, operated byKyushu Electric Power Co., currently useMOX fuel for pluthermal power generation.Kansai Electric also plans to use its Oinuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture forthe project. However, the utilities and thecentral government, which is pushingpluthermal power generation, have notspecified sites or methods for the disposal ofspent MOX fuel.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ202001270035.html

Kepco to halt two nuclear reactorsafter missing counterterrorismdeadline

Japan Times, January 29, 2020

Kansai Electric Power Co. said Wednesdayit would suspend operations at two nuclearreactors after missing a deadline set by theindustry regulator to build counterterrorismfacilities.

Under stricter rules implemented after the2011 Fukushima disaster, utilities are nowrequired to build emergency off-site controlrooms to serve as backup bases that can keepnuclear reactors cooled and preventmeltdowns in the event of a terrorist attack.

The suspension of reactors Nos. 3 and 4 atKansai Electric’s Takahama plant in FukuiPrefecture — for about five months from

August and four months from October,respectively — will be the second time forreactors to be shut down in Japan becausesuch off-site facilities were not ready. TheNo. 3 reactor at the plant will be shut downfrom August 2 to Dec. 22, and No. 4 willbe offline from Oct. 7 to Feb. 10, 2021.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/01/29/national/kepco-halt-reactors-counterterrorism-facility-construction-deadline/#.XjqpJ1QzbIU

O. Misc

U.N. sanctions experts warn - stayaway from North Koreacryptocurrency conference

Michelle Nichols, Reuters, January 15,2020

United Nations sanctions experts arewarning people not to attend acryptocurrency conference in North Koreain February, flagging it as a likelysanctions violation, according to aconfidential report due to be submitted tothe U.N. Security Council later this month.The warning comes after the independentU.N. experts told the council in Augustthat North Korea generated an estimated$2 billion for its weapons of massdestruction programs using “widespreadand increasingly sophisticated”cyberattacks to steal from banks andcryptocurrency exchanges.

North Korea has been under U.N.sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear andballistic missile programs. The 15-memberSecurity Council has unanimouslystrengthened those measures over theyears, prompting Pyongyang to look foralternative ways to make money.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-sanctions-un-exclusive/exclusive-u-n-sanc-tions-experts-warn-stay-away-from-north-korea-cryptocurrency-conference-idUSKBN1ZE0I5

US sends nuke-detecting plane toair base in Japan


The United States has deployed a WC-135W radiation detection plane to one of


its air bases in Japan, an aviation tracker saidThursday, a move seen as aimed at beefingup surveillance of North Korea. The WC-135W Constant Phoenix arrived at KadenaAir Base in Japan’s Okinawa, Aircraft Spotssaid in a Twitter post, without elaboratingon the exact time of the arrival. Nicknamedthe “nuke sniffer,” the WC-135W played akey role in detecting radioactive leaks afterthe Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the SovietUnion in 1986. It is unclear whether thepurpose of the deployment was for a simplestopover or for an operation. An RC-135SCobra Ball surveillance aircraft is alsoknown to have been deployed at Kadena AirBase.


Why nuclear doomsday threat is notwaning

Tom Plate Korea Times, January 20, 2020

Without becoming too defensive aboutAmerica at this rocky passage in its politicalhistory (well, it is difficult to defend), Inonetheless will offer something of adefense, since almost no one else wants totry, but maybe someone ought to. So we startwith this: Whether the current Americanpresident’s actions and policies areindefensible or not is not the point. At worst,President Donald Trump is in office foranother term but then ¯ he’s out. Does anyother superpower offer such a term-limitedpeace of mind? Even so, America is not oneperson any more than China is one personor even one party.

To be sure, even if the best comes to pass ¯ aone-term Trump presidency ¯ a lot of badcould happen in the year ahead. That’s whymany Americans are not letting up. Our civilsociety sector is anything but brain dead ¯and is supported politically as well asfinancially by many Americans who are wellaware of our flaws and the limitations ofour government no matter what politicalparty or which politician is at the top. Theaverage educated American respects morethan one secular or political god. I worshipseveral myself, and this week one of themwill step into the spotlight for a famous

annual ritual that reminds us of both theenduring value of our civil societyorganizations and the kinds of issues theyfearlessly take on.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2020/01/137_282198.html

Love without borders, or nuclearthreats?

Ahn Sung, Korea Herald, January 20, 2020

A chaebol heiress accidentally crashes inNorth Korea while paragliding. She isrescued by a North Korean military officerwho ends up protecting her and riskinghis life to send her back home to Seoul.Despite the differences in accent, lifestyle,culture, upbringing and ideology, they fallin love. This is the premise of “CrashLanding on You,” the latest hit dramafrom tvN. With a top-notch cast led byactress Son Ye-jin and actor Hyun Bin, therom-com, which premiered Dec. 14, is thetalk of the town for its vivid depiction ofthe reclusive nation that has been shroudedbehind a veil for decades. Life north ofthe border has been a source of inspirationfor many creative minds in the South.


The NPT – nuclear developmentfor the few

Gonzalo Collado De Giovannini, UnitedWorld, January 22, 2020

The NPT (Nuclear Non-ProliferationTreaty) is one of the most famous and“successful” treaties. It emerged fromnegotiations between the Soviet Unionand the United States in 1967. It wasadopted in 1968 within the framework ofthe United Nations. It was supported by95 countries, with 21 abstaining and 4votes against. In this way, the NPT cameinto force in 1970, seeking a commitmentfrom the signatory countries not tocontribute to the expansion of nuclearweapons in the rest of the world.

The main articles of the NPT can besummarized as follows


1-Prohibiting nuclear states from transferringnuclear weapons, devices, technology orcontrol of them to non-nuclear countries, aswell as prohibiting the encouragement andassistance in accessing them.

2- Each non-nuclear state,in turn, commitsitself not to receive, control or help indeveloping or manufacturing nuclearweapons.

3- Commitment of all parties to facilitateaccess and exchange of peaceful nucleardevelopment technology to non-nuclearcountries.

4- Insistence on the inalienable right of allto develop energy for peaceful purposesnuclear.

5- Commitment by nuclear states to startnegotiations for the reduction of theirnuclear arsenals.

https://uwidata.com/7318-the-npt-nuclear-development-for-the-few/

Canada Nuclear Waste Storage PlanNear Lake Huron Faces Vote

Bloomberg Environment, January 31, 2020

U.S. lawmakers from the Great Lakes regionare weighing in on the fate of two majorCanadian nuclear waste facilities, whichcould hinge on a vote in a First Nationcommunity in western Ontario on Friday.The 4,500-member Saugeen OjibwayNation, based on Lake Huron’s BrucePeninsula, is voting on whether to supportconstruction of Ontario Power GenerationInc.’s C$2.4 billion ($1.8 billion) deepgeological repository for low- andintermediate-level nuclear waste near theshore of Lake Huron. But several U.S.members of Congress oppose it, claiming itcould endanger drinking water for millions.

Ontario Power Generation pledged not tomove ahead if the First Nation communityvotes against the repository. The NuclearWaste Management Organization, whichcould build a much larger C$23 billionrepository for more radioactive spentnuclear fuel in the same region, won’tproceed in the area if it doesn’t have a

partnership with the nation. The vote onFriday doesn’t deal with its proposaldirectly. The two projects togetherrepresent the bulk of Canada’s long-termplan to store nuclear waste. Canada has2.9 million bundles of highly radioactiveused nuclear fuel, according to 2015 data,and around 100,000 cubic meters of lowand intermediate nuclear waste, accordingto 2016 figures, the most recent available.

https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/canada-nuclear-waste-storage-plan-near-lake-huron-faces-vote

Iran’s revenge might be to gonuclear

Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib, Arab News,January 29, 2020

By posting the words, “No thanks” onTwitter, US President Donald Trumpreplied to Iranian Foreign MinisterMohammed Javad Zarif’s latest overture.In an interview with German newspaperDer Spiegel last week, Zarif said that Iranwas ready to resume talks with the US ifthe latter lifted its sanctions on Tehran. Headded that it was the US that had left thenegotiating table, not Iran. However,Zarif’s approach is a bit strange. This wasalso the previous proposal of Iran, and theUS rejected it. Was it expecting a changein the position of the US or was it just adistraction?

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1620031

P. Op-Ed

India

Inside India’s Large and DeadlyNuclear Weapons Program

Michael Peck, National Interest Blog,January 17, 2020

India is surrounded by countries it hasfought wars with, especially Pakistan andChina. To protect itself, New Delhi has arobust nuclear program- even though it isvery dangerous. India has 130 to 140nuclear warheads—and more are coming,according to a new report.


“India is estimated to have producedenough military plutonium for 150 to 200nuclear warheads, but has likely producedonly 130 to 140,” according to HansKristensen and Matt Korda of the NuclearInformation Project at the Federation ofAmerican Scientists. “Nonetheless, additionalplutonium will be required to producewarheads for missiles now underdevelopment, and India is reportedly buildingseveral new plutonium production facilities.”

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/inside-indias-large-and-deadly-nuclear-weapons-program-115256

India Stands Up New Su-30MKISquadron

Franz-Stefan Gady, The Diplomat, January20, 2020

The Indian Air Force (IAF) stood up its firstpermanent Su-30MKI squadron, 222Squadron also known as the ‘Tigersharks’,in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu in southernIndian on January 20, according to localmedia reports. The commissioningceremony of the new IAF unit was attendedby India’s new Chief of Defense Staff,General Bipin Rawat, and IAF chief, AirChief Marshal RKS Bhadauria.

The squadron will initially consist of four tosix Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters and is slatedto reach its full complement of 18 aircraftby early 2021. Eight of the squadron’s 18 Su-30MKIs are set to be armed with the air-launched BrahMos-A supersonic cruisemissile. The BrahMos-A is expected to becleared for operational service with the IAFlater this year. Following a successful testlaunch of the missile in December 2019, theIAF announced that the integration of theBrahMos-A on the SU-30MKI had beencompleted.

https://thediplomat.com/2020/01/india-stands-up-new-su-30mki-squadron/

Explained: What is Vyommitra’sspace job?

Johnson T A, The Indian Express, January

25, 2020

On Wednesday, Vyommitra, a “half-humanoid” being developed by the Indian

Space Research Organisation (ISRO),announced herself in Bengaluru. She is theprototype for a half-humanoid that willeventually fly to space on an unmannedmission later this year, aiming to lay theground for ISRO’s manned missionGaganyaan in 2022. ISRO plans to send ahuman into space for the first time by 2022.It is racing against time to develop a crewmodule and rocket systems that willensure the safe travel and return of theIndian astronaut. Other countries thathave successfully launched humans intospace did so after having used animals forconducting tests of their rockets and crewrecovery systems, while ISRO will use thehumanoid to test the efficacy of its GSLVMk III rocket to transport a human tospace and back. The humanoid is underdevelopment at a robotics laboratory at theVikram Sarabhai Space Centre.

The Vyommitra humanoid, which will testthe ground for the human spaceflight, willbe a very basic version of a TARS-type,artificial-intelligence-and-robotics system.The activities that Vyommitra will be ableto perform, once fully developed for theunmanned flight, will include proceduresto use equipment on board the spacecraft’screw module such as safety mechanismsand switches, as well as receiving andacting on commands sent from groundstations. Attaining launch and orbitalpostures, responding to the environment,generating warnings, replacing carbondioxide canisters, operating switches,monitoring of the crew module, receivingvoice commands, responding via speech(bilingual) are the functions listed for thehumanoid.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/vyommitra-space-job-half-humanoid-isro-6234069/

China

US should repent over its foiledplot against Huawei


The British government announced onTuesday that Chinese tech giant Huaweiwould be allowed to take a role in UK 5G


networks, but with restrictions. The Chinesefirm will be excluded from “security critical”core areas, including nuclear sites andmilitary bases. In addition, it will only beallowed to account for 35 percent of networkequipment and base stations in the UK.

Generally, it is a major setback for attemptsby the US to prevent the use of Huaweitechnology among its allies. The UK is themost prominent ally of the US in Europe.Washington has done its utmost to persuadethe UK not to use Huawei equipment in theconstruction of its 5G networks. The US haswarned that it could damage the specialrelationship between the two nations, thatit may no longer share intelligence with theUK and that it may even affect trade talksbetween the two countries. However, theUK ultimately decided to adopt Huaweitechnology, while comforting the US bysaying it will “adopt the technology withrestrictions.”


US Space Force can’t be takenlightly

Yang Chengjun, Global Times, January 25,2020

The creation of the US Space Force as thesixth branch of the US armed forces hascaused concerns around the world. USPresident Donald Trump signed into law inlate 2019 the National DefenseAuthorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020,which approved $40 million for Space Forceoperations and maintenance. It is estimatedthat about $13 billion would be spent in thefirst five years since 2020 to establish theSpace Force.

However, to weaponize space is a violationof UN resolutions.The UN GeneralAssembly set up the Committee on thePeaceful Uses of Outer Space in 1959 togovern the exploration and use of space forthe benefit of all humanity. In addition,according to the Outer Space Treaty, whichwas approved in the General Assembly andentered into force on October 10, 1967, theStates Parties to the treaty, including the US,recognized “the common interest of allmankind in the progress of the exploration

and use of outer space for peacefulpurposes.”


Pakistan

Pakistan Has a Truly Deadly andScary Nuclear Weapons Program

Kyle Mizokami, National Interest Online,January 18, 2020

Pakistan and India have a dangerousrivalry that could one day lead to nuclearwar. Islamabad has its own formidablenuclear arsenal and has threatened to useit.

Sandwiched between Iran, China, Indiaand Afghanistan, Pakistan lives in acomplicated neighborhood with a varietyof security issues. One of the nine knownstates known to have nuclear weapons,Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and doctrine arecontinually evolving to match perceivedthreats. A nuclear power for decades,Pakistan is now attempting to construct anuclear triad of its own, making its nucleararsenal resilient and capable ofdevastating retaliatory strikes.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/pakistan-has-truly-deadly-and-scary-nuclear-weapons-program-115226

India’s Evolving Nuclear Posture:Implications for Pakistan

Iqra Shahnaz, Modern Diplomacy, January27, 2020

It’s been twenty one years to theemergence of India, as an explicit nuclearweapon state (NWS), yet India needs toexpress the details about the core elementsof its nuclear posture or nuclear doctrinelike the policy of NFU, policy of minimumcredible nuclear deterrence, massiveretaliation and assured survivability of itsretaliatory forces. India has ambitiousplans for the acquisition of robust triad ofnuclear forces, which includes the land-based ballistic missiles, fighter bomberaircrafts, and submarine launched ballisticmissiles (SLBMs). India is rapidly building


up its nuclear and strategic capabilities,which is a part of its grand strategy ofattaining the status of regional and globalpower. However, India is also strengtheningits nuclear force by the introduction of newgeneration of short-range ballistic missileswhich are nuclear capable in nature alongwith building up its naval nuclear force.These advancements are a threat to thenuclear threshold of Pakistan and willgenerate the probability of accidentalnuclear escalation between the major statesof South Asian region, India and Pakistan.Consequently, these advancements willhave severe repercussions for the region.

https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2020/01/27/indias-evolving-nuclear-posture-implications-for-pakistan/

USA

How America Planned to Use ItsNimitz-Class Aircraft CarriersAgainst Russia

Kyle Mizokami, National Interest Blog,January 16, 2020

America’s nuclear-powered supercarriersare still formidable to this day. Although theynever fought the Soviet Union, Washington’snavy has continued to provide the mainstayof U.S. power projection.

The most successful U.S. Navy carriers ofthe postwar era all belong to a class namedin honor of World War II’s most successfuladmiral, Chester W. Nimitz. The class’s leadship, commissioned in 1975, bears the fleetadmiral’s name. The Nimitz-class aircraftcarriers were, at the time, the largestwarships ever constructed. Althoughsuperseded by the new Ford class, the tenNimitz carriers will continue to form thebulk of the Navy’s carrier force for the nexttwenty to thirty years. Many project a halfa century or more.

The Nimitz-class carriers have participatedin nearly every crisis and conflict the UnitedStates has been involved in over the pastforty-two years. Nimitz was involved in thefailed attempt to rescue U.S. embassypersonnel from Tehran in 1980, and a yearlater, two F-14s from Nimitz shot down two

Su-22 Fitters of the Libyan Air Forceduring the Gulf of Sidra incident in 1981.During the Cold War, Nimitz-class carriersconducted numerous exercises withregional allies, such as NATO and Japan,designed to counter the Soviet Union inwartime. The Nimitz-class carriers are amonumental achievement—an enormous,highly complex and yet highly successfulship design. The ships will carry on theNimitz name through the 2050s, with theentire class serving a whopping eightyconsecutive years. That sort ofperformance—and longevity—is onlypossible with a highly professional,competent Navy and shipbuilding team.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/how-america-planned-use-its-nimitz-class-aircraft-carriers-against-russia-114476

Why and How Russia Is JammingAmerican Fighter Jets Near Iran

David Axe, National Interest Blog, January17, 2020

All powers like to use proxy conflicts totest out new weapons and Russia is nodifferent. Moscow is seeing how well itsjamming equipment fares againstAmerica’s planes. Russian forces havebeen jamming GPS systems in the MiddleEast. The electronic-warfare campaigncould affect U.S. forces gathering in theregion in advance of potential strikes onIran. “Since last spring, pilots flyingthrough the Middle East, specificallyaround Syria, have noted that their GPSsystems have displayed the wronglocation or stopped working entirely,” TheTimes of Israel reported in late June 2019.

The signal that has been disrupting satellitenavigation for planes flying through Israeliairspace in recent weeks originates insidea Russian air base inside Syria, accordingto data collected by a U.S.-basedresearcher. This interference to the GlobalPositioning System reception does notappear to be specifically directed at Israel,but rather the Jewish state is likelycollateral damage in an effort by Moscowboth to protect its troops from droneattacks and to assert its dominance in thefield of electronic warfare, Todd


Humphreys, a professor at the University ofTexas, told The Times of Israel.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/why-and-how-russia-jamming-american-fighter-jets-near-iran-115021

The United States Must ContainNorth Korea

Harry J. Kazianis, National Interest Blog,January 19, 2020

With war too catastrophic to consider, andthe status quo untenable, containment anddiplomacy is the only solution to the KoreanCrisis. When we consider the possibility ofa military operation against North Korea, itis helpful to take a step back and considerfrom Pyongyang’s perspective how it mightrespond. North Korean leader Kim Jong-unmay not wish to counter such a strike byusing the full range of his military options,fearing such an attack could unleash hisworst fear: regime change.

For example, Kim could order an attack onSouth Korea’s vast civilian nuclearinfrastructure, unleashing deadly plumes ofradioactive fallout. Seoul operates twenty-four nuclear power plants that could allcome under various forms of North Koreanattack, though they are relatively far fromthe North. With many of these facilitieslumped together, Pyongyang could fire asalvo of missiles at these plants, creating animmediate humanitarian crisis.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/united-states-must-contain-north-korea-114551

Iran-US conflict: Worst is over, butcore issues remain unresolved

Achal Malhotra, Wion, January 22, 2020

The assassination of Iran’s General QasemSoleimani by the US and Iran’s retaliationby missile attacks on the US bases in Iraqearly January brought the US and Iran onthe brink of war. The subsequent decisionsof the two countries to show restraint andstep back has helped de-escalation, andthereby, defused the situation for the timebeing. The core issues which form the causeof the US-Iran conflict, however, remain on

the table and are far from resolved. Fromthe US and Europe’s perspective, Iranmust give up its plans to develop nuclearweapons and also its interference throughproxy wars in Iraq, Yemen, Syria etc. Iranon its part is determined to drive the USAout of the region.

As far as the nuclear issue is concerned,Iran, it may be recalled, had it agreed toput a cap on its nuclear ambitions bysigning the Iran Nuclear deal, officiallydescribed as Joint Comprehensive Plan ofAction (JCPOA) in 2015 with US, Russia,China, France, UK, Germany and EU.President Donald Trump’s decision towalk out of the deal (May 2018) and re-impose severe and crippling sanctions onIran did not meet the approval of the othercountries which are party to the deal, andthey remained interested in salvaging thedeal somehow. In the wake of the recentcrisis triggered by the USA, The AtomicEnergy Organisation of Iran was reportedto have declared that from now on, “Iran’snuclear program no longer faces anyoperating restrictions,” but also added that“If the sanctions are lifted and Iranbenefits from its interests, the IslamicRepublic of Iran is ready to return to itsobligations”. The announcement cameafter Tehran’s alleged gradual escalation ofits nuclear programme in recent months.

https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/iran-us-conflict-worst-is-over-but-core-issues-remain-unresolved-275946

Want to stop climate change?Embrace the nuclear option

Bret Kugelmass, USA Today, January 22,2020

As a technology entrepreneur, when I amapproached by startup founders forfundraising advice, I ask: “What wouldthe world look like if you got everythingyou’re asking for?” It’s a test to seewhether they are setting out to solve theright problem or whether they arechoosing their preferred course of actionand justifying retrospectively. Climatechange researchers fail this test. Everysingle time.


A giant disconnect exists between thescience branch and policy branch of theclimate change community, obscured bya strong tribal bond that unites us against“deniers.” But if climate advocates get whatwe say we want, our own hypocrisy wouldsoon be made painfully apparent. Theaccepted policy rhetoric is that if we get tonet-zero global emissions, we would “solve”climate change — when, in fact, this beliesscientific reality.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/01/22/climate-change-solution-nuclear-energy-our-best-hope-column/2821183001/

How America’s B-1 Bomber IsBasically a Flying Missile Carrier

Kyle Mizokami National Interest Blog,January 23, 2020

The B-1 might not long be a part of thenuclear triad, but it still packs a punch.Together with the B-52, the B-1 is animportant strategic bomber. Like manywarplanes since the end of the Cold War,the B-1B bomber’s role in Americanairpower has changed to embrace newmissions. Unlike other planes, the B-1’smission changed even before the firstaircraft took off. What started as a high-altitude, high-speed nuclear-penetrationbomber has evolved into today’s all-purposenonnuclear attack aircraft, a jack-of-all-trades with a huge carrying capacity forbombs and air-to-ground missiles.

The intervening years, which hadintroduced new Soviet weapons includingthe MiG-25 Foxbat supersonic interceptorand the S-300 surface-to-air missile system(known as the SA-10 “Grumble” to NATO),made it clear that a high speed dash intoSoviet airspace was no longer viable. Inorder to remain relevant, the B-1A wouldhave to be redesigned into a stealthy, low-altitude penetrator. The B-1A morphed intothe B-1B, which included, among otherthings, an 85 percent reduction in radarcross-section, an increase in defensiveavionics and a one-third increase inmaximum takeoff weight, to 477,000pounds. The bomber could travel 7,455 miles

unrefueled. As a consequence ofabandoning the high-speed mission andembracing stealth, maximum speed fell toMach 1.25.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/how-americas-b-1-bomber-basically-flying-missile-carrier-116351

Why the Navy’s Decision to Buildthe First Supercarrier Was Such asBig Deal


Once the large, nuclear-poweredUSS Enterprise showed that such carrierswere possible, Washington ordered more.Before long, the Navy would come toalways rely on supercarriers. The firstnuclear-powered aircraft carrier ever builtcarries one of the most famous names inflattop history: Enterprise. Designed as thenucleus of a nuclear-powered task forcethat could travel indefinitely without fuelreplenishment, the USS Enterprise set thestandard for all U.S. aircraft carriers to thepresent day.

