Burnham is wrong – increased nuke spending will lose more jobs than create
July 30, 2026, https://cnduk.org/press-release-burnham-is-wrong-increased-nuke-spending-will-lose-more-jobs-than-create/
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has made his inaugural trip as Prime Minister to BAE’s shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, announcing a £8.4 billion contract for the latest phase of Britain’s Dreadnought nuclear-armed submarine programme.
Ahead of the trip, Burnham made the claim that the spending would help revitalise the economy and local community.
“Keeping this country safe is the first responsibility of any government – but security is not only about what we build; it is about who builds it, and who benefits from it,” Burnham said ahead of the trip. Downing Street said that this phase of contracts would support 18,000 extra jobs in nuclear weapons sector and 22,000 additional apprentices by 2035.
“To every young person across the country, I want you to know that there is a path for you into a reindustrialised Britain, and it starts with the apprenticeships we are funding through this investment today,” Burnham added.
Successive British governments have claimed that hikes to military spending will result in improving the economy.
However, the government’s own data shows that the ‘defence’ industry is jobs-poor. For the same level of spending, double the number of jobs are created in social care for instance. This is because the vast majority of the spending goes on the weaponry and on profits for the arms companies like BAE.
Burnham has gone along with the Defence Investment Plan – of which £64 billion has been allocated to nuclear weapons. This is being funded through at least £7 billion in cuts to public services. Research by the Transition Security Project has found that this will result in a net loss of at least 10,000 jobs.
CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt said:
“Spending billions of pounds on nuclear weapons is not keeping us safe. In fact, Britain’s role in replacing its nuclear submarines and buying the US F-35A nuclear-capable fighter jets is only increasing the risk of nuclear weapons being used. The government is making Britain less safe because of its aggressive, expansionist nuclear and foreign policy. British bases like RAF Fairford are now a target because the government has continued to allow Trump to use this base to illegally bomb Iran.
“On the economic front, the argument that Burnham is making – that more money for nuclear and military spending will revitalise the economy – is totally false and not backed up by facts. The Defence Investment Plan – precisely because it is based on cuts to far more jobs-rich areas like health, transport and education – will result in a net loss of jobs. This will only drive social deprivation even further.
“Right now, thousands of people are dying in this country because of the underfunding to our health service and because of the total lack of preparedness to tackle the climate-driven extreme heatwave.
“The British government needs to fundamentally shift direction. It needs to focus on diplomacy and dialogue, and scrap its nuclear weapons and cut back its military spending. It needs to prioritise funding our hospitals, schools, and mitigating climate change. That should be the priority of this government, not preparing for the next war that could lead to a nuclear confrontation.”
“Jobs Jobs Jobs” screams the media again as the nuclear lobby plans to brink Japan’s nuclear wastes to Cumberland
COMMENT Plan to Bring Failed Japanese Fast Breeder Reactor’s Contaminated Sodium to Workington – https://radiationfreelakeland.substack.com/p/plan-to-bring-failed-japanese-fast
Japanese reactor decommissioning to bring jobs to UK
Federica Bedendo 26 July 26, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0kmxl6ydpjo
New “highly skilled jobs” have been promised in the UK as part of plans to clean-up a nuclear reactor in Japan.
Cavendish Nuclear and Amentum are planning to build a facility at the Port of Workington, Cumbria, to support the decommissioning of the Monju Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR), in Fukui Prefecture, Japan.
Cumberland Council, which owns the port, said the plant would support skilled jobs directly and across the supply chain.
Leader Mark Fryer said: “This is fantastic news for the port as this new development, subject to the necessary approvals, will bring good quality jobs to Workington.”
The construction phase is expected to be worth more than £25m and employ about 20 people during its seven-year operation, those behind the plans said.
The FBR was a sodium-cooled reactor that had been designed to burn most of its spent fuel, however it encountered several problems during its lifespan.
The Workington plant would be treating the sodium coolant, turning it into sodium hydroxide, a commercially usable product.
