CND Press Roundup Monday 22nd March 2022

Posted: 22nd March 2022

War in Ukraine

Bristol-based artist Banky’s 2005 artwork, CND Soldiers, is being sold at auction, with proceeds going to a children’s hospital in Kiev. The piece, which shows two soldiers painting the CND’s logo on a wall, was put on the auction site MyArtBroker.com by an anonymous donor on Friday, and is now only taking bids over £40,000.
Russia has released a video of a prank call made to the UK’s Defence Secretary Ben Wallace “purporting to show him discussing Ukraine’s nuclear ambitions.” The Moscow-backed hoaxers pretended to be Ukrainian PM Denys Shmyhal, who purportedly asked Wallace whether he would “like to continue our nuclear programme to defend against Russia”. Wallace responded with “Russia will not really like that.” Speaking to the Telegraph, Wallace called the spliced video “total clipped garbage” and explained that it removed him saying that the UK – as a signatory to the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons – would not take part in Ukraine seeking nuclear weapons.
Former soldier and author Allan Mallinson writes for Conservative Home on Putin opting for the nuclear option, specifically a short-range or ‘tactical’ nuclear weapon (TNW): “In the public imagination, his [Putin] crude but tellingly vague nuclear threats over Ukraine suggest intercontinental strikes. But what if he were contemplating a TNW strike against a “legitimate military target”? And how, in any future confrontation with NATO, would the alliance deter that same threat — or if deterrence fails, would restore deterrence? To win Cold War Two, we must get real again about deterrence. NATO rearmament must address the seam that has been inserted in the previously seamless cloak.”

Global Abolition

A group of Japanese students recently held a mock nuclear ban conference, writes NHK News. The event opened with an appearance from Nagasaki atomic bomb survivor Tomonaga Masao who expressed his concern over the Russian invasion of Ukraine and called on young people to speak for peace. Students then held a seven hour mock conference of the parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, with participants given the roles of state representatives ond NGOs.

Fukushima

A poll by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun found that 59% of Japanese voters fear an attack on one of the country’s nuclear power facilities by another nation, with just over a third (35%) responding as “not worried.” Consisting of 1,464 answers, the poll was taken between March 19 and 20 and also asked about fears of power outages at plants due to natural disasters like earthquakes – 39% said that they are worried “very much” with 49% saying they were worried “to a certain degree”.

UK Nuclear Energy

The BBC reports on calls for the Scottish government to rethink its opposition to nuclear energy. UK Energy Minister Greg Hands said it would “never be a better time to bring more nuclear power to Scotland,” citing the war in Ukraine as the reason for the UK to improve its energy security.
Boris Johnson’s government hopes to get a quarter of the UK’s electricity from nuclear power, writes the Guardian. Nuclear energy currently contributes about 16% to the nation’s energy mix, but with many plants slated for closure over the next decade, billions of pounds of investment will be needed to keep and grow this balance.
However, the Mirror reports on disagreements within Boris Johnson’s cabinet over his new energy strategy, with an upcoming plan, scheduled to be released this week, delayed. It’s believed a disagreement between Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak over funding for nuclear power plants is holding up the show.

CND History

Kent Archives has catalogued promotional material from Herne Bay and Kent Area CND groups. The collection contains newsletters, leaflets, posters, and press-cuttings from Herne Bay CND between 1982-1990, and Kent Area CND newsletters from 2005-2019. The material was donated to the archive by a founder member of the Herne Bay CND group.

With best wishes,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament