Faslane & Coulport
Posted: 1st May 2024
The number of safety incidents that could have leaked radiation at the Trident nuclear base on the Clyde has risen to the highest in 15 years, according to information released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). One incident in 2023 at the Faslane base, near Helensburgh, was given the MoD’s worst risk rating. This is the first time this has happened since 2008. Another four incidents at the base in 2023, and one in 2024, were given the second worst rating. The number in 2023 was the highest since 2006. According to the MoD’s definitions, all six incidents had “actual or potential for radioactive release to the environment”. In total the MoD logged 179 nuclear safety incidents on the Clyde in 2023 and 2024, though most of them were deemed to be less serious. The MoD insisted that there had been no “radiological impact” or harm to health from any of the incidents. But it declined to provide any further details for national security reasons. The latest figures were released in response to a parliamentary question by the SNP MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, Deidre Brock. In previous questions, she has obtained information on nuclear safety events at Faslane and Coulport back to 2006. “My annual questions to UK ministers have exposed steadily declining nuclear safety standards at Faslane and Coulport, but the increase in the severity of incidents last year is particularly alarming,” she told The Ferret.