CND Press Roundup Thursday 29th September 2022

War in Ukraine / NATO

• Poland’s foreign minister, Zbigniew Rau, called for NATO to conduct a “devastating” conventional attack against Russia, if the Kremlin followed through on its latest threats of a nuclear attack in Ukraine. The US has also warned Russia that there will be “catastrophic consequences” in the event of a Russian nuclear attack.

• The Telegraph, meanwhile, assesses what the US means by “catastrophic consequences: “In the event of their use, a proportionate military response would be to target an airbase or intelligence hub in Crimea, according to William Alberque, Director of Strategy, Technology, and Arms Control at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Equally, ‘a couple of strikes in Russia’ plus a larger number in the Russian-held areas of Ukraine would be appropriate, he told the Daily Telegraph. Of course, the US wouldn’t want to ‘go it alone’ and would instead look for military support from nations such as the UK and France, as in the strikes against Libya in 2011.”

• Joe Biden has requested the US Congress to set aside $35 million to prepare for a possible nuclear attack in Europe.

• And Reuters asks if the Russian nuclear threat is a bluff or a true possibility.

Nuclear Energy

• Germany has officially delayed the shut-down of two of its ageing nuclear plants – as part of efforts to resolve energy shortages this winter. The country’s three remaining plants were due to be closed at the end of 2022 but the reactors at Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 will now be kept in standby mode in case they are needed to generate power this winter.

UK Nuclear Energy

• The Times reveals that former Energy Minister and Tory MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan held three unrecorded meetings last year with representatives from China General Nuclear (CGN). Trevelyan was recently promoted to Transport Secretary by Liz Truss – the latter planning to announce Beijing as a threat to national security.

• Nuclear firm EDF is mulling a delay to the closure of the Hartlepool and Heysham 1 nuclear plants – due to shutin 2024 – as the company’s priority shifts to generating as much output from current infrastructure as possible.

• West Somerset Council has waived its right to take over the site of the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in the eventuality that construction isn’t finished.

• 70 jobs will be created at the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Derby. The facility costs £20 million.

• A feasibility study of a new nuclear power plant in Essex – Bradwell B – is to be conducted, despite a high likelihood that it will be scrapped.

• Campaigners opposed to the development of Sizewell C in Suffolk have slammed polling that suggests locals are in favour of the new nuclear plant. Pete Wilkinson, chair of Together Against Sizewell C (TASC), said the survey represented “less than half of one percent of the 246,000 people in east Suffolk”. He cited a TASC petition against the plans, which collected 20,000 signatures, along with 1,000 people who attended two recent demonstrations by protesters at Sizewell.

Iran Nuclear Deal

• Roger Boyles writes in The Times arguing that Iran is not interested in a renewed nuclear deal, diplomacy has failed, and the west needs a plan to react to this reality. The alternatives?: “We should be encouraging closer ties between Israel, Egypt and the Gulf states. Some hard-headed containment diplomacy around Iran is called for. Tehran feels it is the victim of the West and seeks out Putin as a potential protector. But the opposite is the truth: Iran has got used to having its own way. When a country is so close to building a nuclear arsenal and has so many enemies, it is no good just tickling its tummy. The days of starstruck statecraft are over.”

Fukushima

• The UN’s nuclear watchdog said that Europe’s energy crisis will be helped by Japan restarting its nuclear reactors. Japan is a major importer of Liquefied Natural Gas (LGN) and thus getting more energy from nuclear will make more LGN available on the market for European countries to snap up.

CND

• CND’s fringe event at the Labour Party conference got a mention in the Guardian’s preview article and in the Liverpool World. The fringe also got a review of sorts in The Express.