§ Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether she has established a timetable to review the prospects for new building of nuclear power plants. [188611]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe Government are continually assessing progress towards the four goals of energy policy set out in the Energy White Paper published 2003: Our energy future—creating a low carbon economy'. There has been no change to the position set out in the White Paper. If the Government were to take the view that, at some point, nuclear build might be necessary, there would need to be the fullest public consultation and the publication of a further white paper setting out proposals, before the Government reached a decision.
§ Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will place in the Library a copy of the communication, dated 3 September 2004, from the 1853W European Commission in respect of the difficulties faced by the Commission nuclear inspectors in applying Euratom safeguards to the B-30 nuclear waste storage silo at Sellafield; and what response Her Majesty's Government has made to the communication. [188612]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienOfficials tell me they have no knowledge of such a communication in the Department.
I refer the hon. Member to my answer to his question of 1 September, which stated that, as of 7 September the UK authorities had received no formal or substantive response from the Commission to the plan presented on 1 June in respect of the B30 plant. The only formal communication since received (late 10 September) has been a letter from the Commission confirming an appointment with the UK authorities to discuss these issues at official level.
§ Mr. TynanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will review her Department's policy on the economic position of nuclear power in the light of the recent increase in the wholesale price of gas. [189042]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe 2003 energy White Paper concluded that, although the economics of nuclear power currently make it an unattractive option, the nuclear option should be kept open. But the conclusions of the White Paper remain the same. We have no proposals for new nuclear build but the Government do not rule out the possibility that at some point in the future new nuclear build might be necessary to meet our carbon targets. Before any decision to proceed with building of new nuclear power stations there would need to be the fullest public consultation and the publication of a White Paper setting out proposals.
The Department continues to monitor the economics of all low carbon generation options, including nuclear, in the light of changes in the cost of fossil fuel generation.
§ Mr. TynanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will review her Department's position that nuclear power is uneconomic in the light of the recent report by the Royal Academy of Engineering. [189044]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe Department has seen the recent report by the Royal Academy of Engineering on nuclear power. The conclusions are based on assumptions such as the discount rate and plant capital cost which are relatively favourable to nuclear generation compared with other low carbon generation options. The Department does not therefore see any reason to change the position on nuclear power stated in the 2003 energy White Paper.
§ Mr. Peter DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions she has had with the Scottish Executive on the future of nuclear energy generation in Scotland. [188680]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThere have been no such recent discussions.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will publish the advice that Bectel has given to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, including its major report into the future of the nuclear industry. [188421]
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§ Mr. Mike O'BrienBechtel has advised on the procedures and technical systems that the Nuclear Decommissioning authority will need to adopt to manage the clean up and decommissioning of civil nuclear sites by contract. That advice has been provided in various forms by the Bechtel consultants working with officials to establish the NDA.
Bechtel has not provided any wider report into the future of the nuclear industry as a whole.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with the British Nuclear Group/BNFL over the future of the Berkeley site. [188422]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienMy officials were recently made aware of British Nuclear Group's proposal to establish a special Task Force to look at the future of its Berkeley site.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what contingency plans she has put in place in the event of there being insufficient engineering staff to run the remaining Magnox reactor sites. [188423]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienReactor sites personnel will work closely with the regulators to ensure that sufficient engineering staff are available. Operators of Magnox reactor sites, as with other nuclear licensed sites are required to comply with the Conditions attached to their licence by HSE. These Conditions require that, before a licensee makes an organisational change, including changes to engineering support staff, it must consider the safety implications. HSE can, if necessary, prevent the change from taking place until satisfied that the safety implications are understood and that there will be no lowering of safely standards. Similar considerations apply regarding compliance with the limits and conditions of the authorisation issued to the site licensee by the Environment Agency under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993.
§ Harry CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what security lapses have occurred in respect of trains carrying nuclear material since September 2003; and if she will make a statement. [188927]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe movement of civil nuclear material in the UK is conducted in accordance with the Nuclear Industries Security Regulations 2003, which are administered and enforced by the Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS).
In December 2003, OCNS inspectors conducted a spot check of the security arrangements in place at Willesden Brent Sidings in London where BNFL's Direct Rail Services (DRS) marshal trains carrying spent nuclear fuel. This disclosed that approved guarding arrangements were not being carried out satisfactorily. Immediate action was taken by DRS to rectify the matter and there has been no recurrence.
Fuller details of the incident, and the remedial action taken by DRS are contained in the 2004 Annual Report by the Director of Civil Nuclear Security, a copy of which is available in the Libraries of the House.
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§ Harry CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether nuclear material is transported(a) to and (b) from Bradwell power station; and if she will make a statement. [188928]
§ Mr. Mike O'Brien[holding answer 16 September 2004]: Bradwell nuclear power station ceased generation in March 2002 and is in the process of defuelling. Therefore no fuel is transported to the site, only from the site. This is scheduled for completion in 2005.