Atomic Weapons Establishment

File:AWE.JPG

AWE plc logo

The Atomic Weapons Establishment is responsible for the design, manufacture and support of warheads for the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent. AWE plc is responsible for the day-to-day operations of AWE. AWE plc is owned by BNFL, Lockheed Martin UK and Serco through AWE Management Ltd. The company is based close to Aldermaston (although the nearest town is Tadley in Hampshire), with major facilities at Burghfield.

During World War II the AWRE was known as RAF Aldermaston and was used by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Eighth and Ninth Air Force as a troop carrier (C-47) group base and was assigned USAAF station No 467.

Overview

The Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE) is tasked to help the United Kingdom to maintain a credible and effective minimum nuclear deterrent are:

• To maintain the warheads for the Trident nuclear deterrent safely and reliably in service.

• To maintain a capability to design a new weapon, should it ever be required.

• To complete the dismantling and disposal of redundant warheads replaced by Trident.

• To develop the skills, technologies and techniques that could underpin future arms limitation treaties

AWRE was established on 1 April 1950 at the former RAF Aldermaston. AWRE was initially part of the Ministry of Supply. In 1954 it was transferred to the newly created United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). In 1971, the production activities of UKAEA were transferred to the newly-created British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. (BNFL).

In 1973 AWRE was transferred to the Procurement Executive of the UK Ministry of Defence. In 1987, AWRE was combined with the two Royal Ordnance Factories at ROF Burghfield and ROF Cardiff to form the AWE. In 1989, the UK government announced its intention to find a suitable private company to run AWE under a Government Owned/Contractor Operated arrangement.

Private Management

In 1993 the government awarded a contract to Hunting-BRAE, a consortium of Hunting Engineering, Brown Root and AEA. During Hunting BRAE's management AWE decommissioned the RAFs WE177 freefall nuclear bomb. In 1998 the company suffered two prosecutions for safety breaches, one for discharge of tritium into a nearby stream [1] and another for an incident where two workers inhaled plutonium.

In 1999 the company lost the contract to AWE Management Ltd, (AWE ML) a consortium of BNFL, Lockheed Martin and Serco which assumed responsibility on April 1 2000. This does not represent privatisation, the Ministry of Defence still owns all the AWE sites and a Golden Share in AWE plc. Critics have pointed out that BNFL and Lockheed Martin do not have perfect safety records either. BNFL has suffered embarrassing revelations of falsified quality checks in nuclear fuels and Lockheed has been the subject of scathing reports on the operation of U.S. nuclear facilities. Lockheed's failings include safety concerns at the Y-12 facility at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, an American weapons plant similar in certain ways to Aldermaston.

Other Atomic Weapons Establishment sites could be found at ROF Burghfield, Burghfield and ROF Cardiff, Llanishen, Cardiff, the former Royal Ordnance Factories, although ROF Cardiff is now closed.

A significant programme of investment is taking place over the three year period from 2005 to 2008, of about £350 million per year, to provide assurance that the existing Trident missile warhead is reliable and safe throughout its intended in-service life. The new facilities and extra supporting infrastructure are required in the absence of live nuclear testing no longer allowed under the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. [2]

AWE cooperates with the U.S. Los Alamos National Laboratory in carrying out subcritical nuclear tests at the Nevada underground test site to obtain scientific data to maintain the safety and reliability of nuclear weapons. Subcritical tests are not banned by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty on nuclear weapons. The most recent test took place in February 2006. [3]

The cost of decommissioning AWE facilities when they become redundant, including nuclear waste disposal, is estimated at £3.4 billion in 2005. [4]

The plant is the final destination for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament's annual march from Trafalgar Square, London. The first Aldermaston March was conceived by the Direct Action Committee and took place in 1958. There is currently a monthly women's peace camp held outside the Establishment to protest against its existence.

History

Origins

In 1941 the higher part of the Aldermaston Court estate was chosen by the government as a site for development as a Bomber Operations Training Unit (OTU). The woodland was cleared and a standard 'A Class' airfield with three concrete runways was built. The workshops and administration buildings were on the south side, near the main entrance at Falcon Gate.There were five hangars. Four were built to take the largest RAF aircraft.

Wartime RAF Use

The fifth hangar, just off the airfield, was for the Ministry of Production where Spitfire fighter planes were assembled by Vickers Supermarine. The Spitfires were flight tested from the airfield. On the east side of the airfield there was a large bomb dump which covered nearly half the site.

The airfield was opened by No 92 Group of the RAF on 1 July 1942, but was never used by the intended Wellington bombers because, by then, it had been earmarked for the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).

Wartime USAAF Use

When the USAAF Ninth Air Force inherited Aldermaston on 16 October 1943, it was the oldest USAAF troop carrier base in the UK and this continued to be its chief use for the remainder of hostilities.

The airfield was allocated for USAAF use in June 1942 as one of 13 airfields to bomber standard to be available for transport or reconnaissance units. Aldermaston Court was also to be requisitioned as a headquarters and although this too eventually served the Ninth Air Force, it was administered as an entirely separate station, unconnected with the airfield.

60th Troop Carrier Group

• 7 August 1942 HQ 60th Troop Carrier Group and 10th and 28th Troop Carrier Squadrons move from RAF Chelveston and RAF Podington to Aldermaston, England with C-47s.

