Rosyth - waste storage

A TEMPORARY storage facility will be built for waste that’s taken out of

old nuclear submarines at Rosyth Dockyard. Fife Council have given the
green light to Babcock for a new warehouse between docks two and three for
“decommissioning operations”. The large industrial building – an
‘intermediate waste storage facility’ – will be 27 metres long and up to 20
metres in height with roller doors and security fencing. Work is currently
taking place at the dockyard to cut up and dismantle HMS Swiftsure, one of
seven old nuclear subs that have been laid up in Rosyth for decades. The
demonstrator project is attempting a world first by removing the most
radioactive parts left in the vessel, the reactor and steam generators. The
new building “will be utilised for cutting processes to aid submarine
dismantling” and will go next to a larger steel shed that was approved in
2024 for the project. A council report said: “The applicant has indicated
that the waste to be temporarily stored would not be considered hazardous
under the Town and Country Planning (Hazardous Substances) (Scotland)
Regulations 2015 and that the site is currently subject to a permit issued
by SEPA covering the related decommissioning activity. “The site is also
subject to regular inspections by the Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR)
and is one of their registered sites. Work on Swiftsure should be completed
by the end of this year but, as yet, no decision has been taken on the
dismantling of the other six subs, and the 15 that are laid up at
Devonport. So far the programme has invested more than £200 million in
Rosyth Dockyard.

 Dunfermline Press 23rd March 2026 

 https://www.dunfermlinepress.com/news/25961651.fife-council-approve-babcock-plan-waste-storage-building/