§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department or consultants to his Department have made of the suitability of the use of(a) elastomer rather than metallic seals and (b) austenitic steel rather than other metallic containment in the transport flasks used for the forthcoming shipment of high-level waste to Japan.
§ Mr. NorrisThe Department judges the suitability of both seal materials and materials of construction of the containment system as a part of the design assessment process, against the stringent leaktightness criteria required by the International Atomic Energy Agency's regulations for the safe transport of radioactive material, for each application for design approval which it is required to undertake.
The forthcoming shipment of high-level waste to Japan will use a French design of package, assessed to the same standards by the competent authority of France.