Work at key UK nuclear weapons factory - AWE Burghfield – to be halted on 2nd March 2015 by protesters

BURGHFIELD LOCKDOWN - 7.00am, Monday 2nd March 2015 - AWE Burghfield, Nr.Reading, Berks

Work at key UK nuclear weapons factory - AWE Burghfield – to be halted on 2nd March 2015

On Monday 2nd March all routes in and out of Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Burghfield will be closed, bringing work on Trident warheads to a halt. This peaceful action will be carried out by hundreds of British and international citizens, who will blockade all entrances to the nuclear bomb factory, just a few miles from Reading town centre in Berkshire.

Nuclear weapons are a key General Election issue. In 2016 the government is expected to decide officially whether to spend more than £100 billion on a new generation of its Trident nuclear weapons for the next 50 years. Opponents are undertaking a series of peaceful actions across the month of March aimed at raising public and political awareness of the horrendous costs and consequences of nuclear weapons, and to give voice to the majority of the British public who want Trident to be scrapped, not replaced.

“It’s time for Britain to join other UN nations in negotiating an international nuclear ban treaty” said Andrew Dey from Yorkshire, one of the blockaders. “We’re not calling for AWE Burghfield or Aldermaston to be immediately shut down. We’re calling for the manufacture and modernisation of nuclear weapons of mass destruction to end. The bases can be used for disarmament purposes, employees need not lose their jobs. The reality of a so called ‘nuclear deterrent’ is that nuclear armed submarines patrol globally - ready to fire 24/7 with the ability to wipe out cities almost anywhere on earth within 15 minutes, at a cost of billions which should be spent on the NHS.”

This is not just an issue for Britain. State borders would mean nothing if nuclear weapons explode in an accident or war. Nonviolent campaigners from Finland, Sweden, Spain, France and Belgium are coming to join the blockade. “We don’t want to suffer nuclear winter and radiation caused by British or other nuclear weapons. We support Scotland’s right to become nuclear free, and call on the UK to cancel Trident, stop threatening the world with accidental or intentional nuclear disaster, and support negotiations to ban and eliminate all nuclear weapons” said Tuuli Vuori, who is making the journey from Finland.

Burghfield Lockdown is the latest in a series of escalating protests at nuclear weapons bases in England and Scotland timed to increase pressure on politicians campaigning for election in 2015 and up until the 2016 ‘main gate’ decision on Trident replacement.

A practically achievable treaty banning nuclear weapons is now on the international diplomatic agenda due to initiatives by civil society, the international Red Cross, religious organisations and nuclear free governments. Such a treaty could be in force as early as 2020.

Professional broadcast quality film footage will be available from Burghfield Lockdown on the day. Please contact us for details.

A promotional video for Burghfield Lockdown is on the Action AWE website, here.

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Notes for Editors
1. Action AWE is a grassroots campaign of nonviolent actions dedicated to halting nuclear weapons production at the Aldermaston and Burghfield Atomic Weapons Establishments. Action AWE is committed to active nonviolence. Action AWE website, http://www.actionawe.org
2. Media are invited to visit the blockade of AWE Burghfield on 2 March, starting 7.00am. Blockade details athttp://www.actionawe.org/topics/burghfieldlockdown
3. Operated by a consortium of Jacobs Engineering Group, Lockheed Martin and Serco, AWE Burghfield plays an integral part in the final assembly and maintenance of nuclear warheads for use in the Trident system. In 2011 Peter Luff, the then Minister for Defence Equipment, announced £2 billion of spending for redevelopment of the Burghfield and Aldermaston weapons factories. The total spending on Weapons of Mass Destruction in the UK will soar to over £100bn should the government take the decision to renew Trident in 2016.
4. The UK government has an armed nuclear submarine on patrol and ready to fire at all times, with the ability to wipe out cities almost anywhere on earth within 15 minutes. The UK government has a stockpile of around 225 nuclear warheads, each with eight times the explosive power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, that killed an estimated 140,000 to 200,000 people. Running the Trident nuclear weapons system currently costs £2 billion a year and has not seen any of the cutbacks facing other government spending and public services. The government will vote in 2016 to decide whether to invest in the UK’s Trident nuclear weapon system for another 30 years. Trident is not an “independent” system, but is dependent on technical support from the US.
5. Polls consistently show that well over half of the British public are opposed to the renewal of Trident. The figure appears to be rising, with 79% opposing Trident renewal in a Guardian poll in April 2014. Please see http://www.cnduk.org/campaigns/no-to-trident/opinion-polls (external site).
6. Burghfield Lockdown is being supported by over sixty organisations in Britain and abroad. Find a full list here:http://actionawe.org/topics/burghfieldlockdown/
7. For updates on continuing campaigns, please follow @ActionAWE on Twitter.
8. For more information, or to arrange interviews with those involved, please call Hannah on 07729797637 or Angie on 074560588943

Action AWE
….'acting to halt nuclear weapons production at the Atomic Weapons Establishment factories at Aldermaston and Burghfield'…
press@actionawe.org
Phone: 0845 4588 362
http://actionawe.org