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NEWS ABOUT: plutonium

Despite Fuel Rods, Iran Is No Closer to Bomb

Announcement likely a posturing technique

(Newser) - If you were freaking out about Iran’s recent announcement that it had developed nuclear fuel rods , relax: Tehran probably isn’t any closer to a nuclear weapon than it was before, experts tell Reuters . While spent plutonium fuel rods can be used to make bombs, the West’s concern... More »

Explosion Rocks Nuclear Waste Site in France

At least one dead, three injured

(Newser) - An explosion hit the Marcoule nuclear plant in southern France today, killing at least one person and injuring three others, the BBC reports. The site handles nuclear waste and recycles plutonium from nuclear weapons into MOX fuel, but does not include any reactors. The explosion occurred near a furnace, but... More »

Japanese PM: We're on 'Maximum Alert'

But experts say fear over plutonium in soil may be overblown

(Newser) - With fears escalating over the plutonium leaking into the soil around the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, Japanese officials sounded a cautious note today, with Prime Minister Naoto Kan telling lawmakers that the government would “tackle the problem while in a state of maximum alert,” according to the Economic Times... More »

Plutonium Seeping from Fukushima

Traces of highly toxic substance found outside plant

(AP) - Highly toxic plutonium is seeping from the damaged nuclear power plant in Japan's tsunami disaster zone into the soil outside, officials said Tuesday, heightening concerns about the expanding spread of radiation. Plutonium was detected at several spots outside the Fukushima plant—the first confirmed presence of the dangerously radioactive substance,... More »

Ahmadinejad Ramps Up Iran's Plutonium Production

About-face from last week's willingness to cooperate with UN plan

(AP) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered his country's atomic agency today to begin the production of higher enriched uranium, in a move that's likely to deepen international skepticism about Iran's real nuclear intentions. On state television, Ahmadinejad said: "God willing, 20% enrichment will start" to meet Iran's needs. The comments fly in... More »

North Korea Will 'Weaponize' All Plutonium Stocks

(Newser) - North Korea has for the first time openly confirmed that it is seeking to enrich uranium for the development of nuclear weapons, the BBC reports. The state news agency today announced that the nation plans to “weaponize” its plutonium stocks, and will consider any “blockade” attempts by the... More »

New Reactors Could Boost Pakistan's Nuclear Arsenal

US hasn't fought massive project amid national turmoil

(Newser) - Pakistan is building two of the largest plutonium-producing reactors in the developing world—facilities that experts say could bolster the nuclear arsenal of a country fraught with turmoil. The US hasn’t publicly condemned the project, MSNBC reports, even though it makes Pakistan “the only country rapidly building up... More »

N Korea Relaunches Nuke Plant

Country makes disclosure hours after UN sanctions announced

(Newser) - North Korea has begun harvesting weapons-grade plutonium from its spent nuclear fuel rods, the BBC reports. The official announcement comes on the heels of UN sanctions against three North Korean companies accused of helping the country with its long-range rocket launch earlier this month. Pyongyang called the sanctions—which freeze... More »

Wanted: Small Amounts of Plutonium

US agency ferrets out unused radioactive sources

(Newser) - The country is crawling with unused radioactive material, and it’s up to the little-known National Nuclear Security Administration to dispose of it, the Los Angeles Times reports. They're not after warheads, but small amounts of plutonium used in medical and technological pursuits in more than 130 countries, as even... More »

North Korea Threatens to 'Shatter' South

Pyongyang claims to have plutonium for 4 nuclear bombs

(Newser) - North Korea threatened to “shatter” South Korea today as reports surfaced that Pyongyang may have enough plutonium stocks to produce at least four nuclear bombs, the Guardian reports. The North said rising hostilities with Seoul compelled it to take “an all-out confrontational posture” over a disputed maritime border... More »

North Korea Threatens to Sever Ties With South

Calls South Korean government 'traitors'

(Newser) - North Korea is threatening to sever ties with South Korea in a war of words that has plunged relations between the partitioned neighbors to a new low, Reuters reports. North Korean officials are upset about hardline policies of South Korea's conservative government.  "If the traitors keep to the... More »

US May Yank N. Korea Off Terror List

Strategy to restart nuclear diplomacy

(Newser) - The US is expected to provisionally remove North Korea from the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism, possibly as early as today, reports the Washington Post. It may be the Bush administration's last "carrot" to offer as diplomatic efforts to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear... More »

N. Korea Restarts Nuke Program

Pyongyang tells IAEA to remove seals from processing plant

(AP) - North Korea plans to reactivate its nuclear program and will start reinserting plutonium-producing nuclear material within a week, reports the AP. Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, said that his inspectors removed all agency seals and surveillance equipment from the country's main nuclear facility.... More »

N. Korea Blows Up Nuclear Tower

Move both symbolic and practical, since tower would take year to rebuild

(Newser) - North Korea demolished the biggest symbol of its nuclear program today, destroying the water tower of its Yongbyon plutonium facility, which had been used to extract plutonium to build nuclear weapons until it was decommissioned last year. But the huge implosion wasn’t just symbolic—the tower would take at... More »

North Korea Hands Over Nuclear Data

White House moves to remove Pyongyang from 'axis of evil'

(Newser) - The North Korean regime has submitted a long-awaited rundown of its nuclear program to China, 6 months after its due date. The report is expected to detail the nation's plutonium enrichment efforts, but will probably leave out details of its nuclear arsenal, reports the BBC. The White House responded by... More »

North Korea Still Balking Over Nuke Shutdown

Action slow until aid comes through: officials

(Newser) - North Korea is still dragging its feet in disabling its nuclear program, Reuters reports. The slowdown, which began last week, is due to delays in delivery of energy aid promised to North Korea as part of a deal reached earlier this year, authorities said. "We have no choice but... More »

Russia Gives Iran Nuclear Fuel

Says Tehran has promised not to develop weaponry

(Newser) - Russia delivered nuclear material to Iran yesterday, the BBC reports, ignoring Washington’s protests. Russia says it has assurances that the plutonium will only be used for the nuclear power plant in Bushehr, which is being built by a Russian company, but the US says that spent uranium could be... More »

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