Babcock gets £114m deal for Trafalgar sub defuelling

Babcock International Group has secured a three-year, 114 million-pound contract from the Ministry of Defence to prepare for the first nuclear defuelling of a decommissioned Trafalgar-class submarine in more than two decades, according to a press release.

The work at Babcock’s Devonport dockyard in Plymouth will see the company collaborate with the Defence Nuclear Enterprise and industry partners to ready four laid-up boats for fuel removal, with defuelling activities scheduled to restart in 2026. Fuel extraction is a prerequisite for full dismantlement and will proceed alongside major infrastructure upgrades already under way at the yard.

Defence Procurement Minister Maria Eagle said the contract “underlines this Government’s commitment to responsibly manage the legacy of our nuclear submarine fleet.” She noted that the project will create more than 150 new jobs in the South West while meeting environmental obligations.

Babcock chief executive David Lockwood called the agreement an opportunity to “share knowledge and innovation across the wider submarine enterprise, while supporting more than 300 jobs in the wider supply chain.”

Sir Chris Gardner, chief executive of the Submarine Delivery Agency, described the deal as “a significant step towards the safe defuelling of the decommissioned submarines in Devonport, a crucial part of the UK’s commitment to fully dismantling the retired fleet in the most responsible way possible.”

In parallel, Babcock is running a demonstrator project at Rosyth that will see former HMS Swiftsure become the first UK nuclear-powered submarine to be fully dismantled. The company says that programme aims to recycle or reuse about 90 per cent of the vessel’s structure and components, informing future disposal of the entire retired nuclear fleet.