LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #808, Wednesday, (11/13/2024)
“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity” ~llaw
“I don’t see a pandemic finishing us off, and climate change itself would (to quote Keating) ‘do us slowly’. The one sure path to extinction is nuclear war.” – Professor Peter Doherty AC, Nobel Laureate, communication to the author, 9 Sep 2024.
LLAW’s NUCLEAR VIEWS, ISSUES & COMMENTS, Wednesday, (11/13/2024
From the “Pearls and Irritations” COP29” image caption for the astute and well-written article below: “I don’t see a pandemic finishing us off, and climate change itself would (to quote Keating) ‘do us slowly’. The one sure path to extinction is nuclear war.” – Professor Peter Doherty AC, Nobel Laureate, communication to the author, 9 Sep 2024.
This article from an excellent Australian publication and author Tilman Ruff puts the USA and Donald Trump directly behind the proverbial eight-ball regarding the foreseeable future, especially concerning the environment and ‘all thing nuclear’.
I would only add that terrorism and local battles over nuclear power plants (as no-borders participation in any conflict of any size) will also contribute to Professor Doherty’s well-advised statement about nuclear war being the ‘sure’ path to extinction as opposed to a pandemic. But a pandemic-like killer in a no-borders dispute leading up to WWIII by introducing radiation-poisoning illness and death to huge areas of countries around the world, but, for sure, the nuclear bombs would follow to finalize doomsday . . .
I take this concept of terrorism and war from the increasing involvement of nuclear power plants in the Russia/Ukraine war as well as Annie Jacobsen’s book '“Nuclear War - A Scenario “, and my own experience, knowledge, and edification. All of this potential mayhem, possibly leading to doomsday also makes me wonder why we would even allow more nuclear power plants, or nuclear weapons, anywhere on planet Earth., yet we blindly continue on status quo. ~llaw
Climate, Environment, Politics, World
Two paramount human-made existential threats: Nuclear weapons and our climate
By Tilman Ruff
Nov 13, 2024
“I don’t see a pandemic finishing us off, and climate change itself would (to quote Keating) ‘do us slowly’. The one sure path to extinction is nuclear war.” – Professor Peter Doherty AC, Nobel Laureate, communication to the author, 9 Sep 2024.
Two days after Donald Trump’s election last week, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reported that this year will be the warmest on record and the first year more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, likely more than 1.55°C above. Yet exactly when global leadership on climate action is needed most, the world’s second-largest emitter has a climate-denying, corrupt, criminal president-elect with no regard for facts, committed to leaving the Paris Agreement and ramping up fossil fuel extraction and use.
The stakes could hardly be higher at this year’s climate COP in Baku, Azerbaijan, starting this week. Most of us now understand how crucial to human and planetary health a stable and hospitable climate is, and that securing this is the defining challenge of our age. Yet too few of us make the connection that the most acute, immediate danger to our lives and climate still comes from nuclear weapons.
The two paramount human-made existential threats we confront today – nuclear weapons and climate change – exacerbate each other and need to be addressed together, with utmost urgency. One harms us and our biosphere every day, the other could deplete it irrevocably and end human civilisation and many species in less than a day.
Last week the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Australia launched a new briefing paper examining what nuclear weapons and climate change have to do with each other. The paper addresses the connections between climate, nuclear weapons, nuclear power and the stuff that puts the ‘nuclear’ in nuclear weapons. What effect would nuclear war have on the climate? Does climate change increase the risk of nuclear war? How does nuclear power generation—sometimes touted as a climate-friendly energy source—relate to nuclear risks? Could the massive amounts of radioactivity inside nuclear reactors and waste storages cause radioactive contamination akin to nuclear weapons? Could nuclear facilities themselves be turned into weapons?
Robust scientific evidence shows that the tens of millions of tons of smoke from burning cities ignited by even a nuclear war in one global region, involving 2% of the global nuclear arsenal, would suddenly plummet temperatures worldwide to ice age levels for several years, decimate agriculture, disrupt ocean food chains and condemn over two billion people to starve to death.
Burning cities from a nuclear war involving 4400 Russia and the US weapons, possessing close to 90% of the world’s nuclear arsenal, would put 150 million tons of smoke into the atmosphere. This would plummet average surface temperatures 10°C colder than present, and 20-35°C colder in large areas of Eurasia and North America, a severe abrupt ice age that would result in the large majority of the world’s 8 billion people starving to death, along with the starvation and extinction of many other species.
Nuclear weapons and climate are deeply interconnected. The hospitable and stable climate required for human and biosphere health needs protecting from both rampant global heating and nuclear war.
A climate-stressed world is an even more dangerous place for nuclear weapons. Over the last decade, the number of armed conflicts and their casualties have steadily grown, exacerbated by food and water insecurity, worsening poverty, extreme climate events, displacement and other consequences of global heating. These conflicts and the use of nuclear weapons to assert political and military power with claimed impunity undermine the international cooperation needed to address the climate crisis and other shared challenges. Nuclear arsenals and growing military expenditures not only make conflicts more dangerous and deadly, but have huge opportunity costs, as vast resources are diverted from addressing the real needs of people and planet. Military organisations and activities are also large emitters of greenhouse gases, rarely measured or reported and largely unconstrained.
