The lethal legacy of Aukus nuclear submarines will remain for millennia – and there’s no plan to deal with it

Australia has been searching for a permanent site for low-level nuclear waste for nearly 30 years – about as long as the working life of its proposed nuclear-powered Aukus submarines. Composite: Victoria Hart/Guardian Design

In the cold deep waters of Rosyth Harbour lie the dormant hulks of Britain’s decommissioned nuclear submarines.

One of the shells lashed to the dock here is HMS Dreadnought, Britain’s first nuclear-powered submarine. It was commissioned in 1963, retired in 1980, and has spent decades longer tied to a harbour than it ever did in service. The spent nuclear fuel removed from its reactor remains in temporary storage.