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Government lists reveal litany of mishaps involving vehicles that carry weapons of mass destruction to Loch Long base (15 juillet 2007) THE NUCLEAR bomb convoys that regularly pass through Scotland have suffered 67 safety incidents over the past seven years, sparking fears of a "catastrophic" accident. Lists obtained by the Sunday Herald from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) reveal details of dozens of mechanical faults and equipment failures since 2000, as well as delays and diversions caused by anti-nuclear protests. Incidents include numerous fuel leaks, a series of broken valves and several instances of engine and brake overheating. In October 2003, an axle began smoking due to "excessive use of wheel brakes" coming down a steep hill. In February 2003, a bomb carrier's clutch "became inoperative", and in January 2005 a fuse box started smoking when a heated windscreen was switched on. There were also several tyre punctures and false alarms. Convoys of warheads for Trident missiles travel by road up to six times a year between the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Berkshire and the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Coulport on Loch Long, northwest of Glasgow. Often involving 10 or more vehicles, they have been driven through 21 local authorities in Scotland. The MoD listed exactly 50 "engineering incidents to nuclear convoy vehicles" between January 1, 2000, and June 30, 2007. A second list disclosed 17 "operational incidents" over the same period. Nine of the operational incidents involved delays or diversions due to the anti-nuclear demonstrations that have dogged the convoys for years. In July 2004, for example, the convoy was delayed for 16 minutes by a protest at Balloch on Loch Lomond. On other occasions, the convoy was delayed due to road accidents. The lists, which were released by the MoD under freedom of information legislation, do not usually specify where in the UK the incidents took place. According to the MoD, "minor unplanned events" and "trivial technical incidents" have been omitted. |
David Mackenzie, a spokesman for Nukewatch,
which monitors the convoys, accused the government of putting people's
lives at risk. "Transporting plutonium and high explosive in the same
truck shows an incredible disregard for public safety," he said.
Protesters would "immediately disengage" if they were causing a risk, he argued. But he warned that protests were likely to increase because of growing public outrage about the convoys. An accident could have "catastrophic consequences", according to John Ainslie, co-ordinator of the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. "These latest disclosures reveal there have been an alarming number of incidents involving the transport of weapons of mass destruction across Britain." Ainslie argued that a recent emergency exercise imagining a major reactor accident at the Faslane nuclear base on the Clyde highlighted the difficulties of dealing with a disaster. The MoD has just released an official post-mortem of last November's exercise, codenamed Short Sermon. It reveals manifold problems in responding to the accident, which envisaged radiation leaking out and contaminating the local area. Many of the government agencies which took part raised concerns about poor communications and inadequate facilities. "When you miss a not' or similar you can get completely the wrong message," complained the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. "In a real event, with no doubt more heat and nerves, it would be difficult to think straight." The MoD pointed out that the purpose of emergency exercises was to help improve preparations for "highly unlikely" accidents. "We learn valuable lessons," said a spokeswoman. She insisted that the 67 incidents had not been serious security failures. They were "low-key mechanical issues that in all cases have been resolved quickly", she added. "Safety and security is paramount to the movement of nuclear convoys and is not compromised at any point due to the stringent measures in place." Further new evidence of the risks of nuclear weapons is due to be broadcast by BBC Radio 4 tomorrow evening. A programme will reveal top secret documents from government scientists warning that up to 10 million people in the south of England could have been put at risk by the stationing of US cruise missiles at Greenham Common in the 1980s. |