CND Press Roundup Friday 10th June 2022

Bruce Kent

• Plenty of coverage marking the death of our legendary former General Secretary and Vice-President, Bruce Kent. A list of immediate tributes can be found on CND’s website which was picked up by Independent Catholic News. Kate spoke very warmly of his contributions to the Campaign and wider peace movement on Radio 4 this morning. You can listen back here, with Kate on a little bit after the news bulletin around 8:35.

• Many of the British nationals have obituaries of Bruce, including The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Times. The Independent quotesKate’s comments on Bruce, including his “intolerance for flannel. There is also coverage in The Tablet, the Express & Star, and North Wales Pioneer.

War in Ukraine

• The Morning Star has an article on the pushback by activists in Finland and Sweden against NATO membership as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Citizens in other countries are also protesting against new military deals with the US, with actions taking place in Czechia, Greece, Norway and Italy.  

• A report by academics at Bristol University is urging the UK government to start public information campaigns to prepare the public for a nuclear attack or accident. One of its authors, Dr Arnab Basu, said: “While we are all becoming acutely aware of burgeoning risk, the general population is not well briefed on what to do if the worst were to happen. Only by taking action now on pre-emptive preparedness we can be resilient and continue to maintain the UK’s position as a global leader in nuclear safety as the world turns increasingly to it for decarbonisation beyond this current threat.” The paper comes amid heightened nuclear tensions between NATO and Russia since the latter’s invasion of Ukraine, and near-misses at Ukrainian nuclear facilities.

Trident

• Oswestry and Border Gazette covers the travelling CND symbol on its way to the Faslane peace camp with XR Peace and Trident Ploughshares. Meanwhile The National (Wales) also covers the convoy.

AUKUS

• The Global Times runs comments by China’s envoy to the UN in Vienna, accusing the AUKUS military pact of violating the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). It quotes Wang Qun as saying: “The three countries cannot repeatedly stick heads in the sand and must earnestly fulfil their legal obligations on non-proliferation. As a non-nuclear weapon state under the NPT, Australia must promptly and comprehensively declare its nuclear weapons materials and related facilities at all stages.”

• Sky News Australia covers the ongoing war of words between Australia’s new Labor government and Liberal-National Coalition now in opposition. The Coalition were in power when the AUKUS military pact was signed last year but is now accusing Labor of “crab-walking” away from the deal. Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie said Labor needed to commit to the acquisition – which will see Canberra purchase either a US or British designed nuclear-powered submarines. Ironic since the Coalition ditched a submarine deal inked with the French in order to join AUKUS.

UK Nuclear Energy

• Sky News reports from the nuclear waste disposal site at Sellafield. It notes: “Nuclear decommissioning costs the taxpayer more than £3bn a year. Sellafield alone is projected to cost £97bn to clean up over the next 120 years. Can the government justify a new nuclear programme if it costs this much to clean up the last one? And can the industry be trusted to clean up, given the costly mess that was left at Sellafield?”

Nuclear Energy

• Nuclear firm EDF is facing an investigation by French authorities, after allegations by a whistleblower claim the firm covered up safety incidents at its Tricastin nuclear power plant. A lawyer for the whistleblower said the client is accusing the plant’s management of “endangerment of people’s lives” and violations of civil law. EDF operates 56 reactors across France, but has been forced to conduct “checks across its nuclear fleet after discovering corrosion on high-pressure pipes which has prompted outages and repairs,” according to Reuters.

• The Irish Examiner runs a piece from King’s College London academic Nick Butler – on how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could see countrys embrace nuclear power as they shift away from fossil fuels. While not without a plethora of problems, Butler notes: “Given the prospect of a long conflict in Ukraine limiting trade with Russia, and with electrification likely to become increasingly important as we move to a low-carbon world, the potential for nuclear power is huge. Because of the lead times involved, nuclear energy cannot offer an instant solution to today’s challenges. Within a decade, however, nuclear, alongside wind and solar, could undermine the global gas market. The question is whether civil nuclear power can now finally fulfil the promise it has shown since it was first developed in the 1950s.”

• The Sydney Morning Herald runs an editorial calling for a debate on nuclear energy as Australia looks to cut its reliance on fossil fuels: “Even without the major hurdles of ensuring the safety of a nuclear reactor and disposing of the waste, the cost and construction challenges are proving prohibitive. According to John Quiggin, a professor of economics at the University of Queensland, the few new large-scale nuclear power plants recently finished or still under construction have suffered enormous cost overruns and long delays. This has fostered a lot of interest in “small modular reactors”, which are about a third of the size of a traditional nuclear power plant and designed to be manufactured at a plant and then transported to a site to be installed. This is being heralded as a way to significantly cut the cost and construction time. However, at this point it is far from a proven concept, with only China and Russia each having one in operation. Most companies are still in the design and development stage.”

Iran Nuclear Deal

• The Independent has a comprehensive timeline of the trials and tribulations associated with Iran’s nuclear programme. It starts with the 1957 signing of a civilian nuclear agreement between the Shah and the US, covers the nuclear confrontations between Tehran and the West in the 2000s, the 2015 nuclear deal, and the events since the collapse of the deal by the Trump administration in 2017.

• The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, has warned that a renewed nuclear deal with Iran is “technically impossible” if Tehran evades scrutiny by the watchdog. Grossi’s comments come after Iran announced it had disabled surveillance cameras installed by the IAEA at Iranian nuclear facilities. You can watch Grossi’s comment to CNN here.