Pressure is mounting to change the devolution settlement so that Scotland has the power to ban Trident nuclear weapons from its soil.

Trade unionists, religious leaders and anti-nuclear campaigners have called on the Calman Commission, set up by the Scottish parliament to review devolution, to investigate ways of bringing weapons of mass destruction under Scottish control.

They have been backed by one of the country's most senior legal figures, Lord Murray, who argues that the use of such weapons is illegal. Possessing them is "probably" also against international law, says the former Lord Advocate.

(From: The Sunday Herald)

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On Tuesday July 1st 2008 12:00 noon at the EP in Brussels a cross-party group representing 69 Members of the European Parliament from 19 EU member states launched a "Parliamentary declaration in support of the Nuclear Weapons Convention". Their support marked the 40th anniversary of the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), and the unfulfilled promise of the official Nuclear Weapon States to move towards total elimination of their nuclear arsenals.

The appeal calls for multilateral negotiations to prevent proliferation and achieve non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament through a Nuclear
Weapons Convention. The parliamentary statement was drafted and agreed by the cross-party group of Deputy Chairs of the European Parliament
section of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND): Ms. Ana Gomes (PSE - Portugal) and Mr. Girts Kristovskis (UEN - Latvia), both vice-chairs of the EP Security and Defense subcommittee; Ms. Annemie Neyts (ALDE - Belgium); Ms. Angelika
Beer (Greens - ALE - Germany) and Mr. Andre Brie (GUE/NGL - Germany).


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Douglas Hurd, Malcolm Rifkind, David Owen and George Robertson

During the Cold War nuclear weapons had the perverse effect of making
the world a relatively stable place. That is no longer the case.
Instead, the world is at the brink of a new and dangerous phase - one
that combines widespread proliferation with extremism and
geopolitical tension.

( From: The Times )

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Politicians in Germany are calling for the US to remove nuclear arms stored in Germany after a report pointed to safety deficits at US atomic weapon sites in Europe.

Social Democrat and opposition politicians in Germany have called for the withdrawal of US atomic weapons from German military bases after a US Air Force investigation concluded that "most sites" used for deploying nuclear weapons in Europe do not meet US Department of Defense minimum security requirements.

( From: Deutsche Welle ) (More)

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Are US Nukes in Europe Secure?

Weapons grade material from B-61 thermonuclear bombs could be removed and turned into a crude nuclear device.

Thursday, Jun. 19, 2008 By EBEN HARRELL

European air force bases that store U.S. nuclear bombs are failing to meet basic security requirements to safeguard the weapons, according to a report obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

The U.S. keeps an estimated 350 thermonuclear bombs in six NATO countries. In four of those - Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands - the weapons are stored at the host nation's air bases, where they are guarded by specially trained U.S. military personnel.

( From: Time )
( View complete report: www.fas.org , 3MB, .pdf )

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The Kuhne Report on European Security and Defence Policy and European Security Strategy was adopted on June 5th in the EP Foreign Affairs Committee. This report on the evolution of the European Security and Defence Policy and the European Security Strategy is produced annually. This year it included (in paragraph 26) specific wording calling for a nuclear weapon convention.

Full text of the report

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AFTER 21 DAYS, CIVIL SOCIETY PICKS UP JANS' HUNGER STRIKE

Jan Tamas and Jan Bednar will end their 21 day hunger strike on midnight of June 2nd. Czech personalities will continue their battle against Star Wars' in Prague on 24 hour symbolic fasts. In the rest of Europe, as well as in Australia and the US, other hunger strikes are continuing. European spokesperson for New Humanism, Giorgio Schultze has begun yesterday in Milan and is determined to take the issue to the European Parliament. Protests continue in the 30 cities which have answered the call from the heart of Europe.
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NATO agreements make European countries into logistical hubs for the US military. Through our ports, airports and highways the US war machine is transported to Iraq. And our own military is involved in Afghanistan as well. Iraq was invaded and Iran threatened because they are supposed to have, or to be developing weapons of mass destruction. Meanwhile NATO has 350 US nuclear weapons deployed in Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK and Turkey. According to international humanitarian law these weapons are as illegal here as elsewhere. (More)

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The Scottish government has set up an expert group to investigate how best to get rid of nuclear weapons, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

The group, to be chaired by Bruce Crawford MSP, the minister for parliamentary business, is seen by many as a crucial step towards making Scotland a nuclear-free nation - and could trigger a confrontation with Westminster.

The group - which includes religious leaders, academics, activists, a lawyer and a trade unionist - has been given the task of finding legal, planning, regulatory and diplomatic ways to block the plan to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system on the Clyde.

(From: The Sunday Herald)

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The following speech at the Munich Security Conference by the German minister of Foreign Affairs Steinmeier is a clear appeal to put disarmament again on the NATO agenda and follows his initiative together with the Norwegian minister at the NATO summit in December.
It is a quite positive sign, but it was a lone voice between the wolves. The debate is anyway going on inside NATO and it is up to us to create pressure to support this initiative. Please make sure that in as much parliaments as possible of NATO countries questions get tabled on how your government reacts to this intiative.

http://www.securityconference.de/konferenzen/rede.php?menu_2008=&menu_konferenzen=&sprache=en&id=208&

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Toward a Nuclear-Free World
By GEORGE P. SHULTZ, WILLIAM J. PERRY, HENRY A.
KISSINGER and SAM NUNN
January 15, 2008

The accelerating spread of nuclear weapons, nuclear know-how and nuclear material has brought us to a nuclear tipping point. We face a very real possibility that the deadliest weapons ever invented could fall into dangerous hands.

The steps we are taking now to address these threats are not adequate to the danger. With nuclear weapons more widely available, deterrence is decreasingly effective and increasingly hazardous.

(From: The Wall Street Journal) (More)

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Brussels - Ypres - Huy, January 10th 2007 - The new Mayor of Zwalm, Member of Parliament and former Secretary of State, Bruno Tuybens (sp.a - Social Dem) became today the 295th Belgian member of the international network of Mayors for Peace. The Mayor of Tubize and Member of the European Parliament Raymond Langendries (cdH - Christian Dem) also became a member and brought membership up to 296 in Belgium.

Today over half of a total of 589 Belgian Mayors demand a worldwide ban of nuclear weapons before 2020. In the northern region of Flanders this is almost 70%. Remarkable is that in the Flemish province of Limburg counts the highest number of members with 75%. This is the province where the US deploys an estimated 20 nuclear bombs on the airforce base of Kleine Brogel and confirms the growing democratic deficit with regard to NATO nuclear policies. (More)

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Dear Minister :

In the coming weeks the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors will likely be asked to consider a new ?India-specific? safeguards agreement that would cover a limited number of additional ?civilian? reactors. Shortly thereafter, the members of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) will be asked to take a position on the Bush administration?s proposal to exempt India from longstanding NSG guidelines that require full-scope IAEA safeguards as a condition of supply.

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German Foreign Minister Steinmeier and his Norwegian counterpart St?re have called on NATO countries to do more for disarmament. This call comes at a time when important international control regimes such as the CFE Treaty and the Non-Proliferation Treaty are at risk of coming unravelled. The Ministers discussed the proposal Friday (7 December) in Brussels with the other NATO Foreign Ministers. The goal is to identify areas in which NATO can better define its profile on disarmament, arms control and nuclear non-proliferation.

(From: Auswaertiges Amt)

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European mayors want withdrawal of US nukes from their territory
and 1,937 Mayors demand global elimination of nuclear weapons by 2020

Brussels, December 6th 2007 - European Mayors on whose territory US nuclear
weapons are deployed demand, in a remarkable common position paper, THE
withdrawAL OF the remaining US nuclear weapons from their municipalites. The
Mayors from Peer (Kleine Brogel - Belgium), Aviano and Ghedi (Italy), Uden
(Volkel - The Netherlands), Incirlik (Turkey), and Buechel (Germany) receive
support for their appeal from the Executive Cities of the Mayors for Peace,
including the Mayors of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Florence, Manchester, and
Hannover.

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During the negotiations for a new federal government the flemish Christian-Democratic party CD&V tried to include the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons in the government agreement. This has been refused by the liberals, although it is unclear if it was by the flemish liberal party VLD (with foreign minister De Gucht) or by the french-speaking liberal party MR (which has a narrow relation with nuclear France).

So even when this gave no result, it is important to see that the change in position by the CD&V was real and not just election talk. It means that CD&V sees the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons as a realistic aim and that important steps are possible in the coming term. CD&V is the most atlantist party in the Belgian political landscape with a lot of connections in the Belgian diplomacy. Both the current NATO-ambassador and the diplomat dealing with non-proliferation and disarmament issues are known as christian democrats, even when the former government was one without christian democrats.

The proposal for the government agreement (based on the earlier parlementary resolutions):
- to propose initiatives in NATO concerning the review of strategic doctrines and the gradual withdrawal of the American tactical nuclear weapons from Europe as fulfillment of Article 6 of the NPT (my unofficial translation).
Dutch original:
- bij de NAVO initiatieven ter sprake te brengen in verband met de herziening van de strategische doctrines en de graduele terugtrekking van de Amerikaanse tactische kernwapens uit Europa met het oog op het realiseren van artikel 6 van het NPT.

Meanwhile the negotiations for a new government have led to a deadlock. It is at the moment unclear how the negotiations will continue and which parties in the end will form the government.

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Alex Salmond has made a major bid to win international backing for his government's campaign to rid Scotland of nuclear weapons, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

The First Minister has written to 122 countries highlighting the nation's opposition to the deployment of Trident nuclear warheads on the Clyde, and his determination to try and block the UK government's decision to replace Trident over the next few decades.

Salmond is also asking countries to support a request for Scotland to be given observer status at future meetings of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the world's main barrier to nuclear mayhem.

(from Sunday Herald, 21 October 2007)

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Britain's nuclear bomb factory has been struggling to remedy as many as
1,000 safety defects uncovered by the government's official watchdog.
And it has only been allowed to remain open because the Ministry of
Defence says the work it does is vital.

(From: New Scientist)

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Skorice- Czech Communists (KSCM) plan to stage on Friday a symbolical blockade of the Brdy military district, some 90km southwest of Prague, in several municipalities situated close to the site where a U.S. radar base is to be built, they say in a letter CTK has at its disposal.

(From: Czech News Agency) (More)

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Scientists are secretly working on the design of a revamped British nuclear warhead.

The new device, designated the High Surety Warhead is understood to be under development at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire.

The top-secret project is being run in conjunction with US efforts to build a range of modernised "failsafe" nuclear firepower for its own submarine-launched Trident missiles.

(From: The Herald)

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Activists today expressed their anger that the Ministry of Defence had transported six, fully armed nuclear warheads along the Edinburgh Bypass just the day after the new Parliament was sworn in. Citizens Weapons Inspectors from the Nukewatch network tracked the warhead convoy from the Atomic Weapons Establishment, Burghfield (50 miles west of London) to RNAD Coulport (35 miles north-west of Glasgow). (More)

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The government has "stack-ed the deck" in favour of an immediate decision to replace the Trident submarine fleet that carries Britain's nuclear deterrent, according to one of the US's most eminent physicists.

Richard Garwin, principal architect of the first US hydrogen bomb design and a long-standing consultant to successive US administrations on security matters, says the decision announced by the government in December to build three or four submarines to replace the existing Vanguard-class ships is "highly premature".

From: Financial Times

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AN SNP-LED Scottish Executive would openly challenge the government's decision to renew Trident by imposing a £1 million toll on every warhead transported in nuclear convoys.

SNP leader Alex Salmond says the levy will be the centrepiece of his attempt to prevent a new generation of nuclear weapons being based on the Clyde.

From: Sunday Herald

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We stand at the brink of a second nuclear age. Not since the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has the world faced such perilous choices. North Korea’s recent test of a nuclear weapon, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, a renewed U.S. emphasis on the military utility of nuclear weapons, the failure to adequately secure nuclear materials, and the continued presence of some 26,000 nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia are symptomatic of a larger failure to solve the problems posed by the most destructive technology on Earth.

From: The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

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The US is about to announce the replacement of its submarine-launched nuclear warheads in a move that could shape Britain's planned £25bn upgrade for its Trident force.
Sources say UK scientists from the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston and its sister site at Burghfield may have helped the US to develop its reliable replacement warheads (RRW).

(from: The Herald)

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Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Jan 4, 2007. pg. A.15

Nuclear weapons today present tremendous dangers, but also an historic opportunity.
U.S. leadership will be required to take the world to the next stage -- to a solid
consensus for reversing reliance on nuclear weapons globally as a vital contribution to
preventing their proliferation into potentially dangerous hands, and ultimately ending
them as a threat to the world.

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Leaders of the Church of Scotland and Roman Catholic Church in Scotland have condemned sectarianism in Scotland and Trident renewal in their first ever joint New Year statement.

Leaders of the Church of Scotland and Roman Catholic Church in Scotland have issued their first ever joint New Year statement in which they condemn sectarianism and strongly criticise the government's plans to replace Trident.

by Maria Mackay, Christian Today

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Two new papers on the Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) web site related to the Trident replacement debate:

Nuclear weapons and the UK skills base
(Submission to a recent Defence Select Committee inquiry)

Keeping nuclear weapons or tackling climate change?

(Presentation at parliamentary seminar)
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by Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience

A small-scale, regional nuclear war could disrupt the global climate for a decade or more, with environmental effects that could be devastating for everyone on Earth, researchers have concluded.

The scientists said about 40 countries possess enough plutonium or uranium to construct substantial nuclear arsenals. Setting off a Hiroshima-size weapon could cause as many direct fatalities as all of World War II.
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Ian Bruce Herald 11th December

Federation of American Scientists said yesterday: "Prime Minister Blair knew that a new generation of nukes and expensive submarines would be a hard-sell domestically.
That's why he sweetened the announcement that Britain will reduce its stock of operationally available warheads from about 200 to fewer than 160.
"The gesture is somewhat hollow because Britain only has enough Trident D5 missiles to arm three of its four boats with a maximum of 144 warheads anyway."
The FAS estimates the Vanguard flotilla needs between 108-132 warheads in total, rather than the 200 held in depots or deployed on patrols.
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The UN press release concerning General Assembly votes on resolutions on disamament and security on December 6, based on recommendations from the First Committee, is at:
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/ga10547.doc.htm

For a commentary by Michael Spies on the US votes, see
http://www.lcnp.org/disarmament/unga2006.htm

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Five MPs together with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament are today handing in an Alternative White Paper to Downing Street. Gavin Strang MP, Katy Clark MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Linda Riordan MP, and Michael Meacher MP will join CND Chair Kate Hudson in presenting the Alternative White Paper to the Prime Minister’s residence.

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Tony Blair today recommended that Britain renew its Trident nuclear deterrent into at least the middle of the century, calling it "the ultimate insurance".

But the prime minister told MPs it would be possible to cut Britain's stockpile by 20%, leaving fewer than 160 operationally available warheads.

From: Guardian

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Aldermaston Women's Peace Camp today condemned the government's White Paper for its commitment to retaining a UK nuclear weapons system, and for its failure to come clean about measures the government has already taken at AWE Aldermaston to build facilities to test, design and build a new generation of nuclear warheads. (More)

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LONDON, Dec. 4 — Citing a potential nuclear threat from nations like North Korea and Iran, Prime Minister Tony Blair urged legislators today to extend the life of Britain’s nuclear deterrent with a new generation of submarines costing up to $40 billion.

From: New York Times

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Block the Builders is calling for an immediate stop to all building work at AWE Aldermaston, until there has been a full public debate on today's White Paper on the future of the UK's nuclear weapons.

While Tony Blair was announcing the "options" for the development of a next generation of nuclear submarines, and promising a parliamentary vote in three months time, contractors were continuing their work on buildings at Aldermaston which are now generally acknowledged to make to the site "fit for the purpose" of building the next generation of nuclear weapons. (More)

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On Monday 4th December 2006, British Prime Minister Tony Blair published a "White Paper" setting out the options for the replacement of the British Trident nuclear weapons system. The full speech to parliament is reproduced here.

Also on this site, you can find statements from CND, Block the Builders, Aldermaston Women's Peace Camp(aign), and news items from the Guardian and the New York Times.

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THE government will signal within the next two to three weeks that it wants to continue with the submarine-based Trident missile system as the UK's nuclear deterrent, according to Whitehall sources, writes Michael Smith.

Tony Blair has promised MPs a full debate on the issue and reportedly told a cabinet meeting last week that he wants the debate to begin quickly "because a decision needs to be made".

The Sunday Times November 19, 2006
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A new review published in the November/December issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists shows that the United States stores its nearly 10,000 nuclear warheads at 18 locations in 12 states and six European countries.

The article's authors - Hans M. Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists and Robert S. Norris of the Natural Resources Defense Council - identified the likely locations by piecing together information from years of monitoring declassified documents, officials statements, news reports, leaks, conversations with current and former officials, and commercial high-resolution satellite photos.

November/December 2006 pp. 57-58 (vol. 62, no. 6) C 2006 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

http://www.thebulletin.org/article_nn.php?art_ofn=nd06norris (More)

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Article by the Foreign Ministers of Germany and Norway,
Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Jonas Gahr-Støre
published on Friday, November 10, 2006
Unofficial English version

The security situation in Europe has changed dramatically over the last 20 years. The threat of nuclear annihilation, which dominated strategic thinking throughout the Cold War, has abated - fortunately. Unfortunately, the momentum for arms control and disarmament seems to have followed suit, and we are faced with a different – more complex and less predictable – set of challenges to the international non-proliferation and disarmament regime (More)

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By Louis Charbonneau, Reuters

Germany and Norway urged the United States and Russia
on Friday to take heed of North Korea's nuclear test
and resume negotiations on dismantling their atomic
arsenals to prevent a collapse of the non-proliferation
regime.

(Read the text of the article in English)

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Nineteen bishops have joined the row over the replacement of Britain's nuclear weapons by warning the Prime Minister that the possession of Trident is "evil" and "profoundly anti-God".

(From: The Independent)
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"Over the next several years, a number of European NATO members involved in nuclear sharing arrangements have to decide whether to replace aging fighter aircraft capable of delivering nuclear weapons, commonly known as “dual-capable aircraft.” Amid budget pressures and growing public concern, some key groups are beginning to balk. These concerns come as NATO is expected to update the 1999 Strategic Concept, including a possible revision of its nuclear doctrine."

From: Arms Control Today, July/August 2006

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Final Statement of Nuclear Weapons Working Group at the World Peace Forum in Vancouver for inclusion in the final forum document

(World Peace Forum)

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A study led by former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix called Thursday for outlawing nuclear weapons and reviving global cooperation on disarmament including security guarantees to curb the nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea.

(From: The Guardian, AP)
(Read the report: http://www.wmdcommission.org/files/Weapons_of_Terror.pdf)
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The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament today welcomed the announcement by a Pentagon official that interceptor missiles for the US ‘Son of Star Wars’ missile defence system will not be sited in the UK, according to the Scottish Herald newspaper. The official cited the strong domestic opposition to the ongoing occupation of Iraq as a primary reason for this decision.

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The Bush administration is moving to establish a new antimissile site in Europe that would be designed to stop attacks by Iran against the United States and its European allies.
   
The administration's proposal, which comes amid rising concerns about Iran's suspected program to develop nuclear weapons, calls for installing 10 antimissile interceptors at a European site by 2011. Poland and the Czech Republic are among the nations under consideration.

(From: New York Times)
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While France has accepted so far the principle of no-first strike, the principle of nuclear deterrence, Jacques Chirac, President of the French Republic, has just anounced –wihout any consultation of the Parliament and under no urgency- that France could retaliate with targeted nuclear strikes if attacked or even as prevention.

From: Mouvement de la Paix
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French President Jacques Chirac has said France would be ready to use nuclear weapons
against any state which launched a terrorist attack against it.
From: BBC

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Today in Helensburgh District Court, Scotland, Morag Balfour, the peace and disarmament spokesperson for the Scottish Socialist party, was fined and given a compensation order for painting peace slogans at the main gate of  the Royal Navy Armament Depot at Coulport on Loch Long.

From: Trident Ploughshares
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Nuclear Disarmament: an Obligation under International Law that Must Be Abiden by Now and Everywhere, ... as much at Crozon … as at Tehran!!

At Crozon, in Brest harbour, on the site of Ile Longue, is located the nuclear submarines
base of the FOST (Strategic Oceanic Force) that represents 85% of the French nuclear
weapons, about 6,000 times Hiroshima.

News of Chirac's visit to Ile Longue

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The Norwegian Ministry of Finance has excluded seven companies from the Government Pension Fund - Global (previously the Petroleum Fund) because they are involved in production of nuclear weapons. The exclusion is based on a recommendation from the Ethics Council for the fund. Following another recommendation from the Ethics Council, the Ministry has decided not to exclude the company Total from the fund. Total was considered based on its operations in Burma.

(From: Norwegian Ministry of Finance)

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The use of a Trident nuclear missile, or its successor, would breach international law, the government is warned today. Even the threat to use nuclear weapons is unlawful, ministers are warned in a legal opinion by leading human rights lawyers.

From: The Guardian
View complete opinion (.pdf, 150kb)

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Text of the Nobel Lecture delivered by Mohamed ElBaradei in Oslo on December 10th 2005.
Mohamed ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace:
"for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way"

The award has been criticised by some anti-nuclear groups as the IAEA also has a role in promoting nuclear power. This technology has led to environmental damage and the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

See also: Greenpeace Action in Oslo
Many other groups have also issued responses to the award of the prize to the IAEA, including: International Peace Bureau, Mouvement de la Paix, GRACE, Greenpeace
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The two excerpts below are replies by the Netherlands Minister of Defence Kamp to NATO nuclear weapons related questions by member of parliament Krista van Velzen (Socialist Party - left-wing opposition party).
This formed part of the annual defence budget debate.

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Poland's new rightwing government yesterday risked a damaging confrontation with Russia when it published a Warsaw Pact map showing detailed plans for Soviet nuclear strikes against western Europe.

Poland threw open the doors of its military archives to show how most of Europe would have been laid to waste in a nuclear conflagration between east and west. Dating from 1979, when presidents Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev were discussing detente, the map showed how Warsaw Pact forces would have responded to an attack by the Nato alliance.

From: The Guardian
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The United States navy is closing its submarine base off the island of Sardinia, one of only two stations in the world outside the United States that services nuclear submarines, the Italian Defense Ministry said.
From: Reuters
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Europe is currently one of the most heavily nuclearised continents on the planet. Four nuclear weapon states base nuclear weapons in Europe (US, UK, France, Russia). There are also a number of non nuclear weapon states that host US nuclear weapons under NATO nuclear sharing agreements.
You can find an overview of nuclear weapon in Europe on our clickable map and more details on each of the nuclear weapon states below.
There are currently 6 "Nuclear Weapon Free Zones" in the world, 5 of which cover continents in the Southern Hemisphere. We must work to ensure that such a Nuclear Weapon free zone becomes a reality in Europe as well.
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The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog chastised nuclear powers on Monday for reducing their arsenals too slowly and said the international community has made little progress toward a post-Cold War world that was no longer dependent on nuclear weapons.
From: Reuters
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The Bush administration has abandoned research into a nuclear "bunker-buster" warhead, deciding instead to pursue a similar device using conventional weaponry, a key Republican senator said Tuesday.
From Associated Press newswire

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A new MORI poll released today by Greenpeace reveals that more people oppose than support building a new nuclear weapons system to replace Trident.
Read the press release with opinion poll questions (Greenpeace)

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Tony Blair is facing a political backlash over his decision to order a new generation of nuclear weapons to replace the ageing Trident fleet at a cost of billions of pounds.
The Independent - 17 October 2005, By Andy McSmith
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article320124.ece
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BAIKONUR SPACE CENTER. June 2 (Interfax) - Moscow is prepared to negotiate an agreement on controlling tactical nuclear weapons with countries possessing them only on the condition that these weapons are deployed on the territories of those countries, said Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. (More)

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[New York, NY - Brussels] – A coalition of over 2000 groups from 90 countries blamed the United States and other nuclear weapons states for failing to strengthen the global nuclear non-proliferation regime during four weeks of meetings at the United Nations to review the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). (More)

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Brussels, Thursday June 9th 2005 - Abolition 2000, the global coalition of over 2000 groups from 90 countries is calling on the meeting of NATO Defence Ministers in Brussels to decide on the immediate withdrawal of the estimated 480 U.S. nuclear weapons deployed in Europe. (More)

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Norwegian Christian Democrats call for removal U.S. tactical nuclear weapons from Europe. (More)

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A poll published Monday by Der Spiegel (18/2005) on May 2, shows that more than three-quarters of Germans want US nuclear weapons withdrawn from Germany. (More)

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