HC Deb 15 December 1992 vol 216 cc141-2W
Mr. Llew Smith

To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) to what extent Her Majesty's nuclear installations inspectorate has relied upon the experience of other nuclear regulators in its reliability assessment of the primary computerised safety system for the Sizewell B nuclear plant;

(2) what information he has received from Her Majesty's chief nuclear installations inspector in regard to progress made by Nuclear Electric in the installation of the secondary non-computerised safety protection system at the Sizewell B nuclear plant;

(3) what progress has been made by Her Majesty's nuclear installations inspectorate in validating the Sizewell B computerised primary safety system against the latest international standards.

Mr. Eggar

I understand that the Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate (NII) has participated over several years in meetings with nuclear regulators from other countries—the United States of America, Canada and France—who have experience in the assessment of computer based safety systems in nuclear applications.

Similarly, I understand the chief inspector is satisfied with progress made on the installation and commissioning of the secondary non-computerised safety protection system at Sizewell B.

The work of validation against the NII's regulatory requirements including the latest relevant international standards is well advanced. Comparison with international standards is only one part of NII's assessment of the primary protection system safety case for Sizewell B.

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