A proposal to put the dismantling of redundant nuclear submarines to the test at Rosyth in Fife is the “right decision”, the local MP Thomas Docherty has said.
Defence Minister Philip Dunne has announced that redundant nuclear submarine dismantling would be trialled in Rosyth. If the process works, the remainder of the UK’s retired nuclear fleet will be cut up in both Plymouth and Rosyth.
But he announced a further consultation on where intermediate-level nuclear waste would be stored, widening the choice to include commercial and other defence sites.
The consultation will start next year, and the Rosyth pilot will not go ahead until a storage site has been identified.
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“The MoD now say that if the pilot is successful the remaining subs will be dismanted at both Rosyth and Devonport but I take that with a pinch of salt. From previous MoD discussions it seems the pressure vessels are too “hot” to go straight to long term storage and would need to cool for 20 years above ground.
“But depressingly the subs will stay exactly as they are until a suitable Intermediate Level Waste site is selected.”
MoD programme manager John Davis said: “Decisions have now been taken, subject to regulatory and other statutory approvals, on where the initial phases of submarine dismantling will take place…
“No radioactive waste will be removed from the submarines, however, without a disposal or storage solution being agreed.”
Read more at Decision to test the dismantling of nuclear submarines in Rosyth ‘right’
