§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give details of the safety standards required in the transportation of plutonium in respect of the temperature and length of time of ship fires.
§ Mr. NorrisThe safety test standards required for the transport of all radioactive material by all modes are those prescribed in the International Atomic Energy Agency's publication "Safety Series No. 6, 1985 Edition" (as amended 1990). These include a thermal test at a minimum temperature of 800 deg C sustained for a period of 30 minutes, after which the package must be shown to maintain its essential functions of containment, radiation shielding and criticality safety to prescribed limits.
§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the implications of kinetic energy for safety standards which apply to the transportation in casks of plutonium in British coastal waters where a ship is travelling at 15 knots; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NorrisSafety standards for the carriage of radioactive material in such flasks take into account the factors that could affect possible accidental damage to the cask, including energy absorbed. The fraction of the kinetic energy of a ship that would be so absorbed in an accident would be small; most of it would be dissipated in deformation of the ship's structure.