PLANS to use Rosyth naval base as a test facility for dismantling nuclear submarines have provoked claims Scotland may become a permanent dumping ground for contaminated material.
The Ministry of Defence announcement that Rosyth would be the first site to break up a nuclear submarine came with a pledge no intermediate level radioactive waste (ILW) would be moved without an agreed disposal or storage solution.
The fact the Fife base was selected ahead of Devonport as the experimental site of the first dismantling exercise prompted fears this could result in the Fife yard becoming the permanent dumping ground of UK nuclear hulks.
John Ainslie of Scottish CND said: "The UK Government should not be building more and more nuclear submarines when there is no adequate way to dispose of them when they reach the end of their lives."
The announcement came from Defence Minister Philip Dunne, who said: "We have decided to demonstrate the initial dismantling process for nuclear-powered submarines that have left service with the Royal Navy by removing all radioactive waste from a single nuclear-powered submarine at Rosyth.
"The reactor pressure vessel from this submarine will be removed and stored whole. Subject to the successful conclusion of this demonstration, we then intend to carry out dismantling of the remaining submarines at both Rosyth and Devonport."
An MoD spokesman stressed: "For the avoidance of doubt the demonstration of the dismantling process on one of the defuelled submarines at Rosyth will take place in several years time."
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