CND Press Roundup Monday 6th June 2022

War in Ukraine

• Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia is fast runningout of critical spare parts, according to Ukraine’s defence ministry. “A critical situation has developed at the … plant in terms of ensuring stable and safe operations. There are practically no spare parts and expendable materials left,” the ministry’s intelligence unit said. The Zaporizhzhia plant has been occupied by Russian troops since Moscow’s invasion started in February, with Ukrainian staff still operating the plant on week-long rotations.

• Meanwhile Ukraine’s nuclear agency Energoatom has warned that low-flying Russian cruise missiles recently fired on Kiev “flew critically low” over its second largest nuclear power plant. “Currently, Russia continues to pose a threat to the nuclear safety of Ukrainian nuclear power plants and threatens the world with a new nuclear catastrophe. (They) still do not understand that even the smallest fragment of a missile that may hit a functioning power unit could lead to a nuclear catastrophe and radiation leak,” the firm said.

• Footage has emerged from inside the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant showing the level of destruction left by Russian troops who briefly occupied the facility during the first month of its invasion of Ukraine. Images show rubbish left strewn across the site’s buildings, walls graffitied with anti-Ukrainian slogans and windows broken. Equipment valued at £110 million and including computers, vehicles, and radiation dosimeters were also destroyed.

• The Telegraph looks at the extent of the damage at the Chernobyl plant and what it means for nuclear safety moving forward. “The assumption had been that conflicts would always studiously avoid any nuclear power plant and clearly that wasn’t the case in Ukraine. But then you had fighting within the site of Chernobyl,” energy policy expert Professor Stephen Thomas said. “The more you think about these things the more it becomes clear that you have to do something about it. We are now at the very early stages with how things might change after Ukraine,” he added.

Trident

• Carlisle will host an event on ‘Why Anti-Nuclear Campaigning is Vital’ on Wednesday June 9th at 7:30pm with veteran anti-nuclear campaign Angie Zelter and nuclear physicist Dr Rowland Dye. Details on the event here.

AUKUS

• Australia’s new Labor government has assured visiting US officials that safety will be of the highest importance as it works to bring forward the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal signed by the previous coalition government. Labor had given bipartisan support to the military pact with the US and UK when it was announced last September. First up for new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is to agree a final settlement which the French government – for a multi-billion submarine deal his predecessor unceremoniously dumped in order to join the AUKUS pact.

• Meanwhile, Australia’s Liberal-National Coalition – now in opposition after nine years in office – has called for a “mature” conversation about nuclear energy, despite the fact it did little to further this agenda while in power. The Guardian looks at the reasons behind the policy u-turn noting that “despite having not made a serious attempt to start a nuclear power industry in its nine years in government, the Coalition has decided to argue for one immediately after losing power.” It also notes that “the Institute of Public Affairs, a rightwing group with a history of climate science denial that is supported by fossil fuel and mining interests, released what it described as polling showing people were open to the idea of nuclear energy. News Corp newspapers ran its arguments uncritically.”

UK Nuclear Energy

• The Times reports on a breakthrough by scientists that could see nuclear waste stored in Britain used to help cure cancer patients. The National Nuclear Laboratory has developed a production process for a radioactive material called Lead-212. It can be used in a cancer treatment called alpha therapy which destroys cancer cells with minimal damage to healthy tissue. The team is also looking at obtaining the material by other means. Dr Paul Howarth, the nuclear laboratory’s chief executive, said: “Fifty years ago, the UK led the world in medical radioisotope research and production, yet today we rely on imports often from ageing facilities. Establishing a sovereign home-grown supply of these important medical radioisotopes would be transformative for healthcare in the UK and, given the global nature of the supply challenge, citizens of the other countries we supply.”

• Nuclear firm EDF has taken aim at the UK government’s handling of the energy crisis and its efforts to ensure there are no blackouts this winter. A memo issued by EDF last week explained that time had run out to delay the closure of the Hinkley Point B reactor – now set to take place in July. Sue Ferns from the Prospect trade union said they had warned the government in April to consider extending the life of ageing nuclear plants like Hinkley Point B saying that “you can’t have a lastminute.com energy policy.”

• The East Anglian Daily Times looks at details recently published by EDF on roles that could be filled if the Sizewell C nuclear plant goes ahead. If completed, 900 jobs will be created in the running of the plant but will peak at 7,800 roles during construction.

Iran Nuclear Deal

• Israeli Prime Minister Neftali Bennett has told the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog that his country reserved the right to take action against Iran if it continues to develop its nuclear programme. Bennett made the comments during a visit by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi on Friday. A statement from Bennett’s office after the meeting said Bennet “made it clear that while Israel prefers diplomacy in order to deny Iran the possibility of developing nuclear weapons, it reserves the right to self-defence and to take action against Iran in order to block its nuclear program should the international community not succeed in the relevant timeframe.”

• Stephen Pollard writes in the Telegraph calling former US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal “by any objective standard a success.” Pollard argues that the talks in Vienna aimed at reviving the deal have left Iran in a “far better place” than when Trump left office, and that Biden’s foreign policy direction since assuming office has been catastrophic.

Nuclear Korea

• South Korea and US military forces conducted a barrage of eight surface-to-surface missile launches on Monday in response to North Korea’s latest round of ballistic missile tests on Sunday. A statement from South Korea’s defence ministry said the launches proved Seoul’s “capability and readiness to carry out precision strikes” against locations where Pyongyang hosted its missile sites.

• Asia Times looks at the recent agreement between the US and South Korea to share small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) technology. The agreement paves the way for South Korea to develop its own domestic nuclear-powered submarines. Seoul’s quest for nuclear-powered subs as far back as 2003, believing it will reduce reliance on US military capabilities in countering North Korean military posturing.

Fukushima

• Japan’s ambitions to restart the nuclear reactors mothballed after the Fukushima disaster has taken a step back – after a court ruled that a plant in the northern island of Hokkaido didn’t have adequate tsunami safeguards. Sapporo District Court said last week that the company that ran the plant – Hokkaido Electric Power Co. – couldn’t restart its reactors as it had “failed to take steps to address safety concerns and demonstrate the adequacy of the plant’s existing seawall, which was built after the Fukushima disaster but has since faced questions about its weak foundation.”