nuclear-news

Fife Council approve Babcock plan for nuclear waste storage building

24th March, By Ally McRoberts, https://www.dunfermlinepress.com/news/25961651.fife-council-approve-babcock-plan-waste-storage-building/

A TEMPORARY storage facility will be built for waste that’s taken out of old nuclear submarines at Rosyth Dockyard.

Fife Council have given the green light to Babcock for a new warehouse between docks two and three for “decommissioning operations”.

The large industrial building – an ‘intermediate waste storage facility’ – will be 27 metres long and up to 20 metres in height with roller doors and security fencing.

Work is currently taking place at the dockyard to cut up and dismantle HMS Swiftsure, one of seven old nuclear subs that have been laid up in Rosyth for decades.

The demonstrator project is attempting a world first by removing the most radioactive parts left in the vessel, the reactor and steam generators.

The new building “will be utilised for cutting processes to aid submarine dismantling” and will go next to a larger steel shed that was approved in 2024 for the project.

A council report said: “The applicant has indicated that the waste to be temporarily stored would not be considered hazardous under the Town and Country Planning (Hazardous Substances) (Scotland) Regulations 2015 and that the site is currently subject to a permit issued by SEPA covering the related decommissioning activity.

“The site is also subject to regular inspections by the Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and is one of their registered sites.

“Ultimately, the decommissioning activities are controlled by SEPA, the Health and Safety Executive and ONR and fall under their own consenting and control regimes, with mechanisms for changes to existing permits to be reviewed and approved by these bodies.”

There were no objections and the report said SEPA had confirmed that “no reprocessing of radioactive waste or materials takes place at Rosyth”.

The seven decommissioned nuclear subs at the yard are Swiftsure, Revenge, Renown, Repulse, Resolution, Dreadnought and Churchill.

Dismantling takes place in three stages with low level radioactive waste taken out first.

Next is the removal of the reactor pressure vessel, which is classed as intermediate level radioactive waste.

The final stage, once all radioactive material has gone, is [?] recycling.

So far the programme has invested more than £200 million in Rosyth Dockyard.

March 27, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, wastes