New London ― Demonstrators with the CT Committee for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons gathered on the sidewalk outside Electric Boat on Monday afternoon to mark the anniversary of the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

The treaty, which took effect in January 2021, prohibits countries from producing, testing, acquiring, possessing or stockpiling nuclear weapons. At least 50 countries, including Ireland, Thailand and New Zealand, are part of the treaty. The United States did not sign the treaty.

“We need to be aware these nuclear weapons are now illegal in the eyes of the United Nations,” said Norwich resident Joanne Sheehan, one of the organizers of the event. “And here they are being designed and worked on in the early stages.”

Sheehan said the group’s mission for the afternoon was to raise awareness and consciousness of employees at Electric Boat and the general public.

EB, which employs more than 20,000 people, is the prime contractor and lead design yard for Virginia-class submarines and Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines.