CND Press Digest: Monday 21st August 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

• “The possession of nuclear arms is today the only possible response to some of significant external threats to security of our country,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a magazine interview published over the weekend.
• The Telegraph: NATO may be about to sell Ukraine short – and make itself irrelevant.
• Bloomberg: Hungary, Turkey to Consult on Sweden’s NATO Entry Bid This Fall.
• The Telegraph and Politico on Germany’s decision to step back from spending 2% of its GDP on defence.

AUKUS

• Guardian Australia: The Albanese government has announced a $1.7bn spend on hi-tech missiles which the defence minister, Richard Marles, said are needed “to hold our adversaries further from our shores and keep Australians safe”.
• Financial Review: US set to sell missile systems to Australia in $1.5b deal.

UK Nuclear Energy

• The Times: One of the world’s biggest engineering and defence companies, KBR, has made a potential $5 billion (£4 billion) takeover approach for the giant business that decommissions nuclear waste at Sellafield and is helping to build the Hinkley Point C nuclear reactor in Somerset. KBR, formerly Kellogg Brown & Root, has expressed an interest in bidding for Critical Mission Solutions, an arm of the $16 billion engineer Jacobs. CMS employs thousands of people across the UK, both in nuclear infrastructure and projects such as procuring equipment for the armed forces.

Nuclear Energy

• The governor of New York on Friday blocked the release of radioactive water into the Hudson River. The discharge was planned as part of the decommissioning of the the Indian Point nuclear plant.
• That’s as the energy company responsible for leaking radioactive material from its plant in Minnesota, said it will build and underground barrier to keep affected groundwater from seeping into the Mississippi River.
• France is one again shutting down nuclear reactors due to high temperatures and hot weather.

Fukushima

• The leader of a Japanese fisheries industry group told officials on Monday he was “greatly concerned” about the discharge of treated radioactive water set to be released into the sea from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant.
• Reuters, Japan Times, and Kyodo News report on Japanese PM Fumio Kishida’s visit to the Fukushima plant, where he declined to give an exact date for the water release. 

Iran Nuclear Deal

• AP: An oil tanker long suspected of carrying sanctioned Iranian crude oil offloaded its cargo near Texas on Sunday, tracking data showed, even as Tehran has threatened to target shipping in the Persian Gulf over it.
• Al Jazeera on China’s role in ongoing Saudi-Iranian rapprochement and calls from Beijing for the resumption of 2015 nuclear deal.

Nuclear War 

• Whether you’re sheltering from nuclear war or trying to avoid infection in a Last of Us-style or zombie apocalypse - this underground bunker has everything you need to stay safe and protected in Missouri.

Korea

• South Korean authorities reported on Sunday that suspected North Korean hackers have targeted a joint US-South Korea military exercise taking place this week. However, they stated that classified information has not been compromised.
• The US has stated its concern over reports that Russia and North Korea are cooperating on nuclear missile technology.

China

• The Biden administration has tightened controls on the export of materials and components for nuclear power plants to China, saying it would ensure the items were used only for peaceful purposes and not the proliferation of atomic weapons.

CND

• International Times: In Remembrance of Nagasaki, City of Lancaster, August 9th 2023.
• A print of Banksy’s CND Soldiers is on the market for anyone with a spare £30,000 stuck down the back of the couch.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament