NAPSNet 26 May 2011

1. DPRK: N. Korea pushes generational change in parliament
2. GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: China-North Korea economic cooperation expected to pick up steam
3. ENERGY SECURITY: Future regional nuclear fuel cycle cooperation in East Asia
4. DETERRENCE: The nuclear weapons complex as deterrent: challenges and issues
5. AUSTRAL SECURITY: Malaysia’s carelessness over WMD
6. CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Vulnerability to heatwaves and drought

DPRK: N. Korea pushes generational change in parliament, Chosun Ilbo (18 May 2011)

The North Korean Supreme People’s Assembly has reportedly started a generational shift in its membership. The Worker’s Party has ordered older members to retire from the SPA for health reasons. The current average age of a SPA member is 57. They will be replaced with members in their twenties and thirties.  The DPRK reportedly also lowered the education requirements for these new members and is attempting to include more women in the SPA.

• Seoul tightens rules on cash flow to North Korea, Korean Herald (23 May 2011)
• North Korean nuclear nationalism and the threat of nuclear war in Korea, Nautilus Institute (21 April 2011)

GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: China-North Korea economic cooperation expected to pick up steam, Asahi Shimbun (25 May 2011)

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said that the invitation to Kim Jong Il is to show how reform and more open policies can lead to economic development. The reported burial of Agent Orange by US army angered South Korean and may trigger another debate about SOFA. Mr. Son, CEO of Soft Bank is reported to build around 10 large solar power plants across Japan.

• S. Korean investigation team to probe alleged burial of Agent Orange, Xinhua (23 May 2011)

•  Masayoshi Son’s way of taking corporate social responsibility, Kyunghyang Shinmun (23 May 2011)

ENERGY SECURITY: Future regional nuclear fuel cycle cooperation in East Asia: energy security costs and benefits, Energy Policy* (23 May 2011)

In an article prepared for the forthcoming Asian Energy Security Special Issue of Energy Policy, David von Hippel and Peter Hayes summarize the development and analysis of four scenarios of nuclear fuel cycle management in East Asia.  A scenario in which reprocessing is avoided in favor of dry cask storage of spent fuel resulted in somewhat more uranium use, but offered lower costs and other energy security benefits relative to the other cases.

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• Mongolia might store foreign spent nuclear fuel, senior U.S. official says, Global Security Newswire (30 March 2011)
• The future of the nuclear fuel cycle, MIT (April 2011) [PDF, 2.61MB]
• Future regional nuclear fuel cycle cooperation in East Asia: energy security costs and benefits, Nautilus Institute (6 June 2010) [PDF, 2.45MB]

DETERRENCE:  The nuclear weapons complex as deterrent: challenges and issues, Nuclear Weapons Journal (2010) [PDF, 2.25MB]*

Joseph Martz writes that the “ability to reconstitute nuclear weapons as a safer form of deterrence” by maintaining a nuclear weapons complex may “preserve a strategic deterrent to aggression while enabling reductions in nuclear weapon stockpiles” and support a long-term “Global Zero” vision. Until then, a virtual arsenal can help reduce deployed or reserve forces, retain a geopolitical hedge, dissuade nuclear competitors, and reassure allies.

• Nuclear deterrence: past, present, and future, Stanford University (4 May 2010)
• Weapons reconstitution: virtual arsenals and surge capabilities, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (2009)
• Life after the RRW & Virtual Swords, Arms Control Wonk (28 December 2007)

AUSTRAL SECURITY: Malaysia’s carelessness over WMD, Asian Sentinel (6 April 2011)

The recent confiscation by Malaysian port authorities of ‘cargo suspected of being related to weapons of mass destruction’ has again raised questions over the country’s non-proliferation strategy. Despite introducing the Strategic Trade Act in 2010, which seeks ‘to codify Malaysian obligations under Security Council Resolution 1540’, the country’s efforts to implement these regulations and tighten export controls have been criticised for being weak and insufficient.

• Regional responses to extra-territoriality and non-state nuclear actors, Nautilus Institute (5 April 2011) [PDF, 237 KB]
• Extra-territorial jurisdiction in the context of counter nuclear terrorism, China’s perspective, Nautilus Institute (5 April 2011) [PDF, 55.7KB]
• UNSCR 1540 and Taiwan, Nautilus Institute (4 April 2011) [PDF, 1.25MB]

CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Vulnerability to heatwaves and drought: case studies of adaptation to climate change in south-west England, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (February 2011) [1.44 MB, PDF]

Magnus Benzie et al. introduce the concept of vulnerability to climate change within the context of social justice. They examine two case studies of adaptation in the south-west of England: the implementation of the national heatwave plan; and the trend towards differential water pricing based on usage. Magnus Benzie et al. highlight the need for a more systematic consideration of current and future vulnerabilities in local, sectoral and national adaptation planning.

• Heatwave plan for England: protecting health and reducing harm from extreme heat and heatwaves, UK Department of Health (2010)
• The independent review of charging for household water and sewerage services, UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs-Defra (2009)

Editor

• Arabella Imhoff

Contributors

• Deterrence: Peter Hayes
• Governance and Civil Society: Yi Kiho
• Climate Change Adaptation: Saleem Janjua
• DPRK: Scott Bruce
• Energy Security: David von Hippel
• Austral Security: Arabella Imhoff