“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity” ~llaw
Feb 05, 2025
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS TODAY with the RISKS and CONSEQUENCES of TOMORROW
“Proliferation News is a biweekly newsletter from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace highlighting the latest nuclear trends in the nuclear policy community.” You can receive their biweekly newsletter by submitting your email address via the invitation at the end of this “LLAW’s All Things Nuclear” Post.
The multiple summaries of the medias’ stories on nuclear issues and concerns via links to important coverage are succinct, informative, and to the point on all nuclear proliferation concerns. I highly recommend that anyone wanting to understand today’s world nuclear proliferation issues at a glance subscribe to the their email newsletter.
As you may have guessed beforehand, Trump is the major subject and the catalyst of most all concerns of this biweekly post, and his presence on the nuclear world scene is extremely sensitive and may well add friction to and aggravating any chance of helping to create some semblance of a peaceful world. My thoughts, as my more frequent readers might suspect, where Trump’s official acts as the U.S. president on nuclear war , including nuclear power and other nuclear issues, are chiefly negative. ~llaw
Proliferation News 2/4/25
IN THIS ISSUE: Trump Set to Reimpose ‘Maximum Pressure’ on Iran, Aims to Drive Oil Exports to Zero, Iran Is Developing Plans for Faster, Cruder Weapon, U.S. Concludes, Russian Attacks Near Ukrainian Nuclear Infrastructure Heighten Scrutiny of Kyiv’s Preparedness, Russia Condemns Trump Missile Defence Shield Plan, Accuses US of Plotting to militarise Space, Southeast Asia Looks to Nuclear Power to Supercharge its Energy Transition, Trump Wants a Nuclear Deal. Can He Be the Ultimate Negotiator?
Published on February 4, 2025
Trump Set to Reimpose ‘Maximum Pressure’ on Iran, Aims to Drive Oil Exports to Zero
Steve Holland | Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday plans to restore his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran in an effort to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and drive its oil exports down to zero, a U.S. official said…Trump will sign a presidential memorandum that, among other things, orders the U.S. Treasury secretary to impose “maximum economic pressure” on Iran, including sanctions and enforcement mechanisms on those violating existing sanctions, the official said. As part of the maximum pressure effort, the Trump administration will implement a campaign “aimed at driving Iran’s oil exports to zero,” the official said.
Iran Is Developing Plans for Faster, Cruder Weapon, U.S. Concludes
David E. Sanger and Julian E. Barnes | New York Times
New intelligence about Iran’s nuclear program has convinced American officials that a secret team of the country’s scientists is exploring a faster, if cruder, approach to developing an atomic weapon if Tehran’s leadership decides to race for a bomb, according to current and former American officials. The development comes even amid signals that Iran’s new president is actively seeking a negotiation with the Trump administration.
Russian Attacks Near Ukrainian Nuclear Infrastructure Heighten Scrutiny of Kyiv’s Preparedness
SAMYA KULLAB and HANNA ARHIROVA | Associated Press
“The switchyards that handle electrical routing from nuclear power plants are a vital component of Ukraine’s nuclear energy infrastructure — powering homes, schools, hospitals, and other critical civilian infrastructure. Given Ukraine’s heavy reliance on nuclear energy, military attacks on these switchyards would be devastating, severely impacting civilian life and undermining the resilience of the energy grid,” said Marcy R. Fowler, head of the office for research and analysis at Open Nuclear Network, a program of the U.S.-based NGO PAX sapiens that focuses on reducing nuclear risk.
Russia Condemns Trump Missile Defence Shield Plan, Accuses US of Plotting to militarise Space
Dmitry Antonov | Reuters
Russia on Friday condemned an executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump to build a new missile defence shield, accusing the United States of trying to upset the global nuclear balance and pave the wave for military confrontation in space. Trump on Monday signed an order that “mandated a process to develop an ‘American Iron Dome,’” a next-generation U.S. missile defence shield against ballistic, hypersonic, cruise missile and other forms of aerial attack.
Southeast Asia Looks to Nuclear Power to Supercharge its Energy Transition
VICTORIA MILKO and ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL | Associated Press
Southeast Asia’s only nuclear power plant, completed four decades ago in Bataan, about 40 miles from the Philippine capital Manila, was built in the 1970s but left idle due to safety concerns and corruption. It has never produced a single watt of energy. Now the Philippines and other countries in fast-growing Southeast Asia are looking to develop nuclear energy in their quest for cleaner and more reliable energy. Nuclear energy is viewed by its proponents as a climate solution since reactors don’t emit the plant-warming greenhouses gases released by burning coal, gas or oil. Advances in technology have helped reduce the risks from radiation, making nuclear plants safer, cheaper to build and smaller.
Trump Wants a Nuclear Deal. Can He Be the Ultimate Negotiator?
Jon B. Wolfsthal | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Sadly, President Trump’s track record of actually negotiating nuclear agreements is poor. During his first term, Trump said he wanted to negotiate a nuclear deal with North Korea (he tried and failed), with Iran (he never tried and withdrew from an existing agreement), and with Russia and China at the same time (he failed at both). But this time around, Trump has a chance to prove his negotiating skills—but only if he does it the right way.
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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(Please note that the Sunday and Saturday NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS are also added below by category, following Monday’s news posts in order to maintain continuity of nuclear news as well as for research for the overall information provided in “LLAW;s All Things Nuclear”.)
There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
- All Things Nuclear
- Nuclear Power
- Nuclear Power Emergencies
- Nuclear War Threats
- Nuclear War
- Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There is one Yellowstone Caldera bonus story available in today’s Post.)
- 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, (02/05/2025)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
Senate passes bills subsidizing small nuclear reactor development – WBOI
WBOI
Search Query. Donate Now. WBOI News. Reveal. WBOI News. Reveal. Next Up: 5:00 PM Weekend All Things Considered. 0:00. 0:00. Reveal. WBOI News. 0:00 0: …
Proliferation News 2/4/25 | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
New intelligence about Iran’s nuclear program has convinced American … All rights reserved.
‘Doomsday Clock’ moves closer to midnight (Letters to The Republican) – masslive.com
MassLive
… about reducing their stockpiles of nuclear weapons. Just as the nuclear … All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not …
Nuclear Power
NEWS
Texas A&M could soon house nuclear reactors – YouTube
YouTube
Texas A&M could soon be home to nuclear reactors, positioning the university as a leader in research and innovation in the field of nuclear energy …
Senate passes bills subsidizing small nuclear reactor development – WFYI
WFYI
The bills would allow utilities to pass along some of the costs of developing small modular nuclear reactors to their customers even if the plants …
Russian attacks near Ukrainian nuclear power sites bring scrutiny on Kyiv | PBS News
PBS
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Moscow’s renewed attacks on Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure this winter have heightened scrutiny over the Ukrainian …
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
We Need Solar and Storage to Address the Energy Emergency
Solar Energy Industries Association
President Trump recently declared an energy emergency. In his … Due to the low number of coal and nuclear plants developed over the …
Russia’s Relentless Strikes on Ukraine’s Power Grid Spark Nuclear Disaster Fears – Regtechtimes
Regtechtimes
… energy infrastructure across the country, causing widespread power outages and emergency blackouts. Ukraine depends heavily on nuclear power, with …
Town of Essex awarded $50,000 grant to improve nuclear response plan – AM 800 CKLW
AM 800 CKLW
Essex was identified in Ontario’s Nuclear Emergency Management Program (NEMP) as the Fermi II Nuclear plant is located across the river in Michigan.
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
How Trump’s ‘Iron Dome for America’ upends four decades of nuclear doctrine
Breaking Defense
Further, in more recent years, the debate has broadened to include what impact SBIs might have on the risks of war in space. “The pursuit of space- …
Zelenskyy on Putin’s goals, the war’s hot phase, nuclear threats, and Kyiv’s terms for talks
The New Voice of Ukraine
Zelenskyy on Putin’s goals, the war’s hot phase, nuclear threats, and Kyiv’s terms for talks … threat of a war between major countries and Russia.
Volodymyr Zelensky demands nukes to end war with Russia | World | News | Express.co.uk
Daily Express
Donald Trump slams European Union ‘atrocity’ as trade war threats heat up.
Nuclear War
NEWS
Call for Applications: Independent Scientific Panel on Effects of Nuclear War
Meetings Coverage and Press Releases – the United Nations
… Office for Disarmament Affairs is issuing a public call for candidates to serve on an independent Scientific Panel on the Effects of Nuclear War.
Trump signs memo aiming to block Iran from achieving nuclear weapon – Reuters
Reuters
… nuclear weapon and to limit its oil exports … Trump in no hurry to talk to Xi amid new tariff war. 13 min ago. U.S. …
Analysts: American Iron Dome reduces nuclear coercion but drives arms race – VOA
VOA
Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons multiple times during an ongoing war in Ukraine that began with its invasion in …
Yellowstone Caldera
NEWS
Multiple earthquakes are rattling Greece’s volcanic island of Santorini. Here’s what we know
MSN
Santorini’s main villages are built along the rim of the volcano’s caldera … Yellowstone Supervolcano: Where Will It Erupt Next? playIndicator.