§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what steps have been taken since the Chernobyl nuclear accident to review and improve the civil emergency plans and regulations, as they concern civil radiation emergencies.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryFollowing the Chernobyl nuclear accident, the lessons of the accident for the United Kingdom were carefully considered by a Government working group. As part of this review the Department of Energy carried out extensive consultations with emergency services and authorities which would be involved in dealing with a nuclear accident in the United Kingdom. These consultations showed that in addition to the emergency plans which nuclear operators are required to maintain, other contingency plans were available which, as the then Prime Minister stated;
would permit an effective response to be made to any nuclear accident, including those with more widespread effects than the specific site and off-site plans are designed to cater for."—[Official Report, 12 December 1988; Vol. 144, c.391.]In addition, following that review, my Department set up a nuclear emergency planning liaison group which meets twice each year with the aim of agreeing improvements in emergency planning arrangements and procedures among interested organisations at national and 503W local level. There have also been improvements in the information available about emergency arrangements with the publication in May 1990 of the Health and Safety Executive's booklet "Arrangements for Responding to Nuclear Emergencies" and the preparation by nuclear operators and local authorities of booklets describing emergency plans and telling the public in the area of nuclear sites what action they should take if a nuclear emergency is declared. In addition, arrangements for the regular exercising of emergency plans have been improved.
More recently the report of Michael Barnes QC into the application for planning consent for the construction of a PWR at Hinkley Point contained a number of recommendations designed to strengthen emergency arrangements around the Hinkley Point site and at national level. These recommendations were endorsed by my right hon. Friend in his decision letter and are being taken forward by my Department, the Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate and other bodies concerned.