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.”
Fires are particularly feared by submariners because there are few places to escape from the flames and smoke. There are a whole raft of precautions in place to try and make sure that they don’t happen.
But electrical faults, mechanical failures, deep-fat friers and human error have often combined to spark a blaze. MoD figures show that there have been a total of 235 fires on nuclear submarines since 1987.
The majority - 213 - were classified as “small-scale”, meaning that they were localised and extinguished using “minimal onboard resources”. But the remaining 22 fires were more serious.
Three fires were “large-scale”, including one aboard a Polaris submarine on the Clyde in 1992, and needed help from land-based fire crews to be put out. A further 19 were defined by the MoD as “medium-scale” because they required the deployment of “significant onboard resources”.
The most recent “medium-scale” fire, which broke out aboard HMS Tireless on 20 March 2007 when it was on patrol under Arctic ice, killed two sailors. The cause - an explosion in an oxygen generator - was blamed on a series of “systematic failings” by the MoD’s own board of inquiry.
Only a few details are available for other serious fires, but they show that nine occurred on submarines capable of carrying either Polaris or Trident nuclear missiles. Five took place at the Faslane or Coulport naval bases on the Firth of Clyde and two at the Rosyth naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth.
Six fires broke out when submarines were are sea, and the locations of others are unknown (see table below). A total of 25 submarines have been deployed for periods since 1987, though most have now been taken out of service.
“Fire is a deadly occurrence on a submarine because you’ve got nowhere to go,” said the independent nuclear consultant, John Large.
“Even small fires can be calamitous,” he added. “And, though it’s not very likely, a fire involving the solid fuel propellent of Trident missiles would be absolutely disastrous.”
John Ainslie, the co-ordinator of the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, argued that fires were happening far too often. “A few flames can turn a submarine into a smoke-filled tin can, and extinguishing the blaze is no easy task for the crew,” he said.
“But if they fail, it is not only their own lives that are at risk. A major inferno could engulf the Trident missiles or the nuclear reactor with disastrous consequences.”
According to Ainslie, the potential scale of the problem had been revealed by documents released by the MoD under freedom of information law. Official estimates suggested that a three-hour fire in a submarine missile compartment could trigger an accidental detonation, known as a “cook-off”.
The Ministry of Defence, however, defended its safety record as one of the best in the world. “The Royal Navy would not put a submarine to sea unless it was safe to do so,” said an MoD spokeswoman.
She stressed that nuclear safety had the highest priority and was ensured through a wide range of measures that took account of potential scenarios like fire. “A comprehensive reporting system is in place to record all incidents, and any lessons learnt from these incidents will be implemented by the Royal Navy,” she added.
“The safety record of British nuclear powered submarines is excellent and there has never been a nuclear accident in the 40 years since they have been in service. As a result of the measures we have put in place the likelihood of such an accident is extremely remote.”
Serious fires on nuclear submarines
date / submarine / location
“Large-scale” fires
17 February 1992 / HMS Renown / Clyde
30 April 1992 / HMS Turbulent / Devonport
24 October 2003 / HMS Trafalgar / Devonport
“Medium-scale” fires
29 July 1987 / HMS Sceptre / not known
26 August 1987 / HMS Conqueror / in port
15 November 1987 / HMS Renown / not known
10 October 1988 / HMS Renown / Clyde
5 August 1989 / HMS Valiant / Clyde
22 December 1989 / HMS Valiant / in port
21 November 1991 / HMS Trenchant / at sea
3 November 1992 / HMS Superb / at sea
11 January 1993 / HMS Tireless / at sea
29 July 1993 / HMS Revenge / at sea
22 October 1993 / HMS Tireless / in port
7 April 1994 / HMS Sovereign / Rosyth
22 August 1995 / HMS Sovereign / Rosyth
16 October 1995 / HMS Victorious / in port
18 January 1999 / HMS Talent / Devonport
17 June 2001 / HMS Sovereign / Clyde
22 April 2002 / HMS Victorious / at sea
11 October 2006 / HMS Vigilant / Clyde
20 March 2007 / HMS Tireless / at sea
In addition there have been 213 “small-scale” fires on nuclear submarines since 1987.
Source: Hansard (here and here)
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