HT @btschumy
And this is why we need to #RethinkNotRestart and #ShutDownAllNuclearPlants -- especially the aging ones! This article outlines a very possible #Doomsday scenario -- but it could be a number of things, including a large #SolarFlare...
2030 Doomsday Scenario: The Great #Nuclear Collapse
A timeline of the #EndGame for human civilization
"Humanity has constructed a doomsday Deadman switch that threatens civilization. Climate destruction will make it increasingly difficult to avoid the looming global nuclear catastrophe we've created.
"Here's how our future might unravel:
Late 2020s: Climate Red Alert and Infrastructure Strain
"By the late 2020s, Earth’s climate is in unprecedented turmoil. Global average temperatures are consistently 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Each year brings record-breaking heatwaves, “freak” floods, and droughts that batter infrastructure. Coastal cities flood more frequently, roads buckle in extreme heat, and power grids strain under surging demand for cooling.
"This cascade of climate disasters sets the stage for a systemic collapse: as societies grapple with runaway warming, the resilience of #Criticalnfrastructure (power, water, transit) erodes.
"Energy systems enter a crisis even before 2030. Nuclear power, which in 2025 still provided about 9% of the world’s electricity from ~440 reactors, becomes increasingly unreliable. Many nuclear plants struggle with climate stresses: cooling water sources heat up in summer, forcing reactors to reduce output or shut down to avoid unsafe temperatures. For example, a 2028 European #heatwave pushes river and sea temperatures above 25 °C, triggering emergency shutdowns at multiple reactors that cannot be cooled effectively.
"At the same time, stronger storms and floods threaten reactor safety. Dozens of reactors worldwide are unprepared for #ExtremeFlooding, meaning a dam failure or #StormSurge could lead to a Fukushima-scale accident. Worrisome reports emerge of power plants in #floodplains and #coasts where defenses are overtopped by #RisingSeas and torrential rains.
"By 2029, global carbon output remains high, and natural feedback loops are kicking in. In the Arctic, permafrost thaws and releases methane creating a vicious warming cycle where initial warming triggers more emissions, leading to even more warming. Scientists caution that a tipping point is near, beyond which climate change becomes self-perpetuating (a true “runaway” scenario).
"Society approaches 2030 in a precarious state: aware of looming catastrophe yet unprepared for its speed. The stage is set for the coming collapse, with power grids and nuclear facilities - the backbone of the industrial world - already under severe strain.
Early 2030s: Blackouts and the First Reactor Crises
"2030 marks the breaking point.
"A confluence of climate catastrophes collapses power grids across multiple continents. A severe global heatwave in the summer of 2030 brings record electricity demand while many power plants (nuclear and coal alike) are derated or offline due to overheating coolant water.
"Then powerful Category 5 storms strike in succession: one hurricane inundates the U.S. Eastern seaboard, while an unprecedented typhoon swamps Southeast Asia. These #disasters knock out transmission lines and flood key substations, leading to prolonged blackouts in dozens of major cities. Emergency systems are overwhelmed. With communications down and transportation paralyzed, manpower shortages become acute - many operators and engineers cannot reach their stations.
"Nuclear power plants are among the first to feel the emergency. Grid failure triggers automatic reactor SCRAMs (rapid shutdowns) at plants from Florida to France. Control rods halt the fission reactions, but decay heat in reactor cores still needs cooling for days to prevent meltdown.
"Normally, backup diesel generators would power the cooling pumps, but the scale of the #blackout means diesel resupply is uncertain and some generators fail in flooded facilities. In a grim reflection of 2011’s Fukushima disaster, several coastal reactors lose all power as storm surges drown their backup generators.
"Within hours to days, the first meltdowns occur.
"In 2031, a reactor in South Asia becomes a flashpoint: its cooling pumps falter after the grid collapse, leading the core to overheat. The reactor’s heart melts through containment in a matter of days, releasing a plume of radioactive steam and debris.
"Nearby, an even greater danger unfolds: the plant’s spent fuel pool, packed with years of highly radioactive spent rods, boils dry without cooling. Exposed to air, the zirconium cladding of the fuel ignites, triggering a fire that belches long-lived radioisotopes directly into the atmosphere. This nightmare scenario - once narrowly avoided at #Fukushima by heroic ad-hoc measures - now plays out in full."
Read more:
https://www.collapse2050.com/2030-doomsday-scenario-the-great-nuclear-collapse/