Enterprise was deactivated on December1, 2012. For the last five years it has beengradually prepared for disposal, strippedof military equipment and its reactorspowered down. down. The ship will beformally decommissioned on February 3,2017, in a private ceremony at theNewport News Shipyard in Virginia.Enterprise proved the viability of nuclearpower for aircraft carriers, but in hindsightthat was the most forgettable of itsachievements. it circled the globe threetimes, conducted twenty-five overseascruises and completed an astonishing fourhundred thousand aircraft landings in itslifetime. It flew combat missions fromVietnam to Afghanistan, and over itslifetime tens of thousands—if not hundredsof thousands—of sailors served as part ofits crew.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/why-navys-decision-build-first-supercarrier-was-such-big-deal-116381


Europe

Europe Gives More Time to NuclearDiplomacy

Financial Tribune, January 24, 2020

European powers will not move to reimposeinternational sanctions on Iran, which willin effect kill the 2015 nuclear deal, as longas Tehran restrains expansion of its nuclearwork, European diplomats said. In astatement on Friday, EU foreign policy chief,Josep Borrell, confirmed that the parties tothe deal, known as the Joint ComprehensivePlan of Action, have extended the processto provide more time to find a diplomaticsolution. “I have … undertaken extensivebilateral and collective consultations. AllJCPOA participants reconfirmed theirdetermination to preserve the agreementwhich is in the interest of all,” the top EUdiplomat said, EEAS reported.“Notwithstanding differences on modalities,there is agreement that more time is neededdue to the complexity of the issues involved.The timeline is therefore extended.”

France, Britain and Germany last weektriggered a dispute-settlement mechanism inthe nuclear accord that could lead theEuropean Union and the United Nations toreimpose sanctions on Iran within 60 days.The 2015 deal, which sought to constrainIran’s nuclear capabilities in return forsanctions relief, had suspended suchsanctions. European leaders have officiallycalled for Iran to reverse the cuts in itscommitment to the nuclear deal it has madein recent months. But European diplomatsdo not expect Iran to reverse course andprivately say they are prepared to toleratethose steps and keep discussions going withIran for the foreseeable future. They arepreparing to extend discussions well beyondthe 60-day period, the Wall Street Journalreported.

https://financialtribune.com/articles/national/101867/europe-gives-more-time-to-nuclear-diplomacy

Europe’s Goals To ActivateSnapback Mechanism: Buy TimeOr Take Case To Security Council?


Britain, Germany and France recentlyissued a statement in Brussels on triggermechanism what is known as the “snap-back” mechanism. In the snap-backmechanism, legally, the dispute resolutionsessions will be requested, and after that,the UN sanctions will eventually bereturned by referring to UN SecurityCouncil, if the Europeans are notconvinced. Under this mechanism, theUNSC take a vote on continue lifting Iran’ssanctions, and if U.S., French or Britishveto the resolution and does not ratify itwithin thirty days, then all sanctions willbe automatically returned against Iran.Accordingly, no country, including Russiaand China, will have a veto, not be able tohelp Iran in this case.

It was on this basis that Russia had statedthat this process should not be initiatedand that an agreement had to be reachedwith the Iranian Foreign Ministers in theBrigham Commission. So Russia opposesSnapback launch, calls for jointcommission on conflict resolution withIran. If no agreement is reached betweenthe parties of nuclear deal, the sixresolutions under Chapter VII of theUnited Nations Charter, includingResolution 1929, will be returned againstIran. If sanctions are returned, Iran mustimmediately suspend uranium enrichment,and ships headed for Iran can be inspected,which will make the current economicsituation even more difficult in Iran.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444685/Europe-s-Goals-To-Activate-Snapback-Mecha-nism-Buy-Time-Or-Take

Russia

Is Russia’s Submarine Force Dying?


The Russian navy’s submarine force, arguablythe fleet’s most important component, isabout to shrink. Potentially a lot.


There are 62 submarines of all classes incommission with the Russian navy. Fifty-fiveare front-line vessels and the rest are test andresearch vessels. There are 10 nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarines, ninenuclear cruise-missile submarines, 14nuclear attack submarines and 22conventional attack submarines.

“There are surely already question marksover a number of vessels,” Ballantyne added,especially the seven Delta-class ballistic-missile boats, or boomers. Just three ofRussia’s boomers — the first three of 10planned Borei-class vessels — are youngerthan 30 years old.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/russias-submarine-force-dying-115406

How Russia’s Kilo-ClassSubmarines Are a Huge Threat toAmerican Aircraft Carriers


Kilo-class subs are powerful and cheaperthan nuclear-powered vessels to produce.Moscow has them train for a wide varietyof missions in case Russia ever foughtNATO. Unlike the United States Navy,which went all-in on nuclear power, Russiamaintains fleets of both diesel and nuclear-powered submarines. A land powerencompassing much of Eurasia, Russiansubmarines are based much closer to “theaction” than American submarines are.While Russia maintains nuclear submarinesfor distant ocean patrols, its fleet of dieselsubmarines is more than adequate forconflicts in Europe, the Middle East and theRussian near abroad.

The ships are powered by two dieselgenerators and an electric drive, giving themenough power to make ten knots at thesurface and seventeen knots underwater.They are not fast submarines. They have arange of six thousand to 7,500 nautical miles,meaning that from the Russian NorthernFleet headquarters they can patrol for onethousand nautical miles and then go on to Cuba.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/how-russias-kilo-class-submarines-are-huge-threat-american-aircraft-carriers-115531

Sailing These Russian NuclearSubmarines Was Basically ASuicide Mission

Sebastien Roblin, National Interest Blog,January 22, 2020

The November-class submarinedexpanded Soviet influence, but at a cost.The United States launched the firstnuclear-powered submarine, the USSNautilus, in 1954, revolutionizingundersea warfare. The Nautilus’s reactorallowed it operate underwater for monthsat a time, compared to the hours or daysafforded conventional submarines. Thefollowing year, the Soviet Union beganbuilding its own nuclear submarine, theProject 627—known as the Novemberclass by NATO. The result was a boat witha few advantages compared to itsAmerican competition, but that alsoexhibited a disturbing tendency tocatastrophic accidents that would provecharacteristic of the burgeoning Sovietsubmarine fleet during the Cold War.

K-3 rapidly demonstrated theextraordinary endurance of nuclearsubmarines, embarking upon two-monthlong cruises while submerged. In 1962, itbecame the first Soviet vessel to travel tothe North Pole, while a sister ship, K-133,was the first submarine to traverse theDrake Strait submerged in a twenty-one-thousand-mile cruise that lasted fifty-twodays.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/sailing-these-russian-nuclear-submarines-was-basically-suicide-mission-115661

How We Know Russia Is Probably(Not) Secretly Testing NuclearWeapons Underground


Despite some accusations, the evidencelooks like Moscow is probably not doingsecret nuclear tests. If Moscow was, itwould be in violation of a treaty. A seniorU.S. intelligence official on May 29, 2019accused Russia of secretly conductingnuclear tests in violation of an


international treaty and the country’s ownmoratorium on such tests. But there’s nohard evidence of these alleged tests, onearms-control group pointed out.

“The United States believes that Russiaprobably is not adhering to its nuclear testingmoratorium in a manner consistent with the‘zero-yield’ standard” outlined in the 1996Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty,” Lt. Gen.Robert Ashley, Jr., director of the DefenseIntelligence Agency, said at an event at theHudson Institute in Washington, D.C.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/how-we-know-russia-probably-not-secretly-testing-nuclear-weapons-underground-116121

These 5 Submarines Could DestroyThe World In 30 Minutes

National Interest Blog, January 29, 2020

In some cases—as in the case of the Ohio-class submarine during the height of theCold War—even a single vessel could reduceas many as 288 city-sized targets intoradioactive ash in less than 30 minutes.

