US warns North Korea against nuclear 'provocation'

WASHINGTON - The United States warned Wednesday that North Korea will face ''severe consequences'' if it continues with what Washington sees as its provocative decision to restart a nuclear reactor.

Pyongyang has said it has restarted the long-mothballed Yongbyon reactor, which is capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium, and has threatened to launch a rocket which US officials see as a test-bed for ballistic missile technology.

Challenged as to whether Washington could respond credibly to the North Korean moves after earlier striking a deal to allow Iran's nuclear program to continue under international supervision, Secretary of State John Kerry insisted it could.

"There will be severe consequences as we go forward if North Korea does not refrain from its irresponsible provocations that aggravate regional concerns, make the region less safe, and if it refuses to live up to its international obligations," he said.

"Our position is clear: We will not accept a DPRK -- North Korea -- as a nuclear weapons state, just as we said that about Iran."

Asked what the United States could do if North Korea continues to flout international agreements not to expand its nuclear and missile programs, Kerry said Kim Jong-Un's regime was already experiencing growing diplomatic isolation.

"China, for instance, has taken serious steps in the last year, year-and-a-half, since we engaged China on this subject specifically to encourage them to do more, and they have," he told reporters at the State Department.

Kerry said he had also spoken to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov about North Korean defiance.

"So there's a lot happening. And I can assure you that all of these countries remain fixated on the need for North Korea to denuclearize with respect to its weapons program and to live up to its international obligations," he said.

North Korea mothballed the Yongbyon reactor in 2007 under a six-nation aid-for-disarmament accord but began renovating it after its latest nuclear test in 2013.

When fully operational the reactor is capable of producing around six kilograms (13 pounds) of plutonium a year -- enough for one nuclear bomb, experts say.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Japan switches off final nuclear reactor

TOKYO — Japan switched off its last working nuclear reactor on Saturday, leaving the country without atomic-generated electricity just over a year after the world’s worst nuclear accident in a quarter of a century.

Technicians closed down the No. 3 unit at Tomari in Hokkaido at 11:03 p.m.

Hokkaido Electric Power, which runs the plant, suspended power generation for mandatory maintenance and is scheduled to bring the reactor to cold shutdown some time on Monday, said company spokesman Hisatoshi Kibayashi.

The shuttering marks the first time since the 1970s that resource-poor and energy-hungry Japan has been without nuclear power, a technology that had provided a third of its electricity until meltdowns at Fukushima.

With the four reactors at Fukushima crippled by the natural disaster public suspicion of nuclear power grew, so much so that no reactor shut for routine safety checks has since been allowed to restart.

“A new era in Japan with no nuclear power has begun,” said Gyoshu Otsu, a 56-year-old monk who joined a protest against nuclear power in front of the industry ministry in Tokyo which supervises the nation’s power utilities.

Protest organizer Masao Kimura said: “It’s a symbolic day today. Now we can prove that we will be able to live without nuclear power.”

But Hiroomi Makino, the pro-nuclear mayor of Tomari, which hosts the reactor, said: “I would like the company to resume operation as I believe that they will give the highest priority to safety.”

As the reactor shuts down, Japan’s entire stable of 54 reactors will be offline, despite increasingly urgent calls from the power industry and bodies like the OECD, who fear dire consequences for the world’s third largest economy.

Last month, Kansai Electric Power, which supplies mid-western Japan, including the commercial hubs of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe, said a hot summer could see supply fall nearly 20% short of demand.

Kyushu Electric Power, covering an area further west, as well as Hokkaido Electric Power also said they will struggle as air conditioning gets cranked up in Japan’s sweltering summer.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s government has given the green light to restarting reactors at the Oi nuclear plant, run by Kansai Electric, but regulators still have to convince those living near the plant.

In order to be fired up again, reactors must now pass International Atomic Energy Agency-approved stress tests and get the consent of their host communities—it is this last hurdle that is proving hardest to overcome.

Goshi Hosono, state minister in charge of nuclear policy, told reporters: “Situations surrounding electric power are severe, but we can’t sacrifice safety. We want to face the reality firmly.”

Critics of nuclear power say Japan has managed thus far with its ever dwindling pool of reactors and need not look back.

Environmental campaign group Greenpeace said the country should concentrate on ramping up renewables and boosting energy efficiency.

source: japantoday.com