Did North Korea Conduct A Nuclear Test In 2010

Image: Locations of the 2006 and 2009 North Korea nuclear tests, as well as the monitoring stations in the area that pick up seismic waves. Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory

Did North Korea Really Light Up A Nuke in 2010? -- Popular Mechanics

North Korea shocked the world in 2006 and 2008 when it detonated nuclear warheads in underground chambers. So when Lars-Erik De Geer, a researcher with the Swedish Defense Research Agency, published a paper early this year claiming evidence of low-yield nuclear detonations in 2010, it seemed feasible. His evidence is a spike in radionuclides—isotopes of xenon and argon that are produced by a nuclear weapon—picked up by detectors in Asia. There was one problem with the theory: Nuclear detonations shake seismic monitors, and scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory who looked at his paper found no evidence of a sufficiently large explosion, throwing the existence of a clandestine test in doubt. We talked to Paul Richards of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, who co-authored the paper questioning De Geer’s conclusions. (We also tried to talk to De Greer but were told by staff at the Swedish Defense Research Agency that he was retired and "cannot be reached.")

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More News And Speculation That North Korea Conducted A Nuclear Test In 2010

2010 North Korea Bomb 'Tests' Probably False Alarms, Says Study -- Newsroom America
2010 Korea bomb 'tests' probably false alarms, says study -- Science Codex
Threatwatch: Can we really spot covert nuclear tests? -- New Scientist