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ID:
111496
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Publication |
2012.
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Summary/Abstract |
The rapid expansion of China's nuclear industry poses a security challenge not only for the Chinese government, but also the international community. China's nuclear regulators and nuclear emergency responders face a shortage of human resources and expertise. China's nuclear emergency responders are overwhelmingly focused on nuclear reactor safety issues and have only begun to prepare for acts of nuclear terrorism. While the political leadership is seeking to strengthen nuclear security in light of international attention and the risk that a single incident could pose for future growth, these efforts are complicated by limited inter-agency coordination, an outdated and at times contradictory legal structure, and ambiguities in the division of regulatory responsibilities. This article outlines the major players in Chinese civilian nuclear security and nuclear emergency response, then discusses their responsibilities, plans, and interactions.
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2 |
ID:
111495
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Publication |
2012.
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Summary/Abstract |
Between 13 and 23 May 2010, four atmospheric radionuclide surveillance stations, in South Korea, Japan, and the Russian Federation, detected xenon and xenon daughter radionuclides in concentrations up to 10 and 0.1 mBq/m3 respectively. All these measurements were made in air masses that had passed over North Korea a few days earlier. This article shows that these radionuclide observations are consistent with a North Korean low-yield nuclear test on 11 May 2010, even though no seismic signals from such a test have been detected. Appendix 1 presents a detailed analysis of the radioxenon data and Appendix 2 describes a hypothetical nuclear test scenario consistent with this analysis, including the possibility that the test used uranium-235 rather than plutonium-239. The analysis suggests that the technical and analytical basis to detect small nuclear tests using radionuclide signatures may be more developed than is generally assumed.
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