Webloggin » Nuclear Explosion, Nuclear Dud or Not Nuclear at All?

The Washington Times is reporting that the device that went off in North Korea may not have been nuclear after all.

U.S. intelligence agencies say, based on preliminary indications, that North Korea did not produce its first nuclear blast yesterday.

U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that seismic readings show that the conventional high explosives used to create a chain reaction in a plutonium-based device went off, but that the blast’s readings were shy of a typical nuclear detonation.

“We’re still evaluating the data, and as more data comes in, we hope to develop a clearer picture,” said one official familiar with intelligence reports.

“There was a seismic event that registered about 4 on the Richter scale, but it still isn’t clear if it was a nuclear test. You can get that kind of seismic reading from high explosives.” – Bill Gertz, Washington Times – U.S. doubts Korean test was nuclear

If in fact it was a nuclear device then what was being heralded as a historic triumph by Pyongyang may in fact be a colossal failure.