That was said yesterday by Caithness Against Nuclear Dumping spokesman Steven Pottinger following a study for the Ministry of Defence which identified the Far North site as a possible location for storing the dismantled radioactive components of the submarines. Murmansk is the dumping ground for the ageing fleet of Russian nuclear submarines.

Mr Pottinger made his comments after a report in The Sunday Herald claimed the MoD has drawn up a short list of 12 sites across the UK which could store the material.

Five of the sites under consideration - catering for up to 500 cubic metres of toxic scrap from 27 submarines - are in Scotland. They are said to include Dounreay, the two naval nuclear bases at Coulport and Faslane on the Clyde, the Rosyth dockyard in Fife, and the Hunterston nuclear power station in North Ayrshire.

Fifteen nuclear submarines have been taken out of service and defuelled since Britain launched its first vessel, HMS Dreadnought, in 1960. Seven are moored at Rosyth, with the remaining eight at the Devonport naval base in Plymouth but storage space at these dockyards is limited.

A further 12 nuclear submarines are due to be retired before 2040. Each one has a reactor compartment, about the size of two double-decker buses, which is contaminated with radioactivity.

According to the newspaper, the MoD has since 1998 been trying to find ways of breaking up the submarines and storing their radioactive waste prior to disposal in a deep underground repository. Now it has drawn up a provisional list of sites for dismantling and then storing the waste.

CAND, which was set up to oppose Nirex plans for a national nuclear repository for radioactive waste, hit out at the MoD plan.

"It comes as no surprise. We always thought the British Government had an agenda to earmark Dounreay as the Murmansk of Britain," said Mr Pottinger, who stressed that any such proposal would not be welcome in the Far North.

"With the rundown at Dounreay it may be thought we will accept anything if it creates jobs but people here definitely do not want Caithness turned into a large-scale nuclear dump.

"We accept that waste from Dounreay has to be stored on site but dumping radioactive parts of nuclear submarines here is not on."

Mr Pottinger noted that there is a lot of opposition in some parts of the county to plans to build wind farms but added: "I would expect a much more vociferous reaction to these proposals to turn Caithness into a nuclear dump."

The MoD plan was also criticised by Highlands and Islands SNP MSP Rob Gibson, who said it would be "widely resisted". He condemned any plan to use the Caithness nuclear plant as a site for such radioactive waste and said the proposal is contrary to the aims of the Dounreay decommissioning strategy.

Mr Gibson said: "Importing contaminated parts of nuclear submarines to the North of Scotland sends the exact opposite signal to the decommissioning strategy for Dounreay.

"The credibility of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is at stake and it recognises the threat, calling the possible dumping of military nuclear waste on NDA sites 'contentious' and highlighting the sensitivity of the spread of military nuclear waste onto civil nuclear sites."

Mr Gibson explained that plans for low-level storage at the Caithness site of materials produced in the decommissioning process is accepted.

"Adding military nuclear material to this is not in the plans and would be widely resisted," he said.

"The NDA strategy is to diversify jobs after the Dounreay run down and increase the attractiveness of the area as places to live, work and invest. Most people know the best hope in the area rests primarily on the huge bonanza of green power in the Pentland Firth. The pristine environment of northern Scotland has been scarred by the lax procedures and ignorance of the nuclear legacy. The Far North knows this very well and welcomes a green power future."

Mr Gibson continued: "The majority of Scots rejected Polaris and Trident. We don't need the MoD from its London bunker sullying our future with its murky nuclear dumping plans.

"Until now they gave little thought what to do with rotting contaminated nuclear hulks. The so-called defence of the realm should include safe storage of unwanted nuclear subs under the Thames valley where the policy came from."

A MoD spokesman in London yesterday said: "We have identified a provisional list of sites that could be used for the dismantling and storage of the UK's redundant defuelled nuclear submarines but no decisions have yet been made.

"Our primary aim of the project is to develop a safe method for dismantling submarines and we will not compromise the safety of either workers or the general public to do this.

"We are consulting widely on the location. As part of this process we have invited MPs and local authorities from the area of each candidate site to take part in a meeting for that site, where we will explain our plans and seek their views."

A spokesman for the NDA said: "We were commissioned earlier this year by the MoD to carry out an initial options study to examine the types of stores at our sites that might be able to take the sort of wastes likely to be produced from dismantled nuclear submarines, pending the development of a geological disposal facility.

"No sites have so far been identified by the MoD as a credible option for such storage. If any were to be so identified they would be subject to full public consultation.

"The NDA is not recommending or endorsing any site for the storage of submarine wastes. We are under no obligation to accept waste packages from the submarine dismantling project."

g.calder@nosn.co.uk

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