When on 7 May 2001, the HMS Tireless With the Bay of Algeciras was abandoned, its residents heaved a sigh of relief. maybe there was a nuclear-powered submarine For 353 days the house broken on the doorstep was a nightmare that would not happen again. What could not have been anticipated then is the scale of these controversial submersibles 22 years later English and american The number of the Gibraltar naval base will reach one hundred, that the 270,000 inhabitants of Campo de Gibraltar will be exposed to the risk of accident for more than 600 days and their arrivals will also increase over the years, especially after the start of the process brexit, with some ups and downs.
Sharp, brilliant, clever, tireless, brilliant, bold. In any part of Spain, those could be the adjectives with which a player would praise the new pearl of a football club’s academy. but not here plain of gibraltar, where everyone knows those names and, moreover, are quite annoying. This is the name translated into Spanish for some nuclear-powered submarines that dock in the rock, despite some opposition from the Spanish government – ​​particularly in the past – and warnings from environmental groups. sea ​​green, who believes them “floating bomb”“This puts the population on both sides of the fence at serious risk as they are often repaired at a dock that is not prepared for this.
arrived at the Gibraltar naval base for the last time this Friday, the hms audaciousbeyond which a huge can be seen during the weekend yellow crane It shows that you are not here to carry cases of mineral water. The reaction of the population is now indifference, having nothing to do with what happened between May 19, 2000 and the 7th of the same month of the following year, when HMS Tireless remained at the Gibraltar naval base for Failure in primary refrigeration circuit of its nuclear reactor. Prior to this, only the scale of the strategic submarine is remembered (on November 26, 1998, HMS Vanguard). tireless This provoked a popular movement of disapproval in Campo de Gibraltar like never before, as well as an unprecedented political storm. Was three group performances, against the use of the colony’s port for the repair of nuclear-powered ships. Thousands of people feared the risk posed by these jobs on a dock that was neither ready nor prepared for it.
According to his publications, the captain of the ship Liberal Angel FernandezAn authority on the military nature of the Rock past and present, the United Kingdom and the United States use the South Wharf for mooring of nuclear submarines, which has the capacity for two wharves at the same time, called Berth 49 and 50. It has 1,080 metres, of which 648 are located in the north, exclusively for military use. These docs are considered to be within the British classification Z-SpringsThat is, capable of docking nuclear-powered ships, but only for operational purposes or crew rest, not to repair their propulsion systems. During the tireless layover, however, it was temporarily rated spring xwhich the Royal Navy considers suitable for carrying out radiation protection work.
This dock has some “significant limitations”. “Fuel is supplied from barges. Electrical energy, through portable generator Because the one manufactured by Gibraltar does not provide the required quality; Until recently he was from a Spanish company; They had to go through the gate and it was a hassle so in 2014 they installed two stationary Burtonwood generators. Its result is questionable; In recent months they have had to rent generators Assistant Temporary”.
He Wharf width It’s only 23 meters, go ahead. “A significant part of its length houses, among others, general material stores, administrative premises, divers’ barracks, a hyperbaric chamber and an oil deposit. These constructions are about 10 meters wide and leave little surface for maneuver, This wouldn’t be the first time a truck has gone into the water with its trailer. The number of containers on every corner is just amazing.”
“In communications from naval bases, terms such as ‘crew rest’ or ‘scheduled scale’ are misused; in fact they are euphemisms that usually hide the reason for the tickets. Repairs. Missile loading/unloading is sometimes involved hatchet and torpedo Spear. It is clear that it makes no sense that an SSN (a nuclear attack submarine), designed to remain hidden under the surface of the ocean, spends several days in this ‘mousetrap’-like sensitive spot in the Gulf of Algeciras. moderate stress…
Why do these submarines keep coming up on the reef? Journalists and military affairs experts explain it luis romero bartumes In Gibraltar notebook Published by the University of Cadiz: “The Royal Navy maintains its advanced base in Gibraltar as it relishes the opportunity to diversify its docking and repair sites for supplies as well as for submarines in an area of ​​undeniable strategic interest spanning the Atlantic. and that Mediterranean. In addition, British submarines at Gibraltar are at sea about a thousand miles from their areas of operation and advantageous training. alboran, traditionally used for their practice in view of the excellent weather conditions”.
“They work in the Mediterranean – say the Liberals in this regard – so it’s more Cheap Repair them here than in the UK. Something similar can be said about Americans. Some Britons are too old but new ones are also arriving, repeatedly damaged, demonstrating the lack of quality of their equipment”, observes the ship’s captain, who criticizes the “enthusiasm” with which the Gibraltarians receive them.” They are such blind people that they cannot see hazard Nor the paradox they believe in. The more SSNs they enter, the happier they all become, even though they are damaged and their immobility assumes an added risk; I do not think so Royal Navy Share your happiness. Nor do the more than 250,000 people – most of them Spanish – who live in Algeciras Bay subject to risks that do not suit them”, he added.
danger of a Accident There is no future threat with a nuclear submarine, but it has already happened in the Gulf of Algeciras. In August 2002, Vardemar said, a radioactive fragment was lost in the Gibraltar anchorage. Nuclear powered submarine on July 20, 2016 hms ambush crashed into Andreas, A chemical tanker as it surfaced near Gibraltar. may cause an accident Disaster Unfortunate consequences for the area, which continued to be a matter of concern for ten days, especially after the Royal Navy’s initial consideration of repairing the damage in the Gibraltarian harbour, which was unprepared for such an operation. eventually To ambush in the UK is yet to be decided.
The United Kingdom has always expected Spain to see a nuclear submarine arrive in Gibraltar and the Spanish government tried years ago to have these turned to rota reducing the need for a period of days with which to notify the British.
no emergency plan
are in spain five nuclear power plantsAll opened during the 80s. Each one has its own internal and external emergency plans, which define the measures that must be taken to protect residents nearby towns In case of accident. These emergency plans do not exist in Campo de Gibraltar, despite the increased arrival of nuclear submarines. Neither in Rota, although there the Navy has an interior. It is also near Gibraltar, but, as Romero Bertumius points out, is “specifically confined to the interior of the area that remains under British sovereignty, commonly referred to as Zone I, with a diameter of two kilometres.” , and not in respect of the rest of the towns Algeciras Baynot even for the municipality of conception line which is slightly more than that distance apart from the southern moorings of the Gibraltarian base”.
The purpose of this overseas plan is to protect the population of Gibraltar from any eventuality “which includes the release of radioactive fission products on a nuclear-powered ship attached to a nuclear power plant.” The drafters note “the risk of release of radioactive fission products from a nuclear-powered ship incident to its reactor is considered remote.” “In the hundred pages that make plans, none of them even once mentions the convenience, possibility or need to contact or inform spanish authorities On the other side of the fence regardless of the degree of declared emergency, “says the expert.
When junta de andalucia Presented his project for public information regional emergency plan De Andalucia, in 2011, the Vardemar-Ecólogos en Accion group presented a series of allegations in which it refers to various issues affecting basically the Bahia industrial estate, but also recalls the existence of a military base in Gibraltar. is “where nuclear powered submarines are repaired and delivered” and nothing had been seen before potential nuclear emergency, There was no response to the allegation.
In September 2017, the then representative of the Socialist Group miguel angel heredia And oak saviorPresented a non-legal resolution in the Congress of Deputies regarding the creation of specific emergency plans on nuclear radiation for the municipalities of the Gulf. Algeciras, Cadiz and Rota Before the possibility of radioactive leakage from the submarine.
Navy has been ordered to act measurement In the maritime environment every time a nuclear submarine Rota and landed in Gibraltar, for which it has specially trained teams, making it easier for the Spanish government own information, Accompanying it are instruments that the Civil Defense has deployed in two bays to measure radiation in the atmosphere.
