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Z-Berth

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See also X-Berth

A Z-Berth is a berth designated for occasional operational or recreational visits by nuclear-powered warships.

1989 listing

The definition was given in Hansard, Written Answers, May 5, 1989:

Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the purpose of a Z-berth ; if Z-berths have permanent safety precautions against radiological hazards ; and if he will publish in the Official Report the locations of all the Z-berths in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Archie Hamilton : A Z-berth is a berth designated for occasional operational or recreational visits by nuclear-powered warships. Its safety arrangements will include a public safety scheme prepared after discussion with the local authorities and civil emergency services, which will provide for a Royal Naval incident commander and a naval emergency monitoring team in the area to stand by throughout any such visit to respond to an emergency. The monitoring team has access to a supply of potassium iodate tablets, and carries out monitoring during the visit.

The United Kingdom Z-Berths are at Barrow-in-Furness, Barry, Brodick bay, Campbeltown, Cardiff, Coulport and Loch Long, Devonport and Plymouth Sound, Faslane, the Firth of Forth, Glen Mallan, Lamlash bay, Lerwick harbour and the Shetland Isles, Liverpool, Loch Ewe, Loch Fyne, Loch Goil, Loch Striven, Portland, Portree, Portsmouth, Raasay (Broadford bay), Rosyth, Rothesay, Southampton, Spithead, Thurso bay and Torbay.

© UK Parliament ⚠ [^House of Commons Hansard Debates for 5 May 1989 Retrieved April 04, 2009^]

1991 listing

A similar question in 1991 produced the following list:

Mr. Menzies Campbell

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the locations of all Z-berth sites in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Kenneth Carlisle

United Kingdom Z-berths, including buoys and anchorages, are at:

(Scottish sites are shown in italics. Barry is assumed to be Barry, South Wales.)

  • Barrow-in-Furness
  • Barry
  • Broadford Bay
  • Brodick Bay
  • Campbeltown
  • Cardiff
  • Coulport
  • Dales Voe
  • Devonport and Plymouth Sound
  • Faslane
  • The Firth of Forth
  • Glen Mallan
  • Holy Loch
  • Lamlash Bay
  • Lerwick
  • Liverpool
  • Loch Ewe
  • Loch Fyne
  • Loch Goil
  • Loch Long
  • Loch Na Beiste
  • Loch Striven
  • Portland
  • Portree
  • Portsmouth
  • Raasay
  • Rosyth
  • Rothesay
  • Southampton
  • Spithead
  • Thurso Bay
  • Torbay
- Hansard. ⚠ [^Hansard, May 2, 1991.^]

Portsmouth Naval Base description

In a reply to Southampton City Council fax received in 1999, the Naval Base Commander Portsmouth, provided a detailed description of the purpose of a Z-Berth.

Although the council fax is not included, it is significant to note that the response includes a section which is clearly in response to a point regarding maintenance or repair, or to the granting of permission for a nuclear submarine with a damaged or leaking reactor.

NAVAL BASE COMMANDER PORTSMOUTH
Semaphore Tower
HM Naval Base
Portsmouth
Hants
PO1 3LT

Tel: 01705 7/Tel No 22007
Fax: 01705 7/Fax No 24041

Southampton City Council
Civic Centre
Southampton
SO14 7LY
(for Emergency Planning Officer)
2 Jun 99

SOUTHAMPTON NUCLEAR SUBMARINE Z BERTH

Reference:

A. Southampton City Council Fax dated 26 May 99

The purpose of Z berths is to provide submarine crewmembers with an opportunity to make occassional operational or recreational visits to port. Where circumstances permit, they can also be utilised to give the general public the opportunity to look round a nuclear powered submarine.

It is not and never has been MOD policy to use Z berths to carry out maintenance or repair of the submarine reactor or to provide a safe haven for a damaged nuclear powered warship. Entry with a leaking or damaged reactor would most certainly not be permitted.
- Letter to Southampton Council describing Z-Berth.⚠ [^Letter to Southampton Council describing Z-Berth Retrieved April 30, 2010.^]

List of Scottish Z-Berths c. 1995

In 1995, 17 Z-Berths were listed in Scotland (courtesy of the Scottish CND web site and its 2004 Fortress Scotland publication), but this number dropped fairly quickly thereafter, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in 1991, with only six Z-Berths being reported active by 2000.

The following table ignores the earlier and more obscure Z-Berths listed before 1995, which could not be identified as no records have been found to date which provide coordinates for their locations.

Bold locations are those known to active at the time of writing, and may be subject to change. Click the link in the first column to open the map marker:

Scottish Z-berth usage in days for the years 1992 to 1994 is also shown, as reported in Hansard, May 7, 1996.⚠ [^House of Commons Hansard, May 7, 1996.^]

Map markerZ-berthUsageScottish CND entry
  199219931994 
⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm NG654246 :) link='Broadford Bay, Skye, Z-Berth, inactive' :)Broadford bay000Broadford Bay Z-Berth
⚠ (:gma-point lat=55.5771802 lon=-5.1342201 link='Brodick Bay, Arran, Z-Berth, inactive' :)Brodick bay000Brodick Bay Z-Berth
⚠ (:gma-point lat=55.4165680 lon=-5.5720425 link='Campbeltown Loch, Z-Berth, inactive' :)Campbeltown001Campbeltown Loch Z-Berth
⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm NS210895 :) link='Coulport, Loch Long Z-Berth, active' :)Coulport519466Coulport depot
⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm HU412690 :) link='Dales Voe, Shetland, Z-Berth, inactive' :)Dales Voe000Dales Voe Z-Berth Dead link
⚠ (:gma-point lat=56.0326615 lon=-3.3351136 link='Dalgety Bay, Fife, Z-Berth, inactive' :)Dalgety bay000Dalgety Bay Loch Z-Berth
Firth of ForthFirth of Forth000 
⚠ (:gma-point lat=56.1308103 lon=-4.8189772 link='Glenmallan, Loch Long, Z-Berth, inactive' :)Glen Mallan000Glenmallan Z-Berth
⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm NS166805 :) link='Holy Loch, Z-Berth, inactive' :)Holy loch000Holy Loch note
⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm HU475414 :) link='Lerwick Harbour, Shetland, Z-Berth, inactive' :)Lerwick000Lerwick harbour Z-Berth Dead link
⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm NG87208765 :) link='Loch Ewe 2 Z-Berths N A T O - P O L Jetty, active' :)Loch Ewe000Loch Ewe Z-Berth
⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm NG84909040 :) link='Loch Ewe 2 Z-Berths A1 buoy, active' :)Loch Ewe000Loch Ewe Z-Berth
⚠ (:gma-point lat=56.1542900 lon=-4.9079300 link='Loch Goil Z-Berth, active' :)Loch Goil31414Loch Goil Z-Berth
⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm NS094711 :) link='Loch Striven, Z-Berth, inactive' :)Loch Striven000Loch Striven Z-Berth
⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm NG484432 :) link='Portree, Skye, Z-Berth, inactive' :)Portree010Portree Z-Berth
⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm NG596445 :) link='Raasay Z-Berth, inactive' :)Raasay000Raasay Z-Berth
⚠ (:gma-point lat=55.8430846 lon=-5.0560283 link='Rothesay, Isle of Bute, Z-Berth, active' :)Rothesay030Rothesay Z-Berth

REPPIR 2001

The requirements of the Radiation Emergency Preparedness and Public Information Regulations (REPPIR) 2001 meant that Z-Berths at commercial ports had temporarily ceased while the local authorities prepared and tested plans to comply with the regulations, work which is funded by the MoD.

Hansard reported a response by the Secretary of State with regard to Z-Berth status in 2006, which implied that only the Z-Berths at Broadford Bay, RNAD Coulport, Loch Ewe, and Loch Goil were still active then:

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the role of Z-berths; what the reasons are for reinstating them; and what criteria were used to choose locations for them. [55616]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 6 March 2006]: The Royal Navy has two kinds of nuclear submarine berths: X-berths at Devonport, Faslane and Barrow in Furness, which are the only places where maintenance on nuclear propulsion systems may be carried out; and Z-berths which are used for operational recuperation, material re-supply and personnel changeovers. Z-berths support the Royal Navy's ability to operate flexibly throughout UK waters, which is key to its contribution to the security of the UK homeland.

Until 2001, the Royal Navy could use Z-berths in Broadford Bay, Cardiff, RNAD Coulport, Hull, Liverpool, Loch Ewe, Loch Goil, Portland, Portsmouth and Southampton. With the introduction of the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations in 2001, responsibility for production of emergency planning arrangements transferred from the Ministry of Defence to the relevant local authority. The Royal Navy has therefore temporarily ceased use of Z-Berths in commercial ports to allow local authorities time to develop and test their own plans. The Ministry of Defence supports and pays for this work.

The following Z-berths are now covered by the necessary plans and are available for use by the Royal Navy: Broadford Bay, RNAD Coulport, Loch Ewe, Loch Goil and Portsmouth. The MOD is currently working with Southampton city council to finalise the emergency planning arrangements necessary to re-establish full Z-berth status in Southampton, and is discussing the planning requirements for the berth at Portland with Dorset county council and Weymouth and Portland borough council. Preliminary discussions have also been held with Sefton metropolitan borough council in Liverpool.

- Hansard, March 9, 2006.⚠ [^Hansard, March 9, 2006.^]

De-activations after 2000

Broadford Bay

On November 28, 2008, the Daily Record reported that the Royal Navy had asked the residents of Broadford to return their supplies of anti-radiation (iodine) tablets as the berth at Broadford Bay was no longer in use. Potassium iodide (KI tablets, or SSKI: Saturated Solution of KI liquid drops) can be given to people in a nuclear disaster area when fission has taken place, to block the uptake of radioactive iodine-131 by the thyroid.

References

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External links

Map

⚠ (:gma-map :)

⚠ [[!Z-Berth]]
⚠ [[!Summary]]

⚠ [[!Pending]]

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