THE government will signal within the next two to three weeks that it wants to continue with the submarine-based Trident missile system as the UK's nuclear deterrent, according to Whitehall sources, writes Michael Smith.

Tony Blair has promised MPs a full debate on the issue and reportedly told a cabinet meeting last week that he wants the debate to begin quickly "because a decision needs to be made".

The Sunday Times November 19, 2006
 (More)

---

A new review published in the November/December issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists shows that the United States stores its nearly 10,000 nuclear warheads at 18 locations in 12 states and six European countries.

The article's authors - Hans M. Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists and Robert S. Norris of the Natural Resources Defense Council - identified the likely locations by piecing together information from years of monitoring declassified documents, officials statements, news reports, leaks, conversations with current and former officials, and commercial high-resolution satellite photos.

November/December 2006 pp. 57-58 (vol. 62, no. 6) C 2006 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

http://www.thebulletin.org/article_nn.php?art_ofn=nd06norris (More)

---

Article by the Foreign Ministers of Germany and Norway,
Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Jonas Gahr-Støre
published on Friday, November 10, 2006
Unofficial English version

The security situation in Europe has changed dramatically over the last 20 years. The threat of nuclear annihilation, which dominated strategic thinking throughout the Cold War, has abated - fortunately. Unfortunately, the momentum for arms control and disarmament seems to have followed suit, and we are faced with a different – more complex and less predictable – set of challenges to the international non-proliferation and disarmament regime (More)

---

By Louis Charbonneau, Reuters

Germany and Norway urged the United States and Russia
on Friday to take heed of North Korea's nuclear test
and resume negotiations on dismantling their atomic
arsenals to prevent a collapse of the non-proliferation
regime.

(Read the text of the article in English)

 (More)

---

Press release: 5/11/2006, Block the Builders

As 25,000 people took to the streets of London yesterday calling for action on climate
change, data from scientists, industry bodies and researchers, suggests that the cost of
replacing the Trident nuclear weapons system - "could almost guarantee emission
reductions from 150m tonnes of carbon a year today to the necessary level of around 60m
tonnes by 2030."

 (More)

---

For the same price, Britain could either renew its nuclear arsenal or
tackle climate change

John Vidal, Tania Branigan and James Randerson
Saturday November 4, 2006

After the apocalyptic vision of global catastrophe presented in the
Stern report on climate change, by midweek there was broad political
agreement that countries need to start committing to dramatic cuts in
greenhouse gases. But no one has yet tried to estimate exactly how much
it will cost or where the money will come from to get emissions down by
the 60% minimum scientists say is needed by 2030.

Full Article: Guardian, 4/11/2006

---