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

Seismologist says that the coastline beneath the Fukushima nuclear plant could crack open during major earthquake. enenews.com

Scientist warns of a new flood of radioactive particles around Fukushima.   enenews.com

Forest Remick’s support for nuclear energy (The Mercury Nov. 16) is contradicted by former NRC Chairman Jaczko who has called for the phase-out of U.S. nuclear plants due to their irreparable design flaws.  pottsmerc.com

The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) is unhappy with the two newly inaugurated Karachi nuclear power projects, K-1 and K-2, along the coastal area of the city in Keamari Town. tribune.com.pk

             Today I am going to continue blogging about North Korea’s nuclear program. Yesterday, I covered their history from the beginning in 1956 with help from the Soviet Union up to the end of the Cold War in 1991. Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center is the main location for nuclear research in N.K. It contains facilities  for fabricating nuclear fuel, a small research reactor, a facility for temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel and a reprocessing facility to recover uranium and plutonium from spent fuel. These are the requirements for what is called the Magnox nuclear reactor fuel cycle. Magnox is a name for a particular type of magnesium alloy that is used as the cladding material for fuel rods of unenriched uranium fuel. It is a old design that is inefficient and requires fuel rods that are expensive to manufacture. The spent fuel cannot be stored for long but it is easier to reprocess. The construction of a fifty megawatt Magnox reactor began in 1985 and the construction of a two hundred megawatt reactor at Taechon also began in the late 1980s.

             N.K. had signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1985 which included granting the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) permission to inspect its nuclear facilities. N.K.’s first report on nuclear activities was submitted to the IAEA in 1992. The IAEA began inspections of nuclear facilities in N.K. It was determined that the North Korean report did not match the findings of the IAEA with respect to plutonium stockpiles. The IAEA requested permission to visit two additional sites which N.K. denied. The IAEA reported the violation of the NPT to the U.N. Security Council. In March of 1993, N.K. declared its intention to withdraw from the NPT. The U.N. countered with Resolution 285 calling for N.K. to reconsider withdrawing from the NPT and to allow the two contested sites to be inspected. In June of 1993, N.K. announced that it was “suspending effectuation” of its withdrawal from the NPT.

          The United States and N.K. signed the “Agreed Framework” in 1994 after N.K. requested bilateral negotiations with the United States. The Framework was intended to put a stop to the indigenous nuclear power program in N.K. and to make nuclear proliferation more difficult. N.K. would allow IAEA inspectors back. Spent nuclear fuel stockpiles in N.K. would be disposed of instead of being reprocessed. The original five megawatt research reactor and both Magnox reactors under construction would be replaced by light water reactors financed by South Korea by 2003. In the meantime, the U.S. would supply oil for heating and electricity production. The U.S. and N.K. would work towards resolution of all political and economic dispute. The U.S. stated that it would not use nuclear weapons on N.K. N.K. suspended work on the two new reactors under construction.

             Congress refused to reverse economic sanctions and restore diplomatic relations as promised by the White House. Bids were not tendered for construction of the light water reactors until 1998 which frustrated N.K. Construction of the light water reactors started in 2000 but fell behind schedule and work was halted in 2002. The U.S. was concerned that N.K. was continuing its nuclear weapons program covertly. Following a report by the CIA that N.K. was installing centrifuges to enrich uranium in violation of the Framework, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State confronted N.K. The North Koreans claimed that no evidence had been presented and denied the claims of the U.S. With both sides hurtling charges at each other, the Framework fell apart in 2002.

 Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center:

Yongbyon plant.jpg