Security Around Nuclear Transports

You might have seen the front-page headline in the Mirror last week about an undercover reporter planting a device that could have been a bomb on a train transporting nuclear fuel.

The train was going from Kent to Cumbria, and the device was planted at Brent Yard depot (north-west London in a built-up area).

Mr Parry said his only identification as a legitimate rail worker was a fluorescent orange jacket and hard hat, which could be bought at any builders' merchants. He said: "This was not a one-off. It was the 10th time I had wandered freely into the depot."

Turns out that the same company, Direct Rail Services, was temporarily banned from transporting fuel after a similar security breach in 2003. The Trade Secretary at the time was Patricia Hewitt.

These trains appear on no public timetable. The depot was near a sports stadium, a large hospital, one of London's major roads, and it was surrounded by housing estates. There are more than 1,000 nuclear transports through the UK every year.

The government wants to expand nuclear power, at the expense of focusing on renewable energy and energy efficiency, and that means more transports and more long-term waste.

People should contact our local Labour MPs and ask why this kind of expansion is occuring:

Jim Cunningham, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Office phone:020 7219 6362

Geoffrey Robinson, same address
Office phone:020 7219 4504

Bob Ainsworth, same address
Office phone:020 7219 4047