The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament responded with concern to the news that a ‘fist sized’ hole had been found in the hull of the former Polaris nuclear armed submarine, HMS Revenge, currently stored in a wet-dock at Rosyth dockyard.
Whilst the nuclear fuel has been removed, the 40 years old submarine is still strongly radioactive with the reactor compartment, twice the size of a double-decker bus, posing a serious hazard if exposed to the environment.
Kate Hudson, Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said, “Having given up on there being any long-term burial site for nuclear waste completed before the middle of the century, the MoD has been searching for an interim storage solution for ten years now. This problem is getting worse with more of these rusting hulks soon to be deposited just a few hundred meters from people’s homes. This sub has already developed a hole below the water-line – hopefully we don’t have to wait for a serious incident before a more secure resting place can be found for this deadly legacy.”
Commenting on the wider implications, she said, “This situation has come about due to the ‘act first, think later’ approach to nuclear technology by the Government. It is 28 years since the first of these subs was withdrawn from service and 52 years since the opening of Britain’s initial nuclear power station, yet we still have no long-term plan for coping with the growing waste mountain. Britain must turn away from nuclear reactors, either on shore or in submarines. There is no safe storage solution for nuclear waste and we should not be creating more of it.”
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Notes to Editors:
For further information and interviews please contact Ben Soffa, CND’s Press Officer, on 0207 7002350 or 07968 420859
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is one of Europe’s biggest single-issue peace campaigns, with over 35,000 members in the UK. CND campaigns for the abolition of all nuclear weapons everywhere.