Monday 3 May 2010

UK Nuclear Subs Went To Sea With Potentially Disastrous Effect

Two British nuclear submarines went to sea with a potentially disastrous safety problem that left both vessels at risk of a catastrophic accident.

Safety valves designed to release pressure from steam generators in an emergency were completely sealed off when the nuclear hunter killers Turbulent and Tireless left port, a leaked memo discloses.

The problem went undetected on HMS Turbulent for more than two years, during which time the vessel was on operations around the Atlantic, and visited Bergen in Norway, the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, and Faslane naval base near Glasgow.

It was not noticed on HMS Tireless for more than a year, and was finally detected last month, two months after Tireless started sea trials from its home port at Devonport naval base in Plymouth.   More...

2 comments:

Chuckles 3 May 2010 at 14:01  

Sounds to me that the real problem is that they have British Crews and are maintained by British workers, with the professionalism and work ethic normally given by such to the particular employer.

Anonymous 3 May 2010 at 14:07  

This is a sad reflection of the standard of engineeering which is now permissable in the UK.
Did no one check to see if the the valves were locked off at the end of the refit?

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