The Ministry of Defence has embarked on a major rearmament initiative, identifying at least twelve disused oil refineries and chemical plants across Britain as potential sites for new explosives and ammunition manufacturing facilities.
Strategic Sites for National Security
Defence officials have been conducting an extensive search for locations to establish at least six new munitions factories as part of a comprehensive £6 billion programme to bolster supplies amid NATO-wide rearmament efforts. The ambitious plan, known as Project Nobel—named after dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel—aims to create a series of "always on" munitions production facilities.
Internal communications released to the Ferret website reveal that the MoD, in collaboration with the Department of Business and Trade and the Health and Safety Executive, has pinpointed several promising locations. At least four sites at Grangemouth have been deemed suitable, particularly significant given the recent closure of the UK's oldest oil refinery there earlier this year and several chemical company shutdowns.
Nationwide Locations Under Consideration
The potential sites span the length of Britain, including the proposed BritishVolt battery plant near Newcastle, Milford Haven oil refinery in Wales, and multiple locations in Cumbria including Workington and Ulverston. On Teesside, several areas including Seal Sands are being evaluated, along with an oil terminal on Loch Long in Scotland—positioned conveniently close to the MoD's substantial underground bomb store at Glen Douglas, reputed to be the largest in Europe.
The identification of these locations came to light inadvertently when MoD officials failed to properly redact a freedom of information response concerning Grangemouth, allowing previously concealed sections to be read. The ministry has since apologised for this breach of confidentiality affecting both officials and business partners.
Economic and Strategic Implications
While no final decisions have been made, the MoD has confirmed its commitment to investing £1.5 billion in establishing these permanent munitions factories, which are expected to generate approximately 1,000 new jobs and reinforce defence as "an engine for growth."
Officials have highlighted several advantages of the proposed sites. Recent plant closures at Grangemouth mean the area "likely offers a ready workforce"—a significant consideration given hundreds of recent job losses. The Tees Valley area appears advantageous due to its "closest proximity to relevant raw materials," while the Cumbrian sites benefit from being "the most remote," potentially favouring the quantity distances required for explosives manufacturing.
The Scottish government has responded cautiously, stating it is "fully committed to playing its full part" in UK and allied defence but acknowledging it was "not aware of these plans." Scottish government officials are now engaging urgently with the MoD to understand the proposals in greater detail.
This development occurs against a backdrop of existing tensions between the UK and Scottish governments regarding defence matters, particularly concerning dockyards in Glasgow and near Edinburgh that are central to the Royal Navy's shipbuilding programme. The situation presents a complex challenge for Scottish ministers, who must balance their objections to British companies supplying the Israel Defense Forces with the reality that these same companies support the UK's armed forces in addressing the growing threat from Russia.
Defence officials have been in discussions with three foreign arms companies with existing MoD connections to construct new plants for manufacturing essential explosives including trinitrotoluene (TNT), royal demolition explosive (RDX), and nitrocellulose. Interestingly, one site that appears to have been ruled out is the former dynamite factory that Alfred Nobel himself established at Ardeer in Ayrshire in 1871, which once employed 13,000 people at its peak before closing in the early 1990s.
