End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity” ~llaw

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Aug 07, 2025

On My Mind Today:

Donald J. Trump and “all things nuclear” that he has questionable influence and access to as the President of the United States of America. He is unnecessarily creating a global world of fear. ~llaw

*Although I think it would take more than a “two-person” rule as stated in the “Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists” article below . . .

Donald Trump can become a global hero by adopting the ‘two-person rule’ for nuclear weapons use

By John Mecklin | August 6, 2025

These two locks were part of the implementation of the two-person-rule in a Minuteman ICBM launch control capsule. Photo by Craftsman2001; released into public domain by author.

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The 80th anniversaries of the first test and subsequent first uses of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki have inspired an array of public displays of concern about the current, inordinately dangerous state of nuclear affairs. Those displays have ranged from the journalistic (I found the project that dominated the August issue of The Atlantic particularly well-done) to thought-leader gatherings like the Nobel Laureates Assembly for the Prevention of Nuclear War, recently concluded in at the University of Chicago, and on to governmental offerings such as a series of speeches late in July by Democratic members of the House of Representatives about the danger of nuclear war.

There is a two-part assertion underlying most of these efforts: Nuclear war is an ever-present threat that could extinguish human civilization in an afternoon; and too little public attention is focused on the threat, so leaders devote too little effort to reducing it.

These assertions are true but incomplete. The possibility of nuclear war—whether begun intentionally, accidentally, or by misapprehension—is not just a problem, or a mere dilemma, or a challenging conundrum, but something akin to Winston Churchill’s description of Russia as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. It is hard even to imagine the practical way out of a situation in which the leader of any of nine nuclear weapons countries could instigate Armageddon, killing billions of people and leaving the planet an environmental hellhole. The nine-sided game called “Deterrence” (or, if you prefer, “Mutually Assured Destruction”) can have no winner, unless all nine members of the nuclear club agree never to play. And a practical way of throwing the game into the dust bin of history has eluded committed arms control and disarmament advocates for decades.

I have sat through many a meeting in which learned experts bemoaned a lack, today, of the kind of engaged mass public that encouraged US and Soviet leaders to address the nuclear weapons threat in the 1980s. In those meetings—and in countless think-tank panels and other policy symposia over the decades—well-meaning governmental officials and committed citizens have suggested that the public get the ‘80s nuclear fever again and force leaders to take actions that would reduce the risk of nuclear war. (Let me not exempt myself from membership in the suggestion-making industrial complex; every year for the past decade, I have helped the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board craft its Doomsday Clock statement, which invariably includes suggestions on what world leaders should and could do, if they were really concerned about a nuclear conflagration that would make Hiroshima and Nagasaki seem trivial.)

But 2025 is not the mid-1980s. Even if history sometimes throws a useful rhyme or two our way, it does not repeat itself exactly. From the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, the world had leaders—Gorbachev, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush—who responded to the currents of their times and took extraordinary measures to reduce the threat of nuclear war. Certainly, mass protests had their effect. But there were many forces at play during the years surrounding the dissolution of the Soviet Union that led to what seemed, then, an end to an idiotic Cold War. The change wasn’t just about demonstrators or public opinion. It required leaders who understood the times and took the chance before them to make extraordinary, positive history.

RELATED:

Atoms and Arroyos: The photographic legacy of Berlyn Brixner

Today, we have a different world situation, with leaders who differ markedly from those who tried to end the Cold War. And the nuclear situation is more perilous now than then. It is 89 seconds to midnight, with a clicking Doomsday Clock, a worldwide nuclear modernization craze in process, and Russian and US officials carelessly playing around with nuclear rhetoric and signaling-by-submarine.

So, on this 80th anniversary of the two atomic bombings that started this age of nuclear terror, I will not urge citizens into the streets or recount all that they and their leaders could do to reduce the nuclear threat. Instead, let me suggest one action that one man could take that would, I believe, dramatically reduce the likelihood of nuclear war—instantly.

Donald Trump could sign up to the two-person rule.

Over time, many concerned experts and government officials have suggested variations on what should be a self-evident truth: No one person should have the power—what is often called the “sole authority”—to end human civilization; any decision to use nuclear weapons should, as a matter of simple common sense, require the agreement of two or more people. It’s a general notion that, Stanford University expert Scott Sagan notes, has come to be known in common parlance as the two-person rule.

Right now, in the Senate, the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2025, introduced by Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and co-sponsored by six other senators,^[1] sits at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. A companion measure^[2] was introduced by Rep. Ted Lieu of California; it sits in the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees. Also, the Nuclear First-Strike Security Act of 2025, introduced by Rep. Scott Peters of California and co-sponsored by eight other House members,^[3] sits in the House Armed Services Committee.

These bills offer reasonable options for making sure a US president cannot, by himself, start a nuclear war, and they provide reasonable allowances for quick response in situations in which an adversary has launched a nuclear attack against the United States or its allies. But the sponsors and co-sponsors of these bills are all Democrats (with the exception of Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats). Only a fully blinkered optimist could expect those bills—or any others that seek to constrain President Trump, a Republican with a seemingly iron grip on congressional Republicans—to pass Congress, much less be signed into law.

But no sane person of either major American political party wants to see the world incinerated. Certainly, Donald Trump knows of the terrible danger of nuclear weapons; he has commented on that danger frequently over decades. In February he put it succinctly, saying that if nuclear weapons were ever used “that’s going to be probably oblivion.”

“Tremendous amounts of money are being spent on nuclear, and the destructive capability is something that we don’t even want to talk about …. So, we want to see if we can denuclearize, and I think that’s very possible,” he said.

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ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’s All Nuclear Daily Digest” RELATED MEDIA”:

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

The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

1. All Things Nuclear
2. Nuclear Power
3. Nuclear Power Emergencies
4. Nuclear War Threats
5. Nuclear War
6. Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are two Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in today’s Post.)
7. IAEA News (Friday’s only) (NOTE: It’s back!)

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

TODAY’S ALL NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Thursday, (08/07/2025)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Why is Donald Trump posting about Sydney Sweeney and Nuclear Submarines? – YouTube

YouTube

… about nuclear submarines were all about. Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news …

Hiroshima survivors fear rising nuclear threat on the 80th anniversary of atomic bombing

WVTF

All Things Considered. Next Up: 6:00 PM Marketplace. 0:00. 0:00. All Things … about the growing support of global leaders for nuclear weapons as a …

Annie Jacobsen on Nuclear War, Intelligence Operations, and Conspiracy Realities (Ep. 250)

Conversations with Tyler

Tyler and Annie explore whether we should be more afraid of nuclear weapons or if fear itself raises the risks, who should advise presidents during …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

NASA Is Getting Fired Up About a Nuclear Reactor on the Moon – The New York Times

The New York Times

Placing an atomic energy source on the lunar surface is “not science fiction,” experts say, but does pose technical challenges.

US eyes 7% more nuclear power through restarts, upgrades | Reuters

Reuters

Restarts and uprates could hike U.S. nuclear power capacity by 7 GW by the end of the decade at lower risk and cost than building new reactors.

S&P 500 Nuclear Leaders Report Earnings As Stock Market Nuke Fever Spreads

Investor’s Business Daily

S&P 500 components Constellation Energy and Vistra reported Q2 earnings Thursday as nuclear-related stocks are moving higher in stock market …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Xcel to replace nuclear plant sirens with mobile phone alerts | Monticello Times

Hometown Source

MONTICELLO — Residents near Minnesota’s two nuclear power plants — including the local facility in Monticello — will soon receive emergency alerts …

Coag as irrelevantal and the anatomy of Trump’s energy emergency – POLITICO

Politico

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum (left) and Energy Secretary Chris Wright deliver remarks outside the · Steam rises from a a cooling tower at the nuclear …

Micro nuclear reactors poised to power mines and factories as safety debate flares

The Daily Climate

… emergency planning, is just madness.” — Ed Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Why this matters: Micro …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

NATO country issues nuclear war warning – Newsweek

Newsweek

… nuclear war “cannot be won and must never be fought,” as Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul condemned growing threats to the global nuclear order.

Renewed nuclear threats cast shadow over Hiroshima anniversary – YouTube

YouTube

Renewed nuclear threats cast shadow over Hiroshima anniversary. 11K … Israel-Gaza War: Israel’s Netanyahu Reportedly Plans Full Occupation of Gaza | ..

America is prepared for a strike on our nuclear weapons – The Hill

The Hill

America’s nuclear command, control, and communications system is resilient and prepared for nuclear threats, despite vulnerabilities … war, should a …

Nuclear War

NEWS

Russia & US Marching Towards Nuclear War? | WION | GRAVITAS Highlights – YouTube

YouTube

… War‑era arms control. With nuclear submarines at sea, warheads back on British soil, and new missiles coming to Germany, Cold War danger has …

The witnesses of the first nuclear bomb | The Take – YouTube

YouTube

What is the threat of nuclear war today? With tensions on the rise, a new telling of firsthand accounts of the creation of the atomic bomb and the …

My entertaining Conversation with Annie Jacobsen – Marginal REVOLUTION

Marginal REVOLUTION

This was Schelling in an interview with WGBH Radio in 1986 in Boston. He says, “The problem with applying game theory to nuclear war is that nuclear …

Nuclear War

NEWS

NATO Country Issues Nuclear War Warning as Russia-US Tensions Escalate – Newsweek

Newsweek

Germany marked the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings with a stark warning that nuclear war “cannot be won and must never be …

Russia and the US have only one nuclear arms pact left. What does it mean? | AP News

AP News

While the end of nuclear weapons agreements between the U.S. and Russia does not necessarily make nuclear war more likely, “it certainly doesn’t make …

Trump Moves “Nuclear” Subs: Negotiating Tactic or Escalatory Gamble? – CSIS

CSIS

Russian attack submarines can carry nuclear weapons in addition to their conventional weapons. Thus, they are considered “dual-capable.” Russia and …

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

No, Yellowstone Animals Aren’t Fleeing: Scientists Debunk Viral Supervolcano Rumors

Dailyfly News

Michael Poland, scientist-in-charge of Yellowstone Volcano Observatory at the U.S. Geological Survey, said there were undertones in the false claims …

Animals aren’t fleeing Yellowstone National Park in droves; the claims are baseless – PolitiFact

PolitiFact

Other TikTok posts suggested that animals could be fleeing because of a possible Yellowstone supervolcano eruption, but the U.S. Geological Survey …

End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity” ~llaw

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Aug 06, 2025

Image from Robert Hawks’ excellent visionary article “Technical State of Civil War” . . .

a must read for all Americans who care about our future.

