§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what request he has received from British Nuclear Fuels plc to permit the transport of radioactive wastes from the Drigg site to Sellafield in transport containers that do not meet the International Atomic Energy Agency standards; and if he will make a statement on the conditions under which his Department is able to grant the equivalent of Crown immunity to the movement of radioactive cargoes.
§ Mr. KeyThe Department has received an application for a special arrangement transport operation to move this material and is assessing it.
Special arrangement transport operations are permitted under the International Atomic Energy Agency regulations when all of the applicable requirements of the regulations cannot be met. Such arrangements may be approved by a competent authority provided that the overall level of safety in transport is at least equivalent to that which would be provided if all the applicable requirements had been complied with. It is not a question of Crown immunity or any equivalent.