Reports on Nuclear Weapons

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Trident is the UK’s current nuclear weapons system. There is at present a great deal of speculation about the future of the system. The difference of opinion, and policy, between the two parties in the coalition government on any replacement system has brought this speculation much more to the fore. The government maintains that the submarines will need to be replaced by about 2028 and therefore a decision to start building will need to be taken in the next parliament in 2016, and that a decision on the future of the warheads will also need to be taken in the next parliament.
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Continuity / Change: Rethinking Options for Trident Replacement

Dr. Nick Ritchie, University of Bradford Disarmament Research Centre, June 2010

Advocates of the current Trident replacement process insist there are only two real choices: a like-for-like replacement of the current system or unilateral nuclear disarmament. The latter remains politically unacceptable leaving only like-for-like replacement.
Read report by University of Bradford Disarmament Research Centre

Stepping down the Nuclear Ladder: Options for Trident on a Path to Zero

Dr. Nick Ritchie, University of Bradford Disarmament Research Centre, May 2009

In December 2006 the government set out a case for replacing the UK’s current Trident nuclear weapons system. Throughout the debate on Trident replacement the government has insisted that there are only two options for the future of Britain’s nuclear arsenal:

1. Business-as-usual through a like-for-like Trident replacement until a global nuclear disarmament process is well under way, or
2. Unilateral nuclear disarmament.

But is this really the case? Or are there further steps this or the next government could realistically take to further reduce the size and operational status of the British nuclear force?
Read report by University of Bradford Disarmament Research Centre

Trident and British Identity: Letting go of Nuclear Weapons

Dr. Nick Ritchie, University of Bradford Disarmament Research Centre, September 2008

This report asks why the Labour government decided to replace Trident? One of the most important and least examined issues is identity and the role of nuclear weapons in perceptions of Britain’s self-identity and its role in the world. This research paper picks apart the key dimensions of the political and defence establishment’s identity that generate a ‘national interest’ in deploying nuclear weapons and made the Trident replacement decision possible.
Read report by University of Bradford Disarmament Research Centre

Irreversible nuclear disarmament

VERTIC, full report due April 2011

In the past few years, nuclear disarmament has benefited from increasing amounts of political attention. This, coupled with continued real cuts of nuclear arsenals, has led to a sense that disarmament no longer is a remote and unachievable goal. Clearly, however, more can be done with regard to the implementation of disarmament obligations.
Read report outline by VERTIC

Trident ‘delay’ – are we being fooled again?

Greenpeace UK Parliamentary Briefing, Jan 2011

The delay in the Trident Replacement programme has been trumpeted by both Coalition parties as something of a victory. David Cameron claims it will both save money and still allow a new generation of nuclear submarines to be built very soon. The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, believe the delay will give them an opportunity to argue that replacement of Trident would not be in the national interest. In fact, it seems likely that big savings will not be made from this delay. It also seems that the process of replacing Trident has already begun. Hard questions need to be asked of the government now, before it is too late.
Read briefing by Greenpeace

MoD have a Trident-sized hole in their budget

Greenpeace UK, January 2011

Yesterday’s headline in the FT shouted “MoD faces fresh crisis over funding”. It turns out that the Ministry of Defence have checked over last October’s defence review and found out that they actually need an extra £1 billion a year over the next four years to deliver it. Something clearly has to give.
Read briefing by Greenpeace

Anglo-French nuclear co-operation and the ‘Teutates’ programme

A briefing from Nuclear Information Service, November 2010

Under the terms of a new treaty Britain and France intend to collaborate on nuclear warhead technology for the next 50 years. On 2 November, during a summit between UK Prime Minister David Cameron and France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy, the two leaders issued a declaration on defence and security co-operation. The declaration announced that the two nations would sign a Defence and Security Co-operation Treaty, with a subordinate treaty which will allow them to work together to develop new facilities for modelling the performance of nuclear weapons.
Read briefing by Nuclear Information Service

Nuclear Weapons, Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East and Regional Security: The Task Ahead

Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs,  Jan 2011

The 2012 conference on a zone free of nuclear weapons or WMD in the Middle East provides a significant opportunity for progress in a critical area, though expectations should be moderate and it is not yet clear the conference is on track to take place.
Read more by Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs

The Changing Political Utility of Nuclear Weapons: Nuclear Threats from 1970 to 2010

by Research Associate Samuel Black  -  The Henry L. Stimson Center   July 2010
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Responsibility for our Common Future

Address to the United Nations General Assembly President Barack Obama, September 2009.
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Eliminating Nuclear Threats: A Practical Agenda for Global Policymakers

This 2009 report from the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) is accompanied by a series of 25 information sheets and has a synopsis available in six languages.
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Facts on the New START Treaty

The New START Treaty is organized in three tiers of increasing level of detail.  The first tier is the Treaty text itself.  The second tier consists of a Protocol to the Treaty, which contains additional rights and obligations associated with Treaty provisions.  The third tier consists of Technical Annexes to the Protocol.
Read more on the White House website

Rhetoric and reality, contradictions in the midst of change: The UK government role at the 2010 NPT Review Conference

Kat Barton, Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy
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Assessing the NPT 2010 Conference

Dr Rebecca Johnson, Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy
Read report in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Verification implications of the 2010 NPT review

David Cliff with Hugh Chalmers and Sonia Drobysz  12th Dec 2010
Read report by VERTIC

BASIC Iran Update

Talks in Istanbul fail to break impasse • Sanctions and economic impact on Iran • Speculation intensifies over Iranian nuclear capabilities • Foreign Minister Mottaki replaced with nuclear chief Salehi • Revelations in the WikiLeaks cables, January, 2011
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Interview with Nagasaki School Children

Originally I intended to interview these students about their project to collect signatures to abolish nuclear weapons. The intention was to collect the information revise it and provide an edited version for the purposes of this manual.
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Report on Nanjing visit

Beep. Beep. I awoke. Tired and drained. It was early; in Scotland we refer to this time as the morn too early to be fully morning.
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Report on Meeting with Etsuko Nagano

As I sat waiting to meet Etsuko Nagano I was scared and nervous, I had meet Hibakusha before but never one to one.
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