On My Mind Today:

Should we somehow avoid this excellent and well-considered and factually expressed end to the American Dream, I have personal doubts that it will ever come to all this because there is, in my own view of the future, one key mistake — or perhaps two — in the following entire well-expressed and written vision that deserves tons of credit, praise, and and lots of literary awards – but for maybe two critical mistakes:

1) The USA does not stand alone in today’s hostile world(s), and 2) he, author Robert Hawks) says forget the nukes, which in my world is a huge mistake . . . Therefore our country’s demise will likely never happen as he so brilliantly portrays our disgraceful destiny because the United States of America simply won’t last long enough. But I will add — that ultimately in the long run we may well be better off in the distant future if our nuclear “armageddon” somehow never happens.

I encourage you all to read and absorb all that Mr. Hawks has to say about the future of the United States of America . . . ~llaw

Robert Hawks

SospnortedahP40u4t56u614f77f 5 h4g84hslf1tA0l:m501ugit c m2M ·

“Technical State of Civil War”

Let’s dispense with the pleasantries.

We are at war.

Not a shooting war.

Not yet.

But something worse in its own quiet, choking way—a technical state of civil war. The kind of war that makes cowards of rules and turns procedure into shrapnel.

And in Texas, Greg Abbott is lighting the fuse.

On August 4th, Governor Abbott announced—proudly, defiantly—that any Democratic legislator who fails to appear for a surprise session of the Texas state legislature by August 5th will see their seat declared vacant.

This, in a bald attempt to force a quorum for an unscheduled redistricting effort that would gerrymander at least five new Republican congressional seats into existence.

Five seats.

Bought not with votes, but with ink and knives.

Five seats to hold the U.S. House hostage after a 2026 election that, by all current indicators, will be a biblical catastrophe for the Republican Party.

This is not about state politics.

This is not about Texas.

This is about power.

This is about permanently tipping the balance of national representation using the architecture of a dying republic to rig the new one being born behind its back.

It is a dagger aimed at the heart of the Constitution itself—and it is being sheathed in plain sight.

Governor Gavin Newsom of California has responded in kind.

So have the governors of Illinois, Washington, New York.

They’ve declared their own intent to redraw maps, to counterbalance Abbott’s theft with a theft of their own.

And just like that, the pretense is gone.

The guardrails are being sawed off by both sides.

The game is rigged, the referees have joined the teams, and the field is splitting down the middle.

We are not drifting toward civil war.

We are being carried there—on gurneys, on motorcades, in armored trucks painted red, white, and blue and driven by men with no conscience and nothing left to lose.

Donald Trump—the increasingly frail, increasingly unhinged re-occupant of the Oval Office—has shattered the last illusions of presidential restraint.

His executive orders openly violate the Constitution.

He appoints judges who have lied under oath and dares the courts to stop him.

Senate Republicans, now functionally extinct as an institution of deliberation, confirm them without even pretending to vet.

Trump has begun personally selecting general officers in the U.S. military.

He is choosing his own warlords.

This is no longer political theatre.

This is war prep. This is banana republic shit.

And the punchline?

Half the country still thinks the Democrats are overreacting.

That we’re all just melting down because we lost a few court cases or that we’re mad we can’t get pronouns printed on our napkins.

No.

We’re reacting because we’re watching the United States be turned inside out by men who believe they should rule forever—or not at all.

Let’s be brutally clear.

This is not just about maps.

Not just about Abbott.

This is about a Republican Party that has now publicly declared—yes, publicly, and repeatedly—that if a Democrat wins the presidency in 2028, they will refuse to certify the election.

Full stop.

That’s not politics. That’s war-by-other-means.

The plan is as clear as it is insane: gerrymander the House, win the majority through rigged maps, then throw the 2028 election to the chamber when no consensus can be reached.

Install a Republican president—possibly Trump, God help us—by congressional fiat, regardless of the Electoral College or the popular vote.

In other words: end elections.

Cement minority rule.

Burn the scaffolding of democracy and salt the earth where the ballots used to grow.

And here’s where we land.

If one side openly declares they will never accept a Democrat in power again—and backs that declaration with action—then the only rational, ethical, and self-defensive response is to make the same declaration in return.

That’s how we arrive at a technical state of civil war.

Not with cannon fire.

Not with a shot at Fort Sumter.

But with deadlines and district lines, and governors signing paperwork like generals drawing battle maps.

And yes, it leads—eventually, inevitably—to the real thing.

Because what happens when blue states stop sending taxes to a red federal government?

What happens when governors of California, New York, and Illinois say, flat out, “We no longer recognize the authority of a president elected by gerrymandered fiat”?

What happens when National Guard units are federalized and told to act against their own citizens?

We’ve already seen it.

Federal troops in Portland.

Federal agents in unmarked vans in Minneapolis.

And now, a sitting U.S. president selecting military leadership based not on strategy, but on loyalty.

This is what a soft coup looks like.

This is how republics become dictatorships—one signed order, one packed court, one nullified election at a time.

We are standing on the edge.

And I want to be clear: I’m not even opposed to the collapse in principle.

Because unlike the Abbott crowd, I’ve thought this through.

If the United States breaks apart—and God knows, we are dangling over that edge like Wile E. Coyote holding a stick of TNT—here is what happens next:

California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada—the spine of the West—will form a new nation.

They will be joined by Illinois, Michigan, New York, Massachusetts, and most of the northeastern corridor.

The population, economy, and military of this new Union will be vastly superior to anything the southern rump states can cobble together.

And yes, you can wave your little Wyoming flags, but the brutal math is this: once the U.S. Constitution is abandoned, so too is the notion that two Dakotas matter more than one California.

In the new post-America, power will come from population, productivity, and force projection.

Which means: the south is screwed.

The GOP’s strongholds—Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Texas—are welfare states, net takers, dependent on federal subsidies from blue states they now propose to dominate.

They are a red velvet cake of hypocrisy baked in a kitchen paid for by liberal taxpayers.

And when those subsidies stop?

When Social Security checks don’t arrive?

When FEMA aid dries up?

When food assistance vanishes?

These states will burn—not from outside invasion, but from within.

Poor white voters, duped into culture war hysteria, will finally realize that racism doesn’t pay the rent.

And when the AC breaks, when the grocery shelves are bare, when the insulin is gone—they will riot.

The next Fort Sumter won’t be fired upon by blue coats—it’ll be torched from the inside by red ones who realize too late they were cannon fodder for a billionaire death cult.

Meanwhile, the new blue nation—call it Pacifica, call it the North American Republic, call it literally anything else—will control the nukes.

Because those bases are in California.

Those silos are in Montana and the Dakotas.

Those subs are docked in blue harbors, crewed by people with graduate degrees and no patience for neo-Confederate cosplay.

There may be some holdouts—some nukes in Texas, maybe a stray missile in Florida—but the command structure will fracture.

And the moment loyalty is divided in a nuclear state, you no longer have a country.

You have a disaster waiting for a launch code.

And you can bet NATO and the EU are watching.

So is China. So is Russia.

The new blue state will ally with Europe overnight.

The new red state?

It will be isolated.

Economically neutered.

Morally bankrupt. Internationally shunned.

Try running a nation with no money, no allies, and a citizenry trained only in rage. Let’s see how that goes.

And yet—and yet—this is where we are headed.

Because for too long, one side has played by the rules while the other sharpens the knives.

We have tried to compromise with arsonists.

We have let the Constitution become a suicide pact.

No more.

Because now, if we do not fight, we die.

If we play fair, we lose.

If we tell ourselves it can’t happen here, we will wake up in the ash of what once was.

Greg Abbott is trying to fire on Fort Sumter with a fountain pen and a smirk.

If we don’t match him force for force—not violence for violence, but action for action, map for map, court for court, and yes, goddamnit, declaration for declaration—then the next fight won’t be about democracy.

It will be about which side gets the tanks.

And you know what?

I say let it come.

Because I promise you: the right has not thought this through.

They think blue states are weak.

That liberal means soft.

That cities can’t fight.

But I’ve seen New Yorkers when the train’s late.

I’ve seen Californians during wildfires.

I’ve seen drag queens in Texas standing alone against armed mobs and not blinking.

You want to go to war with those people?

Be my guest.

Just don’t be surprised when they’re still standing and you’re neck-deep in the mud, wondering why the federal aid convoy never came.

Let me say it again: this is a technical civil war.

The only question left is whether it becomes a real one.

Whether maps give way to bullets.

Whether executive orders become execution orders.

And if that day comes, the outcome is not assured.

But the blame will be.

It will rest on the heads of men like Trump, like Abbott, like the perjured judges and the cowardly Senators and the hollow-eyed billionaires who looked at democracy and said, “That’s too risky—let’s buy it instead.”

But history has long arms.

And the schoolchildren they’re so terrified of?

The ones they think will be traumatized by learning about slavery?

Those kids will write the textbooks.

And they will tell the truth.

They will say that the Republican Party, faced with the loss of cultural hegemony, chose to burn the country down rather than share it.

That the right feared democracy more than death.

That in the end, they didn’t win.

They ended.

Because power isn’t loyalty.

Power is legitimacy. Power is cooperation. Power is earned.

And no matter how many judges they install, how many maps they redraw, how many parades they throw for the flag—they cannot force a country to love them.

And the United States?

The United States is not one nation.

Not really.

Hasn’t been for a very long time.

Maybe never was.

We’ve called it “united” because no one had the balls to call it anything else.

But look closer.

Really look.

Not at the myth, not at the hymns or the fireworks or the golden parchment we put under museum glass and pretend still governs us.

Look at the actual nation.

The machine.

The bones under the makeup. You’ll see it’s already split.

We are a cold war in a hot climate, a long, drunken marriage where both spouses sleep in separate bedrooms, hoarding money and muttering fantasies of murder.

Half of this country prays for rain.

The other half curses God for not sending fire.

You think this is a phase?

A tantrum?

This is the logical end of manifest destiny and the Electoral College.

This is what you get when you marry thirteen slave states to thirteen merchant ones and pretend the vows were ever sincere.

You get a monstrosity: a country stitched together by compromise, half-built on genocide, half-built on commerce, full of contradictions so profound that the entire enterprise was always going to collapse in on itself like a house made of buried lies and termite wood.

And if you don’t believe me, ask the Cherokee.

Ask the Sioux.

Ask the Japanese Americans who had their homes stolen while they sat in desert cages.

Ask the Black soldiers who liberated Europe and came home to lynch mobs.

Ask the trans kids being hunted across state lines.

Ask the women whose bodies are now the property of governors.

Ask them if this was ever one country.

Ask a gay couple in Mississippi what flag they’re saluting when they’re denied medical rights.

Ask a Black teenager in Georgia if the Constitution applies when a cop pulls up behind him.

Ask a nurse in Arizona who makes $38,000 a year and can’t afford insulin because her governor thought tax cuts for landlords were a moral obligation.

Ask the dead. Ask the poor. Ask the workers.

Ask the veterans.

This was never one country.

It was two—or more—pretending not to notice each other, because the lies were easier than the war.

But the lie is collapsing.

There is no social contract anymore—only contractual obligation.

There is no shared dream—only curated delusions, sold like corn dogs at a carnival no one wants to admit is actually a funeral.

The national anthem plays, and we’re supposed to rise, even though the flag’s draped over a coffin and the smell of decay is coming up through the floorboards.

What do you call a government where one party believes in nothing but power, and the other believes in rules the first party has openly set on fire?

You don’t call it a democracy. You don’t even call it a republic.

You call it hospice.

And hospice is where the United States now lives—quietly rotting, humming show tunes while the nurse tightens the morphine drip and checks her watch for the next coup attempt.

Because the old country—the one your parents pledged allegiance to, the one your grandfather swore oaths for, the one we were all taught to memorize and mythologize—that country is already gone.

The states don’t trust the federal government.

The Supreme Court is functionally a papal tribunal in robes, overturning majority will with smirks and footnotes.

Congress is a roach motel for lobbyists and performative lunatics, many of whom are openly preparing for a post-America America where the flag stays the same, but the Constitution is a ghost story told around campfires by billionaires.

And don’t give me the “but the military” argument.

As if the military isn’t just as fractured.

The military is not a monolith.

It’s a lattice of class tension and cultural divergence, a cross-section of a nation coming apart at every seam.

You think the Joint Chiefs will all salute the same president if both sides claim victory in 2028?

You think a captain from Oregon will obey the same orders as a major from Alabama if they both think they’re saving the republic?

We are one disputed election away from seeing Marine units on opposite sides of the Potomac drawing weapons on each other.

And don’t think they won’t.

We’ve trained them to kill.

But we didn’t train them who to follow once the flag splits in two and each side says it’s the real one.

That’s the thing no one’s ready for: there won’t be two Americas.

There will be twenty.

Twenty splintered visions of what the United States “really” is, each one armed and praying for the clarity of righteous bloodshed.

California won’t ask permission to secede.

It’ll just stop obeying.

Texas already pretends it’s its own country—hell, they teach their kids the Alamo was a birthright, not a graveyard.

And Florida?

Florida is the Bosnian wildcard in the whole damn deck.

Armed, enraged, half-drowning in its own hubris and sea level, it will burn and smile as it does.

Once the structure collapses—once the federal government becomes two rival groups of governors and officers and deep-state functionaries playing constitutional Calvinball, it’s over.

The nukes don’t matter.

The treaties don’t matter.

What matters is who controls the ports, who keeps the power grid on, who can move food and fuel and bullets across state lines.

There will be checkpoints.

Roadblocks.

Supply chains redrawn by governors who no longer answer to the Pentagon, because the Pentagon will be two buildings by then—one in D.C., one in Omaha, or maybe Austin, and each one claiming legitimacy over the other.

The South will remember its mythologies and try to rise again.

The North will remember its debts and try to collect.

Cities will become fortresses.

Rural counties will become militias.

Suburbs will become no-man’s-land.

And as all this happens, the dollar will collapse.

Don’t kid yourself: the global economy does not give a fuck about “We the People.”

They care about stability.

Predictability.

Trade routes and energy flows and the enforcement of contracts.

The minute they sense real domestic instability—not the threat of it, but the confirmation of it—the dollar goes down like a narcoleptic in a blackout.

And when that happens, the war isn’t theoretical anymore.

It’s material.

Because we don’t make shit here.

We import. And when the imports stop, the riots start.

You think Americans know how to wait in line for food?

You think anyone in this country has the patience for “rolling blackouts” or “fuel rations” or “shared sacrifice”?

No.

They will shoot the cashier.

They will torch the supermarket.

They will drag their neighbor into the street because someone has to bleed for the fact that their Amazon package didn’t arrive and their WiFi is down and the President is in hiding.

You want a preview?

Look at January 6th. That was the rehearsal dinner.

Look at Kenosha. Look at Minneapolis. Look at Portland.

Now multiply it by fifty.

Add drone strikes.

Add rogue governors.

Add National Guard units defecting based on Facebook memes and AM talk radio.

Add sheriffs with God complexes and militia ties.

Add cyberattacks from Russia, China, and every 20-year-old in Estonia with a grudge and a laptop.

Add nuclear weapons whose command structure is suddenly ambiguous.

Add diseases, real and manufactured, released to sow chaos by regimes eager to carve up the carcass of the American empire before someone else claims it.

Add fear. Add drought. Add fire.

Add lies.

And stir.

This isn’t a Tom Clancy novel.

This isn’t a prepper fantasy.

This is what happens when a government built on consensus loses its ability to consent.

We’ve been trained to think of civil war in terms of Gettysburg and Antietam.

But the next one won’t look like that.

It’ll look like Syria.

Like Yugoslavia.

Like Ukraine.

Like Lebanon in 1975, where Christian militias and Muslim factions and foreign powers turned one of the most beautiful countries on Earth into a graveyard that smelled of smoke and gun oil and the end of things.

The next civil war will be digital and tribal and sudden.

It will be declared not by Lincoln but by TikTok and Fox News.

It will be fought not on battlefields, but on highways and Wi-Fi and gas lines and court dockets and supermarket aisles.

It will not be brother against brother.

It will be neighbor against neighbor, algorithm against algorithm, drone against protest, truth against power, and power against everyone.

And in the chaos, people will scream for order.

They will beg for order.

And some strongman will appear.

He won’t be Trump.

He’ll be younger.

Sharper.

Hungrier.

A Tom Cotton or a Josh Hawley or some asshole we haven’t even met yet, raised in the bowels of corporate-funded think tanks and groomed for the moment America breaks.

He’ll offer “unity.”

He’ll offer “peace.”

And he’ll take what remains of the Constitution and feed it into a shredder made of applause and fear.

He will come, and we will let him.

Because Americans are not special.

We are not immune to history.

We are not chosen.

We are not different.

We are Rome in the 5th century, decadent and divided, watching the aqueducts crumble while we chant slogans and sharpen knives.

We are the USSR in 1991, holding onto a flag while the ground splits beneath us.

We are whatever comes next, and we are not ready.

And when it comes—when the sirens replace the debates, when the tanks roll down Main Street not as a parade but as a warning—some of us will remember what we lost.

We’ll remember the dream. The idea.

We’ll remember that once, however flawed and hypocritical and blood-soaked it was, the idea of America meant something.

It meant the possibility of self-government. Of progress. Of dignity.

It meant something more than flags and guns and courts packed with perjurers.

It meant the attempt.

And now we stand at the edge of that attempt.

And we are failing.

The United States was beautiful.

At moments.

In dreams. In songs. In potential.

But it was never unbreakable.

And the people trying to bend it are forcing it to break.

I never thought I’d live to see it.

But now I worry we all will.

So tell me…

Am I lying?

–

–

No, of course he is not lying! ~llaw

---

ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’s All Nuclear Daily Digest” RELATED MEDIA”:

There are 6 categories, with the latest addition including a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that also play an important role in human and other life.

The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

1. All Things Nuclear
2. Nuclear Power
3. Nuclear Power Emergencies
4. Nuclear War Threats
5. Nuclear War
6. Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are three Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in today’s Post.)
7. IAEA News (Friday’s only) (NOTE: It’s back!)

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

TODAY’S ALL NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Wednesday, (08/06/2025)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Hear what Neil deGrasse Tyson thinks about the plan to build nuclear reactor on the moon

CNN

CNN’s Victor Blackwell speaks with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson about NASA’s desire to make the US the first country to put a nuclear …

Hiroshima survivors fear rising nuclear threat on the 80th anniversary of atomic bombing

NPR

With the number of survivors rapidly declining and their average age now exceeding 86, this year’s anniversary is considered the last milestone …

Trump puts pressure on Putin moving nuclear submarines closer to Russia | Boise State Public Radio

Boise State Public Radio

All Things Considered · Reader’s Corner · Our Living Lands · Something I … about a retaliatory nuclear attack. Trump is dispatching his special …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Neil deGrasse Tyson reacts to proposal for nuclear power on the moon – CNN

CNN

CNN’s Victor Blackwell speaks with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson about NASA’s desire to make the US the first country to put a nuclear …

Nuclear power is on the up in these countries – The World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum

Countries are looking to create reliable supplies of sustainable energy. This chart shows where nuclear reactors are already operable, or in the …

The US Army tried portable nuclear power at remote bases 60 years ago – it didn’t go well

Yahoo

U.S. soldiers in the tunnel, 800 miles from the North Pole, were dismantling the Army’s first portable nuclear reactor. Commanding Officer Joseph …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

FEMA and local agencies discuss emergency preparedness ahead of Palisades Nuclear … – ABC57

ABC57

— Radiation emergencies are unlikely, but a real possibility in parts of Michiana when the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert Township, Michigan …

Free Potassium Iodide Giveaway Near Nuclear Plant – Newsradio 1070 WKOK

Newsradio 1070 WKOK

… radiation emergency. They are recommended for people living or working within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant. Officials say the tablets are …

Letter – Add REAC to growing list opposing nuclear power plant – South Peace News

South Peace News

Emergency preparedness – no vacuum building included in model plan. Project proponents say “. . . severe accidents are not realistically expected …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Hiroshima survivors fear rising nuclear threat on the 80th anniversary of atomic bombing

NPR

Hiroshima survivors fear rising nuclear threat on the 80th anniversary of atomic bombing … Nuke, Stop War” and “Free Gaza! No more genocide …

Russia and China tick Doomsday Clock toward midnight as Hiroshima bombing hits 80 years

Fox News

… threat of nuclear war is on the rise. The bombings of Hiroshima and … Despite the escalated nuclear threats coming out of North Korea, and …

US Flexes Nuclear Forces As Trump Rattles Saber at Putin – Newsweek

Newsweek

… nuclear war plans. Unlike the B-2 fleet, not all B-52H bombers can … threats. Since the 1960s, these objectives have been met by the U.S. …

Nuclear War

NEWS

80 years later, Hiroshima bombing survivors warn of new nuclear warfare – NBC News

NBC News

… atomic bomb near the end of World War II, is commemorating the anniversary as global conflicts fuel nuclear fears. Marking 80 years since …

Hiroshima warns against nuclear weapons as it marks 80 years since A-bomb | Reuters

Reuters

U.S. and Russia hold 90% of nuclear warheads; Nuclear attack survivors face discrimination, numbers fall below 100,000. HIROSHIMA, Japan, Aug 6 …

The chilling document that traces nuclear weapons back to Britain – and the threat we now face

Sky News

Nuclear weapons have not been used in warfare since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 80 years ago this week.

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

Massive eruption at Yellowstone National Park closed visitor area – Deseret News

Deseret News

What caused Yellowstone National Park’s big explosion last year? Is Biscuit Basin open yet? Is the Yellowstone volcano going to erupt?

Geothermal detectives sleuth out what led to massive Yellowstone eruption – Yahoo

Yahoo

… Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. … “Hazards associated with hydrothermal events cannot be understated,” wrote Poland in his weekly newsletter, …

YNP scientists: Hydrothermal events continue at Biscuit Basin – Buckrail

Buckrail

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Scientists at the Yellowstone Volcano … This week’s Caldera Chronicles is written by Mara H. Reed, Samantha R …

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

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Aug 05, 2025

On My Mind Today:

I am following the sudden “Trump/Russia” feud. The threats and accusations from both sides make me nervous, and though they seem almost childish, they are certainly overstated, making them serious, especially regarding Trump’s “until Friday” threat . . . and What is the missile treaty Russia has walked out of – and why?

The Kremlin has accused Washington of deploying missile platforms around the world. But did the treaty matter even earlier? ~llaw

For concerned readers’ convenience, I’ve posted, with the link, to the most informative of — in my own judgement — (“Al Jazeera’s”)) of the available articles from the choices in TODAY’S ALL NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, listed with the link, just below . . .

President Trump says Russia has until Friday to wind down its war in Ukraine. Otherwise, he’ll levy new sanctions. Trump also said …

What is the missile treaty Russia has walked out of – and why? – Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera

Why is Trump moving nuclear submarines after spat with Medvedev? Trump’s announcement follows a war of words with former Russian president over social …

---

ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’s All Nuclear Daily Digest” RELATED MEDIA”:

There are 6 categories, with the latest addition including a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that also play an important role in human and other life.

The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

1. All Things Nuclear
2. Nuclear Power
3. Nuclear Power Emergencies
4. Nuclear War Threats
5. Nuclear War
6. Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are three Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in today’s Post.)
7. IAEA News (Friday’s only) (NOTE: It’s back!)

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

TODAY’S ALL NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Tuesday, (08/05/2025)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Trump puts pressure on Putin moving nuclear submarines closer to Russia

Blue Ridge Public Radio

President Trump has positioned nuclear submarines close to Russia … Weekend All Things Considered. Next Up: 6:00 PM The Splendid Table. 0:00.

Kremlin warns against nuclear rhetoric after Trump’s submarine order – Europe live

The Guardian

Kremlin warns against using nuclear rhetoric, says won’t get into polemic with Trump … The Russian army simply kills everything that is alive,” he …

Trump escalates nuclear tensions as Russia deadline nears – The Hill

The Hill

… nuclear arms control experts about the next steps. “I’m not seeing a … See all Hill.TV See all Video. Top Stories. See All · Campaign · Abbott …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Nasa to put nuclear reactor on the Moon by 2030 – US media – BBC

BBC

The reactor would provide power for humans on the Moon but there are questions about feasability.

NASA To Build Nuclear Reactor on the Moon: What To Know – Newsweek

Newsweek

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will reportedly announce a timeline for NASA to build a nuclear reactor on the moon this week.

Transportation Secretary Duffy to announce nuclear reactor development plan for the moon

Fox News

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will announce plans to build a 100 kilowatt nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030, ordering NASA to solicit …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

NEA participates in full-scale emergency response exercise

Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)

… Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and hosted by Romania, simulated a severe accident at the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant in Romania. It involved 85 …

Xcel Energy switches from sirens to cellphone alerts to warn public of nuclear emergencies

InForum

MINNEAPOLIS — Xcel Energy will now use cellphones to notify people who live near its Monticello and Prairie Island nuclear plants in case of an …

Florida nuclear plant workers feared retaliation over safety concerns: Report

Straight Arrow News

Lucie Nuclear Power Plant, mechanical issues that caused emergency shutdowns and problems at another plant owned by Florida Light & Power. Green

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Ukraine is now Trump’s war | CNN

CNN

… nuclear threats about positioning US nuclear submarines closer to Russia. The US went from pausing military aid to Ukraine to threatening nuclear …

Kremlin Warns Against ‘Nuclear Rhetoric’ in Trump Feud – Time Magazine

Time Magazine

Medvedev then made a veiled threat to use a Cold War-era Soviet nuclear capability known as “The Dead Hand,” which allows Moscow to launch nuclear …

Exclusive: Putin doubts potency of Trump’s ultimatum to end the war, sources say | Reuters

Reuters

‘HE’S MADE THREATS BEFORE’. Trump’s sanctions threat was “painful and unpleasant,” but not a catastrophe, the second source said. The third source …

Nuclear War

NEWS

Scientists can help stop a slide to nuclear war — don’t shut them out again – Nature

Nature

The world has thankfully not seen a nuclear attack since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but the risks of nuclear war are the highest they’ve been in decades, …

Trump puts pressure on Putin moving nuclear submarines closer to Russia – NPR

NPR

LEILA FADEL, HOST: President Trump says Russia has until Friday to wind down its war in Ukraine. Otherwise, he’ll levy new sanctions. Trump also said …

What is the missile treaty Russia has walked out of – and why? – Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera

Why is Trump moving nuclear submarines after spat with Medvedev? Trump’s announcement follows a war of words with former Russian president over social …

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

Hunting For Sasquatch (Events) At Biscuit Basin In Yellowstone – National Parks Traveler

National Parks Traveler

Editor’s note: Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.

Wacky Yellowstone: Our first huckleberries and 30-miler, two bears and two hot springs … – The Trek

The Trek

The section between Targhee Pass and Raynolds Pass was absolutely breathtaking, with lots of ridge walking and views of the giant Yellowstone caldera …

The Earth Trembles Before Redemption: A Global Awakening Beneath Our Feet

Israel365 News

The Yellowstone Caldera is listed as the most dangerous supervolcano in existence and is the most monitored volcano in the world. It has erupted …

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

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Aug 04, 2025

On My Mind Today:

I have a very important question or two for today: Has the entire world gone completely bonkers? Is genocide the most important thing on the minds of our international leaders and half the world-population that follow these power-starved and overfed oppressive tyrants who control us like pawns in a chess game?

It is becoming more obvious every day that WWIII is on the minds of the world’s abusive dictators who are constantly refuting any form of a democratic-republic form of government. It’s as if they are on the verge of taking out at least half of the world population as if the excessive number of sentient human beings is too much to tolerate — perhaps like the idea of a necessary “thinning of the herd?”.

The problem seems to be for this ruthless cadre of selfish men is something like, “well, if we destroy half the human population, how do we ensure that we save ourselves and those who serve us? A nuclear war is necessary to accomplish the task, but it may be too much, although other means of thinning, like conventional war doesn’t accomplish the ultimate goal.”

And so it is that the world-wide fear of an over-crowded mass of humanity is protected by a flimsy thing called “nuclear deterrence” — where one nuclear power fears the others along the nuclear-armed pecking order as we annually strengthen our nuclear weapons of mass destruction to avoid exterminating us all as well as ourselves, including those so-called “world leaders” and their subservient cronies. Such an unwritten agreement, as “deterrence” will bankrupt humanity and cannot continue on forever because the weapons themselves will become the victorious force controlled by AI that will care nothing about humanity, whether or not they are at the top of the food chain, and those at the top already know that so sooner or later they will have to react.

So it will be that one desperate individual mad-man from one desperate country who will give up on the “deterrence” concept and use his country’s nuclear weapons of mass destruction to attack and summarily end whatever country he believes will be his country’s most immediate threat.

Of course that will incite the other mad-men to unleash their country’s nuclear weapons and that will, in a matter of minutes, become the end of the world as we know it.

As Albert Einstein said, “”I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” And that pretty much speaks to our future returning us to a “cavemen” society . . . llaw

---

ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’s All Nuclear Daily Digest” RELATED MEDIA”:

There are 6 categories, with the latest addition including a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that also play an important role in human and other life.

The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

1. All Things Nuclear
2. Nuclear Power
3. Nuclear Power Emergencies
4. Nuclear War Threats
5. Nuclear War
6. Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There is one Yellowstone Caldera bonus story available in today’s Post.)
7. IAEA News (Friday’s only) (NOTE: It’s back!)

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

TODAY’S ALL NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Monday, (08/04/2025)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

How will Russia respond to the US repositioning of two nuclear submarines? | Inside Story

YouTube

… all about political theatre? Or can it add pressure for a ceasefire deal in Ukraine? So, is this all about political theatre? Or can it add …

Kremlin warns against nuclear rhetoric after Trump’s submarine order – Europe live

The Guardian

… all of this is typical for every city or community within reach of Russian drones. The Russian army simply kills everything that is alive,” he warned.

Russia plays down Trump’s order to move 2 nuclear subs, urges caution on nuclear rhetoric

CBC

… about the risk of war between the nuclear-armed adversaries. “In this … It is a priority for CBC to create products that are accessible to all in …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

If/Then: How Congress Made a Weird Energy Law Even Weirder with Nuclear Energy Communities

Resources Magazine

A new bonus tax credit will benefit nuclear power projects, but only if the power plants are in urban areas.

Giorgia Meloni’s government bets on unproven nuclear tech – POLITICO Pro

POLITICO Pro

… nuclear technology. Some 35 years after Italy’s last nuclear power plant closed, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her ministers are drawing up …

First reactor since Fukushima: Japan probes returning to nuclear power – News

The Chemical Engineer

Article by Aniqah Majid. MORE than a decade after the meltdown of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, Japanese energy firm Kansai Electric Power …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Xcel Energy switches from sirens to cell phone alerts to warn public of nuclear emergencies

MPR News

Xcel Energy will now use cell phones to notify people who live near its Monticello and Prairie Island nuclear plants in case of an emergency, …

Ukraine-Russia latest: Fire at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant contained after explosions – MSN

MSN

The plant’s administration said on Telegram that one civilian was killed, but no plant staff or emergency workers were injured. Should You Leav

NYC Drowns As Subways Overflow, Streets Turn Rivers, Planes Grounded Amid ‘Flood …

Times of India

… Emergency‘. TOI.in / Aug 04, 2025, 04:13AM … Russia Seethes As Ukraine ‘BLOWS UP’ Europe’s Largest Nuclear Plant; IAEA Team ‘Comes Under Fire’.

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Trump Ramps Up Ukraine War Pressure With Nuclear and Sanction Threats

Council on Foreign Relations

Trump Ramps Up Ukraine War Pressure With Nuclear and Sanction Threats. A view shows the site of an apartment …

Russia warns against threats after Trump repositions nuclear submarines

The Washington Post

“There can be no winner in a nuclear war,” Peskov added. “This is … threats

Trump’s nuclear submarine move a ‘hollow threat‘ to Putin, fmr general | ABC NEWS

YouTube

… threats‘. He says it’s inreasingly clear Donald Trump is running out of … Trump’s nuclear submarine move a ‘hollow threat‘ to Putin, fmr …

Nuclear War

NEWS

Russia warns against threats after Trump repositions nuclear submarines

The Washington Post

… nuclear submarine movements. “There can be no winner in a nuclear war,” Peskov added. “This is probably the key premise we rely on. We do not …

Kremlin warns against nuclear rhetoric after Trump’s submarine order – Europe live

The Guardian

“The successful special operation of the SBU in Saky is another step towards weakening the enemy’s ability to wage a war of aggression against Ukraine …

Kremlin plays down Trump’s nuclear rhetoric as US envoy set to visit Moscow – BBC

BBC

War in Ukraine · US & Canada · UK · UK Politics · England · N. Ireland · N. Ireland … nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed. The sub pictured above is a US …

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

2025 Caldera Science Breakthroughs: What’s Revolutionizing the Field | E L E N on Binance Square

Binance

Yellowstone’s 3.8 km ‘Magma Lid’ Finally Mapped. In a clever experiment, scientists used a 53,000‑lb truck to generate controlled seismic waves …

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

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Aug 03, 2025

On My Mind Today

(I am way behind schedule today, so I will offer this bit of personal data about my time in the nuclear world) . . .

The Lucky Mc site — including a twice daily one-way 45-mile commute from the town of Riverton, Wyoming, to the minesite and back, is the place, in the late 1960s, where I first began my career in administration in the nuclear world of mining, milling, and selling uranium fuel to the government-owned and operated Tennessee Valley Authority, and soon after to nuclear power plants overseas and the newly authorized nuclear plants in the USA coming online for the first time in the United States. The company was owned by Utah International Inc. in San Francisco, — where I spent a lot of time — and over the years the company eventually merged with General Electric in 1976, later becoming known as Pathfinder Mines Corporation. I resigned from General Electric in the spring of 1980 for personal reasons with concerns about the nuclear industry. ~llaw

Pathfinder – Lucky Mc (Gas Hills North)

1.0 General Site Information

Site Location:Gas Hills Mining District, WYFormer NRC License No.:SUA-672NRC Docket No.:40-2259Agreement State Contact:Brandi O’Brien307-777-6435NRC Agreement State Site Monitor:Duncan WhiteDuncan.White@nrc.govNRC Site Monitor:Thomas LancasterThomas.Lancaster@nrc.gov

2.0 Site Description

The Lucky Mc site is located in west central Wyoming in the Gas Hills region in Fremont County, Wyoming. The site is about 45 miles southeast of Riverton, Wyoming (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Lucky Mc Uranium Mill Site Location Map

3.0 Site History

Uranium milling began at this site in 1958 and continued through 1988 with a total of 12 million tons of ore processed. The mill utilized a conventional acid leach process. The facility area included approximately 56 acres for the mill, 241 acres for the post-reclamation tailings piles, 1,276 acres for the disposal site, and 6 tailings ponds (Figure 2). The mill was demolished and placed in the outslope of the No. 2 Tailings Dam, with a clay-radon barrier placed over the material. The mill area includes approximately 56 acres. The site has three solid tailings impoundments and three tailings solution ponds. The post-reclamation tailings piles cover approximately 241 acres.

Figure 2. Lucky Mc Site Layout Source: U.S. Department of Energy. “Long-Term Surveillance Plan for the Gas Hills North UMTRCA Title II Disposal Site, Fremont County, Wyoming.” Grand Junction, Colorado: U.S. Department of Energy. 2009.

The Construction Completion Report was submitted to the NRC on April 21, 2005. NRC staff approved the Construction Completion Report in October 2006. NRC staff approved an amendment request to remove two offsite wells (AL-8 and AL-9) from the approved groundwater monitoring network. The license amendment was issued 6/2008. In February 2009, NRC staff received for review, the DOE Long-Term Surveillance Plan (LTSP) for the Gas Hills North Site (Pathfinder-Lucky Mc) dated January 2009. The LTSP explains how DOE will fulfill requirements as the long term custodian of the Gas Hills North Site, including inspecting, monitoring, conducting maintenance, fulfilling annual and other reporting requirements, and maintaining records pertaining to the site.

Tailings Management and Disposal

The former tailings system consisted of a series of earthen embankments across Reid Draw, extending over 2 miles down the draw (Figure 2). The upper portion of the tailings system included Tailings Ponds 1, 2, and 2A, which were located immediately north of the former mill and contained all of the solid tailings generated at the site. Further downgradient and north of the solid tailings pond were three solution ponds (Tailings Ponds 3, 3A, and 4) that held the barren solution (recoverable uranium had been removed) that was generally not recycled through the mill. This solution had low pH (2.0–3.0) and contained high concentrations of dissolved solids (including various heavy metals) and radionuclides such as thorium-230 and radium-226. In addition, a temporary pond was used as a pump back treatment system for receiving solutions from excursion well cleanup and groundwater sweep, surface water runoff, and solution water for construction and dust control within the cells. On December 20, 2002, alternate concentration limits were approved for the Lucky Mc site, and all mill tailings reclamation was completed on December 14, 2004.

4.0 Current NRC actions/status

NRC currently has no actions for the site until the CRR is submitted by the State of Wyoming.

5.0 Expected Transition to DOE for LTS&M

2025 (See DOE LM Site Management Guide, June 2022)

Page Last Reviewed/Updated Friday, October 28, 2022

---

ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’s All Nuclear Daily Digest” RELATED MEDIA”:

There are 6 categories, with the latest addition including a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that also play an important role in human and other life.

The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

1. All Things Nuclear
2. Nuclear Power
3. Nuclear Power Emergencies
4. Nuclear War Threats
5. Nuclear War
6. Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are two Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in today’s Post.)
7. IAEA News (Friday’s only) (NOTE: It’s back!)

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

TODAY’S ALL NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Sunday, (08/03/2025)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Analysis: For Trump, Russia’s nuclear saber-rattling may be a useful distraction | CNN

CNN

There’s something faintly undignified about a president of the United States being goaded by a minor Russian official into making nuclear threats …

Putin Bombs Bridge Linking City To Entire Neighbourhood: Reply To Trump Nuclear …

YouTube

… all the News for the Global Indian under one umbrella. We break down … Man Dies, Sees the Future, Told 10 Things He Must Change (NDE).

Everything you need to know in four minutes as Trump deploys nuclear submarines – MSN

MSN

Security analysts have reacted with some concern to Trump’s comments, fearing he is stoking tension with Russia over the issue (Photo: Jorge …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Trump’s Nuclear Energy Overhaul Sparks Alarms Over Safety | OilPrice.com

Oil Price

Trump has announced plans to quadruple U.S. nuclear power by 2050, pushing for rapid approval of new reactors and slashing regulatory barriers.

Collapse of nuclear power to threaten climate goals – ISEP

ISEP

A steep decline in nuclear power would have major implications in achieving climate targets, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned in a report …

OPINION: Yucca’s Ghost: Mothers for Nuclear brings its sunny power argument to town

The Nevada Independent

Fears of nuclear energy are wildly exaggerated, they said, making a reference to the lovably bumbling power plant worker Homer Simpson.

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

IAEA recorded explosions near the Zaporizhzhia NPP: what is known about the threat

112.ua

Accidents and Emergencies … Inspectors received information from the staff of the nuclear power plant about shelling and drone strikes on the facility …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Analysis: For Trump, Russia’s nuclear saber-rattling may be a useful distraction | CNN

CNN

… war” – not between Russia and Ukraine, but “with his own country … And while the seemingly flippant use of nuclear threats by both nations …

Why is Trump moving nuclear submarines after spat with Medvedev? – Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera

“Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between … nuclear threats that the West began to consider them to be just words.

Ukraine urges Trump admin to ‘strangle’ Russian economy amid nuclear tensions

ABC News – The Walt Disney Company

… threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country.” Medvedev’s comments prompted Trump to then order two nuclear …

Nuclear War

NEWS

Trump orders nuclear submarines moved after Russian ‘provocative statements’ | Reuters

Reuters

WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in “the …

The US attacks on Iran have backfired horribly – but a path to peace is still possible

The Guardian

Executions by a vengeful regime in Tehran are soaring. The west must pursue a different strategy, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon …

Trump says two US Navy subs are moving following comments by an ex-Russian president … – CNN

CNN

US President Donald Trump said Friday he was ordering two US Navy nuclear submarines to “appropriate regions,” in response to remarks by Dmitry …

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

No, animals are not leaving Yellowstone National Park. (Don’t believe everything online.)

Yahoo

Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. SUBSCRIBE: GET …

Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki erupts, ash column reaches 10 kilometres – YouTube

YouTube

An Indonesian volcano spewed a 10 kilometre molten plume of ash … What Happens if the Yellowstone Volcano Erupts? Mastering Knowledge•2.6 …

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

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Aug 02, 2025

Image of an American nuclear-powered submarine courtesy of Adobe

On My Mind Today:

Trump tells the world that a couple of Nuclear submarines have been moved ‘closer’ to Russia over an argument with Dimitri Medvedev — once, long ago, the Russian President — whose title is now Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation and who has no authority to declare, nuclear nor any other kind of war on any country. He is an “advisor” to Putin. So why is Trump arguing about nuclear war with Medvedev and announcing that he has moved a couple of “nuclear submarines” closer to Russia? It is, so far as I can tell, just another duplicitous political stunt that in reality means absolutely nothing, except a half-assed attempt of a ‘power trip’ that only, as always, proves to us all that this mentally-challenged and deceitful man is incompetent and incapable of managing his presidency or anything else. He even cheats at golf.

And here’s why: As described by “Quora” no one knows the difference between a nuclear-powered submarine and a nuclear-powered submarine carrying nuclear weapons except for two ranking sailors onboard and an on-board crew with a “need to know”. So here is the official typical response to anyone, including, I assume, our president, who asks such a question . . .

“The standard response is usually along the lines of : “we can neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons onboard “USS X”.

In most instances, a sub may be designed to carry conventional or nuclear weapons, but at no time does anyone but people assigned to the 2-man integrity security protocol have a need to know if nuclear weapons are currently stored or scheduled to be deployed onboard that particular vessel.

Depending on what mission parameters may be, that alone will likely determine if a sub is deployed with nuclear weapons of any kind, but the need to know is usually only the crew and those placed with the responsibility of testing and safeguarding those weapons onboard that platform regardless of what type sub it happens to be.”

Trump is not one of those crew members. Even if Trump were to “know” he would not be allowed to report such information to anyone, including the media and public . . .

So it goes that the term “nuclear” included with submarine means no more than the submarine uses nuclear power to operate.

So, I have to ask the world — what is Trump’s agenda and for what purpose? I suspect it is nothing more than an attempt to divide and conquer nothing more than the media, the common people, an “Epstein/Trump sexual-abuse diversion, and pretense that he is separating himself from Putin in order to save face over his belligerent and undemocratic treatment of Ukraine. ~llaw

Image of an American nuclear-powered submarine courtesy of Adobe . . .

---

ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’s All Nuclear Daily Digest” RELATED MEDIA”:

There are 6 categories, with the latest addition including a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that also play an important role in human and other life.

The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

1. All Things Nuclear
2. Nuclear Power
3. Nuclear Power Emergencies
4. Nuclear War Threats
5. Nuclear War
6. Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are three Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in today’s Post.)
7. IAEA News (Friday’s only) (NOTE: It’s back!)

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

TODAY’S ALL NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Saturday, (08/02/2025)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Trump deploys nuclear submarines closer to Russia | LBC – YouTube

YouTube

… all-new LBC App: https … things that were very bad, talking about nuclear“. Medvedev, who is now …

‘Very risky business’: John Bolton reacts to Trump’s nuclear subs order | CNN

CNN

President Donald Trump issued a rare threat of nuclear escalation on Friday, saying he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be strategically …

Trump orders US nuclear subs repositioned over statements from ex-Russian leader – WLKY

WLKY

Medvedev responded hours later by writing, “Russia is right on everything and will continue to go its own way.” Trump Scotland · Trump shortens the 50 …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Nuclear Energy Now – 8/1/25 – The National Interest

The National Interest

The EU pledges to buy US nuclear fuel, the UAE deepens global nuclear energy ties, Project Pele advances, and South Asia ramps up civil nuclear …

Trump orders nuclear submarines moved near Russia after threatening tweet from Dmitry Medvedev

The Guardian

Order suggests president might be ready to launch nuclear strike against Russia as tensions rise over Ukraine war. … power‘ in UN speech. 28 Sept 2024 …

Trump’s Irresponsible Nuclear Threat – The Atlantic

The Atlantic

(All American submarines are nuclear–powered; Trump may mean submarines armed with ballistic nuclear weapons.) … nuclear, the power, the devastation, …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Metsamor could trigger next global nuclear emergency and Armenians denying it

AzerNews

According to EVN Report, the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant has long drawn concern due to a combination of environmental, technical, and geopolitical …

Fire near Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant brought under control, says Russian management

Arab News

No plant employees or members of the emergency services had been injured. MOSCOW: A fire that broke out near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant …

NRC Approval Moves Palisades Nuclear Power Plant Closer to Restarting – Sierra Club

Sierra Club

… nuclear fuel back to the site. As Alan Blind, a retired nuclear executive, former Emergency Plan Director at Palisades and Indian Point and a lead …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Trump moves nuclear submarines after ex-Russia president’s menacing tweet

The Guardian

Medvedev had earlier said that Trump’s threats to sanction Russia and a recent ultimatum were “a threat and a step towards war”. “I have ordered …

Trump Escalates Nuclear Brinksmanship with Russia Over Social Media Spat | TIME

Time Magazine

Asked why he ordered the redeployment of nuclear submarines, Trump said, “a threat was made and we didn’t think it was appropriate, so I have to be …

Trump orders nuclear submarines closer to Russia “just in case” – Axios

Axios

… nuclear bluster from former Russian President Dmitry … War Three after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Now he’s making nuclear threats of his own.

Nuclear War

NEWS

Trump orders nuclear submarines moved near Russia after threatening tweet from Dmitry Medvedev

The Guardian

Order suggests president might be ready to launch nuclear strike against Russia as tensions rise over Ukraine war.

Why is Trump moving nuclear submarines after spat with Medvedev? – Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera

Trump’s announcement follows a war of words with former Russian president over social media. Russia”s President Vladimir Putin (L) and US President …

Trump says he’s ordererrelevantd nuclear submarines re-positioned after Russian official’s ‘highly …

CNN

Medvedev has no power to launch Russia’s nuclear weapons, and often acts as more of an attack dog than a real decision-maker inside the Kremlin. Still …

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

A Year Since the Biscuit Basin Explosion (Yellowstone Monthly Update – August 2025)

YouTube

… Caldera Chronicles https://usgs.gov/volcanoes/yellowstone/caldera-chronicles?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=usgs-main&utm_campaign=nh-volcanoes …

No, animals are not leaving Yellowstone National Park. (Don’t believe everything online.)

Idaho Capital Sun

Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists … Volcano Observatory and the Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano …

A year since the Biscuit explosion… are animals leaving the park? (Yellowstone Monthly …

USGS.gov

In mid-May, scientists with the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory installed a webcam overlooking Black Diamond Pool and it caught its first eruption on …

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

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Aug 01, 2025

On My Mind Today:

It is so good to have the IAEA weekly news back — and again available once a week on Friday’s. So, to welcome the IAEA’s important weekly reports back, I’ve posted a fresh update concerning Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) from the IAEA Inspector General relative to the Russia/Ukraine war that has been, perhaps wrongly so, relegated to the background of other issues, like Trump’s dangerous meddling in both important nuclear issues (war and power), which are concerning to both the U.S. and around the world, which we will take a new look at tomorrow. ~llaw

Ukraine’s Russia war troubled Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP)

• Update 306 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

Update 306 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

30 Jul 2025

73/2025

Vienna, Austria

The IAEA team based at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) carried out independent measurements today to confirm that there had been no increase in radiation levels at the site, contrary to some social media posts overnight, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.

Using IAEA monitoring equipment, the team members measured only normal levels during a site walkdown. Their measurements confirmed other data collected separately at the site, as well as information provided by the plant itself.

“The team took immediate action after becoming aware of these social media reports, enabling us to provide assurances that radiation levels remained unchanged. Once again, this shows the importance of the IAEA’s presence at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant and Ukraine’s other nuclear power sites. Thanks to this presence, we can provide timely, factual and impartial technical information to the public about nuclear safety and security in Ukraine,” Director General Grossi said.

The general nuclear safety situation at the ZNPP remains precarious, however, with the plant continuing to rely on one single power line for the electricity it needs to cool its reactors and for other essential nuclear safety and security functions. Before the conflict, it had access to 10 external power lines.

In addition, the IAEA team reported hearing military activities almost every day over the past week, at different distances from the site, which is located on the frontline.

Earlier this week, the team members performed a walkdown of a turbine hall of one reactor unit where they were once again denied access to the western part of the hall.

The IAEA teams present at Ukraine’s operating nuclear power plants (NPPs) — Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs – and the Chornobyl NPP site reported hearing air raid alarms nearly every day over the past week. At Khmelnytskyy, the team had to shelter twice on 28 July.

Three of Ukraine’s nine operating reactor units continued to be in shutdown for refuelling and maintenance, including work on some of the off-site power lines.

As part of the IAEA’s comprehensive assistance programme to support nuclear safety and security in Ukraine, the Slavutych City Hospital this week received mobile radiography equipment and the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center and Hydrometeorological organizations of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine received laboratory equipment. These deliveries were funded by Australia, the European Union and Norway.

Related resources

• Nuclear Safety, Security and Safeguards in Ukraine

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ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’s All Nuclear Daily Digest” RELATED MEDIA”:

There are 6 categories, with the latest addition including a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that also play an important role in human and other life.

The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

1. All Things Nuclear
2. Nuclear Power
3. Nuclear Power Emergencies
4. Nuclear War Threats
5. Nuclear War
6. Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There is one Yellowstone Caldera bonus story available in today’s Post.)
7. IAEA News (Friday’s only) (NOTE: It’s back!)

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

TODAY’S ALL NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Friday, (08/01/2025)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Trump nominates nuclear executive to the NRC – POLITICO Pro

POLITICO Pro

Phrase search matches all words in that order with nothing in between. … The nomination comes amid political debate about the Trump administration’s …

Pattern Change Ahead for Southeast – YouTube

YouTube

Once You Turn 80, These 5 Things Happen Whether You Like It Or Not! … Russia’s Nuclear Submarine Base WIPED OUT by Tsunami & Earthquake.

Scientists in South Africa are making rhino horns radioactive to fight poaching – KCCU

KCCU

All Things Considered · Big Picture Science · Classical Music · Freakonomics … nuclear security systems,” said James Larkin, chief scientific …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Advanced Nuclear Needs Modern Siting Regulations – The Breakthrough Institute

The Breakthrough Institute

modernize how it evaluates population density in nuclear reactor siting. The Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA) of 2019 directed …

NextEra moves closer to reviving Midwest nuclear plant – E&E News by POLITICO

E&E News

The nation’s largest power company is taking the next step to bring the shuttered Duane Arnold nuclear plant back to life — a strategic U-turn …

‘Feels like a charade’: Residents push back on feds over restart of Three Mile Island nuclear reactor

Lancaster Online

MIDDLETOWN — Five officials charged with ensuring the restart of a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island meets federal safety and environmental …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Free potassium iodide pills to be distributed in southeastern York County – The Evening Sun

The Evening Sun

14, the release states. The pills can be taken as directed by emergency officials in the event of a radiological release from a nuclear power plant to …

PA DOH distributing free potassium iodide tablets to residents living near nuclear power plants

WGAL

The KI tablet distribution events are part of emergency preparedness planning and are only to be used in the unlikely event of a radiological release …

Pennsylvania Department of Health will conduct statewide distribution of potassium iodide …

Beaver County Radio

… emergency near a nuclear power station. August 1, 2025. (Photo Provided with Release). Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News. (Haurg, PA) ..

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

The treaty meant to control nuclear risks is under strain 80 years after the US bombings of …

The Conversation

Russia’s persistent nuclear threats during its war on Ukraine show how … As nuclear dangers intensify and disarmament stalls, moral clarity risks .

Valuing or devaluing nuclear weapons in the war journalism: a cross-national comparative …

Nature

Since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine, Russia’s nuclear threats … dangers that nuclear weapons pose and build an agenda against nuclear …

Trump-Medvedev Clash Sparks Nuclear Fears As Rhetoric Escalates to Apocalyptic Levels

YouTube

… War-era rhetoric this week, as the Kremlin ally invoked Russia’s infamous “Dead Hand” nuclear system and mocked Trump’s threats on social media.

Nuclear War

NEWS

Trump, escalating war of words with Russia’s Medvedev, mobilizes two nuclear submarines

Politico

President Donald Trump said Friday he mobilized two nuclear submarines “to be positioned in the appropriate regions” in response to threatening …

Trump says he moved two nuclear submarines after Russia’s Medvedev warns U.S. – CNBC

CNBC

Dmitry Medvedev said President Trump is “playing the ultimatum game with Russia” in pressuring for an end to the war on Ukraine.

Trump orders nuclear submarines closer to Russia over “provocative statements” – Axios

Axios

… nuclear bluster from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. … Why it matters: Trump accused his predecessor of flirting with World War 3 after …

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

18 Places Where You Can Still See Evidence of Ancient Catastrophes

Go2Tutors

Yellowstone Caldera, Wyoming. DepositPhotos. Beneath Yellowstone National Park lies one of the world’s largest active volcanic systems, which has …

IAEA Weekly News

1 August 2025

Read the top news and updates published on IAEA.org this week.

1 August 2025

Protecting Rhino – the Nuclear Way

In South Africa approximately one rhino is being killed for its horn every day. A pioneering effort capitalising on the world’s nuclear security infrastructure is being rolled out this week to help prevent the illegal poaching and protect South Africa’s rhino. Read more →

31 July 2025

IAEA-Supported Laboratory Opens to Fight Microplastics in Galapagos Islands

A new laboratory supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was officially inaugurated this month in the Galapagos Islands to address the growing threat of marine microplastic pollution. Read more →

30 July 2025

Update 306 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

The IAEA team based at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) carried out independent measurements today to confirm that there had been no increase in radiation levels at the site, contrary to some social media posts overnight, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said. Read more →

30 July 2025

IAEA Mission to Zambia Finds Strong Commitment to Nuclear Security, Encourages Focus on Capacity Building

The IAEA completed an advisory service mission to Zambia focused on assessing the country’s nuclear security regime for nuclear and other radioactive material out of regulatory control, referred to as MORC. Read more →

29 July 2025

Singapore: IAEA Supports Southeast Asia’s Clean Energy Ambitions

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi visited Singapore last week to reaffirm support to the country and the wider region, as interest grows in Southeast Asia for nuclear power and technology. During his trip, Mr Grossi met with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, and Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science and Technology Tan See Leng. Their conversations focused on the region’s growing interest in nuclear energy, peaceful applications of nuclear technology such as in health and food security, and the importance of effective multilateralism. Read more →

28 July 2025

How Nuclear Technology is Testing Pistachios for Toxins

Pistachios, once a treat reserved for royalty, but popular worldwide today, can harbour carcinogenic aflatoxins. Nuclear technology is helping to make them safer. Read more →

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

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Jul 31, 2025

On My Mind Today:

Today ‘s Post marks the 1,000th LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD TODAY consecutive daily edition that began on Friday, November 4th, 2022, posting only on Facebook and my “LLAW’S WORLDS’ website. I began Posting from “Substack”, using their much superior ‘Dashboard’ in October of 2023, and also began adding selected online media and social outlets beyond just Substack and Facebook at that time. But I — and others of like anti-nuclear minds — must take up the cudgel against “all things nuclear” and do much more and much better in order in our collective effort to save not only the human population on planet Earth but most other life as well.

As for readers, especially all who are always welcome to become free subscribers — I will never charge for subscriptions because financial gain is not my goal here, But I would welcome operational and eventual financial help from interested media and/or social sponsors. I have been especially disappointed with Facebook, which over the years rates, on average, only about 5% of my Blog’s readership. I had hoped that Facebook would attract more than any other media or social outlet because they have, or so they estimate, nearly 3 billion 30-day or daily users world-wide, and my daily Posts, which are essentially every day reasons and warnings against all use of radioactively poisonous nuclear fuel — especially nuclear weapons of mass destruction and their closely related cousins, nuclear power plants.

So it is that our desperate need to reach a large percentage of the world’s population has not been thus far successful, but the need to reach as many free subscribers and everyday readers as possible must go on. I have long hoped that other anti-nuclear individuals and groups or organizations would take on their own repetitive blogs, articles, and reports, etc. to alert the world’s unaware population that “all things nuclear” must become non-existent before we are all more than likely to perish if we continue on along the treacherous path toward this deadly and unforgiving growing like an incurable cancer on this insane nuclear world.

There remains, for now, a way out, but it requires the collective help of all of us — and time is of the essence . . . ~llaw

ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’s All Nuclear Daily Digest” RELATED MEDIA”:

There are 6 categories, with the latest addition including a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that also play an important role in human and other life.

The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

1. All Things Nuclear
2. Nuclear Power
3. Nuclear Power Emergencies
4. Nuclear War Threats
5. Nuclear War
6. Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are three Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in today’s Post.)

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

TODAY’S ALL NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Thursday, (07/31/2025)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Who gets to have nuclear weapons and why? | Start Here – YouTube

YouTube

… all Start Here episodes here: https://bit.ly/3o0BEIW Subscribe Al … Stonehenge Isn’t A Henge (And Other Things You Didn’t Know). SciShow New …

80 Years with the Bomb: The Nuclear Age in Four Moments – Stimson Center

Stimson Center

FDR, Truman, and other U.S. officials might have known about this, but all Americans knew about the Soviets’ interest in obtaining an atomic bomb …

In this time of rancour, fear and war, peaceful nuclear cooperation in the Middle East is still possible

The Guardian

After Iraq’s use of chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq war, the initiative was expanded in 1990 to cover all weapons of mass destruction. But …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

IAEA Launches Outlook on Nuclear Power for Development in Africa at G20

International Atomic Energy Agency

IAEA-Group of Twenty cooperation broke new ground this week with the release of a publication examining the potential for nuclear power in Africa.

Korean SMRs to be considered for Norwegian project – World Nuclear News

World Nuclear News

Norway’s Trondheimsleia Kjernekraft AS and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power are to conduct a feasibility study on the construction of a power plant …

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials seek public input on TMI reactor restart

WGAL

Video above: Nuclear plant could reopen ahead of schedule. Advertisement. The company operating the nuclear power plant, Constellation Energy, hopes …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Hokkaido nuclear reactor clears Japan’s safety review for restart – MSN

MSN

The Nuclear Regulation Authority effectively endorsed on Wednesday the restart of a reactor at the sole nuclear power plant on Japan’s northern …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Trump and Medvedev’s War of Words Escalates to Nuclear Threats Amid Ukraine Conflict

Time Magazine

“Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia…Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his …

Medvedev reminds Trump of Russia’s Doomsday nuclear strike capabilities as war of … – Reuters

Reuters

Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. Advertise With …

Mutually Understood Deterrence (MUD): How Nations Now Navigate the Threat of Nuclear War

Skeptic Magazine

As nuclear threats evolve beyond Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), a new paradigm—Mutually Understood Deterrence (MUD)—explores how authoritarian …

Nuclear War

NEWS

Medvedev reminds Trump of Russia’s Doomsday nuclear strike capabilities as war of words …

Reuters

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday told U.S. President Donald Trump to remember that Moscow possessed Soviet-era nuclear strike …

In this time of rancour, fear and war, peaceful nuclear cooperation in the Middle East is still possible

The Guardian

After Iraq’s use of chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq war, the initiative was expanded in 1990 to cover all weapons of mass destruction. But for …

Mutually Understood Deterrence (MUD): How Nations Now Navigate the Threat of Nuclear War

Skeptic Magazine

MAD’s thesis is simply that: any head of state who provokes “nuclear war” against an enemy state that also possesses nuclear weapons, virtually …

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

Animals fleeing Yellowstone? It’s a hoax, folks – Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. Michael Poland …

Experts debunk viral claims that animals are fleeing Yellowstone National Park

FOX Weather

… Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, said in a weekly column. “The myth that animals are fleeing Yellowstone comes up every year or two, and sometimes …

Hidden layer found under U.S. supervolcano — Seismic anomaly hints at strange revervoir

ECOticias.com

Scientists found a magma cap under the Yellowstone volcano. A hidden reservoir 4 km deep reveals the supervolcano is quiet, but far from inactive.

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

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Jul 30, 2025

A living dinosaur (even a T-Rex) was far less dangerous than an extinct one is today . . . ~llaw

On My Mind Today:

Instead of proliferating nuclear bombs, constructing new nuclear power plants, or restarting long ago mothballed unreliable old ones, which is beyond risky — more like foolhardy — we should be shutting them all down, developing a way to rid ourselves of existing nuclear fuel and nuclear waste instead of adding more, and moving on as a united world of peace toward concentrating only on renewable resources for power consumption and no weapons of war.

We also don’t need “artificial suns” (nuclear fusion) when we have a perfectly good one that has kept us alive along with the earth’s natural resources since the arrival of humans and other life on planet Earth.

If cleaning up our dirty nuclear earthly home interferes with the growing nuclear-energy gluttons we know as Information Technology (IT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) — that want to control the worlds of the future — that’s just too bad, but so be it; we shouldn’t want them nor should we think we need them. We have to clean up our global act to survive, and, if we do, we will be far better off without anything nuclear, allowing us all to live to see another day after all. ~llaw

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BOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’s All Nuclear Daily Digest” RELATED MEDIA”:

There are 6 categories, with the latest addition including a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that also play an important role in human and other life.

The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

1. All Things Nuclear
2. Nuclear Power
3. Nuclear Power Emergencies
4. Nuclear War Threats
5. Nuclear War
6. Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are two Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in today’s Post.)

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

TODAY’S ALL NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Wednesday, (07/30/2025)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Even Nuclear Experts Are at a Loss Right Now – Bloomberg

Bloomberg

“All of our calculations on nuclear weaponry, the nuclear triad, where … things will matter. More From Bloomberg Opinion: How Trump Could …

Shuttered nuclear plant works to a first-of-its-kind restart as critics say the risks are too high

YouTube

… all went away on May 20th, 2022 with the supposedly ‘ … Things You Didn’t Know About The Challenger Disaster That Will Blow Your Mind.

Commissioner Caputo resigns from Nuclear Regulatory Commission – POLITICO Pro

POLITICO Pro

… that is at the heart of the Trump administration’s effort to launch … all words in that order with nothing in between. Search will capture …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

U.S. Nuclear Energy Policy Could Accelerate Weapons Proliferation | Scientific American

Scientific American

U.S. Nuclear Energy Plans Could Proliferate Weapons. The White House has now fully embraced bomb-prone nuclear fuel technology. This should stop …

A retired nuclear plant in Michigan is about to restart, a first for US – Canary Media

Canary Media

Up until that point, Holtec had no experience in constructing, operating, or restarting a nuclear power plant. Despite that lack of experience, the …

EU’s $750B energy pledge includes US nuclear reactors – E&E News by POLITICO

E&E News by POLITICO

BRUSSELS — The EU’s pledge to spend $750 billion on U.S. energy can include nuclear reactors, the bloc’s executive said Tuesday.

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Eastern Poland simulates nuclear plant emergency near border with Ukraine – TVP World

TVP World

Eastern Poland simulates nuclear plant emergency near border with Ukraine. Franciszek Beszłej/pk. 30.07.2025, 03:05 | Update 03:06.

Secretary Wright Issues Emergency Order to Safeguard Mid-Atlantic Power Grid

Department of Energy

The Department of Energy (DOE) today issued its fifth emergency order authorized by Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act to secure America’s …

Fukushima nuclear plant clean-up faces another delay – MSN

MSN

Tokyo Electric Power Company newly released plan reveals the challenges to decommissioning the Fukushima nuclear plant by the Japanese …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Russia says it’s worried about threat of new strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities | Reuters

Reuters

“Regular threats towards Iran to launch new missile and bomb strikes on its nuclear facilities cannot but cause serious concern. The cynicism of …

Even Nuclear Experts Are at a Loss Right Now – Bloomberg

Bloomberg

After the Cold War, strategists shifted to studying other threats — terrorism and such — because nuclear annihilation seemed passé. Instead, it …

America faces a dangerous future. Our security depends on proven, capable military tech – Fox News

Fox News

… threat of nuclear war‘ · Brian … threats and, in his words, “completing the job that President Reagan …

Nuclear War

NEWS

Even Nuclear Experts Are at a Loss Right Now – Bloomberg

Bloomberg

After the Cold War, strategists shifted to studying other threats — terrorism and such — because nuclear annihilation seemed passé. Instead, it tops …

Russia says it’s worried about threat of new strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities | Reuters

Reuters

Russia has cultivated closer ties with Iran since the start of its war in Ukraine, and this year signed a strategic partnership treaty with the …

U.S. Nuclear Energy Policy Could Accelerate Weapons Proliferation | Scientific American

Scientific American

That decision needs to be reversed before it inadvertently triggers an arms race, atomic terrorism or even nuclear war. As Iran has highlighted, …

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

How many earthquakes has Yellowstone experienced in the last 15 years? – GovTech

GovTech

The team used deep learning algorithms to analyze seismic data from the Yellowstone caldera and retroactively identify earthquakes and assign …

AI reveals a significant number of earthquakes beneath Yellowstone – Notebookcheck

Notebookcheck

It should be noted, however, that the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts on average every 600,000 years. The last major eruption in this area occurred …

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

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Jul 29, 2025

On My Mind Today:

Wishing you all an enjoyable rest of your week! Time for me to take a break, too! We’ll see what comes on Wednesday . . . ~llaw

Image from yesterday’s LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD TODAY courtesy of Substack and Instagram . . . (Not sure Instagram is on my Posting list, but I will double check.) ~llaw

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ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’s All Nuclear Daily Digest” RELATED MEDIA”:

There are 6 categories, with the latest addition including a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that also play an important role in human and other life.

The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

1. All Things Nuclear
2. Nuclear Power
3. Nuclear Power Emergencies
4. Nuclear War Threats
5. Nuclear War
6. Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are three Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in today’s Post.)

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

TODAY’S ALL NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Tuesday, (07/29/2025)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

US used about 25% of its THAAD missile interceptors during Israel-Iran war | CNN

CNN

… everything it needs to conduct any mission anywhere, anytime, all around the world. If you need further proof, look no further than Operation …

Palantir Goes… Nuclear? – Brownstone Research

Brownstone Research

This is all about clearing pathways for speed and innovation, and that explains why companies that have a history of disruptive innovation (i.e., xAI/ …

Terrifying Milestone: Russia’s New Centrifuge Sets Nuclear Enrichment Record and …

Sustainability Times

Illustration of a 3D-printed steel bacteria battery achieving record-breaking energy output,. “Living Metal Just Changed Everything”: 3D-Printed Steel …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Fukushima nuclear plant faces new delay in removing melted fuel debris – ABC News

ABC News – The Walt Disney Company

The Japanese operator of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says the start of full-scale removal of melted fuel debris will …

Advanced Nuclear Deployment Dashboard | Projects – CSIS

CSIS

This dynamic, interactive map tracks new U.S. nuclear projects and demonstration projects across the development life cycle. Nuclear energy is …

Fukushima nuclear plant clean up faces new delay in removing melted fuel debris

CBS News

… reactor. Japan Nuclear Fukushima The Unit 3 reactor, covered with protective housing at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, is run by Tokyo …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Vietnam aims to build safety and security culture ahead of first nuclear power plant debut

Vietnam+ (VietnamPlus)

nuclear safety and security, Ninh Thuan nuclear power plants, nuclear energy … nuclear incidents, and transparent emergency response mechanisms. This …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Nuclear Threats Are Back – Ken Klippenstein

Ken Klippenstein

Nuclear Threats Are Back. Washington responds to Russia with … threat of thermonuclear war. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, apparently …

US likely moved nuclear weapons to UK for first time since 2008 amid Russian threats …

The Kyiv Independent

… nuclear weapon first developed during the Cold War, according to Bloomberg. … threats and nuclear sabre-rattling against European countries. After a …

US prelates head to Japan on ‘Pilgrimage of Peace’ amid nuclear fears old and new

Detroit Catholic

(OSV News) ─ As the world marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — and as renewed nuclear threats emerge in …

Nuclear War

NEWS

Trump warns US could bomb Iran nuclear sites again if they restart – Reuters

Reuters

President Donald Trump warned on Monday that he would order fresh U.S. attacks on Iran’s nuclear … Israel and Hamas at War · Japan · Middle East …

Nuclear Threats Are Back – Ken Klippenstein

Ken Klippenstein

The United States has quietly deployed nuclear weapons to the United Kingdom for the first time since the end of the Cold War.

British expert warns Russia could blow up six reactors at Europe’s largest nuclear plant if …

Euromaidan Press

When Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine, one of the first things it did was the occupation of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It …

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

Posts tying animal behavior to seismic activity at Yellowstone are bogus – Yahoo

Yahoo

… Yellowstone taken on the USGS website July 25, 2025. Veress said there is no evidence or sign of an impending eruption. “Another caldera-forming …

Geophysicist Addresses Ridiculous Claims That There Is A Mass Exodus of Wildlife From …

Unofficial Networks

U.S. Geological Survey and Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory dispels rumors of mass migration of wildlife out of …

Unprecedented analysis of seismic activity in the Yellowstone Caldera: Scientists discover dynamics

Yourweather.co.uk

Yellowstone sits atop an active supervolcano, one of the largest calderas in the world, measuring approximately 45 by 30 miles. Although it is an …