Apart from being slow, now the most expensive energy source, associated with risks of catastrophic accidents, routine radioactive emissions and intractable waste challenges, nuclear power inseparably creates the capacity to build nuclear weapons. Its promotion as a somewhat low carbon energy source is largely by vested interests and for political and potential proliferation purposes. Facilities to enrich uranium for nuclear reactors can readily enrich it to weapons grade, and the plutonium inevitably produced from uranium inside a nuclear reactor can be extracted from the spent fuel rods. Both routes have been used for proliferation of nuclear weapons. In most nuclear-armed states, the infrastructure, personnel, expertise, industrial capacity and government investments in nuclear power are also key to their nuclear weapons programs.
Nuclear facilities including reactors, spent fuel storage ponds and reprocessing plants contain vast amounts of long-lived radioactive materials. They are effectively pre-positioned large radiological weapons or ‘dirty bombs’, vulnerable to direct military attack or disruption to electricity and water supplies essential for continuous cooling. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has starkly highlighted the dangers of a radiological disaster from nuclear facilities in a war zone, particularly with military attacks on, occupation and weaponisation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and destruction of the Kakhovka Dam which provided cooling water.
A healthy and sustainable future for all life on Earth requires rapid transition to renewable energy and net zero greenhouse gas emissions, and that we prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons before they eliminate us. Nuclear weapons should concern everyone working to avoid climate chaos. Nuclear disarmament is climate action, and effective climate action will help prevent nuclear war. Virtually every species will be harmed in a nuclear war and by global heating; only one species can stop them.
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA”:
(Please note that the Saturday and Sunday NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS — unedited —are added to Monday posts in order to maintain continuity of nuclear news as well as for research for the overall information provided in “All Things Nuclear”.)
There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are no 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, Wednesday, (11/13/2024)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
AI Powers Three Mile Island's Nuclear Plant Back to Life - Tech News Briefing - WSJ
WSJ
... that is coming from the tech sector, data centers, AI, and there's all this forecasted oncoming electricity demand. James Rundle: Are there any ...
U.S. Sets Targets to Triple Nuclear Energy Capacity by 2050
Department of Energy
Paul Terek used to be one of the top decathletes in the world. He was an All-American at Michigan State University and competed for Team USA in ...
A Ruthless Focus on Building More Nuclear Submarines | Proceedings - U.S. Naval Institute
U.S. Naval Institute
Getting that done required two things: an “all hands-on-deck” herculean ... The PenRen effort comes to mind when I run across articles about how to fix ...
Nuclear Power
NEWS
U.S. Sets Targets to Triple Nuclear Energy Capacity by 2050
Department of Energy
Nuclear energy is the nation's largest source of clean power and avoids more than 470 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, which ...
US Nuclear Announcement Neglects Safety and Financial Concerns
Union of Concerned Scientists
At COP29 today, the Biden administration rolled out a “framework for action” to triple nuclear power capacity in the U.S. by 2050.
Six additional nations sign onto Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy, pledging to triple ...
Clean Air Task Force
Six additional countries signed onto the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan today.
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
Byron Nuclear Power Station Emergency Preparedness - EIN Presswire
EIN Presswire
SPRINGFIELD - Enclosed is information regarding emergency preparedness for the Byron Nuclear Power Station. This information is being provided to ...
Nuclear power plant working normally - news.gov.hk
news.gov.hk
... Power Station is operating normally, after verification with Guangdong's Nuclear Emergency Committee Office. The bureau made the statement in ...
PSPA Emergency Declaration Declaration, Kallangur - Mirage News
Mirage News
PSPA Emergency Declaration Declaration, Kallangur. Police have ... U.S. Hails New Backers of Nuclear Energy Expansion. 14 Nov 2024 2:28 am ...
Nuclear War
NEWS
US Nuclear Announcement Neglects Safety and Financial Concerns
Union of Concerned Scientists
At COP29 today, the Biden administration rolled out a “framework for action” to triple nuclear power capacity in the U.S. by 2050.
The system failed us. We'll still miss it when it's gone. - Vox
Vox
America voted for chaos — but we don't know what real chaos is. Yet. by Bryan Walsh. Nov 13, 2024, 5:00 AM PST. Detonation of Nuclear Device ...
Iran's Nuclear Threshold: Will It Make a Dash for the Bomb? - Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
However, the Israel-Hamas war has demonstrated the vulnerability of this strategy. Recent Israeli operations against Iranian proxies, attacks within ...
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
NATO would send troops to Ukraine if Russia did not have nuclear weapons - Bauer
RBC-Ukraine
... war. Russian nuclear threats. Russia regularly threatens the use of nuclear weapons, especially against Western countries and the United States.
Two paramount human-made existential threats: Nuclear weapons and our climate
Pearls and Irritations
How does nuclear power generation—sometimes touted as a climate-friendly energy source—relate to nuclear risks? Could the massive amounts of ...
Worrying Nuclear Map Shows Areas Where 75% of Population Would Die in WW3 - Knewz
Knewz
... nuclear-fueled World War III. Russia is known for its nuclear threats. A Cold War-era map made the ...