The AWE bomb factory starts to implode. Protesters wanted to shut Aldermaston in the 1960s. Today, it may have become its own worst enemy. Budget blow-ups and project delays, along with safety concerns aired repeatedly by the nuclear watchdog, have turned AWE into a slow-motion car crash. Last year the National Audit Office (NAO), which polices government spending, confirmed what many in the industry had long feared: crucial projects to upgrade the facilities are in trouble. Pegasus, a £634m plan to replace a tired building at Aldermaston that handles and stores enriched uranium, is suspended with no clarity on when work will restart. Mensa, a facility being built at Burghfield to assemble and dismantle nuclear warheads, has ballooned in cost from £734m to £1.8bn. It was due to open in 2017 but that has been delayed to 2023.
Times 27th Jan 2019 read more »
