Peace Activists To Shut Down Nuclear Weapons Base

Local activists will stage a vigil and nonviolent direct action at one of the entrance gates to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor in Silverdale, Washington on Saturday, January 17, 2015.

The Bangor base is home to eight of the US Navy’s fourteen OHIO Class (Trident) ballistic missile submarines, and has been called the largest operational concentrations of nuclear weapons in the US nuclear arsenal.

The Navy is currently engaged in research and development on a new generation of ballistic missile submarines, the OHIO Replacement Program (ORP). The twelve submarines planned will cost an estimated $100 in construction, and both Navy and Congressional leadership have serious concerns about the fiscal impact of the ORP on the Navy’s shipbuilding budget.

Beyond fiscal concerns, deploying a new generation of ballistic missile submarines well into the end of this century runs counter to the US Government’s obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and will only lead to further nuclear proliferation as other nations follow suit.

The vigil and action are part of Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action’s annual tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. The day will include nonviolence training, education on efforts to stop a new generation of ballistic missile submarines, as well as a keynote talk by Bruce Gagnon, Coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space.

Participants in the annual peace walk led by monks from the Bainbridge Island Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Temple will take part in Saturday’s event. On Monday, January 19th Ground Zero Center will take part in the Seattle MLK Rally & March, walking with a full­scale inflatable Trident II D-5 missile depicting one of Dr. King’s famous quotes: “When scientific power outruns spiritual power, we end up with guided missiles and misguided men.”

For over thirty-seven years Ground Zero Center has engaged in education, training in nonviolence, community building, resistance against Trident and action toward a world without nuclear weapons.