CND Press Digest: Monday 13th November 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

• Newsweek on comments from a retired Russian military official where he outlined a possible way by which Moscow could end up engaging in a nuclear conflict with NATO. https://www.newsweek.com/russian-colonel-predicts-how-nuclear-war-nato-could-begin-1842883?link_id=0…
• Russia raised the alarm on Friday about nuclear waste storage in Ukraine reaching unsafe levels, warning of a high chance of approximately 12 million tons of radioactive waste entering the Dnieper river and groundwater.

Gaza War

• Suella Braverman has been sacked  her handling of protests at the weekend. James Cleverly has moved from the foreign office to take her role, while James Cameron fills his role in a surprise return to frontline politics. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/suella-braverman-sacked-sunak-cameron-cabinet-latest…
• BBC’s live blog from Saturday.  
• The Guardian’s coverage of the day.
• Politico and Channel 4 reports on the far-right trouble on Armistice Day.

Arms Control

• South China Morning Post a summit between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping this week – where sources say both are poised to pledge a ban the use of AI in weapons systems like drones, and in the control and deployment of nuclear weapons. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3241177/biden-xi-set-pledge-ban-ai-autonomous-weapo…

US Nuclear Weapons

• The US Air Force’s new nuclear stealth bomber took its first flight last week.
• Nine of the 12 members of a high-level congressional commission charged with advising on the US’s nuclear weapons strategy have direct financial ties to contractors that would benefit from the report’s recommendations or are employed at thinktanks that receive considerable funding from weapons manufacturers, the Guardian and Responsible Statecraft can reveal.

UK Nuclear Weapons

• The Mirror takes a look inside an abandoned Cold War-era nuclear bunker.
• In the second of two interviews on atomic conflict, the Morning Star speaks to Peace News editor Milan Rai about the popular framing of Britain’s nuclear weapons being for ‘deterrence,’ and to explain his claim that Britain has carried out ‘nuclear terrorism’.

UK Nuclear Energy

• The Stop Sizewell C campaign group has organised an exhibition inspired by its concerns over the development of a new nuclear plant in Suffolk. The exhibition will be held in Aldeburgh at the Lookout from Monday 13 November to Sunday 19 November.
• That’s as reports suggest Centrica has made its first formal moves towards a potential investment in Sizewell C.
• A government report that people living around the Cumbrian coast were exposed to radiation - equating 24 percent of the legal limit – due to eating locally produced seafood. https://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/23913796.cumbria-residents-exposed-radiation-local-seaf…

Nuclear Energy

• The deal to build six small modular reactors developed by NuScale Power in Utah after it failed to get enough support from the groups who would buy their electricity. https://www.science.org/content/article/deal-build-pint-size-nuclear-reactors-canceled?link_id=15&am…

Fukushima

• Nuclear Hotseat discusses the problems with IAEA safety tests of radioactive water released from Fukushima.

North Korea

• The United States and South Korea on Monday updated a bilateral security agreement with the aim of more effectively countering North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament