The following letter of complaint is not only outrageous to witness and be able to openly read, it is deathly serious, and all countries with nuclear powered power plants must be aware that all things nuclear, especially nuclear power plants, are as dangerous to human life as nuclear war, and, in fact what is supposed to support human comforts may well become weapons of mass destruction both before or during a nuclear war. As an instance of nuclear irresponsibility and neglect this plea for help may be the worst example I have ever seen. The letter is short and to the point, and I beg you to read it with what it could portend in mind! ~llaw
POLITICS
Metsamor nuclear power plant poses huge nuclear threat to the region – OPEN LETTER
“We, representatives of Azerbaijan’s civil society and scientists, are appealing to the co-chairs of the Brussels Nuclear Energy Summit – the Prime Minister of Belgium, Mr. Alexander De Croo, and the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mr. Rafael Mariano Grossi – asking them to urge the Armenian government to immediately cease the operation of the country’s Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, which is in an emergency condition, has significantly exceeded its intended service life, and poses a global threat.
The Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, built in a 9.5-point seismic zone in 1976, operates using outdated technology and is designed to withstand an earthquake of 8 points in magnitude, poses a huge nuclear threat to Azerbaijan, Turkiye, Armenia and the region as a whole. The irresponsible conduct of the Armenian authorities regarding this nuclear power plant and the circulation of false reports about its operation are intended to mislead the world community and lead the region towards another Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters. This risk is increasing with each passing day. Instead of decommissioning the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant and following the rules and procedures expected by the international community, the Armenian authorities are trying to artificially extend its service life every time.
Liquid waste from the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant is ultimately discharged into the Araz, a trans-boundary river. The plant is located in a water-scarce area, drawing water from deep wells to cool its aging reactor. During earthquakes, it is possible to change the level of underground water and the direction of flows, which is a clear evidence of the unreliability of the cooling system.
The illegal trade of some nuclear materials originating from Metsamor is also of great concern. There are more than 200 radioactive sources in the territory of Armenia. These sources include various types of isotopes. There have also been cases of smuggling of radioactive isotopes in Armenia. This increases the possibility of using radionuclides for terrorist purposes.
The fact that the landfills where Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant waste is disposed are already full and the creation of a new nuclear waste landfill show that there are serious problems with the disposal of this waste.
We call on the International Atomic Energy Agency and other relevant international organizations to closely cooperate with the Republic of Azerbaijan as the worst affected country in this regard.
The Armenian authorities, which pay no heed to the nuclear safety of their own people and the peoples living in other regional states, can be forced to stop the operation of the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant only with a joint global effort. The Nuclear Energy Summit, which defines as its main direction the achievement of the goals arising from COP28, acts as a convenient platform in this regard. This is the expectation of the Azerbaijani community, which will host COP29.
Signatories:
Fagan Aliyev – International Eco-Energy Academy
Islam Mustafayev – “Ruzgar” Ecological Public Union
Sabit Bagirov – Entrepreneurship Development Foundation
Mirhasan Hasanov – “Union of Chernobyl Disabled People” Public Union
Eyvaz Asgarov – “Chernobyl Disabled People of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic” Public Union
Firuza Sultanzada – “EkoSfera” Social Ecological Center
Gulshan Akhundova – “Women, Development, Future” Public Union
Parvana Valiyeva – “Service to Health” Public Union
Muslim Gurbanov – “Ecoil” Scientific Ecological Public Union
Rovshan Abbasov – “Towards a Healthy Life” Ecological Public Union
Zurab Israfilov – “Azerbaijan Nature Protection Society” Public Union
Maryam Majidova – Youth Gender Equality Center “Gender Hub” Public Union
Zaur Ibrahimli – “Prioritet” Social Economic Research Center Public Union
Umud Mirzayev – International Eurasian Press Foundation
Israyil Iskandarov – “Umid” Social Development Support Public Union
Ramil Iskandarli – Legal Analysis and Research Public Union
Gunel Safarova – “Vatandash” Research and Development Public Union
Khalid Kazimov – Regional Human Rights and Media Center Public Union
Ahmad Abbasbayli – “Center for Community Development” Public Union
Elchin Mukhtarli – “Service to Health” Public Union
Amin Mammadov – Public Union “Experts in the Field of Water Use”
Elman Jafarli – “Green World” Environmental Awareness Public Union
Gorkhmaz Ibrahimli – Biosphere Public Union
Gamza Yusubova – Environmental Awareness and Monitoring Public Union
Rahila Mehtiyeva – “Socioeconomic and Ecological Development” Public Union
Irada Hasanova – “Sema va Eko” Social Economic Development Public Union
Tukazban Aghababayeva – Eco Hub Support for Ecological Initiatives
Sevil Isayeva – “Ekolex” Ecological Legal Center Public Union
Rustam Malikov – “Ana Kur” Public Association for Helping to Study Environmental Problems
Azizagha Hunbataliyev – Environmental Protection Public Union
Yazgul Abdiyeva – “Health Protection” Public Union
Ayyub Karimli – Economic and Social Research Public Union
Tavakkul Iskandarov – “Biological Diversity Center” Public Union
Jasarat Huseynzada – “Support for Information and Social Initiatives” Public Union
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“But as of today, the site work and all of that has really been focused on spots other than in Southwest Virginia. And the primary reason for that is …
Seacoast officials ask for more clarity on changes to Seabrook nuclear emergency plan. Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant Dan Tuohy—NHPR. Published: …
Come June, 2024, with or without a permit from regulators, the startup nuclear power company, Terra Power, wants to start work near a Pacific Corp. coal facility, which is in its waning days. The site is located just south of Kemmerer, Wyoming.
The whole concept of these SMR (Small Modular Reactor) has been fraught with questionable details and problems. For instance, the company has been waiting to begin its Demo Plant for two years because the uranium fuel to operate the plant is only available from Russia, and Russia is not making it available to Terra Power, and given the two nations’ relationships, perhaps never will. SMR’s are thus far of inadequate quality in both safety and durability (there are only two, both state-owned and controlled, operating world-wide thus far. One is in Russia and one is in China and the American largest company producing these start-up unproven power plants, NuScale Power, recently abandoned a project in Utah due to cost overruns and other financial difficulties.
Terra Power, which has already spent 8 years going nowhere beyond their dream, has raised about $1 Billion for a plant that will cost (unless it has the same fate as Nuscale, which is probable) about $4+ billion to engineer and construct. They expect half of that cost to come from the Department of Energy. They also expect the plant to be built and operational in just 6 years, including the NRC’s approval of the plant as safe, secure, functional, and operational, which would of course be an approval time record, but of course that will never happen. How they raised the $1 billion thus far is a mystery to me. Perhaps it all came out of Bill Gates’ pocket, or maybe a handout from General Electric.
If I were a betting man, I would never bet a plug nickel on the success on such an “out of this world” nuclear power plant, its planned reactors, and its ‘very cheap’ Natrium cooling system (a fancy name for liquid (molten) salt that allows a nuclear reactor to operate at much higher temperatures than conventional water cooling). Could anything possibly go wrong with a nuclear reactor operating at hundreds of degrees higher temperatures than conventional water-cooled nuclear reactors, which can and do melt down? That is still to be determined . . . ~llaw
A Bill Gates company is about to start building a nuclear power plant in Wyoming
TerraPower, which Bill Gates founded, plans to build its first nuclear power plant in the US.
CEO Chris Levesque told the Financial Times it wants to start work on a site in Wyoming in June.
TerraPower says its reactor design is cheaper because they’re cooled by liquid sodium, not water.
A company cofounded by Bill Gates is about to start building next-generation nuclear power plants in the US.
Chris Levesque, CEO of TerraPower, told the Financial Times that his firm will start building at a site near a coal plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming in June, even if it hasn’t received a construction permit from regulators by then.
The company plans to bring the nuclear plant online in 2030, he added.
TerraPower, which has raised $1 billion from backers, will use liquid sodium rather than water to cool its Natrium reactors, making them cheaper to run.
Most of the initial work at the Kemmerer site won’t be related to nuclear activity, Levesque said.
“When you use liquid sodium as a coolant instead of water it’s a game changer,” he told the FT.
“Natrium plants will cost half of what light water reactor plants cost … and we are moving our project along pretty aggressively.”
Gates helped found TerraPower in 2006 and has been its chairman since then. The company has said its aim is to provide the world with a more affordable, secure, and environmentally friendly form of nuclear energy.
Its Natrium reactor is expected to cost $4 billion, with about half the cost being met by the Department of Energy. CRV and Khosla Ventures are among the company’s VC backers, Reuters reported.
While Russian and Chinese state-controlled companies have already managed to launch smaller nuclear reactors, progress in developing similar tech in the US has stalled in recent years.
High interest rates have made it tougher for startups to draw in funding, while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent exclusion from financial markets has made it tougher for companies to get the uranium needed for their reactors.
In December 2022, TerraPower pushed back the launch of its flagship project by at least two years, which Levesque attributed to the war in Ukraine hitting supplies of high-assay, low-enriched uranium.
In October last year TerraPower missed out on making the shortlisted for the next round of the UK government’s competition for small nuclear plants. Rolls-Royce is one of the leading contenders with its small modular reactor (SMR) designs and has already secured more than £200m of government funding in Britain.
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There are 6 categories, including 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, as do ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links in each category about the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
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Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
A current Digest of major nuclear media headlines with automated links is listed below by nuclear Category (in the above listed order). If a Category heading does not appear in the daily news Digest, it means there was no news reported from this Category today. Generally, the three best articles in each Category from around the nuclear world(s) are Posted. Occasionally, if a Post is important enough, it may be listed in multiple Categories.
Should long-held concerns about nuclear be shelved due to the overriding challenge of the climate crisis? … “The hard part for nuclear, aside from all …
SEABROOK, N.H. —. The owners of New Hampshire’s only nuclear power plant will head back to the drawing board after proposing changes to its emergency …
While Russian nuclear war planning and wargaming against China came as a surprise to many, it should not have. While it is not politically correct in …
Sign up to our free breaking news emails · Russia has threatened to attack French troops as a “priority” if they are deployed on the ground in Ukraine, …
The “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” have added a 5th Horseman to spread the Word
LLAW’s CONCERNS & COMMENTS, Tuesday, (03/19/2024)
We absolutely have to learn the difference between Political and Capitalistic fairy tales and actual facts and truths and how the two opposing concepts of human speech are virtual opposites of human communication necessary in order to survive or face extinction.
“Propaganda” will serve to send us all to early graves if we can’t see the differences. Other than the usual “political” and “cultural” propaganda, even more importantly at the moment, there is the false concept of creating more weapons of mass destruction to enable a world-wide so-called “Deterrence” avoidance of nuclear war through “World Fear” instead of “World Peace” through peaceful common sense and respect for others without prejudice.
Common courtesies of civility and empathy toward all humanity rather than the insane idea threatening nuclear war as well as the also insane industry-fabricated environmental “value” of these potential stationary nuclear weapons of mass destruction, innocently called nuclear power plants, presently being falsely advertised as the savior to the global warming/climate change issue, are both deceitful fairy tales which are on the cusp of destroying humanity as well as all other life on our beautiful and bountiful planet Earth. We are being played for the suckers that we are.
And if you extrapolate what you just read from a small ‘neighborhood gang’ to a global gang of ‘world leaders’ (there are 9 of them at the moment) with huge gangs in every country on nearly every continent, and none of the leaders are representative of the gangs of the other world leaders, and then consider the scale of fear and force attempting to inflict their huge gang’s will and way on all the other worldly gangs.
It is precisely the same thing as the neighborhood gang, only on a global scale with unlimited force. And these world-sized gang leaders all have instant access to the same ultimate use of force, plus they are caught up in their own egotistical self-importance and self-aggrandizement and are dictators or otherwise authoritarian who use a smaller part of the their gang (e.g. the military) to protect them from both their own gang and everyone else’s gangs, too.
They lie and threaten one another every day, and feed their propaganda to not only their own gang, but everyone else’s gang, too. It’s those same four (now five) “Horsemen of the Apocalypse”, and we all know what Apocalypse means.
What do we have then? Utter chaos . . .~llaw
A comment or two from me and why I do this blog as a nightly Post to anyone who wants to listen:
I was in the army stationed in South Korea when the Cuban missile crisis began in mid-October of 1962. Today’s nuclear crisis is much more serious than the Cuban missile crisis ever was or could have been. Both Kennedy and Kruschev knew there would be no nuclear war, but now it’s not just about nuclear war, which could happen any day now, but also about the plethora of nuclear power plants that could well become also used as nuclear weapons of mass destruction as well as nuclear bombs.
I personally spent a part of three decades in the nuclear industry business, and knew well the propaganda and the lies (it is all about Capitalism), and I left it after the Three Mile Island near-meltdown fiasco, much of which is still being hidden from public knowledge. But nuclear propaganda now is enveloping the entire world.
Also, I have no fear of any of it, and no one should because fear is self-defeating, and because fear is not going to resolve the problem, yet our governmental leaders use ‘fear’ or ‘deterrence’ as defensive protection against nuclear war by constantly building more and more powerful nuclear weapons behind their threats. But if humanity is to survive we need to stop what our so-called “world leaders” are doing in the process of ending it all because if they can’t take it with them, neither can we.
I write and Post this nightly blog or column about what is happening in the nuclear world, and try to educate the public about the dangers of both nuclear war and nuclear power and how uranium fuel is the evil ignition of it all. They are both weapons of mass destruction and certain death.
As Albert Einstein said, the only way to stop it is to first have World Peace. And I have long agreed with him and many other scientists and other humanitarians who have known this since the early 1940s. I was born in 1941, and still remember as a toddler my parents’ grief of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to stop World War II by taking hundreds of thousands of innocent civilian lives with our two atomic bombs.
Today there are some 20,000+ nuclear bombs in evil hands around the world, and every one of them is almost infinitely more powerfully destructive than the atomic bombs that devastated Japan. So, instead of searching for peace, we hunt down our enemies in order to survive, when all we should have to do is find some kind of reasonable multilateral World Peace among all of us. But we never seem to think of peace as a uniter or unifier, but only war as a world divider.
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
There are 6 categories, including 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, as do ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links in each category about the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are no Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in tonight’s Post.)
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
A current Digest of major nuclear media headlines with automated links is listed below by nuclear Category (in the above listed order). If a Category heading does not appear in the daily news Digest, it means there was no news reported from this Category today. Generally, the three best articles in each Category from around the nuclear world(s) are Posted. Occasionally, if a Post is important enough, it may be listed in multiple Categories.
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Unless Californians address these primary drivers of electricity shortages, the state risks perpetually suffering from major energy emergencies. We’ve …
For Moscow, the nuclear card has been useful in deterring deeper NATO involvement in the conflict. “Everything is possible in the modern world,” Putin …
The first and only nuclear weapons ever used killed over 100,000 people and caused long-term health, psychological, economic and environmental damage | National Archive/Newsmakers
LLAW’s CONCERNS & COMMENTS, Monday, (03/18/2024)
The following article from Politico.eu deals with the same topic as I posted about yesterday evening — and that is the problem with our “Leaders”, and though this discussion mentions only 5, there are 9 of them, who could easily begin WWIII, and given enough time there will soon be more. They must all be dethroned before one of them pushes the nuclear button.
As I said yesterday, and I’ll say it again today, there is just one way to get rid of our nuclear armed “leaders”, and that is via protests and demands of you and me and the rest of the subordinate human population around the globe by whatever means are required. I believe that if we unite with a peaceful single intent internationally, we can make it happen, but time is of the essence . . . “The voice and the pen can be mightier than the bomb.” (line borrowed and upgraded from novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton)
However, the remedies suggested in this article, “more diplomacy and resilience-based solutions”, are far too weak to work. We have been trying to do that for nigh on 80 years, and have failed with every attempt. The only solution is to, as I have subtitled all of my 573 Posts in 573 consecutive days, “End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”. That requires removing the insanity of egomaniacal power-crazy “leaders” of every country that has nuclear anything, including nuclear power plants or even visions of grandeur in their envious eyes. ~llaw
POLITICO.eu
As ‘Oppenheimer’ wins big, we should worry about lowering of nuclear thresholds
Just as Oppenheimer challenged Truman on U.S. nuclear strategy, we too must challenge our leaders’ attachment to nukes.
Sophie-Jade Taylor is a senior network development and communications manager at the European Leadership Network nonprofit. Retired Air Marshall Sir Graham Stacey is a senior consulting fellow at the European Leadership Network.
Last summer, director Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” captivated the global public, making history as the highest ever grossing biopic. And having already won big at the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs, the film closed awards season by sweeping the Oscars last weekend.
