In order to keep abreast of the weekend nuclear news, I will post Saturday and Sunday’s news, but without editorial comment. If a weekend story warrants a critical review, it will show up on Monday’s posts . . .
If you are not familiar with the weekday daily blog post, this is how the nuclear news post works . . . llaw
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:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There is one Yellowstone Caldera bonus story available on this weekend’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.
Jack Otter and the ‘Barron’s Roundtable’ panelists discuss what factors are propelling the revival of nuclear energy in the United States. The U.S. is …
… electric power grid is another focus of Trump’s energy emergency declaration. … power plants that run on coal, natural gas and possibly nuclear fuel.
Worse, a massive strike on Iranian nuclear and military sites will effectively kill any future attempts at diplomacy between the West and Tehran. The …
Israel and Hamas at War · Japan · Middle East · Ukraine and Russia at War … Russia and the United States are the world’s biggest nuclear powers, with …
(See Newsweek article below for description and photo credits ~llaw)
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS of TODAY with the RISKS and CONSEQUENCES of TOMORROW
In My Opinion:
No ally or enemy trusts Donald Trump. He is an unpredictable pathological liar that no country can rely on — including his own. He often twists or refutes himself concerning policies, recommendations, decisions, and whatever else comes out of his mouth, unpredictably altering his already questionable versions of “truths” to something completely contradictory.
So, if he says something like, let’s “denuclarize” or calls for “denuclarization” others would guess at best that he would mean only them and their country, which, in reality, might actually increase the nuclear world’s weapons. And then there is also the question of “what about nuclear power plants”.
And by-the-way, “denuclarize” or “denuclarization” weren’t even non-standard recognized English dictionary words until February 3rd of this year, and essentially therefore have no established common meaning other than the “act of removing nuclear weapons from someplace”, without even a concept of how such project would be accomplished. ~llaw
Nuclear Warning for Donald Trump
Published Mar 07, 2025 at 5:00 AM EST Updated Mar 07, 2025 at 3:30 PM EST
Although President Donald Trump has said he wants to get rid of nuclear weapons, the uncertainty he is creating over global alliances has made it likely more countries will consider them, nuclear weapons experts say.
The risk is of a new wave of nuclear proliferation, with a larger number of nuclear powers increasing the chance of either intentional or accidental use of atomic weapons—if not World War III.
“Many of the countries that earlier decided to forego the nuclear weapons option did so precisely because of the protection provided by the United States and alliances,” said Elena Sokova, executive director of the nonprofit Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation.
“I’m first and most concerned about the developments among the United States and Europe, the traditional partners, but in the same way in Asia. Asia-Pacific is also feeling the pressure and also concerns about the reliability of the alliances.”
A State Department spokesperson told Newsweek: “The United States has long worked to prevent additional states from acquiring nuclear weapons.”
“America’s commitments to the defense of our allies are unwavering, and we continue to consult closely with allies and partners to maintain and strengthen extended deterrence. America’s allies have repeatedly reaffirmed their commitments to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty,” the spokesperson said.
Trump Seeks To Get Rid of Nuclear Weapons
Trump has said he wants denuclearization along with Russia and China, saying on Thursday “it would be great if everybody would get rid of their nuclear weapons.”
But Europe has been shaken by the Trump administration’s approach to security, with countries openly questioning the future of the U.S.-dominated North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that they had seen as their main protection for decades.
Not only has Trump become much closer to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and shown an apparent readiness for concessions to end the Ukraine war that European countries oppose, but his administration has also challenged them to increase their defense spending and appeared ready to reduce U.S. troop numbers in Europe. Then there have been his threats against Panama and his view that the United States should take over Greenland—if not make Canada the 51st state, too.
An Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test on Aug. 11, 2021, at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman First Class Tiarra Sibley
Who Are U.S. Allies?
U.S. allies such as Japan in South Korea in Asia and also those in the Middle East are watching closely and questioning how far they can count on American power to defend them.
“You have discussion already in Europe and interest in nuclear options in countries like South Korea. I think most of them would hedge their bets and watch,” said Lukasz Kulesa, director of Proliferation and Nuclear Policy at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute think tank.
“It’s not a decision any country would take lightly,” he said, adding: “Not on the basis of a turbulent couple of weeks with the Trump administration.”
Which Countries Have Nuclear Weapons?
For now, there are only nine states believed to be in possession of nuclear weapons, in order of number of warheads: Russia, the United States, China, France, Britain, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea.
The data provided by the Federation of American Scientists think tank also counts retired warheads awaiting dismantlement.
Key to limiting nuclear proliferation since 1945 had been the U.S.’s “nuclear umbrella,” a promise to protect allies in exchange for them not to develop their own weapons, said Sharon Squassoni, a research professor at George Washington University who previously served in the U.S. government.
“Faith in the United States is at an all-time low. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see the worst chain of nuclear weapons proliferation since the 1940s in the midst of this chaos. And, of course, that would make the world a much more dangerous place,” she told Newsweek.
Which Countries Might Get Nuclear Weapons?
The most likely candidate to obtain nuclear weapons in the near future is Iran—although Trump has said he will not allow nuclear-armed Israel’s main adversary to obtain them and has ramped up pressure to try to force it into negotiations, while maintaining a military option.
If Iran were to get nuclear weapons, that could put pressure on other regional players, including Saudi Arabia and Türkiye. The latter hosts U.S. nuclear weapons under a NATO agreement, but has also shown interest in its own weapons. That might become more likely if NATO frays ,given Türkiye’s historic rivalry with Russia as well.
In Europe, France has offered to extend its nuclear protection to other states and some have given an initially positive reception—while Russia called it “extremely confrontational.”
Germany’s likely incoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said he would speak to both France and Britain about extending nuclear protection. But in time, other countries—perhaps Germany itself—might feel the need if a credible European deterrent is not established quickly, experts say. At the least, France and Britain may need to upgrade their weapons.
There is also uncertainty in East Asia, where South Korea and Japan have both lived under the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
Legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Polls show a large majority of South Koreans favor developing an independent nuclear deterrent. Most Japanese do not, given the horrific history of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but that could change if the United States were no longer perceived as offering protection.
Self-ruling Taiwan never acquired nuclear weapons, but did research them, and currently relies on the U.S. in the face of the invasion threat from China for what it regards as a breakaway province.
The Atomic Bomb Dome, which was the only structure left standing near to where the first atomic bomb used in war exploded on Aug. 6, 1945 in Hiroshima, seen on Dec. 9, 2024 Matthew Tostevin
“It’s not a trivial program to launch and start. It’s an expensive endeavor,” said Sokova. “For some countries, they may want to have a nuclear weapons program, but either their technical capabilities or other factors would not be in favor.”
How Are Nuclear Weapons Made?
Acquiring, processing and enriching nuclear isotopes are easier for countries with established nuclear power capacities. Then come designing and building weapons and testing delivery systems—all under the eyes of potential adversaries to add to the challenges. The fact that North Korea, one of the world’s poorest countries, could develop nuclear weapons showed it could be possible for any state with the determination, however.
There are agreements and institutions in place designed to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. Many countries take seriously their commitments under the U.N. Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. It has a safeguards system under the responsibility of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which verifies compliance.
“There still are organizations and treaties, and, you know, a sense that the whole world hasn’t gone to hell in a hand basket,” said Squassoni. “But you know what, this is a very dangerous moment.”
Nuclear Warning Over Donald Trump Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty
Updated on 03/07/2025 at 3:30 p.m. ET with comment from the State Department
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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:
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.
… all the international sanctions to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. … Subscribe to stay up to date with all things Colorado. Subscribe …
Andrei Kelin said: “Russia does not threaten France or the United Kingdom. Here in the United Kingdom, they are very good at inventing threats. I have …
The world needs nuclear and nuclear needs women. This International Women’s Day, learn why this matters, how we’re helping, and how you can get involved. Read more →
The presence of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at Ukraine’s nuclear power plants (NPPs) remains an “invaluable asset” for the international community and must be preserved, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi told Member States after the completion of a delayed team rotation at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). Read more →
Interested contributors have until 2 May 2025 to submit abstracts for scientific posters for the IAEA’s International Conference on Radiation Protection in Medicine — X Ray Vision. Read more →
The IAEA Director General reminded the Agency’s Board of Governors today of the precarious nuclear safety situation in Ukraine, and discussed his trip to Fukushima, developments with Iran, reaching gender parity at the IAEA and more. Read more →
(See the article posted below for description and photo credits.)
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS of TODAY with the RISKS and CONSEQUENCES of TOMORROW
In My Opinion:
I am posting this article today for only one reason – that being the absolute childish one-word affront by supposedly grown men discussing a serious world class issue — nuclear weapons of mass destruction — insulting the French leader as “Micron” rather than his honorable name “Macron”. (In this case it was former Russian President Medvedev. )
Childish behavior like this defies the belief that serious-minded highly placed responsible individuals are taking the concept of nuclear annihilation seriously.
Other than that mild tirade, the story reports that U.S. President Donald Trump’s upending of U.S. policy on the war have caused fears among European leaders that Washington is turning its back on Europe, which is an extremely serious International situation . . .
Also, I will add, as I often do, that the “number” of nuclear weapons’ in a country’s arsenal is irrelevant these days because of the size and power, and distribution methods of nuclear bombs today versus those of the World War II or “Cold War” eras that are far more individually important and potentially far more destructive than the number of collective weapons, most of which would likely never be launched. Today’s nuclear bombs are up to 80 times more powerful than those that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
So, you see, nuclear war is not a grade-school playground name-calling threat or scuffle. Any “dignitary” anywhere who stoops to such a low level should be summarily dismissed and fired from whatever position or rank that they have been elected to or placed in. ~llaw
Mocking him as ‘Micron’, Russia warns Macron not to threaten it
President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron, attend a joint press conference, in Moscow, Russia, February 7, 2022. Thibault Camus/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Summary
Moscow opposes European peacekeeping troops in Ukraine
Macron open to discussing sharing nuclear deterrence
Russia says Macron should not threaten Russia
Kremlin agrees “proxy war” should end
Ex-President Medvedev calls Macron ‘Micron’
MOSCOW, March 6 (Reuters) – Russia warned French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday not to threaten it with nuclear rhetoric and, mocking his height by calling him ‘Micron’, ruled out European proposals to send peacekeeping forces from NATO members to Ukraine.
Macron said in an address to the nation on Wednesday that Russia was a threat to Europe, Paris could discuss extending its nuclear umbrella to allies and that he would hold a meeting of army chiefs from European countries willing to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine after a peace deal.
The Kremlin said the speech was extremely confrontational and that Macron wanted the war in Ukraine to continue.
“This (speech) is, of course, a threat against Russia,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
“Unlike their predecessors, who also wanted to fight against Russia, Napoleon, Hitler, Mr Macron does not act very gracefully, because at least they said it bluntly: ‘We must conquer Russia, we must defeat Russia’.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to the biggest confrontation between the West and Russia since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Kremlin and White House have said missteps could trigger World War Three.
Russia and the United States are the world’s biggest nuclear powers, with over 5,000 nuclear warheads each. China has about 500, France has 290 and Britain 225, according to the Federation of American Scientists., opens new tab
Russian officials and lawmakers accused Macron of rhetoric that could push the world closer to the abyss. Russian cartoons cast him as Napoleon Bonaparte riding towards defeat in Russia in 1812.
“Micron himself poses no big threat though. He’ll disappear forever no later than May 14, 2027. And he won’t be missed,” former President Dmitry Medvedev wrote on X, looking ahead to the end of Macron’s term.
00:14EU leaders talk defense spending surge after U.S. cuts Ukraine aid
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova suggested Macron might want help measuring his true military size, and her ministry said his speech contained “notes of nuclear blackmail” and amounted to a threat directed towards Russia.
“Paris’ ambitions to become the nuclear ‘patron’ of all of Europe have burst out into the open, by providing it with its own ‘nuclear umbrella’, almost to replace the American one. Needless to say, this will not lead to strengthening the security of either France itself or its allies,” it said.
NO ON PEACEKEEPERS
Russian advances in Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump’s upending of U.S. policy on the war have caused fears among European leaders that Washington is turning its back on Europe.
Russian officials say tough rhetoric from Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other European powers is not backed up by hard military power and point to Russia’s advances on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Lavrov and the Kremlin dismissed Macron’s proposal to send peacekeepers to Ukraine and said Russia would not agree to it.
“We are talking about such a confrontational deployment of an ephemeral contingent,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Lavrov said saying Moscow would see such a deployment as NATO presence in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed Western assertions that Russia could one day attack a NATO member.
He portrays the war as part of a historic struggle with the West following the collapse of the Soviet Union and NATO’s encroachment on what he considers Moscow’s sphere of influence.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week cast the conflict as a proxy war between Russia and the U.S., a position the Kremlin said was accurate.
“This is actually a conflict between Russia and the collective West. And the main country of the collective West is the United States of America,” Peskov said. “We agree that it is time to stop this conflict and this war.”
The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.
Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Dmitry Antonov, Mark Trevelyan, Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Stephen Coates, Michael Perry, Philippa Fletcher and Timothy Heritage
As Moscow bureau chief, Guy runs coverage of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Before Moscow, Guy ran Brexit coverage as London bureau chief (2012-2022). On the night of Brexit, his team delivered one of Reuters historic wins – reporting news of Brexit first to the world and the financial markets. Guy graduated from the London School of Economics and started his career as an intern at Bloomberg. He has spent over 14 years covering the former Soviet Union. He speaks fluent Russian.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:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War Threats
Nuclear War
Yellowstone Caldera & Other Volcanoes (Note: There are three Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories 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.
Also, every day, Airmen protect the skies over the homeland through exercises and nuclear deterrence, he said. … “All of that is not adding to combat …
Nuclear’s resurgence has been best exemplified over the past two years by its emergence as the chosen technology for companies looking to power large …
Moscow views comments by Macron about extending France’s nuclear deterrent to European partners as a “threat”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov …
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are both wanted for arrest for war crimes and both control nuclear weapons (Image: Archive)
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS of TODAY with the RISKS and CONSEQUENCES of TOMORROW
In My Opinion:
TPNW stands for Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), in case you didn’t know, and I didn’t either.
The message here from Scotland’s “The National” newspaper is short and sweet and exactly right! As I have been whining for months, “deterrence” is not the answer to solving the issue of potential nuclear war. So why, I have to ask for the umpteenth time, are we spending billions, even trillions, of dollars in individual nations around the globe to build, rebuild, strengthen, and add more and more nuclear arms in every nuclear-armed nation when we already know nuclear deterrence cannot and will not work? The exalted leaders running nuclear-armed countries are obviously insane with their self-aggrandizing power and would just as soon destroy us all rather than join a common effort to abolish, not just conflict and war, but all things nuclear associated with war — and that must also include not only nuclear weapons, but nuclear power plants because nuclear power plants are nothing less than stationary nuclear weapons.
Just as stupid is the international idea that nuclear weapons defined as “tactical” or “small” nuclear weapons adds to the fear, or should, because the use of even one “tactical” nuclear weapon in a war zone, no matter how small, will immediately cause retaliation from the monstrous nuclear weapons awaiting launch from other countries that will destroy virtually every living species, including human, on planet Earth.
So my question is, why on Earth are we continuing to build and increase nuclear arms that can already be immediately deployed to targets everywhere around the globe, eliminating ourselves because we just simply cannot get along from one international boundary to another. ~llaw
Read on . . .
TPNW: ‘Global disaster looms amid nuclear threats on Gaza and Ukraine’
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are both wanted for arrest for war crimes and both control nuclear weapons (Image: Archive)
THREATS of nuclear weapons being used in Ukraine and Gaza show the world is closer to disaster than any time since the Cold War, an international group of parliamentarians has warned.
In a statement agreed upon and then issued from a UN summit on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), representatives from parliaments in countries including Japan, Scotland, Canada, France, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Norway, and French Polynesia also spoke against the policy of “nuclear deterrence” favoured by governments like the UK’s.
The group, whose members mostly represented countries who have not signed up to the TPNW, said that deterrence was not a security strategy but a “reckless gamble with humanity’s survival” – and pledged to push their respective governments to move towards nuclear disarmament.
“As parliamentarians, we have the responsibility to protect the people we represent,” they said.
“Nuclear weapons do not protect people. Their use would unleash catastrophic, uncontrollable devastation, overwhelming any humanitarian response and destabilizing global security. Even their mere existence fuels proliferation, heightens tensions, and increases the risk of miscalculation or accident.
“We therefore cannot rely on nuclear deterrence as a security strategy. It would be a reckless gamble with humanity’s survival to base national security on a constant, credible threat of actual use of nuclear weapons.
“Threatening mass destruction runs counter to the security interests of humanity as a whole and renders nuclear deterrence as a dangerous, misguided and unacceptable approach to security.”
SNP MSP Bill Kidd
SNP MSP Bill Kidd, who is both the convener of Holyrood’s cross party group on nuclear disarmament and co-president of the global group Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), was at the meeting representing Scotland.
The UK Government has declined to sign or ratify the TPNW, but the SNP have committed to doing so in an independent Scotland.
However, parliamentarians at the UN argued that those geopolitical tensions underline “the importance of implementing and universalising the TPNW”.
They said: “Far from ensuring security, nuclear weapons put the world at increasing risk – from Russia’s threats to use nuclear weapons in the context of the illegal invasion of Ukraine, to a minister of Israel suggesting to drop a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip, to threats of renewed nuclear testing, to expanded nuclear-sharing arrangements in Europe, and the modernization of arsenals in every single nuclear-armed state.
“Loose rhetoric about ‘small’ nuclear weapons and tactical use has lowered the threshold for nuclear war and brought us closer to catastrophe than at any time since the Cold War.”
Israel and Russia are two of the world’s nine nuclear-armed nations, alongside the UK, US, France, China, Pakistan, India, and North Korea.
The parliamentarians’ statement goes on: “Instead of addressing these risks, a small number of governments respond by doubling down – expanding their reliance on nuclear deterrence, issuing counter-threats, and pouring ever more resources into these weapons of mass destruction.
“Such a strategy is doomed to fail.”
The statement from the parliamentarians will be delivered to the UN summit by Hinamoeura Cross, a French Polynesian politician who – along with the entire population of her nation – was impacted by radioactive fallout from French nuclear tests.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:
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.
AP Video courtesy of You Tube (Trudeau is expected to step down on March 9th)
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS TODAY with the RISKS and CONSEQUENCES of TOMORROW
In My Opinion:
As usual—or as always—Trump is overstepping his never-ending preposterous bounds, creating enemies faster than a venomous snake. Now he wants to annex Canada, which as we all know here and there, Canada won’t stand for such a ridiculous idea now or never.
Trump is apparently power-crazy, wanting to be “King” of the world at a time when he should be serving time in a federal prison for considerable felonious crimes he has committed, including some felonies he has been convicted of of as a private citizen and other impeachable charges as the president of the United States. ~llaw
AP Video courtesy of You Tube:
Canada Eyeing NATO Ally’s Nukes To Deter Trump ‘Threat’: Candidate
AP Video courtesy of You Tube (Trudeau is expected to step down on March 9th)
A politician vying to replace Justin Trudeau as Canada’s next leader has suggested forming a closer alliance with Britain and France as the NATO nations possess nuclear weapons, which could help safeguard the Canadians against potential threats posed by President Donald Trump.
Why It Matters
Trump has repeatedly said that the United States should annex Canada and absorb the country as the 51st state. Officials have raised alarm bells about the president’s threats, saying they undermine Canada’s sovereignty. Trudeau has rejected the possibility of his country becoming part of the U.S.
Trump has said that Canada is “not viable as a country” without U.S. trade.
Freeland proposed forming stronger defense ties with France and Britain, as their nuclear arsenals could aid Canada “at a time when the United States can pose a threat.”
“I would be working urgently with those partners to establish a closer security relationship,” the former finance minister said during the final Liberal Party leadership debate last week, U.K. newspaper The Telegraph reported.
Trump “wants to turn Canada into the 51st state, and it’s no joke,” Freeland said.
“That is why he is supporting [Russian President] Vladimir Putin‘s criminal attempt to redraw Ukraine’s borders,” she added. “Trump wants to redraw our borders, too.”
Canada’s Liberal Party has seen a recent resurgence in the polls, surpassing the Conservatives for the first time since 2021. Party members are set to elect a new leader on March 9, after which Trudeau is expected to step down.
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:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War Threats
Nuclear War
Yellowstone Caldera & Other Volcanoes (Note: There are three Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories 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.
Russia will restart the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant—occupied by Moscow’s troops since the beginning of their three-year-old invasion of Ukraine— …
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS TODAY with the RISKS and CONSEQUENCES of TOMORROW
In My Opinion:
Trump is without doubt a Russian puppet, devoted to Putin and the the Kremlin. How can there be any doubt following the incredibly poor taste obviously planned and staged attack on Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy by Trump, his Vice President JD Vance, and a supporting Secretary of State Marco Rubio in front of selected media including the Russian press.
How is it possible for the United States of America to continue to allow this possible traitor to America and the the free world including NATO nations of which the USA is a member, but maybe not for long. His obvious anti-democracy actions scream for his immediate removal from the presidency via his 3rd impeachment, and I just can’t imagine how he could possibly survive a 3rd one. There is just too much evidence against him, not only concerning his dedication to Russia and Putin, but his ongoing in-plain-sight attempt to overthrow the existing Democratic-Republic of the United States of America. ~llaw
Speaking following the talks, Sir Keir said Europe “must do the heavy lifting” in securing peace but insisted a deal must have “strong US backing” to succeed.
But writing on his own social media platform on Monday afternoon, Mr Trump said: “Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?”
The US president also criticised Mr Zelensky for claiming a peace deal was “still very, very far away”. Mr Trump said: “This guy doesn’t want there to be peace as long as he has America’s backing.”
The post came minutes after Sir Keir told MPs in The Commons that Donald Trump is “sincere” in his commitment to peace.
In an update given to the House of Commons, Sir Keir said the US was vital to securing peace in Ukraine as he urged countries from either side of the Atlantic to come together on a deal.
Puce with rage, he leaned over and wagged his finger as he told the leader of a nation under assault from Russia: “You’re playing cards, you’re gambling with the lives of millions of people.” But when Donald Trump got furious with Volodymyr Zelensky, it wasn’t just business, it was personal.
As in all mafia tales, the relationship between the two leaders has been poisoned by business – specifically the business of Russia. But it would be dangerous to believe Trump’s support for Russia is just fuelled by his animus to Zelensky. It’s much worse than that.
Trump likes Putin, with whom he says he shared the experience of the “scam” of allegations that Russia interfered in his 2016 election as president. And Trump hates Zelensky for not helping him campaign against Joe Biden when he lost his second term run.
A massive cry of ‘hear, hear!’ went up from Labour and Tory MPs alike, writes Joe Murphy. It was in a remarkable and moving show of unity – in reminding the Reform UK leader we support Zelensky and not Putin
‘The Donald’s’ anger with the Ukrainian president in the White House goes beyond the personal, writes world affairs editor Sam Kiley – it shows a global shift in strategy from the US away from Ukraine and towards the Kremlin
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:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War Threats
Nuclear War
Yellowstone Caldera & Other Volcanoes (Note: There are two Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories 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.
One of the challenging foreign policy issues President Trump will confront is Iran and its nuclear program … Weekend All Things Considered. Next Up: 6 …
One of the challenging foreign policy issues President Trump will confront is Iran and its nuclear program … Weekend All Things Considered. Next Up: 5 …
… nuclear power plant in Ukraine via Russian-occupied territory. Energy Minister German Galushchenko sent a letter to the International Atomic Energy …
Cold War bomb testing was part of a massive increase in the number of nuclear weapons, which peaked at more than 60,000. After nuclear war was barely …
In order to keep abreast of the weekend nuclear news, I will post Saturday and Sunday’s news, but without editorial comment. If a weekend story warrants a critical review, it will show up on Monday’s posts . . .
If you are not familiar with the weekday daily blog post, this is how the nuclear news post works . . . llaw
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:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are no Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available on this weekend’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.
A new monitoring mission from the U.N. nuclear watchdog arrived on Saturday at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear … Israel and Hamas at War · Japan …
Ukraine said on Sunday it condemned a “breach of territorial sovereignty” by employees of the U.N. nuclear … Israel and Hamas at War · Japan · Middle …
In order to keep abreast of the weekend nuclear news, I will post Saturday and Sunday’s news, but without editorial comment. If a weekend story warrants a critical review, it will show up on Monday’s posts . . .
If you are not familiar with the weekday daily blog post, this is how the nuclear news post works . . . llaw
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:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are no Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available on this weekend’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.
“Turkey Point was the first reactor in the country to apply to run for a total of 80 years, and no one in the world has ever run a nuclear power plant …
The International Criminal Court has jurisdiction over anyone who commits war crimes and crimes against humanity on Palestinian territory, regardless …
The Pershing II, a mobile intermediate-range ballistic missile, is transported into Hanger C on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, Oct. 29, 2020. (U.S. Space Force Photo By Airman Thomas Sjoberg)
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS TODAY with the RISKS and CONSEQUENCES of TOMORROW
In My Opinion:
The following article from the “Brookings Institute” and author Michael E. O’Hanlon (see his brief resume at the end of the article), tells us why we should never implicitly trust AI to do the right thing. No matter how smart it eventually becomes, it will only be as good as human intelligence makes it to be, but it will always lack the kind of innate common sense, abstract thinking, and emotional compassion that the three potential AI failures, had it existed during those incidents, highlighted in the story.
I also believe that no one individual should ever be the sole judge of whether to use nuclear weapons of mass destruction, and that wherever AI could fail, so might the individual who might well have little more common sense than AI might have. I already have at least one highly placed individual in mind, and his intelligence is, to my own common sense, also “artificial” in its way, and extremely questionable. ~llaw
The Pershing II, a mobile intermediate-range ballistic missile, is transported into Hanger C on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, Oct. 29, 2020. (U.S. Space Force Photo By Airman Thomas Sjoberg)
8 min read
Michael E. O’Hanlon
Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed late in 2024 that artificial intelligence (AI) should never be empowered to decide to launch a nuclear war. The groundwork for this excellent policy decision was laid over five years of discussions at the Track II U.S.-China Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence and National Security convened by the Brookings Institution and Tsinghua University’s Center for International Security and Strategy. By examining several cases from the U.S.-Soviet rivalry during the Cold War, one can see what might have happened if AI had existed back in that period and been trusted with the job of deciding to launch nuclear weapons or to preempt an anticipated nuclear attack—and had been wrong in its decisionmaking. Given the prevailing ideas, doctrines, and procedures of the day, an AI system “trained” on that information (perhaps through the use of many imaginary scenarios that reflected the current conventional wisdom) might have decided to launch nuclear weapons, with catastrophic results.
Thankfully, in the examples I will consider—the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, the September 1983 false-alarm crisis, and the October 1983 Able Archer exercise—a human being showed greater awareness of the stakes and better common sense than the received wisdom and doctrine of the day. It would be imprudent to assume that humans will always show restraint in such situations, and that well-trained AI systems may provide useful inputs to human decisions. Nevertheless, it is sobering that when facing the real possibility of nuclear Armageddon, human beings exhibited a level of thoughtfulness and compassion that machines, trained in cold-blooded “rational” ways, might not have possessed at the time and might not possess in the future.
Three close calls with nuclear Armageddon
The Cuban missile crisis began when U.S. intelligence learned that the Soviet Union was shipping nuclear-capable missiles and tactical nuclear weapons to Cuba over the course of 1962, in an attempt to improve the nuclear balance with the United States. Even though they did not know the extent to which the Soviets already had nuclear weapons on Cuban soil, almost all of President John F. Kennedy’s advisors, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recommended conventional air strikes against the Soviet positions. Such strikes could easily have led to Soviet escalation, perhaps by nearby Soviet submarine commanders (armed with nuclear-tipped torpedoes) against U.S. warships, or by Soviet ground troops in Cuba (perhaps against the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay). Kennedy opted for a combination of a naval quarantine of Cuba (to prevent any more weaponry from reaching the island by sea) and quiet backdoor diplomacy with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev that included offers to remove American missiles from Turkey and to never invade Cuba. The Soviets were persuaded to take this deal, withdraw their missiles and nuclear weapons from Cuba, and halt any further military buildup on the island, then run by Fidel Castro and his government.
In the September 1983 false-alarm crisis, a single Soviet watch officer, Stanislav Petrov, saw indications from sensor systems that the United States was attacking the Soviet Union with five intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that would detonate within perhaps 20 minutes. In fact, what the sensors had picked up were reflections of sunlight from unusual cloud formations; the sensors were not “smart” enough to recognize the reflections for what they really were. Realizing that any American attack on the Soviet Union would almost certainly be much larger—since a small attack would only provoke a Soviet retaliation and have little chance of causing meaningful damage to Soviet nuclear forces—Petrov single-handedly chose not to escalate the situation by recommending “retaliation” against the perceived American strike. Whether an AI system would have reached that same prudent conclusion, when prevailing doctrine said that any incoming attack likely required immediate retaliation, is anyone’s guess. In this case, the actual human being improvised, using instinct more than formal protocol, to arrive at the correct decision when faced with the unthinkable possibility of an actual nuclear war. Petrov’s basic human essence and character seem to have saved the day, at least in this case.
Just a couple of months later in November 1983, NATO undertook a major military exercise known as Able Archer during a very tense year in U.S.-Soviet relations. President Ronald Reagan had given his “Star Wars” speech the past March, soon after declaring the Soviet Union an evil empire; then, in September, Soviet pilots shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 when it mistakenly strayed over Soviet territory, killing everyone on board. The United States was also in the process of preparing to station nuclear-capable Pershing II missiles in Europe, with a very short flight time to Moscow if ever launched.
So, when NATO conducted Able Archer, Soviet leaders worried that it might be used as cover to prepare a very real attack, perhaps with the aim of decapitating the Soviet leadership. At one point in the exercise, NATO forces simulated preparing for a nuclear attack by placing dummy warheads on nuclear-capable aircraft. Soviet intelligence witnessed the preparations but could not tell, of course, that the warheads were fake. Soviet leaders thus “responded” by readying nuclear-capable systems with very real warheads of their own. American intelligence in turn witnessed those preparations—but a savvy U.S. Air Force general, Leonard Perroots, realized what was occurring and recommended to superiors that the United States should not respond by placing real warheads on its own systems. Whether doing so would have provoked one side or the other to launch a preemptive strike is anyone’s guess; however, the proximity of the weapons to each other, and mutual fears of a decapitating surprise attack, would have made any such situation extremely fraught.
Would AI have done better?
In all three cases, AI might have elected to start a nuclear war. During the Cuban missile crisis, American officials considered the Western Hemisphere to be a sanctuary from hostile powers, and the consensus view was strongly in favor of preventing any Soviet, or communist, encroachment. The year before, the United States through the CIA had attempted to work with Cuban exiles to overthrow Castro. Certainly, the positioning of Soviet nuclear weapons less than 100 miles from U.S. shores triggered prevalent American thinking about what was and was not acceptable. Since no sensors could determine the absence of Soviet nuclear warheads, a “cautious” approach based on the doctrine of the day would indeed have been to eliminate those Soviet capabilities before they could be made operational. Only a very real American president—one who had heightened cautionary instincts after witnessing combat in World War II and watching the U.S. bureaucracy make a mess out of the Bay of Pigs attack on Cuba the year before—thought otherwise. This example shows that the ban on AI starting a nuclear war should include cases in which conventional weapons might be used to strike nuclear-capable weapons or weapons systems.
With the false-warning crisis in September 1983, it took an astute individual to realize the unlikelihood that the United States was attacking with just a few warheads. Indeed, a different officer, or an AI-directed control center, would likely have assessed that the five ICBMs were attempting a decapitation strike against leadership or could otherwise have drawn the wrong conclusion about what was going on. The result might well have been a “retaliatory” strike that was in fact a first strike, and that would have likely produced a very real American nuclear response.
With Able Archer, since American officials knew that they were only conducting an exercise, and knew that the Soviets knew as much, many would have been stunned to see the Soviets put real warheads into firing position. Most might have concluded that the Soviets were using the NATO exercise as a way to dupe NATO officials into lowering their guard as the Soviet Union prepared a very real attack. AI systems trained on the prevailing doctrines and standard procedures of the day would have likely recommended at the very least an American nuclear alert. And since both superpowers had plans for massive first strikes in those days, designed to minimize the other side’s potential for a strong second strike, a situation in which both sides had nuclear weapons on the highest wartime alerts could have been very dangerous.
Yes, it is possible that very good AI might have determined restraint was warranted in these cases—and might do so in a future situation—perhaps even better than some humans would have. AI can be used as a check on human thinking and behavior. But these examples underscore how dangerous it could be to trust a machine to make the most momentous decision in human history. Xi and Biden made the right decision, and future leaders should stand by it.
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:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War Threats
Nuclear War
Yellowstone Caldera & Other Volcanoes (Note: There are threeYellowstone Caldera bonus stories 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.
Lightning Round: Very, very skeptical of nuclear power trades, says Jim Cramer … Stock Market Fall | 5 Things To Keep In Mind Amid The Market Falling …
… Caldera, an ancient supervolcano straddling the Nevada-Oregon border. … Yellowstone’s Supervolcano Magma Movement Fuels Fears of Catastrophic Eruption …
In 2024, 147 incidents of illegal or unauthorized activities involving nuclear and other radioactive material were reported to the Incident and Trafficking Database, a number aligned with the historical average. Read more →
Two weeks after it was hit by a drone, Ukrainian firefighters are still trying to extinguish smouldering fires within the large structure built over the reactor destroyed in the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear accident, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today. Read more →
Radiopharmaceuticals are used in nuclear medicine worldwide. Their applications range from imaging of many different organs, such as brain, heart, kidney and bone, to the treatment of cancer and hyperthyroidism. Read more →
Dibuleng Mohlakwana and her team are introducing innovative tools and techniques to improve how the IAEA shares, organizes and makes its collection of nuclear information accessible. Read more →
The IAEA is helping countries address climate change adaptation by applying nuclear techniques for plant breeding, animal production, food safety, health and insect pest control. Read more →
(See the article below for image description and photo credits. ~llaw)
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS TODAY with the RISKS and CONSEQUENCES of TOMORROW
In My Opinion:
In today’s succinct and well-described article, a MUST READ posted below, from the “Center for American Progress” has put together the frightening highlights of Trump’s incredibly poor judgement over the first month of his unwelcome presidency that may eventually add to the destruction, not only of America, but the entire world as we know it. Sadly, he appears to be far from finished ripping our country apart unless he is restrained, impeached, removed from office, and sent to prison where he belongs.
Trump is not only unravelling our government, he is blindly putting us at risk with other nuclear armed countries— as well as terrorist organizations — possibly making us defenseless to protect ourselves long before the “iron dome” useless multi-trillion dollar missile defense system can be built and perhaps, even worse, having access to the nuclear football codes and button in case he takes a notion to start WWIII, creating the worst catastrophe of all.
But regardless of the future, he is already rapidly turning our federal government into a shambles of potential incompetence that will take years to restore to the efficiency it had functioned at right up until the day he was sworn in. And then all hell broke loose. He is a serious threat to his own country, and he must be stopped . . . ~llaw
Article Feb 27, 2025
Trump’s War on America Risks a Wave of Catastrophes
President Trump’s reckless dismantling of government agencies and safeguards exposes America to a wave of preventable disasters.
President Donald Trump addresses a meeting, February 2025. (Getty/Win McNamee)
Not every disaster movie ends badly. We blew up the asteroid in “Armageddon” before it hit; the deadly diseases threatened in “Outbreak,” “Contagion,” and “The Andromeda Strain” were contained; and, in “Independence Day,” the world’s militaries beat back the alien invasion.
A common thread ran through these successes: Scientific expertise, well-funded federal agencies, and synchronized emergency responses—exactly the safeguards President Donald Trump is recklessly attempting to dismantle. Some examples of this recklessness were on quick display: firing the people who oversee our nuclear arsenal, protect us from bird flu, and directly support air traffic controllers and critical safety technologies. Some of the other mistakes will only be exposed or felt when a critical function of government fails to protect us from a terrorist attack or bank collapse.
Trump and his partner Elon Musk are indiscriminately bringing a wrecking ball to the government, following the Silicon Valley ethos of “move fast and break things.” But even Musk acknowledges his strategy means “some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected … Nobody’s going to bat a thousand.”
Most Americans agree that government can work better and can be more efficient. But Trump and Musk’s moves are doing the opposite—and will, in time, make us far less safe.
Movies usually feature just one catastrophe apiece, but Trump’s actions are hurtling America toward all of these simultaneously. When these disasters next strike, it likely won’t be in a theater, and we’ll know whose actions to blame:
Nuclear materials get stolen when critical nuclear staff are fired and oversight of weapons labs is gutted. The Trump administration’s random layoffs at the National Nuclear Security Administration have left America’s nuclear arsenal dangerously exposed, risking theft, sabotage, and accidental detonation.
Terrorists attack the United States when our intelligence and law enforcement agencies are hobbled. The Trump administration’s mass firings and program shutdowns at the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and other national security agencies weaken their ability to see threats, leaving the nation vulnerable to coordinated and deadly terrorist strikes.
The electric grid fails when not enough people are on hand to keep it running. The Trump administration is firing the linemen, engineers, and dispatchers who maintain America’s power systems.
Identities get stolen and bank accounts empty when unvetted amateurs are allowed to rummage through sensitive databases. Trump and Elon Musk have sent a small army of unqualified amateurs—some in their teens—to illegally access America’s most sensitive financial, health, and personal data, including highly restricted payment and Social Security
Roads and bridges collapse when funding for maintenance and new construction is slashed and there’s no one on hand to keep everyone honest. The Trump administration has gutted a host of infrastructure projects and fired the government watchdogs who make sure large-scale building projects are done right.
The world falls apart when companies aren’t held responsible or accountable for complying with environmental laws—think pipeline ruptures, chemical and natural gas explosions, and oil spills. Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency has demoted career staff with the expertise required to enforce pollution laws and oversee safe hazardous waste cleanup and has fired hundreds of workers who respond to environmental disasters and ensure a healthy and safe environment for all Americans.
People lose their life’s savings in bank failures caused by risky practices, poor management, and fraud. And lots of banks fail when the mechanisms set up to keep bank failures from spreading are dismantled. The Trump administration is looking to cut the banking regulations that keep Americans’ savings safe and firing the people who work to stop bank failures from spreading like wildfire. These policy changes from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 playbook “would foster financial market risk-taking while kneecapping regulators’ ability to quell instability,” CAP warned last year.
One of America’s great strengths—on-screen and in real life—has been the reliability of its institutions, grounded in expertise, robust oversight, and the rule of law. President Trump and Elon Musk’s lawless and erratic actions are weakening, not strengthening, these pillars of strength, so much so that they risk pulling catastrophic Hollywood nightmares off the screen and into real life.
The positions of American Progress, and our policy experts, are independent, and the findings and conclusions presented are those of American Progress alone. A full list of supporters is available here. American Progress would like to acknowledge the many generous supporters who make our work possible.
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:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War Threats
Nuclear War
Yellowstone Caldera & Other Volcanoes (Note: There are two Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories 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.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack as a “terrorist threat … This is not the first time Russia has weaponized nuclear threats …
NATO’s strategic doctrine was Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), which stated that America’s nuclear weapons would be used if there was an attack by …
