Radioactive water leaks from nuclear submarine HMS Trafalgar
A British nuclear submarine leaked hundreds of litres of radioactive waste into a river, it has emerged.
Environment watchdogs are investigating the leak at Devonport, in Plymouth, from HMS Trafalgar in which 280 litres of contaminated water were spilled.
The Environment Agency threatened to prosecute the Ministry of Defence or Devonport Management Limited after a series of spills in 2005.
The water, which amounts to more than quarter of a ton, was being removed from the submarine’s cooling system and pumped into an effluent tank on shore.
It contained low levels of the radioactive element tritium which were picked up as the water was used to cool the reactor on board the submarine.
The water drained into the River Tamar at Devonport because a hose leaked as the contaminated water was being transferred.
The water was due to be removed and either decontaminated or disposed of as low level nuclear waste.
The spill is the largest in 23 years but tests in the river have showed no signs of increased radiation and the Environment Agency says there is no risk to the public.
A nuclear expert criticised the Ministry of Defence for withholding details of the spill for four days after the accident early on Friday morning.
Nuclear consultant John Large said the leak represented a potential risk to workers at the dockyard and was a serious breach of safety procedures.
He said: “This is very serious because it means there has been a breakdown in nuclear safety protocols.
“The risk to the public is virtually zero but there was a risk to the workers who may have been exposed to this without being aware of it.
“They could have transferred it to other areas of the yard where nuclear safety controls are not in place on their shoes or clothing.
“Systems are in place to stop this sort of leak happening so the very fact that it did means that something has gone seriously wrong.
“There is an underlying problem of accountability and the Ministry of Defence have only described this incident a few days after it occurred.”
Ian Avent from the Plymouth-based Campaign Against Nuclear Storage and Radiation said: “It is the worst accident I have heard of. It beggars beliefs it could have happened at all.
“We are lucky the consequences of all the incidents we have had in the dockyard have not been far, far worse. How long are we going to rely on the management being lucky?
“We are relying on their handling of these dangerous processes not just for our health and safety but for our lives.
“This does not inspire any confidence in them at all.”
A spokesman for the Royal Navy said no-one had been hurt in the incident and the vessel’s nuclear power plant was unaffected.
He said: “Shortly after midnight on the night of November 6/7, 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 onto the submarine casing, jetty and into the Hamoaze area of the river Tamar.
“As soon as the leak was discovered, the transfer was stopped, the area was quarantined, monitoring and sampling carried out and a clean-up operation completed.
“Initial sampling has not detected any radioactive contamination in the local environment.
“The environmental risk is assessed to be negligible and analysis of river water has not shown any detectable contamination.
“Investigations into the cause of the rupture are ongoing and will lead to remedial action as necessary to prevent this incident from re-occurring.
“This incident has not affected the submarine’s programme.”
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: “Our role is to regulate the site to ensure the protection of people and the environment.
“We are certain there is no significant environmental impact, but we have taken our own samples for reassurance purposes and these are in addition to the monitoring carried out by the Ministry of Defence.
“We will investigate the circumstances of this unauthorised discharge and make sure that all necessary measures are taken to stop it happening again.”
By: sealordlawrence - 15th November 2008 at 09:53
This very thread shows it alright, but the point was that the headlines are 10% as alarmist as they are when a Russian sub is involved.
On the other hand, when a Chinese sub sinks, nobody really seems to bother 🙁
That is because no one has died, be in no doubt that if a British sub sank itself and then the Royal Navy simply did nothing whilst the crew slowly died then the headlines would be savage.
By: crobato - 15th November 2008 at 05:45
Radioactive water leaks from nuclear submarine HMS Trafalgar
A British nuclear submarine leaked hundreds of litres of radioactive waste into a river, it has emerged.
Hmm…sounds inspiring for a plot I’m working on…”Mutant Zombie Man Eating Fish”.
Or maybe sell the script to the producers of Dr. Who.
By: ATFS_Crash - 14th November 2008 at 19:59
Yup, would be reduced to unmeasurable concentrations within hours, days max. And there would be no long term effects as it has a half-life of only ~12 years. Oh, and if it was badly radioactive it wouldn’t be used on gun sights.
Some of the radium girls had a high incidence of cancer after licking their paintbrushes for years to get a finer tip to paint watch dials and hands.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_Girls
I suspect it’s similar to tritium, the risk is low but prolonged contact at higher concentrations could be risky, however like others have said after being diluted would think the concentration would be so low that any risk would be infinitesimal.
I think there are made in China kitchen utensils (and other made in China products) that might be more of a risk to public safety and the environment.
I guess the Chinese are using Al Gore global warming logic, recycle radioactive waste into kitchen utensils. Save the environment: irradiate yourself so you’ll stop emitting carbon dioxide.;)
Officials Warn Of Radioactive Kitchen Utensils
Last Update: 2:13 pm
Every time a truckload of scrap metal arrives at the Genesee Recycling station in Flint, Michigan, the metal is screened by radiation monitors.
In August, the alarms went off…sending workers scrambling with hand-held radiation detectors to find the contaminated item.
Surprisingly, their detectors led them to a simple kitchen utensil…a cheese grater…stamped with the words “Made in China.”
As if a radioactive cheese grater isn’t odd enough, what’s even stranger is that the kitchen tool contains a peculiar element — the radioactive isotope Cobalt 60.
Bob Skowronek is with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality – the agency that tested the grater.
“You don’t often find Cobalt 60 loose in places.” he says.
Unlike uranium, which is naturally occurring, Cobalt 60 has to be made using a nuclear reactor. It emits the strongest form of radiation – called gamma rays.
Source and full story
http://www.kypost.com/content/wcposhared/story.aspx?content_id=3055864c-9bb1-49ba-873e-c8403c2882d5
By: RSM55 - 14th November 2008 at 19:25
You obviously do not follow the news closely enough. British submarine accidents are well reported as shown by this very thread.:rolleyes:
This very thread shows it alright, but the point was that the headlines are 10% as alarmist as they are when a Russian sub is involved.
On the other hand, when a Chinese sub sinks, nobody really seems to bother 🙁
By: sealordlawrence - 14th November 2008 at 16:38
Yeah, you’re right.
The problem is that the last time some shipyard worker at Sevmash ignited a cleaning cloth, all Western newspapers (and Russian news as well, to be fair) titled “Fire aboard a Russian nuclear sub”. Whereas when HMS Tiresome suffers real powerplant failure in the middle of the Med, or when USS Blind Rouge hits the bottom and maims a few crew members, no one is crying havoc.
You obviously do not follow the news closely enough. British submarine accidents are well reported as shown by this very thread.:rolleyes:
By: AE90 - 14th November 2008 at 16:01
Yeah, you’re right.
The problem is that the last time some shipyard worker at Sevmash ignited a cleaning cloth, all Western newspapers (and Russian news as well, to be fair) titled “Fire aboard a Russian nuclear sub”. Whereas when HMS Tiresome suffers real powerplant failure in the middle of the Med, or when USS Blind Rouge hits the bottom and maims a few crew members, no one is crying havoc.
do you mean HMS Tireless!? or is that a nickname that i’m blissfully unaware off 🙁
By: RSM55 - 14th November 2008 at 15:38
Ther would be little if any reaction, this accident did not kill or injure anyone and caused no serious damage. Frankly it is almost a non-incident, unlike when a Russian submarine sinks itself or gases its crew.:mad:
Yeah, you’re right.
The problem is that the last time some shipyard worker at Sevmash ignited a cleaning cloth, all Western newspapers (and Russian news as well, to be fair) titled “Fire aboard a Russian nuclear sub”. Whereas when HMS Tiresome suffers real powerplant failure in the middle of the Med, or when USS Blind Rouge hits the bottom and maims a few crew members, no one is crying havoc.
By: sealordlawrence - 14th November 2008 at 13:53
I can imagine the incredibly high noise in the Western media if this incident would have happened to a Russian submarine. 😮
Ther would be little if any reaction, this accident did not kill or injure anyone and caused no serious damage. Frankly it is almost a non-incident, unlike when a Russian submarine sinks itself or gases its crew.:mad:
By: Super Nimrod - 14th November 2008 at 13:36
Both the RN and USN have had SSN related fatalities and serious / very serious incidents in recent years. It goes with the territory, and means that high standards have to be maintained by all.
By: Rodolfo - 14th November 2008 at 12:57
I can imagine the incredibly high noise in the Western media if this incident would have happened to a Russian submarine. 😮
By: AE90 - 14th November 2008 at 07:49
Yup, would be reduced to unmeasurable concentrations within hours, days max. And there would be no long term effects as it has a half-life of only ~12 years. Oh, and if it was badly radioactive it wouldn’t be used on gun sights.
definitely, rather be playing around with tritium than hydraulic fluid and the latter’s not caused me any harm yet apart from minor irritations and discoloured hands for a while.
By: sealordlawrence - 14th November 2008 at 07:31
About as minor an incident as possible really.
By: StevoJH - 14th November 2008 at 02:31
Tritium is marginally radioactive no major damage can be caused by that amount either unless exposed to it for prolonged periods and it would dissapate before that time. too much media hype here.
Yup, would be reduced to unmeasurable concentrations within hours, days max. And there would be no long term effects as it has a half-life of only ~12 years. Oh, and if it was badly radioactive it wouldn’t be used on gun sights.
By: AE90 - 13th November 2008 at 19:19
Tritium is marginally radioactive no major damage can be caused by that amount either unless exposed to it for prolonged periods and it would dissapate before that time. too much media hype here.
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November 13, 2008 at 5:50 pm