CND Press Digest: Tuesday 28th March 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

• Kate Hudson in The Morning Star on the dangers of the UK sending depleted uranium rounds to Ukraine.  
• More from Declassified UK on uranium shells to Ukraine - with the first images of the ammo revealed in an MoD video showing British instructors and Ukrainian tank crews.
• IAEA chief Rafael Grossi visited the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant on Monday - where he said the safety of the plant couldn’t be guaranteed until Russia troops left the site. Accompanying Grossi to the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant, Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of holding the Zaporizhzhia plant hostage.
• Why does Russia want to station nuclear weapons in Belarus?
• Belarus on Tuesday said it invited Russia to deploy nuclear weapons to the country after years of US and NATO pressure aimed at changing its political and geopolitical direction.
• CND’s news item and comment on the announcement that Russia will station nuclear weapons in Belarus.

AUKUS / Indo-Pacific

• The head of Australia’s Council of Trade Unions restated its preference for a “nuclear-free defence policy.” Michele O’Neil added that the ACTU had “a longstanding policy of opposition to nuclear power, nuclear waste and proliferation…We also have a longstanding policy position that supports a nuclear-free defence policy.”
• That’s as New Zealand indicated it may be interested in joining the non-nuclear aspect of the AUKUS pact. Defence Minister Andrew Little said the government was willing to explore participation in Pillar 2 of the pact – which includes AI and quantum computing.
• Asia Times on nuclear weapons cooperation between Russia and China.

Trident

• Lockheed Martin won a $474 million contract for the supply of Trident II missilesand support to the US Navy - with the UK also to benefit from the deal. The contract will run until September 2027.

UK Nuclear Energy

• East Anglian Daily Times on the plan by Sizewell C and Associated British Ports (ABP) to build a carbon capture facility at the Port of Lowestoft.
• The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is reviewing the  processes and timescales behind the demolition of the Dounreay nuclear site – with its operators expected to reveal a significant extension to its decommissioning.  

Nuclear Energy

• More on the dispute within the EU on including nuclear power in its renewable energy targets.

North Korea

• Kim Jong-un has ordered his scientists to generate more weapons-grade nuclear material for a growing range of missiles. It comes as Pyeongyang unveiled a new, smaller nuclear warhead and coincides with the arrival of a US aircraft carrier in South Korea for military drills.

History

• The Guardian on a new documentary exploring the possibility of how peace protests in the US prevented Richard Nixon from escalating the war in Vietnam by using nuclear weapons.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament