Burghfield Lockdown has begun:Severe disruption at UK nuclear weapons factory

Burghfield Lockdown at AWE Burghfield, Near Reading, UK - Monday 2nd March 2015

Severe disruption underway at UK nuclear weapons factory with blockading to increase through the morning

From 5.00 am this morning the deadly work of Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Burghfield has been severely disrupted with blockade activity expected to increase through the morning. People from England, Wales, Scotland and across Europe are currently peacefully blockading entrances to the site, just a few miles from Reading town centre. Protesters say they will stay as long as they can to prevent further construction of weapons of mass destruction. Police have not yet made moves to cut the blockaders from lockons but are attending each blockading site around the Burghfield site.

Next year the government is expected to decide officially whether to spend more than £100 billion on a new generation of its Trident nuclear weapons.The blockaders are aiming to raise public and political awareness of the horrendous costs and consequences of nuclear weapons, and to give voice to the majority of the British public who want Trident to be scrapped, not replaced. Nuclear weapons are a key General Election issue, and Burghfield Lockdown marks the start of a month of action organised by the Action AWE campaign.

“It’s time for Britain to join other UN nations in negotiating an international nuclear ban treaty” said Andrew Dey from Yorkshire, one of the blockaders. “We’re not calling for AWE Burghfield or Aldermaston to be immediately shut down. We’re calling for the manufacture and modernisation of nuclear weapons of mass destruction to end. The bases can be used for disarmament purposes, employees need not lose their jobs. The reality of a so called ‘nuclear deterrent’ is that nuclear armed submarines patrol globally – ready to fire 24/7 with the ability to wipe out cities almost anywhere on earth within 15 minutes, at a cost of billions which should be spent on the NHS.”

Nonviolent campaigners from Finland, Sweden, Spain, France and Belgium have travelled to join the blockade. Trident replacement is not just an issue for Britain. State borders would mean nothing if nuclear weapons exploded in an accident or war. “We don’t want to suffer nuclear winter and radiation caused by British or other nuclear weapons. We support Scotland’s right to become nuclear free, and call on the UK to cancel Trident, stop threatening the world with accidental or intentional nuclear disaster, and support negotiations to ban and eliminate all nuclear weapons” said Ruka Toivonen, a blockader from Finland.

Burghfield Lockdown is the latest in a series of escalating protests at nuclear weapons bases in England and Scotland timed to increase pressure on politicians campaigning for election in 2015 and up until the 2016 ‘main gate’ decision on Trident replacement.

A practically achievable treaty banning nuclear weapons is now on the international diplomatic agenda due to initiatives by civil society, the international Red Cross, religious organisations and nuclear free governments. Such a treaty could be in force as early as 2020.

Broadcast quality film footage will be available through the day. Please contact us for more info.

Hi res pics are available. First images are at http://www.actionawe.org/burghfieldlockdown

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Notes for Editors
1. Action AWE is a grassroots campaign of nonviolent actions dedicated to halting nuclear weapons production at the Aldermaston and Burghfield Atomic Weapons Establishments. Action AWE is committed to active nonviolence. Action AWE website, http://www.actionawe.org
2. Operated by a consortium of Jacobs Engineering Group, Lockheed Martin and Serco, AWE Burghfield plays an integral part in the final assembly and maintenance of nuclear warheads for use in the Trident system. In 2011 Peter Luff, the then Minister for Defence Equipment, announced £2 billion of spending for redevelopment of the Burghfield and Aldermaston weapons factories. The total spending on Weapons of Mass Destruction in the UK will soar to over £100bn should the government take the decision to renew Trident in 2016.
3. The UK government has an armed nuclear submarine on patrol and ready to fire at all times, with the ability to wipe out cities almost anywhere on earth within 15 minutes. The UK government has a stockpile of around 225 nuclear warheads, each with eight times the explosive power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, that killed an estimated 140,000 to 200,000 people. Running the Trident nuclear weapons system currently costs £2 billion a year and has not seen any of the cutbacks facing other government spending and public services. The government will vote in 2016 to decide whether to invest in the UK’s Trident nuclear weapon system for another 30 years. Trident is not an “independent” system, but is dependent on technical support from the US.
4. Polls consistently show that well over half of the British public are opposed to the renewal of Trident. The figure appears to be rising, with 79% opposing Trident renewal in a Guardian poll in April 2014. Please see http://www.cnduk.org/campaigns/no-to-trident/opinion-polls(external site).
5. Burghfield Lockdown is being supported by over sixty organisations in Britain and abroad. Find a full list here:http://actionawe.org/topics/burghfieldlockdown/
6. For updates on continuing campaigns, please follow @ActionAWE on Twitter.
7. For more information, or to arrange an interview with those blockading, please call Hannah on 0772 979 7637, Angie on 0745 65 88943, or
Rebecca 0773 336 0955.

Action AWE
….’acting to halt nuclear weapons production at the Atomic Weapons Establishment factories at Aldermaston and Burghfield’…
[email protected]
Phone: 0845 4588 362
http://actionawe.org