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”.
Since Britain launched its first nuclear-powered submarine, HMS Dreadnought, in 1963 15 of the boats have been taken out of service and defuelled. Seven of them are now moored at the Rosyth dockyard, with the remaining eight at the Devonport naval base in Plymouth.
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). Each submarine contains a reactor compartment, which is about the size of two double-decker buses and is contaminated with radioactivity.
Since 1998 the MoD has been trying to find ways of breaking up the submarines and storing their radioactive waste for decades prior to disposal in a deep underground repository. But the MoD’s submarine dismantling project has run into a series of problems, with its expert advisory group recently hit by two sackings and a resignation.
Now the MoD has drawn up a “provisional list of sites” for dismantling and then storing the waste, but it refuses to identify them. The two sites it has earmarked for dismantling are assumed to be Rosyth and Devonport.
The locations of the additional 12 sites it is examining as possible storage sites have been disclosed by leaked documents and other evidence uncovered by the Sunday Herald. A report from the NDA, dated 10 September and marked “restricted”, concludes that seven sites where civil nuclear facilities are being decommissioned, are “technically credible”, including Dounreay and Hunterston A.
In England the report says that the waste could be stored at Sellafield in Cumbria, Harwell in Oxfordshire, Bradwell in Essex, Berkeley in Gloucestershire or Winfrith in Dorset. The MoD has since told stakeholders that only five NDA sites are now on its shortlist, but it is unclear which two have been dropped.
In addition the MoD is looking at seven other military sites as potential waste stores. As well as Coulport, Faslane and Rosyth in Scotland, they include two locations at Devonport, as well as the Aldermaston and Burghfield nuclear weapons plants in Berkshire.
“Gaining planning consent for the storage of third party waste packages within an NDA waste store is likely to be regarded as contentious by local authorities and communities,” warns the leaked report. “Obtaining suitable planning consents cannot be guaranteed.”
Another leaked NDA document highlights a list of “potential stakeholder concerns” about the proposed waste stores. They include “import of waste from other areas”, “transport across national boundaries - England, Wales and Scotland” and “safety and security both during transport and storage”.
The MoD has written to the LibDem MPs for Fife and Argyll & Bute, Willie Rennie and Alan Reid, saying that one or more of the candidate storage sites were “within your locality”. But it did not say where.
“We don’t want to be left with this nuclear mess,” said Rennie. “It’s a blight on the area.” Reid promised to “vigorously oppose any future proposals to use sites in Argyll & Bute for breaking up nuclear submarines or dumping the nuclear waste.”
The Green MSP, Patrick Harvie, and the SNP Highland MSP, Rob Gibson, also attacked the MoD’s plans. “This is yet another toxic legacy from a generation of ill-considered policy decisions,” said Harvie.
The NDA stressed that it was under “no obligation” to accept any submarine waste for storage. “No sites have so far been identified by the MoD as a credible option for such storage,” insisted an NDA spokesman.
The MoD said that the 12 potential storage sites will be subject to a strategic environmental assessment and then put out for public consultation. “It would be inappropriate to release details of these sites at this time,” said an MoD spokesman.
According to Jane Tallents, who represents non-government organisations on the advisory group of the MoD’s submarine dismantling project, the MoD had been warned that keeping their shortlist secret would create speculation and alarm.
“Allowing information to get out in this haphazard fashion will only add to people’s suspicions that this is really all being decided behind closed doors,” she said.
“Politicians should help find a way to get the old submarines out of the water and join together to stop the waste pile getting any bigger by halting the current nuclear submarine programme immediately.”
Where are Britain’s nuclear submarines?
Moored at Rosyth dockyard near Edinburgh: Churchill, Dreadnought, Renown, Repulse, Resolution, Revenge, Swiftsure
Moored at Devonport naval base in Plymouth: Conqueror, Courageous, Sovereign, Spartan, Splendid, Superb, Valiant, Warspite
Still in service: Sceptre, Talent, Tireless, Torbay, Trafalgar, Trenchant, Triumph, Turbulent, Vanguard, Vengeance, Victorious, Vigilant
Source: Ministry of Defence
This story was followed up by the Daily Record and the Press and Journal.
Great piece Rob. Really impressive stuff.
Posted by: Jade Wright | 02 November 2009 at 12:05 AM