A weapons storage base allowed irradiated water circulation right into a Scottish loch a number of occasions, a watchdog has revealed
The British Navy leaked radioactive water from nuclear warheads in storage right into a Scottish loch on a number of events, an investigation has discovered.
Radioactive water from the UK’s Coulport weapons depot leaked into Loch Lengthy in western Scotland on a number of events after ageing pipes burst, based on recordsdata from the Scottish Surroundings Safety Company (SEPA) revealed by The Ferret, investigative journalism platform.
The Royal Naval Armaments Depot shops the nuclear warheads for the British Royal Navy’s Trident-class submarines. SEPA mentioned as much as half of its 1,500 water pipes had been previous their design life when the leaks occurred. It blamed “shortfalls in upkeep” for flooding that launched low ranges of tritium, a radioactive substance utilized in warheads, into the loch, which is widespread with swimmers, divers, kayakers and fishers.
Small quantities of tritium are usually innocent, however excessive or extended publicity can elevate most cancers dangers.
The recordsdata reveal that pipes burst in 2010 and twice in 2019. In August 2019, a warhead processing space was flooded; contaminated water then flowed via an open drain into the loch. SEPA mentioned the tritium ranges had been very low and posed no risk to public well being.
The UK Ministry of Protection agreed in 2020 to take steps to forestall extra bursts. However SEPA later discovered that progress on these measures was sluggish and issues with asset administration continued. There have been two additional pipe bursts in 2021, together with one in one other space that additionally held radioactive substances, prompting one other SEPA inspection in 2022.
The paperwork had been launched after a six-year battle below Scotland’s freedom of knowledge legal guidelines, the newspaper wrote. Scottish Data Commissioner David Hamilton dominated in June that the majority recordsdata have to be made public, rejecting the navy’s claims that secrecy was wanted to make sure nationwide safety. He mentioned the principle threat was to “reputations,” not security. Whereas SEPA mentioned radioactivity ranges in these incidents had been very low and didn’t endanger human well being, it discovered there have been “shortfalls in upkeep and asset administration that led to the failure of the coupling that not directly led to the manufacturing of pointless radioactive waste.”
In Could, The Ferret reported that there had been 12 nuclear incidents at Faslane Royal Navy submarine base since 2023 that might have launched radioactive substances.
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