Radioactive water leaks from UK nuclear bomb base into sea
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Aug 9, 2025
Tehran, IRNA -- Official documents have revealed that radioactive water from the UK's nuclear weapons storage facility leaked into the sea due to repeated pipe failures.
An investigation by regulators found that the Royal Navy had neglected proper maintenance of 1,500 aging water pipes at the Coulport base, resulting in the discharge of radioactive material into Loch Long, a coastal inlet near Glasgow in western Scotland, The Guardian reported on Saturday.
Records from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the government's environmental watchdog, indicate that nearly half of the base's infrastructure had exceeded its intended lifespan at the time of the leaks.
SEPA said that flooding at Coulport was caused by "shortfalls in maintenance," which led to the release of "unnecessary radioactive waste" in the form of low levels of tritium, a radioactive isotope used in nuclear warheads.
A 2022 report by the agency criticized the Navy for its failure to maintain equipment in the warhead storage zone, describing its plans to replace the deteriorating pipes as inefficient.
Despite the warnings, two additional pipe bursts occurred in 2021, including one in another radioactive storage area, prompting a further SEPA inspection in 2022. The agency noted that progress on 23 required fixes had been slow and frequently delayed, exposing widespread shortcomings in the naval base's infrastructure management.
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