§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the cost to date for the decommissioning of each nuclear-powered submarine withdrawn from service; and what information his Department has sought from the Defence Ministries of the United States, France and Russia on their respective experience in such submarine reactor cores and hulls.
§ Mr. FreemanThe approximate costs of undertaking the defuelling, de-equipping and lay-up preparation process for those nuclear-powered submarines which have been taken out of service to date are as follows:
Submarine DDLP costs £ million HMS Swiftsure 11.5 HMS Warspite 11.3 HMS Churchill 11.2 HMS Conqueror 10.6 HMS Courageous 10.8 HMS Revenge (SSBN) 18.7 HMS Valiant and HMS Resolution have not started their DDLP process yet. Those costs do not include the costs of final disposal, the policy for which is still under consideration. It is also not possible to provide costs on the decommissioning of HMS Dreadnought, which was the first nuclear submarine to be withdrawn from service in 1982 and the information requested, in so far as it may be available, could be assembled only at disproportionate cost.
A regular exchange of information between the United States and the United Kingdom Governments continues on all nuclear matters under the 1958 mutual defence agreement. No detailed discussions have taken place with France or Russia on these matters.