HC Deb 08 December 1997 vol 302 cc413-5W
Ms Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the United Nations International Maritime Organisation's conclusion on the safety of ro-ro vessels for the transport of radioactive materials; and if he will make a statement. [18849]

Ms Glenda Jackson

The statement attributed to the IMO in a recent press article that ro-ro vessels areexceptionally vulnerable to human error is taken from a 33 page IMO background information paper entitled "IMO and ro-ro safety" The paper deals with ro-ro safety in general and makes no reference to the transport of radioactive materials in particular. However, in 1993 the IMO Assembly adopted, and has recently amended, the Code for the Safe Carriage of Irradiated Nuclear Fuel, Plutonium and High-Level Radioactive Waste in Flasks on board Ships (INF Code). UK companies involved in the transport of materials covered by the INF Code use ships complying with the Code.

Ms Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what measures are being taken to ensure than shipments of radioactive material comply with safety and security regulations; and if he will make a statement. [18850]

Ms Glenda Jackson

Officials of my Department's Radioactive Materials Transport Division are responsible for the safety assessment of package designs for the safe transport of radioactive material, requiring competent authority approval, by all modes. Their compliance assurance branch monitors the design, manufacture and operation of all packages and is responsible for enforcement of the radioactive material road transport regulations. Enforcement during carriage by rail, air and sea, is carried out respectively by HM Railways Inspectorate of the Health and Safety Executive, the Civil Aviation Authority and the Department's Marine Safety Agency.

Matters of physical security are for my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade.

Ms Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on(a) the public safety implications and (b) the security issues involved in the use of roll-on roll-off ferries to transport plutonium around the United Kingdom; and what action he is taking to monitor this activity. [18848]

Ms Glenda Jackson

Public safety is ensured by enforcing the Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods and Marine Pollutants) Regulations 1990 monitored by the Department's Marine Safety Agency. These regulations require such material to be carried in packages which are resistant to severe accident conditions and which have been approved by my Department. UK companies involved in the transport of plutonium by sea use ships meeting the International Maritime Organisation's "Code for the Safe Carriage of Irradiated Nuclear Fuel, Plutonium and High-Level Radioactive Wastes in Flasks on board Ships" (INF Code).

The UK applies the requirements of the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. Matters of physical security are for my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade.