CND Press Digest: Friday 3rd November 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

• The New York Times (paywall) and Reuters (video) on the implications of Russia’s de-ratification of the nuclear test ban treaty.

Arms Control

• A leading but unnamed official from China’s foreign ministry will attend arms control talks with the US next week – the first since the Obama administration.

AI

• Artificial intelligence could pose a risk to humanity on the scale of a pandemic or nuclear war, Rishi Sunak has warned as world leaders gather at Bletchley Park to discuss how to regulate the industry.

Future War

• David Axe in The Telegraph: The US Defense Department believes the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is developing a new Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. That is, a heavy, multi-stage missile that leaves the Earth’s atmosphere and travels around the world at huge velocities before re-entering and descending toward its target at 20 times the speed of sound. Such missiles normally have a nuclear warhead: but this one, uniquely, would be armed with conventional explosives.

British Nuclear Weapons

• Nuclear Information Service reports that AWE Aldermaston and the Devonport Royal Dockyard (DRDL) are to remain under enhanced regulatory attention, following the publication of the Chief Nuclear Inspector’s 2023 annual report.
• NIS: Project Aurora, a new plutonium manufacturing facility at AWE Aldermaston was added to the government’s 2023 list of major projects, and is currently estimated to cost between £2bn and £2.5bn. The facility, which was originally planned as part of the Nuclear Warhead Capability Sustainment Programme (NWCSP) at AWE, will likely replace the current A90 facility at Aldermaston, which was built in the 1990s.

Nuclear Testing

• The Mirror reports how Britain’s nuclear test veterans have been left to organise their own medal presentation ceremonies after the government failed to do so.

UK Nuclear Energy

• The Independent, Evening Standard, and BBC on legal action by Sizewell C campaigners against the government.
• That’s as a temporary water desalination plant, powered with electricity from Sizewell B, is planned to meet the water requirements for the construction of Sizewell C.
• Isle of Anglesey County Council has unanimously approved an extension to planning permission for road improvements to enable the development of a new power station.

Nuclear Energy

• Renew Economy: Is nuclear the answer to Australia’s climate crisis?

Fukushima

• The Daily Mail and Associated Press report on how Japanese consumers are eating more local fish in spite of China’s ban due to Fukushima wastewater.

North Korea

• Reuters: North Korea will increase its military deterrent to ensure its securityagainst a US nuclear arsenal aimed at it, its state media reported on Friday, as it criticised the United States for a recent intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test.
• AP with two reports on China and North Korea  one looking at how Beijing is selling North Korean art despite sanctions on its nuclear weapons programme – and The Bulletin: The climate blind spot in nuclear weapons policy.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament