§ Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will take steps to arrange for right hon. and hon. Members whose constituencies contain nuclear power stations to receive copies of the emergency handbook used by the station operators and managers and the emergency services plan for emergencies at that power station; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LangThe operators of civil nuclear installations in Scotland have agreed to make available to the public copies of their site emergency plans, edited only to remove sensitive details such as the names and telephone numbers of personnel. These will replace the summaries of the plans which have been generally available for some eight years.
I am pleased to record that UKAEA has already done this in respect of its nuclear power development establishment at Dounreay, and has sent copies to the hon. Members for Caithness and Sutherland, (Mr. Maclennan) and for the adjacent constituencies of Ross, Cromarty and Skye (Mr. Kennedy), and Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Wallace). Copies are also being placed in the Libraries here and in the other place. SSEB and BNFL will be taking comparable action as soon as practicable.
Whether the operational plans prepared by the emergency services of local authorities or health boards are made available as suggested is a matter for local decision in each case.
§ Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what assessment Her Majesty's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate has made as to whether the management and staff at Torness power station have the necessary training, experience and qualifications to deal with fault conditions which may occur during the commissioning and operation of the reactor equipment; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if Her Majesty's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate have any plans to require the management and staff at Torness power station to undergo training and proficiency testing with simulator equipment, including simulation of fault situations, before further commissioning of the reactors is approved; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LangThe conditions of the Torness nuclear site licence granted by Her Majesty's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate require the South of Scotland Electricity Board to appoint suitably qualified and experienced persons to operate the plant. HMNII must be notified of 463W the names, qualifications and experience of those persons and it has the power to prevent individual appointments if it considers them to be inappropriate.
Both management and staff at Torness are undergoing training with simulators which represent advance gas cooled reactor behaviour, including fault conditions, and the standards achieved under training are assessed by the instructors. Such training is a continuing commitment throughout the commissioning and operation of a reactor. HMNII inspectors have been informed of the training arrangements and are satisfied with the progress of this training.