LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #860, Friday, (01/24/2025)
"End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity” ~llaw
See image description and credit in the following article from “The Nation”.
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS TODAY with THE RISKS & CONSEQUENCES of TOMORROW
The Wednesday announcement by the “Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists” will likely shorten their “Doomsday Clock” clock from the current “90 Seconds to Midnight” on January 28th. Much of the ticking off of a few more seconds, if any, will no doubt be attributed to the new 2nd presidency of Trump, who has made, during his previous 1st term, numerous regrettable and dangerously negatively threatening statements relative to nuclear war.
Learning how much time, if any, will come off the clock and the explanation for it will be very interesting . . . ~llaw
January 23, 2025
The Doomsday Clock Will Move Forward
So why is the grave threat of nuclear war virtually absent from our politics?
With Donald Trump’s inauguration, the lame-duck period has finally ended, but another unnerving countdown is upon us. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will update the Doomsday Clock—a metaphorical device to warn the public about our proximity to self-destruction, especially through the use of nuclear weapons—on January 28.
For the last couple of years, the hands of the clock have remained at 90 seconds to midnight, its most perilous position since its creation in 1947. The Bulletin has cited the emergence of artificial intelligence and bio-threats like bird flu as influencing its impending update. No doubt it has also taken note of an emboldened and expansionist Donald Trump, who is already threatening to invade Mexico, annex Canada, and seize the Panama Canal.
Though Trump’s surreal efforts to reignite American imperialism are rightfully making headlines, the grave threat of nuclear weapons is virtually absent from political attention. Might Trump’s parade of underqualified national security cabinet nominees bring renewed scrutiny to these threats? So, too, will an almost certain advancement of the Doomsday Clock. The challenge for the media and political movements and electeds will be to sustain that attention—and turn it into action.
Thirty years ago, the United States was dismantling warheads at a historic pace. But in 2002, John Bolton—then the undersecretary of state for arms control—persuaded George W. Bush to withdraw from the cornerstone of anti-nuclear scaffolding, the decades-long Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia. Absent bilateral guarantees and incentives to the contrary, Russia has increasingly incorporated nuclear weapons into its military planning. That normalization culminated last year, when Vladimir Putin authorized using tactical nukes in response to nonnuclear attacks, perhaps the most hazardous military doctrine since the Cold War’s mutually assured destruction.
Unsurprisingly, the incoming administration has divulged no intentions for a detente. The New START Treaty, a continuation of a nuclear reduction strategy begun under Ronald Reagan, will expire next year, and it’s uncertain whether President “Fire and Fury” has any intention of renewing it. (The first Trump administration had the opportunity to renew the treaty in 2020, but reached a stalemate and left the Biden administration to extend it in 2021.)
Trump has also hinted at withdrawing from the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, just in case upending the Iran nuclear deal, suspending the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and abandoning the Open Skies Treaty during his first term weren’t disastrous enough. Combined with the fog of war continuing to billow from Ukraine, just one more ill-timed provocation—or miscommunication—could very well lead to a nuclear exchange.
Current Issue
Given the executive branch’s belligerence, the responsibility of raising this issue falls to an engaged media. Whether the corporate media understands the weight of that responsibility, however, remains totally unclear. Neither presidential debate featured a single question about nuclear weapons. Still, some publications have become more active in their coverage. The New York Times, for example, recently dedicated a 14-piece series to “the threat of nuclear weapons.” This examination may have been partly inspired by the recent surge of pop-culture interest in the atomic question, from the 2023 blockbuster film Oppenheimer to Annie Jacobsen’s 2024 bestseller, Nuclear War: A Scenario.
As public consciousness around this threat continues to swell, voters will inevitably begin to ask: What is the Democratic Party’s position on all of this? The 2024 Democratic National Convention didn’t provide solace or answers, with presidential nominee Kamala Harris pledging to make America’s military “the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world.” Other than a sculpture of a mushroom cloud at an off-site art installation, the convention—and the resulting party platform—offered few specifics about nuclear policy.
In contrast, a handful of Democratic politicians have used their bully pulpits for peace. Earlier this week, Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) and Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA) urged imposing guardrails on the executive authority to launch a nuclear strike, deeming it “terrifying, dangerous, and unconstitutional.” Markey, alongside the cochairs of the Congressional Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, has also cautioned against overspending on nuclear modernization. A small group of representatives that includes Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rules Committee chairman James McGovern (D-MA) has gone further, calling on the US to join an international agreement to prohibit nuclear weapons altogether.
As we wait for more politicians and journalists to treat the prospect of nuclear annihilation with, well, gravity, this country’s most reliable driver of progress is already organizing: the American people. To name one effort, Back from the Brink is a national coalition of almost 500 organizations aiming to make nuclear weapons “a local issue.” In 2021, it convinced 300 state and local officials to write to President Biden urging action toward nuclear disarmament. Despite receiving too little attention, it inspired further engagement, like high schoolers successfully lobbying the mayor of Burbank to call for abolishing nuclear weapons.
Amid this activism, US nuclear bunker sales are also on the rise. That money and energy would be better invested in preventing the need for such a shelter in the first place. But this trend nonetheless reflects prevailing concerns. Pundits and candidates alike are fond of asking: “Should this person have the nuclear codes?” But that misses the more fundamental question: Should anyone have any nuclear codes at all? The longer we take to answer this quandary—or even begin to debate it—the closer the Doomsday Clock ticks to midnight.
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Katrina vanden Heuvel is editorial director and publisher of The Nation, America’s leading source of progressive politics and culture. She served as editor of the magazine from 1995 to 2019.
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Founded by abolitionists in 1865, The Nation has long believed that independent journalism has the capacity to bring about a more democratic and equitable world.
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO LLAW’a ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
(Please note that the Sunday and Saturday NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS are also added below by category, following Monday’s news posts in order to maintain continuity of nuclear news as well as for research for the overall information provided in “LLAW;s 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 Threats
Nuclear War
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are no 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.
TODAY’s NUCLEAR WORLD’s NEWS, Friday, (01/24/2025)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
Advancing Tomorrow's Cancer Medicines
Journal of Nuclear Medicine - SNMMI Journals
Jacob Van Naarden Talks with Ken Herrmann and Johannes Czernin About Corporate Approaches to New Therapeutics Development. Jacob S. Van Naarden, Ken ...
Minnesota lawmakers take a fresh run at lifting the ban on new nuclear plants - Star Tribune
Star Tribune
Republicans say it's a priority in an era of growing energy demand. Democrats say the legacy of Prairie Island makes them reluctant.
Electricity Generated From Nuclear Energy Is Set To Reach A Record High In 2025: Fatih Birol, IEA
YouTube
The scope and timeline of Russia sanctions will need close monitoring, says Fatih Birol, Executive Director IEA. Tells Shereen Bhan that 2025 is ...
Nuclear Power
NEWS
Nuclear Energy in the Clean Energy Transition | IAEA
International Atomic Energy Agency
Nuclear energy is still providing the world with a quarter of its low-carbon power and supporting the roll out of intermittent renewables like solar ...
Renewables to dominate future EU energy supply despite nuclear buzz - German engineers
Clean Energy Wire
Clean Energy Wire. The Association of German Engineers (VDI) has cautioned that new-found enthusiasm for nuclear power, as ...
Changing The Landscape For New Nuclear Power - Hoover Institution
Hoover Institution
Today's message from the nuclear energy community is clear: Unexpected new energy demands, and the unconventional business models that ...
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
Trump says he will approve power plants for AI through emergency declaration - NBC10 Philadelphia
NBC10 Philadelphia
Trump said the plants can use whatever fuel they want, including coal as a backup.
Trump plans to use emergency powers to fast-track generation co-located with AI
Utility Dive
President Donald Trump's comments on building power plants for data centers appears to align with the views of FERC Chairman Mark Christie, ...
Human Reliability Analysis in High-Stakes Environments | Nature Research Intelligence
Nature
Learn how Nature Research Intelligence gives you complete, forward-looking and trustworthy research insights to guide your research strategy.
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
The Doomsday Clock Will Move Forward | The Nation
The Nation
The Doomsday Clock Will Move Forward. So why is the grave threat of nuclear war virtually absent from our politics? Katrina vanden Heuvel. Share.
Trump says he's ready to meet Putin 'immediately' to secure end of Ukraine war | Reuters
Reuters
Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons in his war against Ukraine. ... 'Canada is not for sale' hat goes viral after Trump threats. 11 hours ...
Trump Says He Will Reach Out to North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un - The New York Times
The New York Times
Kim's growing nuclear threat. “He ... During his first term, Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim first exchanged personal insults and threats of nuclear war.
Nuclear War
NEWS
Risk of clash between nuclear powers is growing, Russian security official says | Reuters
Reuters
NATO says it is Russia that is raising tensions, including by announcing in 2023 that it was deploying tactical nuclear weapons in its ally Belarus, ...
The Doomsday Clock Will Move Forward | The Nation
The Nation
Though Trump's surreal efforts to reignite American imperialism are rightfully making headlines, the grave threat of nuclear weapons is virtually ...
South Korea Doesn't Want North Korea Labeled as a Nuclear Power. It's Causing Friction ...
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The opposition to legitimating Pyongyang's nuclear status is understandable, but it also has hamstrung policy.
IAEA Weekly News
24 January 2025
Read the top news and updates published on IAEA.org this week.
24 January 2025
IAEA Work Central at World Economic Forum in Davos
The work of the IAEA was “at the centre” of debates at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos this week, as the Director General joined global leaders to discuss pressing challenges. Read more →
23 January 2025
Update 271 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team based at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has heard frequent explosions from outside the site over the past week, further underlining persistent dangers to nuclear safety and security during the military conflict, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today. Read more →
22 January 2025
A Day at the Nuclear Security Training and Demonstration Centre
The IAEA's training centre is dedicated to helping countries strengthen their nuclear security regimes, and offers practical hands-on training in areas ranging from the physical protection of nuclear facilities and materials to nuclear forensics and computer security. Read more →
21 January 2025
Call for Applications: 2025 IAEA Lise Meitner Programme
The latest application of the IAEA’s Lise Meitner Programme is now officially open, offering career development and networking opportunities for women professionals in the nuclear field. Read more →
20 January 2025
IAEA Profile: Balancing Numbers and Dreams – A Career in Finance and Accounting
Hailing from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Carmen Kibonge has taken a path shaped by a passion for numbers, a supportive family and a commitment to make a difference, which eventually led her to the IAEA. Read more →