Above are the UK RN's 4 Resolution class SSBN's laid up, awaiting decommissioning at Rosyth Dockyard. Photo courtesy Navy Lookout - this also has an excellent table revealing 9 UK SSNs, though laid up are still "Fuelled" along with other decommissioning don'ts. One, HMS Splendid, has been bobbing away in saltwater, at Devonport, ever more rusty, but still fuelled, since 2003-2004.
---
Anonymous, on March 14, 2021, made some interesting comments regarding the huge training and decommissioning costs of SSNs. Also Australian conventional submarines have their advantages. My response is:
Yes Lucas Heights, already surrounded by Sydney suburbs (and vulnerable to large aircraft strikes) would need a $multi-billion expansion in facilities and much more land for an enlarged exclusion zone. The 100,000s of Sydneysiders surrounding Lucas not only would be reminded a reactor is in their midst but forthrightly nail any government trying to expand nuclear facilities within Australia’s largest city. The same goes for anyone suggesting Australian SSNs could be even temporarily berthed in Fleet Base East (Sydney Harbour).
-
- more problematically 100km from Fleet Base West/Rockingham which is a southern
district of Perth (100km north of south is in even more intensive farm, holidaymaker areas.
Just one west coast basic nuclear and naval nuclear engineering university might Only need 2,000 students and 5,000 support staff on a 40 square km campus, surrounded by maybe 15,000 dependents. That is if its anything like US Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Yes Australia has had great difficulty captaining and crewing just 6 conventional subs (SSKs). I'm always concerned about politicians of aiming at a 12 SSK force. Maybe 12 is intentionally large to be whittled down to 8, just like a projected 10 Collins became 6.
I suspect Australian SSKs expert in ambush in the narrows and shallows compliment blue water US SSNs.
Yes Australia should note well the UK's inability (due to cost) to decommission any of its rusty, radioactive, laid up fleet of old nuclear subs. At least 7 of them bobbing away at Rosyth Dockyard (see photo above). As at August 2019 20 UK nuclear subs were awaiting decommissioning - laid up at Rosyth and Devonport.[32] Even their first nuclear sub, HMS Dreadnought, laid up for 41 years.
With "The cost of building and operating nuclear reactors is nothing compared to the cost of getting rid of them." I wonder if the US and France have had any problems decommissioning their nuclear subs?