CND Press Roundup Monday 21st November 2022

War In Ukraine / NATO

• The IAEA warned that the forces behind the shelling of Zaporizhzhia were “playing with fire,” after the area around the plant was rocked by explosions on Saturday and Sunday.

• Reuters has an explainer on the weekend shelling at Zaporizhzhia.

• The Times looks at Russia’s grip on the uranium market as many nations turn to nuclear power as part of a drive from greater energy security: “Supply of uranium is not expected to keep up with demand and Russia has a tight grip on its production — particularly in the conversion and enrichment of uranium, the two-stage process that gives the material its potency as a nuclear fuel. Vladimir Putin has already shown how to wield power by throttling Europe’s supply of gas. Could a similar fate befall uranium?”

• Professor Paul Dorfman speaks to the Express on Russian control of uranium: “The argument goes that nuclear provides a security of supply. In other words, ‘you don’t need to worry about Putin’s gas or the Middle East’s oil’. But this point of view is hugely problematic. There is no question that the whole business about the Russian invasion of Ukraine has turned the nuclear industry on its head. This whole idea of security of supply, that nuclear won’t leave us dependent on foreign problems is false.”

• A US official has said that recent comments by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the recent East Asia summit which emphasised the “irresponsibility” of nuclear threats during a summit in Cambodia, suggested Beijing is uncomfortable with Russia’s nuclear rhetoric.

Lakenheath

• Some coverage of CND’s protest at Lakenheath on Saturday with a preview in East Anglian Daily Times followed by a report , Eastern Daily Press, and  Ekklesia.

Nuclear Test Veterans

• Defence Secretary Ben Wallace will meet Britain’s nuclear test veterans on Monday, to officially recognise for the first time their contribution towards making the UK a nuclear weapons power.

AUKUS

• Emmanuel Macron has weighed in on the AUKUS submarine deal – saying the decision by Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines from the US and UK had put it on course for a “nuclear confrontation” with China. He added that an earlier deal to buy diesel-powered subs from France – which was abandoned in favour of AUKUS – was still on the table.

US Nuclear Weapons

• The National Security Archive has a post on a recently declassified history of US efforts to mitigate the dangers of accidental or unsanctioned nuclear weapons detonation.

UK Nuclear Energy

• A fundraiser set up to support the family of a man who was killed in an accident at the Hinkley Point C construction site has so far reached £70,000.

• Meanwhile, locals living near the Hinkley site have expressed concern about a plan to house 900 construction staff at a nearby holiday camp and bus them to work daily.

• FDI Intelligence has a piece on the British-French deal to build the nuclear reactors at Sizewell C.

Nuclear Energy

• Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith has claimed to the Mail Online that renewables are “destroying the landscape” and that nuclear power is the only way Australia can meet its net-zero targets.

Iran Nuclear Deal

• Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told a security conference in Bahrain on Saturday that the threat from Iran’s nuclear programme is “more advanced than ever before.

China

• The commander of the US Pacific Fleet has said that China has deployed a new generation of long-range ballistic missiles on board its nuclear subs that are capable of hitting the US from its own waters.

North Korea

• North Korea’s Kim Jong Un has vowed to counter US nuclear threats with his country’s own nuclear weapons, during an inspection of new ICBMs on Saturday.

• The G7 have released a statement on the recent North Korean missile launch which called for a “united and robust response by the international community, including the need for further significant measures to be taken by the UN Security Council (UNSC).”