CND Press Roundup Friday 16th September 2022

War in Ukraine / NATO

• The board of the UN’s nuclear watchdog has voted in favour of a resolution calling on Russia to end its occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

• The head of Ukraine’s nuclear agency – Energoatom – said the reactors at Zaporizhzhia won’t be restarted until Russian troops leave the site. Last week, the plant’s last reactor was put into “cold shutdown” mode – a safer condition if outside power to the plant was lost again for a prolonged period of time.

• Reuters has a feature on the former deputy spokesman at Zaporizhzhia – who is living in exile and stands accused of collaborating with Russia.

AUKUS

• The UK Defence Journal runs an opinion piece on AUKUS by a staffer at a new self-described non-profit – The Council on Geostrategy – which is a Tory-backed think tank. Needless to say, it’s pretty glowing about the military alliance which the writer deems “a partnership.”

• Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles said the drive to acquire nuclear-powered submarines is “taking shape” with a decision on designs to be announced in 2023.

TPNW

• Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor writes on how 36, mostly European, states engaged in conduct in 2021 that was not compatible with the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons’ ban on assistance, encouragement or inducement of prohibited activities. Read how here.

CND

• Carol Turner’s latest blog post for London Region CND assesses the growth in nuclear tensions over the last six months and what this means moving forward – including CND’s trip to Menwith Hill in October.

UK Nuclear Energy

• Polling conducted by consultancy film Redfield and Wilton Strategies found that voters are almost evenly split over whether they would support the idea of a new nuclear power station in their area. While 36 percent said they would support a nuclear power station, 38 percent actually opposed it. Previous polling in March found the UK public broadly in favour of nuclear power with 42 percent of voters supporting the UK building more nuclear power stations, against 26 percent who opposed. Less people actually want them in their backyard.

• Yorkshire Live reports on a push to open a Rolls Royce factory in Ferrybridge – which would supply parts for the firm’s fleet of small modular reactor nuclear plants.

• The Guardian looks at how rising sea levels and how this could spell disaster for the Sizewell C nuclear plant being touted by the UK government.

Nuclear Energy

• The Bulletin looks at how the US Department of Energy “is once again promoting the recycling of separated plutonium in the fuel of ‘advanced’ reactor designs” despite the process being dubbed “economically uncompetitive.” It also notes that the UK has the “world’s largest stock of separated power-reactor plutonium,” much of which is weapons-grade.

Iran Nuclear Deal

• Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz has likened the Iran nuclear deal to being “in the ER room” as he expressed doubt that the 2015 deal will be revived. He indicated that movement on getting the deal back on track could occur after the US midterm elections in November.

Fukushima

• The Time picks up on a plan to flood a reactor at the Fukushima plant with water in order to retrieve radioactive debris that formed when melted nuclear fuel rods fused with concrete, metal, and other materials in the reactor.