By Rob Harris
A significant fire has broken out at a nuclear submarine shipyard in north-west England, threatening to cause major delays to the rollout of Australia’s $380 billion AUKUS deal.
A screengrab of a live video of the fire at the BAE Systems dock in Barrow-in-Furness, England.Credit: Facebook/Moses Brown
Videos and pictures posted on social media showed flames and smoke at the 150-year-old BAE Systems facility in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. The British defence giant – known for designing, developing and manufacturing weapons – has built and assembled the nation’s nuclear submarines on site since 1963.
Police said two people were taken to hospital and advised residents nearby to remain indoors while urging there was “no nuclear risk” to the community. A coastal town of 67,000 people on the fringes of the Lake District, Barrow has been a manufacturing town since the 19th century.
Local media reported the fire was believed to have started at Devonshire Dock Hall, the vast complex where both Vanguard-class submarines and the state-of-the-art Astute-class submarines were built. Covering about 2.4 hectares, the hall is the second-largest indoor shipbuilding complex of its kind in Europe.
It is also where the first SSN-AUKUS boats – the largest, most powerful and advanced attack submarines the Australian and British navies have ever operated – will be designed and built.
Australian politicians, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Defence Minister Richard Marles, have been regular visitors to the site in the past two years since the announcement of the Australia, UK and US deal.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tours the BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, England, in May 2023.Credit: Jenny Magee
The federal government has described AUKUS as the “biggest procurement” in Australia’s history, with estimates suggesting it could cost 0.15 per cent of gross domestic product between now and the mid-2050s.
Under the deal, Australia will buy two second-hand nuclear-powered Virginia-class boats in the early 2030s, with a third arriving towards the end of that decade.
The BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow-In-Furness, England.Credit: Bloomberg
The UK and Australia are also working on their own joint submarine project, known as SSN-AUKUS, with the custom-built nuclear-powered fleet to enter service in the late 2030s in the UK and early 2040s in Australia.
The Australian Department of Defence was monitoring early reports of the blaze and seeking further information, a federal government source said.
BAE said in a statement it was working with emergency services to deal with the blaze at the site, which employs 12,500 workers.
“Two colleagues have been taken to hospital having suffered suspected smoke inhalation. At this time there are no other casualties and everyone else has been evacuated from the Devonshire Dock Hall and are accounted for,” the company said.
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