ROBERTSON: MOD CANNOT BE ABOVE THE LAW.

ROBERTSON: MOD CANNOT BE ABOVE THE LAW.

ANGER AT REPEATED NUCLEAR SAFETY BREACHES

SNP Westminster Leader and Defence spokesperson, Angus Robertson MP, has described a disclosure by the Ministry of Defence under the Freedom of Information Act as “utterly damning” after it revealed a series of serious safety breaches involving repeated leaks of radioactive waste, broken pipes and waste tanks at its home base on the Clyde, the Ministry of Defence has disclosed.

The worst breaches include three leaks of radioactive coolant from nuclear submarines in 2004, 2007 and 2008 into the Firth of Clyde, while last year a radioactive waste plant manager was replaced. It emerged he had no qualifications in radioactive waste management.

Military sites are exempt from the law governing nuclear sites however, and SEPA indicated they would move to close the base if they had the power.

Mr Robertson said:

“This utterly damning disclosure reveals repeated and serious nuclear safety breaches, and the MoD cannot be above the law.

“We are not talking about a one off incident but a whole catalogue of serious and frankly shocking failures.

“SEPAs indication that it would consider closing the base, if it had the power to do so, underlines just how grave this situation is.
“It is not good enough to say the MoD is exempt from radioactive safety regulations, and Ministers must be held to account. We need an immediate and top level investigation into this scandal.

“In recent months we have heard of nuclear near collisions, fires on submarines and an ongoing procurement fiasco. Over the weekend even General Sir Hugh Beach confirmed that the Trident missile system is no use and that no more money should be wasted on it.
“It is increasingly obvious that these weapons of mass destruction are more of a danger to the people and environment they are claimed to protect than any enemy.

“There is a clear choice between the SNP Government’s proposals to save £25 billion by scrapping Labour plans to replace the Trident nuclear missile system with its estimated £100 billion lifetime costs and the UK Government’s to savagely cut spending on health and education.

"Civil society, trade unions, religious organisations and the Scottish Government are working together to keep a new generation of trident missiles out of Scotland's shores and the voice of the former defence chiefs only adds to that argument."

“Let there also be no mistake that Faslane has a great future ahead as a conventional base, without the radioactive risk of nuclear weapons.

“Now, more than ever, the time is right to remove nuclear weapons from our waters."