Locals call for transparency after nuclear drill
People living near a US airbase earmarked to house nuclear weapons say they are being left in the dark about what would happen in the event of a radiation alert.
It comes after a drill simulating an accident involving such material was held, with personnel from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk taking part.
Nick Timothy, Conservative MP for West Suffolk, said while the US military was "welcome", there needed to be "transparency as far as possible on issues like this exercise".
A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesman said: "Exercise Diamond Dragon demonstrated our preparedness to respond to any incident, no matter how unlikely".
The exercise was conducted at nearby RAF Honington.
A US Air Force (USAF) spokesman said: "Airmen from the USAF participated in a small-scale, joint emergency response exercise from September 23-25, 2024.
"The purpose was to train and evaluate combined emergency response procedures in support of military operations and accidents".
The last exercise was held in 2015, after which a report into what lessons had been learned was published.
The Suffolk Resilience Forum, which leads on emergency planning in the county, confirmed the scenario in both instances was a simulated crash in the UK of a US aircraft carrying "defence nuclear materials".
Lakenheath Parish Council chairman Gerald Kelly said he had been told informally about the latest drill.
He said the area had an emergency plan, but added: "There is nothing in there about this sort of incident."
The MoD should inform residents "what it wants us to do" if the event of an incident, he said.
Mr Kelly called for a siren system to be installed and for the local community to be involved in any future exercises.
Last year it emerged RAF Lakenheath was preparing facilities to house and guard nuclear bombs, 15 years after they were removed from the site.
The F-35A Lightning II squadron at the base is now certified to carry the B61-12 thermonuclear munition.
The UK and Nato have a long-standing policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons at a given location.
The Defence Nuclear Organisation, which oversees "all defence nuclear business, excluding operations", published guidance in 2021 detailing what local authorities should do in case of a nuclear weapons emergency.
One section advised members of the public situated 5km (three miles) downwind of an incident should be evacuated in a 45-degree arc, centred on the wind direction.
Parents would also be advised not to try to collect children from school unless told otherwise.
"The school authorities will look after them," the document stated.
Lakenheath villagers said they did not know about this advice or Exercise Diamond Dragon.
David Rolph, who has lived locally for 20 years, said: "I think the local people should be well aware of what we can do if something happened on-base and there isn't any information. There is no noticeboard saying what to do."
He endorsed the idea of a siren warning system.
Lily Brown, 33, a barber who previously worked at RAF Lakenheath, was not keen on the idea of sirens being installed. "I'd rather not know what's coming," she said.
Sally Hunt confirmed she also had received no nuclear safety information, despite living close to Lakenheath for two decades.
"If they are going to have nuclear weapons up there, I think we should be aware of it and know that there are safety measures in place," she added.
Timothy, who has represented the constituency since last July, said: "We know that exercises like this take place across government, across the military and public services for all sorts of different possibilities all the time."
A spokesman for the Suffolk Resilience Forum said it would publish a report on the latest exercise.
They added: "This happened in West Suffolk because of the obvious availability and proximity of a suitable location and relevant military personnel.
"This exercise is relevant to anywhere in the UK and does not represent a specific threat to our area."
Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Two arrested at peace protest outside US airbase
Police helicopter 'near miss' during drone alert
Ministers urged to clarify nuclear deployment
Ministry of Defence
RAF Lakenheath
Suffolk Resilience Forum
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
4 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Judge puts temporary hold on Trump's latest ban on Harvard's foreign students
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge late Thursday temporarily blocked a proclamation by President Donald Trump that banned foreign students from entering the U.S. to attend Harvard University. Trump's proclamation, issued Wednesday, marked the latest attempt by his administration to cut off the nation's oldest and wealthiest college from a quarter of its student body, which accounts for much of Harvard's research and scholarship. Harvard filed a legal challenge the next day, asking for a judge to block Trump's order and calling it illegal retaliation for Harvard's rejection of White House demands. Harvard said the president was attempting an end-run around a previous court order. A few hours later, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston issued a temporary restraining order against Trump's Wednesday proclamation. Harvard, she said, had demonstrated it would sustain 'immediate and irreparable injury' before she would have an opportunity to hear from the parties in the lawsuit. Burroughs also extended the temporary hold she placed on the administration's previous attempt to end Harvard's enrollment of international students. Last month, the Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard's certification to host foreign students and issue paperwork to them for their visas, only to have Burroughs block the action temporarily. Trump's order this week invoked a different legal authority. If Trump's measure survives this court challenge, it would block thousands of students who are scheduled to come to Harvard's campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for the summer and fall terms. 'Harvard's more than 7,000 F-1 and J-1 visa holders — and their dependents — have become pawns in the government's escalating campaign of retaliation,' Harvard wrote Thursday. While the court case proceeds, Harvard is making contingency plans so students and visiting scholars can continue their work at the university, President Alan Garber said in a message to the campus and alumni. 'Each of us is part of a truly global university community,' Garber said Thursday. 'We know that the benefits of bringing talented people together from around the world are unique and irreplaceable.' ___ The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Judge temporarily blocks Trump admin's entry ban for international Harvard students
A federal judge late Thursday blocked the Trump administration's decision to ban foreign students from attending Harvard University. The decision from U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs came hours after the Ivy League filed an amended complaint in court, arguing that the administration's move was unconstitutional. Over 7,000 students at Harvard hold F-1 or J-1 visas. Without those certifications, they can't study, teach, or conduct research in the U.S. The ban also affects their families and dependents. According to the university's lawsuit, the proclamation "lacks any lawful basis" and does not apply to any broad group of immigrants. "Nonimmigrants may enter the country unabated, as long as they do not attend Harvard," the complaint Is Down But Not Out In Court Battle Over Harvard's Foreign Student Visas Harvard argues the measure does not target a "class of aliens," but instead singles out Harvard-bound students, calling it a "government vendetta" rather than a national security April, a federal task force led by the Trump administration sent the university a list of demands, including ideological screening of students and faculty, "viewpoint diversity" quotas in hiring and admissions, and punishment of student activist groups. The administration also demanded Harvard report foreign funding sources and allow government oversight of internal policies. Read On The Fox News App When Harvard refused, the government froze $2.2 billion in research funding. Trump later posted on Truth Social that Harvard should lose its tax-exempt status if it continued to "push radical ideology." In another post, he accused the school of hiring "woke, Radical Left, idiots" and claimed it was no longer a great university. Trump Accuses Harvard Of Being 'Very Slow' To Turn Over Foreign Student Info The Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard's SEVP (Student and Exchange Visitor Program) certification a few days later, which allows the school to sponsor international students, but a federal judge blocked that now says that the administration is using Trump's proclamation to do what the courts have already stopped. The government claims Harvard failed to provide complete information on its international student population, but the university says it has submitted all records required by law and that the revocation is a pretext. "There is no lawful justification for the government's unprecedented actions," the university said in Thursday's filing. The amended complaint also reveals that Harvard is being represented by Robert Hur, the former special counsel who interviewed former President Joe Biden. International students now face uncertainty as the legal battle wages on. Jing, a 23-year-old Chinese graduate student interning in Asia, told The Associated Press: "It is tiring; we all feel numb now." Another student, Yonas Nuguse from Ethiopia, who was accepted after surviving war and a school shutdown, also told The AP, "I hope the situation is temporary and I can enroll on time."Fox News' Louis Casiano and David Spunt contributed to this article source: Judge temporarily blocks Trump admin's entry ban for international Harvard students
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Judge puts temporary hold on Trump's latest ban on Harvard's foreign students
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge late Thursday temporarily blocked a proclamation by President Donald Trump that banned foreign students from entering the U.S. to attend Harvard University. Trump's proclamation, issued Wednesday, marked the latest attempt by his administration to cut off the nation's oldest and wealthiest college from a quarter of its student body, which accounts for much of Harvard's research and scholarship. Harvard filed a legal challenge the next day, asking for a judge to block Trump's order and calling it illegal retaliation for Harvard's rejection of White House demands. Harvard said the president was attempting an end-run around a previous court order. A few hours later, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston issued a temporary restraining order against Trump's Wednesday proclamation. Harvard, she said, had demonstrated it would sustain 'immediate and irreparable injury' before she would have an opportunity to hear from the parties in the lawsuit. Burroughs also extended the temporary hold she placed on the administration's previous attempt to end Harvard's enrollment of international students. Last month, the Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard's certification to host foreign students and issue paperwork to them for their visas, only to have Burroughs block the action temporarily. Trump's order this week invoked a different legal authority. If Trump's measure survives this court challenge, it would block thousands of students who are scheduled to come to Harvard's campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for the summer and fall terms. 'Harvard's more than 7,000 F-1 and J-1 visa holders — and their dependents — have become pawns in the government's escalating campaign of retaliation,' Harvard wrote Thursday. While the court case proceeds, Harvard is making contingency plans so students and visiting scholars can continue their work at the university, President Alan Garber said in a message to the campus and alumni. 'Each of us is part of a truly global university community,' Garber said Thursday. 'We know that the benefits of bringing talented people together from around the world are unique and irreplaceable.' ___ The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
