Work for sub reactor test site until 'at least 2027'

A nuclear submarine reactor test site is to remain operational in the north of Scotland until at least 2027, Defence Minister Maria Eagle has said.

The Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment (NRTE) at Dounreay, near Thurso, was built in the 1950s and supports about 280 jobs.

It was used for prototype testing of nuclear propulsion plants for more than 50 years, before the last reactor was shut down in 2015.

Eagle said the work was now focussed on submarine fuel management, adding that the long-term plan remained to close and decommission the site.

It is on the Dounreay nuclear power complex, a civilian facility already in the process of being decommissioned and demolished.

Vulcan's workforce includes employees from contractor Rolls-Royce Submarines and the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

In a written statement, Eagle said: "The site continues to provide valuable support to the submarine enterprise, ensuring our submarines remain safe to operate in meeting our national security requirements, including the continuous at sea deterrent, and we expect this to continue until at least April 2027.

"Once complete, the plan is to hand over the management of the Vulcan site from the MoD to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority for decommissioning to commence."

She said fuel would be removed from Vulcan "as soon as is reasonably practicable".

The site provided data for seven different classes of Royal Navy submarines, including Trafalgar, Vanguard and Astute.

In 2014, it was revealed there had been a "microscopic" radiative breach at Vulcan two years earlier.

The statement confirming the incident by then defence secretary Philip Hammond sparked a political row.

The Scottish government criticised the UK government for not alerting it to the incident at the time in 2012.

A further challenge to the future of the site came in March 2015 when plans for a new prototype reactor were scrapped.

Jamie Stone, Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, and local Lib Dem councillor Struan Mackie welcomed Eagle's announcement.

Mr Mackie said: "We should be incredibly proud of the work conducted at Vulcan, and optimistic that the workforce has a continued role to play in the submarine enterprise and meeting national security requirements.

"Principal contractor Rolls-Royce is a significant and welcome part of our community, involved in local initiatives in addition to providing hundreds of highly skilled and rewarding careers in the Caithness and North Sutherland area."

Highland Council is due to discuss the future of Vulcan at a meeting on Thursday.

A group of councillors have backed a motion calling for the site to remain operational longer term in the interests of jobs and national security.

But Scottish Green councillors Chris Ballance and Ryan Mackintosh have table amendment calling for a ban on nuclear weapons in Scotland.

The wider Dounreay site is one of the biggest employers in the Highlands.

It employs 1,354 people - 96% of them living in Caithness and north Sutherland - according to the latest Dounreay Socio Economic Report.

The report said the gross value added, a measure of economic impact per employee, stood at £55,900, was almost double the average for the Highland Council area.