UK Royal Navy sought to conceal nuclear pollution, threatened legal action: report
LONDON
The Royal Navy threatened legal action in an effort to stop the release of information about radioactive pollution at its Coulport base on the Clyde, Scotland, according to files disclosed by an investigative outlet.
Documents obtained by The Ferret show that over nine days in July and August the navy sent 130 emails, held five meetings and made numerous phone calls urging the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to keep details of the incident secret.
According to the report, naval officials repeatedly warned that legal action was possible, said they needed to “calm some nerves” and expressed being “deeply uncomfortable” with information proposed for publication.
Senior commanders also held an online meeting with Scottish Information Commissioner David Hamilton in an attempt to persuade him to reverse his decision rejecting most of their redaction requests.
An email dated Aug. 1 warned SEPA that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was “likely to challenge” the release of information that “adversely prejudiced” national security and asked the regulator to “withhold release of the relevant documents while we follow due process.”
On Aug. 4, Hamilton rejected most of the ministry’s proposed redactions, prompting another warning from the MoD that it was considering action “to prevent disclosure of the documents” and urging SEPA not to release them “until this decision has been made.”
Despite the effort, SEPA released 33 files in August showing that Coulport polluted Loch Long with radioactive waste after old water pipes burst and caused a flood in 2019.
Calls for transparency
Scottish daily The National reported that campaigners accused the navy of “harassing” the regulator, while lawmakers demanded greater transparency from the MoD.
The ministry said it had to “balance” the public’s right to know with protecting information that could compromise national security. SEPA reiterated it remained committed to transparency regarding pollution linked to the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Coulport.
Bill Kidd, an SNP lawmaker and chair of the cross-party group on nuclear disarmament, called for clarity from the MoD. Luke Pollard, a Ministry of Defence minister, wrote to Kidd in September saying that “none of the incidents recorded posed a risk to the public or resulted in any radiological impact to the environment.”
“There are worrying undercurrents about the MoD behaviour in relation to secrecy over radioactive pollution that needed to be investigated,” Kidd was quoted by The National as saying.
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