§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many incidents have been reported at the British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. plant at Sellafield since 1 January; what discussions have taken place with the directorate of British Nuclear Fuels plc concerning these; and what action will be taken to prevent similar incidents occurring. [15711]
§ Mr. EggarThe arrangements for reporting nuclear incidents at civil nuclear installations to my Department and its precursor were revised in 1987. I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Eddisbury (Mr. Goodlad) to a question from the then hon. Member for Sherwood,Official Report 30 April 1987, columns 203–04.
Since 1 January 1996, no incidents at British Nuclear Fuel plc's plant at Sellafield have been reported to my Department under the above arrangements. Two minor events which were not of such safety or radiological significance as to be formally reportable were brought to the attention of my Department because of public interest. Details of these two incidents are contained in the 13 February Sellafield site newsletter, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
All incidents at Sellafield are investigated by BNF plc management to determine their cause and to put in place such measures as may be necessary to prevent a recurrence. Inspectors of the Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate carry out separate investigations as necessary, in order to determine what further regulatory response, if any, is appropriate.