§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what type of processing BNFL plans to undertake on the faulty MOX fuel supplied to Japan. [45470]
§ Mr. Wilson[holding answer 26 March 2002]:The fuel will be placed in a storage pond at Sellafield. BNFL has yet to decide finally what to do with the fuel. Whatever it decides will be in accordance with all necessary regulatory approvals.
§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will ensure that there are no additional transports of radioactive material to Sellafield before October 2002, with particular reference to the return of the faulty MOX fuel which BNFL supplied to Japan. [45471]
§ Mr. Wilson[holding answer 26 March 2002]:No. It is a matter of public knowledge that there will continue to be routine transports to Sellafield of spent fuel from Europe in fulfilment of existing reprocessing contracts and also that BNFL aims to return to Sellafield the MOX fuel currently at Takahama in Japan as soon as practicable—possibly during the course of this year. The Government has made this position clear both to the Irish Government and to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea. These transports do not take place as a consequence of the commissioning and operation of the Sellafield MOX Plant.
§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the necessary domestic regulatory approvals are which British Nuclear Fuels must obtain before it can return the MOX fuel it has supplied to Japan in respect of which data had been falsified; and whether these approvals have been granted. [45469]
§ Mr. Wilson[holding answer 26 March 2002]:BNFL must obtain the approval of the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions for the shipment and the transport package in which the fuel will be transported; the Health and Safety Executive's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate must be satisfied with the safety of BNFL's arrangements for the receipt, handling and storage of the fuel on the Sellafield site. BNFL has satisfied these requirements. The Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) must approve the arrangements for the security of the fuel in transport and its security once received at Sellafield. OCNS has approved the security arrangements for the fuel once received at the Sellafield site. The arrangements for the security of the fuel in transport are subject to ongoing consultation between BNFL and OCNS and transport will not commence until OCNS has granted formal regulatory approval for all of the detailed security plans.