Ambient office = 108 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 112 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 113 nanosieverts per hour

Bannana from Central Market = 100 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 96 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 87 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient office = 87 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 99 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 95 nanosieverts per hour

Grape from Central Market = 84 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 96 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 83 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient office = 90 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 103 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 104 nanosieverts per hour

Avocado from Central Market = 93 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 94 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 80 nanosieverts per hour

Dover Sole from Central = 98 nanosieverts per hour

     The Korean War began on the Korean Peninsula in June of 1950 and ended in July of 1953. It ended with the signing of an armistice which resulted in the combatants agreeing to stop fighting. While the fighting did stop, there was never a formal end to the war. Seventy years later, the state of war still continues.
     Following the armistice, the peninsula was divided into North Korea(N.K.) and South Korea (S.K.). North Korea aligned itself with its ally, communist China and took their model of government. S.K. aligned itself with its ally, the U.S. and took its form of government. Since the war, tensions have risen and fallen between the two Koreas. In order to persuade S.K. not to develop nuclear weapons in response to the N.K. nuclear program, the U.S. promised to protect S.K. from N.K.  
     A prominent S.K. politician says that the country should arm itself with nuclear weapons amid increasing tensions with their neighbor, N.K.
     Na Kyung-won is touted as a frontrunner to lead the country’s official opposition. She recently proposed that her country “make preparations to develop nuclear weapons in a short period of time right now”.
     In a Facebook post Na explained why she believes the country should abandon its historic policy of nuclear non-proliferation.
     Her post read, “The history of international society shows that only ‘countries with the power’ to suppress external threats have survived. This is why we should think about nuclear weapons with all possibilities open now.”
    Na said that her proposal would by ‘international sanity,’ and rely on ‘cooperation between Korea and the U.S.’ “We will make preparations to develop nuclear weapons in a short period of time right now will not just stop with words, but with actions.”
     Na will stand for election as the leader of the People Power Party at the party convention in a couple of weeks on July 23.
     In 1975, S.K. signed the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which prohibits signatory states from developing nuclear weapons.
     S.K has continued to engage in nuclear research programs since that time although the country has maintained an official policy of non-proliferation.
     Kim Jong Un has continually tried to develop an offensive nuclear capability in the face of international condemnation. This has prompted reconsideration of S.K.’s position.
     In 2023, incumbent S.K. President Yoon Suk-Yeol suggested that it might be wise for the country to acquire its own nuclear arsenal if the situation with N.K did not improve.
     In April 2023, the U.S. agreed to deploy nuclear-armed submarines to S.K., in exchange for abandoning plans to develop its own nuclear weapons.
     The latest threats by the opposition come during a period of heightened tensions between the two states. There have been several altercations along their border.
     Last week, N.K. state media reported that the regime had ‘successfully’ launched an advanced ballistic missile armed with a ‘super-large warhead.
     According to the S.K. military, one of the N.K. missiles flew ‘erratically.’ It likely landed near the nation’s capital of Pyongyang.
     In mid-June of this year, satellite imagery showed several places in the demilitarized zone along the Korean border where N.K. has cleared large strips of land to construct what appears to be a wall.
     In late June, a hypersonic missile fired by N.K. exploded in mid-flight over the Sea of Japan.

Ambient office = 109 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 107 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 110 nanosieverts per hour

Green onion from Central Market = 93 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 104 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 88 nanosieverts per hour

     The Indian government, in the annual Budget unveiled this week, has opened up the nuclear power sector for private investments to boost the share of atomic energy production as the government aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.
     The Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) is India’s premier nuclear research facility. It was founded in January 1954 as a multidisciplinary research program essential for India’s nuclear program. It operates under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India.
     The BARC has developed a module for modular building of nuclear energy centers according to Nirmala Sitharaman, the Indian Finance Minister. The government, in the Budget unveiled this week, has opened up the nuclear power sector for private investments to expand the share of atomic energy production as the government intends to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.
     Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) can be built in a factory, unlike conventional nuclear reactors that are constructed on-site. SMRs have a power capacity of up to three hundred megawatts per unit. They are a mobile and agile technology which can be set up at locations unsuitable for larger plants.

     SMRs are making a significant and meaningful contribution to the energy transition phase as part of efforts to deal with the effects of climate change.
     Sitharaman said, “It’s happy news to know that Bhabha Atomic Research Center has developed this module for modular building of nuclear energy centers. And since it’s all indigenously done and they are very sure they can take it forward. We have taken it on budget speech as well. That’s also because India’s commitments in renewable energy and emission control and investment for renewable energy have all been happening since, probably, 2015 when Paris agreement was signed. COP 21, I think. After that onwards India has been constantly concious of fulfilling its commitment.”
     In her record seventh budget, Sitharaman said that the government will also partner with the private sector for research and development of newer technologies for nuclear power.
    Twelve billion dollars of research and development funding, announced in the interim budget in February, will be provided to the nuclear sector, the Minister said in her budget speech.
     Sitharaman added, “So we are fulfilling our requirements as committed in renewable energy. But for a country of India’s size, renewable energy alone can’t give us sufficiency in meeting all the base requirement for energy. Base requirement is something which should be without doubt, without speculation keep flowing and in that renewable energy has a shortcoming. So in that sense nuclear comes off a great use. Also now, thermal is being discouraged in a big way.”
     Jitendra Singh is the Indian Minister of Science and Technology. Last month, he said that the Indian Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) was “suitably designing” the two hundred and twenty megawatts Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) as a Bharat Small Reactor (BSR) for captive nuclear power generation.
     India has an installed nuclear power capacity of seven thousand four hundred and eighty megawatts which is expected to increase to twenty-two thousand four hundred and eighty megawatts by 2031.