Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the potential cost of dismantling Pressurized Water Reactor nuclear reactors on redundant submarines at (a) Devonport and (b) Rosyth dockyards; and what recent discussions the Defence Nuclear Enterprises has had with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority on decommissioning those nuclear reactors.

It is not possible to provide an assured cost estimate to dismantle the Pressurised Water Reactors on the decommissioned submarines at Devonport and Rosyth. Once the demonstrator submarine, SWIFTSURE, has achieved full dismantling in 2026 the Department will have a better understanding of cost estimates for the submarine dismantling process, subject to future commercial negotiations.

The Defence Nuclear Enterprise continues to work closely with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to ensure collaboration on submarine disposal.