THE MINISTRY of Defence has confirmed it has no plans to send its decommissioned nuclear submarines to Russia to be scrapped.

Bosses at a shipyard in the Russian region of Archangel had offered to take the old subs off the country’s hands.

However, in a letter to Dunfermline and West Fife MP Willie Rennie the MoD said it was up to Britain to dispose of its own nuclear waste.

Several decommissioned submarines, which have had their nuclear fuel removed, are in floating storage at Rosyth Dockyard.

The MoD has been looking for years for a way of disposing of the radioactive parts of the vessels. Some of the material on board, particularly the reactor compartments, is extremely dangerous.

It has considered following the example of the Americans, who cut the radioactive bits out of their submarines and dump them underground.

However, no decision has yet been made.

Last month in a letter to Mr Rennie—who sits on the Commons Defence Select Committee, and whose constituency includes the dockyard—the Russians offered to scrap the submarines.

The offer came from V. Voikov, vice-governor of Arkhangelsk region, who sent similar letters to the MPs for Plymouth Devonport, where four more decommissioned submarines are stored.

Mr Voikov invited the MPs to the city to see the work carried out at the Zvezdochka shipyard.

He said, “Our shared interest results from the fact that the Zvezdochka shipyard in my constituency has been developed by the international community as a major world centre for nuclear submarine dismantling over the past decade.

“The shipyard has now safely, and in an environmentally safe manner, dismantled 31 nuclear submarines.”

He said the UK funded the dismantling of two of these submarines at the shipyard in 2004. He added that Canada, the United States, Norway, Italy, Germany and the European Union had all been involved in dismantling nuclear submarines in northern Russia.

“In this regard an obvious opportunity exists to consider using this infrastructure to assist in addressing the United Kingdom’s nuclear submarine legacy.”

The Fife MP thought the letter was a fake at first, but after checking with committee colleagues he realised it was genuine.

There was no chance of the MoD ever taking the Russians up on their offer, but Mr Rennie asked them what they thought.

Lord Drayson, Minister of State for Defence Equipment and Support, confirmed in a letter to the MP the MoD would not be following the matter up.

“In accordance with international agreements, MoD would not consider transferring the submarines to Russia for dismantling,” the minister states.

“Additionally, there is the consideration that a Government that is a responsible owner and operator of nuclear submarines should possess the commitment and means to handle their disposal.”

Mr Rennie last night said, “That’s the end of the matter and I’ll be writing back to the governor of Archangel enclosing a copy of the letter from Lord Drayson. It makes perfect sense what he says, that Britain has to take responsibility for its own nuclear materials and not pass on that responsibility to others.

“I’ve got a huge amount of respect for the Russians for their entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to try to sell their expertise abroad,” he added.