Z-Berth

The Z-Berth is a specially designated mooring area where nuclear powered warships are permitted to berth.

Compare with X-Berth, which is an operational naval base, or a building and refitting yard, such as those at Faslane or Coulport.

A Z-Berth is a location deemed suitable by the Defence Nuclear Safety Committee for operational visits or stand offs by nuclear powered warships. The area must comply with a set of requirements which set out the criteria for such berths, including the availability of local facilities, risks to the population, availability and proximity to specialised resources, the preparation of emergency management plans, and availability of suitably qualified personnel to manage the facility.

17 Z-Berths were listed in Scotland in 1995, but this number has dropped fairly quickly, with only six reported active in 2000.

The berths are used for port visits and operational activity. Apart from arrival and departure, the reactor plant will not normally be run at high power and reactor plant maintenance is not permitted. Warships using these berths would be expected to be unarmed and not carrying nuclear weapons, which would entail an entirely different, higher level of security than these relatively public locations could be expected to provide.

In 1989, in response to a question, the The Secretary of State for Defence provided the following description:

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 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.

- House of Commons Hansard,

The same 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 italicised. Barry is uncertain as there is a Barry in Angus and a Barry in Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. Both are coastal, and both are near dockyards.

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. ^[1]

List of Scottish Z-Berths c. 1995

The following list ignores the earlier and more obscure 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 active at the time of writing, click the link to open the map marker:

Z-Berth usage

Scottish Z-berth usage in days 1992 to 1994.^[2]

Z-berth	1992	1993	1994
Broadford bay	0	0	0
Brodick bay	0	0	0
Campbeltown	0	0	1
Coulport	51	94	66
Dales Voe	0	0	0
Dalgety bay	0	0	0
Firth of Forth	0	0	0
Glen Mallan	0	0	0
Holy loch	0	0	0
Lerwick	0	0	0
Loch Ewe	0	0	0
Loch Goil	3	14	14
Loch Striven	0	0	0
Portree	0	1	0
Raasay	0	0	0
Rothesay	0	3	0

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..^[3]

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.