CND Press Round-Up - 12th March 2021
Posted: 12th March 2021
Please find today’s press round up below. Thank you for your continued useful feedback and support.
Nuclear Weapons
Industrial Action at Faslane
Hundreds of civilian workers at the Faslane and Coulport bases will take strike action today in protest at uncertainty over the future of the Ministry of Defence’s Future Maritime Support Programme (FMSP), according to the Glasgow Herald. The strike, which will affect electricians, mechanical fitters, plumbers and joiners. The Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions has written to the Defence Secretary Ben Wallace to say that in its view the changes might create “a significant risk to national security”.
Iran
The U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the U.S. will attempt to block the transfer of billions of dollars of funds from the sale of Iranian oil, currently held in South Korea, a report from Voice of America has said. The Iranian government had last month come to an agreement with South Korea regarding the money, although the latter had said the move would have to be discussed with the U.S. The announcement comes in the context of the Biden administration’s continuation of the sanctions imposed in 2018.
In related news, Washington has held its first round of talks with its Israeli allieson the question of Iran. Senior Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Benny Gantz and IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi, have intimated that military action against Iran is ‘on the table’.
North Korea
The claim by the North Korean leadership that its newly unveiled submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile might be a viable nuclear one has been refuted by Robert Abrams, the commander of U.S. military forces in Korea. The general is quoted as saying that ‘there has been no reporting to indicate that North Korea has exhibited a platform capable of delivering the weapons we were shown’.
Anti-war
Russian Military Exercises in the Baltic Sea
A Russian naval corvette in Russia’s Baltic fleet completed an air and sea attack drill, firing ship artillery and practising helicopter landings and take offs, according to Russian state media. The exercises, which took place in the sea off the Kaliningrad exclave, happen in the context of continuing long-term poor relations between Russia and its NATO-backed Baltic neighbours.
Naval Operations in Taiwan
A U.S. destroyer ship has passed through the Taiwan Strait for the third time since late January. A U.S. naval spokesperson is quoted in local press as saying the move by the USS John Finn ‘demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.’ Whilst described as routine by Taiwanese authorities, it will likely further contribute to anger in policy-making circles in Beijing.
Nuclear Power
Fukushima
CND’s Vice President and Scientific Adviser Dr Ian Fairlie sets out why the recent UNSCEAR report into the health impacts of radiation at Fukushima is scientifically unsound in a useful blog, whilst the New Internationalist carries a fascinating long read on those local people who have returned to live in the area.
Nuclear Power-Turkey
The foundation has been laid for the third reactor of Turkey’s planned Akuyyu nuclear power plant, according to Al Jazeera. The first of the plant’s reactors, constructed with Russian capital and technical assistance, is expected to come online in 2023. Akkuyu is currently the only nuclear power plant construction project in Turkey, though Mitsubishi is currently conducting a feasibility study for the Sinop site. The plant is located near the city of Mersin, around 300km west of the Syrian border at its closest point and in an area with a history of earthquakes. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the plant will launch Turkey into ‘league of nuclear energy countries’.
With best wishes,
Michael Muir
Press and Communications Officer
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament