HC Deb 19 March 1987 vol 112 cc582-3W
Mr. D. N. Campbell-Savours

asked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) whether he will place in the Library a copy of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority's report of work carried out at the United States Oak Ridge National Laboratories into risk of damage to the core of pressurised water reactors;

(2) whether he will ask the British ambassador in Washington to secure from the Library of Congress under freedom of information legislation a copy of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority's report of work carried out at the United States Oak Ridge National Laboratories into risk of damage to the core of pressurised water reactors for use by Government Departments in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Goodlad

[pursuant to his reply, 5 March 1987, c. 659]: I have today placed in the Library a copy of the draft report prepared on a commercial basis by the systems reliability service of the UK AEA for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviewing certain aspects of an Oak Ridge National Laboratory study entitled "Precursors to Potential Core Accidents 1969–79 A Status Report". It was not a complete review of the precursor work and was not taken beyond the draft stage because USNRC was satisfied with the information contained in the draft report.

Although it is not UKAEA policy to publish work undertaken on a commercial basis for a customer, it sought and obtained permision from USNRC for its wider release in response to a specific request from Friends of the Earth and made it available to it at the Sizewell inquiry.

There is no need for me to ask the British ambassador in Washington to secure a copy of the UKAEA's report from the Library of Congress.

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