• 15 August 1942 11th Troop Carrier Squadron, 60th Troop Carrier Group, moves from Chelveston to Aldermaston, England with C-47s.

• 14 September 1942 HQ 60th Troop Carrier Group and 10th, 11th, 12th and 28th Troop Carrier Squadrons at Aldermaston with C-47s.

• October 1942 Aldermaston is officially allocated to the Eighth Air Force as an air transport base and becomes USAAF station No 467.

During the following three months. the 60th TCG trained with paratroops preparatory to moving out to Portreath on November 6 on its way to North Africa for participation in Operation Torch'.

• 25 November 1942 The 107th Observation Squadron, 67th Observation Group, moves from RAF Membury to Aldermaston, England with A-20s, L-4s and Spitfires (first mission is 20 Dec 43).

315th Troop Carrier Group

• 1 December 1942 Headquarters 315th Troop Carrier Group and its 34th and 43d Troop Carrier Squadrons is established at Aldermaston, England upon arrival from the US. The air echelon is flying their C-47s across the North Atlantic with the first aircraft arriving on 12 Dec.

• 8 January 1943 The 107th Observation Squadron (originally a Michigan National Guard unit), 67th Observation Group moves its Spitfires and L-4s from Aldermaston to Membury, England.

• 29 May 1943 The 34th Troop Carrier Squadron, 315th Troop Carrier Group, based at Aldermaston, England, begins operating with C-47's from Blida, Algeria.

• 1 July 1943 During the month of July, HQ 99th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) arrives at Aldermaston, England from the US.

On November 6, 1943, the 315th TCG moved to Welford where a C-47 group fresh front the States was due to arrive, thus leaving Aldermaston ready for other uses.

• 4 December 1943 HQ IX Air Support Command is activated at Aldermaston Court, England. Aldermaston is transferred to the USAAF Ninth Air Force.

• 22 December 1943 The 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 73d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, arrives at Aldermaston, England from the US without aircraft. They will be equipped with Spitfires and fly their first mission on 26 Mar 44.

• 14 January 1944 HQ 71st Fighter Wing transfers from Aldermaston to RAF Greenham Common.

370th Fighter Group

• 12 February 1944 HQ 370th Fighter Group and 401st, 402d and 485th Fighter Squadrons arrive at Aldermaston, England from the US with P-47's; the unit will transition to P-38s and fly their first mission on 1 May.

• 29 February 1944 HQ 370th Fighter Group and 401st Fighter Squadron from Aldermaston to RAF Andover with P-38s (first mission is 1 May).

• 1 March 1944 402d and 485th Fighter Squadrons, 370th Fighter Group, from Aldermaston to RAF Andover with P-38s (first mission 1 May).

434th Troop Carrier Group

• 3 March 1944 HQ 434th Troop Carrier Group and 71st, 72d, 73d and 74th Troop Carrier Squadrons from RAF Fulbeck to Aldermaston with C-47s.

• 5 June 1944 Troops of the 101^st Airborne Division left from Aldermaston. They led the way on D-Day in the night drop prior to the invasion.

• 17 September 1944 Aldermaston was one of the lift points for Operation Market Garden the largest airborne operation in history.

• 1 July 1944 As the war front advanced across Europe, the USAAF transferred operations to the continent. HQ XIX Tactical Air Command moves from Aldermaston Court, England to France.

The 434th remained at Aldermaston until February 12, 1945 when the group moved to Mourmclon-le-Grand in France, the first of the troop carrier groups in the Wiltshire area to move from the UK.

The airfield was left with a skeleton crew that consisted of one sergeant with a bicycle and a Thompson submachine gun - he was there alone until well after VE-Day with Aldermaston being finally relinquished to the Air Ministry on June 15.

Postwar RAF Use

The airfield was relinquished to the Air Ministry on 15 June 1945. It was to be the site for a flying school, where more than 1,000 former RAF pilots would be retrained to fly civil aircraft. Many of the buildings were refurbished and improved runway lights were installed.

Postwar Civil Use

In 1947, the Ministry of Civil Aviation designated the airfield as a temporary civil airport and possibly a third London airport. In April improved facilities installed when the training school was taken over by BOAC and BEA. On 30 September 1948 the school closed down.

For the next year or so the field was used for occasional test flights of the Westland Wyvern, and was eventually deserted. A number of model airplane clubs used the facilities for weekend meets.

See also

• Atomic Energy Research Establishment
• Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom
• 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement
• The Leaky Establishment
• List of RAF stations
• USAAF Eighth Air Force - World War II
• USAAF Ninth Air Force - World War II

References

• Freeman, Roger A., UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now, 1994
• Maurer Maurer, Air Force Combat Units Of World War II, Office of Air Force History, 1983

External links

• Official AWE site
  • AWE historical timeline
• Plutonium and Aldermaston - An Historical Account, UK Ministry of Defence, 4 September 2001
• AWE Management Ltd. partners
  • BNFL
  • Lockheed Martin UK
  • Serco
• Aldermaston Women's Peace Camp
• Revealed: UK develops secret nuclear warhead, The Sunday Times, March 12, 2006
• Aerial Photo of AWE from Multimap.Com

51°21′46″N 001°08′22″W