nuclear-news

UK’s secret plan to move its nuclear submarines out of Scotland

Angus Robertson, the SNP’s defence spokesman, said: “Anti-independence
politicians have repeatedly tried to claim that the process of removing Trident from Scottish waters would be a problem  but now we have yet more confirmation from the Ministry of Defence that these arguments do not stack up.

PLAN B WILL TAKE NUCLEAR SUBS TO DEVON. EXPRESS.co.uk,   December 9,2012 By Greg Christison WHITEHALL is secretly preparing a contingency plan to move the UK’s nuclear arsenal south of the Border if Scotland votes for independence, it was claimed last night.
The Ministry of Defence has ordered a number of upgrades to the only
navy base in England capable of accommodating Faslane’s fleet of
Trident submarines.

Ministers have always insisted there is no ‘Plan B’ for Britain’s
nuclear weapons and recently said it would cost up to £25billion to
move the missiles from the Clyde.

However, the Scottish Sunday Express has learned that HM Naval Base
Devonport, in Plymouth, Devon, already has the capacity to house up to
10 nuclear submarines, compared to seven at Faslane.

In addition, Coalition defence minister Philip Dunne has admitted that
a large programme of work has taken place to further improve the
facilities.

Military analysts and local politicians already believe that Devonport
is the secret fall-back option should the SNP convince Scots to vote
for independence in 2014. First Minister Alex Salmond has made
expelling nuclear missiles from the Clyde “as soon as possible” a key
part of his case for separation.

An SNP source at Westminster said: “This new information completely
rubbishes the argument that there is no room to move them to England –
there is actually more room at Devonport than at Faslane.

“I don’t think that they would want to keep their submarines in an
independent Scotland if they didn’t have to. I think we would see the
submarines moved to Devonport quite quickly while the weapons would
remain north of the Border in Coulport.”
Devonport is currently home to five ‘hunter-killer’ Trafalgar Class
subs, with five Trident-armed Vanguard Class boats at Faslane. The
missiles are stored separately inside a remote hillside at RNAD
Coulport, on Loch Long.

Finding a new storage facility would be the biggest headache for
Westminster, as there are few alternative sites in England or Wales.
One possibility is that while the submarines are moved to England and
Faslane becomes Scotland’s conventional navy base, Coulport would
remain under Royal Navy control for several more years.

Another option would be to store the Trident warheads in the USA,
where they are built, with the submarines themselves operating out of
Devonport. The British vessels are already regular visitors to the US
Navy’s nuclear base at King’s Bay, Georgia.

Angus Robertson, the SNP’s defence spokesman, said: “Anti-independence
politicians have repeatedly tried to claim that the process of removing Trident from Scottish waters would be a problem  but now we have yet more confirmation from the Ministry of Defence that these arguments do not stack up.

“Far from there being no room for the submarines in England, this new
information from the MoD reveals there are actually more authorised
berths at Devonport than on the Clyde…..
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/363431/Plan-B-will-take-nuclear-subs-to-Devon

December 10, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, weapons and war