ROLLS-ROYCE will be carrying out work to upgrade one of the Royal Navy's nuclear missile submarines, in a move which will help safeguard Derby jobs.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed the £350 million overhaul of the Trident-carrying HMS Vengeance yesterday.
Members of the East Midlands branch of CND protest outside Rolls-Royce at Raynesway. From left, Marguerite Sansome, Lesley Mathews, Richard Johnson, Dorothy Skrytek, Ian Cohen, Penny Walker, Michael Gerard and Rosy Townsend.
The upgrade on the Vanguard Class submarine is part of a programme of planned works to improve the Royal Navy's fleet.
The overhaul includes "refuelling" the submarines.
A new reactor core made by engineers at Rolls-Royce's marine division, in Raynesway, will be supplied to HMS Vengeance.
The core is the energy source that powers the 15,000 tonne vessel.
Rolls-Royce declined to comment on its involvement in the overhaul, which will be carried out at Devonport Dockyard, in Plymouth, where HMS Vengeance has been moored since the start of the month.
But speaking during a visit to the dockyard yesterday, Mr Hammond said that the work would secure more than 1,000 jobs at defence firm Babcock, a further 300 at other firms in Plymouth and another 700 jobs in the supply chain.
He said "As well as securing 2,000 UK jobs, this contract will ensure the nuclear deterrent submarine fleet can continue to operate safely and effectively to maintain a continuous at-sea deterrent.
"As we stabilise the defence budget we are increasingly able to commit to equipment projects to safeguard the UK's national security.
"Our White Paper published earlier this year said we would support key sovereign capabilities in British companies that help us to protect our national security and this contract is evidence of that commitment."
The reactor cores manufactured at Raynesway use uranium as the fuel, delivered to the site by the MoD.
Apart from testing new designs, the cores are not operated at the Derby site.
They are delivered to dockyards for installation in the submarines.
Nuclear-powered submarines work by gaining energy from a controlled nuclear reaction.
This reaction in the reactor compartment produces enormous heat energy.
This heat is channelled through a piping system that then heats water in a second, separate circuit of pipes. The heated water turns to steam, which passes through a turbine to power the submarine's propulsion drive. The steam also provides internal electric power via a turbine-driven generator.
Rear Admiral Simon Lister, director of submarines for the MoD, said: "The highly sophisticated nature of the work involved in the deep maintenance of these magnificent vessels is testament to the experience and skills of the workforce across the UK."
The Vanguard class of submarines carry the Trident nuclear deterrent.
Yesterday afternoon, members of the anti-Trident group, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, gathered outside Rolls-Royce's Raynesway site to protest against the Government's nuclear defence spending.
The group held a similar protest outside the Houses of Parliament during the Budget last week.
CND believes that government cash would be better spent on other industries and has suggested a "conversion of skills" to "peaceful and sustainable uses".
Rosie Townsend, from the East Midlands branch of CND, said: "The Government will not decide until 2016 whether it will keep the deterrent yet it is still investing in it right now.
"This money could be better invested in green energy alternatives, which would utilise the skills at companies like Rolls-Royce."
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