Published: Thursday, 5th March, 2009 11:00am

MP calls for decision on Rosyth's nuclear subs

Comments (0) | Print | Email

THE Government"s lack of decision-making over the fate of redundant nuclear subs laid up at Rosyth Dockyard has been slammed as 'pathetic' by MP Willie Rennie.

The long-running saga over a storage site for the nuclear waste from the radioactive vessels shows no sign of being resolved, almost 26 years since the first one arrived.

Many dates for a decision have come and gone and the latest being offered by the Government"s defence minister Quentin Davies over the dismantling and storage issue is next year.

Last year, the Press revealed that a hole had been discovered in the hull of one of the seven decommissioned submarines laid up at Rosyth, HMS Revenge.

The discovery of the hole, the size of a fist, during a routine inspection led to the sub being taken into dry dock for a full inspection.

When Mr Rennie later visited the site, it emerged that there had been three holes, not one, found in the hull.

He said, 'There was a flurry of activity after the HMS Revenge holes incident but things have quietened back down to normal again with the Government continues to dither over what to do.

'Safety is the most important issue when it comes to anything nuclear but the Government"s insistence on dragging their feet over a storage solution for waste is absolutely pathetic.

'Before the Government starts spending hundreds of millions on installing new nuclear reactors for submarines, surely they should have first worked out where they are going to store the nuclear waste they already have.

'HMS Dreadnought has been resting in Rosyth Dockyard for 25 years but that still hasn"t convinced the MoD to make the removal and storage of its nuclear waste a priority.

'Quentin Davies" pledge for a storage solution by 2010 is just another line in a long story of broken promises.

'Quite frankly, I don"t consider it to be worth the paper it was written on.

"The residents of Rosyth have seen too many of these false dawns.'

He continued, 'Instead of making these empty promises, the MoD should get on with the job of finding a location to store waste and finally put this situation to bed.'

It is now approaching 26 years since the first redundant sub arrived at Rosyth and Mr Rennie believes their deteriorating condition could mean they eventually cannot safely be moved.

'They always tell us that"s not the case but the fact that these holes were found on HMS Revenge is evidence of what"s happening,' said the MP.

When the Press spoke to leading nuclear consultant John Large last April after the Revenge discovery, he commented, 'This is a significant incident as it will force the MoD to finally make a decision after years of humming and hawing.'

He predicted that the deteriorating condition of the vessels would lead to Rosyth becoming a 'nuclear graveyard'.

The Government commissioned academics from Lancaster University to carry out the ISOLUS exercise on the storage of radioactive waste until a permanent repository is found.

The lengthy consultation saw evidence being taken around the country but at the end of it, an eventual outcome was no clearer.