• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제19권4호
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• pp.421-433
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• 2021

The present multidisciplinary study, which is a nexus of engineering and political science, investigates how the modernization of Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons (NSNWs) affects the IAEA safeguards system based on the likelihood of the use of nuclear weapons. To this end, this study examines the characteristics of modernized NSNWs using Monte Carlo techniques. The results thus obtained show that 10 kt NSNWs with a Circular Error Probability (CEP) of 10 m can destroy the target as effectively as a 500 kt weapon with a CEP of 100 m. The IAEA safeguards system shows that the Significant Quantity (SQ) of 1 of plutonium is 8 kg, a parameter that was established when strategic nuclear weapons were dominant. However, the results of this study indicate that in recent years, low-yield nuclear weapons such as NSNWs have been more strategically interesting than strategic nuclear weapons as NSNWs require less plutonium than strategic nuclear weapons. Therefore, we would like to conclude that reducing the SQ of plutonium can result in more robust safeguards and non-proliferation strategies.

• 방사선산업학회지
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.411-416
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• 2023

From Cold War, Nuclear weapons have emerged military power into a very dangerous and important way of each national security. Throughout the era, the U.S. had stationed nuclear weapons in South Korea. But President George Bush initially started the withdrawal of nuclear tactical weapons deployed abroad in 1991. After that, under the protection of the nuclear umbrella, South Korea guarantees that the United States would operate its nuclear weapons to protect South Korea if it would be needed and the economy of South Korea has rapidly developed as more strong countries in the world. However, South Korea has seen and been realized the present state from the recent war between Russia and Ukraine. The protection of the U.S. nuclear umbrella from nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles of North Korea is unlikely to be permanently guaranteed. At the same time, South Korea should consider the security environment changes of surrounding nations such as China as military power acceleration and Russia as re-formation ambition. Because of these reasons, South Korea independently wants to protect itself and have the own nuclear weapons as a way to counter security threats. A majority of South Koreans also definitely believe that North Korea will not denuclearize or give up because North Korea has been having nuclear weapons as the final survival strategy of Kim Jong Un's regime. However, South Korea considers and makes new nuclear strategy through the role and effect of nuclear deterrence strategy in dispute between India and Pakistan and how to overcome the paradox of nuclear deterrence strategy. Therefore, this research is to suggest the effective nuclear deterrence strategy of South Korea from new security threats of surrounding nations through dispute between India and Pakistan. The focus of this research is that what is the role and paradox of nuclear deterrence strategy in dispute between India and Pakistan and how to find the effective nuclear deterrence strategy of South Korea.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.110-134
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• 2023

North Korea's development and deployment of nuclear weapons increases Pyongyang's diplomatic bargaining leverage. It is a strategic response to counteract the great expansion in US leverage with the collapse of the USSR. Post-Cold War American influence and hegemony is justified partly by claiming victory in successfully containing an allegedly imperialist Soviet Union. The US created and led formal and informal international institutions as part of its decades-long containment grand strategy against the USSR. The US now exploits these institutions to expedite US unilateral global preeminence. Third World regimes perceived as remnants of the Cold War era that resist accommodating to American demands are stereotyped as rogue states. Rogue regimes are criminal offenders who should be brought to justice, i.e. regime change is required. The initiation of summit diplomacy between US President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un occurred following the January 2018 Hawaiian ballistic missile false alarm. This event and its political consequences illustrate the efficacy of nuclear weapons as bargaining leverage for so-called rogue actors. North Korea is highly unlikely to surrender those weapons that were the instigation for the subsequent summit diplomacy that occurred. A broader, critical trend-focused strategic analysis is necessary to adopt a longer-term view of the on-going Korean nuclear crisis. The aim would be to conceptualize long-term policies that increase the probability that nuclear weapons capability becomes a largely irrelevant issue in interaction between Pyongyang, Seoul, Beijing and Washington.

• 시큐리티연구
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• 제53호
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• pp.255-279
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• 2017

북한 핵위협 고도화는 2017년 6차 핵실험에 이르기까지 악화일로로 치달아 국제사회의 제재에도 불구하고 실전 배치를 목전에 두고 있다. 그러나 한국 정부를 포함한 국제사회는 이에 대한 뚜렷한 해법과 대안을 제시하지 못하고 있어 북한의 핵 위협 고도화에 대한 대비책은 너무도 미비한 실태다. 본 연구는 북한은 어떤 경우에도 핵무기 개발을 포기하지 않을 것이라는 전제 하에 북한의 핵개발의 현주소와 위협 실태를 냉철하게 분석하여 취약점을 도출하여 이를 바탕으로 비군사적인 분야에서 무엇을 어떻게 대비하여 피해를 최소화 할 것인가에 대하여 논의하고자 한다. 연구결과로써 먼저 비상대비태세 유지를 위해서는 국민생활 안정 차원에서 전재민의 수용 대책을 강구하고, 방사능에 오염된 주민을 치료 조치 방안을 강구해야 한다. 다음으로 민방위태세 분야는 경보체제를 정비하고 민방위대원조직의 훈련을 핵 피폭시 체험식 훈련방법으로 발전시켜야 한다. 대피시설 구축의 의무화 하도록 법령을 정비해야 하며, 기 구축된 대피시설들의 보완해야 한다. 또한 기존의 민방위훈련과 핵공격 대비훈련을 통합해서 시행하는 방안을 발전시켜야 한다. 마지막으로 국민행동요령을 상황별로 제시하였으며 이를 숙달할 수 있도록 교육과 훈련이 필요하다. 이러한 사항들을 실행하기 위해서는 관련 법령 개정과 장 단기 계획을 수립하는 등 국가차원의 종합계획을 수립하여 우선순위를 설정하여 추진해야 한다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제50권6호
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• pp.820-828
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• 2018

The growing nuclear threat has amplified the need for developing diverse and accurate nuclear forensics analysis techniques to strengthen nuclear security measures. The work presented here is part of a research effort focused on developing a methodology for reactor-type discrimination of weapons-grade plutonium. To verify the developed methodology, natural $UO_2$ fuel samples were irradiated in a thermal neutron spectrum at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) and produced approximately $20{\mu}g$ of weapons-grade plutonium test material. Radiation transport simulations of common thermal reactor types that can produce weapons-grade plutonium were performed, and the results are presented here. These simulations were needed to verify whether the plutonium produced in the natural $UO_2$ fuel samples during the experimental irradiation at MURR was a suitable representative to plutonium produced in common thermal reactor types. Also presented are comparisons of fission product and plutonium concentrations obtained from computational simulations of the experimental irradiation at MURR to the nondestructive and destructive measurements of the irradiated natural $UO_2$ fuel samples. Gamma spectroscopy measurements of radioactive fission products were mostly within 10%, mass spectroscopy measurements of the total plutonium mass were within 4%, and mass spectroscopy measurements of stable fission products were mostly within 5%.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제22권2호
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• pp.219-226
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• 2024

Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has produced weapon-grade plutonium in a graphite-moderated experimental reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear facilities. The amount of plutonium produced can be estimated using the Graphite Isotope Ratio Method (GIRM), even without considering specific operational histories. However, the result depends to some degree on the operational cycle length. Moreover, an optimal cycle length can maximize the number of nuclear weapons made from the plutonium produced. For conservatism, it should be assumed that the target reactor was operated with an optimal cycle length. This study investigated the optimal cycle length using which the Calder Hall MAGNOX reactor can achieve the maximum annual production of nuclear weapons. The results show that lower enrichment fuel produced a greater number of critical plutonium spheres with a shorter optimal cycle length. Specifically, depleted uranium (0.69wt%) produced 5.561 critical plutonium spheres annually with optimal cycle lengths of 251 effective full power days. This research is crucial for understanding DPRK's potential for nuclear weapon production and highlights the importance of reactor operational strategy in maximizing the production of weapons-grade plutonium in MAGNOX reactors.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권8호
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• pp.3155-3166
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• 2024

While several nuclear energy newcomer (NEN) countries have shown interest in small modular reactors (SMRs) as a potential energy source, this interest can generate new uncertainties regarding future nuclear weapons proliferation risks. Therefore, this research seeks to determine whether future SMR deployment in NEN countries will contribute to nuclear weapons proliferation, and how the risks can be mitigated. This research uses the Bayesian network statistical approach in conjunction with surveys of experts to assess nuclear proliferation risks when NEN countries deploy SMRs or a large commercial nuclear reactor. The results indicate that an NEN with a strong commitment to the nuclear non-proliferation norms and a stable security environment will experience a lower probability of having higher proliferation risks relative to the United Arab Emirates. Specifically, we demonstrate that experts anticipate a minimal escalation in proliferation risks across different SMR types. Instead, the results show that enrichment or reprocessing (E&R) facilities, if associated with an SMR, exert a substantial influence on proliferation risks. Lastly, implementing a spent nuclear fuel (SNF) retrieval system could serve as an option to mitigate proliferation risks in an NEN country. These findings offer insights for leading nuclear supplier countries to alleviate the potential proliferation risks by NEN countries.

• 한국지능시스템학회논문지
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• 제7권1호
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• pp.27-33
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• 1997

This project is dedicated to the elaboration of a man-machine system for monitoring the non spread of nuclear weapons, technologies, raw materials. The main purpose of such a system depends on the customer requirements and may be : - control of non proliferation of nuclear technologies, especially those that can be used to manufacture a nuclear explosive device; - the appraisal of the possibility of production of nuclear weapons by a certain country on the basic of its intellectual and scientific-technical potential, its raw material resources, its export-import potential and other parameters.

• 시큐리티연구
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• 제37호
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• pp.325-354
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• 2013

국가안보의 개념과 위기관리의 기본시스템이 전통적 방식을 탈피하여 국가핵심기반위기관리의 중요성이 강조되고 있다. 국가핵심기반위기는 테러, 대규모 재난 등의 원인에 의해 국민의 안위, 국가 경제, 사회의 생명력과 일체성 및 정부의 핵심기능에 중대한 영향을 미칠 수 있는 인적 물적 기능적 체계가 마비되는 상황을 의미한다. 북한은 1960년대부터 지속적으로 핵무기를 개발하여 수차에 거쳐 협상과 제재를 받아왔지만, 핵실험과 미사일 발사 실험의 성공을 통해 핵무장을 과시한 바 있다. 본 연구는 북한의 대량살상무기의 개발과 위협이 가시화되고 그 위험 범위가 확대됨에 따라 국가적 위기대처에 핵심적인 역할과 기능을 수행해야 할 국가지도부가 북한의 우발적인 초기공격에 초토화됨으로써 국가위기관리의 지도력에 공백이 발생할 수 있다는 점에 주목하였다. 이에 따라 대량살상무기인 핵무기를 중심으로 그 개념과 위협의 정도를 고찰하고 북한 핵무기의 위협의 실체를 분석하고 평가하였으며, 북한의 핵무기 위협에 대비한 국가지도부의 안전대책을 제시하고자 하였다. 결론은 첫째 국가적 위기 시 국가위기관리시스템의 정상적인 작동을 위한 헌법적 행정부 유지(Enduring Constitutional Government, ECG), 업무연속성 확보(Continuity Of Operations, COOP)를 위한 국가위기관리지도부의 범위와 승계순위에 따른 안전대책을 강구하여야 한다. 둘째는 국가적 행사시 국가지도부가 공개된 장소에 모두 집합하는 경우를 지양해야 한다. 불가피한 경우 차 상위 대행권자를 지정하여 보호조치를 취하여야 한다. 셋째는 평시 국가적 위기시를 대비한 국가지도부 보호를 위한 범위를 규정하고 구체적인 경호안전대책을 시행하여야 한다. 넷째는 우리나라 정부조직법 제71조와 제26조 1항의 대통령 유고시 직무대행 승계 순위가 북한의 대량살상무기인 핵무기의 위협에 상응한 국가위기관리를 고려한 합리적인 규정인지를 재검토해야 한다 등이다. 정부는 대통령훈령 제229호 국가위기관리 기본지침에 따라 유형별 '위기관리 표준매뉴얼'과 하위 실무매뉴얼을 운영하고 있으며, 대통령경호실의 대통령 권한대행에 대한 경호 안전업무관련 규정을 가지고 있다. 따라서 정부는 유형별 위기관리 표준매뉴얼, 대통령 권한대행의 경호안전업무관련 규정에 이를 구체화하여 시행되도록 법제화하여야 한다.

• 한국군사과학기술학회지
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• 제20권3호
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• pp.454-466
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• 2017

North Korea intended to increase the power of its nuclear weapons and standardize warhead to be loaded in ballistic missiles through the $4^{th}$ and $5^{th}$ nuclear tests. In this study, three kinds of nuclear weapons that North Korea might have used in the $4^{th}$ and $5^{th}$ nuclear tests to achieve their technical goals were suggested. Monte Carlo modeling and various technical assessments have shown that boosted fission weapons are most likely to be used. Also, using the empirical formula considering the burial depth of explosion, we found that the yield of the $4^{th}$ and $5^{th}$ nuclear tests is at least twice as strong as that is expected it could be and the initial design power could reach 8kt before amplification. This means that North Korea has already achieved a substantial level of nuclear fusion technology through the $4^{th}$ test and has made a breakthrough in the miniaturization of nuclear weapons through the $5^{th}$ test. After two or three additional tests, North Korea is expected to have nuclear missiles equipped with nuclear warhead by 2020, which is expected to complete ballistic missile development.