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Rennie steps up campaign against threat to turn Rosyth into "nuclear graveyard"
December 7, 2009 2:00 PM
West Fife MP Willie Rennie has promised to step up his campaign to stop Rosyth from becoming a "nuclear graveyard" after Defence Minister Quentin Davies refused to reveal the list of sites for dismantling and then storing the waste from Britain's fifteen nuclear submarines
A Parliamentary Question tabled by Mr Rennie's Liberal Democrat colleague Alan Reid, asked the Minister to announce the sites on the secret nuclear dumping list. In his written answer, Defence Minister Quentin Davies refused to reveal the sites, but wrote,
"There are currently four regions where there are MOD or defence-related commercial sites that are likely to be considered for Submarine Dismantling Project activities. These regions are Devon, Fife, Argyll and Bute and Berkshire."
Commenting Mr Rennie said:
"I am disappointed that the Government is still refusing to publish their shortlist. This secrecy will only lead to speculation about which places are on the list.
"I find it astonishing that Sellafield, in Cumbria, is not on the list. When a submarine is decommissioned, the uranium fuel elements are removed from the reactor compartment and are then transported for storage at Sellafield.
"Since Sellafield already has a nuclear waste dump, it seems an obvious candidate for the remaining nuclear waste from the submarines. Using an existing nuclear waste store would make far more sense that constructing a new nuclear waste dump elsewhere.
"The campaign against these submarines must be stepped up now. Rosyth lost the Trident refuelling contract. There's no way we're going to be left with the nuclear waste. Rosyth must not be allowed to become Labour's nuclear graveyard."
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