The International Atomic Energy Agency says that a truck carrying nuclear waste stolen in Mexico. smh.com.au

Work has begun to test the frozen underground wall concept at Fukushima Daiichi. fukuleaks.com

A Japanese government panel proposes additional measures to lessen the radioactive water crisis at Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant. hosted.ap.org

A new nuclear power reactor on Anglesey by Japanese firm Hitachi is among the projects listed in a 20-year infrastructure spending plan published by the UK government. bbc.co.uk
 

         I have been blogging about North Korea’s nuclear program for the past few days. I am spending a lot of time on N.K. because it is the most belligerent of nuclear powers on Earth and often threatens to launch pre-emptive military strikes on South Korea and other nations including the United States. Yesterday, I talked about the period from 2002 to 2008 and ended with an apparent “deal” between North Korea and other nations to end N.K. development of nuclear weapons in return for aid.

          In 2009, N.K. attempted to launched a satellite which it claimed would only be used for broadcasting patriotic songs, but the launch was a failure. A U.N. resolution condemned the launch and N.K. responded by saying that it will not participate in any six party talks again and it will not be bound by any agreements from such talks. They expelled the U.N. inspectors and stated their intention to restart their nuclear program. Spent fuel reprocessing for plutonium was restarted. N.K. also announced that it was  going to build its own thirty megawatt light water reactor and uranium enrichment facilities to create fuel for the new reactor.

         This pattern has been repeated over and over with N.K. They are coaxed to the bargaining table, a deal is worked out for foreign aid, U.N. inspections and an end to nuclear weapons development. Things seem to proceed for a while and then there is some incident or disagreement and it is back to square one.

          A two thousand gas centrifuge enrichment plant began operating in 2010. In 2011, satellite photographs showed that N.K. was proceeding swiftly with the construction of the light water reactor. U.S. intelligence agencies estimated that the reactor would be operational by 2013. N.K. also announced that it intended to build larger light water reactors for electricity generation.

           In early 2012, N.K. offers to suspend uranium enrichment, nuclear bomb tests and long range missile launches as long as “productive” negotiations with the U.S. continue. N.K also said that U.N. inspectors could return to Yongbyon. The U.S. states that it does not have any “hostile intent” toward N.K. and that it is ready to restore diplomatic relationships with N.K. In addition, twenty four thousand tons of food aid was promised to N.K. These steps would lead to restoration of the six party talks. This agreement, referred to as the Leap Day Deal, was signed on February 29th, 2012. Once again there was hope that the N.K. nuclear program could be brought to a halt and relationships normalized between N.K. and other nations including the U.S.

Potential ranges of North Korean Missiles:

North Korean missile range.png

Toride City, a suburb of Tokyo was declared in need of decontamination after 70% of the city was found to potentially be contaminated above allowable levels.  fukuleaks.com

Japanese microbiology professor says that about 70% of Japan’s territory is contaminated by Fukushima radioactive material. enenews.com

The government of Ontario has kept nuclear at the centre of its updated long-term energy program, with major refurbishments planned for the Bruce and Darlington power stations. However, it has decided to defer the construction of new nuclear capacity. world-nuclear-news.com

A proposed nuclear plant in Utah has withstood a significant legal challenge as a judge upheld the validity of water rights for the project. nuclearstreet.com

          My last blog about the history of the North Korean nuclear program ended with the collapsed of the Agreed Framework between the United States and North Korea in 2002. Following the collapse that was caused by both sides accusing the other of violating the terms of the Framework, North Korea threw out the U.N. inspectors and proceed to ramp up its development of plutonium production and nuclear weapons. The U.S. and South Korea held military exercises as North Korea threatened pre-emptive strikes on U.S. forces in South Korea and fired missiles into the Sea of Japan to intimidate other nations.

           During 2003, there were many diplomatic initiatives to try to improve relations between N.K. and the rest of the world. There were bilateral talks between the U.S. and N.K. The mainland Chinese government was approached to try to get them to exert leverage on N.K. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Russia and other nations tried to establish a dialog with N.K. N.K.’s major focus was to demand major concessions from the U.S. before it would consider ending its nuclear weapons program. Six party talks including N.K., the U.S., Russia, China, Japan and South Korea were held in Beijing.

           During 2004, the diplomatic efforts continued with new rounds of the six party talks as N.K. continues to produce plutonium and issue belligerent threats. They say that they need nuclear weapons to deter the threat of U.S. and S.K. military action. In the fall of 2004, N.K. claims that it has turned plutonium from reprocessed fuel rods into nuclear weapons.

           Diplomatic talks, threats, claims of breakthroughs, demands that the U.S. supply the power reactors that were promised in the Agreed Framework, demands for food, and N.K. work on its own reactors and plutonium processing continue in 2006. An estimate is published that N.K. may have enough plutonium for a dozen nuclear bombs. N.K. test fires a number of missiles including a new long range version. In the fall of 2006, N.K. states its intention to test fire a nuclear bomb. The U.S. says that “it can have a future or it can have these weapons but not both. The U.N. Security Council issues a statement calling for N.K. not to test a bomb. N.K proceeds with an underground test as registered by seismographs. There was some debate about whether the test was a failure or a fraud.

           The six party talks continued into 2007 without producing any significant results. N.K. maintains its belligerent attitude while participating in the talks. N.K. finally agrees to shut down the Yongbyon reactor in exchange for being supplied with fifty thousand metric tons of fuel oil. Following the delivery of six thousand tons of fuel oil from S.K., N.K announces that it was shutting down the Yongbyon reactor. IAEA inspectors confirm that the reactor has been shut down as more fuel oil is delivered to N.K. The U.S., Russia and China send inspectors to the Yongbyon site to study the best way to permanently shut down fuel reprocessing and plutonium production.

         2008 saw N.K. supplying documentation on its nuclear operations to the U.S. and allies. A U.S. State Department expert on the Koreas, managed to obtain thousands of pages of classified N.K. documents on their nuclear program. N.K. destroys a cooling tower for Yongbyon’s main reactor. It appeared that progress was finally being made in ending N.K.’s nuclear weapons program.

Yongbyon cooling tower destroyed:

Yongbyon Cooling Tower.png

Citizens demonstrating against the controversial state secrets bill are committing “an act terrorism,” according to Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba. japantimes.co.jp

A trouble-prone system used to decontaminate radioactive water at Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant was switched off Sunday because of a chemical leak, the plant’s operator said. phys.org
Nuclear power needs to be an option for Japan, said a panel of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren), however recovery in Fukushima prefecture must be a priority. world-nuclear-news.org

Pakistan held a ceremonial groundbreaking last week on a nuclear complex in Karachi that it intends to build with assistance from China. world.time.com

A massive amount of Fukushima debris has been sighted off Hawaii. enenews.com

Even after TEPCO built the impervious wall on the coastal line, the radiation level of the groundwater is still high in the seaside of Fukushima Reactor 2. Fukushima-diary.com

Iran’s nuclear chief said Sunday that the Islamic Republic needs more nuclear power plants, the country’s official news agency reported, just after it struck a deal regarding its contested nuclear program with world powers. abdnews.com

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Moniz has extended an offer of U.S. help in the Fukushima cleanup effort, especially with regard to water contamination issues. nuclearnews.com