Qa'dah 14, 1431 H/Oct 22, 2010, SPA -- A British nuclear-powered submarine has run aground near an island off the west coast of Scotland, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Friday. "This is a not a nuclear incident. We are responding to the incident and can confirm that there are no injuries to personnel and the submarine remains watertight. There is no indication of any environmental impact," dpa quoted the MoD statement as saying. The incident, involving the HMS Astute, happened near the Isle of Skye. The BBC said the ship had hit rocks. HMS Astute, which cost 3.5 billion pounds (5.4 billion dollars), was launched in 2007. Its Spearfish torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles are capable of delivering pin-point strikes from 2,000 kilometres away from the target. But an MoD spokesman said the ship carried no missiles and had been on patrol. The submarine's nuclear reactor means that it does not need refuelling during its entire 25-year life span, enabling it to circumnavigate the globe without coming up.
