CND Press Roundup Thursday 15th September 2022

War in Ukraine / NATO

• In the wake of recent military defeats in Ukraine, there has been a stream of articles wondering if Vladimir Putin will use nuclear weapons, including The Economist, UnHerd, and The Week. Meanwhile, former national security adviser to Donald Trump, John Bolton, said the threat of nuclear war with Russia is “a lot closer” than before.

• Unconfirmed reports suggest Vladimir Putin’s limo was the target of an alleged assassination attempt during an incident that happened at an unconfirmed time. The report was made on an anti-Kremlin Telegram channel.

• Centre for Defence Research Senior Fellow Dr Matthew Sussex saysthere are hints that have been made by Russian state media about a potential radiological accident at a nuclear plant.

AUKUS

• China has hit out at an IAEA report on Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine deal – with Beijing calling on the UN nuclear watchdog to block the deal. Read more on Sky News and ABC.

US Nuclear Weapons

• Time looks at the $100 billion drive to modernise US nuclear missiles. “We should not be trying to ‘lure’ a nuclear attack against U.S. territory,” says Tom Collina, director of policy at Ploughshares Fund, a San Francisco nonprofit that supports nuclear nonproliferation. “ICBMs play no useful purpose, are a waste of money, and we would be safer without them. It would be better to take that $100 billion and burn it in a barrel.”

Nuclear Fusion

• A top Chinese nuclear weapons scientist has claimed that fusion power is just six years away.

Nuclear Energy

• A report by the US Department of Environment says that 80 percent of coal plant sites in the country are suitable to host nuclear reactors. It found that if a large coal plant was converted to a nuclear power station of a similar size, it would create around 650 jobs and slash greenhouse gas emissions in the region by 86 percent.

Iran Nuclear Deal

• Two thirds of the IAEA’s Board of Governors have backed a statementby Western powers to pressure Iran to explain the presence of traces of uranium at undisclosed nuclear sites. “We call upon Iran to act immediately to fulfil its legal obligations and, without delay, take up the (IAEA) Director General’s offer of further engagement to clarify and resolve all outstanding safeguards issues,” the joint statement presented by Germany to the 35-member board said.

Fukushima

• Plans are afoot to encase a reactor at the Fukushima nuclear plant in steel and then flood it with water – as part of efforts to retrieve radioactive melted fuel from the plant. Approximately 880 tonnes of nuclear debris are still inside the three reactors – formed when nuclear fuel rods melted, mixed with concrete, metal and other materials in the reactors, then fused together as they cooled after the 2011 disaster.

North Korea

• Kim Jong-un is among those snubbed of an invite to the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II. Diplomats will instead attend the service on behalf of Pyongyang.