CND Press Round-Up - 3rd March 2022
Posted: 3rd March 2022
Dear all,
War in Ukraine
Independent Catholic News ran CND’s press release from Monday, when veteran peace campaigner and CND Vice-President Bruce Kent delivered a letter to the Russian ambassador, condemning the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and calling for the rights of Russians protesting the war to be respected.
The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency has called on Ukrainian nuclear workers to be left to do their job, amid reports that Russian forces have surrounded the country’s largest nuclear power plant. The warning comes after Russian authorities informed the IAEA that Russian forces had secured control of the area around the Zaporizhzhia plant in south-eastern Ukraine. Russia insisted in a letter to the watchdog that employees were continuing to be allowed to conduct safety and monitoring activities amid accusations from Ukraine that Russian troops were “openly terrorizing employees of the station and residents of its satellite city Energodar.”
A planned ballistic missile test by the US has been postponed amid concerns the exercise would be “misconstrued” by Russia as a provocative act, writes the Financial Times. It comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin put his nuclear forces on high alert citing provocative statements from Western powers. A Washington spokesperson said the decision hadn’t been taken lightly but that the US has “no intention in engaging in any actions that can be misunderstood or misconstrued.” He added that the act would “demonstrate that we are a responsible nuclear power.”
The Morning Star writes on the ‘dangerous escalation’ between Western nations and Russia amid Vladimir Putin’s decision to put Russian nuclear forces on high alert. The piece looks at the pre-existing and newer sanctions imposed on Russia and their effectiveness. It also looks at NATO’s expansion, quoting arguments made by US Senator Bernie Sanders: “Sanders blamed Putin for the crisis we are now facing…Sanders has also noted, however, that well before Putin ever came on the scene, Russia has had ‘legitimate concerns’ about Nato’s expansion towards Russia. Sanders has also noted that it was dangerous for the US to ignore, for many years, all of those legitimate concerns.”
Iran Nuclear Deal
Reuters reports that the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency is scheduled to visit Tehran on Saturday in a sign that ongoing negotiations in Vienna on a revived Iran nuclear deal may be reaching a conclusion. Rafael Mariano Grossi, who heads the watchdog, will meet senior Iranian officials before travelling back for a press conference in Vienna, where the talks are taking place. The IAEA is reportedly seeking answers as to the origins of traces of uranium previously found at several old, previously undeclared nuclear sites in Iran.
Nuclear Energy
Stephen Billingham, a former chief financial officer at electricity firm British Energy, has been appointed by EDF as an advisor to the executive team of the Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk. Billingham is expected to become chair of Sizewell C as it takes steps to become an independent company later this year. The decision comes less than a week after the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) submitted its report to the UK government with its recommendations for the future of the Sizewell site.
The former interim boss of Welsh state-owned nuclear company Cwmni Egino, Mike Tynan, has been appointed to lead the development of a Traws B nuclear site in Gwynedd. The Welsh government is looking to develop small nuclear reactors (SMRs) and other research facilities at former nuclear sites like Trawsfynydd and Wylfa on Anglesey.
An executive order signed by outgoing Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, will allow the country to include nuclear power as part of the country’s energy mix, as it looks to cut back on its reliance on coal. Manilla will also look at reviving the previously mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, built by former dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The facility was completed in 1984 but was closed two years later amid Marcos’ ousting and the Chernobyl disaster.
Egypt’s first nuclear power plant built with South Korean participation could be in doubt amid sanctions imposed on its Russian financial backers. Atomstroyexport, which is a subsidiary of Russian state-owned energy company Rosatom, won the tender to build the El-Dabaa plant in 2017, giving Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power a tender to supply wind turbines. However, while the plant itself is owned by the Egyptian government, its financing is provided by Russia, with the loan to be paid back in profits generated by the plant once it goes online.
With best wishes,
Pádraig McCarrick
Press and Communications Officer
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament