The UK is storing twice as many decommissioned submarines than it has in active service at a cost of roughly £500 million since 1980, an investigation has found.
Of these 20 submarines, nine are installed with nuclear energy units and the Ministry of Defence has not defueled any vessels since 2004. The department “does not have a fully funded plan to re-start the work,” the National Audit Office said. Officials said the government now hopes to begin the process in 2023.
The news was described as “dismal” by the Public Accounts Committee.
The future liability to maintain and dispose of its 20 stored and 10 in-service submarines is around £7.5 billion, as at March 2018.
“It will cost an estimated £96 million to fully dispose of a submarine excluding costs associated with establishing the required facilities, infrastructure and disposing of nuclear waste at the end of its storage period,” the NAO said.
There are also no fully-developed plans to get rid of the Vanguard and Astute submarines, which are currently in service or the Dreadnought-class that is set to join the Royal Navy in the future.
“For more than 20 years the Ministry of Defence has been promising to dismantle its out-of-service nuclear submarines and told my Committee last year that it would now address this dismal lack of progress,” said MP Meg Hillier, chair of the Public Accounts Committee.
“It has still not disposed of any of the 20 submarines decommissioned since 1980 and does not yet know fully how to do it. The disposal programmes have been beset by lengthy delays and spiralling costs, with taxpayers footing the bill.
"The Ministry needs to get a grip urgently before we run out of space to store and maintain submarines and we damage our reputation as a responsible nuclear power,” she said.
Disposing of nuclear submarines was described as “a complex and challenging undertaking,” by the defence ministry. It remained committed to a "cost-effective defueling" as soon as "practically possible.
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
