§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to make public the results of the inquiry into the incident at AWE Aldermaston on 8 December 1992.
§ Mr. AitkenWe are considering in the light of national security interests whether a useful unclassified version of the report can be made available.
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the progress in commissioning the A91 building at AWE Aldermaston.
§ Mr. AitkenI refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) on 6 November 1992,Official Report, column 530. Commissioning work associated with building A91 at AWE Aldermaston is in abeyance and will not resume until the necessary remedial work has been completed satisfactorily.
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all work that is at present being carried out by specialist radiological protection staff at AWE Aldermaston.
§ Mr. AitkenThe radiological protection specialist staff at AWE Aldermaston are responsible for advising on all radiological safety aspects of the work carried out there. They also give advice on radiological safety in other areas of the nuclear weapons programme and provide a comprehensive radiological monitoring service for Aldermaston personnel, for the Aldermaston site and for the local environment.
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the recommendations of the Pochin inquiry into AWE Aldermaston; and how AWE Aldermaston has implemented each of them.
§ Mr. AitkenA total of some 73 detailed actions were identified following the review by Sir Edward Pochin of radiological health and safety at Aldermaston, which did not make formal recommendations. Many of these actions were minor and were completed immediately. The short and medium-term measures involved changes to working practices, increases in health physics staff numbers, provision of improved monitoring and other equipment and safety management restructuring, all of which were put in place some years ago. Longer-term measures, involving procurement of completely new facilities for plutonium work and for processing of radioactive wastes have also been implemented in that new facilities have been constructed and are now being commissioned. These actions were taken in full consultation with the relevant trade unions.
112WThe hon. Gentleman may wish to note that the Pochin report commented that the industrial accident history and incident record at Aldermaston bore comparison with the best industrial concerns and that recent figures confirm that this record has been maintained.