NUKE ALERT Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant ‘DISCONNECTED from power grid’ as Russian troops mass amid Ukraine disaster fears

 / – August 25, 2022

EUROPE’S biggest nuclear power plant was disconnected from the power grid for the first time ever amid fears of a Chernobyl-style disaster, Ukraine’s state energy firm said.

Nuclear agency Energoatom said fire damage to overhead power lines caused the last two reactors at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) to be cut off.

An energy official who declined to be identified told Reuters that the two reactors that had been disconnected were being powered by diesel generators.

Each power unit that includes a reactor, a cooling system and other equipment has three Soviet-era diesel generators that “are not able to work for weeks”, the source said.

It comes amid looming fears the site could be the scene of a devastating nuclear disaster as both Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of putting the plant at risk.

Satellite images show Putin’s forces massing at the site amid growing calls for Zaporizhzhia to become a demilitarised zone.

Ukraine has accused Russia of torturing Ukrainian nuclear workers at the plant, further compromising safety at the plant.

Energoatom said the plant has now been disconnected from the network for the “first time in its history” after a fire at ash pits close to the facility damaged incoming power lines.

It is also reported communication channels around the plant have gone dark – with NetBlocks reporting a massive dip in the region.

Bringing the plant totally offline could potentially compromise safety systems and lead to disaster – with the two reactors currently being powered by backup diesel generators, officials told Reuters.

https://www.the-sun.com

END OF DAYS Scientists reveal the best places to survive a nuclear apocalypse amid fears FIVE BILLION would die

– August 16, 2022

MORE than five billion people would die following a nuclear war between the US and Russia in a battle for food, a study claims.

Scientists believe the fallout from a mega nuke apocalypse would have a disastrous impact on food production – wiping out whole populations from starvation.

Boffins at Rutgers University have completed details analysis of the impact of a nuclear winter – and the results are chilling.

They believe the catastrophic repercussion of a nuke battle would see more than five billion people starve to death globally in the years after, on top of the vast numbers killed in the war.

Countries including the UK, US, Germany, France and China would see sheer devastation, with almost everyone dead by the second year, according to the study.

On the flip side, countries such as Argentina and Australia would thrive in comparison, with zero deaths despite the assumption all livestock would be dead and there would be no trade with other nations.

Professor Alan Robuck, of Rutgers University in New Jersey, said: “Everybody understands that the direct effects of nuclear war would be horrific, as we saw in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

“Our work shows that more than ten times as many people could die in the rest of the world because of the impacts on climate and agriculture.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk

Russia-Ukraine updates: Moscow rejects demand to hand over Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

DW – August 12, 2022

Leading Russian politicians are rejecting the G7’s demand that Moscow hand control of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which has been occupied by Russian troops since March, back to Ukraine.

“No and no again,” Konstantin Kosachev, deputy speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, answered when asked about the possible handover, according to the Russian Interfax news agency. To ensure the safety of the nuclear power plant, he said, complete control over the facility is necessary.

Kosachev’s sentiment was echoed by the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the State Duma, Leonid Slutsky, who accused Ukraine of “nuclear terrorism.”

“And all the statements of support by the G7 foreign ministers are nothing but sponsorship of nuclear terrorism,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.

Ukraine has accused Russia of firing at Ukrainian towns from the site in the knowledge that Ukrainian forces could not risk returning fire. It says Moscow has shelled the area itself while blaming Ukraine. Russia says it is Ukraine that has shelled the plant. The security situation around the facility, which has been occupied by Russian troops since March, has deteriorated in recent days, with fresh shelling reported at the site on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the German government has expressed concern about the ongoing fighting in the area around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.

Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Berlin had “no findings of its own” that could confirm any of the conflicting accounts coming from Kyiv or Moscow, but Berlin was calling “on all sides to stop this highly dangerous shelling.”

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, also supported call for demilitarisation of the area starting with full withdrawal of Russian forces, and urged IAEA to visit. “Zaporizhzhia facility must not be used as part of any military operation,” he wrote on Twitter.

https://www.dw.com

Gaza Area Violence Escalates as Israel Strikes Terrorist Targets

Julie Stahl – August 5, 2022

After days of being on heightened alert, Israel struck targets in the Gaza Strip saying it had eliminated a number of Islamic Jihad terrorists.

Dubbed “Operation Breaking Dawn,” it began with Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip killing a top Palestinian Islamic Jihad northern brigade commander named Tayseer Jabari.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz issued a joint statement saying that the operation was “aimed at removing a concrete threat to the citizens of the State of Israel and surrounding Gaza and harming terrorists and their emissaries.”

The IDF issued a statement saying that Jabari was “entrusted” with making decisions in the PIJ and had carried out anti-tank missile attacks against soldiers and civilians recently.

The IDF also said it had targeted about 10 PIJ operatives, including a terror squad on its way to carry out an anti-tank missile and sniper attack. The IDF also targeted “military bases and buildings” it said were used by “terrorist operatives.”

In an off-the-record briefing, an IDF spokesperson told journalists that Israel had acted against an “imminent threat” that “was very viral against our forces.”

Within two hours, Hamas confirmed eight dead and 43 wounded. Hamas issued a statement saying, “the resistance will defend our people” and “the resistance is united and will say its word in full force.”

And on Hezbollah’s al-Mayadeen network, a Jihad terrorist leader Al Nakhleh vowed to target Tel Aviv with missiles.

Reports said all Palestinian terrorist factions were mobilizing to fire rockets into Israeli territories.

https://www1.cbn.com

Clear signal to NATO: First Baltic Sea voyage for Russia’s most modern and dangerous Yasen-class submarine taking place right now!

Strange Sounds – July 22, 2022

The “Severodvinsk” sailed Danish waters Tuesday morning en route from the Kola Peninsula to St. Petersburg where the submarine will be on display at the Naval Parade.

With the “Severodvinsk”, the Kremlin has moved one of its most modern and dangerous submarines to the Baltic Sea. The 140 meter long ship belongs to the Russian Northern Fleet and has the most modern armament, including cruise missiles of the Kalibr type.

Moreover, in October 2021, the Yasen-class submarine has successfully test-fired a Tsirkon-type hypersonic missile for the first time in the Barents Sea.

It is currently unclear whether the sub is armed with the Tsirkon as it now sails into the Baltic Sea, the first-time voyage in the area for Russia’s 4th generation multi-purpose nuclear-powered submarines of the Yasen class.

The passage of the “Severodvinsk” through the Fehmarnbelt has been confirmed by the Danish Navy. It is escorted by two other vessels: the navy’s tug “Pamir” and landing ship “Ivan Gren.”

Apparently, it is supposed to take part in the “Day of the Navy” in St. Petersburg at the end of the month. As the”Kiel News”write, (trx).

Spokesperson of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, Major Elisabeth Eikeland, did not comment on whether the submarine sailed submerged or surfaced along the coast of Norway. According to TASS it is the Russian submarine is moving in its surface position.

https://strangesounds.org

Khamenei adviser says Tehran ‘capable of building nuclear bomb’

JERUSALEM POST STAFF – July 17, 2022

Tehran is technically capable of making a nuclear bomb but has yet to decide whether to build it, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei told Al Jazeera’s Arabic service on Sunday.

Tehran will also directly respond against Israel should its security be targeted, the report says citing the advisor.

“In a few days we were able to enrich uranium up to 60% and we can easily produce 90% enriched uranium … Iran has the technical means to produce a nuclear bomb but there has been no decision by Iran to build one,” Kamal Kharrazi said.

Background
In 2018, former US President Donald Trump ditched Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, under which Iran curbed its uranium enrichment work, a potential pathway to nuclear weapons, in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

About a year into Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy on Iran, Tehran started violating the pact’s nuclear restrictions.

Iran has long denied seeking nuclear weapons, saying it is refining uranium only for civilian energy uses, and has said its breaches of the international deal are reversible if the United States lifts sanctions and rejoins the agreement.

Indirect talks between Iran and President Joe Biden’s administration, which aim to bring both Washington and Tehran back into compliance with the nuclear pact, have stalled since March.

Kharrazi said Tehran would never negotiate over its missile program and regional policy, as demanded by the West and its allies in the Middle East.

https://www.jpost.com

NYC Mayor Warns Residents To Be Ready For A Nuclear Attack

– July 15, 2022

Do the rulers know something we don’t, or is this just another distraction and attempt to panic the masses? “There are no imminent threats to the city that we know about, but we always have to be prepared as New Yorkers,” he said.

What is also strange is the language used to discourage any questions:

In the new clip released Monday, the city’s Office of Emergency Management tells New Yorkers: “So there’s been a nuclear attack. Don’t ask me how or why. Just know that the big one has hit. OK. So what do we do?” –The Daily Mail

“I’m a big believer in better safe than sorry,” he stated before the press. Because Putin invaded Ukraine, Adams went on to say, preparing for nuclear war in NYC is just “taking necessary steps.” These nuclear preparedness PSAs put out by the rulers in New York seem to be following a Russian warning from May of 2022. Russian state media issued a chilling new nuclear threat to the US, boasting that Putin could wipe out the entire East and West Coasts with just four missiles.

In response, US state media has resorted to ratcheting up the fear or using predictive programming because they know it’ll happen. Either way, it is best to use discernment, and critical thinking, and be prepared, especially if you live in areas being warned of nuclear attacks.

The Russian warning stated: “Four missiles, and there will be nothing left. They think the mushroom cloud will be taller than a high rise. That mushroom cloud will be visible from Mexico. Don’t delude yourselves. What should be said is that there’ll be nothing left, no one harbors any illusions about it, that everyone will be fine in case of nuclear war. No one will be fine, but calculate it correctly,” Alexei Zhuravlev, a member of Putin’s parliament said.

https://www.shtfplan.com

Hizballah drones were the opening shot of a maritime energy war vs Israel

– July 7, 2022

The IDF’s revelation on Wednesday, July 6, of a fourth Hizballah drone that was intercepted heading for Israel’s Karish gas rig, confirmed an assessment that the Lebanese terrorist organization was bent on starting a war, initially over this offshore gas platform. This hitherto undisclosed drone was intercepted three days before the three that were shot down on July 2 by Barak missiles. This one was downed by advance electronic warfare measures after being identified at a distance from Israel’s maritime economic zone, while still over Lebanese waters. No reason for the disclosure of this fourth drone at this time was offered by the military.

DEBKAfile’s Mid-East sources have concluded that Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Iran’s terrorist proxy Hizballah, has decided to go to war against Israel over its newest gas rig. In his words, “Lebanon’s oil and gas resources must be freed from Israeli control, just as the south was freed [in 2000] and Israel’s ‘security zone’ dismantled by force of arms.”

The drone tactic is the opening shot, say our sources, for three objectives:

  1. To scare the staff employed on Israel’s offshore gas and oil rigs in the eastern Mediterranean into fleeing for fear of their lives.
  2. Nasrallah included Greece’s maritime energy projects in his declaration of war.
  3. As a strong message that the management of gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean had passed from the Lebanese government to Hizballah control. The intention was to nullify the Lebanese prime minister’s condemnation of the drones as “unacceptable” and as jeopardizing ongoing US-brokered negotiations on the drawing of a maritime border between Lebanese and Israeli economic zones.

The interception of the three Hizballah unarmed UAVs was presented by the Israeli military as an important feat, although the Barak missiles were highly expensive compared with the cheap drones. However, Hizballah, did not care about recovering the drones but aimed at this stage for a psychological advantage. This was meant as a declaration that a new page had been opened in its contest against Israel over the oil and gas fields of the Mediterranean.

https://www.debka.com

How Israel foiled attempts to poison its water supply, disrupt US power plants

– June 29, 2022

The deputy commander of the IDF’s signal intelligence, or “SIGINT” unit, also known as Unit 8200, spoke at the Cyber Week Conference hosted by Tel Aviv University this week.

The address marked the first time an officer from the unit has made a public appearance, though military censors barred publication of the officer’s full name, referring to him only by his first name, Uri.

Uri described Unit 8200’s cyber defense operations, citing two recent examples, including a foiled attempt – widely attributed to Iran – to gain control of Israel’s water distribution system and poison the water supply, as well as a planned attack on American power plants.

“Once we obtain superiority over the attacker, we then act to deny their capabilities,” said Uri. “By collaborating with industry or if necessary, we do it on our own – implementing our tools at some point along the attack stream. Be assured – 8200 won’t rest until the threat is removed.”

“When do we apply these methods? I’ll mention two examples from recent years. In the first case an adversary attacked water treatment facilities in Israel. We saw this careless attacker attempting to poison the water in order to claim human lives. We mitigated that threat far ahead.”

“Another adversary, from this region, attacked in Israel. We initialized a CCO, and found out they are also trying to attack power plants in the US. This was the first indication for that attack. It enabled preventing this threat through our tight collaboration with our US partners.”

https://www.israelnationalnews.com

Covert War Between Iran, Israel Emerges from the Shadows

Chris Mitchell – June 23, 2022

JERUSALEM, Israel – For years, what’s called a “war between wars” has existed between Israel and Iran, where much of the fighting takes place in the shadows. This shadow war is coming more and more out into the open.

Recently, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced new rules of engagement with Iran called “Operation Octopus.”

He said, “In the past year, the State of Israel has taken action against the head of the terrorist octopus … the days of immunity, in which Iran attacks Israel and spreads terrorism via its regional proxies but remains unscathed, are over.”

Middle East analyst Ellie Cohanim sees the region shifting.

“I think it’s well overdue for Israel and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the Bahrainis. All of these countries that have been the victims of the Iranian regime proxy activity start to hold Iran responsible rather than the proxies,” she told CBN News.

Some see a ratcheting up of Israel’s covert and even overt operations to thwart Iran’s nuclear, and conventional missile and drone programs. It could explain the mysterious deaths of a number of Iranian nuclear scientists and military leaders recently.

Another example is Israel’s recent attack on the Damascus airport, which Israel sees as a major conduit of Iranian weapons on their way to Hezbollah in Syria.

Now, Israel says Iran is threatening to retaliate by kidnapping or killing Israelis in the region and especially in Turkey.

“We are currently witnessing Iranian attempts to attack Israelis in various overseas locations. The security services of the State of Israel are working to thwart attempted attacks before they are launched. We will continue to strike those who send the terrorists and those who send those who send them. Our new rule is: whoever sends, pays,” said Bennett.

https://www1.cbn.com