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| Nuclear warhead exercise was 'nuke dust disaster' says mock newspaper | Nuclear warhead exercise was 'nuke dust disaster' says mock newspaper |
| (2 months later) | |
| The headline is stark, the picture is sinister and the story is scary. It screamed: | The headline is stark, the picture is sinister and the story is scary. It screamed: |
| Nuke dust disaster. | Nuke dust disaster. |
| Two feared dead and hundreds at risk as deadly cloud descends. | Two feared dead and hundreds at risk as deadly cloud descends. |
| But it was no ordinary newspaper. It came from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) trying to imagine how the media would handle one of its worst nightmares – a motorway pile-up involving the convoy that regularly carts Britain's Trident nuclear warheads up and down the country. | But it was no ordinary newspaper. It came from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) trying to imagine how the media would handle one of its worst nightmares – a motorway pile-up involving the convoy that regularly carts Britain's Trident nuclear warheads up and down the country. |
| The MoD has released, in response to a request under freedom of information law, a mocked-up newspaper front page reporting a "horror smash" on the M74 near Glasgow. It was "nuclear carnage", the report reveals, after a lorry crashed through the central reservation and punched a hole in the side of a truck carrying nuclear weapons. | The MoD has released, in response to a request under freedom of information law, a mocked-up newspaper front page reporting a "horror smash" on the M74 near Glasgow. It was "nuclear carnage", the report reveals, after a lorry crashed through the central reservation and punched a hole in the side of a truck carrying nuclear weapons. |
| The accident released a "deadly cloud of radioactive dust", it says, adding: | The accident released a "deadly cloud of radioactive dust", it says, adding: |
| Hundreds of families have already been evacuated, and parents told to abandon their children in school - but the nightmare was set to escalate today as Met Office chiefs warned the lethal plutonium cloud would spread across Glasgow. | Hundreds of families have already been evacuated, and parents told to abandon their children in school - but the nightmare was set to escalate today as Met Office chiefs warned the lethal plutonium cloud would spread across Glasgow. |
| The report, supposedly from "Glasgow's' leading popular newspaper", was used in an emergency exercise two years ago. The exercise was designed to test responses by the police, fire and ambulance services, along with government agencies and local authorities. | The report, supposedly from "Glasgow's' leading popular newspaper", was used in an emergency exercise two years ago. The exercise was designed to test responses by the police, fire and ambulance services, along with government agencies and local authorities. |
| Codenamed Exercise Senator 2011, it was not an unqualified success. An official MoD post-mortem revealed that the emergency services faced "major difficulties" coping with the accident because they had no help from MoD weapons experts for more than five hours. | Codenamed Exercise Senator 2011, it was not an unqualified success. An official MoD post-mortem revealed that the emergency services faced "major difficulties" coping with the accident because they had no help from MoD weapons experts for more than five hours. |
| It has prompted a series of questions in the House of Commons, with the SNP's defence spokesman, Angus Robertson, labelling it "shambolic". He has been demanding to know why the MoD has to send an expert team from Abbey Wood near Bristol, when there are specialists who could help based nearby at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde. | It has prompted a series of questions in the House of Commons, with the SNP's defence spokesman, Angus Robertson, labelling it "shambolic". He has been demanding to know why the MoD has to send an expert team from Abbey Wood near Bristol, when there are specialists who could help based nearby at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde. |
| His concern has been backed up by an MoD radiation protection specialist working at Faslane, Derek Golding. He posted an online comment criticising the failure to deploy Faslane's expertise earlier in the exercise, writing: | His concern has been backed up by an MoD radiation protection specialist working at Faslane, Derek Golding. He posted an online comment criticising the failure to deploy Faslane's expertise earlier in the exercise, writing: |
| The question has to be begged: why wait for Abbey Wood to respond? | The question has to be begged: why wait for Abbey Wood to respond? |
| Exercise Senator 2011 also exposed problems handling the media, with officials meant to brief journalists initially sent to the wrong location. | Exercise Senator 2011 also exposed problems handling the media, with officials meant to brief journalists initially sent to the wrong location. |
| This "delayed any effective media response by several hours", according to the MoD's assessment, perhaps explaining why the mocked-up newspaper story describes authorities as being "tight-lipped" about the accident. | This "delayed any effective media response by several hours", according to the MoD's assessment, perhaps explaining why the mocked-up newspaper story describes authorities as being "tight-lipped" about the accident. |
| The newspaper front page was obtained by Peter Burt, from the Nuclear Information Service, along with a short, silent video from the exercise showing a simulated TV news report. Burt said: | The newspaper front page was obtained by Peter Burt, from the Nuclear Information Service, along with a short, silent video from the exercise showing a simulated TV news report. Burt said: |
| The mock-up highlights the difficulties that emergency responders will face in communicating with the public about a nuclear emergency. | The mock-up highlights the difficulties that emergency responders will face in communicating with the public about a nuclear emergency. |
| Many members of the public - with good reason – do not trust the government or the nuclear industry to provide honest or accurate information in the event of a crisis. It is going to take more than a police officer reading from a pre-scripted press release to reassure worried residents. | Many members of the public - with good reason – do not trust the government or the nuclear industry to provide honest or accurate information in the event of a crisis. It is going to take more than a police officer reading from a pre-scripted press release to reassure worried residents. |
| Nuclear bombs are transported in heavily guarded road convoys up to six times a year between the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire and the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Coulport on Loch Long in Argyll. The trips are needed to ensure that the UK's stockpile of around 200 Trident missile warheads is properly maintained. | Nuclear bombs are transported in heavily guarded road convoys up to six times a year between the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire and the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Coulport on Loch Long in Argyll. The trips are needed to ensure that the UK's stockpile of around 200 Trident missile warheads is properly maintained. |
| The MoD stressed that it carried out regular nuclear safety exercises with other agencies to robustly test emergency plans. A spokesman said: | The MoD stressed that it carried out regular nuclear safety exercises with other agencies to robustly test emergency plans. A spokesman said: |
| The Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator was clear that during Exercise Senator 2011, the MoD successfully demonstrated its ability to cope in the highly unlikely event of an emergency | The Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator was clear that during Exercise Senator 2011, the MoD successfully demonstrated its ability to cope in the highly unlikely event of an emergency |
| Some improvements were identified to further enhance procedures and these have since been addressed. | Some improvements were identified to further enhance procedures and these have since been addressed. |
| In its post-exercise assessment, the government's Health Protection Agency said that the story was "sensationalised". | In its post-exercise assessment, the government's Health Protection Agency said that the story was "sensationalised". |
| But because the MoD has not released any information on the levels or spread of radioactive contamination from the imagined accident [Exercise Senator 2011 assessment reports available to download here], it is difficult to judge how accurate, or alarmist, the story actually was. | But because the MoD has not released any information on the levels or spread of radioactive contamination from the imagined accident [Exercise Senator 2011 assessment reports available to download here], it is difficult to judge how accurate, or alarmist, the story actually was. |
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