CND Press Roundup Wednesday 23rd March 2022

War in Ukraine

• Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dimitri Peskov, failed to rule out that Russia would use nuclear weapons during its invasion of Ukraine. In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Peskov said Moscow would use nuclear weapons in the case of “an existential threat for our country.” Peskov also admitted that nearly four weeks into the invasion, Russia had failed to achieve any of its military goals.

• The UN’s atomic watchdog has confirmed that the remaining workers at the now-defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant have been replaced, more than three weeks after the facility was taken over by Russian troops. The technical staff from one shift rotation had been in place since February 24th, and had to work round-the-clock in order to keep the facility safe. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had expressed concerns that a nuclear incident could occur due to staff exhaustion. In its statement it added that the new rotation would have two supervisors, instead of the usual one, to “ensure that there is back-up available on the site.”

• The New York Times writes on the prospect of a nuclear conflict in Ukraine, with smaller weapons taking a prominent role: “Analysts note that Russian troops have long practiced the transition from conventional to nuclear war, especially as a way to gain the upper hand after battlefield losses. And the military, they add, wielding the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, has explored a variety of escalatory options that Mr. Putin might choose from.”

Iran Nuclear Deal

• Russia’s Ambassador to Iran said he hopes that efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal would resume after the Nowruz Persian New Year holidays. In Washington, officials were less rosy, saying that a new agreement was neither imminent nor certain. They added that the US was prepared to make “difficult decisions” in the event of the talks failing.

• Meanwhile, opinion pieces in the NY Times and Washington Post cover the ongoing talks with some scepticism. Bret Stephens for the NYT argues that an Iran deal leaves the US “meeker and weaker,” while Donald Trump’s hawkish former National Security Adviser, John Bolton, calls for a Senate vote on any new accord.

Fukushima

• A delegation of nuclear experts from Taiwan is visiting the site of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster as part of a safety inspection. Groups in South Korea and Taiwan are concerned that a plan to release millions of litres of contaminated water stored at the facility into the sea could impact marine wildlife and compromise food security.

UK Nuclear Testing

• The Mirror has an exclusive where it accuses seven UK governments of knowing that British servicemen involved in the UK’s nuclear testing, were more likely to “have been exposed to radiation, get cancer, and kill themselves, for 34 years,” only to bury the findings.

UK Nuclear Energy

• The Financial Times writes about Boris Johnson’s desire to replace the Covid-19 vaccine task force with a similar mechanism for nuclear power stations. The group would look at ensuring that a quarter of the UK’s energy mix came from nuclear power by 2050. It follows Boris Johnson’s meeting with nuclear industry bosses on Monday, where he expressed his frustration at the slow pace of development of the UK’s nuclear energy sector.

• Campaigners opposed to the Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk have expressed their concerns over the government’s plan to turbocharge nuclear power development. Speaking to the East Anglian Daily Times, Alison Downes of Stop Sizewell C said she was “disturbed” by plans to accelerate development arguing that it would strip local people of the ability to oppose new plants. “The notion that local people might lose their ability to oppose projects is totally anti-democratic and detailed scrutiny by government agencies is critical to ensure essential safeguards such as a site not flooding,” she added.

With best wishes,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament