Report: N. Korea takes nuclear step(krypton 85 detected!)

NBC Nightly News via MSNBC ^ | 07/11/03 | Jim Miklaszewski

[TigerLikesRooster]

Report: N. Korea takes nuclear step

U.S. intelligence: Evidence suggests Pyongyang is reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods

July 11 — Air samples collected near North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear facility contain the first physical evidence that North Korea has begun reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods. NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski reports.

July 11 — North Korea has begun to reprocess spent nuclear fuel rods — a critical step to produce more nuclear weapons — an intelligence report delivered to the White House on Thursday suggests, NBC News has learned.

U.S. GOVERNMENT officials tell NBC News that air samples collected from the vicinity of North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear facility and tested this week, contained traces of krypton 85 — a byproduct of reprocessing nuclear fuel rods to produce weapons-grade plutonium. It is the first physical evidence that North Korea has begun the reprocessing.

[TigerLikesRooster]

I think that this means they crossed the red line!

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[backhoe]

-The Atomic Genie- what we know about North Korea's Nuclear program--

[kcordell]

krypton 85 detected!

Someone better warn Superman.

[Quick Shot]

Jimmy, Quick tell Miss Lane.... She has a thing for "Super Men."

Come to thinkg about it don't you too, Jimmy

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[AmericanInTokyo]

I think that this means they crossed the red line!

Hai! Aka sen wo honkakuteki ni, koemashita!

[AmericanInTokyo]

...in other words: yes.

[judicial meanz]

I think that this means they crossed the red line

I look for this to explode in about 3-9 months. Recent news accounts show: Australia just announced they would go to war (if need be) with NK over their Nuclear Proliferation. South Korea just announced NK had conducted tests of their nuclear weapons(not full blown detonaton tests, but conventional explosives tests on the shell of the weapon). 11 Nations just announced their intention to " quarantine" NK to prevent proliferation. US Intel sources just stated NK ( along with China) has been working to help Iran acieve nuclear weapons.

Its coming

[cdrw]

I think you're right. Furthermore I think that the US must eventually conduct a direct attack on a nuclear power such as NK. We can no longer afford to allow countries to hide behind the nuclear deterrent if they're all going to have it. It has become clear that nuclear technology is available and proliferating to the point where every tin-pot-dictator on the earth is going to wind up with the stuff one way or the other. Our mortal enemies will help them along the way. There appear to be new arms races developing in the Middle East, Far East and sooner or later the African thugs will join the game too.

The public will never be behind it. The world community will never be behind it. But if we allow tactical nuclear powers to become strategic (ICBM's with huge warheads) nuclear powers then we are doomed to live under the extortion and tyranny of those who are sworn to our destruction. The Soviets and the Chinese at least had the chivalry not to conduct covert attacks, a.k.a terrorist activity, directly on American soil. We can no longer be confident that our enemies will be so restrained. The Islamic nazi's would be perfectly content to turn the globe into another Beirut and then let Allah sort it all out.

We must put an end to this concept that possession of nuclear weapons gives a country free reign and immunity from "prosecution". Only this will remove the incentive to obtain these weapons. The idiotic Kim Jong Il's of the world think they can deter us just like the Soviets and Chinese simply by having nukes. Deter us from what? They are building defensive bases from which to conduct covert attacks against us. I believe that use of nukes against the US is inevitable at this point. We will not avoid being attacked by watching idly as nuclear technology proliferates. The longer we wait the worse its going to get.

[AmericanInTokyo]

It is probably on the fast track. My prediction last summer was that by this summer the DPRK would be churning out one nuke a month. I may be off by 2-3 months and this capability will transpire from the Fall. Howevever, at any rate, by this Fall North Korea will most likely be chortling out 1 nuke per month in production (unacceptable), and we will WELL be over the famed ***RED LINE*** by that time.

Notice all the U.S. Democrats who were very visible on North Korea in Dec., Jan., Feb., March are now mysteriously SILENT?

Cabinet Minister Abe in Tokyo today said they had NOT gone over the Red Line...but this is clearly diplo-speak and they are nervously trying to buy time and coordinate and get their ducks in a line.

[happygrl]

The air samples, normally collected by surveillance planes, were gathered in a new top-secret procedure that U.S. officials refused to reveal.

~sNip~ TINY WARHEAD?

U.S. intelligence reports show North Korea has also been conducting rigorous tests with conventional explosives, apparently testing designs for a new variety of nuclear warheads. And it’s feared North Korea may have obtained designs from Pakistan for a new nuclear warhead small enough to fit in a foot locker.

