CND Press Digest: Tuesday 6th February 2024

NATO / Europe

• UN nuclear chief says security is still fragile at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
• Orbán boycotts parliament session called to ratify Swedish NATO bid.
• Explainer: Why is HMS Prince of Wales replacing HMS Queen Elizabeth on NATO mission?
• If Europe wants to defend itself, it must build armies that people want to join.

Middle East & North Africa

• Who should we bomb next? Declassified UK on the British government’s role in the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.  
• Apsana Begum MP has secured a Parliamentary debate on humanitarian aid and children in Gaza, which will take place on Thursday 8 February at 1.30pm.  and you can watch here.
• Guardian: Until Israelis and Palestinians see more than a ‘faceless enemy’, there will never be peace.
• Australia’s Anthony Albanese flags recognising Palestinian state could rest on it being ‘demilitarised’. Albanese on Sunday dodged questions regarding when Australia could resume funding to the United Nations agency delivering aid in Gaza, while stating the international community should focus on what happens after the war in the Middle East.
• CNN staff say network’s pro-Israel slant amounts to ‘journalistic malpractice’.

AUKUS / Indo-Pacific

• AUKUS trial advances AI for military operations.

Global Nukes

• Carnegie: Major powers stopped nuclear tests in 1998. That norm is now under threat.
• The Wall Street Journal asks: Could a rogue billionaire make a nuclear weapon? A decade ago, the Pentagon paid a team of experts to study the possibility of an entrepreneur or private company building and selling bombs. Their worrisome conclusions are even more relevant today.

Nukes in Britain

• Scientists for Global Responsibility has a report on the hidden military implicationsof Britain’s nuclear power strategy.  
• The Times runs a column from Magnus Linklater taking aim at SNP policy to get rid of nuclear weapons from Faslane in the event of an independent Scotland.
• The owner of a ‘prepper’ store in Wales tells the Mirror that customers are rushing in to buy supplies over fears of a nuclear war.
• Newsweek and the Express on Russia’s response to the recent reports about the return of US nuclear weapons to Britain.

UK Nuclear Energy

• Suffolk Chamber of Commerce gives its support to the greenlighting of Sizewell C with several chamber members already reaping the rewards by securing contracts and actively participating in the project.
• Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) has countered comments made by Thérèse Coffey MP in support of a nuclear projects in Bradwell.
• New strategic collaboration between University of Leicester and National Nuclear Laboratory links academia and industry.

Nuclear Energy

• Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) do not solve the many problems of nuclear, NGOs say.
• Power Technology looks at the challenges facing France’s nuclear power ambitions.
• Politico: After scrapping nuclear reactors, Germany to spend billions on new gas power plants.
• Nuclear fusion reaction releases almost twice the energy put in. The US National Ignition Facility has achieved even higher energy yields since breaking even for the first time in 2022, but a practical fusion reactor is still a long way off.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament