CND Press Digest: Tuesday 30th May 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

• Ukraine’s defence ministry suggested on Friday that Russia may simulate a nuclear accident at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as part of plans to thwart a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
• Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko suggested that if other countries wanted to join the Russia-Belarus union, “there would nuclear weapons for everyone.”
• That’s as one official in Minsk said on Sunday that the West gave Belarus no choice but to have Russian nuclear weapons deployed in the country.
• Russia has hit back at Japan’s decision to impose sanctions, fQdKAZOnQ2h1k9ieL-D4oIdQC9QMlU3-zWrqMhUQ7MVC_f6Bq5HFfXMBf4RyezCG6d2nVZ_EtCZB2U4ZSmCohcG7xSeAEiGx7kGu228F4gJpT3rOOqwSkpcu2C1fRvY22WYHm25fEG8H2aG9AlAB6VHLLqZiGI-eC9XdFfeLHHcDr9kqx53hjZT7lcVPeqaZxtHYVfOOJl3gUhUUy4nAOJleiyesLOspml1fOE2mJrVYdwxaydUkPUI6KjCT5ID3GxXy0RTsmThxbK7WpCtiMQrsZqcmh/3wm/vWeHYYUOQ9WEuFOaajbfcA/h4/D7b7Nq-RVmvdjX7WlZsEzoL5iaTzoEBqnhBoYLMA138”>The Associated Press visits the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology where its scientists have been busy patching up the nuclear research site from repeated Russian strikes.
• Bellona’s April 2023 Nuclear Digest has lots of articles on Russian and Ukrainian nuclear issues.

G7

• Kate Hudson writes for People’s Daily Online on the recent G7 summit in Hiroshima and how the group’s recent statement on nuclear disarmament was riddled with contradictions.

AUKUS

• The Guardian Australia reveals: Australian officials have told foreign diplomats that the AUKUS submarine plan is “expensive” and not “easy to replicate”, as part of an effort to play down concerns about the risks of other countries racing to do the same, a newly released tranche of documents reveals.

China

• Blog post from Ian Fairlie on atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in the 1950s and 1960s.

UK Nuclear Energy

• Oxford University’s Professor Wade Allison has a pro-nuclear energy opinion piece in The Telegraph suggesting there is nothing to fear from radiation.
• The Telegraph also runs an article on the challenges facing the new head of Rolls Royce and the need to cut costly side bets at the company - which could mean its nuclear power technology gets licensed out.

Nuclear Energy

• A clean energy transition means moving away from nuclear power.

Fukushima

• VIDEO: Expert says dumping Fukushima water a retrograde action.
• From launch its first spy satellite in June with the aim of monitoring US activities.

Iran Nuclear Deal

• Reuters: Iranian media IAEA over the presence of uranium particles.

• Pat Gaffney pays tribute to Bruce Kent during last week’s Concert for Peace.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament