CND's Press Round-Up - 25th March 2021
Posted: 25th March 2021
Please find today’s press round up below. A continued thanks to all for your help and support.
Nuclear Weapons
Nuclear Weapons-North Korea
The Korea Times has an in-depth look at current North Korean nuclear policy today. In the view of the author, Hwang Yong-soo, whilst the North Korean regime has boast on multiple occasions about ‘miniaturization’ and multiple nuclear warhead development, the claim that the Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) demonstrated at the most recent parades are capable of being produced on a mass scale. Furthermore, he points to the continued impact of flooding at the Yongbyon Atomic Energy Centre in 2020 as holding back the production of more material for nuclear weapons.
Anti-War
Integrated Review
Following on from last week’s publication of the Integrated Review into defence and foreign policy, the Minister for Defence Procurement, Jeremy Quin MP, has delivered a keynote address to the RUSI’s Combat Air Power Conference. In it, he sets out the Government’s view that in the future, ‘the danger is as likely to come from space as it is from cyber space’. Moreover, he gestures to the Government’s ‘turn’ to the Indo-Pacific region, saying that ‘We cannot accept large parts of the world becoming potentially out of bounds.’ The full speech can be read here.
Biological Weapons
The National Interest magazine carries a feature on an anthrax accident which took place in the Soviet Union in the late 1970s. It points to the fact that, after the signing of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, a monitory and compliance regime was not introduced for many years. Around a hundred people were killed when anthrax spores were released into the air from a biological weapons facility in Sverdlovsk in 1979.
China-U.S. Relations
President Biden’s nominee to lead the Indo-Pacific Command of the U.S. armed forces, Admiral John Aquilino, has said that potential Chinese action against Taiwan is ‘the most dangerous concern’ and that there is the need for ‘forces positioned to be able to respond quickly’ in the region. Aquilino, who is currently the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, also told the Senate Committee examining him ahead of confirmation that Taiwan’s Harpoon Missile Defense system showed the island had the capacity, with international support, to resist any Chinese action.
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power-UK
Local press is reporting that the claims by a consortium of groups supporting Sizewell C that the project would £4.4 billion of invest to the East of England have been strongly rejected by local anti-nuclear campaigners. The Stop Sizewell C group points out that three-quarters of the EDF construction workforce would come from outside the area and that the report ‘ignores the many negative economic impacts on East Suffolk…such as traffic congestion, displacement of workers, and loss of customers – not least in tourism’.
Nuclear Power-Germany
The German government has agreed an amended compensation scheme for nuclear power plant operators, following on from the 2011 decision to phase out nuclear power in the country, according to the specialist website Clean Energy Wire. The scheme is expected to pay around two and a half billion euros to four companies which operate or operated nuclear power plants. Intriguingly, Johannes Teyssen, the CEO of E.ON, is quoted as saying that nuclear power in the present moment is ‘too expensive, too risky and too politically explosive’ to pursue commercially. The last German nuclear reactor is expected to close in 2022.
With best wishes,
Michael Muir
Press and Communications Officer
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament