CND Press Roundup Wednesday 14th December 2022

War in Ukraine / NATO

• Kremlin spokesperson Dimitri Peskov has denied that Russia has deployed heavy weapons at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, adding “this can easily be confirmed by the IAEA staff who are there day and night.” Peskov’s comments were in response to remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron that a deal was close to removing the artillery from the site.

• The Mirror exclusively speaks to former FBI agent Ali Soufran on Iranian support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While Tehran has been dealing with sustained domestic unrest, Soufran says Russia could offer nuclear expertise to Iran in exchange for advanced weaponry like missiles.

Nuclear Disarmament

• The Asahi Shimbun has an editorial on the state of nuclear disarmament in 2022 and how Japan’s government should encourage an open debate on how to achieve it. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had previously said that maintaining and strengthening the NPT regime is the “only realistic path” to nuclear disarmament.

Indo-Pacific

• Taiwan said Tuesday that China sent 29 nuclear-capable bombers into the country’s air defense zone. The flights follow a recent visit to Taipei by a senior Japanese minister to discuss the deepening of security cooperation.

Fukushima

• Euronews has an extensive report on the Japanese plan to dump millions of gallons of radioactive water from the defunct Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.

Iran Nuclear Deal

• IAEA inspectors are expected to visit Iran within the coming days, as part of efforts to end an impasse on unanswered questions about unexplained traces of uranium at undisclosed nuclear sites.

Fusion

• US Department of Energy scientists announced their breakthrough on fusion energy Tuesday – noting that the practical use in a reactor is still decades away.

• The Telegraph continues its obsession with nuclear in its editorialclaiming Britain is in a prime position to exploit the above-mentioned development – adding these reactors could be up and running by the mid-2030s! Of course, this needs lots of government support and funding.

• A collection of companies have come together to develop a high-tech laser industry in Australia – and aim to explore the opportunities of nuclear fusion.

• Thankfully Reuters has a more measured reaction to most of the reporting on the US fusion experiment – noting the time-scale, cost, the massive size of fusion reactors, and the environmental cost of building such reactors – if the technology does come to fruition.

Oppenheimer

• Film Director Christopher Nolan has shocked fans after saying he has recreated the first atomic bomb test for his film Oppenheimer – without using CGI. Here’s hoping it wasn’t an authentic reproduction of the Trinity test!