CND Press Roundup Friday 22nd April 2022

• The Guardian reports on Finland’s debate to join NATO – with the prospect of Russia using a nuclear weapon in Ukraine one of the main features of the conversation. “For Russia’s neighbours, the country’s loose talk on the use of unconventional weapons, including tactical nuclear weapons and chemicals, is very uncomfortable. This is a really concerning issue for us. This has triggered talk in Finland about our own security position in Europe,” said Pekka Haavisto, Finland’s foreign minister. Haavisto added that for the first time in his career, the nuclear question was at the forefront of voter’s minds: “A typical question that I now get from people on the streets or in the shops, which I did not have during my whole political life, is what Finland will do if it is threatened by nuclear or chemical weapons. As a politician, you have to have an answer for that.”

• Reuters has a rundown of Russia’s nuclear chain of command. Outlined in a 2020 document called the ‘Basic Principles of State Policy of the Russian Federation on Nuclear Deterrence,’ the Russian President is the one who takes the decision: “A small briefcase, known as the Cheget, is kept close to the president at all times, linking him to the command and control network of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces. The Cheget does not contain a nuclear launch button but rather transmits launch orders to the central military command – the General Staff. The Russian General Staff has access to the launch codes and has two methods of launching nuclear warheads. It can send authorisation codes to individual weapons commanders, who then execute the launch procedures. There is also a back-up system, known as Perimetr, which allows the General Staff to initiate the launch of land-based missiles directly, bypassing all the immediate command posts.”

• The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists looks at the intersection between war and nuclear power, raising four unanswered questions as a result of the recent scares surrounding nuclear power plants in Ukraine. It looks at how war can impact nuclear safety management; how experts can better understand the wartime dangers; should the boundaries of nuclear safety and nuclear security be redefined?; and whether a nuclear accident at a plant during war could lower the nuclear threshold.

• The Telegraph reports on Russia’s latest nuclear-capable ballistic missile test, with one military analyst saying it could reach London within minutes. Meanwhile, Ian Williams, a fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said one missile was capable of destroying ten cities.

US Nuclear

• The US Navy chief in charge of America’s nuclear forces has warnedthat Joe Biden’s decision to scrap the development of sea-based nuclear weapons would lead to “a deterrence and assurance gap.” It comes as funding for the sea-launched, cruise missile nuclear (SLCM-N) programme was pulled from next year’s draft budget amid pressure from Democrats to curb spending and show progress on non-proliferation. But Admiral Chas Richard, chief of US Strategic Command, told Congress in a letter that “the current situation in Ukraine and China’s nuclear trajectory convinces me a deterrence and assurance gap exists.” He added: “To address this gap, a low-yield, non-ballistic capability to deter and respond without visible generation is necessary to provide a persistent, survivable, regional capability to deter adversaries, assure allies, provide flexible options, as well as complement existing capabilities.”

• A report by the US Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General has found woeful inadequacies at the US government’s nuclear waste repository in New Mexico. The report flagged major issues with fire safety training and that its fleet of fire fighting vehicles had fallen into disrepair following years of neglect.

UK Nuclear Energy

• The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is investigatingan incident where a small amount of a radioactive material may have been released into the environment in an incident at the Dounreay nuclear power site. The body was alerted to the incident on Thursday night, where it’s believed a release of tritium may have been released. SEPA said the material was of “a low radiological hazard” and that a formal investigation had been launched.

• Boris Johnson has rejected calls from backbenchers to scrap the green levy on energy bills. Speaking during a trip to India, Johnson said he wanted to “do everything we can to alleviate the cost of living” but added that “there’s a lot of prejudice against the green agenda.” The levy is a combination of several taxes aimed at funding low-carbon energy generation including wind farms, nuclear power, and insulating people’s homes.

• The Independent writes on why a pivot to nuclear power in Europe and the US won’t solve the ongoing energy crisis. “The sudden spurt of nuclear optimism from Washington to London is little more than a political feint,” writes David Callaway. “By the time most proposed nuclear projects are paid for and developed, in a decade or more, we will be either well into a new chapter of solar and wind energy dependence or dashed against the globally-warmed rocks of fossil fuel hubris.”

• Dozens of new homes and a community hall could be built alongside the road near the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant, under new plans put forward by the Land Promotion Group. Sedgemoor District Council is expected to make a decision on the proposals by the early-summer.

Iran Nuclear Deal

• The US has said Iran must do more if it wants additional sanction relief outside of the 2015 nuclear deal. “We are not negotiating in public, but if Iran wants sanctions lifted that goes beyond the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action], they will need to address concerns of ours beyond the JCPOA,” a US State Department official said on Thursday, referring to the deal by its formal name. Iran wants its elite Revolutionary Guards Corp removed from a US list of proscribed terrorist organisations but Washington is concerned about what it calls the outfit’s “destabilizing activities and its support for terrorism and terrorist proxies” in the region.

North Korea

• The presidents of North and South Korea exchanged “warm letters” this week, running counter to two months of rising tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme. North Korea’s news agency said Kim Jong-un “exchanged personal letters with the president of South Korea Moon Jae-in” after receiving a “personal letter” on Wednesday. Moon’s office in Seoul confirmed the report.

Fukushima

• Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) has joined a call for the Japanese government to ditch plans to dump 1 million tons of radioactive water from the defunct Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea. NFLA Steering Committee Chair, Councillor David Blackburn, said: “Eleven years on and the Japanese Government still cannot come up with an environmentally safe solution to resolve the ongoing storage of the contaminated water barrels, instead it has looked to the most expedient but unsound method of getting rid of the problem – just dump it out at sea. The NFLA stands in solidarity with British and Japanese anti-nuclear groups and the many local Japanese who are bitterly opposed to this plan, especially the local fishing community which continues to see its livelihood wrecked. In support of the people of Fukushima and of the people of Japan we say ‘No’.”