CND's Press Round-Up - 21st June 2021
Posted: 21st June 2021
Please find today’s press round up below. Thank you to all for their continued help and support.
Nuclear Weapons
Ebrahim Raisi, a perceived hardliner, has been elected the president of Iran as the international community responds.
Iranian Presidential Election
As expected, Ebrahim Raisi has been elected the new President of Iran, after the state announced on Saturday night that he had won 17.8 million votes, a landslide. The Guardian reports that boycott efforts do not appear to have been particularly successful. Raisi will take office in August. The talks in Vienna were suspended to allow for the election and its immediate run up. The current negotiators are expected to remain in place for now.
Al Jazeera focus on the Israeli reaction to the election. New Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Raisi was ‘the hangman of Tehran’. The Israeli government has reiterated its opposition to any Iran nuclear deal that might come out of the talks in Vienna. The leader of Mossad appeared to signal in June that Israel was responsible for a series of sabotage incidents in Iran.
Anti-war
Iran’s only nuclear power station has undergone an emergency shutdown whilst further Israeli attacks on Gaza have been reported.
Potential Sabotage in Iran
The Daily Mail reports that the Bushehr nuclear plant in Iran has shut down suddenly and without explanation. There is mounting speculation that some sort of sabotage has occurred. This can be qualified by the fact that Iranian officials have previously said that the plant lacks vital parts due to sanctions. The shutdown at the plant in the south of the country has caused some blackouts. The plant is monitored by the IAEA, uses uranium produced in Russia and its construction was originally began by the Shah’s regime.
Palestine
The Morning Star reports on further Israeli attacks on Gaza, despite a ceasefire being in place. Hamas said none of the Israeli air strikes hit military targets. The IDF claims it is responding to ‘incendiary balloons’ being sent into southern Israel.
The political and commerical fallout from the incident at Taishan continues whilst the UK nuclear power lobby is keen to promote its ‘green’ credentials.
Nuclear Power – Taishan Incident, China
Beyond Nuclear has a piece on what the long-term impacts of the incident at Taishan might be for the French and Chinese nuclear industries. Beyond Nuclear claims the fault with the fuel duct seals dated back eight months to October 2020, something which was hidden from the International Atomic Energy Agency. The author further believes that the extended shutdown of Taishan could effect China’s energy stability in the southern Guangdong area, a crucial area economically. However, nuclear energy remains marginal to China as a whole, with only 1% of its needs being met through nuclear. The impact on the export of the EPR pressurised water reactor, including to the UK, is likely to come under increased scrutiny.
Nuclear Power – UK
The Scottish broadsheet The Herald carries a soft-soap piece on the Torness nuclear plant in East Lothian and its future. The management of the plant is keen to present nuclear power as part of wider decarbonisation efforts; it boasts that that the energy generated in 2020 at the plant is equivalent in emissions to taking 1.7 million cars off the road. The manager of the plant is quoted as saying that ‘You can’t control when the wind blows and we still can’t store large amounts of energy’. Torness was acquired by EDF as part of its takeover of several nuclear power plants in 2008.
With best wishes,
Michael Muir
Press and Communications Officer
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament