“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Sep 11, 2024

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Screenshot from the Daisy Advertisement.

LLAW’s NUCLEAR VIEWS, ISSUES & COMMENTS, Wednesday, (09/11/2024)

This article contains useful food for thought for all Americans during what’s left of election year 2024. I remember Barry Goldwater and his cavalier attitude toward ‘all things nuclear’, especially his idea to use nuclear warfare, such as using nuclear bombs to ‘defoliate’ vegetation used as Vietnamese shelter from US attacks, as mentioned in this article. At the time I was working as an administrator for a highway construction and coal mining company, and gave little thought to ‘anything nuclear’, and actually entered into the nuclear energy and uranium mining business in 1969, endorsing the idea of nuclear power and the uranium required to fuel nuclear reactors.

I don’t remember the “Daisy Ad” nor the political scheme behind it, but we would be well advised these days to take heed of what it meant and what it means to our future with a presidential election just weeks away. To take nuclear ‘anything’ lightly by anyone in America, or any other nuclear endowed country — particularly the future leaders of our country is utter foolishness. But there is also the possibility of a candidate taking ‘everything’ nuclear too seriously, creating an even more controversial and aggravating atmosphere globally, leading to potential armageddon-like nuclear war that otherwise might not exist. I will leave it up to you, the individual reader, to decide which presidential candidate would be the most level-headed in a possible nuclear war political situation, but I can tell you flat-out it is not Donald Trump. ~llaw

Screenshot from the Daisy Advertisement.

60 Years After Lyndon Johnson’s ‘Daisy Ad,’ The Silence On Nuclear War Is Dangerous – OpEd

September 11, 2024 0 Comments

By Norman Solomon

One evening in early September 1964, a frightening commercial jolted 50 million Americans who were partway through watching “Monday Night at the Movies” on NBC. The ad began with an adorable three-year-old girl counting petals as she pulled them from a daisy. Then came a man’s somber voiceover, counting down from ten to zero. Then an ominous roar and a mushroom cloud from a nuclear bomb explosion.

The one-minute TV spot reached its climax with audio from President Lyndon Johnson, concluding that “we must love each other, or we must die.” The ad did not mention his opponent in the upcoming election, Sen. Barry Goldwater, but it didn’t need to. By then, his cavalier attitude toward nuclear weapons was well established.

Goldwater’s bestseller The Conscience of a Conservative, published at the start of the decade, was unnervingly open to the idea of launching a nuclear war, while the book exuded disdain for leaders who “would rather crawl on knees to Moscow than die under an Atom bomb.” Closing in on the Republican nomination for president, the Arizona senator suggested that “low-yield” nuclear bombs could be useful to defoliate forests in Vietnam.

His own words gave plenty of fodder to others seeking the GOP nomination. Pennsylvania Gov. William Scranton called Goldwater “a trigger-happy dreamer” and said that he “too often casually prescribed nuclear war as a solution to a troubled world.” New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller unloaded with a rhetorical question: “How can there be sanity when he wants to give area commanders the authority to make decisions on the use of nuclear weapons?”

So, the stage was set for the “daisy ad,” which packed an emotional wallop — and provoked a fierce backlash. Critics cried foul, deploring an attempt to use the specter of nuclear annihilation for political gain. Having accomplished the goal of putting the Goldwater camp on the defensive, the commercial never aired again as a paid ad. But national newscasts showed it while reporting on the controversy.

Today, a campaign ad akin to the daisy spot is hard to imagine from the Democratic or Republican nominee to be commander in chief, who seem content to bypass the subject of nuclear-war dangers. Yet those dangers are actually much higher now than they were 60 years ago. In 1964, the Doomsday Clock maintained by experts at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was set at 12 minutes to apocalyptic midnight. The ominous hands are now just 90 seconds away.

Yet, in their convention speeches this summer, both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were silent on the need to engage in genuine diplomacy for nuclear arms control, let alone take steps toward disarmament.

Trump offered standard warnings about Russian and Chinese arsenals and Iran’s nuclear program, and boasted of his rapport with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Left unmentioned was Trump’s presidential statement in 2017 that if North Korea made “any more threats to the United States,” that country “will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.” Nor did he refer to his highly irresponsible tweet that Kim should be informed “I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”

When Harris delivered her acceptance speech, it did not include the words “atomic” or “nuclear” at all.

Now in high gear, the 2024 presidential campaign is completely lacking in the kind of wisdom about nuclear weapons and relations between the nuclear superpowers that Lyndon Johnson and, eventually, Ronald Reagan attained during their presidencies.

Johnson privately acknowledged that the daisy commercial scared voters about Goldwater, which “we goddamned set out to do.” But the president was engaged in more than an electoral tactic. At the same time that he methodically deceived the American people while escalating the horrific war on Vietnam, Johnson pursued efforts to defuse the nuclear time bomb.

“We have made further progress in an effort to improve our understanding of each other’s thinking on a number of questions,” Johnson said at the conclusion of his extensive summit meeting with Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin in Glassboro, New Jersey, on June 25, 1967. But fifty-seven years later, there is scant evidence that the current or next president of the United States is genuinely interested in improving such understanding between leaders of the biggest nuclear states.

Two decades after the summit that defrosted the cold war and gave rise to what was dubbed “the spirit of Glassboro,” President Reagan stood next to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and said: “We decided to talk to each other instead of about each other.” But such an attitude would be heresy in the 2024 presidential campaign.

“These are the stakes,” Johnson said in the daisy ad as a mushroom cloud rose on screen, “to make a world in which all God’s children can live, or to go into the dark.”

Those are still the stakes. But you wouldn’t know it now from either of the candidates vying to be the next president of the United States.

• About the author: Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. His latest book, War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine, is published by The New Press.

Norman Solomon

Solomon is a co-founder of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is the author of a dozen books including “War Made Easy.”

---

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

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

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

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

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Wednesday, (09/11/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Review: ‘Cyrano’ update at Pasadena Playhouse is all about the words – Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times

Mike Donahue directs Martin Crimp’s free-hand adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s classic “Cyrano de Bergerac’ in a production starring Chukwudi Iwuji …

This Presidential Candidate Wants You to Be Able to Get an Abortion and Buy a Rocket Launcher

Rolling Stone

What about if I could get a pocket nuke? I get asked all the time about nuclear weapons. And I don’t think government should have nuclear weapons.

NANO Nuclear Energy Rises on Addition to Russell 3000 – MarketWatch

MarketWatch

Barron’s: People Who Do This One Thing Every Day Have Half the Dementia Risk That the Rest of Us Do. The things to remember about dementia are that …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Oracle to power 1GW datacenter with trio of tiny nuclear reactors – The Register

The Register

Co-located alongside the 2.5 gigawatt Susquehanna nuclear power plant, the acquisition guarantees the cloud giant access to as much as 960 megawatts …

Turkey nuclear plant faces delays as Russia seeks parts in China – Duvar English

Duvar English

Turkey’s Energy Minister announced that the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant is being delayed because Germany’s Siemens Energy …

Nuclear modelling vital as licensing shifts towards performance – Reuters

Reuters

Modelling nuclear power stations is essential to reduce costs and streamline development, especially as regulation focuses more on plant …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Ukraine warns Russian strikes on power grid could spark nuclear crisis

South China Morning Post

… emergency at one of the three operating nuclear power plants still under Kyiv’s control. Advertisement. Ukraine has thousands of electricity …

Kyiv Warns Russian Strikes on Power Grid May Cause Atomic Crisis – BNN Bloomberg

BNN Bloomberg

… energy grid could trigger an emergency at one of the three operating nuclear power plants still under Kyiv’s control. Ukraine has thousands of …

Kyiv Warns Russian Strikes on Power Grid May Cause Atomic Crisis – Financial Post

Financial Post

… energy grid could trigger an emergency at one of the three operating nuclear power plants still under Kyiv’s control. Loading… We apologize, but …

Nuclear War

NEWS

60 Years After Lyndon Johnson’s ‘Daisy Ad,’ The Silence On Nuclear War Is Dangerous

Eurasia Review

60 Years After Lyndon Johnson’s ‘Daisy Ad,’ The Silence On Nuclear War Is Dangerous – OpEd … One evening in early September 1964, a frightening …

The Dangerous Silence on Nuclear War – Consortium News

Consortium News

Sixty years after LBJ’s “Daisy Ad,” Norman Solomon says the danger of nuclear war is higher than in 1964 but Harris and Trump are ignoring it.

US says Russia received missiles from Iran, piles on sanctions – Reuters

Reuters

After 2-1/2 years of war, Ukrainian … “This is a two-way street, including on nuclear issues as well as some space information,” Blinken said.

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

North Korea’s Kim vows to make his nuclear force ready for combat with US – AP News

AP News

… nuclear weapons and South Korean conventional weapons to cope with growing North Korean nuclear threats. North Korea said the guideline revealed …

Putin’s nuclear threat against Western missile strikes – YouTube

YouTube

” Fears that Putin would deploy nuclear weapons if Ukraine used long-range missiles to strike into Russia are empty threats because the Russian …

Army preparing to enter Ukraine, politicians leaving the country – how fear of being dragged …

EDMO

… threats of a nuclear war. In this article, we explain who and how are spreading these falsehoods in the Baltic countries. “Lithuania to send 100 ..

“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Sep 10, 2024

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The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

LLAW’s NUCLEAR VIEWS, ISSUES & COMMENTS, Tuesday, (09/10/2024)

This seemingly perpetual nuclear power plant situation, which has been ongoing for two-+ years, in the face of the war between Russia and Ukraine tells us how this war has already gone nuclear, but also involves a questionable, but so far lesser more recent attack on the Kursk nuclear power plant in Russia. In other words, nuclear bombs are not required to create a nuclear war.

And yet the US and other countries are anxious to build SMR (Small Nuclear Reactors) all over the world. These plants, if they ever come into existence, will obviously be subject to future wars, nuclear accidents, and nuclear terrorism.

We have known the horrible truth about “All Things Nuclear” since the 1940s, yet we seem to fail to understand the not only possible, but probable, self-extermination of life on planet Earth that nuclear power of every kind can and will, one day or another, cause the 6th Extinction. And all we can say, for the first time in the history of this world, we did it to ourselves. ~llaw

News

IAEA issues report on war-ravaged Ukrainian nuclear plant

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Energoatom

Publish date: September 9, 2024

The International Atomic Energy Agency has published a new report on its efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security during the conflict in Ukraine, with the agency’s director-general warning that the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station remains “precarious and very fragile.”

The report’s release came during a visit to the plant by agency head Rafael Grossi, who last week announced that one of the site’s cooling towers would likely have to be demolished following a fire that ravaged it last month.

It was the first time IAEA teams had, in fact, been allowed inside the cooling tower, which agency experts had repeatedly sought permission from the Russian occupiers to inspect on numerous occasions, only to be denied.

Fire broke out in the tower on August 11, with Russia and Ukraine accusing each other of actions that triggered the blaze. Grossi at the time described the incident as one of numerous “reckless attacks,” but did not attribute blame nor elucidate the cause.

Grossi also inspected pumping stations and fresh fuel storage at the site — which could point to aspirations of the Russian occupiers to eventually restart one or more of the reactors, said Bellona expert Dmitry Gorchakov, who has written a detailed report on such a possibility.
 
The IAEA’s 28-page document highlights the challenges of the IAEA’s activities to protect Europe’s largest nuclear power station, which is on the frontline of fighting and has been under Russian control since soon after the February 2022 invasion.
 
Throughout this time, IAEA teams at the site have reported on incidents including shelling and drone strikes at the facility. The plant has also suffered repeated loss of offsite power, which hobbles its cooling systems.
 
Since Grossi last went to the Zaporizhzhia site in February, the plant has experienced loss of powerlines in addition to the cooling tower fire, and the nearby plant worker’s settlement of Enerhodar has been strafed by drone attacks.
 
Grossi said the IAEA’s “comprehensive assistance” to Ukraine has seen 59 deliveries of equipment needed to maintain nuclear safety and security, with a total value of over $11 million. In total, the IAEA has conducted 139 support and assistance missions to the nuclear sites in Ukraine, the report said.
 
Grossi also recently visited the Kursk nuclear plant in Russia, which after an August 6 cross-border incursion by Ukrainian troops last month, is at risk of becoming yet another nuclear facility drawn into the war. 
 
Russia claimes the Kursk plant has been attacked by Ukrainian forces, citing fragments of a drone found at the site—though the origins of the drone have not been established.  
 
Grossi said during that visit that the Kursk plant was extremely fragile because it had no protective dome and that the “danger or possibility of a nuclear accident has emerged near here.”
 
Ukraine’s foreign ministry last Thursday denounced what it said were Russian efforts to accuse Ukraine of provocations that threatened nuclear safety, saying this was a “disinformation campaign to distract attention from its own criminal acts at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant”.
 
In its report, the IAEA wrote that it has also continued safeguards verification activities across Ukraine, ensuring that there is no diversion of nuclear material for military purposes. Assistance programs were established in the areas of health care and the nuclear safety and security of radioactive sources.
 
The agency also implemented programs to support Ukraine in managing the impact of the flooding of the Kherson Oblast and other regions in the aftermath of the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam.
 
A few months after the establishment of the IAEA’s presence at Zaporizhzhia, Grossi set up similar missions at the four other nuclear facilities in Ukraine – the Khmelnitski, Rivne and South Ukraine nuclear power plants, and the shut-down Chernobyl site.

Subscribed

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

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

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

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

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Tuesday, (09/10/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Clayton Kershaw ‘trying everything,’ even working with Skechers, to ease toe injury

Los Angeles Times

… all things, by an injury to the big toe on his left foot. … Skies above Southern California wildfire looked like ‘a nuclear warhead had been set off’ …

Balloon Fiesta 2024: What you need to know – KRQE

KRQE

This article will detail all things Balloon Fiesta for those planning on attending. … nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture …

UV Lasers and Combs Provide High Frequency Light for Nuclear Clock – Photonics Spectra

Photonics Spectra

While the team’s laboratory demonstration is not a fully developed nuclear clock, it contains all the key technology for one. … All Things Photonics …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Fukushima nuclear plant: operation begins to remove radioactive debris – The Guardian

The Guardian

An aerial view of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant … Tepco plant officials remotely control a robot operating at Fukushima nuclear power …

What role will ‘new nuclear‘ play in the energy transition? | Spectra

Spectra – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Index. Extending the lifetime of conventional nuclear power plants Small but powerful Diversifying nuclear’s use cases Scaling up new nuclear. The …

IAEA issues report on war-ravaged Ukrainian nuclear plant – Bellona.org

Bellona.org

The International Atomic Energy Agency has published a new report on its efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security during the conflict in Ukraine, …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Lafayette mayor-president declares state of emergency due to Tropical Storm Francine

WKRG

A robot begins removal of melted fuel from the Fukushima … This photo shows the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, …

Harvey Weinstein taken to NYC hospital for emergency heart surgery: representatives

FOX 8 News

Harvey Weinstein taken to NYC hospital for emergency heart surgery: representatives … nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, northern …

Jailed Harvey Weinstein taken to NYC hospital for emergency heart surgery, his representatives say

Times Union

Jailed ex-movie mogul Harvey Weinstein underwent emergency heart surgery at a New York … This photo shows the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in …

Nuclear War

NEWS

60 Years After Lyndon Johnson’s “Daisy Ad,” the Silence on Nuclear War Is Dangerous

Counterpunch

Screenshot from the Daisy Advertisement. One evening in early September 1964, a frightening commercial jolted 50 million Americans who were partway …

IAEA issues report on war-ravaged Ukrainian nuclear plant – Bellona.org

Bellona.org

The International Atomic Energy Agency has published a new report on its efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security during the conflict in Ukraine, …

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un says country to increase number of nuclear weapons, KCNA says

Reuters

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country is now implementing a nuclear force construction policy to increase the number of nuclear weapons …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

North Korean leader Kim orders boost to nuclear arsenal – Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera

… nuclear threats. North Korea said the guideline revealed its … Israeli attacks kill over 41,000 Palestinians since start of war on Gaza.

Kim Jong Un calls for major nuclear weapons buildup in response to U.S. threat

Space War News

Last month, North Korea unveiled new “suicide” attack drones and an upgraded multiple rocket launcher — short-range weapons that threaten targets …

Vladimir Putin ‘almost’ used nukes in Ukraine as intelligence chiefs warn of ‘threat to world order’

MSN

… threats to global stability from China and Russia during a time of … Putin has ‘clear intent’ to make nuclear war with the West possible as he ‘ 

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

New study seeks to shed light on earthquake hazards in the Gallatin Range – USGS.gov

USGS.gov

Yellowstone’s icy past. Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano …

Mag. 1.9 quake – 65 km WNW of Beluga, Alaska, on Monday, Sep 9, 2024, at 03:53 am …

Volcano Discovery

More on VolcanoDiscovery. Yellowstone quakes · Yellowstone quakes · Latest earthquakes under Yellowstone volcano … caldera and picturesque villages.

94 km Southwest of Xinyuan, Xinjiang, China, on Monday, Sep 9, 2024, at 01:53 pm (Urumqi Time)

Volcano Discovery

List and interactive map of current and past earthquakes near Yellowstone volcano. … Santorini is one of the most beautiful islands in the world, …

“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Sep 09, 2024

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This cast is filled with molten-hot enriched uranium called HALEU. It was made in part from America’s old nuclear warheads.

National Nuclear Security Administration

LLAW’s NUCLEAR ISSUES & COMMENTS, Monday, (09/09/2024)

This article is one of the most frightening you may ever read, even though you may not realize why until it’s too late to care. Think about it — we are down-grading military grade uranium fuel (called HALEU), an-in-between-nuclear uranium fuel that is diluted from nuclear weapons’ grade (HEU), which makes proposed new nuclear power plants even more dangerous than the existing ones as well as increasing the danger to life everywhere, wars or no wars.

This, to me, is pure insanity as we will, if we get that far, soon begin to build these SMR (Small Nuclear Reactor) plants everywhere around the world, starting in my old home state of Wyoming. To me this will be a sad day, not only for Wyoming, but the USA as well as all other countries around the world.

And even more sad is that we know how to use renewable resources like solar, wind, volcanic steam, geothermal steam, and hydro systems to produce all the world’s power that we should ever need if only we would just do it. But this approach to producing electricity is apparently too cheap, easy, low-tech an inexpensive for the money-hungry corporate technocratic entrepreneurs around the globe. So we will begin our new energy production nightmare by using diluted uranium fuel from outdated military weapons of mass destruction. If this sounds like a good idea to you, you will know better eventually unless you happen to be of Methuselah-like old age like I am. ~llaw

HALEU stands for High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium. It’s a type of uranium that’s enriched to a higher degree than the fuel used in light water reactors (LWRs), but not as high as high-enriched uranium (HEU): 

• Light water reactors: Use fuel enriched to about 5% uranium-235 (U-235) 
• HALEU: Enriched to between 5% and 20% U-235 
• High-enriched uranium (HEU): Enriched to 20% or greater in U-235 

Climate / Solutions

The US is dismantling nuclear warheads to power the next generation of reactors

By Ella Nilsen, CNN

5 minute read

Updated 1:41 PM EDT, Mon September 9, 2024

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This cast is filled with molten-hot enriched uranium called HALEU. It was made in part from America’s old nuclear warheads.

National Nuclear Security Administration

CNN — 

Inside a highly classified facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee — the same facility that enriched uranium for the first atomic bomb in the era of the Manhattan Project — workers are turning old, unexploded warheads into fuel that will power cities.

The recipe to create advanced reactor fuel involves melting weapons-grade uranium with low-enriched uranium in a crucible — a massive, metal cauldron heated to around 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit to turn its contents into molten soup.

Emerging from its furnace, a glowing orange cast filled with the hot liquid uranium is slowly lowered into a cooling chamber. The hardened finished product, which looks like black charcoal, can be safely held in-hand.

This fuel is set to power the next generation of America’s nuclear reactors — small, modular power stations that are easier and cheaper to build. They require far less upkeep and physical space than the aging fleet of large nuclear power plants.

HALEU is canned at a secure federal facility in Oak Ridge, Tenneseee.

National Nuclear Security Administration

One downside? They also require a more-enriched and energy-dense uranium.

Until last year, the United States got the vast majority of its enriched uranium from Russia. A bipartisan law passed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine put a stop to that. Now, scientists and companies are racing to produce it at home.

Why does Russia have so much enriched uranium?

• After the Cold War, Russia possessed loads of highly enriched uranium — the kind used for weapons. In negotiations after the war, the US and other countries encouraged Russia to dilute that uranium below the weapon-making threshold, and sell it to the world as nuclear fuel. It was a beneficial deal for all parties. The US had a supply of fuel, and Russia — which was struggling economically after the Cold War — had a willing market to sell to.

Downblending old weapons from the nuclear arsenal is not the only way to make this fuel, known as high assay low-enriched uranium — or HALEU for short. A couple of facilities around the country are also making it, and they are expected to produce most of the fuel in the long run. The federal government is expected to award over $2 billion in the coming months to uranium enrichment companies to help kickstart the supply chain.

In the meantime, the feds are doing a “couch cushion exercise,” scouring high and low for suitable nuclear fuel that might have slipped through the cracks, said Michael Goff, principal deputy assistant secretary for the Energy Department’s Office of Nuclear Energy. In addition to the US nuclear stockpile, the Idaho National Laboratory is also downblending part of its collection of fuel from research reactors.

That the US is looking to its own arsenal for nuclear fuel speaks to how much of a scramble there is to get new-age reactors off the ground — like TerraPower, the Bill Gates-backed project in Wyoming that recently broke ground.

Projects like TerraPower are awaiting the fuel shipments, anxious they may run out of time. The company was set to get its first fuel shipments from Russia – the world’s only commercial HALEU supplier.

That changed after the war in Ukraine.

“We are getting to the point where we need to see more urgency from the government,” said Jeff Navin, TerraPower’s director of external affairs. “There’s a huge national interest to move quickly. We don’t fully understand why that same sense of urgency hasn’t gotten to the Department of Energy in getting this material out.”

Bill Gates at the groundbreaking for TerraPower’s nuclear power plant near Kemmerer, Wyoming, in June.

Benjamin Rasmussen/The New York Times/Redux

Bottom line, the amount of HALEU the US can get from its nuclear weapon stockpile is relatively small. It’s going to need a bigger production line.

“The long-term solution is we have to have enrichment,” said Jeff Chamberlin, the acting principal assistant deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation. “Even if we down-blended all that material tomorrow, we couldn’t supply the demonstration needs of all the advanced reactor companies the US has stated right now.”

Why the US needs special nuclear fuel

The United States currently gets about 20% of its power from nuclear. Inside the US Energy Department, there’s high interest to increase that percentage in the coming years because nuclear energy is reliable and doesn’t produce climate pollution.

“We need some firm, clean baseload electricity — nuclear provides that,” said Goff. “In order to meet our energy security needs and our climate goals, we do need significantly more nuclear energy deployed.”

The nuclear power industry is increasingly looking to smaller reactors, which run on HALEU. These reactors can last longer than conventional ones and fit into smaller spaces — making them more versatile and easier to set up.

The uranium for conventional reactors is enriched up to 5% and HALEU is uranium enriched between 5-20%. Highly enriched uranium is anything more than 20% and is used in weapons or naval submarines.

In other words, if conventional reactor uranium is Miller Lite, and highly enriched uranium is Everclear grain alcohol, HALEU is the nice cool glass of Belgian beer that strikes the balance between two extremes, said Dan Leistikow, vice president of corporate communications at US-based uranium enrichment company Centrus Energy.

“You can get more energy in smaller spaces,” said Josh Jarrell, director of the Idaho National Laboratories fuel cycle science and technology division. “You can be more energy dense, you can make more effective fuel, theoretically, we could generate electricity more economically.”

Centrus is one of two enrichment companies in the US working to break America of its dependence on Russia, which supplies the vast amount of the world’s enriched uranium. Congress recently passed an import ban on Russian uranium, leading to a supply squeeze both for HALEU and fuel for conventional reactors.

Idaho National Labs is also working to convert warhead uranium into reactor fuel.

Idaho National Labs

After a “lack of investment over decades,” Centrus is aiming to “restore a domestic enrichment capability with US technology” to meet the demand for the country’s electricity and for its national security, Leistikow told CNN.

It will take years to get there.

The Energy Department estimates the advanced nuclear industry will need 40 tons of HALEU by 2030. Centrus is seeking funding from DOE to expand its operations, but it can currently enrich a little less than 1 ton per year.

What will the country’s leftover nuclear arsenal contribute? Six tons by 2027.

TerraPower’s Navin said six tons is a “great start,” but far from enough for his company’s first core load, let alone other advanced nuclear projects in the US.

Exactly how much highly enriched uranium the US has is a classified secret, and there are a lot of interests competing for it, from national security to research nuclear reactors.

But Congress recently directed the NNSA and Energy Department to prioritize converting America’s old nuclear arsenal for advanced reactor fuel.

“Within their possession, they have more than enough (highly enriched uranium) to make many, many, many tons of HALEU,” Navin said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

---

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

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

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

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

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Monday, (09/09/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Solving Nuclear Energy’s Biggest Problem | OilPrice.com

Oil Price

One of the positive things about nuclear power production is that it … all the uranium is used and the actinides — which remain radioactive …

ACM: What’s the deal on nuclear power plants? with a side of “didn’t convince” – Daily Kos

Daily Kos

… all of which drives up costs and adds to delays. It is not … He doesn’t seem to have an opinion about nuclear bombs; I am very much against.

Vodafone deploys private 5G at Czech nuclear plant – RCR Wireless News

RCR Wireless News

Vodafone has deployed an all-edge private 5G network at the Temelín nuclear plant in Czechia for power generation conglomerate ČEZ Group.

Nuclear Power

NEWS

DOE Report Finds More Than 60 Gigawatts of New Nuclear Capacity Could Be Built at …

Department of Energy

U.S. Department of Energy study shows 41 operating and retired nuclear power plant sites have room to host new reactors.

The US is dismantling nuclear warheads to power next-gen reactors | CNN

CNN

But Congress recently directed the NNSA and Energy Department to prioritize converting America’s old nuclear arsenal for advanced reactor fuel. “ …

Could the Nation’s Nuclear Power Plant Sites Support New Reactor Builds?

Department of Energy

A new U.S. Department of Energy report finds more than 60 gigawatts (GW) of new nuclear capacity could potentially be built at operating or …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Nuclear Watchdog to Name Culprit in Event of Ukraine Accident – Bloomberg

Bloomberg

International monitors stationed at a Russian-occupied nuclear power plant in Ukraine said they’d be able to assign blame for any potential …

Nuclear Watchdog to Name Culprit in Event of Ukraine Accident – BNN Bloomberg

BNN Bloomberg

The International Atomic Energy Agency has so far shied away from pointing fingers over drone attacks near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in …

ACM: What’s the deal on nuclear power plants? with a side of “didn’t convince” – Daily Kos

Daily Kos

The “firm” resources would be Hydroelectricity and geothermal energy (and fossil fuels reserves for desperate emergencies only). But “whenever needed” …

Nuclear War

NEWS

The US is dismantling nuclear warheads to power the next generation of reactors – CNN

CNN

Why does Russia have so much enriched uranium? After the Cold War, Russia possessed loads of highly enriched uranium — the kind used for weapons. In …

North Korea Slams US ‘Nuclear Threat’ – Newsweek

Newsweek

The Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group, formed by the U.S. and South Korea, held its fifth meeting in Washington, D.C., on September …

How to read Putin’s next nuclear threat – The Japan Times

The Japan Times

In the later stages of the Cold War, U.S. President Ronald Reagan … nuclear weapons use — in essence, a new nuclear threat. Once that …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

How to read Putin’s next nuclear threat – The Japan Times

The Japan Times

Historical analogies show that nuclear threats rarely succeed, but Russia’s signals of desperation should not be ignored.

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

Institute for the Study of War

… nuclear–threats-putin. [2] https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/07/cia-west-russia-nuclear–threats-putin. [3]

https://isw.pub…

CIA and MI6 chiefs warn of ‘an unprecedented threat to world order’ from China and Russia …

Daily Mail

… Putin and his cronies have threatened the West with nuclear weapons throughout the war … Do you believe nuclear threats like this should be .

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

Scientists Say Massive Hydrothermal Explosion Caught On Video At Yellowstone … – TwistedSifter

TwistedSifter

It is common knowledge that Yellowstone National Park sits atop one of the largest volcanoes in the world. In fact, when this supervolcano erupts, …

4.3 Quake New Zealand Sep 7, 2024 08:16 pm (GMT -12) | VolcanoDiscovery

Volcano Discovery

… caldera, and Ijen. Yellowstone quakes · Yellowstone quakes · Latest earthquakes under Yellowstone volcano. List and interactive map of current and …

47 km North of Stepnogorsk, Aqmola Oblysy, Kazakhstan, on Sunday, Sep 8, 2024, at 01:00 …

Volcano Discovery

List and interactive map of current and past earthquakes near Yellowstone volcano. … Guatemala is a country with spectacular volcanic activity, …

“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Sep 08, 2024

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. . . all of which makes nuclear waste even more dangerous – a nuclear accident just waiting to happen sooner or later by nature or mankind’s own inevitable insidious ‘nook or crook’ . . . ~llaw

LLAW’s NUCLEAR ISSUES & COMMENTS, Sunday, (09/08/2024)

Tomorrow is Monday, and, hopefully, this blog will be back at 100% operational status with nuclear issues, comments, and diatribes, etc. For those of you who may have been unaware, here is an updated gentleman-like copy of yesterday’s explanation of why we were down for 3 full days after perfect attendance since the 1st blog post a little over two years ago (742 consecutive days).

Finally! I am back after an ugly 3 day unplanned hiatus due to the failure of a new equipment update from my Internet provider that was broken en-route (or before) and eventually I screamed loud enough to get an Internet serviceman out here to replace the failed Router and/or Modem. It took him all of less than 30 minutes to upgrade all 3 of the downed computers that I use to prepare this and other posts and blogs, or work on my next planned novel(s). And, had the equipment not been damaged, that would have also only been that total (30 minutes) if I’d done it myself, which was their plan for all, but even that self-help idea took more than a day for customers/users in the northern Nevada area, at least, to get back online because of other failures.

The waiting and thumb-twiddling, though, made me realize how useless I am to the world without my computerized writing equipment, which kindly gives me the increased vision I need to see in front of my face. I could do none of this without my computers that are networked along with my iPad and Galaxy phone, all of which, especially the 3 PC’s, to manage to get my “work” done each day.

I am sorry, mostly for myself of course, that I now have failed to provide an “All Things Nuclear” blog post for the first time in 742 consecutive days. If nothing else, it demonstrates how devoted I am to my cause of creating awareness of the life-threatening capabilities of “All Things Nuclear”. So I have set a record for myself that perhaps I may be able to break during the next couple of years, plus a few days . . .

By Monday, I will be back on track, but yesterday I took the time to add the IAEA weekly posts that should have been available on Friday and there are, as well, many frightening articles in this evening’s “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA” below. I will leave it to you to pick out the best or worst of the frightening tales . ~llaw

Subscribed

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

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

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

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

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Sunday, (09/08/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Hurricane season lull may be coming to an end, forecasters say | WRVO Public Media

WRVO

Before her work on the Science Desk, she was a producer for NPR’s Weekend All Things Considered in Los Angeles. … Kathy Hochul to abandon nuclear.

Breaking the Stability Barrier: Unique Isotope Defies Nuclear Rules – SciTechDaily

SciTechDaily

Knowledge about the decay behavior of exotic nuclei like ¹⁸Mg could influence advancements in fundamental interactions, energy sectors, and all kinds …

Powering up N.Y.’s energy needs: Hochul is right on adding nuclear, but wrong on banning fracking

New York Daily News

Gov. Hochul didn’t actually say the word “nuclear,” but in a speech about transitioning New York to a clean-energy grid, she mentioned “splitting …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Solving Nuclear Energy’s Biggest Problem | OilPrice.com

Oil Price

Solving Nuclear Energy’s Biggest Problem · New methods like recycling in fast neutron reactors and geological disposal in facilities like Finland’s …

Company hopes Wyoming’s first nuclear power plant will revolutionize industry

Energy Central

CHEYENNE — Of the 54 operational nuclear power plants in the United States, only three have become operational since 1997. In June, a new plant …

Italy Is in Early Talks for Creation of Nuclear–Power Company – BNN Bloomberg

BNN Bloomberg

Ansaldo Nucleare, part of Ansaldo Energia, develops nuclear plants and related technology. Newcleo develops small units powered by recycled nuclear …

Nuclear War

NEWS

‘In 2022…’: US Spy Chief’s Huge Nuclear Attack Plan Claim | Russia-Ukraine War | CIA

YouTube

CIA director William Burns made a big revelation on Putin’s war strategy against Ukraine during the initial days of the invasion in 2022.

CIA director: Risk of Russia using nuclear weapon early in Ukraine war – CNBC

CNBC

There was a real risk in the fall of 2022 that Russia could use nuclear weapons in its war against Ukraine, CIA Director William Burns said.

‘Deeply irresponsible’ Putin came close to unleashing nukes in Ukraine, MI6 reveals

Daily Express

The fears of a nuclear attack became so immediate that President Joe Biden sent his CIA chief to meet with the Russians for crisis talks.

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

CIA boss urges the West to not take Russia’s nuclear threats ‘seriously’; here’s why

Firstpost

CIA boss urges the West to not take Russia’s nuclear threats ‘seriously’; here’s why … As the Russia-Ukraine war continues to escalate, CIA boss Bill …

CIA chief urges West not to be frightened by Kremlin’s nuclear threats | Ukrainska Pravda

pravda.com.ua

… threats of nuclear escalation. Source: Burns at a Financial Times event … Support UP or become our patron! nuclear weaponswar. Advertisement …

CIA Director Burns says U.S., West shouldn’t be intimidated by Kremlin’s nuclear threats in Ukraine

Washington Times

The U.S. and its allies should not be “unnecessarily intimidated” by Russian threats to unleash its nuclear arsenal as Ukraine presses for more ..

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

Visit Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming | News – Homenewshere.com

Homenewshere.com

Yellowstone, named for the Yellowstone River, is a giant supervolcano. … caldera or basin. The park is full of geothermal features, including …

Expecting to meet funky characters on a coast bike ride | Outdoors | postregister.com

Post Register

I’m not talking about Armageddon or the Yellowstone caldera erupting, but a multi-week bike tour down the Pacific Coast with my brother. While …

Mag. 2.1 quake – 11 km west of Frontino, Antioquia, Colombia, on Saturday, Sep 7, 2024, at …

Volcano Discovery

List and interactive map of current and past earthquakes near Yellowstone volcano. Bromo · Bromo volcano photos. Bromo is one of Indonesia’s most …

“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Sep 07, 2024

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LLAW’s NUCLEAR ISSUES & COMMENTS, Saturday, (09/07/2024)

Finally! I am back after an ugly 3 day hiatus over the failure of a new equipment update that was broken en-route (or before) and finally I screamed loud enough to get an Internet serviceman out here to replace the failed Router/and or Modem. It took him all of less than 30 minutes to upgrade all 3 of the down computers that I use to prepare this and other Posts, Blogs, or work on my next planned novel(s).

The waiting and thumb-twiddling, though, made me realize how useless I am to the world without my computerized writing equipment, which also gives me the increased vision I need to see in front of my face. I could do none of this without my computers that are networked along with my iPad and Galaxy phone, all of which, especially the 3 PC’s, to manage to get my “work” done each day.

I am sorry, mostly for myself of course, that I now have failed to provide an “All Things Nuclear” blog post for the first time in 742 consecutive days. If nothing else, it demonstrates how devoted I am to my cause of creating awareness of the life-threatening capabilities of “All Things Nuclear”. So I have set a record for myself that perhaps I may be able to break during the next couple of years, plus a few days . . .

By Monday, I will be back on track, but today I have added the IAEA weekly posts that should have been available yesterday, and there are many frightening articles in this evening’s “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA” below. I will leave it to you to pick out the best of frightening litter. ~llaw

Subscribed

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

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

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

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

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Saturday, (09/07/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

How small modular reactors could expand nuclear power in the U.S. – CNBC

CNBC

New nuclear plant designs, called small modular reactors, could speed deployment of carbon-free power in the future as electricity demand rises.

US moves forward with reactivation of decades-old nuclear power station in bid to meet …

The Cool Down

However, as the Department of Energy notes, nuclear is a carbon-free energy source that is more reliable than other types of power. If all goes …

Donald Trump appeals to base using anti-immigrant messaging in Harrisburg visit

90.5 WESA

All Things Considered. Next Up: 6:30 PM Marketplace. 0:00. 0:00. All Things … activists try to head off nuclear restart at Three Mile Island. 23 …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

How small modular reactors could expand nuclear power in the U.S. – CNBC

CNBC

New nuclear plant designs, called small modular reactors, could speed deployment of carbon-free power in the future as electricity demand rises.

AI and EVs are Devouring America’s Electricity. How Nuclear Energy Could Rise Again. – Barron’s

Barron’s

Long out of favor, nuclear power is suddenly facing a much brighter future. The bull case for Constellation Energy and Vistra.

Researchers find launch site for Russia’s nuclear–powered missile – YouTube

YouTube

lines here. They shouldn’t joke about our red lines.” Coming from a nuclear power, that sounds like Russia would be prepared to use a nuclear …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Another Hunter Valley earthquake sounds alarms on Coalition’s nuclear scheme

News Hub – Medianet

… power station, where the Coalition aims to build at least one nuclear reactor. … radioactive emergency? “The safety issues highlighted by these …

Russia declares ‘state of emergency‘ as Ukraine kamikaze drone blows up missile dump in …

YouTube

Russia’s 24000-Km Range Unique Nuclear Missile That Spooked US Air Force Ready, Launch Pad Revealed? … Ukraine strikes power plants only kilometres …

Nuclear War

NEWS

Post-war nuclear bunker to go under the hammer – BBC

BBC

A post-war nuclear bunker buried under a hillside in Derbyshire is set to go under the hammer. The 1950s bunker, described as a “piece of history” …

There was genuine risk of Russia using nuclear weapons at start of Ukraine war, CIA boss reveals

The Telegraph

Bill Burns says sudden breakthrough of troops in the north east of the country stoked fears Putin would use the most extreme measures.

CIA boss says west should not be intimidated by Russia’s nuclear threats – The Guardian

The Guardian

… nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine in the first year of the war. “There was a moment in the fall [autumn] of 2022 when I think there …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

CIA boss says west should not be intimidated by Russia’s nuclear threats – The Guardian

The Guardian

Western leaders should not be intimidated by Kremlin threats of nuclear … nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine in the first year of the war.

Explaining Russia’s new nuclear doctrine —saber-rattling or real threat?

The Kyiv Independent

Explaining Russia’s new nuclear doctrine —saber-rattling or real threat? … Russia’s threats to use nuclear weapons have slowed Western arms supplies …

‘Taking Warfare In A New Direction’: Expert Details Russian Strike On Ukraine, Nuclear Threats

YouTube

… attack on Ukraine and President Putin’s threats of using nuclear weapons. Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium .

IAEA Weekly News

6 September 2024

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

5 September 2024

Update 248 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi examined a cooling tower at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) this week to assess the damage it suffered in a major fire last month, the latest incident underlining persistent nuclear safety and security dangers at the site during the military conflict. Read more →

4 September 2024

IAEA Director General Visits Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant After Recent Fire

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has visited Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant for the fifth time. His focus was on the significant damage caused by a fire at one of its cooling towers in early August, he also visited a water pumping station and a storage facility for fresh fuel rods. Read more →

4 September 2024

IAEA Report Highlights Two Years of Efforts to Prevent an Accident at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant

The International Atomic Energy Agency issued a new report today on its efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security during the conflict in Ukraine, two years after Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi crossed the frontline to establish the IAEA’s presence at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) site and help prevent a nuclear accident. Read more →

2 September 2024

New IAEA Publication about Detecting Nuclear and Other Radioactive Material out of Regulatory Control

A new IAEA publication offers law enforcement agencies and frontline officers detailed guidance to support them in combatting criminal acts involving nuclear or other radioactive material that has fallen out of regulatory control. Read more →

“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Sep 03, 2024

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The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant as seen from Nikopol, July 21, 2023. (Photo by Ercin Erturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

LLAW’s NUCLEAR ISSUES & COMMENTS, Tuesday, (09/03/2024)

This drama keeps happening over and over, and I wonder each time if this is the one to “break the camel’s back” and cause a meltdown of one or more of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant’s six reactors, which could cause massive deaths in Ukraine as well as Europe. Or are these attacks some kind of joint military act of some kind? It is also interesting that Russia has occupied and operated the Ukraine nuclear plant since the beginning of the three-year-old war began.

I find it odd that the Russian military continues tis attacks on the Ukraine plant, especially after Putin was so disturbed, aggravated and felt abused when Ukraine attacked the Kursk nuclear power plant in Russia a few weeks ago. I would not think it’s okay for Russia to continually attack Ukraine’s (and Europe’s) largest nuclear power plant but to be offended by Ukraine’s surprise attack on Russia’s large plant. Is this a war or some kind of game with the rules favoring Russia? If it is, it is taking a huge toll on lives, including civilians, and military arms. This emergency crisis at the Ukraine plant happens over and over, but somehow the assault is overcome each time just in time. I suspect the necessary repairs will be accomplished in the same last-minute recovery as before. ~llaw

Russian attacks have damaged one of the two overhead power lines at the Russian-occupied , the state nuclear energy company Energoatom reported on Sep. 3.

The plant was damaged the day before and is currently receiving power from the Ukrainian power grid, according to the agency.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear plant in Europe, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022. Throughout its occupation, the plant has been repeatedly disconnected from the Ukrainian power grid due to Russian attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure.

“In case of damage to the second power line, an emergency will arise due to the loss of external power supply to the pumps that cool the reactor cores and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant’s fuel pools,” Energoatom warned.

Ukrainian specialists are not yet able to inspect the damage and begin repairs, as there is a threat of repeated shelling by Russian troops, according to Energoatom.

In the meantime, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi announced on X that he is on the way to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to “continue IAEA’s assistance and help prevent a nuclear accident.”

Grossi also said on Sep. 3 that he had met with Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko and Energoatom’s acting head Petro Kotin, as he began his 10th visit to Ukraine before traveling to Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

The nuclear safety situation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is “deteriorating” after reports that a drone struck the road near the facility’s perimeter, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on Aug. 17.

The IAEA team said that the drone hit did not cause any casualties or damage to plant equipment but said military activity near the ZNPP has been “intense” in recent days.

The reported drone strike and Russia’s allegations come as Moscow continues to spread claims that Ukrainian forces are planning to attack the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant as part of their incursion into the border region along with attacks on the ZNPP.

Kyiv also accused Russian forces on Aug. 11 of setting fire to “a large number of automobile tires in cooling towers” at the nuclear plant to “create panic in the settlements on the right bank of the former reservoir.”

---

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

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

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

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

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Tuesday, (09/03/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Deadly suicide blast kills at least six in Kabul – Nevada Public Radio

Nevada Public Radio

The Afghan capital has been periodically hit by an ISIS affiliate, but no one immediately claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack, which killed …

Burevestnik/Skyfall: What to Know About Russia’s New Nuclear Cruise Missile

Foreign Policy

With the launch positions, missiles, and warheads all present at the same site, it’s likely that the Burevestnik will be an on-alert missile ready to …

Groups file petition to stop nuclear plant from reopening along Lake Michigan

WCMU Public Radio

All Things Considered · Destination Out · Fresh Air · Here and Now · Homespun … “We have completed all major licensing submittals to the U.S. Nuclear …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Why It’s So Hard To Build Nuclear Power Plants In The U.S. – YouTube

YouTube

Plant Vogtle, a nuclear power plant in Waynesboro, Ga., is the largest source of clean energy in the U.S. following the addition of two new …

Ghana, U.S. partner to deploy NuScale SMR – American Nuclear Society – American Nuclear Society

Full Coverage

Restart Closed US Nuclear Plants? Only a Few Would Work – Yahoo Finance

Yahoo Finance

(Bloomberg) — With electricity demand surging across the US, nuclear power advocates want to restart some of the 13 reactors that closed in the …

GAIN helped Kentucky clear the runway for nuclear energy. Now the coal-dependent state is …

Idaho National Laboratory

About Idaho National Laboratory. Battelle Energy Alliance manages INL for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy. INL is the …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Russian strikes damage overhead power line at occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power …

The Kyiv Independent

Damage to another overhead power line will lead to an emergency at the plant, according to the state nuclear energy company.

Russian attack damages one of two overhead power supply lines to Zaporizhzhia Nuclear …

pravda.com.ua

… emergency will occur due to the loss of external power to the pumps that cool the reactor cores and fuel storage pools of Zaporizhzhia NPP.

Zaporizhzhya NPP faces emergency risk from Russian shelling – MSN

MSN

The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is currently connected to Ukraine’s power system by just one transmission line, according to Energoatom.

Nuclear War

NEWS

Why is Russia changing its nuclear doctrine amid the Ukraine war? – Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera

Russia’s nuclear threats over the course of the war are a tactic to contain US involvement in Ukraine, experts say.

Putin Allies Worry Nuclear Threat Isn’t Working – Newsweek

Newsweek

Russia Warns Kremlin Changing Nuclear War Policy in Response to West · Ukraine’s Incursion May Be Slowing Russia’s Advance: Analysts · Zelensky Fires …

IAEA chief discusses Ukraine, Russia nuclear plants with Zelenskiy, says situation fragile

Reuters

U.N. nuclear agency chief Rafael Grossi, who is due to visit the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeast Ukraine on …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Why is Russia changing its nuclear doctrine amid the Ukraine war? – Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera

Russia’s nuclear threats over the course of the war are a tactic to contain US involvement in Ukraine, experts say.

Putin Allies Worry Nuclear Threat Isn’t Working – Newsweek

Newsweek

Vladimir Putin’s allies have expressed concern that nuclear threats … NATO Ally Sounds Alarm on ‘Risks‘ of Nuclear War With Russia. Andrei …

What is Russia’s nuclear doctrine and how might it change? – SWI swissinfo.ch

Swissinfo

As this risk is not defined explicitly, Putin was able to make thinly veiled threats to use Russia’s nuclear arsenal to deter any direct Western .

“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Sep 02, 2024

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Defense minister nominee Kim Yong-hyun, center, speaks during a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul, Sept. 2. Yonhap

LLAW’s NUCLEAR ISSUES & COMMENTS, Monday, (09/02/2024)

About South Korea arming itself with its own nuclear weapons:

This seems like a very bad idea, and I wonder what the American government will have to say about it. I cannot imagine both North and South Korea with nuclear arms; and I would guess that the USA, South Korea’s loyal ally is more than enough to keep North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in check, just as the U.S. has for several years now. This idea could make matters worse for South Korea because Kim Jong Un, who is over-charged to employ his nuclear arsenal somewhere would like nothing better than to use it on his southern neighbor almost as much as he’d like to use it on the United States.

I suspect the U.S. will never allow this to happen because the United Sates already gives them more than enough ‘deterrence’ as deterrence goes in its eventual inability, not only in the U.S., but in all nuclear armed countries) to act as a substitute for avoiding nuclear war instead of simple humanitarian common sense by abolishing all nuclear weapons on planet Earth forever. ~llaw

Defense minister nominee says he is open to idea of S. Korea’s nuclear armament

Posted : 2024-09-02 15:47

Updated : 2024-09-02 15:47

Defense minister nominee Kim Yong-hyun, center, speaks during a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul, Sept. 2. Yonhap

Defense minister nominee Kim Yong-hyun said Monday that South Korea’s nuclear armament could be among the options considered to respond to North Korea’s nuclear threats amid high public support for the idea of their country going nuclear.

“That is included among all possible options,” Kim said in a parliamentary confirmation hearing, in response to a question on the possibility of securing room for nuclear armament.

Speaking to reporters last month, Kim said that he was open to all means to respond to North Korea’s nuclear threats, while stressing that the alliance with the United States remains the basis in dealing with such threats.

Kim, who served as the chief of the Presidential Security Service and oversaw the relocation of the presidential office to Yongsan, rejected criticism over the move by main opposition lawmakers, saying the basement bunkers for contingency situations are “much more stronger” at the current location.

In regard to a controversial incident which critics called excessive protection of the president, Kim said measures were reasonably taken in accordance with relevant security guidelines.

On the need to allow women to apply as rank-and-file soldiers amid concerns over the country’s ultra-low birth rate, Kim said the idea should be reviewed as an option but that public consensus over the policy should come first.

Kim, meanwhile, strongly rejected claims by the opposition bloc that the administration of Yoon Suk Yeol is seeking to draw up a martial law plan.

“I believe that confirmation hearings are not held for political instigation of things that are not true,” he said. (Yonhap)

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

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

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

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

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Monday, (09/02/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Russia Warns Kremlin Changing Nuclear War Policy in Response to West – Newsweek

Newsweek

The conflict has long raised concerns about whether Russia could deploy nuclear weapons. Putin has repeatedly made eyebrow-raising statements about …

Russia to revise nuclear doctrine over West’s escalations: Ryabkov | Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen English

… nuclear doctrine], caused, among other things, by the examination and analysis of development of recent conflicts, including, of course, everything …

Defense minister nominee Kim Yong-hyun open to South Korea’s nuclear armament

The Korea Times

… nuclear threats amid high public support for the idea of their country going nuclear. “That is included among all possible options,” Kim said in a …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Westinghouse Completes First VVER-440 Fuel Reload at Finland’s Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant

Westinghouse Nuclear

Westinghouse Electric Company has delivered the first reload of VVER-440 fuel assemblies to the Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant.

Exclusive-U.S. researchers find probable launch site of Russia’s new nuclear–powered missile

Yahoo News Canada

Two U.S. researchers say they have identified the probable deployment site in Russia of the 9M370 Burevestnik, a new nuclear–powered, …

Commercial SMR Agreement Reached at U.S-Africa Nuclear Energy Summit

Energy Central

General sessions kicked off today at the second annual U.S.-Africa Nuclear Energy Summit (USANES) in Nairobi, Kenya. USANES is a week-long series …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Emergency power outages have been canceled in Kiev – EADaily

EADaily

… nuclear power plant was transferred to American fuel: Rosatom will need its own; 12:36 The star of American cinema translated the Russian proverb …

Nuclear War

NEWS

China Reacts After Russia Says It Intends To Change Nuclear War Policy – Newsweek

Newsweek

According to Reuters, Russia’s existing 2020 nuclear doctrine stipulates that it may employ its nuclear arsenal in the event of a nuclear attack by an …

Russia Warns Kremlin Changing Nuclear War Policy in Response to West – Newsweek

Newsweek

Recent weeks have seen Ukraine launch its own counteroffensive into Kursk—marking the first time Russian territory has been seized since World War …

Ukraine war briefing: Russia says it will change nuclear doctrine due to western ‘escalation …

The Guardian

Work to amend doctrine on use of nuclear weapons ‘at an advanced stage’, state media quotes deputy foreign minister as saying.

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Explainer: What is Russia’s nuclear doctrine and how might it change? – Reuters

Reuters

… nuclear weapons if it perceived that threats were growing. HOW DOES THE NUCLEAR ISSUE AFFECT THE UKRAINE WAR? The risk of a nuclear war with …

Exclusive: U.S. researchers find probable launch site of Russia’s new nuclear-powered missile

Reuters

… Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), an advocacy group focused on reducing nuclear, biological and emergent technology risks. The setbacks include a …

Nuclear weapons always stopped invasions. Then Ukrainian troops poured into Russia. | Mint

Mint

One wild card Sokov notes is that the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin seem to consider threats to his regime as sovereign threats to Russia

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

Yellowstone supervolcano eruption could trigger ‘nuclear winter’ and mass deaths – MSN

MSN

Yellowstone supervolcano eruption could trigger ‘nuclear winter’ and mass deaths. Story by Zeleb.es. • 1mo. 1 / 17. A popular tourist site could …

“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Sep 01, 2024

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Bill Gates Is Bringing ‘The Most Advanced Nuclear Facility In The World’ To A Small City With Only 2,000 People

LLAW’s NUCLEAR ISSUES & COMMENTS, Sunday, (09/01/2024)

I hope you are enjoying a peaceful and quiet three-day weekend! A couple days off has been comforting for my tired old mind and body. But I will pretend Monday is a work-day and restart the engines again because so much can happen in the “nuclear” world in 3 days, meaning that a tomorrow is nothing at all close to today, yesterday, or the day before in this world’s run-amok age of “All Things Nuclear” . . . ~llaw

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS for Sunday, (09/01/2024) is listed below for your perusal to the best articles of the day . . .

There are a couple articles in Today’s stories that are interesting to me that you might be interested in as well. In my case they are both of a very personal interest: One because of my old Wyoming home where I was born and raised and the other where I live now, (just 12 miles from the California border in Nevada) and 300 miles downwind from Diablo Canyon, California’s last operating nuclear power plant owned by PG&E that was supposed to be shut down forever next year, but has been given a 5 year extension by the federal government’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Here are the links to the two stories:

A potential first-time operating nuclear power plant with an experimental cooling system in Wyoming, partially underwritten by philanthropist Bill Gates:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-bringing-most-advanced-160018318.html

and, California needs nuclear energy in a time of climate crisis.

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/story/2024-09-01/california-needs-nuclear-energy

The links are also available in the world news nuclear media roundup below . . .

~llaw

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

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

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

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

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Sunday, (09/01/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Russia will change nuclear doctrine due to West’s actions in Ukraine, official says

Yahoo News UK

It’s not really that bad a word, but how can you top that word for what I’m talking about? Right? What word? “Every place she touches wouldn’t be nice …

Nuclear Weapons Always Stopped Invasions. Then Ukrainian Troops Poured Into Russia.

The Wall Street Journal

In testing Putin’s red lines, Kyiv is sparking a rediscovery of Cold War-era ideas about nuclear escalation. … All Things with Kim Strassel · Potomac …

New fusion reactor design promises unprecedented plasma stability

Interesting Engineering

Aman holds expertise in politics, travel, and tech news, especially in AI, advanced algorithms, and blockchain, with a strong curiosity about all …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Michigan Plotting to Re-Open Shuttered 1970s Nuclear Plant – Futurism

Futurism

After shutting it down in 2022, Michigan is making an abrupt u-turn and is now planning to reopen an old 1970s nuclear power.

Bill Gates Is Bringing ‘The Most Advanced Nuclear Facility In The World’ To A Small City With …

Yahoo Finance

… than traditional nuclear power plants. It is a groundbreaking project expected to provide clean, zero-carbon energy. Don’t Miss: Amid the ongo.

Letters to the Editor: California needs nuclear energy in a time of climate crisis

Los Angeles Times

Like other nuclear plants, Diablo Canyon is built to withstand earthquakes and continue operating, says the head of the American Nuclear Society.

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Bodies Of 17 Dead Found Amid Wreckage Of Russian Helicopter in Kamchatka

Radio Free Europe

Azerbaijani Official Shocked At Armenia’s Emergency Nuclear Shutdown, Questions ‘Certain Technologies’ … The Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP) was …

Nuclear War

NEWS

Russia will change nuclear doctrine due to West’s actions in Ukraine, official says | Reuters

Reuters

Russia’s existing nuclear doctrine, set out in a decree by President Vladimir Putin in 2020, says it may use nuclear weapons in the event of a nuclear …

Russia says it will change nuclear doctrine because of Western role in Ukraine – Al Arabiya

Al Arabiya

Russia will make changes to its doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons in response to what it regards as Western escalation in the war in Ukraine, …

Russia says it will change nuclear doctrine because of Western role in Ukraine – ABC News

ABC

Hawks among Russia’s military analysts have urged President Vladimir Putin to lower the threshold for nuclear weapons use in order to “sober up” …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Russia says it will change nuclear doctrine because of Western role in Ukraine – Reuters

Reuters

… nuclear threats, and announced the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. That has not deterred the U.S. and its allies from …

Why is the US fighting nuclear threats behind closed doors? – The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Why is the US fighting nuclear threats behind closed doors? … Joe Biden also used to speak regularly and urgently about the dangers of nuclear …

Flag as irrelevant

Is Yoon’s unrequited alliance with US, Japan making Korea any safer? – Hankyoreh

Hankyoreh

While the Yoon administration points to cooperation with the US and Japan for countering North Korean threats, Washington and Tokyo seem to have ..

Yellowstone Caldera

NEWS

Hydrothermal explosions, like the one at Yellowstone, are a worldwide phenomena

belgrade-news.com

Hydrothermal explosions, like the one at Yellowstone, are a worldwide phenomena. MICHAEL POLAND Yellowstone Volcano Observatory / U.S. Geological …

“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Aug 31, 2024

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LLAW’s NUCLEAR ISSUES & COMMENTS, Saturday, (08/31/2024)

Have a wonderful three-day weekend! I will pretend Monday is work-day because so much can happen in the “nuclear” world in 3 days, meaning that tomorrow is nothing at all close to today, yesterday, or the day before . . . ~llaw

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS for Saturday, (08/31/2024) is listed below for your perusal to the best articles of the day . . .

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

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

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

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

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Saturday, (08/31/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Feds possibly routing nuclear waste through Oregon | Street Roots

Street Roots

Oregon is not home to the most contaminated land in North America — that award goes to Washington. But if things go according to plan, …

Iran Gets Nukes Amid Fears Of All-Out War With Israel? UN Agency’s Bombshell – YouTube

YouTube

… nuclear weapons. It further added Iran remains just 2 kg short of the … If You Wake Up Between 3AM & 5AM, DO THESE 3 THINGS! | C.S Lewis …

Behind the scenes at the Nuclear Waste Program – Washington State Department of Ecology

Washington State Department of Ecology

… all the unique aspects of his position. “I get excited about collaborating with the people I work with. It is a good work group with varied …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

US company helps Ukraine develop nuclear energy capabilities | VOANews – YouTube

YouTube

Russian shelling has destroyed 50% of Ukraine’s electricity generation capacity since late March, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Armenia’s nuclear power plant to resume work after lightning strike – Reuters

Reuters

Armenia’s sole nuclear power plant, shut down on Friday for security reasons after a lightning strike, has been reconnected to the grid and will …

Government unlocks up to £5.5bn for nuclear power subsidy scheme – BBC

BBC

Nuclear power scheme given £5.5bn of funding. Just now. Share. Neve Gordon-Farleigh & PA. BBC News, Suffolk. Share. Guy Campbell/BBC White fencing …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Lightning Strike Suspends Electricity from Armenia’s Nuclear Power Plant

hetq.am

Armenian officials blame a “lightning strike” for triggering an emergency shut-down of the Metzamor nuclear power plant at 9:55 pm local time on …

Lightning causes emergency shutdown of Armenian NPP – Public Radio of Armenia

Public Radio of Armenia

On August 30, at around 9:55 p.m., the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant was disconnected from the power system. The emergency shutdown was caused by …

Armenian Nuclear Power Plant halted due to lighting strike

armenpress.am

The plant was cut off from the power grid in an emergency mode around 21:55, August 30 due to a lighting strike, as a result of which the safety …

Nuclear War

NEWS

NATO Ally Sounds Alarm on ‘Risks’ of Nuclear War With Russia – Newsweek

Newsweek

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned that nuclear weapons may be used if the Russia-Ukraine war continues.

Iran Gets Nukes Amid Fears Of All-Out War With Israel? UN Agency’s Bombshell – YouTube

YouTube

The International Atomic Energy Agency has raised alarms over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, revealing a significant increase in highly enriched …

Why the Nuclear Revolution Matters in an Era of Emerging Great Power Competition

The Diplomat

Amid intensifying competition between China, Russia, and the U.S., it bears repeating: Nuclear wars cannot be won.

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Ukraine Warns of Escalating Nuclear Threats Amid Intensified Russian Strikes

Caspian News

The Ukrainian mission to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has raised alarms about the escalating threat to the country’s nuclear po.

Why the Nuclear Revolution Matters in an Era of Emerging Great Power Competition

The Diplomat

Nuclear deterrence can be defined as the threat of nuclear retaliation against an adversary for an attack on a state’s vital interests, thereby …

Iran and Hezbollah delay retaliation: Israel’s threats and US talks – The Jerusalem Post

The Jerusalem Post

Of course, such US understandings with Iran won’t remove Iranian nuclear or hegemonic threats, but rather kick the can down the road – leaving Iran as ..

“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”

Lloyd A. Williams-Pendergraft

Aug 30, 2024

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Vice President Kamala Harris has not yet detailed her energy policies as the Democratic presidential nominee. AP

LLAW’s NUCLEAR ISSUES & COMMENTS, Friday, (08/30/2024)

I hesitated to highlight this New York Post article concerning Trump and his so-called “Platform” on nuclear energy because it scares me half to death should he actually be elected. So I am relying on my absolute belief that Trump will go the way of the Dodo bird, losing by a landslide to Kamala Harris.

I have to laugh that right out of the box the headline says Trump says he will make electricity cheap, llolloll! He says he will do it by making electricity cheap with ‘hundreds of new power plants’ and modular nuclear reactors. That remark is pure insanity, and Trump will be long deceased before a single new plant ever comes online, and if ever happens the cost of electricity will continue to skyrocket because the price of uranium fuel alone will be just one of many mind-boggling expenses. As usual, Trump simply spouts noise and untruths every time he opens his mouth. I believe he is menace to the future of the world . . .

But I must say ‘all things nuclear’ have nothing to do with preventing global warming/climate change, and nuclear issues are nothing to be fibbing about nor playing political games with. Yet the deceitful promises of ‘clean’ energy, along with “threats” of nuclear war are delivered from the 9 nuclear armed countries to the media all around the globe every day, but it will only take one truth behind the lie to create nuclear war, aka World War III, which will end all wars — as well as virtually all life on a dying Mother Earth. ~llaw

Trump vows to make electricity cheap with ‘hundreds of new power plants’ and modular nuclear reactors

By

Steven Nelson and

Ryan King

Published Aug. 29, 2024

Updated Aug. 29, 2024, 6:42 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump touted plans Thursday to reduce electricity costs by quickly approving the construction of new power plants and spurring the deployment of small modular reactors for nuclear energy — saying it would unleash an economic boom.

Trump, 78, said that more electricity would tame inflation and meet the future energy needs of artificial intelligence.

“To achieve this rapid reduction in energy costs, I will declare a national emergency to allow us to dramatically increase energy production, generation and supply, which Comrade Kamala has destroyed,” the Republican presidential nominee said at a rally in Potterville, Mich.

“Starting on day one, I will approve new drilling, new pipelines, new refineries, new power plants, new reactors and we will slash the red tape. We will get the job done. We will create more electricity, also for these new industries that can only function with massive electricity.”

Former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt previewed the plans on a morning press call, saying, “In the future, every manufacturing plant, every data center, every semiconductor facility and assembly line will want to be built in America — because America will be the place where the cost of energy is lower than anywhere else on Earth.”

President Trump will address his energy policies during a Thursday afternoon visit to swing-state Pennsylvania, where he has frequently campaigned.Bonnie Cash/UPI/Shutterstock

The 45th president laid out his energy vision — including tapping domestic reserves of oil and gas and easing regulation of vehicle efficiency — in a swing-state area where cars are made while slamming Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ record as vice president. 

“Between soaring demand and retiring coal, we are facing a great capacity shortfall of at least 30% by 2032,” Bernhardt said. “You should ask Harris [and Tim] Walz how they are going to make up for that shortfall under their net zero vision. I submit to you they can’t.”

One new aspect of the Trump energy plan is the boost to nuclear energy, which currently makes up 18.6% of US electricity production — far behind natural gas (43.1%), and only narrowly ahead of coal (16.2%) and wind (10.2%).

Billionaire-led nuclear boom

Small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) are not currently in commercial use in the United States and none are scheduled to open before 2030 — though advocates of the technology, including billionaire Bill Gates, whose company TerraPower is behind that inaugural facility in Wyoming, think they can reshape the industry.

The current timeline means that — at least as of now — no small modular reactors would be in commercial use until after a second Trump term, said Daniel Kammen, a professor of nuclear engineering at the University of California at Berkeley.

“Nuclear SMR proponents will say this is the brave, bright new wave for nuclear power and these private sector operators are going to essentially do for nuclear what they seem to have done for space launches,” Kammen said.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is working to open the first commercial small modular reactor for nuclear power.via REUTERS

Still, “the number of barriers in design to protect public safety that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission runs means even a massively pro-nuclear president would have a hugely difficult time stepping through those,” the prof said.

Advocates believe modular technology could pave the way to faster and cheaper deployment of nuclear power as an environmentally friendly alternative to high-emissions sources — and outgoing President Biden also has supported research into SMR use.

The major differences between conventional nuclear power plants and SMRs is the power-production capacity — with “small” facilities with cores roughly the size of an 18-wheeler truck generating less electricity.

“There are effectively SMRs operating around the world. Russia delivers nuclear-powered icebreakers to its Arctic cities and then they take the power directly off of that boat. We have nuclear aircraft carriers,” Kammen said.

“If someone really cut away legislation and regulation, you certainly could” deploy them commercially, he added — warning, however, that nuclear technology comes with significant potential risks including human operator-caused disasters.

“The technology of this size has existed for decades,” Kammen said. “These are just machines that are tailored for commercial use.”

Smaller-scale reactors would in theory allow for greater adoption — as has been the case with solar energy, which has grown to produce 3.9% of US electricity thanks in part to increased affordability of solar panels associated with higher production volume, Kammen said.

Steve Milloy, a senior fellow at the Energy & Environment Institute who previously served on Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) transition team, said the 45th president seems to be putting “more emphasis now on nuclear” than during his term of office.

“More work is going to be needed than just that [with] the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He’s also going to have to change how EPA regulates radiation exposures. So I think all that stuff is doable,” he told The Post.

Milloy posited that Republicans have warmed up to nuclear power because it could help counter Democrats on the issue of climate change.

“They want to dodge talking about climate, which I think is ridiculous,” he said. “I mean, they should beat Harris-Walz over the head with climate, especially in Pennsylvania. So they talk about energy solutions [instead],” he said.

Reversing green policies

The former president’s campaign also restated a raft of familiar pro-fossil fuel policies — including easing domestic production of oil, natural gas and coal while trashing policies intended to phase out vehicles that use gasoline and diesel fuel.

Milloy contended that one of Trump’s most significant energy proposals is his mantra of “drill baby, drill,” which he argued would “unleash the US oil and gas industry.” He also cautioned that Trump could run into roadblocks with the EPA.

“EPA is famous for its resistance that developed during the Trump administration — the first one. Those guys slow up things, sabotage them, and Trump’s going to have to appoint strong agency leaders that understand the resistance, and know how to combat the resistance,” he said.

Under the Harris-Biden administration, the federal government imposed a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal land, axed construction of the KeyStone XL oil pipeline from Canada and forbade drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Trump had criticized Harris’ past support for a fracking ban.

Harris, 59, has not laid out her energy policies in detail but previously supported bans on fracking and a complete phase-out of new gas-powered cars by 2035. Her aides have distanced her from both of those pledges, though the veep has yet to do so herself.

Trump has vowed to claw back at least some of the $369 billion in environmental funding included in Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which Republicans argue has contributed to inflation — which has surged 20% since Biden took office in January 2021.

“Energy isn’t part of the economy, it’s the heart of the economy, and if the energy costs increase, everything increases,” American Energy Institute CEO Jason Isaac told The Post.

Democrats have defended themselves from blame over energy prices by pointing out that domestic crude oil production hit an all-time high last year.

“Go back and look at [Energy Information Administration] projections well before the Biden administration took office,” Bernhardt said in pushing back. “What you would see is that the projections far exceeded today’s current production. And so, while production has increased, the reality is that’s actually below what would have occurred under the policies of President Trump.

“So they can take credit for missing the mark.”

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

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

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

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

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

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Friday, (08/30/2024)

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Nuclear Power in the Modern Age – Yahoo Finance

Yahoo Finance

In this podcast, Motley Fool host Ricky Mulvey caught up with Oklo CEO Jake DeWitte for a conversation about: … To catch full episodes of all The …

Nuclear Power in the Modern Age – AOL.com

AOL.com

All things we’ve done, all of which helped radically change how much it costs to take new technologies to market in a very favorable way and …

U.N. Agency Issues Fresh Warning Over Iranian Nuclear Activities – WSJ

The Wall Street Journal

… Things with Kim Strassel · Potomac Watch Podcast · Foreign Edition … all-out regional war. Iran has massively expanded its nuclear program …

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Switzerland moves to remove ban on new reactors – World Nuclear News

World Nuclear News

… nuclear power plants, which has been in place since 1 January 2018. It said all clean energy sources will be needed to meet expected electricity …

Update 247 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

International Atomic Energy Agency

… Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), where nuclear safety and security remains precarious. It will be the fifth time that the Director General crosses the …

New Swiss nuclear dawn seen decades away at best | Reuters

Reuters

… nuclear power plant KKW Leibstadt behind the hydropower plant Eglisau in Rheinsfelden,. Steam rises from the cooling tower of the nuclear power plant …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Cooper Nuclear Station implementing new notification system – MSC News

MSC News

(KLZA)–The Nebraska Public Power District’s Cooper Nuclear Station will soon be implementing the use of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s …

Two nuclear power plant units were disconnected during Russia’s August 26 attack, Ukraine …

Euromaidan Press

… emergency power outages. According to the communication, Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure …

Trump vows to make electricity cheap with ‘hundreds of new power plants‘ and modular … – NY Post

NY Post

Trump vows to make electricity cheap with ‘hundreds of new power plants’ and modular nuclear reactors … emergency to allow us to dramatically …

Nuclear War

NEWS

Kim Jong Un Prepares For “Nuclear War” Over Massive US Troop Deployment – YouTube

YouTube

Kim Jong Un Prepares For “Nuclear War” Over Massive US Troop Deployment | From The Frontline The United States and South Korea held massive …

Grossi to visit Zaporizhzhia, warns security situation remains ‘extremely challenging’

World Nuclear News

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi is to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant for a fifth time, …

The only threat to Europe’s nuclear security is russian aggression against our country

Кабінет Міністрів України

This week, russia, which systematically violates the norms of international humanitarian law and nuclear safety and security regulations, …

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

Russia Stays Unfazed by U.S. Nuclear Threats: Intelligence Chief – Sri Lanka Guardian

Sri Lanka Guardian

Russia Stays Unfazed by U.S. Nuclear Threats: Intelligence Chief. The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration announced earlier in May that …

The only threat to Europe’s nuclear security is russian aggression against our country

Кабінет Міністрів України

… war, but also to fundamental principles of the safety of nuclear facilities. … In order to avoid risks and threats to nuclear safety, it is necessary …

Kursk Nuclear Power Plant: The Newest Target for Russian Disinformation – RUSI

RUSI

… attack would not meaningfully threaten Russian energy production. Gorchakov notes that, outside of the Kursk Oblast, any Russian loss of energy …

IAEA Weekly News

30 August 2024

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

30 August 2024

Climate-Smart Agriculture Enables Asian Farmers to Increase Rice Productivity

Farmers in six Asian countries have used nuclear derived climate-smart agricultural practices and significantly increased their rice yields with the help of the IAEA and the FAO.  Read more →

29 August 2024

Update 247 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will next week travel to Ukraine to hold high-level talks and assess developments at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), where nuclear safety and security remains precarious. Read more →

28 August 2024

Understanding Human Calorie Needs: IAEA Supports FAO and WHO

For the first time the IAEA is to help United Nations nutrition experts reevaluate human energy requirements: a key input for assessing global hunger that was last evaluated in 2001. Read more →

27 August 2024

Mozambique is Prioritizing Cancers Affecting Women and Children

The sub-Saharan African country of Mozambique is currently experiencing a high burden of infectious disease coupled with a growing burden of non-communicable diseases including cancer. Read more →

26 August 2024

IAEA Director General Statement on Kursk Nuclear Power Plant

Given the serious situation, I am personally leading the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission to the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in the Russian Federation. The safety and security of all nuclear power plants is of central and fundamental concern to the IAEA. Read more →