Category Archives: Nuclear weapons

Aukus submarine deal: Australia expected to choose UK design, sources say

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Rishi Sunak said to have been ‘buzzing’ about result of 18-month negotiations, part of Aukus defence pact with US

An enthusiastic Rishi Sunak has told ministers to expect a positive outcome next week when he travels to San Diego to unveil a deal to supply nuclear-powered submarines to Australia as part of the Aukus pact with the US.

Multiple sources said they believed the UK had succeeded in its bid to sell British-designed nuclear submarines to Australia, a deal that will safeguard the long-term future of the shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness.

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Australia will put nuclear safety ‘above all else’ as it builds submarines, vice admiral says

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In interview with Guardian Australia, Jonathan Mead moves to allay concerns as Aukus partners prepare to announce detailed plans

Australia will put nuclear safety “above all else” as it begins the “generational challenge” of building and operating nuclear-powered submarines under the Aukus pact, the government’s top adviser has said.

Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead has moved to allay concerns – both at home and across the region – about nuclear safety as Australia, the US and the UK prepare to announce their detailed plans within days.

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IAEA chief qualifies claim that Iran will restore nuclear site monitoring

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Head of UN nuclear watchdog had said Tehran agreed to restore equipment and hand over data

The head of the UN nuclear weapons inspectorate was forced to qualify some of the claims he made about commitments he had extracted from Iran at the weekend about increasing access to UN inspectors.

At his first press conference on his return from Tehran on Saturday, Rafael Grossi said “yes” when asked if Iran had pledged to restore all the cameras and other surveillance equipment that it had removed from its nuclear-related sites. But at Monday’s press conference he qualified this, saying it required further discussion.

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IAEA chief holds ‘constructive’ talks in Iran after uranium enrichment findings

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Rafael Grossi to meet president to ‘relaunch dialogue’ on nuclear programme, says source, following discovery of 83.7% enrichment

The UN nuclear watchdog chief has said he has had “constructive” meetings with Iranian officials in Tehran after the discovery of uranium particles enriched to near weapons-grade level.

The two-day visit by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, comes as the Vienna-based organisation seeks greater cooperation with Iran over its nuclear activities.

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‘Big mistake’: Biden condemns Putin’s withdrawal from nuclear treaty

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‘You’re the frontlines of our collective defense,’ Biden tells Bucharest Nine group of eastern European countries on last day of trip

Joe Biden on Wednesday night condemned as a “big mistake” Russian president Vladimir Putin’s decision to suspend his country’s participation in the last remaining US-Russia nuclear arms control treaty.

The comment came as the US president closed out his wartime visit to Europe, working to shore up partnerships with allies on Nato’s perilous eastern flank – even as Putin was drawing closer to China for help as his invasion of Ukraine neared the year mark.

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Joe Biden says Russian forces in disarray after year of war in Ukraine

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US president issues rallying cry in Warsaw but warns of ‘very bitter days’ ahead in defence of democracy

Joe Biden has claimed Vladimir Putin’s year of war against Ukraine has left behind “burned-out tanks and Russian forces in disarray” but he also warned of “very bitter days” ahead in the defence of democracy in eastern Europe.

Biden issued a rallying cry in a speech to mark the first anniversary of the full-scale invasion, addressing a crowd of 30,000, mostly Poles and Ukrainians, in front of the arches below Warsaw’s royal castleon Tuesday evening.

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Putin says Russia will halt participation in New Start nuclear arms treaty

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Russian president airs grievances against west in speech devoted to first anniversary of Ukraine invasion

Vladimir Putin has said Russia will halt its participation in New Start, the last major remaining nuclear arms control treaty with the US, in a speech devoted to the one-year anniversary of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“They want to inflict a strategic defeat on us and claim our nuclear facilities,” the Russian president said during a speech characterised by grievances against the west. “In this regard, I am forced to state that Russia is suspending its participation in the strategic offensive arms treaty.”

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North Korea launches more missiles as Kim sister warns Pacific could become ‘firing range’

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Kim Yo-jong blames escalation on US forces in the region, as head of South Korea’s ruling party calls for Seoul to have its own nuclear deterrent

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast Monday, South Korea’s military said, as the powerful sister of the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, warned the nuclear-armed state could turn the Pacific into a “firing range”.

The tests prompted the head of the ruling party in South Korea to warn that continued provocations by Pyongyang would only strengthen calls for the South to develop its own nuclear deterrent – a move that would dramatically raise tensions on the peninsula.

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Australia and New Zealand best placed to survive nuclear apocalypse, study finds

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Researchers say food and energy security boosts prospects for civilisation to continue, along with Vanuatu, Iceland and Solomon Islands

The lucky country can count on one more piece of good fortune, with researchers finding Australia – followed by neighbour New Zealand – best placed to survive a nuclear winter and help reboot a collapsed human civilisation.

The study published in the journal Risk Analysis describes Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu as the island countries most capable of producing enough food for their populations after an “abrupt sunlight‐reducing catastrophe” such as a nuclear war, super volcano or asteroid strike.

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North Korea puts on biggest ICBM display yet, with Kim Jong-un’s daughter centre stage

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Kim Ju-ae attends anniversary military parade and banquet at which Kim Jong-un praises ‘strongest army in the world’

North Korea has put on its biggest display yet of long-range missiles at a parade to mark a key military anniversary, as speculation grows that the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, is grooming his daughter as a possible successor.

State media said the nuclear-armed North displayed multiple long-range missiles at a parade late on Wednesday to mark the 75th anniversary of its army, with analysts saying they included what appeared to be a new, solid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

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Penny Wong overruled department by sending observer to anti-nuclear treaty meeting

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Exclusive: FOI documents reveal officials were nervous that going to Vienna gathering would be a sign of Australia wanted to join the treaty

Penny Wong overruled her department and insisted on sending an observer to the first meeting of countries that support a landmark United Nations treaty banning nuclear weapons, new documents reveal.

A trove of documents obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws shows nervous officials warned the foreign minister of “significant” risks if Australia went to the gathering in Vienna shortly after last year’s election.

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Aukus: Biden urged to fast-track research into submarines using non-weapons grade uranium

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US lawmakers are concerned that if Australia’s new nuclear submarines use enriched fuel it could undermine global non-proliferation system

The Biden administration is being urged to fast-track research into submarines that do not use weapons-grade uranium, as four Democratic politicians warn the Aukus deal with Australia makes the task “even more pressing”.

Australia’s deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, arrived in the United States for crucial talks with the defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, on Friday (US time), amid renewed congressional concerns about aspects of the flagship Aukus project.

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Australia must play an active role in ending nuclear arms race, cross-party MPs urge

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Statement calls for Albanese government to join landmark UN treaty banning nuclear weapons

Australian MPs from across the political spectrum have called on the Albanese government to join a landmark treaty banning nuclear weapons, declaring that the weapons “fundamentally undermine our peace and humanity”.

In a statement provided to Guardian Australia, a cross-party group of MPs warned of “escalating nuclear threats and provocations from nuclear-armed states” and said Australia must play an active role to end the nuclear arms race.

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UK set to brand Iran’s revolutionary guards as terrorists after Akbari execution

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Britain and EU expected to coordinate response to hanging of British-Iranian accused of spying

The UK and the European Union are expected to coordinate moves to brand the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation after the execution of Alireza Akbari, a British-Iranian dual national who was lured back to Iran by the security services three years ago.

Akbari, who had been a senior defence figure in reformist governments nearly two decades ago, was hanged for being a spy for MI6, a charge his family deny. A friend of the family said “this is a murder case”, and vowed to prove the innocence of the 61-year-old, including allegations that he had been paid by British intelligence.

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Ex-Russian president suggests Japanese PM should ritually disembowel himself

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Dmitry Medvedev accuses Fumio Kishida of shameful subservience to US after Joe Biden meeting

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has accused Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida of shameful subservience to the US and suggested he should ritually disembowel himself.

His remarks on Saturday were the latest in a long line of shocking and provocative statements from Medvedev, who was once seen as a western-leaning reformer but has reinvented himself as an arch-hawk since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

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Kim Jong-un vows to ‘exponentially’ increase nuclear warhead production

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North Korean leader marks New Year with fresh ballistic missile launch just hours into 2023

Kim Jong-un has vowed to ramp up the production of nuclear warheads and build a more powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), while singling out South Korea as his country’s “undoubted enemy”, North Korean state media reported on Sunday.

In a sign of deepening animosity towards the US, South Korea and Japan, Kim called for an “exponential increase” in the regime’s nuclear arsenal during an address at a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ party that ended on Saturday.

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US voids 1954 revoking of J Robert Oppenheimer’s security clearance

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Biden administration says 1954 decision that ended atomic bomb scientist’s career was part of ‘flawed process’

The Biden administration has overturned a 1954 decision that revoked the security clearance of J Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist credited as a key architect of the atomic bomb who was caught up in the Red Scare over communism in US politics.

The US energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, wrote in a statement published on Friday that the original decision by the Atomic Energy Commission on Oppenheimer’s security clearance had been part of a “flawed process that violated the Commission’s own regulations”.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv ‘working with UN to demilitarise Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant’ – as it happened

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This live blog has now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war here

Before I hand you over to my colleague, Harry Taylor, here are some of the latest snaps to come out of Ukraine today.

The number of oil tankers waiting in the Black Sea to cross Istanbul’s Bosphorus strait on the way to the Mediterranean rose by five to 16 on Thursday, a shipping agency said, according to a Reuters report.

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Vladimir Putin says Russia’s war in Ukraine could be ‘long-term process’

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President says potential of nuclear war more likely but Russia has ‘not gone crazy’ and will not use nuclear weapons first

Vladimir Putin has admitted Russia’s war in Ukraine could turn into a “long-term process” as he sought to defend an invasion in which Russian troops have been forced to retreat and even airbases deep inside Russia have come under attack.

Speaking to members of his personal human rights council on Wednesday, Putin claimed that Russia would not use nuclear weapons first in any conflict, denied that Russian troops were deserting en masse from the field of battle, and claimed he would not need to mobilise more troops, a process that has caused considerable upheaval in Russia.

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Kim Jong-un daughter inspects another ICBM as leader hails North Korea’s nuclear power

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Kim is joined by young daughter on inspection of his forces, increasing speculation that he is paving way for next generation of Kim dynasty

Kim Jong-un has said North Korea intends to have the world’s most powerful nuclear force as the leader was again pictured with his daughter while inspecting troops and an intercontinental ballistic missile.

North Korea’s “ultimate goal is to possess the world’s most powerful strategic force, the absolute force unprecedented in the century”, Kim said in an order promoting dozens of military officers involved in the launch last weekend of a new ballistic missile, state media reported on Sunday.

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