CND Press Digest: Wednesday 18th September 2024
Posted: 18th September 2024
Nukes in Britain
- World Nuclear News: The UK’s Royal Navy is exploring the use of nuclear propulsion for large surface ships, with the Ministry of Defence issuing a Request for Information seeking insights from the defence industry on the feasibility of adding Generation-IV nuclear reactors to its current and future fleet of ships. “The Royal Navy is seeking information regarding the integration of Generation-IV nuclear technologies for surface ship employment. Exploring scopes for alternative energy paradigms, the Royal Navy is gathering information on various energy solutions for powering large surface ships,” the Request for Information (RFI) summary says.
- UK Defence Journal: In response to a written Parliamentary question, the UK government has reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining a credible nuclear deterrent as part of its obligations to NATO. The question, raised by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 2nd September 2024, asked what discussions the UK government had held with NATO allies about the importance of retaining a “minimum credible deterrent” for as long as global conditions require. The official response came from Lord Coaker, the Minister of State for the Ministry of Defence, on 16th September 2024. Lord Coaker stated: “Since 1962, the UK has committed its nuclear deterrent to the defence of our NATO allies. The nuclear deterrent deters the most extreme threats to our national security, keeping the UK and our NATO allies safe.”
Global Nukes
- The Mirror: Donald Trump claims ‘nuclear weapons’ are biggest threat to car industry in bizarre rant.
Nuclear Testing
UK Nuclear Power
- The Engineer: For Hinkley Point C to deliver on its environmental claims, the project must install its mandated Acoustic Fish Deterrent (AFD) system, writes Fish Guidance Systems’ Lewis English. Can we truly call energy “clean” if it causes significant environmental harm? This question becomes particularly pertinent when examining the situation at Hinkley Point C, a new generation nuclear power plant under construction in Somerset.
- A new nuclear development at Wylfa is ‘vital’ for the wellbeing and prosperity of Anglesey’s communities, says the local authority. The Isle of Anglesey County Council is calling on the UK Government to offer a firm commitment and timescales for a Wylfa development. The council said it shares the Nuclear Industry Association’s (NIA) concerns about the industry’s decline in Wales. Anglesey has seen a 57% drop in jobs linked to the nuclear industry – the worst of any UK constituency – despite Wylfa being recognised as the best site for a new nuclear development in Europe, according to the NIA. Jobs in the nuclear industry in England have risen by 65%. The NIA’s 2024 Jobs Map shows there are currently 827 people working in the industry in Wales, down from 1,346 in 2014. Ynys Môn has seen the biggest fall, with only 321 jobs now compared to 750 in 2010. https://businessnewswales.com/prosperity-of-anglesey-communities-relies-on-firm-commitment-to-nuclea…
- East Anglian Daily Times: A Suffolk wildlife and conservation charity has called for “greater transparency” from Sizewell C in relation to its wildlife compensation schemes. Earlier in September, developers of the new Sizewell C nuclear power station announced a new partnership with the nature restoration movement WildEast to promote the return of land to nature across the region. In announcing the partnership, Sizewell C flagged up how it had pledged to return a large part of the land to nature during the construction of the new power station.
Nuclear Power
- The Telegraph: Washington fears Russia is sending large quantities of enriched uranium to China in an effort to evade sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine. Chinese imports of enriched uranium from Russia, the world’s largest exporter of the radioactive metal, soared in 2022 and 2023, according to data released by the World Bank. The US is now investigating whether the uranium, used as nuclear power plant fuel, is then being imported to America. China only started to send vast quantities of enriched uranium to the US after Congress passed a ban on the import of the metal from Russia after the Ukraine invasion.
- Stephen Wing: A global race is on to see who will host the next nuclear disaster, and as always the USA is determined to take the lead. On June 18 the Senate passed the so-called ADVANCE Act, pledging billions of taxpayer dollars to the most expensive, inefficient, and toxic form of energy ever devised. Thanks to the $37 billion expansion of Plant Vogtle, Georgia Power ratepayers like me know what that means: record-breaking profits for utility companies, record-breaking power bills for the rest of us. Lavish federal subsidies under the last four presidents and a grandiose “nuclear renaissance” P.R. campaign have failed to reverse decades of decline for nuclear energy. No surprise – it’s an obsolete, dangerous, and financially untenable technology that no private investor or insurance carrier will touch. Calling nuclear power “clean” and “safe” would be laughable if it weren’t such a grim joke. Radioactive contamination plagues it at every step, from carcinogenic uranium mining to routine radionuclide releases at every operating reactor to the mounting backlog of radioactive waste. “Disposal” is a euphemism; the waste will remain deadly to life for tens of thousands of years, longer than the entire history of civilization, with no safe storage option in sight.
- Reuters: EDF said on Tuesday its teams were shutting down the new Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor to carry out technical checks after the plant triggered an automatic halt for the second time this month.
- Daily Mail: Radiation levels mysteriously spike along Norway’s border with Russia - as it’s claimed activity has been seen at test site for Putin’s ‘Flying Chernobyl’ nuclear missile. Traces of radioactive Cesium-137 have been measured along Norway’s border with Russia, it was revealed today. The radiation levels are ‘clearly’ higher than normal, authorities have said, and the cause of the mysterious spike is unknown. One fear is that it could relate to Russia’s Pankovo test site for the Burevestnik – a nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile – on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago
Fukushima
- Asahi Shimbun: Once again, Tokyo Electric Power Co. has been forced to halt its project to collect melted nuclear fuel debris at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. On Sept. 17, TEPCO could not confirm camera images of equipment being used to remove the debris from the No. 2 reactor of the plant, bringing a stop to the project, the utility said. TEPCO had planned to pick up melted fuel debris from the bottom of the reactor’s containment vessel that day. The cause of the problem is under investigation, and there are no prospects of soon resuming the fuel-collecting operation, TEPCO said.
Iran
- Foreign Policy: What would Iran do with the bomb? A nuclear-armed Tehran would affect not just the region but also the great powers.
NATO / Europe
- The Independent: JD Vance says US could drop support for NATO if Europe tries to regulate Elon Musk’s platforms.
- The Times: Moscow beholden to Beijing in anti-western axis, says NATO chief.
AUKUS/ Indo-Pacific
- South China Morning Post: Why China’s ‘no first use’ policy requires more nuclear weapons. Adequate deterrence requires China to have sufficient nuclear warheads to resist an enemy first strike and ensure second-strike capability.
- Reuters: AUKUS in talks with Canada, Japan, NZ, say leaders. AUKUS partners Australia, Britain and the United States said on Wednesday they are in discussions with Canada, Japan and New Zealand about potential collaboration on defence technology projects.
Best,
Pádraig McCarrick
Press and Communications Officer
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