While they have thankfully never been usedduring a shooting war, nuclear-poweredsubmarines carrying nuclear-tipped missilesare the most deadly weapons mankind hasever devised. In some cases—as in the caseof the Ohio-class submarine during theheight of the Cold War—even a single vesselcould reduce as many as 288 city-sizedtargets into radioactive ash in less than 30minutes. Indeed, these vessel and theirpayloads could end human civilization inless time than it takes to order a pizza if athird world war were to break out.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/these-5-subma-rines-could-destroy-world-30-minutes-117891

West Asia

Iran

Iranian regime under pressure fromthree sides

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, Arab News, January16, 2020

The Islamic Republic is, for the first time sinceits establishment, simultaneously

encountering what I would call threeconcentric circles of pressure. These forcesare influencing and reinforcing each other,maximizing the level of pressure that theregime is under. If these three forces ofpressure persist, the theocraticestablishment will find it extremely difficultto survive.

The first circle of pressure the regime isfacing is domestic. The Iranian people’sdissatisfaction with their rulers hasreached an unprecedented level. Thediscontent toward the regime is bothpolitical and economic. Many Iranians areextremely frustrated with the lies andwidespread corruption at the top, andhow the nation’s wealth is beingsquandered to satisfy the ruling mullahs’revolutionary and geopolitical ambitions.There exists no rule of law to hold thegilded circle of the regime’s leadersaccountable.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1614091

How close is Iran to producing anuclear bomb?

Francois Murphy, Arshad Mohammed,Reuters, January 17, 2020

The central achievement of the Irannuclear deal - keeping Tehran at arm’slength from nuclear weapons - is eroding.The 2015 accord’s many restrictions onIran’s atomic activities were built aroundone objective: to extend the “breakouttime” Tehran would need to produceenough fissile material for one atomicbomb - if it decided to do so - to at least ayear from around 2-3 months.

Iran maintains that it has never soughtnuclear weapons and never would. It haslong said it has enriched for civilianpurposes including future nuclear energyand research projects. Tehran beganbreaching the deal’s curbs last year in astep-by-step response to President DonaldTrump’s withdrawal of the United Statesfrom the deal in May 2018 and thereimposition of U.S. sanctions that havethrottled Iran’s vital oil exports. Thosebreaches have shortened the breakout timeslightly, though Iran is far from sprinting


ahead as fast as it could, reports by the U.N.nuclear watchdog policing the deal show.But the breaches have been enough toprompt the European signatories to the dealto trigger its dispute resolution mechanism,raising the prospect of the global, UnitedNations sanctions that were lifted under thedeal being reinstated.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-explainer/explainer-how-close-is-iran-to-produc-ing-a-nuclear-bomb-idUSKBN1ZG22P

‘Europe must take a separate pathfrom U.S.’


Mohsen Pakayeen, Iran’s formerambassador to Azerbaijan, has said thatEurope must take a separate path from theUnited States. “Europe must make effortsnot to destroy the Iranian people’s trust,”he told ISNA in an interview published onSunday. He also said, “In recent days, theEuropeans have taken unacceptable moves.They have threatened to trigger the disputemechanism and take Iran’s case to the [UN]Security Council. This behavior shows thatEurope seeks to follow the United States’policies.” Foreign Minister MohammadJavad Zarif said on January 13 that France,Germany, and the UK have bowed to “theU.S. diktat” for 20 months.

It is 20 months that the Trumpadministration has quit the nuclear deal andintroduced sanctions against Iran whileEuropeans standing idle by. “For 20 months,the E3-following UK appeasement policy-has bowed to US diktat,” he tweeted. Zarifsaid this policy “hasn’t gotten it anywhere-and it never will.” The chief diplomat addedthat the three European countries can savethe 2015 nuclear deal “but not by appeasingthe bully & pressuring the complying party.”France, Germany and the United Kingdomissued a joint statement on Tuesdayannouncing they have formally triggered thedispute mechanism.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444342/Europe-must-take-a-separate-path-from-U-S

Iran’s one strike may havechanged Mideast forever

Martin Love, Tehran Times, January 24, 2020

The JCPOA certainly seems to be comatoseand dying. Don’t blame Iran. Blame theU.S. first and then the E-3: Germany,France and the U.K. Can it be stated moreplainly? No. One should have no problemwith Iran’s reactions to shoddy treatmentexcept that this is exactly what SheldonAdelson, the casino magnate billionairewho has literally bought Trump and hisgangsters and much of the RepublicanParty, has wanted, along with Netanyahuand the rest of the Zionists: that the JCPOAdie and even that Iran might withdrawfrom the NPT and at least superficially, ifnot, in fact, seem to be pursuing nuclearweapons.

(On the other hand, it’s not nuclearweapons that probably invokes the ire ofthe bloody Western “establishment” (ledby the U.S.) so much as it is the fact thatIran has mastered the technology ofnuclear energy and how to obtain its fuelfrom raw uranium.) But why did they, theTrump gang and supporters, want this –the demise of the JCPOA? This is thehaunting question because the desire nevermade sense. How much easier it is,though, to attack independent Iran if,falsely or not, propaganda can be blastedthat claims the Islamic Republic is, finally,aiming to build a nuclear weapon giventhe sanctions it has sustained in the pastyear and a half plus and the slow demiseof the JCPOA and lately Soleimani’scriminal assassination?

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444481/Iran-s-one-strike-may-have-changed-Mideast-forever

Turkey

The Rift Between Turkey andAmerica Has Paved the Way forRussia’s Rebound

Dimitri Alexander Simes, National InterestBlog, January 20, 2020

While the United States and Iran edged tothe brink of war in Iraq, Russian president


Vladimir Putin met with Turkish presidentRecep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul onJanuary 8 to launch the long-awaitedTurkStream gas pipeline and announce anew Libya ceasefire deal. This latest meetingbetween Putin and Erdogan comes amidstrising tensions between Ankara andWashington, two longtime NATO allies. TheUnited States has angrily protested Turkey’sdecision to purchase the S-400 air defensesystem from Russia and its militaryoperation in northeastern Syria. For its part,the Erdogan administration has threatenedto close two major American military basesin Turkey if Congress adopts a much-anticipated sanctions package targetingAnkara.

What does the growing rift between theUnited States and Turkey mean for Russia?Can Moscow and Ankara transform theirburgeoning cooperation into a fully-fledged-partnership or will their disagreements overSyria and Libya prove to be too much?The National Interest spoke to Turkish andRussian experts to get their perspectives onthese questions.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/rift-between-turkey-and-america-has-paved-way-russias-rebound-114916

The Turkish-Qatari Axis ChallengesWashington

Aykan Erdemir Varsha Koduvayur, NationalInterest Blog, January 22, 2020

Sectarian violence has spread across theMiddle East, with Sunni and Shiitepopulations engulfed by the blood-letting.But to make matters worse, the Sunni worldhas recently cleaved into two competingaxes pitting a new Turkish-Qatari allianceagainst a bloc led by Saudi Arabia and theUnited Arab Emirates (UAE). Across theregion, from Iraq to Libya, these opposingSunni factions are now contesting eachother’s influence, adding another layer ofcomplexity to an already volatile region. Asthese axes now seek to project their powerand influence while diminishing that of theirrivals, the stability of the region couldbecome collateral damage in this battle forprimacy.

