The delegation of church officials and MSPs wait in vain outside the gates of Aldermaston
The gates are closed at Aldermaston which seems to be gearing up to develop the next generation of nuclear weapons, despite the recent Blix WMD report that states explicitly we'd all be better off without them.
There could be no clearer condemnation of nuclear weapons than in the recent report from the UN's Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, chaired by Hans Blix. Yet all the signs indicate that Tony Blair is once again flying in the face of expert and public opinion by clearing the way for the development of new and upgraded nuclear weapons.
Officially, no decision has been made on what to do when Trident reaches the end of its service life around 2025, but developments at the Atomic Weapons Establishment's (AWE) research facilities at Aldermaston near Reading suggest that behind closed doors, minds have already been made up. More than £ billion is being spent on upgrading the site, including hiring new scientific staff, increasing visits from US nuclear experts... oh, and constructing the Orion laser, 1,000 times more powerful than the existing Aldermaston laser, and, crucially, substantial testing facilities that mean nuclear weapons tests can be replicated without actually setting one off.
It was little hints like that which on Monday lead a delegation of senior Scottish church representatives, including the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, members of the Scottish Parliament, and the former Lord Advocate Lord Murray to request a meeting with Don Cook, managing director of AWE, to ask what this furtive activity is all about. The delegation reflected the established widespread Scottish opposition to nuclear weapons. Mr Cook refused, but they went along anyway in the hope that Cook would at least come to the front gate. He wasn't there to meet them but a squad of armed police were and needless to say the gates were locked tight. Strange, given that other groups are known to have been given access to the site in recent years.
The visit to Aldermaston was followed by the presentation by Hans Blix of the new report from the UN Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission to MPs and the media at the House of Commons. The delegation heard Blix reiterate the Commission's findings which were damning towards all nations that either possess nuclear weapons or are taking steps to acquire them. The report states that "the UK will have to decide whether it will be meaningful to retain costly nuclear arsenals that were developed for an enemy that no longer exists, in order to meet hypothetical threats against which such weapons are of questionable value".
The report also makes it clear that the UK has a unique opportunity to shape international policy on nuclear arms. If the government decides to neither renew Trident nor develop a new generation of nuclear weapons, it will send a clear signal to other nations that the world can easily do without them.
Responding to a question about the benefit of nuclear weapons as a deterrent, Blix pointed out that other forms of deterrent exist which don't involve wholesale destruction such as economic sanctions. He also reminded the audience that one purpose of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which was drawn up to end the nuclear arms race during the Cold War, is to move all nations towards complete nuclear disarmament.
The Atomic Weapons Establishment HQ at Aldermaston - click the symbols to find out about new developments on the site
(Information courtesy of Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament)
So what, you may ask, is going on at Aldermaston? From the delegation's experience it would seem we're not allowed to know but the signs aren't difficult to read. New staff are being recruited and with the development of the colossal Orion laser, massive supercomputers and hydrodynamic testing facilities, all of which will allow scientists to predict how nuclear weapons will perform, everything points to a replacement for Trident.
And should our government be gearing up to replace or upgrade Trident with a new class of warheads, it will be undermining the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty that, as the name suggests, prohibits the testing of nuclear devices while at the same time also threatening the NPT.
Even by Tony Blair's standards, the hypocrisy has possibly never been so blatant. The Government promises a debate on the future of Trident and says that no decision on Trident replacement has been made, yet it seems they are already in the process of designing new nuclear weapons. Building new nuclear weapons will not only tangle us even further in US foreign and military policy, it will demonstrate to other states that it's okay to have them and a new arms race will be on the cards.
