CND Press Roundup Tuesday 15th November 2022

War In Ukraine / NATO

• CIA boss Bill Burns reportedly met with his Russian counterpart for a high-level meeting in the Turkish capital on Monday – although Washington is insisting it is not part of secret peace talks to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.

• The Times: Russia’s test of a nuclear-powered torpedo capable of carrying an atomic warhead 100 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb failed after suffering technical difficulties, US intelligence officials believe.

G20

• Following a meeting at the G20 summit, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping agreed that a nuclear war must never be fought.

Trident / UK Defence Spending

• The UK government is looking to cut defence spending in real terms during this week’s budget.

• Letter to The Times on where Rishi Sunak can make up the budgetary shortfalls: “Why, for example, are the costs of Britain’s nuclear arsenal not up for consideration — £2.8 billion a year plus £31 billion to replace Vanguard?”

US in Britain

• Gloucestershire Live: The US Air Force’s 501st Combat Support Wing has issued the alert to each of the five UK airbases it operates across, RAF Fairford, Welford, Croughton, Molesworth, and Alconbury. Over the course of two days [15-17 November] at these bases, each of the Wing’s 14 squadrons will be participating in un-specified “emergency response exercises.”

Nuclear Posture Review

• Kate Hudson’s latest blog post looks at the recent US Nuclear Posture Review.

• Meanwhile, Joe Biden is under pressure to reverse a decision to cancel the Trump-era’s $10 billion programme to develop submarine-launched cruise missiles  

Assassin Drones

• The Telegraph: Microdrones – the AI assassins set to become weapons of mass destruction. We are entering the much prophesied age of the killer robot – but do we really know what we’re unleashing?

Mayors For Peace

• Salisbury City Council has voted to join the Mayors for Peace network – with Salisbury CND giving a presentation in favour of the decision before the vote.

UK Nuclear Energy

• Some letters to The Observer taking issue with its editorial on Britain investing more in nuclear power.

• Work at Hinkley Point C was halted at the weekend, after a man died following a fatal traffic accident at the site.

• The Independent: Hopes and costs are high for UK’s nuclear energy future. Sites like the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant have become integral to the U.K. government’s “net zero” by 2050 strategy.

• The Independent: Nuclear fusion discovery uncovers strange behaviour of limitless energy source. Even as scientists achieve new milestones in developing fusion power, new questions arise as to how the basic physics of fusion reactions may work.

Nuclear Energy

• NYT: As Europe Quits Russian Gas, Half of France’s Nuclear Plants Are Off-Line. France’s state-backed nuclear operator is scrambling to overcome a monthslong crisis to get as many reactors as possible restarted before winter sets in.

China

• Space Daily looks at China’s nuclear-capable stealth H-20 bomber – which some officials say Beijing is close to introducing.

North Korea

• Speaking after his meeting with Xi Jingping at the G20 summit in Bali, US President Joe Biden said it was up to Beijing to try and convince North Korea from foregoing a new nuclear test – although he was unclear if this was possible.

• Tania Branigan writes on the need for people in the West to do better to understand news coming out of North Korea.

Iran Nuclear Deal

• Reuters: No push for Iran nuclear talks, U.S. envoy says, due to protests, drone sales.