”End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”

LLOYD A. WILLIAMS-PENDERGRAFT

DEC 5, 2023

Share

LLAW’s COMMENTARY:

I continually get so emotionally tired and heart-sick over the media’s irresponsible headlines such as this one today from Time Magazine (Posted in its entirety below( — especially so when the absolute opposite of the headline and leadline is the reality. The article is basically factual and very well written; pointing out many of the nuclear industry’s ongoing major difficulties and immediate problems. But it is fundamentally dead wrong about being a necessity for the future.

However well written, the overlying difficulties of nuclear power will only get worse if more nuclear power plants are brought on line. And keep in mind that the decade or more that it takes to bring a single nuclear power plant online means that the heavy doses of greenhouse gasses continue to be emitted into the atmosphere and collected in the warming waters of the oceans as well.

We see the danger here, but we excuse it or ignore it. So the headline becomes a huge misnomer, supporting the nuclear industry and the industry knows that most of the text, if not all, will never be carefully considered or even read by the everyday public. The industry and its propaganda machine (including many nuclear industry financed “Think Tanks”) are misleading the general public about the cost, productivity, safety, and health and welfare of nuclear energy. In fact, “all things nuclear” are by far the most dangerous products on planet Earth . . .

To say that “Nuclear Power is the only solution” is entirely irresponsible, and also the statement that the world “has to embrace nuclear power in order to solve the climate crisis” is flat-out wrong. The reasons are right in front of our faces and even alluded to in the story itself.

But yet there is another far more simple solution, and that is to outright ban all power generation except for wind, solar, and hydro, thereby forcing the industry to do without any fossil fuels (which, I will add, except for some slight relief from emissions from nuclear power plants, that nuclear produced energy is the most dangerous of all to mankind and other life because the process uses radioactive fuel (highly enriched uranium) that easily outdistances other fossil fuels in terms of degree of danger to life.

Solar energy, with technological development has far greater future power production, and the natural steam of volcanic calderas around the world could provide enough energy to allow us to stop worrying about not having enough — perhaps forever. The Yellowstone Caldera is ultimately capable, all on its own, of providing clean energy with absolutely no greenhouse gasses nor radiation for the entire North American continent with plenty left over for others continents and countries as well.

Finally, what I want to say is that we got ourselves into this mess by the very industry that is pushing more of the same, but wrongly looking at non-fossil fuel as industry competition when it should be, by now, well into the concept of conversion to non-fossil fuels entirely. Always remember that uranium is not only a fossil fuel, it is also a radioactive fossil fuel, and that makes it doubly dangerous for the current condition of providing electrical power for the world. More nuclear power plants would only increase our already disastrous rapidly approaching the 6th Extinction.

And, thankfully for you, the reader, I haven’t even mentioned the “threat” of nuclear war — and that nuclear power plants, should WWIII become a reality, will become a nuclear weapon of mass destruction just like its radioactive brother – the nuclear bomb. ~llaw

Nuclear Power Is the Only Solution | TIME

Time: The world has to embrace nuclear power in order to solve the climate crisis.

Nuclear Power Is the Only Solution

IDEAS

BY SURIYA JAYANTI

DECEMBER 4, 2023 3:14 PM EST

Jayanti is an Eastern Europe energy policy expert. She served for ten years as a U.S. diplomat, including as the Energy Chief at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine (2018-2020), and as international energy counsel at the U.S. Department of Commerce (2020-2021). She is currently the Managing Director of Eney, a U.S.-Ukrainian decarbonization company.  

COP28 is underway and grand commitments to triple nuclear power by 2050 are recognition of the following reality: There is no way, absolutely none, that the world’s energy transition away from fossil fuels can be achieved without a massive increase globally of nuclear power. Yet, western governments and companies are failing to get new nuclear technologies and projects off the ground. Outdated anti-nuclear opinions, massive initial capital costs, risks that governments haven’t found a mechanism to share with the private sector, and a crushing and irrational regulatory framework are all holding the industry back.

Wedged between energy crises and climate change natural disasters, there is no longer the luxury of choice. The industry has responded by seeking to develop new technology that can assuage public concerns about safety. Some are designing micro reactors or SMRs. Others are working with new materials or techniques, such as replacing water in cooling systems with molten salt, or using boiling water instead of pressurized water to make the NPP more efficient. Still others are working on new safety systems, or fuel fabrication innovations, or new approaches to storage of nuclear materials. In the U.S., top tier research outfits like the Electric Power Research Institute are finding their expertise in demand all round the world, creating something resembling nuclear diplomacy. The U.S., U.K, Canada, and South Korea are leading the pack on investment in nuclear.

The nuclear industry has been riding high on a wave of enthusiasm for a few years. In recognition of the cost savings of “going nuclear,” smart companies are already making plans to transition to nuclear power. This includes Microsoft, which announced in September that it will use nuclear plants to power its artificial intelligence operations. With electrification the foundation of any coherent energy transition plan and grids struggling to balance themselves with an abundance of non-dispatchable renewables, nuclear is increasingly acknowledged to be the solution. Just as apex science fiction writer Isaac Asimov fantasized in his 1940-50s Foundation books, nuclear energy may save humanity.

And yet, recent headlines have revealed some major setbacks. Small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) company NuScale, once lauded as the leading SMR developer and despite receiving almost $2 billion in U.S. government support, has cancelled its flagship project due to rising costs and mismanagement. It is now facing investor lawsuits for fraud. TerraPower, Bill Gates’ SMR company, was delayed several years by the Russian invasion of Ukraine—Russia was the only country that produced the nuclear fuel needed for TerraPower’s SMR design. X-Energy has walked back its plans to go public. The U.K.’s Rolls Royce SMR is plagued by financial problems. France’s EDF is posting record low power outputs and financial status reports. Others are also delayed, struggling, or facing bankruptcy.

Read More: Nuclear Energy Could Hold Key to Green Future

Setbacks are normal for new technologies and emerging markets, but for nuclear power such bumps in the road have outsized potential to disrupt because many people are still hesitant or downright hostile to nuclear power. The Chornobyl, Fukushima Daiichi, and Three Mile Island catastrophes loom large in the imagination. “Meltdown” itself has entered idiom to mean falling apart rapidly and irrationally and beyond control. The world’s preoccupation with Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhye nuclear power plant (NPP), the largest in Europe, shows how gripped we can be by nuclear disasters. In keeping, a March 2023 Gallup poll found that although support for nuclear is increasing slowly, 44% of Americans still somewhat or strongly oppose it, down from 54% in 2016. Similar polls in Switzerland and the U.K. peg support for nuclear at just 49% and 24%, respectively. In Germany, despite still being in the middle of an energy crisis and desperate for additional power sources, 50% of people under 34 want nuclear power eradicated.

With the exception of France, which is 69% nuclear, many of the developed world’s leading economies and governments have been too scared of nuclear power to allow it to flourish. Germany was so spooked by Fukushima it completely phased out its nuclear power program, finally turning off its last three (of an original 17) reactors on April 15, 2023. Belgium and Switzerland decided not to build new plants and to phase out those existing, although the 2021-2023 energy crisis has forced a reconsideration. In the U.S. the trigger was the March 28, 1979 partial meltdown of Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. No one died or even suffered negative health effects, in the aftermath dozens of planned NPPs were cancelled and almost nothing has been built in decades.

Unfortunately, unencumbered by popular opinions against nuclear, the Western world’s great geostrategic rivals are years if not decades ahead. There are sixty nuclear projects in various stages of construction around the world, and 22 of them are in China; and 22 use Russian technology, and 18 use Chinese technology, or technology China stole from other countries and rebranded. Some European countries, notably Hungary and Serbia, and some NATO countries, such as Turkey, are planning new NPPs using Russian designs and supply chains. Ironically, and tragically, even all four of Ukraine’s NPPs are Russian VVER models, entirely reliant until quite recently on Russian fuel. And Russia controls much of nuclear supply chains. 

The Western world ended up so far behind because of fear. Governments around the world are now struggling to catch up, slowed by still-high public opposition rates and regulatory regimes that institutionalized fear of nuclear into licensing and permitting processes. In countries that never had nuclear power, such as Poland and Egypt, opposition is not baked into law, and so they can paradoxically move faster than some countries with longstanding nuclear programs.

In the U.S. the opposite is true; it keeps tripping over the fear-based regulatory regimes that govern its nuclear industry. Tasked by Congress in the 2019 Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act with liberalizing the licensing process to foster innovation and accelerate the commercialization of nuclear power, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 2022 released draft rules and processes for consideration of new nuclear technologies that managed to take all the worst and most burdensome aspects of existing rules and, instead of reducing them, added some new hurdles and standards, some of which nuclear engineers say are scientifically impossible to meet. The draft is twice as long (1252 pages) as the one it was supposed to simplify. Many requirements, both old and new, shouldn’t apply to SMRs and other advanced nuclear designs. The result was decried by experts and companies as a complete failure that will continue to hobble the industry for decades, adding further time and expenses to the already billion-dollar licensing process. The Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry trade group, said the proposal will “increase complexity and regulatory burden without any increase in safety and reduce predictability and flexibility.”

---

ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:

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. There is one Yellowstone Caldera bonus story available in this Post. If a category heading does not appear, it means there was no news reported from this category today.

(Just a reminder: When linked, the access to the media story will be underlined. If there is no link to a media story of interest you can still copy and paste the headline and lead line into your browser to find the article you are seeking. Hopefully this will never happen.)

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS (12/05/2023) :

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Companies say they’re closing in on nuclear fusion as an energy source : NPR

NPR

It’s all about trying to create nuclear fusion. Fusion is the act of sticking light elements together. For example, if two hydrogen atoms get …

Former chair of Ohio’s utility regulator indicted in nuclear bailout law scandal | WOSU News

WOSU News – WOSU Public Media

All Things Considered. Next Up: 6:00 PM Marketplace. 0:00. 0:00. All Things … nuclear bailout scandal. The indictment of former PUCO Chair Sam …

U.S. leads coalition to triple nuclear power by 2050 in effort to address climate change

CNBC

5 THINGS five-things-logo · logo · watchlive · logo. U.S. leads coalition to … All Rights Reserved. A Division of NBCUniversal. Data is a real-time …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Nuclear Power Is the Only Solution | TIME

Time

The world has to embrace nuclear power in order to solve the climate crisis.

