HC Deb 29 January 1987 vol 109 cc328-9W
Mr. D. E. Thomas

asked the Secretary of State for Energy, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, East, (Mr. Strang) on 10 December 1986, Official Report, column 196, if he will now make it his policy to publish all papers connected with emergency plans for nuclear installations.

Mr. Goodlad

No. However, the detailed emergency plans for each civil nuclear site have been, or are about to be, published by the operators.

Mr. D. E. Thomas

asked the Secretary of State for Energy, pursuant to his reply of 12 December 1986 to the hon. Member for Yeovil, (Mr. Ashdown) Official Report, columns 245–246, if he will list those areas of information on civil plutonium arising from Magnox reactors on which it is current policy not to provide information on grounds of (a) commercial confidentiality and (b) national security.

Mr. Goodlad

The reprocessing and storage of spent nuclear fuel from Magnox reactors is subject to contractual agreements between commercial partners. In common with the practice in other areas of business, confidential information arising under such agreements is not disclosed without the agreement of the partners.

Information is not provided on national security grounds where to do so would permit inferences to be drawn about classified information on, for example, non-civil operations. In this connection, I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 28 January 1987.

Mr. D. E. Thomas

asked the Secretary of State for Energy why he will not place in the Library copies of the account records on the accident at Sellafield on 23 January 1986 to which he referred in his reply to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy of 23 July 1986, Official Report, column 283.

Mr. Goodlad

A detailed analysis of the incident in question was published in the Health and Safety Executive's safety audit of BNFL Sellafield 1986, volume 2, a copy of which is in the Library of the House. As I said in my reply to the hon. Member on 18 December 1986, at column 620, the nuclear installations inspectorate has access to any information relevant to nuclear safety. However, detailed information on reprocessing operations is not made publicly available for reasons of commercial sensitivity and national security.