The Ministry of Defence has revealed that there were 789 safety events at the facilities in Scotland which house Trident, the UK’s nuclear weapons system.
The submarines are based at Faslane on the Clyde when not at sea, while the nuclear warheads are stored at nearby Coulport.
The incidents were revealed by Defence Minister Stuart Andrew to Scottish National Party MP Deidre Brock. Some of the events were classed as Category ‘A’ meaning as “actual or high potential for radioactive release to the environment of quantities in excess of IRR99 notification limits”.
The figures also revealed there have been 22 fires on submarines which are either nuclear armed or powered since 2015.
These figures show just how dangerous nuclear weapons are, not just to the planet as a whole but to the locality where they are based. We believe that our stewardship of creation demands more of us than to tolerate these weapons.
