CND Press Digest: Friday 26th April 2024

Nukes in Britain

• The National: How much will the UK’s new nuclear submarines really cost?
• new report published today by George Washington University’s (GWU) Sharon Squassoni.
• New Civil Engineer: Construction workers on the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk will receive “best in class” employment conditions, while 500 will be housed at a nearby Pontins holiday resort.

Nuclear Energy

• The Independent: Nuclear fusion breakthrough overcomes key barrier to limitless clean energy. Two of the key barriers to producing power from nuclear fusion have been overcome, in what scientists say is a major advance towards producing near-limitless clean energy. A team at US energy firm General Atomics achieved a “sweet spot” for operating the next-generation power source within a donut-shaped tokamak reactor.
• China’s quiet energy revolution: The switch from nuclear to renewable energy.There is now a policy dispute about the roles of nuclear and renewable energy in future Australian low emission energy systems. The experience of China over more than a decade provides compelling evidence on how this debate will be resolved. In December 2011 China’s National Energy Administration announced that China would make nuclear energy the foundation of its electricity generation system in the next “10 to 20 years”. Just over a decade later China has wound back those ambitious targets and reoriented its low emission energy strategy around the rapid deployment of renewable solar and wind energy at unprecedented rates.
• Connexion: At least six new nuclear reactors and potentially as many as 14 could be built in France to meet climate change goals and transition to clean energy. Revealed earlier this year in a detailed consultation document, the government’s latest energy policy drops renewables targets and prioritises nuclear. If implemented, six new EPR2 (Evolutionary Power Reactor 2) reactors could be built by 2026, with 9.9 GW of capacity. An additional 13 GW from nuclear power would come later, most likely from eight reactors also of the EPR2 type.

NATO / Europe

• Irish Examiner: Adi Roche warns of nuclear threat from war in Ukraine on Chernobyl anniversary. The world must face the stark reality of a looming global nuclear threat following fresh drone strikes near the Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine, Chernobyl campaigner Adi Roche has warned. “It is a nightmare scenario,” Ms Roche said on the eve of UN Chernobyl remembrance day on Friday which recalls the horror of the 1986 nuclear disaster. But that tragedy could pale into insignificance if Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, is damaged by or as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, she said.
• Reuters: Russia says Polish discussion on hosting US nuclear weapons is dangerous.
• The Times: Belarus has moved combat-ready troops closer to the border with Poland, President Lukashenko said as he warned that a growing stand-off between his country, its ally Russia and the West could end in nuclear “apocalypse”.
• NATO Summit. Policymakers need to prepare now.

• Newsweek: Iran needs ‘one week’ to build nuclear weapon, (a senior Iranian) official claims.
• Haaretz: Why Israel’s counterattack could accelerate Iran’s nuclear program. The technological superiority Israel demonstrated during Iran’s attack a week ago, and its response – which penetrated Iran’s defense systems – will force its leadership to recalibrate strategy

AUKUS / Indo-Pacific

• Asia Times: India aims new Crystal Maze missile at Pakistan’s nukes. Air-launched, Israel-made missile marks a shift from Russian arms and move toward a counterforce nuclear strategy vis-a-vis Pakistan.
• Global Times: China concerned about Japan’s plan to join AUKUS, firmly opposes relevant countries cobbling together exclusive groupings: defense ministry.
• Korea Times: N. Korea says expansion of AUKUS will turn Asia-Pacific region into ‘nuclear minefield’.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament