CND Press Roundup Monday 8th August 2022

War in Ukraine / NATO

• UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has condemned as “suicidal,”shelling near and around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine. Speaking from Japan where he is visiting for Hiroshima and Nagasaki commemorations, he added that the UN’s atomic watchdog should be allowed access to the Russian-controlled plant in order to assess the situation. Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of indiscriminate shelling at the site.

• That’s as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calls for sanctions on Russia’s nuclear industry – one of the few sectors left untouched by Western sanctions. “Russian nuclear terror requires a stronger response from the international community, [including] sanctions on the Russian nuclear industry and nuclear fuel,” Zelensky said in a statement on Twitter after a meeting with European Council President Charles Michel.

• The Times runs a comment from former British Joint Forces commander General Sir Richard, on the latest phase of fighting in Ukraine and the potential for a nuclear catastrophe if Russia’s Vladamir Putin feels he is nearing defeat. Citing Russian military doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons he asks how would the West respond: “How should the West respond to a tactical nuclear weapon being used? Would such use mean that the removal of Putin and his inner circle became a matter of vital western security — and if so how would that be accomplished? A Nato offensive? At the very least it should mean Russia being isolated by the West, no matter what the cost in energy supplies — but what would China and India do? The answer could be not very much. Would it mean Ukraine joining Nato immediately to fall under article 5 and the alliance’s nuclear umbrella? More broadly, it would seem unlikely to lead necessarily to strategic nuclear war. But it would change how nuclear weapons are viewed in other confrontations such as that between India and Pakistan. Few of these questions should be left to be answered in the heat of the moment. They require careful judgement and communication to eliminate the potential for catastrophic miscalculation – perhaps as soon as next spring.”.

Hiroshima & Nagasaki

• Tom Unterrainer spoke to the Daily Express and Kate Hudson spoke to the Morning Star about the importance of Hiroshima and Nagasaki commemorations.

• Simon Tisdall’s column in the Observer writes about the Hiroshima and Nagasaki anniversary and how the fear of nuclear war is back on the agenda.

Trident

• Philip Gilligan has a letter in the News & Star on the silence around nuclear convoys. He’s also featured in this report on the recent convoy.

UK Nuclear Energy

• The Guardian reports on the legal challenge by Together Against Sizewell C – who argue that the government unlawfully granted permission for the development of Sizewell C nuclear project.

• West Somerset Free Press has a report on comments from anti-nuclear campaigners on the shut down of Hinkley Point B.  

• Meanwhile, In Cumbria looks at Sellafield’s Magnox plant which was shutdown last month.

• Nuclear Free Local Authorities has condemned the government’s £75 million fund to boost supplies of nuclear fuel, saying Whitehall is “barking up the wrong tree.”

• The Ferret speaks to Ayrshire CND who accuse the supporters of a plan to build a nuclear fusion plant in North Ayrshire of promoting “half truths” about the project to the public.

Nuclear Energy

• France’s nuclear regulator has okayed a plan to temporarily waiver environmental rules in order to keep the country’s nuclear plants from shutting down. Plants have had to dramatically cut output due to rising temperatures of river water – used to cool nuclear reactors. But now, the state-run nuclear firm EDG will be able to use water that is warmer than the normally allowed temperatures.