Safety threat fears at Faslane

Oct 3 2008 by Tina Kemp, Lennox Herald (main ed)

A RECORD number of nuclear safety errors at Faslane base has triggered calls for it to be shut down.

A Ministry of Defence report has revealed a total of 100 lapses at the base in one year – a 40 per cent rise on the previous 12 months.

The figure is also a startling THREE times higher than the number of incidents recorded in 2000/2001.

It includes incidents of submarine reactors being shut down, radioactive spillages and contamination of workers.

This week, SNP MSP Bill Kidd demanded the base be removed and plans to replace the ageing Trident weapons system abandoned.

He said: "For there to be one safety incident would be bad enough, 100 is an absolute disgrace.”

But the MoD insisted the blunders posed no threat to the public or staff and that its safety record is improving.

The “nuclear safety events”, as they are referred to by the MoD, took place between June 2006 and May 2007 and included dropping a reactor control rod, breaching reactor containment and 32 power failures.

A fifth of the incidents involved Vanguard submarines, which have the capacity to carry up to 48 nuclear warheads.

Two of the most serious incidents occurred on Trident submarines in September and December 2006, when radioactive cooling water spilled from a faulty hose pipe. In one a worker’s shoe was contaminated and the other was described as having had "high potential for actual radioactive release to the environment".

In March last year two workers suffered skin contamination and had to undergo a decontamination washing procedure when radioactive fluid leaked from a submarine reactor.

Almost half of the incidents were attributed to operator error, while others were blamed on equipment failure.

The MoD admits in the report that workers may have been under pressure stating: “Management should be aware of the increased potential for errors through excessive work and take action, where possible, to guard against operator fatigue.”

Mr Kidd said: “The MoD’s safety record at Faslane is deteriorating fast, with staff clearly overworked and under-resourced.

“With 20 cases of actual or potential release of radioactive material within buildings or submarines at the bases and at least one actual release of radioactive material this report exposes the real danger of maintaining nuclear weapons in Scotland, furthers the case for their removal and for the abandonment of plans to bring a new generation of nuclear submarines to our shores.

"At an estimated cost of £75 billion to the UK taxpayers, bringing new nuclear submarines to the Clyde is an expensive risk that is not worth taking."

A base spokesman said: "Safety at HMNB Clyde is of paramount importance. The increase is explained by the introduction of a new and more thorough reporting system, underlining that the checks system in place is carried out to the highest possible standard.

"None of the incidents represented any threat to the health of any member of staff on the base or to any member of the public."