CND Digest: 20th January 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

• CND’s reaction to comments from Boris Johnson, who dismissed the threat of nuclear war with Russia: “Boris Johnson’s government repeatedly showed disdain for international treaties – showcased in the 2021 decision to increase Britain’s nuclear stockpile. Now that the threat of nuclear war is at an all time high, he talks flippantly about this prospect without any consideration for the horrific realities it would entail. Rather than goading Russia, Johnson should drop the cavalier attitude and get real about nuclear disarmament.”
• The Guardian notes the appearance of air defence systems around key government buildings in Moscow.
• It comes as Ukraine’s allies pledged a raft of new military support ahead of a key meeting at Ramstein air base in Germany. Berlin is under serious pressure to “release the Leopards” – their main battle tank – and to give permission (necessary under German export controls) to other countries who have already pledged their stocks of the German-made hardware to Kiev. Poland here.
• Meanwhile, the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog has warned that the world is getting complacent about the dangers the war in Ukraine poses to the country’s nuclear plants.
• The Atlantic Council: Putin’s nuclear blackmail must not prevent the liberation of Crimea.

Royal Navy / AUKUS

• Navy News reports that a new attack submarine design for the Royal Navy will feature a vertical launch system for the the first time. It notes that this will improve interoperability with US systems and open the door for the use of hypersonic missiles. 
• CounterPunch looks at the doubts expressed by US lawmakers over supplying off-the-shelf nuclear-powered subs to Australia – and how the AUKUS pact is based “on shoddy ground.”

UK Nuclear Energy

• A new deadlock be broken by the emergence of ‘cheaper’ thorium SMR technology?
• Work is set to begin on a new marsh harrier wetland habitat as part of the Sizewell C new nuclear power station project.
• The Nuclear Fallacy: Why Small Modular Reactors Can’t Compete With Renewable Energy.
• Potential developers of nuclear power in Wales quizzed by MPs.