CND Press Digest: Monday 6th October 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

• Financial Times (paywall): Why Vladimir Putin toned down his nuclear rhetoric.
• Exclusive satellite imagery captures radiological exercises in Belarus, concerning analysts that Russia will deliver nuclear weapons.
• Western officials broach with Kyiv issue of possible peace talks with Moscow, NBC reports
• The Guardian: Zelenskiy denies he is under pressure to enter peace talks with Russia.
• The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO): Is there an end to the war in Ukraine?

Nuclear Testing

• Russia said Sunday that its new nuclear submarine, the Imperator Alexander III,  successfully tested a Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile.
• Putin criticised as he withdraws Russia’s ratification of nuclear test ban treaty.
• The Mirror: Fears are mounting that a North Korean nuclear blast is imminent, after a secret trail was found linking the country’s biggest concentration camp to its bomb test site.
• Watch: Is Russia’s nuclear treaty walk-back a worry?

US Nuclear Weapons

• The Daily Mail reports on the US development of the B61-13 nuclear bomb - noting it has 24 times the power of the one dropped on Hiroshima.

Gaza War

• A minister in Israel’s cabinet has been suspended by Benjamin Netanyahu after suggesting that a nuclear weapons could be used on Gaza. Coverage from The Guardian, Politico, The Times, and The Bulletin.
• Al Jazeera reports on the US military build up in the eastern Mediterranean in response to the Gaza War.  
• CND Chair Tom Unterrainer has written a guest blog for the CND website on what is happening in Gaza and the threat posed by Israeli nuclear weapons.
• The Guardian: Pro-Palestine rallies aren’t ‘hate marches’ – they’re an expression of solidarity, helplessness and frustration.

AUKUS

• Grant Shapps and his Australian counterpart Richard Marles recently the Rolls Royce plant in Derby to meet the first batch of Australian trainees who will work on the AUKUS programme. https://www.forces.net/services/navy/aukus-grant-shapps-and-australian-defence-minister-visit-nuclea…
• Meanwhile, shadow Defence Secretary John Healey visited Barrow to talk about Labour’s commitment to AUKUS and British nuclear weapons.
• National Interest: Is Australia really all-in on AUKUS?

UK Nuclear Energy

• Campaigners opposed to the building of a new nuclear power plant near Sizewell in Suffolk are waiting to see if they have won the latest stage of a legal battle with the Government. You can watch back proceedings here.
• The leader of the Plaid Cymru-led Isle of Anglesey council has called for certainty around the future of Wylfa nuclear power station.

Nuclear Energy

• An Arkansas man has been arrested after driving through the security fence of a nuclear plant and attempting to hit a security guard.
• Spain’s business lobby calls for extension of nuclear power.

North Korea

• Reuters: The United States, South Korea and Japan have agreed to launch a high-level consultative group on countering North Korean cyber activities that they say finance its unlawful weapons programs, South Korea’s presidential office said on Monday.

Iran Nuclear Deal

• US House easily passes bill to harden sanctions on Iranian oil.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament