NUCLEAR INSANITY: THE LAST DAYS OF HUMAN DEPRAVITY? ~ LLAW

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Nov 22, 2024

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LLAW’s NUCLEAR NEWS & THE IMPACT ON TOMORROW

Is this the ‘shot across the proverbial bow’ from Putin’s Russia? Or is it just another threat, only this time with destructive ‘bells and whistles’ rather than simply harsh words and political doctrines? Whatever it is, there is no way to concede nor acquiesce to the ultimate purpose of this warning, given that it is intended for not only Ukraine, but the entire free world, particularly including the United States and other NATO countries.

Russia probably believes that this nuclear capable missile carrying conventional weapons of mass destruction may be enough to cause the ‘free world’ countries to discontinue their political and military support of Ukraine, which would mean Russia would easily win the war and rule over Ukraine with an iron fist so to speak. But more than that, I believe that Russia is pretty sure that the U.S. will bow out of military support for Ukraine as soon as Donald Trump takes office, allowing Putin to rule over Ukraine by default rather than using either conventional or nuclear weapons to seek the ‘spoils of war’ over Ukraine without extending the present war.

But the question is, do we walk away from Ukraine’s Democracy, or would the next Russian war target be pointed directly at the United States unless Trump hands over Ukraine as he has been wont to do since before Putin’s re-invasion after Trump lost the previous presidential election, allowing the U.S. to continue Ukraine war support. Trump would most likely “give” Ukraine back to Russia, as he apparently wanted to do before while he was still President, in order to avoid Putin’s direct conflict with Ukraine at the time, but that didn’t happen of course when he lost the previous election to Joe Biden. ~llaw

With Use of New Missile, Russia Sends a Threatening Message to the West

The intermediate-range missile did not carry nuclear weapons, but it is part of a strategic arsenal that is capable of delivering them.

By Marc SantoraLara JakesValerie HopkinsAndrew E. Kramer and Eric Schmitt

Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine

Nov. 21, 2024

Leer en español

President Vladimir V. Putin escalated a tense showdown with the West on Thursday, saying that Russia had launched a new intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine in response to Ukraine’s recent use of American and British weapons to strike deeper into Russia.

In what appeared to be an ominous threat against Ukraine’s western allies, Mr. Putin also asserted that Russia had the right to strike the military facilities of countries “that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities.”

His warning came hours after Russia’s military fired a nuclear-capable ballistic missile at Ukraine that Western officials and analysts said was meant to instill fear in Kyiv and the West. Though the missile carried only conventional warheads, using it signaled that Russia could strike with nuclear weapons if it chooses.

“The regional conflict in Ukraine, previously provoked by the West, has acquired elements of a global character,” Mr. Putin said in a rare address to the nation. “We are developing intermediate- and shorter-range missiles as a response to U.S. plans to produce and deploy intermediate- and shorter-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.”

Mr. Putin has frequently wielded the threat of nuclear weapons to try to keep the West off balance and stem the flow of support to Ukraine. But sending an intermediate-range missile with nuclear capabilities into Ukraine and brandishing the strike as a threat to the West ratcheted up tensions even further.

Sounding by turns boastful and threatening, Mr. Putin called Thursday’s missile strike a successful “test” of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile called the Oreshnik. And he made clear that the attack on Ukraine was in response to a recent decision by the Biden Administration to grant Ukraine permission to use American-made ATACMS ballistic missiles to hit targets inside Russia.

Ukraine used ATACMS and the British Storm Shadow missile against Russia for the first time this week, Ukrainian and Western officials said.

Since Mr. Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022 — and Ukraine’s western allies began supplying Kyiv with weapons and other support — both Russia and the West have taken pains to avoid a direct confrontation that all sides agreed could lead to a disastrous military conflict, and possibly nuclear war.

But as the war in Ukraine approaches the end of its third year, the guardrails preventing such a confrontation appear to be under strain like never before.

“This is an escalation,” said Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. “I really believe the situation is very dangerous.”

In his nightly address, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said, “Putin is the only one who started this war, a completely unprovoked war, and who is doing everything to keep the war going for more than a thousand days.”

He called the missile strike “yet another proof that Russia definitely does not want peace.”

The use of an intermediate-range missile drawn from Russia’s strategic arsenal was notable, Ukrainian and Western officials said. The target inside Ukraine was well within the range of the conventional weapons that Moscow has routinely used throughout the war.

But this time, Russia launched a longer-range missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads that is mainly intended as nuclear deterrence; that choice, the officials and military analysts said, signals a warning aimed at striking fear into Kyiv and its allies.

Fabian Rene Hoffmann, a weapons expert at the University of Oslo, said that from a Russian perspective, “what they would like to tell us today is that ‘Look, last night’s strike was nonnuclear in payload, but, you know, if whatever you do continues, the next strike might be with a nuclear warhead.’”

There was initially debate on Thursday over exactly what Russia fired at Ukraine. Ukraine’s air force along with Mr. Zelensky initially claimed it was an intercontinental ballistic missile, a weapon capable of hitting targets thousands of miles away, including in the United States. Ukrainian officials said the missile struck a military facility in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, though the extent of the damage was not immediately clear.

Senior U.S. officials and a Ukrainian official, however, said the weapon appeared to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile, not an ICBM.

Dimitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said that under protocol, Russia was not required to notify the American side in advance of the missile launch because the Oreshnik is not an intercontinental missile. But an automatic notification to the U.S. was triggered 30 minutes before the launch, Mr. Peskov told Tass, the Russian state media outlet.

The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed that it received that warning.

In a statement on Thursday, the National Security Council in the U.S. said that Russia launched what it called “an experimental medium-range ballistic missile against Ukraine.” The statement said Russia likely had “only a handful” of these missiles and had likely used it to try to “intimidate Ukraine and its supporters.”

The Ukrainian Air Force said the missile was launched from the Russian region of Astrakhan. Ivan Kyrychevskyi, a military analyst with Defense Express, a Ukrainian consulting agency, said the launch area suggested it was fired from a truck based at the Kapustin Yar training range — a Cold War-era testing ground for Soviet ballistic missiles, strategic bombers and other weaponry, underscoring the threat intended with the launch.

Ukraine has no radars capable of detecting such missiles in flight through the upper atmosphere, nor does it have air defense systems capable of shooting them down, Mr. Kyrychevskyi said. “Our Western partners might have seen this launch before us,” he said.

Analysts said the name Mr. Putin gave for the new weapon, Oreshnik, appeared new, but that the weapon itself was likely not much different from known versions of Russian intermediate-range ballistic missiles.

Although other Russian missiles that have been launched into Ukraine can also carry nuclear weapons — like the Iskander and the Kh-101 — what makes the intermediate-range missile alarming, in addition to its range, is its ability to fire multiple nuclear warheads when it re-enters the earth’s atmosphere, said Tom Karako, director of the missile defense project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

That makes it difficult, if not nearly impossible, to intercept them. The missiles are also large and can fly far, high and fast, reaching hypersonic speed.

It represents “a nuclear saber-rattling for both Ukraine and Europe itself,” Mr. Karako said. “It’s a pretty sharp signal.”

Roman Kostenko, the chairman of the defense and intelligence committee in Ukraine’s Parliament, said that Thursday’s attack would not prompt Ukraine to alter how it is fighting the war, including striking back at targets in Russia in self-defense.

But Ukraine halted its nuclear missile production after gaining independence in 1991, and now, Col. Kostenko said, “we have nothing to answer to this class of weapons.”

If there was any doubt about Russia’s intent, Mr. Putin laid out the threat explicitly.

“We have always preferred — and are still ready — to resolve all contentious issues by peaceful means,” he said. “But we are also ready for any development. If anyone still doubts this, it is in vain. There will always be a response.”

On top of everything else, Russian and Western officials have sparred over who is to blame for the recent spate of escalation. While the Kremlin blames Washington for granting Ukraine permission to strike Russian targets with Western weapons, the White House has said Russia’s own actions brought about the decision, specifically citing Russian’s decision to invite thousands of North Korean troops to help dislodge a Ukrainian occupation of part of Russia’s Kursk region.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Thursday that “the escalation at every turn, at every step, is coming from Russia.”

She repeated the White House’s position that the decision to bring North Korean troops into the conflict was the important escalatory action, and that changes in policy about U.S. weapons were not. “This is their aggression: not Ukraine’s, not ours,” she said.

In Dnipro, at the site of Thursday’s missile strike, officials were still evaluating the extent of the damage of the missile strikes, though it did not appear to be extensive. The city’s mayor, Borys Filatov, wrote on Facebook that an explosion had broken windows at a rehabilitation center for disabled people.

The Ukrainian government does not provide damage assessments of attacks directed at strategic military assets, but local residents suggested the PA Pivdenmash Machine-Building Plant was struck. The precise work that now takes place at the plant is a closely guarded secret, but its history as a missile producer in the Cold War is well known, making it a frequent target for attacks throughout the war.

Michael Schwirtz, Aritz Parra, Oleg Matsnev Maria Varenikova, Nataliia Novosolova and Liubov Sholudko contributed reporting.

Marc Santora has been reporting from Ukraine since the beginning of the war with Russia. He was previously based in London as an international news editor focused on breaking news events and earlier the bureau chief for East and Central Europe, based in Warsaw. He has also reported extensively from Iraq and Africa. More about Marc Santora

Lara Jakes, based in Rome, reports on diplomatic and military efforts by the West to support Ukraine in its war with Russia. She has been a journalist for nearly 30 years. More about Lara Jakes

Valerie Hopkins covers the war in Ukraine and how the conflict is changing Russia, Ukraine, Europe and the United States. She is based in Moscow. More about Valerie Hopkins

Andrew E. Kramer is the Kyiv bureau chief for The Times, who has been covering the war in Ukraine since 2014. More about Andrew E. Kramer

Eric Schmitt is a national security correspondent for The Times, focusing on U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism issues overseas, topics he has reported on for more than three decades. More about Eric Schmitt

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

(Please note that the Saturday and Sunday NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS — unedited —are added to Monday news posts in order to maintain continuity of nuclear news as well as for research for the overall information provided in “LLAW;s All Things Nuclear”.)

There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

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

Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Friday, (11/22/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Russia hit Ukraine with new mid-range ballistic missile, Putin says – CNN

CNN

In the past, MIRVS were “exclusively for nuclear warheads, and everything that’s more tactical is either singular or cluster muntions,” Karako told …

United Nations nuclear agency again condemns Iran for failing to fully cooperate – KNPR

KNPR

All Things · Culture · Food and Drink · The Guide · All Things · Culture · Food and … nuclear material, and grant access to IAEA inspectors to all …

New eyes on nuclear: Technology industry reps, investment bankers visit INL to learn about …

Newswise

… nuclear power plants to generate electricity. “Public perception is now at an all-time high, and has been stable for the last few years,” Wagner said.Nuclear Power

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Nuclear Energy Prevents Air Pollution and Saves Lives – Reason Magazine

Reason Magazine

This article originally appeared in print under the headline “Nuclear Power Saves Lives.” Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most …

Nuclear plant asks regulators to reconsider rejected expansion – Energy News Network

Energy News Network

NUCLEAR: Talen Energy asks federal regulators to reconsider their rejection of a plan to scale up capacity at a Pennsylvania nuclear plant to …

The Nuclear Option: Unleashing America’s Energy Future – The Daily Signal

The Daily Signal

The incoming Trump administration to bolster America’s energy independence, and nuclear energy has the potential to transform our future.

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Federal inspectors returning to Palisades nuclear plant next month – MLive.com

MLive.com

Communities around closed nuclear plant can expect return of radiation emergency exercise in July.

Russian attacks on NPP substations: Ukraine urges IAEA to take more drastic measures

Ukrinform

“Blackout or emergency shutdown of nuclear power plants is their top priority. Consequently, the risks of any nuclear accident are incredibly high …

Emergency Blackout In Kyiv After Russia’s ICBM Attack On Ukraine | Details – Times of India

Times of India

… emergency power cuts across several regions following the escalation of attacks. Watch.

Nuclear War

NEWS

DOD Adjusts Nuclear Deterrence Strategy as Nuclear Peer Adversaries Escalate

Department of Defense

Multiple nuclear peer adversaries challenge the security of the U.S. and its allies and partners, according to the Defense Department.,

North Korea’s Kim accuses US of stoking tension, warns of nuclear war, KCNA says

Reuters

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has accused the United States of ramping up tension and provocations, saying the Korean peninsula has never faced …

Ukraine war: After days of escalation, what will Russia’s Putin do next? – BBC

BBC

After all, this was the week the Kremlin leader lowered the threshold for the use of Russian nuclear weapons. It was the week the US and UK crossed ( …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats – The Economist

The Economist

On the same day, Ukrainian lawmakers were warned that the country’s parliament building in Kyiv was at risk of Russian missile attack. These threats …

Russia-Ukraine war sees another ‘dangerous cycle’ as threats escalate – Sky News

Sky News

Russia-Ukraine war sees another ‘dangerous cycle’ as threats escalate … Putin’s latest threat is a declaration that the US is risking nuclear war with …

Putin Escalates Threats to the West With New Ballistic Missile Launch – The New York Times

The New York Times

In what appeared to be an ominous threat against Ukraine’s western allies, Mr. Putin also asserted that Russia had the right to strike the military .

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

7 US States With Active Volcanoes Near Cities – TheTravel

TheTravel

Active volcano near cities: Yellowstone Caldera. Close. There’s only … The Yellowstone Caldera is a supervolcano and a volcanic caldera that …

IAEA Weekly News

22 November 2024

See the top stories from this week’s IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, and as COP29 draws to a close in Baku, explore our COP29 Blog for in-depth coverage of the role of nuclear science and technology in the global climate discussions.

22 November 2024

Harnessing Nuclear Technology in the Service of Humankind — Together

Kai Mykkänen, Minister of Climate and the Environment of Finland and the co-chair of the IAEA’s upcoming 2024 Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Science, Technology and Applications and the Technical Cooperation Programme, discusses the conference’s significance and how nuclear science and technology helps provide solutions to global challenges.  Read more →

21 November 2024

IAEA Joins UN Organizations at COP29 in Calling for Increased Collaboration to Reach Climate Goals

Heads of UN agencies endorsed South-South cooperation and inter-agency collaboration as critical for climate action at a High-level Forum on this topic hosted by China at the 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP29). The IAEA joined them in promoting South-South cooperation as a valuable mechanism to help achieve climate action goals in an equitable manner.  Read more →

21 November 2024

IAEA Delivers Ambulances to Ukrainian Nuclear Sites

The International Atomic Energy Agency has handed over two new, fully equipped ambulances to Ukraine this week, providing vital medical support to the people working at its nuclear facilities. Read more →

20 November 2024

Director General Briefs Board on Iran Developments, Ukraine Support, Technical Assistance and More

The IAEA Director General has briefed the Board of Governors on his high-level meetings in Tehran last week, describing his discussions with the new government as constructive. Nevertheless, he pointed out, there were ongoing concerns. Read more →

18 November 2024

Nuclear Power in the COP29 Spotlight as Countries and Companies Eye Climate Solutions

Nuclear power is in the spotlight at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Azerbaijan, where both countries and industries presented plans to deploy the carbon-free energy technology, building on the historic consensus to accelerate its use that emerged from last year’s climate summit. Read more →

18 November 2024

IAEA Director General Receives Nuclear Statesman Award

The IAEA Director General has been granted a major honour – the Henry DeWolf Smyth Nuclear Statesman Award – for outstanding service in developing and guiding the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Read more →

NUCLEAR INSANITY: THE LAST DAYS OF HUMAN DEPRAVITY? ~ LLAW

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Nov 21, 2024

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LLAW’s NUCLEAR NEWS & THE IMPACT ON TOMORROW

The entire free world seems to be terribly worried about the return of Donald Trump as the United States’ president — except the American voters (with probable Russian help) who miraculously and ignorantly returned him to the office despite the fact that he is a habitual liar, mentally ill, a convicted criminal, a political authoritarian, and just about every other condemning human characteristic one can think of. This international leeriness is all about his association with other nuclear armed countries and what he might, even unintentionally as unstable as he is, take an unimageable giant step into creating a nuclear war all by himself.

We have at least some of Trump’s nuclear war pronouncements on good authority from other leaders of other countries during his previous presidency who have said as much — that he will be a ‘first strike’ nuclear president in the event of an already looming threat of nuclear war. We are now in a political and military “can’t win” situation involving Ukraine, Britain, and the U.S., as well as NATO, and Russia along with their potential new ally North Korea. Putin has indicated that Russia may retaliate against Ukraine with nuclear weapons by Christmas (see the “Economic Times” article in the Nuclear War Threats category TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, just below.

The threats of nuclear war is the most critical of all issues on planet Earth these days, and we are bringing the wrong president and his woefully inept and authoritarian administration that lack enough common sense, intellect, empathy, and the need for a a united human world of peace in order to survive as a species, yet both we and our allies are relying on a thing called “deterrence”, which invites nuclear armed countries to spend capital we don’t have to “make believe” our nuclear endowed neighbors wil be afraid of each other enough to avoid a nuclear holocaust while bankrupting our own and their countries, too. An awakened common sense tells us all that this “deterrence” thing cannot go on forever, and it’s obvious that we are already at the breaking point, and the breaking point means all it will take is for one of them, or us, to fire the first nuclear missile. ~llaw

How might Russia respond to UK and US letting Ukraine hit it with their missiles?

Moscow has rattled its nuclear sabres, but experts say an increase in hybrid, ‘grey zone’ warfare is more likely

Julian Borger

Wed 20 Nov 2024 13.37 EST

No billionaire approved this

How the Guardian is different

Moscow has threatened to retaliate for the decision taken by the US and the UK to allow their long-range missiles to be used in strikes inside Russian territory, and warned that nothing is off the table. Earlier this week, the Kremlin announced a formal change in its nuclear doctrine which specifically envisages a possible nuclear response to Nato-assisted strikes on Russian soil. So, how far is Vladimir Putin prepared to go?

How the Guardian will stand up to four more years of Donald Trump

We’ve just witnessed an extraordinary moment in the history of the United States. Throughout the tumultuous years of the first Trump presidency we never minimised or normalised the threat of his authoritarianism, and we treated his lies as a genuine danger to democracy, a threat that found its expression on 6 January 2021. 

With Trump months away from taking office again – with dramatic implications for Ukraine and the Middle East, US democracy, reproductive rights, inequality and our collective environmental future – it’s time for us to redouble our efforts to hold the president-elect and those who surround him to account. 

It’s going to be an enormous challenge. And we need your help.

Trump is a direct threat to the freedom of the press. He has, for years, stirred up hatred against reporters, calling them an “enemy of the people”. He has referred to legitimate journalism as “fake news” and joked about members of the media being shot. Project 2025, the blueprint for a second Trump presidency, includes plans to make it easier to seize journalists’ emails and phone records.

We will stand up to these threats, but it will take brave, well-funded independent journalism. It will take reporting that can’t be leaned upon by a billionaire owner terrified of retribution from the White House.

If you can, please consider supporting us just once, or better yet, support us every month with a little more. Thank you.

Katharine Viner

Editor-in-chief, the Guardian

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

(Please note that the Saturday and Sunday NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS — unedited —are added to Monday news posts in order to maintain continuity of nuclear news as well as for research for the overall information provided in “LLAW;s All Things Nuclear”.)

There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

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

Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Wednesday, (11/21/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Iran vastly increased nuclear fuel stockpile ahead of Trump return, UN agency finds

Yahoo News

That resolution would condemn Tehran’s lack of responsiveness and call for creating a comprehensive report of all open questions about Iran’s nuclear …

Nuclear experts share safety plans for Palisades restart – YouTube

YouTube

Nuclear experts share safety plans for Palisades restart. 2 views · 8 … All Things Secured•809K views · 3:32 · Go to channel · Susan Smith denied …

As US ramps up nuclear power, fuel supplier plans to enrich more uranium domestically

KLBK

Asked about those kind of concerns, Vexler praised the U.S. Nuclear … How concerned are you, if at all, about the potential negative effects of …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Is nuclear power gaining new energy? – BBC

BBC

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, this led to the loss of 48GW of electric power generation globally between 2011 and 2020. Getty …

Fact Check Team: Nuclear power is back in style, but why? – NBC Montana

NBC Montana

Concerns over climate change largely drive this shift in sentiment, as nuclear power produces nearly zero carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas …

Why nuclear power is again growing in popularity – YouTube

YouTube

… nuclear–power-electricity-climate-change-carbon-dioxide-emissions-fossil-fuels-energy-fact-check-team #nuclear #power #energy #factcheckteam …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Safety a priority at public NRC meeting regarding Nuclear Plant restart – FOX 17

FOX 17

The conversations surrounding the controversial restarting of the Palisades Nuclear power plant have started back up … emergency from the Palisades …

Nuclear experts share safety plans for Palisades restart | WOODTV.com

WOODTV.com

… emergency preparedness and the plant’s plan to operate safely in emergency situations. … “Any nuclear reactor, one of our requirements is to …

Russian attack disrupts power supply at Zaporizhzhia NPP threatening blackout – Ukrinform

Ukrinform

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has been severely impacted by the Russian attack, resulting in the loss of one of its two power supply ..

Nuclear War

NEWS

New Russian doctrine increases possible nuclear weapons use scenarios – ICAN

International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

Russia is increasing the number of situations in which it might decide to use nuclear weapons, making it less clear when and how they might ..

Stratcom Commander Discusses Nuclear System Modernization – Department of Defense

Department of Defense

The commander of U.S. Strategic Command spoke on the critical role of nuclear deterrence and its supporting platforms in securing U.S. strategic …

Russia urges US to exercise restraint after Pentagon’s statement on exchange of nuclear strikes

Anadolu Ajansı

Kremlin spokesman reiterates commitment to prevent nuclear conflict, calls on West to adopt similarly responsible stance – Anadolu Ajansı.

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Russia threatens US nuclear war by Christmas? Here’s what we know of threats and …

The Economic Times

Has Putin-aides thrown threats at the West? Britain and France have also been dragged into this open threat by Russian top officials after these two …

New Russian doctrine increases possible nuclear weapons use scenarios – ICAN

International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

Recent nuclear signalling by Russia in the context of its ongoing invasion of Ukraine demonstrates the ever-present threat of nuclear escalation …

How might Russia respond to UK and US letting Ukraine hit it with their missiles? – The Guardian

The Guardian

But for all the threats, the US has said it has seen no signs of unusual movement at Russian nuclear weapon storage sites, suggesting there has 

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

What will happen if Yellowstone’s supervolcano erupts? – MSN

MSN

Michael Poland, Scientist-in-Charge at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, told DailyMail.com that even parts of surrounding states would be ‘in bad …

Yellowstone to Katmai: 7 National parks with active volcanoes in USA – MSN

MSN

While the caldera is dormant, the park’s volcanic history is evident. Sponsored Content. How To Borrow From Your Home Without Touching Your Mortgage.

After Horizon Forbidden West, One Big Character’s Legacy is in Question – MSN

MSN

Anita Sandoval developed the Caldera of Yellowstone Analytic Nexus artificial intelligence, also known as CYAN, to monitor and stabilize the …

NUCLEAR INSANITY: THE LAST DAYS OF HUMAN DEPRAVITY? ~ LLAW

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Nov 20, 2024

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TerraPower celebrated the start of construction on the Natrium reactor demonstration project during a groundbreaking ceremony in Wyoming on June 10, 2024. The beginning of construction activities marked the first advanced nuclear reactor project under construction in the Western Hemisphere. Courtesy: TerraPower

LLAW’s NUCLEAR NEWS & THE IMPACT ON TOMORROW

There was no new news today because all the top articles — except two or three about the ill-conceived rebound in nuclear energy after “all these years”, courtesy of a standout story from “Power” magazine that’s by far the best and most realistic review of the ridiculous and far-out optimism of our government, the nuclear industry, and Wall Street — were about Putin’s potential use of nuclear warfare, which dominated yesterday as well. So I’m just going to repeat what I had to say about that Putin nuclear war issue yesterday . . .

“The doctrine said any attack by a non-nuclear power supported by a nuclear power would be considered a joint attack, and that any attack by one member of a military bloc would be considered an attack by the entire alliance, it said.” (from the following Reuters’ article).

According to both Russia and the United States this has already happened when Ukraine recently fired long-range U.S. missiles with conventional warhead ATACMS into Russia for the 1st time at targets within Russia. So all we can do at the moment is speculate on what may or may not happen next.

But I do believe it is mandatory that the US/Ukraine violation resolution (if it is resolved) must happen before Trump takes office on January 20, 2025. But I suspect it will be delayed . . . ~llaw

The following powerful article is by far the best of the nuclear power stories (today and for many yesterdays, if not years) because it takes a long hard look at the reality of the obvious potential negative problems with nuclear power that the money markets and their ilk, including the nuclear/uranium business itself, seem to be ignoring or hiding away to reap some profits before the whole world of reality sets in . . . (My hat is off to Sonal Patel , the author of this article), ~llaw

Can Nuclear’s Big Recent Wins Propel a True Global Revival?

While the past year has marked stunning triumphs for nuclear energy, experts caution that high costs, regulatory bottlenecks, and the need for market alignment remain major hurdles on the path to a true nuclear renaissance.

Nuclear energy is at an inflection point. In 2023, nuclear contributed 9.2% of the world’s total power production with an installed capacity of 371.5 GWe from 413 reactors globally. While that figure still represents a relative waning—especially if compared to nuclear’s share of 18% in the late 1990s—in September 2024, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued projections that point to a dramatic sectoral revival. While the agency’s high-growth scenario is ambitious—anticipating a rapid expansion that could reach up to 890 GW by 2050—even its conservative scenario is optimistic, envisioning 458 GWe by 2050 (Figure 1). The agency pointed to several prevalent drivers. Among them are climate goals that now recognize nuclear as indispensable to achieve COP28 pledges and growing international coalitions, including from 25 nations, that will work to triple nuclear capacity by 2050. Nuclear has been championed as a key solution to counter renewable variability and climate change resilience, and address energy security amid geopolitical strain.

1. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) projects that while total power capacity could increase by about 12% by 2030 and more than double by 2050, nuclear capacity could increase 2.5 times the 2023 capacity by 2050 in the high case and by about 24% by 2050 in the low case. Courtesy: IAEA

Proceeding with urgency, several countries have already acted to bolster their goals with a slew of supportive policy measures designed to manage financial and operational risks. In tandem, the nuclear industry’s long-missing market signals are growing more pronounced, riding on soaring energy demand projections from economic growth, urbanization, electrification, and lately, the scramble from tech giants to secure power for their energy-intensive data centers, and for semiconductor and chip fabrication.

Still, while the momentum is stunning for the industry that has long lagged, industry experts caution these are still early signals of progress. “Overall, we still have more than half of our generation coming from fossil fuels. To solve that problem, based on our modeling, we’re going to need at least 150 GWe of nuclear in addition to all the other energy sources—and by 2050, if that’s our net-zero goal,” said Adam Stein, director of Nuclear Energy Innovation at thinktank the Breakthrough Institute. “The question is, is it people trying to get things moving forward incrementally, or is it actually the start of the ramp up? Is it going to be a renaissance, or is it going to be just a lot of money thrown at a couple of little projects? That’s what we still have to see.”

Economic Realities, Financing, and Emerging Business Models

As Stein explained to POWER, a critical vision of the nuclear industry must be focused on achieving large-scale, sustained growth that will have a real impact on decarbonization and energy security goals. To do that, the industry must forge a pathway that can achieve “scale”—a massive gigawatt-level buildout and orders of magnitude beyond that. And to do that, it must overcome a lengthy list of formidable, persistent technical, regulatory, and institutional challenges.

2. Levelized cost of energy (LCOE) values are shown here calculated using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) model, which includes such things as Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Loan Programs Office (LPO) benefits, and production tax credit (PTC) and investment tax credit (ITC) incentives. Even assuming Vogtle 3 and 4 costs inflated to 2024, “the next AP1000s could be under $100/MWh with IRA benefits and closer to ~$60/MWh with cost reductions,” suggests the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). MACRS = modified accelerated cost recovery system. Source: Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Advanced Nuclear (DOE, September 2024)

Perhaps the most longstanding is that nuclear plants are exceptionally capital-intensive. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), estimated overnight capital costs—without financing costs, as if a plant were to be built literally “overnight”—vary significantly, depending on region and reactor type. Vogtle 3 and 4, AP1000 reactors brought online over the past 18 months (and the first new U.S. reactors built in more than three decades), presented an overnight cost of $11,000/MWh. However, the cost of Vogtle Units 3 and 4 was adversely impacted by “construction with an incomplete design, an immature supply chain, and an untrained workforce,” the DOE notes. The AP1000 design is now complete, there is now supply chain infrastructure, and Vogtle trained more than 30,000 workers, which should all help to bring costs down on future builds (Figure 2).

The World Nuclear Association (WNA) also underscores that cost escalation has been historically stark. In France, construction costs increased from €1,170/kWe in the 1970s for Fessenheim to €8,100/kWe in 2022 for the EPR at Flamanville, owing largely to the decline in reactor build rates and heightened safety standards. At the same time, however, series builds demonstrated in successful projects in China, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates have revealed the cost-cutting potential of standardization and steady workflows, it says. “The economics of nuclear power are much improved if a number of standard models can be ordered. The economies of series production then come into effect, and the fixed overhead costs of design and permitting involved in the supply of nuclear grade components and systems can be spread over a large number of units,” it notes.

“Possibly of equal importance is the reduction of construction and permitting risk that is associated with building numerous standardized units—which allows greater predictability and reduced timelines for the development of additional plants.” In addition, capital costs—the total cost to build a plant and bring it to operation—can be significantly reduced by learning-through-replication, scaling up unit capacities, simplifying designs, maintaining consistent licensing, and minimizing construction delays to accelerate revenue generation, it says.

Financing costs—typically comprising interest accruing during construction and for project debt and equity remuneration—of a project’s costs can also pose a steep (up to 80%) impact on total investment cost. In deregulated markets, these costs can be exacerbated by revenue uncertainty, as wholesale prices can fluctuate significantly. But here, too, new models are emerging that use frameworks like special purpose vehicles (SPV) and regulated asset bases (RAB) to share risk and provide more predictable returns. RAB models proposed for the UK’s Sizewell C project, for example, permit revenue collection during the construction phase, offsetting financing costs.

In the U.S., the DOE’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) is implementing an “equity-first” approach that reduces early high-risk exposure by requiring developers to raise private investment before accessing federal loans. The method, as a senior DOE official explained, ensures projects are “financially sound and commercially validated” before committing taxpayer dollars.

A landmark example is the $1.52 billion loan guarantee finalized in September 2024 to support Holtec International’s restart of the 800-MW Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan. The transaction marked the first loan guarantee through the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) program, established by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Section 1706, which allows projects to leverage existing infrastructure. The framework notably also requires developers to achieve significant milestones upfront, reducing the likelihood of cost overruns or construction delays, he said.

Managing Substantial New Risks

Still, according to Stephen Greene, senior fellow at the Nuclear Innovation Alliance (NIA), while the government’s support will be crucial in jumpstarting nuclear development, over the long run—and to sustain the envisioned buildout—the nuclear industry will need to reconfigure its existing development model to mitigate financial risks that make independent development of new nuclear more challenging than other types of energy projects. At the crux of the issue is that the nuclear industry has historically proven to be notoriously slow, expensive, and risk-averse, and it requires considerable nuclear project development skillsets.

Along with large capital requirements, new nuclear projects require longer pre-construction timeframes with greater costs. And, due to the “limited commercial maturity of advanced nuclear technologies and the dearth of recent construction experience, supply chains, and construction capabilities are limited, and it is more difficult to allocate risks efficiently for a nuclear energy project today than it is for projects using more established energy technologies,” Greene explained.

“In our view, risk management is the key issue hindering the development of nuclear energy projects today. A key question is: Which parties have the motivation and the resources to take on that risk for the next few advanced nuclear energy projects?” Greene said. “Integrated electric utilities have discussed nuclear energy as an attractive option, but so far, U.S. utilities have not proposed specific projects despite recent forecasts of more rapid electricity demand growth than we’ve experienced in decades. Some users have expressed interest in purchasing power from nuclear energy projects, but most have indicated they want to be customers of such projects, not developers,” he said.

Meanwhile, “The reality is that for early-stage nuclear projects, project developers are not in a position to absorb the potential cost risk of early-stage nuclear energy,” Greene added. The entities involved—such as constructors, major equipment suppliers, and even some technology developers—don’t yet have the experience with new nuclear energy technologies to make them comfortable taking on those risks, and many don’t have the financial resources to backstop that risk. Green suggested more subsidies, like an investment tax credit, may be necessary to help offset risks and enable more private investment.

3. TerraPower celebrated the start of construction on the Natrium reactor demonstration project during a groundbreaking ceremony in Wyoming on June 10, 2024. The beginning of construction activities marked the first advanced nuclear reactor project under construction in the Western Hemisphere. Courtesy: TerraPower

To address the challenge, some advanced technology developers—traditionally tasked with maturing their technologies—have stepped up to spearhead project development. TerraPower, for example, is developing its first Natrium power plant, Kemmerer 1, in Wyoming (Figure 3), a fast reactor and energy storage hybrid project that is furnished with up to $2 billion in authorized funding under the DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) and set to begin commercial operation in the early 2030s. The company, which has so far secured offtake from PacifiCorp and contracted Bechtel as its engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor, has adopted a strategy of “equity-only funding for first-of-a-kind (FOAK) projects” to avoid debt burdens and manage financial exposure, said Jeff Miller, TerraPower’s director of Business Development.

Oklo, meanwhile, is spearheading a “full value chain” approach, which involves managing the design, build, and operation of smaller reactors through power purchase agreements (PPAs)—essentially allowing Oklo to maintain greater control over costs and risk management. “Instead of starting with large, capital-intensive projects, we opted to begin with smaller reactors” based on Oklo’s liquid metal sodium fast reactor design, said Craig Bealmear, Oklo’s Chief Financial Officer. “We have found a sweet spot at the 15-MW to 50-MW reactor size, with the potential for 100 MW as we scale. This approach makes sense as our reactors are more accessible to a wide range of customers and markets, and drastically reduce upfront capital requirements, which helps accelerate deployment,” he said.

The Prospect of Leveraging Existing Coal or Nuclear Sites

As one specific potentially impactful approach to slash risks, governments around the world are facilitating the utilization of existing energy infrastructure. Site repurposing projects typically exhibit community acceptance and have regulatory background. The ability to utilize such things as existing transmission connections can help minimize costs and reduce timelines associated with new builds. Challenges exist, of course, which include environmental and physical constraints—for example, population density, seismic risks, water availability, and local policies could pose problems.

In an August 2024 report, the DOE suggested the nation’s 54 existing nuclear plant sites (which already host 94 commercial reactors) and 11 retired nuclear sites could backfit 60 GWe or 54 large-scale nuclear plants (sized like AP1000s, at 1,117-MWe), and 95 GWe from 158 smaller reactors, sized at 600 MWe. A larger array of 145 coal power sites, meanwhile, could host another 128 GWe to 174 GWe. The report identified at least 27 coal sites retired before 2020 in 16 states that could be used as new sites for new nuclear plants.

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has separately suggested at least 18 sites are promising for near-term AP1000 deployment, and at least nine sites qualify if state policy is considered. These include the restarts already announced at Palisades and Three Mile Island Unit 1, as well as at Duane Arnold (where a feasibility study is underway) and V.C. Summer (where an AP1000 project was abandoned).

For now, however, the focus on new builds appears firmly entrenched on small modular reactor (SMR) prospects, Stein has suggested. “First, unless there are already AP1000 reactors on the site, as is the case at the Vogtle site in Georgia, no one is going to build a single large reactor. Single-unit sites simply cost more than multi-unit sites and won’t reach the low-cost estimates that have created the recent wave of enthusiasm for large LWRs [light-water reactors],” he said.

SMRs are also more feasible in liberalized markets, given they demand lower initial capital and shorter deployment timelines, aligning with market demand and corporate needs for urgent, firm power solutions. “SMRs offer the potential for lowering the absolute dollar risk bands for construction,” the DOE underscores. “As an example, a $4 billion SMR with a 50% cost overrun would result in a completed FOAK cost of $6 billion; a $10 billion reactor with the same 50% cost overrun will result in a completed FOAK cost of $15 billion.”

New Market Entrants, Industrial Demand, and Expanding Applications

As several nuclear entities have told POWER, the most forceful impetus currently driving nuclear forward is market signal. Developers are fielding substantial interest from tech giants looking to urgently feed data centers (see sidebar “Data Centers—Nuclear Energy’s New Frontier?”), but also from customers who want to secure reliable, clean, and affordable power for other industrial and commercial uses.

Data Centers—Nuclear Energy’s New Frontier? 

Major deals recently unveiled by tech giants with nuclear developers over the past few months underscore considerable market signal from the energy-hungry digital sector. In September 2024, Microsoft and Constellation Energy committed $1.6 billion to restart the Unit 1 reactor of the shuttered Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania by 2028, now known as the Crane Clean Energy Center (Figure 4). Then, in October, Google signed a Master Plant Development Agreement to facilitate the development of a 500-MW fleet of Kairos Power molten salt nuclear reactors by 2035 to power Google’s data centers. That same week, Amazon said it would back the deployment of 5 GW of new X-energy small modular reactors projects, starting with an initial four-unit 320-MWe Xe-100 plant with regional utility Energy Northwest in central Washington. It also signed an agreement with Dominion Energy to explore a 300-MW SMR near Virginia’s North Anna Power Station. 

4. Constellation in September signed a landmark 20-year agreement with Microsoft to restart Three Mile Island Unit 1 in Pennsylvania as the Crane Clean Energy Center, named after former Exelon CEO Chris Crane. The project will add 835 MW of carbon-free power to the grid, with operations expected by 2028. Courtesy: Constellation

These deals could just be the beginning. McKinsey reports that data center power demand in the U.S. could rise by 400 TWh by 2030, with a 23% compound annual growth rate. The consulting group also boldly predicts that while data centers may soon represent 30%–40% of all new demand, “hyperscalers” may be best poised to take on nuclear’s higher initial risks, given the long-term payoff in stability and low-carbon output.

Still, challenges loom large. Nuclear’s high capital costs and decade-long build timelines make rapid scale-up difficult, McKinsey warns. In addition, nuclear’s cost competitiveness with other energy options is uncertain, and while modular reactors promise efficiency gains, achieving economies of scale remains elusive. Transmission and interconnection delays pose another substantial barrier. Even co-located, islanded systems for data centers may face grid integration complexities. 

In November, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected a request to increase the amount of power that Talen Energy’s Susquehanna nuclear plant can dispatch to an Amazon data center campus. While the order has posed new uncertainties about the regulatory landscape for behind-the-meter configurations, specifically for large co-located data center loads, legal experts generally suggest they expect that FERC will use a recent co-location technical conference to initiate a generic rulemaking proceeding, an action that could provide more clarity on behind-the-meter arrangements.

For now, key nuclear players remain mostly optimistic. Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez, during an earnings call in November, underscored that the 2–1 FERC ruling “is not the final word” on co-location. “Co-location in competitive markets remains one of the best ways for the U.S. to quickly build the large data centers that are necessary to lead on AI [artificial intelligence]. As Chairman Phillips explained, our nation’s entire economy and national security is at stake if we do not lead in AI.” 

Dominguez said Constellation, the nation’s largest nuclear generator, remained bullish on data center prospects. “We are seeing a wave of interest from customers who are interested in these opportunities and in our relicensing, and we are making significant progress on contracting. The intensity of our negotiations with hyperscalers and others keeps going up and up,” he said. 

But he also noted data center demand was just one part of the value proposition to restart the Crane Clean Energy Center (formerly Three Mile Island)—which he hailed as a “powerful symbol of the rebirth of nuclear energy,” he said. “Second, it confirms our thesis that the most valuable energy commodity in the world today is clean and reliable electricity. And third, it underscores the growing demand for 24/7 clean energy, driven by the data economy, onshoring, and electrification. All of these macro points benefit our owners.” Given optimism for the market, Constellation is also exploring at least 1 GW of additional nuclear generation through uprates, Dominguez said.

5. Oklo Inc. announced on Nov. 7, 2024, that the DOE and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have completed the environmental compliance process addressing the DOE requirements for site characterization at Oklo’s first commercial advanced fission power plant site at INL. This image shows Oklo’s preferred site, with INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex, and Transient Reactor Test Facility, visible in the background. Courtesy: Oklo

Oklo’s Bealmar, for example, noted his company’s partnerships (Figure 5) had expanded rapidly from 700 MW since May 2024, when it completed a business combination with AltC Acquisition Corp., to include 1.4-GW in deals across multiple sectors—including with data center providers Equinix and Wyoming Hyperscale, and Texas-based oil and gas company Diamondback Energy. “I think the biggest question we all get is, ‘Can you move faster?’ And I think we’re all starting to get questions of ‘What can we do to help you move faster,’ which I think is a great place for the industry to be,” he said.

So far, 65 operational reactors around the world already supply heat for non-electric applications, including district heating, desalination, and industrial heat applications. Interest is now cropping up, in Finland, for example, to explore nuclear power to replace aging heat plants. Finnish nuclear startup Steady Energy’s LDR-50, a 50-MW pressurized water reactor, has garnered substantial interest for its design, which produces heat of up to 150C for district heating, industrial steam production, and desalination projects.

Cogeneration also poses a growth opportunity. Industry is already exploring value in high-temperature applications, particularly for processes requiring heat above 500C, such as hydrogen production, and the oil and gas sector. In China, nuclear-driven cogeneration projects that combine electricity and process heat for industrial complexes have reportedly yielded “significant cost savings in fuel and emissions reduction,” the IAEA notes. Haiyang nuclear plant, which began providing district heat in 2020 to replace coal-fired boilers, is now also planning a large-scale desalination plant coupled to its AP1000 reactors.

Stein told POWER that the nuclear industry’s potential to supply industrial process heat may be its biggest overlooked value proposition. “If we just talk about low-grade heat for industrial processes in the U.S., that’s the thermal output of 70 AP1000s—“a massive market that is almost entirely served by fossil fuels right now,” he underscored. The thermal energy application has broader implications for decarbonization goals beyond just electricity generation, he noted, and it should more prominently be part of nuclear’s “bigger picture,” he said.

The Risk of Regulatory Bottlenecks

Finally, and with emphasis, sources told POWER, the most insidious risk facing nuclear are outdated and stringent regulatory practices that delay its potential. Despite Congressional pressure to modernize, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has just begun to grapple with its new mission that requires licensing and regulation in a manner that does not “unnecessarily limit” the use of nuclear energy “or the benefits it could provide for society.” Although the NRC “seems to have finally got the message from Congress” with the ADVANCE Act, “the challenge is actual implementation,” Stein noted (see sidebar “A Compelling Case for the Rapid, High-Volume Deployment of Microreactors”).

A Compelling Case for the Rapid, High-Volume Deployment of Microreactors

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), a North American trade group that works to shape nuclear policy, is fiercely pushing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to drastically streamline its regulatory process so that it will be supportive of an emerging brand of microreactors that could be potentially deployed in less than six months. 

“Rapid high-volume deployable reactors are unlike current operating nuclear plants or other advanced small modular reactors,” wrote Marcus Nichol, executive director, NEI New Nuclear, in a recent concept paper. More akin to non-power or research reactors than commercial reactors, these 2-MWth to 50-MWth technologies are “very small in size and source term,” he explained. They enable innovative business models by allowing for extensive factory construction, appealing to customers who only want to use energy (not sell it). In addition, they reduce costs enough so that vendors can build reactors pre-emptively without specific customer orders, require minimal onsite construction, and, in some cases, can be transported fully assembled. The reactors are envisioned for remote deployment for a range of power and heat applications, including oil and gas production and development, mining and extraction, and chemical processing. 

At least one company—Shepherd Power—is actively exploring the concept and has called for “sufficient clarity by the end of 2024 on a licensing pathway supporting scale microreactor deployment.” In a letter to the NRC, the subsidiary owned by oil and gas technology firm NOV said the imperative is driven by market demand. “In the Permian Basin alone, electrical demand is expected to jump from 4 GWe in 2022 to over 17 GWe in 2032, driven by electrification of oil and gas operations to reduce emissions. We led an in-depth evaluation, with participation from several major oil and gas companies, that identified a substantial number of potential upstream power and heat applications that can be served by microreactors, including water treatment, hydrogen production, and enhanced carbon capture and storage. These applications were selected because microreactors present the best technical option for achieving their decarbonization, and aggregated together, imply a very large and immediate domestic market,” it said. 

NEI’s 180-day rapid-deployment concept essentially envisions five stages after site selection: mobilization and site characterization (1 month); site preparation (1 month); site assembly (2 months); delivery and emplacement (1 month); and commissioning and startup (1 month). The concept of deployment, however, is “dependent upon several milestones in the NRC process for the site license,” Nichols noted. “Currently, the NRC licensing process is complex, including many steps and features that would not be necessary for a rapid high-volume deployable reactor.” 

NEI proposes a more pragmatic and efficient regulatory approach that would align with the ADVANCE Act’s Section 208, which explicitly calls for the NRC to establish a regulatory framework for microreactors. For one, it advocates for a specialized framework tailored to microreactors. NEI stresses that because these smaller reactors operate with fundamentally different source terms and simpler operational models than large-scale plants, they would need minimized safety concerns and oversight. In addition, NEI urges the NRC to drastically streamline the licensing process to aim for essentially a four-month review process: a month each for application preparation and engagement, an acceptance review, two months for the NRC’s verification review, and one for its final approval. 

The NEI report stresses the need for NRC regulatory costs to remain below 1% of total project costs to keep microreactor deployment economically viable, supporting rapid, high-volume deployment models without compromising safety. By minimizing overhead, this approach ensures nuclear technologies can compete in cost-sensitive, remote, and industrial applications, it says. 

In October, the NRC published a proposed rule for a Part 53 licensing pathway, an alternative to two existing licensing options (focused heavily on LWR-specific requirements), which seeks to establish risk-informed, performance-based techniques. Part 53, designed to accommodate multiple technologies, must be finalized by 2027.

“It does have a lot of things that potentially could help expedite the licensing process for advanced reactors and really just make the process more efficient without sacrificing the NRC’s independent review of safety,” said Patrick White, NIA research director. However, he said the bigger question remains: “When will this or how can this rule potentially bring benefits to applicants and have it be kind of a more predictable, efficient, and effective process?” Congress actually recognized “hesitancy to use the new rule,” so as part of the ADVANCE Act, it included a set of licensing prizes that will provide a 100% fee refund for any applicant that makes it through certain NRC licensing pathways, he noted. “The federal government is willing to essentially pay those costs for you to be that first mover,” he said.

Stein suggested many more opportunities exist for efficiency at the regulatory body, particularly for its “risk-averse regulatory paradigm,” which he said is stricter than what Congress has said is “ample margin of safety.” Its overly conservative approach “slows the process down without providing meaningful additional safety to the public,” he said.

As just one critical measure, the NRC must move away from treating each application as “entirely new” and instead “reference more easily from past decisions,” Stein said. Meanwhile, further complicating matters is that the agency is losing experienced senior staff to industry, including “change makers” in its middle ranks. That “hollowing out of the middle” is further hampering the NRC’s ability to streamline its processes as the institutional knowledge is being drained, he said.

Ultimately, for all its recent successes, alignment across the nuclear sector is emerging as the industry’s next crucial imperative. As White observed, nuclear deployment relies heavily on “lining up all the different stakeholders”—from developers, operators, and end users to state and federal officials and, crucially, a strong regulatory body, he said. For years, the industry struggled with one or more of these pieces missing, he said. “We still have work to do, but I think we’ve really got that process started.”

—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior editor (@sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine

Nov 19, 2024

by Sonal Patel

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TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Wednesday, (11/20/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

The U.S. confirms Ukraine fired U.S.-made long-range ATACMS into Russia – WUSF

WUSF

All Things Considered · 1A · Here & Now · Fresh Air · On Point · Schedule … Both the news of possible Ukrainian strikes and Russia’s updated nuclear …

Putin’s new nuclear doctrine: It’s my arsenal and I’ll strike if I want to – Breaking Defense

Breaking Defense

In all, the new doctrine says that Russia will use nuclear weapons whenever the president decides to do so. It also contains a laundry list of things …

The U.S. confirms Ukraine fired long-range ATACMS into Russia for the 1st time

WCMU Public Radio

All Things Considered · Destination Out · Fresh … nuclear strike. … Both the news of possible Ukrainian strikes and Russia’s updated nuclear doctrine …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Renewed U.S. Interest in Nuclear Energy: An Update – AAF

The American Action Forum

In the reaction process, the core of an atom is split apart to release a large amount of energy in the form of heat and radiation. Nuclear energy’s …

Nuclear Engineering and Technology | Vol 56, Issue 12, Pages 4947-5452 (December 2024) – ScienceDirect.com

Full Coverage

Russia revises nuclear strike threshold against NATO members, Ukraine – POLITICO.eu

POLITICO.eu

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a revised national nuclear doctrine that expands the conditions under which Moscow may use its …

Can Nuclear’s Big Recent Wins Propel a True Global Revival? – POWER Magazine

POWER Magazine

In-depth: While the past year has marked stunning triumphs for nuclear energy, experts caution that high costs, regulatory bottlenecks, …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Global panic as Putin raises spectre of nuclear war — How other countries are reacting

CNBC TV18

… nuclear power as a direct threat, potentially justifying a nuclear response. … This booklet aims to prepare citizens for various emergencies, …

Palo Verde nuclear plant testing 70 sirens in West Valley – KTAR News

KTAR News

It’s only a test of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station emergency warning system. The system’s 70 sirens will blare twice for about three …

Nuclear War

NEWS

Newspaper headlines: ‘Putin’s nuke threat’ and ‘Farmageddon!’ – BBC

BBC

The Times says Vladimir Putin “raises nuclear stakes” after he “lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike on the West”.

LIVE: US State Department Says Washington Not Changing its Nuclear Stance After Russian Shift – YouTube

Full Coverage

Putin takes his nuclear threats to a new level but Ukraine’s allies say they aren’t rattled

NBC News

If the Kremlin was hoping to instill fear among its Western foes by lowering the bar for using nuclear weapons, then it may have been disappointed …

Will Putin Use Nuclear Weapons? What Russia’s Doctrine Change Means – Bloomberg

Bloomberg

A distinctive feature of Russia’s military tactics has been that it doesn’t rule out using nuclear weapons in a conventional war.

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Newspaper headlines: ‘Putin’s nuke threat‘ and ‘Farmageddon!’ – BBC

BBC

Wednesday’s headlines are led by growing fears over Russia’s nuclear threat and the farmers’ protests.

Putin takes his nuclear threats to a new level but Ukraine’s allies say they aren’t rattled

NBC News

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s broadened nuclear doctrine appeared to be a thinly veiled threat to the United States and its allies over their …

Putin issues warning to United States with new nuclear doctrine | Reuters

Reuters

… nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatened the existence of the state. The U.S. National Security Council said it had not …

NUCLEAR INSANITY AND THE LAST DAYS OF HUMAN DEPRAVITY ~ LLAW

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Nov 19, 2024

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Putin has lowered the standards for possible nuclear war with new doctrine. See article for text and image credits

LLAW’s NUCLEAR NEWS & THE IMPACT OF TODAY’S STORY

“The doctrine said any attack by a non-nuclear power supported by a nuclear power would be considered a joint attack, and that any attack by one member of a military bloc would be considered an attack by the entire alliance, it said.” (from the following Reuters’ article).

According to both Russia and the United States this has already happened when Ukraine recently fired long-range U.S. missiles with conventional warhead ATACMS into Russia for the 1st time at targets within Russia.

So all we can do at the moment is speculate on what may or may not happen next. But I do believe it is mandatory that the violation resolution (if it is resolved) must happen before Trump takes office on January 20, 2025. But I suspect it will be delayed . . . ~llaw

Putin issues warning to United States with new nuclear doctrine

By Guy Faulconbridge and Anton Kolodyazhnyy

November 19, 20247:03 AM PSTUpdated 6 hours ago

• Summary

• Putin approves new nuclear doctrine
• Kremlin says this is a signal to the West
• Russia lowers nuclear threshold
• Russia says US ATACMS fired into Russia
• Safe haven assets rally after Russian move

MOSCOW, Nov 19 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks, and Moscow said Ukraine had struck deep inside Russia with U.S.-made ATACMS missiles.

Putin approved the change days after two U.S. officials and a source familiar with the decision said on Sunday that U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons to strike deep into Russia.

Russia had been warning the West for months that if Washington allowed Ukraine to fire U.S., British and French missiles deep into Russia, Moscow would consider those NATO members to be directly involved in the war in Ukraine.

The updated Russian nuclear doctrine, establishing a framework for conditions under which Putin could order a strike from the world’s biggest nuclear arsenal, was approved by him on Tuesday, according to a published decree.

Analysts said the biggest change was that Russia could consider a nuclear strike in response to a conventional attack on Russia or its ally Belarus that “created a critical threat to their sovereignty and (or) their territorial integrity”.

“The big picture is that Russia is lowering the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a possible conventional attack,” said Alexander Graef, a senior researcher at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg.

The previous doctrine, contained in a 2020 decree, said Russia may use nuclear weapons in case of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatened the existence of the state.

The U.S. National Security Council said it had not seen any reason to adjust the U.S. nuclear posture. Together, Russia and the U.S. control 88% of the world’s nuclear warheads.

Putin is the primary decision-maker on the use of Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

LOWER THRESHOLD

The doctrine said any attack by a non-nuclear power supported by a nuclear power would be considered a joint attack, and that any attack by one member of a military bloc would be considered an attack by the entire alliance, it said.

Russia’s defence ministry said Ukraine had struck Russia’s Bryansk region with six missiles, opens new tab, and that air defence systems intercepted five and damaged one.

“We will be taking this as a qualitatively new phase of the Western war against Russia and we will react accordingly,” Putin’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said in English, adding that U.S. personnel and data must have been used in the ATACMS attack on Russia.

Lavrov said Russia would do everything to avoid nuclear war, and pointed out that it was the U.S. which used nuclear weapons against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

On the 1,000th day of the Ukraine war, Russia also included a broader definition of the data that could be used to indicate Russia was under mass attack from aircraft, cruise missiles and unpiloted aircraft.

The war is entering what some Russian and Western officials say could be its final and most dangerous phase as Moscow’s forces advance at their fastest pace since the early weeks of the conflict and the West ponders how the war will end.

Government bonds and the Japanese yen rallied, while stocks and the euro fell, as investors bought safe-haven assets after the publication of Russia’s doctrine. The Russian rouble fell past 100 per U.S. dollar for the first time since October 2023.

WAR

Russian diplomats say the crisis is comparable to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis when the two Cold War superpowers came closest to intentional nuclear war, and that the West is making a mistake if it thinks Russia will back down over Ukraine.

The Kremlin said Russia considered nuclear weapons a means of deterrence and that the updated text was intended to make clear to potential enemies the inevitability of retaliation should they attack Russia.

“Now the danger of a direct armed clash between nuclear powers cannot be underestimated, what is happening has no analogues in the past, we are moving through unexplored military and political territory,” said Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister overseeing arms control and U.S. relations.

The main changes to the nuclear doctrine were flagged by Putin in September.

Asked whether publication of the decree was linked to Washington’s decision on allowing Ukraine to fire U.S. missiles deep into Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the doctrine had been published in a “timely manner”.

“Nuclear deterrence is aimed at ensuring that a potential adversary understands the inevitability of retaliation in the event of aggression against the Russian Federation and/or its allies,” Peskov said.

The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.

Reporting by Reuters in Moscow; Writing by Anastasia Teterevleva and Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Mark Trevelyan, Jon Boyle, Timothy Heritage, William Maclean

Guy Faulconbridge

Thomson Reuters

As Moscow bureau chief, Guy runs coverage of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Before Moscow, Guy ran Brexit coverage as London bureau chief (2012-2022). On the night of Brexit, his team delivered one of Reuters historic wins – reporting news of Brexit first to the world and the financial markets. Guy graduated from the London School of Economics and started his career as an intern at Bloomberg. He has spent over 14 years covering the former Soviet Union. He speaks fluent Russian.

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

(Please note that the Saturday and Sunday NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS — unedited —are added to Monday news posts in order to maintain continuity of nuclear news as well as for research for the overall information provided in “LLAW;s All Things Nuclear”.)

There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

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

Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Tuesday, (11/19/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

The U.S. confirms Ukraine fired U.S.-made long-range ATACMS into Russia – KGOU

KGOU

All Things Considered. Next Up: 7:00 PM National Native News. 0:00. 0:00 … Both the news of possible Ukrainian strikes and Russia’s updated nuclear …

Putin Issues Warning to U.S. With New Nuclear Doctrine – Time

Time

He declared that a conventional attack by any nation supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on Russia.

Putin fine-tunes Russia’s nuclear doctrine after Biden’s arms decision on Ukraine, in clear …

CNN

President Vladimir Putin has updated Russia’s nuclear doctrine, two days after his US counterpart Joe Biden granted Ukraine permission to strike …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

How Trump’s second presidency could fuel nuclear energy and uranium demand

MarketWatch

Despite his support of fossil fuels, President-elect Trump may end up being supportive of nuclear power — not so much because it’s a clean energy …

Gov. Abbott unveils nuclear energy initiative aimed at strengthening Texas grid – YouTube

YouTube

On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott released a comprehensive plan to make Texas the nation’s leader in “advanced nuclear power.”

Nuclear Study Report Says Texas Ready Dominate In Nuclear Energy, Too – Forbes

Forbes

“Texas is the energy capital of the world, and we are ready to be No. 1 in advanced nuclear power,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a news …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Risk of nuclear war high, European countries ask people to stock up food, water

IndiaToday

… emergency, including a nuclear attack. Finland, too, updated its … Russia is a nuclear power, having one of the largest nuclear warheads …

Officials Address Rumors: No Emergency at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station – Vicksburg Daily News

Vicksburg Daily News

Following recent rumors regarding evacuation and ongoing issues at the plant, Claiborne County Emergency Management would like to reassure the public …

Fears mount about non-compliance at Koeberg Nuclear Station as regulator conducts … – IOL

IOL

… emergency planning and whether Eskom can effectively respond to nuclear accidents and radiological emergencies … nuclear power station is non …

Nuclear War

NEWS

Putin issues warning to United States with new nuclear doctrine | Reuters

Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks, …

Russia Warns of Nuclear Response to Ukraine’s Western Missiles – YouTube – YouTube

Full Coverage

Putin issues new nuclear doctrine in warning to the West over Ukraine

NBC News

Russian President Vladimir Putin formally lowered the threshold for his country’s use of nuclear weapons Tuesday, after the United States allowed …

Russia claims it shot down US-made missiles within country amid new nuclear threat

ABC News – The Walt Disney Company

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Russia’s new nuclear weapons doctrine means Ukraine’s use of Western rockets “can prompt a …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Putin fine-tunes Russia’s nuclear doctrine after Biden’s arms decision on Ukraine, in clear … – CNN

CNN

But changes outlined in September this year appeared to lower that threshold, saying Moscow could use nuclear weapons when facing “a critical threat …

Putin issues nuclear warning as Ukraine uses long-range missiles – USA Today

USA Today

Before, the doctrine dictated Russia would use nuclear weapons only in response to a nuclear attack or a non-nuclear attack that threatened the …

Russia revises nuclear strike threshold against NATO members, Ukraine – POLITICO.eu

POLITICO.eu

Czech secret service blames Russia for school bomb threats. “We are witnessing a 

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

So, when will the next eruption at Yellowstone National Park happen? History offers clues

Alaska Beacon

Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. It appeared in the …

A Brief History Of Yellowstone Volcano Observatory Webcams] – 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.

New research explores volcanic caves, advancing the search for life on Mars | ScienceDaily

ScienceDaily

Shield volcano · Mars Exploration Rover · Phoenix (spacecraft) · Yellowstone Caldera · Basalt rock · Igneous rock. Story Source: Materials provided by …

NUCLEAR INSANITY AND THE LAST DAYS OF HUMAN DEPRAVITY

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Nov 18, 2024

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The controversial Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant owned by PG&E

LLAW’s NUCLEAR NEWS & THE IMPACT OF TODAY’S STORY

This article from the “Los Angeles Times” contends that public support for nuclear power plants is growing, and that is true. But it does not mean that more nuclear power plants should be re-erected from past failures or old age nor that new plants, large and/or small should be built.

Not only are nuclear power plants extremely dangerous to public health and safety, they are accident prone, facing everything from human error to natural causes such as weather and earthquakes. They are also subject to terrorist attacks, and the more there are their danger increases exponentially nuclear power plants the more dangerous they become, and are most of all, last but not least, potential weapons of mass destruction in the event of nuclear war. This insane problem has already begun to happen in the Russia/Ukraine war.( in both countries (As for this nuclear plant involvement potential, read the recent and incredibly well=researched book “Nuclear War – A Scenario” by well-known researcher Annie Jacobsen, with a nuclear power plant involved in nuclear war involving the quite predictable and horrifying destruction of the very nuclear power plant that is the subject of this very scenario in the L.A. Times article).

The general public, including our senators and legislators, I am sad to say, is generally unaware of such treacherous potential and how nuclear proliferation could be the groundwork for WWIII, creating a world facing not only dangerous death and destruction, but potential permanently fatal issues around the globe that is nothing short of the extinction of human and other life.

Humanity is playing with a global “fire” that we have no idea how to extinguish. ~llaw

Has nuclear power entered a new era of acceptance amid global warming?

The Diablo Canyon Power Plant rises along the California coast near San Luis Obispo.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

By Noah HaggertyStaff Writer 

Nov. 18, 2024 3 AM PT

When Heather Hoff took a job at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, she was skeptical of nuclear energy — so much so that she resolved to report anything questionable to the anti-nuclear group Mothers for Peace.

Instead, after working at the plant for over a decade and asking every question she could think of about operations and safety, she co-founded her own group, Mothers for Nuclear, in 2016 to keep the plant alive.

“I was pretty nervous,” said Hoff, 45. “It felt very lonely — no one else was doing that. We looked around for allies — other pro-nuclear groups. … There just weren’t very many.”

Today, however, public support for nuclear power is the highest its been in more than a decade as government and private industry struggle to reduce reliance on planet-warming fossil fuels.

Aggressive and impactful reporting on climate change, the environment, health and science.

Explore the section

Although a string of nuclear disasters decades ago had caused the majority of older Americans to distrust the technology, this hasn’t been the case for younger generations.

Old-school environmentalists “grew up in the generation of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. … The Gen Zers today did not,” said David Weisman, 63, who has been involved in the movement to get Diablo Canyon shut down since the ’90s and works as the legislative director of the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility.

“They don’t remember how paralyzed with fright the nation was the week after Three Mile Island. … They don’t recall the shock of Chernobyl less than seven years later.”

(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)

Many of these younger nuclear advocates — outwardly vocal on social media sites such as X and Instagram — hope the renewed interest will fuel a second renaissance in nuclear power, one that helps California, the U.S. and the globe meet ambitious climate goals.

“I think we are the generation that’s ready to make this change, and accept facts over feelings, and ready to transition to a cleaner, more reliable and safer energy source,” said Veronica Annala, 23, a college student at Texas A&M and president of the school’s new Nuclear Advocacy Resource Organization.

In the past few months alone, Microsoft announced plans to fund the reopening of Three Mile Island’s shuttered unit to power a data center. Amazon and Google have also invested in new, cutting-edge nuclear technology to meet clean energy goals.

While some advocates wish nuclear revitalization wasn’t being driven by energy-hungry AI technology, the excitement around nuclear power is more palpable than it has been in a generation, they say.

“There’s so many things happening at the same time. … This is the actual nuclear renaissance,” said Gabriel Ivory, 22, a student at Texas A&M and vice president of NARO. “When you look at Three Mile Island restarting — that was something nobody would have ever even thought of.”

Support for nuclear energy in the U.S. has been rising since 2016

Support for nuclear began rising in the U.S. after the Western U.S. energy crisis led to widescale blackouts. It dived after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, and began rising again in 2016.

Support

Public support for nuclear power is the highest its been in more than a decade. Here, the domed reactors of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant rise along the California coast.

(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)

Oppose

Fukushima nuclear accident

Russia invades Ukraine, triggering energy crisis

Western U.S. energy crisis leads to widescale blackouts

Gallup

Noah Haggerty

Los Angeles Times

This enthusiasm has also been accompanied by a surprising political shift.

During the Cold War nuclear energy frenzy of the 1970s and ’80s, nuclear supporters — often Republicans — touted the jobs the plants would create, and argued that the United States needed to remain a commanding leader of nuclear technology and weaponry on the global stage.

Meanwhile, environmental groups, often aligned with the Democratic Party, opposed nuclear power based on the potential negative impact on surrounding ecosystems, the thorny problem of storing spent fuel and the small but real risk of a nuclear meltdown.

“In America … it has been highly politicized,” said Jenifer Avellaneda Diaz, 29, who works in the industry and runs the advocacy account Nuclear Hazelnut. “That is a little bit shameful, because we have great experts here — a lot of doctors, a lot of scientists, a lot of engineers, mathematicians, physicists.”

Today, younger Republicans are 11% less likely to support new nuclear plants in the U.S. than their older counterparts. Meanwhile the opposite is true for the left: Younger Democrats are 9% more likely to support new nuclear than older Democrats, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center.

As a result, while Republicans older than 65 are 27% more likely to support nuclear energy than their Democratic peers, Republicans age 18 to 29 are only 7% more likely to support it than their Democratic counterparts.

“Young Democrats and young Republicans may be looking at numbers — but two separate sets of numbers,” said Weisman. “The young Republicans may be looking at the cost per megawatt hour, and the young Democrats are looking at a different number: parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere.”

Climate & Environment

‘Drill, baby, drill!’ and climate change denial: California braces for a Trump environment

Nov. 10, 2024

Brendan Pittman, 33 — who founded the Berkeley Amend movement, aiming to get his city to drop its “nuclear-free zone” status — said he’s noticed that younger people have become more open to learning about nuclear energy.

“Now — as we’re getting into energy crises and we’re talking more about, ‘How do we solve this?’ — younger people are taking a more rational and nuanced review of all energy. And they’re coming to the same conclusion: Yeah, nuclear checks all the boxes,” Pittman said.

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“I remember getting signatures on the streets of Berkeley, and I would say most young people — when I said we’re looking to support nuclear energy — they would just stop me and say, ‘Where do I sign?’” he said. “I didn’t even have to sell it.”

Younger Democrats are more likely than others in their party to support more nuclear plants

Share of Americans who favor more nuclear plants

Younger Democrats are more likely to support more nuclear plants, while younger Republicans are less likely to support them.

Noah Haggerty

Los Angeles Times

This newfound enthusiasm has also affected the nuclear industry, where two dominant age groups have emerged: baby boomers who mostly took nuclear jobs for consistent work, and millennials and Gen Zers who made a motivated choice to enter a stigmatized field, advocates in the industry say.

“You get all sorts of different backgrounds, and that really just blooms into all sorts of fresh new ideas, and I think that’s part of what’s making the industry exciting right now,” said Matt Wargon, 33, past chair of the Young Members Group of the American Nuclear Society.

Like the workers themselves, the industry has formed two bubbles: the traditional plants that have been operating for decades and a slew of new technologies — from small reactors that could power or heat single factories to a potentially safer class of large-scale reactors that use molten salt in their cores instead of pressurized water.

At existing plants, younger folks have injected innovation into longstanding operation norms, improving safety and efficiency. At the startups, those who’ve worked in the industry for decades provide “invaluable” knowledge that simply isn’t in textbooks, industry workers say.

(Mike Stewart / Associated Press)

The infusion of new talent and ideas is a significant change from when Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island disaster in 1979 and the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986 devastated the industry. Regulations became stricter, and development on new reactors and new technology slowed to a halt.

False narratives around the technology ricocheted through society. Both Hoff and Avellaneda Diaz recall their parents worrying about radiation affecting their ability to have children. (The average worker at Diablo receives significantly less radiation in a week than a passenger does on a single East Coast to West Coast airplane flight.)

“Radiation is invisible — you can’t see it. You can’t smell it. You can’t hear it,” said Wargon. “And people tend to fear the unknown. … So if you tell them, ‘Oh this power plant has a lot of radiation coming out of it,’ it’s hard to dispel [the misinformation and fear].”

Climate & Environment

Gas prices could rise after vote by California regulators

Nov. 8, 2024

Only as the memories faded and new generations entered the workforce did the reputation of nuclear power slowly recover.

Advocates also say that college campuses have become a leading space for nuclear advocacy, with Nuclear is Clean Energy (NiCE) clubs popping up at multiple California schools in the past few years.

In August, Ivory held up a big “I [heart] nuclear energy,” sign behind an ESPN college football broadcast. It quickly spread on social media and even caught the attention of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Nuclear advocates say the internet and easy access to accurate information has also helped their cause.

“That was certainly a revolution because right now, it’s super easy to Google it,” Avellaneda Diaz said. “Back then you needed to go to the library, get the book — it was not that easy to get the information or be informed.”

A poll conducted by Ann Bisconti, a scientist and nuclear public opinion expert, found that 74% of people who said they felt very well informed strongly favored the use of nuclear energy in the U.S., whereas only 6% who felt not at all informed supported it.

As such, public outreach and education has become a core tenant of the new nuclear advocacy movement.

“Let’s be real,” Annala said, “our generation has the whole internet at our fingertips … so, just starting the conversations is really the big thing.”

Advocates speculate that the ability to rapidly disseminate information on nuclear energy to combat misconceptions might have helped prevent nuclear energy from becoming politically and culturally toxic after the Fukushima accident, unlike with Chernobyl and Three Mile Island.

While the Texas A&M students were quite young when the disaster unfolded, both Wargon and Pittman were in college in 2011 when an earthquake and tsunami in Japan crippled the power systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, triggering a meltdown. Avellaneda Diaz was in high school.

Climate & Environment

Trump victory puts California clean air initiatives in jeopardy

Nov. 6, 2024

Hoff was working at Diablo Canyon when Fukushima happened. The public scare, in part pushed by the media, almost led her to quit her job.

Instead, after taking the time to analyze the causes of the meltdown and the errors made, she decided to embrace nuclear.

For her, Fukushima was a reminder that nuclear power comes with risk — however small — but that even in a worst-case scenario, operators are skilled at preventing a disaster. (PG&E says a Fukushima flooding episode would be impossible at Diablo Canyon.)

(Ahn Young-joon / Associated Press)

Today, Hoff writes the emergency protocols for Diablo Canyon and hopes the industry will learn again how to engage with the public.

She said that’s what happened with her when she first — somewhat reluctantly — took a job at Diablo.

“I was a little obnoxious for the first few years,” Hoff said of her constant questioning and search for a critical flaw.

Instead of pushing back against her, the plant welcomed it.

---

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

(Please note that the Saturday and Sunday NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS — unedited —are added to Monday news posts in order to maintain continuity of nuclear news as well as for research for the overall information provided in “LLAW;s All Things Nuclear”.)

There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

1. All Things Nuclear
2. Nuclear Power
3. Nuclear Power Emergencies
4. Nuclear War
5. Nuclear War Threats
6. Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are no Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this evening’s Post.)
7. IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)

Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Monday, (11/18/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

What Putin Has Said About Nuclear Weapons As ATACMS Authorized Against Russia

Newsweek

Putin warned in September that Russia was changing its nuclear doctrine. Biden’s authorization has renewed focus on what that might mean.

Putin’s nuclear weapons are redundant with US weapons allowed to strike in Russia

Forces News

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon says the US decision is better late than never but warns more still needs to be done to secure a Ukrainian victory.

Biden removes long-range missile restraint on Ukraine’s armed forces – Texas Public Radio

Texas Public Radio

For the first time, President Biden has given Ukraine the green light to use powerful American long-range weapons, known as the Army Tactical …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Has nuclear power entered a new era of acceptance amid global warming?

Los Angeles Times

When Heather Hoff took a job at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, she was skeptical of nuclear energy — so much so that she resolved to report …

Rolls-Royce sets sights on providing nuclear power to space missions – Financial Times

Financial Times

… nuclear reactor, a technology it hopes will also provide power for space missions. Jake Thompson, director of novel nuclear and special projects …

Nuclear hype ignores high cost, long timelines | IEEFA

IEEFA

Increasingly, nuclear power is being touted as a solution to meet growing electricity demand, but a new briefing note from the Institute for …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Middle East tensions are a crude awakening for Japan’s energy security strategy

East Asia Forum

But the slow reactivation of nuclear power plants that were shut down … emergencies. Since energy supply disruptions affect other importing …

COP29: Event held on “Radiation and Climate Change: New Challenges” – AZERTAC

azertag.az

… Nuclear and Radiological Activity under the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES). … Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Nijat Aliyev, Head of the …lear War

Nuclear War 

NEWS

What Putin Has Said About Nuclear Weapons As ATACMS Authorized Against Russia

Newsweek

Putin warned in September that Russia was changing its nuclear doctrine. Biden’s authorization has renewed focus on what that might mean.

Kremlin says Biden’s Ukraine missile decision would escalate war, if true | Reuters

Reuters

The Kremlin said that any U.S. decision to allow Ukraine to fire American missiles deep into Russia would mean it was directly involved in the …

Nuclear War Imminent? Putin’s Allies Threaten U.S.-Led NATO After Biden’s ATACMS Nod

YouTube

The recent decision by the U.S. and NATO allies, including France and the UK, to permit Ukraine to strike within Russian territory using …r Power

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

In face of alleged US threats, North Korea calls for expanded nuclear forces – POLITICO

Politico

In face of alleged US threats, North Korea calls for expanded nuclear forces … war against Moscow and expand the scope of U.S. military …

What Putin Has Said About Nuclear Weapons As ATACMS Authorized Against Russia

Newsweek

… attack that poses a critical threat to the sovereignty of Russia, carried out by a nonnuclear power with the participation or support of a nuclear …

North Korean leader calls for expanding his nuclear forces in the face of alleged US threats

AP News

North Korean leader calls for expanding his nuclear forces in the face of alleged US threats ..

Weekend Nuclear News

Saturday’s Media Nuclear News (11/16/24)

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Here’s a look inside the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant – CNBC

CNBC

Constellation Energy plans to restart Three Mile Island’s Unit 1 in 2028 through a power purchase agreement with Microsoft. The plant will be …

Three Mile Island nuclear turning point as Big Tech influence grows – CNBC

CNBC

The fortunes of the nuclear industry have shifted dramatically this year as tech companies seek carbon-free power to meet the electricity …

Biden Wants To Triple Nuclear Energy Capacity, but He’ll Have To Cut Red Tape To Do It

Reason Magazine

The Biden administration has an ambitious plan to triple America’s nuclear power capacity by 2050 from 2020 levels.

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Giant lasers might spark our fusion energy future | New England Public Media – NEPM

NEPM

All Things Considered. 88.5 NEPM. All Things Considered. Next Up: 6:30 PM … nuclear fusion through the use of the world’s most energetic laser system.

Undeclared Iranian nuclear site was hit by Israeli strikes last month, significantly delaying …

All Israel News

… nuclear sites to avoid an all-out regional war. Despite agreeing to the … things that were kept top secret and known to a very small group …

Fusion energy: Can we really recreate the sun’s power? – NPR

NPR

All Things Considered · Fresh Air · Up First. Featured. The NPR Politics … Instead, the low-level nuclear waste of fusion can decay away in just …

Nuclear War

NEWS

New Report: How to Avoid a Nuclear War With China – Air & Space Forces Magazine

Air & Space Forces Magazine

Air Force long-range strikes would be important in a war with China but must be carefully managed to avoid nuclear conflict, a report states.

‘Doomsday Plane’ Can Protect US Presidents From Nuclear War: Photos – Business Insider

Business Insider

In the event of nuclear war, the E-4B “Nightwatch” plane would serve as the US military’s command and control center.

DOD Sends Report to Congress on the Nuclear Weapons Employment Strategy of the United States

Department of Defense

The 491 Report, submitted in accordance with 10 U.S.C. Section 491, reflects an unclassified description of Presidential nuclear employment Guidance …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Russian occupiers damage main power line at Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant

The New Voice of Ukraine

Currently, the ZNPP is being powered by a backup line. Repair crews have identified the damage site and are conducting emergency recovery work, …

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on the brink of blackout due to Russian shelling – 112

112

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also urged Russia to leave the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and raised concerns about damage to one …

China will test the most extreme energy in history: It will launch it outside the country

Riazor.org

“The smaller size of SMRs also means smaller areas required for emergency planning. A large nuclear plant will need a radius of 16 kilometres for this …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

US to deter nuclear threats from N. Korea, China, Russia ‘simultaneously’: Pentagon report

The Korea Times

Nuclear threats from the North, China and Russia have come into renewed … war in Ukraine. In a telling sign of their burgeoning cooperation …

Pentagon: China, Russia, North Korea collaborating on strategic weapons threats

Washington Times

American nuclear forces will be required to deter growing nuclear threats posed by a combination of dangers from China, Russia and North Korea at …

U.S. preparing to simultaneously deter nuclear threats from DPRK, China, Russia – Pentagon

Ukrinform

Nuclear threats from North Korea, China, and Russia are back in the … war against Ukraine. Read also: U.S. vows to destroy all Russian …

Sunday’s Media Nuclear News (11/17/24)

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Will Nuclear Stocks Soar in the New Trump Administration? Here’s What Investors Need To Know.

The Motley Fool

A nuclear power plant with power lines overhead. Image source: Getty Images. Trump weighs in on nuclear energy. In his first term, Trump supported …

Big tech eyeing cleaner energy to run power-intensive data centres for AI – YouTube

YouTube

Silicon Valley is putting big money into nuclear energy projects to power their ambitious AI plans. Some of the biggest players there are eyeing …

Nuclear energy: Why Trump administration could be a net positive for India’s SMR push

The Indian Express

The most common type, though, are light water reactors, which are very similar to traditional nuclear power plants being built in Russia, France and …

NPR

LIMA, Peru — President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday agreed that any decision to use nuclear weapons should be controlled by …

President Biden shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima, Peru, …

You know, this was an opportunity for them to take stock of their relationship after four years of President Biden stewarding it along with President …

BBC

The fear of nuclear war forced nations to come together to stop the spread of atomic weapons. Could a similar idea curb the use of fossil fuels?

… nuclear weapons, according to the White House … Zelenskiy says Ukraine must do everything to end war next year. 32 min …

More from this section ; Poland scrambles fighter jets over massive Russian missile attack on Ukraine. 17/11/2024. 3 min. read ; Ahead of G20 summit, …

The Washington Post

… emergency power shutdowns and nationwide rolling blackouts. … Although Ukraine’s nuclear plants were not directly impacted, several electrical …

Quote: “The transmission system operator [Ukrenergo] has urgently introduced emergency power outages. … Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant prepares …

Energy.. Framatome’s accident-tolerant fuel sets operational record in Swiss nuclear reactor · Prabhat. an hour ago. 0. 4. Energy.. Hydrogels …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Commentary | Israel, Iran, and Nuclear War: A History of the Future

israeldefense.co.il

Part two of a two-part article, which explores Israel’s complex strategic calculus in facing an Iranian nuclear threat, and the chilling scenarios …

Ukrainians are doing the United States a good service by dying for them — Jeffrey Sachs

EADaily

… threats, since these countries possess thousands of nuclear warheads. … And do you know how much we talk about the nuclear threat posed by this war?

Taleghan 2 Obliterated: How Israel is Thwarting Iran’s Homegrown Nuclear Threat

SOFREP

Taleghan 2 Obliterated: How Israel is Thwarting Iran’s Homegrown Nuclear Threat … An aerial view captures the aftermath of a devastating Israeliekend News

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Will Nuclear Stocks Soar in the New Trump Administration? Here’s What Investors Need To Know.

The Motley Fool

A nuclear power plant with power lines overhead. Image source: Getty Images. Trump weighs in on nuclear energy. In his first term, Trump supported …

Big tech eyeing cleaner energy to run power-intensive data centres for AI – YouTube

YouTube

Silicon Valley is putting big money into nuclear energy projects to power their ambitious AI plans. Some of the biggest players there are eyeing …

Nuclear energy: Why Trump administration could be a net positive for India’s SMR push

The Indian Express

The most common type, though, are light water reactors, which are very similar to traditional nuclear power plants being built in Russia, France and …

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Biden and Xi take a first step to limit AI and nuclear decisions at their last meeting – NPR

NPR

LIMA, Peru — President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday agreed that any decision to use nuclear weapons should be controlled by …

Biden and Xi take a first step to limit AI and nuclear decisions at their last meeting – KJZZ

KJZZ

President Biden shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima, Peru, …

On-the-Record Press Gaggle by APNSA Jake Sullivan on President Biden’s Meeting with …

The White House

You know, this was an opportunity for them to take stock of their relationship after four years of President Biden stewarding it along with President …

Nuclear War

NEWS

We stopped nuclear weapons spreading. Is it time to the same with fossil fuels? – BBC

BBC

The fear of nuclear war forced nations to come together to stop the spread of atomic weapons. Could a similar idea curb the use of fossil fuels?

Biden, Xi agreed that humans, not AI, should control nuclear weapons, White House says

Reuters

… nuclear weapons, according to the White House … Zelenskiy says Ukraine must do everything to end war next year. 32 min …

Biden, Xi agree that humans, not AI, should control nuclear arms – Euractiv

Euractiv

More from this section ; Poland scrambles fighter jets over massive Russian missile attack on Ukraine. 17/11/2024. 3 min. read ; Ahead of G20 summit, …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Russia launches one of its fiercest missile and drone attacks at Ukraine’s infrastructure

The Washington Post

… emergency power shutdowns and nationwide rolling blackouts. … Although Ukraine’s nuclear plants were not directly impacted, several electrical …

Russia’s latest large-scale missile attack targets Ukraine’s power grid – Ukraine’s Energy Ministry

pravda.com.ua

Quote: “The transmission system operator [Ukrenergo] has urgently introduced emergency power outages. … Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant prepares …

Beijing’s base in South China Sea cuts emergency response time by 50%: Study

Interesting Engineering

Energy.. Framatome’s accident-tolerant fuel sets operational record in Swiss nuclear reactor · Prabhat. an hour ago. 0. 4. Energy.. Hydrogels …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Commentary | Israel, Iran, and Nuclear War: A History of the Future

israeldefense.co.il

Part two of a two-part article, which explores Israel’s complex strategic calculus in facing an Iranian nuclear threat, and the chilling scenarios …

Ukrainians are doing the United States a good service by dying for them — Jeffrey Sachs

EADaily

… threats, since these countries possess thousands of nuclear warheads. … And do you know how much we talk about the nuclear threat posed by this war?

Taleghan 2 Obliterated: How Israel is Thwarting Iran’s Homegrown Nuclear Threat

SOFREP

Taleghan 2 Obliterated: How Israel is Thwarting Iran’s Homegrown Nuclear Threat … An aerial view captures the aftermath of a devastating Israeli ..

NUCLEAR INSANITY AND THE LAST DAYS OF HUMAN DEPRAVITY

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Nov 15, 2024

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LLAW’s NUCLEAR NEWS & THE IMPACT OF THE STORY

By the coincidence of consecutive dates of a couple of similar international articles, this piece is also from Australia, but it also points out that the entire world, including non-nuclear-armed endowed countries, is worried about the coming 2nd presidency of Donald Trump, who is not considered anywhere around the world, including in his own country, to be a straight shooter who can, in any way, be relied upon to “do the right thing” for democracy.

Two points from this article are similar to several of the previous articles I have led this blog post with my constant concerns — that the United States, with the cost of “deterrence”, cannot afford to protect its non-nuclear allies from any nuclear conflict and that their pretense to “take care” of countries like Australia and South Korea, and that we should not pretend to be able to do so. A third, and dangerous issue is the re-election of Donald Trump who often seems to be more personally allied to our nuclear enemies like Russia, North Korea, and to some degree, China. My own view is that Trump should never, ever, be allowed to get within miles of the nuclear football. Congress needs to change the procedure for knowing and using the nuclear codes before Trump and the new congress take office in mid-January.

Australia obviously, from the opinion and points of author Dr. Peter Hooton, feels like they are better off to separate themselves from the United States as a partner in military matters. They are not the 1st country who is uncomfortable allying with the USA, and that may very well include Ukraine, knowing that Trump, (who said on July 2nd of this year, that he will halt the Russia/Ukraine war in 24 hours after he becomes president. That huge brag and/or lie is likely, as “Rolling Stone” headlined yesterday, “Trump’s Peace Plan for Ukraine Looks Like Putin’s Victory,“.

So it is well known that the only way Trump could possibly do as he says is to side with Russia’s annexation of Ukraine, but even that is unlikely to happen because NATO is, of course, not happy with the USA’s limited or restricted actions in the recent past. But still, Trump is likely to quickly try to negotiate on Putin’s behalf leaving Ukraine and NATO out in the cold air of winter. ~llaw

The Extended Nuclear Deterrence Myth

15 Nov 2024

By Dr Peter Hooton

• Analysis

Australia has long contributed to global arms control and non-proliferation efforts, yet its reliance on the US nuclear umbrella reflects a conflicting stance on nuclear disarmament. This dependence not only undermines Australia’s historical commitment to nuclear disarmament but also risks drawing the nation into potential nuclear conflict without assured protection.

