CND Press Digest: Monday 4th March 2024

NATO / Europe

• Finland’s new president says Finland must have real nuclear deterrent.
• Germany spills British military secrets to Russia. The Kremlin intercepted callusing off-the-shelf video phone technology in one of Berlin’s worst security breaches since the Cold War.
• West’s dithering over Ukraine could spark nuclear arms race, Poland warns. Foreign Minister says allies will seek new ways to defend themselves and autocrats will be emboldened.
• Putin’s bluffing on nukes (for now), says top NATO official. “We do not see any imminent threat of Russia using these weapons,” said military alliance’s deputy secretary-general.

Middle East & North Africa

• Hamas delegation joins mediators at Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo.
• US military aircraft airdrop thousands of meals into Gaza in emergency humanitarian aid operation.
• The Guardian: Gaza airdrops might not be necessary if Israel faced more pressure on aid.
• The Guardian: The US is enabling mass slaughter in Gaza – Europe can act to change that.

AUKUS / Indo-Pacific

• The US and South Korea begin large military drills to boost readiness against North’s threats.
• AUKUS eyes defense tech collaboration with Japan, report says.

Global Nukes

• Operation Tamouré: the only time a French Air Force Mirage IV strategic bomber dropped a live nuclear bomb.

Nukes in Britain

• SNP ministers are to set out proposals for the armed forces in an independent Scotland, including the removal of nuclear weapons from the country. Angus Robertson, the external affairs secretary, will launch a new policy paper today focused on an independent Scotland’s “place in the world”. More in the Times.
• BBC: A veteran of the UK’s nuclear testing programme in the 1950s has been presented with a medal at his home in County Down.

UK Nuclear Energy

• The Observer takes a look at the communities resisting plans to build an underground nuclear waste dump in northern England.
• Plans for new Sizewell nuclear station discussed at Leiston.

Nuclear Energy

• Bloomberg: Across the US and allied countries, owners of left-for-dead uranium mines are restarting operations to capitalize on rising demand for the nuclear fuel.
• The Japan Times: Six months after Japan first began releasing treated water from the meltdown-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, the issue continues to overshadow Tokyo’s relations with China.
• A new report says melting ice sheets and rising seas could disturb waste from US nuclear projects in Greenland and the Marshall Islands. More in the Daily Mail.
• Belgium to use urgent procedure status for nuclear phase-out law.
• UN nuclear watchdog head urges development banks to fund new nuclear projects. Rafael Grossi says World Bank and Asian Development Bank ‘out of touch’ with modern attitudes to atomic energy.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament