HC Deb 14 May 1986 vol 97 c728 4.47 pm
Mr. Paddy Ashdown (Yeovil)

I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 10, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely, the refusal of the Central Electricity Generating Board to publish the full report of the hoard of inquiry into the Hinkley Point accident of 29 November. That accident involved a release of radioactivity at Hinkley Point in Somerset and resulted in the issue of anti-radiation tablets to the work force for only the second time in Britain. The CEGB promised a board of inquiry into the accident, which would be made public.

On 13 December I was promised in a parliamentary reply that a full report of the inquiry would be issued "soon". Since then the CEGB has given me five promises about the imminent publication of the report, including a number of specific dates. Each has failed to materialise.

At 2 o'clock this afternoon, the CEGB made public a four-page document saying that there was very little to worry about. But it has specifically refused a request from me to make public the full report.

The CEGB has said that the accident was not very serious. I have no wish to disbelieve that, but the public have a right to see the evidence. There can be no acceptable reason, in the light of public concern at the time, highlighted by the Chernobyl tragedy, why the full report on this important accident should not be published. The CEGB cannot expect to receive public support for nuclear power while it keeps secret such vital information.

The CEGB's refusal runs; counter to the undertakings to me. It also makes a mockery of the assurances by the Secretary of State for the Environment and the Secretary of State for Energy yesterday that in future nuclear matters would be conducted in the open.

This is an important and specific matter because we can have no faith in the assurances of the Secretaries of State about openness in nuclear matters if they allow the CEGB to keep this document secret.

In view of the widespread concern about nuclear power, it is now important that the House receives assurances that the Secretaries of State for Energy and the Environment will live up to their undertakings about full openness on this and all other nuclear matters.

Mr. Speaker

The hon. Gentleman seeks leave to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely, the refusal of the CEGB to publish the full report of the board of inquiry into the Hinkley Point accident on 29 November. I regret that I have to give the hon. Gentleman the same answer that I gave to the right hon. and learned Member for Monklands, East (Mr. Smith). I listened carefully to what the hon. Gentleman said, but I regret that I do not consider that the matter that he has raised is appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 10, and I therefore cannot submit his application to the House.