West Cumbria is a well-known area for the nuclear sector, due to the presence of the Sellafield nuclear plant, which is being decommissioned.
The Labour-led council has started work to clear the land at Workington’s Oldside as part of its wider regeneration plans in the town.
The aim is for the area to become a hub for clean energy, manufacturing and logistics, the council said.
A Cavendish Nuclear and Amentum spokesperson said: “We are fully committed to adding real social value to west Cumbia and this new venture will contribute to the regeneration on the Port of Workington and support the local economy.”
New Swiss nuclear plants could put thousands of renewables jobs at risk
If nuclear power stations were to be authorised again in Switzerland, this would have a negative impact on employment in the construction and renewable energy sectors.
July 19, 2026 , https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/energy-transition/new-swiss-nuclear-plants-could-put-thousands-of-renewables-jobs-at-risk/91767485
A recent study by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) suggests that thousands of jobs are at risk. According to the authors of the study, simply lifting the ban on the construction of new nuclear power stations, without any other measures, would put between 5,800 and 9,500 jobs at risk in the photovoltaic and construction sectors over the next five years. Over the next ten years, the number of jobs at risk could rise to as many as 10,600.
The construction of a new nuclear power station would create new jobs but, as Switzerland would have to acquire the necessary expertise and technology from abroad, such a project would not even come close to offsetting job losses in the photovoltaic and construction sectors, according to researchers at the ZHAW.
The study states that “an energy and climate policy focused on renewable energy and building renovation is better not only from an environmental perspective, but also in terms of employment”. The ban on the construction of new nuclear power stations provided for in the Federal Act on Nuclear Energy “not only safeguards the strategy of investing in renewable energy, but also protects local jobs in Switzerland”.
In Switzerland, the construction of new nuclear power stations is currently banned, but the Swiss government and parliament are in favour of overturning the ban. At the end of June, however, a broad coalition of opponents launched a referendum against this decision. Swiss voters will likely be able to decide whether to lift the ban in February 2027. In 2017, the Swiss citizens voted against the construction of new nuclear power stations by approving the Energy Strategy 2050 with 58% of the vote.
The hidden reality behind Britain’s homegrown nuclear age
Rolls-Royce’s contract to build small modular reactors may not always mean manufacturing jobs in the UKThe hidden reality behind Britain’s homegrown nuclear age
Matt Oliver, Industry Editor
When Rolls-Royce was chosen to build the country’s first mini nuclear power plants, Labour ministers promised the scheme would help to “revive Britain’s industrial heartlands”.
Three small modular reactors (SMRs) are expected to be built in Anglesey, Wales, by
the mid-2030s – proving the concept and triggering what could become a massive
global industry.
But a year later, exactly just how British those SMRs will
be is turning into a thorny subject. Senior backbench MPs have claimed
there were “serious questions” for Rolls-Royce to answer after the
company began a process to buy “key nuclear island components” –
including reactor pressure vessels – from either South Korea or the Czech
Republic last month.
Nuclear plants are usually divided into two parts: a
reactor “island” housing the most sensitive nuclear equipment and a
separate site where the conventional turbine sits. The companies in the
running for the nuclear island contracts are Korea’s Doosan and CEZ, the
Czech state energy giant that has its own nuclear programme and is an
investor in Rolls-Royce SMR.
Insiders say the lack of a British bidder was
inevitable, because only a handful of businesses in the world can make the
specialist equipment and because of a need to begin construction within the
next five years.
Lord Vallance, the minister for nuclear, said: “Great
British Energy-Nuclear is making excellent progress against its ambition
for 70pc of British built content across the small modular reactor fleet,
and we fully support their work with Rolls Royce to unlock UK supply chain
benefits providing thousands of jobs in our community. “This is part of
our commitment to delivering a golden age of nuclear and developing world
leading-nuclear expertise and UK supply chains, supporting thousands of
jobs in our community.”
