TheRepublic.com - Nuclear weapons News

Israel says Iran unaffected by world pressure

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:59:05 -0400

JERUSALEM - Israel's prime minister says a new report by the U.N. atomic agency shows that international pressure is having no effect on halting Iran's suspect nuclear program.

Russia wary of deeper nuclear arms cuts

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:19:11 -0400

MOSCOW - Russia's top military officer on Thursday voiced skepticism about deeper nuclear arms cuts, saying they should require parallel reductions in non-nuclear precision weapons.

AF general vows to protect quality of weapons work

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:16:14 -0400

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico - The commander of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland Air Force Base says budget cuts are hitting the Albuquerque installation's staff and operations but that the safety, security and reliability of the weapons themselves won't be affected.

IAEA report: Iran expands nuclear technology

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:28:36 -0400

VIENNA - The U.N. atomic agency on Wednesday detailed rapid Iranian progress in two programs that the West fears are geared toward making nuclear weapons, saying Tehran has upgraded its uranium enrichment facilities and advanced in building a plutonium-producing reactor.

House committee passes Iran sanctions legislation

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:27:18 -0400

WASHINGTON - A new push to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions by crippling the country's economy gathered momentum on Capitol Hill Wednesday with approval of legislation by the House Foreign Affairs Committee that would impose even tougher economic sanctions against Tehran.

Seoul: Day 3 of NKorea tests of short-range weapon

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:32:45 -0400

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea continued firing short-range weapons over its own eastern waters Monday after a weekend of what it called "rocket launching tests" intended to bolster deterrence against enemy attack. South Korean officials were investigating exactly what it was that the North was testing.

SC, Ga. senators voice MOX support to White House

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:01:39 -0400

COLUMBIA, South Carolina - Republican senators from South Carolina and Georgia have called on the Obama administration to continue funding a program to turn weapons-grade plutonium into commercial nuclear reactor fuel, saying that slowing or ending the project would harm international and domestic relationships.

US envoy won't attend arms talks led by Iran

Mon, 13 May 2013 21:17:00 -0400

UNITED NATIONS - The United States said Monday it will refuse to send its ambassador to any meeting of the U.N. forum where nuclear disarmament is negotiated when it's chaired by Iran because countries under U.N. sanctions shouldn't be allowed to hold such positions.

Is there a morale crisis in the US nuclear force?

Sat, 11 May 2013 09:18:45 -0400

WASHINGTON - Beyond the Air Force's embarrassing suspension of 17 nuclear missile launch officers lie two broader questions.

NKorea nuke arsenal seen as matter of when, not if

Fri, 10 May 2013 11:06:27 -0400

SEOUL, South Korea - For 20 years, fears about North Korea's headlong pursuit of nuclear bombs have been deflected by admonishments not to overestimate an impoverished dictatorship prone to bragging and tantrums.

AP Exclusive: Commander cites 'rot' in nuke force

Wed, 08 May 2013 19:39:19 -0400

WASHINGTON - It was an attitude problem, Air Force commanders insisted, not a matter of competence. And besides, they contended, security was never at risk in spite of what one commander called "rot" in the crew force.

DOE: Breach at Tenn. nuclear plant 'unacceptable'

Wed, 08 May 2013 18:54:15 -0400

WASHINGTON - A breach in which an 82-year-old nun and two other protesters sneaked into a Tennessee nuclear weapons plant last year is "completely unacceptable" and an "important wake-up call" for the government, the head of an agency charged with safeguarding the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile said Wednesday.

SKorean leader: Nuclear-armed North unacceptable

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:03:21 -0400

WASHINGTON - South Korea's President Park Geun-hye told Congress on Wednesday that she will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea and that provocative actions by the reclusive communist country "will be met decisively."

Nations at nuclear meeting say too many on alert

Fri, 03 May 2013 13:19:32 -0400

GENEVA - More than 100 nations concluding a round of global nuclear talks Friday expressed alarm that many nuclear weapons are kept at a high-alert level and are still being modernized, despite a promise to get rid of them.

Pentagon report: NKorea moving toward nuke missile

Thu, 02 May 2013 17:33:18 -0400

WASHINGTON - North Korea "will move closer" to its announced goal of being able to strike the U.S. with a nuclear-armed missile if it keeps investing in tests of nuclear and missile technology, the Pentagon said Thursday in a report to Congress.

Egypt walks out of nuclear talks in Geneva

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 23:08:37 -0400

GENEVA - Egypt walked out of a round of global nuclear talks in protest Monday, saying other nations are not acting quickly enough to establish the Middle East as a zone free of nuclear weapons.

Israel: Iran has not crossed nuclear 'red line'

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:31:47 -0400

JERUSALEM - Israel's prime minister on Monday said that Iran is steadily edging closer to nuclear weapons capability but has not yet reached the "red line" he drew in a speech to the United Nations last fall.

Hurdles to talks high after North Korea threats

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 03:48:21 -0400

PYONGYANG, North Korea - After weeks of fiery rhetoric, military posturing and threats that it's willing to strike back hard if provoked, North Korea appears to be taking a bit of a breather. The U.S.-South Korea war games it despises are winding down, and feelers are out in diplomatic circles that it might be best to open up some avenue for dialogue. If that sounds familiar, it should - it's a pattern that has been repeated for decades.

NKorean soldiers put down arms to help plant crops

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:37:34 -0400

SASI-RI, North Korea - The North Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone is a hive of activity - not of fighting, but of farming.