Anti-nuclear campaigners will gather at AWE Burghfield today (6 June 2016) to highlight the role the site plays in the manufacture and maintenance of nuclear warheads for Trident, the UK's nuclear weapons system.
The Atomic Weapons Establishment site is set for a £734 million upgrade as part of plans to replace Trident, a scheme that the Campaign of Nuclear Disatmement (CND) says will cost £205 billion.
Today's day of action is the start of a co-ordinated series of protests throughout June that organisers hope will "resist, protest, and disrupt" the normal operation of the site. Activists from Scotland, Europe, and students groups, academics and faith groups are expected later.
Kate Hudson, CND's General Secretary, will join veteran peace campaigner Pat Arrowsmith at the site today. Arrowsmith was the organiser of the historic march to Aldermaston in 1958 that saw tens of thousands of people march from London in protest against nuclear weapons. AWE Burghfield is seven miles north west of AWE Aldermaston near Reading.
Ms Hudson said: “The vast complexes at Burghfield and Aldermaston are founded on a wealth of resources and extraordinary human skill. What a tragedy that these are utilised for the production of weapons of mass destruction rather than being used instead to secure real human security and meet the real needs of our society.”
* Full details of the protest and the Trident Ploughshare month of action here
* CND http://www.cnduk.org/home
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