Between the 2008 and the 2013, the British Ministry of Defense registered 316 "nuclear safety incidents". This general definition includes everything from radioactive contamination to not having followed standard safety protocols. Three quarters of the 262 incidents recorded between the 2008 and the 2012 are due to human error. This is what emerges from the documents issued by the British government.
The deterrent capacity of the Royal Navy is based on four class submarines Vanguard, armed with ballistic missiles Trident-II with Mirv / Marv heads. Although relatively modern, nuclear-powered submarines entered service in the 1990, requiring continuous maintenance. The central command of the Vanguard is located in Scotland, in the Clyde base known as Faslane. This is Britain's largest missile base, built between the 1957 and the 1958. It is considered of strategic importance for NATO as it is fundamental the "Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde", to 25 miles from Glasgow, in Scotland. It was precisely in the latter that a series of incidents would have occurred but, according to the British Ministry of Defense, they never caused damage to military and civilians.
Accidents verified, however, in the structure of Devonport, the largest naval base in Western Europe. The most serious accident occurred due to the loss of power, for 90 minutes, to the reactor cooling system of a nuclear submarine. If the cooling system had not been restored, a catastrophic nuclear accident could have occurred. Devonport is located not far from the town of Plymouth, where 250.000 people live. If the fusion of the reactor had occurred, they would all have been life threatening. Concerns also confirmed by an 2011 document, previously classified and then made public, on the dangerousness of Devonport-based submarine nuclear reactors.
The problem of pressurized water reactors is known. If the primary circuit yields, there could be an immediate increase in the temperature of the reactor with possible release of radiation from the core. Although the hull of a submarine is designed to contain most of the radioactive material inside, some loss is considered probable. If a nuclear submarine were to explode in Devonport, it would immediately contaminate an area of two kilometers, reaching Plymouth.
It would be a terrifying prospect. An episode similar to the K-19 tragedy, in the 1961. In that tragic event, the Russian submarine had to avoid a potential catastrophic merger, following a breakdown of the cooling pumps, while it was in navigation. The problem is that in Devonport the British still have eight abandoned submarines for a total of 25 tons of nuclear fuel rods. And the number of decommissioned nuclear submarines continues to increase, considering that four other boats will reach Devonport within the next seven years.
the class Vanguard will be replaced in the 2030 / 2035 by X series and the British government in the coming months will have to allocate other funds to guarantee the asset based on the Trident, on pain of the end of their sub-launched deterrent ability. A passage, the latter, considered highly unlikely. The British should soon allocate new funds for the total support of sixth generation missiles. Specifically, in addition to maintenance, repair, re-certification of missiles and head release control, ai Trident the entire data package (software, algorithms, sensors, gyroscopes and accelerometers) of the MK6 LE guide system will be implemented, which will replace the previous one dating back to the 80 years. The US has already signed this contract for a value of 300 million dollars. I Trident II / D5 will also arm the future class X.
(photo: Royal Navy)
