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Went to visit Scotland and Loch Lomond a year or so ago, and heard about this incident in a pub from one of the locals-

Nuclear bombs sneak through Glasgow after midnight – 4 arrested in protest

Posted on 11 July, 2014
From Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

A convoy of more than 20 military vehicles drove through the centre of Glasgow on the M74 shortly after midnight last night. The convoy included four special lorries which transport Trident nuclear bombs. The convoy was stopped for one hour near Loch Lomond by protesters from Faslane Peace Camp. One climbed on top of a nuclear transporter. Four peace campers were arrested.

Scottish CND coordinator, John Ainslie, followed the convoy as it drove along the M74 from Hamilton, through the South of Glasgow, then over the Erskine Bridge. Mr Ainslie said,

“This is an insult to the people of Glasgow and the rest of Scotland. Only 10 weeks before we vote on whether to be independent, the UK Government have sent this massive convoy of Weapons of Mass Destruction through the centre of Scotland’s largest city. The convoy was probably carrying six Trident bombs, each one seven times more powerful than the bomb which destroyed Hiroshima in 1945. This should be taken as a clear reminder of why people need to vote Yes – to rid Scotland of these horrific nuclear weapons.”

See video of the convoy on its way north to Scotland


FURTHER INFORMATION

The convoy left the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Burghfield around 9 am yesterday (Thursday). It arrived at the Coulport nuclear store at 2.30 am this morning (Friday). It was tracked by Nukewatch and the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

The convoy lorries can each carry two Trident nuclear bombs. Normal practice is for one lorry in the convoy to be empty. So a reasonable estimate is that the convoy was carrying six 100-kiloton nuclear bombs.

The UK government are currently upgrading Trident bombs to a new Mk4A design. The convoy was probably bringing new Mk4A bombs to replace older Mk4A bombs. The Mk4A upgrade programme is a significant enhancement of the capability of the UK’s nuclear force. It makes the bombs more effective.

Anyway, since hearing about this, I couldn't help but ponder a worst-case WI scenario.

Let's say that, ITTL, a small group of Glaswegian Islamic radical nutjobs heard about the convoy carrying the trident nuclear warheads through central Glasgow that night, put their OTL decision to travel to Syria and fight for IS on hold, and instead gathered up their illegal firearms, ammunition and knives, got in their cars, and drove over there to intercept the convoy in an attempt to steal and detonate the Mk4A nuclear warheads being carried by the lorries.

What would happen in this scenario? Would the terrorist attackers have had any chance of succeeding in hijacking one of the lorries, detonating one of the warheads, and/or blowing one or two of them up with conventional explosives to create radiation fallout? Just how bad could a terrorist attack on the nuclear warhead convoy have been, how high could the death toll have been, and how much terror would such an terrorist attack have generated?
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