Anger as Nuclear Convoy Goes Through Edinburgh

Activists today expressed anger that the UK Ministry of Defence had chosen to transport six, fully armed nuclear warheads along the Edinburgh Bypass just one day after the new Parliament was sworn in. Citizens Weapons Inspectors from the Nukewatch network tracked the warhead convoy from the Atomic Weapons Establishment, Burghfield (50 miles west of London) to RNAD Coulport (35 miles north-west of Glasgow).

The transfer of the warheads to Scotland, where they will be fitted to US Trident missiles and deployed on submarines, took place even as 188 states parties to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) met in Vienna to discuss ways to strengthen and implement the NPT, including nuclear disarmament.

This nuclear convoy is a danger to the Scottish people and an insult to the Scottish Parliament and the states parties to the NPT, said Adam Conway, one of the Nukewatch Inspectors from Helensburgh. The new Parliament was only sworn in yesterday. When they start considering business they should move forward to adopt the two Bills on their agenda aimed at keeping these Weapons of Mass Destruction off Scottish Roads. He added, it’s extraordinary that the MoD chose, for the first time in many years, to send a nuclear convoy through Edinburgh. Were they trying to send a message to the new Parliament? If so, it looks like a message of contempt for the Scottish people, the majority of whom voted for Scotland to become nuclear free.

This Parliament has a golden opportunity to convert the Scottish people's widespread opposition to nuclear weapons into the practical and concrete removal of Trident from Scotland said Anna-Linnea Rundberg, also from Helensburgh.

Contacts:
Adam Conway +44-7743 341934
Jane Tallents +44-78 267833
In Vienna, Rebecca Johnson, +44 77 33360955

Notes to Editors:

1. Nukewatch is a UK wide network of Citizens Weapons Inspectors who track movements of nuclear weapons within the UK. For more info see www.nukewatch.org.uk

2. Each of the "Load Carrier" trucks in the convoy can carry two fully armed Trident nuclear warheads. Each Load Carrier therefore contains up to 8kg of Plutonium. Each warhead is 8 times the power of the bomb which destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.

3. The Government finally admitted last year, in response to FOI requests, that the warheads could explode if the convoy was involved in a "pile-up" accident.