CND Press Digest: Thursday 17th October 2024

Nukes in Britain

• Navy Lookout: Work has started on the third and final phase of the project to dismantle ex-HMS Swiftsure. As the demonstrator project for the dismantling programme, she will be the first former RN SSN to be fully disposed of. The glacial project to safely scrap the growing fleet of decommissioned boats has finally begun to make some progress at Rosyth in the last few years. Each submarine will undergo a three-step process which involves Low Level Radioactive Waste (LLW) being removed first. The second and most demanding stage involves the removal of the Reactor Pressure Vessel that holds the reactor core and is classed as Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste (ILW). The final stage is to ensure the submarine is completely free of radioactivity and radioactive material as well as removing any remaining elements that are classified. At this point, the submarine can be cut up and around 90% of the remaining material, mainly steel and other metals, can either be reused or undergo conventional recycling.
• BBC: ’My teeth fell out weeks after nuclear bomb test.’ A veteran of the UK’s nuclear testing programme in the 1950s has spoken of losing his teeth in the weeks following a blast. David Freeman, 85, from Norwich, took part in Operation Grapple, carried out close to Christmas Island, in the Pacific Ocean, between 1957 and 1958. “It’s something you never forget – the heat, the blast, tremendous winds,” said Mr Freeman.

Global Nukes

• The Independent: The alarming numbers behind North Korea’s growing nuclear arsenal. North Korea has amassed enough weapons-grade nuclear material to more than double its existing stockpile of atomic weapons, a new analysis by a UK-based think tank has found. Kim Jong-un is already believed to have between 80 and 90 nuclear warheads at his disposal, and likely has enough enriched plutonium and uranium – known as fissile material – to build in this tally significantly, according to a new report by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
• Newsweek: China issues nuclear weapons statement on anniversary of atomic bomb test.
• Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: China’s openness about its latest nuclear missile test shows growing confidence vis-à-vis the United States.
• China File: Where the Malan blooms. 60 years after the first Chinese nuclear bomb.

Middle East

• The Guardian: Iraq militias step up Israel attacks as Iran looks to junior proxies. Analysts suggest proxies in Syria, Iraq and Yemen fighting hidden conflict could be targets for Israel as it considers retaliation against Tehran.

Iran

• MEMO: Iran has enough capabilities, it does not need nuclear weapons, says senior official. A spokesman for the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency has claimed that Iran has enough capabilities and that it does not need nuclear weapons. Behrouz Kamalvandi said on Wednesday that nuclear weapons have no benefit or deterrent against wars in today’s world.

NATO / Europe

• National Interest: NATO is showing off its tactical nuclear capabilities to Russia as a warning. Dozens of NATO aircraft have taken to the skies as part of the largest nuclear exercise of the year. More than sixty fighter jets, strategic bombers, electronic warfare jets, surveillance aircraft, and air tankers from thirteen countries are participating in Exercise Steadfast Noon.  
• The Independent: The UK’s involvement in European air defence and long-range missile development is a sign of the “new determination to work more closely”with continental allies, Defence Secretary John Healey has said.
• Reuters: NATO to make fresh push for common arms standards.
• Middle East Monitor: Turkish public support for the EU and NATO surges after Ukraine war. A new survey shows Turks are increasingly backing membership of western blocs, as regional instability and economic concerns mount.
• Reuters: Zelenskiy pitches victory plan to EU, seeks NATO invitation and military support.
• Politico: NATO pledges money — not membership — as Zelenskyy brings victory plan to Brussels. Secretary-General Mark Rutte isn’t giving a clear answer to Kyiv’s demand for a speedy invitation to join the alliance.
• The Spectator: Ukraine’s NATO fantasy.
• BBC: Are North Korean troops joining Russia’s war in Ukraine?
• Kyiv Independent: North Korea has sent 10,000 soldiers to Russia, Western source says.
• The Guardian, ABC, and Forbes: Ukraine to receive aging Abrams tanks in latest Australian military aid package.

UK Nuclear Energy

• Bloomberg: Apollo Global Management Inc. is in talks with Electricite de France SA to provide financing for a nuclear power plant under construction in the UK, people with knowledge of the matter said. The alternative asset manager has held early discussions about providing a complex mix of equity and debt that may total billions of pounds.
• North Somerset Times: North Somerset’s MP, Sadik Al-Hassan, objects to the creation of a salt marsh in the corner of his constituency, claiming his constituents are being “shut out of the conversation.” The proposed salt marsh at Kingston Seymour, which sits on the boundary with the neighbouring Wells and Mendip Hills constituency, is one of four sites earmarked on the Severn Estuary by EDF as environmental mitigation measures for its construction of Hinkley Point C. The other sites include Littleton, Arlingham and Rodley.
• Building.co.uk: A US start-up has announced plans to build four micro-nuclear power plants in South Wales. Last Energy UK, a subsidiary of Washington DC-based Last Energy, will privately fund the £300m project pending planning and licensing approval from the Welsh government. The firm is conducting site surveys for a vacant 14-acre plot in Bridgend Country, which housed the coal-fired Llynfi Power Station until 1977. Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero, Lord Hunt, said: “New nuclear projects can revitalise communities by repurposing old industrial sites and injecting new jobs and investment.”

Nuclear Energy

• Reuters: The US on Wednesday opened applications for up to $900 million in funding to support the initial domestic deployment of small modular reactor nuclear technology. Up to $800 million will go to milestone-based awards for support of first mover teams of utility, reactor vendor, constructor, end users and others. Up to $100 will spur additional SMR deployments by addressing gaps that have hindered the domestic nuclear industry in areas such as design, licensing, supplier development, and site preparation, the department said.
• Financial Times: Amazon is buying a stake in US nuclear developer X-energy, as part of a collaboration with the company aimed at deploying small modular reactors to provide low-carbon electricity to power its data centres. X-energy said on Wednesday that Amazon had agreed to anchor a $500mn fundraising, which would help the company finance the development and licensing of its new generation of SMRs, which it said are more efficient than large-scale nuclear reactors.

AUKUS / Indo-Pacific

• ABC: New AUKUS submarine servicing and shipbuilding precinct at Henderson to ‘rival resources industry’ in WA.
• UK Defence Journal: UK, U.S. and Australia make progress on counter-hypersonics. Andrew Rosindell, Conservative MP for Romford, recently asked the Secretary of State for Defence about the UK’s progress in developing undersea and counter-hypersonic capabilities as part of AUKUS Pillar 2.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament