Jeff Key
Fusion or Fission
Clean power of the future or another disaster waiting to happen?
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!
@realDonaldTrump Jan 2018
Two things are infinite. The universe and human stupidity……and I’m not so sure about the universe. —Albert Einstein
So far humans have not been able to harness atomic power safely and the question remains—can the atom save or doom us as a civilization?
a hiss from its core—seeking a purpose in life—we fall in its wake
From Unhinged, A Haiku Tsunami by Jeff Key
Nuclear Facts:
•On August 2 the US withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces agreement, citing long-running Russian violations.
• On August 8 an explosion occurred near the Arctic Circle in Russia at a naval weapons site during a test of nuclear-powered cruise missile. Five scientists died and radiation levels near the site rose 200 times normal.
•There are currently nine nuclear-weapon states in the world (United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel)
•These states possess a combined total of 14,000 nuclear warheads (90% belong to the US and Russia) (sources: US Dept of State, and Stockholm International Peace • In southern France, ITER (“The Way” in Latin), 35 nations are collaborating to build a magnetic fusion device that has been designed to prove the feasibility of fusion as a carbon-free source of energy based on the same principle that powers our Sun. (source: www.iter.org)
• The United States was the first country to develop nuclear weapons, detonating the first fission devices in 1945 in Hiroshima and Nagaski, Japan.
• As of 2018, the United States had an estimated 6,500 nuclear warheads, including retired (awaiting dismantlement), stored, and deployed weapons.
• The Soviet Union first developed nuclear capabilities in 1949. Russia’s modern day arsenal includes an estimated 7,000 warheads.
•The following countries also possess nuclear weapons:
France (~300 warheads), China (~260), the United Kingdom (~215),Pakistan (~130), and India (~120) also have nuclear weapons. Israel has not officially acknowledged its nuclear capabilities. Estimates of its arsenal have typically been around 80 warheads, although some estimates are significantly larger.
North Korea’s capabilities are largely unknown. It’s suspected it may have a limited arsenal of 5-10 weapons, but may have material to build twice that many.
(Source: Union of Concerned Scientists July, 2018)
