MoD urged to reveal details of nuclear incident at Trident submarine base

The Ministry of Defence is being urged to reveal details of a nuclear incident that took place at Faslane naval base earlier this year.

Figures show that a Category A event occurred at HMNB Clyde between 1 January and 22 April. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) defines Category A as the most serious - however, it has claimed the incident was categorised as of "low safety significance" and did not pose a risk to the public or result in any radiological impact to the environment.

HMNB Clyde is based on the banks of Gare Loch at Faslane in Argyll and Bute. It is the Royal Navy's headquarters in Scotland and is home to Britain's nuclear submarines, which includes the Vanguard vessels armed with Trident missiles.

Nuclear Site Event Reports (NSERs) detail incidents at nuclear facilities and are classified based on their safety significance and impact. Responding to a written question earlier this year by SNP MP Dave Doogan, Maria Eagle, minister for defence procurement and industry, confirmed dozens of incidents at Faslane and nearby RNAD Coulport - the storage and loading facility for the Trident programme.

Nuclear site events (22 April 2024 to 22 April 2025): • Coulport: 13 Category C and 34 Category D• Faslane: 1 Category A, 5 Category B, 29 Category C, and 71 Category D Ms Eagle said she could not provide specific details of the Category A or B incidents "as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of any relevant forces". She assured Mr Doogan that "none of the events caused harm to the health of any member of staff or to any member of the public and none have resulted in any radiological impact to the environment".

In a letter to Mr Doogan, UK Defence Secretary John Healey said: "I can confirm that all reported events were categorised as of low safety significance. "In accordance with the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (lNES) significant safety incidents are categorised at the lowest level - level one of seven.

"Incidents that might fall into this category include equipment failures, human error, procedural failings or near misses where no harm [was] caused to the health of any member of naval base staff, any member of the public, or any resultant radiological impact to the environment." Read more from Sky News:Inside the Glasgow factory shaping the next generation of warfare In the past week, concerns have been reignited over the environmental and public health impact of the UK's nuclear weapons programme. It comes following an investigation by The Guardian and The Ferret, which uncovered radioactive water from RNAD Coulport had leaked into Loch Long due to faulty old pipes back in 2019.

The secrecy battle went on for six years. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) reported the discharges were "of no regulatory concern.