Cyber fears mount amid prospect of Russian invasion of Ukraine

As reported by Cybersecurity 202 at the Washington Post.

Ukraine has a couple dozen operating atomic reactors, including a number not far from the Ukraine-Russia border, where the two countries, or their proxies, have already been warring for 8 years.

Ukraine also has closed reactors, such as the four units at Chernobyl. But even there, highly radioactive wastes in storage must be managed safely and securely at all times, less a catastrophe unfold.

Direct cyber attacks on nuclear power plant sites could certainly increase safety, health, and environmental risks significantly, perhaps even catastrophically. But so could indirect cyber attacks, such as on the electricity grid, which is the primary source of electricity for cooling and safety at atomic reactors, irradiated nuclear fuel storage pools, etc.

Russia did cyber attack Ukraine's electricity grid in 2015, the largest such cyber attack in history. Also, armed separatists allied with Russia closely approached a Ukrainian nuclear power plant during the early fighting in the war that began in 2014.

On a related note, the Ukrainian military is reportedly bolstering defenses in its radioactively contaminated Chernobyl region, for fear Russian troops will invade the country across its border with Belarus, whose dictator, Lukashenko, is allied with Russia's Putin.

CYBER HACKS: Risks to reactors, radioactive waste

The ransomware attack on a fossil fuel pipeline, reportedly by an Eastern European-based, non-state criminal gang, has revealed the vulnerability of our energy sector. Since 1980, Bennett Ramburg has warned about domestic nuclear plants being potential weapons for an enemy. Cyber warfare could target the electric grid, which serves as primary source of power to run safety and cooling systems in both atomic reactors, and storage pools for highly radioactive irradiated nuclear fuel.

An NRC report has revealed how catastrophic a reactor meltdown could be, in terms of deaths, injuries, and property damage. Pool fires could be even worse. Nuclear power is a potentially catastrophic security risk. It should be phased out ASAP, and replaced with secure renewables.

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Chinese hackers compromise dozens of government agencies, defense contractors

As reported by the Washington Post.

This begs the question: are U.S. atomic reactors, radioactive waste storage facilities, and even nuclear weapons complex sites, secure against cyber attack?!

Man Who Predicted the Worst Nuclear Disaster Since Chernobyl Sees Another Coming

Nuclear disaster again? As reported by The Daily Beast.

As New Report Warns of Rising Threat of Domestic Terrorism, What About the Nuclear Risks?

As reported by the New York Times: President Biden requested the intelligence community complete the assessment shortly after taking office, and his administration has made fighting domestic terrorism a priority.

University of Chicago Professor Kathleen Belew has warned, on C-SPAN's "Q&A," that far right, white supremacist extremists and Neo-Nazis have threatened in the recent past to attack nuclear power plants in order to unleash catastrophic mass casualty events. See the C-SPAN "Q&A" interview with Belew, here.

Belew is referring to the domestic terrorist group, Atomwaffen Division. Atomwaffen means nuclear weapons in German. See the PBS Frontline special "Documenting Hate: New American Nazis," that aired on Nov. 20, 2018. It documents an apparently disrupted Atomwaffen Division plot to attack the Turkey Point nuclear power plant in southern Florida.