DIO Sec-Sec PBFOI
Ms R Thompson
Secretariat
Defence Infrastructure Organisation
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Kingston Road
Sutton Coldfield
West Midlands
B75 7RL
Tel: +44 (0)121 311 2451
Fax: +44 (0)121 311 3809
E-mail: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xx
Ref. 07-02-2012-150021-003
www.mod.uk/DIO
6 March 2012
Dear Ms Thompson
Request for Information: Projectiles - Kirkcudbright
Thank you for your enquiry dated 7 February 2012. This was passed to the Defence Infrastructure
Organisation (DIO), the Ministry of Defence (MOD) body responsible for managing the defence
estate and has been dealt with under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
Your request appeared to be in relation to Kirkcudbright and Eskmeals, and you asked for the
known number of projectiles that have broken up over land, data on the number of projectile
rounds that have malfunctioned and the location is not known and details of the special sampling
that has been undertaken.
I can confirm that the MOD holds information that falls within the scope of your request.
The following reports have been identified that contain the information you are seeking.
• Record of Depleted Uranium Rounds Fired at Kirkcudbright Training Area 1982-2004.
(Please note that the Veterans Policy Unit mentioned in this report no longer act as a focal
point for depleted uranium munitions work.)
• Results of a Search for Information on Special Sampling During Testing of Depleted
Uranium Munitions at Kirkcudbright.
• Depleted Uranium Munitions and Assessment of the Potential Hazards.
• Proposal to Modify the Terrestrial Environmental Monitoring Programme for Depleted
Uranium at Kirkcudbright Training Area.
These reports are available in hardcopy, and consequentially need to be posted to you. Please
can you therefore provide a postal address.
Kirkcudbright was the firing range where strength of design and accuracy trials were carried out.
Strength of design testing is known to give rise to the greatest risk of round break-up. This testing
began at Raeberry firing point which is closest (within a few hundred metres) of the coast. The
intention being to minimise any chance of an impact on land through the momentum of the
depleted uranium rod being more than sufficient to carry any debris out to sea. Accuracy testing is
generally carried out only after an adequate strength of design has been demonstrated. This has
to be carried out over greater distances and is the testing most likely to give rise to a depleted
uranium rod landing on the range. Proof firing of depleted uranium munitions follows the
development phase. This involves sampling of a batch of munitions intended for battlefield use for
“quality control” purposes. Any round break-up or malfunction is extremely unlikely and this is
consistent with the absence of any malfunctions or monitoring during recent years. Penetration
testing at Eskmeals involves firing over relatively short distances so any malfunction would be
expected to result in any debris being contained within the specially designed butt or the
surrounding exclusion area.
In case it is of interest to you, the following link is to archived MOD web content that contains the
Environmental Surveys carried out between 2000 and 2004.
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.mod.uk:80/defenceinternet/aboutdefence/c
orporatepublications/healthandsafetypublications/uranium/
If you are not satisfied with this response or you wish to complain about any aspect of the handling
of your request, then you should contact me in the first instance. If informal resolution is not
possible and you are still dissatisfied then you may apply for an independent internal review by
contacting the Head of Corporate Information, 2nd Floor, MOD Main Building, Whitehall, SW1A
2HB (e-mail xxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xx ). Please note that any request for an internal review must be
made within 40 working days of the date on which the attempt to reach informal resolution has
come to an end.
If you remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you may take your complaint to the
Information Commissioner under the provisions of Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act.
Please note that the Information Commissioner will not investigate your case until the MOD
internal review process has been completed. Further details of the role and powers of the
Information Commissioner can be found on the Commissioner's website,
www.ico.gov.uk.
Yours sincerely
DIO Sec-Sec PBFOI