The state of decommissioned nuclear submarines in the UK has recently sparked a debate in the House of Lords (upper house of Parliament) and questions in the House of Commons (lower house).
Labour Defence Minister Lord Coaker told the House of Lords that seven decommissioned and defueled subs currently are awaiting further disposal in Rosyth Royal Dockyard in Scotland. A further 15 decommissioned subs are at Devonport in Plymouth, only four of which have been defueled. He added that disposal of Swiftsure, which left service in 1992, was now being used as “a demonstrator to refine the dismantling process under the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD’s) submarine dismantling project”. Learning from Swiftsure will provide “more certainty” about the schedule for dismantling the remaining decommissioned Royal Navy submarines. The full dismantling of is due to be complete in 2026.
He added that, once a decommissioned submarine such as Swiftsure is defueled, there is an initial phase that takes the nuclear material out. “Then there is an intermediate phase, which is followed by dry-docking — which is where Swiftsure is — for the rest of the submarine to be recycled. We expect 90% of that to be recycled.”
Baroness Bryan said there remains real concern that not one of these submarines has yet been dismantled. “Bearing in mind that one Dreadnought submarine in Rosyth has been out of service since 1980, it will take decades to dismantle the boats remaining in both Scotland and Devonport.” She asked whether there has been any progress in finding a site for the radioactive waste disposal facility which will be essential to progressing this work. Lord Coaker replied that there was “progress and ongoing discussions” but said “we need to speed up the process and we are certainly looking at every way in which we can do that”.
Similar information was provided in a written answer to a question posed to the MOD in the House of Commons by Graeme Downie. Luke Pollard, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) said: “Swiftsure, the first submarine to be fully disposed of, is being used as a demonstrator to refine the dismantling and recycling processes under the Ministry of Defence’s Submarine Dismantling Project. There will be a continual process of learning as Swiftsure dismantling progresses. This will inform a baseline approach and schedule for all current decommissioned Royal Navy submarines. Swiftsure dismantling is on track and due to complete in 2026, achieving the commitment given to the Public Accounts Committee in 2019. Over 90% of the submarine will be recycled. We are currently working with Babcock in Rosyth to plan for the next two boats in sequence, with a view to being on contract next year.”
An update on the submarine dismantling project (SDP) posted in 2021 and revised recently noted that the MOD’s SDP is delivered by the Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA) on behalf of the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE). “The SDP was approved in 2013 with the objective of delivering a dismantling and disposal solution for 27 decommissioned nuclear submarines…. While awaiting dismantling, the 22 submarines that have already left service are stored safely and securely: seven at Rosyth Dockyard in Fife, Scotland and 15 at Devonport Royal Dockyard, Plymouth. The submarines undergo regular essential maintenance to comply with the required safety, environmental and security standards.”
Decommissioned submarines that are being stored and are waiting to be defueled and dismantled “pose no safety risk to workers or members of the public”. They undergo “a regular programme of survey and maintenance, including in-water inspections to preserve and test the systems and ensure the integrity of their hull”.
The SDP update said MOD adopts a three-stage approach to dismantling. This allows the less radioactive parts of a submarine’s nuclear reactor, containing only Low Level Radioactive Waste (LLW) to be removed first. This is followed by the second stage which is the removal of the Reactor Pressure Vessel – “the component that remains radioactive for the longest period”. The process also involves “ensuring the submarine has been completely cleared of all radioactivity and radioactive material associated with its nuclear operational life before it is released for the final stage, which is undergoing recycling”.
The bulk of accessible LLW has been safely removed from the following decommissioned submarines: Swiftsure Resolution Revenge and Repulse. “With each submarine that is processed, more waste has been managed to final disposal, at a faster rate and at lower cost as techniques have been refined and optimised. For example, on Resolution, 50% greater tonnage of waste was removed in three quarters of the time that Swiftsure had taken. This work has to date been successfully completed safely, on time, within budget and minimising any environmental impact.
The 2019 Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report referred to in the parliamentary answers noted that the UK retired its 20 legacy submarines in 1980 and MOD’s progress in disposing of these submarines “has been a serious disappointment”. The project has moved at a “glacial pace” and “the 15-year delay has led to extortionate storage and maintenance costs”. MOD “is also looking increasingly likely to find itself without any further storage space by the mid-2020s” and “is rapidly approaching crisis point and simply cannot afford any further delays”.
While it has taken MOD 16 years to devise a workable dismantling strategy “progress is now being made and there is finally some momentum behind the project”. However, while there is now an agreed policy, “we remain sceptical that the ambitious timetable will be met, particularly given how many times this project has been delayed or deprioritised over the years”. It is clear that the commitment to dismantle Swiftsure by 2023 “will not be met and will likely be completed three years after the target date”.
The projects needed to allow disposal to happen “have been beset by delays, with an 11-year delay to defueling and a 15-year delay to dismantling”. Delays have resulted from MOD “having to clarify policy through public consultations, but also through poor contractor performance and affordability constraints”.
To avoid space constraints for both storing and maintaining submarines, MOD “must re-start submarine defueling, suspended since 2004, in 2024. It needs to agree a timetable and cost for completing this work with the contractor, Babcock International Group … alongside securing nuclear-regulatory approval to restart defueling”.
PAC said it “remained unconvinced that funds will be available for disposal-related projects, or that the Department has done everything it can to secure potential funds”. MOD “cannot yet provide certainty that funding will be available for either defueling, where costs remain unclear, or for dismantling, where some technical processes need to be finalised”.
MOD’s ability to achieve value for money “depends on managing complex commercial risks and relationships” It has “a significant and unique relationship with Babcock, which is the nuclear-licensed site owner as well as the only supplier able to conduct defueling and dismantling”. It recognises “the need to collaborate with Babcock, while maintaining contractors at arm’s length”. To progress submarine disposal, MOD “needs to complete challenging commercial negotiations” and “to re-start the procurement of its intermediate-level nuclear waste transport approach where it misjudged the market’s risk appetite, leading to a two-year delay”.
Similar criticisms were made in 2019 report by the National Accounts Office (NAO), which noted that MOD “now stores twice as many submarines as it operates, with seven having been in storage for longer than they were in service”. It “first aimed to have a disposal process that would operate by 2011 but now estimates to roll-out its dismantling approach by 2026”.
Since 2004, MOD “has not defueled any submarines and does not have a fully funded plan to re-start the work”. In 2004, the Office for Nuclear Regulation “found facilities in Devonport did not meet the latest regulatory standards and the Department stopped defueling submarines”. NAO noted that Devonport is expected to run out of space for retired submarines in the mid-2020s. “Space constraints have meant the Department does not have a dock to prepare its most recently retired submarine for long-term storage and is developing other ways of doing this. Until submarines are placed in storage, they need to be kept partially crewed.”
Looking further ahead, MOD “does not have a fully-developed plan to dispose of Vanguard and Astute submarines, which are currently in service, or its future Dreadnought-class submarines, which have different types of nuclear reactor”. Within the civil nuclear sector, organisations are required to consider nuclear waste disposal during the design stage of power stations and nuclear infrastructure. MOD “does not have a similar obligation”.
Naval Technology reported in February that a new military naval reactor dismantling facility, situated inside the Devonport naval base was set to begin operations this year. It is located at 14 Dock, part of Babcock’s own Royal Dockyard, a private industrial enclave inside. Babcock expects one decommissioned nuclear submarine to be dismantled each year, “although once nuclear contaminated material had been removed at the 14 Dock facility, the remaining hull or casing of the submarine could be scrapped outside of the Royal Dockyard,” according to Naval Technology.
Earlier in October, Naval Technology reported that ongoing work to dismantle Swiftsure was “on track” to complete in 2026 with plans underway to determine the next two vessels to be sent for recycling ahead of a possible contract award in 2025.
The UK currently has five of the latest Astute-class nuclear subs in service or commissioned (Astute, Ambush, Artful, Audacious, and Anson), along with one remaining Trafalgar-class vessel, HMS Triumph. A sixth Astute class, HMS Agamemnon, was recently launched at the BAE Systems submarine yard in Barrow-in-Furness, while a seventh, HMS Agincourt, is still under construction.
In addition, the UK NAvy operates four Vanguard-class vessels (Vanguard, Victorious, Vigilant, Vengeance), which will be replaced by the incoming Dreadnought-class submarines, the first of which is under construction. It is thought likely that HMS Valiant, lead boat of the Valiant-class submarines, will be one of the two boats placed on contract for recycling in 2025.
