Military chiefs are running out of space to store the UK's growing number of obsolete nuclear submarines, prompting fears that one of the country's busiest naval ports is set to be turned into a nuclear scrapyard.
Devonport is already home to eight ageing nuclear submarines – 27 more are due to be sent there. Photograph: Jim Wileman
Eight ageing nuclear-powered vessels are currently kept afloat at the Devonport dockyard in the middle of Plymouth, and 27 more are due to be sent there as they reach the end of their service life in the next few years.
The Ministry of Defence admits it will run out of storage space for the redundant nuclear subs by 2020 and has put forward plans to begin dismantling the radioactive hulks at the city centre site.
Campaigners say the work will be dangerous and turn the dockyard – and the city – into a "nuclear dumping ground" if the plans go ahead.
"This is a city of 250,000 people and it is totally inappropriate to carry out this dangerous and complicated work next to schools and houses," said local campaigner Tony Staunton.
The MoD has put forward two options for dismantling the submarines. One would see the nuclear reactors – the most toxic part of the submarine – cut up into small pieces and "packed into suitable containers". The second would see the reactors lifted out in one piece and stored in the existing reactor compartment to be cut up at a later date.
Rear admiral Simon Lister, director general of submarines, said Devonport was one of a number of locations being considered.
"Our primary aim for the project is to develop a safe method for dismantling submarines and we will not compromise the safety of either workers or the general public to do this."
A consultation process is underway and Lister said no decision would be made until that was complete.
"We fully appreciate that the views of the public must be considered in this process, which is why the MoD will consult widely on the location for the initial dismantling of submarines, and on the location for the storage of the resultant radioactive waste," he said.
As well as providing a base for obsolete nuclear submarines, Devonport refuels nuclear reactors on functioning vessels. Various nuclear accidents have occurred at the site over the past decade, including radioactive water escaping from the submarine's discharge system in March 2009. In November 2008 the dock suffered its worst nuclear spill since 1985 when 280 litres of radioactive liquid escaped into the River Tamar after a hose burst while contaminated water was being pumped from HMS Trafalgar.
The MoD insists none of the accidents have posed a risk to the environment or the local population and says the dismantling work would not increase the chances of a major nuclear incident.
However, campaigners say that the dock's safety record and its position in the middle of a large city means it is an inappropriate site to "cut up" highly radioactive nuclear waste. They say the work risks releasing dangerous "radioactive dust" into the atmosphere and local water supply.
Kate Hudson, chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said: "A city-centre location is no place to cut-up and store redundant nuclear submarines. The toxic legacy of these subs is a real problem, but dismantling them on a site literally a couple of hundred metres from homes and schools must not be allowed. The health risks posed by a project that could continue for 60 years or more are potentially enormous, with Devonport already having a troubled history of radioactive leaks."
However, Alison Seabeck, MP for Plymouth, said she hoped the city would be chosen to carry out the work.
"We have the expertise and the capability to carry out some of the work involved in the dismantling process [and] there are not many places in that position," she said.
Seabeck claimed thousands of jobs were tied up with the nuclear dockyard, adding that there may be some compensation for the city if the work was done at its docks.
"There has been a historical understanding between the dockyard and the city, a tolerance of the important work carried out there, however there is an expectation in the city that if we were to get the contract to dismantle these submarines that there should be some benefit to the city."
The MoD says no decision would be made about how to dismantle the submarine's or where the work will be carried out until the consultation process is complete.
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