U.S. Navy's Nuclear Submarine Decommissioning Method Contrasts with UK's Full Dismantlement
The U.S. Navy has been decommissioning its nuclear submarines since the 1980s by cutting out the entire reactor compartment as a sealed block, transporting it inland, and burying it in an open trench at the Hanford site in Washington state. Over 130 American nuclear ships and submarines have undergone this process, which is described as crude but efficient and fast. In contrast, the United Kingdom has embarked on a 'world first' by fully dismantling a nuclear-powered submarine, HMS Swiftsure, in a Scottish dry dock. This involves removing 2,695 tons of material from the 272-foot Cold War attack submarine, with the reactor pressure vessel, which remains radioactive, yet to be extracted. The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) plans to send this vessel to an interim storage site at Capenhurst in Cheshire, awaiting a permanent underground disposal facility not expected until the 2040s. This means a single component of the Swiftsure will remain in interim storage for decades.
