Declassified MoD document reveals US Visiting Forces across Britain are exempt from nuclear safety rules

CND 7th April 2025

At a time of heightened nuclear dangers, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has uncovered shocking evidence that US military bases across Britain are exempt from UK emergency radiation regulations.

This means that bases like RAF Lakenheath, which is being prepared to host deadly new US nuclear weapons, is under no legal obligation to have emergency radiation plans in case of nuclear accidents.

A declassified exemption order shows that the government is putting so-called ‘national security’ before people’s safety.

CND is calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to announce in Parliament that no US nuclear weapons will be welcomed in Britain and that the exemption on adhering to legally required safety standards is revoked.

A letter from CND’s lawyers Leigh Day has forced the Ministry of Defence to declassify a significant nationwide exemption certificate, issued in March 2021 by former Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, on the grounds of ‘national security’.

The certificate exempts Visiting Forces – primarily US military personnel – engaged in work with ionising radiations, from any legal enforcement of safety standards, using powers under Regulation 40 of the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 and Regulation 25 of the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulation 2019. This means they are not legally bound to have in place plans and measures for emergency situations involving radioactive materials and nuclear weapons.

This is particularly dangerous given US preparations at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk for a new nuclear weapons mission. However, the exemption not only covers RAF Lakenheath but all US military bases across Britain.

There are at least 10,000 US Department of Defence personnel stationed at 13 RAF bases. Nuclear material for Britain’s own nuclear weapons programme is regularly transported through RAF Brize Norton and RAF Fairford regularly hosts the US B2 nuclear-capable stealth bomber.

The government’s exemption means that local councils will never be told about the presence of nuclear weapons at these bases – and are therefore not obliged to produce their own emergency plans for a radiological accident. This puts the British population at even greater risk.

CND is upping pressure on the government, supporting two weeks of protest actions from Monday 14 April, culminating in a blockade of the base on Saturday 26 April. The peace camp and actions are organised by the Lakenheath Alliance for Peace, of which CND is a member………………………………………………………………………………………………. https://cnduk.org/declassified-mod-document-reveals-us-visiting-forces-across-britain-are-exempt-from-nuclear-safety-rules/