By Rob Edwards, Environment Editor Sunday Herald


A SERIES of safety lapses at the Faslane nuclear submarine base on the
Clyde, including one in which workers were over-exposed to radiation from a
reactor, has worried government inspectors.
Internal documents obtained by the Sunday Herald reveal that the Nuclear
Installations Inspectorate has been concerned about poor supervision at the
base and is monitoring the situation.

The inspectorate’s governing body, the Health and Safety Executive, has
also expressed frustration at the failure of the Ministry of Defence (MoD)
to respond to repeated requests for information.

Concern was sparked by a hitherto unreported incident on 13 January last
year, when workers were called in to remove scaffolding from above a
submarine reactor. They were not told, however, that the reactor was “hot”
as it had been conducting high-power trials prior to sailing.

As a result, four workers were exposed to excess radiation beaming through
the reactor casing. Their plight was noticed by Faslane health monitors,
who conducted a survey which detected “a measurable dose” of radiation.

“This event seems to be the latest in a series of similar oversights and
omissions relating to the control of work within the Clyde naval base,” a
nuclear inspector told the base commander.

In a file note, he added: “My concern is that the interface between ships’
staff and base staff does not seem to be effective. There is a fundamental
issue here.”

An investigation was launched by the MoD’s internal watchdog, the Naval
Nuclear Regulatory Panel. It is understood to have found that safety
guidelines were breached.

The MoD was accused of showing a “callous disregard for health and safety”
by John Ainslie, the co-ordinator of the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament. “They are willing to put the health of sailors and civilian
workers at risk in order to keep Trident and other nuclear submarines at
sea,” he claimed.

Ainslie pointed out that the legal powers of inspectors at military sites
such as Faslane were weaker than at civilian nuclear sites . “Next time the
consequences of a mistake could be far more serious,” he warned.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) confirmed details of the reactor
incident. But a spokesman pointed out that the radiation dose received by
the workers was less than 1% of the legal limit for a year.

“HSE is working closely with the Naval Nuclear Regulatory Panel in
monitoring improvements to the arrangements for control and supervision of
work at the Faslane site,” he said.

A spokesman for Faslane was unable to comment on the incident as it was the
subject of a request under the Freedom of Information Act. “We take health
and safety extremely seriously,” he said. “It’s a number one priority.”

Some internal documents concerning the incident were released by the HSE in
response to the FoI request by the Sunday Herald. But the name of the ship
involved has been blacked out, making it impossible to know whether it was
a submarine carrying conventional wea pons or one carrying Trident nuclear
warheads. Both are powered by reactors.

Other documents were withheld because the MoD failed to give the HSE any
information on their national security status. One is the report of the
MoD’s official investigation into the reactor incident.
“The situation has been most frustrating,” an HSE official told the Sunday
Herald. “Despite numerous reminders, I have not received any advice from
the MoD.”

The MoD, however, pointed out that it was assessing the public interest,
which involved consulting with commercial companies. “The delays are very
much regretted,” said Gavin Findlay, Faslane’s head of corporate business
support.