Free Republic

More than a dozen explosions rattled Europe's largest nuclear power plant over the weekend, as renewed shelling around the Ukrainian facility rekindled fears of a possible accident — or even a deliberate strike — that could cause a catastrophic release of radiation. The shelling around Ukraine's sprawling, Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant came as the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), warned in a "60 Minutes" interview that "urgent action" was needed to ease the "unprecedented" security threat posed by fighting around the facility. In an exclusive interview, one of the workers held...

Two U.S. officials confirmed to CBS News on Wednesday that senior Russian military officials discussed in mid-October how and when they might use nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine. The intelligence concerned U.S. officials because the relevant discussions came not long after Putin, seeing Ukrainian forces claw territory back from his troops, hinted that he could resort to nuclear weapons. The discussions among Russian officials, first reported by the New York Times, were not detailed by the U.S. officials who confirmed the intelligence to CBS News. In a statement shared with CBS News, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby...