“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity” ~llaw
Mar 24, 2025
A doll dressed with a gas mask sits on a chair among hundreds of gas masks lying on the floor of abandoned School Number 3 in the ghost town of Pripyat not far from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on Aug. 18, 2017 in Pripyat, Ukraine. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS TODAY and the GLOBAL RISKS & CONSEQUENCES TOMORROW
In My Opinion:
I particularly like and appreciate personal opinion stories that actually come from the horse’s mouth — those who’ve “been there; done that” so to speak. This impressive article from “Colorado Newsline” by Beto Millard-Chacon is something we need to post more of here on this daily blog.
But of course with a new uncontrollable, intolerant and unpredictable president here in the USA, the constant world-wide threats of nuclear war among a few of the nuclear armed nations (and potentially more on the way because of Trump), our attention, of necessity, must be diverted to a world in turmoil that could end human and other life as we know it on planet earth at any old time in just a few hours of nuclear war. Just the 1st ICBM equipped with up to a single 1 to 10 megaton (there are far more powerful ones, by the way) nuclear weapon of mass destruction would totally decimate a huge target, such as Washington D.C. or New York City and surrounds, in less than 30 minutes from where it was launched to detonation and total destruction. So it is that such fear and loathing, coupled with a deranged world of angry leaders among at least 4 of these nuclear armed countries must take priority in the media.
Even if a few nuclear endowed countries should agree to dismantle and deactivate their nuclear weapons, which will never honestly happen of course, we are faced with the just-as-destructive insidious collective growth and use of nuclear power plants. The potential proliferation of every plant makes that risk ever-more threatening to life in the same way as nuclear weapons, and we are already seeing weaponization of nuclear power plants, as an early example, in the Russia/Ukraine war.
But the fact is, as long as there is anything nuclear — weapons or energy — the entire world will remain on the brink of a never-ending “armageddon” of nuclear risk and nervous concern until the day it happens. And, given enough time, it surely will happen. ~llaw
Commentary
Nuclear power will be the radioactive cousin of the fossil fuel industry
Do not fall victim to industry propaganda
Beto Millard-Chacon
March 24, 2025 3:30 am
A doll dressed with a gas mask sits on a chair among hundreds of gas masks lying on the floor of abandoned School Number 3 in the ghost town of Pripyat not far from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on Aug. 18, 2017 in Pripyat, Ukraine. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Corporate thirst for nuclear energy is growing to dangerous levels, and Colorado will take its first steps into that fire by passing the pro-nuclear bill, House Bill 25-1040, unless Gov. Jared Polis vetoes it.
As we allow our civilization to become more dependent on electronic communication systems and press the boundaries of those systems, corporations are incentivized to produce and consume higher levels of energy every day. With the threat of human-caused climate change becoming a more widely acknowledged reality, lobbyists are persuading decision makers and the public that nuclear reactors are the solution we need to feed our needs and addictions while fending off climate disaster.
Unfortunately, nuclear power will prove to be the radioactive cousin of the fossil fuel industry and continue to fuel the oligarchical social structure that eats at our humanity and resources.
I spent eight years in the Navy operating nuclear reactors. The U.S. Navy provides a rigorous education and training program that includes many lessons about the history of nuclear energy and the Navy’s immaculate operational record. But what does it take to maintain that record? Ask yourself why we thank veterans for their service. Military service comes with some inescapable horrors, including forfeiture of most of our rights. We are held to a standard of pursued perfection that can only be asked at gunpoint or under threat of imprisonment. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Department of Labor don’t allow the private sector to make you scream. We serve with the intention that civilians will not have to live that life, including ourselves once we have completed our duty.
Can we trust civilians to operate nuclear reactors with the same dedication to perfection over their own well-being? Will power companies spend more than the minimum in order to hire enough engineers to ensure alert-attentive care of reactor systems? Most likely, at least 50% of the nuclear workforce will be former Navy operators like me. That sounds like a good idea, but these are people that have already served their time doing the hardest parts of power plant maintenance, and they are not as motivated as you might think to go back to it.
Additionally, those same operators have pride that can become complacency in a civilian position. Educational corners will be cut and staff shortages abound across an industry wielding an extremely dangerous product. There are operating plants today that allow the same alarm to flash for months — the exact behavior that led to the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island nuclear accidents.
Can we trust profit-driven corporations to hold a standard that will guarantee the safety of our communities? Oil companies cause spills that destroy entire regions. Plastics producers have lied about the recyclability of products that have infected almost all life on Earth with microplastics. Extraction industries around the world, including uranium mining, are responsible for ecological deformation and human rights abuses everywhere they exist. The Diné nation has generational scars specifically caused by the uranium industry that have driven them to ban even the transport of the substance through their territory. Even if we find relatively safe storage locations for fuel and waste, they will likely travel our highways and railroads, where accidents happen all the time. And I have yet to delve into the negative impacts on our water supplies.
Our local and national elected officials have already been bought by industry owners and their own avarice, so convincing them to give up a potential cash cow seems futile. The only hope I have left is in the education we provide for each other. Do not fall victim to propaganda, but seek the lessons of history. The wealthy elite have always been willing to sacrifice others to realize their own gains and we would be fools to believe they will take any accountability for future harm caused by their business.
Beto Millard-Chacon
Beto Millard-Chacon is a former nuclear operator and submariner for the U.S. Navy who served from 2010 to 2018. He currently works in the service industry, based in Commerce City.Subscribed
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’s ALL NUCLEAR DAILY DIGEST” 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:
- All Things Nuclear
- Nuclear Power
- Nuclear Power Emergencies
- Nuclear War Threats
- Nuclear War
- Yellowstone Caldera & Other Volcanoes (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 DIGEST, Monday, (03/24/2025)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
China tries to reboot its private sector – WCMU Public Radio
WCMU Public Radio
All Things Considered · Destination Out · Fresh Air · Here and Now · Homespun … nuclear crisis and the Fukushima earthquake and nuclear disaster.
Trump advisor says US seeking ‘full dismantlement’ of Iran’s nuclear program – Al Arabiya
Al Arabiya
“We don’t need to solve everything militarily,” Witkoff told Fox News. “Our signal to Iran is let’s sit down and see if we can, through dialogue, …
Swiss nuclear reactor shut down after grid failure – Yahoo
Yahoo
Axpo said that the plant was in a safe condition at all times. The plant is located in Döttingen, about 7 kilometres from Germany’s south-western …
Nuclear Power
NEWS
Nuclear power will be the radioactive cousin of the fossil fuel industry – Colorado Newsline
Colorado Newsline
… nuclear power plant on Aug. 18, 2017 in Pripyat, Ukraine. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images). Corporate thirst for nuclear energy is growing to dangerous …
Monticello nuclear plant shut down Wednesday after control valve issue – FOX 9
FOX 9
A control valve issue at the Xcel Energy Monticello nuclear power plant caused the reactor to automatically shut down on Wednesday morning.
Finland’s Fortum explores long-term options for new nuclear power | Reuters
Reuters
Finnish utility Fortum said on Monday it was focusing on renewable energy and nuclear lifetime extensions to cover growing electricity demand, …
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
Swiss nuclear power plant experiences emergency shutdown – SWI swissinfo.ch
Swissinfo
The automatic emergency shutdown of Beznau 2 nuclear power plant occurred at 10:31 pm on Sunday and was due to a failed connection to the 220-kilovolt …
Countering Nuclear Misinformation and Maintaining Public Trust: Lessons from the IAEA …
International Atomic Energy Agency
… nuclear emergency planning exercise at the Tihange nuclear power plant site. (Photo: National Crisis Centre). In an emergency, timely and accurate …
Swiss nuclear reactor has automatic emergency shutdown – TradingView
TradingView
… nuclear power stations late on Sunday, the Swiss electricity company said, adding the plant was safe at all times.The automatic emergency shutdown …
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
EU says Iran threatens global order, supports talks to stop nuclear armament
iranintl.com
Iran is a threat also supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine,” Kallas said. “Iran must never be allowed to acquire or build a nuclear weapon. And EU …
“Planned, provocative nuclear war rehearsal”: N Korea condemns US-S Korea military drills
ANI News
… nuclear war rehearsal.” Pyongyang warned that it will continue to strengthen its striking power to overwhelm any threats from its enemies, the ..
Will Iran go nuclear now that Trump is in power – or can a deal be done? | Euronews
Euronews.com
… attack on Syria’s nuclear facilities in 2007. Neither the United … war and annexation threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. Carney …
Nuclear War
NEWS
Trump’s offer of talks with Iran aims to avoid military action, US envoy says | Reuters
Reuters
Israel and Hamas at War · Japan · Middle East · Ukraine and Russia at … nuclear deal is an effort to avoid military action, U.S. special envoy …
Force de l’Europe: How Realistic is a French Nuclear Umbrella? – War on the Rocks
War on the Rocks
In fact, nuclear deterrence has been the backbone of NATO’s military strategy since the beginning of the Cold War. If Europeans no longer trust U.S. …
Ukraine war latest: Push for Black Sea ceasefire after Putin bombs Kyiv again – The Independent
The Independent
In a recent call with Mr Zelensky, Mr Trump also suggested that the US could help to run – and possibly own – Ukraine’s four nuclear power plants.
Yellowstone Caldera
NEWS
Is Yellowstone’s supervolcano about to erupt? Scientists discover a newly opened volcanic …
Daily Mail
Yellowstone has never erupted within recorded human history. But a new discovery has highlighted just how active this seemingly dormant volcano …
