FURIOUS Navy chiefs ordered an investigation last night after workers on a Trident submarine risked disaster — by gluing broken bolts onto a nuclear reactor.
The bodged repairs to vital cooling pipes were only discovered when a bolt fell off during checks inside the reactor chamber aboard 16,000-tonne HMS Vanguard.
Workers on a Trident submarine risked disaster by gluing broken bolts onto a nuclear reactor
Bodged repairs to vital cooling pipes were discovered aboard 16,000-tonne HMS Vanguard
HMS Vanguard’s dodgy repairs
It has been sheared off through clumsy over-tightening but, instead of reporting the damage and taking the time to bore out the broken shafts, civilian staff at defence contractor Babcock glued the heads back on.
They reported a procedural glitch — known as a process of work issue — but kept quiet on details including the bolts and glue.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace demanded a meeting and “assurances about future work” after HOAR raised the alarm.
A Navy source said he was furious Babcock, one of the UK’s biggest defence contractors, failed to come clean with the Navy.
They said: “It’s a disgrace. You can’t cut corners with nuclear. Standards are standards. Nuclear standards are never compromised.”
The damage was done during a dry dock refurbishment and refuel at HMNB Devonport, Plymouth.
The work, which began in 2015, is nearly four years late and £300million over budget.
Chronic delays have forced crews of HMS Vengeance, HMS Victorious and HMS Vigilance, the remaining three Trident 2 nuclear missile subs, to endure lengthy patrols.
The Dreadnought class will replace them — carrying the UK’s nuclear deterrent — from 2028.
The glued bolts — there were at least seven — held insulation in place on coolant pipes which prevent a Chernobyl-style meltdown.
They were found this month before engineers were due to fire up the reactor to full power for the first time.
Investigators are trawling records to work out when it happened and who was responsible.
Workers always operate in pairs as part of nuclear safety protocols.
The Dreadnought class will replace the Trident nuclear missile subs
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace demanded a meeting and ‘assurances about future work’ after HOAR raised the alarm
The MoD said: “As part of a planned inspection a defect was found from work done when HMS Vanguard was in dry dock.
“It was promptly reported and fixed.
“In light of the issue, the Secretary of State spoke with the chief executive office of Babcock to seek assurances about future work.”
Navy sources said there were “no nuclear safety issues” and the reactor would not have exploded had the damage not been found.
Former sub captain Cdr Ryan Ramsay said: “This is a massive trust issue for Babcock and the Royal Navy to resolve.
“It makes you wonder what else has been done poorly.
“Damage like this should’ve been picked up by quality control way before this late stage inspection.
“The time pressure created by falling way behind programme may have caused this behaviour.”
Babcock has multi-billion contracts to maintain the Royal Navy’s Astute and Vanguard sub fleets at HMNB Clyde in Scotland and overhauls at Devonport.
It said: “Any quality related issue is a huge disappointment, but our own robust inspection processes discovered the issue.
“There was no safety or operational impact from the work.
Rolls-Royce, which makes and maintains the reactors, said pipe lagging was Babcock’s responsibility.
