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Non-Nuclear States Advance Push for UN Treaty to Ban Nukes

IN THIS ISSUE: Non-Nuclear States Advance Push for UN Treaty to Ban Nukes, Hinkley Point Nuclear Deal Signed as Government Admits Gas Would be Cheaper, Dems Tie Nuclear First-Strike bill to Concerns About Trump, Three Japan Conglomerates Aim to Merge Nuclear Fuel Operations, Russia’s Rosatom Signs 4 Nuclear Deals in 2 Days on IAEA Conference Sidelines, U.S. Government Tied in Legal Knot Over Drone Countermeasures at Nuclear Sites

Published on September 29, 2016

Non-Nuclear States Advance Push for UN Treaty to Ban Nukes

Jamey Keaten | Associated Press

Despite arm-twisting and vocal opposition from nuclear powers like the United States, six non-nuclear countries urged the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday to work toward a "legally-binding" accord to ban nuclear weapons in hopes of ridding them from the planet altogether one day. The countries — Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa — sent world diplomats a draft text that calls for a U.N. conference next year to draw up a treaty banning nuclear weapons, diplomats said. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the text, which is to be considered at the U.N. in New York starting next month.

Hinkley Point Nuclear Deal Signed as Government Admits Gas Would be Cheaper

Emily Godsen | Telegraph

the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant will saddle UK consumers with higher energy bills than building gas power stations, the Government has admitted, as it signed a legally-binding contract to subsidise the £18bn project. An official assessment claimed the Franco-Chinese project to build Britain’s first nuclear plant in a generation represented “value for money”, despite being more expensive than gas, because it would help meet climate change targets. 

Dems Tie Nuclear First-Strike bill to Concerns About Trump

Rebecca Kheel | Hill

Two Democrats are pushing a bill that would bar the president from launching a nuclear strike without prior approval from Congress, tying it to concerns about Donald Trump having control of nukes. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), who introduced the House version of the bill Tuesday, voiced concerns about Trump's comments on nuclear weapons at Monday night's presidential debate.

Three Japan Conglomerates Aim to Merge Nuclear Fuel Operations

Makiko Yamazaki and Kentaro Hamada | Reuters

Three Japanese conglomerates are in talks to combine their loss-making domestic nuclear fuel operations, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said, as the outlook for restarts of reactors following the Fukushima nuclear crisis remains bleak. Hitachi Ltd, Toshiba Corp and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd aim to merge the operations as early as spring 2017, the person said, declining to be identified as the discussions were confidential.

Russia’s Rosatom Signs 4 Nuclear Deals in 2 Days on IAEA Conference Sidelines

Sputnik News

Russia’s Rosatom nuclear energy corporation has signed four bilateral documents ranging from agreements to memorandums of understanding with four countries in just two days on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 60th General Conference in Vienna, Austria.

U.S. Government Tied in Legal Knot Over Drone Countermeasures at Nuclear Sites

Aaron Mehta | Defense News

The Pentagon, the Department of Energy and other government entities are all concerned about the threat commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS) could pose to nuclear sites, but a tangle of legal issues means a solution is still a ways off.

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