Construction & MovementAWE AldermastonThe Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston is the UK's nuclear bomb factory. It is responsible for the design, production, maintenance and decommissioning of the UK's nuclear warheads. It works closely with the US on research and development. The Aldermaston Women's Peace Camp(aign) hold regular demonstrations and protests at and about the establishment. Although there has not been an official parliamentary decision to build new warheads, according to documents obtained by Scottish CND in July 2008, new facilities have been constructed at Aldermaston for the design, development and testing of warheads. Yorkshire has close ties to Aldermaston via the Redhall Group, who are based in Wakefield and are involved in the expansion of the site. Faslane The submarines which carry the UK’s nuclear weapons are based at Faslane on the Clyde, near Glasgow. The Trident warheads are stored at Coulport, next to Faslane. Basic maintenance work and inspections are carried out at Coulport and materials (including warheads) are regularly transported by road back and forth between Coulport and the nuclear warhead factory near Aldermaston. However, the majority of Scottish people do not want nuclear weapons in their country and the Scottish Government voted against Trident replacement in 2007. There is a permanent peace camp at Faslane which has been running since 1982. From October 1st 2006 until October 1st 2007 groups and individuals across Yorkshire took part in Faslane 365 a year long campaign of non-violet direct action to establish a continuous blockade of the base. Nuclear Convoys Nuclear warheads are carried by trucks on the roads of the UK between the Trident submarine base and the nuclear warhead factory, a distance of hundreds of miles. They carry no radiation warning symbols and local Councils are not informed of when they will be travelling through their area. The warheads in the lorries contain plutonium and other deadly radioactive materials. With each lorry carrying up to 8kg of plutonium, any accident involving an explosion or fire could lead to a radioactive plume spreading for miles, poisoning a huge area for thousands of years. In Yorkshire the convoys travel on the A1(M) through Doncaster, Pontefract, Wetherby, Ripon and passing near to Leeds & York. Nukewatch monitors them and if you want to get involved please contact us. Devonport Trident submarines are sent to Devonport dockyard in Plymouth for major maintenance work where there are 8 obsolete nuclear powered submarines permanently stored. There are plans to send all obsolete nuclear powered submarines to Devonport where they will be cut up for storage. Devonport is in the heart of Plymouth which has a population of 250,000. The dockyard is surrounded by homes and schools. The refit work and proposals to cut up submarines risks the possibility of radioactive contamination. There have already been a number of accidents at the dockyard and the possibility exists for others to occur. See CND's briefing on the issues
|
Campaigns