16 December 2016
Nuclear Warhead Convoys on M6 - Lancaster County Councillors Investigate Safety Plans.
County Councillor Gina Dowding recently attended a meeting organised by local CND members and Nukewatch Uk which highlighted findings in a report that nuclear warheads, which are fully assembled nuclear bombs, are being transported up and down the M6 through Lancashire several times a year. The nuclear warheads are transported to and from Burghfield, in Berkshire, where they are made and maintained, and the UK’s nuclear submarine storage base at Faslane, near Glasgow. The nuclear warheads travel in Ministry of Defence convoys, on an eastern route via Leeds, or a western one past Preston and Lancaster on the M6.
The Ministry of Defence itself admits that a full-scale nuclear reaction caused by a terrorist attack on a nuclear convoy could cause ‘considerable loss of life and severe disruption to the British people’s way of life and to the UK’s ability to function effectively as a sovereign state’. In September the national Guardian newspaper reported a study documenting 180 ‘safety incidents’ involving these convoys since 2000. In 2007, for example, ‘a command vehicle lost communications’, while in 2014 there was a report of ‘bomb carrier breakdown’.
This report prompted a group of local residents to wonder if our County Council was well-prepared to deal with any nuclear incident that might arise on the M6 through Lancashire.
County Councillor Gina Dowding (Green Party) set up a meeting with staff at the County Council Emergency Planning Office to ask about safety issues relating to the nuclear convoys on behalf of the group.
Gina said: 'Officers outlined their extensive plans to deal with all sorts of potential emergencies, including incidents (accidental or otherwise) that might occur in relation to the convoys’ use of our roads in Lancashire. It is clear that the nuclear weapons convoys are very heavily protected by the Ministry of Defence throughout their journeys, and that the County has comprehensive plans in place in case of any incident. However I remain concerned that while the risk of any MAJOR incident occurring is extremely low - the serious consequences of any radiation leak or terrorist attack call in to question why the Government is prepared to continue to put hundreds of communities and thousands of people at risk by allowing this system to continue at all’.
Sources:
Rob Edwards: “Nukes of Hazard: The nuclear bomb convoys on our roads”. International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, 2016. “Preparing for Emergencies in Lancashire.” Lancashire Resilience Forum publication available at www.stayintheknow.co.uk
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