CND Press Digest: Friday 28th July 2023

Posted: 28th July 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

AUKUS

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was confident a deal for the US to sell nuclear powered submarines to Australia was on track, ahead of talks between defence and foreign ministers of the two countries on Friday.

Drones

The US Air Force has applied to Britain’s air regulator to run military drone flights out of its base at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. The application seeks to change the rules to allow RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-9 Reaper drone flights from 2024. Read ITV’s report and concerns from Drone Wars UK.

Space

The Telegraph reports on the programme to use a nuclear-powered rocket that would cut the travel time to Mars.

British Nuclear Weapons

Dr Stuart Parkinson writes for GCOMS on the spending commitments outlined in the recent MoD Defence Command paper, what it means for public spending priorities and its particular impact on nuclear weapons.
Delivery of nuclear reactors to power a new fleet of Trident submarines on the Clyde has been branded as “unachievable” for the second year running by a UK Government watchdog.

Nuclear Testing

The Mirror reports that the medal for Britain’s nuclear test veterans has been minted.
Meanwhile, the US Senate has endorsed a major expansion of a compensation program for people sickened by exposure to radiation during nuclear weapons testing and the mining of uranium during the Cold War.
The LA Times has an article on the Hispanos and Native American residents of the New Mexican test site for the first nuclear bomb.

UK Nuclear Energy

EDF said Thursday that the risk of further delay to two nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point C has risen because of construction setbacks. The French nuclear firm had previously warned of a possible 15 month delay to the plant’s construction and is now seeking financial solutions to cover cost overruns.
Britain’s specialist rail freight operator, Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS), has secured government funding to lead on the development of a new transport package which will support a new generation of nuclear reactors.
Jacobs has been chosen to manage the acquisition of over 100 new remotely operated robots for the Windscale Laboratory in West Cumbria.
The boss of Sizewell C has written to The Metro on nuclear power.

Nuclear Energy

EDF swung to profit in the first half of the year, rebounding from a record loss in 2022 thanks to higher electricity prices and nuclear reactor output.

Fusion

UK nuclear fusion firm Tokamak Energy and Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation have agreed to collaborate on the development, implementation and scaling-up of commercial fusion energy in Japan and worldwide.

North Korea

Chinese and Russian officials stood shoulder to shoulder with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as they reviewed his newest nuclear-capable missiles and attack drones at a military parade in the capital, North Korean state media showed on Friday.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament