CND Press Roundup Friday 28th October 2022

War in Ukraine / NATO

• Vladimir Putin said that Russian claims of a “dirty bomb” attack were made on his orders, in a televised speech in Moscow. He also took aim at former British PM Liz Truss accusing her of “nuclear blackmail.” Coverage of the speech included The Guardian and The Times.

• Reuters looks at the statements Vladimir Putin has made about nuclear weapons and assesses if they amount to threats to use them.

• The Pentagon said Russia’s nuclear drills are unlikely to be a cover for a real deployment. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February was preceded by war games with Belarus.

• Beyond Nuclear gets some coverage in this article – where the group warned of the dangers posed to Ukrainian nuclear plants.

• The Morning Star picks up on a letter – later rescinded – by 30 US Democratic members of Congress which called for Biden to pursue a more diplomatic solution to end the war in Ukraine.

British Nuclear Testing

• The latest episode of ‘Fallout: living in the Shadow of the Bomb’ – which looks at the legacy of Britain’s nuclear testing in Australia – aired on BBC Radio 4 this morning. You can listen back on BBC Sounds.

Lakenheath

• The Telegraph reports that US B61-12 thermonuclear bombs will be deployed to NATO bases in Europe within weeks – but no reference to them coming to Lakenheath.

AUKUS

• Foreign Affairs has a piece advocating that Japan joins the AUKUS military pact – another sign of mission creep for the pact that was initially touted as a nuclear-powered submarine acquisition deal for Australia but has already expanded to include hypersonic missile development.

• The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has a recent post on AUKUS.

• The Beijing-orientated Global Times covers AUKUS and the recent promise by Australia to increase defence spending – in what it describes as echoing the anti-China strategy shown by the US.

US Nuclear Posture Review

• The Biden administration unveiled the review of its nuclear weapons posture – with submarine-launched cruise missiles introduced under Trump to be scrapped. Washington will also retire the B83-1 gravity bomb but is keeping the Trump-era W76-2, a “low-yield” nuclear weapon. That’s despite the Democrats branding it “unnecessary, wasteful, and indefensible” on the campaign trail in 2020. Additional coverage by Reuters and in The FT.

North Korea

• IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said that if North Korea was to break its 5-year moratorium on nuclear weapons testing – it would be further “confirmation of a program which is moving full steam ahead in a way that is incredibly concerning.”

• Meanwhile, Japan is close to confirming a purchase of medium-range Tomahawk cruise missiles – in part to counter threats from North Korea.

UK Nuclear Energy

• Groups opposed to Sizewell C have vowed to continue their campaign – after the High Court rejected their appeal against the UK government’s decision to approve its construction.

• The National reports that Scottish energy consumers may have to pay for new nuclear plants in England and Wales in an independent Scotland – under Westminster’s new framework for funding the projects. The Regulated Asset Base model generates up-front payments for nuclear firms to construct nuclear plants before they start generating electricity by placing a levy on consumer’s energy bills.

Nuclear Energy

• Australian opposition leader Peter Dutton used his federal budget speech to attack the government for “misleading Australian’s” over its energy strategy and called for embracing nuclear power.

• The French government has directed EDF to “sell less of its nuclear power at prices set by the regulator to smaller rivals than it did in 2022.”

CND / Galstonbury

• Somerset Live covers a recent interview SCRAP Weapons did with Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis.

• CND is mentioned in this recent story by Ham & High – on why a student magazine got banned by a leading school in Hampstead – over a story about British atrocities in Cyprus. John Lesirge, who was a founder of the magazine recalls: “We were told that under no circumstances should we talk about or foster CND (the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) – and our CND badges were taken away from us when we walked through the school gates. And we were threatened with the school not providing good references to colleges and universities.”