CND Press Roundup Friday 14th October 2022

War in Ukraine / NATO

• Britain’s press takes aim at comments made by Emmanuel Macron – that France would not respond in kind to a Russian nuclear attack in Ukraine. The Times likens the move to Macron breaking rank, while the Telegraph quotes UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who said Macron was “revealing his hand” to Putin

• Reuters looks at how NATO will respond to upcoming nuclear drills by Russia. NATO will also run their own drills next week with Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg saying the bloc won’t be intimidated by Moscow and will be monitoring closely.

• Defence Editor at The Telegraph Con Coughlin writes that nuclear threats are all defeated Putin has left.

• This AP report features in the Daily Mail with an explainer on the effectiveness of iodine tablets. Meanwhile, Finland has reportedly ran out of iodine tablets after health officials called for people to stock up amid the growing nuclear tensions.

Iran Nuclear Deal

• France has warned Iran that the transfer of drones to Russia for military use in Ukraine is in direct violation of the terms of the 2015 UN resolution that led to the nuclear deal.

Trident

• A defence of keeping nuclear weapons appears in the letters page of The Herald, where apparently as long as there are dictators in the world, the West needs to keep its nuclear weapons.

• Former CND Chair Marjorie Ellis Thompson is in the Edinburgh Evening Post on a recent trip to Faslane by UK defence minister Alec Shelbrooke – where he attacked the SNP’s position on scrapping Trident.

Cuban Missile Crisis

• The Bulletin runs a piece on the anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis and how 60 years on the world faces a new wave of nuclear tensions.

UK Nuclear Energy

• The BBC has a glowing report of the 1,000+ apprentice jobs that have been created at Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in Somerset.

• The head of Sheffield Forgemasters told the Yorkshire Post that his firm has received increased interest in nuclear power. “We’ve been pivoting our strategy towards the green economy, and given what we do, things like civil nuclear are very attractive to us,” David Bond said.

Nuclear Energy

• The Economist covers the problems with France’s nuclear reactor fleet – with maintenance and output issues likely to continue into the new year.

• Japan is considering increasing the lifetime limit of its nuclear plants past 60 years, as the country grapples with an energy shortfall. Legislation could be in front of the National Diet by next year.

Nuclear Waste

• The Guardian reports on Australia’s radwaste problem with the government saying that new waste cannot be built up and will work with locals near a proposed waste facility.

• Some reviews of Joshua Frank’s book Atomic Days, which tells the story of Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state – the most toxic place in America. Read in Truthout and on antinuclear.net.

CND

• CND features in this piece on the design history of symbols, and has a picture of the CND office on Holloway Road – albeit when it was painted black instead of the green it is today.

Armageddon

• Following on from Joe Biden’s warnings of nuclear Armageddon, CounterPunch looks at some apocalyptic films.