LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #702, Thursday, (07/25/2024)
LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #702, Thursday, (07/25/2024)
“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”
LLAW’s NUCLEAR ISSUES & COMMENTS, Thursday, (07/25/2024)
Twenty five years ago, the idea of nuclear disarmament was a possibility. Today it is not. Going from five to nine nuclear armed countries, and Iran perhaps close to making it ten, just using simple arithmetic tells us such a cooperative agreement among nations is at least twice as difficult as it was then, so what makes anyone believe it might be a possibility now? Nevertheless, this short and well-written article is very much worth reading, as parallels many of my own issues and comments over the those years when I quietly stepped out the nuclear industry over the 3-Mile Island partial meltdown, which, by the way is still undergoing a ‘clean-up’ operation that won’t be finished until 2037 (if then), and yet the ownership is considering an attempt to re-start the plant. Insanity continues to prevail, as always, in ‘all things nuclear” . . .
As I said yesterday, following a similar negative comment about China’s valiant proposal to rid Earth’s World(s) of nuclear weapons, as well as nuclear power, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I was wrong?” ~llaw
Why getting rid of nuclear weapons must be a priority
A little over a quarter century ago when the book Third Millennium Equipoise came out with its final blueprint for ridding the world of nuclear weapons linked to UN Security Council reforms, there were only five countries that possessed nuclear weapons.
VINOD SAIGHAL | New Delhi | July 25, 2024 8:00 am
A little over a quarter century ago when the book Third Millennium Equipoise came out with its final blueprint for ridding the world of nuclear weapons linked to UN Security Council reforms, there were only five countries that possessed nuclear weapons. They were also the five permanent members of the Security Council. Today there are nine countries possessing nuclear weapons. In the 78 years since the nuclear strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki no leader of consequence had threatened use of nuclear strikes in the manner of the threat given by the Russian leader Vladimir Putin in the Ukraine war.
He has threatened to use these in the event of serious Russian losses due to the supply of advanced weapons to Ukraine. It has to be noted that he appears to be deliberately over reacting since there is no threat in the war to loss of territory in Russia. He will use nuclear weapons if he loses Crimea and his enclaves in Donbas. Putin may not actually be intending to carry out the nuclear threat but his adversaries in the West cannot take these threats casually. Automatically certain states of readiness to meet the threats take place. What is more, based on the Russian threat, nuclear powers have started refining and in some cases augmenting their nuclear arsenals making the world a more dangerous place to live in. While Russia may have the capability to invade parts of Europe, the West has neither the capacity nor the desire to invade Russia.
Therefore the nuclear sabre rattling by Putin makes no sense. Carrying the argument further in case of Russian setbacks, where exactly would he carry out a nuclear strike? Certainly not in Europe which would invite retaliatory nuclear strikes on Russia with consequences too horrible to contemplate. That limits the choice to strikes in Ukraine. But where? Wherever he strikes there is a strong possibility that the largest nuclear reactor in Europe at Zaporizzhia will also go up in flames, again with far reaching consequences in the whole of Ukraine and large parts of Europe and Russia. The discussion above brings home to every human being with terrifying clarity that among eight billion or so people who share the planet, the potential inheres in just one person or leader to endanger the fragility of the beautiful Pale Blue Dot that we inhabit.
That being the case and having lived through the nuclear menace for over seven decades through Cold War doctrines like MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction) and the like, the world cannot continue to skate on thin ice for its future and safety both of which are amenable to annihilation on the calculations, whims or fancy of a single human being. Today the capacity for largescale country or global destruction inheres in two nations, the United States and the Russian Federation with nuclear arsenals comprising 5044 and 5580 weapons respectively sufficient for second, third and fourth strike capability. No other nuclear state has the weapons numbers to cause damage nearing that of the two world powers. Having said that, all of them continue to increase their nuclear weapon holdings. Taking the case of the two superpowers, should they decide to wage war on each other they can devastate each other’s countries to the extent of reducing them to gigantic Chernobyls.
That is to say they will cease to exist as viable states for up to fifty or even hundred years. To do so they would hardly have used more than twenty per cent of their megaton range weapons stockpile. To what effect would this near total mutual assured destruction take place? There would be no victory, only mutual annihilation. Therefore where is the rationale in the first instance of holding such large stockpiles and refining them? Surely they have no plans, or possibly have no plans to use them on other nations in similar numbers. Most importantly why would Russia want to destroy America or the US Russia? Russian people admire America and given a chance half of them would like to migrate there. Likewise Americans do not dislike Russian people.
They admire them. Therefore the question arises in a MAD type of scenario – who is destroying whom and on whose behalf? The same applies to a possible exchange between China and the US. Would their nationals want the destruction of their opposite numbers? Once these aspects are discussed in open forums and universities around the world, the absurdity of holding nuclear weapons globally would automatically lead to their abandonment. The fifty year blueprint once outlined for ridding the world of nuclear weapons keeping in mind mutual and equal security for lead nuclear states during phased reduction will have to be scaled down to a quarter century or so.
Prior to that aspects of monitoring under UN auspices will need to be streamlined. The elimination of nuclear weapons has to be the foremost global priority with immediate effect. The first step would have to be the passage of this resolution in the UN General Assembly followed by a similar resolution in the UN Security Council.
(The writer, a retired Major General of the Indian Army, is the author of Third Millenium Equipoise.)
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
There are 7 categories, with the latest (#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 three Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this evening’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, Thursday, (07/25/2024)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
Wayne Brady's nontraditional home life redefines today's modern family in new reality series - ABC7
ABC7
Because people think it's all smiles and shiny. ... And that's what we want you to take away from it, because that that is the remix of a nuclear family ...
The US nuclear industry is stuck. Can this startup get it rolling again? - Canary Media
Canary Media
You have to do things at fleet scale.” Jonathan Webb, founder of ... nuclear projects have almost all been over budget and behind schedule.
NextEra considers restarting Iowa nuclear plant amid rising demand for carbon-free energy
CNBC
"The existing nuclear plants are the hottest thing in power right now ... All Rights Reserved. A Division of NBCUniversal. Data is a real-time ...
Nuclear Power
NEWS
The US nuclear industry is stuck. Can this startup get it rolling again? - Canary Media
Canary Media
Can America regain its nuclear energy dominance? The U.S. has the world's largest nuclear power fleet and generates more electricity from fission ...
World's first 'meltdown-proof' nuclear reactor aces safety test - New Atlas
New Atlas
Generation IV reactors like the Shidao Bay Nuclear Power Plant high-temperature gas-cooled (HTGR) pebble-bed reactor in Shidao Bay, Shandong Province, ...
Australia should wait for SMR market to mature, report says - World Nuclear News
World Nuclear News
As current coal-fired power stations begin to retire there is an urgent need for mature, low carbon technologies to fill the energy supply gap, the ...
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
Emergency alarms go off around Ohio nuclear plant; here's what happened - WHIO TV
WHIO TV
The emergency alarms started blaring around the Perry Nuclear Power Plant.
'Unusual event' declared at nuclear power plant in Matagorda County - FOX 26 Houston
FOX 26 Houston
The incident was followed by a fire in the switchyard, which prompted immediate action from on-site crews. Local county emergency response teams and ...
Ashtabula County residents get scare after nuclear plant's emergency notification system ...
Cleveland 19 News
The emergency ...
Nuclear War
NEWS
Russia and Chinese nuclear-capable bombers patrol near United States | Reuters
Reuters
Russian and Chinese nuclear-capable strategic bombers patrolled near the U.S. state of Alaska in the North Pacific and Arctic on Thursday, ...
Mike Bond's Latest Thriller, CRUDE: Nuclear War is Coming -- Can We Stop It? |
Baxley News Banner
(NewsUSA) - “After many years working on intelligence and war issues, I now believe we're about to have a worldwide nuclear war.
Ukraine-Russia war: US intercepts Russian and Chinese bombers - Sky News
Sky News
Russia and China have held joint air patrols near Alaska, prompting US and Canadian defence command to intercept four bombers.
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
Why getting rid of nuclear weapons must be a priority - The Statesman
The Statesman
... threatened use of nuclear strikes in the manner of the threat given by the Russian leader Vladimir Putin in the Ukraine war. He has threatened to ...
Risk of atomic Armageddon: US must restore military deterrence against Iran - opinion
The Jerusalem Post
... Threat of War Is the Only Way to Achieve Peace with Iran. Tehran no longer takes Washington seriously. To revive the nuclear deal, the threat of ...
Ukraine-Russia war: US intercepts Russian and Chinese bombers - Sky News
Sky News
... threats of invading Taiwan ... There have also been warnings more than one of them risks triggering a third world war within the next five years.
Yellowstone Caldera
NEWS
Yellowstone National Park explosion: What is a hydrothermal explosion? - USA Today
USA Today
Hydrothermal explosions are not an indicator a volcanic eruption is brewing, according to USGS. There is a supervolcano roughly the size of Rhode ...
Don't Panic: The Yellowstone Explosion Isn't Tied To Its Supervolcano - Forbes
Forbes
A hydrothermal explosion at Yellowstone National Park Tuesday sent steam and debris into the air, freaked out a number of tourists and damaged a ...
Is Yellowstone National Park closed? What to know after hydrothermal explosion
Cincinnati Enquirer
Is Yellowstone a volcano? Will it erupt soon? ... Yellowstone is home to some of the planet's most active volcanic, hydrothermal and earthquake systems, ...