CND Press Roundup Tuesday 29th November 2022

War in Ukraine / NATO

• The Bulletin looks at Russia’s ascension to the rotating chair of the eight-nation Arctic Council in 2021 – and the unveiling of an ambitious plan to resurrect an array of toxic material from the sea bed – including two nuclear submarines from the Soviet-era. The plan had piqued the interest from the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development but the plan now lies in disarray since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

• Ukrainian staff at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant who have refused to sign contracts with Russia’s Rosatom, have been denied access to the site, the Ukrainian military has said.

New START

• Russia has pulled out of scheduled New START talks with the US, with neither side giving a reason for the postponement. Officials from both sides were supposed to meet in Cairo between from Wednesday until 6 December in order to discuss the resumption of nuclear inspections.

UK Nuclear Energy

• CND Cymru is among the participants of a two-part special event on 6 December, to mark 40 years of nuclear-free Wales. CND Cymru will host the first part of the event, which will celebrate the occasion when the eight original country councils declared themselves nuclear-free.

• A sovereign wealth fund from the UAE has reportedly expressed interest in taking a stake in Sizewell C. News that Mubadala, whose board includes the owner of Manchester City, is interested in helping fund the plant, comes days before an expected ‘general investment decision’ by the UK government.

• That’s as The Telegraph reports on a £700 million golden handshake from the UK taxpayer to China’s state owned nuclear company, as part of the latter’s formal exit from building Sizewell C.

• Ministers in the Scottish government have pledged to block any plan for Rolls Royce to build a nuclear reactor at the Grangemouth refinery owned by chemicals giant Ineos.

• Vicky Allan writes in The Herald on her scepticism around building a nuclear reactor at Grangemouth.

• French industrial firm Boccard is opening a new factory in north Wales which will bring 200 jobs to the area. Located near the Airbus plant in Broughton, the plant will see the design and manufacturing of piping systems and containers used in the nuclear industry. Read more by the BBC and Daily Post.

• ITV pays a visit to the UK Atomic Energy Authority to look at their developments in nuclear fusion.

Nuclear Energy

• Beyond Nuclear has some new talking points on why SMRs will not be useful in stopping climate collapse.

• Meanwhile, the Indian government has called on the private sector and start-ups to take part in SMR development.

• France is in urgent need of welders, pipe fitters, and boiler makers as nuclear firm EDF struggles to recruit the numbers needed to fix its ageing fleet of nuclear reactors.

North Korea

• South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol has warned of an unprecedented joint response if North Korea goes ahead with a nuclear test, and called on China to do more to contain North Korean missile and nuclear development.