By stewartb

It’s only North Britain after all, a part of the ‘precious’ Union without sufficient clout to make a difference in Westminster and Whitehall as to how the MoD operates!

Here is a bullet-point list of MoD Pollution & Legacy Sites in Scotland that have received some public profile over the past c.20 years (courtesy of ChatGPT and not checked further by me):

Radioactive and Nuclear Legacy:

Dalgety Bay (Fife) – WWII-era contamination from disposal of radium-painted aircraft dials.

Radioactive particles discovered in 1990; beach closure in 2010 due to rising contamination. £10M MoD-funded remediation began in 2021; completion expected soon with 2-year SEPA monitoring.

Coulport (Argyll & Bute) – Tritium Leaks. Low-level radioactive water leaked into Loch Long due to aging pipework (2010, 2019, 2021). Failures not publicly disclosed until 2025; SEPA cited poor maintenance and delays. Pipes part of 1,500+ aging assets; MoD now under pressure to accelerate upgrades.

Rosyth Dockyard (Fife) – Submarine Hulks. Seven nuclear-powered submarines defuelled but still stored; dismantling began with HMS Swiftsure. Target to fully de-nuclearise site by 2035; current dismantling pace is slow. Longstanding environmental concern; £13M spent over 5 years on storage alone.

Vulcan NRTE (Caithness) – Ex-submarine reactor test facility adjacent to Dounreay. Decommissioning to transfer to the NDA by 2027–28. Funding gaps exist as no dedicated mechanism covers military nuclear site cleanup.

Dounreay (Caithness) – Civil site but closely tied to defence history. Tens of thousands of radioactive fuel particles discharged into the sea (1960s–1980s). SEPA confirms seabed cannot be fully restored; ongoing offshore particle recovery.

Chemical Weapons Disposal (WWI, WWII legacy):

Beith (North Ayrshire) – Former bomb-filling site for chemical agents during WWII. Identified under Project Cleansweep; no independent confirmation of full decontamination.

Aberfoyle (Stirling) – Ex-US chemical weapons store (known as “No 25 Aberfoyle”). Smoke generators burned near Torrie Forest; MoD claims area is now safe. Campaigners have called for full environmental audits.

Gruinard Island (off Wester Ross) – Site of WWII anthrax weapon testing by MoD. Deemed decontaminated in 1990, but public concern remains over possible residual risk.

Other Former MOD and Military Sites of Concern:

MOD West Freugh (Dumfries & Galloway) – Former airfield and testing site; depleted uranium tested in 1990s. Radiological survey reportedly found no significant contamination.

ROF Bishopton (Renfrewshire) – WWII-era explosives (cordite) manufacturing plant. Site decommissioned in 2002; now partly redeveloped for housing. Concerns persist over residual contamination in undeveloped areas.

RAF Kinloss (Moray) – Former RAF base closed in 2012; now Army barracks. No known contamination issues, but long-term land use transition ongoing.

Dundrennan Range (Kirkcudbright, Solway Firth) – Over 6,000 depleted uranium (DU) shells—approximately 20 tonnes—were test-fired into the Solway Firth between 1982 and 2004. DU contamination has been detected in soil at the range, with levels “well above acceptable limits,” and corrosion of DU fragments continuing to spread contamination. The MoD evaded marine pollution laws (OSPAR Convention) by labeling the test rounds as “placements” instead of “dumping” BBC Herald Scotland. Environmental monitoring has been ongoing since 1983, including soil, sediment, shellfish, and grass sampling. Although contamination in target zones is fenced and controlled, concerns persist over long-term effects and health implications.

Cape Wrath Training Area – Live firing with tracer ammunition led to a fire in 2008, affecting approximately 137 hectares of land; area left to regenerate naturally without formal environmental assessment. Concerns remain over wildlife disturbance, fires triggered by ordnance, and stray shells—one shell landed miles off-target in 2002.

General Firing Ranges & Heavy Metals – MOD firing ranges are routinely managed by contractors (e.g., Amey) who oversee maintenance including “de-leading” operations to remove accumulated lead from bullet catchers. However, lead contamination remains a known concern at shooting ranges. Range decommissioning typically requires costly remediation, and community experiences suggest challenges in effective environmental cleanup from lead and other heavy metals.

Other points:

Secrecy Over Clyde Nuclear Bases (Faslane & Coulport) – SEPA prevented from releasing over 20 documents due to national security concerns. Ongoing transparency disputes raised by environmental watchdogs and journalists.

No Central Register of Unrestored MOD Sites – There is no public, comprehensive list of all unused or unrestored MOD sites in Scotland. Site histories must be pieced together from FOI requests, journalism, local records, and MoD disclosures. Calls persist for a national audit of defence legacy sites, particularly those with environmental risks.

But to repeat, this is just North Britain after all, a part of the ‘precious’ Union without sufficient clout to make a difference in Westminster and Whitehall as to how the MoD operates and how it clears up its mess!