Bloomberg (March 11)
“It’s been five years since the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl shook Fukushima. Roads have been rebuilt and electricity has been restored. But life has still not returned to normal for many of the prefecture’s residents.”
Wall Street Journal (March 9)
Five years have passed since the nuclear meltdown, but “Fukushima still rattles Japan.” The nation must debate the controversial “reopening of reactors” that have largely been shuttered since the accident, even as “costly cleanup and decommissioning” are scheduled to continue for decades at Fukushima.
Tags: Cleanup, Controversial, Decommissioning, Fukushima, Japan, Meltdown, Nuclear, Reactors, Reopening, Shuttered
Wall Street Journal (February 16)
“North Korea’s recent nuclear and missile tests are driving some welcome changes in South Korean strategy.” Namely, Seoul will install a U.S. built missile defense system and close the Kaesong industrial zone. Ending the denial that allowed the Sunshine policy to limp along is essential. “Burying the Sunshine Policy requires a willingness to confront Pyongyang’s horrors—and removing its nuclear threat requires burying the Sunshine Policy.”
Tags: Defense system, Denial, Kaesong, Missile test, North Korea, Nuclear, Pyongyang, South Korea, Sunshine policy, U.S.
Washington Post (November 25)
The Iran nuclear talks have been extended, which may prove a good thing. The talks resemble “a labor negotiation in which it’s too costly for workers to go on strike or for management to impose a lockout, so the two sides continue without a contract while negotiations proceed.” Whether this will ultimately lead to success, however, will largely depend on whether Iran decides to be a nation or a cause, pragmatic or zealous.
Bloomberg (August 28)
With all of Japan’s nuclear plants off line, many now expect the first restart won’t occur until 2015. “Delays are prompting a reassessment of Japan’s nuclear outlook. JPMorgan cut its forecast in a July 28 report to 31 reactors to restart by 2019, down from 42. Two-thirds of Japan’s pre-accident fleet may never resume due to damage, seismic conditions that don’t meet NRA guidelines and local opposition.”
Tags: Damage, Japan, NRA, Nuclear, Opposition, Outlook, Reactors, Restart, Seismic conditions
The Economist (February 9)
“Even as another nuclear provocation looms, hope glimmers for the world’s most oppressed people…. a revolutionary force is rising from below: a new class of traders and merchants. Capitalism is seeping through the bamboo curtain.” The North Korean state has repeatedly tried and failed to stamp out this developing class. “North Korea’s capitalists are here to stay” and they are creating cracks from within and deserve the world’s support. “Nothing is more potent than exposing people to the prosperity and freedoms of the world around them.”
Tags: Capitalism, Freedom, Merchants, North Korean, Nuclear, Prosperity, Traders
Los Angeles Times (December 18)
“North Korea’s first successful rocket launch is a truly dangerous development. Although the North Koreans have previously detonated two nuclear devices, until now they have not demonstrated any ability to deliver them…. We can no longer afford to ignore North Korea.”
Tags: Dangerous, Launch, North Korea, Nuclear, Rocket
New York Times (May 20)
“The major powers have imposed increasingly strong sanctions aimed at Iran’s banks and oil trade. It is crucial to maintain that cohesion as a second round of negotiations opens this week in Baghdad.” The Iranians want the sanctions to end. This would be premature. “If Iran makes credible gestures, sanctions should be eased, but not significantly until it takes irreversible steps to roll back its nuclear activities.”
Wall Street Journal (April 23)
Delhi is smart not to “trust” Beijing or simply “rely” on Washington. “India’s successful test of an Agni-V long-range, nuclear-capable missile shows the shrewdness of the world’s largest democracy. Delhi has looked past smokescreens from Beijing and Washington to judge hard realities.”
Washington Post (January 11, 2012)
Iran has been acting up in numerous ways. This could be a smoke screen. By year end, Iran may have enough bomb-grade material to rapidly produce the core of a nuclear bomb. “Every effort must be made to intensify sanctions — and in particular to stop…Iranian sales of oil everywhere in the world.”