Telegraph 21st June 2026, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/06/21/the-hidden-reality-behind-britains-homegrown-nuclear-age/
Planned strikes suspended at nuclear site
Planned strike action at a nuclear site has been suspended, union
officials have confirmed. About 2,000 construction workers employed by
contractors to work at Sellafield, in Cumbria, were set to down tools
between 15 and 21 June because of a dispute over pay. The workers argued
they should receive “a site-specific allowance due to the specialist skills
needed to work at a nuclear site and the hazardous nature of that site”.
Ryan Armstrong, regional officer at the union Unite, said industrial action
had been suspended as an “act of goodwill” to allow “meaningful talks” to
take place between the union and employers.
BBC 11th June 2026
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70y88lzel7o
Industrial dispute on Hinkley C site sees large police presence
A LARGE early morning police presence was needed at Hinkley Point C as
tempers flared while hundreds of workers were locked out of the site during
unofficial industrial action. The dispute arose after claims a dangerous
crane lift on the nuclear power station construction site has put workers
at risk. MEH Alliance workers, who are delivering Hinkley C’s mechanical,
electrical, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning installations,
staged protest sit-downs in canteens. The site’s management then withdrew
access rights for the workers ‘to avoid any further disruption, limit
impacts to other HPC team members, and allow time for discussions’.
West Somerset Free Press 6th June 2026, https://www.wsfp.co.uk/news/industrial-dispute-on-hinkley-c-site-sees-large-police-presence-914669
Police at Hinkley Point C as thousands of workers locked out
Police attended Hinkley Point C on Wednesday (June 3) as part of an
ongoing industrial dispute that has seen thousands of workers locked-out of
the site. MEH Alliance workers staged a sit-in protest in the site canteen
on Tuesday (June 4).
The protest related to several issues alleged by
workers, including a change in shift patterns to include weekends. Workers
had previously held a vote to overwhelmingly reject the shift pattern
change. Following the protest, EDF has barred MEH Alliance workers from
attending site without pay this week – with no decision made on when they
can return.
Bridgwater Mercury 6th June 2026, https://www.bridgwatermercury.co.uk/news/26169782.police-hinkley-point-c-thousands-workers-locked/
Up to 2,000 workers temporarily kicked off Hinkley Point C site after protest
EDF has told around 2,000 mechanical and electrical (M&E) workers to stay
away from the Hinkley Point C construction site until next Monday (8 June)
after they downed tools in a dispute over shift patterns and other
grievances, Construction News understands.
The client for the £46bn
Somerset nuclear project suspended the passes of workers from the MEH
Alliance who took part in a sit-down protest on Tuesday (2 June). It is
understood that operatives refused to undertake scheduled tasks on site and
instead sat down for long periods in areas including the canteen and
changing rooms.
The workers are believed to be unhappy with a proposed
change to shift patterns being introduced in July that will see them on
duty for 10 days in a row every fortnight.
Construction News 4th June 2026, EDF has told around 2,000 mechanical and electrical (M&E) workers to stay
away from the Hinkley Point C construction site until next Monday (8 June)
after they downed tools in a dispute over shift patterns and other
grievances, Construction News understands. The client for the £46bn
Somerset nuclear project suspended the passes of workers from the MEH
Alliance who took part in a sit-down protest on Tuesday (2 June). It is
understood that operatives refused to undertake scheduled tasks on site and
instead sat down for long periods in areas including the canteen and
changing rooms. The workers are believed to be unhappy with a proposed
change to shift patterns being introduced in July that will see them on
duty for 10 days in a row every fortnight.
Construction News 4th June 2026 EDF has told around 2,000 mechanical and electrical (M&E) workers to stay
away from the Hinkley Point C construction site until next Monday (8 June)
after they downed tools in a dispute over shift patterns and other
grievances, Construction News understands. The client for the £46bn
Somerset nuclear project suspended the passes of workers from the MEH
Alliance who took part in a sit-down protest on Tuesday (2 June). It is
understood that operatives refused to undertake scheduled tasks on site and
instead sat down for long periods in areas including the canteen and
changing rooms. The workers are believed to be unhappy with a proposed
change to shift patterns being introduced in July that will see them on
duty for 10 days in a row every fortnight.
Construction News 4th June 2026, EDF has told around 2,000 mechanical and electrical (M&E) workers to stay
away from the Hinkley Point C construction site until next Monday (8 June)
after they downed tools in a dispute over shift patterns and other
grievances, Construction News understands. The client for the £46bn
Somerset nuclear project suspended the passes of workers from the MEH
Alliance who took part in a sit-down protest on Tuesday (2 June). It is
understood that operatives refused to undertake scheduled tasks on site and
instead sat down for long periods in areas including the canteen and
changing rooms. The workers are believed to be unhappy with a proposed
change to shift patterns being introduced in July that will see them on
duty for 10 days in a row every fortnight.
Construction News 4th June 2026, https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/supply-chain/up-to-2000-workers-temporarily-kicked-off-hinkley-point-c-site-after-protest-04-06-2026/
UK’s nuclear research body consults on plans to cut about 200 jobs.
Britain’s national nuclear research body is consulting on plans to cut its
staffing by up to a fifth because of financial pressures, leading union
officials to question the government’s claims to be building a “golden
age” for the industry.
The United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory
(UKNNL) is looking at cutting about 200 jobs from a workforce of about
1,100 via a mixture of voluntary and compulsory redundancies. Described by
ministers as “the custodian of some of the UK’s most critical nuclear
skills and capabilities”, the public corporation’s research supports the
development of cutting-edge technologies in nuclear generation, defence and
other areas such as medicine.
The union Prospect, which represents staff at
UKNNL, said the proposed cuts appeared to be driven by funding problems
that had left the organisation unable to pursue its goals — and even, the
union claimed, to honour its own contractual redundancy terms — rather
than by any change of strategy.
FT 18th March 2026,
https://www.ft.com/content/fe8ac14a-0463-44ca-986b-a035a97b29ba
Trident workers to strike in row over nuclear job cuts.
Union says staff have been ‘pushed to the brink’ and warns walkout could cost millions of pounds
The workers who build and maintain Britain’s Trident nuclear arsenal are
to go on strike in a row over hundreds of job cuts at the Ministry of
Defence’s atomic weapons factories. Members of the Prospect union voted
81pc in favour of strike action at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE),
which is responsible for manufacturing warheads intended for use on the
UK’s nuclear submarines.
The ballot covered sites including the AWE’s
plants in Aldermaston and Burghfield. Strikes are expected to take place on
March 12 and March 26. Union leaders accused the agency of a “litany of
errors” in a dispute over a restructuring that is expected to see as many
as 800 jobs cut.
Telegraph 6th March 2026,
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/03/06/trident-workers-to-strike-in-row-over-nuclear-job-cuts/
Dounreay workers among 200 allowed to leave Nuclear Restoration Services’ UK in early exit scheme
By Iain Grant, John O’Groat Journal 10th Feb 2026
About 30 workers at Dounreay are believed to have been offered early leaving terms in a scheme designed to trim the size of Nuclear Restoration Services’ UK-wide workforce.
Many others at the Caithness site who applied for the mutually agreed voluntary exit (MAVE) initiative were unsuccessful.
The scheme, which has raised the hackles of unions, offers one month of salary per year of service, capped at 21 months of pay or £95,000.
No numbers for Dounreay have been made available but about 500 applied at NRS’s 14 sites throughout the country. Of those, about 200 have been made offers.
It is part of a wider Treasury drive to cut the public sector payroll following its growth during the pandemic.
About 1200 are employed by NRS at Dounreay though that will increase by more than 300 when plans to put NRS in charge of the neighbouring MoD plant at Vulcan come to pass.
Dounreay provide £128k over 3 years for STEM activities for Caithness and Sutherland primary pupils
Read More
The MAVE scheme is opposed by Prospect, which along with GMB and Unite, is running a What a Waste campaign, to highlight the loss of scarce, skilled specialists in the nuclear sector.
They claim the job cuts will cost the government more in the long term as it will put a spoke in the programme to decommission redundant nuclear sites and mean it has to fork out to rebuild the workforce in the future……………………..
In addition to Dounreay, NRS runs nuclear sites at Berkley, Bradwell, Chapelcross, Dungeness, Harwell, Hinkley Point, Hunterston, Oldbury, Sizewell, Trawsfynydd, Winfrith and Wyfla and the Maentwrog hydro-electric plant. https://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/news/dounreay-workers-among-200-allowed-to-leave-nrs-in-early-exi-426869/
Nuclear weapons workers vote for strike action
David Gilyeat, South of England, BBC 10th Feb 2026
Workers that build and maintain the UK’s nuclear weapons have voted to strike over a planned restructuring of the organisation.
Prospect said the Atomic Weapons Establishment’s (AWE) staff were being “pushed to the brink by the repeated errors” of its leadership, affecting sites including Aldermaston and Burghfield in Berkshire.
The union said in November 500 jobs were at risk, with another 750 posts recruited for. Last month it said potential redundancies had increased to 800.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it was “disappointed” by the result but was looking for a “constructive resolution”.
Prospect said 95% of staff who voted were in favour of action short of a strike, with 81% in favour of strike action.
The union has warned action could cost AWE millions of pounds at a time when the government has said it will invest £15bn in a new nuclear programme.
“This crucial investment risks being derailed if this restructure continues to cause internal chaos,” Prospect said.
But it said a “failed reorganisation could have much greater consequences for the future of the organisation”.
Prospect also accused AWE of “drip-feeding” information over weeks so full consultation with its scientists and engineers was “impossible”.
The union said the nature and timing of the industrial action would be “announced in due course”……………………….
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c743l4rr4g1o
Mediterranean Dockworkers Launch Historic International Strike
On February 6, dockworkers in more than 20 Mediterranean ports went on strike against war, militarization, and port privatization.
February 06, 2026 by Ana Vračar, https://peoplesdispatch.org/2026/02/06/mediterranean-dockworkers-launch-historic-international-strike/
Dockworkers in more than 20 ports across the Mediterranean marked a historic moment today as they launched an international day of strike and protest against war and rearmament. Dockers also protested the privatization and militarization of port infrastructure.
Unionists involved in preparing the action described it as the result of a long and complex process, built on dockworkers’ solidarity with Palestine and their struggles for dignified working conditions at home.
The impact of the strike was felt even before it fully unfolded on February 6, as reports emerged of ships – vessels that regularly transport military cargo to Israel – disrupting their itineraries due to the actions.
“Ports are places of sweat, not blood”
Demonstrations began in the morning in the Greek ports of Piraeus and Elefsina, in Türkiye’s Mersin, and in Bilbao and Pasaia in the Basque Country. The trade union Liman-İş Sendikası rallied hundreds of its members to send a message against genocide and in solidarity with Palestine, echoing similar dispatches by their comrades from LAB in the Basque Country.
In Greece, dockworkers highlighted the contradiction between massive European investments in rearmament and the imposition of austerity on public services and infrastructure, which is leading to increasingly unsafe working conditions. “We won’t accept work without rights,” said Damianos Voudigaris of the Greek union ENEDEP later in the day. “Development should mean going home alive. Ports are places of work, not war. They are places of sweat, not blood.”
Some of the largest mobilizations of the day took place in Italy. Strikes were organized in Ancona, Bari, Cagliari, Civitavecchia, Crotone, Genoa, Livorno, Palermo, Ravenna, Salerno, and Trieste, involving not only dockworkers and port employees but also students and members of the public. The map of the strikes once again underscored the momentum built by Italy’s labor movement over the past year, including three general strikes for Palestine – mobilizations that have drawn inspiration from some of the dockers collectives’ anti-war activism.
The trade union Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) reported from all striking ports, with union representatives addressing assemblies prominently displaying Palestinian and Cuban flags. Workers stressed that Europe’s labor movement must find an internationalist orientation in order to block the anti-worker agenda of the European Union and right-wing governments. Governments including that of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, which, as USB activists noted during live broadcasts, was rattled by the determination shown by workers after years of stagnation. According to trade unionists, this panic has translated into a new wave of repression, including measures targeting union members involved in Palestine solidarity actions. USB, however, insisted that resistance to Meloni’s policies would only intensify in the coming weeks.
“Today it’s the ports, tomorrow it will be the entire logistics sector”
While uniting around shared demands – to prevent the militarization of ports, reject rearmament, and stop a war economy from stifling all other priorities – striking workers also raised local concerns. Dockworkers in Trieste warned against port privatization. Elsewhere, including in Bari and Ravenna, workers and students described how port infrastructure was being used, sometimes covertly, to transport military and dual-use materials to Israel. “Everyone here has had enough of that,” one activist in Ravenna said.
Demonstrations held in Civitavecchia, Livorno, and Ancona on Friday evening were notable, with strikers in Ancona describing the day as “monumental.” In Genoa, as has become customary, turnout was massive. Members of the collective CALP – who had previously vowed that “not one nail” would leave the port if Israel attacked the Global Sumud Flotilla en route to Gaza – led the protest. Speaking to media and fellow activists, they stressed that the success of the international strike once again proved that dockworkers keep their promises.
“We promised to block everything – and we blocked everything. We promised a general strike – and we had a general strike. We promised an international strike – and here we are,” they said.
The international dockworkers’ strike, however, is not the end of the road, workers emphasized. “Today it’s the ports, tomorrow it will be the entire logistics sector, and then it will be all workers,” strikers in Ravenna concluded.
Actions were also reported in the ports of Fos-sur-Mer near Marseille, the German hubs of Bremen and Hamburg, and in Corsica. Dockworkers from Morocco’s Democratic Labor Organization (ODT), who had been involved in preparing the strike throughout the process, were forced to postpone their industrial action due to extreme weather conditions that led to port closures.
From Net Zero to Nuclear: the skills gap that could stall UK growth
The UK has no shortage of ambition when it comes to infrastructure. From
Net Zero commitments and energy security to rail modernisation, water
resilience and nuclear new build, the pipeline of nationally significant
projects is substantial. Yet beneath the headlines lies a constraint that
threatens to undermine delivery across all of them: a critical shortage of
skilled labour. While capital allocation, planning reform and supply chains
dominate much of the public debate, workforce capability is increasingly
the factor that determines whether projects progress as planned — or
drift into delay and cost escalation.
City AM 29th Jan 2026,
https://www.cityam.com/from-net-zero-to-nuclear-the-skills-gap-that-could-stall-uk-growth/
Could armed robots be the future of nuclear site security?
experiments to test the military potential of near-identical quadrupeds being carried out by the US armed forces, with Spot’s cousin converted into an armed platform by the addition of an artificial intelligence-enabled gun turret
16th October 2024, https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/spot-to-robocop-could-armed-robots-be-the-future-of-nuclear-site-security/
Robots are becoming increasingly employed in decommissioning operations at Sellafield and Dounreay. Whilst the UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities welcome their use in hazardous environments which are too radioactive and otherwise contaminated for human operators, we have concerns that in the long-term their use might expand into on-site security.
The Atomic Energy Authority Special Constable Act 1976 first permitted the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority to raise an armed private police force. In 2005, the UKAEA Constabulary was replaced by the Civil Nuclear Constabulary. CNC officers are routinely armed with sub machine guns and authorised to use deadly force – in extremis – whilst guarding nuclear facilities, but also whilst engaged in hot pursuit outside.
However last month, seemingly to counter possible threats from sabotage or terrorism and the greater incidence of climate change protests, the Energy Secretary Ed Miliband instructed the CNC to redeploy officers from their traditional duties to protecting coastal gas plants with effect from April 2025[i]. It is likely that this role may further expand to cover oil depots.
In 2021, the NFLAs objected to planned legislation to widen the CNC’s remit to guarding non-nuclear sites. In our response to a consultation, we said that the ‘CNC’s role should continue to be explicitly confined to policing nuclear sites and facilities’ and that ‘protection of critical national infrastructure should be carried out by an adequately funded democratically controlled local police force’ rather than an unaccountable paramilitary police force.
If CNC numbers at nuclear sites are diluted, there could be pressure to employ robots on security duties in their stead, and in the long-term it is not inconceivable that they may even become armed and autonomous.
The ‘poster child’ of the robots is the quadruped first developed by Boston Dynamics in the United States, affectionately known as Spot the Dog. This variant is now routinely used in decommissioning operations in environments that are unsafe for human operators. The robot uses a specialist scanning system to create a 3D moveable image of its environment, allowing engineers to carry out remote inspections in support of clean-up operations[ii].
Spot can though operate entirely autonomously. Last month, it was reported that such a robot had completed a 35-day autonomous operation to inspect the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s Joint European Torus (JET) facility. Tasks successfully completed included ‘mapping the facility, taking sensor readings, avoiding obstacles and personnel involved in the decommissioning process, and collecting essential data on JET’s environment and overall status twice a day. The robot also knew when to dock and undock with its charging station, to ensure it could complete the task without humans having to intervene’.[iii]
So far, so benign, but a disturbing report appeared around the same time about experiments to test the military potential of near-identical quadrupeds being carried out by the US armed forces, with Spot’s cousin converted into an armed platform by the addition of an artificial intelligence-enabled gun turret to participate in exercises in Saudi Arabia. The flexible turret enabled ground fire, but also aerial fire against drones, which are also an increasing threat to civil nuclear facilities. The article in Military.Com records that robot dogs have already been engaged by the US Defence Department in several roles, including ‘boosting perimeter security at sensitive installations’, a task in which they excel as they can ‘patrol’ ‘without need to rest’.[iv]
The NFLAs cannot help thinking that in a dystopian nuclear future, in which the CNC increasingly overstretched and renamed the Civil Infrastructure Constabulary to reflect its ever-expanded role in providing armed protection to a wide range of critical sites, security forces might engage a force of armed Robocops to supplement the dwindling number of armed human officers, each charged with patrolling the perimeters of civil nuclear facilities, and granted autonomous decision-making to engage trespassers, protestors, and drones with deadly force.
The concept of Spot the Dog becoming SWAT the Dog, however unlikely, is truly terrifying.
Concerns about so-called killer robots animated the world community late last year. The Stop Killer Robots campaign, founded in October 2012, continues to work for a new international law to regulate autonomy in weapons systems. The coalition of over 250 civil society organisations in 70 countries successfully lobbied states to adopt the first ever resolution on autonomous weapons at the United Nations on December 22, 2023. 152 countries supported General Assembly Resolution 78/241 which acknowledged the ‘serious challenges and concerns’ raised by ‘new technological applications in the military domain, including those related to artificial intelligence and autonomy in weapons systems.’
Stop Killer Robots was recently awarded Archivio Disarmo’s Golden Dove for Peace Award at a ceremony in Rome on Saturday, 12 October. The award is given to an international figure or organisation which has made ‘a significant contribution to the cause of peace’.
More details of the campaign can be found at https://www.stopkillerrobots.org/
1 This Month
of the week – Hiroshima Nagasaki Day Coalition – Working together for the abolition of n\nuclear weapons – https://www.hiroshimadaycoalition.ca/
No Nuclear in Cwm Llynfi! Stop the nuclear power station near Maesteg.
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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