YOUR report on the public safety risks found in an emergency planning exercise of a simulated accident from a road convoy transporting nuclear weapons makes for concerning reading (Safety risks exposed by nuclear bomb convoy exercise in Scotland, June 23).
To read of major communication breakdowns and emergency workers not having appropriate safety equipment in the event of a radiation release is concerning to say the least, particularly as it has been a common feature of previous emergency exercises.
It is about time though that these exercises started looking at how the public would be protected from an accident involving such a convoy, particularly on whether the public would have to be evacuated or be sheltered indoors.
I look forward to seeing the Scottish Government’s advice coming out to local authorities on how emergency planners should prepare the public and what generic information that could go out.
These convoys remain a real and present danger to the public given that many of the convoy vehicles used are ageing; and at a time when the number of road transports are also increasing. It is time too to consider whether sending such sensitive materials on our road system is really a good idea – we think not.
Councillor Feargal Dalton
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