DefenceTalkNuclear threats and climate change pose strong threats to the planet and a symbolic “doomsday” clock will stay at three minutes to midnight, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said Tuesday. The clock serves as a metaphor for how close humanity is to destroying the planet, and was most recently moved closer to midnight in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/doomsday-clock-remains-at-three-minutes-to-midnight-66586/

DefenceTalkIran has removed the core of its Arak heavy water reactor and filled part of it with cement, a crucial step under a soon to be implemented nuclear agreement with world powers. A spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization told state television the work was done on Wednesday, paving the way for UN nuclear inspectors […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iran-says-reactor-core-removed-in-key-step-for-deal-66379/

DefenceTalkIran will sell part of its stock of heavy water to the United States under its nuclear deal with world powers, its deputy atomic chief said Tuesday. Ali Asghar Zarean also denied reports Iran had dismantled the core of its Arak nuclear reactor, a key step in the deal that is to see sanctions lifted […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iran-to-sell-heavy-water-to-us-under-nuclear-deal-66355/

DefenceTalkChina is unlikely to take strong action in response to North Korea’s claimed test of a hydrogen bomb, according to experts who say Beijing prefers the devil it knows to the uncertainty that could follow a confrontation. And whether Pyongyang would even listen is highly questionable, they say. Governments around the world have long pushed […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-helpless-to-curb-north-korea-nuke-ambitions-experts-66309/

DefenceTalkHydrogen bombs, which North Korea said Wednesday it tested for the first time, have a destructive power to dwarf even the nuclear weapons dropped on Japan in 1945. If confirmed that North Korea did indeed carry out a successful test of a miniature version of such a device, this would put the impoverished hermit state […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-koreas-mini-h-bomb-a-bigger-bang-66294/

DefenceTalkNorth Korea said Wednesday it had carried out a “successful” hydrogen bomb test, a claim that — if true — massively raises the stakes over the hermit state’s banned nuclear program. International condemnation was swift with neighbors South Korea and Japan decrying a gross violation of UN Security Council resolutions, while the White House said […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-says-conducted-successful-h-bomb-test-66280/

DefenceTalkNorth Korea appeared to have carried out a nuclear test Wednesday — its fourth — with seismologists detecting a 5.1 magnitude tremor next to its main atomic test site in the northeast of the country. The website of the China Earthquake Network Centre described the seismic activity, which came just two days before North Korean […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-says-it-conducted-hydrogen-bomb-test-66261/

DefenceTalkNorth Korea could be separating isotopes used to manufacture sophisticated and more powerful nuclear bombs, US experts warned Wednesday, after Pyongyang announced its main atomic weapons complex was fully operational. The head of the North’s atomic agency said Tuesday that all facilities at the Yongbyon nuclear complex — including a uranium enrichment plant and a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-hot-cell-unit-better-larger-nuclear-bombs-65427/

DefenceTalkISLAMABAD: The Natio­nal Command Authority (NCA) concluded on Wednes­day that India’s rapidly growing nuclear program and absence of a conflict resolution mechanism were upsetting strategic stability in the region and the situation was compelling Pakis­tan to maintain ‘full-spectrum deterrence capability’. According to ISPR, the apex policy-making body for the country’s strategic progra reviewed in its […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pakistan-to-keep-broadest-deterrence-capability-65334/

DefenceTalkPakistan on Monday strongly rejected a report published by a US think tank, which claimed that Pakistan has the fastest growing nuclear arsenal in the world. “The report is utterly baseless,” said Qazi Khalilullah, the spokesperson for the Foreign Office (FO). “Such reports have the effect of diverting attention from the exponential increase in India’s […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pakistan-rejects-report-claiming-its-nuclear-arsenal-is-fastest-growing-65204/