LLAW’s ‘All Things Nuclear’ #451 (11/15/2023)
“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”
LLAW’s COMMENTARY:
So, what is this supposedly brilliant idea and ultimate usefulness of tripling nuclear energy production by 2050 as a silly long-term carrot and stick program? Its sole function has to be to bamboozle and pacify the common people for the next quarter century, who depend on their governments to bear some kind of responsibility and deliver some degree of actual honesty to the facts about global warming, climate change, and reducing CO2 levels that humans and other life can live with. There is only one way to slow it down or stop its growth, and more nuclear power plants are the very worst possible solution.
It appears to be that, since we are not willing to do away with the actual culprit, meaning the entire fossil fuel industry and sycophants, that we once claimed needed to be, er, had to be, replaced by solar, wind, hydro, geo-thermal, and other clean-air power plants. So now at this year’s COP28 climate summit, especially the USA, is coming on whole-hog claiming nuclear power plant capacity will be tripled by 2050. I guess we have forgotten that uranium (the fuel for all nuclear products including power plants and military weapons of mass destruction) is also a fossil fuel, albeit refined to a lower level of CO2 emissions. But uranium is not only still a CO2 contributor like coal, oil, gas, etc., but it is also by far the dirtiest and most dangerous commercial fuel on the planet, being far more destructive and dangerous whether long-term, yesterday, today, or tomorrow than all the other fossil fuels combined. Its fuel and its waste is highly radioactive, which instantly makes it infinitely more dangerous than CO2 alone.
According to today’s news from the “The Spokesman-Review”, “The U.S. will lead a push [actually, a mere ‘pledge’ to be signed on December 1st, meaning nothing] at the COP28 climate summit to triple the amount of installed nuclear power capacity globally by 2050, marking a major turnaround for the controversial technology at the climate negotiations.” That would seem to me to be impossible, and here is another impossibility: “the key role of nuclear energy in achieving global net-zero greenhouse gas emissions/carbon neutrality by or around midcentury,” There is no such thing as “net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and carbon neutrality is a moot point because we have no idea what carbon neutrality will be tomorrow, much less mid-century. This statement contains nothing but deceptive ‘buzzwords’ that make the average citizen happy because he has no idea what these words mean, but they sound good to him. It is what I call propaganda that others would call ‘hogwash’ or ‘bullshit’.
The text of the “Spokesman Review” article:
“U.S., U.K. to push pledge to triple nuclear power by 2050 at COP28
Nov. 14, 2023 Updated Tue., Nov. 14, 2023 at 8:50 p.m.
By John Ainger, Rachel Morison and Akshat RathiBloomberg
The U.S. will lead a push at the COP28 climate summit to triple the amount of installed nuclear power capacity globally by 2050, marking a major turnaround for the controversial technology at the climate negotiations.
The declaration will call on the World Bank and other international financial institutions to include nuclear energy in their lending policies, according to a document seen by Bloomberg News. The U.S. will likely be joined by the U.K., France, Sweden, Finland and South Korea in the pledge to be signed Dec. 1 in Dubai, according to people familiar with the matter.
That will be followed a few days later by a nuclear industry commitment to triple generation resources from 2020 levels, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public.
The countries recognize “the key role of nuclear energy in achieving global net-zero greenhouse gas emissions/carbon neutrality by or around midcentury,” a draft of the declaration says. “Nuclear energy is already the second-largest source of clean dispatchable baseload power, with benefits for energy security.”
The declaration is the latest sign of shifting sentiment toward nuclear power, which doesn’t produce carbon dioxide emissions, but has often been criticized over the waste it generates, the cost of building plants and potential security issues. Support has gained traction especially as clean back-up for renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. The countries will also commit to new technologies, such as small modular reactors.
“Nuclear is 100% part of the solution,” John Kerry, the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate, said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum last week. “It’s clean energy.”
The United Nations’ 28th Conference of the Parties, known as COP28, will take place in the United Arab Emirates, which is the only country in the Arabian Peninsula with a nuclear power program. It’s not clear if the hosts will sign.
The two-week summit due to start on Nov. 28 will include a “global stocktake” to track how far off course the world is to keeping global warming below 1.5C and what more needs to be done to close the gap. A report from the UN Tuesday showed that emissions are set to rise 9% by 2030, compared to 2010, putting the world potentially on course for warming of 2.8C.” End of Article
But, hey, if nuclear powered plants are too expensive and dangerous, which they are, we have other great ideas for ending global warming, including atmospheric style adjustable “venetian blinds” sunshine reflectors sprayed in the stratosphere to shade us from the heat of fossil fuel CO2 emissions, which means the fossil fuel industries could go on forever commercially selling their power plant products, except they will have nobody to buy it. llolloll! ~llaw
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’s ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
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. There are two Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this Post. If a category heading does not appear, it means there was no news reported from this category today.
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TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS:
All Things Nuclear
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Who Would Take the Brunt of an Attack on U.S. Nuclear Missile Silos? | Scientific American
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Behind the Scenes at a U.S. Factory Building New Nuclear Bombs | Scientific American
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Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
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U.S., U.K. to push pledge to triple nuclear power by 2050 at COP28 | The Spokesman-Review
The Spokesman-Review
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Small-Scale Nuclear Power Dealt Major Setback | Planetizen News
Planetizen
The company that made history in January when its 'small modular nuclear reactor' became the first in the nation to receive certification from the ...
Nuclear War
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Who Would Take the Brunt of an Attack on U.S. Nuclear Missile Silos? | Scientific American
Scientific American
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Ukraine war latest: Russia raining 'hell fire' on Ukrainian troops on bank of river - Sky News
Sky News
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The Doomsday Clock warns the world about catastrophe – here's why it stands ... - The Conversation
The Conversation
... nuclear- or climate-induced) that the clock's founders had designed it to prevent. Russia · Nuclear weapons · Vladimir Putin · Ukraine · Nuclear war ...
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
At UN nuclear conference, China, Iran, Oman decry Israeli minister's comment on Gaza
The Times of Israel
... war, calling the remark a threat to the world. At Monday's long-planned ... Iran's UN Ambassador Amir Iravani told the conference the nuclear threats ...
China, Iran, Arab nations condemn Israeli minister's statement about dropping a nuclear ...
The Hindu
... war, calling it a threat to the world. November 14, 2023 11:13 pm ... Iran's U.N. Ambassador Amir Iravani told the conference the nuclear threats ...
U.N. Command warns N. Korea - Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
... nuclear and missile threats. In the statement, the defense ministers ... nuclear weapons to protect the South in case of a North Korean nuclear attack.
Yellowstone Caldera
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Iceland Volcano | What movies have been released about volcanoes? - NationalWorld
NationalWorld
A Yellowstone supereruption would have global consequences. The release of an enormous volume of volcanic ash, gases, and lava could impact climate, ...
Is it safe to move to Montana? - EnergyPortal.eu -
EnergyPortal.eu -
... Yellowstone Caldera. Residents are encouraged to be prepared for such events, with local governments providing resources and information on ...