Call for MOD to speed up nuclear sub work
● ‘Rosyth dockyard should not be a sanctuary for toxic submarines’ says MP
An SNP MP has called on the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to speed up the dismantling of decommissioned naval submarines which have been laid up in a Fife dockyard for more than 20 years.
Douglas Chapman, whose constituency includes the Port of Rosyth, welcomed a Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) report which found radioactivity doses in the area were well within safe limits, but added the town should not be a “sanctuary” for the vessels.
Rosyth dockyard is home to seven decommissioned submarines, the oldest of which, HMS Dreadnought, has been laid up since 1980.
Although all the vessels in Fife have been defuelled, they cannot be scrapped until their radioactive parts have been removed – a process that will take decades. The MOD announced in December last year it had finally began this gradual process, beginning with HMS Swiftsure, which has been laid up at Rosyth since 1992. The cost of storing and maintaining them was £1.6 million in 2013-14, down from £3.8m the year before.
A total of £16m was spent in a five-year period on 19 laidup submarines at Rosyth and Devonport on the south coast of England.
Mr Chapman said: “It’s encouraging that Sepa’s latest report shows radioactivity doses are well within limits. However, Rosyth should not be a sanctuary for toxic submarines and this is something I have raised in parliament as constituents are fed-up with the subs rotting in their own backyard.
“Yes, they are to be dismantled and removed, but the timescale is excruciatingly slow. I’m encouraging Sepa to progress its work with the MOD to manage the area effectively and help rid Rosyth of the subs so that the space in the dockyard basin can be used for more economically productive uses.”
An MOD spokesman said: “Work is well under way after we began initial dismantling last year in Rosyth as planned. Our priority is to ensure that submarine dismantling is undertaken in a safe, secure, cost-effective and environmentally sound manner.”
The MOD added that decommissioned submarines were subject to regular maintenance and checks by both the department and regulators, and posed “no additional risks to workers or members of the public”.
HMS Dreadnought was the UK’S first nuclear submarine when it was launched at Barrow-in-furness in 1960 and was and represented a great leap forward in the country’s defence capabilities at the height of the Cold War.
But since being decommissioned, it has now spent double the time tied up in Fife than it did on active service.
Dr Paul Dale of Sepa said its report demonstrated the public was protected against sources of radioactivity which could impact on our food and the wider natural environment.
He added: “The report represents a collaborative effort by all agencies to carry out rigorous annual monitoring, to ensure dose levels are well within international limits.”