United States And Allies To Triple Nuclear Energy Capacity By 2050 | OilPrice.com

Oil Price

The United States and 21 other countries have pledged to triple their respective nuclear energy capacities by 2050, saying incorporating more …

Focus turns to nuclear fusion as a source of clean energy – YouTube

YouTube

There is a strong focus on investment in renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. But for many, the “holy grail” of clean energy is …

Nuclear War

NEW

The U.N. Nuclear Ban Treaty Is How We Will Avoid a Nuclear War | Opinion – Newsweek

Newsweek

The threat of nuclear war is widely recognized to be at its highest level since the Cold War. Two ongoing major conflicts involving nuclear-armed …

Russian President Vladimir Putin watches ‘nuclear button’ as he observes recreated explosion

WION

… nuclear explosion at a Cold War bunker as nuclear war threat continues to loom amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Russia has already approved a …

Cancelling the New Sea-Launched Nuclear Cruise Missile Is the Right Move

War on the Rocks

With the program’s cancellation, advocates have pressed for limited deployment on attack submarines utilizing an existing warhead — the W84-4 — that …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Oswego County Nuclear Power Plant emergency test scheduled for Tuesday afternoon

CNY Central

Current EAS stations and other important emergency planning information for residents, workers and visitors within 10 miles of a Constellation nuclear …

Only one unit at Koeberg to be operational at a time over next 2 years – NNR – EWN

EWN

Koeberg Nuclear Power Station · National Nuclear Regulator · Energy emergency · Ntuthuzelo Nene | 05 December 2023 08:12. CAPE TOWN – The National …

Nuclear War Threats

NEW

The U.N. Nuclear Ban Treaty Is How We Will Avoid a Nuclear War | Opinion – Newsweek

Newsweek

The threat of nuclear war is widely recognized to be at its highest level since the Cold War. Two ongoing major conflicts involving nuclear-armed …

More investment in nuclear deterrence will not make Europe safer – SIPRI

SIPRI

… threat perceptions and was visible in its leadership’s justifications for the war. The most significant source of NATO’s deterrent power is the …

Cancelling the New Sea-Launched Nuclear Cruise Missile Is the Right Move

War on the Rocks

… nuclear weapons. While Russia’s war in Ukraine and reckless nuclear threats may provide some rationale to enhance existing deployed U.S. tactical …

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

Eruption at Marapi in Indonesia Kills at Least Eleven Hikers | Discover Magazine

Discover Magazine

… volcano that is frequented by climbers and tourists. Marapi (not to be … What Does a Year at Yellowstone Caldera Look Like? Planet Earth · Worst …

Dashboard

1

LLAW’s “ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” #470 (12/04/2023)

”End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”

LLOYD A. WILLIAMS-PENDERGRAFT

DEC 4, 2023

Share

LLAW’s COMMENTARY:

The following article from “In Depth News” will help to clarify and support what I discussed on my recent Post #468 on “All Things Nuclear” on December 2, 2023, that was tied to an earlier Post #60 on August 20, 2022. There are also several other discussions on my early Posts about what’s wrong with the insane concept of nuclear “deterrence” as a defensive “agreement” among nuclear nations that is now little more than torn up bits and pieces of paper in File 13s around the nuclear world(s). “Deterrence” to my way of thinking, is nothing more than akin to one of many gambits in a poorly played game of chess.

This well-reasoned and written article points out similar reasons to my own why ‘deterrence’ means nothing now, and has always meant nothing. The article’s point of view looks at “deterrence” from the ‘defensive’ side of a possible war rather than nuclear threats being looked at as offensive aggression — a way to defend ourselves by barking louder, baring more fangs, than the other dogs. The first question of the article (in the second paragraph) is a key point: . . . would the Russians have invaded Ukraine if it was a nuclear power?

And the story fits very well into my multiple reasons why nuclear war will not be avoided by a roomful of political diplomats making “rules” of engagement that nuclear endowed countries will follow with honor. The fact is that “rules” in wartime mean nothing. If they did, we would never have had any wars since language and writing was invented. We need (and we need it now) a massive around-the-world change of hearts and attitudes if humanity is to survive, and if we don’t do that, plus, while we’re at it, also rid our world-wide selves of ‘all things nuclear’ we will not only bring ourselves down, but all other life on our beautiful blue, green, and tan planet Earth. ~llaw

A view of the 2nd meeting States Parties to the TPMW. Photo credit: ICAN | Darren Ornitz. – Photo: 2023

NUCLEAR WEAPONS, UN INSIDER

Nuclear Deterrence: An Unproven Gamble that Risks Humanity

InDepthNews2023-12-03

• Share:
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• Linkedin
• Email

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS | 3 December 2023 (IDN) — Is it justifiable for a country to go nuclear—on the grounds that it is doing so to protect itself from nuclear attacks?

The argument is based on the concept of “nuclear deterrence”: a widely-challenged theory that nuclear weapons are intended to deter nuclear attacks prompting the question: would the Russians have invaded Ukraine if it was a nuclear power?

The invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the ouster of Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi, were perhaps facilitated by one fact: none of these countries either had nuclear weapons or had given up developing them (as in the case of Libya).

“And that is why we will never give up ours,” a North Korean diplomat was quoted as saying, while pointing out that the invasions by the US and Western nations would not have taken place if those countries were armed with nuclear weapons.

But the 2017 Nobel Peace laureate, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a coalition of non-governmental organizations in over 100 countries, says “deterrence is an unproven gamble—a theory on which the future of humanity is being risked—that is based on the implicit threat to use nuclear weapons that has brought the world close to nuclear war on a number of occasions.”

The weeklong UN meeting of members of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which concluded December 1, called out the doctrine of nuclear deterrence adhered to by the nuclear-armed states and their allies as a threat to human security and an obstacle to nuclear disarmament, according to ICAN.

The nuclear deterrence doctrine condemned

The Executive Director of ICAN, Melissa Parke, said: “The condemnation of nuclear deterrence doctrine by the members of the TPNW at their meeting at the UN in New York is a highly significant move”.

Never before has a UN treaty laid out the threat that nuclear deterrence poses to the future of life on our planet. Deterrence is unacceptable. It is based on the threat to wage nuclear war, which would kill millions outright and lead to a nuclear winter and mass starvation that recent research shows would kill billions of people, she declared.

Tariq Rauf, former Head of Verification and Security Policy at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), (and who provided inputs during the drafting of the TPNW in 2017 on verification and other matters), told IDN the second session of TPNW meeting of states parties (MSP2) was noteworthy in that there was a thematic discussion on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, consideration of the status and operation of the Treaty.

This included victim assistance, environmental remediation and international cooperation and assistance, complementarity with the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and a report of a scientific advisory group (SAG) on verification of nuclear disarmament.

The political declaration adopted at MSP2 was heavy on rhetorical and hortatory statements but light on concrete calls for action, he argued.

TPNW States agreed to set up intersessional working groups in the lead up to MSP3 in 2025, and to consider modalities for an international trust fund for victim assistance and environmental remediation, as well as a consultative process on security concerns of TPNW States.

As regards the international trust fund, he said, “I am concerned that some ardent TPNW opponent States, such as Canada, Germany and Norway, may try to “whitewash” their credentials by offering funds for victim assistance but still resolutely continue to oppose and undermine the TPNW.”

A scientific advisory group set up

One important outcome of MSP1 was the establishment of a Scientific Advisory Group (SAG). It submitted a useful report to MSP2 on the status and developments regarding nuclear weapons, nuclear weapon risks, the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, nuclear disarmament and related issues.

This report using available open source information provided a compilation of data on the status of nuclear forces based on the data and reports published by the Federation American Scientists and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on the inventories of nuclear warheads and related nuclear materials, Rauf pointed out.

The is the second time that a scientific advisory group has been set up in support of multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations. The first time such a scientific advisory group was set up was in 1976 with the establishment of the Ad Hoc Group of Scientific Experts to conceptualize a verification and international seismic data-exchange system for a nuclear test-ban treaty.

Rauf said existing nuclear disarmament verification exercises such as the US-led International Partnership on Nuclear Disarmament Verification (IPNDV) and the QUAD basically have replicated existing IAEA practices and procedures on verification of the nuclear fuel cycle.

“There is, as yet, no agreement among States on any feasible or practical measures for verification of dismantlement of nuclear warheads. Indeed, the US is on record that it shall never allow any international oversight of nuclear warhead dismantlement,” he pointed out.

As such, for practical reasons, whether it should not be the focus on a variation of TPNW Article 4 (1), pursuant to which a nuclear-armed State divests itself of nuclear weapons and related infrastructure and accedes to the Treaty even though this would now occur after the TPNW entered into force in January 2021? he asked

And further to that, the verification effort be on the nuclear material from the dismantled warheads utilizing attribution verification with information barrier (AVIB). Also, understand that it will not be possible to get an accurate, complete and reliable accounting of weapon-usable nuclear material produced since 1945, he noted.

UN chief lauds successful conclusion of the second TPNW meeting

In a statement released December 1, UN Secretary-General António Guterres congratulated States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on the successful conclusion of their Second Meeting.

The Secretary-General said he is “encouraged by the work done by States Parties in collaboration with other stakeholders, which showcases what is possible within multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations and bolsters the global disarmament and non-proliferation architecture”. 

He welcomed the adoption of the political declaration, “contributing toward our shared goal of a world free of nuclear weapons”.

Meanwhile, at the meeting, about 700 individuals, representing over 100 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) took part in an interactive process with the member states. And in what could be viewed as a much broader, week-long nuclear disarmament conference, more than 65 side events, including panel discussions, art exhibitions, concerts, and awards ceremonies were held inside the UN and around New York City. Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, told IDN compared to the rancorous August meeting of the States Parties to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), which could not even agree on a Chair’s factual summary report, the TPNW meeting manifested a unified and unambiguous recognition that growing threats of nuclear war are intolerable and that the only solution is the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

“It is evident that even though the TPNW cannot achieve nuclear disarmament without the participation of the nuclear-armed states, its members are energetically using it as a platform to develop and disseminate information and analysis that is valuable in the broader global context’ she pointed out.

Examples of this were the report on gender impacts, including the disproportionate effects of radiation on women and girls’ health, and the first report of the Scientific Advisory Group on developments regarding nuclear weapons, nuclear weapon risks, the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, nuclear disarmament, and related issues.

The Scientific Advisory Group also called for a new UN study on the consequences of nuclear war, given the last comprehensive studies were done in the late 1980s.

“In an important development”, Cabasso said, “States parties, for the first time, mandated member states, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), ICAN and other stakeholders and experts, to engage in consultations to “challenge the security paradigm based on nuclear deterrence by highlighting and promoting new scientific evidence about the humanitarian consequences and risks of nuclear weapons and juxtaposing this with the risks and assumptions that are inherent in nuclear deterrence,” and to present their findings at the third meeting of States parties in March 2025.”

Nuclear deterrence is the Gordian knot

Over half the world’s population live in countries whose national security postures explicitly depend on nuclear weapons and the doctrine of “nuclear deterrence”-  “In my view”, she said, nuclear deterrence is the Gordian knot blocking the path to nuclear disarmament.

The Latin root of the word deterrence means to “frighten away, fill with fear”. In other words, to threaten. Deterrence undergirds entire military-industrial establishments and the national security states and elites they serve, she said.

It is an ideology which has outlived its Cold War origins and is used by nuclear-armed states to justify the perpetual possession and threatened use—including first use—of nuclear weapons.

The hard truth is that neither the NPT nor the TPNW can achieve disarmament until the nuclear-armed states are willing to reimagine a global system that puts universal human security above the narrow interests of “national security” enforced by nuclear coercion — euphemistically called deterrence, declared Cabasso.

Elaborating further, Rauf said: “In my view, chasing modalities for verification of nuclear warhead dismantlement is going down an endless rabbit hole”.

“The uncomfortable truth is that we cannot achieve 100% nuclear warhead dismantlement verification, we can do so for missiles, submarines, and bombers but not for the warheads—period!”

While this might be an interesting intellectual challenge for scientists and universities, it is not a practical option.

Recall, that at the height of the Cold War it was estimated that the global number of deployed nuclear warheads peaked in 1986 at an estimated 70,374. In all, it is estimated that more than 125,000 nuclear warheads were built since 1945.

Today, he said, there are about 12,500, What happened to the difference of nearly 58,000 warheads between 70,374 and 12,500; and the 112,500 from the 125,000? All were unceremoniously dismantled – unilaterally, without direct verification!

“I would recommend that TPNW States set up an International Panel of Scientific and Technical Experts (IPSTE) to advise the SAG on practical relevant aspects of nuclear disarmament verification comprised of experts with nuclear weapons and verification expertise – that is retired weaponeers and inspectors dealing with nuclear weapons matters,” declared Rauf.

Meanwhile, according to ICAN, the meeting also demonstrated that the TPNW is growing in strength. Several observing states announced their intention to join the treaty in the near term, bringing the number of states that have either signed, ratified or acceded to the treaty to more than half of all UN members.

Indonesia announced that its parliament recently approved ratification of the treaty and Brazil, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique and Nepal announced their intent to ratify soon.

The meeting was also attended by several NATO states and countries that rely on American nuclear weapons in their defence, including Australia, Belgium, Germany and Norway. [IDN-InDepthNews]

A view of the second meeting States Parties to the TPNW. Photo credit: ICAN | Darren Ornitz.

This article was produced as a part of the joint media project between The Non-profit International Press Syndicate Group and Soka Gakkai International in Consultative Status with ECOSOC on 3 December 2023.

IDN is the flagship agency of the Non-profit International Press Syndicate.

---

ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:

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. There are no Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this Post. If a category heading does not appear, it means there was no news reported from this category today.

(Just a reminder: When linked, the access to the media story will be underlined. If there is no link to a media story of interest you can still copy and paste the headline and lead line into your browser to find the article you are seeking. Hopefully this will never happen.)

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS (12/04/2023) :

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Companies say they’re closing in on nuclear fusion as an energy source. Will it work?

KLCC

By clicking “Accept All Cookies” or continuing, you agree to the use of cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about your …

Companies say they’re closing in on nuclear fusion as an energy source. Will it work?

WFAE

All Things Considered · Marketplace · Programming Alerts. Support. Support … Zap Energy’s Fuze device generates nuclear fusion with every shot. The …

Companies say they’re closing in on nuclear fusion as an energy source. Will it work? – NPR

NPR

All Things Considered · Fresh Air · Up First. Featured. TED Radio Hour · Louder … Zap Energy’s Fuze device generates nuclear fusion with every shot.

Nuclear Power

NEWS

U.S. leads coalition to triple nuclear power by 2050 in effort to address climate change

CNBC

The declaration is the most concrete step taken yet by major nations to place nuclear power at the center of the push to transition to clean …

‘Nuclear can both complement and compete with renewable energy in the race to net zero …

Recharge

Therefore, nuclear could assume a pivotal role in the energy transition. This significance is amplified when considering the inherent benefits of …

22 countries commit at COP28 to tripling nuclear capacity by 2050

Balkan Green Energy News

At COP28, heads of state and other top officials from 22 countries signed the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy by 2050.

Nuclear War

NEWS

Militant Rocket Hit Base Linked to Israeli Nuclear Missile Program – The New York Times

The New York Times

A rocket most likely fired by Hamas militants during their Oct. 7 attack on Israel struck an Israeli military base where, experts say, many of the …

New information tool on nuclear weapons seeks to identify the next arms control strategies

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Just by their mutual presences, the missiles frayed tensions badly and reduced reaction times to mere minutes, marking a new height in the Cold War.

Putin greets kids, views ‘nuclear button’ as re-election bid nears | Reuters

Reuters

Since the start of the Ukraine war, Putin has frequently reminded the … nuclear attack against it would be wiped from the face of the earth. He …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant suffers eighth power blackout : Regulation & Safety

World Nuclear News

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant lost off-site power for the first time since May, and had to rely on emergency diesel generators for nearly …

UK government: What to do in a radiation emergency? – Oxford Mail

Oxford Mail

… nuclear weapons. It does explain, however, what Britons should do in a “radiation emergency“, which could be caused by a leak at a nuclear power …

UK government issues guidance on ‘What to do in a radiation emergency?’

Yahoo News UK

It does explain, however, what Britons should do in a “radiation emergency“, which could be caused by a leak at a nuclear power plant or during the …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Nuclear Deterrence: An Unproven Gamble that Risks Humanity – IDN-InDepthNews

IDN-InDepthNews

It is based on the threat to wage nuclear war, which would kill … threats of nuclear war are intolerable and that the only solution is the total …

LLAW’s “ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” #469 (12/03/2023)

”End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”

LLOYD A. WILLIAMS-PENDERGRAFT

DEC 3, 2023

1

Share

LLAW’s COMMENTARY:

Let’s get real tonight for just a few moments, and face the reality of what humanity is doing to our world and ourselves. We are approaching an inevitable collective death for life on Earth that by now is irreversible, and the indifferent non-action of indecision and empty promises of politics will never change, nor will the deceitful language and promises of the buzzwords of impossibility from “Think Tanks” who are very well compensated by the uranium and other fossil fuel-burning power industry to keep right on polluting the atmosphere with their meaningless and never-to-be fairy tale industry solutions to Green House Gasses (née GHG) and Carbon Dioxide (née CO2) that create the guilty emissions, releasing them into the air because they have nowhere else to go, but somehow still manage to calm us down by using fancy buzz word phrases that that the average guy on the street has no idea about what the words mean nor how it might work, but the sound of these words, such as “Net Zero Carbon Emissions”, which sounds great but doesn’t really mean what the words say it means. Even if something like “Net Zero” were possible, it would take, in a best case (that the industry and politics would never seriously attempt) if all went well until 2050 and no doubt beyond, and if all goes well, another 100 years or more for the global heat trapped in the atmosphere and oceans that is already there to gradually dissipate (if we’re lucky). So, you see, generations of us and other living critters would slowly come and rapidly go until we are all dead — which would happen sooner rather than later.

And all that brings me back to my favorite subject, “All Things Nuclear”, which will most likely kill us all quicker than global warming and its horrendous climate change. But rest assured one or the other or a combination of both will leave Mother Earth bare naked and lonely. ~llaw

---

The following article from the “Union of Concerned Scientists” tells us why. All we have to do is read between the lines of progress that nothing we are doing is going to change that allows us to escape the death wrath of Climate Change. But like all worthwhile (or not) think tanks, they all need money to continue to operate . . .

CLIMATE

Climate Solutions

We need to act now.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Cut emissions
• Build resilience
• Fight disinformation
• Remove CO2
• Act

Climate change is one of the most challenging problems that humanity has ever faced. At stake are hundreds of millions of lives, innumerable species and ecosystems, the health and viability of the economy, and the future habitability of this planet.

Fortunately, climate change is solvable. We have the technologies. We have the science. We now need the leadership—and the courage to change course.

Cut emissions

REPORT

Accelerating Clean Energy Ambition

With concerted action, the US can meet its climate goals—and see huge benefits to the economy and public health.

Carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases are the main drivers of global warming. While climate change cannot be stopped, it can be slowed.

To avoid the worst consequences of climate change, we’ll need to reach “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner. Net zero means that, on balance, no more carbon is dumped into the atmosphere than is taken out.

To achieve net zero emissions, we need a massive transformation in how we produce and consume electricity. We need a newer, better transportation system. We need to stop deforestation. We need a climate-friendly agricultural system.

The scale of these changes will require significant federal policy that puts a price on carbon. It also requires international cooperation: the Paris Agreement, signed in 2016, reflects the world’s best effort to solve climate change so far, though it doesn’t include the emissions reductions we need.

Much remains to be done—and we need to do it as quickly as possible.

POSITION STATEMENT

The UCS Position on a Fossil Fuel Phaseout

We support a fast and fair phaseout of fossil fuels around the world.

Build resilience

EXPLAINER

What is Climate Resilience?

Solving the climate crisis isn’t just about cutting carbon emissions. It’s about protecting people from harm.

No matter how quickly we reduce emissions, the reality is that certain climate impacts are inevitable. The seas are rising. Temperatures break records every year.

Droughts, floods, and extreme weather are damaging communities today.

Cutting carbon is the only long-term solution for avoiding climate impacts. In the short-term, we need to adapt. That means everything from discouraging development in high-risk areas, to planning for water scarcity, to building more resilient cities and communities. Investments should be scientifically sound and socially just, and focused where the impacts are greatest—often in low-income communities and communities of color.

Fight disinformation

FEATURE

The Disinformation Playbook

Five tactics business interests use to sideline science, deceive the public and buy influence at the expense of public health and safety.

For years, media pundits, partisan think tanks, and special interest groups funded by fossil fuel companies have raised doubts about the truth of global warming.

These contrarians downplay and distort the evidence of climate change, lobby for policies that reward polluters, and attempt to undercut existing pollution standards.

This barrage of disinformation misleads and confuses the public about the growing consequences of global warming and makes it more difficult to implement the solutions we really need. Until the influence of these special interests is sufficiently diminished, climate action will be that much harder.

Remove carbon dioxide

To reach net zero emissions, we need to do more than just reduce our emissions: we need to actively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or offset its effects.

The easiest way to do this is by planting new forests (afforestation) or restoring old ones (reforestation). Other enhanced land management practices can help, as can new technologies that suck CO2 out of the air (“direct air capture”), or prevent it from leaving smokestacks (“carbon capture and storage”).

Scale, speed, and cost are the main barriers to all these technologies and approaches. In the United States, strong state- and federal-level policies—and large-scale investment in research and development—are crucial.

Act

The best policy ideas in the world aren’t worth much if we don’t have activists, experts, and everyday people fighting for change. From school groups to churches; from corporate boardrooms to mayors and local leaders: we need action.

The Union of Concerned Scientists has worked on global warming solutions for over 30 years. Our experts and activists are campaigning to cut emissions from the energy and transportation sectors; highlighting climate impacts; and fighting for accountability from major fossil fuel companies.

ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:

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. There are no Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this Post. If a category heading does not appear, it means there was no news reported from this category today.

(Just a reminder: When linked, the access to the media story will be underlined. If there is no link to a media story of interest you can still copy and paste the headline and lead line into your browser to find the article you are seeking. Hopefully this will never happen.)

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS (12/03/2023) :

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

The future of nuclear energy will be decided in Idaho – The Japan Times

The Japan Times

Rising prices for steel and other key materials, as well as higher interest rates all … There are also broader questions about the resurgence of the …

Where things stand in efforts to restart the Palisades Nuclear Plant – The Holland Sentinel

The Holland Sentinel

“We have a robust restart plan which will include countless projects, plant inspections, equipment upgrades and modifications, acquiring new fuel. All …

Australian teen advocates for nuclear at COP28 summit in Dubai – YouTube

YouTube

Comments243 · Albanese government ‘betrayed’ every Jewish person in Australia: Rowan Dean · ‘How far things have fallen’: Harry and Meghan not invited …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

The future of nuclear energy will be decided in Idaho – The Japan Times

The Japan Times

Research groups, including the International Energy Agency (IAE), have called for an aggressive expansion of carbon-free nuclear technology to help …

22 Countries, Including U.S., Pledge to Triple Nuclear Power Capacity

POWER Magazine

Officials have said increasing nuclear power in Europe would help European nations reduce dependence on oil and gas from Russia, while conceding it …

Westinghouse Is Key to a US Nuclear Revival and Net-Zero Climate Goals – Bloomberg

Bloomberg.com

The Alvin W. Vogtle nuclear power plant in Waynesboro, Georgia. The fourth unit (far right) of the first nuclear power plants built in the US for …

Nuclear War

NEWS

Putin ‘could use NUCLEAR weapons in Ukraine if Zelensky retakes Crimea’ – Daily Mail

Daily Mail

EXCLUSIVE: Retired US Army Brigadier General Kevin Ryan said nuclear war is an ‘entirely feasible’ option for Putin if Ukrainian forces make gains …

How Americans Should Prepare For a Nuclear Attack – 24/7 Wall St.

247WallSt

… war and with that, the concern of a nuclear attack. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and this war has been in progress for almost two years.

Documentary and special Lawrence screening looks at the night nuclear war came to the …

Lawrence Journal-World

Well, except for that one night — Nov. 20, 1983 — when the network showed scenes of nuclear war, complete with vaporized communities, peeling flesh …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant’s Grid Connection Cut In Another Reminder Of ‘Precarious …

Radio Free Europe

… power overnight and temporarily relied on emergency diesel generators. Ukraine and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said two power …

Plot to Triple Nuclear Power by 2050 Decried as ‘Dangerous Distraction’ at COP28

Common Dreams

… nuclear power is too slow to deploy in the face of the climate emergency,” she said. “The announcement of a tripling of capacities is disconnected …

Nuclear War Threats

NEW

Panel says ‘urgent action’ needed to counter Russia, China nuclear threat – Omaha World-Herald

Omaha World-Herald

During the Cold War, Americans were keenly aware of the nuclear threat. … StratCom conference in Omaha warns of nuclear threats growing in Far East.

The supreme folly of nuclear weapons – Pearls and Irritations

Pearls and Irritations

When people consider the many threats facing our planet today, too often the threat of nuclear weapons is overlooked. Yet it is perhaps the most …

How Americans Should Prepare For a Nuclear Attack – 24/7 Wall St.

247WallSt

There are currently different types of sirens to alert us to certain dangers. To determine what Americans should do to prepare for nuclear war, 24 …

LLAW’s “ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” #468 (12/02/2023)

“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”

LLOYD A. WILLIAMS-PENDERGRAFT

DEC 2, 2023

1

Share

LLAW’s COMMENTARY: (A Flashback from August 20, 2022)

The following is a made-for-mock war concept of a Russian show to the rest of the world powers how to take over neighborly satellite countries and annex them into their resources (includign human) in a ten day war that Russia said they could easily accomplish, but obviously failed, creating an Earth-like concern among warring nations big and small, but particularly nuclear armed countries.

I alluded to this idea early on in my nightly “All Things Nuclear Posts”, as you can see by the posting date of the following August, 2022 Post. I still have not given up on the original staged big nation short-war seizure concept of our neighbors during the last year and a quarter, and it keeps coming to mind as I continue to study my personalized daily edition, particularly because of the never-ending drumming of “Nuclear War Threats” that seem to continually be more and more ridiculous idle threats, just as they were originally designed to be as our deterrent limit to nuclear war was meant to be It may still remain a game, but it is a dangerous game that could easily turn to all-out nuclear war at any moment should one of the principle players lose their temper. ~llaw

Thanks for reading All Things Nuclear! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Subscribed

This concept for instant concentrated nuclear news by their logical categories is Posted here every night as a commentary and news outlet designed for this singular news agenda only: A concentrated outlet for World Nuclear News.

But, also, this particular Post contains a plea for more readers in order to increase our circulation, and who by now should be ever more serious about the future, not only of ourselves, but for all life, including innocent humans and animals all over our beautiful planet Earth that has been abused non-stop by humanity for years and years, and now nuclear war as well as an extremely dangerous new interest in nuclear power plants, which are militarily (since the advent of the Russia/Ukraine war) considered to be, not only extremely dangerous nuclear power plants, but also nuclear weapons of mass destruction. So, it is plain to see that in “All Things Nuclear” we are ignorantly moving toward an Armageddon-like world that could easily become the 6th Extinction of life on Earth. Read on:

LLAW’s All Things Nuclear Post #60 (Daily Since August 20, 2022)

We need more readers and more opinions about this extremely dangerous world situation. Please tell your friends, neighbors, and fellow employees to join me and a few others along including those of you who are already following these nightly posts. (And, please understand, I am not preaching to any choir!)

Somehow, for reasons some of which are not quite clear to me as a well-planned organized changing of the world order might be, I still get a strong feeling, weirdly so, that this whole deadly game of war between Russia and Ukraine is just that – a game that is being played by world powers, including Russia, the USA, NATO, and maybe even China. Japan could be a player, too, and North Korea and Iran want to throw their hat into the ring at some point as well. Saudi Arabia may be a non-nuclear player, but they have the resources to be respected.

Of course, as we see, the game is cruel and may end up costing millions of lives (it has already cost many lives of Ukrainians and Russians as well as a few living out on the fringes. Innocent Ukrainian children and Ukrainian citizens have been literally murdered in cold blood by Russia and many Russian soldiers have lost their lives. So to that extent it is a very dirty, very ugly, war. But perhaps it is not and never was intended to be a nuclear war, but rather only the political threat is in play. At least it could be that that’s the intent and so far it has worked. NATO and Russia are planning to go ahead with and cooperate in their normal Nuclear War exercises as if they were at peace, which seems to me like both of them know this threat by Putin is nothing more than that – a political threat, following the rules of nuclear deterrence.

But as the days drag on into late fall and winter, I have a feeling that whole war is a sham, or a front, for a political purpose that must have something to do with world unrest that involves natural as well as human resources, and land, of annexation of countries, and the altering of country borders for such things as work forces, capitalistic profiteering, taxation, and a kind of human herding or forced migration from smaller countries to larger ones. And the nuclear war threats are a ruse for the sake of deception, fear, and Authoritarian tyranny and physical custody and control of the masses.

I have not had a chance to think this whole possibility through, and I need to study whatever information I can scare up to add weight to this weird feeling that I have. The thing that made me start thinking about this possibility is related to the nightmarish dream I wrote about a few nights ago on these posts, though on the surface of it, totally illogical and impossible, made me realize that greed, both for capital (money and resources) and huge chunks of land under staged localized wars and their political threats promulgated by the major countries of the world can quite easily be used against the smaller, but no less valuable minor countries of the world, perhaps tantamount to the end-times concept of the band “The Chariot” musical album “Wars and Rumors of Wars”, not to suggest or insinuate that this has anything at all to do with religion or the so-called end-times, but rather simple human greed where the bully rules the weakling, or the survival of the fittest. . . Stay tuned ~llaw

---

ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:

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. There are three Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this Post. If a category heading does not appear, it means there was no news reported from this category today.

(Just a reminder: When linked, the access to the media story will be underlined. If there is no link to a media story of interest you can still copy and paste the headline and lead line into your browser to find the article you are seeking. Hopefully this will never happen.)

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS (12/02/2023) :

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

A Chat About All Things Nuclear – The Argus

The Argus

Nuclear energy and its waste is a hot button issue in the Thunder Bay region. Students around the Lakehead campus may have seen news stories about …

The Future of Nuclear Energy Will Be Decided In Idaho – BNN Bloomberg

BNN Bloomberg

“Are all of these going to work? No,” said Crone. “But are some of them going to work? Absolutely.” There are also broader questions about the …

US leads call to triple nuclear power at COP28 – Phys.org

Phys.org

… about safety and the disposal of nuclear waste. But more than 20 … all fossil fuels. The United States and China, the world’s two biggest …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

At COP28, Countries Launch Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy Capacity by 2050 …

Department of Energy

Declaration Recognizes the Key Role of Nuclear Energy in Keeping Within Reach the Goal of Limiting Temperature Rise to 1.5 Degrees Celsius.

World’s biggest experimental nuclear fusion reactor launched in Japan – The Guardian

The Guardian

The world’s biggest operational experimental nuclear fusion reactor – a technology in its infancy but billed by some as the answer to humanity’s …

Exclusive: EU nuclear agency sees some Russia imports up again in 2023 from before Ukraine war

Reuters

While such imports are not subject to EU sanctions, the bloc aims to reduce its dependence on Moscow. Its overall imports from Russia’s nuclear energy …

Nuclear War

NEWS

Exclusive: EU nuclear agency sees some Russia imports up again in 2023 from before Ukraine war

Reuters

European Union increased imports from Russia of nuclear fuel and services for the bloc’s Russian-designed reactors again in 2023 compared to 2021, …

Doomsday clock warns world of catastrophe in 2024 – The Jerusalem Post

The Jerusalem Post

… war with Russia that might include the use of strategic nuclear weapons. … nuclear war between the Cold War superpowers, the USA and the Soviet Union.

‘Let us be a lesson’, say Kazakhs wary of return to nuclear testing | Reuters

Reuters

As Russia warns of the rising risk of nuclear war, communities close to the vast Soviet-era nuclear testing site in northern Kazakhstan have a …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEW

TVA releases nuclear emergency preparedness plan for Watts Bar – YouTube

YouTube

TVA releases nuclear emergency preparedness plan for Watts Bar For more Local News from WVLT: https://www.wvlt.tv/ For more YouTube Content: …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

AI and the Bomb: Nuclear Strategy and Risk in the Digital Age | Arms Control Association

Arms Control Association

During the Cold War, nuclear proliferation threatened a possible future … threats render nuclear deterrence practice more or less comprehensible …

What Happens When the U.S. Overestimates Its Power – The Atlantic

The Atlantic

Ever since a terror attack by Hamas triggered a war in Israel and Gaza in … Intimidated by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threats of nuclear war …

Pedro Reyes on bringing together advocates for nuclear disarmament in “Artists Against the Bomb”

The Nuclear Threat Initiative

I belong to Generation X, and I grew up in the 1980s terrified of nuclear war. Because of this, I have always felt very strongly about nuclear threats …

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

Steamboat: Losing steam? – YouTube

YouTube

Steamboat: Losing steam? · USGS · TUFF TIME: Mystery of disappearing deposits (Yellowstone Volcano Update – October 2023) · Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii ( …

Lidar reveals geological hazards near Yellowstone National Park’s North Entrance

Billings Gazette

Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week’s …

Scans Reveal Serious Hidden Threats Under Yellowstone National Park | The Daily Caller

The Daily Caller

… caldera that sits just beneath its surface. One day, the park will blow … Tags : earthquakes montana volcano yellowstone. Scroll down for comments.

”End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”

LLOYD A. WILLIAMS-PENDERGRAFT

DEC 1, 2023

1

Share

LLAW’s COMMENTARY:

I am pleased to say my proprietary Google Nuclear News Digest is back in business today after failing to report part of the best selective news two days ago and all of it yesterday. However, I still have no idea how it happened. But it did fail once before early on in these nightly reports. Hopefully it is back for good now. I would hate to gather up all the best nuclear information and categorize it by “seek and ye shall find” effort every day. In fact, I don’t think any one single individual could do it without AI help (as much as I despise AI, llolloll!)

But rest assured that this nightly Post is dedicated to providing the best selective news by nuclear category (including nuclear war, power, threats, and emergencies) every evening for all seven days every week, plus the bonus of all important Mother Nature’s own non-nuclear threat to mankind, volcanic calderas, primarily including Yellowstone, but Mother Nature’s calderas could also be the much-needed access to a non-toxic clean-air power generation era that could forever free us all from both nuclear power and fossil fuel energy, thereby reducing our nuclear fear to nuclear wars, which is far and away bad enough.

Thanks for reading All Things Nuclear! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Subscribed

Caldera steam power is my genuine hope, and a whole world of caldera produced energy could be done and efficiently accomplished in a similar period of time as just one new built-from-scratch nuclear reactor powered electrical generating plant — if only we would just open our collective eyes and minds to do it and then go for it. Logic tells me that we have no choice . . .

Otherwise, I have a depressing feeling that Doomsday is just around the corner and that the threats of nuclear war becoming more than threats may considerably shorten the days of humanity’s, and therefor the rest of planet Earth’s other innocent living creatures’ future as well. ~llaw

---

ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:

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. There are no Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this Post. If a category heading does not appear, it means there was no news reported from this category today.

(Just a reminder: When linked, the access to the media story will be underlined. If there is no link to a media story of interest you can still copy and paste the headline and lead line into your browser to find the article you are seeking. Hopefully this will never happen.)

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS (12/01/2023) :

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

What Drives This Madness On Small Modular Nuclear Reactors? – CleanTechnica

CleanTechnica

Everything you read after this point about why different groups are supporting small modular nuclear reactors and nuclear energy in general is my …

Are Small Nuclear Reactors the Future of Energy? – Washingtonian

Washingtonian

… thing that makes even the smallest amount of logical sense, is to throw all of your weight behind nuclear.” Last Energy builds and sells these …

New Navy office to dismantle nuclear carriers has ‘a century’ of work ahead: Admiral

Breaking Defense

… nuclear-powered aircraft carrier … all of our programs being on schedule, no, that we do not. So, we need to do some things a bit differently.

Nuclear Power

NEWS

UN atomic chief backs nuclear power at COP28 as world reckons with proliferation

AP News

Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, made the comments in an interview with The Associated Press at …

The nuclear power renaissance has some way to run – Financial Times

Financial Times

The Bugey nuclear power station, operated by EDF, in France The Bugey nuclear power station in France, a country that intends to be at the heart …

Net Zero “Needs Nuclear Power,” IAEA Says in Landmark Statement Backed by Dozens of …

International Atomic Energy Agency

The world needs nuclear power to fight climate change and action should be taken to expand the use of this clean energy source and help build “a …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Maryland nuclear power plant to test emergency sirens on Dec. 4 – NBC4 Washington

NBC4 Washington

Constellation Energy Corporation will conduct its semi-annual full-volume emergency warning siren test around the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant …

Nuclear plant near Lancaster County border to sound emergency sirens Dec. 6 | Local News

Lancaster Online

Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station will test its emergency warning sirens at 1 p.m. Dec. 6.

TVA trains for nuclear disasters at Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant | wbir.com

WBIR.com

TVA leaders said state and local emergency managers are vital to helping the community around the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant be safe in the event of an …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

South Korea Grapples With Nuclear Dilemma As North Korean Threats Escalate

Outlook India

South Korea Grapples With Nuclear Dilemma As North Korean Threats Escalate … nuclear, to defend the South from a North Korean nuclear attack. Many in …

Did the US just lose its “Nuclear” War with Russia? Strong evidences emerge – TFIGlobal

TFIGlobal

Did the US just lose its “Nuclear” War with Russia? Strong evidences … nuclear deterrent, aims to deter modern threats and assure allies. The …

Iran holds IAEA accountable for Israel’s atomic threats: Nuclear chief – Press TV

Press TV

Speaking on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday, Mohammad Eslami said that he had raised the issue of nuclear threats made by …

”End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity

LLOYD A. WILLIAMS-PENDERGRAFT

NOV 30, 2023

Share

LLAW’s COMMENTARY:

Google failed to email my personal “All Things Nuclear” news daily recap today. I have not been able to find out what caused it to fail. This is the second time in 466 days that my customized nuclear directed news has failed. The last time I was forced to reinput my data requirements to specify by category in the order and format that I wanted to receive on a daily basis. To put my feelings bluntly, I am thoroughly disgusted that such failures occur, no matter the reason or excuse.

So this will be a much abbreviated Post. I am adding today’s issue of “The Bulletin” newsletter, which contains some interesting stories that are important to today’s “All Things Nuclear” world. Hopefully, my full-fledged “All Things Nuclear” Posts will return tomorrow. ~llaw

To fill a little space, I am adding a couple pages of the quite long Preface to a novel I have been working on from time to time in “my spare time”. It is an introduction to what might happen, especially to knowledgeable nuclear scientists and their families, although I am only presenting a preview of the material that may give you some idea of the beginning efforts from the California, British Coast, and Alaska in order to begin whatever is left to salvage across the United States, Canada, and parts of Mexico. (There is also an interesting edition of “The Bulleting of Atomic Scientists” concerning nuclear risk, climate change, substituting for the normal current categorized news. and disruptive technologies like AI. ~llaw

---

The snippet from the Preface to my in progress novel “

El Nuclear Diablo

“Let the Bastards Freeze to Death in the Dark”

 ~Nuclear Industry Quote after the 3-Mile Island nuclear accident in 1979, directed at concerned Scientists, worried citizens, and public protesters

By Lloyd Albert Williams-Pendergraft

Prologue

Juneau, Alaska

Spring, 2026

Does it really matter who, exactly, is to blame, or why humankind is savagely devouring the native resources of planet Earth until there soon will be nothing left but lichenless barren rocks, the salty seas, countless grains of sand, and a poisonous atmosphere? It ought to be not enough to just know it is a critical unvarnished ugly truth. The question should be more like, “When will it happen and is there no way out of it?” Should it not?

I can only wonder if highly intelligent, but virulent, forms of our human species have, for countless eons, long traveled through the universal cosmos continually seeking, finding, and lavishly consuming, ultimately ravaging the natural resources, the flora and the fauna, devasting the environments of this and other living rich blue-green planets also once full of fossil fuels and innocent living resources similar to Earth’s in order to ensure and serve their own survival at the expense of all else in their way. Obviously, we are the only species on this planet who rape and ravage the earth with such savagely uncontrolled vigor on such a large scale. We are the ultimate u ultimate fungus, the ultimate lethal mushrooms. And I have to also wonder if there are not multiple, or at least two species of us.

Not to ridicule Darwin at all, but does his theory of evolution, based on studies of inbreeding pigeons and chickens, really make much sense to you in this context? Does it not seem to you that we humans may be collectively aggressively demanding, ruthless, impolite, unwelcome extra-terrestrial galaxy-trotting invaders doing our parasitic thing here on Earth rather than a native natural-born integral integrated key part of our indigenous homo-sapiens and the native animal population—as Darwin would have us believe? What about the Octopus, sir?

Could it be possible we or they are simply biologically genetically patterned to look and act like homo sapiens? Or perhaps vice versa? At least some of us? Maybe even a whole lot of us? How do we know the difference between the real human beings and genetically altered or cloned ones? Which one am I? Which one are you? Do any of us know? I use the terms “we”, “us” or “our” and “they”, or “them”, or “their“ interchangeably here because in this context I don’t know who or what I am—an “us” or a “them”.

I just know that I am extremely uncomfortable with our or their willfully passionate desire to destroy everything on the planet for personal power, wealth, and a life of comfort at the expense of the rest of us or them. I don’t know about you, but it sure seems to be that way to me, so that’s why I consider myself to be an us.

At the very least we need to consider the possibility of at least one species of them and one of us. The only way we will ever know who we really are is through our unfettered natural mindful emotions—our feelings of love, care, and respect for Planet Earth, ourselves, and all her fauna and flora—or, conversely, our unnatural lack of those emotions or feelings. Yet we often disguise these characteristics, presenting the opposite of ourselves as themselves, or the other way around. But despite the hidden complexity, our future may depend on solving this psychological dilemma .

If our demise (at least partially) has happened before, it will likely happen again. And there is, in today’s worlds, a very quick, relatively easy long-lasting, if not eternally, way to create such a scenario as an extinction level event, not from an act of nature or a god, but from our own actions. ~llaw (Winter, 2024)

---

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS: ( replacing my perconally unavailable nuclear news courtesy of the “Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists”)

This is a sharable version of the newsletter, and you may subscribe to the “Bulletin” from this Post. As stated in one of the articles this organization was inaugurated in the 1940s by Albert Einstein and his chief deputy, Robert Oppenheimer.

Read a shareable version of this newsletter in your browser. 
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here to stay current.

November 30, 2023

Illustration credit: Pinkeyes/Adobe Stock.

DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
AI and the future of warfare: The troubling evidence from the US military

US military officers can approve the use of AI-enhanced military technologies that they don’t trust. And that’s a serious problem. Read more.

NUCLEAR RISK
Why the India-Pakistan Kargil War is not a case of nuclear deterrence

In the 1999 Kargil War, India defended its territory from a Pakistani incursion but chose not to expand the war with counter-attacks on Pakistan. But in a future conflict India may take especially risky and escalatory actions, posing a test for nuclear deterrence. Read more.

CLIMATE CHANGE
How wealthy countries evade responsibility for their fossil fuel exports

Oil, gas, and coal exports are not counted when countries tally their greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris Agreement. This allows wealthy nations to report progress on emissions reduction, while shipping their fossil fuels—and the pollution they produce—overseas. Read more.

Help keep Einstein and Oppenheimer’s vision for the Bulletin alive

The Bulletin’s Board of Sponsors was established in 1948 by Albert Einstein, with J. Robert Oppenheimer as its first chair.

Your support helps the Bulletin continue to provide the information needed to reduce threats humanity faces.
​​​​​​

SUPPORT THE BULLETIN

SPECIAL TOPICS
Become a 2024 Bulletin Editorial Fellow

The Bulletin is seeking one new Editorial Fellow in each of three subject areas: nuclear risk; biosafety and biosecurity; and artificial intelligence. Apply now.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
​​​​
“Thus, the real danger isn’t that leaders will turn over the decision to use nuclear weapons to AI, but that they will come to rely on AI for what might be called ‘decision support’–using AI to guide their decision-making about a crisis in the same way we rely on navigation applications to provide directions while we drive.”

— Jeffrey Lewis, professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, “The militarized AI risk that’s bigger than ‘killer robots’,” Vox

Your ongoing support ensures we stay on mission and get the job done.
​​​Thank you!
 

GIVE TODAY

Copyright © 2023 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

All Rights Reserved | Email: newsletter@thebulletin.org

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
1307 E. 60th St.
Chicago, IL 60637

Don’t miss an email! Please add newsletter@thebulletin.org to your address book.
 

Manage your email preferences

LLAW’s “ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” #465 (11/29/2023)

“End nuclear insanity before nuclear insanity ends humanity”

LLOYD A. WILLIAMS-PENDERGRAFT

NOV 29, 2023

1

Share

LLAW’s COMMENTARY (11/29/2023) :

In a nutshell only tonight, this meme may plainly explain quite clearly what it is I am trying to get across to humanity about nuclear war and all other things nuclear, and why some nations’ leaders are power crazy enough to intentionally destroy the world(s) simply out of some self-aggrandizing belief that he is a one-man hubristic superpower beyond an unknown god of some kind. We ought to be wondering how it is that we of common life and common sense allow such men to find a way to have power over the millions and billions of the rest of us. And then we should put a stop to it before it’s too late. Every lost day increases the odds that nuclear war will happen, so time is of the essence to put a stop to this kind of leadership.

At the highest level of nuclear mistakes, this is precisely what I’ve been railing about for a year and a half in my nightly Posts . . . and this meme also means the evil man will try to burn all other nations down before his own so that no one can rule over him nor his ashes. ~llaw

Thanks for reading All Things Nuclear! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Subscribed

---

ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:

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. There are three Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this Post. If a category heading does not appear, it means there was no news reported from this category today.

(Just a reminder: When linked, the access to the media story will be underlined. If there is no link to a media story of interest you can still copy and paste the headline and lead line into your browser to find the article you are seeking. Hopefully this will never happen.)

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS (11/29/2023) :

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Eight-year delay in Pilgrim decommissioning could change disposal of radioactive water

NHPR

Members of the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel discuss the future of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power … All Things Considered · Refresher …

U.S. military Osprey aircraft crashes off coast of southwestern Japan – WVTF

WVTF

All Things Considered · BBC World Service · Fresh Air · Full Disclosure · Here … nuclear crisis and the Fukushima earthquake and nuclear disaster. See …

Nuclear to ‘shine’ at COP28, says Bilbao y León

World Nuclear News

“Not only did we challenge the preconceptions that many people have about nuclear … “Today we have 60 gigawatts of new nuclear under construction all …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

EDF aims to build one nuclear reactor a year in 2030s – Reuters

Reuters

French nuclear operator EDF aims to build at least one large reactor a year during the 2030s, CEO Luc Remont said at the World Nuclear Exhibition …

IEA says financing challenges remain for nuclear projects – Reuters

Reuters

The sector should take advantage of the global energy crisis as well as the climate crisis to launch a “second wave” of power plant construction like …

How To Bring Back Nuclear — A New Paradigm Changing Role Of Government – Forbes

Forbes

Plant Vogtle: The last gasp for big U.S. nuclear? NRC. The nation’s electric supply is on the edge of a disaster. This year it was a wing-and-a …

Nuclear War

NEWS

U.S. Gets Another Nuclear Bomb Added to Its Stockpile – Newsweek

Newsweek

End of dialog window. Nuclear War ‘Doomsday’ Clock Has Changed, Russian Physicist Says. By Nick Mordowanec. Staff Writer. FOLLOW. Share. A new nuclear …

US official’s visit to RAF Lakenheath “further proof” of nuclear mission in Britain –

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

The presence of nuclear weapons will make the base – and the UK – a target in the event of nuclear war; it will also run the risk of an accident at …

A Nuclear Attack by Design – or by Accident – Must Never Happen – DailyNews

Daily News

Hirotsugu Terasaki, Director General of Peace and Global Issues, Soka Gakkai International (SGI). 130. As two of the world’s nuclear powers—Russia and …

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

What ‘geological hazards’ lurk below Yellowstone National Park? – KRTV

KRTV

The column, called Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles, is written by scientists and collaborators at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This same …

“Geological hazards” lurking below Yellowstone National Park, data show – CBS News

CBS News

The column, called Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles, is written by scientists and collaborators at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. emigrant …

Data shows ‘geological hazards’ lurk beneath Yellowstone National Park

La Ronge Northerner

The column, called Yellowstone Caldera Records, was written by scientists and collaborators at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. Shaded maps …

LLAW’s “ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” #464 (11/28/2023)

“End nuclear insanity before nuclear insanity ends humanity”

LLOYD A. WILLIAMS-PENDERGRAFT

NOV 28, 2023

1

Share

LLAW’s COMMENTARY: (About Chicken Little)

Some would say, and rightly so, that this Post is like the stories of “Henny Penny”, who, when an acorn falls from a tree and hits her on the head, believes the sky is falling, and rushes off in fear to warn the world that “The Sky is Falling”. But, depending on the version, the moral of the drama varies according to experience and reality. Where there is a “happy ending,” the moral of the story is to have courage rather than be a “chicken”. The tale is also sometimes regarded as a warning not to believe everything one is told in some versions, like when the chickens end up being eaten by the foxes, implying that Henny Penny’s tale of danger is a fact, but others don’t believe her preposterous story and dismiss it out of hand, paying no heed to her warnings only to be end up eaten. The real moral of the story, in any case, is that anyone who believes that their warnings are legitimate based on their own judgement and experience should not be ridiculed and laughed at, unceremoniously dismissed by those who are too disinterested or mentally lazy to check the warnings for themselves are courageous? “Courage” and “Ignorance” are not synonyms by any definition.

So it seems the two-sided story of “Chicken Little” is the same story as “All Things Nuclear”, including the threats of nuclear war and the dangers of nuclear power plants, where nuclear deterrence is a made-up agreement where the fox won’t eat the chicken for a political and/or commercial agreement kind of morality, while nuclear threats are, in fact, false warnings from those that we are told not to believe because they are extensions of the magical word deterrence in the form of intended fear of retaliation and that nuclear war can go no further than threats because the war can go no further than the deterrence ‘agreements’ allows (that are already being ripped to shreds by the way) . . . and therefor there is nothing to see here? The same insanity applies to nuclear generated power — perhaps moreso — because we are not smart enough to understand that all things nuclear are of the same ilk, no matter what it is used for.

Also, accepting the nuclear deterrence/ignorance insanity is “Courageous”? But not believing or accepting the political or commercial propaganda of greedy self-aggrandized men whose profession is lying to the rest of us, is being “Chicken”? llolloll! ~llaw

Thanks for reading All Things Nuclear! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

---

ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:

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. There is one Yellowstone Caldera bonus story available in this Post. If a category heading does not appear, it means there was no news reported from this category today.

(Just a reminder: When linked, the access to the media story will be underlined. If there is no link to a media story of interest you can still copy and paste the headline and lead line into your browser to find the article you are seeking. Hopefully this will never happen.)

---

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS (11/28/2023):

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

The militarized AI risk that’s bigger than “killer robots” – Vox

Vox

This goes for everything from drones to nuclear-armed missiles, bombers, and submarines. Of course, it’s nuclear-armed missiles, bombers, and …

As the US faces down new nuclear threats, will Cold War solutions work once again?

Atlantic Council

What needs to change about US nuclear weapons strategy? New Atlanticist … All rights reserved. Privacy Policy · Cookie Policy · Terms and conditions …

Portland nuclear power startup NuScale hit with investor lawsuit – KLCC

KLCC

… about a major project promised to usher in a new age of nuclear power … Next Up: 5:00 PM All Things Considered. 0:00. 0:00. Eye 5. KLCC. 0:00 0:00.

Nuclear Power

NEWS

For the First Time Since ’65, the U.S. Military Will Blast a Nuclear Reactor Into Space

Popular Mechanics

The U.S. military is giving Lockheed Martin $33.7 million to make a nuclear–powered spacecraft. Here are the details.

IAEA says a dozen countries to be equipped with nuclear power – Reuters

Reuters

… nuclear power plant. Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, speaks at a news briefing in Okuma …

Advanced Nuclear Energy Is In Trouble | The Breakthrough Institute

The Breakthrough Institute

Meanwhile, forthcoming new cost estimates from TerraPower and XEnergy as part of the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Deployment Program are …

Nuclear War

NEWS

As the US faces down new nuclear threats, will Cold War solutions work once again?

Atlantic Council

During the Cold War, the United States had to determine how to deter nuclear attacks on its territory, how to extend deterrence to cover allies, and …

A Nuclear Attack by Design — or by Accident — Must Never Happen – IDN-InDepthNews

IDN-InDepthNews

Q: Will the new Cold War also have a negative impact, sooner or later, on the UN’ s primary role in its longstanding campaign for nuclear disarmament?

The militarized AI risk that’s bigger than “killer robots” – Vox

Vox

This is what the Soviet Union was doing in 1983 — relying on a massive computer that used thousands of variables to warn leaders if a nuclear attack …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

NRC Provides Emergency Preparedness Flexibility for SMRs and Advanced Reactors

Morgan Lewis

… emergency planning that accounts for the lower-risk … energy sector, including nuclear reactor licensing, regulatory compliance, and nuclear exports.

