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.

Ambient office = 108 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 109 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 108 nanosieverts per hour

English cucumber from Central Market = 85 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 100 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 86 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient office = 115 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 99 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 96 nanosieverts per hour

Blueberry from Central Market = 97 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 113 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 100 nanosieverts per hour

Part 1 of 2 Parts
     With governments worldwide turning their heads towards nuclear energy for energy security and environmental reasons, is there investor appetite to commit to the controversial power source?
     Following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power disaster in March 2011, investment interest in clean nuclear energy fell dramatically. Forty-eight gigawatts of nuclear capacity were lost and sixty five reactors were shut down or did not have their operational lifetimes extended between 2011 and 2020.
     However, the war in Ukraine and the drive to net zero carbon emissions have caused a shift in sentiment, highlighting the need for energy security.
     The uranium spot price is a barometer for investor interest in nuclear power. Since March 2020 it has risen from twenty-four dollars and sixty-six cents per pound to seventy-one dollars and sixty-four cents as of April 2024. In addition, governments and agencies across the globe have started to recognize the power of nuclear energy in stabilizing the energy triangle and achieving real-world decarbonization.

     In 2022, the International Energy Agency (IEA) issued a report that said nuclear energy can “help make the energy sector’s journey away from unabated fossil fuels faster and more secure”, with nuclear power being “well placed to help decarbonize electricity supply”.
     In addition to this, at the end of COP28, the First Global Stocktake called for an acceleration of low-carbon technologies including nuclear energy. The big question is whether asset owners are turning their heads towards the energy source.
     Hortense Bioy is the head of sustainable investing research at Morningstar. She argues that the opinion of many investors towards nuclear has “changed” in recent years, with more asset owners interested in the asset class but appetite remains “relatively low”.
     Bioy explains that “As carbon has become the primary focus in efforts to stem climate change, a reassessment of the role of nuclear as a baseload power source—alongside more-volatile wind and solar clean energy—has led to a series of about-faces.”
     Gjermund Grimsby is the chief advisor for climate change at KLP which has seventy billion dollars of assets under management. At the Climate Investment Summit last week, he acknowledged the importance of nuclear energy going into the future but stated that governments must “develop the regulatory framework and cost efficiency” for pension funds like KLP to commit to the energy source.
     On the side-lines of London’s Climate Action Week, investors said that there will be an increase of investment in nuclear energy as we strive for a less carbon-intensive world. One professional mentioned a “renaissance” between the revival of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons escalation.
     Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) is the largest pension fund in the U.K. with one hundred and fifteen billion dollars of assets under management. It has not made any “decisions in respect of investing in new nuclear”.
     However, a spokesperson for USS said that it is “interested” in potentially committing to nuclear energy, “as long as we are satisfied that the risk-reward characteristics, including supportive economic regulation, represent financial value for USS and its members”.
    U.K. master trust Nest has fifteen billion dollars of assets under management. Nuclear energy is within its “investable universe” but it has no current plans to invest in the infrastructure, a spokesperson explained.
Please read Part 2 next