The film brought fresh awareness of the unique, destructive power that J. Robert Oppenheimer’s creation unleashed. The first and only nuclear weapons ever used — the “Little Boy” dropped on Hiroshima and the “Fat Man” on Nagasaki — packed the equivalent of 15,000 and 21,000 tons of TNT respectively, killing over 100,000 people and causing long-term health, psychological, economic and environmental damage.
By comparison, the world’s most powerful nukes today yield over 1.2 megatons of TNT — 60 times more than Oppenheimer’s bombs.
And much like Oppenheimer, General Leslie Groves and then U.S. President Harry S. Truman, today’s leaders once again find themselves facing huge moral and strategic choices at the dawn of a new technological age. The full weight of nuclear devastation lies in the hands of just a select few. Their decisions have profound implications for humanity — and this shouldn’t be left to chance.
Recognizing the unimaginable horror a modern nuclear conflict would unleash, as recently as January 2022, all five leaders of the nuclear weapons states reaffirmed that a nuclear war couldn’t be won and must never be fought.
All five leaders of the nuclear weapons states recently reaffirmed that a nuclear war couldn’t be won and must never be fought | Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images
Yet, we have been witnessing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s irresponsible nuclear saber-rattling around Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. There have been worrying reports of rock-bottom thresholds for nuclear use — with enemy incursion into territory, the destruction of strategic weapons delivery systems, and even conventional weapons use deemed as posing an existential threat to Russian statehood.
And though Moscow outwardly rejects the policy, such ambiguity seemingly points toward communicating “first strike” capabilities, which rightly should be condemned and carefully assessed.
On the other hand, China continues to push states for political commitments toward the universalization of a No First Use Policy, while also furthering the development of its own arsenal under a worrying lack of transparency — a dilemma that has added complexity to an already intricate and perilous geopolitical chessboard.
Meanwhile, in the West — seemingly without much public discussion or comment — we’ve seen a worrying trend in declarations that states could use nuclear weapons to deter “non-nuclear threats,” again lowering the so-called nuclear threshold in an attempt to provide a quick fix to nuanced challenges.
At this very critical moment, “Oppenheimer” has brought discussions of nuclear weapons back into the public arena. And while the attention will undoubtedly recede, ongoing public engagement on these issues must not. Civic engagement shapes policymaking, and at a time of rising nuclear risks and growing temptation for states to become more reliant on their nuclear weapons, the public deserves a better understanding of when and why a catastrophic weapon may be deployed.
For example, in 2021, the British government stated that while it wouldn’t use nuclear weapons against any non-nuclear weapon state, it remained open to reviewing its policy should any threat from “emerging technologies” with “comparable impact” make nuclear weapon use necessary. Similarly, in 2022, the U.S. declared that the aim of its nuclear arsenal was to deter both nuclear and non-nuclear “strategic-level attacks.” Problematically, however, neither the U.K. nor the U.S. have detailed what “comparable impact” or “strategic-level attack” may mean.
These policies not only lower the nuclear-use threshold and increase global nuclear risks, but they may not even be feasible, given most contemporary threats against states now sit outside the military realm.
While it’s near impossible for a nuclear strike to go undetected, the same isn’t true for emerging technologies such as AI and autonomous systems. By their very design, these technologies are largely democratized and untied to a single government. For instance, the challenge of attribution in cyber is well-documented, and while cyber-attacks have been linked to state-sponsored hacking groups, these groups couldn’t be easily deterred by the threat of a nuclear strike.
As a 2021 U.K. parliamentary report on risk assessment and mitigation noted, today’s security risks do not respect national borders; rather, they have international impact and require global responses. In this new risk environment, governments must focus on developing their national resilience and preparedness to mitigate threats — not just use the blunt and horrific instrument of nuclear weapons as a cure-all.
Increasing the already harrowing role of nuclear weapons in foreign policy undermines the moral and legal position of nuclear weapons states. The logic and evidence behind the current U.K. and U.S. policies of relying on nuclear weapons as a panacea must be subject to greater public and parliamentary scrutiny — as should be the case with open democracies who say they have transparent nuclear policies.
Amid rising global volatility and technological uncertainty, it’s imperative for states to explore non-nuclear solutions that emphasize international cooperation, diplomacy and societal resilience. And there’s an opportunity here for the U.K. and the U.S. to lead the way in international law and treaties that respond to non-nuclear strategic threats more effectively.
Instead of resorting to old playbooks, both policymakers and the public must appreciate that emerging technologies require a new mindset in their management and new legal constructs to regulate their proliferation, development and control. Recent international efforts like last November’s Bletchley AI Safety Summit and the agreement to begin a dialogue on AI risks by U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are important first steps. But much more needs to be done.
Just as Oppenheimer, haunted by his role in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, challenged Truman on U.S. nuclear strategy, we too must challenge our leaders’ continued attachment to nukes — weapons that can only destroy — and push toward more diplomacy and resilience-based solutions to today’s complex challenges.
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
There are 6 categories, including 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, as do ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links in each category about the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are no Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in tonight’s Post.)
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.
… Things to Do · All Things to Do · All PPH Events … Many of the tests involved nuclear-capable missiles designed to attack South Korea and the mainland …
The following article is a summary of an interview of Tom Shanker’s opinion concerning the Director of National Intelligence’s Threat Assessment of nuclear war threats. My thoughts are that Putin, who is a dictator who has indiscriminate power over his country, is an old man who believes if he can’t take his power and idealism with him, no one else can either, including his own people. That means he will do what he decides to do, because as Shanker says, he doesn’t care about public opinion and unless he is assassinated or he dies suddenly, he will due whatever he has a mind to.
But then, too, regardless of what Putin may decide to do, there are “Threats” coming from every nuclear armed country on the planet, so who knows who, when, and why one of them will push the nuclear button that would most likely mark the end for us all, and all other living creatures as well . . . ~llaw
GWU’s Thom Shanker: DNI’s Annual Threat Assessment; Take the Russian Nuclear Threat Seriously
THOM SHANKER: Russia remains one of our most significant threats. It is a nuclear power and has been for a long time, so that has not changed. But this newly belligerent, hostile Putin is taking aim at the United States.
People always ask me if there is a new cold war with Russia. My answer is we’re already at war with Russia, or at least Putin is at war with us. The Director of National Intelligence predicts that Putin will absolutely accelerate his malign attempts to influence our election this year using all sorts of cyber, AI, and all that in ways far greater and perhaps more damaging than last time around. So that is their biggest concern, and that is putting aside Putin’s illegal invasion of the sovereign Ukraine.
ANDREW WALWORTH, REALCLEARPOLITICS: Putin gave an interview yesterday where he talked about nuclear weapons again. He said, “We are ready to use any weapons when talking about the existence of the Russian state, damaging our sovereignty or independence.” That’s being interpreted as saying he might deploy nuclear weapons in Europe. How seriously should we take that?
THOM SHANKER: Very seriously, at our risk do we not believe what Putin says out loud. In 2007, he said he might invade Georgia. That happened in 2008. He talked about Ukraine being a natural part of Russia, he invaded twice in 2014 and 2022. So when Putin talks about the possibility of tactical nuclear weapons, we better listen carefully. That said, there are strong reasons why he says that, not just for battlefield purposes. He wants to scare the American people and all of the NATO citizenry into not supporting Ukraine for fear of a nuclear weapon being dropped in Europe. We should take it seriously, nuclear weapons have always been part of Russia’s warfighting plans, but there is a strategic communications aspect to this as well. Most analysts think Putin would not resort to tactical nukes in Ukraine except as an, “I’m about to lose” scenario. And right now, things on the ground are going relatively well for Russia, so why should he do that?
ANDREW WALWORTH: How much of this do you think is for domestic consumption in Russia? He’s got to keep his people in line and scared, I guess.
THOM SHANKER: Yes and no, which is not a helpful answer. There is a Russian domestic part of this. He goes on television, people are watching, but Putin doesn’t care about Russian public opinion. Russia has lost more men in the battle for Ukraine. It is the highest number since World War Two and Putin is still conscripting, sending men off to fight and die. So he doesn’t really care about public opinion, he is going to win the election. He’s very stable in power right now. So I think he tips his hat to the Russian psyche, saying, “We are strong, we have nukes.” But this is not about him courting some constituency in his population that he thinks he might lose. That is not happening.
The headline here: Putin doesn’t care about you. Putin to Russian people: drop dead.
