nuclear-news

Miniaturisation of nuclear bombs – North Korea makes a worrying claim

N Korea test raises fears of small nukes, SBS World News, 9 Sept 16    There are fears North Korea is getting close to creating a nuclear bomb small enough to fit on a ballistic missile. North Korea tested its most powerful nuclear device on Friday, but the more worrying aspect for its rivals was Pyongyang’s claim that it had advanced its ability to make a nuclear weapon by miniaturising and mounting a warhead on a missile.

Its KCNA news agency said the test had used a nuclear warhead that had been “standardised to be able to be mounted on strategic ballistic rockets”.

“The standardisation of the nuclear warhead will enable the DPRK to produce at will and as many as it wants, a variety of smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear warheads of higher strike power,” KCNA said, referring to the North’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

There is little scientific evidence to verify that North Korea has perfected the science of creating a nuclear bomb small enough to fit on a ballistic missile and withstand the physics of atmospheric re-entry.

But it may be getting closer.

In April, a South Korean official said the North had accomplished miniaturisation of a warhead, although the Pentagon said it did not necessarily share that assessment.

In March, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met nuclear scientists working on miniaturisation. He was photographed at the visit looking at a small, ball-like device KCNA said was a miniaturised nuclear warhead. He was also photographed inspecting a missile nosecone………..http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/09/09/n-korea-test-raises-fears-small-nukes

September 10, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | North Korea, weapons and war