CND Press Digest: Tuesday 13th February 2024

NATO / Europe

• The Guardian: A leading Republican senator said Donald Trump was “simply ringing the warning bell” when he caused global alarm by declaring he would encourage Russia to attack NATO allies who did not pay enough to maintain the alliance, as Trump’s party closed ranks behind its presumptive presidential nominee.
• European leaders call for stronger defence ties after Trump’s NATO remarks.
• Yes, Donald Trump’s Putin comments were unhinged – but he’s right to question NATO’s future, writes Simon Jenkins.
•  Reuters: Turkish counter-terrorism police investigating the militant group Islamic State have detained a Russian citizen working at a nuclear power plant under construction on Turkey’s southern coast, security sources said on Tuesday.
• Newsweek looks at calls from a Polish general for the country to receive nuclear weapons.

Middle East & North Africa

• Reuters and Al Jazerra report on Monday’s decision by the Dutch court to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel over concerns they were being used to violate international law during the war in Gaza.
• Biden joins international calls for Israel writes Nesrine Malik.
• Open letter criticising PEN America’s stance on Israel-Gaza war reaches 500 signatories.
• EU’s Borrell suggests US cut military aid to Israel.
• The Standard, Jerusalem Post report on last night’s Gaza demo opposite Downing Street.
• Declassified UK: Amid the genocide in Gaza, the UK’s Ministry of Defence is hosting six Israeli armed forces personnel and providing “defence-led training courses”

AUKUS / Indo-Pacific

• Asia Times: New Zealand one step closer to joining AUKUS.
• The Telegraph: Boris Johnson backs Canada joining AUKUS military pact. Former prime minister says additional member would strengthen ‘West’s collective defences’ against Russia and China

Global Nukes

• This Telegraph column takes aim at the Doomsday Clock and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

UK Nuclear Energy

• One of Britain’s oldest steelmakers has developed a manufacturing technique that it claims could drastically reduce the time and cost to produce mini nuclear power stations, which have been proposed as one way to bridge the nation’s energy gap. Sheffield Forgemasters has become the first to use the so-called electron beam welding method to produce one of the core parts of a small modular reactor (SMR) at scale.

• The Guardian: MPs have warned that a planned fleet of small nuclear reactors are unlikely to contribute to hitting a key target in decarbonising Britain’s electricity generation, as the government opened talks to buy a site in Wales for a new power station. The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) said that ministers’ approach to developing factory-built nuclear power plants “lacks clarity” and their role in hitting a goal of moving the grid to clean energy by 2035 was unclear.

• The Times: MPs want proof that small nuclear reactors are value for money.

• The UK government has said it is working on making sites available for new nuclear power stations, amid reported talks with the owner of the Wylfa facility in north Wales.

• Proposals to build an underground radioactive nuclear waste site under Holderness are crazy and risks posed by flooding could lead to unthinkable consequences, an expert has claimed.
• Pro-nukers warned coal use would rise as reactors closed in Germany. The opposite happened.

Nuclear Energy

• The Bulletin: Politico reports that congressional promoters of “advanced” nuclear plants are blaming the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as the main obstacle to their deployment. 

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament