:00:00. > :00:13.Over the next few weeks, we'll be bringing you in-depth
:00:14. > :00:15.reports on some of the best stories from around England.
:00:16. > :00:19.In Plymouth, we'll be hearing from the residents living
:00:20. > :00:24.with a nuclear waste dump in their neighbourhood.
:00:25. > :00:28.Could thousands of jobs have been saved in Redcar?
:00:29. > :00:37.And in Essex, we will be meeting the pianist scaling the heights
:00:38. > :00:53.Who would want to live next to a nuclear waste graveyard?
:00:54. > :00:56.Here in the south-west of England, a quarter of a million
:00:57. > :01:01.And nobody has ever really asked for their say-so.
:01:02. > :01:04.Scott Bingham investigates the reasons for 25 years
:01:05. > :01:05.of radioactive dumping here at Devonport dockyard
:01:06. > :01:31.And asks why an end is still not in sight.
:01:32. > :01:37.Every Monday morning at 11.30am, the Navy test the siren it would use
:01:38. > :01:45.People living here close to Devonport dockyard have
:01:46. > :01:49.But they hope this is the only time they will ever get to hear it.
:01:50. > :02:02.May God bless her and all who serve in her.
:02:03. > :02:05.The launch in 1960 of the first of Britain's fleet
:02:06. > :02:12.Their maintenance at Devonport dockyard has become a mainstay
:02:13. > :02:20.But each contains tonnes of radioactive steel and nuclear
:02:21. > :02:35.fuel and the problem that has never been solved completely is what to do
:02:36. > :02:37.Originally the Navy planned to send the vessels, minus their fuel,
:02:38. > :02:42.Right up until 1989 when it gave evidence to the House
:02:43. > :02:45.of Commons Defence Committee and also in 1991 it still held out
:02:46. > :02:52.that dumping, scuttling submarines, was a perfectly legitimate approach.
:02:53. > :02:55.It was ruled completely above board and since then there has been
:02:56. > :02:59.an absolute saga of indecisiveness, ineptitude and really,
:03:00. > :03:03.quite frankly, lost in the desert on behalf of the MoD and the Royal
:03:04. > :03:08.It is an issue which has long caused controversy,
:03:09. > :03:12.like the protests which greeted retiring HMS Conqueror
:03:13. > :03:17.when she sailed into Devonport for the last time.
:03:18. > :03:19.Campaigners made a grim prediction about the fate
:03:20. > :03:27.Are we going to be faced with seeing, in ten years' time,
:03:28. > :03:29.HMS Conqueror still moored up with two or three submarines
:03:30. > :03:34.Even they never imagined that 25 years later,
:03:35. > :03:40.Conqueror would still be moored at Devonport and that she would be
:03:41. > :03:48.joined by 11 more retired and contaminated subs.
:03:49. > :03:50.So why has Plymouth ended up with this radioactive graveyard?
:03:51. > :03:53.The most dangerous part of the submarine is its radioactive
:03:54. > :03:59.In the early days that was removed and sent by train to Sellafield in
:04:00. > :04:05.But in 2002, the nuclear safety regulator ruled that the method used
:04:06. > :04:13.So eight of the retired subs still have that fuel on board.
:04:14. > :04:16.A new facility is now being built at Devonport.
:04:17. > :04:20.When completed, it will sit above the retired subs allowing
:04:21. > :04:25.access to their reactor compartments.
:04:26. > :04:29.Their fuel will then be removed and sent on its 400 mile rail
:04:30. > :04:35.The contaminated vessels which house the fuel could also
:04:36. > :04:41.But where that would end up is unclear.
:04:42. > :04:43.The Government wants to create an underground storage site
:04:44. > :04:48.A hugely controversial idea that is decades
:04:49. > :04:57.In the meantime, are the subs and their contents a risk?
:04:58. > :05:00.The MoD did not want to be interviewed for this film
:05:01. > :05:03.and in a statement it said retired subms are stored safely and securely
:05:04. > :05:10.under a strict schedule of maintenance and inspection.
:05:11. > :05:18.John Large is an internationally renowned nuclear consultant.
:05:19. > :05:20.He says the mere fact of where the subs are breaks
:05:21. > :05:22.a fundamental rule of nuclear safety.
:05:23. > :05:25.The first rule of nuclear power is to separate the radioactivity
:05:26. > :05:28.from the public and that is done in two ways.
:05:29. > :05:32.One by containment structures and the second is to keep
:05:33. > :05:40.Of course, you break that rule in Devonport because the public,
:05:41. > :05:43.250,000 or so souls in Plymouth, are crowned around
:05:44. > :05:50.If and when refuel work restarts on the retired submarines,
:05:51. > :05:53.it will be in a part of the dockyard currently under
:05:54. > :05:59.They were imposed by the nuclear safety regulator, worried
:06:00. > :06:03.about ageing facilities and safety breaches.
:06:04. > :06:07.But the local MP insists there is no significant risk.
:06:08. > :06:10.You can never eliminate risk completely.
:06:11. > :06:13.I do think they have done everything physically possible to do
:06:14. > :06:16.so and I think it is important we communicate that to the people
:06:17. > :06:23.who live here and so that we can allay concerns that they have got.
:06:24. > :06:26.Most safety procedures at Devonport are concerned with day-to-day
:06:27. > :06:30.working practices within the dockyard.
:06:31. > :06:34.But one expert believes recent events have reinforced the need
:06:35. > :06:39.to also be prepared for acts of sabotage.
:06:40. > :06:43.A well-planned incident, which could include terrorist
:06:44. > :06:45.attack, of course can actually release energy
:06:46. > :06:50.From the way in which the nuclear fuel is encased, the particular
:06:51. > :06:55.materials used can produce gases like hydrogen that can create
:06:56. > :06:59.extreme and severe damage to all levels of containment
:07:00. > :07:03.and release the radio nucleids, the toxicity, from the fuel
:07:04. > :07:08.into the atmosphere to come down over a town.
:07:09. > :07:13.The MoD said it is simply not credible that such
:07:14. > :07:17.13 years ago, two antinuclear protesters did manage to break
:07:18. > :07:24.They climbed on board a sub before they were discovered.
:07:25. > :07:31.At the moment there is a heightened terror threat against the UK,
:07:32. > :07:34.as far as I am aware, there is nothing specific
:07:35. > :07:37.against the dockyard but the alert state is extremely high and I know
:07:38. > :07:42.that everyone who works down there, it is their number one priority.
:07:43. > :07:44.They take it very seriously. However unlikely it may be,
:07:45. > :07:50.how would Plymouth cope if the siren went off for real?
:07:51. > :07:52.If you live close to Devonport dockyard, then you will have been
:07:53. > :07:56.given one of these leaflets which tells you what to do
:07:57. > :08:03.The advice is to go indoors, stay indoors and to tune into local
:08:04. > :08:10.I took to the streets of Keyham, a stone's throw from the dockyard,
:08:11. > :08:15.to find out whether locals trusted that advice.
:08:16. > :08:18.If there is a threat, I would probably jump in my car
:08:19. > :08:24.To be quite honest, I think that is what I would do.
:08:25. > :08:30.The advice is to go in and stay inside and tune into local radio
:08:31. > :08:35.or television, is that what you would do?
:08:36. > :08:40.I used to work on nuclear submarines.
:08:41. > :08:44.So I would not be particularly worried that there would be a major
:08:45. > :08:54.The dockyard has seen its fair share of antinuclear demonstrations over
:08:55. > :08:59.the years but the number of people taking part has only amounted
:09:00. > :09:03.to a fraction of the thousands who turned out in 1993 to support
:09:04. > :09:07.the successful bid from Devonport to win a big subs refit contract.
:09:08. > :09:09.A reflection, perhaps, of the continuing importance
:09:10. > :09:13.of the dockyard to the city's economy.
:09:14. > :09:17.It is vital to what we are trying to do here in Plymouth in terms
:09:18. > :09:19.of regenerating and rebuilding our economy.
:09:20. > :09:22.We have always been a naval city and I am proud of that heritage
:09:23. > :09:32.The dismantling of Devenport's growing collection of retired subs
:09:33. > :09:37.Whatever happens, these boats with their radioactive contents
:09:38. > :09:48.They talk about the situation at Devonport lasting for another
:09:49. > :09:55.In many ways, Devonport has been assigned its notoriety
:09:56. > :10:04.of being a radioactive waste dump for many a year to come.
:10:05. > :10:06.It's been two months since the blast furnace was extinguished
:10:07. > :10:12.But could the steel plant and at least some of the 2000 jobs
:10:13. > :10:17.Some have argued the Government could and should have done more.
:10:18. > :10:20.Our reporter, Chris Jackson, has been to Italy to find out how
:10:21. > :10:23.in the face of global fierce competition, the Tuscans are keeping
:10:24. > :10:34.More than 2,000 jobs went with the collapse of SSI.
:10:35. > :10:37.Many more suffered the knock-on effects.
:10:38. > :10:40.But could more have been done to save the plant?
:10:41. > :10:47.I've come to Italy to find some answers.
:10:48. > :10:52.It's a working-class town, a busy little place
:10:53. > :11:00.And at the heart of this community, the local steelworks.
:11:01. > :11:03.A port town with a steelworks - sounds familiar?
:11:04. > :11:07.Piombino is almost exactly the size of Redcar.
:11:08. > :11:19.They both have populations of 35,000 and everyone depends on steel.
:11:20. > :11:23.Mauro Macceloni has worked at the steel factory for 21 years.
:11:24. > :11:34.Did you think it was a job for life when you started?
:11:35. > :11:36.TRANSLATION: Yes, I thought I would be there for
:11:37. > :11:40.I entered the plant when I was 24 years old.
:11:41. > :11:44.I thought I would be there until I retire.
:11:45. > :11:47.In 2012, Mauro and his family were rocked by the news
:11:48. > :11:59.TRANSLATION: My friends have parents that work in the plant
:12:00. > :12:03.I pretend the problem is not there and I tend not to think
:12:04. > :12:06.about it, but I am worried and what I don't like is that
:12:07. > :12:12.But unlike the plight of the families back on Teesside,
:12:13. > :12:18.Even though back in 2012, the future of the plant hung
:12:19. > :12:21.in the balance, the Russian owners couldn't make the plant profitable
:12:22. > :12:25.Massimo Giulliani was Mayor of Piombino at the time.
:12:26. > :12:31.What would have happened had it closed, do you think?
:12:32. > :12:34.TRANSLATION: This was a question we asked ourselves often and we have
:12:35. > :12:40.Thousands of families, those near and close by,
:12:41. > :12:42.would have found themselves without anything.
:12:43. > :12:44.There would have been no development.
:12:45. > :12:55.It would have been a very difficult moment for our town.
:12:56. > :12:58.So what happened to allay the mayor's worst fears?
:12:59. > :13:02.Well, the Tuscan government stepped in.
:13:03. > :13:05.It put the plant into special measures and a commissioner
:13:06. > :13:10.If it hadn't been for that political intervention some four years ago,
:13:11. > :13:13.then the steelworks here in Piombino would have faced the same
:13:14. > :13:20.Many of the plant's 2,000 workers were sent home but
:13:21. > :13:26.Wages dropped from 1,400 euros a month to 900,
:13:27. > :13:38.TRANSLATION: We had to find an agreement at this time.
:13:39. > :13:42.They are working under a solidarity contract.
:13:43. > :13:53.There has been a reduction of working hours and salary.
:13:54. > :13:55.I've come to Florence to meet the architect
:13:56. > :14:01.Enrico Rossi is the Governor of Tuscany.
:14:02. > :14:06.It's very important for Europe to produce steel, because Europe
:14:07. > :14:16.is a continent where the industry, where the manufacturing,
:14:17. > :14:25.is very important and steel is an instrument for production.
:14:26. > :14:28.In order to attract a new buyer for the plant, Enrico's regional
:14:29. > :14:34.government and the national government put together a package
:14:35. > :14:37.to plough more than 150 million euros into the factory.
:14:38. > :14:42.Another 140 million euros was found to improve the port.
:14:43. > :14:47.In all, that is more than ?200 million.
:14:48. > :14:52.The steel plant has now been bought by an Algerian businessman who has
:14:53. > :14:55.taken on all of the workers and is investing another
:14:56. > :15:05.At the moment, the plant is making railway lines and high
:15:06. > :15:11.Some of the money pumped into Piombino has been used
:15:12. > :15:14.to update the production process with new, greener, technology.
:15:15. > :15:17.Just as in Redcar, they have now turned out the light
:15:18. > :15:20.The difference here is they are going to build
:15:21. > :15:29.The workers believe in the restart of this plant.
:15:30. > :15:36.That it is good for the user and the life of the town.
:15:37. > :15:40.So how have the Italians managed to keep their plans on track?
:15:41. > :15:44.The UK Government ruled out similar help for Redcar because they said it
:15:45. > :15:50.would break European rules which forbid state aid.
:15:51. > :15:52.All of your intervention did not break any European
:15:53. > :16:11.You can explain your reasons, you can discuss with Europe.
:16:12. > :16:19.In conclusion, we save occupations, we save the works, the steelworks
:16:20. > :16:33."Sea people, made of steel," the motto of AC Piombino.
:16:34. > :16:37.As with any steel town, here in Piombino, they like to work
:16:38. > :16:44.And whilst the team here might not have any lessons for the borough,
:16:45. > :16:46.potentially there are things that people on Teesside might
:16:47. > :16:56.want to learn from the experiences here.
:16:57. > :17:00.Back home, Redcar steelworks lies dormant and most of its former
:17:01. > :17:06.The case study that you've found in Italy shows exactly
:17:07. > :17:13.So European rules, state aid considerations, are just
:17:14. > :17:20.Actually, what is stopping saving SSI in Redcar was political
:17:21. > :17:24.will and a real appreciation that steel matters in a modern economy,
:17:25. > :17:27.that you need to have steel as the very foundation of a modern
:17:28. > :17:33.So they have got the political will in Italy, we haven't in Britain.
:17:34. > :17:37.I think they are wrong, in this sense.
:17:38. > :17:39.The problem with SSI is they made one product.
:17:40. > :17:44.Slab had almost halved in price and the deal, if you like,
:17:45. > :17:48.was that SSI would make it on Redcar and then export it to
:17:49. > :17:51.Thailand and unfortunately, if you were to look at that
:17:52. > :17:55.model in cold light, unfortunately, in those
:17:56. > :17:58.circumstances, it was never going to work and it didn't work.
:17:59. > :18:01.But were you actually knocking on the door of Europe and saying,
:18:02. > :18:04.look, we have a real problem here, is there anything we can do?
:18:05. > :18:10.First of all, I can assure you, my officials did not leave any stone
:18:11. > :18:12.unturned in looking at what could and couldn't be done,
:18:13. > :18:14.but what should the Government have done?
:18:15. > :18:18.It's not my money, it's your viewers' money and it was losing
:18:19. > :18:20.hundreds of millions of pounds and it always had done.
:18:21. > :18:22.But in Italy, we have seen the example where
:18:23. > :18:26.No, because it is not a like-for-like industry.
:18:27. > :18:31.SSI was a blast furnace and it made slab, which it exported to Thailand.
:18:32. > :18:34.The company you talk about in Italy, I understand, its blast
:18:35. > :18:39.Now they may say, we are going to open them.
:18:40. > :18:43.But what the Italians will say, nonetheless, they still have a works
:18:44. > :18:46.and they hope to have a furnace again and what they are saying
:18:47. > :18:48.is that you really can fight your corner in Europe
:18:49. > :18:54.Let's get it clear, anyone who says I didn't fight,
:18:55. > :18:58.And with all the political will, which I had huge bucketloads of,
:18:59. > :19:01.I can't fix, no government can fix the worldwide price of steel,
:19:02. > :19:05.the overproduction and the under consumption, however
:19:06. > :19:13.As the political arguments rumble on, the next question is who pays
:19:14. > :19:26.the ?1 billion estimated to decontaminate the site?
:19:27. > :19:29.Now over to Inside Out East for the inspirational story
:19:30. > :19:32.of pianist Nicholas McCarthy from Essex.
:19:33. > :19:35.Nicholas was born with only one hand but despite this,
:19:36. > :19:39.he is a rising star in the world of classical music.
:19:40. > :19:42.But now, he faces one of his toughest challenges yet.
:19:43. > :19:48.To play Ravel's concerto for the left hand.
:19:49. > :19:49.David Whiteley joins him for preparations
:19:50. > :20:03.Pianist Nicholas McCarthy is just days away from taking on the biggest
:20:04. > :20:06.challenge of his professional career.
:20:07. > :20:11.Nicholas, who only has one hand, is going to perform one
:20:12. > :20:17.of the hardest pieces of music he has ever tackled.
:20:18. > :20:23.This concerto is one of my most favourite concertos
:20:24. > :20:26.and it is actually the first time a one-handed pianist has played
:20:27. > :20:29.So it is a big challenge for me, and something which
:20:30. > :20:36.But also really excited about as well.
:20:37. > :20:41.Nicholas will be playing Ravel's concerto for the left hand.
:20:42. > :20:43.London's Royal College of Music is where the very best young
:20:44. > :20:47.musicians come to learn their craft, and where Nicholas was a student.
:20:48. > :20:51.He has come to talk through the piece with his old tutor.
:20:52. > :20:55.The technical challenges of this piece are huge.
:20:56. > :21:01.It is a really difficult concerto and I remember the first time I ever
:21:02. > :21:04.opened the score for the first time my jaw dropped.
:21:05. > :21:07.There is a lot of black notes on that page and a lot of work
:21:08. > :21:12.This moment especially always scares me slightly.
:21:13. > :21:14.Yes, that is exactly a case in point, where you have
:21:15. > :21:17.not got time to cover, you have just literally
:21:18. > :21:20.got to see what you're going and learn the distance.
:21:21. > :21:31.The interval just get so big, doesn't it?
:21:32. > :21:34.It just keeps getting bigger and bigger and so whenever I finish
:21:35. > :21:43.There are around 600 pieces of left-hand piano music available
:21:44. > :21:50.Quite a bit of that is thanks to a wealthy Austrian concert
:21:51. > :21:54.pianist who lost his right arm in the First World War.
:21:55. > :21:59.He decided to use his position in society and his wealth
:22:00. > :22:03.to commission all the famous names of the day, Ravel,
:22:04. > :22:12.Benjamin Britten, and paid them vast amounts of money.
:22:13. > :22:21.65 years ago, Wittgenstein played this concerto at the Royal Albert
:22:22. > :22:23.Hall but it has never been played in public
:22:24. > :22:28.That is Nicholas' challenge when he plays at a concert in Kent
:22:29. > :22:31.Incredibly, an old friend of his was at that
:22:32. > :22:40.So the last time you were here was in 1951, when you saw one
:22:41. > :22:47.We were up there in the gallery, half a crown seats then,
:22:48. > :23:00.He wasn't the world's best player. He came on.
:23:01. > :23:06.Bowed to the audience, off it went.
:23:07. > :23:20.Nicholas is the star attraction for this evening's concert.
:23:21. > :23:27.It is the first time he has played with the Kent Sinfonia.
:23:28. > :23:31.It really takes a great musical personality to master this
:23:32. > :23:47.It is almost impossible to play the way that Ravel has written it.
:23:48. > :23:52.It must be, I suppose, to bring it off, one of the hardest
:23:53. > :23:58.When those doors open onto the stage and I see that audience,
:23:59. > :24:03.that is when the magic happens and a 90 minute concert, for me,
:24:04. > :24:53.Thoughts of when I heard it played before.
:24:54. > :25:05.Wittgenstein was not much of a pianist.
:25:06. > :25:09.To have that applause at the end, to know that you have done a good
:25:10. > :25:12.job and the audience have enjoyed it, because that is what they are
:25:13. > :25:16.As performers, we want them to be there to enjoy something that
:25:17. > :25:26.potentially they might not have heard before.
:25:27. > :25:30.If you would like to see more stories from your area,
:25:31. > :25:50.join the Inside Out team on Monday evening at 7:30pm on BBC One
:25:51. > :25:52.We have a fairly quiet weekend of weather and mild for the time of