CND Press Roundup Monday 1st August 2022

War in Ukraine / NATO

• Beyond Nuclear has a roundup of the recent Greenpeace investigation into radiation levels at the defunct Chernobyl nuclear site, and their claims that the UN’s nuclear watchdog downplayed the impact Russian troops left when they briefly occupied it during the first month of its invasion of Ukraine.

Trident

• I missed this last week but a lawyer who advises major firms on the impact of Scottish independence, said an independent Scotland would likely have to keep Trident as the cost of staying part of NATO. Stephen Phillips, a partner at the German law firm CMS, said that while Finland was able to join the alliance while also refusing to host nuclear weapons, this was not possible for Scotland – due to the fact that Scotland is already hosting the UK’s nuclear submarines. Writing in the Herald, he said: “Should Scotland vote for independence, the issues of Nato membership and Trident are likely to be inextricably linked. While keen to expand membership, it is possible that Nato would seek some form of compromise over Trident as part of the terms in admitting an independent Scotland into the alliance.”

AUKUS

• A new report is calling for Australia to be an “impeccable” nuclear custodian and to redouble its efforts to prevent nuclear conflict. Produced by the Australia Institute, the call comes as Australia’s plan to buy nuclear-powered submarines in a military deal with the UK and US is due to come under scrutiny at the UN during the 10th review conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Known as AUKUS, the pact was formed in part to counter China in the Indo-Pacific – which has led to accusations by Beijing that the deal is a “violation of the object and purpose of the NPT” and sets a dangerous precedent for the proliferation of nuclear technology.

NPT

• LA Progressive runs an opinion from Marcy Winograd and Medea Benjamin as the NPT review conference kicks off in New York. They call the UN meeting a prime time to stop the new arms race, as tensions between NATO members and Russia continue to bubble over the ongoing war in Ukraine. They call for UN treaty signatories and NGO conference delegates to use the month-long conference to speak truth to power, calling out Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, and for the US and NATO to denuclearize Europe. “One miscalculation, one moment of confusion, one intentional launch of a short-range nuclear warhead, followed by a retaliatory long-range nuclear weapon, could burn us alive and blanket the world in ash,” they argue.

UK Nuclear Energy

• Melissa Harrison’s latest Nature Notebook in the Times looks at the recent planning decision in favour of building Sizewell C: “Suffolk’s seasides can be busy, but the long dog-friendly beach south of the fishing hamlet of Sizewell is largely overlooked by tourists and is a great place to swim. Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, had just given the proposed new nuclear power station the go-ahead, and, bobbing in the waves, I gazed at the existing site’s faraway blocks and sphere and tried to come to terms with what’s likely to happen to this lovely stretch of coast — not to mention the Minsmere nature reserve and all the sleepy villages, nightingale-filled woods and family farms that the long building process will irrevocably change. The pioneering environmental scientist James Lovelock, who died this week, believed that nuclear power was the only green solution. “[Nuclear’s] worldwide use as our main source of energy would pose an insignificant threat compared with the dangers of intolerable and lethal heat waves and sea levels rising to drown every coastal city of the world,” he wrote in 2004. Even so, my grief for the countryside here is acute. I wish there were other options than Sizewell on the table. You might say that’s nimbyism, but without people willing to protect their home patches even more of our precious landscapes, habitats and creatures will disappear — and that’s not just a loss to locals, it’s a loss to all of us.”

• Futurism.com picks up on a recent article in the Guardian on the warnings by experts against the siting of an underwater nuclear waste dump in Britain. Among the concerns are that seismic blasting undertaken as part of exploratory work will lead to habitat damage and avoidance, impact mating and even cause death to marine life, while others have questioned the impact of storing 750,000 cubic metres of heat-generating nuclear waste underwater in perpetuity.

• BBC bids adieu to Hinkley Point B as the reactor stops generating electricity today. The Telegraph and City AM also covers the closure.

• The i Newspaper meanwhile has an exclusive where nuclear bosses say not extending the life of Hinkley B is a “huge missed opportunity” to ensure stable electricity supplies this winter.

• Bangor University and the National Nuclear Laboratory have signed a memorandum of understanding that will see them both work together to advance education in the field of nuclear energy.

Nuclear Energy

• DW covers the differences of opinion within Germany’s ruling coalition on how to handle the looming energy crisis. On Sunday, Finance Minister Christian Linder – who comes from the neo-liberal Free Democrats – reiterated calls to stop generating electricity from Russian gas, after Moscow further cut supplies via the Nord Stream pipeline last week. Linder also called for Germany’s three nuclear plants – scheduled to be switched off in December – to remain open until 2024. However this has been resisted by coalition partners the Greens and the Social Democrats – who were both responsible for Germany’s shift away from nuclear power two decades ago.

• World Nuclear News has a podcast on the decision by the EU parliament to vote in favour of including nuclear in the bloc’s taxonomy on what Green energy is. The decision will allow the industry to avail of funds to help members meet net-zero carbon targets.  

Iran Nuclear Deal

• The head of Iran’s nuclear agency said Monday that Tehran has the technical capability to make a nuclear bomb - but has no intention of doing so. It comes as Iranian diplomats

CND History

• CND gets a mention in this Radio X article on some of the first music festivals in Britain.