§ Mr. Ernie Robertsasked the Minister of Transport if he will publish the figures on which the claim was based that the chances of an accident occurring during the transfer of nuclear waste by rail were slight and what precautions are taken to avoid the occurrence of such accidents.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeI do not know to what specific claim the hon. Member may be referring. The fact is that in a total of some 17 years' experience of moving nuclear fuel by rail in this country there has been no accident involving the release of radioactive material. The very high standards which are applied internationally in transporting these materials, and to which I have referred in my answers to previous questions on this subject, are designed with the aim of ensuring that there will be no release of radioactive matter from the flasks used even in the improbable event of an extremely serious accident.