SSN Reactor Training Australians: US & UK Official Info

Somewhere in far north Scotland's "Dounraey" civilian-military nuclear complex is the Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment (NRTE) where Australians will spend some of their training time. More see "Pete Comments" below. 
(Photo courtesy "Guinnog" via Wiki)

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I’ve been keyword searching “Australia nuclear submarine” in the green Search boxes of UK House of Lords Hansard discussions. Yielding:

On 4 July 2022:     

Lord West of Spithead [of Labour Party asked]

 

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to train Australian naval officers in the Royal Navy nuclear programme in a similar way to the US Navy with their Australia–U.S. Submarine Officer Pipeline Act. [see details of that US Act in Pete Comments below]

Baroness Goldie  Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip), The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence [responded]

There are existing arrangements for training non-UK national Navy personnel, including the Royal Australian Navy, as part of Royal Navy training programmes.

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[More significantly] On 19 July 2022: 

Lord West of Spithead [of Labour asked]

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Goldie on 4 July ("HL1126") [and HL1254 above], whether there are existing arrangements in place to train foreign officers in operating Royal Navy submarine nuclear power plants.

Baroness Goldie Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip), The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence [responded]

 

"The Royal Navy (RN) routinely provides training to foreign Nationals through International Defence Training arrangements.

 

Under the AUKUS arrangements, this now includes the attendance of Australian personnel on RN Nuclear Propulsion training courses. The operation of RN nuclear submarine propulsion plants by Australian personnel remains subject to further enabling work."

Pete Comments

1.  On UK training see Marine Nuclear Power expert Peter Lobner’s website containing quite a large July 2018 PDF Document. Page 19 to 21 of that PDF details the UK's "Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment (NRTE)". That PDF provides better photos and labels - as only Lobner's American website could. At NRTE Dounreay Australian military and civilian personnel are likely to receive some of their nuclear submarine reactor and related training. 

2.  US training - its news to me that there is a “Australia–U.S. Submarine Officer Pipeline Act”. For information see US Congressman Gallagher's, AUKUS Working Group...New Bill [Text of the Bill] June 15, 2022” Press Release: 

“…The new bipartisan bill will establish a joint training pipeline between the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Navy, and will enable the start of U.S.-based training of Commanding Officers for Australia’s future fleet of nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS alliance…. 

...To prepare for the successful operation of future undersea capabilities, the bill establishes an exchange program between the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Navy to integrate and train Australian sailors for the operation and maintenance of nuclear-powered submarines….”

I'll keep on searching US Congress and UK Houses of Commons and Lords Hansards for relevant matters.

Part Time Astute Visits to Australia After 2027?

UK Defence Chief, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, in Sydney until Wednesday July 27, 2022 perhaps to discuss Astute availability. (Photo courtesy Ben Birchall/PA via UK Telegraph).
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The Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter has contributed useful details that may support the possibility of an Astute being part-time based in Australia in years to come - some details below. This may be more possible after 2027 when all seven Astutes should have been commissioned.

SNAFU article Rumour Astute(s) to be based in Australia! carries a Daily Mail report along the lines that the UK Chief of Defence, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, may discuss, at a naval conference in Sydney week beginning July 25, 2022, basing Astute(s) in Australia.

Below this Rumour, Anonymous commented:

“I don't know what naval conference is on in Sydney next week?”

Where this is going is that the Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter (APDR) subsequently reports, July 25, 2022:

“The 24th annual Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defense (CHODs) Conference will be held in Sydney from 25 to 27 July 2022…Thirty countries have been invited, with participants representing the Indo-Pacific, Europe, North American and South American regions and other counterparts…”

Pete Comment

This Conference provides the setting for UK Admiral Radakin to privately confer with his Australian opposite number General Angus Campbell, the RAN and “SSN” Taskforce on part-time Astute availability at Fleet Base West, Australia. 

Note, this would be a private room discussion and not openly discussed at the main meeting of the Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defense. 

The results of an Astute discussion are unlikely to come out this year, but when the Taskforce reports in March 2023.

Donor Report: UK & Australian Future SSNs Will Need VPMs

Hi Donors

I've just sent you a new report "UK and Australian Future SSNs Will Need VPMs." 

It may have ended up in the email Spam directories of some Donors, please check.

Enjoy.

Pete

Newsflash: Anna Kournikova better looking than Pete

Anna Kournikova photo courtesy Dreshare.
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Watching tennis, particularly females playing it, is my only sport, other than tour de France. Anna Kournikova is a favourite. Born in cold, unsmiling, Moscow - she's had the good fortune to live in sunny Miami for years. I admit she’s so much better looking than my old mug. The beauty of blogging allows me to shape shift between humans and cuddly animals - so I'll use that to the full. Even though Anna's an ex-professional tennis player she's still got the tan. Enjoy the photos.

Anna at Wimbledon 2002 (Photo courtesy The Guardian)

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Anna, the supermodel (above) better looking than Claudia Schiffer.
(Anna photo courtesy LYRICSTON(dot)com).
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Anna loving her Miami pool, courtesy TennisWorldUSA(dot)org.
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Rumour Astute(s) to be based in Australia!

As the Daily Mail is not a newspaper of public record, I'll believe the following if/when officially announced. Might it pan out to be one Astute part time given the lack of permanent SSN facilities at Fleet Base West?

Reported by UK's Daily Mail on July 22, 2022:

"Britain is to send a fleet of nuclear submarines to the Pacific in a decisive move to thwart Chinese aggression in the region.

The dramatic decision could see UK subs based in Australia until 2040, operating within striking distance of China.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the head of [UK] Armed Forces, will agree the arrangement at a naval conference in Sydney [week beginning July 25, 2022]. Assigning submarines to patrol the South China Sea will be Britain’s most assertive move yet against Beijing.

According to reports in Australia, Royal Navy submarines would be based at [Fleet Base West, Rockingham] on the country’s western coast and Australian submariners would be incorporated into British crews to improve their skills. 

…The Royal Navy declined to say last night how many of its submarines could be relocated to Australia, as all operational details surrounding Britain’s sub-surface fleet are classified.

…Last night the MoD said: ‘It is UK policy that we do not comment on matters relating to submarine activity or operations.’…”

China Worried: Australia's Nuclear Deterrent Urge

 

SNAFU has been discussing an Australian nuclear deterrent for several months now (on March 11, 2022, many later comments, also July 7, 2022 and July 8, 2022). 

It appears China is taking notice. 

While Australia's deterrent may only be a "paper" computer simulated, urge at this stage, this presents the worry to China that is intended. If China continues its aggressive trend Australia will continue to develop nuclear precursors. Possibly relevant - scroll down HERE to check out this Australian rocket/missile launch vehicle due to be used this year.

The following article reflects China's worry.

Australia's Government owned ABC News reports, July 21, 2022:

Beijing warns AUKUS submarine project sets a 'dangerous precedent' and threatens non-proliferation

By foreign affairs reporter Stephen Dziedzic

Posted Thu 21 Jul 2022 at 2:04pm, updated Thu 21 Jul 2022 at 11:26pm

The AUKUS deal is expected to see nuclear-powered submarines entering service for Australia in the 2040s. (US Indo-Pacific Command)

China's government is ramping up its campaign against Australia's push to build nuclear-powered submarines with the United States and the United Kingdom, publishing a new report which declares the project is a grave risk to non-proliferation and warns that Australia may be intent on developing nuclear weapons.

Key points:

• The report warns the submarine deal would set a "dangerous precedent" by allowing nuclear states to transfer weapons-grade nuclear materials to a non-nuclear state
• It also claims Australia remains intent on acquiring nuclear weapons
• China has been rapidly expanding its own nuclear weapons arsenal in recent years

Two Chinese "think tanks" — the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association and China Institute of Nuclear Industry Strategy — held a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday with a host of state media outlets to launch the report, which is titled: A Dangerous Conspiracy: The Nuclear Proliferation Risk of the Nuclear-powered Submarines Collaboration in the Context of AUKUS.

The lengthy report berates Australia, the US and the UK for setting a "dangerous precedent" with AUKUS because it would allow nuclear states to transfer weapons-grade nuclear materials to a non-nuclear state for the first time.

"In addition, it ferments potential risks and hazards in multiple aspects such as nuclear security, arms race in nuclear submarines and missile technology proliferation, with a profound negative impact on global strategic balance and stability," the report reads.

Richard McGregor from the Lowy Institute said both think tanks were "part of the broader fabric of the Chinese party-state" — rather than independent entities — and that the report was part of an orchestrated campaign against AUKUS by the Chinese government.

"The [Chinese government] has long been campaigning on this and this report simply tries to flesh out their argument, add weight to it, and give them a document they can distribute to any country they want around the world to make their case," he said.

"Any roadblocks they can put in the way of AUKUS, they will put them there. We should expect this thing to happen for the next decade or so. China won't let up."

AUKUS plan revealed by March

Australia's future nuclear submarine plans are expected to be unveiled early next year, with the government also looking to detail its moves to fix a looming capability gap.

Read more

Australia has already boosted resources in both Canberra and Vienna to help bolster its diplomatic defences against Russian and Chinese campaigns against the project.

However, Mr McGregor said the "uncomfortable fact" for Australia was that China "had an argument to make" when it pointed out that AUKUS would set a new precedent.

"I don't doubt Australia will strictly follow rules on non-proliferation [and] that nuclear grade material will be locked up inside the submarines for the life of the vessels and won't be used to make nuclear weapons," he said.

"But the Chinese can argue that once the US and the UK can do this for Australia, then any other nuclear country — say Russia — could say, 'OK, we can transfer similar material to, say, Iran for use in their submarines'," he said.

"Now we might rightly trust Australia to handle this material correctly, but would we trust Iran to use it according to global rules? And there might be a different answer to those two questions."

Claims Australia wants nuclear weapons

The Chinese government report also makes more-outlandish claims that Australia remains intent on acquiring nuclear weapons, citing the federal government's "obsessive pursuit" of the technology back in the 1950s and 1960s under the Menzies government.

"Given the fact that Australia already has a body of nuclear weapons-related knowledge accumulated historically and that it will get into its hands nuclear-capable delivery systems, once the country takes the desperate step to develop nuclear weapons again, the lead time to a nuclear breakthrough will be too short for the international community to respond effectively," the report says.

It also says that nuclear weapons advocates in Australian academia have "resurged" recently, but only cites two recent articles to support that claim.

One of the two articles quoted does not even directly advocate for Australia to acquire nuclear weapons.

China is rapidly expanding its arsenal of weapons, including nuclear-capable missiles and warheads.(AP: Mark Schiefelbein)

Mr McGregor said the suggestion that there was a serious push within official and academic circles for Australia to acquire nuclear weapons was "obviously not true" and that the report's authors had "picked through" articles and the historical record to present a distorted narrative.

"We can't even manage to get a consensus about having nuclear energy reactors. The idea we are going to rapidly become a nuclear weapon state is not credible," he said.

He also said it was worth noting the report was silent on China's rapid expansion of its own nuclear weapons arsenal.

"You're not going to get a balanced debate out of think tanks which are effectively arms of the Chinese party-state," he said. 

"We shouldn't be surprised by that and we shouldn't expect it.

"China complains relentlessly about the military build-up of other countries, say Japan for example, while its own military build-up dwarfs that of every other country around them."

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said there were "numerous incorrect assertions" in the report.

"Australia, the US and the UK will implement the strongest possible non-proliferation standards to maintain the strength and integrity of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime in relation to nuclear-powered submarines," they said.

"The government has been very clear that Australia does not and will not seek nuclear weapons.

"Australia's decision to acquire conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines is something we are pursuing openly and transparently."