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THE future for the workforce at Vulcan has become less secure now that it looks certain the Ministry of Defence will not be extending its current contract at its reactor base in Caithness. advertising Barring new commercial work being found, the site is set to go into decommissioning mode in five years' time. Such an outcome would add a fresh headache to the public agencies currently battling to replace the 2000-plus jobs which are to go at the next-door site at Dounreay. As with its defunct civil counterpart, Vulcan will require a workforce to decontaminate and dismantle its redundant plant. It is unclear how many of the 280 employees of site contractor Rolls-Royce would be required for the clean-up. The pressurised water reactor at Vulcan is used to test and trial the propulsion systems used on Britain's fleet of nuclear submarines. Up until recently there were positive noises about the prospects of the MOD extending its £360 million contract beyond 2014. But Royal Navy chief are now believed not to foresee a need for Vulcan to support the proposed next generation of Trident subs.

Critics round on ministry's 'scandalous' safety record after admission to nine nuclear submarine leaks in past 12 years Radioactive waste has leaked from Britain's nuclear submarines nine times in the past 12 years, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted. Two of the leaks - including one at Devonport near Plymouth two months ago - had not been revealed until today. Confirmation of the leaks raises new questions about the MoD's safety record, which has been coming under increasing scrutiny since HMS Vanguard, a British submarine armed with Trident nuclear missiles, collided with a nuclear-armed French submarine, Le Triomphant, under the Atlantic in February.

An MP has called for an investigation after it emerged that the Faslane naval base has suffered a series of safety breaches including radioactive leaks. A report, issued under the Freedom of Information Act, showed radioactive coolant leaked from nuclear submarines on three occasions. The Scottish National Party's Angus Robertson called the disclosures "utterly damning". The base on the Clyde is home to Britain's Trident nuclear missiles.

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.

"Police arrested 10 demonstrators on Monday at a nuclear arms site in southern England, where two Nobel Peace Prize winners joined hundreds of protesters, a spokesman said. Five were detained after gaining access to the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in Aldermaston, where warheads for Trident submarines are made, and five outside, said the Thames Valley police spokesman. Organisers said around 800 people joined the protests, including Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1997 for campaigning against landmines, and Mairead Maguire, who won in 1976 for her work in Northern Ireland."

"A worker says she suffered permanent respiratory damage from working with a saw containing beryllium, a toxic chemical. Lisa Monahan says she was overcome by toxic fumes from the saw blade that her employer, Richardson Trident Co., bought from Metal Saw Systems. Monahan says in her federal complaint that Metal Saw Systems "installed the saw in the facility at plaintiff's employer and was negligent in failing to install a proper exhaust device when it knew or should have known that using beryllium copper blades would emit fumes throughout the facility."

The Royal Navy is to drop a dangerous type of reactor used in its existing nuclear submarines because it fails to meet modern safety standards, defence ministers have disclosed. A safer type of reactor is expected to be used in the submarines that will replace the Trident fleet, as the existing design shares very similar features to the nuclear reactors involved in the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in Japan. Liam Fox, the defence secretary, told MPs there was a "very clear-cut" case to use the new type of reactor because it has "improved nuclear safety" and would give "a better safety outlook". A heavily censored Ministry of Defence report disclosed earlier this month by the Guardian and Channel 4 News said the current reactors are "potentially vulnerable" to fatal accidents, which could cause "multiple fatalities" among submarine crews.

Talks on nuclear arms getting under way in Geneva should indicate how relations will develop between the US and Russia under President Barack Obama. Over the next few months it should become clearer as to whether the two countries will agree on further reductions in their nuclear arsenals - and whether they will solve the problem of the American anti-missile system due to be installed in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Hundreds of protesters have formed a "peace chain" at the Faslane submarine base - to mark the 40th anniversary of nuclear missiles being based there. About 500 campaigners assembled at Faslane Peace Camp on the Clyde before hearing deliveries from SNP, Labour and Green MSPs.

Russia yesterday shocked the West by ordering a 'large-scale' rearmament of its nuclear and conventional forces. In an announcement that could trigger an arms race, President Dmitry Medvedev vowed to bolster attack and defence capability. The move came as Gordon Brown offered to surrender part of Britain's nuclear deterrent in exchange for a global disarmament deal.

Concerns have been raised over the safety of people living near a Berkshire site earmarked for a new nuclear warhead facility. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) wants to modernise the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE). The Nuclear Awareness Group (NAG) said the site proposed at Burghfield was too close to the densely populated Reading area to be safe.

Britain is prepared to scale back its nuclear capability as part of global disarmament efforts, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday ahead of an address to the UN General Assembly. He told BBC radio that Britain was prepared to reduce the number of submarines that can launch nuclear missiles, but said there were no plans to cut the number of warheads. "Just as America and Russia are making those reductions, we are prepared to consider that, but only as part of an agreement," Brown said.