“It could fit in any kind of container that could easily be smuggled into the United States,” Cirincione said.

The Bush administration was already considering aggressive new economic sanctions and partial naval blockades against North Korea — plans which may now have to be accelerated.

[happygrl]

Great commentary!

[AmericanInTokyo]

My guess is that some kind of high speed predator type drone, able to somehow escape their AD network, passed over the site(s) in question and encountered/retrieved the airsamples with an adhesive, or some intake and capture chamber, and then turned and came back out to the Yellow Sea for recovery. Very fascinating. Or, it may be disinformation (on the methodology of recovery of the Krypton at least) and the US used a human source on the ground from the ranks of its services or perhaps South Korea's NIS, or elements of the NIS, or whatever.

[cdrw]

Thanks - and BTW I DO NOT think we should use nukes in our attacks. We don't need them and we would simply advance the cause of our proliferating enemies.

[palmer]

They crossed it in 1989, see http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/gao/nsi97008.htm. I don't think replacing the IAEA with a policy based on long range bombing is a useful solution. It might work once or twice but it won't have nearly the long term success that the IAEA has had despite the failures in NK.

[Former Proud Canadian]

Well put. I don't know what the answer is but I can foresee US military action against North Korea AND Iran to stop their nuclear programs. If the US doesn't act against Iran, Israel might do so on its own.

Paranoia and nuclear arms (see hussein in Iraq, the Iranian mullahs, the Jongs in North Korea) are a deadly mix, for us.

[backhoe]

Thanks for the info... I happened to agree with cdrw's commentary in 10... I have a little, rather dated info on:

Tiny Nukes-- the backpack threat

[happygrl]

I DO NOT think we should use nukes in our attacks.

Thanks for clarifying that. We don't need the fallout (sorry about the pun).

[adam_az]

This sounds eries!

[adam_az]

Can you point to these supposed IAEA "successes?"

[njmaugbill]

Was it Red Krypton, or Green Krypton?

Superman will need to know.

[b4its2late]

Commence with bombing runs! Knock 'em out b4its2late!

[Amelia]

Thanks so much for the ping.
This is worrisome (to say the least).

[palmer]

Algeria, Argentina, Belarus, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Romania, South Africa, Ukraine. See http://www.ceip.org/files/publications/TrackingOverviewTable.asp?p=8&from=pubdate

I admit IAEA is far from perfect, but it is a verifiable yet inexpensive way to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of a large number of smaller countries.

[jerseygirl]

megabump...

[RightWhale]

When the intervention occurred in Iraq, the libs said 'why not N Kor?' Perhaps they thought intervention in N Kor was absurd, impossible, and they were safe to demand such intervention to distract us from Iraq. But, of course, intervention in N Kor is possible, doubly so since N Kor has rolled out the red carpet. One word from China, and it shall be so.

[RightWhale]

We don't need the fallout

Yes, nuclear war is susceptible to ethical analysis.

[DannyTN]

[Southack]

One thing to keep in mind is that Iran has a cargo ship docked near Pyongyang right now, and it is Iran that has just tested a missile that has the range to hit Israel.

Since Iran's nuclear reactors aren't up to speed yet, they have to rely upon proxies to accelerate their own WMD programs at the moment.

[fiftymegaton]

I am thinking maybe a much smaller drone with a range of maybe only a few miles. Set up a couple miles away send it in when it's dark....but this would mean we'd need men on the ground. This is MHO and I am just speculating.

[CaptIsaacDavis]

The first RED LINE was crossed in 1983, when we reportedly learned that the Soviets were helping them developing the expertise to build a nuclear weapon. The second RED LINE was crossed in 1984 when the Soviets signed a reactor deal with the North Koreans. The 3rd RED LINE was crossed when we learned under President Bush (1) that the North was reprocessing and possibly buying weapons-grade materials from Soviet republics as the regime collapsed. The 4th RED LINE was crossed when Pres. Clinton was advised that yes, indeed, the communist terrorist madmen of the DPRK had acquired a working prototype and sufficient weapons grade material. The 5th RED LINE was crossed when the North Koreans admitted last year, while were planning to go after Iraq, to a U.S. diplomat that they had nuclear weapons and would break out to acquire many more.

President Reagan can be excused for not going to war, because he had an Evil Empire to destroy first. President Bush (1) can be excused, because he had a Middle East war to deal with. President Clinton cannot be excused, but his weakness is somewhat understandable in that his relevant character flaw was cut from the same cloth as President Carter (who went on tv to proclaim that he was lied to and did not really understand the Soviets, after they had invaded Afghanistan on his watch). OUR President Bush CANNOT BE FORGIVEN for letting the North Koreans get this far on his watch. He knew they were breaking out -- he declared WAR on them, rhetorically anyway, in the State of the Union address in Jan. 2001, by including them in the Axis of Evil. Did he really believe that they would not react and that it would be "situation normal" until HE was ready to act? If so, such hubris! And YET, the President and his advisors made the strategic choice to go after the least threatening of the Axis first, instead of the most -- and thus grant the lunatics in Pyongyang a 12 month breathing space. For Heaven's sake! Can you imagine what Churchill would have done if he knew Hitler was developing a nuclear arsenal. No question -- the invasion of Germany starts immediately, whatever the cost. Now can you imagine what Chamberlain would have done? President Bush is neither, but rather a composite of both -- a little bit Churchillian by flexing the rhetorical muscle and advocating military strategies that focus on sideshows (the choice of Iraq before Korea is like Churchill's advocacy of the Balkans before France -- both violate Clausewitz's dictum to go after the center of the enemy's will and capabilities to wage war first), and a little bit Chamberlain-like for putting his head in the sand and allowing other nations and personal interests to drive a flawed strategic decision-making process. NOW...we wait, to see how long it takes for this WH to get a grip on this crisis -- and end it.

[CaptIsaacDavis]

By the way -- NORTH KOREA IS THE REASON WHY THE LIES AND DECEPTION ON THE NUCLEAR ISSUE OVER IRAQ REPRESENT A TRAGIC BETRAYAL OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. One of the keys to understanding the deceptions of certain intel and administration staff on this issue is to go back to the period Oct.2001-Sep. 2002 and realize that there was a vigorous debate within the administration over whether to go after Iraq or North Korea once the Afghan operation was finished. Hyping the Iraq threat was not merely a failed propaganda exercise -- it was part of the internal struggle to define strategic priorities. Some of those hyping the threat were trying to promote an Iraq first and "heavy" (occupation) strategy (vs. an Afghan-style proxy war approach using the Kurds) -- to the benefit of those who wanted to "restructure" our bases and strategic position in the Gulf. American interests would have dictated a Korea first strategy, with possibly an Afghan-style proxy war strategy in Iraq -- to PREEMPT, as the President's own military doctrine required, the North's nuclear breakout.

RED LINE, yes...This is already WAY beyond the line the President himself declared in his campaign speech promoting the need to act PREEMPTIVELY.

By the way, when you read that the intel people expected the Iraqi military to fold quickly, and were surprised by the level of resistance by irregulars -- this should have rung a bell. Why then did we have to go "heavy" into Iraq in the first place? Couldn't we have operated like we did in Afghanistan? The logic used to justify this decision was the chase for WMD (nuclear especially).

One final note...I can't help but perceive a real blind-spot in this administration for communist terrorism. The war on terrorism has resulted in no major efforts to disrupt groups on the extreme Left that advocate political terror -- even though the majority of groups on the State Department's watch list as terror orgs. advocate Marxist-Leninist doctrines. We are subsidizing China with a massive trade deficit -- and yet have asked absolutely NOTHING in return from them. We haven't even piped up about the camps or mass arrests of Christian and other religious figures, let alone demanded action on Korea or else (cutting off the flow of trade). We have let communists allied with Castro take power in Brazil -- which has THE BOMB (a working prototype from the mid-1970s, when the program was shut down). Response: silence. Finally, we have the strategic dissonance concerning North Korea. I'm not sure this WH understands that the generals who run North Korea fought in the Korean War -- it never ended for them! or that millions of slaves in that country wake up each day singing a song to Kim Il-Sung (yep, the dead guy) pledging themselves as human bombs. Unlike the Islamic terrs on the West Bank, they don't drive cars or go to restaurants. They work in military factories building missiles and bombs, and on farms and sing songs like that -- every day. They are a CULT OF WAR. IT IS THE MOST TERRORISTIC AND MILITARISTIC REGIME IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND. So what does this WH do? They put this seething crisis on the "back burner" for more than 2 years.

UNACCEPTABLE.

[AmericanInTokyo]

How about an 'air launched' drone, that was launched above the Yellow Sea in international air space? I don't know if it would be recoverable or not, but perhaps could be recovered by a ship, or perhaps the drone could due atmospheric analysis real time, convey the results via transmission to the receivers, and then 'ditch' in the yellow sea after the mission? Just thinking here.