§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment what steps are taken by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate to evaluate safety data from foreign sources.
§ Mr. Waddington[pursuant to his reply, 20 July 1981]: I am advised by the Health and Safety Executive 74W that the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate makes use of a number of different procedures for the evaluation of information received from foreign sources. The procedure used depends on the source, nature and quality of the information and the purpose for which it was obtained.
§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate includes staff qualified in applied ultrasonics; and, if not, if he will take steps to recruit such staff.
§ Mr. Waddington[pursuant to his reply, 20 July 1981]: I am advised by the Health and Safety Executive that the inspectorate has no staff with specialist qualifications in applied ultrasonics, although it has staff with experience in the theoretical aspects and development of the technology. The inspectorate itself would not expect to carry out applied ultrasonics work and therefore would not employ specialist staff for this purpose.
§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will examine the possibility of a more flexible retiring age of members of the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate with a view to retaining for a longer period the more experienced staff.
§ Mr. Waddington[pursuant to his reply, 20 July 1981]: I am advised by the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that some flexibility on retirement is already established for Nuclear Installations Inspectors as they are not normally required to retire at 60 but may choose to do so. The only exception is in the case of the Chief Inspector who, as an open structure under-secretary, is subject to the retirement rules of that grade.
§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has yet succeeded in raising the strength of the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate to 106.
§ Mr. Waddington[pursuant to his reply, 20 July 1981]: I am advised by the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that the strength of the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate has not yet reached 106.
§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many members of the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate have specialist knowledge of (a) civil engineering, (b) flow heat transfer problems, and (c) fast fracture metallurgy.
§ Mr. Waddington[pursuant to his reply, 20 July 1981]: I am advised by the Health and Safety Executive that the numbers of inspectorate staff who have some specialist knowledge of the disciplines cited are 4, 12 and 5 respectively.