Spain protests over British nuclear sub with reactor cooling system leak

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Friday 27 October 2000

Spain protests over leaking nuclear sub By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Strasbourg

SPAIN sent a rare protest note to the Foreign Office yesterday berating Britain for withholding information about the nuclear submarine Tireless, which has been stuck in Gibraltar for the past five months. Josep Pique, Madrid's Foreign Minister, said Britain had provided "insufficient" details about Tireless, which was towed into Gibraltar in May with a leak in its reactor cooler system.

He said the continued presence of Tireless near Spanish waters was "alarming". The protest came as Jose-Maria Aznar, Spain's Prime Minister, prepared to meet Tony Blair in Madrid today to discuss European Union issues. Last week the Royal Navy withdrew its entire fleet of 12 hunter-killer submarines, fearing that they had a systemic design fault.

The row over Tireless has led to the extraordinary sight of Gibraltar residents and neighbouring Spanish citizens protesting arm in arm against Britain, ending decades of mutual hostility.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=000122257519214&rtmo=kN1NN1op&atmo=YYYYYYbp&pg=/et/00/10/27/wsub27.html

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), October 27, 2000


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