CND Press Digest: Monday 22nd July 2024

Posted: 22nd July 2024

Nukes in Britain

  • Daily Mail: Almost a quarter of Keir Starmer’s Cabinet voted against renewing UK’s Trident nuclear deterrent when Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader. Senior figures including Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Foreign Secretary David Lammy opposed the multi-billion-pound renewal of Trident when Jeremy Corbyn was leader. And they were joined by fellow frontbenchers Louise Haigh, Lisa Nandy, Jo Stevens and Ian Murray in voting against funding it in July 2016, analysis by the Telegraph found.
  • You can watch Saturday’s ITV News Anglia report on the Lakenheath peace campand rally, with interviews with Kate Hudson and members of the Lakenheath Alliance for Peace.
  • LAP press release on the arrest of two activists at RAF Lakenheath on Saturday.
  • Eastern Daily Press: Two arrested during protest at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.
  • Suffolk News: Two women arrested during anti-nuclear protest at RAF Lakenheath.
  • ITV X: Veteran peace campaigners arrested during anti-nuke protest outside RAF Lakenheath.

Global Nukes

  • Foreign Affairs: China’s dangerous nuclear push. To temper Beijing’s ambitions, Washington should threaten to share weapons with Japan and South Korea.
  • Wired: The Pentagon wants to spend $141 billion on a Doomsday Machine. The DOD wants to refurbish ICBM silos that give it the ability to end civilization. But these missiles are useless as weapons, and their other main purpose—attracting an enemy’s nuclear strikes—serves no end.
  • The Bulletin: US diplomat Adam Scheinman on nonproliferation, arms control, and the NPT.

Future War

  • Forbes: Russia’s nuclear-armed spacecraft could supercharge Space War 1.
  • The Bulletin: Humans should teach AI how to avoid nuclear war—while they still can.

Gaza

  • CNN: Israel’s invitation to this year’s atomic bomb commemorations in Japan has sparked a controversy over double standards.

UK Nuclear Power

  • The Ferret: The number of cracks in the core of an ageing nuclear reactor at Torness in East Lothian has risen to 46, prompting warnings that prolonging its operation would be “gambling with public safety”. The UK Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) told The Ferret that the cracks were detected in April 2024 and were “at the upper end of expectations”. The first three cracks were discovered at Torness in February 2022. ONR has previously said that spreading cracks could result in debris inhibiting the cooling of hot radioactive fuel.
  • City AM: Nuclear power is a controversial topic as it is seen by some as a key solution to achieving a carbon-neutral future, while others view it as a potential disaster waiting to happen. With the global population projected to reach 10bn by 2050, the demand for electricity is expected to double at the time when the world is looking to transition away from fossil fuels. This raises the question of how to power the future. In a recent episode of 2050 Investors, the podcast I host for Societe Generale, we explored the contentious issue of nuclear power via a virtual Oxford-style debate between experts from both sides. Nuclear power has a dual nature, serving as the energy source with the highest energy density on Earth and low-carbon footprint while also posing a potentially catastrophic risk due to its ability to alter life at the atomic level.

Nuclear Energy

  • Renew Economy: The big unanswered question about nuclear power in Australia is how much it would cost. The handful of plants completed recently in the US and Europe have run way over time and over budget, but perhaps such failures can be avoided. On the other hand, the relatively successful Barakah project in the United Arab Emirates was undertaken in conditions that aren’t comparable to a democratic high-wage country like Australia.

NATO / Europe

AUKUS / Asia-Pacific

  • Beyond Nuclear: Australia arms up with UK and US help. The following is a statement to be delivered on July 23 at the 2024 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee event in Geneva by Jemila Rushton, Acting Director, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Australia. It was endorsed by a number of groups, including Beyond Nuclear. It has been adapted slightly for style as a written piece rather than oral delivery.
  • Sky News Australia: US must remain engaged with AUKUS and Indo-Pacific ‘regardless’ of who is president.

Best,

 

Pádraig McCarrick

 

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

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