CND Press Digest: Monday 15th May 2023

Posted: 15th May 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

  • IAEA chief Rafael Grossi is expected to unveil a plan to the UN later this month on protecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
  • British Storm Shadow missiles are already being used by Ukraine against Russian targets, after their supply was announced by Ben Wallace on Thursday. The Telegraph notes they are being used in conjunction with US decoy missiles to help evade Russian air defence.
  • Ivana Stradner of the US think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies calls for more pressure on countering Russian disinformation, while omitting information of her own. On depleted uranium she notes: The Kremlin has even tried to paint the depleted-uranium shells as a form of nuclear escalation. Vladimir Putin threatened that “Russia will be forced to respond accordingly, given that the West collectively is already beginning to use weapons with a nuclear component.” Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu claimed the UK’s decision puts Russia and the West closer to a “nuclear collision.”
  • AP on the upcoming G7 summit in Hiroshima.

AUKUS

  • Tory MP Simon Fell says AUKUS investment will help bring more benefits to the people of Furness.

UK Nuclear Energy

  • The Times looks at the rise of the Green Party across councils in Suffolk but fails to mention any opposition to nuclear power or weapons.
  • A letter to The National on the costs associated with nuclear power and decommissioning.  
  • The Telegraph’s letter pages also run some contributions on nuclear power: one expressing dismay that Rolls Royce have yet to be awarded multi-billion pound contracts from the government for its small modular reactor design – while another is furious that none other than Bill Gates had the gall to apply for an SMR tender.
  • All of this comes as pension provider Nest - who provide pensions for government workers - City AM.

Nuclear Energy

  • South China Morning Post on Russian supplies of highly enriched uranium to China and concerns among some observers that it may be used for nuclear weapons.

Fukushima

  • AP on the planned visit by South Korean officials to Fukushima ahead of a Japanese plant to release radioactive water from the defunct nuclear plant into the sea.

Nakba 75

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