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Part 1 of 2 Parts
Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, has repeatedly threatened other nations with the possible use of nuclear weapons. His nuclear bombers have repeatedly flown into the airspace of other nations with no warning or apology. His nuclear submarines and surface ships have entered the territorial waters of other nations without warnings or apologies. He has bragged about new horrific nuclear weapons under development in Russia such as the Poseidon stealth torpedo. He claims that it will be able to travel underwater undetected for many miles to enter the harbor of an enemy nation. Its detonation would obliterate the city around the harbor and cause a huge tidal wave that would travel inland for miles destroying everything in its path. Another Russian project is a nuclear cruise missile that could fly under radar for years without refueling. It would not need to detonate to cause harm because it would spew an exhaust filled with radioactive materials across the landscape of an enemy.
Back in February of this year, Russia invaded Ukraine. Many times, during the ensuing conflict, Russia has claimed that explosions that devastated civilian targets and killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians were actually caused by the Ukrainian army to make Russia look like a villain. Attributing such attacks to other parties is known false flag operations.
Five years ago, I wrote up a list of forty reasons not to use nuclear power. The last items on the list had to do with military issues. (1) Nuclear power plants produce plutonium which can be used to make nuclear weapons. (2) Nuclear power plants are great targets for terrorists. (3) Radioactive materials such as spent nuclear fuel can be used to construct "dirty bombs" by packing such materials around a core of conventional explosives. (4) In time of war, nuclear power stations make great targets. Destroying them would both deprive an enemy of power and spread radioactive materials over a wide area, threatening the lives of millions of people. They would also be great targets to hold hostage and they might accidental be hit during bombardment.
At the time I wrote this list, such military issues were hypotheticals. Now, however, the Russian occupation of Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants during their invasion of Ukraine has made such problems much more likely.
There has been great international concern that explosions and fires at Zaporizhzhia might lead to a nuclear disaster. The Ukrainians blame the Russians, and the Russians blame the Ukrainians.
Putin has been threatening NATO countries that are supporting the Ukrainians with nuclear retaliation since the invasion. He recently said that if there was a nuclear incident at Zaporizhzhia, he would consider utilizing tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield. His pretext would be that the nuclear incident would threaten Russia and justify the use of nuclear weapons.
Putin has threatened for years to use tactical nuclear weapons in eastern Europe if he is losing a ground war with conventional weapons against NATO. He has repeatedly said that NATO has been helping Ukrainian fight Russia and that makes them part of the fight.
Please read Part 2 next