Tri-Service
MOD Admits Flying Nuclear Material Over UK
The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that radioactive materials used in nuclear weapons have been flown repeatedly between the US and the UK over the last five years.
On 23 occasions flights are believed to have carried ingrediants for Trident warheads, most likely enriched uranium, plutonium and tritium.
The MoD insist that all of the journeys complied with strict safety rules, although they did not give details of where the flights originated or ended.
According to the Guardian newspaper Oxfordshire's RAF Brize Norton is the most likely candidate.
In a written response to a House of Commons question from the Scottish National Party MP Brendan O'Hara, the defence minister Penny Mordaunt said: “All flights were between the UK and the United States on fixed-wing aircraft under the control of UK armed forces.”
Adding that further details would not be released “as disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice national security”.
In response Mr O'Hara told the newspaper: “This answer is alarming and highlights a practice most of the public are unaware of. The MoD need to outline what risk and safety assessments they made about these flights and precisely when and what areas of UK airspace were used."
"I fear the MoD does not have a great track record on transparency when it comes to nuclear issues, and this answer clearly begs more questions.”
It's understood that Britain and America regularly exchange nuclear material, to and from the likes of the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston, under the terms of a mutual defence agreement.
The MoD maintain that the air transports are completely safe with a spokeswoman saying: “The transport of defence nuclear materials is carried out to the highest standard in accordance with stringent safety regulations.”
“In over 50 years of transporting defence nuclear materials in the UK, there has never been an incident that has posed any radiation hazard to the public or to the environment.”
Want To Read More: Russia To Double The Number Of Nuclear Weapons Tests
Related topics
Join Our Newsletter
