**Update**: My proof of Claim 1 below is incomplete. (Still trying to fill the gap.) A proof of the proposed result that is similar (if not identical) to [Peter Kropholler's](https://mathoverflow.net/a/430392/84349) can be derived from two *well-known* results, namely Lemma 2 and Theorem 3 below. We shall establish a statement which is actually equivalent to OP's result: > **Claim 1.** Let $R$ be a commutative unital ring. Let $\mathcal{I}$ be intersection of all ideals $I$ of $R$ such $R/I$ is local. If $R$ is a finitely generated $\mathbb{Z}$-algebra, then $\mathcal{I}$ is $\{0\}$. The main results we need are: > **Lemma 2.** [Lemma 4.8, 1]. A field which is finitely generated as a ring is finite. > **Theorem 3.** [Theorem 4.19 (Nullstellensatz, General form), 2]. Let $R$ be a [Jacobson ring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobson_ring) and let $S$ be a finitely generated $R$-algebra. Then $S$ is a Jacobson ring. As an intermediate step, we shall prove: > **Claim 4.** Let $R$ be a finitely generated $\mathbb{Z}$-algebra. If $R$ is local, then $R$ is a finite ring. > *Proof.* Since $R$ is Noetherian, its unique maximal ideal $\mathfrak{m}$ is finitely generated. As $R$ is Jacobson by Theorem 2, the ideal $\mathfrak{m}$ is also the nil-radical of $R$. There is therefore $n \ge 0$ such that $\mathfrak{m}^n = 0$, which shows in particular that $R$ is Artinian. To conclude, it only remains to show that the residual field $R/\mathfrak{m}$ of $R$ is finite, which is given by Lemma 1. Now we are in position to prove Claim 1. > *Proof of Claim 1.* Let $x \in R \setminus \{0\}$ and let $I$ be an ideal of $R$ maximal among the ideals of $R$ not containing $x$. Such an $I$ exists by Zorn's lemma. We shall prove that $\overline{R} = R/I$ is local. Let $\overline{x} = x + I$. Since $\overline{R}\overline{x}$ is a simple $\overline{R}$-module by construction, the annihilator $M$ of $\overline{x}$ is a maximal ideal of $\overline{R}$. Let $\mathcal{Z}$ be the set of zero divisors of $\overline{R}$. We claim that $M = \mathcal{Z}$. The inclusion $M \subseteq \mathcal{Z}$ is obvious. Let $z \in \mathcal{Z}$ and let $y \in \overline{R} \setminus \{0\}$ such that $zy = 0$. As $\overline{x} \in \overline{R}y$, we have $z\overline{x} = 0$, which shows that the reverse inclusion holds. **To be continued**. --- [1] R. Swan, "Excision in algebraic K-theory", 1971. [2] D. Eisenbud, "Commutative Algebra with a View Towards Algebraic Geometry", 1995. [3] H. Matsumura, "Commutative Ring Theory", 1989.