“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”
MAR 1, 2024
PG&E’s Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, recently given new life from federal and state governments. The plant was supposed to be shutdown due to age in 2025.
LLAW’s COMMENTS, Friday (03/01/2024)
It is the constantly increasing numbers of headlines like these that prompt me to contradict what more and more factually conflicting, erratic and mistaken facts propaganda about how nuclear energy production can save us all from CO2, which causes global warming, and climate change because nuclear power is ‘clean’. This ‘Big Lie” is a daily event being shoved down our very scratchy human throats, and governments everywhere at every level are are buying into a sham of a scam scene that will never work because it is pure unadulterated fiction.
So to fight back I have resurrected a clear and concise contradictory Post from nearly a year ago, LLAW’s ALL THINGS NUCLEAR #246 (04/24/2023), that positively blows this “pie-in-the-sky” bullshit completely out of our rapidly growing belief in this ridiculous nuclear concept fantasy full of nothing but hot air. These are today’s media headlines of the very kind I am talking about:
Al Jazeera: Nuclear power is experiencing a renaissance on Earth, and in space. Whether we’re talking about lunar bases or space exploration, nuclear might be …
The New York Times: It’s the latest sign that nuclear power, a once-contentious source of energy, is now attracting broad political support in Washington.
LLAW’s ALL THINGS NUCLEAR #246 (04/24/2023)
Intentional or not, the whole world is falsely being told and beginning to believe that Nuclear power plants are safe, but also zero-emission CO2 facilities that will overcome climate change and global warming.
I have been saying continuously that all of that is a ‘world-class’ lie or an insane human delusion in the 246 consecutive days since I began this Post, and yet, during all that time, the media and the misguided nuclear propaganda machine has misinformed a huge part of humanity, convincing them to accept the belief that nuclear energy will save the world, including the global warming/climate change potential ‘apocalypse’ along with ‘all other things nuclear’ that in reality marches us ever closer (like thoughtless lemmings) to following the leaders over the edge of the cliff to our inevitable doom.
And somehow, too, we ignore the accumulation of nuclear waste, which no one has yet found a solution to containing this world(s)-wide killer called radiation — which will only grow more dangerous around the entire planet each and every day as more nuclear facilities of every kind, including converting nuclear power plants into weapons of mass destruction, during war or threats of war. In a nuclear world there will be only one war, and we humans and our other living friends on planet Earth will all be history . . .
Not even considering the incredible time it takes to build a nuclear power plant from drawing board to production (about 15 years on average, and a large enough uranium fuel source and legally allowed grade is also in question) we will still be contaminating our planet with CO2 status-quo with present day fossil fuel plants (as well as all those existing nuclear-reactor plants) building the asphyxiation levels while enduring disastrous climate change at the same time. This entire scam of a scheme being shoved down our gluttonous throats must be aborted and abandoned forever, before known life on planet Earth is over and done with, if, in fact, recovery from our self-destruction is not already too late.
(By the way, partly in order to express my qualifications to write these nightly columns, I worked in this industry for parts of three decades, ending that career by choice in the early 1980s when the industry ignored the dangerous meltdown situation and spoke out against the ‘3-Mile Island’ nuclear incident’ that included an industry war-like chant of “Let the bastards freeze to death in the dark” when those of us with an environmental protection bent, as well as many scientists, organized to begin speaking out against ‘all things nuclear’.)
Following is the essence of and the beginning of the absolute truth about nuclear energy as an initial or introductory 1st grade level-one lesson, with more to follow, but step-by-step, trying to keep it as simple to understand as possible by taking one baby-step grade at a time to higher levels of learning: We start here with the lie that nuclear power plants don’t create CO2 emissions or pollute Earth’s air (not to mention the most dangerous pollution of all – the nuclear waste radiation accumulation being spread around the Earth that we have no idea how to control. So in the grand scheme of things from a reality viewpoint, nuclear products are the dirtiest product of any kind on planet Earth. ~llaw
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Carbon-Equivalent Emissions and Air Pollution (Lesson #1)
There is absolutely no such thing as a zero — or even a close-to-zero-emission nuclear power plant using nuclear fission in its reactors — nor will there ever be. When all things are considered, all existing nuclear power plants collectively use fuel from the continuous mining, milling, and refining of uranium needed for the plant, called U235. It will never stop so long as uranium, also a fossil fuel incase no one told you, must be mined, processed through milling and refinement, which creates pollution of its own, and reduced to the governmental controlled nuclear-grade fuel. This entire process alone sets it far apart from other fossil fuels in terms of complexity, but it does not completely eliminate CO2 emissions and of course there are other serious and dangerous facts about nuclear power plants, mostly related to securing radiation and constantly growing nuclear waste.
Emissions from proposed nuclear facilities are 78 to 178 g-CO2/kWh, not, as you probably have been led to believe, close to 0. Yes, Zero, they tell you. Of these emissions, 64 to 102 g-CO2/kWh over100 years are emissions from the background grid while consumers wait 12 to 19 years for nuclear facilities to come online or be refurbished, relative to 2 to 5 years for wind or solar, for example.
But, in addition, the easier to understand bigger lie, all nuclear plants emit 4.4 g-CO2e/kWh from the water vapor and heat they release. This contrasts with solar panels and wind turbines, which reduce heat or water vapor fluxes to the air by about 2.2 g-CO2e/kWh for a net difference from this factor alone of 6.6 g-CO2e/kWh. So, when you read or are told by the media and their industry “experts” that ‘nuclear’ is 100% carbon free, you are being lied to, even if the “expert” and the media reporter-guy has no clue that what they are saying is dead wrong (because they are told what to say). They get paid to lie – just like I did back in the day.
As an example, (according to research by One Earth),to help you understand how all this CO2 stuff works, “China’s investment in nuclear plants that take so long between planning and operation instead of wind or solar resulted in China’s CO2 emissions increasing 1.3 percent from 2016 to 2017 rather than declining by an estimated average of 3 percent. The resulting difference in air pollution emissions may have caused as many as 69,000 additional air pollution deaths in China in 2016 alone, with additional deaths in years prior and since.”
If you’ve been paying any attention at all to these posts, you will have read that CO2 in earth’s atmosphere accumulates or remains the same, but does not diminish over time, whether or not CO2 emissions are diminished, even if new emissions are ‘zero’ . . . ~llaw
Now back to this evening:
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
There are 6 categories, including a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives, as do ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links in each category about the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
- All Things Nuclear
- Nuclear Power
- Nuclear War
- Nuclear Power Emergencies
- Nuclear War Threats
- Yellowstone Caldera (There are three Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in tonight’s Post.)
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
A current Digest of major nuclear media headlines with automated links is listed below by nuclear Category (per above). If a category heading does not appear, it means there was no news reported from this category today. There are three Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available tonight.
(A reminder, just in case: When linked, the access to the media story will be underlined. If there is no link to a media story of interest you can still copy and paste the headline and lead line into your browser to find the article you are seeking. Hopefully this will never happen.)
TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS (03/01/2024):
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
Putin warns of nuclear war if NATO sends troops to Ukraine – Little Rock Public Radio
Little Rock Public Radio
All Things Considered. Next Up: 6:30 PM Marketplace. 0:00. 0:00. All Things … MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his annual state of …
Putin warns the West risks nuclear war with Russia if NATO troops go to Ukraine – WUSF
WUSF
All Things Considered · 1A · Here & Now · Fresh Air · On Point · Florida Matters … MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his annual …
Putin warns of nuclear war if NATO sends troops to Ukraine | Alabama Public Radio
Alabama Public Radio
All Things Acoustic · Bama Bluegrass · Classical Music with David Duff … MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his annual state of the …
Nuclear Power
NEWS
Is nuclear power the key to space exploration? – Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Nuclear power is experiencing a renaissance on Earth, and in space. Whether we’re talking about lunar bases or space exploration, nuclear might be …
Forbes
And there’s still “no way to store radioactive waste.” Based on this, and the cost of the Vogtle nuclear plants in Georgia he still opposes nuclear …
House Overwhelmingly Passes Bill to Boost Nuclear Power – The New York Times
The New York Times
It’s the latest sign that nuclear power, a once-contentious source of energy, is now attracting broad political support in Washington.
Nuclear War
NEWS
Putin warns of nuclear war if NATO sends troops to Ukraine – NPR
NPR
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued explicit nuclear threats to the West, even as he assured Russians their country could both win the war in …
Putin threatens West with nuclear weapons if troops come to Ukraine | The Hill
The Hill
In his speech, the Russian leader also accused the West of fomenting hysteria and a new arms race. Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has entered its …
After Macron touted troops to Ukraine, Putin warns West of nuclear war risk – Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
… nuclear strike. “Putin’s regime has not once used the scare of a nuclear war to frighten the West and convince it not to provide military aid to …
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
New Research Aims to Improve Global Security of Small Modular Reactors – Newswise
Newswise
The technology has the potential to make nuclear power plants … small modular reactors Homeland Security Emergency Management Nuclear Power Generation …
How potatoes can keep an eye on nuclear radiation – Freethink
Freethink
… nuclear energy production would provide carbon-free power … power and regular maintenance, both of which make them less reliable during emergencies.
Study shows Utahns pay cheapest electricity bills in the country
KSL NewsRadio
And Rocky Mountain Power’s long-range plan includes looking at nuclear power. … An emergency generator can thwart a power outage · Decades of data …
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
Putin warns of nuclear war if NATO sends troops to Ukraine – NPR
NPR
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued explicit nuclear threats to the West, even as he assured Russians their country could both win the war in …
After Macron touted troops to Ukraine, Putin warns West of nuclear war risk – Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
The Russian president, in a state of the nation address, upped the ante. Should the world be worried about his threat?
Bowing to Putin’s nuclear blackmail will make nuclear war more likely – Atlantic Council
Atlantic Council
This was the latest and most explicit in a series of nuclear threats made by Putin since he first ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine just over …
Yellowstone Caldera
NEWS
Lower Geyser Basin lakes sediment reveals ancient changes to landscape – Billings Gazette
Billings Gazette
Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week’s …
Five Thoughts on Resident Alien’s “141 Seconds” – Multiversity Comics
Multiversity Comics
… Yellowstone Caldera. Harry vows to Asta, D’Arcy, and Dan that he’ll stop them, although he also notes that he can’t do anything if the …
Sabancaya Volcano Volcanic Ash Advisory: PUFF EMISSIONS to 27000 ft (8200 m)
Volcano Discovery
Fascinating satellite images, reports, and pictures about the massive explosion of Kelut volcano in East Java on 13 Feb 2014. Yellowstone quakes.