http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html....

Quote:

Japan Sets Alarms Ringing with Ominous Nuclear Bill

The Korean press was in uproar Thursday after reports that a new bill passed this week in the Japanese Diet paves the way for Tokyo to acquire nuclear weapons. The Asahi Shimbun reported that the revised bill, amended Wednesday by the Liberal Democratic Party and endorsed by the ruling Democratic Party and New Komeito Party, includes a controversial clause that nudges open the door to defensive use of nuclear arms.

The clause says that the safe use of atomic power contributes to "national security."


Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura played down any intention to use atomic power for military purposes. "The government has no goal at all for its military use," he told reporters Thursday.

But his comments failed to quell fears that Japan may have paved the way to develop nuclear weapons later on.

Well guess what folks, Japan has NO CHOICES to develop nukes if they want to survive the 21st century with China rising, their domestic economy/population curve and the state/future path of the USA...

If Japan wants to stay a sovereign country, they'll need nukes.

I strongly suspect they've had nukes for some time now.

If they don't have 'em already, they could make them very quickly.

-Uwe-

If it's true it would explain a few things that don't add up at Fukushima.

They have the warheads and the pits stored in separate locations. That's how they've gotten around their law on no nukes for decades.

The estimate I've heard is that they can have them assembled and ready to go in less than 90 minutes.

Any threats from Israel or the Obama adminstration against Japan yet? Oh wait. I forgot. They play by our rules.

Japan would be stupid not to have nukes, especially with the crazies in North Korea in possession.

My guess is that Japan won't even have to make them. They can purchase them from us. And there won't be any resistance from America except from the fringe groups.

Eventually one nation will pop one off and it will result in a chain reaction. And that will be the end of it all.

Remember reading somewhere that there's no such thing as a country with a nuclear energy program; the energy is purely a bi-product from the true intent.

Noodle: No, they built their own. The US wasn't even aware of it for many years.

Some congressional testimony it came out.

Asimov has it.

bob

If Japan ever gets nukes in a transparent manner, SE Asia goes **** crazy.

That's why it's been hidden, Jeff.

Japn doesn't have nukes and needs to pass a bill to get them?

Harharhar. Anyone want to buy some AAA mbs at par?

They don't have ASSEMBLED nukes. They have the warheads and the pits. They are stored in different locations and it takes ~90 minutes to assemble.

That's how they have gotten around the legalities. Technically, they have no nuclear weapons. Yes, they have the assemblages for them, but they have no weapon.

I get that asimov. Im just saying that anyone that thinks they don't have the capability because of words on a piece of paper has their head in the sand.

Everyone cheats. That is the nature of international "relations"

I imagine if it looks like Japan is facing an imminent existential threat it won't take them 90 min to assemble anything. Heh

If Japan actually produced nukes that are available for use today (which I don't at all doubt) I find it very difficult that the highest echelons in the US government weren't aware of it. NSA knows when the Prime Minister of Japan farts and whether it comes out in B-flat or C-sharp. The American intelligence network is far-reaching. If Japan built it's own nukes there is no way the US was not aware of it IMO, particularly when they are so dependent on foreign raw materials and resources. Naturally, we're all speculatiing but that's my best guess.

Noodleman wrote..

I find it very difficult that the highest echelons in the US government weren't aware of it.

$1 trillion in bond purchases buys a lot of looking the other way.

Asimov for the win.

Germany sells subs to the Israelis that are nuke cruise capable.

Meaning they have to know how a nuke would be handled, installed and maintained because they build the support systems. Germany has had nuclear power for decades until recently, so they have the material.

Japan has the pits and the rest sitting separate. A few hours work and they are one unit. It's the same game that the Russians and Americans play. The boomers have only 3 mirvs per Trident when they could have many more, but the others sit, pits and warheads apart, in the sub, and can be reassembled and mounted if things go hot.

Of course Europe, Russia and all of SE Asia (and the Chinese would go ****ing insane) would lose their minds, but if the situation had gotten to the point where Japan and Germany had gone transparently nuclear, things would already be very bad indeed.

It only makes sense for Japan. With a surging (economically and militarily) China, Japan will need to establish a deterrent to comfort themselves that they can deter any encroachment from the rising superpower. Given the fact that NATO is an ineffective organization, US "protection" doesn't mean much. Also given the decline of the United States, I am not sure that America will have the capability to counter-balance China in but another 10-20 years +/-.

We gave them the tech 20 years ago. Old nooz.

Ben wrote..

but the others sit, pits and warheads apart, in the sub, and can be reassembled and mounted if things go hot.

That may be the case for the shore-based storage facilities but they don't assemble warheads inside the boat while at sea and load them into the missiles which are inside the launch tubes.

That kind of thing only happens in bad James Bond films or Tom Clancy novels.

Duc, yep. Sneaked it under the radar for quite a few years. Explains a lot about whey TEPCO hasn't been quite so open about Fukushima.

"Well guys, the truth is this. Ya'know those big bombs the U.S. dropped on us a couple of times? The ones that turned your grandparents into dust and shadows on whatever walls were left standing? Yeah, well, ahem, we've decided they're not such a bad idea. In fact, they're a GREAT idea! Because, aside from manufacturing them, look over here at all the ecologically green power we get! Okay, well, except for that plant that was stupid enough to be located on the coast where it could be hit by a tsunami. Other than that, look! Green power! And anyone looking at a radiation monitor is a Conspiracy Theorist!"

This is a highly indirect indicator and might mean nothing at all. The Koreans are kinda paranoid about anything involving Japan.

If Japan is edging closer to an open declaration as a nuclear power, it's because of the combination of US weakness and fecklessness under Obama. Combine that with an increasingly expansionist and violent China with a rapid military buildup and the world has changed drastically from Tokyo's perspective. They certainly must feel a greater need to rely on their own defenses.

I would argue that it is just secular US weakness that is the cause for this.

Quote:

Meaning they have to know how a nuke would be handled, installed and maintained because they build the support systems. Germany has had nuclear power for decades until recently, so they have the material.

A german company maintains the nuclear warheads used by france on their SLBMs. Another german company is part of the european consortium that builds the french SLBM.

So germany is a defacto nuclear power in that they have the knowledge and industrial capability to design and build nuclear warheads and submarine launched ballistic missiles.