Coulport

Coulport

RNAD Coulport in Argyll, Scotland, is the storage and loading facility for the United Kingdom's stock of Trident nuclear warheads. The last Royal Naval Armaments Depot to retain the "RNAD" designation, the 16 reinforced concrete bunkers are built into the hillside near the village of Coulport, on the eastern shore of Loch Long.

Below the bunkers lie 2 docks for Vanguard nuclear submarines, which are used when a patrol submarine is being loaded and unloaded with armaments. The older jetty is known as the Polaris Jetty, while the newer, covered Explosive Handling Jetty (EHJ) is used for handling Trident warheads.

Coulport was established during the Cold War, as the storage and loading facility for the UK's Polaris nuclear weapons system, and now handles the Trident system. Although Coulport is primarily used for handling the warheads, it has facilities for loading and unloading the missiles. The depot also stores and handles conventional weapons, for example torpedoes.

The implications of the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 for the Coulport and Faslane bases have been extensively discussed in the media, as it is unclear if any submarine base in England, Wales or Northern Ireland could house the Coulport silos.