[Taken from  http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20021118IE1]
Foreign - Monday 18.11.2002

Finnish activist boards British nuclear submarine undetected

Finnish peace activist Elisa Silvennoinen, together with Swede Petter Joelson, broke into a British nuclear submarine, the HMS Vanguard , at the Devonport base in Plymouth, England late on Friday night.
Both activists have been arrested and questioned by the police. The pair are due to appear before magistrates on Monday, charged with criminal damage.
Both activists have admitted committing the offence, and would have been free to leave the police station soon thereafter, but they chose to remain until the court hearing. The two belong to the campaign group Trident Ploughshares, which opposes Britain's Trident nuclear submarines.
The aim of the activists was to prove how easy it is to board a nuclear submarine, making them vulnerable to terrorists. According to Trident Ploughshares, the duo was able to enter the base quite easily, needing only to damage a perimeter fence. The Devonport Naval Base is the base for seven nuclear submarines.
After boarding the submarine, Silvennoinen and Joelson waited for a moment, then triggered the fire alarm. Their arrest was made without incident, and the submarine suffered no damage.

Nuclear sub break-in
November 17, 2002

POLICE have charged two anti-nuclear activists with criminal damage after they allegedly broke into a naval base and boarded a nuclear submarine, the British defence ministry and Navy have said.

Petter Joelson from Sweden and Elisa Silvennoinen from Finland have been remanded in custody to appear before magistrates in Plymouth, south England, on Monday, a defence ministry spokeswoman said.

"They got onto the outer casing of the submarine and broke a fire alarm box," a royal navy spokeswoman said earlier of the pair, who were found inside the Devonport base in Plymouth at about 11.30pm on Friday (1030 Saturday AEDT).

They were caught at dock nine, where the Trident submarine HMS Vanguard was undergoing a re-fit.

The break-in caused minor damage to a perimeter fence and a fire alarm.










A statement released by Trident Ploughshares - a group that campaigns to disarm British Trident nuclear weapons - said its activists had entered the naval base, showing defence ministry security to be "woefully inadequate".

"It beggars belief that, during a time when the prime minister himself has warned the country to be on high alert over possible terrorist attack, it has been possible for people to break into the Trident submarine complex with little difficulty," said the opposition Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, Colin Breed.

HMS Vanguard is the first of four Vanguard-class submarines to undergo a two-year re-fit.

It joined six other nuclear-powered submarines at the Plymouth base in February.

Agence France-Presse

SECURITY REVIEW AT BASE

The Ministry of Defence is to carry out a full review of security at a naval base after two peace activists gained access to a nuclear submarine.

The pair reportedly spent more than 30 minutes inside the Devonport naval base in Plymouth before the alarm was raised.

During that time they walked on the casing of the Trident nuclear submarine HMS Vanguard, which is undergoing a re-fit.

Officials have denied claims they also managed to get inside the vessel and were able to roam around it.

The intruders were members of an anti-nuclear protest group named Trident Ploughshares.

Commodore Andrew Mathews, commander of Devonport naval base, said: "We are worried. We take this very seriously.

"We have a significant security team here. Clearly something has gone wrong and we have two major investigations underway."

He said security at the base had been stepped up following the break-in.

The two activists, Petter Joelson, 22, and Elisa Silvennoinen, 19, both from Scandinavia, were released on bail by Plymouth magistrates on Monday.

They denied causing criminal damage to a security fence at the Devonport naval base on Friday night.

The case has been adjourned.

Last Updated: 09:55 UK, Tuesday November 19, 2002

Activists who boarded nuclear submarine freed in Plymouth

The Finnish-Swedish peace activist duo who illegally boarded a British nuclear submarine on Friday were released on Monday in Plymouth.
Elisa Silvennoinen and Peter Joelsson, who belong to the campaign group Trident Ploughshares, which opposes the British Trident nuclear submarines, will most likely be charged with criminal damage some time next year.

To get to the Devonport Naval Base the couple cut a hole through the perimeter fence. Fixing the fence will cost approximately EUR 300. By all accounts, the duo did not have any great difficulty penetrating the defences of the nuclear sub HMS Vanguard in Dock No. 9, where the vessel is undergoing a refit, but they simply walked aboard unchallenged.
After waiting around for some minutes, they announced their presence to the sleeping vessel by setting off the fire alarm.
According to Silvennoinen and Joelsson, the British nuclear weapons programme is illegal. They claim Great Britain is breaking international law, which bans the use of and threatening with weapons of mass destruction.
Silvennoinen says one of the four Trident submarines equipped with nuclear weapons is constantly on patrol in international waters. "That alone can be considered threatening", she argues.

Devonport is the largest naval base in Western Europe, covering more than 650 acres. It houses 15 dry docks and embraces four miles of waterfront. It is also the home to seven Trafalgar-class nuclear submarines.
Earlier this year, the Devonport establishment received a warning on nuclear safety standards from the British health and safety executive's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII).

[ source: Helsingin Sanomat - Tuesday 19.11.2002 ]