Nuclear - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: INS Arihant

Explanation:
India on 18th Oct 2016 completed its nuclear triad by inducting the nation’s first indigenously constructed nuclear submarine INS Arihant into service

• This submarine was formally commissioned by Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba in August 2016
• This is the lead ship of India’s Arihant class of nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines
• The 6000 tonne vessel is created under the Advanced Technology Vessel project at the Ship Building Centre in the port city of Vizag
• It was launched on 26th July 2009 the anniversary of Kargil War Victory Day/Vijay Diwas by the PM of India at that time, Manmohan Singh
• After fitting out and extensive sea trials on 23rd February 2016, Arihant was confirmed as ready for operations and was commissioned in August 2016
• it is the first of the expected five in the class of submarines designed and constricted as part of the Indian Naval ATV project
• A nuclear triad is the nuclear weapons delivery of a strategic nuclear arsenal consisting of three components: strategic bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine launched ballistic missiles
• Having a three pronged nuclear capability reduces the chance that the enemy could destroy nuclear forces of the nation in a first strike attack
• This trial ensures a credible threat of the second strike, increasing the nuclear deterrence of the nation

ANSWER: Nuclear power plant in Southwest England

Explanation:
British government on 15th Sept approved the construction of UK’s first new nuclear power plant in more than two decades.

• This French and Chinese backed project has prompted high level fears regarding national security
• The decision has been made to proceed with the 18 billion pound plant in SW England.
• Future foreign funded infrastructure projects will be subject to tighter rules
• Plant will be financed by Chinese nuclear power provider CGN and French Energy Group EDF
• China and France welcomed the approval heralding a “golden era” of ties
• Under the deal, EDF will not be able to sell controlling stake in the project before completion without British approval
• France’s nuclear industry has been struggling in recent years as the industry leaned towards renewables and away from costly nuclear plants notably in the wake of 2011 Fukushima accident
• Trade unions and manufacturers in Britain also welcomed the deal, saying it could create close to 25,000 jobs
• Nuclear power supplies about 20 percent of Britain’s energy, but no new reactors have been built since the 1990s
• Hinkley Point project will cut GHG emissions which must fall by 80 percent on 1990 levels by 2050
• Opposition criticised the deal’s guarantee to operators of fixed above market electricity price for 35 years

ANSWER: North Korea

Explanation:
North Korea has conducted its fifth nuclear test on September 9, 2016 setting off a blast more powerful than a bomb triggered in Hiroshima.

• The warhead can be mounted on a ballistic missile.
• Its most powerful explosion to date follows a test in January prompting the UN Security Council to impose tightened sanctions that increased North Korea’s isolation but failed to prevent it from accelerating weapons development.
• Both South Korea and the US have criticised the move
• China, once a major diplomatic ally of North Korea, said it was opposed to the test and urged Pyongyang to stop taking actions to worsen the situation
• North Korea which labels the South and the US as its main enemies indicated scientists and technicians carried out nuclear explosion test for judgement of the power of a nuclear warhead as per a report from the official KCNA news agency
• Claims of being able to miniaturise a nuclear warhead have not been independently verified
• N.Korea has been testing missiles at an unprecedented rate and the capability to mount a nuclear warhead on a missile is worrisome for neighbouring countries South Korea and Japan.
• Standardisation of the nuclear warhead will enable DPRK to produce at will and as many as it wants a variety of smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear warheads of higher strike power
• Japanese Defence Minister Tomomi Inada indicated Pyongyang regime’s advances in mobile ballistic technology posed a massive threat to Japan.
• North Korea’s nuclear test coincided with the anniversary of the 1948 foundation as a republic
• The continued testing despite sanctions presents a severe challenge to Obama in the final months of his presidency.
• It could become a factor in the US Presidential election in November
• Sanctions have already been imposed on everything possible so the policy is at an impasse
• Japan’s Abe indicated that a nuclear test could not be tolerated
• China’s environment ministry began emergency radiation monitoring along its borders with North Korea in NE China according to state television
• Highest estimates of seismic magnitude indicate this was the most powerful test conducted by N.Korea so far