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The planet moved significantly closer to a catastrophic event this week as Donald Trump assumed the U.S. presidency, according to a new report. The planet's Doomsday Clock is now two-and-a-half minutes to midnight, which represents a global catastrophe. It's the closest the measure has been to midnight since the successful testing of hydrogen bombs in 1953. The new position represents a 30-second lurch forward from the previous position. A group of nuclear scientists affiliated with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists determine when to move the clock in response to a number of threats from nuclear security to climate change.

Russia’s deadliest new nuclear weapon currently under development, the new super-heavy thermonuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) RS-28 Sarmat may be in trouble, the Russian Nuclear Forces Project (RNFP) reports. One sign: repeated delays in the missile’s first ejection test, which tests the mechanism of a missile leaving its launch container, according to a January 19 blog post on the RNFP website.“The first sign was the delay with be first ejection tests–they were moved from 2015 to the end of 2016 and now to 2017 (for all we know, this may be the end of 2017). The delay was sort of...

In his Jan. 11 remarks on nuclear weapons policy, the outgoing Vice President Joe Biden praised former President Barack Obama’s nuclear weapons policy. In reality, there are very few grounds for congratulations when it comes to Obama’s legacy. Take, for example, the Iran deal. Biden argued that the administration got the deal through a combination of international sanctions and hard-nosed diplomacy. In reality, the deal was sold to the American public by concealing the full extent of concessions the administration had to make to get the Iranians to agree to it. The deal does not prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear...

January 15, 2017. 70 Nations are gathering in France to discuss a "Final Solution" for the Israel-Palestinian conflict. And we can promise you, it is not favorable to the Israeli people. Remember, Hitler also proposed a "Final Solution." 'Nuff said. John looks at this issue, along with an analysis of an Iranian-Israeli nuclear conflict, plus another tortorous glimpse into the continuing absurdity of our nation's leaders who are dead set on inflicting as much damage as possible on God's chosen nation. January 20th cannot come soon enough for those who love Israel and her people.

While there had been rumors swirling for a while, I was still highly disappointed when I saw a tweet coming from the office of New York’s Governor this morning proclaiming his “victory” in moving to close the Indian Point nuclear power plant.

Pakistan on Monday successfully test-fired its first Submarine-Launched Cruise Missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead up to 450km from an undisclosed location in the Indian Ocean, giving the country a "credible" second-strike capability, the military said. The missile, Babur-3, was fired from an underwater, mobile platform and hit its target with precise accuracy, the Inter Services Public Relations, the media wing of the Pakistani military said in a statement. Babur-3, which has a range of 450km, is a sea-based variant of Ground Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM) Babur-2+ , which was successfully tested earlier in December, last year. The Babur-3...

There are some things that should stop everyone in their tracks. At the top of that list should be an apparent lack of risk awareness concerning nuclear weapons. This line from Patrick Tucker’s article in last month’s The Atlantic stopped me cold; Future nuclear missiles may be siloed but, unlike their predecessors, they’ll exhibit “some level of connectivity to the rest of the warfighting system,” according to Werner J.A. Dahm, the chair of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. That opens up new potential for nuclear mishaps that, until now, have never been a part of Pentagon planning. In 2017,...

Yesterday North Korea made the claim they were close to development of an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM). As you look at the tweet reply from Donald Trump about this claim, it’s worth remembering two very important details: 1.This issue came up in one of the February 2016 GOP debates. 2.The sequencing of the two tweets below.

Toshiba Corp. shares plunged by the most on record as the once-heralded U.S. nuclear renaissance turns into a nightmare for the Japanese company. The shares fell by 20 percent, the most since 1974, according to available data, to close at 312 yen in Tokyo following a 12 percent drop Tuesday. Toshiba said it may have to write down billions related to an acquisition made by U.S. unit Westinghouse Electric that was geared toward completing the newest generation of reactors at two U.S. facilities. The projects, overseen by utilities Southern Co. and Scana Corp., are years behind schedule and billions of...

The discovery of widespread carbon segregation problems in critical nuclear plant components has crippled the French power industry—20 of the country’s 58 reactors are currently offline and under heavy scrutiny. France’s nuclear safety chairman said more anomalies “will likely be found,” as the extent of the contagion is still being uncovered.EDF’s nuclear power plants (NPPs) provide up to 75% of France’s power needs... Despite the COP21 carbon emissions agreement, which recently went into force, France is now burning coal at its highest levels in 32 years.

During a press conference last month with German leader Angela Merkel in Berlin, President Barack Obama provided us with a "Jesse Jackson moment." For those who have forgotten, in 1998, as the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal reared its ugly head, Reverend Jesse Jackson offered President Bill Clinton his services as a spiritual advisor. It would turn out the offer represented the height of hypocrisy by the right good -- and married -- reverend. It was later learned, Jackson provided his services while quietly living under the cloud of having fathered an illegitimate child months earlier. Apparently the lure of moving...

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is concerned over a missing radioactive device from Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactor, Saudi-owned Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported on Thursday. Aside from the security concerns, at the forefront in the GCC’s mind is what impact the radioactive device—wherever it may be today—could have on water supplies. According to the newspaper, the device went missing after the car transporting it was stolen. Thankfully, the vehicle was recovered, but the radioactive nuclear device was not so lucky. The GCC has contacted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over the incident—both organizations are concerned that Iran’s nuclear program...

It is only a matter of time before Pakistan can launch short-range missiles to counter conventional attacksNew Delhi - A study of Google satellite images and information from other intelligence sources by US nuclear scientists Hans Kristensen and Robert Norris released earlier this week contains startling revelations: contrary to the conditions laid down by the US when it sold Pakistan F-16 fighters, the US jets, along with the Pak air force's French Mirages, are now nuclear-enabled.Speaking exclusively to DNA, Hans Kristensen, co-author of the 'Nuclear Notebook on Pakistani Nuclear Forces' released November 16 acknowledged that despite the study, US strategic...

… Yukiya Amano of the International Atomic Energy Agency referred to last week’s IAEA finding that Iran overstepped limits on the amount of heavy water it is allowed to possess for the second time since the agreement’s implementation in January. Heavy water is a concern because it is used to cool reactors that can produce substantial amounts of plutonium. That, in turn, can be applied to making the fissile core of nuclear warheads. …

They’re prepping the congressional battlefield for the two toughest fights the Dems will have in 2017: the repeal of Obamacare and the confirmation of Trump’s nomination of a conservative to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. Those are the two most important campaign promises Trump made that have to be accomplished in the coming year if they’re going to be accomplished at all. The Dems will mount their first round filibusters when the confirmation process begins. They will filibuster some of the cabinet and subcabinet folks as a warm-up so that they and their media allies can...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday warned about Iran’s drive to carry out terror attacks. His comments were made during a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem. “We would like to take advantage of the great opportunities of the new world, but there are those who would like to take us backward to the old world of the dark and murderous Middle Ages, and we are partners in the war on radical Islamic terror,” said Netanyahu. […] “We are determined to do two things: First, prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapons and...

France has a deep and abiding relationship with nuclear technology. French policy-makers have based France’s energy and military independence around nuclear programs. However, as the French government attempts to justify its budget policies in the lead-up to the presidential election in April 2017, calls for a public debate on the cost of military nuclear deterrence are increasing. This debate encompasses three main questions. Should France still base its global defence strategy on nuclear deterrence? If yes, how should nuclear deterrence be conducted? Finally, how should the state efficiently budget for this strategic investment? Questions about the future of the nuclear...

“Get ready for war with Russia” if Hillary Clinton is elected president, said progressive Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein. “This election, we are not only deciding what kind of world we will have, but whether we will have a world or not going forward,” Stein warned, explaining that Clinton’s trigger-happy militarism “is a mushroom cloud waiting to happen.” While Stein adamantly opposes a Trump presidency, she explained that the dangers posed by a Clinton presidency are “arguably even more immediate and intense.” Stein blasted Clinton’s “warmongering” that “almost single-handedly” brought us the turmoil in Libya and could lead us...

WTH..?!?! Don't know what it means really, only that the political desperation factor is ratcheting up. I hope his tweet has nothing to do with nuclear weapons.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Tuesday it was “probably a lost cause” trying to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons capability. But a State Department spokesman said that was not the Obama administration’s position — denuclearization of the peninsula remains the goal. “I think the notion of getting the North Koreans to denuclearize is probably a lost cause,” Clapper said at an event at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. “They are not going to do that. That is their ticket to survival.” Clapper said from Pyongyang’s perspective, “they are under siege and they...