6 May 2005: for immediate release
NO TO TRIDENT REPLACEMENT! NO TO NEW NUCLEAR WEAPONS!
6.30am, Monday 9 May: Blockade of Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment
Activists will be blockading the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment, near Reading, in an attempt to stop building work for a new £2.2bn development. Experts believe the developments include facilities to test a new generation of nuclear weapons or a replacement to Trident.
As CND and anti-nuclear activists press for compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in New York, activists will be blockading Britain’s own nuclear bomb-making factory, to say ‘No to Trident replacement! No to new nuclear weapons!’
Kate Hudson, Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament said:
‘It is a scandal that building work should start at Aldermaston at the very moment that the international community gathers in New York to review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Britain is required under this international treaty to disarm its nuclear weapons, yet instead it is preparing to develop new ones. Instead of complying with its own obligations it is pontificating about other countries’ supposed nuclear ambitions. We demand an end to this nuclear hypocrisy.’
Notes for editors:
1. For further information and interviews please CND Vice-Chair Sophie Bolt on 07930 235791.
2. The blockade takes place at 6.30am. For further details call 07788 50 3761.
3. The government deferred a decision on whether to replace its Trident nuclear system until after the general election on 5 May.
4. Aldermaston AWE builds and maintains Britain’s nuclear warheads for its Trident submarines.
5. Aldermaston AWE is on the A340 from Basingstoke (M£/J6) to Reading (M4/J12).