CND Press Round-Up - 23rd February 2022

 

CND Press Roundup, Wednesday 23rd Feb 2022

NATO-Ukraine-Russian Tensions

• Amid the rising tensions between Nato and Russia over Ukraine, the Daily Mirror has a story utilising nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein’s nukemap site, showing the devastation various nuclear weapons could wreck if the nuclear superpowers slipped into an atomic conflict.

• This comes as the Telegraph writes on the need for the UK to “dust off” its nuclear defence plan. Former British Army chemical weapons expert Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said while the threat remained low, the world is closer to World War 3 since the 70s. Dr Patricia Lewis of Chatham House noted that nuclear deterrent theory had been at the forefront of defence thinking for decades but relied on holders of nuclear weapons being “rational thinkers.”

• An interesting piece on NPR about Ukraine’s decision to give up its nuclear weapons capability after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Mariana Budjeryn of Harvard University spoke with All Things Considered about the Budapest Memorandum and its impact in 2022.

UK Nuclear Power

• The winding up of the Winfrith nuclear site in Dorset is progressingwith 20 storage containers to be used as temporary facilities for staff as work to decommission the final two reactors is being carried out. The site is expected to be returned to heathland in 2023.

• Former Labour minister Lord Rooker told the House of Lords that Russia and China should be barred from any future nuclear power projects in the UK, calling them “unreliable”. Rooker made the comments during the second reading debate of the UK government’s Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill, which would allow pension funds and other institutional investors to provide cash for new nuclear power developments.

• A Scottish Conservative councillor has launched an attack on SNP MSP Maree Todd, over her opposition to the installation of a small modular reactor (SMR) in her constituency of Caithness, Sutherland and Ross. Rolls Royce is planning to build 10 SMR power stations by 2035. However, Todd is resisting one being built in Caitness citing the “high cost and high risk” of nuclear power. In response Councillor Struan Mackie accused Todd of “peddling misinformation” and doing a disservice to local workers.

• Meanwhile, energy experts have dismissed claims by the nuclear industry that nuclear power would lower fuel costs in Scotland, saving them on average £152 since the cost of living crisis began. However, Keith Baker of the Common Weal Energy Group said building nuclear plants would only worsen fuel poverty, while Stuart Parkinson, executive director of scientists for global responsibility, also noted the “strong evidence of close institutional and financial ties between the civilian and military nuclear industries in the UK.”

Nuclear Iran

• Iran’s foreign minister said that talks to resuscitate the 2015 Iran nuclear deal were at a sensitive point, calling for Western leaders to be pragmatic in settling the remaining issues. Speaking in Vienna during a press conference with his Omani counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian said he had told the EU’s Josep Borrell during last week’s Munich Security Conference that Tehran would not cross its red lines. The talks are nearing a conclusion with the expectation that a prisoner swap between Iran and the US will be made.

Nuclear Korea

• A poll by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs found that 71% of South Koreans are in favour of an indigenous nuclear weapons capability. While under a quarter cited North Korea as the reason for seeking such weapons, 39% cited “reasons other than North Korea”. The poll also found that over half of South Koreans believed China will replace Pyongyang as the main threat in the region within ten years.

Nuclear Weapons

• Breaking Defense notes a study by the American Physical Society (APS) which found that after 7 decades and $350 billion of investment, no US anti-nuclear capabilities “thus far developed has been shown to be effective against realistic ICBM threats” against the mainland. The APS ran hypothetical attacks made by North Korea and found that the American’s current or future capabilities would be unable to defend the country for at least the next 15 years.

With best wishes,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament