Plutonium Nitrate (Hansard, 9 March 1993)

§ Ms. Walley
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will extend the scope of the interim measures following the MV Braer incident to include the shipment of plutonium nitrate in United Kingdom coastal waters.

§ Mr. Norris
The extension of these measures to this transport is not necessary. Plutonium nitrate solution is transported in packages designed to withstand the effects of severe maritime accidents.

§ Mr. Simon Hughes
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what assessment he makes of the risk to the environment from the result of a shipping/transport accident involving plutonium and breach of container;
(2) what measures have been taken to protect the environment in the event of a transport accident involving plutonium;
(3) what assessments have been made of the arrangements for preventing a casualty such as the Braer, or mitigating the effects of such a casualty, with a ship carrying plutonium nitrate.

§ Mr. Norris
A safety assessment of the combined road and sea transport operation for plutonium nitrate was carried out in 1978 by the nuclear installations inspectorate. The report of this assessment was placed in the House of Commons Library on 5 March 1980. It concluded that the probability of an accident severe enough to breach the container was no more than one in a million per year and the chances of an individual death from such a cause was no more than one in 100 million per year. A further assessment in 1984 confirmed these findings.
With oil tankers, the protection of the cargo lies in the ship, whereas with movements of radioactive material the protection lies in the strength of the packages which have been subject to extensive tests.

§ Mr. Simon Hughes
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what surveys have been conducted as to the readiness of coastal protection services to cope with a shipping accident involving plutonium.

§ Mr. Norris
National, local and industrial contingency plans exist to deal with accidents involving the transportation of radioactive materials at sea. These plans are reviewed and exercised.