Turkey’s cross-border operation intonortheast Syria in October 2019 is the latestexample of how these bitter rivalries playout. Qatar was one of the few actors,alongside Hamas and Pakistan, thatsupported the internationally condemnedcampaign. Similarly, when Saudi Arabia,Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE severeddiplomatic ties with Qatar, enacting aland, sea, and air blockade in June 2017,Turkey offered a lifeline, sending cargoplanes with food and other goods. Whileboth Turkey and Qatar are ostensibly U.S.allies and host key American bases, theyare now working in tandem to promote adestabilizing Islamist agenda across theMiddle East.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/turkish-qatari-axis-challenges-washington-116251

Ties binding Turkey and Russiamore diverse than ever

Ivan Starodubtsev, Daily Sabah, January28, 2020

On Jan. 8, Russian President VladimirPutin made a working visit to Istanbul.Formally, the center of the visit was theparticipation of the Russian and Turkishpresidents at the opening ceremony of theTurkish Stream pipeline. But in practice,Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoðanlaunched Russian-Turkish relations, notonly in the energy sector but in general.The two leaders have opened a new pagein bilateral cooperation that will have animpact on the state of affairs in the region.In order to better understand thesignificance of the Istanbul meeting, let usbriefly turn to the milestones of Russian-Turkish dialogue in the 21st century.

Assuming a conditional division intodecades, let us note that the main result ofthe first decade of the 21st century inRussian-Turkish relations was thescrapping of patterns and stereotypes.Erdoðan visited Moscow for the first timeimmediately after the victory of the Justiceand Development Party (AK Party) in thegeneral parliamentary elections in Turkeyon Dec. 23-24, 2002. President Putin also


visited Ankara on Dec. 5-6, 2004. This wasthe first official visit by a leader of Russia(as the successor of the USSR) in more thanthree decades.

https://www.dailysabah.com/op-ed/2020/01/28/ties-binding-turkey-and-russia-more-diverse-than-ever

Israel

Netanyahu calls for sanctionsagainst International CriminalCourt

Amos Harel, Haaretz, January 16, 2020

The bottom line of the Israel Defense Forces’intelligence assessment for 2020 isn’tsignificantly different than it was theprevious two years. The likelihood of anyoneintentionally starting a war against Israelremains low (in recent years, MilitaryIntelligence has freed itself of the taboocreated by the 1973 Yom Kippur War andis willing to say that explicitly). But MI seesa medium to high probability of anunplanned slide into war due to escalatingreciprocal strikes.

Second, its ability to make predictions isparticularly limited regarding how thepeople will act in neighboring countries andtheir economic plight. This was illustrated,for example, by recent fluctuations in theprotests in Iran, and by the fact that earlierpredictions of an economic collapse in Syriaproved false, as, to some extent, did similarpredictions about Iran.

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/iran/.premium-israeli-army-sees-chance-to-escalate-attacks-against-iran-and-its-allies-1.8402081

Trump Is Failing to Protect IsraelAgainst Iran

Chuck Freilich, Haaretz, January 21, 2020

The beginning of the final and critical yearof President Donald Trump’s first term,during which we will find out whether heis reelected to a second, is a fitting time toassess his achievements in the Middle Eastto date.

As is appropriate, however, to the general

Trumpian approach of governance bychaos, it is difficult to assess his record interms of coherent policy. Instead of well-founded strategy, what we have is a seriesof isolated acts, some successful, othersnot, often largely a matter of impulse.

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/iran/.premium-trump-s-chaotic-cowardly-failure-to-protect-israel-against-iran-1.8413029

East Asia

North Korea

Taking ‘new path’

Korea Times, January 20, 2020

North Korea reportedly names hard-lineras top diplomat. North Korea is likely toshift further away from dialogue andreturn to brinkmanship in the face of theU.S.’s firm policy of maintaining pressureand sanctions against Pyongyang. Mediareports about the North’s appointment ofa hard-liner as its top diplomat are raisingconcerns that it may withdraw fromstalled talks with both Seoul andWashington.

The Ministry of Unification said it wastrying to confirm press reports that theNorth recently named Ri Son-gwon,chairman of the Committee for thePeaceful Reunification of the Country, asforeign minister. The North reportedlynotified foreign envoys based in its capitalof the appointment. Ri’s appointment, ifconfirmed, could signal a tougher stanceon the North’s denuclearizationnegotiations with the U.S., and inter-Korean dialogue. There was the possibilitythat North Korean leader Kim Jong-unmight have held the current diplomaticteam responsible for failing to extractconcessions, including sanctions relief,from the U.S.


Test in March on N. Korea

Tong Kim, Korea Times, January 29, 2020

North Korea is staying the hardlinecourse: refusing calls for talks without U.S.


acceptance of its demands and waging anall-out self-reliance campaign for a “head-on” fight against sanctions, while developingnuclear weapons. This head-on policy wasopted for by Kim Jong-un during anexpanded Central Committee meeting of theWorkers’ Party of Korea held at the end ofDecember.

Kim has appointed Ri Son-gwon, ahardliner with no diplomatic experience, ashis new foreign minister, replacing Ri Yong-ho, a veteran diplomat. This shift does notsignal a change in Pyongyang’s policy; itreflects Kim’s determination toward a self-reliant economy and a strong strategicdeterrent. In the North, a foreign ministerrarely makes critical policy decisions. Kimdoes.


South Korea

Joseon era of 19th century vs. 21stcentury Korea

Kim Seong-kon, Korea Herald, January 21,2020

Many analysts and historians point out thatthe current political situation of South Korearesembles that of the Joseon era in the late19th century. To say the least, it would beembarrassing and disheartening if 21stcentury Korea still could not overcome thetraumatic situation it experienced in the late19th century. Nevertheless, we may be ableto obtain some insights and hindsight fromthe comparison.

In the late 19th century, Joseon, whichchanged its name to Korea later, washelplessly lost in a vortex of internationalpolitics among the three menacing empires,China, Japan and Russia. In response toruthless foreign aggressions, the rulers ofJoseon simply shut the door to the outsideworld and, therefore, were ignorant ofradical changes taking place in theinternational community at the time. Insteadof actively dealing with the external crisisthat seriously threatened the kingdom, therulers of Joseon were engaged in internal

factional scuffles. As a result, the Joseonera was hopelessly going down bothinternally and externally and finally losther sovereignty.Experts argue that 21stcentury South Korea is now facing asimilar situation. The main difference isthat now China is rising instead of Japan,and South Korea has to deal with anuclear-armed North Korea. The UnitedStates, too, has entered the picture as anally to South Korea and Japan. Once again,South Korea has to choose from thosecountries. If our political leaders choose awrong nation for help or as an ally as theydid in the late 19th century, our countrywill go down inexorably once again.

We are witnessing the omen already. Assoon as South Korea’s relationship withJapan began to deteriorate, which alsomight have affected the South Korea-USalliance, Chinese and Russian militaryaircrafts flew over our territory presumablyto test our reactions. North Korea is onceagain threatening us with nuclearweapons. China, too, has been pressingSouth Korea not to allow the US army todeploy THAAD, while imposing sanctionson business and tourism. Now the US isdemanding a significantly increasedbudget for the deployment of its troops inSouth Korea. To make matters worse,South Korea’s relationship with Japan isthe worst it has been in decades.In ordernot to repeat the same mistakes wefoolishly made in the late 19th century, weshould overcome tribalism andultranationalism, know the outside worldand have allies that will come and rescueus in times of crisis. In that sense, weshould value the Korea-US Defense Treatythat would surely protect South Koreafrom our hostile neighboring countries’aggressions. We should know that the USgovernment signed the Defense Treatywith only three parties: South Korea,Japan, and NATO. Without this treaty,South Korea will be extremely vulnerableto threats from the outside.



Test in March on N. Korea

Tong Kim, Korea Times, January 29, 2020

North Korea is staying the hardline course:refusing calls for talks without U.S.acceptance of its demands and waging anall-out self-reliance campaign for a “head-on” fight against sanctions, while developingnuclear weapons. This head-on policy wasopted for by Kim Jong-un during anexpanded Central Committee meeting of theWorkers’ Party of Korea held at the end ofDecember. Kim has appointed Ri Son-gwon,a hardliner with no diplomatic experience,as his new foreign minister, replacing RiYong-ho, a veteran diplomat. This shift doesnot signal a change in Pyongyang’s policy;it reflects Kim’s determination toward a self-reliant economy and a strong strategicdeterrent. In the North, a foreign ministerrarely makes critical policy decisions. Kimdoes. The KCNA reported, “He also madepublic the foreign policy stand of the DPRKgovernment.” But no details were provided.It is likely that Ri reiterated the policy linethat Kim outlined before: a self-relianteconomy based on a strong strategicdeterrent.

Pyongyang’s envoy also echoed Kim Jong-un’s statement that “North Korea was nolonger bound by commitments to haltnuclear and missile testing,” because of theU.S. sanctions and military drills in violationof the agreement at Singapore in thesummer of 2018. In Washington, Trump istoo busy watching his impeachment trial bythe Senate. But, his national security team ¯including State, Defense, and NSC ¯ areconsistently calling on the North to returnto talks, while showing no indication ofmaking concession on sanctions. Kim’s self-reliance campaign may not succeed inenabling continued development of hisnuclear arsenal and assuring economicdevelopment. Yet, Kim is determined not tobeg for sanctions relief in exchange for hisnuclear weapons. This position may be partof his overall strategy. He said he is preparedfor a protracted strategic game. And it is notunimaginable that the timing for that testwill be around March less than two monthfrom now, when the U.S. and South Korea

will decide what they are going to do withtheir joint annual military exercises.


Japan

Japan planning to release over amillion tonnes of radioactivewater into sea from Fukushimapower plant

Harry Cockburn, January 31, 2020

Massive amounts of radioactive waterbeing stored at Japan’s Fukushima powerplant could be released into the sea underplans provisionally accepted by thecountry’s government. Tokyo Electric hascollected nearly 1.2 million tonnes ofcontaminated water from cooling pipesused to keep fuel cores from melting sincethe plant was devastated by theearthquake and tsunami which hit easternJapan in 2011. The water, containing 62radioactive elements, is stored in hugetanks on the site of the now disabledpower plant, but Tokyo Electric has saidit will run out of room to store the waterby 2022.

The water has been treated and TokyoElectric said it is able to remove allradioactive particles from the water tolevels not harmful to humans, excepttritium, an isotope of hydrogen which ismore difficult to separate from water. Apanel of experts working for Japan’seconomy and industry ministry concludedthat letting the water run into the sea wasthe best option after looking at otherproposals. The only other viable optionconsidered was to let the water evaporate.

https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/japan-nuclear-waste-fukushima-power-station-tsunami-water-sea-olympics-a9312246.html


Q. Think Tanks

Memo to Mr. Trump: This nucleartreaty with Russia will make you awinner!

John Krzyzaniak, Bulletin of Atomic Scientist,January 22, 2020

You have the historic opportunity to makethe greatest deal with Russia, and all itrequires is a big beautiful signature. Youwant a cap on nuclear weapons, and theNew START treaty is just that. But the treatywill expire in 2021 unless you act to save it.Here are five reasons why you should extendthe New START treaty in 2020.

1. It will help you get reelected. Polls showthat at least 66 percent of Trump voters inevery single state support treaty extension.

2. It will save the United States billions ofdollars. If the treaty expires, the UnitedStates will have to spend more moneygathering information about Russia’snuclear weapons.

https://thebulletin.org/2020/01/memo-to-mr-trump-nuclear-treaty-russia/

Don’t gut the US-South Koreaalliance

Michael E. O’Hanlon, Brookings, January 23,2020

For over a dozen years, the United Statesand South Korea have been planning totransform their military command structureknown as Combined Forces Command — aremarkably integrated and effective systemconstructed during decades of alliancecooperation. It is the most tightly wovensystem of integrated command and controlthe United States possesses anywhere in theworld. Throughout the armed forces of thetwo nations, South Koreans wouldcommand Americans, and vice versa, at allsorts of levels of tactical operations. In theunthinkable event of war against NorthKorea, ultimately more than one millionSouth Korean soldiers as well as severalhundred thousand Americans would fighttogether in defense of South Korea and thebroader region. Separate American

commands in Japan and the broaderPacific region, and a U.N.-sponsoredcommand, would provide support andreinforcements as well as protection forthreatened regional interests such as thenation of Japan and the U.S. island ofGuam.

The current plan, being assiduouslyprepared by American and South Koreanpersonnel together at the Combined ForcesCommand headquarters, would replacethe American military officer who runs theoverall alliance in times of war — currentlyGeneral “Abe” Abrams of the U.S. Army— with a South Korean four-star officerinstead. Such a move would mess withthese painstakingly-created structures tono apparent benefit and much evident risk,at a moment when the alliance isvulnerable not only to North Koreanattack but to domestic political trendswithin both South Korea and the UnitedStates. It is a bad idea. If it ain’t broke, asthe saying goes, don’t fix it.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2020/01/23/dont-gut-the-us-south-korea-alliance/

Bosnia and HerzegovinaVeterinary Labs Equipped toDiagnose Animal Diseases UsingNuclear-Derived Techniques

Elodie Broussard, International AtomicEnergy Agency, January 23, 2020

Bosnia and Herzegovina veterinaryauthorities are better equipped to protectlivestock from several animal diseasesspreading in Southeastern Europe, thanksto the support of the IAEA in partnershipwith the Food and AgricultureOrganization of the United Nations(FAO). This is an important step for foodsecurity in the country and for the exportof animal products and food to theEuropean Union market, local officialshave said. “Early detection oftransboundary animal diseases such asBlue Tongue disease (BT), lumpy skindisease (LSD) and Brucellosis is key toprevent their spread and impact on theeconomy,” said Ivancho Naletoski, Animal


Health Officer at the Joint FAO/IAEADivision of Nuclear Techniques in Food andAgriculture.

Brucellosis has been present on the Balkanpeninsula over centuries as an endemicdisease of livestock, while BT and LSD haveemerged recently. They continuouslythreaten the lives of farmers, producers,exporters and their families. Brucellosis istransmitted among animals through directand indirect contact, while BT and LSD aretransmitted by blood-sucking insects such asmosquitoes, ticks and fleas. All can have asignificant effect on animal health andproduction, as well as on the economicoutput and international trade of a country.

https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/bosnia-and-herzegovina-veterinary-labs-equipped-to-diagnose-animal-diseases-using-nuclear-derived-techniques

Physicists mobilize to reduce thenuclear threat. Again.

Stewart Prager, Steve Fetter, AlexanderGlaser, Zia Mian and Frank von Hippel,

Bulletin of Atomic Scientist, January 24, 2020

We live in an increasingly dangerous nuclearworld, a time at least as perilous as the worstyears of the Cold War. The Bulletin of AtomicScientists’ Doomsday Clock offers a clearrepresentation of existential risk. In 1953,when first the United States and then theSoviet Union began testing thermonuclearweapons, the Bulletin Science and SecurityBoard set the clock at two minutes tomidnight. Over the intervening six decadesthe nuclear threat fell and rose, and fellagain, but few would dispute that in recentyears the alarm has been sounding for thosewho would hear it. Today, the Science andSecurity Board set the Doomsday Clock at100 seconds to midnight—closer than it hasever been to catastrophe—warning that“any belief that the threat of nuclear warhas been vanquished is a mirage.”

There is an urgent need to bring togetherexpert voices and informed, mobilizedpublic pressure that once proved soimportant as a source of demands andoptions to reduce nuclear threats. The

physics community can be an influentialadvocate for this goal. With support fromthe American Physical Society (APS),physicists from a collection of universitieshave recently begun a project to recruitand organize physicists to take on thischallenge. The Physicists Coalition forNuclear Threat Reduction plans, throughgrassroots efforts, to establish a networkof citizen-scientists committed to nuclearthreat reduction. The participation ofwomen, minority, and next-generationphysicists—all currently underrepresentedin nuclear policy debates, but whose voicesmust be part of such a new effort—will bea key ingredient.

https://thebulletin.org/2020/01/physicists-mobilize-to-reduce-the-nuclear-threat-again/

New START: The Future of U.S.-Russia Nuclear Arms Control

Brian L. Sittlow, CFR, January 28, 2020

February 5, 2020, marks one year left onthe U.S.-Russia New Strategic ArmsReduction Treaty, known as New START.Washington and Moscow face threechoices: to develop a new treaty, extendthe terms of the existing treaty for fivemore years, or go treaty-less on strategicnuclear arms. In the current foreign policyenvironment, achieving a new strategicarms treaty with Russia in the next twelvemonths is very unlikely. To avert theabandonment of New START, anextension appears to be the easy choice.

A five-year extension would provide theUnited States and Russia with breathingspace for future negotiations, project asense of stability in a volatile world, andsupport U.S. plans to modernize its land-, air-, and sea-based nuclear systems, oftenreferred to as the nuclear triad. Mostimportantly, it would maintain the currentnuclear deterrence posture, a core nationalsecurity priority.

https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/new-start-future-us-russia-nuclear-arms-control


The low-yield nuclear warhead: Adangerous weapon based on badstrategic thinking

Andrew Facini, Bulletin of Atomic Scientist,January 28, 2020

In the unintuitive world of nuclear weaponsstrategy, it’s often difficult to identify whichdecisions can serve to decrease the risk of adevastating nuclear conflict and whichmight instead increase it. Such complexitystems from the very foundation of the field:Nuclear weapons are widely seen as bombsbuilt never to be used. Historically,granular—even seemingly mundane—decisions about force structure, researchefforts, or communicated strategy haveconfounded planners, sometimes causingthe opposite of the intended effect. Such isthe risk carried by one strategy change thathas earned top billing under the Trumpadministration: the deployment of a new“low-yield” nuclear weapon on USsubmarines.

Low-yield, high risk. The Trumpadministration first announced its plans fora new low-yield nuclear warhead in itsFebruary 2018 Nuclear Posture Review, apublic report meant to communicate andclarify various American nuclear weaponspolicies. The Nuclear Posture Reviewpresented the lower-strength warhead asnecessary for the “preservation of credibledeterrence against regional aggression.” Inother words, the United States was seekinga new, intermediate option for an imaginedscenario in which Russia, after starting aconventional war in Europe, might betempted to use smaller nuclear weapons firstin order to win the conflict. In such ascenario, US thinking goes, the threat of USretaliation with full-strength bombs wouldnot be believable and would not be enoughto deter Russia from pursuing such a coursein the first place. The way to deter a limitednuclear strike by Russia was for the UnitedStates to have a readily available option forretaliating with a limited, proportional strikeof its own.

https://thebulletin.org/2020/01/the-low-yield-nuclear-warhead-a-dangerous-weapon-based-on-bad-strategic-thinking/

Why U.S.-Iran Conflict SuitsRussia

Dmitry Shlapentokh, Institute of Modern

Russia, January 29, 2020

The recent history of Russia’s relationshipwith Iran is instructive when it comes tounderstanding Moscow’s approach to thecurrent tensions with the United States.The collapse of the Soviet Union left Russiaisolated and powerless, despite its cacheof nuclear weapons. Ideologicalparadigms perished as well—many ofthem with a centuries-long legacy. One ofthem, Slavophilism, was well-incorporated into the late Soviet era’sgeopolitical construction that includedEastern Europe, mostly populated bySlavic people, who were considered,according to 19th-century Slavophilicthinkers, Russia’s geopolitical friends.Following the dissolution of the USSR,many of these Slavic nations turnedagainst Russia. Westernism, another 19th-century paradigm, did not fit well into apost-Soviet Russia either. While Moscowdid its best to demonstrate friendliness, theWest rejected Russia as an equal partner.Eventually, a new geopolitical paradigm—Eurasianism—found the spotlight. Itsorigins go back to Russian émigrés whohad fled the Soviet regime after the CivilWar (1917-1920). Eurasianists claimedthat Russia belongs neither to the SlavicWorld, nor to the West; that it is acivilization in its own right, evolving fromthe “symbiosis” between Slavic (mostlyOrthodox) and Turkic (mostly Muslim)ethnic groups. Eurasianism was barelyknown in the Soviet period (prominenthistorian and ethnographer Lev Gumilev,known as the “last Eurasianist,”developed his version of the doctrinelargely independent of the émigrécommunity). Only after the collapse of theSoviet Union did the Eurasianismparadigm gain popularity, which was, ina way, a response to the post-SovietRussia’s geopolitical needs.

Indeed, while Eurasianists discarded thenotion that Russia is an Asian country,they stressed that Russia’s allies are not in


Europe, but mostly in Asia. And it was Iran,an international pariah at the time, a countrylargely ignored by the early 19th-centuryEurasianists, that emerged as a usefulpartner. In 1994, Moscow engaged inbuilding the Bushehr nuclear plant, Iran’sfirst commercial nuclear reactor, and startedselling Iran sophisticated weapons. Tehranwelcomed Russia’s interest in closecooperation. Alexander Dugin, one ofRussia’s influential intellectuals, saw theMoscow-Tehran axis as a “Eurasian”counterbalance to what he perceived as a“hostile” America.

https://imrussia.org/en/analysis/3070-why-u-s-iran-conflict-suits-russia

Russia Is Updating Their NuclearWeapons: What Does That Mean forthe Rest of Us?

Rose Gottemoeller, Carnegie, January 29,2020

In the big strategic game, the Russians andAmericans have the same reason formodernizing their nuclear forces: they wantto maintain parity. If the two sides have thesame number of nuclear warheadsdeployed, then they will not be tempted toshoot at each other. They also have a reasonto avoid an arms race that would entailconstantly seeking more nuclear weaponsto try to achieve superiority—howevertemporary. As expensive as nuclearweapons and their delivery vehicles are,parity has kept the costs down by holdingthe arms race in check. In the past few years,President Vladimir Putin does seem to beafter nuclear weapons for another reason—to show that Russia is still a great power tobe reckoned with. He has been trumpetingnew and exotic systems that are unique, likethe nuclear weapon delivery system knownas the Burevestnik nuclear-propelled cruisemissile.

These exotic systems have more of a politicalfunction than a strategic or security one.Their role is to signal Russia’s continuingscientific and military prowess at a timewhen the country does not otherwise havemuch on offer. Devilishly expensive andsometimes dangerous to operate, they are

unlikely to be deployed in big numbers, asa 2019 fatal testing accident of theBurevestnik shows. If U.S.-Russian armscontrol remains in place, such systemsdefinitely will not be deployed in bignumbers, because they would displaceproven and highly reliable intercontinentalballistic missiles in the Russian forcestructure.

https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/01/29/russia-is-updating-their-nuclear-weapons-what-does-that-mean-for-rest-of-us-pub-80895

The US has a backup plan to killthe Iran nuclear deal. It couldspark a crisis at the UN.

Julia Masterson, Samuel M. Hickey,Bulletin of Atomic Scientist, January 30,2020

Early in January, the European membersof the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran made arisky move by triggering the deal’s disputeresolution mechanism. Though it was adesperate attempt to save the agreement,it could, if not managed carefully, resultin the reimposition of United NationsSecurity Council sanctions on Iran—effectively collapsing any remnants of thedeal.

The potential reimposition of sweepingmultilateral sanctions—a near-automaticconsequence of Security Council referral—looms over the current political crisis. Ofcourse, the Europeans may have noappetite to let things get that far. Butirrespective of its current status in thenuclear deal, the United States may be ableto outmaneuver the Europeans and triggermultilateral sanctions on Iran unilaterally.

https://thebulletin.org/2020/01/us-backup-plan-to-kill-iran-nuclear-deal-spark-crisis-at-un/


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