CND Press Digest: Tuesday 25th July 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

• Reuters reports on a fresh complaint by the IAEA on safety standards at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. On Monday, the UN nuclear watchdog said it found anti-personnel mines in a buffer zone between the site’s internal and external perimeter barriers. IAEA head Rafael Grossi said it was the second such time mines had been spotted at the plant.
• The Guardian reports on Russia’s militarisation of the Barents Sea and the dangers posed by increased mining and maritime traffic in the Russian Arctic.

British Nuclear Weapons

• Scottish CND AUKUS
  • Brain Tooley Sky News Australia: Strategic Analysis Australia’s Michael Shoebridge says the government needs to “prove” to the United Kingdom and the United States that Australia is “more all-in” on AUKUS than either of those governments are.
  • Sky News Australia: The Australian Financial Review’s Phillip Coorey says there is a lot of “anti-AUKUS” feeling among the Labor Party’s rank and file.

  Oppenheimer

  • A former US missile operator and film enthusiast writes for The Guardian on the philosophical questions outlined in the film Oppenheimer.
  • The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of Robert Oppenheimer, Kai Bird, has backed a US Senator’s attempt to prevent the use of AI in nuclear weapons. 
  • Review of Oppenheimer in The Morning Star.

  UK Nuclear Energy

  • The government will plough a further £170 million into Sizewell C which they saywill be used “to prepare the Sizewell C site for future construction, procure key components from the project’s supply chain and expand its workforce.” It follows the £679 million announced by the government for Sizewell late last year.

  Iran Nuclear Deal

  • Al Jazeera: Are Iran and the US on the verge of a new agreement?

  Best,

   

  Pádraig McCarrick

   

  Press and Communications Officer

  Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament