[BITList] Old Nuclear Subs

[Michael Feltham]

Navy's old nuclear submarines 'will not be finally disposed of until after 2040'

HMS Dreadnought, the Navy's first nuclear powered submarine, is still waiting to be dismantled, 36 years after it retired.






by: Ben Farmer

A lack of money, expertise and disposal sites mean derelict British nuclear submarines containing radioactive material will not be fully dismantled and disposed of for 25 years, officials have admitted.



The Royal Navy has 19 old nuclear-powered submarines stored in ports waiting to be dismantled, with another eight due to retire and join them in the coming years., the Navy’s first nuclear- powered submarine, has been waiting to be dismantled since it retired 36 years ago. We have a dearth of nuclear engineers, and to a certain extent civil engineers, right across the country Ministry of Defence officials told MPs that radioactive parts on board could not be finally disposed of until an underground dump for all of the UK’s nuclear waste has been chosen and built. That site is not due to be ready until 2040. The submarines are currently stored at Devonport, near Plymouth, and at Rosyth, on the Firth of Forth. Stephen Lovegrove, permanent secretary at the MoD, told the Commons defence committee that a lack of money and skills meant it was impossible to speed up the process.Fallon cuts steel on first of new Trident submarineHe said: “There are two big factors. One of them is money. We have to operate within the budgets that we have with this."He said there was also the issue of “whether or not there’s enough capacity in the engineering and technical base to be able to go faster. We have a dearth of nuclear engineers, and to a certain extent civil engineers, right across the country.”The MoD said contaminated material would be held temporarily at a storage facility in Capenhurst in Cheshire until the underground site was ready, but said dismantling of the first submarine was still not scheduled to begin for at least five years.A spokeswoman said the MoD was a "responsible nuclear operator" and had a "safe, secure and environmentally sound programme to dismantle submarines when they come to the end of their life". source : The Telegraph




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