In order to keep abreast of the weekend nuclear news, I will post Saturday and Sunday’s news, but without editorial comment. If a weekend story warrants a critical review, it will show up on Monday’s posts . . .
If you are not familiar with the weekday daily blog post, this is how the nuclear news post works . . . llaw
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA”:
There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. 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). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There is one Yellowstone Caldera bonus story available on this weekend’s Saturday Post.)
IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
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.
He has reported from all fifty states, five continents, and ten wars, from El Salvador to Sarajevo to Afghanistan and Iraq. His books have chronicled …
All Things Considered · Book Public · Fronteras · Golden Pennies · The Lonely … Iranian officials immediately rebuffed the gesture and, on Friday, met …
An undated picture released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 16, 2017 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspecting a launch of the medium-and-long range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 at an undisclosed location. KCNA VIA KNS / AFP
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS of TODAY with the RISKS and CONSEQUENCES of TOMORROW
In My Opinion:
And the huge mistake(s) Trump has made in his frivolous thoughtless call for nuclear weapons policy and control are destroying the world’s trust in not only Trump, which was predictable, but the United States as a free world nation. He is also the laughing stock of Russia.
The following paragraph is the opening paragraph from the “Foreign Policy” article just below. It is pointedly accurate in my estimation and, just one more reason among many that Trump is incapable and perhaps unwilling to believe in or follow the doctrine(s) and policies, including foreign policies, of the United States of America’s democratic republic . . . ~llaw
U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent foreign-policy moves have alienated the country’s traditional allies in Europe while stirring glee in Moscow. While it’s a catastrophic development for Ukrainian security and democracy, this paradigmatic shift portends much larger risks for global security. The most pressing is the threat of rampant nuclear proliferation that the Trump administration’s actions will elicit. ~ Debak Das and Rachel A. Epstein
An Unreliable America Means More Countries Want the Bomb
Without credible U.S. security guarantees, nuclear proliferation is likely to increase rapidly across Europe and Asia.
By Debak Das, an assistant professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, and Rachel A. Epstein, a professor of international relations at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.
An undated picture released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 16, 2017 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspecting a launch of the medium-and-long range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 at an undisclosed location.
An undated picture released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 16, 2017 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspecting a launch of the medium-and-long range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 at an undisclosed location. KCNA VIA KNS / AFP
U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent foreign-policy moves have alienated the country’s traditional allies in Europe while stirring glee in Moscow. While it’s a catastrophic development for Ukrainian security and democracy, this paradigmatic shift portends much larger risks for global security. The most pressing is the threat of rampant nuclear proliferation that the Trump administration’s actions will elicit.
While on the surface it might seem as though a warmer relationship between two of the world’s largest nuclear powers could reduce the risk of nuclear war, the opposite is true. We are on the precipice of a global turn toward nuclear instability, in which many countries will be newly incentivized to build their own arsenals, increasing the risk of nuclear use, terrorist subversion, and accidental launch. Countries like South Korea, Japan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia are all so-called nuclear latent states that could potentially build nuclear weapons quickly—as are Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands.
For the last eight decades, the United States has served as a security guarantor to many countries in both Europe and Asia. Trump insists that Washington has received the short end of the stick from these arrangements, since it was the U.S. nuclear arsenal that served as the ultimate deterrent in defense of the United States’ allies. The massive upside of U.S. security guarantees, however, including for Americans, has been the astonishing containment of nuclear proliferation elsewhere.
Only nine countries around the world have nuclear weapons today: the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan, and North Korea. (South Africa gave up its nuclear weapons and then signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1991.) Today, 190 countries are parties to the treaty, which went into effect in 1970. The only non-signatory states are India, Israel, Pakistan, and South Sudan. (North Korea withdrew from the treaty in 2003 to pursue its nuclear weapons program.)
Many countries signed the NPT because of U.S. assurances about their security—what is commonly known as the nuclear umbrella. These countries include NATO members in Europe (such as Germany, Italy, and Belgium), along with other U.S. allies like Japan and South Korea. When Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus inherited a large number of nuclear weapons and delivery systems in the early 1990s after the Soviet Union collapsed, U.S. security assurances helped convince them to give up their nuclear weapons.
The confinement of this deadly technology to relatively few countries has been a massive boon to global security and allowed for much greater prosperity. Without U.S. security assurances, the world might have been far more insecure, with several additional nuclear weapons states across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Nuclear safety and inadvertent escalation concerns about the possession of nuclear weapons mean that we might even have seen potential nuclear use—deliberate or accidental—which would have had catastrophic consequences.
U.S. security guarantees, long perceived as highly credible, have been a pillar of the global nonproliferation regime that has reduced the likelihood of nuclear war and nuclear accidents, and allowed countries to devote resources to other purposes—including economic prosperity.
The credibility of the U.S. nuclear umbrella has now been shattered by Trump. Why would NATO allies in Europe—recent targets of intense criticism by the Trump administration—believe that the United States would stand by them in the case of a nuclear threat from Russia?
Among U.S. allies threatened by China or North Korea’s nuclear weapons, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea are undoubtedly asking themselves this same question. The broader concern here is that even if just one of these European or East Asian allies decides to secure themselves by building their own nuclear weapons, there might be a domino effect leading to several more nuclear states. This would sound the death knell of the nuclear nonproliferation regime.
There may be higher risks of nuclear proliferation in Asia than in Europe because both France and the U.K. have nuclear arsenals that could provide extended deterrence to NATO. Even in Europe, however, political conditions are concerning. The parties garnering the second-most popular support today in France, Germany, and Poland are all right-wing nationalists. Marine Le Pen, who could potentially become the next French president, recently said that France should not share the country’s nuclear weapons, “let alone delegate” their use to other European countries.
There have also been calls for Germany to recommit to civilian nuclear research, with the aim of developing its ability to build nuclear weapons. Poland is also considering its nuclear options. The stability of the erstwhile European security architecture that used to be upheld by the promise of U.S. nuclear assurances is now rapidly fraying and giving way to a path of nuclear proliferation on the continent.Subscribed
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO LLAW’s ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA
There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. 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). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War Threats
Nuclear War
Yellowstone Caldera & Other Volcanoes (Note: There are no Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in today’s Post.)
IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
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.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful. While Iran has maintained it would not negotiate under threat, its economy has been savaged by the US …
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has been to Niger this week for high-level meetings with Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine and other senior officials to enhance support for the country through the peaceful uses of nuclear technology for mining, water management and cancer care. Read more →
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts have confirmed that the tritium concentration in the 11th batch of diluted ALPS treated water, which the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) began discharging on 12 March, is far below Japan’s operational limit. Read more →
International interest is increasing in molten salt reactors, because they have the potential to provide large amounts of efficient and cost-effective electricity and produce high-temperature process heat usable for various industrial applications. Read more →
See the Newsweek article below for description and photo credits ~llaw
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS of TODAY with the RISKS and CONSEQUENCES of TOMORROW
In My Opinion:
We often hear the phrase, “Accidents happen”, and this one — South Korea military accidentally bombing its own village a few miles south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between South and North Korea is proof that accidents could start a war. Perhaps even a nuclear one considering the friction between the two countries, one of them allied with the USA, the other one with Russia.
In the Korean case the small mistake might be brushed off with little potential hard feelings since no one was killed, but the incident reminds me of an old poem back in Benjamin Franklin’s day that should be seriously considered when there is so much animosity between world nations around the globe right along with unreasonable corporate commercial money-crazed nuclear power proliferation, both of which have the potential to, in just a few hours, eliminate all human and most animal life on the planet.
The old poetic proverb goes like this:
“For want of a nail, the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost.
For want of a horse, the rider was lost.
For want of a rider, the battle was lost.
For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a nail.”
The need for a replacement horseshoe nail, perhaps misplaced or lost by a blacksmith or his helper illustrates how important a small insignificant mistake or accident can be in the more grand scheme of things.
We all know we have had many extremely serious accidents with nuclear energy power plants, and also not-so-well-known, but telling, nuclear military accidents over the years, and anyone who believes that nuclear accidents will not continue, and more often, now that we have become an “all things nuclear world” that has been insanely endorsed and is rapidly growing, along with nuclear weapons of mass destruction, prolifically in several directions, both commercially and militarily, like a spider’s web that we will not or cannot escape from.
I say “insanely” because we are sentient humans with human intelligence, yet as a species we seem to have no common sense, but rather a thoughtlessly blind desire to destroy ourselves. ~llaw
North Korea Puts Out ‘First Nuclear War’ Warning
Published Mar 12, 2025 at 2:04 PM EDT Updated Mar 12, 2025 at 7:35 PM EDT
01:17
North Korea Launches Several Ballistic Missiles after US Drills
North Korea has issued a warning against sparking “the world’s first nuclear war” in the wake of last week’s accidental bombing of a South Korean border village.
Newsweek reached out to the Pentagon and the South Korean Embassy in the U.S. by email for comment.
Why It Matters
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest in decades following North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his regime’s continued ballistic missile tests, the collapse of a 2018 North-South military pact last year, and North Korea’s deployment of troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Pyongyang has frequently cited U.S. joint military activities with its South Korean ally, including a major ongoing annual exercise, as justification for expanding its United Nations-sanctioned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
A man watches a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul, South Korea, on March 10, 2025. Jung Yon-Je/AFP via Getty Images
What To Know
On Thursday, a pair of South Korean KF-16 fighter jets accidentally dropped eight bombs about 5 miles before reaching their target—onto a South Korean village, injuring 31 people and damaging more than 150 houses.
Officials blamed human error, saying one pilot had input the wrong strike coordinates before taking off. The second pilot’s reason for dropping his payload too early is under investigation.
The incident occurred only about 15 miles south of the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a North Korean state media outlet, on Wednesday hit out over the incident, noting how close it had come to sparking an even more dangerous situation.
“There is no need to explain how the situation would have developed if a bomb had been dropped toward the north a little further to cross the border of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” the statement read, using North Korea’s official name.
“It is not unreasonable to imagine that an accidental spark might plunge the Korean peninsula and the region and the rest of the world into a new armed conflict.”
The outlet linked the explosions to the U.S.-South Korean Freedom Edge military exercise, which American and South Korean military forces are carrying out with an eye toward the North Korean threat.
Such drills are “dangerous” and threaten to plunge the region into “the world’s first nuclear war,” KCNA said.
What People Are Saying
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a March 6 statement: “The Republic of Korea [South Korea] and the United States have identified realistic threats such as the North Korean military’s strategy, tactics, and changes in power derived from Russia-North Korean military cooperation and analysis of various armed conflicts. This will be reflected in the [Freedom Shield] scenario to enhance the combined defense posture and response capability of the ROK-U.S. alliance.
What Happens Next
South Korean authorities have apologized for the shelling and pledged to compensate those affected.
Freedom Edge 25 will continue to run until March 20 as scheduled. However, live-fire drills have been suspended in light of the accident.Subscribed
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO LLAW’s ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA
There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. 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). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War Threats
Nuclear War
Yellowstone Caldera & Other Volcanoes (Note: There are three Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in today’s Post.)
IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
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.
Michel Martin is the weekend host of All Things Considered, where she draws on her deep reporting and interviewing experience to dig in to the week’s …
President Andrzej Duda also told the newspaper he had discussed the proposal recently with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and …
See image in the attached article for description and image credits ~llaw
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS of TODAY with the RISKS and CONSEQUENCES of TOMORROW
In My Opinion:
Saving face?
Trump has been backing down daily on his ridiculous “”tariffs” demands, especially from Canada, and now he may actually be serious about “hoping” Putin and his Kremlin agree to a one-month Russia/Ukraine ceasefire and then an end to the war. (Russia has already broken the cease fire agreement, by the way, according to Zelenskyy).
But, for the sake of the Ukraine people and their future, I sincerely hope that this war will end promptly, not only for Ukraine’s sake, but also to provide some relaxation by all nations directly or indirectly involved in the recent Trump-caused nuclear proliferation discussions. The flurry of non-nuclear nations considering building their own nuclear weapons arsenal began because they don’t trust Trump to continue honoring America’s free-world ability and obligation to help defend NATO and other non-nuclear armed countries with nuclear deterrence, which is presently the only way to avoid the possibility of global nuclear war.
My fingers are crossed, and I hope yours are too. ~llaw
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2nd L) and US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (L) after meeting a Ukrainian delegation in Jeddah on March 11, 2025 (POOL/AFP/Getty)
US President Donald Trump said a peace deal is “up to Russia now”, but Moscow sources say Russian president Vladimir Putin finds the 30-day ceasefire agreement between Washington and Kyiv and “difficult to accept”.
Officials from Ukraine and the US yesterday agreed on the ceasefire, alongside a restoration of US military aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine, during talks in Saudi Arabia.
Moscow would need to hash out the terms of the ceasefire and obtain some form of security guarantees, a senior source told Reuters. “It is difficult for Putin to agree to this in its current form,” the source said, adding that “Putin has a strong position because Russia is advancing.”
Speaking in a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday, Mr Zelensky said he has “no trust” in Russia. “I have emphasised this many times, none of us trust the Russians,” he said.
Kyiv supports the Trump administration’s push for peace as soon as possible, Mr Zelensky added, and sees the resumption of US military aid and intelligence sharing as very positive.
It comes after US secretary of state Marco Rubio – who was part of the delegation in Saudi Arabia – told reporters in Ireland that US and Russia will discuss the agreement today.
‘It’s a strong check’ Zelensky’s camp upbeat on ceasefire deal
A source close to the Ukrainian government said the mood in the Zelensky camp after the talks was upbeat and that there was a feeling Russia had been caught off guard by the ceasefire proposal.
“It’s a strong check on the chess board,” the source said.
A former senior Ukrainian security official who requested anonymity said things had so far developed predictably in terms of a phased peace process.
“However, it is likely that Russia will derail the agreement, and we will have to watch the American reaction. The Russians may offend Trump with their outbursts. And then we will have a chance for strong arms assistance.”
Barney Davis12 March 2025 20:30Subscribed
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO LLAW’s ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA
There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. 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). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War Threats
Nuclear War
Yellowstone Caldera & Other Volcanoes (Note: There is one Yellowstone Caldera bonus story available in today’s Post.)
IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
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.
Oddly, only 3 categories have media stories today, but that does not mean things are getting better . . .
… 207K views · 13:49 · Go to channel · 7 Cybersecurity Tips NOBODY Tells You (but are EASY to do). All Things Secured•1.4M views · 27:12 · Go to channel …
The nations don’t need nuclear weapons to deter adversaries from a nuclear attack … During the Cold War, the United States deployed nuclear weapons in …
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS of TODAY with the RISKS and CONSEQUENCES of TOMORROW
In My Opinion:
This is my 3rd consecutive daily post regarding Trump’s huge mistake of frightening other free world NATO and other countries. Until Trump arrived for the second time around, these countries relied on the United States to help keep them safe from nuclear war, but his proposed nuclear arms policies have boomeranged into a typical Trump miscalculation that could spread never before considered proliferation of nuclear weapons of mass destruction. These proliferation, and nuclear arms along potential nuclear war articles, including potential conflicts with Iran, North Korea, and other countries are creating an international mistrust of Trump — and therefore, by association, the United States of America, also meaning you and me.
There are other stories that I have skipped over due to time and space on this and earlier blog posts, and there is one in particular from “Forbes” in TODAY’s NUCLEAR WORLD’s NEWS listings below that is in a video format that I chose not to use, but because it is from Steve Forbes himself, expressing his own major concern about Trump’s actions causing unwanted nuclear proliferation I am posting the link just below to make it easy for you to watch and listen to what Forbes has to say:
Trump is also out of control on all domestic fronts, as we are all quickly learning, evidently in the process into turning the United States of America into what amounts to a 3rd-world country occupied by the new USSR. ~llaw
A 2017 ballistic missile test by the South Korean military. South Korea may be the non-nuclear U.S. ally that is closest to building its own nuclear weapons. South Korea Defense Ministry via NUR
U.S. allies around the world are warming to the idea of developing their own nuclear weapons, the result of a growing sense that U.S. President Donald Trump may abandon key international security commitments and alliances, former senior defense and White House officials told Defense One.
Decades of nonproliferation efforts to persuade countries to forgo nuclear weapons, work led by the United States through security guarantees, are on the verge of collapse, the officials said. Should one or two nations launch nuclear projects, others will quickly follow. That could provoke a military response from Russia or China, which might touch off yet more nuclear development in a self-reinforcing, destabilizing cycle.
What’s changed in the last two weeks?
“The Trump administration’s approach to Ukraine and Russia has significantly undercut allied confidence in the United States, including on extended [nuclear] deterrence,” Eric Brewer, a former director for counterproliferation at the National Security Council. “Not only is [Trump] pivoting away from allies but he’s seemingly pivoting toward Russia.”
The shift has shaken U.S. allies. France—the only NATO member with a nuclear arsenal that doesn’t depend on U.S. technology—hastened to shore up European deterrence by proposing to extend its nuclear “umbrella” to other countries.
“I have decided to open the strategic debate on the protection of our European continental allies through our deterrence,” French President Emmanuel Macron said last week.
Leaders from Berlin to the Baltics quickly praised the idea.
German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz on Sunday said, “We should talk with both countries [France and Britain], always also from the perspective of supplementing the American nuclear shield, which we of course want to see maintained.”
But the French proposal leaves many questions unanswered. If France is to convince other nations to huddle under its nuclear umbrella, said one former senior White House senior official who worked on nuclear issues, Paris will need to launch a diplomatic campaign and be willing to share a great deal more information, including classified information, about nuclear decision-making and capabilities—much as the United States did in the 1960s.
In the past, similar proposals have led NATO allies to begin talks, but they collapsed over issues such as who would control the weapons, a former senior defense official said.
“There’s just a lot of questions here about what the French are offering, whether they may really be willing to provide a dual key with Germany for weapons if they put them on German territory for instance. I suspect not,” they said.
Indeed, soon after his initial announcement, Macron clarified that France would not share its warheads with other countries.
Uncertainty
France’s nuclear arsenal of about 290 warheads is larger than Britain’s (under 225) but far smaller than Russia’s (nearly 6,000). Neither has Russia’s diversity of warhead sizes and delivery systems. The U.K.’s small and expensive nuclear submarine fleet is undergoing modernization. France has air-launched cruise missiles. Russia has land-based mobile launchers, siloed ICBMs, bombers, and submarines.
There’s a reason Europe made no attempt to keep up with Russia’s weapons development. Western Europe has always relied on the vast U.S. arsenal to deter Russia.
But, the former senior defense official explained, France had a different deterrence strategy: hold just one or two major targets, like Moscow or St. Petersburg, in jeopardy.
The U.S. idea “was that we were going to develop counter-force capability”—that is, weapons to disable or destroy an enemy’s nuclear capability—“try and take out Soviet weapon systems, command and control, leadership; and try and not go after cities if we could avoid it. The French have never had that kind of compunction. The basis of their strategy was ‘tear an arm off the bear.’ They never thought they could really take on the entire Soviet nuclear force.”
In other words, Paris and London can’t destroy Russia’s ability to wage nuclear war—even enough of it to prevent the obliteration of both countries and more of Europe as well. That isn’t particularly reassuring to European leaders who believe that their countries would be a secondary priority for France should Russia attack.
That may be why Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday that his country must “reach for opportunities related to nuclear weapons”—perhaps hinting at launching its own development effort.
Proliferation triggers
But the real trigger for a new arms race may sit outside of Europe, the officials warned.
All of the former officials we spoke to said that South Korea is the U.S. ally that is furthest along in pursuing a new nuclear weapons program. The country feels “the most pressure right now,” said the former senior White House official. That’s true across South Korea’s political elites, including “the opposition party that may win the next election.”
Should Seoul start hunting for the fuel to build such a device, Tokyo would likely launch a program of its own, they said, since Japan and South Korea are not treaty allies but do have hundreds of years of conflict history.
“I find it hard to believe you’d see a Japan-and-South Korea joint nuclear weapons development project,” said the former senior defense official.
All the officials we spoke to agreed that if one nation starts a nuclear-weapon program, others will likely do so as well.
“Proliferation will beget more proliferation,” said the former senior White House official.
Trump’s recent talk of abandoning treaty allies is not the only change that may push other nations toward nuclearization. He has also hinted that he might withdraw U.S. troops from certain countries, such as Japan or European nations. This would remove a “tripwire” that helps deter foreign attack, the former senior defense official said, and would cause a host government to consider new ways to deter attack on its own.
Subscribed
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO LLAW’s ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA
There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. 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). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War Threats
Nuclear War
Yellowstone Caldera & Other Volcanoes (Note: There are two Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in today’s Post.)
IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
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.
Oddly, only 3 categories have media stories today, but that does not mean things are getting better . . .
Trump, in his first term, attempted efforts to throw a life-line to cash-strapped coal and nuclear power plants, including a plan to invoke emergency …
NBC News claims that about 6,000 miles away, in the Long Valley Caldera, a volcano in eastern California that is next to Mammoth Mountain, geologists …
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS of TODAY with the RISKS and CONSEQUENCES of TOMORROW
In My Opinion:
This brand new global nuclear weapons problem, created by Donald J. Trump, is exactly what we discussed on Friday’s “LLAW’s All Things Nuclear” Post: That Trump’s far-right-wing politics (article below), cuddling up with Russia’s Putin, and leaving Ukraine the rest of the free world blowing in the wind, as well as his call to “denuclearize” nuclear weapons —and who knows how that can ever be accomplished? — could, in a world of reality, increase the proliferation of nuclear weapons rather than “denuclearize” anything at all for any reason anywhere.
So, it is easy to see why the free world nations that once relied on the USA to protect them, such as Poland and South Korea and others, perhaps including Ukraine which gave up its large arsenal of nuclear weapons in exchange for peace, now believe they have to build their own inventory of nuclear weapons of mass destruction in order to protect themselves, when they once believed that the US would help protect them . . . ~llaw
It is no coincidence that Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland openly raised the possibility that his country may need to arm itself with nuclear weapons. Both major parties in South Korea are doing the same. This is a response to what is happening in Washington, where the Trump administration is renovating America’s post-World War II grand strategy, tossing aside hard-built alliances, norms on global trade, and much else. Coercive tariff threats, territorial expansionist rhetoric, and expressions of trans-national far-right political solidarity are in. Liberal values and support for what American presidents once described as a “rules-based order” are out. Trump has openly said that allies can no longer reliably count on America, or its nuclear forces, as their ultimate security guarantor. Tusk’s willingness to consider a nuclear arsenal should therefore not be surprising. Indeed, other American alliesaround the world are considering the same, as well as alternative nuclear-sharing agreements that once seemed fanciful. This will be the potential price of gutting American extended deterrence commitments, the most successful nonproliferation tool the United States has had for three-quarters of a century.
Preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, to friend and foe alike, has been a core bipartisan pillar of American foreign policy for decades. Perhaps some Trump administration officials greeted Tusk’s announcement warmly. Indeed, it is no secret that President Donald Trump himself and some of his prominent advisors have shrugged at the prospect of nuclear proliferation, despite the president’s open discomfort with nuclear weapons and his musings about nuclear disarmament as a part of a deal with Russia and China. To be sure, proliferation to American allies might mean big savings on the peacetime costs of forward deployed troops and avoiding entanglement in crises in far-flung theaters.
However, welcoming more nuclear-armed countries, even if they are friends of the United States, threatens core American interests. Trump’s “America First” instincts rely on and relish unrestrained American power and primacy. As such, Trump may find that the longstanding American interest in nonproliferation actually serves his worldview rather than compromises it. Allies with nuclear weapons will complicate America’s ability to exercise its power. They’re more likely to chart independent, possibly oppositional political and economic policies. And perhaps counter-intuitively, they might make it more likely that the United States gets dragged into a nuclear crisis or war.
The Real Costs of Nonproliferation to American Power
While U.S. policy makers in the post-Cold War decades focused global nonproliferation attention on countries other than allies — notably India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Iran — the looming shifts in a U.S. grand strategy that may bring America home have, in recent years, put the focus on allies. Until now these allies, including South Korea, Japan, Germany, and Poland, have been able to forswear nuclear weapons because they were ultimately shielded by the American nuclear umbrella.
Early in the Cold War, following the advent of nuclear weapons, the United States did not intuitively grasp the reasons why nuclear proliferation to its friends would harm its interests. It was only in the early 1960s, after France sought a nuclear weapons capability to assert its independence from the United States and NATO’s nuclear deterrent mission, that Washington began to really introspect on the value of nonproliferation for its own interests.
The United States worked hard during the Cold War to prevent proliferation — not just by its adversaries but also its allies. A combination of security commitments, forward-positioning of U.S. conventional and nuclear weapons, and a lattice-work of dialogues, exercises, and information sharing agreements formed the heart of a U.S. strategy that “extended” deterrence to what is now more than 30 allies. Rendering this credible was a constant effort for the United States. This was especially true at the height of the Cold War and has become more pertinent recently amid growing threat perceptions in Europe and Northeast Asia alike.
This strategy, backed by a large U.S. nuclear arsenal, a flexible nuclear posture, and an explicit political commitment to extend these tools to the defense of Europe, let the allies safely focus on other ventures. European democracies focused on economic growth and trade and the well-being of their citizens, enabled by U.S. aid. In turn, these actions stimulated the U.S. economy, creating a massive long-term marketplace for U.S. producers. The commitments Washington undertook made nuclear weapons acquisition by allies and partners unnecessary, and rather than pursuing expensive, dangerous nuclear weapons programs, allies agreed to maintain a non-nuclear status and built wealth instead.
The origins of what became an enduring strategic preference for nonproliferation at the time had little to do with high-minded ideas about liberal internationalism, political solidarity with democracies, or values. It was good for American security interests. The spread of nuclear weapons, U.S. policymakers observed, would only serve to limit America’s freedom of action in the international system and endanger U.S. interests. Simply put: Nuclear proliferation to both allies and adversaries dilutes the privileges of power the United States enjoys.
‘America First’ Needs Nonproliferation
In the contemporary context, this quite literally means that pursuing a grand strategy that seeks to place ‘America First’ at the heart of U.S. statecraft should prize nonproliferation. Most importantly, allied proliferation complicates America’s ability to exercise its hard power, limiting the privileges of primacy that Trump so relishes.
First, in practical terms, allies today that consider building their own nuclear arsenals need to contend with the strategic and technical barriers to actually doing so. Ukraine, Poland, South Korea, and even Taiwan all would face the potential of an explicit renunciation of U.S. protection or assurances if they chose to pursue nuclear weapons. While some in these states may argue this is today’s status quo with the Trump administration’s approach to alliances, they would face the problem of vulnerability to attack as they sought to build the bomb. Reprocessing and enrichment facilities will be hardly invulnerable to attack, and their adversaries — Russia, China, and North Korea — will have ample incentive to consider sabotage, conventional air strikes, or worse. Russian, Chinese, or North Korean attempts to kill our proliferation-curious allies to stop them from getting there could drag us into a major conflict, as they would certainly threaten the stability of the global economy and thus American interests.
Second, even with friendly countries that might successfully proliferate, the actions they take after acquiring nuclear weapons may force Washington to intervene in crises or wars against its own interests. For instance, an ally may force a U.S. president to step in and prevent dangerous nuclear signaling or use, as has been the case in the past with the United Kingdom, France, and Israel in 1956; Israel in 1973; and India and Pakistan after 1998.
A newly emboldened but still weaker nuclear-armed ally or partner may try to provoke a major U.S. adversary, pulling the United States into a crisis as a mediator, or worse. With more nuclear-armed states, the intersection of crises that may implicate U.S. interests with nuclear weapons uncontrolled by Washington becomes far more likely. In a world of reduced U.S. influence on multiple, skittish new nuclear decision-making centers in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, or elsewhere, states are less likely to consider Washington’s opinion before engaging in nuclear threat-making — or use — to address local grievances or right historical wrongs.
This would hardly serve an ‘America First’ world. The potential for metastasizing nuclear crises assuredly contradict the goal of the “strategic prioritization” that former and incoming officials support.
In addition to diminishing American power, further proliferation anywhere — especially by prosperous, democratic allies of the United States, like South Korea — is likely to beget further proliferation everywhere. While some U.S. officials may be comfortable with a nuclear South Korea, they should ask whether they are comfortable with all that may follow in total — such as Japan, Taiwan, Poland, Saudi Arabia, all supporters of today’s nonproliferation regime. Should this dam break, the United States’ relative power and influence stands to decline. And Trump’s dreams of a denuclearization pact with Russia and China will be completely out of reach in a world where multiple new nuclear aspirants emerge. Keeping ‘America First’ in that world becomes a lot more challenging. Keeping nuclear use from occurring, and potentially embroiling the United States, an ally, or other economic partner in a conflict, becomes much more unpredictable.
The history of nuclear proliferation suggests that any decisions to shelter or encourage allied proliferation are likely to be permanent. With the exception of South Africa, no other state — not even Ukraine, which never had control over the weapons on its territory — has ever relinquished its nuclear weapons. Despite the remarkable success of the United States in leading nonproliferation efforts worldwide, the proliferation genie does not easily reenter its bottle. The acquisition of nuclear weapons is a lasting mark on international politics, and America’s freedom to maneuver, even if by “friendly states.”
Compared to these potential costs, the administration should tread carefully as it seeks to revise longstanding compacts with its treaty allies around the world. While Trump reels at the peacetime costs of sustaining forward-deployed conventional forces in Europe and Asia, seeing them as evidence of the United States being taken for a ride, the alternatives could be far more costly to the United States. Unleashing a cascade of nuclear proliferation, or rebuilding American economic strength in the aftermath of nuclear conflicts, would be far more expensive than sustaining the U.S. extended deterrence approach.
The surest way for the “crazy” power of nuclear weapons to boomerang back at the United States — constraining our freedom of action and potentially chain-ganging us into conflicts we seek to avoid — is for Washington to actively dismantle the extended nuclear deterrence architecture it so carefully crafted over three-quarters of a century, which managed to keep new allies from getting the bomb. In addition to reinstalling the software of extended deterrence, in order to prevent allied proliferation, the United States may have to make adjustments to the size or composition of its own deployed nuclear force posture. This will ensure that its hardware remains credible for deterrence, as well as assurance — some degree of vertical proliferation may be necessary to stanch the threat of horizontal proliferation, an oft lost point.
The post-Cold War conflation of nuclear nonproliferation with the so-called liberal order was understandable given the geopolitical context of the 1990s, but for the United States, is largely ahistorical. If Trump wants to pursue a grand strategic project with the goal of keeping ‘America First’, nuclear nonproliferation — not just by adversaries but also by allies — is an essential pillar.
Ankit Panda is the Stanton senior fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the host of Thinking the Unthinkable for War on the Rocks.
Vipin Narang is the Frank Stanton professor of nuclear security and political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served as acting assistant secretary of defense responsible for nuclear deterrence policy during the Biden administration.
Pranay Vaddi is the senior nuclear fellow at the Center for Nuclear Security Policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He recently served as President Joe Biden’s senior director for arms control, disarmament, and nonproliferation on the National Security Council.
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO LLAW’s ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA
There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. 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). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
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Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
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.
Oddly, only 3 categories have media stories today, but that does not mean things are getting better . . .
Iran’s UN mission says its open to limited talks over “militarization” of its nuclear program. … Weekend All Things Considered. Next Up: 6:00 PM Snap …
In order to keep abreast of the weekend nuclear news, I will post Saturday and Sunday’s news, but without editorial comment. If a weekend story warrants a critical review, it will show up on Monday’s posts . . .
If you are not familiar with the weekday daily blog post, this is how the nuclear news post works . . . llaw
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA”:
There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. 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). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are two Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available on this weekend’s Post.)
IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
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.
In order to keep abreast of the weekend nuclear news, I will post Saturday and Sunday’s news, but without editorial comment. If a weekend story warrants a critical review, it will show up on Monday’s posts . . .
If you are not familiar with the weekday daily blog post, this is how the nuclear news post works . . . llaw
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA”:
There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. 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). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There is one Yellowstone Caldera bonus story available on this weekend’s Post.)
IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
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.
Jack Otter and the ‘Barron’s Roundtable’ panelists discuss what factors are propelling the revival of nuclear energy in the United States. The U.S. is …
… electric power grid is another focus of Trump’s energy emergency declaration. … power plants that run on coal, natural gas and possibly nuclear fuel.
Worse, a massive strike on Iranian nuclear and military sites will effectively kill any future attempts at diplomacy between the West and Tehran. The …
Israel and Hamas at War · Japan · Middle East · Ukraine and Russia at War … Russia and the United States are the world’s biggest nuclear powers, with …
(See Newsweek article below for description and photo credits ~llaw)
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS of TODAY with the RISKS and CONSEQUENCES of TOMORROW
In My Opinion:
No ally or enemy trusts Donald Trump. He is an unpredictable pathological liar that no country can rely on — including his own. He often twists or refutes himself concerning policies, recommendations, decisions, and whatever else comes out of his mouth, unpredictably altering his already questionable versions of “truths” to something completely contradictory.
So, if he says something like, let’s “denuclarize” or calls for “denuclarization” others would guess at best that he would mean only them and their country, which, in reality, might actually increase the nuclear world’s weapons. And then there is also the question of “what about nuclear power plants”.
And by-the-way, “denuclarize” or “denuclarization” weren’t even non-standard recognized English dictionary words until February 3rd of this year, and essentially therefore have no established common meaning other than the “act of removing nuclear weapons from someplace”, without even a concept of how such project would be accomplished. ~llaw
Nuclear Warning for Donald Trump
Published Mar 07, 2025 at 5:00 AM EST Updated Mar 07, 2025 at 3:30 PM EST
Although President Donald Trump has said he wants to get rid of nuclear weapons, the uncertainty he is creating over global alliances has made it likely more countries will consider them, nuclear weapons experts say.
The risk is of a new wave of nuclear proliferation, with a larger number of nuclear powers increasing the chance of either intentional or accidental use of atomic weapons—if not World War III.
“Many of the countries that earlier decided to forego the nuclear weapons option did so precisely because of the protection provided by the United States and alliances,” said Elena Sokova, executive director of the nonprofit Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation.
“I’m first and most concerned about the developments among the United States and Europe, the traditional partners, but in the same way in Asia. Asia-Pacific is also feeling the pressure and also concerns about the reliability of the alliances.”
A State Department spokesperson told Newsweek: “The United States has long worked to prevent additional states from acquiring nuclear weapons.”
“America’s commitments to the defense of our allies are unwavering, and we continue to consult closely with allies and partners to maintain and strengthen extended deterrence. America’s allies have repeatedly reaffirmed their commitments to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty,” the spokesperson said.
Trump Seeks To Get Rid of Nuclear Weapons
Trump has said he wants denuclearization along with Russia and China, saying on Thursday “it would be great if everybody would get rid of their nuclear weapons.”
But Europe has been shaken by the Trump administration’s approach to security, with countries openly questioning the future of the U.S.-dominated North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that they had seen as their main protection for decades.
Not only has Trump become much closer to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and shown an apparent readiness for concessions to end the Ukraine war that European countries oppose, but his administration has also challenged them to increase their defense spending and appeared ready to reduce U.S. troop numbers in Europe. Then there have been his threats against Panama and his view that the United States should take over Greenland—if not make Canada the 51st state, too.
An Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test on Aug. 11, 2021, at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman First Class Tiarra Sibley
Who Are U.S. Allies?
U.S. allies such as Japan in South Korea in Asia and also those in the Middle East are watching closely and questioning how far they can count on American power to defend them.
“You have discussion already in Europe and interest in nuclear options in countries like South Korea. I think most of them would hedge their bets and watch,” said Lukasz Kulesa, director of Proliferation and Nuclear Policy at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute think tank.
“It’s not a decision any country would take lightly,” he said, adding: “Not on the basis of a turbulent couple of weeks with the Trump administration.”
Which Countries Have Nuclear Weapons?
For now, there are only nine states believed to be in possession of nuclear weapons, in order of number of warheads: Russia, the United States, China, France, Britain, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea.
The data provided by the Federation of American Scientists think tank also counts retired warheads awaiting dismantlement.
Key to limiting nuclear proliferation since 1945 had been the U.S.’s “nuclear umbrella,” a promise to protect allies in exchange for them not to develop their own weapons, said Sharon Squassoni, a research professor at George Washington University who previously served in the U.S. government.
“Faith in the United States is at an all-time low. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see the worst chain of nuclear weapons proliferation since the 1940s in the midst of this chaos. And, of course, that would make the world a much more dangerous place,” she told Newsweek.
Which Countries Might Get Nuclear Weapons?
The most likely candidate to obtain nuclear weapons in the near future is Iran—although Trump has said he will not allow nuclear-armed Israel’s main adversary to obtain them and has ramped up pressure to try to force it into negotiations, while maintaining a military option.
If Iran were to get nuclear weapons, that could put pressure on other regional players, including Saudi Arabia and Türkiye. The latter hosts U.S. nuclear weapons under a NATO agreement, but has also shown interest in its own weapons. That might become more likely if NATO frays ,given Türkiye’s historic rivalry with Russia as well.
In Europe, France has offered to extend its nuclear protection to other states and some have given an initially positive reception—while Russia called it “extremely confrontational.”
Germany’s likely incoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said he would speak to both France and Britain about extending nuclear protection. But in time, other countries—perhaps Germany itself—might feel the need if a credible European deterrent is not established quickly, experts say. At the least, France and Britain may need to upgrade their weapons.
There is also uncertainty in East Asia, where South Korea and Japan have both lived under the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
Legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Polls show a large majority of South Koreans favor developing an independent nuclear deterrent. Most Japanese do not, given the horrific history of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but that could change if the United States were no longer perceived as offering protection.
Self-ruling Taiwan never acquired nuclear weapons, but did research them, and currently relies on the U.S. in the face of the invasion threat from China for what it regards as a breakaway province.
The Atomic Bomb Dome, which was the only structure left standing near to where the first atomic bomb used in war exploded on Aug. 6, 1945 in Hiroshima, seen on Dec. 9, 2024 Matthew Tostevin
“It’s not a trivial program to launch and start. It’s an expensive endeavor,” said Sokova. “For some countries, they may want to have a nuclear weapons program, but either their technical capabilities or other factors would not be in favor.”
How Are Nuclear Weapons Made?
Acquiring, processing and enriching nuclear isotopes are easier for countries with established nuclear power capacities. Then come designing and building weapons and testing delivery systems—all under the eyes of potential adversaries to add to the challenges. The fact that North Korea, one of the world’s poorest countries, could develop nuclear weapons showed it could be possible for any state with the determination, however.
There are agreements and institutions in place designed to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. Many countries take seriously their commitments under the U.N. Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. It has a safeguards system under the responsibility of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which verifies compliance.
“There still are organizations and treaties, and, you know, a sense that the whole world hasn’t gone to hell in a hand basket,” said Squassoni. “But you know what, this is a very dangerous moment.”
Nuclear Warning Over Donald Trump Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty
Updated on 03/07/2025 at 3:30 p.m. ET with comment from the State Department
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ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO LLAW’s ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA
There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. 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). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War Threats
Nuclear War
Yellowstone Caldera & Other Volcanoes (Note: There is one Yellowstone Caldera bonus story available in today’s Post.)
IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
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.
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(See the article posted below for description and photo credits.)
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS of TODAY with the RISKS and CONSEQUENCES of TOMORROW
In My Opinion:
I am posting this article today for only one reason – that being the absolute childish one-word affront by supposedly grown men discussing a serious world class issue — nuclear weapons of mass destruction — insulting the French leader as “Micron” rather than his honorable name “Macron”. (In this case it was former Russian President Medvedev. )
Childish behavior like this defies the belief that serious-minded highly placed responsible individuals are taking the concept of nuclear annihilation seriously.
Other than that mild tirade, the story reports that U.S. President Donald Trump’s upending of U.S. policy on the war have caused fears among European leaders that Washington is turning its back on Europe, which is an extremely serious International situation . . .
Also, I will add, as I often do, that the “number” of nuclear weapons’ in a country’s arsenal is irrelevant these days because of the size and power, and distribution methods of nuclear bombs today versus those of the World War II or “Cold War” eras that are far more individually important and potentially far more destructive than the number of collective weapons, most of which would likely never be launched. Today’s nuclear bombs are up to 80 times more powerful than those that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
So, you see, nuclear war is not a grade-school playground name-calling threat or scuffle. Any “dignitary” anywhere who stoops to such a low level should be summarily dismissed and fired from whatever position or rank that they have been elected to or placed in. ~llaw
Mocking him as ‘Micron’, Russia warns Macron not to threaten it
President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron, attend a joint press conference, in Moscow, Russia, February 7, 2022. Thibault Camus/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Summary
Moscow opposes European peacekeeping troops in Ukraine
Macron open to discussing sharing nuclear deterrence
Russia says Macron should not threaten Russia
Kremlin agrees “proxy war” should end
Ex-President Medvedev calls Macron ‘Micron’
MOSCOW, March 6 (Reuters) – Russia warned French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday not to threaten it with nuclear rhetoric and, mocking his height by calling him ‘Micron’, ruled out European proposals to send peacekeeping forces from NATO members to Ukraine.
Macron said in an address to the nation on Wednesday that Russia was a threat to Europe, Paris could discuss extending its nuclear umbrella to allies and that he would hold a meeting of army chiefs from European countries willing to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine after a peace deal.
The Kremlin said the speech was extremely confrontational and that Macron wanted the war in Ukraine to continue.
“This (speech) is, of course, a threat against Russia,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
“Unlike their predecessors, who also wanted to fight against Russia, Napoleon, Hitler, Mr Macron does not act very gracefully, because at least they said it bluntly: ‘We must conquer Russia, we must defeat Russia’.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to the biggest confrontation between the West and Russia since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Kremlin and White House have said missteps could trigger World War Three.
Russia and the United States are the world’s biggest nuclear powers, with over 5,000 nuclear warheads each. China has about 500, France has 290 and Britain 225, according to the Federation of American Scientists., opens new tab
Russian officials and lawmakers accused Macron of rhetoric that could push the world closer to the abyss. Russian cartoons cast him as Napoleon Bonaparte riding towards defeat in Russia in 1812.
“Micron himself poses no big threat though. He’ll disappear forever no later than May 14, 2027. And he won’t be missed,” former President Dmitry Medvedev wrote on X, looking ahead to the end of Macron’s term.
00:14EU leaders talk defense spending surge after U.S. cuts Ukraine aid
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova suggested Macron might want help measuring his true military size, and her ministry said his speech contained “notes of nuclear blackmail” and amounted to a threat directed towards Russia.
“Paris’ ambitions to become the nuclear ‘patron’ of all of Europe have burst out into the open, by providing it with its own ‘nuclear umbrella’, almost to replace the American one. Needless to say, this will not lead to strengthening the security of either France itself or its allies,” it said.
NO ON PEACEKEEPERS
Russian advances in Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump’s upending of U.S. policy on the war have caused fears among European leaders that Washington is turning its back on Europe.
Russian officials say tough rhetoric from Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other European powers is not backed up by hard military power and point to Russia’s advances on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Lavrov and the Kremlin dismissed Macron’s proposal to send peacekeepers to Ukraine and said Russia would not agree to it.
“We are talking about such a confrontational deployment of an ephemeral contingent,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Lavrov said saying Moscow would see such a deployment as NATO presence in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed Western assertions that Russia could one day attack a NATO member.
He portrays the war as part of a historic struggle with the West following the collapse of the Soviet Union and NATO’s encroachment on what he considers Moscow’s sphere of influence.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week cast the conflict as a proxy war between Russia and the U.S., a position the Kremlin said was accurate.
“This is actually a conflict between Russia and the collective West. And the main country of the collective West is the United States of America,” Peskov said. “We agree that it is time to stop this conflict and this war.”
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Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Dmitry Antonov, Mark Trevelyan, Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Stephen Coates, Michael Perry, Philippa Fletcher and Timothy Heritage
As Moscow bureau chief, Guy runs coverage of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Before Moscow, Guy ran Brexit coverage as London bureau chief (2012-2022). On the night of Brexit, his team delivered one of Reuters historic wins – reporting news of Brexit first to the world and the financial markets. Guy graduated from the London School of Economics and started his career as an intern at Bloomberg. He has spent over 14 years covering the former Soviet Union. He speaks fluent Russian.Subscribed
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO LLAW’s ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA
There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. 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). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War Threats
Nuclear War
Yellowstone Caldera & Other Volcanoes (Note: There are three Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in today’s Post.)
IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
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.
Also, every day, Airmen protect the skies over the homeland through exercises and nuclear deterrence, he said. … “All of that is not adding to combat …
Nuclear’s resurgence has been best exemplified over the past two years by its emergence as the chosen technology for companies looking to power large …
Moscow views comments by Macron about extending France’s nuclear deterrent to European partners as a “threat”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov …
