CND Press Roundup Wednesday 7th September 2022

War in Ukraine / NATO

• UN Secretary General António Guterres reiterated calls for a demilitarised zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Speaking during a special session of the Un Security Council on Tuesday, Guterres gave his backing to the recommendations in a report submitted to the SC by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) following the agency’s visit to the plant last week.

• Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the UN’s call for a safety zone around the Zaporizhzhia plan and would support it if it resulted in the area becoming completely demilitarised.

• Russia has earned more from the soaring cost of oil and gas than money it has spent fighting in Ukraine, a report by a Finnish think tank has found. The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said that despite Western sanctions, Moscow had earned £141 billion from energy exports since February while spending an estimated £86 billion on warfighting over the same period.

Trident

• The Guardian’s Dan Sabbagh writes on one of the early tasks to be taken from new Prime Minister Liz Truss’ in tray – the writing of letters of last resort to Britain’s Trident submarine commanders. To give you an idea of what she may write, Truss said she was willing to hit the nuclear button during Tory leadership hustings.

NPT

• Rethinking Security reviews last month’s NPT review conference – focusing on the “unprecedented attention” given to the ongoing harms of past use and testing of nuclear weapons: “Attention to nuclear legacies is significant not only for the practical impact it could bring for affected communities seeking justice and responses to their rights, which should be its most immediate function. It can also contribute to a wider process of developing the norm against nuclear possession, through building recognition of what these weapons are and do to people and places. This changing discourse will be essential to creating an international environment which is conducive to disarmament, through eroding the legitimacy – and desirability – that some states still attach to these weapons of catastrophic destruction.”

• That’s as survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima criticised the the lack of consensus at the end of the review conference – which wrapped up without agreement on a final text and a walk out by Russia. In a statement published on Monday, the Hibakusha called on the UN, Japanese government and other nations to have nuclear-armed states declare that they won’t use nuclear weapons. You can read Rebecca Johnson’s thoughts on the NPT review conference on CND’s website here.

Trump

• Some of the documents found during an FBI raid of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort pertained to the nuclear weapons capabilities of a foreign country. The files were so classified, that some of Joe Biden’s top security officials were restricted from viewing them, an unnamed source told the Washington Post. The country in question was not disclosed.

Nuclear Energy

• The French government is in the process of selecting a new head of state-owned nuclear firm EDF, with an announcement due in the coming days. It follows the announcement in July that current boss Jean-Bernard Levy would be replaced following a period of growing debts and outages at French power stations.

• Rolls Royce has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Czech firm Skoda to collaborate on the deployment of the former’s Small Modular Reactor design across central and eastern Europe.

• Australia’s Opposition leader Peter Dutton has come under pressurefrom PM Antony Albanese over the former’s stance on nuclear power. Dutton doubled down on his support for the nuclear industry on Wednesday where he told the Minerals Council that the country needed a “frank debate” on nuclear power. Albanese then called on Dutton to nominate where these plants are going to be located.

Iran Nuclear Deal

• Two long-distance US bombers conducted exercises over the Middle East, US officials said on Monday. US general Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich said the “Bomber Task Force” simulation on Sunday showed that the United States and its allies can “rapidly inject overwhelming combat power into the region on demand.” It comes amid tensions over finalising an agreement to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, with Washington saying recent proposals from Iran were not constructive.