Zaporizhia NPP loses power connection during increased military activity

Nuclear Engineering International

… nuclear safety and security in an armed conflict. It is vital that the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant tests its emergency response arrangements.

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

As the US faces down new nuclear threats, will Cold War solutions work once again?

Atlantic Council

During the Cold War, the United States executed its deterrence strategy to make credible threats that it would use nuclear weapons if its conventional …

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi speaks to FRANCE 24 about global nuclear threats

France 24

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi speaks to FRANCE 24 about global nuclear threats … North Korea. Happening now. Features · Israel-Hamas war · Gaza Strip …

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi speaks to FRANCE 24 about global nuclear threats – YouTube

YouTube

… nuclear threats in Ukraine and North Korea. Subscribe to France 24 now: https://f24.my/YTen LIVE – Watch FRANCE 24 English 24/7 here: https …

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

Iwo-jima Volcano (Volcano Islands, Japan): Ongoing Eruptive Activity Forms V-shaped Island

Volcano Discovery

Earthquakes often precede volcanic eruptions. Find out where the latest earthquakes in the vicinity of volcanoes have occurred. Yellowstone quakes.

LLAW’s “ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” #463 (11/27/2023)

End nuclear insanity before nuclear insanity ends humanity”

LLOYD A. WILLIAMS-PENDERGRAFT

NOV 27, 2023

1

Share

LLAW’s COMMENTARY:

As a species we are allowing ourselves to be attacked by ourselves from virtually every possible irresponsible angle the human mind can divine or devise, and none of it is genuinely helpful to any kind of life on planet Earth, but we simply don’t seem to understand or care that we all may be dead tomorrow — or a week, a month, a year, over even a decade from today — dragging all other life on Earth over the proverbial cliff right along with us. The following article from today’s “Bulletin”, published by the Union of Atomic Scientists incorporates other related human activities that exponentially add to the nuclear and atmospheric danger we are facing today that can only end up destroying life on planet Earth. It is like a tangled web purposely weaved to create the 6th Extinction!

And for what? I cannot help but ask! (I do know the answer to the question. Do you?) There is a whole world of sensible people out there trying to tell you, including me. I have offered a brief summary of my thoughts and opinions following the article. ~llaw

• Doomsday Clock
• Nuclear Risk
• Climate Change
• Disruptive Technologies
• Biosecurity
• Support Our Work

“A new “all-hazards” approach for reducing multiple catastrophic threats”

By Rumtin Sepasspour | November 24, 2023

D. Dibenski, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Share

Each of the various pathways to global catastrophe presents its own winding course of possibilities. Nuclear weapons, climate change, pandemics, advanced technologies, and space weather might appear as fundamentally different threats. However, they are not disconnected. They branch out from common drivers like geopolitical competition, economic growth, and technological advancement. The terrains for tackling the various threats are also similar, presenting shared challenges and features.

These routes don’t end in vastly different destinations either. Global catastrophes ultimately harm the same societal functions, among them critical infrastructure, health systems, food supply, and governance continuity.

An effective and efficient method for reducing catastrophic risk would use an “all-hazards” approach, tackling the risk holistically by capitalizing on characteristics or conditions shared among the threats. This can be achieved by managing threats as a whole and finding common themes between them. A two-pronged approach, the tactic will save energy and resources by fighting multiple threats at once, giving humanity a better chance at reducing overall global catastrophic risk.

Catastrophic risk in its entirety. Not uncommon in emergency management, an all-hazards approach recognizes that various sources of risk are not siloed. But as a research topic or policy matter, global catastrophic risk is typically seen through a threat-specific lens.

The main, and most obvious, benefit of an all-hazards approach is that it can treat multiple catastrophic scenarios at the same time. For example, alleviating tensions and competition between countries could reduce risk from nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, as well as from artificial intelligence and other dual-use technologies.

A more subtle but equally important benefit of an all-hazard approach: It provides a failsafe for unknown or underestimated risk. Nuclear weapons, pandemics, and artificial intelligence risk receive a lion’s share of effort from global catastrophic risk research and advocates. These existential threats are assessed as more likely or impactful than others. But what if the assessment–including potential pathways or time frames–is wrong? And what if humans haven’t yet created or discovered the threat that wipes them out? Preventing and preparing for all catastrophes collectively circumvents human misjudgments and uncertainties.

Overarching policy manages risk as a whole. In practice, an all-hazard approach to global catastrophic risk policy can be achieved via two angles. The first takes a risk-management point of view. This approach involves several steps: governance, understanding, prevention, preparedness, response, communication, and collaboration. Each of these steps overarches not just one but a whole range of threats.

RELATED:

Nuclear power: Why the divide in expert views?

Let’s take risk governance, for instance. These structures, decision-making processes, and policy guidance would direct and coordinate government action on global catastrophic risk. For example, risk experts and the House of Lords of the United Kingdom have proposed a national “chief risk officer” to oversee government efforts for extreme risk.

National risk assessments in many countries already receive the all-hazards treatment. And the United States is delivering a holistic assessment of existential and global catastrophic risk under the Global Catastrophic Risk Management Act of 2022. Further government action could look to study, analyze, assess, monitor, and warn about this level of risk.

Preparing for global catastrophe can capitalize on an all-hazards approach. Here, policymakers can focus on the systems that make humans weak or vulnerable. Food security in a catastrophe has received significant attention from some researchers. However, building resilience in political, societal, infrastructure, and health systems will also be critical to survival across multiple catastrophic scenarios.

Governments will also need to consider how they collaborate and communicate with stakeholders. Engaging with citizens, the private sector, civil society, and other countries is critical to reducing collective risk. For example, proactive yet careful communications—like the Swedish Government’s If Crisis or War Comes pamphlet—can alert citizens to extreme risk and spur action.

Finding common themes. The second angle for an all-hazards approach is thematic. These themes, or policy areas, are those that cut across multiple threats and hazards. Addressing how these policy areas intersect with global catastrophic risk would be a powerful strategy.

There are nine primary cross-cutting areas: international relations and foreign policy; politics and governance; security and defense; economics and finance; natural resources and the environment; infrastructure and the built environment; health and healthcare; knowledge and information; technology and innovation; and society and culture.

Risk is driven by these different areas. For example, security or economic factors can lead to the risk that emerges from artificial intelligence, climate change, and weapons of mass destruction. The push for advances in knowledge, technology, and innovation drive risk from dual-use technologies, while stoking the vulnerabilities of societies and governance.

RELATED:

Where climate journalism is now: Interview with Emily Atkin, the fire behind the Heated climate newsletter

Reducing how these factors drive or exacerbate risk could be critical to preventing a threat from arising in the first place.

The intersections just described also work in the other direction: These policy areas are affected by global catastrophic risk. National security and economic development are severely hampered by global crises. Critical infrastructure, such as energy grids and telecommunications networks, could face catastrophic collapse. And the normal operations of government would be disrupted.

In this case, building preparedness and resilience would reduce the impact of a global catastrophe. The challenge, and opportunity, with cross-cutting policy is how one area weaves its way through the risk.

Food, for example, is relevant across many threats. As a risk driver, food contributes to climate change via greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss through land clearing, and naturally occurring pandemics via zoonosis. Food systems are also vulnerable to global catastrophes. Extreme climate change and abrupt sun-blocking scenarios, such as nuclear winter and impacts from near-Earth objects and volcanic super-eruptions, could greatly and suddenly reduce global food supplies.

Taking the fight on, together. There’s plenty of work needed to make an all-hazards policy a global reality. The first steps involve identifying the common drivers behind multiple threats and agreeing to the critical systems that are vulnerable to catastrophic risk.

To bring experts from each of the threats together so they map the shared landscape of risk will require resources, forums appropriate to such efforts, and mechanisms for creating concrete plans. And advocacy groups must translate this holistic understanding of global risks into practical options for governments to consider.

Tackling each of the threats on their own can feel daunting, so considering all of them together might seem an insurmountable challenge. However, the power of an all-hazards approach is that it re-conceptualizes a variety of daunting problems into a shared—and vincible—opponent. It would not be fighting different battles but fighting the same battle on multiple lines.

By embracing an all-hazards approach, researchers, advocates, and policymakers from each of the threat domains can discover what binds them together and tackle their shared challenges. Instead of lone warriors facing their respective Goliaths, they can join forces and beat all their foes with a single stone. (End of Story)

---

My thoughts about this article are, of course, that “risk management” is a buzz-phrase, and the only way out of our extinction dilemma is ‘risk elimination” because risk management still assumes ‘risk’; therefore it can’t possibly work even though the unification of the intertwined ‘risk issues’ as a tool may help unwind the tangled web that is leading us to our collective graves, but is important and helpful only if we have a common leadership politically, militarily, and a mindfully common agreement of necessity in a united world that chooses peace over war and love over hate. We must have a world where we all can live as one.

Those collective human issues must be resolved first. Otherwise the ‘management’ issue, which I am presently working on in a proposal to the U.S. government concerning destroying ‘all things nuclear’ that I call the “Blue Print” that leads to a world(s)-wide cooperative (think of the old co-ops where we were all involved in managing and pricing the same markets) concept that makes us all part of the ‘management’ rather than special interest groups with opposing agendas like countries, nations, corporations, banks, religions, racial and language conflicts or discrimination (like using the word “between” when meaning the word “among” in the above article), and all other human contradictory attitudes, beliefs, concepts, ideas, and intentions. Otherwise, it is all just more of the same with different artwork painted over the same canvas scene used over and over and over unto life’s extinction. ~llaw

---

ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:

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. There are two Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this Post. If a category heading does not appear, it means there was no news reported from this category today.

(Just a reminder: When linked, the access to the media story will be underlined. If there is no link to a media story of interest you can still copy and paste the headline and lead line into your browser to find the article you are seeking. Hopefully this will never happen.)

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS (11/27/2023):

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Forty years after ‘The Day After,’ rethinking war and nuclear weapons through film – WGBH

WGBH

Forty years ago this week, ABC Television aired a film that harnessed Americans’ very real fear about a possible nuclear attack amid the Cold War.

Ansys Enables NuScale Power to Develop Advanced Nuclear Technology – PR Newswire

PR Newswire

Cloud Computing/Internet of Things · Computer Electronics · Computer Hardware … All rights reserved. The works owned by NuScale Power, LLC may not be …

French Nuclear Startup Seeks €150 Million for Reactor Prototype – Bloomberg.com

Bloomberg.com

Examining all things climate, ranging from the biggest environmental … Naarea, which stands for Nuclear Abundant Affordable Resourceful Energy for All …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Nuclear’s uncertain role in the shift away from fossil fuels is seen as critical and very contentious

CNBC

Co-hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the COP28 presidency, the event will “announce the IAEA Statement on Nuclear Power,” according …

Redeveloping retired coal sites into nuclear plants could benefit the planet and economy

Utility Dive

According to new research, repurposing the infrastructure of a retired coal plant for new nuclear generation could both assist in meeting clean energy …t

Second large Polish nuclear plant gets approval

World Nuclear News

Poland’s Ministry of Climate and Environment has issued a decision-in-principle for the country’s second large nuclear power plant.

Nuclear War

NEW

Forty years after ‘The Day After,’ rethinking war and nuclear weapons through film – WGBH

WGBH

Forty years ago this week, ABC Television aired a film that harnessed Americans’ very real fear about a possible nuclear attack amid the Cold War.

China-US battle over Taiwan would be ‘a war too many’ for world right now: Expert

Anadolu Ajansı

… War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones,” highlighting the most powerful deterrent of wars: nuclear weapons.

Main power line to Europe’s largest nuclear plant cut amid ongoing combat in Ukraine

ExchangeMonitor

It is the latest in a string of power disruptions to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which sits directly on the frontlines of Russia’s war in …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Main power line to Europe’s largest nuclear plant cut amid ongoing combat in Ukraine

ExchangeMonitor

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant lost its main power … An emergency diesel generator also started operating to supply reactor …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

West’s concerns over expansion of war in case of pressure against Iran’s nuclear program

Tehran Times

The most obvious example is the Agency’s indifference to the nuclear threat to Gaza during the recent crisis in the occupied territories. When the …

Nuclear Arms Control architecture is collapsing – DailyNews

Daily News

non-nuclear Ukraine and Israel vs non-nuclear Hamas, along with the growing nuclear threats from North Korea. … The destruction by thermonuclear war …

The secret nuclear bunker built to protect 450 VIPs if UK were to be bombed – Daily Express

Daily Express

Renewed interest in one of the most ‘secret’ sites skyrocketed after Vladimir Putin’s threats about nuclear warfare. … nuclear war. So we’ve had lots …

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

Lidar data shed new light on “hidden” geological hazards near the northern entrance … – USGS.gov

USGS.gov

These high-resolution topographic data are revealing new details of the landscape never seen before for this area. Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a …

Krakatau Volcano (Sunda Strait, Indonesia): Renewed Eruptive Activity, Sudden Powerful …

Volcano Discovery

Krakatau volcano. Caldera 813 m (2,667 ft.) / Anak Krakatau: 189 … List and interactive map of current and past earthquakes near Yellowstone volcano.

LLAW’s “ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” #462 (11/26/2023)

“End nuclear insanity before nuclear insanity ends humanity“

LLOYD A. WILLIAMS-PENDERGRAFT

NOV 26, 2023

1

Share

Tonight’s “All Things Nuclear” Commentary (not the news) is from the 1st Anniversary of my daily Posts that explains, perhaps more plainly than elsewhere, why I continue to attempt to convince the modern World(s) that humanity and other life is seriously facing our own extinction because we misunderstand the Earth blanketing power of an all out nuclear war (or WWIII) and the accompanying danger of nuclear power plants whether they are used or not as weapons of mass destruction, simply because they are weapons of mass destruction – one way or another. I am into the 93rd day of year two, and every so often I like to reach back and provide a Post that came before I began adding them to Substack as well as to my personal website, which is an alternative place along with Facebook and “X” (formerly Twitter) where you can find my Posts. And there will soon be more media sites as well. Always stay tuned for the best in daily World(s)-Wide Nuclear News. ~llaw

---

LLAW’s “ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” #365 (08/21/2023)

“End nuclear insanity before nuclear insanity ends humanity”

Thanks for reading All Things Nuclear! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Subscribed

__________________________________

LLAW’s COMMENTARY:

Today marks the 1st Anniversary of my essentially ‘one-man-band’ of singing a sad song of possible ‘armageddon’ every night. I call the song “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR”, a Daily Commentary and global Nuclear News Digest, including major media stories – but also including nature’s possible contribution to the massive destruction of mankind by keeping an eye on the Yellowstone Caldera in my old home State of Wyoming (with small parts of the caldera leaking north into Montana and west into Idaho because, like nuclear holocaust, volcanoes don’t give a damn about boundaries). But there is also a caveat that one day we may realize that sunken volcanoes, or calderas, may be the answer to our world(s)’ clean energy problems that, if we don’t change our ways, will one day be the death of us all.

The “LLAW’s All Things Nuclear” digest of media news (not counting the Yellowstone Caldera) is divided into five Categories: All Things Nuclear News; Nuclear Power News; Nuclear War News; Nuclear Power Emergencies News; and Nuclear War Threats News for this Post from a daily late morning automated personally modeled Google search for the best and most important information, a daily compilation I created for this late evening report that most folks read the following morning.

The news roundup is proprietary to this Post and this particular compilation is available nowhere else and is meant to provide quick access with links to the major daily issues in the nuclear worlds of energy and war to enable the public to easily stay abreast of what’s going on in these incredibly important and dangerous corners of planet Earth’s many man-made world(s). The Posts’ mission is to apprise the general public around these world(s) of all the urgent nuclear issues and, more importantly, to convince the human world(s) that all things nuclear must be eliminated from the realms of human functions and existence if mankind and Mother Nature’s fauna and flora are to avoid future extinction.

I have a long professional background in the uranium and nuclear energy business and the years of experience (parts of three decades) together with knowledge and awareness of governmental and corporate incompetence along with lack of knowledge and care, creating misunderstandings in a vain attempt to control ‘all things nuclear’ together with the inevitable threat and eventual event of catastrophe grows nearer every day. Also for our awareness ‘The Bulletin of Atomic Scientist illustrates for us with the settings of its ‘Doomsday Clock’, which sits now at 90 seconds to Midnight – midnight meaning ‘Doomsday’ – based on world-wide nuclear and other destructive situations around the globe. This the closest it has ever been set to an immanent ‘Doomsday’ in the Bulletin’s long history dating back to the 1940s.

So it is, that this being my publication’s 1st anniversary, I am not going to dig up any earth-shattering tales of woe, hell, fire, and damnation tonight – but my normal beseeches will return on schedule tomorrow. For those of you who are already inclined to follow this project as I grow it into a larger and more wide-spread journal of worldly importance, I hope each of you will pass the word of this Post along to your family, friends, and acquaintances who are familiar with or use Facebook, although during the course of our 2nd year I will be adding other outlets – but as I’ve said several times over this past year, Facebook (the largest individually used app’s world(s)-wide popularity, reaching about a third of the entire human population) is the place that I see as having the best chance to bring the necessary community of humanity together to stop ‘all things nuclear’ by public demand, forcing removal of the entire mess of nuclear facilities, missile warheads, fuel, waste and other highly destructive radioactive poisons that we have created on and around planet Earth in less than 100 years of irrational thought, creation and use of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear energy (also, a potential WMD itself due to the Russia/Ukraine war) that will no doubt sooner, rather than later, lead to the extermination of our species as well as most all other life forms – probably with the immanent help of our also insane pollution of the Earth with CO2 gas, creating global warming and climate change.

We don’t have to exterminate ourselves this way, but there seems to be no serious consideration for doing away with all things nuclear, which to me at least, means that humanity will not cease and desist until its too late to save ourselves unless somehow our universal protests or intervention of some kind develops soon. In fact, some scientists believe that salvation is already too late, but I am, at heart, an optimist and I just know that if we devote our entire existential senses and purposes of being toward saving ourselves, we can get ‘er done, but it won’t be easy and it won’t be pleasant. ~llaw (and now back to the future:)

---

ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:

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. There is one Yellowstone Caldera bonus story available in this Post. If a category heading does not appear, it means there was no news reported from this category today.

(Just a reminder: When linked, the access to the media story will be underlined. If there is no link to a media story of interest you can still copy and paste the headline and lead line into your browser to find the article you are seeking. Hopefully this will never happen.)

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS (11/26/2023):

All Things Nuclear

NEW

REVEALED: Biden’s ‘nuclear football’ contain BOOK that tells president how to launch attack …

Daily Mail

‘There’s always a plane in the air. It’s called the “Looking Glass,”‘ said Cerf. The command then goes to a military bunker that is ‘spherical, …

Beyond Current Chaos: The Escalating Risks of Nuclear War – Modern Diplomacy

Modern Diplomacy

As this former and now re-aspiring president reads nothing about such weighty matters – literally nothing at all – there remains good reason for task- …

A Photographer Goes Inside the Ruins of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant | PetaPixel

PetaPixel

Unfortunately, just when everything seemed to have been sorted out, the pandemic hit and prevented me from going to Japan. It was only recently that …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Why Nuclear Power Expansion Predictions Failed | Markets Insider

Markets Insider – Business Insider

A University of Reading team of researchers looked back at a model that predicted nuclear power would expand dramatically in order to assess the e …

Update 197 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

International Atomic Energy Agency

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) lost the connection to its main off-site power line today, forcing it to rely on back-up …

A Photographer Goes Inside the Ruins of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant | PetaPixel

PetaPixel

For more than a dozen years, I have been documenting the aftermath of the disasters at the Chornobyl and Fukushima nuclear power plants, …

Nuclear War

NEWS

Why is the US ramping up production of plutonium ‘pits’ for nuclear weapons?

The Guardian

Last week, Green party presidential hopeful Jill Stein warned that US leaders are “absolutely” risking the possibility of nuclear war in its support …

Beyond Current Chaos: The Escalating Risks of Nuclear War – Modern Diplomacy

Modern Diplomacy

Though generally acclaimed, the recent film Oppenheimer did little to highlight any long-term implications of nuclear weapons and nuclear warfare.

America needs to bomb Iran – opinion – The Jerusalem Post

The Jerusalem Post

This would make it virtually impossible for Israel to go to war against Iran in light of its nuclear program. What are Israel’s options? The only …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Ukrainian NPP staff work out drill to tackle consequences of potential missile attack

Ukrinform

An emergency drill was held at one of the Ukrainian nuclear power plants to test personnel’s readiness for a possible blackout as a result of a …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

International organizations display double standards regarding Israel, says Iran’s nuclear chief

Tehran Times

… war crimes has revealed their double standards to the world … He further underscored the history of threats to use nuclear bombs by …

‘Nuclear tinderbox’: Kim’s threats put North Korea on wrong side of history – WN.com

WN.com

… nuclear attack readiness against U.S, South Korea | English News. Published 20 Mar 2023. 1:04. Kim Jong-un makes New Year nuclear threat. Published 01 …

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse: Tunnel expert reveals challenges in the rescue of 41 trapped workers

YouTube

Horrible today: Seconds Of Collapse Crater Giant’ Under Yellowstone Caldera has scientis terrified … Nov 25 2023: (night) Semeru volcano – many …

Thanks for reading All Things Nuclear! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.