France Orders Nuclear Sub Base Security Investigation

France on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into security at a nuclear submarine base off its western coast following a report that the ultra-sensitive site could easily be targeted by terrorists.

Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has ordered an immediate review of the ground, maritime and aerial security of the base on Ile Longue, an island off the Britanny coast, officials said.

The move follows a report in the regional daily Telegramme de Brest detailing a string of shortcomings in security at the base.

According to the newspaper, it can be accessed by anyone who has an easy-to-copy identity badge, and there is no system of biometric identification of staff via their irises or fingerprints.

For vehicles, a simple piece of paper with a few basic details is sufficient to get past checkpoints and, as a result of ongoing upgrading work, trucks entering the site have not been subject to systematic checks.

The paper also noted that a large number of the 115 military police deployed to protect the site were part-time volunteers, many of whom were young, inexperienced and poorly paid.

Putin: Russia to Continue Rearmament of Submarine Base at Kamchatka

Russia will continue rearmament of submarine base in the forbidden town of Vilyuchinsk, Kamchatka Peninsula, said Russian president Vladimir Putin appearing in the Parliament.

"Russia should have two bases for our strategic submarine force, one in European part, and one in the Far East. That will form very powerful and essential balance in maintaining our national security. These two clusters are located remotely, which is of great military strategic significance", reports Interfax citing Putin.

He emphasized that nuclear submarine force would develop and receive new nuclear missile subs under the national defense strengthening and rearmament program.

"Indeed, we do have rearmament plans, including those for Vilyuchinsk naval base, and they will be implemented, everything is up to schedule", Putin said.

Living conditions of submariners will be improved as well, added the president.

According to RIA Novosti, the up-to-date naval base accommodating nuclear-powered submarines was established in Vilyuchinsk in 2010.

Carwyn Jones: Wales would welcome nuclear submarines

Britain's nuclear-armed submarines would be "more than welcome" in Wales if they left Scotland, First Minister Carwyn Jones has said.

The SNP government in Edinburgh wants the fleet removed from its base on the west coast of Scotland.

At question time in the Senedd, Mr Jones suggested the nuclear deterrent could come to Pembrokeshire if forced to look for a home elsewhere.

But the UK government said it had no plans to move from HM Naval Base Clyde.

This week it awarded a £1.1bn contract for reactor cores.

Missiles

Britain has four Royal Navy Vanguard submarines, based at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde, which can deploy Trident ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads.

Quote

“There will be more than a welcome for that fleet and those jobs in Milford Haven” Carwyn Jones First Minister

Mr Jones, who will be in Scotland for a meeting of British and Irish ministers on Friday, was asked about the potential to invest in Welsh ports.

He said: "I did notice the Scottish government no longer wishes to have the nuclear submarine base at Faslane, it no longer wishes to house the UK naval nuclear fleet.

"There will be more than a welcome for that fleet and those jobs in Milford Haven."

Milford Haven is a natural deep water port that handles around a fifth of the UK's energy through oil and gas imports.

At the weekend the Scottish government said it was "firmly committed to the earliest possible withdrawal of Trident from Scotland".

It said independence is the only constitutional option that would give it the power to remove Trident from Scottish waters.

The Welsh government later said Mr Jones's comments had nothing to do with the SNP's referendum on Scottish independence and that he was a "staunch supporter" of the union.

A spokesman said: "The first minister recognises the substantial economic benefits of relocating Britain's nuclear submarine to west Wales.

'Boost'

"There would be more than a welcome in Wales for this kind of economic boost, which would bring thousands of high quality, well paid jobs to the area.

"The first minister is of the view that he would be neglecting his duty to do what he can to boost the Welsh economy he were to dismiss the possibility of bringing these jobs to Wales."

There was an angry response to his suggestion from Plaid Cymru politicians and activists.

Writing on Twitter, Plaid AM Jonathan Edwards said: "This is a hugely significant development.

"Milford is a huge energy portal. LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) and nukes don't go together."

The UK government insists a final decision on replacing the Trident nuclear deterrent will not be taken until 2016 - after the next general election.

The Ministry of Defence says the £1.1bn reactor core contract announced recently secures 300 jobs at Rolls-Royce and will fund an 11-year refurbishment of its plant at Raynesway in Derby.

In response to Mr Jones's suggestion to move the nuclear submarines to Wales, an MoD spokesperson said: "The government is clear that Scotland benefits from being part of the UK and the UK benefits from having Scotland within it.

"No plans for independence are being made as the government is confident that people in Scotland will continue to support the UK in any referendum.

"We are therefore not making plans to move the nuclear deterrent from HM Naval Base Clyde.

"The government is committed to maintaining a continuous submarine-based nuclear deterrent and has begun the work of replacing our existing submarines."

Australia - Abbott not ready for submarine decision

Buying off-the-shelf nuclear powered submarines from overseas is an interesting proposal but not something the coalition could make a call on from opposition, Leader Tony Abbott says.

The option was suggested at a community forum in Adelaide on Thursday as a way of saving money and modernising Australia's maritime defences.

Mr Abbott said his preference was always to have maritime defence project work done in Australia.

But he said the opposition did not have access to all the necessary information to take a firm stand on all the options available.

"That's an interesting proposal that's been put," he told the gathering of about 200 voters in the Adelaide seat of Hindmarsh.

"My preference would be to do things in Australia and my preference would be to do things in South Australia when it comes to submarines.

"But it would be irresponsible of a government not to very, very carefully weigh what is in our best long-term defence interests as well as what is in our best long-term industrial interests," he said.

The federal government recently allocated $214 million to the design phase for the Navy's next fleet of submarines which will replace the six existing Collins Class vessels.

It is considering four options - a military off-the-shelf design adapted to local standards and assembled in Australia, an off-the-shelf design complemented by Australian combat communications and weapons systems, a derivative of the Collins Class submarines or a brand new design.

Mr Abbott said the opposition would wait to see what the government decided but described the funding allocation as a way of putting off making a decision.

He said while the government continued with more studies, the existing submarine fleet was barely operational

US nuclear sub ablaze in Portsmouth shipyard

Six fire crew members were injured while trying to quell a massive blaze that engulfed the nuclear-powered submarine USS Miami. The sub was being serviced at a shipyard in New Hampshire, just next to the city of Portsmouth.

­Crews from at least three states worked for six hours at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, but only just managed to stop the fire from spreading.

Workers from the dry docks where the submarine was maintained, had to be evacuated when its living quarters turned into a scorching inferno on Wednesday evening.

Four of the six firefighters injured have received treatment, shipyard officials reported.

The fire broke out in the forward compartment of the submarine, where the ship’s living quarters and command and control center are located.

US Navy handout of the USS Miami submarine docked in Portsmouth (Reuters / Handout)

US Navy handout of the USS Miami submarine docked in Portsmouth (Reuters / Handout)

The sub’s reactor in the rear part of the vessel was not affected and no radiation leak was detected, authorities insist. It was not operating at the time the fire started.

The nuclear reactor “remains in a safe and stable condition, as it has been since this event occurred,” shipyard spokesman Capt. Bryant Fuller said.

He added no weapons are onboard the submarine.

The USS Miami is a Los Angeles-Class attack sub that was launched in 1988 and commissioned. It has been in dry dock since March 1 for maintenance and upgrades.

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is located on an island in Kittery, a town next to Portsmouth, which has a population of more than 20 thousand.

New Pier 31 Opens At Groton Sub Base

Gov. Dannel Malloy helped cut the ribbon Thursday on the new Pier 31, a $36 million investment at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton.

The 500-foot-long, 65-foot-wide pier was paid for by the Navy and is double the width of the pier it replaced.

Malloy said the state has an additional $29 million that it could invest if the Navy brought forward projects.

“Quite frankly, if you could get something going next week, I’d come and break ground for it,” he said Thursday.

The submarine base has been a focus of discussion lately because the defense department indicated another round of BRAC might be coming. BRAC stands for "Base Realignment and Closure Commission", and its makes recommendations about which bases should close.

Groton’s sub base was targeted for partial closure during BRAC in 1993 and total closure in 2005, but congressional leaders and the community organized and prevented the cuts.

Congressional leaders have said another BRAC will not pass Congress and is "dead on arrival". But Bob Ross, executive director of the Connecticut Office of Military Affairs, has said he believes 2014 and 2015 remain on the table, even if BRAC is avoided in the short term.

Groton’s sub base is home to 15 attack submarines and 22,000 active duty military, reservists, retirees and civilian employees.

Malloy said the state is committed to its relationship with the Navy and base.

In September 2009, Connecticut invested $7.65 million to support construction of a new Diver Support Facility and to modernize a boiler at the power plant at the base. In December 2010, the state made a second investment of $3.22 million to support a culinary training center and add to Nimitz Hall.

Malloy and Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman toured the culinary area Thursday, which replicates a galley kitchen in a Virginia-class submarine.

Malloy said these financial commitments, along with the $10 million investment at Electric Boat in Groton, exemplify the relationship between the Navy and the state.

“This relationship is important to all the people of Connecticut because it represents our history, it represents our pride in our military and it represents our future,” he said.