§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will instruct the Health and Safety Executive to conduct an investigation into quality control data problems associated with MOX fuel supplied by British Nuclear Fuels to Swiss and German utilities. [119674]
§ Mrs. LiddellNo. The Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) Nuclear Installations Inspectorate reported on the data falsification issues in the MOX demonstration facility (MDF) in its report published on 18 February. HSE's132W priority now is to assess BNFL's responses to its reports, published on 18 April, and to monitor the implementation of BNFL's action plans.
I understand that HSE has briefed the Swiss and German nuclear regulators on the findings of their report.
§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to investigate further allegations made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries about BNFL's ability to manufacture MOX fuel pellets to meet the required specification; and if he will make a statement. [119680]
§ Mrs. LiddellI am not aware of the allegations made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries apart from those relating to the falsification of data on secondary pellet diameter checks.
§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if MOX fuel pellets which should have failed the secondary checks at the Sellafield MOX Demonstration Facility were erroneously approved. [119679]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe falsification of data occurred at a secondary manual stage of checking, the fuel pellets already having been subject to 100 per cent. automated checking.
The Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) Nuclear Installations Inspectorate reported on the data falsification issues in the MOX Demonstration Facility (MDF) in its report published on 18 February. The report confirmed that some pellet diameter data had been falsified; four of the affected fuel assemblies are in Japan; and the fuel would be safe in use.
§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has received a copy of an English translation of a report by the TUEV agency produced for the Ministry of Environment of the Government of Lower Saxony on MOX production and quality control standards at Sellafield. [119673]
§ Mrs. LiddellI have not received a copy of the report.
§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will list each of the(a) oral and (b) written parliamentary answers Ministers in his Department have provided since May 1997 which were based on (i) information and (ii) a draft provided by British Nuclear Fuels; [120046]
(2) how many letters have been sent by Ministers in his Department to (a) hon. Members, (b) Members of the House of Lords and (c) foreign parliamentarians since May 1997, which were drafted (i) in full and (ii) in part by British Nuclear Fuels. [120050]
§ Mrs. LiddellInternal advice and the source of such advice is not made public in line with exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will appoint to the board of British Nuclear Fuels a suitably qualified representative from a non-governmental organisation. [120282]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe BNFL Chairman, Hugh Collum, is looking to refresh and strengthen his board so that the company can tackle the challenges ahead. That will 133W include recruiting people of a high calibre with a proven track record to contribute, and be committed, to the success of the business.
§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will instruct British Nuclear Fuels to replace Lloyds Register Quality Assurance Ltd. as quality verifiers of BNFL activities. [120248]
§ Mrs. LiddellI refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, North (Mr. Chaytor) on 28 March 2000,Official Report, column 105W.
§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make it his policy in answering questions from hon. Members to indicate where British Nuclear Fuels helped to draft the reply. [120304]
§ Mrs. LiddellInternal advice and the source of such advice is not made public in line with exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the(a) safety management and (b) quality control matters that remain to be addressed by British Nuclear Fuels which were mentioned in the two BNFL reports on 18 April. [120247]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe BNFL reports published on 18 April included action plans to address each of the 43 recommendations in the two HSE reports on MOX fuel data falsification and on the control and supervision of operations at Sellafield. These action plans show that a number of HSE's recommendations have already been addressed and there are deadlines against each one that BNFL has still to complete. While the HSE has indicated that BNFL's responses provide a good foundation to deliver the necessary safety improvements at Sellafield, it has said that it will be monitoring BNFL's implementation of the action plans and that it will not hesitate to use its enforcement powers if it sees any signs of significant failure by BNFL to deliver on its commitments. Copies of two BNFL reports are available on BNFL's web site atwww.bnfl.co.uk.
§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the reason for the delay in BNFL's response to the report issued on 18 February by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate on the storage of liquid high level waste at BNFL, Sellafield. [120250]
§ Mrs. LiddellThere has been no delay. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report on the storage of liquid high-level waste at Sellafield set no deadline. HSE has agreed with BNFL that the company should respond by the summer.
§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he was consulted by BNFL in respect of the new management and board member appointees announced by the company on 18 April. [120249]
§ Mrs. LiddellI was consulted about the board changes which the company announced on 18 April.