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Nuclear Weapons

NPT

Five Ways the UK is Undermining the NPT. The NPT has played an unparalleled role in curtailing the nuclear arms race and it continues to play a role in keeping the world safe. It is at the centre of international efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, to create a nuclear weapon free world, and to enable access to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.” But the UK has now taken steps which dangerously undermine this crucial treaty. In its Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, the UK government announced that it will increase the maximum size of its nuclear arsenal and reduce the information it provides about it. Having consistently committed itself over the past decade to reducing its stockpile to a maximum of 180 warheads by the mid 2020s, the UK has now raised this limit to 260, an increase of over 40%. At the same time, the UK will no longer release operational stockpile, deployed warhead or deployed missile numbers.

ICAN (accessed) 3rd May 2021 read more »

Submarines

Defence chiefs have commissioned a review into Dreadnought amid concern that construction of Britain’s new Trident submarines is veering off course. Officials in the Ministry of Defence are understood to have initiated the review into schedules on the £41 billion project, which will replace Britain’s ageing fleet of Vanguard submarines. Defence giant BAE Systems is building the four Trident nuclear warhead-armed submarines at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, with the first due to enter service in the “early 2030s”. Their prompt arrival is vital to continuous at-sea deterrence — having at least one submarine at sea at all times. The arrival of the first Dreadnought-class boat has been pushed back from 2024 and the budget has swollen to £31 billion, plus £10 billion of contingency cash. Delays to seven Astute hunter-killer submarines have also eaten into its schedule, and there have been problems with vital new infrastructure. The MoD does not disclose construction milestones for Dreadnought.

Times 2nd May 2021 read more »

Nuclear Weapons

Bangor City Council has become the first Welsh Council to support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The treaty came into force in January and seeks to start a process for effective nuclear disarmament and to unlock the ongoing stalemate in discussions at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conferences. There are currently 54 states that have ratified the TPNW, including the Irish Republic, Austria, South Africa, New Zealand, Mexico and the Vatican State. A further 32 states have signed it and are in the process of ratifying it. To date over 400 towns, cities, counties and federal states have passed TPNW resolutions, including Paris, Berlin, Oslo, Barcelona, Washington DC, Sydney, Amsterdam, Bruges, Geneva, Montreal, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Nation Cymru 1st May 2021 read more »

Nuclear Weapons

ONLY a quarter of Scots voters have said they feel safer having nuclear weapons based on the Clyde, according to a new opinion poll. The latest survey from James Kelly asked people the question: “The UK Government argues that its nuclear weapons protect the public due to a ‘deterrent’ effect. However, others argue that the presence of nuclear weapons on the Clyde puts the public in greater danger by making the area a target for nuclear attacks, and by creating a risk of serious accidents.

The National 1st May 2021 read more »

Faslane

Activists from Extinction Rebellion Scotland, alongside veteran peace activists Trident Ploughshares, have placed three planters on the road containing plants and flowers painted with the words ‘Safe’, ‘Green’, and ‘Future’. A female Extinction Rebel is locked onto each planter so that they cannot be moved, preventing access to the base.

Scotsman 30th April 2021 read more »

Evening Standard 30th April 2021 read more »

The National 30th April 2021 read more »

Faslane

The Trident nuclear base has been condemned by the Scottish Government’s green watchdog for its “poor” environmental performance after it polluted the Clyde with toxic chemicals. The Ferret can reveal that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) criticised the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarine base at Faslane near Helensburgh for breaching pollution rules in 2019. According to the navy this was because a “higher than usual level of chlorination” was detected in the Gareloch off Faslane. The base uses chlorine to prevent its waste discharge pipes from becoming clogged by algae, barnacles and seaweed.

The Ferret 27th April 2021 read more »

It is the most marginal seat in Scotland, and number one on the SNP target list. The Nationalists are gunning for Labour’s Jackie Baillie, who squeezed into Holyrood by 109 votes last time, and is seen by the SNP’s candidate, Toni Giugliano, as acutely vulnerable, on the grounds she has held the seat since the Scottish Parliament was first created in 1999, and, in his view, “it’s time for a change”. In Dumbarton, defence is a critical issue. Trident and the nuclear submarines based at Faslane, continue to draw controversy. Baillie has broken with her own party, Scottish Labour, and supports retaining nuclear weapons, pointing out that jobs at the base pay 20 per cent more than the average wage in the area. Maurice Corry, who polled less than half the Labour vote at the last election, nevertheless increased his share of the vote by nearly three per cent, and got in on the list vote. As a former Black Watch officer, he has pledges to support Trident and local jobs. Giugliano denies the SNP policy would close the base, but says it would retain it as the tri-service headquarters of Scotland’s army, navy and air force. “Nuclear are yesterday’s weapons,” he says. “I’ve yet to see evidence on the impact nuclear weapons have had in deterring modern security threats.”

Times 28th April 2021 read more »

Nuclear Safeguards

Nuclear safeguards regulations amended to take into account Amending Protocol to UK-Japan nuclear agreement: Brexit SI. The Nuclear Safeguards (Fissionable Material and Relevant International Agreements) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/492) came into force on 22 April 2021.

Reuters Practical Law 26th April 2021 read more »

Submarines

HMS Anson trundled out of Devonshire Dock Hall on Tuesday to a ripple of applause, before its 7,400-tonne bulk slipped into the water for the first time. The launch of the Royal Navy’s fifth Astute submarine was a milestone for the defence giant BAE Systems, which builds the boats at its cavernous factory at Barrow-in-Furness on the Cumbrian coast. But despite the fanfare, it was also a reminder of the growing risks that haunt this most sensitive corner of the defence industry. HMS Anson, a hunter-killer submarine powered by a nuclear reactor but armed with conventional weapons, has been almost a decade in the making. It is years late and is still some way off being ready. It may have to undergo years of trials before being accepted into service. Its launch was delayed by problems with HMS Audacious, the fourth Astute. It sat in the water for almost three years before leaving Barrow last year. Delays to the Astutes illustrate the challenges facing Britain’s submarine enterprise, the biggest cost to the Ministry of Defence. Crucially, they point to the risks around the successor programme: the construction of four Trident nuclear warhead-armed submarines, Dreadnoughts, which are needed to sustain the UK’s policy of continuous at-sea deterrent. Those risks range from delays refuelling the ageing Vanguard submarines they will eventually replace, to setbacks and cost overruns on vital infrastructure projects, to management churn and weak scrutiny. They suggest that without drastic action, the MoD may have to adjust its expectations for the £41 billion project, particularly the assumption that the first boat will be in service in the “early 2030s”.

Times 25th April 2021 read more »

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