Hundreds of protected areas are under pressure from Scotland’s massive deer herd. Most agree deer numbers must be controlled to protect the environment, but are split on what should be done.
Edinburgh University students were “interrogated” by police at their desks over posters featuring Palestinians killed by the Israeli military, prompting dozens to complain.
Unsafe levels of faecal bacteria were recorded at dozens of Scotland’s best beaches this summer. Swimmers and paddlers could be at risk, but officials insist water quality remains high.
The Scottish Government’s green watchdog has been urging the Royal Navy to remove potentially radioactive waste from the UK nuclear bomb base on the Clyde to reduce the risk of leaks and pollution, according to official files released to The Ferret.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has told the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Coulport on Loch Long twice in the last year to get rid of a backlog of “substantial quantities” of waste “as soon as possible”.
The Ferret reported in August that Loch Long was polluted in 2019 after floodwater was contaminated by radioactive waste at the site. We can also now reveal there was an incident in 2017 at Coulport when a waste handling agreement was breached, causing the Royal Navy to conduct a major review of procedures.
In May 2025 we disclosed there had been 12 incidents that could have leaked radioactivity at the nearby Faslane nuclear submarine base on the Gareloch since 2023. They included one event in the first four months of 2025 that was given the navy’s worst risk rating.
Campaigners warned of a “culture of negligence” at “high risk” sites threatening public safety and the environment. They said the pollution dangers were “serious”, and demanded greater scrutiny of waste operations at Coulport.
Sepa said it took the waste backlog at Coulport “seriously” and it continued to encourage the Royal Navy to remove it “as soon as practicable”.
The navy stressed that the safe handling of radioactive materials was of the “utmost importance”, and claimed there had been “no unsafe releases” at any stage.
Maintaining the nuclear warheads stored at Coulport produces large amounts of dried waste material, known as desiccant, which can be contaminated with radioactive tritium. Tritium is an essential component of nuclear weapons, used to make their explosions more powerful.
New files released by Sepa under freedom of information law disclose that it inspected waste handling at Coulport in November 2024 and in April 2025. In November it found a backlog of 108 bags of desiccant, and in April there were still “substantial quantities” on the site.
“Progress should be made as soon as possible to reduce this backlog,” Sepa told the Royal Navy in January 2025. According to Sepa, the backlog was because of “issues” in getting samples analysed by the UK government’s nuclear weapons company, AWE, as well as “a hold up in getting appropriate transport”.
After its April inspection, Sepa also reported that it found “radioactive and potentially radioactive wastes from past operations” in a building at Coulport that was “in poor condition”. The wastes included desiccant, old smear tests and a radioactive source.
“Wastes remaining in the building should be characterised and disposed of as soon as reasonably practical,” Sepa said.
Problems at another building were redacted for national security reasons, though samples were taken of “demolition rubble” to be analysed for radioactivity.
“Buildings or laboratories which have previously been used for radioactive substances activities should be fully decommissioned in accordance with a waste management plan,” Sepa said.
Files released earlier by Sepa disclose there was an incident in 2017 at Coulport when the handling of desiccant failed to comply with an environmental agreement between Sepa and the Royal Navy. Bags of desiccant were moved before they were tested for radioactivity.
Sepa said at the time the incident “does raise concerns”, and asked for a “full review” of procedures. “Sepa considers this type of incident as significant and would consider issuing a formal written warning to civilian operators,” it told the navy in October 2017.
The navy responded in November 2017 pointing out that no radioactive waste had been incorrectly disposed of. But it accepted that “there were clear process failings and a lack of management supervision”.
The navy promised a three-month “end-to-end review of desiccant handling”. This was reported in 2018, listing ten procedural improvements that had been made, and another four that were in the process of being implemented.
Because Coulport is a military base, it is exempt from pollution rules that govern civilian sites. Instead the navy has signed a voluntary agreement promising to act as if it was covered by the rules.
The Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is planning to meet with Sepa to discuss its regulation of Coulport and Faslane. Incidents at the sites “suggest an ongoing culture of negligence at some of the most high-risk military facilities in the country” said the campaign’s Samuel Rafanell-Williams.
“It is deeply concerning that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) continues to ignore calls for closer scrutiny of these facilities. This ongoing scandal of poor maintenance at the Royal Navy’s nuclear bases is exposing the myth that nuclear weapons keep us safe.”
He added: “The MoD should pursue a defence strategy that does not place the people of Scotland at ongoing risk from dilapidated nuclear facilities and out-of-date submarines.”
Dr Ian Fairlie, a vice president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in England and a former UK government radiation advisor, warned that tritium was “a serious radioactive contaminant”.
The Ferret’s latest disclosures showed that “worries remain about the Royal Navy’s radioactive waste processes which should be addressed as a matter of priority,” he said.
Earlier this month the SNP MSP Bill Kidd, convenor of the cross-party group on nuclear disarmament, staged a debate in the Scottish Parliament on the nuclear incidents at Coulport and Faslane. He demanded “transparency, accountability and, above all, safety” and called for a UK Government inquiry.
Kidd accused the Royal Navy of “an off-hand and careless attitude towards the health and safety of Scotland’s citizens”. Everyone should protest about “radioactive materials being callously discarded into our waters to the danger to the health of children, women and men”, he said.
Scottish Labour’s former leader, Richard Leonard MSP, said the revelations highlighted longstanding safety concerns about Coulport. “Serious questions are raised about the operational rules and waste management procedures on site and how they are enacted,” he told The Ferret.
“This is the point in the nuclear arms chain where nuclear weapons are stored, maintained and fitted. This poses a threat to our environment, our safety, our democracy and our right to know.”
Sepa emphasised that it was committed to ensuring that Coulport and Faslane, together known as HMNB Clyde, operated in accordance with “standards equivalent to those in environmental regulations” to protect the environment and the public.
“We take the backlog of desiccant at HMNB Clyde seriously, as all potentially radioactive waste should be characterised and then disposed of via appropriate routes, as soon as practicable,” said Sepa’s chief officer, Kirsty-Louise Campbell.
“We understand that the backlog is due in large part to delays in receiving results from a third party which carries out analysis of desiccant samples on behalf of HMNB Clyde. We have recently seen some progress on sampling and analysis, and we continue to encourage HMNB Clyde to progress removal of waste desiccant as soon as practicable.”
The Ministry of Defence, speaking on behalf of the Royal Navy, insisted that it placed the “utmost importance on handling radioactive substances safely and securely”.
A spokesperson said: “There have been no unsafe releases of radioactive material into the environment at any stage and we frequently work with regulators as well as monitoring radioactivity independently.
“Transformation across HMNB Clyde, which includes the Royal Naval Armament Depot at Coulport, is benefiting from a multi-billion pound investment to futureproof it for years to come and ensure it is ready to accommodate the next-generation nuclear submarines, including the Dreadnought class.”
The files released by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and referred to in this story are all available on DocumentCloud.
Cover image of the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Coulport thanks to Ofog direktaktion för fred, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Hundreds of protected areas are under pressure from Scotland’s massive deer herd. Most agree deer numbers must be controlled to protect the environment, but are split on what should be done.
Edinburgh University students were “interrogated” by police at their desks over posters featuring Palestinians killed by the Israeli military, prompting dozens to complain.
Unsafe levels of faecal bacteria were recorded at dozens of Scotland’s best beaches this summer. Swimmers and paddlers could be at risk, but officials insist water quality remains high.
Footage of farmed trout suffocating, haemorrhaging, and being beaten with batons in a slaughterhouse has prompted an official complaint to a government regulator.
