Rosyth

Rosyth was used to refit and refuel nuclear submarines. However it no longer carries out this task. All British nuclear submarines are now defuelled and refuelled at Devonport dockyard.

Rosyth is one of the two locations in Britain where the hulks of scrapped nuclear submarines have been dumped. The MoD carried currently a consultation process over what to do with scrapped submarines. The issue is not just the existing hulks, but also what will happen with the 16 nuclear submarines in service when they are decommissioned.

The Navy had wanted to fill the old submarines with concrete and dump them at sea. But this was outlawed by the international agreements which rejected the dumping of nuclear waste at sea. The Navy then indicated that the submarines could be cut into pieces and placed inside a national underground store for nuclear waste. However NIREX's plans to build a store near Sellafield were scrapped. So now they are looking at their options. It is generally considered that they are likely to dump future hulks at an existing nuclear site. Devonport, Rosyth and Barrow are the most likely. There are pressures to restrict the number of hulks in Devonport because it will continue to be a nuclear refitting facility and because of the large numbers of people living nearby.

On 6 Mar 2000 there was an incident involving HMS Sceptre at Rosyth.

Report of problems with nuclear submarines including list of incidents, many at Rosyth. Report on Safety of Trident including general issues of submarine reactor safety.