Alwaght- Britain’s nuclear bomb factory is secretly upgrading the existing Trident arsenal and developing an entirely new warhead while the Parliament is yet to consent to its renewal.
Despite the country's long-term commitment to reduce nuclear proliferation, a new report says Britain's Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in Berkshire, where Britain’s nuclear warheads are manufactured and maintained, is working on a program to upgrade the current Trident warhead to produce a more powerful and accurate nuclear warhead, “Mark 4A,” according to RT.
"The Mark 4A warhead modification program will allow Trident nuclear warheads to remain in service until the middle of this century, and plenty of money is being spent to pave the way for developing a new generation warhead which will remain in service for even longer,” Peter Burt of the NIS says.
NIS is a not-for-profit, independent information service, which works to promote public awareness on nuclear disarmament and related safety.
A joint US-UK working group has been set up to allow collaboration on the programs, and new warheads have been tested at Sandia National Laboratories in the US.
The costs and the timetable of the program have not been revealed to Parliament, according to the report.
The modified, upgraded warhead is mentioned in a little-noticed letter on the Ministry of Defence website, dated 2 July 2014.
The letter says Dr. Paul Hollinshead would be responsible for the “nuclear warhead capability sustainment program” and for “commencement of Mk4A production in accordance with the Trident Manufacture Plan.”
The report reveals £85 million (US$124 million) has already been spent by the AWE on new nuclear warhead design studies.
Later this year the government is expected to table a Commons motion in favour of replacing the existing fleet of Trident submarines with four new boats. The government says they will cost £31 billion, but has set up a £10 billion contingency fund in the event of overruns.
The MoD has declined to comment on the overall costs of the Trident program on the grounds the information is classified.
On Monday, anti-nuke activists began a month-long blockade of the Berkshire atomic facility, arguing the weapons should not be renewed by Parliament later this year.
