On learning that the plans for extpanding AWE on the flood plain have been approved, campaigners say the plans are “illegal, immoral and insane”.
On Wednesday 4 March, West Berkshire Council approved the application by the Atomic Weapons Establishment for the facility, called “Project Mensa” at its Burghfield site near Reading. The base was severely flooded in 2007, causing widespread worry for local people. The plans received over a thousand objections, a record for the local council.
Daniel Viesnik , a spokesperson for anti nuclear campaigning group Trident Ploughshares said, “West Berkshire Council has betrayed its duty to local residents; while the Ministry of Defence and AWE need their heads examined. The new facility is called “Project Mensa”, but you don’t have to be a member of Mensa to figure out that building a nuclear bomb factory on land prone to flooding, close to a major city is simply insane. Any new facility designed to maintain or replenish nuclear weapons is, in any case, likely to be illegal under international law, not to say deeply immoral. The only sensible course of action is to hold a full and independent public inquiry into this and all developments at the Atomic Weapons Establishment.”
ENDS
Notes:
1. Trident Ploughshares is a campaign to disarm the UK Trident nuclear weapons system in a nonviolent, open, peaceful and fully accountable manner.
www.tridentploughshares.org along with
www.blockthebuilders.org.uk
www.cnduk.org
2. The Atomic Weapons Establishment, operated on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, is run by a private consortium composed of US corporations Lockheed Martin and Jacobs Engineering and British firm Serco.
3. Recent articles:
Nuke factory given the green light
http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2046465_nuke_factory_given_the_green_light
Reading Evening Post - Mar 5, 2009
Bomb factory gets approval
http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article.aspx?articleID=9427
Newbury Weekly News Group - Mar 4, 2009
AWE plan due for approval despite strong opposition
http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/reading/articles/2009/03/04/9999-awe-plan-due-for-approval-despite-strong-opposition/
Reading Chronicle - Mar 4, 2009
AWE bomb factory causes council ruck
http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article.aspx?articleID=9423
Newbury Weekly News Group - Mar 4, 2009
Nuclear facility plan is approved
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/7922853.stm
BBC News - Mar 4, 2009
Bomb factory objectors blast council move
http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article.aspx?articleID=9413
Newbury Weekly News Group - Mar 3, 2009
Flood risk fear over AWE warhead plant
http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2045997_flood_risk_fear_over_awe_warhead_plant_
Reading Evening Post - Feb 27, 2009
Safety concerns over nuclear plan
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/7911098.stm
BBC Berkshire - Feb 25, 2009
Record objections against nuclear warhead facility
http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article.aspx?articleID=9367
Newbury Weekly News Group - Feb 25, 2009
Nuclear plan sees 1000 response
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/7901361.stm
BBC Berkshire - Feb 20, 2009
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