CND Press Digest: Thursday 16th February 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

• Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko said the only case his country would fight alongside Russia, would be if another country launched an attack against Belarus - however, he is ready to allow Moscow to use his territory for a new offensive against Ukraine. Belarus was previously used as a staging post for the Russian invasion last February.
• NATO intelligence says Russian losses in their efforts to take territory in eastern Ukraine is currently at 2,000 soldiers for every 100 yards gained.
• The Telegraph reports on claims allegedly made by French officials – who said NATO is concerned about the state of the British armed forces and depleted capabilities following donations to Ukraine. A thinly veiled call for more money in the defence budget perhaps?
• A good piece by Sinn Féin MP Chris Hazzard on the impact of the war in Ukraine and the move towards a more militarised Europe.
• Sweden and Finland could drop their joint bid to join NATO - with Turkey still standing in the way by saying Sweden has not done enough to curb Kurdish terrorism.
• But that hasn’t stopped Sweden and Finland from joining 16 NATO members in a new space project that will “transform the way NATO gathers and uses data from space, significantly improve NATO’s intelligence and surveillance, and provide essential support to NATO’s military missions and operations.”
  

British Nuclear Weapons

• British nuclear test veterans will be able to apply for medals recognising their service within weeks, according to Veterans Minister, Johnny Mercer.
• The Telegraph has an obituary of Captain Colin Farley-Sutton, a Royal Navy engineer who served as superintendent of the nuclear facility at Dounreay.

Iraq War

• A gallery of photographs from the 2003 Iraq war protest is live on CND’s website.
• The Guardian has a comment from Stop the War’s Lindsey German on the protest.

UK Nuclear Energy

• An access route to the site of the Sizewell C plant has been created.
• Tourism bosses are challenging EDF - who have commandeered the Brean Pontins holiday park for three years in order to house staff working on the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant. They argue that lodging workers at the site is having a negative impact on the local area by losing thousands of tourists over the period.

Nuclear Energy

• The Independent picks up on the question of why Turkey is building a nuclear plant following last week’s earthquake.
• The US nuclear safety regulator has ruled that the decision to extend the life of the Diablo Canyon nuclear reactor in California is illegal. The revelation follows a petition filed by environmental groups opposed to the plant.
• A pro nuclear article in the Irish Times by a writer who thinks burying the waste in storage facilities like the one found in Finland is the solution.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament