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The world’s nuclear threats and what the IAEA is doing about them
Note: This interview appeared as part of an episode of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, "Rogue states gone nuclear and the watchdog working to avert disaster" on January 16, 2023.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi witnessed first-hand how close we came to another Chernobyl disaster thanks to fighting near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer asks Grossi about the world's nuclear threats and what the IAEA is doing about them. Grossi views himself as a mediator — if leaders are willing to listen to him.
Grossi, known as the top nuclear watchdog, discusses the most urgent problems he is monitoring. Kim Jong-un called for a exponential increase in his country's arsenal. Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has turned his country into the world's most dangerous rogue state. His military also controls the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in Ukraine. Putin also has at his fingertips the largest nuclear arsenal on the planet, even a little larger than America's, nor has he been subtle about his willingness to use it. Meanwhile, Iran, Russia's most important military ally, has been steadily at work developing its own nuclear weapon capabilities.
Watch the GZERO World episode: Rogue states gone nuclear and the watchdog working to avert disaster
The nuclear fusion breakthrough, explained
Everyone is very excited these days about nuclear fusion. But what is it?
In very simple terms: a thermonuclear reaction that actually creates more energy than it requires, , Ian Bremmer explains on GZERO World.
That's what a bunch of US scientists pulled off a month ago. It lasted ... a few trillionths of a second.
Still, successful nuclear fusion one of the biggest biggest scientific breakthroughs of the century. And the race is on for America to build the first commercial fusion plant before China does.
Watch the GZERO World episode: Rogue states gone nuclear and the watchdog working to avert disaster
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North Korea on a nuclear rampage, says IAEA chief
North Korea was definitely the original gangster of nuclear proliferation. But now it freaks us out more about the size of its atomic arsenal than the fact it has nukes.
The North Koreans are not backing down, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
Grossi recently visited South Korea, where he discussed the North's plans to acquire more nuclear weapons. He says that although North Korea kicked out IAEA inspectors in 2009, he has a pretty good idea of what Pyongyang is up to.
The UN's nuclear watchdog, Grossi insists, is ready to do everything it can to prevent the problem from becoming bigger.
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How do we avert nuclear disaster in 2023?
Rafael Grossi has a very tough job as head of the UN's nuclear watchdog. But he's an optimist.
Still, the stakes are very high.
We've got North Korea building even more nukes. Russia turned into a rogue state that controls Europe's largest power plant in Ukraine, which is still at risk of an accident. And Iran getting closer to getting the bomb.
Last but not last, there's the global race to build smaller, faster tactical nukes.
Watch the GZERO World episode: Rogue states gone nuclear and the watchdog working to avert disaster
Iran getting the bomb? Not as close as you might think
The 2015 Iran nuclear deal is pretty much dead in the water right now. And perhaps the train has already left the station because Tehran is too close to enriching enough uranium to get the bomb.
So, is it too late?
“Having the nuclear material does not mean [that] automatically that you have a nuclear weapon,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World. Still, Grossi would like more cooperation from the Iranians.
The IEAE, he says, "wants to provide the diplomatic, technically neutral platform for a good understanding. I hope this message is heard in Tehran.”
Watch the GZERO World episode: Rogue states gone nuclear and the watchdog working to avert disaster
Rogue states gone nuclear and the watchdog working to avert disaster
What keeps the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog up at night? It's not only Vladimir Putin threatening to use a tactical nuke in Ukraine.
Weeks ago, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi witnessed first-hand how close we came to another Chernobyl disaster thanks to fighting near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. And then there's Iran, on the cusp of getting the bomb, and North Korea, a rogue state amassing an entire arsenal of nukes.
On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer asks Grossi about the world's nuclear threats and what the IAEA is doing about them. Grossi views himself as a mediator — if leaders are willing to listen to him.
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Podcast: Nobody wins in nuclear Armageddon: Rafael Grossi's plan to keep us safe in time of war
Listen: What keeps the world’s top nuclear watchdog up at night? It's not only Vladimir Putin threatening to use a tactical nuke in Ukraine. On the GZERO World podcast, Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, joins Ian Bremmer to discuss the most imminent nuclear threats. He discusses his recent trip to an embattled Ukrainian nuclear power plant, the path forward for Iran after a scuttled deal, and how to keep North Korea in check, a rogue state amassing an entire arsenal of nukes.
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Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant at risk of disaster, says top nuclear watchdog
Weeks ago, the head of the top global nuclear watchdog visited the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. He saw two big holes on the roof caused by high-caliber ammo that could have impacted the fuel.
On GZERO World, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi gives Ian Bremmer a first-hand account of the precarious situation there — and how close we came to "dramatic" consequences.
For Grossi, a major problem right now is that both the Russians and the Ukrainians consider the facility as part of the battlefield. He doesn't care who's doing the shelling now, whether it's Russians or Ukrainians, because his mission is to prevent disasters.
Although neither Moscow nor Kyiv have agreed to his safe zone, Grossi thinks he's getting through to Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.
They don't have to listen to each other, he clarifies, as long as they listen to him on protecting Zaporizhzhia.
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