Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow, has today expressed his concern, following the revelation that safety failings at the UK’s main nuclear submarine base, at Faslane, near Glasgow, have been a  'recurring theme'. This information was released in a confidential report under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has warned that it would consider closing the base down if it had the legal powers to do so. The MoD is legally exempt from the civil radioactive safety regulations policed by Sepa but promised the agency a number of times it would voluntarily uphold those laws at the base - promises Sepa has now accused the MoD of repeatedly breaking.

Commenting, Mr Kidd said: "This information is, obviously, of grave concern. This revelation makes it patently clear that the risk of having nuclear weapons, in this day and age, is not one worth taking. Rather than defending people, these weapons are endangering the lives of people. 

"It is an outrage that the Ministry of Defence is polluting the environment with the most dangerous and toxic materials in the world and is in no way accountable. If the MoD cannot be relied on to uphold civil radioactive safety regulations, it cannot continue remain above the law on the back of a few meaningless promises. The stakes are too high.

"The lesson to be learned here is clear. The UK Government needs to see sense and recognise that the safest and right course of action is to scrap Trident, which is a waste of money and poses a perilous risk to our safety. The time is right to rid our waters of nuclear weapons."

Notes:

The catalogue of incidents at Faslane, undisclosed until today, includes:

• Leaks of radioactive coolant contaminated with tritium and cobalt from three nuclear submarines into the Firth of Clyde, involving HMS Torbay, HMS Superb and HMS Trafalgar.

• The withdrawal from service of the main waste discharge barge because it was antiquated and faulty.

• Admissions by the MoD that safety failings are "a recurring theme" at Faslane. Staff are poorly trained, staffing levels inadequate and maintenance poor.

• The discovery that two radioactive waste tanks are now a "significant" and "growing" radiation hazard because of a build-up of radioactive sludge, and need to be taken out of service.

• Defective welds in radioactive waste pipes allowed waste to leak out undetected, while inspections revealed a series of loose pipework and leaking seals.