CND Press Digest: Monday 5th August 2024

Nukes in Britain

• Glasgow Times: Martha Wardrop: ’Nuclear weapons money could tackle climate change.’
• The Telegraph: Britain’s nuclear submarine software built by Belarusian engineers. Fears that coding work outsourced to Russia and its allies could pose national security threat.
• The Telegraph: Ministers urged to carry out urgent defence review after nuclear submarine fleet revelations. Fears that further defence capabilities could have been compromised.
• Labour Outlook: Remembering Hiroshima & Nagasaki as the world draws closer to nuclear war than ever before.

Global Nukes

• ICAN: The impact of nuclear weapons on children.
• Simply Flying: How many nuclear bombs has the US Air Force lost?
• CNN: Nuclear war threat again?
• The National Interest runs an opinion from the Heritage Foundation calling for more nuclear weapons. 
• There they go again: Heritage pushes new nuclear arms race. The report asserts that its proposals are meant to prevent rather than spark a conflict.
• Japan Times: What stands in the way of a nuclear weapon-free world?
• Azer News: US reveals budget for purchase of nuclear weapons.
• The Interpreter: Thinking the “unthinkable” again? Security motivations alone rarely explain decisions to “go nuclear”. Australia’s history on the question is complex.

UK Nuclear Power

• The Telegraph: Rolls-Royce is poised to sell a stake in its mini-nuclear power stations venture as it races to become the first company to deploy the technology in Britain. Tufan Erginbilgic, the chief executive of the FTSE 100 engineering giant, said it was talking to potential investors about its small modular reactor (SMR) business as it looks to raise fresh funding.
• North Wales Chronicle: Residents can still participate in the public consultation regarding an environmental permit variation for an ex-nuclear power plant in Gwynedd. Nuclear Restoration Services Limited (NRS) is proposing changes to the permit for Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station, which closed in 1991.

Nuclear Power

• Observer: Is the dream of nuclear fusion dead? Why the international experimental reactor is in ‘big trouble’. The 35-nation Iter project has a groundbreaking aim to create clean and limitless energy but it is turning into the ‘most delayed and cost-inflated science project in history’ Cost overruns, Covid, corrosion of key parts, last-minute redesigns and confrontations with nuclear safety officials triggered delays that mean Iter is not going to be ready for another decade, it has just been announced.

NATO / Europe

• Poland’s defence ministry has confirmed that a Polish general is being dismissed from NATO’s headquarters at the “request of allies”. It follows a media report that he showed bias in recruitment and was accused of homophobic and racist behaviour.

AUKUS / Asia

• Associated Press: North Korean leader marks the delivery of 250 nuclear-capable missile launchers to frontline units.
• Why is National lying dangerously about Labour’s AUKUS and why we actually need a Pillar 3.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament