ISOLUS Report Damning

MP ( and the rest ) TELLS MOD TO GET A GRIP
( a bit late in the day )
07 May 2004

A Plymouth MP today told the Ministry of Defence to 'get a grip' on a controversial project to dispose of decommissioned nuclear submarines.

Following a much-criticised public consultation on the MoD's Interim Storage of Laid-up Submarines (Isolus) project, Plymouth Sutton Labour MP Linda Gilroy said more money must be pumped into the project.

Describing the latest Isolus consultation as 'frustrating and aggravating', she said: "This has probably made a decision on Isolus further away, not nearer. The MoD must get a grip on this. I have been trying to make this point to them for months.

"It needs more money invested in it. The consultation results are a reaction to a process that has not been well enough resourced."

Her comments come after results of the latest Isolus consultation were published by Lancaster University yesterday. They suggested overwhelming public opposition to the MoD's plans to cut up nuclear reactor compartments from redundant submarines, possibly near cities like Plymouth.

Devonport had 'emphatically' rejected the idea of managing and storing waste in Plymouth and the consultation urged the MoD to go 'back to the drawing board', said the report.

But today Devonport MP David Jamieson challenged the findings of the consultation, carried out between September and December 2003. He said the Isolus project did have public support in Plymouth.

He said: "A lot of the voices at the public meetings and involved in Isolus were not local. The voice I have heard which has come from talking to ordinary people on the street is really quite different.

"The people who support this have not been heard as much. I don't think the MoD has lost trust. They have been more open than ever.

"There are some difficult decisions to make. Public support will be the challenge for the MoD. I am totally confident the report will be taken seriously."

The Isolus project was set up in 2000 to find a way of storing decommissiond submarines other than afloat, the current method. The MoD argues there is not enough room to store up to 27 boats in existing berths at Devonport and Rosyth. It wants to break them up and store 'low and intermediate' level waste on land.

Five companies bid for the Isolus contract, and named potential sites for the work, including Devonport, Rosyth, Coulport and Dounreay. The firms published outline proposals last year and the MoD is due to select a shortlist this year.

A final decision on which firm, and how and where they will carry out the work, is not due until at least 2006.

Isolus is still in its early stages, but experts believe the MoD's approach of early consultation may have backfired and led to public confusion because they have not focused on specific proposals. Yesterday's report collated views from the public, anti-nuclear and environmental groups, local authority officials, and other interested parties. It said all current proposals were 'unacceptable' and the recent consultation had been poorly handled by the MoD and contractors. The public 'did not trust' the MoD or industry, it said.

Ms Gilroy said she would now seek a meeting with defence minister Lord Bach. She said: "The MoD has not found the tools or the language to say this is all open and above board. They need to do a much better job. They have to, if they are faced with this kind of public reaction."

Gary Streeter, Conservative MP for South West Devon, said the MoD must 'deeply consider' Lancaster Universitry's report and said he would raise his concerns with officials. He said: "There needs to be maximum transparency and setting out the facts. They tried to do that but it's not worked.

"When you consult people you need to be as specific as possible. That must happen now.

"Trust and confidence in all forms of Government is at an all-time low, and since Iraq confidence in expert opinion is at an all-time low.

"The MoD would be wrong to move faster than public opinion. They have got to now consider very deeply how to respond to this report and meet public concern."

Ian Avent, Chairman of the Campaign Against Nuclear Storage and Radiation and consulted on Isolus, said: "I am fairly confident the MoD will take heed of the recommendations.

"What they should have done before they went to contractors was draw up some sort of specification, then you can find a site to fit the specification.

Plymouth anti-nuclear campaigner Ken Tucker said: "If public opinion starts saying we do not want it, it's 20 years too late."

A Plymouth City Council spokesman said it welcomed the Isolus report and looked forward to the MoD's full response.

Leader of Plymouth City Council's Liberal Democrat group Karen Gillard said: "I hope the council and MPs will get behind this report and DML and the MoD will listen."

ROB CRILLY Environment Correspondent
The Herald   May 7th 2004

PLANS to dismantle Britain's fleet of nuclear submarines suffered a setback yesterday when a public consultation rejected all four commercial bids to manage the radioactive waste

It also said any work to cut up nuclear reactor compartments should not be conducted near centres of population.

The consultation was carried out for the Ministry of Defence by Lancaster University into Britain's 27 nuclear-powered submarines. Eleven already have been taken out of service and four are stored afloat at the Rosyth yard in Fife.

The consultation asked local people what they thought about the work being done at Rosyth and three other sites around the UK. The vast majority of respondents said the work should not be carried out near population centres, possibly ruling out Rosyth and Devonport, in Plymouth.

The report recommends that the MoD considers sites elsewhere for storage of intact reactor compartments. However, it does not rule out storing them at Rosyth from its seven submarines, as long as an alternative site is found for vessels decommissioned in future.

If accepted by the MoD, the recommendations effectively would rule out all four existing applications to dispose of the waste without extensive modifications.

Two companies propose cutting up reactor compartments at Rosyth before storing the waste elsewhere. Dounreay is among potential storage sites.

The MoD is expected to make a decision on the bids by August next year.