“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity” ~llaw
Nov 01, 2024
HMS Vigilant is the third Vanguard-class submarine of the Royal Navy. Vigilant carries the Trident ballistic missile, the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrent …
LLAW’s NUCLEAR VIEWS, ISSUES & COMMENTS, Friday, (11/01/2024)
I have no idea what this argument is all about, why there is a dispute, and why anyone would care so defiantly. We already know the answer, including previous studies, and the answer is ‘armageddon’. The only way to avoid annihilation is to avoid it, so why worry about the effects of a nuclear war?
The whole issue is just self-important politics and panels of scientific “experts” simply chasing their tails. What we should be doing is coming together and living as one unified world (like John Lennon said). But of course that is never going to happen. It seems humanity is dead-set on exterminating ourselves and has been for a long, long, time — perhaps since our very beginning . . .
It is obvious by our own actions — the never-ending creating and fighting our fellow man with more and more and bigger and stronger and more powerful and destructive weapons from our caveman wooden club days to our nuclear weapons today — until we now have a playground-bully style standoff called deterrence, a foolish temporary name-calling match of vain threats which will last up until the day it happens. So it is that we all already know the answer about what nuclear war means, and, yes, it can all happen in a single day — according to previous studies. ~llaw
UK urged to break with France, North Korea and Russia on UN nuclear war resolution
Non-proliferation groups call on government not to oppose creation of a study into effects of nuclear conflict
Thu 31 Oct 2024 09.31 EDT
HMS Vigilant is the third Vanguard-class submarine of the Royal Navy. Vigilant carries the Trident ballistic missile, the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrent …
Non-proliferation groups are urging the UK government to make a late about-turn on plans to vote alongside France, Russia and North Korea against a UN resolution to study the effects of nuclear war.
In a debate on Friday, a UN general assembly committee will discuss a resolution to create an international panel of scientific experts to examine the global impact of different nuclear conflict scenarios.
The resolution, drafted by Ireland and New Zealand, is expected to be overwhelmingly approved by the committee and then later by the full assembly. Diplomats involved in preparations for the vote say the US and China are expected to abstain but that the UK, France, Russia and North Korea had indicated they were likely to vote against.
London and Paris joining forces with Moscow and Pyongyang would not stop the resolution but could have an impact on their reputations when it comes to other nuclear proliferation issues.
The UK and French missions to the UN did not respond to requests for comment and diplomats in New York said final decisions could be left until the last hours before the vote.
Arms control advocates expressed disappointment on Thursday that, with just 24 hours to go before the debate, the UK’s new Labour government had shown no signs of changing course.
“People naively thought that, with a Labour government, you would see a shift away from this kind of weird line that the UK has taken on this particular type of thing,” said Patricia Lewis, the head of the international security programme at the Chatham House thinktank. “Maybe this is the Labour party trying to be more Catholic than the pope when it comes to nuclear weapons, but why not vote with the US, and abstain?”
The panel proposed in Friday’s resolution would be the first such UN-mandated study since 1988 and experts say a lot has changed since then, in science and the nuclear threats around the world. For example, Russia and North Korea, countries which have made aggressive nuclear threats, have entered a deepening partnership.
Lewis argued that a no vote by the UK and France would undermine their credibility with other UN member states, especially when London and Paris are trying to rally global support for criticism of Moscow.
“The UK has been struggling to get countries like South Africa and Brazil onboard over the whole issue of Russia’s behaviour, so this is an opportunity for the UK to say: ‘Yes, we hear you,’” Lewis said.
Observers believe the UK position could be the result of a pact with France to fend off criticism of their nuclear arsenals.
“I think this is building bridges with the French,” said Zia Mian, a physicist and co-director of Princeton University’s programme on science and global security. “The French don’t want to be alone with the Russians and the North Koreans and whatnot in voting no.”
The UK, France, Russia and North Korea have been on the same side in a UN vote before. In December last year, they were the only four countries to vote against a general assembly resolution aimed at helping radiation victims of nuclear testing and restoring the environment at past test sites.
Some arms control experts were still hoping on Thursday that the British policy had remained unchanged from the previous Tory government through sheer inertia and could still change if the matter gained the attention of the Labour leadership at the 11th hour.
“People are working hard in London to make sure that the political level knows that this is what’s going on, because often this is done on autopilot,” said Mian, who has argued for a new scientific panel.
The UN panel would be made up of 21 scientific experts and would examine “the physical effects and societal consequences of a nuclear war on a local, regional and planetary scale”.
Scientists say such work is essential as so much has changed in the subject area since 1988, when the last study was done. For example, it was previously thought it would take a full-scale nuclear conflict between superpowers to plunge the world into a “nuclear winter”; it is now thought that even a limited nuclear exchange between regional adversaries could have such a devastating global effect.
“They never imagined that the climate system was so sensitive to these kinds of effects,” Mian said.
In April, the UK Royal Society was part of a joint statement by the national academies of science of the G7 member states, which said: “Among the roles of the scientific community are to continue to develop and communicate the scientific evidence base that shows the catastrophic effects of nuclear warfare on human populations and on the other species with which we share our planet.”
While some governments and national scientific institutions have done their own research, supporters of the resolution said a UN panel could establish a global consensus and a scientific “gold standard”, emulating the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and have an impact on policy.
“Studying the results of nuclear war will flesh out how bad it would be to have one, and maybe add pressure on countries who would otherwise think about using nuclear weapons,” said Andrey Baklitskiy, a senior researcher at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research. “Their leaders, their elites would maybe study or read it, or their populations, or partners or allies, who would maybe say we really don’t want this to happen.”
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TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Friday, (11/01/2024)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
What the Nuclear Power Revival Means for the Price of Uranium | Odd Lots – YouTube
YouTube
And for all things Odd Lots, visit
… Visit our other YouTube channels: Bloomberg Television: / @markets Bloomberg …
Russia’s Arctic Policy Poses a Growing Nuclear Threat
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
In response to growing concerns about nuclear safety, Rosatom has offered reassurances on SMRs’ passive safety systems. … all the political …
Workers at Rocky Flats helped build America’s nuclear arsenal. A new film digs into … – KUNC
KUNC
… nuclear weapons during the Cold War … He manages the podcast team that makes In The NoCo, which also airs weekdays in Morning Edition and All Things …
Nuclear Power
NEWS
Can Quake-Prone Japan Ever Embrace Nuclear Energy Again? – The New York Times
The New York Times
A white curtain is partly draped over the opening. The earthquake also damaged homes in Shika, where a nuclear power plant remains dormant.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Is Bullish on Nuclear Power. Will Nvidia Invest in Nuclear Stocks?
Yahoo Finance
In recent weeks, there seems to be something of a consensus forming on the question of affordable energy for AI: It’s going nuclear. Investors are …
What the Nuclear Power Revival Means for the Price of Uranium – Bloomberg
Bloomberg
There’s something of a uranium cult out there: the investors and traders who believe that nuclear is the future of energy, and therefore this crucial …
Nuclear War
NEWS
Proliferation News 10/31/24 – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
… Nuclear Attack, UK Urged to Break with France, North Korea and Russia on UN Nuclear War Resolution.
North Korea’s Choe accuses US and South Korea of plotting a nuclear strike against her country
Reuters
Choe said North Korea was committed to helping Russia in its war with Ukraine which she said Moscow would win. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter …
“NATO or Nukes”: Why Ukraine’s nuclear revival refuses to die
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
NATO countries are not at war today. All people are alive in NATO countries. And that is why we choose NATO over nuclear weapons.” On the same day, …
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
NATO Must Respond to the Russian Nuclear Threat in Space | American Enterprise Institute
American Enterprise Institute
While the Turner memo may have been a wake-up call for some in Washington, the threat of a nuclear attack in space is not new. The Soviet Union …
Will Iran Withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty? – War on the Rocks
War on the Rocks
An Israeli attack on nuclear facilities would elevate the perceived existential threat to Iran. … threats, rather than as a definitive step …
Nuclear Threats Boost Russia’s Military Perception | OilPrice.com
Oil Price
Nuclear Threats Boost Russia’s Military Perception · US News & World Report ranked Russia as having the world’s strongest military in its 2024 survey.
Yellowstone Caldera
NEWS
Volcanic Ash Alert Issued In Texas After Mexico Eruption – 95.5 KLAQ
95.5 KLAQ
A Volcanic Danger Still Looms Over the State of Texas · Mexico’s Popocatépetl Volcano gave Texas a very rare volcanic alert on Wednesday, October 30, …
IAEA Weekly News
1 November 2024
Read the top news and updates published on IAEA.org this week.
1 November 2024
IAEA Launches New App to Help Assess Radiation Threat Following Alarm
The IAEA has launched a new app to help frontline officers assess radiation alarms triggered by people at airports, border crossings and other points of entry – and ease delays. Read more →
31 October 2024
Update 257 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine
At Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), repairs are being conducted in one of its six reactors after a small water leakage was detected from an impulse line – essentially a small pipe – connected to the unit’s primary circuit, with the work expected to be completed later this week, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today. Read more →
30 October 2024
Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis Strengthened in the Caribbean
Breast Cancer Awareness Month, held in October, promotes screening and prevention of this disease, which affects millions of women. Read more →
29 October 2024
IAEA Director General Highlights Agency’s Role in Global Non-Proliferation, Nuclear Security and Safety at Nuclear Law Workshop
The Director General of the IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi, highlighted the IAEA’s vital role in global nuclear non-proliferation, safety and security in a keynote address for a unique nuclear law workshop convened in the United States of America. Read more →