NAPSNet 28 April 2011

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"NAPSNet 28 April 2011", NAPSNet Weekly Report, April 28, 2011, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-weekly/napsnet-28-april-2011/

NAPSNet 28 April 2011

  1. DETERRENCE:  Tracking nuclear capable individuals
  2. AUSTRAL SECURITY: U.S.-Australia civilian nuclear cooperation: issues for congress
  3. ENERGY SECURITY: The world nuclear industry status report 2010–2011
  4. GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: President Son of Soft Bank donates 1 billion yen to establish the foundation for denuclearization
  5. DPRK: Inter-Korean coal mine projects suspended during Lee administration
  6. CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Risk and resilience in three Southeast Asian cross-boarder areas

1. DETERRENCE:  Tracking nuclear capable individuals, André Buys, NAPSNet Special Report, Nautilus Institute, 2011-04-19, [PDF, 1.63MB]

Buys asks if and how nuclear weapons-capable personnel might be tracked in the course of global nuclear disarmament? He draws on his case study of the fate of the South African nuclear weapons workforce to advance the idea of a global registry of such individuals and organizations, a practice already in place for defense exporters in some countries.

2. AUSTRAL SECURITY: U.S.-Australia civilian nuclear cooperation: issues for congress, Mary Beth Nikitin and Bruce Vaughn, Report for Congress, Congressional Research Service, 2010-12-01 [PDF, 73KB]

On December 2, 1010 a new US-Australia Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement entered into force, replacing the agreement in force from July 5, 1979. ‘The agreement permits the export, subject to licensing, of information, material, equipment, and components for nuclear research and nuclear power production. The agreement does not permit transfer of restricted data, sensitive nuclear facilities, or major critical components of those facilities.’

3. ENERGY SECURITY: The world nuclear industry status report 2010–2011: nuclear power in a post-Fukushima world, 25 years after the Chernobyl accident, Mycle Schneider,  Antony Froggatt, and Steve Thomas, Draft Report, Worldwatch Institute, 2011-04

This report on the status of the nuclear industry worldwide, including the economic performance of past and current nuclear projects, notes that even prior to the Fukushima reactor accident in Japan, the world nuclear industry has been in slow decline as existing reactors age and few new reactors are built.  Starting in 2010 the global combined capacity of wind, biomass and waste-to-energy, and solar power plants exceeded global nuclear capacity.

4. GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: President Son of Soft Bank donates 1 billion yen to establish the foundation for denuclearization, Asahi, 2011-04-20 [Japanese language]

Fear of radiation risks are affecting the region around Fukushima in many ways. The founder of Soft Bank, who has already donated 10B yen for the victims of disaster in Fukushima, stated that he will donate another 1B yen to launch a Nature Energy Foundation. On another front, health fears are causing some Japanese to shun nuclear evacuees. When, after a power cut in Korea’s NPP Gori #1 a few days ago there occurred problems in the aging Gori #4, the media focused on public safety.

5. DPRK: Inter-Korean coal mine projects suspended during Lee administration, Kim Kyung-rok, Hanyoreh, 2011-25-04

Kim Shin-jong, President of the Korea Resources Corporation (KORES), expressed concern over the implications of the ROK’s policy toward the DPRK on ten inter-Korean mining projects. After investing significant time and money into these projects KORES and private investors do not know the current status of these projects. KORES and other groups are concerned that North Korea’s minerals are being exported overseas and to China while inter-Korean relations continue to worsen.

6. CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Risk and resilience in three Southeast Asian cross-boarder areas: The Greater Mekong Subregion, the Heart of Borneo and the Coral Triangle, Fitrian Ardiansyah and Desak Putu Adhityani Putri, Asia Security Initiative Policy Series: Working Paper No. 11, Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, Singapore, February 2011 [PDF, 745 KB]

Climate change is increasingly framed as a security threat since its impacts are projected to affect entire economies, redraw maps and reshape coastal territories, as well as erode ecosystems. This paper investigates the security impacts of climate change in three Southeast Asian cross-border areas: the Greater Mekong Subregion; the Heart of Borneo; and the Coral Triangle. It evaluates regional agreements and actions in each of the three areas with an emphasis on the mainstreaming of climate adaptation and mitigation in the development agenda.

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