LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD TODAY, #1081, Monday, (10/20/2025)

“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity.” ~llaw

Oct 20, 2025

Image: IAEA

LLAW’s Editorial: What’s New and Important in the Nuclear World

Let us begin this new expanded and more detailed commentary and discussion section to LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD TODAY — intended to present a more timely, but collective and progressive dissertation on where the global world stands relative to the little-known haunting mysteries, secrets, and public knowledge of “All Things Nuclear” — mainly concerning the two most important and misunderstood elements — Nuclear War and Nuclear Energy. So we will start this much-needed section with the subject of reliable information and knowledge and the mostly unrealized fact that what we think we know may “kill” us.

Even the very knowledgeable and famous scientist Marie Curie who discovered the use of radium to “cure” cancer and other diseases was wrong about its life-saving attributes, and though she did come to realize and understand that radiation was extremely dangerous, eventually implementing radiation protection in her own lab — albeit too late to prevent her own demise.

There are important “fresh out of the box” understandings of nuclear subjects terminology, and their subjective “names” and definitions to recognize and always keep somewhere in the backs of our minds. For instance, there are no such things as nuclear “experts” who know and can dictate absolute future facts or incidents in the nuclear worlds. So whenever you see the word “expert” in a news story, take it with a pinch of salt. In other words, don’t rely on what such a media story nor the “expert” reports because the nuclear world can change instantly or very easily overnight. The reason for that is because of the unending variables of incidents that occur and surround “all things nuclear”.

If we are to evaluate all things nuclear in an educated way, we must always ignore the phrase “nuclear expert” because there are none, and it can be best described that the thousands and thousands of variables, including political upheavals and nuclear wars, nuclear power plants, nuclear fuel and weapons terrorism and sabotage as well as black-market trading among counties, engineering, mechanical breakdowns and operational procedural AI and human mental errors — not to mention, weather and earthquakes and other “acts of god” — all of which can eventually end human and other life on planet Earth.

Therefore, always keep in mind that there are no nuclear “Experts”. ~llaw

Today’s Feature Story from LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD TODAY is from . . . (See TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS, Monday, (10/20/2025 in Category Section below)

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Update on Zaporizhzhia

2h agoNuclear News

Image: IAEA

Repairs have reportedly started to restore off-site power to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. About a month ago, the site lost connection to the grid for the 10th time during the Russia-Ukraine military conflict, according to Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“Immediately after the plant last month lost all off-site power, the IAEA has been engaging closely with both sides to help create the necessary security conditions on the ground so that their technicians can carry out repair work that is of crucial importance for nuclear safety and security,” Grossi said on October 15, before the repair work had begun.

“This region is an active war zone, and we must be very careful in how we approach this complex and sensitive matter,” he continued. “Repairs to the power lines are needed on both sides of the front line, at locations several kilometers from the site itself. In line with the IAEA’s technical and impartial mission, I’m continuing to consult with the Russian Federation and Ukraine to enable this work to proceed within the next few days. They both tell me that they also want the repairs to go ahead. The current situation—with the plant relying on emergency diesel generators for weeks now—is not sustainable.”

Off-site power: Before the conflict, the Zaporizhzhia plant had access to 10 power lines. In recent years, that number has been reduced to two, of which one 330-kilovolt line was lost on May 7, while the sole remaining 750-kV line was disconnected on September 23. It is the plant’s longest complete loss of off-site power during the conflict, the IAEA noted.

The IAEA also reported that seven emergency diesel generators (EDGs) are currently producing electricity for the Zaporizhzhia site, mainly for the water pumps to cool the fuel in its six shut-down reactors as well as its spent fuel. Another 13 EDGs are in standby mode, with the plant continuing to alternate the ones in use to carry out necessary servicing.

Safety systems: Zaporizhzhia’s safety systems continue to be in operation for all reactor units and spent fuel pools to maintain nuclear safety.

The IAEA team at the plant has also continued to report that there has been no increase in the temperatures within the coolant in the reactors or the spent fuel pools, indicating that the nuclear fuel continues to be cooled effectively and that nuclear safety is currently maintained.

IAEA check: Over the past week, the team conducted a walkdown of the site and observed the EDGs in operation as well as all essential service sprinkler ponds, which provide cooling for the six shut-down reactors and spent fuel pools. The team noted that all were full and operating; they also performed radiation monitoring, confirming that radiation levels were normal for the site.

According to the IAEA, while the loss of off-site power remains in focus, the team is also monitoring other aspects of nuclear safety and security.

Earlier this month, team members met with the plant’s Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) Department. The team reported that the site’s EPR plan was approved, and it had been deemed effective in September. Meanwhile, the team learned that the plant had established a new off-site emergency facility in the nearby town of Enerhodar, as the former off-site facility was inaccessible due to its location on the other side of the conflict’s front line. The new off-site emergency facility serves as a backup to the temporary on-site emergency center, as the original on-site center remains unavailable. The temporary on-site center receives the same plant data, ensuring continuity in emergency coordination if needed, the IAEA said.

Recent actions: During the third week of October, the IAEA team visited the six pumping stations located at the Zaporizhzhia channel that was recently isolated from the cooling pond and that supplies water for the cooling of several plant systems. The team assessed equipment status and operability and confirmed that key pumps supporting service water, fire protection, and the common EDG cooling were functioning as needed.

The water level in the channel is still approximately two meters above the minimum for the pumps to be able to operate. Meanwhile, the team is still reporting that military activities continue at various distances from the site, according to the IAEA.

Elsewhere, the Chernobyl site remains disconnected from the 330-kV power line, following reports in early October that military strikes had damaged a nearby electrical substation, leading to a partial blackout of the site’s New Safe Confinement (NSC). The site has since successfully tested the EDGs that supply the NSC, confirming their readiness in case of a future loss of power.

“Fuel reserves are sufficient for over 10 days of EDG operation, with additional diesel fuel ordered to strengthen contingency capacity,” the IAEA said on October 15.

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TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS, Monday, (10/20/2025)

About Today’s Nuclear News and How it Works:

There are 7 categories, including a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcano and caldera activity around the world that also play an important role in the survival of human and other life.

The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). If there was no news from a Category today, the Category will not appear. The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War Threats
Nuclear War
Yellowstone Caldera
IAEA News (Friday’s only)

A current Digest of major nuclear media headlines with automated links is listed below by nuclear Category (in the above listed order). If a Category heading does not appear in the daily news Digest, it means there was no news reported from this Category today. Generally, the three best articles in each Category from around the nuclear world(s) are Posted. Occasionally, if a Post is important enough, it may be listed in multiple Categories.

Today’s Nuclear World News

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Trump admin furloughs majority of top nuclear weapons staff amid shutdown – POLITICO Pro

POLITICO Pro

About 1400 NNSA employees are being furloughed, with about 375 … all words in that order with nothing in between. Search will capture …

The US in brief: The judiciary’s funding crunch | Latest US politics news from The Economist

The Economist

From Monday to Thursday we’ll quiz you on all things American. Last week Mr Trump authorised the CIA to conduct “covert” missions in Venezuela …

Semiconductor sales could approach $1T by 2027, BofA says (NVDA:NASDAQ)

Seeking Alpha

Amid surging demand related to all things artificial intelligence … Terrestrial Energy – Is This SPAC Merger About To Go Nuclear? IPO …

The Bunker Ready to Shelter Trump in a Nuclear Catastrophe – Indian Defence Review

Indian Defence Review

In a nuclear attack, President Trump would reportedly be relocated to … threats over North America. General Gregory Guillot, the current …

Trump claims trade threats prevented India-Pakistan war – Daijiworld.com

Daijiworld

And they were going at it. That could have been a nuclear war,” Trump said, adding that his trade threats “settled the war.” The former president …

Federal agency overseeing US nuclear stockpile will furlough most of its workforce starting Monday

CNN

“But the day-to-day rhythm of federal oversight, the approvals and monitoring of these contractors, keeping everything on track, will grind to a halt …

DOE Lays out Roadmap to Bring Nuclear Fusion to Market – RTO Insider

RTO Insider

“And I’ve had the political challenge to sell ‘not everything,’” he said. “In fact, there’s things we spend money on today that we should spend more …

Perspective: Where will you go when it’s five minutes to midnight? | Northern Public Radio

Northern Public Radio

Weekend All Things Considered. Next Up: 5:00 PM The Moth Radio Hour. 0:00 … Given Nuremberg’s proximity to the Iron Curtain, it is baffling that the …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

US nuclear stockpile agency to layoff hundreds as shutdown continues – BBC

BBC

The energy department said NNSA’s Office of Secure Transportation, responsible for transporting nuclear weapons, had enough funding to operate until …

Army’s Janus Program to boost advanced nuclear reactors

American Nuclear Society

The U.S. Army is moving forward with additional advanced reactor programs—building on multiple military efforts already underway as well as a …

US judge issues major ruling as nuclear power plant is dismantled: ‘A real step backward’

Yahoo

A federal judge ruled that a company dismantling a nuclear power plant doesn’t need to follow New York law as it disposes radioactive waste.