CND Press Digest: Wednesday 7th June 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

• The Washington Post with an opinion piece on the start of Ukraine’s summer offensive.
• The Guardian on yesterday’s dam collapse and how it is the worst ecological disaster in Europe since Chernobyl.
• Reuters on the impact of the flooding from the dam’s collapse for local villagers.
• Ukraine warns that Russia may be plotting to target the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, after it accused Moscow of being responsible for Tuesday’s collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam.
• Financial Times: A nuclear incident following the breach of Ukraine’s Kakhovka dam in Ukraine is “highly unlikely” despite the loss of water supplies that are used to cool nuclear fuel at the nearby Zaporizhzhia power plant, said nuclear scientists and the international body that oversees atomic energy.
• Ukraine on Tuesday called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the collapsed dam and called on the IAEA’s Board of Governors to discuss the incident and demanded new international sanctions on Russia, and in particular on the Russian missile industry and nuclear sector.
• The IAEA on Tuesday said the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant – located upstream from the dam and reservoir – has enough water to cool its reactors for “several months” from a pond located above the reservoir. The nuclear watchdog’s boss, Rafael Grossi, called on both Ukraine and Russia to ensure nothing was done to undermine the pond’s integrity.
• F-16s provided to Ukraine can “accommodate” nuclear weapons and risk further escalation of the conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested on Monday.

AUKUS

• Reuters on the recent Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) report claiming China leads research in 19 of the 23 technologies set out in AUKUS.

Nuclear Energy

• Al Jazeera on Oliver Stone’s new love for nuclear power.
• Japan’s parliament has voted through legislation to allow for the lifetime of nuclear reactors to be extended beyond their maximum of 60 years.

RadWaste

• France 24 takes a look inside Finland’s underground nuclear waste dump.

Renewables

• develop nuclear reactors and power grids for use in space exploration for NASA and the US Department of Defense.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament