Nukewatch – Page 4 – NukewatchUK

New trucks for the nuclear weapons convoy

The Ministry of Defence has taken delivery of new trucks for the road transport of nuclear warheads between the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) and HM Naval Base Clyde in Scotland.

The previously-used Foden Truck Convoy Heavy Duty Mark 2 (TCHD2) warhead carriers which came into service at the beginning of the 1990s are now being replaced with new vehicles comprising of Mercedes-Benz Actros tractor units and refurbished TCHD2 trailer units. The trucks are also expected to be used to transport special nuclear materials, replacing ageing High Security Vehicles previously used for this purpose.

The programme to replace the trucks was approved in 2007 and the new trucks are scheduled to be in service by the end of October 2010. Eight vehicles plus one spare tractor unit were scheduled to be ordered under the replacement programme.

The vehicles were ordered on behalf of MoD by AWE plc, which holds the contract for maintaining and operating convoy vehicles and managing certain elements of convoy operations.

Following a series of trials of different vehicle types last summer, the new trucks were seen on the road for the first time in July 2010 when a warhead convoy travelled from Burghfield to Scotland.

Tracking the nuclear warhead convoy… A new Camcorder Guerillas film

Award winning video activist collective Camcorder Guerillas will be launching their new film about Nukewatch in November 2007. The film will uncover how fully assembled Trident nuclear warheads are transported on public roads in secret convoys, passing large centres of population such as Oxford, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow on their journey between AWE Burghfield in Berkshire and RNAD Coulport in western Scotland.

Interviewing grassroots activists, environmental journalists and international disarmament experts as well as local authorities and fire services, about the dangers and illegalities of this deadly cargo, the Camcorder Guerillas offer an insight into an issue usually well hidden from the public. Find out how ordinary citizens in the Nukewatch network track and campaign against the convoy and its deadly cargo – and how you can help put an end to this nuclear madness.

Camcorder Guerillas productions: www.camcorderguerillas.net

Special Nuclear Materials convoy heads to the USA

A Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) cargo left AWE Burghfield on Monday 11th June in High Security Vehicle (HSV) Number 4.

With only two non-military escort vehicles, it traveled at 60mph to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire where it met a waiting aircraft on the runway. As soon as the cargo was transferred by fork-lift truck into its side loading bay, the plane took off for the USA. Nuclear warhead materials are exchanged between the UK and USA under the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement.