Nautilus Peace and Security Network – 9 April 2015

• DETERRENCE: U.S. unease about nuclear-weapons fuel takes aim at a South African vault
• DPRK: The future of North Korean nuclear delivery system
• GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: North Korean defectors in South Korea leave detention center misinformed, says report
• CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Urban climate change resilience in action: lessons from projects in 10 ACCCRN cities

DETERRENCE: U.S. unease about nuclear-weapons fuel takes aim at a South African vault, Douglas Birch, R. Jeffrey Smith, Washington Post (13 March 2105)

Five rocket propelled grenades hit the Super-Phenix breeder reactor in Germany in 1982. An insider bombed a reactor in South Africa in 1982. In 2007, raiders attacked Pelindaba research center which stores 215kg HEU. Drones can deliver weapons inside security perimeters. Pirates have RPGs. Insiders are the key.

• Nuclear terrorism risks in Northeast Asia: Japan’s reactor restart and spent fuel, Peter Hayes, NAPSNet Special Reports (23 March 2015) [PDF, 0.7MB]
• How a nuclear terrorist became a post-apartheid national hero, Douglas Birch, The Daily Beast (16 March 2015)
• After twenty years of silence, a former deputy admits the rocket attack against Creys-Malville, Sylvain Besson, Le Temps (August 2005)
• Insider threat to nuclear and radiological materials: fact sheet, US Department of Energy (23 March 2012)

DPRK: The future of North Korean nuclear delivery system, John Schilling and Henry Kan, US-Korea Institute at SAIS (7 April 2015)

Many in the U.S. view North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats as increasingly sophisticated – and yet still think “strategic patience” will yield positive fruit. Regional counteraction to North Korea’s threats and U.S. reaction are likely to further constrain North Korea’s international space, although such constraints are unlikely to change North Korea’s internal calculus and hence unlikely to change its external behavior. North Korea is likely watching the nuclear deal with Iran unfold, however, North Korea’s nuclear situation differ in many respects from Iran’s nuclear situation.

• Tokyo Seoul to hold bureau-level security talks for the first time since 2009, Nozomi Matsui, Asahi Shimbun (6 April 2015)
• North Korea can miniaturize a nuclear weapon, U.S. says, Anthony Capaccio, Bloomberg Business (7 April 2015)
• Iran nuclear deal: bad news for Republicans, Israel, North Korea, Donald Kirk, Forbes, Elizabeth Shim, UPI (7 April 2015)

GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: North Korean defectors in South Korea leave detention center misinformed, says report, Elizabeth Shim, UPI (24 March 2015)

A ROK newspaper reports that DPRK defectors who undergo the government’s education program are often unprepared and misinformed about economic opportunities available in the ROK. Some defectors have turned to alternative schools, which may be better tailored to their needs but leave students struggling once they enter the university system. Korea University will host a training program seeking to help defectors start their own businesses.

• South Korea: Defectors from North struggle with debt, BBC (16 March 2015)
• Korean defectors turn to alternative schools, Chosun Ilbo (6 April 2015)
• Korea University to help N. Korean defectors adapt to South, Chosun Ilbo (6 April 2015)

CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Urban climate change resilience in action: lessons from projects in 10 ACCCRN cities – insights from the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network, Fern Uennatornwaranggoon et al., Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network, Rockefeller Foundation (January 2015) [6.30 MB, PDF]

Identifying and advancing effective and appropriate urban climate change resilience (UCCR) interventions are generally contingent on conducting a city-wide resilience assessment and strategy, coordinated across multiple sectors and scales, especially given the complex and interdependent nature of key urban systems. Good UCCR interventions can help a city address immediate challenges, as well as build its capacity to tackle future problems in more innovative and sustainable ways.

• City resilience framework-100 resilient cities, Rockefeller Foundation (November 2014)
• How to build a resilient city: the city resilience framework, Nancy Kete, Rockefeller Foundation and ARUP (September 2014) [6.21 MB, PDF]