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  • Blast, Mushroom Cloud Reported in N. Korea

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...?nav=headlines

    Blast, Mushroom Cloud Reported in N. Korea
    The Associated Press
    Saturday, September 11, 2004; 11:16 PM


    SEOUL, South Korea - A large explosion occurred in the northern part of North Korea, sending a huge mushroom cloud into the air on an important anniversary of the communist regime, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Sunday.

    Citing an unidentified source in Beijing, Yonhap said the explosion happened on Thursday in Yanggang province near the border with China. The damage and crater left by the explosion in Kim Hyong Jik county was big enough to be noticed by a satellite, the source said.

    "We understand that a mushroom-shaped cloud about 2.2 miles to 2.5 miles in diameter was monitored during the explosion," Yonhap quoted an unidentified diplomatic source in Seoul as saying.

    North Korea was founded on Sept. 9, 1948. Leader Kim Jong Il uses the occasion to stage performances and other events to bolster loyalty among the impoverished North Korean population.

    Experts have speculated that North Korea might use a major anniversary to conduct a nuclear-related test, though there was no immediate indication that the reported explosion on Thursday was linked to Pyongyang's efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

    On Saturday, North Korea said recent revelations that South Korea conducted secret nuclear experiments involving uranium and plutonium made the communist state more determined to pursue its own nuclear programs.

    The South Korean experiments, conducted in 1982 and 2000, were likely to further complicate the already stalled six-nation talks aimed at dismantling the North's nuclear development. South Korea has said the experiments were purely for research and did not reflect a desire to develop weapons.

    On April 22, train wagons at a railway station exploded in the North Korean town of Ryongchon, killing 160 people and injuring an estimated 1,300, according to some estimates. The blast was believed to have been sparked by a train laden with oil and chemicals that hit power lines.

    The source in Beijing that told Yonhap about the explosion last week said it was reportedly bigger than the train explosion in Ryongchon.

  • #2
    Well, there goes my last bit of trust in Pres. Bush's idea that Iraq was the number one threat to our (US) security. This is on Yahoo as well by the way.
    Am out of town for a while and then have tons of work coming up at school. Will be back once that's all done.

    Comment


    • #3
      errrr is this suggesting a nuke was tested on Land!? Not even underground?

      What are they stupid? I mean US tested some on land but were like on Islands right? Nuclear winds n stuff?

      Although I think the US which probably has quite a few SAT beaming down on NK, would've been able to confirm it immediately.

      Gotta get me some lead!

      Comment


      • #4
        China tested on land. The original US test was in New Mexico.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Rahul
          Well, there goes my last bit of trust in Pres. Bush's idea that Iraq was the number one threat to our (US) security. This is on Yahoo as well by the way.
          I believe the number one threat has been terrorism since 9/11, Iraq was just a threat. Still, there was no way, and still isn't, to justify an invasion of Korea except to put it in humanitarian terms, and the international community obviously doesn't care about that aspect.
          No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
          I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
          even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
          He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

          Comment


          • #6
            No Nuclear Test in North Korea, Officials Say

            But diplomatic sources in Tokyo on Sunday cautioned against concluding the blast was deliberate or linked to the country's nuclear program. They speculate, based on preliminary descriptions, that it sounds as if the explosion could have been caused by rocket fuel.

            Original Story

            ------------------------------------------------------------

            Powell Says N. Korea Blast Not Nuclear

            "There was no indication that was a nuclear event of any kind. Exactly what it was, we're not sure," Powell said on ABC's "This Week."

            Original Story
            No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
            I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
            even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
            He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

            Comment


            • #7
              If it was a full nuclear test, US would have known it by now. The size and yield of the explosion can be determined pretty easily by analysing seismic waves, pretty much how the strength of earthquakes are calculated.

              Anything above a certain threshold is would be too powerful to be anything other than nuclear, a conventional explosion would requre thousands of tonnes of TNT.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Aryan
                If it was a full nuclear test, US would have known it by now.
                It was near the Chinese border, I would think they would be freaking out if it were a nuke. The blast's proximity to a missle base also makes me think it was no test, seems too close to non-research related defence equipment.
                No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
                I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
                even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
                He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

                Comment


                • #9
                  Glad to hear it wasn't a nuke. Confed, I agree, terrorism was the number one threat. I should have been more specific. I meant nation-states that threaten our national security.
                  Am out of town for a while and then have tons of work coming up at school. Will be back once that's all done.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Rahul
                    I meant nation-states that threaten our national security.
                    "The Axis of Evil" had both Iraq and North Korea listed, as they should be, but I don't know if any order of threat was given.
                    No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
                    I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
                    even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
                    He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Most people are thinking along the lines of, if we go nuclear, America won't attack. How true is this?

                      North Korea even has the delivery capabilities. They'd keep enhancing them over time.

                      Ya I know about land based tests, but those test sites were shielded, were they not? I doubt NK would be doing the same, so I guess they'd go for the big hole option. When I first heard this, my first reaction was, damn as much as most of us go like WTF about America's no nukes with other people policy, it does have a point. Not everyone's ready and responsible to handle the nuke.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Rahul
                        Glad to hear it wasn't a nuke. Confed, I agree, terrorism was the number one threat. I should have been more specific. I meant nation-states that threaten our national security.

                        Well the explaination given by the North Korean was that they blew up a mountain for their hydel electricity project. It was blowing up the mountain which created to 2.5 mile wide mushroom cloud.

                        Now it would be really extremly hard to blow up a mountain by just using conventional high explosive in one single explosion.

                        Only a nuke can blow up a mountain in one single explosion.

                        http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/3650702.stm
                        Pyongyang said the explosion was in fact the demolition of a mountain as part of a huge hydro-electric project.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          China would have been reporting increased radiation levels, and NK would be proud of their accomplishment. At this point nobody knows if they even have nukes, let alone nukes that work, they wouldn't be quiet about a successful test.
                          No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
                          I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
                          even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
                          He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Confed999
                            China would have been reporting increased radiation levels, and NK would be proud of their accomplishment. At this point nobody knows if they even have nukes, let alone nukes that work, they wouldn't be quiet about a successful test.

                            Actually if you are blowing a large mountaintop using nuke burried in a tunnel under the mountain then the radiation may or may not escape into the atmosphare. Beside atmospharic radiation has a way disspiate and fall down within acceptable level to be termed "normal" within a matter of days. Analysis of soil sample at the blast site may provide a better clue.

                            I just can't imagine that a conventional explosion can generate a 2.5 mile wide mushroom shaped debris cloud.

                            Here is a report from April 2003, where Bush administration says that Korea has admitted to possesing at least 1 nuke.
                            The second report is from Oct, 2003 which says that Korea has admitted to processing fuel rods to extract enough plutonium for upto 6 bombs.

                            http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapc.../24/nkorea.us/

                            N. Korea 'admits having nukes'
                            Friday, April 25, 2003 Posted: 1:31 PM EDT (1731 GMT)

                            North Korea on Thursday admitted to having at least one nuclear bomb, senior Bush administration sources told CNN.


                            http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2...-nuclear_x.htm
                            orth Korea says it's making nuclear bombs
                            By Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY
                            WASHINGTON — North Korea said it has reprocessed used nuclear fuel rods to make the ingredients for nuclear arms and claimed Thursday to have made enough for a half-dozen bombs.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by turnagainarm
                              Actually if you are blowing a large mountaintop using nuke burried in a tunnel under the mountain then the radiation may or may not escape into the atmosphare. Beside atmospharic radiation has a way disspiate and fall down within acceptable level to be termed "normal" within a matter of days. Analysis of soil sample at the blast site may provide a better clue.

                              I just can't imagine that a conventional explosion can generate a 2.5 mile wide mushroom shaped debris cloud.
                              If it was detonated as you say, then would there have been a 2.5 mile cloud? BTW, the US MOAB makes a cloud nearly 2 miles wide, and it's dropped from a plane. If they were blowing off a mountain top, thousands of explosives would have fired in a specific sequence, making one huge explosion. And, I still don't believe they would keep a successful nuclear test secret.
                              Originally posted by turnagainarm
                              Korea has admitted to possesing at least 1 nuke
                              They're extortionists running a police state, why would I believe them?
                              No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
                              I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
                              even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
                              He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

                              Comment

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