UN Inspectors Arrive at Ukraine Nuclear Plant Amid Fighting
Yesica Fisch and Derek Gatopoulos | Associated Press
A U.N. inspection team arrived at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant Thursday on a mission to safeguard it from catastrophe, reaching the site amid fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces that prompted the shutdown of one reactor and underscored the urgency and danger of the task…As the experts made their way toward the complex, Russia and Ukraine accused each other of shelling the area and trying to derail the visit. The heavy shelling delayed the team’s progress toward the plant.
Iran Seeks Stronger U.S. Guarantees for Revival of 2015 Nuclear Deal
Parisa Hafezi | Reuters
Iran needs stronger guarantees from Washington for the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal, its foreign minister said in Moscow on Wednesday, adding that the U.N. atomic watchdog should drop its "politically motivated probes" of Tehran's nuclear work…Amirabdollahian did not elaborate on "stronger guarantees," but during months of talks with Washington in Vienna, Tehran demanded U.S. assurances that no future American president would abandon the deal as former U.S. President Donald Trump did in 2018.
AUKUS Submarines: A Burden Too Big for Overloaded U.S. Shipyards
Ken Moriyasu | Nikkei Asia
A senior U.S. Navy official has expressed concern that assisting Australia in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines may be too much of a burden for America's overstretched nuclear shipyards. During a webinar at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies last week, U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Scott Pappano, program executive officer for strategic submarines, was asked if an arrangement under AUKUS to help Canberra acquire nuclear submarines could chip away at or pose a risk to America's own submarine plans.
Australian Sailors Will Train on UK Royal Navy’s New Nuclear-Powered Submarine
Brad Lendon | CNN
Australian sailors will soon begin training on the United Kingdom’s nuclear-powered submarines as the defense relationship between Britain, Australia and the United States deepens under the AUKUS agreement, the British government announced Wednesday. “Today is a significant milestone in the UK and Australia’s preparation to confront growing threats to the liberal democratic order, especially in the Indo-Pacific,” Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said as the Royal Navy commissioned its newest attack submarine, HMS Anson, in Barrow-in-Furness, England.
Russia, US Discussing Possible New START Treaty Commission Talks - Interfax
Reuters
Russia and the United States are discussing a possible meeting of their bilateral consultative commission on the New START Treaty, the Interfax news agency quoted Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Wednesday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier on Wednesday there were "signals" on a possible resumption of talks to extend the treaty.
Japan’s Kishida Says He Wants to Reduce Reliance on Nuclear Power as Much as Possible
Peter Landers | The Wall Street Journal
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday he wanted to reduce Japan’s reliance on nuclear power as much as possible, rejecting suggestions that he was seeking a reversal in the government’s basic post-Fukushima policy…Last week, Mr. Kishida prompted speculation that he was upending that policy when he called on a government panel studying green energy to consider including the possibility of new nuclear plants in a report to be issued by the end of the year.