Nuclear base 'intruders' charged (in UK -- they got on the nuclear sub!)

BBC News ^ | Nov. 16, 2002 | BBC News

[FairOpinion]

Two people have been charged with breaking into a naval base where seven nuclear submarines are based. The pair were found inside Devonport Naval Base, Plymouth, at about 1130GMT on Friday.

A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said Petter Joelson from Sweden and Elisa Silvennoinen from Finland had been remanded in custody to appear before Plymouth magistrates on Monday.

They were arrested at 9 Dock, where the Trident submarine HMS Vanguard is currently undergoing a re-fit.

Intruders got onto the casing of the submarine.

In a statement anti-nuclear campaigners alleged the couple had got onto the submarine and rung its bell.

A perimeter fence and a fire alarm were reported to have suffered minor damage during the break-in.

The campaign group Trident Ploughshares is currently holding a four-day "peace camp" in Plymouth.

A statement released by the group on Saturday said its activists had entered the naval base, showing MoD security to be "woefully inadequate."

A Royal Navy spokeswoman said the pair had been found on the submarine.

'Lax security'

The Ministry of Defence Police, Devonport Management Ltd (DML), which runs the dockyard, and the civil police are investigating the incident.

In a statement the MoD said wider safety issues were not compromised by the incident.

Ian Martin, South West spokesman for CND, said: "I convey my congratulations to this latest Trident Ploughshares initiative which exposes the absurdity of Trident. It should be scrapped, not re-fitted."

HMS Vanguard, which arrived at Devonport in February this year, is one of seven nuclear-powered submarines based there.

[FairOpinion]

I hope this is a real wake up call for the UK military security. What if they had been terrorists?!

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

This MAY have been a mistake- I know quite a few Brits, and my impression is that they still take their Navy very seriously.

I would suggest 5-10 years at Dartmoor for these morons.

[MedicalMess]

I wonder how this article would have been written if these intruders were shot on the spot as terrorists?

[FairOpinion]

RANGERAIRBORNE: "This MAY have been a mistake- I know quite a few Brits, and my impression is that they still take their Navy very seriously."
----
The problem is all it takes is one mistake, one minor oversight. That is the advantage the terrorists have -- we can be vigilant 99.99% of the time, but if we miss just once, it could be a disaster. Thank God the intruders weren't terrorists -- this time.

[esszed]

...hahaha morons? Do morons circumvent national security? Or those empassioned and activated? Maybe think about what the issues are..:).

[toddst]

I wonder how this article would have been written if these intruders were shot on the spot as terrorists?

Some base security personnel (and/or the base commander) are going to lose their jobs over this, as they should. These intruders should have been dead way before getting anywhere near the boat.

This is a big-time wake-up call for nuclear sub base security in both Britain and the US.

[Prodigal Son]

The problem is all it takes is one mistake, one minor oversight.

Yep. We have to get lucky every day. The terrorist only needs to get lucky once.