CND Press Digest: Monday 17th June 2024

General Election 2024

• UK Defence Journal: The Green Party has pledged to dismantle the UK’s nuclear weapon stockpile in its general election manifesto.

Global Nukes

• CND quoted in the Morning Star’s coverage of ICAN’s report on global nuclear weapons spending.
• Declassified UK: Britain spends £12,000 a minute on nuclear weapons.
• The Guardian: Global spending on nuclear weapons up 13% in record rise. States are on course to spend $100bn a year, driven by a sharp increase in US defence budgets.
• AP: Nuclear-armed nations are deepening their reliance on their nuclear weapons, watchdog finds.
• The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has launched its annual assessment of the state of armaments, disarmament and international security. Key findings of SIPRI Yearbook 2024 are that the number and types of nuclear weapons in development have increased as states deepen their reliance on nuclear deterrence.
• Euronews: The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) reported a €10 billion increase in global spending on nuclear weapons in 2023 compared to 2022.
• Euronews: Diplomatic efforts to control nuclear arms also suffered major setbacks amid strained international relations over the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in its annual yearbook.
• The Times: President Putin could order the use of a tactical nuclear weapon if Russia’s army is routed in Ukraine, the head of Kyiv’s national security council has told The Times. Oleksandr Lytvynenko’s comments came after G7 leaders warned at a summit in Italy that any use of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons by Russia would be met with “severe consequences”.

Space

• Scientific American: What happens if a nuke goes off in space?

Military Spending

• Financial Times: Global defence groups hiring at fastest rate in decades amid record orders. FT survey shows leading US and European companies in sector looking to recruit tens of thousands this year.

UK Nuclear Power

• The Times: UK risks missing out on nuclear supply chain, Rolls boss warns. Britain failed to capitalise on its lead in offshore wind and is in danger of repeating that with small modular reactors, Tufan Erginbilgic says. The boss of Rolls-Royce has issued a stark warning that Britain is at risk of missing out on creating a homegrown industry for mini-nuclear reactors, repeating a failure to capitalise on its lead in offshore wind, if the first projects are not approved before the end of the year.
• Press & Journal, Times: John Swinney’s opposition to nuclear power is “anti-science”, the trade body representing the civil nuclear industry has said. The Nuclear Industry Association said the First Minister’s stance is “hopelessly ideological” and will cost billions in investment.

Nuclear Power

• Bloomberg: Bill Gates said he’s prepared to plow billions of dollars into a next-generation nuclear power plant project in Wyoming to meet growing US electricity needs.

NATO / Europe

• The Telegraph Exclusive: NATO in talks to deploy more nuclear weapons.Stoltenberg insists bloc must show its nuclear arsenal to the world and gives stark warning about threat from China.
• Reuters: NATO in talks to put nuclear weapons on standby, boss tells UK’s Telegraph.
• The Telegraph: Putin’s nuclear arsenal is crumbling. Ukraine can take it out for good. Ignore Russian threats of a tactical nuclear strike. The European deterrent is strong enough even to keep a tyrant like Putin in line.
• The Spectator: Patience is running out with NATO in the Baltic states.
• Former Defence Secretary Liam Fox writes in the Telegraph: The EU could be about to cripple NATO. Brussels’ obsession with “strategic autonomy” could prove disastrous.

Middle East & North Africa

• Israel Hayom: Can Israel strike Iran successfully?
• MEMO: The recent surge in Iranian public support for nuclear weapons, as revealed by the IranPoll survey, can be significantly attributed to the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the perceived actions of Israel.
• The Telegraph: Britain, France and Germany condemn Iran for accelerating uraniumenrichment.

AUKUS / Asia-Pacific

• Forbes: China’s nuclear weapon stockpile is growing faster than any other country,report says.
• Foreign Affairs: What are China’s nuclear weapons for?

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament