UK’s Nuclear Weapons

Anti-nuclear protesters demonstrate at West Berkshire Council

Anti-nuclear protesters demonstrate at West Berkshire Council

Reporter: Jane Meredith Reporter Email: [email protected] ANTI-NUCLEAR protesters picketed West Berkshire Council’s (WBC) offices yesterday (Wednesday), waving protest placards to highlight concerns about nuclear emergency planning arrangements at AWE Aldermaston. The protest, by members of the Nuclear Awareness Group (NAG), was timed to co-incide with a mock emergency exercise in relation to (AWE) Aldermaston, situated on the outskirts of the large town of Tadley and also close to Aldermaston village. AWE manufactures and maintains the warheads for…

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AWE protesters stage Remembrance Sunday vigil

AWE protesters stage Remembrance Sunday vigil

By Helen Morton A REMEMBRANCE vigil was held outside the gates of the AWE Aldermaston site last Sunday by a group of protestors. Women from the Aldermaston Women’s Peace Camp, AWPC and Women in Black Against War, held the silent vigil outside the main gates of the factory at 11am for 15 minutes. Hazel Makepeace, of AWPC, said: “Our 15-minute silent vigil outside AWE is an annual event to remember all those lost, bereft, disabled…

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AWE criticised after radioactive substance found in Aldermaston stream

THE Atomic Weapons Establishment has been criticised after a radioactive substance was found in Aldermaston Stream. AWE was served with a formal warning letter by the Environment Agency following the detection of increased levels of tritium – a radioactive form of hydrogen – in the stream. It has emerged this week that the warning letter was sent in August after investigations were conducted to establish why unusual levels of tritium had been detected in the…

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Nuclear weapons factories placed under ‘special measures’ by government nuclear safety watchdog

By Nuclear Information Service Date: 6 November 2013 The factories which build and maintain the UK’s nuclear weapons are among five nuclear sites which require an “enhanced level of regulatory attention” because of the risks they pose, according to the government’s nuclear safety regulator. The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) sites at Aldermaston and Burghfield are listed as safety priorities in an assessment published by the Office for Nuclear Regulator (ONR) as part of its annual report for 2013. …

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Ministry of Defence publishes list of submarine base nuclear safety incidents

By Nuclear Information Service Date: 26 October 2013 A power supply failure to submarine berths, leakage from a tap left on in a radioactive waste tank, melting of an ice plug, and a loss of electricity caused when steam valves were mistakenly closed are among a series of unexpected events which have resulted in a string of nuclear incidents and near misses involving Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet over the last five years. The catalogue of errors was…

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Command & Control, by Eric Schlosser

Command & Control, by Eric Schlosser

From famed investigative journalist Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, comes Command and Control a ground-breaking account of the management of nuclear weapons A groundbreaking account of accidents, near-misses, extraordinary heroism and technological breakthroughs, Command and Control explores the dilemma that has existed since the dawn of the nuclear age: how do you deploy weapons of mass destruction without being destroyed by them? Schlosser reveals that this question has never been resolved, and while…

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Ministry of Defence releases information on Successor submarine design contracts

By Nuclear Information Service Date: 8 December 2013 The Ministry of Defence has released a list of fifty contracts currently in place for the development of the new ‘Successor’ Trident replacement submarine that is intended to replace the UK’s current Vanguard class nuclear weapon submarines. The list was published by Philip Dunne, Minister for Defence Equipment, Support, and Technology, in response to a written Parliamentary Question asked by Paul Flynn MP. The list of contracts gives an insight into…

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Nuclear scare at Navy submarine base after ‘unbelievable’ failures

Nuclear scare at Navy submarine base after ‘unbelievable’ failures

Double defects left vessels without vital sources of coolant for their reactors, despite earlier warnings and incidents SAM MASTERS SUNDAY 6th OCTOBER 2013 A major nuclear incident was narrowly averted at the heart of Britain’s Royal Navy submarine fleet, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. The failure of both the primary and secondary power sources of coolant for nuclear reactors at the Devonport dockyard in Plymouth on 29 July last year followed warnings in previous years of…

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ICAN Special Edition HLM Newsletter

ICAN Special Edition HLM Newsletter

  At the first ever high-level meeting on nuclear disarmamentlast week, a resounding call for banning and eliminating nuclear weapons was made. The advocacy work by ICAN campaigners in the past weeks resulted in a growing recognition of the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons. In an effort to regain some control over the discourse, a few nuclear-armed states– the United States, France and the United Kingdom – tried to dismiss new initiatives like the Oslo conference, the…

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Short film made during AWE Burghfield Fast: 6th to 9th August 2013

Ken Loach

“Spending £100 billion on replacing Trident is a catastrophic folly. I’m sure I am one of many who support the those, like Action-AWE, who campaign actively and imaginatively against it”

– Ken Loach

John Hurt

".....the government has pledged to rebuild a new generation of British nuclear weapons at enormous cost and at a time when social services budgets including those for health and education are being drastically cut. Having nuclear weapons doesn't make us safer, it just brings the possibility of nuclear conflict ever closer. We need to protect this planet not put it at even more risk of destruction. We all have a voice so please use yours and join me in supporting ACTION AWE." John Hurt
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World in Chains: The Trident Links


A collection of essays & articles linking nuclear weapons and issues creating the biggest problems of the world today - economy, climate, health, safety & security and more....