CND Press Roundup Wednesday 19th October 2022

War in Ukraine / NATO

• Ukraine has claimed that two senior staff from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant have been kidnapped. The head of information technology, Oleh Kostyukov, and Oleh Oshek, an assistant to the plant’s director, were seized on Monday and their whereabouts are unknown, nuclear agency Energoatom said.

• Sky News uses interactive maps to explain the crisis at Zaporizhzhia and its significance to both Russian and Ukrainian war goals.

• Contanze Stelenmuller of the Brookings Institute writes in the FT that sabotage of critical infrastructure is a more likely Russian strategy than using nuclear weapons.

• Reuters has some analysis of Russia’s policy on so-called tactical nuclear weapons.

• A news item on NATO’s Steadfast Noon nuclear drills is on CND’s website with comment from Kate Hudson.

• Common Dreams also looks at the Steadfast Noon drills.

UK Defence / Trident

• CND is missing from this Morning Star item on the protest against increased defence spending outside the TUC conference yesterday. Although our logo and Daniel Blaney feature in the article’s picture.

• Defence Secretary Ben Wallace along with one of his ministers, James Heappey, have threatened to quit Liz Truss’ cabinet – amid suggestions that her new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt could overturn a planned increase to defence spending.

• Brian Quail has a letter in the pages of The National newspaper on nonviolent direct action against Trident convoys.

New Cold War

• Steve Bell reviews a new study by the Tricontinental Institute on the accelerating drive for war against China and Russia from NATO.

• The Guardian asks if the US is better prepared for nuclear war today than it was during the Cuban missile crisis.

Hypersonic Missiles

• The Mirror picks up on the report that Chinese scientists who have worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory have gone on to work on Chinese military projects like hypersonic missile development.

RadWaste

• The Lincolnite talks to campaigners against the siting of an underwater nuclear dump at the former Theddlethorpe Gas Terminal.

• The Independent follows up on the story of how an elementary school in Missouri became riddled with radioactive waste material – after it was illegally dumped in a nearby landfill half a century ago. The material originated from the processing of uranium in St Louis during the Manhattan Project.

UK Nuclear Energy

• Andrew Blowers reflects on the rise and fall of British nuclear energy.

• It’s been announced that Canadian nuclear firm General Fusion will collaborate with the UK Atomic Energy Authority on nuclear fusion projects.

Nuclear Energy

• Germany’s opposition is pressuring Chancellor Olaf Shultz to extend the lifetime of the country’s three nuclear plants until 2024. Shultz announced this week that the three plants – initially due to be shut down this December – will be extended until mid-April 2023 in the event they are needed to help solve potential energy shortages this winter.

• Time has a piece exploring why Germany has extended their nuclear plants while Reuters has an explainer on how this will be achieved.

• Damage has been detected in the feedwater pumps at the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant in Finland – and will likely delay its start to regular electricity production. The plant has a history of delays, having been supposed to open in 2009.