TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet on Thursday approved Japan’s biggest annual defense budget in the face of North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats and a territorial row with China. The Cabinet approved 5.13 trillion yen ($43.6 billion) in defense spending for the fiscal year starting in April, up 1.4 percent from the initial budget for the current fiscal year. It marks the fifth straight annual increase and reflects the hawkish Abe’s […]
Tag: Nuclear
Japan switches on nuclear reactor after safety shutdown
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan has restarted one of its few operating nuclear reactors after a two-month safety checkup, despite still-heated debate over atomic power following the Fukushima disaster. The unit was shut down in October for inspections and maintenance under stricter rules brought in after a quake-sparked tsunami swamped the Fukushima plant in 2011, sending some reactors into meltdown and causing the worst nuclear disaster in a generation. Utility Kyushu Electric said it switched […]
Swiss to vote on faster nuclear phaseout
by Nina LARSON GENEVA , Switzerland (AFP) — Swiss voters will head to the polls on Sunday to decide whether or not to speed up the process of phasing out the country’s nuclear power plants. Switzerland has already vowed to do so but a “yes” vote would force three of its five reactors to close next year. Just a few months after Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant was wrecked in the March 2011 tsunami disaster, Switzerland […]
No legal reason US could not walk away from Iran deal: official
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Iran nuclear deal would fall apart if a US administration walked away from it, as President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to do, the State Department said Thursday. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani had argued on Wednesday that the deal — which saw world powers lift sanctions on Tehran in return for controls on its nuclear program — has been enshrined in international law. The outgoing US administration is proud of […]
N. Korea missile exploded shortly after lift-off: Seoul
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — An explosion almost immediately after launch was behind the failure of North Korea’s latest test-firing of a powerful medium-range missile, the South Korean military confirmed Monday. North Korea tested a Musudan missile — capable of hitting US bases as far away as Guam — shortly after midday Saturday near an air base in the northwestern city of Kusong. Such launches are usually reported within a few hours or even minutes […]
Should we activate the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant?
QUEZON City, Philippines (September 27) – The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant is an atomic power plant, finished yet never energized. It is located on the Bataan Peninsula, 100 kilometers west of Manila. It is situated on a 3.57 square kilometer government reservation at Napot Point in Morong, Bataan. It was the Philippines’ lone endeavor at building an atomic power plant. The Philippine Atomic Project began in 1958 with the founding of the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission or PAEC […]
Japan PM demands world find ‘new means’ to stop N. Korea
by Shaun TANDON UNITED NATION, United States (AFP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday demanded that the world find a new way to halt the threat from North Korea after the long-sanctioned regime’s nuclear and missile tests. Abe, addressing the UN General Assembly, said that calculations about North Korea needed to change after its latest actions including the state’s test of what it said was a miniaturized nuclear bomb for a warhead. “There […]
China, North Korea envoys hold talks in Laos
VIENTIANE, Laos (AFP) — Top envoys from China and North Korea held talks on Monday on the sidelines of a regional summit in Laos as tensions run high on the Korean peninsula over Pyongyang’s nuclear program. North Korea’s newly minted Foreign Minister Ri Yong-Ho, a former nuclear negotiator for the hermit state, and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi met in the capital Vientiane. It is the first time Ri has attended a major diplomatic gathering […]
Think Tank: Images show possible preparations for NOKOR nuclear test
(REUTERS) A U.S. think tank said on Friday that commercial satellite images it had obtained of North Korea’s nuclear test site taken on May 5 showed that the country may be preparing to carry out a nuclear test in the near future. The 38 North website, run by Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, said the images showed vehicle movement at the site “not often seen there except during preparations for a […]
U.S. warns of ‘other’ options if North Korea continues nuclear, missile tests
(Reuters) The United States warned on Tuesday it would consider “other” options, which could include new sanctions or security steps, if North Korea continued nuclear and ballistic missile testing.South Korea’s Yonhap news agency earlier said North Korea appeared to be preparing a test-launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile, after what the United States described as the “fiery, catastrophic” failure of a launch attempt this month. It is widely expected to conduct a fifth nuclear test […]
Japanese court rules against nuclear operator in suicide suit
(Reuters) – The operator of Japanese nuclear reactors that melted down in 2011 is responsible for the suicide of a woman who became depressed after the accident and it must pay $472,000 in compensation, a court ruled on Tuesday. The surprise ruling could set a precedent for more claims for compensation in connection with the triple nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant north of Tokyo, which forced more than 150,000 people from their […]
Japan ruling party candidate elected Tokyo governor, aiding PM Abe
(Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s favored candidate won Sunday’s election for governor of Tokyo, quashing efforts to make the vote a referendum on Abe’s pro-nuclear energy policy nearly three years after the Fukushima disaster The widely-expected victory by former health minister Yoichi Masuzoe comes as a relief for Abe, who had suffered a rare setback in another local election last month. The 65-year-old Masuzoe, backed by Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party, was the winner […]





