Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Recalling Britain's Shameful Nuclear Anniversaries

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Published on Thursday, 08 October 2020 15:13

October is a month of terrible anniversaries in Britain. Last week, on October 3rd, we marked the shameful moment when, in 1952, the United Kingdom became the world's third nuclear power, after detonating an atom bomb off the Montebello Islands in Western Australia.

Throughout the 1950s, the UK continued to test nuclear weapons in so-called 'remote' areas of Australia. The environmental devastation, and enormous damage done to human health and life, is still being felt today, especially by the indigenous people who lived close to the source of the blast.

The parade of deadly anniversaries continues this week. October 10th marks the day that fire broke out at Windscale nuclear plant (now Sellafield) in 1957 - an incident which narrowly avoided devastating the Lake District, and which is now blamed for at least 240 cases of cancer.

The Windscale Fire should stand as a warning that even nuclear power plants can be deadly. If you missed last week's newsletter, click here to read about the threat that Hunterston B power station still poses to hundreds of thousands of us in Scotland, and share your #ShutDownHunterstonNow photos on social media to join our online protest.

Our past casts a long shadow, and some of the challenges we face today are eerily similar to the nightmares of the 1950s. Did you know that "New START" - the treaty between Russia and the USA which provides for some measure of arms control - will expire this February, and talks to renew it are foundering?

The challenges are immense, but there is also hope. The world stands on the brink of ratifying the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons - an international agreement that would - fully, finally - ban the bomb. The importance of this moment cannot be overstated. Here, in Scotland, we must seize this opportunity to call for an end to nuclear weapons - out of Scotland, out of Britain, out of the world.

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Scottish CND AGM, 21 Nov 2020, 10 am (9.30 am registration)

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Published on Monday, 07 September 2020 13:15

#Shut Down Hunterston Now

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Published on Thursday, 01 October 2020 14:36

Last week, the ONR gave permission for the ageing, cracking Reactor 4 at Hunterston B nuclear power station to start up again.

This was a predictable but deeply disappointing decision, after Reactor 3 was given the same treatment earlier this summer. Now both reactors are running for the first time in years, despite known problems. Even if the risk is small, it cannot be worth taking, when the majority of the Scottish population lives downwind.

These decisions show just how strong the nuclear lobby is, and how tightly the nuclear threat is woven through the fabric of our lives in Scotland. From the lorries that carry nuclear warheads up and down our roads, several times a year, to the hulking power stations at Hunterston and Torness, Scottish people are exposed to serious and unjustifiable danger because of the nuclear industry in all its forms.

SCND responds to the UK Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy

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Published on Monday, 14 September 2020 14:41

On Friday 11 September, 2020, SCND responded to the UK Government's call for evidence for its Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, reminding the government that the majority of its citizens believe, like us, that nuclear weapons make the world a more dangerous place, and calling for urgent action on nuclear disarmament.

Our response addresses the clear links between climate change and nuclear warfare - the two greatest existential threats that humanity faces today - and encourages the UK government to seize the initiative and redirect skills and funding from the nuclear industry towards green jobs and renewable energy, to move the UK rapidly towards a safe, peaceful and carbon-neutral future. We call on the UK to reorient its defence policy away from nuclear weapons and the arms trade, and towards conflict resolution and international cooperation, in good faith, to build a nuclear-free world.

Read our full response here (PDF).

To find out more about the strong existing public support for the issues we address, please see:

• YouGov 2017: Which of the following comes closest to your view on nuclear weapons?
• YouGov Survey Results: The Future of Trident
• Scottish Public Opinion Monitor: Nuclear Weapons in Britain
• Ipsos Mori: Attitudes to Nuclear Weapons
• British Social Attitudes Survey (2014)

Sutherland Space Hub and the Military

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Published on Thursday, 10 September 2020 19:36

As the controversial Space Hub on A’Mhòine edges closer to reality, fears deepen that it will soon become a launchpad for military and spy technologies.

The Sutherland Space Hub gained planning permission from the Highland Council last month, despite more than 400 objections from the public, after Scottish Ministers chose not to call in the application and subject it to more rigorous scrutiny. Now the project faces only the barriers of a Scottish Land Court application and formal business case approval before it can go ahead.