A group of activists from Scotland have shut 3 gates at Aldermaston this morning since 6.05am. At Home Office gate two people have been arrested for obstruction of the highway, with one person sitting on top of the gate keeping it shut. At Tadley gate six people have been arrested and are locked-on in the roadway preventing vehicles from leaving or arriving. A third (Construction) gate was also locked shut with a D-lock.
The group were acting peacefully to disrupt the multimillion pound development of a replacement for Britain’s Trident Nuclear Weapons.
“With the Scottish elections looming and the real possibility of a
Nuclear-Weapons Free Scotland, we felt we had to come and make the
strength of feeling up here clear to AWE”, Dave, one of the activists
from South Lanarkshire, said. “It is clear from the developments at the
site that the decision to renew Britain’s nuclear weapons long pre-dates
the parliamentary vote last month.”
The Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston, is currently undergoing
massive new developments similar in scale to the Heathrow Terminal 5
project. The developments include new computing and laser facilities
which will enable scientists to simulate nuclear explosions to improve
the design of nuclear warheads without actually exploding a weapon which
would be banned under the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The site was
given a £5 billion refit after the renewal of the Mutual Defence
Agreement with the USA in 2005 which allows the sharing of nuclear
information between the USA and Britain.
One of the group, Danya from Argyll and Bute, Scotland, said “The
development of yet more Weapons of Mass Destruction at this site is in
total breach of the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. The vote last
month to commit the UK to keeping nuclear weapons until 2050 was a
foregone conclusion and does nothing to tackle the real enormous issues
that the UK and the world faces, such as climate change and nuclear
proliferation.”
“Instead, the parliamentary decision and developments at this site will
heighten global instability, conflict and nuclear proliferation.”
The group which included activists from Faslane Peace Camp, a protest
site opposite HMNB Clyde where the UK’s Trident submarines are based,
say they were acting in solidarity with “Block the Builders”, a campaign
taking peaceful actions against the new developments at the site.
http://www.blockthebuilders.org.uk/
“With the Scottish elections looming and the real possibility of a
Nuclear-Weapons Free Scotland, we felt we had to come and make the
strength of feeling up here clear to AWE”, Dave, one of the activists
from South Lanarkshire, said. “It is clear from the developments at the
site that the decision to renew Britain’s nuclear weapons long pre-dates
the parliamentary vote last month.”
The Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston, is currently undergoing
massive new developments similar in scale to the Heathrow Terminal 5
project. The developments include new computing and laser facilities
which will enable scientists to simulate nuclear explosions to improve
the design of nuclear warheads without actually exploding a weapon which
would be banned under the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The site was
given a £5 billion refit after the renewal of the Mutual Defence
Agreement with the USA in 2005 which allows the sharing of nuclear
information between the USA and Britain.
One of the group, Danya from Argyll and Bute, Scotland, said “The
development of yet more Weapons of Mass Destruction at this site is in
total breach of the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. The vote last
month to commit the UK to keeping nuclear weapons until 2050 was a
foregone conclusion and does nothing to tackle the real enormous issues
that the UK and the world faces, such as climate change and nuclear
proliferation.”
“Instead, the parliamentary decision and developments at this site will
heighten global instability, conflict and nuclear proliferation.”
The group which included activists from Faslane Peace Camp, a protest
site opposite HMNB Clyde where the UK’s Trident submarines are based,
say they were acting in solidarity with “Block the Builders”, a campaign
taking peaceful actions against the new developments at the site.
http://www.blockthebuilders.org.uk/ 
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