Press Releases & Updates 2008

Derby protestors were joined by a dozen activists to roll two cylindrical concrete blocks into the entrance of the plant. They then locked themselves into the blocks using armtubes.

Reactor cores, made at the Derby plant, are a key part of the Trident submarine weapons system which was declared illegal in an opinion issued by Phillipe Sands QC, of Matrix chambers.

Trident Ploughshares spokesperson Malcolm Carroll, speaking today at the Raynes Way plant, said: “International law is very clear. The threat of use of nuclear weapons is illegal. It is a war crime. Under the 1950 Nuremberg Principles, companies and their employees are directly accountable for any part they play in committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“Trident is a weapon of mass destruction. It also breaches the Non-proliferation Treaty and the Charter of the UN, as well as such accepted legal principles as proportionality and the definitions of self-defence.”

Leaflets handed to workers explained their culpability under international law, and called upon the Derby plant cease the work, and tell the government it will not help supply the next generation of nuclear weapons systems.

The blockade succeeded in excluding all traffic from the site for an hour and a half, while main gate was blockaded from 7am until 12:30. Nine people were arrested for locking on and one supporter was also arrested. All ten were released later that day on police bail (with conditions not to enter Derbyshire, except for one who lives in Derby) and are due to report back to the police next week to discover if they will be charged.

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