THE Ministry of Defence has been condemned for a “dismal” failure to dispose of obsolete nuclear-powered submarines.
The MoD has twice as many submarines in storage as it does in service and has not disposed of any of the 20 boats decommissioned since 1980, the National Audit Office (NAO) said.
Nine of the vessels still contain irradiated fuel.
Decommissioned vessels are being stored at Rosyth in Scotland and Devonport in England while arrangements are made to safely dispose of them and the radioactive waste they contain.
Seven of the submarines have been in storage longer than they were in service with the Royal Navy.
The estimated cost of disposing of a submarine is £96 million, the NAO said.
The MoD has put its total future liability for maintaining and disposing of the 20 stored and 10 in-service nuclear-powered boats at £7.5 billion over the next 120 years, underlining the long-term nature of nuclear waste.
No submarines have been defuelled since 2004, when regulators said facilities did not meet required standards, with the process not due to start again until 2023.
The project has been delayed for 11 years with a £100m cost increase to £275m, a £12m annual bill for maintaining and storing the nine fuelled submarines.
The NAO said the MoD does not have a fully developed plan to dispose of the operational Vanguard and Astute submarines or its future Dreadnought-class boats, which have different types of nuclear reactor.
Dunfermline and West Fife’s SNP MP Douglas Chapman said: “Working on a cross-party basis along with the MP for Devonport, Luke Pollard, I have urged the Government to deliver a properly funded programme to recycle these submarines which saves the taxpayer money and moves these old submarines out of Rosyth forever.
“Last year we wrote a joint letter to the Prime Minister asking her to expand the civil nuclear clean-up budget to cover submarines. Not only would this deal with a longstanding problem, it would have the added bonus of creating jobs in West Fife.
"Submarine recycling should be seen as a new economic opportunity to spread our expertise and intellectual property around the globe – we must grab it with both hands.
“However, as this damning NAO report points out, it is unacceptable that consecutive British governments have for years ignored this issue and instead burdened the communities of Rosyth and Devonport with these ageing subs on their doorsteps.
"Nor should the taxpayer be faced with an ever-increasing massive bill just to keep them sitting idly in our dockyards.
“There are twice as many old submarines lying in Rosyth and Devonport than there are operational subs currently in service and we have submarines which have spent more time laid up in storage than their total time at sea.
"With further submarines approaching the end of their service life, this problem is not going to go away – it is only going to get worse and we need the Westminster government to act… and act now.
“As a member of the influential Public Accounts Committee, I am looking forward to questioning the MoD on this NAO report later in the year. By that time I hope the Westminster government has broken its intransigence, faced up to its responsibilities and started to deal with the UK’s nuclear legacy once and for all.”
An MoD spokesman said: “The disposal of nuclear submarines is a complex and challenging undertaking.
“We remain committed to the safe, secure and cost-effective de-fuelling and dismantling of all decommissioned nuclear submarines as soon as practically possible.”
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