CND Press Digest: Tuesday 20th February 2024

Posted: 21st February 2024

NATO / Europe

  • Russia accused of executing prisoners of war BBC: Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov who defected to Ukraine ’shot dead’ in Spain.
  • The Home Office has closed its visa scheme for Ukrainian refugees to join family members living in Britain.
  • BBC: Munich security talks marked by global ‘lose-lose’ anxiety.
  • The Times view on NATO: Dark Days. The warning that Ukraine could be defeated unless given western aid and arms immediately comes as NATO reels from threats in the US to abandon the alliance.
  • FT Opinion (paywall): NATO has no choice but to strengthen its bulwarks against Putin. An ageing Russian ruler surrounded by sycophants may embark on even more reckless moves in coming years
  • The Telegraph: British Army not prepared to respond to war with Russia, warns ex-Trump adviser. Kurt Volker, who advised the former president from 2017 to 2019, said Putin was building an army of 1.5 million – many more than needed for just the conflict in Ukraine.
  • Finland doesn’t need US nuclear weapons on its soil: opinion (paywall): Israel has nukes, it’s time to admit it.
  • Palestinian minister accuses Israel of ‘colonialism and apartheid’ at ICJ.
  • Watch: WHO releases video from inside raided Gaza hospital.
  • US calls for temporary ceasefire in UN text.
  • Tel Aviv protesters says Muslim charity boss.

AUKUS / Indo-Pacific

  • The House of Lords library has published a document about AUKUS – looking at what is included in the pact, its progress to date, as well as some commentary.

Nukes in Britain

  • Labour Outlook: It’s time for the UK-US special nuclear relationship to end.
  • UK Defence Journal report on a visit by a US Navy Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered submarine to Faslane naval base in Scotland.
  • Former Peterborough mayor receives Nuclear Test Medal.

UK Nuclear Energy

  • A decision by UK Government on the future of nuclear development at Wylfa and Trawsfynydd is urgently needed, according to a Senedd Committee.

  • People living near a new nuclear power station are campaigning to stop the creation of a saltmarsh fish habitat. Plans are being put forward by Hinkley Point C to try and create a new fish habitat away from where the power station is being constructed.

  • Drivers in Norfolk are being warned to expect delays on Friday as police escort a 100-tonne abnormal load from Aylesbury to the site of Sizewell C in Suffolk.
  • Yorkshire steelmaker Sheffield Forgemasters says it has made a “global leap in welding technology” capable of substantially cutting the time and cost of producing small nuclear reactors which are at the heart of the UK’s energy strategy.
  • Holyrood Minister says there will be no Advanced Modular Reactors in Scotland.

Nuclear Energy

  • The Mirror and LBC report on a study of radioactivity in the wild animals that live within the Chernobyl Exclusions Zone.
  • Japan’s government has warned Tokyo Electric Power Co. after contaminated water was found to have leaked from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
  • Reuters Exclusive: IAEA chief says Iran’s nuclear enrichment activity remains high, adding he wants to visit Tehran next month to end the “drifting apart.”

Best,

 

Pádraig McCarrick

 

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

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