Australia has made important contributions to the negotiation and consolidation of multilateral nuclear (and conventional) arms control and non-proliferation measures—in relation, for example but by no means only, to the indefinite extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1995 and to the adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996. But it sees the world, strategically, through the eyes of a nuclear weapon state (NWS) and thus takes an essentially NWS view of the future which pays, ever more obviously now, lip-service to nuclear disarmament as, at best, a distant ideal.

Australian defence strategists would have us believe that, for as long as nuclear weapons exist, Australia must (and presumably can) rely on US nuclear weapons for its security. The United States has been largely silent on this claim while continuing broadly to assure “Allies and partners,” in the language of its most recent Nuclear Posture Review (2022), that they can be confident of US readiness “to deter the range of strategic threats they face whether in crisis or conflict.”

This language raises questions that are much too little asked. Nuclear war poses an existential threat most obviously to the nuclear weapons possessors themselves. So does Australia really believe the United States would choose to expose itself to the risk of nuclear attack by threatening to use its nuclear weapons for any purpose that did not serve its own strategic interests exclusively? Of course it doesn’t.

Does the United States in any case have the means to defend Australia against strategic nuclear weapons? No. As impressive as they sometimes are, none of the air defence systems now deployed in Israel and Ukraine are capable of intercepting intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and no such system is reliably available even to the United States itself.

What grounds do we have for fearing that Australia could become a nuclear target independently of its alliance relationships? Surely the answer to this question is “none.” Nuclear weapons are not needed to exploit Australia’s strategic vulnerabilities—its massive import dependency, and long sea lines of supply and communication—and can do nothing to alleviate them. The only credible occasion for deploying nuclear weapons against us would be a nuclear war in which the United States was already engaged.

The situation might then be summarised as follows: the concept of extended nuclear deterrence allows us to claim the benefit of association with another state’s nuclear weapons. But when deterrence fails, we will very quickly discover that there is no “nuclear umbrella.” The United States has no capacity to defend us against the strategic nuclear missiles that may be deployed against us precisely because we have claimed the false protection of its nuclear arsenal. Australia’s mistaken reliance on nuclear weapons as a last line of defence thus makes us more, rather than less, likely  to experience their impact.

In 2016, Australia voted against a UN General Assembly resolution clearing the way for the negotiation of a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons and refused to participate in the negotiations that led to the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in New York the following year. Australia is now one of the few countries in its own region not to have signed the treaty. The Australian Labor Party adopted a resolution in 2018 committing a future Labor government to do so but has not followed through in the face of unwavering US hostility to the Treaty, and for fear of being wedged by a parliamentary Opposition whose principal contribution to the national life is incessantly to sound the national security alarm.

Parties to the TPNW are prohibited from providing any support to another state’s nuclear weapons program. In Australia’s case, this would mean (at a minimum) giving up its nuclear umbrella and terminating all nuclear-weapons-related activities at the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap. Australia/US relations would be faced with a challenging reset, not least because the Americans have come to assume a largely unquestioning Australian like-mindedness on strategic issues. We are though, I think, much too inclined to overlook the fact that Australia’s national character and international credibility in the nuclear era have been shaped, to a genuinely important degree, by an enduring commitment to nuclear disarmament. We owe it to ourselves not to diminish this (to some modest degree bipartisan) legacy. And we do certainly diminish it by opening ourselves to the prospect of becoming an expendable bit-player in someone else’s nuclear war. Australia has taken practical steps, in close consultation with the United States, to carefully dissociate itself from other weapons—anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions—that it, unlike the United States, has formally renounced. It could do the same with nuclear weapons.

Australia can dissociate itself from nuclear weapons without turning its back on the alliance. But this will only get harder as the focus shifts from deterrence to undermining confidence in the survivability of strategic nuclear weapons platforms, and Australia finds itself increasingly caught up in US strategic non-nuclear weapons programs. We might perhaps begin by placing more emphasis publicly on an important US motivation for extending the nuclear deterrence concept to allies, which is to reduce the incentive for them to acquire nuclear weapons of their own. As a party to the TPNW, Australia would be demonstrating its determination never to acquire these weapons, and the United States would no longer have to pretend that it is holding a nuclear umbrella over our heads.

It really makes no difference, for the purposes of this argument, who sits in the Oval Office, but the fact that Americans have chosen, for the second time in eight years, to hand over the nuclear launch codes to Donald Trump obviously does nothing to diminish its force. Australia is always more at ease in the world, and more helpful, when it makes a real effort to see the world for itself—as it has done from time to time over the past eighty years. Our relationship with the United States is claustrophobic and the situation is getting worse. We must find some clear air soon if we are to avoid suffocation. This will require genuinely independent thinking and the courage of our traditionally multilateralist and humanitarian convictions. A second Trump administration gives us a chance to see whether we still have these qualities.

A somewhat fuller, and more contextual, treatment of these issues, including their alliance implications, is given in “Australia’s bipolar approach to nuclear disarmament.”

Peter Hooton is a former diplomat whose postings included appointments as High Commissioner to Samoa (2001–03) and Solomon Islands (2007–09). Prior to leaving the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2012, he was Assistant Secretary for Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation.

This article is published under a Creative Commons License and may be republished with attribution.

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

(Please note that the Saturday and Sunday NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS — unedited —are added to Monday posts in order to maintain continuity of nuclear news as well as for research for the overall information provided in “All Things Nuclear”.)

There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

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

Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Friday, (11/15/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Who’s powering nuclear energy’s comeback? | WRVO Public Media

WRVO

All Things Considered. Next Up: 7:00 PM As It Happens. 0:00. 0:00. All … And over the past few months, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google have all made …

Scoop: Israel destroyed active nuclear weapons research facility in Iran, officials say – Axios

Axios

The strike significantly damaged Iran’s effort to resume nuclear weapons research, Israeli and U.S. officials said.

Anthropic, feds test whether Claude AI will share sensitive nuclear info – Axios

Axios

The company says it believes the red-team exercise is the first time a frontier model has been used in top-secret work.

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Biden Is Pushing a Massive Nuclear Energy Expansion. Will Trump Follow Through?

Truthout

US representatives at COP29 seem to hope the controversial power source will be a palatable climate solution for Trump.

The US aims to deploy 200 GW of net new nuclear energy capacity by 2050 | Enerdata

Enerdata

The US administration is establishing a new framework outlining actions that the US government can take to expand nuclear capacity in the United …

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Ambitious Targets to Expand U.S. Nuclear Energy …

T&D World

These goals are expected to be met through a mix of constructing new nuclear power plants, upgrading existing reactors, and potentially restarting …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Lake County EMA-led drills at Perry Nuclear Power Plant assessed – News-Herald

News-Herald

Lake County Emergency Management Agency Director Joe Busher recently delivered “positive” news to the Lake County commissioners detailing the …

Nuclear War

NEWS

Nuclear Arms Control Takes Back Seat to the War in Ukraine for Russia – DNI.gov

DNI.gov

National Intelligence Officers (NIOs) serve as the principal subject matter experts to the DNI and national security decision makers on all aspects of …

Scoop: Israel destroyed active nuclear weapons research facility in Iran, officials say – Axios

Axios

The strike significantly damaged Iran’s effort to resume nuclear weapons research, Israeli and U.S. officials said.

Trump Re-Election Introduces New Variables to Nuclear Disarmament Equation

Arms Control Association

In his first term, the president-elect endorsed the development and deployment of new nuclear weapons and elevated the role of nuclear deterrence in …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

How credible is Russia’s evolving nuclear doctrine? – Brookings Institution

Brookings Institution

… nuclear weapons in a war with NATO. In any event, the decision to use … nuclear doctrine and implied nuclear threats have any real credibility.

US, Japan, South Korea coordinate response to North Korean threats – VOA News

VOA News

US, Japan, South Korea coordinate response to North Korean threats … war against Ukraine and on Pyongyang’s nuclear threat more broadly, on the …

The Extended Nuclear Deterrence Myth – Australian Institute of International Affairs

Australian Institute of International Affairs

… threats they face whether in crisis or … Nuclear war poses an existential threat most obviously to the nuclear weapons possessors themselves

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

History offers clues to Yellowstone’s next eruption – Missoula Current

Missoula Current

To an extent, forecasts of volcanic eruptions rely upon knowledge of the frequency at which eruptions occur at a given volcano. As an analogy, let’s …

Volcanoes and how they erupt – Science News Explores

Science News Explores

Boyce.​ Months between rejuvenation and volcanic eruption at Yellowstone caldera, Wyoming.​ ​​Geology.​ ​​Vol.​ ​43,​ ​August 2015​. doi …

IAEA Weekly News

15 November 2024

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) got underway in Baku, Azerbaijan, this week. Follow our COP29 Blog for in-depth coverage of the role of nuclear energy and its applications in the discussions and see the top stories on IAEA.org.

15 November 2024

COP29: First Week in Review

The IAEA is at COP29 in Baku, putting into place concrete measures to help countries use nuclear science and technology to fight climate change.  Read more →

14 November 2024

Data Centres, Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrencies Eye Advanced Nuclear to Meet Growing Power Needs

As major tech companies like Google and Microsoft face growing energy demands from data centers powering AI, they are turning to advanced nuclear technologies such as small modular reactors to provide clean and reliable power.  Read more →

13 November 2024

IAEA and EBRD Expand Cooperation to Nuclear Energy to Help Reach Net Zero

The IAEA and the EBRD are broadening their collaboration in the nuclear energy sector to help countries achieve net zero. This partnership represents a significant step, as it extends their cooperation beyond nuclear and radiation safety concerns. Read more →

13 November 2024

New IAEA and LinkedIn Practical Arrangement Brings Opportunities for Women in the Nuclear Field

A new IAEA and LinkedIn Practical Arrangement will bring networking and training opportunities for women in the nuclear field. Read more →

12 November 2024

IAEA Arrives at COP29

The COP29 climate conference has kicked off in Baku, Azerbaijan and the IAEA is once again present to discuss all the ways that nuclear science and technology can help in the fight against climate change.  Read more →

NUCLEAR INSANITY AND THE LAST DAYS OF HUMAN DEPRAVITY

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Nov 14, 2024

1

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LLAW’s NUCLEAR NEWS & THE IMPACT OF THE STORY

It has been awhile since I have selected a Brit “Sky News” story, partly because their format is so hard to use without dealing with many other news stories that make posting difficult and a bit confusing to the casual reader, But the publication has, and still does, provide some of the best nuclear-world news, particularly threats of nuclear war.

So of course with the U.S. once again saddled with the confused, unpredictable and unsteady mind of Donald Trump as President, the Russia/Ukraine war becomes foremost at a new higher more intense level in the hearts and minds of NATO, America, and, of course Ukraine and Russia, with a stronger and more bitter taste in our political and military divides. Trump was partly responsible for Putin’s decision to re-open the old conflict between the two countries, and many of us will be biting our fingernails in anticipation of the future progress of the now nuclear-threatening war,

Trump has never supported democratic Ukraine’s military needs to help defend their country in this war. The current administrations has allowed limited military equipment and minimal arms all saddled with restrictions, and have been caught, as a NATO leader, somewhere between a ‘rock and a hard place’ that has obviously left Ukraine and its young democracy as well as Europe in a huge lurch.

So it is that the rest of the world, including all of America and most of Europe, is nervously standing at attention, pensive and afraid, about what will come of not only Ukraine but also the NATO countries of Europe — and to some degree the rest of the free world as well. ~llaw

Moscow signalling Putin’s intentions for Ukraine when Trump takes over, analysts say

Reporting around the conflict in Ukraine over the past week has been dominated by the significance of Donald Trump’s presidential election victory.

The Republican will take over in the White House in January, having promised during his election campaign to end the war within 24 hours of becoming president.

His statements around Ukraine – and his so-called “America first” approach to foreign policy – have led many commentators to suggest he would withdraw support from the country in its struggle to repel Russia’s invading forces.

But experts from the Institute for the Study of War think tank say the indications are that the Kremlin is now attempting to dictate the terms of any potential “peace” negotiations with Ukraine in advance of Trump’s inauguration. 

“The manner in which the Kremlin is trying to set its terms for negotiations strongly signals that Russia’s objectives remain unchanged and still amount to full Ukrainian capitulation,” the group’s analysts say.

“The Kremlin does not appear any more willing to make concessions to the incoming Trump administration than it was to the current administration.”

It said Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s claims yesterday that “peace” can only be achieved when the West stops providing military assistance to Ukraine indicates that Russia continues to assert that the West must end all provisions of military assistance to Ukraine as a prerequisite for peace negotiations.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov also claimed yesterday that the start of Trump’s presidency would not fundamentally change the US position on Ukraine and that any proposals to freeze the frontline were “even worse” than the Russia-favourable Minsk Agreements that followed its first invasion of Ukraine in 2014.

“Lavrov’s pre-emptive rejection of the potential suggestion to freeze the current frontline further indicates that Russia is not interested in softening its approach or demands in negotiations and maintains its objective of total Ukrainian capitulation, which Vladimir Putin explicitly outlined in June 2024,” the analysts continue.

“Zakharova’s and Lavrov’s statements also undermine Putin’s recent efforts to feign interest in a willingness to ‘restore’ US–Russian relations with the new US presidential administration and instead indicate that Putin likely is taking for granted that the Trump administration will defer to the Kremlin’s interests and preferences without the Kremlin offering any concessions or benefits in return.”

Subscribed

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

(Please note that the Saturday and Sunday NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS — unedited —are added to Monday posts in order to maintain continuity of nuclear news as well as for research for the overall information provided in “All Things Nuclear”.)

There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

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

Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Thursday, (11/14/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Small modular reactors and the future of nuclear energy : The Indicator from Planet Money – NPR

NPR

And for us, the requirements of protecting the operators and protecting the investment actually fully, like, fully covers everything that’s necessary …

A new nuclear arms race is beginning. It will be far more dangerous than the last one – The Guardian

The Guardian

The long read: With Putin’s threats in Ukraine, China’s accelerated weapons programme and the US’s desire for superiority, what will it take for …

Why America Can’t Afford A New Nuclear Buildup In 2025 – NukeWatch NM – Nuclear Watch New Mexico

Full Coverage

Who’s powering nuclear energy’s comeback? : The Indicator from Planet Money – NPR

NPR

Nuclear energy hasn’t been a growing industry in decades. But now, it seems to be making a comeback. This week, the Biden administration announced …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Can the US triple its nuclear energy capacity? – The Verge

The Verge

The Biden administration put out a roadmap to triple US nuclear energy capacity, and Donald Trump has shown support for nuclear energy.

Why Canada could become the next nuclear energy ‘superpower’ – BBC

BBC

With its rich resources, uranium mining companies want Canada to play a key role in fuelling nuclear reactors worldwide.

Six More Countries Endorse the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy by 2050 at COP29

World Nuclear Association

At COP29 UN Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, six countries joined the declaration to triple global nuclear energy capacity by 2050.

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

IPRA releases Clinton Nuclear Power Station emergency preparedness guide – WCIA.com

WCIA.com

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — The Illinois Plan for Radiological Accidents (IPRA) has created an emergency plan for the Clinton Power Station.

Marion County first responders receive critical chemical first aid training – WMBF

WMBF

“It’s sort of like a  …

Smoke Detected At Forsmark Facility Prompts Emergency Response – The Pinnacle Gazette

Evrim Ağacı

… nuclear power plant. Authorities received the alarm around 1:30 PM, and the firefighting crews immediately deployed to the site. Roger Sverndal …

Nuclear War

NEWS

A new nuclear arms race is beginning. It will be far more dangerous than the last one – The Guardian

The Guardian

The long read: With Putin’s threats in Ukraine, China’s accelerated weapons programme and the US’s desire for superiority, what will it take for …

How credible is Russia’s evolving nuclear doctrine? – Brookings Institution

Brookings Institution

… nuclear weapons in a war with NATO. In any event, the decision to use nuclear arms would be one of the most consequential ever made; that decision …

Ukraine war latest: Russia ‘strongly signals’ plan for Ukraine when Trump becomes president

Sky News

The Kremlin is attempting to dictate the terms of any potential “peace” negotiations with Ukraine before Donald Trump’s inauguration, …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

A new nuclear arms race is beginning. It will be far more dangerous than the last one – The Guardian

The Guardian

The long read: With Putin’s threats in Ukraine, China’s accelerated weapons programme and the US’s desire for superiority, what will it take for …

Which Countries Are on the Brink of Going Nuclear? – Fair Observer

Fair Observer

… nuclear weapon to pose a more credible threat. The country’s breakout time — the period required to develop a nuclear bomb — is now estimated in weeks …

Meet the Air Force’s WC-135R ‘nuke sniffer’ aircraft designed to detect nuclear explosions

news-journalonline.com

North Korea’s latest launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Oct. 31 underscores the unusual aircraft’s importance.

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

So, when will the next eruption at Yellowstone National Park happen? History offers clues.

Idaho Capital Sun

Geologists achieve this by combining geologic mapping with geochronology to determine a volcano’s eruptive history. Knowing the average rate of …

Mark Stelten, Idaho Capital Sun – Alternet.org

Alternet

Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. YOU MAKE OUR WORK …

Aira (Japan) Volcano () – Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for 6 November …

Volcano Discovery

List and interactive map of current and past earthquakes near Yellowstone volcano. Volcano Tour · Volcano Tour. Ambrym+Yasur volcanoes in Vanuatu An …

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

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Nov 13, 2024

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“I don’t see a pandemic finishing us off, and climate change itself would (to quote Keating) ‘do us slowly’. The one sure path to extinction is nuclear war.” – Professor Peter Doherty AC, Nobel Laureate, communication to the author, 9 Sep 2024.

LLAW’s NUCLEAR VIEWS, ISSUES & COMMENTS, Wednesday, (11/13/2024

From the “Pearls and Irritations” COP29” image caption for the astute and well-written article below: “I don’t see a pandemic finishing us off, and climate change itself would (to quote Keating) ‘do us slowly’. The one sure path to extinction is nuclear war.” – Professor Peter Doherty AC, Nobel Laureate, communication to the author, 9 Sep 2024.

This article from an excellent Australian publication and author Tilman Ruff puts the USA and Donald Trump directly behind the proverbial eight-ball regarding the foreseeable future, especially concerning the environment and ‘all thing nuclear’.

I would only add that terrorism and local battles over nuclear power plants (as no-borders participation in any conflict of any size) will also contribute to Professor Doherty’s well-advised statement about nuclear war being the ‘sure’ path to extinction as opposed to a pandemic. But a pandemic-like killer in a no-borders dispute leading up to WWIII by introducing radiation-poisoning illness and death to huge areas of countries around the world, but, for sure, the nuclear bombs would follow to finalize doomsday . . .

I take this concept of terrorism and war from the increasing involvement of nuclear power plants in the Russia/Ukraine war as well as Annie Jacobsen’s book ‘“Nuclear War – A Scenario “, and my own experience, knowledge, and edification. All of this potential mayhem, possibly leading to doomsday also makes me wonder why we would even allow more nuclear power plants, or nuclear weapons, anywhere on planet Earth., yet we blindly continue on status quo. ~llaw

Climate, Environment, Politics, World

Two paramount human-made existential threats: Nuclear weapons and our climate

By Tilman Ruff

Nov 13, 2024

“I don’t see a pandemic finishing us off, and climate change itself would (to quote Keating) ‘do us slowly’. The one sure path to extinction is nuclear war.” – Professor Peter Doherty AC, Nobel Laureate, communication to the author, 9 Sep 2024.

Two days after Donald Trump’s election last week, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reported that this year will be the warmest on record and the first year  more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, likely more than 1.55°C above.  Yet exactly when global leadership on climate action is needed most, the world’s second-largest emitter has a climate-denying, corrupt, criminal president-elect with no regard for facts, committed to leaving the Paris Agreement and ramping up fossil fuel extraction and use.

The stakes could hardly be higher at this year’s climate COP in Baku, Azerbaijan, starting this week. Most of us now understand how crucial to human and planetary health a stable and hospitable climate is, and that securing this is the defining challenge of our age. Yet too few of us make the connection that the most acute, immediate danger to our lives and climate still comes from nuclear weapons.

The two paramount human-made existential threats we confront today – nuclear weapons and climate change – exacerbate each other and need to be addressed together, with utmost urgency. One harms us and our biosphere every day, the other could deplete it irrevocably and end human civilisation and many species in less than a day.

Last week the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Australia launched a new briefing paper examining what nuclear weapons and climate change have to do with each other. The paper addresses the connections between climate, nuclear weapons, nuclear power and the stuff that puts the ‘nuclear’ in nuclear weapons. What effect would nuclear war have on the climate? Does climate change increase the risk of nuclear war? How does nuclear power generation—sometimes touted as a climate-friendly energy source—relate to nuclear risks? Could the massive amounts of radioactivity inside nuclear reactors and waste storages cause radioactive contamination akin to nuclear weapons? Could nuclear facilities themselves be turned into weapons?

Robust scientific evidence shows that the tens of millions of tons of smoke from burning cities ignited by even a nuclear war in one global region, involving 2% of the global nuclear arsenal, would suddenly plummet temperatures worldwide to ice age levels for several years, decimate agriculture, disrupt ocean food chains and condemn over two billion people to starve to death.

Burning cities from a nuclear war involving 4400 Russia and the US weapons, possessing close to 90% of the world’s nuclear arsenal, would put 150 million tons of smoke into the atmosphere. This would plummet average surface temperatures 10°C colder than present, and 20-35°C colder in large areas of Eurasia and North America, a severe abrupt ice age that would result in the large majority of the world’s 8 billion people starving to death, along with the starvation and extinction of many other species.

Nuclear weapons and climate are deeply interconnected. The hospitable and stable climate required for human and biosphere health needs protecting from both rampant global heating and nuclear war.

A climate-stressed world is an even more dangerous place for nuclear weapons. Over the last decade, the number of armed conflicts and their casualties have steadily grown, exacerbated by food and water insecurity, worsening poverty, extreme climate events, displacement and other consequences of global heating. These conflicts and the use of nuclear weapons to assert political and military power with claimed impunity undermine the international cooperation needed to address the climate crisis and other shared challenges. Nuclear arsenals and growing military expenditures not only make conflicts more dangerous and deadly, but have huge opportunity costs, as vast resources are diverted from addressing the real needs of people and planet. Military organisations and activities are also large emitters of greenhouse gases, rarely measured or reported and largely unconstrained.

Apart from being slow, now the most expensive energy source, associated with risks of catastrophic accidents, routine radioactive emissions and intractable waste challenges, nuclear power inseparably creates the capacity to build nuclear weapons. Its promotion as a somewhat low carbon energy source is largely by vested interests and for political and potential proliferation purposes. Facilities to enrich uranium for nuclear reactors can readily enrich it to weapons grade, and the plutonium inevitably produced from uranium inside a nuclear reactor can be extracted from the spent fuel rods. Both routes have been used for proliferation of nuclear weapons. In most nuclear-armed states, the infrastructure, personnel, expertise, industrial capacity and government investments in nuclear power are also key to their nuclear weapons programs.

Nuclear facilities including reactors, spent fuel storage ponds and reprocessing plants contain vast amounts of long-lived radioactive materials. They are effectively pre-positioned large radiological weapons or ‘dirty bombs’, vulnerable to direct military attack or disruption to electricity and water supplies essential for continuous cooling. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has starkly highlighted the dangers of a radiological disaster from nuclear facilities in a war zone, particularly with military attacks on, occupation and weaponisation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and destruction of the Kakhovka Dam which provided cooling water.

A healthy and sustainable future for all life on Earth requires rapid transition to renewable energy and net zero greenhouse gas emissions, and that we prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons before they eliminate us. Nuclear weapons should concern everyone working to avoid climate chaos. Nuclear disarmament is climate action, and effective climate action will help prevent nuclear war. Virtually every species will be harmed in a nuclear war and by global heating; only one species can stop them.

---

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

(Please note that the Saturday and Sunday NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS — unedited —are added to Monday posts in order to maintain continuity of nuclear news as well as for research for the overall information provided in “All Things Nuclear”.)

There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

1. All Things Nuclear
2. Nuclear Power
3. Nuclear Power Emergencies
4. Nuclear War
5. Nuclear War Threats
6. Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are no Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this evening’s Post.)
7. IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)

Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Wednesday, (11/13/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

AI Powers Three Mile Island’s Nuclear Plant Back to Life – Tech News Briefing – WSJ

WSJ

… that is coming from the tech sector, data centers, AI, and there’s all this forecasted oncoming electricity demand. James Rundle: Are there any …

U.S. Sets Targets to Triple Nuclear Energy Capacity by 2050

Department of Energy

Paul Terek used to be one of the top decathletes in the world. He was an All-American at Michigan State University and competed for Team USA in …

A Ruthless Focus on Building More Nuclear Submarines | Proceedings – U.S. Naval Institute

U.S. Naval Institute

Getting that done required two things: an “all hands-on-deck” herculean … The PenRen effort comes to mind when I run across articles about how to fix …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

U.S. Sets Targets to Triple Nuclear Energy Capacity by 2050

Department of Energy

Nuclear energy is the nation’s largest source of clean power and avoids more than 470 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, which …

US Nuclear Announcement Neglects Safety and Financial Concerns

Union of Concerned Scientists

At COP29 today, the Biden administration rolled out a “framework for action” to triple nuclear power capacity in the U.S. by 2050.

Six additional nations sign onto Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy, pledging to triple …

Clean Air Task Force

Six additional countries signed onto the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan today.

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Byron Nuclear Power Station Emergency Preparedness – EIN Presswire

EIN Presswire

SPRINGFIELD – Enclosed is information regarding emergency preparedness for the Byron Nuclear Power Station. This information is being provided to …

Nuclear power plant working normally – news.gov.hk

news.gov.hk

… Power Station is operating normally, after verification with Guangdong’s Nuclear Emergency Committee Office. The bureau made the statement in …

PSPA Emergency Declaration Declaration, Kallangur – Mirage News

Mirage News

PSPA Emergency Declaration Declaration, Kallangur. Police have … U.S. Hails New Backers of Nuclear Energy Expansion. 14 Nov 2024 2:28 am …

Nuclear War

NEWS

US Nuclear Announcement Neglects Safety and Financial Concerns

Union of Concerned Scientists

At COP29 today, the Biden administration rolled out a “framework for action” to triple nuclear power capacity in the U.S. by 2050.

The system failed us. We’ll still miss it when it’s gone. – Vox

Vox

America voted for chaos — but we don’t know what real chaos is. Yet. by Bryan Walsh. Nov 13, 2024, 5:00 AM PST. Detonation of Nuclear Device …

Iran’s Nuclear Threshold: Will It Make a Dash for the Bomb? – Foreign Policy

Foreign Policy

However, the Israel-Hamas war has demonstrated the vulnerability of this strategy. Recent Israeli operations against Iranian proxies, attacks within …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

NATO would send troops to Ukraine if Russia did not have nuclear weapons – Bauer

RBC-Ukraine

… war. Russian nuclear threats. Russia regularly threatens the use of nuclear weapons, especially against Western countries and the United States.

Two paramount human-made existential threats: Nuclear weapons and our climate

Pearls and Irritations

How does nuclear power generation—sometimes touted as a climate-friendly energy source—relate to nuclear risks? Could the massive amounts of …

Worrying Nuclear Map Shows Areas Where 75% of Population Would Die in WW3 – Knewz

Knewz

… nuclear-fueled World War III. Russia is known for its nuclear threats. A Cold War-era map made the …

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

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Nov 12, 2024

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The 3-Mile Island nuclear power generating station. See Article for description and credits.

LLAW’s NUCLEAR VIEWS, ISSUES & COMMENTS, Tuesday, (11/12/2024

All I can say is that this is a really bad, expensive, and dangerous idea, especially in the face of an unhinged nuclear armed world that has already figured out that nuclear powers plants are also easily turned into powerful weapons of mass destruction, yet we are talking about somewhere around 200 gigawatts or 200 or more added nuclear reactors of both large and small new nuclear power plants including rehabilitation of old plants that have been shut down for years due to their their age and their questionable nuclear safety.

I have to wonder, when all is said and done, what on Earth the reasoning was for such a dangerous and financially expensive venture — especially when renewable power plants like wind, solar, geothermal and hydro are so much cheaper to build, operate, and provide power as needed to meet future demand without the fear of running out of uranium for nuclear fuel. Nobody seems to realize that uranium, like coal, oil and gas, is essentially a fossil fuel that is subject to depletion, which could make nuclear power plants something useless like white elephants, or creating costs to produce at multiple-thousands of dollars per pound that nobody or nothing, even the AI producing tech corporations, could never afford. ~llaw

Energy & Environment

Biden administration sets out plan to triple nuclear power capacity

by Zack Budryk – 11/12/24 1:14 PM ET

The Biden administration on Tuesday released a roadmap for plans to triple U.S. nuclear capacity by the middle of the century, prompting the following short article from “The Hill” and other news providers.

The plan sets a goal of 200 gigawatts of new capacity by 2050, more than three times the 2020 capacity. This will require the development of multiple new power sources, including large and small modular plants, as well as upgrades to existing reactors and restarting retired ones. This includes adding 35 gigawatts of new capacity by 2035 and a goal of 15 gigawatts per year by 2040.

“Ramping sustained production to about 15 [gigawatts] annually by 2040 will be important to serve both our domestic 2050 deployment goals and project deployments around the globe, making more U.S. nuclear products and services available for export,” the administration’s road map states.

“This will add hundreds of thousands of good-paying construction and operation jobs across the United States that would be sustained for decades. Achieving this production rate will require an expanded workforce, robust supply chains for fuel and components, and long-term solutions for managing spent fuel.”

The strategy outlined is part of a concerted push by the Biden administration to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a goal the incoming Trump administration is likely to abandon. However, increased deployment of nuclear power has bipartisan congressional support and President-elect Trump has signaled support as well, calling for the construction of new nuclear reactors during his 2024 campaign.

The framework relies on existing federal authorities but would require new funding, leaving nuclear power’s bipartisan supporters in Congress to fill the gap by allocating that money.

It comes months after the announcement that Pennsylvania will restart one of the reactors at Three Mile Island, the site of a near meltdown in the 1970s, to power Microsoft data centers. Both hard-line conservative Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), who represents the area, and his 2024 Democratic opponent, Janelle Stelson, backed the restart.

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

(Please note that the Saturday and Sunday NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS — unedited —are added to Monday posts in order to maintain continuity of nuclear news as well as for research for the overall information provided in “All Things Nuclear”.)

There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

1. All Things Nuclear
2. Nuclear Power
3. Nuclear Power Emergencies
4. Nuclear War
5. Nuclear War Threats
6. Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There is one Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this evening’s Post.)
7. IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)

Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Monday, (11/12/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Research reveals China has built prototype nuclear reactor to power aircraft carrier | CNN

CNN

… Things · Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta · The Assignment with Audie … Among other advantages, the US currently has 11 carriers, all nuclear …

Biden administration sets out plan to triple nuclear power capacity – The Hill

The Hill

… things to know about Trump’s selection for EPA chief. by Zack Budryk. 2 hours ago. Energy & Environment / 2 hours ago. See All. Video/Hill.TV. See all …

US Unveils Plan to Triple Nuclear Power By 2050 as Demand Soars – Energy Connects

Energy Connects

Under a road map being unveiled, the US would deploy an additional 200 gigawatts of nuclear energy capacity by mid-century.

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Biden administration sets out plan to triple nuclear power capacity – The Hill

The Hill

This will require the development of multiple new power sources, including large and small-modular plants as well as upgrades to existing reactors and …

COP29: US Has Plan to Triple Nuclear Power as Energy Demand Soars – Bloomberg

Bloomberg

President Joe Biden’s administration is setting out plans for the US to triple nuclear power capacity by 2050, with demand climbing for the …

Picking up steam: US targets tripling nuclear capacity by 2050 – Power Engineering

Power Engineering

DOE research suggests that a majority of U.S. nuclear power plants could host up to 60 GW of new capacity by building large-scale light water …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Sellafield nuclear site holds emergency exercise – BBC

BBC

People who live close to the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in Cumbria may hear the site siren and receive text, email and telephone warnings …

Verizon Frontline Powers Nuclear Emergency Exercise with Critical 5G Tech Support – Stock Titan

Stock Titan

… Nuclear Plant in North Carolina … How often must nuclear power plants undergo emergency preparedness evaluations with Verizon (VZ) support?

Nuclear War

NEWS

Russia Nuclear Attack Submarine Detected Near US Ally’s Waters – Newsweek

Newsweek

For the first time, Japan has detected an advanced type of Russian nuclear-powered submarine armed with long-range cruise missiles near its …

Federation of American Scientists Releases Latest United Kingdom Edition of Nuclear Notebook

Federation of American Scientists

The United Kingdom is modernizing its inventory of nuclear weapons and collaborating with the United States, as revealed today in the Federation …

Liz Truss spent final days in office ‘preparing for Putin to fire nuclear weapons’

The Independent

Truss spent hours studying weather data and wind directions amid fears the wrong weather conditions could have a ‘direct fall-out effect on …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

World leaders held crisis meetings to prepare for Russian nuclear attack: book – NY Post

NY Post

President Biden confirmed that same month there was a “direct threat” of Russia deploying nuclear weapons “if … things continue down the path they are …

US Sentinel missile’s nuclear deterrent in a hot spotlight – Asia Times

Asia Times

… threats … Despite these efforts, ICBMs remained a dangerous element of Cold War strategy, symbolizing deterrence and the catastrophic risks of nuclear …

raine war latest: UK government held crisis meetings as it ‘prepared for Putin to fire … – Sky News

Sky News

… threats. Why is Russia in Africa? For Moscow, assignments like this have two obvious plus signs. First, financial. Moscow is often paid directly

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

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Nov 11, 2024

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See article for image description and photo credits

LLAW’s NUCLEAR VIEWS, ISSUES & COMMENTS, Monday, (11/11/2024

As well as the risks involved with the addition to an erratic and unstable leader for the foreseeable future, the concept of ‘nuclear deterrence’, which is the only actual preventative we have from a nuclear war, is pricing the U.S. and other nuclear armed countries out of our ability to prevent a nuclear war. (Many Posts on this blog have dealt with this issue, and none of them are of a positive or comforting nature, but in fact just the opposite.

The concept of ‘deterrence’ is to increase a country’s nuclear power arsenal to prevent the other nuclear armed countries from launching their weapons because theirs may be superior and more devastating than ours, for instance. So billions and trillions of dollars are spent in a ‘keeping up with the Jones’s’ kind of way. This article points out that America may no longer be able to be the ruler of the ‘deterrence’ method of peace.

And with Trump at our nation’s helm, how can we possibly avoid nuclear war? I have my own opinion, but for today I will bow to this timely and much needed and important article from “Forbes” and author William Hartung, that were we still students at all levels of higher education would be mandatory reading. ~llaw

America Can’t Afford a New Nuclear Buildup

William Hartung

Contributor

I am a defense analyst, and cover the economics of Pentagon spending.

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Nov 11, 2024,11:57am EST

Updated Nov 11, 2024, 02:53pm EST

The return to power of Donald Trump raises serious questions about the future of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. His statements on nuclear weapons have been all over the map, but a 2017 review by Anthony Zurcher of The Guardian of Trump’s statements since the 980s concluded that “his thoughts on atomic weaponry reflect a certain strain of Cold War arms-race enthusiasm and diplomatic brinkmanship.” And in 2016, after he was challenged when he said ‘possibly, possibly” nuclear weapons could be used, Trump went on to say that if they weren’t to be used, “Then why are we making them?” On the flip side, he has also called nuclear war “the ultimate catastrophe.”

As for his actions in office, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which by all objective accounts had been working to stop Tehran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon. And in 2019, the Trump administration withdrew from the Intermediate Nuclear Forces in Europe treaty (INF), which had banned ground-based ballistic missiles and cruise missiles in the range of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers.

On the other hand, Trump was roundly (and unfairly) criticized for his short-lived effort at nuclear negotiations with North Korea. The talks ultimately failed, but critics who slammed Trump for “rewarding” North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un seemed to be ignoring the fact that in the final analysis talking with adversaries is a precondition for any sort of agreement. Criticism of Trump for being ill-prepared or inconsistent was fair game, but slamming him for talking to the North Korean leader at all didn’t make a lot of sense.

The real test of Trump’s stance on all-things nuclear will be his approach to the Pentagon’s multi-year effort to build a new generation of nuclear-armed missiles, bombers, and submarines, plus new warheads to go with them, a plan that some experts suggest could cost up to $2 trillion in the next three decades.

The nuclear plan has already been plagued by major cost overruns, including an 81% increase in the projected cost of the new intercontinental ballistic missile, dubbed the Sentinel, and developed and produced by Northrop Grumman. The cost overrun prompted a government review of the program, but the assessment ended up pronouncing that the program was too important to cancel.

The review of the Sentinel was a missed opportunity. Former secretary of defense William Perry has called ICBMs “some of the most dangerous weapons we have,” because the president would have only a matter of minutes to decide whether to launch them on warning of attack, increasing the risk of a nuclear confrontation sparked by a false alarm.

The Pentagon has a big shopping list – a larger Navy, more combat aircraft, new armored vehicles, drones and other unpiloted vehicles. Even with a Pentagon budget soaring towards $1 trillion per year, something may have to be cut. There’s also a chance that at least a few fiscal conservatives in Congress may seek across-the-board cuts, including the Pentagon, upon news that for the first time interest on the federal debt is larger than the Pentagon budget.

On the other hand, despite the occasional criticism, Trump has come to see weapons contractors as important allies in executing his domestic strategy because of the jobs created by contracts with the Pentagon and foreign buyers. This alliance was on display in Trump’s effort to make a huge weapons deal with Saudi Arabia, which he claimed could create 500,000 jobs in the United States, when a more realistic estimate would be one-tenth to one-twentieth of that figure. The ultimate test came after the Saudi regime’s murder of the U.S.-resident Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, when Trump issued a statement saying that U.S. arms to the Saudi regime would continue, in part because he didn’t want to reduce business for “our wonderful defense companies.”

Donald Trump is nothing if not unpredictable. Will Trump the deal maker pleasantly surprise us by attempting to enter into negotiations to reduce nuclear arsenals, or will he resort to bluster and threats that make negotiations more difficult, even as he helps line the pockets of major weapons makers with billions of dollars of our tax money? To some degree it’s up to what kind of pressure he gets for and against the current buildup, which is a question that can only be answered once he is in office.

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

(Please note that the Saturday and Sunday NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS — unedited —are added to today’s and coming Monday posts in order to maintain continuity of nuclear news as well as for research for the overall information provided in “All Things Nuclear”.)

There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:

1. All Things Nuclear
2. Nuclear Power
3. Nuclear Power Emergencies
4. Nuclear War
5. Nuclear War Threats
6. Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There is one Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this evening’s Post.)
7. IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)

Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Monday, (11/11/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

New eyes on nuclear: Technology industry reps, investment bankers visit INL to learn about …

Idaho National Laboratory

The future promises big advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence, and corporate America is once again eyeing nuclear energy.

America Can’t Afford a New Nuclear Buildup – Forbes

Forbes

The return to power of Donald Trump raises serious questions about the future of the U.S. nuclear arse

EDITORIAL: Governor issues a powerful warning – Colorado Springs Gazette

Colorado Springs Gazette

Toward a goal of zero emissions, we close coal plants and mines that provide electric baseload stability — replacing them with “renewables” that …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

How to bring a dead nuclear power plant back to life – Vox

Vox

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the federal agency in charge of commercial nuclear reactors, says the reason these power plants — Palisades, …

China building prototype nuclear reactor to power next generation aircraft carrier, AP reports

CBS News

“Operating a nuclear–powered aircraft carrier is an exclusive club, one that China looks set to join,” says a researcher behind the analysis of …

Research reveals China has built prototype nuclear reactor to power aircraft carrier

ABC News – The Walt Disney Company

U.S. researchers have concluded that China has built a land-based prototype nuclear reactor to power future aircraft carriers.

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

WHO to convene emergency meeting on mpox on Nov 22 – Selangor Journal

Selangor Journal

GENEVA, Nov 11 — The World Health Organisation (WHO) will convene a meeting of its Emergency … Govt mulls nuclear energy as future power source — …

Russia ‘Thwarted’ Ukraine’s HIMARS Assault on Nuclear Plant: Official – MSN

MSN

Zaporizhzhia’s Russian-installed governor said that the nuclear power plant in the region had been threatened by Ukraine’s forces.

Nuclear War

NEWS

America Can’t Afford a New Nuclear Buildup – Forbes

Forbes

The return to power of Donald Trump raises serious questions about the future of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

Kremlin denies report Putin and Trump spoke about Ukraine war last week | PBS News

PBS

The Kremlin is rejecting reports that President Vladimir Putin spoke last week with President-elect Donald Trump about the war in Ukraine, …

Satellite images and documents indicate China working on nuclear propulsion for new aircraft carrier

AP News

For the first time, a group of U.S. researchers has concluded that China has built a land-based prototype nuclear reactor to power future aircraft …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Defense officials fear Iran will act against Israel before Trump returns to White House

The Jerusalem Post

Intelligence services have begun intensifying intelligence sharing and situational assessments with the US military to prevent overlooking …

Nuclear War Targets Revealed Across America – The Pinnacle Gazette

Evrim Ağacı

Military installations and other strategic sites could also find themselves under threat from nuclear strikes, especially if aggressors were to launch …

Opinion: Western inaction on Ukraine’s security guarantees opens door to global nuclear proliferation

The Kyiv Independent

Western indecision in Ukraine’s pursuit of security guarantees risks triggering a global chain reaction, with nations turning to nuclear weapons ..

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

Benchmarking benchmarks | U.S. Geological Survey – USGS.gov

USGS.gov

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

WEEKEND NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS UNEDITED (SATURDAY & SUNDAY)

SATURDAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS

Yellowstone Caldera NEWS

Could A Nuclear Explosion Set Off A Yellowstone Supervolcano Eruption? – IFLScience

IFLScience

Let’s imagine someone tried to trigger the volcano under Yellowstone National Park with a nuclear bomb – could it work?

The world’s biggest volcano expected to erupt – and it’s not Yellowstone – Daily Express

Daily Express

The Yellowstone Caldera poses a greater risk than Mauna Loa, however, it’s not anticipated to erupt for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.

Nuclear Power NEWS

Climate goals require a step change in nuclear investment – The World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum

Nuclear power is key to achieving climate goals, requiring increased investment and innovation in small modular reactors to enhance energy …

US support for nuclear higher in 2024 than year earlier, survey finds

World Nuclear News

More than half of the respondents to a US survey believe nuclear energy is an essential part of the solution to climate disruption and energy …

IAEA at COP29: Time to Deliver Nuclear Solutions

International Atomic Energy Agency

14/2024 · International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi is bringing this message to the 29th · This year’s COP has …

All Things Nuclear NEWS

Justice Department brings charges in an Iranian murder-for-hire plot against Trump

WCMU Public Radio

Federal prosecutors charged a man who said he had been tasked by a contact in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard with planning the …

Justice Department brings criminal charges in Iranian murder-for-hire plan targeting Trump

The Portland Press Herald

The plot reflects what federal officials have described as ongoing efforts by Iran to target U.S. government officials on U.S. soil.

Blind date: ‘Hopefully he thought I was funny, as I do try pretty hard’ – The Guardian

The Guardian

Florence, 25, a political science master’s student, meets Joe, 28, a civil servant.

Nuclear War NEWS

Chernobyl showed that nuclear sites can be war targets. Now what? – The Economist

The Economist

Not even the world’s experts on nuclear-power plants have a plan for how to keep them safe in conflict | Podcasts.

Terrifying nuclear war map reveals US targets in every state as WW3 fears skyrocket

Irish Star

A nuclear war map has been released showing the areas most likely to be targeted in the event of a nuclear attack on US soil, with potential …

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, November 8, 2024 | Institute for the Study of War

Institute for the Study of War

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be assuming that US President-elect Donald Trump will defer to the Kremlin’s interests and preferences …

Nuclear Power Emergencies NEWS

Data centers want nuclear power – Brookings Register

Brookings Register

… power Microsoft with nuclear energy … Moreover, the new reactors avoid meltdowns by removing heat in an emergency without external water or power.

Nuclear War Threats NEWS

Can Trump 2.0 defuse the nuclear threat? These Washington heavyweights fear not

The Sydney Morning Herald

Woodward was most impressed with Joe Biden’s management of the nuclear threat from Russia two years ago when Vladimir Putin was threatening to attack …

Could Israel Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Program With an All-Out Attack? | The National Interest

The National Interest

-Citing the Begin Doctrine, which advocates preemptive strikes on nuclear threats, Israel’s past actions against nuclear sites like Iraq’s Osirak …

Letter | Nuclear deterrence is mute on how to resolve root of conflict

South China Morning Post

Readers discuss Russia’s threat of nuclear strikes and North Korea’s role in the Ukraine war, Cheung Chau’s fading charms, and Hong Kong’s ..

Yellowstone Caldera NEWS

Could A Nuclear Explosion Set Off A Yellowstone Supervolcano Eruption? – IFLScience

IFLScience

Let’s imagine someone tried to trigger the volcano under Yellowstone National Park with a nuclear bomb – could it work?

The world’s biggest volcano expected to erupt – and it’s not Yellowstone – Daily Express

Daily Express

The Yellowstone Caldera poses a greater risk than Mauna Loa, however, it’s not anticipated to erupt for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.

Nuclear Power NEWS

Climate goals require a step change in nuclear investment – The World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum

Nuclear power is key to achieving climate goals, requiring increased investment and innovation in small modular reactors to enhance energy …

US support for nuclear higher in 2024 than year earlier, survey finds

World Nuclear News

More than half of the respondents to a US survey believe nuclear energy is an essential part of the solution to climate disruption and energy …

IAEA at COP29: Time to Deliver Nuclear Solutions

International Atomic Energy Agency

14/2024 · International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi is bringing this message to the 29th · This year’s COP has …

All Things Nuclear NEWS

Justice Department brings charges in an Iranian murder-for-hire plot against Trump

WCMU Public Radio

Federal prosecutors charged a man who said he had been tasked by a contact in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard with planning the …

Justice Department brings criminal charges in Iranian murder-for-hire plan targeting Trump

The Portland Press Herald

The plot reflects what federal officials have described as ongoing efforts by Iran to target U.S. government officials on U.S. soil.

Blind date: ‘Hopefully he thought I was funny, as I do try pretty hard’ – The Guardian

The Guardian

Florence, 25, a political science master’s student, meets Joe, 28, a civil servant.

Nuclear War NEWS

Chernobyl showed that nuclear sites can be war targets. Now what? – The Economist

The Economist

Not even the world’s experts on nuclear-power plants have a plan for how to keep them safe in conflict | Podcasts.

Terrifying nuclear war map reveals US targets in every state as WW3 fears skyrocket

Irish Star

A nuclear war map has been released showing the areas most likely to be targeted in the event of a nuclear attack on US soil, with potential …

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, November 8, 2024 | Institute for the Study of War

Institute for the Study of War

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be assuming that US President-elect Donald Trump will defer to the Kremlin’s interests and preferences …

Nuclear Power Emergencies NEWS

Data centers want nuclear power – Brookings Register

Brookings Register

… power Microsoft with nuclear energy … Moreover, the new reactors avoid meltdowns by removing heat in an emergency without external water or power.

Nuclear War Threats NEWS

Can Trump 2.0 defuse the nuclear threat? These Washington heavyweights fear not

The Sydney Morning Herald

Woodward was most impressed with Joe Biden’s management of the nuclear threat from Russia two years ago when Vladimir Putin was threatening to attack …

Could Israel Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Program With an All-Out Attack? | The National Interest

The National Interest

-Citing the Begin Doctrine, which advocates preemptive strikes on nuclear threats, Israel’s past actions against nuclear sites like Iraq’s Osirak …

Letter | Nuclear deterrence is mute on how to resolve root of conflict

South China Morning Post

Readers discuss Russia’s threat of nuclear strikes and North Korea’s role in the Ukraine war, Cheung Chau’s fading charms, and Hong Kong’s ..

SUNDAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS

Nuclear Power News

When you combine AI and nuclear power, the results can be catastrophic – The Hill

The Hill

The recent news that Microsoft has made a deal to restart the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant to run its AI data centers brings together two …

Uranium crisis threatens global nuclear power industry | News | denvergazette.com

Denver Gazette

Geopolitical tensions and processing limitations of refined uranium threaten nuclear power industry · The U.S. bans Russian uranium imports, investing …

Nuclear is the future of the US, expert says – YouTube

YouTube

2:48 · Go to channel. What a second Trump administration may hold for one part of clean energy: nuclear power. CNBC Television New 2.4K views · 6:54.

All Things Nuclear NEWS

Inside the Plan to Reopen Three Mile Island’s Nuclear Plant – WSJ

The Wall Street Journal

AI’s thirst for energy sealed the deal between Microsoft and Constellation on the plant, where memories of a partial meltdown in 1979 still …

UN nuclear head to visit Iran for talks on country’s nuclear program as next Trump presidency looms

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

VIENNA (AP) — The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Sunday he will travel to Iran in the coming days to hold talks regarding the …

He Never Voted Republican. Trump 2024 Changed That. – CNN One Thing – Podcast on CNN Audio

CNN

President-elect Donald Trump is claiming a mandate after making inroads with multiple demographics en route to a popular vote victory.

Nuclear War NEWS

NATO Military Chief Says Troops Would Be on Ground if Not for Russian Nukes – Newsweek

Newsweek

“If you fight in Afghanistan, that’s not the same as fighting the Russians in Ukraine,” Admiral Rob Bauer said on Sunday.

IAEA chief announces trip to Iran for talks on its rapidly advancing nuclear program

The Times of Israel

Grossi to hold high-level meetings with Tehran in coming days in effort to increase inspections of nuclear facilities.

Opinion | Why South Korea needs to reassess its hardline stance against Pyongyang

South China Morning Post

Pyongyang is being emboldened by its defence pact with Moscow while US support for Seoul is expected to be diluted under Trump.

Nuclear Power Emergencies NEWS

Exclusive: Biden administration buys last oil for emergency reserve as fund taps out

AllSides

Do black roofs make your house hotter? Gigafact. AllSides Media Bias Rating: Center. News. Bill Gates is all-in on nuclear power · Quartz. AllSides …

Nuclear War Threats NEWS

How will the recent US election affect Iran, Russia, and North Korea? – The Jerusalem Post

The Jerusalem Post

Russian and/or North Korean threats of support for Iran could lay the groundwork for a multi-state nuclear conflict, one that could come to …

South Korea, US ready to strike if North Korea launches nuclear attack – Warns President Yoon

Caliber.Az

He emphasized that Seoul possesses advanced defence and offensive capabilities to respond to any potential nuclear threats from North Korea.

Stockpile for war, Norwegians told — water, fuel, iodine tablets – The Times

The Times

However, it is not commonly believed that Norway is under serious threat of a ground invasion from Russia in the same way as Ukraine, not least …

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