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Britain's nuclear submarine fleet has been hit by a series of serious safety breaches involving repeated leaks of radioactive waste, broken pipes and waste tanks at its home base in Scotland, according to a confidential report. The 400-page internal report, released under the Freedom of Information Act, admits a catalogue of safety failures at Faslane naval base, the home of Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent, saying they were a "recurring theme" and ingrained in the base's culture. The worst breaches include three leaks of radioactive coolant from nuclear submarines in 2004, 2007 and 2008 into the Firth of Clyde on the west coast of Scotland. Two radioactive waste tanks were found to be a "significant" and "growing" radiation hazard and needed to be taken out of service. The revelations in the report, obtained by Channel Four News, are so serious that it has led to the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) warning that it would consider closing the base down if it had the legal powers to do so. Britain's Ministry of Defence is legally exempt from the civil radioactive safety regulations, but Sepa said it was pressing for powers to inspect and control Faslane's nuclear operations.

Plymouth's naval base could become a "nuclear dustbin" for decommissioned nuclear-powered submarines, BBC News has been told. There is concern Plymouth-based frigates are to be moved to Portsmouth naval base and serving nuclear-powered submarines to Scotland. An informed source said such moves would harm Plymouth's economy.

"Two British nuclear submarines went to sea with a potentially disastrous safety problem that left both vessels at risk of a catastrophic accident, the Guardian can reveal. Safety valves designed to release pressure from steam generators in an emergency were completely sealed off when the nuclear hunter killers Turbulent and Tireless left port, a leaked memo discloses. The problem went undetected on HMS Turbulent for more than two years, during which time the vessel was on operations around the Atlantic, and visited Bergen in Norway, the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, and Faslane naval base near Glasgow."

Britain's nuclear submarines are "completely useless" against modern warfare, and the £20bn spent on renewing them is a waste of money, retired senior military officers said yesterday. The former head of the armed forces Field Marshal Lord Bramall, backed by two senior generals, argued that the huge sums being spent on replacing the delapidated submarines that carry the Trident ballistic missiles could be better used to buy conventional weapons which are badly needed by the armed forces. "Nuclear weapons have shown themselves to be completely useless as a deterrent to the threats and scale of violence we currently face or are likely to face, particularly international terrorism," the group said in a letter to the Times. "Our independent deterrent has become ­virtually irrelevant, except in the context of domestic politics."

Radioactive liquid spilled into a river during maintenance work on a nuclear submarine, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. The Royal Navy said up to 280 litres (62 gallons) of contaminated water spilled from a ruptured hose as it was used to pump out coolant from HMS Trafalgar at the Devonport Naval Base in Plymouth. The incident happened shortly after midnight on Friday and the contaminated liquid spilled into the River Tamar. An MoD spokesman said: "During a standard operation to transfer primary coolant from HMS Trafalgar to an effluent tank on the jetty, a hose ruptured, resulting in a leak of the coolant. A maximum of 280 litres of coolant were discharged from the hose on to the submarine casing, jetty and into the river Tamar.

At least 20 people were killed and 22 injured on a Russian nuclear-powered submarine when the ship's fire safety system was accidentally set off on board, a Russian naval spokesman said Sunday, Nov. 9. The submarine's atomic reactor remained undamaged and radiations levels aboard the vessel were normal, the naval spokesman said.

India's navy was supposed to lease the brand-new Russian nuclear submarine that suffered an accident over the weekend which killed 20 people, news reports said Monday. An Indian naval spokesman would not comment Monday on leasing this or any submarine from Russia - but his boss has said previously that India was interested. The Akula-class sub was undergoing trials in the Sea of Japan when its fire-extinguishing system activated in error, spewing Freon gas that suffocated the victims and injured 21 others.

A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine which has steadily been leaking a small amount of radiation for over two years stopped at three Japanese ports, as well as Guam and Pearl Harbor, the United States and Japan said on Thursday. Japan was notified by the United States last week that the nuclear-powered USS Houston had been leaking water containing a small amount of radiation, but was told at the time that it was unclear when the leak had started.

The Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Oblast, was on the agenda when the Russian government yesterday discussed the country's military industrial complex. The yard, one of the biggest in Russia, has proved unable to cope with three major ongoing construction projects. Sevmash, one of two major shipyards in Russia's northern engineering capital of Severodvinsk, has become a headache for the Russian government. Not only has the plant ended up in trouble because of its delays and cost overruns with the aircraft carrier "Admiral Gorshkov", which is to be sold to the Indian Navy. Sevmash is also significantly behind schedules with the nuclear-powered submarine "Yuri Dolgorukii" - the first of Russia's fourth generation submarines.

AN UNPRECEDENTED plan to export radioactive waste from old nuclear submarines in Scotland to Sweden is coming under fire from local authorities worried about accidents and pollution. The naval dockyard at Rosyth in Fife has applied for permission to ship metal contaminated with radioactivity to a smelter near Nyköping in Sweden, run by the nuclear waste company Studsvik. The plan is for the metal, from the decommissioning of seven defunct submarines laid up at Rosyth, to be melted, decontaminated and reused.

A huge crane poses the biggest risk of a nuclear disaster at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde, according to newly released safety assessments by the Ministry of Defence. Plutonium from up to 48 nuclear warheads could escape and cause widespread contamination and cancers if there was an accident while a Trident submarine was being moved by the crane - known as a shiplift' - the reports say. But the MoD has been accused by experts and anti-nuclear campaigners of playing down the real dangers. The amounts and risks of the radioactivity that could be released have been underestimated, they say. The shiplift at Faslane is a unique facility with a chequered history. Set up in 1993, it uses nearly 100 winches to hoist the 16,000-tonne Vanguard-class submarines into the air for maintenance while they remain loaded with up to 48 Trident nuclear warheads. The shiplift had to be modified in 1997, and in 2003 a report by consultants suggested accident risks had been underestimated. Regarded by some as Faslane's most hazardous operation, there have been hints it may end up being replaced by the kind of dry dock used elsewhere.

Russia's Armed Forces are to receive 30 new ground and sea-launched ballistic missiles, three nuclear submarines, and an assortment of other weapons, the Russian president said on Thursday. Dmitry Medvedev said the list would also include "five Iskander [tactical] missile complexes, about 300 modern armored vehicles, 30 helicopters, 28 warplanes, one corvette-class warship, and 11 spacecraft." In his state-of-the-nation address to parliament, Medvedev stressed provision of advanced weapon systems to the military was a priority. "There is no room for debate here: These weapons simply must be procured," he said. He instructed the government to put in place an effective contract system to strike the right balance between arms manufactured for export and for domestic needs.

Russia's Armed Forces are to receive 30 new ground and sea-launched ballistic missiles, three nuclear submarines, and an assortment of other weapons, the Russian president said on Thursday. Dmitry Medvedev said the list would also include "five Iskander [tactical] missile complexes, about 300 modern armored vehicles, 30 helicopters, 28 warplanes, one corvette-class warship, and 11 spacecraft." In his state-of-the-nation address to parliament, Medvedev stressed provision of advanced weapon systems to the military was a priority. "There is no room for debate here: These weapons simply must be procured," he said. He instructed the government to put in place an effective contract system to strike the right balance between arms manufactured for export and for domestic needs.

COUNCIL chiefs have attacked the Ministry of Defence for failing to let them know about a radioactive leak from a nuclear submarine in the River Tamar. Plymouth City Council, responsible for emergency planning, only heard about the incident involving HMS Trafalgar from media reports yesterday - four days after it happened. The MOD admitted it should have told the council and said it was working to make sure there was no repeat of the breakdown in communication.

However, in nuclear reactors such as the one inside HMS Trafalgar it is simply an unwanted by-product of the reaction. As cooling water passes through the core it becomes contaminated with tritium. It is this contaminated water that was mistakenly released. In normal circumstances that water would have been stored and treated until the radioactivity of the tritium had been sufficiently reduced. Then the Royal Navy would have legally released it into the estuary.

An inquiry is under way into Saturday's gas poisoning on a Russian nuclear submarine in the Pacific that left 20 people dead, including 17 civilians. Another 21 people were left ill in what officials believe was an "unsanctioned" activation of an automatic firefighting system that released freon gas. Experts speculated that the presence of many civilians aboard during sea trials may have elevated the death toll.

The Environment Agency (EA) has admitted it should have told local people earlier about a leak from a nuclear submarine at a UK base. Hundreds of litres of coolant spilled into the River Tamar from HMS Trafalgar while it was being worked on at Devonport on 7 November. But Plymouth City Council, which is responsible for emergency planning, was only told on 11 November.

Residents in Nagasaki and other areas have expressed anger over news that a U.S. nuclear submarine leaked small amounts of radioactive cooling water over a period of more than two years while calling at ports in Japan. Data showed no abnormalities when the USS Houston called in at ports, but residents remain angered over the recent news.

The U.S. Navy has warned that a nuclear submarine may have had radioactive leaks during recent port calls in Japan's south, the country's Foreign Ministry said Saturday. Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was informed by the U.S. Navy that a small amount of radiation might have leaked from the nuclear-powered USS Houston as it traveled around the Pacific.

The arrival of a nuclear-powered submarine at Gibraltar has the same impact as the arrival of a cruise liner, for example. That is, none. However, there are those in the Campo area who like to stir it up for obvious political reasons.

Two U.S. Navy vessels - a nuclear-powered submarine and an amphibious ship - collided before dawn Friday in the mouth of the Persian Gulf, one of the world's most important sea passages for oil supplies. There was no damage to the sub's nuclear propulsion system and no disruption to shipping in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil passes, said Navy spokesman Lt. Nate Christensen, with the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet. Still, the unusual collision between members of the same navy sparked a sudden rise in oil prices - which had been declining on the day - even though the strait remained open.