On 8th September Southampton City Council Cabinet Committee is to consider a proposed safety plan to allow nuclear powered submarines into Southampton Docks for the third time this year.
The British Navy is pushing to use the commercial docks for PR and recruiting visits, but SCANS view is that the risk of a nuclear accident or terrorist attack on a submarine berthed in the city is unnecessary.
On 8th September the Council will hear legal argument from SCANS lawyer Jamie Woolley, who will explain that the Council is obliged to see that any nuclear activity of the Navy is justified in compliance with EU law. Liability on the Councillors to meet possible claims after an accident is an additional reason not to approve this Z Berth. The Navy claims that the council will be taken to court if it refuses to approve the safety plan. "If there were a nuclear plant in the docks, there would obviously be a need for a safety plan, however inadequate", said Di McDonald. "But there is no plant and there is no risk – so why create one unnecessarily?"