Radioactive Leaks At Clyde Sub Base

Photo by DVIDSHUB

Thanks to a Freedom Of Information request, the Royal Navy has admitted that it's submarines on the Clyde have been involved in three radioactive leaks in recent years. They informed the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency after each incident in 2004, 2007 and 2008, where contaminated water was discharged into the river by accident.

SEPA's response was that if Faslane was not a military base, it would have considered shutting it down. Unfortunately, SEPA have no powers over military bases.

So my first questions is, why not?? SEPA is charged with protecting the environment. Military bases are part of the environment. Just appending the word "military" to something shouldn't give it a status outside of the law.

My second question is, why does it take a FoI request to find this information out? Why didn't the Ministry of Defence inform the public at the time of the incidents?

How dangerous would the accident have to be before the populace would be informed?