Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what nuclear incidents his Department has reported to the International Atomic Energy Agency's incident reporting system since the United Kingdom joined in March 1986; and what is the average time gap between an incident being reported by the relevant United Kingdom operator to his Department and subsequently conveyed to the incident reporting system.
§ Mr. BaldryIn the United Kingdom, the Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate co-ordinates reports to the International Atomic Energy Agency's incident reporting system. To date 53 such events in the United Kingdom have been reported. The time gap between the incident being reported by the operator and its subsequent transmission to the IAEA is usually about three days.
The primary aim of the International Atomic Energy Agency's incident reporting system is to improve safety by analysing the causes of unusual events and providing operational feedback to member states. Such events are therefore selected for reporting on the basis of the lessons that can be learned from them rather than the consequences associated with them. This system is, of course, additional to two IAEA conventions—on the early notification of nuclear accidents and on mutual assistance in the case of a nuclear accident—which were adopted by the general conference in September 1986.