Korea to Build Nuke
Fuel Storage Facility
The Chosun Ilbo.
9/3/12
The government has
decided to build an intermediate
storage facility for spent nuclear fuel by 2024 as hopes fade of
persuading the U.S. to let Korea reprocess its own spent fuel rods.
Currently, spent nuclear fuel is stored in
temporary storage facilities in nuclear power plants, but the government
decided to build an intermediate facility since they will reach saturation by
2016.
Korea is building an
interim disposal facility for low-level nuclear waste in Gyeongju, North
Gyeongsang Province, but has no plans for high-level nuclear waste for fear of
resistance from local residents. It will be equally difficult to find a site
for the new storage facility, which is for high-level nuclear waste.
A committee discussing
the matter sent a proposal to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy late last month
saying the facility should be ready no later than 2024.
The committee was
launched by the government last November to tackle the spent nuclear fuel
that keeps accumulating while an old
agreement with the U.S. prevents Korea from reprocessing it.
Korea world’s
5th-largest arms exporter
The Korea Herald.
9/3/12
South Korea was rated
the world’s fifth-largest conventional arms exporter in 2011 with transfer
agreements worth $1.5 billion, according to a report released last week by the
Congressional Research Service of the U.S.
Between 2004 and 2011,
the nation ranked 10th in the world in arms sales with $9.2 billion. It was the
eighth-largest importer with $7.3 billion.
The U.S. continued to
dominate the global market topping the list with $66.3 billion in weapons
transfer agreements or a 77.7 percent market share.
Developing nations
continued to be the primary focus of foreign arms sales activity by weapons
suppliers. During the years 2004-2011, the value of arms transfer agreements
with those nations comprised 68.6 percent of all such agreements worldwide.
