Production work has been halted in one of the main manufacturing facilities at the UK's nuclear weapons factory because of safety fears caused by corrosion of structural steelwork. The government's nuclear safety watchdog, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), has issued managers at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston, Berkshire, where the warheads for […]
Parliamentary scrutiny latest news
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Fire service called to acid incident at AWE Aldermaston
A Parliamentary Question asked by Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has revealed that the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service was called out to the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Aldermaston on 16 August 2012 to deal with an incident resulting from an acid experiment.
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Atomic Weapons Establishment fire cover-up prompts call for greater safety disclosure
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£2 billion and rising: the cost of redeveloping the Atomic Weapons Establishment
The Ministry of Defence has pledged at least £2 billion of spending on new developments at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), according to new information released in response to a Parliamentary Question from Caroline Lucas MP.
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Secrecy over military equipment costs ‘makes a mockery of Government openness claims’
The costs of some of the most expensive and controversial military procurement programmes are to remain shrouded in secrecy despite a government promise to disclose spending on all contracts valued over £25,000.
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NIS Update: August – September 2011
ANNUAL ACCOUNTS PAINT BLEAK PICTURE FOR MINISTRY OF DEFENCE FINANCES
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) annual report and accounts for 2010-11, published earlier this summer, have further exposed the disorganised state of the Ministry's financial situation.
The accounts report a net operating cost of £47.1 billion and assets of some £127.9 billion mainly consisting of land, buildings, fighting equipment and stores together with gross liabilities of some £21.3 billion.
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Flawed MoD nuclear response could place emergency personnel at risk
Significant safety problems have been exposed in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) response to an accident involving nuclear weapons after an emergency exercise in East Anglia last year.
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Emergency planning arrangements for AWE’s Explosives Technology Facility
Emergency plans for the explosives technology facility at the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston have been released into the public domain (available for download at the bottom of this article) following a series of questions from Members of Parliament.
Following the fire in the explosives area at Aldermaston on 3 August 2010 Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, enquired about the emergency arrangements which were implemented in fighting the fire.
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A tale of two reviews
How much of an issue will plans to replace the UK's Trident nuclear weapons be during the next general election campaign? Although the election is not scheduled to take place until 2015, the battlelines for the Trident debate are already being drawn.
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Trident Initial Gate – here at last!
Word cloud showing the frequency of words in the Ministry of Defence Initial Gate report.
Defence Secretary Liam Fox has announced that approval has been given to go ahead with the detailed design phase of development of new submarines planned to replace the current Vanguard class vessels which carry the UK's Trident nuclear weapons.
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AWE visits to the USA give insight into US-UK nuclear co-operation
Recently revealed information on visits to the United States of America by staff from the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) has shed a little more light on the nature of US – UK co-operation on nuclear weapons programmes.
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NIS Update: March 2011
US-UK CO-OPERATION ON WARHEAD FUSE DESIGN PAVES THE WAY TOWARDS A NEW BRITISH WARHEAD
UK nuclear weapon scientists are co-operating with colleagues in the USA to develop upgrades to a US nuclear warhead design, according to budget documents prepared by the US Department of Energy.