from Sunday Herald, 09 March 2014
The nuclear submarine base at Faslane on the Clyde has failed to complete vital fire and explosion risk assessments, according to information released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Over 500 of the MoD’s potentially hazardous sites across the UK have to carry out safety assessments under the 2002 Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations.
The task was highlighted as one of the MoD top five “key pan-departmental safety issues” in a 2011 safety assurance report. But according to a spreadsheet made available in the House of Commons, the assessments have not yet been done at Faslane and a series of other Scottish military sites.
There are said to be 30 safety sensitive “assets” at Faslane, and though a stage one assessment has been completed, no stage two assessment had been done by 14 January. Stage two is required where leaks could potentially cause “an explosive atmosphere or fire”.
The information was released to the SNP’s Westminster leader and defence spokesman, Angus Robertson MP, in response to a parliamentary question. “This latest revelation that facilities at Faslane have not been properly assessed for risk of explosions and fires is nothing short of shocking,” he said.
“The MoD identified the need to do these assessments as a top safety priority in 2011. Now, three years later, we are still waiting. You don’t need to be an expert to figure out why fires and explosions are bad things at nuclear facilities.”
This week Faslane is facing its first industrial action in more than four decades over a “derisory” two per cent pay offer. The Unite trade union says that workers will stage a two-hour stoppage on Tuesday (11 March), followed by a work-to-rule, overtime ban and further stoppages.
Unite national officer Ian Waddell said: “A prolonged period of industrial action will severely disrupt day-to-day operations at the Faslane and Coulport bases, but the workers will strive to ensure the safety of the workforce, the naval base and the local communities will not be compromised.
Other military sites disclosed as not having completed fire and explosion risk assessments are the RAF bases at Leuchars and Lossiemouth, and the munitions depots at Beith in Ayrshire and Crombie in Fife.
A spokesman for the MoD said: “Work is ongoing across a number of MoD sites to complete these assessments.”
The spreadsheet released by the Ministry of Defence can be downloaded here (46KB xls).
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