The last nukes in Germany

[unhappycamper]

http://www.dw.com/en/the-last-nukes-in-germany/a-18630943



Their location is top secret - but it's an open secret where the last US nuclear weapons are stored in Germany. There are thought to be around 20 warheads at the German Büchel military base.

The last nukes in Germany
Sven Pöhle
05.08.2015

The German and American flags fluttered peacefully in the breeze that made the heat of the summer morning bearable at the main gate of Büchel Air Base (pictured above) in southwestern Germany, not far from the banks of the Mosel River. The guard at the entrance barrier looked suspiciously at Katja Tempel as she stood in front of the main entrance, pointing to the area behind the fence.

The words of the 52-year-old midwife with the short gray hair were suddenly drowned out in a deafening roar from the other side. "Those are the Tornadoes on their training flights again," she said as the noise from the fighter jets died down.

The planes take off regularly from here throughout the week, Tempel said. She spent a lot of time here, in the Eifel region near the French border, in the spring. From March to May, together with other activists, she organized the "Büchel 65" protest movement. The aim of the 65-day action was to block entry to the place where the last US nuclear weapons on German soil are believed to be stored.

Cold War relics

Between 10 and 20 American nuclear warheads from the Cold War era are stored underground here at the base of Germany's 33rd Tactical Air Force Wing, in a separate, guarded US military area.