§ Lord AVEBURYasked Her Majesty's Government:
What documents relating to safety of pressurised water reactors have been withheld from publication by the CEGB with the knowledge of the Secretary of State for Energy.
The MINISTER of STATE, DEPARTMENT of EMPLOYMENT (The Earl of Gowrie)The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) will have to submit a safety case for consideration by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate when they apply for a licence to construct and operate a Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) in the United Kingdom. No such application for a PWR has yet been made and no safety case has been submitted. 97WA Preparation of a formal safety case will now commence as soon as commercial licensing arrangements have been finalised.
It is the policy of the Government, the CEGB, and all concerned with the nuclear industry to make as much information available on nuclear safety as is reasonably possible and the principal safety documentation supporting the initial licensing of the first PWR will be prepared with a view to publication.
The HSE published a summary of their assessment of the generic safety issues of PWRs in July 1977 and a more detailed report of this work has recently been made available. A substantial summary of the Marshall Report, on the integrity of PWR pressure vessels, one of the inputs to the HSE's exercise, has also been released.