Previous generations of RAF weapons have now been abandoned but the UK nuclear posture is maintained by a hugely over-powerful and expensive Trident submarine system, using a US missile and UK-built warhead. Warhead convoys depart from the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Burghfield, near its partner site at Aldermaston in Berkshire, and wend their way round country lanes, along A and B roads, until they reach the northbound motorway system. The destination is the Royal Naval Armament Depot at RNAD Coulport not far from the submarine base at Faslane in Argyle and Bute.
Clearly, these convoys are highly visible to all road-users, usually with three seven-axle load-carriers; a fire tender; spare cab; recovery truck; police and Marines escort. Nukewatchers are among the few observers outside government who are aware of the significance of these day and night road transport operations. Their concerns are for the safety of the general public, but also the Ministry of Defence police, civilian police, convoy crew and Emergency Services personnel. The risk of an accident may be low but the consequences could result in radioactive contamination of people, animals, cities, agricultural land and watercourses. Recent research shows that the possibility of a nuclear detonation cannot be ruled out. Breakdowns and accidents do occur and the convoy has been observed getting lost in residential roads around the major towns of Derby and Edinburgh. On the motorway, a high-speed accident involving fire and impact could cause the casing of a weapon to rupture and “jet” plutonium, according to MoD safety guidelines.
In 2004, Nukewatch submitted the Transport section of a ‘Failure of Trident’ Report to a UN Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Conference in New York, listing the following transport failures:
• Highways and motorways are not designed, built and operated to protect nuclear weapons
• Weapons cannot be transported in secret in a democracy
• Weapons out on the domestic highways are in a totally unfamiliar environment and are therefore vulnerable
• Trident convoys are beyond the control of fixed-site operators
• Warhead carriers are not radiation free
• Nuclear transport is the weakest link in the chain of security and safety risks
The 2009 Preparation Committee meeting before the NPT Review Conference in 2010 will be an important opportunity to repeat our assessment that British people are more at risk than anyone else from UK warheads. Similarly, the populations of all nuclear states are at risk from their own nuclear stockpiles. Added to the risk factor is the crippling financial burden imposed by a nuclear weapons’ programme.
Parliamentary Questions are used to raise convoy issues in Parliament and help to keep the MoD accountable for their actions. We discovered that new dual-purpose convoy Truck Cargo Heavy Duty (TCHD) Foden trucks are due to come into service in 2009. Apart from warheads, the new vehicles will transport Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) on purpose-built pallets. Freedom of Information requests to the MoD, from Nukewatch, other NGOs or journalists, have confirmed that warhead servicing to replace tritium gas bottles and neutron triggers is done at Coulport and that the MoD is making efforts to bring AWE into line and manage the convoys better. The National Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) supports Nukewatch and we cooperate with Scottish CND, sharing information and publicising it to a new generation of young people, local councillors, emergency planning officers, MPs, the media and the general public. On security grounds, Nukewatch does not publicise convoy movements when they are on the road; only once they are inside a base. The Nukewatch film ‘Deadly Cargo’, produced in cooperation with professional filmmakers, Camcorders Guerillas, was launched in Glasgow and Oxford before being shown at Glastonbury and other summer festivals. It has been shown in the House of Commons, village halls and alternative cinemas along convoy routes.
A Disarmament Convention to ban nuclear weapons is the route to a much-needed nuclear weapon-free world. But even if there were a Treaty agreed tomorrow, it would take a couple of years for convoys to bring the 120 or so warhead stockpile back from Scotland to AWE. Nukewatch’s recommendation for the safest possible transport process is to reduce the speed from 55 mph to 30mph and to clear the road ahead, as was done on the M1 for the hearse of Princess Diana. This process would enable all warheads to be moved back to AWE Burghfield for disassembly, with no further warheads transported out of AWE, thus removing the nuclear transport risk for good.
Di McDonald is the Southern Co-ordinator for Nukewatch
If you think you’ve seen a warhead convoy, please ring 0845 45 88 365 or 0845 45 88 364 as soon as you can! An electronic action pack accompanies the ‘Deadly Cargo’ DVD, available from our website www.nukewatch.org.uk, where you can also find more information and the latest video clips.
