In July 1998 the Strategic Defence Review disclosed for the first time how many nuclear warheads are carried on each submarine. Scottish CND has tried to identify likely targets in Russia against which these could be used. With the help of a declassified US Nuclear Agency computer programme we have plotted the areas which would be destroyed by the explosions and the extent of nuclear fallout.
From this it is argued that the use of these weapons against these targets would be illegal under international law, because Trident is an indiscriminate weapon of mass destruction.
Commander Robert Green RN (retired) flew nuclear armed aircraft as a Royal Navy pilot. He is today involved in the international campaign to establish that nuclear weapons are illegal. Commenting on the report Commander Green said:
"This chilling report contains the facts about UK Trident which were missing from the Strategic Defence Review. Scottish CND has performed an important public service in exposing the realities of the devastation just one deployed Trident submarine is capable of inflicting, and the impossibility that its use could ever comply with international law."
The report includes sections on -
- Deterrence and the risk of nuclear war
- Status of Trident
- Targeting of British Nuclear Weapons
- Effect of the use of Trident against Moscow
- Other examples of the effect of Trident
- Legal Implications
Printed copies are also available, 32 pages, colour illustrations. Price £2 plus 40p postage from:
John Ainslie, Administrator,Scottish CND,
15 Barrland St, Glasgow, G41 1QH
Tel 0141 423 1222 Fax 0141 423 1231
VENGEANCE LEAVES 28th APRIL
The fourth Trident submarine, HMS Vengeance, will leave the shipyard at
Barrow in Furness on Wednesday 28 April. It will probably plan to sail
around 0930 and cross the Walney Channel at high tide at 10.00 am.
It will sail from there to Faslane. Normally the submarines take 48 hours
to travel to Faslane, but the journey can be done in one day.
The plan at the moment is:
Wed 28 April 10 am - As Vengeance leaves Barrow Scottish CND will raise a
Scottish flag on Rhu Spit in Gareloch and call on people to assemble to
protest against it arriving
Thur 29 April We will be ready for it, in case it comes early
Fri 30 April Most likely date for arrival. Previous submarines have
arrived in the morning between 7 am and 12 noon. We will be ready on land
and sea at Rhu spit with flags, canoes and boats. Protesters on the shore
will be within 200 metres of the submarine as it sails passed, and those on
the water can get even closer !
It is due to arrive less than a week before elections for the new Scottish
Parliament. This will be a major opportunity to show that we don't want
Trident and to make this an issue in the Scottish election campaign.
Please help spread the word VENGEANCE IS COMING
John Ainslie
Five women had their bail conditions lightened when they appeared at Barrow Magistrates Court today (Tuesday 2nd March), accused of causing criminal damage to the latest Trident submarine, HMS Vengeance.
They will next appear in court on 27th April.
On February 1st Rosie James and Rachel Wenham swam to and boarded HMS Vengeance.
They damaged test equipment before giving themselves up.
Three other women, Janet Kilburn, Helen Harris & Louise Wilder, were arrested when they went to the Barrow police station to deliver clothing to the wet-suited swimmers.
All of the five women are accused of causing £25,000 of criminal damage.
No plea or declaration was made but the court softened the harsh bail conditions.
They will now simply be banned from Barrow itself and required to check in at their local police station once a week.
The women are members of Aldermaston Trash Trident, a Trident Ploughshares 2000 affinity group.
They believe that Trident nuclear weapons are illegal under international law, and that in building, preparing and deploying them the British government is guilty of preparing for genocide.
While in Barrow for the court the group were able to check that HMS Vengeance, which had been due to begin its sea trials on February 28th, was still in the Marconi Marine/VSEL dockyard, and to ponder to what extent the delay was down to their disarming efforts.
At 9.45 am tomorrow, Tuesday 2nd March, five women will appear at Barrow Magistrates Court, accused of causing criminal damage to the latest Trident submarine, HMS Vengeance.
They may have caused its sea trials to be delayed.
At 5.30 am on February 1st Rosie James and Rachel Wenham swam to and boarded HMS Vengeange.
They painted "Illegal" and "Death Machine" on the sub, draped a banner "Women Want Peace" - over the conning tower and damaged test equipment before giving themselves up.
The submarine, due to begin its sea trials on February 28th , is still in the Marconi Marine/VSEL dockyard.
Three other women , Janet Kilburn, Helen Harris & Louise Wilder, were arrested when they went to the Barrow police station to deliver clothing to the wet-suited swimmers.
All of the five women are accused of causing £25,000 of criminal damage.
The women are members of Aldermaston Trash Trident, a Trident Ploughshares 2000 affinity group.
They will each enter a not-guilty plea - based on their belief that Trident nuclear weapons are illegal under international law, and that in building, preparing and deploying them the British government is guilty of preparing for genocide.
The women will also apply for their very strict bail conditions to be removed.
Contact: Aldermaston Women Trash Trident 01703 551094 or 0385 740969
Defence Secretary George Robertson today (1st March) announced no change to British nuclear weapons policy, on the same day that a MORI poll found that 70% of the British public want Britain to take a lead in nuclear disarmament.
In the speech, given to academics and journalists at Aberdeen University, ex-CND member Robertson urged other countries not to go down the nuclear route and for international controls on bomb making materials (Fissile Material Treaty) to prevent nuclear weapons spreading to other countries.
However, he also made it clear that the UK see nuclear weapons as 'essential' for Britain's security, without outlining any scenario in which they would be used.
The speech rejected the adoption of 'confidence building measures', such as taking submarines off 24-hour patrol, as proposed by leading ex-military personnel, academics and politicians, including General Lee Butler ex-head of the US nuclear arsenal and President Gorbachev.
Instead Robertson offered de-targeting, done by the Tories and reversible at the touch of a button, and an unspecified and reversible 'reduced alert status' as Labour's 'major steps' towards disarmament.
CND Vice-Chair Martin Jones said, "This speech claims the government is committed to nuclear disarmament but offers only excuses for why Britain is doing nothing of substance.
What we needed from George Robertson was a clear statement that nuclear weapons are unusable, immoral and must and will be abolished."
He continued, "Instead we and the rest of the world got the message that nuclear weapons are not only useable, but 'essential' for security in the post Cold War world and that.
This is exactly the logic that India and Pakistan used to justify going down the nuclear path.
This was not a speech about nuclear disarmament but one about why Britain feels nuclear weapons are essential.
Mr. Robertson claims that Labour have taken huge steps down the road to nuclear disarmament.
This government's performance at all the international negotiations to date is a disgrace.
They have blocked every key initiative since they since they came to power.
This is not a record to be proud of".
POLL RESULTS
Seven out of ten Britons agree that "I would think more highly of the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, if he were to take a lead in negotiations to remove nuclear weapons worldwide", with a third agreeing strongly.
FOR MORE DETAILS OF THE CURRENT UK NUCLEAR WEAPONS POLICY CALL THE CND PRESS OFFICE:
A DETAILED SUMMARY FOLLOWS:
Parliamentary Motion:
That this House notes that the International Court of Justice in its
Advisory opinion of 8th July 1996 was unable to find any legal circumstance
where the threat or use of nuclear weapons by any nation could be permitted;
further notes that international humanitarian law forbids the use of any
weapons which, by its nature, could not discriminate between military
targets and civilian targets and civilian populations; believes that the
threat or use of the Trident nuclear weapons system is open to serious legal
question, principally because the explosive capacity of its nuclear warheads
and the nature of its potential targets mean that it cannot make the
distinction between military targets and civilian populations; and therefore
calls upon Her Majesty's Government to instruct its law officers to initiate
an open and democratically accountable review of the legality of Britain's
Trident nuclear weapon system and the Government's current nuclear doctrine.
Signed:
Mitchell/Austin;
Austin/John;
Barnes/Harry;
Benn/Tony;
Chisholm/Malcolm;
Cohen/Harry;
Coleman/Iain;
Corbyn/Jeremy;
Cryer/Ann;
Dafis/Cynog;
Dalyell/Tam;
Davey/Valerie;
Dobbin/Jim;
Drew/David;
Drown/Julia;
Etherington/Bill;
Ewing/Margaret;
Flynn/Paul;
Fyfe/Maria;
George/Andrew;
Godman/Norman A;
Hopkins/Kelvin;
Jones/Jenny;
Jones/Lynne;
Llwyd/Elfyn;
McAllion/John;
McDonnell/John;
Michie/Bill;
Morgan/Alasdair;
Organ/Diana;
Prentice/Gordon;
Sawford/Phil;
Simpson/Alan;
Skinner/Dennis;
Smith/Llew;
Stewart/Ian;
Vis/Rudi;
Wareing/Robert N;
Wigley/Dafydd;
Wise/Audrey;
Wood/Mike.
41 signatures
Presenter (Jon Snow):
Andrew Veitch (Science Correspondent):
Dan Plesch (BASIC):
Paul Beaver (Jane's Information Group):
Andrew Veitch:
Paul Beaver:
Andrew Veitch:
---- END OF TRANSCRIPT ----
At Barrow Magistrates court today 5 women appeared on the charge of causing
£25,000 worth of damage to a Trident nuclear weapons submarine in the VSEL
dock in the town. Rachel Wenham was remanded to appear on Monday 8th
February while the others, Rosie James, Louise Wilder, Helen Harris and
Janet Kilburn were released on strict bail conditions which bind them to
reside at their noted address, to report three times a week to the local
police station, to maintain an overnight curfew and to stay away from
nuclear establishments. All five women are members of the Aldermaston
women's peace campaign who for years have taken action against the Atomic
Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston and have tracked convoys carrying
nuclear warheads from Burghfield to Coulport on the Clyde.
More details have emerged of Monday's events. At 5.30 a.m. Rachel Wenham
and Rosie James swam unchallenged across 300 metre stretch of water to the
submarine. They boarded it, draped a large banner with the legend "Women
Want Peace", spray painted "Illegal Death Machine" and peace slogans on the
hull, and damaged test equipment on the conning tower with the hammers
they had with them before being arrested. Following their arrest the police
telephoned their colleagues to inform them that they were in custody. When
Helen Harris was handing in dry clothes for Wenham and James she was
arrested as were the other two shortly afterwards. In court the police
denied they had informed the women's colleagues of the arrest of Wenham and
James.
Their Aldermaston colleague Sian Jones said:
In the early hours of this morning two peace activist women, from the
Aldermaston Women's Group, safely and non-violently carried out disarmament
work, to prevent the new British Trident submarine from leaving its dock.
This vehicle for nuclear weapons of mass destruction was due to sail within
the next month.
The women are Rosie James and Rachel Wenham, both from Leeds. The women
swam 300 metres in wet suits into the Vickers dock yard at Barrow in
Furness to reach HMS Vengeance. They swam in freezing conditions in the
dark with their disarmament equipment of hammers, chisels, crowbars,
screwdrivers and paint. The women then climbed around the submarine and
dismantled radio equipment used to launch weapons of mass destruction. Both
have been arrested and are being held in police custody at Barrow. Since
August 1998, this is the second disarmament action at Barrow, and the third
swimming action - the others being at Faslane in Scotland.
The imminent threat of a nuclear conflict is such that the women had no
alternative but to carry out this task of preventing a new vehicle for
these weapons of mass destruction being even tested. This threat to us all
comes from the facts that:
These facts together denote that although the Trident weapon has not been
used so far, the illegal threat is constant - so the danger of it being
used is imminent.
A single Trident warhead is 8 times more powerful than those detonated over
the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Due to this enormous explosive yield,
these weapons are in direct contravention of International Law governing
War, Human Rights, the Environment and Genocide.
Rachel Wenham states "as a citizen of the world, I have upheld the
Nuremberg Principles in acting to prevent the crime of mass murder from
being threatened and committed".
The women support the campaign Trident Ploughshares 2000. This is committed
to the implementation of the decommissioning of the Trident programme by
the year 2000. The UK Government refuses to recognise the illegality of the
Trident warheads, and continues their criminal activities of maintaining
and deploying these weapons. TP2000 activists uphold the law - including by
disarming the system themselves. The women state: "In this world where in
the arena of War instantaneous mass murder of innocents is an accepted
possibility, we, the said mass, have the unalienable right to protect our
rights to life and peace".
CONTACT:For more information about Trident Ploughshares 2000 see
http://www.gn.apc.org/tp2000.
Trident Ploughshares 2000
The chief of naval operations has told Congress for the first time that he
would like to reduce the number of operational Trident ballistic missile
submarines from 18 to 14, opening the way for Congress to repeal its ban
against cutting U.S. strategic nuclear force levels until the Russian
parliament ratifies the START II treaty.
"My personal belief is that a 14-boat force is the minimum acceptable force
right now," Adm. J.L. Johnson said.
Under present law, if the Russian Duma continues to delay approval of the
1993 strategic arms control treaty as it has done for the past year, the
Navy must plan to spend up to $500 million in fiscal 2000 to stay
operational at the START I level of 18. That number includes four of the
older, giant Tridents that were scheduled to be decommissioned beginning in
2002.
But at Tuesday's Senate Armed Services Committee session, when Chief of
Naval Operations Johnson was asked by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)
whether the Navy would rather have 14 of the subs and use the money for
other priorities, he replied, "Personally I would, yes, sir."
The amendment that froze strategic forces at START I levels was added two
years ago to the defense authorization bill by Sen. Robert C. Smith
(R-N.H.), chairman of the Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee.
Opponents of the provision want to debate the issue "based on what forces
are needed," a senior congressional aide said yesterday, "and not on the
politics associated with the arms control treaties."
Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the committee, said before the
hearing that "we have to reevaluate priorities" on strategic weapons.
"We may be able to redirect money from strategic weapons to strategic defense,"
he said. A spokesman said Smith was tied up with meetings yesterday and
unavailable for comment.
Eugene E. Habiger, a retired Air Force general and former head of the U.S.
Strategic Command, which included the Tridents, said "it would make sense"
for the Navy to go down to 14, because "there is no need to stay at the
START I level from a military prospective; although if you stay at that
level it may give you some political leverage" with the Russians. But
Habiger also noted that Moscow's "sub fleet is belly-up."
A military source familiar with intelligence said Moscow had a serious
problem with one of the ballistic subs in the Northern Fleet last year when
seawater got into the missile compartment when some seals leaked. The sub
immediately surfaced and was brought back into port. The other alert
Russian ballistic missile sub was brought back from its patrol in the
Pacific for repairs. So for two to three weeks, the Russians for the first
time in recent memory had no ballistic missile subs patrolling on alert.
The Russians do keep at least two other ballistic missile subs on pier-side
alert, one in the Atlantic and the other in the Pacific.
The United States maintains five Trident subs on patrol alert, with five
others either coming or going on patrol and ready to fire their missiles if
needed. The Tridents each have 24 missiles that can carry up to eight
warheads. The warheads have seven times the force of the Hiroshima bomb and
are designed to destroy Russian missiles in hardened silos.
Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.), who is pushing for the United States to begin
making unilateral reductions in its strategic forces, said yesterday that
"waiting for the Russians to act on START II is a mistake." With their
economy collapsing, their nuclear systems deteriorating and their
experiment with democracy on the line, Kerrey said, members of the Russian
parliament "don't have time to talk about nuclear arms control."
As of today, there are 10 modern Tridents based at Kings Bay, Ga., all
armed with highly accurate D-5 missiles that can travel more than 4,000
miles. Eight older Tridents, fitted with 24 of the earlier C-4 missiles,
are based at Bangor, Wash.
If current law continues, all eight of the older Tridents would have to
have their nuclear engines refurbished and their launching systems would
need to be retrofitted to carry modern D-5 missiles.
On any given day, at least five giant Trident strategic ballistic missile submarines, each nearly the length of two football fields, are submerged on patrol in the Pacific or Atlantic.
Each submarine is capable of firing 24 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), each of which has up to eight warheads with many times the explosive power of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.
Backing up these submarines are 13 more Tridents, four or five of them either sailing toward patrol stations or on their way home, but also prepared to launch missiles.
Although the 18-sub Trident force has never faced the kind of public criticism that the more visible land-based ICBMs such as the MX or Peacekeeper missiles did, that quiet acceptance of ballistic missile submarines may soon be ending.
Questions are being raised, even from within the military, about the cost of the strategic submarine force and why the United States needs to maintain such a massive nuclear deterrent when the world's other major nuclear power, Russia, is having trouble keeping just one or two of its strategic nuclear submarines operational.
"Who are we preparing to assault or retaliate against at this level of destructive power?" asked retired Adm. Eugene J. Carroll Jr., deputy director of the Center for Defense Information, a think tank that favors reducing arms.
Noting that the five boats on permanent patrol could "eradicate the world," Carroll criticized as "totally irrational" a congressional amendment that has prohibited cutting the Trident force until Russia ratifies the START II strategic arms reduction agreement.
Earlier this decade, the Navy acknowledged that it no longer needed 18 Tridents, and prepared to reduce the number to 10 at the end of the Bush administration.
The Clinton administration strategic nuclear review raised the number to 14.
Then Congress put into law a ban on any reductions below the START I level of 18 submarines until the Russian parliament ratifies START II, the 1993 treaty that would lower allowable strategic nuclear warheads on land- and sea-based missiles to 3,500.
Last month, after Moscow protested the U.S. bombing of Iraq, the Russians again delayed ratification of START II, at least until spring.
As a result, at least $500 million in additional funding is likely to be needed in the Pentagon's fiscal 2000 budget to keep the Trident force at START I levels.
If Moscow's failure to ratify goes beyond next year, the Navy's added costs could grow to $1 billion more a year to keep 18 Tridents operational.
According to a 1997 Congressional Budget Office study, at START I levels "the Navy would probably need funding for additional D-5 missiles, modifications to four submarines that carry C-4 missiles, and overhauls, including refueling the nuclear cores," of the four oldest Tridents that otherwise would have been decommissioned.
Additional amounts would be needed to keep extra crews on duty.
Frank J. Gaffney Jr., a Pentagon official during the
Reagan administration and now director of the Center for
Security Policy, defended maintaining the current Trident
force. Gaffney, whose organization favors a firmer
military posture, called the submarines "the last vestige
of a robust nuclear deterrent posture. . . . We should
modernize and keep them on station as long as possible.
The last thing I would cut is these boats that represent a
credible, survivable force against people who may not
be deterred."
Prior to the end of the Cold War in 1991, the United
States had 34 ballistic missile submarines in operation
carrying some 5,400 warheads or roughly 45 percent of
America's strategic nuclear warheads. Today, the 18
Trident submarines carry almost 3,400 strategic
warheads, or almost half the strategic warheads in
operation.
The missiles on each Trident have no preset targets, but
during their 60-day patrols the submarines are in
position to launch missiles at any spot on the globe. The
Tridents are "extremely flexible, capable of rapidly
retargeting their missiles should the need arise,"
according to a Navy press release.
Ten Tridents are based at Kings Bay, Ga., and roam
primarily in the Atlantic. The remaining eight are based
at Bangor, Wash., and patrol the Pacific. The subs spend
about 70 percent of the year underway, using two crews,
called Blue or Gold, that average 15 officers and 140
enlisted men.
The eight original Tridents, beginning with the USS Ohio
in 1982, were equipped with 24 Trident I C-4 ballistic
missiles. Beginning with the ninth Trident submarine, the
USS Tennessee, the subs were armed with the Trident II
D-5 missile system. Added funds in fiscal 2000 would
permit the Ohio and other older subs to be retrofitted to
carry the D-5. The D-5 has warheads with a range of
4,000 miles and the ability to maneuver to avoid any
antiballistic missile defense, although only Russia has
even a rudimentary ABM system.
The D-5 is fired underwater by the pressure of
expanding gas within the launch tube. When the missile
attains sufficient distance from the submarine, the first
stage motor ignites, an aerospike engine extends and the
boost stage begins. Within about two minutes, after the
third stage motor kicks in, the missile is traveling faster
than three miles per second, according to Navy data.
Tridents can operate with extreme stealth and have
devices to thwart enemy antisubmarine warfare systems.
They also have four torpedo tubes and Mark 48
torpedoes.
Five years ago, the Congressional Budget Office
suggested that a reduction of the Trident fleet to 10 boats
would enable it to deter a less capable Russia and "other
nuclear nations" whose "stockpiles of long-range nuclear
weapons . . . number in the tens of warheads rather than
the thousands."
In justifying this option, CBO said preventing a regional
nuclear power from using the weapons "may depend
much more on the capability of U.S. conventional forces,
U.S. political actions, and trends in world events rather
than on the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal."
Below is the text from The Glasgow Herald newspaper,Thursday, December 10, 1998.
If the report is true, as Francis Boyle says,
"Britain has violated its solemn and binding pledge that Britain gave as a condition for the renewal of the NPT that it would not use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear weapons state party to the NPT so long as the latter is not aligned with a nuclear weapons state, etc.
The IAEA has already determined that Iraq has no nuclear weapons and no nuclear weapons capability."
EXCLUSIVE - IAN BRUCE, Geopolitics Editor
BRITAIN was prepared to use three tactical nuclear warheads on targets in Iraq if Baghdad had launcbed a chemical or biological attack on UK or allied forces massing in the Gulf last month.
A warning in the House of Commons from Foreign Secretary Robin Cook that "nothing could be ruled out" in response if Saddam Hussein chose to use weapons of mass destruction is understood to have been relayed to Baghdad and may have been instrumental in Iraq's eleventh-hour climbdown over UN weapons inspections.
Defence Secretary George Robertson confirmed the implied threat yesterday: "The Foreign Secretary made our position clear in Parliament during the crisis.
I don't think I need to go beyond what was said then. But there was an SSBN Trident missile boat in Gibraltar last week."
The Vanguard-class submarines usually patrol the North Atlantic.
A Vanguard-class missile sub-marine, believed to be HMS VICTORIOUS, from the Clyde Submarine Base at Faslane was at sea last month and is understood to have been ordered to programme one of its American-made Trident2 D5 missiles for a retaliatory strike on key Iraqi military installations and suspected research sites away from centres of civilian population.
The missile was tipped with three two-kiloton "battlefield" warheads capable of being independently targetted over a wide area.
They are designed to split from the "bus" - the missile body - as the Trident re-enters the atmosphere and are computer-guided towards their separate objectives.
Each is theoretically accurate to within 100 metres of the selected point on the ground, but were pre-set to explode 5000 feet above the targets to produce a pressure and blast wave capable of collapsing underground bunkers.
Nuclear air-bursts also minimise radioactive fallout downwind of the explosion.
The warheads themselves are known in military jargon as "sub-strategic" and originally meant for localised use on battlefields during the Cold War.
They would typically be employed to destroy massed tank attacks or take out headquarters complexes or heavily defended bridges.
They are not the city-killers for which the Trident system was originally conceived.
Its purpose was to deluge Soviet population centres, military targets and com-mand bunkers and swamp defences with 192-warheads per submarine, each 15 times more powerful than the weapon which wiped out Hiroshima.
Britain has three operational Tridents with a fourth due to enter service next year.
The end of the Cold War meant that such immense firepower was no longer valid.
The UK has since come up with a strategy which fits the new world situation while maintaining a credible deterrent.
Meanwhile, a 12-strong team of UN inspectors was turned back yesterday when it tried to carry out a no-notice search of one of four major offices of Iraq's ruling Baath Party in Baghdad.
An Iraqi spokesman claimed later that "a mistake" had been made and that the site was not regarded as sensitive.
Trident Ploughshares 2000
tel + 44 (0) 1603 611953
Faslane Peace Campers caught out the huge police and military escort which
travels with the convoy. As the warhead carriers slowed down to crawl up a
very steep hill on the Glen Fruin Haul Road at 4.30pm the protesters
emerged from the trees and waved the 48 tonne trucks to a stand still.
Before police personnel could respond five people locked themselves to the
underneath of the vehicles. Eventually after half an hour the police cut
them free and six of them were arrested.
The convoy was loaded with Trident warheads at the end of last week at AWE
Burghfield near to Reading. It left on Monday morning to travel to RAF
Wittering near to Peterborough for an overnight stop. Yesterday it
travelled to Albermarle Barracks near to Newcastle. As it left there at
9.30 am today Newcastle Nukewatchers brought it to a halt, climbed on top
of it and locked themselves to it. The convoy was stopped for half an hour.
The five people arrested were taken to Hexham police station.
Nukewatch Scotland tracked the convoy as it travelled up the M73, then
North to Stirling, then along the A811 to Balloch and via Loch Lomondside
to Glen Fruin.
Near to Stirling the Nukewatch tracking vehicle was stopped by traffic
police. When asked what they were doing they told the police that they were
following illegal nuclear weapons, and their chief constable had been
informed of this crime earlier in the day. They were then allowed to continue.
As the police refuse to obey international law and arrest the convoy
personnel it remains for responsible citizens to take action.
Nukewatch spokesperson Brian Quail said:
Contacts:
(a) signed a deal on 27 July 1998 worth $107 million which includes $75
million to "sustain the US industrial base for TRIDENT II D-5 missiles at
minimum production rates_", and;
(b) authorised on 9 September 1998 the release of $220.165 million as
Britain's contribution to the US Navy's 1999 Fiscal Year (FY99) budget for Trident.
Summary
(a) Buy back is reliant upon the US Navy requiring the parts we have purchased;
(b) It is also reliant upon the US Navy obtaining the funds from the US legislature, and;
(c) The US Navy will not pay us back the entire $75 million, they intend to pay us $47 million over five years starting in 2001.
CND Comment:
CND Vice Chair Martin Jones said upon learning of the deal,
"This is disgusting, last year they promised not to buy any Trident
missiles and then went ahead and spent $260 million on buying them anyway.
This year, we see a repeat of the same deception with the added twist that
we are paying for items we do not want so that American defence workers can
keep their jobs and the American taxpayer can save money."
"At a time when the public purse is being squeezed ever more tightly why
should the British taxpayer be coughing up cash to help American defence
workers out of a tight spot? If the US Government were so concerned about
those jobs why didn't they fork up the money?"
"Why should our public services need to continually pass round the begging
bowl for much needed cash whilst those in the MoD quite happily squander
tens of millions of pounds buying stuff we do not want."
"It is a national scandal and as soon as Parliament resumes CND will be
asking MP's to demand an explanation and the return of the money with
interest."
The subsidy to US defence workers
The US/UK Memorandum of Understanding signed on 27 July 1998 admits that
neither the US or UK Trident missiles purchases on their own would be
sufficient to "keep some of the specialized production lines open" and that
joint funding is required to keep the plant in operation.
Therefore, because Britain cancelled the purchase of the final batch of
seven Trident missiles scheduled for purchase in FY99, this arrangement
allows them to follow through on that promise whilst avoiding "shutting
down [US] production lines;" maintaining the "quality, reliability and
safety of the missiles and safeguarding the immediate and longer-term
operations" of Trident.
The Memorandum also states that Britain only had to spend $17 million to
"complete production" of missiles we purchased in 1997 and 1998 and $15
million to "purchase a lifetime buy of Trident II D-5 missile component
spares to support the UK's inventory of 58 Trident II D-5 missiles" which
will be provided over a three year period starting in 2001.
The Ministry of Defence claim that this Memorandum of Understanding is a
buy-back i.e. what we purchase in FY 99 will be bought back by the US at
some point.
However, this "buy-back" is reliant upon two factors. The first is that
they will be bought back "to the extent that the US continues to have a
requirement for them." Secondly, "authorization and appropriations" will
have to be granted by the US legislature.
Even if Britain gets past those two hurdles we will not get all of our
money back and the US will not pay interest on the loan.
According to the Memorandum, between 2001 and 2005 (inclusive), the US will
pay Britain back only $47 million - $28 million less than we gave them.
What is most important to note here is that this purchase is not a legal
requirement of the British government. It is only necessary to "sustain the
US industrial base for Trident" and keep the US Government happy.
The $220 million question
Even more confusing is a US Navy memorandum dated 9 September 1998 that CND
has obtained.
The memo states "the UK gives its authorization to the UK element of the US
Fiscal Year 1999 budget under the terms of the Polaris Sales Agreement the
amounts authorized are $220,165,000."
There is a proviso at the end of the memo that:
"The UK gives it's authority on the understanding that any excess funding
resulting from the UK's recent decision not to proceed with its final
missile order will be identified by the US and relinquished by means of
programme actions on completion of contract negotiations."
CND assumes that the authorisation of $220 million plus change is a float
and that when the paperwork is sorted out the British Government will get
back from the US Navy at least $113 million ($220 million minus $107
million agreed in MOU).
For copies of the documents, for additional information or interviews
please contact the CND Press Office on 0973 773671, 0336 724404 or 0171 700
2350
N.B. Within this release all items in italics are direct quotes from the
US/UK Memorandum of Understanding of 27 July 1998 or the US Navy Memo of 9
September 1998
The United Kingdom has joined the U.S. in opposing any plan by Canada to
persuade NATO to declare that it will not be the first to use nuclear
weapons in the event of war.
Doug Henderson, the British minister of state for the Armed Forces, told
an audience of military analysts yesterday that such a proposal is
"completely unacceptable" because it would mean the end of NATO's
deterrence capability.
"The view is firm in the United Kingdom and certainly in the United
States that there has to be an ability to counteract a threat, which
might be unknown at the moment, with the deployment of nuclear
weapons," he said.
"To say that there would be no first use is essentially saying to
someone who potentially threatens NATO that you can get away with it for
a period of time before there would be any action."
Canada's Commons' foreign affairs committee is studying a draft report
reviewing the country's position on nuclear weapons. The draft includes
a recommendation that Canada push NATO for a review of its nuclear
deterrence strategy and to commit to a policy of non-first use.
This week the National Post learned that American diplomats have been
meeting with committee members from all parties and have made clear they
believe any such statement could open a dangerous debate within NATO and
pose a threat to global security.
"It is our hope that the Canadian position will remain that there is an
appropriate balance between nuclear arms control and disarmament
obligations and the role of nuclear deterrence with alliance strategy.
Nuclear weapons have played a key role in preserving peace and
preventing war on the European continent," a State Department official
said.
Lloyd Axworthy, Canada's foreign affairs minister, asked the Commons'
committee two years ago to review Canada's nuclear policy and asked
specifically that it consider reports from nuclear abolitionists as well
as considering Canada's NATO obligations.
Mr. Axworthy says he had no policy direction in mind when he asked for
the review and says he made no judgment until the committee completes
its work.
The report is due to be delivered to the government by the end of this
month, but its recommendations are not binding.
Mr. Henderson said Britain wants to reduce the global nuclear threat and
noted that NATO has reduced its number of nuclear warheads.
He said the British government fully supports the nuclear deterrent and
the right of the U.S. to deploy its nuclear arsenal in Europe as part of
the NATO defence umbrella.
The U.S. believes that a NATO debate on the validity of the nuclear
component would lead to a weakened alliance and pose a threat to global
security.
Mr Henderson emphasized that Canada and Britain have a long and deep
history of co-operation, but ruled out any discussion of abandoning the
right to first use of nuclear weapons.
"It's completely out of the question," he said
The 'Bread not Bombs' Trident Ploughshares Three have again been remanded
in prison until 9th November when they will probably be committed for
trail. Please send letters of support to Stellan Vinthagen, Prison Number
BT 8233, HM Prison Preston, 2 Ribbleton Road, Preston, Lancashire PT15AB,
UK and to Ann Britt Sternfelt (BE 8941) and Annika Spalde (BE8940) at HM
Remand Centre, Warrington Road, Risley, Warrington, Cheshire WA3 6BP, UK.
(enclose stamps so they can reply).
Letters of concern about the length of time they have been kept on remand
and the severity of the charge of conspiracy have been sent to Jack Straw,
The Home Secretary, c/o The House of Commons, London SW1A OAA, UK but more
would be helpful to highlight their case.
If you are able to assist financially towards the costs of bringing expert
witnesses to give evidence for the three defendants at their trial, please
send cheques made out to LIVERPOOL CATHOLIC WORKER c/o Jan Harper, Catholic
Worker House, 1 Horne Street, Liverpool L6 5EA, UK and make it clear the
donation is for 'Bread not Bombs'.
Nigel Chamberlain
pp Alan Johnson
BRITAIN'S nuclear missiles may soon be retargeted for strikes at new enemies including Iraq, Libya and North Korea. The biggest threat is now from biological and chemical weapons held by small nations with extremist governments, rather than nuclear powers.
The change is proposed in a confidential Ministry of Defence study that reviews the strategy in which missiles have been pointed at the former Soviet Union ever since Britain acquired nuclear weapons.
Britain deployed its first atomic bombs in 1955. It acquired four Polaris submarines equipped with nuclear missiles in 1967.
Today's British nuclear deterrent is based on three Trident submarines carrying 16 missiles apiece. Every boat carries 48 warheads, meaning Britain could launch 144 nuclear weapons - a figure that will rise to 192 when a fourth submarine comes into service in two years.
The Trident missiles would be guided to their targets by computer codes fed into their systems before launch. Lists of the codes are carried on the submarines and were previously limited to targets in the Soviet Union.
If the report is accepted by the government, the codes would be updated to include the co-ordinates of cities such as Tripoli in Libya, Damascus, the Syrian capital, and Baghdad, the capital of Iraq.
However, the Foreign Office is likely to oppose the move on the grounds that it would undermine the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and further encourage "rogue" states to try to develop their own nuclear weapons.
In fact, the report suggests that Britain should rewrite the treaty, under which nuclear powers guarantee they would never attack a country that did not have nuclear capability. The treaty is credited with preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.
The report says the treaty has become outdated because of the spread of new weapons of mass destruction. Britain has renounced such biological and chemical weapons and destroyed its stockpiles, making nuclear weapons its only deterrent.
A ministry source said: "If we are attacked with biological or chemical weapons, we must be able to make a proportionate response. Other states need to be aware that we have nuclear weapons and would consider using them."
Nigel Vinson, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, an independent think tank close to the ministry, said its research had reached similar conc lusions. "Trident was originally bought to deter the Russians, but now it is being used to deter the use of biological and chemical weapons. They are the real threat," he said.
"The Americans are in the same quandary as Britain. They have got rid of their biological and chemical capability and now rely solely on nuclear weapons."
Anti-nuclear campaigners say, however, that the new policy is only a way of justifying the retention of a nuclear deterrent that has been rendered obsolete by the end of the cold war.
William Peden, a spokesman for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said: "The ministry is desperately seeking excuses for nuclear weapons that no longer have a role. They should be trying to get rid of them, not looking for new ways of using them."
The ministry confirmed the existence of the report but refused to go into detail.
Early reports on Plymouth local radio that the nuclear powered
hunter/killer submarine HMS TRENCHANT S91(Trafalgar Class) had 'broken
down' off the coast of Portugal. First reports said there had been a
problem with the propulsion unit (reactor) and that the crew (110) had been
taken off the submarine while checks were carried out. It was not clear if
the submarine was submerged or on the surface when the incident occurred.
A later report said the submarine was off Lisbon when the problem was
detected, that the reactor was not running at the time and that most of the
crew (130 this time) were on shore leave when the problem occurred. A
report in the evening news confirmed that a small amount of 'steam' had
escaped from the reactors cooling system which had been contained. It did
not say if the steam was from the primary or secondary system. There was
reported to be no radiological hazard and a team of engineers had been sent
out from Devonport Naval Base (home port to the Second Submarine Squadron).
This is the second coolant failure incident in the last 12 months. In
November 1997, HMS TURBULENT limped back to Devonport with a suspected
coolant escape. All 130 and several dockyard workers were tested for
radioactive contamination. HMS TRENCHANT was reported out on patrol on 3rd
September 1998.
Plymouth Nuclear Dump Information Group (DIG)
The three Swedish activists who were arrested at Barrow on 13th October are still in prison. They were charged with 'Conspiracy to Commit Criminal
Damage' after an attempt to disarm Trident submarine HMS Vengeance a week
before it was due to be launched.
They appeared in court in Barrow after the action and were remanded for a
week. On 21st September they were remanded for another week. On the 28th
September they were remanded yet again, this time for 4 weeks - until the
26th October. When they return to court they may be 'committed to the High
Court'. They are expected to stay in prison until their trial in 3 or 4
months time.
Please send letters of support. They can also receive faxes.
Stellan Vinthagen (prison number BT8233) is in Preston Jail:
Fax: +44 (0)1772 556643
The regime there is very strict and Stellan is in his cell all the time
except for meal-times.
Ann-Britt Sternfeldt (prison number BE8971) and Annika Spalde (prison
number BE8940)are in: Risley Remand Centre
Fax: +44 (0) 1925 764103
The women may be moved to Styal prison on Oct 10th..
See also the Bread Not Bombs Plowshares home page.
Where there are updates, pictures and background info about the group.
Their e-mail address is: plowshares@hotmail.com.
Support for the prisoners in Britain is being organised by Craig Barnett
On Saturday 19th September 1998 a uniformed Citizens' Inspection (Carol Naughton, Eirlys Rhiannon, Bruce Kent and George Farebrother) approached
the gates of the VSEL shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria UK and sought to gain entry to inspect the delivery system (Vengeance - the fourth
Trident submarine) for British nuclear weapons.
They explained that they had written to Prime Minister Tony Blair in advance to call for an
independent audit of UK nuclear weaponry and had stated their intention to start this audit in Barrow.
Their carefully worded statement was listened to in silence by VSEL
representatives, the police, the media and supporters - some of whom were
dressed in white overalls and wearing skeleton masks. Having been denied
access they tied a 'wanted' poster of Tony Blair to the gate and turned to
explain to their supporters what had happened. They unfurled a large
parchment copy of the letter to the Prime Minister for photographs.
As it happened, Dave Knight Chair Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)
saw "Tony Blair" lurking in the background with a miniature 'Vengeance'
tucked under his arm and chatting amiably with a senior police officer.
Dave immediately carried out a Citizen's Arrest and marched the "Prime
Minister" (actually a fellow citizen in a latex mask) to the front of the crowd to defend his support for the possession
and threatened use of nuclear weapons. He smiled benignly, begged people
to understand his difficult position and pleaded for trust so that we could
all arrive at a nuclear weapons-free world - eventually.
Apparently, a senior legal officer from Scotland had called VSEL during
these proceedings to say that the Inspection Team must be taken seriously
and be granted access to the shipyard; this unexpected intervention clear
ruffled the men in charge behind the fence but they thought they had better
stick with their original orders.
The protesters then walked around to the other side of the shipyard and
joined the 200 plus campaigners on the bridge which overlooks the shed
which housed Vengeance. This was a noisy and colourful protest and our
banners fluttered in the breeze under a warm blue sky. The ominous black
hulk of Vengeance became visible at 11.40 as the huge doors drew back for
it to slowly trundle forward on its bogey.
We turned our backs on the glorification ceremony for militarism and
listened to the voices of sanity (Bruce Kent, Jane Tallents, Lysiane
Alezard and Dave Knight).
This small town had become almost entirely dependent on the shipyard which
constructed Britain's nuclear submarines; in 1991 there were over 14,000
employed there but today there are less than 4,000. The government and the
company only wanted to celebrate the achievements of technology and
engineering; our presence reminded them that you can not seperate the
physical achievement of this task from the reality of what the aptly-named
Vengeance was designed for and will soon be capable of carrying out.
Nigel Chamberlain
On the morning of Sunday September 13, three Swedish peace activists were
arrested within the perimeter fence of VSEL Barrow on suspicion of going
equipped to commit criminal damage. One of the three had begun to dismantle
equipment outside the "Devonshire Hall", the "shed" in which HMS Vengeance,
the fourth and final British Trident submarine, is being constructed.
Calling themselves "Bread Not Bombs ploughshares", the three carried with
them household hammers, a group statement, and individual statements. They
had been intending to enter the "Devonshire Hall" and disarm the Trident
submarine.
In their group statement, the three wrote:
"The military force of the western world is the largest barrier to creating
justice in the economic world. For the most part the western world doesn't
have to make a show of force to keep the developing countries under
control, but the military is still the guarantor of suppression and nuclear
wepons are the ultimate threat... We are taking this action, as privileged
people in living in the First World, because nuclear weapons are a threat
against all human beings and against future generations. As long as nuclear
weapons exist humanity is doomed to live in fear that they will be used."
The three are: Annika Spalde, 29, a nurse studying International Relations
at Gothenburg University; Stellan Vinthagen, 33, a Peace Researcher at
Gothenburg University; and Ann-Britt Sternfeldt, 38, from L_nghem, an
ex-town-councillor, a writer and an administrator for an Aid Charity
working in the Gambia. Annika Spalde and Stellan Vinthagen live in a suburb of Gothenburg called
Hammarkullen (literally: "Hammer Hill").
All three are members of the Swedish ploughshares movement, and recently
attended the Trident Ploughshares 2000 (TP2000) Camp at Coulport Trident
warhead base in Scotland. There are currently six TP2000 activists on
remand in Scottish prisons.
The three were interviewed, charged with "conspiracy to commit criminal
damage", held over night at Barrow Police Station, and are appearing before
Barrow Magistrates' Court at 10am on Monday 14 September.
Copies of statements: http://www.plowshares.se/bnb/english.htm
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament today sent a message of support to
Trident Ploughshares 2000 protestors as the number of people arrested for
attempting to disable Britain's nuclear weapons system hit the 100 mark.
The 100th arrest came this afternoon as four people were arrested for
cutting through the razor wire that surrounds the Faslane nuclear weapons
base.
Amongst those arrested was Angie Zelter, one of the women acquitted last
year of £1.5 million worth of criminal damage to Hawk jets bound for
Indonesia, on the grounds that their actions prevented a major crime against
humanity.
It was the third time that Angie and her Ploughshares 'affinity group' have
been arrested since the campaign began on 11th August. They will appear in
court tomorrow to be charged with breaking bail conditions.
Over 100 Ploughshares protestors are in Scotland between 11th and 25th
August. They have come from Australia, Belgium, England, Finland, Japan,
Scotland, Sweden, USA and Wales.
They have descended on the Faslane and Coulport bases - which house
Britain's Trident submarines and missiles - for two weeks to kick off a
campaign which protestors insist will continue until the government takes
serious steps towards nuclear disarmament.
They aim to draw nation-wide attention to international law that judges
nuclear weapons to be illegal and in a series of trials in the subsequent
months to test the primacy of international humanitarian law.
However the authorities appear to be keen not to hold protestors. Today a
Swedish Ploughshares 'affinity group' were released from court despite
having broken bail conditions set at a previous court appearance earlier in
the week. They pledged to return to the base to once again take peaceful
direct action.
Dave Knight, CND Chair said,
The protestors are exposing the hypocrisy of the UK over war crimes. On the
one hand the UK has taken the lead in setting up the International Criminal
Court, but at the same time it still refuses to accept the International
Court of Justice's Advisory Ruling, which judged weapons of mass destruction
like Trident to be unlawful.
Detailed questions asked in Parliament have revealed that, contrary to the
impression given in the Strategic Defence Review, no Trident nuclear
warheads are going to be dismantled. 12 warheads will be removed from each
submarine and stored in Coulport (they could be put back on again ). Each of
the three submarines will then be carrying 48 Trident nuclear warheads. This
is still far more than the 32 warheads carried by each Polaris submarine in
the 1980s and 1990s.
Summary of Ploughshares actions since 11th August:
UNUSUAL GOINGS ON AT MAKESHIFT COURT
ONLOOKERS
DENIED
Note: The report doesn't include the presense of 9 year old Ben and 12 year
old Sam in the court, or Helen John telling the court she was off to cut
the fence - a completely surreal experience.
See also:
FUTURE EVENTS:
Sat 19 Sep
Sat 10 Oct
John Ainslie
Britain's Nuclear Weapons System
International Law
About Trident Ploughshares 2000
TP 2000 is an international movement and activists from more than a dozen
countries are present at the Coulport disarmament camp for an intensive
15-day period of action.
Press contacts: David MacKenzie or Pol D'Huyvetter, Telephone: + 44 (0) 1436 850488, + 44 (0) 1436 850220
High Quality TV Footage (POOL) is available for most actions from Reuters & AP Pictures at PA and Reuters.
Web pages: http://www.gn.apc.org/tp2000/
tel + 44 (0) 1603 611953
Terror as nuclear sub plunges in training disaster
Sources say the power failure and uncontrolled dive that followed were the
nightmare scenario all submariners fear.
A member of the crew said:"The boat was shuddering and shaking. We were on
our Knees praying. Everyone was scared out of their wits because we had
never experienced anything like this."
A former Royal Navy submarine Commander said "Apart from a fire on board,
I cannot think of anything more horrific than this. If it had not pulled
out of its dive, it would have headed down and down and probably imploded,
killing the crew and spreading radioactivity over a massive area."
The Royal Navy last night admitted that Vanguard had to make an unscheduled
return to the surface during a training exercise. A spokesman denied there
was any risk of a nuclear accident or any cause for concern. But sources
told the Sunday Mail that the emergency began after the nuclear reactor,
which makes high pressure steam to power the sub, was shut down and the
crew tried to switch to back up electrical power. That back-up system
failed to work and, because the sub was already in a fast dive, she plunged
out of control. Senior officers switched back to steam power which, sources
said, did not come on immediately.
But, only minutes from disaster, they regained control of the sub as the
steam power kicked in. It's not known how long, the emergency lasted. But
its believed the sub was close to its maximum operating depth of 1,500
feet. An insider claimed: "If there was a delay in the electrical power
coming on, it was part of a pre-planned exercise"
But nuclear subs expert John Large said: "If it was diving and they hadn't
managed to get the steam power on, there was nothing to stop it. It would
have gone deeper and deeper and the sub would eventually have started
crushing and cracking due to water pressure. This is an extemely serious
problem for this class of submarine. Its horrific - the worst nightmare."
The revalation that Vanguard launched in 1992, came close to disaster
follows news that it and sister sub Victorious have suffered 'corrosion
problems and cracking'
The admission came in a leaked letter from a senior MOD official. It said
the problems cenred on 'castings' to make the subs pipes and valves.
The Vanguard near disaster has echoes of the fate of an American nuclear
sub which sank of the New England coast in 1963. There was a garbled
message to a surface ship and, after two weeks, the 129-crew vessel was
found crushed at a depth of 8,500 feet.
An inquiry blamed a broken sea-water pipe for smashing power circuits. But
it was later claimed there was an explosion in the nuclear reactor.
The Government announced the results of its much-heralded Strategic Defence
Review in Parliament yesterday. The detailed review, which has taken over a
year to complete and was presented as foreign-policy led, has considered
opinions from a range of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and interest
groups.
TRIDENT
WEAPONS GRADE MATERIAL
INTERNATIONAL ARMS CONTROL
"The recent announcement of the roll-out of the aptly-named fourth Trident
submarine, "Vengeance", on Saturday 19th September, sends all the wrong
signals to the international community about the UK's commitment to
non-proliferation. To India and Pakistan it will sound like 'Do as I say,
not as I do' once again," said Di McDonald.
Di McDonald (nipdimac@gn.apc.org)
The Government will attempt next month to revive its concept of an ethical foreign policy and give a lead to the world by unilaterally cutting up to half of Britain's Trident nuclear warheads. The initiative comes after last month's furore over India and Pakistan's series of tit-for-tat nuclear tests, when Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, promised "ambitious and practical" plans for arms control.
A reduction in the number of warheads has long been a Labour aspiration but has never been expressed before as such a solid commitment and was absent from the party's election manifesto.
The Foreign Office has been keen to promote its disarmament agenda since the Indian and Pakistani tests brought angry charges that the five "official" nuclear powers - the US, Russia, China, Britain and France - had squandered post-Cold War opportunities to make progress on reducing their arsenals. Mr Cook, once a staunch unilateral disarmer, has been pushing the cuts as proof that Labour is committed to taking a leading role in global reductions, though ministers are also anxious to show they are not exposing Britain's defences to unnecessary risk. Britain is already the smallest of the Big Five.
George Robertson, the Defence Secretary, will announce the warhead cuts in the long-delayed Strategic Defence Review, agreed by the MoD and the Foreign Office, the Guardian has learned.
Other elements in the package include changes in the Trident submarine system's alert status - Britain's "deterrence posture" - and what Whitehall calls "greater transparency, disclosing for the first time officially the number of warheads or missiles, and even their explosive power.
Each of the three submarines carries no more than 96 warheads, though a fourth Trident will be brought into service in August.
"If the Government reduces Trident to no more than 48 warheads each, it would be a genuine and welcome act of nuclear disarmament", Stephen Pullinger, executive director of the International Security Information Service, said yesterday.
The MoD is also understood to have proposed scrapping the order for seven new Trident missiles from the United States, a move that would save about £100 million. A decision to disclose details about Britain's nuclear capability would mark a significant shift in policy given past ministerial statements that maintaining uncertainty is itself a key element of deterrence. But lobbyists who wanted to see a stronger commitment to disarmament will be disappointed that the Government has not gone further.
At the moment there is always at least one Trident on 24-hour patrol.
Rebecca Johnson, of the Acronym Arms Control Institute, said: "The acid test of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) is whether Britain's actions promote a larger understanding of international security or whether we carry on trying to punch above our weight and continue to broadcast the Cold War message that nuclear weapons are necessary for security."
So far it looks as if the SDR will fail this test.
But Professor Paul Rogers of Bradford University's school of peace studies, said: "If the Government is open about the number of warheads it plans to deploy, it will be something new. If it decides to mothball one of the Trident submarines, it will be quite significant".
Labour has already completed the withdrawal - which began under the Tories - of the RAF's free-fall nuclear bomb, the WE177, so Trident is the only nuclear weapons system still deployed. Multilateral disarmament moves are frozen because the Russian parliament has failed to ratify the 1993 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start), which would reduce US and Russian deployed nuclear warheads from about 6,000 each to no more than 3,500 each by 2007. Britain and France have long insisted they would cut their arsenals only when there had been significant progress by Washington and Moscow.
Mr Cook would have also liked to have signed up to a no-first-use agreement, but this is not possible because of Nato and US opposition.
BUT …
Administrator
Scottish CND
COURT LIGHTENS BAIL CONDITIONS FOR TRIDENT DISARMERS
ALDERMASTON WOMEN IN COURT FOR TRASHING TRIDENT
David McKenzie on 01324 880744 or 07775 711 054
Jane Tallents/Jim Chestnut on 01436 679194
NEW LABOUR LAUNCHES 'OLD AGENDA' ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS
A new MORI opinion poll commissioned by the independent research organisation, the Oxford Research Group, shows that a vast majority of British people would support the Prime Minister if he were to take a lead in negotiations for worldwide nuclear disarmament.
0171 700 2350/0973 773671.
i.e. as a warning shot across the bows of any potential aggressor.
In CND's view this is hardly a commitment to the global elimination of nuclear weapons and to the fulfilment of Article VI of the NPT.
LEGAL REVIEW OF TRIDENT
TRIDENT/MILLENIUM BUG
MTS Transcript - Ref. No.: 6106
Channel-4 News, Monday 8th February 1999
Media Transcription Service
(Partners: Susan & David Stott)
E-mail: mts@gn.apc.org
"It is the ultimate doomsday scenario: the dreaded Millennium Bug wreaking havoc with Britain's nuclear deterrent.
It seems micro-chips controlling the nuclear missiles on Britain's four Trident submarines will fail at midnight on December 31st unless its American makers can find a way round it.
The Pentagon has promised a temporary solution but even that won't be ready until a fortnight before the deadline…"
"The Bug, according to the American Defence Department, is in a mission critical portion of the Trident strategic weapon system.
Exactly which part of the highly complex missile system will fail, when the computer's calendar turns to the year 2000, they won't say but the Department does admit in its latest quarterly report that it won't be fixed by midnight on December 31st.
Instead, their experts are working on a computer patch to by-pass the fault.
They call it a 'work-around'. The British Navy is relying on the Americans to tell them what to do.
The Americans say the patch won't be ready to go to the crews on the submarines until December 15th."
"It sounds an awfully arbitrary date and one indicating that they are in great difficulty in fixing the problem ...
Just last year a number of Britain's nuclear submarines had significant safety problems while at sea without the impact of the Millennium Bug so the impact of the Bug is coming on top of a history of problems with Britain's nuclear weapons from the point of view of safety."
"The Military's reaction when you say: December 15th is only two weeks away from the Millennium, they say well it's just in time and as long as it is December 15th there's going to be absolutely no change to the operational capability of the boats at all and they will still be at sea and that there won't be a problem.
We don't know, of course, in the past how many systems have had potential failures and have been rectified fourteen days before a particular date."
"The Millennium Bug dates from the early days of computers when, to save space, programmers omitted the number 19 from date lines.
To many machines this is the year 99 not 1999.
Faced with the Millennial jump from 99 to 00, they will crash.
Many programmes are hard-wired into computer chips.
Bug hunters have to disentangle a mass of inter-connecting computer systems, to find and check these so-called 'embedded chips'.
The Ministry of Defence insists there is no danger of the Bug detonating a Trident warhead - and there are sixteen on each submarine.
Observers say the danger is more likely to be a fire if control systems fail, an information blackout, or simply that the whole Trident system fails and Britain has to do without its nuclear deterrent until it's fixed."
"You are certainly not going to see sixteen Trident missiles launching out of the submarine.
And we are not talking about missiles launching.
In fact, it's probably the other way round.
The system is designed to be fail-safe, and so, if there is a fault it will revert to a safe posture which means a 'no launch' and 'no warhead deployment'."
"It's costing £200 million to de-bug all Britain's military systems.
The Trident Bug means the Navy systems will not be clear by August as promised.
Critics say the risk of an accident is so great that all the nuclear powers should stand-down their missiles over the New Year."
ACTIVISTS CHARGED WITH £25000 DAMAGE TO TRIDENT SUBMARINE
Embarrassing security lapse confirmed
"The police lied in court to cover up the fact that they lured Louise,
Janet and Helen into Barrow so that they could claim they had also entered
the dockyard. The bail conditions are ludicrous and will be challenged. The
network of nuclear installations across the UK is so vast and extended that
you can hardly go anywhere without being near one. This week we have shown
that we mean business and we will continue to take direct action against
these immoral and illegal weapons of mass destruction."
NUCLEAR TRIDENT DISARMED BY TP 2000 PEACE ACTIVIST WOMEN
(Also Press Liaison David McKenzie on 01324 880744 or 07775 711 054 or Jane Tallents/Jim Chestnut on 01436 679194)
42-46 Bethel Street
Norwich
Norfolk
NAVAL CHIEF BACKS CUTS IN FORCE OF TRIDENT SUBS
14 would suffice, Admiral Tells Senate
By Walter Pincus, Washington Post Staff Writer
QUESTIONS RAISED ON TRIDENT SUBS
Cost and Size of Strategic Nuclear Deterrent Are Issues
By Walter Pincus, Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-01/03/176l-010399-idx.html
BRITAIN SET FOR NUCLEAR STRIKE AT IRAQ
42-46 Bethel Street
Norwich
Norfolk
NR2 1NR
UK
fax + 44 (0) 1603 666879
http://www.gn.apc.org/tp2000/
Email : tp2000@gn.apc.org
TRIDENT CONVOY STOPPED BY PROTESTERS TWICE IN ONE DAY!!
The Trident warhead convoy which was halted by protesters near to Newcastle
this morning has again been stopped just North of Faslane near Helensburgh.
"These weapons are illegal and immoral. The people from both sides of the
border who have taken action to stop them today should be congratulated
instead of being arrested."
Scottish CND mobile (at the scene at 5pm) 0836 597569
Nukewatch in Scotland : Jane 01436 679194
Nukewatch in Newcastle : Lewis 0191 273 8086
BRITAIN SPENDS $75 million TO SUBSIDISE AMERICAN DEFENCE INDUSTRY
CND has learnt that, despite a commitment in the Strategic Defence Review,
to purchase no more Trident missiles from the US, the Government:
UK DECLARES BAN OF FIRST USE OF NUCLEAR ARMS AS UNACCEPTABLE
By: Mike Trickey
BREAD NOT BOMBS TP3 REMANDED
CND Regional Worker
Cumbria & North Lancashire, UK
10 Pendle Close
Bacup
Lancashire OL13 9JT, UK
UK NUCLEAR MISSILES MAY TARGET NEW DANGER NATIONS
HMS TRENCHANT COOLANT LEAK
Plymouth Devon, UK
BREAD NOT BOMBS PLOWSHARES NEWS
HMP Prison Preston
2 Ribbleton Lane
Preston
PR1 5AB
HMP Remand Centre
Warrington road
Risley,near Warrington
Cheshire
WA3 6BP
Everything addressed to the prisoners: Annika Spalde, Ann-Britt Sternfeldt and Stellan Vinthagen will be forwarded by supporters to them.
For continous e-mail updates write to: stephen@gn.apc.org.
Tel MOBILE +44 (0)403 615894
Trident Ploughshares 2000
42-46 Bethel Street
Norwich
Norfolk
NR2 1NR
UK
TRIDENT DEMONSTRATION - CITIZENS' INSPECTION
CND Regional Worker
Cumbria & North Lancashire, UK.
SWEDISH PLOUGHSHARES ACTIVISTS CHARGED WITH "CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT CRIMINAL DAMAGE"
100th ANTI-NUCLEAR PROTESTOR ARRESTED AT TRIDENT SUBMARINE BASE
"We send a message of support to the Ploughshares protestors. They are
representing the views of many more people across Britain and the world.
They deserve all of our respect for risking their freedom in order to push
forward the abolition of all weapons of mass destruction.
A church kitchen was converted into a police cell on Monday during one of the most bizarre court hearings in Scottish legal history.
The hall of St Michael's Episcopal Church in Helensburgh was the venue for a special sitting of the town's district court.
The session was convened to deal with a group of people arrested over the weekend at an anti-nuclear protest near the naval base at Coulport.
The court normally sits in the town's Victoria Halls, but because they are being refurbished [actually an art exhibition], the nearby church was
deployed - and the kitchen was the only room available for the police to hold the accused.
Equally unorthodox were the scenes in the makeshift public gallery, sited on one half of the badmington court.
Minutes before before proceeedings began just three seats were allocated to spectators - but when more than 50 supporters of the accused turned up, police launched a frantic search for more chairs.
Officers found another pile elsewhere in the church - but not enough.
And several onlookers were forced to sit on the wooden floor, some of them barefoot.
Flouting all normal courtroom rules, punnets of strawberries and packets of crisps were passed freely round the audience as the hearing progressed -
while several others sat cross-legged indulging in the art of origami.
Among the six people who were sent for trial on a variety of charges including vandalism and breach of the peace, was a 30-year old Swedish priest and two countrymen.
The reverend Hans Fredrick Ivarrson, along with Hans Joelson and Klaus Bognier, both 30, denied cutting the wire fence surrounding the base.
They were released on bail and ordered to return for trial in March next year.
Helen John of Yorkshire, Sylvia Boyce of Birmingham and Angie Zelter of Norfolk also denied a string of public order offences and will be tried in January.
Initially Boyce and Zelter were remanded in custody when they refused to accept a condition of bail that ordered them not to go within 25 metres of either Coulport or the submarine base at Faslane.
After debate with fiscal Ann McAllister, however, magistrate Tony Stirling JP, withdrew the stipulation.
He told the accused "By refusing to accept the condition I would have no alternative but to remand you in custody until your trial.
The problem is that no date is available for another hearing within 40 days.
When the nature of charges are taken into account, it would be iniquitous to keep you in custordy for that length of time - because it would be longer that the sentence I would have the power to impose should you have pleaded guilty."
TP 2000's website: http://www.gn.apc.org/tp2000/ - press releases news and detailed information.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_151000/151522.stm - BBC news report, Aug. 16, 37 arrests at demonstration...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_153000/153197.stm - BBC report, Aug 18, 9 protesters arrested at naval base...
http://ds.dial.pipex.com/cndscot/news/index.htm - photos of ploughshares protest.
Faslane Peace Camp could be evicted any time in the weeks ahead.
Launch of 4th Trident submarine, Vengeance, at Michaelson Bridge, Barrow, Cumbria.
CND demonstration at 10.30 am.
Minibus leaving George Square, Glasgow at 4pm on Friday 18th Sep, social & overnight stay in Barrow, returning to Glasgow by Saturday evening.
Scottish CND Conference, Municipal Buildings, Stirling.
Including debate on Trident with representatives of political parties.
Administrator,
Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
http://ds.dial.pipex.com/cndscot/
The UK nuclear weapons system is based on Trident missiles bought from the
USA and ready to be fired from three submarines (four from September) based
at Faslane Naval Base on the Gareloch near Glasgow and stored and loaded
onto the subs at Coulport on Loch Long a few miles further west. The
Trident system, in which each warhead has eight times the destructive power
of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, is a massive escalation in Britain's
nuclear capacity and has been outlawed under international law.
In July 1996 the International Court of Justice gave its Advisory Opinion
on the legality of nuclear weapons, stating that "methods and means of
warfare which would preclude any distinction between civilians and military
targets, or which would result in unnecessary suffering to combatants, are
prohibited. In view of the unique characteristics of nuclear weapons, ... the
use of such weapons is scarcely reconcilable with such requirements" (ICJ July 1996).
The Ploughshares Movement began in North America in the 1970s as a
confrontational but non-violent resistance to the arms race and nuclear
weapons. Over the years its members have been involved in many disarmament
actions, including the disabling of a Hawk aircraft bound for east Timor at
the Aerospace plant for which four women were acquitted in 1996. Trident
Ploughshares 2000 began in 1997 and was publicly launched in May of this
year. All 97 activists have pledged to prevent nuclear crime in a
non-violent manner. The organisation and individual activists see themselves
as fully and openly accountable for their actions. TP 2000 has also been
attempting to engage the government in dialogue, so far without success. If
this continues, the activists will initiate peaceful disarmament attempts until 1 January 2000 or until the government commits itself to
immediately disarming Trident themselves, whichever is the soonest.
TP2000 Peace Camp, Peaton Wood, Coulport (North West of Glasgow)
Interviews with arrested activists available
http://www.motherearth.org/
Trident Ploughshares 2000
42-46 Bethel Street
Norwich
Norfolk
NR2 1NR
UK
fax + 44 (0) 1603 666879
"SECONDS FROM OCEAN TOMB"
Terrified sailors feared their nuclear sub was about to break up as it
plunged towards the sea bed in a training disaster.
The 135 crew aboard HMS Vanguard - carrying up to 96 nuclear warheads -
thought they were seconds from death.They were left helpless after a power
failure aboard the 600 million pound Trident sub sent it into an
uncontrolled dive.Only the quick thinking of the crew at the helm prevented
a major nuclear catastrophe.
It has also emerged that the entire Trident fleet has been the subject of
secret memos among Navy top brass after the discovery of corroding parts.
Vanguard was on a training exercise in the Celtic Deep, between the South
coast of Ireland and Lands End, when the emergency happened.
Vanguard later returned to her Clyde base at Faslane, where she has been
berthed for the last three weeks.
STRATEGIC DEFENCE REVIEW : WHAT IT MISSED
On the subject of Trident nuclear-armed submarines, anti-nuclear NGOs
recommended among other things, a commitment to 'no first use', the
withdrawal of 24 hour submarine patrols, the removal of warheads to storage
ashore and the mothballing of the fourth Trident submarine at the VSEL
shipyard in Barrow. The SDR did not present any of these proposals although
it announced the government was not buying the final 7 missiles from the
United States or deploying more that 48 warheads on each boat.
The monitoring network, Nukewatch, pressed for transparency on warhead
numbers and although the Review announces a reduction from 300 to less than
200 operationally available warheads, it is not precise and does not list
the number of warheads to be stored at a non-operational level. Neither is
the current number of Trident warheads already delivered to Scotland for
deployment or storage given. In other words, the review does not say we are
getting rid of 100 warheads or that warhead production at the Atomic Weapons
Establishment at Aldermaston (AWE) is to end.
We welcome the first steps being taken by the government to provide greater
transparency about its nuclear weapons and materials, but some serious
questions remain to be asked.
The Review publishes the military stockpile of Plutonium (Pu) as 7.6 tonnes,
but admits that only 0.3 of this will be subject to the International Atomic
Energy Agency's safeguards regime. And while 21.9 tonnes of weapons-grade
Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) is listed, it is not clear that this stockpile
will be open to international safeguards inspection.
No transparency regarding the sites where HEU is stored, whether before,
during, or after it's 'use' in nuclear weapons is given. Nor is there a
commitment to publish the different amounts stored or deployed at each
site: AWE Aldermaston & Burghfield, RNAD Coulport, RAF Honington, BNFL
Sellafield, Rolls Royce Nuclear, Derby and AEA Technology Harwell.
"A breakdown of how much Pu and HEU is in operational weapons, in those
waiting for disassembly and those in a non-operational state would have
provided real transparency. As it is, MPs and others will still have to rely
on the Citizen Verification of Nukewatch to monitor the movement of nuclear
materials to and from these sites." said Di McDonald from the south's
independent Network Information Project "Seven convoys containing Trident
warheads have left AWE Aldermaston for the final assembly plant at AWE
Burghfield this year, and less than a month ago, on 15th June, a convoy of
warheads left AWE Burghfield for Scotland. This is the reality which the
Review does not make clear," she concluded.
The Review includes five paragraphs on the government's commitment to Arms
Control and International agreements on transparency and confidence
building. But by excluding Trident from negotiations until the USA & Russia
reduce their huge stockpiles to much lower levels, we are sending the wrong
signals to would-be nuclear weapons states: Britain in effect is saying that
small countries need do nothing.
TRIDENT WARHEADS
by Ian Black and Richard Norton-Taylor
EVEN IF the cuts DO go ahead Britain will still be able to unleash the equivalent of 1152 Hiroshima bombs upon its enemies (instead of 2304). Britain will still have three times the nuclear fire power it enjoyed at the hight of the Cold War. Britain's fourth and final Trident submarine (HMS Veneance) is due to be launched sometime in September. It will join the three others - Vigilant, Vanguard and Victorious.
Home Page