§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will now take steps to ensure that the full report of the Central Electricity Generating Board's board of inquiry into the accident at Hinkley Point on 29 November should be made available to the public.
§ Mr. GoodladI welcome the publication of the conclusions of the thorough investigation which has been carried out by the internal CEGB inquiry team into this incident, in which no worker or member of the public was injured or subjected to detectable radiation. It has resulted in four recommendations relating to the design and handling of components which the CEGB are now implementing with the agreement of the nuclear installations inspectorate.
Responsibility for safety of nuclear sites falls by law on the operators of those sites. It is not the CEGB's practice to release the full record of internal investigations of this kind. To do so could affect the willingness of staff to participate fully and openly in such inquiries. Information on the incident is in the Health and Safety Executive's "Quarterly Statement on Nuclear Incidents, Fourth Quarter, 1985".