In December 2022, debates continued about what NATO’s role should be in Ukraine where Russia is waging a war.

Within the framework of the project Promoting Pluralism and Combating Stereotypes, second workshop was held for civil society representatives, in Marneuli, Kvemo kartli region. Participants were from local civil society organizations and NGOs, as well as local representatives of bigger nation-wide organizations.  

December 5, 2022, marked an opening of the project Promoting Pluralism and Combating Stereotypes, which will focus on three diverse regions of Georgia – Kvemo Kartli, Adjara and Samtskhe-Javakheti. Within the framework of the project, first workshop was held for media representatives, in Marneuli, Kvemo kartli region.

In late November, Ukraine’s all four operational nuclear plants, including the largest Zaporizhya plant, regained connection to the national power grid following a loss of external power earlier, IAEA reported.

The 4^th Tbilisi International Forum for Regional Stability: Nuclear and Radiological Security in the Black Sea Region in Light of New and Evolving Threats and Circumstances was held on 8-9 November 2022 at the Courtyard by Marriott Tbilisi Hotel.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on 23 October that Ukraine was planning to use the so-called dirty bomb - an explosive device laced with radioactive material - in order to later accuse Moscow of applying weapons of mass destruction.

On October 18-21 CCDS board members – Shorena Lortkipanidze and Tamara Pataraia attended first annual meeting of the Black Sea Women in Nuclear Network – Uniting Women, Leading Change, Making Waves – in Valetta, Malta. 

Russia continues waging unprovoked and unjustified war against the sovereign state of Ukraine in September and October 2022, with Russian president making renewed threats of use of nuclear weapons.

In early September, when the IAEA conducted its mission at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, François Diaz-Maurin of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists spoke with Valeriia Hesse, a Ukrainian non-proliferation and international security expert based in Vienna, Austria.

On 1-26 August 2022, the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was held at the UN headquarters in New York.

CCDS board members Tamara Pataraia and Shorena Lortkipanidze took part in the U.S.-Black Sea Nonproliferation Exchange Initiative U.S. Module on 3-15 September 2022. This initiative is implemented by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and supported by the International Security and Nonproliferation Bureau of the U.S. State Department. 

On 22-24 August 2022, CCDS organized the 7th annual Batumi Summer University, which gathered around 40 scholars, experts, young professionals and university students who take interest in international relations, nuclear security and non-proliferation.  

In early July, the Western media have reported concerns over Russia using Ukraine’s Zaporizhya nuclear power plant as a military base to launch attacks on Ukrainian forces and the increased risks to the safety of the plant.

Russia is the first country to have used a nuclear threat in a military conflict since the creation of nuclear weapons. As a result, the risks of a nuclear war have increased considerably.

On 7 July, members of a group of Dutch military experts - Brigadier-General Paul Hoefsloot, Dr Eric Vermetten, Ms Caecilia Van Peski and Mr Gielt Algra visited the  Tserovani Rehabilitation Center.

CCDS facilitated a visit of Dutch military experts to Georgia’s Defence Institution Building School in Tbilisi on 5 July. The head of the school, Ms Tea Nikolaishvili, briefed the guests on the school’s mission, its scope of work and past and future activities.

On 4 July, members of a group of Dutch military experts - Brigadier-General Paul Hoefsloot, Dr Eric Vermetten, Ms Caecilia Van Peski and Mr Gielt Algra, were received by the deputy chair of the Georgian parliament’s Defence and Security Committee, General Vladimir Chachibaia.

On 4 July, members of a group of Dutch military experts - Brigadier-General Paul Hoefsloot, Dr Eric Vermetten, Ms Caecilia Van Peski and Mr Gielt Algra visited the State Service of Veterans’ Affairs.

Ukraine has four nuclear power sites with a total of 15 reactors. Of these, eight are currently connected to the network, including the two at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhya power plant.

With support from the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, CCDS has developed an online course on nuclear security and nonproliferation issues, the first session of which was conducted on 26 May 2022 by Dr Thomas Jonter, Stockholm University professor of international relations.