CND Press Digest: Thursday 14th December 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

• NATO announced it is increasing its military budget for 2024 by 12 percent to 2.03 billion euros and its civil budget by 18.2 percent to 438.1 million euros.
• US House passes bill banning uranium imports from Russia.
• BBC: Eyes on Hungary’s Orban as EU leaders decide on support for Ukraine.
• Republicans helping Russia by denying Ukraine aid, Biden says.
• Cyberwarfare roars back in Ukraine with attack on mobile operator.

US Nukes in Europe

• The Dutch air base at Volkel appears to have started integration training with the new US B61-12 guided nuclear gravity bomb in 2021, even before the bomb went into full-scale production and entered the US stockpile in 2022.
• It comes amid reports that the B61-12 is now formally in the US stockpile and cleared for operational use on the B-2A Spirit stealth bomber. It’s the first US combat aircraft cleared to employ the advanced B61 variant operationally.

Gaza War

• Declassified UK: How one British business could stop Israeli jets bombing Gaza. UK-made ejection seats are in the cockpit of most Western fighter jets, including Israel’s air force.
• Israel losing global support over Gaza bombing, Biden criticism of Israel highlights mounting unease over Gaza war.
• Gulf states press for two-state roadmap AUKUS
  • Reuters: Australia will spend A$558 million ($366 million) to create a naval nuclear power safety regulator as part of the AUKUS programme to acquire conventionally armed nuclear submarines, a government economic update showed on Wednesday.

  UK Nuclear Energy

  • The Telegraph: Nuclear bosses have accused the SNP’s energy secretary of spreading “shocking” falsehoods about the industry as the Cop28 summit backed “accelerating” the energy source to reduce the world’s climate emissions.

  Nuclear Energy

  • Netherlands, South Korea agree to cooperate on nuclear power, including a feasibility study by Korea Hydro for the construction of a new nuclear plant in the Netherlands
  • Saudi Arabia’s nuclear research reactor is almost complete and the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) is discussing the necessary inspections with Riyadh, the head of the UN watchdog said on Wednesday.
  • Reuters: More than 20 nations vowed to triple nuclear capacity by 2050 at the COP28 summit in Dubai last week, triggering renewed interest and financing in an industry that has been recently overshadowed by renewables in discussions about clean power development.

  Best,

   

  Pádraig McCarrick

   

  Press and Communications Officer

  Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament