CND puts the Labour government on notice over plans for US nukes in Suffolk

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) has sent a legal letter to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Suffolk County Council highlighting concerns over the potential stationing of US nuclear weapons at an RAF base in Lakenheath, Suffolk.

CND: US nuclear weapons should not be in Suffolk

The campaign group points to indications from the US Air Force (USAF) which they say suggest that such weapons, which were previously housed at the base until 2008, could be stationed there once again.

CND says the authorities do not have the required plans and measures in place to deal with emergency situations that could arise from the storage of radioactive materials.

Nuclear weapons were initially housed at Lakenheath from 1954, with two major incidents in subsequent years seriously risking the detonation of the bombs and potentially resulting in catastrophic consequences. The weapons were removed in 2008, and the base has since only hosted USAF units and personnel.

However, the recent 2024 USAF budgetary justification package put forward the need for ‘surety dormitory’ at Lakenheath – with ‘surety’ a term used by the US government to refer to the capability to securely store nuclear weapons.

CND wrote to the MoD to challenge planning for the dormitory and the potential storage of nuclear weapons at RAF Lakenheath in November 2023. Upgrades to Lakenheath were completed in November 2024 which gave the base the capability to house F-35 aircraft, which are capable of carrying nuclear bombs.

Breaching regulations?

It argues that if the UK government were to allow nuclear weapons to be stationed at Lakenheath without proper emergency plans, this could be in breach of statutory obligations under a number of the 2019 Radiation Regulations.

These regulations include a requirement to carry out a hazard evaluation and have plans prepared to limit the possibility of a radiation emergency, as well as a consequence assessment for if one should occur.

CND says that no such planning appears to have taken place, which puts on-site personnel, civilians, and the environment in danger.

In its latest letter to the secretary of state for defence, the group invites the government to demonstrate if the regulations have been met, and if not, urges that appropriate assessments of the nuclear incident risks take place within two months. CND has written to Suffolk County Council as well arguing that it has similarly failed to comply with the 2019 Radiation Regulations.

The group says that the council has also failed to meet obligations under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, which requires it to make occasional assessments of the risk of an emergency occurring, as well as maintain emergency plans.

In its letter to Suffolk County Council, CND asks that it completes a full assessment of the risks of a nuclear incident occurring at Lakenheath.

CND: it’s ‘totally unacceptable’

CND general secretary Sophie Bolt said:

While the council has now prepared a response to any potential accident at the Sizewell nuclear plant, it seems to have no such emergency plan for the deployment of US nuclear weapons to RAF Lakenheath.

Why such a huge oversight – especially given the accidents and mishaps when handling nuclear weapons that have taken place at the base historically. This lack of emergency planning is absolutely shocking considering US nuclear bombs could now be at the base.

It’s totally unacceptable that the British government uses nuclear secrecy to avoid any accountability for these deployments when they pose such a huge risk to the environment and the population.

Leigh Day environment solicitor Ricardo Gama said:

With escalating nuclear rhetoric around the world and the possibility of nuclear weapons returning to UK soil, CND believes that the government needs to come clean about the risks that nuclear weapons pose to the public and the environment. That’s why they’re particularly concerned that laws requiring emergency procedures for sites involving radioactive materials have been overlooked by the government and local authorities. We hope that the Ministry of Defence and Suffolk County Council will clarify what plans, if any, the authorities have in place to deal with a nuclear emergency.

Featured image via the Canary