Krypton gas clue to North Korean nuclear progress

Elevated levels of krypton-85 had been discovered in the air above the North Korean border. This is a gas with a half-life of 10.7 years that is created along with plutonium by the fission of uranium fuel in a reactor. The fuel is reprocessed to separate out the plutonium by dissolving it in acid, but this also releases the krypton-85.

Nuclear Landmines

In an article on newscientist.com, the UK planned to bury 10 nuclear landmines in Germany, declassified army documents from the 1950s reveal.

The original article can read here.

North Korea One Step Closer...

North Korea has told the United States that it has finished reprocessing used nuclear fuel into bomb-grade plutonium and U.S. officials are seeking to verify the claim, the White House said.

North Korea had 8,000 spent fuel rods as part of a plutonium-based nuclear weapons program at the Yongbyon nuclear site that was frozen under a 1994 nuclear deal between North Korea and the United States.

If those fuel rods were efficiently converted, they could produce enough plutonium for a half-dozen nuclear weapons. North Korea may already have one to two nuclear devices.

To learn more about the nuclear crisis in North Korea, visit our special report.

Chernobyl to Get New Sarcophagus

The ex-Soviet state of Ukraine will get $85 million to build a new shield over Chernobyl, site of the world's worst civil nuclear disaster, to stabilize the old "sarcophagus" covering the gaping hole in reactor No. 4, which some experts say is crumbling and leaking radiation into nearby towns and cities.

Accident At Japanese Nuclear Plant

An accident at a shuttered nuclear power plant in central Japan sent smoke billowing into the air Friday, but there were no reports of radiation leaks or injuries. [via CBS News]

IAEA Chief to Visit Iran

International Atomic Energy Chief Mohamed ElBaradei leaves for Iran today to push Tehran to open its nuclear power efforts and prove it is not working on nuclear weapons. More information about Iran's nuclear program is available.

Nuclear Smuggling Incidents section

Since the early 1990s, there have been numerous reports of illicit trafficking in many types of nuclear materials worldwide. We have added a Nuclear Smuggling Incidents section to the website on this topic.