…
[The DNI’s] assessment of China is very sophisticated. With Putin, Putin is likely to meddle in our election because he has a favorite candidate. He says he doesn’t but it is true. One of the two candidates, buy threatening NATO, by saying we shouldn’t fund Ukraine, serves Russia’s interests more than the other candidates.
China is interesting. They don’t really have a preferred presidential candidate, because on this at least, Trump and Biden are fairly aligned in wanting to stand firm to the rise of China. To me, as the DNI’s report says, China’s interest in election meddling is just to mess with our heads and mess with our domestic politics, to make things even messier. To which I say, “Why bother? It’s already happening, we’re doing it on our own.”
ANDREW WALWORTH: The DNI report did talk about China first, and I think spent more time on that than on Russia. When you look at China right now, what’s your major concern and how worried are you about what they’re doing in the South China Sea, when it comes to Taiwan?
THOM SHANKER: That to me is the real threat. The election meddling came first with China because they’re better at it, and more sophisticated. They have more tools. And because Russia has a clear incentive whereas China is more subtle.
I am deeply worried about potential Chinese aggression against Taiwan. China has interests in a stable global economy, their growth is dependent on it and they’re facing challenges at home. At the same time, China is almost neuralgic about reuniting with Taiwan and making it formally part of China. It is a real challenge for what U.S. policy is. Most of our military platforms are simply outdated. Aircraft carriers can’t operate closely because of Chinese air defenses. There’s a lot of exciting work being done in drone research, where we could flood the Taiwan straits with thousands of cheap drones, some with intelligent gathering abilities, some with weapons, to make China wonder. The whole point of how we deal with Chian is deterrence. We don’t want to get into a shooting war with China. We want to suppress fires, not get to them. We want to have the kinds of new technologies that make China wonder, if we launched an attack on China today, might we not succeed? It’s all about advanced warnings, intelligence, and cheap attritable weapons systems. Not these super expensive big top carriers which are so vulnerable.
…
What I look at is an aggressive China and Russia, that we talked about. Look at North Korea continuing with weapons development, Iran, the situation in Gaza which will upset the entire Mideast for a generation, and the Houthis threatening shipping in the Red Sea. I’m deeply concerned that we’re going to look back on these months and say, we didn’t know it then, but that is when World War Three started.
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
There are 6 categories, including 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, as do ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links in each category about the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
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Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
A current Digest of major nuclear media headlines with automated links is listed below by nuclear Category (in the above listed order). If a Category heading does not appear in the daily news Digest, it means there was no news reported from this Category today. Generally, the three best articles in each Category from around the nuclear world(s) are Posted. Occasionally, if a Post is important enough, it may be listed in multiple Categories.
… all sorts of cyber, AI, and all that in ways far greater and perhaps more damaging than last time around. So that is their biggest concern, and that …
1 nuclear power plant into the sea concluded Sunday, with the next round possibly starting next month, the plant’s operator said. Tokyo Electric Power …
While this is a significant decline from the approximately 70,000 warheads owned by the nuclear-armed states during the Cold War, nuclear arsenals are …
… nuclear weapons to attack Britain … It will be remembered for the accompanying threats to unleash a humanity-obliterating nuclear war upon the world.
Once again, in the following ‘optimistic’ story about submarines that carry nuclear weapons of mass destruction, we see how nuclear “deterrence” means “fear”. Whether ‘deterrence’ stems from the air, on land, or underwater, remains the same — useless. All we really have to rely on to avoid nuclear war, which would automatically lead instantly to WWIII, or Armageddon” (as it’s called in this article) is ourselves and our world-wide universal cooperative power of voice and the written word to demand our leaders to STOP. And the longer we take to speak out, the less likely our voices will ever be heard . . .
If just one nuclear armed nation drops a nuclear bomb via a missile or airplane, or uses invading troops and and ground-based tactical nuclear weapons, or eradicates a major city with nuclear armed submarines, “deterrence” instantly becomes useless regardless of how a nuclear weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is delivered. Like agreements, treaties, covenants, or any other pretense of world peace, does not ensure defense because in the nuclear war world there is no defense. Nuclear war is a synonym for annihilation ( or Armageddon if you prefer that word). There can be no ‘winner’ because we would all be equal ‘losers’, including Mother Earth and our fellow living critters of all kinds.
So, how pitiful it is that we continue to spend trillions of dollars that could be used for peaceful purposes, and everything else imaginable that we humans have including a life (that one would thing ought to be enjoyable) trying bassackwardsly to defend ourselves from weapons that cannot be defended against (except perhaps by a few anti-missile missiles), which would be useless in an actual all-out nuclear attack. And, as for ‘minor’ use of nuclear weapons (for instance, say, Russia on Ukraine), I have to wonder what country would be stupid enough to launch just ‘a little’ nuclear attack, because in a full scale nuclear war, all that minor attack would be is ‘outrageous’ and ‘intolerable’, and would be instant nuclear target practice for whatever kind of nuclear ‘armageddon’ is very shortly going to follow.
How on Earth does one get ready for the the nuclear “unthinkable” as used in the Headline of this article, even as such as it infers in this story. Nuclear armed submarines are a clever nuclear war weapon of mass destruction, but they are no different from missiles, airplane bombers, and so-called ground “tactical nuclear weapons” that are multiple times more powerful than those atomic bombs the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
There is only one way to avoid nuclear war weapons of mass destruction (including nuclear power plants), and that is to get rid of them before they get rid of us. And the only way to do that would mean that ‘World Peace’ has to come first. And I hope y’all go to bed tonight wondering how on Earth that will ever happen. ~llaw
The ‘Armageddon base’ where America’s nuclear capability is ready for the unthinkable
A tour of the US Fleet Forces Command headquarters at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia provides a chilling glimpse of the power that lies beneath the waves
Beneath the ocean’s tranquil surface lurk the silent titans of our age: nuclear submarines.
These leviathans have the power to transform bustling metropolises into irradiated wastelands in the blink of an eye.
Their most chilling aspect, however, lies not in their devastating might but in their ghost-like ability to glide unseen and undetected through the world’s oceans.
As tension between the US and Russia continues to rise amid the war in Ukraine, Washington and Nato have voiced concern over increasing submarine activity in the Atlantic.
Deterring Moscow
“Russian submarines are the only existential threat to the United States, especially with their capabilities to remain undetected in the oceans,” says Admiral Daryl Caudle, head of US Fleet Forces Command.
The National spoke to the admiral and other naval officers during a tour of US Fleet Forces Command headquarters at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia, the largest naval base in the world.
It is also known as the “Armageddon” or “Doomsday” base because it houses an unparalleled number of nuclear missile platforms.
The base is a port for 18 American submarines, most of which are equipped to carry nuclear warheads.
Admiral Caudle told journalists that Moscow, despite its “significant economic problems”, has concentrated on building “strategic capabilities for its nuclear submarines and developing space programme capabilities”.
According to Global Firepower, Russia has 65 submarines, making it the world’s largest submarine-operating country.
It is believed that the Russian Navy has about 21 nuclear-powered submarines, including eight strategic and 13 nuclear-powered attack vessels, along with some diesel-powered models.
“We know their [Russian] submarines can operate under the ice in their patrol areas, and their missiles can reach almost anywhere in the world, which is naturally a source of concern as well,” Admiral Caudle says.
Admiral Caudle speaks to journalists about US nuclear submarines. Mohamed Maher / The National
Deterrence, he emphasises, is the only way to counter this threat.
US Strategic Command plays a role in this through “deploying our own set of ballistic missile submarines through an extended deterrence model, and we can extend deterrence to include additional threats as well”.
“This is the naval component of the nuclear triad,” Admiral Caudle says.
The nuclear triad, known as the Tripartite Nuclear Deterrence Strategy, refers to the US strategy that relies on three types of nuclear weapon launch systems: intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), strategic bombers and nuclear submarines.
The US has three types of attack submarines: the Los Angeles class SSN 688, the Seawolf-class and the Virginia-class SSN 774.
The Virginia is expected to be the backbone of the US submarine fleet until about 2070.
The purpose of the triad is to ensure the US has several independent means of launching a nuclear attack, thus increasing the difficulty of completely disabling the state’s nuclear capability.
Threats abroad
“Maritime security requires a continuous presence in the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, the High North and the Atlantic Ocean, around Africa and of course in the Arabian Gulf,” Admiral Caudle says.
“This is our mission in Nato.”
The Gulf has become an increasing area of concern for the US, as Yemen’s Houthi rebels continue to launch attacks on commercial shipping lane in the Red Sea.
While the Houthis are far from possessing nuclear capabilities, their close alliance with Iran, which is widely believed to have the ultimate goal of building a nuclear weapon, has many countries on high alert.
As to tension with Russia, which has also become more aligned with Iran militarily, Admiral Caudle says that US naval patrols are conducted in the Baltic Sea to ensure security in the vital area.
This encourages co-operation with new partner states Sweden and Finland, as well as Germany and the Baltic states.
Training and technology
The US submarine fleet comprises about 54 per cent of the country’s nuclear deterrence arsenal.
Submariners undergo rigorous training and must meet high standards to qualify for service.
The intense training is needed for using advanced technology in the latest submarines, such as the Virginia-class vessels.
Commander Brian Rhoades, commanding officer of the Submarine Learning Facility Norfolk, told journalists that training helps submariners learn to work in harsh conditions and simulates real combat situations.
Training at the centre is mainly conducted on Virginia-class models.
The new generation is equipped with advanced cameras, remote sensing and eavesdropping devices, in addition to traditional sonar.
But the periscope, one of the distinctive features of traditional submarines, will remain, as significant improvements provide a panoramic view of the surface when the vessel is under water.
Deterrence in the Pacific
US, UK and Australia announce joint security initiative
In September 2021, the US, the UK and Australia signed a security agreement, Aukus, under which Canberra will acquire nuclear submarines for the first time, despite it being a non-nuclear state.
The agreement was aimed at countering China’s rising military influence in the Pacific Ocean, with tension increasing with neighbours Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines, in addition to Taiwan.
“One of the reasons we agreed to proceed with Aukus … is that we see it as a means through which we can help ensure safety and security in the region, and also for peace in the Indian and Pacific oceans,” Bonnie Jenkins, US undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, told The National.
After the signing of the agreement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin accused the three nations of engaging in “hegemonic practice” and said the deal demonstrates a “Cold War mentality” towards China.
Beijing has also accused Aukus of undermining nuclear non-proliferation agreements.
But Ms Jenkins emphasised that the agreement did not breach the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty “in any way”.
“Australia will not develop any nuclear weapons. It will not acquire nuclear weapons. It will not enrich uranium or reprocess spent fuel,” she said.
“We will ensure that everything we provide to Australia cannot be used in a way that enables them to use nuclear fuel to make a nuclear weapon.”
Updated: March 15, 2024, 11:08 AM
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
There are 6 categories, including 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, as do ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links in each category about the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
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Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
A current Digest of major nuclear media headlines with automated links is listed below by nuclear Category (in the above listed order). If a Category heading does not appear in the daily news Digest, it means there was no news reported from this Category today. Generally, the three best articles in each Category from around the nuclear world(s) are Posted. Occasionally, if a Post is important enough, it may be listed in multiple Categories.
… nuclear war with the West. But Ukraine’s soldiers have been struggling … It also comes as Democrats’ patience with Israel has worn increasingly thin …
… threats as well”. “This is the naval component … nuclear attack, thus increasing the difficulty of completely disabling the state’s nuclear capability …
Given the warlike and nuclear position of the conditions on planet Earth these days, I have to wonder why we fight so hard against the ideal kind of universal government we call (with propagandized conditioned disdain) Socialism, which is where, if done properly, and without corruption that exists in every other form of government, society, or social system as well anyway, we just might manage to eventually achieve world peace, equality, and tranquility (that I call Felicity) for all of humanity, nature, the environment, and all other living things before we exterminate ourselves with nuclear war, and/or all other things nuclear, including nuclear power plants.
Instead of WWIII, we should give global Socialism one last try because we are running out of chances to save ourselves from extinction . . . ~llaw
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
There are 6 categories, including 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, as do ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links in each category about the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are 3 Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in tonight’s Post.)
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.
China has slapped down Vladimir Putin after the Russian president said that he was ready for nuclear war. Beijing said nuclear powers should “jointly …
… Yellowstone Caldera or a smaller heat source, according to the NPS. 7 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. Palette Spring at Mammoth Hot …
The mainstream news is still conjecturing about Putin’s new threat(s), now added to. Some of the MSM articles below try to understand its content, meaning, and seriousness . . .
But also there is one Yellowstone story that could calm us all down a bit. Resident Alien is playing on Netflix these days and here is a story from a future series and episode: Five Thoughts on Resident Alien‘s “Lovebird”
This week on Resident Alien, Harry decided he would move in with Heather to her home planet, naturally leading Asta to plot to break them up so he would stay committed to protecting Earth. D’Arcy, however, was more troubled to learn Ben is an alien abductee, and struggled with whether to tell him or not. Oh, and Max decided to steal Harry’s model of the Yellowstone Caldera for the science fair.
1. So Much… Tongue
I know, it’s a comedy, so it’s not very profound to say it’s funny as hell, but good lord, Harry and Heather’s sexual antics completely broke me; I know it’s absolutely revolting that they’re do it in Asta’s truck, on the sofa in Harry’s office, and in her bathroom, but goddamn it’s hysterical – like D’Arcy says, it’s as if Asta has two cats who are constantly in heat. The scene where Harry declares his plan to leave Earth was an amazing mix of plot progression and epic cringe comedy, and Alan Tudyk & Edi Patterson deserve all the awards for their relentless portrayal of Harry and Heather’s passion, as do Sara Tomko & Alice Wetterlund for not breaking character. And the shot of Heather pooping on Lady Liberty? Well, now I really have seen everything.
2. Truth Hurts
Harry can tell Asta and D’Arcy aren’t on board with his full-blown love affair and gets really obnoxious about it, stating they’re just jealous and that’s why they’ll die lonely old spinsters, among other rude comments. Still, his claim D’Arcy is needy gnaws away at her, leading her to decide to tell Ben the truth to prove she’s not selfish. Harry’s behavior was correct in the sense sometimes true friends call each other out on their bullshit, but he’s not self-aware to realize in his case that he’s just weaponizing the truth to hurt them, and that if he were in their shoes, they’d be trying to break him and Heather up too – which is all very ironic for the one giving a monologue about potentially causing an imbalance, chemical or otherwise.
3. Max You Little Shit
Max asks Harry for his help creating an impressive science fair display, but he and Heather bully him out of their home, not wanting to be bothered, so the boy steals the caldera model and the grey chemical Harry was studying while they’re in the bedroom. Stealing the model I can understand, that was petty revenge, but the chemical? That was very immature and reckless: did Max learn nothing from the last time he stole something mysterious from Harry? What a smug little man you’re becoming. At least the incident led Ben and Kate to admit they’re pretty bad parents, and Harry to discover the greys were planning to use the chemical in conjunction with the caldera eruption to make Earth’s gravity more suitable for them.
4. Patience is More Like an Archipelago Than a Town
There’s so much going on in Patience now, I’m not surprised Asta forgot to tell D’Arcy Jay’s staying with them now. Mike’s on Joseph’s trail, while trying to uncover what the physics formula in Peter’s diary is, but the constant mockery Liv is facing over the documentary causes her to lose faith in herself, and believe she caused Wendy’s murder by inviting Peter to the town. Torres also shows up to warn Mike that he’s stepping into something far beyond his usual field of expertise.
Fortunately, Kate cheers Liv up with her newfound interest in alien abductions, leading her to pass on details of a nearby support group; their conversation also causes Kate to discover the tracking chip in the back of her neck. D’Arcy then shares the truth with Ben, awkwardly it must said, and I could only imagine how helpful it would’ve been if she knew what Kate’s going through; still, at least Ben seems open-minded about the idea. Oh, and David Logan managed to duplicate Peter’s ability to see aliens’ true forms – what a busy episode!
5. Heartbreak!
The episode ends on an eerie note, as the little ditty Harry composes about Heather on the guitar gives way to Joseph grabbing her on the street, and blackmailing her into spying on him for the greys. Poor Harry: he’s especially vulnerable given he feels he can share everything with her. My first thought was that Mike better find Joseph soon, which led me back to him bumping into Torres on the street: wasn’t that rather sudden and random? And didn’t Mike mentioning her (still unseen) son come across awkwardly? What if it was Joseph in disguise? Or what if… Lena is a hybrid too?
Continued below (But not here on “All Things Nuclear” . . .
– We learn from her foster mother that Jay is ADHD and queer, so I take back what I said last week: Jay was the show’s first LGBT character.
– I’m not surprised Kate’s the worst-rated teacher at the school: I do not recall ever seeing her teach a class.
– Harry realizing he should’ve used “sex” instead of “intercourse” in his song was absolutely note-perfect, as I had the exact same thought. Oh no… what is this show doing to me?
– It’s wild we’ve had Terry O’Quinn in two episodes where he’s shirtless, doesn’t have any dialogue, and in this part, dressed like the Borg.
See you next week for “Bye Bye Birdie,” which certainly doesn’t sound ominous. I’m serious by the way, doesn’t the thought of Ann-Margret fill you with joy? Anyway, “time to say goodbye!”
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Christopher Chiu-Tabet
Chris is the news manager of Multiversity Comics. A writer from London on the autistic spectrum, he enjoys tweeting and blogging on Medium about his favourite films, TV shows, books, music, and games, plus history and religion. He is Lebanese/Chinese, although he can’t speak Cantonese or Arabic.
Now back to a new kind of fiction, based on possible future reality: In order to edit and update the Preface to the in-progress novel “Ell Nuclear Diablo” , re-edited and now altogether in a single introductory opening to the story that will be presented here on a bi-weekly basis updated every two weeks on this nightly Post, I have delayed Chapter 1 for two additional weeks in order to provide the ‘Preface’ to new readers and others who may have already read part or all of the former draft, with a new suggestion about how the reader and I can keep up with current story as it is posted.
I will Post a single chapter at a time instead of in segments as I had originally planned to do. This will provide more continuity and easier recollection of the content of each story and the overall novel. I suggest that you copy and paste each chapter (including this revised and edited “Prologue” to your own download/document file under the file name “El Nuclear Diablo” and gradually add to the novel, which will make it easier to read on your own time and also have it all in one place rather than spread in new bi-weekly “All Things Nuclear Posts”. You can begin that ‘book-building’ effort tonight by copying the ‘Preface’ to the new file you set up. I hope you will assemble the book in this manner, but if you can’t but still want to read the story you can find it here either on Substack or on my own “LLAWs Worlds” website on every Thursday night’s Post. I have added a new Heading description to isolate the bi-weekly Post, beginning tonight, just below:
”El Nuclear Diablo” Preface (Thursday, 03/16/24)
El Nuclear Diablo
“Let the Bastards Freeze to Death in the Dark” ~Nuclear Industry Quote after the 3-Mile Island nuclear accident in 1979, directed at concerned Scientists, worried citizens, and public protesters.
By Lloyd Albert Williams-Pendergraft (writing as the fictional “Albert Lloyd Williams)
Prologue (complete version)
. . . introduction written from Juneau, Alaska, by Albert Lloyd Williams, Nuclear Physicist & Chief Nuclear Engineer, Williams’ Atomic Laboratories, San Francisco
Early Spring, 2026
Does it really matter who, exactly, is to blame, or why humankind is savagely devouring the native resources of planet Earth until there soon will be nothing left but lichenless barren rocks, the salty seas, countless grains of sand, and a poisonous atmosphere? It ought to be not enough to just know it is a critical unvarnished ugly truth. The question should be more like, “When will it happen and is there no way out of it?” Should it not?
I can only wonder if highly intelligent, but virulent, forms of our human species have, for countless eons, long traveled through the universal cosmos continually seeking, finding, and lavishly consuming, ultimately ravaging the natural resources, the flora and the fauna, t the environments of this and other living rich blue-green planets also once full of fossil fuels and innocent living resources similar to Earth’s in order to ensure and serve their own survival at the expense of all else in their way. Obviously, we are the only species on this planet who rape and ravage the earth with such savagely uncontrolled vigor on such a large scale. We are the ultimate u ultimate fungus, the ultimate lethal mushrooms. And I have to also wonder if there are not multiple, or at least two species of us.
Not to ridicule Darwin at all, but does his theory of evolution, based on studies of inbreeding pigeons and chickens, really make much sense to you in this context? Does it not seem to you that we humans may be collectively aggressively demanding, ruthless, impolite, unwelcome extra-terrestrial galaxy-trotting invaders doing our parasitic thing here on Earth rather than a native natural-born integral integrated key part of our indigenous homo-sapiens and the native animal population—as Darwin would have us believe? What about the Octopus, sir?
Could it be possible we or they are simply biologically genetically patterned to look and act like homo sapiens? Or perhaps vice versa? At least some of us? Maybe even a whole lot of us? How do we know the difference between the real human beings and genetically altered or cloned ones? Which one am I? Which one are you? Do any of us know? I use the terms “we”, “us” or “our” and “they”, or “them”, or “their interchangeably here because in this context I don’t know who or what I am—an “us” or a “them”.
I just know that I am extremely uncomfortable with our or their willfully passionate desire to destroy everything on the planet for personal power, wealth, and a life of comfort at the expense of the rest of us or them. I don’t know about you, but it sure seems to be that way to me, so that’s why I consider myself to be an us.
At the very least we need to consider the possibility of at least one species of them and one of us. The only way we will ever know who we really are is through our unfettered natural mindful emotions—our feelings of love, care, and respect for Planet Earth, ourselves, and all her fauna and flora—or, conversely, our unnatural lack of those emotions or feelings. Yet we often disguise these characteristics, presenting the opposite of ourselves as themselves, or the other way around. But despite the hidden complexity, our future may depend on solving this psychological dilemma.
If our demise (at least partially) has happened before, it will likely happen again. And there is, in today’s worlds, a very quick, relatively easy long-lasting, if not eternally, way to create such a scenario as an extinction level event, not from an act of nature or a god, but from our own actions. ~llaw
# Before the Beginning of the End
Our small party of seven women (including two teen-aged daughters) and five men (one a teen son) left California from Carmel Bay bound for Juneau, Alaska, on a rainy Friday morning five days after the “accident” that began at Pacific Gas and Electric’s El Diablo Cañón nuclear power plant on a sunny Monday morning, disrupting the entire United States electrical power grid system in a single day before becoming a global disaster by Thursday afternoon. We all knew what had happened and we knew it was not an accident like the MSM was reporting to all of us around the world until by Thursday morning there was no reporting at all. What our little group did not know was who and what was responsible, but we all had our own suspicions. No one wanted to discuss them, because at this point it didn’t really matter anyway. The irrevocable damage was done. We also knew the rain was not a good thing now, or in the long run as time goes by. But, laughably enough, one of us who had the foresight to bring along a Geiger counter reported excitedly, a wide grin on his face, “Hey, it’s okay for now.” No one smiled back. We had a long way to go and we were no more than a mere one hundred and fifty miles north of the remains of the Diablo nuclear facility releasing massive doses of nuclear radiation from every ruptured cell it had, both internally and from its own filthy poisonous airborne waste.
These last several days we have followed spring’s warming north along the western United States and British Columbia coasts by yacht. Any boat is ripe for the pickings of choice at any deserted marina, which would likely be most all of them, although two of our crew also happen to be the legal owners of our schooner, which offers us all some conscience relief.
California, Oregon, and Washington (other than the shoddy shutdown activity at Diablo Canyon, have long been devoid of operational nuclear power plants with the exception of Washington’s inland Richmond plant (known as the “Columbia River Generating Station”), which, unlike Diablo Canyon was, is not in the process of closing, leaving it to be the only functional nuclear power facility anywhere in the entire Pacific Northwest or anywhere else along the western Pacific coastline from the Aleutians to Tierra del Fuego. We very soon will be looking forward to scientific help from the governmental and corporate experts in eastern Washington who are still to this day handling and cleaning up the fallout from the infamous Hanford plutonium military arms manufacturing disaster that has contaminated wide swaths of earth and the Columbia River for decades. Oregon has not had an operating nuclear power plant since the mid-1990s when their only facility, near Mt. St. Helens, developed structural cracks forcing the plant to close, and British Columbia has, quite honorably, never built one. Alaska’s only nuclear facility was shut down more than fifty years ago, and today it uses diesel engines to generate steam. Juneau is the closest downwind haven from nuclear airborne protection and freedom from contamination that the climate and geography can offer, along with the fortunate absence of nearby previously operational nuclear power facilities, providing at least a temporary refuge from the eastern Asian Pacific together with the central and eastern United States, eastern Canada, and European soon-to- be extinction level atmospheric conditions.
Some of the oceanographers, atmospheric scientists and meteorologists who were already here in Juneau are trying to determine the predicted world-wide safe zones and timelines, comparing Juneau’s and its surrounding weather patterns and wind history. They have long understood the favorable high-altitude wind currents from the north and southeast creating wind havoc among the treacherous three-thousand+ foot mountain ranges rising from sea level providing conditions that hopefully will carry airborne radiation far above and around us for a few months at least, giving us critical time to figure out just where the world’s few survivors will need to migrate and congregate. We know, too, that global communications will be inadequate to the point of probable futility, possibly requiring some of us to travel, sometimes long distances afoot, to gather these groups together and guide them to new promising safelands.
Our future could turn out to be very much like an extended encore and final Mad Max film, although, ironically, Australia has no nuclear energy power plants, which they banned officially in 1998. But true isolated tribalism will return everywhere to the few of us who are left to make our way on a mostly neutered and dead planet that will eventually consume Australia as well, although it may be the last bastion of life along with New Zealand, whose leaders have also banned nuclear reactors save for the joing U.S. military/Australia world-wide espionage Pine Ridge project near Alice Springs. Yet this death threat by human hands meddling with something akin to the power of the sun will eventually be a significant part of their survival story as well as our own.
A new way of life in a desolate lonesome world does not normally make for a pretty picture–nor a heart-warming romantic adventure tale. But still…so long as there is hope there is a story… ~llaw (Spring, 2026)
# Back in the Day
More than fifty years have passed since I first learned that nuclear power plants and weapons of mass destruction were fueled by uranium, an element my well-worn dog-eared Webster’s 1940-something dictionary defined essentially as a “worthless low-level radioactive mineral found in the ground.” The reason I remember this definition is because of a letter I received in January of 1969 from a mining company in central Wyoming’s “Gas Hills”, oddly named Lucky Mc (pronounced “Lucky Mac”) Mine, inviting me to an employment interview at the mine site and to please call to set up a date and time for the meeting. I had that old broke-spine 1940s Webster’s dictionary on my bookshelf in our small trailer house, so I looked up the definition. What the hell had changed? What were nuclear plants’ and nuclear bombs’ ingredients if not refined uranium? Of course I was pretty sure I knew the answer.
The mine, I was told in the letter, was owned by a company known as Utah Construction and Mining Company, which was then best known for building the Hoover Dam, but was now a major player in mining, primarily of coal and uranium. Intrigued, I found a pay phone at the General Store in Elk Mountain, Wyoming, and made the telephone call. The interview took place a couple of weeks later in mid-January, and I was offered a job as a senior accountant, which I immediately accepted, ending my old job as a field office manager for a highway construction company that had recently transferred me from Grand Junction, Colorado, to a new project between Laramie and Rawlins in southern Wyoming. So I had set up shop in an office trailer halfway between the two towns, preparing for road construction to begin in early spring.
But having a growing family with two young pre-school children and an infant daughter, I was thankful for the opportunity to settle into a new life in a more permanent location than highway construction offered, so I was pleased to accept the job offer.
As I learned my new job, I soon became the chief accountant and then the administrative manager at the mine site, directly overseeing more than one hundred white collar employees. The company grew rapidly in its uranium branch to include a new mine known as the “Shirley Basin Mine,” blossoming Utah Construction and Mining Company into a new and more sophisticated reformed Utah International Inc, and a bit later, a subsidiary of General Electric Company with a new name for the mining division known as Pathfinder Mines Corporation General Electric, among other well-known products, manufactured not-so well-known nuclear reactors so Utah International with its Pathfinder Mines was a natural fit. During those early days, I learned a lot about the mining and milling operations of uranium, including extremely complicated accounting, security, health and safety, as well as how the fuel production and the multi-step enriching process, governmental regulations, and how the marketing and selling of uranium was accomplished. In the beginning the only customer the company, as well as the entire uranium industry, had was the United States’ Atomic Energy Commission, and we were the major producer and provider of relatively stable basic enriched uranium (U308), which would be refined into U238 and U235, the active isotope in nuclear reactors (as well as nuclear weapons), to the government (including the TVA) until deregulation allowed us to sell mill refined U3O8 uranium to operational nuclear power plants as well as plants under construction and in development.
One of these new nuclear power stations was Pacific Gas and Electric’s under construction facility, known as the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, in San Luis Obispo County, California, near Avila Beach. The original facility, Unit 1 of course, began construction in 1968 followed by Unit 2 in 1970. During the following decade Utah Construction & Mining Company, by then known as Utah International Inc, profited immensely from the sale of uranium to American, Canadian, French, German, and other nuclear power facilities around the world. Doing business with PG&E was one of my first clues that rules and regulations were meant to be manipulated and broken by aggressive dollar-worshiping companies. But that’s another story, part of which I will relate later in the book.
# Back to the Present
What happened at Diablo Canyon between early 2024 and its planned decommission in late 2025, and the horrid global devastation that followed just two short years later, is what this story is all about, and it shames me every day of my life that I was once a willing contributor to the shape of the macabre issues to come within the nuclear power industry. There are few of us left alive who know the factually complete and chronological entirety of this doomsday tale, but I am thankful and even proud to be one of the few because I have the knowledge and the motivation to relate this horrific tale without prejudice. I have an absolute moral and ethical obligation to pass my knowledge of this world-class man-made armageddon (spelled with a small but still doomsday-deadly “a”) event along to those few who will come after the rest of us, hoping for a different way whether it be for better or for worse. Your choices and your chances are extremely limited, and I wish you, as well as us, all the best.
At an overly ripe eighty-something, as I write this dystopian-like tale, my mind is clear and fixed on the events that led to this catastrophe that with proper regulatory enforcement and diligent responsibility by the United States government and industry corporate officials might never have happened. A common failure of mankind is to brazenly think of ourselves as collectively invincible, making us just delusional enough to fool ourselves into believing that we are smarter and more resourceful than Mother Nature. We have proven ourselves wrong countless times concerning thousands of vital issues, but through the ages we have made and continue to make the same mistakes repeatedly. Who was the wise man who said, “The definition of insanity is making the same mistakes over and over again but expecting different results.”?
Just the relatively minor accidents at nuclear facilities (most of them politically covered up or not commonly known) over the years including the more well-known Hanford (Richland), Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima—along with the common political knowledge that several nations—not all of whom were American allies—ability to cyber-attack our nuclear power plants and our electrical distribution grid systems, ought to have been enough to give us fair warning that—contrary to pseudo-science, corporate greed, political belief and public opinion—nuclear power was never safe, but in reality was and is the single most dangerous and destructive power generating concept ever developed for all kinds of reprehensible reasons. When something goes nuclear wrong, it goes irreparably wrong, most likely impossible to control or recover from the impending disaster that will last for several hundred to a few thousands, although the half-life of bismuth radiation has been measured at twenty billion billion (yes, twenty billion + billion), years so we in this lonely corner of the universe might consider ourselves lucky for no reason. In 2022 there were four hundred and fifty nuclear power plants operating world-wide and sixty more were under construction. Today, of course, there are none.
Despite Webster’s grandfatherly definition of uranium, this same earthly tragedy has apparently happened on our planet at least once before—more likely twice — and though much (including Biblical references, quiet speculation, and outright conspiracy theories) has been written about the evidence and the possibility, few of us seem to understand nor have ever cared that a similar nuclear world devastation actually occurred, at least once, thousands of years ago, nor that the archeological and anthropological scientific community did not investigate, research, endorse or even acknowledge the historical evidence. This does not surprise me, but today what scientists and historians believe is immaterial because now what is left of our world is all that we need to worry and care about—events of the past, rightly so, mean nothing. We are long past the life-saving threshold of learning from our mistakes. including our willful ignorance.
We humans seem to have been running a rigged three-legged race against one another to run asunder the entire planet against the natural environmental care and protections of Gaia. In a blind and greedy rush to subconsciously exterminate ourselves and fatally poison our only home—planet Earth and all her abundant bounty—we have, through American style financing of intentional international environmental degradation, hawkish threats of nuclear war, or the patriarchally personalized political, bureaucratic and corporate industrial pandemic earth-cancer super-spreaders that I call those who would “freeze ‘em to death in the dark.” I personally heard this same man say this same phrase, with their–often profane–variants, more than just once or twice. The phrase was coined by the President and CEO of a major mining company I was involved with, echoing his indignant objections to public protests over Three Mile Island in the 1980s. Note that all of these doomsday contestants during their race toward human extinction—indeed, by natural extension, including all life–had their in-common triple arsenal of the half-life of airborne nuclear radioactive emissions teamed up with ground and water waste radiation, their three legs at the end entirely unbound, allowed to run the basins and ranges without restrictions, making all of them self-proclaimed “winners” of their race into the likes of Dante’s, or, maybe, Diablo’s, Inferno.
###
Beginning, March 28, 2024: Chapter 1: On the Way to Juneau, Alaska . . .
We have reached Canada and passed through customs, mooring on Vancouver Island for the night, happy to find an open restaurant at the harbor, although we have more than ample food and other supplies on board the schooner, which, by the eay, bears the title “The Pacifier”. It has certainly lived up to its name during the early days of our journey north. It will take us three or four days to travel the additional 800 nautical miles along the coastline to reach Juneau.
At dinner we are delighted to meet a team of six employees from the Hanford Project, who are also on their way by boat to Juneau for essentially the same reasons we are and we agree to travel together the rest of the way, giving us a more comforting feeling concerning the remainder of our trip. Over our dining, we discuss the implications and share our knowledge about the future of North America and, indeed, the world and what the prospects are to provide pockets of preservation for human life, and in general where we think those places might be. The discussion is not a confident one, nor is it at all pleasant. But we all realize that we have to do our best to have some success in our unexpected new mission in our lives.
###
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
There are 6 categories, including 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, as do ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links in each category about the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There is one (for fun)Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in tonight’s Post.)
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.
… emergencies. These include emergencies … nuclear power. The agency prepares and … Emergency Management Agency – and the Federal Emergency Management …
So, the nuclear world buzz tonight is all about Putin’s latest threat to the rest of the world, or at least to the West. Without posting an article tonight, following, borrowed from Reuters, is the crux of the new threat that perhaps makes it more serious than the usual mundane threat of ‘deterrence’ . . . and remember this is an election year, and consider seriously that the likely GOP presidential candidate who is mentally incompetent and who is Putin’s friend and idol very, very, seriously. For this reason I believer Putin will maintain the status quo at least until the election unless the U.S. and NATO send troops into Ukraine. ~llaw
NUCLEAR DOCTRINE
In a U.S. election year, the West is grappling with how to support Kyiv against Russia, which now controls almost one-fifth of Ukrainian territory and is rearming much faster than the West and Ukraine.
Kyiv says it is defending itself against an imperial-style war of conquest designed to erase its national identity. Putin says he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in Feb. 2022 to bolster Russia’s own security against a hostile West.
Putin reiterated the use of nuclear weapons was spelled out in the Kremlin’s nuclear doctrine, which sets out the conditions under which it would use such a weapon: broadly a response to an attack using nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, or the use of conventional weapons against Russia “when the very existence of the state is put under threat”.
“Weapons exist in order to use them,” Putin said.
Putin’s nuclear warning came alongside another offer for talks on Ukraine as part of a new post-Cold War demarcation of European security. The U.S. says Putin is not ready for serious talks over Ukraine.
Reuters reported last month that Putin’s suggestion of a ceasefire in Ukraine to freeze the war was rejected by the U.S. after contacts between intermediaries.
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns said this week that, without more Western support, Ukraine would lose more territory to Russia which would embolden Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Burns, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, told the Senate Intelligence Committee it was in U.S. interests to help Kyiv get into a stronger position before talks.
Putin said Russia would need written security guarantees in the event of any settlement.
“I don’t trust anyone, but we need guarantees, and guarantees must be spelled out, they must be such that we would be satisfied,” Putin said.
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
There are 6 categories, including 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, as do ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links in each category about the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are no Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in tonight’s Post.)
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.
“Therefore, I don’t think that here everything is rushing to it (nuclear confrontation), but we are ready for this.” The Biden administration has said …
Rethinking Nuclear Power: Evolution & Future of Nuclear Energy · Why Do Animals Play? The Science Behind Play Behavior · The Role of Fungi in Climate …
OMG! $1.6 Billion in 2025 for a Nuclear Energy Office Budget that is an administrative agency? Have we gone crazy? Don’t answer that — I already know the answer.
A small part of the budget is reserved to help Deploy U.S. Reactors Internationally to what I gather 3rd World countries who may not be contributing at all to global warming/climate change, but to hap-hazardly spread nuclear power around the planet indiscriminately is a really bad idea, just as Biden’s ‘carrot and stick’ uranium sales to poorer countries who ‘want’ to build nuclear power plants — or do they really want to traffick in nuclear fuel for building bombs — especially with HALEU fuel (although I don’t know (and they probably don’t either) if there is enough HALEU or even military grade uranium to go around) to fire them up in an effort to compete with Russia’s uranium fuel varieties of enrichment. Low enrichment does not mean that it increases the the safety of avoiding accidents at new nuclear power plants. We human beings should not be doing this kind of stuff because we are not qualified to do it.
The really bad news is that we are increasing our risk of nuclear extinction when we should be doing the exact opposite. Einstein may well be turning over in his grave. It is as though we are bound and determined to do the lemming thing and follow each other over the proverbial cliff, purposefully exterminating ourselves. What we need is world peace, as Einstein said, not a world of nuclear power plants and nuclear bombs. Read on . . . ~llaw
The request includes $694.2 million in research and development activities that will help advance important reactor and fuel technologies, address gaps in the domestic nuclear fuel supply chain, and harness the latest artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to optimize the performance of the nation’s fleet of reactors.
Below are five key takeaways from the FY25 budget request for nuclear energy.
1. Access to HALEU
HALEU reguli made from EBR-II spent nuclear fuel at Idaho National Laboratory.
Idaho National Laboratory
NE is requesting $188 million to secure a near-term supply of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for DOE-supported research and demonstration projects.
The funding complements the Department’s longer-term strategy to expand its domestic enrichment capacity through purchase agreements with industry partners to help spur demand for additional HALEU production.
The recently passed FY24 spending bill directed $2.72 billion to further build out a low-enriched uranium and advanced nuclear fuel supply chain. It will also help assure there is an adequate supply of low-enriched uranium fuel to meet the current needs of U.S. reactors and our allies to eliminate the nation’s dependance on Russian fuel services.
2. Developing New Reactor Technologies
The FY25 request includes $142.5 million to support the continued execution of five advanced reactor projects supported through DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.
NE is also requesting $56 million to establish new testing facilities at the national labs, including $12 million to finish the construction of the NRIC DOME at Idaho National Laboratory.
The funding also includes $16.5 million for DOE’s MARVEL microreactor testing platform to complete the fabrication of its fuel and key components.
NE is also requesting more than $18 million to initiate construction of the LOTUS testbed that will be used to test first-of-a-kind technologies to generate data required for design and licensing.
3. Boosting University R&D
NE is requesting $143 million to support emerging technologies developed by U.S. universities, colleges, and small businesses.
The funding will also be used for university infrastructure improvements and fuel services, along with workforce development activities such as scholarship and fellowship opportunities.
NE is inching closer to eclipsing the $1 billion funding mark with more than $990 million awarded to colleges and universities across the country since 2009.
4. Additive Manufacturing and AI
The FY25 request also includes $32 million to advance the use of cutting-edge digital tools and manufacturing methods to strengthen nuclear supply chains and help optimize reactor performance.
This funding includes $17 million to support the qualification of additively manufactured materials for use in nuclear reactors and $9 million to develop and demonstrate advanced sensors, instrumentation and control systems, including potential ways to apply artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to advanced reactor designs and operations.
The two technologies combined could drastically reduce the time it takes to test, qualify, and deploy new reactor components and fuels.
The remaining $6 million will address high priority supply chain needs for the near-term deployment of advanced reactors.
5. Deploying U.S. Reactors Internationally
Finally, the FY25 request includes $8 million to support several U.S. international projects, including providing workforce development, training, and technical expertise to new and emerging nuclear energy countries in Africa, Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe.
The funding will be used to establish regional clean energy training centers in key markets to provide capacity-building and professional development opportunities in regions looking to develop or grow their civil nuclear programs.
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
There are 6 categories, including 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, as do ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links in each category about the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are no Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in tonight’s Post.)
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.
As global conflicts increase the possibility of nuclear war, it’s certainly important to talk about the ongoing legacies of the bombings of Hiroshima …
The Atomic Energy Advancement Act is not only a practical, commonsense solution but also a bipartisan one. It will modernize licensing and streamline …
In a fission reactor, neutrons bombard the nuclei of atoms of certain elements. When one such nucleus absorbs a neutron, it destabilises and breaks up …
… threats from Kim’s military. He has urged his soldiers to grab lessons from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as the nature of combat evolves.
