CND Press Digest: Thursday 28th September 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

• International regulators are incapable of properly monitoring safety at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, according to a critical dossiercompiled by Greenpeace that is being sent to western governments on Thursday.
• Czech government approves plan to buy 24 F-35 jets.

AUKUS

• DoD acquisition chief seeking regulatory ‘Nirvana’ in crafting AUKUS deal.
• Taiwan security chief says AUKUS, NATO must counter China threat.
• Responsible Statecraft: Can a spiny echidna help Australia avoid cold war with China? A new book by Sam Roggeveen offers a different path for Canberra as it deals with Beijing’s rise.
  

UK Nuclear Weapons

• Labour’s shadow foreign and defence secretaries give their full-throated support for Britain’s nuclear weapons in The Telegraph.

RAF Lakenheath

• New Valley News reports on the Citizens’ Weapons Inspection at RAF Lakenheathas well as Salisbury CND’s local event.

AI

• The Telegraph: Artificial intelligence poses a threat as serious as nuclear weapons, Rishi Sunak has been warned. The Prime Minister is being urged to set up a global AI watchdog reminiscent of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to monitor the use of the technology around the world and prepare for potentially catastrophic scenarios.

UK Nuclear Energy

• Ballymena bus manufacturer Wrightbus is providing four hydrogen buses to the Sizewell C nuclear power site as part of a pilot scheme.

Nuclear Energy

• China expects to greenlight six to eight new nuclear power units a year within the foreseeable future, according to an official at the China Nuclear Energy Association (CNEA).
• Plans for Poland’s first nuclear power plant move ahead as US and Polish officials sign an agreement.

Fusion

• Sky News: Iran launches Noor-3 satellite into space amid Western fears over nuclear threat. The launch could further escalate tensions with Western nations, which fear Tehran’s space technology could be used to develop nuclear weapons.
• Associated Press: Iran says it has successfully launched an imaging satellite into orbit amid tensions with the West.
• Al Jazeera: Why did Iran’s foreign minister want to go to Washington? Hossein Amirabdollahian’s interest in going to US capital does not appear directly linked with talks on nuclear deal.

North Korea

• North Korea has adopted a constitutional policy to “exponentially” expand its nuclear weapons programme amid a “new Cold War”, said the country’s dictator Kim Jong-un. Coverage by The Independent, The Times, Reuters.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament