CND Press Digest: Monday 10th June 2024

Nukes in Britain

• Tribune has an interview with atomic bomb survivors, Toshiko Tanaka and Ogawa Tadayoshi, conducted during their visit to London with Peace Boat.
• The Spectator: There are some decent arguments in favour of unilateral disarmament. So it’s a pity then that Carla Denyer did not make any of those when she appeared on LBC to give a car-crash interview earlier today. The Green co-leader decided that the best way to convince the British people to get rid of their Trident submarines at this election was to liken nuclear armageddon to, er, knife crime. Host Lewis Goodall began by asking Denyer whether ‘We would be less of a target if we didn’t have nuclear weapons?’ pointing out that ‘Poland doesn’t have nuclear weapons, it’s still a target/’
• BBC: Nuclear disarmament of the UK is something “we all should be aiming for”,according to Plaid Cymru’s leader Rhun ap Iorwerth. But he said the UK’s defence force should be “well-funded”, able to “play their part in defending ourselves in peacekeeping roles” and ensures the welfare of military personnel after they leave service. His comments come after Conservative minister Penny Mordaunt said in a general election debate Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin would doubt Labour’s willingness to use nuclear arms.
• Bright Green: Labour’s commitment to the UK’s nuclear arsenal has been branded an ‘obscene and immoral waste of money’ by the Scottish Green Party. The party’s external affairs spokesperson Ross Greer went on to say that nuclear weapons are a ‘moral evil’ and urged voters who support a nuclear-free world to vote Green. Greer said: “Nuclear weapons are a moral evil and an obscene and immoral waste of hundreds of billions of pounds. It is a vast money pit that could be far better spent eradicating poverty, tackling the climate crisis and transforming public services like the NHS.

Global Nukes

• Reuters: The United States may have to deploy more strategic nuclear weapons in coming years to deter growing threats from Russia, China and other adversaries, a senior White House aide said on Friday.
• The Guardian: Guterres warns humanity on ‘knife’s edge’ as AI raises nuclear war threat. UN secretary general makes plea for nuclear states to agree on mutual pledge not to be first to use nuclear weapons.
• Daily Sabah: Can any country survive without nukes?
• Quillette: Apocalypse Never. Contra the critics, the advent of nuclear weapons has made the world far safer.

UK Nuclear Energy

• The Telegraph: Inside rural French site teaching Britain how to dispose of nuclear waste. Labyrinth of tunnels in Champagne is forerunner for £53bn under-sea facility off coast of Cumbria or Lincolnshire.
• An anti-nuclear campaigner has hit out at a claim made by Highland MSP Edward Mountain that people in the region want nuclear power.
• The Telegraph: An Italian energy start-up is pursuing plans to build 20 mini reactors across the UK, as it seeks to capitalise on the country’s nuclear power expansion. Newcleo is aiming to build a fleet of so-called mini-nukes on up to six sites in Britain, all of which will be situated near energy-intensive industries.

Nuclear Energy

• The Irish Times: Ireland should consider small nuclear reactors to achieve zero-carbon energy by 2050, engineers’ think tank urges. Small modular nuclear reactors may prove to be viable, cost-effective and necessary if economy is to decarbonise, Irish Academy of Engineering report finds. Ireland should prepare for the possibility of using small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) to achieve a zero-carbon energy system.
• Daily Star: Inside ‘red zone’ Fukushima nuclear power station training facility with ‘Fallout vibes’. Eerie footage captured by urban explorers provides a rare glimpse inside Fukushima’s exclusion zone in Japan where time stood still after a deadly earthquake in March 2011.

AUKUS / Indo-Pacific

• Japan Today: South Korea, US to discuss allied nuclear response amid North Korea tensions.
• East Asia Forum: New Zealand eyes joining AUKUS despite China’s warnings.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament