AWE Nuclear Security Technologies

AWE Nuclear Security Technologies (previously the Atomic Weapons Establishment) was a Ministry of Defence facility responsible for the design, manufacture and support of the United Kingdom's nuclear weapons. During the mid-21st century, during the privatisation of the UK defence industry, the organisation was sold off to Helios Defence. During the London Revolution, Helios loyalists set fire to the site at Aldermaston, severely damaging the complex and resulting in a significant release of nuclear material into the atmosphere. After the workers were detained as POWs, the site was taken over by the new government, and its operations were subsequently absorbed into the State Defence Section (SDS). As the Thames Republic decided not to maintain a nuclear arsenal, the site was converted into a hybrid nuclear and exophysics defence site, jointly administered by the SDS and the Department for Exophysics (DfE).

Because of the loss of the site, Great Britain lost the ability to build new nuclear warheads, and had lost the remainder of its existing stockpile to Scotland during the Independence Wars, leaving Scotland as the only nuclear-armed country on the island. Great Britain would later attempt to rebuild a manufacturing capability near Manchester, but these efforts were cut short as the government redirected funding for the exophysics rush. Eventually, the shutdown of the site's nuclear weapons operations would also lead to Scotland's remaining stockpile becoming unusable and the Faslane submarine base eventually shutting down.