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Nuclear weapons may return to a United States Air Force base in Suffolk, United Kingdom, 15 years after they were removed from the base.
Documents show that RAF Lakenheath is preparing facilities to house and store bombs with an explosive power many times greater than that dropped on Hiroshima at the end of the Second World War.
What do we know about these plans?
US government documents show that RAF Lakenheath, which is used only by the United States Air Force, is preparing to store nuclear weapons again
RAF Lakenheath is currently home to the 48th Fighter Wing, also known as the Liberty Wing, with aircraft of the latest generation F-35A Lightning II stationed there.
According to the USAF, these fighter jets have been successfully tested to carry the B61-12 short-range thermonuclear bomb, a tactical weapon designed for the battlefield.
Documents detailing a contract awarded to build protective shelters for RAF Lakenheath's "future nuclear mission" were released and then withdrawn by the US Department of Defence.
These mobile units would protect the troops assigned to protect the base, the 48th Security Forces Squadron.
In addition, millions of dollars have been earmarked to build a facility known as a "security dormitory" at the base, which will be a storage facility for nuclear weapons, according to a US Department of Defense budget document.
The RAF base opened at Lakenheath in 1941 and was operational during the Second World War.
As the Cold War between NATO and the Soviet bloc intensified, the USAF assumed administrative control of the base in 1951.
There are 4,000 US military personnel and another 1,500 British and US civilian staff in the country.
Will these bombs reach Suffolk?
Sir Lawrence Freedman, professor of war studies at King's College London, said there were "some suggestions" that the plans were preliminary.
The shelters could only be an additional capacity in case other weapons had to be removed from storage sites in Europe, he added.
"It's one thing to build a storage facility, it's another to hide the fact that US weapons are going to be based in Britain, so there might be a relatively mundane explanation rather than some kind of dramatic escalation in the arms race." , he said.
The UK and NATO have a longstanding policy of neither confirming nor denying the presence of nuclear weapons in a given country.
Why is this happening now?
Sir Lawrence said he did not think the plans were specifically related to the situation in Ukraine.
"I think it's part of a general increase in tension with Russia," he said.
"It also reflects the high priority given to short-range systems in Russian doctrine."
But William Alberque, a former senior NATO official now with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said it was a "response to an increasingly dangerous threat environment across Europe because of Russia's actions."
He cited the deployment of Russian nuclear forces in Belarus, the invasion of Ukraine and "Vladimir Putin's growing threats of nuclear weapons use."
What does this mean for the base?
Hans Kristensen, of the Federation of American Scientists, was among the first to raise the possibility that nuclear weapons could be returned to RAF Lakenheath.
"There's no doubt that if you have nuclear weapons on a base, that base is more likely to be targeted in a nuclear conflict with Russia," he said.
What has been the reaction?
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) has already protested outside the base.
CND general secretary Kate Hudson said: "If they are here, we will get rid of them."
The group has instructed law firm Leigh Day to look into whether the construction of the insurance dormitory is legal.
Lawyer Ricardo Gama said: The UK Ministry of Defense says the Lakenheath development will not lead to significant environmental effects, but in reaching this conclusion our client argues that they have ignored the potential environmental effects of deploying nuclear weapons in air base, including the potential for nuclear accidents". / Taken from the BBC
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