CND Press Digest: Thursday 21st December 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

• Royal Lancers win NATO photo of the year.
• Labour leader Keir Starmer has shared his support for NATO as he pays visit to their base in Estonia.
• Senior leaders from the US European Command have met to discuss logistics and sustainment.
• Reuters: There is no Hungarian-Turkish deal with regards to the ratification of Sweden’s bid for NATO membership as it will be up to Hungarian parliament to decide when to vote on this, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a news briefing on Thursday.
• The Express: Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico has declared that Slovakia will block Ukraine’s accession to NATO, citing concerns that it could be the trigger for World War 3.

AUKUS

• Defense News: The fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, soon to be signed into law, should be applauded for including important provisions that enable the trilateral security partnership known as AUKUS between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Unfortunately, however, Congress missed a generational opportunity to ensure enhanced technology cooperation between the United States and its AUKUS partners.

UK Nuclear Weapons

• Nuclear Information Service has a briefing paper on the Devonport dockyard and its role in serving Britain’s submarine fleet.
• More from NIS on the spiralling costs of Britain’s nuclear weapons as outlined in a recent report by the National Audit Office on UK military spending on new equipment.

UK Nuclear Energy

• Disappointing news from the Court of Appeal – where judges upheld the view that the government’s approval of Sizewell C was lawful. Coverage includes Evening Standard, Sky News, and East Anglian Daily Times.
• How has the Hinkley Point C project progressed in 2023?
• Work begins to permanently secure low level nuclear waste vaults. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/work-begins-to-permanently-secure-low-level-nuclear-waste-vaults?...
• Sellafield’s new facility receives first nuclear waste box.

Nuclear Energy

• “Solar and on-shore wind provide cheapest electricity and nuclear most expensive, CSIRO analysis shows. Estimates show small modular nuclear reactors would provide most expensive power and will not be available until 2030.” [Who knew!]
• France plans to build several nuclear reactors in Sweden, according to an agreement signed on the sidelines of the EU’s Energy Council meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.
• EDF eyes Flamanville nuclear reactor fuel loading in March.

China

• China quietly rebuilds secretive base for nuclear tests.In the remote desert where China detonated its first atom bomb nearly 60 years ago, a drilling rig recently bored a deep vertical shaft that is estimated to plunge down at least a third of a mile. It is the strongest evidence yet that Beijing is weighing whether to test a new generation of nuclear arms that could increase the lethality of its rapidly expanding missile force. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/kim-jong-un-north-korea-nuclear-attack-weapons-war-ftcm3w2l5?link…

North Korea

• Kim Jong-un says North Korea ‘would launch nuclear attack without hesitation.’ The North Korean leader made the threat while talking to the military unit which successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Monday, accordingto the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.
• Explainer: How could North Korea use its nuclear weapons?

CND

• More coverage of the Salisbury CND-organised vigil for Gaza.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament