Nukewatch - exposing a deadly cargo

Posted by Louise Edge — 7 November 2008 at 3:48pm - Comments

Is there a nuclear truck in your neighbourhood?

If there's a nuclear truck in your neighbourhood - who you gonna call? Nukewatch! © fototruck.com

Few people know that convoys carrying nuclear warheads regularly travel along our roads, past our homes and schools. Containing plutonium and other deadly radioactive material, they are transported between submarine bases in Scotland and Berkshire's repair and maintenance facilities at Aldermaston and Burghfield. An accident involving and explosion or fire could cause a partial nuclear blast and result in lethal radiation contaminating the surrounding area.

These convoys carry no warning signs and neither the local authorities or the public are notified. Nukewatch is devoted to exposing the risks posed by these convoys, tracking their movements and safety lapses, and alerting local authorities and communities to the threats.

Get Active - Help Nukewatch fill the gaps in their monitoring network!

Nukewatch urgently need new people, particularly in the Midlands, North of England and Scotland. To find out more, go to www.nukewatch.org.uk/contacts.php.

For more images of warhead convoys to help sharpen your nuclear truck spotting skills, visit fototruck.com.

Thanks and 'keep em peeled'!

Article tagged as: awe aldermaston, disarmament, nuclear transports, nuclear weapons, nukewatch, peace
Comments Commenting is now closed

Thanks for your comment "nuke the world", but actually there are military experts on either side of the Atlantic who would disagree with you.

A New Scientist article published in 2006 referenced a recently declassified report from the Ministry of Defence, which stated that "Trident nuclear warheads damaged in a vehicle pile-up or a plane crash could partially detonate and deliver a lethal radiation dose."

According to the report extreme accidents could result in a nuclear explosion. A serious vehicle collision or an aircraft crash combined with multiple failures of the MoD's secret protective measures could mean that the weapon might not remain single-point safe (nukes are designed so that one impact at a single point should not trigger all the explosives around the core).

The report puts the overall yearly risk of an "inadvertent yield" in the UK at 2.4 in a billion, mainly due to the possibility of an aircraft crashing onto a convoy. Inadvertent yield suggests a partial nuclear explosion, also called fizzle yield, smaller than the full yield of up to 100 kilotons.

US experts also agree that the risk of an accidental explosion is real. "You can't rule it out," says Philip Coyle, from the Center for Defense Information think tank in Washington DC. "If we are going to have nuclear weapons, we have to live with the risks."

It's true that transporting nukes by truck is probably safer than moving them by train, though. Then again, both are relatively easy targets for a serious terrorist attack, the consequences of which "are likely to be considerable loss of life and severe disruption both to the British people's way of life and to the UK's ability to function effectively as a sovereign state." admitted   David Wray,  the MoD's director of information, in May 2006.

By jossc - 29 July 2009 at 2:27pm

Thanks for your comment "nuke the world", but actually there are military experts on either side of the Atlantic who would disagree with you.

A New Scientist article published in 2006 referenced a recently declassified report from the Ministry of Defence, which stated that "Trident nuclear warheads damaged in a vehicle pile-up or a plane crash could partially detonate and deliver a lethal radiation dose."

According to the report extreme accidents could result in a nuclear explosion. A serious vehicle collision or an aircraft crash combined with multiple failures of the MoD's secret protective measures could mean that the weapon might not remain single-point safe (nukes are designed so that one impact at a single point should not trigger all the explosives around the core).

The report puts the overall yearly risk of an "inadvertent yield" in the UK at 2.4 in a billion, mainly due to the possibility of an aircraft crashing onto a convoy. Inadvertent yield suggests a partial nuclear explosion, also called fizzle yield, smaller than the full yield of up to 100 kilotons.

US experts also agree that the risk of an accidental explosion is real. "You can't rule it out," says Philip Coyle, from the Center for Defense Information think tank in Washington DC. "If we are going to have nuclear weapons, we have to live with the risks."

It's true that transporting nukes by truck is probably safer than moving them by train, though. Then again, both are relatively easy targets for a serious terrorist attack, the consequences of which "are likely to be considerable loss of life and severe disruption both to the British people's way of life and to the UK's ability to function effectively as a sovereign state." admitted   David Wray,  the MoD's director of information, in May 2006.

By jossc - 29 July 2009 at 2:27pm

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