Nuclear Weapons

Campaigners have strongly criticised the decision of a court to withold safety information reports on Trident.

Nuclear Weapons – UK
 
The National has a report on a tribunal ruling which allows the Ministry of Defence to keep secret internal risk assessment relating to the nuclear bases at Faslane and Coulport. In its pleadings before the information tribunal, the MoD cited national security concerns as a reason for not releasing the material. The SNP has criticised the MoD’s approach, saying it is ‘absolutely untenable’. Reports from the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator were published for more than a decade but this was halted in 2017. Lynn Jamieson from Scottish CND points out that the decision ‘plays into the MoD culture of cover-up and removes the shred of accountability afforded by previous reports of safety breaches’.

Anti-war

Fighting intensifies in Afghanistan as the Taliban advance.

War in Afghanistan 
 
Al Jazeera  reports on planned counter-offensive by the Afghan government, as the Taliban continues to gain large amounts of territory after U.S. withdrawal. An Afghan government is quoted as saying that the Taliban offensive was unexpected. This comes as hundreds of government troops have fled into Tajikistan. The Taliban now controls around a third of the country and appears to be trying to encircle Kabul.

Nuclear Power

China is criticised over its handling of Taishan, whilst both the EU and the UK signal that nuclear will be excluded from green finance programmes.

Nuclear Power – China

The Spectator carries a piece on the nuclear incident at the Taishan power plant. It fits into a growing narrative which seeks to connect the Taishan incident to a perceived lack of transparency and accountability on the part of the Chinese authorities. The article points to the delay between the incident first being reported to the U.S. government on 8th June and being publicly confirmed by China on 16th June to draw a comparison with the response to Chernobyl. While readers might be find the claim that ‘In democracies, bad news travels to the top quickly. In autocracies, less so’ to be an over-generalisation, the article does raise questions about the extent of Chinese involvement in the construction of UK nuclear power plants.
 
Nuclear Power – UK
 
World Nuclear News reports that nuclear power has been excluded from the Government-backed Green Financing Framework, in what will be seen as a blow to the industry lobby. The main reason given for the decision is that many financial institutions and investment funds already exclude nuclear on the grounds of ‘sustainability’. The strategy document does state however that ‘Nuclear power is, and will continue to be, a key part of the UK’s low-carbon energy mix alongside solar and wind generation and carbon capture and storage.’
 
Nuclear Power- EU
 
A key committee of the European Commission, the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks, has said that more research is required if the EU is to include nuclear power as ‘a sustainable investment’, according to Reuters. The Joint Research Centre, which provides scientific advice to the commission, said in March that nuclear should be certified as ‘green’. Several key EU countries, including Germany, have publicly opposed the inclusion of nuclear in the green framework. Other countries, like France, Hungary and Poland, want to see it as part of climate change efforts.

With best wishes,

Michael Muir

Press and Communications Officer
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament