nuclear-news

MPs demand inquiry into ‘hushed-up’ nuclear subs crash

THE SCOTSMAN 17 February 2009

The vessels, the Faslane-based HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant, both believed to be carrying nuclear missiles, collided two weeks ago. Intelligence experts said that the crews might have been playing a game of cat and mouse when the incident happened.

The Ministry of Defence admitted the collision only yesterday, after it was confirmed by French officials, prompting one politician to accuse it of a “hush-hush attitude”. The submarines – each nearly 500ft long – were both damaged in the underwater incident, thought to have happened on the night of 3-4 February…………………….Disarmament campaigners described the incident – in the Atlantic’s 41 million square miles – as a “nuclear nightmare of the highest order”, which could have released “vast amounts of radiation”…………………..”The MoD needs to explain how it is possible for a submarine carrying weapons of mass destruction to collide with another submarine carrying weapons of mass destruction in the middle of the world’s second-largest ocean.”

February 17, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK