nuclear-news

Delay and huge cost in refuelling UK nuclear submarine

A Scottish-based submarine is still covered in scaffolding in a dockyard in southern England six years after the start of a multimillion-pound refurbishment, raising fears that taxpayers could be hit with a bill
topping half a billion pounds — more than twice the original estimate — and putting Britain’s nuclear deterrent at risk.

The Trident missile-armed HMS Vanguard was supposed to return to the Faslane naval base on the Clyde in 2018 after a three-year-long refuelling and refit but the Ministry of Defence has confirmed that it is still being worked on in Devonport dockyard. Defence sources say the £3.75 billion submarine is not expected to rejoin the fleet until the middle of next year at the earliest — four years late — raising fears about the ability of the Royal Navy to sustain Britain’s continuous at sea nuclear deterrent.

 Times 10th Oct 2021

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/millions-sunk-into-seven-year-refurb-of-trident-submarine-9qj5x2zxm

October 11, 2021 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, weapons and war