Rob Edwards

Ministers drop ban on dumping nuclear waste in Scotland

from Sunday Herald, 17 January 2010

Scottish ministers have abandoned their ban on nuclear waste dumping, opening the way for a proliferation of permanent radioactive dumps across Scotland.

In a major but unnoticed shift of policy, the environment minister Richard Lochhead has dropped his pledge to ensure that waste was only kept in stores near nuclear sites where it could be easily monitored and retrieved in case of leaks.

In a new policy document launched on Friday, the Scottish government is now also considering creating underground “disposal” facilities from which there would be no intention of retrieving the waste. This has led to accusations that the government could end up dispersing radioactivity in the environment.

It means that nuclear dumps could be created for centuries at or near existing nuclear sites at Dounreay in Caithness, Hunterston in North Ayrshire, Torness in East Lothian and Chapelcross in Dumfries and Galloway. The waste would remain dangerous for thousands of years.

Revealed: Thatcher wanted to dump nuclear waste in Scotland

from Sunday Herald, 17 January 2010

The former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, insisted on investigating dumping nuclear waste in Scotland in defiance of fierce objections from her Scottish Secretary in 1989, Malcolm Rifkind.

Secret Scottish government documents obtained by the Sunday Herald have revealed deep divisions within the then Conservative government in London and Edinburgh. 

Fellow ministers fought angrily behind the scenes over the highly sensitive - and still unresolved - issue of where to bury the highly dangerous radioactive waste left behind by Britain’s nuclear power and weapons programmes.

The revelations come from more than 200 pages released by the Scottish government after the biggest and longest freedom of information battle so far fought in Scotland. Files on nuclear waste were first requested more than four years ago, and have only now been unveiled at the insistence of the Scottish Information Commissioner, Kevin Dunion.

The documents shed a fascinating new light on the internal squabbles that dogged attempts to solve the intransigent problem of what to do with nuclear waste, some of which remains lethal for hundreds of thousands of years.

Revealed: the secret of who makes Trident nuclear warheads tick

from Sunday Herald, 29 November 2009

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been accused of “deceit” after it was forced to confess to one of the most closely guarded secrets of making Britain’s nuclear bombs.

For years UK ministers have repeatedly refused to say where neutron generators - a vital component of the Trident warheads stationed on the Clyde - were manufactured. The information had to be kept secret for national security reasons, they said.

But now, confronted with undeniable evidence by the Sunday Herald, the MoD has admitted that the devices are imported from the United States. And in so doing, it has opened the Westminster government to a barrage of criticism from experts, politicians and campaigners.

“This is another deceit of the British public by Westminster,” declared Dan Plesch, director of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at the University of London.

“It’s another smoking gun in the arsenal of evidence that shows that there is no such thing as a British bomb. The weapon will become unusable should the Americans withdraw their support,” he said.

Tighten safety rules for nuclear bomb bases, says Scottish government

from Sunday Herald, 22 November 2009

The Scottish government is to press Westminster to tighten up the regulation of nuclear bomb bases in Scotland following a series of safety problems revealed by the Sunday Herald.

Scottish ministers have promised to lobby the UK government to close the loopholes which allow the Faslane and Coulport bases on the Clyde to escape statutory scrutiny by government watchdogs.

In response to a report by the nuclear weapons working group, the Scottish government also said that it will ask the Ministry of Defence to tell local authorities when nuclear weapons convoys are coming through their areas. At the moment, councils are not informed.

Revealed: where the MoD wants to dump its radioactive waste

from Sunday Herald, 01 November 2009

A secret shortlist of a dozen sites across the UK where the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is thinking of dumping dangerous radioactive waste from defunct nuclear submarines can be revealed today by the Sunday Herald.

As many as five of the sites under consideration for storing up to 500 cubic metres of toxic scrap from 27 submarines are in Scotland. They are the two naval nuclear bases on the Clyde at Coulport and Faslane, the Rosyth dockyard in Fife, the Dounreay nuclear plant in Caithness and possibly the Hunterston nuclear power station in North Ayrshire.

But confidential documents leaked from the government’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) disclose official fears that such stores are like to be regarded as “contentious” because of the “sensitivity of military waste being ‘dumped’ on other communities”.

Sure enough, MPs and MSPs representing the targeted areas have already warned that they will fight any plans for turning their regions into nuclear waste dumps. And the MoD has been accused of “secrecy and spin”.

MoD nuclear submarine disposal group hit by resignation

Exclusive, 11 October 2009

A Ministry of Defence (MoD) programme aimed at getting rid of the radioactive hulks of defunct nuclear submarines stored in Scotland is coming unstuck after the resignation of a veteran adviser.

Peter Lanyon, who has represented environmental and peace groups on government advisory groups for seven years, has quit because he says the MoD’s submarine disposal project “lacks integrity”. 

His resignation follows an MoD decision reported last month to sack two public consultation experts from its advisory group. Dr Jane Hunt and Dr Bill Thompson, originally from Lancaster University, have been replaced by a public relations company.

Exposed: 22 serious fires on nuclear submarines

from Sunday Herald, 27 September 2009

Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet suffers a serious fire once a year and small fires almost every month, according to new figures released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Nearly half of the 22 serious fires which have broken out since 1987 blazed on submarines which could have been carrying nuclear weapons. And at least seven have occurred when the boats were in Scottish ports.

Details of the fires, which have not been revealed before, have surprised critics, who say incidents were much more frequent than they realised. Deaths have already been caused, and a major blaze could trigger an environmental catastrophe, they say.

The Scottish Nationalist defence spokesperson at Westminster, Angus Robertson MP, described the fires as “very disturbing”. Their seriousness “cannot be brushed under the carpet”, he told the Sunday Herald.

“It paints an unsettling picture about the MoD’s safety record, and raises some very inconvenient questions for the prime minister as he plans to spend billions on a new generation of Trident submarines.” 

Plans for dismantling old nuclear subs in disarray after experts sacked

from The Observer, 13 September 2009

A ten-year programme by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to get rid of the radioactive hulks of 27 old submarines is threatening to implode after the sacking of two of its leading experts.

Deep disagreements over the best way to dismantle and store Britain’s ageing nuclear-powered submarines have split the programme’s official advisory group. The Observer understands that up to eight of the 25-member group are now contemplating resignation.

They are angry that the MoD has ignored extensive consultations showing widespread public opposition to its plans. Most people don’t want the MoD to order new submarines while it is still working out how to dispose of old ones, and are worried about the radiation risks from cutting up submarine reactors.

Since Britain launched its first nuclear submarine, HMS Dreadnought, in 1960, 15 of the boats have been taken out of service. Eight of them are now moored at the Devonport naval base in Plymouth, and seven at the Rosyth dockyard near Edinburgh.

But storage space at the dockyards is limited, and a further 12 nuclear submarines still in service are due to be retired before 2040 (see table below). They include the four Vanguard-class submarines which carry Trident nuclear weapons and are based at Faslane on the Clyde.

Faslane poses risk of “societal contamination”, says MoD

from Sunday Herald, 30 August 2009

A huge and virtually unknown crane poses the biggest risk of a nuclear disaster at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde, according to newly released safety assessments by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Plutonium from up to 48 nuclear warheads could escape and cause widespread contamination and cancers if there was an accident while a Trident submarine was in the shiplift, the reports say.

But the MoD has been accused by experts and anti-nuclear campaigners of playing down the real dangers. The amounts and risks of the radioactivity that could be released have been underestimated, they say.

The shiplift at Faslane is a unique facility with a chequered history. Opened in 1993, it uses nearly 100 winches to hoist 16,000-tonne Vanguard-class submarines into the air for maintenance while they remain loaded with up to 48 Trident nuclear warheads.

The shiplift had to be modified in 1997, and in 2003 a report by consultants suggested that accident risks had been underestimated. Regarded by some as Faslane’s most hazardous operation, there have been hints that it may end up being replaced by the kind of dry dock used elsewhere.

But for now, it is still in regular use, for example lifting up the damaged HMS Vanguard after its collision with a French nuclear submarine in the Atlantic in February. And its use remains highly controversial.

Wanted: violent war gamers for Britain’s nuclear warheads

from The Guardian, 30 July 2009

If you’re the kind of guy who gets his kicks from killing Koreans, atomising aliens and blowing up beautiful islands in pursuit of “total domination”, your country needs you.

If you like pretending to be ‘Psycho’, the aggressive, volatile and heavily armed star of a violent shoot-em-up computer game, you are clearly the right stuff for Britain’s weapons of mass destruction.

The government’s Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston in Berkshire is advertising for a “virtual reality specialist” to use “serious gaming” to help train nuclear weapons scientists. One of the qualifications required is experience of computer games with good graphics like Crysis, the job advert says.

Crysis, marketed by the California-based company Electronic Arts, is a “first person shooter” game in which players become part of an elite group of US soldiers on a mission to an island in the South China Sea. They rapidly become embroiled in a bloody battle with North Koreans, and then monsters from outer space.

Players have access to a daunting arsenal of deadly high-tech weapons, and wear a futuristic “nano suit” to make them more lethal. In the latest version, Crysis Warhead, they help Sergeant ‘Psycho’ Sykes, find “unique and all-new environments they can explore and blow up”, according to a blurb for the game.

Trident “up for grabs”

from New Scientist, 22 July 2009

The future of the Trident nuclear weapons programme now looks likely to be considered in crucial international disarmament talks next year. UK government officials have suggested that controversial plans to renew the joint UK/US submarine-launched missile system will be “up for grabs” at the five-yearly review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) scheduled for May 2010 in New York.

‘Silly’ secrecy over nuclear bomb convoys

Exclusive, 16 June 2009

They are the most dangerous weapons on earth. They trundle through your town in heavily-armed convoys and they sail up the Clyde in submarines, but the Ministry of Defence (MoD) won't admit that they are there - and it may not tell the emergency services.

A secret MoD manual released under freedom of information legislation reveals that it is official policy neither to confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear bombs even when it is “obvious”. And in some accidents police, fire and ambulance services may not be told unless they ask.

The revelation has provoked alarm amongst councillors for the safety of members of the public and emergency workers. It is “downright silly” of the MoD not to warn councils when nuclear convoys are on the move, they say.

Large convoys carry warheads for Trident missiles by road several times a year between the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Berkshire and the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Coulport on Loch Long, north west of Glasgow. Vanguard-class submarines operating out of Faslane on the Gareloch are armed with the warheads.

Ministry of Defence admits more radioactive leaks from nuclear submarines

from The Guardian, 18 May 2009

Radioactive waste has leaked from Britain's nuclear submarines nine times in the past 12 years, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted. Two of the leaks – including one at Devonport near Plymouth two months ago – had not been revealed until today.

Confirmation of the leaks raises new questions about the MoD's safety record, which has been coming under increasing scrutiny since HMS Vanguard, a British submarine armed with Trident nuclear missiles, collided with a nuclear-armed French submarine, Le Triomphant, under the Atlantic in February.

Last month, the Guardian reported a series of safety breaches at the Royal Navy's nuclear submarine base at Faslane near Glasgow. Documents released to Channel Four News under freedom of information legislation disclosed three leaks of radioactivity from nuclear submarines into the Firth of Clyde in 2004, 2007 and 2008.

A further four leaks have been previously reported: two at Devonport in 2005 and 2008 and two at sea in 1997 and 2000. Now the MoD has told the Guardian about another two inadvertent releases of radioactivity, both of which were hitherto unknown.

Public pay £100 million more to make Trident fit

from Sunday Herald, 10 May 2009

British taxpayers are having to fork out an extra £100 million this year to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system because of fears that the missile being designed in the US could be the wrong size.

The UK government is funding all of a contract for a US company to design a new missile compartment at a plant in Connecticut in an attempt to ensure that it will fit submarines designed in the UK.

The revelation raises new questions about the spiralling cost of replacing Trident, and has been strongly condemned by the Scottish National Party (SNP) and anti-nuclear campaigners.

The problem has arisen because the UK Trident replacement programme, which depends on the US to design and build the missiles, was five years ahead of the US programme. The Sunday Herald revealed in 2007 that this caused a major headache in ensuring that future US missiles would be compatible with UK submarines.

New evidence of lax safety at Clyde bomb base

28 April 2009

New evidence of poor safety standards at the nuclear bomb base at Faslane on the Clyde is revealed in an internal document from the government’s health and safety watchdog.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said it was “extremely disappointed” with the attitude of Faslane supervisors towards protecting their staff from potential accidents. Critics have compared the base’s safety bungles to those of the cartoon character, Homer Simpson.

The document, released to Channel Four News under freedom of information legislation, discloses a series of mishaps which have worried the HSE. In one incident a “spray leak” of radioactivity had caused “potential contamination”.

In another incident, ship’s staff were accused of “failing to control a designated area”. According to the HSE, these two events “seemed to point to a lack of understanding” of radiation safety rules.

There had been a “recent history of radiological incidents on boats”, the HSE said, and it was “concerned” about staff training and knowledge. Faslane’s radioactive waste disposal building was “in a poor state”.

Revealed: MoD guilty of repeated nuclear safety breaches

from The Guardian, 27 April 2009

by Rob Edwards and Severin Carrell

Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet has been hit by a series of serious safety breaches involving repeated leaks of radioactive waste from submarines, broken pipes and waste tanks at its home base on the Clyde, the Ministry of Defence has disclosed.

In a confidential report released under the Freedom of Information Act, the MoD has admitted that safety failings at the UK’s main nuclear submarine base at Faslane near Glasgow are a “recurring theme” and ingrained in the base’s culture.

The worst breaches include three leaks of radioactive coolant from nuclear submarines in 2004, 2007 and 2008 into the Firth of Clyde, while last year a radioactive waste plant manager was replaced. It emerged he had no qualifications in radioactive waste management.

The repeated safety breaches, which have been revealed in documents released to Channel 4 News, (see video) are so serious that the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) has warned that it would consider closing the base down if it had the legal powers to do so.

The MoD is legally exempt from the civil radioactive safety regulations policed by Sepa but promised the agency a number of times it would voluntarily uphold those laws at the base – promises that Sepa has now accused the MoD of repeatedly breaking.

Failure after failure at home of Trident fleet

from The Guardian, 27 April 2009

by Rob Edwards and Severin Carrell

They are devastating admissions about one of Britain’s most significant nuclear sites, the sprawling and heavily-defended base for the UK’s nuclear deterrent at Faslane, a facility which dominates the coastline on a quiet sea loch north-west of Glasgow.

Detailed within 400 pages of closely-typed internal reports, emails and letters released under the Freedom of Information, are startling admissions of a culture of incompetence, repeated safety breaches and basic failures of management at the base.

Faslane has been home to the UK’s nuclear missile fleet since Polaris came into service in the mid-60s, and is now the base for the four Trident missile submarines that replaced it. The facility, known formally as HM Naval Base Clyde, is also the base for one remaining nuclear-powered Swiftsure hunter killer, and four Astute class submarines coming into service from next year.

Revealed: a web of police bids to infiltrate protest groups

from Sunday Herald, 26 April 2009

A long-running and intricate web of covert police attempts to spy on peaceful activists and infiltrate legitimate protest movements in Scotland has been uncovered by the Sunday Herald.

Citizens protesting against nuclear bases on the Clyde have been offered cash for intelligence by Ministry of Defence (MoD) police, it has been claimed, while environmental activists report similar offers from Strathclyde Police.

They all back up the revelation made yesterday that Strathclyde police offered to pay Tilly Gifford, an anti-airport protester with Plane Stupid, for inside information. She recorded two police officers making the offer.

The veteran anti-nuclear activist, Jane Tallents from Helensburgh, spoke about how she and five others arrested for blockading the Coulport nuclear armaments depot on Loch Long were offered money. They were all invited one by one for “cosy chats” with two female MoD police officers, she said.

Police tactics backfire, say protesters

for Sunday Herald, 26 April 2009

One of the aims of police informers is to undermine, demoralise and divide protest groups, but in fact they can have the opposite effect.

At least that’s what campaigners said yesterday as details of attempts by Strathclyde and Minister of Defence police to offer cash for intelligence emerged.

“They want us to break up and disband but exactly the opposite is happening,” said Dan Glass, from the anti-airport group, Plane Stupid. “We’ve had lots of people getting in touch and offering us their support.”

Scrap Trident, says General

from Sunday Herald, 26 April 2009

He’s not one of the usual suspects, and he didn’t mince his words. “Trident is no bloody use,” he said. “Let’s not waste money on it”.

General Sir Hugh Beach, the former deputy Commander-in-Chief of UK Land Forces, was in Glasgow yesterday to talk about Britain’s nuclear bombs. The submarines based on the Clyde and armed with Trident nuclear warheads should not be replaced but immediately scrapped, he argued.

His dramatic call echoes those of a series of former military top-brass demanding government action on nuclear disarmament. And it comes against a background of international moves to cut nuclear weapons stockpiles, initiated by US President, Barack Obama.