§ Mr. Cryerasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average age of inspectors in the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate; and how many are due for retirement over the next five years.
§ Mr. MayhewThe average age of inspectors in the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate is 46, and 22 inspectors will reach the minimum retirement age over the next five years.
§ Mr. Cryerasked the Secretary of State for Employment what success the recently concluded recruitment drive has had in obtaining recruits to fill the 22 vacancies in the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate; and how many vacancies are still outstanding.
§ Mr. MayhewA recruitment competition was held at the end of last year and there were five successful candidates, of whom four have since declined appointment. The number of vacancies in the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate is currently 17.
§ Mr. Cryerasked the Secretary of State for Employment how the shortage of inspectors in the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate is affecting inspections of nuclear installations; and if he will publish a table giving the average number of inspections per installation, per annum, from 1970 to 1979.
§ Mr. MayhewThe current shortage of inspectors in the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate has led to some reduction in inspection effort, but all essential inspection activities are being maintained by reallocation of resources as necessary.
665WThe table of information requested for licensed nuclear sites, is as follows:
Year Total number of inspection visits completed Average number of inspections per installation 1970 435 20.8 1971 584 20.1 1972 648 21.6 1973 768 25.6 1974 812 27.1 1975 742 24.7 1976 821 26.5 1977 734 23.7 1978 750 24.2 1979 668 21.6