CND Press Digest: Tuesday 13th June 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

• Russia’s modernised and repaired heavy nuclear-powered missile battlecruiser the Admiral Nakhimov will return to service by the end of 2024.
• NATO started its largest-ever air force deployment exercise on Monday. The German Air Force-led “Air Defender 23” exercises involves approximately 250 military aircraft from 25 NATO and partner countries including Japan and NATO applicant Sweden.
• NATO.
• Lithuania’s foreign minister has called for NATO countries to improve their defence plans for the Baltics, especially since Russia announced its plan to move nuclear weapons to Belarus from July.

Nuclear Weapons

• CND’s website about SIPRI’s assessment which shows the number of nuclear weapons available for use grew in 2022.
• ICAN has backed the idea of an international body akin to the IAEA to monitor the development of Artificial Intelligence.

AUKUS

• Watch: Former Labor MP Michael Danby says the “socialist left” in Australia will be suffering from a “conflict of disloyalties” stuck between defending or opposing the AUKUS agreement.
• The Strategist: AUKUS needs trilateral technology safeguards, not just capabilities.

UK Nuclear Energy

• Professor Peter Cameron writes in The Herald: Going nuclear is inescapable if we want a just transition.

Nuclear Energy

• Beyond Nuclear with some talking points on why nuclear power has no place in climate solutions.
• Russia’s state nuclear firm Rosatom said last week that more than two decades worth of efforts to rid the Arctic of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel from decommissioned submarines will now come to an end. Bellona fears Rosatom is leaving undone a raft of crucial projects initiated with international support.

Fukushima

• TEPCO has started testing new facilities built to help with its plan to release radioactive water from the defunct Fukushima nuclear plant. Fishing bodies, who met with Japanese government officials over the weekend, remain opposed to the plan.

• Iran Nuclear Deal

  • A US official