CND press Roundup Wednesday 16th March, 2022
Posted: 16th March 2022
War in Ukraine
CND gets a mention in Zoe Williams’ latest Guardian column on her current feelings of existential dread caused by the fear of nuclear war – something she hasn’t felt since the 1980s: “The first time, I would have been about 10. Thanks to Raymond Briggs’ When the Wind Blows, the brutal 1984 apocalypse drama Threads and various clergymen-orators at CND marches, I knew a huge amount about the impact of a nuclear blast.” She recalls similar fears of nuclear apocalypse from Hilary Wainwright, Michael Rosen, and Mary Kaldor, alongside a potted history of the nuclear crisis of the Cold War. Recalling Kaldor, she touches on the lasting impact of CND and the campaign for European Nuclear Disarmament: “But the great untold story of the CND, and this is even more true about End, is that it had a seismic impact on policy. Kaldor has told me about a senior figure in the Reagan administration who said they borrowed a disarmament demand from the placards of an End demonstration, because it was so extreme the USSR would have to refuse it: then Gorbachev accepted it, which was the beginning of the end of the cold war. This week, she’s more dispirited: ‘The American peace movement was very focused on nuclear weapons. We focused on ending the cold war. And in that sense, we were very successful, but maybe we could have pushed further.’”
The disused Chernobyl nuclear power plant has been returned to the power grid after its lines were reportedly damaged by Russian troops, who currently occupy the facility. Workers at the facility had been using on-site generators to keep water pumps – used to cool spent nuclear fuel still held at the plant – operational, but Ukraine had warned that diesel supplies at the plant were running low.
Meanwhile the EU has expressed its concerns over Ukraine’s nuclear facilities and gave its backing to IAEA calls for their safety to be ensured. EU Special Envoy for Non-proliferation and Disarmament, Marjolijn van Deelen said the bloc remained “categorically committed to defending multilateralism” and gave its support for the implementation of the IAEA’s mandate.
The i newspaper has a reassuring feature reminding us that plans are in place to whisk the Royal family and key government ministers to underground bunkers in the event of a nuclear attack on the UK. While key underground sites such as the complex at Corsham in the Chiltern Hills have been known for decades, fresh plans are in place in the event the current crisis in Ukraine escalated into a nuclear confrontation. However, one source said that if a surprise attack on London did occur, “there would be no notice and very little government infrastructure would survive.”
Vladimir Putin has been urged by a Russian politician to fire a ballistic missile at a US testing range in order to “send a message.” Yevgeny Alexeyevich Fyodorov said the US would not retaliate to the provocation and claimed Western governments were of the opinion that Russia had “no trump cards” to play in the wake of sanctions and diplomatic pressure. “So they need a demonstration. The most convincing demonstration would be the physical destruction of America’s Defence Department facilities. I’m talking about facilities, which international law grants us the right to destroy,” Fyodorov said.
A survivor of the Hiroshima bomb has called on the world to grasp the true nature of nuclear wepons, in a response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Setsuko Thurlow called Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons reckless and amounted to verbal intimidation. She said people needed to understand that a nuclear conflict threatened the entirety of humanity and could be unleashed at any time by a nuclear-armed power.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has a short read on Russia’s nuclear weapons policy. It also has a piece on the US Navy’s use of Dolphins to help protect its nuclear arsenal: “The US Navy employs highly trained dolphins—with names like K-Dog, Kahili, and Makai—across the force, including at its bicoastal nuclear submarine bases.”
Trident
The Ministry of Defence has been accused of “highly unusual” lobbying activities after a freedom of Information request, reported by The Ferret, found that it hosted briefing events for British politicians at the Faslane nuclear submarine base in 2021. Four lords and 23 MPs were invited to these events – which aimed to “educate” them on the relevance of the Trident nuclear system and the benefits of nuclear weapons for “UK industry, economy and the union.” Scottish CND accused the MoD of “acting as an influencer for the nuclear-military-industrial complex with vested interests in them being constantly modernised and never given up.” Scottish CND chair, Lynn Jamieson added: “If the MoD had a genuinely educational agenda it would include consideration of how to move towards signing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. But then their job isn’t education, it’s defence and security — and Scottish CND’s view is that nuclear weapons put that at risk.”
Iran Nuclear Deal
A leading article in The Times looks at the recent missile strike in Iraq by Iran in the context of the stalled negotiations to revive the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to curb Iran’s nuclear weapons programme. It notes that while Russia doesn’t want to see nuclear proliferation in the Middle East any more than the US or other European governments involved in the negotiations, Moscow’s ongoing war in Ukraine takes precedence: “Halting a return of Iranian oil to western markets at a time when it is sorely needed gives Moscow extra diplomatic leverage.” It also calls the JCPOA flawed in that it can’t effectively plug nuclear proliferation or deal with “Iran’s support for terrorism and its hostility” towards Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, and Israel.
UK Nuclear Energy
Nation Cymru has an opinion piece on the future of Welsh nuclear power stations in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It calls on Welsh anti-nuclear groups to “continue to highlight that nuclear power is a dirty, outdated, dangerous, vastly expensive technology which threatens both human and environmental health.”
Whitehaven News reports on a new campaign by anti-nuclear activists in the Lake District against a proposed nuclear waste disposal facility. Lakes Against Nuclear Dump held a protest on Friday at a drop-in event by Mid-Copeland Community Partnership aimed at discussing the potential for hosting a Near Surface Nuclear Waste Facility. A spokesperson for LAND said: “Drigg residents have been surprised to learn that 16 research boreholes 120 metres deep have already been drilled without any democratic oversight at the Low Level Waste Repository.”
Nuclear Energy
And Elon Musk has taken to Twitter to call for Europe to embrace more nuclear energy as a way of breaking its reliance on Russian gas and oil. The Space X and Tesla boss said restarting dormant nuclear power stations was “critical for national and international security.” Responding to concerns on radioactive leaks he made the offer: “For those who (mistakenly) think this is a radiation risk, pick what you think is the worst location. I will travel there & eat locally grown food on TV.” Better him than me.
With best wishes,
Pádraig McCarrick
Press and Communications Officer
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament