§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he intends to continue the practice of his predecessor in reporting to the House all incidents in nuclear installations which involve the escape of radioactive materials—solid, gas, or liquid—whether or not there is any damage to health of workers or the general public.
§ Mr. David HowellThe Secretary of State for Scotland and I are continuing the existing arrangements for reporting of incidents of this kind, subject to any modification which we may think necessary to improve them.
For the record, these arrangements are that we are notified of occurrences which licensees of nuclear installations are required to report to the Health and Safety Executive under the Nuclear Installations (Dangerous Occurrences) Regulations 1965 and licence conditions, and of certain other occurrences of lesser significance. This arrangement also applies to the reporting of occurrences at Atomic Energy Authority sites.
The reports of such occurrences form the basis of statements of incidents published quarterly by the Health and Safety Executive.
In additon, we will inform Parliament at once of any occurrence reportable under the dangerous occurrences regulations. Such occurrences are:
- (a) any release of radioactivity or toxic substances causing or likely to cause death or serious injury;
264 - (b) any uncontrolled criticality excursion;
- (c) any explosion or fire likely to affect safety;
- (d) any occurrence during the transport of nuclear matter which is likely to cause death or injury from radioactivity, or the breaking open of a container of nuclear matter.