November 2006 Convoy

REPORT TO CND

November 2006

November Convoy

The fifth Continuous Running convoy this year left AWE Burghfield on Monday 13^th November at 11.45 coinciding with the regular monthly Block the Builders protest at Aldermaston. It was a small step for several groups and individuals to be at the Burghfield gate to protests at the continuing movement of warheads up to Scotland. To enable this protest, Nukewatch kept an overnight watch and two-hourly checks during daylight for four days and three nights, to alert people when the convoy moved. It was tracked into RAF Stafford at 16.00 and then picked up in Scotland in the small hours before reaching RNAD Coulport at around 06.00, before the Faslane 365 blockade began.

National Nukewatch (NNW) Meeting

The return of the November convoy is expected to coincide with a national NW meeting near Accrington. We have a busy agenda, but will not, of course, ignore the convoy. We plan to revisit the Aims and Objectives of Nukewatch and discuss new information material: a short video, a small exhibition and local leaflets. CND will be an obvious route to disseminate these visual aids, as well as CCND, peace and justice and other groups. We are also to discuss if there anything more we can do to use our monitoring to help international monitors and observers understand what is happening with the UK nuclear weapons programme.

2006 Convoy Log

The most recent convoy log table extract below shows that there have been 3 or 4 loads from AWE to Coulport and 5 returned to AWE for servicing in 2006.  This suggests that some warheads have been scrapped, possibly 4 or 8. This would take the UK inventory down to182 or 178 according to Nukewatch records. It is thought that below100 would not be a viable complement of warheads to keep AWE in business. So there is still some way to go to disarmament by the back door!

Di McDonald