THE Royal Navy鈥檚 plan to hold a 鈥渘ational services of thanksgiving鈥 at Westminster Abbey to mark 50 years of Britain鈥檚 submarine-based nuclear weapons has provoked condemnation from senior clergy and peace campaigners.
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) General Secretary Kate Hudson said the plan is 鈥渕orally repugnant鈥 and the organisation is to convey their opposition to Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson. Two Bishops and more than 20 priests to cancel the service, which is set to take place on May 3.
The Ministry of Defence has denied that the service will celebrate weapons of mass destruction. The sent to naval chiefs, senior ministers and former submariners describes the event as a service to mark 鈥50 years of the Continuous at Sea Deterrent 鈥 recognising all those individuals and organisations who have made a significant contribution to defending the nation as part of this mission鈥.
The rhetoric of 鈥渄eterrence鈥 and 鈥渄efence鈥 is routinely invoked by nuclear-armed states to obscure the horrifying truth about nuclear weapons and justify national security doctrines that rely on them. Nuclear weapons are unique in their destructive power; 鈥渄esigned to indiscriminately kill and destroy thousands of innocent civilians鈥, as the Bishop of Colchester last week. This reality was recognised by most of the world鈥檚 countries, which voted to ban nuclear weapons in 2017.
Britain鈥檚 nuclear weapons program has already destroyed the lives of countless innocent civilians. More than 1200 Indigenous Australians were exposed to radiation during British nuclear weapons testing in the 1950s and 1960s, while many others were displaced. The effects continue to be experienced by their families today. Some are now calling on the British government to apologise for the testing, instead of celebrating Trident.
Nuclear testing in Australia
Britain conducted 12 major nuclear weapons tests in Australia at the Montebello Islands, and at Emu Field and Maralinga in South Australia.
After securing the agreement of the Australian government, the British established a permanent test site at Maralinga in 1955. Seven major and several hundred 鈥渕inor鈥 tests were carried out there, releasing 100kg of radioactive materials into the surrounding area.
The British and Australian governments of the day demonstrated a callous disregard for the lives of Aboriginal people that is characteristic of the settler-colonial mindset. Permission to conduct the testing was not sought from Aboriginal landowners and the Australian government decided they should not be informed of the risks.
When an Australian scientist asked British authorities about the potential danger to local Aboriginal people, was that 鈥渁 dying race couldn鈥檛 influence the defence of Western civilisation鈥.
Many Aboriginal people were forcibly removed from their land prior to the tests, destroying their way of life. Others experienced serious health issues as a result of their exposure to radiation.
Yankunytjatjara man Yami Lester after a 鈥渂lack mist鈥 from the explosions enveloped his country. Others experienced skin rashes, diarrhea and vomiting. Today, Aboriginal communities in the area experience high rates of diseases associated with the effects of radiation poisoning.
Yami Lester鈥檚 daughter, Karina Lester, and her family played a crucial role in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). They collected and shared stories from the survivors of nuclear weapons testing that were instrumental in convincing 122 states that the only safe way to deal with nuclear weapons is to eliminate them.
ICAN won the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to bring about the 2017 United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The historic treaty recognises 鈥渢he disproportionate impact of nuclear-weapon activities on Indigenous peoples鈥. The British and Australian governments boycotted the UN negotiations, however, and have ruled out signing the treaty.
No cause for celebration
Karina Lester said "survivors of the British Nuclear Tests carried out on Australian soil in the 1950鈥檚 and 1960鈥檚 in South Australia鈥檚 outback are still haunted. The Indigenous communities still suffer with high numbers of deaths, cancers, respiratory illnesses and autoimmune disease.鈥
Several attempts to clean up the Maralinga site have been made by British and Australian governments, thanks to the campaigning of survivors like Yami Lester, but contamination at the site remains. In 1995, Aboriginal peoples for the loss and contamination of their land. Only 拢110,000 has been paid to five Aboriginal people to compensate for their exposure to radiation. by Britain鈥檚 Supreme Court in 2013.
Karina Lester said that the affected communities 鈥渉ave had no apology for the wrongdoings on our traditional lands to this day. As the British Government celebrates 50 years with nuclear weapons, Australia鈥檚 Indigenous communities in South Australia wear the scars.鈥
Instead of celebrating, Lester said, 鈥渨e Indigenous South Australians urge the British government to own up and apologise for your actions."
New threat from nuclear waste dump
Aboriginal communities in South Australia now fear that they the risks of radioactive contamination again. The Australian government is currently considering three sites for the location of a national nuclear waste dump, two on Barngarla land, near Kimba, and one on Adnyamathanha land at Wallerberdina Station, near the Finders Ranges.
The dump will host nuclear material currently stored at different sites in Australia, plus waste from Britain pursuant to a 2012 agreement between the British and Scottish governments. The agreement relates to waste generated by the reprocessing of Australian nuclear fuel at Dounreay. However, that waste is to remain where it is and a substituted amount will be shipped from the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing and decommissioning site, located on the coast of the Irish Sea.
The views of traditional owners have been sidelined throughout the process for choosing the dump鈥檚 location and Adnyamathanha鈥檚 traditional owners federal government contractors have already damaged sacred sites. As a result, two separate human rights complaints are outstanding in Australian courts.
Campaigners have called on the British and Scottish governments to halt the shipment while there is a risk that it will end up dumped on Aboriginal land without the consent of the Traditional Owners. However, the shipment 鈥渨ill comply with all relevant international laws鈥 and the eventual destination of the waste is 鈥渁 matter for the Australian authorities鈥. The British Environment Agency has so far failed to respond to requests to halt the shipment of waste from Sellafield.
The Scottish government has also failed to act to stop the shipment, it commissioned, which states that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and, ultimately, Scottish ministers could refuse to authorise the shipment on human rights grounds.
Britain鈥檚 plans to celebrate 50 years of at-sea nukes erases the experience of Indigenous people affected by nuclear weapons testing. Those experiences should be front and centre in any discussion about nuclear weapons, as ICAN recognised.
Instead of celebrating, we should be looking at ways to redress the past and prevent future harm. Britain should apologise for its nuclear weapons testing and pay adequate compensation to those affected. The shipment of nuclear waste from Sellafield should be stopped.
But there is only one way we can prevent more lives being destroyed by nuclear weapons and that is by eliminating them altogether.
[Reprinted from .]