CND Press Digest: Friday 2nd August 2024
Posted: 2nd August 2024
Nukes in Britain
- House of Commons Library: Since 2006 work has been underway on several programmes that will maintain the UK’s nuclear deterrent beyond the life of the current system. Much of the focus in that time has been on the delivery of a new class of ballistic missile submarine (the Dreadnought class), which are expected to enter service from the early 2030s. However, a decision on replacing the UK’s Mk4/A nuclear warhead was also awaited and work on possible options had been ongoing. After a decision was deferred in 2010, one was widely expected to be taken as part of the Government’s Integrated Defence and Security Review in 2021. In February 2020, however, a US official disclosed the existence of a UK replacement warhead programme, which the Government subsequently confirmed in a Statement to the House. That revelation prompted widespread criticism that a decision appeared to have been taken without an official Government announcement or appropriate Parliamentary scrutiny. The programme is currently in its concept phase (the first phase in any Ministry of Defence procurement project). Details on timeframe and costings are expected to be matured as the programme progresses.
- Nuclear weapons at a glance. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9077/?link_id=1&can_id=3728975d598a0…
Global Nukes
- US DoD: Nuclear Threats and the Role of Allies by Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy Dr Vipin Narang at CSIS.
UK Nuclear Power
- The Guardian: Britain risks repeating the mistakes of the past if delays in rolling out small nuclear reactors persist, the chief executive of Rolls-Royce has said, urging the new Labour government not to pass up the chance to develop a world-leading industry.
- The Guardian: There’s small modular reactors (SMRs), the cut-down versions of a nuclear power plant that advocates argue offer better economies than behemoths such as Hinkley Point C in Somerset. SMRs have been talked about as the coming nuclear technology for years without anybody being wholly convinced they will actually happen. But we may soon be at a point where Rolls-Royce receives an actual order from the UK government.
- Carlisle News and Star: A nuclear industry giant is eyeing a site in the region for a potential £1.3 billion manufacturing unit. Holtec has shortlisted Kingmoor Park in Carlisle as the potential site for a unit for small modular reactors, after a national competition was held. The facility is projected to contribute approximately £1.5 billion in gross value added to the economy of the chosen location, create 3,600 jobs in construction, and create up to 400 manufacturing jobs once operational. Efforts to lure Holtec GB to Carlisle have been spearheaded by the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership and Cumberland Council, as well as the Kingmoor Park Properties Ltd team.
- Suffolk News: Sizewell C secures one million square feet of storage and access space with lease of Orwell Logistics Park, on the A14 just outside Ipswich. The site, owned by BGO, will be the new location of the project’s Freight Management Facility, which will ensure a controlled pattern of deliveries to Sizewell C and enable reduced movements during peak or sensitive hours.
NATO / Europe
- TVP World: Poland and NATO to launch air defense initiative against ‘unpredictable Russia’.
AUKUS / Asia
- Financial Times: China pushes nuclear ‘no first use’ while expanding its atomic arsenal.
- New Zealand Herald: Warnings of ‘catastrophic conflict’ by Australian AUKUS sceptic Hugh White.
Best,
Pádraig McCarrick
Press and Communications Officer
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
