Nuclear Flasks: Sea Transportation (Hansard, 27 June 1990)

§ Viscount Ullswater
My Lords, the conditions under which radioactive materials are transported by sea are set out by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Maritime Organisation, and these are incorporated into the Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods) Regulations. These regulations are enforced by the Department of Transport.

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
My Lords, that does not answer my Question. Is it the case that over the next five years several hundred of these flasks, each of which contains as much radioactivity as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, will be transported across the Channel on roll-on roll-off ferries which the Government themselves admit have safety defects? If that is the case, what is the Government's atttitude and what action will they take?

§ Viscount Ullswater
My Lords, the noble Lord is correct in some ways. The importation of these flasks over the next few years—say, five years—could number some hundreds. However, the Government are quite content that the cross-Channel ferries are satisfactory. The roll-on roll-off ferries take rail waggons and an examination of the 73 ferries in the United Kingdom has shown that in complying with the relevant regulations they have adequate stability.

§ Viscount Hanworth
My Lords, does the noble Viscount agree that these movements of flasks are of vital commercial importance to BNF and that every effort has been made to make them as safe as anything with which we deal today? Only if one is anti-nuclear is it sensible or even reasonable to raise those matters.

§ Viscount Ullswater
My Lords, the noble Viscount has made a useful contribution.

§ Lord Zuckerman
My Lords, is it not the case that were the practice of transporting these flasks across the Channel not safe, the IAEA would be the first to protest to Her Majesty's Government?

§ Viscount Ullswater
Yes my Lords. Transportation is carried out under the regulations provided by the IAEA.

§ Lord Carmichael of Kelvingrove
My Lords, the Minister referred to regulations, and I have no doubt that Britain strictly adheres to them, but they are the minimum regulations. Is the noble Viscount aware that Pacific Nuclear Transport—a subsidiary of British Nuclear Fuels—operates six Pacific class custom built ships to transport its radioactive material? The vessels are specially built with double skins and with special bulkheads. However, those ships are not plying on one of the worlds busiest, if not the busiest, sea lanes—the Dover-Calais sea lane. Why does BNF use these special ships into their own ports in Cumbria whereas they allow the flasks to be transported across the Channel on ordinary ferries, sometimes with other cargo?

§ Viscount Ullswater
My Lords, we are referring to two different set-ups. The special ships to which the noble Lord rightly refers carry between 23 and 30 of these flasks. They are dedicated ships for that purpose. The cross-Channel ferries which, as the noble Lord rightly said, are freight-only ferries taking rail waggons, carry only one or two of these flasks.

The Earl of Halsbury
My Lords, is it not the case that one of these flasks was dropped in the Minch and picked up again, and has further survived a head-on collision on the railway at about 100 miles per hour? Are we not running away from shadows?

§ Viscount Ullswater
My Lords, many of your Lordships will have seen an impact demonstration on the safety of these flasks. Indeed, they are massively constructed.

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
My Lords, will the noble Viscount tell the House directly whether, until new ferries are built, these flasks will be transported on ferries such as those that caused the disaster at Zeebrugge and Harwich? Is it not the case that the Government have stated that these ferries are unsafe but that they will be used until new ferries are produced?

§ Viscount Ullswater
No, my Lords. The ferries have been inspected up to the standard that is required by the relevant regulations. As I said, they comply with those regulations. The majority were shown to withstand damage by a margin in excess of the margin of stability required internationally. Therefore, the position is not as the noble Lord suggested.

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
My Lords—

Noble Lords
Order!

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
My Lords, I should like to ask a supplementary question on the noble Viscount's reply. Have these ferries been tested and passed by the Government as being safe in the case of fire? Evidence from an engineering consultant suggests that these flasks are at risk from fire at sea. The noble Viscount will be aware that fire at sea is one of the gravest risks of sea travel.

§ Viscount Ullswater
My Lords, yes. The roll-on roll-off ferries on the cross-Channel service are 1613 equipped with water-drenching systems—again to international standards. They will effectively prevent fires reaching the temperatures and sustained burning times within the cargo spaces which would breach the integrity of the flasks used for the transport of radioactive material.