Free Republic

U.S. reconnaissance aircraft detect krypton 85 in the atmosphere near the country. WASHINGTON--U.S. spy planes flying near North Korea have detected traces of a radioactive gas emitted during the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods, which could be a possible sign of a secret nuclear facility, sources here said. U.S. intelligence analysts are still trying to determine the significance of finding krypton 85, a radioactive isotope that is a byproduct of reprocessing nuclear fuel rods to extract plutonium, in the atmosphere near North Korea last December. Krypton 85 was also detected in July 2003 when North Korea announced it...

TOKYO, Feb 10 (AFP) - As the Korean nuclear crisis escalates, US spy planes are stepping up activities around the strategic Japanese island of Okinawa, a report said Monday. The only US air force WC-135W plane, which helps collect and identify debris from nuclear weapons detonations, landed at Okinawa's Kadena airbase six days earlier, the Jiji Press news agency quoted informed sources as saying. The aircraft, nicknamed Constant Phoenix and assigned to the Offutt air base in Nebraska, was believed to be still on Okinawa as its departure has not been confirmed. An E-6 Mercury, which provides command and...