Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on(a) the planning assumptions adopted, (b) the effectiveness of tide communication within and between the emergency services, (c) the lessons learnt by his Department, the emergency services and Her Majesty's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, and (d) the total cost incurred for the simulated emergency exercise conducted at British Nuclear Fuels plc, Sellafield on 4 May.
§ Mr. Michael SpicerAn emergency exercise to test the offsite centre for BNFL's Sellafield site was held under the supervision of Her Majesty's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate on 4 May. The exercise was designed to test the procedures for responding to an accident involving an offsite release of radioactivity. A detailed assessment of the exercise is now being carried out by BNFL, in close consultation with the nuclear inspectorate, local authorities, local emergency services and Government Departments and agencies involved. The lessons learnt will be incorporated in revised arrangements and procedures for the Sellafield site and, where appropriate, in the emergency plans for other nuclear installations. It is not 459W possible to calculate the full costs of the exercise, which were largely confined to staff time involved, as some dozen different organisations participated.