UK sailor alleges flaws in nuclear subs
Print Edition
Britain’s Royal Navy said yesterday it had launched an inquiry after a sailor who served on its submarines armed with nuclear weapons said the vessels had major security flaws and were a “disaster waiting to happen.”
In a lengthy dossier released online, Able Seaman William McNeilly, who describes himself as a weapons engineer, said Britain’s Trident nuclear defense system was vulnerable both to enemies and to potentially devastating accidents due to safety failures.
“Our nuclear weapons are a target that’s wide open to attack,” wrote McNeilly, who served on board HMS Vanguard, one the four submarines that carry the Trident missiles. He has since gone absent without leave. “All it takes is someone to bring a bomb onboard to commit the worst terrorist attack the UK and the world has ever seen,” he added.
The Royal Navy said it totally disagreed with McNeilly’s “subjective and unsubstantiated personal views,” calling him a “very junior sailor.” But it added it was investigating both his claims and the “unauthorized release” of his dossier.
“The naval service operates its submarine fleet under the most stringent safety regime and submarines do not go to sea unless they are completely safe to do so,” a spokeswoman said.
McNeilly said people were not properly checked or searched before being able to get near or on the submarines, and that even nightclubs had stricter security. “I know most people know the Trident program is a disaster waiting to happen, but they never tell the public.”
Police and naval officials were trying to find McNeilly, but a defense ministry spokeswoman declined to say whether he faced arrest for breaking the Official Secrets Act.
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